news. >> we begin with big changes for bart because of the coronavirus outbreak. the rapid transit agency announced this afternoon it will end service at 9:00 each evening, starting on monday until further notice. it will also begin weekend service at 8:00 each morning, beginning march 28th. bart is trying to figure out how to d ridership since the region wide shelter in place order. good afternoon. thank you for joining us today. i'm ama daetz. >> i'm larry beil. a grim milestone overseas in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. italy has reported more than 3400 deaths, overtaking china as the country with the most fatalities from this terrible outbreak. the u.s. state department has issued an extraordinary travel advisory. they're telling americans at this point do not travel abroad. and for americans who are already abroad, come home as soon as possible or expect to shelter in place for, quote a long time. congress is racing to put together a $1 trillion economic package to help americans who are struggling financially

because of the virus. california governor gavin newsom has told president trump he expects more than half of californians will be infected with this virus by june. think about that for a moment. but here are the up-to-the-minute bay area totals. santa clara county continues to report new cases. 14 in the last day, bringing their total to 189. six people have died in that county. san francisco updated its total this morning with 19 new cases. the total in san francisco is 70. most counties are reporting a handful of new cases. there are at least 474 cases in the region right now. in the south bay, a san jose reserve police officer has tested positive for covid-19, and now several other officers are self-quarantining out of an abundance of caution. abc7 news reporter amanda del castillo joins us live from police headquarters with the latest. amanda? >> ama, san jose police chief eddie garcia says the reserve officer wasn't feeling well so, the officer went to the doctor who confirmed he had covid-19.

now chief garcia says before learning about this diagnosis, the reserve officer worked a job in san jose. he was around other officers then. and the man was also in a two-person vehicle with another sworn police officer. fortunate news, those interactions were outside the 14-day window, and no other officers are showing any symptoms at this moment. still, out of an abundance of caution, the police officers association says a number of officers in the department will begin to self-quarantine. garcia adds the county is now prioritizing covid-1919 testing for its first responders. >> so that's something that not a lot of other agencies have. i think it's great that we have that, especially where we're at in the country with regards to the cluster that we have here in santa clara county. ultimately, again, and i'll speak to this, we're here to provide a service. we have a mission to keep our community safe. >> we cannot shelter in place. that means our families can't shelter in place.

we have to be on the front line. we know it. that's a job we took. and so there is exposure to us at times, and there is exposure to our family. >> the infected reserve officer also went to an assembly meeting at the police officers association building here in san jose. also in attendance, members of the department's family violence unit. it's those members that have been directed to self-monitor and not report to work. now members of that unit are not expected to be back until at least march 24th. chief garcia assures the department continues to be fully operational. here in san jose, i'm amanda del castillo, abc7 news. >> amanda, thank you. ayshia reporter kris reyes now live at the drive-through screening and testing for coronavirus. this is a pilot project run by google's sister company and the state of california. and kris live with a look at day four of this project. how's it going? >> exactly. good afternoon. you can see the white tents right over my shoulder, right

across the park. but we wanted to give you this vantage point. you can see a park full of families in a lot of neighborhoods. understandably, people don't want to talk to us on camera right now, but i did talk to a woman who was just passing by. i asked her how she felt about the testing site being here. she said she is not thrilled about it, but she is happy at least some testing is taking place. from the signs to keep your window closed to the masked staff attending to drivers, it's yet another bizarre scene in our new coronavirus reality. you're looking at day four at one of the few drive-through covid-19 testing sites in the country. and the line getting longer by the day. >> having this test center in san mateo county, being the epicenter of the region, this could be a potential model for others to replicate. >> this location at the san mateo event center is an invitation only testing site, one of two in the bay area operated by verily life

sciences, a subsidiary of alphabet, google's parent company. the other site in santa clara county. everyone here had to answer an online questionnaire about their symptoms and travel history before driving in. about 130 people have been tested since the site's launch. 350 more are scheduled for the rest of the week. 12,000 have completed the online screener test. on social media platforms, some in the community expressing concerns that they're not getting enough information about their new neighbor. >> we're learning. we're learning. it's been a day. so what we have to do, right, maybe it's using the billboards. maybe it's using other tools. maybe it's finding a partner who is willing to broadcast that information. but make no mistake about it, the county is trying to do its best. >> and speaking to that, i think we can all agree this is the fastest moving story that we've all ever covered. just to give you an idea of the confusion and frustration that

