San Francisco Mayor London Breed makes the right call to save lives

Rolling back reopening prioritizes public health

CALPIRG

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Tuesday that the city would shut down all indoor dining following a 250 percent increase in COVID-19 cases. Gyms and movie theaters will be required to reduce capacity, and high school reopenings are paused.

Emily Rusch, executive director of CALPIRG, issued the following statement in response:

“The past few weeks have seen COVID-19 surging across the country, and San Francisco is not immune. By rolling back some of the most high-risk activities where people gather together indoors, Mayor Breed is protecting public health. However, the quickest and most effective way to curb the spread of the virus is closing all non-essential businesses and ensuring people stay home.

Thanks to quick initial action and a slow, cautious reopening, the city has been praised widely for containing the virus. We risk losing that progress now, so the mayor should go even further than today’s announcement.  Making the hard call now will save lives and help us get through the winter as safely as we can.”

Read CALPIRG Public Health Campaigns Director Matt Wellingon’s piece on “How many lives will we choose to save?”

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California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) is a statewide nonprofit that works to protect consumers and public health.