♪ ♪ [applause] >> announcer: if you would like to be a part of our virtual audien >>i'm the south african covid-19 variant has officially made his way to the bay area marking the first confirmed cases in the entire state. thank you for joining us for kron 4 news at 5 i'm pam moore, i'm ken wayne governor gavin newsome made the announcement this morning that testing has confirmed to covid patients. >>one from santa clara county. the other from alameda county. both had the south african variant at this point it's believed vaccines are less effective on that very kron four's dan kerman has been following this story today and he joins us live now with more

well this investigation is just getting underway. the real question is how did these 2 people the person in alameda and the person in santa clara, how did they get did they get it from that work still needs to be done. but it's critical to determine if it is in the community or if it was likely caught somewhere else. >>as of a few hours ago. >>we have the first reported cases of south african 2 cases have been reported there stanford. one in alameda county. and one in santa clara county during a briefing wednesday morning governor gavin newsom announced the south african variant of covid-19 has made its way to the bay area. >>during an afternoon briefing santa clara county's health officer said the resident infected there had traveled internationally the encouraging >>from our end. as that person upon returning. i immediately

and we don't know of any for further spread. within our community. >>but kony remains unconvinced these are the only cases in the bay area. that's because so little testing is done to determine variance we don't do this every positive specimen and so in some ways we sort of have to >>that perhaps these variants of concern are already circulating we just don't know to what extent alameda county's health officer had little information about the travel history of the resident in his county but said to tamp down any possible spread or future surge. bay area residents must double down on safety measures residents are strongly encouraged to take all precautions. we now know prevent the spread of covid-19. >>including face coverings physical distancing and limiting gatherings with others. information on this variant first discovered in south aftica is evolving day today. >>but ucsf epidemiologist

doctor george rutherford says there's good reason for concern. >>what we know is that it's somewhat more transmissible shares the same mutations, the british strain that's more transmissible and it seems to be. less susceptible to the vaccines and to people who've had naturally acquired immunity. it's not to say that it's totally not susceptible it's just the vaccines or less appear to be somewhat less effective. >>again at this point it is not known whether these 2 cases are linked at this point they don't have information that suggests they are again also don't know how these people got it that investigation is underway. the question is and the concern is that if this does take off in the community and it is more contagious and less effective when it comes to vaccines that this could lead to a further shut down. you know shutdowns have been lifted throughout california. the county health officer for alameda county

said if this takes off things could be reversed. reporting live dan kerman kron 4 news stand. thank you well as concerned about the new covid variants grows cdc research shows that double masking wearing 2 masks. >>provides up to 95% protection from the virus. the cdc says to better protect yourself you should either double up with a cloth mask on top of the circle surgical mask or not the loops of a single surgical mask to reduce the space between the mask your face. the key is to prevent air or droplets from leaking out. one bay area health official agrees these methods increase protection against the virus. but he says it also depends on the setting. >>if people can do the double mask which is simply a regular surgical mask. and a cloth mask. over it. you know that's that's great. but again if you're going in clark and running and there's nobody else around. it doesn't really matter if you wear. to my

soul, one if you're in the middle wet point event slated in northeast. and the occupation you know we need you to be in that space for a very long period of time. ben mee be extra protection would make a big difference. >>double mask game is not necessarily recommended for all masks experts do not recommend to or 2 circles instead double masking must be a cloth mask on top of the surgical mask at this time, the cdc does not recommend everyone wear an n 95 mask. >>another big deal going on right now we're going to some rain look at this future cast this is tracker for and you can see off the coast. there. yeah it out is sunny now the radar is heading our way into tomorrow kron 4 chief meteorologist lawrence karnow as a look ahead lawrence yeah, almost spring-like out there today guys lot of sunshine and those temperatures warming up

very nicely you can look out there over the bay certainly gorgeous today tomorrow be prepared we've got winter making a return and is going to pack a little bit of a punch see the storm system just off the coastline, right there that will be the one. >>that is impacting the bay area by tomorrow and so starting to pick up but by the middle of the day in the north bay this time now for you on our computer model you can see overnight tonight. we'll see some increasing clouds but staying dry so tomorrow morning. you drive early in the morning should be a problem not expecting much in the way of rain then as we head toward the middle of the day there you see it the rain begins to move in around 12 o'clock or so maybe the few showers out ahead of that in the morning in the north bay and then sagging to the south throughout the day so pretty soggy by the afternoon. the main from public coming through right around 5 6 o'clock in the evening to the heart of the bay area rainfall amounts could be a nice little soaker the system not a huge storm, but certainly yeah we could see upwards of a half an inch of rain is in the weather parts of the north bay even more than that or some of the mountain tops guys back to you

thank you lawrence. >>tonight, san francisco police say they have arrested a man they say kidnapped a 2 children while the child's children's father was delivering a meal through doordash. >>25 year-old are little bunny. romero was arrested tuesday morning. he's being charged with kidnapping auto theft and robbery. police say jeffrey fang was delivering orders in his minivan on saturday night with his 4 year-old daughter and one year-old son in the vehicle. left the van running as he jumped out to drop off a food order when he returned from the delivery fang said he saw a stranger driving away with his minivan the children were found hours later police say they're still looking for another suspect. >>now to the south bay lunar new year 2021 the year of the ox well it's coming up, but of course this year the celebration. well be the same because of the pandemic officials are trying to get word out to celebrants to stay safe by avoiding large gatherings we've heard that before kron four's rob fladeboe has more on the story now live from san jose rob.

>>well indeed we have ken i'm here in the parking lot of the grand century mall in san neighborhood in during the lunar new year observances of this parking lot can can hundreds sometimes thousands of people well as they did that just as they did before the super bowl and the recent holidays officials were out here this going through the mall outside the mall, encouraging people not to let their guard down here's more. >>people were snapping up flowers and other items associated with the lunar new year wednesday here at the grand century mall in the heart of san jose's little saigon neighborhood at the same time though they are being urged to abide by state and local health orders and to exercise caution because of the pandemic we are here to say. >>duke mom mom morning. and to please celebrate this lunar new year safely we do this real thanksgiving. >>christmas and other festivities and even when asked you again please do not

visit family. >>in person inside the grand century mall and outreach team was encouraging merchants to remind their customers about the need to wear masks and social distancing are willing to follow the rules and because there are they have made up catching covid passing it on to their older family members many of the region's usual multi-day lunar new year festivities have been canceled or scaled back this year a health order say churches and temples are limited to 20% of capacity. fireworks which typically draw thousands of people to the mall will not be tolerated this year at this point i would like to please recommend for the community anybody coming on site. >>nice follow the guidelines for the covid-19 wear a mask. inside outside the mall. do not congregate.

>>no it's not clear to what extent were exactly how the management is going to limit the number of people here in the parking lot. but they do say security will be stepped up and that they will be making the enforcement of the ban on fireworks, a top priority. live in san jose rob fladeboe kron 4 thanks rob. >>well today city officials and members of the san francisco police department was busy corridors of the parkside neighborhood. they want to address safety concerns ahead of the upcoming lunar new year holiday. well four's maureen kelly reports this comes after a rash of high-profile attacks against asian american seniors here in the bay area. >>supervisors gordon mar and mirana melgar along with the san francisco police department captain walks terrible street and dropped in on many of the asian owned businesses that line the corridor to wish them a happy year of the ox and address concerns there has been a heightened awareness in the community about safety there have been some high-profile

violent attacks against elderly asian victims in several cities across the bay area. just a few weeks ago, 84 year-old beasha to pocket he died at san francisco general hospital from injuries sustained after an attack in the city's ends of this to neighborhood unfortunately this year the unity years the time many asian communities. >>are not feeling joy and celebration and it's it's a moment when there's a lot concern here and even outrage over the growing a number of on it. incidents of violence crime and hate being targeted asian communities, particularly vulnerable seniors, the captain of terrible station had a few tips regarding the lunar new year tradition of giving red envelopes with money inside. >>as far as like red envelopes openly displayed i wouldn't do that i wouldn't openly display them, does any any way you can actually go inside the bank the transaction that might be a little safer to be standing out using an atm where you're

pretty visible to anybody you might be watching that atm and use the buddy system bring somebody with you this week, several supervisors, including maher and milled are called for a hearing on crimes and violence targeting asian americans. >>which is expected to be held sometime next month. >>maureen kelly kron 4 >>in the east bay another violent attack against an asian american in the bay area, san leandro police are working to identify 4 armed robbers to are involved in attack on a man yesterday afternoon the man was trying to deposit money at a local bank. it happened in front of a bank of america on marina boulevard. victim was waiting in line to deposit a large sum of money. it was and police say that the attackers pushed him to the ground and robbed him of that money. the 4 suspects got away in a car before police arrived. witnesses identified the suspects only as men in their 20's and police say it. one of them was armed with a handgun. >>coming up former president trump's a second impeachment

trial continues on capitol hill, the dramatic arguments presented today by the house impeachment managers a covid-19 outbreak in the north bay what we know about a cluster of cases at assisted living facility in napa plus some east bay students are headed back to school this week, how one

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with nutrients to help support immune health. >>in the east bay to san ramon valley unified school district reopened preschools and elementary schools for in

person instruction today after a long pandemic driven hiatus four's the leak to gaal reports from danville where students wrapped up their first day back in youngsters lineup, 6 feet apart from their classmates entering a new phase of their education is will be her first day actually on campus ever parents of students at green brook elementary in danville turning the page on full-time distance learning are excited receiving instruction on campus seems very excited. he's nervous. he has all the emotions, he said he scared, happy and >>you know of us but he's really happy to be back it's going to be a great thing for them some 55% of the student body. >>is back on campus for in person instruction, some 45% of the student body. >>will remain in distance learning kids are so resilient. >>and this is a comfortable environment for most of them are our youngest learners haven't quite been here yet so this is new for them and most

of our children, this is a comfortable preschools and elementary schools in the san ramon valley unified school district. >>now reopened in the hybrid model of in person education tk through second graders returned this week, 3rd through 6th graders head back to class next week i believe they're extreme safety protocols and we're with the vaccine rollout. >>first let's go rob and to some degree but. >>it's getting extra owner of the social there just being there at school actually going to a place to get in zone for learning. i'm little bit that the principal says the campus will slowly work its way up to 4 days of in person instruction per week. >>in danville phillipe djegal all kron 4 news. >>in the north bay there has been a major covid-19 outbreak at a senior living for says it

might gun shows us where it happened and what's being done to contain outbreak from spreading. >>according to the california department of social services there are 11 active covid-19 cases among staff and 19 total active cases among residents of the brookdale senior living facility in the city of napa but does spokesperson sent kron 4 a statement that reads in part quote we can't confirm more than one member of our brookdale napa community has tested positive for covid-19 we have informed residents their family members and associates of brookdale napa of this matter we are diligently monitoring residents and associates for signs and symptoms and we continue to work directly with local health officials to ensure all residents and associates have appropriate and necessary medical support quote back in december but dell was among all licensed assisted living facilities. the department of social services and rolled into the

federal pharmacy partnership program which includes cvs health. confirmed cases reportedly happened within a month the brookdale residents and staff receiving their first 2 covid-19 vaccine doses through the program. i contacted cvs health they sent kron 4 this statement reading quote no one from our political team to administer vaccines at this facility has tested positive for covid-19 we continue to partner with each facility to address their needs to vaccinate residents and staff unquote over the course of the pandemic napa county has said 55 known or suspected. >>outbreaks in a number of facilities in napa county spokesperson janet upton describes the county's protocol for handling covid-19 outbreak so that process includes working very closely with the facility. and we have some requirements of them that we coordinate with them on and that includes 100% testing of residents and staff every day until there's 2 consecutive rounds negative test result,

so mean. completely clean at that point we'll do what's called close that outbreak has it made kron 4 news. >>first check the weather we're monitoring some rain on the way we're waiting for it to get here in our chief meteorologist lawrence karnow can tell us when that's going to happen yeah, going to wait long in computer models continue to move this up a little bit faster with each run. usually that's a good sign that we're going to certainly see that rain looks like it's going to happen out there right now you would know what though it's been such a spectacular day lot of sunshine temperatures running above the much of the bay area now the couple of patches of fog creep in the san francisco occasion you see couple batches roll on by here but a nice shot out there over the bay right now as we're going to close the day mostly sunny side up but won't be long and then we start talking rain doppler radar scan your skies a storm system sums to about 450 miles off the coastline. the san francisco right now it is going to be on approach tonight clouds going to start to fill in your skies right now things are stay mostly clear, although we did have a