can take place, about 20 rvs are also parked right now at this site. a newsletter went out to a community saying two individuals are being housed in those rvs as covid-19 cases. i tried my best to get an answer from county public health to confirm their condition. they would not give us any information, citing that they are there, two individuals, but they can't speak to their condition. we will keep pressing for answers. live in san mateo, i'm kris reyes for abc7 news. >> kris, appreciate the follow-up. now to san francisco, where city officials are trying to figure out how to deal with coronavirus for everybody, including those who do not have shelter. we're talking about thousands of people. abc7 news reporter kate larsen live in san francisco with the details on that. kate? >> well, you know, san francisco and the entire bay area i isote who may become sick or test positive for coronavirus. >> we activated our department's

command center. >> this morning, san francisco's human services agency moved four homeless people who were tested for coronavirus into hotel rooms. >> this will be a very common occurrence. we don't want people who do not need to be hospitalized to be there simply because they can't isolate. >> so trent rohr, the director of hsa is working on 500 san francisco hotel rooms by the end of the week, and 3500 rooms over the next several week, all to quarantine homeless people and those living in communal environments, like single occupancy hotels who become sick. capacity will not be increased at the embarcadero navigation center. >> we have about 2,000 single adults in our shelter systems at navigation center right now. we are going to be reducing capacity in our existing system and moving them to shelters that we will pop up in locations >> some ofar hotels hav bn rponsive to city. thousands of additional rooms could be reserved for first

responders. >> we don't want our health care workers who are on the front lines to go home, potentially infect others, be infected in their communities and not be able to work. so we are standing up hotels for them as well. >> so keep in mind that most of san francisco's hotels are simply closed or empty. i'm told there were just seven guests at the entire fairmount hol yestery. i asked art value r all of the rooms that they need, and they told me they are currently working out individual leases with all of these hotels that they could try and occupy in the coming weeks. now as far as staffing is concerned, they hope that the hotels' cooking staff can still cook meals and deliver to the doors of rooms, but it would have to be city and health department workers who would go through with cdc cleaning guidelines for that aspect of this process. live in san francisco, i'm kate larsen, abc7 news. >> all right, kate, thank you.

napa county is about to shut down. they will join us at midnight tonight with a shelter at home order. amy hollyfield checked in with the residents there. >> it's the kind of line you would see for concert tickets, or for black friday deals, not for toilet paper. >> incredible. i was in the front. i was like number 17. but i couldn't believe it was winding around the store. >> craig warren said he never thought he would wait in line for toilet paper, but that's what this line was for at napa's target store.other shoppe could in. but if you wanted toilet paper or paper towels, you had to wait in this line. >> you go in kind of single file, and you each get one paper product, a toilet paper, one of paper towels until they run out. >> as the sun rose on napa this morning, it was the town's last morning without a shelter in place order. we found people cleaning out shelves at target and also at whole foods market as they prepared to hunker down and also trying to get used to the idea of staying home. >> it's a little bit crazy. more people are dying from the

flu than from the coronavirus. so it's a little bit outlandish. and the hoarding is insane. >> it's smart to try to take all the precautions necessary. i kind of go back and forth, but it's better to be safe than sorry. >> the grocery store will remain open, of course. but small nonessential businesses like la vie nail spa prepared to close under the order. the manager says he will miss their customers who he says have been very supportive. >> they tell us to take care of ourselves and they'll miss us. they'll be the first customer coming back in here when the shop open again. >> some businesses departents need an order. they had already proactively shut down. we checked in with gyms like this one, movie theaters to see if people were getting in one last visit today here in napa. but they were already os napa, news. well, i'll tell you where business is booming. an ess f soall prepared food wi

takeout only. one vendor told abc7 that people are turning to the outdoor market because supermarket shelves are bare. most bay area farmers markets will remain open for now, including the market at the ferry building. 247 inmates in alameda county will be released from santa rita jail early because of the pandemic. that's on top of 67 inmates who have also seen their sentences reduced by a judge. sheriff greg ahern says most of the cases are nonviolent offenders, but others face more serious crimes like domestic violence and brandishing a weapon. but he says he'll do what the courts have asked him to do because of this public health emergency. we continue to follow the life of a colleague whose wife was tested for the coronavirus and four days later still hasn't she still hasn't left her room so they had to find creative ways to socialize with family and friends.

