Outdoors can resume in San Francisco from Thursday, now that the number of COVID cases is declining, the state has lifted the local home orders that began more than a month ago.
Exact details of the new public health orders were given at a press conference this afternoon, but Mayor London Breed preceded the announcement with a tweet saying: ‘We will move forward with some limited reopening, including outdoor dining and personal services . “
Given the upcoming rainstorms this week and the fact that many businesses went into hibernation during the holidays, it’s likely that restaurants will not immediately throw tables back on the sidewalk and in parks, but that could happen soon!
Breed says she expects San Francisco, along with most other provinces in the state, to return to “Purple” status, as daily totals remain high here and elsewhere. But as hospital bed capacity increases and a predicted upsurge in connection with New Year’s Eve celebrations does not materialize, life in a large part of the state will soon take another step in the direction of normality.
“I’m excited we can do that, and I know it’s going to help small businesses and workers who’ve been struggling for months now,” Breed said. “But this pandemic is not over. We must continue to help keep the things we know under control.”
During the city’s afternoon press conference, Breed further outlined the city’s updated orders, which include allowing personalized services inside and out, such as barber shops, hair salons, massage salons and nail salons, to wear mandatory masks at all times.
Restaurants can be resumed from outside on Thursday 28 January (or after it stops raining), but tables must again be six meters apart, and a maximum of six people can be seated at each table from a maximum of two separate households.
Indoor fitness at boutique studios can be resumed with one-on-one training, but it sounds like gyms are not reopening until SF moves to the “Red” level again.
Broad encourages everyone to continue wearing masks in public, to limit all social gatherings to the outdoors, and to keep indoor encounters short and well ventilated.
I’m excited we can do that, and I know it’s going to be a bit of a relief for small businesses and workers who’ve been struggling for months now.
But this pandemic is not over. We must continue to help keep the things we know under control.
– London Breed (@LondonBreed) 25 January 2021
San Francisco hotels and Airbnbs can again accept guests who are outside the city, but the mandatory ten-day quarantine for travelers remains in effect, meaning that anyone booking a stay must be in the city for more than ten days – and remains sequestered for the first 1o.
Grocery stores may increase the maximum capacity to 50% of the normal quantity, compared to 35%.
The city also puts a 22-hour curfew in place for all non-essential activities – but just as we said when the curfew rule first came into effect in December, it does not affect a lot of business activities, as the most restaurants no longer serve 9pm anyway.
Laurie Thomas, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, tells the examiner that the evening clock of 22:00 will have a detrimental effect on the restaurant, as they will “not be able to sit realistically after 20 to 20:30”. in order to comply. This will limit the number of seats they can accommodate per night, but it still may not differ drastically from what we saw in the fall.
See the full press conference below.
Related: Newsom lifts local home orders as bed capacities increase
Photo: The rear patio at Um.ma in the Sunset, thanks to Um.ma
This message was updated with information from the press conference at 13:15 in the city.