There are actually two new locations of the now-reincarnated vintage emporium Stuff, and the SF shop will have the same giant letters from the old Valencia Street location.

It was a bad shock for the Valencia Street corridor when we learned in October that the vintage modern collective Stuff would be closing permanently in early 2024. And indeed, February 4 was their last day in business at Valencia Street near Duboce Avenue. But now SFGate reports that two new owners have taken over for previous co-owners Will Lenker and James Spinello, and are reopening Stuff as Stuff by Luxe at Pacific Avenue and Polk Street, and Stuff East Bay in Albany (right at the Berkeley border).

The Albany shop already opened on Friday March 1, under that location’s new owners Angelina and Joe Carling. It’s at 619 San Pablo Avenue, in a former Galvin Appliance store space. Open seven days a week, it features many of the vendors from the previous Stuff.

Same goes for the SF store, which will open this Saturday, March 16, at 1545 Pacific Avenue in Polk Gulch. That shop’s new owner Ha Kwan bought the famed “STUFF” letters from the previous owners, and according to SFGate, that shop will also have “a commitment to the color orange.”

“I want to create a Stuff where everybody feels like they can come in and find something and walk out with something,” Kwan told SFGate. “Whether it’s a piece of furniture or art, or if it’s decor, home accessories or a piece of clothing.”

The previous Stuff owners have given both of the new stores their blessing. “We had a hand in helping these new locations get started because we felt it was better to pass the torch along,” Lenkford, now retired in Hawaii, said to SFGate.

Stuff by Luxe opens Saturday, March 16, at 1545 Pacific Avenue (near Larkin Street). Hours will be 10:30 am - 6:30 pm, seven days a week.

Related: Valencia Street Vintage Store Stuff Closing in January Over Apparent Landlord Dispute [SFist]

Image: Kenny C. via Yelp

Based on the most recent City data that shows hospitalizations are leveling off, as well as cases slowly coming down, the CEO of Zuckerberg SF General Hospital has said SF may have just seen the worst of this wave of COVID-19.

The Delta Variant has shifted our optimistic notion that the pandemic would be over soon; Hot Girl Vaxx Summer has now, more or less, morphed into The Season of COVID Anxiety. Mask wearing and vaccinations continue to be our best tools in fighting the disease (even if herd immunity continues to become more out of reach).

And given that both hospitalization rates and the recorded seven-day rolling average of cases continue to dip, the CEO of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital has said that we might be putting the worst of this COVID-19 wave behind us.

At last here in San Francisco.

“Based on what we’re seeing in the data, it looks like hospitalizations are leveling off and the peak of cases has started coming down,” said Dr. Susan Ehrlich, who's the CEO of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, to NBC Bay Area. “You know, it appears that way based on the trends we’re seeing in the data right now."

Given the fast incubation rate of the Delta variant — by far the most dominant strain currently circulating the country, as well as the Bay Area — the current data set might not be as representative of what's to come. Though it's encouraging, nonetheless. And as Ehrlich says: If nothing else, the pandemic has taught not only here, but the entire population, a lesson in humility.

"But this pandemic has taught me a lot of humility," she continues.  "So, it’s hard to make perfect estimates about what’s going to happen. But in this surge, at this time, yes, I would say that."

Ehrlich notes that San Francisco General currently has 19 patients hospitalized with a coronavirus infection; fifteen of those patients are unvaccinated—while the other four are breakthrough cases. These figures just further show the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

Solano County has also seen cases remain steady over the past seven days. However hospitalization rates in Alameda County are inching upward; Santa Clara County, as well, has seen a slight increase in COVID-19-related hospitalizations over the past week.

To echo a sentiment said by Dr. Bob Wachter Friday: Us humans don't choose when the pandemic is officially over... the pathogen does. When and if a fifth wave does come crashing down, we’ll be even more prepared for it now.

For more information on Covid-19 vaccines, as well as how to receive one in the City and County of San Francisco, visit sf.gov/get-vaccinated-against-covid-19.

