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U.S. Daily COVID-19 Count Nears 100K as Election Looms; Voting Rights Activists Sound the Alarm on Voter Suppression; British PM Considers New Lockdown Measures; Death Toll Climbs as Earthquake Jolts Turkey, Greece; People Skipping Non-COVID-19 Medical Care. Aired 2- 2:45a ET
Aired October 31, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, welcome to our viewers, joining us from all around the world, I am Michael Holmes. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.
Coming up here on the program, 99,000: that is the astounding number of new coronavirus cases reporting in the United States on Friday, the highest single day case count of the pandemic.
This news comes days ahead of the presidential election, of course, both candidates are campaigning in the Midwest with starkly different outlooks on the seriousness of the pandemic.
The search for survivors following a deadly earthquake in Turkey, we are live at the scene.
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HOLMES: Three days until the U.S. elections, tens of millions of votes already in and now, a new number that casts a huge shadow over all of the others. That is the U.S. reporting nearly 100,000 new cases of COVID-19.
It is a horrific new record and we have actually seen the five highest daily totals since the pandemic began, all in just the last eight days. The country is surpassing 9 million cases in total, more than 229,000 deaths and, as you can see, in this next map, not many green spots there. All of that red showing the virus increasing and more than 40 states. But here is what we keep hearing from President Trump.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will deliver a safe vaccine to the American people, in just a number of weeks. By the way, without it, we are rounding the corner, we have, it but without, it we are rounding the corner. We are rounding the corner on the pandemic.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Now none of the figures we have been showing you showed any evidence of the corner that Mr. Trump keeps talking about. Listen to what the president's own testing czar said on Friday.
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ADMIRAL BRETT GIROIR, M.D., ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH: Hospitalizations and ICU admissions do not lie. When those go up, that's real, that's tangible, that's people in the hospital that need care.
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HOLMES: He said there, as you, heard "hospitalizations don't lie." There are record numbers of those hospitalizations in 14 states. Let's get more now from CNN's Kaitlan Collins.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump and Joe Biden are making their closing arguments to voters while coronavirus cases are the highest they have ever been in the U.S.
TRUMP: We're still rounding the corner.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Donald Trump has given up.
COLLINS: Infections are surging across the country, including in the battleground states where the candidates are spending the last days of the 2020 race.
TRUMP: Hello, Michigan.
BIDEN: Hello, Iowa!
COLLINS: The U.S. reported almost 90,000 new daily cases yesterday, but the president pushed a different view of reality as he left Washington today.
TRUMP: We're doing very well with respect to making the turn on the pandemic. We're working very hard on that, great therapeutics.
COLLINS: Trump once promised there would be a coronavirus vaccine before Election Day, but aides are now distancing themselves from that deadline.
ALYSSA FARAH, WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: I mean, his goal has never -- Election Day is kind of an arbitrary deadline. Americans are still suffering from this virus. The sooner we can get it, the better. And that's his goal.
COLLINS: It was the president who set that arbitrary deadline that medical experts said wasn't realistic.
TRUMP: So we're going to have us a vaccine very soon, maybe even before a very special date. You know what date I'm talking about. COLLINS: The president's campaign announced today that he will hold 14 rallies across seven states in the next three days.
TRUMP: What a crowd. This is some crowd. Wow. This is a big crowd.
COLLINS: Trump has continued to hold large events with little social distancing, where the crowds are mostly maskless.
His last stop is in Minnesota today, though the exact location of his rally was in flux, after state officials insisted the event follow safety guidelines that include a cap on 250 attendees.
TRUMP: Twenty-five thousand people want to be there. As they say you can only have 250 people. So they thought I'd cancel. But I'm not canceling.
COLLINS: Biden is also in the Midwest today with a different approach to the pandemic that his aides hope will help voters see him as a safe alternative to Trump.
BIDEN: Donald Trump has waved the white flag. He surrendered to this virus. But the American people don't give up.
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COLLINS (voice-over): In Michigan, the president ridiculed Biden for adhering to social distancing guidelines, while he flouts them.
TRUMP: I'm watching these Biden rallies. It's like, there's nobody. Of course, he says that they want to do it that way on purpose.
COLLINS: Trump even mocked a FOX News host for wearing a mask at his rally.
TRUMP: I can't recognize you. Is that a mask? No way. Are you wearing a mask? I have never seen her in a mask. Look at you. Oh, she's being very politically correct. Whoa. Whoa!
COLLINS: In addition to mocking that anchor for wearing a mask, the president also wrongly claimed at his rallies that hospitals are overstating the number of coronavirus deaths in order to get more funding, something that, of course, doctors have denied, a claim that the president has made many times over the last several months, talking about these numbers that we are seeing with the pandemic which, of course, right now, are at the worse they have ever been -- Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
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HOLMES: Joining me now, Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and author of "The Kennedy Half-Century."
Larry, always a pleasure to see you, let's start with this. Democrats, obviously gun-shy after polling in 2016.
What is your reading of the polls and their reliability?
There is talk about the shy voters, who may support Trump and won't admit that to a pollster. What are the odds of it being wrong again?
LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: There could be a point or 2 of shy Trump voters and there have been a number of studies on this. Some say there are none.
As far as polling is concerned, I would say this. You can have more confidence, not perfect confidence, in the polling this year. Changes and reforms were made by most of the major polling organizations. They worked hard on that. And, we actually have a lot more polling.
We have 2 and a half times the number of polls in Wisconsin, a key swing state, for example, than we had in 2016.
People say, what difference does that make?
Actually, when you do your polling average, which is what we ought to be relying on, it washes more of the error out. This is a good thing.
Does it make them perfect?
No, but it makes them more reliable and more trustworthy.
HOLMES: One of the things, as you know, all too well, Biden could win the White House, hold the House but not win the Senate. You only have to look back at what happened to Barack Obama's ability to govern after losing control of the legislative branch. Speak to the importance of winning the Senate for the Democrats.
SABATO: Winning the Senate is critical, no question. Democrats have an immediate challenge, COVID-19. But they also have another challenge, which is reversing much of what Donald Trump did during his term. To do that, you need the Senate to get judgeships and more ballots now after the Trump administration.
You need the Senate for confirmation purposes. So, yes, it would not be a happy term for Biden if he didn't get the Senate to, even by one vote.
HOLMES: Let's talk about the massive mail-in ballot count and the potential for ballots, realistic potential for ballots, to be tossed, because of all sorts of things, technical issues, signature matches, not in the right envelope, restrictions on when they're received or postmarked, so on and on.
How much of an issue are those are in this election?
SABATO: It is a big issue. I don't know how much it will matter at the end. It depends on the margin for Biden but it is of concern. Some estimates are that we could reach 1 million votes or more, tossed out for relatively minor reasons. I am particularly intrigued by the rule, in many states, that your
signature must be verified, meaning, the signature you gave when you registered decades ago, has to be very close to the signature that now that you have on the mail-in ballot.
It has been proven, most of us do alter our signatures, to some degree, over the course of life. It is odd.
Why is that there?
It shouldn't be.
HOLMES: There are a lot of things out there that could affect it. I wanted to ask you about the role of what is known here as voter suppression, especially among voters of color, things like long lines, often caused by the closure of polling places, people who have been taken off the rolls, voter ID rules.
How much is that playing into this election?
SABATO: It is causing great anger in many African American communities and other minority communities. People see what is going on. They are really focused on politics this year. They want to make a difference. They want their voice to be heard. And to have public officials, actively, trying to suppress their ability to vote, that fundamental right, is upsetting and should be upsetting.
In a way, it may generate more votes.
HOLMES: We only have a minute left.
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HOLMES: But I wanted to ask you about the lay of the land. Biden winning college educated whites, doing way better than Hillary Clinton with non-college educated whites, has taken a massive amount of numbers of suburban women from Trump.
Why is Biden doing better with those Democrats and how does it hurt the GOP?
SABATO: One reason is because people have 4 years of Donald Trump's governing. It is not theoretical anymore, as it was in 2016. So if you don't like what Trump does and how he does it, you might change.
College educated voters may be the first to show up and they do. Senior citizens, have also changed and, in the other direction, Hispanics in some parts of the country are a bit more open to Trump's appeal.
So there are many moving parts here. But I do think that white vote, particularly college educated white votes, are very important. Trump cannot win unless he gets, probably, 56-58 percent of the entire white vote. Right now, he is not getting it.
HOLMES: Fascinating stuff. Always a pleasure to have you on, Larry, thank you so much.
SABATO: Thank you, Michael.
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HOLMES: As bad as things are in the U.S. with the pandemic, some experts are saying that things could get much worse. Nick Watt, telling us what some of the models are projecting and what some doctors on the front lines are saying.
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PATSY STALLWORTH, COVID-19 PATIENT: People that don't take COVID serious, I hope they don't catch it, because they're in for a surprise.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The average daily death toll from this disease already rising, might triple between now and mid-January. Nearly 400,000 could be dead in America by February 1st, this according to one regularly cited model.
And if states don't reimpose measures to slow the spread, those modelers say the death toll might top half a million.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): Our hospitalizations are going up. Individuals in the ICUs are going up. And, sadly, we are losing more people. Right now, the problem isn't that we don't have the right rules in place; it's that people aren't following them.
WATT (voice-over): In New Mexico, one doctor warns, if nothing else is done --
DR. JASON MITCHELL, PRESBYTERIAN HEALTH CARE SERVICES: By December, we would have so many cases, we would be at a point where we are in MASH tents.
WATT (voice-over): This month, more than half of states have reported record daily case counts.
DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The virus is all over the country now. It's not limited to New York or Boston or the Northeast. It's all over the country now.
WATT (voice-over): There is a spike in Illinois, a record, today and, today, Chicago closed all indoor restaurants and bars. There is also a spike in El Paso, Texas.
JUDGE RICARDO SAMANIEGO, EL PASO COUNTY, TEXAS: And if we don't respond, we will see unprecedented levels of deaths.
WATT (voice-over): So that judge just closed all nonessential services for a couple of weeks. But the Texas attorney general is now exploring legal action to reopen everything.
No statewide mask mandate up in North Dakota but a memorial to the dead created by Carl Young. He's running for state assembly, lost his mother to COVID, now begging everyone to mask up.
CARL YOUNG, FOUNDER, COVID MEMORIAL PROJECT: It started because of my mom but it's so much bigger than my mom. It's about humanity. We are losing our humanity because we're being selfish.
WATT (voice-over): In California's Bay Area, their first confirmed double whammy: a patient with COVID-19 and the flu at the same time.
In Wisconsin, hospitals are filling fast with COVID patients.
DR. PAUL CASEY, BELLIN HOSPITAL: It brings back memories of foregone times when we saw things like smallpox and that kind of thing, where we had a single disease overrunning a hospital.
WATT (voice-over): There was a Trump rally in Green Bay this afternoon.
CNN has analyzed the data in 17 counties after MAGA rallies. In 14 of them, infection rates rose in the aftermath.
CASEY: It's particularly mind-boggling when we have leadership setting a bad example.
WATT (voice-over): Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
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HOLMES: The British prime minister Boris Johnson considering new lockdown measures for the U.K. According to "The Times," and confirmed to CNN by a U.K. government adviser. It is the latest country to implement or consider implementing, new lockdowns, as coronavirus rages across Europe.
Belgium's prime minister says that the country will be in lockdown for 6 weeks, starting on Sunday night. Austria's chancellor, also expected to announce new restrictions. Melissa Bell joins me now, live from Paris.
And to wrap it all, up let's start with the U.K.
What could be coming there?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is essentially what we've seen playing out on the continent as well these last few weeks. The government is looking to avoid nationwide lockdowns. They are so harmful to the economy.
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BELL: It happened in France and for a, while we had a system of curfews. In the end they gave into the pressure of those figures, which is what it comes down to. And, of that, pressure on the ICUs and announced, of course, this lockdown we are under right now, here in France.
Of course, in England, these things are decided according to different countries inside of the U.K. The question so far has been this regional approach. We have seen several tiered approach with some areas seeing tougher restrictions than others.
That doesn't appear to be working. From what we understand, the British government is now under pressure, of course, from its scientific advisers, to go much further and impose a blanket lockdown, the kind we saw back in spring.
Again, it is what we see on the continent as well. Really, governments pushing back as much as they could, simply because these lockdowns are so damaging.
Yet, what do we see over the last couple of days?
Germany announcing its lockdown lite, as they call, it because it is a little less strict than the one we are under and France. Belgium, as well. Other countries expected to follow simply because the surging numbers on the European continent, for the time being, are not being put under control.
HOLMES: Briefly, tell us more about where you are in France.
How has that lockdown gone so far?
What do people think of it?
BELL: France, a much stricter lockdown than we see in Germany, everyone, of course, resisting. This is one of the things we've seen as well. It is not simply governments reluctance, for economic reasons, to avoid it, it is society, people, really reluctant to go back into lockdown that force them into their home.
This is essentially what we are under in France. You are obliged to stay in your house, unless you can show, with a piece of paper, that you have to leave it to go to work or, for some emergency reason. Otherwise, you cannot go within a kilometer of your home, for more than an hour. That is how strict this lockdown will be.
And within the regions, you cannot travel within French regions. I think that touches on what we were just talking about a moment ago, within the countries, where they tried regional approaches, dealing with hotspots with tough restrictions than others, it simply doesn't work.
As long as people travel between regions, freely within a country, you will see those coronavirus figures continue to rise.
Again, yesterday, we saw records in Germany, Italy, Spain, for the time, being the number of new cases continues to rise. In Europe, what that, means is in a, week or 2, weeks you will see a massive rise in hospitalizations and more pressure, still, on already overburdened ICUs.
HOLMES: Dire times. Melissa, thank you so, much in Paris.
Dozens of people killed, hundreds more injured in western Turkey after a massive earthquake strikes off the coast. Coming up next, after the break, we will be live with Arwa Damon from the scene of the search and rescue efforts underway.
Also, France reckoning with the aftermath of a deadly terror attack in Nice. We will have the latest on that investigation also. We will be right back.
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HOLMES: Dozens of people killed, hundreds more injured in western Turkey after a magnitude 7 earthquake in the Aegean Sea on Friday, centered between the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos. At least 24 people dead in Turkey, confirmed so far; 800 or so injured. Two teenagers also died in Samos.
Right now crews in the Turkish city of Izmir, digging through multiple destroyed buildings. That is where we find Arwa Damon on the ground.
Tell us what you've seen.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is quite gutting, Michael. It is just devastating. This is one of the sites where rescue workers are still very hard at work. This is an effort that has not let up. They were out the entire night.
That was an 8 story building, the same size as the ones you can see next door to it, that completely collapsed upon itself. It had both offices in it, as well as residences.
Overnight, they did manage to pull out a woman alive. Someone got cell phone contact to her, they were speaking to her. She was pulled out of this building. There was another, elderly woman, a few hours ago, who was pulled out from another location.
They are digging through, pulling out bucket after bucket of debris and using thermal imaging. We spoke to a woman out here waiting, because her husband was inside of that building.
Aside from the rescue teams that are here and security forces, you also have a number of family members, friends of those who are believed to still be inside of that building. They, too, have been lining this entire area, sitting and waiting. This agonizing wait, just trying to get any sort of information that they possibly can.
It is so difficult for those who are still waiting for news of their loved ones. This country does have experience dealing with earthquakes; rescue teams did arrive very quickly. But there is nothing that can prepare a family or an individual for something like this.
HOLMES: Turkey, sadly familiar with earthquakes, as you touched on there.
DAMON: They are. Look, because of this country's history with earthquakes, there was another one earlier this year, they happen on a fairly regular basis.
You also have the earthquake that took place in '99 in the city where more than 17,000 people, approximately, were killed. This means Turkey is quite well equipped when it comes to having teams on standby, constantly dispatching them very quickly, search and rescue teams. The Turkish Red Crescent, the additional support that is needed, that all is mobilized very quickly.
Newer buildings, that go up, are being built to be able withstand earthquakes. They have additional aid, such as food aid, that was flown in very quickly. The population, even though people know, even though there are, every once in a, while awareness campaigns as to what you need to do, as prepared as you may try to be, you are not necessarily ready and when this does hit.
This most certainly has been a tragedy for everyone in the city and beyond.
HOLMES: Arwa, appreciate you being there, thank you so much.
We will take a quick break here, when we come, back France launching a full scale response to Thursday's knife attack in Nice. How authorities are reacting to another deadly terror attack in that coastal tourism hub. That is coming up.
Also this, it is the last weekend before Election Day in the U.S. and, Trump and, Biden are spending the final days of the campaign with two very different messages. We will be right back.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
At least 30 people were arrested Friday in Warsaw during one of the largest demonstrations there in decades. Organizers say, 150,000 people gathered to protest last week's court decision to ban nearly all abortions. The ruling states says abortion is legal, only if the mother's health or life, is threatened. And in cases of rape or incest.
The deputy prime minister, calling them criminals and saying that the gatherings are dangerous due to a record spike in coronavirus cases.
U.S. president, Donald, Trump speaking with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, following Thursday's deadly terror attack in Nice. The White House, providing a short, readout saying, in part, quote, "The United States stands in solidarity with France in the fight against radical, Islamic extremism."
The attack in Nice, setting off a wide-ranging national response, thousands of troops being deployed throughout the country, as authorities work to investigate the suspected assailant. Cyril Vanier reports from Paris.
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CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Macron led an emergency defense council a day after the Nice terror attack. He announced that around schools and places of worship, there will be an additional 4,000 troops deployed across the country; 120 police officers are earmarked to the city of Nice and more than 3,000 reserve police and gendarmes are also being made available.
Meanwhile, investigators across Tunisia, Italy and France are racing to get a better understanding of the suspected assailant, a young Tunisian national, aged 20 to 21, who is believed to have crossed over as a migrant from Italy to Tunisia last month and then made his way to France.
Investigators say he was caught on surveillance footage the morning of the attack, changing his clothes in a nearby train station, before then walking up to the church in Nice and butchering three people.
One of the victims, bearing deep lacerations on the neck, akin to a decapitation. Investigators say that they found a Quran, three knives and two phones at the church and are doubtless mining those for information as we speak.
The suspect's family has also been interviewed by Reuters News Agency. The mother and siblings of the young man do not believe he could have carried out the attack.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): At 8 pm, he called me. He told me, "Mom, I came to France."
I said, "Oh, my son, you moved from Italy to France?
"You are not educated, you don't know the language.
"Why did you go there?"
He said, "Mom, pray for me."
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VANIER: They say they spoke to him on a video call in front of the church, just hours before the attack took place.
The young man said that he was only planning to get some rest at the time. A terrorism investigation has begun in Tunisia; meanwhile, in France, one man was taken in for questioning Friday, suspected of having been in contact with the suspected assailant the day before the attack -- Cyril Vanier, CNN, Paris.
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HOLMES: It is the last weekend of the 2020 election campaign in the United States. We will talk about both candidates' push to swing the Midwest their way, when we come back.
And also, doctors seeing fewer heart and stroke patients these days. A new study shows us why and why that is not a good thing. We will be right back.
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HOLMES: Welcome back to viewers all around the world, appreciate your company, I am Michael Holmes, you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
There are just a few short days left until the 2020 U.S. election. Both candidates, crossing paths in the Midwest, as they give their parting message to crucial swing state voters. President Trump and former president Biden, vice president Biden, were in Wisconsin and Minnesota on Friday as well as stops in Michigan and Iowa, respectively.
Those election battlegrounds are still waging a public health battle, too. Dr. Leana Wen, offering stark figures on the state of the pandemic earlier. Take a listen.
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DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It means that we are seeing escalating spread because, at the moment, today, we now have one person being diagnosed with coronavirus every second. We have one American dying of coronavirus every two minutes. And that number is increasing.
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HOLMES: Those calculations are the stark reality President Trump is up against in this election, despite what he says at those rallies. CNN chief U.S. correspondent John King is at the magic wall with how the coronavirus could factor into this race.
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JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Four days left until we count the votes and fill in this map and, on this day, another sad reminder that this is the pandemic campaign. Yet another record in daily case count, daily new infections here in the United States, almost every day this week setting a new record.
A reminder as the president runs against Joe Biden, he is also very much running against his record on the coronavirus.
Red and blue are the colors we will fill in on this map on Tuesday night but look at the red, the pink and the deep orange here. This is pain. This is a map showing confirmed COVID-19 cases. The deeper the red, the higher the rate per 100,000 residents.
This is a map, not a political debate, the pandemic, but we are in a campaign. It is a map that overlays Wisconsin. The president was there today, look at all that red and pink. Florida, a key battleground state; Arizona, the vice president, Mike Pence, campaigning out there today.
Senator Harris was in Texas, making the case that America needs change. Look at all of the red. Former vice president Biden ,the Democratic nominee, in Iowa, again, look at the rural parts in the northern part of the state, hard hit in red.
The coronavirus is the number one issue and it makes it almost impossible for the president to try to change the subject to other issues.
Here's some other ways to look at this. If look at right now, the top 10 states, new COVID cases per capita in the past week, you can see them highlighted in gray here, what do they have in common, four years, ago they all voted for Donald Trump.
This is Trump country. Trump country on the map, right, now experiencing the most new COVID pain, including the battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Iowa, states the president won four year ago that he is at risk of losing this time around.
Here's another way to look at it, as we look at coronavirus data and overlap it with the campaign, new confirmed cases Thursday across the United States, these are the 10 states with the top cases on Thursday, again, you overlay it with the 2016 map.
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KING: Three voting for Hillary Clinton, the other seven were Trump states, including, again, critical battlegrounds, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, the collision between the coronavirus and the campaign, quite obvious in this map.
One more piece of data we want to show, you the biggest problem in the United States, right now with the coronavirus, is the high positivity rate. That is why we are breaking case records. High positivity rate in communities across the country, these are the top 10 states.
Highest positivity rate in the last week. Again, Trump country. Nine of them voted for the president four years ago.
The president making the case at his rallies, we have turned the corner. Vaccines will be here soon, all as well, tough it out.
Even in Trump country, people, every, day living with a very, very different reality that complicates the president's comeback strategy in the final days of this critical campaign.
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HOLMES: John King reporting.
A new study shows that some people that have serious medical problems are skipping important care because of the coronavirus pandemic. The "Journal of the American Medical Association's" internal medicine journal, found a big decline in non-coronavirus related hospitalizations across the country.
That puts patients with heart trouble, strokes or other serious illnesses in even greater danger.
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HOLMES: Joining me now, Dr. Saul Blecker, head author in that study he is assistant professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Doctor, a pleasure to get you to talk about this. This research is remarkable and revealing..
Briefly, if you can, give us a headline or two.
DR. SAUL BLECKER, NYU GROSSMAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Thank you for having me. We looked at hospitalizations in our health system, which includes four hospitals, and found significant decrease in significant hospitalizations for conditions other than COVID-19 at a time of peak COVID, March and April in New York City.
This decrease was for a host of conditions, worsening of chronic diseases like heart failure and COPD, for acute events like appendicitis or heart attacks as well as for injuries. Really, it was a host of things. Given the breadth of these diagnoses, our feeling West that the causes for the decrease are a bunch of different factors.
