https://fox40.com/news/coronavirus/we-are-sounding-the-alarm-newsom-imposes-new-restrictions-to-curb-covid/]‘We are sounding the alarm’: Newsom imposes new restrictions to curb COVID[/url]

"Damn, we just got back into Palm Springs for the winter season..."

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was pulling the “emergency brake” Monday on reopening the state’s economy as coronavirus cases surge at the fastest rate since the start of the outbreak.

“We are sounding the alarm,” Newsom said. “California is experiencing the fastest increase in cases we have seen yet — faster than what we experienced at the outset of the pandemic or even this summer. The spread of COVID-19, if left unchecked, could quickly overwhelm our health care system and lead to catastrophic outcomes.”

Newsom’s so-called emergency brake will halt reopening plans and put almost all of the state back under the strictest set of rules that halt indoor worship and force most indoor business to close or operate at a fraction of their capacity and keep most schools closed, including the nation’s second-largest school district in Los Angeles.

Newsom also said he was also strengthening a mask requirement outside of homes with limited exceptions, and he was considering a curfew on business hours.

The dramatic rise in cases in November has come more rapidly than a spike in mid-June and could quickly surpass the peak of the hospitalizations at the time.

More than 11 million cases have been recorded nationwide as the virus surges almost everywhere. While California accounts for more than 1 million cases — the second-highest number in the U.S. — it is the nation’s most populous state with 40 million residents and ranks 40th in cases per capita.

The new rules are certain to rankle business owners such as restaurateurs and gym owners who have been struggling to get back on their feet after lengthy shutdowns followed by reopenings that at times have been curtailed as cases have risen.

Businesses have complained they have played by the rules but had to pay the price for residents who have grown fatigued coping with the virus and have ignored public health warnings to not socialize with friends and family members.

“We think a restaurant is a safer place to be than in a friend’s living room,” said Jot Condie, president & CEO, California Restaurant Association. “Yet restaurants and their employees are again being forced to pay a price for behavior that has little or nothing to do with them.”

Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s health secretary, said research has shown businesses have been sources of virus transmission. He mentioned instances where friends have gathered in close proximity for meals and drinks.

But Brad Pollock, associate dean of public health sciences at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, said the “jury is still out” on whether forcing most businesses to close indoor services will slow the spread of the virus.

With the “very scary” trajectory of cases, the new order may provide “a shock to the system” that convinces people to change their behavior and not travel or spend time with people outside of their household, he said.