By the Daily Post staff
UPDATE, MONDAY, NOV. 16 — Santa Clara County is among 28 counties that Gov. Gavin Newsom today moved into the most restrictive of reopening tiers as the state attempts to extinguish its current rise in new coronavirus cases.
The move from the red to purple tiers, effective tomorrow, means no more indoor dining at restaurants. Gyms cannot operate indoors any longer. It also means that churches, which were allowed to hold services at 25% of capacity, will now have to hold gatherings outdoors. Shopping centers will go from 50% of capacity to 25% of capacity and no food courts.
In addition, the state has moved San Mateo County into the red tier, the second most-restrictive tier in the system. In that tier, indoor restaurant dining is allowed, but only at 25% capacity. Churches can have indoor services as long as capacity is limited to 25%.
According to Newsom, the state has seen its quickest increase in new cases statewide over the last 10 days since the pandemic began in earnest in March.
He said the state is “pulling the emergency brake” on its reopening plans.
“Every age group, every demographic, racial, ethnic (group) in every part of the state, we are seeing case rates increase and positivity rates (the percentage of those tested who are positive for Covid) increase as well,” Newsom said during his briefing this afternoon on the pandemic.
“We are seeing community spread broadly,” he added.
FRIDAY, NOV. 13 — Indoor restaurant dining will be banned in Santa Clara County starting on Tuesday (Nov. 17) because of a “sudden, rapid spike” in Covid-19 cases and an increase in hospitalizations.
Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody announced Friday that the county will be moving from the orange zone to the more restrictive red zone on the Covid-19 restriction scale.
Other Bay Area counties are seeing increases as well, and they’re expected to increase restrictions in coming days.
The county allowed indoor dining at restaurants to resume but at reduced capacity in mid-October.
But as case counts continue to rise, the risks associated with indoor dining, especially because patrons must take their masks off to eat, have increased significantly, Cody said.
Cody and public health experts in our region and elsewhere have concluded that it is necessary to close indoor dining to help contain the spread of the virus.
“We know that eating indoors without masks is a very high-risk activity, and as we close indoor dining we also strongly urge people not to eat or gather indoors with anyone outside their own household,” Cody said. “We must come together as a community and act now to get the virus under control.”
Gyms will also have to close when the county moves into the red tier on Tuesday (Nov. 17).
Health officials have been unable to control the spread of the virus after issuing their first lockdown order in mid-March. The order was supposed to last for three weeks to “flatten the curve” and free up space in hospitals for an expected surge in patients that never occurred.
Cody noted that wearing masks at all times, avoiding crowded environments, and moving as many activities as possible outdoors is critical to controlling the virus.
In indoor environments, the risk of droplet and aerosol transmission of COVID-19 can be only partially mitigated by wearing a mask.
Health officials are especially worried about people gathering indoors with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, and they’re urging people who leave the Bay Area to quarantine themselves for 14 days when they return.
Is the harm to the local economy ever considered by Dr Cody when she issues these lockdown orders? Does she consider the jobs lost or businesses that will close permanently because of her mismanagement of this crisis locally?
Nobody at the county or city cares because they all get regular paychecks, whether the economy is strong or weak, it doesn’t matter. No, they never take into account the businesses that are struggling to stay open. They don’t care that the unemployment rate in the county is 10%. As long as the Board of Supervisors has their declaration of emergency in place, they can’t fire Cody no matter what damage she does.
Sad truth…is not named Cody but Trump.
No national effort.
Just look how other countries and you will be shocked .
Get a grip everyone. This has always been a Trump National Failure.
Yeah, and Trump is responsible for the second surge in Europe!!! Their per capita death rate is higher than ours — and it’s all Trump’s fault.
Suicides, domestic violence, skyrocketing mental illness, staggering increases in poverty and extreme poverty, people dying at home from heart attacks and strokes rather than going to the hospital, cancer patients not getting adequate treatment, the elderly left alone for weeks and months at a time in rest homes, pregnant women giving birth while wearing masks, grandparents not seeing grandchildren, school-aged children locked inside like prisoners and staring at screens in lieu of learning — people, wake up. We are losing everything that makes our society worthwhile. We are losing everything that makes us human.
Sara Cody, you have done so much harm to so many people in this one year alone. It boggles the mind to think how much cruelty for which you are personally responsible.
We need to ignore Cody. We need to reclaim our humanity. Our children will have no livable world if we do not.
I can’t believe the brightest scientific minds are making these decisions. I mean wasn’t Dr. Fauci against masks before he was for them? Remember it was three weeks of quarantine and then we could go about our normal lives. I’m tired of listening to these idiots as our community crumbles from another lockdown.
we’re headed for another lockdown. you can tell how badly they want one. but the fact is, lockdowns don’t work.
https://www.aei.org/articles/lockdowns-dont-work/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-failed-experiment-of-covid-lockdowns-11599000890
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/coronavirus-lockdowns-dont-work-dr-marc-siegel/vp-BB1aXpbe
Why are we going to destroy what’s left of our business sector with something that isn’t proven to work?
People need to be wearing masks. It’s just that simple.
Looks like Gavin blew it again. Partying in violation of his own rules. Now it turns out his color-coded system isn’t chasing away the virus. Is there any way we can remove this guy and bring in somebody who is competent?
Yes, Please sign the recall petition which you can download here. Please be sure to write in your county of residence in the correct place. https://recallgavin2020.com/. Then contact your rep to file a motion to impeach.
I thought Gavin was a recovering alcoholic. Remember how he said he would go into treatment after he was caught having an affair with his best friend’s wife. Is he drinking again?
Do Newsom and Cody hold their conferences outdoors? Do they follow their own regulations? Or is it like in Orwell that there are equal and more equal?
Glad I squeezed in that one last dinner at the French Laundry!