Host we are joined by Michael Greenberger. Both of the issues facing the u. S. And the world when it comes to the coronavirus, what does your organization focus on . Guest it was founded by the university of maryland president in the wake of the 9 11 attacks to deal with counterterrorism issues. We are about to celebrate our h anniversary they 15th may 15 and we have moved from counterterrorism but also controlling emerging infectious diseases, responding to superstorms and also dealing with cybersecurity issues such as ransomware. 9 11, the world has never seen an epidemic like this but in your organizations experience in dealing with other viruses and health outbreaks, health concerns, and even the tabletop exercises your group may have done, what is your appraisal so far on how the u. S. Has responded . The federal government to the coronavirus outbreak. Guest let me say this virus is more serious than anything we have faced going back to 2001. Sars, mers,thrax, ebola, zika, h1n1. Virussit here today this presents the worst Public Health emergency we have had and raid will be very much like the spanish flu where somewhere between 20 million and 50 Million People worldwide died from the flu. I dont know that that will happen but this is a much more serious problem than we have ever seen before. In terms of the federal response, i, like many would people, wished it started earlier. We are having difficulty finding testing kits to determine who has the flu. Without those and moving as slowly as the u. S. Is it is very hard to develop a response. Take for example medical personnel in hospitals. They can look at somebody, dealing with somebody who has a bad allergy attack, a bad cold, the seasonal flu, or covid19. Handle on what we are dealing with and who we have to deal with in terms of therapeutics, we are really behind the eight ball. This andea handled testing tens of thousands of people a day. Even though we have ramped up and made it easier to develop testing kits we are still in the position of doing hundreds a day. Until we get a handle on what we are dealing with it makes responding that much more difficult. Host the headline this week at i Disaster Agency talking about the federal Emergency Management agency. Do you see a clear chain of command on the federal level on who is taking the lead in response to the coronavirus . Guest on terms of the chain of command, i think that has been ironed out. Usually when you talk about the federal Emergency Management agency or the stafford act which they are in charge of administering you are really talking about something that is mostly a state response. For example, terrible hurricanes, wild fires, tornadoes, when you have a Public Health emergency it calls into play not only the Emergency Management side of government but the Public Health side of government. Those two aspects of government have to work in harness. Comfortable that as we speak now the federal government has gotten the chain of command in order. The other thing i would emphasize, the president declared a National Emergency march 4. That is an unusual thing to do. Usually what happens is emergencies are declared statebystate and that may still happen. In fact, it will still happen but the fact the federal government declared this a National Emergency makes it much easier for states to get the president to agree with their assessment that they are dealing with a emergency or disaster within the state. The states, whatever the federal government does and what the federal government does is very important, but it is a supporting role. Ands the state governors the mayor of the district of columbia who really have the lead on all of this. Not everystate state has declared a state emergency and that is a very important process because it frees the governor to take extraordinary actions within the state under state statutes and case law. What we are seeing in new york, california, maryland, are the governors taking actions, closing bars, closing restaurants, limiting the assemblage of people. They have got support from the experts of the federal government but this is going to be viewed principally as a state response problem and the good news is we work very closely with governors and state Health Agencies and state Emergency Management agencies if the states are pretty well greased to deal with this problem effectively of whatve us an idea the university of maryland does. The types of tasks you have asked by state governors to assist with. Guest weve been asked by state governors and agencies all localities can declare emergencies. We have been advising a lot of large counties in maryland. Georgeery and prince which is right on the border with d. C. And very populous. They are very well run governments. We are advising the monday today responses as issues come up day to day responses as issues come up. It is a very prosperous, wellrun county government. Last friday we ran a tabletop through what a coronavirus would call upon the Public Schools to do and testing Public School officers on how they would respond. We have other exercises we have been asked to do that are being lined up. That we have a love existing contracts with counties and state governments, cities, that have asked us to do projects which now do not have the immediacy that coronavirus has. Toldve been essentially put the other things aside, through your full weight behind dealing with the coronavirus, we will get back to those other issues when we can afford to do it. We are dealing with departments of health, departments of Emergency Management, hospitals, nonprofits, nursing homes, and trying to give them advice on how to respond within the confines of the emergencies that have been declared and either the powers at the discretion to spiritPublic Health and host joining us is Michael Greenberger director of Maryland University homeland security. We welcome your comments and calls. We would particularly like to hear what your states are doing. 2027488000 is the number for eastern and central time zone spiri. 2027488001 mountain and pacific time zones. For medical professionals your number is 2027488002 . You mentioned the president declaring a National Emergency march 4. Fema can tap into nearly state governments can set up Emergency Operations centers. It directs hospitals nationwide to activate contingency plans. It allows the health and Human Services to waive regulations that could hinder Health Professionals responses. That 43 billion in relief, had typically quickly does that get to states . In thisy the way emergency you can have nonpublic, nonprofits entitled to a portion of that money but normally even though it is a National Emergency every state that has a serious problem will declare a state emergency which is very important. They will then go to fema to put themselves in a situation to have additional funds sent into the state to cover work they do in responding to the coronavirus. The powers of governors when they declare emergencies is extraordinary. It is important the president did it. He did that both under the socalled National Emergencies and thethe stafford act Public Health services act which was put into motion generate 31st when we began to see people returning from china and possibly infected. All of those things allow the federal government to waive requirements that might normally be in place in normal times. For example, a medical licensed person can perform services outside of the area in which they are licensed under that waiver. The critical thing is going to be and we are seeing this when we see the press conferences of the governor of new york, the governor of california, and governor of maryland this allows the one, toto pave the way tap resources of federal funding. They will have to do that with appropriate proof of what they have spent. A very important requirement is thto document carefully the resources you have so when you see federal relief, you have evidence to show. Didalso what the president sets the groundwork for states to declare their emergencies and recover further money from fema for work they do. These declarations of emergencies at the federal level and state level are very important. Extraordinary powers on the state level are brought into play. That publicquickly Health Emergencies in the states have been declared for other emerging infectious diseases. Or thet common was h1n1 flu. E i think we are going to see governors taking actions that are much more extraordinary than in the past. New york state a few days ago pretty much in a very loose way and i want to be careful how i use these terms set up a curren quarantine around new rochelle which is the epicenter of outbreaks. Bars are closed, restaurants are closed, state workers are being sent home, state universities are closing, all dealing with students is being done remotely, exams will be remote. There ares go on, going to be extraordinary powers the powers have been there but they have never been needed except as we look down the road to the future of this virus. They will be called into play in every state across the country. Host live calls waiting. We want to remind viewers and is thers, 2027488002 line to use for medical professionals. Julie is a medical professional calling from hot springs, virginia. Tell us about your experience and what you do. Good morning. Caller i am a registered nurse and currently working in fairfax county. Understand the goal of flattening the curve of the illness, working in the er and an ic nurse, making sure we do not overload the system. One thing that i think we need to be careful of is flattening the curve of immunity. Restrictions on movement i think the only time will tell. I say that without having a better solution. Of course if we flatten the curve of the illness and come up with a solution, whether that be thatcine or a treatment doctors are willing to use or provide more hospital beds and nurses which is hard to come by, i think that is just my big concern. Going too far with the restrictions and the distancing. Thats my comment. I dont really have a solution it is just something to think about. Host thank you. Guest i say to all medical personnel who are dealing with dealing directly with patients, thank you for your service. It is very important what you do. I think the best medical, Scientific Minds are looking at this and the biggest problem they worry about is the danger of covid19 that it is highly infectious and unless restraints are put on the population, the pointak could soar to a where we would not have hospital resources, medical resources, medical equipment to take care of all the patients at one time. There is no therapeutic or vaccine yet. That it isabsence of very important to limit exposures and limit infections so that the health community, Health Services can deal with people on a rational basis. If everybody presents at a hospital at one time, we are sunk. Hhs down to the state Health Authorities to medical personnel looking at this feel right now the most important thing is to limit the spread and that is why you hear let about you should hear a lot about the importance of social distancing, washing your hands. Hopefully, limit the onslaught of this infection to a degree where it can be handled in the medical facilities we have available. Host you mentioned possible extraordinary measures that have not been used. Let me ask you about a story in the New York Times. Shelterinplace order may be next is new york rinds to a halt. New york city of a. 6 Million People and an economic engine for the country rock to a halt because of the coronavirus epic and the restrictions on public life. The citys mayor signaled the shut down could go further. In order of inplace could be made in export eight hours. If that moment came, there are things that have to be made. How is shelterinplace and to think that would happen . Guest shelterinplace is the stayathome as much as you can, not go out into the public. We look an ability when at these actions to put people in quarantine and they would have to stay in a certain spot. There are a few exceptions to the quarantine process. When you look carefully at what mayor de blasio is talking about, or seeing other shelter in place orders, they are not as restrictive as you might think. Urging andof mandating. Also, there is a recognition that people are going to have to go to the pharmacy to get medications, they have to go to Grocery Stores to get food, they have to go outside with pets, they will need to exercise. Oreo not a ticked l itruction dictoria think people look at this instruction. Think they welcome the response. Enforced a military quarantine. It is, i think, a sensible quarantine. It will cause discomfort because our way of life will change but it is not a radical solution. Worried about shelterinplace orders. Peoplectors are telling over 60, especially if they have other medical conditions, to shelterinplace. That does notut mean you cannot go out, you cannot exercise, you cannot go to the park, cannot walk your dog. The general thing is to limit your exposure to other people who might present the infection. Host getting back to calls with the quick check of the data. The number of cases worldwide topping 200,000. Johns Hopkins University confirmed cases worldwide is 1,684. President trump tweeting, i will have a News Conference today to discuss Important News from the fda concerning with the president terms the chinese virus. Missouri. R hill, thank you for waiting. Go ahead. Caller good morning. Host good morning. Caller im calling about the trillion dollar stimulus trump was talking about. 1 trillion has got 12 zeros behind the one. ,300 Million People. In the United States. Every person in the United States should give over 3000 i was a piece theyre talking about giving 1000 to each employee. If you have got three people in your house, whether you are working or not, that would be 9,000. Who is the money really going to . That is what i want to know. Host Michael Greenberger, your response. Guest as a sideline, i am interested in Financial Market distress and i teach a course on it. I was very active in the response to the 2008 financial crisis. When you total about happened in 2008 the country put on the table 23 trillion to save the banks. 1 trillion going directly to people who are affected or who have to stay at home and i could , as the secretary of the treasury said, if the federal government does not aggressively deal with the economic consequences of this virus, we could have 20 unemployed. Approachinged is the unemployment in the great depression. The country and i have been quoted on this has come to a dense stock commercially. Airlines are not working, cruise lines are not working, airports are shutting down, people cannot get supplies, everywhere you look there is stop, stop, stop. The only solution to that is to and thee the economy secretary of treasury is at the forefront of sounding the alarm of the necessity of getting money, out into the hands not only corporations, but to people. The possibility there is one possibility of not dealing with the health crisis. Doing with the health crisis. I have talked about that. A lot of illness and a lot of death. We also have a fierce economic me, if itt looks to is not staunch, it could be worse than what we saw in 2008 and 2009. Soundk these things may or omatic but the options for keeping the economy flowing are not great. My view is that there is no option but to spend this money does for people sitting at home and networking, not getting their hourly wage, they do not have sick leave, they probably insurance, toalth provide help. It is true that this will go to i think the limit is 1 million a year income that will hopefully stimulate the economy and keep us out of that which is an active threat not only outlined by the secretary of the treasury, but every respectable economist i know is worried about not just to the recession but a fiscal calamity that might exceed that of 2008. Host our guest Michael Greenberger. We hear next from new jersey. This is harry. Caller the flu of 1918 disappeared in 1919 with no vaccine ever discovered. I was wondering, could this happen with the coronavirus . Could it disappear within a year with no vaccine ever discovered . Thank you. Guest the answer to that question is yes, it could, and i think the medical scientific hope is that it will. The spanish flu, when you said it lasted a year and then went away, there were more deaths from the spanish flu worldwide than from world war i. When you deal with an infectious emerging disease that strong, you are declaring a war. You are not using the military, you are using medical personnel. We cannot afford really to take the chance that we are dealing with the spanish flu here. Frankly there is debate about this. We do not know for a fact because we are not testing regularly. We do not know the circle of the infection, but where i am sitting today, i am worried that this may be worse than the spanish flu. I say this because yesterday the Imperial College in london today very careful study of worstcase scenarios and the infections and the death from infections were alarming. In fact, they were so alarming that it is said in the press that when donald trump saw this he overcame his reluctance to throwing everything the feder