COVID-19 Reopening Roundup: Dr. Fauci's 'Perfect Storm'; Food Service Workers Devastating Setback; Tough COVID-19 Restrictions Reimposed
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 here's a news roundup of the top coronavirus and reopening-related stories from the last 24 hours.
Gov. Newsom Orders All Bars, Indoor Dining Closed; Gyms, Churches, Salons Closed In Most Of California
SACRAMENTO -- California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday major rollbacks of the state's reopening plans as the coronavirus outbreak worsens in the state, extending the closure of all bars and indoor dining statewide and ordering gyms, churches and salons to be shuttered in counties on the state's watch list. Effective Monday, all indoor activities are being shut down across the state in the following sectors:
- Restaurants
- Bars (all operations)
- Wineries and tasting rooms
- Movie Theaters
- Family and Entertainment Centers
- Zoos and museums
- Cardrooms
Newsom said the new statewide action applies to all counties, not just the counties on the state's monitoring list. Read More
Dr. Fauci At Stanford: 'Perfect Storm' Of Factors Lead To Coronavirus Surge In U.S.
PALO ALTO -- Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, joined Stanford University's dean of medicine Monday for a talk on the challenges and medical progress made in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In a virtual fireside chat on Monday, Fauci said coronavirus cases are now surging in the U.S. because unlike Asia and Europe, the U.S never completely shut down, and that parts of the country were not cautious about gradually reopening and following critical checkpoints. He said this virus is a combination of a new microbe that has a spectacular degree of capability of transmitting and one that has a considerable degree of causing a spectrum of illnesses and death. He is constantly amazed by its protean nature. "Here it is, it's happened, you know? Your worst nightmare, the perfect storm," said Fauci. Read More
Sonoma Food-Industry Workers Fear Financial Devastation From New Closure Order
SONOMA -- On Monday evening, the dining room at El Dorado Kitchen on the Sonoma Square was empty after being full over the weekend. The governor's new statewide restrictions once again prohibit indoor dining and bars, wineries and other indoor businesses from operating amid a spike in coronavirus cases. The rule wipes out half of this hotel restaurant's business and means there are fewer shifts to go around among servers. "Now that we're backtracking again, it's kind of difficult, we're stuck between the right amount of shifts for everybody to make a decent wage and/or balance that with the bonus $600 from unemployment," said El Dorado Kitchen manager Matt Jetson. The governor's restrictions have dealt another economic and emotional blow to many businesses. Read More
Apple Will Send Coronavirus Test Kits to Employees' Homes
CUPERTINO -- Apple employees working remotely can now get tested for the coronavirus without leaving the house. The Cupertino company said Monday that COVID-19 test kits will be shipped to its workers' homes -- including those employees who staff the company's retail stores, many of which have been closed due to the ongoing pandemic. The news was first reported by Bloomberg. Apple has been cautious about reopening its offices and retail outlets as coronavirus cases continue to spike in several states. Read More
SF Allows High School Swim Team To Practice Despite COVID-19 Health Order Banning Pool Use
SAN FRANCISCO -- Swimming pools across the Bay Area closed at the start of the pandemic and remain closed in San Francisco, in an effort to to contain the spread of COVID-19. But KPIX5 discovered the city allowed one pool to be open, despite its own health directive that banned pool use. The pool is in the basement at St. Ignatius College Preparatory school. We got a tip that a swim team has been practicing in the water here, while other swim teams in the city have had to make do with dry land training, like the Boys and Girls Aquatic Club swim team. We caught up with them sweating it up and down the Coit Tower stairs one recent morning. It's part of their dry land practice. They're a competitive team, and have to keep in shape since they can't swim. Read More
Louis' Restaurant, Beloved San Francisco Sea-View Diner, Will Close
SAN FRANCISCO -- Louis' Restaurant, a beloved San Francisco diner perched above the Sutro Baths at Lands End that has served pretty good food with stunning views of the wide Pacific for more than eight decades, announced it is closing permanently -- another victim of the coronavirus pandemic. The owners posted the sad news to Louis' Facebook page Monday: <"Facebook Friends After much deliberation and a lot of tears we have decided after 83 continuous years of business on Point Lobos Avenue to close our business permanently. This decision was very difficult to make but with everything we have seen and heard regarding reopening for indoor dining we felt it was an unsafe environment for us and our employees. To wait out this pandemic was financially unreasonable." Read More
