What you can and can’t do as COVID stay-at-home orders begin in Sacramento region

The Sacramento region will be placed under California’s stay-at-home order beginning Thursday, which implements even more restrictions across 13 counties including Sacramento, as coronavirus infections surge at an unprecedented rate.

On Wednesday, the greater Sacramento region joined the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California regions with intensive care hospital capacity below 15%. The state has not yet published the new numbers for Sacramento, but officials in a state hearing Wednesday morning noted that the region has fallen below that line to 14.3%.

That was confirmed to The Sacramento Bee this morning by a local official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

According to the numbers shown during the state hearing, the San Joaquin Valley region, which includes 12 counties centered around Fresno, has hit an abysmal 4.2% ICU capacity Wednesday, according to state data. Newsom’s order, which went effect Sunday, requires 15% or less to trigger the new restrictions.

The Southern California region also passed the threshold during the weekend, and now has an ICU capacity of 9%, according to state data. Several counties in Bay Area region, despite maintaining a relatively high ICU capacity of 20.9%, decided to adhere to the new restrictions preemptively. The North State region has so far avoided further restrictions with 27.1% capacity.

Here’s how the orders will affect the Sacramento region:

Am I in the Greater Sacramento region?

California’s new orders broke up the state into five major geographic regions. Greater Sacramento includes Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.

When will restrictions apply to the Sacramento area?

At 11:59 p.m. Thursday — basically from Friday on.

Two health officers didn’t wait for the critical shortage of ICU beds, implementing their own orders and advisories last week.

Yolo County on Friday followed the lead of Bay Area counties in voluntarily agreeing to add more restrictions ahead of schedule. Starting Sunday, Yolo County will all but adopt Newsom’s new orders, but made an exception to allow outdoor dining at restaurants until otherwise required to, where Newsom’s orders put a firm ban on all in-person dining.

Yuba and Sutter counties issued an advisory Friday urging residents to adopt tighter restrictions, but did not make any formal health orders.

How long will the restrictions be in place?

State officials say the restrictions must remain in place for at least three weeks after a region triggers them by dipping to 15% ICU capacity.

Newsom said on Thursday that these orders are expected to be a temporary measure to get California through the holidays and are likely to be reigned in as vaccines are distributed throughout the state.

What will be closed?

Certain economic sectors will be effectively shuttered for the duration of the new stay-at-home orders.

Barbershops, hair salons, tattoo parlors, nail salons, massage outlets, spas and other personal care businesses will once again be shutting down, along with bars and wineries.

Gyms will have to move outside, as indoor recreational facilities are not permitted.

Movie theaters, museums, zoos, aquariums, amusement parks, playgrounds and cardrooms will all have to close. Sporting events must also disallow live audiences.

So-called limited services, which includes auto shops, car washes, landscaping businesses, pet grooming, laundromats, are open if certain safety modifications are met.

Restaurants will still be able to operate at a take-out or to-go basis, but all in-person dining, either outdoor or indoor, is not allowed.

Can I leave my home?

Broadly speaking, yes.

You can still leave your home to pick up groceries, run errands, get medical treatment or go to work, but Newsom’s new orders instruct all Californians to stay at home as much as possible and to not mix with members of other households.

Local law enforcement agencies have been consistently unwilling to enforce many of the state’s coronavirus restrictions on individuals, however, so there will likely be little way of regulating personal interactions and private gatherings.

What about schools?

All schools that were open previous to Newsom’s order may remain open. That means most of Sacramento County’s public schools will stay closed to in-person learning. The majority of local students are still distance learning.

What is still open?

Retail centers and malls will remain open under the new restrictions, but with some limitations.

All retail businesses must reduce indoor capacities to 20%, which means an attendant will stop shoppers before entering and there may be a queue at popular outlets. These stores must also ban eating or drinking inside.

Most Sacramento-area counties are already in the most restrictive purple tier, which limits retail to capacity to 25%, but makes an exception for grocery stores with a maximum capacity of 50%.

The purple-tier restrictions already limit places of worship to outdoor service only, another restriction instantiated by the new stay-at-home orders.

Outdoor recreational facilities may remain open, but without food or drink sales, and no campers may stay overnight. Hotels and motels are also open for essential travel.

Offices may stay open for in-person work, but only where remote work is not possible.

All other essential services, such as health care, agriculture and water treatment, will continue to operate.

This story was originally published December 5, 2020 at 2:24 PM.