California Governor Gavin Newsom expected to lift strict stay-at-home orders, sources say

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Monday, January 25, 2021
Gov. Newsom expected to lift CA stay-at-home orders, sources say
In a letter to restaurant owners, the California Restaurant Association announced that officials with Gov. Newsom's office plan to lift the stay-at-home order in all regions of the state on Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to lift California's strict stay-at-home orders he imposed on much of the state in December.

In a letter to restaurant owners, the California Restaurant Association says sources tell them that officials with Gov. Newsom's office plan to lift the stay-at-home orders in all regions of the state on Monday.

Golden Gate Restaurant Association President Laurie Thomas says she's "optimistic outdoor dining will resume by the end of the week"

RELATED: Gov. Newsom announces new, regional stay-at-home order in California

When Newsom announced the most recent round of stay-at-home orders, he divided the state into five regions. The new restrictions would be triggered if any region's hospital intensive-care unit available capacity dropped below 15%.

The stay-at-home order closed bars, wineries, nail salons, hair salons and barbershops, and other personal care services. Private gatherings of any size were prohibited, although enforcement of that has been inconsistent. Restaurants had to shut down in-person dining, even outdoors but were allowed to continue takeout and delivery.

MAP: CA counties that can, can't reopen under new rules

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The Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California regions are still under the stay-at-home order, while lockdown orders for Northern California and Sacramento regions were lifted.

A spokesperson from the Governor's Office of Emergency Services sent a statement to ABC7 News saying:

"We see promising signs that California is slowly emerging from the most intense stage of this pandemic. We continue to look at what that means for the Regional Stay at Home order and anticipate that the state Department of Public Health will provide a formal update tomorrow morning."

Read the full letter from the California Restaurant Association below:

"Late this evening, senior officials in the Newsom administration informed us that the Governor will announce tomorrow that the stay-at-home order will be lifted in all regions of the state.

The regions of the state currently under the stay-at-home order are: Bay Area; Southern California; and San Joaquin Valley. Two other regions - Northern California and Sacramento region - are currently not under the stay-at-home order.

Again, a formal announcement is expected tomorrow and we will send you further information as soon as it's available. For now, we thought you'd like to know this good news."

Generally, counties still have the authority to set their own restrictions and may decide to keep some of the governor's orders in place as they see necessary.

WATCH:"Here's how shelter in place, stay at home orders can slow spread of COVID-19

Governments around the country are looking at ways to curb the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus. One way is to institute a shelter-in-place-order. But what does that mean and how does it work? We broke it down for you.

Stay with us for the latest details on this developing story.