Bay Area To Extend Coronavirus Shelter-In-Place Order Until May

BAY AREA, CA — The six Bay Area counties that ordered residents to "shelter in place" through April 7 to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus will soon extend the order through at least May 1, the Santa Clara County Public Health Department said Monday.

The extension will be finalized on Wednesday in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo counties, as well as the city of Berkeley, city officials said.

It was not immediately clear whether Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties — which issued their own shelter-in-place orders days after the initial six counties issued theirs March 16 — also planned to extend theirs.

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"We have said an extension might be expected as we work together to slow the spread of the COVID-19 disease," the Santa Clara County Public Health Department said in a news release.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed confirmed the extension at a news conference Monday, describing the order as a life-saving measure.

“The reason we’ve taken significant steps has everything to do with saving lives and protecting public health,” she said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

When the Bay Area counties first issued the order March 16, it was among the strictest measures taken anywhere in the United States to combat the COVID-19 virus. Since then, however, it has become commonplace, with at least 225 million people in 27 states now being asked to stay in their homes except for going to work at an "essential business" or doing basic activities such as exercise or grocery shopping, according to CNN.

Full coronavirus coverage: California Coronavirus: Latest Updates On Cases, Orders, Closures