The biggest one probably, being patients were avoiding coming to a hospital because they are fearful of getting COVID. I think there are a number of other things playing a role as well. As hospitals and providers, we were very overwhelmed and really trying our best to keep patients out of the hospital as much as possible.
HOLMES: Do you think people died because of this?
The ones were prevented from coming and saying, I don't want to risk, it or whatever.
Do you think people died from doing that?
BLECKER: We didn't look specifically at death but at this time, there were a lot of this happening in New York City, both inside the hospital and outside of the hospital. I think there is an element of increased mortality outside of the hospital, being related, potentially, to this avoidance in hospital care.
HOLMES: What is the potential fallout, as we go into it?
Things are worse now, in a national sense than they were then.
What is the potential fallout of non-coronavirus people not going to hospital when they really should?
BLECKER: I think this can, definitely, lead to some people dying. So I think one thing to emphasize,, if you're sick, it's really important to go to the hospital, I think, kind, of in both New York City but probably everywhere, we really have gotten much better at preventive measures with staff being tested regularly. Patients coming in are getting tested regularly. Wearing full PPE at all times.
So hospitals are actually pretty safe places now. In general, I think people, if sick, should come to the hospital.
HOLMES: Is it difficult to change people's minds?
What would you say to people watching now, who are saying, well, you know, I'm feeling bad and I need this, test but I won't go.
BLECKER: I think, in general, I would encourage someone to have it. I think we are, potentially, seeing some ramifications. Both related to, hospitalizations but even more concerned about things like chronic, disease and preventive care, which is generally done not in a hospital setting but in clinics and offices.
There has been a real decrease in the number of people getting immunizations or mammogram screenings or checking for diabetes. I am worried about some long-term complications related to that. So be careful but definitely, do not avoid getting medical care.
HOLMES: I want to ask you this before we go.
[02:40:00]
HOLMES: But President Trump saying today and not for the first time, doctors and hospitals are inflating COVID death numbers, because -- and he literally said that -- they get paid more for coronavirus deaths. It is just extraordinary.
As a health care professional, I want to ask, you what do you think when you hear that accusation?
BLECKER: It is pretty terrible. Just from a truth-telling operational perspective, I think -- it is not true. We need -- diagnoses have to be accurate, so lying about such would be medical fraud.
So I don't think anyone is making this up. In terms of just the payment structure in those hospitals, in many hospitals, including both of the ones where I work, hospitals -- doctors are salaried employees. So there is really no added benefit to make up COVID diagnosis.
But regardless, as a provider, I am more deeply offended by it. Doctors, nurses and other health care providers experience incredibly challenging experience, caring for COVID patients. We are putting our own lives on the line. We are putting our families at risk. So it feels unbelievable to suggest that we were doing that for some small financial gain.
HOLMES: Yes, I've spoken to a lot of medical professionals today and "offended" is a common word. Dr. Saul Blecker, appreciate you coming on to talk about it and that important study. Thank you.
BLECKER: Thank you so much.
HOLMES: Finally, in one U.S. neighborhood, the upcoming presidential election is not the only high stakes race in the spotlight. Some ambitious pets in Oakland, California, are in a tough competition to become mayor of their street. The 55th Street race began when one cat, named Willie, took it upon himself to run unopposed, at first.
Other pets soon jumping into the race, in the spirit of democracy. Some of the top contenders, including Mimi, the Shiba Inu, who will bark when it matters, and Betty the cat, who demands "Change Meow."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is really good and she wants to crush the patriarchy. And so that is why I will vote for her. And she is awesome, so.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, I think everyone just needs a little levity from this anxiety-filled election season. So this has just been a pure joy for our neighborhood. Just to be out here and to be talking with constituents. Having everyone tell us how they enjoy seeing the dogs and the cats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
And may the best candidate win.
Thank you for spending part of your day with me, I am Michael Holmes, "MARKETPLACE AFRICA" starts after a quick break. Robyn Curnow will be with you in about 20 minutes.
