peter chin-hong we got the 1.5 minute warning from the biden folks. that's how much time we have.nd then we'll carry the biden ceremony. afterwards if there is time to talk we will do that we are the third most populous nation in the world behind china and india. we are number one in covid-19 deaths and per capita we are number 7 in terms of covid deaths. the only other g-7 nation with more deaths is britain. >> why. >> it's baups of two main things when i distill it wab lack of alignment of politics and scientists. we acted like 50 different countries but without border screening and a very porous border. >> all right. so look any positive signs? >> things are looking down -- coming down. we have the science to protect ourselves. the only variable is human behavior. >> all right. we are about to take president biden. but until we get to that, i do want ask you today, ucsf latino task force -- are we starting. we are start. dr. chin-hong. hang on. about their dreams, who wore the uniform, born to serve, who loved, played, and always offered a hand. we often hear people described a

peter chin-hong. dr. chin-hong thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me on, kristen. >> absolutely. before we get to masks, i want to ask you about the finding of the south african variant in the bay area now confirmed new news today in two separate counties, two cases. tell us about that. >> so i think it's a bit chilling, you know i was okay with the uk variant -- well relatively okay, meaning that it just had one superpower, which was increasing in transmissibility by as much as 50%. but the south african variant, which actually has two superpowers, which is not only to increase transmissibility but potentially to decrease vaccine efficacy. not so much pfizer and but others down the road, like astrazenica and nova vaks. johnsonance john. >> so far it's just the one in case in alameda and but i imagine the true case is higher than that and growing quickly, too. >> yes, we only do less than 1% geno typing of all isolates. is. so to find these two it the tip of the ice rk. >> if you have questions w

i think it's ok as well as you see san francisco infectious disease specialist doctor peter, chin-hong agrees. >>the focus should be on wearing one high quality mask. but he does say the decision really relies on the environment you're going to be an. >>if your utilities worker who spends a lot of time indoors in. you know hard to ventilate you know it might be worthwhile to to get it you sit, n 95 mask because you're in that indoor area so it depends on contacts if you're walking in golden gate park and nobody else is around. it doesn't make sense and double mask. >>now at this point the cdc is reviewing the recommendations to see if anything needs to be changed at this point infectious disease experts believe that a good single mask will protect you from any of the variants that are out there if that mask is worn correctly. live in san francisco. dan kerman kron 4 news than good tips. >>coming up one thing in particular could convince more americans actually get a covid-19 vaccine. how many people say having the option to travel would be a good reason to get the shot. and there's a c

fits well and to wear masks period you see san francisco infectious disease specialist doctor peter, chin-hong agrees. the focus should be on wearing one high quality mask and in fact he says current data suggests a good high quality mask does protect against the virus variance but he does say some may be in a situation where they want to upgrade to an n 95 mask. >>upgrade if your if your job is risky and you're going indoors, which is a more risky setting for prolonged period of time. >>again the cdc is reviewing their guidelines about face coverings in deciding whether they need to change the recommendations i did 2 read more specific about that single mask everyone should be wearing. in san francisco dan kerman kron 4 news tonight, sonoma county leaders are promising a better more equitable roll out of covid vaccines to protect the most vulnerable residents leaders promised to take action after thousands of people signed up for vaccines that were actually meant for people 75 years old and older. >>4 shots of the calls here with the details on all this jonathan yeah, this all you may remembe

peter chin hong. dr. peter, thanks so much for joining us this friday night.the headlines is that children, dr. fauci says, will most likely not have the option to get vaccinated until 2022. is that a problem or will we be okay with that? >> i think we'll be okay with it, although i think he's just setting expectations low so that if he exceeds expectations, people will say, yay, you know? if you set expectations too high, as we learned from the vaccine rollout in california, people are bound to be disappointed. >> okay. let's talk about pfizer. we know supply is tough right now because we're not getting enough doses and also because of the deep freeze in most of the country. now that pfizer says, oh, it doesn't need to be stored in subzero temps and it lasts longer, is that a game changer? will that affect the supply? >> i don't think it's going to be a game changer currently. it's theoretically a game changer. but because the issue is really more of supply period, we have enough freezers to store all these vaccines, it's just really about supply. but perhaps

