today on getting answers. covid cases are on the rise here in the bay area. what you need to know about the upcoming booster and a new dating service available in san francisco. but it doesn't include seeing any photos or even swiping. but

first, as we head into father's day, we're talking about men's mental health awareness month in june. you're watching getting answers. i'm kristen sze sunday is indeed father's day. but while most dads will be celebrating. many will be struggling with mental health. joining us live now to talk about awareness princess kate's new chemo treatment news a major pop star's warning about skin cancer as we head into summer and the new covid booster coming our way. abc seven news special correspondent doctor alok patel. doctor patel hello. hello. so much on our plates. i think i just threw a potpourri at you. >> and you did when you were rattling off those topics. i was like, oh my gosh, i like i need to get the focus brain on. but kristin, as always, same feeling from the last few years. it is always an honor to be with you on friday afternoons. oh my gosh. >> especially before father's day, you should be getting ready for your big day. happy early father's day. look, you look, you i appreciate that. i hope

baby girl does something very special for you. all right, let's jump right to it. it's a great time for fathers of course, and men. but. but also at the same time, we have this big focus on men's mental health right now. talk to us about what you're seeing. some of the biggest problems, causes and what we can do. >> person. absolutely. you know, and that's actually the reason i'm wearing blue today to raise awareness about men's mental health. this is the month. but we should be talking about this every day as we have this broader conversation about mental health. this huge epidemic in our communities. now, men, this may not shock people are less likely to go and seek treatment and actually get their mental health issues managed. you know, there seems to be this culture of toxic masculinity when men put themselves last, they they work hard. they think that they're just going to somehow, you know, hide away from depression and anxiety and it's not true. and i'm glad that there are more celebrities and more men out there talking about their own struggles. i opened up about the fact that i was overwhelmed and anxious and started talking to a therapist about a year ago, and

when i talked to my guy friends, they all either go and try it or they say, yeah, i agree. so it's important guys, that we have this collective conversation and we support one another. you know, i mentioned that men were less likely to seek treatment for mental health. men are also more likely to die by suicide, more likely to abuse alcohol or other substances. so we've got to have the conversation. father's day, great time to start if you haven't already. >> yeah, i mean, just the freedom, right? i'm sure you experienced that of kind of admitting to it and saying, i don't have to deal with it alone and then just having conversations about it, not bottling it up must really, really help. >> absolutely. having a conversation. i am so glad you brought that point up, kristen. in an ideal world, every everyone, not only just men, everyone would have access to a board certified psychiatrist to make sure you go and get a proper diagnosis. but that's not necessarily reality, and you don't need to in many cases, because people have access to therapists, counselors, social workers, community leaders, anyone whom you can go and talk

to and start a conversation. and remember it's okay to not be okay. sometimes people will feel these feelings and they'll dismiss them, and sometimes they actually have serious feelings. and there are serious underlying diagnosis. you've got to make sure you have that conversation. >> absolutely. by the way, this is totally not a disney plug. but i'm just saying when you said it's okay to not be okay, i'm like, hey, i'm going to go see inside out two this weekend. and, you know, i think that addresses it really well as well in pixar's own. totally does. >> it makes it relatable. it makes it relatable. >> it really does look. on a related note, loneliness. i'm reading today is a growing epidemic in general, right? the surgeon general's warning about that not just for men. >> not that's for everyone. like, look, unless you are a sea turtle, a snow leopard, a polar bear, a red panda, which prefer a solitary lifestyle, we are solar. we're we're social creatures. yes. chris and i looked up that fact just so i could deliver it to you. but we are social creatures and loneliness, aside from the fact

