Bay Area lawmaker calls on California to shut back down: 'We have a cancer in our body'

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A Bay Area lawmaker is asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare stricter shelter-in-place orders, as coronavirus cases continue to climb in California.

RELATED: Here's which CA counties can reopen schools, salons amid COVID-19 pandemic

"Despite our best efforts we have lost control of the coronavirus," says State Sen. Steve Glazer, who represents parts of Contra Costa and Alameda counties. "This virus moves from people, and if we shut down that movement we can flatten the curve, which we haven't been able to do yet."

He thinks counties where the testing positivity rate is over 2% should have strict stay-at-home orders. For reference, the positivity rate, which is the percentage of those tested for COVID-19 that turn back a positive result, has been around 7% in California for several weeks.

"We have a cancer in our body. You can't solve it by putting a Band-aid on a pinkie finger. You have to take the chemo. You have to take the tough medicine," says Glazer.

Glazer says many of his constituents are frustrated that schools won't be reopening for in-person instruction in the fall in the vast majority of the state. He believes the only way to make that happen is to return to a lockdown-like state, and completely wipe out the coronavirus.

RELATED: Everything to know about California's confusing coronavirus reopening plan, summer shutdown and what comes next

He supports mask mandates - accompanied by strong enforcement - but says we've seen that isn't enough.

"The reason we're even talking bout a shelter-in-place is because the tools in the toolbox aren't working."

More than 100 medical experts, including several UCSF and UC Berkeley professors, have signed an open letter asking the U.S. government to "hit the reset button" and to "shut it down, start over, do it right."

See the full interview with State Sen. Glazer in the video at the top of this story.

INTERACTIVE: Here's the reopening status of every Bay Area county

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