>>doctor peter chin, hong infectious disease expert with ucsf doctor chan hong thank you for your time tonight is your opinion that this change a vaccine might be the key to kind of breaking covid is back. >>well it's one of the keys. grant i that beginning of the distribution will be a little bit of a trickle. the estimated only to have about 2 to 4 million doses available to the whole country in february. this will pick up to 10 million doses in march and 100 million doses in july added to that 600 billion 600 million doses of pfizer and moderna by then and then you have to divide that by 2 to get a number of people we should actually have an accelerated timeline so vaccinated ing most americans by the end of summer. >>it's easy to get very optimistic with these vaccines now with us and we are seeing a drop in some of the the hospitalizations and what not are you do have a cautionary. tale for us about this that you know not to let our guard down because the behavior of this virus is preach is pretty tricky. >>exactly exactly the ad and the human is very tricky to i think we know the

>>all right so it is more symptom management than anything else doctor peter, chin-hong we really appreciate your time. thanks for joining us t bay area homeowners, learn how you can eliminate monthly mortgage payments and improve your cashflow. look, this isn't my first rodeo and let me tell you something, i wouldn't be here if i thought reverse mortgages took advantage of any american senior, or worse, that it was some way to take your home. it's just a loan designed for older homeowners, and, it's helped over a million americans. a reverse mortgage loan isn't some kind of trick to take your home. it's a loan, like any other. big difference is how you pay it back. bay area homeowners, learn how your neighbors are accessing hundreds of thousands of dollars with a reverse mortgage loan from the bay area's number one reverse mortgage lender other mortgages are paid each month, but with a reverse mortgage, you can pay whatever you can, when it works for you, or, you can wait, and pay it off in one lump sum when you leave use a reverse mortgage loan to renovate and update your home, pay off lar

i think it's ok as well as you see san francisco infectious disease specialist doctor peter, chin-hong. >>agrees the focus should be on wearing one high quality mask and in fact he says current data suggests a good high quality mask does protect from all the virus variance. >>but he does say the decision really relies on the environment you're going to be in. >>if your utilities worker who spends a lot of time indoors in. you know hard to ventilate you know it might be worthwhile to to get it you sit, n 95 mask because yo 're in that indoor area so it depends on contacts if you're walking in golden gate park and nobody else is around. it doesn't make sense and double mask. >>again the cdc is reviewing the signs to see if they need to change their recommendations as it relates to face coverings whether or not to recommend to masks or to be more specific about that single mask everyone should be wearing. in san francisco dan kerman kron 4 news. >>a new study finds the astrazeneca covid-19 vaccine, not only protects people from serious illness and death. but also significantly slow the tr

joining us now is doctor, peter chin, hong an infectious disease expert from ucsf doctor thanks for joining us today. i said that's now we saw warnings that were put into place ahead of the holidays christmas new year's eve. all that you know all those warnings we we still saw surge despite all of that warnings were put into they were put into place ahead of the big game yesterday. >>are we or do you think we can cease a similar surge as a result of the super bowl festivities of people may have participated in yesterday. >>yes, the question is if we're going to see a stage the question is by how much. you know put 25,000 people together. sure a few of them a vaccinated maybe one 3rd of them. shouting possible inebriation can give these drop that superpowers and then you have the pre and the after parties, an open bars and it dire situation potentially. >>i was concerned when i saw all the people in the stands. i mean again they were socially distance but lots of screaming a lot of yelling, it's just a lot of people kind of coming together in one venue. >>you know that was in tampa bay. here

fits well and to wear a mask period you see san francisco infectious disease specialist doctor peter, chin-hong the focus should be on wearing one high quality mask. and in fact he says current data suggests a good high quality mask does protect against the virus variance but he does say some may be in a situation where they want to upgrade to an n 95 mask. >>upgrade if your if your job is risky and you're going indoors, which is that more risky setting for prolonged period of time. >>the cdc is reviewing their guidelines about face coverings in deciding whether they need to change the recommendations i 2 more specific about that single mask everyone should be wearing. in san francisco dan kerman kron 4 news. >>additional money is coming to california governor newsom announced that more than 10 billion dollars is arriving to help local initiatives. these figures are beyond what was projected just about a month ago so this is all good news. the money we're told is going to go towards supporting small businesses. vaccine administration and schools as well all 3 of those sectors have been decimate

