World news – GB – Kern supervisors approve resolution demanding Newsom stop moving COVID-19 goalposts

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Clear skies. Low 63F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph, becoming E and decreasing to less than 5 mph..

Clear skies. Low 63F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph, becoming E and decreasing to less than 5 mph.

Kern County Supervisors approved a resolution demanding Gov. Gavin Newsom institute a number of changes to the state’s coronavirus monitoring system that would bring more clarity and participation to counties across California.

In a unanimous vote Tuesday, supervisors attempted to send a strong message to the governor, who they have accused of “moving the goalposts” by altering the metrics counties must meet in order to reopen parts of the local economy.

Previously, the state’s coronavirus metrics required counties to closely monitor hospital capacity, but in an update called the Blueprint for a Safer Economy announced earlier this month, only the case rate and positivity rate are considered.

In the new system, counties are classified into four colored tiers. Kern County falls into the most restrictive purple tier, reserved for those counties with a “widespread” coronavirus outbreak. In order to move into the red and less restrictive tier, the county must report between four to seven new cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period, with a positivity rate between 5 percent and 8 percent for two weeks.

The county has met those metrics over the past two weekly updates, Public Health Services Director Matt Constantine told supervisors on Tuesday. However, because the number of people tested falls below the state average, the state has penalized Kern with an artificially increased case rate.

The state updates counties’ numbers every Tuesday, with a seven-day lag in reporting. On Tuesday, Kern County’s case rate was 6.3 new cases per 100,000 residents, with a testing positivity rate of 6.5 percent. However, the lack of overall testing resulted in Kern’s case rate being bumped up to 7.2.

“All of those numbers are better than they’ve been in months,” he said. “They are all trending in the right direction.”

Even with the state’s penalty, Kern County is on track to move into the red tier. Constantine said the state has given counties access to day-to-day data that is not reported publicly. As it stood Tuesday, Kern County met the red tier criteria even with the state’s adjustment. The county had an adjusted case rate of 6.9, Constantine reported, beneath the state’s requirement to move into the red tier.

“They will release information next Tuesday and at that point, we’re hopeful that we still meet it because that’s when the clock starts,” Constantine said. “The clock doesn’t start today, but all indications are that we are trending downward and we appear to be very close to meeting that red tier that additional businesses can open.”

Supervisor Zack Scrivner asked for the county’s resolution to be sent to every board of supervisors in the state in addition to the governor’s office in an attempt to rally support behind the effort.

“The frustration we feel (is) because of this continued changing of the rules,” he said. “We meet the standards and then the rules change. That is impacting our local businesses.”

SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com