51,000 cases, 428 deaths

Regionwide stay-at-home mandate in effect after ICU beds fall below 15% availability

In a sobering milestone on another record day of coronavirus cases and deaths in California, the availability of intensive care unit beds at hospitals across the Bay Area on Wednesday fell below 15% for the first time, triggering state rules that will place every county in the region under a stay-at-home order.

The alarming trend came as the Golden State suffered by far its most gruesome day since the pandemic began: More than 51,000 new cases and at least 428 new COVID-19 deaths were reported, obliterating the record 255 from only the day before.

In the Bay Area, the region had 12.9% of its ICU beds open Wednesday, according to the state Department of Health Services.

For much of the Bay Area, there will be no change in coronavirus restrictions. Six of the region’s nine counties already had adopted the tougher rules last week, when Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma put them into effect as a preemptive measure. In doing so, health officials had hoped to slow the relentlessly rising number of COVID-19 cases in the area

and prevent hospitals from reaching capacity.

A seventh county that the state includes in the Bay Area region, Monterey, on Sunday also took that step.

But four other neighboring counties — San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Napa and Solano — had not put the deeper restrictions into place early. They will see the stay-athome order take effect at 11:59 p.m. today.

“Our hospitals and health care delivery system are at the breaking point,” said Dr. Gail Newel, health officer for Santa Cruz County, where all 22 ICU beds were full, and Dominican and Watsonville hospitals were scrambling to convert additional beds. “Our actions now will help us return to our normal lives sooner rather than later.”

Under the stay-at-home rules, all restaurants must close outdoor dining, although they can still be open for delivery and pickup. Retail stores and shopping centers are limited to no more than 20% of customer capacity, with entrance metering required. Grocery stores are limited to 35% capacity. Bars, nail salons, barbershops, hair salons and tattoo parlors must close. Indoor gyms, along with zoos, museums, aquariums and movie theaters, also must close.

“It’s a big setback from where we were, thinking we were moving forward,” said Noelani Maestrini, owner of Noelani’s Island Grill in San Carlos.

Although the restaurant’s indoor tables had been off limits, its 14 outdoor tables helped keep customers coming, allowing all the employees to keep their jobs. Now some will be laid off until the tougher rules lift, she said,

and the restaurant remains open for takeout and deliveries, including tropical drinks like mai tais.

The restrictions must remain in place for at least three weeks, until Jan. 8. After that, they will be lifted when a region’s ICU bed capacity once again is equal to or above 15%.

Schools that are already open for in-person learning may remain open. So can non-urgent medical care and dentists’ offices. Parks, playgrounds, beaches and open space preserves remain open. But campgrounds are closed. Churches can have outdoor services only. And hotels can only rent rooms to essential workers like doctors or nurses.

Medical workers are at ground zero for the pandemic.

Regional Medical Center in East San Jose reached 100% capacity in its 37-bed ICU last week and is already on overflow, sending critical

COVID-19 patients to sealed rooms in the emergency department, said Regional spokeswoman Sarah Sherwood.

The total number of COVID patients has also grown from a record high 70 last week to 90 on Wednesday.

“To 90 from 70 is like, Holy Moses,” Sherwood said. “It’s a big jump.”

With such a large influx, the hospital started transferring some patients — including some with COVID-19 — to other Bay Area hospitals, including Good Samaritan in Los Gatos.

It’s a trend happening across the Bay Area and the state.

“People are dying,” said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, a health officer with Santa Clara County. “We’re seeing more cases right now than we’ve seen at any point in this pandemic began in Santa Clara County. We are averaging now well over

1,000 cases a day. Back in July when we thought things were pretty bad we were seeing about 300 cases a day, so we have tripled that.”

On Monday and Tuesday, days after the FDA approved a vaccine from Pfizer, frontline doctors, nurses and other workers across California received their first shots offering protection. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve another vaccine, made by Moderna, on Friday.

The Bay Area region — where COVID-19 has been spreading at a lower rate than in Southern California and the Central Valley — is the fourth of five regions in California to move into the shutdown order. In recent days, Southern California, the San Joaquin Valley and the Greater Sacramento regions dipped below the 15% threshold.

Altogether Wednesday, 47 of California’s 58 coun

ties were under the stay-athome order. They are home to 39 million of California’s 40 million residents.

Only the Northern California region, which includes mostly rural counties, still remains above the 15% ICU bed availability. There, ICU capacity was 28.1%. In the Greater Sacramento region on Wednesday it was 14.1%. In San Joaquin Valley, it was 0%, with no ICU beds available. And in Southern California, it was 0.5%.

Fenstersheib said that the rollout this week of the Pfizer vaccine “hopefully, will mark the end of this pandemic.” But he noted it will take months for a majority of Bay Area residents to get it.

Until then, he urged people to be vigilant, wear masks, social distance and not travel to visit others during the holiday season. He noted his own father is 94, and they won’t be together this year.