>> Ed: THIS FOX NEWS ALERT, THE NUMBER OF CONFIRMED CASES OF
CORONAVIRUS NOT REACHING NEARLY
8,000 WORLDWIDE.
8,000 WORLDWIDE. PRESIDENT TRUMP APPOINTING A
CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE TO HELP
LEAD THE U.S. RESPONSE TO THIS
OUTBREAK.
OUTBREAK. YOU SEE SOME PHOTOS FROM THE
MEETINGS LAST NIGHT.
THE PRESIDENT MEETING WITH HIS
TEAM AND HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES ECHO SECRETARY ALEX AZA
HEADS THAT GROUP.
GOOD TO BE WITH YOU.
A GROWING NUMBER OF EXPERTS
AROUND THE WORLD ARE SAYING THE
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SHOULD
STEP IN HERE AND DECLARE THIS A
WORLD HEALTH EMERGENCY.
DO YOU AGREE?
>> THEY ARE ACTUALLY MEETING AS
WE SPEAK TO DETERMINE WHETHER
THIS CONSTITUTES A PUBLIC HEALTH
EMERGENCY OF INTERNATIONAL
CONSEQUENCE.
CONSEQUENCE. I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW
THAT DOESN’T REALLY CHANGE
ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT WE DO HERE
IN THE UNITED STATES.
THIS VIRUS, WHILE IT DOESN’T
POSE A THREAT TO EVERYDAY
AMERICANS AT THIS TIME, THE
PRESIDENT IS ENSURING THAT WE
ARE PROACTIVELY PREPARING AND
ALSO TAKING THE NECESSARY STEPS
TO PREVENT OR MITIGATE ANY
POTENTIAL FOR THE SPREAD OF THAT
VIRUS HERE IN THE UNITED STATES.
ONE ASPECT OF THAT IS YESTERDAY
HE ANNOUNCED THAT WE HAVE
FORMALIZED A TASK FORCE THAT I
AM LEADING ACROSS THE ENTIRE
GOVERNMENT.
GOVERNMENT. >> Ed: PLEASE TELL US THEN,
WHAT DID YOU BRIEF THE
PRESIDENT ON?
PRESIDENT ON? WHAT IS THE PRESIDENT BEING
TOLD?
TOLD? MAYBE MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT IS
HE SAYING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
ABOUT THE THREAT TO AMERICANS,
WHAT IS BEING DONE TO PROTECT
AMERICANS?
AMERICANS? >> THE NICE THING IS WHAT HE IS
BEING BRIEFED ON IS EXACTLY WHAT
I’M TELLING YOU AND THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE.
PEOPLE. WE ARE BEING COMPLETELY
TRANSPARENT ABOUT OUR ACTIONS
HERE.
HERE. WHICH IS THAT, WHILE THIS IS A
POTENTIALLY SERIOUS PUBLIC
HEALTH THREAT, IT IS NOT AT THIS
TIME POSE A RISK THE AMERICAN
PUBLIC.
PUBLIC. THEY HAVE TO BE BALANCED IN OUR
APPROACH.
APPROACH. WE WILL TAKE ALL PUBLIC HEALTH
MEASURES NECESSARY TO PROTECT
THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, SO WE BRIEF
THE PRESIDENT AS WE DO OURSELVES
ON THE CURRENT EPIDEMIOLOGICAL
INFORMATION ON THE SPREAD OF THE
VIRUS.
VIRUS. THESE STEPS HAPPENING
INTERNATIONALLY, AND OUR
PREVENTIVE PREPAREDNESS STEPS
WE’RE TAKING IN THE
UNITED STATES.
UNITED STATES. >> Ed: YOU SEEM VERY CONFIDENT
WE ARE GETTING A HANDLE ON THIS.
THAT’S GOOD NEWS.
"THE NEW YORK TIMES," THOUGH,
HAS AN EDITORIAL THIS MORNING
THAT YOU PROBABLY SAW SANG A LOT
OF EXPERTS AROUND THE WORLD
DON’T KNOW YET HOW CONTAGIOUS
THIS IS, HOW DEADLY THE NEW
VIRUS IS.
VIRUS IS. THAT THEY ARE EXPERTS AT EVERY
GLOBAL INDUSTRY NOW FRETTING
OVER SUPPLY CHAINS, NEW ECONOMIC
IMPACTS.
IMPACTS. IN THE HEADLINE IS, "IS THE
WORLD READY FOR THE
CORONAVIRUS?"
CORONAVIRUS?" HOW DO YOU ANSWER THAT QUESTION?
>> WE’VE BEEN VERY TRANSPARENT
ABOUT WHAT WE DON’T KNOW YET
ABOUT THIS VIRUS, WHICH IS WE
DON’T KNOW FULL INFORMATION
ABOUT ITS CONTAGIOUSNESS, ABOUT
ITS SEVERITY PROFILE, WHICH IS
WHY I AM DELIGHTED AT THE
INVITATION OF THE CHINESE
GOVERNMENT.
GOVERNMENT. WE WILL ACCEPT THE INVITATION TO
PARTICIPATE AS PART OF THE WORLD
HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S TEAM OF
EXPERTS THAT WILL DEPLOY TO
CHINA TO ASSIST CHINESE EXPERTS
ON THE GROUND TO ACTUALLY GET
GROUND TROOPS STUDY THIS VIRUS,
GET ALL THE INFORMATION TO BOTH
PREVENT THE SPREAD FURTHER AND
CHINA BUT ALSO GLOBAL SPREAD OF
THIS VIRUS.
