Preferential treatment today, thursday, march 19th, build more hospitals, equipment, from the day youre born equipment, equipment is going to we never stop taking care of you. Be key mom what can we do after this . Ventilators is going to be key and the federal government want to go tour . Sick. 2020. A tour sounds good. Announcer from nbc news, this is a special edition of let the beat drop today, the coronavirus pandemic with Savannah Guthrie and hoda recognizing that responsibility and fully mobilizing the way the scan, play and collect with big g cereals and yoplait yogurt. President now has, i believe, kotb. Hi, everybody, welcome to thats a very positive step. Today on this thursday morning. We are so happy you are with us governor, as far as youre this morning and like a lot of you got to accenttchuate the positive concerned, i mean just taking a you we are all kind of adjusting step back here, everything that eliminate the negative to our temporary new normal. Im in studio 1a, savannah americans are being asked to do and are doing is to prevent the and latch on to the affirmative onslaught, the sudden onslaught guthrie, you are of the virus that would but dont mess with mister inbetween overwhelm the Health Care System at home, at home once again do you think its already in a were trying to practice what weve been preaching and more you got to spread joy up to the maximum its okay, you got this importantly what the experts sense do you already think have been preaching about if you feel a little sick, you stay home, hopefully a lot of americans are getting that the Health Care System is going bring gloom down to the minimum slow it down a little message. To be overwhelmed . And have faith, or pandemonium its okay lets get caught up the Health Care System is the president signing an emergency relief bill into law liable to walk upon the scene that includes free testing for going to be overwhelmed. The coronavirus and paid sick the question is, now, to what extent and with what leave. Meantime, the New York Stock Exchange is preparing to temporarily close its iconic consequence, savannah. Thats what were dealing with we know that by all projections howling wind howling wind were going to have more people than we can deal with in the Health Care System so were Trading Floor and go fully trying to increase capacity in hospitals, building more electronic after two people there contracted the virus we do have a positive milestone to tell you about from wuhan, china. For the First Time Since the hospital beds. Good morning. Outbreak began no new cases have thats the army core of engineers. Its 7 26. I am marcus washington. Been reported. We have a major problem on equipment. The gloves, the protective equipment and, again, the ventilators. We are following an apparent in this war ventilators are what the missiles were in world war ii coronavirus outbreak at a senior but as we start here in the we have to make those missiles living center. States this morning, the number of u. S. Cases now stands at more than 9,000 we have to make those six are in the hospital and thats doubling in just two three tested positive for the days among them, the first members of ventilators, get them made and congress to test positive. Thats what the president s we have the very latest, talking about. Including a live interview with but the question is how will we coronavirus. All visits and appointments are manage it now . How will we operationalize and new York Governor Andrew Cuomo mobilize and thats why the federal government is going to but we will begin with nbcs tom costello who is also working from home. Suspended now. The leaders are saying they are hey, tom, good morning. Hi, hoda, good morning. Be key. You mentioned those members of congress governor, very quickly, you know, some have said that it focused on the health care of seems like prominent politicians, athletes, the members and Staff Members. Good morning, marcus. We started out with cool they are jose diazbalart, and celebrities seem to be getting pardon me, mario temperatures but it will be a ben mcadams out of utah. Because they have tested slightly warmer afternoon. Access to these tests regardless we will still have a slight of whether theyre showing mild positive a dozen Staff Members symptoms or any symptoms at all. Chance of rain in the forecast as we go into the rest of the are also right now under day. Heres a look at our highs, quarantine and we have some very what say you about that . Reaching up to 60 degrees in the Important News from the cdc. I say that should not happen. South bay and 61 degrees in 40 of the people who are it would be terrible if it morgan hill, and 63 degrees happened we have a very specific protocol hospitalized are actually today in napa. We will still have a few spotty younger people, 20 to 54 in new york because we dont have enough tests to test everyone showers mostly in the south bay, so this is not solely an older if you just put up a sign in new but we could see that coming persons disease york, savannah, that said come into the afternoon forecast. Get a test if you want a test, we will have still dry weather we have 19. 5 million new yorkers, youd have 19 million for the next couple hours. Meanwhile the administration as we go into tomorrow, it does taking very aggressive actions on the list. So we have a protocol. To try to contain this virus you have to have still show a slight chance of rain, but the overall trend will do you think its happening i believe its happening. Be for us to dry out and have a i have no reason to believe its mostly sunny sky through the not happening. Rest of the day, and up to 70 this morning the United States is moving towards a wartime footing against a virus. And if someone is getting a degrees on saturday. Theres never been an instance like this where no matter what you have its not that will be our opportunity to enough that would be the case. Get outside and a little fresh reporter facing the threat of medical supply shortages, priority, thats 100 wrong. President trump is allowing the new york governor andrew air. How is it looking on the government to call on private industry to speed up the production of critical equipment roads, mike . A serious issue in fremont. There has been a closure heading and protective gear. The u. S. Military also rushing medical gear, including 5 million n95 masks for civilian away from 880 towards 680. Cuomo, another busy day for you, sir. Thank you for your time, we appreciate it. Hoda, over to you. The lack of access to tests that has become a major issue. So heres the question, how is at this big intersection, a it that some prominent celebs pedestrian was kit, and its by use and 2,000 ventilators, the white house also announcing and athletes and Congress People other new measures aimed at combatting the virus safeway and walgreens, and a seem to have an easier time finding them and also getting pedestrian was killed. Closing the u. S. Northern border the results more quickly nbcs Senior National correspondent kate snow joins us to canada to nonessential travel and allowing doctors and other medical professionals to back to you. Thanks, mike. We will have another local for that story its funny savannah asked that news update in 30 minutes. Question. Work across state lines. Its the white house has been work across state lines. Talking about this for days, increasing coronavirus testing its the invisible enemy. Reporter as the federal Government Faces questions about delays in getting out testing across the country its still rolling out kits the Administration Says it many people who feel sick are has expanded testing in partnership with private labs. Having trouble accessing tests but warns getting through that and wondering why others seem to backlog will result in a spike get to cut the line. Of positive cases. It all comes after another day this morning as the coronavirus spreads so do concerns that people of privilege are able to of economic turmoil. Access testing while average americans cant. The Dow Jones Industrial average the Brooklyn Nets tested players and staff who had contact with closing below 20,000 for the First Time Since february 2017 the big three auto makers, ford, them even if they showed no symptoms General Motors and chrysler nbc news has learned they paid a announcing they will all shut private lab called viracor in down north american factories for the next two weeks, at missouri to get results in three least. Days. And Delta Airlines says its im very frustrated i cant cutting an unprecedented 70 of its flights. Overnight Congress Looking to provide americans with some get a test. Compared to laura coke in chicago who had a 102 fever and relief the bill is passed. Reporter passing a massive a hard time breathing. Multibillion dollar emergency aid bill providing for free i cant get a test. Coronavirus testing, paid reporter the nets said they paid for the teams tests emergency sick leave, and more funding for medicaid, food themselves because they did not want to impact access to cdcs assistance and Unemployment Benefits now lawmakers are scrambling to put together a third emergency Public Resources package that could include the nba says eight full teams direct payments to americans, bailout for the airlines, and have been tested Peter Alexander asked President Trump about it. How are nonsystematic professional athletes getting tests while others are waiting Small Business assistance. A couple of other notes here, in line and cant get them, do the well connected go to the first of all the president front of the line . Referred to this as a china youd have to ask them that virus but the World Health Organization has really pushed question absolutely not the appropriate perhaps thats been the story of description. Life. Reporter on social media criticism for celebrities whove they say the virus knows no borders and there is no Racial Association with this virus. In addition we should tell you that the control towers, air been tested like celine dion, heidi klum and reportedly kris jenner. Traffic control towers at both midway and chicago and las vegas whatever it may be, im going to take care of myself and rest. Are closed after certain controllers contracted the reporter a new york based virus. Fashion influencer drew criticism when she documented her journey to get a test on theyre now doing a deep clean those airports are still operating, we should tell you, but they are on a reduced instagram. Capacity right now she contacted her friend who guys, back to you. Runs two urgent care clinics in all right, tom, thank you so much manhattan. And as everyone watching right i said yes, come in and weve now knows every day is bringing been testing hundreds of people from all socioeconomic drastic new measures in cities and places from coasttocoast to control the spread of the virus. Nbcs Stephanie Gosk now is from backgrounds. Reporter he says she paid a times square in the heart of new copay like anyone else and york city with that part of the story. Wants people to remember health steph, good morning to you. Reporter hey, savannah, good care workers. Morning, these dramatic my staff thats out every day were back, its 7 30, its thursday morning, the 19th of march, 2020, good morning, disruptions to daily life, risking their health, you know, everybody, were glad to have you along with us, so many things keep shutting down, that i couldnt be more proud. Americans at home right now, just a couple weeks ago would reporter so the doctor were right there with you, have seemed unimaginable, from agrees that we do live in a right, hoda . Yes, good morning, savannah, wine country in california to the casinos in vegas, here in system thats not always fair but he says he thinks she its good to see your face new york city the shops in times spread word about the importance square are closed and very soon so will the floor of the stock if youre looking at your of staying home. Calendar, this should have been the first full day of march madness, the tournament but of exchange meanwhile overnight news out of one of the busiest places soon the nba players association, the head of the association putting out a quote to espn, we will be much quieter the New York Stock Exchange course like most big events in america, all of them actually, sanitized on wednesday after two shouldnt be fighting about this it had to be cancelled so we are members tested positive for moving on with our new normal for now. Covid19 now, she says, but once this is done and we get through, lets yes, we are, a lot of figure out who screwed up and disappointments but the americans are coming together all operations will be moving to fix it. Its easy to say that when youre the ones getting the and its so important, this is tests. We hope more tests will be the hour we need to do that very thing. Electronic trading by monday available to everybody here is the latest on the kate, thank you. This as new yorks governor coronavirus pandemic ordered even tighter a reminder about tonights restrictions for the public telling all nonessential live primetime special on the the president has signed a 100 businesses to limit the number billion relief bill that provides for free testing and emergency paid leave for unfolding pandemic in collaboration with facebook, lester and our nbc news team of of employees allowed into experts will answer your offices statewide. Workers. No more than 50 of the questions, its going to happen he also invoked rare wartime workforce can report for work in realtime so just submit them powers so he can increase the federal response australia says it will close its borders tomorrow night to outside of the home. On facebook on instagram and anybody who is not a citizen or tune in at 10 00 eastern on nbc, a resident on ms, and on nbc news now the countrys Prime Minister that is a mandatory requirement. Okay says the overwhelming majority reporter the usns comfort, a so what do you say we bring you a little good news of cases in australia right now floating Naval Hospital will some folks stuck at home with dock in new york next month to have been imported make room in hospitals for their families wanted to spread and for the first time joy in any way they could. They decided to put the members of congress have tested people with the virus. Positive for the coronavirus Florida Republican mario in newark, taking more extreme Christmas Lights back up measures, ordering an 8 00 p. M. Diazbalart and utah democrat there it is, lights up, on the ben mcadams both under windows, posting photos on curfew. That means no one should be social media you know what, it makes you feel selfquarantine this morning good, not only for neighbors but hoda on the streets unless there is all right, savannah, and we to other people around the globe an emergency, or youre coming have congressman mcadams joining from and going to work. Us from his home in salt lake reporter it comes as one new and one person wrote she hopes city first question, how are you jersey family is facing to remind the world that there is still light and hope. So i think thats a cool thing devastating heartbreak, Seven Members of the family have that could definitely catch on. Feeling this morning good morning, hoda, im contracted the disease, three of all right, lets check in feeling pretty bad with our own bright light, mr. I think this is probably the them have died, including worst cold ive ever had but getting by. Al roker, who is at home, not in tell me about your symptoms, 73yearold grace fusco who what do you have, what are the symptoms of coronavirus for you . His jammies, al, good morning. Passed away last night hours nobodys up, its quiet, had it started out saturday after her son had died, another a cup of coffee, everythings afternoon and evening i was good, unfortunately the weather feeling sick but pretty mild at daughter died five days ago. The time in hard hit california new i contacted a doctor who said shelter in place mandates have has not been quiet that my symptoms didnt justify testing when i had a temperature im sorry, i forgot to hold onto my mic of about 100 and the cough. But that i should stay in touch anyway, sorry about that been issued in tourist hot spots like palm springs, sonoma and by the way, weve unfortunately the napa wine country. If it got worse. To help with the ongoing run on supplies at Grocery Stores had some Severe Weather to talk on monday night, going into tuesday my symptoms really took all the shelves were empty. Reporter Public Schools across the country are handing about in texas, tornadoes a turn for the worse i had a temperature of about touching down. 103. You can see the damage that my lungs are really constricted. Happened felt like i had a belt around my out free mls thankfully nobody injured, the spread of the virus, closing nobody hurt but we have more chest. I couldnt breathe deeply. All their stores, h m, ikea, Severe Weather on the way. Dicks Sporting Goods and gap and, in fact, this is a and i contacted my doctor then twosided storm as you look at and he said that based on my the maps, weve got a blizzard side of this thing, 8 million symptoms, they had aggravated so people under some sort of Winter Weather advisory, 19 million not everyone is listening. People under flood watches and significantly. Not everyone is listening. Clearwater, florida, popular it made sense to be tested i contacted the local clinic flood warnings as we put the here and got tested. Spring break beaches are packed to the bills, its a radar on, you can see we are now you guys have your wife and generational divide. We cant do this without the kids in the house. Young people cooperating looking at some Severe Weather already firing up again right please cooperate. Around waco on up into oklahoma and parts of missouri as well. Youre social distancing. We have a severe storm threat its a full on quarantine, not leaving the house for anything for 42 Million People, damaging reporter they soon wont have a choice in clearwater, the winds, tornadoes, hail two city announced it will close all beaches beginning monday inches or more, heavy snow, blizzard warnings in the plains, we want to, you know, follow the one tough problem that is cdc guidelines to the t to make sure we dont take any risks to severe storms in the mississippi put anybody else at risk of exposure. Presenting itself all over is erhaving a vote, that Grocery Stores remain open river valley, it continues to push east tomorrow from strong and Grocery Stores are crowded storms from upstate new york to some of them are doing some things to keep the social there were 400 members of louisville with a heavy rain distancing in place, like threat, rainfall amounts anywhere from one to two inches, manning the doors to make sure eight inches of snow in the florida felt crummy, he was rockies and your local forecast is coming up in the next 30 diagnosed. People dont go in until some people come out. Some Grocery Stores are putting seconds. Like you said on saturday Night Services online where people can after you got home, you were feeling crummy, you were diagnosed. How concerned are you for all of place orders and then pick up those members of congress who were with you, and voting on those orders curbside, savannah . That saturday . Stephanie, thank you so much. And we are joined by new yorks i think we are concerned. Governor andrew cuomo, good morning, governor, its good to so what ive been told by the see you again. Health physician is that anyone good morning, savannah. Who had close contact with me i know the cases in new york state have really shot up overnight. I think according to the stats i from friday onward should be concerned and should probably have, a thousand more just in a day. For you is that a function of more testing or do you think take precautions so there arent a lot of members with whom i had close contact. This is a spike in the virus they said that not just walking down to the floor and voting probably doesnt qualify as a risk to someone, but members good morning. I am meteorologist, kari hall. Lets take a live look outside with whom i had close contact, itself its your first point in search. The testing is so accelerated. We have seen clouds rolling by theres a concern there. Were doing so many more tests that the positives have to go its really important for this morning and we will still have a chance of spotty showers congress to continue to do business durg but mostly National South bay. Up our High Temperatures this these tests were never afternoon will reach into the indicative of how many people actually had the virus in low 60s, and a few slightly society. Because we didnt have the tests congress end up getting sick in time, frankly like you guys, how do you expect business to continue warmer than yesterday. I think thats a great in the rest of the forecast go question you know, i am home at least for into the weekend, more sunshine two weeks and the few members so there are tens of thousands that i had contact with in that of people who have the virus, who had the virus, who probably period probably should be had the virus and resolved and expect highs in the 60s and 70s, and a rain returns to the themselves forecast on sunday. Quarantined as well. And so its it does place a limit on the ability of congress but as the number of tests go up to get stuff done. The number of positives go up. Hoda, i guess i need right now i dont think it but it doesnt mean that thats savannahs husband feldy up here helping me, im all on my own approaches the level of having a the rate of increase in society. Governor, theres been a bit quorum but certainly where we here, i forgot my mic. Youre a lone ranger, youre limited social gatherings to no more than ten its something we of a back and forth between you and new york citys mayor bill doing a great job. Should think about with congress de blasio. Having 435 members and gathering he was on our show just the sudden spike of yesterday and i asked him if coronavirus deaths in italy and why that is so important to for votes. Youve got to do things hes getting close to the point whats happening here in the where he will recommend to you, United States and well have a live interview with a member of congress who just tested youve got to get business done. Positive, how he is feeling this would you do remote voting its your decision, but whats the answer there . Recommend that City Residents shelter in place remote voting is not currently allowed under house i know its something youve morning. And how his case could alter rules. I think we need to consider changing that under certain said you dont want to do. Provisions but can you rule it out . Life on capitol hill theres value in having outside i mean, weve seen it in places of the National Emergency that like italy, in france. Were in, having members of Congress Come together and talk and then, crowded beaches in about bills before they vote on the middle of this crisis, the them but perhaps under the state is that likely to happen you know, were fighting two new concern over spring breakers ignoring social distancing warnings, a live report from of a declared National Emergency things right now, savannah, thats something that should be were fighting the virus, and florida. But first, this is today were fighting fear and panic. On nbc we made usaa insurance for members like kate. Weve talked about some athletes and weve talked about some ple and the fear and the panic is actually a worse problem in my opinion than the virus right now. We know what we have to do on Congress People. What do you have to say to the virus. People who say, well, i actually its going to be hard, its going to be disruptive but we know what we have to do there. Had similar symptoms, just like the fear and the panic can actually get out of control more you, but they wouldnt test me, than the virus can yet you got tested well, first of all we have to and i think thats what youreef expand the availability of a former army medic, made of the flexibility to handle testing. Whatever monday has in store and tackle four things at once. When i first was feeling symptoms, my doctor said that they didnt qualify for testing, that i should just quarantine, i so when her car got hit, she didnt worry. Should stay at home but they she simply filed a claim on her usaa app and said. Werent bad enough to justify a test i got this. Usaa insurance is made the way kate needs it easy. And fortunately im able to work from home but i think of other she can even pick her payment plan people who arent able to work from home and there were times so its easy on her budget and her life. Where i was really sick and there were times where i felt usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Better and i can imagine somebody having the temptation usaa to get out and go to work. Thats why weve got to test people earlier shouldnt be when symptoms are so bad that justifies a test we should have an abundancy of tests so people can be tested earlier so we can stop the spread of the sickness. Congressman ben mcadams, we wish you all the best. Keep us updated. Thank you for wakingp r early this morning, we really appreciate it. Thank you. Coming up next, spring breakers and social distancing, the outrage, the outrage over scenes like these, younger americans ignoring the warnings. Were going to talk about it coming up right after this juggled life for it. Took charge for it. So care for it. Look after it. Invest with the expertise of j. P. Morgan, either with an advisor vo electric, it doesnt i knhave enough range. Nking. Or online, through chase. After all, its yours. Chase. Make more of whats yours. directors voice cue rachael ray. 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We say no to rushing and brew it longer at a colder temperature for our smoothest taste yet. Try it today or tomorrow. No rush. Pure leaf. No is beautiful. Today and for days weve been hearing the warnings from Health Officials to stay inside whenever you can to avoid large groups, but this morning concerns are growing over younger people who seem to be ignoring that advice and in scenes like the one you see there. Kerry sanders is in clearwater, florida with more. Kerry, good morning. Reporter the beach is open again today, images of college kids packing the shoreline here went viral, those images and the seeming disregard for this pandemic produced a lot of criticism, all the way to the white house. This morning spring break gone wild in miami beach crowds of young people out in force, despite the coronavirus threat. If i get corona, i get it, at the end of the day its not going to stop me from partying. Reporter and in clearwater, florida. Its good to take precautions, granted, but everyones going to be at the beach regardless. Reporter on vacation from minnesota. Its really concerning because like our town is almost like a ghost town, everythings shut down, thing on thing reporter in minnesota. Yes. Reporter and here . Its like honestly nothing has changed. Reporter floridas governor refusing to close beaches, instead repeating cdc guidelines, avoid groups larger than ten beach front establishments also open. Its an epidemic but living in fear is no way to live. Reporter some beaches in florida are shut down by order of local governments. Why arent we closing our beaches . Reporter and on wednesday clearwater voted to close its beaches too. Whats my reaction . Whats spring break without a beach . Reporter but the closure not in effect until next monday. If we delay this how many of us will get sick how many may die reporter its not just florida beaches packed with spring breakers, hot spots like in texas and gulf shores, alabama also busy. President trump issuing this warning. We dont want them gathering. And i see they do gather, including on beaches and including in restaurants, young people they dont realize, theyre feeling invincible. Reporter the Coronavirus Task force says its up to your generation. Let us handle it how we want to. Reporter a short distance, those most at risk. Do you like the idea were doing the interview like this with this protection yes. Reporter 93yearold Shirley Acker told me her generation would have heeded the warnings. They think they know it all and we just listened thats why i got to be 93. Reporter we heard at the top of the show, the belief that coronavirus is not impacting young people is not completely accurate, quoting the cdc, nearly 40 of u. S. Corona patients sick enough to be admitted were aged 20 to 54, meantime the beach here will be closed on monday but the college kids who continue to come to florida while they may not be able to gather here will be able to go to other beaches in florida, in fact, the closest one to where we are, less than 15 minutes away savannah yeah, kerry, its hard to look at those images with what were facing right now thank you very much. All right, lets take a turn now, mr. Roker, also working from home this morning havent got a chance to say good morning to you, sunshine. Hey, good morning i hear my son moving around upstairs so im going to have to start doing breakfast duty in a moment but even though its spring break in florida, its warm, in fact the eastern half of the u. S. , take a look, were talking about this bermuda high pushing tropical air to the north and so temperatures today, spring beginning at 11 49 p. M. , temperatures anywhere from 10 to 20 degrees above average from chicago to dallas to atlanta and tomorrow we could see records in boston, new york, also down to d. C johnson city, raleigh with temperatures 70s into the 80s but dont get used to that this cool canadian air