Transcripts For CSPAN White House Coronavirus Task Force Holds Briefing 20240712

Briefing at the department of education to discuss the latest efforts to get schools reopened in the fall. The briefing came shortly after President Trump tweeted that he disagreed with the cdc guidelines for reopening schools, which led to a response from the cdc director at this briefing. Vice pres. Pence good morning, all. The White House Coronavirus task force met today at the department of education, part of our ongoing effort to focus on a mission to save lives and meet the needs of our states and healthcare workers, to protect the vulnerable and safely reopen america, and reopen americas schools. , we havell hear today tested more than 39 million americans. Among those, more than 3 million americans have tested positive and more than 1. 3 million americans have recovered. Than 133,000 americans have lost their lives and our sympathies are with all of the impacted families. Because of what the American People have done, because of the work of our healthcare workers around the country, we are encouraged that the average fatality rate continues to be low and steady. It is a credit to the sacrifices the American People have made, the extraordinary work our healthcare workers are doing. We pledge to continue to work our hearts out 24 hours a day to keep our losses low. Moments, dr. Birx will outline the data that we are seeing around the country. Statebystate, county by county. We are actually seeing early indications of a percent positive testing flattening in arizona, florida, and texas. Governors have taken strong steps to flatten the curve and seen we are beginning to early indications that positivity is flattening. Florida, wena and are beginning to see a decline in emergency room visits as well. We believe the take away for every american is, keep doing what you are doing. We are starting to see the first wereations of that as we able to do in the northeast, in new orleans, in louisiana, and other places around the country. We are beginning to see indications that they are having a good effect. We are focused on the states where more than half of the new cases have arisen. Texas, arizona, florida, and california. We have received encouraging reports even through this morning. Strong supplies of ppe in hospitals. Hospital Capacity Remains strong. The one need we did hear is for personnel, and over the last week, working through fema, department of defense, and hhs, we have been processing requests to Deploy Doctors and nurses and medical personnel. Roughly 525 are on the ground in arizona, california, and texas, and we are processing a request from florida for an additional amount. Weve made it very clear. Duty militarytive medical personnel to new york, new jersey, connecticut, michigan, louisiana, and we are in the process of doing that again. Just to make sure that those dedicated doctors and nurses and healthcare workers have the relief they need as we see cases rise in various communities across the sun belt. We had a Conference Call yesterday with the nations governors. We are in the process of continuing to send detailed county by county summaries, analysis, and recommendations that are being implemented and well received. We also are issuing renewed guidance on preservation and reuse of ppe. , talkingre hearing directly to hospitals, is that because of the historic effort that President Trump implemented to spin up hundreds of millions of supplies, gloves, masks, face shields, as well as all the construction of ventilators, ppe , we hear, remains very strong, but we are encouraging healthcare workers to begin to use some of the best practices that we learned in other parts of the country to preserve and reuse the ppe supplies. Make sure ouro states have everything they need when they need it. We are working to make that a reality. See to the needs of our states and focus on health care, we are reopening america and americas schools. Yesterday, President Trump convened a summit of education leaders and healthcare officials at the white house. As the president made clear yesterday, it is time. It is time to get our kids back to school. The summit yesterday gave us an opportunity to outline and learn what we might be able to do. In just a few moments, im going to ask secretary devos to talk about the approach the department of education is taking. And also we will hear from dr. Redfield, who has been, literally, since early in this pandemic, providing guidance to schools. I wouldnt want to pass the opportunity, not just as Vice President , but as someone who has been married to a schoolteacher for 35 years, just to say thank you to all the teachers out there. ,rom early in this pandemic teachers learn how to do the distance teaching and did a remarkable job. Oftentimes having to care for their own families to make sure their childrens studies were happening. We also want to say thank you to the parents who had to step in and become educators. It has really been remarkable when you see what our kids have been able to accomplish during this difficult time. But what we heard again yesterday from education officials and what we heard from the American Academy of pediatrics, is absolutely essential that we get our kids back into classroom for in person learning. We cant let our kids fall behind academically. But it is important that the American People remember that for children that have Mental Health issues, special Needs Children intrition, communities facing persistent poverty, the school is the place where they receive all those services. So this is not just about making sure our kids are learning and advancing academically, but for the Mental Health, wellbeing, physical health, weve got to get our kids back to school. As you heard the president yesterday, and even again this morning, we are determined to work in partnership with our states to give guidance for states and communities to safely reopen our schools. The cdc will be issuing new guidance next week. Part of a fivepart series of recommendations that will give new tools to our schools. What dr. Redfield made clear yesterday, im sure he will make clear again today, we are here to help. We dont want federal guidance to be a substitute for state and local laws and rules and guidance. We are here to assist with the shared objective that i think is shared by every parent in america, we want to get our kids back. We want to get our teachers back. We want to get our kids learning in person once again. Recessress is still in but will gather again soon, we are in discussions about additional potential support. We were able to remind governors that 13 billion is available in the cares act for states to assist them as they roll out and restart schools across the country. At the present moment, we learned yesterday that only 1. 5 of those funds has been drawn down by states and we encourage governors to to get vantage of that. Our objectives are to save lives, meet the needs of our states, protect the most vulnerable, and safely reopen america and our schools. We ared news is, reopening america. The jobs report spoke for itself. You, evidence around the country is that people are finding a way to do their part, to put the health of their neighbors first even while we all find a way to get back to work, to worship, and to school. We all have a role to play to protect the most vulnerable and to safely reopen our country and our schools. Iwould just close, before turn the podium over, to say thank you to the American People. Thank you for what you have done so far. Thank you for the way you put the health and wellbeing of, not just family members and friends, but strangers, people we didnt even know. We encourage you to keep doing what you are doing. Keep heating the guidance of state and local authorities. Practice good hygiene, wear a role each of the us can continue to play, and we are seeing some early indications in some of the most impacted states that americans are doing just that. We want to encourage you, to tell you we are going to continue to do our part. Im confident, just as we proved when this pandemic was striking so deeply in the northeast, in louisiana, and in michigan, the American People know what needs to be done and we know we can do it. We flattened the curve before. We slowed the spread before. We can do it again. But weve got to all do our part. With that, dr. Deborah birx, and then we will get a report from admiral gerard before other reports. Dr. Birx. Dr. Birx thank you, mr. Vice president. First slide, please. I know some of you watch what i wear, so im wearing this specially today. This came from the salt river tribe. Masks can be a fashion statement. I want to thank the salt river tribe. It was a pleasure to speak to individuals around the United States about the issues they are facing, to meet with communities, hospital personnel, africanamerican communities, that was a privilege last week. I want to start with arizona. Just to pick up where the Vice President left off. That orange line is the number of tests performed and the blue line is positivity. Countiesoes have three that we are tracking closely. The largest one being phoenix and maricopa county. But this does show that the blue team,thank to the data the sevenday average is showing some flattening. Encouraging, we know that the test Positivity Rate is the first thing to increase, and we are hoping that it heralds a stability in arizona of at least reaching a plateau in their curve. The redline represents emergency room visits for covid like symptoms. This is also an early indicator. We find that encouraging. The next slide shows the counties we are tracking. Maricopa county was the largest number of infections. Mentioned thedent weekly reports that go to governors. This is what the report looks like. His is alaska on the front page is our interpretation of what we are seeing relative to their epidemic. Coded by yellow and red. It follows that they see everything you are seeing in that first report and then each of the counties are represented, so they have pages from the white house that summarizes what we are seeing and that goes out weekly. Next slide. This looks at florida. , early see the red line suggestions of decreasing emergency room visits for symptoms of covid, and some stability starting in that blue line, hoping that heralds stability in the number of daily reported cases. We also understand that we went through a Holiday Weekend and that can impact data. Underreporting through the weekend and then catch up reporting after a Holiday Weekend. This shows the counties of florida that we are tracking. These are the top 10 counties in florida. Each of them have a different profile. I want to call your attention to the counties across the bottom. Some of those represent jacksonville and other large metros including tampa. When the governor talks about how they were steady and low for a long time after reopening, this is where that is reflected. Clearly there was something that happened. Florida happened in happened across the sun belt. All of the curves and all of the findings are mirrored. Early on in march and april, we were talking about first the new york metro, followed by boston, followed by philadelphia, then chicago, and new orleans was with the new york metro. So it was a series of individual curves. In this case, whatever occurred occurred most simultaneously. So we are investigating that closely to see the ideology. That can also help us in guidance to the American People. Next slide, texas. Situationn a similar with their blue line. We are watching this very closely. Next slide. I think all of you know there is a series of major metros. So the governors get this type of report with specific recommendations, and then finally california, where you can see a long time of stability, but then this increase in the number of test positives and increase in cases. And you can see the majority of the issue is in the los angeles area. We see this through riverside, sacramento, and now san francisco. So i want to finish with where the Vice President started about the sacrifices of the American People. , when youcommendation have a county with these types of cases, we are recommending everyone use a face covering. I think the studies show that cotton face coverings work. That does open up the ability for us to have individualized face coverings. But in addition, the work that these governors have done and asked the American People to stop going to bars, to close the bars, to decrease any kind of indoor gatherings, to all of the americans out there in these is really asking the American People in those counties and states to not only use the face coverings, not going to bars or indoor dining, but really not gathering in homes either and decreasing those gatherings back down to our phase one recommendation, which was 10 or less. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Vice president. Since we are bragging on our face coverings, this was made by a Small Religious Community in pennsylvania. They hand sewed these for a lot of our officers. So i wear this proudly and i think of that Community Every single day. Testing, three quick topics. First is where we are numerically. The Vice President has said we are now topping 39 million tests across the country. In states crushed their goal june. Cdc numbers have finalized that at about 16. 5 million tests for june. Congratulations to the states who made or exceeded their goal. Between 600000 and 700,000 tests per day. About 620,000ng tests per day. We continue to shift. The states tell us what they need. We work with them to set their goals. Fema ships those every week. That is sort of the overall general view. What wenced yesterday talked about last week, and that is federal search sites. We opened these in three communities. There was a list of communities identified by dr. Birx and her team that had certain characteristics, but also met certain characteristics of numerical numbers and isolation, that surge testing might have an impact over a short time. Our goal is to do at least 5000 tests per day. Those are in baton rouge, jacksonville, and mcallen in texas. We have many other sites that we are working with. This is a partnership with the state and local governments. Baton rouge started yesterday. The other two sites start today. Is going very, very well. The last thing i want to talk about is phoenix. I dont know if we have the slides for this. I get concerned when i hear things in the news like, we are doing nothing for phoenix. Because that really is not correct. It undermines a lot of the things we are doing. I didnt make these slides up. This was part of the 55 slide slide deck just on phoenix, where we understand the demographics, the health disparities, the racial and ethnicity backgrounds, whether tests are done, where the resources are. We are in Constant Contact with governor ducey and his team. We not only talk on the calls, but i know dr. Redfield does this as well. Supportwo, we provide according to the state plans. Swabsshipped over 500,000 and media to the state to fulfill their plans. Slidean get the first back, please. I just want to say, we have lots of support in phoenix. This is the communitybased testing locations. Phoenix has three federally funded retail sites. This is paid on a per capita basis. Program has tested just around one million individuals. 13 retailve pharmacies that because of regulatory flexibility, they can do that without a federal stipend or grant. Federal sites in phoenix. Next slide. , dont know if there is a map but under the leadership of secretary as are, we have surged into federally qualified health centers. This is where you want testing to happen. These are medical homes. Sites performing testing just in the phoenix area right now. Next slide. We dont have that slide, but weve also identified every single testing machine in phoenix. So there are testing machines to do tens of thousands of tests per day and we are sending at least100,000 at 100,000 to the phoenix area every week. These are all the things we are doing in the background that happen on a regular Basis Community by community. That theago, i heard mayor was unhappy because there was no federal support. I heard that on monday morning. I was on the phone with fema in the afternoon. It was clear to me that phoenix was not in tune with all the things the state were doing. We convened a call last night. We had various Health Officials on the phone. We got everybody together. Surge in arizona state. There are state testing sites in phoenix. This morning, governor ducey looked at everything, thought a search site would be helpful, and we are contracting that now. I just wanted to give you that example. It pains me when somebody says the federal government isnt doing anything when we have federal sites there. We are sending supplies and tests. We are contracting that this afternoon. Thank you. Thank you,pence admiral. The focus today is unsafely safely reopening our schools. As we discussed yesterday at the white house summit, the centers for Disease Control has been issuing guidance for schools and Childcare Services in early march. March 12, to be specific. 15 daysfirst published to slow the spread and encouraged people to engage in schooling from home wherever possible, from that point forward, cdc has published decision trees. Week, as dr. Redfield can elaborate, they will be issuing five new documents that will range from preparing communities to return to school safely, to decisionmaking tools for parents and caregivers, to create symptom screening considerations as students and teachers returned to school. As we made clear yesterday, we are here to help. None of the cdc recommendations are intended to replace state and local rules and guidance. Weve made clear to governors and state and local Health Officials, cdc stands ready to work with local officials as they tailor their plan for reopening schools. But we are all committed to getting our kids back in the classroom. With that, i want the secretary of education to reflect on the efforts shes making at the department of education, then we will hear from dr. Redfield and a few wrapup comments from the secretary of hhs before we go to questions. Sec. Devos thank you so much. Thanks for hosting the task force today. We are so grateful to the president and you for your leadership on doing what is right for students. Yesterday we had a really good and important conversation at the white house with local leaders and teachers and parents. Noted, the past few months, parents have worn multiple hats. They really are unsung heroes. And as the Vice President noted, the teachers are often playing dual roles as parents themselves , continuing to help their students learn. She also said that as we reopen businesses, restaurants, theaters, we cant lose out our schools. Students can and must continue to learn fulltime. Ive been inspired by the innovative teachers, schools, and communities that have kept learning going, and they are getting ready to do it again. A couple of great examples in york, and academy moved to Distance Learning in one week using multiple platforms. Teachers insisted on learning new materials along with their students. All the students had the needed texts that they may be did not have at home. Existinge county used Structural Continuity plans to make a seamless transition. They added interventions for students who were struggling before the pandemic. Texasadership academy in started from the mindset that not learning wasnt an option. They delivered special education curriculum to all students. There were a number of schools and districts across the country that did an awesome job transitioning this spring. I andwere a lot in which state School Leaders were disappointed that they didnt figure out how to continue to serve their students. The center for reinventing Public Education said that only 10 acrosstheboard provided any real curriculum and instruction program. Ive talked to all the state School Chiefs at least once, most of them more than once, and theyve told me that while many of their districts and states have done well through the past several months, a number of them they were very disappointed in. And as we talk about reopening schools, there are here in our neighborhood, the d. C. Area, fairfax county, one of the most wellfunded, i would call it an elite Public School system in america, offered families a socalled choice for this phone. This fall. Either zero days in school for their students or two days. Their springtime attempt at Distance Learning was a disaster. I give this as an example because things like this cannot happen again in the fall. It would fail American Students and taxpayers who pay high taxes for their education. Ultimately, it is not a matter of if schools should reopen, it is simply a matter of how. They must fully open and be fully operational and how that happens is best left to education and community leaders. I appreciate something the secretary reiterated yesterday at the white house, the Surgeon Generals prescription for health care. And im going to repeated again because it bears repeating. First, ask yourself your individual serve stance. Are you or someone in your home vulnerable . Second, what is going on in your community . Is the virus widespread or is it isolated . Third, think about the kind of School Activity that you are thinking about how to accommodate into deal with. And deal with. What needs to be in place for things to be successful . Need tonal leaders examine new data for education and communities and weigh the risk. Local committees need to ask all these questions and consider all the risks. Physical health and safety are factors, and so is Mental Health and social emotional development. And importantly, very importantly, so are lost opportunities for student, particularly the most vulnerable among us and students with disabilities. The American Academy of pediatrics noted that keeping schools closed and adolescents closed places children and adolescents at considerable risk of morbidity and mortality. The pediatrics guidance concluded that everyone dark everyone should start with a goal of having students physically present in school. Fully open and operational means that students need a full year or more. And it is expected it will look different depending on where you are. What is clear is that students and their families need more options. I have talked a long time about the need to rethink education. And to expand education options for all students. This moment really demands action. Is,america always was and and always will be a country of doers. We are confident that with grit and determination, we can and will do what is right for all the students in our nation. Thank you very much. V. P. Pence dr. Redfield . Dr. Redfield thank you very much, mr. Vice president. First and foremost, i want to make it very clear that the guidance the cdc continues to put out is intentional for reopening and keeping our schools open. That is its purpose. We recognize that there is a variety of unique circumstances with Different School district and so we have outlined a number of strategies that those schools and administrators can use to accomplish this goal safely. But i want to make it very clear that what is not part of the cdc not the intent of the cdcs guidelines is to be used it as a rationale to keep schools closed. We are prepared to work with each school, each jurisdiction to help them use the different strategies we have proposed so they come up with the optimal strategy for those schools. I think it is critical and i would be personally very disappointing to me and my agency if i saw individuals using these guidelines as a rationale for not reopening our schools. Ofhink there is a series additional guidelines that we are about to put out the community,h the k12 particularly at the community level, to help open safely. Have come out or consideration documents for parents and caregivers. Guidelines for schools to help dom understand how best to symptom surveillance and characterize symptoms in the schools as a tool. And guidelines to really work on the ins and outs of using face masks in the school setting, as well as finally some guidance into helping the schools to have systems in which to monitor their programs. But i want to close by reiterating that the purpose of cdcs guidance is that it is guidance, not requirements. And its purpose is to facilitate the reopening and the keeping open of schools in this country. Said, itce president is critical that we get the schools do schools open, do it safely. We are prepared to work with all the School Districts and schools to help them facilitate the development of their own unique plan to accomplish that. Thank you. V. P. Pence thanks, dr. Redfield. Opening up schools is the right thing to do for our kids so they dont fall behind academically, and so children who are in need of services, special Needs Children, children with Mental Health issues, nutrition needs, have the support that they receive at the schools. It is important though for parents and working families. I asked secretary scalia to be here from the department of labor to speak about the impact, as we put america back to work, making it possible for us to have sigel parents back in the workforce. It is essential we get our schools open as well. I wanted secretary scalia and the secretary of hhs to finish our marks before we go to questions. Mr. Secretary . Secretary scalia thank you. Mr. Vice president , it is good to be with you all today. For reasons that secretary devos has mentioned, the Vice President mentioned, having our schools open, is so important to education. Ns as the Vice President has said, it is very important as well to working men and women across the country who need to be able to structure their workdays in a predictable manner and the expectation that schools will be open and parents in turn can have a predictable schedule they bring to the work lease. Work place. Thats important to our business places as well and is critically important to our national reopening. One study has suggested that if we closed all our schools and daycare for just a month, the impact on u. S. Productivity would be 50 billion. That gives you some sense of the impact having our schools closed can have on our national recovery. I wanted to mention a couple of groups in particular for whom this is very important. First, lower wage workers. One of the great triumphs was how well lower income men and women were doing in the workplace. We hunted unemployment that tied at a 50 year low. We had record low unemployment for africanamericans and others and we had rising wages. 