Coronavirus Roundup: Surge Expected In Mid-May; Livermore Nurse Joins NYC Battle; Orinda Care Facility Outbreak Worsens
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The tsunami of news about the current coronavirus outbreak and now the shelter-in-place 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-related stories from the last 24 hours so you can start your day with the latest updated developments.
Good News -- Neighbor Helping Neighbor
Here Streams The Bride; San Francisco Couple Exchanges Marriage Vows On Family Video Conference
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Franciscans Ashley Yuki and Tim Alexander had planned an elaborate Palm Springs wedding ceremony to share with family and friends over the weekend. Then came the coronavirus. So in the spirit of our current times, the couple decided instead of postponing their nuptials, they would have family and friends join the ceremony remotely via Zoom from their living room. Read More
Better Together: San Jose Restaurant Provides Hot Meals For Those On COVID-19 Front Lines
San Jose's West Coast Beef Company has pledged to deliver free hot meals to workers on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus even as they fight to stay afloat during the shelter-in-place order. "Not being able to leave the house or not being recommended to leave the house leaves restaurants quite frankly crippled," said owner John Ladas. Read More
South Bay Nurses Sing To Honor Essential Workers Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
SAN JOSE -- Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been an immense show of support for healthcare workers on the frontlines. Medical professionals across the globe are working nonstop to care for the ever-growing number of COVID-19 patients. In the South Bay, two nurses wanted to take time to give their thanks. Chelsea Seradilla Benigno and Nanami Takeuchi work at San Jose's Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and performed Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli's "The Prayer" before their shift. Takeuchi was on the piano while Seradilla Benigno provided the vocals. Read More
Pacifica Distillery Helps Fight COVID-19 Pandemic By Making Sanitizer
PACIFICA -- A couple of cars zoom by a hand-drawn sign topped with a flashing blue light, propped up on a lonely sidewalk on Palmetto Avenue in Pacifica. The sign and its flashing blue light are drawing customers inside a small shop, the Tripp Distillery. But Jason Tripp isn't pouring his signature vodka, rum and gin. Instead, he's pouring sanitizer. It's a blue light special Jason Tripp says he is proud to serve up. The sanitizer is made with 65 percent alcohol that Tripp distills in small batches. So when customers come to buy his valuable commodity, they are greeted with the aroma of handmade, high-quality spirits. Read More
Tech Worker Crowdfunds, Buys Thousands Of KN95 Masks From China For CA Hospitals
SAN FRANCISCO -- The COVID-19 coronavirus-induced scramble to obtain face masks hit home for Bay Area tech entrepreneur Mark Linsey when his father, a Southern California physician, told Mark he was facing a shortage. Linsey set off to find a face mask supply for his dad but, with talk of price gouging and the re-sale of stolen supplies, he wanted to avoid competing for the scarce N95 masks in America. "I didn't want to be fighting over the same limited pool," Linsey said. Read More
Just Licensed Livermore Nurse Deployed To New York To Join 'War Against Coronavirus'
LIVERMORE -- She just got her nursing license and already Tia Buxton is heading to New York. With her daughter and husband's help, Buxton is packing, getting ready. She's a new nurse, and received her license just twelve days ago. "I want to help!" says Buxton. "I know there's a lot of people suffering in New York and the Nurses and Doctors are all very tired and they need relief and they are just so happy to see people coming and helping out." Read More
For Uplifting Stories Of Neighbors Helping Neighbors Visit Our Better Together Section
Coronavirus Testing And Deaths
Newsom Still Anticipating Coronavirus Surge In Mid-May
SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Gavin Newsom is sticking with a mid-May projection for when the COVID-19 outbreak will reach its peak in California, continuing efforts to stockpile hospital beds and protective gear for health care workers even as a new analysis suggests the virus' spread could be slowing sooner. While confirmed cases and deaths continue rising in California, the rate of hospitalizations and intensive-care placements — a key indicator of resources the state needs — have been increasing more slowly. Both rose less than 5% over the weekend. It was enough that Newsom felt comfortable loaning 500 ventilators to other states. Read More
