San Francisco on watchlist as COVID surges
Hospitalizations are on the rise as mayor says more businesses may have to close.
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Friday that the city has now been added to the state’s watchlist because of rising coronavirus hospitalizations, and implored residents to avoid gathering with others outside their households.
“We have a small window of time now to get our cases under control,” Breed said during a virtual news conference.
The mayor said the city’s reopening has been put on hold indefinitely, and if conditions fail to improve, more businesses and activities may be affected.
The city will issue a new health order Monday requiring private medical providers to give same-day COVID-19 tests to residents with symptoms, those who have been exposed to infected people and workers whose jobs put them at high risk for contracting the virus, she said.
Breed noted that she had tested negative for the virus a second time after being exposed to an infected person at an outdoor public event, “but this does not mean I am immune or I can get let my guard down going forward.”
Dr. Grant Colfax, who joined Breed at the news conference, warned that those being hospitalized are “not only the elderly and the most frail.”
In fact, he said, the average age of COVID-19 patients at San Francisco General Hospital since July 1 has been 41.
“Young people, middleaged people, older people are all at risk for this disease,” he said.
Breed told the story of a city disaster worker who had to isolate after her roommate contracted the virus.
The roommate had gone camping with about 15 people. The group vowed to wear masks when together and to distance.
But after a few days, “as is human nature,” the campers shared meals and the masks came off, Breed said.
One camper had cold symptoms, and the roommate returned with a cough and tested positive for the virus.
The city worker, who wore a mask around the roommate, tested negative, Breed said.
“Gatherings remain inherently dangerous, and you need to give a lot of thought about whether they are worth it,” Breed said.
Colfax said that the city has been doing 60% of the COVID-19 testing and that private health providers needed to step up.
Testing nationwide is suffering because of a lack of leadership from the federal government, he said, and some people have to wait a week to get an appointment for a test, then another a week or longer to get the results.
“The virus is moving very quickly,” Colfax said.
It took San Francisco 38 days to go from 2,000 positive cases to 3,000, but only 13 days to move from 4,000 cases to the nearly 5,000 in the city today, he said.
Colfax said Latinos continue to make up about 50% of the positive cases even though they represent only 15% of the city’ population.