announcer: building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. kristen: you are watching "getting answers." we are asking experts or questions every day at 3:00 to get answers in real-time. at the russian invasion continues, the bay area takes action. a reporter with "the san francisco standard" will be joining us to show us how peace activists and those with ukrainian ties are responding. the oakland-based dance company defies gender roles in its holding performances this weekend. first, the cdc has issued new metrics that would allow 70

percent of americans to remove their masks indoors. take a look at this map. we don't have the map for you. but let me tell you that counties with low to medium risk under a new covid-19 community level, they would no longer need to mask. that is a new metric. there you go. if you are in yellow or green, the bay area is except for napa, solano, and santa cruz counties still in orange, the other counties, according to the cdc guidance, can now get rid of the masks or make it optional. a lot going on. joining us to talk about this is our special correspondent. dr. patel, tell us about this. it does not seem like they are differentiating between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. it does not seem like they are

differentiating between schools and other indoor environments. am i reading this correctly? >> you are. there is a lot of confusion comparing the maps. when i say two maps, shows the united states in red. the new one shows a lot of green and yellow. kristen: people are looking at these going, what is going on? >> the one that is already is community transmission. those are just cases out of 100,000. as of three days ago, the entire country, more than 90% of counties, were in high transmission. the new metric is looking at covid-19 community transmission. there will be some metrics to take into account, including cases, but also the cases admitted to hospitals and hospital capacity. it is a more broad category but categories -- factors in

county's ability to care for those at more risk. because it is not clear and it seems like 70% of the country got lifted to low and medium, there's a lot of confusion. this now means the majority of counties in the united states have lifted or are able to lift the indoor mask mandate. kristen: let's leave that up. i think there is so much confusion. the red one is the old transmission looking at cases. you are telling me what they are relying on now announcing about 70% of americans can go mask optional, looking at the left side, that is the yellow, orange, and green. that is based on hospital beds and what they think the danger level is, not just cases.

is that what you are saying? >> absolutely. those are new covid-1 admissions, beds occupied, and new cases. you can look up your county and see what the risk level is. the thought is we will not get to zero cases. just looking at the case number is not feasible. we need to have a way to gauge how to live with the virus while protecting those most at risk. looking at your relative level of risk reminds me of when we have bad air quality in the bay area. assessment about what you should be doing based on your individual risk. i think that is where we are headed. . kristen: are there exceptions

where you still have to mask in one of the yellow or green counties? >> absolutely. if you look at the bottom of the website, it says if you have tested positive for been exposed, you should still be wearing a mask. that is a recommendation. about 30% of counties considered to have a high level of community transmission, indoor masks are still recommended. the cdc stresses masks still good option. if you are high risk, you should check with your doctor. but when in doubt, still wear a mask. kristen: almost a sure thing that when the state secretary on monday addresses what they are going to do about the school mask mandate, doesn't this assure they will have to lift it because the cdc is not saying different rules for schools and we have already lifted it over all? >> it seems that way.

that is my expectation. i think there will be a more nuanced discussion. there are different resources and community level interventions. i think the schools will be the ones to decide. the cdc has been more conservative than what states have been doing. the majority of states have lifted the mandates and are heading toward calling this an endemic virus. it would be interesting if k-12 schools followed a more strict path. crazier things have happened throughout the pandemic. kristen: there are some people with differing reactions on social media. some people say this is the cdc throwing immunocompromised people under the bus. is there any truth to that? >> i understand why they can feel the increased risk.

the cdc probably has a lot of pressure because the majority of the country is moving in one direction. i feel for those at high risk. that is why we stress when you are getting vaccinated, you are doing it for those around you, reducing the level of community transmission. hopefully, those people are protected by those around them. immunocompromised people should be wearing a mask even if others are not. you still get a good level of protection. kristen: as if there is not enough news, quickly, i want to mention we got word governor newsom has issued an executive order. he is going to lift a series of statewide order's issued during the pandemic. overall, the declaration stays but he is lifting executive actions.

i don't see anything immediate about schools and masks. we will sort through that and bring it to you. the cdc made a change in how vaccine doses are spaced out. that is the other big headline out of the cdc. >> essentially, the spacing between the first two doses of pfizer and moderna, the recommendation is three to eight weeks with eight weeks being optimal if you have no underlying conditions. the thought is facing them out will give you a better antibody response and reduce the risk of the already rare myocarditis which could give vaccine hesitant more relief. that was another change we saw earlier this week. kristen: here is a viewer question. they want to know about masking in subways and on airplanes. on public transit, airplanes, they are still recommending you

keep your mask on. ride-share is a private business. private businesses have their own rules. if a store wants you to mask, don't fight it, just mask. >> i am still going to be carrying a mask even though it is nice to take it off when i go to the gym. i have an unvaccinated and adorable 10 month old. if i go to a store that is crowded, i cannot tell if everyone is vaccinated. i will wear a mask. does my 17-year-old with type 1 diabetes need his fourth dose? obviously, with appropriate spacing. >> we don't yet have a recommendation for fourth doses. this is an ongoing discussion. in other countries like israel and sweden, a fourth those has been authorized for some elderly populations. i would hang tight.

a 17-year-old is still getting phenomenal protection from the two doses and hopefully a booster. for anyone with underlying medical conditions asking if they need a fourth dose, chat with your doctor. kristen: i know that omicron cases are going down. covid is still killing more people now, is that right? >> death levels are still incredibly high. it is hard to be done with something that can kill over 1000 americans a day. i hope we never learned to normalize these numbers. as we look at the new cdc guidelines, it is important we are paying attention to hospital capacity and taking into account the guidelines were made with vaccines and therapeutics available.

people are still going to get sick. hopefully with the new metrics, we will know the counties have the capacity to take care of them and save more lives. kristen: great to see you. thank you so much. have a great weekend. >> happy friday. kristen: when we come back, look at what is behind the bay area

kristen: more rallies to support ukraine will be held in the bay area this weekend as russia continues the invasion of the neighboring democratic country. reporting on people who stand up for justice is part of building a better bay area, omission we share with the san francisco standard. joining us is the director of

multimedia for the san francisco standard. thanks for coming on. nice to have you. i know you were out there at city hall in san francisco all night. tell us what you saw at the rally. >> this is a rally held yesterday at 4:00 p.m. outside city hall. i got there right at 4:00 and there were hundreds of people. the crowd swelled to over 1000. it was a colorful rally but also very somber. there was the ukraine flag. people holding signs saying "please, no more." there were also tears. i spoke to around a dozen people. there was a sense of powerlessness as they are watching what is happening unfold. kristen: who were these protesters? young, old, peace activists? people who had family connections?

who are they? >> it was everyone. i saw people who were elderly. i saw very young people. they were families, strollers. most of the folks i talked to were ukrainians who have been working here. i spoke to one woman who said for the prior three weeks she had been trying to convince her family to come stay with her. up to 48 hours ago, they did not think the threat was going to pan out the way it has. now she is watching from afar. it was a huge crowd of people around the bay whose hearts are with ukraine as this is happening. kristen: it sounds like her family did not think putin would actually do it. was there anybody else's story that touched you in particular? >> i spoke to an older german man who said his heart with with -- was with ukraine because his own country has done their own

atrocities to ukrainians decades prior. he wanted to stand with ukrainians and show up. he noted city hall was not lit up in blue and yellow. other places around the country and the world are doing that. i did hear from the mayor's office that this weekend city hall will have the colors of the ukrainian flag. i thought he was an interesting character to talk to as well. kristen: all right. as you talk to people, did you get a sense of what they wanted the u.s. to do? president biden has worked in conjunction with nato to have strong economic sanctions, just today adding putin himself, to try to cut off the money. what did you hear from protesters? do they think that is enough? do they think that will work? to they want something else? >> i think people are at a loss. they are watching this escalating so quickly. there was not a great articulation of what they want.

weeted about the issue and said the u.s. needs to be a sanctuary for refugees from ukraine as they come. that was a theme i heard as well. it was just a sense of confusion. a lot of people shared it felt like their own family was being attacked, like attacking a brother or sister. just draw dropping at what was happening. kristen: when i look at people in front of city hall, i think this is in keeping with san francisco's being a placeng a pe free speech. did you have a sense for that? >> absolutely. it felt like the community sword to city hall. we did not have a lot of notice rally was happening and yet word got around. there were a lot of ukrainians. there were also people who saw this was happening and wanted to show support.

there were cars driving by honking. it felt in-line with san francisco's ethos of being a place where people stand up for what they believe in. kristen: we saw on tv and social media that russian people were in the streets in russia protesting as well. some being arrested. did folks make a distinction between putin, the country of russia, and the russian people? >> definitely. that is an important distinction. there is a russian spa in san francisco opening up free to ukrainians saying we are your allies, we do not support what is happening, come seek some comfort we can give. i think we will see more of that as people stand up for ukrainians but as russians here and abroad speak their feelings

about the issue as well. kristen: what other rallies are coming up this weekend? >> i will have to keep you posted. my guess is a lot will be happening. keep an eye out for city hall in blue and yellow. berkeley will be flying a flag starting monday. there is a lot happening. we will keep you guys abreast. kristen: i think there is one at the ferry building at 12:00 tomorrow. a lot going on. thank you for sharing your insights from the rally last night in front of san francisco city hall. appreciate it. we have links to other original reporting on our website, abc7news.com. to watch more of their videos, check out our streaming app. the story of a ballet company

kristen: to finish off the week, we are going to look at a ballet company breaking all the rules.

it is called ballet 22 and proudly performs non-binary ballet. joining us are the executive director and the artistic director. thank you both for joining us today. we have a third. >> i am carlos. kristen: nice to have you on as well. a bonus. you also have the title of valley mistress -- ballet mistress, which i love. what is that? >> i hope give class and notes. i also film rehearsal and carlos is a lot of the ballet masterwork which is the male version of the same role. we are honored to have carlos here as a dancer and rehearsal coach. kristen: what is the idea behind ballet 22? who makes up the company? >> l.a. 22 was founded by myself

and roberto. the company pushes boundaries in ballet by breaking stereotypes by presenting men on point. it is usually reserved for women. we are breaking that tradition and presenting men and non-binary gallants -- dancers on point. kristen: can i ask how it feels to do more than just be the guy who does the lifting and spinning of the female partner who is the star spinning around? what do you think? >> it feels amazing to be yourself and be able to dance as you, not as a female or male character. it is just an expression. you can do it however you feel. just to use another type of

element which is the point shoe. and >> >> to be able to go back and forth with the gender roles and be able to do both is pretty amazing. kristen: you would think something like this would have been around for a while. but it has not. your company is fairly new. did i read that you started during the pandemic? >> yes, we started in october of 2020. kristen: what got you going? since then, have you been able to perform? >> yes. in october, we decided let's do a digital show. there is this large community of men and non-binary dancers who would love to use the point shoe as a tool of impression and not as female impression. we recognized this was missing and needed and necessary.

roberto and myself started the company. we rented a theater, got dancers , and created our first digital show. we have been able to perform live three times. we did our first live show in june and again in september. now we are back in san francisco for a show this weekend in february. kristen: i'm going to have you tell us how to get tickets and how many shows for sure. i'm still mesmerized by the dancing. i wonder if you are relying on nontraditional ballets were taking traditional ballets and doing a twist on it. >> i think this is what is unique from us. yes, we are creating new ballets. yes, we are going into the contemporary world. we are also reinventing the classical works that exist and that we love so deeply. i think that is what makes us so different. if they break the gender norms, it is more contemporary dance. not really in ballet.

they are not doing the same classics like swan lake. so, yes. kristen: which are the shows you have tackled and which ones do you have coming up? what are you doing this weekend? >> this, we have excerpts from -- this weekend, we have excerpts from swan lake. then we go into the contemporary world. both of these are contemporaryam ballets. annabelle's piece has been re-created for the company. ramon's piece was created in september. the ballet will finish with a new world premier. this piece was also created specifically for men on point. it is a great exploration into the field and the new repertoire that would otherwise not exist. kristen: it is beautiful.

what kind of feedback have you gotten from the audience? what are you hearing? >> people love it. i think people are hungry for something new. they are hungry for authentic experiences. i would say one of the biggest pieces of feedback we get is the dancers are free and full of joy. that is something that resonates with everybody. kristen: should people go to ballet22.com for tickets starting tonight? >> yes, slash events. kristen: we will take a short break.

kristen: thank you so much for joining us on this interactive show, "getting answers."

we will be here every weekday at 3:00 on air and on livestream answer your questions. tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. russian troops closing in on kyiv. ukraine's president speaking just moments ago. what he just warned the people of his country, the people in the capital of kyiv. and here at home tonight, president biden and history made. nominating the first black woman to the supreme court. introducing her to the american people. first the breaking news just a short time ago -- president zelenskyy warning ukraine that russian forces will try to storm the capital of kyiv tonight, telling his people, tonight will be tough, posting a defiant video with top officials telling the world, we are all here. chilling video online showing an armored vehicle crushing a car with a driver inside. chaotic scenes as