tonight on kqed newsroom. california imposes a ernew ght stay at home order and travel restriction as covid cases spe. but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. as the pandemic surgesin the nation and the state we talked with mayors of san jose and fresno about the impact of the virus on their city. plus, this week's look at something beautiful, the mosaic in san francisco. the u.s. reached a grim marker this week, with more

than 250,000 deaths 19. covid- as a surge of new cases and hospitalizations strain healthcare systems across much of the nation. on thursday, the cdc advised americans not to travel for the thangiving holiday. citing the rapid spread of new cases. more than 1 million inthe past week. last year, 55 million americans traveled for thanksgiving. aaa expect eight 10% drop in the number of travelers, which still mean tens of millions of people will leave home, many carrying the coronavirus with them. joining us from san francisco is the chair of the n francisco. medicine at uc dr. walker, thank you for joining us. what is the lel of concern about holiday travel next week? >> incredibly high. thisis a terrible time, unfortunately during the pandemic, the virus is skyrocketing everywhere. worse in the midwest than other parts of the country. to california in some parts. a lot of virus everywhere. if you had to design an event to create more spread you would

have different people come together and take their d sks off have a meal and have a few drinks and sit ose together. of the virus would want a holiday, that's what it would design. is sad and we need to do it differently or we will see more deaths than we should. >> how are you planningceto brate sang thanksgiving this year? >> four people. my wife, my daughter and two children. they have albeen in san francisco in a pod. even there we will keep more than six feet away around a lae table. well order in from a restaurant. it's not exactly what we will do every year but we want to stay healthy and stay alive. >> how do yorecommend talking to friends and family w think it's risky to get together or is safe if you get tested prior to being together. >> unfortunately, the test is not completely reassunce, if

yoew everyone around the table had a negative test that day, you could be reasonably ta comfe it's fairly safe to do. of the logistics of that are pretty hard. so, what you are someone got the test four days ago and it ystook three to come back which they were not infected four days ago bu doesn't metoday. i approach these things in this way. i say to myself, if onthin went and somebody got very sick and god for bid, somebody died, would i feel good about having done it? obviously, we don't feel bad about it but was that reasonable decision knowing what i knew at that time. i visited my 90-year-ol father in florida a couple of mont ago. he's dying and i wanted to see him alive before he died.

i did it wi my eyes completely open. that's the question i ask myself. if i got sick or he or my mother gosick becausof it, what i feel like that was a foolish decision. i felt like it was okay. at's the test r thanksgiving. we'll talk about vaccine. it changes because there's a light at the end of the tunnel.o we are talking about doing it for other, this holiday and christmas. probably not next thanksgiving. >> let's talk about the regulations in place. we see the statistics about the number of deaths. there is still many who point to the rvivability rate of 99%. they think the regulations are overblown. is their accuracy in that line of thought x >> the accuracy is that the chances that you will die if you get vid are relatively low. they are about five times higheh the flu, but it's not like you have metastatic cancer or eboli orhiv in the early days before we had treatment. that's accurate. the chances are quite a bit

varied depending on who you are. if you're 25 years old chances are extremely low. if75you are years old or 50 and u have heart disease and are obese, chances are higher. we multiply 10 people around the ble, all ofthose people around the table there's a decent chance one will get very sick. six months ago we dichotomized see outcome either you die or it's fine, have an unpleasant week. a fair number of people will continue to have pretty bad symptoms r weeks and months. if you do cardiac tests on people a couple of months out even when they feel fine, there are admin maladies in a number of people. we have no idea what that means may turn t that they have long-standing heart disease it

causes problems later. it's not as simple dying or nothing, there are a lot of other outcomes that we would careinabout. i the key point is, even if the death rate is about .6 percent, all comers, that's a decently high chance of dying. it's not like walking the street there's a lot of risks that we take in life, we get in the car and drive someere, get in e plane and drive somewhere. less you are hang gliding are anywhere remotely a .6 percent chance which is one in 150 that you would die. that's big deal. >> what is your response for overnight counties in purple tier. intended for people to gather together in the night and go to bars. why is that segment of the population targeted? >> he's trying to dim the switre a little without going all the way. if things don't turn around, the

case rates are going pretty steeply high right now. if things don't turn around it's a reasonable idea to say we're not going to shut down all gatherings, we won't go back to march and ay home. we are going to say if you are going over to a friends house to drink, rithat's a y thing to do. as we try to move the dimmer switch to the right place, let's do this and see how things go. >> you mentioned in a tweet yesterday it feels like we're looking at a split reen movie. on one side the horrors ndemic on the other is the bright hope of a vaccine. >> it's hard for the human brain to keep those thoughts d not have em clash against each other. like any we have seen before. worse than most of us predicted. we all thought it would be a wier surgdid not think it

would be this big and broadly distributed and this cataclysmic in the midwest. not yet taclysmic in the bay area. but the midwest is a horror show right now and getting worse. we have to grapple with that. yes we have betttreatments, chances of dying are lower than it would've been six months ago. a lot of people willdie. 250,000 deaths. that's hard to get your arms around that's the entire population of renal or buffalo. orlando, discs gail, izona. on the other hand you have this other screen that showing this movie this beyond anything we could have dreamed of, 95% effective vaccines thatt appeared to be extremely safe and will be injected into ab people shouldert one month from now. >> that soon? >> yes, not everybody. of the supply of such maybe

15 to 20 million people can get vaccinated by the beginning of the year. that will be prioritized to older people at high risk and healthcare workers. if youe e not in of those categories, you will not get it on january 1st. be approved bythe fda in the ll next two weeks. they will start being used probably by the third week of december. >> the vaccine news has been at excellent. the same time we've been havingonnot a na response or strategy. has the vaccines been helped or hindered by the trump administration and operation help. eed. i've been highly critical i think they've gotten everything wrong. the messaging on masks, craziness about hydroxychloroquine and bleach aneverythi else. the whole thing has been mucked ccines, they got it right. they basically said we have these amazing cynical companies. if we give them ney and sa

you have no financial risk, go out and put the best science and best technology on this do atever you can and get a vaccine out there in record time. we will fund the clinical trials which is expensive and of the early stages urof manufag and distribution, the minute one is ready to go and be ship, that's a bold thing to do. it's cost about $20 llionbut it will probably shorten the pandemic by one year and get the economy back on track bea yearre it might have been. brilliant investment. i think we should have nothing deral response. hat part the >> the last very few seconds we have here, concerns about the ccines? tion adoption of e >> it depends on how the federal government does it. there is reason for concern, but i think welywill prob get it right. every state is gearing up to do it.

i think the distribution will bewookay. it t be distributed to 3 million people on day one we don't have that. it will take time to ramp up. ke it there have been surveys that say half the people won't take it. but those were a theoretical question. if you say there is a vaccin that's truly proven and the results are clear, % effective, yoperfectly safe, may have flu symptoms for a day or two and if you take it, you will not rrve to about going into a restaurant or going back to work, your life can come back to normal, i'm guessing the 80 to 90 percent of people will take it. won't but wedon't need to get to 100%. we need to get to 70 or 80%. if i'm first in line as a healthcare worker, i will be the first one to take it. >> thank you urfor time. >> thank you. on monday, california governor, negaviom,

announced this date is pulling the emergency bre as coronavirus cases have rapidly increase. 84% of california's population is under the most restrictive tier, color purple indicating whites bread transmission. the health officers say the number of covid is reaching alarming levels. the largescity in santa clara county, n jose. mayor, thank you for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> there have been 280 new cases this week. can you describe the situation on e ground fous? >> we are averaging about 300 now. that's very worrisome for public health officials and al of us. it also means hospitalizations art taki upward and now almost twice as high as we were

one month ago. at's a grave ncern to everyone. we want to make sure we have adequate capacity in hospitals and icus. many restrictive measures are coming forwacause we need them like so many counties throughout the state. >> let's talk about that. the healthcare providers in san jose, do they have the peonal protectiveequipment, hospital facilities, ventilators that coming surge of new cases? >> what i'm hearing from our county officials, they are preparing as well . a ca they have demonstrated they are able to be prepared in the last couple of waves. we don't kn where the peak ends. we haven't seen it stop yet in the terms of a number of cases. and 2 to 3 weeks later we will see hospitalizations come through. we emphasized anyone, get your flu shot in addition to get covid tested.

we want to make sure no one is filling the hospital beds with flu cases. that will restrict our abily to deal with whatever we need to come our way with covid. >> as the mayor you are concerned with the health of the residence and economic realities. they are intertwined these days. what do businesses and residents in san jose need pull through the difficult times? do you, as the mayor, have the d resources to prwhat they need? >> bluntly, we need more money. that's an easy thing for politicians to say. this case, we all know that congress has been deadlocked on providing any significant aid for several months now. weuld love to see speaker but we've got toget money in the hands of small businesses. many employees are laid off. unemployment insurance has to get extended, people are desperate now. >> the new unemployment numbers in san jose don't seem to be

that bad. of the county is 6% unemployment. >> 5.9% they just came out. it would seem to suggest that things are tting better. we know it hides the cruel reality. parts ofmy community that have suffered the most from covid, the mo hospitalizations, most deaths are communities like san jose, hilatin population. they are also suffering from unemployment ratesthat exceed 20%. we know the tech industry is mo less doing fine. it's the rest of the economy. e of the servdustry where so many of our modest income, low income residents ar employed, need a lot of help to help them survive. >> let's turn to the ghnew

overcurfew the state has put in place. have you directed your police department to enforce this new t regulation? police department will enforce it to be sure businesses are closed after 10:00 if they are nonessential, which is pretty much every business. we want tomake sure they are shutting down the restaurants or places where folks may gather socially. you will not see officers pullinpeople overif they are driving, for example. the governor has been clear, it's not curfew, per se, it's a stay-at-home mandate. we are not terested in getting officers en stopping folks that are on their way home from work. we will be careful about this enforcement d focusing on places where people might gather. >> governor newsom has apologized for gathering with others at dinner party and he acknowledged he lost moral authority in the topic of social distancing. what do u think ofhis actions despite official warnings not to travel out of

state? >> i learned a while ago, living in a glass house myself, should notthrow rocks. kudos for apologizing and being forthright about it. he recognizes his error, we have all been there. >> mayor, how will you, yourself be spending hi thanksgivingyear? will it be different than it was from a typical year x >> my family is mix of irish and sicilian and mexican. we are big catholic family. it's not going to be that way. we will miss a lot of folks. we had a newborn baby in the family, my nephew. we will miss not seeing fotes defi want to see. obviously, it's a painful time for a lot of families right now. we will have to hunkerdown, do the best we can to get through this. there will be a lot of celebration when we can get on the other side of this.

when do u see the other side coming? what are you saying for how long they should be holding on?a >> we see the light at the end of the tunnel. we don't know how long the tunnel is. ab the announcementt the vaccine was very good. that's months down the road before it willbe widely available. we expect there will be other vaccine. it may be the case and i'm not a publichealth expert, e treatments that we are seeing emerging will hopefully substantially reduce the mortality and may able us to open up sooner. i'm routine for science and technology right now. in the meantime, do our best and keep r masks on >> mayor, thanyou. >> thank you, pleasure being here. we turn out to esno county in central california which has also rolled back to the purple tier. of the sheriff and police said they will not enforce the new overnight curfew. joining us by skype is the mayor . to ank you fojoining us

today. >> thank you for having me. >> fresno county sheriff along with law enforcement in surrounding counties sathey will not enforce the curfew that the governor has announced will go into effect on saturday. at least two fresno churches said they will be open and orders. in defiance are you concerned this cases? nce will lead to more >>am concerned about it but i understand it. my primary responsibility is to keep people safe in the 'rcity. looking at a curfew that is extremely difficult to enforce. we rely on voluntary ce compli our police department has been stretched like many law enforcement agencies acrossweth state. re focused on a lot of serious crime with gangs, murders, robberies , i'got to prioritize it. certain things like restaurants. i think it's onerous.

you are measurg the damage, people are overly fatigued by the covid virus and measure that against -- everyone is learni more. hopefully we're getting the end. >> in addition to not enforcing the curfew, fresno has said i plans to find businesses that stay open during the day in a nner that does not mply in the purple tier regulations, they have more people in their establishment then allowed. >> the code ruenforcement is by city council. i basically have the approach to try to educate people and not be punitive. i can't guarantee that with certain councilmembers. of the vast majority ofss busi in this area are good people, doing their job, are operating under the d they guelines of social distancing, having plexiglass, proper fiairation thomas so

on. there was uda stanford about mobility. basically the lower level of 25% capacity reducing infections by 80%. in other words, you are basically at the same 20% as zero capacity. why not let these guys have some way to make some money. they are on their last legs bridge without help from ing decimated. ndustries that will have severe consequences. can't pay their rent or house payment. balanoe all the systems. to diminish any prospective systems at all. >> it sounds like you are saying, you don't agree with the state regulations and so you are going to do t something differ >> in a construct of way. at i'm not advocating people openly rebel, but we have to depend on voluntary compliance. people have to trust their

leaders. we've been fortunate in fresno for the past half year. from a very divisive issues that we've all had to go through in an election and to we've kept ther as a body. ve and we the messe to the people of fresno that we are united and looking after your interest, t overzealous on one side or the other. it plays out, no matter what you do as an executive, this is a yearfrom . once in 100 years pandemic. we have wildfires raging, everody has had to go through althese layers. we meet ona week on resume with other mayors. san francisco, los angeles, san francisco or fresno weall have the same problems. >> let's talk about the number in fresno. according to public health

department there more than s 12,500 active cain the county. at least 463 deaths from covid- 19. tell us about your local capacity. numbers are owing there as they have been across the state, across the nation and they are likely to continue to grow over the comingeks, are you worried about being overrun? >> what i have done is we look at this every thweek. i k we've done an excellent job of allocating $92 million for contact tracers and testing people and ppt's and ppe's and so on. i think we've done a pretty good job in the overall operation of esno. we are about 3 to 400 short on our daily testing. we are opening new clinics. r we are expanding ability to get turnaround in 24 to 48 hour results. this is what we n do to help people be safe.

also the ability to track the data. nursing homes, coming from neighborhood parties, bars o restaurants. i don't want to throw the baby t with e bathwater. i think so far, at least at the 25% capacity on restauras and retailers, we are not gaining that much by reducing the pandemic. >> governor newsom is tending a group dinner and in addition california state law makers traveled to maui for a law conference including a state senator from fresno. as an elected opinion yourself, why should we trt our lawmakers when they don't follow their own directives to the public. >> we hato lead by example. and nobody is perfect. i made a mistake reatntly, i nded a small dinner. and never let your guard down.

set the example. same applies to governor newsom and state legislature. >> you recently thhad dinner your successor, mayor elect, jerry dyer. he has announced that he has coronavirus and you have since quaranti. >> these are people i've known for 20 years. these are not strangers i met at a rally. even with family. my family this year, we have a very big mily. typically 15 to 20 people or more. we will break that up into just immediate family only. utions taken. much more don't let your guard down. my advice everybody out there, time for peopto get important together. people are struggling economically. i think with the major drug companies coming out with vaccinations in 30 to 60 days we can start to reverse this. but we have to keep infections

low, maintain this. we have a convention center that is an overflow that we have not used yet. >> we appreciate your time, stay safe. >> thank you. >> now, for our look at something beautiful. the next time you are out for a walk in san francisco, ex one of the cities mosaic staircases, such as these tile steps on 16th avue, built with community support. [ music playing >> we want to take a moment to say goodbye and good luck for our show producer who is moving to oregon with his family toem rk on a new adventure.

thanks for everything you have done, happy trails. you can find more of our news corage on kqed.org. we will be off next week for thanksgiving, we will see you back here in two weeks. however you lebrate, all us at kqed newsroom wish you a safe and enjoyable holiday. good night.

robert: american democracy under pt'ssure. >> i my job to defend the president. robert: president trump and his allies try to delegitimize president-elect biden's ctory. most republicans stay quiet. but democrats are alarmed. >> republicans get over it. stop spending all your time spreading lies about the election. robert: meanwhile, the pandemic remains relentless. biden's transition is stalled. and so congress. >> more people may die if we don't coordinate. robert: next. announcer: this is "washington week." funding is provided by -- >> before we talk about your investments, what's new? >> well, audrey's expecting. >> twins.>>