Coronavirus survivor tells Americans not to panic

close

Video

Coronavirus survivor tells Americans not to panic

Elizabeth Schneider talks about what it was like to be infected with coronavirus.

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," March 13, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Fair, balanced. We are not the media mob. We look for the truth and truth, facts without fear. Oh, pray for Laura. She's on a spring bait mommy-daughter ski vacation.

Let not your heart be trouble. Special edition, Bill Hemmer for the vacationing Laura Ingraham.

BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS HOST: Thank you, Sean. 10:00 o'clock here in the East Coast. Good evening, everyone. At the end of a long and confounding week in America, thank you for being here. I'm Bill Hemmer in New York.

The coronavirus continues its spread in the U.S., more than 1,700 cases. At least 48 deaths reported thus far. And tonight, you're going to hear from some of the doctors in the frontlines of what you can do to keep yourself and your loved ones from getting sick.

You'll also hear from a woman. She had the coronavirus, she's recovered. She will join us a bit later in the hour to tell about her recovery.

First, though, tonight we begin with President Trump declaring a national emergency over the virus today. That move freeing up $50 billion in disaster funds to help fight the outbreak. That comes as the U.S. National Guard gets ready to deploy 1,000 troops across six states to assist in containment efforts.

Our coverage begins at the White House tonight with Fox News's, Kevin Corke who is with me. With more on this from Washington. Kevin, let's begin with the news and the headlines up today.

KEVIN CORKE: Always good to be with you Bill. By declaring a national emergency, President Trump today, effectively opened the door, as you mentioned, for significantly more government aid to help combat the quickly spreading virus that has infected more than 138,000 people worldwide and left dozens of Americans dead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To unleash the full power of the federal government in this effort today, I am officially declaring a national emergency. Two very big words.

CORKE: The President speaking today in the Rose Garden. He highlighted the administration's multi-pronged approach to combating the spread of the virus, including containment and mitigation measures. He also expanded or talked about expanding testing options for millions of Americans who just might need them.

TRUMP: we'll remove or eliminate every obstacle necessary to deliver our people the care that they need and that they're entitled to. No resource will be spared, nothing whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORKE: Very interesting comments by the President today. By the way, Anthony Fauci, the President's point person on infectious diseases said today that things will likely get worse before they get better. But it's important to point out that he also added that he believes that the U.S. is now significantly better positioned to bend the infection curve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: That curve that I referred to that goes up, we don't want to have that curve. We want to suppress it down to that small mound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORKE: Meanwhile, late into Friday evening, a political Donnybrook continues here in Washington over on Capitol Hill as lawmakers wrangled with the White House over exactly what would be included in a house bill to help fund the government's fight.

As you pointed out earlier today, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called on Democrats to back the President's payroll tax holiday idea. He thinks that'll be an effort to boost the economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN MNUCHIN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY: The President's very interested in the payroll tax cut, because it's a giant stimulus. We're working with Congress on that. If Congress wants to do the stimulus in a different format, we'll consider that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORKE: Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary. As lawmakers still try to hammer out those final details, we also learned today Bill that Target, CVS and Walmart will set aside some of their parking lots in an effort to establish drive thru testing centers, even as the overall number of tests for coronavirus continues to lag. We did also hear today from the President, that millions more will soon be made available. Story to unfold here, Bill

HEMMER: Kevin a lot of phone calls (ph) in behalf of Steve Mnuchin and Nancy Pelosi. We may hear from her in - on the Capitol this hour. So, Kevin, thanks. Nice to see in Washington. You see Kevin Corke there.

I want to take you down to Texas right now, the Governor Greg Abbott today, declaring a state of emergency as at least 29 people test positive in that state for the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): I want to show the people of Texas that we're going to make it through this. We've been through situations like this before. We made it through SARS, we made it through Ebola, we made it through H1N1. This is not a death sentence we're dealing with here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: So with me tonight, Texas's Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and sir, thank you for your time. I know you guys are--

LT. GOV. DAN PATRICK (R-TX): Sure bill.

