Do you consider to be at a wartime footing in terms of fighting this virus . I do. Im looking at it that way. I view it in a sense a wartime president. Thats what were fighting. The president invoking powers created at the start of the korean war giving him the authority to speed up production of badly needed medical supplies. He also wants to send Navy Hospital ships to new york and the west coast, but it may be days before theyre ready to sail despite the president s comments. The president also signed a new measure into law making Virus Testing free and giving emergency paid leave to people who are sick or caring for someone infected. Now the focus shifts to the massive trilliondollar package the administration is seeking in an attempt to get checks sent direct three struggling americans. The Treasury Department will ask congress for a measure that would send half of that package thats 500 million to the American People in the form of direct payments in april and may. The other half is expected to go helping companies, but even that might not be enough. Thats because the coronavirus is not just hurting the cruise or the Airline Industry. It is forcing medium and small and Large Businesses in every almost every single sector across the board to shut their doors. Without a lot of help, some may never open again. The National RestaurantAssociation Says onethird of all of its jobs, thats as many as 7 million jobs, could be wiped out if they are forced to close for three months. We learned yesterday the big three automakers will close through the end of march and possibly longer. Earlier this week, the Economic Policy institute estimated that we could see 3 million jobs gone by this summer. Weve got a lot to cover. Buckle up. Weve got reporters across the country to start us off. Lets go to Stephanie Gosk here in new york city in times square. Normally times square is sort of the epicenter of action. Its been a ghost town the last couple of days. Yeah, and the city that never sleeps, its sleepy today for sure. Not too much foot traffic. A lot of retail stores, including the store behind me are closed today here in times square. Its interesting that sign to customers says, listen, you know why were closed because of coronavirus. Were taking care of our employees. We continue to pay them. We understand that right now you might not be thinking about buying jeans but if you are, that business is online. And thats the case for retailers across the country that are shutting their stores, pushing all of that traffic online. Also some headlines here in new york city. The new york stock exchange, the floor of the stock exchange, shutting down because of two people, two traders that tested positive for covid19. Theyll do all of their trading electronically. Another headline, an inmate at rikers ordinarily who tested positive for covid19. The prison system obviously setting up a place where complications from this virus could accelerate very, very quickly. And then you have this. A dramatic rise in the number of cases here in the state of new york. Governor cuomo saying that those numbers could again jump astronomically, steph. Thank you, stephanie. Important note there. As she said, the new york stock exchange, the building is closed but markets are still open. Gabe gutierrez is in brooklyn. We hear more and more how stressed the system is. Earlier this morning, Governor Cuomo was talking about it. What was it like where you are . In the daytoday struggle to maintain being okay because of the volume of patients were seeing, we think were okay for the next couple of days, but if this doesnt slow down or we dont get some relief, well have some problems. Hi there, steph. Health care workers right now are on the front lines of this pandemic. Behind me say prescreening tent that went up at this Brooklyn Hospital and patients are coming in here and seeing if they meet the criteria for taking a covid19 test. And then theyre told to go inside the hospital if they do. The problem is, across the country, of course, that shortage of testing weve been seeing. Now weve also been hearing from Health Care Workers across the country. The American Medical Association sounding the alarm, writing to Vice President pence saying they have a shortage of critical gear including masks and surgical gowns as well. Theres a hashtag on social media, get me ppe. We see a photo with a nurse saying she has one of the last masks in her hospital and theyve been told to write their names on it and they could have to reuse it for several days, up to five days. Just a few seconds ago, you heard from a doctor that we spoke with at a hospital in new jersey. In teaneck, new jersey, where theres been a surge of coronavirus patients. He says that they are fine for now, but if this doesnt get better, there could be a critical problem here. So as you mentioned, Governor Cuomo taking steps. We see the u. S. Bringing in those two Navy Hospital ships to the west coast here to new york harbor. Right now Health Care Workers, you see these tents popping up across the country. They hope they can get that the number of patients doesnt increase so much over the next couple of weeks that theyll run out of these critical supplies. Gabe, thank you. Now down to florida where Kerry Sanders is standing by. Explain to me what in the world is happening in the state of florida. A state with an enormous amount of vulnerable senior citizens, yet weve been looking at photos of people on spring break for days, partying like they just dont care. Well, its agerelated. Theres a generational divide going on here, stephanie. The beaches. We have 663 miles of beaches in the state of florida, and the governor here has left it up to the local governments to decide, open the beach, leave it open or close it . A lot of pressure right here in Clearwater Beach where they decided after so much so many pictures on social media showing kids out here having a good time, acting fas there really was no coronavirus, they decided they are now going to close the beach here but theyll not close it until monday. And so talking to the kids who gathered out here and theyll be out here again today. Its a beautiful morning in clearwater. Talking to kids today asking them, do you recognize whats going on because so many people are acting as if coronavirus really is no big deal to them. This is what they had to say. Are you practicing that rule where youre supposed to stay a significant distance apart . Im with them every day. Every day. Weve been together since forever and none of us have it, so i dont see why not to be at the beach enjoying life. So its important for the college kids who will continue to make their way to florida beaches on spring break and again, many had these plans in place. Theyre just going to stick with them because when youre young, you think youre invincible. Here underscoring that information of the sense that this only impacts older people, the cdc says nearly 40 of the u. S. Coronavirus patients sick enough to be admitted to a hospital were aged 20 to 54. So certainly that group that has felt that this is not a problem for them needs to hear that information. Stephanie, there was criticism not only locally and around the country but all the way up to the white house on the partying as if theres no big deal going on right here on Clearwater Beach. There say very big deal. Kerry, thank you. Really important reporting. Ste stephanie, gabe, thank you. I want to bring in a Health Economist and dr. Joseph fair, also an epidemiologist and expert on viruses. Dr. Fair, we are now seeing a spike in cases but is that because we now have more tests or are more people actually catching this . We have more tests now, presumably more tests now. Were increasingly seeing them rolled out across the United States. That was completely expected wed see a spike in cases. It is a bit of a surprise that were seeing the 20s and 30s and up to the 50s being affected where they werent so affected in other countries. That probably has a lot to do with lifestyles which we lead the world in high risk conditions. We expected to see a huge spike in cases once testings were rolled out. That does not necessarily mean that well see a huge spike in deaths but more cases, obviously, are going to equal more deaths. Dr. Ding, i want to talk about what Kerry Sanders was just mentioning. Were just learning 40 of the people being hospitalized are a lot younger than anyone was thinking. And i want to share what the head of the Coronavirus Task force had to say about this yesterday. There are concerning reports coming out of france and italy about some young people getting seriously ill and very seriously ill in the icus. It may have been that the millennial generation, our largest generation, our future generation, that will carry us through for the next multiple decades, there may be disproportionate number of infections among that group. Dr. Ding, until yesterday, the argument to these young people was, you better go inside or youll get your parents or grandparents sick. Do we now realize theyre just as vulnerable . Yeah, based on the cdcs mmwr data as earlier explained, theres a huge number of infections among the young. Even if they dont die, even if they have a low mortality rate, theres still a hospitalization rate that is quite substantial. Again, with this virus, 20 are actually have severe disease and need hospitalization. And seeing how many young people get that is very concerning. Especially since they actually have more social contact and higher rate of exposure to others and, therefore, they can keep the virus keep spreading in the community longer. Dr. Fair, some good news out of china. It was reported that no new locally produced cases weve seen since the outbreak started. A, do you believe that . Because were getting the information from china. And they certainly want the narrative to be that. And if you do believe it, what do you make of it . One, i think their quarantine did work. We would never be able to implement a quarantine on the scale, size and even how they did it in this country. That being said, there are still cases there, of course. Its just that they have not detected them yet. Just because you had that quarantine, you got so many people in one country, of course there will be other cases but just like here, if not everyone is being tested that has the mild to moderate symptoms and theyre staying home, then youll not see the huge spike in numbers or spike in numbers. I dont necessarily know i dont disbelief them, but i would say they have detected no new cases. South korea and the United States discovered their first cases on the same day. Look at where we are. I know. Its night and day. Why . South korea has been testing literally even before the big mega church incident, theyve been testing thousands and thousands of people per day. They test well over 15,000 test prs day. Thats a huge disparity. Its the testing, testing, testing that finds the cases. And more importantly, youre not just finding the old cases of people who have been sick for a long time. They are finding the cases that just develop and when you find cases that just develop you can isolate them, Contact Trace them and quarantine them. Thats how you stop an epidemic without any vaccine whatsoever. But with us in the dark for three weeks, again, this virus has a doubling time of every six days. Weve lost potentially eight x or more in terms of containment for this virus. Thats why were in such deep trouble now. 8x or more. If youre wondering why all these cities are on lockdown, maybe the country, we failed the test. Doctors, thank you both so much. Stay with us tonight. Lester holt anchors a live primetime special report on the coronavirus pandemic across the networks of nbc news. The onehour special will include crucial realtime information on what viewers need to know about the virus. Plaur plus analysis from the coronavirus team. Watch us tonight at 10 00 p. M. On nbc, msnbc or our streaming service. We are just starting. Starting to feel the massive Economic Impact from the coronavirus. So what can the government do to actually help us . Im going to be speaking to several officials who have dealt with the Economic Crises before as well as someone who just had to lay off 2,000 workers yesterday. What he needs what he believes needs to be done to help his employees to help businesses across america. First, over 40 million kids are home from school right now. How do we make sure the most Vulnerable Children are not left behind . You should be mad they gave this guy a promotion. You should be mad at forced camaraderie. And you should be mad at tech that makes things worse. But youre not mad, because you have e trade, whos tech makes life easier by automatically adding technical patterns on charts and helping you understand what they mean. Dont get mad. Get e trades simplified technical analysis. Out doing it right no is plan asures. And plan b. You need equipment thats up to the challenge. All day. All conditions. All year round. That gives me cash back onesome new aeverything. Akuten thats ebates. I get cash back on electronics, travel, clothes. Youre talking about ebates. I cant stop talking about rakuten. Pretty good deal peter sfx [blender] ebates is now rakuten, sign up today. The business of hard work. Hustle. And high fives. Modernized comfort inns and suites have been refreshed because our business is you. Get the lowest price guaranteed on all Choice Hotels when you book direct at choicehotels. Com. Before we talk about taxsaudreys expecting. New . Twins wed be closer to the twins. Change in plans. At fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. The coronavirus outbreak is having a tremendous impact on students and families across this country. Right now 39 states have closed their public schools. That means 42 million children are home from school and that presents a major challenge for parents who work and now have to become their childrens teachers. For students who rely on school for meals, for many its their lifeline. Joining us, former secretary of education, arne duncan and president and ceo of childrens aid, debbie boyer. Secretary duncan, you have kids at home. Explain to us the challenges for parents right now working families who cant call on a grandparent, cant call on a service worker. Theyre truly isolated at home and they dont have the skills to teach. This is a really, really stressful time for parents. I hate that were in this situation as a nation and as a planet, but what im seeing is School Districts stepping up to provide resources. Parents doing a great job. And its interesting. These are really tough times and, yes, we have to keep reading going and math going and fractions going and we can talk about that. This is an amazing time for us as parents to teach compassion and empathy. This is a time our children will never forget. The more we can work with them on the academic part and the life lessons. How do we all Learn Together and take care of each other . I think its an amazing opportunity to instill those lessons, not just to talk about them but to live them as families. Arne, i hear that sentiment. I believe it and live it, but compassion isnt going to get kids good scores on the s. A. T. S. I agree with that. We need to reduce those anxieties now. I think first and foremost, were trying to keep people alive right now but theres a number of resources School Districts are working on so whether its lowtech things in cleveland where theyre dropping off homework and taking it back and meals along bus routes to miami where everyone has the device and theres already been great interaction between students and their teachers online. Learning has to continue. It will continue. But again, its bigger than that now. You need to be looking at the big picture. You serve 50,000 families in new york. For so many of these kids, its not 9 00 to 3 00. Theyre going to school 7 00 to 5 00 and they dont have devices at home. Whats it like . Its challenging. Were putting together, in some of our schools, packages so they can do Remote Learning but the Technology Divide is so incredibly great. And its not just our teachers. Its our foster care workers who have to meet with our families and children and keep an eye on them. We are not set up with the technology to do that remotely. And so our communities, i think when you think about a crisis like this, its lowincome communities that are going to be hit the most. Not only are there not going to be the wages that are there but they dont have the resources to stock up on things. They dont have the resources to have the technology to do this Remote Learning. So its a real crisis and then theres the isolation. We need to make sure our staff are safe and paid and able to do the work that we do best which is be the social fabric of this city. How are you balancing that . You have a 6 million monthly payroll that you need to meet but you also need to keep your staff and these families physically safe. Yeah. Its my greatest worry. Our staff are the most extraordinary people. They go into peoples homes. They support our families and kids sometimes at their own risk. I have to make sure they have the tools and the supplies and, quite frankly, i need to make sure they have paychecks. So we have to be think, about how do we support the workforce on the front line. Whether its foster care workers, whether it is Early Childhood workers, whether its the folks who are working in homeless shelters. That is what that should be the call throughout this nation. The United States