tv ABC7 News 500PM ABC November 13, 2020 5:00pm-5:31pm PST
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or call during business hours. i am here unfortunately to announce more sobering news. >> next at 5:00, rollbacks are coming to yet another bay area county. these are among the most extreme yet. also california's new travel advisory just in time for the holidays. we're all on the honor system. plus a look at the real-life struggles these days for health care workers on the covid front lines. and governor newsom's mea culpa for doing something he's been urging all of us not to do. >> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc7 news. we begin this friday with much of the bay area moving to shut down indoor dining as coronavirus cases spike. san francisco, santa clara, contra costa, and marin counties announced a rollback today in
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hopes of heading off the virus. >> our trends are not headed in a favorable direction for us, and similar to in march when we had a rapid increase in cases, we may be needing to take additional restrictions quickly. >> good evening. i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm dan ashley. thank you for joining us. we'll start off tonight in santa clara county where health officials announced plans to shut down indoor dining next week. this decision comes as the county expects to move back into the red tier, meaning other restrictions are on the way. >> reporter: more sobering news as covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise. santa clara county, which reported 362 new cases on friday, is expected to move back into the red tier as soon as next tuesday. and as a result, indoor dining will be suspended on the same day. >> it is absolutely imperative that we take action now, each and every one of us, in order to
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get through this. >> reporter: with rain and colder temps on the way, many restaurant owners throughout the region are trying to decide if it will be worth it to operate outside. randy from sushi confidential in san jose has been busy adding outdoor patio seating and heating in preparation for winter. >> three pergolas pushed together. we have a nice warm environment that's considered outdoor dining which will be safe for our customers and employees. >> reporter: over at santana row, the left bank family of restaurants, including meso mediterranean isn't just relying on in-person dining. >> people still want normalcy in their lives. >> reporter: to adapt, they're offering virtual only brands with special menus to attract customers for takeout. >> we found new ways to get our food into people's homes, and we want to continue to allow that dining experience to actually happen. >> reporter: as part of the red tier, indoor fitness centers can only operate at 10% capacity.
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wineries and card rooms will have to head outside, and indoor family activities such as bowling alleys will be shut down. >> we're going to need everybody's help. these numbers are going in the wrong direction. when i say numbers, i'm talking about people. >> reporter: santa clara county officials say they could end up in the purple tier by the end of the month if the current surge isn't quickly brought under control. in san jose, chris wynn, abc7 a news. >> numbers are actually people. contra costa county is also ordering more restrictions. starting tuesday at 8:00 a.m., indoor dining, indoor fitness centers and indoor concession stands must close. contra costa county was downgraded. it's seeing a surge of new infections. hospitalizations have hit a new high official haven't seen in weeks. >> indoor dining is one of the business sectors that is highly associated with outbreaks and the very nature of dining where people have to remove their masks to eat or drink poses a
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particular risk. >> indoor dining will go away in san francisco starting at midnight tonight. the city is also reducing capacity at gyms and movie theaters and pausing plans to reopen more high schools. it's happening even though the city is still in the state's least restrictive yellow tier. then there's this. tonight the state is issuing a joint travel advisory before the holidays. california, oregon, and washington are uniting to urge travelers to either cancel and stay home or quarantine for 14 days. abc7 news reporter kris reyes looks at how officials plan to keep travellers accountable. >> we believe californians will do the right thing throughout not just these holidays but moving forward as we respond to the surge in cases. >> trust. that's what state health officials hope will power their new travel advisory, asking anyone coming into california to quarantine for 14 days. the other hope, that all travelers are as ideal as julie deck, who's coming in from michigan and staying in the bay
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area for two months with her daughter. >> i stayed home, and i take my temperature every morning, packed my clothes and came. >> we follow all the advisories and, you know, do everything -- all the recommendations. >> reporter: so there are no covid-19 checkpoints anywhere at sfo. as a traveler, you can pretty much come and go as you please. they do enforce masks, rely heavily on education. over the next few weeks, they plan to roll out a set of new strategies to keep everyone safe. >> we're very focused on launching what we call air bubbles or travel corridors. these are bilateral agreements between sfo and a specific location. >> reporter: we pressed dr. mark galli on how the state plans to keep people accountable, especially in california is surrounded by covid-19 hot spots. just look at this arrivals board. l.a. county is in a high-risk tier. chicago just issued a stay at home advisory because of rising numbers. new jersey and new york are also facing new restrictions. >> if there's any indication that the travel advisory needs
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to be strengthened, we will consider that in the days and weeks to come. >> reporter: the travelers we talked to say they're being responsible, but many also told us they're quarantining give or take 14 days. >> if we don't have travel advisory, it's easy to just forget covid exists. >> reporter: in san francisco, kris reyes for abc7 news. >> abc7 news special correspondent dr. alok patel explained why calling for a 14-day quarantine for californians who come back into the state would send the right message. >> i think the messaging itself is important enough to get people to pay attention because when the northeastern states were first doing a 14-day mandate, other people in other parts of the country had this almost false perception that they were fine. they could travel around state lines and they could take trips. no big deal. but the minute you fly to massachusetts or new york, you all of a sudden think should i quarantine? what do i do? that's 14 days. maybe i shouldn't travel at all. and that's the right type of mentality we need to adopt out west because our cases are going
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up. >> meanwhile, california health care workers are experiencing significant emotional and mental impact from caring for patients during the ongoing pandemic. abc7 news reporter leslie brinkley talked with doctors, nurses and therapists about the fallout. >> reporter: doctors and nurses working on the front lines are ready to have a meltdown. 76% do not believe their mental health needs are being addressed according to a new survey just released by the california health care foundation. >> two out of three providers say they feel emotionally drained right now, and nearly as many are saying that they're burned out. i think it makes clear that health care providers across the state of california are really feeling the strain of working during the covid pandemic. >> the fear of taking this home to our families is huge, and it's very stressful. it's very fatiguing. i have hugged many a co-worker who just all of a sudden started crying. never in all my 30-plus years has it been like this.
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>> reporter: doctors describe the fear of seeing patients who could have covid. >> so, sure, we are having right now traumatic stress. >> reporter: there is also a fear of financial instability. 84% of emergency departments and 82% of pediatrician offices report a significant drop in patients. >> yes, we're physically exhausted. we're mentally exhausted. again, nurses are dealing with family issues as well as workplace issues. this is not ending, right? it's ongoing. we're now fearing a surge in the bay area. >> reporter: and there is still an ongoing shortage of supplies with half of providers saying they are still reusing ppe. what would help the most? >> we've got to stay home. we've got to not have parties. >> reporter: it's not just health care providers that are feeling the stress. 90% of them said they're seeing more anxiety and depression amongst their patients. in the east bay, i'm leslie brinkley, abc7 news.
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governor newsom is acknowledging that he attended a big birthday dinner at the french laundry restaurant in napa valley with several other people. the event was reportedly held outdoors but state guidelines limit gatherings that bring people from different households in a single place. the governor issued a statement saying, quote, while our family followed the restaurant's health protocols and took safety precautions, we should have modeled better behavior and not joined the dinner. we'll have more on this coming up ahead on abc7 news at 6:00. and coming up here, the bay area right now is seeing its first rain in a long time, and more is on the way. abc7 news meteorologist sandhya patel is here with that. that's next. also ahead, budget shortfalls and the plan to consolidate high schools in santa monica coun sonoma county. and the local mission to keep plants from going
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happening now, a light rain is falling across the bay area. you can see the rain on the windshields here. the commute home could be a bit slick. abc7 news meteorologist sandhya patel is here now with more on what's happening outside. hi, sandhya. >> hi there. yes, it's a welcome sight right now, ama and dan. we have rain. golden gate bridge slick. take it easy out there on the roadways. make sure you turn your lights on. definitely low visibility as well as the showers are moving through. so as a take a look at live doppler 7, you will see that the focus is on the east bay and the san francisco peninsula into the south bay. treat-level radar, dublin boulevard, 580 dublin is wet going into livermore. down the peninsula from half moon bay to portola valley, we are also seeing the slippery roadways. in the south bay, alum rock, tully, definitely seeing the wet weather as we had expected for this evening commute.
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san francisco, daly city, street level radar, lake merced boulevard. really light stuff. in the sierra, it is actually turning to snow. now, all roads leading up to tahoe requiring chains except for 80 at this moment. it's a level one on our storm impact scale. scattered showers, a wet evening commute, and gusty winds. those winds, novato, half moon bay to 24 miles an hour. higher elevations even stronger winds. those temperatures, they're down in the 50s and 60s. los gatos at 47 degrees. if you're going out of town, tomorrow mainly sunny. breezy at the coast. low 60s at our local airports. now, honolulu looking at scattered showers. this is the hawaiian airlines travel fork. 86 degrees. new york city, 53 degrees and sunny. los angeles, fog to sun, 70 degrees. here's our hour by hour forecast. 6:00 tonight you're still going to have those showers around so hang on to the umbrellas. 7:00 p.m. as well. then it winds down. the mountains will continue to
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see the snow through tonight. as we go into tomorrow morning, the biggest concern is going to be dense fog developing for the early morning hours. in the sierra, the winter weather advisory continues until 10:00 p.m. tonight. windy conditions. up to seven inches for our highest peaks. tomorrow morning here, watch out for that fog. visibility will be low. mid-30s to the upper 40s. it is going to be chilly tomorrow morning, but tomorrow afternoon turning out to be a nice day. 56 in half moon bay. 64 in fairfield. santa rosa milder than today, 63. oakland, san jose. as you check out the accuweather forecast, morning fog and chill will give way to sunshine. sprinkles are possible in the north around sonoma county sunday, but i really wouldn't count on canceling or changing your uoutdoor plans. low 60s to low 70s. warming continues on monday, and then a level 1 system for tuesday, wednesday, wet weather,
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cooler conditions. gusty independent withes. lingering chance into thursday. then we bring back the sun on friday. so really overall it's a nice pattern. we get some wet weather much needed here tonight and for your weekend, looking good. dan and ama. >> yeah, a little rain, a little break. sounds great. thanks. fire gutted an abandoned building on the edge of the oakland es tu ari. while the cause of this fire is under investigation, firefighters say it was potentially caused by squatters. the building had been tagged as unsafe for occupancy in august and was set to be demolished by the city. big cuts today for the golden gate bridge district. 146 bus and ferry employees will be laid off in january. the alternative was to raise tolls by as much as $2. the district has been losing $2 million a week because so few people are using the bus or going across the bridge. in sonoma county, a school district is being torn into two directions by the students and parents of up to three high
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schools that may be forced to merge. the campuses include laguna high school in sebastopol, nearby an ali high school, and elmo lee know high school. as wayne freedman explains, funding is the issue, and passions are the poison. >> reporter: it's hardly the ideal high school campus. in fact, after a few seconds inside, you realize it's not a high school at all. >> your classroom is your bedroom? >> yep, unfortunately. >> reporter: in a non-covid world, brooklyn hayes would have spent her senior year on the campus of elmo lee know high school in forestville. that's not the worst of it for her. next year, the woeft sonoma unified school district is looking hard at closing this campus and moving its 500 students to larger an ali high seven miles away. >> we're rivals, and why -- it's honestly astonishing to me that the fact that the schools coming together is even an option because the cultures are so different. >> reporter: the irony is this used to be a one high school
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community. when the two high schools split off in 1965, people were upset. it was about pop ulation then. essentially it's about population now and money. and the district says saving programs. >> band, art, dance, agriculture. >> reporter: jeannie bassett fernandez chairs the school board. she says bringing el molino into an ali will save $2 million and keep the district in the black. >> for our state to be 41st in the nation with dollars spent on children in school is absolutely ludicrous. >> reporter: but there are more issues about how this came about. el molino resents the board began discussing this issue three weeks ago and appears to be a fait accompli. book lynn's mother says they've not had a say. >> i think three weeks notice on this size of a decision is absolutely insanity. >> this has been discussed for over ten years. we understand people feel like
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they haven't been involved. they've chosen to not be involved. >> reporter: county supervisor linda hopkins hopes to raise money now with a transit occupancy tax. >> i really wish the board would slow down and start to look at more creative options. >> reporter: slow down and everybody calm down. >> no, i do not like this at all. >> i'm really sorry that there is such heated discourse. >> reporter: in sonoma county, wayne freedman, abc7 news. coming up, why local experts say if you want to help endangered animals, you need to start by if your dry eye symptoms keep coming back, inflammation in your eye might be to blame. looks like a great day for achy, burning eyes over-the-counter eye drops typically work by lubricating your eyes and may provide temporary relief. ha! these drops probably won't touch me. xiidra works differently, targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. what is that? xiidra, noooo!
