Up next, Anderson Cooper and dr. Sanjay gupta with a cnn global town hall coronavirus facts and fears with facebook. Hey and welcome to the cnn facebook global town hall thats being seen around the world on cnn, cnn international, cnn in espanol, and facebook. Com. Im Anderson Cooper. And im dr. Sanjay gupta. These next two hours are all about getting you the facts and answering your questions. So you can send them to us now. Go to cnns Facebook Page and leave a comment. On the top, post your question. You can also go to cnns Instagram Page and leave a question in our story. We are also going to be taking peoples questions live from across the country and around the world. What we wont do is take questions from people here in the studio. As you can see, this time last week, we gathered here in this room, these seats were filled. Tonight, they sit empty because Health Officials are now warning against large gatherings. Its an example, one of many, how rapidly we are all adapting and will have to adapt. And how coronavirus is changing our lives at work, at home, at school, nearly every element of our daily life has been altered or may soon be. One thing this outbreak wont stop is our continued reporting on it. So while the seats here may be empty, our town halls going to go on. We are going to spend the next two hours talking to experts and answering questions youve been submitting to us. So many of them through facebook and instagram who we are going to partner with on this tonight. We are also going to check in with our reporters around the globe and how its different from country to country and how that might inform what comes next here. If you watched last week, its a big difference just from last week to tonight. We started last weeks town hall with a bit of a reality check with what we know and dont know about the virus. So we want to do the same thing again with dr. Gupta right now. What is the biggest thing we do not know right now . And the most important thing we do know . Unfortunately, the thing we dont know still, especially when it comes to the United States, is just the extent of how widespread this coronavirus is. Because we dont have the test. We dont know how big this really is. We really dont. And, you know, we have been saying this for weeks now. It remains a consistent concern. I know one that were going to talk about tonight. Yeah. And just in terms of what we do know. You know, i think whats interesting is people are hearing about all these socialdistancing mechanisms and how much their lives are going to change, just like you mentioned. What we do know from pandemics past is that these can work. Some pretty awful pandemics in the past have been really mitigated and even stopped because of social distancing. Yeah. Lets take a look at where we are right now. Grim announcement just moments ago from the World Health Organization. The w. H. O. Has now declared that this outbreak is a pandemic. Here is what we are seeing in the u. S. Right now. A dramatic rise in the number of cases in just a week and a half. There are now more than 1,500 confirmed cases of the Novel Coronavirus in the u. S. , across at least 46 states. One week ago at our last town hall, there were just 205 cases in 17 states. And those are just the cases we know about. The virus shows no sign of slowing down, and despite assurances from the administration, current testing is inadequate. The system does not is not really geared to what we need right now. What you are asking for. That is a failing. New york state now has the largest number of cases in the country. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has set up a onemile containment zone in new rochelle where schools and houses of worship will be closed for at least two weeks. The National Guard have been sent in to help clean public spaces within the zone. It is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster in the country. And this is, literally, a matter of life and death. All across the country, large gatherings are being limited. Events cancelled. Schools closed. In just one week, the virus has spread to at least 20 more countries across the globe. There are more than 25,000 new cases. More than 1,000 more deaths. Bottom line, its going to get worse. According to the new York State Department of health, there are now 148 cases in westchester county, one of the biggest case clusters in the United States with a community of new rochelle, the center of the outbreak. Today became the first the countrys first coronavirus containment zone. Cnns eric hill is there for us right now. Erica, the National Guard has been called in. What are they doing . What is the role they are going to be playing there . So they are here, anderson, largely, for logistical and operational purposes. And i spoke with the mayor earlier tonight and he said thats what they really want to stress. They are not here to keep anybody out of that containment zone. That area is not on lockdown. It is not a quarantine zone. People are free to move in and out. But as you said, houses of worship and schools are closed. So part of what they will be doing is in terms of those logistics is actually helping get food to people. The mayor told me there are thousands of children within this School District who are food insecure and they are very much concerned about them over the next couple weeks as the schools are closed here through march 25th. So the National Guard will help set up Distribution Centers but if need be, will be delivering food to those children and their families. Just to be clear, theyre not imposing any kind of lockdown or policing. No, youre right. Theyre not. You can drive in and out. I was driving around earlier today just to see what was open. No one stopped me. There wasnt a large National Guard or police