California Coronavirus Update: Governor Gavin Newsom Denies Controversial “Thanksgiving Guidelines” Were Meant As Such, But Says Holiday Guidelines Are Coming Soon

Tom Tapp
·4 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

“I read somewhere some folks asserting we put out guidelines for the holidays,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom this week. “They simply were misled or, intentionally, were misleading people. We have not put out Thanksgiving guidelines.”

Newsom’s assertion came in response to local and national headlines — and the strong reactions to them — that the state had issued a “Thanksgiving mandate.”

Rob Schneider took to Twitter on Wednesday to rip the supposed state mandate writing: “Dear Emperor @GavinNewsom During our allotted 3 family limit this Thanksgiving, if my Aunt comes over, can I throw her a slice of turkey from the window? We promise NOT to sing…we will all just whisper, ‘PLEASE RECALL DIPSH*T GAVIN NEWSON!'”

Megyn Kelly on Monday called out what she termed Governor Newsom’s “Thxgiving insanity.”

It seems many publications like Newsweek, which Kelly linked to, wrote stories last week based on a “Guidance for Public Gatherings” document which was released by the California Department of Public Health on October 9th. Nowhere in that document do the words “Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas” or even the word “holidays” appear. Still, given the timing of the release and its nature, it’s understandable that readers might interpret it as such.

In fact, County of Los Angeles health officials on Monday released very similar guidance on “Gatherings and Public Celebrations.” That document also does not mention upcoming holidays. The county’s director of public health Barbara Ferrer however, did make the link.

After mentioning Halloween specifically, Ferrer went on to say, “This pandemic has forced so many to sacrifice so much this year, and we recognize the frustration and disappointment with the holiday restrictions,” she said. “For now though, it’s simply not safe to celebrate holidays the way we usually do. Being close to others who are not in our household carries with it a lot of risk for transmitting COVID-19 this year.”

As for Newsom, he said his staff would be putting out specific guidance for Thanksgiving and other winter holidays “soon.”

Newsom on Wednesday said the state’s COVID-19 numbers have been trending “slightly up.” But it’s actually a little more dire than that.

The state’s 7-day rolling average of daily new cases on Wednesday was 4,393, according to the Governor. The number of daily cases reported on Thursday was 4,191. Those numbers contrast with most recent the single-day low of 2,666 seen on October 13.

The 14-day test positivity rate was up to 2.9% on Wednesday. It was 3.2% for the 7-day average. That’s as testing is going up, which is not a good sign. Normally, as more tests are given positivity rates fall. If they’re going up, it indicates growing or undetected infections.

The governor reported a 4.7% rise in hospitalizations over the past 7 days and a 5.2% rise in ICU admissions over the same period.

The numbers in Los Angeles are also sliding backward.

After a week in which the average daily new coronavirus cases in L.A County rose from around 1,000 to just a hair under 1,600, county health officials reported the region’s chances of reopening under California Governor Gavin Newsom’s guidance structure have dimmed further.

On Wednesday, the county health department revealed that L.A.’s new cases per 100,000 people had risen to 8.0. This is an increase from the 7.6 adjusted case rate per 100,000 residents reported last week.

In order to move to the next less restrictive tier of Governor Newsom’s reopening plan, the county must reduce its daily number of new cases to 7 or fewer new cases per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks. That does not seem likely anytime soon. See the chart outlining the tiers of California’s reopening plan below.

Related Deadline Video:

More from Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.