>> we are, we are at the balboa movie theater, but you're not going to be watching a movie today. maybe tonight, but not during the daytime outside. thank you all for being here. i'm san francisco mayor london breed, and i'm joined by a number of folks who i'll introduce later to speak.

but i wanted to take this opportunity to just start with, really, how far we've come. it's been a very, very challenging seven months in san francisco. when this pandemic first hit, we had to make some really hard decisions. and with those hard decisions, we knew it was not only going to hit our economy as a whole, but it was going to have a tremendous impact on our small businesses, especially businesses in the community. we saw, within the first time that we closed in the month of april, we saw unemployment go to over 60,000 people, and as of today, we have over 200,000 people who have filed for unemployment. we've seen businesses close, and some that we have gone to our entire lives, we've seen

them close permanently. we've had to balance a $1.5 billion budget deficit in san francisco. it's been hard. our unemployment before the pandemic was less than 2%, and at its height, went to 12%, and today, it's 8%. so yes, from an economic standpoint, we have had some really challenges in our city, and the good news is that because we are a resilient city, there have been a lot of adjustments. we've adapted, we've improvised, and when movie theaters called, what was it call? >> oh, popcorn thursday. >> the hon. london breed: i remember the first movie you

played was "clueless," and i was all excited about that. it was look, we can't have it inside, but let's particultake the streets. let's come together as a community to enjoy something that all of us have missed, and that's going to the movies. and in addition with that jazz permit that we provide, it allows them to provide jazz music. adapting is what we do best. do we want to do it? no. we want to maintain our businesses and serve the community, but in the course of this pandemic, i've got to tell you, i'm so proud to be a san franciscan. i'm so proud of what everyone has done to just say, you know what? we'll figure it out. we'll do the best we can.

we'll make changes, like these parklets and some of the great ideas that came out of carmen chu and the economic recovery task force to say, let's make some adjustments. let's try and continue to support our businesses in a way that we didn't before. and even though it has been challenging, i don't know how you feel about these incredible pa parklets that are all over san francisco, but i feel like the city is alive again. and part of what we have to do in addition to some of the hard decisions we've had to make, we have to make decisions to get our economy going again, and that means making the right kinds of investments. today, i want to announce that we are making an additional $7.4 million investment into the jobsnow program.

and some of you might be wondering, what is jobsnow? in 2009, when we had the previous economic recession in this country under president barack obama, we had programs like cal fresh and job assistance. i was the executive director of the african american art and culture complex, and there were people that qualified for the jobsnow program, they started to work for me at the african american art and culture complex, and our organization got money to pay their salary. now one time, they were late with the checks, trent. you remember that time, when i called you, wondering when is it coming? when is it coming? i've got to meet payroll. well, that program happened.

over 26,000 people were served, and many of them still working today. and so carmen chu, what was head of -- who was head of this economic recovery task force, provided a lot of recommendations. and one of those recommendations was to get people back to work, we should look at investing more in the jobsnow program. to support small businesses, we should make it easier for them to get help from this jobsnow program, and that's exactly what we're doing here today, because what we want to make sure is when people reopen, that they are able to hire people, but they're not generating the revenue that they want to generate. so this is another way that we can support our small business community. i remember, i went to a coffee

shop in my neighborhood. and i've been going there many, many years, but this was the first time i've met the owner of the coffee shop. he told me that he couldn't afford to bring his employees back right away. so that's why programs like jobsnow and making programs like that available, it's all about helping people. we want to get our economic going, we want to get people back to work, we want to support our small businesses. we want to make sure that we come back out of this pandemic more successful and stronger more than ever before, because this is san francisco. this is what we do, and this is one further step towards meeting that goal. i want to thank the san francisco chamber of commerce

for their work and their support. i want to thank ucsf for being an incredible partner with the jobs now program, and i really want to express my appreciation to this community, to folks in the richmond, because i know that it's been hard, even before the pandemic, that this community sometimes feels neglected and forgotten. and as a native san franciscan, i want to make sure that so many outskirts of our city, that they receive the resources and help that they need to thrive. that is my goal, that is my hope, and that is my desire, and that's why it was important for me to come to this community. we've got a lot of work to do, folks, and that is why we need to do as a city is make sure that we are not creating policies in a bubble. we want to make sure that we understand what the needs are of the folks that have the businesses out here, and that we are able to respond to these

needs in a way that makes it easier for you to do business in san francisco but also makes you a success in san francisco. that is my goal. that is why i'm excited about this incredible program. i've worked with this program directly, as i said, before, and because of my experience in the jobs now program and getting my check late, i made it clear to trent that we have to do better with not this reimbursement model. we've got to get folks their payroll. so at this time, i want to introduce trent rorrer who's going to talk a little bit about the program, how small businesses can connect to the program, and how quickly they're going to get reimbursed

from the program. trent? >> thank you, mayor breed. as mayor breed said, i'm trent rhorer, executive director of the city's human services agency. the jobsnow was borne out of president barack obama's jobs program. we immediately in the city seized on the opportunity right after 2009, when it passed, which, in its first year under the stimulus act, placed over 5,000 people in subsidized jobs. this went to unemployed san franciscans, san franciscans on benefits, and impacted hundreds

of thousands of san franciscans, businesses big and small, and it was able to make a big impact on the recession. so this time, mayor breed didn't wait to pass a stimulus packages to assist residents and the unemployed, and it's a good thing she didn't because we'd still be waiting. in it, she included $7 million to the human services agency to expand jobsnow to serve an additional 3,700 people as well as businesses looking to reopen, to expand, or to simply start a new business. this mayor's investment, as she said, is in line with the city investments programs. so what is jobsnow? it's the subsidized employment

program that we at the human services agency operate that matches low-income unemployed or underplayed people with job opportunities in the public sector, the private sector, and also the nonprofit. what is subsidized employment? it is a job strategy that uses public dollars, in this case, over $7 million, to reimburse employers for the wages that they pay to workers that are hired through jobs now. the idea behind the program is very simple and straightforward. as businesses are thinking about opening for the first time or reopening or expanding, there's obviously a lot of uncertainty, given the pandemic, and given the local connect rig economy right now. things like what will be the customer base when it reopens? how immediate and how robust will the supply chain be? all of these thinks are what

employers are thinking about when they're thinking about rehiring. so it's all about us saying say, let's lessen your risk and allowing you to pay for a large risk in your business, which is wages. the other benefit of jobsnow which isn't talked about a lot, but other people who participate in the program will talk about it, is it takes care of businesses' hiring needs. the human services agency does the job announcements, the outreach, resume screening based on the skills of the people that we're working with. rearrange all the incident -- we arrange all the interviews. it allows the employer to get all that work done by us rather than the employers who are thinking about other critical issues related to reopening and

expansion and other things. time and time again, in 2009, we heard from employers who said this program is great. but even the best thing, above the wage replacement, is we are meeting their human resources needs. they wouldn't have to place a job announcement on craigslist, schedule interviews, and have one person show up. we do everything. so we are offering several tiers of wage reimbursement to meet the specific needs of businesses. i'm not going to go into the different tiers and the levels, but i want to talk more broadly about what our strategy is. we're offering the deepest subsidies to businesses that are trying to reopen and rehire staff that they had to layoff or businesses opening for the first time. for these situations, we're reimbursing 100% of the wages

for the first three months and 50% of the wages for the next three months. [applause] >> i'll take that. we're also not excluding existing businesses, of course, we'll reimburse businesses $1500 a month for the first six months depending on the wages that they're offering and their ability to offer full time or part-time work. initially, the program is designed to meet san francisco's residents needs who are enrolled in benefit services. but this is going to allow us to open up this to any job seeker in san francisco. if they're unemployed, if they're underemployed -- and

generally, someone who's unemployed is low-income. if they're unemployed or underemployed, they're eligible for jobsnow. so we'll be partnering with the office of workforce development, and doing a biggobig outreach campaign so that any san franciscan knows they can come to jobsnow, and we'll get them a job. right now, more than 270,000 san franciscans have filed for unemployment. at this time in 2009, about 44,000 san franciscans applied for unemployment. a year ago, the unemployment rate at this time was 1.8%. we're now well over 8%. in addition, the public assistance caseloads have sky

rocketed. we're seeing thousands and tens of thousands of people applying for food stamps, and calfresh services to provide for their families. even as importantly, if not more importantly, the small business owner to my right, it's a benefit for small businesses and large businesses struggling in san francisco to stay open or who are trying to reopen. all the city's 311 line. they'll connect you or sfhsa.org sla sfhsa.org/jobsnow. i want to thank our partners like the mayor, but also our

other partners. office for workforce development, joaquin torres and joshua arce, and then, the cochairs of the city's economic recovery task force, rodney fong, the president of the chamber of commerce, as well as assessor carmen chu, for their vision and their leadership in crafting an economic recovery plan that's sure to make a difference for our citizens and our residents. so i'm really happy to introduce one of the cochairs, assessor carmen chu. [applause] >> thank you very much, trent. couldn't be more pleased to be here today, and i want to just start off by sharing my deep appreciation for the mayor's leadership in all of this. i know that many of you are aware that it's through her leadership and her vision that

brought together businesses small and large, community leaders, and nonprofits to put forth ideas to assist in recovery. i'm joined by awe teen torres from eowd as -- oewd as well as -- joaquin torres from oewd as well as my cochair, rodney san francisco, from the chamber of commerce. through the partnership of our professionals at the department of public health, we've put forward a plan that has been thoughtful and measured, something that has put san francisco apart from the rest of this nation. we're one of the only counties in the state of california to have just recently hit the yellow tier, the least

restrictive tier when it comes to the state tiering system. but not only that, we did it in a way that was responsible, in a way that didn't ping pong businesses back and forth to open and close, to open and close. these are really hard decisions, tough things to do, but i think that san francisco did it right. this doesn't mean that we don't have a lot to do, that we can let down our guards, but it shows that we can reopen and do it safely. but just because we say that we're opening businesses, that restaurants can open, that movie theaters can reopen, it doesn't mean that businesses can come back. through our conversations with folks in the neighbor, we've heard about how even with reopening, people are really worried about bringing back their memployees.

do employees feel safe coming back to work? these are questions that many of our businesses do face. that's why a program like jobsnow and its $7.4 million is so incredibly important. it's a way for small businesses to be able to make those choices to bring people back in a responsible way that help them get through this time. if you're a small business, and you're wondering whether you're going to see customers coming in through your doors, you're going to have the ability to hire someone and get those wages reimbursed for the first three months and 50% for the three months afterwards. that's a big deal. i certainly would do that if i was a small business, and i think this jobsnow program creates the stage to get the help that all our businesses need to get in the right space. so again, i couldn't be more pleased as a member of the economic recovery task force,

representing my cochairs and all the members of the community to see this investment come back and be made in san francisco. thank you, mayor breed, for your wonderful investment and for your wonderful leadership. [applaus [applause] >> and with that, i am really pleased to announce our next speaker, someone who i have come to know, and the owner of this wonderful establishment that we all know and love in the richmond district. adam is going to be coming up to say a few words on behalf of not only the richmond district but the balboa theater. >> hello. i'm adam bergeron of the balboa theat theater. we thought we had used this stimulus money and the p.p.p. and the loan money, but this has just gone on for so long,

that even though strategically using it, we just ran out of our p.p.p. money last thursday, so now we're in a position where the rubber is hitting the road. it's time to make some pretty big decisions, and it was right at that moment that i was turned on by my friend to the possibility of jobsnow, and it really does seem like this could be a lifeline to get us from now to the end of the pandemic to keep some of the valuable staff that we have on board, right, and be able to bridge that gap until we're in a spot where we feel a little more kment about business, the ability to do business. you know, the theater business is a little unique in that i think we're all a little weary of being in a room with people for hours, and it's something

