Coronavirus

Coronavirus Bay Area: Shelter-in-place order to be extended until May 1, officials announce

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

SF mayor announces shelter-in-place order extended

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that the novel coronavirus shelter-in-place order will be extended until May 1.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The Public Health Order for people to shelter-in-place safely in their homes will soon be extended until at least May 1, seven Bay Area jurisdictions announced in a joint press release on Monday,

"Public Health orders are issued by the respective Health Officers of each jurisdiction. The Bay Area is fortunate to have a group of dedicated public health leaders who are working together to address the interconnectedness of our region. We have said an extension might be expected as we work together to slow the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Additional details about the updated order will be available when it is finalized in the next day or two."

San Francisco was the first to extend the shelter-in-place order, Mayor London Breed confirmed Monday. This comes after announcing the city currently has 374 cases and 6 deaths.

Breed also reported that Laguna Honda hospital has a growing outbreak with 11 positive COVID-19 cases.

The counties who signed the joint order include Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo and the city of Berkeley, which operates its own public health department.

District 3 Santa Clara County Supervisor David Cortese said Monday that there is a "strong likelihood" that Santa Clara County's shelter-in-place order would be extended past the current April 7th expirtation date.

CORONAVIRUS IN CALIFORNIA: Get resources and information about COVID-19

Supervisor Cortese also said that any extension would be announced well before the current order expires.

Cortese made the comments as there is concern over if the current shelter-in-place for Bay Area counties will be extended past the April 7th guideline put in place on March 17th.

Hours after Chavez reportedly made the comments on Sunday President Trump doubled down on national social distancing guidelines.

"We will be extending our guidelines to April 30th to slow the spread" said President Trump, on Sunday.

Last week it was announced schools across the Bay Area would be closed util May 1st with Governor Gavin Newsom commenting earlier this month that it's unlikely that students will return to the classroom this academic year.

Now with the number of Bay Area cases of coronavirus hitting 2,017, it's only rational to question if our efforts to slow the spread will need to be extended past the current April 7th expiration.

And even if the local mandatory shelter-in-place orders were to lapse the order signed by the governor, while less restrictive, is indefinite and it may not come with an expiration date as soon as many thought.

The public health order, both in the Bay Area and statewide, limits residents' travel, mandates social distancing and substantially limits public and private gatherings. All non-essential travel is prohibited, except to maintain operations critical to state infrastructure. Critical infrastructure includes healthcare, food and agriculture, emergency services and many others.

Social distancing requirements mandate a six-foot distance between others, frequent hand washing, using hand santizer, covering coughs and sneezes, cleaning surfaces and not shaking hands with others.

The Bay Area currently has over 1,900 cases and 49 deaths.

Get the latest news, information and videos about the novel coronavirus pandemic here

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