Effective Immediately: Solano County Shelter-At-Home Order

SOLANO COUNTY, CA — Residents across Solano County are now under a shelter-at-home order. Effective immediately, all residents regardless of their age or health risk-level as it pertains to the coronavirus, must stay home to the extent possible, county officials said in an alert issued just before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"We are taking this health crisis seriously and trying to protect our community while still ensuring that the essential parts of our county can function and attempting to lessen the substantial burden placed on workers and businesses," Solano County Public Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas said. "We trust our community to adhere to these directives, and we stress the importance of working together to get this through this difficult time."

The order remains in effect until 11:59 p.m. April 7 or until it is extended, rescinded, superseded, or amended in writing by Matyas in his role as the county's health officer.

Solano County on Wednesday became the ninth and final Bay Area county to implement an order mandating that its residents shelter at home. Hours earlier, Napa County adopted a similar public health order that takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday. The region's other seven counties implemented orders that went into effect early Tuesday morning.

Coronavirus In Solano County

There were nine confirmed cases of coronavirus in Solano County as of Tuesday. The situation is a rapidly evolving but county public health officials say they will continue posting up-to-date information about COVID-19 on the Solano Public Health website and Facebook page.

"These mitigation measures are disruptive, but critical to curb the growing number of cases resulting from community spread, particularly given that most those infected show mild symptoms or no symptoms at all," the county said.

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Solano County's Shelter-At-Home Health Order: What It Means

Under the order, gatherings of any size are strongly prohibited if the event does not allow for participants to maintain a social distance of 6 feet apart unless the gathering or event is for essential activities.

Under the order, establishments serving alcohol such as bars, wineries, nightclubs and breweries must close; Movie theaters must also close; Establishments serving food may remain open with take-out and delivery options only; Dine-in operations must cease; All health clubs, tanning facilities, gyms and spas must close.

The order also prohibits non-essential travel.

Employers are required to ensure compliance with social distancing guidelines and should implement teleworking where appropriate and feasible. Only employees performing essential duties that are not able to be done remotely should physically come to work.

Employers that require a doctor's note for a leave of absence due to illness must suspend those policies. Employers are strongly encouraged to allow employees flexible use of paid time off/sick leave.

Childcare centers may stay open under the order if they strictly follow social-distancing guidance posted on the Solano Public Health website.

For those who work in the healthcare industry, the order prohibits nonessential personnel from entering hospitals and long-term care facilities, even for patient visitation.

Any essential health-care personnel who displays symptoms of COVID-19 is instructed to self-isolate until seven days after the onset of symptoms.

Under the order, hospitals are urged to delay elective procedures.

Coronavirus Symptoms: What To Look For, What To Do

The order requires anyone with a fever, cough or other respiratory symptoms to stay home until 7 days after the onset of symptoms. Self-management of these symptoms is encouraged by Solano County public health officials, but if the person begins to have difficulty breathing and becomes lethargic, or symptoms suddenly become worse, the person should immediately contact their healthcare provider or urgent care center. Calling ahead is strongly encouraged.

Pregnant women, people 65 years or older and residents with chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes cancer, heart disease, lung disease, immuno-compromising conditions who have symptoms of the virus should all strongly consider self-isolating to the extent possible. Further, these higher-risk residents should stay home and away from all gatherings involving people outside of their immediate families.

Everyone in the county is encouraged to continue practicing universal precautions of hand-washing for at least 20 seconds, disinfecting commonly used surfaces, and covering coughs or sneezes with their elbow or tissue instead of hands.

Editor's Note: Patch will update this page should information regarding the number of cases in Solano County change Wednesday evening. At the time of publication, the county's webpage with coronavirus information was down.