Never give up. Woodruff welcome to our pbs newshour special, confronting im judy woodruff. A virus none of us can see with the naked eye has turned our lives upside down in ways we couldnt imagine just a few weeks ago. Most of us are anxious because so much has changed so fast;ec frightenedse so much is unknown. Knowing that, we decided to try to address some of your concerns. Over the past we, weve collected your questions, and, experts to answer many of them. F they cover your own personal alth, the economy, and h prepared we are as a country for this threat. Te well also hear from dr. Anthony fauci of the National Institute of allergyct and inus diseases, probably the most respected voice in the nation right now. But to begin, a look awe got here. Its all over the world. Its incredible whats happened in such a short period of time. Oodruff only a few months ago, the disease now known as covid19 is believedo have originated at one seafood and poultry market in the city of wuhan, china. In late decemb, Health Officials in that city began reporting dozens of cases of pneumonia with no known cause. The Chinese Government was slow toisclose the extent of th outbreak, but officials soon identified a new flule respiratory virus belonging to the family of coronaviruses, named for the crownlike spikes on their surface. Weve been expecting a Novel Coronavirus to emerge for the wst 15 years. Druff peter daszak is a zoologist who s spent years studying how diseases spread from wildlife to humans, andsp lookinifically at coronaviruses. Virus that causes d19 isatthe one e found inats in 2013. And there are hundreds of other coronaviruses that are very closely related to this one. Woodruff there are seven known types of coronavus that can ctur fo cause mild symptoms each year, like the common cold. Another is severe acute respiratory syndrome, or sris, which alsonated in china in 2002 and ha8,since infected 0 people around the world, killing abt 10 of them. Yet another is middle east respiratory syndrome, or mers, which bre out in 2012 and 2013 in saudi arabia, infected nearly 2,500 and kill more than 850, 1ats about 35 death rate. This one, cov has a much lower mortality rate, but still at least ten times higher than the season flu. So, its lethal, and it also spreads very easily. Woodruff the virus appears to pass through droplets in the air and on surfaces. Children seem less susceptible to covid19, and the majority oe le recover without hospitalization. But its especially dangerous for older adults and those with Underlying Health problems. E th currently no available vaccine for covid19. C the answer taining is we cant rely on a vaccine in the next several months to a year. Woodruff after covid19 spread in wuhan in january, chinese officials began drastic measures to contain it building temporary hospitals to isolate cases, forcing people into quarantine, and even separating family members. But by midjanuary, thrgworld healthization reportedha that covid1escaped china, first to thailand, japan and south korea, and thend. The United States confirmed its first case in washington state, and with cases growing around the globe, by the end of the month, the w. H. O. Declared a Global Health emergency. The main reason for declaration is not because of what is happening in china, but because of what is happening in other countries. Woodrf yet, early on, President Trump consistently downplayed the threat from the virus. We have it totally under control. Looks like by april. You know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away. Hope thats true. E risk to the American People remains very low. Woodruff but isoon became clear the u. S. Wasnt doing enough testing to understand how ickly it was spreading here. We cannot stop this pandemicw if we dont kn is infected. Woodruff as more cases were confirmed, schools and businesses closed, markets plunged, and, late last week, President Trump announced a National Emergency and changed his tone. Its not a good situation. And im not even talking about the economy. Im talking about the lives of a lot of people. Woodruff but as testing ramps up and huge parts of the country are shutting down, theres concern about whether its too late to prevent a crush at the nations hospitals, and iran. Already seen in italy meanwhile, in china, it appears that the drastic measures taken by the government are working; officials there say new infections have slowed dramatically. And two months after tok action, restrictions are being lifted, even as the full scope of this pandemic remains unclear. Im joined tonight by my newshour colleague, amna nawaz. She is going to walk us through the wide range of questions weve received from viewers across the country. Amna, youve been hearing a lots ries about how americans are coping. Nawaz thats right, judy. Before we turn to thos questions, we nt to share some personal stories from some of our viewers, telling us how covid19 is impacting their lives and their health. First, a california man who was under quarantine after testing positive for the virus. Then, a new york woman who is sick but cant get tested. Im quarantined inha. Ldman. Im theresa macph brooklyn, new york. Not allowed to go outside my door. Ionly allowed to answer m door with a mask on. I started feeling unwell on february 2 my fd to 102. 5. Kepieveri nt to the e. R. Here in brooklyn and was tested for flu and strep but was nod. Tested for co i was simply sent home for quarantine. Theyre only testing people who are very, very severe or extremely at risk, neither of which i am. De the mental f this definitely has added to the stress. When my wife returned two weeks ago to santa clarita, she never ago to santa clarita, she never d thviru retned san arit andeoplstilwere shunning her. Its really incredible that i havent been able to be tested. If i had known if there had been a way to get early, an eas testing and i do have covid. And, again, its unclear if i do t ve it. Ving that knowledge would have saved me from maybe five or six days of unnecessarily exposing people around me. He i thinkardest part for me is being able to get back to nature. Or just even stepping outside esh aiorlong lng ath ur wlsmy rm. Nua foawe azmio sincfre setendia video, we should mention carl has been freed from quarantiom. Hesand doing well. But both stories raise concerns we heard from a numberr viewers, so we have two experts here to address them now. Dr. Ana wen is an emergency physician and Public Health professor at George Washington she previously served as baltimores health commissioner. And dr. William schaffner is a professor of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt Universitys hool of medicine. Thank you to you both for being here. I want to jump right in to some of these questions because weve sure got a lot. s hene now from rachael stillwell, 52 yores old from woodland hills, california. Ta laseen to her questions. What advice can you give to me about how to politely convince my 76yearold mom who lives in oregon and has ery active social life that she should curtail some of her social activities with her friends that shes used to seeing almost every day . Reporter weve heard this from the federalovernment, social distancing especially for members of the vol memorable population, what do you say to rachael . I would say this your health and others around you. For your health because older people and those are chronicne medical iles are in the vulnerable to covid 19, and also this is for other people, too,we becaus know the best way, the only way at this point to reduce the spre of covid 19 is to socially distance. That doesnt mean you have to be emotionally distant, but to be physically distant from other people. This is for everyone in our society to improve their health during this critical time. Snoo dr. Schaffn, whats your advice for her . Very similarand its time for facetime rather than cetoface. We dont want to spread the virus and we dont want to acquire the virus, and the wayot to do that is to be in groups, not to be in facetoface comnication with our friends. And all we can do is hope they listen. I want to go to another question gw. Dr. Schaffner, ing to ask you to respond to this first. From bill christianson, who is asking about a different segment of the population and what we know about coronavirus and covid 19. Williamsberg, virginia. On from i understand children who are exposed to covid 19 are much less likely to have serious illness. Id like the know if large poaplations of children pe in italy or china have been tested to determine ifthey have been exposed and, if they have, in fact, become carriers of the disease. Dr. Schaffner, what do we 1ow when it comes to children and cov well, were learning much more about children. Children ca in becofected, they dont get the seriouse dise they may get a milder illness or have no illness at all but its becoming apparent they are good transmitters of the virus as with ieyfluenza, so an distribute it amongst themselves persons who may, indeed, have these chronic underlying conditions or, beca age, be more vulnerable. Doctor, does that mean children will not get severely ill from the virus . Actually, we are learning new information about this every day because this is a new ilness, and new research is coming out. It appears, based on the studies that, in china, children dont get seriously mill as dr. Schaffner mention, hover, there are new studies that show Young Children under one year of age could get and dt get crally ill. So it is important for us to keep on monitoring and to member that all of us are sus susceptible to covid 19. No one is immune. This is a new disease and theres no vaccine, so thats why prevention is what we have to take into account and into our own han dds. Schaffner, were getting new information about the fact that, here in the u. S. , there have been increased nuber of hospitalizations for younger members of the population, not this vulnerable, older population we keep talking about. What should we take away fr that information now . I t ihiotves s this virus that can te a young person and put them in the hospital witn 48 hours its a serious infection and,nd behat, you know, they can be transmitters to older people. So this is a message for the young people in our communities to get with the program and, also, participate in social distancing. Reporter dr. Wen, whats your takeaway from that information today . I complety agree with drschaffner that this is none of us are immune from covid 19. We should take this extremely seriously. Young pele are getting sick, just as older people are, and this is a situation that we can all prevent Going Forward by reducing the rate of transmission and, ideally, keeping up with social distcing, so as to stop the spread here in our communities. Mu and because there is sh we dont know, we fielded a lot of questions about transmission, about how people can get it. One, from a woman i seattle, washington, stay stacy, says hog does the virus remain trance missable on various surfaces . Affect its viability . Umidity dr. Wen, what do we know . We know that the virus lives potentially for a long time, depending on the type of surface. So hard, nonporous surfaces liko rknob, an elevator button virus could live between hours to days, depending on the other conditions, like humidity and temperature. Porous sfaces, soft surfaces like hair and clothes, the virus lives for orter period of time. This is why, though, we need to practice rlly good had hygiene because we know that were going to be touching many surfaces. Touching things, but we can wash and water, red touchg ofh soap our face and also disinfecting surfacesround our house as well. Reporter i want to play a question fro66m deborahears old, in minneapolis, minnesota, and she wantto know whwe know about potential longterm effects of covid 19. Take a listen. If someone recovers from covid 19, will they have longterm lung damage . Reporter we knny people may get sick, we know the vast majority will recover. Dr. Wen, do we know what the longterm effects are . I you become very sick from covid 19 and end up with pneumonia and on a ventilator, you do have lung damage and that could be permanent, but we do know that the vy st major people will have mild symptoms, mild illness, willecover and likely develop immunity to it in the future. Eporter haffner, i ask you to give advice, people want to know, with regards to their own personal health and the health of everybody around left, what can they be doing now to help other people . Well, the most thing the most important things u can do is reach out to people who are sequestered at home, hep them get their groceries, their medication, actually communicate with them through facetime, keep up theiir spts, and remind them that what theyre for everyone else around them. Nd were all in this together. Helpful information. Bly thank you to both of you for being with usoday, dr. William schaffner and dr. Leana wen. Thank you toour questions as well. Well have more later in the showh for tips ont you can be doing now to protect yourself from covid h9,eres some tips from the cente for Disease Control. Centers for Disease Control and prevention. Ed. Nawaz the pandemic is not just a health crisis; its also triggered an economic crisis, and its already having a major impact on our jobs, our finances, and our futures. As the fears and uncertainty around covid19 spread, Financial Markets have been left reeling. Wall street crashed again, sth the dow jones industr falling. Freefalling nearly 3,000 points, or 13 points the most in 30 years. Aw just one month ago, wall street was trading at record highs. Today . Vo tility is the new normal. Trillions of dollars of market value have been wiped out, and fears of an approaching recession are growing. Nawaz u. S. Stocks are now recent peak in febary. Soir of the hardest hit industries . Airlines and tourism. Major carriers like american airlines, delta and united have been dealt a staggering blow and are asking for an immediate 50i ion injection of Financial Aid to avoid bankruptcy in theng coonths. U in the. S. , several states have ordered bars and restaurants to close, leaving millions of workers uncertain about the future. Im really concerned about how im going to pay my bills. Naz that concern is spreading as layoffs and umfurloughs begin across ar of sectors. Ford, g. M. And fiatchrysler have a temporarily closed u. S. Plants. And as governments ask americans to avoid any gatheriten people or more, life in america as we know it is changing like never before. All that means amusement parks like disney world shut down. Major Music Festivals and urs cancelled. Professional and College Sports on hold. Ve we have notseen a shock like this since 9 11. Nawaz the u. S. Government is working to pass billions in aid, assistance and loans. De the fel reserve, in coordination with Central Banks around the world, slashed Interest Rates to zero in a t desperate effoshore up the financial system. But the deep and suctural shocks to the Global Economy are just beginning to befrom what experts call the worst Public Health crisis in a century. Lets talk now about those shocks and what they mean today and down the line. Joining us from chicago, austan goolsbee. He was the cir of president obamas council of economic advisers and is now an economics professor at the universitof chicago. Here with me is michelle singletary, a personal finance columnist for the washington post. Thanks to both of you for being. I want to jump into the questions because people are wrried. Austan, i want you to meet lnda elkin, a 70yearold retiree fr st. Louis, missouri. Heres her first question. Im retired and my pension is sinking like the titanic right now. Ishere anything the government can do toelp retirees . Reporter austin, what about that . Help coming for people like linda . Well, yes and no. Look, as we go through a perio like this and the stock market is down and then up a little and down some more, the government is now talking about shortrun relief that theyre going to send checks out to potentially every american or a lot ofl americans or americans below a certain income level, it will than a payroll tax cut would not paying payroll tax, but is think, in a moment like this where the virus has taken over and the economys in lockdown, virus economics arent the same as regular ecnomics, as i say. Things are trying to protectt your health, the governments got to try to slow the spread of this virus, and wevegot to just make sure we donrph what is a shortterm intense dont morph it into some that we longrun depressionlike entity. Reporter michelle to that point, a different question from ppoi differently. A fey rachael kabagabu, 26 years old and lives in texas. She wants to know about herfu re. Is it wise to change my investing . Should i be concerned about whetr i am putting my money in . Should by taking money out to have the stock market . What should i do concerning mype onal finances . Reporter in all this volatility, how does someone p like rachaocess that . The good thing is shes got youth on her time. Shes got decades before retirement, so i would encourage her to continue to ivest her retirement because, right now, unfortunately for those of us o are closest to retirement, stocks are on sale, equities are aon salend shell get more for her money. Make sure that as shes investing shes diversified but i could say continue to go ahead. Right now at this moment, it but it will end. Even if it take, were going to find a vaccinepe lly, and things will start to slowly recover and all thatth money, evenugh its scary now, will start to increase, because thats how marts hav done historically. Even the Great Depression ended. Reporter on that point, austan, i have a questionom fr diana in north carolina, sthoapts know she wnts to know how long it will go. Are you as optimistic as michelle is . I would say yes, overall. What i would say to diana is, whenoure in an environment like this, its not just have we, society, the nation, can d things to prevt this thing from turning into a longrun Great Depressionlike catastrophe, andhis starts with the health aspect. Weine got to inves slowing down the spread of the virus. The thing thats killing the economy at this ment isthat were in lockdown. It doesnt mean we should just declare that its not a lockupdo t. It does met if you follow the lesson, say, of south kor where theyre doing extensive testing so if you lea your house theres a low chance youre just going to bump into many people who dont have he virus and dont know it yet, the only people goi into lockdown are people who have tested positive. Weve got to move to that, otherwise, i dont think the nre relief where we hd you money to cover your bills is vitally important, but thats not a solution, its just burning youroney to keep yourself warm. So weve gt to get on aath to get out of lokdn. Otherwise, this thing could last a lot longer. Butm pretty optimistic that, if we start doing the right approach, that we could gt out of lockdown the way some other countries have been able to. Reporter in this moment, re hearing from so ny people who live paycheck to paycheck who are already losing thr jobs. Ill play something for you from alexa coupens, lives in denver, colorado, works as a concert bartender and expresses this anxiety and worry we hea from a lot of people. Take a listen to her now. I cant sleep. Theres so much anxiety, i cant sleep. Im having nightmares. Kn i don if im going to have a roof over my head next month. D im not scared of getting sick. Im scared of losing my apartment. Were drowning. We need a lifoat. Want to work. Reporter michelle, tarre a lot of people like alexa out there. What can you tell her right now . Well, i wish i could tell her more. Of us are going through it atall the same time, so be in constant contat with your lndlord. Everybody is going through this. So its unlikely theyre going to evict her. So shes got several months before thats going to be an issue. So i would say that shes still going to have a roof over her head. M pretty sure about that. Cut wherever she can nonessential expenses, and en just hunker down and just know that this, too, shall pass. She should file for unemploent right away so that theres some, and then that moneywill help her pay for the essential things. Right now, focus on the essentials food, utilities and gain, talk to your landlord. Utility companies probably wont turn off your power, so those things will help the reporter austan, another question from a lot of people, very briefly, if you canthey want to know, when the federal government acts we hear about the blout money that could be coming how can we be sure its going into the right hands, hands, i. E. , the pocketso have the American People . Thats the important par ep calling your congress people, the president , the white house. You saw the last caller, the anxiety and not being able to eep, its very common, and people like that need to be rescued before were going to rescue whatever, casinos and airlines and businesses. It is, lf we do noearn the lesson of the financial bailoutf 008, which is, if youre going to save companies, put in some requirements and make sure that they are looking out for their customers and for their workers. Theres going to be a backlash very similar to the e that we had before, but its going to be bigger and worse because people are reallyafraid for their positions right now. A lot oworry and unrtainty the. Austan goolsbee and michelle singletary. Thank you. And thanks to all of you for your questions. Confronting coronavirus means not just examining where americh is now buw countries around thworld are facing this global atndemic. And s where judy picks up things next. Judy . Woodruff what began in china has now spread around the globe. If youve lost count, covid19 now infects more than 170 countries and territories, with more confirmed cases and deaths every day. Outside of china, among the firsthit was south korea, which has managed to slow the virus spread through national effort. The same cannot be said for italy, which now has the most cases outside of china. For a look at how each of theseo tries is responding to this crisis, we turn to special coespondents in those countries patrick fok in beijing; Bruce Harrison in seoul; and Hermione Kitson in italy. We welcome all of you to our spectl. Let me stith you, patrick fok. Tell mthow china has dealt wh this from the beginning and is there a sense theyre begi to get it under control . Well i think, judy, the best way of describing e sittion right now is its incredibly unceneain. The headpiece of news today, of course, is there were no new domestic cases of infection. Thats a massive step for cha to take. But, on the flip side, thereed were 34 impoases of the disease. That may not sound like an awful lot in the granscheme of things, whenou think of the tens of thousands of people across china that have been fected over the past several months, but, remember, just a day before, there were onl new cases of infection, so imported cases really is the situation that authoritins are grapplwith a lot right now, and the focus is shifting away from wuhan, the epicenter to have the viruor to majities like in beijing and shanghai, where most of those imported cases of infection are arriving and president xi jinping chairing a special covid 19 meeting on wednesday and said there was a real risk of th outbreak rebounding at this point. Woodruff patrick, is the government acknowledging what was done right an was done wrong, and do you believe them when they sa this is tapering off . Well, the Central Government really hasnt accepted an awful lot of blame for this. From the beginning, it blamethd as being the fault of provincial leaders, provincia leaders of hubei province, and its really portrayed the Central Government as having come in and ceaned up the mess, essentially, and in recent daysd