One week from now, San Francisco bars could open their doors for the first time in over a year.
If the city moves into the least restrictive yellow tier next week – which is expected for both San Francisco and Marin counties - that could trigger a loosening of restaurant and bar restrictions not seen since the beginning of the pandemic.
Bars that serve food have been able to reopen along with restaurants under more restrictive tiers, and many bars have partnered with neighboring restaurants or food trucks to be able to open sooner.
But on May 7, city officials expect they will be able to give all bars the go ahead to reopen indoors at 25% capacity with a maximum of 100 people. Guests will have to be seated at tables of no more than eight people.
"We’ve come a long way,” said Acting Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip. “Our cases are so much lower. We have almost 70% of our eligible population in San Francisco vaccinated, which is fantastic, and that is contributing to our low cases and the reasons why we can implement the loosening."
The city also plans to bring back some self-service food options, like sushi boats and frozen yogurt machines.
"If we keep on this track of getting the vast majority of San Francisco vaccinated, we’ll be in good shape and we’ll be able to continue to loosen the requirements for masking and continue to go from there,” said Dr. Philip.
People who are fully vaccinated no longer need to wear their masks outdoors unless they are in a crowded environment such as a sporting event, but all people are still required to wear masks in indoor public spaces.
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