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Tune in right here to today's briefing from Gov. @GavinNewsom. Watch on FB: https://www.facebook.com/CAgovernor/videos/686605895491026/
The Twitter link is here: https://twitter.com/CAgovernor/status/1253035178760364033
The topic today is testing, tracing and tracking. (It should be a good one!)
Last week, the governor announced six key indicators California is following closely. One of them is testing, tracking and tracing, and that will be the topic today, Newsom says.
If you'd like to catch up on the other indicators, here's our thread from last week: https://twitter.com/berkeleyside/status/1250136044738994176
Newsom says he can't say exactly when the state will get back to normal, but pledges to be transparent about which indicators the state is monitoring to make those decisions: "It's driven not by ideology… but by evidence," he says.
"When we're ready, we'll make those announcements in real-time," Newsom says, about getting back to normal. Spoiler alert: It won't be today, though.
Newsom says the state is ready to begin scheduled surgeries that are essential.
The state has tested 465,327 people but "that number is still inadequate," Newsom says.
Went from 2,000 tests a day on average in March to 14,500 in recent days. It's now up to about 16,000 tests a day. The state wants to get up to 25,000 by the end of April.
The goal is a minimum of 60,000 tests a day: "That's a short-term goal," a minimum. He wants to get to 80,000.
If all the supply chains were in place (with testing materials and whatnot), the state could up to 95,000 tests a day. That's the target capacity. Newsom says the state is increasing testing sites. There are hundreds now, more than 600. But 251 are "core sites."
The state surveyed 251; their No. 1 need is swabs. They also need the media to transport the specimens. There's "less stress" on the diagnostic side. It's not as significant as the other side: Getting the specimen is the bigger issue.
Newsom talked to Trump less than an hour ago about the critical need for swabs. Trump said California will get at least 100,000 swabs "just this week," with 250,000 next week and even more the next week: "That was a very good phone call."
The state has 86 new testing sites coming online that will focus on black and brown communities, rural communities, other places that are in need.
The state has an agreement with one company to get 1.5M serological tests at 130 facilities across California. (Those are blood tests vs. the normal swabs.)
Most of the testing that's happening is "PCR tests," e.g. the throat and nasal swabs. Tracking and tracing are also huge parts of the state's response, Newsom says. The state has a long history with this: STDs, HIV, TB, etc.: "We're not starting our tracing program from scratch."
What's new right now is the scale of it, Newsom says: "We want to build bottom up on that work." The state has been surveying local jurisdictions to find out what the need is and attempting to retrain state employees to help with tracking and tracking.
There will be "an army of tracers," Newsom wants 10,000 state employees on the job. They may be helped later by volunteers.
This area may be "among the most important" in terms of the state's ability to begin to loosen up its stay-at-home order, Newsom says.
Now, Dr. Mark Ghaly, who runs the state Health and Human Services Agency, reiterates what Newsom said: "It's not a switch it's a dimmer." California wants to get back to normal swiftly AND responsibly.
"We know that we need to have significant amounts" of protective gear before the state loosens the rules, Ghaly says. That's the only way to move forward.
Ghaly thanks the local health officers for sharing local data to help the state determine what comes next.
California is "tracking in what we call a range of stability," says Ghaly. The upper line is hospitalizations, the lower is ICU. This gives the state confidence that it can begin to modify the shelter-in-place rules.
The state is asking itself how prepared it is to test everyone who has symptoms and to trace everyone who has been in close contact with that person.
