REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP, VICE PRESIDENT PENCE, AND MEMBERS OF THE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE IN PRESS BRIEFING March 15, 2020

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 15, 2020 REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP, VICE PRESIDENT PENCE, AND MEMBERS OF THE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE IN PRESS BRIEFING James S. Brady Press Briefing Room   5:15 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT:  Beautiful day outside.  And I think we have some great things to talk about.  I’ll start by discussing the Federal Reserve.  As you know, it just happened minutes ago, but, to me, it makes me very happy.  And I want to congratulate the Federal Reserve. For starters, they’ve lowered the Fed rate from what it was, which was 1 to 1.25.  And it’s been lowered down to zero, to 0.25 or .25.  So it’s 0 to .25.  That’s a big difference.  It’s quite a bit.  It’s about a point. And, in addition, very importantly, the Federal Reserve is the -- going to be purchasing $500 billion of treasuries and $200 billion of mortgage-backed securities.  And that number can increase.  But they're going to start with that, and that's really good news.  It's really great for our country.  It's something that we're very happy.  I have to say this: I’m very happy.  And they did it in one step; they didn't do it in four steps over a long period of time.  They did it in one step. And I think that people in the market should be very thrilled.  And that brings us -- we’re the strongest country in the world, by far, financially and every other way.  And that brings us in line with what other countries are.  They're actually -- they actually have negative rates.  But, look, we got it down to potentially zero.  So that's a big step, and I'm very happy they did it. And you will not hear anything bad about me unless it's about a month or two from now.  So I congratulate the Federal Reserve.  I think it's terrific.  It just came out, just as we spoke.  I wasn't going to mention Federal Reserve or anything else, but this came out as we were walking up. I want to thank the people at Google and Google Communications because, as you know, they substantiated what I said on Friday.  The head of Google, who's a great gentleman, said -- called us and he apologized.  I don't know where the press got their fake news, but they got it someplace.  But as you know -- this is from Google -- they put out a release.  And you guys can figure it out yourselves.  And how that got out -- and I'm sure you'll apologize.  But it would be great if we could really give the news correctly.  It would be so, so wonderful. I just had a phone call with very impressive people -- the biggest in the world, in the world of stores and groceries and all.  And I'll give you the names: Dave Clark, Whole Foods. Mark Clouse, CEO of Campbell Soup Company. Brian Cornell, CEO of Target. Randy Edeker, Chairman and CEO, President of Hy-Vee. Jeff Harmening, CEO of General Mills.  A great company. Kevin Hourican, President and CEO of Sysco. Craig Jelinek, CEO of Costco. Todd Jones, CEO of Publix Super Markets. Donnie King, Tyson Foods. David MacLennan, Chairman and CEO of Cargill. Rodney McMullan, CEO, Chairman of Kroger -- a big company. Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart.  He’s been fantastic.  Doug was here, as you know, on Friday.  And he watched the market go up 2,000 points.  On Friday, it went up 2,000 -- almost 2,000 points. Todd Vasos, CEO of Dollar General Corporation. And Vivek Sankaran, President and CEO of Albertsons. So these are all phenomenal companies.  These are great companies.  We had a long conversation with them.  And they've -- they're going to work 24 hours around the clock keeping their store stocked. I would like to say that people shouldn't go out and buy.  We're going to all be great.  We're going to be so good.  We're going to do -- what's happened with the Fed is phenomenal news.  What's happening with all of these incredible companies is phenomenal news. But you don't have to buy so much.  Take it easy.  Just relax.  People are going in and they’re buying more.  I remember -- I guess, during the conversation, Doug of Walmart said that they’re buying more than they buy at Christmas.  Relax.  We're doing great.  It all will pass. The folks that we spoke to, they've done a fantastic job.  They're going to meet the needs of the public.  They're going around the clock, if they have to.  And they're committed to the communities where they're serving and which they serve so beautifully and have for a long time.  And they're buying a lot of additional things to sell. But again, they -- they actually have asked me to say, “Could you buy a little bit less, please?”  I think -- I thought I'd never hear that from a retailer. All of them are working hand-in-hand with the federal government, as well as the state and local leaders, to ensure food and essentials are constantly available.  And they'll do it.  There's no shortages.  We have no shortages -- other than people are buying anywhere from three to five times what they would normally buy.  It's going to be there for a long time. We're doing numbers, and there's a pent-up demand that's incredible.  When this passes, when this goes through, you're going to see numbers -- I think, I predict; I guess I'm allowed to predict just like Wall Street people are allowed to predict, and they're pretty much in agreement -- you're going to see there's a pent-up demand like -- like a lot of people, including me, haven't seen before.  But this has to get through. They know they're getting through the crisis and will require an all-of-America approach, and that's very important.  They're committed to remaining open during this crisis.  Totally open.  They have to stay open.  Those stores have to stay open.  They supply our country. Our supply chains in America are the most powerful in the world, and they're all working very hard.  They're working around the clock.  And the stores are stocking up at a level that's beyond Christmastime.  And it's -- it's great.  It was very reassuring speaking to these people.  They have it totally in hand. There's no need for anybody in the country to hoard essential food supplies.  They said to me, “Could you please tell them just go and buy, enjoy it.”  Have a nice dinner.  Relax.  Because there's plenty.  But you don't have to the quantities because it’s hard to refill the stores on a basis as rapid as they're refilling them. And we're using the full power of the federal government to defeat the coronavirus, and we will do whatever it takes.  And we're doing, I think, really, really well.  A lot of good things are going to happen. I want to thank all of the people standing behind me.  You know, these are phenomenal people, and we have some of them right over here.  But the people behind me have been working around the clock, and they're doing an incredible job. We see what's happening.  We see what's going on in other countries.  We're looking at -- we're learning from watching other countries, frankly.  This is a very contagious -- this is a very contagious virus.  It's incredible.  But it's something that we have tremendous control over. I think, very important, the young people and people of good health, and groups of people, just are not strongly affected.  Elderly people that are not well, or not well in certain respects, are, really, a very dangerous group.  We have to watch them.  We have to protect them very much.  We have to really watch over them and protect them because they are very vulnerable. And with that, if it's okay, I'm just going to go and make some calls.  I'm talking about Federal Reserve.  I think it's a tremendous thing that took place just now.  I didn't know I'd be surprised on a Sunday.  I don't know if that's ever happened on a Sunday before.  But I would think there are a lot of people on Wall Street that are very happy.  And I can tell you that I'm very happy.  I didn't expect this, and I like being surprised. So our Vice President, who’s doing an incredible job, is going to take over.  And I will see you probably tomorrow.  Thank you very much. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you, Mr. President.  And good afternoon.  With more than 2,900 cases of coronavirus in 49 states across the country, I want to assure the American people that this administration, all of our partners at the state level, and local health officials have no higher priority than the health and safety of the American public. And at the President's direction, we will continue not only a whole-of-government approach, but as we'll discuss today, we'll continue to build on a whole-of-America approach to confront the coronavirus across the country. The health experts continue to confirm to us that based on the latest information, for the American people as a whole, the risk of serious illness remains low.  But because the risk is heavily weighted to the most vulnerable -- to people with immunodeficiencies and to people who are elderly with serious underlying chronic health conditions -- our administration and, I know, state administrations will continue to focus on the most vulnerable.  And we will continue to urge every American to be vigilant in practicing good hygiene and taking the advice of the CDC and local health experts to keep those most vulnerable safe. I know I speak on behalf of the President and our entire team when I say how grateful we are for governors all across the country and the seamless partnership that we have forged with them and with state health officials, with our federal team. I spoke today to Governor Pritzker of Illinois, and we are in continuous communication with governors a phone call away.  They know that they can contact us and address even the smallest need, because as a -- as a former governor, I know firsthand that when it comes to health challenges in America, our states are on the ground in the lead, our local health organizations.  And we've built a great partnership. We also want to express great appreciation to the American people.  Not surprisingly, it is inspiring to see the way tens of millions of Americans are responding with compassion, with common sense.  And we want to express particular gratitude to communities of faith that participated in today's National Day of Prayer.  We've seen places of worship implementing policies to keep those most vulnerable safe.  And also, we're seeing communities of faith already stepping forward to support and to encourage those most vulnerable. I heard tell of a church back in Indiana that's actually no longer having services until April 10th, but in the meantime they'll be offering daycare to the children of healthcare workers in Central Indiana.  And churches all across the country are taking the opportunity to reach out and put feet on their faith, and it's truly inspiring. As the President mentioned today, he spoke today to leaders in the grocery store industry and where people buy our food.  And we heard, and we're reminded, that America has the most efficient and effective supply chain in the world, and it's working just fine. As the President said, he received a commitment from those grocery store executives that stores will stay open throughout the days that lie ahead.  We were told that hours may be reduced to allow for cleaning and to resupply, but American families can be confident your local grocery store is going to be open; it's going to be well supplied.  And they specifically asked us to encourage Americans: Just buy your weekly needs and grocery, because the grocery stores will remain open. Also, very movingly, those same executives all reiterated their commitment to continue to support local food banks in the way that our grocers continue to do around America. Tomorrow, the President and I will be briefing all the nation's governors from states and territories, and the District of Columbia, to be speaking about the progress that we're making.  And we'll be speaking to them specifically about our widening partnership on expanding testing to the American people. So allow me to speak to that issue, and then I'm going to recognize Admiral Brett Giroir, who will describe for us the excellent work the Public Health Service is doing.  Dr. Birx will describe the importance of the new national public-private partnership for diagnostic testing that is going to open the door to thousands of more tests in real time for the American people in the days ahead. First, some fundamentals.  As the American people know, testing is now available in all 50 states.  Either state labs are either conducting the tests themselves, or the CDC is processing tests.  They're using the traditional manner of a manual test that allows for 40 to 60 tests a day. It is among the reasons why the President, several weeks ago, tasked this group at the White House to reach out to commercial labs around the country and forge that public-private partnership that would bring the high-speed -- or more accurately, the high-throughput testing for coronavirus available in real time. And based on the unprecedented speed of the FDA, which last week approved high-throughput coronavirus testings for Roche and Thermo Fisher, we will now have access in the days ahead to more than 2,000 labs across the country that have the equipment today to process coronavirus tests much more rapidly and a much higher volume for the American people. In terms of delivering those services, more than 10 states -- in addition to CDC labs, public health labs, and labs that states can now authorize in their states -- more than 10 states have implemented their own drive-through testing sites.  And we want to commend New York, Colorado, Delaware, Washington State, Texas, and others that have implemented these on-site places where people can obtain tests. Most are using the current CDC testing, the manual testing, but we are working closely with our governors, as you will hear momentarily, to make sure that the new testing regimen is available for their remote sites as well. As I mentioned, as of Monday, we will have more than 2,000 labs coming online with the high-speed testing, and we are connecting states to those testing methods. We're also working with a number of retail partners to add to the work that states are doing around the country, working to set up parking lot testing centers outside of stores.  And Admiral Brett Giroir will detail the progress that we’ve made over the last 72 hours. Following the President's declaration of emergency, the Admiral and our Public Health Service have forged a partnership now with FEMA, made possible by that declaration.  And they've reached out to all 50 states to create a process that will enable all Americans who need to be tested to go to a community-based testing site outside of usual healthcare facilities. The focus of these tests, as Dr. Birx will describe momentarily, will be on those most in need.  A priority will be placed on healthcare workers and first responders who are out there coming alongside people that are being impacted by the coronavirus.  We want to make sure they have access to the testing as a priority. And then, Americans 65 or over with a cough or a fever or other symptoms will be prioritized over other tests that are extended. As I mentioned, Admiral Giroir will describe the progress that we've made in just a few moments, but we're going to continue to work very diligently -- hour by hour, day by day -- in the days ahead to expand testing around the country and access to this extraordinary and unprecedented national public-private partnership for diagnostic testing. With regard to testing: As we expand testing, we're so pleased that Congress joined with our administration to make sure that cost is never going to be a barrier to anyone getting a coronavirus test. As you recall, several weeks ago, the President directed a change in our Medicare and Medicaid programs to ensure the coronavirus testing was included.  