The hon. London breed good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us here today. Were here with dr. Grant colfax of the department of Public Health to provide a very important update around whats happening in San Francisco as it relates to covid19. As of today, the total number of cases in San Francisco are 13,139. The total number of hospitalizations are 36. Sadly, the total number of deaths has reached 151, and we are seeing 5,000, almost 6,000 tests per day. Our Positivity Rate has went from a record low to now 1. 28 , and what does all this mean . We are seeing an uptick. Two weeks ago, we put a pause on our reopening efforts, and we made it clear to the people of San Francisco that we are seeing the number of cases increase, and we should be concerned. We had plans. We had plans not only to continue our reopening efforts, but we had planned to really expand so many services, so many businesses, and a number of other i think thisethings, o weeks ago, we knew we were probably headed in this direction, and sadly, what were seeing today has put us in a situation where we have to take a moment and to recognize that there is a problem. The upticks that we have seen are really a cause for concern, and its put us in a situation where we have had to make yet another hard choice. San francisco has been praised over the past couple months around the number of cases, our Testing Capacity and Positivity Rate and having one of the lowest number of cases in the country, but thats only because many of have been very cooperative and have supported the efforts that we put forward. And unfortunately, you know, weve been in this for a long time now, and people are tired, and so people have gotten complacent, and as a result, because of behavior, were seeing an uptick. And as a result of that uptick, it has forced our city to make some very, very hard decisions, and not just pause the reopening efforts, but to, in fact, roll back some of the gains that we have made. So sadly, beginning the end of the day friday, we will need to eliminate Indoor Dining, we will need to reduce capacity as gyms and movie theaters. We will be putting a pause on opening additional high schools, and so there are a number of things that, unfortunately, we will now need to do as a result of this. And dr. Colfax will talk a little bit more about what that entails why we are in a place of doing something that i wish we didnt have to do, because i understand, especially as the weather gets colder and its the Holiday Season, and people are starting to hire back their employees and purchase food and get prepared, that this is having a tremendous impact on so many businesses and, in particular, the Restaurant Industry in San Francisco. I understand that, you know, were not making any roll backs on any elementary or any middle schools because what we know about high schools is, unfortunately, the transmission rate is similar to adults, so we need to put a pause on opening high schools, but it doesnt mean we shouldnt move forward and get our elementary and middle schools open as soon as possible. In fact, we know that the board of education has plans to vote on a resolution to get our schools back open sooner rather than later. We are committed as a city to work with them to do just that. This concern around this uptick does not mean that we cannot still move in a direction to get our schools open sooner rather than later. We also know that, again, some of our cibusinesses are struggling, and we cant do it alone. Just recently, we put out some information around providing some Additional Support for our restaurants. 2. 5 million in fee and tax waivers, 1 million in grants to restaurants to support outdoor dining, and were redirecting the 3,500,000 interest s. F. Help loans towards low and moderate income residents. We know that help is needed, we cant do it alone. This is why i wholeheartedly support the restaurant act, h. R. 107, which will support investing 20 billion in restaurants in this country. We need to do more, but the fact is the virus is spreading, and we have to make the hard decisions. The good news is that we have a new president and a new Vice President , and we just heard the good news yesterday that we made progress on the vaccine, but those things arent going to help us today with what were seeing. Theyre going to help us for the future, but for now, we have to make sure that were protecting and saving lives here in the city right now. Its a very hard thing to think about just what impact this is going to have on the people of San Francisco. When making these decisions, we dont take them lightly. We look at the science, we look at the data. We think about every single restaurant and every Single School and every single business that has not collected any revenue whatsoever since this pandemic began. We understand cthat challenges exist, and its why weve continued to recavamp our jobs now program to pay for employees, and deferred and even waived city fees, and we will continue to work to do as much as we can, and like i said, were not going to do it alone. Were going to count on the decisions made in washington to provide some Additional Support that could help put us in a better place. But for now, we have to do whats necessary to protect the people of San Francisco. And so when there are people who are out, not wearing their masks and not following the Public Health orders and doing things that, sadly, spread the virus, then it causes us additional delays on our reopening efforts. When i think about, you know, whats been happening as it relates to the virus, we know that in the past, we talk about the disproportional impacts with particularly the latino community. We made a record 28 Million Investment to try and curb that, and the good news is were seeing the numbers change slightly. So we are seeing is more impact by the virus. Were seeing people hanging out at the bars and some of the places, and were seeing masks coming off and people who are getting comfortable and complacent. This virus definitely reacts to behavior that does not follow the suggested Public Health guidelines around mask wearing and social distancing, and so we know that were going to have to change our behavior as we come possible the Holiday Season. We know that people are going to want to get together, families and friends, and its a little bit colder outside, so people are going to want to be theyre going to want to be indoors, and so were going to have to think about how thats going to impact this virus and its ability to move around. The hard choices that we make now will help make things better in the future. It will get our city open, it will get our businesses open, it will get our kids back in school faster, so we have to continue to make the hard choices. I know that the people of this city are tired of me asking so much of you. Time and time again, ive come out here and have asked you things that make it very, very difficult for you in your life, whether its taking care of your children, your elderly parent, or even going to work, but we need everyones cooperation, we need everyones support. We know this has not been easy. We know its not been easy for so many people for so long, and we didnt think wed be in the midst of a pandemic as long as we are. Were seeing places like europe, where theyve had to roll back their reopening efforts. Weve seen upticks all over the country, not just San Francisco. And the reason why and so many of you have been understanding, and youve cooperated. So i want to thank you for doing that, but we are asking for a lot more, i know. And as we approach the Holiday Season, we need everyone to be mindful as to what is at stake. Making a decision to support opening a business and then asking that business to close, it is heartbreaking. It is very, very unfortunate, but it is necessary, and the way that we make sure that this does not continue to happen is if we realize that the possibility of rolling back even more could happen if we dont change our behavior. So sadly, we are at a different place. Im hopeful that we are going to have a president and Vice President that is already working on a Covid Response and a National Response around Wearing Masks and doing whats necessary in order to get this country through this because even if San Francisco is doing well, it Means Nothing if everyone else isnt. Think about this Holiday Season and people traveling and moving around more. That could potentially spread the virus, so were asking people not to do unnecessary traveling at this time because we really want to get this undercontrol under control so next year, were able to do exactly what we want, and thats celebrate with one another. Were asking you to sacrifice so we can get back to life as we know it. This is hard, yes, but its necessary. I want to thank you again for your cooperation and understanding. This is really tough to put a pause and to hold back some of the things. I know how hard this is to do, especially with reopening businesses and things that people were preparing for, and the cost of that preparation. Were going to do everything continue to do everything we can as a city to make sure we support our communities and our businesses and our schools and our families. It is a hard, long road, but were going to get through this. A vaccine is inevitable, but its not here yet. So at this time, to provide clarity around the data and what it means and to provide specifically detail around what will open and what will be paused right now, the director of the department of Public Health, dr. Grant colfax. Good afternoon. Dr. Grant colfax, director of Public Health for the city and county of San Francisco, and thank you, mayor breed. As always, we are fortunate as a city to have your leadership and tenacity. Today, we are unfortunately taking a step back. We are taking a step back to ensure that we can move forward in the future. If we take these steps today, we can mitigate the spread of the virus and, in the long run, we will be safer and stronger. But this is difficult, and this is a sacrifice. We are halting Indoor Dining, pausing on inperson learning at additional high schools, and reducing the capacity of some indoor activities. This is because the spread of the virus is aggressive and threatening. Let me do a deep dive to show you where we are, and where we could be headed if we do not take these aggressive steps. Our cases in San Francisco have been increasing dramatically over the last month. We have seen cases increase, as shown in this slide, by 250 since early october, and, in the past two weeks, from october 21 through november 5, our rate has increased from 3. 7 per 100,000 people to 9 per 100,000 residents. We are averaging nearly 80 new cases a day now, up from just 32 new cases at the end of october, and this is consistent, unfortunately, with what we are seeing across california and across the bay area region. In fact, while california still remains in much better shape in terms of case increases compared to the rest of the nation, california has seen a 29 increase in cases in the past two weeks. So where may we be headed if we do not reverse this trend . Lets go to the next slide. This shows how cases are increasing, and the projection for those cases. So you can see on this slide that were in a position where cases have increased dramatically. Our reproductive rate of the virus, that rate which the virus spread through the community, has increased above 1, meaning cases will continue to increase dramatically in the future. As you can see, we will go up to over 300 cases a day by late december if this increase continues, a sharp, rapid increase in cases. Reproductive rate above 1, remember, that means that the virus is rapidly spreading through our community. Lets go to the next slide. So our current level of increase is greater than the last surge. This suggests much greater transmission and has the potential to be explosive. The orange line here shows what happened this summer, when we had that summer surge of the virus. We peaked in our cases on july 19, but again, as this slide indicates, we are on track to exceed the surge in the summer as our current cases show are shown here in blue. So that