SAN FRANCISCO (NewsNation Now) — More counties in California announced new COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday to prevent rising caseloads from spiraling into a hospital crisis.
San Francisco is joining a statewide curfew and Silicon Valley is banning all high school, collegiate and professional sports and imposing a quarantine for those traveling into the region from more than 150 miles away. Santa Clara County has the highest case rate in the Bay Area, leading to the stricter rules, said Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody.
“This pandemic is like a high-speed train, and our projections tell us that we are on target to derail by around the third week of December if we don’t apply the brakes right now with all our collective might,” she said.
FILE – In this Nov. 23, 2020, file photo a COVID-19-themed mural reads “You Can’t Quarantine Love,” outside of a restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif. Los Angeles County has announced a new stay-home order as coronavirus cases surge out of control in the nation’s most populous county. The three-3 week order take effect Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. The order advises residents to stay home “as much as possible” and to wear a face covering when they go out. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) 
Ventilator tubes are attached a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. California is imposing an overnight curfew on most residents as the most populous state tries to head off a surge in coronavirus cases that it fears could tax its health care system, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) 
FILE – In this Nov. 19, 2020, file photo, EMT Giselle Dorgalli, second from right, looks at a monitor while performing chest compression on a patient who tested positive for coronavirus in the emergency room at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County has announced a new stay-home order as coronavirus cases surge out of control in the nation’s most populous county. The three-3 week order take effect Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. The order advises residents to stay home “as much as possible” and to wear a face covering when they go out. It bans people from gathering with people who aren’t in their households, whether publicly or privately. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) 
FILE – In this Nov 18, 2020, file aerial photo, motorists wait in long lines to take a coronavirus test in a parking lot at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County has announced a new stay-home order as coronavirus cases surge out of control in the nation’s most populous county. The three-3 week order take effect Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. The order advises residents to stay home “as much as possible” and to wear a face covering when they go out. It bans people from gathering with people who aren’t in their households, whether publicly or privately. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File) 
Melrose Mac Service coordinator Josh Smart, left, helps out customer Eric Hall, Monster Lighting general manager, to make a contact-less purchase at the store in Burbank, Calif., Friday, Nov. 27, 2020. Los Angeles County has announced a new stay-home order as coronavirus cases surge out of control in the nation’s most populous county. The three-3 week order take effect Monday, Nov. 30. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) 
Melrose Mac Service coordinator, Josh Smart, left, helps out customer Eric Hall, Monster Lighting general manager, to make a contact-less purchase through a plexiglass wall at the store in Burbank, Calif., Friday, Nov. 27, 2020. Los Angeles County has announced a new stay-home order as coronavirus cases surge out of control in the nation’s most populous county. The three-3 week order take effect Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. The order advises residents to stay home “as much as possible” and to wear a face covering when they go out. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) 
FILE – In this Nov. 7, 2020, file photo, clouds move over the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles. The raging coronavirus pandemic has prompted Los Angeles County to impose a lockdown to prevent the caseload from spiraling into a hospital crisis but the order stops short of a full business shutdown that could cripple the holiday sale season. The “safer at home” public health order announced Friday, Nov. 27 calls for 10 million residents to stay home “as much as possible” and bars them from gathering with people outside of their household for public or private occasions. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) 
FILE – In this May 28, 2020, file photo, hikers utilize the Innsdale Trail near the famed Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles. The “safer at home” public health order announced Friday, Nov. 27 in Los Angeles County calls for 10 million residents to stay home “as much as possible” and bars them from gathering with people outside of their household for public or private occasions. Schools that currently are holding in-person classes also mainly will be allowed to remain open, as will beaches, parks and trails.(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) 
FILE – In this May 28, 2020, file photo, hikers utilize the Innsdale Trail near the famed Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles. The “safer at home” public health order announced Friday, Nov. 27 for Los Angeles County calls for 10 million residents to stay home “as much as possible” and bars them from gathering with people outside of their household for public or private occasions. Schools that currently are holding in-person classes also mainly will be allowed to remain open, as will beaches, parks and trails.(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) 
FILE – In this Nov. 19, 2020, file photo, Dr. Rafik Abdou checks on a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles. The raging coronavirus pandemic has prompted Los Angeles County to impose a lockdown to prevent the caseload from spiraling into a hospital crisis but the order stops short of a full business shutdown that could cripple the holiday sale season. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) 
