Will open up access to up to 50000000000 dollars of very importantly for important and a large amount of money for states and territories or localities in our shared fight against this disease in furtherance of the order emerging every state to set up Emergency Operation centers Effective Immediately youre going to be hearing from some of the Largest Companies and greatest retailers and medical companies in the world as to anyway. Behind me and that side of me im also asking every hospital in this country to activated some urgency prepared as planned so that they can meet the needs of americans everywhere the hospitals are very engaged in new york and various other places are also very sing gauge i just spoke with Governor Cuomo we had a very good conversation and were working very strongly with many states including new york. The merging see orders im issuing today will also confer broad new authority to the secretary of health and Human Services the secretary of h. H. S. Will be able to immediately way for visions of applicable laws and regulations to give Doctors Hospital all hospitals and Health Care Providers maximum flexibility to respond to the virus and to care for patients this includes the following critical authorities the ability to waive laws to enable tele health a fairly new. And incredible thing thats happened in the in the not so distant past i tell you what theyve done with telehealth is incredible it gives a remote doctors visits and hospital check ins the power to waive certain federal license requirements so that doctors from other states can provide services in states with the greatest need number 2 the ability to waive requirements that critical access hospitals limit the number of beds to 25 and a length of stay to 96 hours the ability to waive the requirements of a 3 day hospital stay prior to admission to a nursing home big thing. The authority to waive rules that hinder hospitals ability to bring additional physicians on board or obtain needed office space they can do is they want they can do what they have to do they know what they have to do now they dont have any problem getting it done the authority to waive rules that severely restrict where hospitals can care for patients within the hospital itself ensuring that the emergency capacity can be quickly established will remove or eliminate every obstacle necessary to deliver a people the care that they need. And that they are entitled to no research will be spared nothing whatsoever 10 days ago i brought together the c. E. O. s of commercial labs at the white house and directed them to immediately begin working on a solution to dramatically increase the availability of tests other countries have called us and worked with us and they are doing similar things or will be doing similar things as a result of that action today were announcing a new partnership with private sector to vastly increase and accelerate our capacity to test for the corona virus we want to make sure that those who did a test can get a test very safely quickly and conveniently but we dont want people to take a test if if we feel that they shouldnt be doing it and we dont want everyone running out and taking only if you have certain symptoms using federal emergency had thirtys the f. D. A. Approved a new test for the virus we did this within hours after receiving the application from roche a process that would normally take weeks we therefore expect up to a half a 1000000 additional tests will be available early next week well be announcing locations probably on sunday night. I want to thank roche Great Company for their incredible work id also like to thank Thermo Fisher the f. D. A. Is goal is to hopefully authorize the air application within 24 hours itll go very quickly its going very quickly which will bring additionally 1400000 tests on board next week and 5000000 within a month i doubt well need anywhere near that at the same time weve been in discussions with pharmacies and retailers to make. Drive through tests available in the critical locations identified by Public Health professionals the goal is for individuals to be able to drive up and be swapped without having to leave your car i want to thank Google Google is helping to develop a website its going to be. Very quickly done. Unlike web sites of the past to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location that we have many many locations behind as by the way we cover the this country in large parts of the world by the way were not going to be talking about the world right now but we cover very very strongly our country. Stores in virtually every location. Google has 1700 engineers working on this right now if made tremendous progress our overriding goal is to stop the spread of the virus and to help all americans who have been impacted by this again we dont want everybody taking this test its totally unnecessary. And this will pass this will pass through and. Were going to be. Even stronger for it weve learned a lot tremendous amount has been in the know what i think Deborah Burkes and i want to ask her maybe to come up and say if you were its as to whats happening dr burke says a highly respected person ive got to know very well over the last 6 days and what weve done is weve built something that was very old very Old Fashioned somewhat obsolete certainly obsolete when it comes to the kind in them bruce that were talking about dr burkes please. Thank you. Thank you mr president tom its a pleasure to be here with all of you and i think you know at the beginning of this epidemic h. H. S. Through c. D. C. Proactively developed an asse a built on the existing flu Surveillance System that Surveillance System was then converted to diagnostic system but last tuesday seeing the spread of the virus around the globe the president realized that our current approach to testing was an adequate to need to meet the needs of the American Public. He asked for an entire overhaul of the testing approach he immediately called the private sector laboratories to the white house has noted and charged them with developing a high throughput quality platform that can meet the needs of the American Public we are