i'm kristen sze, welcome to our 3:00 show today. every day at 3:00, you'll get a chance to ask questions to experts and watch them answer them in real-time with us, all of us together and you can do that by watching our live stream on facebook live or youtube live right now. we're also on abc7news.com and our news app. we're going to start with dr. peter hong. a professor of medicine at ucsf. you want to post your questions on the facebook live stream, check out our instagram stories for questions. we'll monitor things and try to get to your questions or you can

just say hi. we don't take breaks on live stream. you'll get extra content and more answers. so right now, let's get to it with dr. peter chin hong. good to see you again, doctor. hope you had a restful weekend. i know it's probably difficult but thanks for joining us. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> we've had a lot of developments over the weekend. one of the stories that i kept reading this weekend was that we are learning more about how coronavirus is transmitted and that there's a greater likelihoodhais true and i like ask you, how much we know about that. what does that mean for how we might take precautions. that sounds more transmissible then. i think that even though it's possible, again, everything is a continuous risk. i think what i'd pose to the

community is what the biggest risk. the biggest risk is still, i truly believe, within that three-foot range. again, as you go for further along, your risk decreases exponentially. there's a huge dropoff after three feet. even though there's reports that it may be in an aerosol, i think in the big scheme of things, it's probably not the biggest risk. i like, convincing, large-scale transmissions that way. i think most of the transmissions are in the traditional way that we think about, which is you come up close to someone that's less than three feet away, that person has infection. particularly if they're symptomatic. they're coughing and sneezing. it makes sense and that's the highest risk. whether or not we can academically say that you're standing across the room and can still get it. again, i'm humbled by clinical

medicine. i can't give you an absolute zero risk. knowing the nature of this beast, i think the risk is really minimal, if at all. i think people should really focus on what's the highest risk. not things that i can get it from anything. because i think there are things that people can do on a personal and individual level that can really substantially decrease that risk. >> i get it. you definitely want folks to focus on the most impactful actions they can take, right? >> let's start with our viewer questions. i want to start with christopher's question. christopher ian garcia asking on facebook. as someone with asthma and fibromal allefibr fibromyalg fibromyalgia, should i stay home from work? >> that's a good question. it's allergy season, too. a lot of people -- asthma is acting up because of a pollen in the air and everything. i'd say right now, again, we have a lot of data that's continuing to be analyzed.

it seems that everything is -- we're getting data every hour in covid-19. an hour in covid-19 is a week or o month in regular time. we don't have convincing data that asthma dwifs ygives you an increased risk of covid-19. however, people with asthma have harder time with the common cold or influenza. i would think about that the same way. meaning that, again, try to stay away from crowds or from situations that you can control. if at all possible. that's the way i think about it. >> all right. over the weekend, i've seen a lot of articles about the increasing acceptance of the idea of maybe for everybody to wear a mask, not just those in the health care profession. so here's a question that is being posed by ellie ramos. she says, what can you say about

reusingmasks? i'not sure if she's ahey were to reuse it, how would you handle the sanitation aspect of it? >> i would say, if at all, with surgical masks, we don't like to reuse it too much. it's different than n95 masks. a little more sturdy and more structure around it. with surgical masks, like a piece of high quality paper that you put across your face. you can imagine that even with paper it can get crumpled or the structure can get undone a little bit. if you do have to reuse it, these are the tips that i have for people. you hold the ends of the mask with your hands and not touch the front of the mask. you try to keep the inside of the mask a little bit clean as possible because that's what -- in contact with your nose and your mouth. not the outside. the outside is the dirty area and the inside, you want to

preserve that at all possible. even before that, holding it by the ends, by the strings as much as possible, when you're done it, putting it in a bag so at least you're trying to not touch it as much. those are some of the tips that llright.lp pele bren asks, after being exposed from someone positive covid-19, should i keep myself away from everything for 14 days and then i can go run errands? >> that's a great question. i think that in we didn't have shelter in place in california, it probably would be a different kind of answer. but i feel if control the environment, there will be little likelihood that someone would get infected from you. even if you exposed to someone. if everyone stay away from everything they enjoy because they might have been in touch with someone with covid-19, all of a sudden we wouldn't have a workforce out there. even in the hospital setting,

what we're advising employees is even if you were in contact with someone, we ask you to watch yourself carefully, the symptoms and maintain community responsibility. >> all right. you know what, this is an interesting question because i've also read a lot about how blood donations are down and that is problematic for the availability of the blood supply. but at the same time, asks with all this talk about sympto carriers, how does the blood donation screening address this? >> that's a great question. i think we don't think that cvid-19 is spread by the blood. luckily, unlike hepatitis b, p hepatitis c. there's actually very little -- when they actually use molecular techniques in the blood, there's

very little if at all. it's contrersial whether it's a thing. right now, there's no evidence of blood borne transmission of the disease. it's a traditional cold-like, you breathe or -- not via the blood. dr. hong, we'll take a short break on air. but we'll continue the conversation, of course, online streaming on facebook. then after the short break, we'll ♪[ siren ] & doug give me your hand! lo of money with. liberty mutual! we customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need!

