"We can't wait to see you!" reads a tweet published yesterday by the SF Zoo in anticipation of Monday’s expected crowds (that will be capped at 50 percent capacity). And, honestly: we've never been more overjoyed at the promise of seeing ring-tailed lemurs fling themselves through a series of aerial acrobatics.

The San Francisco Zoo and Gardens was originally set to open its doors again on June 19, but a spike in COVID-19 cases prompted SF officials to slow the City's reopening plans. The sudden emergency brake-pull left them and other businesses like hair salons, tattoo studios, and museums reeling. But in a narrow turn of events, Mayor Breed announced Friday that the SF Zoo could reopen Monday, assuming certain health requirements were met; they, alas, have been completed.

Per NBC Bay Area, Breed's declaration yesterday omitted the other mentioned businesses from opening Monday, though they were promised they could "soon.” A clearer picture of when that exactly might be is expected to come after the Department of Public Health reveals its observed COVID-19 case trends — which will be shared alongside updates on other health indicators being used to manage the city's gradual reopening — Wednesday.

But! Back to the macaws, marsupials, and Madagascan hissing cockroaches.

Announced yesterday in a press release and across social media, the San Francisco Zoo will allow "members and guardians" to visit the facility on Monday and Tuesday, July 13 and July 14, after securing a ticket and time slot online. Members of the general public are set to be welcomed back into 100-acre faunal oasis Wednesday, July 15th, and will also need to book their reservations in advance online.

As reported by KRON4, soon-to-be visitors are urged to visit the zoo’s website for updated safety guidelines and make sure they can comply with them. Among the now online-only reservation model, below are newer revisions:

• Apple Pay, Google Pay, and credit card transactions only
• Face coverings are required for all staff and visitors except children age two
• Zoo capacity will be limited to 50 percent
• Maintain six-foot distance between your group and others when waiting
• No in-and-out privileges

Though the zoo's website states that all talks and animal feedings are temporarily canceled, it's unclear if they’re now happening due to the swift reopening. (You can see a complete list of scheduled feeding here if they’re now a-go.)

As part of the well-received (and widely celebrated) announcement, the SF Zoo sent out a slew of tweets yesterday afternoon with one reading "Let’s try this again!". We're crossing our fingers that this second try, too, goes off swimmingly well — and doesn’t go the way of the dodo bird.

Related: A Lemur And A Rhino Made Some Art At SF Zoo, And You Can Purchase It [2016]

Oakland Zoo In Danger Of Closing As Lockdown Orders Linger

Support the SF and Oakland Zoos As They Weather the Pandemic Shutdown

Image: Diana Parkhouse

A Carnegie Mellon University analysis found that 82 percent of the most influential COVID-19 retweeters are bots, and that bots comprise about half of the Twitter accounts that are crowing “Reopen America.”

We first got a sense there was something not-exactly-grassroots about the “Reopen America” movement back in April, when the New York Times reported that many of the state-level protests were funded by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ investment manager, Greg McNeilly. Soon-to-be failed Trump Federal Reserve nominee Stephen Moore flat-out admitted he was helping organize the Wisconsin protests, and arranging the payments for any arrestees' legal fees. He said in an April 14 Youtube video, “We have one big donor in Wisconsin, I’m not going to mention his name, he said ‘Steve, I promise I will pay the bail and legal fees for anyone who gets arrested,’” and then just to be more of a dick, added, “We need to be the Rosa Parks here, and protest against these government injustices.”

So clearly the “Reopen” movement is not exactly organic. But a new Carnegie Mellon study shows estimates that half the Twitter accounts discussing “Reopen America” are bots, that 82 percent of the most influential “Reopen” retweeters are bots, and that 62 percent of the top 1,000 retweeters are bots.

“We're seeing up to two times as much bot activity as we'd predicted based on previous natural disasters, crises and elections,” wrote computer science professor Kathleen Carley in the report. “Because it’s global, it’s being used by various countries and interest groups as an opportunity to meet political agendas.”

Carley notes that there are many different influence campaigns at work here, not all of these are MAGA Trumper accounts. Some are entirely committed to creating suspicion around 5G technology (perhaps to inhibit certain nations’ investment in that), others are anti-vaxxers enjoying their big moment with Bill Gates as the new Big Bad, and others are mere shysters hucking miracle cures.

"Tweeting more frequently than is humanly possible or appearing to be in one country and then another a few hours later is indicative of a bot," she added.

A Twitter spokesperson told NPR that they’d removed thousand of tweets, unveiled new “Potentially Harmful” tags for posts, and "challenged" 1.5 million accounts, whatever that means. But a spokesperson also challenged the definition of “bot,” saying the term could be used by "those in positions of political power to tarnish the views of people who may disagree with them or online public opinion that's not favorable."

