Gov. Gavin Newsom says the shrinking number of Californians hospitalized with COVID-19 is an "encouraging" sign that the state is moving past its summer coronavirus spike.
Newsom's optimism at a Wednesday press briefing came as the governor seeks to avoid a repeat of the reopening he allowed this spring — when virus restrictions were quickly lifted and followed by a surge of infections and new business closures.
"Even if we modify [restrictions], we have to maintain our vigilance and we’ll need a commensurate public awareness campaign and enforcement campaign with any subsequent modifications," Newsom said.
When the state initially began to ease stay-at-home restrictions in May, county reopenings outpaced the Newsom administration's own benchmarks, and infections quickly stretched the capacity of the state's testing and contact tracing systems.
Any future reopening of the economy, Newsom said, will have to be accompanied by an increased observance of mitigation measures, like mask wearing, that has slowed the spread of the coronavirus.