right now at 4:30, hospitals overwhelmed and emergency rooms overcrowded and workers stretched thin. trying to get a covid test in your community could be difficult. we uncovered why one bay area county is falling behind in testing residents. it's a story you will only see on nbc bay area. and then facing a judge for the first time. the sheriff expected in court this morning. this is "today in the bay." broadcasting not only to your tv but you can also watch us live

on roku, amazon fire and apple tv and online. i am laura garcia. >> i am kris sanchez. marcus washington is off this morning. i want to look at that forecast, and vianey, we wanted to look at that fog. >> yeah, our station is located in san josé for those of you that did not know, so she's right, it's so foggy out there. we want to get to the fog and viability. down to quarter of a mile, kris, and that's why you can barely see. look at that. up through napa to about two miles in santa rosa, three miles. oh, no, my map is not mopping--

popping up. westbound 84, 31 minutes. i will check and see what the traffic delay is on westbound 84 according to chp reports, because that's not normal at this hour. >> maybe it's the fog. thank you. one of the bay area's longest tenured sheriffs go to court. laurie smith is accused of willful misconduct. they were trading weapon permits for contributions. that case is likely going to trial if she denies the allegations.

>> i suspect it will go to trial because there's little room for plea bargains, and sheriff smith could be removed from office. >> this is a case that is that not being heard in this countryn santa clara county, but by a san mateo county judge. we'll explain why in a live report in our next half hour. now to the omicron surge in bay area hospitals which are seeing a record number of infections. doctors and nurses are feeling the impact of more patients, and less staffing because frontline workers are also getting sick. >> and adding to the problem, too many people are showing up at the er looking for covid tests. >> the last couple of weeks have been a challenge here. >> we are seeing more covid in the emergency departments than we saw during subsequent surges in covid. >> they are seeing more patients and more covid-19 infections.

with such a high vaccination rate in the bay area, the vast majority of patients are experiencing minor symptoms, and they are largely recovering if they are vaccinated. the problem is there are so many people going to the er, and many don't need to be so it's tying up resources. this is dr. clifford wang at valley medical center in san josé. >> if patients are coming to the ed without covid symptoms and just looking for a covid test, we recommend they go to another location in the county. >> this is dr. ehrlich last weekend. >> don't walk into an emergency department because you want a covid test or you are having mild symptoms of covid. >> as hospitals juggle smaller staffs because doctors and nurses are also sick or having to isolate because of covid-19 protocols, emergency rooms across the bay area are asking people to keep emergency rooms

for true emergencies. if you happen to test positive at home and have mild symptoms, isolate at home and avoid contact with people. >> yeah, if you have a positive test or want a confirmed test, the hospital is not the place for that. >> the number of cases are all about five times higher. san francisco county doing a little better. it has seen an increase of 185%. testing changes are under way after nbc bay area asked questions. sites in san josé, mountain view and san ramon, and now the company that runs them says its closing its doors for a week. there are reports of no results or results delivered to people who were not even tested. the company is called center for

covid control. they don't even have a business license. it's temporarily pausing operations nationwide to retrain staff to make sure they are meeting regulatory standards. the state health department is also investigating. only on nbc bay area, we are getting a better idea of why it's so hard to get a test at many testing sites. santa clara county's biggest areas, they have been responsible for more than 20% of all tersing. kaiser covers about 30% of the region's patients. >> we resorted to just going to the county, going to the county grounds. i went as far as morgan hill the other day just to get a test.

>> they are struggling with overwhelming demand and are now processing 20,000 tests per day. they are also still working to expanded testing. it's 4:36. we are started this morning talking about some fog. yesterday it lingered in the city. do you expect it will linger today? >> we do. it will be cloudy as well in through the afternoon, so very small peeks of sunshine. the temperature will be similar to yesterday, but the fog is pretty dense right now. look at san josé, now less than a quarter of a mile through san josé and morgan hill area, and so it's dense through the south bay. and then the napa area and in through concord and livermore as well, so once we see the fog back off a little bit we are expecting to be similar when it comes to those temperatures. i will talk more about your daytime highs and weekend plans coming up in a few minutes. >> thank you, vianey. coming up next on "today in the bay," the cryptocurrency world going crazy apparently for

tesla products. the products can you buy if you have that online cash. >> and then the new production of the much anticipated cyber truck. >> you have to go cyber truck. >> yeah, and no cyber trucks to see right there. pretty clear in the form of how many cars are out there, but it's a foggy morning. stay with us. you're watching "today in the bay."

good morning, bay area. it's 4:40. we are starting out mild but have lots of fog especially through the south bay. expect to keep that early morning fog for the next couple of hours. i will have the full forecast on exactly what to expect. for now there are still delays along westbound 84 from vie taetious road, 24 minutes. a couple delays through the tri-valley. good morning. i am silvanna from cnbc. wall street is set to open higher after stock slid yesterday, and higher yields lead to higher interest rates.

the nasdaq was the worst performer down 2.5%. in focus, reports on retail sales, import prices and industrial production and consumer sentiment. earning season officially kicks off with a trio of banks. deutsch coin is soaring after elon musk tweeted that tesla is accepting that currency. deutsch coin was started in 2013 as a joke entered around a internet meme. it is still about 2,000% higher than a year ago. tesla is reportedly delaying initial production of the cyber truck until early next year.

it said it would begin making the pickup late this year, but tesla removed 2022 from the order website. sources say the company is changing features on the cyber truck to make it more compelling to the competition. back to you. >> we have a producer that put a deposit down on that cyber truck, i think 100 years ago. that is a long time. >> yeah. >> yeah. we have to wait before we pick you up, silvanna. >> thanks. up next on "today in the bay, "-- >> people are sick and they are not coming to work. >> bay area restaurants feeling the sting of covid. the ongoing issues that are going to affect you if you plan to dine out anytime soon. and it's so foggy right now. current temperatures are pretty mild. about 42 degrees. we will keep the clouds lingering today, but it will be

very similar to yesterday when it comes to the temps. i will guide you through the exact daytime highs coming up in the forecast. you're watching "today in the bay."

checking in for vianey in for kari this morning. we're talking about the forecast. it's a foggy start out there, but it looks clear in san francisco. i guess it depends on where you are. >> yeah, it depends on how far or how four up you are looking.

let's look at this san francisco shot for comparison purposes, and this is san francisco and this is san josé. look at that. this is not broken. this is a live look at what is supposed to be downtown san josé. it's about 45 degrees when it comes to the temperature. we will look at the fog and visibility when it comes to miles. look at this, less than half a mile. barely any visibility -- oh, just switched right there. down to quarter of a mile. morgan hill, less than that. in through livermore and concord, limited visibility down to quarter of a mile. san francisco, look at this, pretty good visibility through there. we will be keeping that early morning fog lingering through half of the morning, and then we will notice the clouds linger a little longer today. we still have the high pressure over the bay area. also noticing the winds picking up for isolated areas up through the mountains and the north bay especially, but forecasted highs

today will be similar to yesterday, 63 degrees for san josé. 62 in through morgan hill. martinez, 62. danville, 63. how about that peninsula? well, 58 degrees for san mateo. low 60s might be possible and mid-60s for the north bay. as far as your air quality, we are still dealing with moderate air quality because of the high pressure. right now the extended out look, at least until next week, still looks pretty dry. the good news out of this, and i looked at the extended outlook. it looks like february might be more of our month to catch up on more rain. 7-day outlook, here you go. saturday and sunday, we keep the dry weather. we will continue to start out with those foggy mornings, so that's part of your commute early. let's look at how your traffic commute is doing. i did go and check the chp

traffic reports to see to what the slowing was about, it's not going anywhere on westbound 84, and i don't see any delays because of accidents so it could be overnight construction causing delays. i have seen improvements. went from 25 minutes to 13 minutes from 84 to vie seat yos road. many bay area restaurants are facing a setback during the pandemic as they are trying to get back on their feet. here's today in the bay's cheryl hurd. >> the restaurant here in walnut creek had a full staff and the owner said he has a reliable team, but getting good workers has been a struggle during the pandemic. >> they don't show up at the interview, but then if you interview and you hire them they

don't show up for the work. >> the problem is bay area wide. according to a spokesperson for the golden gate restaurant association, many businesses, including restaurants, are struggling with staffing shortages due to the omicron surge. he says some restaurants are having to close. >> people are sick and they are not coming to work. >> san josé state global strategic manager says there's a work shortage because people have options. >> the government has printed up quite a lot of money, and that means that there's a lot of money sloshing around and people have a choice of what job they are going to take. a lot of people are nervous about going into restaurants. >> that also means party and convention cancelations are happening a lot, and there's another problem. some restaurants owners say this variant surge means some people want to sit outside, and when there's a staffing shortage,

people have to wait. >> max wolf says he's optimistic people will come back to the industry he loves. >> i am fully staffed. a police officer coming to the rescue. nothing new. but when it comes to a scared dolphin entangled in 29? it happened to be a very delicate operation. the quick thinking that may have made all of the difference. happening now, more money is going to small businesses in the south bay impacted by covid. how santa clara county got nearly $2 million from the state this week and that will provide 2,500 grants to some businesses. they must have made less than $50,000 in revenue in 2019. we'll be right back.

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it's 4:54 right now. the biden administration now adjusting its strategy after the u.s. supreme court blocked the vaccine mandate at large companies of more than 100 employees to be vaccinated or test negative every week in order to be able to enter the building in person. they will still call on businesses to implement those requirements. a health care mandate will stand for facilities that accept

medicare. well, the bucks were doubled up. buzzer beater at the half, and then the warriors have now lost four of their last five games. let's just shake it off, boys. in the meantime, let's talk a little football on this friday morning because the weekend is right around the corner and the raiders are getting ready to play their first post season game in five years. yep, they are playing the cincinnati bangles on saturday afternoon. you can watch it right here on nbc bay area. kickoff is at 1:30 in the afternoon. early enough to, i guess, start

your chili in the morning. >> maybe you can do a drive-by. i will throw chili at you -- no, that would be messy. >> i made gravy -- >> oh, yeah, yeah. nice. have you seen this stories. a florida police officer playing the role of hero before a trapped dolphin. >> there's lot of back and forth. take a look. >> gotcha. >> woo, yeah. >> no, it's i don't gotcha. >> he had to cut away the netting first, which was not easy because the dolphin was scared and struggling, but then finally freedom as that dolphin

ordered into open waters. >> he had to be strong. you are holding it with one arm and it's trying to get away -- >> you don't want to cut it. >> right place at the right time. right person, too. >> yeah. one bay area city is now forcing drivers to slow down. still ahead on "today in the bay," the new speed limit drop you may want to look out for. plus an agreement on new covid protection for san francisco schools. the differences students and staff will see as soon as today. it is foggy, especially in the south bay. right now we are at about 45 degrees. visibility down to quarter of a mile. temperatures will remain in the 40s for the first half of our morning and then we will bump up into the 50s and a couple low 50s. full forecast coming up in a few minutes. you're watching "today in the bay."

right now at 5:00, bay area hospitals bombarded with covid patients, but can you help. we have a plea from doctors if you are looking to get tested. under pressure to provide. a live report on the covid response from president biden as the supreme court shoots down his vaccine and testing mandates. plus -- >> really directing accessibility to testing. >> we have an exclusive

interview with california's lieutenant governor. this is "today in the bay." are you watching us on tv? you know you can also watch us live on your phone, your device, online, on roku, fire, apple tv. i am kris sanchez in for marcus washington. >> i am laura garcia. look at that behind vianey arana. that's in san josé? >> yeah, the fog is so dense you can't even see downtown san josé. this is a live look right now. it's about 45 degrees, so temperatures are mild but the fog is so dense, not even just for san josé but really parts of the south bay down through morgan hill. look at the fog and visibility, and really dense through morgan hill, parts of