California stay-at-home order to begin Sunday
Stores, restaurants, recreational facilities to shut down once more due to rise in cases
Students socially distance while they wait for class to begin on the Pine/Octavia campus. Convent & Stuart Hall have already gained clearance to remain open, so the school may continue to provide in-person learning for their students through the stay-at-home order.
December 4, 2020
WEB EXCLUSIVE Bay Area health officials announced today that San Francisco and other Bay counties will follow a stay-at-home order beginning Dec. 6 that will remain in effect through Jan. 4.
“California has been getting into some dangerous territory in terms of the number of positive COVID cases,” sophomore Grace Stermer said. “The stay at home order isn’t much of a surprise.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced at a press conference yesterday that any of the five newly-established California regions may be ordered to curtail business and shelter-in-place if the region’s intensive care bed have less than 15%. Bay Area health officials are making a preemptive call due to the rapidly-rising COVID-19 rate in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.
Schools like Convent & Stuart Hall that have previously received permission from the San Francisco Department of Public Health to reopen may continue to provide in-person learning while the stay-at-home order is set into place, according to the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom.
“Continuing to keep schools open is a wise idea as long as precautions are there,” mathematics teacher Thien Chau said. “There are a lot of layers to it, though.”
Restaurants may stay open, but only for takeout and delivery services. Retail stores may remain open as well, but are only permitted to operate at 20% capacity.
“I’m disappointed that we won’t have access to the same amenities that we had before,” senior Hallie Williams said. “It’s safer for everyone if places like nail salons and restaurants aren’t accepting in-person service, though.”
All San Francisco amenities such as nail and hair salons, indoor recreational facilities, movie theaters, wineries, live audience sports, are also required to temporarily close as of 10 p.m. Dec. 6, according to the City and County of San Francisco.
California currently has 1,264,539 confirmed cases and 19,437 reported deaths, according to COVID19.ca.gov. For every COVID-19 case detected, there are six to 10 that go undetected, according to Tomás Aragón, Health Officer for the City and County of San Francisco.
“Hopefully the order will help decrease cases,” Stermer said. “The closure of stores and other public locations isn’t that big of a deal as long as it means everyone does their best to stay safe.”
