With Gov. Gavin Newsom’s presentation on Thursday of a strategy that prioritises prevention and rapid response to outbreaks over compulsory masking and business shutdowns, California became the first state to formally move to a “endemic” approach to the coronavirus in the United States.
The milestone, which has been in the works for nearly two years, envisions a return to a more normal life with the help of a variety of initiatives and billions of dollars in new spending to more quickly detect surges or variants, add health care workers, stockpile tests, and fight false claims and other misinformation.
“We are getting through the crisis phase and into a period where we will work to live with this virus,” he said at a news conference in Fontana from a state facility stocked with pandemic supplies.
The first-term Democrat, who survived a recall election last year fueled by criticism of his pandemic governing, promised the state’s nearly 40 million citizens that when the omicron spike diminishes, “we’re going to keep them safe and we’re going to stay on top of this.”
When a disease reaches the endemic stage, the virus remains in a community but becomes controllable as immunity develops. But, unlike Wednesday’s relaxation of the state’s indoor masking rules or an announcement on Feb. 28 of when exactly pupils can cease wearing face covers, there will be no definite transition, the Democratic governor said.
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