Which bug some people. It doesnt really bug me. And also i should also mention if youre lucky when youre fishing, the act of fishing also occasionally involves handling fish, right . That also has a problem for some people but i like to fish, i dont mind it, that said, if i had to pick a few things i would choose to avoid if i could, i would pick number one eels, they just, huhuh, not going to do it, number two, spiders, basically they just, ugh me out, given the option, spiders, no thaw, i also dont like needles. When i get blood drawn for anything, at the doctors office, i always get a little oozy, i have to warn them im going to turn green but today, i learned something, i watched something, that for the first time in my whole adult life, made me feel less woozy, less bad about needles. Because today, i learned that in modern med schools, and nursing schools, when they teach student doctors and student nurses how to draw blood, they use a fake arm. Thats not like a wedge of baloney or some unfired pottery, thats, im sure it has a technical term, were going to call it here, an arm simulator, it is an arm simulator that has fakeclofred blood in it, they use this device for teaching nurses in training, in this case, how to do a blood draw, using a butterfly needle and a vacutainer. And even though im super freaked out by needles seeing needles to train a medical professional or soon to be medical professional on a device that is meant to seem like a human arm, it just makes me feel less icky about the whole thing. The first thing i looked at the needle without turning green my entire life. The reason i learned today this is how they do it, this is how they train, is because this video was made of a training this past week, pour people, for people who are not nursing students. Within the past few day, the surgeons in training, the surgical residents at the medical cal school at the university of southern california, usc, all of the surgical residents at medical school at usc volunteered to basically stop out of their advanced surgical training for now, to instead learn to be nurses. To instead at least learn some of the skills that icu nurses have to learn. Because right now, in our country, what we need is pretty specific. Coronavirus is not causing a demand for lots of new surgeries. What coronavirus is doing is putting a lot of people in the intensive care unit, in the icu, and so these highflying surgical residents at usc volunteer now, that what is needed right now, is what they will do, they will stop their surgical training and train as Critical Care nurses for right now, because thats whats needed. And usc apparently innovated this in a matter of days. But the surgical residents all stood up and said yes, i will do it, i will change my training, i will learn this stuff instead, because all of our lives are changing in this pandemic, and country is going to need things from us that it has not needed before. Luckily, for a green around the gills woos like me, this lessen in todays news comes with a machine that fakes being a human arm so i dont have to pass out while reporting on it and also i feel like i got over my squeamishness on this story all together. That is the usc med school. A lot more news like that today, in terms of people stepping up and people asked to step up in very dramatic ways. We will talk about some of those extraordinary efforts, over the course of this hour. But i also want to start tonight with something that i mentioned tentatively, a couple of nights ago, on the show, as a potential sign of good news. Its again, good news is relative in this context, but what i mentioned a couple of nights ago is the potential sign of good news now looks like it is holding as good news. So i want to show you the data that we just got today. As you know, it is the nation of italy that has the worst outbreak in the world right now. And hospitals in the northern part of italy are overwhelmed, and the death toll is still towering, it is six and 700 death still every day now. But this is a chart, its aggregated data from italys ministry of health, that shows the rate of increase in new cases in italy, and you can see, there are still an increasing number of new cases being reported each day, but what this chart show, that in recent days, the rate of increase is slowing. We reported at the beginning of this week that for the First Time Since italy really spun out of control, the rate of increase in new cases had dropped into the Single Digits, and that was true at the beginning of this week, and its still true. Italy has now reported a rate of increase in new cases that is in Single Digits for three straight days. And i know this is the thinnest of silver linings. But its pointing in the right direction, right . It at least means that italys measures to try to slow the number of people, getting newly infected, to try to keep people distant and slow down the rate at which these this thing is spreading, this is the first signs that this is working and the first hope for italy even as italy is in the depths of it right now. In new york, where experts have been screaming from the rooftops that the new york trajectory is basically italy minus two weeks time, in new york today, Governor Andrew Cuomo cautiously announced that new yorks skyrocketing hospitalization rate may also be showing the first signs of slowing. This is very interesting. Because the evidence suggests that the density control measures may be working. And again, were doing this from projections. But look at this, because its interesting. This past sunday, the projection was that hospitalizations were doubling every two days. On monday, the numbers suggested that the hospitalizations were doubling every 3. 4 days. On tuesday, the projection suggested that the hospitalizations were doubling every 4. 7 days. Now, that is almost too good to be true. But the theory is given the density that were dealing with, it spreads very quickly, but if you reduce the density, you can reduce the spread very quickly. So on sunday, hospitalizations in new york were doubling every two days. Then the next day, they were projected to double every 3. 4 days. And then the next day, yesterday, they were projected to double every 4. 7 days. Thats going in the right direction. Thats good, right . That may be a sign that the measures new york is taking to keep people at home, to keep people apart from one another, those measures may be slowing the number of people getting newly infected, which is slowing the increase in the number of people getting sick, which is slowing the increase and how fast people are pouring into new York Hospitals. It is good if that, that all of this is slowing. It means, it indicates that maybe these stayathome orders, these work from home orders, these shelter in place order, whatever you want to call them, it means they may be working. But even still, even with that good news, thats about the doubling of new york hospitalization rate, the doubles, even with that news from the governor, i mean new york hospitalizations are still doubling less than every five days. Which is terrible. I mean as of tonight, we just got the latest numbers. As of tonight in new york city, there are 3,750 people hospitalized in new york city, at least 840 people in intensive care beds. Again, those numbers just, we just got those moments ago from new york city. So im just checking something right now. 3,750 hospitalizations in new york today. That number yesterday was 2,850. So i mean yes, its better if those kinds of hospitalization numbers are not doubling every two day, and theyre instead doubling every four or five days. But still, doubling these numbers, within the space of a week, is still an upsurge in catastrophe, in new york, in terms of the capacity to continue to treat people in new York Hospitals. I mean heres the headline in the New York Times just posted tonight, an apocalyptic coronavirus surge at a new york city hospital. Quote, in several hours, on tuesday, yesterday, dr. Ashley bray, performed chest compressions at Elmhurst Hospital Center on a woman in her 80s, a man in his 60s and a 38yearold who reminded the doctor of her fiance. All had tested positive for the coronavirus and all went into cardiac arrest. All eventually died. Elmhurst, a 545bed Public Hospital in queens, new york, has begun transferring patients not suffering from coronavirus, to other facilities as it moves toward becoming one facility dedicated entirely to the coronavirus outbreak. Doctors and nurses have struggled to make do with a few dozen ventilators. Calls over a loud speaker of team 700, the code for when a patient is on the verge of death, comes several times a shift. Some patients have died inside the emergency room while waiting for a bed. Quote, a refrigerated truck has been stationed outside to hold the bodies of the dead. Over the past 24 hours, 13 people at elmhurst died. Its a apocalyptic says dr. Bray. He is 27 years old. Across new york city, hospitals are beginning to confront the kind of harrowing surge in cases that has overwhelmed Health Care Systems in china and italy. According to a federal Emergency Management agency, a fema briefing obtained by the New York Times tonight, all of the more than 1800 intensive care units in new york city are expected to be full by friday. By friday. Thats the day after tomorrow. One doctor at that same elmhurst hospital in queens new york, telling the city newspaper today, quote, its a fairly dire situation. Covid19 is completely taking over the hospital in a way ive never really seen anything else do. Its just a tidal wave. The only beds we have been able to free up are people who have died. And yes, this is what is happening in new york now. Because new york is first in our country. But this is what we know happens even in places like new york city, or milan, in rich northern italy, when the virus spreads fast enough. Unchecked enough. That so many people get, it and so many people get sick, the numbers just swamp, even big modern capable Health Care Systems and big modern hospitals. This is how it goes. Everywhere it gets in a significant number and spreads fast. New york, as andrew cuomo said yesterday, is the canary in the coal mine, but new york is first. Other places where it is spreading, particularly places where it is spreading unchecked, and there have not been serious measures put in place, to slow down the spread of this virus, it will happen there next. This news is apparently not arrived at the desk of the republican governor of florida, ron desantis, florida has a population of over 20 million people, and florida has some very worrying signs in terms of this epidemic both in terms of their demographics as a state and the epidemiological markers are signaling that florida may have a real problem on their hands. Today, no stayathome order from governor desantis. Why bother, right . Im sure florida will be fine. Why not just guess. Why assume. Even idaho today finally issued a stayathome order. But in florida, population 20 million, dozens of deaths, and climbing, still in florida, whatever, no reason to have a stayathome order. Last night we talked about the governor of mississippi, announcing that there would not be a statewide stayathome order in his state either because he said mississippi is not china. And while that is true, mississippi is not a gigantic country in asia, mississippi is sandwiched between louisiana, which has what is probably the fastestgrowing epidemic in the country, maybe in the world, and alabama, where birmingham, alabama hospitals are already screaming from the rooftops for help, in terms of the numbers of patients theyve already got in their intensive care units and on ventilators. Mississippi right in between louisiana and alabama. But today, the governor of mississippi said he would break new ground in the pandemic and not only did he announce there would not be a