captioning sponsored by cbs >> brennan: i am margaret brennan in washington. and this week on face nation, the u.s. is losing the battle to contain coronavirus as the number of cases here explodes. and experts predict the situation to become even more dire in the next month. it was a week of distress and despair across the country as americans struggled to real in the spread of the coronavirus. with the united states now recording the highest number of cases around the world, our most populated cities are in full crisis mode. and preparing for the virus to move to new zones. emotions and exhaustion levels are high as states and cities cope with severe shortages of medical equipment and personnel. plus continued frustration with conflicting signals from

washington. >> words matter. and those words have created a certain amount of confusion and when you lack clarity that can create confusion and confusion can lead to panic. >> brennan: president trump visited the usns comfort on saturday. the hospital ship is on route to new york to help ease the load on the say's hospitals. >> our country is at war with an invisible enemy. >> brennan: new york state accounts for half of all coronavirus cases in the u.s. governor andrew cuomo is preparing for the weeks ahead. >> you don't win on defense, you win on offense. you have to get ahead of this, anticipate what is going to happen. >> brennan: around the world, there are unprecedented efforts by leaders to cope request global shortages of ventilators, medical supplies and personal protective equipment for medical workers. president trump signed a $2.2 trillion package of economic relief for individuals and businesses, but with a

record-setting three at a, 3 million unemployment claims last week is it enough to stop the plunging economy? we will ask treasury secretary stephen steven mnuchin and hear from former fda commissioner scott got 11, john bel john bel edware advisory board, dr. david heymann and the head of the mayo clinic hospitals. >> finely, as we try to keep our spirits up in these grim times, a thank you for all the healthcare workers battling to keep us safe all over the world. all that and more is just ahead on "face the nation". welcome to "face the nation".

it is increasingly i do find the best way to start this broadcast with the overwhelming amount of news about what is going on in the world but we are committed to bringing you the most accurate information that we can in these ex-cruciate khalidi times, if you stick with us until the end of the program we promise you we will look at some true heroes rising to the occasion and inspiring us with the strength of their human spirit. as of this morning, the u.s. has the highest number of covid-19 cases of any country in the world. we have recorded nearly 125,000 cases. that's almost five times what it was just a week ago. and there have been nearly 200200 deaths. that rate is more than six times what it was a week ago. cbs news national correspondent mark strassmann has a look at the situation here in the u.s. and he repormtlorter: good morn, margaret. new york is still the epicenter

but all signs point to a devastating spread across the country. you mentioned those mixed signals, yesterday president trump float add mandatory quarantine of new jersey, connecticut and new york. governor cuomo shot down that idea right away. so the cdc instead issued a travel advisory, all residents of those three states should avoid nonessential travel for two weeks, but no question, the siege of new york is about to be felt elsewhere. >> watching new york's coronavirus contagion, anybody is entitled to shutter, overwhelmed hospitals, underprotected scared emergency workers. shortages of ventilators, test kits and respirator masks. >> many shifts i have left from after finishing my shift i cried. >> the city famed for its risk everyone feels vulnerable. >> the models say 14 to 21 days away from that apex, and that

curve hits the highest point. >> reporter: at rhode island's border, national guard troops stop arriving new yorkers, they quarantine for 14 days. florida set up checkpoints, this one closes the florida keys to outsiders. how is it fair to them to just be airdropping in people from the hot zones bringing infections with them? >> reporter: across american, covid-19 has morphed into a hydra headed threat, nine days ago, four states ordered the residents to stay home, 75 million residents in all .. today, it is 25 states, 228 million people, roughly two-thirds of americans, including californians. by midweek, los angeles expects to be the next new york, the navy prepositions a supertanker converted into a floating hospital. its name? the mercy. mayor eric garcetti.

>> we will have doctors making excruciating decisions and we will be trying to figure out what we do with that surge. >> reporter: other infection hotspots expecting a bad week include chicago, detroit, new cases of the virus jumped 1,100 percent in eight days. and new orleans its corona death rate spikes. >> per capita its infection rate is about the same as new york. >> we are becoming an epicenter and we need all of the help we can get from the federal government to help prepare. >> new orleans converted its convention center into a field hospital, like new york. city leaders will create 4,000 additional hospital beds at four sites. at another navy floating hospital arrives in new york tomorrow. across america this week communities in crisis will rely on the heroics of front line responders and something else that is contagious, hope.