multimedia producer juan carlos guerrero narrates his story. >> we continue without knowing the results of the routine. any wife's mom and brother stopped by for a visit. sort of. maintaining distance is important until we find out if my wife is infected. maria does not live in the bay area. she is visiting from argentina. they facetime each other often, but rarely get to spend time together. this was supposed to be one of those times. what did you feel when you saw her like that? >> i'm angry. i'm frustrated. i want to know the results of the test at once so i can go on with my life. >> to cheer my wife up, we decided to call her other brother in spain. they're in the same situation. they're sheltering in place. the entire country is. >> hello from spain. >> hi. we have been ordered to stay inside the house since sunday. >> that message started a chain of messages from friends across

the globe. >> hello from mexico. >> they're in similar situations, but they sent their support. >> hello from argentina. we have been home for four days. >> hello from catalana. >> we have been working and studying from home for four days. >> hi there from switzerland. >> we are in lockdown day number three. >> hello from mexico. we have been five days at home. >> hello. we are from argentina, and we have been home for four days. >> hello from barcelona. we have been in home for six days. >> hello from schee lay. we're home for six days. >> greetings from san francisco. we hope to visit you all soon. >> oh, man, but they're keeping their spirits up. i was actually emails with juan carlos yesterday. our hearts out to them. >> how big is his family? they're all over the planet. >> but that's great to see that

they're finding ways to connect. because it can be so hard to be so isolated. >> well, think about this. imagine if this had taken place 20 years ago. >> oh, yeah. >> and we didn't have phones and skype and facetime. we'd be completely in the dark. we'd be waiting for the morning newspaper on the lawn or something. i just feel so sorry for his wife, waiting. not knowing for days and days and days. i mean, the mental part of it, that will drive you crazy by itself. >> hopefully she is okay either way. >> yeah. >> and they're trying to do the best they can. >> and we appreciate them sending us the videos every day. it helps us stay more sane. if you have questions about the coronavirus, you can find answer on our website. we have a whole page dedicated to information and resources. head to

we find a way through it. it's about taking care of each other. it's the small parts that make a big difference. at chevy, we promise to do ours. we're offering chevy owners complimentary onstar crisis assist services and wifi data. if you need a new chevy, interest-free financing for 84 months - with deferred payments for 120 days on many of our most popular models. you may even shop online and take delivery at home. it's just our way of doing our part... i suffered with psoriasis i felt gross. people were afraid i was contagious. i was covered from head to toe. i was afraid to show my skin. it was kind of a shock after...

i started cosentyx. i wasn't covered anymore. four years clear. five years now. i just look and feel better. see me. cosentyx works fast to give you clear skin that can last. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine... ...or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. i look and feel better with cosentyx. five years is just crazy. see me. ask your dermatologist if cosentyx could help you move past the pain of psoriasis.

[ closing bell ] wild swings on street. the dow started with a 700-point drop, but quickly made up the losses, gaining several hundred points before settling back down. so in the end, the dow finished up 188 points. a much better day on the nasdaq, up 160 points. and the s&p 500 recorded a modest 11 point gain. coronavirus is having an impact on business large and small. during midday live, we talked with boba guys co-founder andrew chow about his business going forward. his stores are closing down temporarily. and he says for some of those stores, the closure may be permanent. >> we like many other companies had to shut a lot of our headquarters teams. the marketing teams, the sales teams, the catering, that just will not come back in the next few months. and we need to conserve our cash so we can stay alive. and we hopefully will open most

of our stores back, but even some of our stores might not be financially viable to open back again. and i think we have to accept that reality. everybody is saying in four, eight-week timelines. we're thinking about at least -- for me, i don't want to scare people. i'm assuming it's going to be at least eight weeks. we really had to figure out how do we stay alive during this time. >> the guys has nine stores in the bay area serving boba tea. chow is also taking part in an effort to stop violence and discrimination against asian americans. you'll hear more than a little later in this newscast. local restaurants are getting creative to try and stay afloat during this uncertain time, and one of them is coswell's, a san francisco bistro. they're known for their cheese burgers. they're offering fresh vegetable and dry goods packages that will soon contain, of all things, toilet paper. it's also going to try call-in brunch this weekend. >> maybe four or five brunch

items that we'll post today on social media, along with bloody mary kits and mimosa kits. trying to provide some level of normalcy for people. >> coswell's is also selling to go beer and wine for half price. we have crews checking out communities affected by the let's take a look at some of what we found today. >> i'm kate larsen in san francisco, where on day three of our shelter in place, is out in force, and chief scott says if people repeatedly break the order, they will make arrests and citations. >> hi there, it's dion lim in fisherman's wharf, where my photographer and i were noticing how empty it was, and then we rolled up on this spy shop and wondered why was it still open? it turns out it's designated as a security hardware and supplies business, making it essential. you can see in the window they sell pepper spray even survival kits. >> kris reyes, in my closet

