right now at 5, they headed outside but are they headed for a particular. a lot of activity along the coast today as some communities worry they'll be overwhelmed with visitors. plus -- >> we are all affected by this pandemic, but we know that its impacts will not be felt equally. >> some unique testing begins among san francisco's hardest hit areas. the reason the new information could be vital to helping certain industries. >> coronavirus patients potentially saving others sick with the virus. we speak with a doctor about a plasma transfer infusion.

news at 5 starts right now. i'm terry mcsweeney. a break through in the bay area. for the first time at ucsf, doctors have transfused convalescent plasma into a covid-19 patient. that means using blood from people who have recovered from the virus and have antibodies from the disease in their blood. the global death toll has topped 200,000. more than 1/4 of those deaths in the u.s. to put things into perspective on how fast this number is rising. just 15 days ago, april 10th. the global death toll stood at 100,000. now it's doubled. here at home cases continue to climb. more than 7200 reported cases. at least 259 people have died. today every county with the exception of marin, solano, sonoma and men doe seen know counties added new cases. cases in san mateo county have now topped 1,000. despite masks and social

distancing, testing will be a crucial part of moving forward in this pandemic. ucsf is trying to take action. nbc bay area's tom jensen reports from the mission district. >> reporter: at least 2,000 people registered for the free covid-19 testing by saturday morning. everyone across san francisco's mission district encouraged to get tested over the next few days. >> latino people are so scared. don't be scared. it's very easy. >> reporter: an opinion echoed by supervisor hillary ronan who points the finger at the white house worrying the president's tough talk could discourage people with immigration issues from getting government help. >> i want to make it very clear that's not true in the case of covid-19, that the immigrant population can accept medical services, offers of hotels to isolate and quarantine. >> the la latin excumulatiommui

shows the tight living conditions could be driving up the infection rate. >> the levels of the virus are very high even before people have symptoms. so when people are close together, they don't even know they are infected, they can spread it with each other. >> the push to test everyone is similar to the operation in belinas earlier this week which became the first place to test everyone in a community. the aim is to find who has it now and who has already been exposed and might not even know it. dr. diane hadler, division chief at ucsf who specializes in infectious diseases says once they determine who has it and who has been covered, they can beat covid-19. in san francisco, thom jensen, nbc bay area news.

new at 5, they're warning against the idea there could be immunity passports in the near future. there's no evidence yet that people who have recovered are protected from a second infection. some companies and other organizations have suggested people get tested for antibodies. the world health organization is urging more research. it argues that people who assume they are immune could actually raise the risk of transmission. we've been reporting there have been several studies in the bay area involving antibodies and the potential help they could provide for patients. doctors at ucsf successfully transferred plasma from a recovered patient into the icu. here to talk with us more about that, dr. peter chen hang. professor of medicine, not only a professor of medicine, you're great on television. thanks for joining us here tonight. what we're all hoping for. >> thanks for having me on, terry. >> good to have you. what we're all hoping for, of course, some kind of treatment

for covid-19. first of all, what's a plasma transfusion? and could it provide real hope for a treatment? >> great question, terry. plasma transfusion is a product that comprises the white cells or the antibodies or the army of someone who's successfully recovered from covid-19 and we are going to transfuse it into a patient who is critically ill and hasn't had the time to develop that army yet. to give somebody else's soldiers to stun the virus so it makes fewer viruses to make the body angry. >> do you see this as a true hope? we've had a number of maybe even call them disappointments as far as treatments go. is this providing a real hope in your estimation? >> so i think infectious disease doctors and doctors in general are generally hopeful for this therapy. we've used it a while. we've used this therapy since

polio. we've used it in sars and mers. we've used it in hepatitis a before the vaccine. again, there's a lot of biologic plausibility. covid-19 is different. we need to rigorously study it. the next thing that we're going to do and some centers across the country are already organized to do it, to look at this in the context of a trial or randomized control trial. >> yeah, we were just talking. there was a story before this one. the w.h.o. saying much more testing is needed before we can really assume a person who's had the virus is protected against getting it a second time. how much testing do we have to do before we know that that's the case? >> i think in my personal opinion, terry, i don't think that the natural viral infection no matter how many people have it will make enough people in the community have antibodies to get what we call herd immunity. that will come most efficiently

from a vaccine. but in the meantime we can use antibody tests to identify potential donors, people who are altruistically going to donate their own plasma to folks who may need it in the time when they're critically ill. >> how does someone go about becoming a donor when the vast majority of us don't know if we ever had covid-19, which is exactly what you're looking for? how do we go about someone watching, we want to help out, how could we do that? >> that's a great question, too. i think that system is becoming friendlier to accepting donors because we've had to make -- do some reorganization. i think the easiest group of people right now before the community wide screenings, which i hope will happen eventually, are the people who knew they had covid. so maybe you knew you had covid, you have paper saying you had a positive virus test. if you have no symptoms for 28

days, you go with that paper to any blood bank and the blood bank is going to take you no questions asked. then in the back door they're going to check to see if you have antibodies, they're going to screen the blood product for all of the usual diseases, hiv, hepatitis, et cetera. then they're going to separate out the rest, the red blood cell transfusions from the white cells which are the army when transfused. if it works out, they'll type and cross you. then they'll give it to the patient in the icu and the blood transfusion is made. >> thank you for being on the show again. hope to talk to you again soon. >> thanks, terry. here's a live look at pacifica. quite busy out there. shelter at home orders are still in place. that family's doing a good job. people in the water have a lot of room around them. still cold out there.

pacifica police are out there enforcing the orders. they say anyone who's not from there shouldn't be there. it's pretty simple. they enforced the rules yesterday. they arrested no one. no one arrested for violating the orders. no word on any citations or arrests today. people are cooperating. pretty cool. we'll have a live report from pacifica coming up at 6:00. ocean beach in san francisco, that's a big crowd. people are out there sitting at the beach. going for walks. i see some fishing poles there. seems like at least for the most part social distancing is happening there. similar scene in southern california, but some places like newport beach did reopen to the public today. that's a pretty nice scene. a lot of spacing going on there. health officials are still encouraging people to follow social distancing while they try to beat the heat. >> i think you're out here in the open. i think there's space between everybody. there's not a party going on. it's just a relaxed atmosphere.

i think this is something good. >> surfers in encinitas protesting. they want the beaches reopened there. everything is reopened. you can see police there and a small crowd as well. not reopened yet. they want it reopened. we'll keep you posted on that. look at the situation statewide. across california more than 41,000 reported cases nationwide now, nationwide. more than 900,000 cases. the nation's death toll approaches 52,000 across the country are grappling with the same question, when will it be safe to reopen. some states have started relaxing stay at home orders. nbc's chris pollone has more. >> reporter: in florida life is getting back to normal slowly with some beaches open for a few hours a day. beach bags packed a little differently in the age of covid-19. >> i've got a facemask in my bag. i have disinfectant spray and wipes and when it starts getting crowded i will leave.

>> reporter: when is the right time to relax stay at home orders and facing pressure from health officials and people who want to get back to work to make ends meet. >> we're cleaning out chairs and scissors, combs. it is more -- better today than it's ever been. >> reporter: georgia is a flash point in the debate. now businesses like gyms, salons, spas are allowed to open against federal guidelines as new cases of covid-19 there continue to increase. >> the fact that a salon can be open, i don't know why that's essential. >> reporter: new york continues to be the hardest hit area with more than 21,000 deaths. the governor says the worst here has passed, but with more than 400 people still dying each day from covid-19, he says it's not ti up yet. he's urging patience. >> 1918 pandemic went on for two years. we're in day 56. >> whew! >> reporter: the majority of the people who contract the virus do recover giving people hope and a reason to celebrate, which is

what they did in missouri when a st. louis police officer left the hospital after 24 scary days. chris pollone, nbc news, new york. now to our making it in the bay series on the housing crisis and the cost of living. dozens of people showed up to cancel the rents rallies in oakland and san francisco today. this is video from the san francisco protest which was part rally, part car caravan. demonstrators taped signs on their cars and they chanted. they're calling for a cancellation of rent and mortgages nationwide. speakers demanded more support for working class americans, the homeless, undocumented immy jantz and landlords and businesses. >> we need to work together in this crisis to demand we fail as a peop -- bail out the people. we fight back. we're doing that today. >> this was part of a national day of action. still to come, a popular bay

area bakery chain forced to make a change because of the pandemic. we're going to tell you how it affects people in one east bay city. plus, the musical tribute to front line workers heard in san francisco and around the world. you might have heard this song before. >> reporter: and it's been a pretty warm, almost summer like start to the weekend earlier. temperatures in the upper 80s. we'll talk about cooler changes for sunday and could showers be in your seven-day forecast? we'll look at that when we come right back.

at cigna, we don't just stand with healthcare professionals in this time of crisis we run with them, toward those in need. we are 7,000 doctors, nurses, pharmacists and therapists supporting their efforts on the ground and virtually. and just as we are by their side, we're by yours, too. with answers to your most pressing questions and expert advice at cigna.com/covid19

san francisco opened up another area to walkers and bikers this weekend. traffic was blocked off to a 4 1/2 mile loop in presidio. it's all part of an effort to keep people outside, safe, remaining six feet away from everyone else. that group is doing it. the first time presidio did anything like this. the first time san francisco rolled out slow streets traffic. it is san francisco's unofficial anthem today that rang out across the city all in honor of first responders. sing along. ♪ i left my heart in san francisco ♪ ♪ hialeah hills ♪ it calls to me

>> former san francisco mayor willie brown joining tony bennett, people across the city, around the world singing the classic "i left my heart in san francisco" a tribute to front line workers and a show of san francisco coming together during this pandemic. earlier this week bennett put out a call to join in from your porches, balconies, walking down the street. you see some people headed out to union square to sing all while social distancing. doctors and nurses at sutters cpmc campus took a moment to join in. they sound good through the mask, don't they? thank you for what you do. the first time it's sung publicly at the fairmont hotel back in 1961 where a statue of mr. bennett sits. high on the hill. up next, looking to welcome visitors back. city leaders debate reopening tahoe for the summer season.

the coronavirus proved too much for a well-known bay area bakery's latest store. tartine has decided to close the berkeley cafe. this is less than a year in business. packed with customers. the owners say business dropped off too much after shelter at home orders went into effect. it wasn't happening. the small cafe inside the graduate berkeley hotel was tartine's first venturing out.

the other stores in san francisco are all still open. the city of south lake tahoe grappling with when is the right time to reopen. they have a shelter in order in place. the city sees much of its revenue from tourism. the question, of course, facing businesses there, when is it safe? it's looking at ways to responsibly reopen. they have formed two task forces to help businesses get back up on their feet. rob joining us with pictures of tahoe. a beautiful picture of rob's backyard. how is it going, rob? >> reporter: doing well. as you see, the flowers in full bloom. we're getting a bit of the ambience of the stay at home in our neighborhood. kids playing at water balloons. dogs barking. birds pretty happy. the bumble bees coming off of these roses, not social distancing. if you see me running, that could be why.

we're in short sleeves if you're outside in your yard. right here it's 82 degrees. let's take you outside to san jose where you have sunny skies. increasing high clouds. earlier today temperatures climbing up into the 80s. 79 degrees. wind picking up a bit. the wind is tomorrow's weather story. it will lead to some cooling as you go through your sunday. there you see walnut creek still pretty warm. san francisco cooling quickly down to 65 degrees. wind speed, 22 miles per hour. so we have temperatures from the 80s to almost 90 earlier around fairfield. it is a summer spread of micro climates around the bay area. 60s coast side and bay. from san jose south ward, morgan hill fell. as the on shore winds pick up, we'll see more tomorrow. patchy low clouds returning to the coast again. high clouds at times for the morning. highs tomorrow overall 70s and 8 os inland. we shouldn't see the 80s like we

had today around the tri valley or down into morgan hill. low 80s. speaking of those high clouds, we should be treated to a nice sunset view. giving us a nice filtered sunshine. through the evening, you notice the other batch of clouds at the fog making a comeback on the coast. one of the reasons why is the ocean air picks up, we should see cooling heading into sunday. mostly sunny skies. a bit more wind as we head into sunday afternoon. very interesting, for the first time this early in the season on april 25th, we've had a tropical storm or tropical depression named in the northeast pacific. never happened this early. no high clouds or any big surf. you'll notice high pressure holding strong as we go through the next few days. very likely tuesday we'll see temperatures climb on up. as we head towards next weekend, maybe just maybe a chance for some showers up on the north coast. a bit cooler until the end of your seven day forecast.

san francisco, cooling down a little bit as we get into monday. should see 70s return on tuesday. mid week warmup and you see it for the inland temperatures climbing into the mid 80s. we hope maybe a chance of showers as we head into next week. in the meantime, as we've been watching throughout this newscast, the weather makes it tempting to go outside. staying at home, practicing social distancing, you've got to do it even though the weather makes it tempting to get out to the coast and other places around the bay area. >> i'm so glad he made it through there without the bumble bees. >> always a good thing. i'm the most excited about that. >> thanks a lot. still ahead, people in the south bay doing something good to lift spirits during this pandemic. we'll take you to the neighborhood concert series they've started. some companies still have hr stuck between employees and their data.

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a bay area base the company is helping workers put food on tables in england. star ship technologies is headquartered in san francisco. company's robots, there they are, are operating in parts of england for the past two years. when the country went on lockdown a month ago, use of the robots has surged. they're offering free grocery deliveries to national health service workers. >> we've had a lot of nhs workers get in touch with us to say how thankful they are that they can actually use this service. lots of them are doing 80 hour shifts in the week, an 80 hour

week. they don't have time to go to the local grocery store. they use our robots for their shopping and it's been really essential for them. >> the robots are not unsafe. they only go 4 miles an hour and they use sensors, cameras and radar to make sure they get the groceries to their destination safely. we're back in a moment. we're all in this fight, all the way.

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and our community is counting on us to do our part. we know who we are and how vibrant our community is. let's make sure our nation knows it too. for more information, visit getcounted.com, and to participate, go to census.gov. we want to end tonight with something good. a lot of big concerts canceled in the bay area because of the pandemic. in a south bay neighborhood today, the next best thing. take a listen. ♪ ♪ >> video comes to us from campbell. it shows a man playing his electric guitar in his front yard just outside his garage. you can tell the guy can play and the neighbors loved it.

he says the show is going to be back next week. he even encouraged neighbors to bring their microphones, maybe a guitar or two. is drums too much? i don't know. come on in and sing along in campbell. thanks for watching. nightly news is next. back at 6:00. breaking news tonight, back to business. the states partially reopening this weekend, another dozen set to in the coming week. we're with some barbershops and gyms as they open the doors while across the country more states see record cases of coronavirus. the new fears of a possible meat shortage as a meat processing employee speaks out. ambulances start coming to or plant, people start being carried out of there >> the alleged risks to employees there. this stunning warning from the w.h.o., there's no evidence having the coronavirus will prevent you from getting it again. what that really means. dialing back