SF Unveils Reopening Plan For Dining, Shopping, Sporting Events; Extends Health Order Indefinitely
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed outlined on Thursday steps to reopen more of the city's businesses and allow additional activities in the coming weeks, including outdoor dining, indoor shopping, and sporting events, while extending the city's modified health order indefinitely.
The second phase of San Francisco businesses to reopen have been divided into three groups, 2A, 2B and 2C. Under Phase 2A, businesses such as child care, outdoor botanical gardens and museums, would be allowed beginning June 1. Outdoor curbside retail services have already been allowed since May 18 in the city. Phase 2B and 2C would expand on the types of businesses and activities allowed.
Breed said the additional relaxed rules for Phase 2B would go in effect on June 15 to allow restaurants to offer outdoor dining, retail businesses to offer in-store shopping with modifications, and outdoor activities including summer camps and exercise classes, and professional sports games with no spectators. Private household indoor services and religious services would also be allowed starting June 15.
Additional activities and businesses such as barbershops and hair salons were slated to reopen in mid-July, while nail salons, tattoo parlors, gyms and bars were scheduled to open in mid-August in the phased approach. Breed said San Francisco's reopening plan is aligned with the State of California's guidelines and based on a San Francisco-specific risk model to control the spread of COVID-19.
Breed said although the timeline to reopen is welcome news, people are still being urged to stay home as much as possible as the city's shelter-in-place order is still in effect.
"The health order for the stay-at-home is extended indefinitely. So this plan is being implemented but we are still asking people to stay at home if at all possible," said Breed.
The San Francisco reopening timeline will only allow the reopening of businesses and activities that are permitted under the state guidelines.
Phase 2A – June 1st
- Child care
- Botanical gardens
- Outdoor museums and historical sites
- Outdoor curbside retail for services with minimal contact (shoe repair, dog grooming, etc.)
Phase 2B – June 15th
- Most indoor retail
- Outdoor dining
- Summer camps
- Private household indoor services
- Religious services and ceremonies
- Outdoor exercise classes
- Professional sports games, tournaments, and other entertainment venues with no spectators
- Non-emergency medical appointments
Phase 2C – July 13th
- Indoor dining with modifications
- Hair salons and barbershops
- Real estate open houses (by appointment only)
Phase 3 – Mid-August – to be determined, will be more than one sub-phase
- Schools with modifications
- Bars
- Other personal services (nail salons, massage parlors, tattoo parlors)
- Gyms and fitness centers
- Playgrounds
- Swimming pools
- Indoor Museums
Phase 4 – Date to be determined
- Concert venues
- Live audience sports and performances
- Nightclubs
- Festivals
- All hotels and lodging for leisure and tourism
Mayor Breed noted that the guide and the dates provided were subject to change if conditions required the city to pull back, and the plan for reopening require residents to wear face coverings on most occasions. Other health and safety requirements such as social distancing, handwashing, and cleaning frequently-touched surfaces will remain in effect.
"I just want to be clear, again, that this is just a guide. This is a goal that I have of, course, to get there. The only way we get there is through your cooperation. And as a result of having more people move around and contacting each other in this capacity, it requires that we get a little more strict with the face-covering," said Breed. "So what we're asking people to do in our new face-covering requirement is when you are outside and -- say, for example -- are enjoying the park, if you are within 30 feet of someone else, you are required to wear a face covering," explained Breed.
Breed asked residents to be conscientious about each other, but also to have some restraint in their interactions with others over masks.
"Think about it in a way where it's not just about protecting yourself; it's about protecting other people. So we want more people who are outdoors to wear face coverings in addition to some of the requirements we had before," Breed said. "And again, I want to go back to a comment I have made time and time again. If you are not the police, please don't act like the police. Because the last thing we want to see is people confronting other people and creating what could escalate into a violent situation."
With outdoor dining getting the green light on June 15th, in the North Beach neighborhood, Grant Avenue is set to close to traffic and allow restaurants to move tables onto the street.
Teague Kernan, the owner of Tupelo and Belle Cora hopes it's enough. "I think anything will help a little bit, if we're not able to do indoor dining, I'm not sure that the outdoor dining is going to be nearly enough to keep us afloat, frankly," he told KPIX 5.
Bars will not get the go-ahead to re-open until mid-August. Co-owner of Maggie McGarry's, Mick Graham says it's a slight ray of hope. "It's good that we got a day in August, something to look to - try to keep everybody safe, but putting us a month behind restaurants, bars/restaurants is definitely problematic - that's definitely going to put us in the hole. We're hoping that can change," he said.
"San Francisco's early and aggressive actions were key to the success we have had fighting the coronavirus," said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Health in a prepared statement. "As we move to reopen, continuing to prioritize community health will be essential. Every San Franciscan can and must help if we are going to reach better times ahead. That means, covering your face, keeping social distance and getting tested if you have any symptoms. These actions have saved lives and are going to be more important than ever as we start to move around the city again."
San Francisco and five neighboring Northern California counties have led the way in slowing the spread of the virus, initiating the first shelter-at-home order in the U.S. even before California's governor took action.
Thursday's announcement indicates the counties are taking different paths as they balance the need for people to get back to work while the virus still lurks. San Francisco has reported more than 2,400 positive cases of coronavirus infections and 40 deaths.
© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
