Prepare to spend more time at home. NBC Bay Area has learned that public health officials in all nine Bay Area counties plan to extend the shelter-at-home order to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
According to a joint statement released Monday by Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo counties and the city of Berkeley, the public health order "will soon be extended until at least May 1."
Additional details about the extension "will be available when it is finalized in the next day or two," part of the statement read.
Word of the upcoming extension in the Bay Area came as President Trump offered a marked shift in tone this evening, moving to extend nationwide social distancing guidelines.
“The better you do, the faster this nightmare will end,” Trump said. “So we will extend the guidelines to April 30 to slow the spread.”
Trump, once hoping to get people back to work by Easter, now says that was just an aspiration and that he expects things to begin recovering around June 1.
Meanwhile, in the Bay Area, the push continues for social distancing – especially by keeping people out of parks and beaches.
After large crowds last weekend, this weekend parking lots were closed and people seemed to get the message, mostly staying away.
“We’ve got to change behavior if we want to maintain the ability to keep parks open,” said Robert Doyle, general manager at East Bay Regional Parks. “We are talking with the health department every day and if we can’t change the crowds then we will have to get more restrictions.”
Public health officials hope people will remain even more vigilant next month.
Trump said he plans to reveal details of the extended federal guidelines on Tuesday.