15 for lowerut during theand women first three years of this administration. Unfortunately, a number of people have observed this, it is the lower income workers who have been adversely affected by some of the shutdowns that we have had in response to the coronavirus. Unemployment among the lower income workers has been higher than for other populations, and therefore, for them, having schools reopen so they can themselves have predictable schedules, return to , will be very important. They hold jobs that are less likely to be jobs by which you can telecommute. I think many of us know that even telecommuting, there are burdens being placed on mothers, fathers who are getting up earlier or staying up later to get work down to plan around caring for their children. But for lower income men and women, that option is not even available. And then second, i will comment briefly on our working women. Experiencew, and reflects, that it is women in the household who quite often bear the larger burden when it comes to caring for children. Studies show this. And again, prior to covid, another Great Success in the economy that we were drawing was the employment rate for women. The unemployment for women was lower than for men right before the virus came. Unfortunately, and this is a statistic we have been tracking, we see the Unemployment Rate for women now is higher than it was for men. We made great progress. In june, the Vice President mentioned the extraordinary jobs report. We rot 7 million americans back to work in just two months and the Unemployment Rate dropped nearly 7 in june. 3 in june. We have important work to do. And we know that working women will have a harder time getting back to the workplace. They continue to cite childcare at a much higher rate than men do as a reason they are not able to work. For them too, reopening our schools will be very important. Ant to wrap up, such important sense, the pace and structure of our National Life is built around the expectation that our young people will be in school, in person during the school year. That is so important for them. But it is also vitally important for their parents. In that sense, so critical to this reopening that it is proceeding very well economically. But to keep going, we need our schools open in the fall. Thank you very much. V. P. Pence great. Thank you, jean eugene thank you, eugene. Mr. Secretary . Thank you very much, mr. Vice president , for your leadership. And, for the focus you are now putting on getting our kids safely back to school. From hhss perspective opening be the single may most important thing we can do to support families during this pandemic. All decisions about undertaking activities during covid19 have to look at risk as a continuum. Not a binary question. States and School Districts can think about the same things we urge individuals to think about. As secretary devos noted the Surgeon General has come out with his prescription for health. Ask yourself critical three questions. Where are you . Is there a transmission of the virus in your area . Who are we talking about . Children are less susceptible to severe outcomes to the virus than adults. What activities are we looking at . Less riskyore and activities for schools such as keeping kids in the same classroom, avoiding large gatherings and doing activities outside whenever possible. Reopening schools comes with some risk. But there are risks to keeping kids at home too. At home,g kids kids arent benefiting from social stimulation. They may be falling behind in learning or vulnerable to abuse. They may not be getting special services they may need. They may not be getting the nutrition they need at school. It may be difficult for parents to get back to work. This issue like so many considerations around safely reopening isnt about health versus the economy. But about health versus health. All of this is why the American Academy of pediatrics has strongly recommended the goal of having students physically present in school. This is the right way to use the extensive guidance the cdc has put out to move through a safe reopening. Testing we put out guidance for testing for k12 schools. Its guidance from one students and staff should be tested. While cdc does not make a recommendation in favor of universal testing, it is a perfectly appropriate surveillance technique where the capacity exists and capacity is growing all the time. Weve talked with colleges and universities who are able to use their research lab capacity with pooling of multiple samples to test their whole student bodies and staff thanks to regulatory flexibility that cms and the fda have provided. Many of the leaders we heard from yesterday at the White House School reopening summit are doing testing before returning to school and sentinel surveilled. Surveillance. On top of that, the measures we recommend universally like distance, wearing a face covering, and frequent handwashing are effective and can be applied in the college or the k12 setting. We put out the cdc guidance to enable and support School Districts in reopening safely. We want them to use the tools available to reduce risk and we will be putting out more guidance on how schools can you gh of these tools, such as face coverings. On top of that, i will reiterate that our set of tools is expanding all the time. Just yesterday we signed a new agreement to provide billions in support for promising therapeutics all the way to manufacturing hundreds and thousands of doses for the American People. The initial doses would be available as soon as the end of the summer or early fall. That is the first of a number of therapeutic agreements. Promising therapeutics are already being administered every day by our heroic health care workers. I want to thank these heroes who continue to put themselves at risk. We know many frontline workers have gotten sick and some have given their lives, including to some of my employees in the Health Service and america is deeply grateful. It is because we are making progress against the virus and learning more about it every day that we can talk about how to bring americas kids and teachers back to school safely. We have the tools to do it and it has to be a top priority. So thank you to President Trump and the Vice President for putting such a focus on this very important aspect of our road to recovery. Thank you. Right here. Please. In the president s call to reopen schools, is there a situation in some states where the Health Situation does not allow for this, where you would be supportive of some states continuing distancelearning . We now see the present threatening to cut off funding for schools. Is that a serious threat and what would that look like . Behindnce the principle our approach to this coronavirus pandemic has been to provide federal support as states manage their own response. What i can tell you is in the weekly reports that we provide governors, we are down to the county level in terms of where the new cases are, or the positivity lies. I think we would account for the fact that while we hope every school in america is able to open this fall, there may be some states and local communities that given cases are positivity in that community that may adjust to a certain set of days or certain limitations. And we will be very respectful of that. What the president has made clear is we think it is absolutely imperative that every state and territory in this country make steps and take steps to get kids back in the classroom in the fullest extent possible. We really believe that every state has the ability to do that, but for individuals who individual communities who may be seeing outbreaks, we will work with them, give them the guidance and support to be able to implement the policies they deem are most appropriate. Our mission here is to safely reopen our schools, and as you have heard from all of these members of our task force, it is not just about kids learning and not falling behind academically. It is about all the Vital Services children receive at our schools. It is about working families. It is about opening up america again. On your second point, i would this point, 90 of Education Funding comes from the states, roughly 10 . Depending on states budgets come from the federal government. As we work with congress on the next round of state support, we are going to be looking for ways to give states a strong incentive and encouragement to get kids back to school. Please, go ahead. Reporter thank you, mr. Vice president. The president tweeted this morning that he disagrees with the cdcs tough and expensive guidelines for reopening schools. Do you also disagree with those guidelines . And are you concerned you may be putting students and teachers at risk . V. P. Pence the president and i spoke about that this morning. I think what you will see in the coming days is very consistent with the president s subjective. Objective and the concerns he has raised. We dont want the guidance from cdc to be a reason why schools dont open. We want to partner with states and local education officials, governors, with local Health Officials to find a way to meet their needs to open up. The president s statement this morning is simply reflective of that desire. But we remain very confident that as we continue to provide resources, we are seeing not just k12 education, all 47 states and two territories have already published plans and guidance for reopening their schools. And we have reiterated to the governors earlier this week and again at the summit yesterday that we are here to partner with them to achieve that. I think with the president was saying this morning is if there are aspects of the cdcs recommendation that are prescriptive serve as a barrier, that we want governors and local officials and education leaders to know that we are here to work with them. To support the measures they are putting into place. I think every american knows that we can safely reopen our schools. We just want to make sure that what we are doing doesnt stand in the way of doing that. Go ahead. Reporter just to follow up, when we are talking about the health of children, shouldnt the guidance be tough and shouldnt no expense be spared . V. P. Pence im going to ask bob redfield to speak to that. One of the things weve seen, and i tell you, as a parent, as much as youre Vice President , and the of this task force, i have been grateful for it, is that apart from having an Underlying Health condition, children do not appear to be susceptible to serious illness from the coronavirus. Dr. Birx can speak to that on a global basis and that has been a blessing for americans. As secretary azar just said, we know the secretary of serious illness to children is very low. And there are measures we can put into place to make sure we dont see the spread of the virus or outbreaks, by having children learn in a single classroom or learn outside as often as possible. Not go into larger settings. This is all the guidance that the cdc is putting forward. But im going to let bob redfield speak to that. We really do believe we can open the schools these schools safely given what we have seen in terms of outcomes among children and the kind of measures we think we can put into effect to prevent the spread. Dr. Redfield thank you, mr. Vice president. It is important to be clear that our recommendations for opening these schools are really based on sound Public Health and safety and health of children. I think youve heard already from some of the speakers that there are substantial Health Consequences that we have seen as a consequence of schools being closed, whether it is access to Mental Health services or access to nutrition. Clearly, we know a lot, and i think it is important we dont react emotionally but based on data. Clearly, the ability of this virus to cause significant illness in children is very, very limited. We know of the post immuno inflammatory disease that you have heard about, but it is very rare. In general, this virus is not has not caused significant illness to children. Secondly, unlike influenza, we where one of our