monica gandhi of ucsf. thank you for joining us. let's talk big picture. the omicron surge, record case numbers in california. any signs we are peaking? >> yes, there are signs we are peaking. new york was ahead of us. it has already peaked. boston is going down. our cases are starting to peak. it is called a nessie curve, it is coming down. hopefully not much longer. >> how long do you think before this wave is over? >> the models, at least in california, have shown peaking by mid-january. we are getting there. then it comes down fast. looking at south africa and the u.k.. it is going to take a while to come down. let's think of mid february better. >> let's talk about here and now. the department of public health graph showing hospitalizations and icu numbers in san francisco compared to the previous waves, and they look different. >> what has happened is we have so much immunity in san francisco. we have great vaccination rates, it has been amazing. we have decoupling. we have a lot of pieces. our hospitalizations, especially for covid as opposed to swa

at ucsf. what we want to do this block is what you are seeing in the or and what life is like there at ucsf because bussey for doing what you do. it may not be easy with this influx of people coming in. dr. raven: yeah, thank you so much. i worked monday night and we are very, very busy. the city is actually up 20% prior years. it's very, very high the past week or two, a lot of ambulance traffic, lovesick patients coming in, not necessarily for covid, but for lots of other things. our volumes are starting to go up in the emergency department and we are having a lot of people come in with covid symptoms that want to be tested because they can't get their hands on rapid tests anywhere else. so we do have a large number of people that are wondering if they have covid to get tested. the emergency department is not the best place to do that. i do understand people sometimes feel desperate. they can't get their hands on tests anywhere else. we do have to have covid positive patients unless acutely

joining me now is ucsf's dr. peter chin hong. let's begin with what the cdc director clarified today. milder does not mean mild. do you think that terminology, mild, gave people a sense of safety? >> i think many people think it's universally mild. but being in the hospital this week, i can tell you there are still a lot of patients even with omicron, having very severe disease, having abnormalities on their chest imaging. we have to give them a lot of medicines, and we have over 100 patients in the ucsf system. it's definitely not a walk in the park right now. and, you know, it's mild for many people but not mild for everyone. >> we are seeing cases and positivity rates dip statewide. and san francisco health leaders say they believe the city hit its peak a few weeks ago. do you think we're on the other side of the surge at this point? >> yes, i definitely think we're on the other side, in terms of cases, but we're not really down to a strong level yet. just like we're on the everest of omicron and coming down everest and hoping

. >> the lab at ucsf has been at the forefront of detecting variants and found the first case in the december 1th. no word on if it has found this one yet. it is now a variant under investigation. one step below a variant of concern. >> the problem with the sub variant is that it is not as easily identified. you can still tell that it is covid or sars cove 2. >> there's good news. nationally cases are down 10% compared to a week ago. in california, cases have leveled out and are falling since the peak january 10th. yet the percentage of people testing high is still high at 20%. the doctor said she's seeing hospitalizations start to decrease at ucsf and has a bright outlook on when the surge will pass. >> the estimates are around february 15th that we'll be at much lower levels. that's for the mask mandate in the state of california. hopefully we'll get back to normal in mid-february. >> nbc bay area news. >>> there are more take home tests. the county has been offering up to four free tests you can bring home. today they opened more appointments after they were completely booked this

ucsf infectious disease specialist have a good night. thanks for explaining this to us. >> now, while some health agencies across the bay area are reporting positive case rates of the omicron have crested. will researchers are working around the clock examining the possible need for adding another booster shot to the recommended schedule of vaccines forcefully to gaal's spoke with an infectious disease specialist who says that it's still up in the air. >> we're just at the beginning understanding exactly what the right schedule is for the covid vaccine. people with weakened immune systems are already approved for up to 4 doses of covid-19 vaccine. 2 full doses. a supplemental. those 28 days later and then a booster shot. there's just a study that the cdc released this morning that showed for variant is so different that been more than 6 months since the previous dose, even for people who have had 2 doses, the protection had waned significantly. for now, neither the state department of public health or centers for disease control and prev

doctor noble leads the covid response team for ucsf. some urgency department and they basically are saying and once the omicron surge subsides, we need to move on and we need to not keep reimposing these mandates and and we need to get the mask requirements off of all the schools in california, especially in these highly vaccinated areas. they argue that, you know, parents have had months now to vaccinate those kids 5 to 12 and it's time to move on. you agree. >> it's certainly time to move on when it's safe to move and we're not there now, even though it looks like in the bay area, we've you've crested in terms of the number of cases and we're starting to seize a decline in some of the cases in the bay area counties. and we're seeing that that could be east coast as well. so that's very encouraging news. but we have an awful lot of cases now and we're going to be having an awful lot of cases for a good while and so now's not the time to have that discussion about starting to peel back are the things that are keeping us safe. there will

