California has finally decided to end its COVID-19 emergency. Maybe. After another four months. We’ll see.
You know, because “science.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state “will end” the emergency order on Feb. 28, 2023. Apparently, that is the date that the almighty science that Democrats speak so religiously of has determined will be safe. Newsom said that the cushion of more than four months will provide “the health care system needed flexibility to handle any potential surge that may occur after the holidays in January and February.”
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In other words, don’t count your COVID emergency orders until they expire.
California’s coronavirus response has been erratic since the beginning. While Newsom cloaked his orders in the language of “science,” the state kept schools closed longer than any other in defiance of the data showing that children needed to be in school. Localities banned outdoor dining and shut down playgrounds. All of this was made possible or encouraged by the state’s emergency order, which Newsom boasted about throughout the pandemic and even on Monday as he announced the emergency order would be phased out.
The efficacy of California’s COVID emergency order is far less glorious, however. COVID-19 restrictions did almost nothing to stop the spread of the coronavirus, as California found out during various seasonal spikes. California ended up with the 12th lowest COVID-19 death rate per capita of any state, but it had nothing to do with the state’s masking and social distancing mandates and everything to do with having the 12th-highest vaccination rate.
The emergency order allowed Newsom to impose his own edicts on the public without waiting for legislators to do their jobs and legislate. It was a blank check of power, just as it has been for President Joe Biden, who recently extended the emergency order once again so he could continue to use it to justify his student debt giveaways.
Newsom’s actions throughout the pandemic (including flouting his own COVID-19 restrictions) had little to do with science. The order was vague from the beginning, with no endpoint in sight. There were no real metrics or targets for the state to hit, and Feb. 28 is a completely arbitrary date. The emergency order was a power grab from the start, and Newsom can institute another one whenever he likes.
Who knows? He has four months to change his mind about this reversal.
