it's going to be a big sports weekend. will there be people? local restaurants and bars tell us how they are coping with the omicron surge. a pop just testing site in santa clara county. is there omicron fatigue? are her olympic dreams dashed? the figure skater forced out of the u.s. championships because of covid. happy friday. the news at 6:00 starts right now. >> it's motionally and mentally taxing. when will the surgeon? omicron has people all over the country asking that question. it seems many epidemiologists agree that this variant could be peaking soon. then what? >> reporter: these popup sites

have been appearing all over santa claire with a county, a different city every day. you guessed it. there is a lot of omicron fatigue here. the line stretched out the door. it moved fast as hundreds of anxious people waited to get tested. >> didn't take too long. it's only like a minute or two. >> reporter: how done are you with omicron? >> i'm so done. i've been done with omicron and covid since 2019 december. >> reporter: many doctors say the end of this variant is near. >> i think we will peak next week or week after. i think we will be out of this by early february. >> reporter: most agree. they have been studying the trends. >> it looks like this thing burns through fast. then comes down fairly fast. >> reporter: it's not a matter of if but when the next variant

arrives. worst case, a new strain. >> we keep an eye on what's happening around the world. >> reporter: morgan will study for a test. she wants to be a nurse. >> at the end of the day, someone needs nurses. we are here to save lives. no one wants to be a nurse, who will take care of everybody else? schools in oakland struggled with staffing shortages today after more than 500 teachers called out sick. many of them part of a planned sickout to highlight covid concerns. they canceled classes. protesting teachers took part in a car caravan outside district headquarters. teachers say they need kn95 masks for teachers and students,

they want regular testing and filters in the calf fear ya. the district is meeting most of the demands. today's sickout which was not approved by the union is illegal. >> bottom line is, it's something that we feel is not what should be happening, especially when we talk about students' safety. >> when we reached out to parents, all of them said, i'm going to make it work because i understand how important this is. >> what can oakland families expect on monday? the district says they expect it will be business as usual. they ruled out a return to virtual learning because of the commitment to keeping schools open for in-person learning. he will join me tonight at 7:00 to discuss this further. first it was a lockdown, then changing mask rules and staffing shortages. now san francisco's struggling restaurants and bars are trying to figure out how to navigate the omicron surge that kept many

away. the mayor signed on to a new effort to extend federal assistant. >> we just reopened last night. that was over a week of being closed. >> reporter: the san francisco restaurant decided to stay closed during what is one of the most profitable holiday weekends all year. they chose safety over profit. >> in late december we started to recognize that the omicron surge was really impacting our staff. >> reporter: they hoped the closure would slow down the surge and create safety and confidence among staff. >> we are back right now with limited ability to do a full -- what we call covers, the amount of people we are serve in a restaurant. we are trying to separate seats. >> reporter: they spent thousands of dollars to make sure their vaccinate staffed can get tested.

the latest hurdle in what's now been two years of exceptional challenges. >> we do need to try our best to continue to do business. the big thing we need is we need the federal government to step up and refill the restaurant revitalization fund rr. >> reporter: the mayor is signing a letter urging congressional leaders to replenish the fund in the face of the new surge. >> that's a list of 25 mayors asking congress to please find additional funding to make these people that are just as deserving as the ones that got it receive the funding that they need so desperately to survive. >> reporter: laurie is the executive director of the golden gate restaurant association. it's key and the challenges are real. >> you make real time decisions as you go. that's why we are seeing changes from a lot of restaurants. some feel they could reopen because they have staff and the workers need the money.

some feeling they don't have enough staff. >> reporter: they suggest you call ahead before coming to make sure they are open and staffed. with covid cases on the rice, more people are choosing outdoor dining. that's becoming tougher in pleasanton. city ordered restaurants to shut down all outdoor dining parklets by tonight. we found one owner dismantling. the city plans to trim trees, allow businesses to apply for permanent parklets this spring. the goal is to make sure the permanent parklets have a more uniform look and meet stricter standards. >> one that sticks out was the ability for the water to drain. our parklet instead a four or six inch gap, it had a two inch

gap. that restricted the flow of the rain. >> reporter: he wishes the city would have allowed modification instead of requiring them to come down entirely. another restaurant decided to keep it intact and hope the city will reconsider. our website answers your questions about the virus cases on the rise. another break in the case of a killing of a high school football star in belmont. on this day three years ago, he was shot and killed while meeting up to buy pot. it wasn't until last november that police arrested four people in connection with that killing. they face criminal charges. today police say they have arrested a fifth suspect, a minor at the time of the shooting. no word on if charges have been made yet. new details in the trial of theranos's former coobalwani. the trial has been pushed back

to mid march because of the omicron surge. he is not only the former chief operating officer, but holmes' ex-boyfriend. duringler trial, she alleged he was an abusive partner. this week a jury found her guilty on four charges of fraud. she's yet to be sentenced. so beloved, john madden touched the hearts of millions of people. now fans will get a chance to pay their respects at his memorial service. he passed way last week sending shock waves through the sports world. his tight knit family says they have been overwhelmed by all the love and support that they have received from fans. today the nfl announced it will be a public memorial service for madden in oakland february 15th. the league will release more details at a later time. they did love him all over the world. they especially loved him in pleasanton where he spent much of his adult life, where his children live and his

grandchildren live and went to school. earlier this week, the city approved a banner to fly to honor the football icon. that now hangs from the arch in down town pleasanton. it reads forever in our heart. covid is threatening another bay area champion's olympic dream. alysa liu was forced to withdraw this morning after testing positive for covid. as scott budman learned, this doesn't necessarily end her olympic dream. >> reporter: she had just told nbc bay area about theed ajutments she made as her star began to rise. >> definitely different. i had to change my technique. i had to work on height instead of pure rotation. >> reporter: now a sudden surprising slip as the 16-year-old olympic hopeful from richmond tested positive for covid while competing in the u.s. figure skating

championships in nashville. >> because all of the athletes had to provide negative tests before getting their credentials. they have only been here all week. it's truly horrible timing. >> reporter: we caught up with this olympian in nashville. she says liu, who announced her result on her instagram, still has a way to make the olympic team, even though it's typically made up of the top three from the championships. >> she still has very much a chance to make it. it's really going to depend on what the judges are looking for in terms of who they want to send as a team and whether they trust her as a skater based off of her previous results. >> reporter: her coach says she will petition to be part of the olympic team while the competition continues anxiously. >> i think everybody just feels so sorry for the situation. competing under these circumstances is so mentally challenging, because it's not just physical anymore.

you are looking over your shoulder to make sure you are 100% healthy and you are able to compete. >> reporter: scott budman, nbc bay area news. >> not competing tonight. you can still watch karen chen of fremont. after last night's short program, chen is in second place. the winner will be decided tonight after the free skate. watch it right here on nbc bay area at 8:00. changing water restrictions. not in the way you might think. what a local water district is considering following our rainy december. there are now new state covid safety rules if you want to visit someone in a nursing home. some people call them obstacles. rain is clearing out just in time for the weekend. setting the stage for a nice one. join me for that weekend forecast.

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a warning out of fris. unofficial covid testing sites are popping up. even though demand is high, they urge people to only go to

official sites. you should check with your provider or go to the health department's website to final official testing sites and schedule an appointment. . it's confusing and frustrating. a new set of rules and challenges for anyone looking to visit someone in a nursing home or care facility. these new covid mandates have families and facilities really kind of sometimes at odds with each other. >> reporter: the new rules do seem on the surface fairly familiar. some of the rules are not as simple as they sound. advocates say it's making it tougher on everyone involved. this facility, like all other nursing homes is working through the order which includes requiring those visiting someone indoors to show proof of vaccination, a booster, if you are eligible for a shot. also a negative covid test with an antigen result within a day, a pcr result within two days.

for outdoor visits, a negative test is required with the same requirement for the antigen and pcr test. that's a lot of enforcement responsibility to put on a staff for assisted living. >> they are not seeing family members. maybe they are not as active. we have to be as a staff member, the family member. you have to be the emotional support. it's taxing on staff. >> reporter: this woman is an advocate for a better choice for seniors in campbell. she's been flooded with calls from families since the new rules were announced. the main complaint, how are they supposed to get the needed tests? >> i think that the state needs to provide the tests to these communities. the communities are doing their best to serve our seniors. they can't be out shopping test. >> we can do the hard part, the care part. that families can focus on the emotional part and the loving part. they need that connection.

>> reporter: the state also seemed to acknowledge there are other factors involved such as test availability that would require tweaking. the new rules will be in effect for one month and then on february 7th, the public health department will decide whether to extend them or not. robert handa, nbc bay area news. >> thanks. the big storms that swept through marin county last year brought the area more than 200% of its normal rainfall. the munition pal water district is considering a roll back of water use restrictions. not a repeal. water officials don't want to eliminate all guidelines. a gradual lifting of drought rules is favored. a repeal of those penalties. the snowy streak continues up in the sierra with fresh snow coming down this morning. video taken. check out the video we shot.

the region saw 214 inches of new snow. researchers say it's the snoesyest december since 1970. check out the images. what a difference a month makes. the image on the left taken december 2 before the storm. the one on the right is how lake tahoe looked on new year's day. great skiing, snowboarding weather. a lot of people will head there this weekend since they couldn't ski last weekend. everybody was snowed in. how are we looking? it's been so great to see the sierra snowpack coming up high. as we get ready for one last coating of snow that's coming down right now, we will see that clearing out for the weekend. look at our state wide average, 141% of normal with some of the best see see area snowpack happening.

there's not a lot of snow on the way. dry weather into next week. really nice once again to see that and good if you are going to be heading there this weekend. we are still seeing the light snow showers coming down right now. the bay area has cleared. this was after that weak storm system passed through our area. now is continuing to move out. looking out to see what else is out there. a big break in between the rain that we had a couple of hours ago and what else is coming our way for the end of the weekend into early next week. the next system very weak. doesn't look to have a big impact. let's take a look at how much rain we did measure over the past 24 hours. most of us barely saw anything. look at mount tam. over an inch and a half of rainfall. santa rosa, a tenth of an inch. less for san francisco and the t ri-valley, redwood city, to the south bay.

a few hundredths of an inch of rain. let's go through our temperatures. into tonight, we are in the low 50s right now. we will dip down into the upper 30s in the north bay. at 6:30, 7:00 tomorrow morning in santa rosa at 38. going into the afternoon, you will notice it's going to be cooler all thanks to the front today. we are making it into the mid and upper 50s. let's compare that to what the rest of the country is dealing with. you have probably heard about all of the snow that's been happening off towards the east. that's clearing out. may have travel impacts because the temperatures are subfreezing. they have had bitterly cold windchills. for us here in the bay area, quiet weekend. start out tomorrow with fog. then as we go toward the end of the weekend as well as early monday morning, we may have coastal showers moving in. models having a hard time on where exactly we can see that

rain. once again, the coast will be the best chance of seeing some of the early morning showers on monday. for san francisco, looks mostly dry. dealing with fog and drizzle. see that into next week. we will see the temperatures in the upper 50s and low 60s. as warm as 63 on tuesday. not bad at all. the sunshine does continue. not to worry about the dry weather pattern. it does look like that could all change by the end of the month. >> thanks so much. have a nice weekend. it's going to be a monster weekend. no baseball at the oakland coliseum. instead, those big trucks, monster trucks. we will show you the transformation.

let's take you out live to sfo. on tuesday, sfo had 67 cases of tsa workers.

today, up to 95. san jose, 53 cases. oakland 52. there have been more than 3,200 infections among tsa agents nationwide. it had to close two check points in arizona because of the ongoing staffing issues. in san francisco, the show must go on. with booster shots. live theater fans 16 and up must show proof they have received a booster. during the show, you must be masked. it reflects san francisco's mask mandates. those 12 to 15 must show proof of full vaccination. boosters aren't required. younger children must either be fully vaccinate order produce a negative antigen test. they are big and loud and coming back to oakland. monster jam organizers getting ready for the show. they brought in millions of pounds of dirt. soon, those trucks are going to tear it down.

>> to cap it off is the freestyle, which everybody loves. two minutes to strut your stuff. big air, wheelies, back flips, saves, wow factor moments right there on the track. the crowd is engaged. we love it. >> it will be held at the coliseum saturday and sunday. drivers are excited to actually see fans in oakland again. up next, covid concerns for bart. we will check in to see how they are coping with the outbreak.

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bart says the surge in covid cases has not impacted service. >> 40 employees have tested positive. the agency says many shifts were covered with overtime and standby staff. they have been able to put out 92% of service. they have 4,000 employees. how much longer will our surge last? what happens after? we are talking to a biologist that works on predicting how th. up next, nbc news takes you inside an over capacity icu. the life and death moments as health care workers remind us covid is still here. lester holt joins us from new york right now. tonight, the urgent warning from the cdc. covid hospitalizations soaring among children too young to get the vaccine. the cdc saying kids 4 and younger are being hospitalized in record numbers amid the omicron surge.

nationwide hospitals are overwhelmed and short staffed. our rare access inside the covid icu in a hospital that's seen a 900% jump in covid cases since thanksgiving and new information tonight on getting those free covid tests promised by president biden. also tonight, the supreme court hearing arguments over the president's vaccine mandates the signal that the justices gave on how they may rule. the three men convicted in the murder of ahmaud arbery sentenced how long they will spend behind bars, and the emotional words in court today from arbery's mother. the major winter storm slamming the east coast up to a foot of snow, dangerous road conditions and next the bitter cold moving in the deadly crackdown kazakhstan's president issuing a shoot-to-kill order. to quell violent protesters the new crisis spilling out on to the world stage. a second tennis star joining the world's number one player in detention in austra