U.S. San Francisco to reopen, expand more businesses and activities

SAN FRANCISCO, April 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Wednesday announced that the city will reopen and expand additional activities that are allowed by the state of California for counties assigned to the orange tier.

These activities include indoor live-audience events and performances and private events such as conferences and receptions. In alignment with the state's guidelines, San Francisco will also expand the number of individuals allowed to participate in indoor and outdoor social gatherings and will loosen some restrictions on other activities, including dining, outdoor bars, retail, and recreation.

New and expanded businesses and activities may resume starting at 8:00 a.m. Thursday as long as they comply with required capacity limits and other safety protocols, the announcement said.

"San Francisco is continuing to reopen and this latest round of activities and events that can start to resume is an exciting step for our city," said Breed.

Key criteria for the resumption and continuation of these expansions will be a stable or declining rate of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. As public health officials continue to monitor San Francisco's health indicators, the city may need to pause or roll back activities if data suggests that COVID-19 is significantly increasing within the community again, according to the announcement.

San Francisco has maintained a stable average of between 30 and 40 new COVID-19 cases a day since early March 2021 and is currently averaging 35 new cases per day.

Nearly 60 percent of San Francisco's population has received the first dose of vaccine. The city has also expanded neighborhood vaccine sites and mobile vaccine teams to Treasure Island, China Town, and other neighborhoods with high infection rates for COVID-19 and limited access to health care services to ensure equitable access to the vaccine, the announcement said.