Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the end of a statewide stay-at-home order that has been in place since early December.
Newsom shuttered eateries, closed nonessential businesses, and mandated residents stay indoors in localities where intensive care unit capacity dipped below 15% strength, the New York Times reported. The restrictions, which were said to last for a minimum of three weeks, were extended in January for some regions, including Southern California, which had an ICU capacity of 0% in late December.
“California is slowly starting to emerge from the most dangerous surge of this pandemic yet, which is the light at the end of the tunnel we’ve been hoping for,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California Health and Human Services. “Seven weeks ago, our hospitals and front-line medical workers were stretched to their limits, but Californians heard the urgent message to stay home when possible, and our surge after the December holidays did not overwhelm the healthcare system to the degree we had feared.”
As of Monday morning, the Bay Area, Southern California, and the San Joaquin Valley were under lockdown. The Bay Area saw its ICU capacity increase to roughly 23% on Saturday, while Southern California continued to remain at 0%, and San Joaquin hovered at just over 1%.
Outdoor dining, fitness services, barbershops, and other purveyors can begin operating at some capacity. Newsom’s order, however, does not stop counties from implementing virus regulations that may be more stringent than that of the state.
The reported decision follows an announcement from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, who lifted his state’s nighttime business curfew and stay-at-home order earlier in the week. In November, Baker mandated in-person dining, fitness centers, bars, and other recreational activities cease service at 9:30 p.m. local time after a wave of COVID-19 cases.
California, the biggest coronavirus hot spot in the United States, has nearly 3,110,000 cases of the virus, with around 37,000 deaths attributed to the virus, according to a Sunday morning update from a state webpage.