we need to consider if we're allowed to reopen, what's going to be the financial viability of the business, and is it going to be safe? thanks, everybody, mayor breed, and thanks, everybody. [applause] >> the hon. london bree >> i want to join ucsf in thanking mayor breed for bringing us together, and putting san francisco back to work by expanding the jobsnow program. ucsf is the second largest employer in san francisco, and for us, ensuring that our workforce reflects the communities that we're in is part of a long-standing commitment and critical to our priorities. the health and science field is a huge job generator in san francisco. at a time when other parts of our economy are struggling to

survive and recover from covid-19, ucsf is committed to doing our part in creating a skilled workforce, not just for our employees, but for the communities we serve. i served on mayor breed kazz task force, and i, too, want to thank the leadership for rodney fong and carmen chu, and thank you for the work that the economic recovery task force has done in the last few months. briefly, i just want to talk a little bit about our excel program. since 2010, ucsf has worked with the city to create jobs through our excellent community engagement learning or excel. it uses live virtual classroom training and on-the-job

experience to prepare san franciscans for administrative jobs in health care. students participate ten weeks of training. next, they're placed in paid, four month clerical and administrative internships with ucsf's campus and our medical center. we provide ongoing internship support throughout the duration of the program as well as job placement assistance when our interns graduate. to be eligible, you must be a san francisco resident 18 years or older, with a high school diploma or g.e.d., proficient in english, able to pass a basic office skills assessment, and able to pass a criminal background check, occupational health check, and background health screen. ucsf interns earn $14.25 an hour during their trernship.

we have recently increased our cycles per year. since we've started excel, we've graduated 230 interns, and just to let you know a little bit of who our graduates are, half our african american. almost 25% are latinx, and 92% are female. ucsf is offering well paying jobs for women of color in san francisco. our next cycle will start training on monday, november 9. i want to acknowledge josh arce and joaquin torres for the projects that we're doing in the construction field. we're working hard to increase our hires at impact in san francisco. thank you for your leadership, mayor breed, and thanks again for the work of the economic recovery task force. [applause]

>> the hon. london breed: all right. thank you so much. as was said, ucsf has been an incredible partner, not just in the jobs program, but they have been incredible in helping to lead our response to covid, so we truly appreciate ucsf and the work that they continue to do. i want to take this opportunity to also acknowledge joaquin torres, who is right over here. he is the director of the office of economic and workforce development, and if any of you are small business owners, please call him directly for any -- any questions, any assistance. if you want to know what the city is doing or you want to ask some questions, joaquin is absolutely incredible. now if you are looking for a job, josh arce will give you his cell phone number because these are the two tag team

folks who are really about making sure that we get to people and provide opportunities in this city. it is so important that we get people back to work, and we do so safely. i want to also just take this opportunity to acknowledge that there have been so many people helping in our economic recovery and our response. you know, i was telling adam how now, i feel bad, when i was here watching wonder woman, i got kicked out of the theater with my friends because we were talking. i had to explain, black people, we're talking in the movie theater. we're telling people what to do and whatnot not to do. but any way, i have so many incredible memories of this incredible neighborhood. i'm so lucky to be here with one of the local business owners who owns -- is it blue pottery? blue stone pottery.

they don't just sell pottery, but they sell a lot of other items that are cute gift issues, and i want to introduce one of the owners, margel howard, who is here today [applause] >> thank you. thank you, mayor breed, for being here. we've got a lot of star power on balboa street today, which is really tlihrilling and amazg for us business owners. several years ago, i cofounded the balboa village merchants association, and our members, like adam bergeron who's done amazing things with the theater and has adapted so well at the movie theater, he's got these amazing bags. at least one of our family members is wearing a balboa theater t-shirt, and there's a

cafe right down the street, according to my daughter, they have the best b.l.t. on the strip. you might want to try that out. these have been trying times as business owners. the pandemic, and the shock to the economy, it's caused us to be more closely knit. there's so much that we've seen mayor breed do, with the help of oewd and assess or carmen chu. i know we're going to get through this together, and i think how exactly is this going to happen? and then, i hear about this reinvestment in jobsnow, another way to make it easier for small business owners to emerge from this pandemic.

galindo, another great place for lunch, stuck in permit purgatory for four years, is now in business. here in the richmond, tens of thousands of residents have filed for unemployment, are looking for jobs, where businesses are getting more and more creative in how they share spaces and how they attract business. we have so many good places to go for lunch, but -- i know, it's all good. but i am just so grateful. i know our fellow merchants are so grateful to be gathered here at this anchor of our community, one of our community hubs, to really represent what is going to happen here in the future. so thank you again for being here. it means so much to all of us.

