covid-19 - SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports (Page 6)

Of Course There Are Unauthorized Testing Sites Popping Up In SF as COVID Tests Get Scarce

File under: We should have seen this coming. With at-home test kits scarce, appointments impossible to find, and lines snaking around blocks at city-authorized walk-up sites, some enterprising but shady characters have launched pop-up COVID testing sites around town that are not at all legit.

Omicron Surge Should Peak Shortly In Bay Area, Says UCSF Prof — and We Need to Rethink All This Panicked Testing

An emergency medicine specialist at UCSF is one of many experts saying that after this surge abates, we've got to start living with this virus as like a weirder common cold.

SF COVID Testing in Meltdown, as Lines Stretch Several Blocks, Results Taking Multiple Days

Mayor Breed announced a testing surge Tuesday morning, but it may be too little too late, as people are standing in line for hours and waiting several days for COVID-19 test results.

Tuesday Morning Topline: Napa County Reaches Full Capacity In ICUs

The SFPD is investigating the first SF homicide of the year in SoMa, 146 students in Stanford dorms are currently isolating with COVID, and Napa County has just reached its regular ICU bed capacity — though not just because of COVID.

Day Around the Bay: SF Clocks State's Third-Highest COVID Transmission Rate

SF now has the third-highest COVID transmission rate in all of California, Apple just became the first U.S. company worth $3 trillion, and the NYT had a piece ready to publish today on the "Epic Rise and Fall of Elizabeth Holmes."

COVID Hospitalizations In SF Cross 100 For First Time Since September; Bay Area Number Doubles Since Mid-December

The first days of the new year look depressingly similar to the first days of last year, with COVID cases once again surging and hospitals filling up from a spike in holiday-season infections.

Monday Morning Headlines: State Begins Unique Study of COVID Antibody Prevalence

Oakland's first homicide of the year happened on New Year's Day, Willie Brown calls London Breed's Tenderloin tough talk "very bold" and "grandmotherish," and California is launching a unique study of COVID antibody prevalence across the state's diverse population.

San Francisco Is Poised for 'Undeniable Hospital Surge’ of COVID-19 Cases

UCSF Department of Medicine Chair Dr. Bob Wachter — who has become a touchstone on Twitter for understanding the state of the COVID-19 health crisis — noted that the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has been steadily rising, though it’s not likely to overwhelm SF hospitals.

Arts & Entertainment

SF Sketchfest 2022 Postponed Indefinitely Due to — Well, You Know Why

The delayed 20th anniversary of the comedy festival Sketchfest is delayed yet again, but organizers insist “Hang on to your tickets!” for a future rescheduling.

Top UCSF Doc Says That We Could Be in ‘A Pretty Good Situation in February’ Where COVID Is ‘Like the Flu’

An optimistic but data-rich tweetstorm from UCSF Department of Medicine chair Dr. Bob Wachter lays out the case that we could be on the verge of finally subduing the COVID-19 menace, albeit after a very rough January.

A Whole Lot of December's COVID Cases In SF Are In the Marina

San Francisco's whitest neighborhood, the Marina, is experiencing its highest COVID case rate of the pandemic this month — and in a turnaround from last year's trends, it's currently seeing the city's lion's share of new cases.

Arts & Entertainment

Should We Go to That Big SF New Year’s Party? We Asked Leading UCSF Doctors

Several New Year’s events with hundreds or even thousands of guests are still planning to pop the corks. Infectious disease experts worry this means we’ll drop the ball and ring in new superspreader-y times.

[Update] SF and Other Bay Area Counties Begin Rescinding Mask-Order Exceptions Amid Omicron Surge

You'll need to put your masks back on in gyms, offices, and places of worship in San Francisco and Contra Costa counties, and other counties with similar exceptions in place since October are signaling similar moves.

SF Sees Four Consecutive Record-Breaking Days of COVID Cases; Hospitalizations Rise Across State

The last four daily totals of new COVID infections from the San Francisco Department of Public Health are higher than any others previously in the pandemic, as Omicron rages across the region. But should we be as anxious about this as in previous surges?

Quelle Surprise! Cruise Ships Once Again Walloped With COVID-19 Outbreaks, Passengers Can’t Disembark

In another sign of wealth absolutely not correlating with intelligence, multiple cruise ships are swimming in COVID-19, as outbreaks among passengers and crew have ships of fools unable to disembark at their destinations.

Daily New COVID Cases In SF the Highest Recorded Since January

While the data from the city remains five days behind, San Francisco is experiencing a COVID surge right now that will likely eclipse last winter's in sheer numbers — but hopefully not in hospitalizations or deaths.

Business & Tech

Fancy Las Vegas Gadget Convention CES Is Still On, Despite Omicron, and Absolutely Everyone Pulling Out

Organizers of the usually trend-setting trade show CES are determined to play chicken with surging COVID-19 case rates, but their biggest brands and keynote speakers are dropping out minute by minute.

San Francisco Offering Drop-In Booster Shots at Four Locations

As Omicron appears to be driving a spike in daily new cases in the city and across the country, the San Francisco Department of Public Health is shouting from the rooftops to get everyone a booster shot.

Omicron Almost Certainly to Blame As San Francisco Cases Surge; Two Studies Suggest Variant Is Less Severe

As opposed to last year's holiday season, there is a mix of good and bad news with this Omicron surge, even though the virus seems to be spreading at a very fast clip.

Court Rules Family Can Sue See’s Candies for Husband’s COVID Death Resulting From Wife’s Workplace Infection

A new state appeals court ruling says that a household member can sue a company if the company’s negligence brought a fatal case of COVID-19 into the household, and See's Candies allegedly did just that.

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

Zuni Cafe to Start Requiring Booster Proof For Indoor Dining Next Week

In a sign of things to come in San Francisco, Zuni Cafe announced that it is going to begin requiring not just full vaccination but also proof of a booster shot for indoor dining starting next week.

Holiday Party In Larkspur Leads to 28 COVID Infections, Omicron Suspected

A holiday party in Marin County ten days ago where all attendees were vaccinated led to an outbreak of at least 28 cases of COVID, and health officials believe the Omicron variant was to blame.

Omicron Community Spread Apparent In 3 Mission Cases; Restaurants In SF and Oakland Temporarily Close Out of Caution

A likely deluge of new COVID cases is on the horizon for the Bay Area, due to the Omicron variant and despite widespread vaccination.

San Francisco Might Have at Least 30 Unconfirmed Omicron Cases

The Omicron variant now makes up at least 3% of all new documented COVID-19 cases in the United States. Since the city reported its first case of the variant on December 1, another 30 unconfirmed Omicron infections might have already been recorded in San Francisco.