Millions of people in Southern California, San Joaquin Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area will find themselves under the new stay-at-home order this week in an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19 and prevent hospitals from moving forward.
Of California’s approximately 33 million residents, one million residents, the state with about 85% of the country’s population, will be under orders starting Sunday evening.
An order issued by Governor Gavin News last week would affect about 27 million people in the Southern California and San Joaquin Valley regions in both regions, requiring new restrictions if the capacity of a region’s hospital intensive care unit falls below 15%.
About six million will remain under the order after the two area governments decided not to wait for ICU capacity to fall below that threshold.
As of Sunday, ICU capacity in Southern California, the state’s most populous state, had dropped to 10.3%, according to the state’s Covid-19 website. In the San Joaquin Valley area, covering many parts of central California, that metric has dropped by 6.6%.
More than 30,000 new cases were reported in the state on Sunday, a record in California.
The order takes effect on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. And businesses such as bars, hair salons, museums, movie theaters and indoor entertainment facilities need to close. Retailers are allowed to remain open at 20% capacity, while restaurants are limited to takeout and delivery service. Travel is prohibited except for necessary activities.
Schools already open for personal education, with important infrastructural occupations, may remain open.
The order will be in force for at least three weeks and will be withdrawn only when the estimated ICU capacity of a region exceeds 15%.
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