With state's stay-at-home order lifted, some in Orange County can get back to business

Diners at Las Brisas in Laguna Beach enjoy lunch outside Monday.

By Sara CardineStaff Writer

Jan. 25, 2021 5:11 PM PT

Noting California is “turning a critical corner” in its battle against the coronavirus as regional ICU capacities recover from recent critical levels, state health officials on Monday lifted a stay-at-home order for Southern California, including Orange County.

In effect since Dec. 7, the order restricted business operations, limiting customer capacity and forcing partial or full business closures in some sectors, including restaurants and personal care services.

A statewide curfew that asked residents to limit their movements between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. to further halt the spread of the virus has also been lifted as of Monday.

“We’re seeing a flattening of the curve — everything that should be up is up, and everything that should be down is down,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news conference Monday. “All regions, effective immediately, are no longer [under] the stay-at-home order and will move back into ‘the blueprint.’”

Counties will now fall back into one of four color-coded tiers identified in the state’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” which imposes certain levels of restrictions based on a county’s new infection rates, COVID-19 hospitalizations and testing positivity.

Orange County will operate in the most-restrictive “purple” reopening tier, which means restaurants may resume outdoor dining, while barbers, nail and hair salons can reopen in a limited capacity.

The move was triggered by a change in the state’s four-week projections of ICU capacity, which increased across all five regions statewide, Newsom confirmed Monday.

California’s 14-day average testing positivity rate fell from 13.6% two weeks earlier to 9.4% on Sunday. COVID-19 hospitalization rates also fell by 19.8% since Jan. 11, while health officials saw a 9.5% decrease in the rate of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care, according to reports.

In Southern California, a region comprising Orange County and 10 other jurisdictions, the aggregated ICU capacity anticipated by Feb. 21 jumped to 33.3% — far above the 15% capacity necessary for stay-at-home orders to be lifted.

Appointment holders seek COVID-19 vaccinations at Soka University in Aliso Viejo on Saturday.

“Californians heard the urgent message to stay home as much as possible and accepted that challenge to slow the surge and save lives,” Dr. Tomás Aragón, state public health officer and director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement.

“COVID-19 is still here and still deadly, so our work is not over, but it’s important to recognize our collective actions saved lives and we are turning a critical corner,” he continued.

Orange County health officials on Monday recorded 1,330 new cases of coronavirus and 66 deaths, bringing the countywide case count to 224,618 and pushing the fatality rate to 2,704.

Area hospitals reported treating 1,703 residents for COVID-19, 26% of whom — or 447 individuals — were being cared for in intensive care units, the agency reported.

The county’s seven-day average of new cases stands at 67.1 per 100,000 residents. Another 13,770 tests were reported on Monday, bringing the cumulative number to 2,574,018 and accounting for a seven-day average testing positivity rate of 16.7%.

Here are the latest cumulative coronavirus case counts and COVID-19 deaths for select cities in Orange County: