Engineers and doctors working together to make your c pap machine an emergency ventilator. Could wearing cloth face masks make a difference in the fight against covid19 . The guidelines just issued in the bay area. You may have heard of the bachelor. But have you heard of quarantine bachelor . Its an online series where instead of a rose, you get a roll of toilet paper. Im meteorologist sandhya patel tracking a pair of storms for your weekend. Hourbyhour timeline is coming up. Abc7 news at 11 00 starts right now. Now, your health, your safety, this is abc7 news. There are now more than one million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide. More than 11,000 are here in california. But there could be far more. The state has a massive backlog of 59,000 pending tests, and its growing, leaving an incomplete picture of how widespread this outbreak really is here. A stunning surge in weekly unemployment claims. 6. 6 million across the country. 111,000 californians file for unemployment every day. The economic consequences are profound. The president announces a new Economic Task force to help speed up the recovery. And now bay officials are recommending face covers. The cdc is soon expected to follow suit. If people wanted to wear them, they can. The bay area and Santa Cruz County have nearly 3,000 confirmed coronavirus cases tonight. There are 230 more than we had this time last night. 73 people have died, including the first reported case from solano county. Santa clara county leads the bay area with confirmed cases with more than a thousand. To the north, Mendocino County reported at least four confirmed cases. Lake county remains unchanged with no positive cases reported. Tonight the case is growing stronger that americans should wear masks when they venture outdoors. There has been a lot of debate about that. Today Health Officials recommended the use of cloth face covers, but those are very different from the masks needed by medical professionals. Amanda del castillo explains. Hand washing, social dista e distancing shelter in place. There now debate on a nationwide level about whether wearing cloth face masks can make a difference. The reason why the conversation is coming up now and why the cdc may revise their guidelines, because were getting more and more evidence when people can spread this when they have no symptoms at all, or even a couple of days before they develop the actual infection. The World Health Organization maintains only people who are sick or are taking care of someone who is ill should wear masks. President trump says new guidelines would stop short of requiring all americans to wear a cloth face cover. You can use Something Else over your face. It doesnt have to be a mask. But its not a bad idea, at least for a period of time. Officials say when considering a face mask, cloth is the key word. Medical experts worry we run the risk of a public panic, people hoarding medical grade masks, keeping n95s and other supplies from Health Care Workers who desperately need them. On thursday President Trump invoked the defense production act. You have to remember, for every n95 the public is using, thats one less an n95 on the front line and one potential life at risk, whether it be a health or a patients life. Resident anita has already made a habit of wearing a face mask in public. At least two weeks. And why . Because i believe the germs are in the air. And why would i breathe them in . Caillo, abc7 news. M amanda del of course a lot of those have those masks on hand from the wildfires we see so often here in the bay area. The ventilator is the one medical advice that is key to fighting covid19. Tonight in a story youll only see on 7, a group of doctor, engineers and students may have found another device that could help save lives in an emergency. Here is abc7 News Reporter jair stone. I have sleep apnea. This is the machine. Reporter a cpap machine that engineer and executive Brian Martell foundation can be and should be used as an emergency ventilator. He is part of a group of engineers and medical doctors from uc berkeley and uc San Francisco who are now locking for support from local, state and federal leaders. This is a last resort option. Theyre part of the covid19 Ventilator Rapid Response Team way for the proper fittings and tubes to refurbish cpap and bipap devices that would allow them to be used as ventilators in emergency situations. There is tents with 300 people in them and they dont have ventilators, here is a solution. So this is a backup solution. The group is asking for those willing to donate these machines to register their devices on ventilator sos. Com. Less than an hour after we learned of this, at least two viewers offered to give away their backup c pap devices. Definitely. I would love to help. I would be more than happy to donate it. Its right here. Got it from a friend of a friend. Dr. Darya says these devices would be used in moderate devices of covid19 where the patient is suffering but still able to breathe on their own. It would free up ventilators for more critical patients. If we dont think about it now, in two weeks and four weeks when the surge can potentially happen, we can be overwhelmed. A reason why the group is acting now in hopes of getting the word out. Jr stone, abc7 news. Some of the other bay area headlines tonight, six people have tested positive for covid19 at Canyon Springs post acute care center in east san jose. They are in isolation. Another 24 are still waiting for test results. Target says starting saturday, it will actively monitor, and when needed meter guest traffic. Employees will be given face masks and gloves to wear at work. San Francisco City hall announced grants and loans for businesses hit hard by coronavirus. Meantime, Governor Newsom says tonight more than 1. 