Source: California lifting stay-at-home orders Monday – San Francisco Chronicle

Source: California lifting stay-at-home orders Monday – San Francisco Chronicle

California will lift regional stay-at-home orders across the entire state on Monday, sources have told The Chronicle.

A source close to the governor’s office confirmed that the state plans to end the stay-at-home order on Monday morning, moving counties back into the reopening framework based on colored tiers. It will no longer be tied strictly to the number of beds that are available in intensive care units.

Now, with the post-holidays surge lessening, ICU availability in the regions that remained under the stay-at-home order as of Sunday — including the Bay Area and Southern California — are projected to rise above the 15% threshold that triggered the lockdown measures. This is why the Newsom administration has decided to lift the restrictions, according to the source.

Counties will be moving back into the tiered system to determine how to re-open. Most regions across the state are expected to move into the purple tier, which means restaurants can open for outdoor service, and personal care services, like hair and nail salons can re-open with modifications.

News of the possible change began circulating Sunday evening after the California Restaurant Association sent a letter to members saying it had received word from Newsom’s administration that the stay-at-home orders would be lifted. Several members passed the letter along to media outlets including The Chronicle.

The decision comes more than six weeks after the Bay Area and nearly all the rest of the state was placed under stringent stay-at-home orders due to the explosive spread of the virus in late November and early December.

Though the Dec. 3 order was statewide, it was not triggered unless ICU projections fell below 15%. Because of this, the state’s northernmost counties were never affected. Most Bay Area counties voluntarily moved into the lockdown condition on Dec. 6. But as of Saturday’s report from the state, based on Friday data, the Bay Area’s ICU capacity was 23.4%.

More details about the decision are expected Monday morning.

Alexei Koseff and Michael Williams are staff writers at The Chronicle. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com, michael.williams@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff @michaeldamianw

Published at Mon, 25 Jan 2021 06:52:07 +0000