California officials lifted the state wide stay-at-home order on Monday, January 25, due to marked improvement in the number of hospitalizations throughout the state, returning California to restrictions by county. 

   According to CBS News, California Governor Gavin Newsom said that the state’s hospitalization rate was down almost twenty percent over the last two weeks. Southern California, San Joaquin, and the Bay Area, which are responsible for ninety percent of the state’s population, are predicted to show improvement over the next four weeks in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) capacity (cnnnews.com). The mandatory ICU capacity had to be above fifteen percent in order to have the stay-at-home order revoked.

   “California is experiencing a flattening of the curve,” Newsom said during a news conference. “Everything that should be up is up, everything that should be down is down: case rates, positivity rates, hospitalizations, ICUs” (abcnews.go.com).

   “COVID-19 is still here and still deadly, so our work is not over, but it’s important to recognize our collective actions saved lives and we are turning a critical corner,” said Dr. Tomás Aragón, the state’s public health officer and director of the California Department of Public Health, according to NPR (npr.org).

   California is separated into five different regions, according to ABC7 News. These regions are Northern California, the Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley, and Southern California. These regions fall into different tiers that identify how COVID-19 is spreading. Each tier shows a different severity, yellow showing minimal spread of the virus. As the spread gets increasingly worse, the tiers move up to orange, red, and then purple (ABC7.com).

   CNN stated that most counties are currently in the purple tier. Although the stay-at-home order was lifted, the majority of indoor businesses such as dining or entertainment places are not allowing people to come inside, in order to regulate and stop the spread of COVID-19. Certain personal care shops such as barber shops, salons, or gyms are allowed to be open but with certain countermeasures for limiting the spread of the virus. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said, “We will be moving forward with some limited re-openings, including outdoor dining and personal services” (cnn.com).

   According to the Associated Press, “Newsom drafted the stay-at-home order in December as virus cases spiked and in anticipation of surges from holiday gatherings” (apnews.com). 

   Junior Monico Dauphinais said, “I’m not a fan of this. I think that we need to get rid of the coronavirus all together then take out the stay-at-home order. I really want to go outside and play basketball without having to worry about me getting sick or my family.”

   Junior Rodney Fowler said, “I think that it is ok that people are allowed to go outside. As long as people are being safe and following the proper steps to avoid getting sick.”