San Francisco

SFO Informs Travelers of Stay-At-Home Order

NBC Universal, Inc.

Friday was the first day that a mandatory 10-day quarantine was in effect for people returning to or coming into San Francisco from outside the Bay Area, and SFO made sure travelers were aware.

“Actually found out today the day I was flying,” said Zoe Engstrom.

She flew into SFO to meet David Altschul. She’s staying in San Francisco for the holidays and just found out about the 10-day quarantine.

“As the cases are going up, it's not surprising we’re being careful staying in our house,” said Engstrom.

Health experts don’t want people to travel for the holidays, but at SFO on Friday night, a lot of people were on the move. Travelers who spoke to NBC Bay Area say they have testing and quarantining on their minds. Jean Elle reports.

She says the plan was already to stay inside, order essentials and they will quarantine. The order applies to those traveling or returning to the city from outside the Bay Area and on Friday, SFO announcements were in place.

Passengers will see signs about both the San Francisco and Santa Clara County quarantines.

Doug Yakel is a spokesperson for the airport and said, “Our goal is that people may be coming from places where the health requirement is different. We want to inform those people arriving in SFO about what's expected in may vary by county in the Bay Area.”

There is also information online. As COVID-19 cases soar and ICU beds in the region decline, there are exceptions in the order for medical professionals, essential infrastructure work, first responders and others. Right now, airport travel is down by about 80% of a typical year.

“Has been trending down slightly since Thanksgiving. That's an indication to us that more people are adhering aware of the health restrictions that travel advisory in place,” said Yakel.

The rules don’t apply to those who are just passing through.

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