IN BAY AREA, COPING WITH A NEW ERA
Emergency orders upend normal life as residents, businesses struggle to adapt.
SAN FRANCISCO — Hairstylists canceled appointments. Gardeners and construction crews showed up to work. A dog-grooming business deemed itself essential and kept its door open. Some liquor stores closed. Others didn’t.
All the time, cases of the coronavirus kept creeping upward.
During the first day of a “shelter-in-place” order in seven Bay Area counties Tuesday, compliance was generally strong but uneven in places, with some businesses uncertain whether they were required to close.
The order issued Monday requires residents to stay home until at least April 7. They may leave their homes only for essential needs, such as visiting grocery stores, pharmacies, doctors and relatives. Officials say the order seeks to prevent COVID-19 from overwhelming the healthcare system of a region where 7 million people live.
All nonessential businesses were ordered to close.
San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine said the order would likely be modified to clarify whether some businesses, such as lawn care, home construction and
autism support, are affected.
“My gardener called this morning and asked if he could work,” said Pine.
Because gardeners and small construction crews generally work outside, they are unlikely to pose a health risk, he said.
San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed announced a declaration that would waive some civil service and charter rules for hiring health workers, including nurses.
Typically, the city’s hiring process for nurses takes six months or more, she said. The change will allow the city to hire them “on the spot.”
Breed told a news conference that San Francisco’s streets were “fairly empty” Tuesday, with fewer bikes and cars but more people out walking “enjoying the outdoors.”
“So far its been OK,” she said, “but this is day one, and we have three weeks to go and maybe even longer. And it is important that people understand we probably need to be prepared for the long run.”
Freeways throughout the Bay Area bore only light traffic. Parking spaces were abundant.
At Crissy Field in San Francisco, only a few joggers, dog walkers and families took advantage of the clear sunny day to go to the beach. A lonely heron stood in a field with the Golden
Gate Bridge in the background.
Diyar Borak, a rug store owner from Mill Valley, was standing on the pier, fishing rod bent in a tight almost half-circle. “It could be a halibut,” he said to a curious onlooker. “I got one here a few days ago.” He counted only six other fishermen, a fraction of those who normally show up.
As he talked, the line broke on his rod. “Oh, well. maybe it was the big one,” he said with a shrug. “I just hope whatever it was, the lure isn’t stuck in its mouth. We don’t need anyone or anything else getting sick right now.”
In the East Bay city of Walnut Creek, the normally bustling downtown was mostly deserted Tuesday, as were shopping districts in Oakland and the South Bay.
Palo Alto’s University Avenue was a ghost town. All nonessential shops were closed, and restaurants were empty. The only visible lunch eaters were two sitting outside a Pizza My Heart.
Businesses and residents are subject to citation for violating the order, but elected officials said law enforcement was much more likely to issue warnings than citations.
Still, the threat of a sanction proved effective in some cases.
Janine Hedlund, 37, a hairstylist in Lafayette, texted clients Tuesday that she was canceling their appointments.
“What if somebody sees me doing hair and then call the police on me?” she said. “I want to abide by the rules.”
If Palo Alto police see a group of 20 construction workers huddled together, they plan to issue a gentle reminder, not a citation, said
Mayor Adrian Fine.
The San Francisco Police Department tweeted overnight that it would visit bars and nightclubs to ensure they were shut down.
Businesses that deemed themselves essential included Menlo Park’s Abbey Flooring, which reduced hours. Bow Wow Meow, a high-end pet product and grooming shop, also had its doors open.
“We provide pet products and services that people need,” said Amy Bearg, an executive assistant at the shop’s anchor store in San Francisco, describing services such as anal gland expression and hot spot shaving. “For some animals, these services are essential,” she said.
No region statewide has been hit harder by the coronavirus than the San Francisco Bay Area.
As of Tuesday evening, authorities had reported 356 cases and six deaths in the counties where shelter-inplace orders were issued Monday — Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara, as well as the neighboring county of Santa Cruz.
Overnight, the number of cases rose from 138 to 155 in Santa Clara County, from 42 to 64 in San Mateo County and from 40 to 43 in San Francisco.
Five of the deaths were in Santa Clara County, all people who were in their 50s or older. One death was in San Mateo County.