100% beef and hearty chili. try my $5.99 chili cheeseburger combo. it's pretty delicious. ith now at 11:00 clamping down again as hospitals run out of room. the bay area is on the verge of a stay at home order for the second time this year. >> lives are in the balance. lives will be lost unless we do more than we've ever done. >> so what will the governor's

new restrictions mean for you? we're going to break down what will stay open and what has to close. tonight whael explain why some entrepreneurs would like the governor to make a decision quickly. >> also a vaccine in reach. tonight who's on the governor's priority list. and what about kids? when will vaccines be approved for them? we answer the questions that many parents are asking. this could be our last hurdle before the finish line but it's a big hurdle and might last for weeks. the new stay at home order is likely. it could start by mid-month and all hinges on how many icu beds are available in each county. once the county dips below 15% capacity, that triggers a three-week stay at home order. here's where the bay area stands right now. most counties you can see are hovering around 30%. but look at santa clara county it's at 17% capacity. sonoma county in rough shape,

less than 1% capacity. it has only three icu beds remaining in the entire county. today the governor broke the state into five regions. bay area, northern california, greater sacramento, the san joaquin valley and southern california. some governors says some regions could get shutdown in just a couple of days. so what's going to close? that's the big question. here's a partial list. hair salons and nail salons. no indoor or outdoor dining at restaurants, only take out. also wineries, zoos and playgrounds. so will this all work? nbc bay area's jackie ward asking the experts. >> reporter: back to tougher restrictions we go if california continues to see this surge in covid cases. tonight we spoke to two infectious disease experts who gave us their take on what governor newsom announced today. >> so much of california is at

breaking point that there's not much more give to give. >> dr. peter hong is an infectious disease expert seeing the devastation of this pandemic first-hand at ucsf. he believes the states projections that the bay area icu capacity could dip to around 15% around christmastime. >> we have no choice, frankly. we try to, you know, press lightly on the brake, on that emergency brake. but i think they're pressing a little bit hard now because we cannot keep up so far with what we're preventing which is over flooding the capacity of the hospitals to care for patients. >> reporter: if a statewide stay at home order is made official personal care services and hair salons would close. there'd be no outdoor dining, and wineries, zoos and playgrounds may also close. retail stores could remain open at 20% capacity. takeout and delivery options would still be available as well as outdoor religious services.

dr. dean winslow, a professor of medicine at stanford university says right now santa clara county has 25% of its icu beds available and agrees with governor newsom's approach calling it balanced. >> i think it's a measure to take at this point. >> reporter: the doctor stresses indoor activities are the highest risk of spreading and contracting the disease remains. >> relatively speaking outdoor activities particularly if you can maintain that 6 feet or 2 meters of social distance is probably relatively safe although, you know, nothing is 100% safe. >> reporter: in san francisco, jackie ward, nbc bay area news. >> well, most business owners get it. this is a matter of public health. but what they don't get that their businesses are safe and follow the covid guidelines. so why are they being penalized?

and they're worried about their livelihoods. nbc bay area's cheryl hurd continues our coverage in pleasanton. >> reporter: an emotional response to the governor's announcement today that californians may soon have to live through another round of closures which includes hair salons, bars and restaurants. >> if that's the case i probably have to layoff most my people again, and it's christmastime and no fun for them or anybody. but the situation seems dire. >> reporter: especially here in alameda county. late tonight the health department put businesses and people who live and work here on notice saying if the situation worsens we may need to enact the state's stay at home restrictions before the bay area region meet the threshold of below 15% i krurcu capacity. they made that decision they say

to protect bed availability and save lives. the battle against the covid-19 spread is frustrating for people enjoying downtown pleasanton tonight. >> these small businesses aren't the problem. outdoor dining isn't the issue. it's the people acting a fool out there that aren't taking care of themselves and the people close to them. >> very frustrated. i feel bad for all the small businesses in the area. that's what hurts me the most. >> hopefully this turns around sooner rather than later. >> reporter: danville barbershop owner michael mahia has been through the mandatory covid shutdowns several times. he's not looking forward to another one. >> being a barber and hairdresser you care about the community you're in, so health is the most important thing rather than making money right now at this point. >> cheryl, this is tough especially where you are in alameda county which could be going into this lock down before all the other counties. how many business owners are just worried they might not be in business in the next few months?

>> well, you know, raj, that question is on the back of every business owners mind i talked to tonight. they have no idea if they'll be able to stay in business although they're hopeful. they would like to get money from the state and also like to get money from the city. but what they're most worried about and you heard it in my piece is laying off employees especially during the holiday. >> all right, and federal monies could soon be coming their way as well. cheryl hurd, thank you. reporting for in pleasanton. what about traveling now for this holiday season? the governor says don't do it. either postpone or cancel those nonessential trips. there is a statewide travel restriction. >> we know that part of what has happened in california is that a number of people who have travelled outside of our state, visited our state come not beknownst to them able to transmit covid to others. >> there's dr. galley who added

while nonessential travel is discouraged there will be no enforcement of this travel restriction. the state is hoping everyone just does the right thing. well, we're seeing a lot of this. converting spaces and setting up outside facilities. these tents going up at the kaiser facility in walnut creek outside in the front parking lot. the hospital told us they will provide additional treatment space if needed. since this pandemic began santa clara county has been really the be bellwether for the entire region. a number of hospitals in the county have less than 10% icu capacity. the biggest outbreaks are at care facilities and homeless shelters. one nursing home in san jose has had 151 positive cases. and a homeless shelter, the bu cardo reception center, reportedf 0 new cases in about a week. >> each hospital has submitted a surge plan how they could increase the capacity within the

four walls of the hospital. so this would include bringing beds into service that normally aren't in service. >> health leaders say it'll be more difficult this time to setup special surge facilities because there are simply fewer nurses available to help out. california is also making emergency plans preparing 11 different locations for extra beds. three of those 11 locations here in the bay area. the san mateo county event center will host 250 extra beds. now you're looking at the craneway pavilion in richmond. it'll hold about 250 beds and ft. mason in san francisco, 125 additional beds. there is hope with all this. the first doses of the vaccine are expected to be just weeks away. california is expecting to get 327,000 doses of the pfizer vaccine. the question tonight who gets priority and when? here's junelle wang.

>> the governor said the counties will be able to place their orders. who will be in line to get the vaccine first? the governor broke down the first group into three tiers today. the first tier will include patients in acute and psychiatric care, people in assisted living facilities, emergency response workers and people in dialysis centers. the second tier would include in-home health care workers, community health care workers, public health staff and primary care facilities. and the third tier, specialty clinics, lab workers, dentists and pharmacy staff. now, even among these tiers the governor says those who need it most will be prioritized. the rest of californians will be months after that. raj? >> thank you. that's going to be a big issue as we move through those special tiers. up next, protecting kids from covid. when will they be able to get the vaccine, and do doctors recommend it?

we have answers. and this doesn't look like december. the flames that have firefighters scrambling down in southern california. there are evacuations. i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri tracking our increasing fire danger. i'll pinpoint when those winds will pick up. i'll see you back here in 7 minutes.

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new at 11:00 another staffer of governor newsom's office has tested positive for covid. this is the second known case. the governor's office says the staffer was working remotely for several weeks and did not come into contact with the governor or his family. in fact the first family remains in quarantine at their home in the sacramento area after one of the kids came in contact with someone who later tested positive. first it was the governor. then mayor locardo in san jose

and now it's mayor breed. she wrote on twitter today this criticism is fair. it doesn't matter whether something is technically allowed or not. her dinner last month at the famed french laundry was technically allowed because napa county was in the less restrictive tier. governor newsom also apologizing for dining there last month. mayor breed adds what i especially regret is that the urgency of our public health message in this moment has never been more dire and my actions have distracted from that. >> in washington, d.c. lawmakers are making headway on a new covid relief bill. pressure is mounting for them to pass a relief bill that would put money into the pockets of millions of americans who need it. democratic leaders now support using a $900 billion bipartisan framework as a starting point. president trump is promising he will sign that bill into law. a lot of optimism about the

vaccine we know that. but is it safe for kids? right now there's only one covid vaccine trial with children. this puts parents in a tough spot. here's nbc bay area sergio quintana. >> reporter: at walgreen stores across the bay area they've started installing signs on their doors telling people that covid-19 vaccinations are not yet available. and even as some are hoping to get vaccinated soon there are still lots of concerns and questions like is it safe for children? will you feel comfortable taking it? >> i mean i would like to take it. >> reporter: 15-year-old cameron garret feels comfortable getting the covid-19 vaccine when it is available, but his grandmother and guardian florence allen still has questions. >> i don't know if it's going to work. i don't know what the down side of it could be. >> reporter: she told me by phone she'd like to have a detailed conversation with her doctor about it and see how others fair with the batches.

kaiser permanente of northern california is part of that trial with participants in santa clara county and sacramento. if successful a full fledge return to school could be possible. >> we know that once we have a vaccine for children that will make it safer for children and for the adults in the cool system. >> reporter: and younger kids, infants and toddlers? dr. anthony fauci addressed those questions today. >> you start off let's say at 12, and then you work your way down to a younger group and then a younger group. >> reporter: the vaccine contains a genetic code for the protein in coronavirus that should prompt an immune response in children that is similar to adults. >> our bodies can make antibodies against proteins as young as a few weeks of amg. so we may not even need to modify the vaccines much at all. >> reporter: if those trials are successful older teens could start getting vaccinated by march. joining us now dr. monica

gandhi, infectious disease expert from ucsf. i have an 11-year-old at home and a 2-year-old. should they get vaccinated when the time is right? >> they should get vaccinated someday, but the problem is we don't know the dose in which to vaccinated. the trials hasn't started for the pediatric vaccine. ult mlt lay they should get vaccinated. but right now because the party isn't an adult we don't know what to give them. >> what concerns you, what could possibly happen here in the next several months with these trials with kids? >> i'm actually very hopeful about the trials with kids. i'm not concerned that people don't want their kids in trials. they want their children to get vaccinated. and these are very safe vaccines. it's just it's going to take a while if it does take a while, and so all the adults in the vulnerable populations, everyone

else will be vaccinated first. and i think that's okay because children are less vulnerable, but ultimately we need them to be vaccinated as well. >> what's the fine line here of children and teenagers? what if we have teenagers at home? do they get vaccinated in the next several months? >> actually, that's a great question. and if a teenager looks like the same weight as an adult we are likely to vaccinate teenagers based on the same dosing you give as an adult. and this is how we think of adult and childrens medication, for example. if they were tinier people then they probably will have to wait. >> we'll check in with you down the road i'm sure. thanks for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> here's some much needed smiles today. the san francisco non-profit glide held its annual clothing and toy donation in the city. families were given toys, food and clothing. they were also previously given old navy gift cards.

they were able to go online, shop and then today pick up their goodies. more than 90% of these families have recently lost income because of the pandemic. here's an easy way you can help those in need this holiday season through our nourishing neighbors food drive. the next time you're at any safeway in the bay area if you can make a $10 donation or more. that money goes directly to our local food banks. let's smile with jeff's tree in the background as this holiday season is underway. talk about our weather as we head to the weekend, jeff. >> you know, the weather tomorrow looks really good if you still have to get outside and put up christmas decorations, you want to add cheer to your house, i think we're going to be fine with that. but once we hit sunday and monday we're still looking at wind increasing our fire danger. we'll take you outside to our live high definition sky camera network of downtown san jose.

and pretty clear off there in the distance, but still expecting a few areas of isolated patchy fog with temperatures getting down into the 30s and low 40s. so a cold start for us overall tomorrow great day to be outside. and as we look ahead that wind i mentioned. so we'll take you into tomorrow morning's forecast and i do think we'll get down to 37 in the tri-valley with a few areas of that fog and otherwise some sun here to start. and looking good here in the east bay and san francisco 42 and north bay at 36. temperatures tomorrow we're going to go through these pretty fast because they don't really change a whole lot through the microclimates with 67 in san jose and more of those mid to upper 60s in the east bay. that trend continues over to the peninsula except the coastline will be a little bit cooler here. daly city 62, half moon bay 63. light winds and sun returning for tomorrow even in san francisco with 65 in the mission. and right throughout the north

bay we have those 60s as well. 66 in santa rosa, 65 in mill valley. the thing we're looking ahead towards is this system developing in nevada by sunday night into monday. this will bring us a dryer northeasterly wind. i think the focus would primarily be in the mountains sunday night and monday 10 to 35 mile per hour on and off gusts. san francisco with 60s for the highs the next seven days. 60s for the inland valleys and 30s to low 40s there for the mornings. the only other thing we've added on that forecast is by saturday night we could we looking at a little drizzle through the bay area, but i don't think it'd be enough to increase that fire danger sunday night and monday, raj. so we'll keep a close eye on that. >> thank you, jeff. and speaking of fires look what's happening in southern california. raging out of control and it's december. the latest on this fire that's forced thousands of people from their homes. and happening now a petition circulating in palo alto.

it challenges the city counsel's decision to open a cherished park to the public. foothill's park limits access to palo alto residents only and their invited guests. that's changing in a couple of weeks, though, as the council opened the park following losses. now opponents want to put the ballot on the issue so voters can decide who uses the park. we're back in a moment.

we're following breaking news down in orange county. this is new video of the bon fire near liver vine. look at this so far more than 6,000 acres have burned. rarely do we have fires at least of this size in december. but it's dry and it's windy.

right now it's 10% contained, 25,000 people have evacuated. a bay area political heavy weight who is also one of governor newsom's closest friends is accused of felony, domestic violence and child abuse. nate ballard was arrested in october and charged today in napa county. his wife told police that ballard had consumed a large amount of alcohol and marijuana when he pushed her into glass doors. she claims he then grabbed a pillow and tried to suffocate their 4-year-old daughter. ballard is a long time friend and advisor of governor newsom dating back to his days as mayor in san francisco. he's also done public relations for several big name clients. in a statement ballard tells us i've spent my career in crisis communications fighting on behalf of the wrongfully accused, and now for the first time i really know what it feels like to be in their shoes. i will be exonerated. i love my children more than anything on earth, and we will be reunited.

ballard's attorney sending us this statement. after nearly 8 years of continuous sobriety nate resumed drinking in april after his father died. he is now clean and sober again and currently in a residential recovery program to deal with his drinking problem in a responsible comprehensive manner. facebook is taking yet another step on cracking down on misinformation. the company says it'll remove false claims about covid vaccines that have been debunked by health experts. the move expands facebook's current plans. it's already taking down false information and conspiracy theories about the pandemic. facebook says it targets misinformation that poses a risk of imminent harm. all right, up next head coach kyle shanahan not happy with santa clara county. we'll show you what's happening with the 49ers in arizona. stay with us.

well, the 49ers are a little ticked off. today kyle shanahan confirming that the team isn't happy with santa clara county not for essentially kicking them out of the county but for the lack of communication. 49ers say they were essentially blind-sided. the niners did practice today at their new temporary home near

phoenix. the team will practice right there on that field outside the stadium. and they're going to stay right there next door to the stadium at the renaissance hotel. they're not going anywhere for a few weeks. santa clara says it's too dangerous for them to do all of this here in the bay area. coach shanahan says, all right, this is mentally challenging time for his players. >> the worst thing you could be in these situations is feel kind of alone on an island and we've got a big group going through it so we can rally together. >> family is important but so are our jobs. we do this for a living and we have jobs to do, and we're all expected to perform at a high level. so that's what we're focused on. >> the 49ers the home team on monday night football in arizona, though, against the buffalo bills. not just the niners leaving town, the undefeated san jose state football team spending the next couple of days in hawaii. they, too, cannot play or practice in santa clara county.

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all right, how's this going to work? can you zoom with your crown on? queen elizabeth is planning to spend her christmas holiday like many of us visiting virtually with her family and loved ones. apparently the queen has been perfecting her zoom skills. for the past 37 years the royal family has been spending the holiday at the queen's country home. but now buckingham palace officials say the queen and prince philip who are 94 and 99 years old will celebrate quietly in windsor castle instead. that's going to do it for us on this thursday night. thanks for watching. we hope to see you back here tomorrow. [ cheers and applause ♪