The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) announced six more cases of COVID-19 Saturday, bringing the total number of infections in the city to eight. Also, as a means to hinder the advance of coronavirus, SF has blocked all "non-essential" public gatherings at "city-owned facilities."

The SFDPH released a public statement yesterday in which they broke the news that six more cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the city, an announcement made shortly before City Hall enacted an order suspending all "non-essential" public gatherings at city-operated facilities for the next twelve days.

"These newly confirmed cases are an indication of the increasing circulation of coronavirus in the community, as expected, given the patterns in our state, region and our own city," said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Health, in the document, published by Bay City News Service.

What's also notable about these new infections is that the virus appears to have affected a wide array of ages: The three men and three women are all either in their 20s, 40s, or 50s. All, too, had contact with a previously confirmed COVID-19 case.

SFDPH is strictly monitoring the patients and members of their immediate families to safeguard their well-being, while also protecting the public from unnecessary exposure: "San Franciscans should remain calm, and take appropriate steps for heightened precautions," Colfax added.

In light of the recent uptick in cases, the City of San Francisco has also decided to stop all "non-essential group events" — which are described as any gathering or meeting of more than 50 people — at “city-owned facilities,” per a recent order from City Hall. These facilities, as made clear again by Bay City News Service, include the following centers: "The Moscone Center, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, the New Conservatory Theatre; the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center; the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre; the San Francisco Public Library (100 Larkin St.) and Piers 27 and 35."

Also, under this order, public events at city-owned venues may resume come March 20th — but that date is malleable; an extension to the said order is likely. Starting tomorrow, SFDPH will post an aggregation of confirmed cases and updates on them, a list that'll be refreshed daily.

There are now nearly 110,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the globe, according to data gathered from John Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

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