Governor Newsom announced a
modified county variance framework while in Napa County
to allow many medium and some large counties to accelerate within
Stage 2 of the California
Resilience Roadmap. Counties may submit plans and
attestations for the new modified variance immediately. But, like
the first variance process, any county variance only allows a
county to reopen specified sectors within Stage 2 of the state’s
roadmap.
The modified variance provides more flexibility in some of the
readiness criteria and eliminates the number of COVID-19 deaths
as a factor. To see the new metrics, visit the state’s county
variance page and click on the boxes below the title “County
Criteria to move further into Stage 2” labeled county case
metrics, county preparedness, and county response.
Below are the major changes announced:
COVID-19 deaths are not considered in any part of the new
variance.
Excludes state and federal prison inmate cases from the
criteria, but does include cases among institutional staff.
Includes county inmates and jail staff in the criteria and
measurements.
Includes Skilled Nursing Facility residents and staff in the
criteria and measurements.
Hospitalization criteria: 7-day average hospitalization
increase of lower than 5 percent OR no more than 20 COVID-19
positive cases admitted to hospitals in last 14 days.
Testing criteria: No more than 25 COVID-19 positive case
100,000 residents cumulatively over last 14 days OR less than 8
percent COVID-19 positive case rate over last 7 days (measured
against number of tests performed). Still requires at least 1.5
tests performed per 1000 residents and testing accessibility of
within 30 minutes in an urban area and 60 minutes for a rural
area.
A containment preparedness plan and details for handling the
needs of special populations (elders, homeless individuals,
minority and underserved populations) are still required.
CSAC
applauds Governor Newsom and his team for modifying the
variance requirements in a safe, measured fashion, with respect
for local expertise in assessing conditions and local control
over readiness within each county. As of Thursday morning, 40
counties have met the requirements for a Stage 2 variance.
View the list of counties and allowable business activities
within Stage 2 here.
