Mayor Breed issues stern warning to city, threatens parks closure: 'You are putting lives at stake'

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 16: San Francisco Mayor London Breed (C) speaks during a press conference as San Francisco police chief William Scott (L) and San Francisco Department of Public Health director Dr. Grant Colfax (R) look on at San Francisco City Hall on March 16, 2020 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a shelter in place order for residents in San Francisco until April 7. The order will allow people to leave their homes to do essential tasks such as grocery shopping and pet walking. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) less SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 16: San Francisco Mayor London Breed (C) speaks during a press conference as San Francisco police chief William Scott (L) and San Francisco Department of Public Health director ... more Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Mayor Breed issues stern warning to city, threatens parks closure: 'You are putting lives at stake' 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

San Francisco Mayor London Breed appeared in a live streamed press conference Monday afternoon to speak sternly to the residents of San Francisco, warning them that if individuals continue to defy social distancing precautions, the city will close its public parks. Breed cited observations of casual gatherings at the city's beaches and on the streets of San Francisco.

"Sadly, in some of our parks and along our beaches we have noticed there are a lot of people taking this opportunity to have picnics," she said. "This is not what this is about. For public safety we need people to comply."

Currently, the shelter-in-place order allows residents to go outside for essential activities only, which includes outdoor exercise. But Breed and San Francisco Director of Health Grant Colfax say too many residents have been flippant about the order.

"What I don't want to do is close all parks, because I want people to have recreational support," she continued. "If things continue the way we saw them happen over the weekend, we’ll have to close our parks system ... [We'll do what] we need to do in order to ensure people are not allowed to use these spaces. I want to plea to the people of our city to comply with the order."

Breed pointed out instances wherein people gathered on the street "having drinking parties, out on the streets socializing and coming together," who haven't been taking the order seriously.

"You are putting lives at stake, putting public lives in jeopardy," she said. "This is serious ... What happens if it's your grandmother? What happens when it's your uncle? And what happens when we don't have a [hospital] bed for them to be in because they got sick? We don't want to get to that point."

Breed also noted that the city would be taking "more aggressive direction" to address failures to social distance, but did not speak to specifics.

Health Director Grant Colfax spoke to the implications of not social distancing on public health and hospital capacity, saying "the worst is yet to come."

"This is our time to stay apart while we stand together as San Franciscans," he added.

Last week, Breed appeared on CNN to to respond to clips of San Francisco posted to Twitter by Jake Tapper, purportedly showing locals not engaging in social distancing.

"We see a bunch of people who are not social distancing," Tapper said. "They're holding hands and walking down the street ... The people of San Francisco — I shouldn't say the people, many people in San Francisco — have clearly not gotten the message."

Breed later appeared on CNN's "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer shorty thereafter to respond to Tapper's tweet, telling Blitzer that many San Franciscans are following the order.

"I think ultimately, it's not a fair assessment to say people are just out and about and not necessarily following the social distancing protocols we put into place, because they are," she said at the time. "You see the buses are empty, you see the roads are empty, you see people are doing everything they can to comply."

Breed's warning to city residents on Monday, however, struck a different tone. Her message implied city officials may follow suit with Marin County, which closed public parks on Sunday, should locals continue to defy stay-at-home orders.

"It is a matter of life and death," she said. "This is not the time for a party, a play date. Be respectful of your neighbors and one another."

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Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: alyssa.pereira@sfgate.com | Twitter: @alyspereira

