SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Due to limited intensive care unit capacity and a four-week projection that shows coronavirus spread may get worse, the greater Sacramento region is remaining under the governor’s stay home order, state health officials announced Thursday afternoon.

El Dorado is part of the greater Sacramento region with 12 other counties that were ordered to stay home for three weeks by the governor’s office to try and stop the coronavirus from spreading like wildfire.

The order went into effect at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, and the region was available to come off the order in the next day or two.

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Once a region’s four-week ICU projection shows a capacity of greater than or equal to 15%, the order will be lifted for that area.

ICU projections are calculated daily for regions that are eligible to exit the order.

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While the greater Sacramento region’s daily current ICU capacity numbers have been relatively consistent at approximately 14%, early projections over the next four weeks show ICU capacity is likely to drop.

Therefore, the order will likely be extended for that region. Official ICU projections for the greater Sacramento region will be posted on Jan. 2 based on Jan. 1 data.

Current Available ICU Capacity by Region

Bay Area: 8.5%

Greater Sacramento: 14.4%

Northern California: 34.1%

San Joaquin Valley: 0.0%

Southern California: 0.0%

Current Status of Regional Stay at Home Order in Affected Regions

San Joaquin Valley: Remains under order because four-week ICU projections are less than 15%.

Southern California: Remains under order because four-week ICU projections are less than 15%.

Greater Sacramento: Eligible to exit the order as early as Jan. 2, however the order will likely be extended based on early ICU projections. Official ICU projections will be calculated beginning with Jan. 1 data and posted publicly on Jan. 2, which will inform future status of the region.

Bay Area: Will remain under the order until Jan. 8 at the earliest with potential to extend depending on four-week ICU capacity projections.

The ICU capacity projections are based on four factors: current estimated regional ICU capacity available, measure of current community transmission, current regional case rates and the proportion of ICU cases being admitted. Decreasing community transmission and increasing the health system capacity can help a region’s projected ICU capacity so they can exit the order.

Due to high rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations impacting the health care system, California is also under a limited stay home order.

The order applies to all counties that are under the regional stay home order and those in purple tier of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

The limited stay home order will expire after the regional order has been terminated in all regions of the state.

Statewide COVID-19 Data as of Thursday

California has 2,245,379 confirmed cases to date. Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.

There were 27,237 newly recorded confirmed cases Wednesday.

The 7-day positivity rate is 11.6% and the 14-day positivity rate is 11.9%.

There have been 32,855,482 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 232,406 over the prior 24-hour reporting period.

As case numbers continue to rise in California, the total number of individuals who will have serious outcomes will also increase. There have been 25,386 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

As of Dec. 30, a total of 335,983 vaccine doses have been administered statewide. As of Dec. 28, a total of 1,762,900 vaccine doses have been distributed to local health departments and health care systems that have facilities in multiple counties.

Source: California Department of Public Health