right now at 4:30, a major reversal of the stay-at-home order, expected to be lifted state wide. how soon it could happen as bay area businesses struggle to survive. and working on the front lines, growing concerns many essential workers are expressing as the state considers changing the vaccine rollout tiers. plus, tracking it all. rain, potential flooding, even snow, but before all of that, a windy start to our workweek as "today in the bay" starts right now. a very good monday morning. hope you had a great weekend.

thank you very much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm sierra johnson in for marcus washington. rain, rain and more rain. i think that's what i saw on your seven-day forecast. >> yes, and at least we do have some breaks between today one of those days where we do catch a break from some of the downpours. we also still have the high winds across the bay area. we're watching out for that, but the rain returns tomorrow, and we could have some very heavy rain rolling our way along with some gusty winds as we track this storm system, still well off the coast. it is going to tap into some subtropical moisture, first, really significant atmospheric river we had in quite a long time. we'll talk about that in a few minutes. mike what's going on as folks get ready to head out on this monday morning? >> folks better bring a parka, something for the rain and the wind. live look at the bay bridge toll plaza camera, wet roadways, wet pavement, and we have the flags

flapping. as we look at the map no problem for the sensors. across the span as you're traveling east to west, the wind is going north to south. we're looking at the rest of the bay, through san francisco, kari is talking about that around the bay, i'll let you know what chp says as well. back to you guys. >> thank you. it is news businesses across the bay area are waiting to hear. the governor is expected to end the state's stay-at-home order, word to come down as early as today. the california restaurant association issued a letter to its members saying a senior official confirmed the news with the governor's office. >> in the meantime, over the weekend, the bay area's icu availability jumped to more than 23%. that's actually a big improvement as the region was well below 15% just a few days ago. it remains unclear what happens next. previously each county was on that tier system, and it is unknown if that phase will be

put back into play. well, here you can see the number of icu patients holding steady, fairly steady over the recent weeks in the bay area. this goes back to just after christmas. then over there you can see the projections over the next four weeks are sharp decline, a steady decline. now, this graph shows us the positivity rate over the last 14 days. on january 11th, the positivity rate for the state was at 13.5%, but slowly over the last two weeks it has dipped. advocates for members of the phase 1b vaccine distribution list are worried they'll have t shots. right now the state is considering giving priority to older residents, anyone 65 or older. sacramento bee reports it could take until june to get that age group fully vaccinated, leaving essential employees like teachers, grocery store clerks, farm workers as well waiting until then. state officials have not

officially made that move yet, but do say it makes sense given the age group's higher rate of hospitalization and deaths when infected. in the south bay, good samaritan hospital is accused of offering los gatos teachers covid-19 vaccines setting off a problematic series of events. a hospital representative says approximately 65 doses were offered to the school district after the hospital tried and failed to find anyone in the phase 1a category that needed the already thawing vaccine. santa clara county says the hospital needed to send in a plan. they contended it was filling open vaccine appointments according to state guidelines but later acknowledged it made a mistake. to an emotional deployment, the state office of emergency services is turning to a system it usually uses during wildfire season to get help where it is needed during the pandemic. even though the state's situation may be improving, a serious risk ks with a

member of the alameda fire department who just returned from the central valley. >> reporter: there are some smiles in group shots with his colleagues at memorial hospital. in photos shared by alameda county firefighter carl denier you see the camaraderie and the elaborate protective gear they have to use. >> they had beds in broom closets and anywhere they could fit. in the er, they had about nine beds. the icu, only four. >> reporter: carl is a fire truck engineer and paramedic. on this deployment, he saw firsthand how devastating covid-19 is. >> what i learned is how this disease will pretty much create scar tissue in the lungs and what it will do is that it just removes all your usable space in your lungs to breathe. >> reporter: he is one of nearly a dozen members of the alameda county fire department deployed to help hospitals that are stretched thin. along with los banos, department

paramedics have been sent to merced and lodhi and more likely to be sent. >> we're going to look at doing federal deployments. they come down from the california office of emergency services, so we're responding to those requests. >> reporter: he says he's used to being deployed across the state to support other crews during wildfire season, but this assignment is unlike any he's experienced. he shared a journal entry about one patient who passed away after the med team spent 45 minutes trying to save her. >> we moved her to a separate room, the family was called to come in. a short time later her adult son came, all we would say is, i'm sorry, so sorry. >> as physically and as emotionally draining as that assignment was, firefighter carl denyer says he will go out on another deployment. he says he knows how much hospitals need the help. sergio quintana, nbc 11 news. now let's take you outside to show you the current conditions in the bay area.

