​Santa Clara County Issues New Stay-At-Home Order

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Amid an explosion of coronavirus cases in Santa Clara County and throughout the nation, county officials announced a new stay-at-home order Friday.

Santa Clara is among six counties that decided not to wait until less than 15 percent of ICU beds are available under a new Regional Stay-At-Home Order Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday.
San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin are the others.

Santa Clara County’s stay-at-home order goes into effect Sunday.

The Bay Area as of Thursday had a combined 25.30 percent of ICU capacity and isn’t projected to dip below the 15 percent threshold until later this month.

But county officials said in a statement that it made no sense to wait until after the health care system was on the brink of collapse to take action.

“Although health officials throughout the Bay Area are glad to see the State take action in light of the rapidly escalating surge in hospitalizations statewide, many believe even more aggressive action is necessary in the Bay Area to slow the surge and prevent our local hospitals from being overwhelmed,” the county’s Health Department’s statement said.

“Rather than waiting until Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed availability reaches critical levels and delaying closures that are inevitable, the Health Officers for the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and Santa Clara as well as the City of Berkeley are jointly announcing that they will implement the State’s Regional Stay Home Order now.”

Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody made the announcement jointly with officials from the other counties.

“We cannot wait until after we have driven off the cliff to pull the emergency break,” Cody said.

“We understand that the closures under the State order will have a profound impact on our local businesses. However, if we act quickly, we can both save lives and reduce the amount of time these restrictions have to stay in place, allowing businesses and activities to reopen sooner.”

The new health order bans all gatherings with members of other households. Constitutionally protected worship and political expression is allowed outdoors.

All indoor retail will be limited to 20 of capacity and restaurants can serve takeout orders only.
The new shutdown will last at least three weeks. All other restrictions announced by Santa Clara County last week remain in effect, including the mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers who are coming from a point of origin greater than 150 miles from the county’s borders.

A full list of sector closures and restrictions on activity under the State’s Regional Stay Home Order are described here.

The move to shutdown Santa Clara County comes amid an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

The country reported a single-day record 856 additional coronavirus cases Friday, the second time this week that record fell. The county has reported 3,293 new cases since Monday.

Coronavirus hospitalizations have nearly quadrupled in the last month. The county reported 87 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized on Nov. 5 compared with 311 on Friday.

The number of patients being treated in ICUs has ballooned too, from 22 on Nov. 9 to 79 on Friday.