Coronavirus. As you can see from the data displayed on your screens, or will be in a second, the cases in rhode island, and the deaths in rhode island and hospitalizations continue to rise. Although it is sad, i dont want folks to panic. It is consistent with what we have expected. It is why i am giving you what i am giving you. I wish we were out of the woods. We are not quite out of the woods yet. That means the stay home order, which is in place until may 8, is something we all need to continue to obey. I know if your family is anything like my family, it is getting harder every day. We are all sick of it. We wonder if it is necessary, wearing a mask makes it even more difficult. The answers are it is necessary. It is a critical two weeks ahead. If we keep doing the great job we are doing, we will be in much better shape in two weeks than we are today. Closer to going back to work, opening childcare centers, opening parks, and getting two business of life again that we all want to b
Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us again today. As per usual, we will be right here every day at 1 00 to make sure everybody is wellinformed with the best facts as possible so we can keep ourselves safe and healthy as we deal with the coronavirus. As you can see from the data isplayed on your screens, or will be in a second, the cases in rhode island, and the deaths in rhode island and hospitalizations continue to rise. Although it is sad, i dont want folks to panic. It is consistent with what we have expected. It is why i am giving you what i am giving you. I wish we were out of the woods. We are not quite out of the woods yet. That means the stay home order, which is in place until may 8, is something we all need to continue to obey. I know if your family is anything like my family, it is getting harder every day. We are all sick of it. We wonder if it is necessary, wearing a mask makes it even more difficult. He answers are it is necessary. It is a critical two weeks ahead. If
Outbreak a global pandemic. Cdc has now reported that we have almost one thousand confirmed cases. That is up from 100 reported cases a week ago. A 900 increase. Americans are worried. They are scared. It is essential that we are able to hear directly from the Health Officials leading this effort with just the facts. Im going to go to the republican side first, which is where we left off. Before i do that, without objection, the following three letters we sent on march 3rd to hhs and cdc requesting basic information including about testing are entered into the record. We have not gotten any response to those letters. And with that i recognize mr. Higgins. Thank you, madam chair. Dr. Fouci, gentlemen, thank you for returning today. And let me ask dr. Fouci, do you lead the executives task force regarding our nations response to coronavirus . No, i dont, sir. Your status is what on the task force . I dont lead the task force. The task force is led by the Vice President. Youre the lead sc
Respirators used in manufacturing and in mining and in construction could be used in health care settings. They are very similar but not the same but could be used that way. And the only thing thats keeping a lot of manufacturers from selling those masks to the Broader Health care population is because of Liability Provisions or lack of liability protections. There is the public readiness Emergency Preparedness act passed in 2005 that basically indemnifies manufacturers, distributors, and users of these mafpks pardon me of users of products defind as a device or covered counter measure. So i happen to be on the staff that did that legislation in 2005. We did not consider a situation like this today. We thought about cac vaccines. Therapeutics. But not respirators to be the first and only line of defense for Health Care Workers. Thats an important capacity and capability is to include language or modify the prep act to include language to include rest pritory protective devices for that
The committee will come to order. I thank all of our witnesses for returning this morning. We appreciate the recognition of our interest and oversight responsibilities. This is a crisis that is evolving quickly. Since our hearing yesterday, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. Cdc has now reported that we have almost 1,000 confirmed cases. That is up from 100 reported cases a week ago. A 900 increase. Americans are worried. They are scared. It is essential that we are able to hear directly from the Health Officials leading this effort with just the facts. Im going to go to the republican side first which is where we left off. Before i do that, without objection, the following three letters we sent on march 3rd to hhs and cdc requesting basic information including about t t testing are entered into the record. We have not gotten any response to those letters. And with that, i recognize mr. Higgins. Thank you, madam chair. Gentlemen, thank yo