Mayor London Breed and City of San Francisco announced yesterday that the highly-anticipated New Year’s Eve fireworks show has been canceled this year. The show often brings thousands of people out to watch along the waterfront, and the city has elected to forego the display in an effort to avoid drawing crowds amid recent Covid-19 surges.
Due to the ongoing surge of COVID-19 cases, San Francisco’s New Year’s Eve fireworks show is CANCELED. After closely monitoring local health indicators, the decision to cancel is a proactive measure that will best protect SF & essential front-line workers. https://t.co/fK6VqSoI50
— San Francisco Department of Emergency Management😷 (@SF_emergency) December 29, 2021
The city made the decision to cancel after monitoring local health indicators and public safety staffing. With the increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, city public agencies are already experiencing reduced staffing levels as their workers complete quarantine requirements. This reality, along with increased holiday travel and more, means proactive Covid measures must be taken to limit the spread.
“While we are all understandably eager to ring in a new year with San Francisco’s customary New Year’s Eve fireworks show, we must remain vigilant in doing all we can to stop the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant,” said Mayor Breed. “Thanks to our employee vaccine mandate, our public safety workers are well-protected against COVID, but they still must take all precautions to help limit the spread. By canceling the New Year’s Eve fireworks show we are reducing everyone’s exposure to COVID-19, while ensuring continuity of citywide public safety operations.”
At the moment, 84% of eligible San Franciscans are fully vaccinated and 55% have gotten their booster. “The arrival of Omicron calls us to take swift action to mitigate preventable further spread in the community to help protect the most vulnerable and maintain hospital capacity. We thank San Franciscans for their understanding as we work to keep our city safer, continue to conduct essential activities, and keep our schools and businesses open,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Health. “Boosters for all eligible, along with masking and testing, are vital to prevent a sharp rise in hospitalizations during this surge.”
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