Next Tuesday, majority of the COVID-19 restrictions San Franciscans have lived under for over a year, will all be lifted with just a few exceptions. Mayor London N. Breed and Health Officer Susan Philip confirmed yesterday that San Francisco will align with the State's reopening plan on Tuesday, June 15th, and remove nearly all local COVID-19 restrictions, including capacity limits, physical distancing, and masking requirements.
Mayor Breed said regarding the June 15 reopening;
The people of San Francisco have done an incredible job during this pandemic of listening to our public health experts and following the guidance to keep each other safe.Together we have saved thousands of lives. On June 15, we will be taking an incredible step forward by aligning our reopening with the state. I'm excited that the City is coming alive again and I can't wait to see what lies ahead for San Francisco. Please continue to do your part make sure that you and everyone you know—friends, families, neighbors—are getting vaccinated so we can finally end this pandemic.
These are the exceptions where restriction will still remain:
Large events and specific institutional settings with heightened risk
Extremely large events such as planned public or social occasions that include over 5,000 participants or spectators indoors and over 10,000 outdoors.
Restrictions will also not be lifted on specific institutional settings such as acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and jails. San Francisco may implement additional health and safety requirements in these institutions.
Mask Mandate
Over the coming days, San Francisco will review the State Masking Guidance to consider any additional guidance or requirements.
For now, fully vaccinated people are not required to wear a mask, except at some mega events of over 5,000 people, public transportation, and limited high risk environments.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health will require proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test at indoor mega events and if only self-attestation is required, all attendees must wear masks.
Everyone should still wear face coverings on public transit due to a federal mandate that applies on all transit ( airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, ride-shares) and is set to last until September 13.
San Francisco businesses will return to usual operations for attendees, customers, and guests.
With the elimination of the State’s tiered reopening system and local health directives for industry sectors, San Francisco businesses will return to usual operations for attendees, customers, and guests.
Health order changes include the elimination of local capacity limits as well as local requirements for physical distancing, masking, and operational procedures and protocols in almost all instances.
San Francisco will lift much of its health order sector-specific restrictions and rescind all business sector directives.
The exception applies to schools, childcare, and youth activities. Additionally, some regulatory agencies like the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) and industry specific regulatory agencies such as Alcohol Beverage Control, California’s Child Care Licensing Program, etc., will maintain requirements related to the prevention of COVID-19 in the workplace and other specific contexts.
Who would have thought 15 months ago that social distancing and mask wearing could soon be a thing of the past ?
The lifting of pretty much all restrictions is mainly due to the successful rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in San Francisco. Currently, almost 80% of eligible residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine and the city has the lowest death rate of any city in the United States. As of June 7, San Francisco case rate was 1.5 per 100,000, 25% lower than the state and representing a 96% decrease in San Francisco COVID-19 diagnoses since January.