Cases could overwhelm the healthcare system, jeopardizing thousands of patients. Now, that surge has begun. In a startlingly quick ascent, new york reported today that the state was closing in on 8,000 positive tests, which is about half the cases in the entire country. The number was ten times higher than what was reported earlier this week. New york has ten times as many cases now as it did when we started this week. And part of that is increased testing. The state says they processed 10,000 more coronavirus tests overnight last night. But regardless of whether it reflects increased testing or not, its giving us more information about what new york is coping with. And the state is now close to 8,000 known cases. With more than 1,200 people hospitalized already. There are not infinite beds to put people in in new york hospitals, as they bare the brunt of the first wave of this illness in the United States. And the hospitals in new york, that already do not have enough beds, they also do not have the supplies they need to keep hospital workers and doctors and nurses from getting infected themselves. And they, of course, are the workforce that we must keep alive and uninfected and well enough to be working. As the hospitals fill up and spill over. First, in new york. And then, next, watch. Its happening. Quote, in the bronx, doctors at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health center say they have only a few remaining ventilators for patients who need them to breathe. In brooklyn, doctors at king county hospital say they are so low on supplies that they are reusing masks for up to a week, slargti slar slathering them with Hand Sanitizer between shifts. Here is new york citys mayor today trying to make clear that this isnt a future problem to worry about. This is whats happening now. And whatever happy talk you are hearing from the federal government about how things are under control and supplies are plentiful, well, where those supplies are actually needed right now, theyre not here. We dont have masks. We dont have ventilators. At the beginning of april, we will run out of basic medical supplies. Because of the intense strain thats being put, already, on our hospitals by this crisis. We literally will not have the things we need to save peoples lives. Im telling you, in two weeks time, or three weeks time, we will have nothing left. And i have not gotten a hint of an answer from the federal government about when resupply is coming. Theres no supplies moving. Right. Theres no military mobilization. We would know. I assure you, if we were receiving supplies. Were not we have not gotten the call saying heres your shipment. Heres when its coming. The president does not act within days to maximize the use of the defense production act to put every company that can produce a ventilator or a surgical mask or any other necessary supply, put them on full 24 7 production and guarantee that those products get to the front line. Get to where the need is greatest. If he doesnt do that in the next few days, if he does not mobilize the United States military immediately, not only will hundreds die around the nation who didnt need to die, thousands will die around the nation who didnt need to die. People who will die waiting to get into a hospital. People who will die at a hospital because there is no equipment. Or theres no medical personnel who can help them in time. Theres no supplies moving. We would know if we were receiving supplies. We are not receiving supplies. Heres the headline tonight in the wall street journal. Coronavirus cases strain new york City Hospitals. Quote, we are getting pounded. Swiftly rising number of patients. Sooner than expected. Leads to supply shortages. The journal reporting tonight that Medical Center in brooklyn has no more isolation space for coronavirus patients. They are full up. The journal also reporting that long island jewish Medical Center is now 90 full. Half the hospitals intensive care patients right now are coronavirus patients. The hospital is adding icu beds right now, tonight, as fast as they can. One doctor telling the paper, quote, were getting pounded. I have been in icu care for 15 years. And this is the worst ive ever seen things. Ive seen more cases in the last ten days of severe respiratory illness than we have seen in years. Quote, im very worried. To try to slow down the rate of new infections, remember, intensive care demand lags new infections by about three weeks. After people get infected, three weeks later, thats when those infections start to get reflected in emergency wards and intensive care wards. To try to slow down the rate of new infections, to try to slow the demand on hospital and intensive care beds, new york and illinois have now joined california as states that have full statewide stayathome orders. Announcement the first of these statewide orders last night, California Governor Gavin Newsom said without changes to slow the rate of infections in california, california expects 56 of the state would be infected within the next eight weeks. In a state as large as california, that means theyre saying more than 20 Million People would be infected within the next eight weeks, unless the state radically changes direction. And so a statewide stayathome order. Announced last night. Instituted as of last night. All the way across the country in the great state of louisiana, things are escalating quickly there, as well. Louisiana has more than 500 reported cases now. And that gives that state one of the highest per capita infection rates anywhere in the country. The mayor of new orleans tonight instituted a stayathome order for the city. Its along the lines of what is in place now statewide in california and new york and illinois. The Tulane Health system in new orleans is actually planning to shut down one emergency room in a new orleans suburb so they can move all the staff from that emergency room location, instead, to a downtown new orleans hospital where they are experiencing a large surge in coronavirus patients. Louisianas governor now telling the white house that he believes his state may be only seven days away from its hospitals being out of capacity. The white house released a transcript of his request for help. So we can see it in exact words. The governor saying, quote, my fear, based on modeling i have received today, is that in as early as seven days, we can start to exceed our capacity to deliver healthcare here. Im asking for help in terms of surging our medical capacity. The governor then goes on to ask, specifically, if the va hospital in new orleans, federal facility, might be a place where patients from the regular City Hospitals could be surged into as the hospitals start to overflow. In oregon state and in washington state, the states governors there, kate brown and jay inslee respectively, they have now ordered a halt to all nonurgent medical and dental procedures statewide. Anything that would require protective gear for Healthcare Providers because that gear is so key to whether or not doctors and nurses and other healthcare workers stay alive to take care of the rest of us. The Oregon Governor kate brown announcing that the state is actually rounding up protective equipment now. Like, masks and gloves. Rounding that stuff up. Collecting it from contractors and veterinarians and anybody else who is not using it for human healthcare right now. Oregon is also one of several states that is building new capacity. New beds. Last night, we reported on king county, washington, building a brand new 200bed hospital. That i am tempted to call a Field Hospital because they are building it in a soccer field. We reported on that last night in king county, washington. That is going up fast. One state south in the great state of oregon, they are also now building out a similar facility. A 250bed hospital that theyre putting up on the grounds of the oregon state fairgrounds. They are using a fairgrounds bil building thats about 50,000 square feet and they are converting it to hospital overflow. Frankly, states all over the country need to be doing things like this. Heres salem, oregon, today. Were at the lawn building where the hospital will be set up. And let me give you a look inside. This building is massive. Its 48,000 square feet. And, inside, theres heating and electricity. Governor brown said this morning the oregon medical station will become a 250bed emergency hospital. Right now, its unclear what level of care will be offered here. The governor said the Emergency Coordination Center is working on identifying 1,000 temporary hospital beds across the state to move patients to who do not have covid19. We do not yet know whether this will be that overflow or if itll be an emergency setup for critically ill coronavirus patients. I spoke with one of the project managers. Chris, who is working at the covid19 Emergency Coordination Center. He says uniformed military members are helping set this up. So he doesnt want the community to be alarmed if they see them. Theyre unloading hospital materials, like beds and other supplies, not military equipment. Questions like who will be staffing this hospital and what level of equipment is here . We dont, yet, know. Governor brown said this morning the hospital may be ready by friday. But ingersol says he doesnt think it will be operational then. And what is clear right now is that setting up the oregon medical station is a direct measure to flatten the curve and slow the spread of covid19. So theyre calling it the oregon medical station. Oregon is building this capacity right now. They say they want a thousand beds that they need to get in very short order across that state. Theyre using military resources to get 250 beds up and running right now. Again, theyre calling it the oregon medical station. But theyre building it at the oregon state fairgrounds. In washington state, they want even more surplus beds. They want 3,000 beds in washington state. They have already been buying and leasing hotels and motels. Yesterday, they started standing up a hospital on a soccer field. Were actually going to talk with the king county commissioner over the course of this hour to talk about how his county, how hes been able to basically get so on the ball about that stuff sw get that stuff in motion. Get those beds in use. While the rest of the country has lagged so far behind. In chicago, the commissioner of Public Health said today that the city has assigned its first contract for hospital overflow and quarantine beds in chicago. Now, the commissioner did not announce what that first contracted facility is for chicago. But they say theyre looking at empty schools and dormitories. Even convents. And chicago is expecting to stand up thousands of beds. Again, to try to keep chicago hospitals from being overwhelmed. In california, the governor says they will be trying to add tens of thousands of beds. The governor there signed an executive order last week that allows the state to commandeer, to take over, medical facilities and hotels. He signed that executive order last week. He now says the process of doing that is underway. Today, we just secured a very large hospital in northern california. Its now part of our portfolio and we are going to populate that hospital. Tomorrow, we will announce a hospital in southern california. Thats 750 beds, those two hospitals combined. We start to stack this. 750 here. The motels that were currently and hotels were currently negotiating with. We start stacking those master leases for those hotels. Were working i had very, very positive conversations with the leaders of two of the finest Public University systems in the world. Uc and the California State University system. Were working with those systems to identify appropriate dormitories to help us with the surge. We start stacking those numbers. California, washington, oregon, the city of chicago, louisiana asking to please use the va facility. Which makes sense, probably, in the short run. Except the va has done almost no testing of veterans already in its care and the numbers theyre showing early on from the few tests they have done show that the va is going to have their own very serious challenge with their own patient load. Particularly, given that they have so many older patients. In terms of the happy talk weve had on this front from the federal government, there is no sign that the Navy Hospital ships that the president made such a big deal of, the comfort and the mercy, there is no sign that theyll be anywhere onsite helping out anywhere in the country for weeks yet. The president said when he announced that those ships would be put into action against the covid19 epidemic. He said one of those ships would be operational in new york harbor by next week. Thats nonsense. It will not be there next week. The army is talking about deploying a combat support hospital and a Field Hospital. Potentially, to new york and also to seattle. That would certainly be a help. As we understand it, a combat support hospital typically has about 250 beds, including about 50 icu beds. A Field Hospital is much smaller. Less than 100 beds. But a Field Hospital can also support icu beds, including with ventilators. So thats not a lot of capacity that the army is talking about. One combat support hospital. One Field Hospital. If theyre only talking about deploying one of each of those, thats not much. But every little bit will help. It would be helpful, in particular, if they are able to move those fast. Again, it looks like, tonight, new york is already getting the first blast in terms of hospital capacity. There is talk in new york about potentially converting the gigantic Javits Center into bed space. Again, to hospital overflow space. They are also talking about potentially using Madison Square garden or the student dorms at nyu in new york university. And it is presumed that the u. S. Military will help with setting those up. Or with converting those spaces into hospital overflow. But with new york hospitals, already, filling up tonight, just talking about the prospect of doing that at some point is is late already. I mean, the the thing that new york officials believe they are heading toward is something akin to the situation in northern italy, which experts say epidemiologically speaking is about ten days to two weeks ahead of where the United States is in terms of its increase in cases. And about the same distance ahead of new york city in terms of a hospital influx. This is the main hospital in lombardy province. Its one of the most advanced hospitals in europe. But its the most hard hit in all the hospitals of italy. The town is the center of the epidemic here. This isnt a ward. This is a waiting room. Wherever you go, people are on gurneys and corridors and meeting rooms. Theyre everywhere. All the medical staff urge other nations to see whats happening and lock their nations down, right now, or face this. What i would suggest is just shut down to stop all the outbreak. And not come in this kind of situation. That is very, very difficult to manage. Can i ask you, personally, what its been like . I never felt so stress in my life. Im im an intensivist and i quite used to, you know, intense moment and choices. And people are critical and will die without any, you know, treatment and you make the difference. But when youre at this point, you realize that you are not enough. Maybe all the we are 100 here. We are doing our best but maybe its not enough. We are performing the test for the nasal swab to detect coronavirus. The problem facing Health Services across the world is that when the infection curve goes up, it rockets. And all the resources, all the testing, all the supplies are used up instantly. Multiple hospitals, all at once. Italy reported its largest singleday death toll today. 627 people died in the last 24 hours. And even as italy struggles and struggles and tries to keep up, china just sent a team of experts who just went through their coronavirus catastrophe to try to advise and help out with the situation in northern italy. The Vice President of the chinese red cross, on that visit to northern italy, said that from what he can observe, what italy is doing to try to slow the rate of new infections, which are, frankly, the kinds of measures we are just lackadaisically starting right now in a few states in this country, the chinese officials who just went through this in their own country are visiting italy. And they say what italy is doing is not nearly strict enough to make enough of a difference. Quote, here in milan, he said, the hardesthit area by covid19, the lockdown measures are very lax. I can see public transport is still running. People are still moving around, having gatherings in hotels and they are not wearing masks. Quote, i dont know what people here are thinking. We really have to stop our usual Economic Activities and our usual human interactions. We have to stay at home and make every effort to save lives. It is worth putting every cost we have into saving lives. Again, thats what the head of the chinese red cross is telling northern italy about how well theyre doing in their nationwide lockdown effort. Their nationwide lockdown