couple of patches of fog. >>along the coastline winds have been kicking up just a little bit around the bay area breezy afternoon in san francisco 23 miles per hour 21 sfo 15 in benicia and 16 in flail now the winds likely to continue as we head to tomorrow as well we'll see that from to get a dive into the bay area and then we get a cold wind developing a little bit of a southerly component as a storm system gets a little bit closer so plan on the winds picking up throughout the day tomorrow you see all the colors begin to fill in looking for scale those winds gusting over 30 miles per hour across some of the mountain tops out to be a lot of snow to maybe a foot foot and half the higher peaks so winter weather advisory ago in effect through 4 o'clock in the afternoon on thursday, so good news all around get back to some wet weather in fact friday i think we dry things out saturday. another chance of some rain valentine's day looks mostly dry right now then another chance of rain on monday which is presidents day ok thank you. >>still ahead a massive cleanup underway in the

>>in the east bay work continues on cleaning up and assessing the damage from that latest oil spill into the san francisco bay from the chevron refinery in richmond for shells clifford has an update. >>right now i'm standing along the shoreline here in point richmond and the spill occurred at the chevron refinery pier which is right behind me there. and on wednesday afternoon there are still boats out on the water that's a coast guard cutter working on assessing the

damage from the spill also deploying oil absorbent booms not so much to contain the spiol but to protect sensitive wildlife. on wednesday contra costa health services, the california department of fish and wildlife us coast guard and chevron join forces to assess the damage from tuesday's fuel spill at the chevron refinery pier. >>enrichment so far estimates put the spill about 600 gallons this video shows the sheen from the spill spreading out over san francisco bay on tuesday evening. it's not yet clear exactly what spilled into the water whether it was refined fuel or crude oil, but fish and wildlife says that an over flight on wednesday showed that the spill seem to be a lighter type of fuel which is good because with a sunny day like this a lot of that will dissipate on its own at this point they also aren't seeing any major problems so the impacts to wildlife we haven't seen any. >>as far as environmental impacts are still assessing it right now the cleanup and assessment of the spill continues east bay regional

parks has closed the miller knox regional shoreline in point richmond. >>the coast guard has advised boats not involved in the cleanup to avoid the area for neighbors to live nearby the smell of fuel still lingers in the air is not as strong as it was tuesday evening. but it's still noticeable it's an oily smell fronts a given lives nearby she says that unfortunately smelling fuel is not unusual here. we smell that pretty often hear in point richmond you know that refinery is just over the hill. a lot of times we can smell it sometimes it has a slightly burning out or if they're having a flare problem you get used to it but we're very aware of that now as of wednesday afternoon. there's no eta on how long this assessment and cleanup will continue or how long the park will be closed here in point richmond crews expect to be here to at least today. >>probably longer. but for now in the east bay charles clifford kron 4 news. >>coming up next skeptical americans how many responded to a survey saying they're not sure if they trust that covid vaccine. president biden

weighs in he says why he is against recalling governor gavin newsome plus president trump's second impeachment trial continued on

>>this was never about pursuing legitimate claims. she was saying anything he could to trigger and anger, his base. so that they would fight like hello to overturn a legitimate election. today on

capitol hill, the house impeachment managers began their opening arguments in the second impeachment trial against former president donald trump. >>you just heard from bay area representative eric swalwell he is serving as one of the managers our washington dc correspondent alexandra le mon joins us live now from dc with the latest on those opening arguments, alexandra. >>a lot of new dramatic video showing today. >>yeah good evening, not only did we see some new video but we also saw other new pieces of evidence like new court documents with statements from some of those rioters that reportedly said they wanted to kill the vice president mike pence and wanted to shoot. speaker pelosi, if they have the chance of the house managers tried to make the argument that that's all because of president trump. >>republican louisiana senator bill cassidy isn't ruling out the possibility of convicting former president donald trump pursuant to my oath. >>am