- California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the new regional stay-at-home order on Thursday
- It will apply to any of California’s five regions where available ICU capacity drops below 15 percent
- None of the regions are at that threshold but Newsom said four are expected to reach it in the next few days
- Announcement comes after state broke its record for daily new cases on Wednesday with more than 20,000
- A record 9,702 people are currently hospitalized across California – 2,147 are in intensive care
- This leaves the state with fewer than 1,800 available beds
- ‘The bottom line is if we don’t act now, our hospital system will be overwhelmed,’ Newsom said
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a new stay-at-home order for regions where fewer than 15 percent of intensive care unit beds are available.
The new order divides the state into five regions – none of which currently meet the threshold for the new restrictions.
However Newsom said four out of five regions – Greater Sacramento, Northern California, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California – are on track to hit that threshold within a few days and the fifth – the Bay Area – is expected to meet it by the middle of the month.
When they do surpass 85 percent capacity, the state will order affected regions to close hair salons and barber shops, limit retail stores to 20 percent capacity and only allow restaurants to offer take-out and delivery for at least three weeks.
Northern California has 15 percent of its ICU beds available, San Joaquin Valley has 22 percent, Greater Sacramento has 24 percent, Southern California has 26 percent and the Bay Area has 28 percent.- READ MORE
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