[ad_1]
Santa Clara County released new restrictions on COVID-19 in light of its increased workload on Saturday, including a temporary ban on all contact sports in high school, college and work, a mandatory quarantine for those traveling in the region over 150 miles away and new capacity limits for domestic businesses.
The new restrictions come as California experiences its worst COVID-19 outbreak to date and within hours of a similar rollback from San Francisco and San Mateo counties, which have been placed in the ‘purple reopening level. Most restrictive in the state from Saturday.
Santa Clara County’s new restrictions will include a 14-day quarantine for anyone traveling to and from the county more than 150 miles away, as well as a temporary ban on sports activities involving contact with others. people – including professional sports like San Francisco. 49ers football team. Card rooms should be closed temporarily, while hotels and other facilities should be open only for essential travel or to facilitate isolation or quarantine.
“I know it’s not what none of us want to hear, nor this situation none of us want to be in, but here we are,” said Dr. Sara Cody, Administrator. of health.
Stores must be limited to 10% of their capacity, with the exception of grocery stores, drugstores and drugstores, which can operate at 25% of their capacity. Healthcare workers traveling to the county to provide care – or patients – will be exempt from quarantine.
The new guidelines will go into effect Monday at 12:01 a.m. and will last until at least December 21, a three-week period, although they can be extended again.
It was not yet entirely clear how the new restrictions would affect the county’s vast network of high schools, colleges and professional sports. The summary of the ordinance refers to “all recreational activities which involve physical contact or proximity to persons outside one’s home, including all contact sports”, but does not specify whether any sports will be exempt from the tax. temporary ban.
“That means for these teams they won’t be able to play games or have practices where they have direct contact,” said county attorney James Williams, confirming the 49ers are on that list. He declined to comment on “other entities” that would be affected.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco and San Mateo counties, indoor worship and movie theaters, indoor gymnasiums, and indoor operations at museums, aquariums and zoos are scheduled to close as of noon Sunday. Retail must limit its capacity to 25%, while restaurants can operate outside. A curfew will be put in place from Monday evening, which would prohibit non-essential travel between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Coronavirus cases have increased dramatically statewide in recent weeks, including in the Bay Area. California’s seven-day average number of cases on Friday was 13,092, an increase of about 77% from Nov. 13 – even without case updates from some counties during the holiday week. The state’s positivity rate hovers around 6.2%, more than double its rate of 3% at the end of October.
Santa Clara leads the region in terms of overall cases, with more than 32,000 cases recorded since the start of the pandemic and 531 infections reported on Friday. The county’s average weekly cases hit an all-time high of 422 on Friday, marking the third day in a row the average broke its previous August record of 360 weekly average cases.
In San Mateo, cases have increased by about 85% over the past month, officials said, with a seven-day average of about 102 new infections a day, up from 88 in mid-November.
“We haven’t seen numbers like this in quite a while and we really need to reverse this incredibly disturbing trend,” San Mateo County Manager Mike Callagy said in a statement announcing the county’s move to purple level. “The important thing to remember is that we can turn the tide as long as we follow sound health and safety practices.”
Fifty-one of 58 counties – over 90% of California’s population – are in the state’s purple reopening level. Los Angeles County released its own stay-at-home order on Friday night.
[ad_2]
Source link