In Smoky San Francisco, Covid-Hit Businesses Suffer Double Blow

  • Residents forced to stay inside from unhealthy air quality
  • Fires ‘couldn’t have come at a harder time’ for restaurants
Patrons have lunch outside a restaurant in San Francisco on Sept. 9.Photographer: Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images
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San Francisco has been telling restaurants and other businesses to operate outside to fight the spread of Covid-19. Now, the outside is smothered in smoke.

The Bay Area’s more than 7 million residents are suffering from harrowing conditions spurred by record-setting wildfires, with a sky that was glowing orange Wednesday giving way to an unhealthy haze. That’s forcing residents to take shelter, hurting businesses that are largely forced to operate outdoors because of coronavirus-related restrictions.