Orange County will implement the newly-instated Regional Stay-at-Home Order on Dec. 6 after ICU capacity in the Southern California region dropped to 12.5 percent on Dec. 5.
On Dec. 3, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a Regional Stay-at-Home Order that took effect at 12:59 p.m. on Dec. 5. This announcement came two weeks after the state implemented a Limited Stay-at-Home Order on Nov. 19, imposing a curfew that limited social activity between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Under the order, the state is divided into five regions: Northern California, Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. When a region reaches less than 15 percent ICU availability, the stay-at-home order goes into effect in that region, requiring residents to stay at home as much as possible, county closure of nonessential businesses and the implementation of mask and social distancing mandates.
“We are at a tipping point in our fight against the virus and we need to take decisive action now to prevent California’s hospital system from being overwhelmed in the coming weeks,” Newsom said. “By invoking a Stay-at-Home Order for regions where ICU capacity falls below 15 percent, we can flatten the curve as we’ve done before and reduce stress on our health care system.”
Once a region falls below 15 percent ICU availability, counties within that region will have 24 hours to implement the stay-at-home order. The region will remain in the stay-at-home order status for at least three weeks, and will only be eligible to return to normal if they have a projected hospital ICU capacity of 15 percent after four weeks.
“This targeted action will preserve vital ICU beds for people who need them — whether they’re COVID-19 patients or someone who has suffered a heart attack or a stroke,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, California Health and Human Services Secretary, said.
The order has been met with mixed responses from counties in the Southern California region. Orange County officials have spoken on their willingness to comply with the new order, signaling that they would limit enforcement and allow for residents to comply out of personal responsibility.
In a Dec. 5 news release, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes announced that the Orange County Sheriff Department will not be enforcing Newsom’s stay-at-home order.
“Compliance with health orders is a matter of personal responsibility and not a matter of law enforcement,” Barnes said. “Orange County Sheriff’s deputies will not be dispatched to, or respond to, calls for service to enforce compliance with face coverings, social gatherings, or stay-at-home orders only.”
Barnes stated that the police will only “respond to calls for potential criminal behavior and for the protection of life and property.”
“To put the onus on law enforcement to enforce these orders against law-abiding citizens … while at the same time criticizing law enforcement and taking away tools to do our jobs, is both contradictory and disingenuous.”
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has also openly criticized the stay-at-home order, saying that it was “flat-out ridiculous” and “the metrics used for closures are unbelievably faulty and are not representative of true numbers and are disastrous for Riverside County.”
Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner said that he would “file a legal amicus brief opposing the governor’s order” on Dec. 8, claiming that the stay-at-home order would “tank businesses.”
Orange County has the state’s third-highest count of COVID-19 hospitalizations at 842 cases, 193 of which are in intensive care units. Hospitalizations have been consistently increasing per day and are at an all-time high since the last mid-July peak of 722.
Other counties in the Southern California region, including Los Angeles County and San Diego County, have declared their willingness to comply with the order despite objections from county officials.
Chelsea Pan is the 2020-2021 Managing Editor. She can be reached at manager@newuniversity.org.
