San Francisco on Tuesday announced its latest reopening plan, including the first steps toward resuming in-person school classes. The combined city-county devised the plan in response to California’s new four-tier system, which indicates COVID-19 risk level for each county.
Indoor malls will be allowed to open at limited capacity, but haircuts, massages and nail services can resume outdoors only, even though San Francisco’s relatively lower risk category allows for indoor operations.
Mayor London Breed acknowledged that would not sit well with everyone.
“We know this is not what people wanted,” she said. “I sure don’t want to get my hair done outside, I’m going to be honest, so I get it. But this is what we have to offer.”
She left open the possibility of permitting indoor personal services by the end of September if the city continues to see a decline in cases.
Starting Sept. 9, San Francisco will also allow gyms and fitness providers to reopen in outdoor spaces only. In addition, officials are looking at opening other sectors permitted under its risk category, including hotels, indoor museums and places of worship.
Besides San Francisco, the only other Bay Area county the state has color-coded red — the second-highest risk level — is Napa. The rest of the region is stuck at purple, indicating the highest level of risk.
The city also announced it has sent more than 50 elementary schools an application for resuming in-person classes with limited capacity, to be approved in two to four weeks.
“The goal is for in-classroom learning to resume on (a) rolling basis, starting with the youngest children,” the city said in a news release.
— Jon Brooks (@jbrooksfoy)