concern among san francisco's hispanic and latino communities make up 70% of the covid-19 cases, most in one place. >> thank you for joining us. most of the cases are in san francisco's mission district, the heart of the hispanic and latino communities. it just so happens they will be the start of a free program this weekend. >> and what will be done to help residents. live on that, luz. >> reporter: based on reporting by the city at least 300 latinos tested positive for covid-19. this community is highly impacted. close to 1200 san francisco ans tested positive for covid-19 a large portion are coming from the mission district zip code. >> this is the district, the heart of san francisco's latino community. city-wide, 25% of positive covid-19 cases are among latinos, although they make up only 15% of the san francisco population. >> reporter: he has lived in the u.s. 20 plus years. he has a work permit and employs 10 people. he's concerned about his community. >> some people can get benefit we know, you know. this is not correctly. we should protect everybody at this time, especially in this situation. it's really bad. >> reporter: district 9 supervisor hillary ronen has known about these cases for three weeks now. >> we're doing door-to-door outreach both on the streets and at the mission where we know there's large portions of the latino population living and doing outreach with spanish media how to protect yourself and what services are available to you. we've been working with ussf to create the first study of its kinds. >> reporter: overcrowded housing arrangements and latino community's fear towards government contributed to these cases. the former resources center director identifies a bigger issue here. >> they need recognition. the time is now and we have a chance to flatten the curve on this xenophobic racism they're suffering today. >> reporter: she's pushing for them in the federal relief package. >> whatever you create for citizens of this country, you have to include at least -- if i had it my way we would includes every immigrant who is present. >> reporter: at least two testing sites have been confirmed in this neighborhood. testing begins on saturday. today, 450 people already signed up. in san francisco, luz luz luz lz news. hurting already facing millions in revenue loss with business models facing changes amid covid-19. a look tonight at how the industry is preparing for this. stephanie. >> there's no word yet how many of the city's 215 hotels may be forced to close. we know when shelter in place is lifted day-to-day operations will be looking a lot different. for the first time in nearly two decades, the gold brass iron doors of the omni san francisco hotel is shut to the public being one of 70 hotels across the city temporarily closed due to covid-19. >> it was very difficult to swallow the pill and say, we need move on. >> reporter: james lylie jamesn james lin closed the the a small amount were occupied. >> it's sadness and fear and what will happen in the next few months. >> reporter: hotel occupancy rates dropped from 85% to 6%, weeks before mandatory shelter in place orders. even when those orders are lifted, evan carroll, ceo of the san francisco hotel council says it will take months, even a year, for those percentages to climb back. >> we know we will recover and people will start to come back to the city. but how will that look? will there be differences how we can hold meetings and differences how guests can can n interact? >> definitive questions that can change day-to-day hotel operations. how about cleaning hotel rooms, how do you expect it to change? >> we are looking at half a day to fully clean and sanitizer. >> dedicate half a day to clean a room will be really tough without adding new staff. >> it really changed how we operate. >> they're setting new guidelines for cleaning guest rooms. it'sin' clear if a wait room between guests will be required or just recommended. abc7 news. >> that's an interesting issue, stephanie. thank you very much. today, the senate approved a nearly $500 billion coronavirus aid bill with most of the money going to replenish a small business rescue program. and provides hospitals with another $75 billion and implements a nationwide virus testing program to implement the economy. president trump says he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk, as expected. a small business owner in santa crus is angry he and others are not getting access to the president's stimulus money while multi-billion businesses are. most familiar with the penny ice creamery off the riverwalk. zachary davis is the co-owner there and he feels his office doesn't haufls access to quick credit or cash. >> we're working through a couple different scenarios, one is what if we have to completely close. that's a very real possibility. >> if you want to support the creamery, they go online. they do have online orders and pickup as well. californians applying for unemployment benefits during the coronavirus are feeling frustration. maybe you know someone in this group. they cannot get to the states a employment development department. and maybe it just crashes. the edd say they are aware of the problem and trying to fix things. stanford health care is beginning to cut staff hours and says the cuts will be temporary and will not affect patient care. it will be implemented to all its bay area locations. the spoke person said the cuts are necessary because of the unprecedented impact of covid-19. we just learned former stanford president donald kennedy died of coronavirus today in red road city. he was a biologist before he became the president in 1980. after 12 years he returned to teaching and became editor-in-chief of the weekly journal of science. he was 88 years old. bay area health departments require all bart passengers to wear face coverings. if they don't, they could be charged with a misdemeanor and enforcement begins tomorrow. the same applies on bay area ferries, masks or face coverings required starting tomorrow. passengers are also asked to maintain social distance between themselves, crew members and other passengers at all times. could your dna hold clues to how sick you could get from coronavirus? that's a question one of the nation's largest dna testing websites is hoping to answer. abc7 news anchor, christian zee. >> reporter: as the novel coronavirus has spread, the medical community is stumped. why do some get very sick and die? why do others carry the virus and not even know they have it? could the answer be in our dna? >> the primary goal is understand whether there are genetic factors in humans that influence how severe the disease is for different people. >> reporter: joyce is vice president of research at sill can valley based, 23 and me, one of the nation's largest dna research companies. a week and half ago they launched a covid-19 survey and already have 50,000 responses and want more. >> obviously, most people fortunately, have not been diagnosed with covid-19. we hope to open this up to even more people because really for genetics, you need a lot of data in order to make good discoveries. >> reporter: 23 and me apparently has the dna of 10 million customers and published over 150 million research papers. >> we're in a good position to make a discovery relatively quickly we can share with the rest of the scientific community. >> reporter: the 7-10 minute survey is only available to those who agree to be part of the company's research and asked about symptoms and health conditions and risk factors. >> we're looking at severity as well, have people been treated or hospitalized? >> reporter: while it may have news transport in weeks if not months. a whale washes up in san francisco. people are keeping their social distancing as they record the event. police surround a memorial church after a man barricades himself inside. $10,000 to find her stolen dog, finally finds him four months later. a family that couldn't get to the grand can this virus is testing all of us. and it's testing the people on the front lines of this fight most of all. so abbott is getting new tests into their hands, delivering the critical results they need. and until this fight is over, we...will...never...quit. because they never quit. nearly 12 hours after it began, a suspect remains barricaded inside san francisco's glide memorial church. abc has been at the scene where you can see the heavy police response. it started when police responded to the report of a man with a knife. police did open fire at the suspect. it's not clear if he was wounded. he then ran inside the church and holed up ever since. we'll keep you updated. a humpback whale has washed up on baker beach in san francisco. the scientists with the marine mammal center examined the animal and say it is a juvenile female badly decomposed and say it's highly unlikely it was the result of a ship strike since there's nothing out on the water now. >> no container ships, nothing going on right now. it stands to say it probably is the starvation event, which they will be able to judge by checking out the fat. >> reporter: people are being told to stay away from the carcass, especially with this stay at home order. eight people are out of a home after this fire burned through their apartment building on lee street in oakland. the fire department says the fire engulfed the third floor just before 8:00 a.m. police officers were able to get residents out safely. no one was injured. five adults and three children were displaced. no word on the cause. you may remember the huge effort by a woman last year to find her dog that disappeared from outside a grocery store. she got a call that jackson had been found. >> reporter: detectives often say the first 48 hours after a crime is committed are crucial in trying to solve a case. in the world of k-9s it may take longer like more than four mnths. >> so much good news to share. >> reporter: very early this morning at 4:00, emily was reunited with her 5-year-old miniature australian shepherd named jackson. a san francisco police officer had driven to los angeles to pick him up. the dog had been discovered at a shelter in palmdale, leaving everyone with no clues, just the facts. on december 14th, 2019, she left her dog tied up outside a grocery store. the dog disappeared without a trace. video footage showed a man with a hoodie walking towards the bench where jackson had been tied up. the search for jackson began with flyers posted in the city followed by a $7,000 reward, no questions ask. she even paid $500 to have a plane fly a banner thad read bring jackson home. >> the balance between remaining hopeful and being okay potentially never seeing him again. >> reporter: then, yesterday, the unexpected call came. >> they sent me photos and sure enough it was him. i burst into tears and called my friend in l.a., get to the shelter now. >> reporter: now what? she told me she's leaving the bay area and moving to her hometown of jackson, wyoming to regroup. then, she's moving to portugal. why, i asked? >> she responded, why not. in san francisco, leanne melendes, abc7 news. sunnier and warmer, beautiful day. our meteorologist will be here with the forecast next. here at abc7 we are honoring the class of 2020 that had to forego graduation ceremonies and other milestones because of the pandemic. tyler is graduating from uc irvine. his mom writes he worked extremely hard, graduating one quarter early and worked at disneyland for teammates help each other find a way to win, just like covered california helps you find health insurance you can afford. they're the only place you can get financial assistance to help pay for health coverage. plus, this year, the state is providing more help than ever before. and because a new law requires californians to have health coverage or pay a penalty, covered california has made it easier to get financial help, but time's limited. visit coveredca.com or call to enroll today. nice outside. feels like spring today, alma, but could feel like summer soon. >> our meteorologist is tracking warmer weather for us. >> it will indeed. temperatures getting close to 90 degrees in our warmest spots. it's hard to believe but it will happen. let's take a look at a live picture right now from our san r cruz camera we are seeing plenty of sunshine. up 12 degrees in concord, livermore and 4 degrees warmer in san jose. this ridge will continue as a ridge of high pressure is building. through the rest of the work week we are looking at a sunny bathroom pattern inland. on the coast, enough of a breeze to hold the fog down. it won't be too hot for those who don't like it too hot. a look at the temperatures in the 50s to mid-70s. highs today got up into the upper 70s for warmest inland valleys. here's a warmer view looking to the eastern bayside of the bridge. a look at the highlights. warming trend continues through friday. above average for most areas heading through the work week and minor cooling expected through the weekend. no moonlight to interfere to check out the lyrid meteor shower. the peak is between 15 and 20. we're not expecting widespread coverage to interfere. check it out, first thing in the morning, 40s and 50s and a few clouds passing through and patchy fog. 78 gilroy, on the peninsula, beautiful weather. 71en red road city. downtown san francisco, you need sunscreen, 69 degrees. up to 80 in santa rosa, santa rafael, and nevada, east bay, mix of high clouds and sun. oakland, 74 in fremont, inland areas, it will be warm. 80 doctors in concord and 76 in pleasanton. the accurate 7-day forecast, temperatures trending higher the next few days. mid-60s and then a cooldown for the weekend. overall temperatures will remain above average. i hope you like what you see, alma. no refunds. >> good point? but save your receipt just in case. a canceled vacation turns into a spring break to remember. that story next. a reminder, abc7 is partnering with iheartradio to support local businesses hid hard during the pandemic. thousands of stores still open offering to help with essential needs. many are hiring, too. go to abc7news.com and click on whaso let's do the rightver chanthing, today.ow. let's stay at home. let's wash up. let's always keep our distance - please, six feet apart at least. let's look after ourselves, as well as others. it will all be worth it. we can all do our part. so those on the front line can do their part. and when this is over, we will all, continue, to thrive. abc7 has launched a new streaming app. wherever you are, you can see the live newscast and weather wherever you are on apple tv, android tv, fire tv and roku. just search abc7 bay area and download it for free. coming up at 6:00, governor newsom is promising new details tomorrow about re-opening the state. tonight, we examine what he may made in not allow. with so many people stuck at home you'd think we'd be inundated with unwanted sales calls. michael finney investigates why that hasn't been the case. the international airport at the time of covid-19 is a ghost town, all coming up on "abc news" at 6:00. finally, a family found a unique way to take all the trips they had to postpone because of covid-19. >> melli woodrow has the story. >> reporter: if you were ever told as a kid not to draw on the walls or ever told your kids the same thing you might have a hard time wrapping your head around michelle bell's dining room. >> i do a lot of things i think a lot of parents think i'm insane for doing. >> reporter: even bell's own kids thought, really, mom? >> i was thinking she was crazy. >> reporter: crazy for creative, you decide. it all started with spring break and canceled plans, thanks to coronavirus. >> so you're [inaudible] -- but we canceled it and we were going to go to new york, and then this happened. >> we obviously had to cancel that. >> reporter: so bell got out the paint. >> this is a great opportunity to get creative and places we wanted to go to or still want to go to and have a little fun and let the kids have a free-for-all on the walls. >> i was skeptical at first, but then she started sketching it out and i kind of saw it in my mind and it turned out really really great. >> there is vegas to the grand canyon. >> i really want to join some stuff in jackson hole. >> every night was a new night and a new place. >> reporter: it's made mealtime memorable. >> it's not the real thing but pretty close. >> reporter: 8-year-old charlie scored some cred with his classmates. >> wow! that is so cool. you guys painted that? >> reporter: bell says family and friends are talking about doing the same thing. she thinks it's a great idea in most cases. >> if you all don't let the kids draw on them. >> abc7 news. >> nice. >> it is a great idea. great to see. david muir is next. >> for all of us here, we appreciate your time. hope to see you again in half an hour on abc7 news at 6. mrs. walker. michael vasquez! come over here. i've heard such good things about you, your company. well, i wouldn't have done any of it without you. without this place. this is for you. michael, you didn't have to... and, we're going to need some help with the rest. you've worked so hard to achieve so much. perhaps it's time to partner with someone who knows you and your business well enough to understand what your wealth is really for. we are destined to do something meaningful. what do you think a private, christian, education looks like? gcu offers over 175 high quality online programs. find your purpose at grand canyon university. visit gcu.edu. tonight, the coronavirus here in the u.s. and several headlines developing as we come on the air. the major stimulus package, more than $480 billion, for small business and for testing in this country, passing the senate. what the president said about this just moments ago. and the warning late today from the head of the cdc, now reportedly saying there is a possibility the assault of the virus next winter will be even more difficult than the one we just went through. why he believes that. also, that face-to-face meeting at the white house. president trump, new york governor andrew cuomo. governor cuomo saying he wanted that meeting to talk about testing. the governor calling it a very good conversation, and that is was, quote, productive. what will this mean amid growing calls for federal help for widespread testing? the death toll in the u.s. now approaching 44,000.

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