kpix 5's kiet do is in santa clara county breaking down the numbers for us. >> reporter: we are in the throes of this fifth wave of the pandemic . health officials say the worst is still ahead of us. however, this surge is not like the others. it seems everywhere you look, covid is spiking like never before to historic highs. in the south bay, sky single day totals seen here have pushed the rolling average to more than 1300 cases per day. the same story in the east bay, where alameda county's current covid cases shown here are on track to eclipse that from a year ago. in san francisco, case counts from the alpha and delta. have nothing on omicron. with the going mad rush for testing, it feels like 2020 all over again. >> we are not shutting anything down.

we are not closing businesses. this is not 2020. >> reporter: that is because the covid case count doesn't tell the whole story. this chart from san francisco also shows hospitalizations in red. there is a large gap from the high number of cases to the relatively low number of hospitalizations. it is evidence that most break their cases are mild. >> the good news is this variant appears to be less severe than delta. however, it is clearly much more contagious. w.h.i.p. mayor london breed said there will not be widespread lucked out the early days of the pandemic, but to keep front- line workers safe, she is urging everyone to get vaccinated and posted, upgrade your masks to n95, avoid large inter-gatherings and make it quick choices. >> prioritize activities that are important, and avoid those that are unnecessary exposures to covid. we have a reason to believe that this surge while intense, will be relatively brief. w.h.i.p. dr. colfax says it will be a rough january. >> even more so than delta, the new variant is forcing us to learn to manage and live among covid, but we believe that the

height of the search is upon us, and that the next few weeks are critical. we will see large outbreaks, and many people we know and love are getting covid to it however, it is within our control limit the damage. >> reporter: kiet do, kpix 5. the covid search is taking a toll on public safety in san francisco. the city says 167 police officers and 135 members of the fire department are in quarantine as of yesterday . 100 sf public transit employees are isolating, and some are muni operators. we first brought you san francisco's covid update live on cbsn bay area. you can tune in 24/7 on kpix.com, or the kpix 5 news app. the omicron surge is putting a strain on at least one bay area hospital. napa county is reporting a low number of available icu beds. at last check, 16 people are hospitalized with covid, and only 5% of hospital icu beds are available. county health officials say the search is infecting hospital staff and creating widespread

staffing shortages. after a holiday break, san mateo county just reopened its mass vaccination site. the drive-through cited the event center on saratoga drive closed just before christmas. now it is back open as a walk- through vaccine site. it is offering boosters for people ages 16 and up, and first and second doses for people 12 and older. it is open from tuesdays through saturdays. people are urged to make an apartment online. chopper 5 flew over this drive-through testing site in hayward today, and demand is not slowing down. we saw longer lines snaking into the testing site. a bit of light rain did not keep people away from this covid testing site at diablo county college. like many sites like it, they are not taking walk-ins. one man said he tried his luck getting in without an appointment but got turned away. >> i'm experiencing symptoms, and i don't want to put anybody at my work at risk. somebody at

my work has already tested positive. all of the testing sites, richmond, berkeley, antioch, brentwood, every one of them on their website says they don't have anything available before the 12th. the governor's office says more home test kits for students are on the way through these arrived last night at their warehouse and will immediately be sent to counties for distribution through the district. is a look at the white house where president biden is ramping up the fight against the virus. he just doubled the government's order of the pfizer covid-19 treatment. when those pills will be available. >> reporter: testing sites like this one in lower manhattan remain busy throughout the day. president biden acknowledged that the testing situation remains frustrating across the country, but that improvements are coming. >> folks -- >> reporter: president biden announced the government is doubling its purchase of visors

covid-19 treatment pill, as omicron variant drives an unprecedented surgeon cases. back these pills will dramatically decrease hospitalizations and deaths from covid-19. they are a game changer. >> reporter: in connecticut, the national guard helped local officials with shipments of home testing kits. amid continued high demand for pcr and rapid tests around the country. the maryland governor declared a 30 day state of emergency. >> the next 4 to 6 weeks will be the most challenging time of the entire pandemic. >> reporter: president biden says the government is adding more testing sites around the country. starting next week, insurance carriers will begin reimbursing for at-home tests. the cdc is now recommending booster shots of the pfizer vaccine 5 months after the second dose instead of 6 months , and immunocompromised children as young as 5 can

receive the additional shot. rising cases are a challenge for schools, and some in texas are considering outdoor lunch. >> i know the district is taking a look at that practice to see what can be done. >> reporter: the los angeles school district is requiring all students and staff to show proof of a negative test before returning to class next week. >> so many people we know have gotten it recently. >> reporter: with pediatric hospitalizations in the u.s. at an all-time high, other cities are switching to remote learning that could last several weeks. covid hospitalizations in new york state now top 10,000. the last time the number was that high was may of 2020. in new york about wendy gillett, kpix 5. coming up at 5:30, we talked to an infectious disease doctor from stanford about the omicron wave, the states stuck skyrocketing cases, and an update from the cdc about quarantine guidance. we are helping instead of the pandemic. you can find a full resource guide to keep up on the very latest in the fight against

covid-19 on kpix.com. this evening but we are hearing from one of the original theranos whistleblowers. tyler schultz said the jurors got it right when they convicted elizabeth holmes. kpix 5 is len ramirez on why he was never called to testify. >> reporter: tyler schultz was one of the first theranos insiders to report the fraud he was witnessing inside the company to both federal regulators and the media , and he paid a tremendous personal price for being a whistleblower, yet he was never called this courthouse to testify in the trial. >> i would've been happy to testify. >> reporter: tyler schultz watched the trial and conviction on the sidelines. the grandson of the theranos former secretary of state, he joined theranos fresh after graduating from stanford. he told cbs mornings that he once bought into the grandiose vision for revolutionizing blood testing and healthcare. >> even when i was working with the product every single day,

seeing it failed time after time after time, i can go have a 5 minute conversation with elizabeth and feel i was saving the world again. >> reporter: he eventually saw through the questionable practices and alerted federal regulators, and became an anonymous source for the wall street journal, going against his grandfather's wishes. >> is also the has taken a financial, emotional, and tolls on relationships. the toll it took on my relationship with my grandfather is probably the worst. 4 george schultz stood by meyers until the very end. >> he never apologized, but admitted i was right about what i saw, and he congratulated me for doing the right thing. >> reporter: the prosecution didn't call him as a witness. why is that? >> they didn't need it. >> reporter: michelle higgins of the prosecution proved his case on the four convictions, but fell short on the other counts, and three charges were undecided. >> i think this jury was very thoughtful in their verdict. >> reporter: she says holmes will serve time out behind

bars, but far less than the maximum of 20 years per charge. she called the case a tragedy for holmes and her family. >> you can't trick people. you cannot trick them out of money and you can't trick the monovision you can't prove. >> reporter: len ramirez, kpix 5. coming up at 6:00, the coastal look that the trial could have on silicon valley, and have a could change the game for founders and investors. new water roles as california struggles through a drought. he won't be able to water your lawn for 48 hours after a rainstorm, and he won't be allowed to run sprinklers on the sidewalks. that is the word from the state water resources control board. violators could be had with a $500 fine. today's vote follows a sake december, but water officials say there are no guarantees about the rest of the rainy season. let's take a live look from

the salesforce tower camera. you can see some of the sunset through the clouds. chief meteorologist paul heggen is here. we are getting a bit of a break, but we aren't quite a with the rain it sounds like. we have another chance later this week, and even a chance for parts of the bay area overnight. the break brings a wide variety of weather. up close and personal, the fog is rolling into downtown san francisco. it will be pretty thick by early tomorrow morning. we have a chance of showers north of the golden gate late tonight before sunrise. it is only a 30% chance of picking up anything more than a trace, if you sprinkles of rain. this won't be a big rainmaker at all. a much better chance of rain is on the way thursday night, into friday. and the forecaster is out again. it looks like a tranquil weather pattern through the middle of next week. we will take a look at both coming up in just a few minutes. still ahead on kpix 5, and streaming on cbsn bay area , we are just days away from the anniversary of the right on the capital. what is changed to prevent a similar attack. traffic paralyzed by a winter storm. the nightmare for some drivers who spent 24 hours on an icy

interstate. i'm in san francisco. most of the disgusting stuff we throw away in the garbage should not be in the garbage at all. a new state law change the way we look at trash. he will have that story coming up.

let's take a look at the u.s. capitol where the wind year anniversary of the january 6 assault is a few days away. today, the head of the capital lease unveiled improvements made in the years since the attack. >> reporter: the u.s. capitol police say they are better prepared to handle an attack on the capital today than they were 1 year ago. >> the department began significant work immediately after january 6 to fix the

failures that occurred, intelligence failures, operational planning failures, leadership failures. >> reporter: the attack on the u.s. capitol exposed flaws in the security system. since then, there have been more than a dozen reports with more than 100 recommendations on how to better protect the building and lawmakers. >> intelligence, operational planning, and getting our civil disturbance unit up to where it used to be with the three biggest issues, and those are the ones we worked on first, and that are frankly largely completed. >> reporter: the capital police say they are preparing for the anniversary of the january 6 assault, but as of now, there are no credible threats suggesting another attack is imminent. >> we are aware of several events planned for thursday. most of them are not of much

concern to us. >> reporter: in the aftermath of the attack, capitol police have investigated a record number of threats made against lawmakers. >> when we say threats, it's a concerning statement we need to look into. some to rise to the level of a crime and we investigated as a crime, and there are cases where we make arrest and prosecution. >> reporter: they have also arrested more than 700 people who took heart in last year's january 6 assault, and are still looking for several hundred more. >> the chief of the u.s. capitol police is prepared to testify before congress tomorrow. in his prepared remarks, he says some of the officers who protected the capital last year still carry the emotional scars from that day. former new york governor andrew cuomo will be prosecuted for allegedly groping a staffer. the albany county district attorney says that after reviewing the evidence, he believes the state cannot meet the burden of proof at trial. the prosecutor called cuomo's accuser him a quote, cooperative , incredible. this comes after two other prosecutors declined to charge cuomo on separate allegations. >> reporter: harsh winter conditions created an epic traffic nightmare on an

interstate in virginia. hundreds of cars were stuck in a snowstorm on interstate 95, some for as long as 24 hours. several drivers ran out of gas and were stranded overnight as temperatures dropped below freezing. >> i have not seen a state trooper in at least 12 hours. i haven't seen a tow truck in at least 14 hours. >> some people took to social media asking for help. within the last few hours, officials confirmed there were no more stranded drivers. i live look at the richmond bridge this evening where marin water may now delay is water pipeline project. the board will be meeting in less than 2 hours to discuss the plan, which had called for spending $100 million to build an emergency water pipeline across the richmond-san rafael brace. this decision comes after early winter storms filled the reservoirs to 92% capacity. pacifica saw some big waves this morning.

you can check them out, crashing on the shoreline. and more snow is piling up in the sierra. travel looks pretty smooth on interstate 8080 area you could still save flurries from the caltrans camera this afternoon. chains are still required on interstate 80. take a look at this comparison. these satellite images from december 2nd on the left, january 1st on the right. the stark difference has turned the terrain into deep snowpack. hopefully we will add more rain and snow. at least a little bit over the next few days. we had an exceptionally wet and snowy distemper, but we will take every bit of moisture we could get. winter weather advisory for the high sierra for a few more hours until 7:00 this evening. i asked elevations could add up a few more inches of wet snow. the bulk of what has fallen already is what they will receive out of this particular

wave. let's look at the msa picked up in the last 7 days. just amounts were in the 7 days before that. they picked up another 1 to 2 feet of snow coming even more than that for north star. just over 2 feet in the last 7 days. it is been a very welcome trend to see more rain in the bay area , and more snow for the high sierra. we just hope we can keep it going. here is what you need to know for the next couple of days. tonight, a lot of clouds and locally dense fog. a few showers after midnight tonight. a drive breaks tomorrow, tomorrow night, ended the thursday before the next read of rain moves in thursday and into friday. this will be a light rain event. we are still at the point in the rainy season that we will take every bit we can get. we are tracking through the showers already. let us switch over to futurecast to see how it is handling it. a better chance of showers moving in as we head through late tonight and into the pre- sunrise hours tomorrow morning.

then we have to contend with the locally dense fog. once that dissipates, it should lift by late morning early afternoon at the latest. a mix of clouds and sunshine thursday afternoon. see the locally dense fog developing early thursday morning, repeating itself, nearly identical temperatures and sky conditions with a mix of clouds and sunshine. the next weather maker will a protest by late thursday night, not moving into the north bay until after midnight thursday night. the best chance of showers will move in the first half of the day on friday. this is not a guarantee of rain for everybody come up but a good chance for a few hundredths of an inch of rain. it shows current through pretty quickly. total rainfall amounts out of the system will not be all that substantial. maybe 0.2 inches north of the golden gate and along the coast. maybe we will see more rain next week, but the long-range

forecast does look like another break will settle in for the weekend and early next week. temperatures right now, mid to upper 50s. not much variation. later on, only mid to upper 40s , above average for january. high temperatures tomorrow almost exactly where we are supposed to be for early january . he puts the warmest spots up to around 60 degrees. the coolest spots along the coast, mid-50s. only a 5 degree swing between the coolest locations and warmest locations. a typical january day with some sunshine peeking through as we head into the afternoon. temperatures further north my just a bit cooler in the end, but also reaching up into the 50s for highs. not much change to the temperatures even with the next chance of rain. we dry out over the weekend.

it looks like a nice weekend on saturday and sunday, more sun and clouds. some of the forecast data has been hinting at another chance of showers by early next week. it looks more likely it will hold off until is a night and thursday. that is a long way down the line in forecasting terms. we will keep you apprised as we get closer to next week. a 2022 rematch? what we just learned about governor newsom's strongest potential challengers for the governor's seat. the all-out search for a northern california man who disappeared planning a treasure hunt. streaming today on cbsn bay area, we take a look at the recent storms and why we aren't out of the woods yet when it comes to the drought . we are always on kpix.com, and on the kpix app . you're also on the cbs - i'm szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. we do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time.

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talkshow and 2021 california recall candidate larry elder announced today that he will not run against governor gavin newsom next year. he says he has formed a new political action committee called elder for america. it aims to help republicans take back the house and senate, and fund the campaigns of local gop candidates. that he was unsuccessful in replacing the governor in the recall, he garnered more than 48% of the vote among those candidates opening to unseat newsom. toyota has overtaken general motors as the best selling automaker in the u.s. the move was largely spurred by the global chip shortage. last year, toyota sold around 114,000 more vehicles than gm. a record close for the dow on the second trading day of the year. he climbed more than 200

points, but that tech heavy nasdaq think more than a percent. the s&p 500 was down 3 points. taking a live look at sfo as at&t and verizon agree to postpone their planned rollouts of a new 5g wireless service. both carriers confirmed my they will hold off on activating the services until january 19. that move comes due to a fear of widespread disruptions to air travel and shipping, and the potential legal battle over the matter. the federal aviation administration says it will use the extra time to look at the best ways to minimize potential impacts on flights. sam trans is set to offer free wi-fi on its entire bus fleet, which includes 70 routes throughout san mateo county. the upgrade is expected to happen sometime next month. according to the agency's board

chair, passengers will be able to browse social media and the internet by connecting to the sam trans wi-fi aboard any sam trans bus. a bay area dr. weighs in on the skyrocketing covid infections, and some updated guidance from the cdc on quarantines. a race to restore power in the sierra, and a life or death situation

you are watching kpix 5 news at 5:30 .

right now on kpix 5, and streaming on cbsn bay area , more local news at 5:30. california rolls out its statewide composting mandate. how it will change the way you throw things out. the scramble to restore power in the sierra. a life or death situation for homeowners in the dark for 10 days. the omicron surge driving people to test sites around the bay area. this is new video at the solano town center, which has increased capacity to handle the increasing demand. good evening. i'm elizabeth cook. i'm allen martin. this comes as san francisco is reporting that covid infections are skyrocketing like never before. it now has the third-highest case rate in the state , but hospitalizations are relatively low. president biden announced the u.s. will double its order of pfizer's antiviral pill to treat covid-19. he also underscored the importance of the vaccine, as the u.s. recorded more than 1

million new infections on monday. the cdc is now recommending booster shots of the pfizer vaccine 5 months after the second dose instead of 6 months. joining us live to talk about all of this is an infectious disease physician with stanford healthcare. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> we are seeing record case numbers, and everybody tactically know somebody who has tested positive for covid. can you put that in perspective? would you think we will see the peak of all of this? >> absolutely. we are on the upswing right now. this is four times what it was during our previous tyus numbers. we have a wildfire spread. it is exponential. as noted, we are seeing a dissociation between hospitalizations and people needing ventilators. we know vaccines are working, but a search of infections