Gov. Newsom visits SLO County at COVID-19 vaccine center
Gov. Gavin Newsom visits San Luis Obispo County on Tuesday.
‘This economy is going to come roaring back,’ he says
–Califonia Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the COVID-19 San Luis Obispo County Vaccination Site at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo on Tuesday afternoon to congratulate local officials on SLO County returning to the Red Tier. The SLO County Health Department announced on Tuesday morning that the county is moving from the most-restrictive Purple Tier to the Red Tier starting on Wednesday.
It was the governor’s first official visit to the county. He said SLO County is one of seven counties moving into the Red Tier. That is the result of a reduction of coronavirus case rates and positivity rates.
Before the press conference, he toured the vaccination site at the campus with SLO County Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein. Cuesta College is one of three COVID-19 vaccine clinics in the county. The governor then addressed the media outside of the library and Dovica Learning Resource Center.
Newsom said the local economy will come back quickly, “Mark my words, this economy is going to come roaring back. Our hotels, our restaurants, our entertainment venues will come roaring back once this pandemic is behind us. And we’re just a number of months away from getting to herd immunity. Getting enough vaccines into people’s arms and getting back to a sense of normalcy, but with excitement and enthusiasm of the resiliency that we have all born this last year.”
The governor was asked about the opening of California State Parks and Hearst Castle. He said, “The vast majority of state parks are open. The issue is always indoor versus outdoor. Some of those venues that have a predominance of indoor tours and the like, but now that the county is in the Red Tier those tours may resume. The same is true for restaurants and movie theaters.”
Gov. Newsom speaking to local media at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo.
The governor was accompanied by county supervisors Bruce Gibson, Lynn Compton, and Dawn Ortiz, who recently appointed. San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon wore a bright red dress to celebrate the county’s return to the state’s Red Tier of COVID-19 guidelines.
His visit to San Luis Obispo County was a surprise, announced just a few hours ahead of time, but well-received by local dignitaries on the Cuesta College campus.
After his visit here, Gov. Newsom drove south to Ventura County. The governor recently visited mass vaccination and mobile sites in the Central Valley, Los Angeles, Hayward, Coachella, San Francisco, San Diego, and Santa Clara.
The event was not open to the public.
