What to know about the new stay-at-home order
The renewed stay-at-home order layered additional restrictions on Solano County residents and businesses based on specific health data.
(Graphic by Solano News Update)
[Editor’s note: This story was originally published on December 3. At the time, Solano County and the rest of the Bay Area region were not subject to the tougher restrictions under the state’s stay-at-home order. As of Thursday, December 17, the stay-at-home restrictions apply to the Bay Area region, including Solano County.]
On Thursday, California officials unveiled a new stay-at-home order that layers additional restrictions on Solano County residents and businesses based on specific hospital-related health care data for the county and outlying areas.
As part of the order, health officials said they were now tracking the state by dividing it into five regions: Northern California, Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, with Solano County falling in the Bay Area region.
Data collected from each region will be used to determine whether California health officials require counties to impose new, severe restrictions in residents and businesses. Under the order, health officials will track the availability of space in hospital intensive care units as a percentage, then use that data to determine if restrictions are necessary under the stay-at-home order.
The stay-at-home order comes on top of California’s already-enacted public health orders, including a color-coded restriction tier that is based on each county’s coronavirus infection rate and a supplemental stay-at-home order in effect between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. for residents who fall within the “purple tier.”
The new stay-at-home order and the state’s decision to track hospital intensive care unit availability by region is a little confusing when taken with the state’s other two public health orders. Here’s what you should know about the latest order and how it may affect you if it’s implemented in Solano County.
What is the new stay-at-home order?
Prior to Thursday’s announcement, state officials had placed restrictions on residents and businesses based on the rate of coronavirus infections at a county level, with counties being evaluated based on a color-coded “tier” system: Purple, red, orange and yellow. Since it was introduced, Solano County has been in both the “purple” and “red” tiers and was most recently placed back in the “purple” tier.
In addition to the color-coded restriction tier system, state health officials are now evaluating restrictions based on regional health data — specifically, the capacity of hospital intensive care units as a percent. This is the basis for the new stay-at-home order that was issued on Thursday, which takes effect on Saturday.
Instead of collecting hospital intensive care unit data at a county level, state health officials are now collecting and evaluating the data at a regional level, with several counties grouped into one region.
Solano County is grouped into the Bay Area region along with Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Sonoma counties.
When are the stay-at-home restrictions imposed?
State health officials will evaluate the percentage of hospital intensive care unit beds available at any given time based on data collected at a regional level. When the amount of available bed space in hospital intensive care units drops below 15 percent, the stay-at-home restrictions are triggered.
The state’s evaluation method means if several counties in a region have a severe shortage of hospital intensive care unit beds, it could trigger restrictions on a county with an abundance of hospital intensive care unit beds. Hypotheticaly, if several counties in the Bay Area region have a shortage of beds that reduces the region’s average below 15 percent, it would trigger restrictions on Solano County residents and businesses, even if the county’s available hospital intensive care unit space is above the regional average.
Will Solano County be forced to implement new restrictions on Saturday?
Maybe, but it’s unlikely, based on remarks made by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday. State health officials, he said, believe four of the five regions will see immediate stay-at-home restrictions based on current and projected data related to the availability of hospital intensive care unit beds.
Newsom said those four regions — Northern California, Greater Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California — have, or are projected to, run out of hospital intensive care unit beds by Saturday, which will trigger the new restrictions.
The Bay Area, on the other hand, is not expected to have a shortage of hospital intensive care unit beds for another few weeks, Newsom said.
What happens if the Bay Area experiences a shortage of hospital intensive care unit beds?
If the Bay Area’s percentage of available hospital intensive care unit beds dips below 15 percent, health officials in Solano County and the other areas within the region will have 24 hours to roll out new restrictions on residents and businesses in addition to the restrictions that were imposed when Solano County was placed in the “purple” tier and the state’s stay-at-home order for overnight hours.
Under the new stay-at-home order restrictions:
Residents will be urged to stay at home whenever possible and will only be allowed to leave home for essential purposes, including exercise, grocery shopping, getting food, going to work and picking up medicine, among other reasons.
