Another question that has been coming up frequently in SROs is about visitors to the building with the shelter in place order. Although it is not the SRO owner responsibility to enforce the health order, the guidance from the City is that residents should not have visitors that are not providing essential services or supporting the tenant with their basic needs. Following is guidance that HSH sent out to our supportive housing providers on visitor policies. I thought that some of you may find this useful so want to share it with you as well.

All individuals anywhere in San Francisco are required to shelter in place—that is, stay at home—except for certain essential activities. In order to comply with the order, tenants should not receive visitors unless they are providing essential services as defined in the health order (see Section 10 of the Order for definitions and exemptions). Tenants may still receive visitors who are supporting them to meet basic needs and provide essential services that support their health and well-being. This includes people who come to provide in-home support, food or meals, cleaning assistance, needed supplies, case management services, etc. We recommend that housing providers communicate with their staff and tenants on how they are adapting visitor policies to comply with the health order. For example, they may want to ask tenants who will receive visitors providing an essential service to provide them the information ahead of time. Regardless, both the tenant and the visitor should practice social distancing (use hand sanitizer, wash hands thoroughly, maintain six feet distance when possible, cough/sneeze into a tissue or elbow, don’t shake hands, and other appropriate protections).