Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura counties eligible to advance into orange tier

Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties are now eligible to advance into the less-restrictive orange tier in the state's reopening framework, joining Los Angeles and Orange counties in allowing businesses to expand capacity.

According to data from the California Department of Public Health released Tuesday, all three counties are eligible to move out of the red tier and into the orange tier.

The announcement came on a day the state crossed the 20 million threshold for the number of vaccinations administered overall. The state also reached the 4 million mark of vaccinations in lower-income communities that have been hard hit by the pandemic. Reaching that 4 million threshold allowed more than a dozen counties -- including Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura -- to move to a less restrictive tier in the economic blueprint.

Under the orange tier, restaurants, movie theaters, churches, zoos and aquariums will be allowed to increase their capacity from 25% to 50%. Gyms would be able to expand to 25% capacity.

Gov. Newsom announces plan to fully reopen California on June 15

Retail would jump from 50% to no limit, and bars that don't serve food would finally get to open.

These changes also came as Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a plan to fully reopen California's economy on June 15 if current trends hold.

The announcement means California will move away from its color-coded tier system that regulates closures and openings county-by-county. The whole state will enter into this phase at the same time.

The details of what "fully open" means aren't quite clear yet. The state said "everyday activities" will be allowed to resume and businesses can reopen with "common-sense risk reduction measures."

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City News Service contributed to this report.