on the mobile app, and with delivery. next at 5:00, risk and release, the concern about coronavirus in aal me at a county jail, a new effort the release all the inmates and the pushback tonight from law enforcement. >> the sky high need for food, people who thought they'd seen it all haven't seen anything like this before. >> emergency child care for essential workers, the kids who had nowhere to go until now. >> searching for -- why some people are so vulnerable to covid-19. the >> remembering an icon. the actress -- >> this is abc a promising sign of recovery and

renewal noor california offering hope for those suffering. >> total number of individuals in the icu, that number of 1,132 represents a drop of 1.9%. from yesterday, one data point is not a trend, but nonetheless it is encouraging. >> and more positive signs, governor newsom says the state's backlog of tests has dropped to 13,900 and the state says it will provide free or discounted hotel rooms for medical workers. >> i'm dan ashley. >> i'm kristen sze. in east bay a group of a activists, civil rights lawyers and public defenders calling for the release of all inmates from alameda's jail to keep from getting or spreading the coronavirus. law enforcement says releasing inmates accused of violent crimes will be unwise and unsafe. abc 7 news anchor aaron thomas is live at the jail.

eric? >> reporter: and those activists say a crowded jail is like a petri dish for covid-19. the only way to stop the spread is to release everybody. the sheriff says not so fast. before the coronavirus pandemic the jail was home to well over #,000 inmates. since then 11 have tested positive for covid-19 and many others have been released early, before they could get it. >> we have released over 600 individuals since march 16th. >> reporter: but civil rights activists and attorneys say that's not enough, in a video conference today they called for the remaining 1,979 inmates to be released. >> these men and women have to be released as soon as possible in whatever ways we can, and we're there to help in any way we can as a community. >> every day we are not able to dramatically reduce the population of these facilities means many, many more deaths. >> the group says early releases could have kept the cook county jail near chicago from becoming

the single most infected spot in the country. 400 inmates and staff there have tested positive. the alameda county sheriff's office says more inmates are being released here, 56 more by monday, including derick subtract the 480 people held for the u.s. marshal's service and that leaves 1,300. >> 97% of those individuals are in here for serious, violent crimes including homicide, sexual assault, crimes against children, and other crimes serious public concern. >> reporter: in a statement the da says there's no way they should be released. o'malley's office says what we cannot do is jeopardize the safety of victims or the community, to do otherwise would be irresponsible. sergeant ray kelly says inside their infirmly is fully staffed. the reduction in numbers allows them to better isolate the

inmates who have tested positive, and they're continuing their protocols with hospitals being ready to go if they have to rush people to the hospital. and i know you're asking yourself a question, do lawyers really believe that people awaiting trial for murder and other serious crimes should be released? and their answer when i asked was, yes, they haven't been convicted of anything yet so they should all be released. live at santa rita jail, eric thomas, abc 7 news. >> innocent until proven guilty. eric, thank you. the need for food is growing in the bay area, even among people who have never had to ask for it before. sky 7 was over the cathedral of faith in san jose where the line of people waiting for bags of food stretched for several blocks. the church's pastor says people from all over the bay area are showing up. yutn dollthf food onery month campus. this week we distribute over a

million dollars worth of food. so the need has quadrupled. >> safeway, whole foods, sis co and the second harvest food bank are providing most of the food. volunteers you see here are church parishioners, members of the community and company teams as well pitching in. abc 7 is staging a day of hope in partnership with feeding america. you can help those in need by sending a donation to local food banks like the alameda county community food bank. you can go to their website at iccfb.org, call 211 or this number, 510-635-3663. a bay area research center is taking on one of the deadliest aspects of the covid-19 crisis. as abc 7 news anchor dion lim discovered they're using a cutting edge tool to search for answers. >> reporter: among the mystery surrounding covid-19 is its ability to turn deadly in some patients but not others. in many of those fatal cases it's the virus's effect on the heart or lungs that makes it a