HEMMER: --rolling this out as we go. So let's play it in real time. Does that emergency declaration change or help or assist with anything you're doing in Texas tonight, sir?

PATRICK: Absolutely, Bill. First of all, it allows us to expand all of our state resources that are available to us, which are significant, were needed and when needed. So if we have a breakout in a particular area, we can move to that area.

Secondly, we are relaxing rules to expand telemedicine. We're very good at that in Texas to begin with, but we want to enlarge that. We told the Attorney General to prosecute anyone who's price gouging.

And we're restricting visitation to daycare centers, to nursing homes, to hospitals, and to prisons and we've asked insurance companies to waive copays, and so far I think most have come along and I think all will come along.

HEMMER: And, sir, do you think.

PATRICK: And so those are the key tenets.

HEMMER: --you think you're ahead of it right now? You think you're behind it right now? I mentioned the 39 cases, we can show the various counties in the State of Texas. How would you gauge that at the moment?

PATRICK: Bill, I think we are ahead of it. Governor Abbott and our entire emergency team and medical team have done an excellent job of preparing us. I will tell you, it was interesting tonight, earlier on Fox, I saw the governor from Ohio talk about their modeling shows about 100,000 cases potentially.

And the modeling that I have that I've worked with people, I'm looking at about maybe 300,000 cases that are serious cases, which would be three times Ohio. We're about three times the size of Ohio with 30 million people. If you extrapolate that out Bill, if 60 percent - and we don't know these final numbers.

If 60 percent of our 30 million contract the virus that's 18 million people and about 2 to 3 percent, which have been the critical numbers, mostly that we're seeing are state numbers and national numbers, and we haven't had any critical cases yet and deaths.

But the U.S. cases and the and the National cases, that's about where we are. So if you look at that Bill, a state like Texas, we could have 300,000 critical cases over the next 12 to 18 months. You know, that could work out to, you know, a 1,000 a day in a given month, and we're prepared to that.

HEMMER: They are huge and significant.

PATRICK: That's why we have to flatten out this curve just to make sure they don't all come at once.

HEMMER: You mentioned, Ohio, they're schools in Ohio, you're not doing that in Texas. You're leaving that to local leaders.

PATRICK: We're leaving that to the districts.

HEMMER: .to make that decision, how come?

PATRICK: Yes. Well, we believe in local control. We believe that the best people to make those decisions - Bill, we have 1,200 school districts in the state. We have 6 million kids in schools, more kids in school than many states have people. So we leave that up into the individuals.

And I will tell you that, I think, the school districts are being very responsible. Most are either cancelling classes, expanding spring break, some have been on, some have been off. And so they are adjusting to that as our higher levels of education. So, Bill, I think we're very prepared.

But people need to understand the seriousness of this. And I think what the President has done and what and what we've done here in Texas and other states have done, by eliminating all of these big events to hold down these numbers.

Again, I gave you some general numbers 60 percent of 30 million is 18 million, but we don't know what those numbers are. But what we have done at the federal level by the President and here in Texas, we're reducing those levels to flatten out that curve. We must flatten out that curve, because look at America - 924,000 hospital beds and in Texas 84,000. We can't have them all at once.

HEMMER: You're right about that. We're going to go to Cleveland Clinic on that topic in a couple minutes here. But, I've just put up some bullet points for what you're doing in Texas about how you're combating the virus. Schools, universities, government entities' changing schedules. Some venues temporarily closing, increasing lab testing capacity, cities banning gatherings of 500 or more, encouraging companies to provide flexible work and telework policies.

A lot of that's happening in many other states. Here's what I think is intriguing. Is the drive through testing areas in San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Austin, when will they be working up and functioning, sir?

PATRICK: San Antonio started today, Bill, and I congratulate the Mayor down there for initiating that along with the state and we're expanding them around the state. We are being very proactive and we are prepared for this Bill. We are - one of the things Bill that I'm looking at.

HEMMER: OK. Sir, I apologize the interruption - Speaker Pelosi now on the Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): --in the pockets of people who may be affected by the crisis. So here we are. What we did, what we said we were going to do. Put families first with paid sick leave, paid sick days, a family medical leave, unemployment insurance for the children.

Over two 20 million children get their meals at school, they have food insecurity and this bill addresses that as well as food for our seniors and others who depend on that. And, again, filling food banks as well. And we won an important court decision on all of that today.

And then other issues that relate to three things, testing, testing and testing. This is so important, and again, between the appropriations bill and this legislation, we should see, we've legislated - we should see the executive branch executive execute this legislation. So we're really very proud of that work.

We could have passed our bill yesterday, just our own deal, which was a great bill and is still a great bill, because that's what we're passing today. But, we thought it would be important to show the American, to assure the American people that we are willing and able to work together to get a job done for them.

So we thank our Republicans, those who will be supporting the bill. We appreciate the President joining us with his tweet. But we are very excited about the prospect.

For the input in all of that, what we did last week and in this bill and the rest, our Freshmen Class is very instrumental. They brought, from home, the suggestions about how to meet the needs of people, and you will hear from them directly this evening. But some of them are with us, all of them, of our Freshmen, were a valuable resource.

I wish Chuck Schumer could be here because he is the one who started with $8.5 billion and, again, was so much a part of the ingredients in this legislation. But, I'm awfully glad that our distinguished Democratic Leader, Steny Hoyer, is and he worked very hard on all of this. I yield to him.

REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD): Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Nobody worked harder than the Speaker. The Speaker, as you know, you've been walking around and what's happening this second. And I've been on the phone with the Speaker a lot of times. We haven't counted. I'm glad that she and Secretary Mnuchin, obviously, have worked very hard to come to this agreement.

Last week, we passed legislation to deal with the immediate health challenges caused by the coronavirus. We passed legislation for research, for mitigation of illness, for many things that were at the direct result of the illness itself or the virus itself.

Today - tonight, we're going to be passing legislation which deals with the related economic consequences to people in a very real way - to their employment, to their ability to support themselves and pay their bills, and to care for their children.

In Maryland, as you know, schools are going to be shut down. The Governor took that action again to help distance people. Here we are aggregated together, violating the rule, I suppose. But having said that, it was appropriate that we dealt with both sides of the challenges that confronts us, and, very frankly, there's going to be a third challenge, and the third challenge is going to be the overwhelming economic consequences to our enterprises and to our economy.

So, we're not through. But I want to join the Speaker in saying that the reason that we've been able to do both of these as robustly and effectively is because of the new Members of the Congress of the United States on our side of the aisle. But for them, we wouldn't be in the Majority; but for them we would not be able to address these issues with the confidence that we could pass them.

Frankly, if we couldn't have passed, as the Speaker said, a good bill, perhaps we wouldn't have been able to get this bill. And this bill is a good bill. It is not as good as we thought it could be, but legislating is give and take. So, I want to thank you, our new Members of Congress, not just for being here, not just for putting us in the Majority, but, as you have seen, time after time after time for focusing on the people--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: So apparently they've got a deal, at least, according to House Democrats there on the Hill. The President tweeting his support for this about an hour ago. We would expect a vote on this sometime in the coming hours, perhaps. And then it goes to the Senate perhaps on Monday afternoon, so stay tuned on that. We'll tell you what's in the bill as well.

In the meantime, as you - as clearly notice throughout the week, everyday life is being turned upside down for many Americans. You're seeing everything from school closures and businesses shutting down. So many sports games and leagues being canceled.

In light of all this how do you protect yourself, what questions do you have, what about your own personal protection, your family, want to bring in two experts right now Dr. Janette Nesheiwat from New York City; and Dr. Daliah Wachs, Family Physician and Host of the Dr. Daliah show.

Ladies, good evening to both of you. And Dr. Nesheiwat we were together a bit earlier today watching the President. Let me get to Dr. Wachs first, and give me a sense. If someone is watching this tonight, maybe they don't feel good, maybe they have symptoms perhaps that they can't quite figure out. What would you say to them? If you've not feeling sick, what sort of condition would you have? What do you look for Doctor?

DR. DALIAH WACHS, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: No, absolutely, because a lot of the symptoms can kind of overlap with the cold, with the flu. So when we're looking at coronavirus, we're primarily concerned with cough, fever and then starting to have difficulty breathing, that's an early stage.

