Newsom ‘likely’ to extend stay-at-home order in Fresno, Merced and Valley counties
The regional stay-at-home order affecting businesses and others in the San Joaquin Valley is likely to extend beyond the original order, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday.
Regional stay-at-home orders are in place for 98% of the state’s residents, Newsom noted. The San Joaquin Valley and Southern California regions each have 0% ICU capacity to take the sickest patients, Newsom said .
The Valley order is set to expire on Dec. 28 and Southern California’s sunsets on Dec. 30. Newsom was not specific about how much longer the order could last.
“We are likely — it’s pretty self-evident — going to need to extend those dates,” Newsom said.
The San Joaquin Valley region as it pertains to the COVID-19 orders includes Fresno, Merced, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, San Benito, San Joaquin, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties.
Fresno County ranks highest in the country for metro areas where the coronavirus pandemic is spreading the fastest, according to an analysis Monday from the New York Times.
The state is experiencing record-breaking numbers in terms of how many people are in ICU beds at 3,644 — double the peak from July. That is also an increase of 63% from two weeks ago, according to state numbers.
The infection positivity rate across the state has also risen from 8.7% two weeks ago to 12% on Monday, according to state numbers.
Several factors will go into state officials’ determinations related to an extension of the stay-at-home order, according to Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s secretary of health and human services. Factors include the number of ICU beds projected to be available on the day the order is set to be lifted, capacity left in area hospitals, the trend in the seven-day average of cases and transmission rates.
For the San Joaquin Valley, that means officials would do the calculations before the scheduled end of the order on Dec. 28. At the current rate, neither the Valley nor Southern California looks to be ready to come out from under the order, Ghaly said.
“We will only make that call when we actually do the calculations, when the time is right,” Ghaly said.
Restaurants
Under the orders, restaurants cannot serve food indoors or on patios outside the eateries. Only to-go and delivery is available.
Restaurants have been a sticking point as many restaurants are limping by or closing altogether.
The holiday season is typically a big moneymaker for many restaurants, according to Chuck Van Fleet, owner of Vino Grille & Spirits and president of the Fresno chapter of the California Restaurant Association
Van Fleet said he lost $100,000 last week compared to the same time last year, because he can’t hold banquets. It’s difficult to see eateries kneecapped while big box stores are overrun with shoppers, he said.
“What’s disappointing is (Newsom) doesn’t even allow us to do outdoor dining,” he said. “People are just getting together in their backyards.”
Van Fleet argues the regulations in a restaurant are safer than people getting together in a backyard without any precautionary measures.
Hospitals
Fresno Mayor Lee Brand noted the vaccines coming soon to the region as “a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel,” but urged Fresnans to stay safe.
“Given the dramatic increase in our case numbers, we are still very far from reaching the end,” Brand said. “That means we all need to be more vigilant than ever to slow the spread of COVID-19 before our hospitals become totally overwhelmed.”
“It bears repeating. Wear your mask, maintain social distancing, wash your hands often, only go out for essential tasks and don’t mix with people outside of your own household.”
Four regional alternative care sites are running and have admitted 62 patients, according to state officials. That includes 16 people admitted to the Porterville Alternative Care Site.
Officials have set up a 50-bed site at Community Regional Medical Center. The Fresno Convention Center could hold up to 150, but it remains at what officials call the “warm stage,” which means it’s ready but not open.
Overall, the state’s ICU capacity was just 2.5% on Monday, according to Newsom. Some hospitals have canceled non-essential elective surgeries, such as hip replacements, that might take up beds that could soon be needed for COVID-19 patients.
Nurses say the crush of cases means they have less time to spend with patients, many of whom are sicker than they have ever been.
“The more patients we have, the more there’s a risk of making a mistake, especially if we’re rushing,” said Wendy Macedo. a nurse at UCLA Health Santa Monica Medical Center. ”Obviously we’re trying to avoid that, but we’re only human.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 1:57 PM.