that it's not great for your mental health, has actually been linked to an increased risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, dementia, and premature death. this is why last may in 2023, the surgeon general put out a massive document highlighting loneliness as an epidemic. and i want to give everyone this kind of actionable item we can do to build social connection. yeah it's called the five actions in five days. this is actually pretty rad. i started it today. basically, what you're going to do is come up with five actionable items that could be saying hi to a stranger, checking in on a friend, complimenting someone's outfit, whatever it may be, do five of them, one a day for five days. write down how you feel afterwards and share what you're doing. what a simple task today i complimented somebody's jacket at the coffee shop and i was like, cool, actionable item. built a little connection. i love that, i love that i think i instinctively knew maybe 1 or 2 of those, like doctor patel. >> like sometimes i will just randomly call people and i think, you know, people think i'm weird. like, what do you

want to talk about? i just wanted to hear your voice. and that's okay, too. i think, you know, i do that to you too, don't i? >> you do, you do. i mean, sometimes when i get the random phone calls from chris and i don't know if i'm in trouble or something's coming up on air, but i do appreciate it. and chris and, you know, to that point, if you look at surveys over the last few decades, social and family engagement and companionship has gone down and isolation has gone up. so maybe we should go back to the old school days of making phone calls and checking in with one another. >> okay, i just want to know it goes both ways. feel free to call me any time for no reason at all, okay. okay, good, look, this is very serious and of course, the world pays attention to princess catherine of britain , the palace today released a new picture of her ahead of this weekend, when she'll make her first public appearance in months at king charles's birthday parade. she, of course, has been fighting an unspecified cancer, as has her father in law . what is the latest on her health? i don't know if you can, you know, decipher anything from this photo, she said something

about her latest chemo. tell us what you know, how she seems to be doing and what she's mentioned. >> you know, we were looking at reports and watch what she had put out in press statements. and the most important thing is, it seems like she's doing well, and she looks great in photos. and she talks about how she had a successful six month run of taking chemotherapy. now again, they have not released a lot of details. there's supposed to be a press conference coming up soon. and i do remember earlier this year they mentioned that this was prophylactic or preventative chemotherapy. not really sure what that meant. she had an abdominal surgery. at the end of the day, it is important that number one, she is doing well and she's healthy and she's going to put out a statement, but also that anything we do to broaden the conversation about cancer in young people as an important step forward, because we are, unfortunately seeing a rise in cancer diagnoses and people under the age of 50. >> why is that? >> i wish i had a short, quick answer. there's many postulations one thing it could be environment, could be early screening and diagnosis. the

fact that we have more exposure to processed foods over the past several decades. but this has been a slow, creepy trend since the early 1990s. >> oh my gosh, it's so disturbing. and speaking of cancer, i think we also got that skin cancer warning this week, right? from a major pop star. kevin jonas had skin cancer surgery again, so young. and this is something we all need to pay attention to as summer begins. >> oh, it absolutely is. so skin cancer is the most common cancer in the united states with basal cell carcinoma, which is what kevin jonas had removed from his forehead. taking about causing about 3.6 million cases a year. that's the most common form of skin cancer, and what people need to understand is it can start out just like a little tiny mole that might look or feel different. it might be raised, it might be changing, and you want to make sure you go and get those checked out. exactly like kevin jonas did. now, the easy acronym for people to remember when it comes to knowing your moles and spots. are they a, b, c, d, and e of

melanoma type of skin cancer? a asymmetry? if something looks like there's a weird, it's not a asymmetrical b border. is there a weird border? c is the color changing d diameter. is it big e is it elevated? if you notice any weird moles or spots when you're doing your usual skin checks, usually after the shower, chat with the health care professional because this absolutely can save your life. i have so much respect for people and celebrities who share these small stories, because not everyone thinks about funny looking spots and if whether or not they should go get them looked at right? >> definitely don't wait. don't think it's nothing. i mean, it might be nothing. chances are good it's nothing but get it checked out, okay? >> don't send me photos of them either with like some people have done. go and see a health care professional in person. just saying. >> guilty party right here. it was just my way of connecting and engaging with you, that's all. okay, okay, okay. >> that's fair, that's fair. nice save. >> okay, okay, look, this is also very serious. as a parent, i definitely pay attention to this childhood obesity. a new study shows it's on the rise. despite recent awareness of the

importance of a healthy diet and exercise. tell us more about what's happening there. >> so here's what's crazy. it is on the rise, which may not surprise people, but it's on the rise globally. and so when we talk about childhood obesity and the rates, oftentimes there's a lens in the united states, which, yes, we have an obesity crisis. but this recent study from jama looked at data from about representing about 45 million individuals in over 150 countries and found that roughly 1 in 5 children globally are either overweight or obese. and a lot of this trend has actually gone up in the last decade. so this is this speaks a lot, not only about lifestyle and genetics, how sedentary our young people are, and the fact that we need to have a major conversation about this, not only when it comes to those lifestyle changes which matter, making sure kids are getting whole, nutritious food. they're getting up, they're getting out, they're getting off of screens. but also the conversation about what this potentially leads to when it comes to chronic disease, with obesity being linked to everything from arthritis to heart disease to neurologic disease to depression

to various types of cancers, you know, you always think the path to a better future is through technology. >> but as we show the kids on their screens and you know, anyone who has kids knows this, spending so much time on it, it will be horrible if technology led to all those diseases and reduced, you know, life expectancy, you know, down the line. that about balance? >> it's all about balance. yeah. >> all right. that means as parents, we sometimes have to say no, even if that makes us unpopular and hear a little screaming. >> and we have to model good behavior. we can't just sit on our tablets and phones at the dinner table and expect our kids to do differently. >> what? what did you say? i didn't hear you. i'm just saying distracted. oh, i actually i was just playing with you. i know, put that phone away. >> okay, i'll get my i mean, we'll i'll, i'll, i'll sit here and just hang out on my phone too. we can do this. >> yeah, we could, but we shouldn't. okay >> we're not done with doctor patel yet. don't go away after the break. you'll be back

in the bay area. i think the wastewater shows that the wastewater does. >> kristen the wastewater. now people remember that's literally testing the waste. we make at these at these facilities. and they tend to predict surges because people will shed some of the virus before you actually show symptoms and then go and test positive. and the rise has been happening for about 21 days in multiple parts of the bay area, from san francisco to vallejo to palo alto to sunnyvale. last year, we saw a surge july 2023. so it looks like we may be seeing another one headed our way.

>> can you talk about why? and i understand that level is now about almost as high as last december and january. but usually you think of summer as you know, people don't get sick as much right? in the winter, people are gathered in indoor spaces and they get sick more and give it to each other. >> and that's how we've been conditioned to think, especially when it comes to your typical cold and flu viruses. but remember, as we as we painfully learned over the last four years, sars-cov-2 operates a little differently. it's an extremely contagious virus. we can never forget that now. yes, we have surges during winter, but then when you move out about six months, there tends to be a little bit of a dip in the natural immunity that people may have from previous infections. also from previous vaccines, which if we look at the last booster, less than 20% of californians actually went and got that shot. so some of our collective immunity might be going down slightly. there's still enough there that we should not have as bad of a surge. this summer as we've seen in in previous years. you take this and add in some new variants. add in the fact that

we have graduation parties and reasons for people to gather. it's still a setup for infections this summer. okay. >> but the virus is out there, right. and people will get it. but are most people either asymptomatic or get very mild symptoms now like, can we assume if we've had it before most of us had or had our original shots, you know, it wouldn't be that severe and we shouldn't really worry just purely based on the science. >> we should not see as severe cases as we've seen in the past for the reasons you just listed. kristen, people who are high risk are still high risk. there are still cases. unfortunately, if people have long covid, these symptoms that are lasting months if not years, and there's still a lot of people out there who may feel run down, fatigued, headache, or have any type of cold and flu seasons who are not going out and getting tested, they may just say, hey, i have a cold, i feel run down. i'm going to take the weekend and chill at home. but it's an important reminder for everyone out there to make sure you still and go and get tested. if you do feel

