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Gov Newsom: No specific date for relaxing stay-at-home order

April 22, 2020 1:06 PM

Published April 22, 2020 11:53 AM

During his daily briefing, Governor Gavin Newsom said there is no specific date for when the stay-at-home restrictions will be relaxed.

"We have tried to make it crystal clear that there is no light switch and there is no date," Newsom said.

Gov. @GavinNewsom says there’s “no set date” for reopening bc it depends on how we can:
1. care for the sick
2. prevent infection of vulnerable
3. protect the health of society at large
4. reduce social/economic pressures

86 new testing sites also being set up,esp in rural areas
— Angela Chen KESQ (@AngelaWChen) April 22, 2020

The Governor did announce however that the state is lifting its restriction on scheduled surgical procedures that have been put on hold due to the coronavirus, saying there is sufficient hospital capacity to allow such operations.

Other social-distancing and stay-at-home orders will remain in place.
Newsom said the decision on whether to lift them will be "driven not by ideology" but by science and the spread of the virus.

NEW: CA will work with our hospitals and health systems to resume delayed medical care like tumor removals and key preventive care services--which were deferred to prep for the #COVID19 surge.

We’ll do this in a thoughtful and judicious way to ensure our system has the capacity.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) April 22, 2020

California currently has 35,396 positive cases of coronavirus. There are 3,357 patients are hospitalized with 1,219 of those in the ICU.

Newsom said he spoke with President Trump earlier this morning about getting more swabs to conduct tests. Newsom says President Trump promised that California will get at least additional 100,000 swabs this week, 250,000 next week and more than 250,000 the week after that.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom had previously warned some counties that are starting to loosen restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic that doing so could lead to a rise in cases.

“I caution those elected officials that practicing physical distancing has worked to keep those numbers relatively modest in terms of growth, but if we pull back too quickly, those numbers will go through the roof,” Newsom advised.

The governor said his office is in contact with local officials and counties. Newsom said counties can start to reopen as long it doesn't conflict with current state guidance.

Newsom will give an update on Wednesday on what he describes as the state’s “Road Map to Reopening.”

Watch: Gov Newsom unveils 6 key indicators before stay-at-home order can be modified

The six key indicators are:

Testing and tracking
Protecting vulnerable populations
Hospital preparedness
Developing treatments
The ability to continue physical distancing
The ability to reinstate stay home orders if needed

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KESQ News Team