Hey, San Francisco!

Matt Charnock here — The SF Minute's second guest editor. Some of you might know me as the human behind The Bold Italic and SFist (on the weekends). TBH, I’m just glad to be here and for the free snacks.

Now, on to some weekend content. And… well, a bit of important news.

California is (at this moment) the only state in the country experiencing a “moderate” transmission rate for COVID-19 — the second-lowest tier designated by the CDC. San Francisco, which remains a model on how to contend with the pandemic, continues to see a sloping 7-day average for new COVID-19 cases.

And now: Over 88% of the city’s eligible residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Given these figures, SF City officials — in tandem with seven other Bay Area counties and the City of Berkeley — announced Thursday certain indoor mask-wearing rules would be lifted next week on Friday, October 15.

“I’m excited that we’re once again at a place where we can begin easing the mask requirements, which is the direct result of the fact that we have one of the highest vaccination rates in the country, our cases have fallen, and our residents have done their part to keep themselves and those around them safe,” said Mayor Breed in a news release Thursday.

London Breed @LondonBreed

On October 15, SF will begin easing mask requirements in indoor settings where stable cohorts of fully vaccinated people gather. This includes offices, gyms, college classes, and other organized gatherings of fully vaccinated people who meet regularly.

Mayor London Breed's Press Office @MyrPressOffice

San Francisco to Ease Indoor Mask Requirements for Certain Indoor Settings Where Stable Groups of Fully Vaccinated People Gather - https://t.co/uGyNx94qtU

October 7th 2021

110 Retweets503 Likes

Breed also noted that this will be a big boost for local small businesses, especially those located downtown.

“This is an important step forward for San Francisco, particularly for our downtown, because when I talk to office workers and business leaders one of the things I continue to hear is that they’re anxious to get back to a more normal routine at work where they can interact with their colleagues,” she continued.

For fully vaccinated San Franciscans, they can soon enjoy mask-less workouts inside IRL gyms; the occasional trip to the office (that is if you haven’t already embraced 100% remote work) without having to wear a face-covering; holstering their masks when attending certain indoor gatherings that number less than a 100 people; putting masks below their chins when commuting in a work-related vehicle or when inside a college classroom.

However, many of the City’s current indoor mask-wearing rules remain intact. You should still expect to show proof of vaccination and dawn a mask when inside a bar or restaurant. Grocery store runs will continue to require a face mask; the same goes for those retail shopping sprees, as well.

Yes: We’re inching closer to normalcy. But I think we can all agree that there are (a lot) of pre-pandemic norms we should leave exactly where they are — in the past.

This Weekend’s To-Do List…

There’s so much going on around the seven-by-seven this weekend. Now if we can just get the skies above our heads to stop filling with booms from low-flying fighter jets.

Here are a few groovy things to do around SF Saturday and Sunday:

• Take a hike—like, literally. With the weather looking to be sunny Saturday and Sunday, take a cue from The SF Minute and commune with Mother Nature; we even wrote up this very handy guide to urban hiking paths in SF last week.

• Don’t forget about free SF museum days! Both Legion of Honor and the de Young museum are offering free admission for Bay Area residents this Saturday; DoTheBay has this nifty list of upcoming free museum days that you should totally bookmark for future reference.

• Go stock up on your veggies and fruits. Some of my favorite local farmers’ marks have to be the Outer Sunset Farmers’ Market & Mercantile, Clement Street Farmers’ Market, and the North Beach Farmers’ Market (which will sunset for the season in November); now’s also a good time to remind everyone that stocking up on cotton totes is actually harmful toward the environment — so just have one or two of them, and call it a day.

• Grab a gourd or seven. It’s starting to feel a lot like Red season, which means it’s time to stock up on all things pumpkin (and pumpkin spice); Clancy's Pumpkin Patch — a cultural touchstone in SF since 1979 — has two locations in the city, with its patch at 1620 7th Avenue open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily through Halloween and the one at 2101 Sloat Boulevard open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

More Weekend Picks…

• SOMArts is opening a hella trippy, very contemporary Día de Los Muertos exhibit this Saturday.

• Don’t miss City Hall being lit orange tomorrow night for the Giants — Beat LA!

• If you’ve already been to those above-mentioned farmers’ markets, a new one — called “The Market” — is debuting Saturday in Parkmerced.

• Lend a helping hand this weekend to put the finishing touches on the Nature Exploration Area at Heron’s Head Park.

• And now that Newsom signed a bill into law that allows the sale of takeout cocktails in California (for at least the next five years), take this as a symbol to order to-go drinks from watering holes included in the Chronicle’s list of best SF cocktail bars.

Have a great evening and enjoy the weekend. See y’all Monday! — Matt Charnock

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