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How does Gov. Newson’s controversial stay-at-home order impact SLO County?

December 4, 2020

Gov. Gavin Newsom

By KAREN VELIE

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a stay-at-home order on Thursday that breaks the state into five regions that appear to have manipulated boundaries and will likely financially damage businesses in San Luis Obispo County because of cornavirus outbreaks in Southern California.

The new stay-at-home rules are triggered when a region’s ICU hospital capacity falls below 15%. Then for three weeks, most people are required to stay in their homes as much as possible.

The new rules include the closures of hair and nail salons, outdoor and indoor dining at restaurants, movie theaters, wineries, playgrounds and bars. Additionally, retail store are restricted to 20 percent occupancy and offices must operate remotely.

Newsom has divided the state into five irregular and uneven regions: Northern California, Greater Sacramento, Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties are in the Southern California region.

Of the 39.78 million people who live in California, Newsom’s office placed more than half, 22.99 million, in the Southern California region, according to U.S. Census bureau numbers. The five counties with the highest numbers of coronavirus cases are all located in the Southern California region.

As a result, even though San Luis Obispo County has only one coronavirus patient currently in the ICU, and 84% available ICU capacity, the county will likely fall under the stringent stay-at-home order because of a large number of coronavirs patients in hospitals in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

In contrast, there are only 2.94 million people living in the Greater Sacramento region.

Sacramento County, where Gov. Newsom resides, currently ranks seventh for the most coronavirus cases in the state. Even so, as three of the counties in the Greater Sacramento region currently have five active cases or less, those counties will help temper Sacramento County’s numbers.

There are no regions currently impacted by the stay-at-home order, but projections show four of the regions dropping below 15% ICU capacity in the next few days. The Bay Area is projected to cross the threshold later this month.

State Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham is calling for Gov. Newsom to “alter this nonsensical regional map to better take into account our area’s unique situation and hospital bed capacity.”

“The governor’s most recent order, which will lead to a lockdown of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, is arbitrary, irrational, and bordering on punitive,” Cunningham said in a press release. “As of now, we have plenty of hospital and ICU capacity here on the Central Coast. We cannot be shutting down local businesses — many of which have spent tens of thousands of dollars to retrofit their operation in order to comply with yesterday’s public health orders — because of limited ICU capacity in counties hundreds of miles from our community.”

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Newsom must have drafted these regions during his dinner at the French Laundry.


41

Unacceptable. My life depends on these small businesses. If they shut down how am I supposed to get my essential over priced pet accessories downtown? And my socks? However will I get by without my cute expensive themed socks? And my crystal and rock shop? Imagine loosing these privileges just to help stop spreading a dangerous virus to my fellow citizens. I refuse to care for anyone but me.


-86

All sarcasm and politicizing aside, owners, yes people, of the small businesses need to survive and take care of their families. By your comment, you are A. wealthy, B. rich, C. still live your parents, or D. All of the above. We can check off E. not in reality.


31

Wow. Anyone want to know why the pandemic is raging white-hot like an unraked California forest floor? Read a few of the comments below.


-44

There is no science that say outside dining increases transmission. Additionally, we were told masks and 6 feet were what was needed – so how does this make sense. Lastly want to bet the French Laundry is magically not in an at risk region.


44

Of course all these decisions are coming from people with regular paychecks.


70

San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara aren’t the only counties lumped into artificial “regions”. Anybody who has been there knows that San Benito County (which used to a part of Monterey county) belongs in the Bay Area, not the San Joaquin region. And do Modoc and Lassen counties, which are closer to Reno, Nevada than any other large city in California city really belong in the same “region” that includes Mendocino county?


I have the impression that the “regions” were created on a map without any understanding of the reality on the ground. And that means the people on the staff of the Governor don’t know much.


69

Seems likely the regions were created to subject as many as possible to lockdown.


19

Lol.


0

I sincerely hope Californians will heed these warnings and restrictions. I am shocked at the lack of patience from my fellow Americans. President Trump and the scientists who backed him up when he introduced Operation Warp Speed several months ago guaranteed we would have a vaccine by the end of 2020, early 2021.


By all accounts, this is the case, with up to 20 million first responders and medical personnel getting the vaccine before the new year dawns. Kudos to Trump. Most of us should follow with estimates at 70% vaccinated (basically herd immunity) by June.


So, why are we in a rush to defy orders from Democratic and Republican governors alike just because it seems fashionable to flout the rules. Think about your family, friends and neighbors and listen to the governor and your local health officials, wear your mask, limit your travel, and I’ll meet you at McCarthy’s for a beer come summer.


-80

Most of the people I know well have heeded recommendations for a long time. But to close down businesses because of cases in other counties is ridiculous. There are counties in California with one or two active cases. Should their businesses close because people in another county have not been as careful?


While I agree to closing counties with 15 percent or less ICU availability, it is not logical to shut down a county 300 miles away with more than 80 percent ICU availability.


If the map had grouped SLO, Santa Barbara and Monterey counties, we would not be ordered to shut down. But instead the map was rigged in a similar fashion to gerrymandering. Why?


I think the only option left is to sue the governor and make him explain his rational.


79

California is connected by a modern freeway system, and what happens in San Francisco will probably happen in SLO before too long. My recommendation is to vote out Mr. Newsom come 2022. In the meantime, you should sue the Republicans in the Senate for not providing relief and stimulus to keep the economy going. Otherwise, listen to officials and do the right thing. People’s lives are on the line.


-92

“…what happens in San Francisco will probably happen in SLO before too long.” Does that mean SLO will soon have maps that show which streets have sidewalks which should be avoided because one might slip on human feces? Just think I won’t have to travel to San Francisco anymore to see the beautiful sights and smells there.


4

The orders of many of these leaders, not all but mostly democratic governors, are not “following the science.”


A prime example is K-6 grade education. American college of pediatrics, the Lancet, JAMA, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr Scott Atlas and many others say, open the schools, with appropriate mitigation.


Governor (French Laundry) Newsome is not only a hipocrite, he appears to have so politicized this public health crisis that he couldn’t “follow the science “ if it were a trail of porterhouse steaks and lobster tails.


45

Like I said, vote the bastard out. But, right now we are so close to being done with this pandemic. Why argue?


-49

I’ll tell you why Adam. Because it could easily be another 4-6 months before the vaccines bring the state and the nation go a group immunological status (i.e. herd immunity) that allows us to get back to anything resembling normalcy. By that time many small businesses will be gone, for good! Jobs lost, families destroyed economically, suicides, tangential unintended medical consequences…you name it. So while you argue we are almost done, you are correct in the sense that many livelihoods are almost DONE.


It’s so easy for people who are comfortable or who get a guaranteed paycheck to sit back and just tell others to close up shop, stop living your life. It really speaks to a kind of callousness and indifference by our leaders. History will not be kind to these folks.


20

How the heck are SLO, Inyo and Mono counties considered Southern California? Makes no sense.


54

It does if you’ve ever looked at a map…


-54

Will the next John C. Fremont please stand up ?


21
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