like you have covid, or if you've been exposed to someone, especially if you're going to be around anyone who might be high risk. >> and if you have covid, if we get covid, should we still isolate ourselves? i mean, no one's really doing that. >> i mean, yes, we should still ask ourselves. i had to pause because you're like, you're right, people are not doing that. yeah. so yes, if you do get covid and you test positive, you should still go to the cdc, look up guidelines, tell people around you and isolate until you feel better. all right. >> hey, when is the next generation booster coming out? >> we should see that this fall. and this booster is likely going to target the most dominant strains. the fda released a statement about jn1 and cp2 these strains. this is the beauty of the mrna vaccines, is that they can be tailored to basically fend off whatever the most dominant strain is, exactly like the flu virus does. so pay attention to those headlines. >> so are you still recommending everyone get it, or only the people who have some sort of health risk or higher elevated health risk, just like the flu shot? >> i anticipate this will be a general recommendation for everyone. but those who are high

risk or who work with anyone who is high risk, such as physicians, should run out and definitely go and get that updated booster. >> okay, doctor patel, we know you pretty much have to go because you're so in demand these days and you've spent so much time with us and we have loyalty here. >> we didn't even get to talk about bird flu. i can always come back. >> no, no, no, that's what i real quickly. if you can address that. right. because i know we've been tracking the bird flu here in the us, and a new study seems to show that infectious, bird flu survived milk pasteurization in a lab setting. so, i mean, i want to note that this is not the same as finding infectious bird flu in milk from grocery stores, and none has been detected in supermarkets. but why is this important? >> this is important because it kind of represents the fact that this is an ongoing investigation about where exactly h5n1 or bird flu is lurking, and if what the possible threat to humans is. people have seen headlines about cattle being infected. there has been live virus found in raw milk, which again, public health announcement please do not drink raw milk and pasteurized milk.

this is a study in a bench in a lab. and they did find some particles of virus as well. so the important thing is that we're on notice. there was some virus found in pasteurized milk. but the study is going to be replicated to kind of mimic what actually happens in real world pasteurization, to look to see if there's an infectious component. but as of right now, based on everything we do commercially, both the fda, cdc and the usda still say and stand by the fact that pasteurized commercial milk is safe to drink . >> got it. so there's nothing. >> raw milk? not so much. there's a lot of stuff found in raw milk, but okay, we you know, okay. >> so stay away from the raw milk. otherwise no action to be taken right now. okay doctor lopez-alt, i think that covers it. i think we discovered discuss every single piece of check boxes. >> we checked boxes. >> we really did and had fun doing it. thank you so much. learned a lot. always great seeing you and happy father's day. >> thank you chris and the honors all mine. appreciate you. happy friday, have a great weekend. >> don't worry. i'll call you soon. all right. bye still ahead, a new dating service now available for people in san

francisco. but there's no swiping or even photos, and it's free. we'll hear ♪ do what you want ♪ get into an audi and go your own way. find your way to exceptional offers during the summer of audi sales event at you local audi dealer.

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during the summer of audi sales event at you local audi dealer. apps to online dating sites. some say the search for romantic partner can be exhausting. but now there's a new, unusual dating service for people in san francisco and new york. it doesn't involve swiping or even photos, and best of all, it's free. it's called book bearer express, and it's a two woman matchmaking service. joining us live now to talk about it is the woman who started it all, eva huang. hey, eva. hey. nice to have you on the show, first of all. book bearer express didn't start out as a dating service. no, i'm trying to grasp what it is. it's sort of like a book club or blog, isn't it? yeah, it's actually a newsletter that's hosted on a website called substack. and so it's a

