Transcripts For SFGTV Mayors Press Availability 20240713

People who are frontline workers in a very difficult situation, are very low paid, are mostly people of color. I used to call them and i still consider them the heart and soul of opeiu. These are people, a lot of them who have formerly been homeless and worked themselves up. And then read the paper and see what was in msc south, which was horrible and disgusting. And they had to shut that down. They all want to be tested. And each of them who are working today deserves an incentive pay. I cant urge you enough to make this a consideration, frontline workers are frontline workers and these people need the frontline workers support as much if not more than the rest of the workers. Thank you very much. Supervisor fewer thank you very much. Next speaker, please. You have seven questions remaining. Hello, speaker. Hi. Im cochair of the Housing Providers network and codirector at fish, the Supportive Housing. Thank you for hearing this item. And to you and the controller and the budget director, and the rest of the city family for your work in this crazy time. Supportive Housing Providers network as you may know include the nonprofits and all of the citys Supportive Housing. So we stand in full support of this resolution. We certainly agree that Supportive Housing and Homeless Services staff is essential and necessary. In order to keep Supportive Housing safe, clean and thriving, weve had to temporarily increase pay for site staff. That incentive pay has kept some staff going and brought much other needed staff back to the workplace. For many of the essential staff, they have unexpected new expens expenses. The money allocated so far covers less than 25 of the cost of incentive pay and often far less. Without incentive pay we would not be able to keep the doors open. Without the city funding based on actual need, actual expenditures, we will not be able to continue to deliver the services that the city has mandated as essential during shelter in place. Were grateful for supervisor haney and his off, supervisors walton and ronen and every supervisor joining this in this need. Announcer you have six questions remaining. Thank you, chair fewer and members of the committee. Im political organizer for the local 20. Im here to speak in favor of this resolution. 10 to 1 members are on the front lines of this pandemic. Thousands of our members work for the city and thousands working with the citys most vulnerable populations that provide Supportive Housing, drug treatment, other critical and essential services. Since this extraordinary period began, our nonprofit members have been working day in and day out in some of the whoa s challenging most challenging environments in San Francisco. Theyre doing their part. These nonprofit workers would greatly benefit from incentive pay in these challenging times. This will require a careful review and update of the policies and programs in place to ensure that our members continue to receive incentive pay. They require pooip personal protective equipment and we hope they can be prioritized. We appreciate the resolution and hope it leads to more concrete steps in protecting our members in San Franciscos most vulnerable populations. Thank you. Supervisor fewer thank you very much. Next speaker. Madame chair, were having some technical difficulties again. Hold on one second, please. We do apologize. It looks like there were six people in the queue and the system went down again. If we could call for another recess, well try to bring the system back up again. Supervisor peskin madame chair . Unfortunately, im late for my 12 30 and my 1 00. I just want to make these following comments insofar as ive asked thetime to be continued the item to be continued one week. There are also savings on the hotel side. As weve seen in the daily reports relative to the hotels weve already required, there is a very, very large vacancy rate on our First Responder hotels. Theyve been occupied at about a 10 rate of approximately 1,000 rooms, so about 100 out of a thousand that weve acquired. Were actually spending 40,000 a day on vacant hotel rooms for First Responders. And i had ive had several conversations with trent rhorer from h. S. A. And they are working to terminate those contracts, but meanwhile, were bleeding significant amount of money every day on unused First Responder hotels as opposed to covid19 hotels or hotels for vulnerable populations. So there is also cost savings to be had. We can quantify that next week, but i have to bounce off and would ask for a continuance and thank you for your indulgence, madame chair. Supervisor fewer okay, thanks good to see you. Okay. Supervisor peskin im sorry. Supervisor fewer lets take a 10minute recess on this so we can get Public Comment back. Its really a shame, so lets see, its 1 07 now. Why dont we say 1 15 . I want to mention that supervisor walton is in the queue. Supervisor fewer my apologies. Supervisor walton no worry. Thank you, madame clerk and madame chair. Actually, i can hold my comments until after Public Comment. Supervisor fewer okay. Thank you very much. So lets convene back at 1 15. Thank you very much. Questions remaining. Supervisor fewer hello, caller. Thank you for your patience. It appears that caller hung up. I will queue the next caller. Supervisor fewer thank you. Oh. Announcer you have two questions remaining. Hi, this is San Francisco Human Services network. We are asking you to support this resolution, including additional funding for incentive pay and other expenses that are straining nonprofit budgets. Our nonprofits are on the front lines providing essential services for those most vulnerable to the epidemic. On shelter, congregate settings, seniors, people with preexisting health conditions. In doing that, our workers face exposure on a daily basis facing their own health risks. This has exacerbated the crisis that was dire. Staff shortages are the primary barrier for the provision of services to protect our homeless residents. Essential pay is crucial to maintain these essential services for the duration of the crisis. We need our policymakers to implement a citywide needsbased approach for all departments to provide augmented funding and flexibility. This is a necessity for any organization whose workers are in direct contact with clients in our shelters, navigation centers, on streets, in supportive house, Residential Treatment Centers and other delivery locations. And that funding must include the flexibility to extend essential pay to those not paid through general fund contracts like janitors, desk clerks and other support staff necessary to maintain the services. Finally, many of these costs will continue into the foreseeable future. We need to ensure that this augmented pay extends into the next fiscal year, including to a cost of doing business increase for nonprofit contracts. Thank you. Supervisor fewer thank you very much. Next speaker . You have three questions remaining. Hi, supervisors. My name is mary kate, im policy director and cocare of the homeless Emergency Service providers association. Our member agencies appreciate the citys efforts to secure Contract Augmentation funding. We understand there are constraints. But it is clear that somewhere between the federal and state funding allocations that are being made available and the citys needs, there is a failure to prioritize our essential Service System and the workers operating it every day are putting themselves and their families at risk. Sufficient funding is absolutely essential for the continued operation for the essential services. And i think that the b. L. A. Report, its a good start but it leafs critical questions unanswered. What are the uncovered costs on the janitorial and other costs, that nonprofits have had to take on . What would it take to address the equity disparity . Which is extremely relevant from a Public Health perspective especially now. I think the equity point is really important. National estimates say that government contracts for Human Services pay 70 cents on the dollar. There is a direct tie between what personnel get paid and our systems ability to continue operating. Going into this crisis, 1 in 5 bay area residents did not have 400 saved. And the people operating essential services are those people. So the partnership i think partnership is really important with nonprofits and any partnering with nonprofits to answer these questions, what are the costs announcer you have two questions remaining. Thank you, chair fewer. Im the policy planning manager at tndc. Im here on behalf of experiences. Ive heard from residents and staff who work in the tenderloin community. There is a great need for testing in the tenderloin due to the high population. The concentration of s. R. O. S, the Homeless Population, and because of the Health Disparities that were present prior to covid19. We are in desperate need of intervention and support and a testing site that residents can access on foot without having to walk too far can alleviate some of the hardship our community is experiencing during this crisis. I want to emphasize the needed access for testing for our tenants and employees working in permanent Supportive Housing and not only for those with symptoms. Particularly in housing where we know there have been confirmed cases of the virus. If we can meet this need, it will benefit our entire community. Thank you so much, chair fewer and supervisors on the committee to give me time for input. Supervisor fewer thank you very much. Announcer you have one question remaining. Hi, madame chair. And members