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if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planed medical or dental procedures. what's around the corner could be your moment. ask your doctor about eliquis. if you follow us on live stream, you heard the doctor answer a couple more questions. we're going to keep that going now. you know, actually this one comes from me. i'm really concerned for you. those of you working in the hospital setting. at ucsf where you are, what you seen in terms of what's happening now in terms of the infections of both the workers and also whether you guys have all the gear that you need. i'd really like to know the rate of transmission within your

hospital community. >> certainly, our experience reflects the experience of other health care workers across country. we're not really sure. we don't have that level of analysis where they got the infection. we actually think most of the infections that health care workers have were obtained in the community. we can't say for sure. there hasn't been too many documented infections. when we have a t.b. outbre we can usualrace -- [ inaudible ] i think the community risk is bigger. we can make the hospital a cocoon. you can't control the community. we try to make the hospital as safe as possible. >> as of friday, you started wearing masks? that is a rule. >> yeah. >> i want to address a couple of questions with regard to drugs. both from ee dora who asked what

medications are working for covid-19 patients. let's start there. then i have a second drug question. >> great. i think about drugs covid-19 like the olympics. there's a gold medal, silver medal and bronze and people who dropped out, they get hit in the knees and fell out of the race. there's no gold medalist, you don't have great data. the silver medalist is ran disvir. it's given intravenusly that people might have heard about. it's developed by gilead. they brought it out to repurpose it for covid-19. a lot of people, enthusiastic about it. but i think we need data. right now, unfortunately, because we have so many cases, we're going to get the -- [ inaudible ] we're enrolling people in trials. there's not a way to get the drug. it's through a compassionate use program through gilead. but it's retooled and expanded

access for slightly different term nalg, for different way of getting it. trying to get people in the studies as much as possible to make sure it's effective and then what will happen, it will be released to everyone. >> because between what the president has suggested about some of those drugs and then celebrities who have gotten sick and announced what their cocktail of drugs was, you know, there's a lot of controversy about what really the message is. your answer is, we're getting the answers. >> i just want to make one more point. some of the drugs are dangerous for people to take them. like the stories in -- the persons trying to take the supplies color quinn. for the community trying to do the help of primary care or list. > okay, sheila if he leasies

yase ian -- feliciano had mrsa. she took -- will that work? >> mu peer sin is an ointment that some people put in their nose to eliminate the carriage of mrsa. it's a bacteria, though, virus. it probably wouldn't work against covid-19, unfortunately. >> okay. that's good to know. carlos fernandez mendoza says if you're type 2 diabetic, do i have to stay home. my ears and nose are stuffed. is that something to be concerned about? >> the first question is whether or not you should stay home with diabetes, the answer is no. again, people with diabetes, i think of them as the same risk of getting it whether or not you get sicker faster is another question. we're still trying to figure

out. the second question about -- what was the second question? i forgot it. >> he has ear pain and pain and his feels>> gateson a aer sptsf covid-1 i would reassure the community. if you have allergies, it's a good thing. it's likely not going to be covid-19. we know that with 3,000 patients in china. adrienne wants to know if you have an approximate time, i going to happen forarea. you know, os the a shelter in place working. is that surge coming later now? when do you think that might be? >> it's hard to say if we're flattening the curve. i think we're optimistic at sf. we don't want to count our blessings too early. we're calling this very carefully.

i think that we may have a mini surge maybe with nursing homes in the area, et cetera. but whether or not we get a huge surge like what was in new york, i'm hoping that we don't. i think -- in my heart of hearts i think that our shelter in place policy will help with that. >> i certainly hope so. we got to keep it up. we can't relax? >> we can't be complacent and relax. we have to keep it up. >> terry dean has a question. she wants to know how do you care for a loved one if they get sick with coronavirus? she wants to know how to prepare your home, what proper supplies to get? >> yes. i think about some ps with helping to prepare your home. taking care of a loved with covid-19 if you didn't have it. that's making sure you protect yourself. if you are taking care of a loved one with covid-19

intimately, of course, you would be as a care-giver, i think in that situation, it would be good to have a mask. you can't control that transmission. when people are discharged to home, they usually are well enough and the clinical criteria we use in the hospital to make sure they're not transmissible. you probably want to take that extra step in case. the other things like, again, cleaning surfaces, having a place where you can communicate with that person effectively. a lot of people using facetime or ipads. you don't have to come up close to someone all the time. you know, you can keep up that communication. we don't have a lot of time left. a couple of good ones. hopefully you can get to them quickly. can covid-19 enter through cuts or open wounds and source? >> that's a great question. the nature of the beast is a droplet going into your nose or your mouth. not blood-borne. like that other question with the blood supply, it's not going

to happen as we know now. wh wa somebody on instagram wants to know, is a regular bar of soap as good as antibacterial bar of soap? >> totally. regular bar of soap is great. you don't need a special soap. the main thing is the time. not the quality of soap. sing happy birthday twice or some other chorus like africa's tune -- how much time left? do we have time for one more question? we do. great. so shouldn't the people being wearing clean masks and gloves in stores since many people are carrying the virus? i know that's a tough last question. i really feel like that is a heated debate from this weekend. should we be wearing masks in transit or in grocery stores or just cover our mouths with a scarf? >> i get that question a lot from the community. i think it's a valid question. again, if you look at new york

today, you see a lot of people crowded together. new york has a surge right now. i probably wouldn't be on a subway platform without some protection. you don't have to be swrg having a mask. you can wear a scarf or bandana. >> dr. hong, thank you very much. i know how busy you are. to spend the time with us to answer questions, we really appreciate it. >> my pleasure. >> see you again soon. folks, if you did not have your question answered on air, we are going through the live stream after the show to pull we're gngoake ahort n r.

folks, welcome back. the situation for health care workers as we've discussed on ining s the ceo of eally dire on

nonpfiwhich has de ptein land ce heidi thanks for joining uss i doing. >> look, i know you're always -- you spent your lifetime supporting other people in need. but now the situation is reversed. you're in need or at least your children. as a concerned mom of two kids who are doctors, who are in that setting, in the hospitals, i know they've been talking to you about what critical need they have right now. can you share that with us? >> absolutely. well, for over 23 years i've been on the frontlines protecting the footsteps of children around the world from the harm of land mines. this week it comes home to me as a mother of four children. my oldest son and his wife are both doctors, critical care doctors here in california. they are on the frontline of this battle of the covid phantom

enemy. similar to landmines, this is a hidden killer. it knows no borders. we must as mothers, as physicians, of doctors, of nurses, of medical frontline nurses, be there for them this week. you know, as a mother we bandaged our children's knees when they fell and got hurt. we would do anything for them. this week i'm calling upon the innovation of the silicon valley, the greater san francisco to rally the forces to immediately provide them with protective gear, masks, the necessary ppe tools that are needed for them to do their work on the frontline of this battle. >> so in addition to folks donating masks as they can and gowns and things like that, there's also an issue of housing, right? i know you've witnessed some heartbreaking stories of doctors who can't go back to their own

homes because they don't want to contaminate their loved ones. they need housing, right? >> absolutely. my son and his wife have two children, many of the colleagues have children as well. they go out every day on our behalf to protect us on the frontli of the covid-19 that th world is facing. when they come home, oftentimes they can't come home because they've treated patients who are in the icu or those who have died. so they are looking for shelter. they're actually this past week has had a terrible cold snap in northern california. they're looking for places to stay. i've heard firsthand stories, they're staying in garages so they can get a meager might sleep and get back to the battlefield on the frontline of the icu. our physicians, doctors, children deserve better. my appeal today is from the heart of a mother. let's rally our troops and rally the innovation of the san

francisco bay area. th ctions that us to have these conversations lingn your inno necessary face masks, in particular the n95 masks are the best that the doctors can use. as they're administering the tubes down their throat, they have to get very, very close to the face. >> heidi, i know that one of your employees for roots of peace jumped in to secure surgical gloves. we appreciate that. i just want to say thank you for sharing that message. it's not an easy time for you. a mom of two kids in child care and then you have an elderly parent and grandkids. take good care. we hope to talk to you again soon. >> thank you to abc news and all the listeners. >> happy national doctors day. >>

more it. we're coming back on air. here we go.

time now for a special message from our special a segs note. he wanted to home. >> what's really scary times, we're still supporting one another. so many people have asked about ways that they can help out while sheltering in place. you can help out food banks, feeding america, no kid hungry or eat, learn, play which is based in oakland. you can donate blood. we have a huge blood shortage. you can call the red cross, make an appointment and safely donate and save a life. you can check with your neighbors, especially those elderly or high risk and see if they need anything, groceries, supplies or medications. you can also call a nursing home or homeless shelter and see if they have any needs or how you

can help them. these are high risk areas. you can even volunteer as an online teacher for the millions of home-schooled kids. you can help out with ppe drives and ensure that hospital workers have masks, gloves and gowns. in fact, someone messaged me ona bunch of n95 masks as a donation. th wanted to help. this is america. even iar tother' thank tet so especially at a time like this when you feel like, gosh, i have so little control, to take that control and do something positive. thank you so much for joining us today on this experimental interactive show. we'll get to more questions tomorrow. we invite you to take part. we'll be back here and onl tonight, the number of cases of coronavirus spiking here in the u.s.

at least 159,000 cases. nearly 3,000 dead. the president just moments ago saying challenging times are ahead. in new york city, more than 250 dead in just 24 hours. and the difficult images showing bodies being loaded into refrigerated trucks at hospitals in new york. the navy hospital ship, the comfort, arriving in new york city. a field hospital going up in central park. the governor just today saying we are now beyond staggering. this comes as president trump, after first suggesting america be reopened by easter sunday, now extends the federal stay at home guidelines until april 30th. and the presid