vimarsana.com

San francisco. Sadly, we have 20 people who passed away as a result of the virus. As a reminder, datasf. Org covid19 is where you can find details to find out who is actually infected as well as those who have been tested. I want to be clear from the very beginning when we heard about what was happening with the coronavir coronavirus, specifically in wuhan, china, sadly there were a lot of xenophobia of those in our Asian Community. This virus is not discriminating on the basis of race. Sadly, the xenophobia continues. We want our community to know we are here to provide the resources and the support necessary to deal with the challenges around discrimination. So its not tolerated here in San Francisco. In fact, as we look at the data and the inequities as it relates to covid19, we are seeing the disparities, true disparities around income and inequality and other things that have sadly been a part of our environment and our climate for so many years, that when there is a pandemic, those issues are heightened and made work and exacerbated as a result of this pandemic. Specifically people who might not have access to Good Health Care or conditions or outcomes are those most impacted. We see that people who live in crowded settings and congregate situations since day one, those are the most challenging as they are the most impacted by the virus. The data is what is helping to shape our understanding of this virus, as it relates to San Francisco. But it is also playing itself out throughout the country. Im really proud of this city because not only do we have an office of racial equity, from the very beginning when we operated this Emergency Operations center right here, from day one we put into effect an equity team, a team comprised of people who are familiar with various cultures and communities, with the sole purpose of providing the necessary support to educate people about the virus, the impacts, and also provide access to services. An example is from the very beginning when we were asking nonessential businesses to close and we had a number of nail salon that were still open where there was a language barrier. This particular team was a team that outreached to that particular business, to not only explain why it was necessary to close, but what other Small Business services are available. Our Public Housing and the residents of Public Housing who already are dealing with challenges around income and equality but also access to resources, to reach out to the neighborhood nonprofit organizations that work with residents of Public Housing and Affordable Housing to provide resources to food and an understanding about employment insurance and all of the Resources Available, it takes a lot of work. Typically you would walk up and fill out the paperwork with someone online, and now that work is a lot harder to do, requiring us to be creative and requiring more volunteers for outrea outreach. Maybe sure that those who are not connected to the internet or know how to use it, that we are supporting them so no one is left out. We are focused on if anything sure and director davis from the Human Rights Commission will talk more about some of the incredible things they are doing to help underserved communities in San Francisco. Some of the simple things, providing gift cards to families with food, providing help for filling out Unemployment Insurance applications. Providing assistance and understanding of some of the laws and things weve implemented in the city and making sure people are connected, informed, and supported through basic services. Its really key to supporting all of our residents and we have been doing this since day one. I want to take this opportunity to thank the nonprofit organizations and our faith leaders, because they are on the frontlines, communicating with their congregations, providing support and Delivery Services informally and on the ground doing everything they can to support their residents. I want to express my appreciation to so Many Community members who have taken it on themselves to ask Community Members who they may need, especially the people we know who are in isolation, their neighbors and everyone in this. This means we have to continue the acts of kindness and support for our neighbors. Speaking of neighbors, i want to talk a little bit about some additional things that we are going to be adding to our data tracker. People are of course interested in learning about this virus, not only by race and Health Disparities, but also by location. So today on the tracker well have information by zip code of where people are sadly who are diagnosed with coronavirus, what particular neighborhoods they live in. Again, it goes back to some of the disparity disparities we knew. We are seeing more cases, which is consistent with our findings that about 25 of those people who are infected in this city are latino. And the Latino Community represents 15 of the population. So there is a huge disparity there. We also see a large part of Homeless Population in sonoma being infected. I want to be clear what this map reveals information that helps us to understand where the cases are, but it in no way indicates that some parts of our city are safer than others. So i dont want us to get the idea that that is the case in any of our neighborhoods. This is really about gathering more information and doing everything we can to provide the public with everything we have just so that you are aware and so that you understand how important it is to continue to take the precautions we are asking you to do. Whether its wearing a Face Covering, whether its socially distancing yourself from anyone who is not a part of your household, and staying inside as much as you possibly can, except for essential services or to take a walk and get some fresh air. These steps are critical to doing exactly what we need to do to continue to flatten this curve in San Francisco. I also want to talk about many of the challenges that people continue to face. We early on put a moratorium on evictions for residents and our commercial businesses. We know that the water and the power will not be turned off as a result of this pandemic, which is i know helpful to help ease peoples minds just a little bit as we go through this real challenge. But ultimately we know that the biggest challenge will be access to food. Access to food in general, but also healthy food. And we know that communities where we have a lot of lowincome families, where people have lost their jobs, where in some cases they might not qualify for Unemployment Insurance, where our immigrant communities are afraid to maybe interact with the government in various communities. Here in San Francisco, i am so proud of the work we have done to really identify such a significant need to help provide a adverse population of people with food. I just want to talk a little bit about some of the things we are doing. Basically we recently launched a Pilot Program with the Salvation Army to make and deliver meals to people who are experiencing homelessness and those that are living in encampments. I know people are not necessarily happy with the encampments, but we realize those are people who also need food too. The Salvation Army will be partnering with us to make sure they get fed and that feels are delivered to them. As well as working with us on important programs to provide to those who are without a home. Thanks to their work, well be able to deliver 1300 meals daily to people across 40 locations in San Francisco. This is just one part of our massive undertaking to help get food to our vulnerable populations. Were also providing three meals a day to the people who are not only in our shelters but are in hotel rooms who we moved out of the shelters for the purposes of keeping people separated from one another so the virus doesnt continue to spread. I want to talk about the San Francisco unified school district. 319,000 people have been fed to date because even though, unfortunately, the schools had to close, there have been a number of people who showed up, folks making sure people had access to meals. More than 12,000 meals have been delivered by open hand, self help for the elderly, and our isolating and quarantining hotline. So what we announced last week was the ability for anyone who might experience isolation or no access to food to go to sfgov. Org or to call 311 so we can make sure groceries are delivered to families to our elderly or disabled residents who might not be able to get out and get food. I want to appreciate the food bank. Theyve set up 13 popup locations in the bayview and excelcior communities that are struggling. Some of the lowincome communities, theyve had a lot of volunteers. I visited one location where they are handing out food boxes and providing resources and they are doing that on a regular basis. Meals on wheels is a program that continues to deliver food to those who are disabled and elderly. Also, i want to take a moment to appreciate the countless san franciscans who are shopping for their neighborhoods, who are reaching out to people they know that need help. I know that one of my Staff Members here in the city has five seniors that she specifically shops for every single week. Those are the seniors shes committed to. I think it does absolutely amazing when people take on the responsibility of supporting their neighbors and doing what you can to make sure they have the resources that they need. The incredible people of this city who continue to reach out and do all that they can. So i think its clear that our goal is to make sure that no one is deprived of food during this pandemic. I just want to take a moment to appreciate the private sector. The people who have given to givesf. Weve collected almost 8 million in private money and partnered that with money from the city and county of San Francisco to provide support for people to access food. Its been absolutely incredible. Thank you to the San Francisco foundation and to give to sf. Ill talk about that more this week to acknowledge the contributors who have gone above and beyond to help with food and security around our city. I have to say, San Francisco has been a model in providing access to food to people all over this city. So if you know anyone you think needs help for any reason, please call 311 or go to our website sfgov. Org. Lets make sure no one goes hungry as a result of this pandemic. Jeff humlin is here to talk about some updates with regards to muni. I am really excited about his announcement today to add certain lines back into the fold, some new adjustments. I want to thank the transit operators, our muni operators. The folks who are cleaning the buses. The folks who are showing up every single day, putting their lives on the line, in order to get our essential workforce to their destinations. The hospitals, Grocery Stores, or places folks are making themselves available to the public because we know that people still need food, they need access to the hospitals, they need their medication and other things. People on the frontline getting folks without access to transportation any other way are our muni drivers. I want to take this moment to really appreciate them so much for their hard work and their dedication. And also the number of drivers who are coming back to work. Some were out sick. Some had concerns about their family members. I want to make it clear that the program we have for First Responders includes our muni drivers and those who are working every single day. So if youre concerned about your families and you want to come to work, which we desperately want you to come to work, and you want to stay here in San Francisco at a hotel room because you are concerned that you interact with thousands of members of the public and you dont want to put your families at risk, we are here for you because we need you and we appreciate all that you continue to do to support the people of this city. Jeff humlin will talk more about that in terms of an increase in service. I also want to remind people because as far as the Face Coverings, i want to be clear with people, you are not required to wear a mask specifically. Just anything that can cover your nose and your mouth when you are standing in line or in any location that provides an essential service. If youre out riding your bike, running, walking your dog, basically that is not necessarily a requirement to wear a Face Covering, but doing anything else where youre around other people, number one, it does not take the place of social distancing. Number two, youre required to wear a Face Covering. I want to reiterate that. Please follow our guidelines. Please use common sense so that we can keep you safe and others around you safe as well. Last but not least, today is april 20, 4 20. Its a time when in the past there would be a celebration with those who are marijuana enthusiastics at Golden Gate Park. We made it clear that it is canceled today. I want to express my appreciation to the ambassador of the bay e40, a rap artist who has been really a part of the fabric of our rap culture here in the bay area since i was in high school and so many people love and admire him. We appreciate his message of love and his expression to ask people to stay home this year. We hope you heed our message to stay home today and to not come to Golden Gate Park. So far, so good. We want to thank you for abiding by our direction on 4 20. We know its difficult because you want to celebrate. We want to celebrate so many things right now, but it is a matter of life and death. This is why were asking people in this city and everywhere to continue to not gather in large groups, to stay at home for the most