Mayor London N. Breed Waives Regulations to Allow for Coronavirus Response Efforts Deemed Necessary by the Department of Public Health
As part of a Supplemental to the Local Emergency Declaration, Mayor Breed orders that temporary medical or health facilities deemed necessary by the Director of Health will not be subject to regulations related to planning, permitting, fees, public notice, or other restrictions
San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed today announced that she has waived all regulations and provisions in City codes that would otherwise apply to coronavirus response efforts deemed necessary by the Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax.
In order to allow the City to respond quickly to the escalating coronavirus pandemic, all City codes and provisions that would apply to temporary medical or health facilities, such as permitting restrictions, requirements for public notice, applicable fees, or any other regulations, will no longer apply for the duration of the Local Emergency. Mayor Breed issued this order as part of a Supplement to the Local Emergency Declaration she made on February 25th.
“We’ve taken early, aggressive action to slow the spread of coronavirus in our community, but we know that we will see more cases and we need to increase our capacity to respond now,” said Mayor Breed. “Every day matters at this point. This action will allow the Department of Public Health to do what is needed to ensure that we’re able to respond and help those affected by coronavirus.”
In addition to these steps, the City has moved quickly on a number of different efforts to bolster San Francisco’s capacity to respond to this pandemic. Over the weekend, the City hired 82 new qualified nurses following Mayor Breed’s order to waive hiring regulations. The City expects to hire another 140 nurses in the coming weeks for a total of roughly 220 new nurses. Yesterday, Mayor Breed announced that San Francisco is procuring one million N-95 masks from the state for front line workers, in addition to large donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) the City is receiving from private sector organizations such as Flexport and Facebook.
The City and County of San Francisco has established a system for individuals to give monetarily through Give2SF.org to support the COVID-19 response. In addition to monetary donations, the City is requesting sealed PPE, cleaning supplies, and technology equipment for essential employees to telecommute.
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