American public and the american economy. We are going to be asking tomorrow, were seeing the senate, were going to be meeting with house republicans, Mitch Mcconnell and everybody, and discussing a possible payroll tax cut or relief, substantial relief, very substantial relief. Thats a big number. Were also going to be talking about hourly wage earners getting help so that they can be in a position where theyre not going to miss a paycheck. Be working with companies and small companies, large companies, a lot of companies so that they dont get penalized for something thats not their fault. Its not their fault, its not our countrys fault. This is something we were thrown into and were going to handle it and we have been handling it very well. The big decision was early when we shut down our borders, first ones ever to do that. Weve never done that in our country before. Wed have a situation that would be a that would be a lot more dire. Also were going to be seeing Small Business administration and creating loans for Small Businesses. Were also working with the industries, including the airline industries, the cruise ship industry, which obviously will be hit. Were working with them very, very strongly. We want them to travel, we want people to travel to certain locations and not to other locations at this moment. Hopefully that will straighten out sooner rather than later. Were working with the industries and, in particular, those two industries. Were also talking to the hotel industry. In some places, actually will do well, and some places probably wont do well at all. But were also working with the hotel industry. The main thing is were taking care of the American Public and we will be taking care of the American Public. I really appreciate the professionals behind me and the professionals actually behind them in a different room. We have a tremendous team and its headed up by our great Vice President , mike pence. And i want to thank mike because hes been working 24 hours a day just about. Hes been working very, very hard, very diligently. And very professionally and i want to thank him. I want to thank the team. And ill have mike say a few words. Thank you very much. Vice president pence thank you, mr. President. We just completed the days meeting of the White House Coronavirus task force. We had the opportunity to brief the president today on a broad range of issues. Once again, because of the unprecedented action that President Trump took in january, suspending all travel from china, establishing a travel advisory for portions of south korea and italy, establishing screening of all direct flights, all passengers from all airports, italy, and south korea, we have bought a considerable amount of time, according to all the health experts, to deal with the coronavirus here in the united states. In fact, as i stand before you today, the risk of contracting the coronavirus to the American Public remains low and the risk of serious disease among the American Public also remains low. That being said, the president did deploy not just a whole of government approach, but also a whole of america approach. Last week, at the president s direction, we met with leaders in industries from Nursing Homes to airlines, pharmaceutical companies, commercial labs and its had great, great impact. Pharmaceutical companies are already working literally around the clock on the development of therapeutics that will be medicines that can bring relief to people that contract the coronavirus. And i know how pleased the president was to learn that the commercial labs in this country, led by Companies Like lab corps and quest, have already brought a test forward and are taking that to market effective today. This week at the president s direction well be meeting with hospital c. E. O. s, Health Insurance c. E. O. s, and all building on top of what the president will be announcing tomorrow with regard to Economic Relief for working americans. We also met today in a Conference Call with 47 of americas governors. We were able to brief them on the latest. The progress that weve made. We were able to confirm with them that testing is now available in all state labs, in every state in the country. Over a million tests have been distributed before the end of this week. Another four million tests will be distributed. But as i said before, with the deployment of the commercial labs, we literally are going to see a dramatic increase in the availability of testing and thats all a direct result of the president s leadership. Today, in a few moments, we will outline Community Guidance that dr. Burks and dr. Fauci will be publishing. At the president s direction, were going to be providing guidance about how to keep your home safe, how to keep your business safe, how to keep safe and healthy at your school and well be publishing that information and speaking about that. A brief word about the grand princess. The grand princess has docked this afternoon in oakland, california at a commercial dock. 25 children, we were happy to learn, through the screening over the last two days, 25 children on the ship are all healthy. Of the people that have contracted the coronavirus 21 in all are being dealt with in proper isolation, working with Health Authorities in california. We hope before the end of the day to begin to disembark californian residents to Travis Air Force base in miramar. We have made arrangements with canada and u. K. To take their passengers back. They will be transported directly to the tarmac with chartered flights home. Tomorrow, the remaining passengers will be transported again through a very carefully controlled environment, out to the tarmac and flown to military bases. All of the passengers will be tested and isolated as appropriate, quarantined as appropriate. I want to express appreciation to the governor of california, and his