Most of California is reopening from coronavirus. These counties aren’t there yet

In most of California, you can now get a hair cut or eat in a restaurant. But in a handful of counties, that’s still not the case

Neither the Bay Area counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz nor Los Angeles County have advanced further into Phase 2 of California’s economic reopening, nor have the counties of Imperial, Monterey and Tulare.

To achieve a regional variance, counties must have, among other criteria, fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents in the last 14 days, or fewer than 8 percent testing positive in the last seven days. Counties that achieve that variance are allowed to have more services resume operations, including reopening of malls, hair salons and restaurants for in-door dining.

The Bay Area counties are still struggling to meet the benchmarks set by Gov. Gavin Newsom to reopen, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County recently allowed churches, retail establishments, drive-in movie theaters and multi-residence pools to reopen, though hair and nail salons remain closed, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Neither Imperial, Monterey nor Tulare counties have been able to meet the state criteria of fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000.

Imperial County has had 421 new cases per 100,000 in the last two weeks, Monterey County has had 29 per 100,000 and Tulare County has had 112 per 100,000, according to the state’s COVID-19 website.

Gov. Newsom last Friday announced that a field medical station was being set up in Imperial County to deal with the surge of coronavirus cases affecting the county, according to KTLA. There have been a total of 1,369 cases of coronavirus in Imperial County, with 23 deaths, according to the state.