transmission in that age group and local health officials are not surprised at all ucsf said doctor peter, chin-hong says the data in the study confirms everything we already know about contact tracing and the ways the virus is spread from one person to another but he says it's not the high rate of spread among those ages 20 to 49 that's most striking. i think what was notable. >>about the study in particular was that extremely low rates and the younger kids so 0 to 9 years old 2% of the transmission, even though the icon for about 12% of the population. and so the risks really rises when you have. college age kids and above and the highest risk was in a just 85 to 49. these are the people in the going out. you know making and living for the family and then coming back transmitting so the family members doctor chin-hong says of the data also points to the fact the young people wrongly believe they're invincible reporting in the newsroom sanaz tahernia kron 4 news still ahead a new jersey man is settling into his new life after receiving the world's first face and double hand transplant. >>his messag

peter chin hong says the progression is not surprising. >> it's something to pay attention to, make sure we practice, you know, all the interventions that we know about, exclamation point, but not to get panicked about it either. >> reporter: the doctor says there isn't enough information right now to determine how the vaccine will handle the variant, but he still believes they will have some ability to fight it. >> we're not out of this. the threat of a more infectious variant is lingering. we have to stick to the basics, masking, social distancing. >> reporter: the question is whether the current vaccines will require a booster or seasonal adjustment like the flu vaccine. >> it's game on. within the last few hours, santa clara county announced it will allow kids to compete in outdoor sports. it's the same decision announced last week, but at that time the county wasn't sure it would allow it. they will allow it to resume in counties with a lower number of cases. this is the right decision, he says. >> i'm super excited for our kids. i will say it means a ton of work for our athletic di

peter chin hong about the situation about the supply. and while he said yes, it is frustrating that we don't have enough supply, he says it's good that we do have these systems in place like the moscone site so when we do get supply ramped up we'll be ready. it's coming. >> people are so demoralized for all of the year, and metaphorically, having appointments canceled is a downer when everybody is looking at this for possible hope, and i hope that doesn't mean people will turn away from some of the other good things they've been doing all along to protect ourselves and our community. >> with all these hiccups that we're having with supply, is it reasonable to think that by the supper we'll all be vaccinated? >> i'm hopeful that that's true. and the reason is because it's not just moderna or a pfizer game in town. it's j&j, and novavax and astrazeneca. as long as they can get these vaccines which have already been bought up by the u.s. government, in terms of operation warp speed, then those can significantly bolster the supply. >> now dr

let's talk more about this with peter chin hong is a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the university of california san francisco peter thank you for joining us let's talk about this tragic milestone 500000 deaths this is one the highest death tolls per capita in the world there's been many phases of this pandemic but what do you think the u.s. has gotten wrong in tackling the code $1000.00. while to me i think there was several things the 1st was that there was no national strategy for most of the year and secondly there was no alignment of science and politics for much of the year we acted like 50 different countries instead of 50 different states of one country because of viruses and no. you know any borders it was very easy exploiting this this synchrony in the way that states handle this virus at the same time if you look at the situation right now the u.s. is one of the leading countries when it comes to vaccinations are up 13 percent of people have already received their 1st shot so how is that changing things at the moment on the ground. so there are 2 ease i

so i think all of is making concerned ucsf infectious disease expert doctor, peter, chin-hong says thery is just how transmissible these variants are especially since people are still actively dealing with the it isn't going away anywhere. >>we still about 5 times way be wearing october getting vulnerable people vaccinated is the best way to keep us from seeing another surge. >>when asked whether or not the country should just start giving out at least one dose of the vaccine to as many people as possible. doctor chan hong says it might be the right call you'd asked me 2 months ago. >>i probably would have been area of not following the science to the tea. i think right again with these variants going around we just need to get as many people immunized as possible, you know looking at the science you know you're going to probably 80% protection from. pfizer from after day you know those one that immunity you probably last so that you know even if folks going to be delayed by a couple weeks of this second shot is so good to can and it's more important just get us all up to that level so

