>>> EPIDEMIOLOGISTS ARE CONTINUING TO TRACK THE SPREAD
OF CORONAVIRUS.
OF CORONAVIRUS. WE NOW HAVE FIRST CONFIRMED
CASES OF THE VIRUS IN PLACES
LIKE BRAZIL, NORWAY, PAKISTAN,
GREECE, AND GEORGIA.
IN MANY CASES, WE CAN IDENTIFY
HOW THE PERSON GOT THE VIRUS,
WHAT THEIR EXPOSURE WAS.
THE OTHER WAY TO THINK ABOUT
THIS IS SOMETHING CALLED
COMMUNITY SPREAD.
COMMUNITY SPREAD. THAT IS WHEN CASES START
APPEARING WITHOUT KNOWN CASES OF
EXPOSURE.
EXPOSURE. FOR BRAZIL, IN EXAMPLE.
IN NORWAY, THE PERSON HAD JUST
RETURNED FROM CHINA.
BUT IN SOME COUNTRIES, THEY
ALREADY HAVE COMMUNITY SPREAD.
THAT INCLUDES HONG KONG, ITALY,
IRAN, SINGAPORE, SOUTH KOREA,
TAIWAN, AND THAILAND.
SO THAT MEANS PEOPLE ARE SHOWING
UP WITH THE VIRUS AND IT IS NOT
CLEAR HOW THEY GOT IT.
WELL, TONIGHT, WE HAVE WHAT
APPEARS TO BE THE FIRST CASE OF
COMMUNITY SPREAD HERE IN THE
UNITED STATES, IN NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA.
CALIFORNIA. THE ORIGINS OF THIS CASE IS
UNKNOWN.
UNKNOWN. YESTERDAY, THE CDC SAID THAT
THIS WAS LIKELY TO HAPPEN.
THEY ALSO EMPHASIZED THAT PEOPLE
SHOULD NOT PANIC.
HERE TO EXPLAIN THE TRAJECTORY
OF THIS VIRUS, DR. PETER JOTEZ,
THE DEAN AT THE BAYLOR COLLEGE
OF MEDICINE.
OF MEDICINE. BACK IN 2014, EXPLAINED TO US
HOW EBOLA VIRUS WORKS.
SO, DOCTOR, LET’S START WITH
THIS -- THE -- THE NEWS ABOUT
COMMUNITY SPREAD.
COMMUNITY SPREAD. THE CDC, ESSENTIALLY, SAYING
THIS WAS INEVITABLE.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN IF THERE IS A
CASE IN THE U.S. THAT DOESN’T
HAVE ANY KNOWN LINKS TO ANY OF
THE SORT OF MAIN COUNTRIES?
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, FIRST OF ALL,
THANKS FOR HAVING ME BACK.
YOU KNOW, WHAT WE HAVE SEEN NOW
IS THAT THERE’S TRANSMISSION IN
MULTIPLE COUNTRIES.
MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. THE COUNTRIES THAT YOU
MENTIONED, INCLUDING ITALY AND
IRAN.
IRAN. AND NOW, WE MAY HAVE TO ADD THE
UNITED STATES TO THAT LIST.
YOU KNOW, THE WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION IS NOT OFFICIALLY
CALLING THIS A PANDEMIC YET.
BUT WE SEEM TO BE INCHING IN
THAT DIRECTION.
THAT DIRECTION. AND THE CONCERN IS THAT WE’RE
GOING TO START SEEING A FOOTHOLD
THAT THIS VIRUS GAINS IN THE
UNITED STATES.
UNITED STATES. AND THE EVIDENCE FOR THAT IS
PERSON-TO-PERSON ONGOING
PERSON-TO-PERSON ONGOING TRANSMISSION.
TRANSMISSION. THE PRESIDENT, TONIGHT, TRIED TO
EMPHASIZE THE FEW -- THE SMALL
NUMBERS OF 15.
BUT THAT’S -- THAT’S NOT THE
POINT.
POINT. THE POINT IS WE KNOW THESE
NUMBERS ARE GOING TO GO UP.
WE ARE GOING TO START SEEING
HUMAN-TO-HUMAN TRANSMISSION.
HUMAN-TO-HUMAN TRANSMISSION. AND WE REALLY HAVE TO GET READY
FOR THIS AND PROTECT OUR TWO
MOST-VULNERABLE POPULATIONS.
MOST-VULNERABLE POPULATIONS. >> WHICH ARE?
>> WELL, NUMBER ONE, ARE THE
HEALTHCARE WORKERS.
HEALTHCARE WORKERS. WE SUEAW IN WUHAN, IN CENTRAL
CHINA, THERE WERE MORE THAN A
THOUSAND HEALTHCARE WORKERS
AFFECTED.
AFFECTED. THERE WERE SIX DEATHS.
YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT WOULD
HAPPEN IN THE UNITED STATES IF
WE SAW AN EPIDEMIC AMONG OUR
HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS.
HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS. THAT WOULD CAUSE A LOT OF
CONCERN AND PANIC.
SO WE ABSOLUTELY NEED TO PROTECT
THEM BY PROVIDING THE PPE, THE
PERSONAL PROTECT IVIVE EQUIPMENT
THAT THEY NEED.
WE ALSO NEED A BETTER
DIAGNOSTIC.
DIAGNOSTIC. BECAUSE WE ARE LEARNING ABOUT
THIS VIRUS THAT MANY PEOPLE
DON’T PRESENT WITH CLASSIC
RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS.
RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS. WE SAW IN CHINA, SOMETIMES THEY
PRESENT WITH ABDOMINAL SIMYMPTOM
THEY WERE MISTAKENLY PUT IN THE
SURGICAL WARD.
SURGICAL WARD. WE HAVE SEEN EPIDEMICS IN
HOSPITALS.
HOSPITALS. SO GETTING THAT DIAGNOSTIC TEST,
OTHER THAN THE PPE, IS A BIG
PRIORITY.
PRIORITY. THE SECOND, OF COURSE, IS OUR
OLDER POPULATION BECAUSE WE HAVE
SEEN THE HIGHER MORTALITY RATES
AMONG THOSE OVER THE AGE OF 60
AND THOSE WITH UNDERLYING
CHRONIC CONDITIONS, SUCH AS
DIABETES OR HYPERTENSION.
SO WE WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN
NUMBERS.
NUMBERS. THE BIG QUESTION IS ARE WE GOING
TO BE LOOKING AT SMALL,
COMMUNITY-LEVEL TRANSMISSIONS IN
A FEW CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY?
OR ARE WE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT
SOMETHING MUCH LARGER?
THIS IS A NEW VIRUS AGENT WE
HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO WAY OF
PREDICTING.
PREDICTING. SO THE PRUDENT THING IS, AS THE
CDC TALKED ABOUT YESTERDAY, IS
TO ANTICIPATE THE WORST AND THE
HOPE FOR THE BEST.
>> WHEN YOU SAY IT’S A NEW VIRUS
AGENT, WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT
THIS -- THIS VIRUS?
AND WHAT ARE THE VARIABLES THAT
WILL DETERMINE JUST -- JUST HOW
FAR IT SPREADS?
>> WELL, YOU KNOW, WE’VE SEEN
SOME EARLY NUMBERS COMING OUT OF
CHINA SUGGESTING THAT IT’S A
PRETTY HIGHLY-TRANSMISSIBLE
PRETTY HIGHLY-TRANSMISSIBLE VIRUS.
VIRUS. SO LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
SEASONAL FLU HAS A NUMBER
ASSIGNED TO IT, A NUMBER CALLED
THE REPRODUCTIVE NUMBER, 1.3.
THAT MEANS IF A SINGLE PERSON
GETS FLU, ON AVERAGE, 1.3 OTHER
INDIVIDUALS WILL GET IT.
IT’S TRANSMISSIBLE BUT NOT
NEARLY AMONG THE
MOST-TRANSMISSIBLE AGENTS WE
KNOW ABOUT.
KNOW ABOUT. FOR THIS ONE, THE NUMBERS GO AS
HIGH AS 3.58 UP TO 4.
SO THAT MEANS IT IS A VERY
HIGHLY TRANSMISSIBLE VIRUS.
WE ARE ALSO HEARING DIFFERENT
CASE ABOUT THE FATALITY RATE.
INITIALLY, COMING OUT OF CHINA
SAYING 2%.
SAYING 2%. OTHERS SAYING THAT DOESN’T
REALLY ACCOUNT FOR THE NUMBER OF
PEOPLE WITH LOW-GRADE SYMPTOMS
OR WHO HAVE NO SYMPTOMS AT ALL.
BUT YESTERDAY, BRUCE ELWORD GAVE
US SOME VERY CONCERNING NEWS
THAT YES, INDEED, THAT 2% CASE
FATALITY RATE LOOKS REAL.
AND IF THAT’S THE CASE, THAT IS
OF GREAT CONCERN BECAUSE THE FLU
IS A BAD VIRUS.
AND AS THE PRESIDENT LEARNED
ABOUT FLU TODAY, THAT IT CAN
KILL UP TO 40,000 AMERICANS,
60,000 AMERICANS.
60,000 AMERICANS. A CASE FATALITY RATE OF 2% IS 10
TO 20 TIMES HIGHER THAN FLU.
SO I THINK IT’S -- IT’S -- IT’S
AN ART, RIGHT, TO CONVEY BAD
NEWS WITH
NEWS WITH NEWS WITHOUT -- WITHOUT
SPREADING PANIC.
SPREADING PANIC. THIS IS A SERIOUS VIRUS
INFECTION AND IT’S GOING TO TAKE
ALL HANDS ON DECK TO DO THIS.
I KNOW THE PRESIDENT DID THE
RIGHT THING IN THE SENSE OF
TRYING TO FIND SOMEONE TO
OVERSEE OPERATIONS, RECOGNIZING
THAT THIS GOES BEYOND THE HEALTH
SECTOR.
SECTOR. LOOK, WHEN WE HAD TO COMBAT
EBOLA, WE ACTUALLY HAD TO SEND
IN THE 101st AIRBORNE DIVISION.
WE NEEDED THE U.S. MILITARY TO
HELP US.
HELP US. SO HE IS RIGHT TO ANTICIPATE
THAT WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO GO
ACROSS MULTIPLE AGENCIES,
POSSIBLY INCLUDING THE U.S.
MILITARY.
MILITARY. WHETHER VICE PRESIDENT PENCE IS
ACTUALLY GOING TO DEVOTE HIS
FULL TIME TO THIS, YOU KNOW,
WHEN RON CLANE WAS DOING THIS,
IT WAS 24/7 FOR HIM AND HIS
STAFF.
STAFF. SO I DON’T KNOW HOW COMMITTED
THE VICE PRESIDENT’S GOING TO BE