Photos of China helped convince London Breed to shut down San Francisco

Mayor London Breed speaks during a press conference as San Francisco police chief William Scott (R) looks on at San Francisco City Hall on March 16. Breed announced a shelter in place order for residents. Mayor London Breed speaks during a press conference as San Francisco police chief William Scott (R) looks on at San Francisco City Hall on March 16. Breed announced a shelter in place order for residents. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Image 1 of / 35 Caption Close Photos of China helped convince London Breed to shut down San Francisco 1 / 35 Back to Gallery

A new Atlantic article details San Francisco Mayor London Breed's nation-leading response to the then-emerging coronavirus epidemic and retells the moment she realized she needed the city to jump into action.

The story, "The City That Has Flattened the Coronavirus Curve," says the city first started monitoring COVID-19 around Christmas and, by January, was contemplating further action. Breed told The Atlantic that during one briefing with advisors, she was faced with "ghastly" photos and videos coming out of coronavirus-stricken Wuhan, China.

"A picture’s worth a thousand words — seeing the images of what could potentially happen and then hearing your doctors tell you that we may not have the capacity to handle this situation," Breed said.

"We have tons of hospitals in San Francisco. What do you mean we don’t have the capacity to handle an outbreak of this capacity?" she added. "That’s when I was just like, 'Oh my goodness, this is serious.' And we need to basically sound the alarm in a way that helps us to get ready."

Without a single confirmed case in San Francisco, Breed in February became the one of the first mayors in the nation to issue an emergency declaration, starting the process of preparing and allocating resources for a coronavirus disaster.

"Although there are still zero confirmed cases in San Francisco residents, the global picture is changing rapidly, and we need to step-up preparedness," Breed said in a statement. "We see the virus spreading in new parts of the world every day, and we are taking the necessary steps to protect San Franciscans from harm."

On March 16, in conjunction with six other Bay Area counties, she declared a shelter-in-place order.

As mid-April approaches, it appears the quick action taken by Breed, the Bay Area and California has slowed and flattened the curve. Hospitals are not experiencing the same surge as states like New York, where over 8,600 people have died. California has 634 coronavirus-related deaths as of Sunday morning.

The Atlantic also gives credit to Dr. Grant Colfax, San Francisco's director of the Department of Public Health, who began his career in San Francisco at the height of the AIDS epidemic.

You can read the full magazine feature here.

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