The availability of intensive care units in the Bay rose to 23.4% on Saturday after availability of single figures after weeks, a strong sign that the worst increase has taken place in the past.
Nevertheless, it was not immediately clear when the region could come out of the state’s home order. The order is supposed to be lifted when the availability of the ICU will be more than 15%, if it looks four weeks ahead.
The Bay Area, which includes the nine core counties as well as Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, is currently far beyond the threshold.
In the Sacramento region of 13 counties, the state lockout was lifted more than a week ago. However, the ICU capacity in the region remains at 11.9% – just over half of the current area.
Public health officials could not be reached immediately on Saturday to comment on when the exclusion for the Bay Area could be lifted, and why the Bay remained, while Sacramento – with worse ICU numbers – was not.
The numbers look good, Marin County Public Health Officer Matt Willis told The Chronicle on Saturday.
“This is the call of the state,” he said. “But we all look at the same numbers and we all feel hopeful.”
London Breed, Mayor of San Francisco, said on Friday that the city “may soon start reopening under California guidelines” because the city’s coronavirus transmission rates have dropped.
“This means that every person who receives COVID-19 passes it on to less than one other person on average. We are slowing down the distribution, “Breed wrote on Twitter.
San Francisco’s COVID-19 reproduction rate is back below 1, at 0.99!
This means that each person receiving COVID-19 passes it on to less than one other person on average. We are slowing down the distribution.
If this continues, we may soon start reopening under CA guidelines.
– London Breed (@LondonBreed) 22 January 2021
If you have lifted the closure, the Bay Area activities that are allowed below the state press level, including dining outside, can be resumed. Outdoor meetings with people outside your household can also be resumed – although it is limited to three households. Hairdressers can again serve customers indoors. However, individual provinces may decide to continue to prohibit some of these activities apart from the orders of the state.
California health officials are using an intricate, unpublished formula to provide ICU availability for four weeks. “At the moment, the projections are not being shared publicly,” Ali Bay, a spokesman for the public health department, said in an email to the Associated Press.
When the order was lifted from the Sacramento region, the availability of the ICU was about 9%.
The lack of state interpretation has created confusion, and it is the opposite of what the state should do, said David Canepa, president of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.
Information should be ‘clear, concise and most importantly avoid confusion’, he said.
However, the numbers seem encouraging, Canepa added.
“My concern is that the public will hear it and think it is safe to go out with a normal attitude,” he said. ‘I would also like to eat at my favorite restaurants, but for now I will stay home and pick up. If we can keep these numbers during the next month, then I say bravo. I’ll be the first in line to hit me at the barber shop.
“In the meantime,” he said, “stay home if you can, avoid gatherings and wear damn masks.”
This story unfolds.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Lauren Hernández and Jill Tucker are staff writers for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] [email protected] Twitter: @ByLHernandez @jilltucker