Solano County covered by new stay-at-home order
The order, which rolls out on Saturday, requires additional restrictions if hospital ICU beds fall below 15 percent in the Bay Area.
(Graphic by Solano News Update)
Editor’s Note: A version of this story distributed on Thursday erroneously said the new stay-at-home order was triggered based on county health data. The new stay-at-home order is based on regional health data.
State health officials on Wednesday announced a new stay-at-home order as California continues to see a spike in novel coronavirus infections.
The order, which takes effect on Saturday, requires additional restrictions if the availability of intensive care hospital beds falls below 15 percent in affected regions. Solano County was listed among several regions covered by the order.
The modified order expands on one put in place by California health officials earlier this year — one that was never completely withdrawn, but was less enforced as the number of COVID-19 infections started to wane.
With COVID-19 infections increasing during the influenza season, state health officials decided now was the time to reinforce the order and tack on added restrictions as it attempts to curb the spread of the virus.
“We are at a tipping point in our fight against the virus, and we need to take decisive action now to prevent California’s hospital system from being overwhelmed in the coming weeks,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Wednesday. “By invoking a [renewed] stay-at-home order for regions where ICU capacity falls below 15 percent, we can flatten the curve as we’ve done before and reduce stress on our health care system.”
Where does Solano County place?
Under the new stay-at-home order, California is divided into five regions consisting of several counties. Solano County is listed in the “Bay Area” region along with Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Sonoma County.
The stay-at-home order takes effect for all counties within a given region when the average amount of intensive care hospital space is less than 15 percent. That means Solano County could be forced to implement new restrictions if nearby counties are struggling with intensive care hospital space, even if Solano County’s intesive care space is above the 15 percent threshold.
What are the new restrictions?
The new stay-at-home order takes effect Saturday for Solano County and other areas across the state where COVID-19 infections have spiked in recent weeks. But new restrictions won’t be immediately implemented until intensive care units at hospitals reach 85 percent capacity within a given region.
Once that happens, county officials will have 24 hours to impose new restrictions on residents and businesses as required under the stay-at-home order. Those restrictions include:
Requiring residents to stay at home as much as possible;
Prohibiting social gatherings at all times;
Requiring retailers to reduce their in-customer capacity to no more than 20 percent;
Require a 100 percent masking policy across several sectors, including outdoor recreation facilities, retail, shopping centers, hotels, lodging, restaurants, office spaces, places of worship, sporting events and entertainment production.
In addition to those restrictions, the following businesses would be forced to suspend operations and close completely:
Indoor and outdoor playgrounds;
Indoor recreation facilities;
Personal care services;
Hair salons, including barber shops;
Museums, zoos and aquariums;
Bars, breweries, distilleries and wineries;
Amusement parks and family entertainment centers;
Live sporting arenas; and
Cardrooms.
Other businesses will be allowed to remain open, but some will have additional restrictions placed on them:
Retail businesses, including shopping centers, will have to count the number of customers who come into their stores and will not be allowed to operate beyond 20 percent capacity at any given time. The state will also require these businesses to set aside special shopping hours for individuals with chronic health conditions and for seniors.
Hotels and lodging will be allowed to remain open, but only for “critical infrastructure support only,” which state officials did not define.
Restaurants will only be allowed to offer pick-up, take-out or drive-thru service only.
Office-based businesses will be forced to transition to remote working for all of its employees, except for “critical infrastructure sectors” where remote work is not possible.
Churches and other places of worship are allowed to continue service but must do so outdoors. They must also follow all other social distancing and public health guidance.
What about schools?
The renewed shelter-at-home order doesn’t place additional restrictions on K-12 schools beyond those already found in the color-based “tier” system and others implemented at the discretion of county officials.
How long does the stay-at-home order last?
Once a region’s intensive care hospital space is at 85 percent capacity, the order is triggered, and county health officials have 24 hours to implement the new restrictions. Once the order is triggered, it will remain in place for at least three weeks (21 days).
After three weeks, regional health officials will be asked to project the amount of intensive care hospital space available in a region:
If regional health officials project there will be more than 15 percent intensive care hospital space at least four weeks out, the renewed stay-at-home can be lifted, and the county reverts back to restrictions based on the color-coded tier system.
If regional health officials can’t project an improvement in intensive care hospital space at least four weeks out, the renewed stay-at-home order remain in place until they can.
“Staying home for three weeks is a sacrifice, but if every Californian did that for a month, we could stop this disease in its tracks,” Dr. Erica Pan, the acting state public health officer, said in a statement. “This public health order strikes the balance between saving lives, providing essential services that we all rely on and still allowing Californians to participate in lower-risk outdoor activities that are crucial for our physical and mental health.”
How is Solano County looking?
While the number of COVID-19 infections have gone up in Solano County, the amount of intensive care hospital space is actually improving.
Earlier this week, Solano County reported hospital intensive care units were at 67 percent capacity, according to figures released by public health officials and reviewed by Solano News Update. On Thursday, that number had decreased to 60 percent, meaning intensive care unit beds were starting to free up.
Unless state health officials modify its stay-at-home order, and as long as the average amount of hospital intensive care space in Solano and other Bay Area counties remains below 85 percent capacity, the restrictions under the renew stay-at-home order won’t affect residents or businesses locally. But a surge in hospitalizations in a nearby county could force new restrictions on Solano County, even if local intensive care space is abundant.
The state’s overnight stay-at-home order continues to affect Solano County until December 21. That order prohibits non-essential travel and gatherings between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
“Purple tier” restrictions also remain in place for Solano County.
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This newsletter is an all-volunteer effort. If you would like to show your appreciation, consider making a donation in any amount or converting your email subscription into a paid one. Discuss this newsletter and other stories from across Solano County on our Facebook group here and follow our new Twitter account here.