Gov. Newsom bans evictions in California amid coronavirus pandemic

California landlords can't evict residential tenants affected by coronavirus under an executive order Gov. Gavin Newsom issued Friday.

The ban will be in place through May 31, 2020.

The order protects people who can't pay rent because they fall ill or are taking care of someone who has COVID-19, people who lose their jobs because of California's stay-at-home order, and people missing work to care for children no longer in school.

Under the order, tenants must tell their landlord in writing that they can't pay their rent because of the pandemic within a week after their rent is due.

Tenants have to keep documentation showing their loss of income due to COVID-19, such as layoff notices, pay stubs, bank statements, medical bills or signed letters from employers.

Tenants will still have to repay their rent in the future and could be evicted after the moratorium is lifted at the end of May. The order took effect immediately to provide relief to renters who won't be able to pay their April rent, according to the governor's office.

People who are able to pay their rent are still required to do so.

Newsom signed the order the same day he traveled to Southern California to meet with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and county health officials. It's the first official trip the governor has made since the coronavirus pandemic hit California, forcing him to spend the vast majority of his time at the state Capitol in Sacramento and at the state's emergency operations center in Mather.

He held a news conference Friday at the Port of Los Angeles in front of the U.S. Navy medical ship Mercy, which docked there that morning. The ship will provide 1,000 beds to help handle the surge in coronavirus patients that threatens to overwhelm California hospitals. That's a fraction of the 50,000 additional beds Newsom's office projects the state will need.

The ship will be a “COVID-19 free bubble,” Garcetti said during the news conference. It will take patients who do not have the coronavirus, freeing up beds in Los Angeles hospitals for those who do.

The ship could begin taking patients as soon as Saturday, Newsom said.

California hospitals are already in “deep financial distress” because they are not bringing in money from elective surgeries as they prepare for the incoming surge of coronavirus patients, Newsom said. They'll need more money from the federal government on top of what the state will receive from the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill President Donald Trump signed Friday, Newsom said.

Over 3,000 people in California have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the California Department of Public Health. Sixty-five have died. At least 42 health care workers have tested positive.

About half of COVID-19 cases in California are people between the ages of 18 and 49, according to the department.

On Friday, Newsom said the state is still waiting on tens of thousands of test results. He lamented the slow speed at which tests are processed, noting some take a full week.