California has performed more than 13 million coronavirus tests. The sevenday and 14day average test Positivity Rate are both 3. 6 . Thats the lowest in a very long time. Optimism is warranted in the bay area. This graph shows the number of cases every day. The yellow line is on the declin good evening. Thank you for joining us. Coronavirus impacts every bay area county but in different ways. In the south bay, private Health Care Providers are being threatened with fines if they dont make coronavirus testing more accessible. Chris has that story now from san jose. With Santa Clara County in the red tier as part of the color code framework for reopening the economy, experts say any improvement theres largely depend on the expansion of covid19 testing throughout the region. It is really foundational to Community Wide safety and foundational to being able to reopen more and get people back to work and back to school. This afternoon, county leaders called on local Health Care Systems to do more when it comes to testing a wider range of people. As of today, private providers such as kaiser and Palo Alto Medical Foundation are required to test all essential workers to get tested. The new health order requires results to be reported back within three days. Those that dont come my could face a 5,000 fine for every violation. Those fines can accrue daily. Our expectation is that there will be a real meaningful, full, complete commitment to compliance. Saratoga mayor Howard Miller is a kaiser patient who ran into trouble with the website earlier today. Three different platforms, four different browsers. And you get the same result. A real citizen cannot schedule a test at kaiser without making a phone call. This chart shows how far behind private providers are in comparison to the county when it comes to weekly covid19 testing in the community. Kaiser Officials Say theyre working increasing Testing Capacity in the county. Health care providers previously cited issues with the supply chain. We know these requirements are 100 achievable. In fact, the countys own health and Hospital System is already meeting these expectations and exceeding them. That means there is no excuse. In san jose. Abc7 news. Lawmakers and advocates are calling on Governor Newsom to sign the nations first farm worker covid19 relief package. The bills would protect Agricultural Workers by expanding testing, health services, housing for the sick among other things. This comes as a reason study on agriculture workers in monday ray county found they are three times more likely to contract the virus than general population. This has threatened the workers, their families, and an industry that is vital to food security, not only in california and the United States but globally. He has already he said acted parts of the bill in separate policies. More businesses are allowed to reopen today. That means card rooms can open outside. Race tracks can reopen. Professional sports can take place without an audience. And services that involve getting close to the face like facials and watching can take place outside. Film and tv production can start up again. Of all the bay area regions, Sonoma County has the most coronavirus concerns. You will find them in the state and county numbers. Statistically at the covid tran mission hot spot, deeper in tier one than any other in the wreeg a transmission rate of 11 for 100,000 people. She chairs the county board of supervisors which sanctioned the 20 million for Contact Tracing by the county Health Department which took questions via zoom today. Sonoma county remains in the purple tier for a safer economy. The county homes to reach red tier status by the end of the month. Thats no consolation to Business Owners who remain closed while hemorrhaging cash. By compare sob, he he said Sonoma County feels like another universe. Gyms are safe, he says. Were following the governors guidelines. In Sonoma County, hispanics have the highest number of transmissions. The elderly, the highest percentage of covid19 deaths. The county believes with more testing, those percentages will drop. We are seeing that we have higher case rates. Potentially higher positivity. But the good news is were doing a lot of testing, finding our cases, isolating our cases, and quarantine contacts and hopefully will be headed in the right direction here soon. However, patience runs short. Adam may reopen in spite of the rules. Just to make the point about jims being safe. I will risk it. Abc7 news. If you want to see where your county stands, you will finds this inactive map. And of course on top of the pandemic, california is dealing with wildfires with 3. 4 million acres scorched across the state so far. Many still burning. It is at nearly 797,000 acres. A massive fire. And 30 contained. The north complex is 273,000 acres and 36 contained. The creek fire burning in the Central Valley is at 220,000 acres right now and 18 containment at this moment. Stephanie sierra is live. And weve seen fires before. But not really like this. So ferocious. It is. We report on these every day. But it is pretty sobe ordering the comprehend these totals as a big picture. There are more than two dozen wildfires burning across california. And sadly the state is preparing for it to get worse. There are 25 wildfires burning across california. 3. 4 million acres have scorched the state so far. Forcing more than 38,000 people to be evacuated from their homes. Staggering statistics that the governor says underscores a sense of urgency to address climate change. There are no democratic thermometers and no republican thermometers. There is fact and there is reality as well as observed evidence. Its not a belief system. Its an acknowledgement. The facts are the facts. And the facts during times like these are hard to comprehend. 25 lives lost and thousands of homes gone. 4,200 destroyed. It is disturbing to see. Especially as a big picture. This graph illustrating the number of acres burned from California Wildfires over the past nine years. Last year at thi time, this time, this date. We had 536 fires. This year, 3. 4 million acres, close to 8,000 fires. Those figures marked a sobering milestone. We have burned just in the last 31 days or so, 2. 8 million acres. Now governor also gave an update on the lmu line complex burning in the north bay. Now 91 contained. And the line complex burning, now at 81 containment. Abc7 news. Okay. Thank you. Smoke from the wildfires is what caused the dark orange sky, of course. This was our view exactly one week ago. It looks like mars. Compare that to this live picture. We can see blue sky over San Francisco bay. It doesnt just look better. It is better. People were out today enjoying the fresh air in the city. A spare the air alert in the bay area will expire tonight. That is after 30 days of unhealthy air quality in our region. It is great to be outside. It was like being in an air quality horror movie over the weekend. So were really happy to be out and around and everybody should take advantage of it while they can. There will likely be an advisory in certain parts of the bay area. The air will not be considered under healthy. There is the potential for smoke to return on saturday and sunday. All this week, we are emphasizing our efforts to work toward racial and social justice. And were not alone. It was our effort to say, we cant save them all. If we can just save a few. A black Business Owner is still in business thanks to her community. I can color all day long. Couldnt we all. These kids are doing Distance Learning but theyre not at home. Well take to you a San Francisco project that tries to make the best of a bad situation. And tomorrow will be six months, believe it original, since the bay area began to shelter in place because of the pandemic. Join us at 6 00 six we look back at what has its made for him a veteran who honorably served and its made for her shes serving now we also made usaa for military spouses and their kids become a member. Get an insurance quote today. Weinflammation in your eyetary might be to blame. Ck,ir kids looks like a great day for achy, burning eyes overthecounter eye drops typically work by lubricating your eyes and may provide temporary relief. Ha these drops probably wont touch me. Xiidra works differently, targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. What is that . Xiidra, noooo it can provide lasting relief. Xiidra is the only fda approved treatment specifically for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. One drop in each eye, twice a day. Dont use if youre allergic to xiidra. Common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. Dont touch container tip to your eye or any surface. After using xiidra, wait 15 minutes before reinserting contacts. Got any room in your eye . Talk to an eye doctor about twicedaily xiidra. I prefer you didnt xiidra. Not today, dry eye. Federal documents released today are shedding new light on the dive boat fire that killed 34 people off Santa Cruz Island a area ago this month. Crew investigators said they were never trained on emergency procedures before the fire. The cause of which is still unknown. Theyve point to phones and electronics as a possible ignition point. One crew mental said he saw sparks when he plugged it in hours before the fire. Criminal charges against the boats captain are imminent. A stunning and under expected development in the trial of two Bay Area College students in the killing of an Italian Police officer. One of the defendants apologized to the victims family in a courtroom in rome today. Dan joins us live with the very latest. Dan, the judge ordered the cameras be shut off. I obtained an audio of of he wanted to make it clear, it was not a not could fegs to the charges he faces. The 20yearold and 19yearold had their hands cupped together as they entered the courtroom in rome today facing murder charges in the death of the italian. Elder dropped his mask for a moment and then in tears he read a statement he read from his prison cell. It was the worst night of my life. After 3 00 in the morning of july 26, 2019, they were meeting to return a backpack they had stolen after a drug deal went bad. They said they thought two men who approached were thugs working for a drug dealer. But they were actually Italian Police officers in plain clothes. He admits stabbing him to death but claims it was selfdefense. I wish i could go back in time to change things but i cant. All i can say is that im filled with remorse and it pains me to think of all the suffering ive caused. I am truly sorry and deeply saddened for the loss, for him and his friends, for all the people in the courtroom. She sat in the front row as she does in each hearing. And courtroom observers said she showed no reaction. His lawyers said he wanted to make a statement sooner but could only now because hes in a stronger psychological state. The attorney add, just to be clear, he did not make admissions to that nights dynamics. He simply wanted to communicate his pain about what happened. Because there was the loss of a life. Many mistakes were made and mine were the biggest of them all. They testified that only their dna was found on the knife used in the killing. But his left hand print was on a Ceiling Panel in the hotel room where the knife was hidden after the incident. Elders defense team said they have not decided if theyll testify during the trial. I am posting a recording of the entire statement online. Dan noyes. Abc7 news. As i mentioned, dan traveled to rome doing remarkable work and produced a documentary about the case. Abc7 originals documentary. 