Building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. This is abc7 news. Two dozen inmates at san quentin prison have died from covid19. Today we learned a guard who spent his entire career there is the first staff member to die from the disease. Hello, thank you for joining us. Im eric thomas. And im dion lim. A south bay family now mourning the loss of a beloved husband, father, veteran, and longtime corrections officer. 55yearold Gilbert Polanco died this morning after a long battle with covid19. Polanco is the first guard at san quentin prison to die from the virus. Abc7 news spoke with the family today. Cornell barnard is live in san jose. Just so heartbreaking. It is a heartbreaking story, dion. His family says he wascovirus f corrections officer will live on. He is a good man. Were all devastated. Family and friends mourning the loss of 55yearold sergeant Gilbert Polanco who died at this San Jose Hospital sunday morning. He was a longtime corrections officer at san quentin pr
Parishes. Pastors do. The pastors office at saints peter and paul church declined to comment. One parishioner called this a perfect example of why the covid19 numbers are spiking. Without leadership thats going to put everybody in the same place at the same time on the same page, doing the same preventions, were going to keep repeating this. Reporter the Public Health department would not comment on this specific case but said Contact Tracing is typical in these kind of situations. We left a message with the bride but did not hear back. In a statement, the City Attorney said he hopes in part that this incident will shock the archdiocese into taking responsibility for whats happening in its churches. In San Francisco, robert handa, nbc bay area news. Thanks, robert. Californias Central Valley is a new area of concern for covid19. Governor newsom says while at first Health Experts were concerned about big cities, covid19 is now spreading at record levels across the states agricultural re
Windy out here. With daylight you can see exactly how far this fire spreads. The concern was it started on the eastbound side of 580 and then jumped both directions of the interstate 580 onto the northbound side. Traffic is still backed up. This all started from an accident at around midnight last night and the big rig or pickup truck, were still trying to confirm which one it was, whether it was a big rig or a pickup truck. The chp saying it hit the Center Divide and caused a fire. That fire spread to the other side of the freeway. At one point riding in the wrong direction because they were trying to get away from flames. Fortunately the firefighters were able to put the flames out. The fire spread to about 100 acres but now it is completely out in all directions. Both directions are open. Back here live, the traffic westbound is still backed up. I was sitting in the traffic eastbound. At 3 45 they opened up the lanes so eastbound is flowing smoothly. Back to you. Thank you, sharon.
Quinton last december. I dont think a reduction of 8,000 people will create enough space, but i think its a good first step. The idea is to maximize space and protect those vulnerable. You cant have that kind of overcrowding and expect a good outcome when covid19 is raging in our state. Its a good first step and we need to do more to reduce our prison population and do it in a healthy and sustainable way. The releases will come on rolling basis. Those who are serving time for Violent Crimes, Domestic Violence or highrisk for committing a Violent Crime or have sentences requiring them to register as a sex offender are not eligible. At san quinton there are tents and beds in an extended area for those who fall ill. People are tested days before they are released. If they are negative they will be released to the jurisdiction. We are being notified of those inmates. Christie smith, nbc bay area news. We are breaking records we dont want to break. New infections and death. This graph shows
As we expected. Heres a look at a cloudy sky where it is 51 degrees. Pretty mild this morning. Mid 40s to 50s and sun and clouds with mid to upper 50s at the coast. Near 60 at noon for our bay and inland neighborhoods and then mid and even a few upper 60s possible at 4 00 and a very comfortable evening mid50s to about 60. Reggie . Mike, thank you. You know, the last thing you want right now is to have essential workers showing up to work because they feel like they cant miss their pay even if they get sick. Well, now some major bay area cities are providing some relief. Abc 7 News Reporter Julian Glover is live for us in san jose. Julian . Hey, good morning, reggie. Yeah, this is really another tool in the tool box to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. The idea is to give essential workers like you mentioned enough sick leave. An additional two weeks off so if they do come in contact with the coronavirus or they have it themselves, they dont have to worry about missing a paycheck