New Rules Come With Extension Of Bay Area Shelter-In-Place Orders

The first shelter-in-place orders for the Bay Area's seven million residents was issued March 16 and were due to expire on April 7. In a joint statement made Monday, seven jurisdictions said they're extended their mandates to May 3. Those are: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo counties. The new orders went into effect Tuesday night and, according to a joint press release from all seven jurisdictions, include clarifying language around businesses and activities considered essential — plus some new directives.

• Playgrounds, dog parks, public picnic areas, and similar recreational areas are closed to the public.

• Use of shared public recreational facilities such as golf courses, tennis and basketball courts, pools, and rock walls is prohibited. These facilities must be closed to recreational use.

• Sports such as soccer requiring people to share a ball or other equipment must be limited to people in the same household.

• Most construction—residential and commercial—is prohibited.

• Funerals are limited to no more than 10 people attending.

• All essential businesses, such as grocery stores and restaurants offering takeout, must have a social distancing protocol before April 3.

• Essential businesses that continue to operate facilities must scale down operations to their essential component only.

The list of essential businesses allowed to operate has been expanded to include the following:

• Service providers that enable residential transactions (notaries, title companies, Realtors, etc.)

• Funeral homes and cemeteries

• Moving companies

• Rental car companies

• Rideshare services that specifically enable essential activities  

As with the previous local order, the new one requires people to stay at home except for essential needs, such as getting food, picking up medicine or seeing a doctor. People should work from home unless they provide essential services, such as public safety, sanitation and medical services. You are allowed to go outside for a walk, bike ride or a run near your home. "If you need to get into a car or on public transportation to go for a walk or run, you’re going too far," the San Francisco Department of Public Health says in its order.