‘People literally are dying.’ Gavin Newsom warns against ‘amnesia’ as churches push to reopen

Even as he said the state will release guidelines for reopening churches on Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Friday that the coronavirus isn’t going anywhere.

“I want folks not to develop amnesia. This disease is still with us, and people literally are dying,“ he said at his Friday press conference, where he announced that 88 Californian’s had died in the last 24 hours due to COVID-19.

Newsom’s comments come as thousands of churches are preparing to defy his stay-at-home order and host in-person services this Sunday. The remarks also come as President Donald Trump has threatened to override state governors if they don’t allow churches to open up immediately.

“Today I am identifying houses of worship, churches, synagogues and mosques, as essential places that provide essential services,” Trump said in brief remarks at a White House press conference on Friday.

He called upon governors to allow churches and other places of worship to open immediately.

“The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important, essential places of faith to open right now. For this weekend. If they don’t do it, I will override the governors,” Trump said.

The president did not cite what authority he had to override the governors on their stay-at-home orders.

In his remarks Friday, Newsom pointed out that the CDC had yet to release federal guidelines for churches reopening, but that his office would review them once they were published.

Newsom his administration had been consulting with the faith community to create guidelines that recognize its diversity, from megachurches to what he described as “neighborhood-style” places of worship. He said he would release no later than Monday his own plan for churches to reopen for in-person services.

“We didn’t wait for the CDC guidelines,” Newsom said. “We look forward to churches reopening in a safe and responsible manner.”

The governor on Friday also responded to a lawsuit that has been filed by GOP congressional candidate Darrell Issa and four others that seeks to overturn Newsom’s executive order mandating that all registered voters receive a vote-by-mail ballot for November.

“We’re on firm legal ground. Vote-by-mail is not novel in the state of California,” Newsom said.

The governor called vote-by-mail a nonpartisan issue, and pointed out that Republican-leaning Utah also conducts its elections largely by mail ballot. He said that there could potentially be a second wave of COVID-19 infections that could put the fall election at risk if vote-by-mail isn’t used.

“I think elections are too important, I think Mr. Issa’s election is too important,” Newsom said.

The Democratic governor pointed out that the country experienced second and third waves of the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 and 1919. Nodding to current resistance to wearing masks by some Californians, he noted that the state also had an “anti-mask brigade” at the time.

This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 2:09 PM.