AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
San Francisco is officially the first Bay Area county to enter the “Yellow” Tier in Governor Gavin Newsom’s plan to reopen the economy.
California officials announced the city will leave the “Orange” Tier and enter the least restrictive “Yellow” Tier on Tuesday. The reopening changes go into effect Wednesday morning. San Francisco has not seen these restrictions lifted since it was in the “Yellow” Tier last October.
“This is an incredible milestone for us to hit as we move forward on our path to recovery, and it is possible because of how well we are doing in our efforts to vaccinate everyone we can in this City and how well the people of San Francisco have done listening to public health officials,” said Mayor Breed.
ABC reports, The Yellow Tier allows:
- Hair salons: open indoors with modifications
- Retail: open indoors with modifications
- Malls: open indoors with limited food court capacity
- Nail salons: open indoors with modifications
- Electrolysis: open indoors with modifications
- Personal care services (body waxing, etc.): open indoor with modifications
- Tattooing and piercing: open indoors with modifications
- Museums, zoos and aquariums: open indoors with modifications
- Places of worship: open indoors at 50% capacity
- Movie theaters: open indoors at 50% capacity
- Hotels: open with modifications, plus their indoor pools can open, spas can open, and fitness centers can open at 50% capacity
- Gyms: open indoors at 50% capacity, plus saunas, spas, steam rooms and indoor pools can open
- Restaurants: open indoors at 50% capacity, capacity may increase to 75% if all guests show proof of negative test or full vaccination
- Wineries, breweries and distilleries: open indoors at 50% capacity or 200 people, whichever is fewer
- Bars: open indoors at 25% capacity
- Family entertainment centers: open indoors at 50% capacity including arcades, ice skating, roller skating, and indoor playgrounds
- Cardrooms: open indoors at 50% capacity
- Non-essential offices: encourage telework but can reopen in-person work spaces
- Professional sports: outdoor stadiums can have audiences up to 67% capacity
- Schools: can reopen for in-person instruction after five days out of the purple tier
- Theme parks: can reopen at 35% capacity
- Live performances: outdoor only at 67% capacity (allowed indoors at limited capacity starting April 15)
Breed explained,” “The Yellow Tier means that no longer are there any businesses that are required to keep their doors shut in this City, and it means we are continuing to allow more activities to be done safely with more people. To keep this progress up, we need every San Franciscan over the age of 16 – and hopefully soon over the age of 12 – to get a vaccine. While we know that we all need to continue to need to be careful, the more people that are protected, the more we can do.”
“Today marks a bright spot in this City’s fight against COVID-19. Our arrival at the yellow tier is due to everyone’s collective commitment to following the public health guidelines,” stated Acting Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip.
Counties aiming to move tiers must do the following:
Requirements to Advance Tiers:
- 21 day mandatory wait time between moves
- Meet metrics for next tier for 2 straight weeks
- Counties only move 1 tier at a time
- Assessed weekly
Requirements to Move Back Tiers:
- Fail to meet the current tier’s metrics for 2 straight weeks
- Emergency brake for concerning factors like hospitalizations
