California’s three-week regional stay-at-home order is set to expire later this week. The order, however, which was announced on Dec. 6, is now expected to be extended.

On Monday, Dec. 28, California Governor Gavin Newsom said it was clear those orders would extend into the new year, as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise across the state.

While the state’s regional stay at home orders have yet to be officially extended as of Monday, Dec. 28, Newsom hinted that the announcement would be made public after the California Department of Public Health collected the most recent data.

“When we conceived this framework, we were looking at projections four weeks out,” Newsom explained. “Based on the data we collect today, Dr. Ghaly and his team likely tomorrow will announce,” Newsom said during an address to the media. “It is clear, and understandable, that it is likely those stay at home order will be extended.”

Statewide, there are currently 20,642 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in California, with 4,360 being treated in intensive care units, according to the California Department of Public Health.

On Monday, Dec. 28, the Orange County Health Agency reported 2,144 new COVID-19 cases with zero COVID-19 related deaths.

On Sunday, Dec. 27, the city of Irvine reported 80 new COVID-19 cases, with zero COVID-19 related deaths. The total number of positive cases decreased by one on Monday, Dec. 28, as the city of Irvine reported 79 new COVID-19 cases.

There are currently 2,031 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Orange County. Of that total, 453 are currently being treated in the intensive care unit.

The OC Health Agency COVID-19 Dashboard currently lists the county’s intensive care unit capacity at zero percent.

While the state’s hospital capacity continues to shrink, Dr. Mark Ghaly, Director of the California Department of Public Health, shared slight optimism in terms of the current trends.

“In most of the state we are seeing a subtle but important trend, where the slope of our increase that we’ve been very worried about – the rate of rise, has come down a little bit,” he said. “It’s not too late to make a change in plans. I think Californians have been paying attention. We saw maybe a month ago that maybe 30 percent of California surveyed by our partners were going to make a change in their plans – to not gather, to not travel – now more recent surveys show that that number could be 50 or 60 percent.”

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