• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom in issuing travel advisories on Nov. 13, urging people who visit or return home from these states to self-quarantine to mitigate the spread of the virus. The advisories also urge against nonessential out-of-state travel and encourage residents to stay local for the holidays. “California just surpassed a sobering threshold—1 million COVID-19 cases—with no signs of the virus slowing down,” Newsom said in a statement. “Increased cases are adding pressure on our hospital systems and threatening the lives of seniors, essential workers, and vulnerable Californians. Travel increases the risk of spreading COVID-19, and we must all collectively increase our efforts at this time to keep the virus at bay and save lives,” the joint statement reads. The advisories suggest a 14-day self quarantine after out-of-state travel and recommends that people limit their interactions to their immediate household. Essential travel is defined as “travel for work and study, critical infrastructure support, economic services and supply chains, health, immediate medical care, and safety and security,” according to Newsom’s office. “If you do not need to travel, you shouldn’t,” Oregon’s Gov. Brown said in the statement. “This will be hard, especially with Thanksgiving around the corner. But the best way to keep your family safe is to stay close to home.” Gov. Inslee added that Washington’s cases have doubled over the last two weeks. “This puts our state in as dangerous a position today as we were in March,” Inslee said. “Limiting and reducing travel is one way to reduce the further spread of the disease. I am happy to partner with California and Oregon in this effort to help protect lives up and down the West Coast.”
• After a tight race that could not be called on Election Day, Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) released a statement thanking his district for reelecting him shortly after challenger Dawn Addis announced her concession. “I am honored that the voters have elected me to a third term to represent them in the state Assembly—in the highest turnout election in history,” Cunningham said in the statement. “I will continue to work hard for them, to solve problems, and to be an independent voice for the Central Coast and the people of California.” The statement said that as of the Nov. 9 count, Cunningham held 55.1 percent of the votes, while Addis had 44.9 percent, with a total of 221,624 votes counted throughout the 35th Assembly District.
• On Nov. 12, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) introduced the Fly Safe and Healthy Act of 2020. “This legislation would help prevent the spread of COVID-19 among air travelers by creating a pilot program to require temperature checks at TSA screenings,” a statement from Carbajal’s office said. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate in September. “My own experience with COVID-19 underscores how easily this virus can spread, even when we take precautions,” Carbajal, who caught COVID-19 and has since recovered, said in the statement. “As our economy reopens, and as more Americans return to air travel, it is crucial to our public health that we work to make flying as safe as possible for the general public. Temperature checks at airports are one way we can help curb the spread of COVID-19 at a time when cases are on the rise, and the pilot program puts travelers first by including built-in protections for consumers.”
