Workplace. Three members of his Virus Response Team now in quarantine. And there is an urgent white house effort to try and trace the source of these infections. Top white house aides have access to daily testing. Most of you dont. But the president will be in the rose garden today to make the case that testing has now ramped up enough to make reopening safe. The top numbers, you see them on the screen there, continue to stun. 1. 3 million cases in the United States now, and we are approaching 80,000 american dead. The movement, though, is in the right direction, at least right now. Take a peek here. The rolling average of cases in the past two weeks does show a clearly downward trajectory. Deaths sunk tie recent low sunday but theyve been following end of the week dips and early week peaks, so well watch those. The model the white house cited for month is now citing its projected death toll upward, citing an explosion of people moving around and some of them not Wearing Masks or using social distancing as they do so. Now 10 million americans are likely to catch the virus. But he says there is nothing left to do. There is a risk if we open up, theres a risk if we dont open up. If people dont think theyre safe going to a jewelry store, theyre not going to go out. Of. Lets bring in senior john harwood in the white house. John, let me start with you. Theyre trying to do tracing, trying to figure out how the coronavirus got into the president s office. Whats the latest . Reporter they spent the weekend trying to figure out who katie miller had been in contact with, tried to figure out where she had gotten the virus. They were not successful this weekend, well see what they turn up today. But its left, as you indicated earlier, john, with the messaging disaster for the white house. The president is angry about these cases, but what hes angry about is reality because the virus is out there. You have the Public Health officials of the administration have taken themselves into quarantine fully or partially. Stephen hahn at the fda, Anthony Fauci of the nih and Robert Redfield from the cdc. On the other hand, youve got other people perhaps with less contact with katie miller. Youve got to assume theyre making wise judgments who are not quarantining. The Surgeon General jerome adams, mike pence is not quarantining as well. So you have this mishmash while the president of the United States who has access to fine medical care, daily testing, secret service protection. He nor Vice President pence themselves are neither quarantining nor Wearing Masks in public. Theyre trying to keep Public Confidence up, but its very difficult to do that, as you know, john, when youve got these cases in the white house, when youve got a Senate Hearing tomorrow. When the chairman of the committee, lamar alexander, will be questioning witnesses from quarantine himself because a staffer tested positive, and hell be asking questions of those three Public Health officials i mentioned earlier who are also in quarantine. How can the public take any message from that other than it is pretty dicey to go out there, and thats going to tamp down the very economic recovery the president wants. And yet, john, the president in a way ignoring the issues in his own house, if you will, tweeting this morning about the reopening pace. The great people of pennsylvania want their freedom now. Theyre fully aware of what that entails. The democrats are moving slowly across the usa for political purposes. They would wait until november 3rd if it were up to them. Hes saying they are going slow not because of their health but because theyre trying to hurt him. It is completely preposterous. The governors of the states are trying to protect their people, and by protecting their people, thats how you could reopen the country. What theyre asking for is a nationwide testing regime along the lines of what the president benefits from in the white house at this moment. You do not have the capacity, as you indicated at the top of the hour, for americans to be frequently tested to give them kfls th confidence that the workplaces they go into, the shops they go into are going to be safe. Until we get some semblance of that kind of testing regime or you get a vaccine or therapeutic that can wipe this thing out, were going to have this problem. More than fair. Is this governor going too fast, is this governor too slow . To test the details are fine. To say the governors are doing this for politics is pretty shameless. Barbara starr, lets get straight to the pentagon. The issue we see in the white house is also within the military brass. Reporter we do come to the question of protecting the u. S. Military, the troops and the leadership now. Two members of the joint chiefs of staff have had the virus touch their orbit. This goes back to the meeting on saturday at the white house with the joint chiefs, the president and the entire National Security team. Two faces were notably absent, general joseph langell, head of the National Guard which is so involved in trying to help around the country. He tested positive just before going into the meeting at the white house. He then went to walter reed, we are told, and he tested negative. At that ti he is going to get a third test today to try to figure out what his situation is. Michael langyl was not at that meeting because a Family Member tested positive, and he is selfisolating for several days as a precaution. But look, these top officials are supposed to be following, and they say they are following the cdc guidelines which require social distancing and face coverings when you are not able to socially distance, and none of that right now is at least publicly going on at the white house. A lot of concern about it. Neither man has symptoms at this time. Everybody wants them, of course, to be well. But it all sets an example for the troops around the world which are trying so hard to stay safe at this time. John . Barbara starr at the pentagon. Very important. Continue your reporting and come back to us when we get more information. Lets discuss this with the doctor who used to call the white house his workplace, dr. La lang. Doctor, its good to see you. I want your perspective at the pla things you see happening at the place you called work. When you were in the administration, did you have a guidebook that said, if there is a virus like this, this is how well deal with this at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. Thats a good question because its not just about the playbook, its about the planning process. You probably heard the old adage that in planning for war, plans are everything, in conducting war, plans are meaningless. So what are the potential realities, any kind of biological instance that could come up and we talked through those things. Because we knew whatever happened, it wasnt going to follow anybodys plan. This disease is very different than pandemic flu, very different than sars, so you have to think about what are the general principles and apply those principles. Thats what we did then, thats what theyre doing now. The president is going to be in the rose garden today saying in his view testing has ramped up nationally enough to go back to work. I just talked to the governor of pennsylvania. He thinks hes going too slowly. This is one of his top economic ald v advisers, kevin hassett, who recently returned to the white house who says hes worried coming through the gates. It is scary going to work. I wasnt part of the white house in march. I think i would be a lot safer if i was sitting at home than i would be going to the west wing. Youve been to the west wing. Its a small, crowded place. Its a little bit risky but you have to do it because you have to serve your country, and there are a lot of things you cant do except there. As you know, dr. Lang, and im going to show a schematic to our viewers, a very small place and its crowded. The hallways are narrow. This is the president s office. Hell go out and do an event in the rose garden. When he goes to the press briefing room, he goes this way when he goes to the briefing room. He has meetings in the rose room. His Vice President is here. When katie miller and other aides come into the eisenhower executive building, they come in this area here. You know the space. It is incredibly crowded. There are surfaces we have to worry about now in the age of coronavirus everywhere, and multiple people touch them in going about their business. If the top economic adviser say its scary to go back to work, whaelts t whats the message for americans getting a letter saying, were opening the restaurant tomorrow, or we need you back next week . The white house is a highrisk environment not just as it relates to this disease, as it relates to many things, so you have to apply risk managements techniques to that. Thats why theyre doing the education of the staff. Theyre teaching the staff about maintaining separation. Theyre implementing various types of population density decreased, such as having telework. So, yes, while the white house and the west wing especially can be a fairly cramped place, they apply tools and techniques to reduce that, and they teach everybody what you need to do in the event of a pandemic situation. This is exactly what was done during sars, the teaching part. It never got to the point of being right there. Thats exactly what was done with pandemic influenza. What we know is that if you adequately apply these tools and techniques of social distancing and of decreasing population density, you can reduce the transmission of the virus. And, remember, there are two risks were looking at. Were looking at the risk of a transmission and were looking at the risk of the disease if you get it. Thats the second part that doesnt always get considered. And yet there is coronavirus in the white house. A valet that works with the president , often in the white house residence, tested positive. The Vice President s press secretary who is deeply involved with the Coronavirus Task force who makes her way around the west wing frequently has tested positive. Despite the precautions you outlined, coronavirus is in the west wing. Now we see dr. Fauci, dr. Redfield, dr. Hahn going into selfquarantine to varying degrees, but the Vice President is not, the president is not, the Surgeon General is not. Should they . Should they take precautions since they have clearly wihad t potential of exposure . Remember, the whole white house complex, because people dont just work in the west wing. Theyre working in the white house itself, theyre working in the west wing, theyre working in the Eisenhower Executive Office building and the new executive office building. Its a large complex with thousands of people. It would be really very surprising if no one in this complex got coronavirus, because these people are not bubbled in in the coronavirus where they are hermetically sealed. Theyre going home at night. Theyre having to go to food stores. Theyre going out. So the fact someone got this virus, two people out of the thousands that work there, is not at all surprising. What you have to do then is apply the correct Public Health approaches to do the contact tracing, to do the isolation. As far as the three aides are concerned, we have to remember theyre setting examples for the country. Theyre saying, be careful. Thats what theyre saying. Theyre saying be careful. But others in the white house are not being as careful. I know the president is the most exceptional essential worker in the country, but do you think hes being careful enough . When you see pictures of him in proximity to people, theyre not Wearing Masks, hes not wearing a mask. Are they being careful enough . You got to remember, what are we Wearing Masks for . We wear masks to protect others from us. So from the president s standpoint, he is being tested regularly, he is having symptoms monitored regularly, hes having his temperature monitored regularly, as far as we know. So his risk of transmitting to others is low. And then the people around him if we look at the pictures, and we know that from the stories we hear, the president is a little bit of a germophobe, so people are keeping their sixfoot distance. Remember, the data says that if you transmit through a cough or sneeze, its mainly large particles, falls out of the air in three to six feet. In fact, the world health organization, they were saying 1 meter until recently. They recently extended to a 1. 5meter separation. Weve been careful in saying 6foot separation. So hes staying separated. Dr. Lang, appreciate your insight. Good to see you again. Good to see you. Take care. The senator will lead the coronavirus discussion. He has no symptoms and has tested negative. Dr. Anthony fauci and others will also testify by Video Conference because of their quarantines. Up next, reopening is quick in some places and slower in others. What happens if the state line splits your tab . Ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. Whoohoo great tasting ensure with 9 grams of protein, 27 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients to support immune health. For an everyday item to become dangerous. Tide pods childguard pack helps keep your laundry pacs in a safe place and your child safer. To close, twist until it clicks. Tide pods childguard packaging. I was told to begin my aspirin regimen, blem. And i just didnt listen. Until i almost lost my life. My doctors again ordered me to take aspirin, and i do. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Listen to the doctor. Take it seriously. Tums ver bell rings la stick when heartburn hits fight back fast. With tums chewy bites. Beat heartburn fast tums chewy bites more big reopening steps in the states today. In arizona, South Carolina and arkansas, restaurants can resume dinein services, nail salons and also tattoo parlors. And manufacturing returns in kentucky and vermont. When one state is about to reopen and a neighboring state isnt ready yet, it gets complicated. There is one state very close to the state line. Natasha, tell us about the details there. Reporter im standing in tennessee right now, but the camera im looking at is actually across the street in vermont. They have decided to accept dinein at their restaurant. They are trying to maintain reduced capacity, but almost all are still doing Curbside Pickup. Now im crossing into virginia where the situation is very different. Democratic Governor Ralph Northam has yet to do phase 1 of reopening. He said that may start on friday. Heres the local chamber of commerce here trying to appeal to his office for a more regional approach. It doesnt sound like theres any luck in letting one section of their state open first . Thats true. Weve been told hes not really interested in a regional approach for a number of different reasons. But for us here, when it impacts you at face value, you know, you have a restaurant who can look out the window and 30 yards across the street there are people walking into businesses, dining, shopping. So thats a challenge. Its tough because i can see the tennessee side. I can see them. So if theres a virus over there, its over here. Reporter the chamber of commerce says theyre on a call right now with democratic senator tim kaine trying to appeal to him on behalf of these Business Owners on this side of the street. Well check in with them to see how that goes, john. Its a unique experiment everywhere, but wow, as unique as it gets right there on the tennesseevirginia state line. Natasha, really appreciate that insight. Up next, a sioux tribe stays firm despite a governors demand on their refusal to take down checkpoints on their land. [horns honking] birthdays arent cancelled. Hope isnt quarantined. First words arent delayed. Caring isnt postponed. Courage isnt on hold. And love hasnt stopped. U. S. Bank thanks you for keeping all of our spirits strong. Weve donated millions to those in need and are always here for our customers and employees. Weve donated millions to those in need staying connected your way youre just a tap away from personalized support on xfinity. Com. Get faster internet speeds with a click. Order xfi pods to your home in a snap. Or change your Xfinity Services with just a touch. All in one place. Youre only seconds away from all of that on xfinity. Com. Faster than a call. Easy as a tap. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Today in south dakota, a standoff continues between native american tribes and the governor about how to best battle coronavirus. The sioux tribes have put up a checkpoint. The governor says checkpoints on federal and state highways that run through tribal lands are illegal. Cnn correspondent sara sidner is there on the scene. Sara, whats the latest . Reporter it might seem like were in the middle of wide open big sky indian country, but quite a few people do come back and forth here. The tribe says, look, the reason they put up these checkpoints is simply for the safety of their people. Heres why theyre so concerned. They have about 12,000 residents but only eight hospital beds at their local hospital. They do not have an icu. The closest icu, the closest hospital with an icu is about three hours away. So if covid19 does appear here and explode, they know they will be overrun. So what theyre doing is, every time a car drives up, and well walk around so you can kind of see how this works, they simply stop people and they ask them a bunch of questions. And one of the most important things theyre trying to do here really, john, is contact tracing. They get your information, they get your phone number, they find out where you came from, if you have any symptoms, whether or not youve been in a covid19 hot spot, and depending on what you say, if youre just coming here for recreation, for example, they may turn you around, but for the majority of folks, they either have a permit or they have a reason to be here and they will let you through as long as you give that information. They did that to us when we came up, and theyve done it to every single car. Basically what theyre telling to the governor is, these are our sovereign land. Were going to continue to do this to safeguard our people. No matter what you do, shes saying shes going to take them to federal court if they dont comply and get rid of these checkpoints. John . Sara sidner on the ground for us. Well see if there is a compromise but the tribe taking matters into their own hands. On to new mexico where the town of gallup is reopened after a lockdown on sunday. Gallup is the Navajo Nation, with confirmed cases of 3,000 with 100 deaths. The doctor on that border town is now helping the navajo. With us is the president of the Navajo Nation, jonathan iz. Thank you for joining us. You just heard sara sidner talk about the sioux issues in south dakota. Whether are you now that the lockdown has been lifted . There agreement with the governor and political leadership, or do you have issues . Thank you for having us on the show, john. We totally support the south dakot dakotaogallala sioux nation. He has a strong support for his citizens and to help take care of his people there. I appreciate all the 574 tribal leaders throughout the country that are standing on their sovereign ability to help govern themselves and help keep their people safe. We also appreciate other governmental entities like the city mayors of gallup and farmington, border towns around our nation. We are in three states, john. One, i want to say thank you to our governor in arizona for, you know, assisting and also the governor of new mexico and the governor of utah. That is partnership here because we are all in this together. What affects the Navajo Nation affects the states and vice versa. Im hoping the south dakota governor sees the same thing here. Weve all got to Work Together to help our citizens. With the lockdown in gallup, new mexico, Navajo Nation, john, has been in lockdown for some time with a shelterinplace order since the onset of this virus over a couple months ago. And, you know, we have a curfew as well from 8 00 p. M. To 5 00 a. M. During the weekdays, and during the weekends, we have the 57hour curfew. Were just coming off a 57hour curfew now at 5 00 a. M. This morning to protect our citizens because of the slowness and the response from the federal government. We have to use our own sovereign ability to govern ourselves, and thats why we have to go as far as saying were going to cut off traffic. Weve been cutting off traffic to our Navajo Nation as well and telling people our tourism destinations are closed. Please respect the sovereignty of our Navajo Nation. We appreciate you coming back later after this Public Health emergency has blown over. Were doing everything in our power to help each other. Sorry, i didnt mean to interrupt there. I think i misspoke about the numbers. You have 31 confirmed cases, 3100 cases. Thats rather high. Your medical director rk, a mem of your nation says, as we just heard from sara sidner in south dakota, one of the concerns is if you have a big outbreak, you dont have the medical resources to deal with them. Lets listen. We dont have a lot of funding to alert our doctors and medical staff. We just dont. We do carry a high rate of diabetes, hypertension, what we call metabolic syndrome that incorporates those two things, and per capita, we actually have the highest rates. Dr. Tom there laying out you have some of the preexisting conditions, if you will, on your nation there. What are you seeing . Are the people who are getting the coronavirus and dying of the coronavirus, are they people with obesity, diabetes, heart, underlying conditions . What are you seeing on the ground . John, were seeing young people that dont have any type of Health Problems getting covid19. We had a couple of young people who have lost their lives because of coronavirus, and they were healthy. So this virus is hitting everyone. It doesnt matter if youre a democrat, republican, male or female or different faiths, it is a virus thats attacking everyone. But here on the Navajo Nation, john, we have been testing very aggressively, and we appreciate the work of dr. Tom and winslow and many others out there. Vice president lizer has been on front lines of this pandemic except for the time we had to quarantine. But there are 153 tests that have been given and 1,365 have been negative. Weve been aggressively testing our citizens here on the Navajo Nation, but the virus just spreads like wildfire. We have 30plus percent of our citizens here that dont have running water. We have multiple generations of Family Members living under one roof as well, so the need for the federal government to reevaluate the needs of travel communities throughout the country. And this is all tribes, 574 tribes throughout the United States of america. You know, weve been giving aid to various countries when there is an emergency. Dont get me wrong, john, im sure the need is as great for all these other countries whin times of emergency, but right here in the middle of the most powerful country, the United States of america, the First Citizens of this country are still being pushed aside, and i appreciate being on the show because it magnifies the need to bring full attention to tribal nations throughout this country and the need