>>> WELCOME BACK. RIGHT NOW VICE PRESIDENT PENCE
SPEAKING AT THE WHITE HOUSE FOR
THE DAILY BRIEFING ON THE
CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE.
CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE. LET’S DIP IN.
>> THE COMMON SENSE PRACTICES
THAT I JUST DESCRIBED ARE ALL
AVAILABLE AT CDC.GOV.
TODAY WE HAD A SERIES OF
MEETINGS HERE AT THE WHITE HOUSE
AND ON CAPITOL HILL.
WE MET WITH EXECUTIVES OF THE
AIRLINE INDUSTRY, THE EXECUTIVES
OF COMMERCIAL AVS AND NURSING
HOMES AND MET WITH THE
REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT CAUCUSES
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND WE WERE PLEASED TO LEARN
THAT JUST SHORTLY AGO THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES PASSED A
FEDERAL FUNDING BILL BY
VIRTUALLY UNANIMOUS MARGIN AND
NOW MOVES TO THE SENATE AND
IMPLEMENTS THE PRESIDENT’S
VISION THAT NOT ONLY DO THE
FEDERAL AGENCIES HAVE THE
RESOURCES THAT THEY NEED AND THE
STATE AND LOCAL PARTNERS HAVE
THEIR SUPPORT AND MY
CONVERSATIONS WITH GOVERNORS
THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON I KNOW
THEY’RE GRATEFUL FOR THE
BIPARTISAN SPIRIT THAT’S
CHARACTERIZED THIS FUNDING BILL
AND WILL CONTINUE TO WORK
THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
AS PRESIDENT TRUMP SAID, WE’RE
ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.
AND HE DEPLOYED A WHOLE OF
GOVERNMENT APPROACH BUT THANKS
TO THE PRESIDENT’S LEADERSHIP
IT’S DEVELOPED INTO A WHOLE OF
AMERICA APPROACH AND THE
MEETINGS TODAY WITH INDUSTRY
LEADERS IS A REFLECTION OF THAT.
AS DR. BIRX WILL INDICATE IN
JUST A FEW MOMENTS WITH SOME OF
THE DATA WE ARE EVALUATING FROM
AROUND THE WORLD IT DOES APPEAR
THAT THE ELDERLY ARE THE MOST
VULNERABLE.
VULNERABLE. AND ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH
SERIOUS HEALTH ISSUES.
AT THE PRESIDENT’S DIRECTION, AS
A RESULT WE’LL DESCRIBE THAT THE
CENTERS FOR MEDICAID AND
MEDICARE SERVICES ISSUED NEW
GUIDELINES OR NURSING HOMES
NATIONWIDE.
NATIONWIDE. WE HAVE RAISED THE BAR REGARDING
INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONTROL AT
OUR NURSING HOMES AND IN
ADDITION ADMINISTRATOR WILL
EXPLAIN HOW TO FOCUS ALL OF OUR
ENSPEX
ENSPEX INSPECTION RESOURCES FOR THE
FORESEEABLE FUTURE WITH
COMPLIANCE OF INFECTION CONTROL
STANDARDS.
STANDARDS. GENERALLY WE MONITOR OUR NURSING
HOMES FOR ABUSE AND NEGLECT BUT
AT THE PRESIDENT’S DIRECTION WE
ARE GOING FOCUS EXCLUSIVELY ON
ENSURING THAT THOSE IN NURSING
HOMES, PEOPLE OPERATING THE
NURSING HOMES LIKE MANY THAT WE
MET WITH TODAY ARE COMPLYING
WITH THE NEW STANDARDS TO KEEP
OUR ELDERLY SAFE.
PRESIDENT ALSO MET TODAY WITH
AIRLINE EXECUTIVES AND I’LL
REITERATE AS THE PRESIDENT SAID
OUR PROFOUND GRATITUDE TO OUR
PARTNERS IN THE AIRLINE
INDUSTRY.
INDUSTRY. THEY HAVE WORKED WITH US IN --
AS WE SAY FLOWING AMERICANS
THROUGH PARTICULAR AIRPORTS, THE
SCREENING, WE’RE WORKING VERY
CLOSELY WITH AIRLINES ON CONTACT
INFORMATION.
INFORMATION. IF A PERSON IS TESTED AS
POSITIVE FOR THE CORONAVIRUS
WE’RE WORKING WITH THE AIRLINES
TO GET ALL THE INFORMATION, NOT
JUST ABOUT THAT PERSON, BUT
ABOUT WHO THEY SAT NEXT TO AND
WHO ELSE WAS ON THE FLIGHT AND
THE PRESIDENT AND I ARE VERY
GRATEFUL.
GRATEFUL. AS WE ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY, I’M
PLEASED TO REPORT THAT AS OF
YESTERDAY MORNING IN ADDITION TO
THE TRAVEL BAN FROM CHINA, WE’VE
SUSPENDED ALL TRAVEL COMING IN
FROM CHINA.
FROM CHINA. WE HAVE SUSPENDED ALL TRAVEL
COMING IN FROM IRAN AND EVEN
FOREIGN NATIONALS WHO VISIT
EITHER WITHIN OF THE COUNTRIES
ARE BARRED FROM COMING INTO THIS
COUNTRY FOR 14 DAYS.
BUT WE ALSO ESTABLISHED A TRAVEL
ADVISORY FOR ITALY, PORTIONS OF
ITALY AND PORTIONS OF SOUTH
KOREA OVER THE WEEKEND.
