ABOUT THAT SHOWS A DRAMATIC DROP IN EXPECTED COVID-19 DEATHS.
WE ARE GOING TO TALK TO HIM
ABOUT HOW THEY ARRIVED AT THOSE
NUMBERS, BUT WE BEGIN TONIGHT
WITH DR. BEN CARSON.
DR. CARSON, THANK YOU VERY MUCH
FOR BEING HERE.
>> PLEASURE.
>> PLEASURE. >> Martha: INTERESTED TO SPEAK
WITH YOU ABOUT THIS CONCEPT OF
REOPENING THE COUNTRY BECAUSE
YOU ARE A MEDICAL DOCTOR, A
SURGEON, AND ALSO THE
HUD SECRETARY CONCERNED WITH
HOUSING AND URBAN CENTERS IN
THIS COUNTRY.
THIS COUNTRY. SO WHERE DO YOU HAVE TO BE AS
BOTH OF THOSE -- WEARING BOTH OF
THOSE HATS TO LOOK TOWARDS A MAY
ECONOMY?
ECONOMY? >> WELL, THEY ARE NOT
INCOMPATIBLE HATS.
INCOMPATIBLE HATS. WHAT WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE IS
THAT THERE ARE BENEFITS AND
RISKS IN LIFE AND THAT’S WHY WE
HAVE THESE VERY COMPLEX THINGS
AND WE CAN TAKE ALL KINDS OF
INFORMATION INTEGRATED AND COME
UP WITH A LOGICAL SOLUTION.
IT REQUIRES LOOKING AT DATA AND
UNDERSTANDING HOW TO ANALYZE IT.
LOOKING AT WHAT’S HAPPENED IN
OTHER COUNTRIES, SO WHEN WE SEE
THAT BELL-SHAPED CURVE AND WE’VE
SEEN IT COME DOWN RATHER STEEPLY
AND SOME OTHER COUNTRIES, WHEN
THAT HAPPENS, WE HAVEN’T SEEN IT
GO BACK UP, SO THAT’S WHAT WE
ARE FOR HERE.
THAT ALREADY SEEMS TO BE
STARTING.
STARTING. OBVIOUSLY WE DON’T WANT TO GO TO
EARLY OR WAIT -- WE WILL WAIT
FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS AND SEE IF
THAT CONTINUES DOWN AND THEN WE
ALSO NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE
HAVE APPROPRIATE TESTING.
WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TEST
PEOPLE TO SEE IF THEY HAVE A
VIRUS.
VIRUS. WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TEST
PEOPLE TO SEE IF THEY HAVE THE
ANTIBODIES WHICH WILL MAKE THEM
MUCH SAFER IN TERMS OF RETURNING
TO THE WORKFORCE.
AND THEN WE HAVE TO RETURN THEM
IN A LOGICAL WAY.
THAT’S THE KEY.
>> Martha: I WANT TO SHOW YOU
SOME OF THE NEW POLLING THAT WE
HAVE TONIGHT THAT WE JUST GOT
BACK THAT I THINK SORT OF GIVES
YOU A LITTLE SENSE OF WHERE THE
AMERICAN PUBLIC IN TERMS OF
THEIR CONFIDENCE LEVELS UP WITH
ALL OF THIS AT THIS POINT.
ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT CATCHING
COVID-19?
COVID-19? 76% OF THE COUNTRY SAYS THEY ARE
STILL CONCERNED ABOUT GETTING
IT.
IT. THIS IS APRIL 4TH-APRIL 7TH.
ONLY 24% ARE NOT CONCERNED.
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS NEXT ONE.
75% OF THE COUNTRY IS CONCERNED
ABOUT BEING ABLE TO GET TESTED
AND WE HEARD A LOT OF QUESTIONS
ON THIS TONIGHT.
I THINK THIS IS REALLY ONE OF
THE SORT OF ANXIETY-RAISING
ISSUES THAT STILL PERSISTS IN
THE COUNTRY, PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAD IT AND
THEY WANT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A
QUICK, EASY WAY TO FIND OUT AND
THIS LAST ONE I FIND VERY
INTERESTING.
INTERESTING. DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WITH
CORONAVIRUS?
CORONAVIRUS? ONLY 21% OF THE COUNTRY SAYS YES
THEY DO, 76% SAYS NO THEY DO
NOT.
NOT. LIVING HERE IN THE NEW YORK AREA
I THINK EVERYBODY KNOWS SOMEBODY
WITH THIS TERRIBLE VIRUS BUT IN
THE REST OF THE COUNTRY THE
NUMBERS ARE MUCH LOWER, DOCTOR.
YOUR THOUGHTS ON ALL OF THAT IN
TERMS OF HOW THEY PAINT THE
AMERICAN PUBLIC RIGHT NOW?
>> KEEP IN MIND THAT A LOT OF
PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE VIRUS ARE
COMPLETELY ASYMPTOMATIC.
COMPLETELY ASYMPTOMATIC. SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 25 AND 50%, SO
YOU PROBABLY DO KNOW SOMEONE
THAT HAS IT, YOU MAY HAVE IT.
WHO KNOWS, BUT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN
TERRIFIED BECAUSE WE’VE TALKED
ABOUT THE BAD.
ONE OF THE THINGS WE DON’T SEEM
TO TALK ABOUT A LOT ARE THE
NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE
RECOVERED, WHICH IS GOING TO BE
ABOUT 98% OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO
GET IT.
