Santa Clara County goes into full lockdown on Sunday night, San Mateo County doesn’t

The Palo Alto Creamery at 566 Emerson St. will hvae to close its outdoor operations after Sunday night due to Santa Clara County's new lockdown order. Photo by Emily Mibach.

By the Daily Post staff

Restaurants operating outdoors in Palo Alto, Los Altos, Mountain View and other Santa Clara County communities will have to switch to take-out only under a new lockdown order declared yesterday by county Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody.

That means restaurants that have opened outdoor dining areas on streets or sidewalks will have to remove them.

On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that four areas of the state would have to go to a full stay-at-home order, similar to the one imposed in March, because of a rising number of Covid sufferers in hospital ICUs. The one area that wasn’t put under the order was the Bay Area.

However today, health officers in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco and Marin counties and the city of Berkeley decided they would go to the full stay-at-home mode on their own.

San Mateo County decided not to join the other counties in locking down their communities.

“We acknowledge the reality of the pandemic fatigue that residents are experiencing and the need to find sources of support through this challenging period,” San Mateo County health Chief Louise Rogers said in a statement. “Our collective focus must be on finding ways to support each other through this crisis safely while limiting gathering and adhering to face covering.”

In Santa Clara County and the five other jurisdictions, all “nonessential businesses” will have to close all indoor and outdoor operations.

The order will close all restaurants (except for take-out), wineries, hair and nail salons, cardrooms and fitness centers.

Stores must limit their indoor capacity to 20%.

The statement from the counties shutting down doesn’t indicate whether they studied the economic impact of the business closures. Previously Santa Clara County officials said they hadn’t done any such research. A study by Yelp found that nationally 800 businesses a day are closing in the pandemic.

Schools that have already reopened in-person classes will be allowed to continue and such decisions will be left to officials in each county.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday on the ABC News program “This Week” that the nation should “close the bars and keep the schools open.”

“The default position should be to try as best as possible within reason to keep the children in school, or to get them back to school,” Fauci said. “The spread among children and from children is not really very big at all, not like one would have suspected.”

Newsom’s order was not supposed to take effect until a region has less than 15% of its intensive care unit beds available. Newsom said Thursday the Bay Area as a whole was unlikely to meet that threshold until mid-December.

The five Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley chose to implement the order now as new cases and hospitalizations skyrocket around the state. Los Angeles County has already done so as well.

The five counties said restrictions will remain in effect through Jan. 4. However, when the first stay-at-home order was imposed in March, it was only supposed to last for three weeks and instead was extended for several months as the criteria for lifting the order frequently changed.

32 Comments

  1. This is crazy. They didn’t know that when winter comes, more people would be indoors and the virus would spread? And they weren’t prepared for this? And now that we have a crisis, it’s time for a lockdown? These health officials are totally incompetent. Besides, research shows lockdowns don’t work. The best policy is to isolate the vulnerable and let the rest of society go about their every day business.

    • Lock downs do work and we have to do this to get over this COVID issue. Do you think COVID is just like another flu? We tried to stop people from traveling they were warned and ignored all of the warnings by the health officials. What is your plan to curtail this pandemic? No masks and congregate? I wish you the very best. Everyone is vunerable at this stage.

      Wishing you the best of health,

      Johanne

      • Lockdowns absolutely do not work when the virus comes from animals and can reside and spread in ANY animal with an ACE2 receptor…and that includes most animals.

        You CAN’T hide from a virus like that. We learned that from bad cases of influenza (flu), which resides in birds and domestic animals.

        Lockdowns kill more people that they save.

        This is a virus that affects metabolic diseases: diabetes, high blood pressure, overweight/obesity. Take those people out of the equation and this just another coronavirus that causes the common cold for those that eat a healthy diet that is low in processed foods/cards and eliminate sugar/candy and exercise.

        We have to change. Our bodies were not meant to be treated like this.

        We deserve the date of our choices.

      • Sorry, life has to go on. Yes, there is an infection, yes it kills. Mostly the frail. Closing down society because a bunch of false positives from a test that shouldn’t be used to diagnose a disease. No vaccines, no masks. It’s OK to disobey!

