As Omicron wave begins to subside, California unveiled the state's new plan to manage COVID more as an endemic--meaning a virus that is circulating at low, static levels--than a pandemic.
The new plan focuses on viral survenance and flexibility, changing the state's strategy away from curbing infection rates to readiness to respond to possible outbreaks in effort to lower impacts on the economy and social activity.
"As we enter the next phase of the pandemic, the state is better equipped than ever to protect Californians from COVID-19 with smart strategies that save lives and advance out ongoing recovery," said Gavin Newsom in a press statement on Thursday.
"Building on proven tools--rooted in sciences and data--that have been honed over the past two years, we're keeping our guard up with a focus on continued readiness, awareness and flexibility to adapt to the evolving pandemic. As we have throughout the pandemic, the state will continue applying the lessons we've learned about the virus to keep California moving forward," Newsom added.
California's new plan--named SMARTER--focuses on preventive measures like vaccines, masks, testing as well as awareness of how COVID-19 is spreading and evolving new variants and readiness to respond quickly to protect the state's public health system.
Under the plan, the state will maintain capacity to administer at least 200,000 vaccines per day through existing pharmacy and healthcare provider infrastructure. California will also maintain a stockpile of 75 million high quality maks and have the capacity to distribute those masks as needed. On the testing front, the state will also maintain both state and commercial capacity to perform at least 500,000 tests per day statewide.
Beyond preventative measures, California will monitor the state's wastewater to detect rising viral transmission early. That surveillance system will help the state readily identify new variants as they emerge and determine within 45 days if current vaccines, tests and treatments are effective against the new strain. The state will also be ready to quickly deploy additional testing and health care staff (3,000 within three weeks) to regions where infections are rising at a high rate.
California Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly told reporters on Thursday the state's response to COVID moving forward will depend on the dominant variant circulating and how many people are hospitalized with the strain. From that information, the state could impose temporary, targeted measures to curb infection rates if the new strain is causing serious disruptions to the state's health system and businesses, Ghaly said.
California allowed its universal indoor mask mandate to expire on Tuesday, as the state joins others like New York and New Jersey in easing public health measures as the Omicron wave begins to subside. Moving forward, those who are fully vaccinated are no longer required to wear masks indoors, while unvaccianted Californians will still need to wear a masks in indoor public spaces.