taking conference calls, working on stories. i'm sure many parents are doing this because there is no other room in the house that's quiet. my son is outside playing and desperately trying to do his abcs. >> that's so cute. >> well. >> i know, as a mom. but you have a different mind-set on this. just let me go to the closet where it's quiet, please. >> give me a break. >> sandhya is happy to be here, right? >> yeah, but have i made the best thank you so much situation with my kids. my husband has been working with multiple meetings. so i'm sitting there trying to scramble with homework, trying to help them out, get food on the table, doing everything before i come in. but don't worry, have i your forecast. let's take a look at live doppler 7 right now. we do have a few showers we're tracking. very spotty in nature around the san mateo coast, la honda area. you will notice log cabin ranch road, it is a little wet. mt. hamilton seeing some showers as well. we're going to continue to see the spotty showers through

tonight and even going into tomorrow. cmpared to 24 hours ago, we are seeing an uptick in those temperatures up 10 degrees in fairfield. 11 degrees in palo alto. now tonight the vernal equinox takes place. 8:49, the sun will be directly over the equator. and as the season changes, we're already starting to notice some changes. from our kgo roof camera, a gentle breeze. we are seeing peeks of blue. oakland 62. it is 58 in san jose. 55 in half moon bay. and this is a gorgeous view from our east bay hills camera. you can see the stacking up of those clouds, and they are building vertically. 59 in santa rosa. 61 napa. 62 in concord. another view from our mount tamalpais camera. as we look down towards sausalito, richardson bay, the season changes tonight. isolated showers through tomorrow. dry and warmer for saturday. and rain is back in the forecast for sunday afternoon/evening. let's talk about these showers. the hour-by-hour timeline 5:00 tonight. they're going to pop up just

about anywhere. but most you have will be dry. 6:30 the case as well. if you want to get outside and run errands, perhaps get groceries from the supermarket, you're good to go. tomorrow morning at 8:00, there will be fog around, some clouds around. and then in the afternoon/evening, once again we'll see a few pop-up showers, mainly in the south and east bay. and then it's done. you will get a break as we go into saturday. temperatures in the morning, mid 30s to upper 40s. definitely look out for the fog if you are going to be on the roadways tomorrow morning. and then tomorrow afternoon, temperatures coming up even more than today. most of you will be in the low to mid-60s except for the coast. 59 in half moon bay. 61 in the city. 65 santa rosa. mid-60s around vallejo, in mor brighter for saturds. your kids m be little of cabin fe vel 1 system sunday aftern

th wlontinue for monday. it's just going to be spotty in nature on monday. and then we bring in showers, cooler weather as we head into midweek as well. wet weather continues through wednesday. cooler conditions. and then drying out on thursday. so definitely much needed rain here in the bay area and the accuweather seven-day foreca but at least we're getting a little bit of a break for the time being. larry and ama? >> with the four straight days after rain coming next week, if you want to get outside, this is the time to do it. >> i will tell you, the four days we have of wet weather from sunday through wednesday, it's not going to be nonstop rain. it's going to be more scattered in nature. there will be some opportunities to get outside. es l this. as we need the we t i >> absolutely. >> thanks, sandhya. all right. check out this crazy video. a student celebrating spring break ignore the s about winnin tug-of-war right now. >> right? >> oh, brother.

plus what's the difference between essential and nonessenti

oh, the annual 420 celebration in san francisco's golden gate park of course has been canceled. organizers made the announcement on the website's official website, 420hippiehill.com. they're working with community partners and will announce any further details at some point. the cannes film festival has been postponed because of the virus. it was originally slated to begin may 12th. organizers are now looking at june or maybe even july dates. 49ers officials and local leaders gather outside levi's

stadium this morning where niners president al guido announced that the team is committing $500,000 to support both their own workforce and the most vulnerable. 49ers players will also play a role in a social media campaign. in addition, comcast is donating $50,000 and providing underserved areas with free wifi. sean payton has tested positive for the coronavirus. he is the first person in the informal to go public with such a diagnosis. payton told our sister network espn that he came forward to motive people to educate themselves about how to fight the pandemic and to try to take this thing seriously. the 56-year-old took the test after starting to fill ill on sunday. he doesn't have a fever or a cough, and he is now in self-quarantine. now for your daily moment of zen, thanks to the monterey bay aquarium. yesterday we brought you the jelly cam, the jellyfish floating around. today it's all about the sea otters. this is up right now.

rium onhe he come on, sea otters. >> it's right there. >> guys, you're on live! >> it's your moment to shine. >> this is your moment. there he goes, finally. somebody wants to be a star. the aquarium is closed to help the slow the spread of the virus, but the sea otters, we got a splash out of them on live tv. by the way, they have like nine web cams, and you can watch all the critters and creatures. it's fun. live feedings are at 10:30, 1:30 and 3:30.

