On December 3, 2020, Governor Newsom announced a “Regional Stay-at-Home Order” that will be triggered if the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) capacity drops below 15 percent in a given region. Regions will have 48 hours to implement the order when it is triggered; once the order is implemented, residents will be required to stay at home as much as possible and minimize mixing to reduce exposure.
The order does not alter the existing, construction relevant, definitions of an “Essential Workforce.” Construction firms continue to be authorized to operate during a stay-at-home order. Our industry is covered under “Sector Index 13” of the essential workforce definitions.
While this is a statewide order, counties are authorized to have more restrictive criteria and different closures. Click here to check your county’s status.
Regions are as follows:
Regions will remain in the Regional Stay-at-Home Order status for at least three weeks once triggered. Regions may come out of the stay-at-home order after three weeks if hospital ICU capacity projected four weeks outreaches 15 percent. Then, counties will return to their Blueprint for a Safer Economy tier determined by their case rate and test positivity. If the ICU capacity for a region is less than 15 percent after the three-week period, the ICU capacity will be assessed weekly to determine when the order can be lifted.
While this new order is similar to the March order, there are some variations as noted below.
- Californians may access critical services and outdoor activities.
- The following sectors must close: indoor and outdoor playgrounds; indoor recreational facilities; hair salons and barbershops; personal care services; museums, zoos, and aquariums; movie theaters; wineries; bars, breweries, and distilleries; family entertainment centers; cardrooms and satellite wagering; casinos; limited services; live audience sports; amusement parks.
The following sectors will have additional modifications:
- Outdoor Recreational Facilities: Outdoor operation only without food, drink, or alcohol sales. Overnight stays at campgrounds are prohibited.
- Retail: Indoor operation at 20 percent capacity with entrance metering and no eating and drinking in stores. Special hours must be instituted for seniors and others with chronic conditions or compromised immune systems.
- Shopping Centers: Indoor operation at 20 percent capacity with entrance metering and no eating or drinking in stores. Special hours must be instituted for seniors and others with chronic conditions or compromised immune systems.
- Hotels and Lodging: Allow to open for critical infrastructure support only.
- Restaurants: Allow only for take-out or pick-up.
- Offices: Remote work only, except for critical infrastructure sectors where remote work is not possible.
- Places of Worship: Outdoor services only.
- Entertainment Production, including Professional Sports: Operation without live audiences. Additionally, testing protocol and “bubbles” are highly encouraged.
The following sectors can remain open when a remote option is not possible with appropriate infectious disease prevention measures, including 100 percent masking and physical distancing:
- Critical infrastructure
- Schools that are already open for in-person learning
- Non-urgent medical and dental care
- Childcare and pre-K
For more information, click here to visit the state’s COVID-19 website.