Stanislaus County’s COVID stay-at-home order will likely be extended. Here’s why
The state will likely announce an extension of the stay-at-home order for Stanislaus County on Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain San Joaquin Valley hospitals.
In the San Joaquin Valley region Monday, hospital intensive care units remained at 0% capacity. The area needs to meet or exceed a projected capacity of 15% for officials to lift the order.
“It is clear and understandable that it’s likely those stay at home orders will be extended,” Newsom said in an update Monday. “But again, based upon the data that determination will be made.”
Dr. Mark Ghaly, California Health and Human Service Secretary, will announce the potential extension Tuesday after the state finishes collecting data to make projections for the next month, Newsom added. The latest stay-at-home order for the region began three weeks ago on Dec. 6 at 11:59 p.m. and could have lifted Monday if requirements were met.
Designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the order prohibits nonessential social gatherings, bans indoor and outdoor dining and closes hair salons, bars, and indoor recreation facilities. It does not close schools or essential industries.
It may take until the end of January for the region to exit the stay-at-home order, said Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, county health officer. For COVID-19 orders, the San Joaquin Valley region is made up of Stanislaus, Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties.
“We know ICU capacity peaks much later than cases and, with Christmas and New Year’s, we aren’t sure when that peak will be,” Vaishampayan said in an email. “We seem to not be increasing right now but that may change in the next few weeks due to the gatherings occurring.”
Stanislaus County hospitals had 4.5% of its adult ICU beds available as of data released Sunday, when 348 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19. The county’s 14-day rolling positivity rate was 14.57% as of Sunday compared to 12.3% for the entire state. As of Monday, the state was reporting 80.7 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
To date, more than 33,000 Stanislaus County residents have tested positive for COVID-19. About 580 of them have died and the county’s COVID-19 death rate is among the worst in the state.
This story was originally published December 28, 2020 at 1:54 PM.
