By Christin Evans and James Sword, HANC Board

At the end of August, HANC board members Christin Evans and James Sword met with Supervisor Preston to discuss what measures the city could take to improve community safety.

The pandemic has raised the profile of the Department of Public Health (DPH) and its key decision makers.  Everything from guidance on workplace operations, distancing and masking to creating public access to testing and vaccinations is now determined in this City/County department.  But does the Department operate with little oversight? Its officials, for the most part certified medical professionals, report up through to the mayor’s office.  The few hearings held with the full Board of Supervisors in 2020 were contentious, discussing the sometimes arbitrary rules allowing some retailers (mostly corporate chains) to operate freely while many other, smaller retailers were required to fully close. The mayor’s office battled the teachers’ union in the media over school reopening and safety measures to keep both students and staff safe.

During the Delta surge, a realization that the Covid risk persists even for those who have been vaccinated when antibodies wane will likely lead to a CDC recommendation for booster shots for all of us soon.  People once again are being asked to mask up and be aware of the onset of symptoms and quarantine if needed. But the Delta surge also revealed gaps in access.  Testing options that provide immediate results have been challenging for most to obtain.

It was revealed by the SF Public Press last month that the homeless population lagged the overall population with an estimated 39% having received full vaccination to date. Yet the city continues to sweep tent encampments coercing people to accept congregant shelters, many which have masses of people sleeping in cots separated only a few feet apart. Nationally, shelter outbreaks have led to homeless folks getting sick and in some media-reported cases people have died.  Yet DPH just recently revised San Francisco’s policy allowing up to 2 confirmed Covid cases before they will shut a shelter to new admissions. Was this DPH decision politically motivated by a mayor's office that has been inhumanly focused on tent counts rather than housing exits?  (Fact: it is easier to get a copy of the city’s geographic monthly tent count report than it is get a report of the number of people who have exited SIP hotels to permanent supportive housing even though the city has hundreds of vacant permanent housing units).

We presented a few ideas to Supervisor Preston which he will consider taking to the board.  They includes:

1) regular BOS hearings with DPH to especially better understand specific policy decisions being made around homeless shelters and schools. 

2) increased transparency to outbreaks,  transparency the LA county dashboard provide here: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/coronavirus/locations.htm

3) improved access to testing which delivers timely results

4) improved access to vaccinations especially for those underrepresented and at-risk populations

Covid will likely to be with us for a while and so now is the time to think strategically about appropriate oversight to DPH to ensure appropriate safety policies are in place to protect all of the city’s population.