COVID-19: California orders its 40 million people 'to stay at home'
California, the most populous state in America with almost 40 million people, has announced complete lockdown ordering its people to stay at home in a desperate attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a “stay at home” order for the entire state. The order was issued during a news conference at the California Office of Emergency Services. It goes into effect Thursday night. California is home to cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and capital Sacramento among others. It is America's largest-subnational economy with gross state product over $3 trillion. California is also home to three out of the world's top 10 companies in market cap with Google and Apple being the prominent names.
"California, California lockdown, California stay at home order," were the most searched words on Google after California Lockdown was announced. "There’s a mutuality and there’s a recognition of our interdependence that requires of this moment that we direct a statewide order for people to stay at home," Newsom said announcing lockdown. The order is set to go into effect at midnight. The order comes on a day when the United States asked all its citizens who were travelling abroad to return home. America has so far detected 13,726 COVID-19 positive cases.
"That directive goes into force and effect (Thursday) evening, and we are confident that the people of the state of California will abide by it, will do the right thing, will meet this moment, they’ll step up. They have, over the course of the last number of weeks, to protect themselves, to protect their families and to protect the broader community in this great state in the world we reside in."
Newsom issued the order after there have been 675 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the state and 16 deaths, state health officials said. Meanwhile, damage to the world's largest economy kept increasing, with the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits surging by 70,000 last week. On Wall Street, though, stocks rose modestly amid optimism over efforts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to shore up the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained almost 200 points, or 1%.
