now, your health, your safety, this is abc 7 news. well, this probably is not what officials had in mind for this weekend in the bay area. >> crowds of people out in public, social distancing probably not. some of them wearing masks, others not. hello and thank you for joining us, i'm eric thomas. >> and i'm dion lim coming live from my home. now, another grim milestone today for the united states. we now have the most deaths of any country from the coronavirus topping 20,000. italy has the second most. there are more than half a million confirmed cases in the u.s. now. new york's total alone is more than any other country with over

181,000 cases. outside of the u.s., spain has the most people infected with over 161,000. california has topped 21,000 cases, which is the fifth most in the united states according to the tracker from johns hopkins university. >> here's our latest look at the impact of coronavirus around the bay area. right now there are 4,862 cases, up 59 from yesterday. the disease has killed 133 people including three more since yesterday. santa clara county still has the most cases with 1,484 and 50 deaths. san francisco has the next most total cases 857. >> north of the bay area, both lake and mendocino counties report having four total cases each and so far there are no reported covid-19 deaths in lake and mendocino counties. >> oakland is trying to give people a chance to safely exercise while at the same time getting them to practice social

distancing. other cities seem to be doing everything they can to keep people at home this easter holiday weekend, but whether they're going to listen and follow dreirections that remain to be seen. cornell barnard is live in san francisco with more on this story. what are you seeing out there? >> reporter: yeah, hey, erk, hard to believe, but yeah, we did see some violators of social distancing here at the ferry building earlier today, but most people are getting the message. it really seems to be everywhere you look. across the bay, oakland trying to give people their space. >> so wer're on like, i don't know, four weeks or so of us driving each other crazy. >> reporter: gabriel thompson from oakland is taking a breather grabbing a walk and fresh air with daughter layla, but that's not always easy or safe. >> we try to get out, and you know, they bike, but it's -- you know, these streets are busy, and the sidewalks are narrow. >> reporter: the city of oakland has heard those complaints. >> what we saw is that people were on sidewalks up and down

the street getting too close o'each other. >> reporter: starting this weekend, oakland is making more room for residents to social distance by shutting down more than a dozen neighborhood streets across the city for cars. >> we want to make room for people to walk around the block, to take a walk to the drugstore, what have you, and do that in a manner where they won't be coming in contact with other people. >> reporter: the berry family likes the extra space. >> to be able to ride their bike someplace flat without cars around, it's great. >> but this is a good thing, especially like for me today because i didn't want to walk, and i didn't want to drive my truck, so i'm going to get on my bike and ride. >> reporter: in san francisco, reminders about keeping that six-foot distance are everywhere. despite that, we saw people on the embarcadero near the ferry building farmers market clearly not practicing social distancing. many people are getting a not so

subtle warning. firefighters were out at ocean beach. mcclarn park, and even the marina green to remind people to keep their distance. >> this is a holiday weekend. let's make it a memorable holiday weekend. >> reporter: the fire department urging residents to resist the temptation of gathering this easter weekend. >> think about some things we could do besides going to the parks and beaches, that doesn't include going to another family's residence. >> reporter: actor adam fer rar ra posting this message on twitter. >> we're all in this together. stay home, i don't like it either. i'm driving my wife crazy. >> yep. >> see. >> reporter: yeah, you know, the police and fire department said neighborhood hikes, walks are perfectly fine but not if you have to get in your car and drive there to do it. we're live in san francisco, cornell barnard abc 7 news. parking lots on both sides of the golden gate bridge are closed this weekend to prevent overcrowding while the number of

visitors to the landmark has dropped since the shelter in place order. officials want to make sure people stay away and practice social distancing. signs have also gone up as remin remind ers. results from the first week of coronavirus testing center have been released. of the 715 people tested, at least 37 had positive results. the drive through operation screened 940 people. of those tested, 348 were essential workers, primarily first responders and health care workers. to get a free test, you must have had a fever and be symptomatic. the testing site at the fire station on stevenson boulevard near eureka drive is open daily from 10:00 to 5:00 p.m. or until they max out of tests for the day. a group of east bay volunteers hosted a donation drive for personal protective equipment today. operation love just finished up two days collecting gloves, masks and other items at danville's village theater and art gallery. one of the organizers says this

