Most of California will be under orders to stay home as COVID-19 rises

Sacramento, Calif. (Reuters) – California’s two most densely populated areas and its farm granary will come under household orders by Sunday night as the COVID-19 pandemic strains hospitals in the most populous US state , officials said.

Designed to start when intensive care units in any of the five regions have little remaining capacity, the order affecting Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley will shut down bars, barber shops, and barber shops, and allow restaurants to remain open only for take-out and delivery services.

The closures, which go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, are triggered by an order announced Wednesday by Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat.

The San Francisco Bay Area will also be locked down on Sunday night, under another set of orders announced Friday by local officials.

“We know people are tired of the tough measures, but these are the only weapons we have to fight the virus,” said Dr Maggie Park, public health official for San Joaquin County in the agricultural region. hard hit state.

More than 25,000 new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in California on Friday, officials said on Saturday, a record since the start of the pandemic. The state also recorded 209 deaths, bringing the total to 19,791, officials said.

Overall, the United States recorded a record 228,407 new cases on Friday and 2,568 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

More than 100,900 people were hospitalized with the disease in the United States on Friday. That number has increased by around 22% in the past 14 days, according to the Reuters tally, but the growth rate has slowed from a 47% increase in the past 14 days.

California-wide orders, which come into effect whenever a region has less than 15% available capacity in its intensive care units, allow critical infrastructure to remain open, including schools that have graduated exemptions allowing them to organize courses in person. Dental offices will also remain open.

The orders have been criticized by some Republican politicians who say shutting down small businesses and ordering people to stay primarily at home will do more harm than good.

Critics also denounce decisions by several Democratic politicians, including Newsom and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, to dine at an expensive Napa Valley restaurant that was legally open, but at a time when the virus was on the rise and officials were urging people not to socialize during Thanksgiving. vacation.

“Government lockdowns do not reduce cases or stop spikes,” said Republican state MP James Gallagher, who represents a district north of Sacramento that is yet to be affected by the shutdown, said said in a press release after Newsom announced the regional plans.

The death toll in the United States currently stands at nearly 279,000 people. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington now predicts nearly 539,000 deaths from COVID-19 by April 1, even as vaccines begin to become available.

Joe Biden, a Democrat who defeated Donald Trump in the November election, said that when he takes office on January 20, he will adopt masked mandates where he has authority, such as federal buildings and interstate travel.