already killed more than 500,000 americans joining us local infectious disease expert doctor, peter, chin-hong with ucsf thank you doctor as always for sharing time with us ok now the johnson johnson close to approval. >>how much does this affect the timeline and getting back to some kind of normal. >>well i think it's going have a big impact on the timeline to clean the timeline eminently for both searing the supply chain. i did to the fact that pfizer and moderna promise more doses i think going to probably the 600 million doses of pfizer moderna and 100 million doses of stuff, jane j by july. >>well, there's 300 million americans so it sounds like everybody would be covered. i think so you know we were kind of customers say, but again with pfizer moderna. >>you have to divide by 2 that's the kind of my we have to do is a complicated. >>you know doctor already i'm hearing people say well i want the one shot or on the other end of the spectrum saying well, this one may not be as effective. i'm waiting. i don't know do you have to remind people just take what shot becomes available. >>yes, def

fits well and to wear a mask period you see san francisco infectious disease specialist doctor peter, chin-hong agrees. the focus should be on wearing one high quality mask. and in fact he says current data suggests a good high quality mask does protect against the virus variance but he does say some may be in a situation where they want to upgrade to an n 95 mask. >>upgrade if your if your job is risky and you're going indoors, which is that more risky setting for prolonged period of time. >>the cdc is reviewing their guidelines about face coverings in deciding whether they need to change the recommendations i 2 more specific about that single mask everyone should be wearing. in san francisco dan kerman kron 4 news. >>for 10 is the time we'll take a break but coming up here on the kron 4 morning news, a string of robberies in oakland's chinatown has community l aders a big concern as you can imagine, we'll tell you what they're demanding from the city's police department plus failing to perform its duties perform its duties to prepare for the return of schools, san francisco now suing its own

it's a race against the variance you see san francisco infectious disease specialist doctor, peter, chin-hongs he's not only concerned about the variance we currently know about. >>but about the ones yet to come the longer we eat with virus circulating with a name you nice people walking around. >>the more that chance the virus has to create. dusted new variants that might up and all of our progress johnson and johnson has promised 20 million doses by the end of march. this is on top of news from pfizer and moderna that by the end of march they will provide an additional 220 million doses. >>up from the 75 million doses shipped so far. >>and we can also tell you more good vaccine news as it relates to california. cbs says it's going to add another 40 locations throughout the state of california providing covid-19 vaccines that will bring their total to about a 160. we know that there are at least 20 cities in the bay area. that have cbs is that are giving vaccinations live in san francisco. dan kerman kron 4 news thank you for that well in one school district the effort to vaccinate teachers

fits well and to wear a mask period you see san francisco infectious disease specialist doctor peter, chin-hong agrees. the focus should be on wearing one high quality mask and in fact he says current data suggests a good high quality mask does protect against the virus variance. >>but he does say some may be in a situation where they want to upgrade to an n 95 mask. >>upgrade if your if your job is risky and you're going indoors, which is that more risky setting for prolonged period of time. >>again the cdc rim you reviewing the recommendations regarding masks and that might include recommending to mask or might be more specific about that single mask, you are wearing. live in san francisco. dan kerman kron 4 news all right dan and another big story we're following for you tonight, state leaders say that they're confident. >>they'll be able to reach an agreement with school districts and teachers unions to reopen schools for in person learning kron four's capitol bureau reporter ashley zavala has the latest now on those negotiations. we are committed to getting our schools open for in person i

from herd immunity that help explain what that means is local infectious-disease expert doctor, peter, chin-hongsf doctor chan on thank you so much for joining us tonight. thanks having me on again son doctor why do you think covid-19 the numbers are dropping right now. >>well i think it's a multiple choice and so when you see all of the above so it's a combination shelter in place, im all doubling down doing due diligence but interesting that aspect that you just raised which is community immunity from natural infection potentially playing a role. >>so we mentioned something earlier about population immunity versus herd immunity can you explain that in simple terms for us. >>essentially. at the end of the day you want everyone to i've seen something like infection. one way or the other and that protects the vulnerable people in the kind mountain and about a response so we can get a vaccine for example. what that number is somewhat secure leading of its measles you need to close a 100%. it's a variant of covid you probably need 85 per cent regular covid 70%. but you can get to that number in dif

