Board unanimously backs health officer in seeking state variance to move further into reopening roadmap

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously June 16 to support the city's health officer in seeking a state attestation that would allow the county to progress further into California's COVID-19 resilience roadmap.

The board's vote directs the clerk to send a letter of support for the Department of Public Health (DPH) application for a variance that would let the county consider reopening sectors currently in the state's separate "variance" bucket, including hotels and tourism, certain personal services (tattooing and piercing), fitness centers, bars and certain other indoor activities.

Why it matters: The variance would not automatically open any particular industry. It would, however, permit the city to assess and sequence additional sectors locally, using DPH's public-health criteria and a risk-stratification framework developed with the city's Economic Recovery Task Force. DPH officials and task-force leaders told supervisors the city would continue to require phased, data-driven steps and layered safeguards such as testing, contact tracing and workplace guidance.

San Francisco's public-health leaders framed the attestation as a technical step to regain local flexibility. "We must…