In the yellow: San Francisco is 1st in Bay Area to move to least-restrictive virus tier

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco was the first county in the Bay Area to officially move to the least-restrictive yellow tier.

The new guidelines for businesses, community events and schools went into effect on Thursday. 

The biggest change is that people can start doing more things, indoors. 

Restaurants, movie theaters, offices, and gyms can expand their capacity, indoors to up to 50 percent.

Bars in San Francisco can also re-open, indoors, at a 25-percent capacity.

SEE ALSO: Here's what can reopen now that San Francisco is in the yellow tier

And, bars can let even more people in - up to 38 percent capacity - if everyone inside shows proof of a negative coronavirus test, or full vaccination.

Live events, like sporting events, concerts and festivals can also resume - at limited capacities.

The shift to the yellow tier means  indoor venues like the Church of 8 Wheels can reopen after more than a year.

"Ever since March of last year, when we went into lockdown, we've been waiting for the yellow tier to arrive," said David Miles, Jr. from Church of 8 Wheels.

After trying to reopen months ago as a gym, the roller rink was classified as a family entertainment center, but now it can finally welcome skaters back.

"What you see now is basically a celebration of San Francisco," Miles said. "It is just so wonderful to be back, so wonderful to have an opportunity to open up the Church of 8 Wheels.

San Francisco is averaging just 26 new COVD cases per day - 26 out of more than 700,000 residents.

The COVID test positivity rate is under 1% and nearly 75% of the city's residents over age 16, have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine.

Under the yellow tier, all schools are allowed to reopen fully for in-person learning.

Most private and parochial schools in San Francisco are up and running. 

However, less than half of all San Francisco public school students are back in schools, for part-time, in-person learning.