California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday it’s “utter nonsense” to suggest his lifting the state’s regional lockdown order is being driven by politics.
Mr. Newsom is the target of a recall campaign and multiple lawsuits over his stay-at-home restrictions that have kept many businesses closed in the state during the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, the Democrat said he was ending his regional lockdown and returning the San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California to the color-coded tiered system, meaning they would now be under the most restrictive “purple tier” and can allow services like outdoor dining and indoor salon and religious services.
Critics accused Mr. Newsom of only making his decision based on political pressure.
“This Governor’s decisions have never been based on science,” California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson tweeted Monday. “Him re-opening our state is not an attempt to help working Californians, but rather an attempt to counter the Recall Movement. It’s sad and pathetic.”
Mr. Newsom said the allegation is absurd.
“That’s just complete, utter nonsense,” the governor said during a press conference. “So let’s just dispense with that fundamental, foundationally [sic] nonsense.”
The governor said the decision to end the order is based on four-week ICU projections, which take into account the current hospital capacity, transmission rates, case rates and the proportion of COVID patients who need to be admitted to the ICU, CBSLA reported.
