California governor says 'politics and frustration' aren't enough to have him modify stay-at-home order

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) isn't bowing to pressure to ease a statewide stay-at-home order he put in place to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Newsom said Monday he won't modify the order until there is adequate COVID-19 testing and the threat to public health abates, the Los Angeles Times reports. A handful of protests have popped up across the state, with demonstrators saying they want businesses to reopen despite the virus still spreading, and officials from San Luis Obispo County have asked to "begin a science-based, thoughtfully phased reopening of our economy."

"If we're ultimately going to come back economically, the worst mistake we can make is making a precipitous decision based on politics and frustration that puts people's lives at risk and ultimately sets back the cause of economic growth and economic recovery," Newsom said. Singapore relaxed its restrictions and is now facing a second wave of infections, Newsom cautioned, and that could happen in California. "The virus knows no jurisdiction, knows no boundaries," he said.

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Last week, Newsom said six things must happen before he will even consider easing his stay-at-home mandate, including the development of therapeutics and an increase in the number of hospital beds. "None of these local health directives can go further, or rather, go farther backward than the state guidance," Newsom said Monday. His administration will work with local officials, he added, to ensure that their decisions are all "health-based. ... Health first, science, and data. Everything else follows from that."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.