A drop in the regional hospital intensive care unit capacity below a key 15% threshold set by the state is triggering a new wave of shutdowns on the Central and South Coasts. As of midnight Sunday, restaurants will no longer be able to offer onsite dining, and hair salons, nail salons, and barbershops will again have to suspend business.
The 15% threshold is being applied on a statewide basis. The state is divided up into five regions. Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo County are part of the Southern California region, which includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
The region's ICU capacity was down to 20.6% early Friday evening. But, by 11 p.m., it was at 13.1%. That prompted Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties to announces Saturday morning that the new shutdowns would take effect Sunday night. Then, on Saturday afternoon, the state updated the region's remaining ICU capacity number to 12.5%.
The San Joaquin Valley region is even in worse condition, with 8.6% remmaining capacity as of Saturday afternoon. The Bay Area, and Sacramento region are in the 21% range, but four Bay Area counties preempitively announced on Friday they would implement the new restrictions on Sunday.
