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COVID-19 Virus Not Quickly Mutating; New York Governor Warns "Astronomical" Surge Could Flood Hospitals; White House, Senate Reach Historic $2 Trillion Stimulus Deal; Andrew Cuomo Updates Coronavirus Response. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired March 25, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN London, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Right now we are watching what is surely the most complex mixture of medical, social and economic collapse
converging on an unprecedented scale across our world. There is a lot of bad news.
But there is a lot of good news, too. For each problem, people busying themselves with solutions.
I'm Becky Anderson. Let's get back to CONNECT THE WORLD for you.
In a small glimmer of hope in the fight against this coronavirus that is spreading quickly across the globe, a U.S. scientist reports that the virus
is not mutating quickly. And researchers don't expect that to change.
Two reasons that that is good news. It means COVID-19 won't become easier to transmit and a stable virus makes it a bit easier to develop a vaccine.
Well, a vaccine, of course, can't come fast enough for those in Italy. The death toll there has passed 6,800, the highest in the world. Meanwhile,
Spain's death toll has surpassed China's to be the second highest in the world. It jumped 27 percent since Tuesday and the country's top scientists
expect it to keep rising.
The virus has also reached the British royal family. We've got correspondents the world over as we connect you to everywhere that matters.
Let's get you to -- well, let me do this first. The World Health Organization has warned that the U.S. has the potential to become the next
epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. Today on CNN, the same spokeswoman said, there is still time to get it under control if the right steps are
taken.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MARGARET HARRIS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: There are very basic things that need to be done, testing, finding every case, tracing, finding
everybody who's been exposed to somebody who's infected, isolating all those people, isolating the people who are ill but also quarantining.
It is the same as isolating but it means you're not ill. Making sure they don't go anywhere and they don't come in contact with anyone. They try to
use separate bathrooms and all those things. And finally getting the people who are ill to treatment. And when you do that, really, really protect your
health workers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Meanwhile, president Donald Trump is talking about getting back to business and church by Easter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope we can do this by Easter. I think that would be a great thing for our country.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Who suggested Easter? Who suggested that -- ?
TRUMP: I said it was a beautiful time to be a beautiful time, a beautiful timeline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that is 18 days away, of course. The governor of New York, who's dealing with half the cases in the U.S., says the peak of the crisis
there might hit right around that time.
And this ambitious timeline from Mr. Trump comes as other countries are tightening restrictions. In India, a three-week lockdown just went into
effect. Iran using its Revolutionary Guard to disinfect and set up field hospitals.
And Italian police using drones to monitor people, threatening jail time for anyone who violates quarantine.
Well, back in Washington, the U.S. government does seem to recognize the enormous financial toll this pandemic will take with an historic stimulus
package close to becoming reality. Well, here's why the WHO says the U.S. could become the next epicenter. Coronavirus cases in the country have
doubled in two days.
One reason the numbers are going up?
More testing. Confirmed cases have passed 53,000, with the number of deaths, more than 700. At this hour, more than half of the U.S. population
are under stay-at-home orders. And at the center of the outbreak, as I said, New York. Brynn Gingras reports from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than half of the coronavirus cases in the United States are from the New York City metro
area and the state's number is doubling about every three days.
BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Right now I am satisfied we can get through this week in New York City in terms of our health care system.
And even with that, I think some of our hospitals are going to be very stressed.
GINGRAS (voice-over): The White House coronavirus task force's coordinator asking anyone who's visited New York state recently to take action now.
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Everybody who was in New York should be self-quarantining for the next 14 days to
ensure that the virus doesn't spread to others, no matter where they have gone.
GINGRAS (voice-over): New York governor Andrew Cuomo blasting the federal government, saying it needs to provide more medical equipment like
ventilators.
[11:05:00]
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): How can we be in a situation where you can have New Yorkers possibly dying because they can't get a ventilator but a
federal agency saying, I'm going to leave the ventilators in the stockpile?
GINGRAS (voice-over): The president firing back, saying it's Cuomo's problem, not his.
TRUMP: He's supposed to be buying his own ventilators. We're going to help.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Over half the United States has been ordered to stay at home with more coming by week's end. But President Trump still
optimistic the country will be back to normal in less than three weeks.
TRUMP: I would love to aim it right at Easter Sunday so we're open for church service and services generally on Easter Sunday. That would be a
beautiful thing. We can socially distance ourselves and go to work.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Meantime the nation's top infectious disease doctor says it's impossible to set a deadline.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You can look at a date but you've got to be very flexible and on a
literally day by day and week by week basis. Obviously no one is going to want to tone down things when you see what's going on in a place like New
York City.
GINGRAS (voice-over): As states grapple with growing numbers of coronavirus patients, officials like those in Louisiana, with one of the
highest growth rates in the nation, say their hospitals and first responders are already overwhelmed.
LATOYA CANTRELL, NEW ORLEANS MAYOR: My EMS department, over 50 percent of my people are now on quarantine. So while we have unlocked additional
resources at the state level, the state can no longer go on without federal assistance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, the White House and Senate have approved what is the biggest stimulus package in U.S. history. The deal, valued at $2 trillion,
sets aside $250 billion for direct payments to individuals and families; $350 billion for small business loans; $250 billion in expanded
unemployment insurance benefits and $500 billion in loans for distressed companies. White House reporter Stephen Collinson and our Richard Quest.
Stephen, you've been watching the stimulus deal negotiations closely. These numbers are huge.
The question is, is it enough to jolt the economy back to where it was?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, I think certainly it's not enough to jolt the economy back to where it was.
Everybody involved in this, from the White House to leaders on Capitol Hill, are approaching this as an attempt to try and save the economy from
completely imploding during the worst of this crisis.
It's more of a patch perhaps to allow the economy and perhaps millions of workers who have been laid off to stay in suspended animation, perhaps,
until the peak of this crisis continues.
So the president's optimistic predictions that the economy can be "raring to go" by Easter in 2.5 weeks clearly are not realistic nor is his
prediction that the economy will go up in a big V-shaped recovery and it's just going to explode in a few months. That is clearly wishful thinking.
Notwithstanding the massive size of the stimulus package, is it going to be enough?
And everyone thinks it's not going to be enough. There are already talks going on informally on Capitol Hill about a phase 4 stimulus that will be
needed either to prolong this time of sort of status in the economy or to get things going, when things slowly start opening up.
ANDERSON: It does seem remarkable, Richard, doesn't it, that people are saying this may not be enough when this is the biggest package in U.S.
history and, as one of Trump's economic advisers points out, if you add the effective stimulus that the Fed has provided, this could actually round out
at something like $6 trillion.
"Our country was not built to be shut down," says the president. "We are going to be opening up our country for business because our country was
meant to be open."
RICHARD QUEST, CNNMONEY EDITOR AT LARGE: Yes, and that's an admirable statement and one can say that about every other country as well.
But it's the facts that matter here. And, yes, $2 trillion is about 10 percent of GDP. Add in everything else and you're heading towards 15-20
percent of GDP. That's about the sort of number you want.
But it doesn't hit immediately. The most important part of the stimulus package is probably the loans to business and those that keep people
employed and the extended unemployment benefits, which will keep people getting money in the foreseeable future.
Look, Becky, at the core of this, we have to go back to China. I know you've been reporting that Wuhan is starting to open, the province is
starting to open, except for the city. That's 8-10-12 weeks.
[11:10:00]
QUEST: There is no reason to assume the U.S. can do it any more quickly once this gets going, say, for example, in New York.
ANDERSON: Yes. And Andrew Cuomo pointing out that the apex for this could be 14 to 21 days in New York. And the cases are higher than had been
expected.
And he is pointing out, of course, that nobody should be expendable, neither your mum or your brother or sister or kids. We've got to get this
health crisis sorted out before the economic crisis is dealt with.
Stephen, Donald Trump seeming to take a dig at senator Mitt Romney after testing negative for the coronavirus. Mr. Trump saying, "I'm so happy I can
barely speak."
Eagle-eyed viewers will remember Romney, the only Republican senator to vote for the president's impeachment a couple of months back. Now sources
telling CNN the president getting cabin fever in the White House, bringing this all together.
How do you see his temperament at a time like this?
COLLINSON: Well, he certainly isn't the traditional kind of crisis leader. He doesn't fit any of the templates of presidents during a crisis.
I think it's interesting; these briefings that the president holds every evening just in time for the evening news, coincidentally, have almost
become a substitute for the campaign rallies that he can no longer hold around the country.
So he comes out with a script, says things like, "We're all in this together, I'm proud to be your president." He cherry-picks all of the most
positive glimmers of light during the day in the fight against the coronavirus crisis, even though it's clearly going to get far, far worse.
The president is very impatient to get the economy moving again. And that is the right question to ask in many ways. The president should be pushing
his officials to work out how it's going to open, to get them to look at the public health officials, to look at new therapies.
The question with Donald Trump is always, is he acting on the country's behalf or is he prioritizing his own political goals?
It's clear that he needs to get this economy moving in the second quarter, if it is at all going to be in decent shape by the time he's running for
election in November and, of course, the economy is his biggest selling card.
ANDERSON: Richard and Stephen, always a pleasure. Thank you, guys.
From the United States to Spain, where the number of deaths from COVID-19 has surpassed that now of China. Spanish authorities are reporting more
than 3,400 people have died. That is second only to Italy when it comes to fatalities.
Meanwhile, Italian officials reporting nearly 7,000 deaths. That's more than double the number in China where the outbreak began. And here you can
see a convoy of military trucks lining up to take coffins away. The bodies will be cremated as Italy struggles to keep up with the growing number of
dead.
Well, Italy's deputy health minister tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month but has since recovered. An Italian newspaper, quote, "During
the worst moment of the illness I thought I could die and I was scared of leaving alone my wife and letting my son grow up without a father like me."
Well, Pierpaolo Sileri joining us now from Rome.
Mr. Sileri, how are you feeling now?
PIERPAOLO SILERI, ITALIAN DEPUTY HEALTH MINISTER: Good afternoon. Thank you for your kind invitation. I am very well. I am out of this. I did two
swabs, are both negative. So I'm negative. I'm back to my activity.
ANDERSON: Excellent. Well, there had been some hope that the worst might be over in Italy. Sadly, the numbers don't seem to bear that out. That
doesn't seem to be the case.
What is the latest where you are?
SILERI: What's happening is the numbers are degrees and (INAUDIBLE) is not a huge degrees but numbers are going down. I don't know if we did reached
the peak or if we are in the middle of the peak.
Most likely during this week we observe a reduction of the number of infected people and this is mainly due to the lockdown of Italy that we did
at the beginning of this month, starting from the 8th and the 9th of March.
We reduced basically the majority of the activity. So I believe that this will reduce quite a lot the number of infected people over the next few
days.
ANDERSON: And I want to talk about that lockdown momentarily. But first, Italy is only testing people with severe symptoms, as I understand it.
[11:15:00]
ANDERSON: And experts say the true number of infected people may be 10 times higher.
How concerned are you?
SILERI: We did start to do more tests. And there was variability (ph). The (INAUDIBLE) regions in Italy. Obviously, the huge hit was in Lombardy
and there were some promise to do tests to everyone. I mean, this is reasonable, obviously.
But I believe tests should be performed to everyone with symptoms, even if they are very, very small symptoms, because you may start with some
conjunctivitis just or a small fever. You should be tested then, especially then if you are somebody very close to somebody who's positive. So I think
that the larger use of the test is demanded.
ANDERSON: Even if the numbers go higher, sir?
SILERI: Even if numbers goes high, especially now, because if they have the reduction of an infection, you may have other small outbreaks in Italy.
So where you have new outbreaks, there you have to confine and check and do more swabs.
ANDERSON: So we were talking about the lockdown. And you have suggested that you genuinely believe the lockdown that started a week into the month
of March has really helped to contain what otherwise might be a much wider spread.
Italian mayors across the country have been appealing for people to stay at home. There are still people who are not following government orders.
Firstly, what is your message to them?
And how long do you think this lockdown goes on?
SILERI: OK. I will answer to the second question first because this is very difficult to say. As long we have a number of infected people like we
observe now, obviously we cannot do any prediction of how long we will be like this. Obviously wait a few weeks; it is too early to say when we are
going to end all this.
Regarding the people who are -- I think the majority of Italians are respecting our rules. It's just a minority of people, less than 5 percent.
But probably they are still going out. And these numbers are reducing every day.
People are very, very -- the compliance is very high. So people are following our rules very, very responsible. So obviously I hope that people
will follow these rules for, you know, the next weeks obviously.
ANDERSON: Sir, I want to finish on an optimistic note. And we started this interview by you suggesting that you are hoping that the peak might come by
as early as the end of this week. So you know, if you could just provide a message, if you will, for the rest of the world that may be somewhat behind
you.
What can other countries learn from Italy's experience?
SILERI: Two things to be done. The first is the lockdown. It's the most important way to stop the passage of the virus from one man to another man.
The other things that improve in us your health system. So increase the ICU bed. Increase the infectious disease wards. We did increase the beds for
ICU by 60 percent. And we increased the numbers of the lung disease and infectious disease beds from 7,000 to 26,000.
ANDERSON: All right.
SILERI: So these are the most important things.
ANDERSON: And with that we're going to leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for joining us.
I want to get to the governor of the state of New York, Andrew Cuomo, holding what is now his regular daily press conference. It's important
stuff. This is the epicenter of the coronavirus, COVID-19, in the States. Have a listen.
CUOMO: -- percent of the people who test positive require hospitalization.
And then there are degrees of hospitalization, right?
But the total universe that requires hospitalization is 15 percent.
The -- we use projection models. We have Cornell Weill, which is a great medical institution that does projection models. We use McKinsey that
projection models; the Department of Health does projection models. The projection models are important because they are projecting the possible
trajectory and projecting the possible need.
[11:20:00]
CUOMO: So we're planning for a need. The projection models do that. The projection models are just that. They are models of projections. They're
not necessarily definitive but it's the only device that we have to plan. Follow the data, follow the data, follow the data.
The actual hospitalizations have moved at a higher rate than the projected models, than all the projected models. So that was obviously concerning
because that higher infection rate means faster, higher capacity on the hospitals and that's the critical point for us, is the number of people
going to hospitals.
Right now what we're looking at is about 140,000 cases coming into the hospitals. The hospital capacity is 53,000 beds. That's a problem. We're
looking at about 40,000 ICU cases coming into the hospitals. We have about 3,000 ICU beds. That's a challenge.
What is an ICU bed for these purposes?
Basically a bed with a ventilator. The ventilator is the most critical piece of equipment for an intensive care unit bed because this is a
respiratory illness and people need more ventilation than usual.
What do we want to do?
Reduce the number of cases coming into the hospitals, slow the number of cases coming into the hospitals. That's what Dr. Fauci is talking about on
TV every day, flatten the curve, flatten the curve, flatten the curve. Slow the number of people coming into hospitals so we can deal with them in the
hospitals.
And we are working on that. At the same time, increase your hospital capacity. So try to slow the number of cases coming into the hospital.
Meanwhile, raise your hospital capacity. We are working on both simultaneously. We have been from day one.
Reduce the number of cases coming in, flatten the curve, slow the spread of the infection. We are doing everything we can on that. That's banning
nonessential workers. That's social distancing. That's closing restaurants, closing gyms, just flatten the curve, slow the infection rate.
One issue we had was in New York City, where we had a higher level of density than we wanted, especially in the New York City parks, especially
with young people.
I've been as direct as I can and as blunt as I can on young people and the misinformation that they have. You can catch the coronavirus. You may think
you are a superhero, you're really not. You can catch it and you can transfer it, which makes you dangerous to the people who you love.
But the New York City parks have been a problem. I saw the problem myself first-hand. I spoke to Mayor de Blasio. I spoke to Speaker Johnson. We said
come up with a plan in 24 hours that everybody agreed with.
They came up with a plan. We are now implementing that plan. I signed off on that plan. The plan is going to pilot closing streets in New York City
because we have much less traffic in New York City, we have many fewer vehicles in New York City. Open streets, people want to walk. If they want
to go out and get some air, you want a less dense area. So pilot closing streets to cars, opening streets to pedestrians.
We will also enact mandatory playground social density. It's probably a new concept. No close contact sports in a playground. No basketball, for
example. You cannot do it. We're asking people to do that on a voluntary basis.
If there is noncompliance with that, we will then make it mandatory and we will actually close the playgrounds. We don't want to do that because
playgrounds are places where you can go out and get open air.
But you have to exercise social density even in a playground. And, again, it's voluntary. The mayor is going to make it clear that this is important
to the people of the city. If it doesn't happen, we will actually close down the playgrounds. I don't want to do that.
But we do need to reduce the spread of the infection. And that is what is most important.
[11:25:00]
CUOMO: This is very interesting because the evidence suggests that the density control measures may be working. And again we are doing this from
projections. But look at this because it's interesting. This past Sunday, the projection was that hospitalizations were doubling every two days.
OK?
On Monday, the numbers suggested that the hospitalizations were doubling every 3.4 days. On Tuesday, the projections suggested that the
hospitalizations were doubling every 4.7 days. Now that is almost too good to be true.
But the theory is, given the density that we're dealing with, it spreads very quickly but if you reduce the density, you can reduce the spread very
quickly.
So these projections, I have watched them bounce all over the place and I don't place a great deal of stock in any one projection. All due respect to
all the great academic statisticians who are doing it. But this is a very good sign and a positive sign.
Again, I'm not 100 percent sure it holds or it's accurate. But the arrows are headed in the right direction and that is always better than the arrows
headed in the wrong direction.
So to the extent people say, boy, these are burdensome requirements, social distancing, no restaurants, no nonessential workers, yes, they are
burdensome. By the way, they are effective and they're necessary and the evidence suggests at this point that they have slowed the hospitalizations.
And this is everything. Slowing the hospitalization rates coming into the hospitals are everything so the hospitals can deal with the rate of people
coming in. At the same time, increase hospital capacity.
What is the high point?
You see that line in the beginning?
Well, we are studying what is the high point of that line, what is the apex of that line. That is the point of the greatest number of people coming
into the hospital system, so that's our greatest load is the apex.
And when is that going to happen?
Again, that is a projection; again, that moves around. But the current projection is that could be in 21 days. So ramp up the hospital capacity to
make -- to be able to handle that apex volume.
How do you ramp up hospital capacity?