of the board. Im the c. E. O. Of Community Partnership here, and wiere on the front lines every day. We have 170 staff who are showing up partnership with our partners, most of them are Union Members doing the work that is already described. Just briefly focus on the gap that currently exists in funding. So 170 people who show up every day as essential workers on front line as desk clerks, janitors, maintenance folks, we are providing 60,000 a month of incentive pay. Its just 100 a day of extra. Its not significant for somebody earning 44,000 a year. But the formula that have determined how much will be provided and what our actual costs are as others mentioned, are huge. We spend 60,000 a months and ensure that well show up every day. The residents before you are providing 7,000 a month. Thats a huge gap. Thats barely 10 of the actual cost. The problem is that many of our janitors, many of our desk clerks happen to be technically paid out of the rather than on a city contract. How do i explain to my staff that were at incentive pay increase because of anomaly of its city contract that pays the salary . [inaudible] in doing the same work [inaudible] 10 cents of the cost. Announcer you have zero questions remaining. Madame chair, that completes the queue. Supervisor fewer thank you very much. So Public Comment is closed. Supervisor walton, you were in the queue. Supervisor walton thank you so much. I am going to be very brief. Just wanted to thank that we have legislation that was unanimously approved by the board of supervisors to provide hotels for Frontline Health workers and our vulnerable Homeless Population and this appropriation will provide necessary resources needed to implement the components of the legislation and to secure rooms and also take into account the fact that federal and state funds may be available to support the services mandated by this legislation. Supervisor peskin did a good job of touching on all the major points why this appropriation is important. And i just wanted to share my voice in support of this appropriation. Supervisor fewer thank you very much. Any other comments from supervisors . Supervisor peskin has made a motion to continue this item and i will make a motion to continue this item to the call of the chair as we are in close communication with him and his staff. So id like to make a motion to continue item number 7 to the call of the chair. Could i have a roll call vote, please . On that motion. Walton aye. Mandelman aye. Fewer aye. There are three ayes. Supervisor fewer thank you very much. Now lets vote on item number 6. We heard Public Comment on that. And so id to make a motion. I mentioned in the beginning, the Budget Committee did not have a financial deliberation on this or there wasnt a judgment that we could actually vote on because this is an urging resolution, so there is not a fiscal act for this particular item. So i think that we should supervisor haney, i think that really you should follow up with the b. L. A. With what you mentioned and i think its a good suggestion, but i, you know while i appreciate this, the goal and i did want to also say, yeah, our first line workers are getting us through this. It is tremendous. It is unselfish. It is generous. It is a gift the work they do. However, because of the emerging resolution, i want to caution them also, were going to be discussing difficult budget decisions that will impact the boards priorities and its not responsible extendi funding for services while major cuts are for others. Having said that, there is urging resolution. But i do want to get this out of committee so the full board has an opportunity to vote for it. Id like to make a recommendation to move this out of committee to the full board with no recommendations. Could i have a roll call vote . On the motion. Walton can you repeat the exact motion . Supervisor fewer id like to make a motion to move this out of Committee Without recommendation to the full board . Supervisor walton aye. Supervisor mandelman aye. Supervisor fewer aye. Your ayes are three ayes. Supervisor fewer thank you very much. Colleagues, i want to thank you for your patience today. And also want to thank our listening public for the patience and the glitches. We apologize, were trying to get better at this and we will continue to try. I want to thank i. T. Staff and our clerk and sfgovtv for being so accommodating also. Madame clerk, any other business before us today . There is no further business. Supervisor fewer were adjourned. Thank you, everyone. Really somt will help tremendously with what some workers and in many cases, these are the workers who have most likely been laid off from work and could use what could amount to anywhere on average 1300 per person. So im really grateful to all of the people who worked on making this resource available. As we deal with this real challenge around Public Health, simultaneously, we must ensure that the things that we are able to do and provide, we need to do it. People need to work and theyre going to need jobs when this is over. People are going to need to have places to live. Were going to continue to need to deal with the challenges around homelessness and so, this will be very difficult and require some very difficult choices. An estimated 1. 1 to 1. 7 billiondollar budget deficit is nothing to sneeze at. So as we are making decisions today, we have to be mindful of that and what that means to the success of our city and the future. The success of our economy in the future. And those are the reasons why these housing projects are so critical, the Job Opportunities that they create are so critical, our work to support, our existing residence, including our existing Homeless Population and to not increase that significantly is so critical. Its why we have to draw the line somewhere because we dont have an endless pot of money available to serve everyone who needs it and that is going to be our challenge as we go into the future and make the decisions we need to make around Public Health and safety and our economy, its important that we do everything we can to support our existing workforce, to support our existing homelessness population and to get through this pandemic together. So with that, i would like to introduce dr. Kolfax is not with us, but dr. Philips from the department of Public Health will be providing an update. Good afternoon, im dr. Susan philips. Thank you, mayor brisked. Breed. Today there are 1,497 San Francisco residents with confirmed cases of covid19. And a total of 23 people in San Francisco have died. I send my condolences to their loved ones. Mayor breed also begins her remarks with these numbers as a way to honor those who have become sick and those who have died. But also an and important reminder to us all. Even though we have made tremendous progress as a community to slow the spread of the coronavirus, it is still here and can spread as easily as it did a month ago and will thrive if we let it. We announced when the stayathome order expires sunday night, a new one will take effect. That will last through the end of may, giving us time to build the systems we need to support or recovery. I know this is hard. I greatly appreciate the sacrifices everyone in San Francisco and the greater bay area have been making. When we think about the family and friends we are missing, we must remember, they are the people we are protecting by staying apart. When we think about the jobs changing or lost, we must remember or economy would Face Even Greater setbacks if we did not slow the spread of the virus and we are slowing the spread of the virus. We have saved lives. We have to keep it up. Our goal is not changing. We want to slow the spread of the virus and see San Francisco and the bay area recover. Imaginesince january 21, we havn responding to the coronavirus our top priority. Since february 25th, when mayor breed declared a local emergency, we have mobilized the entire city to slow down this deadly threat and to keep our Health System stable and ready to care for all who need it. Since march 16th, when 7 Million People in the bay area joined the fight, we have stayed home to protect one another. Today, we renew our commitment to the fight. We will continue staying home, continue covering our faces when we have to go out and continue to keep six feet away from people outside of our households. Yet, we will also make a few minor modifications when the order takes effect on monday. The new orders allow for some lowerrisk outdoor jobs and activities to resume. For example, as the mayor said, all construction may start again as long as each project follows the safety protocols in the order. Certain outdoor businesses can open and that means nurseries and gardeners, for example and it does not mean that a restaurant can open its outdoor patio. We can get outside for exercise and the city has closed roads in Golden Gate Park and mcclarin park to make that easier but we cant share equipment, whether thats a playground or basketball or have physical contact with anyone outside of our households. While San Francisco and the bay area keep up the good work that has gotten us this far, here is how we at the Health Department and City Government will prepare for the future. We will continue to follow the science data and facts. We will continue to build out the Public Health infrastructure to support a gradual reopening and eventual recovery. We will watch a state level to track our progress and these are the questions well be asking. Number one, is the number of patients in the hospital with covid19 decreasing or staying flat . Number two, do we