Most businesses will be forced to implement a 100 percent masking policy for its employees, partners and customers.
Some business will be forced to suspend operations and immediately close, while others will be allowed to remain open but with heavy modifications. (More on that below.)
Most businesses will be required to provide remote work opportunities to their employees, with some exceptions.
Churches and other places of worship would be allowed to continue service, but must move their services outdoors, implement a masking policy and adhere to other public health guidance.
Schools will be allowed to remain open, and no additional restrictions will be placed on them.
What are the business restrictions?
Under the new stay-at-home order, the following businesses would be forced to suspend operations and close as long as the restrictions remain in effect:
Indoor and outdoor playgrounds;
Indoor recreational facilities, including gyms;
Hair salons, including barbershops;
Personal care services, including nail salons;
Museums, zoos and aquariums;
Movie theaters and similar businesses;
Bars, breweries, wineries and distilleries;
Family entertainment centers and amusement parks;
Cardrooms; and
Live sports venues.
Other businesses will be allowed to remain open but must modify their operations:
Restaurants will only be allowed to offer take-out, pick-up and drive-thru service.
Hotels and lodging are prohibited from booking rooms for anyone who is not considered an “essential worker” or connected to a business with essential workers or functions. With some exception, no out-of-state travelers will be allowed to book rooms in restricted regions.
Office-based businesses are required to provide remote working opportunities for employees, except those who are deemed “essential workers.”
Retail businesses are allowed to offer indoor services but must reduce their in-store capacity to 20 percent and must count each customer who arrives and exits the store. Customers and employees are not allowed to eat or drink while shopping.
Live sports, including professional sports, can continue but events must be held without an in-person audience.
Are there new restrictions on schools?
No. For now, county officials are still tasked with determining whether schools will continue with remote learning or open for in-person instructions. Schools that are currently open for in-person instruction will not face any additional restrictions under the new stay-at-home order.
How long will the new restrictions last?
If the Bay Area region triggers the state’s new stay-at-home restrictions, they will remain in place for no less than three weeks (21 days).
After three weeks, state health officials will use regional data to make a four-week projection:
If the four-week projection shows an increase in hospital intensive care unit beds above 15 percent, the stay-at-home restrictions will be lifted, though the color-tier restrictions may remain in place.
If the four-week projection shows no change or a decrease in hospital intensive care unit beds, the stay-at-home restrictions will continue for another week (7 days).
Projections will be made on a weekly basis after the first three weeks of stay-at-home restrictions (21 days).
What happens if the restrictions aren’t followed?
It’s hard to say. It will be up to county health and law enforcement officials within each region to ensure the restrictions are followed, but it’s difficult to determine whether each county will actively choose to enforce them — or even if they have the resources to do so.
Earlier this year, some counties said they would not commit resources to enforcing the first stay-at-home order that was issued in March. Others said they would choose an “educational approach” instead of enforcement. As the pandemic worsened, a few counties decided to issue fines to businesses that ignored public health restrictions.
Before the first statewide order, some counties took it upon themselves to issue similar stay-at-home orders. In the Bay Area, Solano was the last county to issue a stay-at-home order. At the time, public health officials said a violation of Solano County’s order was punishable as a misdemeanor that could carry a fine or jail time.
Things were different last month when state health officials issued an overnight stay-at-home order that placed many of the same restrictions as the March order, but limited it to the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. After that order rolled out, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office said it would not commit deputies to enforcing it. The Vacaville and Vallejo police department took similar positions. Officials in Fairfield and Benicia said they would enforce the order only in extreme cases.
If local police don’t enforce the order, state officials might — and some businesses in Solano County have already experienced this. In October, the California Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Consumer Affairs revoked the business license of a Vacaville barber who publicly criticized the state’s health restrictions in media interviews and refused to close his business as required.
Other businesses have managed to escape the wrath of state and county officials during periods of restrictions, though as the rate of coronavirus infections increase and the number of hospital intensive care units decrease, that may change — only time will tell.
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