Photo: Getty Images/SerrNovik

On Saturday, two new Magellanic penguin chicks, which hatched back in May, graduated from San Francisco Zoo's "Fish School" and joined the institution’s colony of birds at Penguin Island. Their ceremonial waddle to the exhibit was nothing short of a massive serotonin release.

Bay Area zoos were in financial turmoil during the state's tiered reopening. Ticket sales — the main source of income for most zoological facilities in the United States — plummeted, and visitors that did make their way into zoos could only see outdoor exhibits. But through generous donations, as well as increased visitor numbers earlier this past summer, both the Oakland Zoo and San Francisco Zoo avoided permanently closing; they still, however, suffered millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Appreciation for the San Francisco zoo, specifically, was on full display Saturday when hundreds of zoogoers came to see two young Magellanic penguins march their way to Penguin Island after graduating from "Fish School," the zoos penguin rearing program.

"If waddling was an Olympic sport; these two new Magellanic penguin chicks would be gold medalists," tweeted the SF Zoo. "Hatched in May, they just graduated from Fish School and today was the ceremonial March of the Penguins as hundreds of guests came to see them!"

Before its renovation in 1984, the 200-foot-long pool at Penguin Island was initially opened in 1940 as a multipurpose exhibit. Over the years, it's served as the home for a wide variety of exotic fauna — at one point, the exhibit space had squirrel monkeys jumping from branch to branch — but it's remained a sanctuary for the South American penguins ever since.

Apparently, one of the birds was given the name "Lemon" over the weekend, as voted on by zoogoers.

If you want to see Lemon and its graduation mate, as well as the dozens of other Magellanic penguins inside Penguin Island, you can buy tickets online at sfzoo.org/tickets. The zoo is currently operating on limited capacity and all visitors must reserve tickets in advance; you can read San Francisco Zoo's COVID-19 safety protocols and procedures, here.

Related: Oldest Chimpanzee in North America Dies at San Francisco Zoo

Strolls Through San Francisco and Oakland Zoos Offer Flashes of Pre-Pandemic Normalcy

Image: Screen shot courtesy of Twitter via @sfzoo

Joining the likes of SFMOMA and other venues that reopened this week, the Conservatory of Flowers began welcoming back guests into its sun-soaked greenhouse on Friday.

There's nothing quite like finding yourself underneath the shade of a cultivated palm... that would otherwise only be found half-way across the planet. Greenscapes and nature spaces continue to exist as a much-needed balm amid the pandemic — and one of San Francisco’s most iconic conservatories has once again reopened to the public.

Just before the weekend, the Conservatory of Flowers opened its doors to garden-goers again — though with some modifications.

"Guests will be required to wear face coverings and the Conservatory will limit the number of visitors to 25% of its normal capacity to ensure social distancing," the greenhouse says in a release on its reopening. The conservatory is also enforcing strict social distancing protocols and requires guest to stay at least six feet away from one another; much like the San Francisco Zoo, onlookers will be guided through one-way walkways to avoid congestion; face coverings must be worn by all visitors (and double masking, too, has its scientifically-proven advantages).

To make the indoor green space more accessible to the masses, the conservatory is also continuing its free admission days, which are presently on the first Tuesday of every month.

"Admission to the Conservatory will continue to be free every first Tuesday of the month," the greenhouse continues. "The Conservatory will also continue offering free or reduced admission through Museums for All, a program to bring free or reduced admission to San Francisco residents who receive public benefits, including Medi-Cal and CalFresh."

Purchasing "e-tickets'' in advance of your visit is encouraged. For more information on the Conservatory of Flowers's updated admission guidelines, as well as ticket prices, visit conservatoryofflowers.org/reopening.

And for those keener on staying rooted inside their dwelling, you can always take a virtual tour of the iconic hothouse, here.

Related: SFMOMA Reopens This Weekend With Pandemic-Themed Exhibit; deYoung Reopens With 'Calder-Picasso'

San Francisco Zoo Now Open to the General Public

Image: Twitter via @SFConservatory

The Asian Art Museum officially reopened to the public Thursday ahead of other local culture centers — like SFMOMA and the deYoung Museum — that plan on ushering guests through their exhibits again this weekend.

Now that San Francisco has entered the state’s "Red" Tier, which allows for 25% capacity at museums, the Asian Art Museum opened its doors to the public today (at reduced capacity), while still maintaining its healthy roaster of digital programs and virtual exhibits.

SFMOMA and the deYoung, meanwhile, are doing members-only previews before allowing the public back in Saturday and Sunday.

“The Asian Art Museum offers new worlds to explore and, with every visit, provides a place of inspiration, insight, and, above all, community — whether you stop by on-site or online,” says Jay Xu, Barbara Bass Bakar Director and CEO of the Asian Art Museum, in a press release. “During a time of increased anti-Asian racism and violence, our exhibitions and programs demonstrate the necessity not just of visibility and representation, but of speaking out in the face of oppression and injustice.”

Museum-goers will need to buy their tickets in advance and reserve a time slot — all of which are spaced fifteen minutes apart — before entering; once inside, everyone must abide by safety guidelines proposed by the City and State, as well as the museum, that will help “enable comfortable convenient visits.”

Also: Admission will be free the first Sunday of every month, including Sunday, March 7, allowing everyone to visit the museum’s new exhibits, among which are meant to shine a light on Asian American “togetherness, hope, and resilience.”

“Our new contemporary installations provide the unique perspectives only artists can offer on subjects like togetherness, hope, and resilience,” Xu continues. “As one of our featured artists, Chanel Miller, says, ‘Art requires imagination, and imagination is the key ingredient to empathy.’ These are the values that will sustain us now and through the end of the pandemic.”

One such exhibit, “After Hope: Videos of Resistance,” offers an imaginative leap that depicts how we can create new, different worlds tied together by both unity and diversity. The museum describes the “joy, pleasure, and bravado” present in the multimedia experience (featuring some 54 short videos from over 60 creators) like a YouTube confessional video — an especially timely analogy, given how much time we’ve all spent on the platform these days.

More spaces across its two full floors have been recently renovated with new galleries including other large-scale exhibits like “Zheng Chongbin: I Look For the Sky,” “Memento: Jayashree Chakravarty,” and others.

“Our current program of temporary art exhibitions and special installations speak to this moment’s universal need for a change of pace and scenery, political and social engagement, and healing,” Xu concludes. “We can't wait to welcome you back.”

The Asian Art Museum is currently open Thursday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Tuesday and Wednesday; the museum’s cafe will still remain closed.

For more information on how to plan your visit, as well as the COVID-19 protocols the museum is enforcing, click here.

Related: SFMOMA Reopens This Weekend With Pandemic-Themed Exhibit; deYoung Reopens With 'Calder-Picasso'

After Three Months Stuck In the 'Purple' Tier, SF Turns 'Red,' Allows Indoor Dining and Workouts to Resume

Image: Courtesy of Asian Art Museum

Yosemite National Park closed almost two weeks ago after the 748,000-acre green space was damaged by strong storms. Though the park might reopen as soon as Monday, its famous thicket of redwoods at Mariposa Grove will remain off-limits to visitors for some time.

2020 was a fiery hellscape for California’s parks as historic wildfires, wind storms, and growing populations of invasive species scorched and scared protected parklands. And 2021 is already proving to be an unsettling echo of past problems for our state's national parks after a strong windstorm maimed Yosemite earlier this month. But after being closed since January 19 for repairs and servicing, the postcard-darling greenspace might reopen to the public tomorrow — however, the same can't be said for its Mariposa Sequoia Grove.

As reported by the Chronicle, Yosemite National Park released a statement (and coinciding alert) which hinted that the park could reopen as soon as Monday. Whenever the park does reopen, the park has stated "El Portal Rd (HWY 140), Big Oak Flat Rd (Hwy 120 from the west), and Hetch Hetchy Rd" will also open in tandem, as well.

