 We're going to start this morning with an update from Dr. Levine. Good morning. I'm going to make five bullet points today. First, I want to show you some data, most recent data as of March 31st. Areas in blue are new cases and the gray are cumulative cases. So we had 28 new cases and are up to a total of 321 cases total. You can remember those numbers. The rest of the curve is more just to look at the way the curve is playing out. It's also important for us to know how many of the tests we're doing are positive compared to the total number of tests that are positive. That gives us a nice indicator of where we're going and how prevalent COVID is in the population to some degree. So if you could ignore the last three days because we hold back some of the data making sure we know all of the true negative tests that have been sent to the lab and just look at these bars, the gray and magenta colors deal with the negative test results at the outside lab we use as well as in our Vermont Public Health lab. The blue are the positive results. But the important part of the graph is this yellow-green line that you can see trending upward. So when we use results dated by the date the specimen was collected, not necessarily the result came out, and we look at how many were positive, you can see a distinct trend going in an upward direction of the percent of all the tests that are done that are positive. And they're now in the 10 to 12 percent range. Way back early in the epidemic they were down less than 5 percent. Second point I have again some not encouraging news regarding deaths in Vermont. The total as of yesterday was 15. And the newest deaths, two involve elderly people in group living situations, one in nursing home, one in a senior living community. The other two were in the individuals in the hospital. The third item I'd like to mention is people often ask when there's an outbreak in a facility what exactly happens. And I've told you that there's a lot that goes on with regard to infection control and trying to make sure that we separate people who are cases versus those who have potentially not been exposed, work on the healthcare workers at the facility if it's a nursing home, work on the residents of the facility if it's a senior living community, and do the appropriate isolation and contact tracing work. We do have an outbreak response team that also goes to these. I just wanted to show you the fact that our outbreak response teams have now really reported to eight total facilities. So that's a number that's growing. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone as COVID becomes more prevalent. We're behind many states in terms of the number of facilities, thank goodness that have had a case. But this is something that we're going to be seeing as an increasing trend. Fourth thing is just again to let the public know and to remind my physician nurse practitioner and physician assistant colleagues of the fact that we do want to test in a much more expansive way. The public wants that testing, we believe, and we certainly want to provide that testing so that we can do a great job of making sure that those who have the condition know they have it and can properly isolate themselves and that those they've been in contact with can have a chance to understand what their level of risk may be. And so we can provide some surveillance of the whole population. So we are still making sure that everyone who wants to be tested is symptomatic, but it can be mildly symptomatic and is connecting with their health care providers to obtain an order for the test dependent on the clinical judgment of that provider. Then the last thing is just some recent update from the Centers for Disease Control regarding exposure risk. I don't think it should be a surprise for people who've been listening to these for a while, these conferences, to know that one can transmit COVID-19 in the asymptomatic state and perhaps never become symptomatic or in what I would call the pre-symptomatic state where you don't know you have it yet until you got sick a couple days later. There's now growing evidence and really confirming what everyone suspected that there's about a 48-hour period before symptoms might appear that someone could be capable of transmitting the disease. So I don't say that to create great fear in the population because again I don't think that's a new fact, but it does let people know that if there is a case that they're familiar with that rather than date their time of contact, last contact with that person to the day they got sick, work back 48 hours and in fact our contact tracing epidemiology teams will be using that in their guidance as well. But the more important message is that social distancing is really now more important than ever because if you're only social distancing yourself from people that don't look so good to you or that may be coughing, that's not what the purpose of it is. It really is in recognition of the fact that there's people out there who aren't trying to harm you but they have no idea they're sick yet and are going to become sick and they may be capable of transmitting the disease. And I'm not telling everyone to go out and buy masks, but we're expecting that the CDC is much more intensively looking at the whole issue of masks to see on a population basis if that would or would not be an important intervention. I will caution everybody right now it is not considered an intervention for the public to be using, so don't go out and buy masks but with this new information they're going to be studying that much more I think rapidly and we'll have more word. I'd like to have the governor come back now to make his comments on the theme of this press conference. Thank you Dr. Levine. I want to begin by thanking Vermonis for the way they're dealing with this massive disruption that COVID-19 has brought to our lives, changes that are necessary but most of us have never experienced in our lifetimes. Every day I'm encouraged by what I see and how Vermonis are changing their behavior to help us slow the spread, support our families, our friends, our neighbors. From the outpouring of support for frontline healthcare workers and businesses like grocery stores making special hours for seniors to safely do their shopping to teachers organizing a drive-by just to maintain a connection with their students. Governor Dean Davis once said Vermonis have always had a strong sense of duty to their neighbors passed on from generation to generation and we're seeing that here today. Even the simple act of staying home is making a huge difference in the battle we're waging to slow the spread and defeat this virus. And while I know you're already doing and giving so much it's difficult to ask for more but unfortunately that's what we need. Last night I issued a call to Vermonis to support our COVID-19 response. This includes asking those with medical experience to volunteer for our medical reserve corps. As many of you know Vermont faces a workforce shortage across all sectors but especially in healthcare even in the best of times. With all the hours these workers are putting in and unfortunately we know some will become ill. We need to build this reserve corps. If you have this experience I'm asking you to please visit vermont.gov slash volunteer and others who are just looking for ways to help can also visit this page to sign up to support their neighbors in need. I want each and every Vermonner to know that I know how hard this is. It's hard for all of us. Very few of us can remember a time or an event that has affected each of us with such real consequences and I know that the uncertainty of this situation has created a lot of fear. Many are concerned not only about the health of their family but their financial future as well. And that's okay after all let's be honest. Our sense of normal and the comfort and stability that comes with it has been put on hold. So we need to fight this deadly outbreak across the state and the nation and most parts of the world in the way we're doing this by really taking this within our hands. I want to reiterate that each step we take is guided by the best available science and data that we have available to keep us safe. But I know that doesn't lessen the impact these decisions have on each and every one of you and your families. Vermonners are independent, self-reliant and tough. We take care of each other through tough times putting the needs of others ahead of our own. That's what being Vermont strong is all about. That's the spirit I see every day and that's why I'm certain we're going to get through this and we'll do it together. But today I want to take some time to talk about what's available for people who are dealing with a very real issue of economic uncertainty. Those who have already lost their jobs and are worried about their next paycheck. Those businesses who have closed or reduced their workload and are worried about their employees and their customers but also know they need to pay their bills. These are very real costs of this crisis and touch all of us but without exception touch some more than others. Here in Vermont we've taken many steps to provide relief and will continue to work with the legislature to reduce the economic burden of COVID-19. This week Congress and the President came together to pass a $2 trillion emergency aid package that will add to what we're doing. In a moment I'll ask Secretary Curley, Commissioner Harrington and others to go over some of the support that's on the way. Things like expanded unemployment insurance and help for those who might not otherwise qualify for a traditional UI. Loans and grants for small businesses with incentives to hire back employees after this crisis has passed and cash for those who need it most to buy food and pay their bills. But let me be clear, we continue to think about what else can we do. Nothing's off the table if it helps Vermonters and our businesses weather this storm as best we can and move forward towards economic recovery. I want to thank our Congressional Delegation, Senator Sanders, Congressman Welch for their support on this important bill but especially Senator Leahy for his steadfast support of Vermonters Vice Chair of Senate Appropriations. It's our hope the tools being made available will help ease the burden as we confront COVID-19 and that this economic aid will make it a little easier for small businesses and individual Vermonters to make the tough decisions needed to flatten the curve, build our healthcare system capacity, slow the spread and save lives. We're going to get through this and we're going to do it together. Not because of any one person or any one strategy but because we're all united and we're Vermont strong. So with that, I'd like to turn it over to Secretary Curley. Thank you Governor. Good morning. I'd like to start by echoing some of the Governor's comments. I too am encouraged every day by what I see. This is a day-to-day, hour-by-hour situation and we recognize how hard these last few weeks have been for our business community. The hard decisions they have had to make and the uncertainty all Vermonters face as we try to navigate this unprecedented time in our history. The Agency of Commerce is focused each day on trying to address the many questions coming in from our business community while also developing and implementing business support tools for both the near term and further down the road. We know it is our duty to try to assist those in need by providing resources and creating initiatives that will allow businesses and individuals to emerge from this crisis on solid footing. I also want to acknowledge that our hardest days may lie ahead and we will continue to work on your behalf because when I say that we are in this together, I truly mean it. We know a lot of businesses and Vermonters are wondering what's next, what's available for me now. So the Agency of Commerce has put together a support resource page on our website, accd.vermont.gov. That resource center will be updated in real time as the coming days, weeks and months unfold with the latest available resources and exactly how to access them. Vermonters will see some financial relief in the coming month. The President signed a federal stimulus package that includes direct one-time payments to most Vermonters. The direct one-time payments will provide $1,200 to individuals with annual incomes up to $75,000 or $150,000 if you are married filing jointly, plus another $500 for each qualifying child. The money will be automatically deposited into your bank account per your most recently filed tax information or it will be directly mailed to you in the form of a check to your home. The money will arrive in the next 30 days. We are encouraging all small business owners to consider applying for the economic injury disaster loan. By applying for this loan, a business harmed by COVID-19 is also eligible for a grant that provides an emergency advance of up to $10,000 within three days of applying. To access the advance, you must first apply for the economic injury disaster loan and then request the advance. The advance does not need to be repaid and may be used to keep employees on payroll, pay for sick leave, meet increased production costs due to supply chain disruptions or pay business obligations including debts, rents and mortgage payments. This resource is available to businesses now and you can access it by reaching out directly to the SBA and filling out an online application on their website www.sba.gov or by reaching out to your Regional Development Corporation or the Small Business Development Center. We are also encouraging employers to take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program. This incentive program can help small businesses keep their workers on payroll by providing loans to cover expenses associated with payroll. Eligible recipients may qualify for a loan up to $10 million. Loan payments will be deferred for six months and if businesses are able to maintain their workforce, the SBA will forgive the first eight weeks of payroll. This is a significant incentive and these loans will be accessible via your lending institution. We encourage you to reach out to the lending institution that you trust and have a relationship with to start this conversation today. We realize many Vermonters and business owners will face tough realities and their ability to make mortgage payments on their homes and businesses. Whether you own a single family home, a commercial space or a multi-family unit, we are encouraging Vermonters to get in touch with their mortgage lenders now if you will be facing economic uncertainty in the future. ACCD.vermont.gov has additional information about federal forbearance laws for individuals with a federally backed mortgage loan who have experienced a financial hardship due to the COVID-19. The governor has also asked the agency to put together an economic mitigation and recovery task force. We are actively building this task force with experts from the hardest hit sectors along with expertise from lenders, financial advisors and others to help us navigate mitigation efforts as well as develop additional tools for employers. This task force will be charged with creating economic tools and policy to work towards a swift, comprehensive economic recovery. Are these programs that we are talking about today enough? We know that we will need to do more, but it is a start and a foundation to build on as the realities of this crisis set in. The full team at our agency is working, as I speak, to develop creative ways to help Vermonters. I want to thank all Vermont businesses for understanding and putting the health of well-being Vermonters first. It is not an easy time, and while we may be physically distanced, we are still neighbors, friends and family, and as the governor said, a community that is working together to remain Vermont strong. I would now like to turn it over to Commissioner Harrington to speak about the unemployment program and benefits for individuals who have experienced loss during this time. So I want to start by taking a moment to acknowledge all those individuals out there that have lost their employment due to the COVID-19 situation and those that are really struggling to get through to the department. We recognize that there is a massive number of individuals out there that are doing everything they can, whether it be online or by phone, to contact the department. We recognize that we are working extremely hard to make sure that we are in contact with those people. And I wanted to make sure we took a moment just to recognize that. I'll share a little bit more about what people can do in just a minute. I also want to point out that I didn't prepare written remarks today because I want to keep this as plain as possible. As many of us know, UI law is not the most easy to understand. It's pretty complex. So in order to make it understandable for those people out there watching, I just want to speak to the general overview of what they can expect. It's important to know and I would ask that everybody who's out there be as patient as possible as we are working through this situation. As you can imagine and as we hear across the country, this is unprecedented times with, you know, large numbers of people reaching out to every state's unemployment insurance office. And every state is overloaded in some way, shape or form. So the most patients you can give and just, again, continue to be resilient and try to get through to our department. That is the best course right now. We are using an all hands on deck approach. We have reassigned people from other units. We have opened up additional phone lines. But I know that even to this day, people will call our claims center and are unable to get through. Our task have a monumental situation before them and they are doing everything they can as a staff to process these claims and get money out the door to people. I want to give some perspective. In the past two weeks, we've processed more claims than we do in a typical year. We are definitely over 30,000 if not 40,000 initial claims that have been received by the department in the past two and a half weeks. We'll have more concrete numbers coming out tomorrow for everybody. We are taking our 30 year old mainframe system and pushing it to the max. It was not designed to take on as many claims in such a short period of time. So the system is working and we have people who are attending to the system around the clock, but just know that we are doing everything we can with the limitations of the technology that we have. That's not unique to us. Most states across the country have old systems that were set up many, many years ago and are struggling to keep those systems running under such immense pressure. In some cases, I would also say that we are ahead of the game in terms of being able to get forms online and people connected with an individual on the other end of a phone line. Many states have shut down their phone lines completely or have turned to us to ask us how we put this form online and how we're managing it. But again, I know that's a little solace for those people who are struggling to get through to us. As a department, we've tripled our staff on the phone lines. We have waived work search requirements. We've also shortened that payment process, which was typically two weeks or more to six to ten days, really depending on whether someone is receiving a check or electronic fund transfer. We're also making it so that claims are not denied because someone's not able and available to work because they're quarantined or self-isolating at home. We are treating those people as if they are able and available and therefore eligible for benefits. We've also added as many electronic forms as we can online so that people can do as much self-service as they can. I also want to talk about as a state what we've done, which is expand benefits to those people who are either impacted directly or indirectly due to COVID-19 or have to stay home because a family member is sick. We've also extended benefits and relief to employers. So those that are having to lay individuals off or people who are having to work from home will find relief in their taxes come in the next calculation. This also includes people who are in a high-risk population and are needing to stay home at the direction of a healthcare provider. From the federal perspective, and I know the congressman is here to speak more about that, but let me just talk about what that means in plain terms. We are getting a lot of questions about a $600 additional relief for individuals. If you've already filed a claim with the department, there's nothing more you need to do. That $600 will be automatically added to your claim when you file for this week. And so let me just share from this perspective that the first step in the process is opening an initial claim. And once that initial claim is open, you will file at the end of each week for the week prior. And so that $600 is applicable to this week. So when people file next week for this week, it will be applied to that filing. The other piece that is talked a lot about are those individuals that may be coming short on their benefit period. So our benefits max out at 26 weeks. The federal government has extended that by an additional 13 weeks. So if you are concerned about maxing out your benefit period, there is relief there for you as well. Both of those are relatively easy for the department to implement, and people can see that relief in the coming days. The one that will be harder and be a team effort across state government will be the pandemic unemployment assistance. And this is what provides relief to self-employed individuals as well as independent contractors. We're essentially standing up a totally separate unemployment insurance system for these folks. And I imagine that it will be some partnership between us as well as the tax department to determine eligibility for these folks and what their weekly benefit amount is. We did something similar to this during Hurricane Irene, but that was on a much smaller scale. We don't have that option before us today because of the massive number of claims that we will receive once those people start filing. So the important thing to note for those individuals is that it will be a few weeks before that system is stood up, but there is an opportunity on our website to submit your name and contact information so that the department can contact you with that information when it becomes available. I want to also mention that there's another piece of this bill that is not directly impactful for individuals, but more from the state, and that is additional relief for the first week of benefits to help protect our trust fund dollars, and that came out of the federal bill as well. At this point, I just want to take a moment to give a special thanks. There are people who have really helped us along the way. One, those people in our department who are working extended hours, they are absolutely committed to making sure these claims are processed in a timely manner. I also want to take a moment to thank Green Mountain Power, Vermont Gas, and Efficiency Vermont. Early on, we're able to stand up a supplemental claim center for us and are taking calls on a daily basis, but also a special thank you to those who are impacted by COVID-19. I want to say thank you for your patience during this time, and I want to reassure you that just because there may be a delay in processing somewhere along the way or you're unable to get through, it will not impact your eligibility and it will not impact your benefits. You will still be eligible for those wherever possible. We will backdate those and make those retroactive under the law. And so please know that if you are not able to get through, immediately you are not at risk of losing benefits or not being eligible for benefits. Those will get paid out. And finally, just a couple takeaways. One, again, as I said, I promise that those who are eligible for benefits will receive their benefits. Two, if you are eligible for benefits and are wondering about that $600, there's nothing you have to do other than file your weekly claim as usual. And three, we are updating our website at labor.vermont.gov with information on an hourly basis. And we are also looking at other ways to push that information out and extending our public outreach as we speak. So with that, I will turn it over to the congressman. But again, just want to thank everybody for their patience and support during this trying time. Thank you. Thank you very much. And I want to thank you for your continued steady hand as we go through something that hasn't happened in this country in a century. The last pandemic we have to face was in 1918, the Spanish flu. And it's been 100 years. And the state of Vermont is being mobilized to do what's required to make us safe in that social distancing. But the consequence of that is that we turn the lights off on the economy. And the question is how do citizens who'd like to be working that are abiding by the public health order pay their bills? And today is April 1. And this is the first, first of the month that we've had since this emergency has been declared. Rent is due. Utilities are due. And that's on top of the day-to-day expenses of food and groceries. And it's time to change your tires, hopefully, to the summer tires. How do you pay those bills? This is the role of the federal government to help individuals and to help the state comply with the social distancing that's required in an acknowledgement that this means people don't have that paycheck they have so long depended on. So there's a partnership here where the federal role, and Senator Leahy, as the governor mentioned, is playing a major role for us, is the vice-chair of the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. It's the role of the federal government now to be the backstop. It's the only governmental entity that has the fiscal capacity to meet the fiscal challenge that has been imposed by the coronavirus. And that's the $2 trillion package that was voted on and passed nearly unanimously. And I'm so pleased that it was bipartisan. A 96-to-0 vote, Senator McConnell and Senator Schumer in the Senate and virtually every Democrat and Republican in the House. I want to just talk and reemphasize how this helps individuals in small businesses. And Secretary Curley and Commissioner Harrington, thank you for your comments on that. But number one, a $1,200 check. Every single Vermonter whose income is $75,000 or less is entitled to a $1,200 check. And you don't have any... Most Vermonters won't have to do anything in order for that to be received. If you filed taxes last year, there'll be an automatic payment from the Treasury to your account. And that, according to Secretary Mnuchin, the Secretary of Treasury, should be in your account within three weeks. There's some details. If you're a social security recipient but you don't file taxes because you don't have to, the Treasury is attempting to set up a smooth process by which you can get that deposited as well. So for each individual $1,200, if you're a family of four with two qualified dependents, you could get up to $3,400. That's going to help in the short run. Number two, thousands of employees have been laid off. And they're going to have to depend on unemployment. And the bill provides, as Secretary Harrington said, $600 is supplemental unemployment to any qualified person on top of what they're entitled to in the state of Vermont. That unemployment, those unemployment benefits can last for up to four months. And hopefully we'll have made a lot of progress on addressing the health crisis by then. So an individual can get $1,200. Number one, number two, an unemployed individual can get state and the federal supplement for unemployment. That's going to be essential as people try to pay their bills. Next is small business. You know in Vermont, we so depend on small business that it's everything from the country store to individuals who are self-employed. They plow driveways. They have a hair salon. All the things that Vermonters do to keep body and soul together and provide services in their community. Those folks are all entitled to apply through the SBA for that $10,000 grant that Secretary Curley was talking about. Any small business, and that's defined as fewer than 500 employees. But in Vermont, a lot of times it's three or four or five. It's a country store. It's a small restaurant with, let's say, six or eight employees. It's a self-employed person who is plowing driveways. All of you are out of work or your work is dramatically reduced. You're entitled to apply for this emergency assistance that is going to be turned around, hopefully, in about three days. And that's up to $10,000. That's going to give a boost that really is vitally needed. And then we also have a program for small businesses who are so close to their employees. I mean, it's like family. There's so many of our small businesses. It's where you get your paycheck, but it's also where you live your life, a lot of your life. And our small employers, by and large, it's family and they treat them that way and they want to keep them on payroll, but they don't have any business and no revenue. So the payment protection plan allows a business to seek up to 250% of their monthly payroll. And if they use that to keep their employees paid, they don't have to pay that back. Now, that's a good thing because you keep that connection between the employer and the employee. Our goal in these economic plans is, first of all, to recognize that folks who aren't getting a paycheck, it's because they're complying with the public health order that requires us to social distance to beat back this coronavirus. Number two, we want to do everything we can so that that relationship that people have, employer and employee, and individuals who have their own businesses, that when this is done, they're going to be able to turn that switch, go back to work and do what they love to do. So these are the major programs that are being paid for by the federal government that are going to be administered largely by the Small Business Administration and our Vermont banks and credit unions that will play a major role in this. Our Commissioner Harrington in the state of Vermont, this has got to be a team effort. And finally, I want to say that there'll be some glitches. And I want to encourage all of us to be patient because I know that the state is going to be working as hard as it can to process these claims. Any Vermonter who's getting frustrated or a small business who's getting frustrated, they can call the Secretary's office, the Commissioner's office, go online, call our office. We'll do every single thing we can to smooth this over and to get it right. But the bottom line here, April 1, bill paying time, and there is, there are funds there to help with individuals with that paycheck, $1,200 with the unemployment supplement, $600 a week with small businesses with that $10,000 grant with small business with the payroll protection plan, up to 250% of their payroll. And also for small businesses that are already borrowing money through the SBA, there's a payment relief program that they can apply for to get relief for up to six months on those payments. So there's an economic cost to this, but we can get through it. And we'll get through it by working together, by being patient with one another and by Vermonters as usual, working hard and helping others more than they think about themselves. Thank you very much. Thank you, Congressman Welch. We'll now open it up to questions so we do have a few people on the lines of our own from our administration. Yes, so just a few lines for questions. We do have on the line to take your questions in addition to the people in the room, we have the SBA District Director Darcy Carter, Human Services Secretary Mike Smith, Education Secretary Dan French and Public Safety Commissioner Mike Shirley. We also have the Secretary of Administration Suzy and Yong in the room, and I will note that Congressman Welch has another appointment so he has to leave shortly so he may not be here for the Q&A. Please know you are muted by our system. You need to hit star six and then just begin speaking once you hit star six. If you have your own personal device muted, you're going to have to unmute that as well. Please be ready to go when we get to you. And just a reminder too that if you ask a question and you do have some clarifying follow-up questions, you need to go ahead and just ask those. I'll give you a pause before I move to the next questioner. We do have 27 members of the press waiting to ask questions, so please just be consider of your colleagues. Please listen to the other questions and if one is asked that you were planning on asking, you can just pass when it gets to you. Thank you all. We're going to start in the room with Ann Galloway. Thank you very much. I wonder if the list is going to remain available of the facilities that have COVID positive cases? Sure, we can make that available. Can you list it off right now? Three that everyone should already be aware of, Burlington Health and Rehab, Quarry Hill, and Pinecrest. The others include most recently, Birchwood Terrace, Taft Farm, Lancaster Condo Complex, Shelburn House in Williston, and the UVM Home Health and Hospice. The question, and this might be for Commissioner Sherling, is how will the cash of PPE that we have collected be distributed? Good afternoon. There is a process by which the Health Department, in conjunction with the hospitals, can create a priority list for the distribution of personal protective equipment. Those requests then come into the Emergency Operations Center and then are executed by a logistics team that's made up of the Health Department, the National Guard, and the Vermont Agency of Transportation for daily distribution. Can you address some essential employees who are frontline people who are minimum wage under this new scenario of federal state benefits to really earn more sitting at home on the couch? Is that fair? Can you do anything about it? And can you address the prediction question across the state? I can speak of that piece. That is possible just for people to understand that someone may be eligible based on their prior income for state unemployment insurance benefits, and that can range anywhere from