>> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc7 news. i'm kristen sze. hope you had a good weekend. welcome to our daily program called "gettg swers." we're askingts your questions e get answers in realtime. we'll talk with special correspondent dr. alok patel about colon cancer and we'll ask him about the latest of covid-19 news including surprising statements with the cdc this past weekend. and joining us know, we'll hear from a salon owner and certainly

two very different paths today. josie, i want to ask you, your city, san francisco is currently under the new system unveiled by governor newsom red. red is the second highest tier in terms of covid transmission. not the most serious but second most serious. as such, under the state rules indoor operations should be allowed if the county allows it for your services. however, that is not the case with you. what is the status? >> so yeah, it was announced that we were able to do our services outdoors in san francisco. however, that's just not very realist realistic. eyelash extensions, getting really powpular and dining outside as well. and a consumer eating outside, i

don't think i want any nail pollen or hair clippings in my food. so not really that, but i can imagine cutting hair when the wind is blowing so it's just not very realistic for us, the salon owners. >> but even this is a new step, right? wednesday being allowed to operate outdoors. you hadn't really been able to operate much at all, but in the meantime, what's happened to your bills, for example, or your rent? >> yeah, it's definitely put a lot of stress on a lot of owners because everything is still moving and becoming very stressful because we cannot make a living with our business but at the same time, push into desperation and underground

i can see it becoming an issue later on with this virus still out here. >> you mentioned the underground and that's the sad reality of what some with food on the table, this is something i brought up to a gym owner on friday, not getting them to say who's doing it. and a standard that's safe, healthy but that will enable you to do what you need to do and provide services for your customers. how do you advocate that we get there, where we have that standard? >> well, first, i'm thinking, you know, we're looking at other businesses that have indoor settings that are able to operate, so what i've done is i've printed out all the

guidelines on the businesses and the dental industry and the requirements are and the guidelines and implement into these guidelies. and then present it to the heal health, to get an okay and also be safe and respecting and respect the seriousness of the virus. and businesses again. >> he has issues with the zoom signals. indoors for the first time today after the governor system was unveiled and the affected date. marin county still in purple. that's widespread transmission

for covid. more the situation but they're allowed to start indoors. are you glad they can do that? >> something is better than nothing, but of course, eventually, we want to move into the state of being able be more open and have more capacity. and we do have to keep in mind, this is going to be there for the long run, the plan that will fit for a longer term. history like the last pandemic

lasted. >> small businesses may not be around if things don't change very much for you. we reach out to san francisco mayor london breed's office inquiry to your situation and what they said was nothing has changed here in san francisco based on the state's new system. we will return with impacts on how we move forward. and possibly reconsidering but for now, the old plan stands. as of wednesday, we'll be able to operate outdoors. do you have a set-up for that? i don't know where you are in the city but i know some streets are very hilly and there's really no way to do eyelash extensions outdoors. what is your situation? >> yeah, so i am here between leavenworth and we have some

interesting characters on the street as well. i don't know how much fun our clients are going to have sitting out there hair and entertainment as well but it's not as realistic in the city because of the hills and because it's compact and next to cafes and restaurants. i don't know if they want eyelashes flying into their salad. >> i don't think anybody wants eyelashes in their salad. i will say that. i don't even want my own lashes in my salad but i do wonder if you feel as though your city is being more cautious and perhaps that is a good thing moving more slowly, under the new color coded system, san francisco is doing better than most counties and, you know, could if you wanted to take advantage of the state's new rule that salons such as yours operate indoors with modifications. do you feel good about the fact your city is being cautious or the sense of looking around and

make a living more readily than i can. >> i achl super proud that our numbers are really low and i think it's low. when you're forcing the small businesses to do things to survive and when you're cornered into survival mode, you do what you need to and make a living. so you're going to have a bunch of people who are unemployed and also who don't have any other skills to do something else to make a living, underground, right? keep people in the uncertainty.

>> do you know if some of your long time, a way to operate to indoors. >> they're going into the connection they have with the clients as well. no there's no more and seen them as much. >> we'll see if you get a little bit more clarity from the mayor's office. we'll take a short break. when we come back, don't go away. because josie, we're going to have you ask a few questions

all right. now we are back with dr. alok patel, our special correspondent and dr. patel, a whole lot to talk about. we hope to get the salon owner to personally ask you some pressing questions that she has for you. but i want to start with some covid-19 headlines. because we've been getting questions on social media of people going a little crazy over the cdc saying that 6% of people who died of covid had just covid and covid alone and the other 90

had underlying condition, what does this mean, the u.s., had 183 something is that how we should read that? >> no, not at all. this is what the statistic means. on the death statistics of everyone who died condition listed and the other 94% did die of covid-19 has other co-morbidities listed. may have had asthma, hypertension, you name it.

all it's saying is only 6% had covid-19 listed by i.t. on the death certificate. it's a really important distinction. >> the difference of diving with the virus. >> people who died from covid-19 and no other underlying conditions. versus people who died from covid-19 but also had underlying conditions as well. basically saying let's say you have hypertension and you catch covid-19 and you unfortunately pass away from covid-19 but you also had hypertension underlying as well. as opposed to someone healthy, had no other conditions at all, stated on the death certificates and taken out of context on twitter, seeing it unfold in realtime. >> if you had a preexisting condition and then you died, you're in the 94%. if covid never came around,

might still be alive. how are state public health officers looking at these numbers, right? >> it is different from state to state. i will bluntly say, it is different between the front line providers taking care of the patients and the death certificate. that gets into a whole other web that gets confused with people and these are tracked because it helps people understand, improve, hey, co-morbiditieco-m underlying health conditions can increase your risk of dying from covid-19. but there's one thing that i want to make sure we talk about, kristen. just because you don't die from covid-19 does not mean you're necessarily immune or safe. you're not going to have any complications. people out there with long-term

symptoms, suffering from the disease and may have gotten treated several weeks or a month in the past. if people read this headline and say, i have no underlying conditions. not likely going to be in the 6%, i'm fine. not necessarily true. you could have long-term symptoms and pass this on to somebody else with obesity and asthma. >> when will everyone get back to normal? >> what month? only if i had an epidemiologic crystal ball. i would suspect we'll be wearing masks through the end of flu season next year. flu season could run into spring, late spring.

the end of the year, doesn't mean you can go to cvs and one. get used to it during the interim period. >> i want to see the lady gaga style. she did an awesome mask at the music awards. here's another thing i want to ask you about. sorry about that. new study says if you talk more quietly, it's like wearing a mask. and if you whisper, you don't need the mask? >> i feel like this is saying if you never open your mouth and plug your nose, and if you spread respiratory droplets, you can by talking i don't think

that's how people should be looking at this. the study is implying that you talk quietly, less likely to spread the respiratory droplets. first of all, you'll still spread them with a cough or sneeze but so could anyone around you or next to you. that's like say figure you riin carefully, shouldn't wear a bike helmet. you still should. >> bring in josie. she is the salon boutique and with us talking about the challenges as she awaits the green light from the city this wednesday. >> when taking someone's

temperature upon them entering an establishment being enough to kind of term and recognizable symptoms that we can look out for to being staff and other clients safe. >> josie, unfortunately, checking temperatures is not a sure fire way to test for covid-19. and you may catch some people, you will not catch someone who can infect yourself some other symptoms i would think about, your general cold and flu symptoms. covid-19 in adults is really going to cause that trouble breathing, copying and might

have an exposure. any tips to keep safe besides a mask and hand sanitizer? >> i think you're on the right track and commend you and all the local business owners taking time to know how to keep people safe. curbside service and some people doing by limiting the capacity. and making sure your staff is doing everything and setting a good example and making sure that customers are also following the rules because you and your staff could do everything perfectly right and then one person can come in and not wear a mask.

you actually have to follow the rules. they were all in this together but best of luck to you. i hope everything goes extremely well. >> was that helpful? >> thank you. >> here we are, abc7 making digital friends everywhere. take care, josie. good luck to you on wednesday. we'll take a short break and when we come back, we want to tackle with dr. patel colon cancer. which, of course, took

we're back with dr. alok patel our special correspondent. i want to bring our conversation to the issue of colon cancer which really came up this weekend, of course, as we continue to process the death untimely and way too early death of actor chadwick boseman who played "black panther," only 43

years old and apparently battling the cancer for years and dr. patel, i was stunned like everybody else because we had no clue. it was stage three when he was diagnosed, like, four years ago, and then apparently, he went through treatments while filming. how is that even humanly possible? >> he was super human. no, it's really heroic when you now hear these anecdotes about his strength extremely tragic even teeny tiny silver lining about chang

changes. >> can you tell more about colon cancer? it's a much bigger killer than we are aware of. tell us about, who tends to get it, how do you begin to recognize it, when do you need to begin testing? >> according to the american cancer society, and this is sobering, it's the third leading cause of death in cancers, if you combine both genders. that's a lot of people. diagnosed with colon cancer and 50,000 will actually die. colon cancer can affect any part of your colon including your rectum. people usually think and i talk to gastroenterolog t gastroenterologists as well and we don't understand why certain

populations at increased risk but people older above the age of 50 more likely to catch might be lifestyle changes and changes in the gut but smoking, diabetes, and sedentary lifestyle. it's important that people pay attention to this and also, people get screened. >> what are the different screening method the >> assuming you have no family history or there's no genetic predisposition having colon cancer, depending which recommendations your doctor is following, age 45 or 50. there's different screening mechanisms and the doctor will help you choose which is best for you. it could be a scope like a colonoscopy or stool tests done,

screened depending on the method. once a year or ten years. people at increased risk may get screened older than that, and i recommend people check out the cdc and american gastroenterological association and change with the blood habits and later stages can be changes in your appetite, cramping, anything that really affecting your gut system petite, weight loss

thank you so much for joining us today on this interactive show, "getting answers." we'll be here every weekday at

3:00 on air and on live stream answering your questions. "world tonight, the american battlegrounds. as protests and politics collide. president trump preparing to visit kenosha, wisconsin, after demonstrations turned deadly in portland. a man reportedly from a right wing group shot dead in the streets. the gunman still at large. the governor of wisconsin asking the president to reconsider the trip while some local leaders say the president is welcome. also developing tonight, biden's counterpunch. the democratic nominee out of his home and back on the campaign trail, responding to president trump's attacks. the president saying biden will not keep you safe. biden asking voters, do you feel safe now? calling trump a toxic presence. also developing right now, the military plane crash late