That shelterinplace order goes into effect just after midnight as we said. Abc7 News Reporter chris nguyen begins our Team Coverage in san jose to explain exactly what that order will mean. Chris. Reporter hi, dan. The shelterinplace will last for about three weeks and the message is quite simple, and that is for folks to stay home. This afternoon a bold step to slow down the spread of covid19 across the bay area. We decided collectively that we needed to take swift action as soon as possible to prevent the further spread and to protect our Critical Health care infrastructure. Reporter the Public Health officers of alameida, contra costa, marin, San Francisco, san mateo and santa clara counties along with the city of berkeley joinedly issuing a legal order for all residents to shelter at home the next three weeks. These orders were crafted with great thought and with great care. They are also crfted very, very quickly. Reporter essential businesses will be allowed to operate with travel permit today order. Businesses that provide food, shelter and social services can remain open including Grocery Stores, convenience stores, pharmacies, gas stations, banks, plumbing and laundry. Restaurants can offer take out. Fire, police, medical and essential government functions will continue. Sheltering in place is a core strategy. By staying home you reduce your risk of becoming exposed, which means that we reduce the risk of transmission. Reporter in the bay areas largest city, san jose mayor sam liccardo said city staff are already working with nonprofit and private sector partners to make food deliveries available to Senior Citizens and those who are vulnerable. More details will be released in the coming days. Our focus is ensuring Food Security for our most vulnerable residents among the 1. 9 million residents of this county. Our principles are very simple. Were going to move fast. Were going to act comprehensively county wide, and were going to act as one team. Reporter and another Important Note to pass along this afternoon. Law enforcement agencies are asking the public to not call dispatch centers to find out if they are defined as an essential worker. We put that Information Online at our website, abc7news. Com. Were live in san jose. Im chris nguyen, abc7 news. All right, chris, thank you. In San Francisco mayor london breed held her own News Conference announcing the changes in the city. Abc7 News ReporterCornell Barnard was there and joins us live with those details. Cornell. Reporter well, ama, you know, our way of life here in the bay area is about to change in just a few hours when yor brhe mayor of francisco, urging folks to be calm. Some locals seem to be ready for whatever. Is next. So, whatever we need to do to stay alive, then thats what we need to do. Reporter San Francisco resident peggy ivy reacted to news that she and millions of others in the bay area must shelter at home for the next three weeks to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. My major concern is am i going to live through this. This is not the time to panic. Reporter San Francisco mayor london breed said the order which goes into effect at midnight means bars and gyms must close. Restaurants will be reduced to take out only, but essential businesses will stay open. The Grocery Stores will remain open. The gas stations will remain open. The banks will remain open. The pharmacies will remain open. Theres no need to rush out to do things at these particular locations because they will be available to you. Reporter police chief William Scott says his department doesnt plan to issue fines or make arrests. Hes looking for voluntary compliance during the order. Yes, by Law Enforcement is an option, but that is not our desire. That is not what we intend to do. We intend to adhere to the spirit of what this is all about, in keeping people safe and keeping this virus from spreading. Reporter the Health Department says shelterinplace doesnt mean you cant leave your home to get exercise. You will still be able to walk your dog or go on a hike alone or with someone you live with, or even with another person as long as you keep 6 feet between you. Reporter okay, back live here at city hall, make no mistake here. This is not martial law. You will still be able to go out, do your shopping. Youll still be able to get your car filled with gas, go to the bank, but Health Department and the city just want to make sure that it is an essential trip and you need to economize when you go out. Get that banking done, go to the Grocery Store. Live in San Francisco, Cornell Barnard, abc7 news. Now, cornell, for all the people who arent considered an essential service and theyre not going to be working, theyre going to miss a lot. Will some still get paid at least . Reporter yeah, ama, were told City Employees here in San Francisco will still get paid whether theyre on the job or not. And private employees who work in San Francisco who are affected by the coronavirus crisis, may be eligible for a week of sick leave through the city. Details to follow on that. All right. Thank you, cornell. The number of cases in the bay area grew by 28 since yesterday. Santa clara county saw the largest increase, 24 new cases for a total now of 138. San mateo has the second highest number in the area at 42. San franciscos cases are up since yesterday. Now at 40. The number of deaths remain unchanged. Two people have died in Santa Clara County and one in san mateo county. All right. Here is a break down on the shelterinplace order that takes effect again at midnight