effort in italy is effectively the same kind of stay at home order that only three u. S. States have thus far adopted. And those three, only in the last 24 hours. So here we go. There was some more happy talk from the white house today about how plentiful our National Supply of ventilators is. Theres no problem there. And also how plentiful the supply of masks and personal protective equipment is. Theres tons of that stuff. Murmuring from the white house that there will maybe be some additional manufacturing of those things. But well see. Lets hope so. I mean, if those things do eventually start getting manufactured in greater numbers because the federal government decide to do something about it, lets hope all those things come with a time machine, too, to turn back the clock on these last three months that have been wasted while the white house was saying this was a hoax. I dont know if the federal government is ever going to get it together. But as of now, with the first hospitals in america reporting that they are all filled up, we are out of time waiting for the federal government to get it together. The bestrun states, the clearesteyed leaders in the bestrun states right now are just going on their own. They have to be now. And if your state isnt, you should not hope that there will be some kind of federal response that will step up to fix things when things start to get dark in your state over the next few weeks. States, we have learned, have to go on their own. Yes, we need a National Manufacturing mandate for ventilators. We need that. We need a National Manufacturing mandate and a National Coordination effort for the distribution of protective equipment for Healthcare Providers and the other crucial supplies theyre already running out of. And rationing and unsafely reusing. And, yeah, weeks ago, we needed a National Effort to get millions of coronavirus tests in the field. Weve needed all of these things from the federal government. The federal government is failing at all of these things. And that is lamentable and i lament it. But its not stopping the virus. Right . Its not stopping these things from moving forward. Its not stopping the influx at our hospitals from starting as of today. So lament it all you want but if youre a state official, the lesson is go. Go now. You want the president to use the defense protection act to ramp up production of medical supplies . Look. I am i am if i had a new York State Defense production act, i would use it, jesse. I dont have it. So what im saying is ill pay businesses more. Ill ill start a ill fund a new business if you can make these products. Im trying to make these products. If you are in this this line of work, you know, we need masks. If you are making clothing, figure out if you can make masks. Ill fund it. So im doing everything i can to increase the production. If youre making clothing, figure out if you can make masks for nurses. And new york state will pay you. I mean, thats where were at. Thats where were at. Lots of expert help lined up to help us get through the news. Do stay with us. E news do stay with us. 5 indicators of brain performance. Memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. Try neuriva for 30 days and see the difference. [ siren ] doug give me your hand i can save you. Lots of money with Liberty Mutual we customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Shouldnt you pay less when now you can. Data . Because Xfinity Mobile gives 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. Call, click or visit a store today. Within the last few minutes, the president has just declared new york state a federal major disaster. This was something that was sought by both of new yorks senators Chuck Schumer and gillibrand. This federal major disaster declaration will open up more lines of money and aid for new york. As the state struggles, already, with the initial large influx of hospital patients and intensive care patients. Tonight in washington state, governor jay inslee is also asking the president to declare a federal major disaster in his state, as well. Again, to help them deal with the spiraling crisis of the coronavirus epidemic. The governors request comes as king county, washington, which includes seattle, now reports a total of 793 confirmed cases. Thats up 100 from yesterday. King county is also now confirming 67 deaths. Seven deaths confirmed just in the past 24 hours. Regardless of what the federal government ends up offering, a hardhit Community Like king county, washington, local officials there have not been waiting around for help. Chief among the early identified needs in king county is having enough room in the hospitals there. Preserving hospital beds so sick people can be safely isolated and so that everybody who needs care can get it. Way back on march 2nd, the king county executive, man named dow constantine, announced that the county would plan to buy a motel to convert it into a facility where people could be isolated. The county looked at properties that fit certain criteria, like having hard surfaces that could be easily and repeatedly cleaned. They wanted facilities with separate hvac systems in each room. The county ended up purchasing a motel with 85 beds. As of last weekend, county officials announced they are leasing another motel to house and isolate more people. And then two days ago, king county started building their latest facility on a soccer field in the city of shoreline. Which will be ultimately 200 beds. King county estimates theyre still going to need about 3,000 more beds. And so they are looking for even more facilities to use for isolation, quarantine, recovery, hospital overflow. King county, washington, is not just talking about what what could be done. They are doing it. Theyre not waiting around for the cavalry. Theyre doing everything they can. And theyre doing it themselves. And their efforts have come with some local friction. Some some not in my backyard objections. But the King County Executive Dow Constantine has defended how hard the countys been working. He said, quote, epidemiologists tell us that left unmitigated, the number of people with this infection roughly doubles every five to seven days, possibly quicker during this period in the diseases evolution. That fact underscores the urgency with which we are implementing these Community Mitigation measures, as well as purchasing, siting, and setting up places for people to recover and isolate themselves. We must take time to be sure to get this right. But we must also act with urgency and leave no one behind. Again, that was earlier this month. I am willing to bet he feels the same way now. But lets ask him. Joining us now is dow constantine. Sir, thanks very much for being here tonight. I appreciate you making the time. Thanks for having me, rachel. So as i understand it, you have one motel open that youve converted this kind of use. Another that youre about to open. You have got this hospital under construction. Tell me about the sense of urgency. Tell me about what you think would happen in king county if you werent building out that additional capacity. Well, what you just showed happening in italy is what we are looking to avoid. What weve been working hard for more than a month to avoid, which is hospital overcrowding. Hospitals having to turn people away. The people who need that acute hospital care, not being able to get it. So we are pushing for 3,000 units for people to be outside of the hospital. Still recuperating or being isolated or getting an appropriate level of care. But we keep those few hospital beds available for the folks who really need them. How difficult is it to get these facilities up and running . I know some of them, youre building from scratch. Literally, popping them up in fields. But in other places, you are taking existing facilities and repurposing them. As other communities around the country look at what you are doing and are trying to figure out how they can replicate it, what can you tell them about how hard, how expensive this is, and how much time it takes . As you know, we already had a housing crisis here. So we are taking a yes and approach. If there is a vacant motel or hotel, we will get it. If theres an open field and we can get a large tent, well take that. Were putting up modular units on governmentowned property around the region. Were even converting an old shelder that we shelter into respite for the hospitals. In terms of the extent to which you are serving as a model for the country and im not sure why there isnt more National Attention as to what youre doing. I think what you are doing is stuff that does need to happen all around the country. I guess if you imagined that you were speaking to other Public Officials right now who feel like what youre doing is too hard or like its beyond their can in terms of what they think their jobs are about. Do you have any words of encouragement for them about how this is doable . Or what they should do . Who they should talk to to make it more doable . Particularly, if it seems like an insurmountable task. Rachel, you were talking about this earlier. The federal government has rendered itself incapable of really rising to the occasion in this sort of national emergency. So we are left here at the state and local level to do what we can to provide for the people. And one thing we know we have to do to save lives is to maintain that hospital space. So whether you have to bo borro the money. Whether you have to upset some people in neighborhoods, you have to get that space up to get people out of hospital to allow hospitals the space to care for those who need it. I went to our harbor view Medical Center last week with mayor jenny durkan of seattle and we saw the folks there on ventilators. It is truly harrowing. And to think we might not have the space for them to be admitted or there might not be enough ventilators for the people who need them is terrifying. So faced with that, we are going to do everything within our power as local government, including borrowing up to 100 million from ourselves, to set up the space we need to save lives. Dow constantine. King county executive. Really appreciate you joining us tonight. And i know that the last thing you want to do is lots of National Media interviews but i hope more people call you to get the word out about what you are doing because it is a real model for the country. Thanks for being here. Thank, rachel. So we are all depending on healthcare workers in this current crisis. Turns out they are also depending on us and letting us know it. That story is next. Stay with us. S next stay with us has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. Memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. Try neuriva for 30 days and see the difference. 1 in 3 deaths is caused by cardiovascular disease. Millions of patients are treated with statinsbut up to 75 persistent cardiovascular risk still remains. Many have turned to fish oil supplements. Others, fenofibrates or niacin. But heres a number you should take to heart zerothe number of fda approvals these products have, when added to statins, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Ask your doctor about an advancement in prescription therapies with proven protection. Visit truetoyourheart. Com do you have a sewing machine . Do you know how to sew . Are you good with your sewing machine . Maybe by any chance, you live in the seattle area . Providence hospital in rentin, washington, is looking for anyone with a, quote, willing heart and the ability to sew to help protect caregivers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. The hospital is literally signing up people who can sew at providence. Org for what they are calling the 100 Million Masks challenge. They are asking for the community to help create medicalgrade masks for healthcare workers who are desperate now for protective equipment. So they can keep doing their jobs. This is not the way that American Healthcare workers are supposed to be getting personal protective equipment. But this is what weve got. How about any of you out there in oklahoma . Anybody out there in oklahoma with a sewing machine, a good set of hands . The stillwater Medical Center in oklahoma is also looking for people to sew masks. If you go to buttoncounter. Com and search for face mask, you will find a tutorial of exactly what they are looking for. In that case, in oklahoma, they are looking for masks to be worn by the worried well. So people will stop buying up the medical ones so actual actual medical workers can use those. Last night, we reported that the president of mass general, Massachusetts General Hospital in boston, was broadly appealing for anybody who has a 3d printer to try to help out as well. Asking for people with 3d printers to start printing medicalgrade masks. Well, update to that. This morning on the today show, the president of that hospital said he had heard from over 100 individuals and Companies Offering to help. Mass generals also giving out this email that you see on the screen. Research institute at mgh. Harvard. Edu for those with expertise who want to work with their researchers on that project. Everybody out there. Hospitals need help from regular civilians who didnt know we knew how to do this stuff. You may have seen pictures of er workers and their masks and gowns along with the hashtag get me ppe. Get me personal protective equipment. Drawing attention to the desperate need for basic equipment like masks and gowns and gloves. That campaign was started by somebody on the front lines of that effort. An er doctor in portland, oregon, who saw the need, who experienced it herself, and decided, well, lets just try it. Lets just ask the world for help. Joining us now is that doctor. Esther chu. Er doctor and associate professor in portland. Doctor, thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me on, rachel. It does feel ridiculous for people with sewing machines and people with 3d printers to be activated here. It only feels slightly more ridiculous than Construction Companies and contractors being asked to donate their masks, as well. But the campaign that you started and the way that its resonate around the country with doctors and nurses and Healthcare Providers everywhere saying, yeah, the shortage is real. Its its starting to seem like this stuff isnt farfetched. Yeah. I mean, this really feels, to me, like some sort of dystopian novel where regular processes have completely broken down. And were doing these really surreal things. Like dropping by the home depot on our way into a shift or asking our friends and neighbors to sew basic medical equipment for us. So that we can have some semblance of being safe when we go in to take care of these patients but thats where we are. And ill tell you speaking for many Healthcare Providers im talking to. I mean, this is one thing that we are fixated on because its the first layer of protection as we simply go in and see people and take care of them. But we are already thinking ahead to if this supply does not come through, if were not really able to reproduce medicalgrade equipment through these kind of ways, we are thinking ahead to the hard decisions we have to make. I mean, can we continue to ask this entire workforce to go into rooms where theyre not adequately protected, knowing that they are going to be exposed to patients with covid, get sick themselves, and then and then not be available to take care of hundreds or thousands of other patients. There is some really tough ethical decisions were going to have to make at some point. I mentioned early in the show and i used sort of harsh language. I said theres been quite a bit of happy talk from the white house, from the federal government, in terms of the availability of this kinds of equipment. We have seen the president and Vice President say theres tens of millions of masks on order. And that there is going to be plentiful supply. Not only of masks and protective equipment but also of complex equipment like ventilators. Its frustrating to me just as an observer to see the distance between what the white house is talking about and what providers, like yourself, are describing in terms of the ground reality. But i have to ask you over these past couple weeks, does it feel like anythings getting any better in terms of supplies of this kind of stuff . I really want to be positive. You know, i i want to give people hope. I am listening and watching all the news that youre talking about, and im hearing some positive messages. And i think on the ground we would love to see those things. I will say hospital administrators, Public Health officials, are working very hard and trying to be very creative doing the kind of public campaigns that youre talking about. On the ground, were not seeing the were not really seeing the delivery of items that were hearing from from our countrys administration. So i havent, unfortunately, seen it yet. Were waiting and were optimistic. And then, in the meantime, we will do what we can with what we have. And i also want to say, you know, face masks, gowns, gloves, respirators, ventilator machines. I mean, these are the kinds of things that weve been talking about. They represent one part of many, many different types of resources that we are going to run short on. I mean, something we havent really talked a lot about is we are, right now, facing a National Shortage of albuterol inhalers. The kind of things that get worse when you have a respiratory viral illness like covid19. So as we get over this first hurdle, if we do get over this first hurdle of things like face masks, we are then going to be talking about vital medications we have a shortage of. We are going to be talking about how much supply do we have of these experimental therapies that we are using to treat covid19 . And then on and on to rooms and ventilators, other advanced icu equipment. And then and then how we sustain the workforce of not just doctors and nurses but respiratory therapists, pharmacists. Really the complex team you need in every hospital to take care of very, very sick patients. So this issue of were lacking fill in the blank, it starts here with basic things like face masks and gloves. This conversation is not going to end. Itll just be the the next shortage du jour for a while, i fear. No, we need a warsized National Response to address these things each in turn. All of them. Its remarkable. Dr. Esther choo. Er doctor in portland, oregon. Doctor, id like to ask you to come back and talk to us again in coming days as things start to evolve in portland, wed love to have you back with us again. Anytime, thank you, rachel. More ahead. Stay with us. Ith usvitation to lexus sales event now through march 31st. Lease the 2020 rx350 for 409 a month for 36 months and well make your first months payment. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Accoshe spends too much time on the internet. According to the census, she just needs a few minutes more. The census is now online. And by answering a few simple questions, youll help inform where public funding will get distributed for things like medicare, community centers, Public Transit and more. Then you can get back to whatever you were doing in no time at all. Shape your future. Start here. Complete the census at 2020census. Gov. I opened a sofi money account and it was the first time that i realized i could be earning interest back on my money. I just discovered sofi, and im an investor with a diversified portfolio. Who am i . i refinanced with sofi and i was able to cut my Interest Rate by forty percent. Thank you sofi. Good morning, mr. Sun. Good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. Im gonna grow big and strong. Yes, you are. Im gonna get this place all clean. Ill give you a hand. And im gonna put lisa on crutches wait, what . Said shes gonna need crutches. She fell pretty hard. You might want to clean that up, girl. Excuse us. When owning a Small Business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. And im gonna eh, eh, eh. Donny, no. Oh. Than Rheumatoid Arthritis or Psoriatic Arthritis. When considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz xr, a oncedaily pill for adults with moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis or active Psoriatic Arthritis for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. It can reduce pain, swelling, and significantly improve physical function. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections like tb; dont start xeljanz if you have an infection. Taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra can increase risk of death. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. As have tears in the stomach or intestines, serious allergic reactions, and changes in lab results. Tell your doctor if youve been somewhere fungal infections are common, or if youve had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. Dont let another morning go by without asking your doctor about xeljanz xr. I know we ought to be getting used to this kind of thing by now. But im not. This has been prescribed for many years for problem, and its very effective. Its a strong its a strong drug. So well see. Its also apparently effective against sars. It was very it was, as i understand that, is that a correct statement . It was fairly effective on sars. John, youve got to be careful when you say fairly effective. It was never done in a clinical trial. They compared it to anything. Youve got to be careful when you say fairly effective. President trump today again just flatout wrong in public about this malaria drug that has gotten suspect in his mind, quite some distance from the facts. Yesterday President Trump proclaimed that that drug had been approved as a coronavirus treatment and would be available almost immediately for use. Within moments, the fda had to clean that up because that is not true at all. It is not at all approved for coronavirus treatment. But the president loves saying things like, you know, theres a drug weve got. Its very effective. Its approved already. Everybodys going to get it. He loves saying things like that because that would be a lovely thing to be able to tell people unless, of course, thats not true, in which case telling people a fairy tale like that is cruel and harmful and needlessly diverting and wildly irresponsible from anyone in any leadership role. Its actually wildly irresponsible if somebody said that to you from a barstool, if any of us could go to bars anymore. But to get that from somebody at the president ial podium . Nevertheless, he keeps doing it. We have repeatedly heard from the president that the virus was well contained, that it was well under control, that it was going to disappear. Remember that . Like a miracle, he said it was going to disappear. In terms of material, tangible promises, President Trump claimed that wed have 1. 