San Francisco is transferring to the pink tier. Here is what it’s going to take to get to orange

San Francisco is advancing from California’s purple reopening stage to red this week, and as cases continue to decline across the Bay Area, many in the city may already be looking to the next step: orange.

Animal assignments are determined by the state based on the county’s daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants, adjusted for the number of tests performed and the positive test rate. To switch to a less restrictive level, a county must have been in the current level for at least three weeks and must meet the criteria for the next lower level for two consecutive weeks.

To switch from purple to red, a county must have an adjusted fall rate of 7 or less and a positive test rate of 5-8%. To switch from red to orange, a county must report an adjusted case rate between 1 and 3.9 and a positive test rate between 2% and 4.9%.

Based on the latest state referral data, the unadjusted case rate in San Francisco is 6.6, the adjusted case rate is 3.5, and the positive testing rate is 1.5%. The data used by the state to determine the grade assignments are delayed by two weeks.

County-level assignments in the California Blueprint for a Safer Economy Coronavirus reopening website starting March 2, 2021.

According to the county’s latest dashboard data, the unadjusted case rate for San Francisco on Feb.22 was 7.7 and the positive test rate was 1.46% on Feb.22. February. The district does not list the last adjusted case rate.

Last week, Marin and San Mateo counties were the first Bay Area counties to rise to the red tier after the state ended its regional bans in January, despite Marin reporting an adjusted case rate of 7.4%. This is due to a third metric, the Health Equal Opportunity Rating, which reflects the positive testing rate for disadvantaged populations in a community and is only considered for larger counties moving to a less restrictive tier. That metric held back San Francisco last week but is expected to hit the threshold this week.

San Francisco generally had some of the lowest case and positive test rates in the Bay Area throughout the pandemic, and it also performed well for a large city overall compared to other urban areas across the country. City officials have been very cautious about the reopening and have declined to allow some companies to reopen even though they are at less restrictive levels.

For its move this week, San Francisco is largely following state reopening guidelines, with a few additional restrictions. The restaurant will reopen with restrictions when the red tier changes go into effect on Wednesday at 8 a.m.

At the end of last summer, California introduced the new color-coded, four-tier system, and San Francisco was first classified in the red tier on September 1. The red tier allows businesses such as restaurants, cinemas, museums, zoos and aquariums to reopen indoors at 25% capacity, retail and indoor shopping centers at 50% capacity, and gyms reopened at 10% capacity.

But San Francisco kept indoor salons and personal care services closed until September 14, and museums and aquariums could not reopen until September 21, and gyms remained closed.

Indoor dining was not allowed until San Francisco moved to the orange level on September 30th, only at 25% occupancy, along with indoor malls at 50% occupancy and indoor gyms at 10% occupancy. Cinemas were allowed to reopen on October 7th with limited indoor capacity.

On October 20, San Francisco became the first and only major urban area in California to move to the least restrictive yellow tier. At this level, most businesses, including indoor restaurants, cinemas, gyms, bars and breweries, family entertainment centers, and places of worship, can open at 50% capacity.

On the yellow level, San Francisco allowed non-essential offices and some indoor personal care services to reopen, requiring mask removal, but indoor food stayed at 25% and indoor bars and breweries remained closed. The reopening was withdrawn less than a month later on Nov. 13, and indoor dining ceased immediately when the winter surge began.

Kellie Hwang is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang