Editorial: Newsom victory calls for bold steps to fight COVID-19

For months, Gov. Gavin Newsom has been tempering his response on a wide range of issues because of the Republican recall effort.

Now that Newsom has scored a convincing victory, it is time for him to take bold steps to alleviate California’s biggest challenge — COVID-19.

Republicans have been sharply critical of the governor’s handling of the pandemic. So have we. But from the opposite side of the issue, most notably when Newsom shied away from taking the necessary steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus. He rushed to reopen the state, for example, when the first COVID-19 wave was waning, and he refused to get behind a model statewide law that would have created a vaccine mandate for employees throughout the state and for people wanting to go into bars, restaurants, gyms and other places.

Exit polls Tuesday showed that the pandemic was the No. 1 issue for voters in the recall election. Two-thirds of California voters said getting a vaccine is a public health responsibility, and 70% said they support a school mask requirement. How convincing was Newsom’s victory? The governor won the backing of 53% of normally conservative-leaning Orange County voters. It’s no surprise that he won Marin County with 84% support.

The result gives the governor the freedom and the political capital to take bold action.

“We said yes to science, we said yes to vaccines, we said yes to ending this pandemic,” Newsom said Tuesday night.

The governor did require health workers to be vaccinated and mandated masks be worn in California schools. And the state already has a law that goes into effect beginning Sept. 20 requiring that people have a vaccine or negative COVID-19 test prior to attending large indoor events, sports and concerts with more than 1,000 attendees.

But in order to beat delta and future variants, Newsom will need to get substantially more aggressive in fighting the pandemic.

He should:

• Call for more widespread vaccine mandates. The moves will not only make customers and employees safer, but also help persuade more people to get vaccinated.

• Require vaccine passports for people to go to bars, gyms, indoor restaurants, theaters and other venues.

• Veto Assembly Bill 654. The measure was designed to give workers timely information about coronavirus outbreaks at job sites throughout California. But the state Senate gutted the legislation. Lawmakers caved to business interests who opposed providing the type of transparency California workers and consumers need in order to determine whether there has been a recent outbreak at restaurants, retail stores or other businesses.

The state’s Emergency Services Act provides the governor with broad authority to respond during a state of emergency such as a pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak is clearly not remotely close to being under control. Newsom should use the recall vote as a mandate from voters to take more aggressive action to fight the virus.

Written by the Bay Area News Group editorial board.