With Social Distance, California's Virus Forecast Brightens

Governor Gavin Newsom announced Saturday that Mono County will be placed under the California Department of Public Health Regional Stay-At-Home Order for three weeks.  

The order will begin Sunday, December 6, at 11:59 p.m., and prohibits private gatherings of any size and closes businesses except for critical infrastructure and retail, which must reduce operation to 20% capacity. 

The order requires the following to close:

  • Amusement parks
  • Bars, breweries, and distilleries
  • Cardrooms and satellite wagering
  • Family entertainment centers
  • Hair salons and barbershops
  • Indoor/outdoor playgrounds
  • Indoor recreational facilities
  • Limited services
  • Live audience sports 
  • Movie theaters
  • Museums, zoos, and aquariums
  • Personal care services
  • Wineries

Additional information about the order can be found here. 

On Sunday, Mono County issued an order clarifying how the new order would effect lodging. 

The order prohibits the use of short-term lodging, for recreational or leisure purposes, and limits lodging to essential purposes. This includes hotels, motels, and short-term rentals such as Airbnb or VRBO. All existing reservations from Monday, December 7, are required to be canceled, and no reservations are allowed to be taken except for essential purposes until further notice. 

According to the release, essential purposes include:

  • Lodging to protect the homeless population or stranded travelers because of COVID-19 
  • Lodging for persons who have been displaced and cannot return to their residence because there is a person residing at the residence who must isolate or quarantine because of COVID-19 or is at a higher risk of severe illness
  • Lodging for persons who need to isolate or quarantine because of COVID-19
  • Lodging for essential workers (qualifications can be found here)
  • Lodging for persons who are displaced due to loss of homes from fire 

In a statement released Saturday, the order is to prevent "...an unprecedented surge in the level of community spread of COVID-19 that continues to increase dramatically every day throughout Mono County and the State of California."

The Mono County Health Department says current projections estimate available adult ICU beds in California will be at capacity by mid-December. The Regional Stay-at-Home Order is triggered for regions in California when the regional ICU capacity falls below 15%. Mono County is considered to be in the Southern California Region, with counties such as Los Angeles County and San Diego County. 

Mono County has seen an increase of 50% in positive COVID-19 cases week-over-week within the previous two week period. The current positivity rate is 29%. 

The county is looking into additional local guidance for areas with high levels of tourism and lodging. Â