its portrhis as being a victory of sorts saying they have essentially reversed the spread of the virus and almost won the battle against the but that is why this is such a critical time for beijing because, if the is a second ve of this outbreak, there will be nobody to blme, at this point, and there is a lot of frustration among the people of china. They are fed up with the wsituation, they are fed th lockdowns. They want this situation to be over. Woodruff patrick fok in thank you so much. Now to south korea, to seoul, and to Bruce Harrison. U so, bruce, korea seems to be one of the rare Success Stories in all of this. Tell us how theyve done it, how have they managed to bend the curve and is it actually working . Judy, a strong sign the public believes the govternm working is evident ton streets tonight in this neighborhood. You can see a lot of people out having dinner and drinks, and that wasnt the case here just a seemed far from control. But the governments done a good job building the publics confidence, and one of the main ways its done that is through facing, tracking and isolating. So its finding people it believes may have the coronavirus,esting them and quickly getting them into isolation, whether a homat quarantine o hospital, to make sure they dont get more sickusnd spread the vi further. An important part of that asp is that they interview these people, they find out where they have been and who they have been in contact with, so it leads to more testing down the road. Another key part othe effort here has been communication. I get several Text Messages a day from the government telling me where new cases have been confirmed in seoul. That allows me to know where not go, or if im going somewhere to be a bit more cautious, andes all efforts are Building Trust in the government. The public here has been quite good at the guidelines the government has laid out, whether guidelines on washing hands, Wearing Masks on public transportation, all these things seem to be working to further prevent the spread of covid 19. Woodruff and, bruce, how concerned are people, though, about whether theres going to be a second wave, whether thioi is to linger and come back . Judy, weve seen a small increase in cases, and this comes after seveceral coive days with a total number of cases had fallen below 100, and that was significant because, at one point, cases were over 900 in a single day. So theres been some optimism that maybe the Virus Outbreak had peaked here and the numbers would only fall going foward. Its too soon to say that, but n theres optimism the government will be able to bring these under control as well. Weve seen south korea has the robust capability to test up to 15,000 people a d. There seems to be no shortage of tests now. Ie comphave been stockpiling even before the first outbreak in this company, so i believe the public is hoping the governmentan target these new cluster infections and prevent large outbreaks like we saw in february before things get out of hand again. Woodruff Bruce Harrison reporting for us from seoul. Thank you so much. Now to italy to Hermione Kitson. Hermione, italy has turned out tto be one of th disaster focpos ts of all of this. There an unerstanding now ofs what went wrong there . Health authorities ieve that perhaps the virus was in circulation for quite some time before actually detected. It spread very, very quickly in the densely population of th north and while one region was declared aed zone and quickly locked down, the rest of the country wasnt, so people starred to tavel from the north to the center and down into the south of the country potsptially ading the virus. Is perhaps the National Lockdown could ve come into effect sooner. Another element that comes into play when talking aout italys high moatrtality re is its aging population. We have here the oldest population and the average age of coronavirus victim here is 80 years old, so a lot of people in gthat very hih risk category. Woodruff so,on her now that the lockdown has taken esfect, how have the Healthcare Services and theof the country are doing . Do they feel the situation has crested . The Healthcare System here really is struggling. Its overwhelmed to the breakingpoint. There are makeshift hospital wards spilling out into carrk warehouses. The medical staff on the front line say they really have never seen anything like it before. They describe a situation like d war zonehey say theyre struggling to keep up with demand. The government had to put into service 10,000 student doctors nine months before theyre due to graduate to boost capacity. So this is the second week of lockdo w. Were hopi will see the effects in the terms of the number of cases in the next few days. Its hoped the spike weve seen in th lest 24 hours could be the peak were waiting for and will see thn e slowd the rate of infections in the next few days, but if we dont see have to continue. Lockdown will woodruff were all watching and hoping for the very best in each one of these countries. Hermione, thank you. Thank you again to patrick fok, Bruce Harrison and to Hermione Kitson. Their experience is what many people are looking to, to figure ouwhich direction the unit states is headed. Will we end up like italy or more like south kore lets go back to amna. Nawaz from coast tcoast, scenes of a u. S. Healthcare system bracing for the wor. Temporary tents standing sentry outside some hospitals, winding lines of cars for a li supply of tests. Medical professionals areericas sounding the alarm about a loomesg crisis likely shortag of everything from beds and ventilators, to face masks and gloves. If this burns through very, very quickly, we could be in trouble. Theres just no two ways about it. Woodruff the white house call for social distancing is a crucial part of the national response. Enjoy your home. Stay. I would just say, right now, we have to get this problem fixed. Woodruff its an attempt t flatten the curve or slow the spread of the virus