California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a “budget emergency” meant to assist the state with funding for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The budget emergency will allow legislation to be written so that $7.8 billion of the state reserve can go toward equipment such as PPE and other needs hospitals may require in the event of a surge in COVID-19 patients. The fund currently has $16.1 billion.

The bill would be slated to take effect July 1, as the state Senate is slated to take a vote Thursday, with the Assembly voting on it Friday.

The positive COVID-19 cases in California have gradually increased. In the last seven days, the positivity rate has increased to 5.6 percent, but is still below the 8 percent mark the state seeks to stay below. As of Wednesday, hospitalizations have also increased by 32 percent in the last 14 days. 

The state has had the capacity to test over 96,000 people a day, with over 3.6 million tests conducted since the start of the pandemic. 

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