announcer: building a better bay area -- moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. kristen: high there. you are watching getting answers live on abc seven. we asked experts your questions every day at 3:00 to get answers in real-time. today, a governor of one of the red states on the golf is denouncing the idea of one bay area obstetrician and gynecologist to put a floating clinic in federal waters in the gulf of mexico. also, sharks. we are waiting into shark best to talk about how they have evolved in the group looking to open doors to minorities who want to get into science. first, we will dive into a new dark horse, omicron subvariant. the first case has been found in

california as we wrestle with the highest caseload since the -- the second highest caseload since the start of the pandemic. today, new york city health officials are asking but not yet mandating people to mask up indoors at los angeles health officials are looking at wringing back a mandate of cases continue at their current pace through july. let's bring in our favorite infectious disease specialist to talk about all these happenings. think you for your time today. >> my pleasure. thank you for having me on. kristen: let's start with bay area counties. where are we with this wave right now? >> where we are is exactly as you put it. close to the highest numbers of activity, virus activity we have seen in our area ever. close to where we were in february right now, right after

the january peak. kristen: what is driving this wave? >> what is driving it is two things. people moving around a lot, not just within the bay area but from other places in the country and the world into the bay area and things opening up. secondly, we have a highly transmissible variant, ba.5. kristen: given that it is very transmissible, i saw some headlines over the weekend with some doctors saying we may have to mask outdoors now. do you agree with that? >> i still don't think it's a mandatory thing to mask outdoors. outdoors is going to be 20 times less risky than indoors. but because it is more transmissible, you are starting from a higher point. what it means is context matters

for everything. i would say if you are in a mush pit at coachella, it's very different from your regular outdoor activities. personally speaking, i walk around with my mask but i don't feel in many cases or most cases that i have to wear it outdoors, particularly when the wind is blowing and a regular number of people around. kristen: but if it is crowded, you would put your mask on at this point? as i mentioned earlier, new york and l.a. public health officials are warning they may bring back the mandate. given the bay area is test positivity at 16.7% is no lower than theirs, do you think that is in our future? >> i think bringing back the mandate is not just about the absolute number of people hospitalized but whether that county has capacity. napa or solano county is going to be very different from san

francisco or alameda because we have more given the system. all of those factors will be taken into consideration. but make no mistake about it. if hospitals start to fill up, authorities will have no other choice. i'm hoping it doesn't get there. kristen: can we take a look at that number -- 16.7 percent. i assume those are the pcr tests that get reported but a lot of people are taking them at home and that never makes it into the figures. what's the true figure? >> it's hard to say but it may be lower than 16.5. if you think about people july of 2022 to get an official test, maybe it is people who couldn't believe the positive test at home, maybe it is people who need to get a positive test to get paxlovid in a certain system. so it may be the lowest hanging fruit, but we can't tell for sure. nevertheless, it is really high even if you think it is higher

than it actually is. kristen: that is what i was conjecturing. we are on the same page. i want to ask with ba.5, reinfection's seem more common and the window you seemed to have after an infection seems to be either small or gone. what do you make of that? >> it is a changing of the guard. what's happening now is we have a lot of variance circulating and two or three weeks ago, you were likely not infected with the a5. -- ba.5. that means your window forgetting reinfected is much lower. if ba.5 sees dominance going forward, if you get infected now, that means you will probably have a three month window. kristen: it's just that there are so many strains out there. speaking of which, there is a new dark horse, ba.2 .75. what's the reality of this

subvariant on our radar? where is it and what do we know about it? >> it reminds me a lot of delta, not in terms of severity of illness but how it was detected or isolated. in some of the states in india, they are seeing a big surge, so they investigated why is this surge happening? they expected to see ba.5 but lo and behold, there is a new thing called ba.2 .75. it's a flavor of omicron causing a surge in some areas of india. it has been active in 14 countries. it is in the wastewater in california, so it's just a matter of whether it's going to beat back ba.5. it's like the day of lambda and the california variant. you can look in the lab and see scary things but you can never predict what is going to be dominant in the world until

everything gets on the same playing field. kristen: which -- with each of these subvariants, even if it is more trends very -- even if it is more transmissible, hopefully less potent, especially with the vaccines and boosters. is that happening? >> it is too early to tell with ba.2 .75. my gut feeling is, based on what trends we have been seeing so far, it is not only the variant that is becoming weaker in terms of causing serious disease, it's a matter of the population seeing successive waves and waves of immunity. but make no mistake about it, people are still going to get sick and die and it's important not to play covid roulette and be up today on your vaccines or know how to get paxlovid if you are at risk for getting seriously ill. kristen: let's not forget there is the long covid concern which is quite mysterious at this

point. big news today -- the federal government made a purchase of a vaccine the fda has not even approved yet -- novavax. tell us about that. >> novavax is an interesting vaccine because it is using more traditional technology, which is a piece of the virus instead of a message to tell the cell to make a piece of the virus. it literally chopping up the virus spike protein in a nano particle and the body makes particles and it works really well. it is a maryland company, so it is homegrown and it is already being made generically in india. the problem is it probably is not going to give you any more benefit than the current mrna vaccines but may appeal to people who are a little nervous about this new technology of mrna and want to use a more traditional vaccine. kristen: we have a minute or less but i want to ask you this question because a lot of people

i know are starting to travel again, whether for vacation or they have a conference or business they haven't had to do for a while. is it possible to travel right now abroad without catching covid and if so, how? give us the best tips. >> the tips about traveling abroad as you can do it, for sure. take advantage of your tools. if you are eligible for getting a vaccine or booster at this point, get it two weeks before you travel. that will top off your antibodies and every buddy thinks the vaccines are worthless but if you look at the latest cdc data, the vaccines still give you a little more protection than not getting vaccinated recently. that's number one. number two, figure out what your health ecosystem is in the area and have a backup plan. of course the usual stuff like masking and testing -- you don't need a negative test to come back into the country anymore but if you are positive abroad,

you should isolate for at least five days. kristen: thank you so much for that great information. see you next time. coming up next, a floating abortion clinic in the gulf of mexico? we will talk

kristen: today, the governor of one of the gulf states is handing the idea of a bait area doctor can make gynecologist or obstetrician wants to put a floating abortion clinic in federal waters in the gulf of mexico. joining us live is a doctor and professor to talk more about her idea, including the potential legal and logistical challenges. thank you for your time. >> certainly.

kristen: you are calling this project the prowess. what does that stand for? >> it's an acronym for predict the rights by women in state statutes. kristen: it is wrapped around a vessel that would be in the gulf of mexico. give us the 411 on how you see this working. >> the vessel would be in federal waters in the gulf of mexico and will be a reproductive, comprehensive reproductive health clinic that offers a wide range of services to include contraception, testing for sexually transmitted infections and treatment, hopefully immunization and surgical terminations. kristen: this idea is novel and fascinating, but there is some logistical questions and i'm wondering, let's go through some of them. how far off the coast would you have to be to be in federal waters question mark is it right away or do you have to go out quite a bit?

>> that depends on the state you are beside. the largest range is texas, and is it around -- and it is around nine miles. kristen: so you would have to transport the patient nine miles. i guess they would go by a smaller boat. how would that work at the dock? based at the dock while waiting, that is state land. if -- who is going to stuff it? that would not be subject to prosecution by state law? >> it should not be a surprise to anyone that we anticipate we go and security challenges throughout this entire process. the details of the transport are being researched. kristen: are you confident you will find a way to do it such that it is legal and likely

confrontation-free? >> we've done an extensive amount of research and believe our plan is solid. kristen: i think we might have a map of this idea. the gulf coast, those states there, most of them are red and have either banned abortion or have great restrictions at this point. texas, louisiana, alabama and florida, while a purple state is moving toward severe restrictions under governor ron desantis. who would be eligible to get services there and who would staff the clinic? >> there are many organizations you and your listeners are aware of working to maintain or provide access to individuals whose reproductive freedom has been assaulted, if you will.

what this project aims to get is those people in the southern states, to get to any access state is incredibly difficult. if you live in the southernmost point of texas, to get to an access state would take over a day. so there are no direct flights. even if your trip was paid for, to get to an access state in a day and have an appointment of services is not really feasible. we need to be clear that wealthy people in our country can get care whenever they want it. but poor people, people of color, marginalized populations do not have that luxury. this is for people impacted that are single parents or sole

caregivers that really don't have the time to get to an access state even if they were funded for that. kristen: what about the idea of using federal land in those states where abortion is banned to have clinics? would that be a little simpler? do you see this instead of that or in conjunction with? >> there are a lot of people working on a lot of different ideas and i know there are people researching that. that's not what i research with my legal team so i can't really comment on that. kristen: i'm just wondering if you see for example if there were federal employees who are bringing food or supplies to the dock or the ship or national guardsmen to guide the women on to the boat, with that make them immune legally from state prosecution? >> i don't know. that's an interesting question. kristen: i'm sure you've considered the idea of potential

