Availability of beds in the Bay Area intensive care unit fell to 12.9% Tuesday, leading to California’s strict stay-at-home orders for all counties in the region.
Five counties and one city – San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and Santa Clara and Berkeley counties – had earlier this month rolled over with their own shelter-in-place restrictions, before falling below the 15% threshold of the stands for Capacity ICU bed.
Now cities like San Mateo, Napa, Santa Cruz and Solano will have to cooperate in closing certain activities, including outdoor dining; indoor playgrounds and recreation facilities; hairdressing salons and barber shops; museums, zoos and aquariums; cinemas; amusement parks; and bars and wineries.
Those restrictive measures will take effect Thursday at 11:59 PM, according to state guidelines.
Statewide ICU capacity in California fell to 4.1% on Tuesday, with four of the five designated regions below the threshold.
The San Joaquin Valley region had an ICU capacity of 0%, Southern California was 0.5%, Sacramento was 14.1%, and Northern California – the only region not yet covered by the state’s mandatory home obligation – was 29.1%. % capacity.
About 40 million people, 98% of the state population, are now under the restrictions of the regional order.
“Solano County is experiencing high levels of COVID-19 transmission at an alarming rate, and our hospital admissions are increasing, both are indicators that ICU effects are now a given, not just locally but regionally,” said Dr. Bela T. Matyas, the Solano County public health officer in a statement on Wednesday.
In addition to forcing several businesses to temporarily close, all retail operations and shopping centers under stay-at-home orders are limited to 20 percent capacity with access metering and no food or drink in the stores.
Restaurants may only open for takeout or delivery. Offices should only allow remote working, except in critical infrastructure sectors where this is not possible.
Schools that have already reopened for in-person classes may remain open.
The order bans private gatherings of any size except for outdoor church services and political demonstrations.
It will remain in effect for at least three weeks, after which time it can be lifted if the region’s expected ICU capacity is 15% or more.
As of Wednesday, 1,331 ICU beds were available statewide – 135 fewer than the day before. The number of patients hospitalized in California with COVID-19 increased to 15,886, a 4.3% increase from 688 patients.
Several counties reported record numbers of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
Contra Costa County reported as many as 1,010 new cases on Wednesday. San Francisco jumped to 335 new cases from 203 on Tuesday. San Mateo County reported 455 confirmed cases.
Santa Cruz County also peaked with 144 new cases on Tuesday, with only four ICU beds manned and available, according to the latest government data.
“With the number of cases unprecedented and rising due to the boom in Thanksgiving, our hospitals and healthcare delivery system are at breaking point,” said Dr. Gail Newel, Santa Cruz County health officer, said in a statement.
More than 200,000 Bay Area residents have now been infected with the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to data from The Chronicle shows, just as the first batch of vaccines is being rolled out to primary care health workers.
The cumulative total number of cases was 200,518 Wednesday morning and 1,156 Bay Area residents have lost their lives to the virus.
California recorded a further 295 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, the latest in a string of tragic records as the state and country remain in the throes of the pandemic. The state has recorded an average of 163 deaths per day for the past week, compared to 41 deaths per day a month ago.
The number of residents dying from COVID-19 has soared that the state has ordered 5,000 additional body bags to help hospitals deal with the wave, Governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday.
“That should be sobering,” Newsom said at a news conference in Sacramento County. ‘This isn’t the flu. This is nothing to scoff at. This is a deadly disease. “
This is a story in development. Check for updates and refresh your browser.
Aidin Vaziri and Erin Allday are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: [email protected] and [email protected]