COVID Reopenings: San Francisco Business Owners Prepare To Reopen After COVID Restrictions Eased
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- For the first time in nearly six months, San Francisco hotels will also be allowed to fully reopen for business Monday and they will not be alone.
Also included in the latest round of COVID restrictions being eased will be indoor personal services like hair salons and barbershops, nail salons, and tattoo and piercing studios with limited capacity.
Hotel Zetta in Union Square says it's ready to once again to welcome tourists.
"Certainly for those first-time travelers there is a lot of nervousness and I think tentativeness for people who do arrive," said Hotel Zett General Manager Mark Beevor. "When you come to Zetta and I'm sure like many hotels in the city, when you walk in, you will see things like social distancing, you will see staff in masks."
Hotel Zetta has also increased its cleaning protocols.
Since the start of the pandemic, public health officials had limited hotel stays to essential workers and people on essential travel and business.
"The tax revenue from the hotel industry to the city is a huge component of the city's funding and so having an industry like ours virtually shut off for months and months will impact virtually every part of the city," said President and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco Kevin Carroll.
Monday's reopening may mark the start of a recovery for the city's 200-plus hotels.
"The reality is as doors open tomorrow, there is not going to be this sudden wave of people coming into San Francisco. This is going to be a very slow build up," said Beevor.
It will be a slow build up across many industries that have been given the green light.
Drive-in movies, family entertainment such as mini-golf and batting cages, and tour buses and boats can resume business under rules for outdoor gatherings.
Places of worship and political activities can also restart with a one person at a time indoor limit for individual prayer or campaign office use and up to 50 people outdoors.
Community Hubs will open to support students with distance learning. Gyms and fitness studios will be allowed to reopen indoors at 10 percent of capacity.
"I'm very excited that we're moving towards reopening and 10 percent is a start," said Katie Lyons, owner of Lagree Fit 415. "Financially I can't make it work, and I would have to start paying rent."
Lagree Fit 415 in Mission Bay, which offers classes on the megaformer machine, would only be allowed to have 2 clients in the studio at one time. It is choosing to continue offering virtual classes.
Equinox is also holding off. It plans to reopen once the state guidelines increase to 25 percent capacity.
Archer Salon in Union Square will welcome customers back to a newly renovated space with COVID safety procedures in place, including a UV lighting sterilization system.
Owner Gari Cuevas is also making operational changes.
"So that's where it's changed dramatically," Cuevas said. "It's not a traditional workweek. We are going to be open everyday - early shift, later shift - just to accommodate and space, and hopefully make those numbers that we used to or close to."
San Francisco Mayor London Breed reminded residents that it is on all of us to keep doing our part to make progress on the city's economic recovery.
"I'm so glad we can move forward earlier than expected to reopen more businesses that have been closed since March. These businesses have been struggling, and starting Monday, they'll finally be able to serve customers again, with the necessary safety precautions and modifications in place," Breed said.