biggest concerns that we have been able to show that it is schools and children that become the instrument of transmission, throughout our community with influenza, we really dont have evidence that children are driving the transition cycle of this. Transmission cycle of this. The most important thing is we reopen schools, and as i mentioned before, we are prepared to work with every School District to help them find the right mixture of strategies for them to do this safely. Our recommendations are not requirements and they are not meant to be prescriptive. We have lots of different options on how the schools can put it together. But what we do want to reiterate as we reopen schools is to remember the importance of protecting the vulnerable. That, we will be strong on. It is important to limit the ability of individuals with significant comorbidities, individuals who happen to be elderly with comorbidities. We want to limit those individuals, their interactions in general in society, independent of schools. V. P. Pence thanks, bob. Let me say in response to your question, i would recommend that every American Review the Statement Issued by the American Academy of pediatrics. That released an important report indicating there are real physical and mental costs for cause for children to be deprived of an in classroom setting ranging from nutrition to children with special needs. We heard from the doctor that some 7 million children in america deal with Mental Health issues and the services and counseling they receive, they receive at their schools. So we want to put the health and wellbeing of our kids first. Given the fact that children, as dr. Redfield said, do not appear to be susceptible to serious outcomes from the coronavirus, we want to put the totality of their health and wellbeing forward. That tells us, that tells this task force, it means we need to get our kids back to school. Please. Reporter you have articulated the problem about the myriad risks that students face but what is your plan . What is the specific plan in terms of increased testing, contact tracing, to support the schools . As you know, schools were not built for students to socially distance. They were built to pack in as many kids as humanly possible, which is why one district that reason some districts have moved to this hybrid approach. Some virtual learning, some in person learning. So what is the plan . And then i have a question for dr. Birx. V. P. Pence the plan is to continue to do what we have done from the very beginning. You heard this morning, we are at 39 million tests that have been performed across this country. You heard admiral the admiral describe the extraordinary commitment just one community alone and will be conveyed to governors is whatever support they need to get kids back to school, we make sure they have. We are going to make sure they have the testing resources, we are currently educating states on the possibility of working with commercial labs and what is called pooling. So literally there could be one test run on 10 samples and there are particularly universities that have already built into their plans. The idea of testing all of their students at the beginning of the Academic Year and doing surveillance testing. We have made it very clear, whether it is testing, ppe, or resources, that we stand ready to provide those resources to the states and we reiterated that once again and to the governors. The good news is because of the historic mobilization that President Trump initiated, we literally have hundreds of millions of supplies and of personal protective equipment, 59,000 ventilators. Testing is scaling all across america and we know that come the school year, we will be ready to meet those needs. Reporter dr. Birx, what is the infection rate among children and what do you know about how the virus transmits to older adults . Nearly a third of teachers across this country are 80 or are age 50 or older. What is the best practice in terms of testing children . Ive never heard of a case where a schoolchild was tested for covid19. Dr. Birx those are all good questions and it really comes to the Evidence Base of what we have in testing in children. If you look across all the tests we have done, the portion that has been the lowest tested portion is the under 10yearolds. So we are putting in ways to get testing results at them and looking at antibodies. Trying to figure this out. Because parents have really done an amazing job of protecting their children. I think americans have done a great job in keeping infection rates low in children amid the sheltering time and keeping infection rates right now in this new case in these new cases. Originally, we saw great protection of people with comorbidities. We are worried that as cases spread, it is getting to the older parents and grandparents. I call on every multigenerational household to get tested and protect those in the household. And we do know that there children with vulnerabilities. Certainly within the cdc plan and the department of transportation it is protecting those people from getting exposed to the virus. We do now that there are children with comorbidities, children with cancer and getting chemotherapy. The parents who have so protected their children, and remember early on, we said test if you have symptoms. And now we know that if you are under 18, the majority of you dont have symptoms. So really, figuring out, and there are universities working around the country on a saliva test so it is easier for saliva in a tube , spitting through a straw into a tube. And looking at that kind of innovation and testing. What admiral durr are has been working on very hard is this antigenbased testing and getting that equipment into the vulnerable areas like nursing homes, assisted living, and other places. But also, considering how a School District could use that would make it much easier to test and to you saliva. So all of those are being worked on and why we are pushing on the antigen tests. I know you heard me talk about that in april. We are pushing on that because we think it is important for testing of students anywhere and universities. But our data is skewed, originally to people with symptoms. And then skewed to adults over 18. So we are looking very closely into the category using antibody tests. I think the Vice President cover covered that incredibly well. We know that mortality rates in under 25 is less than. 1 and so that has been holding. Until we know how many have been infected, we have no evidence that there is significant mortality in children and thats what we are looking for right now. To make sure we have overturned every rock and understand that in detail. Reporter mr. Vice president , we all know the cdc guidelines are not requirements, they are advised. When this president calls it too tough or impractical, it makes it easier to ignore that advice. V. P. Pence i have every confidence that governors and a state education officials and local Health Officials are going to implement policies that they think are in the best interest of children and families. I think the president s sentiment this morning is shared widely by the American People and certainly by members of this task force. We want to make it very clear that the guidance they are issuing is not to supplant the laws and rules at the state level. It is meant to create a range of options and what we made clear two governors on the governors call specifically was that we are prepared at the cdc to sit down with state officials and work through their plan. And be able to advise and dialogue with them about the best way forward. But i must tell you that in this role over the last four months, i have been impressed by governors in both Political Parties and Health Officials and Health Officials in oliveira in all of our territories. But i must also say this i have a great sense talking to governors, and a great sense that this is something the American People want to see happen. Governors are hearing that. They know that. That is why you have states that have already issued plans and guidelines. We are going to work with them to make those a reality. Last question. Reporter i have a question for you and one for dr. Redfield. Can you explain why the president is threatening to cut funding from schools at a time when educators are saying they need more so they can safely reopen . V. P. Pence first and foremost, what you heard from the president is just his determination to provide the kind of leadership from the federal level that says we are going to get our kids back to school. Because thats where they belong. We know that based upon what our best officials tell us that we can do that in a safe and responsible way. But to be clear, the current c. A. R. E. S. Act provided billions to support education efforts in states. Were going to work with congress. We expect there will be Additional Support in congress. The president is very serious for all the reasons we discussed today. He believes, and we believe, it is absolutely essential for our childrens Academic Development and for their and for their social and Emotional Health to be back in the classroom, and we are going to provide that leadership from a federal level. That being said, i will tell you, i sense a great desire among governors around the country to find a way forward and we have made it very clear to them that we are going to partner with them and provide them with the resources to impact that and also the supplies. Reporter you have been describing it as a local decision. Isnt it up to them to decide and not the president to pressure them to do so . V. P. Pence we are going to respect those committees that may have challenges. That have rising cases or rising positivity. I think if you look at the nation as a whole with the it and what the president of the United States has made clear is that he thinks as we reopen america, we need to reopen america and reopen america schools. I think youre seeing the president provide leadership, and what we are providing from the task thee is partnership with governors and state Health Officials because we have just got to get our kids back. I have to tell you, the best expert i know on this topic is my wife, karen. And she spoke at the summit yesterday very compellingly. About how a lot of our kids are hurting out there. They are struggling with loneliness, social isolation, the American Academy of pediatrics spoke about that, a very forceful statement from pediatricians across the country that said we have to get our kids back into school. What you are going to see is the president will continue to provide leadership. I expect as the debate in Congress Goes forward about additional resources, we will look to build in incentives for states to go forward. The president has made it clear. And i think most parents in america would agree with him. That we have to get her kids back to school and we have to get them back into the classroom and we can do it in a safe and responsible way. Reporter dr. Redfield, youre talking about the guidance the cdc put out. It sounds like you are saying it is in the best interest of students to safely reopen school so far. Are you going to change that are you going to change that guidance because the president says he does not like it . Dr. Redfield i just want to reiterate that we are going to continue to work with local states and jurisdictions. The guidance we put out gives a series of different strategies them to to can consider. What is the most appropriate in their unique situation to adopt again. I want to come back to the goal. The goal of this is to get schools to reopen. I want to reiterate that goal is not just a goal to reopen schools, but because we believe that is in the Public Health interest of the students the reasons you have heard. We will continue to develop our guidance to meet the needs of schools and state that we states that we continue to provide that assistance to. Thanks, guys. Reporter [indiscernible] v. P. Pence im sorry, i cant hear your question. Reporter the guidance recommends that schools have social distancing of students. Six feet apart. And thats why the schools are adopting these hybrid models, because they dont feel they can keep students six feet apart within the building. Im just wondering if that particular guidance is something you are rethinking or do you support that social distancing . Because that is where schools are having trouble. V. P. Pence the president said today, we just dont want the guidance to be too tough. Thats the reason why next week, the cdc will be issuing a new set of tools, five different documents that will give you more clarity on the guidance going forward. We know each School System has unique capabilities and different facilities. What parents around the we are should know that here to help. [applause] pres. Trump thank you very much. Thank you. Evening, we are honored to welcome president lopez ober