In a press conference on Tuesday, April 6, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state will be “moving beyond” the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy on June 15. With this announcement, the governor made it clear that the June 15 date would signify the full reopening of the economy in California.

“We will be moving beyond the blueprint, and we will be getting rid of the colored tiers. We will be moving past the dimmer switch. We’ll be getting rid of the blueprint as you know it,” Newsom said. “That’s on June 15, if we continue the good work.”

Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan, who established Orange County’s first COVID-19 Task Force, is working to help vaccinate all individuals in Orange County by July 4 as part of Operation Independence, which is a partnership between the county, Orange County Fire Authority and the Orange County Health Agency.

“The governor’s announcement to reopen by June 15 is based on 2 factors: availability of vaccines for everyone and low hospitalizations,” Khan wrote in a text to Irvine Weekly on Tuesday. “The county’s goal will remain to get the majority of folks vaccinated by July 4. The state’s reopening doesn’t mean we will have vaccinated the majority of people, we still have to continue doing that based on vaccine availability.”

California has spent the last 31 weeks in a restrictive, color-coded tier in the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. In a tweet Tuesday, Newsom pointed to California’s 1.6% positivity rate, which is the lowest in the nation. Newsom credited a massive vaccination rollout in California, now with more than 20 million vaccinations administered.

 In his update Tuesday, Newsom added that he wanted to see schools open for in-person education at all levels in California.

“I want kids back in person – I want kids back in schools, safely, with in-person instruction,” he said. “On June 15, we anticipate there will be no barrier to getting all of our kids safely back, not just K-12, community colleges, including institutions of higher learning.”

In Irvine, the Irvine Unified School District has been on a hybrid model since September, 2020. In January, the University of California system announced it would return all classes back to campus in the Fall 2021.

While the state’s monitoring system for COVID-19 might be eliminated, face masks are here to stay, according to Newsom, who added that he is open to arguments against masks, but until the data backs claims that masks are ineffective, the state’s mask mandate will stay in place.

Newsom added that he was “disappointed” when he saw “thousands of strangers packed into a stadium,” referencing the Texas Rangers hosting a capacity crowd of more than 30,000 people on opening day in Arlington, Texas, which does not have a mask mandate. 

“We’re open to argument, we’re interested in evidence – this is a disease, the data will make that determination – it won’t be done on a political whim. This disease continues to be deadly, it continues to be rampant,” he said. “We do not subscribe to the point of view as some of these other states.”

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