COVID-19 Reopening Roundup: Pac-12 Fall Football In Jeopardy; Unemployment Relief Falls Short; Teachers Scramble As School Year Gets Underway
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.
Good News -- Neighbors Helping Neighbors
San Anselmo Group Places Free Mask In Trees For Those In Need
SAN ANSELMO -- While money doesn't grow on trees, in the Marin County town of San Anselmo, it seems face masks do. Well, almost. Like many parts of the Bay Area, downtown San Anselmo is slowly starting to open up. Anyone who comes down and forgets their mask will have an option. Sara Robinson, chairperson for local community organization Age Friendly San Anselmo, says they have visitors covered. "It's not Christmas," said Robinson. "It's a free gift!' The organization is hanging face masks to tree branches and encouraging visitors who need them to pick any mask they like to keep. The free masks are proving quite popular, with people of all ages helping themselves to a mask. San Anselmo Vice Mayor Brian Colbert said while it is not a city project, the free masks provide benefits to both local businesses and the health of visitors. Read More
For Uplifting Stories Of Neighbors Helping Neighbors Visit Our Better Together Section
Hotels Install Office Amenities to Lure Bay Area Teleworkers Out of the House
HEALDSBURG -- More hotels are fashioning rooms into office spaces as working from home becomes a longterm option for many Bay Area professionals. Thanh Nguyen reported to work Monday from the comfort of his suite at the Harmon Guest House, a hotel in downtown Healdsburg. The state-of-the-art Altwork Station is just one of the perks it recently rolled out to appeal to work-from-home professionals. "The ability to come in and really just crank out -- my wife and I were talking about this in that -- if I could just have six or seven hours of dedicated (time) at least once a week, I could do so much," said Nguyen. Read More
Masks Worn Amid COVID-19 May Lead To Form Of Immunity
SAN FRANCISCO -- In a newly-penned request sent to vice president Mike Pence, the Infectious Disease Society Association has officially urged the White House to publicly issue a federal directive asking all states to require masks to control the pandemic. Now, a new report bolsters their request: a theory that mandated face covering may add an additional and very important benefit. This theory is backed by mounds of evidence: that a national mask mandate will get us through the pandemic quicker, without additional lockdowns -- possibly with some form of immunity as we wait for a safe and effective vaccine. Masking may turn a very scary disease into a milder infection, which then might provide you and the people around you with some kind of immunity. "Even if you do get infection, it looks like the evidence is showing us that you're getting less virus and that you're less likely to get sick," said UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Monica Gandhi. Dr. Gandhi is lead author of the report published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Read More
Some Teachers Balk as San Jose Schools Prepare to Reopen Classrooms Wednesday
SAN JOSE -- School starts Wednesday for the San Jose Unified School District when hundreds of teachers will be ordered back to their classrooms but KPIX is learning that some teachers will stand their ground and teach from home. The district told teachers they could apply to teach from home if they had a valid reason, such as a medical issue. District leaders also said they would accommodate teachers who needed child care. However, high school teacher Kelly Walker said that has not been the case. Walker applied to stay at home because she was scrambling to find daycare for her 3-month-old son after district leaders decided teachers would be required to report to their classrooms. Read More
Santa Clara Co. Lawmakers Consider Extending Eviction Moratorium Through September 30
SAN JOSE -- The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will discuss plans to extend its current eviction moratorium through September 30, providing broad protections for residential and commercial tenants suffering from the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. "I have been trying my hardest to collect enough money to pay rent," says Maria Ruiz with the help of an interpreter. Ruiz says her hours at her job at McDonald's were cut in half during the pandemic, causing her to fall two months behind on her rent. She says the eviction moratorium is the only thing keeping a roof over her head. "I am taking care of my two grandchildren and my two daughters live with me. If we got evicted, we would be out on the street and I don't want that for my family," says Ruiz. The moratorium blocks evictions, gives tenants 12 months to re-pay back rent and prevents property owners from tacking on expensive late fees. Read More
Oakland Students Begin School Year Learning From Home
OAKLAND -- As the Oakland Unified School District and the teachers' union still trying to reach a deal on how to handle in-classroom learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the first day of school was eerily quiet with students attending classes remotely. Oakland High School would normally be bustling with more than 1,600 kids on the first day of the fall semester. On Monday, it was a ghost town with hallways, classrooms and the school cafeteria all empty. The only activity KPIX 5 cameras could find was for school supply pick-up. Substitute teacher Andre Walker said it was definitely strange. When asked if he had ever seen a first day like it, he replied, "Never! I say be patient. It's all new to all of us." Read More
