Are we at a point right now where we can say everybody who wants a test can get a test . Not today. We need to prioritize testing for those who need it the most and for Public Health purposes. Reporter according to the state department of Public Health, those with systems, essential workers, First Responders, and those possibly exposed to a person with covid should be the first to get a test. People like james. A coworker, he had flulike symptoms friday of last week. So my supervisor asked me that i must leave work and get tested. Reporter Santa Clara County Public Health has not changed its guidelines, which have been in effect since may, and says its popupng sites are open to everyone, not just those the state considers a top priority. We dont ask why theyre getting testing, no. Reporter in san jose, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. If you get tested for covid, youll be asked to state your Sexual Orientation which many might find irrelevant or offensive, but the state says its aski
Officials say it is the key to stopping the surge, but not everyone is listening. Certainly awkward for me to approach a citizen thats my customer and tell them that they need to cover their face. Tonight a new effort to crack down on people not wearing masks. There are new numbers out tonight that illustrate why covering your face can put a big dent in the spread of covid19. State Health Leaders now say wearing a mask 80 of the time could reduce transmission by as much as 60 . This as late tonight another bay area county puts some teeth into its mask mandate. Nbc bay areas cheryl hurd explains. Reporter the emergency order making it mandatory to wear face coverings in Contra Costa County is in effect not everyone is happy in danville. I dont understand that. You know what i mean . Where youre forced to wear a mask. I just had a kidney tooken out. I got bad lungs, this and that. I cant wear a mask, but it is what it is. Reporter according to the state, wearing a mask is essential if yo
Nation, testing directly happening at a transportation hub in San Francisco. They are hoping to make it as easy as possible to test members of the Latinx Community in the mission district. Again, the new testing place is at the 24th Street Mission b. A. R. T. Plaza, they will be doing testings wednesdays and fridays from 7 00 a. M. To 6 00 p. M. Again, that starts today and will last for the next three weeks. So the goal here is to catch the virus before it continues to spread throughout the Latinx Community in the mission. These are people who are often essential workers and dont have the opportunity to take off work to wait all day to get a test. You can go to where the problem is and help test and help mitigate, then you can reduce the transmission within that same community. And thats what were trying to do. Reporter the popup testing site at the 24th Street Mission b. A. R. T. Plaza is made possible bay ucsf, b. A. R. T. And the city. The groups organizing the testing also realize
Help see how interventions are working. It is like getting a new pair of glasses that helps us see more clearly. Or using binoculars that help us see a little further out. In california, the covid Positivity Rate for the lati te lags spiked from 47 last were to 56 this week. The death rate among africanamericans nearly dulloud during the same time. You can get tested at a new popup site in berkeley today. It is a supervised but personal mouth swab and cough kiosk. The results are expected within one to two days. It is free without Health Insurance and deductibles will be waived if you do have insurance. And you have to make an appointment online. A south bay congressman is partnering with Bernie Sanders on a proposal that would send free face masks to every american. The masks for allbity spend 5 million to make reusable Face Covering and send them out. The congressman says if they can spend 740 million on defense, they can afford to send every american a face mask. Today the chief exe
Police chief. Currently the city elects its top cop, but Council Member james, hardy and jahal want to change the city charter to fall in line with every other city in the state of california. We currently are the last city in the state of california with an elected chief of police. Reporter currently only a santa clara resident can run for police chief and james says that limits the pool of qualified candidates. The pool that we have for the elected chief of police is only ten officers that are from santa clara pd that live in the city out of 153 sworn officers. Reporter yes on measure b would change that. I think we all think that its time for to us evolve and adopt a procedure that seems to work for over 470 other cities in the state and were the only ones that are hanging onto this old, archaic system. Reporter lisa gillmor, who has been mayor of santa clara since 2016, opposes measure b and says she takes pride in getting elected by residents in 2022. It was a Pretty Amazing exper