Gov. Hogan good morning. Confirmed cases of covid19 in our state. Over the past weekend, we saw a 678 increase in positive cases. Ofnow have cases in 21 out 24 of marylands jurisdictions. Sadly, a Montgomery County woman in her 40s became the third marylander so far to have died as a result of the coronavirus. Cases in the 635 Capital Region of maryland, dcm. C. And virginia. 32,000 cases across america and more than 340 2000 cases around the globe. Over the past several weeks, we decisive, some swift, unprecedented actions in our state in order to slow the spread of covid19 and to save lives. I just want to take a moment to majority overwhelming of marylanders who have taken this situation seriously and who have remained at home, avoided crowds, and practiced muchneeded social distancing. Arertunately, many people still not taking seriously. There were crowds of people visiting the Cherry Blossoms in washington, d. C. And large gatherings on the beach at ocean city and on the boardwalk. And that many at the county and local parks across the state. Again aspeat once strongly as i possibly can if you are engaged in this kind of activity, you are breaking the law and you are literally endangering the lives of your family, your friends, and your fellow citizens. Because of this irresponsible and reckless behavior, beginning today, even further and more aggressive Enforcement Actions will be taken by state and local authorities to disperse these gatherings. In the continuing effort to protect the health and safety of all marylanders, we are also taking immediate additional mitigation and social distancing actions. Ans morning, i have enacted executive order which closes all nonessential businesses, organizations, establishments, and facilities in maryland, effective at 5 00 today. In addition to those businesses which have already been closed by our prior executive orders, this new executive order closes all those businesses not covered by federal guidelines, which were issued thursday by the federal government, as defined as Critical Infrastructure sectors, including health care and food and agriculture, energy, public works, communitybased government operations, and the defense and Industrial Base to sectors, Law Enforcement, Public Safety, transportation, critical manufacturing, financial services, and water and wastewater. Let me be clear. Ordering aissuing or shelterinplace directive. Or forcing people to stay home. However, we are telling all to follow all of the directives we have issued and follow state law against crowds of more than 10 people. And we are telling you, unless you have an essential reason to leave your house, then you should stay in your homes. Todays actions of closing nonessential businesses are absolutely necessary to protect the health of marylanders and to save lives. Exceptionally challenging time for marylanders and for all americans. And, that includes those who are out of work and our Small Business community. Our First Priority is saving the lives of thousands of marylanders. And while we are fighting this unprecedented worldwide pandemic, at the same time, we are also facing another huge oftle against the potential tremendous economic harm. We must tackle both of these problems aggressively and simultaneously. Both of these battles are going to take all of us at the federal, state and local levels, and the private sector are to this challenge and working together. Over the last several weeks, governors in both parties from all across america have come together and pushed for more robust and aggressive federal response. As chairman of the National Governors association, we submitted several priorities to the president and Vice President last thursday based on all of the important priorities of the governors. While we have seen some progress on some of these requests, including the invoking of title 32 so that fema can cover the cost of the National GuardsRelief Missions and giving us xibility and some progress to ramp up the production of and delivery of ppes, necessary equipment, and on extending the deadline for the 2020 census, we are still awaiting for additional action on title 32 for all the states and still pushing for the extension of the real id. And, we are still pushing very Major Economic stimulus and for monies to go directly to the states so that we can help these businesses and individuals that are impacted. And there is still no action on that. We are going to raise these issues again on our call with the president and Vice President this afternoon. Times overseveral the past couple of days with u. S. Labor secretary jean scalia about helping unemployed and displaced workers. Last week, Congress Passed a second stimulus package which included paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave for workers, enhanced Unemployment Insurance, and enhanced Food Security programs. I also spoke with secretary scalia about the availability of 100 million in dislocated worker grants in response to this health emergency. In addition, i urged both the white house and the congress to include in their stimulus package direct aid to the states who are on the frontline of this crisis. Over the weekend, i spoke with Vice President pence, treasury secretary steven mnuchin, and the leaders of both the senate and the house. And on friday, i spoke with our entire federal delegation that represents maryland about the importance of this muchneeded assistance. The package currently being 300 billionudes a dollar emergency Economic Relief plan to help Small Businesses make payroll and cover expenses. This legislation would provide cash flow assistance through federally guaranteed loans to employers to maintain their payroll during this emergency. This will help workers to remain employed and help Small Businesses to ramp back up after this crisis. As i have said repeatedly, governors are leading on the front lines of this crisis and we need congress to Work Together to support our efforts. This is no time for partisan dysfunction. It is going to take all of us working together in order to save thousands of lives. Will beernoon, i leading another one of these teleconferences with the president , the Vice President with all the nations governors. We will continue to press for further coordination and for further resources when the federal government. This will be our fifth such conference with the governors. All of federal assistance is critically needed and the effort so far are appreciated. But, the states continue to need more assistance and more action. However, maryland is not just going to rely on or wait for actions from the federal government. As we have time and time again, we will continue to lead and continue to take action in this crisis. Three weeks ago, i submitted a supplemental budget to provide an additional immediate 10 million in resources to prepare the states response to covid19. Two weeks ago, i submitted emergency legislation to tap fundthe states rainy day in order to respond to this crisis. Thursday, i signed emergency legislation into law which provides relief to maryland workers by allowing them to collect Unemployment Insurance if the business has been closed due to covid19, if they have been quarantined, or if a Family Member had been quarantined. Also on thursday, we were successful in receiving a statewide disaster declaration from the Small Business administration so that Small Businesses in our state that had been affected by the coronavirus kit immediately applied to can immediately apply directly to lowinterest federal disaster loans to help cover the cost, including payroll bills and accounts payable with longterm payments stretching up to 30 years. Today, we are taking additional major steps to help support the states Small Businesses and workers. Were immediately launching a 175 million comprehensive Business Relief Program here in maryland. This will bring together resources from two of our key state agencies the Maryland Department of commerce and the Maryland Department of labor to help hardpressed marylanders and Small Businesses help them get through this difficult period. Our Unemployment Insurance program is ramped up and is dedicated to helping employees and employers who have been affected by covid19. If you have been laid off, you can immediately file a claim by phone or email or by submitting an application online. Unlike other states, maryland has no waiting period whatsoever so claims can be filed right away, immediately. And, we are launching the covid19 layoff aversion fund. Additional 7n million is available to help Small Businesses retain their employees during this crisis. Maryland Small Businesses can apply for up to 50,000 in Flexible Funding to help continue operations and keep their employees on the payroll. These resources are available businessexpress. Ma ryland. Gov coronavirus. Through the Maryland Department of commerce, today, we are introducing the maryland Small Business covid19 relief fund. A 75 million fund that will provide working capital to Small Businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 50 employees that have lost revenue due to this pandemic. These funds can be used by Small Businesses to pay their employees, their suppliers, their rent and to cover critical operating costs to help them stay in business. We are also establishing a 50 million maryland Small Business covid19 relief grant fund, which will provide not longterm loans, but direct immediate 10,000 to Small Businesses that have lost revenue because of the coronavirus. We are also immediately developing a 5 million fund to provide incentives to maryland Small Businesses to manufacture masks, personal protective equipment, and other supplies to immediately help meet the critical demand of our health care workers. We are deploying another 40 million in emergency money through all of our existing commerce finance programs. To specifically target assistance to maryland Small Businesses to help them survive this covid19 crisis and to help them preserve the jobs of their employees. Today, i also issued an executive order to protect families from price gouging. This covers all essential Household Items and commodities. Retailers who attempt to exploit this crisis for profit and gain will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Marshalingration is every tool in the arsenal of Public Health to combat and slow the spread of this pandemic. Plank ago, we launched our to increase Hospital Capacity by an additional 6000 beds in order to meet the demand created by the escalating spread of this virus. Phase one of this plan has already made 900 beds immediately available. We expect an additional 1400 beds by early april. Speak,re underway, as we to establish a Field Hospital at the Baltimore Convention center as an alternate care and an alternate care at the adjacent hilton hotel in baltimore city. The Maryland National guard will be setting up these sites in coordination with the army corps of engineers. These will be operated through a joint partnership with the university of maryland medical system and Johns Hopkins. At my direction, fema will be delivering 250 hospital bed packages and Everything Associated with them in the coming days. We also worked with the university of maryland medical system to reopen the Laurel Hospital which will make an additional 135 hospital beds available in short order. The Maryland National guard, in partnership with the Maryland Department of health and the Prince Georges County health department, is establishing a pilot coronavirus drivethrough screening location at fedex field in landover. We also have five vehicle emissions Inspection Centers ready to immediately open as drivethrough screening and Testing Centers as soon as the necessary testing kits, ppes, and lab capability becomes available. Today, i have issued orders to authorize a fasttrack process which will bring more testing capability directly here in maryland without waiting for federal action or fda approval. This will dramatically shorten the process which would have taken several months. Healthcare providers are now tests foro prioritize hospitalized patients and Health Care Providers will cease elective procedures to free up capacity. O just want to take a moment t say thank you to the Countless Health care professionals, the doctors and the nurses, the First Responders who are on the front lines every day, working aroundtheclock to help keep us safe. And, i want to thank the soldiers and airmen of the Maryland National guard. We deployed these citizen soldiers to assist with humanitarian missions all across the state and they never hesitate to answer the call to help their fellow maile marylanders. I want to thank all the Small Businesses who have to close their doors during these uncertain times. I can assure you that these actions, while incredibly savecult financially, will the lives of thousands of your fellow marylanders. And, we will have your backs in the weeks ahead and we will do everything we can to help get you back on your feet and to help all of your employees recover. Finally, i want to sincerely thank the people of maryland who have helped their fellow marylanders just by staying home and those who have volunteered their time to distribute school upls, who have picked groceries for an older neighbor, or given blood to the red cross. And, i encourage all marylanders to visit our maryland new nights website unites website to find out what you can do to help your neighbors and your communities. I also ask that you keep giving to your local churches who are not able to pass the collection baskets on sundays and to all the other volunteer organizations, all of whom are desperately in need of your donations so that they can continue to help others in our community. Marylanders,low let me say that i know how incredibly difficult this is on each and every one of you. There is a great deal of fear and anxiety. And the truth is that none of us really know how bad it is going to get or how long its going to last. But i can promise you that there are a great deal, a great many dedicated people doing some tremendous things, working aroundtheclock and doing their very best to help keep the people of maryland save. Fe. And, we are all in this together and we will, together, we will get through this. God bless each and every one of you and may god continue to bless the great state of maryland. At this time, im going to turn it over to our commerce secretary who will provide some more detail on our comprehensive Relief Program for maryland Small Businesses and workers. Kelly . Thank you, governor. And, good morning. Coronavirus has really presented a series of challenges that we will be facing together in the coming months. We know this is frightening. We know people and not just worried about their health and the health of their loved ones. We know you are worrying about your jobs and whether the stores will be open and about taking care of your families. We are doing everything we can and we are balancing the need to slow the spread of the virus with the need for businesses to keep operating. Thats why we are encouraging restaurants to continue providing carry out services, for example. We have also worked closely with our Small Business community and several partners to ensure will approve Small Business assistance. Small businesses across the state can apply for Disaster Relief funding through the sba. That is an important resource, but we do know we will need to do much more than that. If we do not act to support our Business Community during this emergency, that the economic risk to our industries, Small Business employers, and the livelihoods of maryland residents will linger even after we hit the downside of the curve and the pressure of our Health Care System eases. Our Small Businesses must survive and our people must have jobs they can return to when things return to normal. So, we are acting now to ensure that. Two new emergency relief funds will help Small Businesses and nonprofits weather the storm. The first the maryland Small Business covid19 emergency upief grant to fund offers to 10,000 to businesses with 50 or fewer employers. There will also be funding that will be set aside specifically for our nonprofit communities. These grants can provide working capital to cover payroll, rent or mortgage payments, utilities or other expenses that are incurred during ordinary operations. The maryland Small Business covid19 Emergency Relief Loan Fund is our second program, which offers low interest loans of up to 50,000 to businesses with fewer than 50 employees. We are offering that at a 0 Interest Rate for the first 12 months. These loans can be used to cover the same sort of regular operating costs such as payroll, rent, utilities, etc. Im very pleased to say in the last week or so it seems longer than that actually many of our partners in the Business Community have come forward and asked how they can help. We are absolutely grateful for that. If you are a business that has important supplies that you can sell to the state that may help, please send a message to maryland. Gov to let us know. There is one critical area in particular where our Industry Partners can step up and participate. The immediatel Public Health concern of covid19 is being amplified by a nationwide shortage of the personal Protection Equipment are doctors and hospitals badly need. As Governor Hogan said, there is an opportunity to work with our manufacturing partners and Small Businesses to help to meet that need. To that end, commerce is introducing a 5 million maryland covid19 Emergency Relief Manufacturing Fund to incentivize the production of personal protective equipment such as facemasks, ventilators and other equipment. The state may purchase this equipment or we may connect manufacturers with buyers who need these vital resources. Commerces Industry Experts are working with our partners in the industry, including maryland manufacturing extension partnership, the Regional Manufacturing institute of maryland, and the maryland manufacturing Advisory Board to identify those companies right now that may be able to meet the needs of our health care industry. Please visit our business express website for all of that information which has a wealth of that information and more that can be consistently updated for your reassurance. You can find information about all the ways maryland is helping businesses cope with covid19 including our new programs and we will have more information about the Manufacturing Program available to you by the end of the week. I assure you our teams are working aroundtheclock, as the governor has stated, and they are all working together. We are in Uncharted Waters now. The situation is unlike anything we have seen in our lifetime, but we will, as the governor said, get through this and we will be doing it together. We have heard from many businesses that are frightened and unsure of what to do. They want to keep serving their customers and they want to keep paying their employees. They want to still be here when covid19 is fading only into our memories. To our Business Community i want to say that these programs at the department of commerce and our Partner Agencies can help you get through this. We know this is a difficult time for you and we are here to work hard on your behalf and to support you. Now, i would like to turn this over to secretary of labor tiffany robinson. Thank you, secretary and thank you Governor Hogan. Good morning. In addition to the programs being offered by the Maryland Department of commerce, the Maryland Department of labor has launched the new covid19 layoff aversion fund. Starting today, a total of 7 million is available to support our states Small Businesses and workers who are Financial Stress because of the coronavirus. Small businesses can apply now for up to 50,000 in very Flexible Funding to help continue operations and keep marylanders working. All businesses will apply will receive a response within just two Business Days of submitting a simple application. Our team at the Maryland Department of labor is ready and available to provide Technical Assistance during your application process. As the governor mentioned, we are talking to our federal partners almost daily. My department is seeking as much as possible of the 100 million in worker grants announced by the u. S. Department of labor. This will allow us to expand the program even further. But we know how important it is to provide immediate relief during this rapidly evolving state of emergency, so we are cutting through all the red tape in order to get our businesses the help they need. With these flexible layoff aversion funds, business can do countless things such as purchase Remote Access equipment and software to allow employees to work from home. Sanitize their facilities to protect employees that if the providing essential services onsite. Pay for Liability Insurance needed to change business models, like previous dine in only restaurants were now delivering food to the community. This fund can also provide up to 50,000 to supplement a Small Businesss payroll costs if they are involved in labor, work sharing program. The Workshare Program provides an additional alternative to layoffs by allowing employers to reduce the hours of work for their employees who can then collect Unemployment Insurance benefits to replace a portion of their wages. Unfortunately for some, however, unemployment has become a reality during this difficult time so i want to be very clear that the Maryland Department of labors Unemployment Insurance program is fully operational and remains dedicated to helping employers and employees who have been affected by covid19. If you have been laid off, you can finally claim immediately by phone, email or submitting an application online. Maryland does not have a waiting period like other states do. We have expanded our call center hours, added service to increase online application speed and capacity, and created dedicated email addresses to provide Better Customer Service for marylanders. No matter when or how you file a claim, any eligible maryland or will be paid benefits back to the very first day after they relate off. As the governor mentioned, we have extended eligibility to make sure everyone is covered during this state of emergency. Maryland is allowing workers who have not been terminated to collect Unemployment Insurance if their employer has been closed due to covid19. If they have in or caring for a Family Member. In light of the current Market Conditions and the need for social distancing, labor has temporarily waived all work forch requirements recipients. Unprecedented actions are taken now to save the lives of marylanders so we want everyone to know the Maryland Department of labor in conjunction with the other state agencies are doing everything in our power to support and protect our Small Businesses and our workforce. Thank you. Thank you. We also have with us Fran Phillips from the Maryland Health department and Major GeneralTimothy Gowan from the national guard. I will be happy to take any questions or any of them. [indiscernible] s or stores and daycares gov. Hogan theres a whole lot of businesses that are exempted. Ones that we already took action on. There is a long list of federally protected ones that are considered essential. We can get to the list of all of those. We will be putting all that out with the press release later. Everybody in the supply chain to make sure we get all the necessary goods and services out to everybody, but it affects a wider array of businesses. [indiscernible] gov. Hogan i am not sure if anybody has an estimated number at this point. That is all beastly something we will be very concerned about. Obviously something we will be very concerned about. Excuse me . Daycare is covered by a different order and that is being handled by the Maryland Department of education. We put up pretty clear directives on that already, but may be further action and explanation on that either tomorrow or the next day. But we did that last thursday, i think. Grocery stores large amounts of people. Is there some directive to not allow so many people . Gov. Hogan i think we still want to abide by the social distancing and not have crowds of people and i think we can work on trying to limit those crowds. We have asked a local Law Enforcement officials to work with bigbox stores to help crowd control, but we want to make sure those stores stay open so they can get people the essential things they need, especially food and the other necessary items. They are a critical part of the supply chain. Thinkthis point, do you this is as far it is going to go . [indiscernible] gov. Hogan great question, brad. Te honestly, if you look listen to all the experts on the federal level and local level, no one has the perfect crystal ball to say exactly when we are going to peak and are the actions going to help or not. Among the, we were first states in the country to take action. We were one of the first to declare a state of emergency. One of the first to close the schools. One of the first close bars and restaurants. One of the first to take action on social distancing. We have been very aggressive. We are hoping these actions will help us not be as badly affected as some other states or to help slow the curve, but we know we have not hit the peak. We know the numbers are going to dramatically rise as testing increases. So, we dont want to unnecessarily alarm people, but had we taken no action, we know the numbers would be dramatically worse and the question is these actions that we have taken, how much good are they going to do . We hope they are going to stop tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people from being infected in maryland, and hopefully save the lives of thousands of marylanders. [indiscernible] increases not because we are dramatically ramping up the number of test. A week or so ago, it was 50 tests a day. It went up to 500 tests a day. You are seeing more numbers because we are testing more people. That does not necessarily mean more of a spread but the numbers are going to go up. How many more tests . Gov. Hogan i am not sure fran has an answer on that but we are pushing as fast as we can with the private labs, the federal government, with our teams here at hopkins. The state lab is going to continue to do the ones for our investigative cases on the people we are tracking this person, who did they come in contact with, when we have a known case. The private sector and these other things will handle all the other folks in the hospitals. That is increasing but not nearly at a fast enough rate which is the general frustration of all of us. We will talk more about that this afternoon with our federal partners. [indiscernible] gov. Hogan i would like to hear we are making more progress on the needs of testing, on the ppes, ventilators, masks. I would like to hear they took action on the five priority request of the governors from last thursday. [indiscernible] our department of corrections and Public Safety are taking measures as his other other agency as is other agency with the equipment hurting us all across. We need ppes for correctional officers, healthcare workers, police officers. We need them for all the frontline people, the people doing testing. There will be prioritization for who gets them first. They all need them. It further exacerbates the issue. The problem of needing all these things. Whats that . [indiscernible] gov. Hogan our orders, we believe, or more encompassing and perhaps more effective it is also meant x. Some states have said there is a shelterinplace order but we believe all these businesses open. We will tell you you need to stay in your house but you can still do all of these things. We have set we want you to stay in your house but we will close all these things. You are comparing apples to oranges. I think our actions are actually more aggressive than some states have ordered shelterinplace, but it is not as we dont think it is as draconian to lock people in their homes, but stopping the places where they gather and where they are going to go is probably the smarter action for us. We are going to continue to look at decisions every day. [indiscernible] gov. Hogan i am doing what i am suggesting to everyone else. Im not staying in my home every day because you are seeing me here at work, but we have limited we are limiting the size of our press conferences. You can see the social distancing here. We only have four people here when we normally have 12 or 15. My staff is down to just a handful of people. Most people are working from home, as are many state workers. They are still working hard but they are on their computers and laptops. I am not going out in public. Im practicing the same advice we are giving everyone else. Washing your hands frequently. Avoiding contact. Avoiding crowds. Stay home as much as possible and limiting the involvement of exposure. Im following the advice i giving everyone else. [indiscernible] has that been your experience . Gov. Hogan i know governor cuomo, my vice chairman, was talking about that over the weekend. It is probably something we will have a discussion about. It has not been quite our experience but it is an issue we will be talking about. There arent enough of all of these items. We are pushing to get our supply where we can and pushing to get the federal government to produce more of them and distribute more of them and hopefully we can get progress. There has been a little bit of progress but not nearly enough and not fast enough. Yes. That is one of the things we want to incentivize more. There are Maryland Companies who have been helping. Producing a ventilator is more complicated than making a mask, but there are people that are stepping up all over the place. I mentioned last week, a civil thing like our distilleries that are making hand sanitizers. Instead of drinking it, theyre making a different type of alcohol so you can wash your hands. I think some of our smaller businesses are in the process of wrapping up so they can produce masks that would be sanitized and be able to use. [indiscernible] gov. Hogan not to my knowledge. It may not require arrests. We are putting directives out to our local Law Enforcement and all of our state Police Agencies you may see police cars lighting up their sirens and going on their loud speakers and saying please disperse, you are endangering the public and you are violating state law. If you have hundreds of people gathered, they will try to break up the crowds which they were doing in new orleans last week. Id rather see that step, encouraging people that this is not safe. I saw pictures that would make your toes curl over the weekend, not just in our state but across the country of people are ignoring the directive. [indiscernible] gov. Hogan i think the economic damage could be significant and that is what i talked about the twin battles. We dont take any of the steps and hundreds of thousands, millions of people will die in america. We do take these steps and hundreds of thousands or millions of people will be hurt economically. It is a terrible choice. So, the solution is try to help both. We try to save lives and then we try to save the economy. That is importantly the situation we are in. You cannot make the choice. We dont want our businesses to die and we dont want our people to lose their jobs, but we also dont want to lose the lives of so many people. [indiscernible] gov. Hogan yes, i mentioned that briefly earlier but most of our major hospitals have already taken that step on their own last week. The university of maryland medical system, medstar hospitals, Johns Hopkins most of the major hospitals have but most of the smaller Outpatient Surgical Centers had not. We included that in the executive order to have that and the directive across the state to limit all elective surgeries, with maybe some exceptions that doctors thought they should do it. They have to free up beds to save peoples lives. Thank you guys very much. The senate gaveled in at noon eastern for more work on the coronavirus Economic Relief bill. Earlier this afternoon, senators again failed to move the legislation by a vote of 4946. 60 aye votes are needed to advance the measure. We will update you with more as more information becomes available and you can watch the senate live right now on cspan2. Later, the Daily White HouseCoronavirus Task force meeting. President trump has been leading these briefings lately. A programming note starting tonight, join us for a special live evening edition of washington journal examining the federal and state response to covid19. We welcome your questions and comments. That is tonight beginning at 8 00 eastern on cspan. It is easy to follow the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak at cspan. Org coronavirus. Track the spread throughout the u. S. And the world with interactive maps and charts. Watch briefings and hearings with Public Health specialists anytime unfiltered at cspan. Org coronavirus. Now canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau with an update on the fight against the pandemic in that country. From earlier today, this is about 25 minutes. P. M. Trudeau i want to begin by recognizing that a o