With Numbers Soaring, Newsom Cracks Down on 19 Counties. State Beach Parking Lots Closed for Holiday..

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Saying the coronavirus continues to spread at an “alarming rate” in the state, California Governor Gavin Newsom pulled back reopening plans Wednesday in 19 of California’s counties most impacted by rising numbers and a growing caseload.

The closures mean that all bars must close, and all indoor business spaces are now closed to customers across a range of businesses including restaurants, movie theaters, wineries and family entertainment centers. The shutdowns will last for at least three weeks.

The crackdown applies to 19 counties that have been on a state “watch list” for 3 or more days. Those counties with problematic coronavirus spread comprise more than three quarters of the state’s citizens. Bay Area counties on the list are Solano, Santa Clara and Contra Costa.

The governor’s action follows a period between Memorial Day and the end of June in which California’s coronavirus cases and hospitalizations soared and modeling showed the upward trend would continue. In fact, new modeling indicated that by the end of July the number of Californians hospitalized with COVID-19 could explode, rising 4 fold from approximately 4700 at the end of June to more than 18000.

Beyond indoor business shutdowns, Newsom announced that all parking lots at state beaches in Southern California and the Bay Area would be closed over the holiday weekend, including Sonoma County. Although the beaches would still technically be open, the action was taken to try to limit overcrowding.

And the governor urged all Californians to think twice about gathering with friends and extended family over the long holiday weekend, due to the danger of spreading the virus within family groups.