We are going over to the hill and having a lot of meetings. Financial, this is a medical situation, not a financial situation. The financial is nicely. I want to thank you for being here and update you on the progress we have made. In a week of extraordinary mobilization. Governors, mayors, and citizens are all working with urgency and ,peed toward one common goal which is saving american lives. We are in communication with foreign countries. 148 foreign countries. Can you believe that . You talk about a spread. You talk about a violent spread. In hundred 48 countries. Not even believable. It has been a week of National Action and Great National solidarity. People are getting along. We are getting along with republicans and democrats. Independents and liberals and conservatives. It is a nice thing to see. We are all one beautiful, big American Family and that is taking place right now. Last night i approved a major disaster coloration for the state of new york. I worked very closely with governor cuomo. This is the first time in our nations history that the president has used the stafford act to declare a disaster in response to a Public Health crisis. I am considering other areas where we may or may not be doing that. Working very closely with gavin newsom, governor of california and others. We may be doing the same thing depending on their needs. Depending on what they are asking for. It has been unprecedented action in new york and we had a tremendous federal response all over the country. I want to thank all of the people in the federal government and obviously in the state governments and local governments. We are working hard. Everybody is working hard. The people standing alongside me or working very hard, that i can tell you. We have also reached agreements with canada and mexico on new travel rules at our northern and southern borders to halt entry of the chinese virus while continuing trade and commerce. Weve had very good talks. Minister trego and today with president lopez over door obrador. Suspendrarily nonessential travel. We had a great conversation this morning. President of mexico. Our close cooperation with mexico and canada will keep our people healthy, keep their people healthy. Yesterday i had a call with 12,000 Small Businesses, representatives of these businesses. That is the engine of our country. People dont realize that. You read all about the big ones, but the Small Businesses are the economic engine of our country. I assured them that my men my administration is doing everything in its considerable power to support them and their employees. No one has ever done what we have done. Likewise, i had calls during the week with all sorts of representatives and systems, like the hospital system. He spoke to many of the Hospital Systems throughout the country. Nurses and doctors, presented to us representing hundreds of thousands of nurses and doctors. Shipnes and cruise companies. The business roundtable, which was fully attended, and it is all of the top ceos of our country and beyond. Are worldstyled businessmen. These are businessmen that control the Biggest Companies in the world. Many of them have taken hits and many of them are going forward. Their businesses have been great. Some have been very badly affected. Doing veryme are well. They continue to do well. Walmart is an example. Walmart,llon, head of really helpful to us. I assume they are doing pretty well because people are certainly buying more than even a clip at christmas. They doing incredibly. They put on tremendous extra staff. You dont have empty shelves. A lot of things have happened that are very good. Restaurants, grocery stores, all retailers literally, all of them. We spoke with the g7 leaders at length, which you know. We spoke to many of the governors, spoke to all of the almost all of the governors. More importantly, the religious leaders. We had a great conversation yesterday. The Vice President and myself, with the religious leaders of our country. Weve had a number of them during the course of the last two weeks. Yesterday we had a very significant call with the religious leaders of our country. I signed legislation providing American Workers with paid sick leave and paid family medical leave. At no cost to employers. And free testing for those who need it. The testing is going very well. The admiral speak to that. To passorking quickly additional legislation that will provide massive relief to Small Businesses and affected industries and give direct payments to our great workers and hardworking American Families there has never been anything like we are doing on the hill right now. Mitch mcconnell my chuck schumer. They are all up there. Nancy pelosi. They are all negotiating and everybody is working hard and they want to get to a solution that is the right solution. We also announced we moved tax day july 15, it is a big deal. Giving businesses and individuals extra time to file and pay without interest or penalties. So, we moved the date way back. Instead ofjuly 15 your traditional april 15. You will have a lot of time, but youre not going to have interest penalties for any kind of penalties by failing at that later date. Hud announced that evictions are suspended for the next 60 days. Hud, and head of carson, is going to say a few words. The department of an education will not enforce standardized testing. Requirement for students not fair to do that. So, we are waving matter. That. Theink it is only fair to students and the parents of the students. Ving interest and other things we are discussing right now on federal held Student Loans and directed borrowers to be able to suspend their payments without penalty for at least 60 days. We will be talking about Student Loans. They are under a great burden right now. We will be talking about that further. Waiving