enough so that hospitals arent overwhelmed with a surge of patients all at once. Still, the u. S. Healthcare system is readying for an influx of cases it will struggle to care for there are nearly 47,000 intensive care beds at Community Hospitals across the United States. But even a moderate outbreak, experts say, would reqe re quadruat, some 200,000 i. C. U. Beds. So, for now, a scramble to the country. Al capacity across in new york state, for example, the health depsptment is even ding up certifications of nursing students and calling on retired doctors and nurses to help. Health officials leading the u. S. Response are urging hospitals nationwi to postpone elective surgeries. Lets all be responsible and cancel things that we can cancel to really free up hospital beds and space. Nawaz in whington state, the countrys first virus hotspot, a Clinical Trial for a covid19 vaccine kicked f this week. Any vaccine rollout, however, wouldnt be ready for at least a year. Among the biggest concerns to date . A failure to test enough people quickly enough, and ensuring frontline hethcare workers ve what they need to care for incoming patients and protect themselves. There were nurses exposed to a possible covid19 patient. F i dont knowneed to be off until we get the patients test results back. M left wondering what to do. Woodruff how will our system cope as americas doctors and usrses are hit by the very v theyre trying to fight . Those are the Big Questions next, and how prepared is our Health System . Joininme here is cherylth peterson oamerican nurses association, representing the interests of around four million nurses nationwide; a ashish jha, who runs the harvard Global Health institute and joins us froboston. Welcome to you both, thank you for being here. I want to get right in tsome of these questions becaa e we sure havt. I want to introduce you to laine abramson, 54 years old, underlying respiratory issues, copd and asthma. She has a vey important question for both of you. Take a listen. As someone who ha had to go to the emergency room because of the common cold, what isgoing to happen to me when the hospitals are overflowing and doctors have to decide who gets to live and who ge to die . Y dr. Jha, nt you take this first . Whats your message to laine . O firall, we have to do everything absolutely possible to make sure we dont g to the point where doctors and nurses are havi to decide who gets to live and die. I would say take good cabe of yourself. Take your medicines. If you feel ill, dont geo to th emergency department, but reach out to your doc try to stay away from the hospital. Im hopeful that if you get sicc and nere, we will be able to provide that for you hopefully anywhere in the country. Reporter cheryl, what would you say to her . I agree. Ink were not at a place where we need to panic yesterday. However, we need to have our hospitals making lans now abou how are they going to make these very difficult decisions that may be down the line, and these are decisions that should not be made byront line Healthcare Providers and by doctors and y rses providing care, thst be made as a systems level and be grounded with our ethics. Are decisions equitable . Are they consistent . Are they transparent . And when is the trig tore ke those decisions . And whens the trigger to stop . Reporter are you confidikt peoplelaine will get the care they need even if theres a surge of covid 19 ients . Yes, i believe that we are going to do everything we can to patient who is in need of help. It may look a little dif than when it would if we were in a parchdemic, but we are here to care for people. Reporter let me ask you about very important work done by front line helthcare workers. I want to go to chevon jon among them. In westchester county, they have been on the front lines of one of the covid 19 hot spots. Healthcare workers who are really, you know, on the front lines, you know, are they going to become ill . You know, exhaustion, you know, things of that nature . So, yes, my biggest question is how long . I guess no one can really answer that queion, how long is this going to really go on . From healthcare workers. U before i respond, i want to show you pictures weve got in from some of the front line healthcare workers in washingtot state, hereem cobbling together protective gear out of Office Supplies because of a reached. Theyve already what do you say to them, chevon, to the americans who rely on them from n e weeks to months ahead . Unfortunately, we have failed in really doing the solid anning that would have prepared us to be able to respond in a pandemic. Now, what we see is ingenuity really happening with healthcarr wo that being said, we need for our Health Systems and nurses nd othe think about how are we going to sustain ourselves . How are we going to look at otaffing . Are we going to en shifts to allow for more rest between when we have to work . D are we taking care of ourselves mentally and physically and actuallour first speaker, the Public Health nurse, we have also failed to maintain a Public Health infrastructure that isri absolutelycal to responding to this kind of system. We cantnd should be beter. We need to learnmro this from what has happened with thi pandemic. An reporter dr. Jha, people will hear failur failure and failure and wonder can we be ready . Can the hospitals get th face maes, the ventilators and staffing . Will those needs be met by what the federal government a others are doing now . Let me echo cheryls point. It has been a fai. Weve had two months to prepare for this pandemic, weve known this was coming and have not responded adequately. So if the question is are we going to have enough personal protective equipment masks and gloves to keep nurses and doctors healthy so they can take not unless we work really hard to do it. Weve got to ramp up production. This has to be a federal response. The federal government has to make thit a top pri we can have all the hospital beds and all the