Orinda Senior Care Facility Outbreak Grows To 49 Confirmed Cases; One Death
WALNUT CREEK -- A coronavirus outbreak at an Orinda senior care facility has now spread to 49 residents and staffers and resulted in one death, according to county health officials. Contra Costa County health officials first announced the outbreak at the 47-bed Orinda Care Facility last Friday. At the time, 27 staffers and residents had tested positive for the illness. By Monday, that number had nearly doubled to 27 residents and 22 staffers, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Read More
Coronavirus Update: Santa Clara County Cases Total 1,224; Death Toll Reaches 42
SANTA CLARA -- Santa Clara County health officials on Monday reported the county has 1,224 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, with the county's death toll increasing by three for a total of 42. Data from the county's Public Health Department shows that 286 people are currently hospitalized because of COVID-19. Read More
Scientists Focus On Antibody Tests That Could Be Key In Getting People Back To Work
SAN FRANCISCO -- Scientists in the Bay Area and around the country are focusing on antibody tests that could determine who has recovered from the coronavirus without ever knowing it. The results could be key in getting people back to work. An ambitious testing program by the University of Miami began in South Florida, one of several nationwide awaiting FDA approval. The goal is to clear up the chaotic picture of just how widespread the virus is. They plan to test 3,500 randomly selected residents. Read More
'Sparkles Of Optimism' As Pandemic Shows Signs Of Slowing In Santa Clara County
SANTA CLARA -- In an interview with KPIX 5, Santa Clara County's public health officer urged the community to continue to obey the shelter in place order because, she said, it's working. "Our epidemic is not growing as fast as it had been growing before the shelter in place order," said Dr. Sara Cody. "We're not out of the woods, but there are a few little sparkles of optimism." Read More
Santa Clara County Offers To Pay $1,000 For Old, Used Ventilators
Leaders of Santa Clara County, the Bay Area county hit hardest by coronavirus, are willing to pay a bounty of $1,000 to anyone who can provide a used or old ventilator. Ventilators are often the best chance for survival for patients with severe coronavirus cases. "We are using 217 ventilators today. We have 435 ventilators available today. We believe we need another thousand ventilators," said Santa Clara Board of Supervisors President, Cindy Chavez, on Monday afternoon. Chavez announced on Monday that Valley Health Care Foundation will pay a bounty of $1,000 for any ventilators. Read More
San Francisco Officials Report New Death, Two New Positive Tests At Homeless Shelter
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco health officials reported Monday a new coronavirus death in the city over the last 24 hours and 13 new positive results among its residents. Officials did not release any additional information as to the victim's age, gender and how they may have been exposed to the illness. The city's death toll during the current outbreak now stands at 9 while there have been 583 confirmed cases since the outbreak began locally in February. Read More
San Francisco, Oakland Open Coronavirus Testing Center For Direct-Service Providers
Two new drive-through coronavirus testing sites have been set up in San Francisco and Oakland for first responders, health care workers and other direct-service providers, officials announced Monday. The San Francisco drive-through/walk-through testing site is located at Pier 30-32 just south of the Bay Bridge and will begin testing by appointment, starting Monday. The CityTestSF site will steadily increase capacity and will be able to conduct 200 COVID-19 tests per day by the end of the week. Read More
California Sending 500 Ventilators To National Stockpile To Help New York
California is sending 500 state-owned ventilators to the Strategic National Stockpile to help New York and other states that are in immediate need for them because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the governor's office. California is joining Washington and Oregon in loaning the ventilators to New York which is battling the nation's worst COVID-19 outbreak. Oregon announced Saturday it was sending 140 ventilators to New York, while Washington said Sunday it was returning 400 of the 500 ventilators it received from the federal government because of New York's need. Read More
Coronavirus Patients Rush To Join Studies Of Gilead Drug Remdesivir
