COVID-19 cases drop in California, Gov. Newsom wants to boost testing

COVID-19 numbers for LA County are declining and the area meets many of the state’s benchmarks. But the county’s public health director, Barbara Ferrer, says LA is still not considering allowing elementary schools to open: “Given the need to review the implications of the new state guidance of school reopening plans, we are not ready to open up our waiver process."

San Diego, Orange, and Santa Cruz have all been taken off the state’s watch list.

“People are wearing masks. People are social distancing. And people are doing what we’re asking of them,” says Dr. George Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology at UC San Francisco.

He says the pandemic has moved from big urban areas into the Central Valley.

Meanwhile, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a partnership with a Massachusetts-based diagnostics company to more than double the state’s testing capacity.

“[By] expanding testing by 150,000 tests per day throughout the state, they're hoping to speed up the process in which people get their test results,” says LA Times reporter Colleen Shalby. “Earlier in the summer, there were massive delays for people getting results back. And a result after a week can prove to be pointless if you've been infected that entire time.”

Newsom wants to begin processing tens of thousands of additional tests at a new lab by November 1, and run at full capacity by ­no later than March 1, 2021.

“It would be nice to have expanded testing sooner than later,” she says. “I think gearing up towards the holiday season will help people get information back more quickly during a crucial time.”