UNION CITY (KPIX) – California health officials say the number of beds available for intensive care continues to decline in the San Francisco Bay Area to 6.3% on Friday. This leads many Bay Area health experts to say that the initial home stay order, which expired next week, is likely to be extended. San Francisco has already done that.
The possibility of a prolonged ban on outdoor dining worries many restaurant operators. The owner of Mexico Tipico in Union City has invested thousands of dollars in its exterior configuration and heat lamps. He had hoped to use them again next week.
“All the restaurants in this area are affected because they are no longer in business,” said Ricardo Soto, who runs Mexico Tipico. “Families who come down want to enjoy food at the table, not eat it.”
Soto said an extension of the outdoor ban could lead to more layoffs at his restaurant, but several restaurateurs said they were not surprised by the prospect of an extension.
“I pivoted so many times that I got tired of pivoting. I feel like I’ve fallen down, ”said Eric Nielsen, a business partner at two restaurants in downtown San Jose. “We’re worried. Again, this feels indefinite. Even if we’re open at the end of February, what does that look like? For example, are we open to dining outdoors again? And if we are, I hope the audience will come out new “.
San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa said he feels for small businesses, but said the intensive care capacity is awful and that’s what the state is looking at when it comes to enforcing the health order.
“Right now, we are in a life-saving way, don’t make any mistakes. So, the actions we take today will really ensure that we are protected in the future “, said Canepa.
The supervisor said about 5 percent of ICU county beds are currently available. He urges the county health department to expand the health order and follow the example of San Francisco.
“We don’t even calculate the December 25 numbers, the Christmas numbers and, on top of that, the New Year numbers,” said Supervisor Canepa.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong is a specialist in infectious diseases at UCSF. He said hospitals will likely see more COVID patients in the coming days due to holiday gatherings.
“It is inevitable that we will have an increase (caused by the Thanksgiving holiday) above an increase (due to Christmas) above an increase (due to illegal New Year’s Eve parties). If you look at travel around Christmas, for example, it’s actually past Thanksgiving, which has already been the biggest travel period this year, ”said Dr. Chin-Hong.
He said that the number of patients with COVID should decrease by the end of January.