In his words, much lower than the 200,000 predicted by some models thanks to people staying home. Lets begin our coverage at this hour with our chief White House Correspondent jim acosta. Jim, there are very intriguing comments from cdc director Robert Redfield about his prediction involving the death toll here in the United States. Reporter thats right, wolf. The white house has yet to offer many details about how the Coronavirus Task force arrived at that estimate, that 100,000 to 240,000 americans would die from the coronavirus. But Public Health officials are cautioning that the eventual number of dead could fall well under that figure as americans are practicing social distancing. Were learning a key factor driving the large estimate was a crucial assumption discussed by Task Force Officials that only 50 of americans would observe the governments stringent social distancing guidelines. In reality a much larger, 90 , are observing those guidelines. The director of the centers for Disease Control, dr. Robert rhett fie redfield, discussed the possibility that the number of deaths could fall well below estimates. Here is what he had to say. The model that were done assumed only 50 of the American Public would Pay Attention to the recommendations. In fact what were seeing is that a large majority of the American Public are taking the social distancing recommendations to heart. I think thats the direct consequence, why youre seeing the numbers will be much, much, much lower than would have been predicted by the models. Reporter in addition to that, a source close to the Coronavirus Task force told me that the number of dead could fall well below, way under, in the words of this source, the number of deaths that were projected by the director of the Coronavirus Task force, dr. Deborah birx. A white house official told us that dr. Birxs team with the Coronavirus Task force was basing its estimates on a combination of models. We should note other experts have told our cnn health unit that dr. Birxs estimate is within the range of what they are projecting as well. But the key point here is that some Administration Officials are saying that the final number of dead could be lower than whats been estimated. At the same time, Public Health officials are cautioning, and this is very important, this is not the time to stop social distancing. In the meantime, wolf, were waiting on President Trump to comment on an Early Warning about the coronavirus that came from his trade adviser peter navarro, who wrote two memos, one in late january and one in late february, that a pandemic could cause Serious Problems for the u. S. In a memo dated january 29th, navarro wrote, and we can put this up on screen, the lack of immune protection or exist cure or a vaccine would leave americans defenseless in the case of a fullblown coronavirus outbreak on u. S. Soil. This lack of protection elevates the risk of the coronavirus evolving into a fullblown pandemic, imperilling the lives of millions of americans. As we know, the president still went on to tell americans that the virus would go away in april. The president was just asked about this memo, he said he did know all about it, as he put it, but he would wait until the press conference coming up here in a few minutes to talk about this more, wolf. Hell answer questions at the briefing, the white house Coronavirus Task force briefing thats coming up. The president , as you know, as now removed the official overseeing the 2 trillion in emergency coronavirus funding. Tell us about that. Its a pretty stunning development. Reporter it is, wolf. Thats one other item were waiting to see the president address, to see whether or not he wants to talk about this, his decision to remove the defense departments acting Inspector General glenn fine, who was going to oversee the 2 trillion stimulus package aimed at revitalizing the u. S. Economy. This is the latest action that mr. Trump has taken against Government Watch dogs in recent weeks. Critics say hes trying to avoid any accountability. Yesterday, wolf, we should point out, he was blasting the health and Human ServicesInspector General who had issued a report on medical supply shortages at hospitals across the country. The president was wondering whether or not that Inspector General was a democrat. In fact she had been working for the federal government going all wait back to 1999, wolf. Democratic president s, republican president s, a career civil servant, a highly respect civil servant, the president attacked her without even knowing who she was precisely or what precisely she had written. Thank you, jim acosta. New york is still reeling from the outbreak tonight. Our National Correspondent erica hill has been on the scene there day after day. Erica, the Police Department is really feeling the impact of this coronavirus pemg. Pandemic. Reporter absolutely. Just to put that in numbers for you, which i really think helps to paint that picture, wolf, 20 of the nypd is calling out sick today, accounting for 7,600 uniformed members. These are not all people who have tested positive for coronavirus. That is still 7,600 members of the nypd. Were seeing those numbers, as we also learned today, woman, of a 13th death due to coronavirus at the nypd. On monday, new york logging the states largest singleday death toll. One overwhelmed funeral home doing its best to meet the need. Were no longer embalming them, just because we dont have time to have visitations. Were simply either burying directly or direct cremation. Reporter as the virus spreads, a disturbing reality exposed. Right now slightly more than 70 of all of our deaths are among africanamericans who make up about 32 or so of the overall population of our state. So obviously this is a big disparity. Access to health care, Environmental Issues in certain communities, air quality, water quality. What this has done is magnified those issues to show that theres still a huge gap between races when it comes to health care. Reporter jobless claims skyrocketing. This line in florida tuesday just to get the necessary forms. Everybody out here is risking their lives to get this application. Weve given out hundreds and hundreds of applications. Reporter in connecticut, unemployment applications are about 20 times higher than anything the state has seen during a recession. Health care workers continuing to sound the alarm about personal protective equipment. In maryland, one Nurse Practitioner tried making a face shield out of a page protector and a headband. I put it on and i started crying. And i thought, i cant imagine anybody working, wearing Something Like that. Reporter staff also a major concern. Retired nurses and doctors answering the call to help relieve those at the front line. Ive never seen Emergency Departments or nursing or any of the services, actually, in general, under so much threat. And, you know, its a family. When family is threatened, you try to step up as much as you can. Reporter on board the comfort, now dedicated to covid patients, the number of beds cut in half, to 500, for safety. One crew member has tested positive. One of the nations largest grocery chains announcing new restrictions on capacity amid growing concerns about how and where the virus is spreading. In miami beach, Face Coverings now required for all customers and employees. At Grocery Stores, pharmacies, and restaurants, including those making deliveries. Officials across the country stressing that while social distancing is working, now is not the time to relax those measures. What we do affects the number of cases. Our behavior affects the number of cases. Were generating the cases. Theyre not descending on us from heaven, right . Its our behavior. Reporter Governor Cuomo today, woman, also talked about reopening the economy, noting you cant just flip a switch, it needs to be a coordinated effort. He says testing will be a key part of that, talking about Antibody Testing that has been approved but is not available on a large scale at this point, that would allow you to test a person to figure out if they have had the coronavirus and then ultimately if they had had it and beat it, so you would know who has some potential immunity as you bring the workforce back. That would be so, so important. Erica hill in new york, thanks for all the excellent reporting. Acting Navy Secretary thomas modly is resigning monday after recordings leaked of him calling the ousted commander of the uss Theodore Roosevelt stupid in an address to the ships crew. Jim sciutto, tell our viewers what youre learning about this resignation. Reporter wolf, this has been a quick chain of events that really no one involved is proud of here. Acting secretary of the navy submitting his resignation this morning, that being accepted by defense secretary mark esper. Its safe to say that it was clear to modly that he was losing support to keep his position. As you mentioned, this followed him taking an 8,000mile trip all the way to guam to address the crew of the uss Theodore Roosevelt after their captain had been removed and using language that no one in the pentagon was happy with in disparaging the outgoing commander that have ship. Have a listen to those comments. If he didnt think that information was going to get out into the public, in this Information Age that we live in, then he was, a, too naive or too stupid to be the Commanding Officer of a ship like this. Reporter of course modly not aware that his own comments would get public too. Initially he said he stood by every word. Then under pressure he reversed himself and released a statement saying, let me be clear, i do not think captain brett crozier, the outgoing commander of the uss roosevelt, is naive or stupid. I believe precisely because he is not naive or stupid that he sent this alarming email with the intention of getting into the Public Domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation on the ship. I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused. You can see, wolf, hes sticking by his allegation that he meant this to get out there in the public. Regardless, if you have your acting Navy Secretary first calling an outgoing commander of a carrier naive or stupid, then having to say i dont believe hes naive or stupid, thats really not a position that anybody wanted to be in here, certainly not the defense secretary. Especially, as you know, jim, the captain was so widely respected, he had a truly distinguished career. The crew loved him aboard the Theodore Roosevelt. Are there any Second Thoughts, as far as youre hearing, about the decision to relieve him from command . Any Second Thought on that . Reporter in short, wolf, no. Ive talked to a lot of people in the military about this situation, wide respect for crozier and his motivation in protecting his crew. The concern was not protecting that communication both within the chain of command, but also Operational Security concerns, because it becomes public internationally about Operational Capability on board a carrier. That was the concern i heard from a lot of folks in the pentagon. There was a note in defense secretary mark espers letter released just a short time ago explaining all of this, saying an investigation is still under way into crozier and only when that is done will they decide if he will face further penalties or results from this. All in all, an ugly episode all around. Truly very embarrassing for the u. S. Navy. Our jim sciutto, excellent reporting on your part as well, thank you as well. Connecticut meanwhile is reporting more than 7,000 coronavirus cases and 277 deaths. 71 of them just today. The connecticut governor, ned lamont, joins us now, governor, thanks so much for joining us. I know you have a lot going on. The director of the centers for Disease Control now says the death toll for the u. S. Could be much lower than models originally suggested because americans are taking social distancing guidelines very seriously. How concerned are you, though, that this potential good news could lead people to stop following those guidelines . That potential good news reminds people why youve got to follow those guidelines. The social distancing maybe is flattening the curve a little bit. This is what we meant to do. The most important meted a ed ri look at, wolf, is hospitalzations. Our hospitalizations are beginning to flatten out in terms of rate of increase. Thats invaluable to protect the capacity of hospitals. This is no time to sing happy days are hear agare again. This is the time to double down on social distancing. Andrew . Kno Governor Andrew Cuomo of new york says this could be a sign of a possible flattening of the curve. Are you seeing signs of that in neighboring connecticut . I talked to andrew today, about what happens when the curve starts to flatten. He and i worked together to shut down parts of our economies, like bars and restaurants. I hope we Work Together when it comes to getting our workforce tested and back to work. Youre teaming up with the new jersey governr as well to increase access to Rapid Testing by working with private companies. Is that because the federal government isnt necessarily giving you all the help that you so desperately need . Look, if i was the federal government, i think they should have a testing protocol. I think they should roll that out and offer guidance to the governors. Short that have, working with governor murphy, cogovernor cuo and ourselves, it makes all the sense this the world that we do the important Antibody Testing to see who can get back to work safely first. Because unfortunately, even if the numbers might be going down than originally projected, they projected there would be 100,000 to 240,000, but still those numbers will be very, very painful as we all know. Governor lamont i have to tell you, wolf. Go ahead. I was just going to say, what really worries me is we take our eye off the ball and there could be a second wave of this. Its really important we Work Together in terms of making sure were not just at the cliff but we bring it down, and we only get people back to work safely. If we jump back into the game again, we could go through all of this again in the fall. Thanks for having me, wolf. Thank you so much. Remember, early in march there were 11 confirmed deaths in the United States. Now more than 12,000 a month later, confirmed deaths in the United States. So sad, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. Were watching all of this very closely. Stay with us, were waiting to hear from the white house Coronavirus Task force briefing. Youre looking at live pictures coming in from the white house. The reports arent there, the president isnt there, neither is the Vice President. Theyll be there soon. Meanwhile, disturbing new questions are emerging as the numbers indicate Coronavirus Infections are much more widespread in africanamerican communities around the United States. Ce adversity, we find a way through it. Its about taking care of each other. Its the small parts that make a big difference. At chevy, we promise to do ours. Were offering current chevy owners onstar crisis assist services and complimentary wifi data. To help keep you on the road, the Chevy Certified Service experts are here and ready to help if you require parts, maintenance or repairs. You can even schedule your Service Appointments online. Its just our way of doing our part. Were standing by to hear from the white house Coronavirus Task force briefing. Were looking at live pictures. Stand by for that, were told, fairly soon. Were also taking a closer look at what louisianas governor is calling the big disparity in the racial breakdown of coronavirus infection. The u. S. Surgeon general flatly says that africanamericans face, in his words, a higher risk of the coronavirus. Lets go to cnns ed lavandera joining us from new orleans. Early numbers show the virus is hitting black communities across the nation disproportionately hard. Reporter yeah, thats what these statistics are starting to reveal. This comes on a day that louisiana has announced its largest increase in the number of deaths reported in a 24hour period. More than 70 people added to the rolls of people who have died because of coronavirus here in louisiana. Ronald lewis embodied the soulful spirit of new orleans. He led the big nine social club which hosted epic parades around the neighborhood. Hurricane katrina took his home but friends say he came back as a godfather of new orleans culture. He understood the complexity of new orleans. He brought out the best in our ability to come together. Reporter on march 18th, lewis was rushed to the hospital. Two days later he died. It wasnt until the day of his funeral that his family says they learned he was infected with the coronavirus. It was shocking. He had just gone into the hospital. I still havent wrapped my mind around it all the way. Reporter ronald lewis family says the 68yearold suffered from diabetes and was recovering from a mild heart attack last year but they never thought the covid19 infection would take his life. The mortality statistics across the country are jarring. In louisiana, africanamericans make up 32 of the population