IN UNUSUALLY BRIEF SESSION
by Sharon Rondeau
(Apr. 24, 2020) — Friday’s press conference began at approximately 5:40 p.m. EDT with President Trump reporting that deaths and new cases nationwide as well as in New York City and Louisiana are down significantly.
“New cases in New York are down 50% compared to a week ago, and fatalities are down 40% over the same period,” he said.
Downward trends in those testing “positive” have been observed for the last seven days in 18 states over the last week, Trump reported, and the governors of California, Wisconsin and Tennessee have announced measures to reopen their economies.
“We ask every American to maintain vigilance, hygiene, social distancing and voluntary use of face coverings,” he said, invoking the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s guidelines. “We’re opening our country; it’s very exciting to see…Our country is a great place, and it’s going to be greater than ever before.”
He said he spoke earlier on Friday with Apple CEO Tim Cook, who he said also expressed optimism about a quick comeback from the economic shutdown resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier Trump signed the fourth coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress this week to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program and provide more funds for testing, hospitals, urban areas and small businesses. The money will begin to be available at 10:30 EDT on Monday, Trump said.
Americans are receiving direct payments from a bill passed earlier this month, the CARES Act, he reported. Letters explaining the benefits and how they were delivered will be sent to recipients of the “impact payments.”
“The whole world is watching us. You have 184 countries out there that have been hit, and now it’s probably higher than that; but they’re all watching us…” Trump remarked.
Ventilators are being sent to Honduras, Mexico, Indonesia, France, Spain and Italy at their request, he said.
“Over the last three years, we built the greatest economy and the most successful country the world has ever seen…and we will rebuild that economy,” he said.
He announced that the FDA “approved the first at-home COVID-19 test kit; it just got approved,” and brought up FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn. “They’re approving many things at a pace that’s never happened before,” he said after thanking Hahn for his work. “Many tests are going on, many vaccine tests…and things are happening very rapidly.”
Hahn reported that FDA employees, who number 18,000, have been working “around the clock” on the coronavirus pandemic. He said Trump had asked that barriers to approving “medical products” to combat the pandemic be reduced.
He said that “in just a few short months,” various sectors have “come together to develop diagnostics for a completely new infectious disease… This normally takes years to develop…This has happened in weeks and months.”
To date, “63 tests” for coronavirus have been authorized by the FDA, including “serologic,” or antibody, tests, Hahn reported. As Trump had mentioned, the FDA recently approved a test which can be mailed to a patient’s home if approved by his physician.
As for therapeutics, “we are leaving no stone unturned,” Hahn said. Serologic tests can be helpful in reopening the economy, he said, by determining those who have developed an immunity to the virus.
“We are working with over 400 test-developers” to produce more tests, he said, while “72 trials” of potential therapeutics for the coronavirus are in progress. At present, no treatment has been officially approved, he said.
Vice President and Task Force Leader Mike Pence reported that in a two-hour conference call with governors, the expansion of testing was a major topic. Pete Gaynor of FEMA gave a report at the beginning of the call on the deployment of National Guardsmen and active military across the country.
Shipments of medical equipment and supplies were detailed to the governors, Pence said. “We assured them, that at the president’s direction, this is one team, one mission,” he said. “We know we’re all in this together,” he said.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recognized that “testing is a partnership” between the state and federal governments and spoke well of his face-to-face meeting with President Trump on Tuesday, Pence said.
A month ago, he continued, 80,000 Americans had been tested for the virus, and as of Friday morning, over 5,1 million have received a test. As testing increases, “cases” will also go up, he noted. However, he said he is seeing “very positive trends in hospitalization, in emergency room entrances…we continue to see positive progress…” in New York City, Detroit, and other hard-hit areas.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is using the National Guard to open “more than 20” drive-through test centers, Pence said. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker reported having “rapidly expanded testing” across his state. Having only one location in early march, Massachusetts now has “more than 30 testing sites,” Pence related of Baker’s remarks.
Minnesota Gov. Tom Walz has partnered with the Mayo Clinic, University of Minnesota, and the state health department, Pence said, to expand testing. Pence will be visiting Mayo on Tuesday, he said.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds “is literally tripling testing capacity in her state” by working with the private sector, University of Iowa and Iowa State University. She has additionally launched a website, testiowa.com, which asks for symptoms to determine if a test is warranted. “Iowa is now testing 4,500 people a day,” Pence reported.
In Pence’s home state of Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb reported that half of the state’s available elective surgery sites previously closed were opened last week and will be joined by the remainder next week.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will be able to use military laboratories for testing of residents of his state, Pence said, including at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Utah has utilized 1,200 state employees to conduct “contact-tracing” and developed the “Healthy Together” app. Utah tested a total of 82,000 citizens, Pence reported, while New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is working with Rutgers University and the FDA on a saliva test.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons has worked with Google Marketplace to locate medical supplies, and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont reported “positive trendlines” in the number of hospitalizations, Pence reported. Lamont reported those figures at his daily presser at 4:15 p.m.
Pence thanked the governors “for the progress that we’re making on testing and for their role in urging their citizens to practice the kind of mitigation and social distancing efforts that are really making real progress.”
He said the “one mission” is “to save lives.”
He remarked on the “amazing health care workers across this country and the first responders” as well as the “cooperation” of “millions of Americans who put the guidance into practice.”
After again expressing his belief that “we will heal our land,” Pence ended the presser at 6:01 p.m., an unusually short briefing as opposed to many which have run more than 90 minutes.