SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Hundreds of San Francisco bars will soon start requiring customers to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test before entry.

That’s according to a statement from the San Francisco Bar Owner Alliance released Monday.

The full statement reads:

The SF Bar Owner Alliance is extremely concerned by a recent uptick in cases of COVID19 among our staff members, especially those who are fully vaccinated. We believe we are obligated to protect our workers and their families and to offer a safe space for customers to relax and socialize. We have polled our membership and arrived at the following decision: 

Effective Thursday, July 29th, 2021, it will be the official position of the SF Bar Owner Alliance that any customer who wishes to remain inside our establishments show proof of vaccination or a 72-hour negative COVID19 test. Guests without these verifications are welcome to sit outside in parklets or other spaces we offer.  It will be up to each individual bar to decide how best to enforce this for their customers. 

 This decision is based solely on our need to protect our workers, customers, and their families. However, we hope it might also influence some who have not yet received vaccinations to do so as soon as they are able. We understand that the only way our society (and our businesses) can ever return to true normalcy is through higher rates of vaccinations among our residents, not just in San Francisco but across the United States of America. 

 

SF Bar Onwer Alliance

The announcement comes the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom announced California will require state employees and all health care workers to show proof of vaccination or get tested weekly as officials aim to slow rising coronavirus infection, mostly among the unvaccinated.

The new rule will take effect next month, officials announced Monday. There are at least 238,000 state employees, according to the California controller’s office. Health officials couldn’t immediately provide an estimate on size of the health care workforce in the nation’s most populated state.

About 62% of all eligible Californians are fully vaccinated, and the state has struggled to make significant progress in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the more contagious delta variant now makes up an estimated 80% of infections in California. Hospitalizations are on the rise, though still far below where they were during the winter peak.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.