NEWS! California Governor Will Issue Stricter Stay-Home Mandates Based on Hospital Capacity

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently upgraded 40 counties to the highest risk level based on the spread of COVID-19 illnesses.

Gavin Newsom ©(Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press)

In response to this, Los Angeles county issued stricter curfews and new stay-home mandates. The mandate has restricted capacities on all businesses and does not allow groups of more than one household to gather. Today, Governor Newsom has described a new mandate that will be implemented if hospital capacities fall below 15%.

Regions where the ICU capacity dips below 15% will be issued a mandatory stay-at-home order for three weeks. The state of California is being divided into five regions. This includes the Bay Area, Southern California, Greater Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley, and Northern California. If a region is issued a mandate, businesses and residents would have 48 hours to adopt the stay-home order.

©Newsom Conference

All non-essential businesses like bars, wineries, personal services, hair salons will be closed when that region is under the mandate. Businesses and organizations like schools, critical infrastructures, retail with 20% capacity, and restaurants for take-out or delivery can remain open. Disneyland Resort has yet to reopen fully, but Downtown Disney and Buena Vista Street could potentially be affected if the mandate was issued in Orange County.

Newsom stated the reasoning behind the new mandate is that “If we don’t act now, our hospital system will be overwhelmed.” Currently, no regions have met the requirements for the mandatory stay at home order. Health officials speculated some regions could reach below the 15% threshold this coming week. We’ll continue to follow up on the new California mandates.