SF Wins State Approval to Reopen Indoor Dining at Restaurants

California health officials have allowed San Francisco to move up a tier in the state’s COVID-19 reopening blueprint.

Under the state's color-coded four-tier blueprint of reopening guidelines, only counties at the “orange” (moderate spread) level may reopen non-essential indoor businesses with some modifications.

So far, San Francisco is the only Bay Area county that has qualified for that tier. Starting Wednesday, San Francisco will move forward with reopening indoor dining at restaurants and bars that serve food, provided restaurants operate at 25% capacity or with 100 people, whichever is fewer.

The city is also moving forward with reopening indoor places of worship with the same 25% capacity restriction on Wednesday — and plans to reopen movie theaters at 25% capacity on Oct. 7.

California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly warned that the state still has the authority to move counties back into a more restrictive tier.

“When a county isn't able to move forward through the blueprint, they will have to hit pause,” he said at a press briefing Tuesday, adding that a number of counties did not meet the criteria to advance to a new tier this week.

— Shannon Lin (@LinShannonLin)