Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) said the state's COVID-19 public health emergency was over on Tuesday, nearly three years after it was first declared on March 4, 2020.
Newsom confirmed to the Los Angeles Times the emergency had ended after last year's announcement that he would let it expire Tuesday.
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“California is better prepared and that’s because we have a serious Legislature and the health ecosystem in California is second to none in the country,” Newsom told the outlet.
The pandemic was a roller coaster for the state, which opted for a more lockdown-oriented approach in an attempt to prevent deaths from COVID-19. The state did not transition to "fully reopening" until June 2021, after going into lockdown in March 2020. Officials later reinstated some restrictions, including mask mandates. The final statewide mask mandates permanently ended in February 2022.
Newsom easily survived a recall effort in September 2021 after facing a wave of scrutiny for his handling of the pandemic and for violating his own restrictions to attend a dinner party in November 2020. He went on to win his reelection contest easily in November 2022.
With the announcement earlier this month that schoolchildren in the Golden State will not be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine to attend in-person schools, nearly all pandemic protocols have been eliminated in the state.
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The federal COVID-19 emergency is still in effect, but President Joe Biden has indicated it will end on May 11 after it was initially declared in January 2020.