the minimum of about $190 to the maximum of $513. On top of that, they will be eligible for this additional $600. That same equation will apply to those independent contractors and self-employed individuals when that program is operational. I think we recognize, and Secretary Curley can speak to this, that that may pose a concern for businesses who are out there, and I think we'll address that when the time comes. The priority right now is making sure those benefits get to those individuals who are in need. I can't speak to the other. Yeah, I'll address the eviction and foreclosure issue as well. Just keep in mind this has been three weeks since we had our first case. We put a lot of steps into place that had an impact on Vermonters and Vermonters' lives. Some of them closing down businesses, restaurants, bars, and so forth, and essential businesses staying open. But for the most part, again, for those we want to hear from those who are being evicted, there's a lot of fear in what that means. But with what we laid out today and the packages that are available, whether it's for the business owners and the individuals who are going to get a lot of money on top of what they normally would, this should provide the relief. We are working with the legislature at this point to be ready if we need to put this into place immediately in terms of a stay on foreclosures and evictions. But we haven't seen the need at this point in time. But we're fully cognizant, aware, that if we have to make this change, we will. But again, this is a verbal effect that you have to be aware of, that everyone has to pay a bill somewhere. So if you can pay your rent, please pay it. And if you're being confronted with eviction, please let us know. You can call 2-1-1, or you can call us directly, 828-3333, and we'll answer that and address it as we need to. I wanted to ask about compliance issues. We've heard from some businesses, of course staying open, some are closing. I guess, what are you doing about businesses that sort of fall in the gray area, like car washes or other things? I guess what sort of businesses are you seeing in sort of what's being done? Yeah, secretary Curley. Thank you, Kelvin. Over the last week, we've provided guidance for more than 30 sectors. And we're working to make sure that we cover any of those gray areas. It's taking a little bit of time. And in the meantime, what we're asking is for business owners to do their part to try to understand how they might comply without our specific guidance at this time and looking at the executive order and asking themselves, is the service I provide or the product that I provide critical to the COVID-19 response or to ensure health and safety to our citizens at this time? And so we're asking people to make their best judgment. I would also add that I would encourage people to give folks the benefit of the doubt. And if you're looking around and you think that somebody is putting somebody else at risk or in harm's way, if you're comfortable trying to educate them and sharing with them that there's this guidance on the ACCD website, that would be great if you're not comfortable. Again, you can reach out through our website. We have an email where we can take that information from folks. And as the input comes in, it signals to us where we need to provide more education. So we're doing that as fast as we can and we really believe that Vermonters want to comply. Yeah. Regarding last night's order. Sure. The box stores and the suspending of selling non-essential items in person. How does that apply to smaller businesses as well like a small, a mom and dad grocery store that might sell non-essentials? Yeah, so again, the goal here is to stop folks from congregating in areas for non-essential items. So the inquiries that we were receiving indicated to us that we needed to put out more guidance. It's not new guidance, but remind folks of what our hope is. So I would say even to the mom and pop stores, please, if you can limit the non-essential items and find a way to only sell those curbside, again, we don't want to prevent people from getting something that they believe they need if it's a school supply or some electronic. We don't want to prevent people from getting that or an appliance, but we're asking folks to really consider is it something that can't wait right now and they can work with the retailer to pick it up curbside and we're seeing a lot of desire by retailers to comply with that. Is the state regulating the market where there are over 300 Airbnb is open and available for rent this weekend in Vermont? Yeah, we're monitoring the situation and trying to provide guidance in the best way possible. We want to prevent people from coming to Vermont and that may be those Airbnbs. I read a story this morning where Sun Valley, Idaho had their positive rate has increased dramatically because they left a lot of businesses open and left a lot of these opportunities and hotels and so forth open for business and people came. We want to prevent that from happening here in Vermont and that's our goal. We'll continue to do everything we can to make sure they're shut down and provide, again, for that guidance. We had the Attorney General here. The enforcement action that could take place if somebody avoids that, the order, and we'll continue to do the best we can to make sure that happens because, again, the goal is to get through this as quick as possible and if we can prevent people from coming to the state to recreate or just to come to the state in any way, we'll do it. But if you do come to the state, we need to self-isolate for 14 days. We... I can answer that. So we have been trying to have direct contact. It's been challenging, but what I will say is that we have received information and we can tell by the Airbnb website that they are recognizing what we are asking and it's becoming clear that they are even trying to help us encourage people to do the right thing. So I... There may have been contact at this point as of today. I know that's been very much on our list of things to do, but I can't confirm that there's been an actual connect at this point. There's star six to unmute and then just go ahead and start asking your question. Greg at the County Courier. Hi, Governor. We've had a couple of readers reach out to us. We wanted a question to ask. The DMV normally has quite a backlog on a normal basis. And so who the readers would like to know if the state is working toward moving any of the testing online so that the backlog isn't any bigger when in-person business can resume? Are you talking about, for those seeking a license? Yeah, I think the questions were for licensing and specifically the written pass... like permit pass. Yeah. We'll get back to you on that. I just want to remind everyone that we did extend the registrations, licenses, and renewals by 90 days. So for those of you who are concerned about that, that's been taken care of. And we still do business online. And so you can continue to register if you'd like to or renew your license if you can. So... We'll get back to you on the those who are seeking to obtain their license for the first time. You have issued a stay home, stay safe order, and then last night have asked for volunteers to come out and help with different things. Was that sending a little bit of a mixed message? Well, we're not asking them to come out. We're asking them to sign up because we might need them if we don't... if we're not successful in taking... The steps we've put into place have been to try and make sure that we don't extend beyond those...that line in the healthcare system, the capacity of the healthcare system. So we're trying to prevent the need for volunteers. But if we exceed that line, we want to be prepared. And that's why we're setting up surge sites and so forth. But we need...you know, you can have all the surge sites you want, all the physical ability in place. But if you don't have the personnel, it's all for nothing. So we have to make sure that we have people in place to be there, the staff and so forth, in order to have the surge sites successful. So we're taking names at this point. And you can do that online in the... at the site that I mentioned previously. My understanding was that the website was also taking names for other volunteer needs like foodshelves and other volunteer programs that need to stay running. Well, again, we want to see who's available for what. And we'll point them in the right direction. We're doing a lot of things online at this point. So we may need some help in that capacity. So we just want to see who's available and have an inventory