Newsom urges virtual lockdown
Virus battle: Governor calls for bars to close, eateries to cut tables, seniors to stay home
As the coronavirus continues its rapid spread, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday afternoon issued an urgent call for all California bars and nightclubs to shut their doors, restaurants to cut the number of tables in half, and millions of seniors and people with chronic health conditions to immediately “self-isolate” at home.
Newsom’s unprecedented call for action is intended to slow the infection rate, especially among the most vulnerable. The governor stopped short of asking eating establishments to shut their doors, saying the need for food service during the pandemic remained vital.
“We need to prioritize our focus,” Newsom said during an hourlong news conference in Sacramento. “We are looking at this from a very holistic perspective.”
The guidelines were issued by the state on the same day the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that all gatherings of more than 50 people within the United States be canceled for the next eight weeks.
As of Sunday afternoon, the state had 335 verified cases of COVID-19, a 14% increase in a day, and six fatalities, after a new death was reported overnight in San Mateo County. Health care providers have conducted 8,316 tests.
Bay Area health officials on Sunday also confirmed 23 new cases of coronavirus in Santa Clara County, bringing the total number of cases there to 114. Contra Costa County’s confirmed cases remained at 29 and Alameda County has recorded 10, including three in Berkeley.
Newsom also announced an online, Bay Area pilot program to expand the assessment of high-risk individuals, backed by Google parent company Alphabet’s firm Verily Life Sciences and joined by federal, state and local health offices. The program would aim to use
online screening to find patients most in need of testing due to symptoms or exposure and could be directing Santa Clara and San Mateo county residents to drive-through testing as early as Tuesday.
The website went live on Sunday evening. It is limited to U.S. residents in those in the two counties who are 18 years old or older, read and speak English and are willing to sign a COVID-19 Public Health authorization form.
The public-private collaboration was initially announced Friday by President Donald Trump, but the company quickly clarified that the pilot program would be conducted only in the Bay Area with the goal of eventually serving other communities.
On Sunday, Newsom also emphasized the state’s more than 100,000 homeless residents, a population very vulnerable to the virus. He said officials were working to secure hotel and motel space for those most at risk, and were working with several teams to find other ways to help homeless people get shelter and access to hygiene services.
The new guidance comes as the number of new cases in California jumped, and state leaders rushed to expand testing, identify new capacity in hospitals, and manage the great unknown economic impact of widespread closures and business slowdowns.
The governor cautioned
that the state could make the new guidelines legally binding with the stroke of a pen. So far, he added, the state’s public health recommendations have been widely followed with little need for enforcement.
“We have the capacity to enforce, if necessary,” he said.
The state is working to increase capacity to test sick residents and expand the number of hospital beds to meet the expected demand for care, Newsom said.
Private lab company Quest is opening two more facilities in the state; the company can do about 1,200 tests a day at the one lab it currently has open, Newsom said. But it will be able to expand to about 5,000 tests daily as soon as the end of this week, he said.
The state’s 19 laboratories are being supplemented by hospitals that are helping with testing, Newsom said, including Stanford, UCLA and others.
“We are increasing capacity on an hourly basis,” he said.
While testing capacity is increased, the state is focusing on preventing community spread of the disease by pushing to cancel social functions and connections — from closing neighborhood dives and wine tasting rooms to asking older residents to stay home.
Newsom said bars and nightclubs serve a “nonessential
function in our state.” The calculation was different for the food service industry, which provides regular meals for millions across the state. “As it relates to restaurants, we have more nuanced concerns and considerations,” he said.
Bar and nightclub workers wondered how far the pandemic would cut into their business. As news spread through the bar community Sunday, many wondered about their future.
“This is scary — for our business, our employees and our financial future,” said Cache Bouren, owner of downtown San Jose craft cocktail lounge Haberdasher. “The lost revenue will never be recovered, but the safety of our staff and of our community far outweighs the needs of our small business.”
At The Libertine, a popular bar in Oakland’s Grand Lake neighborhood, manager Matthew Winger said he was doing his best to keep up with reports from outside.
“We heard about it through the grapevine, but there’s still a large sense of confusion,” Winger said Sunday. “My understanding is that it’s more of a guidance than a legal government order. If we’re legally ordered by the state government, we will shut down.”
Harrison Fong, proprietor of the Vintage Wine Merchants at Santana
Row, said he had already canceled all tasting events and private parties at the shop. After Sunday’s edict, he said, it will be challenging to pay employees and rent, as well as meet obligations to suppliers.
“It’s a trying time for everyone,” Fong said. “As long as we all maintain our sanity and band together as a community, we’ll get out of this sooner or later.”
Some bars acted immediately.
“Everyone was shocked when I kicked them out,” said Patrick Breen, the manager of McNally’s Irish Pub, a bar that’s been open since 1933 in Oakland. “But we take it seriously.”
The recommendation that older residents and those with chronic health conditions self-isolate reflects the greater risk the virus presents to them.
The new guidelines to self-quarantine are an effort to protect the state’s most vulnerable residents, Newsom said. It was unclear how long the selfquarantine should continue.
Seniors shopping at a Safeway in Berkeley on Sunday seemed to accept the new reality.
Nina Barton, 66, said she has limited her travel only to essential local trips. Barton hasn’t panicked but said she’ll continue to selfquarantine.
“I think we weren’t necessarily informed of the severity rapidly enough,” Barton said. “But we have
to take better care of our people, so I hope we have a limited spread of serious cases if we start doing this.”
Alison Hess, 65, cares for her 92-year-old mother, who suffers from a respiratory disorder and relies on oxygen tanks. Hess said it would be nearly impossible for her to self-quarantine with her mother. “I can’t,” she said. Someone has to shop, cook and run errands, she said.
Kathy Bradley, 72, intends to self-quarantine, although she acknowledged she could be better prepared. “It’s scary,” Bradley said. “I have a minor surgery on Tuesday. Should I go? I’m not sure if it’s going ahead, but am I more at risk if I go through with it?”
The governor also announced restrictions on hospital visits, saying that for now, they would be limited to those receiving endof-life care.
State officials also are monitoring school closures. Just over half of California school districts have shuttered, primarily the largest ones, sending about 8 in 10 school-aged students home, Newsom said Sunday.
He said some schools in poor or rural districts, where families are dependent on free meals and the virus has not spread widely, may need to remain open.