(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) San Francisco Bay Area under the Epidemic: When is the "Long Winter"?
China News Agency, San Francisco, January 21, Question: San Francisco Bay Area under the epidemic: When is the "long winter"?
China News Agency reporter Liu Guanguan
For many years, the delicious food, wine and rich artistic atmosphere have made Sonoma, a small town in Northern California, famous far and near.
However, this winter, it seems a little deserted here.
During the new crown epidemic, some street-front restaurants have opened up dining areas at the entrance to attract customers.
Now, in front of a restaurant diagonally across from the city hall, the dining chairs are buckled upside down on the dining table, and an iron chain locks them together.
In front of the other restaurant that is still open, there are only twos and threes of diners.
The noon sun shines through the louver-shaped canopy, creating distinct light and shade on people.
A hundred meters away, there is a theater with a history of nearly 90 years.
Above the ticket booth at the entrance, the title of the movie "The Gucci Family" that is being released in North America is posted.
A dummy wearing a mask sat in the ticket hall, and occasionally passers-by stopped briefly to take pictures of this interesting scene with their mobile phones.
On the notice board below the ticket hall, the theater's requirements for masks, new crown vaccines and virus test results are written.
The theater also reminded the audience in the most prominent position on its official website that only 50 people can be accommodated in the theater at the same time in the near future.
This is the new rule introduced by Sonoma County, where the city is located, in response to a surge in cases brought about by the mutant Omicron strain.
Indoor gatherings of more than 50 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people were banned in the county from Jan. 12 to Feb. 11.
Local officials also advised residents to follow the stay-at-home order again during this period and avoid contact with people outside their households.
Under the new rules, some events in Sonoma County have been forced to cancel, postpone or reduce attendance.
The peak of the epidemic and the new regulations for epidemic prevention also worried Christina, who runs a clothing store nearby.
"Actually, running a clothing store is not just my job. I like to communicate with customers in the store and provide them with advice on clothing matching. I am also very happy to see them leave satisfied." Christina said, "and Now, everyone buys the clothes they need and leaves, and rarely stays in the store."
In San Francisco, about an hour's drive from Sonoma, the little-known cable car rides on empty streets, no longer the bustling scene when it reopened last August.
Unlike Christina, some small business owners here are more concerned about when major companies will reopen their offices.
"In this city, there are countless small business owners like me who depend on big companies' office workers," said Fernando, the owner of the barber shop. "For us, those big companies even open two or three days a week. Positive sign."
The ups and downs of the epidemic have caused major companies to repeatedly delay the time when employees return to the office, but Fernando's wish may not be difficult to achieve.
Obranovich, a policy and regulatory adviser to the San Francisco Bay Area Council, said his agency surveys about 200 Bay Area businesses of all sizes monthly on the resumption of work.
Many employers plan to have employees adopt a hybrid office model in the future, she said.
An analysis of nine months of data found that more than 40% of employers said that in the future, employees may be required to devote three days a week to the office.
Justin is being tested for the coronavirus in Chinatown's Garden Corner, just a few blocks from Fernando's barber shop.
Starting at the end of 2020, people will be tested for the new coronavirus for free every Wednesday.
Recently, in the face of an unprecedented surge in cases, testing hours here have been extended from one to five days a week.
Justin told reporters that at other local testing stations, if you register online now, it will take two weeks at the earliest to be tested.
After seeing on the Internet that the testing station in Chinatown can take appointment-free testing every Wednesday, he came as soon as possible.
From registration to completing the test, Justin took just a few minutes.
As Justin said, recently, many new crown testing stations in the United States have experienced difficulties in making appointments and long queues.
However, within an hour or two at noon on January 19, the reporter saw at the testing station in Chinatown that there were no more than 20 people waiting for the test at most.
In this regard, Chen Jialin, senior project manager of the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, told the China News Agency that after the testing station's working hours were extended to 5 days a week, the testers were diverted to other days.
At the same time, the peak of testing caused by students returning to school and employees returning to work earlier this month has passed.
In addition, the local school district has distributed testing kits to teachers and students, and many families can test themselves.
The peak of testing caused by students returning to school has passed, but the high infection rate brought by the mutant strain of Omicron to the school has increased the pressure on many parents, especially those of young children.
Kelly, a mother of two who lives in Burlingame, San Mateo County, told reporters that after the New Year's break, her son's kindergarten required the children to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test when they returned to school.
At that time, Kelly went to nearly 10 pharmacies and supermarkets, and did not buy a test kit.
At the same time, the nearby COVID-19 testing stations are overcrowded, and even if you line up for a few hours, you may not be able to get a test.
就在凯莉一筹莫展的时候，幼儿园方面又出现了新情况。因为近半数老师的新冠病毒检测结果呈阳性，幼儿园所有课程都将转到线上进行。这打乱了凯莉的计划。
为照顾孩子，凯莉已做了几年全职妈妈。“本想年初开始重新找工作，现在只能继续在家照顾孩子了。”凯莉哽咽道，“这个冬天太漫长了，比去年还难熬。谁知道以后还会出现什么新的病毒变种呢？”
1月20日，在旧金山市政府召开的一场新闻发布会上，当地公共卫生部门负责人科尔法克斯表示，旧金山的病例激增在1月9日达到顶峰，现已趋于平稳并开始下降。市长布里德说：“隧道尽头的光亮已经出现。”
若真如此，旧金山湾区民众的“漫长冬天”也许很快就会过去。(完)