You ramp up beds, you ramp up staff and you ramp up the equipment. And the ventilators are the problem in equipment as we've discussed many times.
Where are we on that, beds?
We may need 140,000. We have 53,000. That's the existing capacity of hospitals. We told all hospitals they have to increase their capacity by 50
percent. I told them that myself on a conference call yesterday.
This is a burden for the hospitals, to now say you have to increase capacity 50 percent. But I have to tell you, they were very generous about
it and they understood what we were dealing with. And they were eager to step up to the plate.
If you increase hospital capacity by 50 percent, that gets you 27,000 beds; on top of the existing it takes you to 80,000. Some hospitals, I asked as a
goal try to increase by 100 percent your capacity; 50 percent was the minimum. The goal was 100 percent.
I believe some hospitals will actually try to do that. And I encourage them to try to do that, as impossible as it sounds. But now is the time to be
aggressive and do things you've never done before. If some of them do that and I believe some of them will, that will be an additional 5,000 beds. We
get to 85,000 beds.
FEMA, Army Corps of Engineers, what we're doing at the Javits Center, what we're doing at the Westchester Convention Center, Westbury campus, Stony
Brook campus, that takes us to 89,000.
The U.S. Navy ship Comfort the president dispatched, that would be 1,000 beds to backfill from hotels. That takes you to 90,000. If we take all the
state dormitories in downstate New York, that could get us an additional 29,000 beds. We'd be at 119,000 beds.
[11:30:00]
CUOMO: You're still not at the 140,000 that you need. But then we are looking at hotels, we are looking at former nursing homes, converting other
facilities to make up the difference. So a lot, creative, aggressive. But in life, you do what you have to do. And that's what we're doing on the bed
capacity.
Protective equipment, we have been shopping around the world. We have a whole team that's doing it. Right now we have enough protective equipment,
gloves, masks, gowns for all the hospitals statewide that are dealing with it. I put down a shipment to New York City yesterday.
Today no hospital, no nurse, no doctor can say legitimately I don't have protective equipment. Right now and for the foreseeable future, we have a
supply. We do not yet have secure to supply for three weeks from now, four weeks from now, five weeks from now.
But we are still shopping. And taking care of this immediate need was also good news and a good job by the team. And again we are still shopping for
more equipment. Ventilators, ventilators, ventilators. We need 30,000.
We have in the existing hospital system 4,000 ventilators. This is just in the normal operation of hospitals, et cetera. We have purchased 7,000 and
we are still shopping. Federal government has sent 4,000.
We are exploring splitting, where one ventilator could do two patients. Italy has had to do this because they were forced to do it. I want to see
if we can study it and do it a little smarter and have a little more time experimenting with it. But we are looking at splitting the ventilators.
We are still working with the federal government to try to find more ventilators but that is our single greatest challenge, are the ventilators.
Again, the ICU beds, that really means a ventilated bed because, again, this is the number one piece of equipment that we need.
You have beds, you have equipment, you need staff and you need staff understanding that some staff is going to get sick and they are going to be
out. So we have been working on putting together a surge health care force, go back to the retirees, go back to nurses and doctors who may not be in
the hospital direct medical care occupation and ask them to sign up for possible reserve duty.
God bless them; 40,000 people have signed up as a surge health care force, 2,000 physicians, anesthesiologists, emergency room technicians, nurse
practitioners, physician assistants, nurse anesthetists, respiratory, RNs, LPNs, 40,000 people have signed up. That's a big, big deal.
Because you can create beds, you can find the equipment, you have to have the staff and you have to have the staff for those additional beds which
are not now in the hospital system. And you have to have staff when the existing staff gets ill or, by the way, just can't work the hours that
we're going to need people to be working.
So that's very good. This is also very exciting. I don't know that anyone else has done this. We've talked about the emotional stress that this
brings on people and the mental health stress and the mental health challenges. No one's really talking about this.
You know, we're all concerned about the immediate critical need, the life and death of the immediate situation, which is right. But don't
underestimate the emotional trauma that people are feeling and the emotional health issues.
We asked for mental health professionals to voluntarily sign up to provide online mental health services; 6,000 mental health professionals agreed to
volunteer to provide mental health services for people who need it.
How beautiful is that?
And the hotline, 1-844-863-9314, you can call that hotline. You can schedule an appointment with a mental health professional, totally free, to
talk to them about what you're feeling and what stress you are feeling. And, again, God bless the 6,000 mental health professionals who are doing
this 100 percent free.
[11:35:00]
CUOMO: On top of whatever they have to do in their normal practice. And I'm sure in their normal practice, they're busy. So this is really an
extraordinary step by them.