>> brennan: that's mark strassmann reporting from atlanta. worldwide we are close to the 700,000 case mark and we are nearing 32,000 deaths. cbs news senior foreign correspondent elizabeth palmer has a look at what is going on outside of this country. >> reporter: here in the uk the death rate rose sharply this week as prime minister boris johnson became the first elected head of state to become infected by the virus, the fact he announced on twitter. >> i am working from home. i am self isolating. >> reporter: the palace announced prince charles was down with the virus too, but said three-year-old queen remained in good health. after the u.s., italy has the most cases and deaths. near vergamo, a priest conducted a mass funeral but strict stay at home rules meant there was not a single mourner. in italy and spaher,eohave tiede

virus, but the spread does finally appear to be peaking in some areas. the exception to europe's strict rules is sweden. there, the focus is to isolate the elderly while schools, restaurants and businesses stay open, a bold some say crazy experiment. around the rest of the world, people are discovering how to be together apart. >> here, a group fitness session in paris. nearby, the eiffel tower beamed out a salute and a warning. far away in india, people in an over crowded village found social distancing space in trees. this pandemic is now threatening the developing world with its vast population and authorities are reacting. thnde himself into a one-man public awareness campaign. while in kenya, troops tear gassed crowds ahead of a new curfew.

meanwhile, back at the vatican this weekend, pope francis blessed the world in a deserted st. peter's square, joined in spirit by millions watching on tv. finally, in china, authorities have so far managed to prevent a second wave of infection and continue to gradually lift the restrictions on people moving around. margaret. >> brennan: liz palmer, thank you. we now go to connecticut and former fda commissioner dr. scott gottlieb. good to have you back with us. >> thanks. >> brennan: doctor, we heard from anthony fauci, the director of the national institute of health this morning on another network. he said the u.s. will likely have millions of cases potentially hundreds ofk3 thousands of deaths. do your projections look like this? >> i certainly hope not. i think we 57ly will have hundreds of thousands of cases and might get into the millions. right now you look at what is happening around the nation and you see epidemics spread in

cities like chicago with 1,800 cases, new orleans with 1,300, miami with 1,100, los angeles with 1,800, and you see a number of cities that have doubled the number of cases in the last three or four case, droiz, philadelphia, so this looks like d of the citiesmic right now will be in a similar situation to what new york is in right now. new york is actually showing some signs that the spread may be slowing in that city. they made some good decisions early and maybe in seven to ten days they will actually see themselves peak but as they come down the epidemic curve starts to peak slowly, other parts of the nation are going to be heating up and just in closing i will say, our capacity to sustain and support multiple cities simultaneously as they to into an epidemic is going to be very difficult. >> brennan: the white house is discussing lifting loosening some of these guidelines and restrictions. i know you have shared your recommendations with them. what should be the trigger for loosening them at a time when it only seems that this is spreading? >> well, we have said in the report we put out today that you

should wait until you see sustained reduction in the number of cases for 14 days, so 14 dayastaineduction in the number of daily cases is the point you can contemplate lifting some of these measures we have in places some of these aggressive social distancing measures but you need to do it gradually and substitute in other things. there are other conditions that need to be met. you need to have the ability to test the population widely so you can determine who has the infection and who doesn't and use case based interventions. we isolate individual people, you also want good information about where the virus is spreading, you need to be testing very widely to know where the virus is spreading so those tools need to be this place. now those tools are getting in place. i think by the end of the week we will have the gas do screen maybe as close to 750,000 people a week, and going into the week after that maybe close to a million. the limitation on our ability to screen isn't going to be the screening platforms themselves. we have now deployed a lot of sophisticated platforms, including platforms into doctor's offices. the limitation is going to be the low commodity components of

