Kern County inches closer to red tier

Kern County is close to joining Santa Clara County, San Francisco and Napa County in the red tier.

The numbers are improving in the recovered area as well as in the assumed recovered and the number of positive tests is going down a bit.

Wasco’s positive tests for the week of March 2 were 5,266 cases, an increase of 32 cases from the previous week. The number of presumed recovered went from 1,480 up to 2,127, an increase of 647 presumed recovered patients.

Shafter’s numbers on March 2 went from 3,398 positive cases to 3,421 total cases, an increase of 23 cases from the previous week. The number of presumed recovered in Shafter for March 2 was 1,327 compared to 2,105, a decrease in presumed recoveries of 1,293.

While the Kern High School District is allowing sports to begin training and setting up their schedules, Wasco has opened for cross country only. If the county reaches red tier next week, dining in would be allowed along with swimming and other activities.

Kern County Public Health Director Brynn Carrigan told the Board of Supervisors last week that Kern County is close to joining the above counties in the red tier any time. The red tier is a less-restricted tier, which allows schools to begin letting students in, indoor dining as well as the reopening of gyms.

Comments from administrators of both school districts in Wasco have stated in the past that it’s difficult to determine exactly where each district stands because the numbers change every day. Some school districts predict a return to school by April 2021 while others maintain that school will not resume until fall 2021.

While cross country meets in the WUHSD have been occurring, “We don’t have an update yet on WUHSD sports,” Superintendent Rob Cobb said on Monday, Feb. 22.

Wasco Recreation and Parks District has a cross country team running and also offers training for coaches now.