Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced a plan to ease the state past the current stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After weeks of teasing the plan's details, Newsom and Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, revealed the new approach on Thursday.
"We are moving out of the pandemic phase and into a phase that should allow you confidence that we are not walking away." Newsom said during a press event. "We are taking a more sensible and sustainable healthcare approach based on the lessons learned to prepare for the unknown and invest in a future where we can all do better."
"What was a novel coronavirus two years ago is no longer so," Ghaly said. "Timely preparedness is the name of the game, and California will keep getting better."
The new approach, the "SMARTER" plan, includes seven different domains. Each letter stands for an element of the new plan, the first of which is shots, or vaccination, where a new focus will be centered on getting children vaccinated and disseminating boosters to older and at-risk groups.
"California's thoughtful approach to the pandemic has led to the lowest per-capita death rate of any large American state," said Dr. Robert Wachter, Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF, in a press release Thursday. "Coming out of the Omicron surge, we have to apply all the lessons we've learned in the past two years, to be sure that we're taking the smartest possible approach to this rapidly evolving threat. I was impressed by the SMARTER Plan, which does just that."
The second letter of the SMARTER plan is "M," for masking, which although is no longer required, is still encouraged and recommended in certain instances.
The "A" is for awareness, to keep abreast of new developments with the virus and maintain communication lines, Ghaly and Newsom said, while the first "R" stands for readiness.
"The issues around a SMARTER plan mean nothing unless you're ready," Newsom said.
To ensure that California stays on top of the disease in the future, Newsom is implementing a new team, known as the Statewide Action and Assessment Unit, to address coronavirus related issues in real time.
"If you start to see an outbreak in and around the region all of a sudden now we have a team of epidemiologists, office of emergency services, department of public health, all a cross-section of folks in this new unit," Newsom explained.
The team will perform genomic sequencing, modeling and data analysis and will work to develop strategies and plans in a very targeted effort, Newsom said.
"Two years ago, our collective systems were not entirely ready for what COVID-19 brought our way," Ghaly said. "We were not where we needed to be. But we've accelerated change in preparation faster than almost any other state in the nation."
The next domain is testing, or "T," which has been and will continue to be a key part of the state's strategy, said Ghaly. The hope is that the private sector will catch up to demand, but in the meantime the government will continue to, and will be available for, filling in any gaps.
"E," or education, is the goal of keeping schools open and functional going forward. Officials are monitoring the levels of transmission closely over the next several days to determine how the change from required indoor masking in public spaces to recommended, "to see if there's any change in the data."
"In all likelihood, because we're feeling even more confident about the trend, we'll be able to set a date in the not-so-distant future where masking in schools will also be strongly recommended, rather than required," the health secretary said.
Finally, the second "R" in SMARTER stands for Rx, or treatment options for COVID-19.
"We will once again lean on California's innovative spirit and track record to bring together testing, technology, treatment as a triple threat to fight disease," Ghaly said.
"The Rx is about research, development, partnerships, academia, but also about innovation. We have some interesting strategies on creating prizes to incentivize new developments on air filtration and ventilation and a new task force that we’re proposing in that space," Newsom added.
The state is also committing to having enough resources on hand to handle these changes, such as stockpiling over 30 million over-the-counter COVID-19 tests available for the public, or keeping 75 million masks in reserve.
Ghaly emphasized that the "SMARTER" plan will help California not only be prepared for the constantly fluctuating COVID-19 virus, but it will also help keep life functioning and moving forward despite those changes.
"We aren't out of the woods, we are just more familiar with the woods, and don't need to live fully afraid of what's behind the next tree," he said.
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