In Governor Gavin Newsom's Monday briefing he was unequivocal about the distinct possibility of extending the regional stay-at-home order tomorrow for Southern California, due to expire today.
Newsom says that with regional intensive care unit capacity officially considered to be zero, the order will almost assuredly be extended.
"We are likely, I think it's pretty self-evident, going to need to extend those regional dates," Newsom said. "... Based upon all the data and based upon all these trend lines, it is very likely based on those current trends that we'll need to extend that stay at home order, (which) you recall was a three-week order when we announced it."
Additionally, Newsom discussed the various phases of rollouts on the COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccinations have begun in California in long-term care facilities as part of Phase 1A of the state’s distribution plan and the Vaccine Advisory Committee is expected to sign off on Phase 1B this week, which has two tiers.
Tier 1: People 75 and older; workers in education, childcare, emergency services, food and agriculture
Tier 2: People 65 and older with underlying health conditions and/or disabilities; workers in transportation and logistics: industrial, residential and commercial sectors; critical manufacturing, incarcerated individuals & the homeless/unhoused
Phase 1C is still in the works but Gov. Newsom revealed Monday that it will likely cover people 16-64 with underlying medical conditions and/or disabilities and workers in water & waste management; defense; energy; chemical & hazardous; communication & IT; financial services & government operations/community service.
The governor says the first allocation of more than 372,00 doses has already been distributed, the second one, a little more than 233,000 doses also came in last week, and the third allocation is expected by the end of this week. All of these doses are of the Moderna vaccine.
The governor says the state has dispatched a support team to L.A. County to assist with management of overflow conditions at hospitals, citing that 96% of hospitals in the county were diverting emergency patients at some point over the weekend due to overcrowding in emergency rooms, saying hospitals on average were on diversion for 16 hours a day, unable to find room for new emergency patients.
The state officially lists Los Angeles County with nearly 7,200 COVID-positive patients in hospitals, including more than 1,400 in the ICU.
Newsom says new hospital admissions due to COVID-19 have begun to plateau across the state, except in Southern California, where Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego Counties remain the most heavily impacted.
The regional stay-at-home order for the 11-county Southern California region took effect at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 6, and was originally set to end on Dec. 28.
The Southern California region covers Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Imperial, Inyo, Mono, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Most broadly, the order bars gatherings of people from different households.
Under the order, the following businesses/recreational facilities were forced to close:
-- indoor recreational facilities;
-- hair salons and barbershops;
-- personal care services;
-- museums, zoos, and aquariums;
-- movie theaters;
-- wineries;
-- bars, breweries and distilleries;
-- family entertainment centers;
-- cardrooms and satellite wagering;
-- limited services;
-- live audience sports; and
-- amusement parks.
Schools with waivers can remain open, along with "critical infrastructure" and retail stores, which will be limited to 20% of capacity. Restaurants are restricted to takeout and delivery service only. Hotels are allowed to open "for critical infrastructure support only," while churches would be restricted to outdoor only services. Entertainment production -- including professional sports -- would be allowed to continue without live audiences.
City News Service contributed to this story.