Newsom to lift state's stay-at-home order on Monday
(Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
California Governor Gavin Newsom will lift the state’s stay-at-home order that has been imposed on several regions throughout California since early December.
The lifting of the order will ease certain restrictions throughout Northern California, including Solano County, where outdoor dining has been banned and gyms have been forced to offer limited outdoor services since mid-December.
News of the order’s lifting was first leaked Sunday afternoon by the California Restaurant Association in a message to its members. The group represents dining and drinking establishments throughout the state and was one of the primary organizations to lobby for an easing of coronavirus-related business restrictions since the start of the pandemic.
Late Sunday evening, Solano NewsNet confirmed the lifting of the order with two sources who are familiar with the governor’s plans. The sources said the decision to lift the order was based on an anticipated availability of hospital intensive care unit bed space throughout the state over the next four weeks. A similar metric was used to impose the order on California residents and businesses starting last month.
It wasn’t clear when Governor Newsom would announce the lifting of the state’s stay-at-home order, which imposed the strictest rules and regulations on residents and businesses in affected regions, but a source said the announcement could come as soon as Monday.
Typically, the Governor’s Office gives members of the media — including Solano NewsNet — at least one day’s notice before a scheduled press conference where coronavirus-related announcements are made. No press release had been sent from the Governor’s Office as of Sunday evening, but Newsom has recently made significant announcements on restrictions through his official social media channels in a way that substitutes his lengthy televised public addresses for more-abbreviated ones posted directly to online accounts he controls.
Back to the Purple Tier
A lifting of the state’s stay-at-home order would ease restrictions on residents and businesses, but it wouldn’t erase them altogether.
Instead, it would trade one set of public health orders for another by relegating most regions back to the color-coded restriction tier. The move would mean counties like Solano wouldn’t be weighed down by the hospitalization rate of neighboring areas, but instead would face restrictions — or a loosening of them — based solely on Solano County’s own coronavirus infection data.
If Newsom goes through with a lifting of the state’s stay-at-home order, Solano County would likely be placed back in the “purple” tier of restrictions. Residents would be free to move throughout the region without being restricted by a stay-at-home curfew, but businesses would still face restrictions that could hamper their usual operations.
Hair salons, barbershops, nail salons and other personal care services would be allowed to re-open once again but would be required to ensure social distancing and face mask practices were employed by staff and customers alike. Hotels and lodging businesses would once again be allowed to book out-of-town guests for any purposes. Shopping centers, malls and other retail establishments would be allowed to serve 25 percent of their indoor capacity once again, while still maintaining coronavirus-related safety practices.
Restaurants, wineries, places of worship, movie theaters, gyms and fitness centers would be allowed to resume in-person services once again, but would be required to limit those services to outdoor areas only.
Other types of businesses would still be required to close, including bars, breweries and distilleries that don’t provide meal service. Office buildings with non-essential workers would also be required to stay closed and transition to remote working where possible. Indoor movie theaters and amusement parks would also not be allowed to re-open.
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