matt willis. thank you for joining us.ou said this week the case rate is declining steadily in marin county. tell us what you are seeing. >> we are seeing our cases speak really in the first week of january. our high single day was january 4th. we had almost 700 cases on that day. for context, that is about seven times the highest number of cases we have seen and the delta search that happened in august. since then, we have seen steady declines in cases now for the past 10 days, fewer and fewer cases each day. we are about 280 cases now on average today. >> so, dr. willis, from what you are seeing, is this trend holding true across the state? >> there are some areas that are exceptions to this, overall, the state is seeing a decline in cases, consistent with what we are seeing in other parts of the world where omicron hits earlier, the uk, new york, boston, decreases in cases. that is what we are seeing in the state as a rule by and large me but there are some exceptions. even in moran, we have some cases where cases are c

matt willis says so much was learned from the initial lock down phase of the pandemic. >> it is important to take into account a holistic understanding of the harm of covid balanced with the harms of some policies that we had to put in place. >> reporter: he says marin is not in the endemic phase but is seeing parallels with other illnesses such as flu. for a county that has highest vaccination rate in california with more than 94% of those 5 and over fully vaccinated the risk of significant eyes ease and death has dropped significantly. >> while we continue to face this, and this will be with us for weeks longer, with surges in the future, we are integrating a holistic view so we are approaching our mental, physical health at the same time. >> reporter: some would like to see the change in policy. >> we cannot live like this for years and years. >> reporter: others feel loosening restrictions will be harmful. >> we are not out of the woods yet. i believe that masking is one of the ways we can get through together. i think it is important that we try to keep vigilant through all this. >>>

matt willis, who says anyone unvaccinated has to undergo testing twice per week under that policy. he says that the omicron surge has limited those county resources which is the reason behind the extension. he says that vaccination rates are already high among the department. but some first responders still need to get boosted. >> the booster rates are closer to 70% so we have some progress to make there. we're hoping this extra month will give them the time they need to get that extra protection of the booster. there are some pockets, in some jurisdictions, the vaccination rates, especially among some of our law enforcement, are closer to 70 or 80%, even just for being fully vaccinated. so that's the hope. that we'll be able to get higher vaccination rates for that group. >> just into our newsroom. the state extending a booster shot deadline for health care workers. a spokesperson for the california department of public health says that it is being pushed back from february 1st until march 1st. the state's roughly 2.5 million health care workers will have to get a coronavirus vacc

matt willis. how many of the cases are you seeing from asymptomatic people? >> the vast majority are not having symptoms. liz: marin is one of many counties that encourages students to take a covid-19 test before returning to class. as result start coming in, it is giving health officials a better picture of how widespread the viruses. nearly 6% of students are out this week, roughly double the usual absence rate. what is your message to parents that are concerned about sending their kids to school? >> school-based transmissions are extra ordinarily low. liz: the larger concern is keeping schools open long-term if so many people keep testing positive. >> staffing shortages might actually threaten schools more than cases. liz: to further reduce transmission in schools, marin county will temporarily prohibit indoor gathering such as assemblies and schools and prohibits cap taters -- spectators at indoor school sporting events. dan: east bay schools are grappling with covid. in the oakland unified school district, about 900 students and staff tested positive ove

marin county public health officer doctor matt willis says about 3 out of every 100 residents is currently infected with covid-19. he's concerned that a room full of parents at indoor sports games can contribute to the spread doctor willis says this is a temporary sacrifice as a parent of high school athlete. you know, i know that it hurts not to be able attend those and even i can't go. heard enough by this pandemic and keep the parents away from watching their kids games. i think it's just cruelty to kids. and it's been going on for 19 months, reporting in nevado dan thorn kron 4 news. happening today. the teachers union in san francisco. they will hold a news conference criticizing the district's handling of covid testing and the passing out of those test kits. >> more than 600 educators were not able to teach yesterday because either they were tested positive for covid or they're waiting for a test result. the san francisco unified school district says they received nearly 630 requests for substitute teachers. the teachers union is slamming the district over its hardling of the covid s