peter chin hong joined our daily 3:00 p.m. program "getting answers" today. he says while a surgical mask may be good at filtration it can be gaps in coverage on the sides. that's why a cloth mask on top is most effective. good information to keep in mind. >>> now we need information on our weather because we had some sun today but are we going to get that tomorrow? sandhya patel has that answer for us. sandhya? >> well, early on you might see a little bit of sunshine, ama. but later on in the day the storm's going to move in and we will get much-needed rain. let me show you a serene and beautiful scene from our santa cruz camera. i don't see too many people out there, but there's plenty of sun and waves aren't too choppy out there. 53 in san francisco. 59 in oakland. it is currently in the low 60s san jose and morgan hill. fog is rolling in as seen from our east bay hills camera right now. temperatures santa rosa napa 60 degrees. in the mid 60s fairfield concord. today those temperatures got up to the upper 60s a little warmer than yesterday at this time. fr

everybody feels comfortable with coming back to school ucsf infectious disease specialist doctor peter, chin-hong thinks it is safe to reopen schools. >>without vaccinations but it will require proper ppe an on-campus testing for the coronavirus particularly for young kids elementary school kids i think it's really a good idea as long as these protections are in place for the teachers went there's data that when you wear mask. >>even if in the low chance, you are the disease that you got as much less severe because it a virus and you got explosives much lower. >>the alameda county department of public health announced vaccinations for education staff and those in one b are expected to begin next week. in berkeley gayle ong kron 4 news. >>san francisco mayor london breed is going to court against her own school districts over plans to reopen the city of san francisco took the extraordinary step of filing a lawsuit against the san francisco unified school district and in this lawsuit. it calls the school board and the district's reopening plan inadequate. they're trying to get the court to force th

so i think all of is making concerned ucsf infectious disease expert doctor, peter, chin-hong says the worry is just how transmissible these variants are especially since people are still actively dealing with the virus little bit isn't going away anywhere. >>with still about 5 times way be wearing october getting vulnerable people vaccinated is the best way to keep us from seeing another surge. >>when asked whether or not the country should just start giving out at least one dose of the vaccine to as many people as possible. doctor chan hong says it might be the right call you'd asked me 2 months ago. >>i probably would have been area of not following the science to the tea. i think right again with these variants going around we just need to get as many people immunized as possible, you know looking at the science you know you're going to probably 80% protection from. pfizer from after day you know those one that immunity you probably last so that you know even if folks going to be delayed by a couple weeks of this second shot is so good to can and it's more important just get us all

peter chin-hong expects the eua would increase supply while pfizer and moderna say they are on tracker 3 million daily doses by april. >> it's super promising. two weeks ago we were seeing why open centers when we don't have enough vaccine? i think it was important to open them up because once we get the supply in, we'll have the infrastructure. >> reporter: and today rite aid said it's beginning to vaccinate people at some santa clara stores. to find out if you're eligible to get an appointment, you can sign up at the website. >> it's one block away, convenient for me. >> reporter: more places to get vaccine with doses on the way. in the south bay, ian cull, nbc bay area news. >> let's check in with the vaccination progress. 10 million have been shipped to california from the federal government. 10.3 million arrived here in the state. 7.7 million doses have been administered. so what does all this look like here in the bay area? we've crunched the numbers here. this shows the percent of people who received one dose in the bay area. take a look at contra costa county leading the way

>>ucsf infectious disease specialist doctor, peter, chin-hong says the longer the virus circulates among those without the vaccine. the greater the chance there is that new variants could up and the progress that has already been made. >>some of the scary a variance might be starting to become dominant and we may have various that we have not yet described. that have a higher chance of coming about the long and the virus is a month's us. >>johnson and johnson has promised 20 million doses by the end of march. this is on top of news from pfizer and moderna that by the end of march they will provide an additional 140 million doses up from the 75 million ship so far. >>another positive vaccine news cbs has announced that they are adding 40 more locations in california bringing to more than a 160 where they're providing covid-19 vaccines by appointment we can tell you there are more than 20 cities in the bay area that have cbs is that are doing just that live in san francisco. dan kerman kron 4 news. thank you dan. >>well, san francisco has started vaccinating teachers people in the food and

dr peter chin—hong is a professor of medicine at the university of california san francisco.te of the vaccination programme in america. the vaccination in the us has been targeted at the most vulnerable patients, those above 65 and those in nursing homes. i would say that our deaths have already declined or are stable, mainly because of the targeting of this vulnerable group. of course, health care workers have of course, health care workers have been vaccinated pretty much universally say they are able to stay healthy to take care of our community. the first shipment is about 4 million doses. that will increase to about 20 million by the end of the month and will reach 100 million additional doses byjuly, to add to the pfizer and moderna that have increased in production, we hope most of the us will actually be vaccinated by the summer. a senior german immunologist has urged his country to change course, and allow people over the age of 65 to receive the oxford astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine. in an interview with the bbc, the head of the german society for immunology, carst

