Blueprint for a Safer Economy

Activities and businesses that have a lower risk of spreading COVID-19 are allowed to open sooner. Higher-risk activities or businesses aren’t allowed until later tiers. An activity or business’s tier depends on whether it can:

• Accommodate mask wearing at all times (for example, eating and drinking requires removing masks)
• Allow physical distance between individuals from different households
• Limit the number of people per square foot
• Limit time that an individual is at the business or activity
• Limit time of exposure
• Limit mixing of people from different households
• Limit amount of physical interactions of visitors/patrons
• Increase airflow (such as operating outdoors or opening windows and doors) 
• Limit activities that are known to increase virus spread (like singing, shouting and heavy breathing)

On August 31, the Blueprint for a Safer Economy replaced the County Data Monitoring List for determining what business can and cannot open.

So why change? We learned a lot over the first several months of the pandemic about COVID-19 and how it spreads. For example, we know how much safer outdoor activities are than indoor ones and that it’s critical everyone wears a mask to limit the spread of the disease. This blueprint incorporates what we’ve learned.

The Blueprint for a Safer Economy is the next evolution of our response. We’ve revised the criteria and the time between changing tiers. We’ve made it easy for counties to see how changes affect the disease’s trajectory and for businesses and customers to plan ahead. And we’ve given Californians one place to look up whether a business or activity is allowed near them.

If a county’s case rate and positivity rate fall into different tiers, the county remains in the stricter tier.

Schools in the Widespread (purple) tier aren’t permitted to reopen for in-person instruction, unless they receive a waiver from their local health department for grades TK-6. However, they may provide supervision of children in accordance with the cohorts guidance.

Schools can reopen for in-person instruction once their county has been in the Substantial (red) tier for two weeks. Tiers are assigned on Tuesdays and take effect the next day. For example, if a county moves to the Substantial (red) tier on Tuesday, September 8, and stays there for two weeks, schools can open Wednesday, September 23.

Schools that have reopened for in-person instruction are not required to close if their county moves back to the Widespread (purple) tier.

Learn more about guidance for schools.

• Wear a mask in public.
• Wash your hands regularly.
• Keep at least six feet of physical distance when in public.
• Limit mixing with people you don’t live with.