Parents and children who have spent months passing by shuttered playgrounds can expect to spend time on park swings and slides as early as this week, county officials said Tuesday.

It wasn’t the only piece of welcome news. Officials also announced that San Diego County will not fall to the state’s most restrictive tier due, in part, to an abundance of testing.

Local jurisdictions were informed of the state’s decision to reopen outdoor, publicly accessible parks late Monday, and many cities are still evaluating the new regulations. But the two largest jurisdictions — the county and the city of San Diego — are already making plans to open play spaces back up. County playgrounds could open as soon as Wednesday, while the city of San Diego is shooting for Saturday.

“One of the questions I’m asked most often is why aren’t playgrounds open, and I’ve had to say because for some reason the state still had them on the closed list,” San Diego Mayor Kevin Falconer said Tuesday. “It’s like this essential part of life for any parent had been forgotten. Outdoor activity and public playgrounds are so important for children, particularly for families who don’t have a backyard of their own, so finally reopening them just makes sense and is long overdue.”

During a midday news conference, Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s secretary of health and human services and a Los Angeles resident, said he believes that the new playground guidance that his office just released — which emphasizes continued social distancing and mask wearing — is capable of preventing transmission even when young people use shared equipment.

Saying his own kids are “itching to get out there,” Ghaly added that he is unaware of “any significant outbreaks traced to a park.” Theme parks, however, remain closed. Asked for an update on when the state might finally get around to specifying how the popular destinations can reopen, Ghaly said guidance is “not quite” finished “but we’re getting very close.” Indoor parks and family entertainment centers must also remain closed.

The state also released its weekly report on its tiered reopening system Tuesday.

As predicted, San Diego County’s case rate came in at 7.2 cases per 100,000 residents, a number that would have put the county in line to fall to the lowest purple tier of the reopening structure if not for some positive news regarding local coronavirus testing.

The state adjusted the rate downward from 7.2 to 6.7 cases based on the region’s number of tests performed from Sept. 13 through Sept. 19 coming in significantly higher than the statewide median rate of 216 tests per 100,000 residents. San Diego County’s rate, at 258 tests per 100,000, qualified the region for a 7.7 percent reduction in the raw case rate, bringing the score under the limit of 7.

Going over 7 for two consecutive weeks would have meant that restaurants, gyms, places of worship and other organizations would have been required by the state to move operations back outdoors.

Currently, the region is conducting about 8,400 tests a day — well above the state’s median of about 7,290 tests a day. Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s public health officer, said to remain in the red tier, it’s imperative the county maintain these higher testing levels.

To that end, Nick Macchione, director of the county health and human services agency, said the county is in the process of doubling the number of tests it can offer each week to 30,000 — an effort that will help ensure schools have the tests they need to support their reopening plans.

“We know we’re going to have to do more (testing) because 600,000 school-aged children and 80,000 school personnel are going to need it,” Macchione said.

The county is also expanding the number of testing locations, and expects to have 41 sites by October, including a mobile location designed to serve migrant farmers and others working in fields across the county.

Although an explosion of cases at San Diego State University contributed to a higher case rate last week, Wooten said no particular sector contributed to the region’s totals on Tuesday.

The college’s totals have decreased significantly since last week, Wooten said, and did not have a notable impact on this week’s case rate.

According to the county’s daily report, only three of Tuesday’s 251 COVID-19 cases were connected to San Diego State University. Since late August, more than 1,080 students, faculty, staff members and visitors to the college have been infected.

The report also included five additional deaths, bringing the region’s death toll to 781. One of the victims was in their late 20s, underscoring that this infectious disease can still pose a threat to young people.

Although the county managed to avoid the purple tier again, some county supervisors continue to push back against the state’s system. Supervisor Jim Desmond said Tuesday that if local leaders continue to support the state’s “inconsistent, unfair and ever-changing” orders, they run the risk of further alienating a business community that’s already feeling disenfranchised.

“We’re quickly losing the trust of the people,” Desmond said at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. “If we push them too hard, I think there’s just going to be mayhem and an outbreak of businesses just refusing to close down or abide by our safety protocols. The trust of the people is important — paramount.”

In an effort to open all 289 playgrounds in the city of San Diego by the weekend, parks and recreation employees will be visiting each play area to conduct capacity assessments and prepare the location for social-distancing markings and signs.

Any existing tape or barriers will be removed by Friday, and staff members will continue to monitor playgrounds after they are open to ensure public health requirements are being adhered to.

The new playground guidelines go into effect Sept. 30, county officials said. They include:

• The use of face coverings for everyone 2 years and older.

• Physical distance must be maintained between household groups, and children must be accompanied by a caregiver at all times.

• Visits should be limited to 30 minutes when others are present.

• No eating or drinking in playground areas to ensure everyone wears a mask at all times.

• Wash or sanitize hands before and after using the playground.

The state also recommends that elderly individuals and other at-risk populations avoid playgrounds when other people are present.