will push in behind that front and temperatures will tumble minneapolis, 35, syracuse, same thing, 44 new york city. Highs will be 20 to 40 degrees colder thats whats going on around the country, heres whats ha good morning. I am meteorologist, kari hall. As we look outside in san francisco, we are going to start out the day with clouds and we will see some clearing by this afternoon. We are going to see our High Temperatures reaching into the low 60s for many of the microclimates but it will still be a cool day with a slight chance of showers moving in by this afternoon. The 7day forecast shows we will get more sunshine and perfect on saturday, reaching 70 degrees. Rain comes back to the forecast on sunday. And that is your latest weather, guys . Hey, al, were used to you matching your glasses to your outfits, im wondering where your red plaid glasses are. They are back in studio 1a, in our dressing room. Im on it somebodys on it im on it. We need red plaid glasses. Okay. All right, coming up next, a great dane and his owner doing great things, introducing you to our first heroes of the day, something were starting up, right after this whistling whistling introducing colorsnap colorid from sherwinwilliams. Color palettes curated just for you. You sure you dont want me to come with you . Im very sure. Because i can. laughs make good choices. You make good choices. I am. Fiber is good for digestive health. Good choices never tasted so good. Kelloggs raisin bran. Never run good moves. Killer attitude. Or hydration. Neutrogena® hydro boost. Delivers 2x the hydrationid moisturizer for supple, bouncy skin. Neutrogena® my body is truly powerful. I have the power to lower my blood sugar and a1c. 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Weve got tonka, the great dane, a certified therapy dog, and they typically visit senior ups from outside tonka pause at the windows to say hi and courtney says she has a we miss you sign, shes excited to be able to make people smile people are doing whatever we can do were seeing lots and lots of these stories and were going to bring them to you. Sweet. Yeah, its so hard. It can be so isolating especially for our older americans, and its not safe for kids or grand kids to be around but we can still say we love you and were thinking about you and we see you. You got that right, honey just ahead, somebody else is going to make us smile and laugh this morning jimmy fallon, hell be here live right after your local news. Plaque psoriasis odee uncover clearer skin that can last. In fact, tremfya® was proven superior to humira® in providing significantly clearer skin. Tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. 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I am meteorologist, kari hall, working from home as we practice our social distancing. We are going to start out with clouds and a live look outside in san francisco. We will also still have a slight chance of rain today, but for the most part most of the bay area will have a chance to dry out. As i look at our temperatures we are going to reach up to 60 degrees in the south bay, and we are also going to see highs in antioch reaching 63 degrees, 63 in napa. San francisco up to 58 degrees. As we track a slight chance of rain, heres a look at our hourbyhour forecast, showing some of that developing by 3 00 and 5 00 this evening, and especially the east bay peninsula and south bay will have the highest chance of rain moving through, and most of it will be fairly light. Additional rainfall totals on top of what we have already seen in the past few days, and the rain lingers even going into tomorrow. The over aoall trend for us to outgoing into the next several days. We begin the first day of spring today, and the High Temperature for inland areas reach up to 62 degrees, and 65 for tomorrow. Look at saturday, looks beautiful, 70 degrees, but we will see the rain returning to the forecast moving back in on sunday. I will be tracking that for you. Marcus, what is going on in the news . Napa county is going to be the last of nine counties to shelter in place, and it follows solanos decision to jump onboard last night. Napa is the only bay area county that has not had a confirmed coronavirus case. School districts across the bay bracing for what may be a longer closure than first planned. You can go to our website for more coronavirus coverage. It is 8 00 on today, coming up breaking overnight wartime footing, the United States taking new drastic measures, the president invoking executive powers to combat coronavirus as the race for more testing heats up. Hundreds of people working on this literally night and day. While families across the country, even late night hosts, adjust to working from home. A weeks worth of toilet paper. Toilet paper as jimmy fallon joins us live for comic relief today thursday, march 19th, 2020 hey, everybody, welcome back to today. Were so happy that youre with us on this thursday morning. Some of you may be watching us for the first time as you work from home. Were happier here im in studio 1a savannah is at home. Craig and al are too and carson is waiting for that little baby to come. I know. We cant wait for little girl daly to make her appearance. Could be any day i just talked to siri yesterday, we face timed with the kids, theyre doing well and carson is sticking close to home, the best thing to do right now. Let us get to your news at 8 00, the number of coronavirus cases rises dramatically, tougher restrictions are being rolled out coasttocoast to slow down the spread tom costello joins us with the three things to watch. Good morning, tom. The cdc is warning as more test kits are rushed out and more people get tested we will see a spike in the number of cased ppening already. The total number of u. S. Cases so far 150 known deaths. But Health Experts caution the real number of cases is surely many times that number the president says his administration is right now on a war footing deploying Naval Hospital ships to help hard hit cities and providing 2,000 ventilators from the military to civilian use also preparing the defense production act which allows the government to call on private industry to speed up the production of critical equipment and gear for example, ventilators and masks. Also allowing doctors now to cross state lines to practice in hard hit areas and closing the border with canada to all but nonessential to all nonessential traveling. This part is critical. The cdc is now warning that young people are more vulnerable to this virus than first thought. Nearly 40 of hospitalized patients in the u. S. Are aged 20 to 54. While they have a lower death risk they are in fact at a risk and weve heard from many 30, 40, 50yearolds who describe being very sick and even in the hospital Health Officials are pleading with younger people, please, adhere to and heed the warnings from Health Officials and try to limit exposure to others hoda, back to you. Tom, you hope those young people are listening thank you so much. The coronavirus outbreak has pushed European Countries like italy to the breaking point. So what lessons can americans learn from the developments overseas today keir simmons is in london with more on that. Good morning, keir. Reporter this morning were hearing from australia and new zealand saying they will now ban nonresidents from entering, for possible as long as six months Different Countries around the world can offer lessons for america and there are different approaches being taken the British Government behind me here only just closing schools but i have to say, hoda, from italy, a worrying warning this morning. In italy this morning hospitals overstretched, the number of deaths soaring by 475 in one day. In the italian town of vo, a new study finding huge numbers of infected people without symptoms, nbc news spoke to the author. In america they havent been able to do enough testing and may not be able to what can they do in the u. S. Quarantine. Thats the only answer complete shutdown and stand still. And what does quarantine mean it means everybody stays at home you have 30 minutes to go shopping for food and medicine. And thats it. Reporter italy has struggled to persuade people to lock down, the country even seeing prison riots. Matt bradley is in rome. This morning italys Prime Minister was shocked by the rising number of infections, he announced he would be extending this lockdown and he demanded that italians comply but many are wondering is it too late and as country after country goes into lockdown this is what life may soon be like in parts of america the lippert family live in paris, just to go out, they must fill out a form. If you do not have this piece of paper with you sign and had dated if you get stopped by the authorities you will actually get fined. Its frightening. I found myself on the paris streets this morning crying for the first time, really. Reporter this morning stunning news from china, wuhan, where the virus started, reporting no new cases china initially downplayed the threat but age of experience of viruses like sars meant millions of Chinese People were prepared for draconian measures those who did not comply forced into quarantine. Neighboring south korea had a different, decisive and effective approach, mass testing. One in 250 people, to track and isolate coronavirus carriers south koreas mortality rate kept to 1 and china and south korea and those asian countries, hoda, may have helped western europe and america by delaying the arrival of the coronavirus here but now they are worrying that they may get reinfected by the coronavirus from the rest of the world. That means that there may be bans imposed for a longer period hoda, we talked about the way the coronavirus is changing the world. Thats just one very impactful example. Indeed it is, all right, this global pandemic. Another headline at home unrelated to the coronavirus, utah residents cleaning up this morning after a startling 5. 7 magnitude earthquake on wednesday. It rattled homes and left significant damage by the way thats the Television Studio of the nbc affiliate ksl in salt lake it was the largest earthquake to hit utah in almost 30 years. The area was hit with more than 90 aftershocks, buildings suffered structural damage but thankfully nobody was hurt in that were up to date on the news, hoda so we do need to get a boost. I got your boost. Earlier this week we showed you scenes from all across europe, people who were selfisolating in apartments and doing those singing get togethers from the balconies. We knew it wasnt long before that started happening here and yes, indeed, impromptu concerts in the u. S take a look. He was made to come out and get her that, my friend, is new yorkers singing hey jude from inside their apartments. The woman shooting the video said shes never seen some of her neighbors before these sing alongs have become a nightly ritual. Good for the soul. No question about it we take you inside the lab of a doctor who says she developed an effective test for the coronavirus weeks ago. Why did it take until this week to finally roll it out nbcs Cynthia Mcfadden investigates coming up after this i have a back rash. Alright. Whoa, mara. I laugh like this. [ laughs obnoxiously ] its just not my scene. I couldnt help but over do you like insurance . I love insurance. Did you know you can save money bundling home and auto with progressive, and renters can bundle, too . I know, right . [ laughs ] [ singing continues ] whyd you stop . I was listening. [ microphone feedback ] whyd you stop . I was listening. To present the flavor weve all been waiting for, the hazelnut spread m ms spokescandy clapping audience gasps oh my what did you do . . giggles we ate him. Everyday its agetting closer going faster than a rollercoaster love like yours will surely come my way ahey, aheyhey love like yours will surely come my way in making tea, is saying no. In our real brewed iced tea, we say no to artificial flavors and sweeteners. Which means, no settling. Unless it is into a comfy chair. Pure leaf. No is beautiful pure leaf. Give me the rings. I just need the rings. Dont walk away. You selfish, little. Its his cat. Lifes more fun with a dog. And doglife is more fun with milkbone. Test howling wind hey allergy muddlers. Achoo . Do your sneezes turn heads . Try zyrtec. It starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Zyrtec muddle no more. Cheerios. Do i look like a child to you . Honey nut cheerios are heart healthy and can help lower cholesterol. Thats why we introduced heart shapes. Get it . Ummm did you just ummm . No. Im pretty sure i heard a ummm. So dad bought puffs plus lotion, blows. And rescued his nose. Puffs have more lotion and soothing softness to relieve. A nose in need deserves puffs indeed. Youve got something up your sleeve what you didnt know was you were surprising your fatherinlaw steve the best part of wakin up is folgers in your cup uhoh, dead battery at your rustic rental. What if a little birdie told you its switching time . Thanks friend. Switched up to twelve hours of battery life. Switch to chromebook. Welcome back to today, for weeks americans have clamored for cor welcome back to today, for weeks americans have clamored for coronavirus testing and despite assurances more tests are on the way getting one still is not easy. Weve seen those endless traffic jams, people waiting to be swabbed, and by the way getting the results after youve taken the test can take days however, in North Carolina this week a new test that takes only four hours, four hours to get results was introduced nbcs senior legal investigative correspondent Cynthia Mcfadden has this, im hearing welcome news coming from this side of the desk. This is hopeful but getting here was not pretty. The u. S. And south korea discovered their first cases of coronavirus, just about the same time but in south korea they have conducted more than 290,000 tests, while in the u. S. Weve only done an estimated 76,000. Now, weve heard complaints from all over the country about the slow rollout this morning in North Carolina we meet a leading clinical microbiologist whose lab finally started testing this week. Her name is Melissa Miller and she says she spent a month checking boxes for the fda when she could have been testing patients. So far we have one run on reporter when we met dr. Melissa miller in her North Carolina lab this week shed been up nearly all night. Just not the physicians on the front line, its everybody involved in health care. Reporter she and her team at the Microbiology Lab in chapel hill have been working around the clock to roll out a covid19 test. Throughout this week we expect to ramp up to be able to do 300 tests a day. Reporter while shes delighted their test is finally launched, she is not happy it has taken this long. I suspect we could have tested between 2,000 and 3,000 patients during the time we were just checking boxes for the fda. Reporter it developed tests for sars, mers and zika started work on january 31st for the coronavirus test by the middle of february they had a test they were confident worked but the fda mandated they do a series of checks and rechecks. Our test is the same today as it was in midfebruary and so we basically were checking boxes when we could have been testing patients during this time. Reporter the cost of the delay well right now in North Carolina we dont know the scope of the covid19 outbreak in our state. Theres been a gross delay. Reporter not just in North Carolina, but nationwide. I am a bit angry about it because i feel like we are capable of doing this testing, we could have been serving the public prior to now. Reporter the hospital has set up a swabbing site down the street from her lab. Patients will first be screened for the flu and if symptoms warrant, then for the covid19 virus. The advantage of a lab like hers, located in a Hospital Medical center, is turnaround time. It takes four hours from the time we get the swab until we can have a result for the test. Had hundreds of people working on this literally night and day. Reporter dr. Wesley burkes, the ceo of unc health which operating 13 campuses across North Carolina, they run at 95 occupancy. So what to do in a catastrophic scenario. If necessary we may need to take one of our hospitals and put all of the patients in that hospital related to coronavirus. Reporter he says theyre trying to anticipate the hard choices that may come if the rationing of ventilators, medication and even hospital masks happen. Weve asked our Ethics Committee to start meeting on friday to come up with a way that we really can talk about this. Reporter dr. Miller is worried about scarcity too. Im very, very worried about the availability of swabs. Everything is starting to become short in supply. Reporter and yet she says she and her colleagues remain hopeful. Even though we have missed a critical point in testing in our country theres still time to interrupt the curve. We can only hope dr. Miller is right about interrupting that curve. She is incredible i cant believe shes had the test ready since february and just checking bureaucratic boxes. Anyway, here we are at testing and how is the first week going . Theyve been able to give patients same day results and they are confident they are going to be able to test 300 people a day, probably more than that to put that in perspective as of yesterday, the state lab in North Carolina had completed 430 tests since the beginning of the outbreak dr. Millers lab hopes to turn around that many in two days and i need to say, dr. Miller reminds all of us everyone does not need to be tested. Hats off to dr. Miller, by the way, doing gods work. Turning to the chief medical officer for harbor ucla medical center, a Community Hospital like many across the country trying to prepare for the surge of coronavirus cases doctor, good morning. Good morning. Lets talk about this, what cynthia was saying is that doctors need tests and in many cases there are not enough tests available. Give us the lay of the land at your hospital, do you have the tests you need you know, at the current time we do have the ability to test patients but were only testing patients who are admitted to the hospital and very sick, as well as Health Care Workers as outpatients. The big problem that we do have is that it takes a long time for the test results to come back. Ta commercial vendor called quest to do our testing and give us our results. How long do results take once you guys swab and give the test . On average, sometimes two, up to four days to get results back it turns out that quest, one of the two largest commercial vendors of lab tests in the country, is inundated with tests to run we are also behind in line to have those results. Lets talk about the Hospital Capacity because in cynthias piece she was talking about the hospital there in North Carolina is at 95 occupancy, which means if coronavirus patients come in, there isnt room, they have to make like more room, a new facility whats the status at your hospital we also are very concerned. We are seeing, you know, doubling and exponential increases in the number of patients who appear to present with symptoms and concerns for coronavirus. And so we are seeing our hospital census go up and up and what we have done is cancelled elective surgeries, cancelled Outpatient Clinics and all sort of nonessential Clinical Care we have put a pause on, it has effects on patients with diseases other than coronavirus. Were also working on a number of plans to use other parts of the hospital as hospital wards and icu level care because we anticipate if the curb is as it kur f curve is as it seems were going to see a really big increase of patients. Wow, one of the other things, doctor, that were