Get the chevy employee discount for everyone today. The covid variant has now turned up in california, why experts say the strain could be spreading faster. Governor newsom is making a push to have schools open by february but some are skeptical after what they heard today. Im tracking showers moving through tonight and more storms for the new year. Well have all the details. Abc 7 news at 11 00 starts right now. Building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc 7 news. There is significant evidence that it does spread considerably faster. Tonight california is confirming its first case of the new variant of covid, the one first seen in the uk. Kooechbing, and thats happening while a second suspected case has been identified in colorado. Kate larson spoke to an expert who said the variant may be more vans misable. Reporter the covid variant has been detected in a man in his 30s who lives in san diego county. Because there is no travel history we believe this is not an isolated case in san diego county. Colorado Health Officials say one case and a suspected second case of the variant were found in National Guard members deployed to a nursing home outside of denver. Governor newsom host aid virtual conversation with dr. Anthony fauci and discussed the variant. I dont think that the californians should feel that this is something odd. This is something thats expected. Theres no indication at all that it increases the virulence. And by virulence, i mean the ability to make you sick or kill you. Shannon bennic is the chief of science at cal academy. She explained why the variant may be spreading faster. There are mutations for this variant in many parts of the whole spike protein, and some of them, the ones on the receptor binding domain, are likely to increase the stickiness. But the ones that are in the fusion domain might increase its efficiency to fuse with the host cell membrane and enter the host cell. Reporter the good news . For sarscov2 its slower moving and the vaccine technologies were applying here, the two mrna vaccines are more adjustable than the influenza vaccine. Kate larson, abc 7 news. Icu capacity has dipped fou had to 7. 5 in the bay area. Thats the lowest weve ever reported. The Southern California and San Joaquin Valley regions are both at 0 capacity, no room. The governor noted today that 0 does not mean we are actually out of beds completely. It means we are in a surge phase. Governor newsom revealed a new plantae to reopen california schools. Distance learning will still remain an option for parents and students. Theres a lot of trepidation, we recognize that, a lot of anxiety about going back into the classroom. The plan includes 2 billion in funding. Young students and students with special needs come back first. The plan calls for increased covid testing and school staff and students would be required to wear masks. J. R. Stone spoke with School District leader who is have already reopened classrooms for in Person Learning to find out whats worked and what hasnt. Its 15 times more likely for you to get covid outside a School Setting than inside a School Setting. Reporter she say it is numbers show schools are safer than the community. Shes proud that 95 schools in her county are currently open for inPerson Learning. We have the data to show that with those components that in fact we do not see inschool transmugs. Reporter just six transmission cases among 44,000 kids and adults, inPerson Learning in marin. She says the time is now to open more schools. Dawn austin agrees but believes the governors 2 billion plan will set things back because of the restrictions and requirements, specifically with the governors goal of testing all staff and students for covid. I think its late in the game and with an uncomplete understanding of the lo justices involved with School Districts becoming testing centers. Reporter palo alto has had 8 student positive cases and 17 adult ones with no transmissions on campuses. They test more than 200 staff every two weeks and have had to dedicate a whole team to it, something that austin believes will be hard for many bugger districts. The most important thing that we could do in our state is open schools, and it seems to be, perhaps, the least prioritized. Reporter but something that we are all now talking about for the first time in weeks. The question isnt should we open the schools. The question is, what do you need to feel safe. Reporter j. R. Stone, abc 7 news. California, once again sattered its record for covid deaths. 432 today. More than 25,000 californians have died from the virus to date. But progress is being made in vaccinations. More than 300,000 doses of the moderna and Pfizer Vaccines have been administered statewide so far. But federal and state Health Officials admit the number of covid19 vaccinations is below what was initially promised. Tens of millions of doses were promised to be delivered nationwide by the end of december, now. But those numbers have fallen short, including here in california. Dr. Anthony fauci spoke with Governor Newsom today and says everyone is working through how to give the vaccine correctly and ensure it stays in line with the cold chain. As we get into january, the feeling is that were going to Gain Momentum to be able to catch up. Thats the hope. Dr. Fauci also suggests that april could be open season for most to receive the vaccine and that by early fall we could see some sense of normality return. A second Covid Vaccine has been granted emergency use authorization in the united kingdom. People there will begin getting the Oxford Astrazeneca fax on monday. Its not expected to get emergency use authorization from the food and Drug Administration until the spring. These are phase three trials where theyre doing things differently so theres a lot of questions raised about this vaccine. Those questions are going to need to be answered. The astrazeneca vaccine is cheaper and easier to store than pfizers vaccine. Meanwhile officials expect the Johnson Johnson vaccine to get emergency use authorization from the fda as soon as february. The fight over more stimulus money to struggling americans appears to be far from over. Abc News Reporter in washington with more on when we could see a decision on that extra money. Reporter Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell pushing ahead with a proposal full of president trumps latest demands, but the move likely to deail rail trumps call for 2,000. Mcconnell filing new legislation binding the boosted direct payments to two unrelated matters democrats were calling poison pills. What were seeing right now is leader mcconnell trying to kill the checks, the 2,000 checks. Mcconnells bill ensures a bill on the stimulus checks would also mean a decision on the commission to investigate Election Fraud and repealing protections for social media companies, all trump demands. Whats next unclear after the Senate Majority leader shot down two efforts by democrats to vote on direct payments alone, adding that a stand alone bill passed in the house for 2,000 stimulus checks is doomed in the senate. President trump suggested has no realistic path to quickly pass the senate. Its amazing to see the patience that some people have with other peoples suffering. Reporter the president is also dialing up the pressure on his own party to get a deal done with the stimulus check, tweeting, unless republicans have a death wish, they must pass the 2,000 checks asap. Fought abu bay, abc news, washington. If you want to know how much your stimulus check will be, weve created an interactive tool on our website. Just go to abc7news. Com and look for this payment calculator. Fill out the details to find out how much money youll get. Parts of the bay area are seeing showers tonight as we look live from our Golden Gate Bridge camera, you can see the roadways are wet. Lets check with abc 7 news meteorologist drew tuma. We do have a pretty wet evening across the bay evening. Scattered showers across the region. Well zoom in closer to the heart of the bay area from san rafael to richmond through oakland into the city and along the peninsula we are seeing light showers move through tonight. On the storm impact scale, overnight tonight well find those light showers on our level one storm we have. Rainfall generally less than about. 2 of an inch. As we welcome the new year, were going to welcome a series of storms. Were going to have that in the accuweather 7day forecast in a few minutes, guys. Thank you, drew. Still to come, forget the fireworks, the crowded ball room toasts this year. See how the bay area is going virtual for new years eve. Tired of back and forth by the state, what a popular family attraction is saying about reopening. On wheel of fortune the letters o, i, and e came up and the contestant blurted out a name that wasnt right but warmed my heart. That story coming up. Thats a great story. All thats ahead. First a look at whats coming up on Jimmy Kimmel Live after abc 7 news. Thanks dan and ama. Watch this for your luf. What are you doing mr. Sanford, good to see you . Were going to go out tonight, party down and come home and see you later. Do you want to come with us . New details. Childrens ferryland in oakland will remain closed until the spring. The decision follows Governor Newsoms order that the stayathome order is likely to extend until january. In the meantime, fairyland will provide an online space for families and children to play. A lot of you watch jeopardy and wheel of fortune on abc 7. A few get to compete like an east bay woman did not too long ago. She slipped up when solving a moment. What happened next was a special moment for our david louie. Wheel of fortune its the tv game show fans have been watching for 45 years. Only a few get to compete and spin the famous wheel for cash, dream trips and maybe even a car. Insurance agent jacqueline was one of those lucky ones. Imagine the pressure as the letters come up and youre hardpressed to come up with the correct answer. I will solve. Okay. Go ahead. Under pressure by queen and hm, looks like david, but whats the last name . David louie. What went through your mind at that point . I think at that point i was just under so much pressure, and i thought of you and abc 7 since i grew up watching you guys, and thats the first thing that came to my mind. So, thats what i said. And i instantly knew it was incorrect, but i figured i better Say Something than nothing. The correct answer of course is david bowie. Well, i know who he is now. It turns out that wrong answer wasnt her undoing. I actually went to the bonus round and solved that puss and i won, so i redeemed myself after that. Jacqueline won 45,000 in the bonus round, total winnings of 64,000 which is a good start for her Daughters College fund. Do you forgive me for popping into your mind when you gave that answer . 100 . David louie. Abc 7 news. So fun. I just love that story. I do too. All right. There wont be any fireworks or big parties in the bay area tomorrow night. No, but some Entertainment Venues are getting creative with immersive parties. Dragon center will continue its annual acrobats and circus acts. They hope proceeds from their new years events will help provide an endoftheyear economic boost. It just seemed to make sense that this year we kept growing it a little bit and went virtual. Adapting, right . More relaxed vibe. The San Francisco Champagne Society is offering bubbly delivered right to your door followed by a virtual tasting to bring in the new year. Well, organizers in new york city have begun preparing for the new years eve ball drop in times square. They did their first test today. Of course no one is allowed to watch the ball drop in person because of the pandemic. We will not pack in a million plus people obviously but we will have the performances like we always do. We will have the stage built like we always have. And i think its important that we do bring in fun and we do bring in this theme of celebration and this theme of moving forward and moving on from this year. And you can catch the ball drop virtually on dick clarks new years rockin eve the ball will drop and the rain drops as well. Were tracking all the showers on live doppler 7 right now. Very late in nature. And theyre slowly moving to the south. So, well press on in a little bit closer down to street level on live doppler 7 you can see berkeley, oakland, hopping over into the city, also daily city. We are seeing light showers right now. Sliding a little bit further to the south, even along the peninsula from redwood city to san