Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Covid19 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
San Francisco pauses planned Nov. 3 reopening as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise
Summary
Director of Health Grant Colfax announced the city is pausing a planned Nov. 3 expansion of indoor activities after a rise in cases and hospitalizations; officials cited a 28% uptick in hospitalizations and warned hospitalizations typically lag cases by two weeks.
Grant Colfax, Director of Health, told the San Francisco Health Commission that the Department of Public Health has paused planned additional reopening scheduled for Nov. 3, citing an increase in local COVID-19 cases and a rise in hospitalizations.
"Because of our increases in cases, we made a decision on Friday to pause further reopening," Colfax said, adding the pause affects greater indoor capacity for dining, indoor worship and museums. Colfax said the department took the step to avoid the need to reverse reopenings later, which would be disruptive for businesses.
Colfax reviewed local metrics presented to commissioners: he reported 149 deaths to date, noted that Latinx residents account for just under half of reported cases, and said testing in San Francisco compares favorably with many peer jurisdictions. He also said hospitalizations rose from 21 to 34 patients and that the local effective reproductive rate had increased from 0.79 to about 0.83.
"The increase is important to emphasize — it's that slope of the way the virus spreads," Colfax said, urging continued masking and precautions. He warned that hospitalizations are a lagging indicator and can be expected to rise in the next 10 days to two weeks if case counts continue to climb.
Commissioners pressed staff on whether reopening activities such as indoor dining, retail or school reopening could be tied to the increase. Colfax said contact tracing has not identified a single, highly specific cause and cautioned that multiple factors — indoor gatherings, ventilation, mask use and travel during holidays — influence risk.
The department emphasized system capacity remains robust and that PPE inventories remain high. Colfax and commissioners said the pause seeks to balance public health protection with minimizing disruptive stop-start changes for businesses. The commission did not take a separate formal vote on the pause during the public session; the announcement was presented as a department policy decision.
