BAY AREA, CA — The stay-at-home order affecting roughly 7 million people across seven Bay Area jurisdictions has been extended by public health officers through May 3, the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara, as well as the city of Berkeley, said in joint statement Tuesday.
The initial order was for three weeks, and was set to expire April 7, but the public health officers have determined that more and stricter social distancing is needed to slow the rate of spread of the new coronavirus, prevent COVID-19 deaths, and stop the healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed, according to the statement.
“While the prior order was effective in reducing the rate of transmission of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), it was not enough,” they said.
Citing “a significant increase in the number of positive cases, hospitalization and deaths from COVID-19, which is beginning to strain healthcare resources,” authorities with the Bay Area governments said the new stay-at-home order supersedes the previous order and goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
“Extending the stay-at-home order should reduce the number of sick patients seeking care at one time, giving us time to acquire more medical supplies for providers who will be providing care to people sick with COVID-19,” Contra Costa County Health Officer Dr. Chris Farnitano said. “The extension will allow doctors and nurses to better treat those who do get sick, and save countless lives.”
Like the previous local order, the new order requires people to stay at home except for doing essential activities, such as grocery shopping, in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara, as well as the city of Berkeley.
Non-essential businesses remain closed.
Officials said they’ve added some “clarifying language around essential business and activities, as well as some new directives,” including:
Social distancing is “the most powerful tool to slow the spread of COVID-19, a virus so new that it has no approved medicines or vaccines,” Bay Area officials said in the statement.
“What we need now, for the health of all our communities, is for people to stay home,” San Francisco Department of Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax said.
“Even though it has been difficult, the Bay Area has really stepped up to the challenge so far, and we need to reaffirm our commitment,” Colfax said. “We need more time to flatten the curve, to prepare our hospitals for a surge, and to do everything we can to minimize the harm that the virus causes to our communities.”
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The Bay Area health officials said the regional order is a complement to the statewide order issued mid-March.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday afternoon that revisions to the statewide stay-at-home order were coming within 24 hours.
According to Newsom, there have been 150 coronavirus deaths statewide. There are currently 6,932 people in California who’ve tested positive for coronavirus, 1,617 hospitalized for COVID-19, and 657 people in intensive care units.
As of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, officials confirmed the following number of cases in the greater Bay Area region:
Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties, the three Bay Area counties not included in the regional stay-at-home order, enacted similar orders mid-March and are now tasked with deciding whether to extend theirs, as well.
“Napa County is reviewing the 6-county order and will be considering our own order this week,” Napa County Deputy Executive Officer Molly Rattigan told Patch. “More details will be released upon further review and discussion.”
Sonoma County Interim Public Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase said the county’s order has been extended to May 3 in alignment with its Bay Area neighbors.
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Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
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