[roll call vote] four ayes. >> president maxwell: approved. i like to wish everybody happy holidays and we'll see you in the new year.

this meeting is adjourned. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you.

>> thank you all for joining us today. before we begin, please remember to keep your microphones and video feeds off to avoid

distractions. you are submit up to two questions to the web-ex chat only. welcome dr. colfax. >> good afternoon. thank you for joining. i'm here to report our collective progress in beating back the current surge of covid-19 in san francisco. and as we look back on this difficult year of 2020, i want to thank you for your incredible efforts during the past months. months that were unimaginable just a year ago as reports of the virus first surfaced. and i want to express my incredible gratitude to the medical providers and first responders and everyone who has been on the front lines of this pandemic this year. this includes the incredible team at our covid command center

and the department of public health teams going non stop for months now. we are seeing some reasons for hope, but we are still in a precarious position. as we close the last week of 2020, we mourn the loss of 182 san franciscoians who we have lost to this virus. and we extend our condolences to their loved ones, especially difficult time of the year being without them. and we find ourselves as we begin 2021 in the middle of the worst surge yet. this is not where any of us wants to be. the state of california has the highest case rate in the nation with more than 33,000 cases per day. there's zero intensive care bed capacity in southern and central

california area. here in the bay area, i see the capacity hovering around 9%. while san francisco has the second lowest case count in the bay area thanks to our dedication of staying at home, we must continue our efforts if we want to combat this current surge successfully. let's review the data that shows some small improvements in the past three weeks. since thanksgiving we have experienced a surge and aggressive increase in covid-19 cases as you can see on the slide. we are also start together see indications that the surge may have reached a peak. the case numbers remain extremely high just below 30 per 100,000 but the rate increase is showing some signs of decline. we have managed to push the average number of new cases were

day in san francisco down to about 270 for the first time since december 12th, a little more than two weeks ago but i must emphasize we are still far from out of the woods. we still have more cases, far more cases per day than we have in the previous two surges and we have to wait until january to see the overall impacts of the pivotal holiday weeks when it is likely people have gathered and giving this highly infectious virus a possible foothold for increases. while travel at san francisco airport was down significantly compared to last year, this past week, unfortunately set national records for travel since the pandemic began. this is extremely concerning and does not look well for january.

recent hospitalizations have hit a record in san francisco as well. right now we're just slightly below 200 people who are in the hospital with covid-19 in our hospital systems across the city. this is nearly double the number we had during the summer surge. now, the rate of increase has slowed just a bit. we believe that our capacity in the region is likely to result in many hospitals cancelling elective surgeries or reducing the number scheduled during the holiday week. but as hospitalizations increase, hospital capacity across the state and region is decreasing. the hospitals outside of san francisco have very limited icu capacity and, again, california hospitals outside of san francisco and sacramento have no

hospital icu capacity. we also know that hospitalizations lag about two weeks behind case increases. so unfortunately we expect this number of hospitalizations in san francisco to continue to climb for now. we will be watching these numbers very closely in weeks to come. next slide please. but this slide shows what we have accomplished and we can continue to accomplish when we work together. we use the reproductive rate, re on the top of the slide, we use that rate to project hospitalizations and deaths. look at these numbers. i know there's a lot of detail here but i will go through the slide with some time. we use the reproductive rate of the virus to project hospitalizations and deaths.

on december 5th the rate was estimated to be 1.45. at that time, we were looking at nearly 1500 hospitalizations and 544 additional deaths by march 1st. by december 26th with our early implementation of the stay at home order december 6th and with the state's order being put into effect about a week after that, we pushed the reproductive rate down to 1.13. look what that did to our numbers. it declined an estimate of 1200 fewer hospitalizations peaking in february. and over 500 deaths averted. now we need to continue to make this progress continue. to get our reproductive rate

below one. if we are able to do that by the new year, we will continue to save lives and hospitalizations. 210 hospitalizations would be predicted and while one death is too many, significantly fewer deaths than what are projected for the reproductive rate at 1.13. as we lower the reproductive rate, we see fewer sick people requiring fewer icu beds and fewer people dying. by staying home and not gathering, we have been able to prevent hundreds of hospitalizations and save so many lives. our goal is to get -- needs to be to get the reproductive rate below one. we have done it twice before and i know that we can do it again. it is an incredible effort by all of us that will result in

