Coronavirus spotlight: catching up with San Francisco

21.07.2023 - 08:05 / roughguides.com

San Francisco is impossibly picturesque, with its steep streets, superlative vistas and candy-coloured houses (the city's famous «Painted Ladies»). Located in Northern California, San Fran is one of the USA's most progressive cities. It was ahead of the curve in its response to coronavirus, too, declaring a state of emergency at the end of February. We caught up with Hubertus Funke, Executive Vice President & Chief Tourism Officer at the San Francisco Travel Association, to find out more about the city's experience of Covid-19, and its plans for the future.

Hubertus Funke © Steven Gregory Photography

Q: San Francisco was the first city to declare a state of emergency at the end of February. Did the early and decisive action pay off? What has San Francisco’s experience of Covid-19 been like?

A: Thanks to Mayor Breed’s early action, San Francisco fared way better than the rest of the United States. San Francisco was one of the first cities to go into lockdown in early March. Social distancing and wearing face coverings are still mandatory everywhere in public, and this policy is being strictly enforced. Currently, San Francisco stands at 10,120 cases and 88 deaths, compared to almost 750,000 cases and more than 14,000 deaths in California. The US has a total of more than 6.3 million infections and 191,000 deaths.

Q: Have there been some positive stories emerging from San Francisco during these difficult times?

A: Who would have thought there would be any positive and hopeful stories emerging over the past few months, but as a matter of fact there have been quite a few! MMGY and HSMAI's «Buy One, Give One» promotion is one example. This programme has been created to generate immediate revenue for hotels, while simultaneously providing a much deserved “thank you” to healthcare workers who have been tirelessly working on the front lines. Also, while we are fortunate to have a very strong and robust tourism industry here in San Francisco, it does not come as a surprise that this sector has been hit incredibly hard by this crisis. As so many businesses were forced to close during lockdown, countless hospitality workers lost their jobs. These workers are the unsung heroes and, frankly, the lifeblood of San Francisco’s tourism industry. To honour our hospitality workers, many major San Francisco landmarks and locations such as City Hall, Oracle Park, Coit Tower and many others, illuminated themselves in purple during the first few weeks of the lockdown (Purple is the official colour of hospitality). It was a beautiful sign of solidarity and testament to how the city really came together, and we were proud that many other cities followed our lead.

Colorful San Francisco row homes © Andy Konieczny/Shutterstock

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