THIS VIRUS. >> Ed: I WANT TO ASK YOU
DIRECTLY, THE SEPARATE FACT
FICTION.
FICTION. THIS SAYS THEY HAVE A LIMITED’S
OFFICE OF PANDEMIC RESPONSE THAT
WAS ARE DOME I CREATED OVER THE
EBOLA EPIDEMIC AND THAT YOU’VE
DRASTICALLY SCALED BACK THE
CDC’S OVERSEAS OUTBREAK PREVENTI
EFFORTS.
EFFORTS. THE TIMES CLAIMING THIS MAY
HAMPER THE U.S. RESPONSE.
WHAT DO YOU SAY?
>> THAT IS JUST PATHOLOGICAL,
THAT THEY HAVE TO ATTACK THE
PRESIDENT EVEN WHEN HE IS
SHOWING THIS TYPE OF DETERMINED
LEADERSHIP TO PROTECT THE
AMERICAN PUBLIC.
AMERICAN PUBLIC. LAST YEAR, IF THEY WOULD READ
THEIR OWN PAPER THEY WOULD SEE
THAT WE CHANGED OUR BIOHAZARD
PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
DOCTRINE TO ACTUALLY HAVE ME, AS
SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES, LEAVE THOSE EFFORTS.
THAT’S WHY THE TASK FORCE HAS ME
COORDINATING THE APPROACH FOR
ANY TYPE OF BIOHAZARD.
WITH REGARD TO THE CDC, WE HAVE
A HUGE GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY
AGENDA AND WHAT WE’VE ACTUALLY
DONE IS FOCUS INTO THE HIGHEST
RISK AREAS, INCLUDING CHINA.
>> Ed: JUST TO BUTTON UP
ANOTHER THING ABOUT THE WORLD
HEALTH ORGANIZATION WHERE I
STARTED, AS YOU NOTED, THEY ARE
MEETING NOW.
MEETING NOW. WE SHOULD GET WORD SHORTLY ON
WHETHER THEY WILL SAY IT’S
SPECIFICALLY A PUBLIC HEALTH
EMERGENCY.
EMERGENCY. I KNOW YOU SAID THAT DOESN’T
REALLY IMPACT WITH THE U.S. IS
DOING, BUT JUST TO BE CLEAR, A
DECLARATION LIKE THAT WOULD LEAD
TO A BOOST IN PUBLIC HEALTH
MEASURES, MORE FUNDING AND
RESOURCES TO HELP PREVENT IT
FROM SPREADING MUCH WIDER.
WOULD THAT BE IMPORTANT TO THE
U.S. EFFORTS IF, IN FACT, THE
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION MAKES
THAT DESIGNATION?
THAT DESIGNATION? >> AGAIN, HE REALLY DOESN’T
CHANGE OUR EFFORTS AT ALL.
IT’S A DECLARATION JUST OF
STATUS.
STATUS. IT’S VERY IMPORTANT IN THESE
SITUATIONS.
SITUATIONS. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS
WE CAN DO IS ENSURE THE PUBLIC,
AND PARTICULAR OUR HEALTH CARE
PROVIDERS, ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE.
WOULD YOU BE DUE WITHIN
INFECTIOUS DISEASE OUTBREAK?
BLOCKING AND
ATTACKING
DIAGNOSING, TREATING, AND TRACING THE PEOPLE THAT THE
CONTACTS THEY HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH
WITH AND PERHAPS THE CONTACTS OF
THOSE CONTACTS AND TAKING
APPROPRIATE STEPS.
APPROPRIATE STEPS. ANY TYPE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IS
IMPORTANT.
IMPORTANT. >> Ed: LESS QUESTION THEN, WE
HAD THIS PLANE ARRIVING
YESTERDAY, MOSTLY DIPLOMATS AND
OTHER AMERICANS ON THE GROUND
AND WUHAN.
AND WUHAN. THEY ARE NOW IN AMERICA BEING
CHECKED OUT.
CHECKED OUT. IT SEEMS LIKE THE IMPORTANT
MEASURES ARE BEING TAKEN.
THERE’S IMPORTANT STORIES ABOUT
OTHER AMERICANS STILL AROUND
WUHAN.
WUHAN. OTHERS OBVIOUSLY AROUND CHINA.
TALK BROADLY ABOUT WHAT YOU AND
THE PRESIDENT ARE DOING TO MAKE
SURE AMERICANS NOT JUST HERE AT
HOME BUT AROUND THE WORLD ARE
SAFE
>> WE HAVE ADDITIONAL AMERICANS IN THAT HUBEI PROVINCE OF CHINA,
THE EPICENTER OF THE OUTBREAK.
WE WILL WORK WITH THE STATE
GOVERNMENTDEPARTMENT TO ENSURE T
THEY WANT TO THEY CAN COME HOME.
WE WILL TAKE ALL STEPS NECESSARY
TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC HEALTH IN
CONNECTION WITH ANY TYPE OF
TRANSPORTATION LIKE THAT, AS
ROUTED WITH THE FLIGHT OF OVER
200 AMERICAN DIPLOMATS, FAMILY
MEMBERS, AND AMERICAN CITIZENS
WHO CAME BACK YESTERDAY.
WE WANT THEM TO RECEIVE A WARM
WELCOME.
WELCOME. WE ARE GOING TO TREAT THEM WELL
BUT TAKE ALL APPROPRIATE PUBLIC
HEALTH MEASURES TO PROTECT THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE.
AMERICAN PEOPLE. >> Ed: SECRETARY ALEX AZAR HAS
A BIG JOB RIGHT NOW LEADING THE
PRESIDENT’S EFFORTS TO STAY ON