While the latest COVID-19 surge has not hit San Francisco as hard as it has Southern California or other Bay Area counties, Mayor London Breed says she's “alarmed” by the city now averaging 237 coronavirus cases per day.
San Francisco still has more than a third of its ICU beds available, a much bigger cushion than in the region as a whole. The Bay Area’s capacity is currently a little less than 6%. Still, “We’ve never had so many people in the hospital with COVID at one time,” Breed said Tuesday, warning of another potential spike in cases driven by holiday gatherings.
“We won't know the full effect of the holidays for the next couple of weeks,” she said. “At this point, San Francisco and the entire Bay Area are under the stay-at-home order for the near future.”
The Bay Area region can break out of the state's mandated restrictions by climbing above 15% ICU capacity, though the city has said it wants to see at least 25% availability to lift its own, similar order, which predated the state directive.
Yesterday, officials began administering coronavirus vaccines to residents of San Francisco-run Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center. The mayor said that by Wednesday "all residents who want the vaccine will receive it.”
More from the city's Tuesday COVID-19 briefing: