Governor Newsome has announced a new regional stay at home order this week, and this one essentially brings us back to the lockdowns we saw at the beginning of the pandemic. The order splits the state into 5 regional hospital networks, a deviation from the previous strategy of splitting the state by county.
“If we don’t act now, our hospital system will be overwhelmed,” Newsom said during Thursday’s press conference. “If we don’t act now we’ll continue to see a death rate climb, more lives lost.”
The biggest motivation behind the new order is a lack of space in intensive care units across the state. Now, any area that sees its intensive care unit capacity drop below a 15% threshold will be subject to the restrictions in the order, and those restrictions are very severe.
If a region hits the ICU threshold, essentially all “non-essential” businesses will be forced to close, including:
- Bars
- Wineries and breweries
- Personal Services
- Hair Salons and barbershops
- Indoor and outdoor playgrounds
- Personal care services
- Museums, zoos, and aquariums
- Movie theaters
- Live audience sports
- Amusement parks
Restaurants in affected regions will also no longer be permitted to offer indoor or outdoor dining, takeout and delivery will be the only options.
“This is the most challenging moment since the beginning of this pandemic,” Newsom added.
Businesses that can stay open include critical infrastructure, schools that have already been approved for in-person learning, medical and dental care, and childcare/Pre-K services. Additionally, outdoor recreational facilities will be open, but overnight camping will not be permitted, while retail stores and shopping centers will remain open with 20% capacity.
To put things in perspective, many states around the country, like Florida, are essentially fully open with few to no COVID-19 restrictions. Meanwhile, in California, we have reverted to square one and face basically the same lockdown from the early days of the pandemic.
Struggling business owners and individuals alike do not want another lockdown. Unfortunately, Governor Newsom doesn’t trust people to make their own decisions, and instead feels like it is his right to force everyone to lockdown in the name of safety.
The great Ben Franklin once said, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” I can not think of a circumstance in which that statement would make more sense. Everyone has the power to quarantine if they are at risk, or, knowing the risk, make the conscious decision to live life as they please. Californians do not need the government to protect them from a virus; they are perfectly capable of doing that on their own.
To see the full details of the latest stay at home order, visit this
link.