slowing the spread of covid-19. i know it comes with sacrifice. thank you for everything you are doing and everything we are giving up today, this week, this month so that we can save lives. and i'll all be here for the va. as we head into this new year's eve, let's remember that the power is in our hands to continue to turn this surge around. hundreds of families in san francisco will have a chance to spend next new year's eve together in good health because of the choices we make this week. we must continue to take the preventive measures that we know slow the spread of covid-19, avoid gatherings, do not gather with people outside of your immediate households. do not travel. keep your distance and cover

your face with a mask when and if you have to go out. remember, it is also key that if have you traveled outside of the bay area counties region recently, you must quarantine for 10 days when you arrive or return to san francisco. by taking these steps together, by supporting each other, we have done relatively well in the last two weeks and we see signs as i just reviewed that we are slowing the surge. but i must emphasize, this surge is still our biggest yet and we cannot afford to have a christmas or new year's surge on top of the surge that we are already experiencing. that would be catastrophic. we simply can't let this get worse. we don't have good insight into the impact of the christmas holiday until january 2nd at the

earliest, until january 8th for the impact of new year's. and there's also another new variable. as you may have seen in the news, the united kingdom has identified a variant strain of covid-19. while the cdc has not identified the variant in the united states yet, it is very likely that it could be here but is not yet detected. now, this is not a surprise. all viruses mutate over time and some of the mutations change the way the virus behaviors. this variant has changes in what is called the spike protein, making it easier to transmit the virus to others. at this time, there's no evidence that this variant causes more severe illness or increased death and i emphasize

again, this variant has not been detected in this country, california or san francisco. we also have no evidence that the covid-19 vaccines recently approved will have any trouble working against the variant. the vaccine scientists are testing to confirm this. we will learn of more variants over time and others have been described in other parts of the world. the core covid-19 prevention methods not gathering, keeping at least six feet apart, wearing masks and washing hands should still work to prevent the spread of the virus variants and strains and as we learn more, we'll adjust our efforts as we have during this pandemic. and for now, we will continue to require that people who travel

outside the bay area quarantine for 10 days. let's continue to work together. let's keep the pressure on the virus and continue to turn this surge around. let's begin the new year by pushing the curve lower. stay at home as much as possible. please, please wait until new year's of 2022 for the traditional new year's celebration. this year, keep it distant, keep the community safe, we are so close, again, to beating back this third surge. let's keep it going for 2021. thank you. >> thank you for your patience director. when you're ready, we'll start the q&a. >> i'm ready. >> we have a couple of questions asking about new year's eve. new year's eve is typically a

time to celebrate together, gather to watch fireworks and ring in the new year with family and friends. what impact would normal celebrations have on our covid-19 rate? >> so, i cannot emphasize enough how catastrophic it will be if people celebrate in the ways we normally do for new year's eve. we can continue to move forward and slow the spread of the virus if we see a surge like we did on thanksgivi thanksgiving, we'll have thousands more people in the hospital, hundreds more people dying. we have been fortunate in the bay area so far compared to other regions in the state but we simply cannot afford to have people gather. there's more virus out there than ever before. you simply can't get away with things you may have been able to get away with even during the

prior surges. it is one new year's eve. i know it has been a hard year but the vaccine is on the way. we need to gather by zoom, by phone, by whatever social media we used to be together for new year's eve outside of our immediate households. please do not celebrate in ways that have been done in the past. this is a very dangerous time and if we can get through the next few weeks, we will get through this surge, it's much more likely we'll get through this surge. >> thank you. the next question is how many people in the city have so far been vaccinated? >> so, what i can tell you is that within the health department, we have vaccinated 4,000 front line workers in our

hospitals as well as our first responders. we unfortunately don't have insight into how many have been vaccinated in the city at this time. the vaccine being distributed by the state to healthcare systems what they're calling multi county providers and we do not have insight into how many vaccines are being distributed to these multi county provider systems. and then being directed to the healthcare systems in san francisco. we have asked the state for that information and the state has committed that that information will be provided but unfortunately we don't have it at this time. >> thank you. the next question is what do these latest projections mean for the stay at home order? >> so, with regard to the

state's stay at home order, right now the bay area region is still below that 15% threshold we need to be in three weeks for the stay at home order to be lifted. at this time, we expect we will continue to stay in that stay at home order situation. so these numbers, i think the point is, if the numbers continue to go down, if we are able to hold off on the surge because of christmas holiday or the new year's holiday, the sooner we'll be able to get out of the situation. and that would indicate the sooner we can have the state stay at home order lifted and san francisco stay at home order lifted, which will be lifted once icu capacity is at 25% and cases and hospitalization s are going down and the sooner we can start a gradual reopening and get life back to a more normal

situation as we did have before the surge started in november. so whatever we do now, the sooner we can go back to a new normal. >> thank you dr. colfax. the next set of questions, does the department of public health or state health department even have the capacity to determine if the variant has arrived in the bay area through blood samples. if not, will you expect to see it in the data based on an increase in spread of the virus? >> so there are a number of labs, including at ucsf that is detecting the genetic patterns of the virus that could identify the variant if and when it

occurs. overall the united states does a very low number of sequencing of the viral strains compared to other countries but ucsf and other labs do sequence a proportion of virus, so we would expect if and when this variant enters the country, the state or the region, it would eventually be detected. >> thank you. the next question is since the beginning of the vaccination process has the department of public health received any reports of people suffering bad reactions or having problems with it? >> we haven't had any reports of severe consequences to administering the vaccine that i'm aware of at this time. >> thank you. and the last question is it's

been reported operation warp speed is falling behind in the goal of shipping 20 million doses of the vaccines to states by early january. the cdc had reports of 2.1 million vaccinations out of 11.4 million shipped. is the city experiencing any problems in the vaccine rollout because of it? >> so as i commented earlier, we don't have full visibility to how much vaccine is being distributed to multiple entities and then distributing it even in san francisco. so, again, the multi county health system entities that are receiving vaccines from the state now. we don't know how much they're receiving and how much will flow to san francisco. what i can say, the health department has vaccinated over 4,000 front line workers to protect them from covid-19.

i'm happy to say we expect in partnership with walgreens that vaccines are expected to start for staff at the hospital who haven't been vaccinated and residents. things are moving forward with vaccination. but, again, we don't have full visibility into this. we are collaborating and cooperating with the state and hospital systems across the city to gain a better understanding but really the state has said we will get that but we don't have it yet. >> okay. thank you. this concludes today's press conference. thank you dr. colfax for your time. for future questions, please e-mail dempress@sfgov.org. >> thank you and stay safe everyone. ♪

my name is doctor ellen moffett, i am an assistant medical examiner for the city

and county of san francisco. i perform autopsy, review medical records and write reports. also integrate other sorts of testing data to determine cause and manner of death. i have been here at this facility since i moved here in november, and previous to that at the old facility. i was worried when we moved here that because this building is so much larger that i wouldn't see people every day. i would miss my personal interactions with the other employees, but that hasn't been the case. this building is very nice. we have lovely autopsy tables and i do get to go upstairs and down stairs several times a day to see everyone else i work with. we have a bond like any other group of employees that work for a specific agency in san francisco. we work closely on each case to

determine the best cause of death, and we also interact with family members of the diseased. that brings us closer together also. >> i am an investigator two at the office of the chief until examiner in san francisco. as an investigator here i investigate all manners of death that come through our jurisdiction. i go to the field interview police officers, detectives, family members, physicians, anyone who might be involved with the death. additionally i take any property with the deceased individual and take care and custody of that. i maintain the chain and custody for court purposes if that becomes an issue later and notify next of kin and make any additional follow up phone callsness with that particular death. i am dealing with people at the worst possible time in their lives delivering the worst news they could get.

