COVID Retrospective

00:00 Adam Curry, John C. Dvorak. It's Sunday, April 3rd, 2022. This is your award-winning GiveOnNation Media assassination episode 1439. This is no agenda. Rewinding the COVID clock and broadcasting almost live from the heart of the Texas Hill Country here in FEMA Region Number 6. In the morning, everybody. I'm Adam Curry. And from Northern Silicon Valley, where it's my birthday week, I'm John C. Dvorak. It's Crackpot and Buzzkill! In the morning! My voice is still cracking. Really? Long COVID continues. Long COVID, long COVID. It's hardly noticeable. It was better on Thursday. I just cracked. So here we are. We're almost live. It's kind of like we're really here. You, of course, are in the Seychelles.

00:54 I wish. Have you ever been to Seychelles? No, but I've been told by a couple of guys who do a lot of traveling, they've been all over the world, they say the Seychelles is the best. Yeah, I've never been, unfortunately. I don't know if it's true anymore. This was like 20 plus years ago. Wasn't the Seychelles the one that was going to tip over from climate change? No, it was one of the islands, but I don't think it was that one. Something with Seychelles. Something with Seychelles is going to drown. I'm not a professional idiot. I am hoping that I got the timing of this right. The reason for this break is because, well, you and I haven't had a break in a year. A year and a half, almost two years.

01:32 I think it was two years. No, no, wait. Tina and I went away. We had a break. In 2020? Did we have one in 2020? I can't remember if we had one in... No. Well, then... Must have been... I know we didn't have one in 2021. If you can't remember when you last went on vacation, then it was a while ago. Yeah. So I hoped I timed this before the food shortages and the financial collapse. And I think we did it pretty well by timing it after the Ukrainian war and COVID. We've done pretty well. We'll see if you can't get back. We'll know the reason why. Well, they're definitely going to kick that into high gear. COVID is coming back. We have all the evidence. They're going to do something. It's going to be testing bull crap. They're not going to get much traction. They got to find something else to do. They can't bring it, but the Democrats can't bring it back because they're going to, they already know they got troubles for the midterms.

02:27 Yeah, they can't take a chance on pissing off everybody. They would bring it back maybe to get to a mail-in ballot so they could scam that again. Right, no, they can't drag it. We'll see. In the meanwhile, the art for the last episode, 1438, Tantanil I believe, was clearly perfect because you called the end of the COVID pandemic April 2022 and here we are. Yeah, seems to be over. Perfect timing. And the war should be over by the time we get back. Until then, what have you put together for us for this best of? Well, we've got a show of COVID clips only and I've got a couple hours worth and it's like all the stuff from the beginning with the first clip when we first went to COVID first appeared on the scene right through the oh two or three weeks so it's flat in the curve

03:17 And I got the boat coming, you know, they were bringing in the mercy ships. Oh, I forgot about those. Yeah, the hospital ships. They didn't send one person to and ventilators. We need more ventilators so we can kill more people. And there's just a lot of good stuff. And a lot of it's been forgotten. But I think this will bring back a few memories. You know, as I was listening to the next week, next episode. So next, next, next. I'm losing it. The next episode's clips, which will be the best of end of show mixes, it's really incredible what the human brain has had. I'm sure you've noticed this. What the human brain has had to endure in the past two and a half years of bullshit being injected directly through our retinas into our brains.

04:10 Yeah, it's a good thing we're doing this show. I don't know where we'd be. I mean, it's not just, okay, we had a virus and then there was problems. I mean, all the stuff. It's amazing to think, and I think people will realize this when they listen to it, how much bull crap was thrown at your brain and your amygdala nonstop. Yeah, it's pretty non-stop. That was the problem, I think. You know, I also remember the one good thing was that out here, because of the way they structured the shutdown stay-at-home laws, they had this media exemption thing which included podcasters. So I'm out. I'm about with the traffic down to nothing. There's nobody on the roads. I'm driving around.

04:50 Beautiful. Great. And so these clips are just the clips, not us? I'm sorry? The clips, this special is just the clips, not us? Yeah, just the clips. I love it. And please note, there are no vaccine clips in this batch because this is from January 2020 to May 1st, 2020. It's just unbelievable. Let's kick it off. COVID, best of ever. Here we go. We were shown inside Georgia's Luga laboratory, which detects and prevents the spread of dangerous diseases. But pro-Kremlin media claim it spreads disease, experimenting on humans with cancer, the Zika virus, killer mosquitoes and plagues of stink bugs.

05:37 I asked the laboratory's director whether there was any truth to these narratives. But we are not making Zika virus in this laboratory. The killer mosquitoes? But the laboratory is... The level of the laboratory is so high that we can diagnose here the Zika, Ebola, Cremia, Congo and many, many infection diseases. No killer mosquitoes coming here? But we are not making these viruses here. No marmorated stink bug coming from the Lugav laboratory. What? The marmorated stink bug. I'm not a scientist, but what I have been seeing here suggests that this laboratory is exactly what the Georgian government says it is.

06:20 But the Russian claims that what's going on at the Lugar lab is far more sinister haven't been supported by any hard evidence. In Texas, authorities are warning that a traveler with measles may have unknowingly exposed others across the country. That new alert comes amid an increase in measles cases nationwide. Sam Brock is in Austin with the latest. Tonight, an urgent health alert from Texas after a passenger infected with measles passed through the Austin Airport last week after traveling in Europe. It's Travis County's first detected case in 20 years. We're trying to get on top of this, share as much information as we can to try to really contain this. The passenger left from Austin International Airport on December 17th but then proceeded to go to airports in Chicago and Virginia, meaning that other passengers, and not one, not two, but three different airports were potentially exposed.

05:37 I asked the laboratory's director whether there was any truth to these narratives. But we are not making Zika virus in this laboratory. The killer mosquitoes? But the laboratory is... The level of the laboratory is so high that we can diagnose here the Zika, Ebola, Cremia, Congo and many, many infection diseases. No killer mosquitoes coming here? But we are not making these viruses here. No marmorated stink bug coming from the Lugav laboratory. What? The marmorated stink bug. I'm not a scientist, but what I have been seeing here suggests that this laboratory is exactly what the Georgian government says it is.

06:20 But the Russian claims that what's going on at the Lugar lab is far more sinister haven't been supported by any hard evidence. In Texas, authorities are warning that a traveler with measles may have unknowingly exposed others across the country. That new alert comes amid an increase in measles cases nationwide. Sam Brock is in Austin with the latest. Tonight, an urgent health alert from Texas after a passenger infected with measles passed through the Austin Airport last week after traveling in Europe. It's Travis County's first detected case in 20 years. We're trying to get on top of this, share as much information as we can to try to really contain this. The passenger left from Austin International Airport on December 17th but then proceeded to go to airports in Chicago and Virginia, meaning that other passengers, and not one, not two, but three different airports were potentially exposed.

07:11 This after separate cases at LAX and Denver International Airports earlier this month. But health experts say Austin is at greater risk because of low vaccination rates of children. Austin, unfortunately, is one of the epicenters of the anti-vaccine movement in America. A startling study earlier this year estimates one infected person could lead to an outbreak of more than 400 cases in Austin with confirmed cases of the me year. More than three tim year. The highly contagi in the air for hours. Sym rash, fever and sore eyes. another stark reminder to

07:54 Two-year-old Jude McGee, 26-year-old newlywed Katie McQuestion, Gianna Kabasag, a four-year-old little girl. They all died of the flu and they'd all had flu shots. There's no question you should get a flu shot. Last flu season the flu killed at least 36,000 people so this shot could literally save your life. But it's far from perfect. Even on a good year, influenza effectiveness of the vaccine is about 60%. On a bad year, it's as low as 10%. Do we need to make a better flu vaccine? You know, we really absolutely do. In September, President Trump signed an executive order noting that the current system for making flu shots has critical shortcomings. The order pledges to modernize the process. The first step, stop using eggs to make flu vaccine.

08:50 They grow the virus in the eggs, like the eggs you eat for breakfast, and then they kill the virus and put it in a vaccine. But sometimes the virus changes inside the egg, so it doesn't end up matching the flu that's out there spreading among people. That's why some companies like this one have figured out ways to grow the flu virus without using eggs. Trump's executive order is designed to encourage more of this technology and something even bigger, something researchers have been working on for years. A flu vaccine you would get only once in your life instead of every year. A new viral outbreak from China is spreading around the world. Countries like the US, Japan and Thailand have confirmed cases. And on Wednesday a Chinese health official has said the virus is adapting and mutating. So what exactly do we know about this flu-like virus? Health officials now say it can be passed from person to person.

09:47 So far, hundreds of cases have been confirmed and several people have died. Symptoms include fever, coughing and difficulty breathing and can lead to pneumonia. The exact origin is unknown, though Chinese officials have linked the outbreak to a seafood market in the city of Wuhan. All of the deaths so far have been in that central Chinese city. It's also home to a Foxconn plant, which is a key supplier to Apple. And it's hosting Olympic qualifiers for women's soccer next month. Things to look out for next will be what happens over Chinese New Year and whether fear takes its toll on the global economy. Millions of people are preparing to travel around China and abroad for the New Year celebrations, raising the risk of a wider contagion.

10:36 Fear of a pandemic has also sent chills through the markets. Investors are comparing it to China's 2003 SARS outbreak that killed nearly 800 people and, by some estimates, caused $40 billion in global economic losses. Aviation and luxury goods stocks have already been hit particularly hard, with concerns it could deter Chinese consumers from traveling or shopping. What we know, and I think this is one of the big points, Alison, I remember this covering the SARS outbreak and the MERS outbreak, at some point the question is, is this something that is just spreading from animals to humans as it seemed to be in central China? People visiting these seafood and exotic pet markets.

11:17 Or is this something that is spreading from human to human? And we now have evidence that it is spreading from human to human. It seems like 14 healthcare workers that were taking care of this patient in Wuhan were infected. And we also know people who never visited Wuhan are now carrying the virus. So that human to human transmission is what this meeting tomorrow, this public health meeting, is going to be all about. Really scary. I mean, or at least it sounds scary to the layperson. And so what's keeping public health officials up at night most? Well, you know, I think immediately what you think of when you hear this coronavirus, and we have an image of what this looks like, you think of SARS. You remember this? I mean, I covered this 2003. You think of MERS. By the way, quick microbiology, coronavirus, that's the crown on the outside. You'll always be able to identify this type of virus.

12:05 They're mostly in animals, Allison. Seven times have we ever documented they jumped from animals to humans. And only two of those times would end up being a really significant infection, SARS and MERS. So what's keeping public health officials up at night is, is this going to go the way of SARS and MERS? in nearly two dozen countries, 8,000 people infected, 800 people died. Is it gonna go that way or is it gonna be more innocuous? Gets people sick but people don't really die. We don't know yet and that's what they're gonna try and determine. Look at all this data and figure that out.

12:46 A man in his 30s from Washington state is the first person in America to be diagnosed with coronavirus, it's called. The man returned to the Seattle area last week from a trip to Wuhan, that's a city in central China where the outbreak began. Right now that patient is in isolation in a hospital north of Seattle. Our number one priority is to complete the identification of all the patients' contacts, reach out to the contacts and monitor their health. We also want to make enhanced screening is already in place at three US airports with two more being added this week Our dr. Tara Nerula is here at the table with more on this story you hear about it. You see the mask It's very disturbing. How worried should we be? Yeah, what is it exactly? So this is a form of a corona virus We've known about corona viruses before this is a new strain. This is a virus that's found worldwide It causes typically

13:38 a mild or moderate respiratory illness, but it can be more severe. We saw that with SARS and MERS, which are also forms of coronavirus. So certainly the CDC is recommending that we be cautious about this, that we be proactive, because it is a new strain. It is contagious. So interestingly, they think it does circulate in animals, and occasionally can make the jump from animals to humans, which is what they think happened in this case, because the initial cases were surrounding an area, a market, a seafood animal market in the Wuhan area. uh... area and that's what they think that it started in animals was transmitted to humans and now they're saying that in fact it is spread between human to humans bottom line we don't have to worry about this one right

14:17 Well, obviously you need to take it seriously and do the kinds of things that the CDC and the Department of Homeland Security are doing. But this is not a major threat for the people in the United States, and this is not something that the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about. It's great to see you. Thank you for joining us again in Davos. We've done this before. That's right. I think it was a couple of years ago. Before we get started, we're going to talk about the economy and a lot of other things. The CDC has identified a case of coronavirus in Washington State, the Wuhan strain of this. If you remember SARS, that affected GDP, travel-related effects. Have you been briefed by the CDC? I have. Are there words about a pandemic at this point? No, not at all. We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China.

15:13 And we have it under control. It's going to be just fine. OK. And President Xi, there's just some some talk in China that that maybe the transparency isn't everything that it's going to be. Do you trust that we're going to know everything we need to know from China? I do. I do. I have a great relationship with President Xi. We just signed probably the biggest deal ever made. Yes. It certainly has the potential to be the biggest deal ever made. And It was a very interesting period of time. Yeah, let's get into that. But we got it done and no, I do. I think the relationship is very, very good. It may take quite some time before we know the full economic impact of the Wuhan virus, but the disruption is likely to dent China's economy. Now, that's because Wuhan is a major transport hub. In recent years, it's become a symbol of capitalism in central China with international automakers such as Honda and General Motors

16:05 building cars there. In fact, reports say that more than 300 of the world's top 500 companies have a presence in Wuhan. Local government data showed that Wuhan's GDP growth was 7.8 percent last year. Now, that is 1.7 percentage points higher than the national average. Wuhan's economic strength last year came as its total value of imports and exports hit a record high. It was 13.7 percent higher than in 2018, and it accounted for almost 62 percent of Hubei province's overall foreign trade value. Tonight, concern growing in the United States. Officials saying they expect more people will contract the dangerous new disease.

