Stay-at-home order will be imposed in Southern California and San Joaquin Valley
A stay-at-home order will go into effect in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley late Sunday, as COVID-19 cases soar and capacity at hospital intensive care units continues to drop.
The regions will implement the order Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Bars, wineries and personal-care services must close; restaurants must halt all dining; and gatherings of people from different households will be prohibited, the state confirmed. The rules will remain in place for at least three weeks.
The order — the latest in a series of attempts to slow the spread of the coronavirus and prevent local healthcare systems from becoming overwhelmed — is triggered when a region’s ICU capacity drops below 15%. Southern California’s ICU capacity Saturday was 12.5%, and the San Joaquin Valley’s was 8.6%, according to data released by the state.
Some 33 million Californians will be subject to the new order, representing 84% of the state’s population. They include residents of five Bay Area counties, which have decided to implement the stay-at-home order despite not yet reaching the threshold mandated by the state.
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-05/la-me-coronavirus-stay-home-order-sunday-southern-california-covid-19-highs
