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California Enacts Coronavirus Curfew for Majority of State’s 40m Residents

California Enacts Coronavirus Curfew for Majority of State’s 40m Residents
folder_openUnited States access_time3 years ago
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By Staff, Agencies

California is imposing a curfew affecting nearly all of its 40 million residents beginning this weekend, as the state tries to control a surge in coronavirus cases.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced what officials are describing as a limited stay-at-home order on Thursday, saying that all nonessential work and gathering must stop from 10pm to 5am. The order will apply to the 41 counties currently in the most restrictive tier of reopening rules, which accounts for 94% of the state’s 40 million residents.

“The virus is spreading at a pace we haven’t seen since the start of this pandemic and the next several days and weeks will be critical to stop the surge. We are sounding the alarm,” Newsom said in a statement.

The order will last until 21 December, but could be extended if infection rates and disease trends don’t improve.

While the order stipulates nonessential businesses must close by 10pm, restaurants will be permitted to offer takeout food and people can perform some routine activities such as walking dogs, officials said. They will still be able to get medical care, pick up prescriptions and take care of other essential needs.

Officials said overnight movements are more likely to involve social activities that bring increased risk of infection, particularly if people drink and let down their guard on basic safety precautions like wearing masks and staying a safe distance apart.

It follows the state’s more sweeping lockdown in the spring, which ordered all residents to stay at home day and night barring essential work and services.

The move comes only days after the state imposed fresh restrictions that limited business operations in those same 41 counties, which have the most significant increases in virus cases. Newsom said at the time he was pulling “the emergency brake” on reopening to relieve pressure on the state’s healthcare system.

California recently became the second state, behind Texas, to surpass 1m total cases, while the first week of November saw the state’s fastest rate of increase in cases since the beginning of the crisis. More than 18,500 Californians have died so far.

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