Coronavirus cases in the United States have reached an impalpable number, as the holidays kick off cases continues to grow.
Just last week we saw new record numbers for deaths and hospitalizations, exceeding the amount that we experienced all the way back in April when we all thought that would be the virus’s peak.
Now, with Christmas less than three weeks away, health officials are urging Americans more than ever to stay home and avoid gatherings.
California authorities, however, are taking things to the extreme by ordering a massive lockdown.
A new stay-at-home order will be imposed on Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley Sunday night, as the coronavirus crisis spirals out of control with a speed that has exceeded health officials’ most dire projections.
Some 33 million Californians will be subject to the new order, representing 84% of the state’s population. The state mandated the restrictions in the Southland and Central Valley as capacity at hospitals’ intensive care units hit dangerously low levels. Five Bay Area counties will also begin lockdown restrictions in the coming days despite not yet reaching the threshold at which such action is mandated by the state.
The rules are less sweeping than California’s pioneering stay-at-home order in the spring, which is credited with slowing the first COVID-19 wave. But the new order will change daily life for many, especially in suburban Southern California counties like Orange and Ventura, which so far have enjoyed more open economies than hard-hit Los Angeles County.
California has received criticism for their excessive lockdowns from its citizens as well as lawmakers from other states.
Ultra-famous podcaster Joe Rogan even went so far as to move out of The Golden State on account of what he described as “draconian” measures.
