04012020 COVID-19 Press Conference
GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Good afternoon, everybody, and thank you very much for being back with us today, whether you're tuning in on the radio or on TV. And we thank the members of the press who are here. Sadly, the numbers today look a lot like yesterday. The last update, we have 1,198 new cases in Louisiana for a total of 6,424?cases. There are also 34 additional deaths reported in today's numbers, which makes a total of 473 deaths statewide.Right now, we have 1,498 people hospitalized with COVID19, which is a 23?percent hospitalization rate when you measure against the total number of cases in the state. Of those individuals in the hospital, 490 of them are on ventilators, which is about what we would expect based on the experience in other countries and in other states, that about 30?percent of the individuals who have to be hospitalized because of this disease will require ventilators. We also know that today's numbers were informed by 6,809 test results that were reported in the last 24?hours. That is the largest number of tests that have been reported in any 24hour period. We also know that of those 6,809 tests, 229 were at the state lab. 6,580 came from private labs. And so this suggests a little more of the same yesterday, where we indicated that we thought there was a backlog that had started to break free because these tests had been taken actually, you know, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight days ago, whatever it was, the results were slow to come in, but it appears that they may be coming in now and that's fueling both the number of cases and on the number of deaths. So on the number of deaths, one thing that I want to make clear, we are not representing that 34 people died in the last 24?hours. What we're saying is in the last 24?hours, the reports were made of 34 deaths, and those individuals could have died before that and we were waiting on a test to come in. And then when that death was linked to COVID, it actually becomes part of that day's report even though the death may have happened before. Either way, we know that we have 273 individuals who have been? who died as a result of COVID19 in Louisiana up to now. Obviously, we continue to work to surge our testing capacity and lab throughput, and we want to extend more testing into more parts of the state, especially rural Louisiana. But I can tell you that we are Number?3 in the country per capita in the number of tests that have been administered, and I want to thank doctor Alex Billeaux and all the folks at the Department of Health and Office of Public Health who have worked so hard to wrap up the testing. And we have a lot of other individuals out there and entities who are ramping up their testing as well, and really appreciate that. Because the worst thing is not knowing. Even when what, you know, is not pleasant, it's still much better for decisionmaking, resource allocation, and so forth to have more knowledge about what's happening rather than less. Now, at the end of my presentation, Dr.?Alex Billeaux, as always, is here to take specific questions about testing. I want to show you another graph that we have today as well. We showed you this one for the first time last week. This is data that comes from? (inaudible)? if we practice better social distancing, if we have more compliance with the stay at home order, if everyone practices the personal hygiene that we've been talking about now for weeks. So the trajectory remains very concerning, although we do have just hints of, you know, good news coming out of the New Orleans and Jefferson Parish region, that those numbers are starting to flatten a little bit. And I say that because every day we get new data and we update the modelling and we update the actual numbers and what we're seeing, but nobody should rest easy or even begin to think that we've tackled this problem because it is only going to get worse from here, and it's going to get worse in every single region of the state. I want to also show you now what is probably the most disturbing graph that I have seen. So the five parishes up there? (inaudible)? And these are the parishes and counties in the United States of paperwork with the most COVID19 deaths per 100,000 residents, starting with any parish or county that has at least five deaths. And you can see St. John the Baptist Parish popped onto the radar screen here, and I think the total number of deaths there is 12, which is a relatively small raw number, but for a parish its size, that is very troubling. And obviously that's a trend that we want to get ahold of just as soon as possible. It's so secret about Orleans Parish where we have the number?two parish or county in the country, but then you get down to Jefferson, St. Charles, and then Ascension Parish. So it shows that we have a lot of work to do across the state of Louisiana, not just in Orleans and Jefferson Parish. You know, region 3 has popped up on our radar today from the modeling that we're doing. And region 3 is St. Mary, assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. James, St. John, St. Charles. So it's basically the River Parishes plus Terrebonne and Lafourche. As having what we currently believe to be the highest growth rate and spread of COVID cases in the state. And so I wanted to specifically address that. And I want to encourage all of the leaders, really all over the state of Louisiana, but I'm talking specifically now to region 3, encourage those leaders? business leaders, religious leaders, community leaders? everybody to message as strong as you possibly can communicate the need for social distancing, follow the stay at home order, so we can slow the spread. But this is all across the state of Louisiana. We still have 60 of 64 parishes. If you looked at that map that was up there at the beginning? and you may be tempted if you live in west Carroll or Caldwell or Cameron or Tensas to believe that you don't have a problem. I can assure everybody out there the virus is in all 64 parishes. COVID19, the disease, is in all 64 parishes. We just haven't gotten a positive test result in those four parishes yet. Speaking of a little bit of good news, we do have on the ground now the 150 ventilators that were approved from the strategic national stockpile. They came in this morning. And as we speak, the Louisiana national guards are delivering those per the allocation that LDH set in consultation with all of their regional folks. And that distribution should be complete within the next hour or so. So that's obviously some good news. The trouble we have is that when we exceed our capacity for ventilators, by the second day, it will be in numbers that exceed the additional ventilators that we've been able to bring online. So we still have a lot of work to do there. Now, more than ever, we need the compliance of everyone with respect to the mitigation measures. We need that compliance to be at an all time high. As Dr. Fauci said yesterday afternoon on the press conference that was held with the President and the vice president and Dr.?Debra Burkes, we just simply cannot let off the gas. And in that press conference, they talked about how the next 30?days are going to be critical and how across the United States there are going to be an awful a lot of people who die from COVID19. And the unfortunate reality is that is the exact same situation we're facing here in Louisiana. We cannot let our foot off the gas either. We have to have better compliance with these mitigation measures over the next 30?days, and we can decide. We can control whether we're going to have fewer deaths or more. And I hope everyone takes that very, very seriously, because that's the simple fact of the matter. We need everybody participating in these mitigation measures. And I couldn't agree more with the messaging that came out of the White House yesterday at that press conference. And, in fact, those are the things that I have been sharing with the people of Louisiana for many days now. These next 30?days will be critical. And we know that this public health emergency is very different from others that we've had to deal with, in a lot of different ways, one of which is the number of individuals who suddenly went from employed to unemployed. The demand right now for unemployment claims being filed is unprecedented. There really isn't a benchmark that we can relate to. And this is true not just here in Louisiana, but across the country. Thus far, the Louisiana Workforce Commission has paid $20?million in claims for the first three days of this week. Prior to the COVID19 situation, the total weekly benefits paid averaged about $2.5?million for the entire week. Individual filings for unemployment insurance benefits has increased from an average daily callback volume of 257 from the first week of March to about 7,750 average daily calls presently. We know that because of this increased call volume, it's taking many people multiple times to get through. We ask you to be patient and bear with us. Staff are working, and they've extended their daily hours at the Louisiana Workforce Commission until 7:00?p.m. Nearly 300 additional staff has transferred into the unemployment insurance operations. The third party host server has added capacity. The phone capacity has increased as well. So please be patient and know that we're working as hard as possible to be able to take care of everyone that needs help. On another note, speaking of help, we do have a little bit of good news that I want to share with you, and it's why Secretary Don Pierson is here with me, to announce a new program and to take questions at the completion of my prepared remarks if you have them about this program. But the new Louisiana Loan Portfolio Guarantee Program is a $50 million fund that will provide loans of up to $100,000 for small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. This program which we're calling LPGP for short is a partnership between Louisiana Economic Development, the Louisiana Bankers Association, and the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority. Each of these partners is playing an instrumental role in making capital? I'm sorry, working capital available quickly to Louisiana small businesses so that those firms may remain viable and retain their workers. LED has organized the program and will provide a loan guarantee to participating banks which will we 20?percent of the loan amount, up to a total aggregate amount for LED of $10?million. The Louisiana Bankers Association is endorsing the program and encouraging participation by its member banks. And the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority which has issued over $27?billion in bonds throughout our state since 1974 will actually manage this program. We will emphasize providing loans quickly to main stream rural distances across Louisiana. There is no interest applied and no payments due for the first six months. These loan decisions will be made by local bankers who know their communities and know these businesses and these business people. After the first six months, interest