have enough of the critical personal protective equipment, ppe, for all of our healthcare workers . Number three, are we expanding our testing capability to meet the need, especially for people in vulnerable populations . Number four, do we have the capacity to investigate every case of covid19 to trace each persons close contacts and to isolate and quarantine the people that need it . And number five, is the total number of cases of covid19 in San Francisco and across the bay area decreasing or staying flat . As we expand testing, we expect the number of cases to increase at first as we are doing more of this testing. Well be looking at the rate of positive cases to help us gauge the spread in the community and once weve billed out our full Testing Program and have increased access to testing, we then will be looking for the cases to flatten and go down. Weve been laying the foundation for recovery from day one and testing is really an important part of that strategy. We have expanded testing from when we first began testing in our Public Health laboratory on march 2nd and well continue to increase testing in San Francisco. To date, weve collected close to 18,000 test results and expanded testing criteria as supplies permit. Today, we are able to test anyone with any symptom compatible with covid19, as well as people without symptoms we find through Contact Tracing and investigations. The next steps in our expansion of testing will include People Living in congregate settings and healthcare workers and were working with the zuckerburg initiative. Theres Research Underway that using testing to help us learn about the prevalence of the virus in our communities. And three recently announced or even started projects will test residents in the mission, a random sample of the pay area and healthcare workers. Each of these will provide important data and insights to help us see a clearer picture and make wellinformed decisions. We are also getting ready in other ways. We are learning everything we can about this virus, developing more sophisticated responses to outbreaks and training a small army of contact investigators. Were working with the Human Services agency and the department of homelessness and Supportive Housing to provide safe housing in hotels and shelters for people experiencing homelessness with and without covid19 and we must continue this focus on our vulnerable populations as they will remain at highest risk from the virus as we start to open up. That means people who are over 60 or with certain Chronic Health conditions and we must continue to prioritize them and People Living in congregate settings, such as longterm care facilities, homeless shelters, sros and jail. As we look ahead to our renewed stayathome order, let keep these Vulnerable People in San Francisco in mind and remember that the virus exploits longstanding inequities and lets Work Together to protect everyone we can. Thank you for continuing to stay home, for staying six feet apart, for covering your face when you go out, for washing your hand frequently. S frequently. Together theyre make a big difference and were making a big difference. Lets use the next month to get these habits engrained so we can open as safely as possible is ill now turn the podium over to chief scott. Good afternoon, everyone. Again, i would like to thank our mayor, london breed, for our outstanding leadership during this time and our director of health and his Leadership Team including dr. Philip for their leadership. We continue to staff to help prevent the spread of covid around the city and our officers are out in parks and some of our more popular spots and they will continue to remind people about social distancing. In some cases, we provided Face Coverings to help people to comply with the Public Health orders. Weve received complaints regarding alleged violations of the Public Health orders and they are taken seriously and investigated. Were finding, as ive said in previous preferences, that the majority of people in San Francisco are cooperating and complying wi with the health ors but we have cited individuals who have flouted the order. We have 19 citations that weve issued, up several citations since we spoke. The breakdown is ten businesses and nine individuals and weve admonished or weve issued 86 warnings and as ive stated from, those incidents in which we have taken reports. That breakdown is 52 businesses and 34 individuals. You can visit our covid19 website on the sfpds website to learn more about the enforcement protocols. We continue to use a path of progressive plans and that means education, asking for voluntary compliance, warnings and citations when necessary. We work with director cheryl davis, with our hrc and other Community Advocates in trying to get the community with us to help spread the covid19 virus, to help prevent the spread of the covid19 virus. And that has been largely effective. We want to continue that path and again, when you see our officers out there, we will be engaging with the public and well do everything that we can on this weekend and moving forward to help prevent the spread with this latest renewal of our Public Health order. Were glad to work with the community and i would like to specifically thank, again, dr. Cheryl davis and many of the other Community Stakeholders who have been working withs. Were still seeing decreases in crime overall, 19 decrease in Violent Crime and 34 decrease in property crime this week and a 23 decrease in overall crimes which equates to 142 fewer crimes. But we have had some issues that i want to point out to the public because were going to need the publics help to make sure that number one, we look out for each other. Secondly, when you see crimes, we need you all to report crimes. A couple of things i want to make note of, yeartodate, we have two homicides above where we were last year. We have 14 homicides year to date and we were at 12 last time this year. A disturbing trend that were seeing is weve had four ederly victims robbed, some at gunpoint, over the past 11 days. These are all women and they were all robbed of their purses and this is just simply unacceptable. So i ask all of you to please lets look out for our most vulnerable population, our ederly and our city and lets not have this happen to our most vulnerable population. And these folks were, in some cases, thrown to the ground and a couple of them were at gunpoint. Our victims were ages 85, 69, 70 and 84 and thats simply unacceptable. And we have enough challenges in our city with the covid19 pandemic and this is just that we cannot tolerate. So look out for your neighbors, report crime when you see it, call 911 when you see things that look suspicious, text 911 when you make the call but we need these crimes reported, but we have to make sure that we dont have people in our city victimized. Weve also seen a couple of shootings that are very concerning, including one overnight in the bayview Hunters Point area, where over 100 rounds were fired. Now, nobody was hit, thankfully, but this is, again, unacceptable. Our investigators are working hard to make sure that we try to solve this crime and put these folks where they belong and that is in jail. But we cant allow this type of violence in our cities and although crime in down, we have challenges we need to tack example we will need the publics help in working with us to keep our communities safe. Weve continued to investigate reports of burglaries in our city and as ive stated in the preferences, crime overall is down but weve seen an uptick in burglaries, particularly commercial burglaries. Our officers have been on patrol, and weve made arrests and to date, weve had 34 instances of books where additional challenges of loots have been adding because these burglaries occurred during a Public Health emergency. I want to again thank the District Attorney and his office for working with us on that. This weekend, moving forward, tomorrow, thursday, and through the week, i want to remind everyone that if you have to travel, travel only when its necessary and essential. Act responsibly and maintain a social distance of six feet. Please wear your Face Coverings and we will again be out in the hot spots this weekend and well enhance that deployment this weekend to make sure were educating the public, but also for those people that arent complying, we have to go to a more aggressive nature on making sure we get compliance on social distancing and the wearing of Face Coverings. So well be out and about moving forward as we have been, but well step it up a notch. I want to thank all of the people in San Francisco and people who come to our city to work and to visit, for their compliance up to this point and we want to continue to keep the momentum going and to prevent the spread of this virus and flatten the curve. So again, i ask for voluntary compliance but know that the San Francisco Police Department is out there. Were go tokin go go to be engae need your assistance to make sure that we stop the spread of this virus. Again, i want to repeat, the Crime Reporting numbers as i close, for those individuals who have a nonviolent or crime that has occurred where you dont need Immediate Police services, call 415 5530123. Or you can utilize the 911 or the San Francisco Police Department website to file a report or to request a report. Again, thank you all for your cooperation and lets keep our momentum going so we can stop the spread of this virus. Good afternoon, im the executive director of San Franciscos Human Services agency. As ive spoken about before, the Human Services agency role in the Emergency