Santa Clara County Officials Work With State to Clarify Reopening Rollback Policy
SAN JOSE -- On the day that gyms, hair-and-nail salons and churches were allowed to reopen, Santa Clara county officials said Monday that they will likely be ordered to shut down again in two days. "From my standpoint, I'm very disappointed," said Santa Clara County supervisor Dave Cortese. County leaders had allowed certain businesses which had been shut down since the stay-at-home began to reopen again on Monday. But, by late afternoon, they announced the state anticipated shutting them down again on Wednesday because of an increase in hospitalizations. The county made the state's watch list on Sunday because of the spike. Counties that are on the watch list for three consecutive days must shut down according to the state's new order announced Monday. Read More
Santa Clara County Opens Sectors Only To Announce Closures Again Following Newsom Announcement
SAN JOSE -- On the same day Santa Clara County reopened sectors including salons, gyms and churches, the county was forced to announce they were closing again following the announcement by Governor Gavin Newsom rolling back reopenings across the state because of increasing cases of coronavirus. Effective immediately, California is shutting down statewide all bars and breweries, wineries & tasting rooms, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos and museums, and card rooms. Other closures affect counties on the state monitoring list for additional intervention because of troubling coronavirus data. Santa Clara County was added to the state's monitoring list on Sunday, and the state confirmed the county would shut down additional businesses effective on Wednesday. Read More
Pandemic Has Oakland Children's Fairyland Teetering On Financial Ruin
OAKLAND -- In the heart of downtown Oakland, Children's Fairyland is an oasis of childhood fantasies, believed to have inspired Walt Disney to build Disneyland. However, the pending financial ruin from being shut down for months is a shocking reality. "Eighty percent of our funds come through the door, through the gate, the fair gates," said Executive Director Kymberly Miller. The park's $400,000 federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan ran out last week. There is a summer camp program with some kids in the park, but without gate receipts, Fairyland is burning through cash reserves. "I thought we were going to be able to ride our PPP loan through to an effective opening," said Miller. "We weren't able to do that so we had to, sadly, furlough many of our staff." Read More
East Bay Teachers Demand Safety Plans Before Returning To Classrooms
PLEASANT HILL -- The state's quick switch to remote education during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic was considered a failure by many, leaving a large percentage of parents pushing to go back to in-class instruction for next year. But as some school districts developed plans for partial return to the classroom -- even as COVID-19 cases rose alarmingly in the state -- teachers began speaking out about their health concerns. "After the skyrocketing started, I suddenly noticed that people were criticizing teachers and calling them selfish for caring about their own health and the health of the students," said Shauna Hawes, technology teacher at Valley View Middle School in Pleasant Hill. Hawes, Dylan Bland and Linda Wilhelm all teach in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District and they all hold the same view being expressed by teachers' unions across the Bay Area. Read More
FDA List Of Potentially Toxic Hand Sanitizer Brands Grows To Nearly 60
WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers and health care providers about the growing number of hand sanitizers that contain methanol, which can be toxic when absorbed through the skin and deadly if swallowed. The regulatory agency has expanded to 59 its list of sanitizers to steer clear of — some of which have already been recalled and some the FDA is recommending be recalled — for containing the potentially fatal substance, also known as wood alcohol. "The agency is aware of adults and children ingesting hand sanitizer products contaminated with methanol that has led to recent adverse events including blindness, hospitalizations and death," the FDA stated.Read More
News Of California's Reopening Rollback Sends Stocks Into Reverse
NEW YORK -- Wall Street got a painful reminder of the threat the coronavirus pandemic poses to the economy Monday, and a big early gain for stocks suddenly flipped to losses after California rolled back its reopening plans amid a spike in cases. The S&P 500 fell 0.9%, with all the losses accumulating in the last hour of trading, after California said it will extend closures of bars and indoor dining across the state, among other restrictions. It's one of many states across the U.S. West and South where coronavirus counts are accelerating and threatening the budding recovery that just got underway for the economy. The announcement from California, which accounts for nearly 15% of the country's economy, combined with an escalation by the White House in its tensions with China to knock the market down from its earlier gain of 1.6%. Read More
