California Gov. Gavin Newsom gave the State of the State from an empty Dodger Stadium Tuesday night.
It came a year after the stay-at-home order ordered by Newsom for California as the state began to grapple with the coronavirus. More than 10 million vaccines have been administered in the state as there are more than 54,000 deaths from the virus so far. At the moment Dodger Stadium is a mass vaccination site - and will eventually reopen as a ballpark after the state allowed outdoor ballparks to reopen on April 1.
California House Speaker Anthnony Rendon also spoke before Newsom saying “the coronavirus pandemic has handed us the hardest challenges we have had to deal with.” He says he looks forward to working with the government and Newsom on all the critical issues.
Newsom talked about the stadium which has been transformed into a mass vaccination site.
“All because a year ago a once in a century pandemic arrived on our shores,” he says adding the state is mourning almost (54,395 Californians) the exact same number of seats that there are in the stadium.
California has administered nearly 11 million doses of vaccine.
Newsom says “we won't be defined by this moment we will be defined by what we do with it.” He highlighted how the state trusted science and data adding California was the first state to issue a stay at home order.
Newsom says how the state sent ventilators to other states last year.
He talked about the vaccination process in the state saying it ranks sixth in the world in vaccine distribution - ahead of countries like Russia.
“California, we will roar back,” he says. “When this pandemic ends we are not going to go back to normal. Normal was never good enough.
Newsom says “a light at the end of this tunnel is brighter than ever.” He said the positivity rate is down from 14 percent to just 2.2 percent today and hospitalizations are down by 80 percent since their peak.
He also noted how the state is providing the largest small business grant fund in the nation: $2.6 billion for those impacted by COVID-19.
"Following a weeks-long tour of vaccination sites, public schools and small businesses around the state, Governor Gavin Newsom will deliver his third State of the State Address on Tuesday evening in a virtual presentation to the California Legislature from Los Angeles County," the Governor's office said in a statement.
This comes as efforts have increased in recalling the state's governor.
"The anti-Newsom effort is driven by Republicans hoping to regain a political foothold in California by tapping into widespread frustration over business restrictions and school closures. Organizers say they have more than the 1.5 million signatures needed to force an election, likely late in the year," according to an Associated Press story from Tuesday.
According to Deadline, Newsom will want to highlight heroes.
"“I want to highlight farm workers. I want to highlight women, children, caregivers and a bright future for California,” said Governor Gavin Newsom when asked on Monday about the State of the State speech he will deliver Tuesday in the Deadline story."