grateful to lab corps inquests for taking up the charge immediately after the meeting and within 17 now at 72 hours bringing additional testing access particularly to the outbreak areas of Washington State and california and now across the country we are also very grateful to the universities and large Hospital Systems that took up the charge to develop their own quality tests made available by new new f. D. A. Guidance this is resulted in expanded testing across new york california washington colorado and you see sometimes those drive through options that have been made available through these high throughput options following the meeting last week major commercial Laboratory Equipment and diagnostic companies took immediate action to adopt and develop new Testing Systems last night the initial Company Roche received s. T. A. F. D. A. Approval moving from request to development to approval in record time this innovative approach centered fully on unleashing the power of the private sector focusing on providing convenient testing to hundreds of thousands of americans with in short turnaround times in less than 2 weeks together we have a developed a solution that we believe will meet the future needs testing needs of americans i understand how difficult this is been i was part of the hiv aids response in the eightys we knew from dived from 1st finding cases in 1901 it took us to almost 1085 to have a test. It took us another 11 years to have effective therapy it is because of the Lessons Learned from that that we were able to mobilize and bring those individuals that were key to the hiv response to this response and i understand that lot of this behind the scenes action over the last couple of weeks was invisible to the press and the American People but this intense effort has not only resulted in Innovative Solutions but an automated high throughput system bringing the availability of these quality corona viral testing to the American People at unprecedented speed finally i want you to know in south korea they did have a large number of tests available over the last several weeks there Positivity Rate is between 3 and 4 percent with lab corps inquests expanded testing their Positivity Rate is between one and 2 percent so we want to us so announce this new approach to testing which will start in the screening website here facilitated by google where clients and patients and people that interest can go fill out a screening questionnaire. Well down 1st symptoms or risk factors yes they would move down there and be told where the drive through options would be for them to receive this test that labs will then move to the high throughput automated machines to be able to provide results in 24 to 36 hours that is the intent of this approach we have seen it work just in our own United States and we want to bring this across the continent thank you very much thank you. Id like to maybe have told you you want to come up weve become a. I think everybody out here knows you pretty well but tonys been doing a tremendous job working long long hours and youve seen a lot happen but this is been its been a great experience in working with you has been terrific tony pulis. Thank you very much mr president this is an example of another example of what ive been referring to in my discussions with many of you in the audience as a proactive leaning forward aggressive trying to stay ahead of the curve and what youve seen now with this order is that were going to be able to remove the constraints so that people at the state the local level the individual physician all the way up through the federal government will have as many constraints as possible removed for them to do everything they possibly can so that we can implement the things that weve been talking about the containment the mitigation so that as ive said many times that curve that i referred to that goes up we dont want to have that current we want to suppress it down to that small mound and i think what weve done today is something that is going to be a very important element in having us be successful in doing that we still have a long way to go there will be many more cases that will take care of that and ultimately as the president said this will end but whats going on here today is going to help at the end sooner than it would have thank you. Thank you very much you know. If i could. Some of these folks we know theyre celebrities in their own right theyre the biggest Business People the greatest retailers and youre in the world and one of them is Doug Mcmillan from walmart and id like to have doug if you would say a few words wherever you may be a good place. When we get the call yesterday from the white house we were eager to do our part to help serve the country and given what were facing thats certainly important to do we should all be doing that so weve been asked to make portions of our parking lot of able in select locations in the beginning and scaling over time as supply increases so that people can experience a drive through experience that the president described will stay involved and do everything we can from a supply chain point of view to be of assistance thank you sir thank you very much we very much. Ill just say right over here and richard if you could come up with this richard please walgreens thank you thank you mr president and similar to doug and walmart were happy to stand in here and help in communities all across america because a lot of times when we have natural disasters our stores are a beacon in the community and this situation is no different so we look forward to partnering with the c. D. C. The administration h. H. S. And the task force and specifically to the Vice President s doing such a fantastic job are ready to engage and help thank you thank you very much thank you very much. Brian cornell target and i can thank you please. Well mr than thank you for inviting us here today along with our colleagues from walmart and walgreens and our partners at c. V. S. Normally the u. S. Is competitors but today were focused on a common to better and thats the feeding the spread of the coronavirus and we look forward to work with the administration to do our fair share to alleviate this growing threat so thank you for including us today in the near term were all committed to making sure were keeping our stores open to serve the American Consumer who is rapidly stocking up on household essential zx key food and beverage items that they need during this time making sure we run safe stores and create an environment thats safe for our team members with making sure they feel supported during this very critical time so thank you for including us you very much greater is tom here temple. Police thank you mr president as c. E. O. Of Becton Dickinson one of the leading providers of medical devices as well as collection of products for testing of corona virus we are wrapping up our manufacturing capacity to ensure that the right collection devices and testing equipment are ready to to address this issue they cannot resident in bridgeview. Stephen rakowski quest. Diagnostics this thank you thank you very much thank you mr president so as mentioned we recalled the leadership of the Vice President last week to come together as an industry and we took advantage of that opportunity work with the f. D. A. To work with the center for Disease Control and we are up and running with the test in a number of our facilities as the president mentioned we now have capabilities and Roche Diagnostics that we will bring into our facilities this weekend and i know myself and us my colleague will be doing the same so the capacity available to American Public to support this action with consumers will be considerably increased the next few weeks thank you mr president next year we should. And matt sauce please have rush. Thank you maam. Thank you mr president. So from roche we want to thank the f. D. A. For their rapid approval of our coronavirus tast. We really appreciate the partnership with the c. D. C. And the f. D. A. To get that to market as fast as possible because its critical for us to make that available to help patients in need and working with laboratories to get it up and going in the near future which will bring hundreds of thousands of tests available to patients in need in the United States so thank you. And you can do it you can do it the Great Company david pierre of signify Significant Health please thanks. Thank you mr president we are the largest house call provider in the u. S. And we go to the homes of most vulnerable elderly and through our network and our logistics engine we stand ready to help and provide or our clinicians to be where theyre needed whether theyre in retail clinics or in the home and were here to assist thank you very much thank you very much and well be changing a lot of the rules regulations for future should this happen in the future which we hope and never does but it will get somewhere out there some bad ones over the years and i guess that will continue to an extent but we hope it never happens but were going to be changing a lot of the old rules and specifications and regulations Adam Schechter has really been of tremendous help lab corp please and thank you mr president were working every 2nd of every day to increase the number of tests that we can run were working with Academic Medical Centers with our colleagues at quest with other hospital and other laboratories to ensure that we do everything we can to increase the testing as we move forward and i can tell you we understand how important the testing is and we are committed to doing Everything Possible to reach thank you. Thomas moriarty c. V. S. We all know c. V. S. Thank you thank you thank you terms thank you mr president. We have been focused since the start of making sure our patients and the customers we serve have the information they need the safety they need as well we are committed to working with the administration and local Public Health officials to make this work as well and thank you sir for the honor thank you very much. Thank you. And Bruce Greenstein l 8 c. Group tremendously talented people thank you very much mr president thank you for the honor of being here and the Home Health Industry has been treating patients and seniors in the safety and comfort of their own home for decades were very proud to be part of the equation for testing in their own home for americans they cant get to a test site or live in rural areas far away from the Retail Establishment were here to help to partner with our hospitals and physicians as well as the people we have here today that will be doing testing around the country thank you. Frank ok i like that thats good. Also announcing the following emergency executive actions today. To help our students and their families have waived interest at all Student Loans held by federal Government Agencies and that will be until further notice its a big thing for a lot of students that are left in the middle right now many of those schools have been closed based on the price of oil ive also instructed the secretary of energy to purchase that a very good price large quantities of crude oil for storage in the u. S. Strategic reserve were going to fill it right up to the top saving the american taxpayer billions and billions of dollars helping our oil industry and making us even further toward that wonderful goal which weve achieved which nobody thought was possible of Energy Independence it puts us in a position thats very strong and were buying it at the right price. And. Thats something that would have not even been possible a week ago and the present well went down quite a bit so were going to fill it up is a good time to fill it up like ask mike pence to see if you its please b. P. Thank you mr president it is. This day should be an inspiration to every american. Because thanks to your leadership from early on not only are we bringing a whole of government approach to confronting the coronavirus were bringing all of america approach mr president from early on you took Decisive Action you suspended all travel from china you created travel advisories south korea to italy we screen all travelers from all airports in both of those countries and on the unanimous recommendation of your Health Experts you at midnight tonight will effectively suspend all travel from europe and americans that were returning will be screened. And asked to voluntarily participate in a 14 day quarantine throughout this process mr president you put the health of america 1st but you brought the best of america to address it and its not just at the federal level she said mr president weve been working with states across the country we issued broad guidelines and c. D. C. For every american but this week at your direction we tailored specific recommendations from c. D. C. For new york Washington State california massachusetts and florida and weve been in continuous contact as you said with governors around the country mr president you have forged a Seamless Partnership with every state every territory in this country and put the health of our nation 1st but today i trust that people around the country theyre looking on at this extraordinary public and private partnership to address the issue of testing with particular inspiration. After you tapped me to lead the White House Corona Task force mr president you said this is all hands on deck and you directed us to immediately reach out to the American Business sector commercial labs to meet what we knew then would be the need for testing across the spectrum and today with this is stuart Public Private partnership we have laid the foundation to meet that need and for americans looking on by this sunday evening will be able to give specific guidance on a on when the website will be available you can go to the website as a president said you type in your symptoms and be given direction whether or not a test is indicated and then at the same website youll be directed to one of these incredible companies that have are going to give a little bit of their parking lot so the people can come by and do a drive by testament president i want to join you in thanking walmart c. V. S. And target walgreen these are companies that are synonymous with communities large and small people come together and now theyre going to come together to meet the needs of the American Public these commercial Laboratories Lab core and quest and roche had just done an incredible job stepping forward and theyre going to literally make literally make. Hundreds and thousands of tests of vailable and being processed with results to patients in the very near future but its all the result of you tasking us with bringing together not just Government Resources which all state labs can now test across the country c. D. C. Is testing but you said mr president that we want to bring all the resources the country together and thats what this Partnership Really Means you know the truth is that we have coronavirus cases now in 46 american states and while the risk of serious illness of the coronavirus remains low we want to encourage every american to practice commonsense practice good hygiene go to the c. D. C. s website to see what the guides. It is for your community or for the American People broadly and as the president has said its especially important now that we look after Senior Citizens with chronic Underlying Health conditions last week the president directed the center for Medicaid Medicare Services to raise the standards in our Nursing Homes increase inspections at our Nursing Homes and today were offering very specific guidance which seem of. Will articulate about visitations at Nursing Homes its important to remember that they were there for us when we were growing up mr president they helped us with our homework they took the senate night they cheered us on as we pursued educations cheered us on in our careers and now its time for us to be there for them and to recognize that seniors with chronic Health Conditions are the most vulnerable and americans can make a difference so wash your hands use common sense look after the most vulnerable and mr president i know i join you in saying that every american should be proud of this incredible Public Private partnership thats going to be speeding access of testing to millions of americans in the weeks ahead and together as youve said many times together well get through this together will put the health of america 1st. Or c. Will like it a bit we. Take that as that further was innocent thanks thank you well thank you to the president for the declaration it allows my agency c. M. S. That runs medicare and medicaid and has oversight of all of the Nations Health care facilities to suspend regulations that could get in the way of treating patients during this time these temporary National Blanket waivers are reserved for the rarest of circumstances and they represent a massive mobilization of our countrys resources to combat this terrible virus and the flexibilities we are offering will be a godsend to the providers clinicians and facilities on the front lines of this fight and later c. M. S. Is going to be issuing guidance directing Nursing Homes to temporarily restrict all visitors and nonessential personnel with a few exceptions such as end of life situations we fully appreciate that this measure represents a severe trial for residents of Nursing Homes and those who love them but we are doing what we must to protect our vulnerable elderly thank you. I said in my address to the nation the other night. All americans have a role to play in defeating this virus most effective weapon right now is to limit the damage to our people and our country and slow the spread of the virus itself the choice we make the precautions we put into place are critical to overcoming the virus reducing its spread and shortening the duration of the pandemic which is what it is the c. D. C. Has published guidelines and the coronavirus that gov to enable its coronavirus dot gov. And its very early very heavily is right now i will say to enable every american to respond to this epidemic and to protect themselves their families and their communities while the risks the young and healthy americans remains very low as weve learned a lot about this over the last 2 weeks anyone can be a carrier for the virus and risk transmission to Older Americans and those with under lying Health Conditions and those who are most at risk they have not been very well older