It’s hard to keep track of which sectors are allowable under Marin’s shelter order, but a new state program rolled out last week has made it easier. Last Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new tiered rating system designed to pace counties through reopening, replacing the state’s watch list and providing new universal rules. “This blueprint is statewide, stringent and slow,” Gov. Newsom said in a statement. “We have made notable progress over recent weeks, but the disease is still too widespread across the state. Covid-19 will be with us for a long time and we all need to adapt. We need to live differently. And we need to minimize exposure for our health, for our families and for our communities.” There are four colored tiers in the new system, ranking the level of virus transmission and determining the sectors that are allowable: Purple indicates the virus is widespread, red that it is substantial, orange that it is moderate, and yellow that it is minimal. Marin, which had been on the state’s watch list since July, was ranked purple—along with 37 other counties, accounting for more than 80 percent of California’s population. Yet Marin may move down a tier as early as Sept. 8. There are two leading metrics that govern the tiers: The number of daily cases per 100,000 residents and the percentage of Covid-19 tests that come back positive. In order to move into a less restrictive tier, a county must meet that tier’s criteria for two straight weeks. Under the red tier, counties need to have between four and seven new cases per day, and a positivity rate between 5 and 8 percent. In Marin on Tuesday, there were 5.9 new daily positive cases per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate of 3 percent. That’s down from a peak positivity rate of 16.4 at the end of June. In West Marin, a total of 51 positive cases have been reported since the start of the pandemic, though fewer than 10 cases are active today. “There’s plenty to celebrate here—July was a rough month, with record-high case rates, outbreaks including San Quentin and several large long-term care facilities and an outbreak in the Canal area of San Rafael,” Dr. Matt Willis, Marin’s public health officer, said on Tuesday in a statement. He continued, “The main reason for this progress is the collective work of everyone, doing their part to prevent virus transmission in our everyday lives. As we approach the Labor Day weekend, let’s make sure that our celebrations don’t jeopardize the progress we’ve made.” Already, based on the new state system, Marin was allowed to make some changes to its shelter order: Hair salons and barber shops are now permitted to resume operations indoors, and indoor malls can resume at 25 percent capacity. If Marin falls into the red category, a suite of new options will open up, with restrictions. Restaurants will be allowed to open indoors at a maximum of 25 percent capacity; places of worship, movie theaters, museums and zoos can open indoors at 25 percent capacity; gyms will be allowed to open at 10 percent capacity; and personal care services will be allowed to resume indoors, with modifications. Once Marin is out of the purple, it has the authority to allow all schools to reopen; currently, elementary schools that want to reopen for in-person instruction can apply for a waiver. This week, the county also unveiled a new online form that allows anyone to file a business complaint about a possible violation of the public health order in the unincorporated areas of Marin. That form can be found at marincounty.jotform.com/202117724764050. To keep track of what is allowable in Marin, visit covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/#reopening-data.