California health authorities unveiled a “next phase” pandemic playbook for the most populous US state on Thursday that will treat the coronavirus as a manageable risk that “will remain with us for some time, if not forever”, rather than an emergency.
The plan, which includes measures to promote vaccines, stockpile medical supplies and mount an aggressive assault on disinformation, will be a new chapter in responding to the coronavirus, which has infected at least one in five Californians and claimed the lives of more than 83,000 state residents.
It is also an acknowledgment that “we’re going to live with this”, governor Gavin Newsom said in an interview preceding the announcement.
“We’re not in denial of the hell that has been the last two years,” he said. But, he added, “This is not like World War II, where we can have a ticker-tape parade and announce the end.”
A towering spike in new coronavirus cases driven by the omicron variant peaked in the state in mid-January and has since receded, leaving the daily average about where it was late last summer, at about 25,000 new cases a day.
The fading of the surge has been taken as a signal to ease restrictions around the country.
Earlier this week, Newsom loosened California’s indoor mask requirements for vaccinated people, and state health officials said they would reconsider school mask mandates at the end of February. Los Angeles county lifted its outdoor mask mandate, Disneyland and other businesses eased their mask rules for vaccinated people, and the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals announced that they would not require attendees to wear masks, be
vaccinated or take a test when the events take place this spring.
California’s new view of the virus, outlined in a briefing by the state’s top health official, Dr Mark Ghaly, will continue to emphasise vaccines and boosters, with expansions in school-based vaccination, preparations to vaccinate children younger than 5 when they become eligible, and potential reassessment of vaccine requirements to account for the possibility of some natural immunity from a prior infection, among other targets.
New York Times News Service