standoffs or confrontations which nobody wants to see. is that a fear that you have? >> absolutely. absolutely. there will be legal and security challenges. i imagine at every step of the way. we have security consultants and a robust legal team helping guide the process. kristen: i want to ask if we can just put aside the philosophical, moral and religious debate being had over life, when it begins and whose life takes precedence, as a medical doctor, what is your view of abortion in the context of health care? >> its fundamental health care. what to do with your body should be your decision and any medical decision should be between you and your doctor kristen: the other thing i went to ask your opinion on, i understand women

in the states where abortion is banned are turning to medical abortions which are available by mail and president biden is promising to protect that. explain medical abortion and whether it is a safe and acceptable alternative for most patients. >> medical abortion is a two medication process that patients take and essentially miscarry. that is absolutely a safe and effective method. it should be available to everyone. we will not be offering that on our vessel because that, as you said, is something that can be obtained through the mail. but what i would say to that is everyone should have bodily autonomy and the right to have a pregnancy or not have a pregnancy. they also should have equal access to how they want to have

a pregnancy or not have a pregnancy. kristen: before i let you go, i know you said you hope to have this up in a year or maybe sooner. of course, it takes u.s. tomato $20 million. since this hit the headlines, have you got people stepping up to fund you and how close are you to that $20 million? >> i would say we are not close at this point but we have had an amazing outpouring of support and donations big and small, particularly from states where people are most affected. kristen: working on the prowess. thank you for your information. appreciate it. q. the jaws music. a shark fest from national geographic just started and we have an expert that will give us a glimpse into what we can expect

kristen: sharks are taking a

starring role this month on national geographic, owned by abc 7's parent company, disney. shark fest officially got started last night and seller rates a decade worth of content on one of the most mystifying, fear inducing and awe-inspiring creatures on the planet. joining me is the president and ceo of minorities and shark sciences. thank you for joining us. tell us what is minorities and shark sciences? >> minorities in shark sciences is an organization that me and three other black women started in june of 2020. the purpose is to support gender minorities of color interested in researching sharks, skates and rays. we are super excited to partner with nat geo on this year's shark fest. kristen: first year. how did this happen?

>> it's a funny story. it started because i was interviewed for a piece on reality blurred which talked about shark documentaries and the betrayal of shark sciences in media. one of the comments i made is there is not a lot of representation on shark shows of people of color doing shark science. nat geo specifically janet, one of the executive producers reached out to me and said you are right. we have a problem with that. we want to work with you to solve that. we formed this partnership to try to increase representation of minority scientists. kristen: and here we are. what can we expect to see? i understand you have a spot called jaws invasion. what is it looking at? >> it's a superfund show where i

talk about some of the unexpected places sharks have been found and why they are there. so why are there sharks out golf courses or in the ponds? why can some sharks live in freshwater? why are sharks hanging out in this place or that place? that's something i talk about in the show and it gives you a little information on sharks and how incredibly adaptive they are. and you get to see neat videos of sharks and very unexpected places. kristen: what is the biggest, most surprising thing people don't know about sharks that you want us to know? >> something people don't know about sharks is how long they have been on this earth. sharks are really old. we are talking about 450 million plus years. that's a long time. there older than trees, older than the rings of saturn.

they've been here a long time and have had a lot of time to adapt and that's one of the things that makes the most fascinating to me. kristen: they have been changing over all this time and our planet is undergoing rapid transformations, so what is happening to the shark population? >> that is a really good question. we are losing sharks at an alarming number. sharks have survived multiple mass extinction events, but this mass extinction which is triggered by people and our actions, they are not doing as well with which is super disappointing. we are losing a lot of species. a lot of species are lifted as endangered and they are having big impacts from fishing, fishing pressers, whether they are purposefully being caught or accidentally being caught. sea level rise is affecting them because it's taking out some of their habitats, especially mangroves.

and we have the water temperatures of the ocean is changing. that means their patterns of movement and where they hang out has to change because they are cold-blooded. they cannot control their body temperature. if there water gets hotter, their bodies get hotter and sometimes it can get too hot. they have to change where they are going and where they spend time. that means they have to find more food. at the big struggle for them. kristen: for more great information like that, you have to tune in. thank you so very much. you can check out shark fest on national geographic and streaming content will be available to watch on disney

kristen: thanks for joining us tonight, the emergency playing out at yosemite national park. the evacuations. more than 500 firefighters battling to save the ancient sequoias. flaming burning across more than 2,300 acres. more than 1,600 residents and came persons orderered to evacuate. will carr reporting from the fire zone tonight. also, news on the coronavirus here in the u.s. and what health officials are now warning tonight could be the most transmissible covid variant yet in this country. and what moderna is now saying tonight about its new booster when it comes to that particular variant. eva pill game standing by. just days before his trial for contempt of congress, former trump adviser steve bab nonnow says he's willing to testify been the january 6th committee. tonight, a judge saying