New Regional Stay-At-Home Orders To Impact Mother Lode In Couple Days
Sonora, CA – New regional stay-at-home order is just days away from being implemented in the Mother Lode and will close or limit business capacities.
During his COVID-19 pandemic briefing this afternoon, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the order that will be triggered when fewer than 15% of ICU beds are available in intensive care units for regional hospital networks.
Asking for Californians to step up once again to bend the curve, Newsom stated, “This is not a permanent state. This is what many had projected. We had predicted a final surge in this pandemic. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We are a few months away from truly seeing real progress with the vaccine.”
The state will be broken down into five regions instead of previous orders that went by counties: Northern and Southern California, Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, including Alpine and Amador counties, and San Joaquin Valley with Tuolumne, Calaveras, and Mariposa counties in this region, as seen in the map breakdown.
“As early as the next day or two…the Sacramento…San Joaquin Valley will have reached that 15% or less ICU capacity,” relayed Newsom.
While none of the regions had met the threshold for the new rules as of Thursday afternoon, when they do, the state will order the closure of all hair salons and barbershops, bars, breweries and distilleries, casinos, and indoor and outdoor playgrounds.
Restaurants would be limited to take-out and delivery only. It also means that retailers, with the busy holiday shopping season in full swing, must limit customers inside their stories to 20%. Newsom noted that schools in regions where the order is imposed may be able to stay open based on decisions by local governments. Click here to view restrictions.
Regions will have 48 hours to implement the rules that will remain in effect for at least three weeks. After that period, the California Department of Public Health says the order will be lifted when a region’s projected ICU capacity meets or exceeds 15%.
“The bottom line is if we don’t act now our hospital system will be overwhelmed,” warned Newsom.
Currently, the state has fewer than 2,000 available intensive care beds as more than 20,000 new coronavirus cases, the most ever in one day, were recorded on Wednesday. Additionally, a record 8,500 people are in hospitals, including more than 2,000 in intensive care units.
In reaction to the new order, California Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove (Bakersfield) asked for transparency and called on the governor to release data on the consequences of COVID-19. (Click here for letter to Newsom)
“Californians have a right to public health data that is being used to shape their lives, and the governor owes the state leadership that is committed to transparency and accountability,” stated Grove. She countered, “The response cannot be worse than the disease itself and we have to ensure the state’s actions are based on a holistic approach that protects our mental, social, and emotional well-being along with our physical health.”
Overall, California has reported more than 1.2 million COVID-19 cases and more than 19,300 deaths.
State health officials disclose that these figures do not include the COVID-19 infections likely to arise from Thanksgiving holiday travel and gatherings that ignored social distancing precautions, which they expect to start showing up in hospitals around Christmas.
Newsom ended the briefing imploring the public to take action, “Lives are in the balance. Lives will be lost unless we do more than we’ve ever done…We will recover as a state and all of us will be rewarded by knowing we saved lives of loved ones and strangers.”