i work with the family to help them through the grieving process. >> i am ricky moore, a clerk at the san francisco medical examiner's office. i assist the pathology and toxicology and investigative team around work close with the families, loved ones and funeral establishment. >> i started at the old facility. the building was old, vintage. we had issues with plumbing and things like that. i had a tiny desk. i feet very happy to be here in the new digs where i actually have room to do my work. >> i am sue pairing, the toxicologist supervisor. we test for alcohol, drugs and poisons and biological substances. i oversee all of the lab

operations. the forensic operation here we perform the toxicology testing for the human performance and the case in the city of san francisco. we collect evidence at the scene. a woman was killed after a robbery homicide, and the dna collected from the zip ties she was bound with ended up being a cold hit to the suspect. that was the only investigative link collecting the scene to the suspect. it is nice to get the feedback. we do a lot of work and you don't hear the result. once in a while you heard it had an impact on somebody. you can bring justice to what happened. we are able to take what we due to the next level. many of our counterparts in other states, cities or countries don't have the resources and don't have the beautiful building and the

equipmentness to really advance what we are doing. >> sometimes we go to court. whoever is on call may be called out of the office to go to various portions of the city to investigate suspicious deaths. we do whatever we can to get our job done. >> when we think that a case has a natural cause of death and it turns out to be another natural cause of death. unexpected findings are fun. >> i have a prior background in law enforcement. i was a police officer for 8 years. i handled homicides and suicides. i had been around death investigation type scenes. as a police officer we only handled minimal components then it was turned over to the coroner or the detective division. i am intrigued with those types of calls.

i wondered why someone died. i have an extremely supportive family. older children say, mom, how was your day. i can give minor details and i have an amazing spouse always willing to listen to any and all details of my day. without that it would be really hard to deal with the negative components of this job. >> being i am a native of san francisco and grew up in the community. i come across that a lot where i may know a loved one coming from the back way or a loved one seeking answers for their deceased. there are a lot of cases where i may feel affected by it. if from is a child involved or things like that. i try to not bring it home and not let it affect me. when i tell people i work at the medical examiners office.

whawhat do you do? the autopsy? i deal with the a with the enou- with the administrative and the families. >> most of the time work here is very enjoyable. >> after i started working with dead people, i had just gotten married and one night i woke up in a cold sweat. i thought there was somebody dead? my bed. i rolled over and poked the body. sure enough, it was my husband who grumbled and went back to sleep. this job does have lingering effects. in terms of why did you want to go into this? i loved science growing up but i didn't want to be a doctor and didn't want to be a pharmacist. the more i learned about forensics how interested i was of the perfect combination

between applied science and criminal justice. if you are interested in finding out the facts and truth seeking to find out what happened, anybody interested in that has a place in this field. >> being a woman we just need to go for it and don't let anyone fail you, you can't be. >> with regard to this position in comparison to crime dramas out there, i would say there might be some minor correlations. let's face it, we aren't hollywood, we are real world. yes we collect evidence. we want to preserve that. we are not scanning fingerprints in the field like a hollywood television show. >> families say thank you for what you do, for me that is extremely fulfilling. somebody has to do my job. if i can make a situation that is really negative for someone

more positive, then i feel like i am doing the right thing for the city of san francisco. lesb of san francisco. ri >> by the time the last show came, i was like whoa, whoa, whoa. i came in kicking and screaming and left out dancing. [♪]

>> hello, friends. i'm the deputy superintendent of instruction at san francisco unified school district, but you can call me miss vickie. what you see over the next hour has been created and planned by our san francisco teachers for our students. >> our premise came about for san francisco families that didn't have access to technology, and that's primarily children preschool to second grade. >> when we started doing this distance learning, everything was geared for third grade and up, and we work with the little once, and it's like how were

they still processing the information? how were they supposed to keep learning? >> i thought about reaching the student who didn't have internet, who didn't have computers, and i wanted them to be able to see me on the t.v. and at least get some connection with my kids that way. >> thank you, friends. see you next time. >> hi, friend. >> today's tuesday, april 28, 2020. it's me, teacher sharon, and i'm back again. >> i got an e-mail saying that i had an opportunity to be on a show. i'm, like, what? >> i actually got an e-mail from the early education department, saying they were saying of doing a t.v. show, and i was selected to be one of the people on it, if i was

interested. i was scared, nervous. i don't like public speaking and all the above. but it worked out. >> talk into a camera, waiting for a response, pretending that oh, yeah, i hear you, it's so very weird. i'm used to having a classroom with 17 students sitting in front of me, where they're all moving around and having to have them, like, oh, sit down, oh, can you hear them? let's listen. >> hi guys. >> i kind of have stage flight when i'm on t.v. because i'm normally quiet? >> she's never quiet. >> no, i'm not quiet.

