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San Francisco Bay Area COVID Roundup: Fans Sneak A Peek At Big Game; Pandemic Black Friday; Capitola Nursing Facility Outbreak

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- With a surge in coronavirus cases, the information you need to know is coming fast and furious. Here's a roundup of the COVID stories we've published over the last 24 hours.


82 Test Positive For COVID-19 At Capitola Skilled Nursing Facility
SANTA CRUZ -- A skilled nursing facility in Capitola is reporting more than 80 cases of COVID-19 among its residents and staff. Pacific Coast Manor said Thursday that 48 residents and 34 staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began in March. It is not clear how many of those cases were reported in recent days. Officials with Covenant Care, which owns Pacific Coast Manor, did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday. Pacific Coast Manor administrators said in a statement posted on the nursing facility's website that they are testing all residents and staff with the help of state and local public health departments. "Rest assured we are aggressively treating and responding to potential community exposures by conducting routine testing of all our residents and staff until such time as a vaccine becomes available or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instructs otherwise," they added. Read More

Despite Pandemic, South Bay Shoppers Head to Stores on Black Friday, Enforcement Up
SAN JOSE -- Despite the COVID pandemic and the risks, many shoppers were still determined to carry on their Black Friday traditions. Popular stores like Zara at Valley Fair mall had a socially distanced line Friday evening. Retailers are allowed to operate at 25% capacity since Santa Clara County is in the state's purple tier. Over at Santana Row, stores like Brandy Melville had a moderate wait. "Just stopped in Sephora, Crate and Barrel's having a good little run, so I'm going to run in and out, with our masks, and just playing it safe," said shopper Christina Barnes of Union City. "We just wanted to keep up with the tradition of spreading some love, getting dressed up and just enjoying what we can." This year, more shopping is happening online. The National Retail Federation expects sales to grow by as much as 30% over last year's holiday season. Overall, the trade group says Americans are expected to spend more this year. Read More

L.A. Residents Told To Stay At Home 'As Much As Possible' As New Cases Surge
LOS ANGELES -- The raging coronavirus pandemic has prompted Los Angeles County to impose a lockdown to prevent the caseload from spiraling into a hospital crisis but the order stops short of a full business shutdown that could cripple the holiday sale season. The "safer at home" public health order announced Friday calls for 10 million residents to stay home "as much as possible" and bars them from gathering with people outside of their household for public or private occasions. The border exempts church services and protests, which the Department of Public Health said are constitutionally protected. Schools that currently are holding in-person classes also mainly will be allowed to remain open, as will beaches, parks and trails. The order takes effect Monday and will last until at least Dec. 20. It is less strict than a statewide lockdown issued in March by Gov. Gavin Newsom but it is still a ratcheting up of measures that aim to slow the exploding number of people who have become infected with COVID-19 and those winding up in hospitals. Read More

Inventive Fans Finds Way To Watch Big Game Amid COVID Restrictions
BERKELEY -- The Big game between Stanford and Cal looked very different this year. No fans were allowed, but many tried their best to watch in person. They climbed and clung to fences surrounding California Memorial Stadium on the UC Berkeley campus to get a peek. "My boyfriend plays for Stanford. I'm trying to be the most supportive girlfriend I can be," said Cal senior Alexia Inman, who was there with her family. "Nothing was going to stop us. She's a senior at Cal this year she deserves to be here and the players deserve support and that's why we're here," said Alexia's mother Tamara Wagner. Some even hiked up "Tightwad Hill" even as police discouraged fans, blocking roads. "It's been fun," said Bob Malates. "It was a little bit of a longer walk than normal. I've never been up here before." Read More

Bay Area Health Officials Encourage Testing Following Holiday Gatherings
SAN FRANCISCO -- COVID-19 cases are expected to spike following the Thanksgiving holiday and, in response, public health officials are asking anyone who attended a large group gathering to get tested. Despite warnings from public health officials to stay home millions of Californians still saw family and friends this week. Brian Delue was one of them, which is why he got tested for COVID-19 Friday. "I think it's important to try to stay socially distanced as much as you can but, at some point, you do need to be with your family and community is an important thing," Delue said. It's what Santa Clara County is asking people to do. "We are asking people to stay at home and not gather as much as possible and if you did please go out and get tested," Roger Ross with Santa Clara County said. Read More

Bay Area Bargain Hunters Brave Long Lines On Black Friday Despite Pandemic
SAN FRANCISCO -- The coronavirus pandemic could not keep bargain hunters from shopping on Black Friday. Lines to enter some stores at the San Francisco Premium Outlets, in Livermore were up to 90 minutes long. The line for bargain hunters actually started on Interstate 580 in a traffic jam. For a good part of Friday, there was a long line of cars trying to exit the freeway to get into the parking lot. Once inside, it was another 20 to 30 minutes of looking for a parking spot. "It's really busy out here, so, there are long lines, said shopper Margaret Robertson, who drove from Sunnyvale. "I had to park on the other side (away from the main parking lot)." The lines got even longer once people were at the stores. Two workers told shoppers waiting at the end of one line the wait to get inside Michael Kors was about 90 minutes long. In fact, there were lines to get into all of the popular stores. Read More

COVID Contact Tracers Using Texts, Calls, Visits To Reach More People In SF
SAN FRANCISCO -- A city-wide contact tracing system in San Francisco will reach out to residents when they've been exposed to the coronavirus. The city and county of San Francisco is averaging 130 new cases of COVID-19 a day, more than 900 a week. To try and track and stop the spread of the disease, the 200 contact tracers at the San Francisco Department of Public Health are adjusting their strategy to match the rising caseloads, making phone calls and in-person visits to text messages. "I think that's a much easier way to get a hold of people and get responses," said Joe Kaufman of San Francisco. Inside the text, there are links to forms to fill out about whether you can safely isolate and who you might have been in close contact with while you were infectious. The program even backdates to when you might have begun asymptomatically spreading the disease. Read More

