San Francisco announced Thursday that it is extending home quarantine orders for 10 days.
Both orders will remain in effect until California lifts the home order for the entire Bay Area. Even then, San Francisco officials will reassess coronavirus-related data, such as the availability of the intensive care bed, to make sure they feel comfortable relaxing current restrictions.
“We have been proactive in establishing the home stay and quarantine order to protect San Franciscans and in the hope that by acting quickly, we can flatten the curve and reopen faster,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. “This seems to be working, but we need more time to decide that we are going in the right direction and that the December holidays are not holding us back. There are glimmers of hope and now is not the time to give up.”
The travel quarantine order, which was implemented on December 17, requires people traveling to San Francisco outside the Bay Area to be quarantined for 10 days.
The order of residence at home of the city and the county entered into force on December 3. Two weeks later, the state was requested by the state under its regional residence order, due to the availability of ICU beds in the Bay Area region falling below 15%. The state could lift the order for the Bay Area as early as Jan. 7, but San Francisco doesn’t expect that to happen because of the rising number of cases and increased taxes.
San Francisco said both health orders appear to have slowed the rate of infection.
“Although cases continue to grow, they are growing at a slower pace than when the orders were implemented,” the city and county said in a statement. “As a result of our collective actions, we may have prevented more than 400 deaths.”