'Wear A Mask, Slow The Spread'; California Launches Major Public Awareness Campaign On Masks
SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) -- California is launching a multi-million dollar public awareness campaign in several languages to encourage people about the importance of wearing masks to slow the spread of coronavirus.
During his Thursday press conference to update the state's coronavirus response, Governor Gavin Newsom said the campaign will involve advertisements on TV, radio, internet, social media and billboards across the state.
The governor said that the state has over 400 billboard sites that will advertise the message of wearing a mask as part of the campaign.
"Wearing a mask is foundational and -- again -- it's mandatory in the state of California," said Newsom.
The public awareness campaign was to begin immediately in order to spread the mask-wearing message ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Newsom said.
The governor pointed to the success European countries have had in stopping the spread of COVID-19 because of their focus on wearing masks.
"Countries that have worn masks, that have had universal mask policies in place since the beginning of this pandemic have seen a substantial reduction and mitigation of the spread of COVID-19," he said.
The mask-wearing campaign comes as the state reported a spike in ICU cases, up 49 percent over the past two weeks. California has seen a total of 4,056 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, as well as a testing positivity rate that has risen to 6.3 percent over the last 14 days.
On Wednesday, Newsom announced a rollback in the state's phased reopening plans and stricter enforcement of health orders, as well as more counties added to the state's watch list for additional targeted intervention because of concerning COVID-19 trends. A number of counties on the watch list, including Solano, have issued revised local health orders. Santa Clara County was among additional counties set to issue a revised local order on Thursday.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
"This represents the leadership at the local level and partnership," explained Newsom. "That represents a vast majority of the 19 counties and we're working with the other counties ... to move forward."
Santa Clara, Solano, and Contra Costa are currently on the watch list of 19 counties. Yesterday, state health authorities instructed specific sectors to close indoor operations due to the risk of spread. The new mandate applied to all counties that have been on the state's county monitoring list for three consecutive days.
Newsom also ordered all parking facilities at state beaches to be closed for the Fourth of July weekend. State beaches were also ordered closed in counties that were closing their local beaches.
