Governor abbott first, i want to thank everybody for being here today. As i provide you an update on where we are as of today, as well as some new additional information. First, i want to let you know that as of today, the Texas State HealthDepartment Says that the state of texas now has tested positive 715 texans, testing positive for covid19. Once again, the number that the state Health Department provides differs a little bit from the figures that are provided by Johns Hopkins. The reason for that is because Johns Hopkins provides some additional cases that may not yet be confirmed. The two numbers are working close and parallel. The state department pronounces 715 people have tested positive. Johns hopkins counts 810. Its my understanding that Johns Hopkins also includes in their numbers those who have been brought into the state of texas from those cruise ships. The number of deaths as of today is now 11. The number of counties affected by this is now 65. And the total number of tests that have been conducted in the state of texas now exceed 11,000. To put that in context, when i made my disaster declaration we had tested 220 people. As of friday on march 20, which was just last friday, we tested just over 2300 people. As of today, we have now tested more than 11,000 people. You can expect the number of tests to continue to go up every single day. We are doing a great job with our local communities to make sure that more and more tests are getting out, understanding that our collective goal is to be able to test as many people as possible. Im very proud of both the counties working in collaboration with the state, working with fema, to create all these additional drivethrough locations where people can be tested. In addition, very proud of the private sector, especially the private sector medical centers that are providing testing locations across the entire state of texas. And then of course our Public Health authorities also are providing testing. Altogether we will be testing as many people as possible, understanding this also, and that is, i was on a telephone conference yesterday with the Vice President , as well as other federal officials and they were talking about a dramatic increase in the amount of testing capabilities that will be provided to all the states, including the state of texas. Now, one thing that we have a high demand for, and that is more supplies, more supplies of masks, of gloves, of gowns, of everything that would be categorized as personal protection equipment. The people who are administering the covid19 tests to the patients must be wearing this personal protection equipment. Those who are treating them in hospitals, those who are First Responders who may be responding to them, they need this type of equipment. I am proud to say that we are loaded with a lot of equipment. Im going to turn around here, where is the equipment . All of this, everything you see behind me, these pallets are loaded with different the pallets behind me are loaded with different types of equipment. I want to tell you more about in a second. But before i tell but that, this is just todays supply. There was a supply load in yesterday that was shipped out yesterday evening and is being distributed across the state of texas as we speak. That included 10,000 masks. It includes those personal protection equipmenttype suits, as well as tents. Now, as i informed you the last press conference i had, we, in order to accelerate our ability to both assemble and then disperse, all of the supplies that are needed, we created a supply chain strike force so we can more rapidly address these needs. Yesterday that strike force placed an order for more than 80 million worth of supplies. By the end of this week, the Texas Division of Emergency Management will be receiving approximately 100,000 masks per day. Next week, in addition to that, the strike force, separate from the Texas Division of Emergency Management, should get an additional 100,000 masks per day. Altogether, next week, texas should be getting more than a Million Masks per week. One thing that were very proud of is that there are so many people and so Many Organizations across the state of texas who see the need for the masks, for the personal protection equipment, for the gloves, for all the different types of supplies that are so desperately needed. As a result theres been an outpouring of support from medical groups, from other types of groups across the state of texas who have offered up supplies like those that are behind me today. They include dr. Rios, president of the Texas Associate of plastic surgeons. Today he delivered 1,000 masks, 1,000 gloves and hundreds of gowns. Others who are stepping up to help meet our needs include the c. E. O. And president of the Texas Construction association. The president of the texas medical association. The president of the Austin Society of plastic surgeons. The governor of the texas chapter of American College of cardiology. And the Texas Society of periodontitis. In addition to, that the Texas Department of transportation has provided 3,500 n95 masks to be distributed. Now, were so pleased and proud and grateful for everyone who is offering donations. And we get so many calls every day and we have that Strike Force Team who is response to have those calls. If you are interested in donating anything, it could be masks, it could be personal protection equipment, it could be gloves, it could be any type of supply thats needed to help anybody respond to the covid19 challenge, we have a website for you. Go to www. Texas. Gov. That is www. Texas. Gov. You can go there if you want to donate this personal protection equipment. Any type of medical supply, or , we know that we are getting many requests by people to volunteer. And we want any type of volunteer we can get. There is a special qualification type of volunteer that were looking for, we know some of you are looking to get involved. It could be doctors or nurses. We are looking to expand our capacity of medical professionals who can help current medical facilities or future medical facilities that we will be setting up to staff those facilities. So if you are involved in the medical profession in any way whatsoever, go to www. Texas. Gov. And youll find at the top of the page a site that you can click on where you can either volunteer your time or volunteer to provide supplies. Another issue that we are keenly focused on is making sure that every community in the state is going to have available all the beds that are needed in order to take care of the medical needs of anybody who is infected with covid19 who may need a bed. So we, in the aftermath of the telephone conference that we had with the Vice President yesterday, i am issuing two executive orders to ensure that the Vice President s request is going to be satisfied. One is an order that has already been made, and that is to postpone all surgeries and procedures that are not medically necessary and an order than creases the number of beds we have in our hospitals, having two beds as opposed to one. These to two strategies alone will dramatically increase the number of beds that will be available to take care of people who become infected with covid19. And then on top of that, im issuing an executive order today, consistent with the instructions by the Vice President yesterday, the purpose of this is to ensure that the state of texas, every agency in the state of texas, and very importantly, every private sector tester of covid19 is fully and quickly submitting information to the state of texas. And the state of texas will in turn submit the information to c. D. C. What this executive order requires is hospitals submit daily reports on hospital bed capacity to the state Health Department. It also requires all Health Care Providers submit daily reports of covid19 tests. A couple of other comments, and then im going to pass the mic. One is, let me go back over the standards that are expected to be in compliance with the executive order i issued. We have a goal in this state and that is to ensure that everyone is doing Everything Possible to mitigate and reduce the spread of covid19. The best way to do that is for the state of texas to implement the standards established by the c. D. C. The standards that i established in my executive order they copy pretty much word for word the standards that the c. D. C. Articulated and that the president ial commission articulated. And they include these concepts. One, no gathering of more than 10 people in any type of group. Two, bars and restaurants are closed with the exception that restaurants can be open for delivery of food or food to be picked up, understanding how important it is in these times that all sources of food availability be available so that anybody who needs access to food will be able to get it. It also includes, and this is hugely important, and that is limiting the ability of any nonessential person to go into any Senior Living facility. We must do all that we can in the state of texas to safeguard the health and safety of our seniors in Nursing Homes or Senior Living centers. And then of course was the component of the executive order, that closed all schools in the state of texas. The state of texas is following the c. D. C. Mandated standards to ensure that we as a state are doing our part to slow the spread. We have a countrywide goal and that is over the next 15 days, we want to slow the spread of the coronavirus in our country. Now, let me just say that we want to emphasize that as texans, were all in this together. We have certain simple things that we all can and we all must do. One is to maintain this practice of social distancing. If at all possible, stay home. If youre out and about, regardless of what you may be doing, you need to understand that you are compromising your health, youre potentially exposing yourself to contracting covid19. As a result, the best thing that you can do to ensure that we are not spreading covid19 in the state of texas is stay home unless you need to be out. Second, we are working daily to ensure that we expand our Hospital Capacity in every region of the state of texas, to ensure that if there comes a time for a need for more hospital beds, those beds will be available. Third thing that we are doing is to ensure that we are increasing medical capacity. The doctors and nurses and other medical personnel we have in this state, they are the soldiers on the front line of this war against covid19. We need more soldiers on that front line. As a result, we are enlisting every doctor, every nurse, every medical personnel that we can find. There may be some who are retired there. May be some who are still in Nursing School who qualify under my executive order, expanding the scope of the nurses who can be involved in helping out and responding to covid19. There may be some who are from another state. You can come into the state of texas and provide your services here. If you are someone or you know of someone in the medical sector who can help us out in ensuring were doing all we can to respond to covid19, be sure and let us know. And the last thing is, of course, that we are and we will continue to be very aggressive in aggregating as much personal protection equipment, medical supplies and Testing Capacity as we possibly can. And then just remember this. A reminder about who we are as a people. Were texans. Texans are always resilient. And we will once again, as we always do, show the world how texans respond when we come together. And when we come together, nothing can defeat us. Instead, when we come together, together we will defeat covid19 in the state of texas. At this time im proud to introduce luis rios, for him to talk about his presentation. Thank you, governor. As the president of the Texas Society of plastic surgeons and a proud citizen of the rio grande valley, i want to thank you for having us here during these discussions of covid19. I also want to thank the fellow plastic surgeons who came out, mostly from austin. Dr. Kerr and the synergy group. The Austin Society of plastic surgeons. We have some standing over here. Were practicing social distancing. They couldnt be here behind us, but theyre here supporting us. You know, governor, typically plastic surgeons are not in the front lines of treating people with covid19. However, there are things that we can do that can actually help this pandemic crisis. So with that in mind, ive reached out to all the members of the Texas Society of plastic surgeons and asked them to provide as much p. P. E. As possible to the Governors Office and you can see back here some of this is from the response of the Texas Society of plastic surgeons and more is on the way. Im being assured by a lot of my members that they will be sending more. In addition to that, last weekend we aligned with your governors executive order and the guidance of the texas medical board to encourage and prohibit our members from stopping any nonurgent or elective procedures. We we do believe in the concepts and benefits of doing this. We want to be a part of the solution. We dont want to be a part of the problem. We want to be a part of the solution. So, again, i want to thank you for having us here. For this discussion. We really appreciate your leadership and guidance. And if theres anything else that we can do for you, please reach out to us and well be there for you. Governor abbott thank you so much for that. Thank you for what youre doing to show how texans will come together and respond to covid19. Thank you. Governor abbott sure. Next ill call up dr. Hellerstedt. Good afternoon. Im the commissioner for the Texas Department of state health services. And i think i just want to echo the messages that the governors put out. When we look around us we see that people are eager and are practicing the very things were asking them to do. We can look around us and see that were taking it very seriously in our communities. The social distancing, the aspects of personal hygiene, and cleanliness. I can absolutely guarantee you that those are the steps that will prevent the spread of the disease and the things that will make us safer. I want to mention also my fellow physicians, the medical community. And you can see how eager they are to step up and be part of the solution. So together, as the governor has said, we will defeat covid19. The things we need to do are simple. But theyre also things that we all need to do together, to be successful. Thank you. Governor abbott thank you. Next, the chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. Thank you, governor. First, i want to thank all of the texans that are heeding the orders of the governor and of their local elected officials and their Public Health authorities. Listening to that message is the number one thing you can do to safeguard your family. Second, i want to thank those who have donated generously. The physicians behind us are not making a dollar on this. The work theyre doing bringing their supplies and their p. P. E. Forward is very good and i keep encouraging those donations. Please go to texas. Gov, look at that website. There are several places. I just checked it on my phone. Its up and running. Please, lets try to fill that thing with the donations as much as we can today. Third, this is an unprecedented event. As weve said all along. But our state and our nation has a way of dealing with unprecedented events. Its the National Incident management system. Its the tried and true methods that weve been using for every hurricane, every wildfire, every flood, every disaster, and every terror attack on this nation. And together, working the system, well get through. This thank you. Governor abbott thank you. Well take a few questions. Reporter [indiscernible] Governor Abbott my order is predicated on and will remain predicated on the advice of, first, dr. Hellerstedt, the chief doctor for the state of texas. Second, these conferences that im involved in with the white house, they include dr. Deborah birx, you may have seen her on tv, dr. Fauci, and others. And so these conferences i participate in are conferences with all the governors of all the states. We have the ability to interact with people like dr. Birx, ask her questions, get advice for best practices in our states. So i will base my decision as governor of the state of texas on what physicians say, including dr. Hellerstedt, dr. Birx, dr. Fauci, to ensure that we are maintaining the standards that are established by the c. D. C. And by the lead doctors in response to covid19. Reporter following up on, that do you agree with what [indiscernible] it is time to find a way to get back to work . Governor abbott these are all stepping stones. I think everybody agrees with this, that the first step we all have and the primary obligation we all have is Public Health and safety. We must do all we can to ensure the health and safety of everyone, to save every life, to get everyone through covid19. Minimizing the loss of life. Second is this reality. If the goal is to get the economy going, the best thing we can do t