Newsom to announce next phase of Californias COVID-19 response – KRON4

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) Governor Newsom on Thursday plans to announce the next phase of Californias COVID-19 response.

According to officials, the comprehensive plan will emphasize flexibility, awareness and readiness as our state transitions from reacting to a pandemic to living with COVID-19.

A focus of the plan is keeping schools and businesses open and safe, officials added.

The announcement comes after the state lifted indoor mask requirements for vaccinated people, with local governments having the power to continue their own indoor masking requirements.

All Bay Area counties except Santa Clara County lifted indoor mask mandates on Feb. 15.

Were looking back at the last two years what worked, what didnt, what weve all learned on the journey weve been on together, Newsom said during a press conference Feb. 9. That includes reviewing the impact on people and businesses from Californias rules, regulations and requirements, he said.

The new approach, he said, allows for the kind of flexibility of thinking that is incumbent upon all of us as it relates to dealing with any endemic, particularly one as stubborn as COVID.

It will still include quarantines, testing of those who dont show symptoms and other precautions, but those safeguards will vary based on what he said are more than a dozen guideposts and measurements designed to spot new surges and virus variants.

It also will include a continued emphasis on vaccinations and booster shots that can prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death, he said.

We still have a lot of work to do to convince people that they should still get vaccinated, let alone boosted, he said.

Nearly 74% of Californians age 5 and up arefully vaccinatedand another nearly 9% are partially vaccinated. About 55% have had booster shots.

Another part of the approach will confront not only misinformation about the virus and vaccinations, but what he called overt disinformation that continues to be perpetuated by individuals, organizations, networks in this country that continue to put peoples lives at risk.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Newsom to announce next phase of Californias COVID-19 response - KRON4