The state's new regionally-based Stay Home Order went into effect Dec. 7 and will be in effect at least until Dec 28th.
County health officials say the number of cases, hospitalizations and ICU's for COVID-19 are all on the rise and a new model from U-C San Diego School of Medicine says that without a change in behavior by many residents or some kind of intervention, local hospitals may not be able to handle the growing number of ICU's.
- 2,104 new cases were reported to the County on Dec 8. The region’s total is now 97,549.
- 4,987 or 5.1% of all cases have required hospitalization.
- 1,090 or 1.1% of all cases and 21.9% of hospitalized cases had to be admitted to an intensive care unit.
- 15 new COVID-19 deaths were reported to the County on Dec. 8. The region’s total is now 1,103.
- The 14-day rolling average percentage of positive cases is 7.4%.
Vaccine Distribution Plan
The County also has announced the plan for distributing the first approved vaccine and who will be getting it first. The County is expected to get about 28,000 doses of a vaccine made by Pfizer in the next few days, after it receives emergency use authorization.
WATCH BELOW: Briefing by California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly
The stay at home order restrictions were triggered when the Southern California region’s intensive care unit capacity dropped below 15%. The region as of this week had an ICU capacity of slightly over 10-percent. The region includes the following counties in addition to San Diego: Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura.
The state is broken down into 5 regions.
- Southern California (including San Diego County)
- San Joaquin Valley
- Bay Area
- Greater Sacramento
- Northern California
The new Stay Home Order lasts for at least three weeks, resulting in the temporary closure of following businesses. On Monday, the state amended the order to allow outdoor playgrounds to be open.
- Bars
- Wineries
- Personal Service
- Hair Salons / Barbershops
NOTE: All non-essential travel is temporarily restricted, and Newsom said that if counties fail to enforce travel restrictions, the state will redirect their funding to other counties.
Essential businesses that are allowed to continue operation, include:
- Schools that have already received a waiver
- Critical infrastructure
- Retail (operating at 35% capacity to reduce exposure)
- Restaurants (open for take-out and delivery only - no on-site dining)
SEE MORE DETAILS OF STAY-AT-HOME ORDER RESTRICTIONS.
Current data can always be found at Covid19.CA.Gov.
(Image source: Office of the Governor Gavin Newsom).