San Francisco health officials warn of steep Omicron surge, urge boosters and expand testing

San Francisco health officials warned the Health Commission that the city is in the midst of an unprecedented surge of COVID‑19 driven by the Omicron variant and urged residents to get boosted while DPH expands testing access.

Director of Health Grant Colfax said case rates were "approaching 100 per 100,000" and could rise to 120–130 per 100,000; test positivity stood at about 17.1 percent. He reported that DPH‑supported testing recently reached a single‑day high of more than 12,000 tests and a four‑day average above 11,000, and that DPH has been conducting over 25,000 tests per week. Colfax noted that while vaccination and boosters remain strongly protective against hospitalization, vaccine efficacy against transmission has declined with Omicron, leaving even vaccinated people at higher risk of infection.

"The bottom line is that particularly people who receive a booster, the odds of being hospitalized due to COVID‑19 are tremendously reduced," Colfax said, urging eligible residents to get boosters immediately.

Hospital representatives described operational strain from staff absences. Susan Ehrlich, CEO of Zuckerberg San Francisco General, said roughly 250 staff had been out at ZSFG and Laguna Honda reported about 70 staff out, forcing changes such as reduced perioperative activity, converting PACU staff to ICU work and using surge units and telehealth to preserve capacity. Roland Pickens described state staffing ratios as a baseline and said hospitals would request regional resources if staffing levels threatened safe operations.

Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip explained that the health officer has an order requiring health systems to provide testing to patients on request within 24 hours and that DPH is working with hospital leaders when evidence shows patients are being directed to city sites instead of their own systems.

Public commenters repeatedly urged DPH to mail home tests and N95 masks to every San Franciscan. Michael Petrellis said the city should follow jurisdictions making tests widely available at government buildings or by mail. Colfax and other officials said DPH is actively purchasing tens of thousands of home test kits, is coordinating with state and federal distributions (including a federal commitment of 500 million tests nationally) and that national supply chain challenges make universal mailings uncertain at present.

Officials and commissioners also discussed school testing plans, contact tracing limits during high case volumes, and a new state guidance allowing some asymptomatic staff to return to work earlier with testing, which may help address staffing shortages. Colfax projected a steep surge that could peak later in the month with hospital census estimates that might reach roughly 250 in some scenarios but said hospital bed capacity remained adequate at the time of the meeting.

The Commission took public comment and asked department leaders to continue providing near‑real‑time updates on testing availability, hospital capacity and booster opportunities.