The city of San Francisco has lifted a 10-day quarantine order for residents who’ve traveled outside of the Bay Area, city health officials said Tuesday.
The local health order was implemented in December as the city and the state were experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, but as cases appear to be dropping significantly, the city’s Department of Public Health has lifted the order.
Currently, the city is seeing an average of 89 cases per day, down 76 percent from 374 cases per day in January, at the peak of the recent surge.
Although the local quarantine order has been lifted, health officials are continuing to urge residents to avoid non-essential travel outside the Bay Area and out of state. Residents who do so are still being advised to quarantine for 10 days.
“Lifting this order does not mean that it’s now safe to just hop on a plane or go on a road trip,” SFDPH Acting Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip said in a statement. “This is not a travel free-for-all. We’ve made tremendous progress and brought our case numbers down, but we need to keep our guards up. The growing prevalence of variants, some of which were brought from abroad, is further proof that we must be extra cautious. If we do everything we are supposed to — wear our masks, practice physical distancing, avoid indoor gatherings with other households — we can continue to reopen businesses, schools and community activities. Voluntarily quarantining after traveling out of state or 120 miles from home helps protect everyone. Let’s go forward, not backward.”
According to health officials, travel, especially in shared vehicles like airplanes, buses and trains can increase a person’s chance of getting and spreading COVID-19.