Lets talk about the other wildfire near rodeo, burned at least 230 acres and forced the closure of the coming skyway. Thats the link between highway 4 in contro costa county. That came dangerously close to some homes. Some people said they grabbed whatever they could and evacuated as quickly as possible. One man said the smoke started coming right into his house. Right away, we got the kids out and got them in our van. I took a look in the back, and sure enough, there was a big fire coming out from the freeway. Just in time to get the kids out. Interstate 880 scorched an area around an oil refinery, but no evacuations have been ordered. Around 2 00, a fire erupted on 680 that led to all of the south bound lanes being closed. That fire burned about five acres before it was brought under control. In santa clara county, the cruz fire burns near gilroy. 2,000 acres have been destroyed. That fire is 20 containd. Some structures have been destroy and evacuations are in place. Fires burning near highway 52 and it started yesterday afternoon and grew by hundreds of acres within an hour. So a lot of fires crews are dealing with. With that, we say good evening. Thank you for joining us. Im ama daetz. And im larry beil. Lets turn to the coronavirus. Nothing tells the story better than this graph. Its not the full story, but a good snapshot of the situation right now. Each blue bar represents the number of new coronavirus cases diagnosed each day in the bay area. The yellow line is the rolling average of the last seven days of new cases. That line continues to set new records reaching higher than ever before. Building a better bay area during the pandemic means focusing efforts on key areas. First health. Also education. Our changing workplaces and the economy. Were going to dig into each area in the next ten minutes. Well start with the economic turmoil in the biggest county in the bay area. In santa clara county, restaurants are trying to decide if they should continue serving indoors amid confusion on the states crackdown on local businesses. The county hasnt received a formal permission for outdoor dining. Heres the story from san jose. Reporter in the capital of silicon valley, the husband and wife team here is in the midst of a waiting game. Received lots of calls and emails asking when the gym is going to be back open. And its been tough because we eporter he says theyve aying full ren o their faci were just treading water and were slowly sinking and right now were about up to our neck. Reporter as part to have countys slow and steady approach, gyms were among the next set of businesses looking forward to reopening in july. Those plans are in limbo. We believe that the strategy is the right approach to keep the county safe. Reporter deputy executive david compos says officials are talking with the state about their decision that can be blamed on the local coronavirus rate. Outdoor dining the state says is a violation of the governors stay at home order. Over the weekend, thousands of restaurants and bars up and down california were visited by agents from the department of alcoholic Beverage Control and warned about possible citations should they continue to serve food outside. However, county Officials Say the state order didnt expressly forbid them from authorizing outdoor dining. We will continue to say that unless and until the state informs us directly thats not the case, and up to today, we have not received any information from any state agency that that in fact is not true. Reporter the county says it continues to have talks with the state over what should happen next. In the meantime, local Business Owners that have yet to reopen are anxiously awaiting the outcome as customers seek ways to support them. Thats human nature, and thats part of the fabric of our gem is people coming together in our community, and there is a value to that. Reporter in san jose, chris nguyen, abc7 news. You know longer can have a meal inside a restaurant. The county reopened Indoor Dining a week ago, but announced a reversal last night. Since friday, there have been more than 100 new coronavirus cases in marin county, which is now on the states watch list. The ban on Indoor Dining is in effect for at least three weeksn prison have tested positive for coronavirus. Five death row inmates have ded. The governor said today the goal is to reduce the inmate population by 1500 to 3,028. Im going through individual by individual, people with medical needs that are acute. People that are fast tracking, expediting parole review. Death row inmate brent volverich says he was one of the first to get covid19. He blames the spread on poor ventilation. All these guys around you coughing and disgusting coughs all day, all night. And going upwards, going sideways and being pulled into your cell. If you dont know how to block your cell vents, then its all there. He says frizzer ersays pris getting hot meals because no one is working in the kitchen. The plan is to bring in more staff from other prisons. Statewide, all of the major metrics continue to indicate that coronavirus is a growing threat. Cases, hospitalizations, and the weekly average test positivity rate, they are all on the rise. The percent of coronavirus tests coming back positive has grown to 7. 2 . Just to give you a comparison. It was less than 5 two weeks ago. Close to 5800 people are in the hospital right now. Two weeks ago, fewer than 4,000. More than 250,000 people diagnosed with the virus in california, thats up nearly 100,000 in two weeks. These numbers are why some reopening plans are now being reversed. Stephanie sierra is live with that story and the economic impact. Stephanie . Reporter the state is very clear, if a county is on the watch list or monitoring list for three days or longer, reopening will be rolled back. Now with several bay area counties jumping on and off the watch list, some Business Owners are struggling to prepare. We have counties that come on and counties that are coming off. Reporter the governor announced today, theres 23 counties now on the states watch list, showing worsening coronavirus trends. And several bay area counties are bouncing on and off that list. Contra costa was on, back off now. Reporter these are areas that show concerning covid trends for at least three days. Contra costa county joined the list a week ago, when covid cases were rising for more than 6300 on june 29th to over 9700 june 30th. But notice later that week, cases dipped back to around 6500. Contra costa off the list, now back on again. All the back and forth being referred as the yoyo effect. Its taking a toll on Business Owners like ben. He owns buttercup, a diner in concord. The problem with the yoyo effect is, if you keep getting on the list, off the list, and youre open for Indoor Dining, then not open, and outdoor, to go, patio, you cant plan your business based on these everchanging variables. You need to know who to how many people you need to hire, how much staff you need. Reporter hes concerned about how much food to buy for six of his diners located across the bay area. Several of which are in counties that have been circulating on and off the watch list. The yoyo effect creates so many different variables. Its just not a situation that is going to create a successful atmosphere for businesses in the longterm. Reporter but it will likely become the new reality for many, as the number of covid cases and hospitalizations continue to rise. Now the governor shared an update on enforcement today. Over the holiday weekend, alcohol Beverage Control conducted lose to 6,000 inperson visits and 52 citat n citations were issued. So steph, more on enforcement, which just started in earnest. How are other state agencies starting to help out here . We know theres ten state agencies that are involved in helping counties with enforcement. For example, osha over the weekend helped contact more than 441,000 Business Owners just in the past few days. But the governor pointed out a majority of those businesses corrected deficiencies on the spot. So it will be interesting to see how this program evolves. Stephanie sierra reporting live, thank you. California State Capitol closed for the next week, because two people tested positive. They were at the capitol june 26th. Both wore face coverings at all time while working. One is Assembly Member burke. She says she has no symptoms but will selfquarantine. Are teachers having second thoughts and returning to the classroom . A lot of anxiety. Reporter we spoke to a few educators about their concerns. This is the intersection where an oakland was swarmed by california phones offers free specialized phones. Like cordless phones. phone ringing big button, and volumeenhanced phones. Get details on this state program. Visit right now or call during business hours. 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. Learn more at cosentyx. Com. And accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. Like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. phone ringing get details on this state Program Visit right now or call during business hours. Another check of the breaking news. That fire burning in fairfield, which has prompted evacuations. This is the nelson hill area, not far from interstate 880, as you can see with our sky map technology. This is a live shot from sky 7. You can see numerous hot spots there, and homes at the bottom of what looks like a hillside as we zoom on in. The good news is, this looks a lot better than it did earlier in the afternoon. A helicopter there perhaps doing water drops, but well keep an eye on this, as,yeah, you can see the bucket at the bottom there. Looks like somewhat difficult terrain to get to, where some of these hot spots are on the hillside there. But well keep you posted as to the situation in fairfield. A lot of fires to talk about unfortunately right now. Firefighters made quick work this afternoon near the bay bridge on the San Francisco side near bryant and sterling streets. There have been several small fires in this area in the past. The images are stunning. An oakland fire engine caught in the middle of a crowd on the fourth of july on its way to a 911 call, which was a medical emergency. The patient survived, at least this time. But fire, police, and city leaders want to discuss ways to make sure it doesnt happen again. Laura anthonyis on the story. Reporter this video posted on an oakland fire unions Facebook Page shows an engine on its way to an emergency medical call, swarmed by a crowd saturday. A delay that cost them 14 minutes. It was chaotic. Reporter the Engine Company was on its way to treat a young woman slipping in and out of consciousness. But the firefighters they have g never got there. They had one or two people climb on the rig and then more people decided to climb on top of it. The police, we were all out there, we were all on our way when that happened. And then good communication with our Fire Department partners, they were able to turn the rig around and be able to leave the area safely. Reporter this time, a separate ambulance made it to the patient, but there are deep concerns about next time. Its unacceptable, inexcusable. When you see those flashing lights, were attending to a 911 call, and we need to cooperate as citizens, residents, neighbors, visitors. Please allow our vehicles to get to the energy, because theres someone suffering. Reporter recent crowds around the lake have been huge, not just on holiday weekends. And that includes rampant use o. This is the intersection where the fire rig was swarmed by the crowd, it was a complex situation with lots of issues that the city is going to take a hard look at in a meeting on saturday. Including greater parking enforcement, a crackdown on fireworks and enhanced education about the importance of masks and social distancing during a pandemic. In oakland, laura anthony, abc7 news. Speaking of education, thats a big part of building a better bay area. And with the fall fast approaching, School Districts in the bay area are once again scrambling to hire teachers given the number of vacancies. This year is different, of course, because of the pandemic. Getting back into the classroom wont be easy for many teachers. Abc7 News ReporterLeeann Melendez spoke to some teachers about their concerns. Reporter when oakland unified announced that 60 employees had retired at the end of june, we werent too surprised. You see every year at this time, oakland and San Francisco unified resort to job fairs to try to lure new educators because every year, theres a shortage. This time, the interviews are conducted online. San francisco unified told us their vacancies are lower this year than in previous years. Primarily because of the economy. In a recession, people are less likely to take risks, more likely to stay in the job theyre in. That certainly is what we have seen in our district. The last time we had a seismic recession, and it seems to be whats happening now. Reporter but teachers we spoke to say some educators are having second thoughtsrning, gi the pandemic. Marisa ramirezno that shell be safe once she enters the classroom. Access to adequate materials that we have testing done for every student and every teach and staff member on campus. That we have enough ppe equipment. Reporter teachers have been posting their concerns on facebook. Michelle wrote, as much as i love my job, im not interested in risking my life to baby sit anyones kids. Shes a teacher who has now retired. I go back and forth between getting anxious to just shutting everything off and shutting down almost. And so thats yeah, sort of a roller coaster. Reporter School Districts have begun discussing these concerns with their teachers and staff. Oakland unified for example, will begin negotiations tomorrow with its unions to come up with a memorandum of understanding specific to covid19. Leeann melendez, abc7 news. This marks the Halfway Point for Many College Students who are doing summer internships. While some were canceled, others were redesigned to be virtual at a example of the changing workplace, one of the five areas of our focus here an abc 7 in building a better bay area. David louie gives us a Progress Report on whether virtual internships are working out. Reporter shes working from home in the east bay and doing a virtual internship as a law clerk. Shes clerking for the workers right program at asian law caucus in San Francisco. Shell be a second year law student at New York University in the fall. Normally, she would be expected to meet with clients in person to prepare cases involving alleged waiting staff or other issues. There might be some communication issue where is you might not hear them quite correctly over the phone or you might neat to repeat certain things a few times. But overall, i think its been okay. Reporter at the same time, Technology Allows her to check in with staff attorneys to provide updates and receive new assignments. 350 interns from 78 universities are working virtually this summer. Both managers and students took training to make the remote work productive. Having these chat breakout rooms, video, get comfortable with technology. Its how youll feel engaged. So that part actually helped elevate their sense of team and their sense of belonging. Reporter byron nelson is a sales intern, entering his senior year as a finance major. He was concerned about getting to know others virtually but says the company has addressed that successfully. We have different coffee chat meetups, which is really cool. We have had scheduled like zoom movie nights which was cool, skel. So ive been able to make friends, which is something i didnt expect. Reporter it helps that the interns are digital natives. They grew up connecting with others virtually. David louie, abc7 news. Videos posted on social media showed big crowds in various cities over the fourth of july weekend. So the question is, will that translate into a big spike in coronavirus cases . Special correspondent dr. Patel talked about it at 4 00. [ no audio ] people there over the fourth of july weekend enjoying them selves. The point that the doctor made is that some people still are not taking the virus seriously and putting themselves and others at risk. When it comes to contracting the coronavirus, what activities actually do put you most at risk . You can play a game to test your knowledge. Its on abc7news. Com. Guess the answer and see what the experts, including dr. Patel, have to say. Coming up next, spencer joins us with a sevenday im greg, im 68 years old. I do motivational speaking in addition to the substitute teaching. I honestly feel that thats my calling to give back to younger people. I think most adults will start realizing that they dont recall things as quickly as they used to or they dont remember things as vividly as they once did. Ive been taking prevagen for about three years now. People say to me periodically, man, youve got a memory like an elephant. Its really, really helped me tremendously. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. No matter what challenges life throws at you, were always here to help with Fast Response and Great Service and it doesnt stop there were also here to help look ahead thats why were helping members catch up by spreading any missed usaa insurance payments over the next twelve months so you can keep more cash in your pockets for when it matters most and thats just one of the many ways were here to help the military Community Find out more at usaa. Com lets get another check of th fire burning in fairfield which has prompted evacuations. The fire started about 4 30 in the nelson hill area, wh