The first American state to have established generalized containment to stem the Covid-19 pandemic, California celebrated its
“reopening”
on
Tuesday
by lifting almost all the health measures in place for 15 months.
Vaccinated people are now officially allowed to do without masks in most public places, with the notable exception of public transport, schools and hospitals.
Read also: Covid-19: California plans a total reopening on June 15
"We are finally there, on June 15, to turn the page, to put an end to limited capacities ... with social distancing"
, rejoiced Governor Gavin Newsom during a ceremony organized to mark
"the reopening complete California economy ”.
The most populous state in the United States has come a long way.
If he had very quickly put in place health measures that had made it possible to contain the pandemic during the first months, a premature easing had then resulted in an explosion in the number of cases.
One of the main foci of coronavirus
California had even become one of the main hotbeds of coronavirus during the winter, especially in the Los Angeles area.
“At one point - it was January, not that long ago - we ran out of body bags in some places in Southern California
,
”
recalled Gavin Newsom, speaking from the park. Universal Studios Hollywood attractions.
"We saw many more deaths than we would have liked, we held too many hands because the families could not be present"
in the intensive care units, lamented at his side Helen Cordova, nurse and first Californian to be vaccinated against Covid-19, last December.
Since then, more than 40.5 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the state, which for weeks has had one of the lowest contamination rates in the country. The restrictions, however, drew fierce criticism, especially from Republican voters and traders, who favor a faster reopening and accuse the Democratic governor of abuse of power. Result of a petition launched by his opponents, a referendum must also be organized by the end of the year on a possible dismissal of Gavin Newsom. California behaved as a
"state guided by science, data, facts, established evidence, not ideology,"
countered the governor on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, things have taken a very political turn regarding the wearing of masks and vaccination campaigns
,” he added. The fifth largest economy in the world alone, California generates nearly 15% of the GDP of the United States but accounted for about 38% of the jobs created in April throughout the United States.
"We are at the forefront of the American economic recovery, and it is thanks to our health interventions
,
"
said the governor.