seeing from doctors and nurses, even on twitter, theres a hashtag trending and its get me ppe, personal protective equipment. It shocked me to look on twitter to see doctors and nurses making pleas for the n95 masks, making pleas for basics give me the situation at your place. We are fortunate at the moment to have sufficient supplies on hand but i can tell you that each morning at 7 30 and at 9 00 a. M. We are reviewing spread sheets to look at how many days on hand do we have of each kind of personal protective gear and we dont have a lot as you know hospitals all across the nation and world are on what is called allocation, which means were not getting the amount of shipment that we order how many days do you have like whats your buffer . How much time do you have before you need more . It varies by type of personal protective equipment but at this point we have a week to ten days on hand of supply but were also seeing a dramatic increase in the use of this protective gear as we would expect because were seeing more and more patients with potential for the infection. One doctor was telling me some patients come in and say i have a stomach problem and as theyre leaving they say ive had this persistent cough and meantime the doctor is not decked out in protective gear. One more question, this is important, we got stats from the cdc that said 40 of cases that require hospitalization, people with coronavirus, are younger people, people between the ages of 25 to 54. Weve been saying since the beginning, like this really affects older people so everybody i think maybe took a little pause but those numbers are shocking. They are surprising and these are preliminary data one of the things about these data are that we dont have Additional Information about what other chronic conditions these people may have had who have tested positive and who have been hospitalized it is true that if youre 20 to 54, we are seeing a high rate of hospitalization. That said the case fatality, or the ability to do well once you have an infection is better when youre younger but it does underscore the fact that people who are younger must continue to socially isolate as weve been told so that they dont spread the infection to other people and they themselves dont get sick. Get that message out to the kids on the beach. Doctor, we want to say thank you for everything youre doing and for all of your Health Care Workers with you please give them a big thank you from all of us. Thank you. Switch gears and check in with mr. Roker, al, how we looking . Were looking a little on the wet side here in the east and as we take a look and show you weve got a lot going on in the midsection of the country, Severe Weather thats been firing up. We had tornadoes reported last night. We may see some more today in fact, we have a risk right now for 42 Million People for Severe Weather from texas all the way into the ohio and Mississippi River valley, tornadoes likely, hail, damaging winds as well. Backside of this system, anywhere from six to eight inches of snow from the u. P. Of michigan back in in san francisco. Were still seeing those clouds moving by. And well get some sunshine as we go into the rest of today. And temperatures will be warming up after this cool start. High temperatures for the south bay reaching up to 60 degrees. 62 for oakland and 63 degrees in napa. But we will still have a chance of showers moving through mostly for this afternoon. And the highest chance will be across parts of the peninsula and the south bay. Well be watching that with more updates to come. And that is your latest weather. Ive got to tell you guys one of the advantages to doing this at home, deborahs making turkey bacon right now which really of course isnt bacon but at least it smells good. Right, al als always looking on the bright side. Als working from home. I know. Savannahs from home. A lot of parents are there too right now probably watching. Oh, yeah, definitely. It is no surprise that kids are learning a little bit about life at the office when the office is at home. Check this out, youre going to love this, a little toddler already wanting to be just like with a laptop, phone, even the read the glasses are perfect. Thats whats happening just typing away looking adorable got the glasses on shes extremely busy and important and she is brightening up our day isnt that cute, guys . That was awesome. Thats great. All right just ahead, guys, we have been really trying our best to answer all the questions weve been getting about coronavirus. Weve got a new batch. Heres one, is it still safe to shop online when someone has to deliver those packages to you . A lot of people wondering that and jimmy fallon is going to join us live he has been doing his show at home with his little kids in the background were going to talk to jimmy in just a bit but first, your local news 1 b b12 good morning. Its 8 26. Im marcus washington. We are following an apparent coronavirus outbreak in a burlingame Senior Living facility called atria. Six residents are now in the hospital, and at least three of them have tested positive for coronavirus. All visits and appointments are suspended and San Mateo CountyHealth Leaders say the facility is closed closely monitoring other residents temperatures. Leaders there at the facility say right now their focus is solely on the safety of all residents and Staff Members. Across the bay area, there are now more than 400 confirmed coronavirus cases and 7 deaths. Right now lets get a look at that forecast for you. Meteorologist kari hall has a little more for us. Marcus, this morning were seeing some filtered sunshine across the south bay, but for the most part its overall chilly morning. And we will still have a slight chance of rain, especially this afternoon. As we get a look at whats going on now at that live view and checking out our High Temperatures for today, well reach up to 60 degrees in san jose. 62 in oakland and 63 today in ukiah. We will once again be tracking a chance of some popup showers or storms. Most of that coming in later today and ill have more updates as we start to see that rain developing. Marcus . Thanks, kari. Well have more local news coming up in 30 minutes. Can we go get some ice cream . Alright, we gotta stop here first. From smarter atms, to after hours video tellers comcast business is connecting thousands of banks to technology that turns everyday transactions into extraordinary experiences. Hi there. How are you . Do you have any lollipops in there . laughing no, sorry. Were helping all kinds of businesses go beyond customer expectations. How can we help you . Wean air force veteran made of doing whats right,. Not whats easy. So when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. Thats how you do it right. Usaa insurance is made just the way martins family needs it with hasslefree claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. Because doing right by our members, thats whats right. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa vo electric, it doesnt i knhave enough range. Nking. It cant handle the elements. And, there is nowhere to charge up. Well, think again. And a performance from the tonight show. Thursday morning, the 19th of march, 2020. We have a lot to get to in this half hour. Hoda, good to see you this morning. Good to see you. You know who else is working from home these days who jimmy, jimmy fallon. Yes. Hi, guys, good morning. Hi, jimmy. Hi. We love it too, we wish we could be with you, we love when youre in our studio this is the next best thing. Jimmys going to tell us all about living under one roof with his kids, trying to do the tonight show from home thats just ahead. Were going to look forward to that. He looks stressed. Also, guys, with the outbreak touching so many areas of our lives we are going to answer your questions, we know you have a lot of them. Were going to keep you informed and we also want to keep your loved ones in good spirits. Absolutely. Plus, why not use this time at home to improve our cooking skills, or in our case, hoda, actually acquire cooking skills. Martha stewarts joining us live from her house too tips for the fluffiest baked potato, from a personal standpoint, ive never had more carbs in my life than being at home all the time. A recipe for a drink thats good for sore throats well have martha in a moment from her house. First, lets check out mr. Roker in his living room. We have t that nick is going to be going to. This is an nbc news special report. Here is chuck todd. Good day, everyone. Were coming on the air to bring you the latest on the coronavirus pandemic. Heres the president with a daily briefing. The media has been much nicer, i dont know what it is. All of these in between chairs. Sitting behind you, should probably go back, but i love it. It is so much nicer. I shouldnt say that because youll get me now. Thank you all for being here. We continue our relentless effort to defeat the chinese virus. Before i begin, i want to start by announcing today we are bringing home another american citizen, a big thing, very big. He is on his way back to the United States after being imprisoned in lebanon since september of 2019. Hes battling late stage cancer. Mr. Facori will now be able to receive the much needed care and treatment in the United States, we have been working very hard to get him freed, and hes finally able to have his entire family at his side. So im very grateful to the lebanese government, they worked with us, and we are very proud of his family, they stood by him so strongly and they are thrilled. The United States has no higher priority than the safety and wellbeing. Robert obrien was chief negotiator for a large part of it, did so well he is now in a different position. I want to congratulate robert and his team and let everyone know that recovering americans held captive and imprisoned abroad continues