Home>Articles>Gov. Newsom Moves COVID Goalposts Again: Lifts Regional Stay-at-Home Order but Restrictions Remain

Gov. Gavin Newsom at 1/25/2021 press conference. (Photo: screen capture, youtube)

Gov. Newsom Moves COVID Goalposts Again: Lifts Regional Stay-at-Home Order but Restrictions Remain

What really changed, even with improved ICU projections?

By Katy Grimes, January 25, 2021 2:24 pm

The news that Gov. Gavin Newsom would be lifting the stay-at-home order for all regions across the state Monday came with high hopes, along with a lot of skepticism. It turns out that the skeptics won this bet. 

“We see promising signs that California is slowly emerging from the most intense stage of this pandemic. We continue to look at what that means for the Regional Stay at Home order and anticipate that the state Department of Public Health will provide a formal update tomorrow morning,” said Brian Ferguson, the Deputy Director for Crisis Communication & Public Affairs from the Governor’s Office over the weekend.

The governor announced a new measurement Monday, moving the goal posts once again (is this the fifth new measurement?), saying that the he would now be measuring improvements in the state’s capacity projections in another 4-weeks, on February 21st.

With the lifting of the December 6th stay-at-home order, the governor returned to county-by-county restrictions, even after acknowledging a drop in hospitalizations by 20%. He remained intent on discussing “cases” or positivity rates, but these are not sick people in the hospital.

“The goal is to socialize our projections,” Gov. Newsom said. We don’t know what this means.

The new color-coded reopening tier guidelines unveiled by Governor Newsom on August 28, 2020. (Photo: State of California)

Nothing much has changed, even though California’s statewide regional stay-at-home order has ended, the majority of the counties are in the strictest purple tier, according to the California Department of Health.

Even with hospitalizations down 20% and a decline in ICU rates, the governor said “it’s all part of our projections.” Statewide projections, that is. “It’s so important to maintain vigilance until we get vaccinated,” Newsom said.

Gov. Newsom said allowable activities include outdoor dining with modifications, hair salons opened with modifications, and competitive youth sports with modifications. However, Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) reminded us what those youth sports are in the purple tier: badminton and lawn bowling. 

“Bluster vs. Reality of Purple Tier. Yes, kids can now play badminton. Football and basketball, for example, still not allowed until Orange Tier. #LetThemPlayCA

We are not not familiar with the competitive high school sport of lawn bowling.

As for the other allowable activities, dining outdoors in Northern California in January is wretched, even huddled under an outdoor gas heater. It’s a balmy 52 degrees in Sacramento today. On my morning hike at 7:30am it was 30 degrees. This evening, when diners might be tempted to celebrate the lifting of the stay-at-home orders, it will be 45 degrees.

Slightly East of Sacramento near Lake Tahoe, it is 19 degrees, dropping down to 15 degrees by dinner time.

When asked by FoxLA reporter Elex Michaelson if his anticipated decision to open the state up was because of the significant recall campaign and 20 different lawsuits, Gov. Newsom doth protest: “That’s complete and utter nonsense,” he huffed.

The primary focus of his press conference Monday appeared to be pushing COVID vaccinations. Gov. Newsom announced a pilot program called “My Turn,” initially launching in Los Angeles County and San Diego County, where residents “can find out if it’s your turn to get vaccinated and schedule vaccination appointments. If it isn’t your turn yet, you can register to be notified when you become eligible,” the governor said.

Senate Republican Leader-elect Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) issued a statement Monday after the governor’s press conference:

“While this is great news for businesses and their employees up and down California, it begs the question, why now? The Administration’s data metrics are secret, they are ‘too complicated’ for anyone to understand. Are they really too complicated or are they just driven by politics? Who knows?

“One day everything is closed and we are in crisis. The next day it is all open. How are small business owners and their employees supposed to plan? How can anyone be sure the Governor will not shut us down again tomorrow?

