Bay Space COVID-19 stay-at-home order begins for Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties; Marin County joins Tuesday

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – Five Bay Area counties have decided not to wait for the planned regional state order to stay home and are implementing the new restrictions ahead of schedule.

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Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco and the city of Berkeley (which has its own health department) announced the new measures in a joint press conference on Friday afternoon.

The following will change when the order takes effect:

• Restaurants will be closed both indoors and outdoors. You can only take away or deliver.
• Bars and wineries have to close (inside and outside)
• Hair salons, barbershops, nail salons and other personal care services have to close
• All retail stores can remain open but must reduce capacity to 20%
• Private gatherings of any size are prohibited

RELATED: Here’s What’s Closed on an Order for Staying Home in the Bay Area

Schools that have already received an exemption to reopen can stay open. All “critical infrastructures” can also remain open.

The start date varies slightly depending on the county. Contra Costa, San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties say their ordinances will go into effect on Sunday, December 6th at 10pm. In the Alameda district, the home stay order starts on Monday December 7th at 12:01 am on Tuesday December 8th at 12 noon.

In all cases, the order is valid for the stay at home until January 4th.

Health officials said it was too late to wait for the government order, which will be triggered when a region is down to 15% ICU capacity.

“The dark COVID winter that we feared would come has arrived in the Bay Area,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa County Health Officer. “I and other Bay Area county health officials don’t believe we can wait for the state’s new restrictions to go into effect later this month. We have to act quickly to save as many lives as possible. This is an emergency. “

BAY AREA ICU CAPACITY: How close we are to the 15% threshold and the new California stay-at-home order

At the start of the main holiday season, health officials ask everyone to stay home and avoid all social gatherings.

“You shouldn’t hang out with someone you don’t live with. Even in a small group and even outdoors with precautions,” said Dr. Lisa Hernandez from Berkeley. “If you’ve got a social bubble, now it’s gone.”

The number of ICU beds left is most worrying in Santa Clara County, where it has just dropped to 14%, said health officer Dr. Sara Cody.

The “Bay Area” as defined by the state includes, according to the state, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma.

The six other counties not attending Friday’s press conference will not be forced to put further restrictions in place until the entire region is below 15% ICU capacity. However, each county is always allowed to implement stricter regulations than the state, just not looser restrictions.

As things stand, the Bay Area is expected to reach this 15 percent mark by mid-December. When this happens, the entire region will have to close more stores and place an order to stay at home similar to the one we had in March.

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