California enacts nighttime curfew as COVID-19 cases spike

[sandensea]

A majority of Californians are under a nighttime curfew beginning Saturday as surging coronavirus cases threaten to swamp health care systems, and the state's largest county warned that an even more drastic lockdown could be imminent.

The newest restrictions require people to stay home from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. unless they are responding to an emergency, shopping for groceries, picking up takeout or walking their dogs.

The monthlong curfew could be extended if rapidly worsening trends don’t improve.

At: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/california-enacts-nighttime-curfew-covid-19-cases-spike-74331748

A street vendor this Thursday, on 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA.

[Midnight Writer]

1. Serious question. What is the point of a night time curfew?

It seems like night time would be the safest time to be out, when you will be less likely to run into a lot of people.

And most transmissions occur among people in their homes, where a curfew will force them to be.

What am I missing?

[sandensea]

2. Good point.

Having lived in SoCal for a number years, I can imagine a cop pulling over a VW bus full of teenagers.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Like - dude! We were picking up groceries for my grandma! She's like 90, dude!"

"At 1 a.m.?"

"Like - she can't sleep unless I get her a snack. She gets munchies!"

"Oh, she does?"

[Mr.Bill]

3. One word:

Bars.

[Midnight Writer]

4. Wouldn't it be simpler, then, to close and police the bars then enforcing a general curfew?

Bars are in a fixed location. It seems it would be easy to check periodically to see if they were open.

I'm not being argumentative. I agree bars are a great transmission threat. I'm just not getting the overall curfew order.

Have the Governors or the CDC given reasons for this?

[Mr.Bill]

5. Well, I just think they are trying to keep small businesses

open to some extent, so they don't go out of business. Here they have bent the Alcohol serving rules and are letting bars use outdoor areas. They are even letting restaurants with liquor licenses to sell to-go drinks with their carry-out dinners. But the fact is, the later it gets, the drunker people get and are that much more likely to let their guard down and get careless. That's what I think anyway.

[nwliberalkiwi]

6. Sheriff's Responses

A lot of Sheriffs have said they will not enforce!!!