How The Coronavirus 'Curfew' Impacts Riverside County Residents

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Amid a jump in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health on Thursday announced a "Limited Stay at Home Order" that generally prohibits nonessential work, gatherings and movement between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in purple tier counties — including Riverside County.

The order takes effect at 10 p.m. Saturday and remains in effect through 5 a.m. Dec. 21.

Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state's Health and Human Services secretary, said the order is not a strict curfew and explained that people can still leave home after hours. He said the idea is to cut off activities and gatherings of people that can promote virus spread.

"This is the same as the March Stay at Home Order, but is applied only between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. and only in purple tier counties that are seeing the highest rates of positive [coronavirus] cases and hospitalizations," according to a news release from the governor's office.

“The virus is spreading at a pace we haven’t seen since the start of this pandemic, and the next several days and weeks will be critical to stop the surge. We are sounding the alarm,” Newsom said. “It is crucial that we act to decrease transmission and slow hospitalizations before the death count surges. We’ve done it before, and we must do it again.”

How does this new order impact Riverside County residents?

First, you can leave your house after hours, but you can't gather with people who don't live with you unless it's for essential work.

"Nothing in this order prevents any number of persons from the same household from leaving their residence, lodging, or temporary accommodation, as long as they do not engage in any interaction with (or otherwise gather with) any number of persons from any other household, except as specifically permitted herein," the governor said.

Going for a 4 a.m. jog, doing a midnight pharmacy run — those are OK. Emergency medical care facilities will remain open, and nothing in the order requires essential services, such as grocery stores or veterinary hospitals, to close at 10 p.m., so people can still get what they need.

Also, homeless residents are exempt from the order.

Instead, the order seems targeted to social butterflies who like to party.

"Activities conducted during 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. are often nonessential and more likely related to social activities and gatherings that have a higher likelihood of leading to reduced inhibition and reduced likelihood for adherence to safety measures like wearing a face covering and maintaining physical distance," the governor's news release read.

While bars have been prohibited from opening in purple tier counties, many Riverside County restaurant/bars have welcomed patrons — legally. As long as food is served with drink, all is OK under the purple tier.

So far, nothing in the order changes that. However, establishments that serve alcohol require a state permit, so complaints to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control about restaurant/bars serving after the 10 p.m. cutoff could make life difficult for local owners.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a statement Thursday that the new state order should be followed but that his deputies will not cite people solely for noncompliance.

"It has been the policy of the Sheriff’s Department to encourage responsible behavior and compliance with the Governor’s orders," he said. "To ensure constitutional rights are not violated and to limit potential negative interactions and exposure to our deputies, we will not be responding to calls for service based solely on noncompliance with the new order or social distancing and mask guidelines."

The sheriff advocated for personal responsibility among residents.

"It is very important that all of us do everything we can to protect ourselves from contracting or spreading this virus," he said. "The only way to ensure you do not contract the virus is to stay at home and avoid contact with others. For those going out into public, it is very important to protect yourself from contracting and/or spreading the virus by wearing a mask and social distancing."

Still, residents who plan to throw loud holiday parties that last into the wee hours might get a knock on the door from law enforcement if irritated neighbors call police. From there, it's unclear what might happen.

With the new order, the California Highway Patrol is now armed with reason to issue tickets to groups of people who are moving about after hours, but it's not known yet whether the agency will conduct any crackdowns.

In an email statement, CHP Director of Communications Fran Clader said, "The health and safety of our employees and the public we serve is our highest priority. In an effort to preserve public health and safety of all Californians and stop the surge of COVID-19 cases, the Governor has instituted a limited stay at home order from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. with the goal that people will self-regulate their behavior, protect themselves, and go about only the 'essential' activities during those hours.

"The mission of the CHP is unchanged," the statement continued. "CHP officers will continue to patrol throughout California and use their sound professional judgment to conduct enforcement stops for violations of the law based upon probable cause. The CHP does not make arrests based on race, ethnicity, gender, political affiliation, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or for any reason other than violations of the law based on probable cause. As always, CHP officers will have the discretion to take appropriate action when a violation is observed."

In reality, the new order doesn't change much in Riverside County. Like the face mask mandate that also lacks teeth, it comes down to personal responsibility to protect those who are more vulnerable in the community as well as essential workers such as police and fire personnel, health care workers and grocery store employees.

“We are asking Californians to change their personal behaviors to stop the surge," said Dr. Erica Pan, the state’s acting public health officer. "We must be strong together and make tough decisions to stay socially connected but physically distanced during this critical time. Letting our guard down could put thousands of lives in danger and cripple our health care system.

“It is especially important that we band together to protect those most vulnerable around us as well as essential workers who are continuing their critical work amidst this next wave of widespread community transmission across the state," Pan said. "Together we prevented a public health crisis in the spring, and together we can do it again.”

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California Issues Curfew Order For Purple Tier Counties

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