[applause] >> the hon. london breed: and i'll just wrap it up by saying it's halloween this weekend in san francisco, so look. i just want you to all remember that we are still in a pandemic, and i know you're wondering, well, mayor, what are you going to be for halloween? i'm going to dress up, but i'm going to wear my mask, and i'm going to abide by some of the recommendations of public health. i know that's boring, but at the end of the day, we are doing an incredible job, and we are in a good place. and because we know that many of those businesses depend on our recollection and how we react to remain open, and out of love and respect for our community spaces, we are going to follow the social distancing and all the guidelines that you're tired of me repeating. the balboa, in fact, as a number of activities planned, so you can always buy your

ticket in advance. there's going to be music and jazz, and we should look at closing the street. there'll be some great things for us to do here in this community and all over san francisco, but i want everyone to just remember, we are in a pandemic, we can still wear our masks with our costumes, even though it may not be the same. we can get creative because that's what we do in san francisco. but we should all definitely make sure we are safe. thank you all so much for joining me for the announcement of these incredible programs. i'm going to one of those restaurants that marjan mentioned. thank you all so much for being here today, and have a wonderful day and a wonderful halloween weekend. [applause]

. >> mayor breed: good morning, everyone. i'm san francisco mayor, london breed, and i want to thank you for being with us today, to provide an update on covid and the election and halloween in

san francisco. we have 12,320 cases of covid total since this crisis began. 37 hospitalizations, 147 people have sadly lost their lives. san francisco has really stepped up its pace around its testing. we have been doing around 5,000 tests a day, which is absolutely incredible. right now our positivity rate is 0.89 and i know that so many san franciscans have been hearing the stories about how great san francisco has been doing in fighting the virus, but the fact is we're still in the midst of a pandemic. so today is just a reminder that not only are we doing well, we are starting to see a slight uptick in the number of

hospitalizations, which puts us in a situation where things could possibly get worse than what they are. it's just a reminder. in places like france and germany, they've had to make adjustments. france is in lockdown again. and germany, which has been a model in the rest of the world, is looking at restrictions. it's not just what is happening here in the united states, it's still challenging all over the world. it is just a reminder that we are in the midst of this pandemic. as a result of some changes that we've seen in the numbers, what we will have to do as a result is put a pause on some of our reopening efforts we have for next week. let me just say that san francisco is in a good place. we are in the yellow tier.

as a result of being in the yellow tier, we made some very conservative choices around our reopening efforts. our reopening and the decisions that have been made focused on when we were in the orange tier because we know that the more we open, the more people are moving around, the more possibility there could be of spread. and the last thing we want to do is go backwards or tell a business or a school or someplace that they can open and then tell them they have to close. so we are proceeding with caution and what that means is that some of the decisions we made will still move forward, the ones that are already in place and a few more, but others will need to take a pause until we see improvement in the numbers. what will remain closed, indoor pools, bowling alleys, locker

rooms and showers at fitness centers. the capacity will stay at 25%. we initially talked about increasing capacity in restaurants from 25% indoors to 50% indoors. we unfortunately are going to need to put a pause on that, but we will leave 25% intact. non-essential offices will be able to open at 25%, which they've already done and we will keep it at that. so capacity staying at 25% includes restaurants or indoor worshiping places, churches, religious facilities, indoor museums, zoos, aquariums, movie theatres which continue without concessions unfortunately. what's coming -- some places that will still be able to reopen include indoor dining at museums at 25% capacity,

