This archive report was first published on 14 July 2020.
California has emerged as one of the new U.S. epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic, with infections rising rapidly in about 40 of the 50 states over the last two weeks, according to a Reuters analysis published on July 14, 2020.
On July 13, 2020, California's governor, Gavin Newsom, ordered bars closed and restaurants, movie theaters, zoos, and museums across the state to cease indoor operations. Gyms, churches, and hair salons must close in the 30 hardest-hit counties.
Newsom said 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 governor called the move critical to stemming a surge in COVID-19 cases that have strained hospitals in several of California's rural counties.
The public school districts for Los Angeles and San Diego, which instruct a combined 706,000 students and employ 88,000 people, said in a joint statement they would teach only online when school resumes in August, citing "vague and contradictory" science and government guidelines.
"California has neither" established declining infection rates and on-demand coronavirus testing, the statement said, adding, "The sky-rocketing infection rates of the past few weeks make it clear the pandemic is not under control."
The 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.
