(New Stay At Home Order)...It was issued by Governor Gavin Newsom Thursday.

It goes into effect at midnight Saturday. It is a regional Stay At Home order linked to ICU Capacity. The state is broken down into 5 regions, Northern California, Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. Imperial County is in the Southern Region. According to the mandate, the Stay at Home order kicks in when a region experiences hospital Intensive Care Unit capacity of less than 15%. Under the new order, regions with a combined ICU capacity of less than 15% must discontinue private gatherings of any size and close operations except for critical infrastructure and retail and requires 100% masking and physical distancing in all others. State officials estimate that the Southern Region will reach this threshold sometime early this month, although the current combined capacity has not yet been announced. Once implemented, The Regional Stay At Homke Order will remain in effect for at least three weeks after which time ICU capacity will be reassessed county by county. Additionally, all of Californians are urged to stay at home as much as possible and to limit mixing with other households. The goal is to stop the current COVID 19 surge and prevent overwhelming regional ICU capacity. More detailed information is available at the Imperial County Public Health Department website.