Southern California’s Stay-at-Home Order Extended Into January

With Southern California’s ICU capacity at zero percent, the state will extend the regional stay-at-home order that was declared back in early December. Aside from a short blip when confusion over a judge’s ruling prompted some eateries to briefly restart on-site dining, San Diego County restaurants have been restricted to takeout and delivery only.

Though the initial order was set to expire this week, dire COVID-19 case numbers and rising hospitalizations mean that restaurants were dealt yet another blow and will not be able to reopen for New Year’s Eve. Yesterday, California’s Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said that Southern California will continue under the regional stay-at-home order until the ICU projections are above or equal to 15 percent.

Going forward, the state will be making daily four-week projections based on four indicators: current ICU capacity, current seven-day average case rate, current transmission rate, and the current rate of ICU admissions. If the four-week projection is at or above 15 percent of ICU availability, Ghaly said the region could be released from the order early, though numbers don’t look good right now as we wait to see the impact of the post-Christmas surge.