More Transmissible West Coast Variant Of Covid-19 Now The Dominant Strain In California; Expert Warns Of “Nightmare Scenario”

Governor Gavin Newsom has been seeking to reassure Californians that, as more and more of them get vaccinated, there is a “bright light is at the end of the tunnel.”

Los Angeles County will officially move into the state’s less-restrictive “Red” tier Monday, with the state achieving a milestone of 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in hard-hit communities and triggering an easing of requirements for counties to advance in Governor Gavin Newsom’s economic-reopening blueprint.

California Governor Gavin Newsom reflected on the state's journey through the pandemic on Tuesday in a speech from Dodger Stadium. “I think it’s important we consider where we are," said Newsom, noting that instead of sports fans in the stands, there are now nurses in PPE safety gear.

On Tuesday at 6 p.m. California Governor Gavin Newsom will give what is likely the most important speech of his political career. Faced with a recall effort on the verge of triggering a vote, a vaccination drive that is riddled with failures and a state where an epidemic of homelessness is second only to the Covid-19 pandemic, Newsom will use his State of the State remarks to emphasize what he sees as a “bright future for California.”

Los Angeles County on Tuesday qualified for the red tier of Governor Gavin Newsom’s Covid-19 reopening plan. It’s the first time since the governor introduced his Blueprint for a Safer Economy that the state’s largest county has qualified to move out of the most restrictive purple tier and into the red. If LA can maintain its numbers for just more week, a slew of businesses will be able to reopen, including movie theaters — to 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is less.

“We will be doubling down on mask wearing,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday, “not arguing to follow the example of Texas and other states that I think are making a terrible mistake.”

Southern California counties and others across the state could be cleared to open more businesses and lift other restrictions sooner than anticipated under a plan announced on Thursday by Governor Gavin Newsom.

The official recall campaign against California Governor Gavin Newsom has now gathered more than 1,927,000 signatures, organizers announced on Wednesday evening.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said today the state is having “advanced conversations” with Major League Baseball and local health authorities around California, and he expressed confidence that if Covid-19 trends continue downward, fans will be back in the seats of outdoor stadiums when baseball season begins.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state on Tuesday discovered the first New York variants of the virus in Southern California. He did not specify where the cases were found.

Just minutes after California announced that seven counties — including San Francisco — were being allowed to reopen further due to dropped Covid-19 numbers, Governor Gavin Newsom excoriated a Tuesday decision by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to lift that state’s mask mandate.

Los Angeles could be next.

San Francisco movie theaters can now reopen.

“You can’t reopen your economy unless you get your schools reopened,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom at the top of his press conference with legislative leaders on Monday to announce a multibillion-dollar deal aimed at enticing schools to resume in-person instruction for young students by April 1. The agreement, however, may end up penalizing districts like LA Unified.

Nick Jonas pulled double duty as the host AND musical guest on last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live.

On Friday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state will receive a large shipment of the one shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine.

On October 30, California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a new $120 million, 134,000 sq. foot coronavirus testing facility in Valencia, north of L.A.

On Friday evening — the witching hour for bad news — California Secretary of State Shirley Weber reported that 1,094,457 signatures had been received in the effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom. Of those signatures 668,202 had been verified by local election officials, a process which must take place before they can be counted. About 140,000 additional signatures were found to be invalid.

California Governor Gavin Newsom was asked on Wednesday if he thinks the entire state might be out of the most restrictive purple tier of his Blueprint for a Safer Reopening by the first day of spring.

California announced late Monday that Blue Shield had been chosen as the state’s third party administrator for vaccine distribution. Governor Gavin Newsom has been promising for weeks to release details of the contract. Those details were made public yesterday, a holiday, the same day no-bid contract went into effect.