California Steps Up Enforcement of COVID-19 Restrictions

California regulators stepped up their enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions with thousands of visits to businesses over the holiday weekend, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press briefing Monday.

Officials with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control made 5,986 visits to bars and restaurants between Thursday and Sunday. The goal was increased compliance with the state's guidelines for in-person dining and drinking, as cases  of the coronavirus and hospitalizations continue to increase throughout the state.

"The enforcement is not just about being punitive — it's also about educating people, allowing people to make modifications," Newsom said, who added that there were "plenty of citations" against "the bad actors, the folks that are just simply disregarding these orders."

The enforcement was focused largely on bars and restaurants, for which the state has issued strict guidelines requiring face coverings, physical distancing and signs noting new occupancy limits.

A handful of counties under increased scrutiny from the state have rolled back the reopening of indoor dining and bars.

Contra Costa County is back on the state's monitoring list, the result of a spike in disease transmission and hospitalizations. The county announced last week that it would not go ahead with its planned reopening of indoor dining, previously set for July 1.

The outbreak of COVID-19 at San Quentin State Prison is among the factors leading to a spike in cases in Marin County. On Sunday, days after being placed on the state's watch list, Marin ordered the closure of indoor dining, which had only recently reopened.

Newsom said despite the troubling trends in the 24 counties on his administration's watch list — which also includes Solano County — COVID-19 cases account for just 8% of hospitalizations in California.

"We still have ample capacity in our system but we're still monitoring this very closely," Newsom said. "This number may calm the nerves, 8% of total capacity, but there are parts of the state where this number is substantially higher."

— Guy Marzorati (@GuyMarzorati)