Health insurers were brought in; they all agreed to waive co-pays.  But because of the good bipartisan work done in the House of Representatives, now all coronavirus testing is free, and it's free for every American, including uninsured Americans.  And we continue to urge passage of the legislation that will be considered by the Senate this week. Let me say one final word about the testing issue, and that is that we -- as the President often says, we're all in this together.  And it's absolutely important that as we expand testing resources across the country, beginning by prioritizing the areas that CDC and our state leadership tell us are most important, it's important that the tests are available for people that are most in need and for our healthcare workers and first responders that are -- that are helping them and supporting them. As Dr. Birx will describe, the testing that is available should only be done if for any reason you think you may have the coronavirus.  We encourage people to consult their doctor.  And if you're -- if you're symptom-free, we encourage you to work with us to make sure that testing is available for people that are experiencing symptoms. It's extremely important that we have the continuing cooperation of every American as we expand testing and make it available during this challenging time in the life of our nation. With that, I'm going to ask Dr. Birx -- oh, excuse me, I'm going to ask Admiral Brett Giroir of the Public Health Service and leader of this great Commissioned Corps behind me to come up and describe the extraordinary work that they have done over the last 72 hours and will be doing each and every day, in conjunction with our states, to expand testing to community-based testing across the country for the American people using this new public-private partnership diagnostic testing. Admiral? ADMIRAL GIROIR:  Thank you, Mr. Vice President.  And thank you for your personal interest in support of our team over the last 72 hours as we worked on this critically important project. So as the Vice President said, over the past 72 hours, we have developed and are beginning to implement now a process and a program of testing that will enable Americans who are in need of coronavirus testing to be tested effectively and efficiently according to a few principles: Number one, we want to assure that those most vulnerable and those impacted are able to be prioritized. Number two, we don’t want to do testing that in any way threatens the acute care system.  In other words, we don’t want people going to hospitals and acute care clinics where, number one, they could infect other people or subject themselves to infections. And number three, we want to balance the needs across the entire healthcare system among diagnosis but also treatment.  In other words, we want to balance the stress on the Strategic National Stockpile and all our commodities so that everyone gets all the materials they need. So what do we do?  Because, as the Vice President said, last week’s historically fast approval of high-throughput testing, we are now in a new phase of testing.  And you’ve heard Dr. Fauci talk about the new phase. So we’re going from somewhat manual, relatively slow phases, to a testing regimen that we can test many tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of individuals per week and maybe even more.  We will have 1.9 million of these high-throughput tests available this week with numerous labs, up to 2,000, starting to turn the lights on beginning this week and rolling out over the week.  That is really a game-changer for us because the back-of-the-shop testing capability is there. The front of the shop is what we’ve been really working on.  In order to get a test there, you’ve got to be able to swab individuals, get them into the system without completely paralyzing the entire healthcare system as we know. So, with the emergency declaration, this was very, very important to us because it really enabled the historically effective processes of working and empowering states -- federally supported, state-led efforts -- through the normal FEMA mechanisms. So for the last 72 hours, representatives of FEMA from across the government and our Commissioned Corps have been working on joining the unique and unprecedented public health mission with the historically successful mission of personal -- of distribution centers, places for distribution -- the pod system of FEMA. Our Public Health Service -- we’ve already deployed over a thousand officers in support of the coronavirus missions.  That includes to the Diamond Princess, to the borders, to the quarantine stations, to the acute care settings where we’re caring for nursing home residents in Seattle.  So we have a very experienced group, and we brought these together. So what we’ve really designed in how we’re working with the states: We have contacted all 50 states through the FEMA system -- every single region, every single state -- to understand where they are. As the Vice President said, some states are rolling out some of their own community-based testing.  They need to be augmented.  We believe we've created a model, based on the Public Health and the FEMA system, that is optimized, that can be used for drive-through or potentially walk-through.  Each of these pod-based units, we believe, can screen 2,000 to 4,000 individuals a day for testing, with all the appropriate personal protective gear, all the appropriate backend and linkage to the public health system, including testing. We know that we have the logistics to do that.  We know we have the materials to do that.  And again, this is federally supported state-led efforts.  Many states need the full meal deal.  They want dozens of Public Health Service officers to work in protective gear to actually test.  They need supplies, like protective gear; they need swabs; they need the logistical supports.  Other states only need a fraction of that.  They may have all the personnel, but they really need the knowhow, the template, and some of the gear that we provide. We are going to start implementing this system, this week, in a number of states, primarily those that are the hardest hit right now or are on the rise and the CDC advises us that that's when they need the testing. I want to emphasize, again, that we're focusing on two very important groups -- and you'll hear this said three or four different ways -- and the groups that really can be the most impacted or impactful in our outbreak. Number one is healthcare workers and first responders.  This is very important for two reasons.  Number one, we have to take care of the healthcare workers and responders, because when America needs them, they need to be available and healthy to provide the care that we all deserve.  But it's also important that if they feel they have a risk of having contacted [sic] coronavirus, that we test them so they cannot spread that, for example, in long-term care facilities where the elderly are. And the second group would be the elderly.  And we are classifying that, according to risk, is those 65 years of age or older who have a respiratory symptom and a fever of 99.6.  That's a lower number than you've seen before because those who are older do not spike high fevers, like children do -- 104, 105.  So you set the bar just a little bit lower. We do that because we know that they're at high risk of bad consequences.  And if they test positive, they could engage with their practitioner, telehealth provider, or get in the system to make sure they have just an outstanding outcome. So that is really where we are.  We've made really unprecedented progress.  You will see these sites rolling out progressively over the week.  This is not make-believe.  This is not fantasy.  We've developed the model.  We've talked to the states.  We're focusing in on specific locations now.  We will start shipping gear, stuff, tomorrow.  We will start deploying officers tomorrow and Tuesday.  And we'll begin seeing these sites, in addition to the ones that are springing up now, implemented during this week. We will have the capability of testing tens of thousands of additional people through these sites every week, in addition to all the capability that's now going to be distributed in the 2,000 laboratories and the major central, core laboratories. And I know you have a number of questions that hopefully in the question-and-answer session we'll be able to answer for you. But I think this is just a great linkage.  I'm a pediatric ICU doctor.  I take care of sick people.  I know what happens when you get respiratory illness.  The Surgeon General is an anesthesiologist who takes care of people who have respiratory difficulties and manages that. So we know how this -- we know how this works.  We've been there.  The most important thing we've worked on right now is making testing accessible because of the advances of the FDA and private industry to make these high-throughput tests.  Now we can work on the front end. With the emergency declaration, we have all the tools, and all of government has really come together with industry, not just government and states.  It's really been private industry, the manufacturers, to bring the swabs, the personal protective gear, the laboratory testing, the shipping, the fronts with Walgreens and Walmarts working as potential sites. This has been something, in my mind, that has been unprecedented, the entire society approach working so intensely over the past -- certainly over the past weeks, but incredibly on this project over the past 72 hours. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Admiral.  And let me say we are moving out, now that we have the public-private partnership with the major commercial labs.  And now you have our Public Health team as well as FEMA moving out, connecting to the states, to deploy these point-of-distribution community centers. We’ll also be working closely with members of the media and individual jurisdictions, as well as we're working with Google and other tech companies to make sure that there's online resources where people will be able to readily access a questionnaire that will walk them through the symptoms and whether or not a test might be indicated. And also, in the days ahead, we look forward to that same website being able to direct people to the nearest community center or drive-through center that's available. But let me -- me let me introduce Dr. Deborah Birx to speak about that -- that patient experience -- and about the importance of the right people seeking the testing in the days ahead. Doctor? DR. BIRX:  Thank you.  Thank you, Mr. Vice President.  Let me just start by recognizing the men and women of the military who are serving us every day.  They are my brothers and sisters.  I was privileged to serve alongside them for quite a long time. But, critically, I just want to recognize at this moment the Public Health Commissioned Corps behind me.  The Vice President -- although he didn't speak to this -- actually went to see them yesterday at the place where they were working, so that we wouldn't disturb them, because of their level of dedication and work through the last, really, 48 hours non-stop. So, thank you.  Thank you for your work, and thank you for the work that you brought together.  And thank you, Admiral, for explaining it so quickly. Let me just go back to the way laboratory work is done in the United States.  I think all of you know, when you go to your doctor, and you need a lab test, it is either done in your doctor's office, or it's done in the lab that they send you to. When we started this emergency response to this virus, we started with what we knew, and that was the flu platform that we use for surveillance.  It wasn't set up in your doctor's office.  It wasn't set up in our hospital laboratories.  It was set up in state and local labs and at the CDC. Over the last two weeks, we've been working with the groups that have served you for decades -- the commercial laboratories that you don't see, but your specimen goes to -- to ensure they had the full capacity to meet the needs of the American people. Because it wasn't going to be 50 to 100 to 1,000 tests; it was going to be tens of thousands of tests that would be needed to be done. And so, the last two weeks has been spent on really getting what you are used to: the full force of the clinical laboratories and service. At the same time, what you heard described here is how do we serve the needs of the people in the community where they reside; where we know when we're talking about people with vulnerable conditions, immunosuppression medical conditions, or the elderly, that we don't want them having to sit for long times in doctor’s office and hospitals’ waiting rooms. And you see what state and local governors have done to move past what we would normally do -- a referral to your doctor's office and to your hospital -- but really providing community-led services to provide this testing. What the federal government is doing is augmenting that -- augmenting the innovation that existed in South Korea, brought here to the shores of the United States and brought in our own novel way, but utilizing our healthcare delivery system, which is different than South Korea, and adapting our work to our system So, to the hospitals and to the laboratories: We know that there will be pent-up demand for this.  Make sure every hospital and every laboratory -- I'm speaking to my -- the people who work in labs, like I did myself.  Make sure you have enough pipette tips, pipettors, and all of the equipment that you need to run this laboratory. You know what you need.  Make sure you have that and have that available for these tests -- because we know with this increased sampling, this increased ability to have community access, additional samples will be going to these laboratories. They can manage the high throughput, but they need all of the supplies that they would normally need to run these tests.  Think of it -- if you're doing HIV viral load, same thing: just what you need.  You know what you need; make sure you have that.  That will be run. And the most important thing, I know, for each and every one of you is how am I going to get my results.  And so we're making sure also that the end of reporting is also there; that the reporting is available to you, to your doctor, and also to the state and local governments and the federal government, not with your personal identifiers, but to really understand where there are positives, where there are negatives, so we can ensure that healthcare providers have what they need to meet the demands of the American people and their health needs when they're there. Now, let me just say one bit about reporting.  So you will notice, as these tests roll out over this next week, we will have a spike in our curve.  For those of you who watched China and China reporting, remember when they changed their definition and all of a sudden there was a blip in their curve?  We are going to see that.  We are going to see a spike as more and more people have access. And I want to finish by, again, reminding people how important it is.  I know everybody is going to want to go to these drive-throughs.  