stephanie sierra live in the town of strawberry in el dorado county. what are the conditions like right now? stephanie: we are less than a mile from the fire line in strawberry, roughly 13 miles outside south lake tahoe. the flames are moving in that direction. i'll show you where we are. this portion of highway 50 has been transformed into the main staging area for calfire cruise. they are struggling. -- calfire crews. the flames are burning less than a mile south of us. this was our view driving in today. an outline of trees in what turned into an orange sky. calfire is dedicating most of the 3200 fire personnel to the northeast of the fire, as flames are moving directly towards south lake tahoe. right now, southlake isn't under any evacuation warning, but fire crews say anything can happen. how likely do you think that evacuation order will be moved in tonight? >> as of now, i don't believe that is likely. it may be possible, but i don't think we are there yet. the concern is high. that is the direction the fire is headed. stephanie: calfire issue to

stephanie sierra, abc 7 news. dan: take a look at this map. it gives you a clear picture of how widespread the evacuation orders are. the area highlighted in red under a mandatory order. the yellow area indicates an evacuation warning. it is advisable to leave. the entire city of south lake tahoe -- south lake tahoe an area south and west are part of the evacuation orders. ama: this camera shows evacuate -- evacuees leaving highway 50. we spoke with some who are heating the warning, while others are refusing to go. >> police and south lake tahoe telling neighbors to leave as the caldor fire moves closer, officers were going door-to-door. >> we are doing evacuation warnings. >> the mandatory evacuation creating epic traffic jams and all roads leading out. >> just trying to get out and safe. >> we just cleared the property of propane and gasoline powered tools. >> he evacuated his vacation house at camp richardson. the house been in the family since the 1940's. >> hopefully the fire never gets to us. it has nowhere else to go. it has to stay and

we start with stephanie sierra who spent the day on the fire lines. reporter: we spent most of our time with crews who have been tirelessly working along the highway 50 corridor in the community of strawberry, where fire is on both sides of the highway moving northeast in this direction. all of that smoke is coming here to south lake tahoe. you can see the haze in the distance covering the lake at a time it normally would be packed with people here. those are docked and empty. orange smoky skies leaving behind an eerie haze of emptiness in south lake tahoe as the caldor fire inches closer. what direction is the fire headed tonight? >> the fire will probably be heading in the north northeasterly direction. reporter: the flames burning 12 miles south from the mountain resort town usually bustling this time of year. >> in the day, it is just like a ghost town. >> it's sad. there is really nothing but the casino. reporter: beverly and jim pilgrims visit from oklahoma, a lonely one coming even worse for businesses. >> they are ones that are hurting. report

we start with a stephanie sierra who spent the day on the fire lines. reporter: air quality here in southlake tahoe has gone from bad to worse. residents and businesses are faring what is to come, as the caldor fire is moving in this direction. a telltale sign is the smoke you see in the distance. the flames continued moving northeast from the community of strawberry. as the winds are picking up, the less you can see here on the lake. community preparing to evacuate any day now. orange smokies guys leaving behind an eerie haze of emptiness in south lake tahoe as the caldor fire inches closer. . what direction is the fire headed tonight? >> fire will probably be heading in the north northeasterly direction. reporter: the flames burning 12 mountain south -- 12 mile south. >> in the day, it is just like a ghost town. >> it's sad. there is really nothing but the casino. reporter: are fairly and jim pilgrims visited from oklahoma, a lonely one coming even worse for businesses. >> ones that are hurting. reporter: the city's main strip deserted. parking lots e

stephanie sierra has a look at the timeline. stephanie: covid-19 booster shots will be here in less than a month. for those of you who received the single dose johnson & johnson vaccine, should you rush to get one? >> if i was a healthy 30-year-old, i'm sure i would run out to get a booster. if i was 70 and got j&j, i probably would. >> there covid-19 booster vaccine increased antibodies nine fold, 28 days after the first shot. but it's important to note this study is based off the results of 17 people. the bigger question is if you got your j&j shot eight months ago, should you get one or two additional doses? >> two is better than one. it does look like one additional dose of one of the mrnas, whether it does bump your immunity from your j&j up considerably. stephanie: any delay in the timeline of rolling out boosters could impact the severity of future covid surges. >> you are going to create a longer window of potentially waning immunity. people could get infected. stephanie: health care workers in nursing home residents wil

stephanie sierra, abc 7 news. dan: take a look at this map. it gives you a clear picture of how widespread the evacuation orders are. the area highlighted in red under a mandatory order. the yellow area indicates an evacuation warning. it is advisable to leave. the entire city of south lake tahoe -- south lake tahoe an area south and west are part of the evacuation orders. ama: this camera shows evacuate -- evacuees leaving highway 50. we spoke with some who are heating the warning, while others are refusing to go. >> police and south lake tahoe telling neighbors to leave as the caldor fire moves closer, officers were going door-to-door. >> we are doing evacuation warnings. >> the mandatory evacuation creating epic traffic jams and all roads leading out. >> just trying to get out and safe. >> we just cleared the property of propane and gasoline powered tools. >> he evacuated his vacation house at camp richardson. the house been in the family since the 1940's. >> hopefully the fire never gets to us. it has nowhere else to go. it has to stay and

live in south like tahoe, stephanie sierra, abc 7 news. dan: before you go, i know you talked with firefighters moment by moment. what are you hearing from them on the ground about where this fire is headed next? reporter: right now, as of our last update, still north of highway 50 at echo lake. there was upper echo lake, than lower echo lake. it was burning in that middle ground for quite some time. it has inched northeast. they are very concerned it is going to jump echo summit. that is the concern as it moves a mile from myers and into christmas valley. all of this happening very rapidly. . we are seeing the smoke increase here in south like tahoe. certainly a long road ahead for these fire crews. dan: no question. everyone there. thank you very much. ama: let's continue our coverage by going to meteorologist drew tuma with a closer look at the weather in the tahoe area. drew: the winds are gusting over 20 miles an hour. we will take you to the northeastern side of the fire, closest to south lake tahoe. that is where a lot of the action

stephanie sierra has a look at the timeline. stephanie: covid-19 booster shots will be here in less than a month. for those of you who received the single dose johnson & johnson vaccine, should you rush to get one? >> if i was a healthy 30-year-old, i'm sure i would run out to get a booster. if i was 70 and got j&j, i probably would. >> there covid-19 booster vaccine increased antibodies nine fold, 28 days after the first shot. but it's important to note this study is based off the results of 17 people. the bigger question is if you got your j&j shot eight months ago, should you get one or two additional doses? >> two is better than one. it does look like one additional dose of one of the mrnas, whether it does bump your immunity from your j&j up considerably. stephanie: any delay in the timeline of rolling out boosters could impact the severity of future covid surges. >> you are going to create a longer window of potentially waning immunity. people could get infected. stephanie: health care workers in nursing home residents wil

we're going to swing this vantage point around because you heard from our own stephanie sierra. say that cal fire has confirmed that there are spotting between upper and lower echo lake, that would be right here. you can see myers down here in the basin. here's echo summit for your perspective. the reason why there's so much concern. we're gonna throw on the current winds right now and you can see those winds are coming right nortashe southwest to sohats going ctinue to ' rd flagffge portion of theheeu sierra that doesn't include the calendar of fire or wins, larry and amma the next couple of days are gust out of the southwest as high as miles per hour continuing to push these fires to the east 35 miles an hour is a really bad sign drew. all right. thank you very much from fire to water happening now much of new orleans without power after hurricane, idaho blew through leaving catastrophic damage behind. it's now tracking over mississippi dumping heavy rain there expected to cause more flooding in the deep south reporter ted oberg with our sister station in houston joining us li

stephanie sierra breakdown the think -- economic impacts. she is live. stephanie: the first major event is in a couple of weeks but some are already canceling due to concerns over the delta variant. restaurants and hotels that were relying on that tourism are bracing for impact. san francisco's moscone he center feels a bit eerie. in two weeks, that was supposed to change. >> we have our first group in two weeks and we are anxious to host them but we don't know what attendance is at this point. stephanie: he is the ceo of travel. he was optimistic about the convention calendar in june but then delta pit. >> it has caused cancellations people are nervous about traveling, the orders are not open for travel. travel. travel. stephanie: onstephanie: onstephp they host a lot more events, but they only have eight. of the eight conventions and scheduled for the rest of the year, several mako virtual -- mako virtual but they are waiting for legislation numbers. >> what is safe, what is the right thing to do? stephanie: she is the ceo of a company that helps employ

just a wall of tonight abc 7 news reporter stephanie. sierra was in meyers about eight miles away from the resort. she found families racing to get out. the kaldor fire moving fast tonight as winds are picking up. we are right along highway 50 just about four miles south of myers. we're seeing homes go up in flames in this area as fire crews are battling the worst night yet in extreme heat 15 days into the kaldore fire crews face the flames in record heat the fire fierce as it rips down homes along highway 50 just south of the town of myers the sky turning orange as the city faces. auditory evacuation orders. how long have you lived here in myers twenty years. is this the worst you've ever seen it? yes. it's just horrible drew morati had 10 minutes to pack up and leave his newly remodeled home covered in ash. it just hurts because you know, we love this town. we don't want to see it burn but a mere four miles down the road. that's all that's happening. fire crews facing a triple threat the smoke doubling in size the heat unbearable and the wind

stephanie sierra is crunching the numbers that indicate schools in our region are ahead of the curvess california. >> ap courses have always been considered the gold standard in highs will education. whether it gives students a bump in their gpa or provides them more practice and confidence to handle college-level coursework. denise pope is a senior at the graduate school of education. we want everyone who wants to take an ap class to have access. we don't want anyone to be left out. we don't want to factor tracking. >> that is the reality for all students in the bay area, to go this of their race and at the city -- ethnicity. it showed more than 97% of black students and more than 99% of latino, white and asian students across the oakland early metro areas do have access to advanced courses. it is comparable to clara, san francisco metro areas. are great. they are very close to being even. that is not the case in other counties necessarily across the u.s.. >> the analysis found the access bay area students have to these advanced level courses is higher than the statewide average for

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra live about a mile from the fire line my tracking the latest for us. stephanie: we are along highway 50 in the town of strawberry, south of south lake tahoe. this is the area facing the biggest threat right now. i want to show you what we are seeing. this view shows it. calfire making some progress, but the flames have jumped both sides of highway 50. residents are fleeing their homes, bracing for the worst. the caldor fire is inching closer to south lake tahoe, about 13 miles southwest of the mountain resort town. how would you rate the risk level in terms of having a mandatory evacuation order tonight? >> i don't believe that will occur tonight. there is potential if something were to occur, but i don't believe the risk is high at this point. stephanie: calfire has been working the front lines for nearly the past two weeks. this firefighter expects the next three days could be the worst. >> the wind has continued to align with the canyons, burning primarily in the northeast direction. stephanie: the northeast corridor includes the town of strawberry

stephanie sierra, abc 7 news. larry: do immunocompromised people need to get a third shot of the same vaccine they got before? and are the side effects pretty much expected to be the same, where your arm hurts for maybe a couple days? stephanie: exactly. the first question the cdc says immunocompromised patients should get a third dose of the same mrna vaccine, but agency wanted out a person should not get more than three mr and ra -- mnra vaccine doses. if you got moderna and moderna is not available for your third dose, the cd says in that case, pfizer could be used. as far as side effects go, they are expected to be similar to what we experienced in the first two doses. thankfully, not any worse. larry: that is good news. also interesting you can mix vaccines, which we were not sure about earlier on. stephanie, thank you. julian: vaccine mandates are starting to be the norm for many employers. the city has been in talks with implementing a mandate. >> we want to be thoughtful about medical and religious exempti

larry: stephanie sierra spoke one-on-one with dr. grant colfax. >> dr. colfax made it clear, covid will be with us for the foreseeable future. does that mean a fifth wave? he says that could happen. how bad it be is dependent on the decisions we make now, which is masking up and getting vaccinated. san francisco's fourth search slowing down. the pace of vaccinations moving up. >> with our rate reaching almost 80%, that is good. >> can retake a sigh of relief? will another surge come? >> it could. this is the reality of living in this time of the pandemic. >> health director dr. grant colfax says despite signs the fourth wave is starting to plateau, there could be challenges ahead and we can expect covid in our lives for the future. >> there will likely be ebbs and flows. whether it is through delta or another variant. look at the u.k., cases dropped sharply and have leveled off, then began to increase. >> during our third surge, we can backup. >> cadet mean another lockdown? >> we are keeping everything open. we are not in the mindset we should shut ever

. >> let's go to stephanie sierra . she is in our newsroom with the answers. >> reporter: yes, dan. the main factor driving this mandate is because vaccinated people are able to spread the same amount of the virus. their message, we need to do everything we can to reduce that risk. an indoor mask mandate is in san francisco, san mateo, and the city of berkeley effective at midnight tonight. the writing has been on the wall for weeks, so why issue the mandate now? >> evidence has really built in the last week. >> reporter: following the cdc's announcement, vaccinated individuals can carry and spread the same amount of virus . the added precaution is necessary in any indoor environment. >> this is not the same virus we were combating last year and even a few months ago. >> there is a shift in hospitalizations and deaths. >> reporter: hospitalizations have nearly doubled across the bay area in the past two weeks. a majority of those admitted are unvaccinated. >> vaccinated people are still protected from the most severe virus. >> reporter: for example, since the pandemic began, vaccina

abc 7 news reporter stephanie sierra has more from the front lines of the fire fight in strawberry. >> reporter: the caldor fire is inching closer to south lake tahoe, 13 miles southwest of the mountain resort town. how would you rank the risk level for south lake tahoe? >> i don't believe that will occur tonight. i believe the risk is low. there's potential if something were to occur but i don't believe the risk is high at this.. >> reporter: henry herrera has been working the front lines of the caldor fire for two week. he expects the next three days could be the worst. >> it will be hotter this weekend. the wind has continued to align with the canyon, burning primarily in the northeasterly direction. >> reporter: the northeast corridor includes the town of strawberry, where some of the 3200 firefighters are stationed to be redirected despite the fire lines just south of us. cal fire issued new evacuation warnings east toward the commune of meyers, echo summit and the community of strawberry, where most of the active fire is burning with hot spots taking down trees. we drove through

stephanie sierra spoke with two of the top doctors.there is a light at the end of the tunnel. >> a silver lining in the face of covid. that is something we rarely get to report on. when it happens, we want to be forthcoming. the case rates are still increasing, but the rate of increase is slowing, especially in the bay area. after the past two months of delta's dramatic surge in california, two of the top doctors say there is a glimmer of hope. the bay area's first in line to see it. >> the light is at the end of the proverbial tunnel. >> the bay area is sort of leading the way, in terms of an early peek and coming down. reporter: dr. bob walker and dr. peter jin hung suggested the bay area is showing signs it might be the first metropolitan area to begin to peek as casesndhospg down. >>>> it went from 10 cases a day in san francisco to 280. we are back down to about 220. ucsf had one hospitalized covid a patient in the beginning of june. we went up to about 45. we are back down about 35. >> we found the trend across the bay and across

. >> he was absolutely right and today, abc7 news reporter, sift stephanie sierra spoke with him again to find out what he predicts now. stephanie, he is sort of grim in his outlook. >> so bring that one of the nation's top covid experts say we may never get to herd immunity. dr. walker says we may need to have 100% of people fully vaccinated due to how infectious delta is and we know that is unrealistic. as he explained, this war we are in will constantly be changing. >> it is possible we will never reach herd immunity. >> reporter: reaching herd immunity symbolized control of this pandemic, a step back to normalcy. for san francisco, that was reaching 75% of the population, fully vaccinated. >> we are at about 75% of san francisco immunized probably about 80% with immunity based on either vaccine or prior infection and we are still seeing a heck of a surge. >> ucsf dr. bob walker says our fight in this pandemic will be constantly changing. >> the level of protection without would be associated with herd immunity is no longer high enough so that's a bummer. >> he says the need for rub

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is live tonight, tracking the latest. >> reporter: the number of covid tests administered across the city has more than tripled in the past month and pop-up site serving areas disproportionately affected by the virus are starting to turn people away, because the demand is so high. the demand for covid testing is surging across the bay area, especially in san francisco's mission district. >> i saw two or three cases pop up with my friends and they tell me they went to a club, started feeling sick, got tested and came out positive. >> reporter: he says the lines to get into the missions to pop- up sites of more than doubled. >> covid kills people and i think it is very important that everyone get tested. >> reporter: he could not get tested, because the site reached capacity. >> it exploded. >> reporter: susanna rojas is with the latino task force. she says two weeks ago the mission district had only one covid testing site that was open three days per week. now due to heightened demand the mission has three sites with expanded hours and it is still n

stephanie sierra reporting tonight. to the fall of afghanistan we go. a u.s.itary drones drag blowup a vehicle parked with explosives in kabul. military officials say the attack eliminated and eminent isis-k threat. 14 american service members who died during a bombing last thursday returned home today in flag draped cases. president biden watched as they arrived at dover air force base. seekingo leave th country remain in afghanistan. every leaf mission is taking shape in the east bay to help afghan refugee families who are trying to come to the bay area. cornell barnard has details on the community effort including an update on a local nonprofit's fight to get employees out of afghanistan. >> the purpose is to show them we care. >> a strategy session at the islamic and cultural community center. how to help refugees escaping afghanistan. he says his phone is ringing 40 -- is ringing 24/7 with desperate calls from friends and family. >> please get us out of this country. our hands are tied. >> these volunteers cannot help afghan's escape but they can assist f

stephanie sierra is live in the newsroom with more on the mandate the goes into effect very soon >> tonight at midnight all seven counties in the city of berkeley. health officers say the added protection is necessary in any indoor environment especially bars, gems and restaurants where there can be a heightened risk of transmission. the writing on this mandate has been on the wall for weeks. the difference stems from data released by the cdc revealing vaccinated people can carry and spread the same amount of fibrous as those unvaccinated. the shift is impacting younger age groups, people in their 40s to 60s. a majority of those are unvaccinated. they are hopeful a simple precaution like masking indoors will lower those figures? >> it is a hospitalizations we are worried about. people in the hospital with covid are really sick and gasping for air. if they are in the icu, they are likely to have a tube down their throat. this is what we want to avoid. >> if you are vaccinated your chance of getting severe disease is next to nine. he hopes if we get back to her hospitalization rates from mid-

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is live in the newsroom with the decision and what was behind it. >> reporter: yes, health officials say the main factor driving the new mandate is the fact vaccinated people are still able to spread the same amount of virus as those who are unvaccinated. their message is we need to do everything we can to reduce the risk. an indoor mask mandate is adopted in alameda, contra costa, marin, san francisco, is a mateo, sonoma and santa clara and berkeley effective the midnight tonight. the writing has been on the wall for weeks. so why issue the mandate now? >> the evidence is built what started to emerge, i would say, in the last week. >> reporter: followed cdc a's nounsment, vaccinated individuals can carry and spread the same amount of virus as those unvaccinated. health officers say that the added precaution is necessary in any indoor environment. >> it's not the seam virus that we were combating last year even a few months ago. >> we are seeing the shift in the age of hospitalizations and even deaths to younger age groups. >> reporter: hospitalizat

stephanie sierra is tracking the latest on testing from every county and has more on what we can expect over the next few weeks. >> health officials say this demand has been overwhelming in some counties and especially in the last few weeks. the good news is every single county is working on expanding capacity to make negotiations to open new sites. >> as a delta variant is threatening be even more contagious surge, looking at more testing. >> we are seeing an increased demand in testing. >> the demand has skyrocketed over the past few weeks. >> we have gone from 1000 tests per week to 10,000 tests per week because of the demand. >> the county is expanding testing sites and is working to increase staffing to avoid any backlog and reduced turnaround times. >> they are talking to the laboratory about going back to weekend staffing and runninrunnn tests >> the increase is reported in every bay area county and across california. state data shows that the seven- day average covert test rate for 100,000 people was 260. a few weeks later, in late july, the average jumped to 401. all counties a

stephanie sierra abc 7 news. >> you contract the air quality with our weather tracker. it is live now in our app. download the app wherever you stream download the app wherever you stream. larry: a covert outbreak is traced to one teacher. >> plus, the surprising report he's a priest. larry: it's time for the biggest sale of the year, on the new sleep number 360 smart bed. it helps keep you effortlessly comfortable by sensing your movements and automatically responding to both of you. and, it's temperature balancing to help you stay comfortable all night. it even tracks your circadian rhythm, so you know when you're at your best. in other words, it's the most energy-building, wellness-boosting, parent-powering, proven quality night's sleep we've ever made. don't miss our weekend special where all smart beds are on sale. save 50% on the new sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus, 0% interest for 60 months. ends monday. sandhya: -- larry: tonight we are learning new details about the unvaccinated teacher behind in outbreak. he infected more than a dozen students

stephanie sierra abc 7 news. >> you contract the air quality with our weather tracker. it is live now in our app. download the app wherever you stream download the app wherever you stream. larry: a covert outbreak is traced to one teacher. >> plus, the surprising report he's a priest. larry: it's time for the biggest sale of the year, on the new sleep number 360 smart bed. it helps keep you effortlessly comfortable by sensing your movements and automatically responding to both of you. and, it's temperature balancing to help you stay comfortable all night. it even tracks your circadian rhythm, so you know when you're at your best. in other words, it's the most energy-building, wellness-boosting, parent-powering, proven quality night's sleep we've ever made. don't miss our weekend special where all smart beds are on sale. save 50% on the new sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus, 0% interest for 60 months. ends monday. ♪ ♪ ♪ well well well, what have we here? ♪ ♪ a magical place... that's lookin' to get scared! ♪ ♪ with bats...and ghouls... and cars in disguise

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra live about a mile from the fire line my tracking the latest for usay 50 in the town of strawberry, south of south lake tahoe. this is the area facing the biggest threat right now. i want to show you what we are seeing. this view shows it. calfire making some progress, but the flames have

we start with stephanie sierra who spent the day on the fire lines.ent most of our time with crews who have been tirelessly working along the highway 50 corridor in the community of strawberry, where fire is on both sides of the highway moving northeast in this direction. all of that smoke is coming here to south lake tahoe.

abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra is live in the newsroom with the decision and what was behind it. officials say the main factor driving the new mandate is the fact vaccinated people are still able to spread the same amount of virus as those who are unvaccinated. their message is we need to do everything we can to reduce the risk. an indoor mask mandate is adopted in alameda, contra costa, marin, san francisco, is a mateo, sonoma and san

stephanie sierra made the she will join us in a few moments to talk about wi-fi far to say the next three is part of our team coverage along with our meteorologist who is monitoring these conditions how bad is our air going to get? sandyha: it will continue to remain in the smoky and hazy ra

stephanie sierra is following the latest for us live from the newsroom tonight. stephanie: we are hearing from most of the area. this means mass vaccination sites will likely be back but it won't be immediate. most counties are still waiting specific guidance from the state on how to move forward. covid-19 booster shots will soon be available at your local doctor's office or health care systems as soon september 20. >> the booster will be administered at the eight month mark. if you got vaccinated and finished your vaccination in january, he would start being eligible in september. >> all americans received their second dose at least eight months ago will be eligible but the cdc says health care providers and nursing home residents will be prioritized first. >> we will have to set up more large-scale and musician -- immunization sites. >> health officers are awaiting formal guidance on distribution from the state but most have indicated it will mirror the initial rollout. san mateo county says their plan will likely include mass vaccination sites where san francis

stephanie sierra, abc 7 news. >> the calfire and others burning in california having a major impact onbay area. drew: the smoke, you could see it today, smell it as well. our air quality some of the poorest it has been this season. we had intense heat. 84 in the city, the warmest day so far this year. 87, oakland. 96 in san jose. 101 in napa. 103 in concord. air quality right now, the immediate coast line has the bay shoreline, it is still moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups. tomorrow, similar story, moderate to unhealthy air quality. that continues through the afternoon. i monday, we are going to see fresh air move in along with cooler temperatures. we will detail that in the full forecast in a few minutes. >> drew, thank you. for most of the bay area, there was no escaping the full -- the poor air quality today, and saturday was made worse by all the heat. cornell barnard found people sweating it out in the east bay. cornell: skies were gray, but soccer games will still happening at berkeley -- were still happening at berkeley. >> the air quality is bad, but it they say it is

. >> stephanie sierra is here to break down the economic impact. >> the first major convention booked at the center is coming up in a couple of weeks but some attendees are canceling plans to concerns over the alta variant. brfor>> san francisco's mask goi center feels eerie, doors -- san francisco's center feels eerie, doors locked. that was supposed to change. >> we have events coming, we are still anxious to host them but we don't know attendance at this point. >> joe is the ceo of travel. his team was optimistic about the convention calendar in june but delta hit. >> has caused cancellation from individual attendees, some nervous about traveling. the borders are not open right now so a lot of international gas nnot come to the statut 40 conventions. this year there are only eight scheduled. whether they will be in person is in question. he says of the eight conventions scheduled for the remainder of the year, several may go over but are waiting until registry -- registration number sarin. the ceo -- rn. -- numbers are in. she says numbers have resulted in a higher centage of conve

stephanie sierra made the she will join us in a few moments to talk about wi-fi far to say the next three days could be the worst. liz: she is part of our team coverage along with our meteorologist who is monitoring these conditions how bad is our air going to get? sandyha: it will continue to remain in the smoky and hazy range. sunday changes are coming. let me show you live picture right now. hard to see anything from our walnut creek camera. we have seen ash falling. you will notice concorde and livermore are in the unhealthy range. oakland, san jose, is at 90 which is moderate air quality. you look at the views and really, it is hard to see anything. hard to breathe. smoke from multiple fires pouring into our region. you can see that smoke with the north wind coming into our area and you will notice the air quality is impacted vocally. worst of it will be tomorrow. sunday gets better. monday and tuesday, we get good air quality. tahoe is much worse. very unhealthy in the south lake tahoe area. i'll have an hour-by-hour smoke forecast coming up. casey: larry: they hosted a webinar post

stephanie sierra spoke to doctors on both sides of the conversation. reporter: opinions are mixed on this. several infectious disease physicians are saying the outdoors is not as safe as we might think in the age of delta. some support an outdoor mask mandate and others think there is a need for one in certain high-risk settings. throughout the pandemic, we faced a revolving door of masking rules. masks on. >> i would mask up. reporter: masks off. in the face of delta. >> let's go back to masking. reporter: it is masks on indoors. >> and outdoor mask mandate is appropriate at this time. reporter: dr. michael wasserman sits on california's vaccine advisory committee. he advised the state during the height of the pandemic. >> to because you are outdoors does not mean if you are standing close to somebody who has the virus that you are not at risk. reporter: a stanford infectious disease physician agrees, masking up in high-risk settings outdoors should be mandated. >> droplets could contain more virus floating out into the air than what was happening las

let's hear from stephanie sierra who is right in the thick of it tonight. >> the wind is really picking up here. we confirmed a spot fire has jumped the ridge of echo summit moving down in our direction about a half mile in our direction. calfire tells us there are a lot of embers blowing and spreading the fire rapidly. all of this happening just about a half mile from where we are right now. the smoke is so dense you cannot make out echo summit or the outline of the trees. what is happening is exactly what fire crews were afraid of. conditions ahead the worst we have ever seen it. the caldor fire picking up speed, threatening tens of thousands of homes in south lake tahoe as families rushed to evacuate. >> hopefully there is going to be a home to come back to. >> evacuee jeff in denial. moving through the fire, -- living through the angora fire, he knows the feel of losing everything. >> sure enough, it is not good right now. >> today, the flames even more ferocious. crawling fast up echo summit. do you expect tonight to be the worst? >>>> i did mention today is going to be one of the

stephanie sierra, abc 7 news. >> you can track the air quality any time with our real-time weather tracker. this tool is live on our abc 7 bay area app. you can download the app wherever you stream. just search abc 7 bay area. okay, lisa. let's get a check outside. >> liz, 69 half moon bay, 102 in gilroy. right now in san francisco, it is mild out there. numbers are in the 60s. how about right around 60. 78 for a high today so you want to head to the beach. we'll talk air quality and how long the heat will last. >>> a marin county infected 13 students with covid. >>>a new boo f a former san francisco chronicle reporter takes an in depth look at the 2018 campfire. what went wrong and how paradise is picking up the pieces years later. we sat down with author liz california, did you know our homes share power? but when we try to stay cool in a heat wave our supply is pushed to the limit. but you have the power to keep us up and running! “i do?” yup, we all do! with flex alerts. they notify us when to shift our energy use if our power supply is stretched. so from pre-cooling our homes, to usin

stephanie sierra is tracking the latest for us and what we can expect over the next few weeks. she is in the newsroom. >> reporter: health officials have described the increase in demand is overwhelming in some counties, especially in the past few weeks, but there is good news. every county is working on expanding capacity, whether that is adding clinics or negotiations to open new sites. as the delta variant is threatening an even more contagious fourth surge, officials are bracing for another surge of covid testing. >> your definitely seeing increased demand for testing. >> reporter: and sonoma county demand has skyrocketed. >> we have gone from 1000 tests per week, to 10,000 tests per week, because of the increased demand. >> reporter: the county is partnering with for healthcare providers to expand testing sites and is working to increase staffing to avoid backlog and reduce turnaround times. >> we are talking to our laboratory, the regional lab, about going back to weekend staffing and running tests on the weekends, so we won't have a lag. >> reporter: the increase in dema