7 million in 6 Bay Area counties in California ordered to shelter in place

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Officials in six San Francisco Bay Area counties issued a sweeping shelter-in-place mandate Monday affecting nearly 7 million people, ordering residents to stay at home and go outside only for food, medicine and outings that are absolutely essential.

The order says residents must stay inside and venture out only for necessities for three weeks starting Tuesday in a desperate attempt by officials to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“I know today’s order is a radical step. It has to be. We need to act now, all of us, to protect the public health,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

If affects the
counties of San Francisco, Marin, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa
and Alameda, which includes the cities of Berkeley and Oakland.

“History
will not forgive us for waiting an hour more,” said San Jose Mayor Sam
Liccardo, whose city is the most populous in the Bay Area and the
epicenter of the area’s outbreak. “This is our generation’s great test,
our moment to stand tougher as a community. Amid our collective fears,
we will find our uncommon courage.”

In Southern California, Los
Angeles and San Diego counties — the state’s two largest, with a
combined 13.4 million people — ordered bars to close and restaurants to
stay open only for pickup, drive-thru or delivery orders.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed criticized what she called a “terrible response” by federal officials.

“We
can’t sit back and wait for the federal government to do anything.
Unfortunately, they have not been as proactive as they should in
recognizing this is a crisis throughout the world,” she said.

The
Bay Area order tells people to work from home unless they provide
essential services such as public safety, sanitation and medical
services.

“Grocery stores will remain open, banks will remain
open, the pharmacies will remain open. There is no need to panic,” Breed
said.

But daily life will change dramatically in what Breed called the “new normal, temporarily, to protect public health.”

Most
people will have to work from home. The order says residents can go out
only for “essential activities” — like buying food, seeing a doctor or
caring for a family member — and only “essential” businesses and
government functions can remain open, including health care, public
transportation, hardware stores, garbage collection, gas stations,
laundromats and banks.

Restaurants will be open only for takeout.

All gyms and bars will have to close. Outdoor exercise is fine, as long as people practice social distancing, Colfax said.

California’s
national parks and state parks remained open, but many parks said they
were shutting indoor spaces, including visitor centers and museums.

“You
can still walk your dog or go on a hike with another person, as long as
you keep 6 feet between you,” Colfax said. He said officials from the
six counties met over the weekend and determined the unprecedented
measures were necessary to slow the virus’ spread, shield those most
vulnerable to the disease and protect health care workers who are on the
front lines of fighting it.

Kevin Jones, general manager of
Buena Vista Cafe, an iconic San Francisco restaurant that has been a
draw for tourists since 1952 in the popular Fisherman’s Wharf, said the
order is “going to hurt, but our duty is to protect our employees and
our customers.”

The cafe was the only one open Monday in one of
the city’s busiest tourist areas, and was almost full. He said he’s
worried about its 58 employees being able to pay their rent; owners and
managers decided any perishable foods would go to the workers.

The
dramatic step came as officials across California took increasingly
strident steps to separate people and contain the spread of coronavirus.

On
Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged the state’s 5.3 million people who are
65 and older and those with chronic health conditions to isolate at
home. He also called for all bars, wineries, nightclubs and brewpubs in
California to close.

California has confirmed at least 335 cases
of the virus and seven deaths. The virus usually causes only mild or
moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, but can be deadly for older
people and those with underlying health conditions.

The state has increased the number of available hospital beds and will reopen shuttered medical centers in the coming days.

Most
of California’s public schools were shut starting Monday for several
weeks. Newsom said an estimated 85% of California’s 6 million public
school students will be out of their classrooms this week. Many
districts are arranging for meal pickups for families that depend on
schools for breakfast and lunch.

Also Monday, Los Angeles County
announced it was closing bars, restaurants, gyms and certain other
businesses after the cities of Los Angeles, Pasadena and Santa Monica
took similar aggressive steps. San Diego County said it will ban
gatherings of 50 or more people and prohibit public and private schools
and universities from holding any campus events with students present.

Across California, long lines persisted at some grocery stores despite officials saying there’s no need to hoard supplies.

Shoppers
flocked to the Berkeley Bowl grocery store in West Berkeley after
seeing online reports about the virtual shutdown before officials
announced it.

“I saw the headline and got this pit in my
stomach,” Caroline Park, 38, said as she put on plastic gloves before
pushing a shopping cart into the store. “I was going to shop for the
week anyway. I’m not here to hoard.” By 2 p.m. the line to the store
snaked around the block after store managers shut the entrance to limit
the number of shoppers inside.

Responding to panic buying earlier
in the day, executives of major grocery chains said at Los Angeles news
conference that supply chains are in good shape and clerks are working
to restock shelves and clean.

“There is plenty of product,” said Bryan Kaltenbach, president of Kroger’s Food 4 Less.

The rapid pace of new restrictions caught people and institutions off-guard.

Near
San Diego State University, Will Remsbottom’s Scrimshaw Coffee had just
three people, and one was an employee washing windows.

“I’m just
struggling with this moral conundrum of remaining open and being a
potential spreader versus closing and not being able to pay my
employees,” he said.

AP reporters John Antczak and John Rogers in Los Angeles, Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco, Daisy Nguyen in Berkeley, Amy Taxin in Orange County and Julie Watson and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report. The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.