San Francisco residents traveling outside the bay area no longer need to be quarantined for 10 days when they get home, but the city still encourages its residents to follow the state’s travel recommendation that advises against non-essential travel far away from home, officials said in a statement released Tuesday.
The city introduced mandatory quarantine in mid-December in response to an increase in cases triggered by Thanksgiving trips. Although quarantine was mandatory, there was no system to ensure that people followed it.
The lifting of the stricter quarantine rule occurs while the city experiences a dramatic decline in infections, registering an average of 89 cases per day for seven days, compared to an average high of 374 cases per day at the peak of the most recent peak.
“Withdrawing this order does not mean that it is now safe to just board a plane or take a trip,” said Dr. Susan Philip, San Francisco’s interim health officer, in a statement. “This is not a free trip for everyone. We have made tremendous progress and reduced the number of our cases, but we need to keep our guard high. The increasing prevalence of variants, some of which are brought in from abroad, is further evidence that we must be extremely cautious. If we do everything we should – wear masks, practice physical distance, avoid meetings in closed environments with other families – we can continue to reopen businesses, schools and community activities. Voluntarily quarantining after traveling out of the state or 120 miles from home helps to protect everyone. Let’s go forward, not backward. “
The state issued a travel statement for the first time in mid-November and continues to discourage non-essential travel residents to any part of California more than 120 miles from their place of residence. For anyone living in the bay area, this could mean that a trip to Tahoe, Big Sur or Mount Shasta is out of reach. In addition, the state consultant recommends that anyone arriving or returning to California from other states or countries be quarantined for 10 days after arrival.