STAY AT HOME TO SAVE THE LIVES OF OTHERS

Across America and the globe, the desire to ignore pandemic restrictions and get out of the house is proving harder for people to suppress, and for whatever reason, the inclination seems especially strong in California. This was on display locally on Tuesday when a massive traffic jam occurred on a rural highway as San Diegans drove to see snow on the mountains after the recent storm.

Given that New Year’s Eve is at hand so soon after people may have gathered in large groups for Christmas and given the long incubation period of novel coronavirus infections, such restlessness is causing anxiety for health care workers, government officials and others — as it should be. Even with the arrival of vaccines, the world and our little corner of it are nowhere near out of the woods. On Tuesday, the state extended the shelter-in-place order for Southern

California, and on Wednesday, San Diego Mayor

Todd Gloria issued an executive order directing the

Police Department and City Attorney’s Office to crack down on individuals “blatantly defying ” public health orders on masks, store openings and more with fines of up to $1,000.

California’s situation is grim. The New York

Times’ coronavirus tracker showed it with more new cases per 100,000 residents than any state, and a 37 percent increase in deaths and a 49 percent increase in hospitalizations over the past two weeks. The San

Francisco Chronicle noted that California is now seeing more than 12 times as many new cases as it did in early October. Locally, hospitals have been forced to delay surgeries as intensive care units fill up with COVID-19 cases. On Wednesday, officials announced that a 30-year-old county resident was found to have the highly contagious new coronavirus strain first identified in the United Kingdom.

It’s hard to fathom how California is faring so much worse than other warm weather states — starting with Florida and Texas — where leaders have been less likely to push people to wear masks and to shut down as many businesses. But as Scripps Health President/CEO Chris Van Gorder writes on this page, county residents have already shown they can do what it takes in response to a virus surge.

In July, appeals to the public to stay home, wear masks, socially distance and frequently wash hands reduced cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

The county desperately needs a repeat performance — as it needed Gloria’s call for public health orders to be enforced and not just aspirational. Peer and community pressure isn’t succeeding. Other elected leaders should back Gloria and give law enforcement far more of a role than it has to date.

This public health emergency will endure for months. So please, be responsible and pop champagne to mark the end of this terrible year at home.