GET IT. THEY ARE GOING TO DO QUITE WELL.
AND WE NEED TO REALLY START
TALKING NOT UP AND START TALKING
ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO, NOT HOW WE
ARE GOING TO BE HARNESSED -- THE
FACT OF THE MATTER IS IF WE
DESTROY THE ECONOMIC
INFRASTRUCTURE OF OUR COUNTRY,
WE ARE GOING TO LOSE A LOT MORE
PEOPLE THAN WE LOST FROM THIS
VIRUS.
VIRUS. WE CAN’T, YOU KNOW, OPERATE OUT
OF HYSTERIA.
OF HYSTERIA. WHEN PEOPLE ARE HYSTERICAL THEY
DON’T DO LOGICAL THINGS.
>> Martha: I THINK IT’S
INTERESTING THAT MORE PEOPLE ARE
CONCERNED ABOUT THE ECONOMY THAN
THEY ARE ABOUT GETTING THE
VIRUS.
VIRUS. I THOUGHT THAT WAS A PRETTY
TELLING NUMBER AS WELL.
I WANT TO PLAY THIS FROM
GOVERNOR CUOMO BECAUSE IT SPEAKS
TO YOUR WORK AS HUD SECRETARY
SOME OF THE COMMUNITIES THAT YOU
DEAL WITH.
DEAL WITH. LET’S WATCH THIS.
>> WE ARE GOING TO BE DOING MORE
TESTING IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND
LATINO COMMUNITIES WITH MORE
DATA.
DATA. WE ARE GOING TO NEW TESTING
SITES PRIMARILY IN
AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND LATINO
COMMUNITIES.
COMMUNITIES. >> Martha: HOW CONCERNED ARE
YOU ABOUT THE NUMBERS THAT WE
ARE SEEING IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN
AND LATINO COMMUNITIES IN ANY
URBAN CENTERS ESPECIALLY?
>> I’M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT IT.
I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT A LONG
TIME BEFORE THIS BECAUSE A LOT
OF THE HEALTH DISPARITIES THAT
OCCUR -- AND IN THIS CASE IT’S
PARTICULARLY CONCERNING BECAUSE
PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN CLOSE
PROXIMITY AND PEOPLE WHO CANNOT
SHELTER AT HOME ARE PEOPLE WHO
ARE MORE LIKELY TO CONTRACT THE
DISEASE.
DISEASE. SO IT WILL ATTACK ANYONE.
AND THEN WHEN YOU THROW ON TOP
OF THAT, YOU KNOW, A HIGHER
INSTANCE OF SOME OF THE
UNDERLYING CONDITIONS LIKE
HYPERTENSION AND DIABETES,
OBESITY AND ASTHMA, OBVIOUSLY
YOU’RE CREATING A SITUATION THAT
IS VERY UNDESIRABLE.
WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW IS THAT
IN THE LAST FLU EPIDEMIC LAST
YEAR AND THE ONE BEFORE THAT I’M
THE ONE BEFORE THAT AND THE ONE
BEFORE THAT, THAT SAME
DEMOGRAPHICS OF BLACKS AND
HISPANICS HAD HIGHER MORTALITY
RATES BECAUSE OF THE SAME THINGS
GOING ON.
GOING ON. AT LEAST NOW I THINK PEOPLE ARE
GOING TO PAY ATTENTION TO IT AND
MAYBE WE CAN ADDRESS IT.
>> Martha: YEAH.
BEFORE I LET YOU GO, LAST
QUESTION.
QUESTION. IT’S INTERESTING WHEN YOU LOOK
AT THE NUMBERS, YOU JUST
MENTIONED THE FLU.
IN 2018-19 -- 2017-18 WAS A VERY
BIG FLU SEASON, WE LOST IN THE
UNITED STATES 61,000 PEOPLE FROM
THE FLU.
THE FLU. NOW THE MODELS WHERE SHOWING
SHOWING A SIMILAR NUMBER FOR
COVID-19.
COVID-19. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS IN AND
WHAT’S TAKE AWAY FROM THAT?
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, THAT’S A
QUESTION THAT I’VE ASKED MANY
VIROLOGISTS AND EPIDEMIOLOGISTS
AND I GET LOTS OF DIFFERENT
ANSWERS TO THAT, WHY HAS THIS
GOTTEN SO MUCH MORE ATTENTION
THAN OTHER FLUS?
FOR ONE THING, IT’S VERY, VERY
CONTAGIOUS AND FOR ANOTHER
THING, THIS IS A PANDEMIC.
IT’S EVERYWHERE.
IT’S EVERYWHERE. SO YOUR LIKELIHOOD OF GETTING IT
IS GREATER.
IS GREATER. BUT IT COULD BE THAT SOMETIMES
WE OVERREACT TO THINGS.
THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT WE
SIT DOWN AND WE TRY TO ANALYZE
IT LOGICALLY AND THAT’S WHAT’S
BEEN DONE, THAT’S WHAT THE
TASK FORCE IS THEREFORE, THAT’S
WHY WE CONSULT WITH MULTIPLE
EXPERTS AROUND THE COUNTRY AT
VARIOUS UNIVERSITIES AND
RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS AND TRY TO
GET THE VERY BEST DATA AND USE
THAT TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS.
>> Martha: DR. BEN CARSON,
ALWAYS GOOD TO TALK TO YOU,
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, SECRETARY