blue line indicates since july 25. That summer surge is imposed on the orange line, at the beginning of that summer surge, june 15 to june 30. The point is not only this increase that were having now in this fall surge commensurate with this increase. This means if we do not turn this around, our fall surge will exceed our summer surge. If we stay on our current course of activities, if we do not pause, and we do not reverse, it is entirely plausible that we will face a situation where our Health Care System could become overwhelmed and reverse the Community Progress that weve made all these many months. Therefore next slide our action today will limit indoor activities. We will close Indoor Dining and bars serving food 11 59 fridfridap. M. Friday this friday. We will also close we will also limit can i have the next slide, please . I think theres a next slide here. Yes. We will also pause the opening of more high schools and restaurants and movie theaters. Schoo high schools already open wi high schools that are open at this time will be allowed to stay open, and elementary and middle schools will be allowed to continue open, but high schools that are not open at this time will be paused as we determine our next steps in possible reopening or even a further restriction of activities. I also wanted to discuss the Holiday Season, which is quickly approaching, and we need to remember that the virus is not only still with us, but there is more around than ever before. The virus, unfortunately, has no boundaries, no limit, and unfortunately, it certainly does not have a holiday schedule. Todays announcement goes a long way in making sure that we will have a much healthier Holiday Season. As we move into these holiday months, we are maintaining our focus on our Hospital Capacity and ensuring san franciscans can receive the care that they need during this Holiday Season. And we want to do everything we can to avoid reinstating a shelter in place order that would unfortunately shut our city down for the holidays. And even if we beat back the rapid and aggressive spread of covid19 that is currently racing through our city, we must continue to act with caution and diligence during this Holiday Season. This means following the principles and guidelines that i have been sharing with all of you since the beginning of the covid19 response. And i know that these messages continue to remain demeaning, but we have to continue to beat back the virus. For the holidays, our guidance includes the following. Traveling outside the bay area increases your chance of getting the virus and spreading it upon your return. Nonessential travel, including holiday travel, is not recommended. Additional precautions must be taken when hosting and interacting with people who are traveling to the bay area, especially from other communities with widespread covid19. Wear face masks and stay 6 feet away from people outside your immediate household, and that includes family members who are not in your immediate household. Eating and drinking together is higher risk because people must takeoff their masks to eat and drink. Restaurants are often relaxed around social distancing, while eating and drinking create more respirato respiratory droplets. Please, have that holiday meal in person only with the ones you live with. Join your family over the holidays on zoom, on teams, on the phone. This is not the year to pull together a big holiday table with multiple households, multiple members of your family indoors, potentially spreading the virus to your loved ones. If you do have a holiday dinner or gathering, please, it must be outside. People must say 6 feet apart and wear masks, and please, use caution when actively eating or drinking. Now, i know this is not how we imagine this is not how i imagine this Holiday Season, but unfortunately it is the Holiday Season we need to have this year top truly show the people that we care and to protect the people we love how to keep ourselves, our families, our friends, our communities safe. We need to protect our aging parents or grandparents, and this can only happen with caution and diligence that includes that masking and that social distancing and limiting interactions. But Everyone Needs to do this part, and do it with caution and care. We will get through this together, and i continue to thank all of you in San Francisco for doing your part. Thank you. Operator at this time, we have a few Health Related questions for you when you are ready. The first set of questions are from alex bareireira. Are the numbers today from business openings attributed to these activities . So we are taking a break from reopening based on the science, data, and facts on the most risky. We know that the virus is likely to be transmitted indoors where people take their masks off, so the decision the difficult decision that we made today is based on the data that we know how the virus is spread, and that those activities increase the risk. We also know that the virus is more likely to be transmitted in large groups or gatherings, which is another reason why weve reduced the limit on gatherings today. Operator thank you. The next question comes from gerald chin, San Francisco bay. Does the city expect the state to put the San Francisco back in strict [inaudible]. So what were responding to is the local date on that we have, and as data, that we have, and as you saw, i just showed the recent data, you saw the slides. We are going to continue to watch the state, we expect the state will shift us to another tier, but we need to move fast here. We need to look at our local information, and thats why were responding so quickly right here. You saw that that rate of increase. That increase is very concerning, particularly the fact that it exceeds the rate of increase that we saw at that summer surge, so we need to act to turn the tide now on this fall surge. Operator there are no further questions, and this concludes the press conference. Thank you, mayor breed, and dr. Colfax. The goal is simple. Its to raise womens voices. Learn a little bit about what you should be thinking about in the future. We had own over 300 over 300 people who signed up for the oneonone counseling today. I think in the world of leading, people sometimes discount the ability to lead quietly and effectively. The Assessors Office is a big one. There are 58 counties in the state of california and every single county has one elected assessor in the county. Our job is to look at property taxes and make sure that we are fairly taxing every single property in San Francisco. One of the big things that we do is as a result of our work, we bring in a lot of revenue, about 2. 