By Aaron Miller-
Southern California will remain under a stay-at-home order for the foreseeable future, state officials confirmed on Monday, plunging millions into an uncertain 2021 with significant restrictions on the struggling economy as hospitals face unprecedented struggles with a flood of COVID-19 patients.
Tuesday’s announcement of the stay-at-home order for both Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley is due to the new strain of the virus first discovered in the Uk, and now found in an American with no travel history. The news spells continuous obstruction to normality for Californians as in most parts of the world.
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The fact that Intensive Care Units (ICU) in the U.S are reporting overwhelmed capacity due to coronavirus patients, makes the new strain an added problem.
Dr. Mark Ghaly of California’s Health and Human Services Agency, said today “ICU capacity is not improving in Southern California,” and is not projected to improve for at least the next few months. In order for LA and surrounding counties to move out of the current stay at home order, intensive care unit bed capacity (among other factors) would need to improve to at or above 15 percent, and remain there for some time.
There is no firm date for that to happen, Dr. Ghaly said today, as bed capacity fluctuates daily. The current stay at home public health order will remain in effect “for the time being,” he said.
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Los Angeles is said to be one of the most affected parts of America by the raging pandemic, and Los Angeles County has been subject to an ongoing curfew that bans non-essential travel overnight, and recently enacted a mandatory 10-day quarantine for anyone returning from a trip outside of county lines.
Multiple small restaurant businesses have closed since the first lockdown and many business owners are already on the brink of bankruptcy, with no indication of when normality will resume.
California on Monday again recorded its highest number of new coronavirus infections in a single day, with 66,811- a figure that excludes a backlog from the Christmas weekend, when reports were not issued by many counties.
It may only be a matter of time before other states in the U.S follow announce similar measures, leading to further frustrations for many ordinary Americana and also American businesses.
Emphasis on mask wearing and social distancing is likely to become a new culture for Americans until further notice, the vaccine itself proving no real assurances for the future.
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