Newsom Promises Reopening Changes. Will They Come This Week?

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On Friday, California Governor Gavin Newsom told 40 million state residents that “meaningful adjustments” to the ongoing coronavirus stay-at-home orders were coming “within days.”

Which left many to wonder, what those changes would be and how soon they would arrive.

The governor hinted that announcements on expanded virus testing and adjustments that may impact the retail sector of the state’s economy may come on Monday or Tuesday.

The announcement came as protests of strict stay-at-home orders continued to bubble up across the state from San Diego, to San Francisco, to the beaches of Orange County, where around 3 thousand people defied closure orders to demand that the county’s beaches be reopened.

Newsom said that any changes that are coming would be driven by science and not politics, maintaining that although he respects protestors rights to speak out about jobs and the economy, those actions will not impact his decision making about when it is safe to reopen businesses across the state.

This came on a day when Modoc County in far northeastern California became the first to defy state guidelines to remain closed. The governor said he was listening to the concerns of more rural areas, leading to speculation that adjustments being considered many include allowing some less impacted rural counties to reopen before others across the state.

Earlier in the week, Newsom unveiled a four stage plan for reopening, that requires ramped up testing and contact tracing, falling rates of hospitalization, and protection of vunerable populations before large sectors of the state’s economy can be reopened.

And he cited statistics that showed nearly 100 Californians continued to die each day of COVID-19 in the past week, while new hospitalizations were still only falling slowly.

In Sonoma County and much of the Bay Area, a variety of businesses considered low contact and low risk will reopen on Monday with certain social distancing restrictions. In Sonoma County that will include new residential construction, in person real estate sales, car and bicycle sales, landscaping, florists, and golf courses. The revised health order for Sonoma County can be viewed at socoemergency.org.