killer. now researchers want to know why. >> eideally we have human lung and heart tissue in front of us just to study what that virus is doing in those. we can't take biopsies from people's lungs and their heart to do that. >> reporter: instead this doctor and his team at san francisco's gladstone institutes are using a nobel prize winning technology they helped pioneer to search for an answer. it involves turning a patient's skin cells into stem cells, which can differentiate into almost any kind of cell in the human body. >> it can then become human lung and human heart tissue. >> reporter: literally the living beating cardiac cells you're seeing magnifying on your screen which were grown from skin cells. one strategy to create tissue from patients who survived covid without much trouble and compare it with heart or lung tissue from the very serious cases. could it be a matter of genetics? a quirk in the way the virus

attacks. or maybe something else all together. >> we're still trying to figure out how much of this serious fatality is occurring because of the actual virus's damage compared to how much is because of our own immune systems overreaction. >> reporter: the race for answers is on. and when they come he believes their stem cel testing strategy could play a significant role in finding ways to defeat the virus. in san francisco, dion lim, abc 7 news. san francisco is taking more aggressive steps to slow the spread of coronavirus. the city with the help of ucsf is ramping up efforts to trace every single case and contact. now, every patient who tests positive will be interviewed. if they came into contact with anybody in the preceding days those people will be alerted and offered a test. and any positive test will trigger isolation and more contact tracing. today on our 3:00 show i talked

about this with dr. george rutherford, head of disease and global epidemiology at ucsf. >> some of the people helping us going forward are medical students, the city librarians, and some of the people from the city attorney's office, which i think is quite remarkable. >> now, this contact tracing is seen as key to containment, up to 150 people could end up working on this team. parents lined up at apgiannini school. to pick up packets of learning materials, the next phase of at home learning. the district distributed more than 4,000 learning packets today. the line moved well but there were reports that family had long waits and some families did not get their packets at all. it was a bit frustrating for them. now a twist on the fight against coronavirus. this time it has nothing to do with test tubes or cells, wayne freedman explains from san francisco, it's more a matter of granting peace of mind.

>> reporter: sometimes opposites attract. in this case a worldwide negative turned local positive. beating coronavirus with rock, paper, paper,sy source. >> today is rock, paper -- tomorrow is capture the flag. >> reporter: if you have to work and you have kids, and schools are closed, what do you do with them? >> we call these pop-up camps. >> the ymca has four of them up in san francisco. when the "y" would be running after school programs and prepping for summer they're fighting coronavirus with good times and smiles, enabling those parents to work. >> vet clinics, hospitals, grocery stores, they work for the sheriff's department, for the jails. >> >> they just watch tv. >> as far as he knows anyway. >> what was it like being stuck at home? >> boring. >> reporter: not here though. we asked these kids about coronavirus. >> are you worried about it? >> just a little bit.

>> reporter: but nothing beats fear like fun while washing hands constantly. and getting their temperatures checked routinely. and keeping six feet apart, please. >> we just tell them spread your wings like a bird, airplane. >> reporter: so now the question, how many have become sick in the last month? do you really need to know? >> zero. >> zero kids. >> zero kids sick. >> reporter: take that, coronavirus. in san francisco, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. sports fans hoping their favorite past times will return soon, may be waiting a bit longer. abc 7 news community journalist justin dorsey on what local leaders are suggesting to get players back on the field. >> the 49ers faithful is anxiously awaiting the day they can pac levi's sdium once day may not be as >> i don't expec sports games thanksgiving, and we'll be lucky to have them by thanksgiving. >> that's the prediction of dr. jeff smith, came tuesday during

the santa clara county board of supervisors meeting. >> when the orders are weakened, it's guaranteed there will be new infections, individuals will get sick and because there are individuals who get sick, there will be individuals who die after the order is released unless we come up with a foolproof immunization, which is highly unlikely. >> while the rest of the sports world is on hold the nfl is operating mostly as usual but a stop to sports until thanksgiving would impact the regular season. the 49ers told abc 7 news in a statement today that, quote, our intent is to exercise great patience and make decisions regarding the health and wellness of all 49erss, employees, and the community at large. sports can only return when there's a consensus on safety. >> i think this needs to be a unified decision because it comes down to us. it comes down to the fans. and our job is to make sure that there are fans for the future.

>> reporter: the board of supervisors president says the future of sports depends on people's actions in the present. >> if we're going to make sure that we can get people back to the baseball field and the football field we need to make sure that we're all sheltering in place and bending that curve and flattening that curve as fast as we can. >> reporter: the other professional in sports teams did not want to comment. in previous statements each organization did say they will follow the guidelines from health officials, and sports leagues. in santa clara county, dustin dorsey, abc 7 news. don't let the bad guys get your stimulus check. "7 on your side's" michael finney will have that story next. >> it's fabulous. it is fabulous. >> i have had people crying when i deliver the food. >> giving a little, and getting a lot. a lot. the volunteers step by step, we're going to figure this out. we're gonna find a way through this.

we're working really, really hard in hospitals, our nurses, our techs, all the docs. it's about staggering when people get sick so that the hospitals can cope. we're gonna go through an awful lot of these. all across puget sound, people have been stepping up and donating personal protective equipment. we stay at work. for you. you stay at home for us. just know we're all with you. thank you, thank you so much. thank you doctors & nurses.

some of you may see the stimulus check in your account as early as today. the government payout is to help

shore up the nation's economy in the wake of the pandemic. the first wave of deposits will be for those who have already given their bank account information to the irs, and social security beneficiaries who file federal tax returns. that included direct deposit information. the next wave of money could begin as early as the week of april 20th. >> and, of course, it's a lot of money and as you can imagine con artists are definitely interested in those checks. >> michael finney joins us with more on that. >> we're all eager to get our hands on those stimulus checks, and the scamsters know that. so they're using our anxiety against us. in an effort to trick us. you don't have to fall for it. beware of emails promising that they can get you your stimulus check faster. there's no way you can do that. these are phishing emails. and then use that to steal all the personal information you

have on that same computer. you may also get a text or an email claiming you must verify personal information in order to get your check. or that you must pay a fee to the irs before you get your check. none of this stuff is true. the irs will never ask you to verify information. the checks go out automatically. and there are no fees to get your money. >> uncertainty and fear are two elements that the con artist thrives on. more people are likely to lose money to a scam when they are essential socially or physically isolated from others, they're actively engaging online and financially vulnerable. so this truly is the trifecta for scams. >> the bottom line is you will anf you receive any messages saying otherwise, don't fall for it. it is a scam. now, there are a lot of schemes and scams out there.

we're tracking all of them right here in our "7 on your side" office and you guys i will be checking back every time we find a new one, especially one that's going out in a very widespread way. >> thanks, michael. there is nothing as moving or as inspiring in this terrible pandemic as seeing good people step forward to help others in a time of such overwhelming need. a restaurant owner in the east bay is one of those people. some of his friends and loyal customers are right there with him giving the gift of food to people who sure can use a hot meal. i tagged along this past sunday. >> hello, hello, hello. >> dinner served with a smile and a side ofess.ur dy drive th evening is tracie pasenti. she was showing homes t with volunteers. >> why are you doing this? >> to help people who are in need and can't leave their homes and go grocery shopping or who

have a difficult time making a meal for themselves and for those first responders in the emergency room, handling cases of people with coronavirus and they come home exhausted after 12 and 14 hour shifts. >> let's backtrack. before tracie showed up at sycamore place senior living in danville with hot food for residents she started here at a restaurant a couple of miles away. this traditional italian restaurant and owned and operated by a traditional italian. most of his family, including his beloved mother, still lives in italy. hit especially hard by the virus. >> must be very worried about them. >> i am, thank god i've called them every day, and thank god that they are safe. but it's been very tough. for us and for them. >> and so had two thriving restaurantsef pandemic, he had to lay off 80 workers. he tried when he had to do it. limited takeout service for

customers and free meals to deliver to those who can use them. donating about 20 mealsremain a day to seniors and first responders. he's doing what he can to help. >> it's time to work, time to make money and time to help. and i think now we have an opportunity to help. and especially for those people that really need our support now. >> i'm the manager for sycamore place. >> well, listen, how nice is it to get these meals donated to your residents here? >> fantastic. >> it's fabulous. it is fabulous. >> i have had people crying when i deliver the food. and giving me virtual hugs. obviously we can't do real hugs right now but the small things make a huge difference. >> for tracie and her fellow volunteers which is what the phrase we're all in this together really means. >> i'll be back with a few more. >> thank you, dear. >> sure. >> and off she goes.

