Newsom: Limited COVID curfew
Nighttime gatherings prohibited starting Saturday will affect about 90% of Californians
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a limited curfew designed to curtail the nighttime movements of more than 90% of Californians, the state’s latest attempt to slow a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases.
The new rule largely mirrors the March stay-at-home order that was the nation’s first to shut down much of the economy, except for one major detail: It’s only applicable at night. Starting Saturday, the vast majority of Californians are asked to avoid gathering with other households from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Restaurants must close at 10, with the exception of takeout and delivery. But grocery stores and other essential businesses can remain open, and Californians can pick up a carton of milk or walk the dog late at night with others in their households without violating the order.
The order, issued just ahead of the Thanks
giving holiday and as California reported more infections in the past week than at any other time, will last until at least Dec. 21. It applies to counties in the purple “widespread risk” tier — 41 of the state’s 58 counties. That includes all of the Bay Area, except San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties.
“The virus is spreading at a pace we haven’t seen since the start of this pandemic and the next several days and weeks will be critical to stop the surge. We are sounding the alarm,” Newsom wrote in a news release. “It is crucial that we act to decrease transmission and slow hospitalizations before the death count surges. We’ve done it before and we must do it again.”
In addition to rising ca ses, hospita lizations and deaths are increasing, too. On Wednesday, county health departments around California combined to report 11,646 new cases and 107 new deaths, according to data compiled by this news organization — the highest singleday death toll since Oct. 21. The state was on track to surpass 12,500 cases Thursday, just the fourth time at least 10,000 cases have been recorded on four consecutive days.
The virus is surging across the country, prompting new restrictions in several states. New York City suspended in-person classes for students Thursday after the state ordered businesses with liquor licenses to close indoor and outdoor dining by 10 p.m. El Paso, Texas, imposed even stricter measures, requiring people to remain at home at night unless they’re required to travel for emergencies or essential services. Washington this week banned indoor gatherings with people from multiple households unless participants quarantine beforehand. And Los Angeles County ordered restaurants, retail shops and other nonessential businesses to close from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting Friday.
During a virtual briefing, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly painted the state’s limited curfew as a more palatable alternative to a complete shutdown. The shelter- in- place orders that started in March dragged on for weeks, sparking protests from frustrated business owners and residents. And experts say activities taking place at night are more likely to be nonessential social gatherings, during which people may let their guard down or become intoxicated — and perhaps remove their masks and get too close to one another.
But questions were already being raised Thursday about the curfew’s potential effectiveness.
The new order includes no mention of an enforcement mechanism. A nd while Ghaly assured residents it is enforceable, he indicated decisions on when and how to hold people to the rules would be left to individual counties.
San Jose police Chief Eddie Garcia said his department’s approach will be similar to how it handled the initial March shelter-inplace order. That means a priority on educating violators before resorting to citations, and stopping short of police action solely because someone is outside in violation of the curfew.
“I don’t want law enforcement to be holding the bag on this,” Garcia said. “Under no circumstances is a violation of this curfew going to be probable cause for detention.”
Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones on Thursday said his office would not enforce the curfew or any other health order.
This isn’t the first time this year Bay Area residents have been subject to a curfew. Following chaotic protests in May over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, jurisdictions from Alameda County to San Francisco to San Jose enacted evening curfews.
Over the course of the four-night-long order, San Jose police officers arrested dozens of protesters, and sometimes nonprotesters, for violating it. The move elicited criticism both from residents and activists who saw it as an infringement of their freespeech rights. Later, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office and the city announced they would not pursue curfew violators.
Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology at the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program, said he was “delighted” by Thursday’s COVID order. But he worries it won’t be enough.
“We need to be doing more aggressive things to take this on, to really change the direction that things are going,” he said. “Because they’re going very quickly in the wrong direction.”
Swartzberg would like to see the state go further, even reverting back to the full stay-at-home order imposed in March. But the curfew is an important step, he said. For one thing, it sends a strong message to the public that the surge in cases must be taken seriously.
But not everyone was so enthusiastic.
“As far as I know the disease is just as deadly between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. as it is from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.,” San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa said in a statement. San Mateo County is in the red tier, and therefore exempt from Thursday’s order. But if its case numbers rise, it could end up in the purple tier.
“So, I cannot support this tactic since there is no scientific evidence that shows a curfew works. Stick to the science and wear your damn masks.”