of that. So we're prepared. Thank you, Governor. Pat Bradley, WAMC. I wanted to follow up on Stewart's question earlier regarding some of the minimum wage, but essential workers. Earlier today, the Senate co-tempt sent out a letter looking at possible strategies to help financially support them. And he's asking some of the senators to, as he put it, explore methods to provide essential workers of paybum to recognize their critical contributions to Vermont and ensure that they're not worse off financially for working. Governor, would you support a pay raise for essential workers, especially those in overpaying jobs? I know across the board that some have been offering some of those increases in wages in the private sector. I am more than willing to work with the legislature as we have constant conversations. I'm going to be talking with a speaker in the Pro Tem this afternoon. I'm doing it on a bi-weekly basis at this point. So we're willing to work with them, as we've said, and they've been willing to work with us. So we'll do what we can to provide relief in a manner that's appropriate. And all of the financial constraints that everybody is moving into with the pandemic. Yeah, obviously. We're going to have an incredible strain on the state budget. We'll experience this. There are our last quarter that we're entering at this point in time. And it's unfortunate, I mean for all of us, but we are on a pretty good roll there with our budget to this point. But this is the new normal and we're going to have to deal with this as well. So first things first, we take care of the crisis and keep people safe and make sure that we're doing all we can to prevent this spread. And then we're, as Secretary Curley outlined, we're setting up an economic task force to take a look at what we can do to make sure that we can get this economy rolling again when it's safe and provide relief to who are in need. And I would count those frontline employees as some. We'll see what they come up with and then we'll go from there. Thank you, Governor. All right, Marcus from WVMT. Sean Cunningham from the Chester Telegraph. All right, go ahead, Kurt. Okay. Governor, can someone talk about the broken houses we have issued? We're hearing in Burlington from a number of people there that are complaining, the belief that everybody at Burlington Health and Rehab, for people that work there, people that are patients there should all be tested and that they have not been. Can you respond to that, please? I'll have Dr. Levine answer that. They are actually all being tested. I also want to include every patient. Patients and staff. Okay, and when did that begin? As we speak. Okay, thank you. I also want to expand on my previous answer about the eight facilities. None of them should merit a scarlet letter. This is really something we're going to see more and more, not only in Vermont but across the nation. Some of these facilities actually are just living communities. They don't have any healthcare associated with them. So as part of the members living their daily lives, infection can be introduced. It's not coming necessarily because they're a healthcare facility. I just wanted to elaborate on that. Absolutely. We also received a word that there are significant federal dollars that will come to us and they will be dispersed as community development block grants. So we are confident that communities can create a plan, a proposal and apply for those dollars to continue the great work they're doing as well as to use that money to provide relief that's related to this emergency specifically. And there are more details to come. We're waiting for guidance on that. Just to mention as well, if you go to the accd.vermont.gov website, there should be a landing page there about to address communities and it will be built out as we learn more information. We will take care of them. Judy, it's important to know that once you're here we'll take responsibility and provide for that relief and the health and the individuals. So they should report, call the health department or call their provider, first of all and then get a test if appropriate and then we'll monitor from there. And I'm going to ask Dr. Levine to answer the next part of that question if they should be using their own provider from another state or whether they can be locally. And the answer is either, really. Obviously, if they have a close relationship with a provider, they should connect with them. But if they have no one to turn to obviously we have a system to be able to get them connected. Jim, Vermont Business Magazine. Hi, Governor. This is a couple questions about sole proprietors. And I thought I heard congressmen well say that the $10,000 grant would be available to them. And also, there's a lot of sole proprietors and even people who are working or are on commissions who are losing a lot of money but they're not exactly done employ but they're taking a big hit if someone could address those two issues. I can try. This is Secretary Curley. To answer your question, yes, sole proprietors are eligible to receive that grant. So they need to apply for the economic injury disaster loan and signaled to when they're applying that they would like to be to apply for their or be eligible for the grant as well. So that's the answer to that part of the question. In terms of if they're going the route of trying to seek relief through the unemployment insurance program that Commissioner Harrington was talking about lifting, that again I'm going to have to turn that over to him in terms of how that might be what's the word? Administered. Thank you. Thank you for the question. I think that's some of the nuance that we are still expecting to receive in the federal guidance that should be coming out this week but I would just say that whether they claim themselves as an employee of a company or if they're self-employed unemployment insurance is designed for people who through no fault of their own lose their wages. So again it's not only for those who become unemployed but if they've seen a significant reduction in the wages that they're receiving they are also eligible. So no matter the course I would just say it would be appropriate for that person to either reach out to the department or at least file and open a claim so that they can work out the details on the back end. I think it's a Go ahead. No, I was just going to say just keep in mind this has never been done before not anywhere in our country has this been done. So we're standing something up that we don't have all the details on and it was passed and signed in the law about four or five days ago. So these some of these details that I know people want to know are just not available at this point in time we're doing the best we can to try and dissect the federal bill and to be in partnership with our congressional delegation to find out all the details so that we can implement this and get the relief to Vermonters that need it but they have to be patient in some respects because again there's no playbook on this it hasn't been done. That's where people are employed but they're way down they're not going to be technically unemployed. Yeah, again I would just repeat that again the UI program is designed for people who also lose wages so it's not just based on employment it's also through loss of wages again there are a lot of variables in there and whether they're again a direct employee or many times they're considered an independent contractor so the best thing they can do is fill out the claim form open the claim and then we will work out the details with them after the fact. Thank you for all your work. All right Mike Donahue. I'm aware of my hat on behalf of the Islander I'm a great town you get a two-part question dealing with border issues. The Islander reported this morning that the state is now reporting the out of state the AOP has employees parked at 29 entry points along the border checking registrations and it's an around the clock operation for the foreseeable future and the Islander this is not an enforcement effort but more fact-finding so once the state has the facts that the current out of state are still coming what does the state of Vermont plan to do with the information about people coming over the border to file it away or get some sort of action and secondly the state is also saying Grand Isle is no reported cases yet but yet starting today they've established a COVID test site in South Europe and when we printed the story last night we got a lot of reactions saying why didn't they set it up a stand bar to leave it in the Chidney County site rather than coming over