Governor Newsom wants to spend $2.7 billion on COVID-19 response efforts – Orange County Register

Boasting a projected multi-billion dollar budget surplus for the second straight year, California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday announced a $2.7 billion spending plan to combat unemployment. cease Covid-19 pandemic.

Under Newsom’s proposal, a $2.7 billion COVID-19 Emergency Response Package, including a $1.4 billion request for emergency funds, would be spent on efforts to strengthen vaccine administration. Apply and ramp up, expanding testing capacity statewide and increasing healthcare workers next year, according to the governor’s office.

It marks a nearly 60% increase in the amount of COVID-19 funding provided in last year’s budget – $1.7 billion.

“From day one, California has acted quickly and directly to combat COVID-19 with policies that have saved tens of thousands of lives, but much remains to be done,” Newsom said. know in a statement on Saturday. “Our proposed COVID-19 Emergency Response Package will support our testing capacity, accelerate immunization and booster efforts, support frontline workers, and the healthcare system as well. like combating misinformation.”

On Monday, the governor will deliver his full budget proposal for fiscal 2022-23. Independent analysts last fall It is expected that the state will run a state budget surplus of 31 billion dollars. Newsom’s spending plan next week will provide an updated estimate. And, over the next several months, state lawmakers will negotiate the specifics before the June 15 deadline to pass the budget.

The early announcement of the COVID-19 Emergency Response Package comes amid an alarming increase in the highly contagious omicron variant and California emergency rooms, schools and businesses facing staffing shortages and testing.

California’s closely watched seven-day daily new cases hit a record high of more than 65,000 this week, according to the latest data. And, in highly vaccinated Santa Clara County, an average of more than 2,000 people test positive each day, the county’s online database shows.

As of Saturday, more than 10,000 patients with COVID-19 have been hospitalized due to the virus, according to state public health officials.

However, officials said they anticipate that by early February, the state will see a significant drop in the number of cases.

“The crystal ball is worse than before,” said a Newsom management official, who did not speak in the filing. “We’re looking at the data every day, trying to make it as clear as possible.”

Much of the new pandemic emergency package — $1.2 billion — will focus on ramping up COVID-19 testing, including expanding hours and capacity at state-run testing sites, and distributes millions of free COVID-19 antigen tests to local health departments and community agencies. That funding will be in addition to money recently spent expanding testing facility hours this financial year and distributing millions of antigen tests to students in K-public schools. 12, which state officials are currently completing.

Newsom on Friday deployed more than 200 members of the California National Guard to further strengthen testing capacity statewide by assisting with crowd control, testing patients, and filling out staff members who may be sick.

Amid increasing disease outbreaks in state prisons, $625 million aid package to increase testing and immunization capacity at California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilities . State corrections officials suspended in-person visits and inmates’ families starting Saturday because of an increase in COVID-19 cases among inmates and staff.

The rest of the money will be used to expand the state’s immunization education campaign, provide free shuttle service to immunization appointments, provide additional staffing for health care systems, and increase strengthen humanitarian efforts at the California-Mexico border.

Instead of waiting for the new fiscal year to roll out everything, Newsom is asking the legislature for $1.4 billion in emergency funding to immediately equip California’s healthcare system with the right supplies and staff. employees to combat the current surge and pass updated legislation for the new COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave policy for frontline workers. Newsom’s administration said it expected to work with state lawmakers in the coming days and weeks to complete these items as quickly as possible.

In November, the California Department of Public Health deployed more than 2,200 employees to healthcare facilities statewide to help them cope with the expected winter spike. The $1.4 billion requested will allow the state to continue to provide additional staffing and expand further, according to the Newsom administration.

“As the current increase in omicrons demonstrates, no one knows how long the COVID-19 pandemic will persist or how much of an impact it will have on California for years to come,” said President & CEO of the California Hospital Association Carmela Coyle said in a written statement. “What we do know is that the need for our state’s healthcare system has never been greater than it has ever been, and we need all the support we can get.”