Gov. Gavin Newsom expresses hope he can start loosening stay-at-home order soon

Could California soon be reaching a point where Gov. Gavin Newsom loosens the state stay-at-home order? The governor seemed to indicate so at the end of his Friday coronavirus emergency press conference.

“I hope next week, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I hope next week we can start taking some of these other indicators, start pointing in the direction of green and we can make those announcements,” Newsom said.

“And I’m confident if you do your part, we will commit to doing our part to taking your good work and bringing into a health frame and a public safety frame, and that will help me help move this cause forward beginning to loosen the stay-at-home orders and get this economy back up and you back to work into whatever semblance of normalcy the new normal will provide over the course of the next few months, as we all look forward to the moment where we have herd immunity or a vaccine.”

Newsom first issued his stay-at-home order on March 19.

He says he can institute a phased reopening of the state economy when California can test more people, keep at-risk people safe, handle a surge in hospital patients, better treat COVID-19 and keep people six feet apart at schools and businesses. He says reopening will also hinge on officials’ ability to re-tighten rules if cases spike.

This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 2:20 PM.