San Francisco Health Commission hears pleas to reinstate indoor mask mandate as cases climb

San Francisco’s Health Commission on May 17 received an extended and emotional public comment period calling for the return of indoor mask requirements as local COVID‑19 rates rise.

Director of Public Health Grant Colfax reported the city’s case rate at roughly 46.1 per 100,000 residents and said the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the city is 134,867. He noted hospitalizations remained relatively low — “a total of 65 in the hospital and 6 in the intensive care unit” — and urged San Franciscans to stay current on vaccinations, keep rapid tests on hand and use high‑quality masks indoors as recommended by Bay Area health officers.

More than a dozen callers, including parents, disability advocates and long‑COVID sufferers, asked commissioners to reinstate a countywide indoor mask mandate and to require masks on public transit and in schools. Julie Roberts Fung, a public school parent, said: “I would like to urge the health commission to return the mask requirement. Right now, the COVID rates in our public schools…are at the same rate that they were during Omicron.” Kathy DeLuca, who helps older adults and people with disabilities, described shared paratransit rides and said, “Requiring masks will save lives and make lives better.”

Long‑COVID advocates urged the commission to weigh disability and long‑term morbidity, not only deaths. Charlie McCone, who described his own long‑COVID experience, said the condition is common and debilitating and argued that infection counts matter independently of hospitalization and death metrics.

Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip responded to questions about legal authority and policy tradeoffs. She said state rules continue to require masking in settings such as health care facilities, skilled nursing, corrections and shelters and noted: “The health officer role has the authority to do that.” At the same time she cited factors shaping current local guidance — wider availability of high‑quality masks, vaccines and therapeutic options — and said local transit and other agencies retain authority to set masking rules for their systems.

Commissioners asked how jurisdictions and agencies can coordinate on masking and urged community members to press agencies such as SFMTA to use existing authority where appropriate. No formal action to reinstate a countywide mandate was taken at the meeting; commissioners did not vote on a masking policy.

The Commission’s next regular meeting is scheduled for June 7; officials said they will continue to monitor case rates and hospital capacity and to coordinate regionally on any policy changes.