Well. This is a big way to end the week.
Starting Sunday night, five counties in the San Francisco Bay Area will enter stay-at-home orders. And that means all “nonessential travel” (we’ll get to that in a second) is prohibited. Lodging providers aren’t allowed to even host nonessential travelers.
(Seriously. If you’re planning to visit anywhere in California, please don’t. You’ll be miserable. And if San Francisco starts lockdown now, many other areas will likely soon follow. No city here — especially Los Angeles — can stand it when another region gets more attention.)
San Francisco Bay Area Shutdown
First of all, five Bay Area counties go into shutdown mode starting Sunday evening. They are:
- Sunday
- San Francisco
- Santa Clara
- Contra Costa
- Monday
- Alameda
- Tuesday
- Marin
Here’s what closes under the order:
- Outdoor restaurant dining
- Hair salons, barbershops, nail salons and other personal care services
- Playgrounds
- Outdoor cardrooms and satellite wagering and casinos
- Outdoor museums, zoos and aquariums
- Outdoor movie theaters
- Outdoor wineries
- Overnight stays at campgrounds
- Food, drink or alcohol sales at outdoor recreational facilities
— Los Angeles Times
Supermarkets and drugstores will remain open in most of the Bay Area, as will malls. But all will likely operate at even more reduced capacities than they are now.
Travel Restrictions
According to the Los Angeles Times, hotels and other lodging providers in shelter-in-place orders “safer-at-home” phases (gross) are prohibited “for tourism, leisure and other nonessential reasons, like nonessential travel, whether it be a vacation or a road trip to see family or friends.”
So what’s considered “essential”?
The Times says, “workers in healthcare, food, agriculture, energy, utilities, transportation, communications, government operations, manufacturing, financial services and the entertainment industry.”
Yep. The entertainment industry.
Now, if you’re going to visit friends and family and staying at their homes, I don’t believe that’s prohibited. (As long as they’re not charging you as a hotel or AirBNB.)
Final Approach
This likely is the start of a snowball effect up and down California, IMHO. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it pick up along the West Coast, either.
Hopefully, this all drastically curbs the spread of COVID.
But will it? Well…
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Didn’t the governor already prohibit “nonessential travel” in the whole state starting today, Dec. 4? I thought I’d been smart planning a trip to less-populated Palm Springs, but the whole state is a no go as of today.
I’ve seen conflicting reports. Some say the entire state, others say only the Bay Area.
I’m confused too. I think you made the point well: “If you’re planning to visit anywhere in California, please don’t. You’ll be miserable.” Regardless of the exact rules, you don’t want to be there any time soon.
The Newsom SIP order “activates” when a region falls under a 15% capacity threshold for ICU beds – it is not immediately in effect statewide. The Bay Area counties are mostly above this threshold but have proactively adopted this identical policy before they actually hit those thresholds. Hopefully this clarifies the difference between the Newsom SIP and the regional SIP orders.
The Gov is looking at shut downs based on hospital bed situation. The Counties in the Bay Area have decided to act anyway and not wait. For many of us it is just a continuation of life under Covid.
Crazy regulation happy liberal left sided Calif..Going to kill the economy and then ask the FEDS and President Trump for more $$$$ but the Gov and Mayor of San Fran can eat in restaurants and do whatever they want…DO as i say not as I do is the Mantra…
(Hat tip- The Babylon Bee)
SACRAMENTO, CA—Gavin Newsom announced a plan today to issue special government ID cards to Democrat politicians allowing them to break lockdown rules.
Should a Democrat leader be caught eating at a fancy restaurant, flying to Hawaii with some lobbyists, or traveling to Mexico for vacation, they’ll simply need to show their Democrat politician ID card, and they’ll be off the hook.
“We are following the SCIENCE!” Newsom said. “And the SCIENCE! says that only Republicans and poor people can really spread this thing. We Democrat leaders are a low-risk group. In fact, medical experts are telling me I am completely immune due to the large quantity of hair gel I use every day.”
“SCIENCE!” he added for no reason in particular.
He also proposed marking non-Democrat politicians with special patches so they are easily identifiable when they are breaking the law by walking outside or eating a burger and can be arrested on sight.
Remember. San Mateo county did NOT go a long along with this. We are open. What ever that means these days.
I would like to point out california took 2500 ICU beds out of service over a day in July and October. So this capacity issue is somewhat confusing using a lower number by artificially taking out capacity here.
WTF
These counties are impacted by overflowing diseased and drugged homeless encampment populations; high utilizes of ED and ICU beds.
The virus was weaponized to recognize county borders and curfews. (Sarcasm)