Despite some early successes and early-action when facing coronavirus, California is experiencing a huge surge of COVID-19 cases as pandemic fatigue sets in amongst the general public. Daily cases have risen exponentially, from an average hovering around 4,000 statewide in late October, to numbers exceeding 30,000 a day over the past week. Elected and health officials across the state have been pleading with Californians to stay home — particularly since mid-November — and even issued a largely ignored Stay At Home order in counties across the state on November 22nd.
The purpose of that order was, in part, to discourage Thanksgiving travel. Making it even more surprising to learn that Yosemite Valley’s Ahwahnee Hotel hosted a massive indoor feast for hundreds of hotel guests from out of town over Thanksgiving. Given that the Ahwahnee Hotel is located on federal land, the hotel was not subjected to California’s mandatory mask order, which means hotel guests were only strongly advised to wear masks.
On an event ad posted on the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau’s website, guests were told to: “Prepare to be delighted with a Thanksgiving feast set in the historic Ahwahnee dining room. Located in Yosemite Valley, the high ceilings and chandeliers create the perfect backdrop for special occasions.” To be fair, signage at the party strongly suggested that hotel guests mask up, seating was arranged to encourage social distancing, and food was served via a touchless buffet. But according to SF Gate, which spoke with many of the hotel employees working over the holiday weekend, the Ahwahnee was fully booked and hundreds of guests showed up for the dinner’s multiple indoor seatings on Thanksgiving.
“Thanksgiving was a f-ing s-show… It was awful… every bellman, bartender, server and rooms keeper… all were very concerned about possibly being exposed.” Lianne Saylor, an employee speaking under a pseudonym told SF Gate.
It is currently unknown whether any Ahwahnee employees contracted the virus since Thanksgiving weekend, but accommodations and dining at the hotel have been temporarily closed due to a state-ordered shutdown that was implemented after California’s San Joaquin Valley ICU capacity (where the hotel is located) dipped below 15%.
Currently, 47 out of California’s 58 counties are under a regional stay-at-home order, representing 98.3% of the state’s total population. According to recent statewide metrics, California has only 2.1% ICU availability and logged over 41,000 cases and 300 deaths statewide on Friday, December 18th alone.