testing like the swabs, or the plastic components used to actually run the tests, the manufacturing supply chain for those components is very limited right now. >> brennan: the bottom line, do you expect states to be told to loosen restrictions by the white house this week? >> i don't. i think what the white house is going to announce they are going to extend these measures or recommend that governors extend these measures for another couple of weeks going forward, and then reevaluate that time. the white house has talked about being data driven, i am hopeful they will be. it is too early to lift these measures. it is going to be a difficult april, we are going to get through this, april is going to be a hard month, come may we will be coming out of this and be able to contemplate lifting some of these measures as we see the epidemic curve come down, remember, there isn't going to be a simultaneous reduction across the country, new york is going to come down before the rest of the country does, and it may appear that the overall number of cases around the nation are coming down because new york represents such a big part of that, but in fact new york could be coming down and

other parts of the country going up so we need to look at this on a regional basis. >> brennan: for people on home, for a long time the administration said don't waste face masks on yourself, save them for the sick, you now think people should look at this. are these do-it-yourself ones worth anything? >> they are. i think people should be contemplating wearing masks, the cotton masks we should be putting out guidelines on the cdc how to develop a mask on your own and might create a secondary market on episituate or other sites to sell toes masks, there truly is a shortage of masks .. for the hospitals sector, the supply cha i chain is limited and the what goes into a procedure mask that might be used in a dentist office is the same component that go into a n 95 mask so all of that supply is going to the hospital but people can fashion masks partially protective, the value of the mask is not necessarily to protect you from getting sick, although it may offer some protection, it is to protect you from other people, so when someone who is infected is wearing a mask, they are much less likely to transmit infection and the stud

demonstrating this come out of demonstrations with the flu and some studies show up to 50 percent reduction in your ability to spread the flu if you are infected if you are wearing so where thes in e sures like stay at home orders and looking at lifting those in certain cities as we come down the epidemic curve. telling people, well you don't have to stay at home anymore but if you go out you have to wear a mask that could be an sphwrip step you take as you transition away from these very restrictive measures. >> brennan: you used around the fda during the trump administration, do you think that agency can move any faster than it is in terms of approving kits, different can kinds of -- even ways to sanitize masks? >> well, i think sharing a medical device with the career professionals are moving very quickly of getting tests to thee market now that has been opened up. i think there are opportunities to sterilized masks, i talked to some doctors using gamma radiation, certainly secondary

procedures to sterilize masks to help increase the supply chain. i also think there is an opportunity for a therapeutic, i am hopeful by the summer we could have a therapeutic available authorized be at this fda to look at the antibodies that are in development, some of the anti-virals in advanced stages of clinical trial. it is possible one of these is going to work wand we could have a therapeutic sooner than we expect and that is really going to an game chain changer and could change the flexion of the risk and allow us to implement some of these pull back some of e asur sooner. >> bnnan: okay. . eb good to talko you we will bk in jusecith treasuryy steven mnuchin. stay with us. >> t drinking water? we've all committed skin sins!

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rescue package but what i want to specific ask you about now is when americans will receive those 1,200 dollar checks. >> we expect that within three weeks that people who have direct deposit with information with us will see those direct deposits in their bank accounts and we will create a web based system for people where we don't have their direct deposit they can upload it, so that they can get the money immediately as opposed to checks in the mail. >> brennan: 1,200 dollars takes you a lot farther in nebraska than it does in california, how do you want people to be spending this money? >> well, there is really three components of this law now that protects the american public and the president was determined that we protect the american workers, since it was not their fault that we shut down the economy, while we kill this virus. so the first component is small business loans, which about half of the countries in half of the companies in the u.s. will be able to get small business loans and pay their workers for eight

weeks so we encourage people to do that and get them back to work. two, there will be enhanced unemployment insurance and three as you said there will be these checks in the mail or direct deposit, it is really bridge liquidity for people as they go through these difficult times. >> brennan: bridge liquidity for about eight weeks? >> well, i think the entire package provides economic relief overall for about 10 weeks. hopefully we will kill this virus quicker and we won't need it, but we have liquidity to put into the american economy to support american workers and american business. >> brennan: so you don't know if the economy is going to be up and running by memorial day, essentially? i mean, are you going to wait that long to come up with phase 4 round of stimulus? >> well, i main focus is now executing. we have everybody within treasury and the administration working around the clock to get this money out quickly, since this doesn't do people any good if it takes a long time. we also have the task force and

the medical professionals making recommendations to the president about when they think the economy will be reopened, and if for whatever reason this takes longer than we think we will go back to congress and get more support for the american economy, but i hope that is not needed. >> brennan: you will also have a key role in overseeing what is a tremendous financial rescue package for some of the biggest corporations in this country. at least 500 billion in size for one of these funds. how is this going to work? should americans at home understand that you are going to run this, the same way that they saw the auto companies bailed out during the financial crisis? >> well, let me just be clear. the majority of this money, 450 billion is money that we use with the federal reserve to create broad based programs, and, you know, chair powell and i speak multiple times a day. the way that works is, the federal reserve requests us to

approve a specific program. i as treasury secretary have to do that. i have approved every single one. they asked for so far and in many of these packages we put up money to support the credit for the fed. so those are bed based programs. there is also approximately $50 billion that is in specific lending authority where we can lend to -- out of treasury to the airlines industry and other national security industries where it is critical and i will be working with the president on all of those and let me just emphasize, we have full transparency on anything we do. we will be reporting to the public. >> brennan: okay. the president said on friday, though, the american public could end up owning large chunks of these corporations. what does that mean? is this going to be run like to auto bail out was? will the u.s. govesseessentiallg equity stakes, warrants? will american b's owning

companies. >> let me be clear we are not bailing out any companies, any industries, any loans we make,el mpensated for. >> brennan: how? that's what i am asking. >> we will look at each one of these situations, some of them are very good companies that just immediately quid at this and will get loans. some of these companies may need more significant help and we may be taking warrants or equity as well as. the president wants to make sure the american taxpayers are compensated. this is not a bailout. >> brennan: okay. so you still have to determine that, but specifically with a company like boeing, in particular, they have said they don't want to essentially allow these equity stakes takes. this potentially could be a company that is central to u.s. national security. in this bill you have a carveout for $18 billion in direct treasury assistance. how are you going to determine who that money goes to? is that just for boeing?

>> well, first of all, we are not going to force money on any companies. we are going put up very clear guidelines of what we are willing to do, companies need to come in and request. and if they do, we will be looking at a company specific situation. we will be having financial advisors. we have sophisticated people we are working with and we will take all of those issues into conideration and i will be discussing all of these with the president. >> brennan: but the president said that some of the most brilliant minds in the financial world are going to be working on this. who is it that is going to be weighing in? because the president also said they may make money off of this, american taxpayers want to know who and how. >> well, any of the people who are working with us have already agreed to work at very, very, very reduced rates, making sure that, you know, there is a special situation, so we are not going to be paying big fees to my of these people and we are going to make sure there aren't conflicts in any of the people

we hire. and as i said there will be full transparency so the president is right. he asked me -- >> brennan: do you have names? >> i am sorry, go ahead. >> brennan: do you have names for any of those individuals who will be doing this? >> the federal reserve has already announced that they have hired black rock, black rock is one of the largest asset managers in the world. black rock was involved in the financial crisis last time, larry fink has enormous experience, so that is one of them that has been disclosed and as we hire hora people we will fully disclose it. >> brennan: mr. secretary, i appreciate all of what you are doing in that you are saying it is going to take time to see if it is going to be successful or not, but do you need to level with the american people here and tell them, you simply don't know that all of these jobs are going to come back? i mean, the president of the st. louis federal reserve bank said we could see unemployment hit 30 percent in the second quarter of this year. you saw 3 million people file

for unemployment this week. >> well, let me clarify. i never said we didn't know if this will be successful or not. i think this is program is going to be enormously successful in stabilizing the u.s. economy while hardworking americans who lost their jobs or aren't able to work because of the medical situation that they get help. so this money is going to go into the economy very quickly. it is going to help american workers very, very quickly and i don't know how long it is going to take to kill this virus. i do know we will kill this virus and when we do, i have great confidence that the u.s. economy will become roaring back. >> brennan: mr. secretary, thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> brennan: we will be right back with a lot more "face the nation". >> i see heroes, not just to me... but to so many. you put others before yourselves,

making sure that the wheels keep turning. you work for the greater good, and you keep the flame of hope burning. you've proven that, there's no task that can't be done. you've shown your true strength when it's time to work as one. thank you for keeping us safe. and for being our light. for always doing your part, to make the world shine a little more bright. to our over one-million heroes, in towns across america, i say thank you. ♪