    • It’s very bad for the restaurants. Easy to close, how come zero help came from California??

      Landlords still want their rent.
      All the delivery platforms charging 30% commission. And no outdoor dining.

      Yet all the state agencies charging full amount for all permits and licenses.
      Liquor license $1200 check. Health department ~$1600 ✔️, sales tax no breaks, and much more.

      So we will make you close, but won’t provide any help and will keep on charging for stuff. Because it doesn’t matter that you are loosing a lot of $ already, we will make you loose more, but continue to collect the fees.

      It’s a disgrace

      It is really a shame.

  2. I don’t think idiots get to say things about public health, Helen. Public health rules must be based on science and data. If you were any good at it, you wouldn’t be posting in the loser comments, you’d be conferencing with the public health officials and quoted in the news articles. Face it, you are a loser. There is no research that shows lockdowns don’t work. You’re an idiot. Just shut your mouth.

  3. They should allow outdoor dining, it is not a source of virus spread. We need to keep those activities that are relatively safe to continue and have some kind of normalcy.

  4. Nazis told the Jews it’s for your safety and look what happened to them. Lock down does NOTHING! We have been wearing the masks and we now have supposedly more cases! These Nazi dictators don’t even follow their orders. Losing our freedom for safety will be worse than Covid.

  5. In my honest opinion I don’t think this lockdown is going to help. Where I live, in the last 3 weeks I’ve seen 4 houses having parties and not 1 person was wearing a mask. 1 was my neighbor and the other 2 were down the street and when I drove home you can clearly see that they were not wearing Mask’s. It’s idiots like them us why we are going through this. I mean even thanksgiving I’ve seen on Facebook families getting together for the holidays

    • That is absolutely wrong. Being outside in nature strengthens your immune system by diversifying your bacterial Flora. Plus you obtain more vitamin d which causes the immune system to be strengthen in two ways so the body can fight off any infection.

      We should be going to the beach. We need to go for a hike. We need to go play sports and walk barefoot on our lawns (if you have one). And the government knows that and that is why it is encouraging hikes and nature still.

  6. The problem was caused by the wrong plan. Lockdowns kill more than they prevent. And with a virus that can reside and spread within any animal that has an ACE2 receptor, you can’t hide out. Masks – when worn improperly spread disease – and that is what is happening.

    The emphasis should be on what works. Handwashing, vitamin D3, exercise, eliminating sugar / fast food / processed carbs etc. And we now know that taking pepcid and zyrtec together will help prevent a serious illness of any virus.

    If you want to close something, close fast food restaurants. Eliminate the sugar/candy, chip, cracker, cookie and pastries aisles. Remove it from the counter.

    We don’t learn. This is just another coronavirus (of which there are 6 that cause the common cold) to those that don’t eat sugar and processed foods daily and exercise. The problem are metabolic diseases: obesity, even being overweight, high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary problems.

    This is a metabolic plague and we are choosing not to change and by acting like that we are killing the innocent. 15 million need cancer treatment and only about 60% are obtaining their treatment because they are scared. New diagnoses are down 80% because people are scared.

    • Thank you for being the sole voice of reason in a sea of mindless lemmings in this thread.

      Take your vitamins, get some sun, protect your family who’s most vulnerable, put your kids back in school.

      If you’re salaried, you don’t get a vote. Easy of that.

      You aren’t suffering like the rest of us. And using door dash every day doesn’t make you safe, it just makes someone else absorb the risk for you, you cowards.

      • “If you’re salaried, you don’t get a vote. Easy [as] that”

        My brother is salaried. He’s a surgeon. You’re saying that he and am the other salaried health care workers on the front lines don’t get a vote.

        Have a heart, have some compassion.

        I understand that hourly workers that are unable to work from home she suffering more than some others. The right solution is for Congress to pass a COVID relief bill; it’s not too ignore public health and have a temporary respite until everyone’s too sick to work anyhow.

  7. Right now, our country is having a 9/11 EVERY DAY. It is un-American to suggest that “lockdowns don’t work” or “let’s get herd immunity”.

    After 9/11, if you aided al-Qaida you’d be called a traitor and charged with treason, because al-Qaida killed 3000 or so Americans.

