After the reprieve of a long Thanksgiving weekend, today will likely serve as an unwelcome reminder for Californians that the pandemic is far from over.
Today, the United States is to travelers from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Namibia to limit spread of a COVID-19 variant called omicron, which the World Health Organization on Friday .
Also today, the city of Los Angeles one of the country鈥檚 strictest vaccine mandates: Restaurants, coffee shops, museums, theaters and other indoor venues must verify that customers are vaccinated before allowing them to enter 鈥� or face fines of as much as $5,000.
For Gov. Gavin Newsom, who on Sunday night after , the developments underscore the twin challenges that will likely define much of his governorship: keeping Californians safe from COVID-19 and keeping the state鈥檚 small businesses afloat.
- : 鈥淲e are in a constant battle with this virus. We have to always be vigilant.鈥�
Newsom鈥檚 administration is already ramping up its response to the omicron variant, though it hasn鈥檛 yet been detected in the U.S. and if it鈥檚 more transmissible or deadlier than other forms of the virus. that it plans to increase COVID-19 testing at airports serving travelers from southern Africa, track the variant through genetic sequencing, and continue to promote vaccines and booster shots.
But even as the Newsom administration , it secured a legal victory that seemingly undermines those efforts. On Friday, a federal appeals court from U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar requiring California prison workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Newsom , arguing that it would result in a severe staffing shortage at state prisons; now employees won鈥檛 be required to get the shot until March 2022 at the earliest.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court on Sunday San Diego Unified School District鈥檚 student vaccine mandate 鈥� which was set to take effect today 鈥� from being implemented while the district allows pregnant students to seek exemptions. The conservative Thomas More Society on behalf of a Scripps Ranch High School student, arguing that San Diego Unified was violating students鈥� First Amendment rights by allowing medical exemptions but not religious ones.
Although California overall is doing better now than a year ago, that at least 18 of 58 counties had more hospitalized COVID patients last week than they did at the same time last year 鈥� and another five had just as many. Some Central California hospitals are so overwhelmed with patients to be transferred to other counties.
The economic outlook is similarly dire: California isn鈥檛 likely to see a full recovery until the end of 2023, according to . Passenger levels over Thanksgiving weekend, but the omicron variant could erase some of that progress. And about 1 million Californians some or all of the federal jobless benefits they received during the pandemic, .
The coronavirus bottom line: As of Saturday, California had 4,780,867 confirmed cases (+0.1% from previous day) and 73,365 deaths (+0.2% from previous day), according to . CalMatters is also tracking .
California 58,056,991 vaccine doses, and 67.4% of eligible Californians are .
is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.