By Mike Hazlip—
Restaurants in Citrus Heights and Sacramento County were given approval Tuesday to resume indoor dining service as the county officially moved to the Red Tier in the state’s reopening plan.
In a March 16 announcement, the Sacramento County Department of Public Health said the county had met requirements for the less restrictive Red Tier, which allows restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, hair salons, and other businesses to resume indoor services.
While some local restaurants and gyms had already been allowing indoor dining during Purple Tier restrictions, others were quick to reopen following Tuesday’s announcement.
Boston’s Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar on Wednesday said their Sunrise Boulevard dining room had reopened to the public. “We’re excited to share with you that we’re open for indoor dining, as per the guidelines set by the California Department of Public Health,” the restaurant said on social media.
Java Cherry coffee shop on Van Maren Lane also quickly adapted to the news, posting a photo on Facebook Wednesday morning showing indoor seating and announcing a return to indoor dining.
Restaurants are allowed to operate indoors at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer, according to guidelines published by the California Department of Public Health.
The county’s movement through the state’s tier system is based on indicators such as daily new cases, positivity rate, health equity metric, and vaccines administered.
State data shows Sacramento County has 8.1 new cases per 100 thousand individuals, and a positivity rate of 3.2%. Positivity rate is the number of positive test results as a percentage of total number of tests administered.
The state’s guidelines say a county must meet lower thresholds in key indicators for two consecutive weeks before being assigned to a less restrictive tier.
Local public schools will also be reopening in light of the new tier, with San Juan Unified School District announcing students will be given the option to return to modified, in-person learning on March 22.
Related: Citrus Heights schools to reopen March 22 as county enters red tier
