Citing decreasing Covid-19-related hospitalizations, California lifted the stay-at-home order statewide Jan. 25, allowing outdoor dining and other activities to resume in Santa Clara County.
Santa Clara County has returned to the Purple Tier of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, which is based on local Covid-19 case rates.
In addition to outdoor dining, personal care services and professional, collegiate and adult and youth sports may resume. The county’s mandatory travel quarantine remains in place, requiring a 10-day quarantine for most people who travel into the county from more than 150 miles away.
“Santa Clara County continues to experience very high rates of Covid-19 transmission,” said Santa Clara County Public Health Officer Sara Cody. “Our collective actions to date have saved lives and helped protect our healthcare system from collapse. I encourage all residents to remain vigilant, wear a mask anytime you leave your home, maintain a distance of at least six feet from anyone outside your household, and get vaccinated when it is your turn.”
The following activities are allowed under the Purple Tier:
• Outdoor dining may resume, while indoor dining remains prohibited. Bars, breweries, distilleries and pubs may serve alcohol only outdoors and only in the same transaction as a meal.
• Personal care services may resume indoors and outdoors.
• Professional and collegiate sports
• Adult recreational sports activities
• Youth sports
• Most businesses that are allowed to open indoor operations to the public must limit capacity of their publicly accessible space to 20 percent.
• Outdoor gatherings with up to three households are now allowed for any purpose. Larger outdoor gatherings with up to 200 people are allowed only for political, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as otherwise specifically allowed by the state. Indoor gatherings of any kind remain prohibited.
• The County’s Mandatory Directive on Travel, which requires most people who travel into the county from more than 150 miles away to quarantine for 10 days upon their arrival, is still in effect.
• The County’s Mandatory Directive for Lodging Facilities is still in effect. Lodging facilities may not provide lodging services for non-essential purposes, such as tourism, recreational, or leisure purposes.
As of Jan. 24, 545 people are hospitalized in Santa Clara County with Covid-19. While only 10 intensive care unit beds are available in the county, the Bay Area region’s ICU availability is exceeding 15 percent of capacity, which is the threshold that allows regions to exit the stay-at-home order.
