California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in a May 1 press briefing that California’s shelter-in-place order could start to be eased in a matter of “days, not weeks.”
Newsom said he would make an announcement about it sometime next week.
“We said ‘weeks, not months’ about four or five days ago,” he said. “I want to say ‘many days, not weeks.’ As long as we continue to be prudent and thoughtful in certain modifications, I think we’ll be making some announcements.”
The changes to the shelter-in-place order will be “significant,” Newsom said, as retail, hospitals and restaurants will likely be allowed to re-open, under the condition that they can implement social distancing measures.
Additionally, Newsom said that he could start lifting his closure of Orange County beaches on May 4 or 5, provided that people don’t crowd the beaches over the weekend.
“The only thing that is assured to advance the spread of the virus is thousands of people congregating together,” he said.
Newsom expressed optimism over the latest data showing that there was a 2% decline in hospitalizations over the past 24 hours and intensive care unit (ICU) cases were flat. However, the number of cases and deaths are almost as 50,000 and 2,000, respectively.
He urged those protesting the shelter-in-place to order to wear masks and observe social distancing, warning that not doing so could set the state back on the progress it’s made against COVID-19.
“We can screw all that up, we can set all that back, by making bad decisions,” Newsom said.
Los Angeles County officials announced in a May 1 press briefing that there were 62 new COVID-19 deaths in the county and 1,065 new cases, bringing the county totals to 1,172 deaths and 24,215 cases.
