York, it was after 9 11. New york is hit the hardest so far, but to be clear, this is a nationwide threat, and were beginning to see this. Numbers spiking in new jersey, louisiana, in pennsylvania, michigan, florida, georgia, and some of them are the people trying to help treat those infected. In just three hospitals in boston, more than 100 employees have now tested positive for the virus, and these are the Health Care Workers were counting on to help the victims. Were covering this story around the country, around the world as only cnn can. Lets go to john harwood, cnn business anchor susan chatt chatterley. These were statements from Steve Mnuchin just a moment ago that might surprise people listening. I am curious what your thoughts were when you saw that 3. 3 million number this morning. To be honest with you, i think these numbers are not relevant. These numbers are not relevant . John harwood, thats 3. 3 million americans who dont have jobs anymore. Theres no question about that, and in fairness to Steve Mnuchin, i think, jim, what he was saying was its not relevant to the underlying condition of the economy. It is a crisis right now, and thats why Congress Last night, or the senate last night unanimously passed a 2 trillion Fiscal Relief bill to try to get us to the other side, get workers and businesses to the other side of the health crisis. I think mnuchins belief, and i think the belief of jay powell, the chairman of the federal reserve, is that if we can get to the other side on the basis of Public Health and the threat of the virus, then the economy can function reasonably normally again. There will be some permanent losses for sure because of businesses that go under and that sort of thing, but theyre trying to minimize that. I think thats what secretary mnuchin meant by that comment. Understood. Fair to have the context there. Julia, lets talk about trend lines here. This is one week but one pretty shocking week. Again, to say, 3. 3 million jobless in one week is four times the record in this country. You have to go back nearly 40 years to that record. Is this one week where we expect to see several like it to follow . Theres one estimate you lose 14 million jobs by summer. Its a really important question. Remember, the framing here is very important. This is deliberate. We are creating this situation by the measures that were taking in order to suppress the virus. So thats one thing, you would expect this. To johns point, the hope is that the survival package we Just Announced will cushion and protect companies, small and mediumsized enterprises, letting their workers go to try to suppress those claims numbers rising again. The other critical thing here, the expansion of benefits. Theyre going to catch a whole bunch of people weve never captured before. The gig economy, so if these people ask for unemployment as they should do, that will bump the numbers up. The science will be terribly im imperfect to figure out at this point, but its devastating for the people. I thought my own job would be in peril, quite frankly. I hear you. John harwood, lets then talk because a lot of folks watching right now are among that 3. 3 million, or may soon be going forward. The stimulus package, what specifically does it include to help bridge the gap forget the companies for individuals. Extensions to Unemployment Insurance, but also increased unemployment pay and payments for a period of time, right . Thats right. 600 of increased unemployment pay which was a universal metric they used to smooth out the differences between the states. But yes, more Unemployment Benefits, longer Unemployment Benefits in addition to the 1200 checks that individuals are going to be getting either through physical checks if they dont have direct deposit with a financial institution, or through direct deposits. The administration hopes that this money with get out the door and into those accounts within three weeks, a month, and their hope is that in the meantime the knowledge that its coming will at least be reassuring to peo e people. But we certainly could, to your question to julia earlier, we could have more weeks like this. There are 6 Million People employed in the United States. If you start shutting off businesses personally for a personal health objective like were doing, youre talking millions and millions of people, and the economists i talked to said we should talk unemployment going north of 10 . Of course, it was about 3. 5 coming into this crisis. Everybody needs to brace themselves for this and congress has taken a step to try to reassure. The house is expected to pass it tomorrow, President Trump will sign it. But we have tougher times at the moment and tougher times ahead. People see it wherever they are. Empty streets, empty businesses, people not going to work. John harwood, julia chatterley, thanks to both of you. Brynn gingras is at a New York Hospital with patients brimming at the seams. Tell us what that means at just one hospital trying to cope with this. Reporter yeah, jim, this is the center of the epicenter. Thats what were seeing right now, ask thatnd thats what the hospital has described itself, basically, as. We just saw within the last 24 hours 13 deaths alone at this hospital. Its an incredible crisis thats happening on the ground here. The queens, the burrough, in new york city that has the most coronavirus cases. Were seeing about ten people go in at a time to those two tents. Those are the triage tents. Places where those patients who sometimes have been waiting here for hours, they were lined up before 5 00 this morning when we got here. Came here to get a test or theyre actually going to see a doctor. That line just never slows down. Thats what were seeing here on the front lines. You know, there are reports that inside the er here at this hospital, its being described as apocalyptic. I can tell you, jim, just being outside here all week with my crew, it doesnt feel much better outside, either. You would be hard pressed to find someone walking down the street or around this hospital without a face mask on, not even just walking but in their cars, on bicycles, everybody is taking the serious precautions because of what is happening in this particular community. We know that there are resources that are being flooded to this hospital by the New York Hospital system, with doctors and nurses, and again, i want to point out that one nurse i talked to who was leaving her shift who says shes just in a constant state of paranoia that she has the virus herself and she may possibly give it to someone else. Its just incredible to hear that, because on the other side of that, the governor has said that 40,000 people have volunteered, some out of retirement, to come back and help all these doctors and nurses on front lines. Thats another element to the story is people stepping up to do their part. And thats encouraging. Brynn gingras in new york, thanks very much. If you think this is just a new york problem or a coastal problem, its not. Lets talk about louisiana. Its now emerging as one of the nations hot spots here. The state seeing an alarming spike in coronavirus cases, including more than 400 cases in just the last 24 hours. That brings the total number there to 1800 statewide which probably understates the numbers of testing there is. Joining me now is carl arnold. Hes the director of new Orleans Office of Homeland Security and preparedness. Thank you for taking time out of your day. I know you have bigger fish to fry, but lets talk about louisiana. A spike in cases, nearly 1800. John bell edwards, the governor, said louisiana has the fastest growth rate of coronavirus cases in the world today. Do you have a sense of why that is . Well, i think thank you for having me. I think a lot of it is we are actually testing quite a bit more right now per capita. New orleans area is kind of the epicenter of coronavirus in the state, and we, you know, we really today might top a thousand cases. Were at 827. Were going to get an update at noon from the state department of health, and thats 37 deaths. Were a community of 40,000 people and were a tightknit community, so this is affecting everyone, really. Residents so far in the state of louisiana have been told to stay at home until april 12th. Is that long enough, in your view, or is that just a start . I dont think were going to see the results of both the mayors staple mandate and the governors staple order probably for another week, so were being very cautious about this and really, were seeing that our residents are actually doing this. Weve got some independent data thats showing about 73 Less Movement throughout the city. Im obviously around through the city all day, and im seeing that its pretty empty and its encouraging that people are listening and we need them to really push through this. We know its a very difficult thing to have to do, but its very necessary to stop the spread of this virus. Understood. Some folks have looked to mardi gras there, of course, a big event in new orleans, as one reason why it spread quickly early on. Is that what your data is telling you . I mean, really, certainly we had over a million and a half people in the city, including international visitors, you know, all attending parades daily. I think that thats obviously probably an issue for what weve seen in new orleans. Understood. Let me ask you now about help. So many states have been reaching out to the federal government for help, not getting it fast enough, not getting as much as they need. What does your state need, and is it getting what it needs . Well, weve been part of a pilot drivethrough Testing Program with hhs and fema, and we really you know, were going to have 3,000 tests accomplished by the end of the day just in Orleans Parish in the city of new orleans. Thats a great partnership. Were told well get resupplied today and tomorrow to do another week of testing, and thats encouraging. But i think what youre seeing nationally is we need more protective equipment. Our First Responders are still out there responding, some of them exposed. Theyre following cdc guidelines, but we need more ppe, we need more ventilators. Obviously the public is concerned right now. Our food banks are running out of food. Theyre going to be out of food in about two days. The cdc really needs to give us a waiver to get in the food program, and it hasnt happened yet. Final question, the governor of a neighboring state is saying stayathome rules just not necessary now. Based on your vantage point, are they necessary . Theyre absolutely necessary. We need our people to stay home, and somebody saying that, theyre not doing enough testing. Thats the bottom line. It just hasnt affected them yet, but its in their community. It is there. This is going to be the disaster that defines our generation. Goodness. Yeah, i think theres a lot of evidence of that. Let me just extend my thanks to you, because its folks like you that are doing a lot of the hardest work to keep this under control. We wish you the best of luck, we wish your community the best of luck. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Well, another state were checking in on coronavirus cases in california. Theyre doubling every three to four days according to californias health and Human Services secretary. 