California was one of the first states to impose a lockdown at the start of the pandemic. Now, Governor Gavin Newsom is lifting most of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday as a part of his grand reopening initiative.
What We Know:
- California experienced a series of highs and lows during the course of the pandemic. While it was the first state to impose a lockdown in March 2020, their attempts to reopen preemptively caused cases to spike. In the past year, more people testing positive and died in California than anywhere else in the nation.
- Now, 72% of adults and 59% of residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Capacity limits, physical distancing, and masks for vaccinated citizens are just some of the restrictions set to be lifted. Fully vaccinated workers will not need to wear masks or physically distance themselves from others. Newsom said he would sign an executive order better detailing workplace mask usage to avoid ambiguity.
- Public health measures will remain for events of 5,000 or more indoors or 10,000 outdoors, with vaccination verification being required or recommended. Newsom stated, “California is turning the page on this pandemic, thanks to swift action by the state and the work of Californians who following public health guidelines and got vaccinated to protect themselves and their communities.”
- California also orchestrated the nation’s largest vaccine initiative. Newsom will draw ten names of residents who have received at least one dose and award them with $1.5 million each. The winners can collect the money once fully vaccinated.
- New York is also set to lift restrictions now that they have also reached the 70% vaccination benchmark. Public health officials warn that this percentage hides the broad gaps in vaccine coverage. Dr. Céline Gounder, infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist at NYU, said, “These overall averages camouflage huge geographic and demographic disparities.”
- The state is following California’s lead and lifting most commercial requirements such as capacity restrictions, health screenings, and contact tracing. They plan to keep “institutional guidelines” in place for large venues. Most localities have yet to hit herd immunity which presents a huge risk as communities begin to mingle once more.
- New York has not gone as far as California to encourage cross-state travel. Visit California‘s President and CEO Caroline Beteta encouraged tourists to come to the state, “In terms of our incredible cities, our iconic attractions, the industry is ready to roll out the red carpet to visitors in California, around the nation, and even the world.”
As restrictions begin to lift state by state, it is unclear what the possible ramifications will be. “This pandemic is not behind us tomorrow. We are very mindful that already in 2021 globally more people have lost their lives to COVID than the entire year 2020,” Newsom stated.
