Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Craig Melvin 20200402

A good thursday morning to you. Craig melvin here. Just this morning new weekly unemployment numbers are out and theyre terrible. More than 6. 6 million americans filed for Unemployment Benefits just last week. So to give you perspective here, thats more than the entire population of missouri. It also doubles the previous weeks 3. 3 million jobless claims, and that was considered a record at the time. It shows just how quickly things are moving. This morning were also watching this, the surge in coronavirus cases here in the United States. Right now more than 217,000 known cases. Thats almost 2,800 more cases than the same time yesterday. So far, the virus has killed more than 4,800 of our fellow americans. Health care workers continue to give us a sobering reality check as our hospitals are slammed with new patients. We are scared of becoming exposed to covid19 and transmitting to other patients and to our families. We see other nurses and doctors dying and people not taking it seriously. It feels like a slap in the face. It feels this way because we feel our sacrifices are being made in vane. In the next 30 minutes we expect to hear from new York Governor Andrew Cuomo about how this states hospitals are shouldering the burden. First lets start with the recordbreaking unemployment numbers out just this morning. Lets go right to nbcs jo ling kent and Senior Business correspondent stephanie ruhle. Jo, ill start with you. Break down the numbers and what does it say about the impact this virus is having on americans who simply cant go to work right now . Craig, its devastating in a word. Over the last two weeks, if you total the numbers, its about 10 for unemployment claims across the country. The states the hardest hit, pennsylvania, massachusetts, texas, california, and every single state has been negatively affected by this. Weve been talking to people inside the unemployment offices who are helping process these claims trying to get you your unemployment check. Theyve been simply overwhelmed. Weve talked to agencies that have doubled their staff. Their staff is working from home and theyre trying to process all of this. Just to give you the perspective on how bad this is in terms of the sheer numbers, at the peak of the financial crisis, the jobless claim we saw, the largest was 650,000. Today we got 6. 5 million. This is a story of hurt for so Many Americans out there, reflective of the massive layoffs across the board when it comes to theest are raunt industry, retail and everywhere in between. But this pain really hurts. What we do know talking so far, talking with economists in unemployment offices is this is just the beginning. This is the tip of the iceberg right now because theres such a backlog of claims. For example, if you look at the california number specifically, you can see its 100thingthousand for this prior week. We know Governor Newsom told us over a week ago that climbs here in california are already over a million. So thats how far backlogged it may be. It takes time to verify your wages, to get that unemployment check, so its just the beginning. Not to mention, this number comes from the week that ended march 28th. Theres been so many more announcements since then including the massive furloughing and layoffs. At macys, one of our retail leaders, so its a very hard story. Weve been hearing from so many people across the country sending us their selfie videos, theyre worried about not just rent and mortgages but where theyre going to eat and how theyre going to afford their groceries for their families. Craig. Steph, what do we know about the workers that are hurting most right now . What do we know about the workers being hit hardest by all of this . Craig, im actually going to take the other side of this and show you a bit of a Silver Lining. What this unemployment number shows us is that people and businesses are listening. The number one priority right now is to take the Health Advice from the Surgeon General who said we need to stay home, shut off our economy. When you see all these people out there filing for unemployment, thats what theyre doing. Weve been telling people for the last two weeks, its time to go home. Here is an example. Its april 1st. Wedding season is a month from now. If youre a wedding photographer, videographer, makeup artist, cater waiter or a band leader, youve all just applied for unemployment in the last two weeks because you dont have a job. But it doesnt mean that wedding isnt going to happen. Its postponed. That number is enormous, but that number is reflective before the cares act. Remember that was signed on friday. A that massively expands unemployment. So were going to see more people apply for unemployment. But the cares act also includes 350 billion of loans that turn into grants, meaning you dont have to pay them back for Small Businesses. A lot of those Small Businesses in the coming weeks are going to rehire people. Im not saying the number isnt going to go up, but its fastly different from the financial crisis where we saw businesses decimated and not coming back. There is pentup demand for people who want to go back to work, who want to do those things again. So its a devastating number, significantly bigger than we thought. Jo is 100 right. There are countless videos of people who say i have bills to pay and i cant even get through to the website. On the other side, many of those people are eligible for that unemployment. An hour ago i spoke to the governor of connecticut who said i realize theres a mismatch. We cant answer the phone, we cant help on a website yet. Thats why theres been mortgage and rent forgiveness, banks, Credit Card Companies say were going to give you more time. The number is devastating. Youve got to look under it. Its a complicated number. Steph, i want to pull up the markets here for a second for folks who dont follow them as closely as you do. The green arrows are pointing up. If you look at the three major indices right now. Explain the correlation between the two, if you can. How can it be there are so many people who filed for unemployment, but the markets are stronger today than they were a week ago . Because, craig, the markets are making my point for me. The biggest investors and ceos out there have said, if we want to slow the spread of the coronavirus, we need to shut down tore ffor a period of time. We dont want to go back to work too quickly because well get sick again and shut down again. Theres a positive Market Reaction because the market is absorbing, its understanding this 2 trillion stimulus package that hasnt made its way through the system yet, and all those unemployment claims show that people are actually going home, which we need them to do. So remember, weve been been telling people for the last two weeks, dont wait around, go on unemployment, the government is there to help you during this period of time. We dont want people putting themselves at risk, going to work because they need to feed their families. Theyre going on unemployment because the government is stepping in. A Silver Lining perhaps. Stephanie ruhle, thank you. Jo ling kent, thanks to you as well. As we follow the spike in coronavirus cases, new york continues to see the absolute worst of it. As of this morning, more than 84,000 people have tested positive, nearly 2,000 people have died in the state of new york. The fast majority of those cases and deaths are in new york city. Hospitals overwhelmed. First responders are getting sick in extraordinary numbers. Lets go right to our reporters on the ground in new york city, nbcs Anne Thompson is at Lenox Hill Hospital in manhattan. Tom winter at an fdny ems station in manhattan. Ann, ill start with you outside lenox hill. What do we know about the number of people being treated there . What do we know about how theyre dealing with whats being described as an overwhelming number of patients . Reporter lenox hill, craig, like many other hospitals in the city has seen the number of covid19 patients continue to grow. This morning a hospital spokesperson tells us that they have 250 coronavirus patients here. Thats an increase of 50 from yesterday, and that 21 of those patients are in the intensive care unit. Earlier this morning, i talked to an icu nurse who say most of the patients in icu at lenox hill are covid19 patients and most of those patients are on ventilators. But here is really what i think is the most frightening image of all today. Lenox hill is just off of park avenue. Behind me is the site that some park avenue residents are waking up to this morning. Let me describe it to you. There is at the end a tented walkway that comes out of the back of Lenox Hill Hospital, and it goes to this refrigeration truck. That truck is a temporary morgue. Just a few minutes ago we were listening to the generator hum here just off of park avenue as it waits for the bodies of covid19 patients to come and what they think is just going to be a very difficult couple of weeks ahead for the city of new york. The mayor of the city of new york, bill de blasio, has said april 5th is the demarcation point, and theyre obviously getting ready here at lenox hill. Earlier this morning there was a truck that came up it was filled with temporary walls. So they moved them inside the hospital so they can set up extra rooms in case they need them. As the man who was unloading said to me, look, wed rather be prepared than not. Lets get ready now before the real onslaught comes. It is very, very difficult to look at these refrigerated trucks. This one is here obviously outside lenox hill. But you will see them outside hospitals throughout the city of new york. Officials are trying to prepare new yorkers for what is today a bad situation that is only going to get worse. Craig. Anne thompson outside lenox hill with a stark visual reminder of what we are potentially up against in new york city. Ann, thank you. Tom, let me turn to you. Mayor deblasio, we understand he met with ems workers a few hours ago. The citys Fire Department says the 911 medical call volume continues to hit new records. You and i talked about this yesterday. It would seem as if a dire situation has gotten worse for the system. Reporter i would say so, craig. While you were speaking about the economic impact, i was getting new numbers as far as the amount of people within the fdny, the emts, firefighters and civilians that tested positive for covid19, that number is up to 338, increase of 50 since yesterday. On top of that, approximately 3,000 members of the fdny including emts, firefighters and civilians are reported out sick today. About a quarter of those, so about 700 are emts. Thats a significant number. Some of those folks are out on disability or other injuries. This is a physical, a demanding job, not tied to having any sort of sickness, but its still a significant number. Theres been some changes that are going to be forced upon the fdny and all the other emt and medical Services Including the lenox hill emts where anne is at. Essentially what theyre going to be told from here on out, if somebody is in cardiac arrest, had a heart attack an an apartment building, somebody in a horrible accident, no longer do they want this group that oversees called remsco, oversees all the ems services in new york city, they dont want those patients going to the hospitals anymore. The feeling is according to senior new york city officials is the hospitals cant take those bodies. They dont want additional cpr or anything to be done inside those ambulances. In reality the folks that are dead are going to have to stay there, another macabre sign of whats going on in new york city. Okay. Tom winter, thank you. Lets go from new york to texas now. This morning texans are waking up for the first time under a statewide stayathome order. After initially resisting like a number of other governors, Texas Governor greg abbott finally issued the order for the nations secondmost populous state. Like other governors, allowing exceptions for essential workers. His order also allows exceptions for religious services. As of this morning, more than 4,000 people in texas tested positive for coronavirus. More than 60 people have died. Msnbcs Garrett Haake knows texas very well. He joins us now from dallas. How are folks there in dallas reacting to this new order, garrett . How broad are these exceptions to the governors mandate . Reporter craig, dallas is the epicenter within texas. Dallas county has more cases than any other county in texas. So folks here have arguably been taking this more seriously than in other parts of the state. The governors reticence to put this in place, shows how broad the experience of texans have been. Things are different in king county in west texas than they are in dallas where the county judge put more restrictive measures in place late last week to clamp down here. There are some exceptions to this stayathome order which the governor resisted calling it a stayathome order. But if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, thats what we eerl dealing with. The exceptions include construction. Im looking at an apartment complex with perhaps 30 people on a roof building an apartment complex in downtown dallas. It includes religious services. Ive heard some concern that not all religious services have moved to going online and county and city local governments may not be able to go in and check on folks to make sure theyre social distancing. You see the state of texas trying to get ahead of this. More than 700 cases in dallas county, again, the forefront of whats coming here in texas, craig. Garrett haake coming to us from downtown dallas. Garrett, thank you. Meanwhile, back here new York Governor Andrew Cuomo about to update the situation in new york. After this mornings dretdful weekly jobs claims, more than 350,000 in new york state alone filing for unemployment last week. Were going to bring you the latest from Governor Cuomo when it happens roughly 15 minutes from now. First, though, a frightening warning from homeland security. The nations emergency stockpile of medical gear running dangerously low. Now those Health Care Workers are getting sick at alarming rates. How hospitals are rising to the challenge. Meanwhile, earlier today i talked to d. C. Mayor Muriel Bowser about her phone call with President Trump to make sure that washington, d. C. Gets its share of federal aid. The president was committed to working to make sure that washington, d. C. Is counted as a state for funding purposes as we are with every other thing else. So we continue to call on his administration to fix it. But also our leaders in the congress. And theyre counting on your takeout and delivery orders to make it through. Grubhub. Together we can help save the restaurants we love. Did you know Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance tada so you only pay for what you need . I should get a quote. Do it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Shbecause xfinity mobilehen ygives you more flexible data. You can choose to share data between lines, mix with unlimited, or switch it up at any time. All on the most reliable wireless network. Which means you can save money without compromising on coverage. Get more flexible data, the most reliable network, and more savings. Plus, get 300 off when you buy a new Samsung Galaxy s20 ultra. Thats simple. Easy. Awesome. Go to xfinitymobile. Com today. We have breaking news from the hill on this thursday morning. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Just Announced she will be, in fact, creating a House Select Committee on the coronavirus crisis. It will be a bipartisan committee, chaired by South Carolina congressman james clyburn. Pelosi is talking to reporters right now. We will keep you posted with more information as we get it. But as expected, the speaker of the house announcing a select committee that will presumably be looking into other things, this countrys response to the pandemic. Meanwhile a new jersey doctor is now believed to be the first emergency physician in the United States to die after contracting the virus. That was confirmed wednesday in a statement from the American College of emergency physicians. 60yearold frank gabren died just days after developing symptoms consistent with the virus. He was a twotime cancer survivor. His death underscores the dangers facing so many medical workers as hospitals continue to see record numbers of patients. I want to bring in brian granulotte. We should first of all note that the doctor i just mentioned did not work in one of your hospitals, but i do want to start by asking, how are your hospitals managing, especially your doctors . Thank you, craig, for having us talk about this important issue. Our medical professionals are some of the most amazing human beings in the world, and ive had the privilege of working with them for so long. This is a very difficult issue for all to work with. Our thoughts go out to the family of the physician that passed. But ive got to tell you, as i talk to our providers, they have not experienced anything like this. Newjersey. Com is reporting the state Health Commissioner said on wednesday that a surge in cases isnt really expected in new jersey until the second week of april. How are your hospitals bracing for that surge . So we are in that process right now. If you follow the train line out of new york city, you get into new jersey, you get into the market and we are seeing that doubling of cases and everything you would expect from that. Weve taken care of over 3,000 patients that have tested positive. Today alone in our command center it was reported we have 600 people in place. But we also recognize that about 20 of those folks are in our icus and on ventilators. So making sure we have the right protective equipment, making sure we have adequate access to ventilators and the medications we need are critically important. We are working very hard with the state of new jersey in a very cooperative way to make sure that not only those of us in northern new jersey which is really the epicenter right now in new jersey, but this will move through out the entire state, have what we need. But also that we are making sure that the governor who has been incredibly supportive to our hospitals and doctors and nurses has the information he needs to advocate on our behalf. Our colleagues over at morning joe talked to the Emergency Room Physician working in new york about the patient overload, about the lack of appropriate protective gear, that ppe weve been talking about. Here is what he said. The proper use of gear is switch it out. Theyre supposed to be disposable in between patients. For expediencys sake, patients coming 10, 20, 30 at a time. We cant switch the protective gear within five minutes. We have to keep it on. Its an Infection Control risk, but its a problem. Is that an issue for your doctors and nurses as well . So today we have an adequate supply of protective equipment, particularly the n95 miss. In order to accomplish that, weave had to reuse them after sterilization, using technology of ultraviolet light. The other thing we have to be aware of is we have to change the way we care for patients. The example used in terms of overwhelming emergency departments, thats also happening in Critical Care units, that were having to adapt and develop in areas like post anesthesia care areas. So weve done that by creating teams of people who operate differently to address some of the things he mentioned. Make no mistake, protecting our Health Care Workers is our top priority. Those Health Care Workers, those doctors, those nurses at your hospitals, how are they holding up . You know, i had a chance to speak with one of our hospital president s who is a nurse today. Again, i started in health care as an emergency medical technician, and i know what its like firsthand to be on a scene, and i know how deeply people care about what they do. That really is what drives their work each and every day. One of our nurses aide to me, this is what we train for, this is why we are nurses. But its hard. And the thing that makes it most hard about this, thats unusual from Everything Else are two factors that were pointed out to me, and i completely agree with. One is the compartmentalization issue. Oftentimes in health care we deal with very hard things. We can say, this is what we dealt with, do our best and move on. This is a very personal issue to everybody. It affects their families, friends, loved ones and themselves. The second thing is isolation. Our caregivers now have to serve as the surrogate Family Members when these patients are hospitalized. So not only are they caring for the patients the way theyve always cared for them, theyre doing so in a difficult situation where they are covered and masked, but theyre also having to act as a Family Member and that makes it very hard. So what were doing about that is were trying to help our team members with their activities of daily living that they need, child care and housing and things like that. Were trying to bring supportive mechanisms through our resiliency programs that are led by a great group of our clinicians, its called caring for our caregivers. Were trying to replace what typically had been perhaps a group huddle or a hug after something really bad happened to one where we can work in small groups to talk about that, to get that kind of sense of comradery. Resiliency in Health Care Workers is amazing, but this is absolutely testing it. We so appreciate them. We so appreciate our doctors and our nurses and all of our medical staff on the front line of this thing. Brian, thank you for your time. I do appreciate it. Thank you. And if i could just make one more comment . Please follow the social distancing recommendations. Thats the one thing all americans can do. Thank you. Amen to that, brother. Any moment now, new York Governor Andrew Cuomo expected to speak from the state capital. When that happens, well bring it to you live. First meet the Boston Police officer being called a hero. This is officer ben paguero. He saw a single mom crying at the grocery store. He steps in and spends 225 of his own money to buy what the family needed. I enjoy helping people. I get a satisfaction out of it. Thats why i really joined the job. This is why i did it. This is why i joined. This is my body of proof. Proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. Proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis. With humira. Proof of less joint pain. And clearer skin in psa. Humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Humira is proven to help stop further joint damage,. And its the 1prescribed biologic for psa. Want more proof . Ask your rheumatologist about humira citratefree. 450degree oven, to box, to you, know that from our its our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. And were taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it. Others see cracked concrete, instrundown courts. Ere. I see a way to bring pride back to communities. Thats why i made project backboard and a site with godaddy. How will you make your mark . Make the world you want. Medical officials are continuing to really beg the government forgetting help with essential supplies. There are new reports this morning that the nations emergency stockpile of p protective gear is almost dep completed. Lets bring in nbcs White House Correspondent geoff bennett. What are we hearing about the stockpile, geoff, about these reports also that some of the ventilators sent out by the federal government apparently dont work. Reporter youre right about that. Ill take the question about the equipment first. It was the Washington Post yesterday who first reported the countrys reserves, the National Stockpile of personal protective equipment is running low. Nearly depleted. I asked President Trump about that yesterday during the Coronavirus Task force briefing, and he said, yes, thats the case. He said whatever new equipment that the federal government is acquiring, theyre not putting into the stockpile. Theyre sending out to the states, to the hospitals. We should say clearly, though, theres a logjam somewhere in the system based on the compelling stories and images were seeing where doctors are having to recycle masks, some given rain ponchos to use because gowns are not available. Thats a story we continue to track. To your question about the ventilators. The New York Times reports some 2,000 ventilators the government had on reserve do not work. Im getting the hard wrap in my hear because im told Governor Cuomo is about to start the press conference. He is indeed, jeff. Lets listen in to new York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Total tested 230,000. Thats a lot of people. Remember new york youre talking a base of 19 million. Number of positive cases up to 8,669, 92,000 total in the state. Predominantly in new york city, but you see westchester and nassau which by percentage is a troubling number. Remember new york city so much larger than westchester, nassau or suffolk. Those numbers are concerning and were watching those. You look to see in nassau county, 1,000 new cases, suffolk county, 1,141 new cases. That is troubling news. Number of counties, you see the entire state, every county in the state now has reported a coronavirus case. We said it was going to march across the state. Ive also made the point to my colleagues, every phone call i do with the other governors and other officials, i say its going to march across the country. Its false comfort to say, well, we are a rural community, we dont have the density of new york city. That is a false comfort. You have counties in new york state where you have more cows than people. New york state, dont think of just new york city. Upstate new york is a rural community. You see its not just urban areas. Its suburban areas. Thats westchester, nassau, suffolk, comparable to suburban communities all across this country. And we have Rural Communities that are comparable to Rural Communities all across this country. In many ways new york state is a microcosm of the United States. Thats why i believe its going to be illustrative for the rest of the nation as to whats going to happen. Current hospitalizations, as i said, 92,000 tested positive, 13,000 currently hospitalized. Thats up 1,100. 3,000 icu patients, up 300. 7,400 patients discharged, up 1,292. Thats good news. Number of people going to the hospital is going up, number of people coming out of the hospital is going up. Number of deaths, up to 2,373 up from 1,941. Looking for a trend line. The trend line is still basically up, total new hospitalizations. Trend line of icu admissions is still up. Certainly a couple of small deviations but the line is up. Number of intubations is up. But if you want to take an optimistic view, you can start to see a plateauing in the number of intubations. But the statisticians tell me thats an optimistic view. Number of daily discharged is going way up. Thats people going in, people going out. Challenges still, at the apex, thats what this has been all about for every system in this country now. Everyone is basically waging the same battle. Different time frames, different numbers, different percentages, but its the same battle. When you hit the apex which is the highest rate of infection, highest number of people coming into the Hospital System, can you handle that number . Can you handle the height of the impact on the Hospital System which is at the apex of the curve. We call that the battle of the mountaintop. At least i call it the battle of the mountaintop. Questions people keep asking which are the right questions, when is the apex . It depends on what model you use, what model you follow. We follow all the models. Its anywhere from seven to 21 to 30 days depending on what model you look at. How can you have that variable seven to 30 days . It depends on how that model rates how effective social distancing is. The variable is the models that think social distancing is going to be more effective at slowing the rate have a longer time frame for the apex. Those models that discount the social distancing, they have a shorter time frame for the apex. It makes it difficult to plan, frankly, because seven to 30 days is a long window. We are literally planning on a daytoday basis, deploying assets on a daytoday basis. We believe it is closer to the shorter end of the range with our inhouse people looking at the professional modeling thats being done. How many beds will you need at the apex . Between 70 and 110,000. Again, that is a broad range. Again, thats one of the frustrations, trying to plan for this. Right now we have 53,000 statewide. We have only 36,000 downstate. Remember that. This is primarily a downstate issue. So by any estimate, we dont have the number of beds, but again, weve taken extraordinary measures. Every hospital by mandate has to add a 50 increase, and they have all done that. Were setting up extra facilities which weve been talking about. Weve been shifting patients from downstate hospitals to upstate hospitals, and that is continuing. When does this end . We have projection models that have us hitting the apex, coming down from the apex. Models vary at how quickly you come down from the apex, but they all basically say you come down from the apex quickly, and then some models have it flattening out, but flattening out for a period of time. Models have it flattening out and continuing through the summ summer. How many lives lost . Theres only one model that we look at as the number of projected death, the imhe model funded by the gates foundation, and we thank them for the service theyve done. Thats the model that predicts nearly 93,000 deaths across the country. Thats the model i believe dr. Fauci was referring to when he said about 100,000 deaths. By that new york would be about 16,000 deaths, by that model. When were doing this planning, the theory is the clain is only as strong as the weakest link. Thats true for the Hospital System. We have about, give or take, 180 hospitals that we are focusing on here in the state. The hospitals that will have the greatest issue will be those hospitals that are usually the most stressed in normal circumstances. So if the hospitals before this were under stress, you then add this crisis on top of that. Those are the hospitals that one would expect to see struggling first. Thats also true for the entire Hospital System. We talk about beds. We talk about staff. We talk about supplies. But the truth is you need all three of those things to provide any care. A bed without a staff without staff, doesnt do anything. A bed and staff without supplies doesnt do anything. So you need all three of those components to work to have a situation where someone can actually get care. In terms of beds, those are the easiest to find, and were constructing additional