SHUTDOWN: California Locks Down 40,000,000 Citizens With ‘Shelter In Place’ Order

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a shelter-in-place order on Thursday night, broadly ordering all of the state’s residents to remain inside their homes as the coronavirus epidemic continues.

Newsom announced the drastic measure at a press conference.

California residents are ordered to remain at their homes with the exceptions of essential government and business activities. Visiting medical care providers and doctors also is allowed under the order, as is shopping for groceries and other necessary goods.

It’s unclear how far California is going to go to keep the state’s almost 40 million residents at home. Misdemeanor penalties will apply to those who violate the order, but Newsom said he believes a “social contract” is going to motivate Californians inside, adding that “people, I think, recognize the need to do more and meet his moment.”

The order is in all likelihood the most comprehensive measure instituted in the United States to deter the coronavirus epidemic since the emergency began. New York City has been seriously considering issuing a shelter-in-place order, but the nation’s largest city pales in comparison to the population of California as a whole.

Several large California counties, including those in the San Francisco metro area, have already issued shelter-in-place orders of their own, making the statewide order redundant for much of the state’s population.

California’s government apparently believes that almost40 million residents of the state are going to be infected with the coronavirus, a figure that seems to be an extreme worst-case estimate at the very best.