Another reopening setback
New high for state cases: Indoor dining off in S.F.; Napa reclosing venues
San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Tuesday that the city will not allow indoor restaurant dining to resume next week as planned, the latest setback in a fight to control a virus that is exploding anew across California, which recorded a record 9,000plus new cases in a 24hourperiod.
Officials in Napa also confirmed the county will be forced to take a step back in reopening by shutting down indoor dining, wineries, tasting rooms and other venues.
Santa Clara County, which unexpectedly
gained approval from the state to move into its next phase of economic recovery, will proceed with an abundance of caution, officials said.
Tuesday saw the highest number of new coronavirus cases in a day: 9,114, breaking a record set on Monday of 8,638, according to data collected from California’s 58 counties by The Chronicle.
After a weekend dip, the number of people hospitalized with COVID19 in the Bay Area ticked up on Tuesday to 504 patients, according to state data. Hospitalizations surged in the past several weeks to a high of 508 patients on Friday. Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties reported singleday hospitalization increases on Tuesday, while hospitalizations in Solano, San Francisco and Alameda counties dropped.
Indoor restaurant dining and outdoor bars were scheduled to resume in San Francisco on July 13, provided rates of new infections and hospitalizations remained low. But as the virus roars back across the country, city officials have been forced to pause those plans.
“We are seeing an increase,” said Breed, during a news briefing. “Our numbers along with numbers all over the country are going up. And we are not out of the woods yet.”
While emphasizing the importance of putting reopening plans on hold to protect public health, Breed acknowledged the heavy toll the city’s demands have taken on small businesses and the deepening scars being left on the local economy.
“To protect public health, we are creating other challenges for small businesses,” she said, adding that “over 153,000” San Franciscans have already filed for unemployment benefits. “We don’t take these decisions lightly,” Breed said.
San Francisco currently has no date for when indoor restaurant dining will be allowed.
Teague Moriarty, owner of the Michelinstarred San Francisco restaurant Sons & Daughters, had a full slate of indoor dining reservations lined up for July. He said he understands why the city hit pause on its plans.
“When we’re seeing the case counts rise everywhere it doesn’t feel safe to us either,” he said. “I’m not going to put my staff at risk.”
City health officials are evaluating whether to move ahead with plans to allow businesses like barber shops, hair salons, museums, gyms, pools, zoos and others to reopen July 13.
The rates of new COVID19 diagnoses in San Francisco are currently more than three times above where public health officials would like them to be, according to Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax.
Hospitalizations have seen a 25% increase over the past week.
“At this rate, it could potentially overwhelm our health care system and cause many deaths if we don’t get a handle of this right away. I want to make sure San Franciscans understand how serious and precarious our situation is,” Colfax said, urging residents to continue wearing masks in public and washing their hands frequently, and to avoid crowds as much as possible.
“I do trust the city to tell us when it’s safe to eat inside,” Moriarty said. “This reinforces that.”
On Tuesday, the state abruptly reversed course on Santa Clara County’s application to move faster toward reopening, which it initially rejected over the weekend.
Santa Clara health officials confirmed that businesses not listed as “highrisk” are now approved to reopen with social distancing and mask requirements starting July 13, and outdoor dining can continue.
But the officials emphasized caution, as the county promotes risk reduction through individual responsibility.
“This new order does not mean, ‘We’re open, let’s get back to our lives!’ We need to conduct our lives differently,” Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said during a news briefing Tuesday.
As part of the new order, gatherings of up to 60 people outside and 20 inside are allowed.
Highrisk businesses that must remain closed include those that would require removing a face covering, such as bars, gyms and smoking lounges.
“We are not going to have indoor dining anytime soon,” Cody added.
Businesses that have already opened in Santa Clara County must submit new documents outlining socialdistancing protocols to the county on or before July 13.
“The success of dealing with this virus depends on individual responsibility, not what businesses are open,” said Santa Clara County Executive Jeff Smith, reasserting the need for residents to wear face coverings in public and avoid large gatherings.
Santa Clara, which was previously on the state watch list of counties that are showing warning signs of coronavirus spreading at concerning rates, was removed from the list over the weekend.
“I’m sorry for the confusion this has caused,” said Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez. “This is our first pandemic. We’re learning as we’re going.”
The state is closely monitoring 23 of California’s 58 counties, including Contra Costa, Marin and Solano in the Bay Area, because of their high rate of new infections, positive tests or increasing hospitalizations.
After being removed late last week, the state added Contra Costa County back to the list this week.
Contra Costa reported another 214 cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, and Santa Clara recorded an additional 70 cases. The latest confirmed cases bring Contra Costa’s total since the start of the pandemic to 4,082, and Santa Clara’s to 5,478 in all.
Napa County health officials said they would again shut down dinein restaurants, bars, indoor winetasting rooms and other businesses as cases spike in the region.
The county announced Monday that the restrictions would take effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. The businesses on the list, which also include indoor and outdoor breweries and bars, will have to remain closed at least through July 30.
Northern California counties that have moved forward with plans to reopen their economies are now struggling to find people willing to resume their old routines.
Bay Area public transit services are seeing a sluggish rise in ridership as people cautiously return to trains, buses and ferries amid the coronavirus pandemic.
San Francisco, which is stuck in “Phase 2b” of its reopening plan, is finding that its tourist areas are still reeling from the effects of the pandemic.
Fisherman’s Wharf hotel rooms, which are usually full at this time of year, have a meager 29% occupancy. About 80% of rents on the port side of the wharf went uncollected in April, and tourist spots struggle with business down as much as 90%.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has indefinitely postponed its planned July 13 reopening, the aquarium announced on its website. After a surge in infections in Monterey County, Gov. Gavin Newsom last week added the county to the coronavirus watch list.
The number of patients hospitalized with COVID19 in California rose to 5,989 on Tuesday, marking the 18th day in a row the number increased, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. Hospitalizations have increased 15% in a week. There are 1,740 patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus being treated in intensive care units.