    This virus is killing way more of us then Osama bin Laden ever did. It is inconceivable that people say “I live in a free country and I can do what I want”, including aiding and embedding an enemy that’s killing nearly 3000 Americana (soon to be more) a day.

    I mean, people can do that, but if this was al-Qaida that you’re aiding then there’s a cell for you at Gitmo.

    People who aid COVID-19 by not following health orders are basically committing *treason* – they could literally be responsible for setting off a chain reaction that kills thousands. Why we are not throwing those people in jail when we can prove they were responsible boggles my mind.

    Hawaii has got it right – you mess with health orders and they will throw you in jail, where you ought to be

    Anyone who says a lockdown doesn’t help needs to look at what what exponential growth means.

    Anyone who says “let’s get herd immunity by just getting COVID” should do the math of how many people will die if you have 330 million people play Russian Roulette with a 1 bullet in 100 revolver.

    The answer is about 3.3 million would die. And to put that into perspective, that’s more than 1000 9/11 terrorist attacks.

    So that basically comes to about a 9/11 every week from 9/11/2001 until now.

    It’s time to step up and be a patriot and follow the goddamn health orders.

  8. John, i hate to burst your bubble, a lot of what you said just isnt true. Yes getting outside and soaking up the rays is vety important to your immune system, vitamin D. But here is the truth, as I had Covid in June. I was fortunate to have maybe a lighter case. I had zero co-morbidities and spent everyday home until day 10 when I had trouble breathing and a galloping heart. Trip to Stanfords ER for a battery of tests. Body scan revealed no damage to vital organs but some of my blood values were off the charts. I was released 6 hours later. And here’s the part where I tell you lime many other people who have recovered’. Having Covid is just the tip of the iceberg….Covid leaves its calling card of hell. You’ll be good for a period of time and then wake up and you cant get out of bed for the fatigue. You recover and then its brain fog for a day. Then sweats for days, problems seeing and on it goes. Don’t fool yourself into thinking only unhealthy old people have problems. Lucky you if you recover without constant reminders. In fact 60 Minutes just ran a piece on people like me. So wear the damn mask, stay out of crowds and quit thinking because you are oh so healthy and eat and work out you are going to be OK. I work out everyday, eat healthy, the whole organic deal and that probably saved my life, but nothing can save you from the aftermath that ca befall you. This is just a blip in time and you will live without sports venues, bars, movies, and crowded dinners, theatre etc. But keep up with your healthy habits, it might save you, and then again it might not. In your spare time get your estate together.

  9. There are people who died of covid-19 who to the very end said it’s impossible because covid-19 is a hoax. John and Helen, is that going to be you? If it comes to that, can your family post a video of that online? It’ll be sad and hilarious at the same time to watch. Thank you.

    • Ian, your comment makes me feel physically ill to my stomach and I just wanted you to know that we all see you and wonder what went wrong with your upbringing to make you think commenting like that in public is acceptable.

  10. The sheer number of absolutist, pro-lockdown mask Karens in this thread is unfortunate. We’ve worn our masks since March and we’ve locked down twice. 800 businesses a day are closing and the majority of them will never return.

    Someone in this thread literally equated Covid-19 to a 9/11 each day and said that anyone who doesn’t wear a mask should be called a traitor and treated as such.

    Anecdotally, one woman said that because she’s healthy and works out with zero co-morbidities, the sole voice of reason in these threads is wrong and that we should all recognize that this is just a blip in time; that movie theaters and fitness centers aren’t essential and will return.

    Nevermind that we have no idea if they’ll ever return, but that’s a different story.

    I have to wonder how many of these self-righteous commenters are salaried and working from home indefinitely, relying solely upon delivery services for daily food drops, ultimately offloading their risk to the most economically fragile in our society.

    • Yesterday more than 2600 Americans died from the virus; about 3000 died on 9/11.

      How is that not an apt comparison? Do you need to see the bodies in the refrigeration trucks to believe it? Do you need to see videos of people taking their last breath?

      Do you need to see the doctors and nurses committing suicide? My brother’s a surgeon and is on the front lines of all this crap.

