San Francisco has joined more than 30 other counties on California’s “watch list” due to a rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations, Mayor London Breed said today.
“On April 11, we had 94 people in the hospital. By mid-June we were down to as low as 26 people. We’re now back up to 80 people in the hospital,” Breed said.
When a county is added to the state’s “watch list,” officials are required to close all indoor activities. Because of San Francisco’s early stage of reopening, the main difference will be closing all malls and non-essential offices.
Breed said the county will continue to pause its reopening indefinitely.
The mayor also announced a new health order starting July 20, that requires private health care providers to increase testing by providing same-day testing for patients with coronavirus symptoms and those who have had close contact with people confirmed to have Covid-19.
“Additionally, private hospitals must provide testing to asymptomatic workers in jobs with risk of exposure,” Breed said. “The delays we’re seeing in testing cannot continue.”
San Francisco Department of Public Health Director Grant Colfax warned that the average age of people hospitalized with Covid-19 symptoms since July 1 is 41 years old.
As of today, San Francisco has reported a total of at least 4,985 confirmed cases and at least 52 deaths.