San Francisco will allow outdoor dining and indoor shopping, religious services and sporting events without spectators as of June 15 and give barbershops and hair salons permission to reopen in mid July, the city’s mayor announced Thursday.
Mayor London Breed said nail salons, tattoo parlors, gyms and bars are scheduled to open in mid-August and in phases. But all dates are tentative and dependent on the city’s coronavirus numbers remaining stable or declining. Businesses will be allowed to deny entry to customers who are not wearing masks.
“The last thing we want to do is begin the process of reopening, see a surge of cases and then have to go back to closing the city completely,” Breed said.
San Francisco and five neighboring Northern California counties have led the way in slowing the spread of the virus, initiating the first shelter-at-home order in the U.S. even before California’s governor took action.
Thursday’s announcement indicates the counties are taking different paths as they balance the need for people to get back to work while the virus still lurks. San Francisco has reported more than 2,400 positive cases of coronavirus infections and 40 deaths.
San Francisco’s public health officials also announced a new mandate requiring people to wear a face covering in most situations they are outside the house. Anyone within 30 feet (9 meters) of someone not in their household will have to wear one, including people exercising.
The nearly 7 million people who live in the Bay Area counties of San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Marin remain under local shelter-in-place orders announced March 16, which have no expiration date.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has been on a reopening spree with rules allowing the bulk of the state’s counties to open malls, restaurants and hair salons, all with strict modifications. He also announced rules to allow religious services, which have been the source of outbreaks.
Earlier this week, Santa Clara’s health officer said the state was moving too quickly and urged smaller reopening steps so officials have time to measure the impact of loosening restrictions.
