On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered all bars, dine-in restaurants, movie theaters, museums, and other indoor businesses across the state to close as the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to increase.
The businesses include all operations at bars and restaurants, wineries and tasting rooms, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos, museums, and cardrooms.
Newsom said, all except for bars will be allowed to operate outdoors, if possible. The new order is effective immediately.
He also ordered the closure of indoor operations for fitness centers, personal care services, worship services, malls, offices, hair salons and barbershops for all counties that have been on the state’s monitoring list for three or more consecutive days.
Newsom said there are now 30 counties on the list, including Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange counties.
On Sunday, California recorded 8,358 new cases. Hospitals in the state have also reported an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients, growing 28% in the past two weeks. As of Sunday, there were more than 6,480 people hospitalized with COVID-19.
The governor said, “The data suggests not everyone is acting with common sense.”
Newsom has reminded residents to restrict their interactions with people outside their households, encouraging them to meet outside if they are supposed to meet.
Earlier on Monday, two school districts in California – Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified – issued a joint statement that they will start the fall school year online.
They said much of the research surrounding the COVID-19 and children is still unknown and some guidance for reopening is “vague and contradictory.” The school districts said, “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.”
