San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Tuesday the city has moved to the orange tier of the state’s reopening guidelines, meaning more businesses can reopen starting as early as Wednesday morning.
With the move, bars and breweries will be able to serve customers outdoors, and non-essential offices and indoor family recreation activities can resume at 25 percent capacity.
Additionally, outdoor pools can reopen at 50 percent capacity while indoor pools can reopen at 25 percent capacity. Indoor sports for youth and adults can also reopen at 25 percent capacity.
Also, under guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, small indoor gatherings at homes will be allowed for up to 12 people from up to three different households.
Breed said next, the city is anticipating allowing outdoor festivals, theater, and musical performances for up to 50 people starting on April 1.
Transmission rates in the city continue to trend downward, with the city seeing just 31 new cases daily on average, similar numbers to November, just before the city experienced a holiday surge.
The latest wave of reopenings comes just three weeks after the city exited the state’s most restrictive purple tier and entered the red tier, allowing for places like indoor restaurants, gyms, museums and movie theaters to reopen. Breed said the latest move signals hope the city will recover from the pandemic.
“This year has been so tough on so many — from our kids and families to our small businesses and their employees — and this move to the orange tier and reopening more activities and businesses than we ever have since last March gives us all more hope for the future,” she said.
So far, nearly 40 percent of San Franciscans have received their first dose of the vaccine, according to city officials.
Despite progress in combatting the virus, city officials are encouraging residents to continue getting vaccinated and wearing masks, among taking other precautions, as variants of COVID-19 have been detected in California and the risk of infection remains.
“Our collective efforts have saved countless lives, but we are not ready to let our guard down just yet without more vaccine and the ongoing threat of variants that spread rapidly. We need to keep up the good work so that we can continue on this forward trajectory,” San Francisco Department of Public Health Dr. Grant Colfax said. “The light at the end of the tunnel is shining brighter every day, we just have to get more vaccine and buckle down a little longer until we reach the end.”