to bring better infrastructure. And in terms of the health care, its not just on tribal lands. I think this pandemic, john, has shed light on the inadequacy of our Public Health system throughout this country, but more so here on the tribal communities. Mr. President , greatly appreciate your time. The governor of new york city is now talking. Lets go to Governor Andrew Cuomo today. Since it began, dr. James alatrus to my right. Not a real doctor, but a phd doctor who still classifies as a doctor, and an appointed official. Its great to be in rochester today. Really irondequoit, but great to be in rochester today. I thank the mayor for letting us be here today. Were joined by a number of elected officials. I want to thank them for letting me be here. We have a great congressman who had a really challenging position before he went to congress because he was working in new york state government. But hes now in washington and hes we need his voice there more than ever. This is going to be a big week in washington. We need to get the federal government to recognize the situation that state governments face and fund not just Corporate America but fund working americans, police, firefighters, schoolteachers. They have yet to do that to the extent necessary, and hopefully with the leadership of the house well get that done this week. We have robert duffy, who is former mayor of rochester. My great Lieutenant Governor in the first term. Pleasure to be with him as we go forward. We have elected officials here with us today. I also asked the elected officials all across the state to join us to understand todays presentation, so we invited all the county executives, we invited all the mayors to listen to this presentation because we start a new chapter today in many ways. Its a new phase, if you will. May 15th is the end of the statewide closure. May 15th is the end of this week. And the question is now going to shift more towards localities and regions across the state to make sure theyre in a position to open, and the state will be working in coordination with them. But its an exciting new phase. Were all anxious to get back to work. We want to do it smartly. We want to do it intelligently. But we want to do it. And thats what this week is going to be all about. In terms of where we are, total hospitalizations are down again. That net change is down again. The net change in intubations is down again. The number of lives lost, still too high. Obviously at 161, but better than it has been. So we see all the arrows are pointed in the right direction. If you look at the number of new covid cases per day, about 488. That is just about where we started this horrific situation, right . So may 10th, were right about where we were on march 19th before we went into the abyss of the covid virus. When you see the number of lives lost, again, were right about where we started before we really went into the heart of this crisis. And thats what its been. Its been a crisis and a painful one. But were coming out of the other side. So in many ways, from my point of view, were on the other side of the mountain, right . We got hit with the virus, we saw that incline, we saw the number of cases growing, we saw the number of deaths growing. We finally hit a plateau because we did what we needed to do and we changed our behavior and we closed down, and we turned the corner, and then we started to come down the other side and that was the decline. And now the decline has gotten to a point where we are just about where we started the journey. So to turn to reopening, because we have abated the worst by what weve done, and now we can intelligently turn to reopening. Thats may 15th. Thats this friday. And local regions all across the state should start to prepare for it, and people as well. And thats what we want to start to talk about today. Were going to open when were ready to open. What does ready to open mean . First the number of hospitalizations, the infection rates, show decline. The federal government with cdc guidelines have laid that out, and we think its intelligent. We accepted the federal guidance. And we have testing, tracing in place in every local region, testing and tracing, words we never really heard before this situation, but now people hear them every day. Testing, have the capacity to do enough tests, diagnostic tests. Are you positive or are you negative . Antibody tests, did you have the virus and have you resolved the virus . Have that Testing Capacity in place. Tracing, when you find a positive case, trace it back. And then isolate the positive so you reduce the spread. Sounds simple. Logistical nightmare, never been done before, but thats what testing tracing is all about, and that has to be done region by region. That capacity has to fit every locality. We talk about being new york tough, and what tough really means, and the second word in new york tough is always smart. And we have been smart through this. And we have to continue to be smart. There are seven metrics, if you will, to get it down to a quantifiable situation that each region has to look at first or the infection rate, the number of hospitalizations, the 14day decline in hospitalizations or under 15 new hospitalizations. That means youre controlling the hospitalizations. New hospitalizations under two per 100,000 so you know that the virus again is under control. Then number 4, lets learn from the past. We had a true Public Health emergency that we were in danger of overwhelming our hospital capacity. Lets make sure we have 30 buffer in a number of available hospital beds in case that virus takes off again on you. You want to make sure we have hospital beds, so hospitals up to 70 but 30 available hospital beds, 30 available icu beds. Many of the people come in with this virus need an icu bed. We want to make sure we have the icu beds if we need them. God forbid. And then Testing Capacity so we know what the virus spread is doing. You dont know what the virus is doing unless you are testing. And then the tracing that fits with the testing program. Weve been doing more tests than any state in the United States of america, so new york is way a ned what were doing on testing. Weve come up to speed faster. Were doing more tests per capita than any country on the globe, so were doing very well in that regard. But you need it in every region. It doesnt help the finger lakes if the capitol district has enough testing, you have to have enough testing in the finger lakes. So each region has to have that in place and we understand that. We can measure this. This has always been about data and science for us, and you can look at each individual region and you will know where each region is in the state by those criteria. So you know what your infection rate is, you know what your hospitalization rate is, you know how many tests you need in place, you know how many tracers you need in place. This can be a science. It can be measured, right, and thats what we want to do. We want to demistify this entire issue. Is sounds like a Science Fiction movie. I know, but you can also study and analyze it because we have a lot of experience now, right . We can live with this for months, other countries have lived with this for months. So lets learn. Lets be smart. Thats who we are. And we can do that by each region in the state. And you see, depending on the region and the state, some regions are ready to go today, they just need to get some logistical pieces in order by the end of the week. Some places are very close. Central new york just one or two criteria that havent been met yet. And you can do that with long island, new york city, all across the state. When we reopen, were talking about a phased reopening. Thats what everyone basically is doing. The question is moderating that phasing and doing it intelligently. But starting with construction and manufacturing, retail Curbside Pickup, agriculture, forestry and fishing, then to phase 2, phase 3, phase 4, monitoring all along. We start with businesses that are more essential and pose a lower risk, right . Because once you say were going to reopen, they say, well, what first . Really, everybody says, me first. After me first, what business is first . Those that are most essential and those that pose a lower risk because you can socially distance, et cetera. Thats the matrix to make the decision. And then businesses have to do their part also. This is not a onesided affair. Businesses have to put safety precautions in place. We understand what has to be done, how the work force has to have personal protection, they have to be socially distanced. The work space itself in some cases has to be adjusted, reconfigured. How do you have people work but theyre six feet apart . They dont come to a cafeteria, theres no gathering, right . Thats what were trying too vo to avoid. Then what Testing Process do we have in place to test those employees . You can get them tested right away. You can then do tracing within the workforce. You look at whats going on around the country. Just listen to the news. Those Meat Processing plants where you have hundreds and hundreds of workers getting sick. We have an agriculture plant in Madison County that dozens of people got sick. Its not about the meat or the agriculture, its the gathering. Its the density. Thats what creates the problem. So learning those lessons and making sure we dont make those mistakes here. On retail, all retail will be authorized to do Curbside Pickup or dropoff or instore pickup. The essential retail, which has been open all along, will continue operating under the current protocols. Well also open certain businesses statewide which are low risk. Landscaping, gardening, lowrisk recreation activities like tennis, drivein movie theaters. Talk about going back to the future. Back to drivein movie theaters. Im okay with that, by the way. Local officials, they have to do their work and their responsibility. Testing and tracing, they have to have those systems in place. We have to have a system in place regionally to monitor the infection rate with the hospitals. That connection has to be very close. They have to know on a daytoday basis, if not an hourtohour basis, how many people are walking into the hospitals. I often do Conference Calls with all the hospitals in the state to find out exactly what is going on because they can tell you how many people walk through the door that morning or that afternoon. And you want to be able to watch that, and that has to be done on a regional basis. Businesses have to follow these new rules, but we have to make sure theyre following those rules also. And you will get calls from employees who say, i went back to work, but by the way, im not comfortable. I dont think this is appropriate social distancing. I dont think ive been given the appropriate equipment. Regional governments have to be in a position to respond to those. The local governments have to be in communication with each other. We do this on a regional basis. So there are a number of counties in that region. But its one region. And, you know, this virus doesnt respect county borders or state borders. Those governments have to be in contact with each other. If you know whats happening with your neighbor, you know whats happening in your district. So that has to be in place and that has to work. And theres also something we call a regional control room which is made up of Healthcare Professionals that are watching the situation in that region developed. You are going through increase activities. Depending on how you increase activities will be the possible effect of the spread of the virus. You need to know what the impact is, you need to know it in realtime and you need to be in a position to respond. If it does not go well and you see that infection rate shows an increase and testing data shows an increase, you have to be able to pull the plug or slow down increase in that activity and that leaves for all the circuit risk. You are watching infection rate and hospitalization rate and you see that started to tick up and you have to have a circuit for it. Slow down the activity level because you are increasing the infection rate and nobody wants to be there. That means you are going back to the other side of the mountain and we just made it up to the other side of the mountain. Nobody wants to go back to the other side of the mountain. Those regional control groups are very important. They have to be in place and communicate and everyone has to know what each others responsibilities are going forward. We have those groups assembled. This week is monday, before friday start communicating and understanding who does what and where and thats true in regions all across the state. I would urge them now to get on the telephone or zoom or whatever they do, Start Talking and understanding whats happening on friday and what do our numbers look like and lets get that all set sooner or rather than later. This is the next big step in this historic journey. First phase was figuring out what we were dealing with. We had no idea. Scramble frankly to deal with situations that popped from another planet. States ramp up the Healthcare System and inform people, get people to understand what we were dealing with and control the damage. Thats the mountain to me, we are on the other side of the mountain. Next step is how do we reopen intelligently and how do we reopen without taking a step back. What we have done thus far is really amazing. It was because we were smart and because we were unified. Remember where we were, right . Remember where you were before you take a step forward, right . We had a virus that passed to us from europe. The virus was coming. Experts now say, the genius now say the virus came from europe in january and february. No one knew with all the sophistications and publ publications, nobody knew the virus was coming from europe. Everybody was looking at china. Why . By the time we move, the virus traveled from china to europe and people getting on flights from europe coming to new york. 2 million travelers came from europe. We had no idea. New york to east coast all landing at jfk and newark airport, thats january, february and march. Travel ban in midmarch. Okay, learned the lesson going forward. Thats the situation. Thats why new york had such high numbers. Not that this is anything special or different about new york. New york is with european flights were coming in and we didnt know. That was the situation. They then say well we project hospitalizations to be 120,000. You know how many hospital beds we have in the state . 50,000. How can we have hospitalization of 120,000 if we only have 50,000 beds counting every bed in the entire state of new york. If you coordinate every bed you have 53,000 beds and they projected 120,000. So scramble to try to get more hospital beds but the real force was you have to reduce the infection rate. How do reduce the infection rate . You had to close down and stop people from gathering. We did that, otherwise, thousands more people would have died. Thousands more would have died. Thats not rhetorical. Thats a factual statement. Thousands more would have died. We made that happen. We changed trajectory. I didnt know it was possible. When this started, we were at a truly bad fragment place. If we didnt change the trajectory of this virus and we had 120,000 people show up in your hospital, we made the situation in italy like look a walk in a park. We were in a very, very bad place. V virus came from europe. Again, no fault of our own. We changed the trajectory dramatically by what we did. We have to stay smart. You look at what we have done. New york, the cases are now on a decline. You look at the rest of the nation outside of new york, cases are still on the incline. We took the worse situatit situ the nation and changed the trajectory. Now we are on a decline. The rest of the nation, cases are still on the rise. Thats because of what the people in the state did. If you have said when we started this, yes, we had more cases than anyone else, y. Yes, we had this european virus attacked us and nobody expected us. We are not going to change your trajectory. We are going to change the trajectory more dramatically than any place else in the nation. When you look at the nation compares to new york, you will see us on the decline and the rest of the nation on the decline. People said it was impossible. We did it. We have to stay smart. On this next phase we have to learn from the mistakes that others have made. We are not the first to reopen and thats a good thing because you can look around and learn. Other countries reopen too fast. They reopen and they have to slow down or they have to stop. We dont want to do that. Just any change we can calibrate. Some states not coordinating their actions. My rural county cant open in of itself. There is no county by county plan. It has to be at least in the region. We did that. The public has to understand the set of rules. Some states are opening even though they have not met the cdc guidelines which i dont know how that happens. The federal government says here are the cdc guidelines which are basic health guidelines. Some states just opened anyway. Pressure does not mean you act unintelligently. Some states opened and saw a rush of people from surrounding states. We talked about it here. You cant open up an attraction or a site thatll be attracting people from outside the region then you have a problem you never encounter. So