is just the beginning. >> we're going to keep out here until all the nurses, all the retirement homes, all the meals on wheels, everybody has some protection. so please, come help operation love because i'm a nurse of 34 years, and we are here to help and serve. >> you can help with donating supplies including making masks by finding operation love on facebook. operation love will hold another donation drive in livermore on friday and saturday. tonight more than 20,000 people have died in the u.s. from coronavirus. more than any other country. that is according to johns hopkins university. new york's governor says his state may be flattening the curve, but as abc news reporter adam dimber tells us other states are preparing for a possibe surge in cases. >> reporter: more than half a million cases of coronavirus now confirmed in the u.s., and that number still growing with more than 8,600 deaths in new york city alone, the pandemic taking

its toll on first responders. >> it's weighing on me. >> reporter: but new york state may be seeing the curve begin to flatten after weeks of social distancing and stay at home orders. >> the number of hospitalizations appears to have hit an apex, and the apex appears to be a plateau. >> reporter: new york governor andrew cuomo with this warning. >> the worst thing that can happen is we make a misstep and we let our emotions get ahead of our logic and fact and we go through this again in any manner, shape, or form. >> reporter: president trump now looking to create a task force focused on reopening the country. >> this is the biggest decision i'll ever make. >> reporter: according to a "new york times" report new federal projections warn of a spike in coronavirus infections if shelter in place orders were lifted after only 30 days. a second wave likely spiking

mid-summer. >> i would hope that by november we would have thinks under such control that we could have a real degree of normality. >> reporter: experts say the key to reopening will be testing. tests like these drive through sites in california, checking people for covid-19 antibodies with a simple finger pick. so many cities still preparing for a shurj urge in patients. boston's first field hospital now open. >> we are about to have a very difficult couple of weeks here in massachusetts. >> reporter: detroit also opening a new field hospital aticipating the need for more beds. covid-19 has taken a financial toll on millions of americans who are now out of work, but relief is on the way. according to the u.s. treasury, the first stimuluse, som rie fo boeing employees. the company announcing that it's going to be restarting operations in a limited capacity in washington state. the company dealing with mostly defense contracts and the department of defense, those operations have been deemed a

matter of national security and critical. abc news, washington. 100 more sailors have been diagnosed with coronavirus aboard the u.s.s. roosevelt. a majority of the sailors who have tested negative have been moved ashore. last week you may remember the ship's captain, brett crozier was fired after leaking a letter to the san francisco chronicle about the outbreak. his removal sparked outrage causing the navy secretary who fired him to step down. a man who was not wearing a facemask was forcefully removed by police from a bus in philadelphia. video taken yesterday shows four officers removing the man. police say he had refused to leave when the driver asked. last week local transportation authority issued a policy requiring all passengers to wear masks. when officers arrived he refused again. official nos now say due to thi

incident they will no longer enforce the policy. the oakland zoo is just one of many places closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, and it depends heavily on visitors. what it's now doing to make up for the money it's losing. easter weekend is here, but the celebrations are much different due to the coronavirus. see how the pope is conducting holy week services. and i'm meteorologist drew tuma, a cool start to the weekend thanks to a lot of cloud cover in spots. we'll take a look at how easter sunday is shaping up in the accuweat

sharing a picture of seven people he says are from fremont who were busted after they made a trip to buy some alcohol. it is not considered an essential need to travel and a violation of the order.

each person was cited and received a thousand dollar ticket. in order to support struggling restaurants, san francisco has issued an emergency order to temporarily place a cap on the delivery fees from third-party companies. since delivery services is the only option for customers other than takeout, the order limits the fee companies like uber, post mates and door dash can charge restaurants to 15%. fees typically range from 10 to 30%. the emergency order will last through the duration of the shelter in place order. the oakland zoo is actively looking for new revenue streams while protecting its wildlife from coronavirus. the zoo has been closed to the public because of the shelter in place order. about 90% of the zoo's finances come from admissions, but muchee revenue, the zoo has been forced to lay off more than 100 part-time employees. in the meantime, the zoo has started a subscription based behind the scenes video series remaining employees like public

safety, are complying social distancing measures. the zoo is act ively watching the animals for symptoms. >> we wear masks around the majority of our animals to prevent our animals spreading a disease to us and us getting our aimals sick. >> currently all the animals are healthy, a status the zoo hopes to keep as long as the coronavirus is spreading. well, we are seeing all sorts of creative ways people are helping out. >> sometimes you don't even need to leave the room. what a northern california man did to help those on the front lines fighting the coronavirus. and i'm meteorologist drew tuma a cool start to the weekend, but i'm tracking warmer weather ahead. we'll have the fore we're all doing our part by staying at home. that could mean an increase in energy bills. you can save by setting your heat to 68 or lower... unplugging and turning off devices when not in use... or just letting the sun light your home. stay well and keep it golden.

with strict restrictions leaving many to celebrate easter at home, pope francis held his easter vigil in an almost empty st. peter's basilica in vatican city. millions joined him via tv and radio. they will be streaming his easter sunday mass on youtube tomorrow at 3:00 a.m. pacific time. tomorrow abc 7 news is helping the bay area find faith even amid the shelter in place. you can watch at 11:00 a.m. here on abc 7, abc7news.com, and our facebook and youtube pages. a man in northern california is running towards a purpose to help those on the front line of

the coronavirus pandemic. the 60-year-old began his epic journey in placerville. his goal is to continue running on his treadmill through monday with a mask on for a total of 150 miles. he wants to raise awareness sho personal protective equipment. >> sewing mask and also for people to look at their basement, attics, workshop, back of their pickup truck, you have gloves. it's quantity. don't bother by the quality, let somebody else decide if it's quality or not. we will use them. >> he is encouraging people to cheer him on. he's running in isolation but in front of a window at a business in downtown placerville. >> and we wish him good luck. a teleconferencing site is reporting a record number of meetings. microsoft teams said on thursday it reached a new daily record of 2.7 billion meetings in just one day. the company says total video calls grew by more than 1,000 %

in march. microsoft also researched how the countries that are most active on teams used it. norway and the netherlands turned on video the most, about 60% of the time. that figure is 38% in the u.s. we do have some other news today, an earthquake rattled the sierra, the u.s. geological survey said it hit after 7:30 this morning near the town of bodie, 90 miles from south lake tahoe. it measured 5.2 in magnitude. there are no reports of any damage or injuries. all right, a little cool out there this saturday, but looking ahead to easter sunday, drew tuma joining us live from his home with more on the forecast. drew. >> yeah, some of us were stuck in that cloud cover all day today, it really brought temperatures down compared to yesterday, but in the days ahead, we will find not only brighter but warmer weather headed our way. live doppler 7 right now is showing you with that cloud cover overhead, we're not

finding any moisture at this moment. what i'm actually going to do, i'm going to add the satellite on top. watch as the cloud layer banked up right along the coastline is just persistent throughout the entire day. we're going to zoom in off the coast of the north bay, over the past couple of hours, and you see that swirl, near point reyes, that is what helped keep the cloud cover in place for a lot of the day, just kind of enhancing our marine layer and keeping those cool temperatures with us as well. the picture from our golden gate bridge camera, overcast skies from this vantage point. we were able to get some sunshine in the south bay. pollen is certainly becoming an issue over the next couple of days. tree pollen is at high levels, and now grass pollen, it is now on the rise going from low to medium levels over the past couple of days, and it will stay there for the few days ahead. our main offenders of tree pollen are cedar, juniper and oak trees. look at the 24-hour temperature change. below where we were this time

yesterday in most cities by eight degrees in santa rosa, six degrees in concord, four degrees cooler in half moon bay. so today a lot of us were stuck in the 50s, if not low 60s. 60 in oakland, 55 in the city, 62 in san jose with a little bit of sunshine in the afternoon, 59 in santa rosa. the warm spot, brentwood with that sunshine early able to hit 71 right now the. overnight tonight, that cloud cover going to hang tough. as you plan your easter sunday tomorrow, the 12-hour day planner, you notice a lot of cloud cover first thing in the morning, but it looks like the clouds will erode away a bit faster tomorrow than they did today. so decreasing clouds late in the morning, and by the afternoon it should be a brighter day compared to today with temperatures in the 50s along the coast, 60s around the bay and our warmest spots going into the low 70s. so highs tomorrow for easter. we'll see about 70 in antioch, 75 in cloverdale where we do see

