California Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered the immediate closure of all bars, indoor restaurants, and movie theaters in most of the state as coronavirus cases continue to rise.
Newsom announced the revised order to stay home on Wednesday, nearly three weeks after California’s bars, shops, restaurants and salons reopened for the first time after a three-month shutdown.
Since then, the number of COVID-19 cases has started to increase again, increasing nearly 50% in the past two weeks, with a 43% increase in hospitalizations.
As of Monday, there were 222,917 confirmed cases in the state and 5,980 deaths, according to the state department of public health.
The closure, which will last at least three weeks, applies to 19 counties where nearly three-quarters of the state’s roughly 40 million residents live, including Los Angeles County.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced the shutdown Wednesday, days after imposing a state order requiring all residents to wear masks in most public places.
Under the new measure, restaurants may continue to serve food al fresco, but must shut down indoor operations.
It also applies to other indoor business operations such as museums, entertainment centers, movie theaters, zoos, and game rooms.
Newsom had closed bars in seven counties on Sunday, but Wednesday’s order is spread across the state.
“This does not mean that the restaurants are closed,” Newsom said at a press conference.
“It means that we are trying to take the activities, as many activities as we can, these mixed activities, these concentrated activities, and move them outdoors, which is a way to mitigate the spread of this virus.”
He added: “The bottom line is that the spread of this virus continues at a particularly worrying rate.”
It marks the latest coronavirus measure imposed in California in recent weeks and follows the Newsom state order requiring all residents to wear masks or face shields in most public areas.
California has joined a small but growing list of states that have been forced to reverse plans to reopen after cases began to escalate again.
Under the new measure, restaurants may continue to serve food al fresco, but must shut down indoor operations.
California has joined a small but growing list of states that have been forced to reverse plans to reopen amid a worrying increase in coronavirus cases.
COVID-19 cases have started again in California, increasing nearly 50 percent in the past two weeks.
Texas and Florida, which were among the first states to start reopening after a three-month lockout, closed bars a second time last week after seeing record levels in the number of infections.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert earlier this week, warned that meeting in indoor bars was one of the most dangerous activities Americans could do.
The order came just days before what was expected to be a July 4 weekend for the state, raising fears that people would gather in droves for the celebrations.
Newsom did not order the closure of the beaches, but said parking lots on all of the beaches in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay area would be closed to limit crowds.
State parks, which include some beaches, will remain open, but with measures to reduce overcrowding.
Newsom said the new business closure order applies to counties that have been on the state’s watch list due to the increase in coronavirus cases for three consecutive days: Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Merced, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura.
But enforcing the new rules will be difficult, Newsom said.
He said seven state agencies with regulatory authority would focus on non-compliant businesses, including the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Department of Consumer Affairs and the California Highway Patrol.
The order applies to 19 counties, where nearly three-quarters of the state’s 40 million residents live, including Los Angeles County.
COVID-19 cases in the US increased 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with most increases occurring in the western and southern parts of the country
And he suggested that state officials would first try to convince non-compliant companies to cooperate rather than penalize them.
‘It is more education. I will not go out with my fist. We don’t want to go out with an open heart, recognizing the magnitude of some of these modifications, ‘Newsom said.
Many California local governments have delayed the reopening or have imposed additional restrictions as cases increased.
Los Angeles County officials closed the beaches over the July 4 weekend before Newsom announced its restrictions, and Fresno County in the agricultural heartland of the state’s Central Valley had already ordered all bars closed.
.