rates will be no more than 3.5?percent. So if you're a small businessowner impacted by COVID19 and you're in need of immediate working capital, please go to LED's website at . and click on the COVID19 business resources guide. We will be posting the names of participating banks there, and you can get in touch with one of those banks directly to apply. I am proud to say that we have over 30 Louisiana banks indicating they're interested in parting in this program at the present. If you're a bank and you would like to participate, send an email to LEDsmallbusinessloans@ or you can call 2253421940. I want to make another important point about this new loan program led by the state of Louisiana. This program will not compete with federal SBA assistance. It will complement the SBA economic injury disaster loans that are becoming available and the SBA paycheck protection loan programs that are also being teed up. And I want to thank Secretary Pierson who has worked so hard over the last number of days in order to stand this program up so quickly, to get the Bankers Association on board, to start to get these banks, some 30 of them now? we do expect that that number will increase. And if we see the need to, we believe we can scale this program larger. We just wanted to put something out initially to gauge interest and see what the need is out there because we want to do everything we can to protect small business in Louisiana and make sure that they can survive what is obviously a very difficult period for many of them. So, Don, thank you so much for your work on this. I also want to thank the Bankers Association and the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority for committing their time and resources to help Louisiana small business community during what is obviously a time of great need. I think it sort of goes without saying here that it is April the 1st. This April will be different in Aprils that we've experienced, you know, up to this point in our lives, I suspect. The weather is going to be beautiful, but we're not going to have the festivals, the celebrations. And that's unfortunate, but it is just the reality of the situation. And, you know, I'm asking people to find new ways to enjoy fellowship during this time. There are other ways to stay connected. You can do this whether you're pursuing an education, whether you are working your business, or whether you're working from home, whatever. But you can do this with family members as well. So do what you can to stay connected. Last night, I can tell you that I had my first zoom experience. I had a call with all of my siblings and my mother, and we were able to visit for an hour. And there really is something special about being able to make the most out of what is a difficult situation and be able to express support for one another during the trying times and to be able to communicate and find out if there's some things that people need that you can help them with. So as we enter this new month, I encourage all Louisianians to stay home but stay connected. As I've said before, we're going to get through this. It's a matter of time, and I don't know exactly what that timeline looks like. But it's going to get worse before it gets better, but how much worse it gets really depends upon what we do. And by we, I mean each and every one of us. Every single Louisianian, every single American has a role to play, and we need to all comply with the mitigation measures that are in place. We need to make sure that we minimize contact and that we show our love for one another by staying away. It really is just that simple. Stay home. Stop the spread. And save lives. So we're going to open it up for questions, and what I want to do is the first part of the questions will be restricted to the Louisiana Loan Portfolio Guarantee Program while I've got Secretary Pierson here. If you've got questions about that particular program, I want you to ask them now. And then when you're finished with those questions, we're going to dismiss him, for two reaps. He needs to get back to work. Secondly, we can practice better social distancing with one less person up here at the podium. Go ahead?AUDIENCE MEMBER: I have a question about that. Just trying to figure out where the money from that program is coming from, where the funding is, and in terms of how quickly the loans can turnaround.SECRETARY DON PIERSON: Sure, great questions. And under the Governor's leadership, we've been able to stand this program up very quickly by repurposing some money that exists at LED. You might recall we have the Louisiana Economic Development corporation which does a loan guarantee program for companies that we work with, typically a brick and mortar project. What we've done now is sort of may inhibit and put the focus on small businesses and repurpose some monies. Now, where we have a $10?million commitment to participate in this loan portfolio, there will be a time period for the loans to be under the application period, the issuance, the 6 months forbearance. And so any demand on the loan guarantee fund would be quite some time down the road. And, again, a portion of this portfolio should perform very well, partnering with the banks on an 80/20 loan guarantee positioning. Essentially there's 80?percent of that private capital that's in the loan disbursement. So they're going to make loans that they feel confident about. And so the performance of this portfolio should be pretty good. But with that said, we are lowering the risk profile for these banks. We're providing a one?percent