the classical area so how many people come to pick right now first of all this is let's see the first part of your question as far as the data collection it is just that anecdotally we've heard that many people were coming to the state and we wanted to have some sort of baseline to determine whether this was indeed the case and so we set up these points at the points of entry so that we could determine how many people were coming to the state and from which states and we're not taking registration numbers or anything like that just looking for colors of plates to determine who's coming in and then we'll react accordingly depending on what we see and how many are in and out and so forth obviously we need a lot of goods and services here in Vermont that continues to happen but we really just wanted to monitor what was going on in terms of the test site is that to you Dr. Leighan or somebody on the phone I'm not exactly sure of the intention of your question but let me see if I'm going to answer it well bottom line is in Grand Isle County and now suddenly there are potentially people with the COVID-19 that are going to be coming in who are new health test sites and people are wondering why are you bringing them into South Hero when you could have them stop at the state of St. Barbara at the state park in Milton and that's done in St. Anthony County where there are cases I get it so wouldn't it be strange but everywhere around it there are so the bottom line is maybe it's because people in Grand Isle County haven't had access to a facility to do testing and that's why they don't know they have it and we don't know they have it so we just wanted to provide the opportunity for people residing in that county to have a more convenient site to get tested at and the site is not one of the pop-up sites like we're doing down in Putney the site is actually part of a federally qualified health center that already exists there and that will have special hours for the testing to occur so I wouldn't think we'd see an influx of people coming to that site unless that was their primary care site in the first place and then they would of course want to get tested there but that's the logic behind how we've really strategically tried to develop test sites where they're needed in Vermont to provide access to testing for the citizens of Vermont We still have a dozen reporters on the line so if you please keep your questions short if you have additional specific details you need that don't need to be answered by the people on this stage you can follow up with us afterwards just please help us out these folks have other things they need to get to Wilson Ring AP Hi, thanks Dr. Levine I was looking for you to speak for so many days do you see any positive news medically or scientifically from where we are right now? Yeah you know we're going to see more cases in Vermont right now because we're doing more testing but we're not seeing such a steep increase in the slope of the curve at this point in time to alarm me that we're way behind so we're going to watch that very closely but I think that's a good thing I think another good thing is that though we've mentioned a number of facilities that have had outbreaks there's a lot of good public health boots on the ground work occurring in those places and we have the opportunity to really nip things in the bud so to speak and really work productively I think the other good news is that we are able to test we have sufficient materials to collect specimens and to test those specimens we got wonderful news about PPE and truckloads of materials and now some of our supplies we can actually characterize as being in the millions of pieces as opposed to hundreds or thousands I could probably think of a bunch more and I'm not trying to put a silver lining on an epidemic but there are good things happening not the least of which is from honors they're doing what we would like them to do they're socially distancing and when you drive around now or walk around it's lonely and that's exactly the way it should be so I think that's a good thing as well I think Wilson you also see and many of the reporters will see tomorrow with the modeling that we've created you'll see that the steps we've taken are having an effect unfortunately the aggressive nature that we've taken has created an opportunity where we may have fewer cases that's our hope and it won't look like success in some respects but to us it's going to be successful if we can flatten that curve out and not exceed our capacity to take care of people Hi this question is for Dr. Labien you mentioned that masks are not being considered as an intervention for the public right now you're telling people not to go buy them but you also said that there is good data to suggest that there's this 48 hour period before people might recognize that they're symptomatic but they can spread the virus during that time so shouldn't people be wearing masks in somewhere like state grocery stores to minimize the chances that they might expose others to a virus that they might have and not know it yet? Yeah that's an interesting suggestion and certainly one that we've always have just taken and run with if you will I think there's going to be more in terms of science driven approach so I would hesitate to just embrace something that would give us the illusion that we're protecting ourselves and I'd much rather see a science driven approach that actually can state that there is efficacy and it's been shown even if it's in limited study in limited situations to help I'll also reiterate that people who are currently ill but have wandered out really should be wearing a mask because it does prevent some of that large droplet aerosolizing that others could suffer from So then was wearing masks discouraged because they aren't effective or because we had a short supply of them? No I'm concerned about the lack of effectiveness of schooling ourselves The supply is improving substantially but clearly prioritizing those in the professions who need them the most for sure It's also when we talk about testing a mass population one can give the illusion of lack of disease in an individual who has tested negative but actually may still be in a pre-symptomatic phase so these are very challenging and complex questions which we don't want to just answer on the fly but we also don't have time to do major interventional trials to assess so we have to take the best science we have and work with it and like I said we will watch very closely for what the CDC has to say about masks because what they came out with about this pre-symptomatic period only leads to questions like that and they have to be answered on a rapid time frame Thank you Thank you for taking my call I'm going to return quickly to Airbnb, VRBO and home home away hosts They seem to be still expecting reservations in my area and in other parts of the state What specifically or how specifically is the state working with the hosts and with the parent corporations in Vermont and the second part of my question is will the science and penalties approve to host as well as the parent corporations? So this is Secretary Curley I think Secretary Commissioner Shirley can help with this a little bit but again this is where I was saying as we receive feedback and learn where folks need additional support and guidance and education we want to give it to help people comply on their own if they're not complying there are certainly things that we can do to increase people's compliance and I'll just ask Commissioner Shirley if he has anything to add on that Thank you We have a digital investigation team that's looking at hosting and creating a follow-up strategy for hosts and I've been in direct contact with the Attorney General this morning his office is reaching out to the agency of commerce outreach to Airbnb, HomeAway VRBO and other offices reaching out to them as well to advise them that digital hosting is not permitted at this time Thank you and will the find the crew to go to the operations and the hosts? We haven't gone to that point where we directly explored what the actual enforcement posture is going to be but we're still working on the educational components to ensure compliance Thank you Patricia Bennington Banner Patricia Bennington Banner Moving to Courtney Landon seven days Courtney seven days Can you hear me? Yes Sorry, I start to press drastically five times I'm wondering this might be a question for you I'm sure it will be How far apart are you with the state's testing ability and I know we can't really speak much ahead but just you if you are currently satisfied do you