He also discussed potential wageef for hourly workers without family leave. Steve mr. Vice president , dr. Fauci is saying that the coronavirus is going to spread. Chancellor Angela Merkel is saying as many as 70 of the germans could be infected. Were seeing the lockdown in italy. As head of the task force, what worries you personally the most . Vice pres. Pence the American People can be confident that this president and our administration, leadership at every state in the country, have no higher priority than the health and safety of the people of this nation. Riority than the health and safety of the people of this nation. It is one of the reasons that President Trump took unprecedented action in january and declared Public Health emergency and established the White House Task force but also suspended all travel from china. In any quarantined allamericans coming back from china to essentially do everything we could to prevent the spread that was received in the United States. In trouble advisories, proportions of italy, portions of south korea and we are now screening 100 percent of all passengers on all direct flights and all airports in italy or south korea into the United States. The truth is that the coronavirus is here. And we have more than a thousand cases in this country as the doctor said, there will be many more in the days ahead. The good news is the most people that contracted coronavirus, will have flulike symptoms ranging from mild to more serious flulike symptoms. President trump made it clear to us that we are to focus on our efforts and mitigate the spread but also ensure that Senior Citizens with underlying Serious Health conditions, or provided with the kind of care and support they need because that is the population that all of our experts say is most at risk of a very serious consequences with the coronavirus. We are a year away from the vaccines and what is the next eight to 12 months going to look like. I think the names and you will see this president continue to take action and again, to mitigate the spread in this country. Later today we will be issuing specific guidance to portions of Washington State and california, we been working hand in glove with the states all over the country but particularly those estates and new york and florida we have seen with the experts call a Community Spread. And will have specific guidelines regarding schools and workplaces and also larger communities events. But there is much more work to be done. Vice president pence we continue to lean into the suburban every american should know, that they can make a difference in preventing themselves contracting the coronavirus or members of their family or loved one by practicing Common Sense Health practices that are available right now i coronavirus. Gov. In earlier this week, the consultation with the doctors, albert healthcare experts at cdc, we produced a series of recommendations for schools, workplaces, families in the home and also commercial enterprises. And people can go there and they can post notes and practice those and it will make a real difference in preventing not only themselves contracting the coronavirus but the potential of spreading the coronavirus to the loved ones are the people in their community. A very bad day the markets. Reporter committee heading toward dangerous territories and schools closing what would you tell the americans how they should be prepared with worst Case Scenario would be. Vice president pence for the good news is that the fundamentals this economy are very strong. And while we see impacts on the stock market and we see communities that are dealing with a Community Spread of the coronavirus, they experience Economic Impact we know that as we work through this, as we put the health of the American People first that when we move through this coronavirus, in the United States, their eight that our economy is going to come back and come back very strongly because more than 7 million jobs that we have seen unemployment rate, the 50 rate year rate low open to your point with regard to the Economic Impact today President Trump is developing with congress and also through his own executive authority, actions that will make sure that hourly workers in medium and small businesses, the may not have a family leave can stay home if they are quarantined, they believe they are sick from the coronavirus ruthie of contracted it, without risking losing a job. Were working on that right now and i suspect that before the end of the week, we will have action with the congress or with the president s action in the oval office to ensure that hourly workers in america who may suspect that they have contracted the coronavirus can stay home and see themselves, proceed to a family member. Even if the company today does not provide for paid family leave. Steve the economy in the u. S. For the next couple of months, will look like what . Vice president pence Economic Impacts just as we have in other countries around the world and resting it on the stock market today and the American People, are sure to anticipate, as state and communities and federal authorities make recommendations, that will have an impact on commerce but i know that the American People want this president , our federal government, all the state and local authorities to put health first. We will put the health of the American People first. And as we work to prevent the spread, to mitigate, the spread of the coronavirus, as we work with industries around the country as we speak developing therapeutic medications. He could be available in just a few months. And then a vaccine that will be likely available in another year and a half. We will get through this. But the priority today is to help the American People see the help of the people in this country. In the health of the economy and then we will come back. Steve your friend up is praising the decision by the president to appoint you as the head of the task force. Youve been very critical dennys sending mixed messages. What you tell the American People. Vice president pence im about two weeks in penning the task force. I cannot be more proud of the decisive actions of President Trump has taken forming this task force and the energy has put behind this effort at the federal level. And frankly, i think the seamless cooperation you see happening between the federal government and the states like washington, california, in new york, i think is a real testament to the kind of determined leadership and demanding leadership the President Trump brought to this. The American People deserve to know that no president before President Trump had ever travel from a country into the United States and facing a health challenge. The present did that when he suspended all travel from china of the week one tweet all americans coming back. And you can anticipate that this president will continue to take decisive steps to do everything in our power to prevent the spread of this disease, to make sure the people who contract the