. >> doctor matt willis believes covid-19 will continue to mutate and spread in our communities indefinitely. but the severity of illness will diminish with each variant. >> look no further than the difference between alpha, the first rain of concern, then the highly virulent delta variant. >> and now omicron which is highly transmissible but causes less severe symptoms. and i hear that, you know, places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the waiver. that approach influenza. >> or other viruses. that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress towards that. eventually. future. mc relationship with this virus, doctor willis has served as marin county's public health officer throughout the pandemic. the county that ranks among the top in the state of most vaccinated against covid-19. still, he says right now, one in every 20 residents is testing positive for the virus. but

because we don't need to because this virus is less of a county public health officer doctor matt willis says he expects the explosion of omicron cases to soon level off and likely drop significantly. >> but doctor willis says we should expect more variants to come. when i hear that, you know, places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the waiver. that approach influenza. >> or other viruses. that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress towards that. eventually. future of endemic relationship with this virus. doctor willis says once a variant moves through a community, it will likely stay in the past. he says the key to working out of the pandemic is to continue to make the vaccine widely available. >> and masking when appropriate to prevent transmission. eventually testing for the virus will not be a priority but ultimately covid-19 is here to stay indefinitely.

because we don't need to because this virus is less of a county public health officer doctor matt willis says he expects the explosion of omicron cases to soon level off and likely drop significantly. >> but doctor willis says we should expect more variants to come. when i hear that, you know, places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the waiver would approach influenza. >> or other viruses. that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress towards that. eventually. future. mc relationship with this virus. doctor willis says once a variant moves through a community, it will likely stay in the past. he says the key to working out of the pandemic is to continue to make the vaccine widely available. >> and masking when appropriate to prevent transmission. eventually testing for the virus will not be a priority but ultimately covid-19 is here to stay indefinitely. phillip

matt willis explains the change. >> because there have been high rates of illness among first responders, they haven't actually had the chance to get those booster doses. because you can't get boosted within a certain time after you've been infected. reporter: police and firefighters have reported high vaccination rates. but there's a small percentage of those who have refused. the county says they can keep their jobs, but must test weekly. >> we have 5% that opted personal reasons to go ahead and not get vaccinated at this time. it could be religious or health beliefs. health issues that they have. reporter: vexing clinics or plans for the next four weekends at the sonoma county fairgrounds to help slow the spread of omicron. >> more than 20% of our eligible population has not been fully vaccinated yet. about 40% have not yet gotten boosted. we know vaccination and boosting makes any difference. reducing the chance of serious illness. reporter: appointments are encouraged but walk-ins are also welcome. >> we do want to get to breaking news coming into the director of the embattled edd i

according to health officer doctor matt willis, our case rates are going down more slowly than that, >> you know, we're now seeing about 200, 50 cases on average per day in marin county. >> and that's been the stable number for the past 3 or 4 days down 40% from the peak of omicron alameda county health officer doctor nicholas moss says omicron also peek at the beginning of the month. he's now paying attention to hospitalizations which tend to lag behind case numbers numbers are are not increasing so much day to we're at a high level. >> and we're sort plateaued. and i'm hopeful that that means we're going to start seeing people coming out of the hospital very soon before the first positive omicron case in the country was discovered in san francisco, the watershed, the santa clara county detected the variant doctor. sara cody says the vaccines help prevent hospitalizations, but they weren't 100% effective. and that's where we pair it >> so if you wear a mask and everyone around, you wears a mask about where a very important layer of >> protection and california masks are still requir

according to health officer doctor matt willis, our case rates are going down more slowly than you know, we're now seeing about 200, 50 cases on average per day in marin county. >> that's been the stable number for the past 3 or 4 days down 40% from the peak of omicron alameda county health officer doctor nicholas moss says omicron also peek at the beginning of the month. he's now paying attention to hospitalizations which tend to lag behind case numbers pete with our hospitalizations. we are very similar to where we were in it with lots of surge before the first positive omicron case in the country was discovered in san francisco, the watershed, the santa clara county detected the variant doctor. sara cody says the vaccines help prevent hospitalizations, but they weren't 100% effective. and that's where we pair it >> so if you wear a mask and everyone around you where some asked about where a very important layer of >> protection masks are still required indoors, regardless of vaccination status until at least february 15th. the omicron is on the decline. health officers in the bay are

matt willis. how many of the cases are you seeing from asymptomatic people? >> the vast majority are not having symptoms. liz: marin is one of many counties that encourages students to take a covid-19 test before returning to class. as result start coming in, it is giving health officials a better picture of how widespread the viruses. nearly 6% of students are out this week, roughly double the usual absence rate. what is your message to parents that are concerned about sending their kids to school? >> school-based transmissions are extra ordinarily low. liz: the larger concern is keeping schools open long-term if so many people keep testing positive. >> staffing shortages might actually threaten schools more than cases. liz: to further reduce transmission in schools, marin county will temporarily prohibit indoor gathering such as assemblies and schools and prohibits cap taters -- spectators at indoor school sporting events. dan: east bay schools are grappling with covid. in the oakland unified school district, about 900 students and staff tested positive ove

according to health officer doctor matt willis, our case rates are going down more slowly than you know, we're now seeing about 200, 50 cases on average per day in marin county. >> and that's been the stable number for the past 3 or 4 days down 40% from the peak of omicron alameda county health officer doctor nicholas moss says omicron also peek at the beginning of the month. he's now paying attention to hospitalizations which tend to lag behind case numbers repeat with our hospitalizations. we are very similar to where we were in it with loss. surge before the first positive omicron case in the country was discovered in san francisco, the watershed, the santa clara county detected the variant doctor. sara cody says the vaccines help prevent hospitalizations, but they weren't 100% effective. and that's where we pair it >> so if you wear a mask and everyone around you where some asked about where a very important layer of protection, masks are still required indoors, regardless of vaccination status until at least february 15th. >> the one across on the decline health officers in the bay

reporter: marin county health officer matt willis says the county has documented a higher percentage of residents boosted than the federal data suggests but suggests overall the percentages are disappointing. >> clearly there's a lot of progress to make. these rates aren't high enough. reporter: other counties like alameda also questioned the federal data pointing out that not all skilled nursing facilities are self-reporting. and that some may be inaccurately calculating their percentages. contra costa, san francisco, solano and napa counties told us they're providing mobile vaccination teams to long-term care facilities as needed and expect the percentage of those boosted will be higher by february 1. >> i don't think that there is a viable excuse not to do something to save lives right now. reporter: an effort across the bay area to meet the state's upcoming deadline while protecting one of the most vulnerable populations. a reminder this is self-reported data as of january 9. contra costa county pointed out facilities in which the state data is lower than the actual number of res

adopted the rules last night keeping parents out of a series of games, public health officer doctor matt willis and marion is concerned that a room full of parents are people at indoor sporting events can contribute to the spread of omicron. but parents we talked to said it should be up to that. heard enough by this pandemic and keep the parents away from watching their kids games. >> i think it's just cruelty to kids. and it's been going on for 19 months as a parent of high school athlete. you know, i know that it hurts not to be able to attend those and even i can do not want to be apple. find transmission at this point in our own khon surge. we need to be be doing the opposite. >> local health officials are also asking schools to not hold indoor assemblies until further notice. in the east bay. the west contra costa unified school district will soon begin requiring staff members to wear a medical grade k 95 mask while at work or an n 95, the new requirement starts monday. the district says this is one of several steps. it is taking to try to keep students and staff safe. the district has ord

matt willis explains the change. >> because there's been high rates of illness among first responders, they have not had a chance to get those booster doses big as you cannot get boosted within a certain period of time after you have been infected. >> police and firefighters have reported high rates of infection, but a small percentage have refused. the county says they can keep their jobs but must test weekly. >> we have 5% that opted for personal reasons to go ahead and not get vaccinated at this time. could be religious beliefs, could be health issues. >> in sonoma county, vaccine clinics are planned for the next numeral for weekends at the sonoma county fairgrounds. >> more than 20% of our eligible population has not been fully vaccinated yet, and 40% have not yet been boosted, and we know that vaccination and boosting makes a big difference in reducing the chance of serious illness. >> appointments are encouraged but walk-ins are welcome. larry: beginning tuesday, oakland will require people 12 and up to show proof of vaccination at many indoor public locations. we're talking res

matt willis. how many of the cases you are seeing are from asymptomatic people? ? the vast majority are not having symptoms. >> marin county is on of many counties that encouraged students to take a covid test before returning to class. it is giving health officials a better picture of how widespread the virus is. in the corte madera school district, nearly 6% of students are out this week. what is your message to parents concerned about sending your kids to school? >> school-based transmissions are extraordinarily low. school is a safe place to be. dark the larger concern is keeping schools open longer term to if so many people keep testing positive. >> staffing shortages might threaten schools more than cases. >> to further reduce transmission, dr. willis says marin county will temporarily prohibit indoor gatherings such as assemblies at schools and prohibit spectators including parents and indoor school sporting events. >> a new guidance tonight from the cdc helps us make sense of the shorter isolation recommendations. the cdc says if you get covid, you should i

matt willis says the county has the highest vaccination rate with more than 94% of those 5 and olderase and death has dropped drastically. masks are still required at indoor events, new guidance seemingly follows a trend giving more responsibility on risk taking to people rather than relying on mandates. >>> i am anne makovec at the live news desk taking a live look at the richmond san rafael bridge which is open after closed for about five hours last night. cal trans inspecting damage after a fiery crash. we found this video on social media. a tractor trailer colliding with a car. the driver of the car died in that crash. the truck driver was able to escape. but they had to shut down all lanes and finally reopened them very early this morning. in the meantime gianna has a look at the rest of your bay area commute. >>> thanks. if you are taking richmond san rafael bridge, an 11 minute commute from the east bay to the marin side. taking 880, you will need a few extra minutes south bound near a street. traffic is busy there, busy out of castro valley onto 880. west bound 580, 51 minute

