tv Fareed Zakaria GPS CNN March 29, 2020 10:00am-11:00am PDT
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anti-semitic attacks across the state. i've been there with families who have been attacked. i was there the morning after the first night of hanukkah when a rabbi's home was attacked. not to address anti-semitism in the state i think is a terrible mistake. and it's not just anti-semitism. it's what i call domestic terrorism. it's repugnant to the concept of new york and america to attack someone based on their race, color, creed. if you try to kill someone, if you kill someone in an attempt to kill several people, based on their race, color, or creed, how is that not a terrorist act? you kill someone and you were attempting to kill multiple people based on their race, color, creed. they don't want to pass that bill. and there's objections to the sir urrogacy bill which would h
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infertile women who can't have a child, can't carry a child biologically from having a surrogate, it would stop lgbtq couples from having a child, which is wholly ironic to me as this is the state that first passed marriage equality. now you say to the couple who you said you can get married, but you can't have a family, because you can't have a child, makes no sense to me. but those are the main discussions. let's go to work, guys, i have to go. thank you. >> governor andrew cuomo of new york discussing a number of things from anti-semitism to discrimination. then he vented his frustration over the recent $2 trillion stimulus bill, now law, from the federal government, saying that help from washington never came to states who got no money for lost revenue. and he had a response for house
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speaker nancy pelosi, who told our jake tapper earlier today that that kind of assistance may come in the next bill. he wasn't too happy about that. but on coronavirus, he covered a lot. cuomo trying to inform, allay fears and promote calm. his state of course having the most cases, confirmed cases of coronavirus and deaths, the latest numbers, 59,000 and counting cases. more than 965 deaths. governor cuomo reiterating that there isn't a lockdown in place in new york, but a stay in place, unless you are an essential worker. he also just responded that thousands more people, large alarmingly, he said, would pass away until they pass the curve. yesterday he mentioned he thought the apex would be
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reached in 14 to 21 days. now he says it's a rolling curve, it could come at any moment. i've got a great panel with me, joining me, dr. esther chu, an associate professor at oregon health and science university. dr. carlos del rio, professor and chair of the department of global health at emory university. and cnn chief media correspondent and anchor of "reliable sources," brian stelter. cnn's kristen holmes it at the white house, we'll get to her in a moment. brian, to you first, governor cuomo trying to pacify, at the same time inform. but he's also being a realist, saying this country is fighting a virus, at the same time fighting fear. >> it's incredible, the leadership we're seeing from governors including andrew cuomo, trying to explain to the country what's about to happen, because as we see, the disturbing data on the corner of the screen showing us that the case county and the death toll.
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cuomo and other governors are telling us this is going to get worse but we can get through it together. if you looked at the words cuomo put on the screen during his presser, words like "strength" and "stability," he's trying to reassure people that many, many people who get sick will survive this and get through it. he's trying to free up the hospitals to take care of as many people as possible. he's trying to give a calming message that makes new yorkers and people around the country feel better and more confident. we are still not seeing cuomo-style briefings from the federal government. we know the white house is watching cuomo very carefully and learning from him. i think it's important that the federal government be saying the same things that cuomo is. we are starting to see that from dr. deborah birx and others, saying every metro area in the country, every city will be affected. frankly, fred, we're already seeing that. this already is spreading in all 50 states.
