Newsom Lifts California’s Regional Stay-At-Home Order
The lifting of the stay-at-home order follows after more than 5,000 people have died of COVID-19 in L.A. County in less than a month and will allow for the reopening of personal care services, like salons, and outdoor dining at restaurants, according to LA Times.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-California) lifted the regional stay-at-home order last week because of a rise in ICU capacity in the San Francisco Bay Area and parts of Northern and Southern California.
“All regions effective immediately are no longer in the stay-at-home order and will move back into the blueprint,” Newsom said at a virtual news conference on Jan. 25.
California total numbers sharply declined, reporting a little more than 20,000 cases, 700 deaths, and 10,000 hospilizations, according to the state’s COVID-19 tracker.
“Our work is not over, but it’s important to recognize our collective actions saved lives and we are turning a critical corner,” California public health director Dr. Tomas Aragon said in a statement to CBS.
Some students already voiced their support for California’s response to the pandemic before the order was lifted.
“I think SoCal’s been handling the Coronavirus pretty well with their safety protocols,” freshman Cindy Mei said. “But I would appreciate it if others made the same efforts as well.”
However, some teachers believe the decision was made too soon.
“I think, personally, that the decision the governor made yesterday to end the stay-at-home order was a little premature,” science teacher Andrew Kranz said. “I think that we should have stuck with what was working until we were sure that things were definitely on the up and up.”
While the state’s status for Coronavirus has improved, the Associated Press reports that prominent health officials continue to view this unprecedented time as something that Southern Californians should take more seriously.
“Residents need to continue to abide by social distancing and mask recommendations otherwise we’ll be in the horrible position of needing to once again backtrack,” L.A. County public health director Barbara Ferrer said in a public conference this past week.
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Aadi Mehta is serving as a second-year Portola Pilot Staff Writer for the 2021-2022 school year. Aadi is excited to be able to work with new and returning...