because we don't need to because this virus is less of a in county public health officer doctor matt willis says he expects the explosion of omicron cases to soon level off and likely drop significantly. >>but doctor willis says we should expect more variants to come. when i hear that, you know, in places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the way approach influenza or other viruses. >>that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress toward staff eventually future of endemic relationship with this virus. doctor willis says once a variant moves through a community, it will likely stay in the past. >>he says the key to working out of the pandemic is to continue to make the vaccine widely available and masking when appropriate to prevent transmission. >>eventually testing for the virus will not be a priority but ultimately covid-19 is here to stay indefinitely. felipe ball

matt willis says the county has documented a higher percentage of staff and residents boosted then federal data suggests, but suggests the percentages are disappointing. >> there is a lot of progress to make. reporter: alameda question federal data, pointing out that not all skilled nursing facilities are self reporting and that some may be inaccurately counting percentages. contra costa, san francisco, solana, and napa counties told us they are providing vaccination to long-term care facilities as needed and expect the percentage of those boosted will be higher by february 1. >> i don't think there is a viable excuse not to do something to save lives. reporter: to meet the state deadline while protecting one of the most vulnerable populations. a reminder, this is self-reported data as of january 9. contra costa county pointed out facilities in which state data is lower than the actual number of residents and staff currently boosted. all of this perhaps suggesting the need for a more centralized way to keep track of this vulnerable population. dan: after millions of dollars of personal pro

doctor matt willis is the public health officer for marine county. he says the peak for the 7 day average of covid-19 case positivity was january 9th. >> and they're continuing to see improvement since then. every day we've had fewer cases in santa clara county. they use wastewater surveillance as a way to supplement their public health data. it measures the amount of virus in the wastewater accounting for those who are asymptomatic. don't test for use at home test deputy director for the health department, michael bal. yea says they're seeing a similar trend to some leveling off or maybe even some slight declines in the concentrations of virus in the wastewater are cautiously optimistic that are critical cases will start to show the same type of production. but doctor willis says it's not time to let your guard down. the other concern is hospitalizations are not dropping right back continue to increase at john muir health in contra costa county chief medical officer doctor russell rodriguez echoed his concerns. immigration numbers of approaching our

public health director officer, i should say, doctor matt willis is concerned that a room full of parents at indoor sports games can spread the omicron variant. >> as a parent of high school athlete. you know, i know that it hurts not to be able to attend those and even i can do not want to be apple. find transmission at this point in our khon surge. we need to doing the opposite. >> okay. so local health officials, they are also looking to schools to hold to not hold assemblies indoor. and so otherwise being told by the health department. happening today. the teachers union in san francisco. they will hold a news conference criticizing the district's handling of covid testing and the passing out of those kits more than 600 educators were not able to teach yesterday because of a positive covid test or they're still waiting for the results to come back. the san francisco unified school district says they received close to 630 requests for substitute teachers. the teachers union is slamming the district over its handling of the covid surge, including having no plan on how to pass out those

doctor matt willis is the public health officer for marine county. he says the peak for the 7 day average of covid-19 case positivity was january 9th. >> and they're continuing to see improvement. since then. every day we've had cases in santa clara county. they use wastewater surveillance as a way to supplement their public health data. it measures the amount of virus in the wastewater accounting for those who are asymptomatic. don't test for use at home test deputy director for the health department. michael bal. yea says they're seeing a similar trend to some leveling off or maybe even some slight declines in the concentrations of virus in the wastewater are cautiously optimistic that are critical cases will start to show the same type of production. but doctor willis says it's not time to let your guard down the other concerns. hospitalizations are not dropping right back continue to increase at john muir health in contra costa county chief medical officer doctor russell rodriguez echoed his concerns. immigration numbers of approaching our highes

because we don't need to because this virus is less of a county public health officer doctor matt willis expects the explosion of omicron cases to soon level off and likely drop significantly. >> but doctor willis says we should expect more variants to come. when i hear that, you know, places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the waiver. that approach influenza. >> or other viruses. that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress towards that. eventually. future. mc relationship with this virus. doctor willis says once a variant moves through a community, it will likely stay in the past. he says the key to working out of the pandemic is to continue to make the vaccine widely available. >> and masking when appropriate to prevent transmission. eventually testing for the virus will not be a priority but ultimately covid-19 is here to stay indefinitely. felipe kron 4 n

public health officer doctor matt willis says he expects the explosion of omicron cases to soon level off and likely drop significantly. >> but doctor willis says we should expect more variants to come. when i hear that, you know, places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the waiver. that approach influenza. >> or other viruses. that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress towards that. eventually. future. mc relationship with this virus. doctor willis says once a variant moves through a community, it will likely stay in the past. he says the key to working out of the pandemic is to continue to make the vaccine widely available. >> and masking when appropriate to prevent transmission. eventually testing for the virus will not be a priority but ultimately covid-19 is here to stay indefinitely. felipe ball kron 4 news years. and i look >> nurses at 8 hospitals a

because we don't need to because this virus is less of a county public health officer doctor matt willisects the explosion of omicron cases to soon level off and likely drop significantly. >> but doctor willis says we should expect more variants to come. when i hear that, you know, places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the way we would approach influenza. >> or other viruses. that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress towards that. eventually. future. mc relationship with this virus. doctor willis says once a variant moves through a community, it will likely stay in the past. he says the key to working out of the pandemic is to continue to make the vaccine widely available. >> and masking when appropriate to prevent transmission. eventually testing for the virus will not be a priority but ultimately covid-19 is here to stay indefinitely. felipe kron 4 news

because we don't need to because this virus is less of marine county public health officer doctor matt willislosion of omicron cases to soon level off and likely drop significantly. >> but doctor willis says we should expect more variants to come. when i hear that, you know, places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the way we would approach influenza. >> or other viruses. that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress towards that. eventually. future. mc relationship with this virus. doctor willis says once a variant moves through a community, it will likely stay in the past. he says the key to working out of the pandemic is to continue to make the vaccine widely available. >> and masking when appropriate to prevent transmission. eventually testing for the virus will not be a priority but ultimately covid-19 is here to stay indefinitely. felipe kron, 4 and i look. >> w

according to health officer doctor matt willis, our case rates are going down more slowly than you know, we're now seeing about 200, 50 cases on average per day in marin county. >> and that's been the stable number for the past 3 or 4 days down 40% from the peak of omicron alameda county health officer doctor nicholas moss says omicron also peek at the beginning of the month. he's now paying attention to hospitalizations which tend to lag behind case numbers repeat with our hospitalizations. we are very similar to where we were in it with lots of surge beiore the first positive omicron case in the country was discovered in san francisco, the watershed, the santa clara county detected the variant doctor. sara cody says the vaccines help prevent hospitalizations, but they weren't 100% effective. and that's where we pair it >> so if you wear a mask and everyone around, you wears a mask about where a very important layer of >> protection masks are still required indoors, regardless of vaccination status until at least february 15th. the omicron is on the decline. health officers in the bay

according to health officer doctor matt willis, our case rates are going down more slowly than that, >> you know, we're now seeing about 200, 50 cases on average per day in marin county. >> and that's been the stable number for the past 3 or 4 days down 40% from the peak of omicron alameda county health officer doctor nicholas moss says omicron also peek at the beginning of the month. he's now paying attention to hospitalizations which tend to lag behind case numbers pete with our hospitalizations. we are very similar to where we were in it with lots of surge before the first positive omicron case in the country was discovered in san francisco, the watershed, the santa clara county detected the variant doctor. sara cody says the vaccines help prevent hospitalizations, but they weren't 100% effective. and that's where we pair it >> so if you wear a mask and everyone around, you wears a mask about where a very important layer of >> protection masks are still required indoors, regardless of vaccination status until at least february 15th. the omicron is on the decline. health officers i

matt willis predicts we could soon enter the endemic phase of this pandemic. last night santa clarita county public health director sara cody spoke at the covid town hall and expressed they're on the other side of the surge. the other subvariant known as ba.2 has been detected in santa clarita county. dr. cody says it's so early to say whether it be more or less dangerous. >> my guess it will behave like the omicron variant, a subvariant. we'll see. >> we don't think it's causing more severe disease. in fact, the danish government released some data showing that so far they're not seeing increased hospitalizations due to this variant versus the regular omicron. >> reporter: even though ba.2 has been detected in 40 different countries, there's no evidence that it is spreading more quickly than other variants, and so far it looks like our vaccines will be effective against it. marcus, laura. >> bob redell, thank you. >>> a reminder for you this morning if you're looking for those free n95 masks that the government is offering, you can go to nbcbayarea.com and he

public health officer doctor matt willis says he expects the explosion of omicron cases to soon levelely drop significantly. >> but doctor willis says we should expect more variants to come. when i hear that, you know, places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the waiver. that approach influenza. >> or other viruses. that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress towards that. eventually. future. mc relationship with this virus. doctor willis says once a variant moves through a community, it will likely stay in the past. he says the key to working out of the pandemic is to continue to make the vaccine widely available and masking when appropriate to prevent transmission. >> eventually testing for the virus will not be a priority but ultimately covid-19 is here to stay indefinitely. felipe kron 4 news years. and i look. >> in an effort to slow the omicron surge,

marin county public health officer doctor matt willis says about 3 out of every 100 residents is currently infected with covid-19. he's concerned that a room full of parents at indoor sports games can contribute to the spread doctor willis says this is a temporary sacrifice as a parent of high school athlete. you know, i know that it hurts not to be able attend those and even i can't go. heard enough by this pandemic and keep the parents away from watching their kids games. i think it's just cruelty to kids. and it's been going on for 19 months, reporting in nevado dan thorn kron 4 news. >> happening today. the teachers union in san francisco is going to be holding a news conference to criticize the district's handling of covid testing and the distribution of test kits. more than 600 educators won't be able to teach or weren't able to teach on tuesday because they're either waiting for their test results to come back or it came back positive. the san francisco unified school district says they received 626 requests for substitute teachers and the teachers union is slamming the district ove

adopted the rules last night keeping parents out from a series of games, public health officer doctor matt willis is concerned that a room full of parents and with omicron lurking is not good for anybody involved. >> as a parent of high school athlete. you know, i know that it hurts not to be able to attend those and even i can do not want to be apple. find transmission at this point in our khon surge. we need to be be doing the opposite. >> local health officials. they're asking schools to not also hold indoor assemblies while the omicron variant continues to surge. and until they hear back from the health department happening today. the teachers union in san francisco will hold a news conference actually to criticize the district's handling a covid testing and the passing out of those home tests. more than 600 educators were not able to teach yesterday because of a positive covid test or they're simply waiting for their test results to come back. the san francisco unified school district says they actually received get this close to 630 requests for substitute teachers to come in. the teachers

according to health officer doctor matt willis, our case rates are going down more slowly than you know, we're now seeing about 200, 50 cases on average per day in marin county. >> that's been the stable number for the past 3 or 4 days down 40% from the peak of omicron alameda county health officer doctor nicholas moss says omicron also peek at the beginning of the month. he's now paying attention to hospitalizations which tend to lag behind case numbers repeat with our hospitalizations. we are very similar to where we were in it with loss. surge before the first positive omicron case in the country was discovered in san francisco, the watershed, the santa clara county detected the variant doctor. sara cody says the vaccines help prevent hospitalizations, but they weren't 100% effective. and that's where we pair it >> so if you wear a mask and everyone around, you wears a mask about where a very important layer of >> protection masks are still required indoors, regardless of vaccination status until at least february 15th. the omicron is on the decline. health officers in the bay area s

according to health officer doctor matt willis, our case rates are going down more slowly than you know, we're now seeing about 200, 50 cases on average per day in marin county. >> and that's been the stable number for the past 3 or 4 days down 40% from the peak of omicron alameda county health officer doctor nicholas moss says omicron also peek at the beginning of the month. he's now paying attention to hospitalizations which tend to lag behind case numbers repeat with our hospitalizations. we are very similar to where we were in it with loss. surge before the first positive omicron case in the country was discovered in san francisco, the watershed, the santa clara county detected the variant doctor. sara cody says the vaccines help prevent hospitalizations, but they weren't 100% effective. and that's where we pair it >> so if you wear a mask and everyone around, you wears a mask about where a very important layer of >> protection masks are still required indoors, regardless of vaccination status until at least february 15th. the one across on the decline health officers in the bay are

according to health officer doctor matt willis, our case rates are going down more slowly than that, >> you know, we're now seeing about 200, 50 cases on average per day in marin county. >> and that's been the stable number for the past 3 or 4 days down 40% from the peak of omicron alameda county health officer doctor nicholas moss says omicron also peek at the beginning of the month. he's now paying attention to hospitalizations which tend to lag behind case numbers pete with our hospitalizations. we are very similar to where we were in it with lots surge before the first positive omicron case in the country was discovered in san francisco, the watershed, the santa clara county detected the variant doctor. sara cody says the vaccines help prevent hospitalizations, but they weren't 100% effective. and that's where we pair it >> so if you wear a mask and everyone around, you wears a mask about where that's a very important layer of >> protection masks are still required indoors, regardless of vaccination status until at least february 15th. the wall mccraw is on the decline. health of