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but the federal government messaging needs to be more like the state messaging. >> here are the numbers so far, more than 130,000 coronavirus cases across the country. more than 2,298 deaths. we're talking about 50 states, washington, d.c., and u.s. territories. dr. chu, you heard from andrew cuomo, while he's trying to pacify, calm people, even give advice about how to find joy in all of this, in response to fear in so many households, he also still reiterated that thousands more people will pass away until after the curve. so help people understand what he means by the curve. is he talking about that apex? that's how he described it earlier, that there will be more cases in the coming weeks and it's only until after that, that would be passing the curve? >> yeah, our estimates of how bad it's going to get are
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really -- they're a moving target, and they're best guesses, because as you know, we've gotten so far behind in testing. and even the numbers that we have rely on testing that we're not applying evenly over the population. i mean, we really are still testing the sickest patients. most of the people we test are in hospitals. so we're relying on epidemiologists and statisticians to make best estimates about what we're headed into. the curve is, as you said, when cases will peak. and those are different estimates by city, by county, and by state. but we're looking at estimates for many states that show that the peak will probably hit over the next several weeks to months. and trying to scramble and put in place the resources that we need for that absolute apex is the work that we're all doing on the ground. >> dr. carlos del rio, governor cuomo there saying a real sign
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that perhaps there will be a turn to some normalcy is when there will be an at-home kind of test for coronavirus. i mean, that is the -- that's the hopeful governor cuomo speaking. but how far away might that be? and what has to happen in the interim? >> well, i think there are a lot of companies working on tests. and every day, new tests are appearing. in fact abbott laboratories yesterday got approval from the fda for a very rapid test that will give a result in 15, 20 minutes. i think science and technology are advancing rapidly and helping us in this pandemic. let's not forget that science is behind our success. i want to say two things, i want to recognize that we need to remember that every single one of those deaths is a person, it's a relative, it's a friend, it's somebody we don't know, and i think we need to think about that. the other thing is, i want to praise all my colleagues, health care professionals who are really on the front lines and
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really are battling this and who really are doing what i think is a yeoman's job and we all need to recognize that and thank them every day. >> total agreement there. we can't thank enough the medical workers, all those on the front lines, the first responders, and hey, how about the folks trying to keep things open for everyone's survival from grocery stores, people at the counter there? there are just so many people that we all have to that anything thank. brian, governor cuomo talked about rhode island and its executive order of stopping anyone from new york from relocating to rhode island. the governor said it was not only not legal but it was not neighborly to stop new yorkers in rhode island. and the governor of that state
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rethought things through after a discussion with governor cuomo and repealed that. how important was that to perhaps relax the fears, particularly of new yorkers, and perhaps rhode islanders too, that that executive order has since been repealed? >> absolutely, i was hearing from folks in connecticut and rhode island last night who were worried about these restrictions that were being put into place. certainly the president's talk yesterday, his trial balloon about a quarantine caused some concern from new yorkers as well, people wanted to know if they should leave the city and leave the state before roads, bridges, tunnels, and airports were closed. the president walked that back, of course, and we see the rhode island governor walking back her executive order. those are good signs, we need more state by state coordination right now so there isn't this confusion, because confusion does cause concern, does cause in some cases chaos and panic. most people are taking this in stride and living up to this
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national moment. there's an incredible amount of unity and, you know, what people feel in these communities. but when we get mixed signals and disturbing comments from mayors, governors, presidents, it does cause worry. i was driving through empty streets in new york, there are these beautiful street posters that say thank you to the grocery store workers, the firefighters, sanitation workers, the childcare aides, all of those folks who are helping people, nurses in hospitals, to help them stay employed and stay working. it's those kind of gestures, giving thanks, that is so important. we need states to coordinate better and for the federal government to get on the same page. >> and we thank the people who are working with you and i, brian. >> i walked down the hallway and i said thank you to the engineers keeping us on the air. >> and the janitors, the teaches
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jarn janitors. >> that's absolutely right, the security guards in our building. countless people keeping essential infrastructure online in new york and cities across the country. >> and ours is a service, we're trying to be that conduit to help get the information from you, dr. del rio, dr. choo, from the governor, from the president. we're trying to be a conduit to make sure everyone gets the most concrete, reliable, sound information. but it does take a team. we usually have, you know, teaches dozens, sometimes hundreds, of course, for any number of shows, to try to get this information out there. and this weekend, brian, you and i can both relate, we've got a handful of people, but mighty work still being done and a big thanks to everyone for allowing it to happen. kristen holmes is at the white house. we'll continue this conversation and disseminate this information from the white house, kristen, often we know the president takes cues from the new york governor's press conferences.
