UNION CITY (KPIX) – California health officials said the number of available ICU beds continues to drop in the San Francisco Bay area, to 6.3% of capacity on Friday. This is leading many Bay Area health experts to say that the home stay application, initially set to expire next week, is likely to be extended. San Francisco has already done so.
The possibility of a prolonged ban on outdoor dining worries many restaurant operators. The owner of Mexico Tipico in Union City has invested thousands of dollars in its external configuration and heat lamps. He hoped to use them again next week.
“All restaurants in this area have been affected because there is no business now,” said Ricardo Soto, who runs Mexico Tipico. “Families who are going down want to enjoy the food at the table, not take it with them.”
Soto said that an extension of the ban on outdoor dining could lead to more layoffs at his restaurant, but several restaurant owners said they were not surprised at the prospect of an extension.
“We spin so many times that I’m tired of spinning. I feel like I’m falling, ”said Eric Nielsen, a business partner at two restaurants in downtown San Jose. “We are concerned. Again, this seems undefined. Even if we open in late February, what does it look like? Are we really open for dinner outdoors again? And if we go, I hope the audience will come back.”
San Mateo County supervisor David Canepa said he felt sorry for small businesses, but said the ICU’s capacity is terrible and that is what the state considers when imposing the health order.
“At the moment, we are in the way of saving lives, make no mistake. Therefore, the actions we take today will really guarantee that we will be protected in the future ”, said Canepa.
The supervisor said that about 5 percent of the city’s ICU beds are currently available. He is asking the county health department to extend the health order and follow San Francisco’s example.
“We are not even calculating the numbers for December 25, the numbers for Christmas and, moreover, the numbers for the New Year,” said supervisor Canepa.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong is a specialist in infectious diseases at UCSF. He said that hospitals are likely to receive more patients with COVID in the coming days because of the holidays.
“It is inevitable that we have a raise (caused by the Thanksgiving holiday) on top of a raise (because of Christmas) on top of a raise (from illegal New Year’s Eve parties). If you look at trips around Christmas time, for example, it actually surpassed Thanksgiving Day, which was already the biggest travel time of the year, ”said Chin-Hong.
He said the number of patients with COVID is expected to drop by the end of January.