UCSF Study: 1 In 3 Young Adults Vulnerable For Severe COVID-19; Smoking A Determining Factor
SAN FRANCISCO -- One in three young adults is at risk of severe Covid-19, and smoking plays a big part in that risk, according to new research published Monday in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, looked at more than 8,000 participants ages 18 to 25 who had participated in the National Health Interview Survey to see what their medical vulnerability to severe Covid-19 was in relation to risk indicators that had been set out by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including health conditions and smoking habits. The researchers found 32% of the total study population were medically vulnerable for severe Covid-19. However, when the group of participants who smoked cigarettes or e-cigarettes were taken out of the analysis, the medically vulnerable percentage decreased by half, to 16%. Read More
Search Continues For Woman Missing 2 Weeks While 'Quarantining' In Sierra
MADERA -- The search for a California woman who has been missing for two weeks after embarking on a solo camping trip in the Sierra south of Yosemite intensified on Monday, according to the Madera County Sheriff's Office. The family of Sandra Johnsen Hughes say their last communication with the 54-year-old was June 26. Last week, Madera County deputies found Hughes' silver Saab crashed near her campsite in Johnson Meadows in the Sierra National Forest. The condition of her campsite, which was described as "disheveled" by searchers, was out of character for the experienced hiker Hughes, according to her niece Ashley Macus. Macus told Sierra News Online her aunt was highly organized and once trained to be a park ranger. Read More
Giants Evaluating Three Catchers To Replace Buster Posey
SAN FRANCISCO -- On Friday Buster Posey opted out of the 60-game 2020 season, citing health concerns after he and his wife Kristen adopted twin babies. Posey was given full support from all levels of the franchise. "It's a tough weight to put on your soul to be coming to play baseball and risking their lives," teammate Hunter Pence said. Posey is a 6-time all star, a 3-time World Series Champion, and a National League MVP. Replacing his resume is next to impossible, but with less than two weeks until opening day, the Giants are taking a stab at it. Read More
Santa Clara County Gyms Back Open Under Revised Order --For 48 Hours
SAN JOSE -- Gyms in Santa Clara County were allowed to reopen after a four-month hiatus on Monday, the same day as fitness centers in much of the state were ordered to suspend indoor operations due to rising coronavirus cases in much of California. At the 24 Hour Fitness in North San Jose, customers were lined up outside ahead of the 5 a.m. opening. Guests needed to book ahead of time using the gym's app for a 90 minute window to work out. Masks are also required, along with social distancing. Robert Delgado, who didn't look like he even missed a day at the gym during months of lockdown, was glad to be back. "It feels pretty good to get back in it again, now, just trying to get it in," Delgado said. Read More
WNBA Season Opens July 25 With Weekend Dedicated To Black Lives Matter Movement
NEW YORK -- The WNBA announced Monday the official schedule for its 2020 season that's set to be played at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The WNBA Tip-Off '20 gets underway July 25 with a tripleheader of games on ESPN, ABC and CBS Sports Network. During the league's opening weekend, all aspects of the games featuring the league's 12 teams will be designed to affirm the Black Lives Matter movement and honor the victims of police brutality and racial violence. On opening weekend July 25-26, team uniforms will display Breonna Taylor's name and players will have the option to continue to wear the placard with Taylor's name for subsequent games. Throughout the season, players will wear warm-up shirts with "Black Lives Matter" on the front and "Say Her Name" on the back. Read More
3 More San Quentin Inmates Die Over Weekend Of COVID Complications
SAN QUENTIN -- Three more inmates at San Quentin State prison died over the weekend from what appear to be complications related to COVID-19, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Two San Quentin inmates died on Saturday and the third died on Sunday, each at outside hospitals, CDCR said. No additional information about the inmates was forthcoming because of individual medical privacy concerns. The three weekend deaths bring the San Quentin coronavirus death toll to nine since the 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 cause of deaths of two other condemned inmates were still pending confirmation from the Marin County coroner's office. Read More
