We have gone to a pool camera. We have a few folks i would like to introduce. First of all, we are announcing our new covid19 relief fund, one of the two cochairs is with us here. Andrews, will be coordinated the state volunteer effort. She is the chief of staff at the office of Economic Development normally. Johnson barnes, mike from Gary Community investments, one of our key Nonprofit Sector partners on this. Yesterday our out new coronavirus covid19 webpage that is on our governor site. Colorado. Gov. If you are having trouble accessing it, we are scaling up its ability. It does work most of the time if you try again in a few hours. This is our effort to get more information out. We are moving away from just, day, toan update once a whatever we have information that we can make public, we want to make it public. The will be done on colorado site. It is an important resource for the public and media to get the latest information, guidance, as soon as we have something that is presentable. Any issues associated with too much traffic will be resulted in comingresult in the days. We have 183 positive cases, e. G. Deaths, 20 hospitalizations. I want to appraise our team for scaling up and making colorado a National Leader in testing. I am sad to announce our second fatality yesterday in one county underscores our need to protect in particular our most Vulnerable People in 70s, 80s, 90s, those with Underlying Health conditions. Everybody is at risk but there are higher risk factors for people with Underlying Health conditions and older colorada ns. Yesterday there was a positive case in a resident of a longterm care facility. We have taken significant steps around Nursing Homes and lunch are facilities regarding visitation and monitoring anyone who works there as well. Today is urge do everyone to do our part. A lot of people are asking what can i do . People are healthy, some are at home, some are going to work in a full were limited capacity. Everybody wants to do what we can. Washing our hands, people are saying what else can i do . I want to thank the thousands of coloradans have become part of the viral social Media Campaign doingmypartco, sharing stories about how they are doing their part. It is heartwarming to see what so many people are doing to show best actresses around preventing the spread of this virus. That kind of exercise is important for our own Mental Health, doing good deeds, engaging with people, virtually when we can. Hurtinghere is families , and it brings a sense of comfort we are going through this together. We are doing the right thing together and we will be back together. Coloradans are goodhearted people. We have a lot of need to put that good heart to use in this crisis. So we are going to talk about three ways coloradans can help. First we are putting together a relief fund. We are formally announcing the covid19 relief fund that supports prevention, impact including helping people who have lost jobs, and ultimately recovery efforts. I am proud to announce the cochairs of this effort, roxane white, chief of staff under governor john hickenlooper, and a respected is this man. Very well respected leaders in colorado. I am proud to announce my own deputy chief of staff is being detailed to that effort. I want to thank my united way fiscal sponsor in this critical effort to help coloradans. We have raised over 2. 8 million. That is a remarkable achievement that shows the generous heart of coloradans. It will make a difference or those who have lost their jobs and are facing real difficulties. That number is going to grow. I want your help as well. Visit debbie ww. Helpcolorado. Org. You can afford to do. Partners from various sectors have already stepped up to do their part. I want to thank the denver broncos. I want to thank canterbury and his wife, denise. ,he Colorado Health foundation amsterdam, wells fargo, many others. That information will be available to the press in terms of who is helping. We hope the rest of the corporate philanthropic corporate and philanthropic immunity will continue to step up to make sure we have those flexible resources, the nonprofit resources will always be more flexible in their use than public, state or federal. It meets the need and real pain people are feeling, who have lost jobs, trapped at home, dont know what to do for their kids through that work will fall in three main buckets. Prevention, impact it recovery. And recovery. The 2. 8 million, which is growing with your help will support medical supplies, nursing home staff coverage, cleaning supplies for care facilities, homeless shelter staff coverage, cleaning supplies and on the impact side we want to focus on how we can help coloradans have been directly impacted, not the medical side. Directly impacted in terms of job loss, people who have worked in food services, kids, older coloradans and others in need. It means Early Childhood education availability so our critical Sector Workers and health care and First Responders can continue to work. Childcare is important if parents are receiving intensive treatment. Supporting technology that helps coloradans connect with one another. In acting for work, telecommuting but also socially. Connecting for work, telik connecting support efforts to bring us