JOINING US, DR. KELLY HENNICK
WHO HAS PARTNERED WITH NEW YORK
STATE TO LEAD THE CONTACT
TRACING PROGRAM.
YOU TRAINED WITH THE CDC.
YOU KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THEIR
WORK IS.
IS PETER NAVARRO’S CRITICISM
VALID?
>> I THINK WE HAVE TO REMEMBER
THAT THE CDC IS ONE OF THE BEST
PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS IN
THE WORLD.
AND CERTAINLY HAS BEEN THE
LEADER IN THE UNITED STATES FOR
DECADES AND DECADES.
VIROLOGISTS, LABORATORIANS
REALLY THE BEST AT CDC AND I’D
SAY THAT CDC IS ABSOLUTELY DOING
ITS BEST TO SUPPORT THE RESPONSE
IN THE UNITED STATES UNDER THESE
CIRCUMSTANCES.
>> SO THEIR GUIDELINES, WE
SHOULD TRUST THEM.
>> THEIR GUIDELINES HAVE BEEN
PUT OUT.
THEY’VE PUT OUT A GREAT DEAL OF
REALLY SOLID MATERIAL THAT’S
AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE.
AND IT’S HIGHLY VALUED.
NOT JUST IN THE U.S. BUT BY
PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
AROUND THE WORLD.
>> WE DID GET SOME POSITIVE NEWS
ON A VACCINE FROM MODERNA, A
SMALLER LABORATORY, JUST THIS
MORNING.
A SMALL HUMAN TRIAL SHOWED THAT
PEOPLE DEVELOPED ANTIBODIES IN
REALLY HIGH NUMBERS.
WHERE ARE WE IN TERMS OF A
VACCINE, AND ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC
THAT WE COULD SEE SOMETHING BY
THE END OF THE YEAR?
>> THE MODERNA ANNOUNCEMENT WAS
VERY -- A VERY POSITIVE MOVE
FORWARD.
SO IN THE MODERNA ANNOUNCEMENT
THEY TALKED ABOUT THE ANTIBODY
RESPONSE IN A PHASE ONE, WHICH
IS AN EARLY STUDY IN HUMANS.
IT SHOWED POSITIVE ANTIBODIES.
WHAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT IS
SAFETY.
SO FAR THIS VACCINE LOOKS TO BE
QUITE SAFE.
AND THEN WE HAVE TO MOVE ON TO A
FURTHER STUDY IN MORE HUMANS TO
SEE WHAT THOSE RESPONSES LOOK
LIKE.
AND TO OPTIMIZE THE DOSING.
BUT IT IS LOOKING POSITIVE.
I HAVE TO STICK WITH OUR EARLIER
DISCUSSIONS ABOUT VACCINE IN
THAT IT’S GOING TO TAKE MONTHS
TO GET TO A POINT WHERE
MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION
OF AN EFFECTIVE VACCINE IS
READY.
>> WELL, LET’S TALK ABOUT
NUMBERS AND BIG PICTURE BECAUSE
IF YOU GO BACK TWO WEEKS, WE HAD
ROUGHLY 30 STATES OPEN FOR
BUSINESS.
DR. EZEKIEL EMMANUEL TOLD "THE
NEW YORK TIMES" THIS.
QUOTE, THE DATA IS ALWAYS TWO OR
THREE WEEKS OLD.
IF THE DATA IS TWO OR THREE
WEEKS OLD AND WE OPENED TWO
WEEKS AGO IF THERE WAS A SPIKE
IN CASES FROM THE REOPENING,
WOULD WE HAVE SEEN IT BY NOW, OR
WILL IT TAKE LONGER?
>> MOST PEOPLE ARE SAYING WE
SHOULD REALLY BE CAUTIOUS AND
THINK ABOUT A THREE-WEEK WINDOW,
BUT WE’RE GETTING THERE.
WE’RE GETTING THERE, AND WE’RE
NOT SEEING ENORMOUS SPIKES YET.
BUT WE ARE SEEINGN’T SEEING DECL
EITHER.
THERE’S A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT
GEORGIA, AN EARLY OPENING STATE.
ALTHOUGH THE CASES HAVEN’T
SEEMED TO SPIKE THERE, DESPITE
THEIR MID-APRIL OPENING, THEY’RE
STILL SEEING 600, 700 CASES A
DAY.
WE HAVE TO TRACK THIS DATA
CAREFULLY BECAUSE THOSE NUMBERS
COULD INCREASE AT ANY POINT.
IT’S NOT A STRAIGHT LINE, IF YOU
WILL.
>> THAT SAID, YOU’VE GOT SPIKES
IN SOME PLACES LIKE TEXAS, NORTH
DAKOTA AND ALABAMA.
HOW CAN YOU TELL WHETHER IT’S A
SPIKE IN CASES, PEOPLE ARE
GETTING SICKER AND IT’S
SPREADING FASTER, OR IT’S
INCREASED TESTING?
>> IF YOU TEST MORE PEOPLE,
YOU’RE LIKELY TO FIND MORE
POSITIVES.
THAT’S
THAT JUST MAKES SENSE.
WE LIKE TO TRACK THE POSITIVITY
RATE.
HOW MANY POSITIVE CASES OVER THE
TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES THAT ARE
TESTED?
IF WE’RE REALLY TESTING A BROAD
SWATH OF THE POPULATION, WE
EXPECT THAT POSITIVITY RATE TO
BE IN THE LESS THAN 10% RANGE.
SO THAT’S ONE OF THE INDICATORS
THAT WE LOOK AT TO SEE HOW
BROADLY IS TESTING REALLY
OCCURRING ACROSS THE POPULATION?
>> AND I WANT TO BE CAREFUL.
I AM IN NO WAY ASKING YOU TO GET
POLITICAL, BUT I’D LIKE YOU TO
FACT-CHECK SOMETHING FOR US.
I WANT TO PLAY FOR YOU AN
INTERVIEW THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S
SON ERIC TRUMP DID FROM HIS HOME
THIS WEEKEND WITH A TV ANCHOR ON
FOX NEWS WHO WAS INTERVIEWING
HIM FROM HER HOME.
PLEASE TAKE A LOOK.
>> DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO MILK
THIS FOR EVERYTHING THEY CAN,
AND IT’S SAD.
MILK IT EVERY SINGLE DAY BETWEEN
NOW AND NOVEMBER 3rd.
AFTER NOVEMBER 3rd, CORONAVIRUS
WILL MAGICALLY ALL OF A SUDDEN
GO AWAY AND DISAPPEAR AND
EVERYBODY WILL BE ABLE TO
REOPEN.
>> DOCTOR?
>> I WISH CORONAVIRUS WOULD
MAGICALLY DISAPPEAR.
I THINK THE DATA IS VERY CLEAR
THAT WE’RE EVEN SEEING NOW IN
SOME OF OUR MOST CAREFULLY
ORCHESTRATED RESPONSES, LIKE
SOUTH KOREA, AND SINGAPORE, THAT
WHEN THESE SOCIAL DISTANCING
MEASURES ARE RELAXED, THAT WE
START TO SEE MORE CASES AND
LARGER OUTBREAKS.
SO I THINK OUR GUARD HAS TO BE
UP.
WE HAVE TO BE CAUTIOUS AND WE
HAVE TO WATCH THE DATA VERY