anticipate being satisfied with the testing ability of the state? I know many states have reported difficult to getting test supplies difficult to getting enough and of course as I'm sure you know much more than I do other countries that have seen the spread of the virus incredibly wide field testing that the U.S. doesn't be prepared to be able to do never mind individual states so I'm wondering if that's something you're concerned about or you're satisfied that you'll be able to continue doing the amount of testing that needs to be done to contain the spread? So something I've been concerned about ever since this began but until later last week and that's why we were able to lift some of the restrictive nature of testing because we really did have access to all of the components of testing that are required to have a good program in place not a program that could test every person in Vermont right now if they just wanted to see what their status was but we can certainly do what we're doing which is test all the high priority groups we've always wanted to stress but also what are considered low priority groups in the testing schema which include anybody who is able to stay at home but has mild or moderate symptoms and that's the group we really want to capture here and really want to provide answers to and that will really help us as we begin to understand where we are in the trajectory of this virus in Vermont so you asked if I'm satisfied and I am satisfied to be more satisfied if more symptomatic people are tested because I know that they are out there and they should just know that we have the capacity to test them Patricia I'm sorry is this Patricia or Courtney oh sorry this is Patricia I'll be back Courtney seven days this question is for Dr. Levine just a few weeks ago you had said the health department did not plan on testing all staff and patients at Burlington Health and Rehab because it would not have been an effective strategy unless everyone there was symptomatic of illness so I'm wondering what changed and will this broad-based testing be expanded to any of the other facilities that now have cases thank you so the thing that changed predominantly is most of the cases were at the very inception of the outbreak at that facility others developed over time both in residents and in healthcare workers so we really felt it was more important again for appropriate cohorting of patients cohorting of staff to make sure that infection didn't spread from one part of the facility to the other that we had reached a point where it would be more important for us to test across the board I can't say that that's a policy applied to every specific outbreak that occurs because many of them are different I think when there are healthcare workers involved it gets much more complex when there are residents of a facility that are living in a freestanding way independently in their own apartments that's usually a very different formula and it all depends on how that environment is structured are there abundant opportunities for people to have been in contact with one another and there's a relatively small number of them or is it a very, very large building like you might find in a large city in America where there's no major congregating area but there are many, many people living in their own apartments on their own floors and that would make it less likely that testing an entire building like that would be feasible or would be helpful from a public health standpoint Thank you Dr. Leigh Moving to Ike from WCAX Moving to Michelle from the St. Albans messenger Michelle I'm actually going to, in the interest of time I'll program my question and I'll just reach out outside of the press my friends, thank you Thank you Michelle Chris Roy Newport Daily Express About yesterday's ban it's a non-essential item and some folks on social media are discussing why that includes clothing and I'm wondering if somebody can explain that and I'm just wondering how the state is preparing for the loss of self tax revenue from that ban Well first of all with clothing there is no tax on clothing I want to remind everyone of that but what we're trying to do and I hope people understand this it isn't that we're trying to exclude certain items we're trying to prevent people from going there we're trying to reduce and massage just the shop for nothing for nothing they have to have at that point in time so if we can take this break over the next two to three weeks we feel as though we'll get ahead of this that's been our goal the entire time to reduce the spread getting people coming together that's why we've had to close so many businesses down that's why we've had to ask people to stay home and we want them to stay home and not go out and shop for something that we need at that point in time so that's the goal and it isn't to harm businesses it's not to harm the economy it's not to harm our revenue into the state it's to keep people alive and keep people healthy so that's what we're trying to do Secretary Curley if there's anything you want to add to that I would just echo what the governor said and to say if somebody determines they truly need something they can connect with their local retailer and arrange for curbside pickup there are still some online options but again just to echo his sentiment our goal is to keep people alive right now so we're not trying to target and tell somebody what is essential to them or not but we do we do want to make sure that people have access to food and things that they need to stay alive and stay healthy we also have to be thinking about the employees that are working in these retail stores and not overload them as well department of financial regulation and they are just directing businesses saying people will ensure others to tell people out as much as they can but they're not making it a direct order that they have to change their plans to make any kind of deferment plan do you foresee the state making that an order anytime soon? well again we want to make sure that we're protecting Vermonters in any way we can at this point in time it's only been three weeks into this pandemic from our standpoint after the first case arrived here in Vermont and so within that time no one should be in the position in some respects to be evicted or foreclosed upon the court ruled actually in Chittenden County that they could not do this we'll probably see that replicated around the state we've made sure that you can't have your utilities disconnected and a lot of the entities stepped up on their own to do that before we put it in the order so we're going to get the money into their hands as quick as possible with the unemployment and adding another $600 to that and the payments they're going to receive from the federal government I believe everyone will be okay if we can just weather this for another week or two but if someone is feeling impacted and they can't get by and they're having their utility disconnected or someone is threatening eviction please let us know call 211 or call us at 828-3333 and we'll work with them to prevent that from happening if we get to the point and we're working with the legislature to do this and take further action we'll do it as I've shown for the last three weeks I'll implement anything that is necessary to keep people safe and if that's one measure that we have to take we'll take it and I won't hesitate thank you Joe Barton Chronicle okay I'm limited at the question I was going to ask but I also want to check in and see with more and more people working from home the government do you feel that the wireless and internet infrastructure is strong enough if more and more people are using that is their primary method of connection? yeah it's a great question and something that I've posed as well our public service department is monitoring that Commissioner Tierney alongside our secretary of agency of digital services is also monitoring that so far so good we're able to accomplish everything we need to but with what we're asking of schools and so forth it's going to be a remote learning and that's going to increase the burden on the system so to speak but at this point in time I believe we're okay but we're going to continue to assess this situation and do whatever we can to make sure that we have the capacity okay thank you and while Alan Digger can you hear me? hi can you hear me? yeah I just wanted to say that you guys my question was answered oh thank you thank you very much for that alright thank you I think we're going to have to get these folks to their next meetings now so thanks everybody and we'll see you on Friday thank you