part except for essential services, to use Face Coverings and common sense. Take care of yourselves and your family members so we can get through this as safely as possible. With that, i want to take this opportunity to introduce dr. Grant colfax to provide an update from the department of Public Health. Thank you, mayor breed. Good afternoon. Im dr. Grant colfax, director of health for the city and county of San Francisco. Today i am glad to bring forward more data on the effect of coronavirus in our community. I have consistently stressed the need to follow data, science, and facts in our collective response. Today is another step forward in that philosophy. The online tracker the online data tracker now includes a map that shows the approximately 1,200 people who have tested positive in the city, the number of these cases per zip code, as well as the rate at each location. This map shows us that some areas have higher rates than the rest of the city based on the testing that we have done so far. The map affirms what we already know about how this virus spreads. The population and locations in our city that are most affected by Health Disparities, by income inequality, and by structural rates of them are also going to be the areas most affected by this pandemic. Unfortunately, Health Emergencies exploit the inequalities in society. People with chronic illnesses, Underlying Health conditions, and from communities who have experienced institutionalized stigma and discrimination are going to be more at risk for getting sick. This map is sobering, but unfortunately it is not surprising. Unfortunately, it looks like many other maps in San Francisco, including those that depict Health Disparities, income inequality, and racial and ethnic inequities. And yet, this map also supports our focus on equity in vulnerable population in our collective response to this pandemic. We must make progress in reducing the spread of coronavirus everywhere, everywhere, in our city or we will not emerge from this pandemic. Even though our rates of the data are still incomplete because about a third of test results we receive do not include this information, i still felt it was important to start sharing the emerging picture now. Let me walk through the map and explain what it does and does not tell us. The map shows confirmed cases of coronavirus in San Francisco by zip code. It is based and this is very important it is based on the number of people we have tested. As you know, we have not testing nearly everyone. As of today, there are about 11,250 tests that had been reported in San Francisco. About 1,200 are positive. The citywide rate of the tests of the positive tests of the tests that had been done is 14. 07 per 10,000 people. Again, this is important. The map does not show the prevalence or the total number of covid19 cases in the zip code because most people have not been tested. And i want to stress that no zip code or neighborhood is inherently safer than another. Every san franciscan should continue to exercise precautions. This map should not make anyone feel more relaxed or, at the same time, more fearful. The number of cases diagnosed in the city, just over 1,200, are small compared to the overall San Francisco population, which is over 800,000. All san franciscans have been doing a tremendous job of slowing the spread of the virus. The map itself does not answer questions about why there are more cases in some areas than others. It is descriptive data based on the zip codes of people with positive test results. The map shows case counts and simple rates based on dividing the positive cases of those tested by the total population of each zip code. When we look to explain these data, we think of factors that are associated with being diagnosed with covid19. The risk factors for getting sick include circumstances such as whether people are living in crowded conditions and whether they have sufficient support to stay at home and reduce their outings. The risk factors for becoming seriously ill or dying after getting sick include reasons such as age and Underlying Health conditions. The areas of the city with the most cases so far match up with these factors. Let me give two examples. The 94107 zip code currently is one of the highest rates of cases in the city. That makes sense from what we know because the m. S. C. South shelter is in that zip code, which is the location of the citys largest outbreak, with 96 cases among guests to date. The 94110 zip code has among the highest number of cases in the city. This likely reflects crowded housing conditions, including multifamily and multigenerational homes, which makes it more difficult to practice social distancing and quarantine and selfisolation. This is the mission, the heart of San Franciscos Latino Community. Citywide 25 of positive covid19 cases are among latinos, although they make up only 15 of the San Francisco population. Now i would like to talk about our ongoing strategy at the Health Department to focus on equity in our coronavirus response. These maps reinforce our need to continue to do this. We are committed to addressing Health Disparities in our city, and this is a major focus of our work in normal times. It is made all the more urgent in todays emergency. During this pandemic we have from the beginning know that existing inequity exists that exists in our system would be amplified. We have been working with Community Leaders and supporting outreach to community in multiple ways. We remain committed to listening and collaborating and taking action with the mostaffected communities and communitybased organizations. In our response we have an equity officer, as does the city as a whole, and a Community Branch that develops strategy to ensure that communities that are affected by structures of racism and other discrimination are getting the information and services needed. We know it is critical to have trusted messengers as we engage with communities, in order to improve health and wellbeing in the most vulnerable populations. I am, the department is, the city is committed to working with our frontline providers, communitybased organizations, and neighborhood leaders to address this pandemic. As we are seeing more cases in the Latino Community, we have been working with Community Leaders to ensure people have the information they need, that they are aware of available resources, and that they receive outreach in their own language. We need to do everything we can to support them and we see People Living in crowded households who have to work and make several trips a week to get food and other essential supplies. They cannot do one big grocery shop due to income limitations and other potential limitations. People in these circumstances are going to be more at risk. We are seeing that play out, unfortunately, with a disproportionate number of cases in the Latino Community. At zuckerberg hospital, we have seen more than 85 of the coronavirus patients there are latino, which is a much higher rate of the patient population, which is about 30 of latino representation. We have also learned that some members of the Latino Community are reluctant to work with contact tracers and case investigators. This is certainly understanda e understandable. It is possible that they are fearful of local government, concerned about immigration, or simply dont have all the information they need to be comfortable. Therefore we are providing language support in spanish and in other languages about the Contact Tracing program and public materials about the stayathome order and also with regard to Face Coverings and other ways people can protect themselves. In addition, we are being responsive to Community Needs for more inclusive messaging and materials to create a wide range of Spanish Language and yucatan Mayan Community outreach information, including posters, fact sheets, and community posts. Community organizations have stayed in close contact through phone and email with their latino clients and many are doing community outreach. These are key partners in our collective response, especially given the xenophobia and antiimmigration aspects of how this pandemic is being played out at the national level. After learning that some members of the community are reluctant to work with contact tracers, we held a webinar geared toward spanishlanguage media. We conducted an example in spanish and said that this has no bearing on the work and whether people will receive care here in San Francisco. We are, after all, a sanctuary city. Our Health Branch along with community organizations, supports essential businesses in the community to maintain social distancing as part of their operati operations. We have opened covid19 symptom screening and testing sites in the community, including at the Castro Mission Health Center and at zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital in the heart of the mission. And we are coordinating with a new ucsf Research Study based in the mission to learn more about the spread of the virus in the Latino Community. We will continue to do outreach to inform the Latino Community about the coronavirus and the Resources Available to them. In addition to the Latino Community, we are looking closely at all the neighborhoods and Community Members that may need more access to care, information, and resources. That is why the Health Department opened the first field care clinic in San Francisco in the bayview. This clinic will ensure that neighborhood residents have access to coronavirus testing, urgent and primary care for the duration of the pandemic, no matter how full the hospitals get. In another community collaboration, the Health Department works closely with the San Francisco africanamerican faithbased coalition to inform and educate Community Members through their congregation. We are currently working with them on Food Distribution so that Community Members continue to have access to foods close to their homes. We have also been supporting the health of the community in soma and in the chinatown areas for mandated s. R. O. S, including mandated cleaning and other outreach for these diverse neighborhoods. In the Homeless Community we have increased social distancing and food access in shelters and have been moving people from shelters into hotels for their safety. To date, nearly 750 people experiencing homelessness have been placed in hotels in collaboration with the Human Services agency. We have responded aggressively to an outbreak at m. S. C. South, conducting contact investigations, mass testing, moving everyone out, and deep cleaning the building. James from the Health Department and the community continue to provide outreach outside and on the streets, providing food, water, and information about hand washing stations and linking them to support and care. These are a few examples and we must continue to listen to Community Partners and prove our response and use data to take action and guide our decision. I am committed to the health and wellbeing of all san franciscans and doing everything we can to support health and full recovery for all communities in our city during and after this pandemic. Thank you. Director sheryl davis of the Human Rights Commission will now make some remarks with regard to Additional Support within the community. Good afternoon. My name is sheryl davis. I serve as the director of the Human Rights Commission here in San Francisco. The Human Rights Commission is tasked with identifying and disrupting racism and discrimination trends in government and private Business Practices here in San Francisco. I want to thank mayor breed and dr. Colfax for the information theyve shared today, this afternoon. Nationally, this virus has woven an exceptionally cruel path through our most vulnerable populations. We are working to ensure that this Health Emergency does not further exacerbate the existing Health Disparities we struggled to address before the coronavirus appeared. To also make the connection that these public Health Disparities are connected to economic and poverty and to homelessness and to geographic areas where people are living in difficult situations. We knew this would be a challenge long before we had any data. They have been addressing these things long before we had the data. People in these areas experience Structural Racism in ways that are affecting their health and their income, which makes contracting the coronavirus more likely and more lethal. Beyond the physical health, the Economic Impacts of covid19 are yet to be realized. Nationally, people of color and lowincome communities are being hardest hit by the coronavirus. Communities of color are more likely to work in essential jobs such as janitors, home health aids, delivery people, grocery, and farm workers, all serve industry positions with strong opportunities for exposure. The existing disparities of low income, the academic achievement gap, opportunity gap, contribute to these disparities that we are seeing. We need to shift how our systems partner and collaborate with those most impacted to change outcomes, not just during this crisis, but moving forward. Were excited that we have had the ability to really leverage relationships and work that was already happening in community to address this. I want to acknowledge as we work to address food insecurity, as we talk about Public Health and health and wellness, a lot of people in community that were already struggling were doing this work. I want to make sure as we move forward that we recognize this. As this has been heightened and as awareness comes up, people want to remind us that they already knew this, were living with this, experienced this, and they appreciate there is a heightened awareness and attention to them, but lets not forget the work that was being done before this pandemic. We are trusting the resilient communities most exposed to guide a community response, for those people to remain safe, prepared and healthy. Working with groups like the Latino Task Force or the samoan Development Center or communities as one, we have found a way to leverage and come together to build partnerships. Mayor breed directed the partnership to work with stakeholders to explore how our systems contribute to the inequities that we see. And to develop strategies to improve outcomes for lowincome people and communities of color. Outside the shelter in place order in early march, we launched our Community Roundtable meeting, to bring together Community Stakeholders and to address these issues. Again, people were doing this work and working to address these challenges. This approach means ensuring essential needs, including providing over 1,500 hot meals each day to 20 housing sites throughout San Francisco in partnership with sfnewdeal and our hope s. F. Sites. We have been working along with the s. F. P. D. To distribute Face Coverings and information about social distancing. Working in partnership with our communities, our street Violence Prevention Program and our faithbased leaders. Today we delivered over a thousand Face Coverings in the tenderloin and the western edition. This week we will work in partnership with s. F. P. D. To do some caravans, to distribute Face Coverings, to share information about social distancing, and working with trusted messengers to share that message. We have been supplying essential household needs directly to community to minimize the time they have to spend outside. As the mayor mentioned, weve been giving gift cards out to families and working with seniors so they can purchase things online using those cards. Weve been developing Distance Learning materials and distributing thousands of books, computers, and activity sheets throughout communities that have not only been hit by coronavirus, but prior to this pandemic and having this shelter in place were struggling with the achievement and opportunity gap. We are trying to work with our partners that ensure that after this is over those gaps are not wider. We have been partnering with the equity studies task force to develop strategies to allow us not only to address what is happening now but to be more intentional moving forward. Closing the Digital Divide by providing equipment for students. We were able to purchase hundreds of computers in partnership with the Housing Authority and hope s. F. As well as with rafiki, Young Community developers and collective impacts. We are working with them to distribute the equipment. We have been supporting trusted Community Care ambassadors. Really working to make sure that we recognize the people who have existing relationships that have the ability to go into communities and ask people to social distance, to see what their needs are, and to meet those needs. They have helped to distribute flyers. We have been able to also offer gift cards and personal protective equipment for them as they go out and do that work. We have been launching successful webinars focused on our africanamerican asianpacific islander, and Latino Community and also by focus areas working with our faithbased communities, lgbtq communities, and working with education and doing some work around geography. Organizing a Community Care event, as i mentioned earlier, where we are working with the Police Department, the faithbased groups and our local Community Stakeholders to make sure folks are aware of the new rules around Face Coverings and to make sure they have what they need to follow that order. We have been working with blackled Media Outlets and developing a Communications Strategy to email, text, and post on social media, targeting our most vulnerable population. Again, in partnership with communities that already have those relationships. People who are already posting on social media maybe their friends and their family would be more inclined to work with them and listen to them than they would be to sfpd. We have been able to build and develop our relationships. Centering strategic partnership. We have developed a partnership with schools, schools like hilltop for the pregnant parenting teens. To be intentional and think about how those people can help others. Working with the Mayors Office on the implementation of the Family Relief Fund and what it looks like for us to be very intentional and make sure that we are not leaving out any families. Our Civil Rights Division at the Human Rights Commission is continuing to process complaints of discrimination and manage inquiries that people may have about what their rights are during this time. We were grateful to work with the Emergency Operations center and to be able to embed an equity officer at the Emergency Operations center, focusing on ensuring our Disaster Response is intersectional and doesnt exacerbate preexisting structural issues. At the Human Rights Commission we have allocated nearly 1 million for emergency funding and to address many of the needs that have been identified earlier. We are working with our lgbtq2 communities around housing and food security. We are working with our nonprofits, and again to thank the nonprofits who have been leading that work to provide housing, food security, and to provide gift cards. And to think about our youth and transitional age group, they are concerned with what happens through this process. As we are thinking about employment and economic recovery, a lot of our young people are very concerned. They have been contributing through the years to their families household income. Last but not least, i want to thank the people and organizational partners for their dedication and commitment to serving our community. People have stepped up, as the mayor said, individually and collectively. Organizations have stepped up. They have put themselves at risk. They are distributing food and books. They are figuring out how to utilize the internet. When one part of the city is hurting, we are all hurting. As we move towards recovery, our fight will not be just against a virus. Dr. King talked about fighting our finite disappointment with infinite hope. Despite the data disappointments that we have, we believe that working together we can actually make a difference. We are looking forward to overcoming this at this point in time, but staying connected and working collectively to address the disparities that have only been heightened during this pandemic. After me, it will be jeff tumlin from the director of sfmta who will speak. Thank you. Thank you, director davis. I am jeff tumlin. As all of you know, on april 8th, we made deep and painful cuts to muni service. Now thanks to the leadership of mayor london breed and the support of half a dozens departments in the citys Emergency Operations center, along with the support of over 100 Disaster Service workers in my agency, people whose normal work is being a clerk or a middle manager, who are now supporting us in car cleaning, im very pleased to announce that weve begun our efforts to restore muni service. Starting april 25, we are going to be bringing back portions at least of four muni lines and were bringing those lines back using the same process we used to cut muni service. We used our abundant data looking at where our riders are. We also used our data about where essential services are. Most importantly, we looked at where are the riders who have the fewest choices and neighborhoods who have suffered the most from historic disinvestment. Finally, weve listened to a lot of feedback from our riders and from various communitybased organizations about where service was needed the most. The five lines were going to be bringing back include a portion of the 5 fulton running from 6 and fulton to downtown, serving st. Marys hospital and the western tenderloin. Well be bringing back a portion of the 12 fulsome, running from battery street to mena, serving chinatown, the Chinese Hospital, and a corridor full of seniors who have limited access to other forms of transportation. Were also bringing back, thanks to lots of community feedback, a portion of the 2819 avenue running up 19 avenue and making important connections to the end, serving ucsf and serving three hospitals on geary avenue. Finally, were bringing back most of the 54 felton, which runs through a long series of neighborhoods, including hunters point, bayview, the portal district, the excelcior, amazon, and connecting to balboa station. We also started improving Service Frequency on the 9, the n, and the l, based on data that we have inadequate space for our passengers and crowding. This is a reminder that even though were starting to bring service back, please do not ride muni unless you are an essential worker, making an essential trip, and unless you dont have another choice. Its important that if you do have other options than riding muni, please take them and save a seat and a space for the essential workers who have no other choice. Many parts of San Francisco are still left without nearby muni service. I would like to remind you if you are over 65 or disabled to please sign up for our essential trip card, which provides deep discounts on taxi service in order for you all to access essential services. As always, you can find the latest and most uptodate detail at sfmta. Com covid. Thank you again for your patience. Were all in this together. Now i would like to introduce the chief of the San Francisco Police Department, chief william scott. Thank you, chief scott. Thank you, director tomlin. Good afternoon, everyone. First of all, again, id like to thank our mayor, mayor london breed, and our director of Public Health, grant colfax, for their leadership during this very challenging time. I want to update you on our enforcement efforts of the Public Health order and give you an update of this weekends activities. This weekend we had a very visible presence in our citys parks and other public areas to remind people of the Public Health order. The vast majority of the public, as weve said in many other of these press conferences, have been compliant with the measures meant to stop the spread of covid19. With that said, we continue to cite people and businesses who after being warned continue to flout the Public Health order. To date weve cited 16 such persons and that breakdown is seven businesses and nine individuals who were violating either the countys Public Health order and or the states Public Health order. We admonished 67 between businesses and individuals, we issued 67 formal admonishments. That means an incident report has been taken. In addition to that, we have had dozens of informal warnings, warning people to abide by the health order and social distance. An update on our Crime Statistics for the week. During the fifth week of the shelterinplace order which was from april 13 to april 19, we saw an increase in Violent Crimes, which was led by 11 additional robberies over the previous week and two additional assaults. We saw 31 decrease in part 1 property crime, which was 154 fewer property crimes from the previous week. There was a 25 decrease in part 1 crimes. That means there were 142 fewer crimes than the previous week. This is compared to the week of april 6 through april 12, which was the fourth week of the shelterinplace order. Again, weve had burglaries and vandalism of businesses. We continue to step up our patrols in that area to make sure our businesses are protected as much as we can protect them while they are closed. We have had some arrests in those cases. Again, i would like to thank our partnership with the District Attorney and his office. They have been able to add looting charges to 19 of these instances of burglary. We thank them for their partnership there. We encourage everyone to report all crimes, but do so in a way that helps to decrease facetoface contact and inhibit the spread of covid19. We have the crimereporting unit in place where you can call and make the report over the phone and you can report on the internet. Always call 911 to report Violent Crimes and crimes in progress and we will respond, as we always do, to the scene to make sure we do Everything Possible to investigate those crimes and arrest the offenders. Please make sure to make use of the citys new text 911 service, if you are unable to make a telephone call to report a crime, but you need emergency help. Particularly if it is a Domestic Violence situation, we want to emphasize the use of the text 911 feature. Some people arent able to safely make the phone call from their cellphones or home phones or landlines, that feature will allow you to text the police so we can get help to you. For crimes that have already happened, that includes nonviolent property crimes or crimes that have already occurred, please call our nonemergency line at 4155530123. You can still call 311 or utilize the website to file Police Reports and we encourage you to do that to help slow down the spread of covid19. Again, this is a National Crime victims rights week. Traditionally, this week is meant to reach out to Violent Crimes homicides. And there is an event in sacramento to honor the victims of these Violent Crimes and this year that will not occur. So we want to reach out to those victims and their families, to say we are still thinking about you and we are there if you need it. It is a time when we honor the survivors and their loved ones. Truly, if you need us, we will be there, the city and county of San Francisco, as well as the San Francisco Police Department. I