participation fee and underwriting some of their costs in that regard. So we we think that it's a winwinwin. It's a win for the consumer that gets a 3.5 percent loan fixed rate for up to five years. It's lowering the risk profile for the bank and accelerating their ability to deploy funding to our small businesses. That's the critical issue here. And certainly the state is playing this role in a guarantee position. So that's short of having to put the actual cash into the account?AUDIENCE MEMBER: So, secretary, financial institutes will loan the money.SECRETARY DON PIERSON: Affirmative?AUDIENCE MEMBER: You're just guaranteeing it through your $10?million loan guarantee program?AUDIENCE MEMBER: We're making the? we're giving some comfort to the banks and making the decision at the loan officer level. They'll do the underwriting. They'll do the credit analysis. They will administer the entire loan experience with that customer. So we're not waiting for any guidance out of Washington. There's not some other thing you've got to come back to the state for. This is enabling the people on the frontlines, those loan officers, to make the decisions and deploy this capital.AUDIENCE MEMBER: Secretary, so if you do participate? if you're a small business and you do participate in any of the loan programs through the federal government, you can still participate in this as well? SECRETARY DON PIERSON: Certainly you can participate in our program without question. As for any influence or impacts that that will have on eligibility at the SBA level, they'll have to get that guidance from their loan ERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Any other questions for secretary?SECRETARY DON PIERSON: I just want to echo the Governor's remarks in that we're grateful for the team effort of the Louisiana Bankers Association, LPFA, who have all reacted very quickly, done work with us on the weekends, to make this role out as fast as possible, knowing that time is of the essence to our small business community out there. Thank you. GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Thank you, Don. Okay. I'll take your questions. And as I mentioned earlier, Dr.?Billioux is here to take questions on at thing. Yes, sir, Greg?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Governor, have you identified the next region where you will add your surge, temporary beds, and in what facility that will be?GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Yeah. First of all, the answer is no. We are still looking at the modeling and trying to figure out where that next facility will go, and this will be medical monitoring facility, a stepdown facility, a hospital, if you will, that we will stand up like we're doing at the convention center in New Orleans in order to free up beds in the hospital sooner and more frequently than would otherwise be the case. It's a way to kind of help them be able to surge within the existing print of the hospitals by being able to take more COVID patients sooner. We will be identifying specific facilities by region over the next couple of days. We still have a little bit of time. We are working now to identify the staffing that we will need as we pull the trigger on these additional facilities that we're going to stand up. We're going to have a lot more information for you about this?AUDIENCE MEMBER: There will be more?GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Yes, there are going to be more around the state. Probably not in every region of the state. The Department of Health is divided into nine regions. I think we're going to see them where they need to be, but we don't think we need to have nine. And the more you have, the harder it is logistically to set up and to sustain, especially as it relates to staffing. But there will be several more set up across the state over the coming couple of weeks. Yes, ma'am?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Governor, can you talk about the continued search for ventilators and which companies you've spoken to, if there are any companies out there doing donations, and if you're personally getting involved in making some of those calls and reaching out to those about that. GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Well, we are looking for ventilators, obviously, from the strategic national stockpile. We were successfully getting 150 of those. We know that the federal government has retained some number on hand, which I think to be in the 9,000 to 10,000 range, and those will be made available on a case by case basis later, as different hot spots, I guess you could call them, get within 72?hours or so of exceeding their vent capacity. And then you'll be able to make additional requests, and if you can support that request with the kind of data that folks at the White House ask for and FEMA are looking for, then you've got an a decent chance of getting an additional allocation from there. We are also looking for ventilators through the Department of Defense, which has some on hand, and they are working with FEMA. And so they're not at the stockpile, but the Department of Defense has some, and we're looking for some there. We have traditional vendors that we have ordered from, and I can tell you that one of those has delivered, I think, 292 to date over the last three weeks. And that's been very helpful. But I would remind you all that not every ventilator is the same, and so there's a certain type of ventilator that you would expect to see in an ICU room that is, you know, the optimal ventilator to help