World with interactive maps. Any timedemand unfiltered at cspan. Org coronavirus. This afternoon, President Trump will hold a briefing with reporters at the white house on the coronavirus response. Be joined byd to Vice President mike pence and members of his task force. You can watch the president s comments live at 5 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Primetime. On journal a special evening addition of the washington journal on the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. Our guests are former senators for Disease Control and prevention director tom frieden who is president and ceo of the group resolve to save lives. He joins us to discuss government and private efforts to combat the pandemic. Of Johns Hopkins university will be on to talk about how her team built the coronavirus dashboard and map. Conversation tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. The president , just released in paperback from public affairs, resent biographies of every president organized by their ranking in our much cited president ial historian survey. Visit our website, cspan. Org the president and order your copy today wherever books are sold. Earlier today, new York Governor Andrew Cuomo briefed reporters on his states response to the coronavirus. He says the curve is going down in new york is focusing on expanding testing as the first step to reopen regions of the state. From buffalo, this is 40 minutes. Gov. Cuomo good morning, everyone. Good to see you. Good to be with you. Let me introduce the people who are with us today. From my right, Gareth Rhodes works with me in State Government and who has been involved in the special effort from day one. To my immediate right, technically a doctor but not a medical doctor but still a doctor. My left, governor kathy hochul. I partner in state governor and a State Government who has been a true treasure to the state of new york and to kathy Candace Johnson from Roswell Park Cancer Institute which is where we are today in buffalo. Roswell park is one of the leading cancer institutes in the United States and a real jewel for the state of new york and i thank her for their spot there hospitality today. Let me give you some of the facts. One of the points we want to in westernis we are new york, buffalo. We have been talking a lot about new york city and the situation in new york city and long island and westchester and rockland. Virus presents a slightly different problem in different parts of the country. It also presents a different problem in different parts of the state. Overall, the total hospitalizations are basically flat from where they were yesterday. You see the overall curve is on the way down. That is good news, certainly. The net change in hospitalizations is down. Not down as much as we would like. Change in into bashans tubationss down. That is good news. 80 of the time someone is on a ventilator, do not come off the ventilator in 6 eight in a successful way. The number of new people who were diagnosed with covid is 1300. That is down. That is good news relative to really bad news, which is what was happening until then. We have to remember our calculus of good. Our definition of good has changed. Terrible, but on an absolute scale. 1300 people walk into the door with covid on a single day in the state of new york. That would not be good news in any other context besides the context we are living in. This is eerie county. Buffalo is in area county, new york. Erie county. County, newn erie york. A flat uptake yesterday. Number of total hospitalizations , three day. Basically flat. I would not take any of these oneday numbers or threeday numbers as absolute. This is a new reporting mechanism that was put in place. From a statistical point of view, i do not know what the margin of error is withal due respect to the statisticians doing this. We have been watching the spread across the state because this is like stamping out a brush fire. You need to run to where the fire is and put it out there. Ofare watching for a spread the fire from downstate new york toward upstate. Whenever we see a small fire starting, we jump on it right away. Testing, isolation, etc. But that has remained fairly constant. That is also good news. The point that different regions of the country have different hites, the virus does not at the same time at the same rate. So you hear about different states in the country. When they are going to hit their apex, when they are going to hit their top and when they are going to come down, it is different across the country. It is also different across the state. We have been talking about states as if they are uniform, homogenous entities. Some are more homogenous than others. When i was in the federal government, i worked in every state. You have a whole different variety of states. This date, we have very different regions within new york. When you say new york, people think new york city, one of the densest places on the globe. You also have upstate new york where in some counties, you have more cows than people. People do not think of new york that way. As you see a variety across the country, we have a variety across the state of new york. You have to watch each one of those individual curves and when does that region had a high point and where is that . Curveing on that regions is how you have to calculate your strategy. Curves,ooking at those how long is the assent up the mountain . And how long are we on the plateau . How long is the descent from the plateau . Western new york, i believe we are on a plateau. The question is, how long are we on that plateau and is it a plateau or might it still ascend . Downstate new york, it appears we are on the descent. In downstate new york, how quickly do we descend . The worst news and the ugliest part of my job these days is telling new yorkers this news. E county, we lost seven hospital deaths yesterday for a total of 125 in the state. , lost total of 125. In the state, we lost 451 people. 481 homes ever a people. Where are we today . We are updating with two rules. First rule is do no harm. Second rule is start to play the reopening. Reopening. Understand it. Calibrate it. No one has ever done it before. When do you do it . First rule, no harm. We paid a tremendous price to get where we are today and make a promise make the progress we have made today. We have paid a tremendous price to control this beast. We closed down everything. People have worked tirelessly in the Health Care System and the First Responders and the essential workers. You showed you can control the beast. Do no harm. Do not go backwards. That is the first point. Plan the reopening. On the do no harm, you take a place like erie county, any region in the country or the state that is still on the be aware oflateau, a hotspot. Beware of an increased need. In this state, what we have said is, any need, anywhere in this state, the rest of the state will Surge Capacity and equipment and energy to help that part of the state. When downstate new york needed help, upstate new york was there. If upstate new york needs help or western new york needs help, the rest of the state will be there. You have my word on that. During these crises, pressure brings out the best and the worst in people. You get to really see how a person responds at a time of crisis. You get a little snapshot of their character and of their foundation. It is also true of the collective. It is also true of society. When i say we have to move to help western new york, there will be some places in the state where you hear a voice that says, we have to worry about ourselves. Us and to take care of they are on their own the way we are on our own. Not new york. That is not how we operate. Nobody is on their own. We are one state. We are one family. We are one community. Whatever western new york needs, you have my word the rest of the state will be responsive. Plateauy we are on this and on the others of the plateau is a descent. So we can manage it. If it is not a descent and it is scent, the rest of the state will be there. Part of it is testing, testing, testing. I know it is a granular topic, but it is important. We are going to have a regional calibration we are going to make on hospitals. You have many hospitals that are very quiet. Some hospitals are actually laying off people in the middle of this because they have no patients. Stopped thelly number of patients going into a hospital because we ended what is called elective treatment. Thele cannot go into hospital for an elective procedure. In those parts of the state and in those hospitals where the hospitals are laying off people because they are so quiet and they have that capacity and capacity for the virus is not an issue, we are going to allow elective outpatient treatment, which means the number of beds remain available because the number of people using those beds is relatively minimal. We are going to allow it in those hospitals and counties in the state that do not have a need issue or we could not their beds in case of a search. This will not include westchester, rockland, new york City Hospitals because we have a real covid problem there. County,ot include erie dutchess and several other counties where we need to protect those hospital beds in case we need them. For testing, people need to understand this issue because it is term and to and did it it is determinative and it is complicated. Here are the simple facts on testing. That no oneomething would have expected as an issue. Countrywe do in this and nobody really noticed. It is a private sector system. When you went to the hospital and the doctor said you have to have your child checked for this so you have to be checked for this. You have your blood tested. That was the testing system. Nobody imagined this testing system was going to become hyper relevant to survival and would 20, 30, 40,ity of 50 times what the system was doing. This came out of the blue. It is one of the lessons we will learn. How does it work . You have National Companies that are private manufacturers of Laboratory Equipment and their piece of equipment can operate their test kits. There are a number of these private sector companies. They make the machine. To asell that Machine Network of labs across the nation. We have about 211 labs in new york state. They buy these machines from these National Companies and they have that machine. Sometimes they buy a number of machines from different manufacturers and other have a number of different machines. Requires that you go back to that manufacturer to get a test kit and reagent that works for that manufacturers machine. It gets very complicated quickly. There are different reagents, chemicals that you need for each test kit ands each manufacturers machine. The big labs will have bought a number of different machines from a number of different manufacturers. These are some of the big manufacturers. You hear about maybe it, which abbott, whichmayb has a new fast test. Those manufacturers , you need to have their test to and their reagents operate on their machine. You have some labs that have five or six different manufacturers machines. When you go to the manufacturers and you say, i need you to increase capacity, any of the manufacturers are saying i cannot. Many of the manufacturers are saying i cannot. I cannot get enough of the reagent. I cannot get enough of the cotton swabs. I cannot get enough vials. I do not have enough material for my own test kits. Oft is the determiner testing capacity. Thatre asking a system normally did 1000 tests. Youre asking a system that did 1000 tests, by the way, i need 50,000 tests. They did not anticipate this volume. Manufacturers will say, i have a supply chain that is an International Supply chain. I get my chemicals from china. That ability to ramp up is what we are are all what we are all struggling with. Every state is in charge of administering testing because the 200 labs in new york state are regulated by new york state. I regulate the 200 labs. It is only appropriate estate should be the state should be in charge of actual testing in the state. I agree with the federal governments position on that. I have 200 labs. I should come up with a system that says how many tests in buffalo, how many test in albany, that is my business. I should be held responsible for making sure those 200 labs actually deploy across the state in a smart way. Hold me responsible. Is where the hard labs i regulate say, the manufacturers are the problem. I called the manufacturers and the manufacturers say, i cannot do it because it is an international problem. That is where we are now. Last night, i get home, i have my three daughters with me now, which is a joy 99. 9 of the time. We are watching the news. Governor larry hogan comes on the news. Great guy, governor of 500rnor hogan says i bought test kits from south korea. There is a picture of Governor Hogan at the airport, south korean airliner. He said, i got 500 test kits from south korea. My daughter says to me, that was really smart. She looks at me, does not say anything else. I felt the immediate wave of guilt descend upon me. One of my other daughters was a little more pointed, and said, why didnt you think of that, dad . Feeling diminished as a governor. Why didnt i think of buying test kits from south korea . From china . States normally are responsible for. God bless larry hogan. He thought outside the box. That piece is where the federal government can help us. Manufacturerional and that supply chain for the National Manufacturers and let the federal government figure out south korea and china and International Supply issues. Rather than have 50 states figure out how to buy tests in south korea. That is where the federal government should help. That is the intelligent distribution of responsibility on testing. The federal government is right. The states should take the lead, yes. Partnership, federal government, you have to help us with the supply list. After you do the testing, states have a second big task, put together an army of tracers who then trace each person who tested positive. Who did they contact . And then isolate those people. Reopeningill make decisions on a regional basis. Regionsthat circumstances about the covid virus. Just like some states will pen you for other states before other states, it is true across the state. North country has a totally different situation than new york city. Central new york has a different situation. We operate as one state but we also have to understand you want to get this economy open as soon as possible. If the situation is radically different in one part of the state than the other part of the state, we take that into consideration. Applies togic that the country applies to some states, the state, where you have those varieties across the state. We need to take that into consideration. The way we have been working on the economy in general, where we recognize there is one state, yes, but there are regional economies within the state and we have been working with each individual regional economy, we will do the same thing on this phase. Lets talk about reopening economies in that regional context. And coordinated regionally, and that is what we are going to be doing. Statewide, this lets not just talk about reopening. All we are going to do is go back to where we were. How do you use this as an opportunity to learn lessons and build back better . York, we havew Lieutenant Governor who is from buffalo. We will ask her to take charge , monitorstern new york the Public Health issues, make sure if there is a problem in terms of Public Health, we are marshaling all of the resources across the state and to work on the reimagining and the reopening plan for western new york. We are also going to ask bob duffy, who worked with me in the state, to volunteer to be a special advisor to coordinate inlic health and reopening the finger lakes, the rochester area. We have gotten through difficult situations before. Western new york, we went through seven feet of snow a couple of years ago. That was fun. We learned from that. , which wasough 9 11 a crushing experience, but we learned from that and we are different and better. We went through Superstorm Sandy and we are the better for that. And we are going to be the better for this. I believe that. It is the hard times in life that make you better and make you who you are. If you are intelligent enough to learn from them and to get the message from them. That is what we have to do here. We have to do it individually and collectively. What did we learn about ourselves, about the world, about the country from this period that we are in . You get knocked on your rear end in life. That happened. The question is, do you get up . If you get up, what type of person are you . And did you learn from getting knocked on your rear end . Things happen in life. Health issues happen, bankruptcies happen. Ok. Get up, get up. Have the strength to get up, have the wisdom to learn from the experience and be a better person for it. Michael jordan documentary was on tv, and im a big Michael Jordan fan. He does not make the varsity team. Michael jordan. Bad coach, maybe. But he got knocked on his rear end. He was disappointed. What did he do . He works harder, practiced more. Michael jordan was not just born god did not just say, here is. He made himself the great player that he is. New york, we make ourselves. Some of the most tragic situations forged the character and the resolve of this nation. New york state, the same thing. We have to be smart enough to do the same thing here. We will because we are new york tough. We are not just tough. It is hard to be smart and disciplined and unified and loving. That is what is harder. But we are all of the above and that is why we are special. I have to go down to washington and everything is a little tight from a scheduling point of you today. What do you see the focus being for the white house visit . Gov. Cuomo testing. What does testing mean and how can the cover how can the federal government work in partnership with the state . This is all new. Look, it is a situation that is very difficult. It is a situation where however you do it, it is going to be a blame game afterwards. I heard the president and his briefing the other day. This is one of those thankless tasks. Trust me, it is one of those tasks where when you get to the end of it, everybody will be able to say, you did not do enough. I get the instinct to distance yourself from it, right . Situation where you need everybody to Work Together and you need to understand quickly who was in a better position to do what. From my point of view, i think the federal government has to take the National Manufacturer supply chain issue. , butless Governor Hogan you should not expect all of these governors to go run around and do an International Supply chain while they are trying to put together their testing protocol in their state, coordinating their labs. How many tests in buffalo . How many tests in albany . Then i have to put together an army of tracers. I will take all of that. But dont make me feel guilty when Governor Hogan goes to south korea and buys test kits. Symptomatic folks could not get a test in western new york. Do to ramp uptate testing here . This is an area that has lagged behind. Gov. Cuomo as estate, we are testing as a state, we are testing more than any state in the u. S. More testing per capita than any country on the globe. That is what we are doing in new york. We are doing more faster than anyone else. Better and we have to do more and we need more tests and that is what we are talking about. You asting will educate you are making your transition to reopening. How do you get across the swamp . Stone to stone across the morass. One step at a time. Make sure you are on firm footing and then you look for the next stone and look for the next stone. The testing tells you where the stones are in the testing tells you when to pause and that is why you need the testing. You need more testing in western new york, yes. You need more in rochester, syracuse, new york city, and long island. That is why i am going to washington. When you head down to the white house today, it has been fair to say that you about to walk a fine line in your dealings. Criticism that you have an praise that you have. And praise that you have. How will you handle this . Gov. Cuomo life is a fine line. Being in government is a fine line. Everything is a fine line. I will tell you how i negotiate the fine line. Tell the truth. Just tell the truth. Mehas no problem telling when he disagrees and he tells me when he agrees. I have no problem telling him when i disagree and when i agree. You can try to figure it out. Heck with it, just tell the truth. [inaudible] there has i think been a lot of discussion about testing. But i do not know that people have really in many ways, we are talking past each other. I understand the federal governments point that it is up to the states. And i believe it is largely up to the states. But even the federal government will do a whole presentation on what they are doing on testing so it is not really up to the andes if fema get up there talks about what they are doing on testing. Lets coordinate who does what. What do the states do . What does the federal government do . I amo whatever supposed to do. And what me what i do are you going to do and i am going to ask him to take this piece of this National Manufacturers getting the test gets in the cotton swabs and the manufacturershe getting the test kits and the cotton swabs and the chemicals. Thank you for joining us. Continued frustration over unemployment. We have folks calling, emailing, saying the 72 hour window has come and gone. What can you say to them to ease their frustration and what is being done to smooth the process . Gov. Cuomo they are right. I will tell you the bad news and the good news. The bad news, there were so many unemployment claims that it has collapsed the unemployment departments system. The website and the phone system. We have 1000 people who are now working on that unemployment website and phone call system. It is unbelievable. 1000 people just to take the incoming unemployment calls. That is how high the volume is. And they still cannot keep up with the volume. There is nothing worse than being unemployed and nervous about a paycheck and you call for Unemployment Benefits and you cannot get through on the phone. I get it. I get it. We have a thousand people working on it. We have google working on it. We have experts working on it. They are trying to bring up a system that did a much lower capacity. This is 100 times whatever we have done before. The good news is this you are going to get the same benefit anyway. It is not like it is costing you money. I know it is frustrating but once you qualify, the qualification is retroactive so you are going to get the same benefit. It is not that because you could not make the call today, it means you will not get the benefit. You will get the benefit. Its just an annoying delay. Believe me, people are working seven days a week on it. As far as your regional committees go, have they started meeting at . What is the timetable for that . What will it take for you to say, we have enough data, open up this region . Manhattan is not buffalo. Lets use that same regional template when we talk about reopening. Lets look at the numbers for that region. Lets look at the hospitalization rate. Are we on the ascent or the descent or a plateau for that region . Hospital capacity for that region . Infection rate for that region . Then lets be open to making a region by region determination. Region. At that who does that . The state does that, working with the local governments. There is no new committee here. There is no new process. [inaudible] gov. Cuomo the Lieutenant Governor will be not just focusing on that decision. It is more the win and the how when and the how. These governors are trying to figure out when. Look at the data. Tell me where you are. Cdc has guidelines, you have to be stable or declining for two weeks. Look at the cdc guidelines. Talk to local officials. Datadriven. When do you want . My answer is, i want that yesterday. It is not what you want. It is datadriven. Look at the data. I think the better question, when we reopen, what did we learn and what can we how do we reimagine western new york to be the better for it . What lessons do we want to take forward when we do the reopening . On the reopening, how do we phase it . What businesses first . Do we do that by percentages . Lets talk about all of that. It is the when and how, datadriven on the when. Not political pressure. Open because i do not want to take the little heat. If you do not want to take the political heat, you should not be in the political kitchen, which is called being an elected official. I have to get to washington. A vote on the stimulus could come today . Gov. Cuomo i think it is a terrible mistake not to provide funding for the states. I get small businesses, i get airlines. How about police . How about fire . How about Health Care Workers . Teachers . We are not going to fund schools . I dont get it. That is why i am not in washington. Look at the White House Briefing room where President Trump will soon brief reporters on the coronavirus. He is expected to be joined by the Vice President and members of his task force. Some news this afternoon, the senate has approved nearly 500 million for Economic Relief due to the coronavirus. That money aimed toward small business, hospitals, and testing. Members could return to washington to vote on the measure this week. Watch the senate live on cspan 2 and the house on cspan. Until this briefing gets underway, here is a portion of todays washington journal. Host here to talk about the Domestic Violence is alejandra castillo. Group . Your what is your mission . The ywca is the oldest Womens Organization in the country. We were created to
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