SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California’s top public health official said for the first time Friday that the coronavirus might not be as devastating as state officials had feared and Gavin Newsom revealed his administration now is planning for how to reopen the state.
But with Easter Sunday and sunny weather on the horizon, Newsom implored people to stay away from others to not undo the significant progress under his stay-at-home order. Across California, local government officials closed streets, parks and other public spaces to deter people from gathering.
Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said models state officials have created to track the virus had been showing a peak by the middle of next month but the picture has improved as people limited their movement.
“Our peak may not end up being as high as we actually planned around and expected,” Ghaly said. “The difference between what we are seeing today in our hospitals may not be that much different than where we are going to peak in the many weeks to come.”
California has more than 21,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and at least 583 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, figures far lower than New York, where the infections have been most prevalent and deadly.