administration, the governor of georgia and governor of texas for their strong cooperation with the in resolving the issues around the grand princess. It has been a partnership, which the president directed us from the very beginning. In the process that bob kadlec will detail and any questions in a few moments as we continue to work and move forward. The remaining people on the ship, the crew itself will push off from the dock and they will be quarantined and observed, and treated. The president has made it a priority to get the americans on shore. We are in the process of doing that, as well as returning foreign nationals. Let me just say one other point. The president has spoken today to congressional leadership. One of the things that i have informed the president that i have been hearing from governors is the concern about hourly wage earners in this country, feeling like they had to go to work, even if they were sick. The president has tasked the Economic Team and is working with leaders in congress to make sure that anyone who feels that they are at risk of losing their job or losing a paycheck. We tell people if they are sick, stay home. The president the team with the developing economic policies that will make it very clear that we will stand by those hardworking americans, stand by those businesses, large and small, and make it possible for us to put the health of america first. We will be able to take questions on any of these topics. Mr. President , i didnt know if you wanted to pres. Trump what we will be doing is having a News Conference tomorrow to talk about various things that we are doing economically. It will be very major, including the payroll tax cut. We will be meeting tomorrow afternoon and coming back from the senate. We have a lot of very important meetings set up. We will have a press conference sometime after that and we will explain what we are doing from an economic standpoint. It will be very dramatic and we have a very great economy. This blindsided the world. I think we have handled it very well. I think they have done a great job. The people behind me have done a great job. I will be here to let you know about some of the economics that economic steps that we are taking, which will be major. Thank you very much. Mr. President , have you been tested . V. P. Pence thank you, mr. President. Has he been tested . Have you been tested . V. P. Pence i have not been tested for the coronavirus. Has the president been tested . V. P. Pence let me get you an answer to that. I honestly do not know the answer to the question, but we will refer that question and get you an answer from the white house very quickly. Let me ask the doctors to come to the podium. You all and the American Public will have at their fingertips very quickly guidance and this is for every american. We are working with communities like the seattle area, like portions of california, new york and florida, who have Community Spread, a concentration of coronavirus. We directed our team to come up with helpful recommendations for every american family, business and school. If the doctors step forward, they can outline that for you. Dr. Birx great, thank you, good evening. It was good to get out, meeting with communities. We know that the real solution is that every american has a role in stopping the spread of the virus. We wanted it to be detailed in a way that everybody would know precisely what to do. It will be about keeping workplaces safe, schools safe, the home safe and how to keep commercial businesses safe, where people would eat or be present. The importance about this is we believe that communities are at the center of this. I came from a field where it was the community who solved our issues around hiv prevention. We are speaking about what can be done. All of this information came from a paper that the doctor provided. From the australians. You can actually look at the Scientific Evidence that informed each of these guidelines, but we will be providing that in great detail, so every mother, father, son, daughter and caregiver will know what to ask for. Dr. Fauci just to reiterate what she said, we have been speaking about the kinds of things that would keep our citizens safe in a variety of environments. We have been speaking about conferences. The cdc has been talking about this for a long time, so we thought we would put it together anyway that would be available to the general public. Dr. Burks mentioned i got a message from one of my colleagues in australia. What we had been talking about, so we came up with the idea that it would be good for clarity. We edit it and look at it how people can . What about workplace . These are simple, lowtech things. It is stated in a way that is clear, that people can understand. One thing i want folks to know is we have been looking at the data from around the world. We now know more than we ever did about who is at risk. I hope you will help us communicate this to the American People, or people over the age of 60 are much more likely to develop complications from the coronavirus and to be hospitalized. The average age of death is 80. What we also want communities to know is if you are a child or young adult, you are more likely to die from the flu then you are to die from the coronavirus. There is something about being young that is protective. We want people to be reassured by that. We want people to know that we are focusing in on groups that are at the highest risk. This is designed to keep the community safe. Keep the most vulnerable safe. It is important to understand that even though young people are not necessarily at risk, they can spread it to older people in the community. And people with chronic diseases. It is important we all take precautions. Wash your hands, cover your cough and take the steps that will be coming out in this new guide to make sure that we are doing everything that we know possible to keep those vulnerable protected. V. P. Pence world well done. Thank you. I think the Surgeon General raises a very good point. Young, myis 88 years stepfather is about the same age. This is just a really good time, us, whatfauci tells the experts tell us, is to look after family members, loved ones who are Senior Citizens and particularly those who have serious Underlying Health conditions. All the data that dr. Brix confirms todr. Birx us, is they are the most vulnerable. Serious consequences, if they contract the coronavirus. We would ask members of the media and the American Public looking on, you can go to coronavirus. Gov and this information will be posted tonight. Hopefully, it will be useful, helpful, common sense for families, schools, businesses and commercial establishments. Just to create the kind of practices that will mitigate the spread of the coronavirus as a whole. With regard to seniors, last week we raised the standards are for every nursing home in america and we are deploying all 8000 of our inspectors in every state to focus exclusively on disease compliance at our Nursing Homes. Our hearts break for the families in seattle, but we are sending the message out. They have an additional cover of protection. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Vice president. That is exactly where we are. We are working with the entire health care industry. Today we issued more guidance to Nursing Homes about upping the screening to make sure that we can protect people. The other thing we are doing is because we know many of our citizens are vulnerable, we want to make sure that they know that the Medicare Program is behind them and we are here to support them. We are letting our patients know that they can get a coronavirus test and there is no cost sharing associated with that for our seniors on the Medicare Program. We are letting them know that because of the president s leadership, over a year and a half ago, he took action to extend more benefits to the nations seniors. This is a very historic change we made under the president s leadership. If they are sick, they can call with theirr, skype doctor and medicare will reimburse for those services. We have talked about having Services Available in the medicaid program. Great. Let me invite bob to come forward as well, to fill us in on the latest progress. It is dockside now and is going through a very careful process of having americans and foreign nationals come off and everyone will be tested. Thank you very much. Yes, we began our medical operation to basically disembark those passengers. On saturday, we placed a medical crew on the boat to augment the physicians and nurses that were already on the ship. We basically ensured that the quarantine on the boat was being enforced. We evaluated first children and those who were ill, identifying anyone who is severely ill if possible. When the boat arrived on the dockside, additional personnel came on board. We disembarked about half the passengers from the boat today and the other half will leave tomorrow. Everyone will be medically screened before they get off if there is any question about their physical health, they will be screened again and additionally. And they will be transferred to sites the four quarantine in the united states, Travis Air Force base, miramar, Naval Air Force base, and Dobbins Air Force base. Foreign passion theres passengers will be transferred. We are working with the United Kingdom to return their passengers back to the United Kingdom. We are doing this all in cooperation with the support of the state of california and the city of oakland and with the support of the department of defense, department of Homeland Security and and u. S. Coast guard. V. P. Pence great. On the subject of testing, we had a good discussion today with 47 governors. Outlined for them all the testing methods available. Now in every state lab in america. We are rapidly expanding that. Let me ask the secretary of hhs to give us the best on the availability of testing. Thank you, mr. Vice president. We continue with our strategic plan. Across all of the components represented by many of the here, which is to diagnose, treat, contain, mitigate, research, and communicate. Its what we do in a health care situation. One element of that is to test which cdc developed in record time after getting the genetic sequence posted from china. That was available at cdc. Was noat point on, there individual that a Public Health official needed to get tested. The cdc did not have surplus capacity to test. We have been moving progressively to move the test closer and closer to the patient and the bedside and make it as easy as possible for us to use testing. Very much in line with our countries facing other circumstances. At this point, has many of you were here on saturday for the have overnow, we one million tests that have shift from the cdc and two private contractors. Those are now out. Every state Public Health lab is validated and operating those tests. In addition, hundreds of thousands of those tests are in hospitals, and private labs, in commercial labs. 2. 1ow have a total of million tests that are available that are shipped, waiting to be shipped, or waiting to be ordered. By the end of this week, we expect to be producing up to 4 million tests per week in the united states. That is on top of what the private commercial entities, the companies you know of like lab core or quest, using their technology, the tests they are getting out which is an even better experience for the patient because those are able to actually silk actually collect samples directly in doctors offices, have a sophisticated collection system, making it a much more seamless patient experience. They are validated and getting up and running, and night and you will see more of that. Over the next week or so, you will see a progressively better patient and physician and Provider Experience connected to diagnostic testing here in the united states. Thank you. V. P. Pence questions in just a moment. We will come back. With that, i want to invite the director of the cdc. To come forward to give you an overview of where we are in the country with regard to cases. Then we will take questions on any of the topics. Thank you, mr. Vice president. We do continue to see an increase in cases, as we said we would as time passes. We currently have over 500 cases now in the u. S. Outside of the repatriation cases. And the cases on the diamond princess. Stateshave cases in 35 that have been reported in the district of columbia. Thent to reiterate what Vice President said, despite what i just said here, is that at the present time, the risk to the American Public remains low. We do have several community outbreaks, which we are focusing on. The seattle area, santa clara, california area, and westminster in new york, and in florida. These are areas we are investigating heavily to try to understand the transmission mechanisms there. And begin to help these jurisdictions begin to operationalize mitigation strategies to help to slow and contain the break. Thank you. V. P. Pence let me say before we go to questions, coronavirus. Gov for the American Public, for health care professionals. It is a comprehensive website that we are adding to every day. And also dr. Birx, we are working diligently to establish a single website where people can go, to track all cases and where they are emerging. Questions . Can i ask you and secretary mnuchin, if i could, the stock market saw huge slides today and people on wall street are talking about the possibility of recession. Some people saying it is a better than 5050 chance that it will happen. How worried are you that it will happen . Let me first say that today was an unprecedented move. We saw an overnight reaction, of over down 20 . That is obviously what had a major component on the stock market. Let me make some broader comments. First of all, we couldnt be more pleased that coming into the situation with the coronavirus, the u. S. Has the most resilient economy in the world. You saw a large economic jobs number last month. We could not be more pleased that the president s economic programs of tax cuts, regulatory relief and trade have put economy in a good position. I would also say that i am in daily conversations with chairman powell. And we just had a meeting with the president and the Economic Team. The president is committed that whatever support, we will use all of our tools, working closely with the regulators. The president has bank ceos coming in this week and we will talk to them about what they can do to help Small Businesses and companies impacted. Let me just again emphasize our primary focus is there are parts of the economy that will be impacted, especially workers that need to be at home, hardworking people who are at home under quarantine, or taking care of their family. We will be working with Small Businesses who need to liquidate. We are looking at alternatives at the irs. We have large tax payments coming up of providing certain relief. To companies and individuals for liquidity. The president is 100 committed that we will provide whatever tools we need, that the economy will be in very good shape a year from now. This is not like the financial crisis where we dont know the end in sight. This is about providing proper tools of liquidity to get through the next few months. Followup . Let me just say that there are certain authorities that the president has that we can do on our own and we have already catalogued those tools. We have a large group, a sub task force of treasury, working on this, we are also working with bipartisan leadership on a range of alternatives that will be discussing. And as you know, we had bipartisan agreement on the spending deal and we will use the same approach to work with leadership on the house and the senate on this. You said you have not been tested and you do not know if the president has been tested. But today we learned the president has interacted with two lawmakers who have interacted with someone who is positive for coronavirus. Why not get tested . V. P. Pence i simply do not know what the white house has recommended to the president , but i promise we will get you that information. When do you think you can let us know when the president has been tested . V. P. Pence we will let you know tonight, right away. Obviously, their directive is to the white house position, their directive is to see to the health and wellbeing of the president of the united states, and we will get you an answer to that. I have had no recommendation that i should be tested. Let me just say to everyone that i really do believe that the guidance that we put out today would be very helpful and encouraging to american. Americans. It was fashioned by dr. Burke, some of the leading experts in Infectious Disease in the world. For families who were looking on tonight, to go to coronavirus. Gov, you can find information about how to make your schoolfer, safer and we recommend that to your attention. Do you believe and does the president believe that the stock market today and what we are seeing, some of which the president named as being in trouble are in any way a result of the white houses reaction to the crisis . Is this the markets in american businesses saying that you guys are not doing enough and did not think enough ahead . V. P. Pence i have to tell you, i am about a week and a half into being asked to lead the president s White House Coronavirus task force. And the men and women standing behind me and all the men and women standing behind them have done a remarkable job responding. The president s decision to suspend all travel to china dr. Fauci reflected last night on National Television the time that bought us, the Decisive Action and declaring a Public Health emergency, i really do believe that the American People can see that this president is putting the health of the American People first. But make no mistake about it, as we go forward, particularly as we have more Testing Available and we have these communities that have Community Spread, there will be more cases. We simply ask today for the American Public to join with us in commonsense practices that will mitigate the spread of the coronavirus and also, particularly, we are asking every american to look after our seniors, who have serious, Underlying Health issues. They are clearly the most vulnerable. And that is where the focus of our energy is today. Even as we do everything that we can, working with governors at every level to limit the spread. If i could ask a question . More and more organizations, charities, are canceling fundraising events. Other events. It is not prudent, is that an overreaction . Do think the president should continue with Campaign Rallies . Do you believe that the people, even if they are healthy should get on board cruise ships . Dr. Fauci ok, there are multiple questions there. The idea about individual entities, governors, mayors or whatever, canceling activities that are not coming from a direct recommendation for the federal government, i think i dont think, i know they have the authority to do that, but what they are probably acting on is what they would consider. Consider for their citizens an abundance of caution. Most of the time when that happens, it is in an area where there is already a documented Community Spread. Dr. Redfield mentioned the four areas right now that are having Community Spread that is documented. You know, there may be, as we know, it is a possibility that there is Community Spread going on in areas that we are not detecting it yet. I think the response of the individuals are doing that. Criticize him for doing that. They are using their individual judgment and i think that would be prudent. I cannot comment on Campaign Rallies. It really depends. We are having as we have all said, this is something in motion. This is an evolving thing. Not sure what we will be able to say at the time we have a Campaign Rally. If you are talking about a Campaign Rally tomorrow, in a place where there is no Community Spread, i think judgment to have it might be a good judgment. If you want to talk about large gatherings in a place where you have Community Spread, i think that is a judgment call. If someone decides they want to cancel it, i would not publicly criticize them. I asked the last one about cruise ships because many people are planning cruises over spring break. Would you recommend anybody, even a healthy person to get on board . Dr. Fauci i think if you are a healthy come young person, there is no reason if you want to go on a cruise ship, you should go on a cruise ship. Personally, i would not go on a cruise ship because i do not like cruises, but that is a different story. If you have the condition that i have been speaking about over and over again, namely an individual who has an underlying condition, particularly in elderly person, i would recommend strongly that they do not go on a cruise ship. V. P. Pence let me also say, john, you raise a good point. We are expecting a proposal tomorrow. Dhs, the coast guard, all of our Health Officials are currently discussing with the cruise line industry. I was in miami on saturday. We made it very clear that we needed the cruise lines to be safer, to embrace new protocols, screening onboard and screening off. New medical protocols. Processes for evacuating people that may contract coronavirus or a serious illness. I know the president was grateful that our cruise line they are ready to go to the next level. We will be reviewing that proposal tomorrow with the objective that apart from the americans that doctor fauci just described, seniors with serious underlying conditions, we are going to work with the cruise line industry to improve the safety and Work Environment and Health Environment on cruise lines in the short term and longterm. Yes. Last time President Trump was in this room, he told us that the number u. S. Cases was 15 going to go down to zero. You guys are saying that the numbers are going up to more than 500. How was he so wrong on that number . Pence i think what the president was referring to is that we will have people that test positive, and then they get better. President trump wants the American People to know, and i will ask dr. Berks to reflect on that for a moment. The vast majority of people who contracted the coronavirus will get better. The president has just challenged our task force as the numbers grow, and they will. We will continue to test more and more americans, we are as i am standing here, it is also important to remember that the vast majority get better completely. Some large percentage have mild flu symptoms, some have serious flu symptoms. But of course for the americans, you heard the Surgeon General general refer to, seniors with underlying serious conditions doctor fauci refer to. We are committed to lean and give them the support they need. The president s focus here is making sure people understand that while the numbers grow, there are people that come off the list because they get better. Doctor birx, do you want to reflect on what we know about the cycle of the coronavirus . Yes, thank you, we know the coronavirus reacts a lot like the flu in the way it spreads and in the way we prevent it. So when we put out the guidelines to the American People, they will reinforce the guidelines and we hope the number of flu cases go down to. People will really be, what we call situational awareness. I want to add one piece to our cautions about people with preexisting conditions. We also know that there are children with preexisting conditions, and we know that there are individuals that are undergoing chemotherapy for their treatment of cancer. For those individuals, if they have what we call a decreased number of white cells and they will have that discussion with doctors, they are often given a sheet of paper that describes how they need to protect themselves and how their families need to protect them. I want to make sure that we understand, yes we are concerned about the elderly, others with preexisting conditions, but we are also concerned about anybody who may be in what we call an state, havingcy less white cells and having less strength to combat any virus we want to protect them from the flu and the coronavirus and that is why these guidelines are particularly important. Pence it really is important, i think, and i want to ask all of the journalists in the room. Do what you can to distribute this information. Coronavirus. Gov. For that exact reason that was said so well. We want to make sure families and businesses have the tools, even in areas where we do not have a significant outbreak, we want to make sure the American People have the tools to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, particularly with regard to the most vulnerable. Reporter earlier you said you would tell us. How Many Americans have already been tested. Are the president s tweets impeding your efforts at all . He is accusing democrats and members of the press of making more of this than it really is. Could you please tell us how americans are being tested. Pence the president s leadership has made a difference here. I heard it from many different governors, gary logan showing me chairman of the National Governor association. I think every american would be inspired if you could see the way under the president s leadership under the cooperation with governors of every state and territory. We literally are working seamlessly on behalf of the health of the American People. Im going to invite the secretary of hhs to speak about the number of tests that have been done and where we are. The tests that are available but in terms of those that have been conducted. Weve told you so well tell you what we know and dont know. There are different types of tests that get sent out. Cdc tests that cdc are sending out. Enough to test 75,000 people that were sent out last week. Those go to Public Health labs. About 80 labs in the united states, one in each state at least. Those report results back into the cdc, because there are part of the Public Health network. The larger quantity of tests that shipped, about 900,000 of the tests that get shipped by this weekend and then so many of the remainder of the total 2. 1 million test, those go to Hospitals Private labs others for testing, they dont currently have to report to us that they have conducted the test or what the results of the test is. The cdc is actively working right now to build that i. T. Connectivity with them so that we can gather that information. Right now i could not give you a number of how Many Americans have received a test, because many will have received attempts received a test through hospitals or non Public Health labs. We are getting the system the i. T. System up through cdc, we want to give you the Accurate Information as we go. If i may, everyone, thank you, we will be back here tomorrow and will continue to bring the latest information forward to the American People. Let me encourage all of you here in everyone looking on around the country to go to coronavirus. Gov, a really useful practical common sense recommendation how to make her home safer, school safer, how to make your business in any enterprise out there safer. These are practical recommendations from the best experts in america, and we commend them to your attention. Let me also just have a word of encouragement to everyone. I want to say again, to all of all our medical experts. Apart from the areas where we have Community Spread and are focusing resources, the risk of contracting the coronavirus for the average american remains low. It will remain that way moreso, if all of us continue to practice common sense habits in our home, our businesses, our schools and public institutions. It is important to remember what President Trump said. We are all in this together. It is not just going to be a whole government approach, it is a whole of america approach, and together we will get through the coronavirus. Again, details on all the latest information, coronavirus. Gov. Thank you. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham released a statement following questions about the president s contact with other cpac attendees. The president has not received covid19 testing because he has neither had prolonged close contact with any known covid19 patients, nor does he have any symptoms. President trump remains in excellent health, and his physician will continue to closely monitor him. The cspany on networks, the house returns for general speeches at 10 00 a. M. On cspan. At noon to veterans bills and the recommendations of the select committee on the modernization of congress. 9 00 p. M. , campaign 2020 coverage continues with primary and caucus results from the six states voting on tuesday. On cspan to let 10 00 a. M. The Senate Continues work on an environment and Energy Policy bill. At 10 00 on cspan three a subcommittee hears from the cdc commissioner on the budget request for his department and the impact of the coronavirus. 2 00 p. M. The house Homeland Security subcommittee hears from the former ebola czar on Community Perspectives on Coronavirus Preparedness and response. Senator Bernie Sanders held a roundtable with Health Leaders in detroit. He criticized the trump administrations response to the spreadth
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