South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County remain under stay-at-home order; Greater Sacramento ICU capacity 6.9%

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County join the rest of the Greater Sacramento Region and will remain under a regional stay-at-home order due to declining hospital ICU bed availability.

Today the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced the most recent statistics on COVID-19, including data on intensive care unit (ICU) capacity across the state. Based on ICU data, four regions, San Joaquin Valley, Southern California, Greater Sacramento and the Bay Area continue under the Regional Stay at Home Order.

The Greater Sacramento Region, of which South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County are part of, remains under the order because the area’s four-week projected ICU capacity does not meet the criteria to exit the order. Once a region’s four-week ICU projection shows a capacity of greater than or equal to 15 percent, the order will be lifted for that area.

As of January 2, there are 33 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 in El Dorado County, 7 in Barton Hospital and 26 in Marshal Hospital. Positive COVID patients in the ICU: Barton 3, Marshall 6. According to the state's hospital tracker, there are two ICU beds available in the county.

Current Available ICU Capacity by Region
Bay Area: 5.1%
Greater Sacramento: 6.9%
Northern California: 32.6%
San Joaquin Valley: 0.0%
Southern California: 0.0%

Current Status of Regional Stay at Home Order in Affected Regions
Greater Sacramento: Remains under order; four-week ICU capacity projections do not meet criteria to exit order
San Joaquin Valley: Remains under order; four-week ICU capacity projections do not meet criteria to exit order.
Southern California: Remains under order; four-week ICU capacity projections do not meet criteria to exit order.
Bay Area: Will remain under the order until at least January 8 with potential to extend depending on four-week ICU capacity projections.

ICU capacity projections for regions that are eligibly to exit the order are calculated daily 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 at Home Order. The order applies to all counties that are currently under the Regional Stay at Home Order and those in Tier One (Purple) of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The Limited Stay at Home Order will expire after the Regional Stay At Home Order has been terminated in all regions of the state.

Statewide COVID-19 Data as of Today

California has 2,345,909 confirmed cases to date. Numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.

There were 53,341 newly recorded confirmed cases Friday.

The 7-day positivity rate is 14.0% and the 14-day positivity rate is 12.6%.

There have been 33,391,442 tests conducted in California. This represents an increase of 333,131 during 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 26,357 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

As of December 30, a total of 335,983 vaccine doses have been administered statewide. As of December 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.

For more information on orders, visit https://covid19.ca.gov/stay-home-except-for-essential-needs/#regional-stay-home-order.