with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Did I say that right? And so not all of the ventilators that we're able to source are that caliber. But we know that a ventilator is better than no ventilator, which is why we're also out looking and inventorying at tier two facilities ventilators that might be used for anesthesia purposes in a surgical center, other breathing devices. We're even looking for EMT type ventilators that you might see in an ambulance, for example. So we're doing all of that. The Department of Health is inventorying those and making decisions about allocating those, obviously, primarily now to Region?1, which is the place in the state that I think we're showing that by April the 6th, according to today's numbers? and as you know, these change slightly a little bit every day, not much? but April the 6th is when we believe that we would exceed the vent capacity in the Orleans/Jefferson region. That is Region?1. So this is a never ending pros. I had a call with the National Governors Association. Almost all the nation's governors were on that call. And the ventilator issue just came up over and over and over again. This is very difficult because if our projections are right based on modeling, we are going to have people present to the hospital. Those people, a lot of them, are going to need ventilators, and at some point, we won't have ventilators for them. And as a result we expect now that people will die because they will not be able to receive the care that they need. And we're trying everything we can to increase the ventilators, but? and I'll never miss an opportunity to tell you this. This underscores the need to slow the spread. Because to the degree that we slow the spread, there are fewer people going to the hospital at any given time and fewer people that are in the hospital are going to need ventilators and so forth. So I'm encouraging everybody to do everything that they can do. Rest assured, we're doing everything that we can do to surge in medical capacity. Yes, sir, Jeff?AUDIENCE MEMBER: You mentioned that April 6th is the when we'll reach ventilator capacity in New Orleans. So say that this happened, and then April?7th comes around, somebody reports to a hospital there in New Orleans and needs a ventilator. What's going to happen?GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Well, I think you just answered your question. We won't have a ventilator to put them on. Now, Dr.?Billioux, I don't know whether that date includes the ventilators that we delivered today, for example, but even if it didn't, you're only talking about a half a day's difference, or maybe you get a full day out of it. And what I suspect will happen first is those individuals will be put on a ventilator that you typically wouldn't see in an ICU setting. And so it's not optimal, but before we run completely out, you're going to see individuals on these breathing devices that have been retrofitted or modified in some fashion so that they can function as a ventilator. You're going to see them on the surgical center anesthesia ventilators and so forth. And that will buy us a little bit of time, but it's not optimal treatment. And because it's not optimal treatment, you're not going to get the results that you would want to get from that, but it's better than nothing. But then it's just a matter of time, then, before you eclipse even your capacity as you've ramped it up with all these other devices. And those individuals are not going to have ventilators, and they're going to need them. I mean, it is that simple. That's why I've been telling people for weeks now, there is no reason to think that Louisiana won't look like Italy. And I know that's a hard, bitter pill to swallow, because that picture is rather gruesome, is not what we're accustomed to. We don't ever want to see that. In fact, I think I saw where Dr. Fauci said today that the entire United States of America is on track to kind of look like Italy as it relates to the spread of this disease. And I don't know if he was specifically referring that to the ability to deliver medical care, but the overall modeling and the growth of cases and so forth across the country is looking like that. And so everybody should understand that this is not going to be a pretty picture, but we are still in control of just how bad it gets. But even under the most feasible, best case scenarios, we do eclipse our capacity for ventilators, but it's by a much smaller number. Yes, sir?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Actually, I have a question for Dr.?Billioux that's actually about testing. In Caddo parish, there's one community testing site. They've done 8,500 commercial tests. The next parish was Orleans which has ten times as many positive cases. Can you explain why Caddo parish is blowing every other parish out of the water for commercial testing at the rate that they're doing it?DR. ALEX BILLIOUX: So, I mean, when you get to commercial testing, it's a really complex answer. We don't have visibility, for instance, at the state level in outstanding tests. What we see is when tests are reported whack in. Some of the large facilities, certainly the FEMA sites, we know how many tests are being generated there. But we wouldn't know, you know, how many of one of the testing sites say in reasonen 4 in the Lafayette area is doing comparatively. What I can say, though, is, you know, it's tough to get access to the specimen kits, and we're seeing that that is a limitation for some of our communities. We obviously focus our specimen collection kits on hospital. That's where we want to make sure if you need a test in a hospital, you have access to it. But we certainly want to see expanded testing in lots of regions, similar to what you're describing would be happening in Caddo?