COVID-19 Reopening Roundup: Cases Jump After UC Berkeley Parties; 6th Death Row Inmate Dies; Mayor Breed Tested For COVID-19
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The tsunami of news about the current coronavirus outbreak and now the reopenings can be overwhelming. To help you navigate through what you need to know -- KPIX.com/KPIX 5 News/CBSN Bay Area -- will be publishing a news roundup each morning of the top coronavirus and reopening-related stories so you can start your day with the latest updated developments.
SF Mayor Breed, Supervisor Walton Tested For COVID-19 After Possible Exposure
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Shamann Walton confirmed they may have been exposed to the coronavirus. Mayor Breed tweeted she was awaiting test results, Wednesday, after learning she attended the same event as "an individual who was aware that they had tested positive for COVID-19." She did not indicate where the event was. According to the San Francisco Examiner, Supervisor Walton also confirmed his exposure to COVID-19 and said he has been tested. Mayor Breed said she is working with the Department of Public Health and awaiting her results. Read More
Teacher Fears For Health, Safety After Trump Threatens To Defund Schools That Don't Reopen
SOLANO COUNTY -- President Trump on Wednesday publicly pushed schools to reopen this fall even as COVID-19 cases surge across the country. "We're safely reopening our country, and very importantly, we're safely reopening our schools, we want the schools reopened," President Trump said. He then tweeted "May cut off funding if not open!" The threat has left some Bay Area teachers even more concerned about the health and safety of themselves and their students, including Jason Tomlinson, who works as a middle school teacher in Solano County. "To make this COVID thing a political issue, it's basically, 'Shame on you,'" Tomlinson said. Read More
Alameda Re-Striping Lanes On Park, Webster Streets To Make Room For Outdoor Dining
ALAMEDA -- The city of Alameda will re-stripe a segment of Park Street this week to cordon off space for outdoor dining and shopping during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, city officials said Wednesday. City workers will re-stripe Park Street on Thursday and Friday creating two lanes instead of four between Tilden Way and Encinal Avenue to allow space for restaurant patrons, shoppers and others to maintain physical distance from one another to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The area now used for parking will be available for outdoor dining and retail while the outer lane on each side of the street will become the new parking lane. Read More
School Reopening Plans Met With Skepticism From Teachers, Parents
OAKLAND -- Over the next few days, several Bay Area districts are going to be rolling out their plans for what the next school year might look like. Will students go to class? Maybe some, not all? Whatever it looks like, the implications for families are huge and the stakes are very high. So who makes the call? "We do not want teachers and students returning to school," said Oakland teacher Mark Airgood." We should turn our attention to doing the best we can with distance learning for the next period." Teachers who say the next school year should not bring a return to the classroom participated in a caravan in Oakland on Wednesday. "The experience I had with my daughter, she didn't do good with distant learning," said Oakland parent Harifa Winston. "My son did okay, but my daughter needs to be in the classroom with the teachers. But, if it's not safe..." Read More
South Bay Residents Have Mixed Feelings About Planned Reopening
SAN JOSE -- With coronavirus cases spiking across the state, a new poll indicates a majority of Californians think we have been reopening too quickly. According to the California Health Care Foundation poll, 53 percent said they felt the state was reopening too fast, a ten percent jump from a poll taken nearly three weeks ago. The poll also found 77 percent of Californians are concerned about contracting the virus. On Wednesday, Santa Clara County was five days away from a major re-opening. Among residents, opinions on the reopening were mixed. Read More
UC Berkeley COVID-19 Cases Jump; Series Of Fraternity, Sorority Parties Blamed
BERKELEY -- The University of California, Berkeley reported Wednesday a spike in students testing positive for the COVID-19 and is attributing the increase in cases to a series of fraternity and sorority parties. UC Berkeley University Health Services Medical Director Anna Harte and Assistant Vice Chancellor Guy Nicolette revealed the sharp rise in coronavirus cases in a statement published on the UC Berkeley website. The number of positive cases on campus increased from a running total of 23 since the start of the pandemic to 47 new cases in just one week, according to the statement. "The majority of these new cases stem from a series of recent parties connected to the CalGreek system, which included students both within the CalGreek community and others, and led to some secondary spread within households and within other smaller gatherings," said the statement. Read More
San Francisco Health Officials Unveil Preliminary School Reopening Plan
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco health officials unveiled their preliminary roadmap Wednesday designed to get students back into the classroom for the fall semester. But it came with a big 'if' -- "if conditions allow" for a return. The health department guidance outlined the practices needed to safely resume in-person, on-site instruction and extracurricular activities at TK-12 schools. Additionally, the plan also included specific actions schools should take to respond to an outbreak of COVID-19 cases."I know that many parents, caregivers and kids can't wait to get back to the routine and the supportive learning environment of our schools, but reopening depends on us and how successfully we are able to control the spread of COVID-19," Mayor London Breed said. Read More
San Anselmo Starts History Project Documenting Life During COVID-19 Pandemic
SAN ANSELMO -- The Marin County town of San Anselmo has begun a history project to document life during the coronavirus pandemic with an eye on helping future generations. San Anselmo was founded in 1907 and much of its early historical record is provided by the old San Anselmo Herald. But when local historians examined the newspaper's archives they could only find two mentions of the entire 1918 flu pandemic that killed 50 million people worldwide. And there was nothing about what it was like to live through it. "So we decided, let's don't have that happen this time. Let's get some first-hand stories," said Judy Coy, Chair of the town's Historical Commission. The commission, in partnership with the public library, is asking people to submit photographs with a short paragraph documenting life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More
49ers Expect Reduced Capacity At Levi's Stadium In 2020; Announce Options For Season Ticketholders
