San Francisco extends stay-at-home order, 10-day travel quarantine indefinitely

Dec. 31—San Francisco health officials announced an indefinite extension of the current stay-at-home order and 10-day travel quarantine Thursday morning.

San Francisco County was one of five Bay Area counties that adopted the state's new regional stay-at-home order early, opting to go under the order in early December, two weeks before the region's intensive care unit capacity fell under 15%, which caused the state to shut down the rest of the region.

The state order for the Bay Area region is slated to expire on Jan. 8 if ICU capacity is back over 15% and not projected to dip under that figure again for four weeks. On Wednesday, the state estimated the region had 7.5% capacity.

San Francisco officials believe that gatherings from Christmas and New Year's will fuel a new surge in January, so restrictions will remain in effect in the city even in the outside chance the state order is lifted.

Under the stay-at-home order, outdoor dining, indoor personal care services and other activities are prohibited.

The city's travel policy — which requires a mandatory quarantine of 10 days for anyone traveling, moving or returning to the city from anywhere outside the Bay Area — was originally supposed to expire on Jan. 4.

Dr. Grant Colfax, San Francisco's public health director, did not give details on how the city will enforce the order, but said anyone failing to comply could be hit with a misdemeanor.

SFGATE News Editor Amy Graff contributed to this report.

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