Coronavirus Reopening Roundup: Health Care Worker's Nightmare Scenario; Protesting In A Pandemic
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 and reopening-related stories from the last 24 hours so you can start your day with the latest updated developments.
San Francisco Officials Working On Speeding Up COVID-19 Reopening Process
SAN FRANCISCO -- While many owners are barely hanging on to their shuttered businesses, city leaders are working on a plan to speed up the reopening process that has had San Francisco shut down for months during the COVID-19 crisis. Supervisor Aaron Peskin said San Francisco was on the verge of asking permission from the state to move more quickly through the reopening process, by applying for a Phase 2 variance. "We will be voting hopefully this coming Tuesday to formally request that the state give us that variance so the chief health officer has a lot more latitude in moving up dates for bars, outdoor dining, indoor dining, you name it," said Peskin. Read More
Nightmare Scenario Unfolds For COVID-19 Frontline Health Care Worker
SANTA CLARA -- Throughout the pandemic we've watched healthcare workers protest a lack of personal protective equipment, seen tens of millions of Americans file for unemployment and heard stories from families on the edge who worry their inability to pay rent could cost them their homes. Jenny Moreno has personally experienced all three of these hardships all while her 25-year-old daughter was sick with COVID-19. "So that was the hardest part is knowing that you know, I don't want to lose my daughter. That was the hard part," Moreno said. In mid-March Jenny Moreno started having conversations no mother wants to have with her daughter. Read More
"You Can't Fight If You're Sick"; Bay Area Doctor's Advice For Protesting In A Pandemic
OAKLAND -- In the past week and a half, we have watched tens of thousands of people march through the Bay Area, protesting the end of police brutality and racism. The problem with all of this? It's happening in the midst of a global coronavirus pandemic. "[There is] clearly a high risk for COVID transmission which means, when we're going to have a voice, we need to do it in a way that's safe," said Stanford-trained internist Dr. Zubin Damania. "We have to speak up if we feel like we need to, but we also don't want to toss away all the sacrifice that these very communities have made. These are the communities that are at high risk for COVID disease." "You Can't Fight If You're Sick"; Bay Area Doctor's Advice For Protesting In A Pandemic
Report: Tesla Workers Test Postive For Coronvirus Days After Defiant Musk Reopens Factory
SAN FRANCISCO -- Several Tesla factory workers at the company's Fremont plant reportedly tested positive for the novel coronavirus last month after CEO Elon Musk reopened the plant in defiance of county health orders. The Washington Post reported Tuesday supervisors disclosed the cases to their teams and that the employees affected were told to stay home, citing other employees with knowledge of the situation. The company reached an agreement with Alameda County to reopen on May 18 following weeks of Musk defying health orders and ranting on social media and an earnings call about the halt to production. Musk kept the plant open in March even after the county deemed his business non-essential. Read More
Reopening: San Francisco To Allow Outdoor Dining Beginning On Friday
SAN FRANCISCO -- Mayor London Breed continued the rollback of COVID-19 restrictions Tuesday, announcing that San Francisco dine-in restaurants will be allowed to begin outdoor dining for the upcoming weekend. The announcement was the first sign of relief for the city's fabled restaurant industry that has been forced to shutdown or rely on take-out service to survive. Several restaurants have closed for good since the shelter in place order was issued in mid-March and thousands of workers have been laid off. Under San Francisco's Shared Spaces Program, restaurant owners can ask permission to use a portion of the public right-of-way, such as sidewalks, parking lanes, streets, or other nearby public spaces like parks and plazas for outdoor dining. Read More
COVID-19 Hospitalizations Climb As Restaurants Reopen To Outdoor Diners In Southbay
SAN JOSE -- Santa Clara County officials are keeping an eye on a rising key indicator in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. "We have seen an uptick, a small uptick in the number of hospitalizations in the county," said David Campos, Public Information Officer for Santa Clara County. Hospitalizations went up from 38 on May 31, to 73 by Monday, June 8. County officials say the most likely cause is the easing of restrictions, but they say it's still a 'wait and see' situation. "We know that it's going to take for us at least three weeks to fully understand the full impact of the easing of restrictions," Campos said. Read More
BART Employee With Public Contact Tests Positive For Coronavirus
SAN FRANCISCO -- A BART employee who interacts with the public tested positive for the coronavirus, BART officials said they learned Tuesday afternoon. Before the test, the employee had on gloves and a mask and kept themselves at a distance from others when they were working. The person is now in quarantine, according to BART officials. The employee last worked among members of the public on Sunday. The person was not in close contact with the public but worked in stations and on trains in the BART system, BART officials said. Read More