sunshine faster. it's still cool in san francisco tomorrow, 65 in oakland, 68 in san jose, and 58 the high in half moon bay. so here's the accuweather seven-day forecast, planning the next seven days for you, morning clouds to sun on our sunday. brighter monday especially into tuesday. most cities well into the 70s, but that warm weather goes bye buy bye on thursday. friday and saturday on the seven-day forecast we do have a chance of a light scattered shower moving back in. >> all right, drew, thank you very much. okay. time now for sports. chris nguy chris alvarez joining us live from his home. >> it's been one month since the nba suspended its season. we'll look back on sports history. plus, the creative way a pro baseball league tried

now abc 7 sports with chris alvar alvarez. >> it has been exactly one month since the nba shut their season down after rudy gobert contracted coronavirus. as athletes get ready to return to the games eventually, they've been very active on social media. that includes stephen curry who had a talk with a former teammate on instagram live. >> what team or player on that team that you know is guarding you do you look at and be like i'm getting 60 tonight? >> ooh. everybody. >> oh! >> i speak forll of us except steph's opponents when i say i can't wait for that to happen again. on this date april 11th, 1950, he's been affiliated with the team for the last 60 years, the longest stint a single franchise

in nba history. played 11 years and then as a head coach led to a title in 1975. he was inducted into the basketball hall of fame last year. time flies when you're having fun on this date in 2000, the giants ballpark on the corner of 3rd and king opened its doors for the first ever regular season game. the giants hosted the dodgers that day, the l.a. got the best of the giants, though, kevin elster hit three home runs. dodgers won the game 6-5. bay area athletes continue to do their best during these tough times. a's pitcher liam hendricks and his wife christi sent 200 meals to the alameda and oakland police departments. it was a way to say thank you for those who keep us safe every day. we're seeing a lot of tstche ball behind his back, shows an empty hand and then fires a strike. a lot of people on twitter call this a balk. it looks like a magic trick to me. the chinese professional

baseball league tried to open their season today in taiwan. the home team tried to create a stadium atmosphere with robots playing music and mannequins as fans in the stand. despite all these efforts, mother nature stopped the festivities with a rain out. it created a way to try and get things going. we'll wait and see what happens here stateside as we don't know when we're returning to sports, but we'll keep an eye on it. >> it is an a for effort, not only for the baseball team but for you too, chris. thanks. >> i have been in crowds that made that much noise too. next on abc 7 news at 5:00, can't throw a big party? the party can come to you. how a local deejay is making sure people can still celebrate while social distancing. >> i dedicated two pieces of artwork to people who served and 911 dispatchers. >> stay positive, stay healthy, stay strong. it brings out a cheerful positive environment, and just

seeing people walk by smile, just brings together a sense of

a local dj is bringing joy to kids and family during the shelter in place by bringing the music to them. >> eric this is a great story, two weeks ago rye owe started drive up dj. this weekend he's visiting about 100 homes in moraga where he'll lead dances, games and activities from people's driveways or their front yards. >> a lot of dj's want to just go online and live stream, but i think interaction in a very safe manner, people are missing that because everything is online these days so i really wanted to try to find that spot where people could try to do something with themselves and get some exercise in a safe manner. ♪ >> you can just head to

driveupdj.com to request his services. he is focusing tonight, the grim milestone as we come on. america now the deadliest nation in confirmed coronavirus cases. more than 20,000 have died from covid-19. the u.s. surpassing italy. the governor of new york reporting another 783 dead, calling it a, quote, horrific rate. confusion after new york city's mayor announced the largest school district in the nation is closed for the school year. rnay no decisiohas been made. the new hot zones. in maryland, more than 1,500 new cases in 48 hours. the governor saying the most difficult days are ahead. in texas, increasing travel restrictions for those coming into the state, as they scramble to build field hospitals. and two sides tonight on easter sunday. one pastor who said he would go