Yesterday, the Governor provided a COVID-19 response update early in the afternoon. He spoke for approximately 30 minutes, with a Q&A following.
He opened the press conference by thanking Congress for the stimulus deal. The U.S. Senate passed the CARES Act late last night. It now heads to the House of Representatives.
The Governor said a back-of-the-envelope estimate indicates California will receive a $10 billion block grant and additional money from other portions of the bill. Some $5.5 billion of it will go to the State itself, and the rest to the cities and counties.
Governor Newsom further said that this federal stimulus bill “will be very helpful” as the state is trying to procure additional medical supplies and address the surge in unemployment applications. Since March 13, 2020, the state that over one million Californians have applied for unemployment insurance.
He said that California is not even close to lifting the stay at home order and added that Californians should “not think for a minute” that we are a day or two from lifting the order. On the contrary, “we aren’t even a week or two from lifting it.”
The Governor also announced that four of the largest banks (including Wells Fargo, Citi, US Bank, JPMorgan Chase) and other financial institutions have agreed to give people a “90-day waiver of payments” on residential mortgages for those that have been impacted by COVID-19. He called this, “a big sigh of relief for millions of California families.” Governor Newsom noted that Bank of America committed only to 30 days. When asked, he said there are no income requirements with regards to the 90-day mortgage forbearance. Also, as of now, there is not a statewide eviction moratorium nor statewide rent grace periods in place.
He also mentioned cybersecurity and said he “wants people to look out for their own consumer protection.” He shared that people shouldn’t just open any email, as we are more vulnerable to cyberattacks in the new environment and we are working in a time where there is tsunami of people claiming new things.
Governor Newsom was asked about the upcoming November election and ballot initiatives specifically. He said, “the industry, and it is an industry” has been asking this question. The Governor when on to state that he has been in constant communication with the Secretary of State Padilla. He specifically said that he has no new information to share as it pertains to extending the signature gathering deadline, and that he’s waiting for more information before making any decisions.
In terms of testing, as of today, 66,800 tests have been conducted in the state, a significant increase from yesterday. As of March 25, 10 AM, 2,535 Californians have tested positive – a 17 percent increase from the day before.