Governor Gavin Newsom gave the state an increasingly rare briefing today on the coronavirus pandemic, urging Californians to keep employing safety measures as the economy reopens more. He also defended his response to the pandemic and said he’s keeping a close eye on 13 counties where COVID-19 cases are spiking.
Gov. Newsom doesn’t have daily briefings any more. He only took five questions on Monday, focusing on the state’s accelerating economic reopening, despite a rising number of cases and spiking numbers in 13 counties, with which he says, the state is working closely to keep the pandemic in check. The closest of those counties to the Bay Area is San Joaquin.
He said hospitalization, ICU and positivity rate numbers are stable and encouraging statewide, but emphasized that we are not out of the woods.
“There’s, I don’t know, perhaps some amnesia, distractions, understandable frustration and angst, cabin fever that has entered into the national discourse,” he said. “The nightly news is understandably focused on other things, now beginning to refocus back on COVID-19.”
He added that spikes in cases in other states with hospitalization and ICU rates is “obviously” leading to concern.
Gov. Newsom’s primary concern in California is that people keep wearing masks, keep their distance, wash their hands, be smart and stay safe to prevent a second wave here, even though many experts say we’re still in the middle of the first one.
