Newsom: ‘We will be opening up this economy’
After more than a year of restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19, California is expected to allow a full reopening of businesses and activities on June 15 due to a low case rate and increasing vaccinations. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the expected statewide June reopening Tuesday during a visit to San Francisco’s City College COVID-19 vaccine site at the Ocean Avenue campus, declaring: “We will be opening up this economy.” “We can confidently say by June 15 that we can start to open up as business as usual, subject to ongoing mask wearing and ongoing vigilance,” Newsom said. That means that come mid-June there will no longer be color-coded state tiers — purple, red, orange and yellow — imposing different limits on activities and businesses depending on the tier a county was assigned according to metrics like case rates and testing. The system was referred to as the state’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy.” There are two main criteria for achieving the June 15 opening. There must be an adequate supply of the vaccine for all Californians aged 16 or older who wish to be vaccinated, according to a memo from the California Department of Public Health. And hospitalizations must remain “stable and low.” Activities and businesses would be able to “return to usual operations” while adhering to some “common-sense public health policies in place, such as required masking, testing and with vaccinations encouraged,” according to Newsom’s issued announcement.