that windy weather already moving in, and some good news, much needed rain is set to stay for the days to come. meteorologist kari hall is timing it all out for us. >> and we are in between the weather systems. i wanted to take a closer look at this oakland camera you can see pointed towards the bay bridge. it is shaking around, so you do need to make sure you are very careful with those high winds that are still gusting, even as the weather system that we had yesterday starts to roll out of the bay area. we can still see some spotty rain as we take a look at the radar of some of these spotty showers moving across the region. but still some snow coming down for the sierra. we're going to see some of the rain tapering off today, but still the high winds, especially near the coastline, up until about 10:00 this morning. after that we'll have a lighter breeze and sunshine for today. and once again, this is our break before our next storm system comes in. we'll get a look at our wind forecast, how much rain and how much snow we'll see in the

sierra as well as the bay area hills. that's coming up in a few minutes. mike, that wind advisory up for those bay area bridges. >> that's right. so you're well advised. hold on, folks. you might get pushed around. the map shows you the highlighting of the different portions. it is very light, i know. on the coast side, you see that yellow highlighting. that's where the winds are really gusty, registering on the weather index for the impact on highway 1. on the right, white and pink, that's where there is possibility for a little bit of snow, maybe some frosty conditions, just keep that in mind, no major problems for our freeways. this crash on highway 4 eastbound has resulted in the crash that should be in the center divide. might have to move to the shoulder, i'll let you know if we hear about a traffic break. no other problems, so you're getting a break heading across the be back to now. fraud fallout. still ahead on "today in the bay," the thousands of bank accounts one company is freezing

as the unemployment scandal across the state grows. plus, another casualty of the pandemic, the number of godiva locations closing across the u.s. as sales slump. you're watching "today in the bay." bay."

good monday morning. right now at 4:41, we're going to still have the breezy winds at about 20 to 30 miles per hour this morning. but the winds calm down today.

especially later on this afternoon. still might be gusty along the coastline. get ready for our new storm rolling in tomorrow, the winds will pick up very quickly by tomorrow afternoon into the evening and winds are going to be even higher over 40 to 60 miles per hour. we'll talk about that and the rain in the forecast coming up. talking about those frosty winds we may have an issue for the bridge. we look at the san mateo bridge, so far the traffic flows smoothly. the bay bridge crosswind advisory and the same for the san mateo bridge. and familiar with all bridges in the area, let's check in with dom. >> good morning, i am dominic chu from cnbc global headquarters. i do know the bridges in the bay area. but wall street is set to open higher this morning, ahead of the busiest week of earnings season. it was a mixed session on friday with the dow and the s&p 500

ending in the red. but the nasdaq did close at a record high. all three indices did post gains for the week with the nasdaq up a whopping 4% for its best week since november. now, in focus this week we have economic data on housing, also durable goods, unemployment, and that first look at fourth quarter gross domestic product. also the federal reserve holds a two-day policy meeting starting tomorrow. more than a fifth of the companies in the s&p 500 will report earnings this week including big tech names that you know. apple, facebook, tesla, and microsoft just to name a few. godiva plans to close all 128 of its stores in north america by the end of march. the chocolatier saying lower sales are happening because fewer people are shopping in person during the virus pandemic. godiva has seen growth from online sales and grocery and retail stores but the company hasn't said how many employees will be affected. it operates around 5,000 chocolate shops in around 100

countries. from chocolate to chicken. chick-fil-a is stepping up that fight in the fast food chicken wars, introducing a grilled version of its spicy chicken sandwich today. chicken may be the hottest item in the fast food biz these days. ten major chains launched one of those sandwiches in the past few months as restaurants try to cash in on changing consumer tastes. surveys do show that the number of customers who ate a chicken sandwich last year, guys, 21%, that outpaced burgers. those are the latest headlines from cnbc. laura and cierra, back to you. any chicken sandwich i eat would have to be crispy and spicy. back over to you. >> you're just making me hungry and it is early in the morning, dom. >> it is early. but it sounds good. thank you. >> that and chocolate. okay. well, new this morning, research by ucfs is getting more insight on who is most likely to

suffer the deadly consequences of covid-19. the study published in the chronicle indicates that cooks, packaging machine operators, agricultural workers, bakers and construction laborers are among the riskiest jobs. sewing machine operators, shipping and receiving clerks, maintenance workers, customer service workers, truck drivers, and maids and house cleaners also said to have a high risk of death. the author suggests employees in these industries should be moved up in line to get their covid-19 vaccines first. not backing down, coming up next on "today in the bay," the all new threat one bay area yoga shot owner is making after coming under fire for remaining open and defying public health orders. we'll talk about the investigation now being launched when we return. we'll be right back.

welcome back. 4:48 right now. happening now, many living in the santa cruz mountains are being told to be prepared to leave at any moment. that's the message from cal fire as heavy rain and wind expected to hit the santa cruz mountains starting tomorrow night. the evacuation warnings are in place for people living in parts of the san lorenzo valley and the north coast of santap warni people of possible mudslides in the area that have been damaged

from the czu complex fire. it was just a week that the fire erupted there. and we have winds and you say they're returning, kari. >> we talk about atmospheric rivers near these bands some of low lying moisture, flowing across the ocean into the bay area, bringing in some really heavy rain. it has a huge impact for our coastal mountains, which wring out a lot of the moisture. i've highlighted some of the burn scar areas under a flash flood watch, that includes some of the fires that we had in the north bay and those areas shaded in green, so you do need to be on alert as this next storm system comes in, starting tomorrow afternoon. so as we look at our weather forecast, we are dry today, the atmospheric river begins tomorrow, and it is going to bring in some intense rain as well as some high winds that could gust over 60 miles per hour in some spots. it is also going to bring in that heavy rainfall with the potential of those debris flows