together virtually. We also plan for the impact fund to help Small Businesses and hourly and parttime workers and fulltime workers that are temporarily losing their opportunity to support their families. This will support Behavioral Health which will be a big challenge as people are asked in various areas and ways to hunker down and minimize social contacts and support volunteer services which i will expand upon in a minute. And i want everybody to know this will end. It will be a recovery. It will get worse before it gets better but we will keep our eye on the ball and planning with import funds for recovery which means Small Business recovery to get the economy and people back to work, Mental Health and Substance Abuse support and continued support for ongoing continuity of medical supplies. If you would like to help, visit helpcoloradonow. Org. I know coloradans are not just financially generous. Not everybody is in a position to be. We are generous with time and effort. We have been inundated with requests of people asking to help. We are launching the official volunteer effort at that website. If you cant donate money, consider donating time. Sign up to volunteer at help coloradonow. Org. It will ask you about your skills and what you would like to do. We will coordinate that across our state. The effort is being led by sarah andrews, the chief of staff at the office of Economic Development and trade. We are looking for volunteers to help at risk individuals in a wide variety of areas. It could be food assistance, Mental Health and wellness support, child care. So much support we are going to need. If you are able to help with your time and your effort, please sign up to do so and help colorado to make sure we are all rising to this occasion. I want to challenge coloradans to do our part, each and every one of us to help us all get through this together. By working together, we can build a Cohesive Network to make sure no one falls through the cracks during this time. Visit that website. Sign up to be a volunteer. We need a volunteer leaders, if you have experience organizing. Let us know what your organization volunteer needs are. One final ask. In addition to the need for the volunteers, we have a need of love volunteers. Blood donations. There were a number of drives canceled but there are still safe protocols for giving blood. People can have a time and do that. There is a sharp drop in donations at a time when we are likely to need more blood. Keep in mind what is happening in the medical system. A lot of them dont need blood but we have people with appendicitis, heart attacks, injuries and conditions we normally need to treat. We can experience a drop off of blood during this crisis. We want to clear up misinformation. Donating blood is safe. Do not be concerned about giving blood during this time. While it is not easy for the coronavirus needed for the virus treatment, it is needed for other issues which could be crowded out because of coronavirus. People will not stop having their life threatened with other lifethreatening conditions. Please visit also consider calling the other centers. We will have those numbers for you. Theres a center in northern colorado, as well as elsewhere, that are taking blood. To findvitalin. Org where you can give blood near you. So thats what we need, donations, volunteers, and blood. I hope you have one of those three things. There are certain people who cant give blood if they have Communicable Diseases or ineligible. Not everybody can give money, of course. But if you can, please coloradonow. Org. If you have a skill, we need you. We know that this crisis is about to put an enormous strain on health care and emergency workers. We know that about 80,000 emergency workers have children under age eight, and without childcare, many will be able to perform the jobs that are crucial to saving lives and containing the spread of the virus when they are most in need. So ive called together Early Childhood providers, advocacy groups, School Districts, and foundations to partner with the department of heaving services to establish that Human ServicesHuman Services to establish childcare for Health Care Workers, so its not holding back our First Responders and those we need now more than ever before. Health care providers and staff means doctors and nurses, but also hospital support staff, maintenance workers, janitorial staff, anybody essential to maintaining our health system. We are scaling up the child care you. This means Public Safety workers, firefighters, emt, correctional officers, staff that support our critically risk population, residential youth facilities, 24 hour Residential Care facilities, Mental Health facilities. For the first two weeks of the program, childcare will be provided to these workers on a sliding scale to make sure people can afford it, to access this benefit so we can retain our workforce. Fferope to continue to o this benefit based on our ability to fund raise. It is one of the goals of the impact fund. I want to thank Mike Johnston for really stepping up for Gary Community foundation to help spearhead this effort, on both the Financial Planning piece and the delivery piece. Thats absolutely critical that at a time we need our First Responders and Health