After weeks in the red tier, San Diego County could not hold up for a week longer, falling back into the most restrictive purple tier, amid the continuous rise in COVID-19 cases.

The purple tier is the most-restrictive tier in the state's four-tiered, color-coded risk system and indicates a "widespread" COVID-19 risk level. The county's demotion from the less-restrictive red tier is the result of two weeks of case rates that exceeded the threshold of 7 per 100,000 residents.

Restrictions will begin midnight Nov. 13.

The county rose to 7.4 pushing closer to the most restrictive purple tier in the Nov. 3 California Department of Public Health Assessment. If the county had one more week of purple data, it would push them back.

San Diego County was among three counties that moved to the Purple Tier, including Sacramento and Stanislaus Counties.

As the most restrictive tier out of the existing four, Tier 1 mandates the following:

- Restaurants must cease indoor operations; can still offer services outdoors

- Places of worship can offer services outdoors but must stop indoor services

- Gyms and fitness centers must take services outdoors and halt indoor services

- Retail stores and bookstores can open with a maximum 25% capacity

- Grocery stores, which are considered essential, can continue operations with a maximum 50% capacity

- Breweries, bars, distilleries and wineries where meals are not provided must close

The county has over 60,000 cases and 908 deaths.