presence. Again, they are not here to a lockdown and the area is not under a full quarantine. I was there this is sanjay, erica, i was over there earlier today. Its worth pointing out there was one case march 6th and now 148 cases. We dont really know how many cases there are. Is there more testing there where you are now . There is more testing that is going to start happening here. So there is a satellite testing facility thats been set up in new rochelle and thats going to open tomorrow. That is, though, by appointment only. Appointments preference in those appointments is being given to people who have been under quarantine. But the mayor told me today theyve been doing informational robo calls every day throughout the community. And today, that robo call really stressed to folks they cannot just show up at that drivethrough testing site. They will not be able to get a test. They have to, first, go through their doctor. But he said what this will facilitate is the testing can be done sooner. Earlier, they had to take the swab here and then send it all the way up north to albany. This way, they can do it and get the results in a much quicker fashion. Erica hill, thanks very much. We have some virus related breaking news right now. Prime minister Justin Trudeaus wife Sophie Trudeau has tested positive for coronavirus. She is said to be feeling well and will remain in isolation. Prime minister trudeau has no symptoms but will be in isolation for 14 days according to the statement. He is not being tested at this time. Now, europe. This week, the director of the cd said the epicenter, the new china is europe. Thats a quote. The worstknown outbreak right now is in italy. Two weeks ago, italy had 400 confirmed cases. Last week, 3,000 and about 100 people died. This week, according to the government, more than 15,000 have tested positive and more than a thousand are dead. Cnns ben wedeman. What is this like . Can people leave their apartment . If so, when . Whats life like in a lockdown . Its fairly eerie here where we arrived just a few days ago and the streets were full of people, full of traffic. Now, you go out in the main square, which is just up the street from we are, its empty. Theres some police there but by and large, its just completely transformed ordinary life in this city. Now, you can go out. You can go out for a jog or a walk. Walk your dog. Take your children for a walk. But you have to keep a distance from other people. You cannot kids cannot go out and play a game of soccer, for instance. No Public Assembly is allowed. Shops some shops are open. You can go buy go to the supermarket. You can go to a Fresh Produce store. You can go to the pharmacy. Even Computer Repair shops are open. But everything else, anderson, is closed. Also, closed, in rome today, it was announced that churches would be closed. Even for individuals going in for private prayer. This is the first time that has happened ever. Not during world war ii. Not during the black plague. Not even the sack of rome in 455 a. D. Anderson. Ben, i had a question. I was watching reports about the medical system and just the pressure on the medical system. So important because we are worried about that happening obviously here in the United States. How are things now . How do you describe that pressure . Are they able to take care of patients . The pressure is intense, you know, you talk to doctors. They talk about a wave of patients. A tsunami of patients. A bomb hitting the National Health service. Now, keep in mind, as you know, sanjay, the outbreak is focused in northern italy. Thats the richest part of the country. It has the best Public Health system in in europe. By far. And they are struggling. Theyve added hundreds of new intensive care units. But, nonetheless, they are being overwhelmed. You know, the doctors are working long shifts. When they put on these allencompassing hazmat suits, they are sweating pounds of sweat through their shift. And it is we heard, for instance, the Prime MinisterGiuseppe Conte a few days ago, warning that the numbers are going to continue to rise and put continuing pressure on the Public Health system. Now, the italian medias reporting that he warned in a closeddoor cabinet session that the number of cases in italy could hit 100,000. At the moment, today, the latest figures were 15,000. And the worry is that this Health System, which is good. Ive been in it myself. Ive been treated by it. It is excellent. But the numbers are something nobody was prepared for. We understand that the that china is going to donate 20,000 medical suits, 10,000 ventilators. So its desperately in need of help, and it is struggling, at the moment, to deal with the number of patients. I know a lot of doctors here are looking whats happening there with great concern. Ben wedeman, appreciate all your reporting for you and your team. Stay safe. In china, some possible good news. Health officials are claiming they are seeing a decline in the number of new cases. Two weeks, ago today, nearly 81,000 cases with death toll climbing to nearly 3,200. Cnns david culver joins us now in shanghai. David, what are officials in china attributing to what they say is this leveling off of new cases . Anderson, its interesting listening to ben reporting there in italy. And the fact that where this started, they are now sending help out to the world. To the epicenter of all of this here in china is now under control to such an extent that they feel like they can help other countries like italy. It is a significant turnaround. Especially, when you look at the number of daily reported cases. We are taubilking about Single Digits now. Going back a few weeks, we were talking the hundreds if not thousands. When we were in wuhan, they had allegations of coverup. Allegations of underreporting. They had really, only 200 tests a day for a city population of 11 million. What changed was when the Central Government stepped in. They pushed out the local government. They said were taking control. It became a militarylike operation. They began ramping up production of face masks. They began opening these field hospitals. Our daily lives changed drastically. I look on social media and i see folks in the states and europe, and its kind of jarring for me to be quite honest to see people out in Fitness Centers, to see them still going out in social settings. Because here, it was just about over night where churches were closed, Fitness Centers were closed, restaurants were closed. Everything came to a halt. And it has not been perfect but the numbers are showing that it seems to have been at least effective for now. I got to say its just remarkable that china now donating some equipment to places like italy. But obviously, people are going to hear this and get some hope that were going to come through this and hopefully get back to a normal way of life. What do you think . Having been there so long, should we be hopeful based on what you are seeing in china . Sanjay, i feel the anxiety from my family and friends. I see it coming in my instagram and facebook messages. People are flooding me. People just wanting to cling on to something positive and i get that. We are seeing signs of coming back to life here. Just today, the parks are reopening in shanghai. Restaurants have given the all clear to have as many people as they need to party wise to come in and book a table. Tourist attractions are starting to reopen. Shanghai disney opening shops, opening some of their restaurants. Not yet the park but little by little, its coming back online. Sanjay, though, you used a word in your Facebook Live a couple hours ago that stood out to me. Its humility. And while people are getting back to this new normal, theyre doing so with this sense of humility. Humility of knowing what they do not know and that is still a lot. They are very cautious as to those social settings. So even though things seem to be under control, theyre very weary of who they are in touch with, how close theyre getting to people. Sanitizing is still an hourly thing, if not every half hour, people are doing it. So they are incredibly mindful of this new way of life and, you know, i go back to how we were acting seven weeks ago. And, sanjay, im surprised you havent blocked my emails yet because you have guided me through a lot of this. And your advice is something we have stuck to quite religiously here. We dont step out of our hotel without having a Strategic Plan of action. Every day is planned to the minute as far as where were going to go, where were going to eat, who we are going to be in touch with. And if we can avoid that exposure, we do it. Its about taking these risk assessments. Incredible. David culver, appreciate all your reporting for you and your team. Joining us now, dr. Anthony fauci. Member of the Coronavirus Task force, director of the institute of allergies and Infectious Diseases. He testified before congress today. Dr. Fauci, first of all, we very much appreciate you being here given how busy you are fighting this pandemic. You are the frontline and we just appreciate it and we have a lot of questions for people all around the world for you. Before we get to that, i do want to get some facts on the table. And and i dont want to put you in a difficult spot given you are working with the Coronavirus Task force and the administration. But there has been misinformation out there. And i just want to try to get separate facts from what is true and whats not true. The president has said, over the last two weeks, a number of things. And again, i dont want to put you on the spot. But he has said that the virus is very well under control in this country. Is that true . Or false . Well, i dont want to say true false. I can just tell you whats going on. Were having an acceleration of cases, as you just delieneated with sanjay. Its obvious whats going on. When you look ott outbreaks of this sort, you have this for a while and then it does that. You just described the very unfortunate situation in italy, which went up like this. What we hope to do with both containment and mitigation is to get this peak to actually flatten out. I dont think were, at all, going to get away with not a lot more cases. We will have a lot more cases. The question is are we going to blunt that peak . And the things were doing by preventing infections from coming outside in with the travel restrictions, which are totally appropriate and i think are very helpful, as well as doing containment and mitigation from within. The things that youve described that people are doing, according to the recommendations and guidelines of the cdc. So thats the hope. But its going to go up. As i said today at the hearing, its definitely going to get worse before it gets better. In a public in a pandemic, facts can save lives. Misinformation can cost lives. Who should people watching tonight who should people listen to in the government for factual information they can use . I mean, the Coronavirus Task force didnt have a briefing today. You were testifying today. You have given out factual information. Is it the Coronavirus Task force . Is it the president . Who should we listen to . Well, i think you look at the Scientific Data. And the Scientific Data are almost always presented by people in Public Health, scientists, physicians, and others. So i mean, i have been trying as best as i can to be out there as often as i can. You can hear from my voice that thats been a lot. And thats what were trying to do. Were trying to get information, policy, and guidelines out that are based on fundamental facts, evidence, and da