>> announcer: now your health, your safety, this is abc7 news. thanks for joining us. i'm eric thomas. >> we have big developments in the coronavirus pandemic. in italy the hardest-hit country in europe, the death toll soared with 793 new reported fatalities today. the total stands at more than 4,800. >> california's department of public health said today most of the infected in the state are people between the ages of 18 and 64. that's a total of 876 cases. there are more than 1224 confirmed cases in the state. the governor directed more than

$42 million in emergency funding. >> 30 million of it will allow the state to lease two hospitals including seton medical center to care for up to 120 covid-19 patients. happening now, people across california are spending their first weekend ordered to stay at home. >> we're at san francisco's wharf with an update on the impact. what are you seeing? >> reporter: eric, dion, our shelter at home reality has been really tough for a lot of folks to swallow. take a look. we are here in fisherman's wharf. i've been coming here since i was a kid. i have never ever seen it like this. it is empty. all stores shut uptight. a lot of people social distancing today with some exceptions. >> we're going to have to see what's open and not open and make the best of it, right? >> these tourists couldn't find

anything open in san francisco's famous fisherman's wharf. most businesses closed. jefferson street was desserted. this was a different story. lots of people out getting air and exercising. most practicing social distancing, but not all. >> as you see, there's not that much out there in place. it's beautiful. there's more people out than last year the same time. >> it seems like people are spacing themselves cautiously and walking around people. >> reporter: the health department has posted these signs about social distancing as a reminder. the sfpd taking it a step further. >> your actions could save a life. >> reporter: this public service announcement spells it out. >> if you go outside, maintain social distance, please try to stay at least 6 feet away from each other. >> reporter: in the north bay, ting to life with ty.ouly.

some sense of normalcy. >> reporter: we talked to these golfers at a safe distance. they said this golf course was allowed to stay open with plenty of precautions. >> they sanitized all the carts before we went out. they sanitized the cart keys. >> keeping our distance from each other and out here enjoying the day. >> reporter: one of the sisters just texted me, they say their mom saw the message that they had put in front of the hospital. as for this shelter-in-place order, we will see what happens on sunday. but i have to say that all businesses, all restaurants here in fisherman's wharf are locked uptight. >> we see a lot of places where there are not a lot of people. pis everywhere like that? >> reporter: eric, we have been

from san francisco all the way up to sonoma county. highway 101 was empty. it seems like a lot of people in the north bay at least stays at home. there were a lot of people, but as the day went on, a lot of people disappeared, obviously wept ba went back home. we have been driving around san francisco today. a lot of people staying put. we seeing people with bags from restaurants grabbing their food is going back home. >> a little slice of life. thanks. now, to the latest on the coronavirus count. 11 people have died of the virus in the bay area. sonoma county reported its first death last night. santa clara county reports 67 new cases from yesterday, now at 196. there are 110 cases in san mateo county and 84 in san francisco. santa clara university inofo

teedite for the virus. that student is self-isolating at home. the student last visited campus on march 6th. officials are moving tons of supplies needed by health care workers across california. you're looking at video provided by the state shows items received from the strategic national stockpile. those shipments including 358,000 n-95 masks, 162,0mask shields and 471,000 gloves. california has requested even more from the federal government. that includes another 20 million n-95 masks. >> a number of states have issued stay-at-home orders to try to slow the spread of coronavirus. here is david packer. >> reporter: president trump commending everyone for working together during this time of crisis. >> governors, mayors, businesses, charities and citizens are all working with

urgency and speed toward one common goal which is saving american lives. >> reporter: negotiations continue on capitol hill as they work on a relief package. the cost of that package could exceed $1 trillion. the president has expressed his support for what he's calling a game changer. a drug that's been used to treat malaria being studied as a treatment for covid-19. dr. fauci is taking a wait-and-see approach. but new york's governor cuomo says they will begin conducting trials for the new drug therapy. >> there's a theory that the drug could be helpful. in a situation where a person is in dire circumstance, try what you can. >> reporter: a major disaster declared in new york where the number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus has topped 10,000 with a majority of those in new york city. >> we are now the epicenter of this crisis. >> reporter: on saturday, new jersey joining states asking