But if we could prioritize, like we have asked you to prioritize the care of every person with a preexisting condition and immunosuppression, and the elderly with existing conditions -- we’ve asked you to prioritize them and we ask you to prioritize them in the lines, so that our first responders and our healthcare providers and everybody who has difficulty to get to doctors’ offices can utilize this system while we bring all the other traditional systems that you’re used to and have availability for you online over the next few days and weeks. So, thank you.  Thank you for constantly reminding us how important.  It's a response of all of America for Americans.  All of America for Americans.  It's a privilege to be part of this solution and be part of this team. And again, I want to close by recognizing the Commissioned Corps.  They have spent -- I’m not sure they had anything but pizza to eat for the last two days, but we appreciate grat- -- ADMIRAL GIROIR:  Donuts. SURGEON GENERAL ADAMS:  Apples and bananas.  Apples and bananas. ADMIRAL GIROIR:  Donuts. (Laughter.) DR. BIRX:  All right, don't follow their guidance.  (Laughter.) THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Dr. Fauci? DR. FAUCI:  Thank you, Mr. Vice President.  I'll be very brief.  I just want to say, listening to the description of Admiral Giroir, I’m very pleased to see how things have evolved.  I think we could describe this as entering into a new phase in the testing space available here in the United States. You've heard me, on many of these briefings, talk about the multifaceted armamentarium that we have to address the crisis of what the world is seeing and the challenge that we're seeing right here in the United States. I mean, obviously, the travel restrictions have been, in my mind, a very, very positive way that we have prevented more of the input from outside in that would seat us and make our job more difficult. And then we have, as I mentioned, the containment and the mitigation from within.  You're going to be hearing more about advanced guidelines about that, more precise instructions of how we can implement this mitigation within the community. But now that we have a situation that is going to be rolled out -- and remember, I want to emphasize what was just said: We're not going to go from here to there overnight.  It's going to be a gradual ratcheting up that I believe is going to happen quickly so that then we can start talking about things and put behind us the multiple understandable questions about testing and move on to see how we can make this multifaceted approach really work for us.  Because as I've said many times, and I’ll repeat it: The worst is, yes, ahead for us.  It is how we respond to that challenge that's going to determine what the ultimate endpoint is going to be. We have a very, very critical point now.  If you look at the curves that I've described multiple, multiple times, this window that we're in is going to be very important for us to stay ahead of this curve.  Thank you. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Doc.  Stay close. Questions? Q    Mr. Vice President, we've seen a number of communities across the country.  They're starting to either close restaurants; some are even doing curfews.  Do you envision this happening, kind of, nationwide where you'll see some rules come to effect saying, “You know, we don't want people out at places that are not essentially a Walmart or a grocery store or some kind of a testing center”? And then also, I would be curious to see -- we've also heard so many -- from travelers today that were coming back from these airports, people that were flying back; they were so concerned.  I'm sure the Secretary will address it.  But these folks that are wondering, now, did they catch it because they were stuck waiting in line for hours and hours in customs -- your thoughts on that, sir? THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, we will have updated guidelines tomorrow morning for you that are being vetted now with CDC and all of our top healthcare experts.  But what I would just recommend to the American people is to review those federal guidelines and know that we'll also respect and defer to decisions that are made by governors, by state health departments about what's best for that community. What my healthcare team -- some of the best people in the world -- tell me very regularly is that it's very important that you follow the data, you make decisions based on the circumstances that are taking place in that community.  And -- but we'll have more broad-based recommendations for the American public tomorrow. And let me say, I'm going to ask the Secretary to come up and speak about the screening issue.  The President made a decision to suspend all travel from Europe.  That is underway now, and as of midnight Monday night, we will be suspending all travel from the UK and Ireland as well.  But Americans may come home, but out of an abundance of caution, we are engaging in healthcare screenings at 13 different airports around the country.  We’re working diligently in that regard to put the safety of the American public first.  And we're asking returning Americans to self-quarantine for 14 days if they've been in those countries in Europe and, as of Monday, the UK and Ireland that are being impacted by the coronavirus. But as the Secretary and I spoke this morning -- I spoke with Governor Pritzker and Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois this morning about some challenges at O'Hare Airport, and I'm going to let the Secretary speak to how we are addressing those going forward. Mr. Secretary? ACTING SECRETARY WOLF:  Thank you.  Well, yesterday, we began processing, again, the travel restrictions from passengers from the Schengen area, which totaled more than 40,000 passengers yesterday.  So to give you an idea, in one day, we processed over half of the total number of individuals we have processed -- medical screening -- since February 2nd.  So that is an enormous challenge that we have placed on our officers and contract medical staff at airports.  And they are stepping up. But to be clear, the lines, again, that we saw overnight at a limited number of airports, including Chicago, are unacceptable.  Acting Commissioner -- CBP Commissioner Morgan also believes they're unacceptable and has personally engaged leadership at all 13 funneling airports. We did make the necessary adjustments at 12 of the funneling airports; however, again, at Chicago, those adjustments were not made quick enough, but we have course corrected.  We've adjusted our processes, we continue to surge personnel, and we are certainly glad to see certain airports and certain airlines step up, partner with us, and help address this unprecedented situation. As I walked in here today -- so far, today, at all of our funneling airports, to include Chicago, we have an average wait time of 30 minutes.  So we addressed the problem -- we identified the problem, addressed it, and we have fixed it.  And we look forward to, again, accommodating passengers this evening as well. Let me -- I understand the frustration that some passengers who are returning to the U.S. might have with some of these procedures.  But I would just say, and rest assured, that we are continuing our strict protocols of looking at individuals as they come into the country, make sure that they are medically screened, make sure that we are capturing the information for the public health officials, the state and local officials.  And we'll continue to do that. and we've done that specifically at the President's request. Thank you. Q    Mr. Secretary, has there been any talk, sir, of any sort of shutdown of domestic air travel at all?  ACTING SECRETARY WOLF:  Well, we continue to look at all options, and all options remain on the table to address.  And we'll certainly adjust as the medical professionals at CDC address the medical situation. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Very good.  Good job. Q    Mr. Vice President, Dr. Fauci this morning said that the federal government should do whatever it takes to increase Americans’ social distancing and encourage that practice.  He didn't rule out the possibility of a national lockdown.  If Americans don't take those steps on their own, is that something that the federal government is prepared to do? And secondly, I'd also like to know -- you know, the President -- we just heard him say, “Americans should relax.”  Why aren't we hearing more from him about what Americans can do as they are seeing this huge impact on their daily lives, whether it's at airports, or at restaurants, or other places around the country? THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, everything that the White House Coronavirus Task Force does is at the direction of the President of the United States.  And all the efforts of all federal agencies, in cooperation with state governments and local health officials, is reflective of the decisive leadership the President has brought this early on. It's important to remember that the President, on January 31st, suspended all travel from China.  I said to Dr. Fauci -- who I’ll call up to address your other question in a moment -- I said to Dr. Fauci today, as we look at Europe now being the epicenter of the coronavirus, that -- I asked him, if we had not suspended all travel from China, what our circumstance would be.  And he essentially said, “We'd be where Europe is today.” And the President also took the actions with regard to Europe and recently expanded those.  So the American people can be confident that President Trump is going to continue to act without hesitation on the advice of our healthcare professionals to put the health and safety of the American people first.  But with regard to the statement that you made, I'm going to let Dr. Fauci address that as well. DR. FAUCI:  Yeah, I meant everything I said this morning, on the shows: that, really, to protect the American people, we’ll consider anything and everything on the table.  You're going to see some advanced and updated guidelines tomorrow.  They're going to address some but not all of the questions and concerns. But on a day-by-day basis, we look at this and, literally, we will do everything that we can to make sure we safeguard the health and the wellbeing of the American people.  And that means everything and anything we'll consider. Q    For Dr. Fauci, could you give us some examples?  You say “anything, everything.”  Like what? DR. FAUCI:  Like -- like -- like -- Q    Like what Europe is doing?  No bars, no restaurants? DR. FAUCI:  That could be.  Absolutely.  I mean, that could be. Q    But if new guidance is coming tomorrow, can you give us a more concrete idea right now?  You must know what it is. DR. FAUCI:  I don't want -- no, what I don’t want to do is I don't want to, you know, jump ahead of the guidance.  I promise you: Let the guidance come out; we'll be here every day.  I'll answer the question after the guidance, I promise you. Q    Mr. Vice President, what is your plan to build more hospital beds so tens of thousands of Americans don't die?  And how many more ventilators are you looking at ordering so people don't suffocate? THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, let me let the Secretary step up.  I know that there's long-term planning that takes place at HHS for those circumstances.  And when I traveled to HHS yesterday, we reviewed all the numbers about stockpiles, everything from masks to ventilators to gowns. Mr. Secretary, you might just speak about capacity issues.  And let me say it's -- it's a very good question on your part. Right now, our focus, as the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is to have widespread testing across the country, using this new partnership with our commercial labs that the President has forged, and work with states to make those tests available. We're also going to continue to work every single day to promote best practices for mitigation, working closely with and supporting state governments for decisions that they're making on mitigation to prevent the spread.  But the whole issue of personal protective equipment and supplies and the capacity of our healthcare system is in the forefront of what we're talking about every day, and the Secretary can address it. SECRETARY AZAR:  Thank you very much.  First, being here at the podium, I just want to especially talk about the people in blue behind me.  These are the leaders of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps that I am incredibly privileged to lead -- over 3,000 of them.  America's public health warriors. Whether it's going into the Eastern Congo or Western Africa to fight Ebola, or if it's staffing the nursing home in Kirkland, being on the World Health Organization team in China, or helping to facilitate community-based testing, these are America's public health heroes. And I just -- they rarely -- in fact, I doubt that there has ever been a time in American history where the leadership of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps has had the privilege of standing here on this stage behind the President and Vice President of the United States.  I just wanted to -- wanted to commend that. In terms of our capacities in our healthcare system, any pandemic like this runs the risk of exceeding our healthcare system capacity, and we must acknowledge that.  That is precisely why the President and Vice President's strategy is as Dr. Fauci has repeatedly spoke: to delay and flatten the curve.  The point of this is, instead of a spike of the curve, to delay and flatten that curve with the hope that you can keep the utilization of resources to be within the healthcare system’s capacities. In addition to that, the entire point of our pandemic planning, over the last 15 years, has been to put extra flex into our healthcare system.  That's why we have hospital preparedness grants that we fund every year through our preparedness program.  That's why we have in our Strategic National Stockpile ventilators, field hospital units -- like MASH units, if you’ll remember those -- that have capacity for hundreds of individuals. In terms of supplies, obviously this is an unprecedented challenge.  Unprecedented.  And so we will work to increase the supplies of personal protective equipment, of ventilators, of field medical unit hospitals that we can deploy.  We have tremendous supplies, but we want to acquire more.  And that's thanks to the bipartisan work of Congress funding the emergency supplemental that gives us the money to scale up production here and abroad.  And we're doing that. We don't disclose concrete numbers on particular items for national security purposes, but we have many ventilators -- thousands and thousands of ventilators in our system.  We have received, so far, only, I think, one request for just several ventilators. One of the things in terms of hospital capacity that's going to be really important -- it's a really good learning from China that we got from the World Health Organization team that went there -- is if we have communities where we have enough capacity where we can put people who are positive with COVID-19 and have them be exclusively reserved for individuals who are positive for COVID-19, this reduces our need to try to protect our patients from other patients, because they're all positive already. We need to protect our healthcare workers and our service workers in those facilities.  This gives us reduced burden on personal protective equipment, but it also can give us greater capacity as we put field medical shelters up, as we consolidate into single facilities, as we don't need individual rooms, negative airflow, isolation, et cetera.  A vastly more efficient utilization of our healthcare system.  This is all part of the planning work that we've done and are promulgating throughout our healthcare system.  So that's our strategy.  We’re going to keep building that capacity, though. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Very good.  Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Go ahead. Q    Mr. Vice President, you talked briefly about trying to make information more accessible online.  So can you give us a timetable for when you think a website will be available based on your conversations with Google? And secondly -- and this might be to the broader team -- can you also talk specifically about how many of these tests have been sent out to states and how many you still have to send out? THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, let me -- let me say that we're working -- we're working with Google, but we're working with many other tech companies.  And we're truly grateful for the efforts of tech companies in disseminating best practices and guidance for citizens online, all over the country.  And today, those resources are available and it -- we've literally heard not only from Google, but from Facebook and Amazon.  And the public spiritedness that's been reflected there is a credit to those great companies and a credit to all the dedicated Americans who work there. Our best estimate -- and, literally, the team has been working around the clock since Friday -- is that at some point, early in the week, that we will have a website that goes up, the purpose of which will be for people to go and first fill out a questionnaire so that they can identify whether they fall in the category that Dr. Birx described would indicate the need to have a test. And then, once they go through that questionnaire, then our objective is: As more and more of these sites come online -- run by state governments, working in cooperation with our team, our Public Health Service team, and FEMA, and also working in cooperation with local businesses and retailers -- that people will know how to not only find it, but also the objective would be for them to literally be given a time that they can go and report for the test. But let me -- let me let the Admiral speak to the timing on the testing and unpack that for you. ADMIRAL GIROIR:  So in our design, I just want to emphasize, we talk about testing and we talk about so many things, but we're really talking about people.  And we're trying to make this a very person-centric experience to easily access the system, to give clear guidance about how to go, when to go -- information that, even if you're not really indicated for testing, information you need to help protect yourself and your family.  And then on the back end, very customized reporting, and we're talking, literally, about having telephonic services to call individuals who've been tested, let them know “yes,” “no,” and what the next steps are.  So we've tried to really envision this through a patient experience. Now, let me talk about the testing.  Progressively over this week, there will be rollout to different laboratories of approximately 1.9 million tests.  There are many centralized laboratories, the behind the curtain that you never see after you give your blood.  And you saw some of the CEOs in the Rose Garden last week, like Quest and LabCorp, that are fully able, ready to run -- they have been testing already -- but fully able, ready to run, within the first part of this week, the very high-throughput testing. The 2,000 laboratories that are around the country that have a different platform, one that's amenable to so many labs -- not the big, hugest, highest output, but very high-throughput laboratories -- are progressing.  They have to adapt the test slightly to their -- to the machines and get used to this.  They will start lighting up Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.  I can't give you the precise timeline, except it has been an absolute priority of the laboratory associations, of Thermo Fisher, the company that made this test.  You heard the President predict that it might be approved within 24 hours, on Friday.  I think it was five hours after that, in the middle of the night, that the FDA approved that.  And that’s the one that’s going to be widely disseminated -- a high throughput that’s going to be available. So I know you want a specific time when.  These will light up progressively over the week.  When that happens, there will be a centralized opportunity, like in the Quest and the LabCorp.  There will also be distributed opportunities, like in all the major hospital systems and labs that are in your area.  And then that number of 1.9 million goes up dramatically in the weeks coming forward. I’m not going to say that the lab testing issue is over because it’s not.  It’s entering the next phase.  But the much higher priority now is now that we have the testing available, how do we get people into the system to be tested in the appropriate prioritized way.  And that’s what we’ve really been focused on: information; website; points-of-distribution model that are tried and true; enabling the state, providing them with equipment, supplies, know-how and Commissioned Corps officers as needed to help man these or staff these as we move forward.  So you'll see this rapidly developing over the week. Q    Mr. Vice President, market futures are down despite the dramatic move from the Fed that the President applauded, which suggests that there's still concern about -- that we haven't done enough to respond to the economic impact of this deal -- or of the coronavirus. I'm wondering when specifically we're going to hear from the White House about how you're going to impact -- or help impacted industries, from the airlines to the cruise ships. And then, secondly, I wanted to talk about the legislation that came out.  The White House fought to exclude workers at larger corporations from paid sick leave.  And so I'm wondering what you say to, you know, somebody who flips burgers at McDonald's or works at one of these large chains that’s worried about staying home and potentially missing a paycheck. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, first, let me say we strongly support the house legislation, which while it gives some flexibility to small businesses -- which will be reflected in the regulations going forward -- no American workers should worry about missing a paycheck if they're feeling ill. And if we can't say often enough to our fellow Americans: If you're sick with a respiratory ailment, stay home. And as you've heard here today, over the course of this next week we're going to see testing become much more widely available, beginning in the areas the CDC will focus us as the highest priority. But working with members of Congress, we've made sure that not only is testing free, but we have every confidence that the extension of paid and family leave to Americans will be extended in a way that it’ll -- it should give every American that confidence. And let me say -- let me say with regard to the economy as a whole: I think the Treasury Secretary has been working very diligently on the President's behalf.  We had the supplemental -- $8.3 billion bill.  The House has now acted on important legislation that we fully support, and we hope the Senate takes it up this week. But whether it be the airline industry or the cruise line industry or the hotel industry, as the Secretary said recently, we are in just the first few innings of this effort.  And the President has directed us to bring the full weight of the federal government to bear to confront this crisis, first and foremost, on behalf of the health and safety of the American public. But strengthening our economy, ensuring that those vital industries will be able to find their way through and grow strongly once this coronavirus has passed will be a priority.  And we're already in discussions with members of Congress in both parties about that next phase of the support. But let me say, as I close, we will be back in the morning tomorrow for a briefing.  And also, we'll have a health briefing in the afternoon. But again, I know I speak on behalf of the President when I say how grateful we are for all the governors in the country, for all the local health officials -- everyone that's coming alongside Americans.  We encourage every American to continue to use best practices and common sense.  Even if you're not in a high-risk category, as the vast majority of Americans are, remember those people around you who may well be.  Remember those seniors with underlying health conditions.  That's the reason why you need to keep washing your hands, you need to keep practicing good hygiene, cleaning those counters and surfaces to make sure that we don't convey the coronavirus to them. And finally, let me also just -- let me add to all the wonderful accolades of the Public Health Service personnel behind me.  These are all heroes.  And I have to tell you, having been over at HHS yesterday, having seen the way these people drop everything and are rolling into this effort to expand testing across the country, it'll be these people in these blue uniforms that you see at an awful lot of these points of distribution, these community centers around the country. And for all they're doing today and for all each one of them have done throughout their career, I know they have the thanks of this President, his Vice President and the American people.      Thank you.                                END                 6:14 P.M. EDT

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP, VICE PRESIDENT PENCE, AND MEMBERS OF THE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE IN PRESS BRIEFING

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 14, 2020 REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP, VICE PRESIDENT PENCE, AND MEMBERS OF THE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE IN PRESS BRIEFING James S. Brady Press Briefing Room   12:19 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT:   Thank you very much.  We just completed a very good meeting of the Coronavirus Task Force.  And we -- we're really -- they're really doing a great job, our professionals.  The results are very -- very, very good.  And when you compare this to what's happening around the world, we're very proud of our people. And there's been a tremendous amount of coordination with states, with cities, and they’re a little smaller form of government, and they have things going well.  They're coordinating with us.  And certain, in particular, I think California has been terrific -- the relationship.  New York has been really good.  We've had some really good relationships in terms of -- especially the hotspots.  And we're focused on those hotspots.  In some areas, we don’t have no problem whatsoever, and we hope to keep it that way. Before I turn this over to our great Vice President to provide an update, I just want to express my appreciation for the hard work done by the people behind me and the people back in the various offices, including the fact that I just left the Oval Office.  So we have some people there that are probably watching this or they're just working.  We're using the full power of the federal government to defeat the virus, and that's what we've been doing. Last week, we secured an initial $8.3 billion from Congress for the coronavirus, and that was quickly done and very efficiently done.  And I want to thank all members of Congress. Yesterday, I declared a national emergency, which was a very big deal because it opened up avenues that we would never be able to open up without it.  And it will make it more than -- it will make more than $50 billion available to us immediately in disaster relief funds.  And that's available for states, territories, and local governments.  So that was really, really good. We also reached an agreement yesterday on a new legislative package that will provide strong support for American families and communities in dealing with the coronavirus.  So it was done very, very bipartisan.  It was -- it was very nice to see it.  Probably the cooperation -- I want to thank Secretary of Treasury, Steve Mnuchin, who did a fantastic job and worked with Nancy Pelosi and their representatives.  And it was really great.  It worked out very well. And a lot of people are benefitting by a lot of -- a lot of provisions in the bill, which they're going to be discussing with you today.  And the tremendous provision.  So that's something that we should talk about. I was honored to see that the stock market -- you were mostly there with us -- set a record in a short period of time -- over a 45-minute period that we had the press conference yesterday in the Rose Garden.  That was a record.  All-time record.  I think we should do one of them every day, perhaps.  How about every -- how about five times a day?  We'll do one five times a day.  But that was something to watch.  And I had no idea.  We walked back, I said, “So how did that work out?”  They said, “Sir, you just set a new record in the history of the stock market.”  So that was pretty good. And those great companies that were there, they couldn't have been too unhappy either, when you think about it, because they're all very big, publicly listed companies.  So they did a good job.  And more importantly, they're going to do a good job.  When you look at CVS and Walmart, and all of the tremendous people that were there yesterday, these are the biggest and the best.  And they're opening up their facilities.  They’re opening up -- they’re, right now, literally, working right now on opening -- doing something that's never been done before, to the extent that we're doing it.  And so we're very proud of them also. The bill provides for free coronavirus testing for all Americans who should be tested.  So people that are getting tested are getting this free.  They don't have to pay -- because a lot of people said, “Gee, it's a lot of money.”  And it is.  It's a -- you know, it’s a pretty complex test actually, and it costs money.  And it's being provided free, so people don’t have to worry about that. It also provides paid sick and family medical leave for those who need it, including for those who have the virus, for caregivers, and those looking after children affected by school closures.  So that's all taken care of also.  And we'll continue all of these different actions.  We have other things planned. We're going to also be working with companies that are affected financially.  Our country is in the best financial shape.  We've -- it’s so different than in the past, over the years.  If you look at some of the real big crises we had, it was financial problems and different things.  We now are in very, very strong financial shape with all of the trade and all of the other things that we've been doing.  It's been pretty amazing. We hope the Federal Reserve will finally get on board and do what they should do, because we're doing things that they should be doing, frankly.  And we can all do them together, but they should be much more proactive.  Other boards and other countries and people representing those countries are taking a much more aggressive action than our Fed, for the most part. So we'd like to see the -- you know, if you look at central banks -- yesterday, what they did -- we want to see our Federal Reserve be much more proactive.  It's important.  But in the meantime, we're doing things that -- that are -- that have been really well received.  Now, I guess you saw that yesterday at the end of the day with what we've done. We have a lot of things to tell you, in terms of respirators, in terms of all of the different things.  The masks are being made by the millions.  Millions and millions.  We have plenty now, but we're ordering for the millions.  We're ordering worst-case scenario.  Always -- we always say “worst-case scenario.”  And that's where we're going.  So I just want to thank everybody. I think the press has been really -- over the last 24 hours, I think the representation has really been very fair.  For the most part, been very fair. We're all in this together.  It's something that nobody expected.  It came out of China, and it's one of those things that happened.  It’s nobody's fault.  We all -- we all will solve this problem; we’ll solve it well. I think the American people have been incredible in the way they’ve acted.  There's been -- and if you look at companies and sports leagues and all of the things, what they've done is -- is just something very special, without being told, necessarily.  In some cases, perhaps they were told, actually.  But for the most part, they want to get it over with.  They want to get it over with quickly and with very little death. As of this moment we have 50 deaths, which is -- a lot of good decisions were made, or that number could be many times that.  But that's based on a lot of good decisions, one or two in particular.  You know that Europe was declared the hotspot yesterday, a big hotspot and number one.  And we -- we made a decision quite a bit prior to that, but we saw what was happening. But if you have any questions, this group will be very happy to do it.  But I just want to say they have been -- led by Mike Pence -- they have been incredible, the job they’re doing.  They're working 20 hours a day.  This man is working 20 hours a day or maybe more.  Is it more?  I think it’s more.  Tony has been working -- I’m just looking at this whole group.  And we've created a number of new stars, including the gentleman right behind me.  I watched him the other day.  It was such a fantastic job you did, and I really appreciate it. But they're going to be answering questions.  And we have a lot of new information, so I think you'll find it very interesting.  And I'll be going back to the Oval Office. Thank you very much. Q    Mr. President, have you been sending mixed messages, sir? Q    Mr. President, there are so many people right now that are rushing to Costco.  They're rushing to grocery stores all over the country.  They're filling up their baskets.  Is that the right move?  Do you think that people should actually be saying, you know, maybe conserve as opposed to buy? Also, overnight, Apple, sir, they announced that they're going to be closing all of their stores for two weeks.  Do you want to see other retail outlets, restaurants, stuff like that, do the same thing? THE PRESIDENT:  I think it’s fine if they do it.  I think it's -- frankly, it’s good if they do it.  I think what Apple did is fine.  And -- want to keep people away for a little while.  Just keep them away. Q    Well, at Costco -- THE PRESIDENT:   And, you know, when it gets better -- well, people are going and buying things, and I understand that. By the way, I had my temperature taken coming into the room. Q    So did we. THE PRESIDENT: You did?  Good. Q    Yes, sir. THE PRESIDENT:  Let’s compare.  Do you want to compare? Q    They did all of us. Q    Yeah. THE PRESIDENT:   Good.  We’ll we’re -- that means we're all looking good.  You also took -- I also took the test last night. Q    You did take the test? Q    You took the test? THE PRESIDENT:   Yeah.  And I decided I should, based on the press conference yesterday.  People were asking that I take the test. Q    When will we have the result, Mr. President? THE PRESIDENT:   I don't know.  Whatever it takes.  A day or two days.  Whatever -- whatever it is.  They send it to a lab.  But I’ve been -- Q    Why did you decide to take it? Q    Sir, you’ve been sending mixed messages -- THE PRESIDENT:   Only because the press is going crazy. Q    Mr. President, respectfully, you've been sending mixed messages.  We watched as you shook hands with people yesterday.  You have talked about 5 million tests being available; probably won't need that many.  Has your own sense of urgency evolved?  And are you changing what you're doing? THE PRESIDENT:  No, I’ve been urgent.  This is urgent for me, right from the beginning.  You know that because I closed up our country to China. Q    But why are you shaking hands, sir? THE PRESIDENT:  Because it almost becomes a habit, and you get out of that habit.  And, frankly, I was a non-hand-shaker, for the most part.  I've never believed that shaking hands -- once you become a politician.  And I notice it too: Political people walk up to me, they want to shake my hand.  I said, “Well, you know” -- Q    But is it a mixed message, sir? THE PRESIDENT:   Just wait a minute.  Wait a minute.  Just take it nice and easy, okay?  Just relax. People come up to me, they shake hands, they put their hand out.  It's sort of a natural reflex, and we're all getting out of it.  All of us have that problem.  Somebody comes up to you, they put their hand out -- you probably tend to just shake it.  And we're all getting out of that.  Shaking hands is not a great thing to be doing right now, I agree.  But people put their hand out.  Sometimes I'll put the hand out.  You don't think about it.  People are thinking about it more and more.  We have to think about it; it's important. Somebody said yesterday I touched the microphone.  I was touching it because we have different height people and I'm trying to make it easy for them because they're going to have to touch, because they wouldn't be able to reach the mic; they wouldn't be able to speak in the mic.  So I'll move the mic down.  And they said, “Oh, he touched the microphone.”  Well, if I don't touch it, they're going to have to touch it.  Somebody is going to have to, so I might as well be the one to do it. But, no, we all have to get away from -- I mean, getting away from shaking hands is a good thing, and possibly that's something that comes out of this.  Maybe people shouldn't be shaking hands for the long term because it does transmit flu and other things.  You know, we have flu in our country that kills, on average, 36,000 people a year -- 36,000 people.  And, you know, that's something that we're not talking about.  But as of this moment, we've lost 50 -- possibly a little bit less than 50 -- but probably 50 people.  And we're going to try and keep that number as low as possible. Q    Mr. President, the Pentagon is telling service members and their families not to travel domestically.  Should all Americans follow that same advice? THE PRESIDENT:  Well, if you don't have to travel, I wouldn’t do it.  If you don't have to travel -- we want this thing to end.  We don’t want a lot of people getting infected.  We want it to end, and end as quickly as possible.  So far, I think we've done a fantastic job.  I really think that the people behind me have not been given the credit that they deserve, because they have done a fantastic job. When you see all these school closures, when you see -- the school closures are very important but it causes a lot of problems.  The bill that we signed yesterday takes care of a lot of those problems with children staying at home and the parents are working.  Now we take care of that issue with what we passed last night.  Now, it has to go through the Senate.  I have to sign it.  But that will happen. But I'm now going back to the White House.  You have great professionals.  And if there's anything that comes up -- if there’s anything -- (Cross-talk.) Q    Mr. President -- thank you, Mr. President.  I just wanted to follow up on that.  Are you considering other travel restrictions, perhaps domestically -- THE PRESIDENT:  Yes. Q    -- in that regard? THE PRESIDENT:  Yes. Q    Can you describe what type of -- THE PRESIDENT:  Specifically from certain areas.  Yes, we are.  And we're working with the states, and we are considering other restrictions, yes. Q    Reuters is reporting that you're going to extend the European travel ban to the UK and Ireland on Monday.  Is that accurate? THE PRESIDENT:  We’re looking at it very seriously, yeah -- because they've had a little bit of activity, unfortunately, so we're going to be looking at that.  We are -- actually already have looked at it, and that is going to be announced. Q    You just criticized the Fed yet again.  If I could just get a little clarity on your thinking on this. THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah. Q    It's been a hallmark of your presidency.  You're always going after the Fed.  If you feel so strongly about it, why don't you dismiss the Chairman?  Or do you think you're powerless to do so? THE PRESIDENT:  No, I think I have the right to do that or the right to remove him as chairman.  He’s -- he has, so far, made a lot of bad decisions, in my opinion.  We had this great -- and we will soon have again, because I think you're going to have a tremendous bounce when this is over.  I think there's a pent-up bounce that's going to be tremendous.  I think you saw that yesterday with the stock market. No, I'm not happy with the Fed because I think that they are following, not leading.  We should be leading.  I'm not happy because, if you look at the central banks of other -- you know, other central banks -- largely, they're lower than us, their rate.  And their equivalent of the Fed rate is lower, in some cases by two points.  In some cases -- that's a lot.  In some cases, very substantially. And I thought that the Fed would be and should be much more proactive as opposed to following.  Our Fed is following.  We have the number one currency in the world by a factor of many times, as you know.  We have the currency; we have the power.  We have, by far, the strong currency.  Also, you look at the dollar -- the strength of the dollar.  Our Fed is not doing what they should be doing. We shouldn't have a Fed rate that's higher than our competitor nations.  If you look at Germany, they're essentially under zero; they're negative.  There are many countries negative.  Japan is negative.  Germany is negative.  Others are negative.  And we're paying higher interest rates. And what I'd like to do is, frankly, refinance our debt.  We could refinance our debt very easily at a much lower rate.  We have a -- we have some tremendous opportunities right now, but Jerome Powell is not making it easy. No, I have the right to remove.  I'm not doing that. Q    (Inaudible.) THE PRESIDENT:  No, I'm not doing that.  I have the right to also take him and put him in a regular position and put somebody else in charge.  And I haven't made any decisions on that. Thank you. (Cross-talk.) Q    Was your temperature normal, Mr. President? THE PRESIDENT:  Totally normal.  I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, good afternoon, everyone.  As the President just said, we just completed the White House Coronavirus Task Force meeting in the Situation Room, and we continue to implement the President's vision, not just for a whole-of-government response to the coronavirus, but a whole-of-America approach. The focus of our task force today, and going forward, is on implementing the President's public and private partnership on testing; focusing on ensuring that state and local authorities have the guidance and the support to ensure mitigation, particularly in areas where we've seen community spread.  And we're continuing to lean in, at the President's direction, on addressing capacity issues in our hospitals and with regard to equipment. Let me reiterate the President's gratitude, not just for the team behind me and the team behind them -- all of our federal agencies that are literally working every day to bring a whole- of-government approach to this -- but we also want to commend all of the governors across the country.  I'll be speaking again to all the governors, all 50 states and the territories, tomorrow. But as the President said yesterday in the Rose Garden, we couldn't be more grateful for all of the governors, particularly in areas where we've had community spread, for the seamless cooperation that's taking place.  And we commend local health authorities and all of those who are literally on the frontlines. Also grateful for all the businesses that you saw in high relief yesterday -- businesses around the country, in sports and entertainment, in retail, that are making decisions based on CDC guidelines and good common sense to protect the American people. And lastly, as the President also said, we just want to thank the American people for listening to local authorities, listening to recommendations from the CDC.  We'll hear more about that in just a moment from Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx.  But as we're seeing -- not surprisingly, as we've seen in the past -- the American people are all responding to look after not only their own health but their families and their communities.  And one story after another is truly inspiring to the President and to all of us. As you know, it's been a brisk few days.  The President declared a national emergency yesterday, freeing up significant federal resources for state and local authorities, as well as our national response. The President announced that unprecedented public and private partnership on testing.  And let me say that at 5 o'clock tomorrow, we will be detailing the progress that our team is making.  I can tell you they are literally working around the clock with private companies.  We are very pleased that Thermo Fisher was just approved last night by the FDA, in record time, to also be providing what's called a “high-throughput test” that will actually increase the capacity of this public and private partnership. But again, details on that -- in terms of when the local sites will be available at CVS and Walgreens and Walmart and other locations; what communities those will initially be available in; when the website will go online; as well as how this will continue to roll out -- 5:00 p.m. tomorrow, Eastern Standard Time, we’ll detail that. Last night, the House of Representatives passed legislation which addressed the priorities that President Trump had laid out for the American people in the weeks before that.  I want to join President Trump in thanking Speaker Pelosi, Leader McCarthy, the Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives who, as the President said earlier today, pulled together -- pulled together to pass legislation, and that's meeting this moment in the bipartisan “health first” spirit that the American people would expect. The Secretary of the Treasury will detail the legislation, but to be clear, the deal that passed the House last night, and will head to the Senate early next week, delivers on the President's plan for strong health and economic support, particularly focused on those most impacted, including hardworking, blue-collar Americans who may not currently have paid family leave today. It provides free coronavirus testing for uninsured Americans, and it builds on the decisions that President Trump made expanding coverage for Medicare, Medicaid, and also getting a commitment from private health insurance companies to join with us to waive all co-pays on coronavirus testing.  So now testing will be free for every American -- those who have insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, other programs, and even the uninsured. The legislation also establishes tax credits that the Secretary of the Treasury will describe that will provide paid sick and family medical leave for coronavirus-related employment interruptions. I expect Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci will reiterate this: If you are sick, now you need not be concerned -- if you're an hourly wage earner in America, you need not be concerned about staying home.  If you're sick, stay home.  You're not going to miss a paycheck.  Because of this legislation that's moving through the Congress, we'll make sure that your employer, including small businesses, have the ability to provide paid leave to you. This also provides funding and flexibility to ensure that senior citizens, women, children, and low-income families have access to emergency nutritional assistance, and it incentivizes states to ease access to employment benefits. Again, the President and I are profoundly grateful for the bipartisan spirit that drove this legislation.  And let me also say how grateful we are for the Secretary of the Treasury and the long hours that he put negotiating this measure. Let me say also, last night at midnight, the Department of Homeland Security implemented the President's decision to suspend all travel from Europe, passing through 13 airports, as Acting Secretary Wolf will detail the implementation of that. To be clear, countries where we have suspended travel under Section 212(f): Americans may still return to the United States.  Legal residents may still return.  They are being screened at some 13 airports as we speak.  If they are identified as being symptomatic for any illness, there is additional response on site.  But those Americans are being encouraged to return home and self-quarantine for 14 days.  That was -- that started at midnight last night.  And the Secretary will detail it. In a few moments, I'll ask Dr. Fauci to update us on cases, as well as current CDC guidance for all Americans.  And all of you are already aware that this week we issued specific guidance to about a half a dozen states where we've seen community spread. Dr. Birx will touch briefly on the public-private partnership testing plan and also speak about what the data is showing at this moment about the best guidance for every American. Acting Secretary Wolf and I both want to join the President in commending the cruise line industry, and they made a decision yesterday: Eighty-five percent of all the domestic cruise lines announced that they would be suspending cruise line operations for a period of 30 day.  And Chad Wolf will explain to you the importance of that decision. We want to commend the cruise line industry for working with us.  And as we met last week, on this day, with cruise line industry executives, we're going to be working very vigorously over the next 30 days to implement new policies that will ensure that when the cruise lines start back up, they’ll be safer and healthier places than ever before. But a great industry.  The American people love it and enjoy it.  And we're going to make sure that it's there for many, many years to come. Also, as the President just foreshadowed, in our task force meeting today, the President has made a decision to suspend all travel to [from] the United Kingdom and Ireland, effective midnight, Monday night, Eastern Standard Time. Chad Wolf will describe the details of that.  But again, as the President just suggested, all of our health experts presented information.  Dr. Fauci will reflect on some of those numbers.  We made a unanimous recommendation to the President that we suspend all travel from the UK and Ireland.  That will be effective midnight, Monday night, Eastern Standard Time. Again, Americans in the UK or Ireland can come home.  Legal residents can come home.  But as the Secretary will detail, they will be funneled through specific airports and processed. We continue to emphasize that the risk of serious illness for the average American remains low, but the data shows that seniors with serious underlying health conditions are our most vulnerable population, the people most susceptible to serious medical outcomes. Seema Verma, in a few moments, will talk about the President's decision yesterday to restrict all visitors in all nursing homes around the country, and other measures that we have taken. But it's so important -- it’s so important for all of us -- all of us who are blessed with having senior citizens in our family, like my 88-year-old mom -- is, let's look after seniors with serious underlying health conditions and make sure that every American around them is practicing the best kind of hygiene, the best kind of measures to ensure that they're not exposed. We'll hear also from Dr. Carson and the Surgeon General and -- before we wrap up and take some questions. With that, let me recognize Dr. Tony Fauci for an update on where we stand and recommendations and guidance. DR. FAUCI:  Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President.  Just a quick review of the numbers as of late afternoon yesterday.  Let me start off, quickly, globally and then we'll go to the United States. Right now, there are 129 countries that have involvement with coronavirus.  Globally, the numbers are 132-plus thousand.  So it's a little bit more than 132,000, about 7,500 of which are new cases. Importantly -- and this is something we've mentioned over the last couple of days -- that if you look at what was formerly the main feeder of this coronavirus outbreak -- was China -- they have 80,000 or 81,000 new cases, but only 11 new cases and only 7 new deaths.  Things have switched over now to outside of China, which has actually triggered our decision -- the decision of the President to do the travel restrictions in other areas besides China. And I think it's important to recognize that because when this is all over -- and it will end -- you will see a curve of how the coronavirus outbreak evolved.  It's not going to be unidimensional or homogeneous because countries are going to do this and then that.  We've seen it already with China; we're starting to see it with Korea -- which brings us now to what we can expect in our own country. So if you look at the domestic cases, there are about 2,226 including the repatriations, 50 deaths, 532 new cases, and 9 new deaths, which means we have not reached our peak.  Now, we will see more cases and we will see more suffering and death predominantly, as the Vice President said, among the vulnerables in our society, the individuals with the conditions that we spoke to, and the elderly. But built in that is a challenge, and the challenge is we still have the opportunity to influence the course of that curve.  So what we would like to see is that when this is all over, our curve was not like that; our curve was like this.  So that's the reason why we're implementing the things we're talking about. And finally, I just want to make a comment about yesterday.  You know, as a physician -- which is what I primarily am, who takes care of patients every day before I was doing this -- is that there are things that happened yesterday that I think are going to be really important to the people out there who are going to be impacted by this, but particularly by the physicians, and that is the President declaring a state of national emergency, because that will be what I thought -- the word that I use essentially -- “unshackling” us from any of the things that are going to get in the way of our implementing, particularly the new powers given to the Secretary of HHS, Alex Azar, and the departments within his agency, particularly CMS, which you're going to hear about shortly.  And within that group, particularly the nursing home situation, which we've really got to protect. The other thing is, we always get asked about testing.  You saw the CEOs out there.  Now it's all systems go.  Let's look forward.  The responsibility is going to be with us but also with them, because as we get knowledge about new testing, it will alleviate the anxiety that we have in the world about we don't know what's going on, but it also will give the individual physician, an individual citizen, the opportunity to know where they stand. I'll stop there.  I’m happy to answer questions later.  Thank you. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Dr. Fauci.  Deb? DR. BIRX:  Thank you.  Thank you.  Good afternoon.  I just completed my second week, so I want to just start with the four things that I have learned in the last two weeks: One, we're at our best when the country comes together in a bipartisan way.  And that has really been extraordinary to witness. But secondly, what you may not have seen as much of is the willingness of state and local governments to work together with the federal government in a seamless way, independent of party affiliation. The third thing has been the remarkable decrease in bureaucracy and red tape in order to get us to where we are today.  This is particularly evident in the CDC. And then, finally, the understanding that in order to unleash and serve every American, we have to create public-private partnerships that bring together the extraordinary strength of our private sector. So when we saw issues with testing -- and again, I want to remind everyone it was a surveillance system that was set up by public health institutions in the United States and our CDC to be a surveillance test.  We've then, because there was no other, moved it to a diagnostic test. But now we have the full power of our testing capacity. What do I mean by that?  We're looking at what it will take to have consumer access, and that's what the private sector is bringing to us. Secondly, we had to have automated high-throughput testing because we want the American people to be able to get their results quickly.  And you've heard from Roche and Thermo Fisher of that access. But finally, we want to make sure that patients get results.  And that was what's critical in that bill yesterday on reporting and requiring reporting, because obviously as we decentralize, as we move out of state and local laboratories -- public health laboratories -- as we move out into the hospitals in the communities, we need to know about the test results so that we can focus resources where they're needed the most. Finally, I want to conclude with something that's very important: When you are tested -- and our results look very similar to South Korea now to date, where in South Korea, 96-plus percent of people with symptoms were negative -- that means also that they had respiratory symptoms.  Let's remind all of us most respiratory diseases are contagious. So if you have any respiratory symptoms, you want to protect yourself and treat yourself, but you also want to protect others.  And so let’s everyone assume, when they have a respiratory illness, that you have a contagious illness because if it isn't allergies, it's contagious.  And let's use those precautions across the board, and let's -- when you get a negative test, that means you're negative that day.  That doesn't mean that you couldn't get the virus spreading overnight, because it replicates in your nose and your nasal secretions, and you would have a positive test tomorrow. So if you have a negative test, that doesn't mean that you can discontinue precautions. It doesn't mean you can start taking risks because you were negative.  So let's ensure that if you had symptoms, you are contagious; let's treat yourself as being contagious.  And if you have a negative test, let's make sure that you're still protecting others from whatever you do have and that doesn't reassure you personally and you take additional risk. Finally, I just wanted to conclude with a group of clients and patients that we are all very worried about.  These are individuals that we call long-term survivors from HIV that are here across the country, that have survived more than four decades with HIV.  Many of them still carry a level of immuno-compromise.  To all of them out there: Please take care of yourself.  Please ensure that you're doing everything possible to ensure you don't get exposed. Thank you. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Deb.  Great comments.  Mr. Secretary, on the legislation that passed the House. SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Thank you, Mr. Vice President. So first, in particular, I want to thank Kevin McCarthy and Kevin Brady and all the Republicans on the House side who worked with us around the clock.  I'd also like to thank Mitch McConnell and his team who were providing us input as well. I especially want to thank Speaker Pelosi, who was literally available to us around the clock for the last three days.  And also want to just thank the Vice President and the President who were very specifically involved in the details with us and providing guidance. So I will just highlight some of the issues here.  The first thing I would just say is this delivers on what the President announced in his speech the other night.  Obviously, people who need to be quarantined and people who have the virus, we want them at home, and we want them to continue to get paid.  We don't want to be in a situation where they fear not getting paid during this two-week period of time. So the first thing that this does is it creates a very seamless process for people that work for small- and medium- sized businesses.  They will continue to get paid by their employer.  They don't have to worry about big government and coming to big government to get their checks.  They will continue to get paid. We were also very sensitive to small- and medium-sized businesses.  Many of these businesses covered sick pay but they're going to have many more people that may be on quarantine than normal sick pay, and we didn't want them to have to bear the cost.  So 100 percent of the cost for these limited situations will be taken care of by the federal government. And then, finally, we wanted to think of, again, as I said, how do we deliver money to the people in the quickest way.  We didn't want to take six months to implement some government system.  So I want to thank everybody at the IRS.  The way we're able to do this: Again, the IRS will issue tax credits for most employers.  They'll just deduct the money from what they owe us. But I want to emphasize, for small- and medium-sized businesses that have cash flow problems, we will issue guidelines; you'll be able to come to the IRS, get the money in advance, so you don't have cash flow issues. So we were very careful and balancing, making sure that people got paid, with not creating undue burden. We also will have unique circumstances where schools are closed.  In many places, parents may be able to telecommute and take care of their kids and continue to get paid for their companies.  But in certain circumstances that parents have to be home to take care of youngsters or elderly people, again, we wanted to ensure that they had the ability to do that. And as the Vice President mentioned, for kids that received meals in schools -- the schools are closed -- we wanted to make sure that those kids would continue to get lunches paid for. I especially want to thank the task force -- two things that were very important to us in this.  There's a provision as it relates to masks.  We can now ramp up to 30 million masks a month.  And we wanted to make sure there was free testing, but there's also a provision that the states will communicate back to CDC these results.  So we will very quickly get those results. The last thing I want to say is: I thank the house for sticking around until very late last night, at 12:30.  I don't want people to be surprised.  We will be doing a technical correction on Monday morning.  Despite us working very hard, we had language agreed with the Speaker and with Kevin McCarthy.  It didn't get into the final bill last night at 12:30.  Kevin, the Speaker, and I agreed that they would vote on it and have an agreement.  There'll be a technical correction.  So I don't want anybody to come back on Monday morning and be surprised by that. So again, thank you to the Vice President and the President.  And let me also just say I would describe this as like a baseball game: The first inning was the $8 billion.  This is the second inning.  We have a lot more we need to do with Congress, and the Speaker and I have acknowledged it.  We will be working starting immediately.  The airlines industry in particular, no different than after 9/11, has a very unique circumstance, as the cruise industry, the hotel industry. I would say we got a lot more work to do, and we very much appreciate the bipartisan support and anticipate rolling things out very quickly. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Mr. Secretary.  And I know the President would want me to say again how grateful we are for all of your efforts on behalf of the American people. Acting Secretary Chad Wolf is going to speak about cruise lines, the current suspension of travel and expansion to the UK and Ireland. Mr. Secretary. ACTING SECRETARY WOLF:  Good afternoon.  And let me start off by thanking the partnerships that we have with our private sector partners, both in the airline industry and the cruise line industry, for implementing a number of travel restrictions and security orders over the last several weeks and months. As the Vice President and the President have outlined, we have issued new directives to denying foreign nationals who have been in certain affected countries -- that's been 28 countries to date -- from entry into the U.S. At the President's request -- and again, as the Vice President outlined earlier, we've had a number of major cruise lines that have agreed to suspend outbound trips for 30 days.  We've had a number of smaller operators follow that suit.  And then we have also given orders to a very small handful to not sail, and that began at midnight last night as well. Today, as -- again, as the Vice President outlined, the President made the decision, due to the rising number of cases in the UK, to apply these restrictions to both the UK and Ireland.  So as we move forward, again, these restrictions bar travel for -- from certain -- for certain foreign nationals who have been present in the UK or Ireland in the past 14 days.  And again, that goes effective midnight Monday. To be clear, the President's proclamation in these travel restrictions do not apply to U.S. citizens.  I want to be very clear about that, and the Vice President mentioned that: do not apply to U.S. citizens.  So I think we saw some reporting of how do U.S. citizens get back from Europe quickly.  They don't need to.  They will be allowed into the U.S. Legal permanent residents, family members under the age of 21, foreign diplomats, and then we have other exemptions that are outlined in the proclamation can certainly travel back to the U.S.  They will go undergo some medical screening and some other questions when they arrive.  And then they will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. These restrictions to the UK and Ireland, just like the Schengen zone and China and Iran, do not apply to cargo and economic -- air cargo, maritime cargo, economic shipping, or the like. So let me close again by saying that the President has really taken unprecedented action to protect the safety and the security of the American public.  These actions have never been taken before. And so the department -- let me thank the Department of Homeland Security, the men and women of the department who are working day and night, 24 hours a day, to implement these restrictions and to make sure that we do this in a very orderly and efficient process. And we also continue to look at all measures on the table -- new measures that we have to implement as we go forward, as the virus continues to evolve. So, thank you. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Mr. Secretary.  And I know the President would want me to reiterate your thanks and commendation to the dedicated men and women of DHS that are on the frontlines of implementing these travel policies and doing an outstanding job. With that, I'm going to recognize Seema Verma, the head of CMS, to talk about our continued emphasis on seniors and particularly the risks to seniors with serious underlying health conditions, and the steps that we're taking relative to nursing homes and inspections and guidance to protect those most vulnerable. ADMINISTRATOR VERMA:  Thank you, Mr. Vice President.  As the President and the Vice President said, we did take action last night to indicate that nursing homes should restrict all visitors effective immediately, and that includes all non- essential personnel.  There are some exceptions for end of life. We're also canceling all group activities and communal dining, and there's active screening of healthcare workers that are in the facility. The emergency declaration, as Dr. Fauci said, is also very important to our healthcare workforce.  There's a lot more flexibility that they have.  For example, they can have workers from across state lines.  Doctors and nurses that can help them.  Hospitals have the ability to move patients around.  So that's also going to be very helpful as they go forward with this. Also, with the nursing homes, we talked about this a couple weeks ago that we had a call to action for all healthcare facilities to double down around infection control practices.  We have now come up with some very specific guidance for our surveyors.  And we’ve already begun the process of going into nursing homes, especially the ones that we had a history of problems with infection control, and those inspections have already started.  We've been doing those in Washington State, in California, New York, but we'll be increasing those over the coming weeks. Thank you. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Seema.  And I’m mindful of the fact that there are likely many seniors in nursing homes around America that could be watching us at this hour.  And let me just assure you that we're going to continue to take steps to ensure that all the guidance from CMS, all the guidance from CDC about preventing the spread of infectious disease, remains low. And the threat here, I want to be clear, as Dr. Fauci has said -- and I might just ask him to emphasize again -- the threat here is not to seniors particularly or to seniors that may be on certain medications, but for seniors with serious underlying health conditions, we're taking the steps of suspending visitors with the purpose of protecting the most vulnerable. But to all of those other seniors that are watching from nursing homes or maybe watching from home or are otherwise healthy, Dr. Fauci, maybe you'd give them a word. DR. FAUCI:  Yeah, sure.  I think that you -- I mean, obviously, when you're a senior individual, like myself, that my degree of protecting against infections is not as good as it was when you're 30.  But if you're an otherwise healthy senior, that -- the thing is that you really have less of a risk than if you have an underlying condition. Thank you. THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Doctor.  Thank you. Q    Mr. Vice President, where is Secretary Azar? THE VICE PRESIDENT:  A couple more -- a couple more updates for you.  I want to hear from the Surgeon General and Dr. Carson, and then we'll -- we'll go to as many questions as you have, okay? Mr. Surgeon General? SURGEON GENERAL ADAMS:   Thank you.  Yesterday was a very big, a very important day for our nation's providers and for our nation's patients, in terms of the emergency declaration and also in terms of the agreement with the House that Secretary Mnuchin negotiated. And I want you all to understand some straight talk from the nation's doctor: We really need you all to lean into and prioritize the health and safety of the American people.  No more bickering, no more partisanship, no more criticism or finger pointing.  There'll be plenty of time for that. But we all need to hit the reset button and lean into moving forward the health and safety of the American people as their top priority.  More stories on how people can protect themselves, more people on -- or how people can get the resources that they need that we've unleashed from the federal government and state and local governments.  Less stories looking at what happened in the past.  Again, there'll be time for that. I want you all to understand, as Dr. Fauci said, this will get worse before it gets better, but we are making progress to flatten the curve.  We are making progress. Three important points: Number one, almost all people will recover.  Ninety-eight, ninety-nine percent of people will recover.  People need to know that.  And we heard a great story on NPR this morning about an 89-year-old from that nursing home facility in Seattle who is recovered. Number two, we must lean into protecting the most vulnerable: those with chronic or severe medical conditions, especially seniors.  Now is the time for us to lean into that, and we are taking the measures to protect them at HHS.  Secretary Azar, Bob Kadlec, Bob Redfield, Admiral Giroir are hard at work right now, leaning into that from the federal level. But we need your help.  Social distancing and mitigation, they're not to protect the 30-year-old or the 20-year-old from getting coronavirus.  They're to protect your nana, they’re to protect your granddaddy, they’re to protect the people who you love in your lives.  And we need your help. And finally, we all have a role to play.  If we are complacent, selfish, uninformed, if we spread fear and distrust and misinformation, this situation will last longer and more people will be hurt.  But if we pitch in and we share the facts, we will flatten the curve and we will overcome this situation. So, finally, my prescription: Know your risk, understand your circumstances, and get the facts to protect yourself at Coronavirus.gov. THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well done, General.  Thank you.  And Secretary and Dr. Ben Carson. SECRETARY CARSON:  Thank you, Mr. Vice President.  You know, sometimes you have to stop and think about what's unique about the United States. And one of the things that is really wonderful, and we should stop and think about more often, is that we have so many people who are willing to put aside their self-interest for the good of the nation.  And I want to thank those people at the federal, state, and local level who put their own lives on pause in order to try to help their fellow Americans.  It makes a big difference. But just as importantly, I want to thank the private sector.  There are so many in the private sector who have volunteered their services, who have stepped up, who are willing to recognize that maybe they're going to take a bit of a financial hit, but they recognize that we have to create the appropriate environment so that everybody can succeed in this nation.  And so often, we overlook those individuals.  I want them to know how much we appreciate them. What we're facing now is a significant threat.  You know, as a physician and as a surgeon, I faced a lot of very, very complex problems.  And most of them we were able to overcome not so much because of me, but because of the fact that we had incredible people working on this together. It was the teamwork that made the biggest difference in the world.  And that's what I'm seeing here in the government right now -- the people behind me with others who are willing to work together as a team to be able to accomplish the goals for the American people. And I used to think we had long hours in medicine.  You know, working 24 hours straight and working at midnight, two in the morning.  This team is working that way, too.  I frequently get calls at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, midnight about putting together some policies, doing various things. And I just want to thank all the people who are involved.  And I hope that, you know, we as a nation can use this as an opportunity to pull together for good.  Now, President Trump is going to be recommending a National Day of Prayer.  And, you know, we've gotten away from prayer and faith a lot in this country.  There's nothing wrong with godly principles no matter what your faith is. Loving your neighbor, caring about the people around you, developing your God-given talents to the utmost so that you become valuable to the people around you, having values and principles that govern your life -- those are things that made America zoom to the top of the world in record time.  And those are the things that will keep us there too. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Mr. Secretary.  Okay. Questions? Please, go ahead. Q    Mr. Vice President, first of all, can you explain why Secretary Azar is not here?  And also, can you indicate to us -- one of the things the President rolled out yesterday was a discussion of Google partnering with the federal government.  And then, later, Google said it was not aware that this was going to be announced and that it was not prepared in the same way the President forecast to the country. So where is the discrepancy about the website, Google's involvement?  And why is the Health and Human Services Secretary not present? THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Secretary Azar was at the coronavirus task force meeting this morning.  He's back to work.  And we’ll have a changing roundup for these presentations so we can get quickly to your questions.  But Secretary Azar is doing a remarkable job and working seven days a week for the American people and making a difference. With regard to Google and other private partners, I know Google issued a statement that they are planning to launch a website.  I think they gave a date of Monday, March 16th, and we're working literally around the clock.  And I know that our whole team, working on this public and private partnership, couldn't be more grateful to all of the hardworking people at Google that are helping to put this website together. But tomorrow, 5 o'clock, we'll have very specific -- we’ll have a very specific description tomorrow about when the website will be available, when the parking lot sites will be available for people to be tested.  And we're working right now with state and local communities to determine where it's best to roll those out as a number of -- a number of communities are already doing a great job meeting their needs.  So we're trying to flow the resources.  But 5 o'clock tomorrow night, we'll have details. Yes, please. Q    Can you tell us whether you have also been tested for the coronavirus?  And can you or somebody else clear up the apparent discrepancy between the letter that was issued from the White House physician's office just before midnight last night, in which the physician concluded that you and the President did not need to be tested? THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, I know the President announced that -- that he has been tested.  And I'm going to speak, immediately after this press conference, with the White House physician's office.  At this point, as of last night, the White House physician's office had said that neither I nor Mrs. Pence either had the symptoms or the contacts that would necessitate testing. And maybe I might ask Dr. Birx to step up.  As we expand testing across the country, we want people to be able to go to a website.  There'll be a questionnaire there to determine whether or not a test is in order, because we want to make sure that people are being tested that are -- that have the symptoms. But I'm going to speak to the White House physician right after this press briefing.  And Mrs. Pence and I would be more than happy to be tested. Dr. Birx, you want to speak to -- DR. BIRX:  Yeah.  