want to reiterate the mayors comments about 4 20. So far, so good. I thank the members of the public who have stayed away from Golden Gate Park where this event is held. So far things are going really, really well. I want to thank everyone for that. But please keep this momentum going. This is literally a matter of life or death and i dont think im being mellowdramatic when i say that. Your intention to attend or not attend these gatherings could be the life of you or someone you love. We ask you to keep up the cooperation so we can continue to flatten the curve and slow down the spread of the virus. With that, id like to thank you all and i think we open it up for questions. Thank you. For those joining us virtually, the first set of questions are for dr. Grant colfax. Thank you, dr. Colfax. The first question is from molly solom solomon. Supervisor matt haney is introducing a resolution to provide free testing to all clients and staff in the homeless response system. Is universal testing possible for the citys Homeless Community and staff . If not, why. Answer so as ive talked about previously, we need to ensure that the population who are prioritized for testing are the people who need it most. That includes people who are symptomatic with covid19, people who have had highrisk exposures, healthcare workers, and First Responders. I want to say in those first few groups, there are a number of people experiencing homelessness who fit into those groups. We are also following the data, science, and facts in terms of how to prioritize testing when there is a positive case discovered. You will see in our approach from the m. S. C. South shelter to the case in the Division Circle Navigation Centers, following the information with the experts and the investigation teams, we take different approaches depending on the circumstances. At m. S. C. South it became clear there was a widespread outbreak and that is why we tested everyone in that shelter and we provided them with the care and support services that they required and needed and closed that shelter. Another approach was taken at the navigation center, where there was a case detected and there was contact investigation done and testing was done there on a more limited scale because at that time we didnt find an increased number of cases as a result of that investigation. As our Testing Capacity expands and as we are able to obtain more of the swabs and the gunk, the medium for transporting the testing materials, we will be testing more people. Based on state guidelines released this morning, the guidelines will include testing people who have had close contacts with covid19 cases, but who meet the definition of having a close contact, but does not exhibit symptoms. So that would be another place where we would be expanding our testing, including of course with people experiencing homelessness. The other places we are currently in discussions with and i think it makes sense is exploring where and when it would be appropriate to test people coming into the hospitals, patients coming into the hospital and what that would take. I think in some cases its easier to do that when you have one of these rapid tests that takes 45 minutes, but we obviously dont have nearly as many of those as the tests that take one to two days. Obviously we cant wait one to two days to admit somebody to the hospital. So my point is as we expand our Testing Capacity, we need to continue to follow the science and data about who needs the testing most, focus on the vulnerable populations, so that as we expand our testing and contact investigation, we are saving the most lives possible and focusing on those that are most vulnerable to dying from this disease, whether the person is housed or experiencing homelessness. Question a follow up. Have staff and residents at shelters and Navigation Centers already been tested . Answer yes. As ive said, we do this on a basis of what we have learned about the specific situations where there is a detected case. In the case of m. S. C. South, all the residents and the staff were tested in those situations. We will continue to test as guided by our disease investigations at shelters, Navigation Centers, and elsewhere in the city. Question next question. More than 60 people have tested positive for covid19 at the central garden assisted living facility. When did this outbreak get learned of and what support is the department giving to this facility . Answer the latest numbers i have from that facility is that a total of 67 cases have been detected in that facility. If i can do my math right, i believe its 39 residents and 28 staff. So it is a very serious outbreak. The state has oversite of these facilities and they are the lead agency in this. But when we became aware and were notified of the initial cases on march 30, we immediately started collaborating with the facility and with the state in terms of ensuring that as much was being done as possible to protect both the residents and the staff. And i would say that one of the key things that were ensuring is that the Lessons Learned with the c. D. C. Investigation, the twoweek c. D. C. Investigation at laguna honda are being applied to this facility as well. So very concerned. I said from the beginning and many said from the beginning that Nursing Homes and other congregate living situations for older adults are a major area where, unfortunately, people will suffer from this disease. Were doing everything we can to mitigate the spread of the virus, both in this facility and in facilities across the city. Question how many Homeless People to date have tested positive for the virus in. Answer so as weve described in m. S. C. South, we have a total of 96 positive cases there. Weve had several additional cases in other shelters and Navigation Centers across the city. I do not have a total number of to share with you at this time. That is really because much of the testing thats been done across the city, theres no requirement to record Housing Status and our data team is working hard to provide better estimates based on hospital numbers and our own d. P. H. Systems to try to crossmatch the data with the positivity thats on the testing form with a hospital admission data that are under d. P. H. s jurisdiction. I hope to share that soon. Question are you confident you know the rate of infection in the Homeless Population and are there any plans to expand testing for the homeless, as is being done in l. A. County . Answer i think as i mentioned with regard to to the data tracker and the map that i showed, its important that see that the rates that were presenting are the rates that are based on the positive test results of the people who have been tested in the city. So no, we do not know the true rate, if you will, of coronavirus of populations in the city. We dont know that for the state, regionally, or nationally. What we are doing is ensuring that we are testing people again who are at most risk for the disease based on their symptoms and close contacts. We will be expanding our testing criteria as the materials we need to do the testing, as it becomes clear we will be getting more of that, as our response is able to have more reliable sources of those materials, we will be expanding the testing including close contacts of people with covid19 for people who do not show those symptoms. Currently you have to have symptoms consistent with covid19 and be a close contact in terms of being tested. So we will be expanding our testing criteria, including for people experiencing homelessness. Question the next question is from mission local. Is there a possibility that california, like new york, will begin to produce its own supply of testing swabs . Answer i would its a possibility. I dont have any Additional Information to speculate on that at this time. Question the next question is from the s. F. Examiner. What is the next type of dataset you plan to release to the public on datasf and when . Answer we have quite a bit of data on the data tracker at this time and we are continually updating that information. I dont have a specific timeline to share with you about what would next be released. I do want to ensure you that the relevant data are accurate and it helps inform the public that its my commitment at the Health Department to ensure that we are sharing accurate data as quickly and as transparently as possible with the public to help them better understand the dynamics of the pandemic in San Francisco. Question as a follow up. Will the Department Release zip code data for death . Answer well, i think one of the key things there are two things i think to emphasize right now about the response in San Francisco. One is if you go to the data tracker and you see the numbers of hospitalizations, both in general and in the i. C. U. , those numbers have been fairly flat over the last two weeks, which is again a testament to the response of all san franciscans in terms of taking this pandemic really seriously. When we keep talking about flattening the curve. Remember, we are looking at the hospitalizations because those are the people that are sick and need our help the most. Right now, our system is able to has enough capacity to manage those most seriously ill people. The curve looks flat. That could change at any time, but for now its important to note that we have the capacity. Going back to the question, we have had unfortunately 20 deaths, and obviously thats concerning to me and my condolences goes out to the family members and friends and community of the people who have died. That number is still relatively small compared to other jurisdictions. I expect those numbers to increase and as those numbers do increase, we will share data as appropriate on our data tracker. Question thank you. Delores park was apparently crowded this sunday. Are you concerned all of our efforts to go to waste as the weather improves and more people visit parks . Answer i think its important for people to continue to ensure the social distancing guidelines are followed. That people take the proper precautions in terms of washing your hands, other infection precautions that weve talked about. As you do go to work as an essential worker, that you do not go if youre sick, that we adhere to the facial guidelines that were issued, that we do not become complacent. The curve that i talked about is relatively flat is because of the work, the hard work that all san franciscans are doing in terms of complying with this order. I think its important that we enforce and recommit ourselves to this. Because as the weather gets better, i will say, this is hard to do. Its stressful and becomes tiring. Its even harder to deal with situations that weve seen elsewhere. We really need to continue to commit ourselves to taking the social distancing and other Public Health measures necessary until we start seeing signs that the shelterinplace orders could be relaxed in a scientific and datadriven way as we move forward into potentially another stage of this epidemic. Thank you. That concludes todays press thank you all again for joining us this afternoon. As of today, w we have a total f 1,332 cases coronavirus in our city. If you want more information, specific data around zip code and race and the number of people tested, you can check out our website, data sf. Org covid19. Whenever we have Accurate Information and can provide it to the public, we provide it on our tracker and we made a number of announcements about the expansion of our tracker to include a zip code and to look at some of the despairties that exist in our city. The tracker is helpful in that regard and helpful in making sure that we are allocating resources in the places that need it the most. I want to be clear from the very beginning in our Emergency Operations center, we have embedded the office of equity, which is focused on making sure that all of the decisions that we make are looked at through a lense of equity in the communities disadvantaged or left out the larger citywide response, they get the resources and the support that they need. This past monday, cheryl davis here was to talk about an extensive list of things theyre doing for outreach and i want to thank all and all of the city staff that continue to support our most vulnerable residents. Ive just a few updates that i want to talk about and i really want to start give to sf. We have been talking about give to sf from the very beginning because we knew that when this pandemic hit, that it was going to impact people financially. And the city was not going to be able to do it alone. Although weve done a tremendous job, many of our city agencies with reshifting resources that they already have in order to meet needs that we did not anticipate, we know it will be important to get assistance from private contributors. And give to sf, we announced over a month ago and as of today, weve raised over 10 million in private resources to help with give to sf and i want to be clear about the focus of this program. Number one, food security. Number two, housing security. And number three, Small Business support. And in particular, we knew that a few things would happen as a result of this pandemic. There would be people who lost their jobs, but also didnt qualify for unemployment or had no access to resources whatsoever. We knew that food would be a challenge and although weve been able to invest more in programs and also a rent moratorium, an Eviction Moratorium and a number of other things weve put into place, people would need resources directly to ensure that they had food on their tables and that they had access to resources that pay their bills. And again, the spirit of the people of the city has been absolutely outstanding. It just really reminds me of how important it is that we look out for one another and this program, give to sf does exactly that. And i want to just take this opportunity to just talk about what the program has already done. As i said, weve raised over 10 million for this program and already, weve allocated about 5. 