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Are you guys like researching that, trying to figure out why it's been so successful?DR. ALEX BILLIOUX: Well, and more broadly, as I noted, I think maybe a couple days ago, we happen that there are new machines coming online that not only can return results faster but that can do more tests at a time. Worry looking at those. The state lab is also not only expanding with tests? or expanding with machines that we purchased a couple of weeks ago, but even yesterday was looking at acquiring even more throughput through new machines. We would like to be in a position where we can test much, much, much more broadly. However, I think the other really important message that needs to get out there is even if you do not have access to large amounts of testing, and those areas where we're not yet getting the testing where we want to be, if people are feeling ill, they should be staying home and they should be talking to their providers. You know, if you have the symptoms consistent with this and you can't get access to a test, that's not reason that you shouldn't be isolating and taking all those other precautionary measures. GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: I would tell you that with a stay at home order, you ought not require a symptom before you stay home unless you are an essential worker or you absolutely have to go out. But everybody who feels sick with a fever, with cough, with shortness of breath, you absolutely need to be staying home, period. Yes, sir?AUDIENCE MEMBER: The White House yesterday projected that even with social distancing measures, 100,000 to 240,000 people will die. You mentioned that projection. What is our projection in Louisiana for how many people might die given the current social distancing measures in place, and when is our peak currently forecast before we see various projections in the middle of April? I know you said it's a critical 30?days right ERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Yeah, I don't have that number. I don't know whether you do. But I will tell you that if you just look at the numbers that came from the federal government yesterday, from the President's press conference, and understand that we have the third highest per capita number of cases right now, if you look at their trajectory that we're on in terms of case growth? and we showed that to you just a while ago? and that you consider that already we are Number?2 in the country in per capita deaths as a state with five or six of our parishes among the top 15 or so in the entire country, you know, that this is not a pretty picture for the state of Louisiana if we don't practice much better social distancing in mitigation to slow the spread. And so the messaging coming out of the White House yesterday is exactly what we've been trying to communicate to the people of Louisiana for some time now. And there is no really pretty picture. There's not a pretty picture for the country. There's not a pretty picture for the state. But it doesn't have to be as ugly as the models suggest it would be if we didn't do mitigation. And it is entirely within the power, the control, of the people of Louisiana, acting individually and collectively, to determine just how bad it gets, even though it's going to be a tough situation regardless. Leo?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Once we get past the health issues, which obviously are paramount, the economic tsunami that's headed toward the country is paramount too. They talked about that considerably this morning out of the White House and on CNBC, especially, but they're saying that the CEOs of the top seven energy companies in the country? ExxonMobil, and Chevron? are headed to have a Summit with the President Friday, which is unusual. Louisiana is one of the top oilproducing states in the country. Have you been in touch with any of the smaller Louisiana energy companies that may be looking for help or seeing something on the horizon where there could be layoffs?GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Well, obviously it is a tremendously tough environment for energy companies, and that is for a couple of reasons. One is the coronavirus situation that would depress demand, not just in the United States but around the world for oil; but secondly because of the spat that Saudi Arabia and Russia started before? just before the coronavirus situation blew up when they're vying for market share, regardless of what that does to price, which is 180?degrees difference than the way Saudi Arabia had always conducted itself before that. So this is a very, very challenging environment around the world for oil and gas companies. That is obviously the case here in Louisiana. I have had communications with the Louisiana oil and gas association and the Louisiana Midcontinent Oil and Gas Association. We've done conference calls. We have other business calls that I'm not necessarily on. And we're trying to do what we can to help. But, quite frankly, this is a very distressing situation for them, and as a result for our state. And I don't obviously have any inside information about what those seven CEOs are going to be relating to the President or potentially asking him for. I do know that in Phase III, the bill passed by Congress last week that was signed by the President, there were no provisions as I understand it for the oil and gas businesses, like there were for example for airlines and so forth?AUDIENCE MEMBER: They're specifically saying that they're not asking for a bailout. GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Yeah. And there were not any there, but I don't know what they're going to be asking for, was my point. I know what wasn't in Phase III of the legislation that Congress passed. I don't know what they're going to be asking for, but obviously we remain committed here in Louisiana to meeting with them and seeing what we can do to potentially help them as well?