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it can provide lasting relief. xiidra is the only fda approved treatment specifically for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. one drop in each eye, twice a day. don't use if you're allergic to xiidra. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. after using xiidra, wait 15 minutes before reinserting contacts. got any room in your eye? talk to an eye doctor about twice-daily xiidra. i prefer you didn't! xiidra. not today, dry eye.
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pac-12 is reeling from covid cancellations. for the second week in a row, the cal football team had its game canceled, this time because of problems at arizona state. the sun devils have a rash of positive tests, including the head coach. the ucla/utah game was also called off because the utes have an outbreak.
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so the pac-12 adjusted and now cal will play ucla sunday morning at the rose bowl. the bay area is known as an yep center of the animal rescue movement, but soon one nonprofit group could be contributing to that effort in a different way. >> that way is by rescuing the habitat that supports the animals themselves. >> reporter: for more than half a century, they've protected exotic plants from the threat of extinction. but walking into the nursery at san francisco's botanical garden, you get the idea the buildings themselves should be on an endangered list. curator ryan gyu says the wooden tables once used to nurture seedlings from the far corners of the world are now barely standing, overcome by not so exotic weeds and damage to the shelter itself. >> you can see we've had issues with some vandalism due to people crashing in through the ceiling. >> it's kind of held together with duct tape at this point. >> reporter: and with it, says director stephanie linder, is
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the garden's critical mission. over the decades, the grounds inside golden gate park have become a sanctuary for plants threatened by everything from climate change to clear-cutting. these wax palms from colombia are believed to be the first to bloom in north america. along with the plants come the life they support. >> people get excited about saving endangered animals, but what they don't often realize is that saving those animals depends on saving their habitat. >> reporter: to do that, the garden is planning to break ground this spring on a new $6 million nursery center. the state of the art facility will allow the garden to become part of a worldwide rescue effort through a partnership with botanical gardens conservation international. cure rater ryan gyu recently returned from kenya and says much of the african continent is facing severe challenges. >> a lot of the tree species, especially ones of high medicinal value, those tend to be cut, especially the larger specimens. >> reporter: because san francisco's temperatures and fog mimic the climate of many milder
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ecosystems, the garden could become an epicenter for restoration. >> we can be a refuge for plants that are threatened in their natural habitat. we can be a backup population here. >> it's a really interesting approach. the botanical garden has raised roughly 80% through the money it needs for the nursery, but they're still in a final fund-raising push. if you'd like to help, we have links on abc7news.com. still ahead, the new kamala blend coffee in vallejo. some call it a good cup of joe.
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6:00, thanksgiving struggles are about more than whether it's safe to socialize. for a lot of families, it's about whether they can afford to put a thanksgiving dinner on the table. tonight you're going to meet the people helping make it happen. as many as one out of three unemployment claims filed in california may be fraudulent. michael finney works to help people with legitimate claims, all coming up in half an hour on abc7 news at 6:00. but finally here tonight, a special shout-out to kamala harris as vice president-elect. >> our abc7 news community journalist melissa pixcar has the story of a vallejo coffee roaster and his unique celebration of the historical moment. >> good morning. i came to get some of the blend named the kamala harris coffee blend. yay, kamala. >> it's a small, family owned company. we thought it would be nice to celebrate, you know, a historical moment in the u.s. instead of just giving some
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regular coffee, maybe we could do something a little special. my father being from jamaica and mother being from india, which are also two very great countries for coffee, i thought, that would be an interesting combo. why don't we try to do something which would be like our vice president-elect. i mean strong, bold. >> very nice. i'm not sure what notes to put with it, but it's a very nice blend, and i'm going to be back for more. >> oh, i love it. >> we plan to keep it forever. >> whoo! >> i like it. >> yeah, that's fun. all right. world news tonight with david muir is next. thank you for joining us. i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm dan ashley. for sandhya patel, all of us here, we appreciate your time. we'll see you again in half an hour.
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tonight, the coronavirus emergency unfolding across the u.s. new measures this evening in new york city. the staggering new numbers just in tonight -- more than 193,000 new cases in just the last 24 hours. new york's restrictions going into effect in hours. new york city's mayor tonight alerting families that schools could shut down, turning to remote learning as early as monday. in massachusetts, they're re-opening a field hospital. in nevada, converting a parking garage to treat patients. mask mandates tonight ordered in ohio and utah. new mexico ordering residents to stay home for two weeks. and late today, the trump administration on two vaccines and the hope that most americans will have access to a vaccine by next april. also t
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