something else to mention enzo has a second restaurant, doing the same thing there. 20 meals donated a day, six days a week, closed monday, 240 donated meals each week. ooed like to keep this going as long as he can. if you'd like to help, there's a gofundme page. >> i've known enzo a long time, big heart, that's great. the highway patrol couldn't believe it, a driver going 139 miles per hour. they call it straight up irresponsible. the chp wants to remind everyone they are out enforcing the speed limits despite the reduced number of cars on the road. well a lot of gray skies out there today so will tomorrow be any better? will we see the sun again,

now your accuweather forecast with sandhya patel. >> good evening, everyone, i'm

coming to you live from home tonight, and i want to show you a live picture from our exploratorium camera. seeing sunshine, a beautiful view looking back towards the eastern span of the bay bridge. we've had a blanket of clouds today, the temperatures in the upper 50s to mid-60s, below average for this time of year, 61 in the city. 64 in oakland. san jose 62 degrees. as we look at a view from our kgo roof camera cloudy skies, numbers anywhere from 64 in santa rosa to 61 in livermore. live doppler 7 showing you those clouds in association with the slow moving storm, still soaking southern california as you can see there, they're getting the beneficial rain and that will continue the next 24 hours. golden gate bridge camera, sunny and warmer for easter weekend. that warming will continue into next week. hour by hour forecast taking you into midnight you see the possibility of a few showers in the east and south bay. and then that's it. tomorrow morning we'll have the

clouds, the fog as we head into the afternoon hours it will be a mix of sunshine and clouds so we'll call it filtered sunshine for your friday. numbers first thing in the morning in the 40s, 50s so not going to be cold because of the blanket of clouds. and then in the afternoon we're going to bump up those temperatures away from the coast, low 70s inland. 70 in antioch. 69 in san jose. 65 oakland. 65 san rafael. 61 in the city and 69 in half moon bay. accuweather seven-day forecast, good friday, nice weather, upper 50s to low 70s. heading into easter weekend those temperatures trending higher, easter is looking beautiful with upper 70s inland, low 60s coastside and then next week, if you want, warmth and sunshine, you got it. low 80s for the warmest spots. hard to believe but those temperatures will be well above average by april standards. dan and kristen? >> now we're in business, sandhya.

thanks. >> thanks. >> that's true. an activist before there was whaso let's do the rightver chanthing, today.ow. let's stay at home. let's wash up. let's always keep our distance - please, six feet apart at least. let's look after ourselves, as well as others. it will all be worth it. we can all do our part. so those on the front line can do their part. and when this is over, we will all, continue, to thrive.

finally tonight lgbtq

pioneer phyllis lyon has died at her san francisco home. >> they were the first lesbian couple to be married in san francisco in 2004. by then mayor gavin newsom and newsom married them in 2008 first same-sex couple legally married in the state of california. >> that's phyllis wearing blue, together more than 50 years. >> i just learned a few hours ago one of my heroes phyllis lyon passed away, i had the privilege of being involved in a marriage ceremony between phyllis lyon and del mar tin, the couple had been together almost half a century. the manifestation of faith, love and devotion and yet they were denied on the basis of their sexual orientation the right to say two extraordinary words, i do. >> phyllis lyon was an author and a journalist. >> san francisco mayor london breed said she fought for a world in which people can marry

the person they love and live without fear of

tonight, the death toll now topping 16,000. new york state with more cases than any country in the world outside the u.s. the numbers staggering again tonight. for the third day in a row, new york reporting its deadliest day. 799 deaths in just the last 24 hours. inside the icu tonight. doctors using a last resort treatment on some patients. a heart surgeon helping patients in their 30s and 40s. his first day back after surviving the virus himself. outside new york tonight, the devastating toll on the health care workers growing. two nurses dying on the front lines. and the news coming in late today on coronavirus spreading through nursing homes in new york state alone. killing more than 1,200 residents. also tonight, the new research in on when this virus re