This post was updated Oct. 18 at 11:23 p.m.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in a press release Monday that California’s state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic will end Feb. 28.

The state of emergency began in March 2020 and allowed access to medical and other additional resources and also finalized emergency actions to enable a better pandemic response from local and state officials. As of Oct. 13, in California, there have been 10,458,792 cases of COVID-19 and 95,604 deaths from the virus, according to the state COVID-19 dashboard website.

Lifting the state of emergency will limit the ability of the California government to modify certain restrictions such as eligibility requirements for certain health care programs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The February end date will let health care officials balance surges after holidays and will allow a recently developed plan to address future outbreaks, according to the press release.

The SMARTER plan – introduced in February – aims to ease the burden the pandemic has caused to California health care systems and keep schools and work in person, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard website. The goals of the program include the ability to administer at least 200,000 vaccinations daily and keep a stock of at least 75 million high-quality masks as well as increase school vaccination sites by 25%.

“California’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has prepared us for whatever comes next. As we move into this next phase, the infrastructure and processes we’ve invested in and built up will provide us the tools to manage any ups and downs in the future,” said Mark Ghaly, the secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, in the press release. “While the threat of this virus is still real, our preparedness and collective work have helped turn this once crisis emergency into a manageable situation.”