assist . now, your health, your safety, this is abc 7 news. welcome to our daily special called "getting we're getting answer foss your questions. our expert is a real man, who has experienced the coronavirus firsthand. he is recovering from it. that's the good news. if you have any questions, post them on the livestream. we do know that some people are sharing 245ir experiences in the hopes of getting everybody to do everything possible to avoid getting it. that means taking precautions, continues with social distancing and sheltering in place.

this man bears testimony i think you should here, joining us is richard rifkin. how are you doing? >> i'm doing well. >> richard, a bit of background. you now live in los angeles and operate the jewish activity center in los angeles, and run an architecture company, but i know it's been a painful frightening three weeks. you are dealing cancer. >> with the cancer, the doctors pretty much knew what we were dealing with, but with

coronavirus, there's no solution, there's no cure. and we're really just guessing, so coronavirus is much scarier. >> watching you to detail the ballots,ib ballots, i could tell there were days you didn't think you were going to make it. how did you catch it? >> my offices are inside fashion malls, so it could have been just through contact with a lot of people. i also do a lot of traveling for work. i really don't know how i got it. >> community spread, right? how long did you think you went before symptoms started showing? >> i remember very specifically it was a wednesday afternoon, 21 days ago. august of a sudden i felt a

massive fever and sweats coming on. it was very quick, and my fever shot up to over 102. within a couple hours i knew somebody was wrong. the follow days i went to the hospital for the first time. >> so when you went to the hospital at that point, did they readily admit you? did they give you a test first? tell us about that process. >> i went to cedars-sinai off by the beverly center in los angeles, and they were very clear that they were not testing anybody. they did not have tests, and only the most severe people were being admitted to the hospital, so basically they want we're pretty sure you have it.

so go home and good luck. >> okay. so you went home, tell us what you did then. you self-quarantined was that a makeshift place for you to quarantine? >> that was the sinai. >> so what other symptoms appeared? you had the really painful chest coughs, too. >> oh, it was horrible. i went home, and the fever would not stop and actually it was a day or two later that somebody tried breaking into our home. now, this was at a time when i could really barely breathe. i was having so much trouble

breathing. my lungs hurt very badly, and i couldn't get enough oxygen into my body. >> was there somebody to take care of you during all of this? people were supposed to stay away, but i know you're married. how did that relationship work out during this time of quarantine? >> she's been wonderful. she definitely took care of me. i can tell you the regimen that i was on right away was 3,000 milligrams of vitamin c, vitamin d, zinc, honey with turmeric, and lots and lots of rest. i also would like on my s to allow my lungs to bring

oxygen into my body. it was very painful. >> even with all of that, they did not say you should tum to the hospital and be put on a ventilator. it sounds like you were barely able to draw breath. >> not only that, but i went in a second time, because i was really afraid. and they said they're not even giving me prescription for hydroxychloroquine and z-pack unless i'm literally in the icu and holding on for my life. i said you're not giving me this medicine that everybody in the world is hearing about? i was terrified. and i want to drill this home, the feel -- the fear that not only i have but other people

have in just knowing it could come within a few feet of me and potentially contract somebody that could kill them, that's a horrible thing to live with. >> so during the past three weeks, as your fever went up, then down, you thought you were better again, at what point did they finally admit you? did they admit you to the hospital? did you get into the icu at some point? >> no, i did not go to the icu. fortunately somebody very close to me works in the icu, and icu at this point is a place where you go to to die. that's not where i wanted to be. there's a lot of information with the oxygenation and the

temperature of the ventilator of the oxygen that's going into your lungs. >> that's really frightening to hear. this picture, is that a set up? your own house? it looks like a hospital, but is that your home? >> no, that was from the hospital. >> well, eventually you said turned described the hydroxychloroquine, that's the drug that president trump had mentioned many times as being the great hope. you were prescribed that, but then what? what is it easy to get ahold of it or not? >> you know, finally thank got i was prescribed the hydroxychloroquine and the z-pack, but we started calling around and of walgreens, every cvs, every rite aid, every private pharmacy was on back-order for two months. i said, you mean i can't get this stuff that can save my

life? that was correct. >> two months. well, you eventually god ahold of some, right? >> i did. i was very lucky. in social media, as you see, there were five or 600 people commenting on my condition. when i posted that i couldn't get ahold of hydroxychloroquine, people from the community started contacting pharmacists that they know, and i was able to get maybe one of the few that were available. so i was very fortunate. i know many are not so fortunate. i know you had some side effects relating to ma medication. we're going to take a short break on the air, and then we're going to come back and talk about the drug's impact on you, as well as our viewers'

questions for you. people are wondering, if i get it, what can i expect? stick around. you can join us 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 current chevy owners onstar crisis assist services and complimentary wifi data. to help keep you on the road, the chevy certified service experts are here

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>> we're back with richard rifkin who is recovering from coronavirus. i want to ask you a couple more of my own questions, which is do you suppose you were mine compromised, and perhaps more susceptible due to, in packet, breathing through >> i like to think i'm ironman, but the reality is i have a hole in nigh throat. it makes it much easier for things to come into my body, especially into my lungs. i don't breathe through my nose or mouth at all, so i think that there's a factor there.

plus when i had raatn, it affected my thyroid. when your thyroid is off, it tends to affect your immune system. >> yeah, no doubt. i want to ask you about the hydroxychloroquine it gave you some pretty nasty side effects, right? can you tell us about those? ink well, i think the worst were the headaches. they were just awful. i was going through a very difficult time, so i'm not sure if the side effects were from the hydroxychloroquine, but certainly the headaches were. it was like nothing i've ever felt before. >> richard, from facebook we're getting a question, it's a little philosophical. what's been the difference between surviving or losing the battle with the disease? is it biological or mental? mental plays a big part of it. you know, there's times you just want to cry.

there were times when i was just so scared, and i'm not a person who's afraid. i have faced a lot of big challenges in my life. i didn't know if i was ever going to see my son again, if i was ever going to recover. i asked the doctors, are my lungs going to get better after this? they said maybe not. so it's a very scary, very scary world. >> absolutely. and your son, you know, you couldn't see at all during quarantine. that was difficult, not to just give a hug. joe wants to know, at what point did the hospital actually admit you? >> they wouldn't. they only admit the critical patients who are likely going to

die. that's what's really scary. what we're hearing about the hospitals being so full, that's not the case at all. the doctors don't have any protocol as to what to do. they're as confused about this as the rest of us. >> and the protocol differs from hospital to hospital. s min wants to just a fever? was it at all one? >> but i suppose if they started to feel that, should they call their family doctor first? did you do that or did you go straight to the hospital? >> the fever came on first. it was a very debilitating fever. i was dizzy. i had a slight cough, but it had not hit my lung yet. it didn't hit my lungs for several days, but the fever and

weakness in my body, i was so weak, and i literally stayed in bed for almost three weeks. i've only just gotten out of bed really for the interview here, because i'm still resting. i'm not taking any chances of a relapse. >> i know you're recovering while running the small business with 20 employees, and hoping to keep that going and not lay people off eventually. i just want to thank you for taking the time to share your experience, and i'm glad to see you're on the mend. i know it's been really hard. >> thank you for having me on the show. i just want to give a blessing for everybody out there who is fighting the challenges on whether or not to go out to gather together. just don't do it. be safe.

understand that this is the challenge of our lifetimes, and we need to understand that. richard, you are helping us see that firsthand why that is. we appreciate your time. again, best to you. take good care. well, we do feel a lot of gratitude to richard to get out of bed and share that journey with us. coming up next, we have a great guest for you. state treasurer fiona ma. we will talk about relief programs for you, for families, businesses, workers. as we head to i'm alex trebek here to tell you about the colonial penn program. if you're age 50-85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. the three what? the three p's? what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price.

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fiona ma. you live here in tea -- >> we an essential function. we take in money every day, we transfer money around. we invest money, and we're still issues bonds. >> but you probably like us here at abc 7, we're essential as well, but we totally socially distance, and a lots of people are working from home. i imagine the state in your state office? >> yes, yes, about two thirds of my employees are telecommuting from home. we still have about 100 or so employees who have to come in because of the checks and balances that are built into our system. obviously cybersecurity, we don't want too many dvms out there and laptops which will decrease some of the security

measures that are in place, so they have to come? >> all right. let's get to it you have a great websites but can you -- >> yes it's www-edd.ca.gov. so if you need to feel for unemployment, go to that website. in terms of what they need to do. >> real quickly, can you run us through each of these, like unemployment shuns, family leave, like how many time do people get, and what is the amount they can get?

