tokyo for more reaction and what to expect tonight. >> plus a fourth covid surge. that's what san francisco health leaders are calling it. >> the delta variant is covid on steroids. >> the warning as the delta variant spreads across the bay area. >> and as contagious as the chickenpox, the grim message from the cdc with more people being admitted into local now. thanks for joining us for this olympics edition of nbc bay area news. i'm janelle wang. >> and i'm terry mcsweeney. we're going to go live to tokyo in just a few minutes. but first we begin with a sobering pandemic. break through cases among fully vaccinated residents as nbc bay area's christie smith explains the vaccines may not be the

magic bullet some had hoped for but they're still key to getting out of the pandemic. >> reporter: dr. grant colfax said that surge is driven by the delta variant. >> the rate of incre there's ne the effectiveness of the vaccine infections. >> you can see from the data that the rate among people who are not fully vaccinated is 36.8. the rate among people who are fully vaccinated is 16.2. again, evidence that the vaccines are working. >> reporter: the city also addressed questions about the efficacy of the vaccine. >> they're not as effective at preventing break through infections as they are hospitalizations. but really from the beginning of this pandemic the emphasis was on preventing serious morbidity and mortality and right now

those vaccines are performing extremely well. >> reporter: he says for covid are nine times less likely to be hospitalized as those who aren't. and they're looking at next steps. >> we are very vigorously exploring issuing an indoor mask mandate and in discussions with surrounding counties and health officers with regard to that. >> in san francisco, christie smith nbc bay area news. and troubling new data shows the delta variant is more infectious than the common cold, more contagious. and that's one of the things driving saint clara county's decision to drive vaccinations. just this week the county reinstated its policy requiring its 22,000 employees to wear face coverings on the job regardless of your vaccination status. now we're learning the county is planning to issue a strict vaccine mandate effectively warning employees to either get

vaccinated or get another job. a stance most legal experts say is likely to stand up to legal challenges. >> what we are going to be implementing is an actual vaccination mandate, meaning you need to get vaccinated unless you have, for example, a medical exemption. >> i view it more of a medication aspect on the employee side but also to protect the public. >> county leaders expect to announce the full mandate sometime next week. the war has changed. those were the words from an internal cdc report that says the delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox. the report also confirmed what we've been hearing recently, vaccinated people can get sick themselves and pass the variant to others, even if they're not showing symptoms, all of this as hospitalization rates rise among the unvaccinated. melissa colorado has more on the growing hospitalizations across the bay area.

>> reporter: just when the tide appeared to be turning in our favor, the delta variant is here and it's wreaking havoc. a new cdc report says the variant is more contagious than the common cold and is just as transmissible as chickenpox. dr. gerard jenkins is a chief medical officer for the native american health center, treating patients in san francisco and oakland. >> i remember chickenpox, you would want to get it so you would be exposed. this is something that's completely different. this is scary. >> reporter: new research from the cdc shows vaccinated people infected with the variant can carry tremendous amounts of the virus in their nose and pass the virus to others. research also shows the delta variant is more dangerous than the original strain, dramatically increasing the risk of hospitalization for those who are unvaccinated. >> people who are either elderly, people with comorbidities, heart failure, hypertension. then you have people who are

younger, who are college age that are getting sick and very sick. >> nbc bay area news reached out to multiple countie how many people are showing up with the delta variant to their hospitals. marin county says of 200 patients, only two are vaccinated. santa clara county says every covid patient hospitalized there is unvaccinated or undervaccinated. at least 160 people are hospitalized for covid in alameda county, the highest number in any local county. and most of them are unvaccinated. john mere health says all of their covid patients in the icu are unvaccinated. dr. jenkins doesn't want to relive 2020, but he says that will all depend on how we respond to the contagious delta variant. >> a lot of different times when i meet with patients, i say do you want to get vaccinated if you haven't, and they're adamantly against it. i just remind them that there's still a long way to go.

>> in oakland, melissa colorado, nbc bay area news. we're going to go to tokyo now, a live look at the olympic caldron. it is 8:05 a.m. there, early saturday morning, as we continue our olympic coverage. team usa continues to wrack up the medal count. liz mclaughlin joins us from tokyo with some of the highlights. liz, an exciting game for u.s. women's soccer team. i didn't see it because it was overnight for us here, but i saw some of the highlights. take it away, liz. >> janelle, guilty or innocenting to you. you saw me that soccer jersey so i think i was a good luck charm for them. the u.s. soccer team on the journey to olympic gold just chasing after that dream. >> reporter: the u.s. women's national team scores a spot in the semifinals, winning 4-2 in a shootout against the netherlands. >> megan rapin send the united states to the semifinal of and give

everything or you've got to go home. >> reporter: in the pool the u.s. continued to rack up hardware. lilly king wins silver. >> just to be able to do that together it's what we've always dreamed of and what we've always looked for. >> reporter: ryan murphy comes up short defending his 2016 goal, earning silver behind the russian. >> 49.5. >> reporter: the u.s. has a chance for even more medals in the final swimming races this weekend. >> i still got to take care of some business here and get my mind right and keep going. >> reporter: baseball makes its return after 13 years, the an 8 against israel. serbian novak against the germ.

