Most of California’s schools could remain shuttered for the rest of the school year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Tuesday.

More than 98 percent of California’s student body — about 6.1 million students — have had their classes cancelled so far, Newsom said. While many school districts have only announced closures for a few weeks, Newsom said it was unlikely that most would open again before their summer breaks in May or June.

“Don’t anticipate schools are going to open up in a week,” he said in a press conference at the state’s emergency headquarters. “It’s unlikely that many of these schools — few if any — will open before the summer break.”

“Boy, I hope I’m wrong, but I believe that to be the case,” based on experts’ assessments of the level of social distancing required to beat back the growing epidemic, Newsom added.

SARATOGA, CA - MARCH 13: A caution tape was placed for parents picking up their children to wait behind at Marshall Lane Elementary School in Saratoga, on March 13, 2020. Parents picked up their children at the school on Friday, after they were informed that a volunteer at the school had tested positive for coronavirus. The school, like all other public schools in Santa Clara County, will be closed starting Monday but the school provided parents the opportunity to also pick their children up early on Friday. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

CONCORD, CA - MARCH 13: A woman walks with children after picking them up at the end of school at Monte Gardens Elementary in Concord, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. Superintendent of Mount Diablo Unified School District Dr. Robert Martinez released a letter today stating that the M.D.U.S.D. schools will be closed starting March 17 in response to the coronavirus threat. According to the Contra Costa Health Services there have been zero confirmed cases of coronavirus to students or staff at any of the M.D.U.S.D. schools. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

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OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 13: A sign telling people to waOakland Tech High School will be closed is shown after the end of the school day in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. Starting Monday, Oakland Unified students will not be reporting to their school campuses and will instead be turning to technology to receive their lessons because of coronavirus concerns.(Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)



OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 13: Danissa Lopez, 10, right, shows the extra homework she got to her mother as classmate Alexandre Alvarez, 10, looks on after getting out of school at Garfield Elementary School in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. The Oakland Unified School District announced the closing of its schools beginning today until April 5 as prevention of the COVID-19 outbreak. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

CONCORD, CA - MARCH 13: A classroom sits empty at the end of school at Monte Gardens Elementary in Concord, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. Superintendent of Mount Diablo Unified School District Dr. Robert Martinez released a letter today stating that the M.D.U.S.D. schools will be closed starting March 17 in response to the coronavirus threat. According to the Contra Costa Health Services there have been zero confirmed cases of coronavirus to students or staff at any of the M.D.U.S.D. schools. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

CONCORD, CA - MARCH 13: A school bus waits to pick up children at Monte Gardens Elementary in Concord, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. Superintendent of Mount Diablo Unified School District Dr. Robert Martinez released a letter today stating that the M.D.U.S.D. schools will be closed starting March 17 in response to the coronavirus threat. According to the Contra Costa Health Services there have been zero confirmed cases of coronavirus to students or staff at any of the M.D.U.S.D. schools. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)



SARATOGA, CA - MARCH 13: Parents of the Marshall Lane Elementary School students in Saratoga were informed on Friday that a volunteer at the school had tested positive for coronavirus. The school, like all other public schools in Santa Clara County, will be closed starting Monday but the school provided parents the opportunity to also pick their children up early on Friday. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

SARATOGA, CA - MARCH 13: Yoga and mindfulness teacher at Marshall Lane Elementary School Danette Stephan lifts up a caution tape for a parent who came to pick up her child on March 13, 2020, in Saratoga, Calif. Parents picked up their children at the school on Friday, after they were informed that a volunteer at the school had tested positive for coronavirus. The school, like all other public schools in Santa Clara County, will be closed starting Monday but the school provided parents the opportunity to also pick their children up early on Friday. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

SARATOGA, CA - MARCH 13: Mari Osaki of Los Gatos picks up her daughter, Reica, 9, from Marshall Lane Elementary School in Saratoga, on March 13, 2020. Parents picked up their children at the school on Friday, after they were informed that a volunteer at the school had tested positive for coronavirus. The school, like all other public schools in Santa Clara County, will be closed starting Monday but the school provided parents the opportunity to also pick their children up early on Friday. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)



OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 13: Oakland Tech High School students, from left, Clara Rueca, Olivia Alen, Steve Stanford and Jade Foxall gather in front of the school at the end of classes in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. Starting Monday, Oakland Unified students will not be reporting to their school campuses and will instead be turning to technology to receive their lessons because of coronavirus concerns.(Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 13: Oakland Tech High School students, from left, Clara Rueca, Olivia Alen and Steve Stanford gather in front of the school at the end of classes in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. Starting Monday, Oakland Unified students will not be reporting to their school campuses and will instead be turning to technology to receive their lessons because of coronavirus concerns.(Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

CONCORD, CA - MARCH 13: A classroom sits empty at the end of school at Monte Gardens Elementary in Concord, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. Superintendent of Mount Diablo Unified School District Dr. Robert Martinez released a letter today stating that the M.D.U.S.D. schools will be closed starting March 17 in response to the coronavirus threat. According to the Contra Costa Health Services there have been zero confirmed cases of coronavirus to students or staff at any of the M.D.U.S.D. schools. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)



(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) CONCORD, CA - MARCH 13: Crayons rest on a school desk at the end of school at Monte Gardens Elementary in Concord, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. Superintendent of Mount Diablo Unified School District Dr. Robert Martinez released a letter today stating that the M.D.U.S.D. schools will be closed starting March 17 in response to the coronavirus threat. According to the Contra Costa Health Services there have been zero confirmed cases of coronavirus to students or staff at any of the M.D.U.S.D. schools. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 13: School buses wait for kids to get out of school at Garfield Elementary School in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. The Oakland Unified School District announced the closing of its schools beginning today until April 5 as prevention of the COVID-19 outbreak. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 13: Parents wait for their kids to get out of school at Garfield Elementary School in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. The Oakland Unified School District announced the closing of its schools beginning today until April 5 as prevention of the COVID-19 outbreak. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)



OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 13: Mabel Alvarez, 4, and her brother Alexandre Alvarez along with her mother Mabel walk out of the school after she picked them up at Garfield Elementary School in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 13, 2020. The Oakland Unified School District announced the closing of its schools beginning today until April 5 as prevention of the COVID-19 outbreak. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Due to the shutdowns, California has requested a federal waiver that would allow the state government to not require standardized testing this year. Students “already have enough anxiety” as it is, Newsom said.

Beyond schools, the Bay Area’s unprecedented shelter-in-place order expanded to three new counties Tuesday, placing a vast swath of Northern California under virtual house arrest.

Monterey, Sacramento, and Sonoma counties joined the seven others that had already ordered residents to stay home for the next three weeks except for essential activities, leaving highways near empty on Tuesday and shuttering thousands of Bay Area businesses.

The number of coronavirus cases in California had reached 472 statewide as of Monday night, about a 17 percent increase from the previous day, Newsom announced, adding that 11 people had died from the virus in total.

A large portion of the newly confirmed cases were in the Bay Area. Santa Clara County — the hardest hit county in the state — said that its total cases rose to 155 on Tuesday, with 17 new cases and five deaths, while Contra Costa reported a total of 39 and Alameda County now at 30. In San Mateo County, officials reported 22 new cases, bringing its total to 64.

On a day when the virus reached all 50 states in the country — with one case confirmed in West Virginia, the last holdout — most Northern Californians were watching the news from their homes.

Residents under shelter-in-place orders are allowed to go outside only for “essential” reasons such as to get health care, shop for supplies, assist family members and get exercise. Most businesses are closed, except essential businesses such as supermarkets, gas stations, pharmacies and health care facilities. Restaurants statewide are only allowed to stay open for takeout and delivery, Newsom has said.

Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties started the lockdown order on Monday, with officials saying it would last until April 7 and could be extended longer.

Newsom’s prediction about school closures raises the prospect that millions of parents around the region could be going back to work in coming months even as their kids’ schools remain closed.

