If you can see her, that is good. Welcome, everybody. 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. With sarah andrews, will be coordinated the state volunteer effort. She is the chief of staff at the office of Economic Development normally. Michelle barnes, mike johnson from Gary Community investments, one of our key Nonprofit Sector partners on this. We just rolled out yesterday our new coronavirus covid19 webpage that is on our governor site. It is covid19. 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 Accurate Information dynamically updated. We are moving away from just, here is an update once a day, to whenever we have information that we can make public, we want to make it public. That will be done on the 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. It will go up there. And again, any issues associated with too much traffic will be resolved in the coming hours and coming days. We have 183orning, positive cases, two deaths, 20 hospitalizations. I want to praise our team for scaling up and making colorado a National Leader in testing. I am also sad to announce our second fatality yesterday in one county, which also underscores our need to protect in particular our most Vulnerable People in their 70s, 80s, 90s, those with Underlying Health conditions. To be clear, everybody is at risk but there are higher risk factors for people with Underlying Health conditions and older coloradans. Yesterday, there was a positive covid19 case in a resident of a longterm care facility. As you know, weve taken significant steps around Nursing Homes and lunch are facilities and longterm care facilities regarding limitations on visitation and monitoring anyone who works there as well. And really, what we want to do today is urge everyone to do our part. A lot of people are asking what can i do . Most people are healthy, some are at home when they didnt plan to be, some are going to work in a full or 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 in that vein that have become part of the viral social Media Campaign doingmypartco, sharing stories about how they are doing their part. Its really been heartwarming to see what so many people are show bestelp practices 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. Its really important. I know that there is families hurting, and it brings a sense of comfort we are going through this together. We will get 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 businessman. Both 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 mile high united way, our 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 for those who have lost their jobs and are facing real difficulties. That number is going to grow. I want your help as well. Please visit www. Helpcoloradonow. Org. Whatever you can afford to do. Partners from various sectors have already stepped up to do their part. I want to thank the denver broncos. Ferry andthank ken his wife, denise. The Colorado Health foundation, amsterdam, wells fargo, many others. That information will be available to the press in terms of who is helping. We really hope that the rest of the corporate philanthropic corporate and Philanthropic Community 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. And to really have those resources to meet that very real need and a very real pain people are feeling, who have lost jobs, trapped at home, dont know what to do for their kids. That work will fall in three main buckets. Prevention, impact 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 who have been directly impacted, not the medical side. Directly impacted in terms of weather the storm. That means 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. Connecting for work, tele commuting, but also connecting socially. Support efforts to bring us together virtually. We also plan for the impact fund to help Small Businesses and of course the hourly and parttime workers and fulltime workers that are temporarily losing their opportunity to support their families. The impact fund will support behavioral health, which we know 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. Finally, 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 for medical supplies. If you would like to help, visit helpcoloradonow. Org. And i know that coloradans are not just financially generous. Not everybody is in a position to be financially generous. Ourre also generous with time and effort. We have been inundated with requests of people asking to help. We are launching our official volunteer effort at that website. If you cant donate money, please consider donating time. Sign up to volunteer at helpcoloradonow. Org. It will ask you about your skills and what you are able to do 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 particularly looking for volunteers to help at risk individuals in a wide variety of areas of support. It could mean health care assistance, it could mean food delivery, it could mean Mental Health wellness support. Child care. So much support we are going to need. If you are able to help financially, please do. 