Response includes provision of mask care and shelter. From the onset of this crisis, our mayor and the city agencies have prioritized safeguards for populations who are most vulnerable to the coronavirus, including our homeless residents. Were following the latest guidance from Public Health experts to minimize exposure for those who do not have adequate housing, to safely shelter in place and to ensure that there are enough beds in our hospitals to treat patients with covid19. And to this end, we focus not own on improving the health and safety, as ive said before, inside our shelters and navigation centers, but moving individuals who have heightened risk due to age or Underlying Health conversations from our shelters, streets and hospitals into hotel rooms. San francisco continues to adapt to the needs of out residents and adhering to the Public Health guidance at a pace weve never seen before. Im incredibly proud of the achievements of our city workforce, our public agencies and under the leadership of the mayor to provide thousands of hotel rooms to some of the most vulnerable residents. With the addition of the alternative Housing Program dashboard, to the citys open data attacker, the publi trackee better insight for those in need at this difficult time. As of today, we have 2,741 rooms under contract at 19 Hotel Locations throughout San Francisco. The city has moved over 950 people from shelters, the street or hospitals into Hotels Thanks to the careful guidance and coordination from the department of Public Health and Supportive Housing. I want to emphasize and to clear up any misunderstanding that the city continues to implement or hotel plan and we continue to bring hotel rooms and other Housing Options online to meet the needs of these vulnerable populations. As i said, we have 2,741 rooms cutely under contract and wcurre have 2,153 rooms. Its important to note that these are all in a negotiation stage and at different stages of the negotiation and some are farther along than others and from our experience, we know that even if we move far along in the negotiateds negotiationss we cannot come to an agreement. The mayor mentioned pier 94 and the trailers and recreational vehicles that we are going to activate. And i want to provide an update and detail on that today, as well. In march, as the city continued to strengthen this response to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, we announced the leasing of recreational vehicles to provide indoor spaces for Homeless Individuals to help protect them from covid19 and to help protect the surrounding communities. The city is now operationallizing a temporary shelter using these lease recreational vehicles to new resources provided to us by californias office of Emergency Services. 29 recreational vehicles and 91 trailers arrived at seawall lot 344, known as the backlands of pier 94, to provide indoor shelter for Homeless Individuals living on streets or in shelter in district 10, including the Bayview Community and southeast sector of the city. I want to give a huge thank you to the port of San Francisco commission for approving our landuse agreement for this critical need last night in a unanimous 50 vote. Following the assessment of several public lands, the city selected this location for the rv and trailer deployment because it provides land management, utilities and rent relief through a partner city agency. , adequate ac acreage and a direct benefit to people in neighboring communities which i want to speak to now. Weve come to understand that across the nation, people of color and lowincome communities have been hardest hit by the coronavirus. Sadly, we know these disproportionate impacts are found here in San Francisco. Weve heard from dr. Kolfax and the department of Public Health that locations in the city that are most affected by health despairties, income quality and social racism are the most affected by the pandemic to date. This data trend of positive cases in our communities of color demonstrates the citys ongoing focus on equity and efforts to support vulnerable populations during the coronavirus response. During yesterdays port hearing, the Port Commission president characterized district 10 as ground zero for the coronavirus in sanfrancisco. This district has the second highest rates of those experiencing homelessness in the city, more than 1800 people and the majority of which are living unsheltered. We hear the communitys call to bring forward Immediate Solutions and strategies to address these inequities. The new shelter location will provide temporary housing resource for at least 120 individuals in the eas in the st sector of the city. We will prioritize those aged 60 or older or Underlying Health conversation making them extremely vulnerable and susceptible to covid19. By prioritizing people experiencing homelessness, the shelter site will not only prevent people from getting infected but help to reduce the spread of coronavirus in the community. The temporary shelter site plan for pier 94 will be developed and managed by the Human Services agency, the department of Public Health and the department of homelessness and Supportive Housing. It will include 24 7 site monitoring and security, asle well as meals and animal care. Were drawing on the expertise to implement screenings that will continue to protect the guests from the spread of the coronavirus. Similar to our leased hotels, we want to provide people with what they need to shelter in place. While the location does not have any immediate residential neighbors, were approaching the development of this temporary shelter in a responsible way, addressing the safety and Health Concerns of the surrounding port tenants and the supporting community. I want to express our sincere gratitude to our partners, at the port for preparing the staging area and the utilities and all of the trailers and rvs have been delivered and are on site now. We anticipate the shelter being ready to accept guests next week and will operate throughout the duration of San Franciscos declared health emergency. Weve said before that are our capacity to contain the coronavirus and flatten the curve to stop the spread depends on the ability to protect all people in San Francisco, to acquire compassion from every Community Across San Francisco to step up and take action. This shelter is an important part of the larger city efforts that we continue to implement to provide equitable, temporary Housing Solutions for vulnerable populations in need during this stayathome order. Ill now be available for questions. We will begin the q and a questions with dr. Roher, and this is from the San Francisco public press. Question is there still a plan to lease 700 hotel rooms for First Responders and covid19positive Homeless People in San Francisco . As i said in my remarks, the city continues to implement the plan that we announced seven weeks ago. I dont know and im not aware of an announcement that went out that said we were ceasing this plan, despite comments in the community. We continue to implement this plan. Weve brought online over 2700 units and our negotiation with 14 hotels, totaling over 2,000 hotel rooms. Question can you provide an update on reaching that goal and a timeline for filling these rooms . Its difficult to project a timeline. Each hotel has to be negotiated individually and sometimes the owners are local and sometimes on the east coast and sometimes international groups. Each contract has provisions unique to the hotels and its difficult to estimate the time for negotiation. In addition, weve said before once the hotels are under contract, it tables takes a nuf days to secure the appropriate staffing, supplies and then to move individuals in the rooms. And so i cant give a definitive timeline on when we will reach our goal of 7,000, but i can say is that we have brought on, as i said earlier, 2741 rooms, at 19 Hotel Locations and our negotiation with 14 other hotels, totaling 2,153 rooms. Its also important to note that the response to this pandemic requires multiple Housing Solutions. In addition to the hotel rooms, i talked about the 120 rvs and trailers and we have 643 beds at congregate sites to provide places to shelter for folks who have passed through their theird phase and theyre now no longer infectious and well be placed in congregate shelters and we are planning for sites, for covidpositive individuals who need more intensive supervision and medical support in a congregate setting. The next questions are for mayor london brisked. Breed. Madam mayor the first question is from kathy novack. Question imgrant and undocumented workers are calling for my assistance beyond the 5 him thousand from givetosf for 200 gift cards. Will more help be available for more undocumented communities. We have identified around 6 million for undocumented people who have been laid off, as well as many of our lowincome families and we havee working on philanthropic support and what we have done to make Resources Available from the state. We know some may not qualify for benefits and that its important to provide the resources and we definitely plan to. The next question is from sf chronicle. Question the board of supervisors is exploring legislation for sanctioned encantments in the city. Are you open to the idea . Why or why not . So we have already begun exploring locations for sanction ten encantments in the city and we want to make it clear that our priority is for the people, the Homeless People who have been in San Francisco before this pandemic and the priority has been our hotel rooms, dealing with our challenges, with