Gavin Newsom to lift Fresno-area COVID stay-at-home order, restaurant association says
Update:
With California’s coronavirus infection and hospitalization numbers showing signs of rapid improvement from high winter peaks, state health officials on Monday morning lifted the regional stay-at-home order, which had been in place for most of the state since early December. Read the full update here.
Original story:
The California Restaurant Association on Sunday informed its members that Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to make an announcement Monday that COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders are expected to be lifted from Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley.
The message, which was sent by the CRA to its members via email, also stated orders will be lifted from the Bay Area and Southern California.
“Again, a formal announcement is expected tomorrow (Monday) and we will send you further information as soon as it’s available. For now, we thought you’d like to know this good news,” the message states.
Newsom’s regional stay-at-home order was put into place in early December when a wave of coronavirus cases overwhelmed intensive care units in the San Joaquin Valley and in Southern California. As of Sunday, 36,790 Californians have died after testing positive for COVID-19, and the state has recorded more than 3 million cases.
Brian Ferguson, spokesman for the Office of Emergency Services, responded on behalf of the Governor’s Office when asked about the California Restaurant Association memo.
“We see promising signs that California is slowly emerging from the most intense stage of this pandemic. We continue to look at what that means for the Regional Stay at Home order and anticipate that the state Department of Public Health will provide a formal update tomorrow morning.”
The regional order was aimed at stemming the spread of the novel coronavirus and the resulting increase in the number of cases and a dramatic increase in COVID-19 patients in hospitals.
The order impacted many businesses, including restaurants, who could open only for take-out and delivery orders.
The order applied to everyone living in Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne counties. Those 12 counties make up the San Joaquin Valley health care region, one of five such regions in the state.
This story was originally published January 24, 2021 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Gavin Newsom to lift Fresno-area COVID stay-at-home order, restaurant association says."