53 people have died so far. There are more than 2500 cases statewide. Joining me from palo alto, california, dr. Wagner. Hes in object the ci obstetr care in california. Tell us what youre seeing there . Are the cases still growing and do you have what you need to respond there . Thanks for having me. Its been an exciting couple weeks trying to prepare. I want to say the shelter in place and social isolation seems to be working. Weve had a little bit of lull in our Emergency Department volumes the last couple weeks which has really given us the opportunity to prepare. Its all preparation, its all trying to figure out how we can build capacity in the system with icu beds, ventilator systems, blood banking. This lead time in the process has really given us time to prepare for what we expect will be a surge of patients in the next one to two weeks. Thats what were hearing in so many communities, one to two weeks being key. Youre expecting when that happens you will have, for instance, not just enough ventilators to treat those affected but how about protective equipment to keep doctors like yourself safe . Thats creating a little bit of uneasiness and anxiety amongst the Health Care Providers around here. Currently we have the ppe we need, but we have no idea how long this virus will last. Will it be two weeks, four weeks, six weeks . That unknown is creating a little bit of fear among providers around the state of california, is will we have what we need. Its making people be creative about 3d printing and Digital Health to use as a way to interact with patients without being right next to the bedside, allowing us to reserve ppe and allowing our providers to be safe and not exposed to the virus. My sister is a doctor. Talk about explosion in telehealth here which might be a lasting change. I know its early there, but california is a state that early on issued these stayathome orders. In the data, are you seeing an effect from that . Are you seeing any evidence of the flattening of the curve . I think we have felt the flattening of the curve, at least over the past couple weeks. Weve also been ramping up testing. We have the capacity now to test well over a thousand patients a day in our home institution, and were hoping that the flattening will continue and allow that surge to slow down so we can build the capacity we need. And then also prevent provider burnout, which were really concerned about as well. Thats good news. We hope that trend continues. Dr. Alexei, wagner, good luck to you and your team. Thank you. New york city has become the epicenter of the crisis there and around the world. The u. S. Is ordering a 60day freeze on overseas Troop Movement among all this. Well talk about all that coming up. My time is thin, but so is my lawn. 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Leaders from various offices, the president to the head of various hospitals, saying everything is going to be fine. From our perspective, everything is not fine. I dont have the support that i need and even just the materials that i need physically to take care of my patients, and its america. And were supposed to be a first world country. Thats not a unique outlyer perspective. Weve heard it from so many doctors around the country. Deanne criswell, so good to have you on, and i appreciate it because i know you have a lot on your plate. Thank you. I want to get your reaction to that, a first world country and i cant get the resources, the equipment, the help i need. I think shes spot on. We are starting to see some equipment and supplies flow in, but we asked and anticipated this need weeks ago and were just starting to see it come into our city. And, really, what its doing right now is buying us time, which is what we need right this minute, but were going to continue to need more, and we need to figure out how do we continue that flow of resources in here so we can take care of those patients that need it most. Tell us what its like. There is a scramble now. Cnn reported yesterday the president is now reaching out to countries abroad for ventilators, the most basic equipment. You hear of state versus state, hospital versus hospital. You got new york to handle. How does one source 100 ventilators if you need them . How do you find them . We need thousands of ventilators, not hundreds. We need thousands of ventilators, and i understand that this is a need across the country, and theres a very tough job for the federal government to figure out how are they going to distribute such a scarce resource. I think one of the things, again, that needs to happen is use of the federal authorities to the defense protection act if they can mandate maybe they have and im just not up to speed on what they have or havent that some Companies Start to build these forests. They have that ability to do that through these laws. I want to ask you about the trajectory of infections in new york at this point. Andrew cuomo said yesterday not seeing a slowing, actually seeing an acceleration. Is there any evidence that the shutdown, the stayathome orders, are beginning to flatten the curve, as its noticed, slow the rate of infection . My focus right now is not necessarily on the number of new positive cases. Were testing more and were going to continue to have those numbers go up. And were going into this assuming that everybody, if you were to get tested, could potentially be positive. Our focus is on that 20 that are going to be the most sick from this and really watching the numbers of people that are getting hospitalized, and that changes every day. The numbers that go into icu and that change every day and increase exponentially and the numbers that eventually die from this disease. Those are the numbers i have to focus on so i can plan for the resources, really, the total number of cases, its going to continue to go up because we do keep testing but i have to focus on that piece of it so i can get the right people, the medical staff, the supplies that they need, and then the facility surge space so we can treat them. Are you already running into situations where you have to say no, where you cant get the equipment