Care Workers and support staff the forced to people are stay home because their kid doesnt have a place to go during the day. For more, please visit covidchildcarecolorado. Com. Thats covidchildcare colorado. Com. Again, thanks to so many others working hard to put this effort together, successfully and immediately. Now, i know that yesterdays announcement, the closure of major gathering spaces, including food and beverage establishments, is already hitting Small Businesses, workers, our entire economy, so i want to talk about that for a moment. We re were making Unemployment Insurance available for all coloradans. I know the Unemployment Insurance system is experiencing a high load of claims, so again, that website has been intermediate. People have gotten through. They have registered. But if youre expressing trouble, try Early Morning or late at night when the load is lower. The we are working on scaling up the website so they can conduct more simultaneous transactions. Asexpect claims to increase the virus takes a larger toll on the economy, not just in colorado, but in america and, of course, globally. We have a patch to deal with the highvolume. The call center will assist in that area. The patient. Be patient. Youre not losing eligibility. Try again, particularly during the lower traffic hours. We also sent a letter to the Small Business administration, asking for relief in colorado. Were specifically asking for the Economic Injury disaster loans in a number of impacted areas and are considering to press the delegation and trumpet mr. Risch and to do everything they Trump Administration to do everything they can. Federalso call upon our delegation to act immediately to pass relief measures. I strongly support efforts to put 1000 a month or 2000 or more in the hands of coloradans, as well as beefing up some of our social Safety Network programs that support those most at risk. Actink this is the time to quickly at the federal level and i strongly encourage congress to act. The federal government is able to borrow money at an historic low interest rate, roughly 1 last time i checked on the 10 year tbill rate. The opportunity to deploy that money immediately to avoid an economic crisis for those who have lost their jobs in the food service industry, and for all those who are suffering in this time, injecting cash into the economy, getting it directly to people quickly, can make a major difference in the economic recovery and trajectory of this, separate from the Public Health ramifications, which we are care deeply about and are focused on everyday here in the state of colorado. I want to conclude today by thanking everybody who is taking this seriously, and more importantly, again, for taking this information in strike, with urgency, with importance, but not with undoing and do exciting or trepidation undo anxiety or trepidation. Weve been tracking this. But consider this hasnt even been two weeks since we got our first case in colorado, and the cow quickly and drastically things have changed. Look how quickly things have changed. We will get through this. We will return to good times, but we will get through this together, by talking, by sharing, by being prudent, and by precaution, not by letting anxiety and fear overwhelm us. How are we going to get through this together . I know there are serious Kitchen Table issues many families are facing. Thats one of the reasons i call on the federal government to act, to get some money out to families, particularly those affected, but all families that are suffering. And i know that were dealing with a Public Health disaster on the one hand, and a volatile Economic Situation on the other hand. Volatile Economic Situation not just in colorado, but nationally and internationally. Now i want to be clear, we have to address the Public Health issue, and youll continue to see Additional Guidance requirements in the coming hours and days with regard to containing the spread of the virus. Because if we fail, the economic consequences of the virus running rampant will be far worse in the medium and longterm. This will be difficult. But this will also be temporary. Eventually, things will return to normal. The vast majority of us, as many people as possible, is going to be just fine. And were going to take the steps we need to avoid catastrophic lossoflife for those who are in need of urgent care because of the covid virus, by flattening the curve of the spread of the virus. Look, theres nothing perfect in any response. Nothing is ever perfect. I cant promise were going to get everything right, but what i can promise you is that our team, our medical experts, those we have pulled into this effort and detailed into this effort, and everyone involved in this effort, are going to keep her shoulders against the wheel and were going to press on and do everything we can to balance all of these competing factors until we reach the other side. We are addressing the Public Health issue and getting ahead of this curve by taking the actions we took around restaurants and gatherings and other precautions in the next few days. I know that theres a social political peace, as well, meaning how long and what people can endure. Nowyes, an economic piece for families that need to put food on