Santa Clara County's top health official is expressing concern about the pace by which California is lifting some of its COVID-19 stay-at-home rules.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been expanding guidelines for religious services and retail shopping to resume.
Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County's health officer, told the county Board of Supervisors Tuesday that the rate of reopening worries her. Cody noted that because the incubation period for the coronavirus is 14 days, the effect of recently lifting some restrictions has not been felt yet.
"The state modifications are being made without a real understanding of the consequences of what the last move has been," she said.
Cody singled out the state's recent allowance of religious gatherings and political protests of up to 100 people — saying it "poses a very serious risk for the spread of COVID-19, based on probability alone."
At a press conference on Tuesday, a reporter asked Newsom whether he was giving himself enough time to evaluate the knock-on effects of loosening one restriction before moving on to the next. He said that the state's success in ramping up testing rates and the renewed flow of personal protective equipment left him feeling "confident" about the state's ability to respond.
"I'm not naive. We're entering into the unknown, the untested," Newsom said.
— Julia Scott (@juliascribe)