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Prices have dropped from $60 a barrel down to $20 as of today. $40, that's almost a 70?percent drop. GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Correct. And that's tough. The only bit of good news there, I guess, is how little consumers are having to pay at the pump. But, you know, that's very, very bitter sweet because we would much rather see the price of gas back where it should be relative to the barrel of oil being up around $60 or so. Yes, sir, we're going to come back to Melinda?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Governor, have you gotten any additional guidance from the federal government about the 1.$8?billion that the state is supposed to be getting from Congress and when that will be received and what it can be used for? Like can it be used to adjust the state's 25?percent match with FEMA, for example?GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Okay. I'm going to share with you what I know. It's not a lot. On the call with the National Governors Association this morning, we discussed this and yesterday individuals from the U.S. treasury's department met with staffers from the National Governors Association and others and indicated that we will be getting guidance on how these funds can be spent and how they cannot be spent sometime right after Easter. The funds themselves should be made available on or about April the 24th, which is almost the 30day period because the law requires the funds to be made available within 30?days. Now, we are being told that you cannot use the funds to make up for revenue that has been lost, but you can use it for expenditures that have been incurred because of the coronavirus and COVID19. And that there will be tremendous flexibility in the guidance that comes from treasury on or about April the 24th as the relates to expenditures that are covered. You know, for example, one of the things that I'm interested in knowing? and just as a reminder, the amount coming to the state of Louisiana is going to be right at 1.$8?billion. I am interested in knowing whether that funding, if it's going to be flexible, can be used to pay our state's share of the 25?percent cost match that we have to put up for FEMAapproved expenditure. Because typically you can't use federal sources of funding for a nonfederal match. But in this particular case, I believe we will be able to do that, but that is not yet clear. And we are asking for clarification on that, but we should know a lot more right after Easter, in about two weeks, and then we should getting the funding on or about April the 24th. Yes, sir?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Why are you more? and maybe Dr.?Billioux, why are you more apt to die in Louisiana than elsewhere? Is it because of subpar care? Is it because you're more prone to underlying conditions? Why is that?GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Well, we've been reporting for decades, generations, that we have more chronic health conditions per capita in Louisiana than most states. And when you factor that with the number of cases per capita and the growth that we've been showing you and that those underlying health conditions are the very ones that make you most susceptible, most vulnerable to this virus, what you see playing out is something that's very tragic and, you know, obviously we wish it weren't so. But we have individuals who are dying in greater numbers because they have diabetes in greater numbers, because they have kidney disease in greater numbers, because of the obesity. Those are the three chronic conditions that account for most of that. But there are others. It could be a respiratory disease or condition and heart disease, for example. And I'll ask Dr.?Billioux if he wants to come and amplify that message or correct it, but he and I had this conversation just before we came in, and that's what he told me. It is not because of substandard care. I will tell you, our hospitals, our medical professionals are doing a tremendous job. And it is not because of substandard care. But I'm asking people in Louisiana to understand that their fellow Louisianians, because of the reasons that I just mentioned, are more vulnerable than other people. And so we have a greater duty, it seems, to me, to be good neighbors and to practice the social distancing and to comply with the stay at home order. Yes, sir?AUDIENCE MEMBER: You did mention very briefly that you were starting to see some numbers flatten, I believe in the New Orleans area. Can you be very specific about which numbers are starting to flatten and what they describe?GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: No. So any one day's numbers can be an anomaly and don't necessarily indicate a trend. And we are looking at modeling coming from different places, not just ours, and try to see whether there is a confluence, if you will, of these models. And it just appears that with the greater growth of new cases in that region, in Region?1, around Orleans and Jefferson Parish, that we are starting to see a slight tapering off. I hesitate to say that for a couple of reasons, one of which is tomorrow's data could up end that all together. Secondly, some people will hear that and think, oh, our job is done. Well, that is just, you know, completely erroneous. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have a long way to go. This is going to get much worse before it gets better, and nobody should think that we're out of the woods. We can't even see the light at the end of the tunnel yet. Yes, sir?AUDIENCE MEMBER: Governor, the stay at home order is now in place until April the 30th. GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: It's not technically, but it will be. Yeah, before the end of the week, we're going to extend this order through April the 30th, and we're going to extend all of the current proclamations to that same time period and get them all? they'll all be wrapped up. So this next proclamation you're going to see is going to be a long one because we're going to take all those measures, put them in the proclamation, and again extend them to April?30th. But go ahead?AUDIENCE MEMBER: What I heard the other day, you indicated this is more like four weeks after April?13th, which would take us well into May. But how long should the people be prepared in their minds to have social distancing measures and restrictions in place by the state, even though the date right now for this week will only be April?30th?GOVERNOR JON BEL EDWARDS: Yeah. Well, the intensity of the mitigation measures and how long they continue as a result of the facts on the ground. I think that people should start trying to prepare themselves in their minds that it's going to be a long time before we're back to normal. Even after the most restrictive measures are lifted, we don't know yet whether there's a seasonality to this virus. We hope and pray that there will be some diminution in the virus in terms of its spread and the cases across the summer. There's some reason to think that that may happen, but there are other reasons to think that it won't because, you know, it's been spreading south of the equator where it's been warm. So we don't know. I will remind you that this virus could come back this fall. And when I say come back, that assumes that it ever leaves. But it could come back this fall. That's exactly what happened with the flu? Spanish flu situation of 1918. There was a spring outbreak and people thought it was over. It came back, the exact same strain of the flu, and killed many millions more in the fall. And so that could happen. It all depends on when the first really effective and proven therapeutic treatment comes online. It depends on when we actually have a vaccine that is approved before things can get back to normal. And then I suspect there's going to be an effort at some point, and the testing has to be developed and approved by the FDA? to measure whether people have developed the antibodies or immunity to it? and if so, those individuals will be able to resume something that looks like a normal life sooner than others, people that haven't yet caught it, while we're still looking for therapeutic treatments and vaccinations. You know, I'm certainly not an expert on this, but there is the concept of herd immunity, and at some point, if it stays with us long enough, you may not actually have to contract the disease in order to develop some limited immunity to it. But this is all going to play out over many month and so forth. But what I'm trying to say is people should go ahead and start coming to terms that things are going to be a long time getting back to normal. And you can look at what's happened in other countries where they released? they removed some of the restrictions, and they immediately saw a spike in the cases and had to put them back in place too. And so that could happen here. And so I know that this is not the news that perhaps you wanted to hear, but that's the best information that we have right now, and I think it's consistent with what people like Dr.?Tony Fauci and others are saying. But I don't want people to be so focused on and worried about what happens 12?months from now or 18?months from now that they forget what the task at hand is right now, and that is slowing the spread. And you can do that. Everybody out there can do that. You just have to make sure that you're staying at home, that you minimize social contact, that you follow all the hygiene measures that we've been talking about and others have been talking about for so long. And if we do that, we're going to slow the spread to the maximum degree that it can be slowed. Then we will have fewer patients presenting to the hospital at any given time, and we will be able to take care of more of those who do present. That's just the way this has got to work. And we should all be preparing ourselves for a period of time that is not going to be present, but understand that we are largely in control of just how unpleasant it will be. And I know that we can count on the people of Louisiana to do what's asked of them, because we know how to be good neighbors and we're good, decent, and generous people and we know how to take care of one another. And right now we take care of one another by staying away. It really is just that simple. I'm sure I'll be seeing you all sooner rather than later. Thank you all so much. ................
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