Breaking: New restrictions coming in Solano after Bay Area hits ICU trigger
The number of available hospital ICU beds dipped below 15 percent, meaning Solano County will be forced to implement tougher restrictions within the next 24 hours.
(Graphic by Solano News Update)
Officials in Solano County will be forced to roll out tougher restrictions on residents and businesses within the next 24 hours after the Bay Area’s available hospital intensive care unit (ICU) capacity dipped below 15 percent on Wednesday, according to a review of state health data by Solano News Update.
The new restrictions are outlined in a state-imposed stay-at-home order that was issued earlier this month for any region that experiences a severe shortage of hospital ICU beds, which are needed to treat serious medical conditions, including severe complications from the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
Hospital ICU capacity is collated on a county level, then averaged and examined by state officials at a regional level, with California’s 52 counties falling in one of five regions. Solano County is incorporated into the Bay Area region, which includes around a dozen other nearby counties.
The Bay Area region has been exempt from imposing new restrictions under the state’s stay-at-home order since it was issued on December 3 because its average hospital ICU bed availability was above the 15 percent threshold. But since the state began reporting regional data, the Bay Area’s hospital ICU bed available has decreased over time, and health officials warned it was simply a matter of time before Solano County and others would have to implement the tougher restrictions.
While residents were already banned from non-essential travel and assembly under an overnight stay-at-home order issued last month, the new restrictions extend that prohibition to 24 hours a day. Retail businesses must also shrink their indoor capacity and can’t allow customers to eat or drink while they shop; restaurants that had been allowed to offer outdoor dining must now transition to pick-up and delivery service only.
(Click or tap here to learn more about the new restrictions.)
Early on, some Bay Area counties said they would voluntarily implement the new restrictions before the state’s ICU trigger was reached, saying it was necessary to prevent a decrease in ICU beds across their hospitals. But Solano County took the opposite approach, saying the restrictions would cause serious economic harm to businesses who were not to blame for an increase in coronavirus infections over the last several weeks.
County health officials said in-person assembly, not businesses, were to blame for the spike in infections, though the claim was made without any specific evidence. The Centers for Disease Control released a report in September that said participants in a study were far more likely to report eating or drinking at a restaurant, bar or coffee shop compared in the days before receiving a positive coronavirus diagnosis compared to those who received negative tests.
Now, Solano County officials will be forced to implement the restrictions they fought hard against. Under the state’s order, those restrictions must be put in place within the next 24 hours, meaning they will take effect no later than Thursday.
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