Mayor Breed says city doubled testing capacity, pledges more supplies and school support amid Omicron surge

San Francisco Mayor London Breed told the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 11 that the city has expanded COVID-19 testing capacity and is distributing masks and rapid antigen tests to schools and community partners to respond to a surge of Omicron cases.

"The Department of Public Health has doubled its capacity over the last month and is now averaging over 10,000 tests per day," Breed said during a special mayoral appearance at the start of the board meeting. She said the city will continue to press private providers to meet testing obligations under a 2021 Department of Public Health health order.

Breed said the city has sent an initial shipment of rapid antigen tests to the San Francisco Unified School District and planned further shipments. "This is part of 150,000 rapid antigen tests we are distributing this week," she said. Breed said the city also is providing 500,000 surgical masks for students and 150,000 KN95 masks for staff.

Why it matters: Supervisors raised testing and school access repeatedly during the meeting, saying long lines and limited private‑sector testing capacity were slowing in‑person learning and burdening essential workers. The mayor framed the effort as both an immediate surge response and a long‑term adjustment to "living with COVID" that requires sustained public…