San Francisco Mayor London Breed: 'We Are Learning to Live with COVID'

Joel B. PollakJanuary 12, 2022

San Francisco Mayor London Breed told the city Tuesday that “we are learning to live with COVID” and that she would not be imposing new restrictions, despite the ongoing coronavirus surge that has seen the Bay Area run out of coronavirus tests.

Breed’s approach mirrors that of other Democratic Party officials, who imposed draconian lockdowns during the first waves of coronavirus — when Donald Trump was still president, and would suffer the political consequences — but have relented as voters have expressed their outrage, notably in the 2021 off-year elections, when Democrats suffered in races nationwide. Even deep-blue areas like San Francisco are beginning to understand that their own residents have simply had enough.

Amid an explosion of cases due to the highly transmissible omicron variant, many San Francisco residents have wondered whether the city would issue new mandates or recommendations. After all, Sonoma County announcedMonday a ban on indoor gatherings of more than 50 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people, and asked residents to “stay home as much as possible for the next 30 days and limit interactions with those outside of their immediate household.”

But SF Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip said there are no plans to take a similar step in San Francisco at this time.

San Francisco’s approach also follows discussion in Israel of a move to “herd immunity,” and calls in Europe to begin treating coronavirus like an endemic illness such as the flu, rather than as a public health risk that must shut down life.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a statewide indoor mask mandate in December, which is largely being ignored. The omicron variant is proving highly contagious, but is not resulting in a large number of deaths, thanks in part to vaccinations.

Mayor Breed was also caught partying last fall without a mask. She defended herself against what she called the “fun police.”

Breed’s statement also follows growing enthusiasm for a February 1 deadline, embraced by Fox News host Greg Gutfeld, as the date when the public would stop cooperating with lockdowns and restrictions and simply return to living life as normal.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.