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and while the governor made it clear that executive order out of rhode island has since been rescinded, i understand there are some travel advisories now being put out by the cdc. you have information on that? >> reporter: yeah, that's absolutely right, fred. we saw this very different tone toward governor cuomo from president trump yesterday. yesterday during that press briefing, cuomo was blindsided by reports that president trump was saying that he wanted to put a quarantine on new york. we heard some pretty sharp words from cuomo, later in the day saying essentially that a quarantine on new york, connecticut, and new jersey would be essentially a federal declaration of war against the states. today, he was talking very favorably about what president trump ended up doing instead, which was issuing that cdc travel advisory, essentially governor cuomo here saying that he likes what he did because it affirms what the state of new york was already doing. but one thing to make very clear here, he kept saying this is not
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a lockdown, this is not mandatory. it really goes to show this kind of push-pull of power that we've seen play out throughout the coronavirus response. he have the states on one side against the federal government, governors kind of pushing, pulling against president trump. and that's what we saw play out here. now, governor cuomo says he's on board with this cdc travel advisory. we are going to wait and see what other announcements may be made later tonight with this press briefing with president trump. we're expecting at some point earlier this week, president trump to discuss what new guidelines there may be. remember, he wants to reopen the economy in some way or another, something we're keeping a very close eye on as we head into that briefing. >> okay. dr. choo, what would you want to hear from the president in his late afternoon briefing? of course, you know, every medical, you know, employee, pe personnel, wants to hear about the delivery of masks,
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ventilators in the immediate term, but that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon, at least in the next 24 hours for many medical facilities. what would you want to hear from the president this evening that might bring some hope to the teams that you work with? >> we are really waiting for a strong central coordinated approach to everything that we need. so it's not just the personal protective equipment and the resources like ventilators. we're facing so many limitations. it's tests, it's space, it's health care workers, it's equipment, it's medications that we need to take care of our patients. and like governor cuomo said, these efforts have been occurring really on a hospital to hospital basis. we certainly need to coordinate more across cities and across the state. what we really need nationally is a central, very well-organized, very rapidly
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deployed and adaptive system so we understand what the needs are. as we pull in resources, there is equitable distribution that makes sense so we're not in competition with each other. all health care workers need from the president a very strong statement about how important staying at home is. if there is equivocation there, it makes our job harder every single day. >> dr. del rio, what about the mental health of these medical teams? it's heartbreaking to see the testimony from so many nurses and doctors tearfully talking about. they consider it their duty. it is the most important thing to them to report to work, to be able to help people, even if it means not having masks, even if it means reusing a mask all day long when it should have been disposed of after its first use. how concerned are you about the
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mental fitness of all of you on the front lines, and how you're enduring this? >> well, we're very concerned about it. and we, all of us at our different institutions are actively working on it, people at emory and grady are working hard to provide support. we have something called caring communities for coronavirus care providers that actively is doing this and is doing it frequently. but i also worry about the mental health of children and of others who are simply at home and don't understand what's going on and fear and anxiety i think is very big. and i think we need to reassure people that this is hard, but this too will pass. you think what we need is a message of unity and a call to action from the highest level that really gets us rowing in the same direction and we see a path forward. what i hope to see from the federal government and from local governments is not actions that don't seem to have people
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helping each other. i want to see a battle, a clear plan of action over the next 30, 45, 60 days that we can all align with and feel confident. i think when there is that kind of messaging and there's hope, i think the mental health of people is in a much better place. >> and in the meantime all of us really love this mantra, we're all in this together. >> we sure are. >> absolutely. dr. esther choo, dr. carlos del rio, brian stelter, kristen holmes, thank you so much. ahead, the coronavirus task force has received proposed guidelines on reducing social distancing. what do they say and will they work? we'll hear from dr. fauci, next.
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some pretty starlitling figures today from dr. anthony fauci when speak to go jaing t p tapper. listen. >> i want to go now to dr. anthony fauch i, he is a vital part of president trump's coronavirus task force, of course. dr. fauci, it's always good to see you. i want to ask you about the latest developments, the cdc urging residents of new york, new jersey, connecticut, to refrain from nonessential democrats travel for 14 days effective immediately, after president trump considered an enforceable quarantine, as he put it, for those states. why did the administration go
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with this travel advisory instead, and will this help stop the virus? >> i think it ultimately will help stop the virus, jake. we had very intensive discussions last night at the white house with the president. as you know, the original proposal was to consider seriously an enforceable quarantine. after discussions with the president, we made it clear and he agreed that it would be much better to do what's called a strong advisory. and the reason for that is that you don't want to get to the point where you're being -- enforcing things that would create a bigger difficulty, morale and otherwise, when you could probably accomplish the same goal. one of the issues is that the infection rate in new york city and the new york city area is about 56% of all of the new infections in the country coming from that area. that's terrible suffering for the people of new york, which i feel myself personally as a new
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yorker. so what is trying to be done is stop people unless it's necessary travel. so all nonessential travel, just hold off, because what you don't want is people traveling from that area to other areas of the country and inadvertently and innocently infecting other individuals. we felt the better way to do this would be an advisory as opposed to a very strict quarantine. and the president agreed, and that's why he made that determination last night. and i believe he tweeted it out last night. >> let me ask you, so dr. fauci, we're about to hit the last day of the 15 days to flatten the curve. everybody watching at home wants to know how long it will last. what steps do we need to take to see the light at the end of the tunnel and when will that be? >> jake, i want to see a
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flattening and pulling down of the curve. when we start to see a daily number of cases instead of increasing and escalating, they start to flatten out, turn the corner, then start coming down, when we see that, then you could start doing the modification of the intensity of your mitigation. as i've said before, it's true, the virus itself determines that timetable. you can try and influence that timetable by mitigating against the virus, but ultimately it's what the virus does. when i start seeing this happen, then i'll come back on the show and tell you, you know, jake, i think we're at the point now when we can start pulling back a little, but not right now, in several of the places i just mentioned. >> there's this discussion out there about loosening the social distancing guidelines in some parts of the country.
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cnn is reporting that some federal health officials are preparing a recommendation where some part of a country will be able to open schools and open businesses. and yet i hear that, and then i hear what you're saying, and dr. birx, when you're saying that there are these hotspots we know of, new orleans, new york, and that we don't really have an idea where the hotspots might be. you agreed with what speaker pelosi said, because of the lag in testing, there could be hotspots in cities that we just don't know because we're not there yet. what do you think about recommendations that some parts of the country might be able to loosen the guidelines given the fact that, according to you, we don't even know where these next hotspots will be? >> great question, jake. and that's the reason why, if you look at an area, any area, take one that has moderate degree of activity, you can't just empirically say i'm going
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to loosen restrictions there. you can do it, but you absolutely must have in place the capability of going there, testing, testing in an efficient way, not take a test, come back five days later and find out if you're infected. testing, knowing in real time if a person is infected, and then getting them out of circulation and contact tracing. because if you release the restrictions before you have a good eyeball on what's going on there, you're going to get in trouble. so i'm not against releasing the restrictions. i'm actually for it in an appropriate place. but i don't recommend it unless we have the tools in place, in real time, to do the things i just said. if we can do that, we can keep things contained without slipping into the need of having to mitigate the way they are in new york, in new orleans and other places now. so it's doable.
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but it's only doable if you put the tools in place. >> all right, dr. anthony fauci today. it is currently the hottest of hotspots in the current outbreak, from desperate pleas for more medical supplies to converting race tracks to an emergency hospital, new york is doing all it can to keep up with the coronavirus. we're live, next. verizon, really for us, has been a partner for years. allows us to stay connected to our 80 plus locations across the country. we use verizon throughout our entire day. it's an integral part of how our practice runs. we need our project managers and our superintendents to be able to communicate. we don't have to be together to work together. (vo) at verizon, we're here, and we're ready. we're open 24/7 online with tools and support to help your business stay connected at verizon.com/ready.
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cnn's eva mcmorris-santoro has more. >> reporter: the goal of this field hospital, much like the one at the javits center and other places, is to take patients who don't have the coronavirus during that apex that the governor keeps talking about, potentially 14 to 21 days away in this area. the idea that have is it's supposed to alleviate stress on the existing hospital system. so these buildings behind me are going to become a makeshift hospital. it's not the first time it's happened. 2012, this parking lot i'm standing in was also a staging area for the red cross, for meals during hurricane sandy. so it's a racetrack and it can also be a relief center when needed here in new york. this coming as we're learning
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more about how this virus is spreading here in this area, particularly to first responders. the governor talked about that in his press conference today. the latest news we have is that about 12% of the new york police department's workers, that's about 4,600 people, have called in sick. 700, more than 700 uniformed officers have confirmed cases of coronavirus. also some civilian officers as well, around 90 civilian officials. it's part of what they're dealing with here in new york as they're trying to build a system to deal with the potential apex here, building hospitals and dealing with first responders who are going down sick with this disease, fred. >> wow. okay. a very serious situation continues to become even more pressing. evan mcmorris-santoro, thank you
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hello again and welcome back. house speaker nancy pelosi is calling on the white house to ramp up its efforts in the fight against the coronavirus. so far, pelosi says president trump isn't doing enough. and she's accusing him of fiddling around as more people die. cnn's jake tapper spoke with pelosi earlier this morning. >> first, i want to start with speaker of the house nancy pelosi. speaker pelosi, thank you so much for joining us. i hope you are well and safe. i know your home district of san francisco has been particularly hard hit. president trump is considering relaxing federal guidelines for coronavirus for some of the less affected parts of the country.