Bay Area Teachers Juggle Ways To Help Students Adjust To Online Learning
SAN PABLO -- With the start of the fall school year, teachers across the Bay Area are taking different approaches to distance learning. In San Pablo, while the West Contra Costa Unified School District determines the curriculum, each school in the district has a certain amount of leeway to implement the curriculum. Teachers have been preparing to roll out their remote learning lesson plans both from their home or from their empty classrooms at school. "This is my classroom, come on in," said Bayview Elementary School teacher Alex Cowan. This year will look very different for Miss Cowan, as her students call her. Not only will her kindergarten class be done through distance learning, but it'll also be done out of her house. Read More
San Francisco Gym Operators Call On City Officials To Change Business Classification
SAN FRANCISCO -- While gyms have been classified as non-essential since the pandemic began, a group of San Francisco operators are trying to shake off that designation and prove that they can operate safely. DIAKADI Fitness is taking social distancing seriously. The training center has moved to a soccer field in Mission Bay, providing fitness equipment and 25-square-foot spaces for personal trainers to safely work with clients. Monday was Skyler Brungardt's first workout since COVID-19 arrived. "I've got dumbbells at home. It's not enough," Brungardt said. "Being cooped up and not having access to tools that I need to stay fit is tough! It's really difficult." Read More
Gov. Newsom Says Trump Unemployment Plan Falls Short, Addresses COVID-19 Data Glitch
SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said President Trump's unemployment plan falls far short of what California needs in terms of funding and addressed the state's ongoing issues with COVID-19 testing data for the first time. "We analyzed the federal proposal that the President has put together and analyzed what the associated costs and expected benefits of advancing the program would be," Newsom said early in his Monday address. "Clearly, those executive orders do not meet the totality of need and totality of requests that governors of all political stripes, mayors, and the like, advocates and individuals expected of the federal government." Newsom explained that Trump's new executive orders on unemployment rely on relief money already sent and mostly spent by California, falling far short of the state's needs. Read More
Report: Pac-12 Set To Cancel 2020 Football Due To COVID-19; Trump Wants Games To Proceed
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Pac-12 Conference is reportedly set to cancel the upcoming 2020 football season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has called for games to proceed. Citing a source, national sports radio host Dan Patrick reported on his show Monday that the Pac-12, along with the Big Ten Conference will be canceling their seasons. Other major football conferences, such as the ACC, Big-12 and the SEC have yet to make a decision. Sources have also confirmed to the Detroit Free Press that the Big Ten is canceling their season. The Free Press said the universities' presidents voted 12-2 to cancel the decision, citing anonymous sources. A formal announcement was expected on Tuesday, according to the report. Read More
Health Officials Quit, Ousted Amid COVID-19 Pandemic; Dr. Sonia Angell Latest To Depart
SACRAMENTO -- Vilified, threatened with violence and in some cases burned out, dozens of state and local public health officials around the country have resigned or have been fired amid the coronavirus outbreak, a testament to how politically combustible masks, lockdowns and infection data have become. The latest departure came Sunday, when California's public health director, Dr. Sonia Angell, quit without explanation following a technical glitch that caused a delay in reporting virus test results — information that was used to make decisions about reopening businesses and schools. "Since I joined this Department as Director and State Public Health Officer in October 2019, we have been responding to emergencies, from E-cigarette and Vaping Associated Lung Injury, to the Public Safety Power Shutoffs and wildfires, and now to a global infectious disease pandemic. We have done all this, even as we have continued to deliver on the Department's core public health functions," Angell said in her statement. Read More
Apple Urged By NYC Transit Officials To Solve iPhone Mask Issues
CUPERTINO -- New York's mass transit agency wants Apple to come up with a better way for iPhone users to unlock their phones without taking off their masks, as it seeks to guard against the spread of the coronavirus in buses and subways. In a letter to CEO Tim Cook obtained by The Associated Press, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Patrick Foye said riders have been seen removing their masks to unlock their phones using face-recognition technology, despite a recent update by Apple that simplifies the unlock process for people wearing masks. Previously, an iPhone user wearing a mask would have to wait a few seconds as face recognition software tried to identify them before they eventually could enter a passcode. In response to the pandemic, Apple's iOS 13.5, released in May, automatically presents the passcode field after a user swipes up from the bottom of the lock screen. Read More