to be a top priority for my administration. We have one young gentleman, austin tice, we are working very hard with syria to get him out. We hope the Syrian Government will do that. We are counting on them to do that. Weve written a letter just recently, he has been there for a long time. Captured long ago. Austin tice, his mother is probably watching, and shes a great lady. Were doing the best we can. Syria, please work with us and we would appreciate you letting him out. Think about what weve done. Weve gotten rid of the isis caliphate. Wed like to see if they would do it. It would be appreciated if they lettuce contin let austin tice out immediately. My administration is working to protect the American People and American Economy from the virus. Yesterday i signed into law a critical support for american workers, families and Small Businesses. Were providing sick leave and family medical leave to those effected by the virus, more help is on the way as we speak. Our entire team headed by secretary mnuchin on the hill, we are working with democrats and republicans and theres a lot of goodwill going on. This is something that happened that was some people would say an act of god. I dont view it as an act of god, i would view it as something that just surprised the whole world. And if people would have known about it, could have been stopped in place, it could have been stopped where it came from, china, if we would have known about it, if they would have known about it. But now the whole world almost is inflicted with this horrible virus and its too bad. Its too bad because we never had an economy as good as the economy we had just a few weeks ago. But well be back. I actually think well be back stronger than before. We learned a lot during this period of time. I also just invoked the defense production act to help facility distribution of essential supplies, if necessary. We are working with congress to to workers, Small Businesses, and the hardesthit industries, we want to be sure that everybody is able to continue on so that when we recover, all tn up and you have to put them back together. That would take a long time. We really believe, i believe in the v curve. I believe when this is defeated, this hidden scourge is defeated, i think were going to go up very rapidly, our economy, get back to where it was and beyond. I want to share with you exciting progress that the fda is making with the private sector as we slash red tape like nobody has done it before. Somebody was on yesterday on one of the networks and said that theres never been a president even close thats been able to do what ive done in slashing all of the red tape and everything to get very important things to the market, medical. So we slash red tape to develop vaccines, therapies as fast as it can possibly be done, long before anybody else was even thinking about doing this. As you know earlier this week we began the first Clinical Trial of a virus, and that was launched in record time. It was just a few weeks. And that would have taken years to do not so long ago. As we race to develop a vaccine, were pursuing antiviral therapies, thats what were going to be talking about today, the purpose of being up here today. And to me, thats even more important. The vaccine by its nature, you have to have long tests. You have to make sure what goes into somebodys body is not going to do destruction, do bad things. So you need long tests and theyre doing great with the vaccines, but it is still a long process. But the therapies are something we can move on much faster potentially and the treatments that will be able to reduce the severity make People Better. Looking at ways to make People Better or at the earliest stages, wouldnt even know they had it. And thats where i believe it is going to work even the best. The fda commissioner is with us. He is fantastic. And he has been working 24 hours a day. Hes worked like probably as hard or harder than anybody in the group other than maybe mike pence or me. And what the fda is doing is incredible. Theyve done things in times that were not even thinkable. And i directed the fda to eliminate outdated rules and bureaucracy so this work can proceed rapidly, quickly, and i mean fast. We have to remove every barrier. There were a lot of barriers that were unnecessary and theyve done that to get the Rapid Deployment of safe, effective treatments, and we think we have some good answers. Well find out very, very soon. Clinical trials are already under way for many new therapies and were working on scaling these to allow many more americans to access different drugs that have shown really good promise. We have some really good promise. We will do so in a way that lets us continue to collect good data, to know which medicines are safe, and which medicines are working the best. We have a couple that were in really good shape on. And thats for immediate delivery, immediate. Like as fast as we can get it. The fda also approved compassionate use. You know what that means. We are reviewing drugs approved abroad or here for other uses, and one of the things im most proud of that i got was right to try. Where somebody thats ill, very sick, terminally ill usually in past administrations, we signed this a year and a half ago, you wouldnt be able to even think about getting any of the drugs that may be showing great promise. And they have been trying many decades to get this approved and it sounds simple but its not because of liability involved and lots of other things. I was able to get it approved working with congress, right to try. This is beyond right to try. What were talking about today is beyond right to try. Right to try has been, by the way, a tremendous success. People are living that had no chance of living, we take treatments and things that would have to go through years of a process and if somebody was terminally ill, and i would say why wouldnt they be able to try this, they would go to asia, europe, go all over the world to try to find something. Or some people with no money would go home to die. Go home to die. They had no hope. Right to try has been an incredible success. This is beyond right to try. If treatments known to be safe in europe, japan or other nations are effective against the virus, well use that information to protect the health and safety of American People. Nothing will stand in our way as we pursue any avenue to find what best works against this horrible virus. Now, a drug called floraquinn, and some people would add hydroxy, clor oquinn or hydroxy clor oquinn. A common malaria drug, it is also a drug used for strong arthritis. Somebody has serious arthritis, also uses this in a somewhat different form. This has been around a long time. We know if things dont go as planned, it is not going to kill anybody. When you go with a brand new drug, you dont know that thats going to happen. You have to see and you have to do a lot of tests. This has been used in different forms, very powerful drug, in different forms and it has shown very, very encouraging early results. Were going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately and thats where the fda has been so great. Theyve gone through the approval process, it has been approved and they took it down from many, many months to immediate. Were going to be able to make that drug available by prescription or states. I spoke with Governor Cuomo about it at great length last nig night, he wants to be first on the line. So i think thats tremendous. Tremendous promise based on the results and other tests, tremendous promise. Normally the fda would take a long time to approve Something Like that, and it was approved very, very quickly and is now approved by prescription. Individual states will handle it. They can handle it. Doctors will handle it. I think it is going to be great. Then were quickly studying this drug. While we are continuing to study it, but studying will be also done as it is given to large groups of people perhaps in new york and other places, there are promising therapies produced by gilliad, and recommeanother dru for other purposes thats been out, and had very good results for other purposes, but seems to have a very good result having to do with this virus. And that drug also has been approved or very close to approved in that case by the fda. And i cant tell you how much we appreciate what the fda, these people are incredible patriots. And the job that steven hahn is doing, one of the most respected doctors in the country, when we took him, sure you want to do this. Didnt know this would be in the play list what happened here, but he really has stepped up to the plate, wherever you are. I would shake his hand, im not supposed to do that. Get in trouble if i did that. He has been fantastic. I thank you, doctor. He is going to speak after i am finished. Regeneron, again, and company thats doing fantastically well as i understand with ebola and some other things, great company. Theyre looking at some very promising events also. You have remdesovar and chlorofuine. Those are approved for prescribed use. I think it will be very exciting. Could be game changer, maybe not. But based on what i see, could be a game changer. Very powerful. Theyre very powerful. I want every american to know were doing everything we can and these actions are important next steps. For the fda to act the way they acted with this speed is an incredible thing. Normally they say well, we can. You understand. Normally years and years and years. They had it immediately, based on the fact it has been used for other things, totally unrelated. We believe these therapeutics and others will provide relief to Many Americans. We really hope thats going to be. This could be a tremendous br k breakthrough. We will work toward a much needed vaccine in the future as i said, and what were doing with the fda is so exciting and so many other fields, so many