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do you think he should? >> well, first of all, let me say how sad it is that even since the president's signing of the bill, the number of deaths recorded has doubled from 1,000 to 2,000 in our country. this is such a very, very sad time for us. so we should be taking every pre cauti caution. the president, his denial at the beginning, was deadly. his delaying of getting equipment to where -- it continues, his delay in getting equipment to where it's needed is deadly. now the best thing to do is to prevent more loss of life rather than open things up so that -- because we just don't know. we have to have testing, testing, testing. that's what we said from the start, before we can evaluate what the nature of it is in some of these other regions as well. i don't know what the purpose that have is. i don't know what the scientists are saying to him.
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i don't know what the scientists said to him, when did this president know about this, and what did he know? what did he know and when did he know it? that's for an after-action review. but as the president fiddles, people are dying. and we have to take every precaution. >> speaker pelosi, when you say that the president's denial was deadly, he obviously downplayed the risks of coronavirus for several weeks and it wasn't until i think about two weeks ago that he started acknowledging the gravity of the crisis. but are you saying that his downplaying ultimately cost american lives? >> yes, i am. i'm saying that. because when he made -- the other day when he was signing the bill, he said, just think, 20 days ago everything was great. no, everything wasn't great. we had nearly 500 cases, and 17 deaths already. and in that 20 days, because we weren't prepared, we now have
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2,000 deaths and 100,000 cases. so again, we really want to work in a unifying way to get the job done here. but we cannot continue to allow him to continue to make these underestimates of what is actually happening here. this is such a tragedy, we don't even know the magnitude of it because we do not have the adequate testing. our first bill was about testing, testing, testing. the second bill was about masks, masks, masks. of course it was -- both of them were about addressing the emergency. we still don't have adequate testing and we still don't have the personal protective equipment. and i thank you all for calling attention to the needs of our health care workers and other first responders who are risking their own lives to save lives. >> i want to ask you, because when president trump signed the
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bill, he brushed aside a key oversight provision with a signing statement. the provision would have an independent inspector general reporting to congress about how treasury will loan out the money to businesses. congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez responded by saying, quote, and just like that, the congressional oversight provisions for the half trillion dollar wall street slush fund which were already too weak are tossed away the day the bill is signed. this is a frightening amount of public men to have givpublic administration to have given away with zero accountability. president trump just blithely said they weren't going to abide by it. what's your response? >> it's ridiculous. two things -- well, three. this is about america's families, how they deal with the health challenge that they have, their lives and their livelihood. and part of this bill was making sure that we put workers first.
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the bill that the republicans put forget was a gift to corporate america that would trickle down to workers. we did ju-jitsu on it, we turned it around into a bill that put workers and families first. and by doing that, to have, again, conditions placed on any money that would go to corporate america, recognizing that certain industries were a threat, were under threat, and that we needed it in order to protect the jobs, to put resources there conditioned on workers being paid, buybacks now being allowed, bonuses, ceo pay, the rest of that. the president wants to dismiss that. and in doing so, that is one of the things that the american people are so upset about, that money is going to these big firms and the rest without any conditions. he is really -- well, first of
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all, let's not even go into whether he's allowed to do it. but we don't accept that. we don't accept that. we'll have our oversight in the congress. we have a panel that we will establish. i see he said we shouldn't be able to appoint the staff for our own panel? i mean, really. but the fact is it's just the same business as usual for the president, let's turn it back in favor of corporate america at the expense of america's workers without any conditions that makes things better for america's working families. we will not let that happen. >> all right. that was house speaker nancy pelosi with our jake tapper today. meantime, the governor of washington state now preparing to extend a stay-at-home order in his state after a federal agency blames our nation's first cluster of coronavirus deaths on a lack of proper protocols, next hear from the nurses who say they are walking into a battlefield every day.
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welcome back. i'm fredricka whitfield. as the white house coronavirus task force weighs proposals to reduce social distancing guidelines, washington governor jay inslee says social distancing is the om weapon that can stop coronavirus from continuing to spread, adding he will lively send a two-week stay home initiative in this state. washington reported 189 deaths and more than 4,000 cases. cnn's sara sidner recently sat down with staff members at a nursing home in that state that saw the nation's first cluster of deadly coronavirus cases. >> it was like a war zone. all of a sudden so many patients, everybody needed medications. everybody needed treatment. >> we had 70 staff within a week
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out. >> reporter: these health care workers were among the first to battle a covid-19 outcome in america. few in the united states have more experience with the deadly toll it took. >> reporter: how quickly do you see demise? >> less than 24 hours. >> reporter: they work at life care center of kirkland. the nursing home where the first known cluster of covid-19 deaths and infections occurred and for a month treated and continue to treat coronavirus infected patients. >> reporter: have any of you had symptoms of the coronavirus or tested positive for covid-19? >> no. >> reporter: the location of the most deaths from the nova coronavirus in the united states. the first time their story of what happened inside has been told. >> if you google signs and symptoms of coronavirus it's runny nose, fever, cough, haven't seen a runny nose yet.
