Newsom: Sporting events, haircuts coming soon in California
NAPA, Calif. - California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said that sporting events with no spectators could likely kick off in early June and people could be getting haircuts in the next few weeks.
Also coming down the road: Shopping in stores and re-opening houses of worship. In addition, parking lots at 27 state parks have already been reopened.
Watch Newsom's news conference from Napa
Newsom did not give specific dates for any of these milestones.
But for sports specifically, Newsom emphasized that there would be no in-person tailgating or having a beer in the stands any time soon, even if bats start swinging and balls begin bouncing.
"We're not talking about fans," he said.
Newsom said his administration has been talking with league representatives of "all the major sports," and looking to advance those conversations on a county level.
He said he's also been working with the other western states to determine best practices. When sporting events do resume, Newsom said there would definitely be "deep stipulations."
Sports was not the intended focus of Newsom's regular update.
The governor chose to speak at Mustards Grill, a restaurant in Napa, which offers dine-in eating. Napa County is one of 24 counties that have reached safe levels to offer this experience in California.
Newsom said that to date, roughly 53 of California's 58 counties are now eligible under some loosened criteria to also offer dine-in eating and can begin serving as soon as they are ready. The counties that are not ready include Los Angeles County, Tulare County and Kings County -- the latter two have been been hit by nursing home and meat plant infections, respectively.
His news update on Monday included Newsom outlining some new criteria that requires a county have zero deaths and no more than than one case per 10,000 residents over a two-week period.
Instead, counties must have no more than 25 cases per 100,000 residents or no higher than an 8% positive rate among people testing for the coronavirus. They also must have no higher than a 5% increase in hospitalizations over a 7-day period or fewer than 20 hospitalizations total over 14 days. The latter will ensure small counties don’t get penalized for just one or two extra hospitalizations.
Hospitalizations were down 7.5% and ICU numbers were down 8.7% in last 14 days, he said.
"This is a dynamic period," Newsom said. "We're interested in evidence. I know this has been frustrating. Some want us to move quickly. Others are concerned that we are moving too quickly."