Order does not include Solano County
By Roger Straw, March 31, 2020My cell phone went off twice around 1:40 pm today with an emergency notice that our coronavirus shelter-in-place was being extended to May 3.
This was a little confusing, given that Solano County issued a statement just yesterday (on March 30) extending our Shelter at Home Order through April 30th. ?Why would the County extend for just 3 days??
A little googling reveals that once again, a group of Bay Area counties acted jointly, exclusive of Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
According to ABC News Bay Area, “The new restrictions applied to six Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo. Those six counties, plus the City of Berkeley (which operates its own public health department) announced the shelter-in-place orders would be extended to May 3 in their jurisdictions. Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties had not announced such extensions, as of Tuesday afternoon.”
The new 6-county order adds new restrictions to what residents are allowed to do as they shelter in place. Again according to ABC News Bay Area: “In addition to the restrictions put in place for the original three-week shelter-in-place order, officials are now requiring:
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- Funerals are limited to 10 people in attendance
- Playgrounds, dog parks and picnic areas have to close to the public
- Don’t use golf courses, or public tennis and basketball courts
- When it comes to sports that require you to share a ball, only play them with members of your household
- Most construction is banned
- All essential businesses that are still open must develop “social distancing protocol” before April 3
What is considered an “essential business” has been expanded to include:
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- “Providers that enable residential transactions” (like notaries, title companies, and real estate agencies)
- Funeral homes and cemeteries
- Moving companies
- Rental car companies
- Rideshare services
Someone should compare these new 6-county restrictions to the restrictions covered in our Solano County Shelter at Home Order. Please send your comparison to the editor, rogrmail at gmail dot com.