COVID-19 Update: State Issues Limited Stay at Home Order

Yesterday, as new COVID-19 cases soared across the country and LA County hit a record high of of more than 5,000 new cases in a single day, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a new “Limited Stay at Home Order” to help stem the rising tide.  The order applies to all Californians, and includes those of us in LA County and the city of Los Angeles.

According to the order, which applies to all counties currently classified with Tier 1 (Purple/Widespread) risk status:

“…all gatherings with members of other households and all activities conducted outside the residence, lodging, or temporary accommodation with members of other households cease between 10:00pm PST and 5:00am PST, except for those activities associated with the operation, maintenance, or usage of critical infrastructure[1] or required by law.”

It’s worth noting that the order does not apply to homeless residents…and so far it applies only to gatherings after 10 p.m. It does not explicitly prevent people from leaving their homes during those hours:

“Nothing in this order prevents any number of persons from the same household from leaving their residence, lodging, or temporary accommodation, as long as they do not engage in any interaction with (or otherwise gather with) any number of persons from any other household, except as specifically permitted herein.”

Also, another exception seems to be entertainment industry film shoots.  According to the entertainment news site Deadline:

“Newsom’s office told Deadline on Thursday that the order…did not apply to entertainment industry workers, who are on the list of essential workers and thus an exception to the rule.

The governor’s original Stay-at-Home order…from March includes the following passage, which still applies:

“In accordance with this order, the State Public Health Officer has designated the following list of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers to help state, local, tribal, and industry partners as they work to protect communities, while ensuring continuity of functions critical to public health and safety, as well as economic and national security.”

On that list of exemptions, under “Industrial, Commercial, Residential, and Sheltering Facilities and Services,” there is essential worker designation 15 which reads, “Workers supporting the entertainment industries, studios, and other related establishments, provided they follow covid-19 public health guidance around physical distancing.”

The guidance does indicate this exemption only applies if remote work is not possible, but with film and TV production it is often not.”

Newsom’s new order takes effect at 10 p.m. on Saturday, November 21, and will remain in force until 5 a.m. on December 21, although it “may be extended or revised as needed.”

According to the official announcement of the order, the terms are “the same as the March Stay at Home Order, but applied only between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. and only in purple tier counties that are seeing the highest rates of positive cases and hospitalizations.”

“The virus is spreading at a pace we haven’t seen since the start of this pandemic and the next several days and weeks will be critical to stop the surge. We are sounding the alarm,” said Newsom in the statement. “It is crucial that we act to decrease transmission and slow hospitalizations before the death count surges. We’ve done it before and we must do it again.”

And Dr. Erica Pan, the state’s acting Public Health Officer added, “We are asking Californians to change their personal behaviors to stop the surge. We must be strong together and make tough decisions to stay socially connected but physically distanced during this critical time. Letting our guard down could put thousands of lives in danger and cripple our health care system.”

As we previously reported, the LA County Department of Health issued similar warnings on Wednesday, releasing these charts showing how both ICU and overall hospital capacity could soon be overwhelmed.

On Monday, after a weekend of sharply rising case numbers, the state moved many California counties that had been in less restrictive risk tiers back into the purple tier, and LA County announced that if the five-day case average for the county hits 4,500, or hospitalizations exceed 2,000 per day, things will lock down even further.  The next level of restrictions would be a three-week “Safer at Home” order that would “only allow essential workers and those securing essential services to leave their homes.” There would also be a general 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in effect, with only essential workers exempt.

We’re not quite there yet, but if the current rates of infection and new cases continue, we may be very soon.