Two regions in California under stay-at-home order after COVID-19 surge

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Residents of Southern California and San Joaquin will be mandated to stay home after its ICUs’ capacity dropped to 15%.
• About 27 million people will be affected by the mandate covering Sand Diego and Los Angeles counties.
• Calfornia is facing yet another surge in the number of coronavirus cases, recording a new record high of daily infections with 25,000.

People living in San Joaquin Valley and Southern California will be ordered to stay home following a 15% capacity fall out of the two area’s intensive care unit,  causing a directive announced by the governor early this week to help lessen the rising number of coronavirus hospital admissions.

The mandate will take effect on 11:59 p.m. PT of Sunday for about 27 million residents in regions covering San Diego and Los Angeles.

The order also follows a preemptive mandate given by six San Francisco Bay Area jurisdictions last Friday for the around 6 million people residing in the region to take effect also on Sunday.

On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed that any area that goes under the 15% ICU capacity limit would also undergo stay-at-home orders.

The most populated among the five regions mentioned by the governor,  Southern California, said that its ICU capacity went down to 12.5% on Saturday. According to a statement by the government,  San Joaquin’s facility availability only at 8.6%.

California faces another series of a surge now with the highest COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations daily, specifically on Saturday, recording over 25,000 new cases. The number of coronavirus patients has also exceeded 10,200.

Under the mandate, businesses such as wineries, bars, barbershops, hair salons, and indoor and outdoor recreational parks will be closed. There is also a travel ban, except for authorized activities.

Schools offering in-person sessions will be allowed to operate together with necessary businesses. Retail companies may continue to open under 20% capacity, and restaurants can only offer delivery and take out.

The directive will run for no less than three weeks and shall continue until the region’s estimated ICU capacity reaches or go beyond 15%.  The rate will be evaluated weekly following the first three-week trial.

The mandate in the Bay Area will be effective until January 4 of next year, while the region’s ICU capacity was still at 21.2% capacity as of Friday, a government website reports.

On Friday, Health Director for Contra Costa Chris Farnitano said that waiting for the state’s new restrictions for later this month is not ideal, suggesting that the government should act right away amidst the health emergency.

The Southern California region has the most populated California counties, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside Orange, and San Bernardino.

The region comprises counties such as San Luis Obispo, Inyo, Imperial, Mono, Ventura, and Santa Barbara, with about 23 million residents.

Meanwhile, the San Joaquin Valley region is home to over 4 million people and has the counties such as Kern, Merced, Tuolumne, Fresno, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Mariposa, San Joaquin,  Kings, Madera, San Benito, and Tulare.

Source: CNN