All this said: many parts of the park will still remain closed when Yosemite again starts ushering guests through its gates — which in 2019 numbered 4,586,463 visitors.

"Areas south of Yosemite Valley (including Badger Pass, Wawona, Mariposa Grove, South Entrance, and Wawona Rd will remain closed," reads an alert from the park. The Chronicle also noted that another statement from the park proved that there is currently no timeline for when the Mariposa Grove will reopen; its unclear if Badger Pass, Wawona, and the other still-closed parts of the park are also without reopening timelines.

Recent snow flurries  — with each adding between 6" to 15" of new snow accumulations — have forced the Tioga Pass entrance and Tioga Road to close for the season.

Starting February 8, those entering the park in cars, trucks, or other vehicular means of transportation will need to make a reservation in advance to enter Yosemite National park, per its amended COVID-19 social-distancing policies. The $2 reservation fee is also in addition to the $35 automobile park entrance fee, which will still apply for both annual or lifetime park pass holders.

Related: 170 People Possibly Infected With COVID in Yosemite Valley After Virus Found in Sewage

'Firefall' Ablaze at Yosemite This Week [2019]

Image: Getty Images/agaliza

After contending with yet another shutdown — one that dealt even more financial blows to our local zoological facilities — the San Francisco Zoo has, once again, reopened to the general public.

It's no news that we here at SFist adore our endearing Bay Area zoos.

2020 not only left our regional wildlife parks struggling to stay financially solvent, but it was also a year that saw Maki, San Francisco Zoo's 22-year-old ringtailed lemur, get snatched by a thirty-something man — who then apparently left the stolen primate monkeying around near a Daly City daycare. Things, thankfully, are at least looking on the sunnier, less destitution-heavy side of things for the SF Zoo as staff began welcoming back general admission guests this weekend.

Prior to Saturday, the zoo was open to only those with a membership — which you can sign up for one, here.

Like we mentioned prior: Zoos and aquariums also rely heavily on ticket sales from visitors, as well as in-park purchases, to sustain their operations. And those revenue streams had all but dried up overnight when the zoo closed its doors in early December.

Outings at our local zoos remain among the safer COVID-friendly activities you can do. The San Francisco Zoo gone as far as to employ surveillance technology to ensure guests are wearing masks, while simultaneously leaving all indoor displays off limits to patrons out of an abundance of caution.

Every outdoor exhibit also features well-spaced, oneway passages to avoid crowding; hand sanitizer bottles and handwashing stations are plentiful. Like before it closed, the San Francisco Zoo will still require reservations to be made in advance.

When purchasing your ticket, you'll be instructed to review the zoos' COVID-19 safety protocols and policies, as well as choose the timeslot you wish to choose.

Currently, only the San Francisco Zoo is open to the public — but the Oakland Zoo isn't far behind and is expected to resume operation on February 3.

To go the extra mile in supporting our zoos, consider donating to their ongoing conservation and public education efforts. Both the SF Zoo and Oakland Zoo are 501(c)3 non-profit organizations, meaning a donation toward each is a tax-deductible act of charity; monetary contributions will also go toward supporting veterinary work and other animal care services.

You can learn more about donating to the San Francisco Zoo, here; visit oaklandzoo.org/donate-to-oakland-zoo to support the Oakland Zoo.

Related: Oakland Zoo, SF Zoo Closing Monday Due to Stay-at-Home Order

Strolls Through San Francisco and Oakland Zoos Offer Flashes of Pre-Pandemic Normalcy

Oakland Zoo In Danger Of Closing As Lockdown Orders Linger

Image: Courtesy of @sfzoo via Marianne Hale

With the Bay Area's ICU capacity now over 23% — a massive improvement from the last reported ICU availability rate of just 6.5% — the region now falls under the state's criteria for leaving its current stay-at-home order.