The study’s authors say it’s an ongoing project, and that Facebook, Reddit and YouTube posts will be added into the analytical mix. But we can guess they’ll find the same misinformation tactics we saw in the 2016 election, as the “Reopen” movement looks to reopen some old wounds.

Related: Trump Is Already Trying to Lie About the COVID-19 Death Count; Kamala Harris Hopes to Stop Him [SFist]

Image: “Plandem¡c Part 1 [DELETED] | YOUTUBE CENSORSH¡P IS REAL” via YouTube

Gavin Newsom eased the standards counties must meet for reopening, but then Tuesday the state reported the most coronavirus deaths of any day yet.

Those who obsess over daily COVID-19 data know that Tuesdays tend to have the largest numbers of reported fatalities. Hospitals and government organizations are generally catching up on weekend backlog, some cases that fell through the weekend cracks get processed. But that’s no comfort to the news that yesterday (a Tuesday) California saw the largest number of reported deaths of any day yet since this whole mess started, according to the San Jose Mercury News, and that paper also reports that the Bay Area saw its two-day “perfect streak” of no reported deaths end, with nine fatalities in San Mateo County, three in Alameda County, and two in Santa Clara County.

Which is a troubling backdrop for another report from the Bay Area News Group that Governor Gavin Newsom has eased the standards for counties to reopen. The previous standard was no deaths for two weeks in a row, a standard so strict that several counties applied for waivers, but at least it’s pretty simple to understand. Newsom’s new and far more opaque standard for a county reopen is described in the News Group as “fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 people over the last 14 days, or a rate of positive tests for the virus over the past 7 days of less than 8 percent.”

Newsom himself said Monday that only five California counties do not meet that benchmark, which theoretically means that most of the state could reopen right now. The Bay Area News Group analysis ran the numbers that the entire nine-county Bay Area region is eligible for “green light” status, though possibly not Alameda County, where some data is still outstanding. But here in the Bay Area, we are operating under stricter rules than other counties’ public health officials have implemented.

“While we are making progress in some areas such as flat or declining number of hospitalizations, we still aren’t where we want to be for things like testing and PPE supplies,” Contra Costa County health department spokesperson Will Harper told Bay Area News Group.

The flash point of the “reopen California” debate, from a county perspective at least, is Tulare County, between Fresno and Bakersfield. Newsom specifically mentioned Tulare County as not being eligible to reopen, with 71 deaths and 1,539 cases, in part thanks to a nursing home outbreak. But the Visalia Times Delta reports that county supervisors voted to reopen anyway last night — an item that was not even on their meeting agenda — with the board chair specifically saying “I don't want to be a county or one of the two counties that the governor can actually mention in a press conference as being one that's going to be restricted.”

County health official don’t agree. “Our increases are not attributable to our (nursing home) population but are instead driven by outbreaks at our business facilities," the county’s health and human services director HHSA Tim Lutz told the Times Delta.

Related: Curbside Retail Begins in SF With Noted Lines at Sex Shops, Bookstores [SFist]

Screenshot: @GavinNewsom via Twitter

Good news! The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will reopen by 9 a.m. today. Although it was initially reported that the bridge will remain closed during this morning's commute -- and, for the most part, it has -- it will open.

SFGate reports, "Tests conducted overnight and this morning on an altered version of that repair job showed that the fix was holding, Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney said."

News helicopters are circling the bridge right now (8:30) in anticipation of the big news.

The bridge, if you recall, closed six days ago when, after a less than successful repair job, a cable snapped on the eastern span during Tuesday's commute, smacking several cars. After Caltrans repaired the tie-rods and other fancy bridge mechanisms, "work crews performed a stress test Saturday evening on the repairs to see if the metal parts continued to scrape against each other and weaken the overall assembly."

Also, anti-slip measures, signs, and speed bumps have been added to certain parts of the bridge, KRON 4 Morning News reports.

Update: With a CHP escort on both ends, the Bay Bridge is once again open for business.

The sands of Marin and San Mateo have officially reopened to the public. (We recommend hitting the beach in the fall. There's something luxurious about walking on the beach, bundled up in winter clothing.) What's more, 50 wild birds have been cleaned up and released at Pillar Point Yacht Harbor at Half Moon Bay. But what's worse, "the spill has cost the U.S. government $1.4 million, money spent on operations by the Coast Guard, National Park Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration." Alas.

Also, while other areas are opening, Angel Island remains an area of concern due to its rocky and jagged shoreline geography. This, of course, makes clean up much more difficult.

In other oil spill news, contrary to what Cosco Busan crewmembers told authorities, federal investigators have yet to uncover any evidence of radar malfunction. A tissue of lies! Also, as we mentioned earlier, Newsom defended his weekend island getaway. Hang ten, dude. Hang ten.


image credit: AP file photo