35 million to nonprofit organizations and other groups that have distributed the money directly to people that would need it the most, including providing Grocery Store gift cards to low income and nondocumented residents because, again, we know people who are a part of our immigrant community would have the most challenging time getting access to food and we wanted to make sure we prioritize this community as recipients of gift cards so organizations that serve or immigrant community, as well as organizations that serve various lowincome populations throughout the city have been the people that weve counted on to work with us to distribute access to gift cards for grocery shopping. Were providing, as we did early on, grants to Small Businesses, as well as a nointerest loan with flexible repayment schedules because we want to provide not only money that people need in these Small Businesses immediately, but we want to make sure that they have a sufficient revenue to cover their expenses. When i think about the businesses who i know will need help the most and will most likely not be able to recover the cost that the amount of resources that they are losing as a result of these pandemics, i think about the people who do hair, the people who do nails, masseuse, the people who cut your hair, those kinds of services and i know that after were able to move back into a place we can open up those businesses, theyre still going to have some real challenges with meeting the needs of their back rent and other financial issues, as well as their es. Employees. We want to make sure those businesses that do not traditionally qualify for the resources that qualify for the state, that we provide them with some relief directly here in the city. And so, we are also providing funding for people who are at risk of losing their housing. Although we have issued a moratorium on evictions within,w there other challenges besides whats happening with this pandemic that could lead to housing and security and concern about losing not only your housing but your business. So we wanted to make sure that we had a wellrounded network of support as a result to give to sf and we did just that, with the goals of getting the money into the hand os of the people o need it the most. I want to reiterate, for example, if you are someone who has access to other resources, please make sure that you are not reaching out to this fund because there are so many people in need and the fact is, no matter how much money we raise, its going to be difficult to help everybody. So if you need help, we are here to help you, but please dont take advantage of these resources if you dont need them. I want to neighboring this opportunity to also really highlight some of our major contributors to this fund who have been labor been incredibley one, the gershin baker foundation, dr. Erica lawson and jeff lawson, google and stumsky foundation. These organizations have contributed a significant amount of money, not only to give to sf but they also continue to support other nonprofit organizations throughout San Francisco and have been really an important part of the fabric of philanthropic giving. You dont have to have a lot money to give to sf. We have received contributions between 10. 1. 5 million. If this is something youre able to do to help others, please look at our website or call 311. We want to ensure its reaching people who need it the most and thank you all for stepping up to support people in our city to make sure no one is left behind. I want to talk a little bit about testing expansion. From the very beginning, we announced a number of test sites to help some of our First Responders and city employees, in particular. And as many of you know, testing is very, very challenging to do because we have limited test capabilities available and so, we want to be very strategic about how we make testing available. Of course, anyone exhibiting symptoms should be tested, whether they have insurance or not and the fact that here in San Francisco, weve not only extended our capacities to meet the need of many of our First Responders and Healthcare Professionals and muni drivers and others, but we are today taking it even a step further. The selma location that we opened is available to anyone in San Francisco who exhibits any type of symptoms as it relates to the covid19 virus. Again, your immigration status, your lack of insurance, nothing should be a barrier to being able to get tested and we want to make sure that if you think that you have symptoms, then were able to test you and this will be used for covid19 testing and data. But we wanted to take it a step further and the location were testing First Responders and people who work in our Healthcare Industry that it was limited to that particular group of people, we know there are a lot of other people on the frontlines and when we talk about essential workers, essential workers doesnt only mean people who work in the Healthcare Industry or those Public Safety folks who work for the police and fire departments. It also means our Grocery Store clerks. It also means our janitors and our inhome support services, people who we need to continue to work to support other folks throughout the city and so, if you are in a category of an essential worker, the location where we are testing our First Responders and our Healthcare Professionals, we are extending the ability to test you at this particular site. Dr. Colfax will talk a lot more about the specifics of that, but again, we do not want anything to be a barrier to making sure youre able to get a test now, especially if you exhibit the symptoms. Dr. Colfax will also talk a little bit more about how were limiting the number of symptoms that would allow for testing, p you think youve been in touch with someone with covid19 or in some way, youre infected, we want to expand the number of people that we can test and he will talk a little bit more about that as resources come ind as we evaluate on a daily basis, we will expand our ability to test more people. Last week talked about Contact Tracing and trying to identify not only the person, family members who have contracted covid19, but also others that theyve come in contact with. Our goal is to do everything we can to enhance Contact Tracing, expand testing capacities. Because as we talk about reopening our city and oh region, these tools are going to be critical to our ability to move forward in this direction. So if you are someone who needs tested, please give us a call at 3311 and we will get you to a location to get test results. Dr. Colfax will talk about this more, if youre an essential worker and you think you have symptoms and you get tested today and you find out tomorrow that youre negative and youre back at work and youre working and later on, a week later, you significanexhibit symptoms agait you to get tested again if you think theres a possibility that you may have the virus because you are out there working and being exposed the virus because of your interactions with the public. And so, we want to keep that in mind as we move on about our lives, but especially as we look at the possibility of reopening our city, and these are the things well need to Pay Attention to in the future. I want to thank color, Carbon Health and one medical who are collaborating with us to help provide these Additional Resources for testing and i want to thank the port of San Francisco and the department of Public Health, as well, because it does take a lot of people and resources to put together any of these testing sites and the goal is to, again, to try to test as many people as we possibly can. If you have questions and you need to be tested, please call 311 or visit sfgov citytest. Hope flehopefully we are gettina point we can get back to our daily lives. Were not there yet and were hoping to get there. A couple of weeks ago, i, along with the president of board of supervisors, norman yee, to start a Economic Recovery Task force. That is being cochaired by our recorder carmen choo, the labor council, executive director, rudy gonzalez, and the director of the San Francisco chamber of commerce, rotney fong. And the goal of this Economic Recovery Task force is to work with a number of stakeholders throughout San Francisco and when i say stakeholders thats from the Nonprofit Community and business areas. So, again, i go back to the folks who do hair and nails and making sure theyre represented in this economic Recovery Plan and organizations that serve the community, people who are Community Stakeholders, we want to make sure that we are thinking about what happens after we start to get back to our daily lives. What happens with our restaurants and tourism . What happens with our hospitals and our hotels . What happens with Job Opportunities that may no longer be available and what other industries will be coming increasingly available as a result of this pandemic. How do we repurpose our educational institutions and other resources that we have available to fit the needs of what is our new normal . How do we shift our focus so that those who have lost their jobs and have no access to other opportunities or have limited skillsets, how do we reshift our focus to make sure that they have opportunities . This Economic Recovery Task force is about the future. And just so you know where we stan as istand, as of april 4th0 people in San Francisco have filed for unemployment and we anticipated that another 40,000 people in San Francisco will file for unemployment. The recession that happened in 2008 and 2009, 45,000 people applied for unemployment. And today, in 2020, were already at over 60,000 which means that were going to have some real challenges with our economy and that will not just be the economy here in San Francisco. It will be all over the country and all over the world. And how are we going to redirect our focus on recovery so that people are able to get jobs and take care of themselves and their families . And this Economic Recovery Task force is critical to the success of our future. I mentioned last week or maybe the week before i dont think i can keep up with the days that we anticipate a 1. 1 to 1. 7 billion budget deficit. So the citys budget deficit, a number of Companies Might be going out of business, restaurants, Small Businesses and we have some real challenges ahead which is why this Economic Recovery Task force and the work they do to help with plan for our future is so important. So i just want to appreciate all of the work that they are doing and just remind everyone that this will be a very challenging time. One in which i know that because we are here to work together, that we will get through it. And in that regard, theres a lot that were going to need to do to support our Small Businesses and our Business Community in general. Because of the real challenges that they face. From the beginning, we provided grants to Small Businesses that, basically, were quickly swallowed up and we have deferred the payment of your business tax until february of 2020. We actually deferred the payment of certain fees for a few months with the commitment to defer those fees to a longer period of time and, also, i think its important as a city that we look at all of the fees that we charge our businesses and make some decisions to eliminate fees in general that have a negative impact on the ability for our Small Business community to return and that is something were going to continue to work on. And i want to just talk a little bit about the announcement that was made yesterday by myself and treasurer cysneros to delay the fee for four months until september 30th. This Business Registration fee that businesses pay, the fact that were delaying it until september will be helpful to our Business Community. This will lead up to 49 million in deferrals for at least 90,000 businesses in the city. And were also extending the deadline again for the unified license fee, which is a fee we had initially extended for three months. This fee that includes charges to restaurants, bars, small retailers, hotels, tour operators and other businesses and it has been especially hit hard by the pandemic. Were extending that to ensure that we support our Small Business community and with an opportunity to try to reevaluate what fees we can eliminate entirely. So i want to express the need to continue to make sure that not only are we dealing with the Health Impacts of the coronavirus here in the city. At the same time, there are other challenges and other needs that need to be met and so part of what we have to do in addition to our physical and Mental Health and wellbeing, we have to focus on our economic health. And so that will be a critical focus for us over the next couple of weeks. And so, for my business that needs any support or has any questions or theres any way we can help you, please reach out at oewd. Org covid19 or call 311. For any of the announcements that you hear today, if you dont have access to the internet, you can call 311 and you will be transferred to the right location or provided a phone number or information on how you get access on what we talked about here. And if you have access to the internet and you cant remember all of these websites, because i definitely cant, please just go to sfgov. Org and you should able to find information about any city