If you live in San Francisco, you can now go for a walk with a friend and not break COVID-19 rules.
The SF Department of Health last week updated its home delivery mandate to allow two individuals from different households to spend time together outdoors, masked and physically remote, and in certain outdoor recreation activities with security protocols in place, officials said.
“This change was made to balance the risk of adverse mental health consequences for those who are completely isolated from others, and the risk of transmission between two masked, distant individuals who are outdoors,” the department said in a statement. . “While it is safer not to have interactions outside of the household, people who live alone mainly need an electrical outlet to maintain their well-being during the current wave.”
The city stressed that although two friends can now meet outside, the underlined message is to avoid meetings as much as possible.
“Most COVID-19 infections are caused by people who have no symptoms at all,” the department said. “There’s no way to tell if a person you’re hanging out with has COVID-19. The only way to reduce transmission is to limit exposure. That means people get together with others as little as possible.”
Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious disease expert at UCSF, said she was pleased to learn that the city has changed its guidelines.
“Allowing outside meetings with members of different households recognizes the safety of that activity and addresses the needs of being with others,” said Gandhi. “I hope the city continues to tighten up recommendations to be more nuanced in the future”
Gavin Newsom introduced a new stay-at-home government earlier this month that divides the state into five regions and imposes stricter restrictions when intensive care capacity falls below 15%.
The Bay Area region has not yet reached the threshold, but San Francisco, along with a handful of other counties, has chosen to impose the warrant ahead of the state’s timeline and the rest of the region.
The state order prohibits travel and requires most non-essential companies to temporarily cease all activities. It also prohibits all gatherings and requires people to stay at home and not see people outside of their household, even outside the home. For those regions not covered by the command, the state requires meetings to be short, outside the home, and to gather no more than three households. San Francisco generally follows the state order, but chose to change the rules around gatherings.
The SF Department of Public Health said if coronavirus rates start to drop, restrictions on outdoor meetings could be further relaxed.
San Francisco’s rally rules update came after the state changed the order to open playgrounds.
The updated order states that playgrounds will remain open “to facilitate physically detached personal health and wellness through outdoor exercise,” according to the California Department of Public Health.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed said she was pleased the state has changed its rules and that the city has updated its guidelines to reopen outdoor playgrounds last Thursday.