Airlines Hope New Digital Health Passport App Will Revive International Travel
SAN FRANCISCO -- There will soon be an app for international travelers that stores all their COVID-19 testing results and other important data to enable swifter, safer border crossings during the pandemic. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is in the final stage of developing a new digital health passport. It is called the IATA Travel Pass. The passes allow airlines to collect and standardize passenger coronavirus data concerning COVID-19 vaccinations and test results. The airlines are hopeful the IATA Travel Pass will help revive international travel and lift travel bans across the world. Read More

Stanford Edges Cal 24-23 in Big Game Played at Empty Memorial Stadium
BERKELEY (AP) -- Austin Jones ran for a pair of short touchdowns, Davis Mills threw for 205 yards and a TD, and Stanford blocked a would-be tying extra point in the final minute to take back The Axe trophy by beating Bay Area rival California 24-23 in the Big Game on Friday. Christopher Brown Jr. ran for a 3-yard touchdown with 58 seconds remaining then Thomas Booker got a hand on Dario Longhetto's PAT attempt, sending the Cardinal cheering and celebrating along their sideline. Once the clock ran out, Stanford players danced and hooted and hollered some more on Cal's home turf in Memorial Stadium. The Cardinal spoiled Cal's long-awaited home opener — it had been scheduled for Nov. 7 against Washington but that game got canceled because of a positive coronavirus test on the Bears. Read More

UC Berkeley Grad Draws Comfort, Inspiration From Late Father During Trying Times
RICHMOND -- Losing a parent is one of the most traumatic events anyone will ever go through. So when Cynthia Ramirez-Parra saw her mother be hospitalized, she turned to what some may see as an unconventional place for comfort, her late father's graveside. It's a place that Ramirez-Parra considers her safe space. And it's where she visits the most important man in her life. "I know that he's here ... hearing me," said Ramirez-Parra. "My father was a very strong, bold man that had high expectations for his daughters. He wanted us to see us succeed in any way possible. I was pretty much his golden child." He was murdered two years ago, an event that devastated his daughter. So Ramirez-Parra comes to his graveside often to share life's highs and lows with her dad, visits she sees as a blessing. "A blessing because now when I am there I feel like he's there," explained Ramirez-Parra. "I feel like I have his support, that he is hearing me out." Read More

Santa Clara County Increasing Testing Sites as Cases Surge
SAN JOSE -- Reckoning with a surge in COVID-19 cases, Santa Clara County announced Friday that it's providing more testing sites. Like counties all over the San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Clara County saw coronavirus cases increase exponentially over recent weeks. The announcement about testing sites came the day after the county reported 416 new COVID cases and six deaths. The county's death toll since the pandemic's outbreak began in February now stands at 476. The county's COVID-19 testing officer, Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, said that testing is essential to slowing the spread of the virus as it identifies infected persons who don't show any symptoms. "New studies have shown that a majority of transmissions are caused by people who are asymptomatic and likely don't know that they are potentially spreading the disease to family, coworkers, and anyone they come in contact with," Fenstersheib said. "They need to know they have the virus so they can isolate and break the transmission chain, even if they don't feel sick." Read More

Other Bay Area COVID Trending Stories

New Cases Continue To Soar In Santa Clara County; 6 New Deaths
SANTA CLARA -- Santa Clara health officials reported Thursday there had been 416 new COVID cases with six additional deaths pushing the toll of fatalities within the county to 476 since the pandemic's outbreak began in February. The number of available ICU beds in county continued to decline, falling to 56. "Heartfelt condolences to patients and their families and friends," county health officials tweeted. Santa Clara County has been ground zero in the Bay Area ever since the pandemic first erupted. There have been 32,454 confirmed cases in the Silicon Valley. The county has recorded 476 deaths since 57-year-old Patricia Dowd, a senior manager for a Silicon Valley semiconductor firm, was the first in the nation to died of the illness on Feb. 6th. Read More

Hospitals Brace for Post-Thanksgiving Surge in COVID-19 Cases
SAN FRANCISCO -- The CDC has a grim prediction: the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 could hit 321,000 by mid-December and hospitals might be overflowing with patients in many parts of the country. California hit 18,350 daily coronavirus cases on Wednesday. In Los Angeles, health officials expect shortages in nurse-staffed ICU beds over the next two weeks. "We have a full ICU of people with COVID who are fighting for their lives so this is real," said Dr. Jim Keany, an emergency room physician at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. The numbers aren't as bad in the Bay Area. Still, Santa Clara county saw its highest daily number of hospitalizations on Wednesday with 197 patients. San Francisco did not move into the most restrictive purple tier as expected earlier this week but that could soon change. Read More

Despite Pandemic, Thanksgiving Day Marin County Mountain Bike Ride Rolls On
FAIRFAX -- COVID-19 didn't stop an annual Marin County Thanksgiving Day tradition called the "Appetite Seminar," said to be the longest-running mountain bike event in the country. It's arguably one of the best (as well as the oldest) mountain biking events in the Bay Area and features a 20-mile trail ride along fire roads that comprise the Pine Mountain Loop. "It's just a real special place out here, just quiet and serene," said Larkspur resident Rich Gutierrez. Some of the pioneers of mountain biking gathered at the Fairfax Theatre on Thanksgiving in 1975 and, 45 years later, hundreds of mountain bikers ride for hours -- working up a big appetite. "This is my first turkey ride and I'm really excited," said San Rafael resident Anne Andree. Read More

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