California's Stay-at-Home Order Explained As Gov. Newsom Puts Severe Regional Restrictions in Place

Life & Trends Reporter

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a "Regional Stay-At-Home Order" on Thursday, which requires residents to stay at home for at least three weeks in regions where the order is in place. All non-essential travel is banned, while bars, wineries, hair salons, barbershops and in-person dining services at restaurants will be closed under the order.

Newsom tweeted Thursday: "Our ICUs are climbing quickly toward their capacity. Our death rate is rising. To slow the surge of #COVID19 and save lives, CA is introducing a Regional Stay-At-Home Order."

The new order will be triggered when the ICU capacity drops below 15 percent in any given region among the five being tracked by state health officials.

"No regions currently meet this threshold but some are projected to within the next week," the governor's office confirmed in a statement Thursday.

If a region falls below the 15 percent ICU threshold, it will have 24 hours to implement the regional stay-at-home order, which goes into effect from 12:59 p.m. local time on December 5.

"Regions will remain in the Regional Stay at Home Order status for at least three weeks once triggered. Counties are eligible to come off the Regional Stay at Home Order after three weeks if their hospital ICU capacity projected four weeks out reaches 15 percent," the governor's office stated.

The latest order is a modification of the state's initial stay-at-home order issued in March and builds on the current Blueprint for a Safer Economy reopening plan.

The new order was issued following "an unprecedented surge in the level of community spread of COVID-19," across the state, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

Our ICUs are climbing quickly toward their capacity. Our death rate is rising.

To slow the surge of #COVID19 and save lives, CA is introducing a Regional Stay-At-Home Order.

Regions where ICU capacity⁰fall below 15% will be placed into this Stay-at-Home Order ⁰for 3 weeks.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) December 3, 2020

Regions where the new order is in effect

The five regions where the latest order can be triggered include the following:

Northern California: Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity counties.
Bay Area: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma counties.
Greater Sacramento: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba counties.
San Joaquin Valley: Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne counties.
Southern California: Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura counties.

Residents must stay home, non-essential travel banned

The new order directs residents to "stay at home as much as possible to limit the mixing with other households that can lead to COVID-19 spread."

Exercising outdoors with members of your household is allowed "when safe to do so and socially distanced," while all non-essential travel is banned.

The governor's office noted: "Except as otherwise required by law, no hotel or lodging entity in California shall accept or honor out of state reservations for non-essential travel, unless the reservation is for at least the minimum time period required for quarantine and the persons identified in the reservation will quarantine in the hotel or lodging entity until after that time period has expired."

Some recreational facilities, other services are closed

In any given region where the latest order is triggered, all operations in the following sectors must be shut:

Indoor and outdoor playgrounds.
Indoor recreational facilities.
Hair salons and barbershops.
Personal care services.
Museums, zoos, and aquariums..
Movie theaters.
Wineries.
Bars, breweries and distilleries.
Family entertainment centers.
Cardrooms and satellite wagering.
Limited services.
Live audience sports.
Amusement parks.

Retailers, other venues can open with modifications

The venues below will be open with the following additional modifications while implementing 100 percent mask usage and social distancing practices:

Outdoor recreational facilities: Allow outdoor operation only without any food, drink or alcohol sales. Additionally, overnight stays at campgrounds will not be permitted.
Retail: Allow indoor operation at 20 percent capacity with entrance metering and no eating or drinking in the stores. Additionally, special hours should be instituted for seniors and others with chronic conditions or compromised immune systems.
Shopping centers: Allow indoor operation at 20 percent capacity with entrance metering and no eating or drinking in the stores. Additionally, special hours should be instituted for seniors and others with chronic conditions or compromised immune systems.
Hotels and lodging: Allow to open for critical infrastructure support only.
Restaurants: Allow only for take-out or pick-up.
Offices: Allow remote only except for critical infrastructure sectors where remote working is not possible.
Places of worship: Allow outdoor services only.
Entertainment production including professional sports: Allow operation without live audiences. Additionally, testing protocol and "bubbles" are highly encouraged.

Schools and healthcare services remain open

The latest order does not modify the current guidance for K-12 schools, so schools that are currently open can remain open.

All non-urgent medical and dental care, child care and pre-K as well as critical infrastructure are "allowed to remain open when a remote option is not possible with appropriate infectious disease preventative measures including 100 percent masking and physical distancing," the statement noted.

See more information on the latest order at the website of the governor's office.