On August 7 former Nelson journalist and current San Jose Mercury reporter Ethan Baron called into Kootenay Morning to talk about how California has fared during its recent surge in cases of the Coronavirus.

Baron talked about what he called a “second lockdown” after a “premature reopening” south of the border.

“County’s started locking down, and cracking down, and that’s been sort of an escalating process over the last few weeks,” Baron told KCR News.

Baron warned West Kootenay residents to be cautious about COVID and cited a statistic that found a third of California’s population (about 8 million people) have filed for unemployment insurance as lockdowns and protests continue to rock the state.

“There’s a feeling that if we had held off on the reopening, we’d be in a lot less trouble,” Baron told KCR.

You can find the entire interview here: