Chancellor merkel saying as many as 70 of the germans could be infected. Were seeing the lockdown in italy. As head of the task force, what worries you personally the most . Vice president pence the American People can be confident that this president and our administration, leadership at every state in the country, have no higher priority than the health and safety of the people of this nation. Thats one of the reasons why President Trump took unprecedented action in january, declared a Public Health emergency, established the White House Coronavirus task force, but also suspended all travel from china and then quarantined all americans that re coming back from china to essentially do everything we could to prevent the spread of the disease in the United States. Weve also issued travel advisories for portions of italy, portions of south korea and were now screening 100 of all passengers on all direct flights from all airports in italy or south korea into the United States. The truth is the coronavirus is here and we have now more than 1,000 cases in this country. As dr. Fauci says, there will be many more in the days ahead. The good news is that most people that contract the coronavirus will have flulike symptoms ranging from mild to more serious flulike symptoms. But President Trump has made it clear to us that we are to focus on our efforts to mitigate the spread, but also ensure that Senior Citizens with underlying Serious Health conditions are provided with the kind of care and support that they need. Because thats the population that all of our experts say is most at risk of very serious consequences. With the coronavirus. Reporter as you know, were a year away from a vaccine. So whats the next eight to 12 month its going to look like . Months going to look like . Vice president pence in the days ahead youre going to see this president continue to take actionment again, to mitigate the spread in this country. Later today well be issuing specific guidance to portions of Washington State and california. Been working hand in glove with states all over the country. But particularly those states and new york and florida where weve seen what the experts call a Community Spread. Well have specific guidelines regarding schools and workplaces and also Larger Community events. But, look, theres much more work to be done. Well continue to lean into this effort. But every american should know that they can make a difference in preventing themselves contracting the coronavirus, or a member of their family, a loved one or their community by practicing Commonsense Health practices that are available right now at coronavirus. Gov. Earlier this week, in consultation with dr. Fauci and dr. Burks and all of our Health Care Experts at c. D. C. , we produced a series of recommendations for schools, workplace, families in the home and also commercial enterprises. And people can go, can post those, can practice those and it will make a real difference in preventing not only themselves from contracting the coronavirus, but also the potential of spreading the coronavirus to their loved ones or other people in their community. Reporter as you know with wall street again, a very bad day for the markets. Maybe heading toward their ter bear territory. Schools closing. What would you tell the americans . How should they prepare . Whats the worstcase scenario . Vice president pence the good news is that the fundamentals of this economy are very strong. And while we see impacts on the stock market and we see communities that are dealing with a Community Spread of the coronavirus experience Economic Impacts, we know as we work through this, as we put the health of the American People first, that when we move through this coronavirus in the United States, that our economy is going to come back and come back very strongly. Because more than seven million jobs and weve seen Unemployment Rate at a 50year low. But to your point, with regard to the Economic Impacts today, President Trump is developing with congress and also through his own executive authority actions that will make sure that hourly workers at medium and Small Businesses that may not have paid family leave can stay home if theyre quarantined, if they believe that theyre sick from the coronavirus, or if they contract the coronavirus, without risks losing their job risking losing their job. Were working on that right now. I expect at the end of the week well have action with either the congress or the president s action in the owe volume office to ensure that our oval office to ensure that hourly workers in america who may suspect theyve contracted the coronavirus can stay home and see to themselves or see to a family member. Even if their company today doesnt provide for paid family leave. Reporter if you could complete this sentence, the economy in the u. S. For the next couple of months will look like what . Vice president pence i think well have Economic Impacts. Just as we have in other countries around the world. Were seeing it on the stock market today. And the American People should anticipate that as states and communities and federal authorities make recommendations, that that will have an impact on commerce. But i know that the American People want this president , our federal government, all of our state and local authorities, to put health first. Well put the health of the American People first. And as we work to prevent the spread, to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, as we work with industries around the country that are, as we speak, developing therapeutic medications that could be available in just a few months, and working toward a vaccine that will likely be available in another year and a half, well get through this. But the priority today is the health of the American People. Well see to the health of people of this country and the health of the economy we know will come back. Reporter as you know, your friend, Governor Hogan of maryland, praising the decision by the president to appoint you as head of the task force but hes been very critical of the president saying hes sending mixed messages. What do you tell the American People, what do you tell Governor Hogan . Vice president pence im about two weeks into leading the White House Coronavirus task force and i couldnt be more proud of the decisive actions of President Trump that President Trump has taken. Forming this task force, the energy hes put behind this effort at the federal level. And i think the seamless cooperation you see happening between the federal government and states Like Washington and california and new york, i think is a real testament to the kind of determined leadership and demanding leadership that President Trump has brought to this. The American People deserve to know that no president before President Trump had ever suspended travel from a country into the United States in facing a health challenge. But the president did that when he suspended all travel from china. We quarantined all americans coming back. You can anticipate that this president s going to continue to take decisive steps to do everything in our power to prevent the spread of this disease, to make sure that people that contract the disease have the support and resources to deal with it and but were really calling on every american to go american to go to coronavirus. Gov and learn how every citizen of this country can make a difference in dealing with the coronavirus. Steve as you know, he tried to minimize it early on. Vice president pence the president is a very optimistic leader. We all remain confident that together we will work our way through the coronavirus. Well come alongside people that are impacted, communities that are impacted. And i think the reason why you saw Congress Move so swiftly is because this president wanted to make sure that not only did our federal agencies have the resources, but state and local governments also had the resources. More than a billion dollars to support their efforts in dealing with the coronavirus. Make no mistake about it, we have a ways to go. And were going to continue to lean on the best Health Care Experts in the country. Well continue to forge that Strong Partnership with state and local authorities that the president directed us to do. And well continue to put the health and wellbeing of america first. Steve as you know, every administration can learn from a crisis. So from the first three months, what do you think you can take away, you talked about closing the borders, but what other lessons can we learn down the road if we face this in the future, and likely we will . Vice president pence i really do believe there will be time for Lessons Learned but right now were working the problem. The president has told us what we want to do every single day is look at the facts, listen to the experts and bring proposals forward for the federal government and for state governments that are going to make a real difference in peoples lives. Let me say again that the American People deserve to know that the possibility or the threat of contracting the coronavirus for the average american remains low. And even for those who contract the virus, most will have flulike symptoms and recover. But its so important that people understand that for Senior Citizens with chronic underlying conditions or for any citizen with an immune deficiency issue, the coronavirus represents a Serious Health challenge to them. So we want to make sure that those that are that have a Senior Citizen in the home with a Chronic Health condition understand the importance of those best practices that are listed at coronavirus. Gov. We also last week raised all the standards at every nursing home in america for guidelines for preventing the spread of Infectious Disease and now all 8,000 of our federal inspectors are exclusively focusing on compliance with Infectious Disease control at our nursing homes. Were going to focus on the population that is most atrisk of serious consequences, but the way we do that is by getting every american to do their part. To go to coronavirus. Gov, to learn what you can do in your workplace, in your home. Even if youre in a state that doesnt have a coronavirus case yet. Every american can make a difference. And together we know that well find our way through this. And well dole with this challenge just as weve dealt with every other challenge our nation has faced. Sanders and Vice President biden canceling campaigns. Are you concerned about participating in these large rallies . Vice president pence im not concerned. But well follow the facts every single day. About what makes the most sense for the American People. We are issuing today specific guidelines about large gatherings in Washington State, in the area of seattle thats been infected by Community Spread, the area of california thats been impacted. Well be offering similar recommendations for new york and florida and were currently looking at the circumstances in massachusetts to offer best practices. But the American People can be confident that well continue to look at whats happening. Well continue to, as now last week a million tests were in the field, four million tests will be in the field, by the end of this week all state labs in the country are doing testing and our commercial labs are now spinning up and distributing tests all over the nation. As we get a clearer picture of the scope of the coronavirus across the country, well continue to give guidance and well continue to take that guidance with regard to large events and activities. Steve one personal question. Youve been a congressman, youve been a radio talk show host. Youve been a governor. Whats been the biggest learning curve for mike pence to be Vice President . Vice president pence well, for me all of those things contributed, i hope, to my ability to serve the president. As Vice President. But i will tell that you i believe the reason why the president tapped me to lead the White House Coronavirus task force was because i had been a governor. In fact, state of indiana actually was the location where the very first merz case in america meerged. A virus much more deadly than the coronavirus. And i saw firsthand the role that state governments, local officials and the supporting community makes in resolving that, working in partnership with the federal government. And in asking me to do this, i think the president was saying that he not only wanted people to know that this was a priority, that he wanted his Vice President working on every day, every hour, but also i think he wanted to affirm the vital role that state and local governments and Health Officials are playing and to make it clear that were going to build on that partnership, were going to invigorate that partnership. And thats why we say, were gell well get through this together and put the health of america first. Steve on what i know is a busy day, Vice President pence, we thank you for your time. Vice president pence thank you, steve. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] follow the federal response to the coronavirus at cspan. Org coronavirus. You can find white house briefings, hearings with key Public Health officials, and interviews with Public Health specialists. Review the latest events any time at cspan. Org coronavirus. Coming up tonight on cspan, the World Health Organization officially declares the coronavirus a pandemic. Live at 9 00 p. M. , President Trump addresses the nation on the coronavirus outbreak. Later, the House OversightCommittee Hears from the heads of the centers for Disease Control and prevention and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases about the coronavirus outbreak and response. Early thursday, the world heal o