CoViD-19: Governor Newsom Shrugs Off President | County Testing Expands | Westfield Malls To Reopen May 29 |

I have been up all night but haven't been outside.
This is the sky from 3.22.2020. How different could my balcony view really be two months later??

I thought it was going to be a slow or no news day and then covidiot-in-chief decides to challenge all Governors to open all churches, synagogues, mosques immediately, deeming them "essential." (They're not and are not part of the FEDERAL guideline identified by CISA for essential services). So, I'm gonna post this one in the Trump vs Newsom battle of religion, which is SUCH A JOKE if anyone believes there is ANYTHING Christian about Trump, but besides that, all of Governor Newsom's response is after the jump:

• “'Today I’m identifying houses of worship — churches, synagogues and mosques — as essential places that provide essential services...governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now, for this weekend.' He warned that if governors don’t abide by his request, he will 'override' them, though it’s unclear what authority he has to do so."
  Trump Deems Churches ‘essential,’ Calls for Them to Reopen Immediately - NBC San Diego (5.22.2020)
• This is out of order from the Governor's briefing, but is really the only reason most everyone was tuning in. The first media question was about Trump's declaration. I transcribed the full response:
  "Going back last--beginning of this week, we've said a lot in this space; that we've been engaging the faith community, we look forward to churches reopening in a safe and responsible manner, and we have guidelines that we anticipated completing on Monday and we're on track to do just that. We appreciate the CDC is apparently going to be providing today, we're told, some recommendations. We'll take a look at those, but we haven't waited around for the Federal Administration's recommendations in this space. We take the issue very, very seriously and to heart, and we have been very aggressive in trying to put together guidelines that will do justice to people's health and their fundamental need and desire to practice their faith. And so we're looking forward to a very positive working relationship with faith leaders as we make public those documents and look forward to working through this issue in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration."Reporter: "Any response to what the president said?"
  "I think that was an adequate response."
• California Governor Newsom Daily Briefing:
• Remarks about Memorial Day, Veterans and Servicemen
• CalVet process works in 38 steps to close all 8 state VA congregate housing campuses to prevent entry of the virus - Secretary of Veterans Affairs
• 40 million Americans in State of California
• Moving through variance process (Stage 2) 43/58 Counties have self-attestation plans. Continue working with City and County health directors and . 
• State of California has been working with faith leaders to create plans for all variations of buildings, sizes of congregations, and guidance will be released by Monday at the latest. We didn't wait for CDC guidelines which aren't out yet.
• Increase of transmission is evident and obvious; counties need to be able to 'toggle that back' if necessary. For example, Imperial County is maxed out so state is setting up a field hospital with CalMat and CalGuard.
• Need to be cognizant of loved ones and the spread of the disease, particularly for this weekend. 
• 88 new statewide deaths in 24 hours. 
• The virulence of this disease remains.
• Total hospitalizations (-7.4%) and total ICUs (-6.1%) are declining over past 14 days
• "We don't live in the aggregate" - Some counties have no spread, others have surges
• Program to Trace/Isolate/Quarantine individuals continues to expand
• "California Connected" PSAs will launch statewide so people are educated and are cooperative with contact tracing 
• 45k tests a day/percentage positive rate is stable at about 4.1% even as testing increases and testing targets more vulnerable populations
• Casinos & Cardrooms: Around June 8 state will provide guidance
• Vote-By-Mail Lawsuit: We're on firm legal ground. Vote by mail is not novel in California. At least 5 other states have already done Vote By Mail for years.
• Gatherings: Yes, guidance will change but will be led by science and data
• Every week we'll be making modifications to the stay-at-home order
• Emergency Declaration still requires oversight and stewardship for budget
• LGBTQI+ Working with legislature to track and monitor Covid risk and data collect for this community
• Restaurants & Retail: PPE & masks will continue to be distributed now into the economy
• Within days of announcing loosening of stay-at-home for personal care, salons, barber shops, nail salons
• Summer Camps & Day Camps: California is decentralized with 1000+ school districts, 58 Counties. This will be a bottom-up process, not top-down. State Superintendent and stakeholders are working within the space to make up for learning loss and plan for summer schools, childcare, camps- all will get guidelines in the next week or so. 
• San Diego County Testing continues to expand:
• County to Offer COVID-19 Testing in Rural Communities, Other Areas - County News Center (5.22.2020)
• CVS to roll out free drive- up covid-19 testing CVS Website
• Westfield Shopping Centers Reopening San Diego Locations
  Westfield UTC, Mission Valley, North County, and Plaza Bonita will reopen on Friday, May 29 with modified hours -NBC San Diego (5.21.2020)