i. C. U. Beds, butf we dont have nurses and doctors ready to take care of people, those beds will be aseless. I have to say, ie not seen the urgency coming out to have the white house on making this as much of a priority it needs to be. Reporter youve not seen that yet. Let me make sure people out ere are getting some of the right information in terms of how they can be processinghis. Dr. Purva grover who we will hear from next, a medical director of Pediatric Emergency Department at the cleveland clinic, tells us how to mesge to our patients. I can tell you first hand, i was working a shift yesterday evening, there remains considerable confusion and chaos amongst our Patient Population and, at this time, taking the time to sit down with them and explaining, because if theyre able to explain once the family, the message goes throughout the community and thats extremely important. Reporter to address some of the confusion, who should be going to the hospitals . What are the symptoms people are lookin for . Right now, if youre having an emergency, a heart attack, a stroke, been in a car accident, people need to go to the hospital, that has to remain that way. If youre hang symptoms, youre worried you may have covid 19, you have a fever, a cough, the right thing to do is to reach out toor your doy phone or by some other mechanism depending on your risk profile, depending on how serious your symptoms are. Ideally i would love to test everybody like that but we can becare still rationing testing, but its working with your doctor find out what the right care is. Reporter cheryf you had to tell people here are two things you can do now to feel prepared, what should you do . Selfisolate. Were doing it already. Dont go into crowds, take care of yourself, get plenty of restf maybe turnsome of the social med thats hyping your anxiety a little bt and keefe your hands clean. Thats really whats going to help us bend tis curve. L che peterson and dr. Ashish jh, thank you. Thank you. Reporter we hit a milestone this week in america with West Virginia confirming its first case. Novel coronavirus is now in all 50 states and u. S. Territories. Hotspo include washington state, california, and new york, but heres a look at the virus spread across the entireun y. Woodruff now, lets talk to one the top officials overseeing our nationa response dr. Anthony fauci, director of the National Institute of allergy and Infectious Diseases. He joins me from the natnal institutes of health. Dr. Futurey, thank you so much for joining us. Now that the United States has begun this massive mobilization, the countrys virtually shut down. Is it fair to say that americans are starting to get their arms around this crisis . Yes, i think, as a whole, as a countcouple of things, judy, theyre starting to really only from within, when you see the new cases every single day,h but looking atts happened at other countries ina chi, in south korea, in japan, to some extent, an now in europe, where most of the new cases arising globall are coming om europe. That, together, with the very forceful approach thats been taking to containment and mitigation right now, i thinkth people of the United States, at least from what i can see, there are some exceptions, judy, some, i think, disturbing exceptions where you pictures which are not, you know, totally representativtrof the co but people in bars and in dances and in parties. If you look at the guidelines put out just a couple of days ago, they wereecided upon because of some serious reflection about what the besto thing tor the American Public, and those guidelines should rely be read carefully by everyone. You know, the idea about making sure people who ale ederly and particularly those with underlying conditions should selfisolate, stay away from crowds and bars, all the kinds theyre very pelled out there. I think, for the most part, the country is seeing that. Of course, it can bein nvenient, but this is a very to present something th couldve get very bad, tont blut so that it is within reason so that we can contain. I think we can do it. Judy, i know we can do it, but we just need to implement the things that have been suggested. Woodruff so just quickly, you mentioned china, no new cases there. Today, they reported for a first time in a long time. Does that geve you a snse and others a sense of how long the u. S. Is going to be dealing with this . Well, again, we get asked that all the time. One cannot give a definitive date about an x in x number of weeks were going to be okay and we can go back to normal. T that reason, whine the guidelines came out, they came out as a 15day interim guideline to reevaluate attend of that period to see where were going because, obviously, this is soething that is formidable. When you look at the numbers that are going up, weve got to see if we ct ahead of the curve. You know, i always say and i believe its true that when you react to something and it has to do with an Infectious Disease outbreak, when yo thi you are overreacting, you are probably reacting appropriately or maybe underreacting. So i know people are a litt concerned about, well, how long is this going to last . How inconvenient is it going to be . Lest just hold tight ad see ho things will go over the next couple of weks. Reporter first, what President Trump had to say about testing for new drugs, antimalaria drugs, how confident are scientists th theres a real potential with some of these . Judy, thats a good qued sti, really is a question of a balance. None of the drugs that are out there right now have been definitively proven to be saf d effective, but and its some with some suggestions,re sometimes anecdotal, which aregr not controls, some in animal models. When you have an outbreak where ere are no specific therapies we were faced with this very clearly during the early years of h. I. V. Before we ehad no available effective and safe drugs what you do is strike a balance between making something available to the public, at the same