services. Theres a tracker for the information on the number of people who have the virus in the city with details and theres information about food and access to food. Theres information about housing and other things. Theres just a lot of great information if youre looking for it or if its confusing and you want to just get straight to the point, you can either do a search our sfgov. Org or call 311. We will continue to work with our federal and state partners to get even more resources for the people here in San Francisco. But we also know the challenges of how long it can take to not only get legislation passed but to get it through the doors where the resources actually hit the public and we want to make sure that were doing all we can here loyal to support the residents of the city. Yes, the City Government plays an important part in doing just that, but also, the incredible people of San Francisco, so many folks who have been really kind theyre neighbors and others and provided resources, spending money out their own pockets or running errands or the things youve done, that is impactful, as well, and we appreciate all that you continue to do to make sure that we are really looking out for each other because as we continue to say, yes, we are all in this together, what impacts one person impacts us all. And if someone in the city isnt doing well, then it has a tremendous impact on each and everyone of us. So the fact we have so many people in San Francisco that are extending their hands and helping out, it means a lot, so i want to express my appreciation and just end it quickly with a story about my grandmother. You know, when you are at home a lot, it gives you a time to not only clean up and do the kinds of house chores that you probably put off for a really long time. It gives you time to reflect about the people in your life and the value of experiencing youve had. Experiences youve had. I grew up in Public Housing and we didnt have a lot and a lot of the food we received came from the free food program. If any of you receive this food, you know it was a white box of powdered milk or the silver cans of beef or the juice, the grapefruit joyc juice and so ond so forth. We got a lot of the free government cheese and my grandmother was a really good cook. So she would take this free government food and make magic happen. And what i appreciate the most, because people would come to our house, especially when they know dinner was ready, and we knew that they were always coming there to eat. And so i remember one time, i said, mama, why are we always feeding everybody . We dont have anything ourselves. My grandmother said shutup, girl. She was just like, thats what you do. Be quiet. And this what youre supposed to do to take care of your community. You never know what whe when the you. You never know when youll be in that same situation. So just remember to be good to people. And so, she always had a way she said a lot less diplomatic than what i just said, but the fact is, i got the message. And i think that so many people in our city, they have probably at some point in their life have gotten the same message as they grew up to learn that it is definitely a blessing to give and to be supportive of one another and thats the spirit of what this city represents and so, i just want to express my appreciation to all of you for your continuous leadership and support and your compliance with this order. I know its been a long time and everyone is ready to get back to their lives, but trust me, this is for the best. And we are in the process of reevaluating some of the Health Orders and looking at ways in which we can get back to that point safely. And so, as soon as we are able to evaluate that and make good decisions to protect Public Health, you will all be the first to know as ive committed to every step of the way of this process, to ensuring that we are providing you with information and doing whats best and making sure were keeping people safe and thats exactly what well do when its time to reopen our doors and to allow us to begin to gradually get back to the life we all know and miss. So thank you for your cooperation and i want to ask dr. Grant colfax to come up and provide an update at this time. Thank you, mayor breed. Good afternoon. Today, there are 1233 San Francisco residents with confirmed cases of coronavirus. I start out my remarks with this fact to remind you that the data and science continue to tell the story here in San Francisco and will continue to guide a response. Now 21 people in San Francisco have died from coronavirus. This is a loss to our community and i send my condolences to their loved ones. We know that 20 of the people who have died were over 60 years old and all 21 had Underlying Health conditions. This is consistent with what we know about who is most at risk. Our hospitalization numbers for covidpositive patients have been holding relatively steady for the past two weeks. If you look at the graph on the data tracker, you can see that the curve is flat. San francisco, you made that happen. It is an incredible achievement and i thank you. And we must continue to flatten the curve. I remain very concerned about outbreaks that are occurring in the Homeless Population, longterm care facilities and other congregate living settings. As we have known and as i have said from the beginning, that this is where the virus presents the greatest threat. If people affected by these outbreaks get very sick, it could still overwhelm our Healthcare System. That is why we have prioritized vulnerable populations in these settings from the very start. And now, i want to talk in some detail about testing. As youve heard the mayor say, we have made a major stride in offering testing to every healthcare workers, First Responder and essential worker which has symptoms in the expansion of city test sf. This expansion applies to public and private Sector Workers and also to any San Francisco essential worker with symptoms who do not have other access to testing. It is critical to test people with symptoms so that swift action can follow to provide care, contact investigation and isolation and quarantine. These steps reduce the risk of further exposure and slow the spread of the virus. There have been many bumps on this road with getting the right test, a reliable test and a persistent shortage of supplies needed to conduct the test. Let me be clear, our vision, my vision is that everyone in San Francisco has universal access to testing. Let me repeat that. The vision is that everyone in San Francisco has universal access to testing. We cannot get there overnight. But we are certainly headed in that direction. Today people with any symptoms consistent with covid19 will be able to get tested. Today people who have had close contact with a confirmed covid19 case, even if they do not have symptoms will be eligible for testing. As we move towards this vision of universal access for testing, this will be a stepwise process consistent with our Public Health priorities in fighting the pandemic. Our values to promote equity and the feasibility based on Testing Capacity and supplies. And these challenges will continue, but we will iterate and improve and respond. I want to remind you of priorities to litigate outbreaks, protect vulnerable populations, protect healthcare workers, frontline workers, essential workers, including First Responders. Test people as a result of contact investigations that include all close contacts and test people with symptoms who hey nomay not be covered by thee other criteria. We base these priorities on the facts about coronavirus. And by keeping to them, we have been able to test everyone in those groups with symptoms, even in the face of scarce supplies and other challenges. We have been expanding Testing Capacity ever since we started in our Public Health lab on march 2nd. And that lab alone, thanks to the hard work of our public lab staff and director dr. Susan philip. We are committed to continuing to expand that Testing Capacity, both in that lab and other partners across the city. As of today, 12,054 people in San Francisco have been tested and an average of 12 have tested positive. Here are some examples of our commitment to expanding and growing Testing Capacity to date. We have opened two city test sf sites for healthcare workers, frontline workers, essential el workers and other people in San Francisco with symptoms. The Health Department, in addicts taddition to expanding r capacity has opened multiple test sites in the city, including the Castro Mission Health Center and southeast Health Center. And i am happy to report that another communitybased testing site will open tomorrow in the Western Addition next to the maxine hall test center. These Community Sites give patients the opportunity to be tested without leaving their own neighborhood, keeping themselves and others safer. These Health Department test sites are part of a growing capacity across the city to test people. , including 26 sites across the city at ucsf, one medical, kaiser, fedder, Chinese Hospital and dignity help. Health. In addition, we are testing all people coming so the jail who will be housed in the jail, and we will begin to test all close contacts of people with confirmed covid19 regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. As we look forward to our goal of universal access, the next steps will be the testing of more people who do not have symptoms. The focus must be on congregate settings, workers and we must do this work through an equity lense. I want to expand on this a bit, because its very important to understand the connection between testing expansion and the unwavering commitment to our priorities that, again, are based on data, science and facts. The next phase of testing people without symptoms will include testing in congregate settings such as shelters, longterm care facilities and sros. Testing of healthcare workers, frontline workers and other essential workers, testing in geographic and cultural communities that are affected by despairties and the spread of the coronavirus. And in reaching toward our as as spir racial goal of universal testing, we must recognise several points. Question will rely on those in the healthcare sector. The timeline for these next steps is dependent on several factors, multiple factors, including the ability to meet the demands of current work, managing new outbreaks, a growing number of positives, as well as Testing Capacity and supplies. And supplies continue to remain a challenge. We recognise and we all must recognise that not every positive test result can be met with full wraparound supportive services. We will continue to work with our partners as a Human Service agency and Supportive Housing department. But we must take a Harm Reduction approach. We know from experience that most people who know they are positive will take steps to protect themselves and others. And even with the efforts of the Human Service agency and the department of homelessness and Supportive Housing, we must ask people to protect themselves and others. We will take the Harm Reduction approach which has always been a foundation of our Public Health system and an effective approach based on science, data and facts, that most people who test positive will do everything they can to protect themselves, to protect others and to protect the community. And it is very important that we realize that negative tests are only a pointintime finding and should not be cannot be a signal to forego or relax the use of precautions. Therefore, universal testing for people in San Francisco will mean that all individuals have a responsibility to act on the basis of their results to the to the best of their ability, they must take this responsibility by selfisolating, seeking care, taking precautions and continuing to protect themselves, their family and Community Members. And, of course, our systems will do everything that we can to support individuals, their families and the community in this work. We also recognise that science and technology is rapidly evolving and will continue to inform our response and testing strategy. As more rapid tests become available, as we have a better understanding of what antibody tests really mean and whether neutralizing antibodies confirm longterm, medium term or shortterm protection, our toolbox of testing options will likely grow and be implemented as quickly and as effectively as possible. Again, supplies continue to be a challenge, but we are making progress and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that people in San Francisco have what we need. And it is very important that we recognise the testing is an important piece, but it just one piece of an overall approach to fighting the coronavirus. The mayor emphasized the importance of Contact Tracing and this is a vital component and must be paired effectively and over the longterm with our testing strategies. It is also crucial to continue to do everything we can to prevent people from getting sick in the first place. That includes staying at home, social distancing covering your face around other people and frequent handwashing. It is also important that we continue to ensure that the Healthcare System is on high alert and prepared to handle a surge of cases and to be able to treat everyone safely. And it is critical that we do all of this work with an eye towards equity. The Health Department is commit to the health and wellbeing of all people in San Francisco and to do everything we can to support the health and full recovery of all communities in our city during and after this pandemic. Thank you. Is and now police chief bill scott who has been