building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc7 news. >> hi there, i'm kristen sze. are watching getting answers live on abc7, hulu wherever you stream carefully asked experts your questions every day at 3:00 to get answers for you in real time to just want to let you know, we are standing by for an abc news special report. that could happen any second now. president biden is expected to speak. after he talked with prime minister benjamin netanyahu, just a short while ago. he will be addressing the violence there. but come in the meantime, we do want to tell you, today on the show, we'll talk about the news california is redesigning math for public schools. what does this mean for your

kids? we will also prioritize mental health. we will bring in a psychologist to answer your questions about anxiety and stress as california gets closer to a full reopening. but first, the reason we are getting close reopening is because of the extremely low covid numbers in california now. but the attention now turns to vaccine status and dropping the mask mandate. joining us now to talk more about this and more is ucsf infectious disease specialist dr. peter chin hung. good to see you. >> it is you as always, kristen. >> a new coronavirus graphic behind you, all right. >> yes, it's a little bit celebratory, because there's a lot to celebrate, in terms of reopening and getting over what we have lost for so long. >> okay, you are also referring to the fact that we have the lowest 70 average since april 20th, right? or april of 2020. tell us where we are outright now. >> yes, the cases are really low. today at san francisco general hospital, there was zero cases for the first time ever of

covid. ever in the system at ucsf, we have three cases. so, it's really looking great peer test positivity rate in san francisco is around 0.5% and the state is about 0.8%. cell under 1%, really looking good. so i think around us right now, it's really looking good, in terms of not having a lot of covid circulating. >> okay. wow, that is really low, the number of cases right now. given also our fairly high vaccination rate, correct me if i'm wrong, but i ifornians have gotten at least one shot, right? so when you take out together, what are the chances we could have another surge here? >> i think it's going to be very low, for the time being, given the combination of two things. one, which you brought up, kristen, is the high vaccination rates. and in some areas, it's even higher. i know marin county's about 80%, san francisco, at least

one dose approaching 70%. so, that plus natural immunity gives us a big force field, keeping the variance at bay. >> okay, i think one thing that is causing some people to worry though, right, because we are seeing a surge in asia, india is devastated, but even countries like vietnam, singapore, and taiwan, that have really done a good job containing covid, they are seeing increases in new restrictions coming back. that is a different situation from us, right? the issue there is, they really haven't gotten a lot of people vaccinated, right? >> exactly. it would be surprising to many people, but the vaccination rate in asia, even though they really were vanguard, in terms of population protection early on, hadn't really kept up and steps. so they are in the single digits in most of these countries, including taiwan, singapore even. and even china and india as we know is trying to ramp up vaccinations, but it's still a press conference that

we will probably have to end this conversation early. in the one minute i know we do have, we are seeing, you know, look, supply is not an issue anymore. now it's reaching people who, you know, are still sitting out and not getting the vaccine. what, you know, could get them to say, okay, you know, i will get my shot? is incentives that some states are doing? >> it's not one-size-fits-all anymore, very quickly, it's a combination of carrots and sticks. my favorite slogan is a shot for shot, like they were doing in israel. nevertheless, i think a self- care like maybe if you get vaccinated, you can go to outside lands. but essentially for everyone trying to -- >> we got to go, thank you so much. now the special report. abc news special report, now reporting david mure. >> that evening, we are coming on the air just a little earlier tonight because president biden is about to address the cease-fire agreement just reached late today between israel and hamas.

>> they informed me israel has agreed to mutual unconditional cease-fire, to begin in less than two hours. the egyptians have now informed us that hamas, and other groups in gaza, have also agreed. my conversation with president netanyahu, i commended him for the decision to bring the current hostilities to a close, and less than 11 days. i also emphasize what i have said throughout this conflict, the united states fully supports israel's right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks from hamas, and other gaza- based terrorists groups that have taken the lives of innocent civilians in israel. the prime minister also shared with me, his appreciation for the iron dome system. which are, nations developed together and which has saved lives in countless israeli citizens, arab and . i is him assured him my full support to