Pandemic-wise, things are improving in our slice of California. The past seven days have seen the opening of mass vaccinations sites, more COVID-19 vaccine doses coming to the Bay Area, and, chiefly among these positive updates, the region's ICU capacity significantly increasing to 23.6% — prompting some health experts to consider this past surge (and the string of restrictions it's caused) something we can leave in the past.

“I really want to stress this, that I firmly believe this is our last surge and this is the last time that those restrictive lockdowns will occur, because of the availability of the vaccine,” says UCSF Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Monica Gandhi to KPIX. “Because of the new administration and the federal government pushing it out, signing the National Defense Act."

Gandhi also noted to the local news outlet she's encouraged by the region’s ICU availability and has seen COVID-19-related hospitalizations drop at Zuckerberg San Francisco General, where she works.

However, the elephant in the room remains: Will the state's current stay-at-home order be lifted? The Bay Area does, in fact, meet the criteria for it to be removed — but it's not entirely clear when this could occur. (Most of the Bay Area's eleven counties, including the City and County of San Francisco, also have specific COVID-19 restrictions that differ from state-mandated ones, so it's a bit murky which ones may or may not stick around.)

As the Chronicle describes, lifting the present lockdown order would permit the Bay Area to resume activities allowed under the state’s purple tier restrictions; these include such things like outdoor dining, safely mingling with more people outside of your immediate household, and allowing hair salons and other personal care services to resume indoor services.

The state uses a complex formula (that still remains ambiguous, at best) to predict any single region's ICU four-week availability rates. Sacramento region’s order was lifted when its ICU availability was at about 9% — so this is promising news for denizens of the Bay Area.

This update, too, comes after Mayor Breed hinted Friday that some of San Francisco's COVID-19 restrictions could soon loosen as the city's "COVID-19 reproductive rate" continues to drop.

Nevertheless: Don a mask, take social distancing seriously, and for all that's holy in the world... don't jetset to Puerto Vallarta come spring.

Related: Three Mass Vaccination Sites Opening in San Francisco; Oakland's RingCentral Coliseum to Also Become Vaccination Site

Bay Area Sees Another Spike In COVID Deaths, With 250 More Dead in 3 Days

Mass-Vaccination Site Soft-Opens at City College — No Walk-Ups Allowed

Image: Getty Images/beerkoff

The other shoe finally dropped at noon Saturday when Mayor Breed took to Twitter to announce that SF has fallen into the state's "purple" tier status — and will comply with California's limited stay-at-home curfew (which requires people to stay indoors from 10:00 p.m. to 5 a.m.) starting Monday.

As part of a lengthy thread on Twitter, the San Francisco mayor announced today that San Francisco has slipped back into the state's "purple" (widespread) tier status — its most restrictive — amid an "aggressive" surge of COIVD-19 cases. At one point, San Francisco was the only large urban area in California that managed to find itself in the far less restrictive "yellow" (minimal) tier; the city had progressed into the "red" (substantial) tier over the past few weeks as COVID-19 cases surged.

“This is the most aggressive surge SF has seen to date,” Breed writes in a tweet Saturday afternoon, adding that “we’re currently averaging 118 new cases per day compared to 73 per day in the first week of November...For the week of November 16th, we had 768 diagnosed cases compared to 217 diagnosed cases the week of October 12th.”

Now, like over 97 percent of the counties in California, San Francisco has found itself back into the widespread risk level.

San Mateo also entered into the "purple" tier today,  joining the six other Bay Area counties that are already in the same situation. Currently, Marin County is the only one in a more relaxed tier; it's now in the "red.”

As a result of the city's new COVID-19 risk level, many indoor activities — like indoor dining — will either shutter completely or need to operate at reduced capacities; outdoor playgrounds, skate parks, gyms, and zoos can also continue operating.

Starting Monday, November 30, San Francisco will also enforce the limited stay-at-home order's curfew.

“Activities conducted during 10 PM to 5 AM are often non-essential and more likely related to social activities and gatherings that have a higher likelihood of leading to reduced inhibition and reduced likelihood for adherence to safety measures like wearing a face covering and maintaining physical distance,” the state said in a statement regarding the curfew published by the Eater SF.

