California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all dine-in restaurants, bars, movie theaters, museums and other indoor businesses across the state to close Monday as Covid-19 cases continue to climb.
The order comes after Newsom previously ordered these businesses to close in counties on the state’s “monitoring list.” The new order, which will now apply across the state, will be issued effective immediately, Newsom said. The businesses will be allowed to operate outdoors, if possible, he said.
In addition to the statewide order, Newsom said he would also close indoor operations for fitness centers, worship services, personal care services, malls, offices, hair salons and barbershops for all counties on California’s monitoring list, which represent 80% of the state’s population.
Those businesses will only be required to close for three days, according to a tweet from the governor’s office.
There are now 30 counties on the list, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange counties, he said.
Newsom said the state recorded 8,358 new cases on Sunday. The state’s positivity rate, or the percent of all tests returning positive, has ticked up to 7.4%.
“The data suggests not everyone is acting with common sense,” Newsom said at a press conference Monday.
Earlier on Monday, two of California’s largest school districts, Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified, issued a joint statement announcing that they will begin the fall school year online.
In the statement, the school districts said much of the research surrounding the coronavirus and children is still unknown and many of the guidelines for reopening are “vague and contradictory.”
“One fact is clear: those countries that have managed to safely reopen schools have done so with declining infection rates and on-demand testing available. California has neither,” according to the statement.
This is breaking news. Please check back later for updates.
