New at 6 00, abc7 news iteam reporter Melanie Woodrow takes a look at whether the bay area has enough hospital beds to handle an expected patient surge. Reporter covid19 is testing and stretching californias Health Care System to its limits. An abc7 news iteam analysis found if 1. 2 of the bay area population has covid19 at one time, and 15 of those people are hospitalized, local hospitals could run out of beds. According to state data, the bay area has less thantwo hospital beds per 1,000 people. San mateo, sonoma and contra costa counties have even less, just 1. 4 beds per 1,000 people. Compare that to italy, a country that has more than three beds per 1,000 people and still whose hospitals were overrun when Coronavirus Infection rates reached their peak. The numbers alone do not paint a positive picture, but californias Hospital Association president and c. E. O. Carmella coyle is urging people to look past the numbers and trust californias Health Care System will flex based on needs. Hospitals will have the opportunity to reshape that capacity as needed, and we most certainly will be doing that to address this emergency. Reporter heres how according to coyle. Elective surgeries can be canceled. Acute care beds can be transformed into intensive care unit beds. Motels and hotels can be used a surgery centers. Previously unused hospitals can be brought back into the mix. There is also the possibility of federal resources. The prospect of bringing the u. S. Navy to bear in supporting the acquisition of the mercy here off the coast of the state of california which would provide an additional 1,000bed capacity. Reporter beyond beds the Health Care System has other needs. We do expect we will have shortages of the respirator masks, surgical masks and others. We are working now with the state on solutions to fill some of those gaps. Reporter perhaps most importantly, keeping Health Care Workers healthy. Coyle says the Health Care System cannot quarantine every medical professional who has contact with another medical professional who tests positive for the virus. If each time there is someone who is covid positive and we have to send 100 Health Care Workers home for that patient, we will have no work force. Reporter highlighting the delicate balance of having a Health Care System that functions and protecting workers and patients. To maintain the number of professionals needed, coyle says they are currently looking at bringing retired doctors and nurses back to service, and even dentists and others who have health care training. In the newsroom for the iteam, Melanie Woodrow, abc7 news. Happening now, a town hall in the city of oakland with mayor libby schaffe. The event is just starting and will last until 8 00 p. M. , giving people a chance to have their questions heard and answered. Heres a live look at the stream, which is going out on mayor schaffes facebook and twitter pages. We are also streaming it now on abc7news. Com. You can watch it live and we are monitoring it from our newsroom and well let you know what is being said. Lets take a live look at droneview7 flying over San Francisco. You can see the water there. You see some people cycling along the waterfront. Some people walking. But, man, just look, one, two wait for the next car. How long would we wait . This is just, you know, something we never see. Remember, though, seeing empty streets like this, it really is a good thing because it means people are obeying the shelterinplace order which will help reduce the spread of coronavirus. It is only the third day of the sherd for most of the bay area. The goal is to decrease social contact and stop the spread of coronavirus. But what if people dont actually comply . Abc7 News Reporter kate larson joins us live with an answer. Kate. Reporter well, ama, mayor london breed and s. F. P. D. Chief scott are looking for voluntary compliance from people. But say they will there will be consequence for people who disobey the order repeatedly, which is technically a misdemeanor. We have to balance common sense, Civil Liberties with the necessity to stop the spread of this virus. Reporter San Francisco police chief bill scott said his officers will enforce the shelterinplace for both individuals and nonessential businesses who repeatedly break the order. Weve worked with the City Attorney on a tight protocol on when to enforce, and that enforcement can be a citation, an arrest, and an offense. That person can be taken to jail. Reporter chief scott and mayor london breed said much of their work during the first three days of the shelterinplace has been about education rather than enforcement. We have people who speak multiple languages who are doing the outreach to those businesses, and to make sure that they understand that they will need to close as a result of this order. We need as many nurses as we can get. Reporter director of Public Health grant colfax said they plan to immediately hire 15 nurses in the next week. I asked about numerous reports from Health Care Workers at hospitals and clinics who say they do not have the personal protective equipment they need, like a n95 masks. The information i have is Health Care Workers who need the protection are getting the protection they need as of this time. We are concerned about ppe going forward. That is a clear priority for us. Reporter so ive seen a lot of people on social media posting that they want to donate masks and other ppe supplies. I spoke to dph about that today and they say taking those donations can be complicated because, for example, those n95 masks really need to be fitted to the individual. If you feel compelled to give, you can donate money at give to sf. Org, and also if youre out and about, keeping your social distance and you notice someone or something that is not complying with the order, sfpd asks that you please call 311. We will have all of that information on our website, abc7news. Com. Live in San Francisco, im kate larson, abc7 news. Kate, thank you. A reserve officer at the San Jose Police department has tested positive for coronavirus. No other officers have tested positive that we know of at this moment. But eye number of them are selfisolating out of an abundance of caution. We are here to provide a service. We have a mission to keep our community safe. And, of course, the Police Department remains fully operational in san jose and everywhere else in the bay area. Promising news for san jose, firefighters, amanda del castillo tweeted about it today. 12 firefighters in total tested positive for coronavirus. The most serious case put one in icu. Hes been released. The other infected firefighters have mild to moderate symptoms. Hundreds of people lined up at the event center is an invitation only testing site. One of two operated by verily life sciences, a subsidiary of alphabet, googles parent company. The other is santa clara county. 130 people have been tested since the site launch. 12,000 have completed the online screening. Efforts continue to find effective treatments infected with coronavirus. Today south San Francisco based genentech started Clinical Trials for an arthritis drug. Research is underway at the Mission Bay Campus. Abc7 News Reporter david louie is live working from home with details of the efforts. David. Reporter hi, ama. At u. Csf, scientists are sharing with other researchers critical information about which human cells and which proteins the coronavirus targets. Never have the stakes been higher. Researchers and labs at ucs fs Mission Bay Campus have been working around the clock to identify which human cells covid19 invades and hijacks in order to survive and to spread. It is estimated there are 30 trillion cells in the human body. The focus is to pinpoint human proteins that succumb to covid19. By mapping that researchers will try to identify existing drugs that have the potential to interrupt that process. We as of last week sent out a number of drugs, i think ten drugs so far, and theyre testing them in the lab as we speak. Reporter he is director of qualitative biosciences institute. While his lab doesnt have samples of the coronavirus, his results are being shared with labs in new york and paris that do. Some of the existing drugs being tested are fda malaria that could be effective on covid19. It is known as offlabel use. With infections rising globally, the need to identify effective treatment has disrupted the way scientists work. Traditionally operating separately in silos. This crisis, in my opinion, has brought out the best of many different scientists. They have ignored the credit i think they have all come together in a way ive never seen before. Reporter collaboration will prevent duplicating efforts while accelerating the discovery of effective treatments. The technology at ucsf was developed several years ago and was used on hiv, ebola and west nile virus. The race to help covid19 patients is narrowly focused. The chair of the department of cellular and molecular pharmacology at ucsf. Everybody else is looking at a list of 20,000 proteins. We can look at a list of 200. So to pick the 200 out of 20,000 and to focus on those for these last two weeks and for the coming months. Reporter well, the food and Drug Administration today is also considering the use of plasma, blood from covid19 patients who have recovered, to treat other patients. The antibodies in the plasma might help to recover these other patients. We are live working from home, david louie, abc7 news. Very good. All right. Thanks, david. We are seeing a lot of teamwork to get each other through the situation the coronavirus pandemic has put us all in. From cans of beer to boxes of cupcakes. Next a live report from the south bay on who is helping whom. Even in the midst of a shelterinplace order, we are being allowed to exercise outside, but some of our favorite public parks are turning people away. Next we are live in the east bay with a look at whats open and whats allowed. Im meteorologist sandhya patel. Seeing some bright skies right now. Ill let you know how long this brea but buick and gmcs commitment to you, remains the same. We understand you want to feel safe. So were offering current owners complementary onstar crisis assist services. Should you need a vehicle, were offering zero percent financing for up to 84 months with deferred Payment Options for 120 days. Plus, you may have the option to shop online and take delivery at home. Visit our websites for the help you need. Buick and gmc. Were here to help. Doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . Visit our websites for the help you need. Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. And some breaking news just in, we have just been alerted that governor newsome will make a, quote, major announcement about californias response to the coronavirus. That is scheduled for 6 30 p. M. , about 15 minutes from now. We will carry it live as soon as it starts. Businesses across the country are trying to find new ways to survive during the coronavius pandemic, of course. And for many that means leaning on one another in profound ways. Abc7 News Reporter chris nguyen is live in the south bay with some of the efforts upped way to help restaurants which, chris, have been so badly hurt. Reporter thats right. Downtown campbell is typically packed with many people enjoying the night life. But as you can see, that is really not the case right now. However, there are signs of life behind me. The sushi restaurant thats offering takeout. Its just one of the many businesses that are now working together to weather the storm. Many of us have been using the word tough as of late. Tough times, tough everything as the bay area deals with the Novel Coronavirus crisis. But for businesses in downtown campbell. Just kind of figuring outweighs we can partner together to make sure that none of us goes under in this very trying time. Reporter thinking outside the box could make all the difference. We need to be very creative in how were going to get through this. We cant just sit on the couch and wonder or hope. Reporter at sushi confidential, chef randy muster is offering sushi to go with take out and frost cupcake factory a chance to keep selling their products. Everyone is in the same boat. Were all scared. And so knowing that having a friend just reach out, it helps all of us. Just thinking of other people and not just yourself is huge. Reporter and here you get the sense that businesses are really coming together. Trying to let people see that there is going to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Well get through this together and were doing our part to try to help out the local businesses. Reporter and Community Members are taking notice, offering whatever support they can. No takeout order too small. A bunch of Little Things add up to something substantial. It keeps people in their jobs, it keeps restaurants open. Reporter an emotional ride for many who are now striving to maintain a sense of normalcy. I make cupcakes. I want to bring some happiness, make people smile through this and be able to do some celebrating at home. Reporter a tough journey ahead, but one that will hopefully be marked with milestones of strength. Ive laughed, ive cried about 20 times every day over the last few days just seeing how much support im getting from my friends, loyal customers as well as other people in the business community. Reporter the Campbell Chamber of commerce has put together a list of businesses and restaurants that remain open during the bay area shelterinplace. Well link to it on our website, abc7news. Com. For now were live in downtown campbell, im chris nguyen, abc7 news. Chris, thank you. Golfers found themselves being suddenly told to go home when a course in marin county was closed by orders of the sheriff. Many enjoyed several holes before local officials declared peacock golf club to be a nonessential business today. But some golfers feel it was safe to keep playing despite what officials say. I dont think its dangerous, te y thingsav to stay home, to be done. Course management said no comment when abc7 news asked about peacock staying open earlier today. Santa clara county parks today announced park entrance fees are being waived during the shelterinplace order. In the east bay theres been some confusion whats allowed and whats open. Lets go live toe abc7 News ReporterLaura Anthony in lafayette with an update on where its okay to be outside for at least a little while. Laura . Reporter yeah, hi, dan. Ill try to give you the best information we have here at the moment. Im at briones regional park. This is an east Bay Regional Park District facility. East bay mud operates many recreation areas here. The trails have been accessible all along. But some of the parks initially closed. They are starting to reopen, but with some serious restrictions. I wanted to go to the reservoir and get outside. Reporter for so many people, sheltering at home, the ability to get out and exercise, enjoy the fresh air is key. Thats why seeing signs like these at the Lafayette Reservoir is especially disturbing. I think air is a really positive remedy for all the stress that all of us are carrying with the fear. Reporter east bay mud has closed its lafayette and san pablo recreation areas. The fear is those two facilities may become an attractive nuisance at a time when people are supposed to be keeping their distance. We saw a huge uptick in the number of people at those locations, and we could not meet our safe social distancing guidelines. Its a pretty nice trail to hike on. Reporter east bay mud is keeping most of its 90 miles of trails open and available to the public. Seeking an all door alternative, perhaps a place to reconnect with nature. Get out there. Its beautiful right now. And first day of spring and things are really starting to pop. Reporter earlier this week, the east Bay Regional Parks district closed all of its parks. But now the distric is reopening at least some of them, like oaklands Robert Sibley to allow access to trails and open space, but no buildings or bathrooms. It may be so much more than just keeping yourself safe. I mean, think about the rest of your loved ones that you may be in contact with that you want to protect. Reporter were back live here. You can see they have these signs out warning visitors about covid19, giving them information about making sure they maintain the social distancing, taking other precautions. One guy walked by here a short time ago. He said he comes here almost every day. Hes never seen this many people come through this park in one day. So you can see the people really are trying to get outside as long as they take their precautions. One other note for people who dont go out on these trails very often, they should really watch out for the poison oak. We saw it today. So live in lafayette, Laura Anthony, abc7 news. All right, good warning. Thank you, laura. And abc7 news meteorologist sandhya patel, she will have your w Metastatic Breast Cancer is relentless, but i was relentless first. Relentless about learning the first song we ever danced to. About teaching him to put others first. About helping her raise her first child. And when i was first diagnosed, my choice was everyday