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UNION CITY (KPIX) – California health officials said the number of available intensive care beds continued to decline in the San Francisco Bay Area, to 6.3% capacity on Friday. This leads many Bay Area health experts to say that the stay-at-home order that was originally scheduled to expire next week will likely be extended. San Francisco has done it before.
The possibility of a prolonged ban on outdoor dining worries many restaurant owners. The owner of Mexico Tipico in Union City has invested thousands of dollars in his outdoor installation and heat lamps. He was hoping to use them again next week.
“All the restaurants in this area are affected because there is no more business now,” said Ricardo Soto, who manages Mexico Tipico. “Families going down want to enjoy the food at the table, not take it away.”
Soto said an extension to the outdoor dining ban could lead to more layoffs at his restaurant, but several restaurateurs said they were not surprised at the prospect of an extension.
“We’ve pivoted so many times that I’m tired of pivoting. I feel like I’m falling, ”said Eric Nielsen, business partner of two restaurants in downtown San Jose. “We’re worried. Again, it seems undefined. Even though we’re open at the end of February, what does it look like? For example, are we open again for outdoor dining? is the case, hopefully the public will come out again.
San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa said he feels for small business but said the capacity of intensive care units is dire and that is what the state looks at when it imposes sanitary order.
“Right now we’re in rescue mode, make no mistake about it. So the steps we take today are really going to make sure we are protected in the future, ”Canepa said.
The supervisor said about 5% of the county’s intensive care beds are currently available. He urges the county health department to extend the health ordinance and follow San Francisco’s lead.
“We don’t even calculate the December 25 numbers, the Christmas numbers and, on top of that, the New Year numbers,” supervisor Canepa said.
Dr Peter Chin-Hong is an infectious disease specialist at UCSF. He said hospitals will likely see more COVID patients in the next few days due to the holiday gatherings.
“It is inevitable that we will have a wave (caused by the Thanksgiving holiday) in addition to a wave (because of Christmas) in addition to a wave (of illegal New Years holidays). If you look at the trip around Christmas for example, it actually passed Thanksgiving, which was already the highest travel time of the year, ”Dr Chin-Hong said.
He said the number of COVID patients is expected to decline by the end of January.
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