is now averaging about 640,000 new cases of covid per day, that's according to johns hopkins. while it's a big number, a significant drop over the past two weeks. now to other covid news making headlines around the world. austria is joining a list of several european nations that have announced the easing of coronavirus restrictions, even though infections there are still high. denmark will lift all covid measures starting tuesday. the country has high levels of immunity due to high vaccination rates and previous infections. meanwhile, many countries in eastern europe are being hard-hit by the spread of omicron. romania, poland, and hungary are among the nations reporting high number of daily infections last week. and in israel, the number of serious covid cases has reached 1,000 for the first time in nearly a year. even so, one coronavirus expert that the country has passed the peak of its omicron wave. joining us now are thathadas gon jerusalem and scott mclane in london. we're seeing a continuation of a trend we've been seeing in some european countries. cases still high, r

johns hopkins report a death toll in the u.s. is nearly 883,000 americans. >> deaths are still rising. my hope that within a weak we see that turning. and my expectation is na that in the yup coming weeks we will see substantial declines and infection. today in candace, truckers held a convoy. it requires those who are vaccinated to quarantine when returning to canada. the u.s. has a similar mandate. [applause] in the north bay, a group of people rallied to protest against covid-19 mandates within the statement the event was organized by a group called save our sonoma. people gathered and marched around sonoma plaza where protest ors are concerned about the mandates they have on the youth and on the public the california academy of sciences will implement a new vaccine requirement for guests starting on tuesday. all guests ages 12 and older must provide full proof of vaccination and booster if eligible. negative covid test will no longer be accepted. then march 15th, proof of full vaccination will be required for museum guests ag

hopkins university physician and professor at fox news in medical contributor dr. marty makary. doctor carey always great to see you people are waiting hours online for these rapid tests. the big issue right now if you can get a test, can it be trusted? >> while in the pre-symptomatic phase that is before you develop symptoms after yorks process antigen test that you buy off the counter only have an accuracy rate of about 50%. they're positive you can trust impaired when they are negative you really can't. that is a concern. people are relying on these tests too heavily and if you have omicron it may be less sensitive. that is a concern through may not need universal testing we certainly do not have enough test to do that part of got guidance now this matches the supply has created a black market, price gouging and it's worse than in equities right now we need new guidance on testing. >> part of what is happening when it comes in the variant in the spike we are seeing is more conversation about fear. this omicron variant is a different strain it's more mild especia

. >> you have a background as an academic historian, a phd in history from johns hopkins. you were elected as a democrat to new york city's city council, where you served manhattan's upper east side. what motivated you to get involved in k-through-12 education? >> well, as a historian, i believe, despite flaws and challenges, america is a great, great country. and despite its greatness, its public education system has been declining for the last half century. i ran for office because i thought there had to be a better way. we couldn't be spending this much money and get results that were so poor, and i don't mean just academic results. i mean, where was the art education for kids? where was the history education? and i tried really, really hard to fix the district, and i voluntarily gave up my seat at the end -- i was not term-limited -- because i just thought it wasn't working. >> you wrote in your memoir, which is entitled "the education of eva moskowitz"... so give me your elevator pitch for school choice. >> i just believe that, everything else being equal, putting pow

. >> reporter: according to johns hopkins, 1.4 million people tested positive yesterday. the biden administration announced that beginning saturday private insurers will have to cover the cost of eight at-home tests peper month. yesterday executives from moderna and pfizer said they are working on boosters specifically for the omicron variant and hope to have them available by march. anne-marie? >> all right. laura podesta in new york. thank you very much. >>> the northeast and the upper midwest are in for some dangerous cold temperatures, extreme cold air from the arctic is making its way south. the high temperature in boston is expected to be just 12 degrees. the state's largest school district even closed schools today because of the cold weather. new york city will hit a high of 22 degrees. parts of the region will see the coldest temperature in three years. >>> the faa ordered a full ground stop at all u.s. west coast airports yesterday after north korea fired what's believed to be a ballistic missile. officials at the san diego international airport say the stop las

