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SF’s New Timeline for Reopening Announced

Timeline set for museums, churches and in-person schools. But no mention of indoor dining or bars.
By - posted 9/1/2020 No Comment

Mayor London Breed Announces San Francisco’s Plan For Further Reopening Businesses And Activities

San Francisco’s updated timeline allows for a safer and gradual reopening, balances the risk of the activity with the ability of the City’s resources to manage COVID-19 cases

September 1, 2020

Mayor London N. Breed, Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Health, and Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu, co-Chair of the City’s Economic Recovery Task Force, today announced the next steps in San Francisco’s reopening of businesses and activities.

SF’s Updated Reopening Plan | See updated guidance for Sept. 1

Since July, San Francisco has been on the State’s COVID-19 watch list, which restricted many activities and required the City to pause further reopening. On Friday, August 28, the State issued new criteria and a colored-coded tiered system, which replaced the watch list. San Francisco has been placed on the “red” tier, which provides the City the discretion to move forward with reopening some activities.

Just keep in mind, timelines can change. For example, back in June, indoor dining was originally scheduled to reopen on July 15th and bars in mid-August, but then the timeline changed drastically

While San Francisco recognizes the State’s thresholds, the City will continue on a reopening path based on its unique challenges and successes, and maintains the ability to open more gradually than what the State allows.

San Francisco’s Path Forward to Reopening

Outdoor activities – Moving Forward September 1

  • Outdoor hair salons and barber shops
  • Outdoor personal services
  • Outdoor massage
  • Outdoor pools (lap swimming, wading), with limited capacity
  • Outdoor non-contact, recreational activities
  • Indoor malls (no food courts, gathering areas) at 25% capacity
  • Childcare and Out of School Time programs, with limitations
  • Higher and adult education, with limitations
  • Indoor funerals (up to 12 people)
  • Outdoor gym and fitness centers (September 9)

GOAL: Mid-September, Low Risk Outdoor Activities and TK-6th grade in-person learning

  • Outdoor tour buses and boats, with limited capacity
  • Outdoor movies, with limited capacity
  • Outdoor family entertainment, with limited capacity
  • Hotels and lodging (not hotel fitness centers), with limited capacity
  • In-classroom learning: TK-6 grade on rolling basis with approved health and safety plan
  • Indoor museums, zoos, aquariums, with limited capacity and an approved health and safety plans)
  • Places of worship (allows one person at a time for individual prayer indoors; 50 people outdoors)
  • Small special gatherings, for example election campaigns, with limited capacity (1 person indoors, 12 people outdoors)

GOAL: End of September, Low Risk Indoor Activities

  • Indoor hair salons and barber shops, with limited capacity
  • Indoor personal services, with limited capacity
  • Indoor one-on-one personal training, with limited capacity
  • Indoor solo use of gyms and fitness centers, with limited capacity
  • Places of worship, with limited capacity (25% of capacity indoors, up to 25 people; 50 people outdoors)
  • Small special gatherings, with limited capacity (25% of capacity indoors, up to 25 people; 50 people outdoors)

GOAL: October, Middle School in-person learning

  • Middle schools, in-person learning, on rolling basis with an approved health and safety plan

GOAL: November, High Schools, additional learning activities

  • High schools, in-person learning, on rolling basis with an approved health and safety plan

San Francisco’s immediate path forward starts with outdoor activities that are lower risk and moves to indoor activities that are lower risk and with limited capacity. In parallel to this, in-person learning and child and youth development activities will also be opened on a rolling basis. Today, outdoor personal services are resuming, as well as indoor malls at limited capacity. Additional services, businesses, and activities will resume over the coming weeks and months, as long as San Francisco continues to make progress on limiting the spread of COVID-19.

The gradual reopening of outdoor services, malls, and children’s activities will increase travel and interaction throughout the city, which means increasing community spread of the virus and an increase in cases. Public health officials will need to regularly assess the Key Public Health Indicators, particularly new positive case counts and hospitalizations to ensure San Francisco has the necessary resources available for those that are infected.

As San Francisco moves forward with reopening businesses, more than 50 San Francisco Transitional Kindergarten (TK)-6 grade schools have been provided an application for in-person learning with limited capacity. These applications are under review and will be approved within two to four weeks. The goal is for in-classroom learning to resume on rolling basis, starting with the youngest children. Additionally, applications for Community Hubs are currently being accepted, and the program is scheduled to start on September 14. Other child and youth development activities are underway including after-school programs and childcare facilities.

San Francisco’s updated reopening plan is outlined below and is available online at SF.gov/reopening. Reopening is dependent upon San Francisco’s Health indicators remaining stable or improving, and the plan below is subject to change. All San Franciscans must do their part to limit the spread of COVID-19, including face masking, social distancing and handwashing. The reopening of most of the below activities and businesses requires limited capacity and approved health and safety plans.