Today's #COVID19 briefing from Gov. @GavinNewsom (we'll tweet highlights here).
You can also watch on FB: facebook.com/CAgovernor/vid…
Today's talk is slated to focus on testing.
Newsom says testing and supplies will be the subject today. As of today, California has tested 126,700 people: That may sound high to some, "it is low to many others, and certainly to me." He says the testing space has been "a challenging one." The state must do more.
Recently, there was a peak of 59,500 individuals with results pending in California, including some waiting for up to 12 days. In the last week or so, Newsom says he convened a task force to address best practices, how to get more swabs and more media for the swabs.
"It's a new day and we are turning the page on our old approach," says Newsom. He says the state will increase BY FIVEFOLD the number of daily tests in the coming weeks due to new approaches.
"The issue of testing, I own that. You deserve more and better," he says. This will include a new partnership with UC Davis and UC San Diego to create five to seven hubs with "high throughput." State won't dictate how to test.
These will be geographically based all through the state. Stanford has advanced a serology test, which will be the first home-grown test in Cali. There will be more point-of-care rapid testing sites, too, including 75 from Abbott at Sutter, Kaiser, elsewhere.
He says, at this point, just 13,000 tests are waiting for results in California, which is a *substantial reduction* in the backlog. More information on testing (negatives and positives) should be available from the state soon.
One person running the new state task force is @drcharitydean. She says the task force will look at what is being done with testing and how to do it better, scale up. It's a public-private partnership. A Blue Shield rep is the other co-chair.
The supply chain is a big challenge, says Paul Markovich of Blue Shield. He says California is "starting to get some traction" to improve the throughput on testing. They are searching for best practices, new ideas, supplies, etc.
The governor says he feels like "a full-time operator" fielding emails and calls from people with ideas: "They all seem to have friends with something in mind to help." The state has created a new website to collect all kinds of supplies: covid19supplies.ca.gov #COVID19
The state is asking for ventilators, N95 respirators (disposable), surgical masks, coveralls (hospitals and EMS), surgical or exam gowns, face shields (disposable), goggles, exam gloves, hand sanitizer, wipes, test kits, swabs, testing media covid19supplies.ca.gov 
The state has given out 41 million N95 masks, in addition to other protective gear. Other stats as of Saturday: 2,300 hospitalizations, including 1,008 ICU patients (11% increase over prior day). Known COVID19 cases: 12,026.
Over 79,000 health care workers have signed up at healthcorps.ca.gov to help with #COVID19 response: "It's just still a staggering number of individuals." Radiologists, EMTs, nurse practitioners, skilled nursing, pharmacists, etc.
The state now has 7,178 hotel rooms for unsheltered individuals, to isolate the most vulnerable Californians: "We're getting people off the streets in real-time." California is also looking at other places like senior facilities.
On Monday, the topic will be total assets the state has procured, e.g. beds and acute care.
Newsom says there is enforcement happening all over the state, some of it more high-profile than others: "Don't force our hand in that respect." He says people cannot start congregating again, despite cabin fever: "We're not out of the woods."
"I want everybody tested that needs to be tested," he says. There will need to be "substantially more testing" to get people back to work. The numbers need to multiply exponentially, Newsom says.
Fraud has been one challenge, including phishing scams. Lots of people are taking advantage, promising supplies they can't deliver, Newsom says. He says California is working with the FBI on related investigations.
He says he's hoping the state's new supplies website will help get organized: covid19supplies.ca.gov.
On Monday or Tuesday, Newsom says he plans to discuss larger supply-chain issues and security protocols that are in place.
Newsom says he does not expect football season to start on time. He says the state needs to be vigilant to avoid "a boomerang" as far as infections. The decision "will be determined by the facts," the health officers, appropriate testing, etc.
The entire budget is being reconsidered. Newsom says 2.1 million people in the state have filed for unemployment since mid-March.
Re: new Stanford serology test. It's about to get FDA approval (but doesn't have it yet). There will be more info coming out soon from @StanfordMed in the next week.
Orinda, San Diego and San Bernardino all have senior facilities that have become "hot spots" for COVID-19 infections. The state is doing contact tracing to try to figure out how it spread.
The governor says the state is monitoring hundreds of senior facilities. There are more than 8,800 sites. This and homelessness are the state's top concerns. In some of them, two-thirds are testing positive, he said.
