Santa Barbara County Officially Under Regional Stay-At-Home Order

Santa Barbara County will be under the state’s new regional stay-at-home order effective Sunday night, meaning all nonessential travel and gathering will be prohibited for three weeks.

Just two days earlier, Governor Gavin Newsom announced he had divided the state map by five separate regions: Northern California, the greater Sacramento area, the Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley, and Southern California, which includes Santa Barbara County. He said any region whose intensive-care-unit capacity falls under 15 percent will be placed under a stay-at-home order for three weeks and warned that all of the regions would likely fall under 15 percent by the end of the month.

The South California Region’s intensive-care-unit capacity has fallen below the minimum 15 percent to 13.1 percent on Friday, and is projected to be at 12.5 percent on Saturday.

Aside from the shutdown meaning that all nonessential travel is prohibited, it also means businesses like bars, wineries, personal services, hair salons, and boutiques will be closed. Places that will stay open are schools with waivers, critical infrastructure, retail shops (at 20 percent capacity), and restaurants (takeout and delivery only).

Specifically, hard closures are in effect for:
Indoor and outdoor playgrounds
Indoor recreational facilities
Hair salons and barbershops
Personal care services
Museums, zoos, and aquariums
Movie theaters
Wineries
Bars, breweries, and distilleries
Family entertainment centers
Cardrooms and satellite wagering
Limited services
Live audience sports
Amusement parks

Public Health directs that 100 percent masking and social distancing must occur at the businesses allowed to remain open. The stay-open restrictions for those businesses are:
Outdoor recreational facilities: Outdoor operation only without any food, drink, or alcohol sales. This includes gyms and fitness studios. At campgrounds, overnight stays will not be permitted.
Retail: Indoor operation allowed at 20 percent capacity with entrance metering and no eating or drinking in the stores. Additionally, special hours should be instituted for seniors and others with chronic conditions or compromised immune systems.
Shopping centers: Indoor operation allowed at 20 percent capacity with entrance metering and no eating or drinking in the stores. Additionally, special hours should be instituted for seniors and others with chronic conditions or compromised immune systems.
Hotels and lodging: Allowed to open for critical infrastructure support only.
Restaurants: Only take-out, pick-up, or delivery allowed.
Offices: Remote only except for critical infrastructure sectors where remote working is not possible.
Places of worship and political expression: Allow outdoor services only.
Entertainment production including professional sports: Allow operation without live audiences. Additionally, testing protocol and “bubbles” are highly encouraged.

Full information on the current requirements for residents and businesses can be found at Santa Barbara County Public Health’s Regional Stay At Home Order page. The same restrictions are in place for the Southern California region, which consists of the counties of Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

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