#California closes churches, gyms, indoor dining, bars as COVID-19 cases spike

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday rolled back much of the reopening of his state, closing bars and indoor dining statewide and also ordered gyms, churches and hair salons shut down in most places as coronavirus cases keep rising in the nation’s most populated state.

On July 1, Newsom ordered many counties to close bars and indoor operations at restaurants, wineries, zoos and family entertainment centers like bowling alleys and miniature golf.

On Monday, Newsom extended that order statewide and closed additional parts of the world’s fifth-largest economy, including indoor malls and offices for noncritical industries.

California confirmed 8,358 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, and hospitalizations have increased 28 percent over the past two weeks. Newsom said the data suggest not everyone is using common sense.

The order comes after Newsom had earlier ordered these businesses to close in counties on the state’s “watch list.”

The new order, which will now apply across the state, will take effect immediately, Newsom said.

The businesses will be allowed to operate outdoors, if possible, he said.

California was averaging more than 8,000 new cases a day as of Sunday —  more than double what it was a month ago.

The state has seen 331,626 cases, the second highest tally in the nation, and more than 7,000 deaths, according to a New York Times database.

“We’re going back into modification mode of our original stay at home order,” Newsom said. “This continues to be a deadly disease.”

With AP