Watch: Gavin Newsom gives COVID-19 update after top public health officer’s departure

Sophia Bollag
·1 min read

California Gov. Gavin Newsom held a press conference on COVID-19 Monday, the day after his health agency announced the abrupt departure of its top public health official.

You can watch a recording of the livestream below:

The press conference comes after a Sunday evening announcement that California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sonia Angell was leaving her post.

Angell had been one of the most visible California officials during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 10,000 Californians since March. Angell, who also served as the state public health officer, frequently appeared alongside Newsom during his press conferences.

California Department of Public Health Director Sonia Angell answers questions along with other state health officials and California Governor Gavin Newsom on the state’s response to novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19 in Sacramento on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a possible first case of person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 in California in the general public.

Angell did not give a reason for leaving in a note to her staff Sunday and Health and Human Services Agency spokeswoman Kate Folmar declined to provide more information.

Angell’s departure came two days after Ghaly announced a data error that resulted in a significant undercount of coronavirus cases was caused by human errors and a server outage affecting the state’s infectious disease reporting database.

Newsom will appoint Sandra Shewry of the nonprofit California Health Care Foundation to replace Angell as acting director of the Department of Public Health, Folmar said.

Dr. Erica Pan, whom Newsom appointed state epidemiologist in June, will become the acting state public health officer, Folmar said.