Protests were staged in at least 11 California cities, urging the authorities to lift the restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and reopen the state as quickly as possible.

On Friday, more than 500 protesters converged on Huntington Beach, a city in Orange County located 60 km south of Los Angeles downtown. They carried banners that read “All Jobs are essential” and “Freedom: We the people”,

On Thursday, state authorities ordered Orange County to close all beaches, many of whom remained open despite the ban issued weeks before.

The protests took place in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and other cities almost at the same time as California Governor Gavin Newsom’s daily noon briefing on novel coronavirus.

The campaign was organized by the local “Reopen California” Facebook groups which have thousands of members.

Local police monitored the protests but did not arrest any attendee.

During a press briefing, Newsom said he understood the concerns of protesters but urged residents in California to continue to obey the stay-at-home order and emphasized that some easing of the rules was days away.

“Politics will not drive our decision making. Protests will not drive our decision making. Political pressure will not drive our decision making,” Newsom further added.

On March 20, Newsom had issued a stay-at-home executive order for the almost 40 million residents of the state, which also requires non-essential businesses to close, a measure aimed at combating the spread of the coronavirus.

Minutes before Newsom’s order was issued, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and county supervisors announced a similar order for the closure of malls and all non-essential businesses.

California is one of the worst affected states in the US after New York and Washington.

The country’s confirmed coronavirus cases has increased over 48,000 cases, with more than 1,900 deaths.

The United States continues to remain the epicenter with over 11,31,280 cases including 65,766 deaths.

Meanwhile, globally, the novel coronavirus cases have crossed 3.4 million mark taking confirmed cases to 34,00,674 including 2,39,586 deaths and 10,81,590 recovered patients.