(a) Name of Ordinance. This Chapter 41G shall be known as the “Health Protections for Residential Hotels Ordinance.”
(b) Findings.
(1) On February 25, 2020, Mayor London Breed proclaimed a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 3, 2020, the Board of Supervisors concurred in the February 25 Proclamation.
(2) On March 31, 2022, the County Health Officer issued Order No. C19-07y (the “Safer Return Together Order”). The Safer Return Together Order, among other public health requirements and recommendations, continues to direct San Franciscans to follow Health Officer Directives 2020-03f (“Isolation Directive”) and 2020-02g (“Quarantine Directive”). Issued in updated form on April 8, 2022, the Isolation Directive generally requires individuals who test positive for, are diagnosed with, or are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 to isolate if and to the extent required by current California Department of Public Health guidance on isolation and quarantine. Issued in updated form on April 8, 2022, the Quarantine Directive generally requires individuals who have been exposed to a person who tested positive for or was diagnosed with COVID-19 to follow current California Department of Public Health guidance on isolation and quarantine.
(3) A high percentage of SRO Residents are 60 years of age or older and/or experience serious health complications. Conditions in Residential Hotels often present environmental problems such as mold growth, poor sanitation, broken plumbing, and poor ventilation. These environmental problems can exacerbate negative health consequences for SRO Residents.
(4) SRO Residents regularly use Common Areas for daily activities such as building access and unit access, cooking, eating, personal hygiene, social gathering, and entertainment. Many SRO Residents share common faucets, toilets, showers, and washing stations with other SRO Residents who are not part of the same household. High Touch Surfaces within these facilities serve as points of transmission for infectious or contagious diseases such as shigellosis, hepatitis, and norovirus. And Residential Hotels have in the past experienced outbreaks of some of these and other contagious diseases.
(5) Properly Cleaning and Disinfecting these surfaces using effective disinfecting cleaning agents and properly washing hands with soap and water or, if soap is not available, applying to hands an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content, destroys most pathogens and substantially lessens the likelihood of transmission of contagious disease between SRO Residents from different households.
(c) Purpose. The purpose of the Health Protections for Residential Hotels Ordinance is to establish general cleaning and disinfecting standards in common areas of Residential Hotels, to provide SRO Residents improved access to information regarding housing rights, and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to provide SRO Residents information regarding public health resources and isolation and quarantine requirements.