San Diego County slipped back into the most restrictive tier in California’s reopening blueprint this past weekend, after the county’s case rate was above 7 cases per 1,000 residents for two consecutive weeks.
For the county, the switch to the purple tier means most businesses will be forced to operate outdoors only while bars, breweries, amusement parks and live audience sports have been shut down.
For San Diego State, the restrictions have not closed campus itself, but have had an effect on other facilities like on-campus eateries. According to the university, SDSU remains open and has not closed due to the new restrictions.
“The university continues to offer instruction, housing, ongoing research and other efforts to sustain its educational and research missions,” the university said.
However, some on-campus restaurants and markets are now closed until further notice.
The list of closed shops includes: Aztec Market, Starbucks and The Grill at Aztec Shops Terrace, Oggi’s and The Habit at Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union, Rubios, So-Cal Chicken, Subway, Halal Shack and Panda Express at East Commons and all BCB Coffee locations.
All indoor facilities at the Aztec Recreation Center – which had only just reopened for indoor workouts – are also closed once again, but students can still make reservations to workout at one of the ARC’s outdoor locations.
The university is also moving in-person instruction online before the Thanksgiving break, and nearly 2,100 students enrolled in courses with in-person components will remain virtual for the remainder of the semester.
SDSU is currently reporting a total of 1,433 positive cases of COVID-19 since the start of the semester.
Gov. Gavin Newsom along with the governors of Oregon and Washington issued a travel advisory due to alarming spikes in positive case numbers and hospitalizations in their respective states.
“California just surpassed a sobering threshold – one million COVID-19 cases – with no signs of the virus slowing down,” Newsom said in a statement released Nov. 13. “Increased cases are adding pressure on our hospital systems and threatening the lives of seniors, essential workers and vulnerable Californians. Travel increases the risk of spreading COVID-19, and we must all collectively increase our efforts at this time to keep the virus at bay and save lives.”
SDSU continues to offer free COVID-19 testing on-campus by appointment at Student Health Services and the walk-up testing at the county-operated testing site at Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center. To make an appointment, visit the Student Health Services website or call 619-594-4325.