doctor matt willis is the public health officer for marine county. he says the peak for the 7 day average of covid-19 case positivity was january 9th. >> and they're continuing to see improvement since then. every day we've had cases in santa clara county. they use wastewater surveillance as a way to supplement their public health data. it measures the amount of virus in the wastewater accounting for those who are asymptomatic. don't test or usenet home-test deputy director for the health department. michael bal. yea says they're seeing a similar trend to some leveling off or maybe even some slight declines in the concentrations of virus in the wastewater are cautiously optimistic that are critical cases will start to show the same type of production. but doctor willis says it's not time to let your guard down. the other concern is hospitalizations are not dropping right back continue to increase at john muir health in contra costa county chief medical officer doctor russell rodriguez echoed his concerns. immigration numbers of approaching our highes

according to health officer doctor matt willis, our case rates are going down more slowly than that, >> you know, we're now seeing about 200, 50 cases on average per day in marin county. >> and that's been the stable number for the past 3 or 4 days down 40% from the peak of omicron alameda county health officer doctor nicholas moss says omicron also peek at the beginning of the month. he's now paying attention to hospitalizations which tend to lag behind case numbers pete with our hospitalizations. we are very similar to where we were in it with lots surge before the first positive omicron case in the country was discovered in san francisco, the watershed, the santa clara county detected the variant doctor. sara cody says the vaccines help prevent hospitalizations, but they weren't 100% effective. and that's where we pair it >> so if you wear a mask and everyone around, you wears a mask about where a very important layer of >> protection masks are still required indoors, regardless of vaccination status until at least february 15th. the wall mccraw is on the decline. health officers

marin county public health officer doctor matt willis says about 3 out of every 100 residents is currently infected with covid-19. he's concerned that a room full of parents at indoor sports games can contribute to the spread doctor willis says this is a temporary sacrifice as a parent of high school athlete. you know, i know that it hurts not to be able to attend those and even i can't go. heard enough by this pandemic and keep the parents away from watching their kids games. i think it's just cruelty to kids. and it's been going on for 19 months, reporting in nevado dan thorn kron 4 news the oakland unified school district says almost a 1000 students and staff tested positive for covid before classes resumed on monday. >> the district distributed about 41,000 home covid tests kits to students and families just before the winter break. in a statement district. officials say although some students or staff may have been on campus yesterday before learning of their positive test results. they say they're confident they avoided potential exposures in an overwhelming majority of the reported

marin county public health officer doctor matt willis says about 3 out of every 100 residents is currently infected with covid-19. he's concerned that a room full of parents at indoor sports games can contribute to the spread doctor willis says this is a temporary sacrifice as a parent of high school athlete. you know, i know that it hurts not to be able attend those and even i can't go. heard enough by this pandemic and keep the parents away from watching their kids games. i think it's just cruelty to kids. and it's been going on for 19 months, reporting in nevado dan thorn kron 4 news. >> more and more vaccine appointments are reportedly being cancel some cvs pharmacies had to send out cancellation alerts recently saying that they did not have enough vaccines. a spokesperson from cvs health says the pharmacy has administered more than 41 million covid tests and 50 million vaccine since the pandemic started. but experts say this covid surge is really affecting the workforce and those who work with vaccines are no exception. uc berkeley, infectious disease expert doctor john swartzberg say

adopted the rules last night keeping parents out drom a series of games, public health officer doctor matt willis is concerned that a room full of parents at indoor sporting games can contribute to the spread of covid. >> as a parent of high school athlete. you know, i know that it hurts not to be able to attend those and even i can do not want to be apple. find transmission at this point in our own khon surge. we need to to be be doing the opposite. >> local health officials are also asking schools to not hold indoor assemblies until further notice. happening today. the teachers union in san francisco will be holding a news conference criticizing the district's handling of covid testing and the distribution of test kits. more than 600 educators weren't able to teach tuesday due to either testing positive for covid or still waiting on their test results to come back. the san francisco unified school district says that they received about 626 requests for substitute teachers and the teachers union is slamming the district over its handling of this covid surge, including having no plan on how to di

because we don't need to because this virus is less of a county public health officer doctor matt willis says he expects the explosion of omicron cases to soon level off and likely drop significantly. >> but doctor willis says we should expect more variants to come. when i hear that, you know, places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the waiver. that approach influenza. >> or other viruses. that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress towards that. eventually. future. mc relationship with this virus. doctor willis says once a variant moves through a community, it will likely stay in the past. he says the key to working out of the pandemic is to continue to make the vaccine widely available and masking when appropriate to prevent transmission. >> eventually testing for the virus will not be a priority but ultimately covid-19 is here to stay indefinitely. felipe k

