Orange County schools could reopen as early as Sept. 22 under state's color-coded system

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- Orange County schools will have to wait a little longer to reopen for in-person instruction after the state changed its monitoring system.

Under the state's new color-coded system, the county is on track to be bumped down from the most restrictive level next Tuesday.

Currently, the county is in the purple tier, which indicates there is widespread transmission. The county would have to move into the red tier for schools to reopen.



To return to in-class learning, the county would then have to keep its coronavirus numbers in check for 14 days. That means classrooms could open as early as Sept. 22.

Under the old state monitoring system, Orange County was on track to allow in-person instruction right after Labor Day.

WATCH | 7 things we've learned about COVID-19 in the last 7 months