our schools are going to close for three weeks effective monday, march 16th. >> an about-face for san francisco. students will stay home instead because of coronavirus. talk of a domestic travel ban creating confusion at local airports. travelers don't know what to do. the lack of available testing kits for covid-19 is a big problem. even the governor is frustrated. >> just about every professional sports team is going into hibernation because of coronavirus. even little league is down for the count. >> the struggle for bay area hotels' occupancy rates are plunging. >> and the timeline for the grand princess is growing. the san francisco unified school district is taking the time to prepare school

communities in the likelihood of a prolonged covid-19 epidemic. this is not business as usual. >> i'm anser hassan at sfo. travelers trying to get home. >> layoffs and reduced hours. the impact of coronavirus on our local economy. >> i'm laura anthony at the port of oakland where the last of the passengers are finally getting off the grand princess. >> i'm kate larson in san francisco where people are getting drive-through coronavirus testing, but not everyone is getting the test that they need, including grand princess cruise passengers who are in quarantine. >> and good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm kristen sze, thanks for joining us. a lot to get to tonight. developing right now, four san jose firefighters testing positive for coronavirus. >> disneyland and universal studios have shut down in southern california, and san francisco will shut its schools starting monday to try to curb the spread. >> the district is big. 113 schools serving 54,000

students. abc 7 news reporter j.r. stone is live with more on that. j.r.? >> reporter: yeah. you said it right there, 56,000 students, 9,500 teachers so a lot of families and parents who are impacted here. the superintendent spoke about this within the last two hours. this is what he had to say. >> this is not business as usual. it is likely that we will see many more covid-19 cases in the coming weeks and months. this will require a measured, sustained response. >> reporter: now, this three-week closure will start on monday. one of those weeks was already an off week because of spring break, so they're basically adding two more weeks to that. just yesterday the school district announced that lake shore elementary school would close because of four of the students there have pneumonia and they are now being tested for coronavirus.

the results of those tests have not yet come back. i did ask the superintendent what factors the district will look at to determine if schools will stay closed or if they will reopen after that three weeks. this is what he had to say. >> at this point we won't -- we can't answer that. we'll be working towards that developing, exactly what that looks like. >> our attendance has been decreasing day by day. i've been getting anecdotal reports from schools, teachers and principals that their attendance today is way low. >> reporter: and back out here live at the district headquarters. i did ask if this could impact the end of the school year, and those school district officials say it is a possibility. they are certainly keeping things on the table, but they also say this is an evolving situation that they are closely monitoring. reporting live in san francisco, j.r. stone, abc 7 news. >> j.r., thank you. at the white house, president trump told reporters it's a possibility that his

administration could impose travel restrictions within the u.s. to limit exposure to the coronavirus if certain areas get, quote, too hot. now, this comes as frustrated passengers stood in lines at san francisco international airport 24 hours after the president announced a travel ban to 24 european countries for the next 30 days. abc 7 news reporter anser hassan joins us live from sfo with reaction. >> reporter: there was a lot of confusion at sfo today. many passengers actually came to the airport because 800 numbers and websites weren't working. with airlines scrambling, many passengers didn't get the answers they needed. melanie shriver and her family are scrambling to get home to germany. they got a text message from the airline warning them that their flight was cancelled. >> so we packed all our bags in five seconds and went to the airport. we're trying to get on. we were supposed to call this phone number, but the phone number crashed and there's

nobody answering. >> reporter: they tried the airline's website but the links didn't work. she even called her travel agent but they still couldn't figure out what to do. >> i called the travel agency in germany and they said they could not reach anybody. so they're coming up with an emergency plan but that's all they know. >> reporter: much of the confusion comes from president trump announcing new travel restrictions on foreigners who visited the 26 countries that share an open border. it's an attempt to spread covid-19 from a country with more cases outside of china. >> back in upper especially, italy, we're from belgium, though. so we're not really surprised. >> reporter: european passengers may not be the only ones facing a travel ban. earlier today president trump announcing domestic travel restrictions are a possibility. >> other countries are cracking down. some people seem to think it's a good idea, but i don't know how necessary it is. but if it's going to keep people safe, i'm all for that.

