CA 'State Of Emergency' Not Ending: Survey

CALIFORNIA — California will lift most coronavirus restrictions and reopen the economy next week but Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed that a "state of emergency" is here to stay.

On Friday, Newsom stood in front of a glittery-gold backdrop and spun a wheel to select winners for the state's vaccine lottery on Friday. After the fully vaccinated awardees were drawn, Newsom told reporters that he would not end the Golden State's state of emergency on June 15.

The declaration was issued on March 4, 2020, when known cases of COVID-19 began rapidly spreading. The order hands Newsom the authority to impose new rules and override certain restrictions. It also gives the governor power to change state law and accelerate federal funding.

The order is meant to do the following:

• Ensure that hospitals have enough resources to treat patients should another surge break out.
• Require the state's office of emergency services to provide assistanfe to local governements "that have demonstrated extraordinary or disproportionate impacts" from the pandemic.
• Request medical personnel from out-of-state.
• Ensure that any fairgrounds or state-owned properties may be used for "mitigating the efects of, or recovering from COVID-19."

California's positivity rate has hovered around 0.8 percent for the past week — the lowest of any case rate in the nation. But Newsom maintains that the battle to end the pandemic is not over.

"We're still in a state of emergency." This disease has not been extinguished, it's not vanished," he said. "It's not taking the summer months off."

See the results of our survey regarding the emergency order here.

Only Newsom or the state Legislature can end the declaration. Lawmakers could pass a concurrent resolution to end it.

California has been notoriously stringent in its navigation of the pandemic, more so than many other states. But the state — which is the most populous in the U.S. — was also the country's coronavirus epicenter as cases spiraled out of control during the winter months.

"If Newsom believes the state is safe enough to reopen, then it’s safe for people to be able to make decisions for themselves without his arbitrary and capricious rules," state Senate Republican leader Scott Wilk of Saugus wrote in a statement Friday. "I believe it is time for him to hang up his crown and restore our democracy."

It is unclear how that state of emergency would affect plans to reopen in mid-June, but should the state fall victim to another surge, the governor could potentially reinstate restrictions.

Newsom is also facing a recall election that could be scheduled as soon as September. Some Republican hopefuls eyeing Newsom's seat have already commented on his move to keep the order in place.

Anne Dunsmore, a recall campaign manager, said keeping the order "seals the coffin," she told CalMatters. "People don’t feel that he understands the pain they’ve been through."

While state health officials have said that life will mostly return to normal on June 15, some coronavirus protections will linger in the workplace.

On Thursday, the state's workforce regulators announced that employees working indoors will be mandated to wear a mask among those who are unvaccinated. If every person in the room is fully vaccinated and has proof to show it, employees may forgo masks. The new rules will require employers to track vaccination records.

READ MORE: Workers Could Ditch Masks Around Vaccinated Colleagues: CA Agency

"Without this requirement, unvaccinated employees would be at risk," Eric Berg, deputy chief of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Face coverings, including N95s, become even more important in transmission prevention for unvaccinated workers as businesses open up to full capacity on June 15 and physical distancing is phased out and barriers are removed. Workers have prolonged and cumulative exposures, much longer than when not in the workplace."

Cal/Osha's safety board initially voted 4-to-3 to reject any changes to current rules but then reconsidered.

Chairman David Thomas said that would have left employers with the current rules, which require masks for all employees, along with social distancing and partitions between employees in certain circumstances.

"It's better than the previous one, because that's what we're going back to" if the board didn't act, Thomas said. "We don't want to leave the last one in place when this is better than that."

The new rules proposed by Cal/OSHA will "create policies and procedures for two classes of people: vaccinated and nonvaccinated," Helen Cleary, director of the Phylmar Regulatory Roundtable, a coalition of large businesses, previously told The Associated Press.

The new rules stray from guidance by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It advised on May 13 that fully vaccinated people may forgo masks indoors.

In a recent survey, Patch asked readers to weigh in on this new rule. More than 54 percent said they did not think Californians working indoors should have to keep wearing masks even around those who are unvaccinated. Some 42 percent said "yes" the rule was a good idea and just 3.1 percent said they were unsure.

READ MORE: CA's Workers May Have To Wear Masks Until 2022: Readers Weigh In

Coronavirus Data as of Sunday

• 3,689,994 cases have been confirmed to date.
• 1,101 newly recorded confirmed cases Saturday.
• 0.8% is the 7-day positivity rate.
• 66,582,653 tests have been conducted in California.
• 62,470 COVID-19 deaths have been reported since the start of the pandemic. Note: Sunday's case count includes 186 deaths from San Mateo county from prior months that were not previously reported.
• 38,429,927 vaccine doses have been given statewide.