Watch: Gavin Newsom gives California coronavirus updates

California Gov. Gavin Newsom gave an update to the state’s coronavirus response Wednesday during his daily noon press conference.

You can watch the a recording of the Facebook livestream by clicking on the video below:

Newsom announced Monday that retail businesses, like clothing and bookstores, can begin to reopen Friday for curbside service. The administration will release health guidance for safe a safe reopening on Thursday, he said.

Counties that wish to reopen are required to submit preparation plans for approval before they initiate what Newsom said is the start of “Phase 2” of California’s coronavirus mitigation strategy. Counties with few cases can proceed deeper into this stage, pending approved plans, and jurisdictions with more severe infection rates will also be allowed to maintain stronger restrictions.

Newsom also said this week that the state had reached a goal of performing 25,000 tests per day by the end of April. The administration is now focusing on reaching a 60,000 tests-per-day target and is building an “army” of 10,000 tracers who will be responsible for tracking people who test positive for COVID-19.

That testing and tracing model is a critical piece of Newsom’s multi-step reopening strategy, and one that counties will have to prove they have capacity to implement.

This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 11:42 AM.