In the north, lombardi, the medical system is all but overwhelmed. Too few hospital beds, not enough gowns, masks, a desperate shortage of ventilators. Youve seen whats happened and what continues to happen in italy right now. Yeah. Reporter dr. Maria raven is chief of emergency medicine at the university of californias San Francisco hospital. Youve got me on one gurney and youve got a 25yearold on another gurney. Youve only got one ventilator for the two of us. Who gets the ventilator . Thats a very tough question. I mean, i think the answer that we would use if we were to follow principles from a specialty like transplant is that people that have more life years might get the ventilator. But there are also many other sort of principles that could underlie the decision making. You know, you have to take into consideration underlying illnesses people might have and you have to take into consideration if there are other temporizing measures in one person you could use. You may not need a ventilator immediately. Reporter maria, maria, maria, youre tap dancing. All right. I mean, i cant this is a tough question. I mean, i dont want to necessarily speak for ucsf on this because i havent put out their guidelines yet. I mean, i think yeah, i think reporter im sorry to interrupt you. When are they planning to put out the guidelines . What are they waiting for . Well, any day the Clinical Group is working on them right now. Reporter these are terrible decisions to leave in the hands of doctors on the front lines, the ones actually treating patients. Now, there are certain situations relatively few, thank goodness, that are catastrophic events that entirely overwhelm our ability to do whats right. Haiti was one of those. Is emeng t alarm. Omirsc he is afraid that what he confronted in haiti in the aftermath of that countrys earthquake a decade ago, desperate shortages of medical supplies, equipment, personnel could soon face us here. And that was the same thing i faced when i was in haiti. Its about the most difficult decision that you can make. Reporter youre still choking up all these years later. Why . Good question. You know, youd think after ten years id be beyond that, but its again, its such a difficult decision. Reporter there are guidelines. New york state put out a massive thoughtful set in 2015. The italians have drafted a set bas based on their current experience. But every hospital follows essentially its own guidelines. Were trying to save the greatest number of lives possible, so in some cases these guidelines would really shift radically the way we work and put both patients and doctors and families in the terrible position of saying, we cant do what you would want. Reporter dr. Tia powell is director of bioethics at monday t montifior Medical Center in new york. Youll have three groups, maybe youll have a mild case you might feel miserable, but youre not in danger. The group that youre looking for in a hospital is the group that is very sick and that actually may die without Critical Care resources. But if we can get them those resources, they have a good chance of pulling through. And then the third group is the most unlucky. Thats people with a terrible prognosis, people for whom, even with Critical Care resources, the chance of surviving is terrible. Reporter im sure its not a term that you will happily use, but were talking about rationing. Its a form of rationing, yeah. And i agree, everybody tries to avoid that word, but i would actually like people to understand what may be coming. What we fear will happen, what is most likely to happen is that persons who are poor, persons who are racial ethnic minorities, are less likely to get ventilators than those who are wealthy and well connected. Reporter David Williams is a professor at the Harvard School of public health. And what makes it even more challenging is that the disadvantaged groups we have talked about, they are the ones who begin this process being more vulnerable, because they have earlier on set of disease. More likely toace chronic ongoing stressors in multiple domains of their life. So were looking at those most in need being most likely to be disadvantaged. We have to keep trying and doing things, so is it likely that people will die from lack of access to ventilators . Probably. Does that mean as an individual patient theyre likely to die . No, because were not going to quit trying. Reporter so i understand why youre fighting me on this. You dont want to let anybody believe that the medical community is just going to give up. And im not suggesting that you will. But i am suggesting in the strongest terms that we dont have adequate supplies to meet the likely demand. You dont think thats an unfair statement, do you . Given my knowledge of the situation, thats not an unfair statement. But im not a supply guy, im a doctor. Reporter do you think the public is adequately informed about no. No, i dont think that the Health Care Community is adequately informed. And i think, you know, experts have been working on this. But now it is really a realistic possibility and its a realistic possibility, not in a year, but soon. I never thought i would see this day. Were not quite there, but realistically, many, many Health Professionals are prparing to do just this. The overnight news will be right back. Heres another cleaning tip from mr. Clean. Cleaning tough bathroom and kitchen messes with sprays and wipes can be a struggle. Theres an easier way. Try mr. Clean magic eraser. Just wet, squeeze and erase tough messes like bathtub soap scum. And cakedon grease from oven doors. Ispoble sheets. Theyre perfect for icky messes on stovetops. In microwaves. And all over the house. For an amazing clean, try mr. Clean magic eraser, and mr. Clean magic eraser sheets. Thats a zzzquil pure zzzs sleep. Mmies contain a unique botanical blend, while an optimal melatonin level means no nextday grogginess. Zzzquil pure zzzs. Naturally superior sleep. Why wouldnt we expect our deodorant to dry in an instant . New degree advanced protection dry spray goes on instantly dry, for a cleaner feel. 72 hour protection in an instant. 