expanding indoor film production and additionally live performances with up to six performers with a drive-in setting. i know these are nuanced and complicated in some ways, but if you have any questions and you want to know how the policies relate to your particular industry, please visit the department of public health website. it not only provides a list of what is opening and what can and can't open, but also guidelines that will allow people to make a decision of what makes the most sense to move forward. remember, we are still in a pandemic. we are tired of covid-19, but covid-19 is not tired of us just because we are tired of it. so it is still here and present. we see it in the increased number of cases every day and in

the number of people who are sadly hospitalized. and we definitely feel it when someone loses their life. it's important for us to keep that in mind. what i'm so proud of is what i see in the streets of san francisco, people who are wearing their masks and social distancing, and those spraying their down tables to keep their visitors safe, it's because of you. it's because of your -- because you are following our public health experts and their guidelines. it's why san francisco is in the yellow tier in the first place. when you think about that, it's remarkab remarkable. we are the second-densest city in the country and we are still in the better place than most large, urban cities. we should be proud.

but we also know there is still more work to do. we also know that tomorrow is halloween. halloween is my favorite time of year. there are those making plans. i'm going to wear a costume, but i also know that i can't participate in any parties or large events or anything of that nature. so we know that this is also important to families. family families have children who want to trick-or-treat and people have parties and want to get together. what we've seen during holidays, sadly, is an uptick in the number of cases because people have chosen to come together. these parties and events and gatherings could become superspreaders. it takes one person to infect all people who attend a party. that's where we've seen numbers increase and in the past.

i just want you to be mindful because even though this year will be a sacrifice, the sacrifice is worth it because it means that we can get our kids back in school sooner and we can get our economy going faster. the more that we sacrifice now presents a better opportunity for us in the future. this is going to be a tough halloween, i know, but i know that we can do it and there are creative ways that you can participate in a number of programs. there is a virtual halloween contest that i'm going to be attending and it's supporting larkin street youth services and cindy lauper is performing and it's going to be online. there are so many creative ways in which you can celebrate. restaurants are still open. the shared spaces program and people's ability to dine outdoors social distancing from one another has been a huge

success in our city, supporting our restaurants and small businesses, while continuing to follow the health guidelines to keep people safe is critical. so let's be creative, let's be safe. look on the department of public health's website for some guidance for some things you can do with your children, with your families, with your communities. but more importantly, let's not take this as an opportunity to celebrate and to go out and to party because it could end up putting us in a worse situation than we are today. so the other thing i wanted to talk a little bit about also was election day. election day is on tuesday. and i want to thank all the voters who have already voted and who have encouraged those who have not cast their ballots yet to make sure that you vote. and we know that we're not sure what's going to happen with this

election, but we want to encourage people to watch from home or with friends based on your groups of folks that you interact with on a regular basis in your families. we know that people like to go out and a lot of the bars are closed still, but make sure that you keep that in mind, that we're still in the midst of this pandemic. we're not sure which way this election might go, but our city plans to be ready for any situation. ultimately, when you have large gatherings, when people come together for any reason, that puts us at risk. please keep that in mind on election day and operate under precaution and safety. i also want to talk a little bit about our schools. this has been at the top of so

many people's mind. it's been not only frustrating, but very sad that so many children in this city are still not back in school. we've had over a hundred applications from private schools, and we're still having some challenges with getting our public schools to a place where they are planning to open. dr. matthews and i and my office have been in close contact because we are here to help. we are here to help the unified school district and get schools open sooner rather than later. i'm so grateful they're willing to work with us. they've reached out to evaluate the various facilities to make sure that they meet public health guidelines. we're also looking at how we're going to implement the testing that they want to set up to ensure safety within their various locations. so we think that working closely

with the school districts, using all the resources from the city that are at our disposal is going to support them and get us moving our city a lot faster. we sadly see the achievement gap grow. even though there are some incredible fathers out there trying to do their part, we know that this burden of going to work and trying to socially distance and also take care of your kids while they're doing this distance learning is having a tremendous impact on mostly women in this city, which is further creating a challenge around inequities that continue to exist. there is so much at stake here and that we continue to do. i want folks over the weekend and on election day to keep that in mind. you might not want kids going to

