Its variants are spreading. Unfortunately, even though we had very high rates of vaccination, the excellent protection that that affords, we are still seeing our case rates rise. Reporter: dr. Sara roth and says cases are still well below the winter surge but have tripled in recent weeks. Especially among the young vaccinated population, including those who aren t yet eligible, like our youngest community members. Reporter: she says asking people to put masks on indoors, in public, is a way to ensure that on vaccinated people are wearing their masks. We were hoping that we were coming out of the pandemic, especially here in the bay area, with so many people that have been vaccinated. I think approaching herd immunity. So it s unfortunate that we are possibly going to fall back again. Reporter: these diners, who said they were vaccinated and unmasked only to eat save a spike could ve been avoided. People who are vaccinated slip by and think it s okay to not wear a mask anywhere. You don
minutes. our other big story this evening, surging covid cases. nearly 6900 new ones in california. that s 1000 more than our seven average. the positivity rate now at 4% we have team coverage first set on the new warnings for people thinking about holiday travel. reporter: this is not a mandate or order by the state. there will not be any checkpoints to restrict people from traveling ahead of the thanksgiving holiday. that today, the top california health official asking residents to not travel if it s not essential. in the sparsely filled terminals at the airports. rush-hour hose not looked the same since covid. if i have three children, i have five grandchildren. normally we do get but not this year, because of covid. i think it s okay to travel as long as you are taking the nation s necessary percussions. i think it will be okay. reporter: health officials are encouraging residents to stay local ahead of the holiday to avoid nonessential out-of- state trav
tony montoya says his officers are worried. i would say the biggest concern of all is people are honestly concerned about layoffs. that is what i have consistently had the past few days. i am doing all i can within my power to make sure that doesn t occur. if positions are left vacant that would leave about 121 positions unfilled. in a twitter thread, chief william scott said while the cuts are significant they are cuts we can t absorb and it will not diminish the ability to provide essential services. it is important we not view this funding redirection as a zero fund game. much like the 2008 recession, the recession is real. we are not exempt from it in san francisco. it is not just police officers but a lot of city employees are being asked to go forgo raises pics we make every city employee in all of the unions are being asked to forgo their raises for the next two years. that would backfill about $270 million in the budget. if the raises do not go through wheth
progress by now. reporter: progress will take longer, sausalito is having to relaunch the bidding process for the cleanup after failing to meet all of the criteria set forward by fema requirements necessary for that funding. we do not follow it exactly, it is very complicated and we have not done that in the past. we missed a couple of the criteria, the checkoff criteria. the bidding process begins again, this time the city manager will have the authority to accept a bid on behalf of the council if that helps to speed things up. starting over however will push the cleanup back at least another month. we are all very cognizant of the timing issues and try to get that resolved and on its way. all in all yes it is an inconvenience but you know, no one got injured. i could ve been a lot worse. let us step back a little bit and think about the circumstances that sausalito finds itself in. earlier, not too many months ago, we were in paradise with the city council was t
heart-st you are watching kpix 5 news at 5:30 pm. breaking news, heart stopping limits on the richmond- san rafael bridge as concrete chunks rains down on drivers. pieces of the upper deck falling on cars below, prompting the chp to close the bridge. the entire bay area commute is now a total mess. good evening, i am veronica de la cruz. i am alan martin. chopper 5 over the bridge for you. here is the status on the traffic situation. just one eastbound lane going from san rafael to richmond is open. all westbound lanes are closed. we are live on the richmond side of the bridge. we spoke earlier. you were telling us that they were thinking there might be a 6 pm open. what is everything looking like right now in terms of a timeline? reporter: that is the wants. they want to open it at 6 pm. that is the goal. they are saying is a fluid situation. they are warning folks that 6 pm timeline could be pushed back. one lane is open in the eastbound direction. that is the com