BUT EVEN AS IMPORTANTLY AS OF
YESTERDAY MORNING WE FULLY
IMPLEMENTED A SCREENING PROCESS
ALL DIRECT FLIGHTS FROM ALL
AIRPORTS IN SOUTH KOREA AND
ITALY ARE NOW BEING SUBJECT TO
MULTIPLE SCREENS BEFORE
PASSENGERS BOARD TO COME TO THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
STATE DEPARTMENT WORKED VERY
VIGOROUSLY TO BRING THAT ABOUT
AND WE’RE GRATEFUL FOR THE
COOPERATION, THE GOVERNMENTS OF
ITALY, GOVERNMENTS OF SOUTH
KOREA AS WELL AS OUR AIRLINE
PARTNERS IN MAKING THAT A
REALITY.
REALITY. FINALLY, WITH REGARD TO TESTING,
WE HAD A MEETING TODAY THAT GAVE
US GREAT HOPE FOR GREAT PROGRESS
IN THE NEAR FUTURE ON EXPANDING
TESTING ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
WE HAVE A WAYS TO GO YET AND I’M
PLEASED TO REPORT AS WE’VE BEEN
ABLE TO CONVEY TO STATE
GOVERNMENTS, GOVERNORS AROUND
THE COUNTRY, IS THAT THANKS TO
THE GOOD WORK OF THE FDA AND
STEVE HAHN HERE WITH US TODAY
ALL STATE LABORATORIES, ALL
UNIVERSITY LABORATORIES AT THE
STATE LEVEL CAN CONDUCT
CORONAVIRUS TESTS.
CORONAVIRUS TESTS. WITHOUT ANY ADDITIONAL ASSETS OR
RESOURCES FROM THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT.
GOVERNMENT. THEY HAVE THE FDA APPROVED TEST.
THEY CAN CONDUCT THE TEST ALL
ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN ALL THE
STATES.
STATES. BEYOND THAT, AS WE ANNOUNCED,
THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF HHS,
2,500 KITS OF TESTS ARE GOING
OUT THIS WEEK.
OF 2,500 KITS INCLUDING TESTS
HAS GONE OUT THIS WEEK, ROUGHLY
1.5 MILLION TESTS THAT WILL BE
AVAILABLE THIS WEEK.
WE’LL CONTINUE TO BUILD ON THAT
NUMBER BUT PERHAPS MOST
SIGNIFICANTLY THANKS TO DR.
BIRX’S EFFORTS AND LEADERSHIP WE
BROUGHT TODAY AT THE WHITE HOUSE
THE LEADERS OF ALL OF THE
LARGEST COMMERCIAL LABORATORIES
IN THIS COUNTRY.
COMPANIES OF -- LIKE QWEST WITH
PROLO GISTICS AND TESTING
CAPABILITIES AND PLEASED TO
REPORT TODAY THEY HAVE CREATED A
CONSORTIUM TO SHARE INFORMATION
AND TO SHARE RESOURCES AND
LITERALLY HAVE TOLD US THAT AS
THEY GO THROUGH WHAT IS CALLED
THE VALIDATION PROCESS ON
TESTING THAT BY NEXT WEEK
INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES WILL BE
ABLE TO DO AS THEY SAID TO ME
THOUSANDS OF TESTS OF
CORONAVIRUS IF THEY ARE NEEDED
AND REQUIRED.
AND REQUIRED. AND MANY, MANY MULTIPLES MORE OF
THAT IN THE NOT DISTANT FUTURE.
OUR OBJECTIVES HERE AS DR. BIRX
RAISED WITH THE TASK FORCE IS WE
HAVE GOT HOSPITALS IN AFFECTED
AREAS AND THOSE REQUESTING KITS.
WE HAVE UNIVERSITIES AN STATE
LAB THAT IS CAN NOW PERFORM THE
TEST ON A REQUESTED BASIS BUT
OUR OBJECTIVE ULTIMATELY AND AS
QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE IS TESTS
MADE THROUGH THE COMMERCIAL
LABORATORIES AND COMMERCIAL
PROVIDERS THAT YOUR LOCAL
DOCTOR, YOUR CVS, YOUR MED CHECK
IS ABLE TO HAVE A CORONAVIRUS
TEST.
TEST. AND THAT ISN’T THERE YET.
WE’RE WORKING TO MAKE THAT A
REALITY BUT AGAIN IT IS ONE MORE
EXAMPLE, NOT JUST A WHOLE OF
GOVERNMENT APPROACH BUT A WHOLE
OF AMERICA APPROACH AND WHETHER
IT BE THE NURSING HOME INDUSTRY,
THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY, WHETHER IT
BE OUR COMMERCIAL LABORATORIES,
I CAN SPEAK ON BEHALF OF
PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE ENTIRE
TASK FORCE WHEN I SAY WE ARE
PROFOUNDLY GRATEFUL FOR THE
SPIRIT THAT’S BEING REFLECTED BY
COMPANIES ALL AN I CROSSCROSS TH
STATES OF AMERICA AND GRATEFUL
FOR THE STATE LEVEL AND THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE SHOULD BE
CONFIDENT THAT THAT SPIRIT OF
PARTNERSHIP IS GOING TO CONTINUE
TO DRIVE THIS AT EVERY LEVEL AS
WE WORK OUR WAY THROUGH.
DEALING WITH THE CORONAVIRUS IN
THE UNITED STATES.
WITH THAT, I’M GOING TO