San Francisco to allow outdoor dining, exercise classes and spectator-free sports in coming weeks

San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Thursday unveiled a plan for reopening the city, including allowing outdoor dining and permitting customers inside retail stores on June 15.

“We’re entering a new phase of this crisis and we feel comfortable that we’re at a place that we can begin reopening parts of our economy,” Breed said, “but that is not to say that this virus doesn’t continue to threaten our city.”

San Francisco’s plan includes three phases.

In addition to allowing outdoor dining and restricted in-store retail service by June 15, the city plans to permit private household indoor services, religious services and ceremonies, outdoor exercise classes, sports games with no spectators and nonemergency medical appointments.

The second phase would start on July 13, when restaurants could reopen for indoor dining, hair salons and barbershop could reopen and real estate open houses could resume by appointment only.

By mid-August, schools, bars, nail salons, gyms, playgrounds, indoor museums, tattoo parlors and swimming pools might be able to reopen.

In the final phase — the date of which has yet to be determined — the city would reopen concert venues, nightclubs, festivals and hotels for tourism.

City officials cautioned that the schedule would be followed only if San Francisco continues to make progress in slowing the spread of COVID-19.

San Francisco now allows curbside pickup for most retail locations as well as construction, elective surgeries and outdoor business, such as at car washes, flea markets and garden stores.