Covid-19 Economy, finance, and budgets Last Friday, five Bay Area counties announced that they were once again going into shutdown, for four weeks, due to rising Covid-19 rates. Nine months after it became the first region in the U.S. to introduce a stay-at-home health order—originally scheduled for three weeks, its restrictions have never been fully lifted—the Bay Area is resetting the clock, with a shutdown not quite as strict as in March but likely to have more severe social and economic effects. The stay-at-home orders were having a corrosive impact in California months ago; this new shutdown could be the final straw for many struggling businesses. Making things worse, Governor Gavin Newsom has announced a new state order requiring shutdowns under criteria that the Bay Area does not yet meet. By jumping the gun, the Bay Area could face a longer lockdown if it falls under state criteria later.