Governor baker good afternoon. Today we are going to talk about our longterm plans for covid19 testing here in massachusetts and new announcements to make testing more accessible for people and talk about significant shipments of personal protective equipment that arrived in massachusetts. First, we will provide our daily update on hospitalizations. As of yesterday, we conducted over 410,000 tests with over 8,500 new tests reported yesterday. 1,865 tests were reported and for all tests that came back yesterday and that is within the range we have been seeing over the past few days. The range we have been seeing over the past few days. As we said before, that positive rate has come down significantly from where we were a month ago where it was hovering in the 20s and 30s. 26 newer hospitalizations for covid19 yesterday but over 3,000 residents in hospitals due to covid19 that need serious medical care. Our hospitals have been able to withstand the this. Massachusetts still remains one of the hardesthit states and many data points have been declining which is and they deserve enormous credit and we are watching these numbers. Another number reported is our distribution of p. P. E. And as of yesterday, we distributed around 10. 5 million pieces of p. P. E. Having never distributed a single piece of p. P. E. 65 days ago. There is a lot of work of getting front line workers and i will talk about the significant effort our administration and many others have put forth to procure several large shipments. I want to talk about our plans to continue and ramp up testing. With over 410,000 tests conducted, massachusetts is a top five testing site per capita and going to expand our capacity where we can. Massachusetts has the lab capacity to process about 30,000 tests per day and labs are continuing to utilize processing for 10,000 to 12,000 per day. New r today, there is 10 covid19 drivethrough testing sites across massachusetts. C. V. S. Has been an early partner and launching test sites as we are ramping up. Our sites is the first rollout of the National Expansion program which is starting in a handful of states. The 10 drivethrough sites will be at cvs in worcester, rainham, north hampton, carver, dan versus, west port and wellesley. Individuals who meet the criteria will register in advance starting tomorrow to schedule an appointment. Parets will be directed where they will be provided a selfswab test kits. And tests and results will be available in approximately two, three days. In addition, we are expanding testing in our Community Health centers. Last week we expanded our Testing Partnership with 18 Community Health centers throughout the state. As of today, they have shipped out 20,000 tests throughout massachusetts. We are grateful to cvs and quest for their continued partnership for expanding are testing. And as we made more Testing Available and accessible, we are planning for the future of covid19 testing in massachusetts. Important groundwork has been laid to Test Infrastructure and we need to build on that foundation as we continue to fight the virus for the longterm. The federal covid19 legislation that was passed by congress on april 24 includes testing resources for states. To access these funds, states must outline their testing strategy. We plan to submit our plan later this month and we can ensure to do even more. But many pieces of this will be need to signed off on and supported by the feds. It calls for boosting overall capacity to 45,000 tests by the end of july. That would be over 16 million tests a year and 75,000 tests per day by the end of december that. Would be over 27 million tests per year with the goal of decreasing it to less than 5 . We plan to help labs expand their Processing Capacity to prepare for a surge in testing in the fall. We plan to make sure we have Testing Capacity to test workers who are found in regular contact th keefed 19 patients, positive patients as we go forward. The state will continue do expand our testing for residents and patients in highrisk settings like group homes and correctional facilities as well. And will set guide lines to alter testing for individuals who are symptomatic or they are confirmed covid19 cases or employment places them at high risk. We support testing for surveillance purposes which is done by the collaborative and understand what communities are seeing infections. The plan calls for faster turnaround times on test so Health Care Providers can provide it based on results. We will focus on communities with low testing availability, hot spots where we are seeing high positive rates in high density areas. In order to meet these goals, we will need support from the federal government but the cares act offers a Program Model for states to apply through and they plan to have the results back within 30 days. Expanding testing is critical to opening workplaces and businesses. I think we all know that. It will provide viability to identify new cases of covid19 so individuals can isolate and seek treatment and limit their exposure to others at home and work. The Public Health expanded criteria and close contact of confirmed cases. While that is significance, we are not expanding universal testing because the testing does have limitations and should be more applied. If expanded, the targeted approach is attainable and recommended by our medical experts. There is no path to achieving what many refer to as universal testing which has limitations and too far off to rely on. It is a valuable tool testing but not the only tool we have to fight back against the virus as we begin to phase in of our reopening of the economy. The mandatory workplace standards that we relaysed have h. R. Hygiene, Face Coverings and disinfectant. Employees hole distribute illness should go home and employers must implement work le and stay home and remotely if they can. It is critical that employers implement these workplace standards to be prepared for an outbreak. The single positive case or symptomatic worker could result in a significant number of employees being quarantined at home. We will have more about the role of employers and the role they must play as we go forward. But