California health officials extended stay-at-home orders Tuesday for two large areas of the state because of the COVID-19 surge within the country, according to NBC News.
What happened:
Officials said they have extended stay-at-home orders in Southern California especially because of the surge.
- “We certainly know that Southern California hospitals are in crisis, and some have begun to implement parts of crisis care,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said in a video briefing, per NBC News.
Most of the state remains under stay-at-home orders. Orders in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley will be extended into 2021 and will remain in place until projections drop.
More details:
Deadline reports that health officials will review the stay-at-home orders if the coronavirus numbers take a dip. For now, Ghaly said Californians should take extra precautions because of the surge.
- Ghaly said people should reconsider their New Year’s Eve plans, too, because they will be incredibly riskier than before.
- “Things that were a month ago or two months ago a low-risk activity today are really high risks because of the level of COVID that’s circulating in our communities,” he said, according to Deadline.
New rules:
Los Angeles County issued new rules for travelers this week, asking residents to quarantine when they return home from outside Los Angeles County, as I wrote about for the Deseret News.
- The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said those who traveled outside the county are asked to quarantine for 10 days when they return.