newsletter i write that's about relationships and culture. i would say, and i am interested in the subject of matchmaking. >> so i had the thought of like, maybe i could matchmake the people who read my newsletter. >> so your newsletter, as you, you know, pontificate about these things. i think a lot of people find it resonates with them. so you kind of grew your following. i understand to some 26,000 people. and at what point did it hit you like, hey, these are 26,000 people who could maybe use a love match and maybe i should do something with this. >> well, people have actually requested, for me to matchmake subscribers before, like, just in comments or over email. and i always thought it was a great idea but didn't act on it. and sometimes i matchmake friends in my personal life like everyone does. i try to introduce people to each other, and i was having the thought that, like from other people i've met, they have a lot of luck personally matchmaking when they're introducing like college friends or people who work together like kind of when you have this

bigger base like, oh, like, you know, i'm having a wedding and all my friends who went to college together are coming to my wedding. they tend to like, like each other. yeah. and i was thinking like, oh, i have something that's a little bit similar to a college campus, which is my newsletter subscriber base, where even though not everyone you know is the exact same age, people are within a certain age range and people tend to live in san francisco or new york, and they clearly have some interest in a shared sense of topics. so i thought maybe that could be kind of a good base for matchmaking, okay. so there you go. and so tell us how you go about it now that you've kind of launched this official matchmaking service, i understand you do a very extensive questionnaire. >> yeah, it's a 67 question questionnaire. i was inspired by this project called the marriage pack. that's been happening on college campuses where, they actually have a 5050 question survey where they get college

students to fill out and give them an ideal match. and i thought this was really interesting because, you know, so many of the dating apps today, it's really about physical appearance. it might be about job like, you don't really know a lot about the person's values up front because you don't really, you know, have the right format. and so i thought that maybe i would attempt to try to create my own values based questionnaire and see if it helped people find the right match. >> give me an example. 1 or 2 examples of the questions that you asked that try to probe things that are a little deeper, right? whether it's like values or things like that. >> yeah. so some of the questions are like, you know, how optimistic do you feel about technology. so people might rate that on 1 to 10. so one would be, you know, not positive at all and ten would be extremely positive, there are also questions like, you know, like i would like to date someone who's very extroverted and you can sort of, you know, agree with that or disagree with that. and there are also questions about yourself, your own preferences. you know, let's say like, am i a very anxious person? so we try to ask kind of a range of

questions about personality, like religion, political preferences, how you want to spend your time to kind of give people a sense of like both who they are and what they want their partner to be like, okay, you are starting to remind me a little bit of that. >> uh- antecema in, the indian matchmaking show on netflix. was she really? oh my gosh. right. she has the biodata. she's got like a lot about the people and really tries to get to the core of them. you know? and so. so tell me how it works. so someone says they're interested, they do the survey. and then what do you return? 1 or 2 matches to them or how does it work. and is it only romantic. >> yeah. well, so we only just launched this project and we've been really surprised by the amount of interest. it's been awesome. so i'm doing it with my friend sophia, who is currently an applied statistics student at nyu, doing her master's. and essentially our plan is to kind of use statistics to match someone with their best romantic match and their best platonic match. we also have the option

for people to only opt into a platonic match. so you know, if you have a partner. but maybe you want to see if you can find someone with really compatible friendship values. you can also fill out the survey. >> smart. i mean, i was just talking to our doctor, alok patel, about how loneliness is really an epidemic, and a lot of people do just want platonic friends, and that's great. and once you get out of the college setting, it can be hard to find someone, right? so this is great. okay so it's free. how do people sign up? >> well, right now you can sign up via, my blog. there's a link to a type form. actually, we're trying to limit the first batch to a thousand people, and a thousand people have already signed up. so we're trying to make a decision right now about whether we're still accepting more responses that will be on the waitlist, and we're trying to decide how big the first batch should exactly be. just because this is our first time matchmaking people, we sort of want some room to be like, you know, like, do we want change the questions? how is the matching actually going? so we're probably know a lot more about that in the next couple of

weeks. >>

all, our coverage of game four begins at five, followed by after the game with special guest. warriors guard moses moody, a tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. severe weather targets the northeast as more rain slams south florida. the close call and dangerous plunge for a southwest plane trying to land in hawaii. the new message and photo from principle's princess kate. first, more than 50 million people on alert here in the