California shifting to ‘endemic’ approach to COVID-19

California officials on Thursday are expected to unveil a new plans for coexisting with COVID-19, which will involve a shift to treating the virus as endemic.

As KCRA reported, California health secretary Mark Ghaly said on Thursday, “The focus is going to be being prepared and being ready.”

According to Ghaly, part of being prepared will include “learning from what we’ve done, learning from our experiences to date and making sure Californians can feel confident in the tools that we’re putting together.”

This development comes just days after California lifted its universal indoor mask mandate for vaccinated people. Local health authorities are still permitted to issue restrictions that go further than the state’s guidance. Masks will continue to be required in schools, however.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has said that part of the state’s ongoing approach the COVID-19 pandemic will include countering misinformation and disinformation.

According to the California state government’s COVID-19 tracker, the rate of new cases has fallen by a large degree in the past few weeks, resembling case rates seen before the surge brought on by the omicron strain. However, the rate of coronavirus-related deaths have yet to follow this trend.

Los Angeles County reported the second-highest daily coronavirus death toll in close to a year on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported.