After the state's packed beaches made national headlines, the governor said the behavior of residents who don't adhere to isolation orders could set back significant progress: "We cannot see the images like we saw."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom saw the images that circulated widely over the weekend showing off massive crowds at Southern California beaches, and he slammed those in defiance as showing what "not to do" amid statewide stay-at-home orders.
"Those images are an example of what not to see," he said, kicking off his Monday press briefing in Sacramento, where he has been providing daily updates on the state's COVID-19 relief efforts. "The virus doesn't take the weekends off. This virus doesn't go home because it's a beautiful sunny day on our coasts."
Newsom specifically called out the coastline communities of Newport Beach and Huntington Beach that saw thousands of beachgoers hit the sand on the first heatwave of the season carrying temperatures 90 degrees and above. Officials had been anticipating such a surge and had closed parking lots and meters in some of those areas to help curb beach activity. Los Angeles County, which encompasses beach cities like Venice, Santa Monica and Malibu, did not see any meaningful gatherings of people, but the county has been more strict than areas like Orange County and Ventura, the latter of which relaxed strict isolation orders and opened up many parks and beaches.
Newsom said the state is just weeks — "not months" — from meaningful modifications to closure orders, but that's only if residents continue to follow specific social distancing guidelines. "The only thing that can stop that is more images like we saw over the weekend," he said, adding that it will be a number of months before herd immunity and a vaccine will allow for life to continue as normal, including regular beach activities. "Until then, we have to manage risks and manage and augment our behavior. I cannot impress upon you more — we cannot see the images like we saw."
The governor praised those in L.A., San Diego and beaches further north as being mostly empty. "We had strong guidelines that were not only adopted but abided by, but we had local partners who supported those. Unfortunately, there were those exceptions," he said.
Newsom said officials have since been in discussions with the Newport Beach City Council and the Orange County Board of Supervisors who acted to address the crowds. The governor was asked if there were any plans to work with local police departments on strict enforcement orders, such as ticketing or arrests, should the trend continue as high temperatures persist. He said no, adding that there were no citations or arrests and only a few warnings issued all throughout the state over the weekend. "I don't want to be punitive," said Newsom.
He also provided an update on the state's latest COVID-19 cases, adding another 45 fatalities for a total of 1,721 deaths to date. There are 43,464 confirmed positive cases of COVID19, with 3,372 of those patients currently being treated in hospitals. Newsom promised a more significant update on Tuesday on his detailed six-point plan for relaxing isolation orders and opening up the state economy with a specific focus on businesses, and he also teased the introduction of digital conversations with small business owners, workers and industry leaders about impact and efforts to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
