. >> nbc bay area, marianne favro. >> reporter: operations shutdown. they blocked the entrance and tried to hand out flyers. a lot of shouting but no violence. still a frustrating situation for all the people in line who already waited hours. governor newsom tweeted out, california is working around the clock to provide vaccines to those at the frontline of this pandemic. we'll not be deterred or threatened. dodgers stadium is backup and running. rawlings the governor gaining momentum, more than 1.2 million signatures collected. >> almost a yearlong shutdown of the state and the nation. i think a lot of people seeing that as an infringement of their liberties and freedom. >> reporter: law enforcement is investigaing threats against the governor and his family and the businesses he found it. they include a threat to burn down one of the wineries owned by plump jack group which newsom found it. a spokesperson says any threats against elected officials including public or private property are taken seriously and closely monitored. in san jose, marianne fa

>> marianne favro takes a look. >> reporter: more icu beds in the bay area having doctors feeling optimistic tonight. the icu availability dropped to less than 1%. today it soared 24% provided much relief to hospitals. dr. peter hong says it is an encouraging sign. >> everything is consistent in the right direction so it makes sense to me. we are probably around five times where we were in october instead of eight times or nine times just a couple of weeks ago. >> reporter: the news comes as many around the bay area wonder when the stay-at-home order could be lifted. today three doctors in contra costa county sent another letter to the health officer questioning the shutdown. the letter says during the last month data continues to accumulate to support our position of lockdown that contra costa county are doing more harm than good. residents are suffering immensely. >> my bust boys can't work from home. >> reporter: california regional order is supposed to be lifted when icu availability is subjected to exceed 20%. dr. peter chin hong says he views the latest improvements in icu numbers with

we've already started to cancel elective surgeries. >> reporter: in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> a covid test site on the peninsula has turned into a vaccination site for front line workers. san mateo county opened up this site at the county's event center. and there was a line of cars people waiting to get that shot. it's all part of the county's response to ramp up its vaccination rate. this site is a one of a series of clinics where health care workers can get their shot. >>> new at 11:00, a very unusual rescue after a crash in the east bay. take a look at this. the car ended up in a precarious position this afternoon. it happened after a driver lost control and san leandro and more specifically near ramando and meremer avenues. firefighters say thankfully no one was hurt. >>> another sign that the pandemic is hitting businesses big and small, the golden state warriors played off nearly 10% of its full time employees. the layoffs impacted those who work mostly in ticket sales and game presentation. no one on the basketball side of operations lost their jobs. the

marianne favro has the latest on the firefight. >> reporter: i'm here on larkin valley road in aptos. they took down the two large trees. they landed on these power lines. sense this morning, cal fire crews have been fighting a fire that has forced several families to evacuate. a network of wildfire cameras captured some of the pictures of new fires starting in the santa cruz mountains. in some places fires were in the czu area. they are battling the panther ridge fire that charred at least 50 acres and forced 20 homes to evacuate. in aptos, 100 homes were forced to evacuate after two fires broke out. >> i just hope it doesn't just explode like it did recently with the fires we had just a couple months ago, you know. i just hope it doesn't get out. >> reporter: trees fell on these power lines preventing rich savala from checking on a friend in the evacuation zone. >> i hope my friend is okay and her animals. she has quite a few animals. she does a rescue for her rask. ranch. >>> crews battled fires in bonnie doon and in san mateo county. with so many fires burning in the middle of win

in boulder creek, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. ? we want to give you a closer look at all the areas under mandatory evacuation tonight. boulder creek. so they're under an advisory. but right south of boulder creek, around there, mandatory evacuations. also the town of brook dale. this evacuation, these mandatory ones are now in effect for san mateo county. here's the county line right here. it includes a section of pescadero, and ano nuevo state park. if you're in those areas, that means you should leave, but it's not mandatory. and the areas in blue where marianne was, it's like the main strip of highway 9, they're under an evacuation advisory, which means you should be ready to go if needed. if you want a closer look at this map, there's a link on our website, nbcbayarea.com. >> that is hard. fires last year now possible flooding. people in the burn areas of snowma county told to get their go-bags ready. hillsides are scorched and unsettled. the rain could cause the hills to crumble and slide. you can see county officials passing

marianne favro has the latest from south san jose. >> reporter: this new photo we obtained shows the christmas tree costume an e.r. employee wore inside the emergency department of kaiser permanente's san jose medical center christmas day while mingling with patients and staff in the hallway. since then 44 staff members have tested pos it tiitive for covid one additional case reported since yesterday. kaiser is now investigating whether the air-powered inflatable costume may have made it easier for the virus to spread. we spoke with one emergency department employee who asked not to be identified and is worried about patients. >> if we got sick with that minimum protection and the patients had less protection, i'm concerned that there might be a big outbreak amongst the patient population and also that they may have a worsening case of this than some of us have. >> reporter: kaiser started notifying patients of the possible exposure, and the santa clara county public health department confirms it is investigating the outbreak. some hospital staff say the big issue was not the employe