FOSTER CITY -- The new coronavirus made Dr. Jag Singh a patient at his own hospital. His alarm grew as he saw an X-ray of his pneumonia-choked lungs and colleagues asked his wishes about life support while wheeling him into Massachusetts General's intensive care unit. When they offered him a chance to help test remdesivir, an experimental drug that's shown promise against some other coronaviruses, "it
did not even cross my mind once to say 'no,'" said Singh, a heart specialist. Read More
State Making Progress To Meet Medical Site And Bed Goals For COVID-19 Surge
SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said the state was making solid progress in meeting goals for the number of medical sites, available beds and personnel California will need to meet the anticipated surge of coronavirus patients. The governor provided the information during his update to the state's response to the COVID-19 crisis, speaking from Sleep Train Arena, the former home of the Sacramento Kings that is in the process of being converted into a medical facility. Newsom said that the goal for what he called "Phase 1" of the state's response through the end of April was to have 50,000 beds available to accommodate the spike in patients as cases of coronavirus surges into mid-May. Read More
Daly City Donating PPE To Seton Medical Center
DALY CITY -- The city of Daly City announced Monday that it will donate hundreds of pieces of personal protective equipment to Seton Medical Center, which is caring for novel coronavirus patients. The city will donate 500 surgical gowns from the North County Fire Authority and 750 gloves and 100 protective masks from the reserves of its Department of Water and Wastewater Resources to the medical center, one of many across the state and country struggling to keep up with demand for protective equipment as cases of the virus surge. Read More
As Thousands Join, Few Rules For California Health Corps
SACRAMENTO -- As tens of thousands of retired health care workers and medical and nursing students sign up for the newly established California Health Corps, almost nothing is known about how it will operate, how much it will cost and whether taxpayers will be liable for any malpractice. Gov. Gavin Newsom established the corps a week ago to staff the 66,000 additional hospital rooms he said could be needed when the coronavirus outbreak peaks in California in mid-May. Read More
Scientists Focus On Antibody Tests That Could Be Key In Getting People Back To Work
SAN FRANCISCO -- Scientists in the Bay Area and around the country are focusing on antibody tests that could determine who has recovered from the coronavirus without ever knowing it. The results could be key in getting people back to work. An ambitious testing program by the University of Miami began in South Florida, one of several nationwide awaiting FDA approval. The goal is to clear up the chaotic picture of just how widespread the virus is. They plan to test 3,500 randomly selected residents. Read More
Shelter In Place
Shelter-In-Place, Social Distancing Elusive For Thousands Of Bay Area Homeless During Coronavirus Pandemic
On week four of a shelter-in-place order, tens of thousands of unhoused people in the Bay Area are still unable to do so. Marc Roth has been staying in the navigation center along San Francisco's Embarcadero where he says social distancing is impossible. He keeps reading headlines about hotels being offered to the homeless, but hasn't seen anyone from his navigation center be offered a private room. Read More
SF Ditches Plan To House Homeless At Moscone Center During Pandemic In Favor Of Hotel Rooms
San Francisco officials have reversed a plan to shelter homeless people at the Moscone West Convention Center. Instead, the city will continue with a plan to place homeless people at hotels in an effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, said Trent Rohrer, director of the city's Human Services Agency. Read More
Coronavirus And Public Transportation
San Francisco Muni To Cut Service By Nearly Half To Prioritize Essential Workers
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco's Muni mass transit system will reduce service by nearly half this week, eliminating many of its lines that are seeing low ridership and focusing on lines used by essential workers during the pandemic, SFMTA officials said. Beginning Monday, SFMTA said to expect delays and longer wait times as about 40% of Muni operators won't be driving due to the stay-at-home order. By Tuesday and Wednesday, more service reductions will begin gradually. Read More
BART Reducing Weekday Service; Trains To Run Every 30 Minutes
OAKLAND -- BART officials on Monday afternoon announced that on Wednesday the transit service would begin running trains every 30 minutes during weekdays until further notice due to the ongoing coronavirus shelter-in-place order reducing the number of riders in the Bay Area.