“The Legislature ceded its authority to the Governor a year ago to address the pandemic and to date Democratic legislative leadership has refused to restore its constitutional authority. One-man rule is only serving one person well, Gavin Newsom. I urge my colleagues to re-establish the Legislature’s authority, and put this state back on strong footing where decisions are driven by scientific data and transparency rules the day.”

The fact remains that the governor has withheld the important data and the science used to justify the 10-month lockdown from the public.

Outgoing Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) hits it out of the park with her statement:

“Once again the Governor moved the goalpost and made a decision based on secret data that the public is not allowed to know. It has been 312 days since the first of his many lockdown orders that have shuttered businesses, closed schools, destroyed jobs, and led to a massive fraud of taxpayer dollars.”

“Without the full release of data, it is difficult not to speculate that the governor is using the livelihoods of 40 million Californians as political pawns. Californians deserve full transparency, especially when their life, livelihood, children’s education, and mental health are being directly affected.”

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19 thoughts on “Gov. Newsom Moves COVID Goalposts Again: Lifts Regional Stay-at-Home Order but Restrictions Remain

  1. Hey Gavin news flash for ya nobody listens to you your a failure as Governor hopefully we will be rid of you soon.

  2. You mean the restrictions that are supposedly based on the tier system whose goals can never be met?
    This guy is unbelievable. He’s a psychopath. It seemed like he was trying to appease but he was just jerking us around again? For about the hundredth time?
    Seriously, download, print, fill out, sign your petition and send it in ASAP.
    https://recallgavin2020.com/petition/

  3. Once a fascist always a fascist. He cannot resist wielding arbitrary life destroying power. It is like a drug to him.

  4. “Without the full release of data, it is difficult not to speculate that the governor is using the livelihoods of 40 million Californians as political pawns. ” Respectfully, I disagree. Gavin is TOO STUPID to play chess. Hell, he’s too stupid to play checkers.

  5. “My Turn”
    How about our turn, Gavin Newsolini? We the people do not want your arbitrary color coded restrictive openings! We are done with your long winded, nonsensical explanations of your version of “science and data”
    The goal is to socialize our projections,” Gov. Newsom said. Translation,” we have met our goals to destroy the economy , redistribute wealth and decimate families for years to come!”

    WAKE UP CALIFORNIA!

    http://www.recallgavin2020.com

    1. One up Cali Girl I agree WAKE UP CALIFORNIA! How stupid he makes us look, or how stupid are you Californians. Suspicious is the word used in another CaGlobe article and I love that. How can you be a normal citizen and not see this as suspicious? How odd is that even his own website CA.Covid. gov. BS had ICU projections above his indicators to remove the “regional” stay at home order but thats ok since Biden inauguration was confirmed? He never disclosed how ICU beds were ever calculated remember because we Californians are too stupid and its to confusing, however he is transparent from day one, right? Go back to his press conference in November where he projected ICU beds would be 0 by Christmas? Never happened. Never reported by MSM. He likes to feel like he is rewarding Californians because we behaved like he wanted us too. Happy restaurants and small businesses can open but doesn’t this make you wonder why the secrecy about his formula, his science, his data?

  6. This idiot should resign instead of being recalled to save a little face, nobody gives a damm about “”staying at home” everyone is out everywhere, costco, Walmart, etc, etc. No one at restaurants, because this idiot still thinking that those are the main points to get the Chinese virus. By doing that he killed thousand of restaurants, that won’t be able to reopen, people of California wake up and lets kick his ass out of office.

  7. Why the lock downs? Who else was at the French Laundry? Why all the fear mongering? Why are we suddenly seeing ads for “Covered California” on billboards, on T.V. and on the radio? 4+4 is still 8. This Covid control maneuver is to scare us all in to accepting socialized medicine, aka: Obama Care. Trump castrated Nancy’s and Barack’s landmark legislation, to them this is a mortal sin. Their were health care executives paying for that dinner in Napa, yes?

    1. Scott — Thanks for the reminder and good memory. It’s always been that way. From the beginning. They think you will forget so they go on fearmongering with impunity.

  8. Good article. They found out what we would have expected. Doesn’t matter to the Ruling Class.
    Thank you for posting.

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