replenish the iron dome system, to ensure defensive insecurity in the future. over the last 11 days, i spoke with the prime minister six times. have also spoken with president abbas of the palestinian authority, and part of our intense diplomatic engagement. and i want to also thank thalso secretary of state, secretary of defense, national security advisor, and everyone on our team, for the carpal efforts to bring this about, this outcome we are about to see. you know, we have held intensive high-level discussions. hour by hour, literally. egypt, palestinian authority, and other middle listing countries, with a name of avoiding a prolonged conflict we have seen in previous years, when the hostilities had broken out. i extend my sincere gratitude to president alyse eady and the senior egyptian officials who played such a critical role in this diplomacy. i also appreciate the contributions of other parties in the region. who had been engaged in working toward the end of hostilities. these hostilities have resulted

in a tragic death of so many civilians, including children. i send my sincere condolences to all the families, is really in, palestinian, who have lost loved ones, and my hope for a full recovery for the wounded. the united states committed to working with the united nations, and remain committed to working with the united nations and other international stakeholders, to provide rapid humanitarian assistance, and a marshall international support for the people of gaza, and the gaza reconstruction efforts. we will do this in full partnership with the palestinian authority, not hamas, the authority, in a manner that does not permit hamas to simply restock its military arsenal. i believe the palestinians and israelis easily deserve to live safely and securely, and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy. my administration will continue our quiet and relentless diplomacy toward that end.

i believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress, and i've committed to working for it. i want to thank you all, may god bless you all and pray that this continues. thank you so much. >> president biden at the white house, saying he talked with israeli prime minister benjamin on yahoo a short time ago about the cease-fire, set to take effect. we had been told, within the hour, 7:00 pm eastern time. obviously they are well ahead of us. it'll be about 2:00 am their time in the region. the cease-fire taking effect, talking with israel and israeli prime minister on yahoo in addition to president president the he said there, the tragic deaths of so many civilians, children, loved ones come on both sides of this conflict. he made a point at the end of saying, israelis and palestinians equally deserve to live safely and securely. i want to get to matt, who has been reporting with our team from tel aviv since the started. matt, you are telling us, as we

were on the air last night, you sensed a relative calm that this cease-fire could become becoming. >> reporter: absolutely, david. right now, i can tell you, we have been able to hear the booms from gaza, even here in tel aviv. those iron domes come into receptors, taking rockets out of the sky. for the past several hours, it has been quiet here, has been a de-escalation over the past couple of days.of days.of days.. everybody here has taken notice. and as you noted, it is only about an hour left before the cease-fire takes effect. nearly 15 million palestinians and israelis living in this region hope that it stays that way. it is worth noting, how sensitive is really leaders are to directives from the united states, specifically the white house. nine yahoo and biden have had very tense relationship in the past, but when the president of the united states says you have to de-escalate today, israeli leaders know they have only a matter of hours in order to enact that directive, and that is clearly what we are seeing here on the ground right now. and again, no reports of

airstrikes, or rockets in multiple hours, david. tentatively the cease-fire within an hour and man the team will want this in the coming hours. let's hope in fact that a hold and let's bring in mary bruce. heard not to mention the relationship between president biden and the israeli prime minister netanyahu. also heard the president there, mary, say, i commended the prime minister for moving forward with this cease-fire. the white house, this delicate dance we have seen in the last few days of how much they would reveal about the pressure biden was quietly putting on israel, he mentioned just moments ago, they talked six times. we knew a call just 24 hours ago, where he asked for a significant de-escalation immediately. >> reporter: david, in talking with sources here at the white house, they see this as an example of the president's approach to diplomacy, really working, despite this growing pressure, that biden was facing within his own party, those progressive members, who wanted him to take a tougher stance on israel, biden, in the initial

days, really laid low, relying heavily on what the white house described as quiet, intensive diplomacy. in the last few days, upping p netanyahu. these are two leaders who certainly have a history together. to have a relationship. they understand each other. i'm told, you know, the president took in into the increasingly serious tone on those phone calls, making it clear to netanyahu would not be in his interest if he wasn't able to bring this to a close soon. >> mary bruce, live at the white house tonight. again, breaking story, israel and hamas, cease-fire set to take place within the hour, and our team will stand by to cover this on world news tonight your coverage also continues on abc news live, abc news.com. for many of you, we return you to your local news. i will see you shortly for world news tonight. good day. that was an abc news special report, as you just heard president biden just announced israel and hamas have agreed to a cease-fire that will begin in about a little over an hour. deadmo and palestinians

all right, we are back now. we want to pick up where we left off, in terms of our conversation with dr. peter chin-hong on the latest on covid-19, vaccines and other issues, dr. chin hong, thanks for hanging on while we had the president and the special report. >> no problem. >> i mean, you are super important, but, you know, it's the president, okay? i want to talk to you a little bit about what happened on june 15th. the state is going to essentially reopen, that means no more capacity limits, even indoors, and the indoor mask mandates will be gone for those

who are fully vaccinated. so, that is making some folks quite nervous, right? so i want to ask you about that, whether you are comfortable, and whether come june 15th, you, for one, will not wear your mask any more, let's say when you go to the grocery store. >> i think it's going to be a stage of transition. i think the science is clear for the vaccine, folks they are protected, even in more crowded situations. again, given what the local numbers look like here, which is really low, but, there is a difference between the science and personal comfort. you are right, i think many of us will probably still wear a mask in crowded areas, even though we are vaccinated. and i think that is going to be okay, and i hope that, just like we didn't want people to be shamed for not wearing a mask, if people feel more comfortable wearing a mask, that other people won't shamed them for that. >> i don't know if this data is

available, but what are the chances, could you put a number on that, when and however many, the chances of you contracting covid, if you are fully vaccinated? and you are not masked, when you are near people. >> yeah, so that, you know, the data is somewhere, at least the people who have breakthrough infections, i think that's probably the data we could start with. people with breakthrough infections in real life seems to be about 1 in 1 million, when you look at know, a few hundred thousand. when you look at a breakthrough in sonoma, that is people who two weeks after the vaccinations, thought and infection. none of these people were sick enough to die. they didn't go to the icu, and they were not, one person was hospitalized in sonoma, but it was probably a mild hospitalization. so that is kind of where we are, we through with data. but, again, these people are probably still probably paying attention, taking care, you

know? there is less data about, you know, people moving around normally, except in israel may be. where they had higher rates of vaccination, and that looks pretty good, when people sort of mix in society. >> right, okay. so then let's talk about returning to work, right? that is something being considered. you know, in california is thinking about dropping, cal osha is saying, we can drop the mask rules in the workplace, if everybody is vaccinated, and no one is showing symptoms. do you think that is the way to go? >> it is the way to go, as long as there is alignment, obviously between cal osha and what public health is saying. i think, for a while, the public health was ahead of cal osha. in other words, even though there were rules and guidelines to the community, in the workplace, because we were going by cal osha, we can really keep in step. so i think it was amazing that cal osha is meeting this sooner than anticipating some of the

changes in the workplace. the workplace also applies to some of the, you know, it the medical school hospital setting, some of the educational activities we do as well. so i think for vaccinated folks, again, if that is true, it is going to be relatively low risk to conduct these kinds of activities, because, with the few people that have breakthroughs, you will use the old-fashioned testing, contact tracing, isolation, to squash any embers that may burn through that. back all right, that does get a little tricky for the employers, right? i don't know, because you work in the hospital, maybe the rules are different. but santa clara county is telling businesses, they need to track their employees vaccination status, but that employees, a lot of them are wondering, do i have to say, can i not say? what are the rules? >> yeah, so, i think tracking vaccination status is going to be a little bit problematic.

the main issue is that the vaccine is not fully fda cleared yet. so there is some, you know, medical ethics issues around mandating a vaccination before it's fully cleared. of course we expect that clearance to happen relatively soon. remember, it's only under emergency youth use authorization right now? once that happens, i guess it is open for schools, employees, et cetera, to mandate it, employers, sorry. but again, it is going to be tricky because not all employers have the same ces. ewdays. s e we will get you back on to talk more about it when we find out ing, go to see you. today, as we get ready for the town hall on mental health coming up in 4:00, we are

one of the biggest impacts of the pandemic has been on our over the past year, and we have a lot more to go through. so we want to focus on that topic with a psychologist who focuses on stress and anxiety. and so let's bring in dr. jonathan horwitz , who was with us today. dr. horwitz , thanks for making the time. >> yeah, thank you so much for having me today. happy to be here. >> such an important topic, especially now. we did a poll on midday live today, our midday show. the majority of voters were feeling anxiety as we get close to fully reopen, because so much changes. can you talk about common feelings you are seeing from people? so maybe they don't feel quite so alone in their stress? >> of course, yeah. anytime you have a lot of uncertainty around what's going to happen, and what you are supposed to do, people are going to experience heightened anxiety. we saw that in the beginning of the pandemic, whenever but he was transitioning in and trying to figure out how they were supposed to behave, and we are

seeing a lot of that right now. so i can tell you, if you are someone experience a lot of stress in these moments, believing you are not alone, this is something we are seeing every day in our practice. >> okay, so what do you tell people? right, how do they, i guess, first of all, they must feel like, and my weird for not wanting to go back to the normal? >> yeah, no, you are not weird at all. actually, that's been one of the most surprising things that we have seen. so initially, there was so much resistance, and we all experienced this, right? how will we deal with being home, how will he not go to the workplace? we were so used to it and it was very difficult. those first 3 to 6 months were really hard for a lot of people, then it seems like in the past x months or so, a lot of people had settled into new routines, some people found things they liked better, maybe they moved or are in a different situation? now we are seeing people experiencing a lot of stress around how do they go back to it? and i think the number one, the most important thing is just to

remind yourself that we are doing this collectively. we've never done this before. so it makes sense if they're just going to be a lot of anxiety. there is going to be another new normal on the other side of it. you will settle back in. right now, this is a crazy time, just accepting those cctanumber one, nine imagine, the next the next would be a recipe, not a recipe but step-by-step, how we baby step our way into what's making us anxious, for example, taking off my mask or going to a small dinner party with friends? how do we ease into that and reassure ourselves that it's okay? >> right, right. so i think the first thing to do is to make decisions about how you are going to behave, independent of your feelings. so take some time, think about what you are being told by public health officials, do some research, figure out what you are actually comfortable with, in your best, most relaxed moment, what seems right? once you have made those decisions, commit to doing it,

and know that you are probably going to experience anxiety, because you've been trained to be anxious, the situation requires you to be anxious, right? it made sense to be anxious a year ago, when nobody nobody vaccinated in certain situations, right? that is no longer the case. maybe it makes perfect sense, but it takes our brains allowed to catch up to that. you know, we have to put ourselves in situations in practice. overtime, that anxiety is going go down, as long as we don't make too much of a big issue out of it. >> right, but what is it that we do when we engage in an activity, we do want to do but it's making us anxious? do we take deep breaths? do we think a little something in our heads first before we do it? >> yeah, i think one of the main things is to remind yourself that this is okay, and you have decided that this is something that's okay. nothing is ever 100% safe, right? you wake up in the morning, you get a car, nothing is ever safe. remind yourself, we take reasonable risks all the time, and you have to trust yourself to take those risks. and if you can save yourself, okay, i'm going to going to the

office, i know nothing is ever 100%, but this is a risk worth taking, because my work is important or going to this dinner party because my friends are important and i wantto thati caredoin things like that can really, really be helpful. >> you know, we only have about 20 seconds, but i wanted to ask you if you think that mental health issues will be in a more stressful way for a lot of people for a long time to come. i mean, is this temporary? because i'm hearing some experts seem to think this will really be with us a long time. >> yeah, well, so mental health issues are always prevalent, mental health issues are always a big deal. i think the pandemic has really exacerbated those issues, but, also, it's brought a lot of much-needed attention to mental health, and i think that this is ultimately going to be a good thing, because a lot more people are going to be getting the help they need. they are going to be getting connected with professionals, and they are going to be

learning a lot about mental health. i think people are remarkable now acknowledging mental health issues, and talking about them in a way that we never were. so maybe that is one of the er of this whole thing. >> yeah, we are doing it right now, dr. jonathan horwitz , thank you so much, really appreciate your insight. >> yeah, thank you so much. >> thank you. join abc7 news anchor reggie hickey and kate larsen today, as they take a look at mental health issues, including using stress and anxiety as people head back to work or school. it's a abc7 listens bay area conversation , your mental health. that is at 4:00. join the conversation on all of our abc7 platforms, i'm greg, i'm 68 years old. i do motivational speaking in addition to the substitute teaching.

to give back to younger people. that's my calling-- i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been foabout three year. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

thanks for joining us on getting answers today. the big breaking news, cease- fire agreement between israel and hamas, much more on world news tonight. tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. israel and hamas agreeing to a cease-fire. president biden speaking just moments ago. after 11 days of relentless rockets and missile attacks, a truce now set to take effect just a short time from now. president biden, who put increasing pressure on benjamin netanyahu, biden talking just a short time ago. matt gutman standing by in tel aviv. mary bruce at the white house. our team on the breaking news tonight. here at home, the pandemic and the new coronavirus cases in this country now dropping below 30,000 a day for the first type gh the states offering lotteries in the millions of dollars for people to get vaccinations. .nd scholarships for young and it's working. and the flash points over masks.