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California has just announced a mandatory statewide “stay at home” order in an effort to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus, CNN reported.
On Thursday night, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all nearly 40 million residents in the state to stay at home, except for when it is “absolutely necessary” to leave.
“This is a moment where we need some straight talk,” he told reporters . “As individuals and as a community, we need to do more to meet this moment.”
The order will not be enforced by law enforcement, and essential services, such as groceries, pharmacies, gas stations and food banks, will remain open.
“We are confident that the people of the state of California will abide by it and do the right thing,” Newsom said.
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This order comes just one day after Newsom warned that half the state is projected to be infected by COVID-19 in two months.
He recently sent a letter to President Donald Trump to request he send a U.S. Navy medical ship to the state in order to provide more health care options.
“We project that roughly 56% of our state’s population — 25.5 million people — will be infected with the virus over an eight-week period,” Newsom wrote.
As of writing, more than 900 people in California have tested positive for the coronavirus, and 19 patients have died.
“If we change our behaviors, that inventory will come down; if we meet this moment, we can truly bend the curve to reduce the need to surge — to have to go out to have to cobble together all those assets together,” Newsom said.
“Go about the essential patterns of life, but do so by socially distancing themselves from others and do so using a common sense. Home isolation is not my preferred choice, but it is a necessary one.
“This is not a permanent state,” he added. “It is a moment in time.”
h/t: CNN
