Quarantine: The governor and his family are isolating since his children were exposed to someone with coronavirus.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom and his family began quarantining over the weekend after three of Newsom’s four children were exposed to a California Highway Patrol officer who later tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Late Friday evening, @ JenSiebelNewsom and I learned that 3 of our children had been exposed to an officer from the California Highway Patrol who had tested positive for COVID19,” Newsom tweeted Sunday night.
Newsom spokesperson Jesse Melgar said that the governor and his wife, Siebel Newsom, “had no direct interaction with the officer.” Highway patrol officers staff Newsom’s security detail, and often work closely around the first family.
The governor said his household began their twoweek quarantine on Sunday, the same day they all tested negative for the coronavirus. Newsom said his family began an “informal” quarantine earlier in the weekend.
“Thankfully, the entire family tested negative today,” Newsom tweeted. “However, consistent with local guidance, we will be quarantining for 14 days.”
Newsom’s office said Monday that he would continue executing his duties from home without interruption. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis’ office said she had not been asked to assume any of his duties.
The governor delivered his weekly coronavirus update Monday from his home in the Sacramento suburbs.
But Newsom likely faces practical difficulties leading the largest state from the confines of his home. For instance, his briefing Monday was riddled with technical difficulties.
Those briefings are ordinarily produced at a state emergency operations center in Sacramento County.
Newsom’s quarantine comes at a precarious time for the governor and the state. California daily coronavirus cases have surged, topping 13,000 on multiple days last week, and Newsom instituted a curfew for much of the state.
The governor has also faced backlash this month for dining at the highend French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley with at least 12 people from several households, a gathering he has apologized for attending.
Newsom’s announcement on Sunday came a few days after one of his children began quarantining due to a possible exposure at the child’s private school. The rest of the family did not quarantine after that exposure.
It’s also not the first time that coronavirus has forced Sacramento decision makers to quarantine.
In August, nearly every Republican in the state Senate was forced to vote remotely during their final days in session after they attended a social gathering with a fellow senator who later tested positive for the virus.
Several additional legislators and Capitol staffers also tested positive for the virus earlier this year.
Newsom’s office said Monday that no personnel in his office had been instructed to quarantine because “no staff were exposed to the positive individual.” The governor is expected to quarantine through Dec. 5.