hopkins. >>> una ola contagios que podrÍa alcanzar su punto mÁximo a finales de enero segÚn el doctor fauci. mientras las hospitalizaciones de menores alcanzaron 378 en una semana, porque gobiernos y distritos escolares hacen ajustes camino al inicio de clases, por un lado, escuelas de new york massachusetts y miami-dade impactarÁn clases presenciales aunque con protocolos de vacunaciÓn, mientras que algunos distritos en nueva jersey y otros estados, lo harÁn de forma remota. >>> en mÍ ciudad de new york, ma para las noticias telemundo. >>> visto lo visto la llegada del 2022 tampoco ha cambiado el panorama en mis aeropuertos, fueron cancelados mÁs de 20500 vuelos, y de acuerdo a la explicaciÓn, por duras cono de su de invernales, pero tambiÉn el aumento de infectados por coronavirus en sus tripulaciÓnes, durante las Últimas semanas. >>> y no solamente afecta a vuelos el covid 19 ha cambiado la forma de festejar el primero de enero hay restaurantes bares cerrados eventos cancelados, aunque en el condado de los Ángeles que vio un repunte preocupante de casos al final de de sem

has dropped since november according to data from johns hopkins university and department of health and human services. >> we have so many more tools compared to 2020 or 2021, and we are also dealing with, thankfully, a milder variant with the omicron variant. >> reporter: among those tools, booster shots which one study found are 90% effective at preventing hospitalizations. >> we are talking about between a cold and the flu is where omicron falls if you are vaccinated and boosted. >> reporter: doctors say bottom line remains, sooner more people get vaccinated, sooner the world can get the upper hand on the pandemic. >> people have chosen not to be vaccinated, and that's their choice. we will continue to provide their care. but the ones who are not vaccinated are the ones flocking to the hospitals right now. that's creating the problem. >> reporter: i am john lawrence reporting. >> for more information about covid testing and vaccination, we have a guide at kpix.com. >>> sneaker waves behind unsuspecting people at ocean beach. low swells can switch to a sudden rush of water under the s

this is according to a new data out today from johns hopkins university. cases are up in 20 states but down in parts of the northeast, southeast, and some parts of the west. >> hospitalizations are up in 40 states, like oklahoma. leaders of four oklahoma city hospitals tell cnn that they are now at a breaking point with zero icu beds available. cnn's nick valencia is live at a covid testing site in atlanta. so, nick, what are you seeing there? >> reporter: yeah, really sobering data coming out from johns hopkins university, wanted to start there. that data, though, coming from confirmed lab tests so you have to imagine, victor and alisyn, that there are even more americans who were infected by covid-19 that didn't get a test. here, though, in metro atlanta, at testing sites like st. phillips, testing has considerably slowed down, especially compared to what they saw over the last three to four weeks as omicron was surging across the country. the demand here was so significant, they had about 600 cars per day that they brought in and partnered with lab link

this is just at the john hopkins data that we know. we know covid cases are underreported but based on the reporting we have one in five americans, one in five americans have been infected with covid-19. what do you think the actual number is, if that's the baseline from what we know, even the johns hopkins officials say they suspect it's well higher than that. >> right. i also think that it's much higher than that, and that's because we're undercounting. a lot of people may have had sniffles and didn't get tested because they don't have access to testing. also many people are taking rapid tests and most of these rapid tests are not being included in the county or statewide totals, and so i would estimate that we're undercounting by a factor of five to ten. >> wow. >> and as a result i agree with what many people have been saying which is that we're all going to come in contact with omicron unless we take extraordinary measures, and that's the reason why we all want to be vaccinated and boosted for when we come in contact with it so th

. >> deaths and hospitalizations, according to johns hopkins university, more than 300 million people worldwide have contracted the virus. nearly a 5th of those cases are right here in the u.s. brian entin reports. health experts warn the real numbers may actually be far greater. >> seen the long lines for covid tests and the numbers have reflected with doctors and testing sites seeing a surge like never before. the numbers have really escalated. and when we come back after new years, it was like, i mean, almost like nothing we had ever seen. even in the height of covid previously, maybe a year or so number is escalating numbers of cases, numbers of deaths. we hear about covid numbers all the time. whether they make us feel better or more nervous. but the truth of the matter is, most experts say, while the numbers matter they are not accurate, our liable really are the numbers >> there underestimate vast underestimate the latest count from johns hopkins university shows the u.s. has had 59 million covid cases and almost 9 million in the last 28 days. >> but infectious disease expert d

according to data from john hopkins university and the department of health and human services. >> we have so many more tools now compared to 2020 or 2021 and we are also dealing with, thankfully, a milder variant with the omicron variant. >> reporter: among the tools, booster shots, one cdc study found are 95% of preventing hospitalizations. >> we are talking somewhere between a cold and the flu is where omicron falls if you are vaccinated and boosted. >> reporter: doctors say the bottom line remains, the sooner more people get vaccinated the sooner the world can get the upper hand on the pandemic. >> people just chosen not to be vaccinated. that is their close and we will continue to provide their care but the ones that are not vaccinated are the ones flocking to the hospitals right now. that is creating the problem. >> reporter: john lawrence, reporting. >> for more information about covid-19 testing and vaccinations we have a complete guide at kpix.com. >>> now to a warning along bay area coastlines as we take a live look at a dark pacificca pier tonight. if you look closely you c

hopkins. >>> unaÓ contagios que podrÍa alcanzar su punto mÁximo a finales de enero segÚn el doctor fauci. >>> mientras las hospitalizaciones de menores alcanzaron 378 en una semana porque gobiernos y distritos escolares hacen acuso j tes camino a inicio de clases, por un lado escuelas de nueva york massachusetts y miami-dade impactarÁn clases presenciales aunque con protocolos de vacunaciÓ mientras que algunos distritos en nueva jersey y otros estados lo harÁn de forma remota. >>> en la ciudad de new york, marÍa vargas para las noticias telemundo. >>> y segÚn estamos problema queando la llegada del nuevo aÑo no cambia nada en vuelos por vuelos cancelados las compaÑÍas aÉreas justifican lo estÁ pasando por las duras condiciones iernales pero tambiÉn seÑalan el aumento de infectados por coronavirus en sus tripulaciÓnes durante las Últas semanas. >>> el coronavirus nos ha obligado hacer cambios indmrus nuestra forma de festejar este primero de enero para hoy restaurantes bares cerrados eventos cancelados aunque se mantuvieron otros como en el condado de los Ángeles a pesar de

. >> reporter: responding to criticism from republicans and democrats, the president appointed john hopkin's as testing coordinator, charged with increasing access to tests and speeding up delivery of results. >> he has a very good vision of where he has to go. >> reporter: federal officials stopped recommending high filtration masks but are considering changing their mask items now any mask is better than none. >> the besep on all day long. >> reporter: after working with pfizer, the government expects to have enough doses to treat 10 million people by the end of june instead of september. chris pollone, nbc news, washington. >> confirming what we already knew, inflation is rising at a rate not seen since the '80s and americans are feeling its effects at the gas pump, the grocery store and across many other aspects of every day life. >> reporter: the alarming spike if inflation soared to its highest level of nearly 40 years, cast ac shadow over america's economy. the stunning surge in 7% over a year ago the pace slowing over last month. still parking three months with inflation over 6%. >>

peter: pastor mike in oakland, is it significant that johns hopkins is saying 60% on its website today -- 60% of first-time gun buyers would buy smart technology over ordinary technology if it was readily available, or is it just that they do not know what they are buying so they just want to go for the latest, glitzy estate -- glitziest top-of-the-line handgun available? mike: i think it is significant because we have begun to win the argument over and against the gun lobby and gun manufacturers who seem to love to raise strawman arguments about why these things will not work but are perfectly ok with the carnage and the blood spilling that is happening all across the country with a loosey-goosey, over and available use of firearms. i do believe that firearm consumers are wanting to do their part to ensure that we can literally reduce preventable deaths. even in this conversation, the idea that 1/3 of preventable deaths could be impacted by the introduction of smart firearms, it is as if that is a small, insignificant number. we must again allow those with very sensible and committed

johns hopkins university reported nearly half a million covid cases on friday, largely fueled by the fast-moving omicron variant. despite the high number of cases, the second half of the school year begins today for children throughout the country as districts try to adjust to the latest outbreak. bradley blackburn is in new york with more on all of this. good morning. >> reporter: anne-marie, good morning. you know, a lot has changed over winter break with the spread of the omicron variant, and this morning some parents are waking up to learn their kids will be staying home today as schools cancel in-person classes again. millions of children and teachers are back in school after a week off for winter stay in the classroom. >> it's important that covid doesn't spread anymore. so it doesn't get worse at school and like we would have to start zoom. that would be much worse. >> reporter: according to burbia, more than 2,100 schools are closed or remote to start the new year. some school districts like seattle and washington, d.c., are delying their return in order to distribute rapid t

hopkins university. schools across the u.s. will be reopening this week made the surge in omicron variant, but a shortage of at-home rapid tests across the u.s. has made reopening more difficult. u.s. food and drug administration has expended vaccine booster eligibility to 12-15-year-olds. let's talk to the director of the vaccination education center at the children's hospital of philadelphia. he is a physician of infectious diseases. doctor, thank you for talking to us on bbc news. what is the picture looking like at the moment inner-city? >> well, in philadelphia we are seeing definitely a lot more cases in children of this infection. what we do at our hospital, children's hospital in philadelphia, is when we admit children to the hospital, we tested to see whether they have covid independent of whether or not that is why they are getting invaded. we are seeing a greater percentage of children who have covid. we are seeing somewhat of an increase into our hospital because of covid and into the icu bec

hopkins school of public health in the u. s. i asked him what might explain the differences between the neighborhoods. one of them is, what is the quality of housing and the amount of people living with you was in the same household unit where we know so far is that if you live in a small slant 56 people, it's pretty much impossible to keep the social distancing than we are right now, encouraging people to guess the way our cities are segregated. unorganized nowadays, and he doesn't matter if it's madrid, barcelona london or new york is some people get to choose or to pick where they want to live and others don't get to choose. and that's because of also lawyers, historical reasons, it's not a fancy area with that. with lots of renewal, then it's the perfect place where low income people and new immigrants are going to come on the list. so at the end, you have an, a mixture of low income, elderly people with immigrants from different countries of origin getting to live in these areas where we are seeing high rates of infectio

hopkins university. and the united states i wanted talk more than a year to reach the 1st 100000000. the 3rd 100000000 was reached in bally 5 months . japan is tightening restrictions in 3 regions. these are the 1st new emergency, a control roles and health authorities in costa rica say they'll start vaccinating children aged at 5 to 11 against covered 90. next week. i some more stories making news around the world. now. police have made several arrests after 10 dead bodies were found in a car outside the governor's office in the mexican state of zacatecas. the area's been torn by a turf war between rival drugs gaggs. cambodian prime minister han san has arrived in may, and martha talks with the military rulers as a 1st visit by head of government since the army overthrew the b in math elected government. last year in the ceremony has been held in paris to mark the 7th anniversary of a 2015 that terrorist attacks. islam is gunman killed 17 people over sent over 3 days, including journalists at the french

that's according to johns hopkins university in the us. it took more than a year to reach the 1st $100000000.00. the 3rd 100000000 came in just the last 5 months. britain is sending troops into some london hospitals to cover for medical staff who have called in sick with cove at 19. and the austrian chancellor, karl ne, hama has tested positive for cove at 19. he says, the infection came from a member of his security team. he says he is isolating at home. here's a look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world . this hour in paris, commemoration events took place to day to mark the 7th anniversary of the 2015 terrorist attacks islam as gunman killed of 17 people. over the course of 3 days, including journalists at the french satirical magazine, charlie abduct, cambodian prime minister hoon sin has arrived in me and mar for talks with the military rulers. there is the 1st visit by a head of government since the army overthrew me in mart, democratically elected government. last february. the highest volcano

as, according to data collected by the johns hopkins university, australia is also reporting a record number of new infections and hospitalizations. the country has now passed a circular for half a 1000000 cases. and india's capital delhi, as announced a weekend curfew to try to curb rising infections in the metropolis. now, israel has become the 1st country to offer a 4th, a dose of corona virus. vaccine 2 are at risk groups, so that includes anyone over 60, the amys to protect the vulnerable from omicron infections. the government has previously run successful vaccination campaigns. a 3rd, those last year did slow the spread of the dell to variance. the w visited one vaccination center in tel aviv where there was a feeling of urgency. no, ma'am, a much more much of a really busy, lots of people are coming after the announcement. the fall vaccination is now available. one of the we, we worked really hard today to show a solar so can you talk to me to get vaccinated to protect myself and the people around me? that's why you get the job. and i hope others do it as well as all the math.

s. government senior economist professor steve hanky of john hopkins university in maryland. thank you so much impress aggie for coming on. i want to get to inflationary pressures in a moment. i mean, we've had previous military policy committee. people on this show who? well, we've, we've express skepticism about the politicization of interest rates, but i want to go straight to chasm, and your adventures in kazakhstan, tell me about being chief advisor will be it for sure. while at to mr. neza by have in catholics the oh it was an interesting episode. i went down, i was actually a state counselor in lithuania, where i'd install a currency board in 994. and it had smashed inflation stabilized everything as i had done in 1992. and sonia and mazur via paid a visit to the ball dixon and inquired as to who did, who had designed these currency boards stabilize things. and now it smash inflation and so forth. and yours truly was invited to accompany the prime minister of lithuania at the time, and $994.00. to go down and visit as or by often. and we had a good visit. he appointed

hopkins hospital. why emi is sending police officers out to deal with this person having behavioral health issues, the best medical people in theth world are right down te street. we have to evolve but as may years i think we have to have a lot of courage because people are going to demand we have to stick to it because it's the right thing to do. just the reality is it is going to cost some of us our jobs and people are going to get mad but at the end of the day when the book is written about what we did in our time and we do things in a different way because it's not an either or. my grandmother, rest her soul never said she wanted -- she didn't want me to get knocked up side of the head every time i left the house. growing from ten to 30 while at the same time alleviating so they have time to do that proactive work in a constitutional way so like in chicago we are increasing the homicide clearance rates by 6%. thank you, mayor for what you said. i guess i wants to have a litte reality check here and

that's according to data collected by the johns hopkins university. australia is also reporting a record number of new infections and hospitalizations. the country is now surpassed a total of half a 1000000 cases. and india's capital daily has announced a weekend curfew to try to curb rising infections in the metropolis to 11000000 people. a quote in hong kong has convicted a prominent lawyer and human rights activist of inciting and unauthorized assembly calhoun. tom was sentenced to 15 months in prison for organizing a vigil for the victims of china's gentlemen square massacre. in 1909, she was the rest of the day before the anniversary of the killings last june, hong kong media tycoon jimmy lie had already been jail for 13 months for joining the vigil. one sunshine is chairman of the hong kong journalists association. can you explain the significance of chow home, tongues verdicts to to our viewers around the world? oh, john holmes? well, i think it is the 1st person that i am on the incident. i am free. i said. it was, i said, for all, for the increase we've also been following the c

since the start of the pandemic, according to data from johns hopkins university and deaths from the virus have surpassed 300000. with such a staggering death toll, the government has been accused of negligence in it's handling of the pandemic response. pepco. and despite a steep rise, in new cases, mexico's president has denied the country, has entered a 4th wave of contagion. is danella adrian thing is this new variance is very, can take yes, but luckily it is not requiring hospitalizations nor have we registered an increase in the number of deaths. and that is the most important thing. mexico's government has not yet released official numbers of infections linked to the amazon barrier policy. analysts say this isn't the only area we're transparency is lacking. the one that caught that gadarian in them on one thing that we still don't have in mexico, and it would be very important for their heart ministry to publish a database on the progress of the vaccination campaign. we have daily reports. yes . and what we don't have the database that can be analyzed, mexico's government conti

is it significant that johns hopkins is saying 60 percent on his website today? they're saying this 60 percent of 1st time gone buyers would buy smart technology over ordinary technology if it was readily available or is it just that they don't know what they're buying? so they just want to go for the latest glitzy est, top of the line, hand gun with all the technology built in. i definitely think it is significant because we have been begun to win the argument nationally in the go, guys, prevention space over and against the gun lobby and gun manufacturers who seem to love to re straw man arguments about why these things won't work, but are perfectly ok, with the carnage and the blood spilling that is happening all across the country. with the loosey goosey over and available use of firearms. i do believe that fire our consumers are wanting to do their part to ensure that we can literally reduce preventable dest, on, even in this conversation, the idea that one 3rd of preventable deaths could be impacted by the introduction of fire arms. smart fire arms, if, as

hopkins university. and while it took more than a year for the world to reach the 1st 100000000 infections at 100000000 infections, the 3rd 100000000 have been recorded in a barely 5 months. japan has approved new restrictions in 3 regents from friday. these the 1st anti cove it matches in the countries in september, when an emergency controls were lifted and health authorities in costa rica, se they'll begin vaccinating children between 5 and 11 against that covered next week. a new study such as the number of adults living with dementia around the world will need triple to more than 100. 50000000 by 2050 obesity and smoking are among the risk factors likely to drive is increase. u. s. researches estimate that north africa and the middle east in particular, we'll see a dramatic rise, more people getting older, and indulging in unhealthy habits. that's what a landmark study found with the main reasons for an expected spike in dementia. cases will rise in every country, but the middle east in north africa

the latest data of johns hopkins university shows daily covid-19 cases across the country have dropped 47% in the last week. and here in the bay area, several counties are also reporting similar declines. california is beginning to see a slight decline in covid cases with about a 48% decrease in the last week. in san francisco, this testing site in the mission district is also noticing a shift. >> yesterday we had 359 positives. so that's a positivity rate of about 34%. perhaps we could say we're in a plateau but it's really too soon to tell. reporter: at its highest the positivity rate at this site has been 37%. last week, it was 34%. and they are attributing those numbers to everyday interactions and no longer to the holidays. >> schools are reopening. people going back to work. and that's -- it's being driven not only by holidays, it's just life. reporter: bay p.l.s., the testing company with sites across the bay area is also noticing a slight decline in their san francisco and san mateo county sites. >> we saw the increase off a percent positive in the first week on the ninth and 1

tom hingelesby, who is previously director of johns hopkins center for health security, to lead our federal testing program. the doctor is one of the world's leading infectious disease experts and is internationally recognized in the field of public health, preparedness, pandemic and emergent effectiveness -- infectious disease and prevention of and response to biological threats. sorry, tom. we continue to work across multiple fronts to increase americans' access to testing and we're all very, very grateful for his willingness to lead these efforts. with that, let's open it up for some questions. kevin? >> thanks. we have time for a few questions. let's go to nbc news. reporter: hi. thanks for taking my question. during dr. walensky's opening remarks she said there was a 40% increase in gettings over the previous quee -- deaths over the previous week. does the c.d.c. expect that those cases are delta-related? since deaths tend to lag cases and hospitalizations? or could it be omicron and just because there's a huge number of cases, there's going to be a larger portion of deaths? thanks. dr

well, data from john hopkins university shows canada reported its highest weekly total of covid cases since the pandemic began last week. united airlines is reducing flights because of covid related staffing shortages. the company says as many as 3,000 workers are out sick, that's about 4% of the airline's u.s. staff. united has not said how many flights they've canceled, but the ceo credits the company's vaccine mandate with keeping those infected from getting seriously ill. other airlines, including jetblue and alaska airlines have also canceled flight because of sick crew members. contra costa county health and education leaders are uniting to deliver a single message. kids belong in the classroom and they need to be in class during this current omicron surge. the move comes despite concerns from some about safety and thousands of new cases a week they're kron four's. jonathan mccall has that story. >> plus is we're back in session tuesday. that was contra costa unified schools after a covid outbreak prompt a district leaders to close campuses for 2 days for deep cleaning. but as t

re quote of over a 1000000 new corona, virus infections that's according to donna collected by the johns hopkins university, australia results of reporting, a record number of new infections and hospitalizations, the country is now supposed to total of half a 1000000 cases. and india's capital daily has announced a weekend curfew to trying to cub rising infections in the metropolis. i'm to 11000000 people. israel has become the 1st country to offer a 4th dose of corona, buyers back st. you brisk groups. that includes any one over $61.00. the aim is to protect the vulnerable from on the chronic fictions. the government has previously run successful vaccination campaigns. a 3rd dose last year did slow the spread of the delta variant. we visited one vaccination center in tel aviv where there was a feeling of urgency. no ma'am, a much more much of a really busy, lots of people are coming after the announcement. the fall fascination is now available. one of the we, we worked really hard today to show a show lyla, folk kind of wants me to get vaccinated to protect myself from the people around

hopkins doctor dr. tomminglesby as the coordinator, charged with speeding up delivery of results. >> he has a very good vision of where he has to go. >> reporter: federal officials so far stopped short of asking people to upgrade to their mask but consider changes their masks. for now, any mask is better than none. >> the best mask is the one you will wear and you can keep on all day long. >> reporter: after working with pfizer, the government expects to have enough doses of its antiviral pill to treat 10 million people by the end of june instead of september. chris pollone, nbc news, washington. >>> covid cases at schools continue tb a problem across the bay area. more students and teachers are testing positive. we have a snapshot here from some various districts. take a look. we'll start with the couper teen yo union school district. that district reported 239 cases this month. that's 1.5% of the students and staff. west contra costa unified, 479 covid cases reported this month. that's 1.4% of student

. >> sreenivasan: josh sharfstein, vice dean at the johns hopkins bloomberg school of public health and also a former deputy commissioner of the food and drug administration. thanks so much. >> thanks so much for having me. >> sreenivasan: the rail corridor that connects boston to new york to washington, d.c., serves millions of americans, and is a crucial driver of the u.s. economy. but there's a ten-mile stretch of it linking newark, new jersey, to new york city, traversing beneath the hudson river, which is slowly falling apart. in october, we reported on the gateway project, a proposed $30 billion infrastructure project that would provide a major upgrade. this week, the long-delayed project reached a major milestone and its proponts are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. before the pandemic, about 200,000 people everyday rode through the tunnel under the hudson river between new york and new jersey, but almost none of them got this view. i'm in the rear of an amtrak train to see how a tunnel built in 1910, 111 years ago, is holding up. my guide is craig schulz from amtrak. am