Newsom: Alameda County not on COVID-19 watchlist yet, likely to be added in coming days
Newsom: All California counties must shutter certain indoor activities
Faced with rising coronavirus numbers, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said that all counties in the state must shutter a host of indoor activities including restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, zoos, museums, bars and cardrooms.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTVU) - California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that Alameda County could likely be added to the state's COVID-19 watchlist in the next coming days.
Newsom cleared up confusion surrounding whether the county was actually on the list as it was shown on the state's watchlist online, but it was not included in the most recent list he put out on Monday.
The governor said, "Alameda County is one of two counties that I previewed that are likely to go on the list tomorrow or the next day. Apparently, that may have happened as it relates to the website. Forgive that mismatch."
Newsom admitted that Alameda County should not have been added to the COVID-19 list just yet, but there is a strong possibility it will join the 30 counties currently on it.
He said the state watchlist is everchanging as the COVID-19 crisis is a fluid matter.
"I made it crystal clear a moment ago, that people come on that monitoring list and they come off that monitoring list because of the dynamic nature of this virus," the governor explained. "Nothing is constant. Nothing is linear as it relates to infectious disease. There's a dynamic and that dynamic needs to be monitored in real-time."
There's been much uncertainty around Alameda County and what actually is allowed.
County officials suddenly called for outdoor dining to stop immediately, as it never got a variance from the state to move forward. Initially, they determined a variance was not needed to allow outdoor eating.
Health officials said in a statement, "At the time, many other counties had applied for a variance alongside or shortly after opening outdoor dining without consequences, and Alameda County took that same approach."
City leaders and restaurant owenrs expressed outrage over the abrupt change saying they would not stop outdoor dining until more clarity is given.
As it stands, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma counties are the only Bay Area regions on the state's watchlist.