San Francisco mayor orders strict new lockdowns as pandemic spirals

[rooster59]

San Francisco mayor orders strict new lockdowns as pandemic spirals

By Dan Whitcomb and Doina Chiacu

 

FILE PHOTO: San Francisco's Mayor London Breed speaks during the California Democratic Convention in San Francisco, California, U.S. June 1, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File Photo

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The mayor of San Francisco on Friday ordered new lockdowns and business restrictions across the Bay Area in the face of the COVID-19 surge, as political leaders nationwide ramp up pressure on Americans to stay home until vaccines can be distributed.

 

The new measures announced by Mayor London Breed, a first-term Democrat, apply across five Bay Area counties and are among the harshest of any major U.S. city, closing all personal services, outdoor dining and most public gatherings.

 

"What we are seeing in our city, our region, our state and our country is a virus that is taking over," Breed, 46, said in announcing the new clamp down.

 

California Governor Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat, said on Thursday he would impose similar stay-at-home orders statewide, to take effect region-by-region as intensive care beds reach capacity.

 

Breed said she was unwilling to wait for Newsom's mandate to take effect in the Bay Area, adding: "If you're not working to stay ahead of this virus you're falling far, far behind and very quickly."

 

Starting at 10 p.m. this Sunday, San Francisco will close all outdoor dining, outdoor playgrounds, zoos and aquariums along with other measures, according to a statement on the mayor's website.

 

"Low contact retail such as pet grooming, electronics or shoe repair services, may only operate in a curbside drop-off context," the statement read. "All other retail, including grocery stores must reduce capacity to 20%."

 

Both Newsom and Breed have been criticized after dining on separate nights in November at the same posh Napa County restaurant, the French Laundry, despite repeatedly admonishing Californians to avoid such outings.

 

More than 213,830 new cases and 2,861 deaths were reported on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally of official data. With U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations also at record levels, some experts project the death toll could soon surpass 3,000 per day.

 

The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation now projects nearly 539,000 COVID-19 deaths by April 1, almost double the current death toll, even as vaccines start to become available.

 

'FIRST IN LINE'

 

The spiraling pandemic has prompted state and national political leaders to order increasingly aggressive countermeasures while Americans wait for governmental approval of vaccines developed by drug companies Pfizer Inc and Moderna

 

The two medications could soon receive emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, clearing the way for the inoculation of some 20 million Americans by the end of the year, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

 

"I will be first in line and I will encourage my family to take this vaccine," Hahn said.

 

The U.S. government's first shipment of a vaccine will be shared among states and federal agencies, including the Department of Defense. But it will fall far short of protecting high priority groups such as healthcare workers, a Reuters analysis has found.

 

"For the time being, and the foreseeable future, the demand for vaccines is going to exceed the supply by a lot, even for the highest priority groups that are identified," said Josh Michaud, the Kaiser Family Foundation's associate director of global health policy.

 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said on Friday he expected to see another surge in infections following the Thanksgiving holiday, when many Americans traveled to visit family.

 

"We really have to intensify our public health measures," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC's "Today" show.

 

Fauci also said he has accepted President-elect Joe Biden's offer to be his chief medical adviser.

 

Biden, a Democrat who defeated Donald Trump in the November election, has said that upon taking office on Jan. 20 he would enact mask mandates where he has authority, such as federal buildings and for interstate travel.

 

"On the first day I'm inaugurated ... I'm going to ask the public for 100 days to mask, just 100 days to mask, not forever, 100 days," Biden told CNN in an interview on Thursday.

 

Biden also told CNN he would get vaccinated publicly, as former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have pledged, in order to boost public confidence in the medications.

 

The latest IHME projection showed that if mask-wearing increased to 95%, combined with the expected vaccine rollout, approximately 66,000 lives could be saved, compared to a vaccine rollout scenario with current mask-wearing levels remaining the same," it said in a news release.

 

"Even with a vaccine, if states do not act to bring current surges under control, the death toll could reach 770,000 by April 1," the IHME news release said.

 

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey, Julie Steenhuysen, Rebecca Spalding, Carl O'Donnell, Peter Szekely, Anurag Maan, Daniel Trotta and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Bill Tarrant and Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-05

 

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[Tug]

God this pandemic sucks thanks donald for letting it get to this point what a epic fail

[mr mr]

53 minutes ago, Tug said:

God this pandemic sucks thanks donald for letting it get to this point what a epic fail

 

partially agree. also.... san francisco is an epic fail as well. 

[Ireland32]

1 hour ago, mr mr said:

 

partially agree. also.... san francisco is an epic fail as well. 

You can’t afford it I reckon , yeah I have a lovely Victorian on Twin  Peaks , 2 Units Prop 13 Life is Good 

[Ireland32]

1 hour ago, Somchai Jackson said:

There is a criminal who needs to be tossed into jail for crimes against humanity and covid genocide.  Thankfully we have smart people like Breed and Newsom who will lock the country down and force people to stay inside and get off the streets if that is what is needed to stop this plague.  These are people with courage.  Leave your home and go to jail.  Don't wear a mask and go to jail.  Deny covid and vaccinations and go to jail.  But good bay area people will do the right thing.  But they need to throw the maskless covid deniers in jail if they dare leave their houses.  That is what it is going to take until everyone American in forced to take the vaccinations.  Soon i hope.

