Mayor Breed says update on San Francisco childcare, summer camps will come Friday

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Breed gives update on reopening SF amid COVID-19 crisis

San Francisco's Mayor London Breed is giving an update after saying the city may be weeks away from next phase of reopening amid coronavirus crisis

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Mayor London Breed is giving an update on the coronavirus pandemic in San Francisco.

Mayor Breed said the city was preparing to announce new childcare and summer camp options for children and more details would come Friday.

The mayor also seemed to indicate the city's first day of retail curbside pickup on Monday went off without a hitch.

"I stopped by Green Apple bookstore in the Inner Sunset," she said. "I was so happy to buy a book, I just didn't know what to do with myself. It felt good to go out to the community and to support this incredible institution."

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Breed encouraged San Franciscans to shop local as much as possible.

"Rather than making that next purchase on Amazon, maybe consider finding a place in your community and trying to shop at the local stores that may have availability for pickup and delivery," said Mayor Breed.

Breed also applauded the Great Plates Delivered program, which delivers three meals a day from local restaurants to seniors. (More on the program here.)

The mayor and San Francisco Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax gave an update on the city's response to the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, saying they are closely monitoring five indicators that will impact how the city will progress in easing shelter-in-place restrictions:

Confirmed positive cases
Hospital capacity (the city is at 6 percent right now for COVID-19 cases and officials do not want to see a rate of 20 percent or higher)
Testing (the city is conducting 1,000 a day and officials are looking to increase that to 1,800 a day)
Increased contact tracing
Personal protective equipment

Right now, SF is in Phase 2A, Dr. Grant gave an estimate that it could take two to four weeks to enter Phase 2B, but clarified that restrictions could be varied based off the five indicators. Phase 2B would adapt retail to open for indoor services, reopen schools, offices and childcare.

Dr. Colfax said it would take at least a month to enter Phase 3, but again stressed that it would be contingent upon the data from the indicators.

In Gov. Newsom's afternoon briefing on Monday, he hinted even more reopenings would be allowed at the state level shortly. Pro sports, hair salons, churches may reopen as early as the first week of June.

"I'm hopeful, but I want to be clear that we are although coordinating with the governor's office, we have to use the data locally here in San Francisco to make a determination as to whether or not we can move into any of those phases," Breed said in an interview with ABC7 News.

When asked if the city could see the same prediction of reopening salons, churches, perhaps even sports games in a few weeks, the mayor said it wasn't likely.

"The likelihood we would get there sooner rather than later is contingent on all of our behaviors," Breed said. "So, I don't think we're going to be there as of June first, but it's looking better than it's looked in some time, so I'm hopeful about the future."

Breed said the city is more likely to transition to Phase 2B in two to four weeks instead.

Earlier on Monday, Mayor London Breed announced three new testing sites that will open in underserved areas of San Francisco.

"These new testing sites help make testing more convenient and accessible for San Franciscans, especially people who are most at-risk and communities that have been hardest hit by the virus," said Mayor Breed. "As we continue toward universal testing, it's critical that we focus on reaching communities that have historically been underserved and that don't have as many testing resources available to them."

A mobile testing site will begin offering walk-through COVID-19 testing in the Tenderloin on Wednesday, May 20. It will initially operate at the Tenderloin Recreational Center, after which it will move to another high-need neighborhood.

A second COVID-19 testing site will open Monday at the City College Student Health Center. It will be open to any California resident.

A third testing site will be in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. The Bayview Child Health Center, the city and partner organizations will be bringing testing directly to families in their neighborhood from Wednesday, May 20, through Friday, May 22, and continuing every Friday thereafter for the foreseeable future.

See more details about these new testing sites here.

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