9 million californians have filed for unemployment since march 12th. Last week alone, there were more than 878,000 new claims. Newsom says the state is handling about 111,000 claims every day. Newsom made several other announcements today. A oneyear reprieve on sales tax for small businesses. A Reimbursement Program for bitzs that continue to pay employees. And a website to link people with observe jobs. More than 70,000 in four industries. Health care being one of those four areas. Agriculture is looking for workforce. Logistics, broadly defined, be that transportation, warehousing and the like, the Logistics Sector is in need of support. And of course grocers. Governor newsom is expected to give the website onward c. Org will direct californians to thousands of jobs. From the home page, click on the connect to resources and jobs link. Youll then be taken to a form to fill out. Put your name, email and zip code. If you want, you can add type of work, when you want to work and preferred industry. But those things arent required. Next, click submit and click on jobs and then search. A list of jobs will then auto populate. Again, the website is onwardca. Org. We also have a link on our website, abc7news. Com. And Governor Newsom is expected to give an update tomorrow on the states efforts to proteomess people during this outbreak. This comes as the city of San Francisco has its first confirmed case of coronavirus inside one of its homeless shelters. A person staying at the Division CircleNavigation Center tested positive for covid19. That person is now recovering at an isolation hotel. Residents are now being screened for the virus. Anyone with symptoms will be tested and relocated, put into isolation along with anyone at high risk of being infected. But city supervisors are pushing to move all Homeless People into hotels. That Navigation Center sits in my district, and i will fight to get every t dents,ll my constituents, inside, sheltering in place and safe. Shelter gues supplied with masks to wear at all times. In the east bay, fremont is set to open a free drivethrough Coronavirus Testing Center tomorrow. To get a test, a person must have a seartemperature over 100 degrees and have coronavirus symptoms. Located at the fire Tactical Training center on stevenson boulevard. Earlier today we focused on some of the culture stigmas connected with coronavirus during a town hall. We with people from a variety of different backgrounds. They shared misconception. The virus doesnt care what race you are. It really doesnt matter if youre poor or youre rich. It really depends on how many people in that community have it. You can watch our entire virtual town hall by visiting our website, abc7news. Com, or on or free on our abc7 news app. Im dan noyes in sunnyvale. Coming up, a womans lifechanging prescription is cut off because the drug may be a treatment for coronavirus. I investigate. Taking extra precautions. Why some doctors are being asked to shave their beards. Coming up next, well explain a new Online Dating series called quarantine tine bachel bachelor where instead of a rose, you get toilet paper. Backtoback ologist sandh storms for your weekend. Vial the hourbyhour timeline coming up. Sandhya, thanks. And catch a special edition of nightline right after abc7 news at 11 00. Tonights focus is on the coronavirus hot spots across the united states. Thats followed by Jimmy Kimmel Live at rand fast, reliable, secured internet from xfinity can help. We have plans to fit every budget with speeds up to a gigall at xfinity. Com. Well ship you a selfinstall kit that makes setup quick, safe and easy. No tech visit required. And our simple Digital Tools will help you manage your account online. At xfinity, were committed to keeping you connected. Find great offers and value, today, at xfinity. Com south bay womans supply of lifechanging medication has been cut off because officials at Kaiser Permanente say they have to save the drug for seriously ill coronavirus patients. But the medication hasnt been proven to be effective for covid19 just yet. Iteam reporter dan noyes has been investigating. So much has happened on this issue in just the past week. Demand for the drug soared after President Trump mentioned it during husband daily covid19 briefings. 47yearold mara capio was a hospital social worker from sunnyvale who developed sjogrens syndrome. After the birth of her second child. The syndrome causes pain and makes it more 50 to fight off infection. I noticed i started having achy joints in my hands and feet and knees. For 16 years she had a prescription for hydroxychloroquine. But last week, maras doctor at Kaiser Permanente emailed her we are not able to refill your hydroxychloroquine refill at this time. Its now reserved for those who are the most ill from covid19. If it is the miracle cure, id be okay with that. But the fact that thats not even the case yet, and they dont even know if thats an option, and theyre already limiting medications, its very frustrating. The pharmacist gave mara a final twoweek supply. She has cut the pills in half to make them last long earp. In a statement to the iteam, kaisers doctor writes we are sorry the concern this may cause. We have asked our physicians to work with our patients to convert when appropriate from hydroxychloroquine to very Good Alternative other medications. But mara tells me other medications have serious side effects, and she is worried about her symptoms returning. Its just going to severely impact me being able to go to work. And your ability to function . Definitely, yeah. Raising my three children, a single mom. That is not the right way we should be doing medicine. Dr. Michael ackerman of the mayo clinic tells me hydroxychloroquine is relatively easy to manufacture. So supplies should not be an issue. As tragic as covid19 pandemic is, our patients out there with lupus and sjogrens who are being therapeutically helped by these medications, they deserve to stay on their medications. Hydroxychloroquine. Demand for the drug soared once President Trump began promoting it as a possible covid19 treatment at his news conferences, including this week. The fdas drug shortage database now lists hydroxychloroquine as currently in shortage. Its going through Clinical Trials as a possible coronavirus treatment. The good news is we havent heard anything bad. In other words, there have been no catastrophic events. But dr. Ackerman published this study one week ago that finds patients at risk of druginduced sudden cardiac death from offlabel treatments including hydroxychloroquine. He told me 10 of the population may be at risk of dangerous side effects to the heart and 1 of people are especially high risk. 1 of a million is 10,000 patients who are at legitimately increased risk for a tragedy from the treatment itself. Anecdotal evidence is coming in that hydroxychloroquine may help treat coronavirus. 64. Im happy to be alive. Retired Santa Clara County detective gary brady contracted coronavirus, as did his wife and children. He was seriously ill and had preexisting conditions. But after doctors gave him hydroxychloroquine, brady tells me he bounced back. And i was only there in intensive care five days, and i was out. They sent me home with the breathing machines, and the doctor said tomorrow i can take myself off them because my oxygen level is better. Three days ago, i couldnt even talk to you like this. I couldnt even carry on a conversation. We are seeing a range of actions by companies that make hydroxychloroquine. One has donated a million doses to the state of texas. While some overseas companies are banning exports to the u. S. For the iteam, dan noyes, abc7 news. In the south bay, a massive effort is under way to ensure that Santa Clara Countys 11 hospitals are ready for a surge in covid19 cases. Today the county unveiled a new digital dashboard outlining the number of ventilators and hospital beds currently available. Meantime, the Santa Clara Convention center is being converted into a federal medical station with 250 beds. In richmond, an old ford factory that was converted to build tanks during world war ii is being converted again into an Emergency Medical Center for a possible surge in covid19 cases. We are working to double Hospital Capacity in contra costa from 1100 beds to about 2200 beds. Its a giant space. And it has all of the capable infrastructure to support something lucky this. National guard groups spent the day assembling the 250 beds. This makeshift hospital would only be activated if other medical centers are overwhelmed with patients. Even then, it will only care for nonlifethreatening cases to free up aexecute care beds for the most seriously ill patients. Many Health Care Workers are now showing up to work cleanshaven so their n95 masks can fit properly. Dr. Ethan weiss tweeted this photo last month. He has had a beard for 20 years but shaved it so his mask will fit properly. Minnesotas staff is requiring all staff to be chien shaven to make sure theyre Wearing Masks correctly. If they cannot shave, they have to wear a different more cumbersome respirator. Check out the top of the salesforce tower. Tonight it was illuminated with clapping hands in support of First Responders on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. That is nice. We are familiar with working from home. What about dating from home . Two san franciscans started an Online Dating series based off the bachelor here on abc. Lauren martinez is in the newsroom to explain, lauren, how this thing works. Dan, its called quarantine bachelor, and the greaters behind this Instagram Account thought why not create a virtual Online Dating show while we shelter in place. They launched it a couple weeks ago and now have hundreds of applicants from all over the country. Addison . I think we have a lot in common, and it would great for you to receive my roll. I will roll accept your roll. Thank you. James and tyler created the instagram Online Dating series called quarantine bachelor off the Popular Television reality series. Instead of a rose, its a roll. Instead of an engagement ring, its a date. They launched their first season less than two weeks ago. Hi, guys. Im kenzie. Im 23 years old and im currently quarantined in reno, nevada. Five contestants from around the country were chosen. Richard shaw, based out of San Francisco, is their first bachelor there is a group meet and greet, and the virtual dates are edited down future a couple of minutes for everyone to see. Everyone has their own opinion and objections to what you may say or do. Its definitely a challenge. And there is no hard feelings. Im sorry things didnt work out between us, but i know that i have six amazing new friends. Its just been so fun. It got me out of my comfort zone, which i know is something i really need to be working on. Modern problems i guess need modern solutions. And i felt this was kind of an important way to let love grow still during sheerace. Fore final roll ceremony. Rtity. H, im excited for and to see if it can go anywhere. And if not, again, its a great experience. The final roll ceremony will be posted on instagram tomorrow night around 5 00. Theyre hoping to get more applicants so they can launch samesex couples series