“If the trend continues we were informed by the state we will face the possibility of going backwards,” warned Dr. Cameron Kaiser, Riverside County’s public health officer on Tuesday.

Our county may have to go back to the “purple” more restrictive level in our state’s reopening plan if our COVID-19 rate of spread continues,

Jose Arballo, the county’s senior public information officer says the decision is looming, “On Tuesday when the state makes its announcement if we’re in the purple we will be there three weeks.”

Going back to purple means retail capacity will be cut in half and gyms, movie theaters, places of worship and restaurants will have to go back to outdoor operations only.

“That really was a sign for people that things were returning at the time to semi normal,” says Arballo.

Tony Marchese, the owner of Trio, a popular restaurant in Palm Springs, says he already prepared for the worst, “I didn’t want to open up the dining room and have to hire a lot more staff in case something like this did happen and then have to let them go again.”

Monsignor Howard Lincoln of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Palm Desert hopes this does not happen again, “We’ve worked so hard wear our masks, social distance and we do our part and it’s very disappointing and I hope we do not have to go back to purple i hope we go the other way.”

He says outdoor services are tough with extreme temperatures in the desert, “It’d be very difficult to go back outside again, we just got inside and people are delighted to be back inside.”

Arballo says right now our positivity rate is hovering just below 8 percent, anything above that we will be moved back to purple. But there is something we can do to prevent this from happening: more of us should get tested. Because testing plays into state’s formula that determines which color tier on the reopening plan.

“If we get more people to test then we will have the formula that they use for us will be more reflective of our actual numbers,” says Arballo.

Also more testing catches asymptomatic positive cases before they turn into large outbreaks.

When we were pushed back to closures in July, the general manager of World Gym, Andrew Wich, whose business has been hit hard during this pandemic told us everyone should do their part like wear masks, not just for themselves but for others, “I wish we as Californians took this more serious so we wouldn’t have to scroll back, I wish that people looked at each other and wanted to make it a better place.”

For information on where to get tested click here: GET TESTED

Fore more information on state’s plan click here: CALIFORNIA

More People Must Get Tested for COVID to Stay in Less Restrictive Opening Plan