In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has lifted strict stay-at-home orders put in place in December. California’s coronavirus cases are down from a massive surge over the holidays, but the state is still reporting over 25,000 new cases per day, and many intensive care units are at or near capacity.
Another 1,800 U.S. residents died of COVID-19 on Monday, pushing the U.S. death toll past 421,000.
President Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Monday that, under President Trump, efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus were devastated by anti-mask and anti-social-distancing rhetoric.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: “When public health issues become politically charged, like wearing a mask or not becomes a political statement, you cannot imagine how destructive that is to any unified public health message.”