California significantly rolls back county reopening plans amid ‘unprecedented’ coronavirus surge
Experiencing a ballooning of COVID-19 cases, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced that he was pulling an "emergency brake" to slow the spread of the virus, forcing the vast majority of the state to return back to the state's most restrictive tier in its reopening plan.
When the changes go into effect on Tuesday, 41 counties — where 94% of Californians live — will now be placed under the state's purple tier restrictions — up from just 13 of the state's 58 counties last week. The move from the state's red tier down to the most-restrictive purple tier will completely shutter indoor dining, gyms, movie theaters and places of worship in those counties.
In the Bay Area, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Napa, Solano and Mendocino counties will revert to the purple tier, while San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties will move back into the red tier, the second-most restrictive. Sonoma County has been in the purple level since the state’s latest reopening plan was rolled out at the end of August. Lake County will remain in the red tier.
"In nearly every part of the state we are seeing case rates increase and transmission rates increase. No longer is it concentrated in a handful of counties," Newsom said during a news briefing Monday. "We are seeing community spread broadly across the entire state."
The governor also added that officials were assessing the possibility of a future curfew order.
The governor's announcement comes less than two weeks before Thanksgiving — a holiday traditionally marked by large gatherings that officials fear could accelerate the spread of the virus if celebrated as usual. California officials are urging those who travel out of the state for the holiday later this month to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their return.
It also marks the growing shift by health officials to taper back their reopening strategies as cases and hospitalizations across the state surge. Last week, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Contra Costa and Marin counties banned indoor dining and reinstated a range of other new local restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the virus.
As of Monday, California has recorded more than 1 million cases of the coronavirus.
In the past two weeks, the average number of cases reported each day has nearly doubled — a 91% increase from about 4,162 per day at the start of November — and the number of patients hospitalized has increased by nearly 50%.
The number of patients hospitalized due to the virus has grown to 3,683, the state's most active hospitalizations since Sept. 1, according to the most recent update from the California Department of Public Health. Similarly, the number of new cases has reached its highest point since Aug. 17, an average of about 7,967 per day over the past week, according to data compiled by this news organization.
