A new San Francisco public health order effective at 12:01 a.m. on Friday requires anyone traveling, moving or returning to San Francisco from anywhere outside the Bay Area to quarantine for 10 days. The order also discourages non-essential travel within the Bay Area.
The travel order will remain in effect until at least Jan. 4.
“The travel quarantine order allows exemptions for medical professionals, first responders, official government business, essential infrastructure work, and other activities, including any travel to receive medical care or travel required by a court order, like transferring custody of a child,” according to a city statement.
People transitioning through San Francisco International Airport on connection flights and not staying overnight in San Francisco don’t need to quarantine, the order states.
Travel outside the Bay Area “increases an individual’s chance of getting infected and spreading the virus to others upon their return, especially since the nature of travel usually includes interactions with many people,” the city said.
“COVID-19 cases are surging in San Francisco and across the country. Hospitals in the Bay Area are close to being overwhelmed,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in a city statement. “We must do whatever we can to contain the virus and stop its circulation in our community.”
See the full health order and answers to frequently asked questions here.
Photo courtesy of City of San Francisco