4 million tests available this week. Of course weve seen nowhere near that. Weve done about a tenth of that. Last week trump announced that google was developing a website to help people decide if they needed testing and where they could go to get it. It was going to be very quickly done, he said, unlike websites of the past. Turns out, of course, that that website is still in the early stages of development and currently its only being tested in one part of california, and its not even really working just for that. President trump announced this week that the navy was sending two medical ships, one to new york city, one to the west coast, to help treat patients. He said those ships would be launched over the next week or so depending on need. Wrong. That was also wrong as nbcs Courtney Kube puts it, quote, its anybodys guess as to when those ships will come in. One of those ships is currently undergoing maintenance. It has no medical personnel onboard. The other one is also undergoing maintenance and it lacks a medical crew altogether. The president said it will be there next week. It wont be there next week. The president has claimed that the government has, quote, massive amounts of ventilators. Maybe in normal times, i guess you might say that. But in a crisis like this, the governments stockpile of ventilators will not be nearly enough to satisfy the demand. We need literally tens of thousands more than we have. He has said similar things about face masks and other protective equipment for health workers. He told a group of nurses this past week that the government had ordered 500 million n95 respirator masks. He declined to mention that order will take 18 months to fill if were lucky. Millions of masks. Dont worry. Oh, nurses, what are you worrying about . Millions of masks are coming. You just need to wait a year and a half before you might i mean there is a clear pattern here in this crisis. The president promising stuff he knows america would love to hear, but its not true. And even stuff that hes saying that he will do, that the federal government will do, hes not doing. And so the specific way in which the president is failing now is clear. We have said from the very beginning, watch what they do, not what they say. Thats very, very, very relevant here, and i say this not to vent my outrage or anything. I am over that frankly at this point. Im just saying it because i feel like we should inoculate ourselves against the harmful impact of these ongoing false promises and false statements by the president by recognizing that when he is talking about the coronavirus epidemic more often than not, he is lying. Even when hes talking about what he has done or what he will do, he is consistently lying and giving you happy talk that is stuff that the federal government isnt actually doing. And its making people around the country count on the fact that the federal government is doing that stuff when theyre not. There may be other people in the federal government who are saying things that are true, but these daily briefings from the white house are a litany of things from the president that would be awesome if they were true, if they were happening, but theyre not. And so the sooner we come to terms with that, i think the better for all of us. If it were up to me and its not i would stop putting those briefings on live tv, not out of spite but because its misinformation. If the president does end up saying anything true, you can run it as tape. But if he keeps lying like he has been every day on stuff this important, we should, all of us, should stop broadcasting it. Honestly, its going to cost lives. I use rakuten to get cash back instore and online. Rakuten is free to sign up and its in over 3,000 stores. I use it to buy makeup. Travel. Clothes, electronics. To me, rakuten is a great way to get cash back on anything you buy. Sign up today and rack it up with rakuten. The network has to be prepared to absorb whatever is going to come its way. Were always preparing. Make sure that the network is working all the time. We are constantly looking at it, were constantly monitoring. We take that responsibility very seriously. The most rewarding thing about the work we do is whenever we see a customer able to communicate back to their loved ones. That is why we do what we do. vo were relentlessly committed to the network. So in times like this, we can all stay connected to work, school, and most importantly, to each other. Thats unnecessarily complicated. Make ice. Making ice. But youre not because you have e trade which isnt complicated. Their tools make trading quicker and simpler so you can take on the markets with confidence. Dont get mad get e trade. So you can take on the markets with confidence. I appreciate what makes each person unique. Thats why i like Liberty Mutual. They get that no two people are alike and customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Almost done. What do you think . I dont see it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Shouldnt you pay less when now you can. Data . Because Xfinity Mobile gives you more flexible data. 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See you again on monday. Good evening. Im ali velshi picking up msnbcs continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. The death toll has now risen to 277 here in the United States. Over 23,000 are infected. Today the governor of new jersey issued a stay at home order for the 9 Million People in his state new york, illinois, california have already issued similar directives, leaving streets empty and businesses shuttered. And it all comes as doctors, nurses and Health Care Professionals across the country are continuing to sound alarm bells about shortages of supplies like masks and nt