page_title: COVID-19 pandemic in the San Francisco Bay Area
section_title: Race relations
hierarchical_section_title: COVID-19 pandemic in the San Francisco Bay Area / Social impact / Race relations
caption_attribution_description: Quiet City
context_page_description: The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes the major cities of San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland, was an early center of the COVID-19 pandemic in California. The first case of COVID-19 in the area was confirmed in Santa Clara County on January 31, 2020. A Santa Clara County resident was the earliest known death caused by COVID-19 in the United States, on February 6.
  Local officials instituted some of the first mitigation efforts in the United States. The first mandatory shelter-in-place order in the mainland U.S. took effect throughout the Bay Area on March 16 and 17 and continued until mid-May, affecting nearly 6.7 million people. The early government response is credited with mitigating the spread of infection compared to cities on the East Coast.
  Closures due to the pandemic have resulted in mass unemployment and significant disruptions to the economy, replacing local governments' budget surpluses with historic deficits. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of distance learning among schools and telecommuting among businesses, especially in the technology industry. Air quality around San Francisco Bay improved as a result of a temporary decline in traffic volume.
context_section_description: There have been documented incidents of racism towards Bay Area Asian Pacific Americans.
  Officials and community-based organizations expressed concern that fears about COVID-19 were disproportionately affecting local Asian-American businesses. On February 24, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi toured San Francisco's Chinatown to support local shops that had seen declining business since the epidemic began in China.
  Several peaceful protests took place in the Bay Area during the pandemic to raise awareness about police brutality. One in San Mateo on June 3, 2020, was attended by hundreds of people. A youth-led protest against police brutality in San Francisco attracted at least 10,000 protesters to the Mission District.
caption: San Francisco's Chinatown under a shelter-in-place order
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