Mr. Newsom is facing a recall campaign. The attempt to oust him — a Democratic governor in a blue state who was elected in 2018 in a landslide — defied even the expectations of its Republican backers by qualifying for the ballot.
Speaking without a face covering at Universal Studios, Mr. Newsom said it was time “to move beyond capacity limits, to move beyond these color codings, move beyond social distancing and physical distancing, and — yes, as you saw me walk up to the stage — to move beyond mask coverings.”
“Today is a day to reconnect — to give people hugs, to remind them we’re not out of the woods yet, to remind them we’re all in this together,” the governor said. “California is open again.”
Still, some public health experts expressed concerns about a fuller reopening as the pace of vaccinations has slowed substantially in recent weeks, say that it was…