nbc bay area's marianne favro first broke this story and joins us now from that kaiser in san jose with the exclusive details. marine. an >> reporter: raj, employees here say they're devastated by the loss of the longtime employee. they say she worked as a registration clerk in the emergency department here. known for her smile and her devotion tohe job. kaiser says it just completed a deep cleaning of the entire emergency department at its san jose medical center, which included swab testing of surfaces. employees are also being tested after an outbreak that infected at least 44 staff members with covid. one of them died yesterday from covid complications. today an employee, who asked not to be identified, reflected on the department's loss. >> she was always consistent with a smile and would never show face to the stresses that we go through and just a tremendous role model for others to follow. it's just really unfortunate, really sad that this outbreak led to her passing. >> reporter: the registration clerk had worked in the emergency department christmas day. while the exact source

in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >>> cases continue to soar across the bay area. in fact, there are so many cases that the san jose fire department tells us ambulances have to wait in long lines to drop patients off at area hospitals. on the state level more than 53,000 new cases recorded on new year's day. 386 people have died since friday night. the rise in cases is putting a strain on our hospitals. we've been reporting this. in the bay area 5.1%. the lowest number we've seen so far. our stay-at-home order is set to expire friday but likely will be extended unless our numbers improve. >>> in the south bay doctors say the latest peak is higher and more concerning. >> we've been 100% capacity for weeks. the biggest strain is on the icu. we're lirelatively successful a getting moderately ill patients through the emergency department and through the hospital, but the icu patients have a protracted course. if they end up on a ventilator, that ends up being weeks of care. >> doctors say their bgest challenge is yet to come with an anticipated post holiday surge. to m

in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >>> legal status and insurance were not required. the vaccination site is the first of its size and catered to the majority of african-american and -- >> i suggest everybody who has a chance to get the shot, particularly seniors who live in this area, it behooves you to get the shot. >>> and now uc davis has made coronavirus testing available to everybody in the city, and that means people who live in davis and people that work there. it has trained dozens of graduate students to help with contract tracing and hired 300 undergrads to help disinformation and hand out maps and they are using hotels and apartments for anybody that needs isolation or to quarentine. >>> the first saturday since the statewide restrictions were lifted. >> people out and about on a saturday night. the rain is gone and the shelter-at-home order is lifted people were out. >> feels good to have a sense of normality. >> vargas is a teacher and is on zoom most of the day, and she's a nanny. >> they are all doing online learning, so that has been very hectic. >> s

nbc bay area's marianne favro joins us from boulder creek.these mandatory evacuation orders or still a lot of people where you are? >> reporter: there are still a lot of people. for some regions, it's a recommendation or suggestion, for others, they're told it's an order and they need to get out. i have to tell you, right now it is really coming down, and the winds are starting to pick up. despite these evacuation warning, more than 250 households say they are staying put. and that is a big concern for emergency responders. >> if you find yourself with a medical emergency, our response can be significantly delayed potentially in trying to get there, not that we don't want to, there could be a road closed or tree down or wires or something to that effect. >> reporter: tonight a warning echoed earlier today and yesterday when deputies went door to door, urging people in the santa cruz mountains to get out before a strong storm hits. 5,000 people live in the evacuation zones along highway 9, including parts of boulder creek and ben lomond. >> ve

reporting live in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> okay, marianne, thank you. we will continue to follow developments in that story. >>> okay, now to our other top story tonight, the incoming weather and dangerous conditions along the coast, a high surf advisory is now in effect through tuesday. sneaker waves, a serious threat and sadly we've already seen just how dangerous the coast is right now, faa father is dead a his two children are missing after being swept out to sea at blind beach south of jenner. nbc bay area's jackie ward has the latest from sonoma county. >> reporter: this is an absolute heartbreaking story. several law enforcement agencies were out here earlier when the son was up looking for two small children ages 6 and 4. right now this area is closed to the public. >>> according to the sonoma county sheriff's department, two kids were playing on the shore of blind beach in jenner saturday afternoon when they were suddenly swept out to sea. their father was nearby and jumped into the water in an effort to save them. he was able to grab onto the