people to stay home. >> we can no longer maintain sense of business as usual. >> reporter: in florida, the state closing all hotels and resorts beginning sunday. right now as painful as it may be, the reality i a tourist destination. so many people showed up at this drive through testing site that many people were turned away. >> i think we're getting to the solution that everybody in the country is looking for. but i want to emphasize that not every single person in the united states needs to get tested. >> reporter: abc has learned that the director of the national institutes of health warns as many as 70,000 americans could be diagnosed at the end of next week. president trump talked about efforts to obtain needed medical supplies today. and he said governors like gavin

newsom are free to work on finding their own ways to get what their states need. >> if california -- if gavin can order gowns faster or masks, good masks faster, or other things faster, that's good. we do have a lot of -- the coordination with the ship that is we're sending in, as you know, the medical ships that we're sending in, and even cruise liners, we're going to be sending in probably cruise liners into some areas, in particular california and in particular new york. if somebody can do something faster, if they can order that mask faster than us, i want them to be able to do it. >> reporter: people can't -- >> president trump shared that he believes other states may not have to issue shelter in place orders like the ones we're dealing with in california. san francisco is on a nurse hiring blitz hoping to add 50 nurses this week. health officials are directing qualified candidates to apply on the job opportunities page on the san francisco human

resources website. click registered nursing job opportunities to fill out an application. three urgent care centers are being closed. the groups other four urgent care centers will remain open. the move will allow staff to focus care to the larger centers. it's no longer accepting walk-in appointments and is screening all patients over the phone before scheduling appointments. a south bay company has received emergency approval from the federal government for a faster test to detect covid-19 in patients. the test will work with 23,000 of its automated gene expert systems around the world. it should only take about 45 minutes to detect if someone infected with covid-19 compared to hours or days for current tests. you're looking at video provided by the company. the tests will begin shipping next week. we have a look at the

coronavirus pandemic and ways you can stay healthy, it's on abc7news.com. get a closer look at how the pandemic is impacting the bay area. we will see some rain by the end of the weekend. will we or won't we? we're tracking some showers. >> here's the system that is going to bring us those showers. i'll let you know when they will arrive and how long they might stick around coming up. senators face scrutiny over selling stocks. the surprising move by one of the lawmakers accused in the controversy. toilet paper. hopefully there's more in there for you. >> finding joy in the little

and change the world. here at abbvie, we're inventing medicines of the future to create tomorrows that will be healthier... ...and happier, while making medicines that help people right now. because that's the present we wanted to live in. and that's the future we all want to see. abbvie. here. now.

it's normal to feel anxious over the coronavirus outbreak. remember what protective steps you can take and what your community is doing to stay protected. for more, go to cdc.gov.

the chair of the u.s. senate intelligence committee is calling for an ethics investigation into stocks that he and three other senators sold after a secret briefing on the coronavirus. north carolina republican richard burr leads the panel. burr sold more than $1.7 million in stocks one day after learning about the potential impact of the coronavirus crisis. that included shares in travel-related companies. a week later, burr made these comments in a recording obtained by npr. >> it is much more aggressive than anything we have seen in recent history. >> two other gop senators and california democrat dianne feinstein sold stocks. federal law requires all members of congress to disclose when they sell stocks. shoppers were thrilled to find a new supply of toilet paper at a target in san rafael. >> they had a lot of paper

towels and they had toilet paper when i was there. >> i'm so happy. it made my saturday. >> it is the little things. shoppers are seeing some shortages, though. you see the empty shelves here of cold and flu medicine. despite some items selling out, grocery suppliers in the bay area say the supply chain is healthy. bridges in the bay area are cash free in an effort to contain the coronavirus. here's a live look at light traffic. cash toll collection was suspended at midnight for the time being in all seven state-owned bridges. the goal is to minimize contact between toll collectors and drivers. drivers without fast track will be billed by mail. there's no changes for drivers with fast track. an online movement is bringing out the best in some stars, including britney spears. just ahead her pledge to help those impacted by coronavirus. it was great to get outside

for some fresh air today. for some fresh air today. as ycalifornia phones offers, free specialized phones... like cordless phones. - ( phone ringing ) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones. get details on this state program. visit right now or call during business hours.

