Yolo County to implement new COVID restrictions as hospital beds run out
(Graphic by Solano News Update)
Yolo County health officials announced on Friday new restrictions for residents and businesses there as the number of novel coronavirus infection cases increase and hospital beds become scarce.
The move was announced ahead of a renewed state-mandated stay-at-home order that imposed additional gathering, travel and business restrictions on California residents based on regional hospital intensive care unit capacity data.
The state-mandated order analyzes health data from groups of several counties, or “regions,” before determining if stricter COVID-19 restrictions will be rolled out. The restrictions are on top of county-level prohibitions made through the state’s color-coded tier system, which has caused some confusion among residents.
Hoping to clear things up, Yolo County announced on Friday it would impose new restrictions on residents and businesses there as its hospital intensive care unit capacity shrinks.
“Yolo County hospitals are running out of ICU beds,” Dr. Aimee Sission, Yolo County’s public health officer, said in a statement distributed to reporters on Friday. “If more people become infected with coronavirus, we are facing the reality of not having enough resources to adequately treat them.”
Starting Sunday, Yolo County will prohibit indoor services at most businesses, requiring establishments like restaurants, bars and wineries to offer outdoor service only. Only family members will be served at a table, health officials said, and tables must be spaced at least six feet apart.
Gyms and fitness centers will be allowed to remain open but only if they operate outside, while indoor retail businesses like grocery stores can serve customers indoors but must limit the number of shoppers to 20 percent of the store’s capacity.
In some ways, the new restrictions in Yolo County are weaker than ones imposed by state health officials under the new stay-at-home order, which takes effect one day earlier. Under the state’s order, restaurants are not allowed to serve patrons indoors or outdoors, and wineries and bars must close completely.
The state’s restrictions are based on data collected at a “regional” level, which groups counties together, then projects the average number of available hospital intensive care unit beds at a given time. If the number falls below 15 percent, the state’s restrictions take effect for at least three weeks.
Officials in Yolo County, which is part of the state’s Greater Sacramento monitoring region and shares a border to the north and east of Solano County, said they aren’t waiting for the the state’s trigger and want to take action immediately before that happens.
“We have to act now to slow the spread by limiting high-risk activities that bring people close together, especially when they aren’t wearing masks,” Dr. Sisson said. “Even when activities are still permitted, individuals should minimize exposure to people they don’t live with.”
Yolo County’s voluntary decision comes after five counties in the state’s Bay Area monitoring region said they would make similar moves and impose tougher restrictions on residents there.
Those decisions come in contrast to one made by Solano County health officials on Friday. Like other areas, Solano County has seen a spike in coronavirus-related infections over the last few weeks, but health officials say those positive cases are due to people gathering with others outside of their home, not because of business activities.
For that reason, county health officials said they had no plans to put in place tougher coronavirus restrictions until regional intensive care unit space falls below the state’s availability threshold of 15 percent.
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