16:48 passengers on flights to Boston wearing face masks. Everybody is wearing a mask because they're afraid of getting infected by other people. In Seattle, Chicago and Los Angeles reports that stores are running out of supplies of masks. Two cases currently confirmed. In Chicago, a woman in her 60s. She had cold-like symptoms, shortness of breath, fever, and many times it would present just like a cold. just a type of cold or flu. And outside Seattle, a man in his 30s. At least 63 people are now being tested for the respiratory illness in 22 states, including three possible cases in New York. Symptoms include fever, dry cough and shortness of breath.

17:31 Tonight, hospitals on high alert. Dr. Jennifer Ashton visited New York City's Health and Hospitals Bellevue. So this is a negative pressure room here at the hospital where a patient with coronavirus would be cared for by specially trained medical personnel. They showed her precautions they would need to take. How prepared are you and your staff to receive a patient who may have coronavirus? We're prepared to take that patient now. Our radar is always set high. So we can screen these patients so we can stop it from infecting other people and the public. Tonight at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, the crisis is escalating. Dozens of workers in Wuhan with heavy machinery racing against time to build a brand new thousand bed hospital in just 10 days and now a second 1300 bed facility in the next 15.

18:21 The space desperately needed, hospitals teeming with patients and staff stretched thin. In China alone, there are now more than 1,400 cases and at least 42 deaths, as more than 400 medics who've worked on SARS and Ebola deployed to help with the rapidly growing emergency. Wuhan and 16 other cities in a travel lockdown. That's a total of 50 million people ordered to stay in place. That's the population of the states of New York and Texas combined. The US government evacuating the majority of consulate employees and families from Wuhan and is reportedly working on a charter flight to get all remaining Americans out. The term cabin fever is probably coming into play here. Here it's the Chinese Lunar New Year, the country's biggest holiday.

19:12 New Year worshippers have gathered here to pray for good luck in the year of the wrath, but people have also been warned about gathering in large places like this, and so most people here are wearing these kind of protective masks. The list of cases outside mainland China also growing with more than 35 cases in 13 countries or territories including France. In Japan, the health ministry says three evacuees have tested positive for the virus a day after returning to Tokyo. 206 passengers were on their government chartered flight on Wednesday. All were sent to medical institutions to undergo tests. The ministry says two of the infected patients had no symptoms. It's the first time in Japan the virus has been detected in patients without symptoms.

20:01 The prime minister also says two of the evacuees didn't give their consent for the health check. The procedure is not legally binding. Unfortunately, they did not agree to be tested. We could not force them as it is also a human rights issue. Abe said he's confident all evacuees on subsequent flights will give their consent. Now, a second plane carrying 210 Japanese nationals from the virus-hit city touched down at Haneda Airport on Thursday morning. 13 passengers on that flight are exhibiting symptoms and have been sent to a special hospital for infectious diseases. Dr. Zhang Guochu has been recognized by the Governor General's Innovation Awards. This work can't be done without teamwork.

20:46 She and the team at the National Microbiology Lab have been praised for developing an Ebola vaccine. But just over a week ago, Chu, her husband, and her students from China were evicted from Canada's only level 4 lab, their security access revoked. Staff at the lab was told last Monday the couple is on leave and not to communicate with them. We're getting this from sources who work at the lab but who don't want to be identified for fears they'll be punished. They say this is coming just months after IT specialists entered Chu's office after hours and replaced her computer and her superiors stopped authorizing work trips to China.

21:26 Manitoba RCMP confirmed it was called in by the Public Health Agency of Canada on May 24th. A spokesperson says the agency is investigating a policy breach calling it an administrative matter and it's taking steps to resolve it expeditiously. We can assure Canadians that there is no risk to the public and that the work of the NML continues in support of the health and safety of all Canadians. I want to stress the risk of infection for Americans remains low. And with these and our previous actions, we are working to keep the risk low. All agencies are working aggressively to monitor this continually evolving situation and to keep the public informed in a constantly transparent way. The United States appreciates China's efforts and coordination with public health officials across the globe and continues to encourage the highest levels of transparency.

22:26 It is likely that we will continue to see more cases in the United States in the coming days and weeks, including some limited person-to-person transmission. The American public can be assured. The full weight of the US government is working to safeguard the health and safety of the American people. You need not look far to see the economic consequences of this virus. Airline after airline suspending flights to China. This afternoon, one of Air Canada's last direct flights from Beijing landed in Vancouver. In China, entire swaths of the country have been shut down. Starbucks has closed more than half its outlets. Toyota announced it will close its plants. And Google says it will temporarily close all of its Chinese offices. Remember though, back in 2003, China was basically the world's factory.

23:15 Today China's much more intertwined in the buying and selling of the global economy. The fact that the Chinese authorities have clamped down and they've put many cities in lockdown already that means those consumers aren't out there purchasing and that will really dampen Chinese growth. And that dampening will be felt in places you may not expect. Cameron Seafood sells about half its lobsters to China. And Chinese New Year is one of the busiest times of year. They were set to ship about 20,000 pounds this week. Those order all cancelled. So actually the sales to China completely disappeared from Monday. There are other markets for those lobsters but there's no way to make up the loss of the Chinese market. And no way of knowing how or when the world's second biggest economy will reopen for business.

24:10 A new case of the deadly coronavirus has been confirmed in the US, the latest case in Massachusetts. It's the eighth in the US and the first on the East Coast. Health officials have declared a public health emergency. Nearly 14,000 people worldwide have been infected and more than 300 have died. And nearly 60 million people in China are under travel restrictions. Remy Inocencio leading us off from Beijing. The CDC says the new case of coronavirus is a Boston resident in his 20s who recently traveled to the center of the outbreak, Wuhan, China. He's been placed in isolation. Also today, tech giant Apple announced it would close all its stores and offices in China until February 9th, joining a growing list of companies restricting operations here.

23:15 Today China's much more intertwined in the buying and selling of the global economy. The fact that the Chinese authorities have clamped down and they've put many cities in lockdown already that means those consumers aren't out there purchasing and that will really dampen Chinese growth. And that dampening will be felt in places you may not expect. Cameron Seafood sells about half its lobsters to China. And Chinese New Year is one of the busiest times of year. They were set to ship about 20,000 pounds this week. Those order all cancelled. So actually the sales to China completely disappeared from Monday. There are other markets for those lobsters but there's no way to make up the loss of the Chinese market. And no way of knowing how or when the world's second biggest economy will reopen for business.

24:10 A new case of the deadly coronavirus has been confirmed in the US, the latest case in Massachusetts. It's the eighth in the US and the first on the East Coast. Health officials have declared a public health emergency. Nearly 14,000 people worldwide have been infected and more than 300 have died. And nearly 60 million people in China are under travel restrictions. Remy Inocencio leading us off from Beijing. The CDC says the new case of coronavirus is a Boston resident in his 20s who recently traveled to the center of the outbreak, Wuhan, China. He's been placed in isolation. Also today, tech giant Apple announced it would close all its stores and offices in China until February 9th, joining a growing list of companies restricting operations here.

24:58 This all comes as the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency and the US State Department raised its travel advisory for China to the highest level, meaning do not travel to China. A new study out by the British medical journal The Lancet estimates that more than 75,000 people have been infected by the virus as of last week. If that turns out to be true, it would confirm what many already fear that Beijing is massively underreporting these numbers. The CDC reported that even if patients' initial tests for coronavirus are negative, they could still develop the illness because the test only works when patients have symptoms. A study also showed the virus can be transmitted by patients with no symptoms. A woman who traveled from Shanghai to Germany infected seven other people while she remained asymptomatic.

25:49 Those findings contributed to the decision to place 195 Americans housed at a California air base in the first federal quarantine in 50 years. They will spend 14 days there. The best way to control a virus like this is to keep people away from everyone else while you run out the clock on that incubation period. I routinely monitor outbreaks of disease around the world, both for humans and animals, to see if there might be a biological warfare agent at work. So I followed what was going on there at Wuhan.

26:29 and eventually reached the conclusion that what we are dealing here is an offensive biological warfare agent that leaked out of the Wuhan biosafety level four laboratory there that has been DNA genetically engineered with gain of function properties that simply accelerates the DNA genetically engineering for a biowarfare agent in the first place. And as far as I can tell right now, Steve, just having read the public

27:13 public record, it does appear as if it's a combination of what's called a camera that basically you have the SARS, and we know that that facility has previously worked with SARS, and SARS leaked out of there at least twice before, combined with the flu virus And it appears also combined with HIV that leads to AIDS at a minimum. It's my opinion that it's extremely dangerous. The Chinese government, the first case was December 1st. It had nothing at all to do with the food.

27:54 central there that's just uh... baloney and propaganda clearly the stock chinese government knew about it probably right around december all one the first uh... human to human transition transmission was december fifteen so the chinese government has been lying about it since then This is a specially designated WHO research lab. Now imagine that, the WHO, specially designating a biowarfare lab. So the WHO is in on this. These BSL-4 facilities are only good for research, developing, testing and stockpiling biological warfare weapons. The Chinese doctor who warned the government about a possible coronavirus outbreak has died after contracting the virus while working at Wuhan Central Hospital. 34-year-old ophthalmologist Li Wenliang warned his fellow medical workers about coronavirus on December 30th.

28:56 He was then investigated by police and accused of making false comments. His death has sparked a wave of anger and outrage in China, where the hashtag WeWantFreedomOfSpeech went viral on Chinese social media site Weibo on Thursday. U.S. officials announced today that an American citizen has died from the coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The 60-year-old woman who died on Thursday reportedly had underlying health issues before becoming the first known American fatality from the illness. As the death toll rises and the virus spreads, authorities from around the world are taking strict precautions to slow the spread of the deadly disease. Hong Kong said today that it will begin enforcing a mandatory quarantine for anyone

29:39 arriving from mainland China, and 3,700 people are being ordered to remain aboard a cruise ship for 14 days after 64 passengers tested positive for the virus. The coronavirus has infected nearly 35,000 people globally since it was first detected in December. So, let's talk about impeachment first. The process is finally behind us. The president was acquitted, Mark. Mark, looking back on it, what do you make of the process and the outcome? Well, let me begin by saying David correctly predicted the outcome. And so, you know, I have to defer and acknowledge that. Judy, there was a reluctance on the part of Nancy Pelosi and the speaker, the speaker and the leadership

30:25 to ever approach impeachment. They did not see it as a political winner, but it was forced upon them and by the president and by the revelation that he was shaking down, if not extorting, an ally to obtain unflattering of libelous information on his principal political opponent. So the left had no choice. I think that You know, several people acquitted themselves well. I will say that Mitt Romney restored some faith in the process. I mean, we've gone through a great time in American politics where religion's involved, where your question is, does your faith inspire your politics and does your politics shape your faith?

31:11 And I think Mitt Romney, to his credit, stood as a witness to his belief and his convictions. But Donald Trump emerges from it emboldened, as demonstrated by his remarkably egregious behavior since then at the prayer breakfast in the White House and public utterances and in today's actions. Senator Tom Cotton, who sits on the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committee, suggested that the virus may have come from China's biological warfare program. That's an extraordinary charge. How do you respond to that? I think it's true that a lot is still unknown. And our scientists, Chinese scientists, American scientists, scientists of other countries, are doing their best to learn more about the virus. But it's very harmful, it's very dangerous.

32:02 to stir up suspicion, rumors and spread them among the people. For one thing, this will create panic. Another thing is that it will fan up racial discrimination, xenophobia, all these things that will really harm our joint efforts to combat the virus. Of course, there are all kinds of speculations and rumors. There are people who are saying that these viruses are coming from some military lab, not of China, maybe in the United States. How can we Believe all these crazy things. Do you think it's crazy? Where did the absolutely crazy? Where did the virus come from? We still don't know yet It's probably according to some initial outcome of the research Probably coming from some animals, but we have to to discover more about it number one. I Was a Democratic caucus. They're been to caucus. I

32:59 No you haven't. You're a lying dog-faced pony soldier. What we've got on our hands and this is a perfect example that so here are the headlines now Tens of thousands of more cases that we had realized 300 dead in China When the headline should read in spite of it being milder and infecting many more tens of thousands people that we knew The death rate still remains just 300 people. Mm-hmm. The numerator versus the nominator is point. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh three percent, right, I don't

33:46 I don't know what that is. In other words, you put 300 over 40,000. That's the death rate from coronavirus. Right. Because they're realizing now it was much more widespread, much milder, much less likely to kill anybody, except people that are immunocompromised and are old or at risk for complications of viral illnesses. You are much more likely to die of the flu right now than the coronavirus. Right now. Why isn't that the headline? Why aren't they saying, get your flu shots? A reminder. Don't worry about this one. The CDC's got it. Tonight, the CDC is intensifying the battle against the deadly coronavirus that has infected more than 50,000 people worldwide. More than 1,500 people have died, nearly all of them in China. Carter Evans now on China's drastic measures to stop the outbreak. This is what can happen to people who don't wear masks in the epicenter of the outbreak.

34:39 As security forces patrol the streets of Wuhan during a total lockdown. For medical personnel, protective gear like suits and masks are in short supply, as is adequate care. Hospitals and clinics are overflowing with the sick and dying. In the US, the CDC is ramping up its own response to the epidemic by setting up five laboratories around the country where people with flu-like symptoms can now go and be tested for the virus if their flu results are negative. This has scientists around the world race to develop a vaccine. So you're using DNA and genetics to teach the body how to attack the virus? Exactly, and to recognize the virus and then attack it immediately.

35:22 Inovio Pharmaceuticals in San Diego has already successfully developed vaccines for Ebola and Zika. Dr. Kate Broderick says the coronavirus vaccine they're working on now is showing promise. It's currently being tested in the lab, literally as we speak, and we're manufacturing large-scale quantities of it to get it into human testing by the early summer. The U.S. government is preparing to evacuate about 400 Americans tomorrow night from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, quarantined at a Japanese port for the past 10 days. Those passengers will have to spend another two weeks in quarantine when they return to the U.S. So far, 285 people on board the ship have tested positive for the virus and were sent to Japanese hospitals.

36:05 Today, Malaysian health authorities diagnosed an 83-year-old American woman with the coronavirus. She arrived in Malaysia after being on board the Westerdam cruise ship, currently docked in Cambodia. The ship was turned away from multiple countries before more than 2,200 passengers and crew were allowed to disembark yesterday when no one showed symptoms or tested positive. In France, authorities announced that an 80-year-old Chinese tourist died of the virus, the first death outside of Asia and the fourth outside mainland China. The Chinese government reported 143 deaths and more than 2,600 new cases of the coronavirus. in the past 24 hours.

37:11 to WikiLeaks and to the Russians in 2016. I mean after all that investigation? After all that investigation. I mean he, that's what he did. That's what he was lying about. He was the intermediary. And I think that it's not out of loyalty or affection. I think it's out of vulnerability. He still concerned with that 2016 election rather than worry about 2020. Landing in Omaha, Nebraska today, escorted from the plane one by one by medical teams, rushed off by motorcade to this special isolation unit. They've had a very long journey, so I think we're not going to make any assumptions about anything that's passed along verbally. We're going to go ahead and just test everybody. 338 Americans were evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, flown to bases in Texas and California, arriving overnight.

37:59 14 are suspected of having a coronavirus infection. Four now in isolation and hospitalized near Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento. Ten in Omaha. Hundreds of passengers checked before leaving the ship were deemed healthy to fly. I have to put my mask on. The bus will take you to the airplane. The airplane takes you to the United States. But after the evacuation had already begun, a complication. New test results revealed those 14 people were positive for the virus, exposing others on a 40-minute bus ride to the airport. Officials making a critical decision, saying the safest option was to push forward with the evacuation, putting infected patients in the back of the planes in these special isolation chambers. They took temperatures and if you had a high temperature, you went into that.

38:46 isolation, booth. Mark Jorgensen had to leave his wife behind in a Japanese hospital after she tested positive for the virus. So far, 454 cruise passengers have been infected. We met John and Melanie Herring when he spiked a fever and had to be hospitalized. He's now fighting the virus and has pneumonia. Goodbye, Diamond Princess. The couple deciding Melanie should be on that flight home. Melanie is now back in the US telling us she too spiked a fever. All right, so let's get to Clayton Sendell. He is live from Omaha tonight. And Clayton, the rest of the roughly 300 passengers, the Americans who showed no sign of the virus, we know they spent time on those buses with these passengers, the Americans, the 14 who it's believed might be infected with coronavirus. Of course, more testing here at home.

39:31 But I gather the rest of the passengers who were in close contact, they'll be watched closely now for the days to come? They will be watched very closely, David. They'll be in quarantine for two weeks. And it's important to note that those 14 others who tested positive in Japan will be tested again here in the States. And while that happens, they will be kept in quarantine, in isolation, away from everyone else. David. The World Health Organization warned today that the window of opportunity to contain the international spread of the coronavirus is closing. South Korea has become the latest front in the outbreak. The country declared a health emergency as cases there quadrupled to more than 200 infections over the past two days. Officials closed schools and banned mass gatherings, including services at a church that most of the sick attended. No one has entered the church since Tuesday. We did disinfection work twice on Tuesday and Wednesday. Right now, all the disinfection work is complete, and no one is entering the church.

40:33 Meanwhile, in China, the number of new infections fell for another day. Chinese officials have recorded over 75,000 cases and more than 2,200 deaths so far. At least 12 more deaths have been confirmed outside of mainland China. It's a disaster. It's disastrous. It's crazy. It started out with a ridiculous psychosis against Chinese or any Oriental-looking people. So already, I'd say, two weeks ago, people weren't going to Chinese restaurants anymore, somehow thinking that, you know, anything Chinese, no matter if they'd been to China or were born here. And there was a lot of discrimination against Chinese people, couldn't even come into shops.

39:31 But I gather the rest of the passengers who were in close contact, they'll be watched closely now for the days to come? They will be watched very closely, David. They'll be in quarantine for two weeks. And it's important to note that those 14 others who tested positive in Japan will be tested again here in the States. And while that happens, they will be kept in quarantine, in isolation, away from everyone else. David. The World Health Organization warned today that the window of opportunity to contain the international spread of the coronavirus is closing. South Korea has become the latest front in the outbreak. The country declared a health emergency as cases there quadrupled to more than 200 infections over the past two days. Officials closed schools and banned mass gatherings, including services at a church that most of the sick attended. No one has entered the church since Tuesday. We did disinfection work twice on Tuesday and Wednesday. Right now, all the disinfection work is complete, and no one is entering the church.

40:33 Meanwhile, in China, the number of new infections fell for another day. Chinese officials have recorded over 75,000 cases and more than 2,200 deaths so far. At least 12 more deaths have been confirmed outside of mainland China. It's a disaster. It's disastrous. It's crazy. It started out with a ridiculous psychosis against Chinese or any Oriental-looking people. So already, I'd say, two weeks ago, people weren't going to Chinese restaurants anymore, somehow thinking that, you know, anything Chinese, no matter if they'd been to China or were born here. And there was a lot of discrimination against Chinese people, couldn't even come into shops.

41:17 psychosis, total ridiculous stuff. In the meantime, Italy was one of the first to really start testing everyone. So I went to Madrid 12 days ago, I think, and I went to Spain and nothing going on. And then when I came back to Florence, they zapped me with a thermometer. So already this really goes to prove how, you know, if you're testing everyone, first of all, you're going to find cases. And that's what happened. They found people who didn't have any symptoms at all and whatever.

41:53 I think the government is, everybody's giving the information that, you know, it's very contagious, yes, but it's not lethal and only old people only. That's the problem, of course, poor people with, you know, immunodeficiency problems or the elderly with issues. So the government and the media sort of are giving the, I think they're giving the right information, but the actions are just the opposite. So closing museums, closing schools. I mean, and the final thing is, of course,

42:29 cancelling football games or doing football games in closed stadiums. That gives a big message. Yesterday, passengers from a bus called the police to come because they overheard the bus driver talking to his doctor about having coronavirus. So they called the cops. The cops came and turned out the bus driver was just telling his doctor that he had done the test because he had to for his job and that he was negative. So I mean, can you imagine people on the bus freaking out and calling the cops because they hear the bus driver talking about the coronavirus?

43:14 That said, so Mateo's school is closed. I'm doing an online university and of course the online stuff goes on, but I had two exams programmed for Friday, the 27th of March, and until further notice those have been suspended. On the other hand, the University of Florence is open and Sabi started classes again yesterday and she said it was packed. So, and then you hear stories about supermarkets raided in Milan and even here in Florence. People are hoarding and we don't do this stuff. We just go, we're trying to go to as many Chinese restaurants as possible. All of a sudden, I was doing as usual shopping at the Chinese junk store. So, we're trying to contribute to normal life. Of course, I'm a remote worker, so I'm not really touched by any of this.

44:09 But, you know, even if I were. I mean, we're treating it normally, but unfortunately the sheep are... just going behind what everything's happening. So, the Corona outbreak in Iran is becoming deeply troubling. The epicenter was in the holy city of Qom and it spread rapidly from there. Now, one of the main reasons it has affected Iran so badly seems to be that Iran has kept its flights open with China during the outbreak there. And because Iran has such close ties to China and and both politically and economically with the Chinese, which have been a lifeline for Tehran to combat sanctions, they didn't close access from and to China. And it also seems that senior officials are not immune to the virus either. Members of parliament, the mayor of Tehran's 13th district have

45:01 contracted the virus, and even the deputy health minister who's in charge of countering the coronavirus has tested positive for it. In a video that's become viral in Iran, he's seen standing next to the government spokesman during a press conference with the media. He's sweating profusely and constantly wiping his brow with a handkerchief. The government spokesman then attended meetings with other senior officials. That same deputy health minister also gave an interview on state TV last night where he was coughing and spluttering away.

45:39 In a live speech, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that this is one of the threats of the enemy, the USA, to spread fright amongst Iranian society in Iran to lead the country towards closure. How would it get out of the lab? Most people would think, well, a technician got infected through poor lab procedure and then walked out on the street infected his family and friends and so forth. But there's another way it could have gotten out of the lab because we know that in China some researchers, not all, but some researchers have actually taken their lab animals after they're done experimenting with them, after they've been infected with various viruses and so forth, if the lab animals aren't dead,

46:21 But I'm not at all convinced. that we can't get hold of what we need here in the US. We have stockpiles. We also have the capacity to produce more in all these areas. I'm no expert in this, but we've seen some of these biotech companies, Gilead being one of them, probably coming up with a vaccine in a much shorter time than people realize. I'm deeply concerned that we are way behind the eight ball on this.

47:08 Well, we actually have been aggressively moving. It's been a month and a half since this situation arose and we have enacted the most aggressive containment measures in the history of our country in terms of our borders. I've used the first federal quarantine authority in 50 years of an HHS secretary. We've worked Can you assure every single American today that if this pandemic hits our shores, that we have everything available and we've stockpiled it and we're ready to go? I was very clear when we enacted our containment measures at the border. We cannot hermetically seal off the United States to a virus. and we need to be realistic about that. Life goes on in some forms. It does, and we'll have more cases in the United States, and we've been very transparent about that, and we will then work to mitigate the impact of those. They met in Italy, now the epicenter of the coronavirus in Europe, trying to coordinate the response to the disease.

48:02 While taking measures to block the outbreak, Europe's health ministers decided against cancelling all major public events and against shutting their borders. We have decided to apply a set of common principles in the next days, weeks and months. Principles based on good cooperation and mutual assistance. And we have decided that it's unthinkable to even consider closing our borders. Such a measure would be inefficient. While China has applied drastic measures to stop the outbreak, imposing lockdowns on tens of millions, Europeans say that closing their borders, imposing ID checks or examining travellers will not stop the disease. Scientists say it can still slow its expansion. Controlling the flow of travellers can slow down the spread of the disease, but I believe it can't stop it altogether.

49:00 Since the latest spate of infections in Italy, COVID-19 has reached new countries, Switzerland, Croatia and Austria through people who had traveled from Italy. Germany, France and Spain have declared new cases. Washington State public health officials gave new details in an afternoon press conference about the circumstances that led to the man's death. The person who died was a patient at Evergreen Hospital who had underlying health conditions. It was a male in his 50s. At this moment we have 22 patients in the United States currently that have coronavirus. Unfortunately, one person passed away overnight. She was a wonderful woman, a medically high-risk patient in her late 50s. That was a lot.

49:48 Let me start with the most important part and that is confirmation that an American has died in Washington state. We had early reports that it was a male and a release from the governor of Washington referred to, our hearts go out to his family and friends. The president then said that it was a woman in her 50s. The governor of Washington's Press release has been changed to make a reference to there. So we are unclear. We do not have confirmation. We're trying to get confirmation, but we do know that the first US citizen has died. Dr. Drew, are we overreacting? Yes, yes. I'm hearing this from doctors left and right. Yes, and we are not overreacting. The press is overreacting and it makes me furious. The press should not be reporting medical stories as though they know how to report it. If we have a pandemic,

50:40 I won't know how to tell that we're actually having a pandemic because everything is an emergency. People that are infectious disease specialists, the CDC, the epidemiologists need to take this very seriously. The press needs to shut up because you're more likely to die of influenza right now. However, and may I'm not trying to go against you, but I have a question. It is now beat SARS in terms of fatalities, 362 and they're saying, but it's fatality rate is still lower. It spreads fast. It's a mild illness. It spreads all over the place and it's only out of these 17,000 documented infected, I bet there's hundreds of thousands of cases, 300 deaths. And always in immune compromised people, always in people that are at risk for these sorts of things. If they get a severe viral respiratory infection, whether it's flu or Corona or whatever, all of these can hurt people who are compromised.

51:28 They can. The rest of us need to wash our hands carefully, get our influenza vaccines, listen to the CDC. If there's a problem, they will let us know. The CDC made it very clear that 5,000 people just in the last two weeks have died from the flu here in America alone. Why are we panicked about that? Three people died on the streets of Los Angeles this morning from homelessness. If that were coronavirus, people would freak the hell out. You're right. Why aren't we putting our parties in the right place? It's the press. As you may know, as of today, and I say as of today at this hour. We have 33 confirmed positive tests for the virus. Five individuals have subsequently moved out of state. So there are 28 people that we know in the state of California that are positive. The case yesterday understandably generated a lot of attention, but didn't surprise any of the folks standing to my left or right.

52:24 We knew this was inevitable as it relates to the nature the epidemiology the nature of these viruses that that incident would occur accordingly When hearing about it, we initiated a series of protocols that we were prepared to advance Thank you, Mr. President and I'm just gonna ask you directly about this with regard to the flow of information from the very beginning you received a lot of criticism regarding that in particular about Dr. Anthony Fauci. He is world renowned in contagious diseases and there were reports out there that he was being muzzled. Can you tell us that this widely respected expert, Dr. Fauci, will have every opportunity to tell us the truth? Well, that's a very dishonest question because he has had that

51:28 They can. The rest of us need to wash our hands carefully, get our influenza vaccines, listen to the CDC. If there's a problem, they will let us know. The CDC made it very clear that 5,000 people just in the last two weeks have died from the flu here in America alone. Why are we panicked about that? Three people died on the streets of Los Angeles this morning from homelessness. If that were coronavirus, people would freak the hell out. You're right. Why aren't we putting our parties in the right place? It's the press. As you may know, as of today, and I say as of today at this hour. We have 33 confirmed positive tests for the virus. Five individuals have subsequently moved out of state. So there are 28 people that we know in the state of California that are positive. The case yesterday understandably generated a lot of attention, but didn't surprise any of the folks standing to my left or right.

52:24 We knew this was inevitable as it relates to the nature the epidemiology the nature of these viruses that that incident would occur accordingly When hearing about it, we initiated a series of protocols that we were prepared to advance Thank you, Mr. President and I'm just gonna ask you directly about this with regard to the flow of information from the very beginning you received a lot of criticism regarding that in particular about Dr. Anthony Fauci. He is world renowned in contagious diseases and there were reports out there that he was being muzzled. Can you tell us that this widely respected expert, Dr. Fauci, will have every opportunity to tell us the truth? Well, that's a very dishonest question because he has had that

53:16 ability to do virtually whatever he's wanted to do and in fact he was never muzzled. I think I can speak, you can speak, why don't you speak to that? Very dishonest question but that's okay. Let me clarify it. I have never been muzzled. ever and I've been doing this since the administration of Ronald Reagan. I'm not being muzzled by this administration. What happened, which was misinterpreted, is that we were set up to go on some shows and when the vice president took over we said let's regroup and figure out how we're gonna be communicating. So I had to just stand down on a couple of shows and resubmit for clearance. And when I resubmitted for clearance, I got cleared. So I have not been muzzled at all. That was a real misrepresentation of what happened. Breaking news tonight, President Trump addressed the nation today, announcing the first coronavirus death in this country, a patient in Washington State. The president says there's no reason for panic.

54:19 He plans to meet with drug companies on Monday to discuss vaccines. The outbreak has now spread with at least 65 cases across nine states. There have been three new cases today, all in Washington state. And Wall Street has been infected. The Dow lost more than 3,500 points this week, a 12% drop. CBS's Steve Dorsey is at the White House. There's no reason to panic. In an abruptly arranged White House news conference, President Trump tried to reassure the country his administration is taking unprecedented actions to contain the virus. It comes after he accused Democrats of trying to weaponize it against him at a South Carolina rally last night. This is their new hoax. And today he doubled down.

55:03 The hoax was used with respect to Democrats and what they were saying. It was a hoax, what they were saying. But the president's critics say he's the one putting politics ahead of public health. The problem is when you have the highest levels of the Trump administration actively using words like hoax, it sends a very dangerous signal to the American people. We want folks to take this seriously. Meanwhile, the White House is announcing new travel restrictions on foreign nationals who've recently visited Iran. It's also now telling Americans to avoid traveling to areas in Italy and South Korea most affected by the virus. It's certainly not a good situation. When you lose travel, that's a big part of market.

55:41 but for a period of time we're going to have to do whatever is necessary. Safety, health, number one. The markets will take care of themselves. The president also stepped up pressure today on the Fed to cut interest rates to help protect the economy. Rina Steve, thank you very much in Tennessee Smyrna, Tennessee Republican line Michael. Hello. Oh, thanks for taking my call I want to talk about the coronavirus That's something that's been around for for a long time Excuse me. If you look on your your labels of lifestyle disinfectant, it's hits on their human coronavirus I believe that China created this

56:20 a different strain of it. They released it to their people. I believe they did it to start a recession in China because their economy is so bad right now. And now they're wanting to get it over here in the United States and it's working. And it's an easy avenue to start a recession here in the United States because we ship things from China. You think about the bubble wrap, you bust that bubble wrap, it's got air in there, it could have that strain of coronavirus in there. and it would be easy for Donald Trump to shut the ports down. And we start trade, stop trading. Then we got a recession in America. So I believe that people are really just taking this too much out of context because of the regular virus, the flu kills people. And we don't know if these people are dying from just a natural cause of flu, they're old or their immune system is low. So I just believe they're just trying to scare everybody. It's a socialist

57:17 tactic to try to scare people from going out, going on vacations and getting around crowds of individuals. Okay, that's Michael in Tennessee. The president yesterday when he was speaking referred to this fatality as a woman. It is a man. How is a mistake like that made? Because people are very nervous right now and getting some of these basic facts right affects public trust. Well, I understand that it's a very fast-moving situation. Our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were up late at night, very early in the morning, working with the Washington State Public Health Office and

57:52 inaccurately recorded that the individual was a female. That's what the president was briefed on. They've apologized for incorrectly briefing on that but it's a very fast-moving situation. Obviously we regret the error. In Los Angeles, a state of emergency. In New York City tonight about a thousand people are now under self quarantine. All possibly coming in contact or linked to one man who was hospitalized in critical but stable condition tonight. His wife, two children and a neighbor all testing positive. One of his children, a college student, classes canceled there. In Los Angeles, that state of emergency, six new cases there, including an airport worker doing medical screenings at LAX. The death toll in the U.S. rising to at least 11 tonight. The first death from California, a passenger on a cruise ship during a round-trip voyage from San Francisco. ABC's Whit Johnson leading us off with the efforts to contain the virus here in New York and across the country.

58:47 Tonight a scramble that contained the spread of the coronavirus in New York about a thousand people ordered to self quarantine all Possibly connected to one patient in this hospital. That is another one two, three, four five people and again all off this one Attorney they're going to be hundreds in Westchester That 50-year-old father, now hospitalized in Manhattan in critical but stable condition. His wife, two kids, a neighbor who drove him to the hospital and another family connected to his law firm testing positive too. The number of cases jumping to 11.

59:26 A local public school district now closing to disinfect the buildings. In California tonight, health officials say this Grand Princess cruise ship is likely linked to the state's first death from the coronavirus and a second infection. An elderly patient possibly exposed while traveling from San Francisco to Mexico. The CDC now investigating a small cluster of cases of COVID-19 in Northern California traced back to that ship. The World Health Organization said Tuesday the global death toll rate from the disease caused by the new coronavirus is 3.4 percent, far deadlier than the seasonal flu. The warning came as the number of coronavirus deaths outside China surpassed the number inside China for the first time. Washington state Tuesday reported another coronavirus death, the ninth in the region. In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday a Manhattan lawyer has become the second person in the city to test positive for the new coronavirus.

58:47 Tonight a scramble that contained the spread of the coronavirus in New York about a thousand people ordered to self quarantine all Possibly connected to one patient in this hospital. That is another one two, three, four five people and again all off this one Attorney they're going to be hundreds in Westchester That 50-year-old father, now hospitalized in Manhattan in critical but stable condition. His wife, two kids, a neighbor who drove him to the hospital and another family connected to his law firm testing positive too. The number of cases jumping to 11.

59:26 A local public school district now closing to disinfect the buildings. In California tonight, health officials say this Grand Princess cruise ship is likely linked to the state's first death from the coronavirus and a second infection. An elderly patient possibly exposed while traveling from San Francisco to Mexico. The CDC now investigating a small cluster of cases of COVID-19 in Northern California traced back to that ship. The World Health Organization said Tuesday the global death toll rate from the disease caused by the new coronavirus is 3.4 percent, far deadlier than the seasonal flu. The warning came as the number of coronavirus deaths outside China surpassed the number inside China for the first time. Washington state Tuesday reported another coronavirus death, the ninth in the region. In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday a Manhattan lawyer has become the second person in the city to test positive for the new coronavirus.

1:00:24 Worldwide, the coronavirus death toll now tops 3,000, with nearly 90,000 cases. But even those numbers are nothing compared to what could happen in the months ahead. Today, CBS News' Jim Axelrod spoke with one of this country's top experts from Harvard on viruses who has a startling prediction. The number that I think is grabbing a lot of people is this estimate. 40 to 70 percent of the world's adult population could be infected. Yes. Accurate? That is, it's a projection, so we will find out if it's accurate as things go on. It is a best estimate that I've been able to make based on a combination of the mathematical models that we use to track and predict epidemics. So in terms of addressing the numbers that may get people panicked, what can you tell us?

1:01:16 Well, again, the 40 to 70 percent is a proportion of the adult population infected. And we know that some people who get this infection have no or almost no symptoms whatsoever. What we don't know is how many there are like that. So if, say, that's half the people, then the 1% or 2% that we're seeing in the symptomatic people is cut down by half. Whatever the number is, it's going to take a toll if it really does spread as widely as that projection says, and that's what I think is likely to happen.

1:01:58 The Wall Street Journal reports the Trump administration is considering using a national disaster program to cover the cost of treating coronavirus in some of the 27 million Americans without health coverage. The nation's largest union of registered nurses, National Nurses United, Tuesday called the nation's public health system woefully unprepared for the pandemic. and demanded once a vaccine is developed, it should be made free to the public. And I wanted to get your reaction to this global headline tonight. China, there's a new study out tonight showing that there could be two strains of this coronavirus. Which we see, for example, in other viruses like influenza. This small study out of China showing two strains, one more common, one more transmissible. We don't know yet about which one is more common here in the US. Open the curtain, please.

1:02:48 We are introducing New York State Clean hand sanitizer made conveniently by the state of New York. This is a superior product to products now on the market. The World Health Organization, CDC, all those people suggest 60% alcohol content Purell competitor to New York State Clean. 70% alcohol, this is 75% alcohol. It also has a, comes in a variety of sizes. It has a very nice floral bouquet, a little eye detector, lilac.

1:03:38 Hydrangea, tulips, what does it smell like to you? Tulips, yes. Floral bouquet, making it in the state of New York. Corcraft, actually, is making it for the state. Corcraft makes glass cleaner, floor cleaners, degreasers, laundry detergent, vehicle fluids, hand cleaner, and now they make hand sanitizer with The current capacity is 100,000 gallons per week and we're going to be ramping up. We'll be providing this to governmental agencies, schools, the MTA, prisons, etc. That is now in production. We'll start distribution. We're going to distribute it to New Rochelle, which is a hot spot for us.

1:04:29 because literally we're hearing from governments that they're having trouble getting it. Also to Purell and Mr. Amazon and Mr. eBay, if you continue the price gouging, we will introduce our product which is superior to your product and you don't even have the floral bouquet. So stop price gouging. The goal of the event 201 exercise is to illustrate the potential consequences of a pandemic. The event 201 scenario is fictional, but it's based on public health principles, epidemiologic modeling, and assessment of past outbreaks. In other words, we've created a pandemic that could realistically occur.

1:05:15 And for those interested in our assumptions, we'll have a lot of the background research of the scenario publicly available on our Event 201 website at the conclusion of the exercise. The policy discussions, the challenges to be discussed in this exercise represent controversial high stakes issues that would require high level input from business and government leaders. So just a few housekeeping notes before we get started. For our in-person audience, please do silence all your electronic devices. But you may tweet at hashtag event 201. And with that, here in New York and online, welcome to event 201. It began in healthy looking pigs months, perhaps years ago. A new coronavirus spread silently within herds. Gradually, farmers started getting sick.

1:06:12 Infected people got a respiratory illness with symptoms ranging from mild flu-like signs to severe pneumonia. The sickest required intensive care. Many died. At first, the spread was limited to those with close contacts, health care personnel, co-workers and families. But now it's spreading rapidly throughout local communities. International travel has turned local epidemics into a pandemic spanning the globe. Just three months ago, Caps started in South America, but has now reached several countries with more than 30,000 cases and nearly 2,000 deaths.

1:06:53 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has deployed the National Guard to New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City in Westchester County, ordering a one-mile containment zone around a synagogue whose congregation is at the center of the nation's single largest coronavirus outbreak. National Guard members were ordered to disinfect schools, to set up a coronavirus testing facility and to deliver food to people in quarantine, including thousands of students forced to remain at home. This is Governor Cuomo speaking Tuesday. It is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster in

1:07:33 the country and this is literally a matter of life and death. That's not a overly rhetorical statement. And the hardest hit country in Europe is Italy where today the death toll jumped to more than 800 and there are more than 12,000 cases. The lockdown in that country now includes all retail stores, bars and restaurants except for grocery stores and pharmacies. Seth Doan reports tonight from Rome. With the number of cases outside China increasing 13-fold and the number of countries tripling, the head of the World Health Organization said spread, severity and inaction led to that sobering calculation. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.

1:08:23 A pandemic. Its reach is clear. From China at the epicenter, the number of cases across the world has exploded to more than 122,000 across 115 countries. The global fight is so far not sufficient, whether disinfecting public buses in Spain, drive-thru swab testing in Belgium, or encouraging the wearing of masks in Iran. After China, Italy has the highest number of cases, more than 12,000. The quiet squares and canals across the country belie the scramble to stop this virus. There is a glimmer of hope where this started in Wuhan. They're dismantling those specially built hospitals and the number of new cases is going down.

1:09:08 Tonight, Italy is announcing a real lockdown. Only basic public services will remain in operation, including transportation. Also, grocery stores and pharmacies will be open. But Nora, a big hit for a fragile economy. China's senior medical advisor, Zong Nanshan, says the coronavirus outbreak may peak soon and may be over by April. In an interview with Reuters, Mr. Zong said that the prediction was made based on mathematical modelling. The 83-year-old is known for combating the SARS crisis in China in 2003. This comes as the death toll from the coronavirus epidemic in China hit 1016. Now while the Prime Minister today said he feels fine, he also said he has no plans to be tested for COVID-19, which has many people asking why not?

1:09:56 Trudeau said his doctors actually advised against testing since he is showing no symptoms and his health minister, Patty Hajdu, pointed out a little later that is the normal protocol. There is no evidence that someone needs to self-isolate if in fact they have been in contact with someone who is asymptomatic and so it's important to remember that. That is why the Prime Minister has received that public health advice that he doesn't have to have a test. Haidu also said the Prime Minister's wife Sophie will be extensively interviewed as health officials attempt to trace everyone she has been in contact with. As scientists work to contain the coronavirus, researchers are still trying to figure out where it came from. Early research suggests humans picked up the coronavirus from animals, possibly bats, but it's not clear how the virus made that jump. Science journalist and author David Quammen has been tracking this. He joins me now on the phone

1:10:51 And David, I know you know a lot about this, but I am learning with a lot of other folks here. A disease that can spread from animals to humans is called zoonosis. Coronavirus is a zoonotic disease. What do we know so far about the coronavirus and how it's spread from animal to human? Well, part of what we know comes from past experience with outbreaks such as SARS in 2002 and 2003. SARS was a very scary new virus when it first appeared in southern China. It was new to humans. It had to come from somewhere. And scientists eventually tracked the SARS virus to bats. Bats are the reservoir hosts.

1:11:30 meaning the virus lives in them without causing symptoms. Now that was part of what rang the alarm bell on coronaviruses. Coronaviruses, SARS is one, this is another, they evolve very quickly, they live in animals, frequently bats, and when we come in contact with bats, we invite those viruses to jump from bats into humans because they evolve quickly, they can frequently adapt to us and cause terrible trouble. If it is in fact bats in this case as well, what is it about them that makes them these frequent hosts of viruses or reservoir hosts as I believe you just called them?

1:12:07 That's right. Bats seem to be over-represented as the reservoir host for a lot of these scary viruses. SARS virus, as I mentioned, MERS virus, Hendra virus in Australia, Nipah virus in Malaysia. Now this one, what is it about bats? Well, a couple of things. First of all, bats are a very diverse order of mammals. One in every four species of mammal on earth is a bat. The scenes of people stocking up on toilet paper and cleaning supplies playing out all over the country, not just here. Reporter Nicole Comstock on what's behind this social anxiety that leads to panic buying.

1:12:49 shopping carts are being Costco's all across the S been stockpiling food, w because of the coronavirus are just freaking out ov Adrian thinks some people are going way overboard, hoarding food and water like it's the end of the world. Oh, I'm going to hoard myself inside my house because we're all going to die and it's a zombie apocalypse. You know, that's too much. But why are people buying too much? There's kind of a social anxiety. Psychiatrist Anil Sharma is the medical director at Dignity Northridge Hospital. He says when some people see the crowded parking lots, long lines and empty shelves,

1:13:33 It triggers an unreasonable response to run out and follow suit. Rather than going into this anxious or obsessive mode, they should think rationally. I'm not in a panic mode. Silvia Hernandez didn't load up her cart. She thinks most people don't need to. They're not really looking into, like, kind of educating themselves on it. Our anxiety came from the schools shutting down for three weeks. Yeah. Earlier this week, the first clinical trial of the vaccine candidate for the virus began in Washington state, as you probably know. The genetic sequence of the virus was first published in January. But thanks to the unprecedented partnership between the FDA, NIH and the private sector, we've reached human trials for the vaccine

1:14:20 Just eight weeks later, that's a record by many, many months. It used to take years to do this and now we did it just in a very short while. That's the fastest development in history of what we're doing with regard to the vaccine. We're making very, very big progress. But according to Tom, there's a much darker dimension to the coronavirus outbreak. He says there's deep suspicion here that a major reason it became a pandemic is a massive state cover-up ordered by China's President Xi Jinping. including arresting the whistleblowing doctor who later died. This is the Xi Jinping virus. Not the cause of it, but certainly the breadth of the outbreak is because of the authoritarianism and the lack of press freedom in the mainland. There was no mechanism for anyone to raise the alarm about this. The one doctor who tried to in the early days and ultimately succumbed to the disease was detained and told to shut up. Public health crises and closed secretive governments don't really go together, do they?

1:15:22 Right, they've even admitted that they've changed the way they collect data a couple of times. So it's very tough. Do you think the death toll numbers that they're reporting are accurate? There is a lot of pressure in China for things to get back to normal. The economy is suffering. So I think it would be reasonable to think that there is some malarkey with the figures. But it's a black box. We are in uncharted territory. One measure of China's influence is the pressure it has put on the World Health Organization to not officially call the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. But on that front, the man at the centre of it is blunt.

1:16:09 Why is there a blockage with that? Why was the WHO reluctant to call it a pandemic? Well, technically it is. I suspect that it may be because colleagues may think that if they will use the word pandemic, then it would trigger panic. And panic is no good for any kind of outbreak control. How was this virus born? What was the mechanism that gave birth to it? Probably a zoonotic jump. That is from a small mammal, likely reared or captured at least for food consumption. Fortunately there's some good news to report tonight on that front. Early evidence suggests that chloroquine, that's a cheap anti-malaria drug, may be effective in treating coronavirus. Gregory Regano is an advisor of the Stanford University School of Medicine and he joins us tonight. Mr. Regano, thanks so much for coming on.

1:17:01 So tell us what this is and why you think it's promising, please. So the president has the authority to authorize the use of hydroxychloroquine against coronavirus immediately. He has cut more red tape at the FDA than any other president in history. And for example, in 2017, a new drug was approved for muscular dystrophy that enroll in a clinical trial that enrolled less than 15 patients and was generally uncontrolled in an open setting. Hydroxychloroquine has been on the market for over 50 years with a quality safety profile. And I'm here to report that as of this morning, about five o'clock this morning, a well-controlled peer-reviewed study carried out by the most eminent infectious disease specialist in the world

1:17:55 Didier Raoult, MD, PhD, out of the south of France, in which he enrolled 40 patients. Again, a well-controlled peer-reviewed study that showed a 100% cure rate against coronavirus. The study was released this morning on my Twitter account, Regano ESQ, as well as our most recent website, covidtrial.io. The study was recently accepted to the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents by Elsevier. I'm gonna show my school by donating to no agenda imagine all the people who could do that. Oh, yeah, that'd be fun And there you go, I forgot at least 60% of those it's like this festival of recognition oh Oh, oh man bag report. Oh my goodness. Oh

1:18:55 Well, a lot of this stems out of New York, so that makes sense that they're right at the front. But, jeez, and they're locking everybody down. Do you think in hindsight that people realize how duped they were? I'm not Noah Jenda people, but people in general, do they realize how duped they've been? No, I don't think so. I think it's going to take years before they realize it. And then it may get so far in the future that then they kind of forget about it. It's like a broken arm, you know. Yeah, I broke my arm. It's okay now. Because when you listen, when you listen to it, you think, wow, we were all flipping out. Well, we weren't. Most people who listened to the show weren't. Yeah. You know, one of the things that comes out of these clips is the notion of how does the COVID transmit? They had this surface bull crap, which they pulled back on a year later. You know, there's going to be COVID on every surface and it's going to be transmitted if you touch something. We had the clean building initiative.

1:19:54 Yeah, I was at a grocery store and some woman was there with her husband. They're all masked up and they're looking around worried sick. And this is when people would walk around when you're coming down the street, they'd give you a white berth. And she touched a loaf of bread, it was in a cellophane thing, and the guy went ballistic. Don't touch that! You're gonna kill us? Don't touch it, don't touch it, don't touch it! Yeah, it was pretty pathetic. It's been quite a barrage. Of course, we're taking this break here, although really the break is... we just have to double up. on the work to get it done before we leave we just can't be as as actual as we would be so that's why we have this special and the end of show mixes best of covid and show mixes next week we do want you to continue to support the show please that helps it is also your birthday week yes my birthday week so there's a seventy dollar donation you get the newsletter you'll see it on there and it's you know you can also just get the general just put in the general fund the

1:20:54 These will all be, all these donations will be pushed to the next Sunday show so they'll all get recognized so there's no problem with that. Yes, your credits will be valid, believe me. It'll be a long segment. It'll be a long segment for sure. But it'll be good. And yes, we have, we do need support, continued support, so continuing to donate is a plus. And we'll be back to say goodbye after we get into, can it get any worse actually than what you've played now? Yeah, all it does is get worse. Dr. Fauci, as was explained yesterday, there has been some promise with hydroxychloroquine as potential therapy for people who are infected with coronavirus. Is there any evidence to suggest that, as with malaria, it might be used as a prophylaxis against COVID-19? The answer is no. And the evidence that you're talking about, John, is anecdotal evidence. So as the commissioner of FDA and the president mentioned yesterday,

1:21:52 We're trying to strike a balance between making something with a potential of an effect to the American people available at the same time that we do it under the auspices of a protocol that would give us information to determine if it's truly safe and truly effective. But the information that you're referring to specifically is anecdotal. It was not done in a controlled clinical trial, so you really can't make any definitive statement about it. JUDY WOODRUFF, PBS NEWSHOUR POSTER, IS AND IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEB.

1:22:45 In much of California, stay-at-home orders have already brought much of public life to a halt. And today, those orders expanded statewide. Governor Gavin Newsom asked the entire state, 40 million people, to stay home. He cited an analysis that half the state could be infected in the next eight weeks if more aggressive moves weren't taken. So he ordered that nothing but the most essential activities continue. We will have social pressure that will encourage people to do the right thing, just a nod and look saying, hey, maybe you should reconsider just being out there on the beach, being 22 strong at a park.

1:23:25 It's time for all of us to recognize, as individuals and as a community, we need to do more to meet this moment. It's unclear how the new orders will be enforced, but it's one of the most drastic containment efforts underway. Across the country, another huge effort. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered every employer in his state to keep their workers at home. 100 percent of the workforce must stay home. These are non-essential services. Essential services have to continue to function. Grocery stores need food. Pharmacies need drugs. Your Internet has to continue to work. The water has to turn on when you turn the faucet. So, there are essential services that will continue to function. WILLIAM BRANGHAM, New York City, Illinois, Governor-Elect and Illinois Governor-Elect, Illinois, Issued a shelter-in-place order effective tomorrow. These states have seen a surge in COVID-19 cases. And they, along with Washington state, are the hardest hit in the country.

1:24:27 Their hospital systems are already being stressed and critical protective supplies are running low. The White House offered some forms of relief today. President Trump said he had invoked the Defense Production Act and directed certain companies to change their focus and produce supplies needed for the coronavirus fight. And the president also announced an extension to the April 15 tax filing deadline. We're moving it all the way out to July 15th. No interest, no penalties. Your new date will be July 15th. In a move to stem the spread of the virus across countries, He announced the U.S. and Mexico had agreed to close down the southern border to nonessential travel. But in what turned into a testy, contentious press conference,

1:25:12 The president also said several things that are factually wrong. For example, he cited the wrong symptoms for COVID-19. They're sneezing, they're sniffling, they don't feel good, they have a temperature, there are a lot of different things. Actual symptoms are fever, but also dry cough and trouble breathing. Sneezing and sniffling are not. He implied that an unproven anti-malaria drug could prevent infection. There's zero proof of that. One of his top health officials, Dr. Anthony Fauci, had to correct the record moments later. The answer is no.

1:25:51 And contrary to all public health guidance, the president implied the U.S. didn't need additional testing for the virus. You're hearing very positive things about testing. It's able to test millions of people. But we inherited a broken, old, frankly, a terrible system. We fixed it. And we've done a great job. Here is a treatment protocol I followed as prescribed by my amazing doctor. It was what's called a drug cocktail, which means it's a combination of different drugs. It consisted of Tamiflu, which is an antiviral, the antibiotic azithromycin, more commonly known as a Z-Pak, a glycopyrrolate inhaler that was used to ease breathing and the inflammation that's commonly associated with COVID. And here's what I consider to be the secret weapon, hydroxychloroquine.

1:26:45 This is a common antimalarial drug that has been used with great success in Korea in their fight against the coronavirus. And yes, this is the drug that the president mentioned the other day. It is also the drug that Dr. Anthony Fauci cautioned us about. He said that evidence that the drug was promising is anecdotal. And that is correct. It means it wasn't studied and it's only based on personal accounts. Well, add my name to those personal accounts because I am feeling better. And in the United Kingdom, the heir to the British throne, 71-year-old Prince Charles is the latest high profile positive test for coronavirus. He has mild symptoms and is self isolating at his Scotland estate.

1:27:27 Hospitals nationwide are preparing for a surge in coronavirus cases. Ventilators to treat the most serious cases are still in short supply. Governors and mayors are calling for more help with equipment and relief for frontline health care workers. We've all been focused so much on supplies, on equipment, on ventilators. We need to focus increasingly on our healthcare personnel, both everything they're going through and how we help them now, but the fact also we're going to need a lot more people. We're going to need a lot more highly trained. Healthcare professionals get us through this in the coming weeks. The United States now has more confirmed cases of COVID-19 than any other country. According to Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center, there are now more than 104,000 cases reported in the U.S. and more than 1,700 deaths.

1:28:15 More than 230 million people in the U.S. are now under state and local orders to stay at home to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. While tens of millions of Americans are under stay-at-home orders, President Trump left the White House today and flew to Norfolk, Virginia. So I think the first thing is, how do you get COVID? And I think that this is really important and we've really learned a lot over the last couple of weeks to months about how you get this disease. And so the overarching theme is sustained contact with someone who has this disease, which the vast majority is people with fever and aches, or someone who is about to get the disease.

1:29:03 So someone in the next one to two days who's going to develop symptoms of this disease. And so the way that you get this is the transmission of the virus almost exclusively from your hands to your face. From your hands to your face. And so it's either into your eyes, into your nose, or into your mouth. So there's a lot of talk about contact or getting it through contact, hands to face. There's also a small thought that it can be aerosolized, that it can kind of exist a little bit in the air. The thought at this point is that you actually have to have very long sustained contact.

1:29:44 with someone and I'm talking about over 15 to 30 minutes in an unprotected environment, meaning you're in a very closed room without any type of mask for you to get it that way. But to very simply state the overwhelming majority of people are getting this by physically touching someone who has this disease or will develop it in the next one to two days and then touching their face. And so that actually I think is incredibly empowering and that's as I've been in the hospital the last two days, the thing that makes me smile a little bit is that I actually know now that

1:30:24 I won't get this disease. The number of cases in the U.S. has surged to 85,000 people. The number is far higher because of the lack of testing. Well, let's say you have 100 cases and let's say you don't do a shutdown, then it grows 33 percent per day. So you take a hundred, you get a thousand, you get 10,000. It's exponential growth. The leading infectious disease expert on President Trump's coronavirus task force says he's really confident that those who are infected and then recover from COVID-19 can build up an immunity to it. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared remotely on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah when he was asked about the possibility of reinfection from coronavirus. If this virus

1:31:11 acts like every other virus that we know. Once you get infected, Get better, clear the virus, that you'll have immunity that will protect you against reinfection. On Noah's show, which is practicing social distancing and being filmed remotely, Dr. Fauci cautioned that his take is not 100% given because a full study had not taken place yet. Still, the infectious diseases expert seems certain. So it's never 100%, but I'd be willing to bet anything that people who recover are really protected against reinfection. Business Insider reports that blood tests have been carried out by Chinese health officials, showing that antibodies have been developed to fight off the virus, which is an indication that the person tested contracted COVID-19 despite showing little or no symptoms. Matt Freeman, a researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, told NPR that it's very likely that those who recover from coronavirus develop at least some level of immunity to it, and that even if reinfected later on, the effects of the disease would be much less.

1:32:11 The president said when he announced that those ships would be put into action against the COVID-19 epidemic, he said one of those ships would be operational in New York Harbor by next week. That's nonsense. It will not be there next week. And the Naval Hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, you see it right there on your screen, has just docked in New York City. The ship will be used to house non-coronavirus patients and that in itself will free up the city's hospital care to focus primarily on those with the virus. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will brief media there at the top of the hour. We're going to bring that to you live as soon as that gets underway. We begin with breaking news just coming in this afternoon a bizarre story here a train engineer at the Port of Los Angeles has been Arrested on suspicion of intentionally crashing a locomotive near the Navy Hospital ship Mercy federal prosecutors say the train engineer claimed the ship has an alternate origin

1:33:02 purpose for being docked there, possibly a government takeover. Eduardo Moreno of San Pedro allegedly ran the train at full speed off the end of the railroad tracks yesterday in an apparent attempt to damage the ship. The Mercy, which was not damaged, it's docked here in LA to help ease the burden on local hospitals that are busy with coronavirus patients. Eventually what we'll have to have is certificates of who's a recovered person, who's a vaccinated person. You know, it's really unprecedented. Even the issue of once you get the case numbers down, what does opening up look like? You know, which activities, like schools, have such benefit and can be done in a way that the risk of transmission is very low?

1:33:42 and which activities like mass gatherings may be in a certain sense more optional. And so until you're widely vaccinated, those may not come back. At all. Can I ask you about that? You know, more states yesterday started having these stay at home orders, but not all states do. And even the states that do, some have exemptions. Florida exempts religious services in some cases. I saw New Hampshire had exempted florists at one point. Arizona had exempted hair salons at some point. I mean, with all due deference to states.

1:34:19 Shouldn't there be a national order, a national lockdown, a requirement, rather than this hodgepodge, piecemeal method? You know, you have a point there, Savannah, but it's one of those things that in our country there still is that issue of central government versus the ability and the right of a state to make their own decision. But again, I agree with you. When you see things like some of those exemptions, I mean, I can't make any official proclamations here, but I can say really seriously consider are those exemptions appropriate when you think about what's going on? And I urge the people at the leadership at the state level to really take a close look at those kinds of decisions. Good morning. We know we're supposed to keep six feet between each other when we're out of the house. And of course, that's right. We've known for weeks. Wash our hands.

1:35:09 Tell us now about covering our faces. Well, the CDC says that what scientists know now, given recent studies, is that a lot of people with coronavirus lack symptoms or they have only mild symptoms and they can transmit the virus. So this means if an infected person goes out and interacts in close quarters with others, they can unknowingly spread it. One person who pushed to make this change, recommending broader use of masks, is the former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. In the nation's coronavirus epicenter, Governor Andrew Cuomo said the hospitalization rate may be slowing. We are flattening the curve by what we are doing. But that doesn't mean people should be any less vigilant. If we stop what we are doing, you will see that curve change. That curve is purely a function of what we do day in and day out.

1:36:18 In fact, yesterday New York saw the highest number of deaths yet in a single day, nearly 800. In New York City, there have been so many deaths, authorities are using refrigerated trucks to store remains. And New York's numbers show that African-Americans and Hispanics there are dying at higher rates than whites. Amid the grim work on the medical front lines, signs of support. Meanwhile, the University of Washington's forecasting model, one of many often cited by the White House, lowered its estimate of U.S. coronavirus deaths.

1:36:54 Today, it projected more than 60,000 Americans would die by early August, down from 84,000. The University of Washington's model has been on the low side, and there are questions about the accuracy of the official death count. Some say it may overlook those who die at home without seeking medical care and those who die without being tested for coronavirus. In Washington, D.C., Trump administration officials say they are planning for life after the pandemic, but caution that was still a ways off. What she's saying is that people need to maybe make their own decisions. You know, Sweden, I was reading that Sweden actually has that policy. People are going to dinner. You see them in restaurants. They're out in the streets. I mean, they did not have a shutdown policy at all in Sweden.

1:37:41 And I believe the numbers are going up. Somebody could check that for me. I mean, he took a risk, the president of Sweden. I mean, it seems to me that something like the example of South Korea, where they shut down the country completely and now the numbers are going down, that that seems to be the way to go. Maybe North Dakota doesn't have as many, of course, people as New York who are sick, but they could leave North Dakota. They could have the virus and move to South Dakota. Now South Dakota gets an epidemic. So I think that the president needs to shut down the whole country. Of course, he won't do that because it impacts the economy. And he knows that the economy is exactly what will get him reelected or not reelected. We're still in lockdown in Britain. But first, the government here adopted the Swedish version, which meant that there were fairly limited restrictions

1:36:54 Today, it projected more than 60,000 Americans would die by early August, down from 84,000. The University of Washington's model has been on the low side, and there are questions about the accuracy of the official death count. Some say it may overlook those who die at home without seeking medical care and those who die without being tested for coronavirus. In Washington, D.C., Trump administration officials say they are planning for life after the pandemic, but caution that was still a ways off. What she's saying is that people need to maybe make their own decisions. You know, Sweden, I was reading that Sweden actually has that policy. People are going to dinner. You see them in restaurants. They're out in the streets. I mean, they did not have a shutdown policy at all in Sweden.

1:37:41 And I believe the numbers are going up. Somebody could check that for me. I mean, he took a risk, the president of Sweden. I mean, it seems to me that something like the example of South Korea, where they shut down the country completely and now the numbers are going down, that that seems to be the way to go. Maybe North Dakota doesn't have as many, of course, people as New York who are sick, but they could leave North Dakota. They could have the virus and move to South Dakota. Now South Dakota gets an epidemic. So I think that the president needs to shut down the whole country. Of course, he won't do that because it impacts the economy. And he knows that the economy is exactly what will get him reelected or not reelected. We're still in lockdown in Britain. But first, the government here adopted the Swedish version, which meant that there were fairly limited restrictions

1:38:30 Then they switched to the Danish version, which required an almost total shutdown. This is a story of two very similar Nordic cultures who have got a widely differing approach about how to fight COVID-19. At a time when most of the world is shuttered, Sweden is open for business. Markets and shops are trading, restaurants are serving, schools are educating. The Swedes advocate limited social distancing. Their strategy is to protect the vulnerable while allowing the virus to spread through healthy people, so they can develop antibodies. This is designed to create so-called herd immunity, which, theoretically, should result in most people being safe.

1:39:12 But today, the health authorities announced a further 96 fatalities. Thank you very much. Last night, President Trump criticized the Swedish approach. They talk about Sweden, but Sweden is suffering very gravely. You know that, right? Sweden did that. The herd, they call it the herd. The Swedish anti-virus campaign is being led not by the country's prime minister, but by Anders Tegnell, an epidemiologist with experience of fighting Ebola in Africa. He responded to Mr Trump this afternoon. No, we don't share his opinion. Of course we're suffering. Everybody in the world is suffering right now in different ways.

1:39:49 But Swedish health care, which I guess he alludes to, it's very difficult to understand, is taking care of this in a very, very good manner. Fellow scientist Markus Carlsen despairs of Sweden being so out of step with most of the world. This, to me, sounds a bit like a madman. We are here playing Russian roulette with the Swedish population. King Carl Gustaf hinted at disapproval of government tactics as he urged Swedes to cancel the traditional annual getaway to country cabins. Through the FDA's coronavirus treatment acceleration program, 19 therapies and treatments are now being tested and 26 more are in the active planning or clinical trial. So we have 19 therapies being tested currently and 26 more are in the active planning

1:40:42 for clinical trials. That's a big statement. That's a lot. Trials for Gilead's anti rival drug remdesivir continue and the company has also expanded emergency use for new patients getting good early results. By the way, the companies that manufacture hydroxy chloroquine are massively ramping up production As you know, many people are recommending strongly Z-Pak be added. The Z-Pak and also zinc. And the federal government continues to build our stockpiles and distribute millions of doses for doctors to use as they see fit. For Russia, Igorov is prepared to take on any enemy, including the coronavirus.

1:41:29 Since early February, he has been in charge of this special patrol by the Ural Cossacks. They hand out face masks in their neighborhood of Yekaterinburg and check people for signs of a cold. Igor Gorbunov is an Ottoman, one of the heads of the Ural Cossacks. People here recognize them by their uniforms and some of their recommendations on how to stay healthy are just as old-fashioned. We recommend our traditional remedies, having honey, garlic and raspberry jam and and keeping to basic rules of personal hygiene. When people come in from outside, they should wash their hands and take off their outdoor clothes. We Cossacks decided to help our government with the coronavirus because we care about the faith of Russia. The Cossacks carry holy water along with them for extra protection against the virus.

1:42:20 These vigilante patrols weren't authorized by the city, but in Russia Cossacks often support the state security forces and act as unofficial guardians of public order. The next morning, Cossack teenagers try their hand at a paramilitary drill. From the late 18th century, Cossacks defended the borders of the Russian Empire. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Cossack identity has had a revival. Anyone can now become a Cossack. Being patriotic, conservative and ready to fight is key. I am expressing my deepest apologies for getting it wrong at the beginning, comparing coronavirus to influenza. That was wrong. What I did get right was telling everybody after I stated my position to be sure you listen to Dr. Fauci because he should always be your North Star. He will get it right no matter what.

1:43:08 And he has been, and I was convinced would always be, the person we should listen to and follow his direction and nothing more and nothing less. Again, we are. Getting lots of threats. My family is getting threats. I'd like us to please ask that you stop and that we get together. This is a time for collective effort, not for scapegoating. So I was engaged in a bit of loser think by comparing numbers. I had a lot of numbers in my head. I was dealing with 100,000 people dying of opiates and drugs every year. I was dealing with a billion people infected with H1N1 and 500,000 40 to 60 year olds dying of that.

1:43:46 24 million flu cases and 30 to 60,000 dying of that. Those numbers were in my head as I was trying to compare this outbreak to that. And I shouldn't have been doing that. I should have been just addressing this outbreak as what it was. I didn't understand the ferocity of this virus and its contagiousness. And now my heart and soul is with New York City, which is where I spend a lot of my time. I've signed up for the New York and California Health Corps, and I'll be part of the part of the front line if I should be needed. The tools that are going to reduce deaths, the drugs, you know, that's a global thing to get those out. And the thing that'll get us back to the world that we had before coronavirus is the vaccine and getting that out to all 7 billion people. And so the efforts to test those, to build the factories,

1:44:52 to understand, you know, is it safe and ready to go? That's a global problem. And, you know, so I'm glad, you know, that people are coming together. to find where is the best work and combine that. You know, the factory will be in a different country than the science is in. This is the whole world working on probably the most urgent tool that's ever been needed. And of course, Judy, the administration today has been criticized for reducing that support and solidarity in a time of pandemic. And because in order to enact those reforms, it's going to need the support of the other members of the World Health Organization, other countries around the world.

