California Governor orders bars and restaurants to close amid coronavirus spike

13 July 2020, 20:37

California governor Gavin Newsom has ordered every county in California to close all indoor restaurants, cinemas and bars due to a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Governor Newsom said every country in California must close indoor restaurants, cinemas wineries, zoos museums and cardrooms from Monday following a surge in cases.

Bars will also have to cease all indoor and outdoor operation statewide.

Initially, Newson directed 30 counties on the state’s “watch list” to close business operation in those sectors.

However, shortly after he changed the order to apply to all 58 Californian states.

The new order also includes further indoor closures specifically for the counties on the "watch list" for three or more days.

These states must also close fitness centers, places of worship, indoor protests, offices of noncritical infrastructure sectors, personal care services, hair salons and barbershops and malls.

California has seen a 2.6 per cent increase in Covid-19 cases since Sunday.

Cases throughout the state have now passed 329,000.

The state's coronavirus death toll surpassed 7,000 as 11 a.m. Monday,

In a tweet, the governor said: "CA is now closing indoor operations STATEWIDE for: Restaurants, Wineries, Movie theaters, family entertainment, Zoos, museums, Cardrooms and Bars must close ALL operations."

In a follow up tweet, he said: "As #COVID19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise, 30 counties will now be required to CLOSE INDOOR OPERATIONS for: Fitness Centers, Places of Worship, Offices for Non-Critical Sectors, Personal Care Services, Hair Salons and Barbershops, Malls.