KXTV
Mike DeWald (@mike_dewald)
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he would be extending the ‘shelter-in-place’ order to all of California, essentially shutting down the state. The Governor promised a ‘major announcement’ in his evening address, the move follows the recent shelter-in-place orders put in effect in Sonoma County and the nine Bay Area counties this week. As with the Bay Area orders, businesses deemed ‘essential’ will still be able to operate and workers will still be able to work through the order.
Newsom said that he would expect most of the order to be done through social pressure from peers, also saying that enforcement would come more through permits and regulations rather than through the use of law enforcement. The Governor said that the spread of COVD-19 has followed the models that state agencies have been following and the move was aimed at slowing that spread and flattening the curve.
“If we’re going to be criticized, let’s be criticized for taking this seriously.” said Newsom.
Newsom challenged the residents of California to ‘meet the moment together’ a number of times during the course of his address. The Governor also clarified his remarks that 56% of the state could be infected by coronavirus, saying that the vast majority of those would be asymptomatic. He also assured that the state would have both the number of hospital beds available as well as sufficient medical equipment. Newsom also spoke of his work with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, saying that the federal government had so far delivered on their promises of assisting California.
“We want these numbers to live in the dustbin of history,” said Newsom.