our schools right now, but think about them and their experiences. let's try to do our part, whether we have children or not, whether we have elderly parents or not, whether we lost our jobs or businesses or not, because what we do by making sure we're wearing our mask and washing our hands and keeping our distance and avoiding large gatherings and parties and all the other things that we enjoy, what we're doing is we're setting our city up for a better future sooner rather than later. that's what this is all about. thank you all so much for your cooperation. we'll get it done. i know this weekend is nice, but again, please do everything you can to stay safe and follow our guidelines. with that, i want to introduce dr. grant colfax who will

provide an update around the challenges that exist in the department of public health. again, if you have any questions about halloween, any questions about elections or election day, if you have any questions, please visit sfgov.org or the department of health website. thank you so much and have a great day. with that, i want to introduce dr. grant colfax.

>> good afternoon. i'm grant colfax, director of public health for the city and county of san francisco. thank you, mayor breed, for your leadership during this pandemic. i want to reiterate mayor breed's thanks to the citizens, the community of san francisco, for everything you're doing to slow the spread of covid-19. you know, my office across the street here is right next to the polling center where people are going to vote right now. on my way over, i saw san franciscans exercising their right to vote and doing it in a safe way, wearing masks, social distancing, using good hygiene. thank you. today is not unexpected with regard to our pause in

reopening. since we've been removed from the state watch list on september 1, we have had a consistent path of increased activities. we have employees returning to offices at limited capacity. students returning to in-learning classrooms. indoor dining and playgrounds being used. this is, indeed, good news and this is progress. but, as our activity increased, we realized we new and expected an increase in the infection is likely. we have been and are prepared for this. overall, san francisco continues to do well, but we have seen an increase in case positivity.

we want to pause on riskier activities because we do not want the virus to get ahead of us. because, as we have seen in other countries around the world, when the virus gets on top of ahead, you can't catch up. and we, all of us together, have done a great job of not letting the virus get too far ahead. from the onset of this pandemic, we have closely monitored our local data. we have monitored the spread of the virus so we can slow the spread of the virus and sustain the progress we've made. san francisco, we have avoided massive surges and crushed two curves, the first one in the spring and the second one in the

summer. and the data are once again, as i told you this summer, the data are telling us it is time to pause. we are working to extend the time before we reopen the next phase of indoor activities. the reason for this is because in the last two weeks our case rate has gone from three per 100,000 of population to four. that's a 25% increase. that might not sound like a lot, but when this virus takes off, it takes off quickly, unless again we take efforts to slow the spread. in addition, our hospital numbers are increasing. they've increased in the last two weeks from 23 to 37. low numbers, the good news is

our hospital capacity remains good to take care of people, but that rate of increase is concerning. as a result, we have a shift in our key local indicators in keeping the healthcare system stable and managing the current rate of infection. that hospital rate of increase is in the red and our case rate has shifted at the local level from yellow to orange. we have also seen a 38% increase in cases in california and a 41% increase in cases in the united states over the past two weeks. until we understand the magnitude and the potential duration of increases, it makes sense for us to pause, to make sure we are mitigating the virus, so we can continue to

move forward and not backwards. we remain in relatively good shape compared to other major cities. we still continue to have lower infection rates compared to places like new york, philadelph philadelphia, denver, and los angeles. we continue to have the lowest death rate among major cities and the highest testing rate, as the mayor said, currently testing over 5,000 people a day. i am confident that working together we will again beat back the virus, as we have done two times before. but i wouldn't be me unless i reminded you, keep wearing those masks, so important, saving lives by wearing those masks, continue to physically distance, wash your hands, avoid large groups. the holidays are upon us and now

is not the time to throw caution to the wind. let's be here next year when, hopefully, this pandemic will be behind us and we can get together with our loved ones, in close contact, hugging, sharing food, giving toast, but we need to use caution this year. we got do this without the help and cooperation of all of you. so celebrate, but celebrate safely. virtual election parties, small outdoor gatherings limited to three households, and again, please wear those masks. thank you.

>> this concludes today's press conference. thank you, mayor breed, and dr. colfax for your time. [♪]

hi, corwin! so nice to hear your hi, corwin!