incredible partner to this pandemic will make a few weeks. Remarks. Thank you and good afternoon. Im bill scott, chief of police of the San Francisco Police Department and i would like to start off as i always do by thanking our mayor, london breed, and director of Public Health, grant colfax to for their outstanding leadership during this ver very challenging time. I want to thank the members and the people of San Francisco for their support and for their compliance. The vast majority of the public are compliant with the measures that are meant to stop the spread of the covid19 virus. With that said, we do have some instances in which weve had to Issue Citations to people and businesses who after being warned continued to flout the order. To date, weve issued 1 16 citations, seven businesses and nine individuals for violating the county Public Health order or the state Public Health order. We admonished or warned 71 people which breaks down to 48 businesses or Business Owners or managers and 23 individuals. Our enforcement will continue and in addition to those figures that i just mentioned, weve informally reached out and contacted hundreds of individuals for warnings to gain voluntary compliance. Weve already received press inquiries about how we will enforce the updated Public Health order regarding the Face Coverings. From the outset of the original Public Health order that was issued in midmarch, the sfpd paid it clear oudmade it clear t has been an option of last resort, but i have stated and continue to state that we will use that option for those who flout the order. That motto has been largely successful and we will continue to use that motto Going Forward in the issuance of the latest Public Health order which requires Face Coverings. Our compliance pathway, again, started with educating the public and asking for voluntary compliance. We then issue warnings and formal warnings come with an incident report that our officers take if they issue a formal warning and as a last resort, particularly for those who continue to disobey the order after being warned, we have cited those individuals or businesses. I want to say that we are working with director cheryl davis, who you heard from during wednesdays press conference. Director davis has mobilized Key Stakeholders in the community and, basically, those stakeholders along with director davis is other city workers plan to distribute Face Coverings thanks to the mayors gift to sf campaign. Those Face Coverings have been donated and we think that will go a long way in preventing the spread of covid19 as well as voluntary combines. Scompliance. Thank you to directd the others who have been involved that effort because we think that will make a difference. For those interested in our enforcement protocols, visit our covid19 website on our departments web page and read the Department Notices that lay out all of our enforcement protocols. As weve stated before, the purpose of the Public Health order is not to arrest or cite. Its about promoting the Public Health practises that will help to prevent the spread of the virus and the San Francisco Police Departments role in that is to help our Community Get through this extremely difficult time in ways that dont make the situation worse. By working with our Community Members and by working with our other city partners, we have been largely successful and we ask for continued cooperation and support to stop the spread of this virus. Now i want to turn to our crimes to give you an update. We saw an 18 update and that was mainly fueled by 11 additional robberies and two additional assaults. There was a 31 decrease in part one property crime, which equates to 154 fewer property crimes this past week. And overall, there was a 25 decrease in part one crime which equated to 142 fewer crimes from the previous week. As weve stated, we have had burglaries and vandalisms of businesses and we want to ensure the public and let the public know and let those wouldbe criminals know that we take this extremely seriously. Weve made progress on several of those investigations and are well on our way to identify the perpetrators so those individuals can be brought to justice is held accountable for those crimes. We want our Business Owners to know that during this difficult time, that the San Francisco Police Department will be out patrolling, particularly during the nighttime, because thats when weve seen many of these crimes occur and our Field Operations bureau chief, as well as our Operations Assistant chief, michael redman, and their teams are working tirelessly to make sure we do Everything Possible so that we dont have people being victimized during this difficult time and in some cases our investigators by working with the District Attorneys office have been able to get additional charges for looting, which is section 463 of the california penal code and weve had 22 instances where individuals have been arrested and charges of looting have been brought fort anbrought forth. So thank you tot attorney for working with us on that. As always, we encourage people to report crimes but do so in a way that decreases facetoface contract in the midst in the spread of the coronavirus. Call 911 to report Violent Crimes and crimes in progress. We will respond to those crimes as we always do and we will be there for you. Please also make use of our newly implemented text 911 service if you are unable to make the phone call but need emergency help. Particularly for those that might be experiencing Domestic Violence, if you are unable to get to the phone to make the call, please take advantage of the text 911 service. For crimes that have already happened, use our nonviolent property crimes, use our nonemergency line at 415 5530123. Thats 415 5530123. You can also call 31 or utiliz11 orrequest a copy of g police report. As a reminder, this is National Crimes victims right week is we want to honor crime victims and raise awareness for victims crimes victims for what they have gone through. Lastly, the men and women of the San Francisco Police Department want everyone infected by crime to know that we are always here to provide the service that you need with dignity, compassion and respect. Please listen to the direction of our Public Health officials under the leadership of dr. Grant colfax. If you must go outside, please wear a Face Covering as the most recent order mandates. Also, maintain six foot of social distancing and stay six feet apart. Let all do our part for the prevention of the spread of the covid19 virus and flatten the curve. Thank you. Thank you, chief scott. The first question is for you. From marco gonzalez, kqed, how will sfpd enforce the new Public Health order regarding Face Coverings . As i stated, our motto has not stated from where we started when the first issue was ordered. I want to make something clear. When i talk about progresstive e pathways to combines, admonished, warnings, it doesnt mean were not engaging. Our officers are engaging on a daily basis and engaging with many, many people. And i want to let you know, that, yeah, you might be contacted with a San Francisco Police Officer who might ask questions about either where you are or why you dont have your Face Covering on. Please be patient with us because we are here to help. Our goal is to further promote the Public Health orders. Our goal is not to write a bunch of citations and arrest a bunch of people. Our goals are actually to keep our Public Healthy is safe. Be patient, and understand the orders are there to keep us all healthy and safe and please dont mistake the fact that progresstive enforcement or progressive pathway to compliance equates to lack of engagement. We are engaging thousandsch people and will continue to do so because we want to get to voluntary compliance. In order to do that, it takes engagement. Thank you, chief scott. The next set of questions are for mayor london breed madam mayor, the first question, the San Francisco county committee chair, david compose switchewageswitch to all mail fs election and what is made to make this a reality . To be clear, as someone comes from a community who, unfortunately, has a history in thiscallinthis country of not hg access to the voting booth, we, of course, take the ability for people in San Francisco and others to have access to voting very seriously. In fact, weve already started this process over a month ago, working with the department of elections to prepare for what could happen if in november we still are in a very similar situation to the one were in. We want to make sure that this in no way impedes anyones ability to vote. So preparing to have access to more mailin ballots and also more outreach around voting will be critical to ensuring that everybody has the ability to vote in this election and its something weve beesomething wen for over a month and we will continue to do so. The next question is from joyce cutler, bloomburg law. The board of supervisors passed requirements for companies to pay for or reimburse gig workers for protective equipment and sanitizing products. Will you be signing the legislation . I want to be clear that its important that not only does any other company or business in San Francisco provide the appropriate support to their employees, including soap and Hand Sanitizer and protective equipment, especially to those essential workers. Its important that we do so at a city level. The legislation was just passed and so, were still reviewing it, but its definitely something overall that i agree with. Thank you. Also from joyce, what is the proposed level of budget cuts and how many positions will be eliminated to deal with the upcoming 11 billion deficit . As i said earlier, we anticipate based on the controllers report that there will be a budget deficit of anywhere between 1. 1 and 1. 7 billion and i think that what that means in the upcoming budget and next years budget, well have to look at the financial projections and where we could make specific changes in order to cut the budget. We dont have the specifics as to what positions or what programs or anything of that nature might be impacted. Because that is something we will continue to discuss as we move through this crisis based on what were spending and based on what we would receive in federal or state reimbursements, as well as some of the resources weve allocated, some of the revenue loss. Its not as simple as being able to answer a question like that right now to say that definitively something is going to happen. But the fact is, close to 1. 7 billion projected deficit means there will be major shift in priorities and definitely some significant financial impacts on services in our city. Thank you. Thank you, madam mayor. The next set of questions are for dr. Grant colfax. The first question is from kt u. S. Tvu. Are there any measures to address the black latino americans who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic . Welling, yes. Yes. These populations have been a focus of our work since the beginning of the pandemic. There are resources to ensure that they have the educational materials, the support and access to the care that they need in order to pi to mitigatee effects and get the testing, care and treatment they need. One example would be at southeast Health Center. We have established a field clinic so that people can get their primary care and urgent care needs met there rather than going to another medical setting. Weve established a testing site there and i mentioned that maxine hall center, we will Start Testing site there tomorrow. And within the mission district, which has a high proportion of latin x residents, zuckerburg San Francisco hospital is right there and we will continue to care for the population, for all of San Francisco, but especially and including the mission. And an example of a collaboration with regard to learning more about what we can do better, we are collaborating with ucsf on a study of a census track in the mission which has many latin x residents to better understand the prevalence of the virus there. So the goal there is to test thousands of residents in that track over a relatively short period of time to better understand the dynamics of the pandemic in that community. But i think beyond that, thats a study and i think the important thing is that we are reasoarereinforcing and buildinh Community Leaders and stakeholders and ensuring everyone in sanfrancisco, regardless of where you live in San Francisco has access to testing and care during this time. And also general healthcare overall. The next question is from dominick from search f chronicle. Sf chronicle. Is the volume of swabs keeping capacity with the Testing Capacity and what is needed for ppe and frontline healthcare workers . So this remains a huge challenge, a challenge locally, regionally, statewide and nationally. Our aspirational goal for universal testing is further complicated in amendmen implemeg because on a daytoday basis, i do not have the metrics needed to plan as intent fullfully as d because its unclear of the supplies will arrive and there is simil simply no centralized m to help local jurisdictions to figure out in a clear way how do we expand. Right now, where we stand, we have enough testing materials and equipment to of course pan to that next set of eligiblability criteria and mean have any symptoms consistent with covid19, close contacts with people who are known to have covid19 and then, as we expand to these broader populations and testing, its going to be an iterative process and it will be dependent on the supply chains stabilizing over time. The next question, based on the facts this was weeks earlier than believed, are there any