Mayor announces ‘shelter-in-place’ protocol
Screenshot from YouTube stream
Mayor London Breed announces a “shelter-in-place” protocol that will begin as of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and last through April 7. This protocol is part of the effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in San Francisco.
March 16, 2020
WEB EXCLUSIVE San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced today via a YouTube live stream that a “shelter in place” order for all San Francisco residents effective midnight tonight, requiring them to stay home except for essential needs in order to slow the spread of the virus until at least April 7.
Students are advised to come into school to pick up materials as soon as possible. Campus will be closed as of 6 p.m. tonight, according to an email from President Ann Marie Krejcarek.
Breed’s order came following a 14% increase in positive coronavirus cases in California, with 511 cases reported and six deaths so far. More than a third of all positive cases and two of the deaths were in Santa Clara County.
40 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Public Health Department as of 10 a.m. today.
The mayor’s order is not a full lockdown and allows citizens to leave their homes to handle essential business in limited circumstances like buying groceries or picking up medicine. All grocery stores will remain open as well as restaurants that offer takeout and delivery services, according to Breed.
Citizens will also be able to leave their houses to take walks and bring pets outside, however health officials require that people remain at least 6 feet away from other individuals and wash their hands for at least 20 seconds as often as possible.
Breed initiated a public health order with plans to spend $5 million to hire janitors to clean homeless shelters and city-funded single-room occupancy hotels daily. This fund will also go towards increasing shelters and SRO meal services to encourage the homeless population to stay indoors, according to Breed in a press conference on March 10.
The Mayor’s office announced that the city will be providing temporary housing, consisting of RVs stationed around the city, for members of the homeless population infected with COVID-19.
Unless providing essential services such as health care, police, fire and other emergency responses, everyone must work from home.
Breed announced a Workers and Families First Program plan today to provide paid sick leave to workers who are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Businesses included in the plan will receive funding for five additional days of sick leave pay for workers. This is a result of $10 million in public funding and can support over 16,000 additional weeks of sick leave pay and cover up to 25,000 San Francisco employees, according to the news release published by the Mayor’s office.
Daycares and veterinarians will remain open with some restrictions, as will laundry services.
All non-essential gatherings and travel are prohibited.
Public transportation and BART will remain open only for essential travel and will run regular services today with increased disinfecting, according to the BART website. There will be press availability with the director of the Municipal Transportation Agency at 3 pm.
Enforcement of residential permits, 72-hour limit parking and vehicle towing is temporarily suspended, according to a post on Twitter from the SFMTA.
These guidelines will apply in six counties including San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda affecting a total population of 6.7 million people combined, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