marin county public health officer doctor matt willis says about 3 out of every 100 residents is currently infected with covid-19. he's concerned that a room full of parents at indoor sports games e can contribute to the spread doctor willis says this is a temporary sacrifice as a parent of high school athlete. you know, i know that it hurts not to be able attend those and even i can't go. heard enough by this pandemic and keep the parents away from watching their kids games. i think it's just cruelty to kids. and it's been going on for 19 months, reporting in nevado dan thorn kron 4 news happening today. the teachers union in san francisco will be holding a news conference criticizing the district's handling of covid testing and the distribution of test kits. >> more than 600 educators will not be able to teach on tuesday due to either testing positive for covid or waiting on test results. the san francisco unified school district says they received 626 requests for substitute teachers. the teachers union is slamming the district over its handling of the covid surge, including having no p

according to health officer doctor matt willis, our case rates are going down more slowly than you know, we're now seeing about 200, 50 cases on average per day in marin county. >> and that's been the stable number for the past 3 or 4 days down 40% from the peak of omicron alameda county health officer doctor nicholas moss says omicron also peek at the beginning of the month. he's now paying attention to hospitalizations which tend to lag behind case numbers repeat with our hospitalizations. we are very similar to where we were in it with loss. surge before the first positive omicron case in the country was discovered in san francisco, the watershed, the santa clara county detected the variant doctor. sara cody says the vaccines help prevent hospitalizations, but they weren't 100% effective. and that's where we pair it >> so if you wear a mask and everyone around you where some asked about where a very important layer of >> protection masks are still required indoors, regardless of vaccination status until at least february 15th. the one across on the decline health officers in the bay

matt willis, marin county's public health officer says even with an increase in hospitalizations, the situation in this surge is much different now compared to six months ago. the good news is that for people who are fully vaccinated and boosted days tend to be shorter stays, not a lot of oxygen need, buffed up for a couple days in the hospital and sent home. very rarely. are we seeing people seriously critically out coming into the icu like we did before? with delta? i am feeling encouraged that our case counts are dropping. um we're seeing less virus in our wastewater. our schools are open or hospitals are stable. while there's some stress, you know they're able to manage cases are not canceling even elective procedures. hopefully that will begin to sort of usher and the next stage of this health officials with contra costa in san francisco also got back to us with a similar message. things look good now in terms of case numbers, but we still need to wait for hospitalizations to stabilize. dr willis with marine county says it's still too soon to start thinking about real asking, rel

because we don't need to because this virus is less of a county public health officer doctor matt willis expects the explosion of omicron cases to soon level off and likely drop significantly. >> but doctor willis says we should expect more variants to come. when i hear that, you know, places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the waiver. that approach influenza. >> or other viruses. that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress towards that. eventually. future. mc relationship with this virus. doctor willis says once a variant moves through a community, it will likely stay in the past. he says the key to working out of the pandemic is to continue to make the vaccine widely available. >> and masking when appropriate to prevent transmission. eventually testing for the virus will not be a priority but ultimately covid-19 is here to stay indefinitely. felipe kron 4 n

because we don't need to because this virus is less of a green county public health officer doctor matt willisxpects the explosion of omicron cases to soon level off and likely drop significantly. >> but doctor willis says we should expect more variants to come. when i hear that, you know, places like spain, they're talking about just letting it rip, you know, basically just allowing this to continue through the way we would approach influenza. >> or other viruses. that's understandable as a strategy. we're not there yet. we think it's important to take steps to continue to prevent transmission where they make sense for us. but it is we are making progress towards that. eventually. future. mc relationship with this virus. doctor willis says once a variant moves through a community, it will likely stay in the past. he says the key to working out of the pandemic is to continue to make the vaccine widely available and masking when appropriate to prevent transmission. >> eventually testing for the virus will not be a priority but ultimately covid-19 is here to stay indefinitely. felipe gold crown

joining us today is reporter matt smith, to tell us a new story highlighting mayor willie brown's role in a development project. thank you for joining us. what does your report contend? matt: we found some information about a very large payment that was made to a firm that consists of him and two other people. the payment, as you say, related to hunters point, the big plot of land to the southeast of the city, and our story was about how this company that he is part of receive more than $1 million seemingly for purposes of helping put a conclusion to a radioactive waste cleanup that has been going on for quite a long time with the idea that eventually they will be able to build thousands of houses there. kristen: right. a lot of political leaders in retirement become lobbyists, and as such, they receive money for making connections to expedite project, for example. -- expedite projects, for f example. where is there something allegedly improper? matt: we were not able to find lobbying by him, his associates, nor the company, so there's the issue of seems to be lobbying because the comp