The federal government, I spoke with President Trump several times. I spoke with him last night. I spoke with him this morning. I have spoken to people
in the White House who are handling these operations. I've spoken with the vice president. I've spoken with Jared Kushner, who is a New Yorker.
He knows New York and he's working in the White House and he's been extraordinarily helpful on all of these situations. What we are working on
is a common challenge. No one has these ventilators and no one ever anticipated a situation where you would need this number of ventilators to
deal with a public health emergency.
So we have purchased everything that can be purchased. We are now in a situation that we are trying to accelerate production of these ventilators.
And a ventilator is a complicated piece of equipment.
The president and his team, I think, are using the DPA well, because it's basically a leverage tool when you're dealing with private companies,
right?
We need your help, we can demand your help or you could agree to help and we need you to step up and increase production. Even with that, there's a
ramp-up time for a company to put together the supply chain, put together the workforce and get these things up and running.
So Ford is going to help, General Motors is going to help. The problem is our timeline is so short, we are looking at an apex 21 days, in that range.
To get ventilators and these business consortiums put together, supply chain design team ramped up and delivered a -- 30,000 ventilators is an
extraordinarily difficult task.
And it's something that our team is working on with the White House team.
And I want to thank the president for his cooperation and his team for their cooperation.
We are getting very creative. We are talking to countries around the world as well as new companies that could do production. We are also talking to
the White House about another concept. New York has the greatest need in terms of numbers.
New York also has the most critical need in terms of timing, right?
We talk about our apex. We talk about that curve. Different localities, different regions around the country are going to have different curves. We
are, in some ways, first. Our case numbers went up first. Our trajectory is first by a long shot. Different regions will have their curve at different
times.
What I said to the president and his team was, look, rather than saying we have to provide equipment for the entire country at one time, let's talk
about addressing the critical need in that hot spot.
Once that hot spot turns, because you have an apex and then you have a curve and the curve is relatively short, once you address that hot spot
with that intensity, intense equipment, intense personnel, then shift to the next hot spot and have more of a rolling deployment across the country
than a static deployment, right?
I was in the federal government at HUD. I worked on dozens of disasters. You deal with a disaster in front of you at that time and then you move on
to the next disaster. And I think that rolling deployment could work here and, on behalf of New York, I said we will be 100 percent helpful.
We need help from the entire country right now. We need resources from the entire country right now. And because our apex is first and our numbers are
highest -- but the apex high point will be sequential across the country -- so I said to the White House, send us the equipment that we need, send us
the personnel.
[11:40:00]
CUOMO: As soon as we get past our critical moment, we will redeploy that equipment and personnel to the next hot spot. And I will personally
guarantee it and personally manage it.
So if you send us 15,000 ventilators and then, after our curve, Los Angeles needs 15,000 ventilators, we can take the equipment from here, we can take
the personnel from here, we can take the lessons from here.
We go first. We are going to learn things that nobody else has learned because we're going to be the first one through the chute. And I personally
guarantee that we will bring that equipment, we will bring that personnel, we will bring that technical assistance to the next hot spot.
I said to the president, I will be part of going to the next hot spot with our team. We're asking the country to help us. We will return the favor.
And we are all in this together and we're asking for their help and their consideration and we will repay it with dividends.
The Senate is also considering a $2 trillion bill, which is, quote-unquote, "relief" for businesses, individuals and governments. It would really be
terrible for the state of New York.
The $2 trillion bill, what does it mean for New York state government?
It means $3.8 billion; $3.8 billion sounds like a lot of money. Maybe the budget director can talk you through the numbers. But we're looking at a
revenue shortfall of $9 billion, $10 billion, $15 billion. This response to this virus has probably already cost us $1 billion. It will probably cost
us several billion when we're done.
New York City only gets $1.3 billion from this package. That is a drop in the bucket as to need. I spoke to our House delegation, congressional
delegation. This morning, I said to them, this doesn't do it.
I understand the Senate theory and the Republican theory but we need the House to make adjustments. In the House bill that went over, New York state
got $17 billion. In the Senate bill, we get $3.8 billion.
And, well, you just are big spending. We're not a big spending state. I cut taxes every year. I have the lowest growth rate of the state budget in
modern political history, OK?
So we are frugal and we are efficient. I'm telling you, these numbers don't work. I told the House members that we really need their help.
In terms of numbers, total tested, we're up to 103,000 people. New tests, we're up to 12,000. As of yesterday, about 28 percent of all testing
nationwide has been performed by the state of New York. State of New York is doing more testing than any state in the United States of America.
And I'm very proud of the team on how we've mobilized and gotten this testing up and running.
People ask, how does the testing work?
Any hospital in the state can perform testing. You can walk into a hospital in Buffalo, New York; if you show the symptoms and meet the protocol, you
can be tested. Strategically, we deploy testing in the most dense areas.