important elements on stupid Student Loans. I signed an executive order invoking the defense production act, giving us powerful new authorities to help states, cities, and hospitals procure needed supplies. There has been a clear call to action to the private sector. It has been amazing what has happened with the private sector. Sixth gear, i think. Helping to produce and supply ,uchneeded masks swabs sanitizers, ventilators, and everything else. Example, hanes. Great company. Great consumer kotten Products Company is retrofitting its Manufacturing Capabilities and large sections of the plants to produce masks. They are in that process right now. At my direction the fda has taken steps to make these Items Available for medical use right now. Is whatitingly timmy the fda has done to me is what the fda has done to possibly a very successful therapeutics, medicines that can help people that are already sick. Obviously, he knew about the vaccine and tony will discuss that later. The vaccine is moving along. Now,is something for right it is incredible. But the fda has done, and dr. Respectedhn, a highly man. He has been fantastic. He has only been here for a couple of months and he has gotten thrown into the swim of it. The fda has really moved mountains. They moved mountains to get approvals on things that maybe work. We will find out very soon. The card, which, this is an example where we are repurpose and alcohol. They went out and repurposed their whole reduction capabilities in arkansas, kentucky, texas, and West Virginia to make an sanitizers. It is a big difference. They have been unbelievable. Onir first delivery will be tuesday. It is going to go to various states. It is going to start a new york and they are going to work their way around. Are making a tremendous amount of hand sanitizer, at a very high level. We have activated the National CoordinationResponse Center to level 1. It is the nerve center of our government response to crisis and it is coordinating closely with our nations governors. Many of you were at the call yesterday with the governors. I think you can see the relationship. We have had numerous calls with governors. The relationships are pretty amazing. They are loving what we are doing and the coordination between the federal government and the governors, states, and even local has been pretty incredible. Administrator pete gaynor will soon be providing you with an update on the Centers Operations and fema has been incredible. Last week. Involved we have dramatically expanded telehealth, so americans can see. Doctor without leaving home now the ones who are using it are loving it. I think we are going to change the way our country functions medically, and probably in other ways because of what is going on right now. This will reduce the chance of infection and preserve Hospital Capacity. Every american has a role to play in defending our nation from this invisible, horrible enemy. It really is. It is an invisible enemy. We will be very successful. Hopefully sooner than people with thanks. We say, stay at home and save lives. It is a time of shared national sacrifice, but it is also a time to treasure our loved ones and take stock of what is most important. Of theto thank all incredible people of our country, the citizens of our and thewhat youve done way you are responding has been very special. Something that we will never forget. That the history books will never forget. We are going to have a great victory. We will be celebrating a great victory in the future. Now i will introduce our Vice President , mike pence, who has let the task force. I will tell you this. He has not slept much. Maybe a tiny bit. He has done an incredible job. Vice pres. Pence good afternoon. Thank you, mr. President. The White House Task force met today. We briefed the president on our latest recommendations. We continue, at the president s not a wholeo lead of government approach, but a whole of america approach. You heard the president share one inspiring story after another of the way the American People are responding. The American People are coming together. They are responding with common sense, compassion, and generosity. The advice ofding authorities and tens of millions of americans are putting into practice, 15 days to slow the spread. We are officially, mr. President , six days into our 15 days. As we look across this country, while we strongly support the decisions of governors and state where we have significant rake, we encourage outbreak, we encourage every american to listen. For every american, this is what you can do to make a difference over the next week and a few days to protect your health, protect your families health, but most especially slowly spread and the potential for the coronavirus to impact the most vulnerable. As the president said, we have almost been overwhelmed. At the outpouring of support from american businesses. President spoke yesterday to thousands of Small Businesses. We spoke to manufacturers yesterday. In fact, as the president indicated, the fda, in record time, just approved one manufacturer who will be producing hundreds of surgical masks in a matter of weeks. The pastors we spoke to, we want to thank all of the religious leaders. Making the hard choice to suspend services, to have online services, even while those ministries are continuing to support food ranks and come alongside food banks and come alongside the most vulnerable. One thing the president and i promised was to remind people that on the weekends you are not in the pews it is still a good idea, if you can, to go ahead and make that donation. All of the ministries are continuing to play vital role in our communities. The president and i are grateful that the American People are listening to state and local authorities and putting into practice all of the