California implements text alerts to implore residents to stay home as coronavirus surge worsens in state
The text message was sent to an estimated 33 million residents
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Your support makes all the difference.California has implemented several push alerts in communities across the state to inform residents about new stay-at-home measures to address the current coronavirus surge.
State officials sent out text alerts on Tuesday to two major regions of California: the 11-county Southern California region and the 12-county San Joaquin Valley region.
This text message, sent by the state Office of Emergency Services, implored residents to wear a mask and stay physically distanced from others when out in public at a time when cases, hospitalisations, and deaths are increasing.
Residents were warned prior to the text message that one would be issued at noon local time on Tuesday by the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
It was the largest wireless emergency alert in California’s state history, according to the Los Angeles Times, and went out to about 33 million residents living in the state.
Both regions in California went under stricter coronavirus regulations due to the capacity of their hospital ICU rooms dropping below 15 per cent, causing concern among public health officials.
Governor Gavin Newsom said restrictions would remain in effect for at least three weeks as the state works to slow the rapid increase in cases and hospitalisations.
The new restrictions, which went into effect on Monday, barred nearly all public gatherings and restricted the capacity in retail and grocery stores to 20 per cent. Additionally, hotels were told to only take in essential workers, not tourists, and restaurants were restricted to pick-up and delivery services.
All of this was made in an effort to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients.
California was not the only state experiencing a surge in cases. The United States reported 1 million new cases in the last five days, according to Johns Hopkins University, which pushed the total number of cases in the country to 15 million.
More than 285,000 Americans have died from the novel virus, and health officials warn this number will only increase given the upcoming holiday season.
Other states are also issuing stricter coronavirus measures in an effort to curb the spread of the novel virus.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned on Monday that he would shut down indoor dining in New York City, as early as this week if the coronavirus numbers don’t stabilize. The rest of the state would experience a reduced capacity of 25 per cent for indoor dining services.
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