No, thank you, Mr. Vice President, for mentioning that because, as I told you, in South Korea there are 250,000-plus tests.  About 96-plus percent were negative.  So -- and that was with symptoms. So we're working very hard integrating everything they have learned about symptoms and screening, and that is going into the development of this website.  So it's not just a simple checkbox website.  It's actually going to go through critical symptoms.  And that's why we're giving ourselves the weekend to get it put up. So far, in the United States, from LabCorp and Quest, they're running about a 99 to 98 percent negativity.  This always worries me because I've worked in public health a long time.  When you tell someone they're negative, yes, it's reassuring, but the last thing we want is them so reassured that they stopped practicing these critical practices that are going to protect all of us. This epidemic will be stopped at the community level.  Those are the individuals -- it's Americans and their response that will get us over this hump.  And that's why, yes, we'll have testing available.  We'll have to know that many of them are going to be negative, and you're going to have to help us carry that message that that means, just at that moment, you're negative, you need to continue to do all of your protection and protection of others to ensure you remain there. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Go ahead. Q    To follow up on the Google question about the website, Google said that the website they are developing is in its early stages and will be limited to the San Francisco Bay Area.  That seems very different from what you and the President are saying. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, what Google said was that they're planning to launch a website this coming Monday, March 16, that will enable individuals to do a risk assessment and be scheduled for testing at pilot testing sites in the Bay Area with the goal of expanding to other locations.  And we're very grateful for that. The objective here is to have a website up very quickly that -- that, first, people in the areas that have been deeply impacted -- Washington State, California, New York; now we've seen community spread in Massachusetts and also Florida.  And so we want to make sure that we're flowing those resources as well as those remote testing sites in that area. But that's a statement I was handed this morning from them.  And again, I want to tell you, folks: We're working 24/7 on this.  We're going to have very specific details on the rollout of this new public-private partnership and testing at 5 o'clock tomorrow. Please. Q    Thank you, Mr. Vice President.  Could you give us more details on the potential financial assistance for the entertainment industry, for the cruise industry that the administration is looking at right now? And, if I may, on the temperature checks, were all the members of the Cabinet who were in here today, did they also have their temperatures checked?  And -- (The Vice President and Task Force officials nod.) Okay, I see you nodding.  But is it also the White House policy now that anyone who, for instance, comes into the Oval Office needs to have their temperature checked at the door? THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I'd refer those questions to the White House physician's office.  I have been informed that they're establishing new protocols for temperature checks, and I had my temperature checked too. Let me as the Secretary of the Treasury to address what may be the next few innings.  I mean, as -- I thought Secretary Mnuchin put it very well.  We got the initial support -- $8.3 billion from the Congress.  The House passed legislation to act on the President's priorities. But we understand -- the President has made it very, very, clear -- whether it's our airline industry or cruise industries, that we expect to be coming back to Congress to make sure that our -- as we put the health of America first, as businesses make those hard choices, to make a priority of the health of their employees or those that they serve or their customers, that we're going to make sure that they can come all the way back. Mr. Secretary? SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  So let me just emphasize that this is a unique circumstance.  This isn't like the financial crisis where people didn't know how long this was going to go on. And let me just say, there's no question, because of the things that we’re requesting people to do, there are parts of the economy that are shutting down or slowing down dramatically. And as I said before and I said yesterday, we are committed to use all the tools and all the resources of the government to make sure that we protect the economy. So, many of the industries that you’ve talked about -- as I said, the airlines are the most obvious because we have a unique circumstance where we have shut down travel.  And these are of strategic importance to us. But we appreciate there’s many industries that are impacted by this.  I would also say there’s many individuals.  The President has talked about a stimulus program, whether it through a payroll tax cut, whether it through refundable tax credits.  We are 100 percent committed, and I can assure you there was bipartisan support. So we have a lot of tools, the Fed has a lot of tools.  Some of these tools we don’t have that we had in the financial crisis.  We’ll be going back to Congress.  And one the reasons why this bill was so important is this isn’t just now the second step on bipartisan support.  We will -- we will make sure that the economy recovers out of this and whatever support -- Q    If I may follow up: How much more money would you like to see -- I’m not talking about the previous bill; I’m talking about in the future -- for those industries? SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Let me just comment -- it would be premature to comment on specific money, as I said.  I’d use the analogy of we’re in a baseball game and we’re in the early innings.  We have 100 different things that we’re looking at. Yesterday, the President announced on student loans -- suspending interest.  That was one of the things.  He announced using the Strategic Oil Reserve.  This is a great time.  We also have a unique circumstance having nothing to do with the coronavirus.  Parts of our economy are very much impacted by the temporary low price of oil.  So the President, the Vice President, and everybody else is 100 percent committed.  We've got 100 different ideas, and whatever we need to do, we will do. Q    Mr. Vice President, thank you so much.  I have a question for you, and if I can, for Dr. Birx.  First -- first for you, sir, if I may.  Your language has changed a bit.  You've tweaked it a little bit.  Early on, you said that there was a low risk for the average American to contract the coronavirus. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Right. Q    Recently, your language has altered a little bit.  You’re saying the risk of a “serious” illness remains low.  Can you address why the change?  Is the potential of contracting the virus for an average American no longer low?  Why the change, sir? THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, I'm going to let Dr. Birx address that, because the reason we're -- Q    (Inaudible), sir, and you are Vice President.  If -- if you don’t mind, sir. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Everything that we're communicating to the public is based on what is the unanimous opinion of our health experts based upon the information that we have at the time. It's now a little more than a few weeks since we had our first incidence of community spread in the United States.  And letting the American people know the President took every step to prevent the coronavirus from coming into our country. I think you can't overstate how unprecedented and extraordinary the suspension of all travel from China was when the President made that decision before the end of January, and the travel advisories with portions of Italy, South Korea; the screening of personnel coming into our country. But allow me to let Dr. Birx address that because what we're going to continue to do is tell the American people, straight from the health experts, the best information that we have to see to their own health, the health of their family, and their community. Dr. Birx? DR. BIRX:  Yeah.  Thank you, Mr. Vice President.  So, every day, we analyze data from around the world and look at age groups that are impacted, look at and try to get a sense of the -- the amount of asymptomatic patients. Now, remember, all of the groups that are doing screening are screening on symptoms.  And so we're trying to figure out, based on that information and based on the profile of the epidemic, to really understand: Is there a whole group under 20 that really doesn't get significant symptoms?  Yet, we don't believe that, uniquely, people under 20 are naturally protected from the virus.  So are they a group that are potentially asymptomatic and spreading the virus? Because of that, and because of that unknown, we don't want to say that the risk is low when we don't know how low the numbers are for people who are asymptomatic.  We have a good sense of the number of people who are having symptoms, and we have a good sense of who is deeply impacted by this. I mean, if you look at all the data coming out of all of the countries that we triangulate on a twice-a-day basis, people of a certain age are at higher risk for a worse outcome.  And that's why we have been so laser-focused on that. But the other side of the epidemic is, how much transmission?  And until you really understand how many people are asymptomatic and asymptomatically passing the virus on, we think it's better for the entire American public to know that the risk of serious illness may be low, but they could be potentially spreading the virus to others. And that's why we're asking every American to take personal responsibility to prevent that spread.  And that's why we've made all of these recommendations broad, even past people who have symptoms or no symptoms, because we need to have everybody taking precautions. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Deborah.  Last question.  Go ahead. Q    You said tomorrow you're speaking to all the governors.  Are we -- it’s -- THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Monday. Q    Monday.  I’m sorry. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Yeah. Q    So you’re going to speak to all the governors.  Are we looking at any sort of domestic travel restrictions that could be coming down the pipeline anytime soon? And my other question for you is: Leader McConnell's statement saying that he was going to read the bill, that he was going to speak to some of his members over the weekend, are you confident that the Senate is going to take up this House legislation and get it done quickly? THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, the President expressed strong support for the legislation.  It received a very large bipartisan vote in the House. But we respect the process.  We’re grateful for the support that Leader McConnell has expressed for the process and the priorities that the President has outlined.  We'll be working with members of the Senate to unpack the bill for them and why President Trump endorsed it yesterday.  And we believe that they should move it expeditiously to passage. Q    And in terms of domestic -- THE VICE PRESIDENT:  With regard to -- with regard to additional travel restrictions -- Q    In the U.S. THE VICE PRESIDENT:  -- let me just say, as the President said, we'll -- we're considering a broad range of measures, but no decisions have been made yet. But I just want to assure the American people of two things: We're going to continue to follow the facts.  We're going to continue to listen to the experts about recommendations.  We'll bring -- as we did this week when the President made the decision to suspend all travel from Europe -- we’ll bring the -- we’ll bring the best recommendations of our healthcare experts to the President. And I promise you, and I promise the American people, this President is going to continue to take every step necessary to protect the American people and put the health of the American people first.  And, together, we'll get through this. Thank you.                               END                 1:25 P.M. EDT

The GoldFish Report No. 460 - Dr. Scott Werner Discusses Coronavirus

The GoldFish Report No 460 YouTube Video Link

The GoldFish Report No 460 BitChute Video Link

On The GoldFish Report No. 460, Louisa welcomes back Dr and Mrs. Scott Werner, M.D., to discuss Coronavirus and what you can do to protect yourself and your family. For more information about Dr. Werner please visit www.scottwerner.org and for info about essential oils please visit vickiwerner.com. Link for CDC Coronavirus guidelines: https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registr... To receive our Reports you can subscribe to our BITCHUTE Channel at https://www.bitchute.com/profile/qrAL... and to become a Patron of The GoldFish Report you can go to our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=10007100 . You can also subscribe to our "NEW" YouTube channel at, and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO-A Follow us on Twitter at @ReportGoldfish, www.thegoldfishreport.wordpress.com you can also follow us and like us on our 24/7 research news page at www.facebook.com/thegoldfishreport and to help support these and other programs please visit www.thegoldfishreport.com to make a donation. Thank you for your support and Thank you for viewing. Visit our NEW Vimeo on Demand to view our Educational Country Roads Reports at this link here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thegoldfis... To View our NEW Educational Bullet Points Reports use this link here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/174952 For viewer support of The GoldFish Report's Project "The Road to the White House", Please donate at www.thegoldfishreport.com at out PayPal or become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=10007100. To View The GoldFish Report's POTUS Reports, you can visit our BitChute page or view the unlisted report on YouTube from our POTUS Report page on our website at www.thegoldfishreport.com DISCLAIMER The following videos were created for educational purposes only. The content of this material strictly for research purposes, and readily available to the general public via the Internet. Viewing of the GoldFish Reports acknowledges that senders and recipients hereby agree to this disclaimer, thus releasing the source author from any and all personal liability. Also, individuals who alter or deviate from this source material, may be exposing themselves to the full extent of law. THE OPINIONS AND HYPOTHESES OF OUR GUESTS AND GUEST CO-HOSTS DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GOLDFISH REPORT POTUS UPDATE. AN OPINION AND HYPOTHESIS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITH NEWLY PRESENTED RESEARCH AND EVIDENCE. THE GOLDFISH REPORT POTUS REPORT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR INFORMATION THAT MAY BE UNKNOWINGLY INACCURATE, ALTHOUGH WE DO OUR BEST TO PRESENT FACTS, OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE THE CONVERSATION ABOUT DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES OF WORLD EVENTS AND HOW THOSE MAKING THE DECISIONS MAY IMPACT OUR LIVES. VIEWER DISCERNMENT IS ADVISED. FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of criminal justice, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Copyright 2020 The GoldFish Report. All rights Reserved.