ja's spice squad. who's in the squad? [whispering] it's me. my new spicy cluck sandwich combo. it's my best chicken ever. the omicron variant is shaping up our pandemic response and san francisco officials are doubling down. good afternoon. >> kpix5's -- >> jocelyn is joining us now with the city's response

efforts. sorry about that. >> no worries. there's no question that san francisco is experiencing a surge in cases and a virtual press conference just wrapped up with health officials and the mayor. just them saying that the next couple of weeks will be critical in the fight against this. let's break down what we are experiencing. take a look at the omicron fueled surge compared to the circle delta surge and last winter's surge. you can see this one now is a much sharper rise. it under scores what we have been hearing that omicron is more contagious. if we take a look at this next graph the blue line represents the rise in cases, the orange is hospitalizations while we are seeing an increase now look at how it compares to the previous surges. san francisco public health director said that with omicron hospitalizations much lower relative to cases. take a listen. >> omicron is facing a wall of immunity as it moves through

the city. our vaccinations and boosters doing what we need them to do right now which is preventing many people from getting sick and being in the hospital. >> now the concern now is frontline and essential workern who are quarantining due to omicron. 16pocemembers of the fire depar and almost 100 people in sfmta are in quarantine. >> we are not shutting anything down. we are not closing businesses this is not 2020. we do need to do our part to prevent too many frontline workers getting sick at the same time. >> the mayor along with health officials say that some of the things we can do is a void going to places that aren't necessary that may expose us and of course if you are not already take sure you get vaccinated and get your booster if you are eligible. >> thank you. more at home covid test gets are on the way for

students. the governor tweeted this video showing rows inside a warehouse of the kits. yesterday the governor's office said just half of the six million tests purchased for schools have been delivered. napa county said its run out of icu beds amid a spike in bay area cases. >> justin is live with why bay area health experts aren't sounding the alarm just yet. >> first grain your eyes may get wide when you see the numbers rise. we talked to a doctor who puts all of this in perspective for us. >> the latest surge sweeping across the united states. data showing a seemingly unprecedented spike even here in the bay area. though covid hospitalizations have started to climb they remain overall low and manageable. likely due to the overall high vaccination rates. that's according to health experts. >> we have been through much bigger surges than this. we looked at the latest state numbers and they saw santa clara has 225 people in

hospitals with covid and 64icu beds available. contra costa has 96 people in the hospital and 81 beds available. napa, 11 people are in the hospital with covid and no hospital beds available. >> and the zero beds available. i don't think necessarily mean there's are no beds available. they are just trying to anticipate what their needs are and say okay here are our needs and then is what the surpluss. >> some of the more rural hospitals are feeling the pinch but it's more than just patients, he said, it's also health care staff. he said there are staffing shortages that could be contributing to this though some numbers look alarming bay area wide. >> i think that in the bay area it's -- we have remained relatively below the summer's peak hospitalizations. i think we are in pretty good shape. >> we could see more cases but he said that it'll happen

before we see a level of relief. he said bay area wide numbers do look pretty good as of right now when you compare it to other parts of the country. we are live in san francisco. kpix5. the nationwide covid headlines starting with the cdc estimating that omicron right now makes up 95% of all circulating covit cases here in the united states. taking a look at the white house where the president is meeting with his covid response team. he spoke right before it saying that the government is doubling its order of pills to treat covid and that right now we have all the vaccines and boosters needed to vaccinate every american. >> please take advantage of what's available. please. you are going to save lives. maybe yours, maybe your child. please take advantage of what we already have, okay? >> in booster news the cdc

giving the green light to pfizer booster shots, five months after the second dose instead of six months. the cdc also now recommending booster shots for certain immune compromised kids age 5 to 11. the agency has to decide whether to authorize boosters for all children ages 12 to 15. some new stats for you nationwide. average of 378 children were admitted to the hospital every day between december 22nd and the 28th. a 66% increase from the week before. when it comes to testing as of next week insurance will be responsible for paying for those tests. they will have to reimburse you for them. you will have to file a claim and as of next month that federal website is going to be up allowing you to order covid tests to your home for free. we will stay on top of it. back to you. in the east bay oakland said it's canceling this year's first friday event due to rising cases. the city is still planning to

bring it back next month. right now a san mateo vaccine clinic just reopened at the event center on saratoga side. it's for age groups 12 and up. services include first and second doses, plus boosters. the clinic is open tuesday through saturday at noon. and we are helping you stay ahead of the pandemic. head to the website and you will find a full resource guide to keep up on the latest in the fight against covid. let's give you a live look. we saw a good amount of rain. let's switch it over to mary lee for what we can expect for the rest of the day. i see the sun trying to peek out. >> looks beautiful. you can see patches of blue out there with some sunshine, with our richmond, san rafael bridge camera at this lunchtime hour. we are already starting to see changes with some clearing out there. here we are looking at san francisco with our mark hopkins hotel camera. you can see the gray conditions there. we did pick up more than an inch of rain, also for

pacifica. oakland picking up three quarters of an inch and almost that for san francisco and san jose with that rain shadowing just 100th of an inch. we are looking at dry and quiet conditions compared to the rain that we had last night and earlier this morning. upper 50's, mid to upper 50's along the coast and around the bay with mostly cloudy skies in the low 60's inland. we will talk about the -- the return of the rain. details on that coming up. san francisco supervisors could reconsider their support for the mayor's announcement of emergency in the tenderloin. the mayor promising to quickly open a service center to help people who are homeless and using drugs and requesting more police overtime to crack down on crime. after backlash and claims by critic that the mayor is planning a police crack down supervisors will consider whether to hold another hearing and whether to withdraw their support. marin water may pump the brakes on its emergency water

pipeline project. the proposed 100 million-dollar project would build an emergency water pipeline across the san rafael bridge. the decision after the reservoirs were filled to 92% of capacity. the board will meet tonight at seven to discuss the plan. new, a plan by california lawmakers could open the door for lawsuits against firearm manufacturers. the bill would place partial liability on firearms dealers and manufacturers in the case of a shooting. >> victims deserve full access to civil justice from crimes that they endured, not face a legal shield loophole after tragedy. this law will reinstate that for them, hold gun companies to a higher standard and compel them to keep their actions responsible. new details a whistle blower is sharing his reaction to elizabeth holmes conviction. a san jose jury convicted holmes of four counts ever

defrauding investors. she was acquitted of four other charges while jurors came back deadlocked on three. in an interview on cbs mornings a former employee spoke about his experience at the company. >> elizabeth is a very, very charismatic person. she makes you feel like you are the most important person in her world in that moment. she almost has this reality distortion field. even when i was working with the product every single day seeing it fail time after time after time i could go have a five minute conversation with elizabeth and feel like i was saving the world again. >> holmes is facing up to 20 years in prison for each count she has been found guilty of. coming up, gm is no longer the best selling auto make america the united states. who stole the crown. >> and the great resignation is far from over. what new

let's give you a live look at wall street on this afternoon. let's see how it's looking now. the dow is up about 272 points. new at noon toyota has over taken gm as the best selling car make america the united states. the move was largely spurred by the global chip shortage. last year toyota sold around

$114 more vehicles than gm. the united states economy is on the mend and entering the new year with significant momentum. average weekly jobless claims near historic lows. the unemployment rate was just 4.2% in november. economists say there are at least four risk factors to watch. covid could cause more damage limiting people's willingness to spend. inflation could stay hot keeping prices high for food, gas and housing. supply chains could stay scrambled with various goods difficult to get and then the potential for a fed policy mistake, especially when it comes to interest rates. >> the fed may delay when it begins to start raising interest rates which feels like may or june of 2022. >> the may surprise event is also a possibility. examples include a natural disaster and a cyber attack that disables a big bank or other key part of the financial system.

the great resignation is continuing to ramp up. data from the bureau of labor shows a record 4.5 million americans resigned in november. many analysts believe that the friend is being driven largely by people who are retiring early. it all means the labor shortage is unlikely to let up any time soon. a live look at sfo now as at&t and verizon agree to postpone their planned roll outs of 5g near airports. they confirmed they will hold off on activating the services until january 19th. it comes amid a fear of widespread disruptions to air travel and shipping and a potential legal bat over the matter. industry officials had been expected to sue the fcc in a last ditch bid to keep the roll out from taking effect. take age live look at the white house where you could see a solid layer of snow after that winter storm yesterday. this is the scene along i-95. crews have been working to help stranded drivers since yesterday morning making the icy conditions worse, traffic

