Updated: Dec. 10, 2020

The stay-at-home orders announced on Dec. 3 went into effect for the Southern California region at midnight on Dec. 6. The order prohibits bars, nail salons, wineries, hair salons, and other personal care services from opening and urges citizens within the region to stay at home. The order spans 11 counties in Southern California including Ventura County and Los Angeles County.

The order was triggered because the region’s ICU capacity fell below the 15% threshold on Dec. 5, dropping to 13.1%.

Restaurants can serve customers through takeout/delivery services, but indoor and outdoor dining is prohibited. Worship and political expression are permitted in outdoor settings and must be consistent with existing guidelines. Amusement parks, museums, movie theatres, and aquariums also must close in accordance with the order.

Newsom explained that with rising COVID-19 infections there is a possibility that California’s hospital system may become overwhelmed. In response, he has decided to pull what he has called “the emergency brake.”

“We are pursuant to that blueprint we put out some 14 weeks ago pulling that emergency break,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “We’ve done it sequentially over the past couple of weeks, but we are doing it in a much more broad, and much more comprehensive way today.”

There is nothing in the order that prevents citizens from going outdoors, so long as there is no gathering of people from more than one household. It is permitted under the order to go on walks, go to the beach, go skiing/snowboarding, so long as there is no gathering with people outside of one household.

“Given the significant increase we have been experiencing in our county with COVID-19 cases, test positivity, and hospitalizations, this order is the only remaining measure to flatten the curve as soon as possible,” said Ventura County Public Health Director Rigoberto Vargas in a statement.

Most Oak Park students reside in counties within the Southern California region.

“I think taking whatever measure necessary to have less deaths overall is needed and best for the health of our community,” Oak Park High School Senior Daniel Conway said. “I think it’s important because we see so much stuff about the vaccine and we are so close. I think we just see the light.”

Dec. 3, 2020

California Gov. Newsom announced new stay-at-home orders that would roll out to regions with ICU capacity below 15% via Facebook Livestream. 

For the new plan, California is divided into five regions: Southern California, Bay Area, Northern California, Greater Sacramento, and San Joaquin Valley — with Ventura County falling within the Southern California Region. As soon as one of these regions ICU capacity falls below 15%, a three week stay-at-home order will be put into place for that particular region. 

The order will close bars, wineries, personal services, and hair salons. The order will not impact schools that have received a waiver, critical infrastructure, retail at 20% capacity, and takeout/delivery services for restaurants. 

The order does still give room for people to go outside, just not with people from other households. The governor emphasized that people impacted by the order are still free to go on a walk, go to the park, or go skiing/snowboarding with people in your household. Non-essential travel is temporarily restricted. 

This comes amidst a spike in COVID-19 cases throughout California. In the past two weeks, hospitalizations are up 88% and ICU admissions are up 67%. 

“We should anticipate a surge on top of a surge” Gov. Gavin Newsom said.