Reopening guidelines have been set, and many governors are ready to reopen and have an economic resurgence. “At a time when millions of American workers and families are struggling with the financial consequences of the virus it’s critical to continue the medical war while reopening in a safe and responsible fashion,” President Trump said.
Trump continues to push Americans to continue with social-distancing and healthy habits as the country is making its final push before reopening.
Cities across the country have decreased cases 25-30%, some cities even dropping more such as Detroit, which dropped 50%, and New Orleans down 65%, compared to their peaks. 30 states now have one case or less per 1,000 people. This is far fewer cases major per capita than many major Asian or European country.
Oil is at an extreme low, selling below a $0 a barrel, and the U.S. government is taking up on this opportunity to fill up the National Petroleum Reserve, possibly up to 75 billion barrels into the reserve, said President Trump.
There is a discussion for a $75 billion deal for hospitals and other health care facilities to help ease the financial hit they have taken in the last few weeks. “The hospitals have really been fantastic, they stepped up to the plate and have really done a great job,” the President said.
For areas less affected by the virus, recommendations have been made on how to safely resume effective treatments. For the most affected areas, $1.4 billion has been invested in the community health centers to ensure our most vulnerable communities, including minority communities, have access to all the resources they need.
The President is working with congress to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program, the Senate is going to try to vote tomorrow.
#Vice President Pence’s Call
Vice President Mike Pence had a call with all 50 of the governors about the effort to defeat the virus. “He had a great call, it was a great call, [it was] very positive in every way,” Trump said. Before the call, all governors were given contact information for all labs where they can find additional testing capacity within their states.
One of the most affected states, New York, is having part of their COVID-19 team and Governor Andrew Cuomo come to Washington D.C. to discuss the virus and rebuilding the state’s economy.
Vice President Pence discussed the phone call he made earlier with the governors, discussing the lab capacity available for the states. “This is one more step, … we are leaving no stone unturned and we are delivering a whole-of-government approach for our states as they deal with the Corona Virus outbreak,” Pence said. “We have enough testing for every state to re-open to phase one if they meet all the other criteria of 14 days of reduced cases and sufficient hospital capacity to prepare for any eventuality that may occur.”
General Todd Semonite then took the podium, discussing how the military helped with the need for hospital beds. “There are three legs of this stool and they all have s’s. There’s sites, in other words hospitals, we have got to worry about supplies, and we have got to worry about staff,” General Semonite said.
The plan was to use two types of infrastructure. The first is hotel rooms, or college dormitories, and convert those smaller size rooms into hospitals, having small individual rooms for patients. The second, was convention centers or field houses. They then designed those facilities to be either COVID-19 health centers, or general health facilities for those without the disease.
1,183 site assessments were requested, and they were able to complete 1,117. The USACE executed 32 facilities, with a projected bed capacity of 15,800. 52 facilities were executed by individual states, with the designs being completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Then in the next week and a half about 15 more facilities will be completed and there are 6 pending. The total bed capacity of this will be around 50,000.
President Trump then asked the General to discuss the wall, with 164 miles completed out of the 450 mile goal at the end of the year.
The number of tests the country completed is nearly doubled every week now, and the United States is the leader in the number of tests completed and tests available. The governors are now fully updated on the amount of tests they have available.
There have been hotspots identified by the federal government that would be areas tested more freuqeuntly and watched during phase one of the reopening process. There are over 5,000 pieces of equipment for the states to use to avoid another mass spread during the reopening.
Trump used this idea to push for more building and manufacturing in the U.S.A.; one of the major points of his presidency, bringing jobs and factories back to this country. He said that this pandemic is a great example of how we should focus on being self-reliant as a country, with medical supplies being extremely important to be manufactured in the U.S.
“There are now 72 active trials underway across the United States researching dozens of therapies and treatments, and another 211 are in the planning stages. They are literally mobilizing therapeutics and on vaccines,” Trump said.
He continued saying that the therapeutics are very effective now and great for treatment. Trump said that vaccines are getting very close to completion now, and that very soon they will know if the vaccines will work. The therapies are designed to attack the virus, reduce replication and rate of infection, and control the immune response.
Admiral Brett Giroir took the stage and discussed how their plan of attack was to get tests and vaccines ready to combat the virus, with a focus on accuracy and mass quantity. He discussed the research and the amount of technology used to find ways to widespread testing, and how the swabs have evolved and now allowed there to be millions of swabs available. There are three parts that take play into the testing process, first is the testing machines and how fast they are able to test mass quantities, second is making sure the collection supplies are available to collect the specimen, and the third is making sure you have the materials needed to support the machine.