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 Restaurants in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area and
the state's agricultural San Joaquin Valley shut for all but takeout
and delivery. Playgrounds closed, stores reduced capacity and hair
salons and barbershops shuttered.
The moves affected about three-quarters of the nearly 40 million
people in America's most-populous state.
California Governor Gavin Newsom's order allowed some schools to
continue to hold classes. But the Los Angeles Unified School
District, the state's largest, closed campuses that had been
partially open to offer in-person services and tutoring, affecting
many special-needs students.
In San Francisco, Ellen Scanlon, 43, read with dread a closure
notice at a playground she frequents with her 2-year-old. "I
understand it, and we're going to comply with it...but it's been
tough," she said.
Newsom's directive applied to places where fewer than 15% of
intensive-care hospital beds remain available, so far affecting
Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. Localities in the
San Francisco Bay Area imposed similar orders.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious disease
expert, said on Monday the state's action would "rescue them from
possibly getting their hospitals overrun."
California set a record in new cases with 30,000 on Saturday and
recorded nearly 25,000 more on Sunday. Hospitalizations also hit
records. In the San Joaquin Valley, just 6.3% of intensive care unit
beds were available, the state said Monday.
Nationwide, COVID-19 infections are at their peak, with an average
of 193,863 new cases reported each day over the past week, according
to a Reuters tally of official data.
There have been 14.7 million confirmed infections and more than
282,000 coronavirus-related deaths reported in the United States
since the pandemic began, the most in the world.
California's order, which went into effect in the two regions Sunday
and will last at least three weeks, bans private gatherings of any
size in affected areas and shuts all but critical infrastructure and
retailers. It will be expanded to other parts of the state if
intensive care unit capacity drops.
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The sheriffs of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties have
said they would not enforce the rules, prompting Newsom to threaten to withhold
coronavirus relief funds.
NEW YORK RESTRICTIONS LOOM
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that if hospitalization rates keep climbing
this week, he would suspend indoor dining at New York City restaurants. They
only resumed indoor service in September at 25% of capacity.
Cuomo said a broad shutdown of non-essential businesses across the state like
that imposed in the spring was not warranted for now.
To avoid a critical shortage of beds, New York state health officials will order
hospitals to increase their capacity by 25% and ask retired doctors and nurses
to come back to work, Cuomo said.
Fauci, tapped by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as his chief coronavirus
adviser before the inauguration on Jan. 20, said the pandemic could worsen after
the year-end holidays.
After millions of people ignored public health advice and traveled for the
Thanksgiving holiday in November, Fauci said he feared Americans would again
gather over Christmas and New Year's Day.
Deaths spike typically about three weeks after surges in infections and
hospitalizations.
"Without substantial mitigation, the middle of January can be a really dark time
for us," said Fauci, appearing with Cuomo during the governor's video news
conference.
Biden has said he will make tackling the pandemic his top priority as he
replaces Republican President Donald Trump.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb, Sharon Bernstein, Nathan Frandino, Maria Caspani,
Doina Chiacu, Lisa Lambert, Peter Szekely, Daniel Trotta and Brad Brooks;
Writing by Daniel Trotta, Maria Caspani and Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Bill
Berkrot, Will Dunham, Peter Cooney and Cynthia Osterman)
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