“Transmission is increasing in the state,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said clearly at his coronavirus press conference Monday. Accordingly, Newsom said it would likely use the “dimming switch” to toggle reopening measures in the hardest hit counties. He said there were seven counties, including Los Angeles, that would likely have to roll back their reopens. If counties are not effective in remediation measures, “I am committed to intervening,” he said.
Newsom said he would let county officials determine the appropriate measures, but if they did not find the correct measures, “I am committed to intervening.”
“We are considering a number of other things to move forward and we will make those announcements accordingly,” Newsom said, “increasing orders and moving even more restrictive.”
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Gavin Newsom Orders California Bars To Close As Coronavirus Cases Increase
The remediation also includes the application, the governor said. Therefore, “we will intensify our application,” Newsom said. He indicated that the state had allocated $ 2.2 million in COVID funds and that they would build on the proven success of the county’s enforcement measures. “If people flaunt those rules and regulations,” Newsom said, “[then] we have to do more. “
The governor also said that while he is concerned about the success of small businesses, OSHA will step up measures to increase enforcement of anti-COVID measures in the state.
Newsom said it was working with institutions and victim advocates to identify 3,500 inmates who would be released early, if they can prove they have a place to go. This would be what the governor called non-violent and non-sexual criminals.
After reducing coronavirus reopening measures twice in three days, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state’s positivity rate increased, in seven days, from 4.4 percent to 5.5 percent, including when the state increased its testing to more than 100,000 per day. Newsom revealed that, in the past seven days, positivity looks even worse at 5.9 percent.
On Friday, Newsom caused Imperial County to delay lifting the order to stay home. He hinted Monday that the move could be in the future for more counties in the state.
Newsom ordered bars in seven California counties to close bars and nightclubs on Sunday. Those counties include Los Angeles, Fresno, Kern, San Joaquin, Tulare, Kings, Ventura, and Imperial. He said counties have been on a watch list for 3-13 days due to the increase in COVID numbers. Within 14 days, the governor said the state will apply corrective measures.
On Monday, Newsom added Solano, Merced, Orange and Glen counties to that watch list. Counties of concern to state officials now represent 72 percent of the state’s population, he said.
“We start with bars,” Newsom said. “In the last seven days we have seen a 45 percent increase [in cases] in the state of California. “The governor said that in addition to those places, small gatherings of friends and family were likely contributing factors.
As of Monday, 14 percent of ICU beds in the state are assigned to patients with COVID-19.
Los Angeles County issued an order to close bars shortly after Newsom’s announcement Sunday. Bars offering dinner are exempt.
From the Los Angeles County Department of Health:
There has been a sharp increase in new cases and hospitalizations. The timing of these increases is in line with the reopening of key sectors, including bars, which are places where people take the cover off their faces to drink while socializing with people who are not in their homes.
The county saw an almost record number of new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, reporting 2,519.
Newsom also recommended that eight other counties in California take action on their own to close bars. These counties include Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Sacramento, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Stanislaus.
“COVID-19 is still circulating in California and in some parts of the state, getting stronger,” Newsom said in a statement given to the media. “So it is critical that we take this step to limit the spread of the virus in counties that are experiencing the largest increases.” Newsom also tweeted the news on Sunday.
California surpassed the grim milestone of 200,461 coronavirus cases on Friday morning amid more worrying reports about the growing number of new infections. The state experienced a 2.5 percent increase in new cases from the previous day’s total.
Amid those concerns, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that, after weeks of engagement with the state’s hardest hit county, he was asking officials in Imperial County, near San Diego, to increase preventive restrictions of COVID.
“They never advanced as far as other parts of the state,” he said, “but it is time to backtrack further.”
The 14-day area test positivity rate is close to 23 percent. As a result, “they need to decompress their hospital system,” Newsom said.
The Imperial County case rate per 100,000 in the past 14 days is more than 630. That is well above 100 cases for every state-required threshold of 100,000 before reopening can be considered.
