SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging Californians to use common sense over the 4th of July weekend by wearing masks and avoiding traditional gatherings with family and friends.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered bars and indoor restaurant dining closed in most of the state, many beaches are off limits, and he's imploring Californians to avoid holiday gatherings with family and friends. Since Memorial Day, California has gone from a coronavirus success story to a cautionary tale. Health experts say the change was a combination of a populace made complacent by positive trends, the rapid reopening of businesses and the late adoption of a mandatory mask rule.
At Thursday's press conference, the governor talked about rolling out a mask campaign and focused targeting the Hispanic community. The “Wear A Mask” public awareness campaign encourages Californians to cover up to help slow the spread of coronavirus.
"It is imperative, and required, that Californians protect each other by wearing masks and practicing physical distancing when in public so we can fully reopen our economy,” Newsom said in a press release about the campaign. “We all need to stand up, be leaders, show we care and get this done.”
His comments came Thursday after he announced a new public awareness campaign involving billboards, TV and radio ads in English and Spanish urging people to wear a mask. One shows a person struggling to breath and says, “People can die. People like your mom." The ads will launch this weekend.
Newsom added the state won't be “going into everybody's backyard and enforcing" but people should be safe and thoughtful.
The previous day, at Wednesday's press conference, Newsom ordered a three-week closure of bars and indoor operations of restaurants and certain other businesses in 19 counties throughout the state. Enforcement of the rollback will be handled by multi-agency strike teams, including Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (CalOSHA), the Department of Business Oversight, the Department of Consumer Affairs, and the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
Also on Wednesday California released new guidance for churches and other places of worship telling to stop singing and chanting.
"Even with adherence to physical distancing, convening in a congregational setting of multiple different households to practice a personal faith carries a relatively higher risk for widespread transmission of the COVID-19 virus, and may result in increased rates of infection, hospitalization, and death, especially among more vulnerable populations," the guidance says. "In particular, activities such as singing and chanting negate the risk-reduction achieved through six feet of physical distancing."
In Southern California, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies in West Hollywood will issue citations to people who are not wearing masks in public, ramping up enforcement of a rule that previously had been imposed largely without penalties. The Sheriff’s Department said night that the increased enforcement would begin this month. The non-criminal citations come with a fine of $250 for a first offense. West Hollywood contracts with the sheriff’s department for law enforcement. A spokeswoman for the sheriff's department says the agency overall will continue to seek voluntary compliance but contract cities can set their own ordinances.
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