building a better bay area, moving forward, finding sotions. this is abc 7 news. >> hello there i'mkristen sze. we ask experts your questions every day at 3:00 to get answers for you in realtime. today we will get an update on the restaurant industry here in the bay area. as more restaurants reopen for indoor dining. but first, there is plenty of covid-19 and vaccine news to get caught up on. joining us now infectious disease specialist dr. peter chen hong. thank you for joining us. how are you? >> good, how row you, kristen? >> i'm good. i want to start here. cdc director roe shell saying she feels impending doom, due

to the covid trajectory. what is that to verdicty? which numbers are causing her that alarm? >> first of all, in more than half in the states in the u.s. says there is an increasing cases. and more alarmingly, several states have more than 50% increase in cases in the last two weeks. so from michigan, for example, 133% increase in the last two weeks. and many states in the northeast, like connecticut, more than 60% increase in the last two weeks. so, again, it's not just an increase of 8%. you know, it's profound increase. >> okay. that is concerning. but here in san francisco we are still doing well locally, right? i was looking at the 14 day average of new cases. down 12% in hospitalizations. down 39%. should we take that to mean okay, as long as we keep doing what we are doing we should be okay? >> california is one of the

states where opening has been readily gradual. and in many states that is not the case. texas, florida, et cetera pip think we're actually doing kind of a good thing. but i would also say that the sun is shining right now in california pip want to keep it shining. the clouds are looming large across an increasing proportion of the country. so we have to keep on doing what we are doing and not letting down our guard. >> okay. but to what extenth are we just a few weeks behind by other states. they say florida is the bell weather and they are seeing a huge surge there. you know. you talked about michigan. i think their numbers jumped up after they started to ease up. like indoor dining and things like that which we are starting to do here. to what extent are we okay or are we a few weeks behind? >> i think in a regular pandemic year, meaning last year when most people were

somewhat sedentary, it probably would have taken awhile to ge to california. now that people are mobile across the country, it takes a plane ride to get from michigan to the bay area. and you know, all progress can easily be up ended very quickly. not because of what we are doing necessarily, but because of people from high risk areas coming here. >> right. well, that speaks to everybody needing to be on the same page following the same protocol. yet, i'm seeing that just over 30 states, maybe 31 or so right now have mask mandates in public all the time. i couldn't believe it. it seems some 16 states have no restrictions anymore. ara mask rule. the sotime which prompted president biden to speak up today; right? >> yes. he was encouraging states that had dropped the mask mandate to reinstate them. but because, again, one of the things i was hoping for with

the change in the administration, was that we all did the same thing. just like you said, kristen. we can't just do some things in one part of the country and nothing in other parts of the country. and then go off the force in other part. it just seems worried we are doing this when everyone can crisscross any time they want to. >> one more question for me here before we get to our viewer questions and they have many about the vaccines. president biden answered yes today whether states should pause their reopening. so this comes at a timely period for us as we are starting to increase capacity indoors at movie theaters and restaurants. given that president biden said yes, we should pause, how do you take that? >> i think for the system in california has been premeditated lots is based on numbers. and you know where our cases are. as long as we continue to do what we are doing, think we are

on the right path. i think the main take away for me is, all of these liberties we see now may be reverse a little bit. and mentally we just have to be worry and prepared for that as these clouds are looming large. as you put it. >> yeah. people are so tired of it all, but they have to keep up just a little longer as dr. walinski was saying today. taking care of business, a couple questions from viewers. is anyone complaining of side effects months after they get the vaccine? >> people are not complaining about side effects months after with covid vaccines. it's more likely that people complaining of side effects from covid. but i haven't seen any convincing reports of vaccine associated side effects that linger for months and months. and that is what distinguishes it from the real infection. >> alexis' question is with regard to eligibility for the

vaccine in california. if the tier is already on 1c why on tuesday tomorrow the 50 years and up can get vaccinated. is the vaccinated tiers going back to 1b? i think there is a lot of confusion. different counties are doing different things right now. so just tell us right now what is that we are looking at here in terms of who is eligible. >> you know, it's confusing. it's changing rapidly. it's changing by county. but i think what's moving in the right direction is just simplicity. so what are you seeing is people defaulting to age now. and then i think after 50 and over it's just going to go to everybody in a matter of weeks. you know, many states are already at that stage. i'm just hoping that we can catch up that soon. so the debate about the tiers will hopefully go away once everyone can have equal access. again, it depends on supply. >> tom, beth, i do see your

questions. i will get to it in a second. i have to ask this question. new results on the effectiveness of the pfizer and moderna vaccines tested in real world conditions. what do we know? >> what we know is that over 90% efficacy in the real world from a cdc study moderna. and interestingly, 80% efficacy after, two weeks after one dose. again, speaking to the fact that we think about a trial and cherry picking people people take part in the trial, maybe they are just better or take more precautions. the fact it holds up in the real world with real life people is very reassuring. >> so what does efficacy mean? are we talking about, you're not going to catch covid? or you are not going to get

really sick from covid? >> from the cdc study they both at bad covid, hospitalizations. but also asymptomatic disease. and that is an important point. the cdc study suggests in other studies those that are in israel and the uk that the vaccine may also prevent asymptomatic disease. and therefore prevent transmission. which has been a question that people have been worried about. the fact that it prevents asymptomatic disease, which is a bulk of transmission is a good sign in terms of, you know, more power to the vaccines. >> so you're saying these new results show that in the real world, even with the variants now out there, if you got the vaccine, one dose, two weeks later you are what? 80% less likely? should we look at it that way, to catch it, compared to the population that had gotten one

dose? >> yeah. or you can say 80% of the people will have some sort of protection. but that means 20% of people won't. not that you'd have like a partial benefit. >> got it. that's why you should still take every precaution. okay. i will answer some questions or you will, i will

all right, we are back infectious disease specialist at ucsf dr. peter chen honb. i want to talk about how we are expanding eligibility. many states are. and here in california you know it's people 50 and over now and in two short weeks people over 16 as well. at the same saying hey, we have

shortage. so i'm wondering why the disparity from county to county? you have contra costa saying yeah, come on down. what is happening? >> i just think it's matter about the size and the complexity of the county. if you look at the states where they had really high proportion of folks vaccinated. and supplying and in step with demand. like new mexico and north dakota. alaska. they are all really small states with relatively less complex hospital systems. so that is one thing. so, like a santa clara very populous is probably going to have a harder time vaccinating everyone in all of these complex ecosystems than a yolo county, for example. so i think it's not a precise science of matching population to numbers of vaccines. and i think that is what people are butting up against right

now. >> all right. erika lyons has a question about the johnson & johnson vaccine. she is wondering if it's not effective with asymptomatic spread. what do you know? >> it's pretty effective against ah symptomatic spread. investigators studied whether or not it could prevent asymptomatic transmission by checking antibody levels on people. believe it or not. and it was found to be pretty effective over 70% that asymptomatic transmission. so right on target with over all efficacy of the drug. of the vaccine. sorry. >> vanessa has a question for you. can you still spread covid if you are fully vaccinated? do we have a little bit more data on that today as part of that new study? >> no, they didn't talk about those cases. but they have been antic total cases of people being infected with covid, as we all know.

but less data on those people actually spreading it. the idea is, they probably will have a lower chance of spreading it. but we just don't understand that well enough. it's probably a viral load. because they have less symptomatic when they do get it, nobody goes to the hospital. my gut sense is they probably be less efficient transmitters. but we haven't seen the data yet. >> what is your advice for those that have been vaccinated if they were to socialize, gather, or travel? >> so let's take the easy situation first. you are vaccinated, you are with a bunch of work people who have also been vaccinated. it's a relatively small group. everyone comes over to your house. it could be like 2019. so that is, you know. let's move the group a little bit bigger. you are going out. you are indoor dining.

you are vaccinated. but that group of people in that indoor dining facility may not be all vaccinated. in that case, you still have to wear a mask. first of all, you don't know if you are one of the folks who just didn't respond to the vaccine. we just haven't tested that yet. the more mouths you bring together, the more the chance of two nonresponders potentially transmitting it to each other. that is the reason why if you go to open setting, out in the world, we still need to wear the mask right now. because not everyone has that level of vaccination. >> all right. yesterday dr. fauci said kids probably won't get vaccinated until next year. i'm wondering if that is based on how long it takes trlsand i alsosee viewers when going to be get it? give us the situation on the kids younger than 16. >> yeah, younger than

16 now divide that into two groups. those with over 12 and those younger than 12. the reason i'm saying older than 12, because that is where we will see data in just a few weeks. and as soon as we get that data, i bet you they will be able to be eligible for vaccines sooner, rather than later. and you know, with the current administration, they always give very conservative deadlines and then they move them up. so as supply increases what i'm anticipating is that kids older than 12 would be eligible for vaccines sooner. probably in the fall or earlier in the summer. those younger than 12, this vaccine, the trials are just started. so we probably won't have data until the fall. and then if you think about approval, that brings you into winter. so younger kids six months to 12 years probably looking at later in the year. after trial and then approval and then vaccination. >> okay. all right. of course that would be so

critical if they were vaccinated to be able to go back to school. whether it's college or high schools. various school districts are opening this week. in part because the state has that incentive money to open before april 1st. so all the districts are trying to meet that deadline. on the life show, we did ask people, how many days a week do you think kids should go back to school physically? and surprisingly half a the people said five days a week. i'm wondering, what is your thought on that? >> i think it depends on the age of the child. if the child is in high school or older, middle school child, it's probably okay for hybrid. they have already formed those attachments. if you are talking about elementary school kids, it will be, i know we will want to gradually phase in to whatever state, it's really would be amazing if they could be there for the entire time. it's so critical for them beyond the abc's and one, two,

threes. >> as a mom i say for sure. let's talk abouts vaccine pass port. the biden administration is working on a system for people to prove they have been vaccinated. as you know new york state just launched a system. its shares vaccination and test results with entertainment venues an businesses. you have a qr code. you can go right in. sounds great but some health experts do have ethical concerns. do you personally have any concerns? >> i like the idea conceptionally. but i do have concerns right now. mainly because not everyone has equal opportunity and access to the vaccine. so just seems worried you would have a passport, officially, when not everyone has had that opportunity to be eligible for that special treatment, so to speak. so that is the concern. >> okay. that is something to be worked out. last question and that is summer travel, it is really heating up, especially to

popular places like hawaii. are you concerned? what do you want people to keep in mind? >> i'm just a little concerned with the crisscrossing from hot spots to less hot spots. you know, i want to meet people where they are and i know it's important and people we have lots of personal reasons and family and stuff to do it. look at destination like you look at the weather report for covid. and you make your risk adjustment adjudication based on that. if you can drive somewhere, it will be better. in general, more local. but again, you know, things may change rapidly. so just be on the watch out for that. >> okay. dr. chen hong, thank you for your time and insight today. take care. >> bye. coming up next. an update on bay area restaurants and what is next as counties ease up on restrictions. we'll take a short br

from north bay -- marin. y -- m welcome back.

one of the hardest hit areas has been the restaurant industry. vaccine distribution is ramping up. as you know, more indoor dining now. joining us is laurie thomas. executive director of the golden gate restaurant association. laurie, you own several restaurants, right? which ones are they? >> hi, thanks for having me. i'm the owner of rosa's cafe which is 24 years old. over in district two of san francisco. and across the street is terza which will be 15 years old april 1st. >> i'm happy to hear that. what is the state of restaurants like yours and also throughout the bay area right now? >> well, it's varied. but it's still pretty precarious. we know there has been over 110,000 closures across united states. we're statementing 15-20%

closure rate? san francisco. it's hard to tell who will make it and who will not. it's dependent on financial relief we can get. and most importantly if we can keep safely opening. >> there is a couple outlets i would like to explore. one the park lets. that has proven really popular. i know in san francisco they are able to go until the end of june. is there an effort to try to keep those going? and talk about that. >> yes. so we were early forthers. we put in a four page supporter to the economic task force i was on a year ago. saying this is the way we have to go and we're so thankful everybody was able to make happen. you are right, exactly. currently it ends june 30th. but what is super exciting is the mayor with the support of four supervisors put in last tuesday permanent legislation that would allow this program to continue. and so we are hoping that, that will go through the legislative

process and become law sometime soon. >> and you haven't heard from patrons that say gosh, this is great, but i wish i had a parking space and this little parklet is taking up my parking space. haven't heard anything about that? >> there are certainly both sides of this. not everybody is positive. but we polled our membership over two or three weeks ago now, and 93% said it was critical to the restaurant survival. and i can tell you that even with a parklets and we have a parklet at tertzo and actually two. one at rosa's cafe. it's a corner location. on either side we were able to do it. we lost tens of thousands of dollars in the first few months. it's a lifeline but it's not a solution we have to keep moving back to open indoors. >> another thing

big tech biggies started their phased reopen. how much does that benefit restaurants? and i know they are starting as 10%. that is not really a law. will that help the nearby restaurants reopen? >> i think anything moving forward is positive. i think it's positive they are not bringing pack in house food right now. so certainly people will need to eat and that will help push them into the neighborhoods at launch. and hopefully after work. what we are doing right now is asking all of those companies and i'm working with my friends and colleagues to ask their members who are the bigger tech ed and nontech companies to share with us in the restaurant community to share out to everybody. when are you coming back. on a monday they expect their employees to come back to work on a monday, a tuesday, a

wednesday, thursday, friday. we are hearing that a lot of folks are saying hey, we want to work remotely monday and friday. we want tuesday, wednesday, thursday to be our days in the office. and if that is the case, then many of our members are going to have to relook at their business models and say, does that make sense to open? so the more we can share that type of information when we all know it, the better that we are all going to be. and that is something hewn knee needs as well and something we need for budget and forecasting at the city level as well. i want to be thankful we are hearing this and want to stay positive. >> right. i can understand why that data is so important. you can't afford to waste food. that would kill the budget. one last question before we go. 30 second. fran seen wants to know, she thinks restaurants were doing just fine with pick up and delivery. as a restaurant owner, what do you think? what do you see? >> i will share with you rosa's

cafe numbers. we lost $25,000 trying to do takeout and delivery for four weeks between the closure in december of outdoor dining and january 10th. we lost $24,000. and that is just running with four salaried employees, basically 1.5 front of the house and two to three back of the house. with all of the cost and the rent and the utility and the garbage and the gas and pg&e, it doesn't make sense. if i paid my rent and closed the doors, i would have lost half. >> i hate to interrupt. let's continue this let's continue this conversation on

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>> thank you for joining us on this interactive show. getting answers. we'll be here daily at 3:00 on tonight, the trial of minneapolis police officer derek chauvin begins. charged in the killing of george floyd ten months ago, memorial day last year. the jury and millions across the country seeing those horrific images. the prosecutor describing the final moments of george floyd's life. chauvin's knee on floyd's neck. the prosecutor saying floyd cried out i can't breathe 27 times. the defense attorney for the officer choosing not to address the video that had just been shown. saying, use common sense. there are two sides to every