Tears. Plus. Notes of reassurance. Isolated but nightline, covid19 outbreak will be right back. Wean air force veteran made of doing whats right,. Not whats easy. So when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. Thats how you do it right. Usaa insurance is made just the way martins family needs it with hasslefree claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. Because doing right by our members, thats whats right. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa good evening. Thank you for joining us. Some sobering numbers tonight. Cases of coronavirus in the u. S. Now reaching more than 2,000, with at least 48 dead. President trump today declaring a National Emergency, releasing billions of dollars to help states fight the pandemic. To unleash the full power of the federal government with this effort today i am officially declaring a National Emergency. Today after repeatedly down playing the gravity of the pandemic, President Trump declared a National Emergency. The action i am taking will open up access to up to 50 billion. Part of the administrations response to combat the rapidlyspreading virus. A newlyformed Public Private partnership with several iconic American Brands with the aim of accelerating testing. Well have the ability to do in the millions over a very, very quick period of time. Dr. Simone wile is an whats your take away from the president s press conference . That we are going to get testing done which everyone was asking about. Is it too late too little or still in time you think . I think were still in time. We probably would have like td a little sooner. For weeks a surging demand for testing. The u. S. Lagging far behind other countries in total patients tested. Yesterday, dr. Anthony fauci had this admission. It is a failing. Lets admit it of. But today, with the president s proposals, fauci believes the equation can be changed. You have to embrace the private sector. Thats exactly what youre seeing. Under the new partnership, private Companies LikeQuest Diagnostics will develop and launch the capacity to conduct covid19 tests. Also involved in the growing test field, the mayo clinic announced theyve developed what they describe as a fairly rapid test that can detect the virus that causes covid19. Our test uses samples collected through swabs taken from the nose and mouth. From there, our laboratory can amplify the virus itself. So were not looking for evidence of the bodys reaction to it, but the virus itself. We talked to doctors around the country whose testing experience has run the gamut. I have done zero testing. I dont feel like nick has enough tests right now. We Just Launched yesterday. So its a new experience for us, and testing is going well. Outside new york city in the nations first containment zone, residents braving the rain to get answers. You do a swab, and also in the mouth, and we collect that in a specimen container, send it off to the lab, and they do a special test called a pcr test and send us back the results. How long will that take . Right now, it was about 48 hours. On wall street, the president s proposals were met with approval. The market closed with the biggest oneday gain in history after the biggest drop in history. We dont see declines of 28 in one month for the most part. This has been a historically dramatic week and a historically dramatic month for stocks. Whether whe see that level of volatility Going Forward is up in the air. We are in inning two of this crisis. The white house announced as bleak news was coming from europe. Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic. With more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined. Apart from china. Hardest hit, italy. In 24 hours alone, more than 2500 new infections. 250 virusrelated deaths. The total infections has climbed to nearly 18,000, with 1266 virusrelated deaths. What makes this one so dangerous . Its very contagious. So we are trying to minimize contact. So it potentially is deadlier than the flu but as contagious as the flu. It is deadlier than the flu, and also more contagious than the flu. On wednesday, the president announced the u. S. Will suspend all travel from europe, colludi excluding the united kingdom. Even the families returning from europe will be subject to extra screening as well as selfisolation for a period of 14 days. That ban took effect at midnight. And with the jump in covid19 cases today the president hinted the uk could be added to the list. Well that is correct w, thato me by a group of professionals. And we are looking at new numbers and we may have to include them in the list of countries that you can say ban or whatever it is during this period of time. Today, a mad scramble at european airports with american travelers rushing to get home before the ban takes effect. I was supposed to come back in june and i came back today instead. One family paying nearly 8,000 for three oneway flights from paris to new york. I feel like they were putting a price tag on peoples safety, and thats scary. Especially people who cant afford it. A lot of people were in tears. Good afternoon. From the red zone, which is the whole country in italy. Jason rupp who travels the world making videos about his journey is currently quarantined with his mother in italy. He and his mother arrived in sicily a day before the country went into a nationwide lockdown. Pretty amazing. Its like we have italy to ourself. Imagine having these beautiful cobble stone streets and sidewalks, these statues, amazing architecture, all to yourself, but not in a good way. Nobodys happy. You dont see smiles on the street here. Rupp says theyre only making short trips for groceries. We found almond milk. Restaurants are closed. Bars are closed. Theres very little traffic. That said, i still see people walking their dogs. I see people riding bicycles around. I see motorcycles delivering food. Life goes on here. I even see people sit beiting ie park sometimes in the daytime. However, once it becomes nighttime, everything is shut. Nothing is open. At all. With limited options in europe, rupp says finding a ticket home is becoming increasingly difficult. Im not sure where to go and what to do, since now we cant fly back to u. S. Easily. Despite the challenges, rupp says he has no choice but to remain hopeful. Were not sick yet. Were very healthy. And were going to stay that way. We are, were survivors. Were new yorkers. Were going to get through this. With medical experts still pushing basic hygiene, hand washing and social distancing as the best prevention, that didnt stop trump. Shaking hands. Are you planning to take any precautionary measure to protect you and your test . No. We have no symptoms whatsoever but after being pressed, trump indicated he might get tested eventually. Are you being selfish by not getting tested. I didnt say i wasnt going to be tested. Are you going to be . Most likely, not for that reason but because i think i will do it anyway. There are pictures and videos of the president in direct contact of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. The cdc says if youve had close contact you should get tested. The president says he doesnt really need to because he feels fine. Another proposal from the president , waiving interest on student loans. Today 46,000 schools and 26 Million Students being let out of classes early. 13 states have shut doors completely. Here in mt. Vernon, new york, debra stern is preparing students for a new normal. Social distancing. It is very weird. But one of the things you do every morning is you stand at the door and shake hands with everybody. A fist bump is cool, too. Now you dont do that anymore. For students the biggest challenge is keeping distance from friends. If we want to hug or anything or highfive we cant. We have to do this. When i see my best friend and i try to hug her, then i cant. Because i like, i stop myself, because, you know. I dont want to catch i feel like its very tempting. I was trying to hug her today. Yeah. I went in for a hug. And you cant, because i realize that something serious is going on. Yet, at this school where many of the students qualify for reduced or free meals, theres more at stake. The Public School becomes the really the central sort of social Service Agency for everything. We do a lot more than schooling. But then that gets magnified in conditions like this. In the midst of all the turmoil, there was some good news. Encouraging news from china indicate a possible slow down in the spread of the virus from wuhan. The city indicated only five new case. And Hubei Province has had zero cases in eight days. Is it your expectation that its going to get worse before it gets better . I think with more testing i anticipate we will hear a lot more cases. So it might get worse before it gets better, but i think we are going to be totally on top of it and working with everyone closely so that we can get a pretty good grasp on whats going on. You hope that or you know that. . We know that. Up next, your covid19 questions answered. Our dr. Jen ashton standing by. And later, voices around the world vowing we will survive. I will survive cancer on my. I thought, im not letting anything take me away from my family that loves me and needs me without a fight. When i came to Cancer Treatment centers of america, they said were going to do everything we can. I just felt confident, they are behind me. I had six, seven doctors that worked together to take me through this journey. Theyre not just treating the cancer, theyre treating me as a whole person. They have naturopathic support, occupational therapy, nutritionists, i took advantage of all of that. And thats why i think i am where i am today and im very grateful for that. Get care like no other. Call us at Cancer Treatment centers of america. Get care like no other. Hey allergy muddlers. Achoo . Do your sneezes turn heads . Try zyrtec. It starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Zyrtec muddle no more. Were cooking with mom. She always said, food is love, so when she moved in with us, a new kitchen became part of our financial plan. I want to make the most of every meal we have together. At Northwestern Mutual, our version of Financial Planning helps you live your dreams today. Find a Northwestern Mutual advisor at nm dot com. Helps you live your dreams today. Liz, you nerd, cough if youre in here shhhh. I took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. What about robs dry cough . Works on that too. And last 12 hours. 12 hours . Who studies that long . mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs for 12 hours with 2 medicines in 1 pill. Do you recall, not long ago we would walk on the sidewalk all around the wind blows we would only hold on to let go blow a kiss into the sun we need someone to lean on blow a kiss into the sun all we needed somebody to lean on all we need is someone to lean on its been a week of extraordinary covid19 developments. Right now were joined by dr. Jen ashton to answer your questions, but first, President Trump declared a National Emergency today. What does it allow hospitals now to begin to do . That was huge, byron. Because what that enables them to do is activate Emergency Preparedness plans. So that is extensive plans that lets them mobilize and secure and start executing staff, space, supplies and systems response to something that is likely going to result in an