California Aims to Fully Reopen on June 15

This morning, Governor Gavin Newsom announced his plan to move beyond the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and fully reopen the state on June 15, provided the following criteria are met:

  1. If vaccine supply is sufficient for Californians 16 years and older who wish to be inoculated; and
  2. If hospitalization rates are stable and low.

Everyday activities will be allowed and businesses can open with common-sense risk reduction measures, including encouraging all Californians to get vaccinated and mandating masking, to prevent illness and promote health. The state will continue contact tracing and testing to detect cases early and contain spread of the virus. The entire state will move into this new phase as a whole. The state will monitor hospitalization rates, vaccine access and vaccine efficacy against variants, with the option to revisit the June 15 date if needed.

When California has fully reopened, testing or vaccination verification requirements will remain in relevant settings. Additionally:

  • All sectors listed in the current Blueprint Activities and Business Tiers Chart may return to usual operations in compliance with ETS/Cal OSHA and other statewide agency guidelines and standards with limited public health restrictions, such as masking, testing, and testing or vaccination verification requirements for large-scale higher-risk events. In addition, the following restrictions apply (via a narrow public health order):
    • Unless testing or vaccination status is verified for all attendees, conventions will be capped at 5,000 persons until October 1.
    • International convention attendees will only be allowed if fully vaccinated.
  • Schools and institutions of higher education should conduct full-time, in person instruction, in compliance with Cal/OSHA emergency temporary standards and public health guidelines.
  • Workplaces promote policies that reduce risk, including improved indoor ventilation, and mask wearing in indoor and other high-risk settings as well as remote work when possible without impacting business operations.
  • Californians and travelers will be subject to any current CDPH and CDC travel restrictions.

California will also need to maintain the public health and medical infrastructure in these five priority areas:

  1. Continue to provide vaccinations and be prepared for the vaccination of Californians under 16 years old. It is critical that vaccines remain effective against circulating strains.
  2. Conduct equity-focused monitoring and surveillance by maintaining adequate testing capacity and strategies for the early detection of cases including variants via genomic sequencing.
  3. Contain disease spread through timely investigation of cases, contacts, and outbreaks.
  4. Maintain a statewide plan to scale up resources for isolation or quarantine.
  5. Monitor hospital admissions and maintain adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and healthcare surge capacity that can be easily mobilized.

Thus far, California has administered over 20 million vaccines with over four million of those in the state’s hardest hit communities.

To learn more about the state’s plan to reopen, click here. View Update

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