Newsom admits mistakes in first reopening
SACRAMENTO >> California Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged mistakes in communicating with the public last year before the first loosening of coronavirus restrictions led to an early summer spike in cases, a harsh lesson “that we reflect upon all the time” as the nation’s most populous state again embarks on a broad reopening.
The Democratic governor also said he expects to soon expand the list of people eligible for vaccinations and asserted he was right to call the organizers of a recall effort against him partisan extremists.
Newsom spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday, a day before the one-year anniversary of his first-inthe-nation stay-at-home order that required California’s nearly 40 million people to lock down except for essential work. The state has recorded more than 3.5 million virus cases and nearly 56,000 deaths, both the largest totals in the country.
California’s initial order lasted about seven weeks before Newsom began loosening the rules as the state avoided a huge surge in cases. What began as limited reopenings quickly snowballed, with counties given the go-ahead to allow restaurant dining, church services and other indoor activities and businesses. Even bars were given the go- ahead by mid- June, around the time Newsom imposed a mask mandate.
“We were communicating with counties and businesses and sectors and industries, not with the public, what that modification meant and what it didn’t mean,” he said. “And in hindsight, clearly, we could have done a much better job by informing the public what those modifications meant.”
By July 4, infections and hospitalizations were rising and Newsom ordered some businesses shut and implored residents not to gather for typical Independence Day festivities.
Cases subsided in late summer and into fall, then the deadliest surge arrived after Thanksgiving and peaked in early January. Cases have fallen dramatically since then.
Newsom said his administration took the lessons from the spike to move to a more understandable colorcoded reopening system. It goes from the most-restrictive purple tier to the leastrestrictive yellow, and counties move through it based on case rates, testing and an equity-based metric.
While people can go online to see what tier their county is in and what’s open, some local officials and members of the public still find it confusing. In recent weeks, Newsom has changed the metrics for leaving the purple tier and altered how schools, bars and other businesses can operate in each tier.
California is again in the midst of a broad reopening, with theme parks and baseball stadiums cleared to open next month, most counties now allowing indoor dining and many more schools preparing to bring students back to classrooms.
The administration now is planning for a “green tier” that would end many restrictions altogether. Newsom said he expects to reach that level “sooner than most people believe” but declined to be specific.