HIGHLIGHTS | President Trump and the Task Force Announce Extended CDC Guidelines to Slow the Spread of the Coronavirus

EXTENDING CDC GUIDELINES

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We will be extending our guidelines to April 30, to slow the spread.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “The modeling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks. So, I’ll say it again. The peak, the highest point of death rates, remember this, is likely to hit in two weeks. Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “On Tuesday, we will be finalizing these plans and providing a summary of our findings, supporting data, and strategy to the American people.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We can expect that by June 1^st we will be well on the way to recovery. We think by June 1^st, a lot of great things will be happening.”

NIAID DIRECTOR FAUCI: “I spent a considerable time going over all the data, why we felt this was a best choice of us, and the President accepted it.”

DR. DEBORAH BIRX: “We really built this on scientific evidence, and the potential to save really hundreds of thousands of American lives, and we know that’s a huge sacrifice for everyone.”

TESTING UPDATE

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “On Friday, the FDA authorized a new test developed by Abbott Labs that delivers lightning fast results, in as little as five minutes. That’s a whole new ballgame. I want to thank Abbott Labs for the incredible work they’ve done.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Abbott has stated that they will begin delivering 50,000 tests each day, starting this week.”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY ADM. GIROIR: “Approved in record time by Dr. Stephen Hahn and the FDA, this is a point of care test. Meaning, that from the time to swab to the time you get a positive result, five minutes like the President said and at most 15 minutes for a negative result.”

ASSISTANT SECRETARY ADM. GIROIR: “As of close of business yesterday, we have been able to perform in the United States over 894,000 tests. So, highly significantly increased every single day.”

PROJECT AIRBRIDGE

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “FEMA is working with these companies to launch ‘Project Airbridge’ to expedite the movement of critical supplies from other countries to the United States. The first flight arrived at JFK airport New York this morning filled with 80 tons of personal protective equipment, including 130,000 N95 respirators … 1.8 million facemasks and gowns, 10.3 million gloves, and many other things. Millions and millions of different items.”

FIELD HOSPITAL BUILT IN NEW YORK

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “What the Army Corps of Engineers did, along with FEMA, in New York was incredible. They built 2,900 beds worth of hospital, an incredible hospital in the Javits Center.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “The people of New York are very happy. Governor Cuomo expressed his thanks, which we appreciate.”

STERILIZING MASKS

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We’re also looking at an approval for the sterilization of masks.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “The great governor of Ohio called me. They have a company that is in the final process of getting approval for the sterilization of masks, and in some cases, depending on the mask, some of these masks are very strong, very powerful, very strong material. They’re able to sterilize the mask up to 20 times, so that’s I guess like getting 20 masks.”

EMERGENCY USE OF CONVALESCENT PLASMA THERAPY

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “The FDA is also allowing the emergency use of a blood related therapy called convalescent plasma as an experimental treatment for seriously ill patients. This treatment involves taking blood plasma from patients who have already recovered from the virus.”

INSURERS WAIVING COPAYS

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Two of the country’s largest health insurers, Humana and Cigna, are announcing that they will waive copays, which is a big deal for anybody that understands insurance.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “We’ve asked them to do it and they’ve done it. Coinsurance and deductibles for the coronavirus treatments, to help ease the financial burden on American families during this pandemic.”

ASSISTING RESTAURANTS

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “I’ve directed my staff to use any and all authority available to give restaurants, bars [and] clubs incentives to stay open.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “I’m going to tell Secretary Mnuchin and also our great Secretary of Labor, who you know very well, to immediately start looking into the restoring of deductibility of meal and entertainment costs for corporations. That set the restaurant business back a lot when it was done originally.”

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