was stalled after a semi-truck jackknifed along the interstate. nobody was injured during the crash. time now for a check of weather with mary lee and with what we can expect here at home. >> happy tuesday to you and at this lunchtime hour we are catching a little bit of sunshine in spots especially along parts of the north bay. here we go looking at san francisco and you can see that gray, gray look there. we are looking at a little bit of mist as well in san francisco with our mark hopkins hotel camera and our temperatures are running in the mid to upper 50's to about 60 degrees. little bit warmer compared to yesterday at this time. we have that coastal flood advisory that's in effect until 3:00 p.m. that's because of the king tides. watch out for minor flooding and coastal over flew for the areas highlighted in light green. we have that weather system tha last night early their morning and now high pressure will build in and we will looking at a nice break from the rain over the next couple of days before

another weather system brings beneficial rainfall back to the area later this week. 57 in pacifica looking at 58 in san francisco, 59 oakland for a high, 61 in san jose. upper 50's for concord and mid50's for the napa valley. hour by hour and you can see partly sunny to mostly cloudy skies this afternoon. for tomorrow morning a few showers are possible for the far north bay. otherwise looking at partly sunny skies in the after for your wednesday and again dry for thursday as well. sunset at 5:04 and the sunrise tomorrow at 7:25 a.m. winter weather advisory still in effect until 1:00 p.m. for the west slopes of the sierra with another hims of snow in the sierra. catching a break for the rain with the ridge of high pressure. there's the second storm system of the week arriving on friday. partly sunny skies for the

weekend. there which go. with that wet weather rushing on friday as we look to the weekend and early next week. back to you. >> thank you. coming up two twins born in california will share many things throughout life. while their birthday won't be one of them. >> and streaming today on cbsn bay area we will take a look at our recent storms and why we aren't out of the woods when it comes to the drought. that's at 1:15. we are always on at kpix.com and the app. we are also on the cbs news app. you can download it for

nato had hold a special meeting with russian officials next week. the meeting comes as russiaa masses thousands of troops along it's bored we are ukraine. a n ato spokesperson said think will do what they can to try to stop an open conflict. samtram is set to offer free wi fi on its entire bus fleet. the upgrade is expected to happen next month. according to the agency's board chair passengers will be able to text, e-mail, browse social immediate and and the internet and play online games.

by connecting to the wi fi on board any bus. we are meeting a pair of twins born just 15 minutes apart. >> despite minutes between their births their birthdays fall on different days, months and years. alfredo was born on new year's eve. his twin sister was born 15 minutes later at midnight on the first of 2022. it was nothing but smiles their mother who said she is thankful for the medical staff. >> i'm really thankful with the doctors and the nurses that help me go through the process of having them and that they arrived healthy. >> twins with different birthdays are rare. it is thought that the chance of twins in different years is one in two million. i like it because they get to celebrate more birthdays. >> yeah. >> now they don't have to

bicker over birthdays. i think mom did that on purpose. still to come, skies are clearing right now but are we done with the rain? we have one more check of the weather. and today on the drew barrymore show.

we are two days out from

the one year anniversary of the united states capitol seige. at three the security improvements made since that attack. now let's get one last lookst weather with mary and hopefully that sun is coming out. >> it's coming out in some spots. here say live look at the roof cam a. you can see the gray skies there. i want to show you our richmond san rafael bridge cam a. you can see blue skies there this afternoon with the live camera so already starting to see some clearing in spots. here we go on future cast as we take you through the day looking at partly sunny to mostly cloudy skies and we are going to stay dry with partly sunny skies wednesday and thursday. a break from the rain, san francisco, oakland and for san jose. the rain returns on friday. the inland east bay, the north bay and the coast and you can see that break from the rain midweek and then to end the workweek more wet weather to come with the second weather system of the d partly sunny for the weekend. back to you. travelers may not be enjoying the snow on the east

coast right now. some furry residents. this video is of the pandas at the smithsonian. >> you can see them exploring the enclosure. it's a welcome site sight. >> looks beautiful. >> pretty happy. yeah. happy pandas. >> that's it for kpix5 news at noon. we are on 24-7 at cbsn bay area. >> our next newscast is at three. have a great afternoon.

♪♪♪ >> deacon: ridge isn't coming back? >> brooke: oh! mm, vodka. come on, slug one back with me, buddy old pal. >> deacon: mm! i never stopped loving you, ever. [gasps] morning, sunshine. >> brooke: why did i drink again? [door closing] i'm gonna make sure you come nowhere near my family, especially steffy, finn, and hayes. >> sheila: never, ever mess with me, brooke, especially