mateo and light sprinkle approaching milpitas at this hour. All associated with a cold front. You can see the front moving through Northern California right now. Its not a very big storm, so the showers will not last all that long, just the next few hours. But this front, it is bringing a pretty active ocean current. So, we do have a High Surf Advisory now in effect until 3 00 a. M. Friday morning. Wave heights are increasing right now and we could see breakers up to 20 feet possible. Its also pretty warm night compared to last night thanks to the cloud cover overhead were 23 degrees warmer right now than this time last night, 13 degrees warmer in half moon bay, 16 degrees warmer in fairfield. Right now its pretty mild out there, light showers. Most cities either in the upper 40s if not the lower 50s right now. Tonight well feel warmer than the past few nights because of the cloud cover and showers. Overnight tonight most cities will gradually fall into the mid 40s for our starting temperatures tomorrow morning. So, on the storm impact scale, level one light system overnight tonight with the light showers getting wet and slick roads out there. Future weather, hour by hour, next couple of hours, 1 00 were still tracking the light hours. By sunrise tomorrow morning, all the showers are out of here. In fact tomorrow will wind up being a pretty sunny day to finish out 2020. So, on new years eve here look at your highs on thursday. Well have Early Morning cloud cover. Its a dry day during the Daylight Hours so expect a lot of sunshine, upper 50s to lower 60s for the final day of the year. Heres the accuweather 7 dow forecast. Morning clouds, sun. New years day begins dry but then the weekend begins a series of storms across the bay area. Light showers over the weekend. Monday looks pretty rainy but all eyes, dan and ama, are on next wednesday for a stronger storm which ranks a 2 on the storm impact scale for rain and bind throughout the 7day forecast. Good, we need it badly, stwith the xfinity hello 2021 sales event. Get powerful internet you can count on. And 250 back when you. Add Xfinity Mobile with nationwide 5g on the most reliable network. Keep in touch with family and friends. Stream your favorites with ease. And take your devices to the next level. Get xfinity internet and mobile together. And say hello to 2021 with 250 back, for a limited time only. This sale wont last, so click, call, or visit a store today how beautiful is that . Tonight San Francisco hosted its 15th annual kwanzaa cell brags. Partnered with the African Diaspora and village project for the 5th day of kwanzaa. It included a Poetry Reading and dance. Thats what youre watching here. The events run through friday. That sounded incredible. Chris alvarez is here with sports. Coming up in sports we have history in the nba tonight. Plus chock this up to 2020, how a College Football teams bowl for members like martin. An air force veteran made of doing whats right, not whats easy. So when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. Thats how you do it right. Usaa insurance is made just the way martins family needs it with hasslefree claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. Because doing right by our members, thats whats right. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa sports on abc 7 is sponsored by your local toyota dealers. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has ruled quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for sundays regular Season Finale against seattle. He added if something changes through the week he could change his mind. Kicker robbie gold has signed a renegotiation contract through 2022. He hold ace franchise record for field goal records. He also landed on the covid list. College basketball, st. Marys hosting san diego state. 12 in the first half, 16 overall. Second half, heres tommy kooz si, nice bucket there. Gails win 6345. History in san antonio as Becky Hammond became the first woman to lead an nba team as an acting head coach. She took over for gregg popovich. She said obviously uts a big deal. The lakers did win the game though. The undefeated and 22nd ranked san jose spartans take on the bowl tomorrow. Due to covid restrictions the team has played home games in hawaii, las vegas and now theyre practicing in arizona. Coach brennan and his team continue to stay focused on the task at hand. There hasnt been a lot of time for reflection because were not finished. Were still climbing a mountain. We played an excellent ball state team. We have two conference champions both from the group of five, both fighting their butts off for respect and national recognition. Number 6 oklahoma from dallas, gators quarterback didnt look like a heisman finalist tonight. Three interceptions in the first quarter. This one goes to the house. The sooners were roll third quarter, making every one miss. Oklahoma 684 yards of total offense. Boomer sooner, oklahoma wins 5520. Wisconsin taking on wake forest and the dukes mayo bowl. Finds mason stoke for the 14 yard touchdown. Wisconsin wins. Theres the quarterback having fun with the trophy until he drops it and broke it. That is so 2020. This now more than ever its important to keep yourself and your community safe. Stay at home, and if you must go out, wear a mask. Well get through this together. All right. That is it for tonight. Thank you so much for watching. Im ama daetz. And im dan ashley. For drew tuma, chris alvarez, we appreciate your time. Dicky from hollywood, its Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight, keeganmichael key. Isla fisher and music from ingrid andress. And now, Jimmy Kimmel Jimmy hi, everyone. Im jimmy, im the host of the show. Thank you very much. Thanks for watching, thanks for joining us. You know, the holidays can be a lonely time without being confined to your home. So its important to know that you are not alone. And we are not alone in the universe. At least according to israels former head of space security, whos claiming in a new book that alien beings from outer space have been in contact with the u. S. And israeli governments for years. Haim eshed is a retired general and a wellrespected professor in israel. Or at least he was before he said this. [ laughter ] he claims these extraterrestrial beings come in peace