but make up slightly more than 70 of coronavirus deaths. In michigan and illinois, africanamericans make up 15 of the overall population yet account for about 40 of covid19 deaths. This is an abomination but its not unexpected. And i want everyone to understand that new orleans is a microcosm of every urban center in america. Reporter dr. Hebert has worked as a physician in new orleans for 25 years. He broke down the factors contributing to the high death rate among africanamericans. Theres Underlying Health issues like Heart Disease and diabetes. And if you drive around new orleans, its easy to find poor neighborhoods where people dont have access to health care. Many of these neighborhoods are food deserts where the best Grocery Store might be a corner store. Its a recipe for disaster, says dr. Hebert. When you are chronically oppressed, when you were chronically trying to get the scraps and the crumbs, that actually decreases your ability to have a good immune system because youre constantly in a fight or flight syndrome, with cortisol levels and epinephrine levels because you dont know where your next meal is going to come from. A hamburger costs 99 but the broccoli is 3. 99 a bunch, thats a leife or death situation. Reporter as Coronavirus Spread around the world, social media conspiracy theories were spreading even faster. Minorities can catch coronavirus. Reporter clips like these went viral. Medical experts worry this misinformation has kept and can keep many africanamericans from getting lifesaving information. Actor idris elba who announced in march he was sickened by the coronavirus, took to social media to fight back at the disinformation. Please stop sending the Conspiracy Theory nonsense about black people not being able to get coronavirus or covid19. Its dumb. Its silly. Its very dangerous. People need to know facts, need to understand the truth so that they can protect themselves. Stop sending this stuff out, its very dangerous for all. Reporter and wolf, the Health Experts were hearing from throughout the day say this coronavirus pandemic has only brought this to the surface, made it that much more evident that once this pandemic goes away, it doesnt really change the underlying factors that exist in many cities across the country. So disturbing. Ed lavandera in new orleans for us, ed, thank you very much. Joining us right now, washington, d. C. Mayor muriel bowser. Mayor bowser, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, woman. I want to discuss all of this with you, especially the problems in the nations capital. Washington, d. C. Has had 22 deaths so far. Are you expecting similar disparities to emerge in washington . Whats behind the disparities youre seeing in various hotspots around the country . Well, i think i would agree with the earlier report, and i think the data in our city is very early and not complete. And i think we are seeing that around the nation, that we dont always have race data for everybody tested, especially from the Public Health labs. We do know that of those 22 lost lives in washington, d. C. , that 59 of them were africanamericans. And it does appear like the earlier report said, that this virus is viciously attacking the underlying conditions like hypertension and high Blood Pressure and Heart Disease. And we know that africanamericans suffer from these ailments in higher proportions than our fellow americans. The White House Coronavirus response coordinator dr. Deborah birx, as you know, has flagged the uptick in cases here in washington, d. C. Is d. C. , mayor, heading in the direction of new york . Well, actually, wolf, we have been flagging for the white house for over a week that we wanted the white houses attention, especially with regard to supply support and people support as we gear up to up our hospital capacity. We think that very Strong Social distancing measures that weve implemented in washington for several weeks starting with closing our schools, closing down essential businesses, closing our parks, and washingtonia ianian ianian ianie guidelines will help us flatten the curve. We could be in the next tier of cities and states that see peaks. Weve had several weeks and well have a couple of more weeks to prepare for those surges. You mentioned social distancing, but over the weekend you had to shut down washington, d. C. s popular fish market area after images of big crowds took off on social media. What more do you need to do, mayor, to make sure everyone is following your orders to stay safe and stay at home . Well, we were very pleased when one of the groups who looks at peoples cellphone data saw washingtonians movements staying close to home and they gave us an a minus. Every day when im out in the city, and i have to be out, im an essential worker, we have thousands of essential workers that have to be out, we have nurses and doctors that have to be out, so we continue to remind everybody who doesnt have to be out to go to the grocery, go get your medicine, do exercise in your neighborhood, but other activities have to cease. So we tried to keep our fresh food market and fish market open, theyre essential businesses because they supply food. But they have to follow the rules too. So our fish market is shut down until they can demonstrate that they can serve people in a safe way. And if you do have to go to the Grocery Store or drugstore, put on a Face Covering or some sort of mask, wear gloves, that would be critically important, not just for you but for all the other people who you might encounter. Good luck, mayor, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you, wolf. Have a great one. Thank you. Coming up, whats it like for people who are infected with the coronavirus and sometimes get very sick from it but still survive . And once again, were waiting to hear from the white house Coronavirus Task force briefing. Well have coverage. [ one more time by daft punk ] woo [ laughing ] woo play pop music no way dude, play rock music yeah woah no matter what music you like, stream it now on pandora with xfinity. And dont forget to catch Trolls World Tour in theaters and at home on demand friday. Rated pg. Lets party people one more time weve worked to provide you with the financial strength, stability, and online tools you need. And now its no different. 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Research shows people who take hiv treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit hiv through sex. Serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. Rare, lifethreatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. Do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. Tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. If you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. Common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. If youre living with hiv, keep loving who you are. And ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. Once again, were standing by to hear from the white house Coronavirus Task force. Live pictures coming if from the White House Briefing room, clearly it hasnt started yet. Lets remember that the head of the centers for Disease Control now says u. S. Coronavirus deaths could be, in his words, much lower than the 100,000 or 240,000 predicted by some earlier models. Lets discuss all of that and more with dr. Megan ranney, an emergency physician at lifespan brown university, also dr. Harvey feinberg, chair of the Standing Committee on emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st century disease threats. Dr. Feinberg, youre the head of the Committee Formed to give the white house truly expert advice. What do you make about this news from the cdc director thats much lower than the original model number . Do you think thats realistic . Wolf, every model is only as good as the assumptions that go into it. Originally, the assumptions were that fewer americans would keep their distance. Now that more of us are observing that physical distance of six feet or more, it certainly is appearing to help keep down the number of new cases. And when you keep down the number of new cases, you will reduce the number of deaths. Thats a really important point that i hope everybody pays attention to. What does it tell, dr. Feinberg, about the challenges of uses these models to predict fatalities . First, we should not be relying on just a single model. We should be bringing the various models together to get a best overall estimate. Secondly, models have to be updated as the assumptions change. Well learn new facts, feed into the models, and make more accurate predictions. Weather forecasting over the last decade has gotten so much better because we fed in more information and understood better how all the factors contribute to whether it rains or not. Here, its a similar process, whether or not someone contracts an infection. Dr. Ranney, at the same time we do know that the official death toll is potentially missing a lot of people who havent officially been confirmed that they had coronavirus. What are you seeing in the emergency room that might explain what is being described as this undercounting of the real number . Wolf, were seeing in the Emergency Department a few really interesting trends. The first is, is that we have a lot of people that are honestly staying away from the Emergency Department that we normally see, the normal strokes, heart attacks, and other acute emergencies that usually fill our department arent showing up. Im worrying that theyre dying at home or having severe illness that we would attribute to covid19. We know there have been a lot of deaths at home as well as a lot of people admitted to the Emergency Department over the past few months who weve had trouble testing, not only in my own state of rhode island but elsewhere across the country. Finally, as has been covered elsewhere on this show, there is this Racial Disparity in deaths that were starting to observe. And we wonder how much of that preceded the reports of this past week, how many deaths were attributed to heart attacks, hypertension, diabetes, that were actually exacerbated by covid19. Thats an important point. Dr. Feinberg, you wrote an important oped in the New York Times arguing that to bend the curve of this virus down significantly, we all need what youre calling a smart quarantine that goes beyond the stayathome order. What exactly does this entail . Dr. Ranney made a really important point about testing, wolf, because the first element is to test. When you find someone who is infected by symptoms and confirmed by tests or because of their symptoms and signs being so persuasive, you need to isolate. Then you need to trace the contacts of the people who are found to be positive. And then you need to quarantine those individuals so that they dont affect others. In other parts of the world, oftentimes those who are most readily infected are the ones who live closest to us. Its not a surprise. Members of our own family. So part of the idea is to be sure to establish locations for safe quarantine, for example our empty hotels in every city, where you could isolate the patients who are mildly sick and quarantine those who are exposed to protect their families and those who are closest to them. In this way, if we can stop the spread of this virus at the beginning, we can stop the parade of caskets at the end. And save some lives,feinberg you to both of you for what were doing, were so grateful. To our viewers, were waiting for the white house Coronavirus Task force briefing. Were told the president , the Vice President , the experts will be walking true thhrough that d shortly. Coming up, what its like to contract the disease and recover from it. Of 1, 2, 3 medicines with trelegy. The only fdaapproved oncedaily 3in1 copd treatment. Trelegy the power of 1,2,3 trelegy 1,2,3 trelegy man with trelegy and the power of 1, 2, 3, im breathing better. Trelegy works three ways to open airways, keep them open and reduce inflammation, for 24 hours of better breathing. Trelegy wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Trelegy is not for asthma. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Do not take trelegy more than prescribed. Trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. Think your copd medicine is doing enough . Maybe you should think again. Ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy and the power of 1, 2, 3. Trelegy, 1,2,3 man save at trelegy. Com. Trelegy, 1,2,3 about medicare and 65, ysupplemental insurance. Medicare is great, but it doesnt cover everything only about 80 of your part b medicare costs, which means you may have to pay for the rest. Thats where Medicare Supplement insurance comes in to help pay for some of what medicare doesnt. Learn how an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by United HealthcareInsurance Company might be the right choice for you. A free decision guide is a great place to start. Call today to request yours. So what makes an aarp Medicare Supplement plan unique . Well, these are the only Medicare Supplement plans endorsed by aarp and thats because they meet aarps high standards of quality and service. Youre also getting the great features that any Medicare Supplement plan provides. For example, with any Medicare Supplement plan you may choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. You can even visit a specialist. With this type of plan, there are no networks or referrals needed. Also, a Medicare Supplement plan goes with you when you travel anywhere in the u. S. A free decision guide will provide a breakdown of aarp Medicare Supplement plans, and help you determine the plan that works best for your needs and budget. Call today to request yours. Lets recap. There are 3 key things you should keep in mind. One if youre turning 65, you may be eligible for medicare but it only covers about 80 of your Medicare Part b costs. Lets go to the White House Briefing. Today we continue to send our love to the great people of new york and new jersey. We support them fully. We grieve alongside every familiar who has lost a precious loved ones. New yorkers are tough and strong and brave. New jerseyites are tough and strong and brave, and theyre being hit very hard right now. And for the next week, hopefully not much longer than that, its going to start to go in the other direction. Our country is being hit hard. But some areas have done so incredibly well. Were so proud of them. They will beat this virus. Were going to beat it with the grit and the heart for which theyre known and for which our country is known. And we appreciate everything that everybody is doing. We also we pray for Prime Minister boris johnson. Hes become a great friend of ours. He loves this country, he loves his country, but he loves the usa, and hes always been very good to us, whenever we had difficulty, he was with us, and we appreciate it. So we pray for Prime Minister boris johnson, hes going through a lot. As we intensify our military campaign against the virus, i think that it must be brought out that we have to thank the American People for continuing to follow our guidelines on slowing the spread, an expression that more and more people are thinking about, nobody heard of it two months ago and now everybody is talking about slowing the spread, stopping the spread. Even during this painful week, we see glimmers of very, very strong hope. And this will be a very painful week. And next week, at least part of next week, but probably all of it. Look, if one person dies its a painful week. And we know thats going to unfortunately happen. This is an importance were fighting. But signs are that our strategy is totally working. Every american has a role to play in winning this war. And were going to be winning it, were going to be winning it powerfully and well be prepared for the next one should it happen. But hopefully it wont. Our massive airlift operation for critical supplies, its called project air bridge, continued today as five massive planes, flights, landed in the United States packed with personal protective equipment. And our nations heroic Health Care Workers will be the beneficiaries of that. 27 more flights are scheduled in the near future over the next couple of weeks. The army corps of engineers is constructing facilities that will support more than 15,000 hospital beds to treat patients in need, so theyre building now approximately 15,000. They just completed the big one in new york. Theyve just completed and are in the process of continuing in chicago, and many other places, theyre incredible. The army corps of engineers, we owe them a lot, what theyre able to do in such a short period of time. Theyll build these massive facilities, 2,000 beds in four days. So its really something very special. I know, i was in the construction industry, and you dont see that happen very often. I want to remind governors and Emergency Managers that sharing Real Time Data with us about equipment and their needs is very important. All of their supplies, hospital occupancy, is critical. A lot of the occupancy is really getting a little bit lower than anticipated, and thats good. We sort of thought that was going to happen. And were getting along very well with the governors. This whole situation with respect to talking to us about equipment and equipment needs is giving us a little bit of lead time, so important. All the supplies. Were getting it to everybody. Like they never thought possible. But well ensure we can rapidly deploy federal assets where and when theyre needed especially on ventilators. Were actually getting some ventilators back, as you know, the state of california was great, they sent some back which they wont need. And washington state, likewise. And we have some others coming back. So were using them in areas we need them. We are pressing forward aggressively on the scientific frontier of the medical war. The companies ive spoke to, the four leading i call them the genius companies, theyre doing incredibly well with respect to cures and also with respect to a vaccine thats going to protect us totally, protect us. And they have some great potential. Its going to take a little while yet but they have great potential, great early results. And the governor has been working hard, and we are working hard with the governors. Theres been great coordination especially over the last little while. Weve given them a lot of equipment, a lot of ventilators, but a lot of equipment of all types. And i will protect you if your governor fails, if you have a governor thats failing, were going to protect you. But the governors are working well with us over the last period of time. Today, in our stockpile of ventilators, and again, we need the stockpile so we can immediately move them from place to place wherever the monster hits. Its a monster. We have 8,675 ventilators right now in stock, ready to move. And we have all sorts of incredible soldiers, our military is going to move them should they be needed, as an example, if we need additional in new york or the new york city area, you have state, you have city. I spoke to mayor de blasio and we really have a great, wellcoordinated campaign with mayor de blasio, its been really good. Spoke to Governor Cuomo, theres been great coordination. So if they need something, we have it. If louisiana needs something, we have it. Same thing with michigan. Same thing with illinois. There are certain spots that are very hot, and well see what happens. But well know pretty much, well have time and well be able to move it. In addition to the 8,675 ventilators, we have 2,200 arriving on april 13th. We have 5,500 arriving on may 4th. These are ones were building for the most part. And we have, as you know, Great Companies building ford, general motors, we have really Great Companies doing it. On may 18th we have 12,000. On june 29th, we have 60,000 ventilators coming. 60, 60. So we have a total of 110,000 ventilators coming over a short period of time. I dont think well need them. Hopefully we wont need them. I dont think well need anywhere near them, but well have them for the future and well also be able to help other countries who are desperate for ventilators. The uk called today and they wanted to know would it be possible to get 200. Were going to work it out. We got to work it out. Theyve been great partners, united kingdom, and were going to work it out for them. So they wanted 200, they needed them desperately. We now have ten drugs in active trials with 15 more soon to follow. As well as two vaccine candidates in active clinical trials. Well do whatever it takes to secure needed medical supplies and bring more production of essential medicines back to our shores. Were doing that. Were bringing them back to our shores. A lot of these companies, they went a little bit haywire. They went away from this great country and they had them produced elsewhere, so were going to start bringing them back. Ive been talking about that for a long time, not only with medical, but lots of other things. America continues to perform more tests than any other nation in the world, and i think thats probably why we have more cases. Because when you look at some of these very large countries, i know i know for a fact that they have far more cases than we do, but they dont report them. Weve performed 1. 87 million tests today, so thats 1,870,000, think of that, 1,870,000 tests to date, and now were performing them at a level that nobodys ever seen before. As we announced yesterday, cvs testing sites in georgia and rhode island will be using abbot labs, rapid fiveminute tests, down to five minutes, so that people can get their results back very quickly. And were actively engaging on the problem of increased impacts this is a real problem. And its showing up very strongly in our data. On the africanamerican community, and were doing everything in our power to address this challenge. Its a tremendous challenge. Its terrible. And provide support to africanamerican citizens of this country who are going through a lot. But its been disproportional. Theyre getting hit very, very hard. In fact, while we have tony here, id like to have you come up and address that and then ill continue. If you could address that, tony, it would be great, please. Thank you, mr. President. We have a particularly difficult problem of exacerbation of a health disparity. Weve known literally forever that diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obesity and asthma are disproportionately afflicting the minority populations, particularly the africanamericans. Unfortunately, when you look at the predisposing conditions that lead to a bad outcome with coronavirus, the things that get people into icus that require intubation and often lead to death, they are just those very do mo co morbidities that are unfortunately disproportionate in the africanamerican community. Its very sad. There is nothing we can do about it right now, except to try to give them the best possible care to avoid those complications. Thank you, mr. President. Thank you very much. Tony, i think youre going to have some pretty accurate numbers over the next few days, right . But they are, theyre very nasty numbers. Terrible numbers. In total, 1,200 abbot machines, abbot laboratories, theyve been fantastic, have been shipped now nationwide. Up to 500 more are being produced every week. And 50,000 testing cartridges are being manufactured per day. That means a lot of very fast tests. No nation in the world has developed a more diverse and robust Testing Capacity than the United States. Were dealing with other nations, helping them out, because the testing is very tough for them and our tests are very accurate. A lot of tests are out there and theyre not accurate at all. In fact, some of the tests, you dont have a clue whats going on, so were working with other nations trying to get them help also. In a time when Many Americans are experiencing increased stress, anxiety and personal loss, we must also ensure that our country can meet the Mental Health needs of those struggling in this crisis. There are people struggling. Theyre struggling. And some people are getting to know each other, frankly. Some families are getting to know each other, on a positive note, but there are a lot of people struggling. On thursday ill be speaking to leaders and advocates from the Mental Health organizations all across our country. And we are going to be talking about resources and tools that well make available to them. They need help. And its a big problem. When you take something where it was the most successful country in the world, still is, the whole world is shut down. Think of it, were down to numbers that are incredible. As i said yesterday, i think its 182 countries right now. 182 countries are under attack by the by the scourge, by this virus. But as we wage medical war on the virus, were also speeding Economic Relief to our people. Its i credible. Its incredible. We just had a meeting that was absolutely incredible with the leaders of the banks to help our efforts to help American Workers and employers. As of today, Small Business has processed more than 70 billion in guaranteed loans. And well provide muchneeded relief for nearly 250,000 businesses already. So we are going to be providing tremendous amounts of money to these Small Businesses of our country who have been absolutely clobbered. And theyll be keeping open and theyll be paying their employees and theyll be all set to go. Were going to have a rocket upward. I want to thank david solomon, ceo of goldman sachs. Brian moynihan, ceo of bank of america. Gordon smith, copresident , coo of jpmorgan chase. Charles shaufr, ceo of wells fargo. Al kelly, ceo of visa. Michael m micha michael we had numerous others also on the call and i just appreciate them. They are were way ahead of schedule, by the way. Were way ahead of schedule. The Paycheck Protection Program has been incredible. So, based on the incredible success of the program, im announcing that ill be asking congress to provide an additional 250 billion for the paycheck protection. Er if which will help keep americans employed to help facilitate a quick and full recovery. Were doing very well. Were looking very bipartisan. A lot of people want to do it. And the plan is amazing. You know, theyre processing hundreds of thousands of loans. This is the big banks that are doing it, the community banks. But the biggest banks right now in our country are doing it, and theyre theyre doing it for a lot of reasons. One of them is they want to help people. The w. H. O. , thats the world health organization, receives vast amounts of money from the United States. And we pay for a majority, biggest portion of their money. And they actually criticized and disagreed with my travel ban at the time i did it, and they were wrong. Theyve been wrong about a lot of things. And they had a lot of information early and they didnt want to they seemed to be very chinacentric. And we have to look into that. So were going to look into it. We pay for give them a majority of the money they get. Its much more than the 58 58 million is a small portion of what theyve gotten over the years. Sometimes they get much more than that. Sometimes its for programs that theyre doing, and its much bigger numbers, and if the programs are good, thats great, as far as were westeconcerned. We want to look into it, world health organization. They called it wrong. They called it wrong. They really they missed the call. They could have called it months earlier. They would have known. And they should have known. And they probably did know. So well be looking into that very carefully. And were going to put a hold on money spent to the w. H. O. Were going to put a very powerful hold on it, and were going to see. Its a great thing if it works, but when they call every shot wrong, thats no good. Were in the midst of a Great National struggle, one that requires the shared sacrifice of all americans. In recent weeks its been remarkable to see so Many Companies and organizations and individuals like the banks that i just told you about, biggest banks in the world, they stepped up to help Small Business. Theyre big business, Small BusinessSmall Business will some day be the big business. But the Small Business is 50 of our economic strength. People dont realize when you add them up, but they just they just rose to the occasion. Everybodys rising to the occasion. Its been incredible to watch. To honor and celebrate the extraordinary examples of patriotism and citizenship, were seeing im asking americans to use the hashtag, americaworkstogether. When sharing stories