The governor said he understood the magnitude of what that would mean for the state’s families as a parent himself. On Monday night, he said, he came home to find that one of his daughters had “thrown her bunny rabbit on the floor, her pillows, most of the rest of the bed.”

She was “expressing deep stress and anxiety that she wasn’t in school — I had never heard those words from her,” Newsom said. “I told her, ‘honey, I don’t think the schools are going to open again.'”

If the governor’s prediction comes true, California wouldn’t be the only state with students out of school for that long. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly ordered all schools in her state closed for the rest of the academic year on Tuesday — something Newsom has not done.

Newsom said the state government was in the process of opening two new large hospitals — one in Northern California and one in Southern California — by converting currently unused hospital buildings. The state is also negotiating with 901 hotels to house homeless people or others suffering from the virus. Those efforts will be funded in part by a new $1 billion appropriation by the legislature that Newsom signed Tuesday.

The governor also placed the California National Guard on alert, saying troops should be prepared to perform humanitarian missions around the state such as food distribution or “supporting public safety.”

Even as many businesses were forced to shut their doors, leaving employees worried about the personal financial impact, others were hiring to keep up with new demands caused by the pandemic and the shutdown.

Amazon said it needs to hire 100,000 people across the U.S. to keep up with a crush of orders as the epidemic kept more people at home, shopping online. The online retailer said it will also temporarily raise pay by $2 an hour through the end of April for hourly employees. That includes workers at its warehouses, delivery centers and Whole Foods grocery stores, all of whom make at least $15 an hour. Safeway has said it is looking to hire 2,000 people and SaveMart has said it has 1,000 openings.

After weeks of stock market carnage and warnings from economists that the U.S. could be on the brink of a recession, Americans got some rare good news for their pocketbooks when Trump administration officials said Tuesday that they’d support measures to send checks to people around the country to help mitigate the economic fallout from the pandemic.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin floated the idea of sending every American adult a check for $1,000, and other proposals put forward by Democrats and Republicans in Congress have suggested giving up to $4,500 to every American.

The federal government also pushed back the traditional April 15 deadline to pay taxes owed by 90 days, with Mnuchin allowing individuals to defer up to $1 million of tax liability and corporations $10 million. Taxpayers still have to file their taxes on time, but don’t actually have to pay up for three additional months. In California, State Treasurer Fiona Ma said state residents would be allowed to delay filing their state tax returns until June 15.

Californians also will get a reprieve from the Department of Motor Vehicles, which asked state law enforcement agencies to give people a 60-day grace period on enforcement of driver license and vehicle registration expiration dates, to avoid state residents having to crowd into the department’s offices to deal with their licenses.

Backers of the campaign for a $100 billion “mega measure” to fund big investments in Bay Area public transportation said Tuesday the effort would be put on hold amid the disruptions caused by coronavirus. Faster Bay Area, a campaign asking voters to approve a one-cent sales tax increase that leaders say will pay for transformative public transit projects, is dropping its plan to put the measure on the November ballot and will try for an unspecified future election.

Elsewhere in California, the effects of the virus were being felt far from the hardest-hit urban areas. All hotels and restaurants in Yosemite National Park, including the historic Ahwahnee Hotel, closed Tuesday until at least the end of the month over concerns about virus.

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Pac-12 football will be back in 2020, but the specifics remain a mystery The decision came as the National Park Service also closed Alcatraz Island, Muir Woods National Monument and the Statue of Liberty in New York City on Monday, and the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. three days earlier, as the pandemic threatened to devastate America’s tourist industry.

Yosemite officials reported that all park visitor centers, museums and shuttle buses also were closed. The park itself, including roads in and out of Yosemite Valley and hiking trails, remains open.

“They have broken my heart,” said Kurt Zeitler, an Elgin, Texas resident whose vacation plans were cancelled, in a Facebook post late Monday.

Rex Crum, Harriet Rowan, Fiona Kelliher, George Avalos, Nico Savidge and The Associated Press contributed reporting.