August 28, 2020
Community Development Department
Business Update
New Blueprint for a Safer Economy Unveiled 
Governor Newsom announced today that California has a new blueprint for reducing COVID-19 in the state with revised criteria for loosening and tightening restrictions on activities. Learn about the blueprint here.

Beginning August 31, 2020, counties in the Widespread (purple) tier may open some businesses and activities with modifications, including all retail, shopping centers at maximum 25% capacity, and hair salons and barbershops indoors. Ventura County is currently in the "Widespread" (purple) tier.

New Website to Access More Information

Business owners can go to covid19.ca.gov to find out where their county falls and what activities are allowable in each county.

Read the press release here.

Watch Governor Newsom's update here.
Salons, Barbershops and Malls Can Reopen Indoor Services Beginning Monday, August 31
These sectors must follow the state issued industry guidance:

Read the Guidance for hair salons and barbershops here.

Read the Guidance for shopping malls here.

These businesses must also register to reopen at www.vcreopens.com. If a business already registered, they do not need to register again.
New Tier System

The Blueprint for a Safer Economy is a statewide, stringent and slow plan with four tiers based on County risk level, that replaces the County Monitoring List (Watch List) with movement determined by case rate and positivity rate.

Every county in California is assigned to a tier based on its rate of new cases and positivity. At a minimum, counties must remain in a tier for at least 3 weeks before moving forward. Data is reviewed weekly and tiers are updated on Tuesdays. To move forward, a county must meet the next tier’s criteria for two consecutive weeks. If a county’s metrics worsen for two consecutive weeks, it will be assigned a more restrictive tier. Public health officials are constantly monitoring data and can step in if necessary.

  • Tier 1, Purple: Highest-risk tier/"Widespread"
Positivity rate 8%+ and case rate of 7 new cases per 100,000

  • Tier 2, Red: Second highest-risk tier/"Substantial"
Positivity rate 5-8% and case rate of 4-7 new cases per 100,000

  • Tier 3, Orange: Third highest-risk tier/"Moderate"
Positivity rate 2-4.9% and case rate of 1-3.9 new cases per 100,000

  • Tier 4, Yellow: Lowest risk tier/"Minimal"
Positivity rate less than 2% and case rate of less than 1 new case per 100,000

In addition to the tier system, the framework includes an "emergency brake" so that immediate changes can be made if counties have extremely concerning numbers of hospitalizations or ICU admissions.

Read about County Monitoring here.

Please note that County guidelines may be more stringent than the state.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information

Questions regarding business compliance? Contact Ventura County COVID-19 Business Compliance by email at CovidCompliance@Ventura.org or call 805-202-1805.