"How is she?"
"She is lonely after her husband passed away."
Supposing that there is a woman who lost her husband and a friend of hers I come across. In this case, if I intend to ask if she is sad, lonely, etc about her, can I say “How is she?” It seems plausible, but when I think ‘how are you’ is used just as ‘hello’ remarks, it’s not easy to decide ‘how is she’ is proper or not.