overburdening of our health system. So things like calling in retired doctors, retired nurses, maybe activating some Military Reserve as volunteers for staff, in terms of space. Looking at areas in the hospital that could be converted to patient units. You know, beds placed there. Also theyre going to be looking at their discharge plan. Something called reverse triage. Taking patients stable enough to be discharged from the hospital to other types of facilities so they can clear space for patients who may be sick with covid19. The list goes on and on and on. And we should note its unclear what the u. S. Crisis Care Capacity is in this country. So now, these hospitals locally, regionally are really going to start putting their plans into action. Hopefully we never have to figure out what capacity is. First question, if coronavirus attacks a weak immune system, how does a basketball player and tom hanks get it . Whats important is that while we know older people or patients with preexisting medical conditions are at higher risk that does not mean we wont see some Young Healthy people diagnosed with it, and unfortunately, it doesnt mean we wont see some of those young younger aged groups hospitalized. Were seeing people in new york in their 30s and 40s being hospitalized. When a person survives covid19, do they become immune . Or could that person become ill with it again . Thats a great question. We know there are at least two strains of this you can be infected twice, not at the same time, but once youre exposed to one strain you are immune to that strain, but there are other strains circulating and we need to know more data to understand that better. Can you explain how the covid19 test works . Because it can be a derivative of another virus and may not be covid19. There are other strains of coronaviruses that affect animals, other strains that affect humans. When they come in to a hospital setting, lets say with sim tyms or exposure or travel, the first thing they will be tested for is influenza, then a slough of respiratory viral pathogens of which another strain of coronavirus is part of it. Parainfluenza. If all of those come up negative, then they are tested for this Novel Coronavirus or covid19. Heres a question ive been wanting to ask you all week. How are you doing . Youve been the rock for this network. How are you doing and what are you doing to take care of yourself. Thank you, byron. There are many people at home having to be the rock of their family. Youre our rock. So what are you doing . Thank you for asking by the way. And ive heard from a lot of followers on instagram and social media. First of all, sleep. I know that is the backbone. So i make sure i am getting seven hours a night, which is basically all im getting. I try to get a little meditation in during the day and a little bit of exercise. That helps me keep mentally and physically strong. And my kids know how hard im working. Theyre trying to stay strong as well. But i think ultimately, were going to very quickly know someone this affects personally, so im trying to set myself up to be as physically strong as i can in case that person is me. But thank you for your kind words, and i appreciate everyones concern. Grateful for you and your wisdom. Thank you so much. All right. Keep tweeting your questions with asknightline. And next the healing power of music. Ngs eeeeeww dead skin cells gross so now, i grab my swiffer sweeper and heavyduty dusters. Duster extends to three feet to get all that gross stuff gotcha and for that nasty dust on my floors, my sweepers on it. The textured cloths grab and hold dirt and hair no matter where dust bunnies hide. No more heebie jeebies. Phew. Glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering. Hey allergy muddlers. Achoo . Do your sneezes turn heads . Try zyrtec. It starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Zyrtec muddle no more. And i dont count the wrinkles. But what i do count on is boost high protein. And now, introducing new boost women. With key nutrients to help support thyroid, bone, hair and skin health. All with great taste. New, boost women. Designed just for you. groans hmph. food grunting menacingly when the food you love doesnt love you back, stay smooth and fight heartburn fast with tums smoothies. Tum tumtum tum tums laso you can enjoy it even ifst youre sensitive. Se. Yet some say it isnt real milk. I guess those cows must actually be big dogs. Sit i said sit and change the world. Here at abbvie, were inventing medicines of the future to create tomorrows that will be healthier. And happier, while making medicines that help people right now. Because thats the present we wanted to live in. And thats the future we all want to see. Abbvie. Here. Now. Finally tonight, theyre quarantined, but not their spirits. The streets of italy hard hit by covid19, alive with the sound of music. Residents singing together, despite their and legendary singer, Gloria Gaynor is showing the world how to survive times of turmoil, one hand wash at a time. Renowned cellist, yo yo ma sharing a comforting tune, reminding everyone were all in this together. From the dark, the light. It was the late bob marley who said one good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. Thats nightline for this evening, thanks for the company, america, have a great and safe weekend. Good night. Doesnt mean you got to spend a lot because dennys brought back the super slam™. With eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage and pancakes. All for just 6. 99. The 6. 99 super slam™ is back see you at dennys a former army medic, made of the we maflexibility to handle members like kate. 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