California Gov. Newsom Re-Issues Lockdown Order

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday issued a new COVID-19 Stay-At-Home Order that places limits on a wide range of activities impacting offices, shopping centers, restaurants and hotels. The broad and comprehensive regional order takes effect at 12:59 p.m. on December 5 and will last for at least 21 days.

Gov. Newsom says, “Regions where the ICU capacity is falling below 15%, we are now mandating that we are implementing a stay-at-home order for three weeks. This is not a permanent state. This is what many had projected. We had predicted, the final surge in this pandemic. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We are a few months away from truly seeing real progress with the vaccine, real distribution, real accessibility, and real availability. We do not anticipate having to doing this once again.”

The state is organized into five geographic regions that are based on mutual aid requirements. If a region falls below the 15% ICU threshold, it will have 24 hours to implement the order. None of the five regions currently meet this threshold but some are projected to within the next week.

The restrictions apply to an array of activities – mainly those indoors – in parts of the state that are being severely challenged to meet critical care needs. Counties across Southern California, the Central Valley, Northern California and Greater Sacramento are expected to be required to adhere to the new rules sooner. Those counties are projected to experience increased numbers of patients needing to be admitted to intensive care units in early December. The Bay area is projected to hit the ICU capacity target in mid-December.

Offices: Allow remote only except for critical infrastructure sectors where remote working is not possible.
Retail & Shopping Centers: Allow indoor operation at 20% 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.
Entertainment Production including Professional Sports: Allow operation without live audiences. Additionally, testing protocol and “bubbles” are highly encouraged.
Personal services: Businesses will be required to close including hair and nail salons, playgrounds, family entertainment centers, as well as overnight campgrounds.

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Kaiser