California, Merced County stay-at-home orders beginning as coronavirus sweeps state
As the coronavirus lockdown loomed over Merced County on Sunday, stores, salons, restaurants, and other businesses prepared for the regional stay-at-home orders.
The orders, issued Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 that’s surged in recent weeks throughout the state, go into effect midnight Monday and will last at least three weeks.
The short-term goal of the orders is to avoid overloading hospitals in counties with less than 15% ICU capacity for the San Joaquin Valley region (from Stockton to Kern County).
Across California, infections are being added at a rate faster than even at the height of the summer surge. The California Department of Public Health reported more than 25,000 infections in a single day Friday, setting a record for a one-day caseload. Over the summer, the highest number was 12,807 infections in one day, less than half of the current record.
The second-highest single-day death toll was also recorded Friday, with 209 dead across the state. The record stands on July 31, when 219 people were reported dead of COVID-19. The death rate in California had been relatively low in October and early November, but is quickly rising again in tandem with the skyrocketing infection rates.
Another record set Friday was the new influx of hospital patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19. A total of 9,430 Californians are hospitalized with the virus, the highest amount seen since the start of the pandemic. That is certain to rise as more infections roll in through the holiday season.
Health officials had been concerned that large family gatherings at Thanksgiving and in the upcoming December holidays would prompt huge surges in infections.
As new infections continue to come in, more beds in intensive care units are filling up. As of Friday, a record amount of ICU beds were filled with COVID-19 patients. State health officials say 2,182 people are in intensive care with severe cases of the respiratory disease.
Impact to Merced County
Facing potential hospital shortages, Newsom last week ordered the stay-at-home restrictions, which were applied to two large regions Saturday.
The San Joaquin Valley region —Merced, Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne counties — were ordered to comply with the new restrictions, which will bar in-person dining, shutter bars and wineries, and close down several economic sectors.
The San Joaquin Valley region hit 8.6% ICU capacity Saturday afternoon, plummeting from nearly 20% in just two days. It currently has the lowest ICU bed capacity of any California region.
As of Friday, 191 people in Merced County had died from the virus since the beginning of the pandemic.
There have been 12,891 laboratory confirmed coronavirus cases in Merced County, with 821 residents needing to be hospitalized. Residents in the hospital remained at 64 on Friday.
Stanislaus County late Saturday afternoon reported a staggering 489 more coronavirus cases and three more deaths. The three deaths bring to 439 the number of residents who have died in Stanislaus County hospitals since March, according to the county dashboard. A total of 23,763 people have been infected since the pandemic’s start.
In the latest COVID-19 count provided Sunday, Fresno County reported 460 additional cases of the coronavirus. That means Fresno County has had a total of 40,568 cases since the pandemic began in early March.
Fresno County’s coronavirus-related death total, meanwhile, is at 506.
So far, the greater Sacramento region has not been included in Newsom’s most recent set of public health orders, rolling back economic activity in the face of extensive viral activity, but it has seen alarming increases.
The 11-county Southern California region — Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties — was ordered to comply with the new restrictions shortly after the San Joaquin Valley was. It has a capacity of 12.5%.
By 11:59 p.m. Sunday, when the orders are set to take effect, 27.7 million residents across 23 counties will be under the most stringent restrictions yet.
The three remaining regions designated by the state — Northern California, Greater Sacramento and the Bay Area — have remained above the 15% threshold necessary to trigger mandatory compliance with the orders.
Northern California’s ICU capacity has seen a moderate improvement over the past few days, jumping up from 18.6% on Thursday to 24.1% on Saturday, the highest in the state.
The Bay Area and Greater Sacramento are both hovering near the 21% mark, well above Newsom’s threshold, but low enough for several Bay Area counties and one Sacramento-area county to institute their own restrictions voluntarily.
San Francisco, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Alameda and Marin counties are all agreeing to adopt the more strict economic restrictions, while Yolo County is all but doing the same, making an exception to allow outdoor dining at restaurants, while the governor’s order forbids all in-person dining.
Health officials expect most ICU capacities to dip below the 15% mark in the coming days or weeks, meaning Greater Sacramento and the other remaining regions may soon be forced to close a significant amount of economic sectors despite the holiday shopping rush.
California has reported more than 1.3 million cases of coronavirus and 19,791 deaths due to COVID-19. The state has tested nearly 25 million people, and its test positivity rate is going up.
In the past two weeks, tests were averaging positive results 7.6% of the time, but in the last week, they were averaging 9.7% positives.
In the past month, the number of patients in ICUs for coronavirus has increased by 168%, from 814 on Nov. 4 to the current number of 2,182.
What will be closed?
Under the governor’s order announced Thursday, residents will be required to stay home except for essential tasks and outdoor exercise.
- Restaurants are prohibited from offering in-person dining, both indoors and outside. Only take-out and delivery orders will be allowed under the latest rules.
- Movie theaters, museums, zoos, and other entertainment places, including cardrooms, will close. Sporting events cannot be played before a live audience.
- Barbershops, hair salons, nail salons, massage outlets, spas, and other personal care businesses must shut down, too.
- Bars and wineries will have to close for the time being.
- Gyms cannot operate indoors, though exercise can be moved outside.
- Retail stores will be limited to no more than 20% capacity. That’s a reduction from the 25% that has been allowed.
- Churches and places of worship are permitted but only outdoors and with social distancing guidelines practiced.
This story was originally published December 6, 2020 at 5:30 PM.