things are happening. It is a very exciting time for medicine. We appreciate that the American Public has pulled together. I think theres tremendous spirit in this country. Spirit like a lot of people have not seen, people have not seen anything like it for a long time. And that means democrat, republican, theyre pulling together. I hope everything is going good on the hill. Maybe i shouldnt say this until i check out whats going on because you never know, but i think theres a great spirit where the democrats and republicans and everybody else are getting together, trying to get things done. But most importantly, the American Public has been incredible. We took the best economy weve had and said stop, you cant work, you have to stay home. You know, theres never been a case like this. Normally you pay a lot of money to get things going. Heres a case were paying a lot to stop things because we dont want people to be together so this virus doesnt continue onward. So theres never been anything like this in history. Never been, nobody has ever seen anything like this. But were doing the right thing, have to get rid of it. The big war is not a financial war, it is a war, a medical war. We have to win this. Very important. With that, i want to introduce again, i would like to send back our thanks to all the people working at the fda, fantastic, talented people. Appreciate it very much, everything youve done, especially the speed you got these two elements, two very important drugs passed. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. President. I want to thank you for your leadership during the coronavirus outbreak, thank you for the kind words about the fda stats. We have 10,000 scientists, doctors, others, and more than that, working around the clock to aid the American People in the fight against coronavirus. Those words are very much appreciated. Before the president nominated me and i was confirmed as commissioner of food and drug, i was a cancer doctor. I sat across countless patients, had to talk about their diagnose and treatment. One thing that was really important is to provide hope. I have great hope for how were going to come out of this situation. Whats also important is not to provide false hope but provide hope. As a doctor, thats the way i come to this. I am speaking now to the American People as commissioner of food and drugs, but that part of me has not left. Just look at the way the American People have responded to our calls for mitigation, social distancing. American people have great resilience, and im incredibly proud how the American People have responded. The president mentioned, he asked us to be aggressive, breakdown barriers to innovation, accelerate development of lifesaving treatments. Were doing that at the fda. The fda is committed to continuing to provide regulatory flexibility and guidance. But let me make one thing clear, fdas responsibility to the American People is to ensure products are safe and effective. And we are continuing to do that. Our folks and tremendous professionals are working day and night to do this. Cant even imagine how much theyre working to provide the support for the American People. And i thank them. Since early january, long before the first domestic case, fda worked in collaboration with cdc. I want to note we set up an incident command group, focused on the coronavirus since the beginning of the Public Health emergency. This is in addition in all of government, all america approach. Ill describe what i mean by that in terms of therapeutics. Important part of that work is expanding the potential therapeutic option associated with coronavirus, and we learned from our colleagues across the globe about this. I want to focus on one thing. I was a cancer researcher before all this, one thing i know about this great country of ours is that we have unbelievable innovators. We have people who every day, it is their job to develop treatments for all sorts of diseases. We are incredibly blessed as a country to have this. As is true of any great innovators, they engaged us about the best possible Treatment Options. Were looking at everything thats coming cross our desk ann as Treatment Options for coronavirus. Were encouraged by the interest and promise from Great American innovators. Again, we need to look at it, we need data, information to make the best decisions for the American People, but i want to assure you we have over 17,000 people at fda who are doing this every day. We need to be sure the sea of new treatments will get the right drug to the right patient at the right dosage at the right time. As an example, we may have the drug but may not be in appropriate dosage form. That may do more harm than good. Thats our job to look at and thats why it is important we have dedicated professionals looking at this. At through different mechanisms to get drugs into the hands of providers and patients. The president mentioned this. One is compassionate use. If theres an experimental drug thats potentially available, a doctor could ask that to be used in a patient. We have criteria for that, speedy approval for that. Important thing about compassionate use, thats what the president meant, beyond right to try, we get to collect information about that. One of the things we promised the American People, we will collect the data and make the absolute right decisions based upon the data about safety and efficacy of treatments. We are working expeditiously and working to make sure these products are as safe and effective as they possibly can be. Let me tell you about a few things were currently working on. This is a plan developed by many people at the table, Infectious Disease experts on the taskforce. Short term, were looking at drugs already approved for other indications. Theyre already approved as the president said for other diseases. As an example, Many Americans read studies and heard about chloroquine. It is approved for treatment of ma l malaria and arthritis. Thats a drug we are taking a closer look at whether expanded use approach could be done to see if that benefits patients. Again, we want to do that in the setting of Clinical Trial, large, pragmatic Clinical Trial to answer the question that needs to be answered, asked and answered. Another example. Theres a cross Agency Effort about something called convalescent plasma. This is an exciting area. Something we have given assistance to other countries as the crisis developed. Fda has been working for some time on this. If you have been exposed to coronavirus and youre better, you dont have the virus in your blood, we could collect blood, this is a possible treatment, not proven treatment, want to emphasize that, collect blood, concentrate that, have the ability once it is virus free to give it to other patients, immune response could potentially provide benefit to patients. Another thing were looking at. Next couple weeks well have information onto accelerate that. Thats medium short term. Thats a bridge to other therapies that will take three to six months to develop. This is a continuous process. Theres no beginning and end to each of this. Were pushing this through. The other great thing about great innovators of america, some are saying it has taken years to develop therapies, theyre looking to push it to the month period of time. We are trying to provide the regulatory flexibility, but at the same time scientific oversight. The president mentioned theres a vaccine trial currently being performed, phase one trial, the earliest study that gets done. We expect that to be 12 months to completion where we could approve a vaccine. These will bridge to the prevention part of the vaccine. It is exciting work, the president is right, it is record time for the development of a vaccine, impressive Public Private partnership. Efforts to accelerate the development with timely access while meeting the world respected gold standard, relying on strong data from Clinical Trials to determine if an experimental or off the shelf drug used for Something Else can safely and effectively treat patients. We want to assure the American People, fda is all hands on deck. As the president mentioned, these efforts continue to work with sponsors to expedite work. We remain steadfast helping to Foster Development of safe and effective therapies for covid19. Thank you. Thank you. Mike . Thank you, mr. President. The White House Coronavirus tags being force met this morning on the first day of spring. We continue to make steady progress toward President Trumps objective not only to marshall resources of the federal government, every state government, every local health official, but also to harness the power of the American Private sector and activities in the last day reflect all those priorities. Yesterday the president spoke with americas top physicians and nurses and garnered helpful insights how to best serve those that are serving americans dealing with the coronavirus. We also had a productive call with over 5,000 state and local officials, explaining the federal government approach in strong and Seamless Partnership with all 50 states and territories. Last night, as you heard, the president signed the first Coronavirus Response act that provides free coronavirus testing, paid sick leave, family leave for care givers, Food Assistance for the needy, among broad range of benefits. The president indicated the senate will begin to work on an Economic Relief package. Later today the president and i will meet again in a teleconference with the nations governors. We will meet at the National ResponseCoordination Center at fema and outline President Trumps decision to have fema take the lead in our national Coronavirus Response. Our nations response through fema will be locally executed, state American People to know that testing is available in all 50 states, it is becoming increasingly available every hour of the day