California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that he was considering ordering a statewide curfew to restrict the spread of coronavirus, and was looking at studies from Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, and elsewhere to provide possible models.
In a press briefing, Newsom said:
As always, I’ll remind you the incredible importance of wearing these face coverings and masks. And we’ll be putting out some additional guidance in that space. Physically distancing — we’ll also be augmenting and putting out more guidance as well, as more activity moves back indoors backed on these more restrictive tiers as well as the likelihood of us moving back indoors as it gets colder, even in less restrictive tiers, as people move from outdoor activities back indoors, we want to tighten up those efforts. We also are considering — full disclosure, little bit of a preview — the notion of a curfew. Now, before you jump in terms of your mindset of whether or not it’s a good idea or bad idea, we are assessing that as well. I have on my desk, quite literally, three studies from France, Germany and Saudi Arabia, interestingly, that have done comprehensive studies on the efficacy of their strategies as it relates to curfews. We know in the United States there are two states in particular that have statewide curfews of interest, at least. And that’s Massachusetts — an alcohol-based curfew — in the state of Virginia. There are a lot of cities, large and small, all across the country that also are promoting certain kinds of curfews. All that’s being assessed, we want to socialize that. We have a lot of questions about what that looks like, what that doesn’t look like. Who does it impact, who doesn’t it impact. What does a real curfew mean in terms of, just certain kinds of industry and business activities. That’s what we’re referring to in this space. But we really want the data to bear out and we want the information not to be anecdotal. We want to really take a look at those studies. Also learn from Portugal which is well-known, at least, for those who have been following internationally some of those protocols as it relates to curfews.
Newsom noted an increase in positivity rates and hospitalizations in the past few days.
As a result, much of California found itself retreating into the “purple” tier, meaning that indoor dining and gymnasiums would be closed.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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