its important to remember that we need every tool at our disposal and that includes more testing, Face Coverings and responsible workplace regulations. I want to share an update on the work our administration has done to secure significant amounts of p. P. E. For frontline workers. There are a lot of moving parts with efforts to get p. P. E. Here and there have been challenges in the past with securing and finalizing the shipments we have secured. The process is much more complicated that much of the equipment we are seeking is not made in the United States and not at the volume we need. Our administration has been working to source and secure p. P. E. From manufacturers in china. The collaborative approach between our administration, the crafts to bring respirator on e e new England Patriots plan is the way it takes. Over the past few weeks, our administration has been working with several partners and chinese officials to purchase and ensure the delivery of over 7. 5 million pieces of p. P. E. And supplies. This equipment was flown to massachusetts on six different chartered flights from april 20 through last weekend. Mass makeup make up the vast majority of the equipment. The shipments include 800,000 swabs, 400,000 coveralls and 25,000 gowns. Once the shipments arrive, we work with the state police, the National Guard and the department of Public Health to inspect, warehouse, test and then distribute p. P. E. To the entities who need it. These shipments are a big win for massachusetts and for the folks working on the front lines who need this aquifment. And we are grateful for the wide range of partners who helped make it happen. Starting with the chinese counsel general in new york. Last month, i reached out to ambassador and asked for his assistance. We are grateful for everything he and our partners did to facilitate these shipments. Wehood help on the Global Infrastructure partners and specifically the former World Bank President who has been instrumental in helping formulate our Contact Tracing initiative. The chinese firm also performed crucial work around soliciting procurement on the ground in china. Additionally, a number of other partners played key roles on transportation and logistics. Ocean air specializing in supply Chain Logistics helped secure these crucial flights and delta flights allowed use of their hangar where the equipment was sorted and prepared by the National Guard. Im grateful to the efforts of ur team which are led by assistant secretary for Operational Services and massport and our partners from makensey. This included nightly checkin calls as we moved this equipment through the process. I thank our chief of staff and has done a tremendous job in coordinating an amount of moving parts. These shipments from china are added significantly to our inventory and we continue to work a variety of channel else to get aquifment. Stewart health care is done naturing 50 isolation gowns and they will be distributed to taunton, brockton, dorchester, nd methuen and we we are thankful to bring this needed equipment to the front lines. This initiative was laid out. The initiatives we laid out today are crucial for us to quont to fight the virus and get the groundwork on a phasein basis. Implementing our longterm testing strategy will be critical to keeping people safe even as we start to open things back and work to supply p. P. E. Is crucial because that aquifment is going to become more important as people return to work and need to keep themselves safe. We are approaching this approach. Our top priority to Something Like a new normal. And with the steps we are continuing to take on these and other issues, we are ensurging we are well positioned to reopen. None of the information i shared with you today would be possible with the determination of our residents. From our staff in the governors office, the command center and men and women of our National Guard and everyone heals who has given 100 . Seven days a week, meeting every challenge in our path, we will continue to fight the virus and make massachusetts safe as we work to get you all back to a new normal. I turn the podium over to the lieutenant governor. Last week at the governors counsel, we announced a new flyer that details resources for survivors as well as the online chat options. It reads, have you or someone you know experienced sexual, physical or Emotional Abuse . You are not alone. This aid is as a result of collaboration with various partners and grateful for their continued work with the counsel. We are appreciated with representatives for working closely with us on these efforts. We worked with the d. P. H. , housing and networks and i would like to thank the mass food association, mass the district attorneys for their continued collaboration. Through this partnership, we hope to amplify this message and ask this be to the Grocery Stores and Convenience Stores where it can be displayed to ensure this ability such as ti Cash Register and we engage local Sexual Assault in exupets across our commonwealth. The flyer will be available in the following languages and made available for download. It will be available in spanish,. Rt tu geese, vietnamese, in addition to the safe link flyer, i would like to share updates to the child application r restraining orders and 258e. These application forms have been repack acknowledged as one document to streamline and xpedite the electronic paperwork process. We want to emphasize you must still contact the courts to begin this process and not e mailed directly to the court unless an individual has contacted the Clerks Office and told to do so. This change and these forms application process includes important updates. Organization signatures are not required to accept the application. If individuals are unable to or it is unsafe to complete the required paperwork, advocates may assist with its completion. However, again, we would like to remind folks that it is required to contact the court before submitting this paperwork. Court staff is available to assist individuals with these individuals over the phone. If you are at home with someone who has sexually or physically abused you, please call for help when you have a moment of privacy to do so. If you have experienced Sexual Assault and domestic vialance within your home or concerned about a loved one who may be experiencing vimens, call the afelink hotline or visit the website. The safelinchinge toll free 8777852020. Deaf and hard of hearing individuals can reach it from video relay service. If you cannot safely call or are not comfortable doing so, you can instant message with a trained advocate at the National Domestic violence hotline. Rain. Hotline or www again, if you are in immediate danger please call or text 911. Thank you. I would like to turn it back over to the governor. Governor baker questions. [ [inaudible question] governor baker if we reach the testing goals, we will be the largest and highest tester per capita anywhere in the world by a significant margin. From where we sit, the most important thing we need to do with our testing strategy is to test in the places where people have the biggest concerns. People are symptomatic and people are in close contact and people who work in a regular and continuous basis with people who have covid19, folks who work in care settings and 24hour settings, those are the opulations that i think we all agree are the ones most at risk. [inaudible question] [inaudible question] governor baker i would say that these are all judgment calls, obvious. But massachusetts is easily by any standard one of the hardesthit States Associated with covid19. We are top four, top five in every awful category you can think of. While we have seen declining rates of positive test results and seen declining rates of covid hospitalizations and i. C. U. Bed days over the course of the past few weeks, we continue to be a state that has a significant number of people who test positively every day, although we are testing in places where we would expect to find people who will test positive and our Health Care System continues to carry a fairly significant load on this. When we issued our initial advisory. It was an advisory and the reason we issued it is because people in t tell massachusetts they have to stay at home. This is an size other and we believe we will be a lot safer if everybody does their part and cuts down on nonessential trips and take a walk or visit a park to get outside. But to the extent that people could stay at home, that would be in the best interests of themselves, their families and neighborhoods and commonwealth. When you look at the mobility data that has been generated by google and others, massachusetts, once again, is a top five player in terms of peoples willingness under an advisory to adopt those principles and practices, which we are enormously grateful for. Indiscernible question] governor baker i think people for the most part understand that as we move forward on this phased implementation it will be more important that people take seriously, the guidance and the criteria and the protocols that will be part of that report. I cant say this one enough. People need to wear Face Coverings and masks if they cant distance. And its just as much protecting you from somebody else as it is protecting somebody else from you. Very significant portion of the population that gets infected ith covid19 never develop symptoms. They walk around. They are absolutely carriers and completely contageyouse and no idea that they have the virus. The evidence with respect to masks and Face Coverings, if both people are wearing them, the likelihood of transmission drops dramatically. This wasnt necessarily people were talking much about but as time has gone by and the number of a ta symptomatic research has been dem object straighted and respect to the value and people wearing Face Coverings and masks, that is one of the most important things people can do. And i think we would really like and i know i can speak for everybody to have a successful phased opening. And part of the way we have a successful phased opening is people Pay Attention to and act on on the guidance that some of which is understood and appreciated. And to me thats the big issue. People need to understand how important what they do as individuals and as organizations is going to be the success of the reopening as we go forward. [indiscernible question] governor baker people need to get tested, ok . For the most part in massachusetts under the current rules, there are criteria and guidelines as to who can get tested unless you work in Certain Industries in which there are testings available on thethrough basis. Expanding some of the criteria through which people can be tested will enhance our numbers. I would guess you would agree with that. D the development of the 10drivethroughs that cvs is putting up. We have capacity. Additional eate testing. [indiscernible question] governor baker you want to speak to that . We developed a whole number of manufacturers who are making a variety of different supplies here in massachusetts that are important to employers. Making happened sanitizers in massachusetts and gowns and coveralls here in massachusetts and people are making masks. But we have a lot of people who are making clothe masks that employers can use in their daytoday operations and increases in domestic operations which are the most important ones to employers. Employers really care about is not what i would call p. P. E. But supplies, disinfectant and Hand Sanitizer and Face Covering and that is a slightly different ind of gear than the gear. [indiscernible question] governor baker you have to go to go when you have to get it. There are domestic operations and organizations that are expanding Domestic Production on this stuff. But like a lot of things, its going to be important that people remain vigilant and aggressive. The federal government has a much bigger role to play. We need to do what we need to o. [indiscernible question] governor baker if you were to say to me if there is one magic thing, the answer to that is no. Do we Pay Attention to a lot of different metrics about how westerlys doing . And the answer is yes. And if we make decisions to adjust our protocols because we have Community Health centers or mayors or Health Care Providers