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 difficult time. Visit that website. Sign up to be a volunteer. We also need volunteer leaders, if you have experience managing or 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 for 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. Reported a have 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 cant experience a drop off in blood supply during this crisis. We want to clear up misinformation. Donating blood is safe. You should not be at all concerned about giving blood during this time. Again, while it is not needed for the virus treatment, it is needed for other issues which simply cant be crowded out because of coronavirus. People will not stop having their life threatened with other lifethreatening conditions. Please visit vitalin. Org. Also consider calling the other centers. We will have their phone numbers for you. They are in the press release. There is centers in Northern Colorado and elsewhere taking blood. Vitalint. Org to find where you can give blood near you. Thats what we need, donations, volunteers, and blood. I hope one of you have at least one of those three things. There are some people who cant give blood. If you can give blood, do. I know not everybody can give money come of course. If you can, give money. If you have time and a skill, we need you. A few more updates to share with you. We know that this crisis is about to put an enormous strain on health care and emergency workers. About 80,000 emergency workers have children under age eight. Without childcare, many workers will not be able to perform the jobs that are crucial to saving lives. A groupalled together of Early Childhood providers, advocacy groups, School Districts, and foundations to partner with the Colorado Department of Human Services to establish a system of Emergency Childcare for essential workers to make sure that lack of childcare is not holding back our Health Care Workers and First Responders and those that we need now more than ever before. Heres who qualifies. Health care providers and staff, doctors and nurses, yes, but it also means all hospital support staff, maintenance workers, janitorial staff. We are scaling up the childcare for you. It means Public Safety workers, firefighters, police, emt, correctional officers. Those who work in longterm care facilities, residential youth facilities, 24 hour Residential Care facilities, Mental Health facilities. For the first two weeks of this program, childcare will be provided to these workers on a sliding scale to make sure that people can afford it to access this benefit so we can retain our needed workforce. We hope to continue to offer this benefit based on our ability to fund raise and access federal funds. Both of those are occurring. It is one of the goals of the impact fund. I want to thank mike for really stepping up from Gary Community foundation to help spearhead this effort on both the Financial Planning piece and delivery piece. It is absolutely critical that at a time when we need First Responders on Health Care Workers and support staff the most, that people are not forced to stay home simply because their kid does not have a place to go during the day. For more information, please visit covid childcare colorado. Com. Coloradoanks to the department of Human Services, Gary Community investments, and somebody others that are working hard to put this effort together successfully and immediately. I know that yesterdays announcement, the closure of major gathering spaces, including food and beverage establishments, is already hitting Small Businesses, workers, the entire economy. I want to talk about that. We are making Unemployment Insurance available to coloradans dealing with the loss of wages due to that crisis. That is immediate. I know that the Unemployment Insurance system is experiencing a high load of claims. That website has been intermediated. People have gone through, they have registered. If youre experiencing trouble, try Early Morning or late at night when the load is lower. But we are working on scaling up that website so it can conduct more simultaneous transactions. Increase asaims to the virus takes a larger toll on our economy, not just in colorado, in america and of course, globally. We are shifting more of our workforce to assist in that area. Be patient. You are not losing eligibility just because you cannot get through to that website or call center at that moment right now. Try again, particularly during. The lower. Traffic hours. We also sent a letter to the small asking for relief for Small Businesses in colorado. We are specifically asking for the sba Economic Injury disaster loans in a number of impacted areas and we are continuing to press our federal delegation and the Trump Administration to do everything they can to make businesses whole here in colorado. We will be announcing additional steps around supporting workers and Small Businesses and economic relief. I also call upon our federal delegation to act immediately to pass relief measures. I strongly support efforts to put 1000 per month or 2000 or more in the hands of coloradans, as well as beefing up some of our social Safety Network this is the time to act 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 the last time i checked on the 10year tbill rate. Its the opportunity to deploy that money immediately to prevent 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 that we care deeply about and are focused on every day here in the state of colorado. I want to conclude by thanking everyone who is taking this seriously and more importantly again for taking this information in stride. With urgency, with importance, but not with undue anxiety or trepidation. Consider this hasnt even been two weeks since we got our first case here in colorado and look how quickly and drastically things have changed. Thing that is we took for granted just two weeks ago can no longer be taken for granted here in our state. We will get through this. We will return to good times. But were going to get through this together by talking by sharing by being prudent and by showing precaution not by letting anxiety and fear overwhelm us. How are we going to get through this together . I know theres serious Kitchen Table issues that many families are facing. Thats one of the reasons i called on the federal government to act to get some money out to families particularly those affected but all families that are suffering. I know were dealing with a Public Health disaster on the one hand and were dealing with a volatile Economic Situation on the other hand. Again, not just in colorado but nationally and internationally. I want to be clear, we have to address the Public Health issue and youll continue to see additional requirements and guidance 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 long term. 