SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s coronavirus emergency will officially end in February, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday, nearly three years after the state’s first death from the disease prompted a series of restrictions that rattled public life.
The resolution will have little practical impact on most people’s lives, as most of the nearly six hundred pandemic-related prescriptions Newsom has issued since the pandemic began have already been lifted. Statewide immunization mandate for school-age children that may go into effect next summer.
But it signals a symbolic end to some of the more restrictive elements of the pandemic, as it will dissolve Newsom’s force to amend or replace legislation to allow the government to temporarily respond to the public health crisis.
“The state of emergency is an effective and mandatory tool we use to protect our state, and we would not have reached this point without it,” Newsom said in a press release, adding that the declaration will officially end on February 1. 28.
Newsom declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus on March 4, 2020, shortly after an elderly patient first showed death from the disease in California. At the time, there were only 53 cases of COVID-19 in California, and the state officials were conducting a cruise ship shipment on the high seas so that it only checked passengers before allowing them to disembark in the state.
Since then, Newsom has used his authority under the emergency declaration to factor in 596 pandemic-related orders. Some were small, such as giving other people more time to file their taxes or renew their driver’s licenses. But others have replaced lives, adding a statewide stay. Order in the home that has left millions of others out of work.
At first, Newsom’s movements seemed to widely enjoy in the face of a mysterious and terrifying new illness. But as the virus persisted, anger and frustration over the restrictions began to grow. Two Republican lawmakers in the state challenged Newsom’s strength to factor in pandemic orders. – only to lose in court.
“It’s much later than the end of the state of emergency and focusing on the enormous difficulties Californians face in their daily lives: rising fuel and grocery prices, rising crime and the challenge of homelessness getting worse by the day,” Kevin said. A member of the Republican Assembly. Kiley, one of two lawmakers who challenged Newsom in court.
Of the 596 pandemic-related orders Newsom has issued, only 27 remain in effect, according to the governor’s office. All will disappear once the emergency declaration is lifted; however, Newsom said he will ask the state legislature to make two of them permanent. One would continue to allow nurses to order and distribute COVID-19 medications and allow lab staff to test only for coronavirus.
Newsom’s management is waiting until February to finish the emergency declaration, saying it needs to give state and local government time to prepare. Management may do the opposite if a new variant of the disease emerges or if hospitals are affected by patients.
“While the risk of this virus remains real, our collective preparedness and work have helped make this crisis emergency manageable,” Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said in a statement.