time you do it under thauspices of a protocol, and it could be a relatively locoose pro like an expanded access protocol, and o en dsome compassionate usage where you have a balance between getting things to people who need it but, at the same time, not just throwing drugs out there that you dont know anything about. You really have to have some sort of a period of time soma protocol to look at safety and to get some efficacy signal. Thats what the president was talking about, thats what steve hahn, the commissioner of the f. D. A. Was talking about food. Wooesdruff vice ent mike pence said today covteid 19 s are available in all 50 states. We know that they are not available everywhere where they g e needed. Dr. Fauci, how lfore they ar there every place theyre needed . Judy, i cant give yo aate when every place in every state in every locatiois going to get it, but what i can tell you with some confidee that our new embracing and partnering with the private sector ande getting the stnd local individuals involved in implementing that, were going to see vry dramatic uptick in not only the number of cases that are tests that are available, but the number of tests that are actlly done, and thats the important thing bacause, you remembek, tests were available but they werent being implemented. Im confident its going to go way up. Hesitate to say on this date every Single Person who will need it will get it because you can never guarantee that. Is regularly referring to this as the chinese virus, and now many people are denofncing his ushe term. What do you think about that and have you spoken with the president about it . You know,ve had conversations about that. I, obviously, cant control what the president says, but the fact is i dont do tht and many other people dont, hopefully people will not be doing tha you know, it just gets tohe point, whenever you put a designation on it, ysere al is a bit of stigma associated with that. Woodruff the whiteouse also said today masks and other personal protective equipment Healthcare Providers need, they say its being made available quickly. But youre still hearing about doctors, i heard a physician an hour ago in s rhode islaaying shes talking to colleagues all over the country who dont have enough masks o protective gear. How long, when is that going to be available . Judy, not to be evasive, i can tell you very soon. But a couple of things have come out over the last couple of the president aounced hes employed t department of defse to get from their stockpiles not only ventilators but also millions and millions of masks. Again, we dont have all th answer also right now today, but everything is in motion to make a lot re of these available. Woodruff and quickly, you mentioned earlier the elderly, those with Underlying Health conditions, most vulnerable, but theres also new information that younger people may be mor vulnerable than previously thought. New data coming in, not just this country but other countries. What should young penow . Well, first of all, the still iearly much less of a risk of sern ious impact younger person, no doubt about ahat. However, were sing to see that there are some younger people, now that we know moe cases, many have underlying condit lns. We need ok at it more carefully to see how many of them actually have underlying conditions. And it isnt their youth thats at risk, its the underlying condition. We dont know that n now, proclamations about that. But it brings up a good point, judy. It m that young people should make sure that they protect themselves from getting infected for two very Important Reasons one, their own health. This is not a trivial infection. But, number, two even if they get an infection thats mild and inconsequential for them, the fact that they are infected, they may inadvertently infect someone like a grandmother or grandfather whos elderly, like lrelative, a friend,ed one, or anyone in society who has an underlying condition that would make them more susceptible. So you have the responsibility for yourself, for your own health as a young pern, but you also have a societal and i think in some spects aoral responsibility to make sure thatour infection, which may not bother you a lot, dodresnt atically hurt someone else. So thats my message to the young people woodruff fally, dr. Fauci, do you have a message for americans who are watching and listening tnight who are frightened and worried for theid themselves is this. D the message we have is, obviously, its standable when youre tearing all the things going on that you be frighten. The message to the American Public is were doing everything we possibly can to put everything and anything in place that would mitigate or dampen the effect of this. So, again, hang in there. This is something that will pas, hopefully, will pass with minimum of damage. But we are all in this tory and obviate it. Woodruff dr. Anthony fauci, thank you ver. Gd to be with you, judy. Woodruff unlike practically every other challeere we face as ans, as humans, no one is immune from this virus. It has the potential to harm us l, unless we take steps limit its spread, to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and people we dot know. We can address its potential to do harm by, in turn,ur own efforts to do good. Our humanity, the thing that rable to this virus, is also the thing that can keep it at bay. Whonh is why we choose to en a hopeful note tonight, knowing that americans coming together have the capacity toil and that concludespecial,. Confronting coronovirus. Be sure to join usomorrow night on the pbs newshour. And you can always find more on our web site, www. Pbs. Org newshour, and on our social pages. We wish you al good health and comfort. Good night. And by contributions to you pbs station from viewersike you. Thank yo captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org youre watching pbs. [birds calling, insects chirping] [twig snaps] [dog whines] s] [dog whine [panting] [dogs barking]