>> i am probably not the best expert, but i do have information for small businesses, close what we are focused on collecting at the levels as we hear it, and then also covid-19, which is our state website for health facts? we don't want people to believe everything they're hearing, but to really come to our site. on my see those two prominent links on the website. there's obviously issues with regard to rent, you know, forgiveness of any late payments. just run us through the top

resources. so everything day more and more money is either going into certain programs or there are new programs started, so i would say obviously the small business administration, since they are the ones that are in overseeing all of the stimulus money that is going to go to the banks out to small businesses, the u.s. small business administration website is probably one of the good ones. small business majority, they also have experts on the sba loan process that would also help pack age that's the i-bank one of agencies under gavin newsom just launched a new program for small businesses as well, and so withr we on my website are compiling everything so every day we find out about

different resources and loan programs, we are putting it on our website. that's what we hope people will tune into every day, just to see what's new. what about tax relief? >> so the i.r.s. and franchise tax board have extended tax filings and payments for three months the payment is extended for three months. >> fiona, i know you com back to san francisco on it is weekends, and i know that you are, you know, working in sacramento to keep the california state bank going, so we appreciate that, and we appreciate you taking your time during this very busy time to share that with us. >> thank you. stay well. i want to put up the information on the website.

treasurer.ca.gov. there's a wealth of information from small businesses to individual worker help, so i invite you to take it out. when we are the thrivers. women with metastatic breast cancer standing in the struggle. hustling through the hurt. asking for science not sorrys. our time for more time - has come. living longer is possible and proven in women taking kisqali plus fulvestrant or a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor. kisqali is the only treatment in its class with proven overall survival results in 2 clinical trials. helping women live longer with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali was also significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. kisqali can cause lung problems or an abnormal heartbeat,

which can lead to death. it can cause serious liver problems and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness... yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. avoid grapefruit during treatment. kisqali is not approved for use with tamoxifen. it's our time. to continue to shine because we are the thrivers. ask your doctor about kisqali, the only treatment in its class proven to help women live longer in 2 clinical trials. won't be a new thing. and it won't be thr fire with social distancing.

overcoming challenges is what defines the military community. usaa has been standing with them, for nearly a hundred years. and we'll be here to serve for a hundred more. information. >> okay. hey, got to go. thank you. all right. we are now able to bring you even more content now that we have this new platform at 3:00. we get a daily doctor's note from dr. patel. every day he's going to talk directly to you about a topic regarding covid-19. this one has made headlines. on today's covid 19 doctor zone, i want to show that african-americans are dying at a higher rate than other americans. in chicago different areas they make up 70% of the fatalities, but only 30% of the population.

michigan, they're only 14% of the population. we're seeing similar numbers elsewhere in like in louisiana, mississippi, new jersey. public health officials say many factors are involved here, but it comes down to two -- chronic illness all a sobering reminder that your zip code says a lot about your resources, yew access to healthary, your ability to stay safe. for many people right now, social distancing or working from home are simply not options. a lot of people in these communities work in essential businesses. they're working in public taindustry, or emergencyabout, more likely to come in contact with the virus. a lot of people in these communities don't have the same access to testing as other people do, or they may not have

the same equipment to keep themselves safe. this virus doesn't discriminate, and not everyone has the same ability to avoid it or fight it. we really need to look out for one another and take care of our communities. if you have the ability to donate or help in your area, please do. if you don't, stay home and curb the spread. absolutely. good advice. i want to pass along one more piece of information. during our break, state io ma arot scams going if anyone calls that say they have the stimulus check and they just neither additional information like your social security number. warning, warning, that's a came. they would never call you like that. that will do it for now. thank you so much for joining us on this new interactive show "getting answers." we'll be here every day at 3:00

p.m. answering your questions. tonight, the new and ions. staggering numbers just in. nearly 2,000 deaths in the u.s. in just the last 24 hours. 14,000 dead in the u.s. the president speaking moments ago. tonight, the difficult images inside a new york city hospital. recovery rooms turned into u see the doctors making difficult calls to loved ones. we go inside the cathedral of st. john the divine. now a makeshift hospital. >> and the workers risking their lives. at least 41 transit workers dying. a communications specialist setting up lines at a hospital