San Francisco's New Phase of Reopening Starts on September 14

San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed, Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Health, and Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu, co-Chair of the City’s Economic Recovery Task Force, today announced San Francisco is moving forward with additional reopening on Monday, September 14. In addition to previously announced businesses and activities planned for mid-September, indoor personal services with limited capacity and indoor gyms with limited capacity will also be opening this coming Monday.

“I’m so glad we can move forward earlier than expected to reopen more businesses that have been closed since March. These businesses have been struggling, and starting Monday, they’ll finally be able to serve customers again, with the necessary safety precautions and modifications in place,” said Mayor Breed. “It’s on all of us to keep doing our part so that we can get more businesses reopened, get our kids back in school, and keep making progress on our economic recovery. Wearing face coverings when you go out, keeping your distance, and washing your hands will help us keep the rate of transmission down and will help San Francisco recover from this pandemic.”

San Francisco’s resumed reopening started on September 1 and will continue on Monday, September 14 with additional outdoor and indoor activities, including services that are opening earlier than the City previously announced. The businesses and services that will resume indoors with limited capacity include hair salons, barbershops, massage services, nail salons, gyms and fitness centers with limited capacity. Only those services where face coverings can be worn at all times by everyone involved will reopen at this time.

As previously announced, hotels, outdoor family entertainment centers, drive-in entertainment like outdoor movies, and outdoor tour buses and boats will also reopen on the 14th under rules for outdoor gatherings. Indoor museums and galleries may submit health and safety plans the week of September 14th and will be able to open as early as September 21st following submission of their plan to the Department of Public Health. Additional services, businesses, and activities will resume over the coming weeks and months as long as San Francisco continues to make progress on limiting the spread of COVID-19.

On Monday, September 14, Community Hubs will open in San Francisco to support students with distance learning. Given San Francisco’s recent success in slowing transmission, in-person learning and child and youth development activities will also be opened on a rolling basis. The goal is for in-classroom learning to resume on a rolling basis, starting with the youngest children, for whom distance learning has been the most challenging. The City anticipates in classroom learning with limited capacity for TK-6th grade will begin to resume September 21st for schools that have submitted a safety plan and have received approval. Other child and youth development activities are underway, including after-school programs and childcare facilities.

On Friday, August 28, the State issued new criteria and a colored-coded tiered system, which replaced the watch list. San Francisco was placed on the “red” tier, which provides the City the discretion to move forward with reopening some activities, including the activities that will resume on Monday. While San Francisco recognizes the State’s thresholds, the City will continue on a reopening path based on its local health indicators and unique challenges and successes and maintains the ability to open more gradually than what the State allows.

To support a safer reopening, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development is coordinating the distribution of free personal protective equipment for San Francisco’s small businesses. Small businesses that would like to request a 30-day supply of hand sanitizer, surgical masks, and face shields should coordinate with their nearest participating community-based organization. Program details and availability can be found online here.

“Given our local trend in COVID indicators, low-risk, limited capacity indoor activities may resume,” said Dr. Colfax. “We will continue our gradual reopening as it allows us to monitor the spread, manage its immediate challenges and mitigate the long-term impact on our city. Our reopening pace continues to be informed by our ability to manage the risk of more activity that may result in more cases and hospitalizations. Our success is contingent on everyone doing their part, including wearing face coverings, social distancing, and avoid large gatherings.”

“Our hairdressers, barbershops, nail salons, and gyms haven’t been able to operate indoor for months, and workers and business owners have shared the real urgency to reopen,” said Assessor Carmen Chu, Co-Chair of the Economic Recovery Task Force. “Today’s announcement makes it possible for businesses to begin to rebuild.”

“Today, as we prepare to reopen additional businesses indoors for the first time in months, it’s important to remember that our progress is not automatic or inevitable,” said Joaquín Torres, Director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. “In June, we had to pause our reopening due to an alarming uptick in the spread of the virus. Today, we’re able to move forward again, for the second time in less than a month, thanks to the personal sacrifices of so many San Franciscans to slow the spread. Let’s honor those sacrifices by continuing to do what’s necessary to stop this virus and keep reopening. Our small businesses are counting on us.”

The gradual reopening of businesses and activities will increase travel and interaction throughout the city, which means increasing community spread of the virus and an increase in cases. Public health officials will regularly assess the Key Public Health Indicators, particularly new positive case counts and hospitalizations to ensure San Francisco has the necessary resources available for those that are infected.

San Francisco’s reopening plan is available online at SF.gov/reopening. Reopening is dependent upon San Francisco’s Health indicators remaining stable or improving, and the plan is subject to change. All San Franciscans must do their part to limit the spread of COVID-19, including face masking, social distancing and hand washing. The reopening of most activities and businesses requires limited capacity and health and safety plans. San Francisco continues to evaluate ways to bring higher risk activities, including indoor movies, dining, bars, nightlife, and offices back safely.

San Francisco’s Path Forward to Reopening

Monday, September 14 – Low-Risk Outdoor and Indoor Activities

1. Indoor personal services, such as hair salons, barbershops, nail salons, massage services, tattoo and piercing, with limited capacity
2. Indoor gyms, including one-on-one personal training, at limited capacity
3. Hotels and other lodgings, including short-term rentals
4. Places of worship and political activities (one person at a time indoors for individual prayer or campaign office use; up to 50 people outdoors)
5. Outdoor tour buses and open-air boats, with limited capacity
6. Drive-in movies, with limited capacity
7. Outdoor family entertainment, such as mini-golf, batting cages, and go-carts, with limited capacity, (but not amusement park rides and playgrounds at this time)

September 21 – Indoor Museums, Zoos, Aquariums, and TK-6^th Grade In-Person Learning

1. Indoor museums, zoos, and aquariums at a limited capacity and with a submitted health and safety plan
2. In-classroom learning: TK-6^th grade on a rolling basis with approved health and safety plan

GOAL: End of September – Low-Risk Indoor Activities

1. Places of worship, with limited capacity (25% of capacity indoors, up to 25 people; up to 50 people outdoors)

GOAL: October – Middle School in-person learning

1. Middle schools, in-person learning, on a rolling basis with an approved health and safety plan

GOAL: November – High Schools, additional learning activities

1. High schools, in-person learning, on a rolling basis with an approved health and safety plan