SANTA CLARA -- The San Francisco 49ers have announced options for season ticketholders this upcoming season in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. According to a statement on the team's website posted Wednesday, people with season tickets will be able to roll over 2020 season payments to the 2021 season or opt-out for a full refund. The team has already suspended collecting 2020 payments for those on the monthly payment plan. "Season ticket privileges will continue for all members in 2021 without impacting account seniority or current seat location, regardless of their selection for this season," the 49ers said. Read More
Gov. Newsom 'Not Pleased' As COVID-19 Cases Continue Spiking In California
SACRAMENTO -- California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday laid out some grim figures in the state's battle to stop the spread of coronavirus cases as numbers continued to skyrocket. During his update on the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic, Newsom reported that California had 11,694 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed on Tuesday, shattering the state's single-day record for confirmed cases. However, Newsom also noted that the alarmingly high number included a backlog of cases from the weekend that Los Angeles County reported late and estimated that the true number of new cases for July 7 was actually below 10,000. "We had mentioned that on Monday that there was a bit of a backlog. There is a cohort that would actually bring this number below 10,000 that's represented in the number we're presenting here today," Newsom explained. Read More
Stanford University To Cut 11 Varsity Sports Over COVID-19 Financial Challenges
STANFORD -- Stanford University announced Wednesday that it plans to discontinue 11 varsity sports from its athletics program due to financial concerns that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our goal is to provide excellent support and a world-class experience for our student-athletes in the sports that we offer. Over time, however, providing 36 varsity teams with the level of support that they deserve has become a serious and growing financial challenge," school president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, provost Persis Drell and athletic director Bernard Muir said in a joint statement. Describing the cuts as "heartbreaking" and "extremely difficult," the following sports will be discontinued after the upcoming academic year: men's and women's fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, co-ed and women's sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men's volleyball and wrestling. Read More
California 'Surge' Hospitals Are Costly, But How Much?
SAN FRANCISCO -- With coronavirus cases rising fast, California is planning to keep open several makeshift hospitals that have seen few patients but cost a bundle — in one case more than $4 million to prepare and staff a facility that only treated two people over nearly two months. That hospital, at the Porterville Development Center, is being kept open along with two others — one in Southern California and another in the Bay Area. Also staying open is an 80-bed medical tent to help overwhelmed local health care facilities in Imperial County on the state's border with Mexico. "We're ensuring that our health system isn't overwhelmed if there's a sudden spike in cases," Office of Emergency Services spokesman Brian Ferguson said. "Certainly the state would not view it as a negative if we didn't have to move patients into these facilities, because that would mean everyone is healthy and safe." Read More
United Warns 36,000 Employees Of Potential Furloughs This Fall Due To COVID-19 Slump
SAN FRANCISCO INT'L AIRPORT -- United Airlines, which has a major hub at San Francisco International Airport, is warning nearly half of its frontline workforce that they could be furloughed this fall. The world's third-largest airline says 36,000 workers — including 15,000 flight attendants, 11,000 customer service and gate agents, 5,550 maintenance employees and 2,250 pilots — will receive layoff notices. The Wednesday announcement paints a grim picture for an air travel recovery only days after United announced it would ramp up its schedule in August. But as the pandemic worsens in some areas of the United States, bookings have once again started to tumble. Read More
San Francisco Giants COVID-19 Tests Negative After Delays Halt Oracle Park Workouts
SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Giants announced Wednesday that results from recent COVID-19 tests were negative, after delays in obtaining results promoted the suspension of workouts at Oracle Park. According to a team statement, the negative results were from tests on players and staff conducted on July 4th. The team is expected to resume workouts at the stadium Wednesday, as Major League Baseball prepares for a coronavirus-shortened 60-game season. Workouts were suspended Tuesday afternoon, as the Giants became the latest MLB team that had to suspend training while waiting for results from a lab in Utah. Read More
Condemned Killer David Reed Dies While Being Treated For COVID-19; 6th San Quentin Death Row Inmate To Die
SAN QUENTIN -- Condemned killer David Reed, who had been sentenced to San Quentin's Death Row for the racially movitated murder of a Black transient near a Palm Springs restaurant in 2004, has died while being treated for a COVID-19 infection, state prison officials announced Wednesday. Since the San Quentin COVID-19 outbreak began last month, six inmates sentenced to California's death row have died. Three death row inmates -- Dewayne Carey, Scott Erskine and Manuel Alvarez -- have been confirmed as victims of the illness. The 60-year-old Reed and Joseph S. Cordova, who had been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in San Pablo, died while being treated in an outside hospital for COVID-19 complications. The Marin County coroner's office has yet to confirmed that COVID-19 was the cause of death. Richard Stitely, 71, was found unresponsive in his cell in June and an autopsy revealed he was positive for COVID-19. The coroner has yet to confirm that the virus was the cause of his death. Read More
Apple Stores Become Indicator Of Nation's Reopening Progress, Virus Resurgence
CUPERTINO -- Last month, as Covid-19 cases increased in Texas and Arizona, Apple opted to shut stores in those states. Shortly after, the states themselves would either pause or roll back their reopenings. The retail stores of America's most valuable company have arguably become something of a barometer for how the pandemic is affecting different parts of the country -- and the start and stop cycle of reopenings in various regions. Apple has a vast footprint in the United States, with 271 stores across the country in nearly every state. And with an unrivaled cash pile, the company can afford to be more reactive, closing stores sooner and keeping them closed longer, if need be. Apple shuttered all its US stores in mid March, reopened a little over 100 of them in late May and then re-closed more than 70 of those starting mid-June, including all the outlets in Florida and Texas. Read More