g...i can file and manage myss claim, all on the geico app. it's not just easy. it's giving-your-dog -your-fitness-tracker easy. oh, good boy. yes, you got it! woo! already got my 40,000 steps today... can i get a what what! no pain, no gain! haha... it's geico easy. with fast and convenient claims service.

look how fast i'm running! good boy, chester. now your health, your safety. this is abc7 news. >> all right. let's bring you up to speed with the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic. governor gavin newsom has given the white house a really grim projection. more than half of californians they expect will contract the virus by june, and that's what

governor newsom wrote in a letter addressed to president trump, asking that the u.s. naval hospital ship mercy be docked in los angeles to be helped with the surge that is expected in patients. bart has announced it will end service at 9:00 ever night beginning on monday. the transit agency, they're basically hemorrhaging riders and money. the passenger count is down 90% because of the bay area's shelter in place order. after days of arguments with officials over the shelter in place order, tesla has agreed to temporarily stop manufacturing at the fremont auto plant. but the episode highlights the disagreements over what constitutes an essential business from nonessential, and how do you enforce that. abc7 news anchor eric thomas reports. >> reporter: tesla has fought efforts to stop production this week, despite pressure from local government, until today. the company says the spread of coronavirus, quote, has caused challenges for our employees, their families and our suppliers. as such, we have decided to

temporarily suspend production at our factory in fremont from the end of the day, march 23rd. the decision followed a conference call with fremont city officials. however, the city won't comment on the substance of the talks, but the affair has put the spotlight on a problem facing local law enforcement. >> we're telling people to comply. >> although the shelter in place order comes from the health department, the alameda county sheriff's office is in charge of making sure they do, and the sheriff isn't sure which health department has overall jurisdiction. >> we're going over the legal authority of that right now. whether it falls with the state department of health or with the local public health director. >> another problem area, only essential businesses are supposed to be operating. that includes health care, grocery stores, restaurants for takeout and hardware stores. but businesses have different opinions on what's essential. for example, this castro valley gun shop closed because of the health department order, but this one on the other side of town -- >> we can't really give you any comments or anything like that. >> reporter: was in operation.

the sheriff's office says both should be closed, but don't look for any raids or major enforcement. they would prefer negotiation. >> we try to use the de-escalation to get people to comply. so we avoid those conflicts. >> late this afternoon, the fremont police department thanked tesla for agreeing to go along with the health department order. however, a number of businesses still have not. in fremont, eric thomas, abc7 news. >> all right. so that big question has been who fits the essential versus nonessential category. and joining me live via skype is sergeant ray kelly with the alameda county sheriff's office. sergeant, thanks for joining us today. good job setting up your shot too. you can hear me okay? >> i can hear you perfectly. >> perfect. we can hear you as well. essential versus nonessential. can you shed any light? a lot of people are asking why is this open, why is that open? can you help clarify at all? >> yeah, we are clarifying that. we obviously know that grocery stores and some other functions

are essential. we really have encouraged people who are in business or who work at businesses to look at the health order. you go to alameda county public health and get the health order. you can see it on our social media sites as well. we're working through some of the specifics as to what is essential and what is not essential. and there has been a lot of talk back and forth. in the coming days, you're going see in alameda county at least, we're going to be going out and letting people know who is essential, who is nonessential. we'll be posting notice at two locations. but for example, a bar is not essential. some of our local beauty salon, nail salons have been opening. we had to go tell them to close. we have a gun store that we're dealing with right now that continues to operate. we have deemed this nonessential. that has created quite a debate as well. what we're doing is dealing with these issues as they arise. many of the businesses that are

essential are youft lined in the order. there is too many to list right now. we have been -- we are going out and asking people to shut their business. we will then post notice you need to shut your business. and we do not want to go the third level, which is actually enforcing the health order under the california law. and actually having to forcefully close businesses. we're looking to avoid all those things. we will be in contact with businesses that we demon essential. a lot of those calls come in from concerned community members and employees at businesses who are contacting us. we have been overwhelmed with those calls, as are a lot of the different cities and different police departments in the east bay. >> is that what they should be doing, though? is that the agency they should be calling if they're concerned about hey, we're still open. maybe we shouldn't be? >> so the authority for the order comes from the county public health officer. it's up to each individual jurisdiction, each city, each district to enforce the order