that tell us they have an issue or a problem, thats going to have an impact on our positive test rates. But thats not necessarily an indicator of anything we adjusted our testing protocol to meet or a need that came from somebody in the community. That sort of thing does get factored in in the results we get. Governor baker available to them and help them and their bodies fight their way through it. I think its important with respect to our ability to help people get better. [indiscernible question] governor baker are you talking about the ones that are working for us . Look, they have been in many respects i should let you speak to them. They have been heroes in this and i have said, when you call, they come and they do. The number of different initiatives that they have been involved with just not on a one or twoday basis stayed on. The biggest one are the issues associated with mobile Testing Programs and Nursing Homes which was the front runner with a National Strategy with respect to testing ress dents and staff in Nursing Homes. O you want to speak to that . I meet with the colonel almost every day who oversees the deployment of the National Guard in the command center. We have used the National Guard. So there are 11 teams right now that are supportic the Skilled Nursing facilities in terms of really providing staffing in the Nursing Homes. There are 19 in nursing facilities by the National Guard and two are actually in one of r two stateoperated hospitals. And they continue to serve both n a medical and [indiscernible] both in the environmental parts of the hospital as well as providing ned medical staff. They have really have been they have been heroes to us whenever we had the need and we step up and what can they do to help. Im sure they will be glad to get back. But they have truly i think they would say and they have found this meaningful particularly at the soldiers home and the Skilled Nursing facilities and they did roll out us, it is those three pluses. In chells, they have been zwibting the food. They asked them to step up and it has been a privilege to really work with them. Question]ible i am certain i dont think there is any group that has been immune from testing positive with covid19. I have not heard that specifically from my daily briefings with the guards. I will ask them, but that has not come up as an issue from the guards. [indiscernible question]. Can you explain the importance of that and getting on this pediatric syndrome. We put out a Public Health order today and we believe that it was a reportable disease from the department of Public Health. Our reportable conditions. The event there was any any confusion, there is a Public Health order issued today to require reporting of conditions. Nine known cases to us at this date and collecting the information. Can you compare that [indiscernible] so, one of the reasons you put out an order is similar to what happens until vaping. It has been a long time ago, of course. Im sure as many of you when you go to your physicians, someone you might get those questions. Do you smoke, do you exercise. But a year ago, no one asked were you vaping. One of the reasons that was important was to have individuals report vaping and to remind primary care doctors to ask those kinds of questions. The reason this order is important to put out what the symptoms are and what primary care providers should be looking for. We dont know what the prevalence is of the condition and the Public Health order was so important. Nd ep deem lolingists were calling the hospitals so we know what the prevalence is in our state. [indiscernible question] governor baker one of the most interesting things about the vaping piece for me was it represented a sort of crystalclear example of the fact if p. P. H. Doesnt put out something to the Provider Community that says heres a bunch of data that is coming in from other parts of the country that we have been advised by the c. D. C. Or h. H. S. Or wherever it came from and these things represent the potential for this and this is something new, thaw dont normally ask anybody about, covid was like this, too. A lot of us sit around and wonder how many people got sick with respiratory infections and got other people sick in january and february who didnt test positive for the flu was the flu or Something Else like it. And one of the most important elements of this particular guidance is you are now going to have have doctors and Emergency Rooms that may have seen some and not f diagnose known to ask the question. And i think two things are going to happen. One, we will have more people who are potentially determined to have this, which will be a good thing, because that will help people figure out how to deal with it and will start to generate data and possibly share that with the National Folks and distribute that out germly. That is actually a big deal. [indiscernible question] governor baker we have been talking about this stuff and put it on the website for monday. [indiscernible question] governor baker i dont think it exists but who you guys have met with. [indiscernible question] governor baker we said many imes that the removal of inperson Faith Services as part of the advisory in the order that we issued was among one of the most difficult decisions we made. I continue to believe that to be true. The Advisory Board has had robust conversations with the Faith Community this week and hoping and anticipating that it will lead to positive development. Say again. [indiscernible question] governor baker theres a lot of hard to figure out exactly where we are going to land on a number of elements associated with the budget. Keep in mind by pushing the april 15 tax filing data to july 15, we dont know the answer to the biggest element of our spring season, which is what happens ol april 15. We will find that out in july. We are still only for sort of revenuecollection purposes. Six weeks into this. March, we exceeded our tax benchmark for the month of mark because this thing didnt land until you got to the end of month. April was terrible in part because we had the full brunt of covid and nobody filed their tax payments because they are not due until july. Local communities and the commonwealth are trying to figure out where this all lands both for closing this fiscal year. And you add to that the federal resources that have been made available and some of the guidelines and criteria that came with that which the feds say they are continuing process feedback on, makes a big difference to what they say you can use that stuff for and what you cant use it for. And congressman neal led the charge on the filing of a fairly significant state and local government aid package that i think will be taken up in the house tomorrow. So there are a lot of moving parts there. And i hesitate to comment on specification around whats going on to close the books or open next year when there is a lot of stuff opened up in the air. We have talked with our colleagues in municipal government to make sure they are in decent shape. They are incredibly important and valuable part of how our communities work through this problem that weve all got. [indiscernible question] governor baker what i would say is, as a germ rule, general rule, people, for the most part, having worked their way through of essential comments, which is going to flip to something to what is permitted and whether or not someone is actually abiding the general guidance or the energy rl guidance, but that has been a manageable number of circumstances. And obviously if it turns out it will be more than that, we will have the resources to help people through. [indiscernible question] governor baker they are talking about 10 to start with. There has been a great partners on a number of these. And the best part of them is the scale of the organization. Their relative proximity to us and footprint in massachusetts and gives us access to a big player who doesnt have trouble accessing gear and supplies who likes being a big place. That is a good capital of us benefiting from having a company like that until massachusetts. [indiscernible question] governor baker that is one of the things that is on the conversation list with our colleagues in local governments. By the way, a number of the folks that are making masks now who converted to make masks have been making them available to people in the communities that they either operate in or employees live in. I think creating this will local manufacturing process around a lot of these key supplies is going to be big, useful and important piece of this puzzle as we go forward. [indiscernible question] where do you stand on mailin voting in massachusetts . Governor baker my focus has been on what we are talking about. I did say earlier that i fully expect that the vast majority of the votes that get cast on may 19, which is when the first of the two special i think there are two special elections on may 19 and in june. There will have to be a mailin capacity form. [indiscernible question] you think your question was beyond the scope of my current line of vision. That one is way out there. Honestly, i havent sent two seconds thinking about that. [indiscernible question] governor baker the whole process around testing, whether talking about specimen collection or transport or test processing has been evolving literally almost on a weekly basis, ok . And part of that is due to the fact that the numbers associated with how much of this has to be done has put tremendous pressure on everyone in the states toll come up with better ways getting this accomplished and the original test for anybody who has had it, involves a very long nasal swab goes way into your nose and way back into here. It almost feels like it is going to kick you in the back of your foot. I dont need to go there. Ok. So, that meant, you couldnt do it yourself. But over the course of the last few weeks, couple of months, people have been experimenting with shorter swabs, front end of yourl nasal cavity to do that and saliva test or maybe just allege cheek swab. If you talk to a lot of folks in the states, they say it wont be very long before the process on this is going to get to the point where you can do a cheek swab or nasal swab or some other form of selfswab that will reduce the p. P. E. Which is a big deal. Everybody who conducts these tests have to wear a ton of p. P. E. To do the tests for fear of getting covid. And will dramatically speed up the speed which you do it. Its a big deal. Pardon me . [indiscernible question] governor baker its a nasal swab. You put it in the transport medium. I got tested a long time ago. Tom h got tested after turko got tested. Its not one of my more enjoyable experiences. Thank you, guys. Captioning performed by the national cap tioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org cspan has unfiltered coverage of the coronavirus crisis. If you miss any of our coverage, watch anytime on demand at cspan. Org coronavirus. Cspans washington journal, live every dayp with news and andpppppppppplo policy issues that impact you. This morning, how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting children. Watch washington journal, live at 7 00 eastern this morning. Join the discussion. Today u. S. House returns at 9 00 eastern for legislative business to debate and vote on a Coronavirus Relief package. Over 3 provides for trillion of relief to state and local governments, funding for First Responders and health workers, and money for individuals and families. The house is also expected to debate and vote on house rules changes to allow for proxy voting on the house floor during the Public Health emergency. Todays Health Session is expected to last late into the evening due to social distancing guidelines. Watch live coverage on cspan, or listenspan. Org on the free cspan radio app. Sconce and Governor Tony Evers briefed reporters one day after the state Supreme Court struck down the governors stayathome order. He addressed the courts ruling, saying the Supreme Court may have changed the rules for how we operate, but did not change how viruses operate. Good afternoon, everybody, and thanks so much for joining us today. Because of the good work you have been doing throughout this crisis to stay home as much as possible, practice good hygiene and socialta