facilities. Were now going to start at the brooklyn cruise terminal, obviously in brooklyn, new york, new york city. Its expected to open this week, 750 beds. Were taking an office of Mental Health facility in Staten Island and converting it to a covidonly hospital. So on beds we are in relatively good shape because a bed is a bed, right . A bed is a question of a structure. Push comes to shove, we can acquire dorms, we can acquire hotels, we can acquire physical structures with beds in them. Of those three components, beds, staff, supplies, i personally am least worried about bed capacity. We have 2,500 beds at javits. We have 1,000 beds on the naval ship comfort. Beds we can find. Not easy, but we can find them. The harder components are the staff and the supplies which is what weve been talking about. On the staff, were continuing to shift staff from the upstate hospitals less impacted to downstate hospitals. Weve requested outofstate Health Care Workers. God bless america. 21,000 people have volunteered from out of state to come into new york state. I thank them. I thank their patriotism. I thank their dedication and passion to their mission of public health. These are beautiful, generous people. And new yorkers will return the favor. New yorkers will return the favor. This is going to affect every place in this country. We are in some ways the first major encounter. Were learning. Well get the experience and we will return the favor. When your Community Needs help, new yorkers will be there, and you have my personal word on that. And its also the new york tradition. When theres been a hurricane or flood or hurricane katrina, new yorkers are the first ones in their cars to go anywhere in this nation that needs help, and i will be the first one in my car to go wherever this nation needs help as soon as we get past this. Ill never forget how people across this country came to the aid of new yorkers when they needed it, and i deeply appreciate it. We have 85,000 volunteers now in total which are being deployed to the hospitals so they can find staff that works for them. Supplies are an ongoing challenge. The ppe is an ongoing challenge, the gowns, the gloves and the ventilators. First of all, we have for the First Time Ever a hospitalbyhospital survey done on a nightly basis of exactly what they have. As i said, were coordinating the Health Care System in a way its never been coordinated before. Rather than regional systems, public systems, private systems, et cetera, we have a central stockpile. We are asking all the hospitals to contribute what they have to that central stockpile, and then we will disperse on a need basis some hospitals have more supplies than theyre using. Were saying dont hoard supplies. Lets put all the supplies in a central stockpile and then well draw down from the central stockpile and we will monitor this literally on a daily basis. Im also asking on supplies, i dont have a new york defense production act, right . Governor cant say to a company we need you to manufacture this, but i ask the situation were in and possible opportunity. It is the cruelest irony that this nation is now dependent on china for production of many of these products. Many of these products in the normal marketplace were being produced in china, and now you have everyone shopping china for ppe, gowns, ventilators. The gowns, the gloves are not complicated components to manufacture. The gowns of tyvek or paper material. If you are a manufacturer who can convert to make these products, and make them quickly, theyre not complicated product, the fda lists the specifications for these products on their website. If you have the capacity to make these products, we will purchase them, and we will pay a premium, and we will pay to convert or transition your manufacturing facility to a facility that can do this. But we need it like now. Were not talking about two months, three months, four months. We need these materials now. Thats the stress. I understand that. But if you are in the Garment Manufacturing business, if you have machinery that can cut a pattern. A coverall, youre not making a fashionforward fitted garment. These are relatively straightforward components. So if you can do it, its a business opportunity. It is a state need. It is a national need. Please contact us. We will work with you. We will work with you quickly. There will be no bureaucracy, no red tape, and well finance were not asking for a favor from these businesses, well finance what you need in terms of transitioning, and well buy the product, and i will pay a premium because we need it. And this is the number for the Empire State Development corporation, which is handling this task. In terms of ventilators, we released 400 ventilators last night to the new York City Health and hospital corporation. We released 200 to long island and westchester. As i said, you see those growing numbers in nas yesau and suffol and that is starting to stress that Health Care System. So we released those ventilators last night. At the current burn rate, we have about six days of ventilators in our stockpile. Meaning if the rate of usage, the rate of people coming in to hospitals who need ventilators, if that rate continues, in our stockpile, we have about six days. Now, if the apex happens within that time frame, if the apex increases, if the apex is longer, we have an issue with ventilators. These numbers, by the way, will be compiled every night. Theres a difference of opinion, how many you need. We need what we need. I have no desire to acquire more ventilators than we need. The way we basically are acquiring ventilators is the state is buying them. Theyre very expensive, and the state is broke, so i have no desire to buy more ventilators than we need. But we need what we need. If a person comes in and needs a ventilator and you dont have a ventilator, the person dies. Thats the blunt equation here. Right now we have a burn rate that would suggest we have about six days in the stockpile. But, but, we are taking all sorts of extraordinary measures. I have spoken to Health People across the nation. Dr. Zucker has done all sorts of research. And we have extraordinary measures in place that can make a difference if we run into a real ventilator shortage. First, we know where all of the ventilators are in new york by hospital. If we have a problem in any hospital, were going to take the ventilators that are not needed from the upstate hospitals and transport them to downstate new york or the hospitals that do need them, which, again, more and more are going to be on long island. And then well return them or well figure out the finances of it and make those hospitals whole. Were also increasing the number of ventilators by ending all elective surgeries. If you dont need an elective surgery, a hospital cannot perform it if its not critical, thats freeing up ventilators. Were also using anesthesia machine ventilators without the anesthesia, obviously, but using them as ventilators. Were also socalled splitting ventilators. We put out a protocol. All of the hospitals are practicing that now. One ventilator, who sets of tubes can do two patients. Its not easy, its not ideal, but its better than nothing. Were also converting whats called bipap machines, which are again, dont have the same force as a ventilator, but on an emergency basis some research has been done that since they can be suitable. Were also still in the business of looking for ventilators, to buy ventilators. Its too late to ask a company to make them. In any way that would work for our time frame. You look at our time frame, 7 days to 30 days, no one is going to be able to make a ventilator for you in that period of time. Nationwide, parts. Country that have a later curve, yes. You can give a company two months, three months, they can ramp up production, but not on our curve. So we have to find ventilators that we can buy and were still doing that. Again, the main place is china. Were converting the bipap machines. This has not been done before, but northwell, which is one of our premier Health Care Systems, has developed a protocol and theyre teaching the other hospitals how to do it. We just bought 3,000 bipap machines and 750 came in yesterday. So, yes, the burn rate of ventilators is troubling. And six days of ventilators in the stockpile is troubling. But we have all of these extraordinary measures that i believe if push comes to shove will put us in fairly good shape. I dont want to say yet im confident and it depends on how many we need, but i can say with confidence we have researched every possibility, every idea, every measure you can possibly take to find ventilators this state has done. That i can promise you. Were also going to open the Health Care Exchange Enrollment Period through may 15th. We have about 96 of the people in this state are covered with health insurance. If youre not covered, were extending the Enrollment Period to may 15th. Please get covered. You can go to the new york state of Health Website and sign up. My brother, my little brother, i only have one brother, christopher, tested positive for coronavirus. A lot of people are concerned about him, obviously. People in my family, but even beyond that. New yorkers are very compassionate and many people ask me about chris and how is he doing, not just for himself, but we keep talking about this coronavirus, coronavirus, coronavirus. Im afraid of it. Im anxious about it. What does it actually mean . Okay. Your brother has it. How is he doing . So a lot of people ask me that question. And i talk to him quite frequently. And he is doing okay. And i checked in with him this morning and asked him how he was feeling, and he was up and spry and much his normal self. I invited him to join us for a couple of minutes if he was up to it this morning. And i think he said that he was in a position to join us. And i asked him to join us by video if hes available. There he is. With his hat cuomo prime time. There, i saw it. This young looking lets get after it. Lets get after it. I love that saying. Youre looking fit and fin. Many people are asking about you. I tell you the truth, everyone i talk to is asking about you and how youre doing and how youre handling it and how you feel. Cara is here, by the way. Shes working with me now. Shes working on supplies, so