here's senior investigative reporter. >> reporter: this research lab at uc berkley has the tools andhe talent to help find a cure for covid-19. >> very nice. very nice. >> reporter: bio chemist julia directs a tomorrow of scientists. she and her colleague eddie warey, prepare to fight the pandemic. they are missing one ingredient. money. >> if i had the funding right now, i would start probably in the next couple of weeks already four different projects we have in the works. >> the doctor said that a key to stopping the spread of the virus is understanding how it attaches to a human cell. protein spikes on the virus dock on the cell, working like a key. her team is ready to search search for a way to block the virus if they are given the resources to do it. >> you can interrupt that if you just make sure that the key doesn't fit the lock. and that's what we could be doing. the small molecules blocking that part. >> for example, this robotic lab assistant can quickly and accurately test 10s of thousands of potential drugs. see which one may prove effective at stopping covid-19. the do

at uc berkley, the campus it is will remain openeley , the campus it is will remain open. >> a little bit stressful because there are midterms. i'm not sure what's going to happen with all that. >> the online classes will take place for at least the next few weeks. they'll decide what to do next after spring break. >>> the coronavirus is making a lot of people change normal routines like working from home or not taking public transportation. bart passengers in oakland say they have seen a droppoff of the number of riders and they say ridership was down compared to the week before. some changes say they're taking precautions, others say there's no reason not to take bart. >> . >> it's like a ghost town. >> if you don't have a seat you have to hold on to something. >> i try to just lean on a rail or something. i don't like touching everything. >> bart has increased cleaning in an effort to combat the threat of the coronavirus. more often every day, crews are also wiping down handrails and other surfaces in the train cars. now, we hope you'll join us today after mornings on 2 for continu

. >> abc news reporter leslie brinkley again turned to a uc berkley expert for answers. >> we don't want alarm and anxiety and fear. >> reporter: last week you told us you would ride mass transit, you would get on an airplane, anything change this week? >> i was on b.a.r.t. this morning. >> reporter: dr. rhine gold is a professor and head of epidemiology and offered advice on travel saying he plans to fly. >> will i still get on a plane to go to london tomorrow? yes. would i still get on a plane to go to brazil this summer? that's my plan. >> reporter: as for cruises? >> they are by definition, closed situations with large numbers of people. would i be a little more concerned about doing it now? probably. >> reporter: while so little is known about the transmissibility of covid-19 he pointed to a new report by the world health organization. >> perhaps in china, the overwhelming majority of the transmission events curbed occu the household rather than on buses or in the streets or the shops or whatever. that's perhaps a little reassuring in terms of risk of, you know, acquiring this publi

people in san francisco what the rate of the virus infection is and we are working, again, with the uc berkley and ucsf colleagues to determine that number as quickly as possible to get the estimates and those will be very important in informing our models. with regard to whether models are helpful, yes, i think they are very helpful and they provide a number of plausible scenarios and they certainly do not provide certainty about where we're headed but provide plausible scenarios to help us plan our response going forward. >> the next question is from jamie harr of the associated press. the department of public health is sending health inspectors to conduct inspections at sros. how many are checking and what are you looking for or not looking for? >> so we are focus on a number of things, but particularly with regard to hygiene, making sure that the procedures are being followed and making sure that we're doing outreach and education to the community, around the social distancing order and making sure that people have the information they need and, also, making sure that people have the infor

people in san francisco what the rate of the virus infection is and we are working, again, with the uc berkley and ucsf colleagues to determine that number as quickly as possible to get the estimates and those will be very important in informing our models. with regard to whether models are helpful, yes, i think they are very helpful and they provide a number of plausible scenarios and they certainly do not provide certainty about where we're headed but provide plausible scenarios to help us plan our response going forward. >> the next question is from jamie harr of the associated press. the department of public health is sending health inspectors to conduct inspections at sros. how many are checking and what are you looking for or not looking for? >> so we are focus on a number of things, but particularly with regard to hygiene, making sure that the procedures are being followed and making sure that we're doing outreach and education to the community, around the social distancing order and making sure that people have the information they need and, also, making sure that people have the infor

people in san francisco what the rate of the virus infection is and we are working, again, with the uc berkleyd ucsf colleagues to determine that number as quickly as possible to get the estimates and those will be very important in informing our models. with regard to whether models are helpful, yes, i think they are very helpful and they provide a number of plausible scenarios and they certainly do not provide certainty about where we're headed but provide plausible scenarios to help us plan our response going forward. >> the next question is from jamie harr of the associated press. the department of public health is sending health inspectors to conduct inspections at sros. how many are checking and what are you looking for or not looking for? >> so we are focus on a number of things, but particularly with regard to hygiene, making sure that the procedures are being followed and making sure that we're doing outreach and education to the community, around the social distancing order and making sure that people have the information they need and, also, making sure that people have the informat