through april 7th, at least. All nonessential businesses must close. This includes bars, gyms, clothing stores, and the like. It does not impact Grocery Stores or pharmacies, or doctors offices and hospitals, banks gas stations. You heard the mayor talk about that a moment ago. And auto shops can also remain open. Restaurants are limited to takeout and delivery only. All public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a singlefamily or living unit are prohibited with some exceptions. This includes going on a walk, exercising or taking a pet outside to go to the bathroom, of course, a Public Transit will remain open. Thats considered an essential service. However, passengers must maintain at least 6 feet of social distancing from other passengers. All right. So joining me live via skype is abc7 news medical expert dr. Patel to help us get through all this new information. Doctor, you can hear me okay, everythings good . I can hear you if you can hear me. We have our social distance. Now we have shelterinplace. Talk about why this move is so crucial at this point. The shelterinplace move is sending shock waves throughout all these counties and to about 7 million people. But the reason its so crucial is because plain and simple, we have to slow the spread. Now, for a while we were relying on people to try to limit themselves and what they were doing and stay away from crowds. But i actually think its important to set a standard and set a rule. This isnt an aggressive measure, but we need to actually take a very radical step in this way to limit the spread while we basically wait for time for our Health Care System to not be overwhelmed. We actually have to have a double pronged approach and i think this is the right step. It doesnt really help if everyone is out of school for a few bhen theyre just going and hanging out in big groups of people. That just defeats the whole purpose. We saw people over the weekend still going out in other cities for Saint Patricks day and brunch. That could still contribute to the spread among our population and to those at most risk. Okay. So talk to us a little more about exactly how a shelterinplace works and how does this help . Because obviously we just want to limit interactions with other people, but talk a little more about the difference between just that and the social distancing. So, shelterinplace is essentially kind of just making the blanket statement and saying, you have to stay not have to, but you really, really need to stay indoors unless youre traveling out for an essential reason. Such as you have to go to get medical care or go grocery shopping. Jobs, as people say, should be going outside are essential services. So people working in public service, Waste Management or in the medical profession. But aside from that, helping people to stay away from others is whats going to keep the virus at bay. Now, remember, a rough estimate is that one person with this coronavirus can spread it to two people, and then those two would essentially spread it to four and so forth. So if we dont follow these rules, we could see it really spike and get into exponential growth. Thats what were trying to avoid. Were trying to flatten the curve as we keep hearing about how long could it possibly take to flatten the curve. You know, theres estimates that are all over the place. This afternoon President Trump said, you know, to july or august. I think its too early to put a time stamp on it. We have to see, number one, how its going to work, if people are going to be compliant. Also as we ramp up testing not only in San Francisco, but all over the country, we should be able to track more cases, more outbreaks and start to see if were making any dent in the spread of this disease. Thats a good point. If we take this serious now, we wont prolong it longer than we have to. Thats one of the big take aways here. The big phrase we keep hearing is we want to look back on this in the future and think that we over reacted. Right. That would just be a great goal for us to look back on this and say, oh, no big deal, we over reacted. That would be a great victory. Absolutely. All right, dr. Patel, thank you for checking in with us. Stay safe and im sure we will check in with you again soon. Sometime in person in the near future. Yes, we hope for that soon. Thank you. Great information. Kietz sizer permanent is setting up testing points for people and members who have to be tested. The wife of an employee at abc7 with symptoms was tested this morning. Abc7 producer Juan Carlos Guerrero shows you how it went and how their lives are changing because of the pandemic. Life has gotten crazy since last friday when my wife sent me this text in spanish just after getting home from work. It says, i have a fever, 38. 1 degrees celsius. Thats 106 fahrenheit. I had an appointment with a nurse. She told me to take tylenol. I booked a appointment with a doctor saturday. The fever went away but she still had body aches and dry cough. The doctor said get tested and gave advice what to do until then. Stay away from your husband. Stay isolated and since i was not sick, she stayed in isolation in her room and i stayed away. I only went into the room to take her food. She ate by herself in the bedroom and i ate by myself in the kitchen. Very strange. We couldnt even watch tv together. I did selfisolation as well, but still had to go outside to walk the dog. Testing on monday was at a drivethru tent in the parking lot at kaiser. Only patients for testing got to go through. They dont let you get out of the car. You stick your head out and they give you a tissue. You blow and give any mucus you may have. They come to you with a swab, but its sharper, not like a cotton swab. They put it all the way in the back of your throat. They collect something from there and the other end, they stick it up your nose. It hurts a bit, to be honest, but you have to do it. It takes 20 seconds maximum. I was not tested because i dont have any symptoms. We expected to know within 24 hours if she has coronavirus. Waiting 5 to 7 days living together, but each of us isolated in a different part of the house is very tough. In the meantime i will keep washing my hands every time i make contact with her and keep wiping whatever she touches with disinfectant. That is tough. Tonight abc news will be airing a special edition of 2020 on coronavirus pandemic. That starts at 10 00 p. M. U. S. Stocks closed sharply lower today with the dow posting its lowest point drop in history. Well continue to have that story as we continue here. It was a rough day on wall street. Also, taking a look at the Grocery Store rush. People trying to get the items that they need. Grocery stores will remain open, but well have more on the rush to get all those items people care about. Plus, the rush to get a i felt gross. It was kind of a shock after i started cosentyx. Four years clear. Real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if youve had a vaccine or plan to. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. Do you recall, not long ago we would walk on the sidewalk all around the wind blows we would only hold on to let go blow a kiss into the sun we need someone to lean on blow a kiss into the sun all we needed somebody to lean on all we need is someone to lean on if everyone makes these changes and critical sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation. We will defeat the virus and were going to have a big celebration altogether. The president gives new guidelines to control coronavirus. He called for the closing of schools and tovoid groups of more than ten people. However, he said a nationwide lockdown would not happen. Now, this woman is about to receive the first test of an experimental coronavirus vaccine. Scientists injected four Healthy Volunteers at Kaiser Permanente washington institute, thats in seattle. There is no chance she or the other volunteers could be infected because the shots do not contain the virus. This is just one of dozens of Research Groups racingnow, of course, to create a vaccine. Even if the Research Goes well and we hope it does, a vaccine would not be available for widespread use for 12 to 18 months. U. S. Stocks closed sharply lower today with the dow posting its worst point drop in history. Instead of soothing the markets, another emergency Interest Rate cut from the Federal Reserve had the opposite effect. The dow dropped nearly 3,000 points. The nasdaq and s p closed 12 down. Well, people are back in line outside stores in the east bay. This is sky 7 video from costco in san leandro this morning where you can see a lot of l of groceries. But experts say think twice before you go shopping. Abc7 News Reporter is live in foster city with a word of calm from people who know the true state of our food supply. Chris . Reporter exactly. Good afternoon, dan. Weve been practicing social distancing out in the field as well. I only very quickly peeked into the store. Its worth mentioning its very calm, very orderly, but extremely busy. Weve been watching carts come out of the stores packed with food. But heres the thing. If you are seeing empty shelves in your Grocery Stores, the California Grocers Association wants you to hear this message loud and clear. Theres plenty of food. We went to another super market. Reporter thats the drill these days, grer s shopping. Both these women Senior Citizens having trouble finding the essentials. With the new shelterinplace rules they worry it will get worse. Lines are extremely long, shefl shelves are empty so its kind of scary. Reporter it proved an all hands on deck meeting for the California Grocers Association, a group that represents stores big and small. The main message is there is plenty of food. There is plenty of supplies. But delivering it to our stores and trying to keep up with the buying patterns of hoarding and overbuying is an impossibility at this point. Reporter to meet demand, safeway announced they are hiring immediately 2000 openings for stores in northern california, western nevada and hawaii region including delivery drivers. They want to make it clear to shoppers, california Food Distribution centers are ready for disaster. Dealt with fires and earthquakes and natural disasters, so we are set up in such a way where there is an abundance of freight and supplies. Reporter still to help grocers in the shopping store in edmonton canada, they opened special hours for seniors shopping in a cleaner environment. I think that would be wonderful, it would be extremely nice because the younger people are there and theyre knocking me out of the way. Reporter to give you another idea of the pressure that Grocery Stores are facing, this safe way in foster city is normally open 24 hours a day. Theyve had to reduce their hours from 6 00 a. M. To 10 00 p. M. Just to give their staff enough time to restock. Remember that next time you go shopping. Live from foster city, im kris reyes for abc7 news. Chris, thank you. And bart is, of course, seeing a major drop in ridership. Yesterday 37,000 people rode bart which is a 61 decrease compared to an average sun