President Biden will ask the Nation to wear mask for 100 days that’s a Start 

[Eric Loh]

7 hours ago, Tug said:

God this pandemic sucks thanks donald for letting it get to this point what a epic fail

If America has real democracy, Trump would have been ousted by a formal vote of no confidence by members of a legislature or similar deliberate  body. 

[Chomper Higgot]

6 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

If America has real democracy, Trump would have been ousted by a formal vote of no confidence by members of a legislature or similar deliberate  body. 

He would have never been President, he has never had the majority vote of Citizens.

[Scott]

Inflammatory, troll post and reply removed.   Posting false or misleading information will earn suspensions.  

 

[Kelsall]

On 12/5/2020 at 1:44 PM, mr mr said:

 

partially agree. also.... san francisco is an epic fail as well. 

Sad, but true.  I'm glad I was there when it was arguably one of the best cities in the world to live in. Since then, forty five years of Democratic party "leadership" has led to where it is today.  The City by the Bay continues to dig itself in deeper.  Epic fail indeed.

Edited December 6, 2020 by Kelsall

[Sujo]

19 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Sad, but true.  I'm glad I was there when it was arguably one of the best cities in the world to live in. Since then, forty five years of Democratic party "leadership" has led to where it is today.  The City by the Bay continues to dig itself in deeper.  Epic fail indeed.

Why

[Jingthing]

29 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Sad, but true.  I'm glad I was there when it was arguably one of the best cities in the world to live in. Since then, forty five years of Democratic party "leadership" has led to where it is today.  The City by the Bay continues to dig itself in deeper.  Epic fail indeed.

As an ex-San Franciscan myself I'm a little confused by your post. The last republican mayor of San Francisco left office January 7, 1964. So you're saying you're quite old? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I've always viewed San Francisco as very, very democratic party town. 

 

I moved there when George Moscone was mayor. He seemed to be quite excellent until he was assassinated by Dan White, also a democrat, but a right wing reactionary one. That's how democratic San Francisco has been! In a more "normal" city Dan White would have definitely been a republican. 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Jingthing

[Kelsall]

9 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

As an ex-San Franciscan myself I'm a little confused by your post. The last republican mayor of San Francisco left office January 7, 1964. So you're saying you're quite old? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I've always viewed San Francisco as very, very democratic party town. 

 

I moved there when George Moscone was mayor. He seemed to be quite excellent until he was assassinated by Dan White, also a democrat, but a right wing reactionary one. That's how democratic San Francisco has been! In a more "normal" city Dan White would have definitely been a republican. 

The 45 years was when I moved there, 1975.  Anything before then predates me.

[Jingthing]

9 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

The 45 years was when I moved there, 1975.  Anything before then predates me.

It was already a democratic party controlled city by 1975.

As far as currently, well I haven't lived there in a long time but my impression is that pre-pandemic the major problem there was that it had become a city mostly only for the very wealthy (including the tech industry dominance) and also at the other end, the homeless or near homeless. When I moved there it was much more economically diverse so that made it much more interesting because more people had the space to be creative and city workers and regular people could afford to live there as well. To me a really great city needs to be affordable for artists, etc.  I understand now because of the pandemic the rents have spiked dramatically but I expect after the recovery it will be back to a similar demographic as before. 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Jingthing

[earlinclaifornia]

3 hours ago, Kelsall said:

Sad, but true.  I'm glad I was there when it was arguably one of the best cities in the world to live in. Since then, forty five years of Democratic party "leadership" has led to where it is today.  The City by the Bay continues to dig itself in deeper.  Epic fail indeed.

Lived in the Bay Area 49 years. Best location to live in the entire world. Republicans are in such a small minority. 

[mr mr]

On 12/5/2020 at 3:40 PM, Ireland32 said:

You can’t afford it I reckon , yeah I have a lovely Victorian on Twin  Peaks , 2 Units Prop 13 Life is Good 

i'm about to turn 44 in a few weeks and have been retired for 2 years so there's that. you sound like a real good fit for that city though. 

 

remember...... poop and scoop it's the law.  

[thaibeachlovers]

 

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/coronavirus/sf-mayor-faces-questions-over-french-laundry-dinner-held-during-pandemic/2412269/

 

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is facing questions for a dinner she recently attended at the famed French Laundry.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/20/yet-another-politician-breaks-their-own-covid-19-restrictions-why-does-this-keep-happening/

 

Americans are increasingly — and understandably — impatient about tight and even draconian restrictions on their daily lives because of the pandemic. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that they become outraged when those who impose the rules fail to live by them, too. Case in point: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent fancy dinner in Napa Valley.

 

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by onthedarkside
quote of hidden post removed

[onthedarkside]

A number of off-topic and trolling posts have been removed, along with replies.