with the personnel that they have. so if you live in a particular city and you're seeing violations of the health order with a business you believe is not essential, call your local dispatch center, and have them make a report with them. >> for the most part, when you've had to tell a business hey, you guys are nonerik, you do need to shut down, have most people been pretty compliant about it? >> yeah, we're getting a lot of good compliance, and also, we've had businesses where they thought they were essential, and just the social pressure of them violating the rules forced them to shut down. we've also seen businesses be able to adjust their -- what they would normally do. and actually come into an essential function and actually provide some critical resources and relief for communities. we're seeing motivative ways where people are able to shift their operations and become essential and contribute to the fight against the coronavirus. so that has been unique to watch some of those businesses be

really -- really kind of coming up with new ways to do things. kind of entrepreneuring new ways to fight the virus. so we really appreciate some of the things that are being done. >> yeah, that's encouraging. be a part of the solution. so what about just the residents in alameda county. do they seem to be complying with staying home except for maybe getting a walk for exercise? >> we're seeing a lot of that. we're seeing a lot of people doing what's being asked for them. we really have to take what's being said seriously. i think the governor today came out and made some predictions and some statements about concerns about the virus. i think people need to take those very seriously. i think we need to follow the practices as laid out in each of the guidelines in seven bay area counties. we really need to take this seriously because people are depending on us, especially the most at-risk populations and those with underlying health conditions. it is very imperative that we take this seriously. and the best people, the most

important people that play a role in following the guidelines are we as a community. we have a good way of policing ourselves and showing each other what is acceptable and what's not. so that's been working very well. >> all right. that is great to hear. and we appreciate all you and your deputies are doing. and stay safe to all of you, thank you. >> well, thank you all. ay.arry? it looked like business as usual as san rafael's peacock gap golf club. you should have read it! >> you're the sports guy. >> for several hours. golfers enjoy addai on the links. everything changed when the marin county sheriff declared that the golf course was nonessential as a business and ordered it to close immediately. today's closure came after some peacock gap employees complained. >> good work. >> thank you. >> complained that the course was still open. course management had no comment

when abc7 asked them about i wanted my hepatitis c gone. i put off treating mine. epclusa treats all main types of chronic hep c. whatever your type, epclusa could be your kind of cure. i just found out about mine. i knew for years epclusa has a 98% overall cure rate. i had no symptoms of hepatitis c mine caused liver damage. epclusa is only one pill, once a day, taken with or without food for 12 weeks.

before starting epclusa, your doctor will test if you have had hepatitis b, which may flare up, and could cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. tell your doctor if you have had hepatitis b, other liver or... ...kidney problems, hiv, or other medical conditions... ...and all medicines you take, including herbal supplements. taking amiodarone with epclusa may cause a serious slowing of your heart rate. common side effects include headache and tiredness. ask your doctor today, if epclusa is your kind of cure. ♪ 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 ♪

all right. now we have some consumer news. >> 7 on your side's michael finney joins us from his home where he is really practicing the social distancing. hey, michael. >> hey, guys. there is a lot going on. let's start with the potential break for taxpayers. the treasury department has extended the deadline for you to pay your federal taxes to july 15th, which is a three-month exemption. the catch, you must file an extension by april 15th. i'm going have a lot more on this on abc7 news atthoravirus the way major financial institutions are going about their business. beginning tomorrow, charles schwab is temporarily closing every single one of its branches. jp morgan closed about one thousand of its offices across the country, including some right here in the bay area.

san francisco-based wells fargo is temporarily closing some of its branches. this is a photo of the sacramento and battery location. no word yet on when any of these locations will reopen. it's just a reality of our new world, huh, you guys? >> scary. >> thank you, michael. well, coronavirus-related discrimination towards the chinese and asian american communities, unfortunately it's escalating. not only in the bay area, but around the world. as abc7 news anchor dion lim found efforts are being made to make this message clear, racism is a virus that will be overcome. >> this video captured by a shopper at a target in daly city this week shows a racially charged interaction between shoppers and an asian man who coughed. >> i don't like that. >> you're racist. >> xenophobic incidents like this towards the asian community are happening far too often in the wake of covid-19. mayor london breed addressing the rash of discrimination in a press conference thursday.

