SF Extends Travel Restrictions, Local Stay-at-Home Order

San Francisco officials on Thursday announced an extension of the city's travel quarantine and local stay-at-home order due to "ongoing regional [intensive care unit] capacity limitations and continuing increasing cases."

ICU capacity in the Bay Area region is currently at 7.5%.

In announcing the travel restriction extension, city officials cited the faster-spreading COVID-19 variant, which was recently found in Southern California. Officials say that strain is one of the reasons that San Franciscans should continue to reduce travel outside of the area.

The restrictions strongly discourage any nonessential travel, including between other Bay Area counties. It also requires anyone who comes to the city from outside the nine-county Bay Area to quarantine for 10 days.

That includes "returning residents, people moving to San Francisco, those working in San Francisco, and visitors," unless exempted from the order — like medical professionals and first responders. A full list of exemptions can be found here.

An extension of both orders will continue while the Bay Area remains under the state's mandatory shelter-in-place order, city officials said, which is set when regional ICU bed capacity drops below 15%.

Once the state's mandatory order lifts, city officials will reassess "key health figures" to determine if businesses and activities will be reopened. Those metrics include ICU bed availability, COVID-19 cases and other hospital capacity, city officials said.

In making their decision, officials noted it could take several weeks to know the extent of how gatherings during the holiday season, and New Year's, will impact the spread of the virus.

"We have been proactive in putting the stay-at-home order and travel quarantine in place to protect San Franciscans and in the hopes that by acting quickly, we could flatten the curve and reopen faster," Mayor London Breed said in a press statement. "This seems to be working but we need more time to determine that we are moving in the right direction and that the December holidays don't set us back. There are glimmers of hope and now is not the time to let up."

— Michelle Wiley (@MichelleEWiley)