Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
New York Hospital Struggle to Stay Ahead of Virus; Stay-At- Home Orders Issued in Florida, Georgia and Mississippi; Pence Seeks to Blame CDC, China for Delayed Response; Giant Wave of Jobless Claims Expected in U.S.; U.S. Nurse Couldn't Get Tested, Worked While Infected; USNS Comfort Begins Treating Patients in New York City; Italy Extends National Lockdown Until April 13. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired April 02, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, skyrocketing cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. Doctors are overwhelmed. Medical supplies are short, and more states are under stay at home orders. So should you wear a mask? There's no shortage of debate as the U.S. re-examines its guidance.
And who says social distancing can't be fun? This video of a young child and her grandfather will bring a smile to your face.
Thanks for being with us. Well, the worldwide number of people infected with COVID-19 is rapidly rising to 1 million. Johns Hopkins University has recorded more than 47,000 deaths so far, a figure expected to go far higher in coming weeks.
The United States has some of the sharpest daily increases anywhere. Johns Hopkins has counted 216,000 cases to date and over 5,000 fatalities. If government forecasts are correct, the death toll among Americans could eventually hit a quarter million or more. It is astounding.
Stay-at-home orders in dozens of states have not slowed the disease from spiking up over the past month. The U.S. death toll has doubled in just a few days, and with more than 940 deaths recorded just on Wednesday.
Well, New York has far more cases of COVID-19 than any other place in the United States. More than 84,000. Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals are racing to keep up with the growing numbers of patients, and we get the latest now from CNN's Erica Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the front lines the need never seems to end.
DR. STEVEN MCDONALD, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: Everyone requires oxygen. Everyone is borderline critical.
HILL: In New York as the numbers grow, so does the warning.
ANDREW CUOMO, NEW YORK GOVERNOR: 16,000 deaths in New York. That means you're going to have tens of thousands of deaths outside of New York. It says it's a New York problem today, tomorrow it's a Kansas problem and a Texas problem and a New Mexico problem.
HILL: More than 30 states now have statewide stay-at-home orders. The latest, Florida, the country's third most populous state. The governor there, reversing course today amid mounting pressure.
RON DESANTIS, FLORIDA GOVERNOR: You know, at this point I think even though there's a lot of places in Florida that have very low infection rates, it makes sense to make this move now.
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: A significant number of individuals that are infected actually remain asymptomatic. It may be as many as 25 percent. We have learned that, in fact, they do contribute to transmission.
HILL: New hot spots adding to the strain. Holyoke, Massachusetts, is now on the radar. The governor ordering an investigation into why several veterans at one facility died from coronavirus. In Albany, Georgia, more than 20 percent of that states coronavirus deaths have been recorded at one hospital. As New Orleans cautions, they could run out of ventilators this week.
DR. CORNELIA GRIGGS, PEDIATRIC SURGEON FELLOW, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: It feels like coronavirus is everywhere and it feels like we have very little to protect us from getting sick ourselves.
HILL: Experts and officials warning to keep the death toll down, it's time for a nationwide plan.
DR. LEANA WEN, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: We need people to do their part. Social distancing as a part of it. We also need the federal government to do a lot more, too, because that rationing of ventilators, that rationing of supplies, that's also going to be what leads to unnecessary deaths.
HILL: The numbers, the hot spots, the urgent need tell part of this story, but it is the personal struggles and loss that reveal the lasting impact.
ELIJAH ROSS-RUTTER, MOTHER DIED OF COVID-19: They took a walkie- talkie and they placed the walkie-talkie right by her bedside on the pillow.
HILL: Elijah Ross-Rutter and his five siblings couldn't be next to their mother to say good-bye last month.
ROSS-RUTTER: It's a moment that nobody really ever wants to be in. I told her I loved her. I told her everything is going to be all right with the kids.
Sandie Rutter, who survives stage-4 breast cancer was 42.
[04:05:00]
HILL (on camera): Here in New York City the death toll has now risen to 1,941. We've talked so much about the overcrowded conditions at the hospital behind me, the Elmhurst hospital here in Queens. We can tell you that today in Central Park where a field hospital was being built, that field hospital has now received its first coronavirus patient. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Thanks so much for that.
And critics have accused the Trump administration for a delayed response to the coronavirus pandemic that has turned the U.S. upside down. But as CNN's Jim Acosta reports, Vice President Mike Pence appears to be casting part of the blame on the CDC and China.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No longer downplaying the coronavirus as he had for weeks, President Trump is warning of difficult days ahead.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. We're going to go through a very tough two weeks.
ACOSTA: In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Vice President Mike Pence, head of the coronavirus task force, compared the crisis to the dire situation in Italy, which has been devastated by the virus.
MIKE PENCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We think Italy may be the most comparable area to the United States at this point.
ACOSTA: But the White House is shifting the blame pointing fingers at the Centers for Disease Control.
PENCE: I will be very candid with you and say that in mid-January the CDC was still assessing that the risk of the coronavirus to the American people was low.
ACOSTA: But hold on. Back in January a top CDC official said the U.S. should be gearing up for a pandemic.
DR. NANCY MESSONNIER, CDC BRIEFING, JANUARY 26: We need to be preparing as if this is a pandemic but I continue to hope that it is not.
ACOSTA: Pence also accused China of not being transparent enough.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Didn't the United States as a whole get off to a late start?
PENCE: Well, the reality is that we could have been better off if China had been more forthcoming. I don't believe the President has ever belittled the threat of the coronavirus.
ACOSTA: Tell that to the President who praised China's handling of the coronavirus back in February and claimed the U.S. had it all under control.
TRUMP: I've spoken to President Xi and they're working very hard and if you know anything about him, I think he'll be in pretty good shape. I think it's going to be under control and I think I can speak for our country. For our country's under control.
ACOSTA: Now top officials are spreading the word that the extension of the nation's social distancing guideline amount to an order to every American to stay home.
DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: My advice to America would be that these guidelines are a national stay-at-home order. They're guidelines that say that, look, the more we social distance, the more we stay at home, the less spread of the disease there will be.
ACOSTA: The President has dismissed the notion that he gave Americans a false sense of security.
ACOSTA (on camera): You were saying it is going to go away --
TRUMP: Well, it is.
ACOSTA: -- and that sort of thing, but --
TRUMP: But, Jim, it's going to go away. It's going to go away. Hopefully at the end of the month, and if not, it will hopefully be soon after that.
ACOSTA: When you were saying this is under control and --
TRUMP: I thought it could be. I knew everything. I knew it could be horrible and I knew it could be maybe good.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Even as he's telling Americans they may want to wear scarves like masks if they go outside.
TRUMP: You can use a scarf. A scarf is -- everybody -- a lot of people have scarves. And you can use a scarf. A scarf would be very good.
ACOSTA: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN, she hopes the President finally gets it.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: I pray that he does. I do think that the testing is essential. You're never going to be able to know what the challenge is unless you have the testing.
ACOSTA: Pelosi rejected the excuse floated by top Republicans that the President was somehow distracted by the impeachment saga which ended nearly two months ago. Even as the President continued to hold rallies and play golf.
PELOSI: That's an admission that perhaps the President and the majority leader could not handle the job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Little reality check there from Jim Acosta.
Well, stock markets in the U.S. are hoping to bounce back from Wednesday's massive decline. All indices have fallen by more than 4 percent but right now futures are up all across the board. In the coming hours the U.S. Labor Department is expected to release its weekly jobless claims report. Some experts believe it will show a record number of people filing for unemployment benefits.
So let's go live to New York with our chief business correspondent, Christine Romans. Always good to see you, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
CHURCH: So in just a few hours we will get those weekly jobless claims. How bad will they likely be?
ROMANS: They'll be devastating. I mean, they're going to show exactly what happens when you press the pause button on the mighty American economy and the dynamic American job market. Millions of people lost their job in the last week. And the range is everything from 3.5 to more than 6 million layoffs or furloughs in the most recent week. I think you're going to get a number in the millions.
[04:10:00]
And every one of those numbers is a person who lost a job or was furloughed who is now worried about health care, about rent, about paychecks.
So this is a really kind of devastating situation. And the snapshot here is going to show you that you probably have an unemployment rate in the United States right now that's already, you know, higher than 8 percent, approaching 10 percent.
CHURCH: Just horrifying, isn't it? And of course, as more people lose their jobs during this pandemic, the bills keep coming in, don't they?
ROMANS: Yes.
CHURCH: So what tools are available to help people cope with all of this?
ROMANS: So there's this gap here between when the economy stopped for so many people and when the money's going to come. You know, there is stimulus money that is coming. And people who are on social security, you're going to get a $1,200 check direct deposited. People who are taxpayers are going to get this $1,200 direct deposit into their accounts.
You've got unemployed people that when they can finally get through to the states and file for unemployment benefits, they will get enhanced unemployment benefits for four months approaching as close as possible the pay that they were making before.
