Coronavirus Roundup: Heavy Metal Star's Brush With Death; Wide-Scale COVID-19 Testing In SF Mission, Bolinas
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 -- Neighbors Helping Neighbors
SF Man Perks Up North Beach Neighbors With Free, Fresh Coffee
SAN FRANCISCO -- From his kitchen window, quarantined San Franciscan Ben Ramirez dispenses free coffee with a smile to people in his North Beach neighborhood. "Even if they don't get a cup of coffee, they can stop at the window and chat," the North Beach resident said. On average, Ramirez makes about 10 to 15 cups a day. His "regulars" are essential workers. Read More
Oakland Teacher Hosts Virtual Story Time For Viewers From Around The World
OAKLAND -- Peter Limata, a first-grade teacher at Emerson Elementary School in Oakland, opens his Facebook Live story-time sessions Romper Room-style, bidding a buoyant good morning to each name that pops up on his screen. "Good morning Maya! Good morning to you, Luis and Leslie! Good morning to you Robin! Ah, there's Leon and Mateo, good morning! Ruby, we have the whole crew today!," he says in his graceful Zambian accent. "Hope everybody is having a great time at home. Now, are you ready for, 'I Am a Cat'?" Read More
For Uplifting Stories Of Neighbors Helping Neighbors Visit Our Better Together Section
Coronavirus Survival Story
Bay Area Thrash Metal Heroes Death Angel Survive Horrifying Brush With COVID-19
SAN FRANCISCO -- Legendary Bay Area thrash metal band Death Angel found their recent European tour heading right into the midst of the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak, with several members returning home sick with COVID-19. For the band's drummer Will Carroll, it was a terrifying, near fatal experience. In 2019, the group enjoyed one of the biggest years of their almost four-decade career. Death Angel put out a blockbuster album, scored their first Grammy nomination and played a series of sold-out concerts across the U.S. Read More
Coronavirus Testing
Health Officials To Launch Widespread COVID-19 Testing In SF's Mission District and Bolinas
SAN FRANCISCO -- Public health officials and University of California-San Francisco medical staffers will be launching a widespread testing campaign this week, hoping to determine how many of the more than 5,000 residents in city's Mission District have been exposed to the virus. UCSF officials said similar testing would also be undertaken in Bolinas. Read More
Private Health Provider Offers Quick Coronavirus Testing at Bay Area Parking Lots
REDWOOD CITY -- Widespread coronavirus testing is one of the keys to reopening the country but there is still no organized effort to do that so entrepreneurs are stepping in to meet that need. Testing has been erratic at best with people often having to wait in long lines. That's the biggest problem according to Eren Bali, founder of Carbon Health, a private heath clinic operator in California and Nevada. "There's absolutely no downside to testing," he said. "But there is downside to hundreds of people getting into a line in front of a clinic to get tested." Read More
Coronavirus And Homeless
San Francisco Homeless Shelter Outbreak Grows To Over 100 Confirmed Cases
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Health officials reported Sunday that a coronavirus outbreak at San Francisco's MSC South shelter had grown to 96 positive tests among homeless individuals and 10 staffers. In a news release, San Francisco health officials said the facility has been converted from a shelter to a medical recovery center to house positive cases among the city's homeless population. Read More
Mayor Schaaf Says Oakland Has Found Housing For 200 Homeless
OAKLAND -- Hundreds have been placed in hotels, but some critics say the effort to combat coronavirus among Oakland's homeless is not moving fast enough. As the virus continues its rampage, it's the homeless who may be most vulnerable considering they are often in close contact with others and many have some sort of medical condition. That's why getting them into hotels has become a top priority In Oakland. So says Mayor Libby Schaaf who tells KPIX5 a total of about 200 homeless people from Oakland have now been moved to hotels left vacant because of the stay-at-home order. Read More
Gov. Newsom Announces Deal With Motel 6 Chain To House Homeless
CAMPBELL -- Standing in front of a Motel 6 in Campbell, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a deal Saturday with the national chain to house homeless during the current coronavirus outbreak. Newsom said the state's existing housing crisis and the outbreak of the coronavirus and need for social distancing has intensified the need to get an estimated 108,000 homeless individuals off the streets. "The reason we're here is at a Motel 6 is to mark an important milestone in an effort to address the needs of the most vulnerable Californians, particularly those out on the street and sidewalks in this state," the governor said. "People that are struggling to find housing, families torn apart because of economic conditions or tragedies that have occurred in their lives." Read More
Coronavirus Shelter-In-Place
Early Moves by Bay Area Officials Saved Lives, Led Nation in Coronavirus Combat
SAN FRANCISCO -- On the morning of March 15, as Italy became the epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic, a half dozen high-ranking California health officials held an emergency conference call to discuss efforts to contain the spread of the virus in the San Francisco Bay Area. The tight-knit group of Bay Area doctors organized the call to discuss a consistent policy on public gatherings for the region's 7 million people, which then had fewer than 280 cases and just three deaths. Soon, though, the conversation focused on the potentially catastrophic emergency on their hands and how stay-at-home orders could slow the advance of the virus. Read More
Fremont Property Crime Jumps 30 Percent During Shelter In Place; Beefed Up Patrols At Schools
FREMONT -- Fremont police took to social media Sunday, posting photos of increased patrols at shuttered schools that have been targeted by property thieves. Fremont Police Department said in a release that during the coronavirus shelter-in-place property crimes have risen by 30 percent. The category with the largest increase is commercial burglary, which is up 133 percent from the same period in 2019, averaging two incidents daily compared to less than one a day at the same time last year. Auto thefts have jumped by 60 percent compared to a year ago. Read More
Lines Stretch For Blocks At San Francisco-Marin Food Bank's Drive-Up Distribution Service
SAN RAFAEL -- Volunteers scurried to fill boxes Saturday as drivers lined up for several blocks to pick up much needed food supplies during the current coronavirus crisis at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank's special drive-thru distribution service. Thousands of San Francisco Bay Area workers have been laid off or furloughed after their employers were forced to shutdown operations during the current shelter in place. That's added to the already strong demand for supplies from food banks around the region even before the virus outbreak began. Read More
Oakland Police Shut Down Two Large Illegal Saturday Night Sideshows
OAKLAND -- Despite even tougher coronavirus shelter-in-place orders, large crowds gathered at two illegal sideshows on the streets of Oakland Saturday night. Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said officers arrived and broke up both sideshows, but that no arrests or citations were issued. She said the license numbers of the vehicles at the gathering were recorded. Police responded just after 7 p.m. Saturday to the intersection of Maritime Street and Middle Harbor Road, within the Port of Oakland, where approximately 100 vehicles, and an unknown number of spectators, had gathered. Read More
'4/20' Celebrants Warned to Stay Away From Golden Gate Park Monday
SAN FRANCISCO -- The billowing clouds of pot smoke and hordes of people typically seen at Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park on April 20 won't be there this year. Last week, San Francisco Mayor London Breed told marijuana devotees to steer clear of the park on Monday.
"During 4/20, we are going to be at Golden Gate Park. We are going to fence up Golden Gate Park. We're going to have police officers out in force," the mayor warned. Read More