      Lockdowns are not helping as much as they should because it’s not done nationally and that’s total crap and not even remotely fair. Congress needs to pass another COVID-19 relief bill because you’re right: businesses are dying, people are are losing their livelihoods.

      But not having a lockdown isn’t gonna solve anything. At the rate we’re going, even when a lock down we’re gonna over flow our hospitals and then it’s going to get real ugly because people are going to start dying faster.

      People like Kathy may not get treated.

      The cold trucks holding dead bodies could run out.

      2607 people breathed their last breath yesterday alone, away from their loved ones. Have you ever watched someone die in person? I haven’t.

      The health care workers are having to watch everyday. They are our front line solders and in about a week or two they are gonna run out of ammo against an enemy that just claimed 2607 people in this country yesterday. How can we say “umm just keep fighting with blanks because we don’t want to support you?”

      Enough is enough. Have a heart and wear the damn mask.

  11. Lock downs will just kill more people then save lives as people from the same house hold are force to shelter in place. They don’t know if the same house hold someone got the corona virus from someone else on the outside and spread it to everyone forced to stay at home. Its like when the Jews were held prisoners in those concentration camps, and were all cram together and force to sleep with each other on bunks from floor to ceiling, The majority of them did not die from being gassed or shot by the guards, a lot of them died from diseases they caught from other people when they were all crammed together in tight sleeping quarters. Put everyone one together and tell them to stay at home an not go outside and surely one by one people will start dropping like flies. Unless people start doing their part instead of taking their lives into their own hands this will be the way of the future. We will never get our freedom back. I for one live alone and stay away from people as much as I can. I don’t let anyone in my house unless they happen to live with me. Because selfish people won’t do what they are told to do I am a virtual prisoner of my own home. Rather then go out shopping I having delivered to my house. I only go out when I need to. Anyone who get this virus from being stupid gets sick or dies I feel sorry for the families loss but not the person themselves. They chose to play russian roulette and and are now paying the price.

  12. I had the coronavirus in March and it kicked my butt, that’s for sure. I could barely get out of bed. It was painful. I haven’t missed two days of work for as long as I can remember, and I’m 62. I got through it, though the coughing lasted for at least a month. I don’t know if that experience gave me any immunity, but I’m not going to push my luck. My 19-year-old son, who lives with me, apparently gave it to me, but for him he barely got the sniffles. I don’t wish this virus on anybody but I don’t think it’s going to kill most people who get it. It’s just like a massive cold or flu. I know the “woke” pro-lockdown types don’t like comparing it to the flu (because Trump did that once and everything he says is automatically wrong), but having gone through it, I think it’s pretty accurate.

  13. Please do away with the comments section. Most of the ravings here and elseware add no value, and are actually harmful to public discourse. In times like this the only opinions that matter are those of expert public health authorities. Thanks.

    • Really,
      Reading what the press has to say is good enough? Do you really think the press is correct?
      You don’t have to read what others say. Just think, If America just read what the press said, we would be ok. Is that true?
      I feel sorry for people that cannot read opposing views. It’s what Americans do.
      Relax, believe what you want. Have your own opinion. It’s ok.

      • “Reading what the press has to say is good enough? Do you really think the press is correct?”

        Yeah, except when it comes to editorial content, which is silo-ed from news reporting. I can tell the difference.

        “Just think, If America just read what the press said, we would be ok. Is that true?”

        Yeah, actually, I think most of it is trustworthy. The toxic echo chambers of Fox and MSNBC and their like not included.

        “I feel sorry for people that cannot read opposing views.”

        Nobody cares if you feel sorry for them, so just don’t.

        “Relax, believe what you want. Have your own opinion. It’s ok.”

        That’s condescending. No one needs your reassurances, either, so just don’t.

        Nobody talks to each other the way they correspond anonymously in Internet comments sections. If they did fists would fly and the county jails would be full of anger management cases.

        News comment sections attract extreme zealots and trolls from one side or another of any given issue. They are completely toxic. That is why I want them discontinued.

  14. My friend works in a hospital in Santa Clara and he said there is no crowd COVID patients there. Another one works in Southern CA said the same thing. They must get the number from Dominion analysis machine or from China CCP so. they have excuse to order more masks from China with our tax pay $$$

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