32 seconds. A deadly night in rome is Available Online right now. You will find it on different sites. Finally, even more improvement in the weather today. The sky is bluer still. Yes. Very nice. I wish this would last. Any chance it is coming . Well, we can home for it and expect to it last another couple of days. Bluer skies, cleaner air. Isnt it wonderful . Heres a look at our current conditions. Were seeing green dots indicating good air quality across the south bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains with the exception of san jose. It is still a moderate air quality. Green air dots is good air quality. Oakland, livermore, moderate in concord and almost all over the north bay. Weve had quite some improvement over the last 24 hours thanks to the do you meaner clockwise circulation around this low pressure to our northwest. Thats sweeping in some nice, clean, cool marine air. Over the next few days well see this central of low pressure move inland. And it is a does so, well start it from the north which may very well bring more smoke back into the bay area over the weekend. Weve got a couple more days. Right now were looking at surface wind speeds between 15 and 20 Miles Per Hour across the cabrera. And it shows it is quite a few degrees warmer than this time yesterday. It will cool down tomorrow. Here it is under blue skies. 69 in San Francisco. Oakland, half moon bay, 68 degrees. Another view of cleaner, bluer skies looking northward. Find in both novato and fairfield. Livermore is in the low 80s. And heres a nice view, looking from emeryville. These are the forecast features. Well see fog and patchy drizzle. It will be cooler with cleaner air 40. Overnight, look for widespread areas of low clouds and fog and drizzle near the coast and bay. Some of it might hit inland spots. Manly low 60s. Well see mid to lower 60s. Tomorrow a breezy 67 degrees to 69 in San Francisco. Mentally mid 70s along the bay shoreline. Oakland, fremont, highs will be mostly in the mid 80s tomorrow. And as we look at our air quality forecast, you can see what i was saying earlier. Good air quality expected for many areas tomorrow and friday. Moderate at worst. Well see some decline as the smoke returns. Well get smokier skies on saturday and a warmup. That takes us into next week a little cooldown as the first day of fall arrives on tuesday. The autumnal equinox i i i up. Welcome to autumn. Weve learned a lot more about the covid19 virus. Its real. And its dangerous. So, on behalf of all of us working on the front lines, please take it seriously. And while we dont yet have a cure or a vaccine, we do know how to keep you and your loved ones safe. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Stay six feet apart. Do your best to stay out of crowded spaces. And get a flu shot, its even more important this year. We can do this. If we do it together. An extra 15 credit on car and motorcycle policies . Thats great thats 15 on top of what geico could already save you. So what are you waiting for . John stamos to knit you a scarf . All finished, jean. Enjoy thank you. I give. The stitch work is impeccable. Its just a double fleck pattern with a reverse garter stitch. No big deal. Is your hair this soft . Softer. Geico. Save an extra 15 when you switch by october 7th. As part of our ongoing effort to build a better bay area, we are focusing on social justice and the importance of diversity and inclusion. This has been a challenge for the sport of golf where members of the Lgbtq Community say they have long felt unwelcome. The pga and San Franciscos harding park are now working to change that in a real way and they are making a difference. Heres abc7 news anchor abc7 n reporter at tpc harding park, the blue sky above was not the only reason golfers were breathing a sigh of relief. Were standing in a really special place. Reporter what makes it so special for suzanne, a trans woman, she feels welcome to play. I played when i was a young kid. I played on my own to get out of the house a lot. And then i played in my 20s and 30s. And i was with a lot of male friends. Then i quit playing when i transitioned. And i didnt play for five or six years. Reporter fast forward to today to sf prides Second Annual golf day. The first of its kind pga sanctioned event into bringing the Lgbtq Community into the often exclusive world of golf. In the past it was known as a white mans sport. And those days are now well behind us. Reporter one of the founders of this tournament is greg fitzgerald, a golf professional who beliefs he is the first member to come out as gay. The sports world has been behind the times about being inclusive and welcoming. Reporter golf is no exception and hes determined to change that. It is one of the few things i had forgotten. When you wake up in the morning and youre playing golf. You were a kid and pitching in a Little League game. Take that out. No. Yeah, i was excited this morning. I was going to go play. Right . Trans women need to go play. Reporter abc7 news. You can see how much that means to suzanne as she gets out and plays. A sport that means so much in her life. It was during me as i was watching lizs piece, theres still so much change that needs to occur. Were fortunate to live in a time where were witnessing some real changes starting to happen in many facets of our society. Absolutely. So true and so good. Because everyone deserves to be able to play, dan. Absolutely. We are dedicating this week to stories about racial and social justice. Next, meet the entrepreneur who has managed to keep her Clothing Store afloat thanks to grant money designed to support blackowned businesses. It is an unintended benefit from an otherwise horrible situation. Coming up, why the pandemic may actually make myim 70 and i li