and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program visit right now or call during business hours. an east bay congressman is in critical condition at a hospital tonight but he's not suffering from coronavirus. his condition has worsened after he was admitted from complications of pneumonia more than a week ago. he developed pneumonia after breaking a rib when he fell during a run. he's also a cancer survivor

who's represented the east bay on capitol hill since 2015. music fans are mourning the death of a legend this evening, kenny rogers. ♪ you got to know when to hold them know when to fold them ♪ ♪ know when to walk away and know when to run ♪ >> rogers soared to fame on both the country and pop charts. he accelerated across other genres as well. rogers and dolly parton entertained generations with "islands in the stream." rogers died in his home in georgia. he had been in poor health. whether it's with food or getting your child diapers. we will help you out. >> britney spears extended an offer to help fans during the coronavirus pandemic yesterday in a post. she asked people to send her

direct messages on social media. the offer is part of the hasht #do your part challenge. we want to join this press conference live right now. >> americans now living under some form of home isolation, stay away orders against essential versus nonessential settings throughout the united states. this has been a very challenging time and it's are a time like this where we're filled with anxiety and filled with tremendous amount of uncertainty and it's understandable people have a mind set of scarcity. you see that manifested in some of the purchasing decisions people are making where they're overly indulged and getting a little more bread than they may need and the like. at the same time, it is a

remarkable moment. to be candid with you, i cannot express more gratitude at the same time we're struggling through this moment. and that is the incredible mind set that persists not just here in california but across this country. it's a mind set of abundance, abundance of our belief that we can not only get through this but in our capacity to meet this moment together. let me tell you a little bit what i mean. i've had just in the last 48 hours, the opportunity to speak to more scientists, more researchers, more engineers, more nobel laureates, more ceos of companies, large and small, than i have quite literally in years. i had the opportunity to have conversation with tim cooke who stepped up and said in addition to the 2 million masks that the vice president said he would donate to the american people this year and week, he's going to provide more than 1 million just for the state of california.

elon musk working overtime at tesla to see if he can work with companies large and small to see if he can start working up components on ventilators. he announced to me today he's going to provide 250,000 masks today for health care professionals just in the state of california. also committing to over 1,000 ventilators just in a few days. working through his supply chains and partnerships. companies large and small, i was talking to a small company that does a little bit of manufacturing, saying they want to convert their facility to help sew masks. not only that, the largest companies, some of the largest manufacturers that happen to be based in the state of california saying we're ready to convert, meet this moment, tell us what you need.

hospitals, incredible philanthropy. people who are sending planes to china on their own dime and bringing back resources and support from all around the world. it's quite literally not an exaggeration, it's not an exaggeration at all. i imagine governors all across this country are experiencing the same thing. it's ennobling and it makes you feel like we truly can meet this moment. accordingly, we have had a remarkable response in terms of the work that our own teams are doing. we've been able to distribute, we had 21 million masks in our reserves. we've been able to distribute 10 million of those masks. last week we put out an additional million and a half of those masks. we have millions more and we're trying to get thems ssib. wab to on seton hospital as part of our portfolio of surge. we were able to announce today

st. vincent's down in los angeles part of our portfolio. 490 rooms that will be operationalized, 750 in the next few weeks, capacity. community hospital and the great work that was done down in long beach with mayor garcia. he was able to get 130 rooms online. people being transferred today and over this weekend. working with our affiliate in san francisco. we have a term sheet to bring into our portfolio. ♪ 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

♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ discussed across the last -- well, few weeks, all across this country. they're finally being delivered. they're on the way. we got our first tranche last night of the strategic national stockpile and we're opening up the boxes as we speak and distributing them. that's gowns, gloves and masks. it's the first of four that will be arriving. we're told that they're already beginning to send the second order as i speak to you tonight. i say all that from a point of optimism but also a point of a deep realism in terms of the magnitude of meeting this moment. we have made it clear that we are prioritizing the most vulnerable californians and

