California State Imposes Stay-At-Home Order On Bay Area Counties

Press release from the City of Millbrae:

December 16, 2020

The State of California announced today (Wednesday, December 16, 2020) that San Mateo County and 10 other Bay Area counties will fall under a mandatory regional stay-at-home order that takes effect tomorrow (Thursday, December 17, 2020) at 11:59 p.m.

The new stay-at-home order – prohibiting private gatherings of any size, except for outdoor church services and political demonstrations – was implemented because regional ICU bed capacity fell below 15%, a trigger threshold.

Many businesses and activities must close, including salons and barbershops. Retail can remain open at 20% capacity, and restaurants can only offer take-out and delivery service. Nonessential travel and the use of hotels or short-term rentals for leisure is banned.

Office workers will be required to conduct remote work only except for critical infrastructure sectors where remote working is not possible.

People can still go outside alone or with members of their own household for essential activities like going to the doctor, buying groceries and picking up take-out food. Outdoor activities like walking, hiking, cycling and outdoor religious ceremonies are permitted.

The new regional shelter-in-place order will remain in effect for at least three weeks. After the three weeks, the order may be lifted if the region’s projected ICU capacity meets or exceeds 15%.

To learn more about the new regional shelter-in-place order, please visit: https://cmo.smcgov.org/press-release/dec-16-2020-san-mateo-county-now-under-regional-stay-home-order-virus-cases.

To learn more about San Mateo County’s response to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.smchealth.org/coronavirus.

This press release was produced by the City of Millbrae. The views expressed here are the author’s own.