New pandemic rule affects hours between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
With COVID-19 cases on the rise, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced via Twitter on Thursday that California is issuing a limited Stay at Home Order that will start on 10 p.m. on Saturday.
The stay-at-home order applies to counties in the purple tier and will remain active for one month.
Under the Stay at Home Order, non-essential work and gatherings between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. will be required to cease. Members of the same household will still be allowed to leave their homes so long as they don’t interact or gather with anyone from another household.
The order signed by Acting State Public Health Officer Erica Pan said interventions into decreasing the mixing of households are “critical” due to an approximately 50% case rate increase in the first week of November.
“In particular, activities conducted during 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. are often non-essential and more likely related to social activities and gatherings that have a higher likelihood of leading to reduced inhibition and reduced likelihood to adhere to COVID-19 preventative measures,” the order reads.
The Santa Barbara County Public Heart Department reported 67 daily cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and no COVID-19 deaths.
The 67 cases from Thursday bring the county’s total number of reported COVID-19 cases up to 10,768. Of that total, 10,335 are individuals who have recovered, 300 are still infectious cases, and 133 are individuals who have died.
According to the Public Health Department website, a plurality of Thursday’s cases, 14, were in Santa Maria. 10 were in Santa Barbara, Isla Vista and Orcutt both had eight, the Santa Ynez Valley and Lompoc each had five, Goleta had four, the unincorporated area of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota had three, and the South County unincorporated area had two.
There were also four daily cases scattered throughout the unincorporated areas of Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama and the city of Guadalupe.
Locations for four daily cases from Thursday are still pending.
Santa Maria leads the county in COVID-19 deaths, with 72. Santa Barbara is a distant second with 14 deaths. Lompoc has had eight, the South County unincorporated area and Santa Ynez Valley both have had seven, Orcutt has had six, Goleta has had five, the Lompoc Federal Prison and the unincorporated area of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota both have three, and Isla Vista has had one.
There have also been seven COVID-19 deaths scattered throughout the unincorporated areas of Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama and New Cuyama, and the city of Guadalupe.
Santa Maria also leads the county in still infectious cases, 82. Santa Barbara has the second most with 56. Both Lompoc and the unincorporated area of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota both have 29 still infectious cases.
Orcutt has 20 still infectious cases, the Santa Ynez Valley has 17, Goleta and the unincorporated area of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota both have 15, and the South County unincorporated area has nine.
There are also 13 still infectious cases scattered throughout the unincorporated areas of Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama and the city of Guadalupe.
The locations of 15 still infectious cases are still pending.
A plurality of Thursday’s cases, 25, were individuals in the 18-29 age range. Twenty were in the 30-49 age range, 15 were in the 50-69 age range, four were in the 70+ age range, and three were in the 0-17 age range.
When community cases are combined with those reported in the Lompoc Federal Prison, 3,339 of the county’s cases are in the 18-29 age range, 3,803 are in the 30-49 age range, 2,122 are in the 50-69 age range, 905 are in the 0-17 age range, and 598 are in the 70+ age range.
Thirty-five of Thursday’s cases were female and 32 were male. When community and prison cases are combined, 5,817 of the county’s COVID-19 cases have been male and 4,835 are female.
One hundred and sixteen of the county’s cases have been of unknown gender.
email: jgrega@newspress.com
