California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered some likely welcomed news during his daily briefing Friday when he announced shelter-in-place orders due to the coronavirus pandemic may be on their way to being lifted.
On the same day that hundreds of protesters gathered at the State Capitol and many more across the state to demand Newsom remove the shelter-in-place orders that have been in effect since the middle of March, the governor hinted that California may be closer to reopening than initially thought.
Newsom made it a point that the spread of coronavirus will be the determining factor on when shelter-in-place orders may be lifted and restrictions on businesses rolled back, and that physical and social distancing will be a large part of that.
“If we have the kind of weekend that I hope and expect we will where we don’t see those huge crowds descend, then we’re going to be in a position, as early as Monday or Tuesday, I hope, to make some announcements of new strategies and partnerships that we are working on in real-time to address these large crowds,” Newsom said.
Newsom said data regarding the number of hospitalizations and “persons under investigation” as potential COVID-19 cases has provided more confidence that the state can reopen sooner rather than later.
According to Newsom, ICU hospitalizations were flat over the last 24 hours, and overall coronavirus hospitalizations dropped by 2% and persons under investigation dropped by a substantial 13.9%.
Newsom has acknowledged that he is feeling the pressure to reopen the state quickly, but also that science and data will determine when that will be.
“Politics will not drive our decision making. Protests will not drive our decision making. Political pressure will not drive our decision making,” he said earlier this week. “The science, data and public health will drive our decision making.”