Capping her Twitter thread on the announcement, Breed went on to write that "we have to get this under control now[,] and we can't afford to let things continue at this rate."

"Please, please do your part and encourage those around you to do the same," she concludes.

The City has also implemented a travel advisory, urging residents not to travel outside of the city or state... and those that do should quarantine for at least fourteen days.

Related: San Francisco Likely Slipping Into 'Purple' Tier Next Week, Curfew to Follow

San Francisco Reverts To 'Red' Tier; Five Bay Area Counties Slide Back to 'Purple' As COVID Cases Proliferate

'We Must Triple-Down': San Francisco Officials Announce Closure of Offices, Reduction of Gym Capacity

Image: Courtesy of covid19.ca.gov

Mayor Breed and San Francisco Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax announced Friday that some SF businesses — mostly in the beauty industry — can start offering certain outdoor services beginning Tuesday of next week.

It’s been a trying time for our city’s nail technicians, massage therapists, and, frankly, any professional who makes a living by helping people feel and look their best. A bit of relief, however, is on the horizon after San Francisco officials said today that people working in certain sectors of the beauty industry can resume some outside services starting September 1.

Per NBC Bay Area and the Mayor's Office, the following services can start up again this coming Tuesday — outdoors:

• haircuts
• barber services
• massages
• nail services

“All businesses in San Francisco are struggling, and while many have been able to reopen with modifications in place, providers of personal services like hair salons, barbershops, and massage studios have remained shuttered,” Breed said in a press release. “This has created a huge financial challenge for their owners and employees, and I am so glad that those businesses will soon be able to reopen for outdoor service. We know it won’t be seamless to operate outdoors, but we stand ready to support programs like Shared Spaces and health and safety [guidelines] so that people can get back to work while also protecting themselves and their clients.”

But in that very same statement from the City, one line has left many scratching their heads: Outdoor gyms and fitness centers can reopen starting September 9, 2020.

“We are as confused as you are,” said co-owner of MX3 Fitness and representative of the newly established SF Independent Fitness Studio Coalition Dave Karraker in a reactive release about the odd nod to gyms and fitness centers. “Mayor Breed announced that outdoor gyms and fitness centers can open starting September 9, 2020. In fact, gyms in the San Francisco Independent Fitness Studio Coalition have already been operating outdoors since July as part of the City’s much-hyped Shared Spaces Outdoor Business program.

“This has been widely covered by local media,” Karraker continued, later adding that the City has still announced no plans as to how they're going to “reopen the dying fitness industry.”

Moreover, Breed and Colfax declared earlier Friday that once San Francisco is removed from the State’s watch list, the City is to put primacy on “gradual opening of classrooms, services that support the development of children, and other activities that can occur outdoors.”

Related: Workout Studios and Boutique Gyms In San Francisco Push Back On Reopening Delay

Half Of SF Restaurants Are Non-Operational, Restaurant Receipts Down 84 Percent, According to Credit Card Data

SF Transportation Officials Are Talking About Downtown Congestion Pricing Again, Way Ahead of Traffic Returning

Image: John Arano

As we slowly transition back to a point of pre-coronavirus normalcy, counties across the state are seeing swells in COVID-19 cases. However, a California Health and Human Services (CHHS) official claims these spikes are because of increased testing — and not due to businesses reopening.

This past Thursday and Friday, around 7,200 new coronavirus cases were reported across California; yesterday, 28 new cases were reported in San Francisco. Not much earlier this spring, such a climb in numbers would've caused health experts and officials to raise red flags and warning signs en masse, calling for even stricter shelter-in-place regulations. However, a high-ranking member of that same cohort now appears less inclined to point a finger at the state's reopening plan, suggesting increased testing availability is the reason behind these sudden flare-ups.