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 are going to be just fine. And were going to take the steps we need to avoid catastrophic loss of life for those who are in need in urgent care because of the covid19 by flattening the curve of the spread of the virus. 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 who we pulled into this effort and detailed into this effort and everyone involved with this effort are going to keep our 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 again ahead of this curve by taking the action wes took around restaurants and gatherings and other precautions in the next few days. I know that theres a social political piece as well meaning how long and what can people endure and yes an economic piece an economic piece now for families who need to put food on the tainl and an economic piece in terms of what we need to prepare for a robust recovery and well have more details in the coming days as well. Most of all i know that we will make it through this together. Thank you. And i would be happy to take some questions. [inaudible] 100,000 rapid test kits on friday but they need your approval to do so. Are you aware of this . And we want to scale up testing as fast as possible and i hope theyre not going today to get out of here dia to get out of here if you would connect us we would be willing to take 100,000 test kits and deploy those as possible. [inaudible] shelt anywhere place. Any discussion about shelter in place . 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 a number of steps that have been taken and you can expect additional steps in the coming hours and days. Some are being taken by county ealth dptsd because of some taking additional steps and some are being looked at for the state. [inaudible] statewide or [inaudible] were looking at every option to make sure that coloradoance dont lose their home or their housing or have additional instability during this crisis. Its absolutely critical. I think that again landlords know whats going on too here. They generally want to keep good tenants and generally know if their tenants are out of work for a month or two they need to work with them if they want to be able 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] are you inaudible] thats more than rural hospitals. Thats all hospitals are really doing a couple things. Using telemedicine where possible especially around screening but also moving and cansling and delaying elective procedures. Thats tough because its always a question of whats elective. Theres things clearly elective that you can reschedule. Theres other that is you need to get done but might be able to put off a matter of weeks or months. With all providers we are in contact and working on how we can best manage the caseload during this crisis to make sure that those who 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 and ventilators for coronavirus. How are we doing on [inaudible] what . How are we doing on the ventilators . We have thats one of the things that were most worried about why were taking these Strong Social distancing steps to avoid the spread of the virus that overwhelms our ability to provide the last line therapy thats ventilators and keep in mind theres many intermediate steps the most drastic but oxygen treatment and other forms of treatment. So again were focused on doing what we can to bend this epi curve to delay and slow the spread. To prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed. Based on these actions again as weve seen in other places i cant guarantee that our hospitals will be overwhelmed but were doing our best in a timely, specific, well orchestrated matter rolling out these guidance and orders. Inaudible] we are doing everything we can to acquire more ppe with the topic of my conversation with the Vice President yesterday at a staff level yesterday. Really at every level we are engaged in that conversation where else it 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. Taukt talked about [inaudible] 183 coronavirus cases. What is your perspective on these numbers . Health care professionals . S it less, more than what we expected . 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 710 days from exposure to hospitalization, sometimes even longer. So what were worried about who is exposed to the virus three days ago, four days ago, especially before some of our social distancing measures went in. And we will be expecting additional caseload. I want to keep the focus on what people should do. People should get this information and they will and were being as transparent as possible. But if you want to help, please visit help colorado now. Org because most of us are healthy. A lot of vuss needs but some of you have the ability with time or financial or your blood to be able to help the state weather this crisis and save lives. Please visit help colorado now. Org and sign up. If the website is experiencing traffic difficulties write it down and try in an hour or two. I hope its experiencing traffic difficulties because i hope 10,000 right now are signing up. If thats the case please try again in a couple hours. [inaudible] testing essentially [inaudible] we are expanding testing rapidly as we can. We have pulled private sector expertise. We just inserted matt into our command structure coordinating the scaling. Because of the lack of supplies theres only three pieces of the testing that need 