San Francisco city officials said Tuesday they had decided to cancel the city’s annual New Year’s Eve fireworks display over concerns about COVID-19 as cases continue to rise nationwide.
With the Omicron variant contributing to the exploding cases, city officials said they are canceling the famous fireworks display over the bay for the second year in a row.
Thousands of residents and guests usually pack along the Embarcadero to see the show, but last year people were told to stay home to prevent large gatherings and limit the spread of the virus.
Once again, city officials remain warnings.
“While we are all understandably eager to ring in a New Year with San Francisco’s usual New Year’s Eve fireworks, we must remain vigilant and do everything in our power to stop the spread of the COVID-19 variant of Omicron,” Mayor London told Breed in a statement. “By canceling the New Year’s Eve fireworks show, we are reducing everyone’s exposure to COVID-19 while ensuring the continuity of city-wide public safety measures.”
In addition, isolation and quarantine protocols are reducing the workforce for public safety agencies due to the recent surge, city officials said.
“Minimizing unnecessary exposure among our officials and professional staff is key to maintaining the police force expected by San Franciscans, and it is important that we all do our part as San Franciscans to reduce the transmission of the ward across the city.” said Police Chief Bill Scott.
“We urge you to celebrate with your close family members and friends safely at home with all COVID security measures,” said fire chief Jeannine Nicholson. “The cancellation of traditional fireworks will allow us to focus our resources on emergency services and day-to-day operations without adding large crowds and the potential incidents that result from such crowds.”
As of last week, the city was recording an average of 305 new COVID-19 cases per day, compared to an average of just 91 cases the week before.