peter chin hong says, with the right precautions, people should not be too alarmed. >> it's something to, you know, sort of pay attention to, make sure we practice you know, all the interventions that we know about, exclamation point, but not to let your guard down, but not to get panicked about it either. >> i think we have to grapple with the reality that this virus has the ability to mutate, and right now it is a race against time to get people vaccinated. >> reporter: dr. peter says there isn't enough information right now to determine how well the vaccines will work against the variants. he still believes they will offer some level of protection, so get the vaccine if you can. and variants, as we have been talking about, are normal for any virus. you may just have to get the booster shot, the seasonal shot in following years after this year just like we do with the seasonal flu shot. so a lot of variants but this is normal during the pandemic. he said the vaccine will be some effective at protecting you and we just have to get the booster shot. >> thank you, janele. >>> up next,

>>doctor peter chin-hong says that you cannot treat post-acute covid syndrome with things like antibiotics or antiviral he did say however that it is all about symptom management. so depending on the symptoms you're experiencing there are ways to minimize them. >>still ahead tonight at marks a big step in a return to classroom learning force him elementa >>today california lawmakers hit the brakes at least for now on a school reopening plan on voting for it. the move would require health departments to provide vaccines to teachers and even extend the reopening deadline to mid april. if they want access to money meant to help with in-person instructions. lawmakers were met with letters from dozens of schools from across the golden state. that have been raising concerns about the timing collective bargaining agreements and testing logistics. governor newsome is not on board with the current plan he says he can't support it because it would slow down the process of reopening schools. meanwhile 7th and 8th graders at novato public middle schools returned back to class for in person learning to

earlier today i spoke with ucsf doctor peter chin-hong about his opinion on these new recommendations and while he agrees with the recommendations. he says whether you double up or where one well fitted surgical mask really comes down to preference and context. >>i would make sure that my mask is really well fitted. and that is comfortable. you know i if people can do the double mask which is simply a regular surgical mask. and a cloth mask. over it. you know that's that's great. but again if you're going in clark and you're running and there's nobody else around. it doesn't really matter if you wear. to my soul, one if you're in the middle wet point event slated in northeast. and the occupation you know we need you to be in that space for a very long period of time. ben mee be extra protection would make a big difference. >>now it's important to know that double masking isn't recommended for all masks for example you won't have that increased level of protection. if you are to cloth masks or to surgical masks. the study specifically recommends wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mas

>>so i think all of is making concerned ucsf infectious disease expert doctor, peter, chin-hong sayshe worry is just how transmissible these variants are especially since people are still actively dealing with the virus little bit isn't going away anywhere. >>with still about 5 times way be wearing october getting vulnerable people vaccinated is the best way to keep us from seeing another surge. >>when asked whether or not the country should just start giving out at least one dose of the vaccine to as many people as possible. doctor chan hong says it might be the right call you'd asked me 2 months ago. >>i probably would have been area of not following the science to the tea. i think right again with these variants going around we just need to get as many people immunized as possible, you know looking at the science you know you're going to probably 80% protection from. pfizer from after day you know those one that immunity you probably last so that you know even if folks going to be delayed by a couple weeks of this second shot is so good to can and it's more important just get us a

death in america remember each person in the life they live let's talk more about this so with peter chin hong is a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the university of california san francisco peter thank you for joining us let's talk about this tragic milestone 500000 deaths this is one the highest death tolls per capita in the world there's been many phases of this pandemic but what do you think the u.s. has got wrong in tackling the code 1000. well to me i think there was several things the 1st was that there was no national strategy for most of the year and secondly there was no alignment of science and politics for much of the year we acted like 50 different countries instead of 50 different states of one country because of viruses and no. you know any borders it was very easy exploiting this this synchrony in the way that states handle this virus at the same time if you look at the situation right now the u.s. is one of the leading countries when it comes to vaccinations around 13 percent of people have already received their 1st shot so how is that changing thin

