State officials lift stay-at-home order

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Monday that the state’s stay-at-home order, issued on Dec. 3 in response to COVID-19 patients overcrowding hospital intensive care units, has been lifted.

The announcement comes as reports of hospitalizations decrease across the state but still remain high. When the state issued its stay-at-home order on Dec. 3 it was in response to intensive care unit capacity reaching its limit. The order came out as available capacity in ICU’s decreased to below 15%.

Lifting of the order returns California to Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” which establishes a four-tier system of restrictions on when and how businesses can reopen. San Joaquin County, like 54 of California’s 58 counties, is in the most restrictive purple, or “widespread” tier. It allows salons to open, and restaurants will also be allowed to open for outdoor service.

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