Sacramento County, California, which includes the state capital of the same name, issued a “stay at home” order directing its population of 1.5 million people to remain at their place of residence except for essential activities amid the growing pandemic.
The legal order doesn’t call it a “shelter in place,” which was implemented by other California cities including San Francisco and Fresno to deal with the spread of the CCP virus.
The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.
Starting at 11:59 p.m. on March 19, “all individuals living in the county to stay at their place of residence except for essential activities,” according to the order.
“The legal order limits activity, travel, and business functions to only the most essential needs and is intended to protect those most vulnerable to the disease, slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, and preserve local healthcare capacity,” the county wrote.
Residents only can leave their homes for essential activities, essential governmental functions, or essential businesses, the order stated.
It defines essential activities as shopping for groceries, medical supplies, or other necessary supplies. They can also visit health care professionals, provide work for essential services or products, and care for a family member or pet at another household.
Officials allow people to engage in outdoor activities such as running, biking, walking, and hiking as long as they engage in social distancing.
People now cannot attend private gatherings of more than six non-relatives in a home or another residential area. Meanwhile, “social distancing should be practiced at all times at such gatherings,” the order said.
“The steps we have taken have brought us to the day where we must issue a legal Public Health Order in Sacramento County. We know we have far more ‘assumed’ positive cases than we have tests. As testing capacity increases, the number of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases is expected to increase,” said Dr. Peter Beilenson in a statement.
On Wednesday, the Yolo County Public Health Officer issued a similar county-wide order. Six Bay Area counties including San Francisco, Marin, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Contra Costa, and Alameda asked residents to stay indoors earlier this week, and Fresno did the same on Wednesday night.
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