At noon today, July 1st, Governor Gavin Newsom updated the state of California on recent closures. Amidst these updates were orders for counties to close businesses once more. 

“Effective immediately, 19 counties must close indoors operations for the following sectors: restaurants, wineries, movie theaters & family entertainment, zoos, museums, cardrooms. Bars must close ALL operations,” his tweet @GavinNewsom read. These restrictions are expected to last three weeks. 

Among the 19 counties affected are Stanislaus and San Joaquin. 

He reported that these were the counties that had been on a watch list for a few days and represent over 70 percent of the population and reinforced that closures will be pertinent for indoor operations. 

“This does not mean restaurants shut down...it means to move these concentrated activities outdoors to mitigate the spread of the virus,” Newsom clarified. 

He followed these up with another message to inform the public that parking facilities in Southern California and the Bay area will be closed the upcoming weekend. He added “#COVID19 does not take 4th of July off. Avoid crowds. Do not gather with people you do not live with. Wear a mask. Physically distance. Be smart. Do your part.” 

“I deeply respect people’s liberty, their desire to go back to the way things once were but I cannot impress upon you more that our actions have an impact upon other people,” he explained. He equivocated wearing a mask to wearing seat belts or helmets. 

Newsom further urged Californians to halt gatherings with people they don’t live with, wishing for this encouragement “not to be punitive.” Rather, the enforcement is just “people doing the right thing.”