THERAPEUTIC OR THE VACCINE ARE THE ONLY THING THAT WE’LL BE
ABLE TO SAY, OKAY, WE’RE BACK TO
NORMAL.
NORMAL. >> OKAY.
>> OKAY. SO IT TURNS OUT CORONAVIRUS
SPREAD THROUGHOUT AMERICAN
CITIES UNDETECTED MUCH, MUCH
EARLIER THAN ANYONE REALIZED AT
THE TIME.
THE TIME. THAT’S ACCORDING TO A NEW REPORT
FROM "THE NEW YORK TIMES."
ON MARCH 1st, FIVE MAJOR U.S.
CITIES, NEW YORK, SAN FRANCISCO,
BOSTON, CHICAGO, AND SEATTLE HAD
A TOTAL OF 23 CONFIRMED CASES OF
CORONAVIRUS.
CORONAVIRUS. BUT A MODEL OF INFECTION RATES
BY RESEARCHERS AT NORTHEASTERN
UNIVERSITY ESTIMATES THAT THERE
COULD HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN 28,000
UNDETECTED INFECTIONS IN THOSE
CITIES BY THAT TIME.
THIS VISUALIZATION FROM "THE
TIMES" SHOWS THE REMARKABLE
DISPARITY BETWEEN THOSE TWO SETS
OF NUMBERS.
OF NUMBERS. THE MODEL SUGGESTS THAT BY THE
TIME NEW YORK HAD ITS FIRST
CONFIRMED CASE OF CORONAVIRUS,
THERE WERE ALREADY 10,000 PEOPLE
INFECTED.
INFECTED. THIS NEW INFORMATION AS NEW YORK
BEGINS WORK ON A PLAN FOR
WIDESPREAD TESTING AND CONTACT
TRACING.
TRACING. JOINING US NOW, NEW YORK
GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO.
GOVERNOR, WE MEET ON A DAY OF
SOME PRETTY MOMENTOUS POLITICAL
HEADLINES AND PRETTY MOMENTOUS
SCIENCE HEADLINES.
SCIENCE HEADLINES. I WANT TO START WITH THE
SCIENCE.
SCIENCE. YOU SHARED SOME INFORMATION IN
YOUR BRIEFING TODAY ABOUT
ANTIBODIES.
ANTIBODIES. IS THAT ENCOURAGING?
AND CAN YOU TAKE US THROUGH HOW
MANY NEW YORKERS, BASED ON THIS
EARLY STUDY, MAY HAVE ALREADY
BEEN EXPOSED TO COVID?
>> YEAH.
>> YEAH. NO, IT WAS SURPRISING.
WE HAD ABOUT -- WE DID A
3,000-PERSON SURVEY, WHICH IS
FAIRLY EXTENSIVE ALL THROUGHOUT
THE STATE.
THE STATE. STATEWIDE, IT WAS ABOUT 14% OF
THE PEOPLE HAD THE ANTIBODIES,
WHICH MEANS 14% OF THE PEOPLE
HAD HAD THE VIRUS.
THAT’S ABOUT 2.7 MILLION PEOPLE
IN OUR STATE.
NEW YORK CITY WAS CLOSE TO 20%.
>> WOW.
>> WOW. >> WHICH WAS SURPRISING.
YEAH.
YEAH. SO THE GOOD NEWS IS THESE ARE
PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE ANTIBODIES.
THEY CAN THEN DONATE BLOOD FOR
THE CONVAL ESSENT PLASMA.
THE OTHER GOOD NEWS IS, YOU
KNOW, WE TALK ABOUT THE DEATH
RATE.
RATE. WE HAVE ABOUT 15,000 PEOPLE WHO
HAVE DIED IN NEW YORK.
THAT’S HOSPITALIZATIONS AND
NURSING HOMES.
NURSING HOMES. THAT DOESN’T COUNT THE AT-HOME
DEATHS WHICH WE STILL HAVE TO
CALCULATE.
CALCULATE. BUT IT’S 15,000 ON A MUCH LARGER
DENOMINATOR.
DENOMINATOR. SO THE DEATH RATE IS LIKE 0.5.
THE NORMAL FLU IS LIKE 0.1 TO
0.3.
0.3. SO IT GIVES A PERSPECTIVE ON THE
DEATH RATE IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR
A SILVER LINING.
>> I THINK WE’RE ALL LOOKING FOR
SILVER LININGS, AND I THINK IT
MAKES CLEAR HOW MUCH OF THE
SCIENCE IS UNFOLDING AS WE
NAVIGATE THE CRISIS.
ANOTHER PIECE OF REPORTING ON
THAT FRONT IS "THE NEW YORK
TIMES" REPORT THAT SUGGESTS THAT
THERE WERE AS MANY AS 10,000
INFECTIONS IN NEW YORK AT THE
BEGINNING OF MARCH.
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF SOME OF THE
NEWS REPORTING AND SOME OF THE
STUDIES THAT SHOW THAT IT WAS
HERE MUCH EARLIER THAN WE
THOUGHT?
THOUGHT? >> WELL, LOOK, IT’S AN
EYE-OPENER.
EYE-OPENER. I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT BECAUSE
WE HAVE TO DO A RETROSPECTIVE ON
THIS BECAUSE I’M AFRAID IT’S NOT
ONLY IN THE PAST.
IT’S GOING TO BE IN THE FUTURE.
THEY’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT A
POSSIBILITY OF A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
FOR MANY, MANY YEARS, BUT IT
NEVER REALLY HAPPENED.
AND UNTIL IT HAPPENS, IT DOESN’T
REALLY GET PEOPLE’S ATTENTION,
AND IT’S NOT ACTUALIZED.
BUT NOW, LOOK, WE’RE LEARNING.
WHEN THEY SAY THAT CHINA HAS A
VIRUS LAST NOVEMBER, LAST
DECEMBER, THEN I THINK THE
FLARES HAVE TO GO UP AT THAT
POINT BECAUSE IF CHINA HAS A
VIRUS, THAT VIRUS IS GOING TO
GET ON A PLANE.
IT’S GOING TO GO TO EUROPE.
>> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. >> IT’S GOING TO GET ON ANOTHER
PLANE.
PLANE. IT’S GOING TO COME TO NEW YORK.
IT’S GOING TO COME TO
CALIFORNIA.
CALIFORNIA. SO THEY’RE NOW SAYING THAT THE
VIRUS WAS HERE IN FEBRUARY,