>> reporter: all european airlines will be directed to one of 15 airports in the united states. sfo could be one of them. reporting live, anser hassan, abc 7 news. the virus is now impacting bay area first responders. the san jose fire department says four of its firefighters have tested positive for the virus, two others are in isolation at home with symptoms awaiting formal test results. in all, a total of 80 members of the department have been restricted from work due to documented exposures. and to make matters worse, the sick firefighters also have multiple family members who have tested covid-19 positive and other family members with symptoms of the virus awaiting test results. we've just learned that alameda county has four new cases, two from community spread so this widens. access to coronavirus tests, meantime, continues to be a major problem here in the bay area and across california. governor newsom and mayor london breed said today they are

working on local solutions. kate larson is live at kaiser's french campus in san francisco with more on that part of the story. kate? >> reporter: well, dan, kaiser is testing select patients right here across the street in the parking lot, but most people, even if they feel they need it do not have access to coronavirus tests. today governor newsom said he's surprised the issue surrounding testing kits haven't been a bigger part of the national conversation. some kaiser patients who have double medical clearance from a primary care doctor and infectious disease specialist are getting tested at gary and 5th in san francisco. patients pull up and get swabbed in their cars by medical personnel wearing protective gear who are working out of a tent in the parking lot. not everyone is invited to the drive-through. >> so i had a fever and a cough for over eight days now. >> reporter: i spoke to that phone to a kaiser patient who does not want to be identified

but says kaiser has refused to test her for coronavirus. she's gone to the doctor four times in the past week. >> i requested it again today and the answer was, no, we cannot test you. we don't have enough tests. >> we need to focus in on these tests. >> reporter: governor newsom says california has more than 8,000 testing kits, but he says the kits are incomplete, which is slowing down processing at labs across the state. >> i think it's very much in line, these tests, with your going to the store and purchasing a printer but forgetting to purchase the ink. >> i'm very disappointed. >> reporter: mayor london breed said the cdc should be in a better place by now with enough testing kits for on-demand access. >> here in san francisco, we have some of the most incredible health care professionals anywhere in the world. we're not going to wait around for the federal government to do what they should have done a long time ago. >> reporter: so governor newsom

says he's working to get private labs, university labs all online and even centralized so we can pick up the pace on this coronavirus testing. but of course will all of it happen soon enough? i've spoken to grand princess cruise passengers who were in quarantine on military bases and they still haven't gotten tested. live in the richmond district in san francisco, i'm kate larson, abc 7 news. >> kate, thank you. meantime disneyland announced this afternoon that it will close its california theme parks beginning saturday. that closure covers both disneyland and disney's california adventure and it will run through the end of march. now, disney's florida theme parks remain open at this time, so we're talking about disney world. this is just the fourth time that disneyland has closed. a "new york times" reporter detailed the three other times disneyland closed in a tweet. 1963, the national day of mourning after president kennedy's assassination. 1994's north ridge earthquake and immediately following the september 11th attacks in 2001.

the walt disney company owns both disneyland and abc 7. and universal studios is following suit. they are closing the hollywood theme park beginning saturday to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. universal says they hope to reopen the park, they open to, on march 28th. meantime the disembarkation of the stricken grand princess cruise ship is winding down finally. all but a few hundred passengers are now off the ship. >> that is right, but the vessel itself will stay at the port of oakland at least a few more days. >> laura anthony is live with more on that. laura? >> reporter: well, hi, dan. just in the last few minutes we've seen some buses moving around over there, so hopefully that's a good sign for these remaining passengers. the governor said today the hope is to get all of them off by either tonight or tomorrow morning, but there's been a change in plan when it comes tog the ship back out with the 1,100 crew members to quarantine them

out in the bay. now the ship will stay until at least sunday to try to get some of them off and on their way home. >> for those of you curious how many people have come off the ship that have been tested positive, those tests are happening in realtime. >> reporter: four days into the ship's stay at the port of oakland. governor gavin newsom says all but a few hundred passengers are off the grand princess, including all of those from california. >> you know there were a number of people off the ship that went to hospitals. as of last night, there were just eight individuals remaining in those hospitals. the rest have been sent to multiple sites. obviously we are encouraged by the fact that the original 36, only eight remain. >> reporter: newsom said less than 500 passengers remained onboard this morning, many of them from other countries who will require more time to accommodate in terms of transportation back to their homes. there's also an effort to repatriate the 1,100 crew members rather than sending them back out to sea.

>> we have been in contact with the embassy of south korea and japan, india, philippines substantively to address the needs not only of the crew but the remaining foreigners that are still onboard. >> there were long lines for meals and people were really close together. >> reporter: in the meantime, hundreds of former passengers, many from the bay area, are now into their 14-day quarantine at travis air force base. not all of them are satisfied with the accommodations. suzanne is especially concerned about the lack of testing. >> part of the routine is that we don't know much. we can't finding out when we will be tested or if we will be tested. there seems to be a lot of conflicting information about that. >> reporter: and here's a live look at the grand princess. you can see the remaining passengers, or at least this one, trying to make the best of this delay or the time they're spending on the ship. as for the folks at travis, you heard the one woman who wants to be tested.

i talked with another gal, a couple from modesto. she said all they want are blankets, that they don't have any blankets in their room at the travis air force base, that it's cold at night and that they're actually, dan and kristen, ordering their own blankets off of amazon and having them delivered to the air base. live in oakland, laura anthony abc 7 news. >> laura, thanks very much. the episcopal church is asking congregations in parts of six bay area counties to stop holding public worship services because of the coronavirus pandemic. those churches serve about 26,000 episcopalians. san francisco's grace cathedral plans to live stream services on sundays. the church of jesus christ of latter day saints has also cancelled all public services until further notice. the economic toll from coronavirus is growing. we are expecting layoffs and furloughs. that's next. plus the new effort in sonoma county to close in on

covid-19. it's an aggressive plan and it's targeted. coronavirus is a develop story and we are keeping track with a live blog. if you're working from home or want to know the latest, go to abc7news.com/coronavirus. it's the main story on that page.

we have breaking news from santa clara county. the health department there is reporting just now 18 new cases of covid-19 for a total of 66 positive cases in that county. santa clara county reports one person has fully recovered and one person there is among the four people who have died of coronavirus in california. we are hearing tonight that one national hotel is laying off hourly workers and management is taking 20% pay cuts. the bay area of course could soon see the same thing. melanie woodrow is live in union square with that part of our coverage tonight. melanie?

>> reporter: we've definitely seen a decrease of foot traffic in this area. with so many conventions and work trips cancelled, hotel occupy s occupancy is down and all of the businesses surroundings that is feeling the impact as well. employees have been asked to work from home due to covid-19. >> foot traffic is not what it usually is. >> reporter: taco bar owner jack schwartz says business has slowed down considerably. in order to account for the loss, he's had to change some employees' schedules. >> we have cut down on hours, definitely. >> san francisco's economy is going to be significantly impacted. >> reporter: san francisco mayor london breed says especially because of cancelled conventions, empty restaurants and lost hotel tax revenue. >> we're at a situation where some of our hotels have occupancy rates at about 20%. >> reporter: kevin carroll is president and ceo of the hotel council of san francisco. >> the impact obviously is on

our employees. >> reporter: hotel g general manager steve rizzo says he might need to adjust staffing if business continues to decline. >> as those occupancy levels change, it will dictate how many people can work. >> we know we'll welcome people back to our hotels but just don't know how long this slowdown is really going to be. that's a concern for us. >> reporter: mayor breed says the city is conidering setting up a fund that would help get money to small businesses. officials are also exploring a moratorium on evictions. the businesses we spoke with say they are doing everything they can to keep from laying off employees, even if that means reducing their hours. live in san francisco, melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. >> melanie, thank you. health officials in sonoma county are opening a new battlefield in the fight against coronavirus. right now there are no cases there, but to get a better idea of the potential spread, the health department there today is going to four sites, clinics,

emergency rooms and urgent care centers. they'll test up to 80 people in flu-like symptoms. some who are otherwise healthy, others with underlying medical conditions, all in an effort to get more data. >> over the course of the next three days, we expect that we'll have at least 20 persons tested at each site for covid which will double the amount of testing that's done so far and give us more data to see what's going on in our county. >> there is no sign of community spread in the county, but the results of today's testing may change that. >> basically all major sports are shutting down

