California’s governor on Monday ordered a halt indoor dining and closed bars, zoos and museums indefinitely because of a surge in coronavirus cases.
In addition, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties on the Route 66 corridor must close gyms, churches, hair salons, malls and other businesses under the new order, effective immediately. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order affects 29 of the state’s most populated counties.
Restaurants in the affected counties can still serve food by takeout or delivery, and breweries can serve beer outdoors if they serve food, as well.
The Los Angeles Times reported:
“This virus is not going away anytime soon,” Newsom said Monday. “I hope all of us recognize that if we were still connected to some notion that, somehow, when it gets warm, it’s going to go away or, somehow, it’s going to take summer months or weekends off — this virus has done neither.” […]
“We’re seeing an increase in the spread of the virus, so that’s why it’s incumbent upon all of us to recognize soberly that COVID-19 is not going away any time soon until there is a vaccine or an effective therapy,” Newsom said Monday. […]
As of Monday, California had seen more than 333,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 7,000 deaths, according to the Los Angeles Times’ tracker.
Newsom on June 12 had reopened dine-in restaurants, retail stores, bars, religious services and gyms.
Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas and Texas also imposed new restrictions in recent weeks because of a rise in COVID-19 cases there.
Coronavirus has infected more than 3.3 million people in the United States, with more than 136,000 deaths. Worldwide, the death toll is well over a half-million.
(Image of a nearly empty restaurant in California by Thomas Hawk via Flickr)