>> we want to make it clear that that is not something that's acceptable or tolerated here in san francisco. >> on behalf of the asian pacific islander legislative caucus,bly summer david chu working with civil retravin newo this week, asking him to denounce racist behavior as well. >> it doesn't help when we have a president who has been stoking anti-chinese sentiments by referencing the so-called chinese virus. >> san francisco state university's asian american studies departments latest department shows in a four-week period, a 50% increase of coronavirus discrimination news to 140 stories by week four. to better track these incident, the department launched this online reporting center thursday. data will be used in weekly reports and provided to government officials and community organizations. >> what we hope is that we can get funding to do social media campaigns, to do school curriculum, to put up transit

ads, just to tell people that this type of prejudice and bigotry isn't allowed or tolerated in california. >> all with the open we'll see less of this and more understanding that the enemy is covid-19, not those who are of chinese and asian descent. in san francisco, dion lim, abc7 news. >> we don't need to be dealing with this, you know what i mean? there are so many more important things to be worried about at this point. racism? come on, people. the greater good here, come on. >> i think unfortunately, we're all under more stress. >> yeah. it's true. >> and sometimese rspeople. >> it does. >> we're seeing examples of that every day unfortunately. how about the app that is helping connect people who are a lot has changed overnight. but buick and gmc's commitment to you, remains the same. we understand you want to feel safe. so we're offering current owners complementary onstar crisis assist services. should you need a vehicle, we're offering zero percent financing for up to 84 months

with deferred payment options for 120 days. plus, you may have the option to shop online and take delivery at home. visit our websites for the help you need. buick and gmc. we're here to help.

you can run liked vithere's no tomorrow. for the help you need. but tomorrow always comes. like getting the best everwifi experiencen. with wall-to-wall coverage-there's a win. plus, added protection for your connected devices. that's a win-win. put it together with xfinity mobile- the most reliable wireless network. talk about a winning combo. get xfinity internet and xfinity mobile for just $30 each a month. you'll save up to $400 a year on your wireless bill. plus get $300 off when you buy a new galaxy s20 ultra. now that's... simple. easy. awesome. click, call or visit a store today.

here we are, look at us all, one, two, three, four, for the four@4. >> we call this the quad box in tv terms. let's start with a new app connecting people all over the world isolated by quarantine. >> having be a first person's account of what's going on feels like -- i feel very in the loop of what's happening in the world. ♪

>> quarantine chat is a service that connects people all over the world for free in phone calls where people can match with a random person. and it's people in self-isolation or people that are in mandated quarantine or people that just want to cheer people up. me and my friend max had been working on a telephony experiment for the last two years, and a year ago we developed an app called dial-up which connects different communities and friends in phone calls. and we were reading so many stories about people in self isolation and feeling lonely and disconnected from other people. and oh, well, this call software we built, we can create a version of it for people that are in quarantine. we actually have users all over the world. so people are in spain, in

italy, in iran, in hong kong. >> i'm living in barcelona, spain. it is not enough to see ourselves. i think we need to tell it to someone else. >> what everyone is saying that they feel -- they feel very much less alone and less crazy in the things that they're doing to prepare, and also people are sharing tips and stuff like recipes, like workout routines, like activities. and so it's this moment. it's this sort of exciting moment where you feel -- you feel less alone dealing with this, but you also get this outside influence and can have an interesting conversation. >> so connected now thankfully this helps us out in this time. well can connect with other people. and just try to get out of our own head of oh, my gosh, this is too much and it's overwhelming. >> and i love that the two

founders were actually two artists who have been friends over long distance for a long time. and so they made it work, and they figured this could help us make it work too. >> and i think it's great that there are some people who are isolated and they don't get a chance to actually connect with anybody. and so if they don't have family, at least with friends, maybe they're not nearby, this is a great opportunity for them to do that. so it is a good thing. >> four thumbs-up. >> it's a worldwide battle right now. so it's great that everybody around the world can participate. the party is over for the spring breakers in florida. governor ron desantis ordered all beaches closed today. he is taking heat for not making this move earlier after images of young people crowding the beaches, defying calls for social distancing. for making things worse, college students mocked the outbreak, saying they didn't care if they got the virus, they just wanted to party and win tug-of-war. oh, man. they're teenaged kids. so i don't know. it's just -- >> it's a shame. i mean, it's not -- it affects

other people is the whole thing. and i guess that point is not getting through. >> well, it's fine. they may be okay. even though we're starting to see more cases where younger people are getting seriously ill, the problem is even if they're okay, when they go visit grandma and grandpa or their parents and then those people suffer, that's a bad outcome, and these kids got to get that in their heads. >> youth seems to think that they're invincible, untouchable that is not the case. actor kevin bacon has started a six degrees social media campaign. he is challenging people to say who they're staying home for during the coronavirus pandemic. >> every one of us has someone who is worth staying home for. and i am staying home for kyra sedgwi sedgwick. >> kev? >> ah, speak of the devil. what? i'm doing something. while you're staying home you need to post a video or sign like this one saying who you're going to stay home for, and you tag six friends so they do the same. you can post it on your socials