♪ do you recall, not long ago ♪ we would walk on the sidewalk ♪ ♪ all around the wind blows

♪ we would only hold on to let go ♪ ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ all we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ the sharks tweeted out this team of the team heading home from chicago. major league baseball is delaying the start of its season for at least two weeks because

of the outbreak. >> the a's and the giants and the rest of the league were scheduled to begin two weeks from today. the league is also suspending spring training. mlb has not had a mass postponement of openers since a players strike delayed the start of the 1995 season. there will be no march madness this year. the ncaa's board have governors today cancelled the men's and women's division i basketball tournaments this afternoon. it came after major conferences, including the pac-12 cancelled their two tournaments and two national powerhouses, duke and kansas, announced that they were suspending their seasons. high school basketball is being impacted as well. the california entinterscholast federation cancelled their games. it affects several bay area high school teams. officials say the decision was made after careful deliberation and in the primary interest of protecting health and safety, especially of the student athletes. this afternoon little league baseball and softball announced

that it's recommending the league suspend all activities until after april 6th. little league is the world's largest youth sports organization with 6500 programs in more than 84 countries. check with your local little league for information. >> we'll talk about something other than the coronavirus when abc 7 news at 5:00 continues. meteorologist sandhya patel will be here with a check

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mouth sores, vomiting, weight loss, hair loss, and changes in some blood tests. ask your doctor about piqray. beautiful day outlied at least but that is changing. >> let's talk about those changes with meteorologist sandhya patel. >> soak up the sunshine and enjoy the fog because we have rain coming this weekend. i want to show you live doppler 7. we do have the fog that has crept up along the coastline during the overnight hours and is just sitting there all afternoon, which is impacting those temperatures. only in the 50s today at the beaches, but if you were inland, we got up into the low 80s. right now we're in the 50s to 80s as you see there. sutro tower camera looking like summer in san francisco with

that fog bank. areas of fog during the morning commute tomorrow. mostly sunny, mild bay inland tomorrow, not at the coast so much. a cold, wet pattern develops this upcoming weekend. first thing in the morning definitely look out for the fog just like this morning. 40s, 50s for your temperatures. in the afternoon it will be mild around the inland locations where you'll be up in the low 70s. even comfortable near the coast in the low 60s, but right near the bay -- excuse me, around the coast it's on the chilly side with fog and lingering temperatures in the 50s. saturday we'll start to watch that rain develop. it's going to come in waves initially and then in the afternoon we'll see widespread rain across the region going into sunday. sierra will get some snow and it turns to more wet weather. chilly conditions for sunday into monday. in terms of rainfall potential, this is going to be a slow-moving storm so anywhere from three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a half of rain. some areas less, some a little more. winter storm watch for the sierra.

it will be windy above 2,500 feet. it's a cold storm. expecting travel issues. 2 to 4 feet of snow, may actually close down roads. i wouldn't even try to travel if i were you. wait until that storm passes to go up and enjoy the fresh powder. the accuweather seven-day forecast, morning fog giving way to sunshine inland. a level 1 system that is just going to sit off our coast as it heads down towards the southern california area for several days. so chillier with showers saturday. cold and wet sunday. widespread rain monday. mixed precipitation is possible on tuesday. wednesday there's still a chance, but models are in disagreement so we'll just keep the one off of there. but definitely the much-needed wet pattern and snow for the sierra, we definitely can use it. so it's definitely going to change. >> for sure. thank you, sandia. >> that's all for now. world news tonight with david muir is next. i appreciate -- we appreciate your time. >> thank you for joining us. >> join us in half an hour and

connect 24/7 at abc7news.com.

tonight, several breaking developments involving the coronavirus here in the u.s. the first containment zone in the u.s. now in effect tonight. the national guard moving in. in new york city, a state of emergency now declared. across the country, the number of cases growing. the chaos overseas tonight, as americans frantically try to get on flights home after president trump announced overnight travel from europe to the u.s. would end for 30 days. tonight, the scare on board a jet blue flight from jfk to west palm beach, when a passenger revealed upon landing he had just learned he tested positive. doctors in this country growing more concerned over the lac of tests. the president saying today it's going very smoothly, but tonight, what dr. anthony fauci acknowledged in front of congress.