and in fields out of the finals. he's now awake and stable after being rushed to the hospital. and some drama for team usa on the track. they were disqualified during prelims for the 4 by 4 mixed team relay. but overnight there was an appeal and that decision was overturned. so, they'll still be in the running for that gold medal. live in tokyo, i'm liz mclaughlin, janelle, back to you. >> thanks so much, liz. this is what to watch for in prime time. at 6:30, tom shields goes for gold in the 100 meter butterfly. 16 minutes later, katie ledecky looks for her 7th gold medal. she swims in the 800 meter free. and mexico takes on south korea in soccer on telemundo 48. he's not just enjoying life

tokyo with some quarantine restrictions. >> he joins us with how he and the crew are ordering dinner these days. >> reporter: my life in tokyo, here's one of the many great things about the city, vending machines, not the ones you're used to. here in japan you can get just about anything from vending machines. we're talking about toys, clothes, meals, gifts, anything. speaking of meals, our dinner right now. take a look at this. this is what we do. this was our dinner. this vending machine is legit. you select the ramen that you want. you get the receipt. that order goes right to the kitchen restaurant. and boom, wouldn't you know? here it comes out to our table. and yes a table w through vending machines? two reasons. the foo our quarantine. we've got to have these back in the united

guys, back to you. >> i think janelle wants them here right now. >> that ramen looks mouthwatering. >> we have so many local athletes in tokyo. it's hard to keep up with everybody. good thing we have jonathan bloom doing it all for us. go to nbcbayarea.com. click on local athlete tracker in the trending bar. up next, does this picture reveal who's to blame. we investigate a fire in northern california that may have been sparked by pg&e powerlines. you need a list of everything in your home or apartment. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. we'll explain why and how to do it, next.

the dixie fire has burned lion acres north of san francisco, making it the worst wild fire so far this year. pg&e admits one of its powerlines almost certainly started the fire. >> the utility received a warning something was wrong but decided not to cut the power. >> reporter: this leaning tree is suspected of sparking the dixie fire back on july 13th. pg&e included this picture in a report to the federal judge. the dwrielty says it received notice of a sthe 70 foot talle.

but the line did not shut off >> they should have assumed that either a fire might have started right then or at least they needed to remove the power from the line. >> ken bus ki has been an electrical engineer for 40 years. he says pg&e ignored the warning signs. by the time the lineman arrived, the fire was raging. >> what happened is all day long that tree limb was rubbing on the line on an uninsulated power line like a bow against a violin. >> reporter: catherine sand vol said that decision not to cut off the power was unforgivable. >> this devastating fire could have been prevented by recognizing the danger of these

voltage fluctuations, especially in these high wild fire danger rural areas. >> reporter: we have learned pg&e ranked the bucks creek line the 11th highest for fire risks amon le to make it safer, but had yet to for that w no further comment beyond what it told the judge. jaxon van derbeken, nbc bay area news. >> thank you. ing the pg&e could face criminal charge for a fire last year. that fire killed four people and destroyed more than 200 structures. fire investigators say the fire started when a pine tree hit a pg&e powerline. the shasta county district attorney announced today her office will pursue charges. the county has until next month to file those charges. in a statement pg&e says it does

not agree with the conclusion about the criminal charges. >> the consumer team is sharing savvy advice about wild fires. >> krus chmura has advice for homeowners and renters that could save you hours and dollars. >> good evening. one thing i harp on unapologetically is how everyone who has a homer owners or renters insurance policy needs to do a home inventory. make a list of everything you own, ideally on video. >> this is what i have, a pile of ash. >> many people will tell you insurance companies didn't pay their rebuilding money until they provided an item by item list of what burned. >> they want everything you have, every cup and saucer, every spoon and fork. >> making that list was heartbreaking and often came up short. >> if you lost everything, there's no way you're going to remember everything you have. >> nicole says you can avoid that frustration after a fire by doing a home inventory now.

use your smartphone. record from room to room. open every closet, every drawer. she says there's more reason than ever to do a home inventory today. >> we forget all the stuff we have and we have more stuff because we've all been stuck at home for a year. just make a home video. it just will make recovery so much easier. >> many insurance companies have step-by-step instructions on their website. we found a north bay start up that will do it for you, for a fee, based on your home or apartment size. you can do a home inventory yourself free. seriously just a few minutes now could save you lots of time and lots of money later on. just be sure thatt you save all of the lists and the photos and the videos someplace ideally not in your home, perhaps up in the cloud. if you have trouble with insurance company, we often times tangle with them on your behalf. give us a call at 888-996-tips

or go to >> document everything. okay. a much loved san jose bar is about to pour its final shots, then close out to make room for google. paddy's which opened at the end of prohibition will serve its last drinks this weekend. they're making room for tech giant google's san jose campus. a nearby restaurant and music venue, poor house bis troe, is getting ready to move the entire building to nearby little italy later this year. while some are looking forward to the techies downtown, some hotspots. >> i hope so. i'm sn and buys up blocks of land that that is definitely going to be excluding some potential, you know, small guys. >> patty's declined to talk to us today, but one employee told us they're planning a good-bye party for long time customers.

san francisco are hosting the houston astros in just a few hours. the giants community fund opened up a new for fans and this is the new playground baseball field close to bay view park. the field just got a makeover, got new dugouts, benches and grass in the infield and outfield. >> my wife and i are so happy we're able to give back to the community in this way. we just feel and hope that it will bring young people together here and give them an lessons that will help them chase their dreams also and achieve them like i did. >> the giants amazing all star brandon crawford, that is a good start. it was a joint effort with the good tidings foundation. the fund has renovated over two dozen baseball fields over the years. >> can you imagine? >> my gosh. >> what a day. okay. the weather. some people are saying they love

it this week. you're getting lots of people stopping you on your dinner break saying they love it. >> it's pretty much perfect. they say if i don't like it where i live i can go 20 minutes away -- microclimates. >> like a menu. >> exactly. >> a weather menu. >> as we head to the weekend that menu is looking good. 60s to 90s. not as hot as earlier this week. i did want to start off with a heads up. if you are going to tahoe oreo semity, we do have dangerous weather. there is rainfall accompanying that so that should help some of the fire danger. but still we could see some wild fires sparked from that lightning. we'll get you a closer look, not too much over tahoe right now but things will start things mo. flash flood watches in place and thunderstorms this evening. we'll see that chance even for tomorrow as well.

let's bring it back to the bay and we've all been working hard to get to our friday night. if you're making plans for this evening, i wanted to give you the lay down here on what's going to be happening. and you can see 95 for the inland valleys. right now. 6:00, 80s. 7:00, 80s. by 8:00 and 9:00, dropping to cooler 70s. let's move it over to the bay. much more comfortable here. 69 degrees. and we're going to 70 the next hour but then we'll drop back into the 60s through tonight. you might need a jacket if you're headed out near the bay. and certainly some sort of jacket in san francisco. 61 degrees and 50s rolling in my 8:00 and 9:00. now, our weather. it has been all controlled by this area of high pressure, pretty stable pattern. but really hot, especially for the inland valleys this week and some of that humidity. but here's the thing, tomorroe . and we get this cooler system

moving in that's going to help to drop temperatures by about 5 to 10 degrees. i would like to see it even cooler, but that's all we're going to get at this point. tomorrow morning we'll be in the low 60s here with a good amount of sunshine throughout the bay area to start with those areas of patchy fog near san francisco and the north bay. and we'll be cooler there in the 50s. daytime highs tomorrow as we talked about, it is a weather menu. i liked that, terry. that was good. 90s here on the menu towards concord and livermore. you don't like that, 70s in palo alto. on my seven day forecast in san francisco we keep 60s through the next several days. and across the inland valleys, here we go. upper 80s to about 90 as we roll through the next several days. this is good. we are in a drought. we've got that fire danger. but if we can hold with you like that weather menu?

>> i do. i like 70s in the mornings and 90s in the evenings. >> oh that's warm. >> so, livermore for appetizers, half moon bay for dinner. >> the giants and a's making big moves and the big bat that's coming to san francisco next in sports.

here is a look a slim

lead for first overall with 41 medals. >> okay. well the giants got their big bat. they pulled off the deal with minutes remaining. anthony florez tells us more about the all star coming to the bay. >> reporter: even with the best record in baseball, the giants wanted to add a little more pop at the plate. so they traded for former national league mvp chris bryant from the chicago cubs just before the 1:00 p.m. pacific trade deadline. here's the moment when brian found out he's headed to the bay area. >> he has just been dealt to the san francisco giants. >> an emotional bryant wipes away tears as he prepares to say good-bye to the windy city, batting .267 with 18 home runs, he adds pow tore the lineup that leads the national league in home run. the four time all star provides defensive flexibility playing third base, first base and all giants giants added tony watso

from the angels. for watson, it's back to the bay. he spent the past three seasons with the giants. on the other side of the bay, the a's added veteran catcher yan gomes and infielder josh harrison from the washington nationals from three minor league prospects. their big move came a couple days ago when they traded the pitcher to the marlins for the outfielder. they're currently 5.5 games behind first place houston in the american league west. anthony flores, nbc bay area. >> exciting second half. 67 games left. >> it is really, really going to be exciting. thanks for watching nbc bay area news at 4:00. "olympic zone" is next.

♪♪ order for janine! this should be easy.... oh boy. well, we got this. janine! maybe she's the one in the green cap? janine! they're all in green caps janine! okay... uh... janine! janine! sooo... whatcha thinkin? janiiiiiiiine! oohhhhhh. thank you. see, told you we had this. bye, not-janines.