reporting live in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> so thank you so much, marianne. when do these reopening changes go into effect? for most of the bay area, today. you can see it's of the nine bay area counties have given the go ahead for businesses to reopen right away. those are the counties in blue. the one exception is san francisco, right here in green. it says businesses can reopen, raj, thursday morning. >>> things are a bit different in san francisco. mayor breed says the city will have tougher restrictions for businesses to reopen. the main hurdle, the vaccine supply chain isn't getting enough doses. thom jensen reports. >> reporter: good news from the podium of san francisco mayor london breed. >> we're in a better place than we've been in a long time. >> reporter: the bed space is up to 26%. and with the governor lifting state-wide stay-at-home orders, san francisco will return to the purple tier when it reopens thursday. >> outdoor dining can resume. personal services can resume as long as you can wear a mask. >> reporter: things like barbershops, beauty

in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, marianne. the bay area is pausing a specific batch of the moderna vaccine after several people had serious allergic reactions. it happened in san diego and affected fewer than ten people. late yesterday evening out of an abundance of caution, the california top health officer recommended temporarily stopping the use of this batch of the moderna vaccine. the state received about 330,000 doses of this batch. ucsf doctors say the reactions are serious and can include throat swelling, difficulty breathing and fainting and shock. >> these are very, very rare reactions if at all. they occur in fewer than one to 100,000 people. i think if you want to inspire vaccine confidence you want to really make sure that there wasn't anything out of the ordinary, and i think that's what our public health officials are trying to do. >> most all bay area counties received part of this batch of moderna vaccine. both san francisco and marin counties have given out some of their doses but have not heard of any advers

in san jose marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >>> we've mentioned our regional icu availability. it is low. just 3% for the bay area. here's how things stand county by county. most of the bay area as you can see in the red zone. that means less than 15% of standard icu beds are open. counties in the single digits, san mateo, santa clara, contra costa, solano county as well. but take a look at napa. it is at zero. that means standard icu beds are full so new patients may have to go to surge facilities. >>> four paramedics from the fremont fire department are headed to bakersfield to help deal with hospital staffing there. their deployment is part of the state's effort to shift resources to where they're needed the most. with no end to the winter surge of covid cases in sight, other first responders and health care staff could be tasked to help as well. another problem that hospitals are up against is oxygen supplies in some areas. hospital administrators in california and in arizona say oxygen use is up four times than it was at the precovid rate. it's a problem that many doctors

. >> marianne favro first reported the story on her twitter feed and continues her coverage live from san jose tonight. >> reporter: kaiser says it is testing its emergency department employees and also reaching out to patients who may have been exposed. but some nurses we spoke with tonight say they're not convinced that one person in a costume is to blame for 43 employees getting covid. kaiser permanente confirmed on christmas day an emergency department employee at this san jose medical center came into the department briefly wearing an air powered costume. employees say it was an inflatable christmas tree. now 43 employees have tested positive for covid, and the hospital is investigating to see if it's possible the air powered costume may have made covid easier to transimate. kaiser says the employee did not have symptoms at the time and was only trying to lift spirits during a stressful time. but one er employee who asked not to be identified suspects there may be another reason. kaiser says after the spike in cases all areas in the emergency department are undergoing deep cleani

in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> not many people get a front row seat to history.rations. jarrett is senior adviser to president obama. she posted these pictures on instagram. one of her is on the white house lawn from four years ago and then a snapshot of now president joe biden and first lady dr. jill biden with michelle obama. i asked jarrett what's ahead for the biden/harris administration. >> no two days are alike. no two hours are alike. we used to say for several months we were drinking out of a fire hose, and i'm not sure that ever stopped until the day i walked out. >> reporter: yeah, i hear you. so many eyes will be looking at kamala harris as the first woman, as the first woman of color. and that vice presidential role is so dependent on that relationship with the president. what do you see as what their role will be as a team and what her role should be carrying so much weight on her shoulders? >> her career has been made up of breaking through glass ceilings, being the first -- the first but ensuring she wasn't the only or the last. and so i think she'

in palo alto, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >>> we have a difficult story to tell you about thisright now. a man remains missing after being swept into the ocean. about 3:15, the man and the woman, both from redwood city were searching for muscles on the rocks. a wave swept them under. a witness was able to pull the man out of the water but the woman has not been found. >>> a san jose man is missing after being swept into the ocean off point bonita. they were tawalking along the bluffs when the waves overcame them. the san jose man is still missing. >>> the three people we lost and a 14-year-old girl in marin. despite the dangers, there's crowds at mavericks tonight. here come the king tides. they're on the way now. let's bring in rob mayeda. rob? >> the high surf warning has been allowed to expire, the wave heights are very high. they were 20 feet with breakers above 25 feet. we look at the numbers and are able to see, along the coast, 14-foot to 18-foot waves are ongoing there, a continued concern along the coast, as king tide becomes our top story as we head into monday and tu