recommendations in the president s coronavirus guidelines. As you will hear in just a few moments, testing is expanding rapidly across the United States of america. State drivethroughs are expanding across the country. As you will hear, now more than an hundred 95,000 americans and more who have been symptomatic have been tested. That number does not include county hospitals or health care labs around the nation. Some 15,000 in number. Than 190,000 that have been tested, it is important to remember that only 19,000 have tested positive for the coronavirus. And goinue to urge state authorities to contact fema for all the latest developments and innovations in testing. Americans, asind dr. Fauci will emphasize, if you dont have symptoms, dont do a test. It is another way that the American People can make sure that we are preserving resources that are healthcare workers need to minister and support those dealing with the coronavirus and other illnesses. Willmoment pete gaynor detail the efforts at fema. Lead. E fema in the we are working closely, literally, hourbyhour through fema, processing requests from states most impacted like new york, washington state, and california. We will continue to work closely with those states through the very traditional means of federal Emergency Management at fema. Secretary carson will describe decisive actions the president alluded to. On the subject of supplies, in a moment he will hear of not only the progress were are making on testing, but on monday we will be detailing the progress we are making on the president s strategy of procuring more personal protective equipment and medical supplies. Fema andg them through continuing to urge conservation i americans. Im pleased to report to the president today that hhs just placed an order for hundreds of millions of n95 masks that will be made available to Healthcare Providers across the country. On behalf of the president we are our call for americans to postpone elective medical procedures. This is another way that you are going to make sure radical supplies are available. By postponing elective medical procedures you are freeing up medical surprise supplies. Our team is on capitol hill as we speak working with members of congress. They are making progress, by all accounts, on a bipartisan bill. They worked late into the night last night, started early this morning, and we are working to pass that legislation on monday in both the health and the house and senate. You may have been made aware that a member of my staff has tested positive. We learned of that late yesterday. I am pleased to report that he is doing well. He had mild, cultlike symptoms for about a day and a half. Has not been to the white house since monday. Neither the president nor i had direct contact with that staff person. We worked immediately with a white house physician and the cdc. Contact tracing. The white house doctor has indicated he has no bull no reason to believe i have been exposed. No reason to be tested. Given the unique position i have, both i and my wife will be tested for the coronavirus later this afternoon. Let me say again how grateful the president and i are that every american has acted on the president s coronavirus guidelines. We are six days into 15 days reflect,dr. Fauci may is an opportunity for us here on the footholds of this epidemic curve in our country, to literally lower the impact in our nation and save lives. Every american can do their part and we encourage you each to continue to do that. As the president says, we are all in this together. Also remember that, for most americans the risk of serious illness from the coronavirus remains low. The reason we want to put into practice the president s guidelines is because no american would want to inadvertently expose someone who is vulnerable. A senior with an Underlying Health condition, to the coronavirus. I did hear one story this morning about a senior. The Life Care Center in kirkland, washington. She is a great great grandmother. 90 years young. She tested positive for the coronavirus on march 6. By all accounts, she is doing well. She wanted america to know there is hope. Her strength and enthusiasm is an inspiration to the nation. As the president said, we are going to get through this. We will get through this as americans, together. Thank you, mr. President. Thank you. as i told you earlier last week, we are in the process of effectively transitioning to largescale testing by leveraging all of the components of the American Health care system. Cdc only. Arted it was then it was the state laboratories. Now we are transitioning into the mainstream of american testing. Currently, 91 Public Health laboratories, state Health Public laboratories, or up and running. In 50 states, the district of columbia, guam, and puerto rico. Cdc stateaccounts for Public Health laboratories and the laboratories that are numbers of the American Clinical Laboratory association. These are the main reference laboratories. It does not account for the over 10,000, 15,000 hospitalbased labs, many of which are doing testing, for whom we will get data this week. Over 195,000e, people in america have completed their testing. That means test plus results. This does not county people whose test is in process. This curve will continue to rise dramatically over the next. Of time. Again, this is utilizing all of the components of the great American Health care system. The state and local health care laboratories. Is hospital system, which not represented here, and the main reference laboratories. I want to make it clear that although testing is becoming more available and dr. Fauci will definitely emphasize this more, there are priorities for testing. Clearly, everyone should understand that those priority forare a testing. Symptomatic healthcare workers, for ob