New coronavirus restrictions go into effect as cases climb across the nation

LOS ANGELES (NewsNation Now) — New coronavirus restrictions are popping up everywhere as cases climb, including in California where 94% of the population is now in the state’s most restrictive tier.

Health departments all over the country are desperately trying keep hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.

In California, COVID-19 cases are up by 51% in the last 10 days. 

Orange County is among those under tighter restrictions, which means no more indoor dining or gym workouts and shopping malls must reduce capacity to 25%.

Kings County has also digressed.

“People were starting to get used to just that normal feel, all of a sudden you just have to stop,” said Brian Alves, a Hanford, Calif. restaurant manager.

According to many health officials, eating out at restaurants and smaller gatherings have fueled the recent surge. 

“That sort of belies a lot of the pandemic fatigue we see. You think, well, I haven’t seen my friend in seven months, or I haven’t seen my mother in this amount of time, I’ll just say hi to her. Those little slips now matter that the rates are higher, they didn’t matter as much in March,” said Dr. Christian Sandrock, a Pulmonologist at UC Davis Health.

New restrictions are also in place in Washington State where the Governor said cases have jumped from around 600 a day to over 2,000 a day in just a week’s time.

Like other areas, it means no more indoor dining. 

“The science tells us that anywhere where people sit across from each other without masks. It’s just a risky environment… and there’s nothing we can do to ameliorate that because people have to take their mask off when they eat,” Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said.

The same thinking means similar restrictions for many counties in Colorado. Gov. Jared Polis (D) said about one in every 64 people in Denver have COVID-19.

“These trends that were worrying about in parts of our state are exponential. We’ve seen this happening across the country, it’s happening in the upper Midwest and now we’re just a few steps behind that here in Colorado,” he said.