[M T]

Newsom opened California too soon, and he did that fully aware of what the situation was in LA County.

I will add that the Santa Clara County opened up further (July 2nd order, effective July 13, and mostly overridden as of July 15) as it knew cases were growing exponentially.  

As you may remember, California went into Stage 2 in May and said that counties that wanted to open up further & sooner within Stage 2, needed to apply for a variance.  Most counties bowed to the almighty dollar and said what they needed to say to get things open (I earlier chronicled what O.C. did).  Santa Clara County did not choose to ask for a variance (which by the way, was explicitly allowed for under the Stage 2 roadmap).

But then California never progressed further in Stage 2, so Santa Clara was forced to ask for a variance on July 6.  In order to apply, the public health officer needed the a letter support supporting the application signed by the County Commissioners.  In politics, when you need someone's support, it usually comes with a price tag. I suspect there was some influence being forced to open things up beyond what was safe.  Hence, with increasing case counts locally and statewide, the Public Health Officer put out an order that opened up the county further.

As required for the variance, the letter of support by the SCC Commissioners is dated July 2, the same day as the order opening things up was announced.

[M T]

Newsom opened California too soon, and he did that fully aware of what the situation was in LA County.

I will add that the Santa Clara County opened up further (July 2nd order, effective July 13, and mostly overridden as of July 15) as it knew cases were growing exponentially.  

As you may remember, California went into Stage 2 in May and said that counties that wanted to open up further & sooner within Stage 2, needed to apply for a variance.  Most counties bowed to the almighty dollar and said what they needed to say to get things open (I earlier chronicled what O.C. did).  Santa Clara County did not choose to ask for a variance (which by the way, was explicitly allowed for under the Stage 2 roadmap).

But then California never progressed further in Stage 2, so Santa Clara was forced to ask for a variance on July 6.  In order to apply, the public health officer needed the a letter support supporting the application signed by the County Commissioners.  In politics, when you need someone's support, it usually comes with a price tag. I suspect there was some influence being forced to open things up beyond what was safe.  Hence, with increasing case counts locally and statewide, the Public Health Officer put out an order that opened up the county further.

As required for the variance, the letter of support by the SCC Commissioners is dated July 2, the same day as the order opening things up was announced.