California’s plan for the next phase of the pandemic is to be revealed on Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The plan aims to "guide the state's strategic approach to managing COVID-19, with a focus on continued readiness, awareness, and flexibility to adapt to the evolving pandemic," Newsom's office said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the COVID-19 outbreak on March 11, 2020, and in that same month, Newsom became the first governor to implement a statewide stay-at-home order.
As the most populous state in the nation, California was in the lead of implementing restrictive COVID-19 policies.
The Omicron surge in the winter months has brought the state to unprecedented levels of positive case rates, hospitalizations, and deaths. Health officials have announced numbers have gradually declined, reaching near pre-pandemic numbers.
This week, California’s mask mandate for vaccinated individuals was dropped but remained for settings such as public schools, hospitals, and public transportation.
The state plan aims to showcase what officials have learned over the last two years, according to Newsom in a statement last week. The governor said the plan will include mass testing to spot new surges and virus variants along with quarantines and other data-driven precautions where needed.
Additionally, it will continue to emphasize vaccinations and booster shots that can prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death.
Efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation, or intentional or deliberate falsehoods, that discourage vaccination will also continue. California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said that "California's plan, of course, will talk about data, and data elements and their importance but will largely be focused on how we stay prepared and ready and what Californians should come to expect."
"I think it's really important that we not just talk about endemic phase but how do continue to live with a virus that changes and kind of throws curveballs at different times," Ghaly said, noting the unpredictability of the virus. "So, for California and our future, it is about being ready and being prepared."
