Coronavirus In California: Governor Gives Update On Pandemic And Reopening

California Gov. Gavin Newsom shared updates on where the state stands amid the coronavirus pandemic and early plans on how the state’s economy will reopen.

The first item Newsom spoke about in his daily briefing was the images that appeared online over the weekend of a packed Newport Beach, despite the standing shelter-in-place order. He emphasized that procedures needed to be followed to see any progress against coronavirus and that people’s behavior will be the only major setback.

“This virus doesn’t take the weekends off. This virus doesn’t go home because it’s a beautiful sunny day around our coasts.” Newsom said.

“We’ll look forward to that day as herd immunity comes into effect and we have a vaccine that we can distribute and make available to hundreds of millions of people across this country and billions around the rest of the globe.”

Newsom said he would speak with local officials to ensure guidelines are followed. He said officials would also begin discussing one of the state’s six indicators needed to change the shelter-in-place order with the hopes of making “measurable and meaningful changes” in the near future.

The next item he spoke about was the Western States Pact between California, Oregon, and Washington with the goal of reopening their economies. Newsom said Colorado and Nevada have joined the Pact, which was confirmed in a joint press release by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak on the Colorado government website.

“I want to thank Colorado and Nevada for joining the Western States Pact,” Newsom said. “COVID-19 doesn’t follow state or national boundaries, and it will take every level of government, working together to get the upper hand on this virus.”

As for California, Newsom said he would begin discussing plans to reopen schools and businesses based on the state and Pact’s criteria on Tuesday. This would be accompanied by the first in a series of “digital roundtables” that will be open to media discussing the pandemic and reopening the state.