Be social distancing protocols. There are questions and there is a lot of gray area, including in San Francisco. It appears parts of the new county orders might conflict with what the state says. Christy smith is in San Francisco to explain. Reporter it is another step towards a new normal with athletic fields and some other open spaces getting the green light to open. Starting monday, several areas that had been offlimits as we shelter at home could be accessible again, including skateboard parks. But tennis, basketball, and other activities that share equipment could still be offlimits. I think its okay some of them are being lifted gently, as long as were not having the direct contact, the persontoperson contact. Reporter here deloris park, some said it was too soon to change any coronavirus restrictions. Even though San Francisco is doing really well, were flattening the curve a little bit, i think another month is very helpful to do that. Reporter though the shelter at home order was extended, the mayor explained that the new guidelines help reflect why were at. New guidelines include outdoor businesses, the ability to open outdoor businesses, like flea markets and car washes and gardening services. Reporter rules on face coverings and keeping a social distance remain. Construction can resume with new safety protocols. The city says local orders allow golfing, but the state does not. If that changes local courses could open. And theres still a long road ahead. I think probably were very fortunate in the bay area, that we got shut down so early opposed to what i hear from a lot of other states. Reporter the city says they will be keeping a close eye on the data. The health order is extended through the end of the month. In San Francisco, christie smith, nbc bay area news. Thank you, christie. Dont plan on making that weekend plan to the beach in santa cruz county. They are off limits from 11 00 a. M. To 5 00 p. M. On saturday. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Office says it issue 2 wood d 210 issu. Beaches will be open for people to exercise in the water, like surfing and paddle boarding. The bay area announcing new 150 reported cases today, putting the total at 7900. 20 cases in contra costa county, which has 862 reported cases. Santa clara with 25 new cases and a total of more than 2100 overall. Santa clara county continues to be hardest hit in the bay area. And within the county, you can see san jose has more than 1400 cases. Within santa clara county, heres san jose, the biggest city in the bay area in terms of population. Sunnyvale with the next biggest total. 120 cases. Santa clara itself with 100. And dr. Sarah cody says the county has done a very good job flattening the curve and has less than 5 of the total cases reported in california. The drug has been tested for months and today the biggest evidence yet that it works at helps patients recover faster from the coronavirus. Our Jessica Aguirre is working from home with details about this break through with the drug, developed by scientists in foster city. Jessica . That drug is called remdesivir, and its shorten it has a shortened recovery rate, better survival rate and blocks an enzyme in the coronavirus. Its being hailed by the white house as a significant milestone. And they say it is probably the most effective antiviral drug they have right now in treating covid19. Lets talk to you about those Clinical Trials done by Gilead Sciences out of foster city, which created this drug. It was originally made to treat ebola. 1,000 patients from multiple places around the world took part in the study. They either received remdesivir or a placebo. Those who got the drug were able to leave the hospital 11 days on average, instead of those who got the placebo, who stayed for 15 days. The data shows that remdesivir has a clear cut significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery. This is really quite important for a number of reasons. Now, the fda is expected to issue an emergency authorization to allow us to use that drug on a more widespread scale. Joining me now is dr. Peter hung. You have been using this drug already on your patients and its proven for you to be quite effective. Is there one particular patient it works best on . I think the jury is still out, jessica. But i think we believe that it may work best in the earlier disease, but not too late. By think there are two things i saw questions about. First, i think we would love to see these results published in a Peer Reviewed journal before incorporating them into clinical practice. The second thing is, giving antiviral may be part of the second. You may have to give an antiinflammatory drug with the antivirus drug with the sickest patients. Gilead said theyre looking at the efficacy of this drug by using half a dose instead of using a tenday course using a fiveday course, which would make more of that drug available on a widespread level is. That something you have found in treating patients . I found that very intriguing, because, again, before production gets ramped up by gilead, we think we could potentially treat several patients. Again, i would like to see that study published in a peer review journal and pore over it before changing practice. So in terms of ucsf, you will be looking at the efficacy of this drug itself. Is this going to be the Standard Drug for covid19 or will you explore to see if there are other drug that might work in conjunction with instead of this drug . I think it means that we will not stop using the drug, and we will incorporate the drug in future studies going on, which means that with the drug plus Something Else will more effective. Thats going to be the next phase of the trials that we are going to take part in. All righ. Doctor, we appreciate you being with us and your expertise. You give us comfort knowing that you can answer so many of these questions for us. Thank you so much. Thanks so much, jessica. So raj and janelle, again, this now becomes what is the standard that dr. Fauci was talking about moving forward, and again, having an antiviral ask what we need right now, because as we have been talking about, a vaccine is still way in the offing, maybe a year, even though there are some companies saying they may be able to come up with something in the fall. Thats still unclear if thats going to be a reality for us on a widespread level. Thats great news. Thank you, jessica. A bizarre traffic jam on 880 in union city this afternoon. Our sky ranger was overhead. The chp shut down south bound lanes for about an hour after a man dumped boxes of surgical masks right there on the freeway. Officers say the man stopped in the middle of the road and started throwing out the masks. Drivers then pulled over and started to pick them up. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Make sure no one goes hungry during this pandemic. Governor newsom laid out a threepart plan to feed californians in need. A new program will provide benefits for almost 4 million children who are eligible for free or reduced school meals. Families who normally receive those school meals will get extra money to help buy food while schools remain closed. Those who receive cal fresh can use their ebt card to buy groceries online at amazon and walmart. And farmers and ranchers will be connected to foodba banks to deliver nutritious meals to those in need. More than 1,000 people are about to lose their paychecks. San jose city manager dave sykes says shortfall of 45 million will mean furlough for parttime and temporary employees, including lifeguards and library aides. Those workers have been on paid administrative leave since march. But the uncertainty of the virus means they wont return any time soon and more cuts are likely. I dont think were expecting the economy to bounce back as quickly as the economy was shut down. In total, nearly 1200 workers will be furloughed may 4th. One important note, they will technically remain city employees, meaning they would not have to reapply for their jobs if or when the economy recovers. Up next, fighting to give her daughter the proper recognition she deserves. The bay area mother hoping to convince School Leaders to hold a Graduation Ceremony. A new kind of delivery service. The bay area arsenal of robots helping to keep the disease at bay. Im chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. Cooler today and those clouds, but the sun is on the way tomorrow. Well look at that and the pollen and the wind that could be impacting your allergies. soft music [female vo] restaurants are facing a crisis. And theyre counting on your takeout and delivery orders to make it through. Grubhub. Together we can help save the restaurants we love. Weve endured deadly disasters in the past, but nothing quite like this. At least not in our generation. This disease has taken more lives than the Oakland Hills fire, buick county fire and ghost ship fire combined. Among the leaders, a true man that was a leader. Heres garvin thomas. Reporter people who know him say he could be totally content with a good western and a cup of his wifes coffee. Still, for a man who enjoyed such simple pleasures, he certainly accomplished some grand things. There is a park at 85th and e in east oakland that has a story behind how it came to be. A story like so many others around here, with costell at the center of it. We had no place to play. We were playing in the streets. Reporter costells son, scott, recalls how his father petitioned, organized and worked like heck to get something he thought was just. Its something scott says his dad did time and time again. Every story comes back to justice, thats who my dad was. Reporter costell was an orphan growing up, but in 1955 married his wife. Thats his 4yearold sisterinlaw, peering out the car window. Sharon says costell grew to be the Gravitational Center of their family. She cant imagine what its going to be like without him. I dont want to think about it. I dont want to think about it. Reporter costells accomplishments in life were many, and varied. He earned five degrees, including a masters. Rose to management working at united airlines. Was an accomplished jazz musician, and even built his and dianes own retirement home himself. Costells family says yes, they have lost a lot. But so have the rest of us. He understood the importance of community, unlike any person ive ever met. Reporter garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. Very nice story. A mother in the east bay is not giving up on her hopes of seeing her daughter accept her high school diploma. Angela mitchell asked the district if they could host a small grad ceremony at the football field where there is space for the seniors to stand six feet apart. The parents would be in the bleachers. The superintendent says he doesnt see how it can be done safely. We fully recognize how devastate thing is to the class of 2020. Were trying to work on alternatives. Just let them walk. We dont have to be there. That means 156 kids, and just the personnel that it needs to get them across the stage. The district is brainstorming some virtual ways to celebrate the seniors and host of talking a reunion in the winter. Bay area robots and Driverless Cars are proving to be a difference maker during the pandemic, helping to deliver goods without people putting people in dangerous contact with one another. Scott budman shows us how theyre getting the job done, without people. Reporter the process starts at bay area food banks like this one, where food and supplies are loaded into Autonomous Cars and robots and delivered to the people who need it most. San francisco startup crews is known for taking people from place to place without drivers. These days, its still delivering precious cargo, with as little human contact as possible. This is really driving home the potential for this techology. Reporter neuro robotics is also using driverless tech, delivering medical supplies and food to care facilities. Right now in the bay area, and sacramento, with plans to expand. Its a way to use technology to keep our distance. We then take the packages autonomously. We engage the car in autonomous mode and the delivery happens through autonomous transportation with at the end resulting in a contactless delivery. Reporter helping those on the receiving end who worry about getting sick. As you know, its really important to have contactless delivery as much as possible. So for us, its kind of been a struggle to find volunteers and vehicles. Reporter a lot of these deliveries are made possible by chair tbl organizations. Sf new deal says in the last month 100,000 autonomous food deliveries were made in the bay area. Scott budman, nbc bay area news. Okay. We love seeing this. Teachers visiting their students. Car parades are becoming a big thing. Today, a parade of about 25 cars filled with teachers and their families. This is for almond Elementary School. The kids and teachers loved it, making signs, cheering and a lot of honking. And i shot the video, janelle. Is it good quality . Very nice. Theres also a teachers parade today for mark west elementary in santa rosa. Nice to have the kids and the teachers smiling on these challenging times for school. I like the balloons hanging off the cars there. Thank you. Good job. The weather was nice for our car parade. It wasnt too hot. Cooled down quite a bit. Lets check in with jeff ranieri. Jeff . Very comfortable out there today. Nice little change for us. And its not going to last too long as we roll into tomorrow. We are going to get some sunshine back in the mix. Lets bring you outside live. Youll see the overcast that continues across the south bay. This is our san jose camera at our station, looking towards downtown. We have had a few breaks of sunshine. Overall, definitely not a lot of that today. At 71 degrees, for that high, 68 for right now, dropping down to cooler 50s once we hit 10 00 and 11 00. The one thing i want to bring up is the wind. Its been on again, off again breezy. As we head through tomorrow morning, its anywhere from 5 to 15 Miles Per Hour. Well see that pick up just a little bit more for the afternoon, with some wind gusts that could approach about 20 Miles Per Hour. And the reason i bring that up is for any of you that have allergies, we have oak, cedar and pine in the high category. Grasses in the moderate. Ive posted this same graphic where you can compare the symptoms of covid19, allergies, and the regular flu at my twitter at jeff ranieri. So what about those temperatures . Only a degree or two warmer tomorrow, bringing us to 78 in concord. 74 in san jose. Coming up in 25 minutes, well look at that sevenday forecast and well get you ready for the weekend. Weekend, we can still talk about the weekend, right . Even though the days are all mixed up. Of course we can. Thanks, jeff. Up next, struggling and no end in sight. How local gyms who cant reopen any time soon are trying to survive in this pandemic. Were all doing our part by staying at home. That could mean an increase in energy bills. You can save by setting your heat to 68 or lower. Unplugging and turning off devices when not in use. Or just letting the sun light your home. Stay well and keep it golden. Im Jessica Aguirre working from my home studio here in pleasanton. Today, the Alameda County issued an updated shelter at home order, which basically echoes what the governor said yesterday, that nonessential businesses will have to keep their doors closed. Among those is gyms. Paul rubio owns three gyms in the east bay, and he says this extended order is a huge, devastating blow to him. Now, rubio has been closed for seven weeks now. He owns threerit factory workout facilities throughout the east bay. The gyms used to bring in 100,000 a month. Now hes bringing in just 1200, and thats in donations. He still has to pay rent, hes angry, frustrated with governor newsom, who he says is demanding he keeps his doors closed, but not doing enough to help Small Businesses like him stay afloat. Yes, he has to stop bills from coming, he has to stop my land lords bills and everything has to be forgiven. That way when we come back, we have a fighting chance. How afraid are you at this point . This is your livelihood, this is what you use to pay your bills, to take care of your own family, to have it at the precipice of losing it at this point, how frightened are you . Very scared. I call it zero to a million in 15 years, and a million to zero in 30 days. My revenue was over a million last year. This year was looking great. And now thats all gone. Im scared. I have bills like everybody else. Im worried about my team members, they have bills. Its not just me, its my team members, my coaches that rely on their paycheck, and its our members that need this for stress relief. So im really scared. Now, keep in mind rubio says he has not gotten any of those Small Business loans. Hes still in some places, in some of his locations being asked to pay full rent, which he says he cant afford. He says 40 of his members have already canceled their memberships. When he surveyed some of the current gym members and said are they willing to come back . A lot of them have trepidation about going back to the gym. This is going to be a very difficult road for him. He says hes willing to take all the safety precautions he needs to. But beyond that, he has to survive the next couple of months with his doors closed. A lot of businesses facing the same detrimentdetriment, ok jessica, thanks so much. Up next at 6 30, lifting some of the restrictions. Continuing coverage on what will be open in the bay area beginning next monday and what wont be. Plus, failing federal inspections. We investigate the local Nursing Homes who have problems before the virus came to the bay area. Teammates help each other find a way to win, just like covered california helps you find Health Insurance you can afford. Theyre the only place you can get Financial Assistance to help pay for Health Coverage. Plus, this year, the state is providing more help than ever before. And because a new law requires californians to have Health Coverage or pay a penalty, covered california has made it easier to get financial help, but times limited. Visit coveredca. Com or call to