our business and tech reporter scott budman is at a biotech lab in newark. scott? >> reporter: raj, the key waiting under the biotech cheneys have companies have progress being made. bay area biotech companies got a boost today thanks in part to optimistic words from the president about the fight against coronavirus. >> clinical trials are already under way for many new therapies. >> reporter: gentlemen now and then . >> so many companies are jumping in to figure out, hey, might we have a medicine that works? do we have a vaccine that might work? >> reporter: announcing a phase 3 trial with the fda to see if one of its existing medicines can be used to fight the virus. >> we are starting a clinical trial with one of our medicines called a.c.t.emra for his if it might work against the coronavirus pneumonia. >> i'm optimistic we're moving in the right direction. >> reporter: the cofounder of adam bio says their lab isbers than ever and has been working with other local labs. >> looking where we were, at least the progress i've seen, at any given time maybe 30 differe

let's bring in our business and tech reporter scott budman who joins us in san jose and scott, this won't solve our financial problems but it will help a lot of people. >> reporter: right, we're talking about a $2 billion stimulus plan, aimed directly at kick starting our stunned economy. it's also something many people here are counting on to help them get by. marcus white is struggling to make ends meet as a door dash delivery person. the economic slowdown is not helping. >> just right now, it's the bottom. >> reporter: the federal government's $2 trillion stimulus package is aimed partly at individuals like marcus. >> we will essentially be printing a whole lot of money. >> reporter: and here is where a lot of that money is going. individuals making less than $75,000 a year will get a direct payment of $1200. families will get an additional $500 per child. if you're unemployed, jobless payments will be extended for 13 weeks. small businesses will get emergency loans to help them stay afloat. and $100 billion is being set aside for hospitals. >> nobody could have imagined how different

live in fremont, scott budman, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, scott we'll stay up to date with the latest on the virus with the daily newsletter, with top headlines in your inbox, go to nbc bay area.com to sign up. >>> still to come, with the shelter in home order, if it is giving you cabin fever, it could be a lot worse. next, we talk to a bay area woman working in shanghai, about how the chinese government is keeping tabs on her quarantine. >> and we check in with some of the hiking trails. are they busy or not in your area? we'll show you some in the east bay. >> i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri working from home like a lot of you. we will talk about the big weekend changes and when rain rolls in, i'll have that for you coming up in just a couple of minutes. a little bit of blue sky there today, you can see. when we face adversity, we find a way through it. it's about taking care of each other. it's the small parts that make a big difference. at chevy, we promise to do ours. we're offering chevy owners complimentary onstar crisis assist services and wifi data. if you need a

our business tech reporter scott budman is live in downtown san jose with answers. a lot of people are really jittery, scott. >> reporter: yeah, a lot of jitters, a lot of fear. that's what moves markets lower, jessica. let's start with housing. it hasn't moved lower. real estate agents i spoke to say the market here in the bay area remains hot, but because of the stock market falling and coronavirus fears rising, there is now worry, and that worry is finding its way into, of all things, the open house. just last weekend, open houses started to feature more than just nice furniture and potential buyers, it featured prominent placement of cleaning supplies and germ killers. >> when i came to this open house to hold it open, there was a big old jar of -- from my clients, which was great. people are grateful for them. walking through, oh, this is here, they would use it. no shaking hands, keep it a little more distance. >> okay, scott, when it comes to the stock market, we always hear don't panic. does that still stand given everything that's happened, though? >> repor

live in fremont, scott budman, nbc bay area news. >> scott, thank you. >>> the legal system scrambling with all of this, almeda county closing all of the courthouses at least until april 7. steps are now being taken to implement the closure, now the court is discussing the possibility of periodically doing arraignments, because there's no plan to do them by video. officials also realized certain types of filings will still need to be accepted, like temporary restraining orders. those will be done via drop box only. >>> and a new situation with homeless in motels, at the start of the pandemic and almeda county started the operation and says it will take weeks to get it done. jodi hernandez has more from oakland. >> reporter: raj, two oakland hotels have been empty since yesterday afternoon, almeda county says they have been scrambling to get the raddison and the neighboring comfort inn staffed up with everything it needs to move in. but apparently the state wanted it done faster. so they're taking over. thousands of homeless are doing their best to shelter in place. hoping the coronavir

scott budman, nbc bay area news. >>> one drug that came up in the president's news conference is called chloroquine, an antimalarial drug that was briefly linked to a stanford researcher. we reached out to stanford today. they said they were not part of a study involving that drug or denied any link to that researcher. >>> you know the old phrase there's no crying in baseball, only cheering, even if you have covid-19. 39-year-old justin posting his diagnosis on social media. it caught the attention of not only fellow a's fans but a's management. dave cavill saw will height's post and asked him to throw out the first pitch when opening day finally arrives. >> when i get on that mound, i'm throwing a heater. whoever is much caing it better watch out that day. >> he says the virus feels like pneumonia or going outside on a really cold day. so he is in good spirits, janelle and it's nice to see a smile on some faces. >>> let's go to jeff ranieri. he is now working from home or social distancing. raj is in the studio. i'm in the newsroom. you're at home, and you've got a check of our forecas

live in san jose, scott budman, nbc bay area news. >>> okay, thank you, scott. now another hit to the local economy. another major tech company canceled one of its annual conferences because of the coronavirus. google announcing it's canceling its upcoming google io conference in mountain view. 7,000 people usually attend that event. facebook, microsoft and adobe also announced that they're pulling out of their major conferences as well. >>> the world health organization is issuing a stirn warning today, saying there's a dire shortage of medical supplies like masks and gloves, not just for every day people but medical professionals. we've created a coronavirus crisis center to make sure you have the latest and most reliable information. one of the many questions people are asking us, will the warm weather, especially here in california, help stop the coronavirus outbreak. the cdc says it's not clear if weather and temperature impact the spread, because there's still so much to learn about this virus. another question, should i wear a mask? a bay area doctor tell

scott budman is live in mountain view for that part of the story. scott? >> reporter: good evening, janelle. many of the restaurants are normally busier. they have been struggling since the onset of coronavirus. some tell us they are worried about even paying their staff. tonight restaurants all along the bay area face a new challenge, not just a few regular customers gunshy to go out and eat a little meal with friends, those customers have been told to stay home, so the restaurant has to change to a takeout-based business. now they hope people are still hungry for mediterranean food and want to order takeout. >> people still at home, this is citywide. everyone is working at home in the office, and they will need company, you know? >> reporter: he worries even if local residents choose takeout orders, restaurants will still struggle because companies aren't ordering food for meetings and other gatherings, and they woint fn't for a while these restaurants are extra worried because they really have no idea how long this will last. live in mountain view, scot

scott budman joins us outside. one of the schools and -- scott, you spoke to the parents. they must have been a little bit alarmed. >> a little bit, jessica. they were told to come here to santa clara high school with their kids. then have the students go inside the school, clear out their lockers and get ready for distance learning at home. >> the line of cars dropping off kids was steady outside santa clara high school. told to stay six feet part and touch only their lockers. these santa clara unified district students were here to pick up chrome books and textbooks to get ready for distance learning. >> we're all sort of not sure how to make this work. >> it's a little weird. we're a little concerned that there would be a lot of people here. >> but the district gave families specific times to come based on their last names to make sure things here didn't get crowded. >>. >> nonetheless, one teacher called this a bad idea. >> it doesn't feel safe. it doesn't feel responsible. i guess as a citizen, i don't understand why a superintendent of education would supersede an ex

live in san jose, scott budman, nbc bay area news. >> hard to handle. thank you, scott. >>> well hospitals across the bay area are rolling out pandemic protocols and part of that process making sure people know when they should or shouldn't go to the hospital. joining us now to answer some of the questions is dr. joehan, from ucsf medical center and we've been telling people not to show up at the hospital. what is the protocol if someone has a fever when should they show up and what do you do when she -- when they show up. >> if you develop symptoms that you are worried about, i think the first thing you should do is talk to your doctor, you should call your doctor and not show up at the office or the emergency department. when you develop symptoms that you're very worried about, really troubled breathing, feeling like you're feeling faint or extremely high fever that won't break with over-the-counter medication, that is the time to escalate to try to show up in person, whether that is your doctor's office or the emergency department if you need it. >>

scott budman, nbc bay area news. >> okay, thanks. a lot of things changing. and they will be over the next couple of weeks. now we're going to continue to update our website and digital platforms 24/7 for you. we have dedicated an entire section to the coronavirus. all you need to do is point your camera on the phone of your phone to that qr code on the bottom left of your screen that will take you directly to the special section on the coronavirus. >>> a bizarre new turn tonight in the case of the sunnyvale ups worker accused of making workplace threats and stockpiling weapons and ammunitions. tonight a wear glimpse before police took him into custody. thomas andrews led police on a chase sunday night. nbc bay area obtained video of this facebook live stream literally as he was driving with officers behind him. andrews was wanted after a fellow ups employee sent the police text messages he had sent out. investigators believe he planned a mass shooting at his workplace. he didn't make a direct threat but uttered strange references. >> ups is a great company.

scott budman, nbc bay area news. >> interesting story. thank you, scott. several weeks ago we started to get flooded with questions about this virus. at that time, we created the coronavirus crisis center. really to try to help answer some of these questions. now among them, package delivery or event restaurant deliveries. what should you do when those things get delivered right to your front porch? let's bring in janelle wang, who is working fromhome. what's the guidance here when it comes to those packages? even though researchers say that the virus could live up to 24 hours on cardboard and three days on stainless steel and plastic. it's very, very unlikely that your packages and your mail and your food deliveries will spread the virus to you. that's because in all the cases so far, it found that it spread through respiratory droplet, person to person, rather than surface contamination. a u.s. postal service says there is no evidence it is spread through the mail. the cdc backs that up, saying the risk is very low, and there are no cases linked to conta

. >> sam budman joins us in san jose with the very latest. scott. >> reporter: good evening, raj. we are outside the hospital. i want to start by diverting your attention to a couple tents behind me. these are large tents in the front entrance. the hospital calling it a precautionary measure to screen people with flu-like symptoms as they expect to come in. as you said, santa clara county diagnosing two people with the coronavirus bringing the total number of cases in the county to 11. we have very little information about those two cases. officials won't say yet how they came down with the virus. they do say they studied it enough to know you're at a higher risk of getting the virus if you're older. starting at age 50, with the risk rising if you're 60, 70, 80. you get the idea. here are some suggestions they have to stay safe. >> we are recommending that people at higher risk avoid mass gatherings such as parades, sporting events and concerts where large numbers of people are within arms length of one another. >> reporter: county officials also say you're at higher risk if you'r

. >> scott budman is inside a lab in one of the companies. the conditions have done this before with other outbreaks, like ebola, where they team up together to find a vaccine. >> reporter: that's right, jessica. they are teaming up. we are here in the lab at adam bio. while people are working into the night in newark on a possible virus, they're working with companies all over the world as the cases of coronavirus continue to mount. >> employees in the lab at adam bioare pulling extra shifts as they try to find a coronavirus vaccine. newark companies making a computer aided copies of the virus breaking it down into parts. >> we build virtual models first in the computer and identify different properties of the coronavirus. >> they're not doing it alone. adams sends it to other biocompanies working to find a vaccine. like veer vio in san francisco. zil yad sciences in foster city. mo derrina in massachusetts. >> acog in their machinery. building the different sub pieces, the properties that are required for making these drugs. >> we're seeing

scott budman has been talking to people live on his twitter feed. he joins us to answer those questions. scott, what are people asking you the most? >> a lot of questions about money and housing. we're keeping things safe and keeping distance. we did talk to a few people face to face today but dealt with many more on social media, lots of questions as you can imagine after days and weeks of panic selling on wall street, people are nervous about what comes next, not just with their stock portfolio but with things like their future housing plans. here's one question sent in to us via face time from linda york, looking to possibly buy a home. >> we want to help our daughter and son-in-law move up from orange county, california and buy a house probably in late may, sometime in june. so, i don't know if that's going to be a good time to buy a house with everything that's going on. >> that's a great question. it is of course nearly impossible to time the stock market or housing market especially with so much uncertainty going forward because of all the co

our business and tech reporter scott budman broke the story on twitter and joins us in santa clara. scott, this is big news. >> yeah, it's getting national news, raj, you are right. we are talking about abbott labs that are working on a portable testing platform for coronavirus just within the last hour, got fda approval for that platform and said it plans to test 50,000 people a day. >> testing for the coronavirus is about to get a lot faster. >> it's the size of a small kitchen appliance. >> abbott labs, with offices in the bay area, just got emergency authorization from the fda for a point of care test to detect covid-19. >> it generates a, an accurate test result in a matter of minutes instead of hours or days. and then, that enables the healthcare provider to see a patient's, diagnosis a patient and take the necessary steps in a short amount of time. >> the test is portable. on a 6.5 pound platform that is the size of a toaster and turn results in minutes. abbott now said that it has fda approval and will ramp up production with hopes to eventually produce up to 5 million tests

let's bring in our business and tech reporter scott budman with more. this is something that could be a long term impact. >> largely because of wall street's uncertainty more than anything and the future of covid-19 is uncertain and so is the future of the stock market. very steep losses starting from the beginning of the day, and the dow falling almost 1500 feet now down 20% from recent highs. the term for that is a bear market, which means high levels are in the rearview mirror. the bigger concern is that investors don't know what comes next. now, as you said, selling, very widespread, among bay area companies, and each of these companies from a different sector, hardware, apple down on certains that the people won't buy as many iphones. visa representing finance. rough day all around. software and social networks, with facebook, above $200 a share a couple of weeks ago, the chips are down nvidia giving up rare winner and a rare winner zoom of san jose, as employees are working from home, the shares have jumped more than 20% over the last few weeks. b

up scott budman, nbc bay area news. >>> jess, it was a nice day. >> it was a beautiful day. and jeff ranieri, after a little rain this weekend, it turned out to be beautiful the today. >> yeah, and it makes all the difference, just getting a couple minis of the blue sky outside. we can show you that from the high-definition sky camera, we will take you down to san jose, you can see the lack of traffic with the shelter in place happening and you go to the top of the screen, lots of the blue sky and a few cumulus clouds off in the distance. 62 in san jose. we will go to cooler 50s at 8:00, 9:00, and 10:00. and clear skies as we go through tonight. the forecast for tomorrow, i want to you notice the morning hours, we will have clouds returning. be aware of that, low clouds and we will start with a chilly 40s. by the afternoon, notice the inland valleys going to the upper 60s to about 70. abo antioch, 70. a beautiful day. i want to make sure you're up to day on the weather information. i have all the tools, the computers right here at home. we are now under a moderate drought he

. >> scott budman gives us a look at these tiny homes. >> reporter: it's nicely appointed, if on the small side, but this home could be a game changer for san jose. >> it's like immediate affordable housing for so many of our residents who desperately need it. >> reporter: with 500 square feet of space, this prefabricated back yard home starts at $200,000. aimed at low and middle income owners and renters. >> we believe that back yard homes is one of the solutions to this housing crisis. >> reporter: permitted, built and installed by silicon valley startup abodeu which says it's already hearing from other bay area cities who want them. >> when you start hearing what the implications are on rent, they have a lower cost option. >> that saves time, it saves money, and if they choose to go with one of these companies like abodu, they can get it on site within months. >> reporter: the own ares have some plans. >> we are hoping to entice my wife's mother to maybe retire here. we'll see how that goes. >>> up next, at 6:30, san francisco announces two new cases of the coronavirus. and one of

scott budman. nbc bay area news. >> i've been in quarantine since i got back. >>> telemedicine is helping vulnerable patients connect with doctors. we discuss changes being made today. >> plus it's okay to take your dog on a walk as long as you keep social distance. what if a stranger pets your dog -- >> i'm jeff ranieri. we'll put a track on it and show you when we'll get dry weather. that's in about eight minutes. when we face adversity, we find a way through it. it's about taking care of each other. it's the small parts that make a big difference. at chevy, we promise to do ours. we're offering chevy owners complimentary onstar crisis assist services and wifi data. if you need a new chevy, interest-free financing for 84 months - with deferred payments for 120 days on many of our most popular models. you may even shop online and take delivery at home. it's just our way of doing our part... especially when thexfinity has you covered. with the fastest most reliable internet. with advanced security

in san jose, scott budman, nbc bay area news. >> thank you. >>> up next for the first time ever it is not happening. how the coronavirus is impacting an event popular with a lot of people here in the bay area. >>> plus, staying healthy during the coronavirus outbreak. tonight we are tackling two topics with two different experts. c coming up next, breaking down what you need to know about the outbreak. >>> and counting down the return to rain. lots of clouds out there right au now. some rain for the start of the weekend and a second storm bringing more rain into early next week. a closer look at the timeline when we come back. >>> an ex treemgly popular film and music festival is canceled because of coronavirus. south by southwest organizers announced today it won't go on in austin because the city has declared a local health disaster over the virus. they are exploring options to reschedule. the festival is popular for many people from the bay area. >>> a major fundraiser for south bay schools canceled. the booster club canceled the gala hours before it was set it happen. the high sch

nbc bay area business tech reporter skod budman is in san jose with answers. and scott, many people don't own stock necessarily but the stock market impacts our retirement account. >> it does, and so many of us invest directly or indirectly. after a number of down days what we heard was it's the worst day for the dow since 1987. when the final bell range, had he had lost 2300 points. and blackm, monday, the other biggest loss. it was fear of a new tax proposal last time and now, fear of the economic fall-out for the spread of the krocoronavirus an the fear because of everything being unknown. >> what is the guidance from financial planners, you spoke with them today. >> yeah, and they say the biggest question is, is it time now to take money out of savings and invest it in the market and the 401-k, a flat now, unless you need money to pay rent or you are about to retire, this market is going to be very rocky and perhaps much lower in the weeks ahead because of all of the uncertainty. >> okay, essentially stay put and wait it out. >> as you have been hearing ne