Newsom Orders Movie Theaters, Bars, Indoor Restaurants Closed Statewide

30 counties, including Los Angeles, must also close fitness centers, worship services and hair and nail salons

Balboa Theater in San Francisco
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

California’s movie theaters, bars, indoor restaurants, wineries and museums statewide must be closed due to the “alarming” spread of COVID-19, Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Monday. While outdoor operations are still allowed where possible, the indoor closures are effective immediately.

Earlier this month, officials singled out specific counties across the state — including Los Angeles — whose infections continued to surge to close down movie theaters and dine-in services at restaurants. But on Monday, Newsom said that those counties — now 30 in total — on the state’s monitoring list would also need to shut down indoor operations for fitness centers, worship services, offices for “non-critical sectors,” malls, hair and nail salons and other personal care services.

“This virus is not going away anytime soon. I hope all of us recognize that if we are still connected to some notion that somehow when it gets warm, it’s going to go away, or somehow it’s going to take summer months or weekends off, this virus has done neither,” Newsom said at a Monday press conference. “It’s incumbent on all of us to recognize, soberly, that COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon until there is a vaccine and/or an effective therapy.”

On Monday, California reported 8,358 new confirmed cases and 23 new deaths, making for a total of 329,162 cases and 7,040 deaths statewide. Meanwhile, education officials in Los Angeles said that the county’s schools would not reopen for the start of the school year on Aug. 18 due to the rising cases; classes will instead resume online until further notice.

J. Clara Chan

Media and politics reporter • jclara.chan@thewrap.com • Twitter: @jclarachan

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