San Francisco recorded just 28 new COVID-19 cases between Monday and Tuesday this week, however the city's new case metrics are still well above the public health department's current goal, and thus outdoor bars and indoor dining have to remain on an indefinite pause.
We learned on Monday that indoor dining would not be resuming in SF as previously announced on July 13, much to the certain frustration of many restaurant owners around the city. In a Tuesday press conference, Mayor London Breed and Director of Public Health Dr. Grant Colfax said it "would not be responsible" to continue with these reopening steps given the direction that numbers are going.
"We need these numbers to go down," Breed said, pointing to the other pauses taking place in other nearby counties. She also pointed to the fact that public safety officials, non-profit workers assisting the city's homeless population, and healthcare and other frontline workers are traveling daily to work in San Francisco from other Bay Area counties. "What impacts one impacts us all. So this is not just about San Francisco. This is about the entire Bay Area."
Colfax echoed this, saying, "The virus does not know county lines and we must respect that it is increasing across the Bay Area," he said.
Referring to the fact that several Bay Area counties have landed on the state's watch list due to rising metrics and hospitalizations, Colfax said, "Although San Francisco is not on the watch list, that could change."
The stated goal in SF, as ABC 7 notes, is to have 1.8 new cases per day per 100,000 residents — that translates to fewer than 16 new cases per day. Over the holiday weekend, the city added over 200 cases, and an additional 28 on Monday.
As SFist reported last week, COVID hospitalizations across the Bay Area have been spiking since mid-June, in a possible sign of worse days to come.
"We flattened, and some would say we crushed the curve once, and we can do it again," Colfax said today. "If we do not, the consequences could be dire."
Napa County was informed Monday that it would most likely have to close all winery tasting rooms and indoor restaurants starting Thursday, due to rising case numbers there — including the single biggest one-day uptick the county has seen, with 60 cases added Monday. In an opposite move on Tuesday, Santa Clara County was informed that outdoor dining had been approved, following some confusion over the weekend with ABC agents raiding several area restaurants that believed they were operating legally.
Additionally, Contra Costa, Marin, and Solano counties are currently on the watch list along with 20 others.
A new, revised reopening schedule for San Francisco is expected to be announced later this week, with further details about dates for reopening hair salons, barbershops, nail salons, tattoo parlors, museums, as well as bars and restaurants.
Earlier: SF Won't Restart Indoor Dining Next Week; No Future Date Set