the news at 5:30 starts right now. thanks for joining us, i'm terry mcsweeney. >> i'm janelle wang. the omicron variant surges across the country. virginia is the latest state to make an emergency declaration to help hospitals where staffing is stretched thin. >> it's not just health care hit hard by covid sickouts. nbc's chris pollone reports. >> reporter: the omicron variant surge taking a toll on the nation's school and workplaces, forcing some health care systems to cut back hours, services, and even cancel some surgeries. >> we have plenty of equipment. we have plenty of medication. it is a staff issue. >> reporter: states are altering covid policies just to keep things running. in california, health care workers who have covid but are asymptomatic may return to work immediately without isolation and without testing. in georgia, teachers who test positive don't have to quarantine if they wear masks and don't develop symptoms. and in chicago -- >> this walkout by the teachers union, which is illegal, has had cascading negative ripple effects. >> reporter: a fourth straight day of cancelled school as teachers balk at returning to in-person education, saying it's not safe. as people with severely compromised immune systems become eligible for a fourth vaccine shot this week, the major drug makers are working on the next generation of vaccines, preparing for a potential round of boosters next fall. >> we need to be careful to stay ahead of the virus and not behind the virus. >> reporter: health officials are hoping the omicron surge will soon subside as fast as it exploded. >> the tools that we have, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, antivirals, as well as masks, will help make this something people can deal with. >> reporter: major advances that can turn covid into a nuisance instead of a devastating killer virus. since friday, six members of congress have tested positive for covid. the capitol physician said everyone who can work from home, should, and people should upgrade to better quality masks. in washington, chris pollone, nbc news. as the covid surge continues, dr. anthony fauci has some thoughts on how long we can expect it to last. he believes it's tough to predict because different countries will peak differently. >> i would hope, i can't predict accurately because no one can, but i would hope by the time we get to the fourth week in january, end of the third week, beginning of the fourth week, that we will start to see this coming down. >> and as he always does, he continues to implore patients to get their children vaccinated and boosted. a booster mandate kicks in today in contra costa county. employees who work in high risk environments like firefighters, law enforcement, and those who work at homeless shelters must get that third shot. nbc bay area's sharon katsuda is in contra costa county to show us how county employees are handling the mandate. >> reporter: i spoke with the public information officer with contra costa fire and he tells me front line workers are complying in two ways. the mandate is geared towards those who work in or may respond to emergency calls in high risk facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes, and jails. employees who are part of this mandate have submitted confirmation of boosters or if they aren't yet boosted, will have to go through weekly covid testing. pio steve hill says many of the employees who are part of this mandate are paramedics and they see how devastating the omicron surge is today. >> i don't think there's any lack of understanding as to how significant this is. right now we're experiencing quite a surge. we're getting more than a hundred more calls for emergent medical services a day across contra costa county. that's put a bit of a strain on our ems capabilities. >> reporter: the rise in omicron has led to staffing shortages among front line workers across the country, causing health officials to push booster shots. contra costa county recently announced its own booster shot requirement. contra costa county says only 40% of eligible residents have received their booster shots so far. sharon katsuda, sandrramon, nbc bay area news. plan today tovate health insurers to reimburse people for at-home covid thefts starting saturday, insurance companies will cover eight home tests a month. a family of four would be able to have 32 home tests covered by the health plan per month. russia and u.s. are still far apart on how to prevent war in ukraine. relations between the two countries are tense. russia has started building up its military along its border with ukraine. russia denies invasion plans and says nato is exhibiting provocative behavior. the u.s. has threatened retaliation if russia invades ukraine. joining us now is larry gerston, nbc bay area's political analyst. larry, russia is threatening to invade ukraine. give us the background. >> janelle, ukraine of course was part of the former soviet union, ussr. of course it broke away when it collapsed, the ussr did, in 1991. now, it's right next door. you can see that, right next door. so because of that, the russians feel, and there's a point here, that there's a good deal of overlap in culture, religion, values, and so they are really hammering at the door. there's a second reason that people don't discuss, janelle, and that is that in russia, really the economy has just fallen apart, it's a mess. so some of the russian leaders believe, of course including putin, that if we start hammering on ukraine, maybe people will think about patriotism instead of the economy. so that's where we are with russia and the ukraine. >> u.s. has been fierce with their stance, if russia invades ukraine, we will retaliate. why does the u.s. care so much about that threat? >> that's a good question. in political science, we use this term "sphere of influence." you saw the map. ukraine is considered by the russians to be within their sphere of influence. it's right next door, it's what they use to protect themselves from other nation who might get close otherwise. it's not much different from the united states considering mexico and canada in our severe of sphere of influence. because of that close relationship, the russians are concerned. ukraine is an ally, it's a democracy, one of the few democracies that's come out of the breakdown of the soviet union. so the united states is out there doing the best it can to support ukraine, to allow it to stay a democracy and keep it part of the european front that is anti-russia. >> does russia want something specific from the u.s. like maybe lifting of certain sanctions? what does russia want? >> well, they would like sanctions lifted, although the sanctions are not the big issue. they really want to make sure the united states does not get too cozy with ukraine. for example, they don't want ukraine to be -- to ever become part of nato. now it's not part of the north atlantic treaty organization at the moment. but it has applied. and the nato authorities have said they will consider it. and that's the kind of thing that's a red flag, if i can use that term, for the russians, because if ukraine becomes part of nato then this whole idea of nato really protecting any country attacked. that's their big concern. and they want the u.s. to really provide a guarantee. and of course for the u.s., they're saying, hey, we're not going to provide that kind of guarantee, we're not giving you anything like that. so that's where they're at loggerheads. that's really the crux of the problem right now. >> okay. high level talks will continue this week. dr. larry gerston, thanks so much. new york real estate heir robert durst is dead. he was just a few months into a life sentence for murder for killing his long time friend susan berman. he is also suspected of three other murders including the killing of his wife back in 1982. durst was part of an hbo documentary in 2015 where he seemed to confess to the killings in a recording. that got the whole investigation going. his lawyer says he died of natural causes. he was 78 years old. now to the latest on the tragic apartment fire in the bronx. authorities confirm 17 people died, eight of them young children. fire crews and investigators worked through charred rubble and debris today. new york city's mayor describes this as one of the worst fires in modern times. officials say the fire was sparked by a malfunctioning space heater as people fled the apartment where that fire started. what was supposed to be a self-closing door to the unit apparently remained open, allowing flames and smoke to spread. >> i opened the front door to look in the hallways. oh, the smoke, i cannot even see where i'm going so i have to close the door back. when i close the door back, i said, got to get out, a fire. >> at least 63 people suffered severe smoke inhalation. several remain in area hospitals in critical condition. up next, new rtheatergoers vaccine record in a hurry, you can put it on your smartphone. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. i'll show you how, next. i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. we have rainfall moving up towards pacific northwest. i'll show you why we're not going to get any of this and i'll update you on the rainfall season coming up in eight minutes. the holocaust memorial vandalized for a second time. a reward is being offered for information on the person who did it. this was in santa rosa memorial park. an employee believed it happened on january 7th in the middle of the day. the same fountain was knocked over in 2020. that case is still open. the sonoma county alliance is offering a $2,500 reward to help solve the crimes, which could include hate crime charges. broadway is extending its mandates. audiences will have to show proof of vaccination and wear masks through april. all kids 5 to 11 will have to prove their vaccinated. good news for anyone who misplaced their covid-19 vaccine card. there are easy ways to store your vaccine record. right on your phone. >> we showed you how to do that in your apple wallet. now consumer investigator chris chmura has help for android users. >> reporter: pulling up your vaccine record on your android phone can be as easy as pulling up your credit cards in your wallet. first, we'll show you how to works in california. go to the state's digital vaccine portal. you'll enter your name, birth date, and the phone number or email address you gave when you got your shot. you'll be given a four-digit pin. within a few seconds the state should send you a text message or email with a link. click it. now you'll plug in the p.i.n. you made and you should see your vaccine record and qr code. scroll down and tap "save to phone." you can save it to google pay, the wallet app. you can save it to chrome, your browser. google recommends creating a shortcut on your home screen. if you get a booster, you'll have to do the process again. watch our apple instructions on nbcbayarea.com. look for the "how to" playlist. >> handy tips. thank you very much, chris. okay, jeff ranieri is here. so nice to see you, jeff. we've had lots of sunshine. any rain in the forecast? >> no rain coming our way this week. i know there's a lot of folks that want more rainfall. but look, we've got this area of high pressure sitting offshore. that's going to really continue to steer any kind of storm systems off to the north. we've been so active in october, november, december. and while we've had this break recently, i know for a lot of us it's been kind of frustrating because there hasn't been any big storms and we've just gotten the cloud cover. you'll want that sun. we got in on that today. it looks like there will be a little more sunshine coming our way as we roll through tomorrow. i wanted to show you, we don't have to feel too guilty about this week without any rainfall because we're doing so excellent on the rain season. yes, we would always like more, with the drought that we're still dealing with. but look, this is better than we could have asked for compared to what happened last year. we just struggled and struggled last year. this year, we've seen 22.06 inches in santa rosa. we're now running a 7.72 inch surplus. san francisco, 16.7 inches, putting us up nearly 8 1/2 inches. san jose, 6.64 inches, the surplus is 1.1 inches. again, we are doing excellent. we've seen by far way more rainfall than we had this time last year. we've definitely surpassed that. good news on that front. tomorrow morning it will be chilly to start. 39 in the tri valley, peninsula 43, south bay got you at 42. we'll start with the sunshine. you'll need sunglasses for the morning commute. 39 for the north bay. east bay looking good at 40 degrees. tomorrow i do see some high clouds kind of streaming back in. that will give us some filtered sunshine. again, look, for january, i think it's going to be a pretty good day for us. let's check out those temperatures across the south bay. a good rebound after starting off in the low 40s. we'll push back up to 67 in gilroy, 66 in east san jose and 65 in los gatos. through the east bay, 62 in antioch, fremont 64. peninsula, 61 in san mateo. 62 in palo alto. san francisco, 58. the seven-day forecast unfortunately is dry the next seven days. i would like to see some rain falling here, just not in the cards for us. san francisco will have some 50s for the upcoming weekend. also getting in on some fog returning through the inland valleys on thursday. we'll have to watch out for that. and low visibility. by this weekend, sun comes back in and temperatures in the low 60s. so a pretty good mix coming our way the next seven days. i know it's been hard without the rainfall. but we're going to get some sun mixed in here and that will be good for a lot of us. >> we'll enjoy it, thanks, jeff. ahead, a win for novak djokovic. how an australian court ruled in his battle to stay in the country despite him being unvaccinated. novak djokovic gets to stay, at least for now. the tennis star won his appeal to stay in australia today after australian authorities canceled his visa, detained him in his motel room for not being vaccinated against covid-19. this might not last, though. australia's immigration minister is now saying he's considering canceling djokovic's visa again. that means he could be deported and miss the australian open which starts on january 17. team is usa's olympic athletes were named. the action on the ice was oven overshadowed by covid. sheinelle jones spoke to the three men headed to beijing. >> several figure skaters have tested positive and dropped out of nationals. how comfortable do you feel about the safety precautions in place for all of you guys? >> the uspc is doing the best they can to keep us safe. as much as i can, i keep myself isolated, limit my interactions with people as much as i can in the next three weeks and go from there. >> tonight on "nightly news" at 6:30, stephanie gosk looks at the thrilling moments of emerging stars in the figure skating championships, coming up with lester holt in 40 minutes. janelle and i were just talking about this, recovering from what happened over the weekend, the 49ers and raiders, what the heck was that? we'll take a look, next. when you have xfinity, you have entertainment built in. which is kind of nice. ah, what is happening. binge-watching is in the bag, when you find all your apps, all in one place. find live sports faster just by using your voice... sports on now. touchdown irish! [cheering] that was awesome. and, the hits won't quit, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. all that entertainment built in. xfinity. a way better way to watch. i was doing some serious stress eating today, gained three pounds. what a wild ending as the niners went into overtime to clinch a playoff spot. >> now comes the post-season, a chance at another legendary rivalry renewed. niners trailed the rams 17-0 late in the first half yesterday. it looked like they were going to be left out of the playoffs. but they fought back. jimmy g. through a touchdown pass, the niners would go on to win the game in overtime. next up, the script says hated. >> one of the biggest competitors. >> big rivalry coming back in dallas against dallas, first time these two teams have played each other since the championship game in january of 1995. as crazy as the niners game was, the raiders' sunday night showdown against the chargers was even wilder. raiders blew a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter, goes into overtime. raiders and chargers would have made the playoffs. final play in overtime, the raiders kicked that game-winning field goal to punch their post-season ticket. and the steelers after all this sneak into the playoffs because the chargers lost. raiders will play the bengals saturday afternoon at 1:30, first time the raiders have made the playoffs in five years. alex hall was born in alaska, lives in utah and spent time growing up in switzerland. >> no surprise the slope-style skier is the team's unofficial tour guide and translator when it comes to skiing in the alps. >> wow, such a difficult trick. >> first class right there. >> one of the most unique tricks. >> that was impressive. >> my name is alex hall. i'm a big air skier and i'm from salt lake city, utah. i grew up in switzerland. i spoke swiss-german in my phrase. >> do you have a favorite phrase? >> a funny one that's like super generic is -- which is like a kitchen cabinet. people who don't speak swiss-german usually can't say that one. i probably said it pretty poorly, my swiss friends would be pretty pissed with me right now. the german is super nice because we have a ton of events in germany and austria. it's annoying to be personal translator, i don't get paid extra, but it makes it easier, i can go there for a couple of months and not just feel like i'm out of the loop the whole time. >> alex hall is stoked, that was a clean run. >> just plops onto the couch. we're getting closer to the olympics. opening ceremony is february 4th. action and coverage begins february 3rd. watch it plus my reports from beijing, taking off soon, watch it all right here on nbc bay area. >> and don't forget -- >> nice job with the pronunciation. >> i wrote it down. it was supposed to be a party to ring in the new year but it turned out to be a super spreader event in the south bay, coming up. i'm scared for many other people to get infected. >> and a story you'll see only on nbc bay area. we speak to a woman who got sick shortly after going to this new year's eve bash at the moose lodge and how the venue is now responding to an outbreak tied to this event. with schools back in session, there is a new debate on if children should head to campus or return to remote learning. we speak to an infectious disease expert about the cases on campus and his advice to parents of young children who cannot get vaccinated. and the race to get covid tested in the city coming to a stop at some sites. the reason the san francisco health department told people to not go to six particular testing sites today. good monday, everyone. thanks very much. the news at 6:00 starts now. i'm janelle wang. >> i'm terry mcsweeney. it's what happened on may have gone to a super spreader event. >> the moose lodge 401 in san jose hosted a dinner and dance to ring in the new year but more than a dozen people believe they got covid at the party. here is nbc bay area's damian trujillo with a story you'll only see on nbc bay area. >> reporter: the moose lodge is closed for now until the executive board decides what next steps to take. but the new year's eve party here as many members pointing the finger. the signs at the entrance of the moose lodge are clear. wear a mask and social distance. but those who attended a new year's eve party tell us very few were following those rules as they danced and dined. >> if i saw a few people with masks, they were faithful with it, that was it. >> reporter: march that jimenez admits she was not one of them and tonight she says she's paying the price. >> i tested positive. and many others that were at the function also tested positive. >> reporter: jimenez tells us at least 15 other people also tested positive after attending the new year's eve dinner dance at the lodge. nbc bay area has confirmed two band members also tested positive. for jimenez, it's her second bout with covid. >> i went in there, i had my mask, and once i sat down to p again. i left it off. so i'm upset about that. >> reporter: what also upsets jimenez is she has not heard a word from the moose lodge, leaving her and other people to do their own contact tracing. >> to this day they have sent n

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