California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a coronavirus testing facility last month in Valencia. Newsom says his family will quarantine for two weeks after three of his children came into close contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a coronavirus testing facility last month in Valencia. Newsom says his family will quarantine for two weeks after three of his children came into close contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. / AP

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his family are quarantining after learning some members of his family came into contact with a California Highway Patrol officer who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

In a series of tweets Sunday, Newsom, a Democrat, said three of his children had come into contact with the officer, but that he and his wife did not.

"Thankfully, the entire family tested negative today. However, consistent with local guidance, we will be quarantining for 14 days," Newsom tweeted.

He also wished the unnamed officer a speedy recovery.

As the Los Angeles Times reported, the California Highway Patrol provides security for the Newsom family.

Newsom family's other recent brushes with virus

Word of California's first family going into quarantine comes on the heels of news that one of the Newsom children had a separate close contact with the virus, the Times reported.

A classmate of one of the governor's four children tested positive for the virus, the newspaper said. On Friday, the governor's office said the child who was exposed was quarantining at home after testing negative for the virus twice.

Newsom recently came under fire for not following his administration's own coronavirus safety guidance to avoid gatherings with more than three households.

The governor and his wife attended a 50th birthday party for a friend and adviser on Nov. 6. As NPR member station KQED reported, the party was at the "posh French Laundry restaurant in wine country north of San Francisco."

"I made a bad mistake," Newsom said last week at a press conference, according to a CBS affiliate in Sacramento. "I should have stood up and ... drove back to my house."

The governor added: "The spirit of what I'm preaching all the time was contradicted. I need to preach and practice, not just preach."

"Limited stay-at-home order" issued

The spike in cases in California has prompted the governor to enact what he is calling a "limited stay-at-home order" in most of the state's counties aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.

The order is in effect a curfew, prohibiting personal gatherings and nonessential businesses from operating between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

It went into effect on Saturday and runs through Dec. 21.

As of Sunday, more than 1.1 million Californians have had confirmed cases of the virus, and more than 18,700 have died.

Earlier this month, California surpassed 1 million positive virus cases, joining Texas as the only other state to hit this sobering milestone.

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Tags: statewide curfew  Gavin Newsom  california gov  stay at home  CAlifornia  Series: The Coronavirus Crisis