indications that San Franciscos first death may have been earlier than we believe . I do not have indications of that. It a theoretically possible and we are having conversations with our medical examiner to determine what retrospective analyses can be done. From the beginning of this pandemic, we have been vigilant in testing unexplained cases of death for covid19. But its certainly something given the data that was released yesterday that we will be looking at. Thank you. The next question is from kathy novack. Will essential workers seeking tests at the two sites need a referral . So with regard to this testing program, people can go online and are screened online for eligibility and then they can take the next steps depending on their answers with regard to receiving testing at those sites. Can the city start to reopen before we reach the goal of universal testing for all people in San Francisco . So i think there are a number of factors that will help us determine based on data, science and facts how we will potentially relax the shelterinplace order. Certainly expansion of testing is one important tool and another important tool that is linked to that testing is the ability to do aggressive contact tracying stracing, so that in pg where there are outbreaks, we can quickly response. Then we need to ensure theres a consistent methodology to how we ensure theres capacity in our Healthcare System in the event of an outbreak or a surge in need. There are many other components that will help us to determine relaxation of shelterinplace orders and the number of switches we turn on overtime, we need to be flexible and have the capacity to shut those down if, indeed, we start seeing coronavirus cases increase. Thank you. The next question is from mission local. Dr. Colfax, you mentioned that lab testing has increased fourfoal. Fourtold. Fourfollowed. Whafourfold. What is the Testing Capacity in numbers now . At our Public Health lab, we increased from being able to do 50 a day to 200 tests a day. And thats with regard to the machines that are used to do the tests. The mechanical capacity to actually run the test is generally not the right step here. Its around the supplies and around ensuring that sevenday s are expansive are most at need and the most vulnerable. To clarify, the expanded testing for essential workers can be conducted at two city sf sites as well as those who exhibited positive covid cases. The two testing sites are focused on providing city workers and other essential workers with access to testing if they have any symptom consistent with covid19. And then through our Public Health work and collaboration with partners across the city, we will be testing people who have come into close contact with somebody covid19, even if they do not exhibit symptoms of covid19. Thank you, dr. Colfax. The next set of questions are from Abigail Stewart kahn, homelessness and Supportive Housing. The next question is from the public press. In recent weeks, city officials have discussed the possibilities of opening sanctioned cabinets to help Homeless People better socially distance themselves. Does the city have a time table for opening these incantments . We know living in shelters put you at risk that many experienced before the Global Pandemic. Meal as this became an issue, the healthy streets Operation Center paused their resolutions and began providing under the leadership of just kazitki to work with our unsheltered neighbors to physically distanced while unsheltered. I want to implore those living unsheltered to take heed of our hr stock partners request and to physically distance as much as possible and to continue to ask all partners who are out there how to access the resources that are available. There a isto get to the questie sleeping, we know that it isnt always possible in sidewalk spaces or in tight areas to safely sleep. The healthy streets Operation Center is evaluating the possibility of safe sleeping and weather the Global Pandemic of coronavirus warrants the movement in that direction by the city. I want to note that many cities across the country have had mixed success and safety. And so the city is evaluating whether the coronavirus makes that more urgent now and is working towards plans, towards safesleeping sites for the most impacted neighborhoods and vids individuals in San Francisco. Well be able to provide more information in the coming weeks. The most final thing to note is the reality here. The reality is that the very people who will help us open these safe sleeping sites are the same talented individuals helping us to open hotels and so we cannot, without the help of our providers and all of our dsws and city workers open an of these thing at ths safely. We have to have a conversation how do we bring individuals into hotels in a safe way and weve spent a lot of time talking about the steps required there. As we also consider safe sleeping sites. Thank you, director. That concludes todays press conference. We have private and Public Gardens throughout the garden tour. All of the gardens are volunteers. The only requirement is youre willing to show your garden for a day. So we have gardens that vary from all stages of development and all gardens, family gardens, private gardens, some of them as small as postage stamps and others pretty expansive. Its a variety all of the world is represented in our gardens here in the portola. I have been coming to the portola garden tour for the past seven or eight years ever since i learned about it because it is the most important event of the neighborhood, and the reason it is so important is because it links this neighborhood back to its history. In the early 1800s the portola was farmland. The regions flowers were grown in this neighborhood. If you wanted flowers anywhere future bay area, you would come to this area to get them. In the past decade, the area has tried to reclaim its roots as the garden district. One of the ways it has done that is through the portola garden tour, where neighbors open their gardens open their gardens to people of San Francisco so they can share that history. When i started meeting with the neighbors and seeing their gardens, i came up with this idea that it would be a great idea to fundraise. We started doing this as a fundraiser. Since we established it, we awarded 23 scholarships and six work projects for the students. The Scholarship Programs that we have developed in association with the portola is just a winwinwin situation all around. The Scholarship Program is important because it helps people to be able to tin in their situation and afford to take classes. I was not sure how i would stay in San Francisco. It is so expensive here. I prayed so i would receive enough so i could stay in San Francisco and finish my school, which is fantastic, because i dont know where else i would have gone to finish. The scholarships make the difference between students being able to stay here in the city and take classes and having to go somewhere else. [ ] [ ] you come into someones home and its theyre private and personal space. Its all about them and really their garden and in the city and urban environment, the garden is the extension of their indoor environment, their Outdoor Living room. Why are you here at this garden core . Its amazing and i volunteer here every year. This is fantastic. Its a beautiful day. You walk around and look at gardens. You meet people that love gardens. Its fantastic. The portola garden tour is the last saturday in september every year. Mark your calendars every year. You can see us on the website [ ] i am the supervisor of district one. I am sandra lee fewer. [ ] i moved to the Richmond District in 1950 mine. I was two years old. I moved from chinatown and we were one of the first asian families to move out here. [ ] when my mother decided to buy that house, nobody knew where it was. It seems so far away. For a long time, we were the only chinese family there but we started to see the areas of growth to serve a larger chinese population. The stress was storage of the birthplace of that. My father would have to go to chinatown for dim sum and i remember one day he came home and said, there is one here now. It just started to grow very organically. It is the same thing with the russian population, which is another very large ethnic group in the Richmond District. As russia started to move in, we saw more russian stores. So parts of the richmond is very concentrated with the Russian Community and immigrant Russian Community, and also a chinese immigrant community. [ ] i think as living here in the richmond, we really appreciate the fact that we are surrounded three natural barriers. They are beautiful barriers. The presidio which gives us so many trails to walk through, ocean beach, for families to just go to the beach and be in the Pacific Ocean. We also also have a National Park service. We boarded the Golden Gate National Recreation Area so there is a lot of activity to do in the summer time you see people with bonfires. But really families enjoying the beach and the Pacific Ocean during the rest of the time of year. [ ] and Golden Gate Park where we have so many of our treasures here. We have the tea garden, the museum and the academy of sciences. Not to mention the wonderful playgrounds that we have here in richmond. This is why i say the richmond is a great place for families. The theatre is a treasure in our neighborhood. It has been around for a very long time. Is one of our two neighborhood theatres that we have here. I moved here when i was 1959 when i was two years old. We would always go here. I love these neighborhood theatres. It is one of the places that has not only a landmark in the Richmond District, but also in San Francisco. Small theatres showing one or two films. A unique they are unique also to the neighborhood and San Francisco. Where we are today is the heart of the Richmond District. With what is unique is that it is also Small Businesses. There is a different retail here it is mom and pop opening up businesses. And providing for the neighborhood. This is what we love about the streets. The cora door starts on clement street and goes all the way down to the end of clement where you will see Small Businesses even towards 32nd. At the core of it is right here between here and 20 tenth avenue. When we see this variety of stores offered here, it is very unique then of the any other part of San Francisco. There is traditional irish music which you dont get hardly anywhere in San Francisco. Some places have this long legacy of serving ice cream and being a hangout for families to have a sunday afternoon ice cream. And then also, we see Grocery Stores. And also these restaurants that are just new here, but also thriving. [ ] we are seeing restaurants being switched over by hand, new owners, but what we are seeing is a vibrancy of clement street still being recaptured within new businesses that are coming in. That is a really great thing to see. I dont know when i started to shop here, but it was probably a very, very long time ago. I like to cook a lot but i like to cook chinese food. The market is the place i like to come to once a year. Once i like about the market as it is very affordable. It has Fresh Produce and fresh meat. Also, seafood. But they also offer a large selection of condiments and sauces and noodles. A variety of rice that they have is tremendous. I dont thank you can find a variety like that anywhere else. Hi. I am kevin wong. I am the manager. In 1989 we move from chinatown to Richmond District. We have opened for a bit, over 29 years. We carry products from thailand, japan, indonesia, vietnam, singapore and india. We try to keep Everything Fresh daily. So a customer can get the best out a bit. Normally during crab season in november, this is the first place i hit. Because they have really just really fresh crab. This is something my family really likes for me to make. Also, from my traditional chinese food, i love to make a kale soup. They cut it to the size they really want. I am probably here once a week. Im very familiar with the aisles and they know everyone who is a cashier cashier here i know when people come into a market such as this, it looks like an asian supermarkets, which it is and sometimes it can be intimidating. We dont speak the language and many of the labels are in chinese, you may not know what to buy or if it is the proper ingredients for the recipe are trying to make. I do see a lot of people here with a recipe card or sometimes with a magazine and they are looking for specific items. The staff here is very helpful. I speak very little chinese here myself. Thinks that im not sure about, i asked the clerk his and i say is this what i need . Is this what i should be making . And they actually really helped me. They will bring me to the aisle and say this is battery. They are very knowledgeable. Very friendly. I think they are here to serve not only the Asian Community but to serve all communities in the Richmond District and in San Francisco. [ ] what is wonderful about living here is that even though our july is a very foggy and overcast, best neighborhood, the sleepy part outside on the west side is so rich with history, but also with all the amenities that are offered. role call . Directors, you have a quorum. There will be no such announcement with sound devices today. Item 4, approval of the minutes from april 7th regular meeting. Very good, board members. Weve been supplied with the minutes and i will ask first, is there anyone from the public who wishes to comment on our april 7th minutes . For members of the public who

© 2024 Vimarsana

vimarsana.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.