and burn scar areas and some snow on some of our bay area hills. and some really heavy snow for the sierra. let's get through the forecast, hour by hour, today, once again, we're mostly clear. and then we start to see some of those light showers moving into parts of the north bay by noon tomorrow. this just fills in on the radar as we're going to see a lot more of this widespread rain, potentially some really high winds as well as we go into tomorrow evening. and looking at the rainfall totals, most of us are looking like at least an inch of rain, possibly over two inches of rain in some spots and maybe even higher along the coastline. also look at how much snow we're expecting -- excuse me -- for parts of the sierra as we go through the week. the potential of getting, get this, 90 inches of snow over the next week. that's going to be a major dumping for the sierra and we're going to be watching out for th get some really heavy

ra bay area. i'll have another update on all of this, there is lots to take in, mike, but at least for right now, the only concern will be those gusty winds that we're still seeing lingering this morning. >> all right, kari. drivers, you will know what kari said, it will be slicker on the roadways potentially because of overnight rains as well as also look at the map. we're talking about many colors, the highlighted yellow over on the right, along the coast, maybe north to san francisco, where we're zooming in, gusty along highway 1. the bay bridge across the span, chp advisory. trivalley, pink and white, that's where there is a chance of a little bit of snow or maybe some frost that built up possibly. another problem on the freeways, the live camera shows you fremont, the camera there and the flag, they are calm, but 880 in oakland, we saw that camera moving around. be prepared for changing conditions. back to you, laura. >> all right, good advice. thanks, mike.

today former white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders is expected to announce a run for governor of arkansas. that's according to two people familiar with her sanders took over as press secretary from sean spicer back in 2017. and is a loyal ally of former president donald trump. current arkansas governor asa hutchinson cannot seek re-election in 2022 because of term limits. her father mike huckabee served as the state's governor from 1996 through 2007. more fallout from the $8 billion edd fraud scandal is resulting in some unintended consequences. bank of america has frozen more than 400,000 accounts as it investigates suspicious activity tied to the scheme. the move is leaving some who received legitimate unemployed payment with money inaccessible. they say it sent out requests earlier this month to verify the identities of the flagged accounts. and in some cases they are able

to unfreeze them in a matter of days. but some say the process is not simple and one woman says her account has been frozen for more than a month. san mateo county business owner is now under investigation over what appears to be threats he made against a county supervisor. this instagram post surfaced just after san mateo county filed a lawsuit against pacifica beach yoga's owner for remaining open during the pandemic. tommy antoon's post read #deletecountysupervisor davidcanepa and went on to say get on his face and the faces of his family. by phone he admitted he made the comment. the owner said he wanted to harm canepa's political career. a couple of days ago, antoon talked to nbc bay area about the lawsuit and frustration of having to close his studio. >> how many people have i put in those icu beds? how many people have left my

studio, permeating with the covid virus? zero. >> authorities are now investigating. super bowl bound. coming up next, on "today in the bay," the big matchups now set with the bay area native set to take center stage once again. we're going to break down the most anticipated performances. and happening now, mexico's president is the latest world leader to contract the coronavirus. president andres manuel lopez says the symptoms are mild. mexico has the fourth highest death toll in the world. meanwhile, in the netherlands, rioters opposed to coronavirus lockdown attacked police and set fires. hundreds of people gathered at a southern dutch city for demonstrations. officers responded with tear gas and water cannons, arresting at least 30 people. the strict nationwide lockdown continues for more -- two more weeks.

right now it 4:54. we'll be right back.

well, the super bowl is set and we're less than two weeks out, and even though the 49ers aren't in the big game, you can root on a hometown boy. the chiefs are taking on the buccaneers, led by san mateo's own tom brady. and listen to this, the buccaneers will be the first team ever to play the super bowl in their home stadium. it is amazing. but don't expect a lot of the usual events leading up to the game. in fact, when the chiefs advance to the big game,hey won't even arrive in tampa, untilhe day before the super bowl. and we're also learning more about who will take the stage during next month's showdown in tampa. singers eric church and jasmine

sullivan will take to the stage to sing the national anthem ahead of the game. her will offer a rendition of america the beautiful. of course, this is still ahead of the singer's highly anticipated halftime show. it will be fun. all eyes on the white house, as president joe biden enters first full week in office. coming up next on "today in the bay," a live report from washington on the travel ban that he's set to sign today. plus, under investigation, what is being revealed about a california man who died just hours after getting the covid-19 vaccine.

right now at 5:00, it is news the entire state is waiting for. when will restrictions be lifted? what the governor is telling the california restaurant association and the action that could be taken in just a matter of hours. plus -- >> we need more vaccine. we need more vaccinators, we need more vaccination sites. >> as president joe biden enters his first full week in office, the challenges are mounting, the steps biden is now set to take to speed up the vaccination process and the travel ban he's set to implement today. plus, tracking it all, rain, potential flooding, even snow and a lot of it. but before all that, a windy start to our workweek as "today in the bay" continues right now. hope you had a great weekend, good monday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm