California government response to the COVID-19 pandemic

The person, who had returned from travel to Wuhan, China, was released from the hospital in Orange County on February 1 in good condition to in-home isolation.

[11] On March 4, the governor declared a state of emergency after the first death in California attributable to coronavirus occurred in Placer County.

[20][21][22] Press reports in April suggest that the aggressive early imposition of social-distancing orders by Santa Clara County were the result of community surveillance performed beginning on March 5.

[23] On March 15, Newsom called for voluntary closure of bars and in-home self-isolation of seniors 65 and older, as well as persons at-risk due to underlying conditions.

[24] On March 16, the health officers of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties announced, with the City of Berkeley, a legal order directing their respective residents to shelter in place for three weeks beginning midnight March 17 to April 7 in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

[38] The Department of Defense said the Navy's hospital ship USNS Mercy is being prepared for deployment in California, "to assist potentially overwhelmed communities with acute patient care".

[40][41][42] Newsom said that the state has asked the Department of Defense to deploy the Navy's USNS Mercy hospital ship in California.

[44] On March 21, the Strategic National Stockpile Division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services converted the Santa Clara Convention Center into a Federal Medical Station to receive noncritical patients from local hospitals.

[51] On April 9, Newsom announced the state would pay for hotel rooms for hospital and other essential workers afraid of returning home and infecting family members.

[57] On April 29, Newsom announced an expansion of the state's Farm to Family program, which helps connect farmers to food banks.

Newsom also said that families with kids who can receive free or low-cost lunch at schools could now get up to $365 a month in additional benefits due to the Pandemic-EBT program.

[58] By May, Newsom had come under pressure to reopen, e.g. via over a dozen lawsuits filed by lawyer Harmeet Dhillon, who later credited herself for "large sectors of California's economy opening up much sooner than the governor originally intended.

"[59] On May 2, the Washington Post reported that a vitamins executive claimed that (at a previous time not specified in the article) Trump had given him Newsom's phone number for the purpose of persuading the governor to buy hydroxychloroquine as a proposed treatment for COVID-19.

Newsom also signed an executive order that waived property tax penalties for residents and small businesses that have been negatively affected by the pandemic.

[65] On June 5, the Department of Public Health noted that many counties were ready to move ahead into Stage 3 of the state's four-stage reopening roadmap.

[66] Stage 3 allows for certain higher-risk businesses to reopen with safety and hygiene modifications like seating capacity and regular cleaning in restaurants, bars, theaters, gyms and hair salons.

[67] On June 12, the Department of Public Health released guidance for expanding the operations of personal care service businesses.

[69][70] By late June, The New York Times observed an "alarming surge in cases" in California that was forcing Newsom to roll back the reopening in several counties.

[71] On June 28, Newsom ordered bars closed in seven counties: Los Angeles, Fresno, Kern, San Joaquin, Tulare, Kings, and Imperial.

[72] On July 1, Newsom ordered the closure of most indoor businesses, including restaurants, wineries, and movie theaters, in Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Merced, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Ventura counties.

[73] On July 13, Newsom re-imposed the closure of gyms, indoor dining, bars, movie theaters, and museums, citing an increase in cases.

[78] On August 28, Newsom unveiled the Blueprint for a Safer Economy — a new set of guidelines for lifting restrictions, designed to be "simple, stringent and slow".

The equity rule relies on the California Healthy Places Index (HPI), which ranks census tracts in California using 25 factors including median household income, unemployment rate, education, voter turnout, tree coverage, health insurance, alcohol availability, and air and water pollution.

December 29 BSE reassignment: In early January, a campaign to recall Newsom over his response to the pandemic was reported to be gaining momentum.

[B] On April 6, Governor Newsom announced that the state planned to end most COVID-19 restrictions on June 15, 2021, if certain criteria are met: this includes equitable vaccine availability for all residents 16 years of age and older, and hospitalizations remaining "stable and low".

Additionally, the California Comeback Plan allocates $5 billion for rent relief and assistance with water and utility payments.

[125][126] The ordinance takes effect November 8, and supersedes the separate order issued by Los Angeles County where applicable.

[citation needed] On March 17, 2020, Sacramento County issued a stay-at-home directive, which, unlike a shelter in place order, is not a legal requirement.

[132] On October 12, 2021, the Sacramento City Unified School District approved a vaccine mandate for all staff and students age 12+, effective November 30.

[134] On March 10, a woman became the first presumptive case of the novel coronavirus in San Diego County, who was being treated at Scripps Green Hospital, with verification of the test results pending from the CDC.