we've made clear that our most vulnerable californians include the homeless. i'm pleased to announce we have over 2,400 hotel rooms that we have already secured. 1,900 just down in san diego county. let me just tip my hat to the leaders in in san diego county in particular for securing those beds and we will make sure we secure the resources to get folks off the streets quickly and into those units. seven counties now have already secured beds for homeless. we got those first trailers out and we are distributing them throughout the state of california. we have the purchase orders for thos that fe day o tt happening in realtime. we've increased our goals in terms of the number of units we want for our homeless to 51,000 hotel rooms that we are

committed to identifying, procuring, bringing into our portfolio to begin to get folks off the streets and the sidewalks. focusing on senior that is are out on the sidewalks, focusing on those that are in encampments and the like. people need to know that, that's happening in realtime. we're focusing on our senior populations. we've worked to identify roughly 1,000 additional skilled nursing facility beds that we will begin to negotiate and to bring on line to broaden our portfolio of opportunities to meet the coming needs in the next weeks and months. let me put this in perspective. the state of california has about 416 hospitals in the system. we have a bed capacity staffed currently at about 78,000. some of the projections that we put out make it clear that we'll need an additional 19,500 beds

in order to meet our midway projections as it relates to the issue of covid-19. we have surge capacity within the hospital system of a little over 10,000. we're out there trying to procure 10,000 units. i mentioned the 10,000 beds. i mentioned the work with seton and the other hospitals, the hotels that we're bringing online not just for homeless but also the hotels that will be part of a broader portfolio of needs to help us with our hospital system. that includes, by the way, support from the army corps of engineers which were out here yesterday talking about how quickly they can convert those hotel rooms into quasi hospitals, getting all the electrical and ventilation equipment and turning those around in realtime. working with the dormitories to do the same. of course, the capacity inur fairgrounds, our convention centers. i can't tell you how many sporting leagues, not just

owners of teams in this state, said, you know what, you want our arena, you can have our arena. we put together a matrix, it's rather remarkable. it's almost worth taking a look. thousands and thousands of specifically requests and examples that have been given to us in realtime of people wanting to help and providing resources. so when we say that this has been a moment, it's been quite a moment of people people reaching deep, going to the distance to really help support the cause of the state of california. again, i imagine this is being replicated all across the united states of america. but, again, in the framework of being sober about this moment, to see these freeways in this state not congested. it was not the way we hoped to reduce congestion in this state and to recognize the number of people that have been laid off and the impacts the restaurants and hotels, the unemployment claims in this state, six days

ago it was 40,000 unemployment claims. the next day it was 70,000. day after that, 80,000. went up to 125, 135 two days ag and 114,000 yesterday. we're waiting for the new numbers as it relates to the claims today. it gives you a sense of the magnitude of those who are struggling at this moment and i hope the magnitude that we all recognize to meet this moment in terms of this federal support that has to come our way but to states large and small all across the united states. there's a spirit of collaboration as it relates to this moment that needs to be identified and that is other governors sharing ideas and best practices with other governors. and i just want to applaud the incredible leadership, the stress that's been placed on jay inslee up in washington state, governor brown up inoregon. i was communicating with governor bulluck in montana.

we're all in this together. governor cuomo's outstanding leadership and what governor murphy did today, i want to applaud all of them for all of their work. the governor of ohio, i can go down the list. i want to say, we're all inspired, i think, by one another's work and i think inspired to recognize that we all have insight, capacity and our ability to start sharing these as governors across the state have really, i think, inspired all of us and i think raised the expecttion that we can each do more and do better in our states. we've taken ideas from other states and i hope they've taken ideas from our state as well. we're working hard to address anxieties around testing and let me just say this, we have been quite forthright about the testing issues related to the rna extraction kits that were not part of the original test kits -- >> you've been living to

governor gavin newsom giving us an update. you can watch the rest of tonight, america shut down. the coronavirus soaring in the u.s. more than 24,000 cases. six states now ordering tens of millions of americans to stay home. major changes to the way testing is conducted in new york city. hospitalized patients only. drastic steps to save tests and preserve equipment. new york and philadelphia briefly delaying inbound flights an air traffic control trainee testing positive. plus, one day after learning a staffer has the virus, vice president pence saying he and his wife will now be tested. and the major headline tonight, the fda approving a rapid-response test, giving results in a matter of hours instead of days. hospitals under pressure, slammed by the massive surge in patients. exhausted doctors, nurses and staff making difficult decisions, faced with a national