Where do we set up the drive-thrus, et cetera?
Why?
Because we're hunting positives. We're hunting positives so we can isolate them and reduce the spread. You are more likely to get positives in a high-
positive area. Set up a drive-thru in the Bronx versus set up a drive-thru in Chautauqua County. You are going to get more positives in the Bronx. And
that's what we want.
But anyone anywhere in the state, if you have symptoms, you're concerned, you can walk into any hospital; that hospital can get a test performed.
Number of positive cases, we're up to 30,000. Number of new cases, 5,000. Again, you see the numbers, 13,000 -- I'm sorry -- 17,000, New York City;
4,000 in Westchester; 3,000 in Nassau County.
[11:45:00]
CUOMO: Relatively, Westchester, we have dramatically slowed what was an exponential increase.
So again, on the good news side, can you slow the rate of infection?
Yes.
How do you know?
Look at what we did in Westchester. That was the hottest cluster in the United States of America. We closed the schools, we closed gatherings. We
brought in testing and we have dramatically slowed the increase.
Nassau County is 3,000. They are relatively right behind Westchester. They were at, like, zero when Westchester had started.
So we can slow it and we have slowed it. Again, you see it spreading across the state, which we said it would. Current numbers, 30,000 tested,
positive; 12 percent of those who test positive are hospitalized; 3 percent of the positives are in ICU. This is deep breath time again. I'm anxious,
I'm nervous.
What does it mean?
30,000 tested positive; 12 percent are in the hospital; 3 percent are in ICU. If you look at those 3 percent, they are going to be predominantly
senior citizens, people with underlying illnesses, people with emphysema, people with a compromised immune system. That's what this effort is all
about.
All the noise, all the energy, it's about that 3 percent. Take a deep breath. Now that 3 percent, that's my mother, that's your mother, that's
your sister, these are people we love, these are our grandparents. And we're going to do everything we can to protect every one of them.
And I give the people of the state of New York my word that we are doing it. But we are talking about 3 percent of the people who tested positive,
who we're worrying about.
Most impacted states, we're 30,000; next closest state is New Jersey at 3,000; California 2,000. This is a really dramatic differential. And this
is what I argue to anyone who will listen.
We have 10 times the problem that the next state has, which is New Jersey. You compare us to California, which is larger in terms of population, we
have 15 times the problem.
Now you have to ask yourself why?
Why does New York have such a high number?
And again in the totality, we understand what it means.
But why does New York have such a high number?
And this is my personal opinion. I like to make sure that I separate facts from personal opinion. The facts I give you are the best facts I have. And
again the data changes day-to-day. But I give you exactly what I have on a day-to-day basis.
Personal opinion, why does New York have so many more cases than any other state?
How can it be you have 15 times the number of California?
I mean, it really is breathtaking when you think about it. State of Massachusetts with 30 times the number of cases. So why is the question
that people ask me. Two answers.
Answer one is because we welcome people from across the globe. We have people coming here, we have people who came here from China, who came here
from Italy, who came here from countries all around the globe.
We have international travelers who were in China and who were in Italy and who were in Korea and who came here. And I have no doubt that the virus was
here much earlier than we even know.
And I have no doubt that the virus was here much earlier than it was in any other state because those people come here first. That's the first answer.
The second answer is because we are close, because we are close. We talk about the virus and how it transfers in a dense area.
[11:50:00]
CUOMO: It's literally because we are close, because we live close to one another, because we're close to one another on the street, because we live
in close communities, because we are close to one another on the bus. We are close to one another in the restaurant. We are close to one another in
the movie theater.
And we have one of the most dense, close environments in the country. And that's why the virus communicated the way it did. Our closeness makes us
vulnerable. Our closeness makes us vulnerable. That spatial closeness makes us vulnerable.
But it's true that your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength. And our closeness is what makes us who we are.
That is what New York is. Our closeness is what makes us special. Our acceptance, our openness is what makes us special. It's what makes us feel
so connected one to another. It's what makes us so accepting of one another. It is the closeness that makes us the human beings that we are.
The closeness is that New York humanity, that I think exists nowhere else, the closeness is what makes our sense of community.
And there's a gentleman who I still look to for guidance and for leadership and for inspiration. He's not here anymore for you. He's still here for me.
But he said things more profound and more beautifully than most other people ever have. And one of the things that he said that is so appropriate
for today.
"We believe in a single fundamental idea that describes better than most textbooks and any speech that I could write what a proper government should
be.
"The idea of family, mutuality, the sharing of benefits and burdens for the good of all, feeling one another's pain, sharing one another's blessings,
reasonably, honestly, fairly without respect to race or sex or geography or political affiliation."