If you are one of those retail workers that has been furloughed and you had health care before you were furloughed, the stimulus package is designed, Rosemary, so that you keep your health care. Your company pays your health care and the government pays your jobless benefits for four months here.
And the idea is that when you restart the economy, you have this ready work force ready to deploy. So the important thing is that there are these tools in place to try to make people at least whole for the next few months as we get through this.
CHURCH: Wow. It's going to be tough. And that's going to be quite a process getting those checks out to people, isn't be it? Christine Romans, thank you so much.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
CHURCH: We'll Take a short break here. But still to come, what happens when the nurses who are treating patients with coronavirus can't get tested themselves? That is the case for one nurse in New York who wound up working while infected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so easy to get contaminated when you have to put on something that already has virus on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Her story in just a moment.
[04:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Coronavirus testing in the United States remains a major issue, from a shortage of supplies to a back log of tests waiting to be processed. It's putting some health care workers at risk.
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen spoke to a nurse in New York who couldn't get tested and worked for nearly a week while infected.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This nurse says she worked for about seven days at two New York City hospitals while infected with the coronavirus. She went undetected because her hospital wasn't testing the staff. She doesn't want to reveal her name or where she works for fear she'll be fired.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two weeks ago I was feeling back pain, a lot of back pain and then one night I had really bad chest pain.
COHEN (on camera): Did you ask your hospital to test you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was told the hospital was not testing staff, that's what I was told when I asked about getting tested. COHEN (voice-over): She continued to work.
(on camera): You wore the same mask the entire day from patient to patient to patient?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes, we do. I'm touching that mask. It's on my face. I'm putting it back on. Virus flies in the air, it goes right up in my nose. It's so easy to get contaminated when you have to put something on that already has virus on it.
COHEN: You wore the same gown all day from patient to patient to patient?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, the same gown.
COHEN (voice-over): She says the emergency room refused to test staff so she went there in the middle of the night when she knew a friend would be on duty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said, please, just this one time do it. I want to make sure I don't have it. I don't want to spread anything. She said, OK, and she tested me.
COHEN: It took five days for the test results to come back. She tested positive.
Do you worry you might have infected patients?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, definitely. I'm worried I infected staff members, visitors, patients.
COHEN (voice-over): We shared the nurse's story with the author of "Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals", Dr. Peter Pronovost.
DR. PETER PRONOVOST, CHIEF CLINICAL TRANSFORMATION OFFICER, UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS: That story is heart wrenching. And as a clinician or just a human being it's horrible.
COHEN: Pronovost says he wishes the U.S. could do what's being done in some other countries. In Hadassah hospital in Israel utilizing tests that aren't needed for patients, they test all health care workers every five days.
DR. YORAM WEISS, HADASSAH MEDICAL CENTER: We feel that this is extremely important in order to protect our entire work force and our patients.
COHEN: But this can't be done in the U.S.
PRONOVOST: Sadly we just don't have enough test toss do that right now.
COHEN (on camera): Which is how this nurse ended up working while infected. Fortunately she's feeling better now and is in isolation at home.
Do you think right now there are doctors and nurses working in the hospitals where you work who are positive for coronavirus?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.
COHEN: Does that scare you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it does. Nobody wants to get this virus.
COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Well, we have to keep reminding ourselves, this is happening in the United States. And New York City is getting some much-needed help in its fight against the coronavirus. The hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, accepted its first patients on Wednesday. The ship is not treating coronavirus patients, instead taking people with other medical problems in a bid to relieve the massive strain that's been put on New York's hospitals. Now earlier the commanding officer of USNS Comfort, Captain Patrick Amersbach, spoke with CNN's Don Lemon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAPT. PATRICK AMERSBACH, COMMANDING OFFICER, USNS COMFORT: The USNS Comfort is here to help relieve some of the pressure on the local health systems by taking non-corona-19 patients on board the ship. So basically, they will be tested and screened prior to arrival. We'll take the full spectrum of medical patients aboard the ship.
[04:20:00]
We have an 80 bed ICU. We have multiple medical surgical beds on different wards. Full capability like you would find at any other hospital in hopes of making an impact and, again, helping New Yorkers and helping the health care system by decompressing some of that. Well, what you guys have had to deal with there, the numbers and overcrowding in your system.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, TONIGHT: Your ship has 1,000 hospital beds. The mayor of New York City, mayor Bill de Blasio says having the "comfort" is like adding a whole other hospital to the city. What tools does your ship bring to this crisis?
AMERSBACH: Absolutely. As I mentioned, we have ICU beds. We have 80 of those. We have ventilator support for patients that may require it. We have four radiology suites. We have a CT scanner. We have O.R.'s full spectrum as far as lab and pharmacy, in addition to the radiology and then medical surgical beds.
Now, keep in mind, the ship was designed for major combat operations, so some of those beds are actually bunk beds. So we will be working very closely with local authorities, FEMA, to ensure that the patient population that comes on board is suitable for our environment.
LEMON: So, listen, you know, given the surge, you know, of cases here of COVID-19 in New York, I want to know what kind of precautions that you are taking with patients, staff and equipment to make sure the virus does not spread to your ship and that you guys are safe.
AMERSBACH: Thanks for the question. We are following CDC and DOD guidelines. We consider ourselves in a bubble. Anybody that comes to the ship has to be screened, you know, according to the CDC guidelines, including a temperature, they'll put a mask on, we'll watch them wash their hands in front of us and, again, they have to have a very specific purpose to be on this ship.
Other than that, unfortunately, we are not going to be able to leave the ship while we're here and see the beautiful city of New York, but that is a small price to pay to help New Yorkers.
LEMON: How did you get ready so fast? Because you weren't supposed to be ready. The ship wasn't supposed to be ready for a while.
AMERSBACH: Absolutely. So, we were in our maintenance period. The call came out. We had a mission. So our professional civilian mariners, the people that work in the Norfolk Naval Base as well as our crew pitched in as a team and got the ship ready to go. Went to sea early and got here as you mentioned earlier than expected.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Well, the country that COVID-19 has hit the hardest in Europe is Italy. And it is extending the national lockdown that began nearly a month ago until April 13th. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte says the restrictive measures have produced positive results and if they don't continue, all their efforts, quote, would have been in vain.
And our Barbie Nadeau joins us now live from Rome. Good to see you, Barbie. So this extended lockdown, it will be tough. There's no doubt about it, but necessary. How are people coping with that?
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I mean, I think everyone was expecting this. You know, it's going to be particularly difficult here in Italy to have Easter behind, you know -- under the lockdown. This is such an important holiday here and people won't be able to get together with their families.
But I think everyone because they're seeing the result. The cautious optimism that the curve is flattening. I think people are really I think empowered right now to stay in a lockdown. We know that it's working. It's the sacrifices that are tough, especially the economic sacrifices for so many people. But Giuseppe Conte last night said, we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel here. He's hoping that we can enter what we call a phase 2. We don't know what that looks like but that gives people optimism. Gives them hope and helps them to carry on with this very difficult moment in their lives -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: And so, Barbie, the Prime Minister said Italy and other Europe member states will have access to unused EU emergency funds with no constraint apparently. How is that going to work?
NADEAU: Well you know, people are really looking towards the future. And Conte said, especially last night, one of the most important things was that after this is over, they'll be sort of a renaissance, a rebirth of this country. And using those European Union funds, having the friendship he's hoping from the European Union will help relaunch the country and lead I think the rest of Europe out of this. If Italy can get through this and can get out of it, rebuild, relaunch, I think that gives hope to so many other countries that are just going through this now and just starting the process -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes, that may give some people some hope, right. So, Barbie Nadeau, bringing us the very latest there from Rome, many thanks.
[04:25:00]
Some countries are making the wearing of facemasks in public mandatory. The global shortage and a possible way to avoid it after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
Well right now in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic the U.S. is the hardest hit country in the world with more than 216,000 confirmed cases. The death toll in the U.S. has surpassed 5,100. And that tragically includes a 6-week-old baby in Connecticut.
The top U.S. health expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says he might recommend everyone wear facemasks as long as health care workers have enough for their needs. And the CDC says 25 percent of coronavirus carriers have no symptoms. At the moment nearly 90 percent of Americans are now facing stay-at-home orders and Mr. Trump tried to explain why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: There are some states that are different. There are some states that don't have much of a problem. There are -- well, they don't have the problem. They don't have thousands of people that are positive, thousands of people that even think they might have it or hundreds in some cases.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, the World Health Organization is continuing to study the evidence to see if public use of facemasks would slow the spread of the coronavirus. But some European countries aren't waiting for results and have taken it on themselves to make masks mandatory. CNN's Isa Soares has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The World Health Organization stands by its recommendation that the public does not need to wear a mask unless they are sick or caring for someone who is, but as the coronavirus pandemic spreads.
END