“We’ve ramped up testing in an extraordinary way, nearly hitting our goal that was set for August — not June, not July, but August — of getting to 60,000 to 80,000 tests a day,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's secretary of Health and Human Services, said Friday during a press conference. “We’re already knocking on that door, averaging in the [mid- to high-50s] over the past few days across the state.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, CA officials are predicating their containment and quarantine strategies around the state's positivity rate — the percentage of people that test positive for COVID-19 out of all those screened for the disease — and daily COVID-19-related hospitalizations, specifically ICU admissions. Ghaly notes that an increase in the state's positivity rate would imply an increase in community transmission, while an uptick in hospitalized cases might suggest the possibility of the state's healthcare system becoming overly taxed and unable to cope — and, perhaps, that the virus is mutating into a more severe strain.

Ghaly iterates these case increases we're seeing are because of widespread testing efforts and not related to community spread.

“I think it’s natural, that it’s easy to just focus on the number of new cases," he adds, per the Los Angeles Times. "But I think that’s really anchored — if you’re not seeing a tremendous uptick in the number of hospitalizations in the right timeline or … ICU cases, that’s really connected at least in California’s case to an increase in testing. So I think it’s always important to kind of have that in the context.”

Ghaly continues saying that he and his department will "still stay vigilant and watchful over the movement of COVID-19," so the public can acclimate back to some semblances of familiarity as safely as possible.

As state officials continue to allow more businesses (like movie theaters, gyms, and beauty parlors) to reopen, counties will still have the final say in implementing those newly approved regulations at whatever pace they see fit.

Case in point: San Francisco's "Phase 2B" that allows for al fresco dining is already in motion, with "Phase 3" — which will include fitness centers, nail and hair salons, and places that sell "nonessential healing art" — not expected to go into effect until mid-August.

The John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center’s map put the current worldwide COVID-19 case count at 7,719,770; research conducted by the Global Policy Lab at UC Berkeley suggests 530 million infections were avoided as a result of social distancing and other preventive measures.

Related: Berkeley Study Suggests Social-Distancing Measures Prevented 530 Million COVID-19 Infections By April

Highly Suspicious COVID-19 Antibody Testing Site Raises Scam Concerns in San Jose

Three Dozen Workers Test COVID-Positive at One East Bay Hospital

Image: Unsplash via Mika Baumeister

The online apartment booking site says it actually had more bookings for the Memorial Day holiday this year compared to last year, and its delayed IPO may be back on for 2020.

If you’ve checked Airbnb lately, you may have seen how overnight stays in San Francisco are currently running well less than half of their previous $200 a night average. The sudden, curious uptick in “fully furnished” apartments on Craigslist was confirmed by the Chronicle last week in a report that “a lot of Airbnb listings are being offered as regular apartments now.” This is all because the larger travel industry has been wrecked by COVID-19, but Airbnb in particular has enraged its host community by allowing free cancellations

Yet there are some preliminary signs of a rebound, or at least travelers dipping their toes in visiting not-far-away locales. A CNN report on KPIX today says that “Airbnb revealed that it had more US bookings between May 17 and June 3, which encompassed Memorial Day on May 25, than the same time period a year earlier.” In other words, the platform supposedly saw more bookings in late May 2020 compared to late May 2019.

That claim comes from a longer interview with Bloomberg, and the unverified information comes from Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, who notes that people are booking getaways that are fairly close driving distance from their actual homes.  “People, after having been stuck in their homes for a few months, do want to get out of their houses; that’s really, really clear,” he told Bloomberg. “But they don’t necessarily want to get on an airplane and are not yet comfortable leaving their countries.”

Chesky has not always been entirely straightforward, and you’ll notice he’s cherry-picking the statistic of bookings and not, you know, revenue. Further, Bloomberg ran the question past analysts at the independent Cowen & Co., who reported that “Airbnb queries are down only around 10 percent.” Queries (searches) and bookings are two different things, but the discrepancy still makes you go hmmm.