stayathome order statewide in mississippi but the governor of mississippi today did something brand new. He issued his own executive order that overrides and overturns any actions that have been taken by cities and towns in his state. Even as he is refusing to act statewide. So take for example the beautiful city of tupelo, mississippi. Birth place of elvis presley, right . World famous. On saturday, the mayor of tupelo, mississippi, ordered a stayathome order for that city. He banned gatherings of more than ten people. He ordered nonessential businesses to shut in tupelo. That was this weekend. The mayor issued that order in tupelo. On tuesday, yesterday, the city council in tupelo met and in a unanimous bipartisan vote, they voted to affirm and ratify those rules that the may her put in place in tupelo. But today, the governor of mississippi superseded that. Today, the governor of mississippi said tupelo and any other city or town in the state cant do anything like that. Only his rules apply. And his rules are no stayathome order, and restaurants can still do Dinein Service for limited numbers of people, lots of cities and towns around mississippi had shut down restaurants to takeout and delivery, and the governor says no, restaurants will be allowed to stay open as long as theyre only Servicing Limited numbers of people for Dinein Service. The governments executive order says its okay, nonessential business does have to shut down but the executive order declared that basically all businesses in mississippi are pretty essential, including, quote, offices. Per the governors executive order today, any office is an essential business, and therefore cant be ordered closed. Cities and towns in mississippi have been ordering, real nonessential businesses to close down, including some that are housed in offices, but the governor of mississippi overrode that today, and said no you cant have those rules. The mayor of tupelo did a faist Facebook Live event today in which he tried to explain the aboutface to his city after he and the city council had unanimously taken these decisions to protect the people of that city, and the governor came in and said, no, you have undo all of that. Here is what he said. So pursuant to the governors order, some of the things that we did to protect the health and Public Safety of our citizens is no longer going to be in effect. Theres nothing we can do about that locally. The Jackson Free Press today reporting that thanks to the mississippi governor, overriding cities and towns, who took action to protect themselves, quote, as of press time, the Jackson Free Press has referred reports from businesses in the jackson, mississippi, area, that have, businesses in the jackson area, that have as of todays executive order, scuttled plans for work from home, and instead, ordered their employees back to work onsite. So businesses in and around the capital of mississippi were putting in plans to have their employees working from home, a stay at home effort, to try to keep this disease in check in mississippi, but now, with the governor saying any local rule like that is null and void, on his orders, those employers are instead telling their employees to come back to work onsite. I will just say this. To the people of mississippi. You should know that your government is breaking new ground when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. The governor of your state today has pioneered a whole new kind of response to the coronavirus pandemic in which he is legally blocking towns and cities in your state from doing a better job than he is at keeping you alive. He is undoing Public Health measures and insisting that the state will not have them. Meanwhile, in many more places on earth, this is an ask not what your country can do for you moment, but ask what you can do for your country kind of moment. In the u. K. , where the response was slow and small until they just now started to panic at how behind they are, we mentioned last night that the government in the u. K. Put out a call for 250,000 regular citizen volunteers, just regular british citizens, to please come forward, and volunteer to three try to bolster the National Health service as the nhs comes under what is expected to be an absolute assault in terms of the numbers of sick people and the numbers of people needing intensive care treatment in britain. The British Government asked for 250,000 volunteers yesterday. In 24 hours, 405,000 people came forward to volunteer. As of tonight, now more than half a million british citizens have volunteered. In new york, Governor Cuomo has asked Health Care Providers to volunteer to support the new York Health System too and they have been coming forward by the tens of thousands. God bless them. 40,000 people have signed up as a surge health care force. 2,000 physicians. Anesthesiologists. Emergency room technicians. Nurse practitioners. Physician assistants. Nurse anesthetists. Respiratory, rns, lpns, 40,000 people have signed up. That is a big, big deal. With the staff, the existing staff, when they get ill, or by the way just cant work the hours that were going to need people to be working. So thats very good. We ask for Mental Health professionals to voluntary sign up to provide online Mental Health services. 6,000 Mental Health professionals agreed to volunteer to provide Mental Health services for people who need it. How beautiful is that . You can call that hot line, you can schedule an appointment, with the Mental Health professional, totally free, to talk to them, about what youre feeling and what stress youre feeling. And again, god bless the 6,000 Mental Health professionals who are doing this, 100 , free. On top of whatever they have to do in the normal practice. God bless them indeed. So states, countries are asking a lot of people right now, to come forward, and volunteer and do what they can. I mentioned at the top of this hour, the university of southern california, the usc