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Public health leaders say San Francisco has flattened the curve but face questions on testing, congregate settings and homeless response
Summary
San Francisco’s health director and health officer briefed supervisors on May 12, saying the city’s COVID‑19 measures have reduced transmission; supervisors pressed officials for clearer plans and testing capacity for congregate settings and people experiencing homelessness.
San Francisco Department of Public Health leadership told the Board of Supervisors on May 12 that the city’s early pandemic actions have driven the estimated transmission rate for COVID‑19 below 1 and that local hospitalizations have remained steady. Supervisors used the briefing to press for concrete plans addressing testing, nursing homes and people living outdoors.
Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the Department of Public Health, and Dr. Tom Aragon, the city’s public health officer, said the city’s “shelter‑in‑place” and subsequent directives helped “flatten the curve.” Colfax noted the city’s mortality rate was materially lower than some other large U.S. cities and emphasized the need to “follow the science” as the city considers incremental reopening.
Health staff presented indicators they will monitor going forward: hospitalization and ICU use, testing volumes and percent positive results, contact‑tracing capacity targets and personal protective equipment (PPE) inventories. Dr. Aragon and modeling partners explained that even limited increases in movement can push the estimated reproductive number (R) above 1, which would allow cases to grow again.
Supervisors asked detailed follow‑up questions. They pressed for clarity on testing availability for asymptomatic people in high‑prevalence neighborhoods, regular testing protocols for long‑term‑care facilities and the homeless population, and the legal and operational options for using hotels or other sites for isolation and shelter. Dr. Aragon said the department is prioritizing clinical and congregate settings (for example, long‑term‑care facilities) and is scaling mobile testing teams, but acknowledged capacity, supply chains and operational logistics limit how quickly universal testing can be implemented.
On long‑term‑care facilities, DPH said it is prioritizing Laguna Honda and the Jewish Home and is implementing repeated testing of residents and staff; the department described a plan to test congregate settings on a roughly two‑to‑four‑week cadence as resources permit.
Supervisor Ronan and others pressed Dr. Aragon to issue a public‑health order requiring shelter or other interventions for people living outdoors; Dr. Aragon said he and City Hall staff conferred with the city attorney’s office about the legal framework and the department is coordinating with human services, but he declined to issue an immediate unilateral order at the hearing and said the city was pursuing hotels and other placements for people with medical vulnerability.
Supervisors and speakers said they remain concerned about the pace of testing in lower‑income neighborhoods and in congregate living situations and asked DPH to return with a detailed operational plan and timeline.
Ending: DPH committed to continuing to scale testing, contact tracing and protective equipment inventories and to return to the board with additional details on testing roll‑out and congregate‑facility strategies.
