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.