1:45:33 And what sort of criticism, Nick, directed at the U.S.? Yeah, the criticism is everywhere. You saw Bill Gates, whose foundation is a major funder of the WHO, say that cutting the WHO would be a bad choice and quote, the WHO is slowing the spread of COVID-19. And if that work is stopped, no organization can replace them. The world needs WHO now more than ever. And Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the president is ignoring global health experts, disregarding science and undermining the heroes fighting on the front line. So that's praise, but that is in contrast to the administration criticizing the WHO for many months. Why do you think we were so ill-prepared for coronavirus?

1:46:17 We have it recognized as a global community that we are a global community and if we had recognized that and stepped up to it, we would have prepared for this. We would have systems in place both monitoring, alerting very quickly. We would have had test kits available. We would have just You know, we plan for things as nations. We plan for earthquakes. We plan for tsunamis. We plan for tornadoes. We didn't plan for disease. And I don't think that will ever happen now, thank God. California will make pandemic relief payments of $500 apiece to 150,000 migrants who are living in the state without documentation.

1:47:02 Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom said today that they do essential work and pay millions of dollars in taxes. Almost 40 percent of the money will come from private contributions. The migrants are not eligible for federal payments. Now, you know, I've seen you referred to a little bit recently as the love gov. And I'm wondering if that's bleeding into your demeanor at all, making you a little soft on the president, that you don't want to really criticize him because you need him and now is not a time for fighting. But don't you have to balance that with calling him out if he's doing things that you don't think are great for the people of your state to be hearing and experiencing? Love gov?

1:47:39 I've always been a soft guy. I am the love gov. I'm a cool dude in a loose mood. You know that. I just say let it go. Just go with the flow, baby. You can't control anything so don't even try. You never said any of those things. Water off a duck's back. That's me. The first time you said any of those. Really? Yeah. Wow. Never said any of them. I've known you my whole life. Well, that's your opinion. Yeah. Well, you should listen better. Listening works. Not always talking. What was the question? Oh, I remember the question. I am in a situation... Yeah, well, that's your characterization, first of all, right? So you don't state it as a question because you have a characterization in there that is a premise.

1:48:18 I am working with the president cooperatively. It's very important that the federal government and state government work together during this time. I have to do my best job for the people of this state. You cannot say, look, I've been the governor in this country has been the most critical of the president up until now. And by the way, there's no governor that he's been more critical of than me. So nobody's going to say I gone too soft on the president. We're working together to help the state. That's what's important now. No politics, no personality, no ego. No ego. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's about we and getting through this. And that's my singular focus. There'll be a day and a time for everything. But this is not the time and place. And nobody is more complicit in that than Fox News. And let us just

1:49:08 for all of you, for both of you, I want to put a graphic of some of the recent inaccuracies from President Trump. And we're doing this explicitly because this is a matter of life and death and there's no pussyfooting around this. Sorry, this is not a political issue, it's a science issue, it's a life and death issue. So on April 7th, President Trump says on hydroxyl chlorine, I really think it's a great thing to try. This is chloroquine, fact check. Clinical trials are underway but the FDA and top public health officials have not endorsed Trump's view that the drug can be taken safely. March 30th, we've done more tests by far than any country in the world. By far, fact check. True that the US has done more tests than any other country, but on a per capita basis, it's way behind Germany, Italy and South Korea.

1:50:05 March 26th on the pandemic. This was something that nobody has ever thought could happen to this country. Fact check, US intelligence community and public health experts have warned for years that the country was at risk from a pandemic. Experts also warned that the country would face shortages of critical medical equipment. Yeah, it's not only been the administration, but a lot of critics around the world has said simply that the WHO is too swayed by China. Let me take you back to about New Year's. This is the time when local doctors in Wuhan, China were telling hospital administrators that, hey, this is something new and there is human to human transmission because we're getting sick.

1:50:48 but the hospitals and the local government covered that up, or at the very least silenced those local doctors. So on December 31st, the Wuhan government released a statement, the investigation so far has found no obvious person-to-person transmission and no medical personnel have been infected. And the WHO basically parroted that language, January 5th. Based on the preliminary information from the Chinese investigation team, no evidence of significant human-to-human transmission and no health care worker infections have been reported. Officials who are talking to me say that the WHO should have known better and should not have accepted Chinese language. But, Nick, weren't the Trump administration and the WHO praising China's response back in January?

1:51:33 Yeah, that's a great point. And this is really key. So let's take a listen to the director general of WHO talking in January, the day after the WHO declared this a global emergency, but also President Trump praising China. WHO continues to have a confidence in China's capacity to control the outbreak. I spoke with President Xi. We had a great talk. He's working very hard. I have to say he's working very, very hard. And if you can count on the reports coming out of China, that spread has gone down quite a bit.

1:52:11 And Judy, obviously, the president's language about China has changed. And the U.S. really does want to reform the WHO, but they need international support to do so. And it's not clear that they have that. Just like with ventilators, we're building now the best ventilators. Just like with ventilators, our testing is getting better and better. I took the first test. The first test was not pleasant. This was not a pleasant thing. I said, you got to be kidding to the doctor. You got to be kidding. up your nose and then we hang a right and it goes down here and then we'll wiggle it around here under your eye and then we'll pull it out and we'll say I said no that's that's no way that can happen. Is that the way it goes? You sure? This was a very unpleasant test. And then I was tested a few weeks later with the new test that just came out the Abbott where they just touch your nose basically and they put it in a machine and literally a few minutes later they tell you

1:53:09 If you're fine, and I was lucky in both cases. At Pine Street Inn in Boston's South End, universal COVID-19 testing leading to new stunning evidence about the asymptomatic spread of the virus. It was like a double knockout punch because the number of positives was shocking to us. But then the fact that 100% of the positives had no symptoms was equally shocking. all asymptomatic. It prob questions and it answers. says the results prove t of only testing those sh ineffective. I think there people right now that if

1:54:12 The number may look close to this. I don't think we know. The universal testing at Pine Street Inn and testing of the homeless at BMC bringing Boston South End to number one in the city with the highest rate of COVID-19 infection. Of the 146 people at Pine Street Inn who tested positive, health officials tell us only one needed hospital care and many have not experienced any symptoms. We also One of the most important studies that's been done just this week came out at Stanford University where they tested the antibodies in Santa Clara County, California. And so these are people who have the antibodies from the coronavirus. The thought is that they had acquired the virus. Many of them may not have known that they had had it. But they looked to see how prevalent those antibodies were in that county and they determined that

1:55:02 between 50 and 80 times more people in Santa Clara had the antibodies than had actually tested positive in Santa Clara County. Day one and one could not help but notice that the only shop that was open on the entire length of the Champs-Élysées in Paris was a chocolate shop. Even as entire countries have shut down to prevent the spread of COVID-19, essential services around the world remain open. and what a country considers essential tells us a lot about its culture. All the boulangerie and fromagerie, cheese shops, butchers and wine merchants and indeed chocolatiers that still exist and which give France still so much of its character. All these shops have been given exemptions and can stay open and the French, I have to say, are all mighty glad of the fact. In the US, what counts as an essential service depends on where you live and states have made controversial choices like gun stores.

1:56:00 After the Trump administration released guidance supporting classifying gun shops as essential, states have allowed firearm businesses to remain open and sales have surged to record levels. Marijuana dispensaries, both medical and recreational, have also been allowed to remain open in the states where they're legal, like Colorado, though they have adopted new social distancing measures like curbside pickup. For the past few weeks, all restaurants, bars, clubs and pubs have been closed here in Australia. But off-licences or liquor stores, they remain open. So you can go buy a drink, but you'll have to have it at home. Toy shops are an interesting grey area. Some are closed and others are open to a limited number of customers at any given time. And I know what you're thinking. Why are toys crucial? Well, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison did say himself

1:56:51 that his wife had to go and buy their children a whole bunch of jigsaw puzzles because they were essential for his family if they changed the way they live in the next few months. In other countries, bans on what many would consider essential are sparking outrage. Most people who know a bit about the Philippines are aware of the iconic jeepney bus, but there is another form of essential transport here called the tricycle. They're a bit like Batman and Robin's bat bike. But last month, strict quarantine measures placed on the country's main island Luzon meant all public transport was banned. However, a popular young local mayor in Manila, Vico Soto, allowed trikes to be used by medical workers.

1:57:32 But the next day, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned local officials not to break quarantine rules. But now, President Duterte's daughter, Sara, mayor of Davao City, has also allowed trikes to be used, her exemption being that the city doesn't fall under Luzon quarantine measures. Who would have thought the humble tricycle could be so political? For the first time in the history of India, its extensive railway network, considered a lifeline for the country, has been halted. But halting these trains that carry more than 23 million passengers every day has had a fallout. Lots of daily wage earners have been stranded in the cities without money, food or shelter. The government's now making arrangements for them.

1:58:18 Interestingly, the information technology sector has been exempted from what is otherwise a stringent shutdown with a view to keep networks that are crucial to communication, banking and governance running. For more on the origins of the coronavirus, Trump's response and where we go from here, we're joined by a zoologist who has long studied diseases that cross the animal-human divide and who for years has been sounding the alarm about a coming pandemic. Dr. Peter Daszak is with us. He's a disease ecologist, the president of EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that works globally to identify and study our vulnerabilities to emerging infectious disease. EcoHealth Alliance has been studying coronaviruses in China since the end of the SARS outbreak in 2004. This coronavirus is really called SARS-2. He's joining us from the Hudson River Valley in New York.

1:59:16 Welcome to Democracy Now! It's great to have you with us. So, if you can unpack what we just heard, it goes to the issue of the origins of the coronavirus. Especially interesting that President Trump is raising this now as he's being seriously attacked for the United States lack of action and delay. And so he is striking out at as many sectors as he can. But talk about the origins of the coronavirus, Dr. Daschak. Yeah, great to be here. Look, first, the idea that this virus escaped from a lab is just pure baloney. It's simply not true. I've been working with that lab for 15 years and the samples collected were collected by me and others in collaboration with our Chinese colleagues. They're some of the best scientists in the world.

2:00:04 There was no viral isolate in the lab. There was no cultured virus that there's anything related to SARS coronavirus 2. So it's just not possible. And like you say, it's really a politicization of the origins of a pandemic. And it's really unfortunate. Tonight, the streets of New York City remain virtually empty. But on the heels of the president's new three-phased plan to reopen America, some states are slowly inching back in. Tonight, beaches in Jacksonville, Florida, will reopen, but no more than 10 in a crowd. the people what the rules are, then we warn if they don't comply and then we take additional action if necessary if they still don't comply. Texas will allow some retail to go but not permit in-store shopping. Minnesota will allow golf courses to open this weekend. Wisconsin's governor said lawn care businesses might be able to operate and Idaho will allow non-essential businesses like craft dog groomers to open their doors.

1:59:16 Welcome to Democracy Now! It's great to have you with us. So, if you can unpack what we just heard, it goes to the issue of the origins of the coronavirus. Especially interesting that President Trump is raising this now as he's being seriously attacked for the United States lack of action and delay. And so he is striking out at as many sectors as he can. But talk about the origins of the coronavirus, Dr. Daschak. Yeah, great to be here. Look, first, the idea that this virus escaped from a lab is just pure baloney. It's simply not true. I've been working with that lab for 15 years and the samples collected were collected by me and others in collaboration with our Chinese colleagues. They're some of the best scientists in the world.

2:00:04 There was no viral isolate in the lab. There was no cultured virus that there's anything related to SARS coronavirus 2. So it's just not possible. And like you say, it's really a politicization of the origins of a pandemic. And it's really unfortunate. Tonight, the streets of New York City remain virtually empty. But on the heels of the president's new three-phased plan to reopen America, some states are slowly inching back in. Tonight, beaches in Jacksonville, Florida, will reopen, but no more than 10 in a crowd. the people what the rules are, then we warn if they don't comply and then we take additional action if necessary if they still don't comply. Texas will allow some retail to go but not permit in-store shopping. Minnesota will allow golf courses to open this weekend. Wisconsin's governor said lawn care businesses might be able to operate and Idaho will allow non-essential businesses like craft dog groomers to open their doors.

2:01:03 Still, some workers are concerned. Andy Revell works on Navy ships in Virginia and led a strike this week after one of his co-workers died. We're literally scared. It's like the ship is haunted by a ghost that's everywhere. And we just, that's what the environment we work in all day. And as debate over reopening continues, news of treatment progress. Gilead, the maker of the drug Remdesivir, saw a surge in its stock price on news reports that the drug helped COVID-19 patients in Chicago. New York, with 600 more deaths in the last 24 hours, is still a hot spot. The city announced it's cancelling outdoor concerts until June. But the governor today said he knew patience was wearing thin. The situation we're in now is unsustainable. People can't stay in their homes for this length of time. They can't stay out of work. You can't keep the economy closed forever. You just can't. I think when we talk about this idea of reopening society,

2:01:59 You know, only in America does the president, when the president tweets about liberation, does he mean go back to work? When we, you know, have this discussion about going back or reopening, I think a lot of people should just say no, we're not going back to that. We're not going back to working 70-hour weeks just so that we could put food on the table and not even feel any sort of semblance of security in our lives. There have been some reports of animals testing positive for the coronavirus. Now it appears health officials in the U.S. have finally confirmed cases. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says they found two pet cats in New York state that have tested positive for coronavirus. Officials say it appears the animals can get the virus from humans, however there's no indication animals can transmit it.

2:02:49 The death toll from the virus in the U.S. is now more than 46,000 people. Officials in California traced two of those deaths to February. I think what these deaths tell us is that community transmission had arrived much earlier than we were able to detect it. And I think it really highlights the importance of the shelter in place and protecting the community and preventing hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19. Good evening and thank you for joining us. There are two major headlines as we come on the air tonight, putting scientists at odds with the Trump administration. Researchers behind one of the leading coronavirus models, one that the White House has repeatedly cited, now says most of the country should not consider lifting stay-at-home orders until the end of May. The new model comes as protests to reopen are growing and just as some southern governors are already loosening their restrictions.

2:03:42 Meantime tonight, the scientist in charge of coordinating the government's search for a coronavirus vaccine says he has been abruptly ousted from his job because of what he calls politics and cronyism. Dr. Rick Bright, the head of a little known agency called BARDA, says he was sidelined after refusing to push for what he calls, quote, on-demand access to hydroxychloroquine. That is the drug that President Trump has repeatedly mentioned as a treatment for COVID-19, even though it hasn't been approved for that use. Now, all of this as the death toll in the U.S. has now passed 46,000. Beginning this week, new EMT guidelines across the state of New York. Paramedics are not to make life-saving attempts to unresponsive patients.

2:04:27 essentially do not revive in order to protect first responders from coronavirus exposure. Still, EMTs in New York City say they have yet to adopt the guidelines. But then we also talk about removing information that is problematic. Of course, anything that is medically unsubstantiated. So people saying like take vitamin C, you know, take turmeric like those are all will cure you. Those are the examples of things that would be a violation of our policy. Anything that would go against World Health Organization recommendations would be a violation of our policy. And so remove is another really important part of our policy. Well, there are many, you know, they're revolving door problems with all of our federal agencies and all of our state agencies. There's a phenomenon that is very well documented called agency capture.

2:05:17 which is a phenomenon or a dynamic by which the agency that's supposed to protect the American public from bad drugs or from pollution or what have you ultimately becomes a subsidiary or a sock puppet for the industry that it's supposed to regulate. And indeed, that's what we see with the CDC. The head of CDC from 2002 to 2009, as you point out, was Julie Gerbening. She did a number of billion-dollar favors for Merck. She silenced a whistleblower who was William Thompson, who is still a scientist at the CDC, who wanted to tell the public that testing of Merck's vaccine showed that particularly the

2:06:05 MMR vaccine was causing autism in black boys and other people who got the vaccine on time and that the scientists had been ordered to destroy data showing that effect. and that they went ahead and published this, lying about it to the American people and the physicians. And Julie Gerbening did a huge favor to Merck by having that scientist punished and then silenced. She arranged for Merck to get the monopoly to the multi-billion dollar MMR vaccine and to make sure Glaxo could not sell its vaccine in this country. She approved the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, which is another Merck product. She approved the chickenpox vaccine and silenced whistleblower Gary Goldman, another doctor who said this vaccine is going to cause a shingles epidemic.

2:06:59 Merck then not only got the chickenpox vaccine, but it also was able to market a shingle of vaccine. She retired in 2009 and she was made president of Merck's vaccine division in 2010 with a salary of about $2.5 million, I think about $5 million in stock options. CDC is actually a vaccine company. We're also testing disinfectants. readily available. We've tested bleach, we've tested isopropyl alcohol on the virus specifically in saliva or in respiratory fluids and I can tell you that bleach will kill the virus in five minutes, isopropyl alcohol will kill the virus in 30 seconds and that's with no manipulation, no rubbing, just spraying it on and leaving it go. You rub it and it goes away even faster. We're also looking at other disinfectants, specifically looking at the COVID-19 virus in saliva.

2:07:53 This is not the end of our work as we continue to characterize this virus and integrate our findings into practical applications to mitigate exposure and transmission. It's being called a landmark collaboration. The World Health Organization, heads of government and research bodies came together to coordinate the fight against COVID-19. They've pledged to work together to find a vaccine and make sure everyone has equal access to treatments and diagnostic tests. But the United States isn't taking part. President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of mishandling the crisis. We'll bring in our guests in a moment to discuss the challenges ahead. First, this report from our diplomatic editor, James Bace. It's just the place you would have expected in previous times to have seen US leadership, a global crisis and world leaders coming together with a response.

2:08:46 The idea of this event to coordinate the search for a vaccine, testing and treatments for COVID-19 and to make sure all are widely available. The world needs these tools and it needs them fast. Past experience has taught us that even when tools are available they have not been equally available to all. We cannot allow that to happen. A world free of COVID-19 requires the most massive public health effort in history. Data must be shared, production capacity prepared, resources mobilized, communities engaged and politics set aside. I know we can do it. I know we can put people first. Leaders spoke from all regions of the world. Technically bringing them all together was a bit of a challenge. Your Excellency, you have the floor. Can you hear me now?

2:09:47 Yes, yes, we can hear you. Okay. Germany one of four members of the G7 group of countries that will represent it. We are now going to continue to mobilize all countries of the G7 and the G20 for them to back this initiative. I hope that we will be able to reconcile this initiative with China and the U.S., because the fight against COVID-19 is a common good for humanity. There shouldn't be any divisions between countries. We need to join forces to win this battle. Americans, considering how polarized, we're amazingly united right now. 98% of Democrats and 82% of Republicans support the social distancing. 90% of Americans, complete bipartisan consensus, believe that if we loosen too much, there'd be a second wave. 76% of Americans say even if their governor did loosen, they wouldn't go out. And so to me, the big story here is we're sort of hanging together through this.

2:10:44 Two women, Carmen Lita Varela and Rosetta Shabazz have been arrested on federal charges in connection to using a cough as a weapon during a robbery back on April 6, 2020 inside a Walgreens in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. FBI Special Agent in Charge John Bennett. When they were approached by store personnel, they began to cough, you know, pretty pretty aggressively and then they told everybody they had COVID and so in their own words they were telling people they were positive for this virus. FBI investigators say these crimes are part of a disturbing trend nationwide. My executive order to stay at home that was issued last month is set to expire on April the 30th.

2:11:35 That executive order has done its job to slow the growth of COVID-19, and I will let it expire as scheduled. Now, it's time to set a new course, a course that responsibly opens up business in Texas. Obviously, not all businesses can open all at once. A more strategic approach is required to ensure that we don't reopen, only to have to close down again. We will open Texas businesses in phases. Phase one begins this Friday, May 1st. All retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls can reopen May the 1st. Now to minimize the spread of COVID-19 during phase one, on the advice of doctors, I am limiting occupancy to no more than 25%.

2:12:36 The extent to which this order opens up businesses in Texas supersedes all local orders. If phase one works while containing COVID-19, phase two will expand that occupancy to 50%. This order allows these businesses to reopen. Am I screaming loud enough that you can hear me over your music? Park, homes, we'll get arrested in the lab. Wait, can we go over there? Is that crazy enough for you? Can we go over there? You are close to the whole area! Get it through your thick head! You are the reason we are in this situation! You are the problem, not the solution!

2:13:24 Go ahead, keep recording. Who are you gonna show it to? Post me on social media. You're the idiot doing the wrong thing. I'm just trying to save your ass and save your life. But die, okay? I hope both of you get the coronavirus. I hope you both die along painful steps. Americans know Joe Biden saw this coming all along and warned people in January. about what was going to happen. So here opinions fall along partisan lines, but it does include 55% of independents who say they would prefer that Biden be handling the crisis. and 51% of Americans want Joe Biden handling the economy. 44% say they'd rather it be Trump. Willie? And Willie, that's pretty remarkable number too. If you look at Joe Biden on the economy, more Americans prefer Joe Biden handling the economy, Donald Trump's.

2:14:21 calling card, what he's always bragged about, saying this is the difference between him and other Republicans or him and Democrats. He knows how to do things. Well, no, actually Americans have seen his failures in developing a strong testing regimen has kept this country closed longer. And if you look at his own doctors, if you look at his own scientists, if you listen to what nurses, what medical providers say, they all say And by the way, CEOs are saying it too. We can't reopen our economy until we strengthen our testing. Clearly, I'm not a doctor and I've never pretended to be. I don't have a fold-up bicycle, for example. I don't feel the need to wear scrubs in the street. And indeed, I've never voted Labour. I don't read The Guardian. But let me introduce you to a scientist I think we should all be asking questions about.

2:15:14 His name is Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College. He runs models, not beautiful women, models, statistical models, where he tells people how many deaths he thinks there's going to be from a pandemic or other crisis. Neil Ferguson says lifting the lockdown could cost 100,000 lives in the UK and he's the guy the government are listening to right now which is why we're still under this infernal house arrest that everybody seems to be clapping their frying pans about. Let's look at some of Neil Ferguson's work in the past and see how accurate it's been.

2:15:56 For bird flu, he estimated using his very sophisticated models there might be 200 million deaths globally. There were in fact 282. When it came to swine flu, Professor Fergus had used his brilliant models and he estimated there could be 65,000 deaths in the UK. There were in fact 457. Again, with mad cow disease, a disease that I can relate to, between 50 and 50,000 deaths in the UK he said, and the correct answer was 177. And for COVID, he came out and said there may be 500,000 deaths. He's now saying there may be 100,000 if lockdown ends. And of course, we have no way of knowing right now how many deaths there will be. But it seems that Neil Ferguson is prone to exaggeration. He's kind of like Gemma Collins on hormone replacement therapy. Other scientists have challenged his

2:16:54 thinking as well, unsurprisingly. They say at best his models are crude estimations containing serious errors. So questions remain. Why aren't the mainstream media asking these questions? Why are we listening to this man who's about as accurate as my five-year-old trying to wee standing up? Everybody's saying it. I mean, CEO from CEOs to nurses. And so I think that's partly what you're seeing in those poll numbers that show Americans prefer Joe Biden to Donald Trump when it comes to handling the economy. Yeah, and through all the chaos, as you know, President Trump has basically staked his presidency on a strong economy. It's where he always goes when he's in trouble. Look at the unemployment numbers, look at the stock market. As those have collapsed over the last couple of months, he no longer can hang his hat on that. And you're seeing some of that in those numbers. In terms of opening up the economy, that same NPR poll Mika was talking about asked whether it's a good or a bad idea to resume certain normal activities without further testing.

2:17:53 91% of Americans say it is a bad idea to allow people to attend sporting events. 85% agree schools should remain closed. 80% think restaurants should not allow customers to dine in. And 65% say it's a bad idea to allow people to return to work without testing Mika. This coronavirus with all of his followers and let them all hug each other and kiss each other and and have a big big rally. Big cocktail of disinfectant. Yeah, and I'll take disinfectant and I'll drop dead. There you have it. There's your COVID for the this is the beginning. We have there's more clips because it keeps going on for another year. We can just we can we can take a vacation every year and just tell you, well, here's what happened with COVID, everybody was perfect. Don't worry, it'll it'll crank up another years where the COVID clinic we wanted.

2:16:54 thinking as well, unsurprisingly. They say at best his models are crude estimations containing serious errors. So questions remain. Why aren't the mainstream media asking these questions? Why are we listening to this man who's about as accurate as my five-year-old trying to wee standing up? Everybody's saying it. I mean, CEO from CEOs to nurses. And so I think that's partly what you're seeing in those poll numbers that show Americans prefer Joe Biden to Donald Trump when it comes to handling the economy. Yeah, and through all the chaos, as you know, President Trump has basically staked his presidency on a strong economy. It's where he always goes when he's in trouble. Look at the unemployment numbers, look at the stock market. As those have collapsed over the last couple of months, he no longer can hang his hat on that. And you're seeing some of that in those numbers. In terms of opening up the economy, that same NPR poll Mika was talking about asked whether it's a good or a bad idea to resume certain normal activities without further testing.

2:17:53 91% of Americans say it is a bad idea to allow people to attend sporting events. 85% agree schools should remain closed. 80% think restaurants should not allow customers to dine in. And 65% say it's a bad idea to allow people to return to work without testing Mika. This coronavirus with all of his followers and let them all hug each other and kiss each other and and have a big big rally. Big cocktail of disinfectant. Yeah, and I'll take disinfectant and I'll drop dead. There you have it. There's your COVID for the this is the beginning. We have there's more clips because it keeps going on for another year. We can just we can we can take a vacation every year and just tell you, well, here's what happened with COVID, everybody was perfect. Don't worry, it'll it'll crank up another years where the COVID clinic we wanted.

2:18:50 And we have an unbelievable multi-hour best of end of show COVID mixes coming up for you on the next show, which will be Thursday. You will be amazed and you will hum along and sing some tunes. And we had, and it's not everyone has heard these. It's impossible that you've all heard these end of show tunes. I was even like, crap, I can't, this one? Until then, please do remember us at dvorak.org slash NA. We will be crediting everybody on the show after next, so credits will be handed out appropriately. Coming to you from the heart of the Texas Hill Country, kind of, FEMA Region number 6 in the morning, everybody, I'm Adam Curry. And from Northern Silicon Valley where I remain, I'm John C. Dvorak. You'll be hearing us.

2:19:46 on the next show with the best end of show mixes COVID until then adios mofos and such