On New Year’s Eve, many in the Bay Area will party like it’s 2021.
In other words, they’ll drastically scale back or even cancel their celebrations as omicron, COVID-19’s new and highly infectious variant, surges in the region.
It’s not a popular choice: Many were hoping for a more normal holiday season after last year’s total lockdown. But health officials say it’s still important to stay vigilant, even when the Bay Area is among the most highly vaccinated regions in the country. The immediate concern is that omicron is producing more breakthrough infections than earlier variants and is reported to be four times more transmissible than the delta variant.
For that reason, some have decided not to entertain guests at their house to ring in 2022. Meanwhile, San Francisco disappointed many would-be revelers by canceling its annual fireworks show on the Embarcadero in an effort “to reduce everyone’s exposure to COVID-19,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. Across the country, cities are grappling with the same issue. New York is hosting its famed Times Square celebration but with a scaled-back crowd. Los Angeles’ Grand Park celebration has been transitioned to a streaming event.
Kevin Kelleher, of San Jose, said he and his wife were glad they were able to get together with his mother and his wife’s family for Christmas. But reading reports this week about the omicron surge in New York City prompted him to cancel a repeat gathering at his home on Friday night. While the adults in his family are vaccinated, boosted and likely protected against serious illness, Kelleher is worried about his daughters, ages 2 years and 2 months, who are too young to receive the vaccine.
“They say it’s mild for most people, but I don’t want to be one of the ones for whom it isn’t,” said the software developer. “I’m also seeing stories from New York about pediatric hospitalizations for unvaccinated children. I don’t want to take any chances.”
In most cases, there is no need to cancel small home gatherings among vaccinated and boosted family and friends, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Wednesday.
Fauci and Bay Area health experts are mostly concerned about large indoor gatherings, which Fauci described as “the 40- to 50-person New Year’s Eve party with all the bells and whistles and everybody hugging and kissing and wishing each other a happy new year.”
Dr. Peter Chin Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, agreed that “an indoor gathering with a ton of people is super unsafe right now.” Even if people at these events are vaccinated, they may not all have received a booster shot, which is considered the most effective defense against the omicron variant, he said.
Dr. Jorge Salinas, an infectious disease specialist at Stanford, went one step further in saying he would prefer that people postpone most gatherings. “There is too much of this virus circulating,” he said. If people want to get together with others, they should make sure the gatherings are small and that everyone is vaccinated and boosted, he advised.
Dr. Caesar Djavaherian, an emergency room physician at Carbon Health clinic in Berkeley, said he and his wife also will take the added, and what he believes is the essential, measure of taking a COVID-19 test before attending a party Friday night.
Meanwhile, as of Wednesday, many concerts, comedy shows, organized parties and other events — which for the most part involve large indoor gatherings — were still on for Friday night, with organizers saying they are doing all they can to keep people safe, usually by requiring that people present proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test.
The San Francisco Symphony will present its New Year’s Eve concert with “Glee” and “American Crime Story” star Darren Criss at Davies Symphony Hall, said Taryn Lott, director of public relations. The symphony, in accordance with San Francisco Department of Public Health guidelines, requires anyone 12 and older entering the building to show proof of vaccination and to wear a mask at all times.
That said, the symphony will continue to monitor the situation and will remain “as nimble as possible” to adjust its plans if necessary, Lott said.
Thus far, only one well-known venue, the Club Fugazi in San Francisco, has canceled its New Year’s show, a performance of the cirque-like show “Dear San Francisco,” due to a COVID-19 breakthrough case among the show’s company.
Meanwhile, one party-planning company was still ready to host the sort of New Year’s Eve bash that Fauci seemed to warn about. Phil Seyer of Professionals Guild is expecting up to 550 people at the Marriott Hotel in San Ramon.
“People want this. There’s a lot of pent-up demand,” said Seyer. The guests include singles, married couples and groups of all ages who want a chance to dance to good music and to ring in 2022 with a champagne toast and a balloon drop, he said. But Seyer insists he is hosting a safe event that follows Contra Costa County public health guidelines. In addition to showing proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test, attendees must also wear masks, except when eating or drinking.
Chin Hong said the level of risk of an indoor gathering depends on a number of factors, though he would personally be wary of a club setting where people are sitting close together and removing their masks to eat or drink. “Even indoor dining right now is a risk because omicron is so transmissible,” he said.
But if experts are mostly concerned about indoor gatherings, Christian Ines, of Santa Clara, wonders why San Francisco had to cancel its fireworks show and scuttle his New Year’s Eve plans. He and family, flying up from San Diego, had rented rooms at the Hyatt Regency at Fisherman’s Wharf to get a view of the show.
“I thought outdoors was supposed to be safe,” Ines said. “It sucks.”
Staff writer Emily DeRuy “contributed to this report.
Source: www.mercurynews.com