with the #i stay home for. >> she is awesome. i'd stay home for her too. bacon says since we're all connected by six degrees, and he should know, he said we can all work together and keep each other safe. that's what the younger people who are ignoring this need to realize. you're staying home for someone else. >> that's right. there is plenty of time to party. a couple of weeks ago my mom called and said i'd love to come up with your dad and visit the kids and you guys. i said mom, stay home. i had to tell her it's not safe. she understood. it's one of those things. >> next week i'm staying home for you because i'm going to be on vacation. >> oh, isn't that convenient? it's for me. >> it's for all of us, larry. >> it's from my heart, though. kids, if you're look for something that is totally out of this world while you're home from school, now you can watch astronauts reading stories from space. >> hello and welcome to the space station, and welcome to one of my favorite things, which

is story time from space. today we're going to be reading the book ada lace, take me to your leader. >> astronauts are reading popular books to kids back on earth while they're floating around. it's the global space education foundation running the project. it's called story time from space. the goal is to encourage reading among kids, while also promoting s.t.e.m. education. isn't this awesome? >> that's wonderful all around. >> fantastic. all right. that's it for four@4.

the coronavirus outbreak has come at a bad time for bay area girl scouts who are in the final weeks of cookie sales. but kristen sze reports in true girl scout fashion, they're making the best of it. >> bay area girl scout cookie sales were going strong this year until the coronavirus hit and public booth sales stopped. >> our girls had to stop selling cookies before they were ready

to stop selling cookies. so a lot of the girls have cookies left over that they are financially responsible for. >> some scouts were able to swing into action fast, before the shelter in place order went out. >> i sent out things over my different social medias offering deliveries for people who ordered cookies. so i've been dragging my mom down the peninsula through san francisco around marin delivering cookies to anyone that wants them. >> but many girls are stuck with cookies they can't sell by the deadline on sunday. >> but at $5 a box, it's a financial strain for the troops to absorb that cost. >> so this year, the girl scouts of northern california council is letting troops return unsold cookies to be given to charity. >> the silver lining is that the council is absorbing the cost for them to donate those cookies to various places and people who could use cookies right now, like schools who are serving lunches while school is being

closed due to the shelter in place. >> in mill valley, volunteers set up carefully controlled site for their troops to bring unsold cookies, all with social distancing in mind. >> these are all the cookies that are left over and have been returned from troops. >> if you want to help, you can still buy cookies online for yourself or to be donated. >> we had a lot of people offer to donate cookies to first responders, to food banks, anywhere they could to really help the community during the pandemic. >> the website is "i love cookies.org. the last day for orders is sunday. kristen sze, abc7 news. all right. you probably have letsed our own spencer christian hasn't been here with us in studio this week. he has been working from home as part of the shelter in place order. we thought we would check in with him today to see how he is doing. hi, spencer. >> hey, ama. i miss you guys. >> we miss you too. >> it's great to be at home. >> so you have your office set up? >> it's different.

>> yeah, tell us your setup. >> well, i got my computer behind me. i got pictures on the wall of my kids when they were little. my kids are in their 40s. now got a couple of awards up there. and over here i got this guy helping me fight the virus, my old friend muhammed ali, who signed this portrait for me about 21 years ago. and what he wrote on there was to spencer, you're the greatest. i think muhammad knew he was still the greatest, but he was just starstruck. >> of course, who isn't when they see you. he is helping keep the virus far away from you. how your spirits? it sounds like your spirits are pretty good. >> my spirits are very good. when i watch the growing spread of the virus and the number of people affected, of course, it's upsetting. it's disturbing. but i'm keeping my social distance. i'm feeling good. i'm staying active, or as active as you can be when you're in isolation. and, you know, happy to be joining you guys. >> all right. well, we are happy to see you, spencer. an, spencer.e and maybe we'll

an, spencer.e and maybe we'll and we wantjoing ianeoffers free specialized phones... like cordless phones, - (phone ringing) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones. get details on this state program. call or visit we find a way through it. it's about taking care of each other. it's the small parts that make a big difference. at chevy, we promise to do ours. we're offering chevy owners complimentary onstar crisis assist services and wifi data. if you need a new chevy, interest-free financing for 84 months - with deferred payments for 120 days on many of our most popular models. you may even shop online and take delivery at home. it's just our way of doing our part... on many of our most popular models. and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program call or visit

this could be a potential model for others to replicate. >> the line gets longer by the day. 100s in san mateo county wait for a coronavirus test. and a race to find a treatment. a collaboration happen right here in the bay area. conflicting signs in the east bay. which parks are open and closed as people sheltering in place look for an outlet. >> now your health, your safety. this is abc7 news. >> and headlro the coronavirus