The transit service made the announcement shortly before 4 p.m. Monday, issuing a press release and tweeting about the change on the agency's official Twitter account. Read More
Coronavirus Business Impact
California EDD Struggles To Keep Up With Staggering Surge In Unemployment Claims
SAN FRANCISCO -- More than 10 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks of March and some experts say that number could double in April. California's Employment Development Department says it's doing the best it can with a historic surge in claims. But KPIX talked to some people who said they running out of patience. Jonnie Dukes has been calling the EDD up to 40 times a day. Chris Webb chalked up more than 100 calls on a single day. But trying to get through on the EDD's main phone line is next to impossible. Read More
California Court Leaders Suspend Evictions Statewide
California judicial leaders on Monday adopted a statewide emergency order suspending evictions to help deal with the COVID-19 crisis that has crippled the court system. It was one of eleven temporary rules adopted by the state's Judicial Council during a second emergency meeting since the coronavirus pandemic started. Read More
Unlike Income Taxes, Bay Area Property Taxes Still Due On Time During Pandemic
Unlike the Internal Revenue Service and state of California, which gave three-month extensions for filing 2019 tax returns due to the novel coronavirus, Bay Area counties have not changed the deadline for the final installment of the current fiscal year's property tax, due in full on Friday. But according to the Contra Costa County tax collector's office, beginning Saturday taxpayers unable to pay on time for reasons related to COVID-19 may request that late fees and penalties be waived. After July 10, taxpayers will be allowed to set up a payment plan if they cannot pay their taxes all at once. Read More
Bay Area Based Tesla Working On Making Ventilators From Car Parts
FREMONT -- Tesla engineers are working on a ventilator made largely from car parts, according to a YouTube video the automaker posted on Sunday. In the video, engineers at Tesla Engineering show off prototypes and a schematic laying out the proposed ventilator design as they explain how they are re-purposing various auto parts for the much needed medical devices. Read More
YouTube Tries To Limit Spread Of False Claims Linking Coronavirus To 5G Networks
SAN BRUNO -- YouTube and other social media platforms are taking steps to limit the spread of conspiracy theories falsely connecting 5G networks and the coronavirus pandemic after a string of attacks on cellphone towers. Mobile operators said Monday that there have been at least five instances of vandals setting fire to towers in the United Kingdom in the past few days. Some YouTube videos claiming a connection between the virus and the new super-fast wireless technology have racked up hundreds of thousands of views. Read More
2 San Jose City Leaders Push For COVID-19 Rent Freeze
SAN JOSE -- While Governor Gavin Newsom imposed a ban on evictions during the coronavirus pandemic so people wouldn't get thrown out of their apartments, two San Jose City Council members are taking the next step, saying they shouldn't have to pay anything. Council members Magdelena Carrasco and Raul Peralez say, in the long run, the Governor's plan to halt evictions will do nothing to keep laid-off workers in their homes. The state's eviction ban still leaves renters liable for paying landlords back rent. Read More
Other Local Coronavirus Headlines
Santa Cruz Couple's Dream Trip To Nepal Ends With Repatriation Flight
KATHMANDU, Nepal -- Retired Santa Cruz couple Stacy Kim And Martin Hynes planned on an extended trip, trekking around the wonders of Nepal, but found themselves Sunday at the Kathmandu airport awaiting the last repatriation flight back to the United States. The county, nestled in the Himalaya Mountains, offered a small exit window for tourists trapped after the government shut down the nation's borders and all access in and out to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Read More
Spring Storms Dump Several Feet Of Snow On Coronavirus-Shuttered Sierra Ski Resorts
TRUCKEE -- A pair of Spring storm fronts swept through the Sierra over the weekend and on Monday morning, forcing travelers to use chains on mountain passes on I-80 and Highway 50 and blanketing the region with as much as 3 feet of new snow at the higher elevations. What would have been a late season boost to the Tahoe area ski industry has been transformed into a "what if" moment as resorts from Squaw Valley to Heavenly Valley have been shuttered for the season since late March because of the current coronavirus outbreak and social distancing requirements. Read More
San Francisco's PGA Championship Becomes Golf's First Major Tournament Of Year
SAN FRANCISCO -- The current coronavirus outbreak has forced professional golf tour to flip the schedule of its major championships and cancel the famed British Open all together. The PGA Championship, which had been scheduled to take place at San Francisco's Harding Park from May 14-17, will now take place on Aug. 6-9 if the coronvirus outbreak lessens over the next few months. Read More
California Court Leaders Consider Cutting Bail To $0 During Coronavirus Crisis
SACRAMENTO -- California judicial leaders are expected to adopt a statewide emergency order setting bail at zero for lower-level offenses and suspending evictions and foreclosures to deal with the COVID-19 crisis that has crippled the state's court system. The Judicial Council was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Monday to vote on nearly a dozen temporary rules, including a proposal to hold criminal and juvenile proceedings by video or telephone in order to ensure that defendants are not held in custody without timely hearings. Read More
Acting Navy Secretary Calls Ousted Capt. Brett Crozier 'Too Stupid Or Too Naive' To Command
SANTA ROSA -- Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly has ripped the former commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Capt. Brett Crozier, calling him "too stupid or too naive" to command the aircraft carrier during an address to the ship's crew Monday, according to published reports. Modley relieved the Santa Rosa native of his command last week, saying he lost confidence in his ability to lead under the stress of dealing with a coronavirus outbreak on the ship and for going outside the chain of command to circulate a memo pleading for help from Washington, which quickly became public after being leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle. Read More