California School Districts Face Uncertain Road To Reopening
DANVILLE -- No one knows what school is going to look like when and if it reopens in the fall, and the guidelines released by the state schools superintendent Monday are raising more questions than answers. After three months in lockdown, Carly Juroff can't wait to join her friends on the volleyball team at San Ramon Valley High School. But the guidelines announced by the State of California for reopening in-person classes don't sound like the campus life she's been hoping for. "I'm scared that I'm not going to get a real high school experience because I'm never going to get these years back," said Juroff. The guidelines from state Superintendent Tony Thurmond spell out in detail the new procedures, from everyone wearing masks and getting their temperatures checked before entering campus, to protocols for social distancing that may require that students only be on campus two days a week. Read More
Apple Granted Patent For Software Allowing For Socially Distant Group Selfies
CUPERTINO -- With people around the world self-isolating at home in order to curb the spread of Covid-19, Apple has received a patent for software that would allow people to take group selfies while socially distancing from one another. The US Patent and Trademark Office recently granted Cupertino-based Apple a patent for the software that would allow for "synthetic group selfies," or socially distant group selfies. The software would allow a user to invite others to participate in a group selfie that would arrange multiple people into a single image. It would remove the background image from other users' selfies and place them into the user's photo. While it appears as if Apple filed for the patent as a response to the pandemic, the tech giant originally filed for the patent in 2018 and it received it June 2. Read More
Reopening: BART, Caltrain Adding Service As Ridership Slowly Picks Up
OAKLAND -- With more people heading back to work, Bay Area Rapid Transit and Caltrain both announced service additions. BART said it would add more service along a stretch of the Yellow line, the system's busiest. Between the Pleasant Hill and Daly City stations, trains will once again run every 15 minutes during peak hours. On May 1st, the transit agency said ridership had fallen by 93 percent compared with the same date last year, as the Bay Area was in the midst of the shelter-in-place order. As of Monday it has ticked up to 91 percent below baseline, according to data posted on the BART website. Read More
COVID-19: Phony Contact Tracers Trying To Steal Personal Info, AG Becerra Warns
SAN FRANCISCO -- California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Monday warned residents to be on guard against scammers pretending to be coronavirus contact tracers in order to trick people into providing personal information. By convincing victims they've come in contact with someone who's tested positive for COVID-19, the scammers are able to get information like social security numbers, health insurance information, and financial information, according to Becerra.The scammers find victims via phone calls, email and text messages. "Legitimate contact tracers will never ask for personal information such as your Social Security number or financial information. It sickens the soul that there are people out there who make it their business to scam you as most of us seek to band together to respond to the coronavirus pandemic," Becerra said in a statement. Read More
Lawrence Livermore Hooks Up With NASCAR Teams On Simple Respirator For Use By COVID-19 Patients
LIVERMORE -- Following weeks of prototyping, Lawrence Livermore Lab researchers have come up with a design that will allow the mass production of FDA-approved mechanical ventilators used in the treatment of critically ill COVID-19 patients. Lab officials announced Tuesday an agreement with medical device startup company BioMedInnovations to manufacturer the ventilators. The FDA evaluated the prototype and authorized it for emergency use, where it could provide relief in places where ventilators are in short supply, such as underdeveloped countries or hospitals in rural areas, or in the event of a sudden resurgence of COVID-19 transmission. Read More
Santa Clara County Opens Pop-Up COVID-19 Testing Sites In San Jose, Gilroy
SAN JOSE -- Santa Clara County launched two pop-up COVID-19 coronavirus testing sites Tuesday, allowing residents in Gilroy and San Jose to be tested free of charge. The testing sites, located at Valley Health Center on 7475 Camino Arroyo in Gilroy and the Santa Clara County Service Center auditorium at 1555 Berger Drive in San Jose, will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday.
Each location has the capacity to test up to 500 people per day. "The county is strategically positioning our pop-up test centers where they are most essential," county Supervisor Mike Wasserman said. "There are now at least 46 locations countywide offering COVID-19 diagnostic testing. We encourage everyone to get tested." Read More