disease have the support and resources to deal with it but we are really calling on every american to go to coronavirus. Gov. And learn how every citizen of this country can make a difference. In dealing with the coronavirus. Steve he did try to minimize early on. Vice president pence the president is a very optimistic leader and we all remain confident that together, we will work our way through the coronavirus. Will come alongside people that are impacted in communities, that are infected. I think the reason why you saw Congress Move so swiftly, is because this president wanted to make sure not only did her federal agencies have the resources, the state and local governments also have the resources. More than a billion dollars to support their efforts in dealing with the coronavirus. And they make no mistake about it, we have a ways to go. And we will continue to lean on the best healthcare experts in the country. We will continue to forge that Strong Partnership with state and local authorities that the president directed us to do. We will continue to put the health and wellbeing of america first. Steve every administration can learn from a crisis. So for the first three months, what do you think you can take away and he talked about closing the borders but whatever other lessons did you learn down the road if we face this in the future and likely we will. Vice president pence i really do believe there will be times for Lessons Learned but right now we are working the problem. The president has told us what we want to do every single day is look at the facts. Since the experts. And bring proposals forward for the federal government, and State Government that will make a real difference in peoples lives. In excel you can see, that the market people deserve to know that the possibility or the threat of contracting the coronavirus the average american remains low. It an even for those that contracted the virus, most will have flulike symptoms that will recover but its so important that people understand that Senior Citizens with chronic immune deficiency issues that the coronavirus represents a very Serious Health challenge to them. So we want to make sure those have a Senior Citizen in the home of the Chronic Health condition, understand the importance of this best practices that are listed at coronavirus. Com. We also must be great all the standards that every nursing home in america, follow guidelines for preventing the guide lines. And now all 8000 of our federal inspectors are exclusively focusing on compliance with Infectious Disease control in nursing homes. Were going to focus on the populations that is most at risk of serious consequences that we do that, is by getting every american to do their part. To go to coronavirus. Com, tone what you can do in your workplace, in your home, even if youre in a state that does not have a coronavirus case yet. Every american can make a difference. And together, we know that we will find a way through this. And we will deal with his challenge just as we dealt with every other challenge our nation has faced. Steve as you know senator sanders, Vice President biden, are you concerned about appearing in these large venues, these large venues. Vice president pence im not concerned. But we will follow the fact every single date about what makes the most sense for the American People. But we are issuing specific guidelines about large gathering in the area of seattle thats been affected by Community Spread. The area of california that is been impacted. Will be offering similar recommendations for new york and florida. Were currently looking at certain places and messages to offer best practices. But the American People can be confident that we are continuing to look at what is happening and will continue as now, last week a million tests were in the field 4 million tests will be in the field. By the end of this week and all of our state are doing testing in the commercial labs are now distributing tests all over the nation. And as we get a clear picture of the scope of the coronavirus across the country, we will continue to get guidance and we will continue to take the guidance with regards of activities. Steve congressman, youve been at cup host, was been the biggest learning curve for mike pence to be Vice President. Vice president pence well for me, all of those things contributed i hope to my ability to serve the president as Vice President. I would tell you that i believe the reason the president attacked me, telling the White House Task force was because i had been a governor, in fact the state of indiana had actually location for the very first case in america emerged. About as much board deadly than the coronavirus and i saw firsthand the world that the State Governments and local Health Officials, even law enforcement, and the supporting community makes in resolving that working in partnership with the federal government. In asking me to do this i think the president was saying, that he not only wanted people to know that this was a priority but he wanted his Vice President working on every day, every hour but also i think he wanted to affirm the vital role of state and local governments and Health Officials are saying and make it clear they were going to build on that partnership. Thats what we say, we will get through this together. And we put the health of the america first. Steve is been a busy d announcer follow the federal response to the coronavirus at cspan. Org coronavirus. You can find white house briefings, hearings with key Public Health officials, and interviews with Public Health specialists. Review the latest events anytime at cspan. Org coronavirus. Cspans washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up thursday morning, we will discuss the latest on coronavirus and the u. S. The house is expected to vote on an economic stimulus package is a response to the outbreak. Then senator angus king and congressman mike gallagher, cochairs of the cyberspace commission, will join us to discuss the commissions recommendation to defend against cyber attacks. Be sure to watch cspans washington journal live at 7 00 eastern thursday morning. Join the discussion. Announcer thursday, dr. Robert redfield and dr. Anthony fauci and other Public Health officials returned to capitol hill to testify on the coronavirus outbreak before the House Oversight and Reform Committee after appearing for a couple of hours on wednesday. At 11 00rage begins a. M. Eastern on cspan3, online, or listen live on the free cspan radio app. Theuncer early thursday, World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. W. H. O. s director general told reporters he was concerned by the severity of the disease and the levels of spreading. This runs an hour. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. In the past two weeks, the number of cases of covid19 outside china has increased 13fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled. There are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives. Sa