Orange County regresses to ‘widespread’ COVID-19 tier, impacting classes
Chapman University is moving classes back to the virtual format after an increase in Orange County COVID-19 cases. Graphics by HARRY LADA, Art Director
Orange County, along with 40 other counties in California, are now in the purple, “widespread” tier of California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) COVID-19 blueprint. This will decrease the indoor maximum capacity for most business operations from 25% to “closed” or to “open with modifications.”
President Daniele Struppa announced Nov. 16 that Chapman University housing will remain open, but campus building doors will be locked and all instruction will be remote starting Nov. 17. Indoor lectures and student gatherings are not permitted under the state’s blueprint, but some classes that involve labs and studio arts may be kept open.
The Panther is tracking the number of active cases the university reports. On Nov. 13, Chapman reported 27 active cases of the coronavirus.
Only a limited number of courses will now be offered in person, and faculty will inform students if their class format has been affected by the county regression. Staff and administrators who were designated as “essential” in March will still be required to remain working on campus.
This university announcement comes shortly after pharmaceutical company Moderna released data that showed their COVID-19 vaccine is 94.5% effective. The company joins Pfizer as the second to demonstrate effective preliminary results. The drugmaker is set to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to receive approval to distribute a vaccine.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Nov. 16 press conference that the number of statewide infections is comparable to those demonstrated in the summer. The CDPH adjusted the metrics for determining when a county can move between COVID-19 tiers. Previously, a county would need to exhibit two weeks’ worth of sustained new case rates and positive test rates before regressing to a more restrictive tier. Now, that timeline has been shortened to a single week.
Orange County’s test positivity rate still remains under the “moderate” tier at 4.6%, but the number of daily cases are 10.8 per 100,000 residents, placing the county well above the threshold for the substantial tier of 7 daily cases. With Thanksgiving week on the horizon, combined with increased traveling and exposure to passengers on flights, super-spreader events at family gatherings may not be an unreasonable occurrence.
“As more and more people come indoors, as the warmer months transition to colder months, the heightened risk and heightened concern presents itself,” Newsom said. “The spread of COVID-19, if left unchecked, could quickly overwhelm our health care system and lead to catastrophic outcomes.”
Tier assignments can now occur multiple times within a week on any given day, and counties can move back multiple tiers. Orange County has reported 65,605 total COVID-19 cases, 1,526 of which have resulted in death as of Nov. 16. The coronavirus has infected over 1 million people in the United States in the past week.