>> my sister was, like, i saw you on t.v. my teacher was, i saw you on youtube. it was exciting, how the community started watching. >> it was a lot of fun. it also pushed me outside of my comfort zone, having to make my own visuals and lesson plans so quickly that ended up being a lot of fun. >> i want to end today with a thank you. thank you for spending time with us. it was a great pleasure, and see you all in the fall. >> i'm so happy to see you today. today is the last day of the school year, yea! >> it really helped me in my teaching. i'm excited to go back teaching my kids, yeah. >> we received a lot of amazing feedback from kiddos, who have

seen their own personal teacher on television. >> when we would watch as a family, my younger son, kai, especially during the filipino episodes, like, wow, like, i'm proud to be a filipino. >> being able to connect with someone they know on television has been really, really powerful for them. and as a mom, i can tell you that's so important. the social confidence development of our early learners. [♪].

>> neighborhood in san francisco are also diverse and fascist as the people that inhabitable them we're in north beach about supervisor peskin will give us a tour and introduce is to what think of i i his favorite district 5 e 3 is in the northwest surrounded by the san francisco bay the district is the boosting chinatown oar embarcadero financial district fisherman's wharf exhibit no.

north beach telegraph hill and part of union square. >> all of san francisco districts are remarkable i'm honored and delighted to represent really whereas with an the most intact district got chinatown, north beach fisherman's wharf russian hill and knob hill and the northwest waterfront some of the most wealthier and inning e impoverished people in san francisco obgyn siding it is ethically exists a bunch of tight-knit neighborhoods people know he each other by name a wonderful placed physically and socially to be all of the neighborhoods north beach and chinatown the i try to be out in the community as much as and i

think, being a the cafe eating at the neighborhood lunch place people come up and talk to you, you never have time alone but really it is fun hi, i'm one the owners and is ceo of cafe trespassing in north beach many people refer to cafe trees as a the living room of north beach most of the clients are local and living up the hill come and meet with each other just the way the united states been since 1956 opposed by the grandfather a big people person people had people coming since the day we opened. >> it is of is first place on the west that that exposito 6 years ago but anyone was doing that starbuck's exists and it created a really welcoming pot.

it is truly a legacy business but more importantly it really at the take care of their community my father from it was formally italy a fisherman and that town very rich in culture and music was a big part of it guitars and sank and combart in the evening that tradition they brought this to the cafe so many characters around here everything has incredible stories by famous folks last week the cafe that paul carr tennessee take care from the jefferson starship hung out the cafe are the famous poet lawrence william getty and jack herb man go hung out. >> they work worked at a play with the god fathers and photos he had his typewriter i wish i

were here back there it there's a lot of moving parts the meeting spot rich in culture and artists and musicians epic people would talk with you and you'd get >> there's a new holiday shopping tradition, and shop and dine in the 49 is inviting everyone to join and buy black friday. now more than ever, ever dollar that you spend locally supports small businesses and helps entrepreneurs and the community to thrive. this holiday season and year-round, make your dollar matter and buy black.

>> president buell: please call the roll. >> clerk: [roll call] this is the recreation and park commission meeting of december 17, 2020. please note that due to the covid-19 health emergency, and to protect the board members, the city employees and the public, that the meeting rooms at city hall are closed. however, the commissioners are participating in this meeting remotely at the same extent as if physically present. we ask listeners to turn down your televisions and/or computers while listening on the phone. we ask for your patience if we experience any technical issues. public comment will be available for each item on the agenda.