everybody feels comfortable with coming back to school ucsf infectious disease specialist doctor peter, chin-hong thinks it is safe to reopen schools. >>without vaccinations but it will require proper ppe an on-campus testing for the coronavirus particularly for young kids elementary school kids i think it's really a good idea as long as these protections are in place for the teachers went this data that when you wear mask. >>even if in the little chance you are the disease that you got as much less severe because it a virus and you got explosives much lower. >>and just today, the alameda county department of public health says that some nations were education staff and those in one be should begin next week live in berkeley gayle ong kron 4 news all right gail thank you for that live report. >>meantime in the in the 4 bay area students can return to classrooms 4 of them will tell you who they are state health officials gave the green light are in san francisco, san mateo and santa clara counties that is only for grades k through 6. the approval comes after covid cases dropped in those 4 counties

infectious disease expert dr peter chin hong said. previous studies have shown children do not easily spread the virus. many schools have opened across the country without vaccinations, and they were able to do so safely. once you have mass once your social distancing the vaccines are one part of the prevention methods, but it's not the saving grace. it's not the holy grail. doctor jin hyung said he thinks schools can reopen safely without every teacher being vaccinated as long as masks or warn and social distancing is enforced. in san francisco. the school board has had to vote tomorrow on a plan to get students back to class 52,000 public school students have been learning online since last march. frustrated families have begun organizing an informal outdoor classroom in delores park on their own. parents say their kids need the socialization to help them deal with loneliness and isolation and help them keep their grades up. our kid's gonna getting seek the press on do you know, being isolated is just so hard for them. he's used to

peter chin-hong tells the "business insider" the precautions taken at the game were not enough. yes the 25,000 fans were spread out in the stadium that normally holds 75,000 people. special guests of the game and the stadium is open air which is good, but dr. chin hong points out the fans were yelling, screaming, no surprise there, which causes germs to travel past the six foot social distance guideline. there was a lot of drinking, most likely going on, which means fewer people were following safety protocols, and nevermind the photos and videos we've seen of people partying outside the stadium in tampa without masks and zero social distance. then there's this nugget, the cdc reports that florida has the highest number of uk variant covid cases among the 50 states, that variant is believed to be more transmissible and potentially for dangerous. locally we've seen a decline in the number of cases and hospitalizations. however, sanranc fco and san mateo counties each reported their respective highest one-day death toll on saturday. 17 in sf, 41 in san mateo, according to data com

so i think all of is making concerned ucsf infectious disease expert doctor, peter, chin-hong says the worry is just how transmissible these variants are especially since people are still actively dealing with the it isn't going away anywhere. >>we still about 5 times way be wearing october getting vulnerable people vaccinated is the best way to keep us from seeing another surge. >>when asked whether or not the country should just start giving out at least one dose of the vaccine to as many people as possible. doctor chan hong says it might be the right call you'd asked me 2 months ago. >>i probably would have been area of not following the science to the tea i think right again with these variants going around we just need to get as many people immunized as possible, you know looking at the science you know you're going to probably 80% protection from. pfizer from after day you know those one that immunity you probably last so that you know even if folks going to be delayed by a couple weeks of this second shot is so good to can and it's more important just get us all up to that level

peter chin hong tells the "business insider" the precautions taken at the game were not enough. 25,000 fans were spread out in the stadium that normally holds 75,000 people. and by the way, 7,500 fans were vaccinated health care workers invited as special guests of the game and the stadium is open air which is which causes germs to travel past the six-foot social distance guideline. there was a lot of drinking, most likely going on, which means fewer people were following social safety protocols, and nevermind the photos and videos we've seen of people partying outside the stadium in tampa without masks and zero social distance. then there's this nugget, the cdc reports that florida has the highest number of uk variant covid cases among the 50 states, that variant is believed to be more transmissible and poshlly potentially more dangerous. reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thank you, bob. 6:05 right now. >>> we're expecting to get more clarification from santa clara county on its stance on indoor religious services following friday's supreme court ruling. justices are

fits well and to wear a mask period you see san francisco infectious disease specialist doctor peter, chin-hong agrees. the focus should be on wearing one high quality mask. and in fact he says current data suggests a good high quality mask does protect against the virus variance but he does say some may be in a situation where they want to upgrade to an n 95 mask. >>upgrade if your if your job is risky and you're going indoors, which is that more risky setting for prolonged period of time. >>again the cdc is reviewing their guidelines about face coverings in deciding whether they need to change the recommendations i 2 read more specific about that single mask everyone should be wearing. in san francisco dan kerman kron 4 news. >>it is 7 '09 and still ahead on the kron 4 morning news, the cdc says schools can reopen if teachers or vaccinating we'll tell you why there's some mixed reaction to that view. and stepping up security for the super bowl will tell you how the pandemic is affecting preparations for the big game in tampa and brightening up all across the bay area, the coast just as clear

that one as well as one from brazil and one that mutated down in southern california doctor peter, chin-hongh ucsf says the emergence of the new variants it's something to be concerned about and if we got another surge, it would be overpopulated with these new variants when i asked whether or not the country should start giving out at least one dose of the vaccine. available to as many people as possible doctor chan hong says it might be the right call. >>if you'd asked me 2 months ago. i probably would have been area of not following the science to the tea i think right again with these variants going around we just need to get as many people immunized as possible. and you know. you know looking at the science you know you're going to probably 80% protection from. pfizer from after day, you know those one 95%. one week after those 2. that immunity you probably last so that you know even if folks going to be delayed by a couple weeks of this second shot is so good to can and it's more important just get us all up to that level soon as possible. >>doctor chan hong says it's important to remem

so i think all of is making concerned ucsf infectious disease expert doctor, peter, chin-hong says the worry is just how transmissible these variants are especially since people are still actively dealing with the it isn't going away anywhere. >>with still about 5 times way be wearing october getting vulnerable people vaccinated is the best way to keep us from seeing another surge. >>when asked whether or not the country should just start giving out at least one dose of the vaccine to as many people as possible. doctor chan hong says it might be the right call you'd asked me 2 months ago. >>i probably would have been area of not following the science to the tea. i think right again with these variants going around we just need to get as many people immunized as possible, you know looking at the science you know you're going to probably 80% protection from. pfizer from after day you know those one that immunity you probably last so that you know even if folks going to be delayed by a couple weeks of this second shot is so good to can and it's more important just get us all up to that le

now i spoke to ucsf said doctor peter chin-hong about these findings and he's he says he's not surprisedall. he says the data in the study confirms everything we know about contact tracing and the ways the virus is spread from one person to another. but he says it's not the high rate of spread among those aged 20 to 49 that's most notable. >>i think what was notable about the study in particular was that extremely low rates and the younger kids so 0 to 9 years old 2% of the transmission, even though the icon for about 12% of the population. and so the risks really rises when you have. college age kids and above and the highest risk was in a just 85 to 49. these are the people in the going out. you know making and living for the family and then coming back transmitting so the family members. >>now we more on this coming up on kron 4 news at 5 as well as on our streaming service kronon which can download for free in your app store just seen back to you thank you so coming up here on kron 4 news at 3, 2, bay area are working to provide relief for renters we'll have details. >>and later we w

death in america remember each person in the life they live let's talk more about this so with peter chin hong is a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the university of california san francisco peter thank you for joining us let's talk about this tragic milestone 500000 deaths this is one the highest death tolls per capita in the world there's been many phases of this pandemic but what do you think the u.s. has got wrong in tackling the coppa 1900. while to me i think there were several things the 1st was that there was no national strategy for most of the year and secondly there was no alignment of science and politics for much of the year we acted like 50 different countries instead of 50 different states of one country because of viruses and no. you know any borders it was very easy exploiting this this synchrony in the way that states handle this virus at the same time if you look at the situation right now the u.s. is one of the leading countries when it comes to vaccinations are up 13 percent of people have already received.

let's talk more about this with peter chin hong is a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the university of california san francisco peter thank you for joining us let's talk about this tragic milestone 500000 deaths this is when the highest death tolls per capita in the world there's been many phases of this pandemic but what do you think the u.s. has got wrong in tackling the coca 1900. well to me i think there was several things the 1st was that there was no national strategy for most of the year and secondly there was no alignment of science and politics for much of the year we acted like 50 different countries instead of 50 different states of one country because of viruses and no. you know any borders it was very easy to explain this this synchrony in the way that states handle this virus at the same time if you look at the situation right now the u.s. is one of the leading countries when it comes to vaccinations are up 13 percent of people have already received their 1st shot so how is that changing things at the moment on the ground. there chewies in which this