California declares State of Emergency in effort to control coronavirus

SACRAMENTO, California (KSEE/KGPE) — A State of Emergency has been declared in California in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19.

Gov. Gavin Newsom made the announcement Wednesday, following the death of a passenger who was on a cruise last month. That ship is not being allowed to return to California and coronavirus test kits are being flown to the ship to establish how far the virus had spread on board.

Governor Gavin Newsom says 10 passengers and 11 crew are showing symptoms on the cruise ship being held off from docking in San Francisco.

A helicopter is sending a few hundred tests to the ship.

— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) March 5, 2020

Newsom says the State of Emergency was declared to ensure additional resources were available to control coronavirus, to formalize emergency actions already underway across multiple state agencies and departments, and to help the state prepare for a broader spread of COVID-19.

As of Wednesday, California has approximately 6,000 coronavirus test kits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, Cal OES has activated its emergency operations center in response to the growing number of coronavirus cases.

The emergency proclamation also protects Californians against price gouging by more than 10% of the price of an item before a state or local declaration of emergency.

“Californians shouldn’t have to worry about being cheated while dealing with the effects of coronavirus,” said Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “Our state’s price gouging law protects people impacted by an emergency from illegal price gouging on medical supplies, food, gas, and other essential supplies.”

Newsom said the test for coronavirus is now covered under Medicaid/MediCal, and is also an essential benefit under private health insurance.

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