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 logistics for testing the 50 nurses have hit the state and are engaged with that. And the final is the processing which i also again have very good news on its gearing up quickly. The Pilot Project through roshe is coming on line with uc health. Theres additional testing labs that will be up and going in the days ahead. Remember one of those limiting factors on the processing has been the majority of the processing vast majority has been lap corps and quest which have three day turn around and its more like even sixday turn around were not the only place sending them tests were very excite that had some of our providers, uc health, childrens, kizer, the ones i know of that will have that ability for test processing in the state. In the coming days i would like to say i guess worst case is weeks but i know thats all coming on line very likely in the coming days or week with many of those private test processing facilitieses here in colorado, which is absolutely critical. Big difference between 24hour diagnosis and fiveday. And its not just around the health. The patients are being treated. Its not so much around the health but around conserving ppe. If a patient doesnt have it you no longer need to take all those same precautions and there can be protocols that dont waste medical supplies. And also in terms of tracking the contagion and limiting, that 24hour turn around is so very important. These are very important thats why we are focused on scaling that. Why did you order all restaurants and bars closed . Why not order every school and church close snd all of the School Districts where there have been any incidents of the virus are closed. We have issued guidance around closure if the virus were to appear in any of the School Districts that remain open they would need to close. re looking at the statewide social distancing. There will be additional actions. While its possible that school might return this year its increasingly unlikely. Thats why districts are turnings to online and virtual education. There will be additional work out of the Colorado Department of education and us and guide innocence this area. But we want to make sure that just because inperson learning is suspended in most if not all of the state that doesnt mean learning is suspended. We still have teachers, staff, kids need to learn and we want to make sure they dont have to sacrifice a quarter of a year, third of a year of academic achievement and theyre ready for advancement to the next grade level academically. I have one more thing on education. We did suspend for those who follow education im slr supportive of accountability of the information that comes in from testing around where learning gaps are, what successful strategies are to reduce the achievement gaps. We are suspending all of those testing and accountability measures. Again, in a crisis, in an emergency we can go without that for a year. While, again, that sets back our overall accountability work around improving the schools that need the help the most taking a year off from that clock is a small price to pay in the scheme of things for the work that needs to be done around social distancing and aving lives. Clearly [inaudible] months, year. [inaudible] how long again were hoping that folks step up and help colorado now. Org, blood, time, money, whatever youve got we need it. The more we come together the more we help. This is going to have a long economic tail. To reduce that we need federal action immediately getting money to people whether its 1,000 a month or 2,000 or some proposals that are more whether its help specific to those in food services. Im for all of those things. Were going to be amping up our own state work relief. But any large package would need to come federally. We strongly support that. From the Public Health perspective the data is still being gathered. Our state epidemiologist and medical team are giving updates every day, every other day. The picture is changing but it encompasses from best case to worst case. Were doing what we can with the aggressive social distancing, the additional Public Health work today, last week, next week, to reduce the trajectory of the virus clfment tagen in colorado. Save lives and limit the economic damage. [inaudible] what . Already ventilators. [inaudible] how many ventilators, working on that right now. Are you concerned about the fact that we dont know how prepared we are or not more than [inaudible] and what can be done . There was no central registry of ventilators. We certainly have a sense and as we find things out were happy to share them. Major providers no what they have. I think what theres no overall inventory of is some of the regional and Critical Care hospitals that they literally have to be asked and need to inform us. Theres not like a central registry. But i think there should be a fairly accurate number presented to the press if not today then tomorrow and those should be very accurate. They could be off by a few but i think there will be a high level of confidence that those estimates will be close to the mark. With hospitals have what they need are you considering moving tests from areas like [inaudible] well theres three components that go into testing. I would like people to sign up now. Will help with blood if youre eligible, with money if you have it, with time and skills if you have it. Please help with all those things. There is important diagnose stick work being done in the high country. We have a much higher rate of positives in some counties that have been the epicenter of the viral outbreak in colorado. Theres been additional social distancing measures taken. Those are being looked at for other hot spots and were doing our best with the limited Health