6 billion worth of revenue to the city. Often, people will say, what do you do with that money, and i like to share what we do with property taxes. For every dollar we collect in property taxes, about 68 cents of it goes to support public sstss, our police officers, our fire departments, our streets, our cleaning that happens in the city. But i think what most people dont know is 34 cents of the dollar goes to public education. So it goes to the state of california and in turn gets allocated back to our local school districts. So this is an incredibly important part of what we do in this office. Its an interesting place to be, i have to say. My colleagues across the state have been wonderful and have been very welcoming and share their knowledge with me. In my daytoday life, i dont think about that role, being the only Asian American assessor in the state, i just focus on being the best i can be, representing my city very well, representing the county of San Francisco well. By being the only Asian American assessor, i think you have a job to try to lift up and bring as many people on board, as well. I hope by doing the best that you can as an individual, people will start to see that your assessor is your elected leaders, the people that are making important decisions can look like you, can be like you, can be from your background. I grew up with a family where most of my relatives, my aunties, my uncles, my parents, were immigrants to the united states. When my parents first came here, they came without any relatives or friends in the united states. They had very little money, and they didnt know how to speak english very well. They came to a place that was completely foreign, a place where they had absolutely nobody here to help them, and i cant imagine what that must have been like, how brave it was for them to take that step because they were doing this in order to create an opportunity for their family. So my parents had odd jobs, my dad worked in the kitchens, my mom worked as a seamstress sewing. As we grew up, we eventually had a small business. I very much grew up in a family of immigrants, where we helped to translate. We went to the restaurant every weekend helping out, rolling egg rolls, eating egg rolls, and doing whatever we need to do to help the family out. It really was an experience growing up that helped me be the person that i am and viewing Public Service the way that i do. One of the events that really stuck with me when i was growing up was actually the rodney king riots. We lived in Southern California at the time, and my parents had a restaurant in inglewood, california. I can remember smelling smoke, seeing ashes where we lived. It was incredibly scary because we didnt know if we were going to lose that restaurant, if it was going to be burned down, if it was going to be damaged, and it was our entire livelihood. And i remember there were a lot of conversations at that time around what it was that government to do to create more opportunities or help people be more successful, and that stuck with me. It stuck with me because i remain believe government has a role, government has a responsibility to change the outcomes for communities, to create opportunities, to help people go to school, to help people open businesses and be successful. Make sure to be safe, and of course to have fun. And then, i think as you continue to serve in government, you realize that those convictions and the persons that you are really help to inform you, and so long as you go back to your core, and you remember why youre doing what youre doing, you know, i think you cant go wrong. Its funny, because, you know, i never had thought i would do this. I became a supervisor first for the city under very unusual circumstances, and i can remember one day, im shopping with friends and really not having a care in the world about politics or running for office or being in a public position, and the next day, im sworn in and serving on the board of supervisors. For many of us who are going through our Public Service, its very interesting, i think, what people view as a leader. Sometimes people say, well, maybe the person who is most outspoken, the person who yells the loudest or who speaks the loudest is going to be the best leader. And i think how i was raised, i like to listen first, and i like to try to figure outweighs to work with out ways to work with people to get things done. I hope that time goes on, you can see that you can have all sorts of different leaders whether at the top of City Government or leading organizations or leading teams, that there are really different kinds of leadership styles that we should really foster because it makes us stronger as organizations. Take advantage of all the wonderful information that you have here, at the vendor booth, at our seminars and also the oneonone counseling. I wouldnt be where i was if i didnt have very strong people who believed in me. And even at times when i didnt believe in my own abilities or my own skills, i had a lot of people who trusted and believed i either had the passion or skills to accomplish and do what i did. If there was one thing that i can tell young women, girls, who are thinking about and dreaming about the things they want to be, whether its being a doctor or being in politics, running an organization, being in business, whatever it is, i think its really to just trust yourself and believe that who you are is enough, that you are enough to make it work and to make things successful. Supervisor ronen good morning, everyone. The meeting