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i think you overshot that one. my $4 fish sandwich combo! stack it up for an extra buck. >> brennan: welcome back to "face the nation". we want to take a closer look at one state where the crisis is getting worse. louisiana governor john bel ewards joins us from baton rouge. governor, before we start, i do want to extend our condolences on the loss of your staffer aril dunn we understand died yesterday of coronavirus. thank you for joining us. >> she did. and thank you very much. she was a very sweet lady and an important part of our team so thank you. >> brennan: i want to talk about the fate of your state. you have said that louisiana could run out of strength layers as soon as april. that is this week. has the trump administration given you any assurances that your state will get what it needs? >> well, not yet, and we

continue to press the case and look we know that ventilators .. are in short supply for everyone, you know, all states are having this issue to one degree or another and obviously new jersey and new york and other states have been clamoring for ventilators as well. but over the past few weeks, we put in orders with the national stockpile, for example through at the naah but also pursued manufacturers and vendors trying to place orders for about 12,000 ventilators, i think thus far we have received 192. that is inadequate to the task because if we stay on the present growth curve we are on with respect with to coronavirus cases we believe that by about april the 4th or so in the new orleans area we will exc capacity for ventilators and obviously that is not where we want to be, so we are doinghingo louisiana, especially down into that new orleans area, but it is a big challenge right you.

>> brennan: has the federal government told you you are on your own to secure those ventilators? >> well, i am not going to say they told us we we are on our o. we haven't yet been approved for ventilators out of the national stock pail. i continue to press that case and i hope that we will be cut in for a slice of what they have left there. and we get them in the next few days. in the meantime we are identifying every breathing machine that we can convert, modify into a ventilator. we are looking at trying to source ventilators that would typically be used in the ent area as opposed to hospital rooms. and then we are looking to see what ventilators we can use to potentially service more than one patient at a time, depending on the acuity level of the patient and so forth. so we are doing everything we can. this is the biggest issue in the near term, however is ventilator capacity and it is the now. >> brennyou alstold cbs that you need n 95 masks, those

are the masks for frontline workers. you told one of my and five times the normal cost when you are able to get them. >> yes. >> brennan: have you told the white house that this system of states outbidding each other, tying to bid against the federal government is just not working for you? >> well, we have had plenty of conversations with the white house, and the vice president leading the coronavirus task force we have had many phone calls and telephone conferences and our situation here in louisiana it is not like other states. i am sorry, not unlike other states. we did receive into our warehouse about 110,000 masks yesterday. they have all been distributed, so the ppe situation does appear to be getting a little bit better. we hope a that obviously continues to improve over time, but it is a challenge, and everybody is paying more fo

these items than we would have paid several weeks ago, it is a function of supply and demand. i do think there is some price gouging going on as well and hoping that gets investigated and as we identify practices ill price gouging we are turning those over to the u.s. attorney for the middle district here in louisiana. >> brennan: that's fighting on a lot of fronts at once, sir. is there money that you know will be coming to you through this congressional relief package? >> yes. the $2 trillion package that congress passed, that president signed into law we snow going to help with hospitals, with unreimbursed expenses, the expansion of telehealth, we know families are going to benefit, small businesses, is it. >> brennan: is it enough? >> you know, it is a very generous package. it is the largest one in the history of our country. >> brennan: right, but sit enough for you. >> $1.8 billion worth -- >> well there is $1.8 billion for the state that is going to help, and so there is going to

be additional legislation coming forward, i believe as well. but we know this is a food start and i appreciate everything that they have done in congress in order to help us. and we are going to be working with our congressional delegation, if we can identify other needs that we can get help on we are going to make sure we continue to do that. >> brennan: the first confirmed case of coronavirus in your state came about 13 days after mardi gras. >> yes. >> brennan: you didn't cancel it. do you regret not going so? i know you said the cdc didn't issue guidelines saying to dohag for, for the federal government to tell you as a state what to do? >> margaret, look back to where we were at that time. i think there were 15 cases in the country. all of which had been linked to foreign travel, either directly or indirectly. there was not one person at the state or at the federal government, not at the cdc or otherwise who recommended canceling any event, not just mardi gras but i don't think

anywhere across the country and we will know what role mardi gras played in seeding this virus later but right now that not our focus. we can't do anything about what happened or what didn't happened credit. we are working on building our pass to deliver healthcare in the short-term and slowing the spread of this virus. >> brennan: i understand. i will ask you the question on guidance though because we know the white house is preparing to issue new guidance in in in the coming week so as the governor you wish you knew a few things back then. what do you need to know now? >> well, first of all every time the cdc comes up with updated guidance we look at it very, very closely. and we make sure we are talking to our value partners, whether the surgeon general or dr. fauci, dr. ferrare over testing, i have had conversations with all of those individuals to make sure that we are doing everything that we can in louisiana .., you know, we have been about a week into our stay-at-home order. we expect that mitigation works and that we will see that come into play in the next couple of

days as we continue to report the positive cases. we needwe need to flatten the ce because we know that we are on a trajectory right now where we are not going to be able to deliver the healthcare that people need when they need it, not just with respect to strength layers but a few days after that, by the tenth or so of april, bed space so we need to flatten the curve, surge our medical capacity, again, these are the same situations, challenges that are facing a number of states right now. >> brennan: i understand. and we wish you good luck, sir. we will be back in a moment. >> (burke) at farmers insurance, we've seen almost everything

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neutrogena® but today, as you're being challenged more than ever, i see heroes, not just to me but to so many. thank you for keeping us safe. and for being our light. for always doing your part, to make the world shine a little more bright. to our over one-million heroes, in towns across america, i say thank you. >> brennan: we now go to the president and ceo of the mayo clinic, dr. fruga and joins us from their campus in rochester, minnesota, good to have you with us, doctor. you may have -- >> thank you for having me on the show. >> brennan: you may have just heard the governor of louisiana tell us his state is about to run out of ventilators so one thing he says that keeps him up at night and by april 10th he

doesn't expect to have enough hospital beds to accommodate the sck. is this going to be the story across this country atals? >> thiis a critical element of our conversation and discussion as a nation. we have to focus on saving livis we need to be diligent about this because there is no direction end in sight and therefore we need to continue to learn and improve as there is a wave of surges happens across our country. we have to really be diligent about focusing on what we can do to prevent people from getting sick and if they are sick how to prevent them from entering ito an icu, and once they get to the icu how can we make sure that their stay is as brief as possible, for example you can go from 10 days on the ventilator to five days in the ventilator, then you can double the number of available ventilators. the mayo clinic together with many other organizations is laser focused on doing this,

focusing on testing, and focusing on with novel therapies to be able to really flatten and bend the curve. >> brennan: one of the therapies that got a lot of attention is the antibody serums. tell me what your thoughts are on how effective that can be. >> so we know that in order to really handle this crisis we have to take many different approaches. the best anti-virus remain washing your hands and we have to remind people of that. then there are the anti-vierls themselves that affect the, attack the virus themselves and then there are agents that are effective at blocking the molecules that the virus causes our own cells to release and that can prevent some of the damage we are seeing in the lungs and 0, and other organs, including the kidneys and there are the con, con extra less sent are plasma, we take plasma from the person who has the covid-19 and a response to it and can

generally treat one person and doing so, you can provoke an artificial given response that allows them to recover more quickly. this is based on other diseases. it is now being tried for the coronavirus for covid-19, and mayo clinic and other institutions are working vey hard, collaborating with industry to make sure that we can have adequate supply to test if there is going to make a difference. and i am hopeful that it will. >> brennan: we have also heard from epidemiologists about the hope of contact tracing, basically, figuring out who you have come in contact with in order to determine how at risk you are. how would something like that work in the united states? >> so every country has a different threshold on privacy of information, on data, but certainly we as a country have plenty of technology to do better at tracing. we have been collaborating for instance with mit on a map