Care Capacity that those areas have were trying to aggressively engage in social distancing in those areas to prevent further contagion. Any anticipate calling for shelter in place in the next 4872 hours . Inaudible] i would probably need to call my Legal Counsel for that. Denver is a city and county not a traditional mayor county Health Offices have that ability. I dont know whether statutory township mayor does offhand. I would just say that all of these additional social distancing measures that are applicable are being looked at. Balance 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 of time a shelt anywhere place whats the highest leverage time to do that to limit the spread . Because we know that you cant you cant shut down everything forever. And when people again we dont know when there will be a vaccine or a cure but we have to make sure we have it in a way where theres compliance, social order, twr people can support themselves. And so looking from a Public Health perspective first colorados been very aggressive in the social distancing measures. You can expect additional supplementation as you have seen every this week every day. Youll see more in the next coming days. The restaurants and the bars have closed. Additional effort is being done both regionly in the areas that are hot spots as well as statewide around really reducing the spread of this virus to the extent that we can by limiting social distancing but i want to be clear that responsibility is on people at the end of the day. Theres not really ability to police if youre stupid and you have 30 or 40 or 80 people at your home. Maybe the neighbors will complain and maybe the police will come out but please dont be stupid. Engage in social distancing. The new guidance is no more than ten and up. Your local Law Enforcement is not going to be everywhere and anywhere. Its not something youre trying to get away with. Youre jeopardizing the lives of your friends, family and relatives. Socialize but socialize virtually. Call your friends clrksfrens calls, use the online application that is allow for groups of people to talk. Dont be dumb here and think youre getting away with something just because the cops arent able to shut you down. Youre actually being really dumb if thats what youre doing because youre jeopardizing the lives of everybody attending theevepbt the very friends you care about. So be thoughtful. I know many faith congregations are. Their ministries are converting to online and digital and telephonic. I had a call with faith leaders and it is particularly challenging because often on these crises after 9 11 if theres fires or floods the very times when people want to come together in our communities of worship and fellowship, but by the nature of this crisis we cant have that physical profment. That doesnt mean we cant have virtual prosmimty and cant be closer to one another but its going to have to be online or telephonic, calling your friends, engaging in conference calls, asking your place of worship about what accommodations are being made and theyre being very responsible about how theyre conducting this. So please visit help colt colorado now. Org. Well take one more question before we finish. [inaudible] a lot of comments [inaudible] dia small restaurants being asked not to allow dining yet airport restaurants allowing to do that. Could you explain why . Dia is exempt from these orders. It is under a different authority. We would have the same concern with dia that we would have with anywhere. The concern is the social distancing. If youre six to eight feet away from somebody you are safe from everything we know from the medical side about the viral transmission. I really hope and i am confident that if this is enduring for a longer period of ime that social distancing protocols to allow more businesses to operate. In the short term likely to get more severe youll get additional guidance. But if this is going to be endured we need to figure out how to accurately and correctly do social distancing while allowing as much normalcy as possible. The first step is the extreme social distancing the orders ost last few days. But that second round of work will be how can we have as much normalcy as possible while without sacrificing the Public Health. And 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 also want to figure out whats sustainable for weeks or months hearing the different tra ject riss of the likelihood of this. Please visit help colorado now. Ork. I really suspect that almost everybody listening might be able to help with money, 5 or 500, or with time particularly if you have the ability to help with child care or other areas in need or youre recently retired paramedic or nurse. And with blood if youre eligible to give we need to make sure that were able to address the ongoing need for blood that safse lives every day here in our state. 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 help side and economic side. In the meantime lets all Work Together and show that true colorado strong spirit in making sure that we can help those most in need among us and save lives by continuing to prevent the spread of the virus. Prup and the White House Coronavirus task force held a briefing on the government response to the nationwide outbreak. I had a very good telee conversation, extremely good with senator schumer a while , ago. We are working on various elements of the deal. The democrats are wanting so President Trump thank you very much. I had a very good telephone conversation, extremely good, with senator schumer a while ago. We are working on various elements of the deal. The democrats are wanting something to happen and the republicans likewise are wanting something to
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