California Gov. Newsom orders statewide re-closures as coronavirus cases rise: 'This continues to be a deadly disease'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) issued a decree Monday ordering the re-closure of several indoor operations statewide, including restaurants, and expanding restrictions on businesses and churches in the most impacted counties as COVID-19 cases continue to climb.

 

What are the details?

The Office of the Governor of California alerted citizens that Newsom's order prohibits indoor operations statewide for dine-in restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, zoos, museums, cardrooms and family entertainment centers, and emphasizes that "bars must close ALL operations."

For 30 counties on the governor's "monitoring list," gyms, places of worship, hair salons, spas, and malls must also cease any indoor activities. According to the Los Angeles Times, those counties hold roughly 80% of the state's population.

The New York Times called Newsom's move "one of the most sweeping rollbacks of any state's reopening plans," as California averages "more than 8,000 new cases a day...more than double what it was a month ago."

Newsom explained, "We're going back into modification mode of our original stay at home order. This continues to be a deadly disease."

Anything else?

Also on Monday, the San Diego and Los Angeles school districts issued a joint statement announcing that they would not resume in-person classes following the summer break. All instruction will resume on time, but will be conducted entirely online.

The districts explained in their memo:

Unfortunately, much of the research is incomplete and many of the guidelines are vague and contradictory. One fact is clear: those countries that have managed to safely reopen schools have done so with declining infection rates and on-demand testing available. California has neither. The skyrocketing infection rates of the past few weeks make it clear the pandemic is not under control.

The Hill noted that "the Trump administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from schools that do not reopen for in-person instruction this fall."