Bay Area ‘shelter in place’ expected: Only essential businesses open in 6 counties with 6.7 million people until April 7

[ARYA]

Bay Area ‘shelter in place’ expected: Only essential businesses open in 6 counties with 6.7 million people until April 7

Erin Allday March 16, 2020 Updated: March 16, 2020 12:38 p.m.

 

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1of2(L-r) Dr. Tomas Aragon, Mary Ellen Carroll, Dr. Grant Colfax and Mayor London Breed listen during a press conference to announce a state of emergency due to the global outbreak of the coronavirus at City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 in San Francisco, California.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

2of2San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo stretches during a break at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission meeting on Friday, March 13, 2020, in San Francisco, Calif. Santa Clara County has 37 coronavirus cases, one of them fatal. Because it had so many coronavirus patients early, the county has been on the leading edge in efforts to contain the Photo: Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle

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Six Bay Area counties are expected to announce a “shelter in place” order for all residents on Monday, directing everyone to stay inside their homes and away from others as much as possible for the next three weeks as public health officials desperately try to curb the rapid spread of coronavirus across the region.

County authorities were expected to announce the move at 1 p.m. and gave a draft of the order to media outlets to prepare. The Chronicle is reporting the story after a television station published the news early.

The directive begins at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and involves San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda counties — a combined population of more than 6.7 million. It is to stay in place until at least April 7. Three other Bay Area counties — Sonoma, Solano and Napa — were not immediately included.

The order falls just short of a full lockdown, which would forbid people from leaving their homes without explicit permission, and it wasn’t immediately clear how, or to what degree, it would be enforced. The order calls for the sheriff or chief of police to “ensure compliance.” In Italy and other places that have instituted lockdowns, travel outside the home has been restricted without permission and police have been ordering people back home if they don’t have a reason to be in public.

“The scientific evidence shows that at this stage of the (coronavirus) emergency, it is essential to slow virus transmission as much as possible to protect the most vulnerable and to prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed,” the order states. “One proven way to slow the transmission is to limit interactions among people to the greatest extent practicable.”

 

People who are homeless are exempt from the order but encouraged to find shelter.

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All non-essential gatherings of any size are now banned, along with non-essential travel “on foot, bicycle, scooter, automobile or public transit.” People may travel for shopping for necessary supplies, accessing health care, and providing aid to family and friends who need assistance, and for non-residents, returning to their home outside the Bay Area. Airports, taxis, and public transit — including BART — will remain operational, but only for essential travel and people are expected to keep six feet apart when possible.

People in the six counties will still be able to go shopping for items such as food and household supplies, and seek medical care. They will be able to go outside for walks or exercise as long as they keep six feet away from anyone they don’t already live with.

People who are older or have underlying health problems are being told to stay inside at all times except for health care under the new directive. They should ask someone to shop for them if they are able.

 

The order calls for all “routine medical appointments” and elective procedures to be canceled or rescheduled. “To the extent possible, all health care visits that are not canceled or rescheduled should be done remotely,” the order states.

Everyone is to work from home, or stop working, unless they provide an essential service, which includes health care workers; police, fire and other emergency responders; and utility providers such as electricians, plumbers, and sanitation workers.

Grocery stores and pharmacies will remain open, and restaurants may stay open to provide takeout food only. Also staying open: veterinary services, gas stations and auto repair shops, hardware and other home supply stores, banks and laundry services. Businesses that remain open are encouraged to keep both employees and customers six feet apart, including while standing in line. But there are no specific limitations on the number of people allowed inside.

Daycare centers may stay open, but children must be kept in groups no larger than 12, and they must stay with the same group of children every day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bay Area Quiets Down In The Shadow of Coronavirus

 

 

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As Bay Area deals with the Coronavirus there are fewer people out in the city and in the streets making the Bay Area look and sound different as the population practices social distancing.

Video: San Francisco Chronicle

The orders come as cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, climb rapidly around the region. The Bay Area has reported 251 cases since the outbreak began — but more than half of those cases were in the past four days alone. And national testing shortfalls means that there are certainly many more hundreds and possibly thousands of cases in the region that have not been diagnosed, infectious disease experts say.

Increasingly aggressive responses — such as limiting large gatherings and closing schools — have not yet slowed down the spread of disease, and public health officials agreed over the weekend that much more restrictive tactics were needed to force people apart. Authorities fear that regional hospitals could be overwhelmed by a crush of seriously ill patients if the virus is allowed to keep spreading as it has been.

 

The Bay Area announcement came just a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom advised that all bars in the state be closed, and that restaurants reduce capacity. Several states have announced closures of bars, restaurants and entertainment venues, and instituted curfews. Also on Sunday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged that all gatherings of 50 or people or more be stopped nationwide — the agency’s strongest advisory so far. As of Monday morning, U.S. cases had topped 4,000, but the actual number of infected people is far higher.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected]

[MiryalgudaMaruthiRao]

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[ARYA]

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[MiryalgudaMaruthiRao]

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[ARYA]

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[Catabolite]

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[Anta Assamey]

[MiryalgudaMaruthiRao]

14 minutes ago, Catabolite said:

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[ARYA]

33 minutes ago, Anta Assamey said:

[fasak_vachadu]

inkka cheyali complete desam motham lock down chesthe ne control ayithadi 

and ems valle food supply cheyali every two days or 4 days ki 

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[snoww]

Etla enforce sestharu. Dorikina prathi okkadu groceries kosam velthunna Ani septhadu. 

[Spartan]

1 minute ago, snoww said:

Etla enforce sestharu. Dorikina prathi okkadu groceries kosam velthunna Ani septhadu. 

janalu common sense vadali.

[ARYA]

4 minutes ago, snoww said:

Etla enforce sestharu. Dorikina prathi okkadu groceries kosam velthunna Ani septhadu. 

 

2 minutes ago, Spartan said:

janalu common sense vadali.

 

[tom bhayya]

1 hour ago, fasak_vachadu said:

inkka cheyali complete desam motham lock down chesthe ne control ayithadi 

and ems valle food supply cheyali every two days or 4 days ki 

people list ivali oka paper pina option ichi rice and milk .....

and paracentmol ivvali okkariki 3 putala fever lekunna vesuko manali 

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