San Francisco officials expect to reopen indoor dining on March 3

During a Wednesday webinar from San Francisco’s Office of Economic Development and Workforce Development, dr. Susan Philip, deputy health officer at SF, announced that SF restaurant owners plan to reopen their dining rooms on March 3, assuming that COVID-19 infection rates will continue to fall.

If there is one thing we have been taught over the past year, it is of course nothing that is certain. Philip made it clear that the dates could change if the infection rates increase, or if government officials change their reopening plan.

While San Francisco remains at the most restrictive, purple level of the state’s color-coded reopening map, state and local officials have confirmed that the California Department of Public Health expects to move SF to the red level on March 2nd. According to Philip, the day after entering the red level, San Francisco is expected to resume state-authorized activities, including dining inside with a reduced capacity of 25 percent or 100 people. San Francisco will be the third Bay Area province to reopen indoor dining, joining Marin and San Mateo counties, both of which opened Feb. 24 dining.

When San Francisco last entered the red level, SF officials insisted in August 2020 that the indoor dining room be delayed until the city moved into the even less restricted orange level (but could only reopen at the more restrictive, red level levels) . This time there will be no such delay.

In addition to the 25 percent capacity limit, restaurants may only allow members of the same household to share a table, with a maximum of four people. Meanwhile, tables of up to three households with a limit of six meals will be allowed.

The announcement – and lack of delay – was welcome news for the Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA), the city’s dining portal. In a statement, the organization said “we are grateful that the Mayor, Dr. Philip, Dr. Colfax, and the Department of Public Health are allowing San Francisco to follow the instructions of the state.” In other words, to reopen immediately, as opposed to their own stricter local leadership.

The move to the red level also means that the San Francisco evening clock, which requires restaurants to sit down by 10 p.m., will stop. The evening clock was initially a state restriction that was lifted at that level at the end of January. But San Francisco kept it in place, the provincial health director said at the time, because officials wanted to ‘see how [COVID-19] do figures to ensure we do not have to return. ”

But even though the curfew arrangement has disappeared, the dining room must be closed within 10pm every night, says Philip. Outdoors can stay open outside 10pm, assuming the dinner wants to stay in SF’s evening cold.

Bars without food should remain closed below the red level, Philip confirmed. Bars that serve food (their own, or with a partner) can also open indoor service at 25 percent at a maximum of 100 people.

It was a long way back to indoor eateries for San Francisco restaurants, which on September 30, 2020, increased again to 25 percent. Six weeks later, COVID-19 cases skyrocketed by 250 percent, prompting the city to close the dining rooms again in November. 13, only after outdoor meals and takeaways. As infections continued to increase, even outside eateries were closed, and most of the Bay was only restricted to pick-up on 6 December.

According to the GGRA, a second return of openings is not an option. “Any additional closures will have drastic economic consequences, including temporary and permanent closures,” they said in a statement. “We urge our San Francisco restaurant members and residents to comply with these regulations to give us the best chance of keeping this reopening permanent.”