FILE – In this March, 12, 2020, file photo, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer takes questions at a news conference in Los Angeles. Public health officials have been urging people for weeks to avoid visiting family during the holiday season as COVID-19 cases spiral out of control in counties that include most of California’s population. “The big unknown here is what actions were people taking over this long holiday weekend,” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) 
FILE -In this May 6, 2020 photo a medical worker hands a self administered coronavirus test to a patient at a drive through testing site in a parking lot in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles. Public health officials have been urging people for weeks to avoid visiting family during the holiday season as COVID-19 cases spiral out of control in counties that include most of California’s population. Officials have estimated that 1 in 145 Los Angeles County residents is infected with COVID-19. About 12% of those infected could wind up in hospitals, authorities say Friday, Nov. 27. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) 
FILE – In this Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020, file photo, a pedestrian walks past a mural reading: “When out of your home, Wear a mask over your mouth and nose,” during the coronavirus outbreak in San Francisco. San Francisco is joining a statewide curfew and Silicon Valley is banning all high school, collegiate and professional sports and imposing a quarantine for those traveling into the region from more than 150 miles away. Santa Clara County has the highest case rate in the Bay Area, leading to the stricter rules, said Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) 
FILE – In this March 16, 2020, file photo, a person looks toward the skyline from Bernal Heights Hill in San Francisco. The San Francisco 49ers and other teams may need to find a temporary new home after Santa Clara County on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020 banned all contact sports from holding games and practices for the next three weeks. County officials issued the directives in response to rising cases of the coronavirus in the area. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) 
FILE – In this Nov. 27, 2020, file photo, a Black Friday shopper wearing a face mask is silhouetted, while waiting in line to enter a store early morning at the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif. Los Angeles County health officials are bracing for a wave of cases in the next two or three weeks that could follow gatherings at Thanksgiving. Officials have estimated that 1 in 145 Los Angeles County residents is infected with COVID-19. About 12% of those infected could wind up in hospitals, authorities say. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)
The changes in Santa Clara County are less strict than a statewide lockdown issued in March by Gov. Gavin Newsom but still ratchet up measures that aim to slow the exploding number of people who have become infected with COVID-19 and those winding up in hospitals. It stops short of a full business shutdown that could cripple the holiday sale season by reducing the number of people allowed in stores to 10% capacity.
The order, which takes effect Monday and will last until at least Dec. 21, exempts church services and protests, which county health officials said are constitutionally protected.
Health officers in other Bay Area counties expressed support for Santa Clara county’s tighter rules because they anticipate other parts of the region may eventually reach the same critical caseload level. A month ago, there were 262 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the Bay Area; as of yesterday, that number had nearly tripled to 759, they said in a statement.
The San Francisco 49ers and the San Jose Sharks hockey team may need to find a temporary new home after the county banned all contact sports from holding games and practices for the next three weeks. Stanford and San Jose State also have several sports in season.
Meanwhile, an alarming increase of newly reported coronavirus cases pushed San Francisco and San Mateo counties to the most restrictive purple tier in the state’s pandemic blueprint for the economy, forcing most indoor activities to close by noon Sunday and placing the counties’ residents under curfew starting Monday night.
The new restrictions came a day after Los Angeles County imposed a lockdown calling for 10 million residents to stay home “as much as possible,” prohibiting them from gathering with people outside of their household for public or private occasions, except for faith-based services and protests.
Businesses already are operating under a recently-imposed nighttime curfew that covers much of the state, as are restaurants, which were recently barred from offering in-person dining.
Public health officials have been urging people for weeks to avoid visiting family during the holiday season as COVID-19 cases spiral out of control in counties that include most of California’s population.
Authorities began to see caseloads spiking this fall and blamed it, in part, on people ignoring mask and distance precautions when gathering, especially to celebrate holidays or special events such as the World Series victory by the Dodgers and NBA championship win by the Lakers.
The state’s top public health official has referred to “COVID fatigue” by people who are becoming lax about safety precautions after having been hit with sometimes confusing state and local health orders as the pandemic waxed and waned.
Meanwhile, health officials are bracing for a wave of cases in the next two or three weeks that could follow gatherings at Thanksgiving. Officials have estimated that 1 in 145 Los Angeles County residents is infected with COVID-19. About 12% of those infected could wind up in hospitals, authorities say.
“The big unknown here is what actions were people taking over this long holiday weekend,” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Saturday.
California as a state has more than 1.2 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 19,000 deaths related to the virus, according to data complied by Johns Hopkins University.