72 hour protection you clean dishes as you cook, to save time and stay ahead of the mess. But scrubbing still takes time. Now theres new dawn powerwash dish spray. The faster, easier way to clean as you go. It cleans grease five times faster. On easy messes, just spray, wipe, and rinse. On tough messes, the sprayactivated suds cut through grease on contact, without water. Just wipe, and rinse. Get dishes done faster. New dawn powerwash dish spray. Spray. Wipe. Rinse. Senior citizens are the most vulnerable to the coronavirus, and thats gotten many of the nations 15,000 Nursing Homes on lock down. Many families feel torn apart. Meg oliver has the story. When i would visit with my kids, it was really the highlight of her day. Reporter alix handy lost her mother lona erwin a week ago. The great grandmother died from covid19 along with eight others at this nursing home. It was hard to not say goodbye. How hard was it to say goodbye . I can accept her passing away. But not saying goodbye is eating away at me. Reporter sunday morning 100 residents and staff tested positive at this tennessee rehabilitation center. Outside baltimore a staggering 77 seniors tested positive here. What we need to avoid is literally turning Nursing Homes into our chilling fields. Reporter nationwide longterm facilities house three times the number of patients hospitals do. Dr. Wasserman said we need to transform more buildings into Skilled Nursing facilities for seniors with covid19. If we push older adults out of hospitals and icus into Nursing Homes that will be overwhelmed, in three to four weeks the problem will be ten times greater. Reporter its a dire prediction families are worried sick about. Its kind of scary. You dont know what youre sending them into. Reporter kathys husband edward is recovering from the virus in the hospital. He was in a nursing home after suffering a brain injury and needs around the clock care. Im just really going to have to bring him home because i cant trust anybody. Reporter youve been married 40 years. Have you ever gone this long without seeing him . Never. I just cant imagine whats happening to him. And how hes being treated, and whether people are doing the right thing. Reporter im sure you want to be there by his side. I do, as a mother, i know how hard it is to see our childrens lives impacty covi, oronavg unprecedented resources and services to meet this challenge. I want you to know, that we are here for you. But i also have an ask for you. Please stay home to keep others and yourself healthy. Your actions can help save lives. And together, we will get through this. By now weve all heard the warnings, wash your hands. With soap, of course. Did you ever wonder where soap comes from . Jeff glor has our overnight news history lesson. Hands, washing hands reporter in the age of covid19 where ever you are, wash your hands. Reporter hand wishing videos have spread everywhere. Youre going to get some soap. Three pumps of soap. Why not . Reporter but to find the first evidence of soap use and production, you have to go back 5,000 years to ancient babylon, present day iraq. It was made then by mixing fats and oils with wood, ash and water. The french made the next great leap. A chemist and surgeon navid nicolas lablanc patented a soapmaking in 1791. Hungarian physician was the first to really push hand disinfection. You and i have a coat of armour that protects our bodies from the outside world. Reporter in the commercial soap we used to emerged in the 1900s, a process called batch kettle boiling. It was introduced, refined and sold to the nation by a stillgrowing industrial giant, procter gamble. Soap is nothing more than the salt of a fatty acid. It works because it breaks up oil and germs into small drops, which can be easily washed away. You, yes you, will love gentle ivory soap in this handy personal size. Reporter during and after world war ii, soap sponsorships of radio and tv serials in america became so common, people started calling them soap operas. The new wonder bar, camay. You make your own lye soap . Got to. You cant buy it in beverley hills. Reporter later thereas grannys lye soap in berley hill billies. Some possum renderings. Enough soap would blow up just about anything. Reporter and tylers paper street soap company, in fight club. Everyone has their favorite clip. What is this . This is reporter and cleansing process. Wlsrd, wet, lather, scrub, rinse and dry. Reporter but all soap made the right way works. A reminder that oldschoo methods can still help solve modernday problems. If you wash your hands the world will be a better place. Just wash your hands for 20 seconds. Its as easy as that. And that is the overnight news for this wednesday. Reporting from the cbs news studios in washington, d. C. , im kris an cleave. Captioning sponsored by cbs breaking news tonight deadliest day. The number killed by breaking news, deadliest day. The number killed by coronavirus in the u. S. Spikes, more than 700 in 24 hours. And these stunning pictures. Bodies stacked in refrigerator trucks as a tennis stadium becomes a hospital. And as we come on the air, those shocking models from the white house. The hundreds of thousands who could die and the guidelines to try and stop it. Emergency on board. The commander of a u. S. Aircraft carrier begs the pentagon to evacuate more than 4,000 sailors. Well ask thepandn