we're getting guidance from the chair of medicine at ucsf, dr. bob wachter. >>> a questionable testing covid site, a few sites. a company we exposed is shutting down operations. the name, center ccc. it operated more than 300 test sites nationwide, including san jose, mountain view, and san ramon. the site you're seeing is in mountain view on el camino real. our investigative team jumped into action after we got a call from a viewer about missing results. we found out more complaints, then failures at the company's partner lab. we reported about the fbi search at the company's illinois headquarters. the ccc, the founders of the company, say they're laying off 150 workers, almost the entire staff. they say they'll refocus on cooperating with investigators and they want to clear their names. >>> some of our other headlines on this friday evening, an unbelievable save midair, right there in the sky. a hot air balloon pilot and a passenger being hailed as heroes tonight after an unusual equipment failure midflight. this happened yesterday. the balloo

peter chin-hong is an infectious disease special at ucsf. >> simply get the test that's easily available to you is. >> reporter: he says the pcr is more sensitive than antigen or rapid test. >> one way of thinking about when you might do a rapid test, for sure if you have symptoms, later on in the course of the disease, definitely three days or so after exposure. early on you're not going to pick it up positive on an at-home antigen test, and the pcr test may be positive. >> reporter: he says both are good for picking up the virus when you have symptoms but the pcr is going to detect the virus sooner but you have to wait for results. >> the easy part about a rapid test is it's easier to do. you're doing it in the comfort of your home. it's instant, like 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the vendor you use. right now with the lines in pcr tests you may get that result back in two days, sometimes three days, in which case you really have to be careful to not go around and transmit virus and assume that you are positive if you have symptoms. >> with at-home tests the user's method matters, too

joining us is the ucsf dr. bob wachter. good to see you. so, what does this data show in terms of the just how much more protection one gets from being vaccinated and then boosted again symptomatic infection, hospitalization? >> there is a variety of data from the united states but they confirm that we have seen from prior studies from england and from israel that the third shot gives you a huge amount of additional protection. two shots are better than one. one is better than zero but three, no two. the having severe enough case to go to the hospital is about 9 0%. that efficacy, that was the original efficacy from the old days and then it waned because of time and because of omicron. but that third shot brings you up to 90% protection against getting very sick and going to the hospital. there is no question that you need three shots in order to be fully protected. >> is that true whether it is versus the delta or versus omicron. >> it seems to be true for both of them. that the third shot. the studies are looking at life in the omicron er

we've seen a plateau since january 11 but when i looked at our ucsf data. we have seen santa clara county's wastewater data, which is already declining. to me, all roads point to the fact that we are going to see more increases anymore, which is a good sign. >> cautiously optimistic is a good plan. even when the wave peaks, it doesn't mean we are out of the woods. what kind of future do you see after it does peak, and we are moving on. you see another variant popping up? >> it's hard to say. right now we are probably going to be a bit stressed at the health center level, or the hospital center level, for a few more weeks, but as a society , i think we are probably going to get a few months off, back to regular, sort of like times like june 15, around that time, that level of disease in the community, but then it is anyone's guess whether or not we will see a new variant come later in the year. i think it is very clear is that if you get a booster, even if another variant comes, you will be protected from going to the hospital with severe disease. >> the fol

same thing at ucsf medical center, according to infectious disease expert doctor peter chin-hong. there are currently 108 people hospitalized with covid ucsf down from 100. 38 on january. 19th. >> before omicron they're seeing, you know, maybe less than 5, sometimes no cases per day in the hospital. so the goat to 188 on hundrend 8 is actually a huge burden. a national survey by the american medical association shows that a high percentage of nurses had the intention to quit health care because of covid fatigue. that's 40% 20% of physicians. also us say that which is really shocking. doctor harold works to keep morale up at queen of the valley by highlighting positives during morning huddles. >> while also being transparent about the current state of covid. >> and in health care, can't forget we have to take care of ourselves each other first to make sure there's enough people to take care of our patients. >> doctor harold says a big problem in hospitals right now is the high number of people going to the er to try to get tested for covid. she says you should avoid the er for that

same thing at ucsf medical center, according to infectious disease expert doctor peter chin-hong. there are currently 108 people hospitalized with covid ucsf down from 100. 38 on january. 19th. >> before omicron they're seeing, you know, maybe less than 5, sometimes no cases per day in the hospital. so the goat to 188 on and run 8 is actually a huge burden. a national survey by the american medical association shows that a high percentage of nurses had the intention to quit health care because of covid fatigue. that's 40% 20% of physicians. also us say that which is really shocking. doctor harold works to keep morale up at queen of the valley by highlighting positives during morning huddles. >> while also being transparent about the current state of covid. >> and in health care, can't forget we have to take care of ourselves each other first to make sure there's enough people to take care of our patients. >> doctor harold says a big problem in hospitals right now is the high number of people going to the er to try to get tested for covid. she says you should avoid the er for that

and ucsf, infectious disease specialist doctor peter chin-hong says going forward that could prove to be a problem. >> that's the best we all love the we're in right now. we need to get as many people in the nicest possible. so we have come along with our lies with the lies that we aspire to. >> in terms of where california stacks up, according to the study, 23 and a half percent of those 5 to 11 year-olds eligible are fully vaccinated. live in san francisco, dan kerman kron, 4 news. thank you, dan. then niners are taking on the packers in green bay tomorrow and they're getting some reinforcements. >> i you were done. yeah. your long johns ready to go all it is not a place that trip is a business. go for the win. that's >> it's lambeau the i mean, like what an experience going to see your team at lambeau. for playoff game, that's a it's kind of a bucket list item. so want to miss it. i this. >> don't you love it? it's not a pleasure trip. it's all business niners are the underdogs in this game, but that they will have plenty of support to as many ticket outlets are saying niners fans.

not a lot of kids going into the hospitals at the ucsf system. for example, he says the best way you can protect your child is to get them vaccinated. he also says it's important to mask up most. useful all-purpose mice. right now. it's decision will mask you know, multi plied masks. doctor chin-hong emphasized the mask has to be well fit. if the head is a little bit smaller. you need to sort of not the end. the straps here to make it. >> fit snugly. if you do test positive, he recommends telling those who are in close contact with as well as your employer or school. he also says it can be helpful to know to fire department of public health for case trac inc. amanda hari kron 4 news you and good luck getting your hands on those covid tests. they're very hard to find these days. >> in the south bay, a jury convicting theranos founder elizabeth holmes on charges of wire fraud. and conspiracy. the verdict came down late yesterday afternoon after 7 days of deliberations in about 3 months of the case going on. holmes was convicted on 4 of the 11 count

infectious disease expert at ucsf doctor peter chin-hong says that can linger in the air like dandelions awful long, a period. so if you're making a lot of virus just cluess the way people talking and so on, you can have a little bit more linger in the air. health officials have also made changes to boost or requirements at large events like concerts and sports games. >> boosters will also be required at mega events for those eligible starting february. first and starting saturday, mega events of 500 or more indoors and 5,000 or more outdoors will be allowed again. all staff of those events will be required to show proof of up to date vaccines, including boosters as soon as they are eligible. coming up tonight on the news at 8, a one-on-one conversation with oakland police chief but will run armstrong and his vision for the city. has it. >> tries to recover from a violent year. your dollars are getting you as far as they used to. we don't need to tell you that the reason behind rising inflation and when things could start to improve. >> and partly cloudy skies around the bay area. now, w

george rutherford, an expert on infectious diseases at ucsf.believes it's okay for cities and counties to slowly ease the mandates. >> reporter: thank you for joining us. san francisco just announced it is easing the indoor mask role

same thing at ucsf medical center.ording to infectious disease expert doctor peter chin-hong. >> there are currently 108 people hospitalized with covid ucs that the fact that kate things are leveling off with starting to come down in some areas. >> doesn't mean it's a walk in the park by any stretch. we have some of the highest numbers we've seen ever prior to omicron. doctor chin-hong says ucsf would have as low as 5 covid patients at one time. a survey by the american medical association shows that a high percentage of nurses nationally now have intentions to quit health care because of covid fatigue. that's 40% 20% of physicians. also us say that which is really shocking. doctor harold works to keep morale up at queen of the valley by highlighting positives during morning huddles while also being transparent about the current state of covid. we let people know this is what we've got today. how we make it work today. take care of each other. everybody rolls up their sleeves and jumps in and looks out for each other.

reduced with this new variant and with the advent of vaccines for kids, doctor, noble and 3 other ucsf doctors posted this change dot org petition directed at california leaders saying they're concerned about the state's restrictive policies on children and teens. >> she says many kids are feeling more negative impacts from asking distance, learning and testing and they are from the actual virus. the number of kids too. >> the committed suicide in twenty-twenty in california was over 130 and the number of kids who die from covid that year was around 10. she says, well, the school shutdowns made sense early on. >> now that we've learned more about the virus, kids need to be in school in person where we are really transitioning to having an endemic disease, meaning it's not going to go away. it's here to stay. the petition asks officials not to force any for their mandates to prevent increased mistrust in the government and health officials. but doctor noble does support the vaccine. a covid vaccine is no different than our other childhood vaccines. we we mandate vaccines all the time, b

reduced with this new variant and with the advent of vaccines for kids, doctor, noble and 3 other ucsf doctors posted this change dot org petition directed at california leaders saying they're concerned about the state's restrictive policies on children and teens. >> she says many kids are feeling more negative impacts from asking distance, learning and testing and they are from the actual virus. the number of kids who >> the committed suicide in twenty-twenty in california was over 130 and the number of kids who die from covid that year was around 10. she says, well, the school shutdowns made sense early on. >> now that we've learned more about the virus, kids need to be in school in person where we are really transitioning to having an endemic disease, meaning it's not going to go away. it's here to stay. the petition asks officials not to force any for their mandates to prevent increased mistrust in the government and health officials. but doctor noble does support the vaccine. a covid vaccine is no different than our other childhood vaccines. we we mandate vaccines all the time, bu

infectious disease expert at ucsf. doctor peter chin-hong says he would like to see the cdc way in but is glad to see the fda's approval. you know what hospitals are experiencing nationally with omicron. and right now i think with pediatric hospitalizations op it makes sense to try and protect as many people as possible. the fda found a 3rd dose helps better protect teens against covid and its variants. the administration also shorten the timing of pfizer's booster shots for everyone, 12 and older from 6 months to 5 months after the initial series of vaccine shots if not people get infected at the same time. a lot we're seeing in unity. what are you going to see is that we'll get reprieve because it's like having a giant force field the study in israel around 6300 teens show no new cases of heart inflation, which is what officials have been monitoring has a rare vaccine side effect when it comes to getting kids back to school after the holiday break. doctor chin-hong says that mask ventilation and testing are the best

ucsf reporting 60 people in the hospital after 3 facilities for people hooked up to life. saving ventilators. 10 of those cases, children with one so serious that child is on a ventilator. >> we are still seeing a very high number of patients being hospitalized. a lot of them being unvaccinated as well. and so all case are quite high. we do see more a little leveling off, but i think it's too soon to say which way this will go. doctor nathan low with ucsf says omicron numbers remain high but >> he says there is reason to be hopeful. i think there are a lot of things to be excited and optimistic about. i think stays a really big day because for the first time the u.s. government has made it available to get free. >> at home, rapid test. and i think this is like another really great tool in the fight against omicron in the fight against the pandemic. and these tests can be really helpful for people when they're thinking about going out or attending a social gathering. it's a test you can take just before hand to make sure that you're not infectious, not you don't you want an

not a lot of kids going into the hospitals at the ucsf system. for example, he says the best way you can protect your child is to get them vaccinated. he also says it's important to mask up most. useful all-purpose mice. right now. it's decision. will you know, multi plied masks doctor chin-hong emphasized the mask has to be well fit. if the head is a little bit smaller. you need to sort of not the end. the straps here to make it. >> fit snugly. if you do test positive, he recommends telling those who are in close contact with as well as your employer or school. he also says it can be helpful to know to fire department of public health for case trac inc. amanda hari kron 4 news. >> well, the pleasanton unified school district is giving out at home. covid-19 test kits to students on thursday. the school district says these tests can be picked up inside the gym of heart harvest park or pleasanton middle schools. the distribution runs from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. they say each student has a designated pickup time and that was desi

ucsf reporting 60 people in the hospital after 3 facilities for people. >> hooked up to life. saving ventilators. 10 of those cases, children with one so serious that child is on a ventilator. >> we are still seeing a very high number of patients being hospitalized. a lot of them being unvaccinated as well. and so all his are still quite high. we do see more a little leveling off, but i think it's too soon to say which way this will go. doctor nathan low with ucsf says omicron numbers remain high but >> he says there is reason to be hopeful. i think there are a lot of things to be excited and optimistic about. i think stays a really big day because for the first time the u.s. government has made it available to get free. >> at home, rapid test. and i think this is like another really great tool in the fight against omicron in the fight against the pandemic. and these tests can be really helpful for people when they're thinking about going out or attending a social gathering. it's a test you can take just before hand to make sure that you're not infectious, not you don't you wa

ucsf infectious disease specialist doctor peter chin-hong says because you could potentially transmit the virus to others, people who are untested and sick should go into isolation immediately. >>to keep us off from people from society. you all yourself up in a after the 5 year symptoms, i'm proving you can go out into the world with a mask on. but additional 5 days. if your son doesn't not improving, you basically stay until your symptoms are improving and wear the mask for the remainder of the time to make up 10 days. >>medical experts say if you have no symptoms but you are exposed to someone who does have covid. if you've been recently vaccinated or boosted, you need to mask up for 10 days. if you leave the house. now the cdc is considering an update to its mask guidelines, possibly recommending and 95 or kn 95 masks for says cloth masks. this is in response to the highly transmissible omicron variant. the current mask recommendation from the cdc says masks should have 2 or more layers of washable breathable fabric. the masks should completely cover your nose and mouth and fit snu

at ucsf. their data shows covid infection. rates remain on the high side, though, doctors at ucsf believe things will start to fall off again as quickly as they started. ucsf says 60 people are in the hospital right now at 3 of their facilities. 10 of those cases are children. 4 people are on ventilators. and even though the case numbers are high, doctor nathan low says that most of the cases that they're seeing don't require hospitalization. he says the less severe cases are in those that are vaccinated. so again, the vaccines are working. lowe says the cases are starting to level off. so there's reason now to be hopeful. >> i think there are a lot of things to be excited and optimistic about, i think stays a really big day because for the first time the u.s. government has made it available to get free at home rapid tests. and i think this is like another really great tool in the fight against omicron in the fight against the pandemic. and these tests can be really helpful for people when they're thinking about going out or

joining us now live from ucsf and christian. the cdc announced shorter isolation times just last week, but now it's signaling it may adjust those rules yet again. yes, alex . we're here at ucsf at one of the covid test drop off locations and we've seen dozens of people making use of this location today. meanwhile doctor anthony fauci, as you said, is looking at clarifying cdc guidelines when it comes to isolation and testing after a positive covid test. after the cdc shortened the recommended quarantine time last week from 10 days to just five days. health officials say soon they'll be revisiting just how long people who test positive for covid should quarantine and whether a negative test should be required to get back to daily life. it was just a week ago that the centers for disease control shorten the period from 10 days to five days for asymptomatic patients. now after a backlash, the cdc is signaling that it may revisit the rules. i think the way it might end up being as if you have a test within that 10 days. you get it .

. >> ucsf have not adopted the new guidelines but workplaces outside of the medical field try to figure out how to get employees back safely and quickly. >> one wearing to make it simpler is do you have symptoms or do you not. >> in my opinion if you don't have symptoms that you find in your are vaccinated and boosted situations you will be okay to go out there. >> of 11,000 covid patients are in california hospitals. it would easily surpass a statewide record under 22,000 hospitalizations which happened last january. earlier today the number of hospitalizations nationwide hit a record high of more than 132,000. >> the county banning indoor gatherings with more than 50 people and outbreak gatherings with more than 100 people. the county urging residents to only leave their homes for essential purposes during the next 30 days. that ban does not apply to schools, workplace settings, religious facilities or places open to the public like museums and malls.>>> breaking news in san francisco. within the last half hour the city announced some public test sites will be closed again tomorrow af

justin andrews has more from ucsf medical center. >> reporter: this is national day of action. they're allowing nurses to come in who have covid regardless if they're isolated or not. this is something they say is unsafe when it comes to putting them in situations. employers have prioritized profits over patient care, some say. they claim hospitals, with the pandemic in full swing it is driving desperately needed nurses away from the job. union surveyed thousands of nurses nationwide and found 82.5% said at least half of the shifts are unsaferly staffed. they say studies have shown when nurses are assigned to too many patients to care for at once, patients are at increased risk for medical errors, complications, even death. this morning they're demanding a change. rns around caregivers say colleagues will stop leaving the job if hospitals create a better safe environment for them to work in. we know there are several planned to be out here this morning in san francisco demanding change. >>> a trend across the bay area, there is demanding change here. oakland unified students ar

ucsf medical center decided weeks ago to pause scheduling new elective surgeries in anticipation of this surge bringing elective surgeries 15% below normal. we checked in with kaiser. a spokesperson said they suggested surge rims as needed. >> we want to make sure we have enough beds and staff to safely take care of everybody who needs us. with retriaging. we are deciding some medical conditions are more urgent than others. >> doctors telling us that california model shows the state reaching its peak of the surge. the end of the month or early february. >>> hospitals reminding the public not to use the emergency room as a way to get tested. >> and this comes as hospitals are already experiencing staffing shortages. this is causing even more problems with people just trying to come in for a test. >> that's right. hospitals saying that people who are coming in for a test, a lot of the times they aren't showing symptoms. you can imagine just what that adds on top of hospitals already feeling the strain of this surge. really its highlighting a challenge we have been seeing in the last couple

before sunrise less than a handful of caregivers were outside ucsf in san francisco. one nurse has been working there for more than 30 years. >> we are demanding safe staffing that we can do the job we were trained to and that we love to do. we are here to protect our patients and we have to speak up to say that's at risk. >> reporter: state department of health is allowing healthcare workers who are asymptomatic and have covid to continue coming to work regardless if they've been isolated or not. that's something nurses say they don't like either. >>> today delta ceo says 8,000 10% sian the past days after covid infections created a domino effect. operations are stabilizing and 1% of flights were canceled over the past week. >>> if you are looking for a test or booster check our county by county resource guide on kpix.com. >>> a live look at the bay bridge. traffic has cleared after a street racing crash caused a huge mess along the span early this morning. this is how the upper deck looked after 6:00 a.m. chp says two cars racing west bound across the span caused a

that's what four doctors from ucsf are advocating.y wrote this letter you see here to governor gavin newsom and state health leaders and posted it on change.org. so far more than 26,000 people have signed the petition agreeing with them. they say children should be allowed to take off their masks when they're outside, and then make masks optional inside starting february 15th. that's the same date california's indoor mask mandate is set to expire. >>> will there be school next week for children in one east bay school district? the west contra costa unified school district is still negotiating with teachers trying to avert a strike. the issue is covid protocols. the teachers union is demanding high-quality masks for free for all students and weekly testing for all, including twice a week for classrooms that have three or more positive covid cases or independent study for that class while quarantining. we will continue to keep you posted as that progresses. >>> at 7:11 we have much more ahead on "today in the bay." coming up, thousands

reporter: the ucsf doctor says it is a bad idea because of what it can do to yourself, to others, and to the virus. >> if you try to get it intentionally, you will probably get a huge unpredictable dose of virus. reporter: dr. chin-hong says it could lead to a more severe case of omicron than someone who got it by chance. you could end up getting long-hauler covid symptoms, and stressing the health care system more than it is, or pass it onto the more at risk population. >> the more people get sick, the higher the chance other people in the community will get sick. reporter: and well omicron symptoms are milder than other variants, dr. chin-hong says the more transmission we have, the higher likelihood of an even worse variant in the corner. >> we know that for fact. the more we have a control of the number of transmissions, the better it is not just for yourself, but for all of us. reporter: dr. chin-hong says this can best be avoided if you don't get sick on purpose. his advice is to hold on. the surge is peaking, and better days will come soon. dustin dorsey, abc 7 news for the sec

same thing at ucsf medical center, according to infectious disease expert doctor peter chin-hong. there are currently 108 people hospitalized with covid ucsf down from 100. 38 on january 19th before omicron. they're seeing. >> you know, maybe less than 5, sometimes no cases per day in the hospital. so the goat to 188 on hundrend 8 is actually a huge burden. a national survey by the american medical association shows that a high percentage of nurses ha the intention to quit health care because of covid fatigue. that's 40% 20% of physicians. also us say that which is really shocking. doctor harold works to keep morale up at queen of the valley by highlighting positives during morning huddles. >> while also being transparent about the current state of covid. >> and in health care, can't forget we have to take care of ourselves each other first to make sure there's enough people to take care of our patients. >> doctor harold says a big problem in hospitals right now is the high number of people going to the er to try to get tested for covid. she says you should avoid the er for that.

. >> reporter: a ucsf infectious disease specialist says with positive cases on a cruise passengers are at high risk of exposure. isolate as much as possible, test after disembarking and get a pcr test three to five days after. >> definitely quarantine if you don't know you have it. test with a good test, up masking. >> reporter: he adds positive cases on a cruise aren't surprising especially with omicron and we are in a different place with the pandemic compared to two years ago. >> big difference between two years ago and this year is a lot of people are vaccinated and boosted. even if they got exposed from a passenger that they will not get serious disease, hospitalization, death. >> reporter: guests who tested positive will either go home via personal cars or will be taken to hotels to quarantine. ruby princess is scheduled to depart for another ten day cruise to mexico this afternoon. >>> school districts across the bay area are rushing to distribute at home covid testing kits for all students. this was dublin within the last conditional hours. a steady line of cars pulling up to g

infectious disease specialist at ucsf doctor peter chin-hong says he's still concerned about gatherings he says will likely see that declining cases slow as more people get together to cheer on their teams. that may mean the sense from a people we still are. >> because you have like many spikes up to be stacked events there. so watch parties and the super bowl each time you get a little bit higher, i think we are on the way down. but again, how we go down. well, depends on all behaviors. i'm taylor reporting kron. 4 news. >> stand tv. the story. john and i are talking about jimmy g and george kittle. so there you go because we're not going to watch the game nor go to a bar big story this morning that we're also following a new push. this is covid back to covid to allow pre teens to get vaccinated. get a covid shot without permission from their parents. local lawmakers and health officials are for this effort. they wanted covers or since it is live in francisco. the question is the parents want it and how is this going to work? sarah? >> we'll tell you this will certainly be a controvers

same thing at ucsf medical center, according to infectious disease expert doctor peter chin-hong. there are currently 108 people hospitalized with covid ucsf down from 100. 38 on january 19th before omicron. they're seeing. >> you know, maybe less than 5, sometimes no cases per day in the hospital. so the goat to 188 100 and 8 is actually a huge burden. a national survey by the american medical association shows that a high percentage of nurses have the intention to quit health care because of covid fatigue. that's 40% 20% of physicians. also us say that which is really shocking. doctor harold works to keep morale up at queen of the valley by highlighting positives during morning huddles while also being transparent about the current state of covid. >> and in health care, can't forget we have to take care of ourselves each other first to make sure there's enough people to take care of our patients. >> doctor harold says a big problem in hospitals right now is the high number of people going to the er to try to get tested for covid. she says you should avoid the er for that and ins

a local scientists from ucsf was on the panel and kron four's.o women sogomonian spoke with her to learn more about the treatments that she's been working on. >> mdma and psychedelics are often associated with partying. but researchers across america are increasingly curious about how these drugs could be helpful in a medical setting. although the federal government still classifies the substances as schedule one, meaning they are not accepted for medical use and funding for studies are not provided. scientists are given permission to conduct clinical trials, neuroscientist and ucsf. professor doctor jennifer mitchell has partnered up with maps. a psychedelic research group based in santa cruz with their help. she has used these drugs with willing patients to treat mental health issues like ptsd, depression and addiction. it's a little like peeling an onion. sometimes people come in with a. >> a trauma a war related trauma in which they experienced or saw something terrible. but then once that traumas processed and released, you find that there a

not a lot of kids going into the hospitals at the ucsf system. for example. >> if you do test positive doctor chan hong recommends telling those that you are in close contact with as well as your employer or your school. he also urges people to notify their department of public health for purposes of tracking cases. another big story that we're following this morning after 7 days of deliberations, a jury has convicted theranos founder elizabeth holmes on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy. holmes was convicted of 4 of the 11 counts that she was facing kron four's. jonathan mccall has details now on what comes next. >> theranos founder elizabeth holmes walking out of the federal courthouse in san jose monday night just moments after a jury convicted her on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy connected to or failed company theranos. the 37 year-old former entrepreneur showing no visible signs of emotion inside of a courtroom as the verdicts were read federal prosecutors claim that homes conde billions of dollars from a number of big named invest

well, ucsf infectious disease specialist doctor peter chin-hong says because you could potentially transmit t%e virus to others. people who are untested and sick should go into isolation. >> you keep us off from people from society, you all yourself up in a one. after the 5 year symptoms, i'm proving you can go out into the world with a mask on. but i read additional 5 days. if your son doesn't not improving, you basically stay until your symptoms are improving and wear the mask for the remainder of the time to make up 10 days. >> medical experts say if you have no symptoms but were exposed to others who do have covid those who have been recently vaccinated or boosted must wear a mask for 10 days if they leave the house. now to the south bay where san jose is not the first city in the united states to require a booster shot for city workers and city owned properties. this includes the sapd center. city leaders say this mandate is going to avoid hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. some council members are saying your chances of getting infected with the omicron variant arlo when you have a

it's been 2 weeks since they face the worst of their covid surge cases at ucsf. meanwhile, have started to level off. doctors say emergency rooms are overwhelmed with people looking to get tested for covid. but doctors say you need to avoid the er to get tested. tried other means such as scheduling an appointment with a doctor or finding a testing site via your counties health website. meanwhile, a bakery in dixon is giving out special treats in honor of the forty-niners big game on sunday. the solano county baking company is going to be handing out a free donut to every customer who comes in wearing a forty-niners jersey. another promotion there running is called valentine's day heartbreakers bakery workers show us what those look like. >>our bakers and they're really popular for valentine's day, but we're also doing them for the sunday game. so if you get a touchdown or you know, you don't like to call flag >>bakery recommends pre ordering a heartbreaker one or 2 days before sunday. and that's what you i like that. they have so many different shapes of doughnut

researchers at ucsf may have found something a physical change in brain fluid. the researchers studied 32 adults suffering from long covid brain fog. they found patients' brain fluid had elevated levels of protein, suggesting swelling in the cranium. their conclusion, covid may be triggering an immune system response. our sergio quintana spoke with one of the researchers. >> the brain fluid is different in these individuals with covid-related cognitive changes. it suggests broadly that there might be more than one kind of misdirected immune response that might be happening. but we really need to do further studies to know that this is causative. this might just be a side effect of another process going on. >> here's why this is important. if lingering brain fog is physical, like the finding suggests, and not psychological, doctors may be able to develop medicines to treat it. >>> let's move on. for ten years now we've been sharing stories of kindness and generosity in our communities called our bay area proud series. it illustrates not all the news on tv is bad.

the professor from ucsf said if that makes sense. you can find us on kpix.com or on the app. we are also on the cbs news app. you can download it for free on your favorite streaming device. >>> and don't forget to check out the new evening anchor. you can catch him with elizabeth cook >>> after nearly two years the amazing race is finally making it's long awaited return to cbs. 11 teams will gather in switzerland to restart their race that started prepandemic. the teams will trek around the world, racing to one million dollars at the finish line. we spoke to the host about what it was like for teams to return to the competition after all that time off. >> this is the first time that teams have ever been able to stop down, rethink, reassess, come up with a different plan. so, yes, teams did use a -- a lot of teams used their time wisely and came back better and faster than they were in the beginning for sure. >> you can watch the amazing race tonight at nine right here on kpix5. >>> only a fraction of a number of sat test takers achieve a perfect score. >> a northern californi

same thing at ucsf medical center. according to infectious disease expert doctor peter chin-hong. there are currently 108 people hospitalized with covid ucsf down from 100. 38 on january 19th before omicron. they're seeing. >> you know, maybe less than 5, sometimes no cases per day in the hospital. so the goat 188 100 and 8 is actually a huge burden. a national survey by the american medical association shows that a high percentage of nurses have the intention to quit health care because of covid fatigue. that's 40% 20% of physicians also says say that which is really shocking. doctor harold works to keep morale up at queen of the valley by highlighting positives during morning huddles. >> while also being transparent about the current state of covid. >> and in health care, can't forget we have to take care of ourselves each other first to make sure there's enough people to take care of our patients. >> doctor harold says a big problem in hospitals right now is the high number of people going to the er to try to get tested for covid. she says you should avoid the er for that and i

ucsf's dr.er chin hong says vaccines are still a critical weapon against ba.2. >> i'm very confident that the vaccines will still help prevent people with ba.2 from going to the hospital and having severe illness. >> it's the first two cases in the bay area, but is it the first two cases in the state, too? what do we know about that? >> no, it's not. there are other cases in california. i checked with the california department of public health today and they have confirmed 11 cases of ba 2 in the state. >> they call it the stealth variant. why do they call it the stealth variant? >> well, scientists dubbed it the stealth variant, because it's extremely difficult to detect. and because of that, it may not show up in pcr tests. >> wow, that's really interesting. what's the difference between a virus under investigation and a virus of concern? what's the delineation there? >> well, this virus is under investigation because it is identified as a new virus. but, if it would reach the level of concern

one of those people, infectious disease expert from ucsf, dr. peter chin hong. we were talking about this two years ago, like hospitalizations up, overrun, staff just exhausted. how are they staying sane and mentally stable during their time? we are two years in now. >> i think it has wreaked havoc on health care workers. you know, in a recent survey by the american medical association, a whopping 30% of nurses, 20% of physicians have quit in a year. i've never seen numbers like that. it really speaks to that feeling of, you know, fatigue, exhaustion. moral injury that many health care workers have faced. >> yeah, i mean, i see on social media all the time, nurses saying i want to quit. i can't take anymore. it's just really sad. and we're not out of this. we're in another surge, the omicron surge. what are hospitals facing right now? >> i think hospitals are projected to continue to go up even after we peak. we're expected to peak in the bay area maybe in the next week or two, but hospitals will stay and continue to increase in numbers because they usually lag

ucsf. infectious disease doctor monica gandhi is hoping that we might soon be able to ditch our masks. something which has already happened in great britain. that's because more people have been infected with the virus and built up immunity both naturally. and with the help of vaccines. tell us the money is in our newsroom tonight with the doctors message l a >> doctor. gandhi says that easing up on covid restrictions is ultimately based on the hospitalization rate. but we are close to a world where masks are going to be optional because many people have built up immunity. she projects that it may take about 3 to 4 weeks to see infection rates go down enough for the governor to lift the indoor mask mandate statewide. this after san francisco public health director doctor grant colfax said the other day. we're nearing the point that we can stop calling this a pandemic and instead an endemic because the virus is here to stay and we have the right treatments for it. >> and what is endemic me?

two doctors from ucsf wrote an article that says it is time to take a new approach.based on metrics that are no longer clinically relevant. jobina: kaiser in walnut creek says it is notifying patients after nearly 4000 people were given a low dose of pfizer vaccine by mistake. kaiser is offering infected patients another shot. reggie: early voting begins today in san francisco. the ballot includes a number of items today, including deciding whether to recall three school board members. election day is february 15. drew: we are tracking partly sunny skies this morning. it is also a cooler afternoon. fog in the north bay. honored -- moderate air quality today. highs in the 50's and low 60's. frances: traffic is heavy and a couple of spots because of earlier accidents. northbound 101 has a delay. northbound 880 is slow as well if you're headed toward the airport. the bay bridge toll plaza is backed up. jobina: a group of men in minnesota are sharing their love for knitting. many people picked up hobbies during the pandemic. they say it is an art form that can be healthy

. >> reporter: ucsf dr. monica gandy couldn't agree more. says in the endemic stage, treat the virus like influnza. >> don't test or contact trace, but treat with vaccines we hope everyone will get. and need treatment for unvaccinated or susceptible to breakthroughs, we use treatment. life goes back to basically normal. >> reporter: vaccinations and immunity from suffering from omicron. guarantees they start to come down in a matter of days. bases that on what she calls solid evidence. >> we monitor covid in sewage. what is happening is sewage genetic defenses of covid are coming down. that's first -- already peaked with wastewater covid. >> when we might move from pandemic to endemic phase, governor and doctor agree one month from now. terry mcsweeney, nbc bay area news. >>> we're back in 60 seconds. still ahead, is covid testing site legit? a private company doing tests in the bay area. what happened when we started asking questions? >> also may be a pile of cash with your name on it. how you can get your hands on it. >>> chief meteorologi