California Gov. Gavin Newsom Gavin NewsomEPA head questions connection of climate change to natural disasters Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Evacuations ordered in California desert communities as wildfires burn MORE (D) said Tuesday that schoolchildren in his state could return to start the next school year as soon as July.

The announcement at his daily news briefing is not a formal action, but Newsom acknowledged there have been “learning losses” as parents have sought to teach their kids from home.

The governor said public health and education officials will begin drafting guidelines on how children and teachers can practice social distancing during in-person learning.

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“We need to start preparing for the physical changes in the schools and the environmental changes in the schools that are necessary,” Newsom said, suggesting schools could make up for lost time by starting a month earlier.

Newsom noted that keeping schools closed puts some children at a greater disadvantage than others. The same is true for adults who rely on public schools for child care.

“Our kids lost a lot with this disruption,” he said.

Newsom also provided more clarification on when and how the state plans to reopen.

He said the state will start working with "lower-risk" workplaces such as retailers and manufacturers and then move to "higher-risk" workplaces such as movie theaters and hair salons. Some states already started reopening their economies with the latter category of businesses this week, but Newsom said he is unable to give an exact date when the state will move forward with next steps.

"Dates don't matter," he said. "But data does."

As of Tuesday afternoon, California has reported 45,031 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 1,800 deaths. More than half of those cases are in Los Angeles County.

There are more than 3,400 of people in California hospitals with COVID-19 symptoms, and 1,181 of them are in intensive care, the governor said.