San Francisco Public Press (https://www.sfpublicpress.org/2020/04/)
Among the most exposed and often vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic are people who don’t have a place of shelter. Joe Wilson, executive director of Hospitality House, a nonprofit that offers a variety of services from employment guidance to emergency shelter, said the city seems to be waiting for people to get sick before intervening. » Read more
As reports of coronavirus-related attacks against Asian Americans surged in March, prominent civil rights activist and author Helen Zia became alarmed. To the San Francisco Bay Area resident, the nation looked poised for the worst wave of anti-Asian hostility since World War II. » Read more
As San Francisco officials worked to expand housing options for the homeless, city leaders warned that anyone from outside San Francisco seeking a hotel room or other shelter would be turned away to preserve resources for those who were homeless within city limits before the pandemic hit. » Read more
Many sex workers are barred from accessing protections and resources meant to help workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic — federal small business loans, for example, specifically exclude those whose work is “of a prurient sexual nature” from eligibility. For some sex workers, business has simply evaporated. » Read more
UPDATE: April 30, 2020 11:08 p.m. Adds an estimated timeline for testing shelter residents in second paragraph.
San Francisco turned down a research startup’s offer to test all of the city’s homeless shelter residents for COVID-19, urging the firm to divert its resources to other populations, according to interviews, emails and documents outlining the proposal. » Read more
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is throwing its full support behind the idea of approved tent camps for homeless people to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
And some of the supervisors say they want the encampments to stick around even after the pandemic passes. » Read more
The Bay Area is the third largest economy for film and entertainment in the U.S. after New York and Los Angeles, and is home to more documentary filmmakers per capita than any other region.
With film festivals canceled or postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, independent filmmakers are being forced to rethink how to launch and promote their work. » Read more
Guest Opinion
On February 29, I was flying home from the Berlin International Film Festival and European Film Market after two weeks of meetings and pitches for the 2020 slate of films and projects at my San Francisco based independent film company – 13th Gen. » Read more
The shelter-in-place order keeping Bay Area residents in their homes except for essential activities will be extended through the month of May, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Monday.
“So we are not out of the woods yet. And so we want to be very careful that we not take the steps out of frustration,” she said. » Read more
San Francisco is closing several streets as part of an extension of the stay-home order, in a move that addresses some criticism of a street-closure plan announced last week.
John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park and John F. Shelley Drive in McLaren Park will close to motor vehicles so pedestrians can more easily achieve the six feet of separation that health care officials advise to stem the spread of COVID-19, Mayor London Breed announced Monday. » Read more