It is credible that a combination of reduced prices, the lifting of sheltering orders, and increased remote work capabilities did fuel a Memorial Day weekend spike of family trips or romantic getaways. The site says that they saw an uptick in bookings in, according to Bloomberg, “exclusively traditional vacation rental markets such as Big Bear Lake in southern California, the Smoky Mountains, along the Tennessee-North Carolina border, and Port Aransas in Texas.”

You will recall that Airbnb laid off 25 percent of its workforce in early May, but this Memorial Day booking surge has Chesky again chatting up the company’s long-delayed IPO, originally scheduled for this year, back when we expected 2020 to be an “I.P.O.-palooza” that would make the city “drown in millionaires.” Chesky told Bloomberg, “We’re not ruling out going public this year and we’re not committing to it.”  

SFist has had plenty of fun mocking Airbnb over the years, and the company’s negative effect of the Bay Area housing stock has continued to be a problem. But make no mistake, we are delighted to see any indication of an economic recovery, and in the travel sector, these little trips on the non-traditional vacation lodging platforms may be where the rebound begins. Airbnb may have seen the first sign of that, though they have not fully furnished us with the proof.

Related: For Pandemic Safety, Airbnb Launches New Cleaning Protocol and 3-Day Buffer Rule Between Guests [SFist]

Screenshot: Airbnb

You’ve still got 10 days to move your car, but street sweeping tickets will resume their weekly nuisance to your routine on June 15.

One of the sweet perks of our endless shelter-in-place nightmare has been the lax enforcement of commonly ticketed transit misbehaviors, like hopping the Muni for free, or failing to move cars for designated street sweeping time slots. But just as some of the little joys in life will begin returning on Monday, June 15, like outdoor dining and limited in-store retail shopping, a number of the San Francisco nanny-state nuisances will begin to return that day as well. KRON4 reports that street sweeping tickets will resume on June 15 as well, per a Friday morning announcement from Mayor Breed and the SFMTA.

“At the beginning of the Stay Home Order we wanted to ensure that people who were sick were able to isolate themselves without needing to leave to move their vehicles,” Mayor Breed said in a statement to the Examiner. “Now as we’re reopening, we’ve reached the point where we must resume parking enforcement so that we can clean our streets.”

Breed added that, “We’ll of course continue waiving tickets for people who face issues related to COVID-19.”

Street sweeping has continued to take place since shelter-in-place came down, but the trucks have had to just go around any unmoved, parked cars they've encountered. Ticketing enforcement has not been happening, but Breed asked us in early May that if we could just move our cars on the honor system that’d be great, mmmkay? Rather, she implored at a press conference that, “For those of you who are able bodied and are not sick and can get up and move your cars for street cleaning, I am asking for you to do that,”

KRON4 also has the fun fact that 18,000 vehicles failed to move out of parking slots for street cleaning. Given that we are now on Day 80 of shelter-in-place, that breaks down to about 225 cars per day blocking the street sweepers. Which… seems like a totally normal number of daily street cleaning violations?

The difference, of course, is that you will now once again get a ticket for a street cleaning violation. And as we attempt a return to normalcy and get back to business amid sudden enormous deficit conditions, you can expect the city to try digging its way out by issuing as many tickets and citations as possible. We already saw this pre-COVID-19 with the Sunday and evening parking meter proposal, and we should probably expect more ticket issuance across the board as the city opens back up.

In other words, time to work on your excuses for how your expired meter tickets, car parked in street sweeping zones, or lack of proof-of-purchase for Muni fare are “issues related to COVID-19.”

Related: Supervisor Haney Wants To Break Up Public Works, Create New Agency That Just Cleans Streets [SFist]

Image: Joe Kukura, SFist

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

After a long restoration process, the Palace of Fine Arts will reopen today. The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department and the Maybeck Foundation plan on throwing a grand celebration at 10 a.m. today at Lyon Street and Marina Boulevard. "The monument, built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, has required a few restorations over the decades, including the most recent one that started in 2004," reports BCN. "Crews repaired the palace's dome, restored the nearby lagoon, seismically upgraded the site, and added new entrances and pathways, among other improvements." [SF Appeal]