SAN FRANCISCO—In a public health update issued on Tuesday, July 21, San Francisco’s Ferry Building announced the closure of several indoor stores amid increasing coronavirus numbers.
The closure is in response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s July 13, Statewide Public Health Officer Order, which enacted limitations on indoor operations throughout California. In all counties, the order closes dine-in restaurants, wineries and tasting rooms, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos and museums, and card rooms.
Areas which maintain a place on the State’s Monitoring List for more than three days, such as San Francisco County, come with additional restrictions: the closing of gyms and fitness centers, places of worship and cultural ceremonies, offices for non-critical infrastructure sectors, personal care services, hair salons, and shopping malls.
The Ferry Building, a combined indoor retail center and outdoor seating area, is recognized as a shopping mall under these orders. Consequently, of its 32 stores, 26 no longer allow indoor business, and exclusively offer curbside pick-up. Six stores with exterior entrances are exempt from closure, including Acme Bread Co., Blue Bottle, Boulettes Larder + Bouli Bar, Hog Island Oyster Co., Gott’s Roadside, and Sur La Table. According to the San Francisco Ferry Building on Twitter, along with these stores, the outdoor dining area is still open.
San Francisco County was added to the State’s Monitoring List on July 17, and closures started. The Monitoring List, managed by the California Department of Public Health, identifies at-risk counties by number of COVID-19 positive cases, hospitalization and hospital capacity, and testing. Along with 1,332 new cases in the last 14 days, San Francisco County has experienced a 37.5 percent increase in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and 11.5 percent in ICU hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
