San Francisco, Dec 30 (IANS): California has extended its regional stay-at-home order due to an unabated resurgence in the US state, authorities have confirmed.

Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said that the stay-at-home order for the 11-county Southern California region and the San Joaquin Valley, which includes 12 counties, has been extended, reports Xinhua news agency.

The three-week order was previously set to expire on Monday.

The remaining intensive care unit (ICU) capacity in the two regions are still zero as of Tuesday.

At the start of this month, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans for the regional stay-at-home order to contain the pandemic based on hospital capacity, which is designed to be triggered when fewer than 15 per cent of beds are available in ICU for a region.

Southern California and San Joaquin Valley regions, home to 33 million people, have been the first part of the most populous US state with a population of around 40 million to enter the stay-at-home order since December 6 after the ICU capacity in the two regions dropped below 15 per cent.

As of Wednesday, California has registered a total of 2,187,221 confirmed coronavirus cases and 24,526 deaths.