the table, and an economic piece in terms of preparing for a robust recovery. Well have more details on that in the coming weeks, as well. Most of all, i know that we will make it through this together. Happy to, and id be take some questions. [inaudible] gov. Polis we want to scale up testing as fast as possible. I hope they are not going to dia to get out of here. [inaudible] gov. Polis if you would connect us, joe, we would be happy to take 100,000 test kits and employ them as quickly as possible. We would rather than not go to dia and outofstate. [inaudible] were looking at all of the Public Health options that are on the table for the appropriate deployment to minimize the spread of the virus. Theres another of steps that have to be taken, and you can expect additional steps in the coming hours and days. Some are being taken by county Health Departments because summoning gomez county is an example, and some are being looked at for the state. [inaudible] gov. Polis yeah, were looking at every option to make sure coloradans dont lose their homes or their housing or have additional instability during this crisis. Its absolutely critical. Again, landlords know whats going on too there. They generally want to keep good tenants and they generally know if tenants are out of work for a month or two, they need to work with them if they want to keep them there. But yes, were working on ways to do that and making sure that during this period of time that eviction orders are not processed the way they normally are. [inaudible] gov. Polis yeah, actually thats more than just rural hospitals. All hospitals are really doing a couple of things, using telemedicine where possible, especially around screening. But also moving and canceling and delaying elective procedures. Thats tough because its always a question of what selective. There are things that is clearly elective, that you can reschedule. There are things you can get done but might be put off in a matter of weeks or months. But with all providers, we are in contact with them and working on how we can best manage the caseload during this crisis to make sure those have Critical Care needs unrelated to coronavirus can continue to have those, as well as the Surge Capacity for those who might need treatment, including oxygen or ventilators for coronavirus. [inaudible] gov. Polis what . [inaudible] gov. Polis orders . Thats one of the things were most worried about and thats white were why were taking Strong Social distancing steps to avoid the spread of the virus that overwhelms our ability to provide the last line of therapy, ventilators. Keep in mind, there many intermediate steps. Thats the most drastic, but oxygen treatment and other forms of treatment. So again, were focused on doing what we can to bend this at the curve to delay and epicurve to delay and slow the spread. Based on these actions, i cant guarantee our hospitals wont continue to be overwhelmed, btu best, rolling our out this Public Health guidance and orders. [inaudible] gov. Polis we are doing everything we can to acquire more ppe. That was the topic of my conversation with the Vice President yesterday at a staff level yesterday, really at every level, we are engaged in the conversation, looking at where else ppe resides in the state. And yes, many providers are looking at protocols for reuse or continued use, including sanitary ways of ensuring that the virus isnt spread. [inaudible] gov. Polis well, the numbers today are not overwhelming our health care system. As i mentioned at a Previous Press conference, the problem is were chasing a ghost. Were chasing where the virus was 710 days before. Its about where it is 710 days prior to exposure to hospitalization. Were worried about who is exposed three days ago, four days ago, especially before some of our additional social distancing measures went in, and we will be expecting additional caseload at the hospital the next few days. I want to keep the focus also on what people can do because people should get all this information, and they will, and were being as transparent as possible. But if you want to help, please visit helpcoloradonow. Org. Because most of us are healthy. A lot of us have needs. Bloodf you have time or to really help the state in crisis and save lives. So please visit helpcoloradonow. Org. Difficultiesnsing experiencing traffic difficulties, try again. I hope it is. I hope 10,000 of you are signing up. If that sick the if thats the case, try again in a couple hours. [inaudible] are expanding testing rapidly as we can. Private expert expertise. Blumberg. T kyle brown normally works at the division of insurance. Because of the lack of supplies, theres only three pieces of testing that needs to gear up. One is supplies, and that means testing supplies, but also ppe. The second is personnel, which we have deployed the National Guard around the logistics for testing to 50 nurses. They are engaged with that. The final is the processing, which i have very good news on. The Pilot Project through roesch is coming online. There is additional testing labs in the state that will be up and going in the days ahead. Remember, one of those limiting factors has been the majority of the processing. The vast majority has been lab requests, which have three to five day turnaround, and more like four or five or six day turnaround because we are not the only place sending them tests. Were very excited some of our providers, you see help, childrens, kaiser, the ones i know of, will have that ability for test processing in the state. In the coming days, id like to say, the worst case is weeks, but thats all coming online in the coming days or week, with many of those private test processing facilities here in colorado, which is absolutely radical, big difference critical, big difference between 24 hour diagnosis and five hour diagnosis. And the patients are being treated. Its not so much around the health. Its around conserving ppe. If a patient doesnt have it, you no longer have to take the same precautions and waste medical supplies. And also in terms of tracking the contagion in limiting the contagion, that 24hour turnaround is important. All these things are important, and thats why we are focused on scaling that. [inaudible] why not order every School District in the state closed . Gov. Polis so, all of the School Districts were headed there have been any incidents of the virus are closed. Thehey were to appear in district that remain open, they would be closed. We are looking at statewide social distancing measures. We want to set expectations with the schools. There will be additional actions in the area. The school might return this year. Its increasingly unlikely. Thats white district are turning to online and virtual education. There will be additional work out of the Colorado Department of education and us and guidance in this area. We want to make sure that in Person Learning is suspended in most, if not all of the state. That doesnt mean learning is suspended. We still have the teachers, the great staff, kids that need to learn, and we want to make sure they dont sacrifice a quarter of year, a third of a year of academic achievement, and they are ready for advancement to the next grade level, academically. [inaudible] gov. Polis one more thing on education, sorry, and for those of you that follow education, you know i am very supportive of accountability of the information that comes in from testing around where learning apps are, what successful strategies are, we are suspending all of those testing and accountability measures. Again, in a crisis, in an emergency, we can go without the fouryear. Again, that sets back our over all accountability work around schools that need help the most, taking a year off from that clock is a small price to pay in the scheme of things in the work that needs to be done of saving lives. Yes, continue. Say that again. [inaudible] gov. Polis so, again, were hoping folks step up and helpcolorado. Org. This is could they going to have a long economic tale. To reduce that, we need federal action immediately, getting money to people, whether its 1000 a month, 2000 or more, whether its helped specific to those in food services. Im for all of those things. Were going to be ramping up state work on relief the next few days, as well, but any large package would need to come federally. From the Public Health perspective, the data is still being gathered. I was state epidemiologist and medical team are giving updates every other day. The picture is changing but it encompasses all of those trajectories you likely read about, from best case to worstcase. Were doing what we can with aggressive social distancing, the additional Public Health work today, last week, next week, thats going to do our best to reduce trajectory of the virus, contagion in colorado, save lives, and limit the economic damage. [inaudible] gov. Polis what . [inaudible] gov. Polis yeah, well there was no central registry of ventilators. We certainly have a sense, as we find things up, were happy to share them. The major providers know what they have. I think there is no overall inventory of is some of the regional and Critical Care hospitals. They literally have to be asked and they would need to inform us what we have. Theres not a central registry. I think there should be fairly accurate estimates of ventilators presented to the press, if not today, then tomorrow. Though should be very accurate. They could be off by a few, but i think there will be a high level of confidence those will be close to the mark. [inaudible] gov. Polis well, there are three components that go into testing, and i would like people to sign up for helpcolorado now. Org. It will help with lead, if youre eligible with blood, if youre eligible, time, money, skills. There is important diagnostic work being done in the high country. We have a much higher rate of positives and some of the counties that have been the epicenter of the viral outbreak in colorado. Theres been additional social distancing measures taken. Some are being looked at for other hotspots that are being affected. Were doing our best with a limited Health Care Capacity that those areas have. We engagere trying to those areas to prevent further contagion. [inaudible] gov. Polis so, i would probably need to call my Legal Counsel for that. Keep in that desk keep in mind, denver is a city and county, not a traditional mayor. County Health Offices have that ability. I dont know whether statutory township mayor does off and. Offhand. I would just say all the social distancing measures that are applicable are being looked at, balanced with, again, how long can people endure them, sustain them . What is the effect on the economy . If there does have to be for some short period it of time, what is the highest leverage time to do that to limit the spread . Because we know that you cant, you can, you cant shut down everything forever. We dontpeople, again, know when there will be a vaccine or cure, but we have to make sure we have a way where theres complaints, social order compliance, social order, where people can help themselves. Colorado has been very aggressive in the social distancing measures. You can expect additional supplementation, as you have seen, every day this week. I believe youll see more in the coming days. The restaurants and the bars have closed. Additional effort is being done, both regionally in the areas that are hotspots, as well as statewide around, really, reducing the spread of this virus to the extent that we can. But i want to be clear, our responsibility is on people at the end of the day. Theres not really an ability to police if youre stupid and you have 30 or 40 or 80 people at your home. Maybe the neighbors will complain, but please dont be stupid. Engage in social distancing. The new guidance is more than 10 and up. State and local Law Enforcement is not going to be anywhere and everywhere. Is not something youre trying with. Getting away you are jeopardizing the lives of your friends and families and their relatives. Be smart. Socialized, but socialized virtually. Facetime, conference calls, use online applications that allow for groups of people to talk. Dont be dumb and think your getting away the something because cops are able to shut you down. Youre actually being really dumb because youre jeopardizing the lives of everybody attending that event, the very friends you care about. The thoughtful. I note be thoughtful. I know many congregations are going telefonica. Oftenchallenging because in these crises, after 9 11, if theres fires or floods, its the very times people want to come together in our communities of worship. But by the nature of this crisis, we cant have that physical proximity. This doesnt mean we cant have virtual proximity and we cant be closer to one another, but its going to have to be online, telephonic, engaging in conference calls, asking your place of worship whether accommodations are being made how they are conducting this. Please visit helpcoloradonow. Org. Well take one more question before we finish. [inaudible] gov. Polis they are exempt from these orders. Its under a different authority. We would have the same security with dia that we would with anywhere. The concern is the social distancing, right . If youre 68 feet from somebody, you are safe from everything we know. I really hope, and im confident, that if this is enduring for a longer period of time, that we have social distancing protocols that allow more and more businesses to operate. So again, in the short term, social distancing is likely to get more severe. But if this is going to be were were going to get through this, we need to figure out how to do social distancing. Normalcy is possible. The first step is the extreme social distancing. The orders from the last few days, the county and the work, but that second round of work will be how can we have as much normalcy as possible while without sacrificing the Public Health . That will mean how can we ensure and enforce adequate social distancing in dining and other establishments at a limited capacity. Were not there yet. We need to act now. We need to act boldly. But we need to figure out what is sustainable for weeks and months, from hearing the different trajectories from the likelihood of this. Please visit helpcolorado now. Org. I really expect almost everyone listening can either help with money, it might be five dollars time, or with particularly if you have the ability to help with childcare or other areas in need, or you re recently retired paramedic or nurseries willing to come back in the workforce, and with blood to make sure youre able to address the ongoing need for blood in the state. Now. Org. Pcolorado were going to get through this together. The days ahead are not easy, but there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. There will be a recovery on the health side and the economic side. In the meantime, lets all Work Together and show that true colorado strong spirit and making sure that we can help those most in need among us and save lives by thank you. Coming up tonight on cspan, President Trump and the Coronavirus Task force, with an update on the federal response to the pandemic. Then, speeches from the senate floor as they prepare to work through the weekend on a relief bill. And aflcio president Richard Trumka is our president is our guest on newsmakers, he talks about the impact of coronavirus on workers and what he expects ahead. Cspans washington journal, leave every day with news and policy issues that affect you. Coming up saturday morning, arthur evans, ceo of the American Psychological association, discusses stress and coping strategies during the coronavirus epidemic. And reuters correspondent David Shepherdson will talk about what