This archive report was first published on 14 July 2020.
California Shuts Down Again as Coronavirus Outbreak Grows ¶
On July 13, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered new restrictions on businesses in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak in the state.
The restrictions include closing bars and indoor operations of restaurants, movie theaters, zoos, and museums across the state's 30 hardest-hit counties. Gyms, churches, and hair salons must also close in these counties.
Newsom stated at a news briefing, 'It's incumbent upon all of us to recognize soberly that COVID-19 is not going away any time soon, until there is a vaccine and/or an effective therapy.'
The public school districts for Los Angeles and San Diego, which instruct a combined 706,000 students and employ 88,000 people, announced that they would teach only online when school resumes in August, citing 'vague and contradictory' science and government guidelines.
United Teachers Los Angeles applauded the strategy, stating, 'In the face of the alarming spike in COVID cases, the lack of necessary funding from the government to open schools safely and the outsized threat of death faced by working-class communities of color, there really is no other choice that doesn’t put thousands of lives at risk.'
California's decision to cancel in-person classes puts the districts at odds with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he might withhold federal funding or remove tax-exempt status from school systems that refuse to reopen.
