California just sent out its largest ever wireless alert, telling these residents to stay home

Californians in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley received a wireless emergency alert from the state Tuesday, urging them to stay at home unless they are doing an essential activity.

The alert at noon was sent to cellphone users in Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties, as well as Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.

It was the largest wireless alert ever sent out by the state.

Though some residents in southern Sacramento County may have received the alert, Sacramento County — which is part of the Greater Sacramento region — has not yet fallen below the ICU capacity threshold required to trigger the order.

The stay-at-home order for the two regions went into effect at 11:59 p.m. Sunday and will remain in effect for at least three weeks. They will be able to exit the stay-at-home order if intensive care unit projections for January show a capacity equal to or greater than 15%.

Under the order, several business sectors, such as bars and breweries, must close, while retail sectors must operate at limited capacity and restaurants are limited to carry out and delivery.

The news alert comes as ICU capacity in the two regions is at an all-time low. ICU capacity is at 10.1% in Southern California, and down to 5.6% in the San Joaquin Valley, Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said during a news conference on Tuesday.

“The fact is that transmission is now so widespread across the state that all nonessential activities create a serious risk for transmission,” Ghaly said.

This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 1:41 PM with the headline "California just sent out its largest ever wireless alert, telling these residents to stay home."