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i see something much different. i saw red eyes. >> reporter: never heard of that. why that? that information not out to the public? >> something i witnessed in all of them. they have, like -- you can describe it like allergy kbri e eyes. like they have red eyeshadow on the outside of their eye, but we'vepatients with just red eyes as the only symptom we saw and go to the hospital and pass away, in the hospital. >> reporter: as of now the cdc does not list red eyes as a symptom of covid-19. chelsea earnest is a registered nurse and nursing director at another life care facility center in washington state, and that is what she saw. when an urgent call for help came from the kirkland facility, she volunteered. she arrived one day after the staff learned a patient tested positive for coronavirus. >> why did you answer the call? you didn't have to be there. this was voluntary?
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>> well, i'm a nurse, and -- they're not my patients, but, hold on. i'm sorry. >> reporter: take a breath. earnest sought the death toll soar like a rocket. fast deterioration of the patients always seemed to happen on the night shift. her shift. >> that's how i described it. is, you're going off to war and in a battlefield where supplies were limited. the help is slow to get to you and lots of casualties. and -- >> reporter: you can't see the enemy? >> and you can't see the enemy. >> reporter: sud suddenly a third of the staff had symptoms and out sick. before they all knew it, the virus was sweeping through the entire building. it was the oldest patients dieing -- fast. >> the average age was 80 years old. >> reporter: nancy buttner is vice president of life care
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centers of america northwest division. >> just the patients, losing them. because we've been with them for so long and it's hard. >> reporter: after two days of madness, things seemed to calm, but not for long. >> there was a little lull, and i heard a cough. so i started following the coughs. >> reporter: according to the cdc and life care center, at the height of infections, 129 people linked to this nursing home tested positive. three quarters of the patients, about one-third of the staff, and 14 visitors. 29 people associated with this facility have died, due to covid-19. in the weeks that followed the cdc came out with a report on the facility. it found in part the facility's limitations in effective infection control and prevention and staff members working in multiple facilities contributed to the spread of the virus both
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inside the facility and out. >> many nursing staff work in one or more facilities. >> reporter: do you think that, that will change, the idea of having people work in different facilities after covid-19? >> i don't know that it would. it's -- you know, and, again, in health care you work in different settings. >> reporter: if everyone was trained in infection control how is it so many patients got covid-19 and so many members of the staff also got covid-19? >> there's usually two patients to a room. some of the rooms are bigger and have three patients. and you have caregiving staff very close to their residents. we hug them. we kiss them. we love them. and i couldn't have been perfect on my ppe process. >> reporter: wearing the personal protection equipment? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: you couldn't have been perfect because things were happening so fast, you were
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trying to save lives? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: she arrived after the first personest it had positive. it too five days to get results. frightened families outside furious. >> mwho is "they" to follow up? >> reporter: couldn't get information for days. >> we could not answer the phone quick enough. a significant drop in staff. sig care canificant care needs as talking to people on the phone. >> reporter: the life care center said they made a cry for help from government agencies from county to federal to state. >> reporter: did you get what you need when you needed it? >> no. no. >> reporter: no one was doing jut one job. stephanie booth is in charge of payroll. >> i worked in the kitchen. i don't know. i've done a little bit of everything. some housekeeping. >> reporter: everyone was doing everything until doctors and nurses arrived from the centers
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for disease control and prevention and health and human services. the number of patients in the facility has dropped now from 120 to 42. of those 42 patients, 31 have tested positive for novel coronavirus. >> reporter: what advice would you give other facilities, other doctors and nurses, other staff members, about dealing with covid-19? >> i didn't expect it to be so lethal. and -- and i have no shame in saying that i was wrong. >> reporter: sara sidner, cnn, kirkland, washington. >> heartbreaking. all right. still ahead -- the white house coronavirus task force has received proposed recommendations on reducing social distancing. we'll take a closer look at what that means coming up at the top of the hour.
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