News Update

Governor says he expects San Francisco and Orange counties to come off watch list soon

Gov. Newsom on Friday said San Francisco and Orange Counties are expected to soon be removed from the county monitoring list, starting a process that could result in the reopening of schools in those counties to in-person instruction.

That list currently includes 38 counties that educate nearly 5.3 million public school students in 734 districts and 1,057 charter schools, not including private schools. Calaveras County and Napa County were removed from the list as of Friday after San Diego, Placer and Santa Cruz counties were removed earlier in the week.

According to the state’s data, Orange County has met the threshold to be removed from the list for two days and will be removed on Saturday if it continues to meet the requirements for reduced cases and other criteria. San Francisco is still exceeding the threshold for its number of Covid-19 cases and has fewer intensive care unit beds available than the state requires, so it is not likely to be removed from the list before Monday.

In response to a question about California’s guidance for reopening schools, Newsom reiterated that the state wants students to be able to go back to classrooms for in-person instruction as soon as possible, but only if it can be done safely. He said the state has released detailed guidelines related to the steps schools and districts must take if they do open for in-person instruction, including that they must be off the county monitoring list for 14 consecutive days, should ensure that staff is tested for Covid-19 every two months and must ensure that contact tracing is conducted in partnership with local health officers if an outbreak occurs on campus.