our shelters and focusing on our vulnerable populations, the trailers that we Just Announced today. So moving full speed ahead in trying to make sure that we are meeting the need and in the process, we have identified a number of locations that we are seriously considering and as soon as we are able to get those up and running, wel we will. The next set of questions for dr. Susan philips, the department of Public Health. Questions for the chief . No questions for the chief. Your first question is from mission local. Question why does the city have the capacity to do 4,300 tests a day, but its only doing 700 or so . Why not use the unused capacity to test at congregate living places . Thank you for the question and opportunity to elaborate. We think testing is an important component of our moving forward as we outlined in the five indicators that well look at. So while we do have 4,300 test Slots Available in our laboratories that we directly work with, both at our Public Health laboratory, at the clinical laboratory, the San Francisco General Hospital and with our partners at ucsf, we need to match that test with collection supplies. So we need to get the specimen from the patient, take it to the laboratory to be run in that capacity and both numbers have to match. Until last week, we were having real challenges with our supply of testing specimen collection materials to do the tests. That has improved and so now we are more able to ramp up testing. So one of our main goals is to increase that number, the 700 number that was cited, that you cited is higher than it had been a week ago or days ago and so were heartened by that and we need to continue to increase that. So now we recommend that people can access testing for a wide range of symptoms that are compatible with covid19. They also should access testing if they speak with one of our skilled investigators and are told they may have been in contact to a person with covid19. So with both of those expansions, we are anticipating that testing will increase. We are also focused on trying to ensure safety for populations in congregate settings. Testing is one part of that, but not the own part, there is a lot of prevention work our teams are doing in those settings. But expanding testing to those sites is a priority. So you will see the numbers reported of tests completed go up over the coming days or weeks. The next question is from wilson walker, kpix. Question in regard to the city testing well below current capacity, do you think people in San Francisco are aware of the testing opportunities now offered by the city . Great, yes, again, another Good Opportunity to reinforce and clarify the importance and the increased access that were promoting now to testing. So its only been within the last week that we have increased or expanded the symptoms that were qualified from testing and weve brought online more testing capability within the city. I want to remind people that testing may also be quite available through their own providers. There are private providers in the city that have access to testing and the ability to get those results back in much faster time than true even a few weeks ago or months ago. And so that is important to understand and continue. The city expanded options for testing, including our city test sf sites which are important for people to know about. Theyre located in two places and one is at piers 30 and 32 on the ebarcadaro and so ma at seventh and brandon streets. People can gone online through sf gov and sign up to have testing there without requiring providers authorization if theyre not able to easily access the test in any other way. People experiencing any of standpoints osymptoms with covit opportunity to get tested and this is a Good Opportunity to make people in San Francisco aware that resources are available to them in addition to their routine care at their provider. The next question is from joshua sabatini. Question under the health order, can the citys golf courses open as early as next week and are people permitted to play tennis under the new health order, as well . The answer for golf courses is yes. People are able to utilize golf courses and those can be open under the new health order next week. For tennis and other sports that utilize shared equipment, even though people are able to maintain their fisca their physl distance, theyre sharing the ball and that would not be allowed. Question there appears to be confusion over whether summer camps are allowed under the new health order. Are summer camps allowed . So childcare provision or Recreational Activities such as summer camps are allowed to provide childcare for workers doing essential work, including under the broadened definition of these orders. Ithey cap cap allow for cleanin, Face Covering and groups with dedicated caretakers and teachers so the answer is question but there are caveats to keep people safe. Question how will the city enforce safe distance orders on construction sites. Through the department of building inspection. Question is the city presuming workers coming down with covid19 were exposed on the job. So for people who develop covid19 and tested and are positive, we interview every single one of those people as part of our Case Investigation and Contact Tracing work that you heard as another pillar of the work that we need to build up and be ready to do as we loosen the shelterinplace orders further into the future. We would be interviewing people and through that answer view, we woulinterview, wasthis a resulte exposure or Community Exposure and we would do further investigation before assuming it was or was not. Question can you please explain why some outdoor businesses, like flea markets, have been cleared to open while restaurants with outdoor seats have not . Yes, and i want to remind everyone that the orders are regional orders and thats really important because as all of the orders have been taking this regional approach ensures that we have the best possible outcomes since we cross the county line so often. This was by the health officers. For flea markets and other Outdoor Markets such as that, the transaction can happen with relatively small amount of contact and the seller and buyer can wear masks the entire time. For a restaurant, even if they were able to do spacing of the patrons, space them out, its very difficult to maintain spacing for the server, for the actual restaurant employee. And in addition, in order to eat, sit down and eat at the outdoor space, people are removing their masks and that combination of risks to the workforce and the risk potentially to other patrons with having masks removed was the reason that restaurants, outdoor spaces were not allowed under the new order. To follow up, what progress has been made to determine Additional Health code regulations for restaurants when they do reopen. Yes. So i think that that will be in progress over the next month and there are steps that restaurants and other businesses can take now and many have adapted their models to really focus on takeout or delivery, but there are models put in place to think about spacing for patrons when that is allowed for ways in which the weight staff and other restaurant workers can be kept safe. So there will be more guidance and information to come specifically to restaurants. Thank you, dr. Philips. The next question is for dr. Abigail kahn, homelessness and Supportive Housing. Question is the rvs will be reserved for the bayview Hunters Point area, what resources will be offered to the Homeless Community throughout the area. I think you heard a part of this answer from dr. Roher from the services agency. I want to underscore, because a part of the values of the department of homeless and Supportive Housing are to be as honest as possible with people experiencing homeless and i want to underscore while unsheltered Homeless Individuals are on the list to move into hotels and we are working as fast as we possibly can to stand up more hotels, those resources are limited and standing up hotels is a significant piece of work. And so, what i want to underscore is that while we know all people in San Francisco and vulnerable residents are really suffering, its really important that those who have been in San Francisco and who have roots in San Francisco and known to our homeless response system, these individuals have been waiting for ten years on our streets to get help and these are the individuals that we will be looking for. When we do have rooms available. And we are looking for vulnerable individuals based on age and medical conditions as weve discussed many times and we need all of our counterpart sister communities to be doing the same kinds of work and we know that they are. We talk with them twice a week and we know that hotels are a part of the plan for all of the surrounding areas. And so, if youre experiencing unsheltered homelessness in San Francisco and youre not from here or known to our system of care, you are not going to be able to move in quickly to a hotel room in San Francisco. Thats part of the honest city thahonesty thati need to provid. Its not that we dont want to help you. It will take a tremendous amount of time and we need you to return to your Home Communities and get the resources there. So we will be placing people in our system who are known to our system who are vulnerable. To the specific question around gegeography. Are they in our system and have San Francisco roots and where are they located . This is similar and we know where people are experiencing homelessness and know where its increasing. Its increasing in the bayview, and increasing in the tenderloin and hence our focus on the tenderloin to move people from that community who have been unsheltered in that community historically into hotel rooms and we will be looking at impacted neighbors across the city with the same lense. Thank you. That concludes or questions for todays press conference. It did take a village. I was really lucky when i was 14 years old to get an internship. The difference that it made for me is i had a job, but there were other people who didnt have a job, who, unfortunately, needed money. And they were shown to commit illegal acts to get money. That is what i want to prevent. [ ] today we are here to officially kick off the first class of opportunities for all. [applause]. Opportunities for all is a program that mayor breed launched in october of 2018. It really was a vision of mayor breed to get to all of the young people in San Francisco, but with an intention to focus on young people that have typically not being able to access opportunities such as internships or workbased learning opportunities. Money should never be a barrier to your ability to succeed in life and that is what this program is about. Theres always these conversations about young people not being prepared and not having experience for work and if they dont get an opportunity to work, then they cannot gain the experience that they need. This is really about investing in the future talent pool and getting them the experience that they need. It is good for everyone because down the road we will need future mechanics, future pilots, future bankers, future whatever they may be in any industry. This is the pipe on we need to work with. We need to start developing talent, getting people excited about careers, opening up those pathways and frankly giving opportunities out there that would normally not be presented. [ ] the way that it is organized is there are different points of entry and different ways of engagement for the young person and potential employers. Young people can work in cohorts or in groups and thats really for people that have maybe never had job experience or who are still trying to figure out what they want to do and they can explore. And in the same way, it is open for employers to say, you know what, i dont think we are ready to host an intern yearround are all summer, but that they can open up their doors and do site visits or tours or panels or conversations. And then it runs all the way up to the opportunity for young people to have longterm employment, and work on a project and be part of the employee base. Something new, to get new experience and meet people and then you are getting paid for it you are getting paid for doing that. It is really cool. I starting next week, i will be a freshman. [cheers and applause] two of the things i appreciate about this program was the amazing mentorship in the job experience that i had. I am grateful for this opportunity. Thank you. Something i learned at airbnb is how to network and how important it is to network because it is not only what you know, but also who you know to get far in life. During this program, i learned basic coding languages, had a had to identify the main components and how to network on a corporate level. It is also helping me accumulate my skills all be going towards my College Tuition where i will pursue a major in computer science. For myself, being that i am an actual residential realtor, it was great. If anybody wants to buy a house, let me know. Whenever. [applause] it is good. I got you. It was really cool to see the commercial side and think about the process of developing property and Different Things that i can explore. Opportunities for all was a great opportunity for all. We were aiming to have 1,000 young people register and we had over 2,000 people register and we were able to place about between 50 and did. We are still getting the final numbers of that. Over several weeks, we were able to have students participate in Investment Banking they were able to work with our team, or technology team, our engineering 20 we also gave them lessons around the industry, around financial literacy. There are 32,000 young people ages 16 and 24 living in San Francisco. And imagine if we can create an opera skin it just opportunity for all program for every young person that lives in public housing, affordable housing, low income communities. It is all up to you to make that happen. We have had really great response from employers and they have been talking about it with other employers, so we have had a lot of interest for next year to have people sign on. We are starting to figure out how to stay connected to those young people and to get prepared to make sure we can get all 2400 or so that registered. We want to give them placement and what it looks like if they get more. Lets be honest, there is always a shortage of good talent in any industry, and so this is a real great career path. For potential sponsors who might be interested in supporting opportunities for all , there is an opportunity to make a difference in our city. This is a really thriving, booming economy, but not for everyone. This is a way to make sure that everyone gets to benefit from the great place that San Francisco is and that we are building pathways for folks to be able to stay here and that they feel like they will belong. Just do it. Sign up for it. [ ] [ ] roughly five years, i was working as a high school teacher, and i decided to take my students on a surfing shop and dine on the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do shopping and dining within the 49 square miles of San Francisco by supporting local Services Within neighborhood. We help San Francisco remain unique, successful and vibrant. Where will you shop and dine in the 49 . San francisco owes the charm to the unique character of the neighborhood comer hall district. Each corridor has its own personality. Our neighborhoods are the engine of the city. You are putting money and support back to the community you live in and you are helping Small Businesses grow. It is more environmentally friendly. Shopping local is very important. I have had relationships with my local growers for 30 years. By shopping here and supporting us locally, you are also supporting the growers of the flowers, they are fresh and they have a price point that is not imported. It is really good for everybody. Shopping locally is crucial. Without that support, Small Business cant survive, and if we lose Small Business, that diversity goes away, and, you know, it would be a shame to see that become a thing of the past. It is important to dine and shop locally. It allows us to maintain traditions. It makes the neighborhood. I think San Francisco should shop local as much as they can. The retail marketplace is changes. We are trying to have people on the floor who can talk to you and help you with products you are interested in buying, and help you with exploration to try things you have never had before. The fish business, you think it is a piece of fish and fisherman. There are a lot of people working in the fish business, between wholesalers and fishermen and bait and tackle. At the retail end, we about a lot of people and it is good for everybody. Shopping and dining locally is so important to the community because it brings a tighter fabric to the community and allows the Business Owners to thrive in the community. We see more Small Businesses going away. We need to shop locally to keep the Small Business alive in San Francisco. Shop and dine in the 49 is a cool initiative. You can see the banners in the streets around town. It is great. Anything that can showcase and legitimize Small Businesses is a wonderful thing. Roughly five years, i was working as a high school teacher, and i decided to take my students on a surfing field trip. The light bulb went off in my head, and i realized i could do much more for my students taking them surfing than i could as their classroom teacher, and that is when the idea for the city surf project was born. Working with kids in the ocean that arent familiar with this space is really special because youre dealing with a lot of fear and apprehension but at the same time, a lot of excitement. When i first did it, i was, like, really scared, but then, i did it again, and i liked it. Well get a group of kids who have just never been to the beach, are terrified of the idea, who dont like the beach. Its too cold out, and its those kid that are impossible to get back out of the water at the end of the day. Over the last few years, i think weve had at least 40 of our students participate in the city surf project. Surfing helped me with, like, how to swim. Weve start off with about two to four sessions in the pool before actually going out and surfing. Swimming at the pool just helps us with, like, being, like, comfortable in the water and being calm and not being all not being anxious. So when we started the city surf project, one of the things we did was to say hey, this is the way to earn your p. E. Credits. Just getting kids to go try it was one of our initial challenges for the first year or two. But now that weve been doing it three or four years, we have a group of kids thats consistent, and the word has spread, that its super fun, that you learn about the ocean. Starting in the morning, you know, i get the vehicles ready, and then, i get all the gear together, and then, i drive and go get the kids, and we take them to a local beach. We usually go to linda mar, and then occasionally ocean beach. We once did a special trip. We were in capitola last year, and it was really fun. We get in a circle and group stretch, and we talk about specific safety for the day, and then, we go down to the water. Once we go to the beach, i dont want to go home. I cant change my circumstances at home, but i can change the way i approach them. Our program has definitely been a way for our students to find community and build friends. I dont really talk to friends, so i guess when i started doing city surf, i started to, like, get to know people more than i did before, and people that i didnt think id like, like, ended up being my best friends. Its a group sport the way we do it, and with, like, close camaraderie, but everybodys doing it for themselves. Its great, surfing around, finding new people and making new friendships with people throughout surfing. It can be highly developmental for students to have this time where they can learn a lot about themselves while negotiating the waves. I feel significantly, like, calmer. It definitely helps if im, like, feeling really stressed or, like, feeling really anxious about surfing, and i go surfing, and then, i just feel, like, im going to be okay. It gives them resiliency skills and helps them build selfconfidence. And with that, they can use that in other parts of their lives. I went to bring amy family o the beach and tell them what i did. I saw kids open up in the ocean, and i got to see them connect with other students, and i got to see them fail, you know, and get up and get back on the board and experience success, and really enjoy themselves and make a connection to nature at the same time. For some kids that are, like, resistant to, like, being in a Mentorship Program like this, its they want to surf, and then later, theyll find out that theyve, like, made this community connection. I think they provided level playing fields for kids to be themselves in an open environment. For kids to feel like i can go for it and take a chance that i might not have been willing to do on my own is really special. We go on 150 surf outings a year. Thats yearround programming. Weve seen a tremendous amount of youth face their fears through surfing, and that has translated to growth in other facets of their lives. I just think the biggest thing is, like, that they feel like that they have something that is really cool, that theyre engaged in, and that we, like, care about them and how theyre doing, like, in general. What i like best is they really care about me, like, im not alone, and i have a group of people that i can go to, and, also, surfing is fun. Were creating surfers, and were changing the face of surfing. The feeling is definitely akin to being on a roller coaster. Its definitely faster than i think you expect it to be, but its definitely fun. It leaves you feeling really, really positive about what that kids going to go out and do. I think its really magical almost. At least it was for me. It was really exciting when i caught my first wave. I felt like i was, like it was, like, magical, really. When they catch that first wave, and their first lights up, you know their face lights up, you know you have them hooked. I was on top of the world. Its amazing. I felt like i was on top of the world even though i was probably going two miles an hour. It was, like, the scariest thing id ever done, and i think it was when i got hooked on surfing after announcer youre watching coping with covid19. Todays special guest is lindsey holmes. Hi, im chris manus and youre watching coping with covid19. Today my guest is founder and c. E. O. Of dispatch goods and former clinical profusionist at ucsf. She start add new initiative called project clean to provide alcoholbased cleaning products and Hand Sanitizers to atrisk bay area communities. Lindsey, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. Its lovely to see you. Tell us a little about your background and how dispatched goods of San Franciscos restaurant community. Sure. We launched, in october, weve been working on this for a little over a year. And we partnered with restaurants to provide them with a free reusable container system that could replace singleuse products. We partnered with yelp headquarters in downtown San Francisco and 10 Restaurant Partners as of february before covid19 hit and employees at our Corporate Partners could request the reusable containers when they were getting their lunch for takeout or if they were getting it delivered to their office. We then handled the pickup and dish washing. So, obviously the virus pandemic has hit and now youve had to pivot your company and i understand you lunched a new initiative called project clean. Can you let us know what the program is all about . Sure. So we basically when this hit, we asked ok, what we do we have and how can we help . We also noticed there was a gap in the supply for Hand Sanitizers to Certain Community members and individuals and we talked to a distillery about making Hand Sanitizer and, in true form to our mission, we decided i bet we could collect enough containers from the community that we wouldnt have to supply more singleuse plastic containers and we launched project clean and with that, we collected over 200 containers. Theyre spray squeeze bottles and working on supplying the cleaning products. What has the response been from the community atlarge and how have peopled help . Were donationbased and selffunded right now. We are buying basically the products at cost and is not charging us much for that. Theyre also just trying to cover our expenses and we had a little bit of donations coming in. But if you go to our website, you can either donate containers that you have, well come do pickup. Were doing it twice a week now. Or if you yourself need any of the cleaning products, you can fill out the form and request those as well. And then there is also a place to make a donation. So, where are you handing out the Hand Sanitizer right now . Were doing it in the same route as the dropoff route. So, the Hand Sanitizer will be finished today. So, tomorrow well be doing our first round of dropoffs and weve been contacted by Health Care Professionals who after they come home have nothing on their hands there. We have been contacted by retirement communities and contacted by physicians in their offices that they dont have anything and a individuals that just werent able to get the supplies because they were sold out so quickly. Basically during our normal pickup routes now, we will be doing the dropoff as well. That is fantastic. You know, i think that is a Wonderful Service you are providing, lindsey. Thank you so much for coming on the show and keep up the good work. Thank you so much, chris i really appreciate it. And that is it for this episode. Well be back with more stories shortly. Youve been watching coping with covid19. Im chris manus, thank you for watching. Hi, im chris manus is sfgov tv and youre watching coping with covid19. Today im going to the gas station. [music playing] now, these are just my stories. Im not a medical professional of any kind. Im a video guy. And the reason im getting gas so we can go to the doctors. If you want to get the most uptodate and definitive information about the coronavirus pandemic, i highly recommend the f. A. Q. That is available at sfgov. Theres great info there. Today im taking two plastic bags and a hair tie and following the new bay area guidelines and im wearing a mask. Im taking the smallest number of items with me. Just my car key, credit card, i. D. , the bags and the hair tie. I dont want too many items to wipe down later. As aleave, i put on the outside shoes ive left on the porch. Can i track the virus inside with my shoes . I honestly dont know. But my floors are cleaner now. When i get to the gas station, i get out of the car, remove the gas cap and put the big plastic bag on my right hand and secure it with a hair tie. There are three main share surfaces here im concerned about touching. The p. I. N. Pad, the pump handle and the button to select my gas. After i use my card, i put it into the smaller bag and stash it. Most gas stations have a paper towel dispenser or maybe there is a piece of paper already in your car that you can use. Once i fill my tank and replace the pump, i walk to the trash can, roll the hair tie up my arm and let the plastic bag fall into the can. On my drive home, im careful not to touch my face. I leave my outside shoes on the porch and as soon as i get through the door, i wash my hands for at least 20 seconds. Next i wipe down my credit card, i. D. And my car key and, as an extra precaution, i wipe down the front door nob and clean the sink taps. Finally, wash my hands again. Thats it for this episode, i hope you found it helpful. Thank you for watching. Announcer youre watching coping with covid19. Todays special guest is dr. Steven getnick. Hi, im chris man us and youre watching coping with covid19. Today my guest is the director of the Behavior Therapy Center of San Francisco and Professor Emeritus in counseling psychology at the university of San Francisco. Doctor, welcome to the show. Thank you. Lets talk about managing anxieties during this pandemic. What types of issues are people facing at the moment . There are a number of issues and i really want to point out that this is affecting everyone and has come on very quickly. So it is normal. If you are not experiencing some anxiety, something is a touch off because this affects us all. I think some of the main ones are our health and worried about getting the virus and our developing serious complications. I think for a lot of people who are single, living alone, in isolation, has been very difficult. I think being in close