called safe path where you can opt in and then within your network you know if somebody within the network tested positive or even has symptoms. and we are working with a company called inference in boston, that is really becoming better on predicting hotspots because currently we are predicting hotspots very close to, or even a little too late for when they start to occur and you have the ability to use artificial intelligence to do real-time know when a test is positive, for those who understand things like, okay, how many tests happened in the last 24, 48 hours? that is really important. how many people are being admitted? you can get a much better idea of where the next hot spot is and then move resources and in the last couple of days we have tried that. we have have done that within te state of minnesota and we believe that there are many of these innovations that -- innovations that are happening around the country that will help us improve the way we trace and advise people to, one, avoid getting sick and once they get sick to understand what we can do for their immediate contacts and that is one of the very

important ways that we can flatten that curve and at the same time inform the public, because as you know, fear is a big part of this epidemic. >> brennan: based then on what you have seen so far, do you think that it is underestimated how much of this virus has already infected parts of the american midwest? >> there has been a lot of discussion about that. we have to be driven by the science, not by conjecture. we always have to be driven by the science, and to be driven by science we need to have the right testing and testing serology is going to be very important in that way, to understand who has an antibody and therefore can be presumed to have had contact with the virus and has mounted a response to it. we at the mayo clinic have spent a lot of time developing a first pcr test, now a serology test, there are many other institutions that are doing so, and this is wherein investigation and collaboration come together, but there is no one single test that is the

right test and there are many different tests that can be used, serology for what you stated but also trying to bring the price down. for example, the atomic agency in austria is trying to use isotopes to develop a very cheap test, university of washington, uc berkeley are using a chris per h crisper to try different tests what you are seeing is a multitude of tests and multitude of tests is going to be able to give us the answer to that question. >> brennan: we wish you good luck. thank you very much, doctor. >> well, thank you very much and i really do want to thank every healthcare worker. thank you. >> brennan: we do too .

>> brennan: we now go to dr. david heymann, a professor of epidemiology who serves as a special advisor to the world health organization. he joins us via face time from france. good morning to you, doctor. >> good morning. >> brennan: the united states is the wealthiest country in the world and we are now the epicenter of this outbreak. does how this virus affect here, people here in america look any different to you than what it has done in the rest of the world? >> no. this is a pretty vicious virus,

and everywhere it has appeared it has caused great numbers of people to die, and it is also spread very easily in communities so what is happening in the u.s. has happened around the world. what has been different is the strategies to contain the virus. >> brennan: from what you are seeing it sounds like you are suggesting the strategy to contain has not worked, and the white house says now they are just trying to mitigate it. >> well, the strategy works if it started early and if it is continued even during a time when there are many cases. the objective is to identify people who were infected, either those who are sick or those who are contacts of those people who are sick and then to isolate those people and stop transmission while at the same time having other measures such as physical distancing and means to keep people from getting too close together. >> brennan: it sounds like what you are describing is what south korea has done. >> well, that's right.

singapore, south korea and hong kong have all begun a strategy very early to contain the outbreak and they have tried to contain that outbreak with minimal disruption in their daily lives. there is a very important issue in all of these countries and that is that people clearly understand how to protect themselves and how to protect others. like the sars outbreak, they know they can stop this outbreak and they are working very hard to do that. so that is one of the differences. they have had sars outbreaks before. they have learned how to not only stop transmission but also to stock up their hospitals so they are able to take people when they do become sick. >> brennan: would it be too early to lift some of the restrictions here in the united states? as a medical professional what is your opinion? i am not asking about the politics. >> well, at the world health organization we have been discussing with a group of people how best this outbreak can be stopped and at the same time how the lockdown procedures can be lifted.

and the general consensus is, it depends on the risk assessment in the country. china has already begun to unlock its heavy industrial sector and also its small business sector and they are watching very closely to make sure that transmission doesn't increase as a result. that's what other countries need to do it is a well. they need to understand where the majority of transmission is occurring and then they need to keep those sectors locked down most while unlocking the sectors where transmission is less important and having measures in place to stop transmission should it begin to increase again. >> brennan: there was a team of british doctors who wrote this week that one of the palestinians of exposure to the virus is loss of taste and smell. is that an indicator? should americans be looking out for that? >> that certainly has been an indicator in the uk and in many other countries, and i am sure in the u.s. it will be the same manifestations, so, yes, loss of taste has been a characteristic.