That is New York. It is that closeness, that concept of family, of community. That's what makes New York New York. And that's what made us
vulnerable here. But it is also that closeness and that connection and that humanity and that sharing, that is our greatest strength.
And that is what is going to overcome at the end of the day. I promise you that. I can see how New Yorkers are responding. I can see how New Yorkers
are treating one another. I see the 6,000 mental health volunteers, I see the 40,000 healthcare workers stepping up. I see the vendors calling me,
saying, I can help.
That's New York. That's New York. And that, my friends, is undefeatable. And I am glad in some ways that we are first with this situation because we
will overcome and we will show the other communities across this country how to do it.
We will be there for them, we want them to be there for us and we will be there for each other, as we always have been.
Any questions?
QUESTION: How does the state decide who is a priority when it comes to ventilators?
CUOMO: We have no anticipation of having to prioritize ventilator usage. Our goal is to have a ventilator for anyone who needs one.
QUESTION: You showed numbers that showed you are optimistically at 15,000 and you say you're going to need 40,000. So some nitty-gritty questions.
Where are those ventilators that have come in from FEMA going?
[11:55:00]
QUESTION: Did you get any commitment from the White House that they're going to send more than the 4,000 that they've committed already?
And what is the plan to increase that number, the same way you have a plan to increase hospital beds?
CUOMO: Yes, it's a good question, Jimmy (ph).
First, the ventilators that are coming in, we are putting in the stockpile. We will deploy from the stockpile as we need them. Literally deploy on a
need basis, right?
So if one hospital calls up and says, we are overwhelmed, this is what we need, we will be in a position to deploy.
The increase of the beds is within our control. There are beds in this state. They're not hospital beds and you have to figure out how to convert
them to hospital beds and you have to figure out how to get access to them. But we have beds. So that is a logistical operational challenge.
How do you turn a dorm room into a hospital bed?
How do we build a hospital in Javits Center?
The ventilators are different. We don't have them. The federal government does not have them, either. No one has a stockpile of these. The federal
government has to acquire them the same way we have to acquire them.
I'm working with the White House in creative ways to acquire them, getting companies to ramp up, getting companies to retrofit other machines, this
rolling deployment methodology. But nobody has them. There is no medical stockpile in Washington that magically can make them appear.
QUESTION: There was a report in 2015, where the state suggested or a task force suggested maybe New York should increase its stockpile.
Any reason that would (INAUDIBLE)?
CUOMO: Jimmy (ph), that's not the fact and you know it. Read the fact checkers on it. There was an advisory commission called Law and the Life --
Life in the Law -- that had a chart in 2015 that said, if you had the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, you may need X number of ventilators.
There is no state in the United States that bought ventilators for the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. The federal government did not buy ventilators for
the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. Nobody in the world bought ventilators in preparation for a 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
QUESTION: The number of cases that you're reporting, how many of those have resolved?
And are there, in other words, the woman who came back from Iran, is she clear now?
And are (INAUDIBLE) reporting cases that really have resolved (ph)?
CUOMO: Yes. Short answer is yes.
Do you know, Dr. Zucker, the number of people that have resolved?
Does anyone have that here beside the Hopkins number?
ZUCKER: We have hundreds and hundreds of people who have left the hospital and those individuals have resolved. And there are many other individuals
who never even came into the hospital. And we can try to get you an exact number on that.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) reporting that because the state (INAUDIBLE).
ZUCKER: Well, we are following the CDC guidelines and recommendations that, after seven days, if you are positive and after seven days of being
positive as long as you're more than 72 hours without symptoms, then you can go back to work.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) --
CUOMO: -- this is the best data. OK?
This is Johns Hopkins. It's every case since China, 435,000; 19,000 deaths and, again, I'll bet you dollars to donuts, you look at the 19,000, senior
citizen, compromised immune system, emphysema, et cetera.
Recoveries, 100,000; roughly 25 percent; pending, 300,000. But yes, the recoveries are recoveries. You get it. The people who I know, they stay
home for two weeks and they then test negative. You can test negative in two weeks. You can test negative in three weeks. You can test negative in
one week after you have it.
That's going to be the vast overwhelming number of people. The biggest number, when this is done and we can go back through tests, the biggest
number is going to be people who had it, who resolved who never knew they had it. That's going to be the biggest number.
And the reason we want to get to that test is because then, when you talk about restarting the economy, you have a test that says, you, Andrew, were
exposed to it in February and, by the way, you are recovered and you have the antibodies. Go back to work.
QUESTION: A number of ICU cases at this point --
CUOMO: I'm sorry; One second. I cut off Jesse (ph) and when I cut off Jesse (ph), then he gets annoyed at me and then --
[12:00:00]
END