quarters with people who we normally have some space from now are together 24 7. Thats produced a lot of stress and anxiety. That loss of connection with others. We already addressed. And having kids home. For a lot of people. Yes, absolutely. What are the other problems that they might have . I think without that dynamic, the good things are not a problem. It is the difficulties we have. And when were together 24 7, again its like hooking everything up to an amplifier. So, what kind of problems could be created from working home from home, perhaps for the first time in your career . A lot of people are not used to working at home and a working at home just isnt the same. For one thing, there is a lack of social interaction. Some people find that that affects them greatly. Some people are actually finding theyre getting more work done at home without distractions from work. The lack of structure is probably the most common. We see it here with work at the office. People are kind of watching. We know that our schedule is, suddenly youre at home and you are on your own. Absolutely. If those are some of the issues people are facing, what are some of the techniques people can use to overcome their anxiety . Caller i think there are many. One of the first is how managing and keeping track of your thinking, we think and talk to ourselves a lot. Thats normal. We have a dialogue with ourselves often and we need to monitor that a bit. People tend to ruminate versus problemsolve. That is they tend to worry about all the things that might go wrong. And what i suggest is, look, there are things that can go wrong, but ruminating about the worstcase scenario is not going to be very productive. Sit down, figure out what the things are that you have to deal with and try to problemsolve. I think any of the selfcontrol techniques for anxiety can be helpful. And there are dozens of them. The common ones are meditation, relaxation techniques, yoga, for example and another is diaphragmattic breathing. If you google that, you can learn diaphragmattic breathing in about 10 minutes online. Its incredibly simple and it is a really nice way to reduce anxiety in the moment. Selfcontrol procedures, exercise. Whether if youre fortunate enough to have equipment at home, thats great. If youre not, get outside and go for a walk, keep your safe distance, of course. But you need to be active. Thats helpful. I think people marry be dealing with information overload at the moment. How do you suggest people manage that . I was just going to say that. I think it is really important to kind of limit the information you get. Not in terms of accuracy. I think in terms of accuracy, you want to identify a few sites where people are coming with evidencebased information and scientific information so you can form yourself well. Once youve informed yourself, you need to not be watching all day long. Ive talked to people who are mesmerized from the tv and a it keeps that anxiety going so you need to limit your viewing for sure. This can be stress for people who have economic concerns and worried about their family and friends and loved ones who are essential workers. What would you suggest they do to help manage anxiety and stress . There is a number of things. One of major ones for depression is behavioral activation. Simply, it really means that people will tend to not be depressed as a number of reinforcing activities to engage in. Whether it is hobbies, you read, you listen to music, you crochet, you whatever. These kinds of things are very important so you want to make sure that youre engaging in activities that literally make you feel better as opposed to sitting around ruminating, worrying about the worstcase scenarios that might happen. What about trying to do some selfdevelopment . Yeah. Its a very interesting time. Ive talked to a couple of my own clients who are finding, in a very positive way, that this isolation, while at first can generate a lot of anxiety, particularly if youre just not good at living alone. For a number of people, its giving them a chance to sit back and really think about what is important in their lives, what are the priorities. I think that maybe if there is any Silver Lining in this epidemic, its really forcing all of us to kind of rethink whats really important. Indeed. You know, though, at the same time, there are people who are feeling very lonely at home. How would you encourage them to overcome that . You get online. Facetime, skype, zoom, like what were doing right now. You can stay connected. Its very possible. Most connections are important. We are social critters and we need that connection. I think for people who dont have those options, pull up photos, take a look at pictures of family. You need to stay connected. And its very important. And finally, do you have any suggestions that are specifically for families . Yeah. Well, again, i think one of the interesting things thats come about from all of this, is i talked to families on video is theyre obviously spending more time together. While its a bit awkward, particularly for parents who are in the house working a lot. Its a chance to really deepen relationships and spend more good, quality time together. I think parents really need to step back and kind of plan their day a little bit. Not micro manage it, but have some ideas. Can the family play games together . A lot of people i talked to, theyre even together as a family for the first time. So i think there are a number of things that people can do. I think it is qulaouzful for the families to take five, 10 minutes and say how did the day go . I talked to someone in the phone book before we started who said they noticed what time of day all their anxiety kind of comes together and they start sniping at each other. Now theyre taking a few minutes at tend of the day to say, ok, how are we doing . I think they need modeling good behavior, something you can do within the family, too, to try to thats right. I think thats relevant. Very relevant to how children are going to do. Most of the research from crises, particularly things we cant control showed that children do as well as their parents do. So i think it is important for parents to think about how theyre react aing and they stay calm because whatever they do is modeling, coping for their children. So, that can be very useful. It can also be problematic. When we talked earlier, you mentioned that acknowledging that your kids are afraid is important. Yes. I think that ties to your last question. I think modeling you know, its not incompatible with saying, yeah, you know, mom or dad is a little nervous, too. It means a lot of stuff is going on, but were going to be ok. Were going to stay together. We have our time together. Were going to be safe. Well fill in the blank. So you can do both. You can reassure but in a realistic way that once the kids know its normal to be anxious in these times. Thank you for coming ton show, doctor. I really appreciate the time youve given us. Youre welcome. Thank you for having me. And that is it for this episode. Well be back with more covid19 related information shortly. You have been coping with covid19. Thank you for watching. Hi, youre watching coping with covid19. Today im going to the grocery store. Now, im not an authority about the virus. Im just showing you what im personally doing. To find out the most definitive and uptodate information about the pandemic, i highly recommend the f. A. Q. Available at sf. Gov. Im taking a list and before i leave i put a sanitizing wind and pair of gloves into a plastic bag. Im wearing a mask and taking the smallest number of items with me. Just my car key, credit card, i. D. And the batching im not taking my phone with me. Even if i use it to pay, i either have to touch the p. I. N. Pad or sign the screen anyway. Im concerned about crosscontamination. I dont want to transfer the virus from my gloves to the phone and then to my face. Whin i get out of the car, i put on my gloves and get a grocery cart. The essential workers at my store are doing a great job. Theyre sanitizing every cart and limiting the number of shoppers. Having a cart can help you protect your space. In this store, there are two new science on the floor. Ones directional to encourage everyone to take the same route around the store. The second is to remind shoppers to maintain a safe distance from each other. When im done shopping and ready to pay, i stand in line at least six feet from the shopper in front of me. After unloading my car at check out, i go past the cashier and pack my own bags. That is one less person touching my groceries and less of a burden on the stores employees. I thank the cashier and leave the store. On my drive home, im careful not to touch my face. I leave my outside shoes on the porch and as soon as i get through the door, i wash my hands for at least 20 seconds. Next, i wipe down my debit card, i. D. And car key. And then i wipe down the front doorknob, clean the sink taps and wash my hands again. I wash my vegetables in cold water and remove the package aing from my proteins and other items. I leave the nonperishables in my garage for a few days unless i need them immediately. My refrigerated items get a quick winddown to be on the safe side and, of course, i wacker my hands again. Heres a quick recap of my visit to the grocery store. That is it for this episode. I hope you found it helpful. Good morning. The meeting mr. Come to order. Thithis is the april 17, 2020 regular meeting of the. Commission. Our clerk is here and i would like to thank jason from sfgovtv for broadcasting this meeting. Do you have any