COVID-19: New Stay At Home Order in Effect Tonight

Berkeley surpassed 1,000 cases this week. The spike was due to an outbreak at a single location.

This month the nation has witnessed a surge in new cases of COVID-19. Having reached over 100,000 new cases in a single day for the first time on November 4, there have been at least 100,000 new cases every day since. Yesterday the daily record broke again as 198,537 new cases was reached.

This week, Berkeley has also set a record for the most new cases in a single day as the result of an outbreak at a single location.

Alameda County is now in the purple tier. (See the updated Blueprint for a Safer Economy) This was in response to surging cases throughout the state. The Governor has announced a stay at home order will go into effect in purple tier counties, that prohibits non-essential activities from 10pm-5am. Essential activities during curfew, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, walking your dog, or picking up take-out from a restaurant, are still allowed.

We are entering a critical stage of the COVID-19 crisis. While promising progress has been made on vaccinations, we are still several months away from mass distribution. During the Thanksgiving holiday, it is advised to avoid non-essential travel in order to avoid a tsunami of new cases that could cripple healthcare infrastructure. While hospital capacity in Alameda County is currently not a concern, hospitalization rates are increasing and other parts of the country may not have as much bandwidth to handle a further rise in cases.

I know that people are experiencing quarantine fatigue. But taking this action now is necessary to avoid more painful actions in the future.

This holiday season, be sure to follow the CDC guidelines for celebrating Thanksgiving. Postponing travelling and staying at home is the best way to protect yourself and others. One of the most effective tools to stop the spread of COVID-19 is to avoid mixing of households. If we all play our part, we can turn the tide and stop the surge.