in ome populations, but the most reliable means of determining whether or not oer persistent, dry cough. >> brennan: do you have any reason to believe that onceecten become immune or do you think this virus will hit in waves again and again? you know, other coronavirus don't develop long-term immunity, people can get viruses that cause the common cold on are a regular basis so it is very important that the immune response to this organism be studied, it is too early to say for sure, hopefully there will be an immunity that is developed so vaccines can be developed and a other means of prevention will be possible. >> brennan: well, there is some talk about people developing immunity and therefore allowing them to go back into society. you are saying, it is not clear yet if we can say that is a safe method. you talked about the fact that

this was transferred from the animal kingdom into humans and then now spread huge to human. will animals continue spreading this disease or was this a one-time transmission? >> as far as it is understood this was a onose t viruses in bats, infected a human, and that human then infected others and there was some mass event in the city of wuhan where many, many different people were infected at the same time, and sent off chains of transmission among their contacts, it traveled internationally and also within china. >> brennan: china shut its borders to foreigners yesterday. would you advice other countries to do the same? >> it has to be a risk based assessment to really understand whether borders need to be closed. china has closed its borders because it now has more infections coming from outside china than within china itself. at least at present. and so they have decided that they want to stop this by actually closing their borders and putting people who should

come in if they are infected in quarantine. >> brennan: should the chinese communist party have shared more information about this virus and done it sooner? >> the government in china has shared information very freely with the world health organization and also with others. there are many published articles from chinese investigators that have been put out on many different medical journals in front of the pay wall so everybody can understand what is going on. so there has been to date quite a free sharing of information among countries and from countries to others. >> brennan: dr. heymann, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> brennan: we will be right back with some thoughts on our heroic first responders. >> how do you gaveeno® happy 24/7? with prebiotic oat. it hydrates and softens skin.

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awe're offering no payments for 90 days on 14 models. this is help when you need it. >> brennan: that's it for us today. we will see you next week. but we leave you with a look at the people around the world who aren't able to weather the crisis at home with their loved ones. they are the healthcare workers and first responders who continue to report for duty to protect us. >> these are the troops on the frontlines of this new world war. the nurses, emergency responders, doctors, scientists and hospital staff defending us all against an advancing and invisible enemy. in new york, governor cuomo's call for reinforcements was met by a surge of volunteers, 40,000

retired healthcare professionals and newly graduated students stepped up to serve in the besieged and makeshift hospitals at the new epicenter of the global outbreak. another 6,000 mental health professionals offered hen to those in distress. in seattle, new york, and soon to be hotspots across this country we have seen these acts of community and courage. hospitals cannot provide the body armor needed, the masks, goggles and protective gear to help the healers avoid becoming patients themselves. in scenes reminiscent of the world war ii home front, many quarantined americans put their sewing machines to good use crafting makeshift versions of face masks. gestures of gratitude from a public told that the most useful thing they can do is to simply stay home. in italy and spain, where the

pandemic arrived earlier, the virus has claimed a disproportionate share of healthcare workers lives. as one new york surgeon wrote to his colleague this is week, the enemy is inside the wire. accept that there is no place to hide. they survived because we don't give up. [ applause ] >> brennan:. >> in recognition of that sacrifice, millions of people in cities across the world took to their balconies and doorsteps to applaud from afar their nation's caregivers. the very first warning of this mysterious virus came from a physician li wong his message was deemed illegal activity by chinese authorities. that selfless defiant act, a reminder that medicine is not a job. it is a calling. in this country, we are accustomed of to think of heroes dressed in military uniforms, not scrubs but a virus cannot be

stopped by borders or bullets. and that has reminded us all we are facing this deadly enemy. it will take a particular type of valor to defeat it, one rooted in protecting the very first of those inalienable rights that thomas jefferson once wrote of, life itself. and on behalf of a grateful nation, we thank them all for their service captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org this fish sandwich is amazing! let's make it more amazing! ♪ menutaur check it out with an extra filet! yeah! hey. ahhhh! my $4 fish sandwich combo! stack it up for an extra buck.

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