So we would recommend if anybody has those symptoms to definitely call their medical provider or contact the local health department. Of course, more severe symptoms could be worsening breathing, confusion, delirium, things like that. But usually kind of the cough, fever, cold comes - cough, fever, little bit difficulty breathing come first.

HEMMER: OK. Dr. Nesheiwat, we were sitting here when we got the national emergency. There are a number of things in the medical front that the White House is trying to push out. Of those items, what do you think is - what do you think would help you in the job you're trying to do?

DR. JANETTE NESHEIWAT, FAMILY AND EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN: Well, I love the fact that they want to encourage and emphasize telemedicine. That is so important. Because what that is, is you can have access to a doctor or a health care provider or a nurse, a nurse practitioner from the comfort and safety of your home.

So you can have access, ask them the questions that you want if you're unsure what to do and you can do that without being exposed to disease in an office or in a hospital emergency room, and you don't have to leave your house. So you're preventing the spread of possible infection to others and keeping yourself healthy. So that's a big thing.

Also, they're going to be a little bit more lenient on doctors being able to practice across state lines. For example, I'm licensed in New York. I'm not licensed in New Jersey, so as it is right now, I can't help or volunteer in New Jersey.

HEMMER: It's a very big deal, right?

NESHEIWAT: It's a very big deal. So being able to expand our efforts to help others around the - across the borders is also very important, and then encouraging and emphasizing efforts for home health for those who are most vulnerable, those who have severe underlying medical conditions, those are who are in rural areas to have access to home health, nurses, people to go to them, so that they don't have to leave the community and be able to provide care that they need.

HEMMER: OK. That's a lot. Dr. Wachs. What did you take from the announcement today that you think will help some of these medical experts on the frontline? Doctors who are trying to deal with this every day, in every city?

WACHS: Oh, absolutely. You know, one thing that stood out was nursing homes and visiting our seniors. It's been - they're our most vulnerable population with this. And so, they - when they brought up that, we're going to have restrictions on that.

I know it a made a lot of people panic, and people were concerned that they wouldn't be able to see their loved ones. But it shows that they have identified some of the higher risk populations and they are going to do what they can in terms of controlling the spread and controlling those at risk groups.

HEMMER: Dr. WACHS, HOW long do you think we're going to have to deal with this? What's your best guess tonight?

WACHS: My best guess and I'm hoping is that the summer and the warmer weather helps and I'm hoping we will have a vaccine by the summer. But I - this is a tricky and it's a new virus. And so I'm cautiously optimistic that by the summer we'll get good control.

HEMMER: What do you think of that?

NESHEIWAT: I hope so. But from history, it takes usually about a year, year and a half for a vaccine to be on the market. But, hopefully, they will have expedited FDA approvals for certain treatments and medications.

HEMMER: You - neither if you're suggesting that we're going to have to live in this this level of anxiety that we've experienced over the past week already.

NESHEIWAT: No, we should not.

HEMMER: How long does that last?

NESHEIWAT: We should absolutely try our best. I know it's easier said than done, Bill to remain calm and understand that you've got the best doctors, nurses, paramedics in the world taking care of you. But the problem is we need to make sure patients adhere to the guidelines.

Meaning, not only just hand washing, but social isolation, please don't go out to parties and public gatherings and those sorts of things, because that's how you spread the virus from person to person. It's a highly infectious, contagious virus that spreads from water droplets, coughing, sneezing, that sort of things.

HEMMER: My feeling is you can probably tolerate it for now, maybe for a few days. But this city is going to go stir crazy if we're at this point a week from now. Hang on to that, we're going to bring you both back later this hour, OK?

WACHS: Thank you.

HEMMER: And we've been asking for questions from our viewers. We'll get to those a bit later. Thank you ladies. In a moment here too, we'll hear from someone who's had the coronavirus. She has recovered. Her story and what she wants Americans to know about her experience. Coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We've been in discussions with pharmacies and retailers to make drive through tests available in the critical locations identified by public health professionals. The goal is for individuals to be able to drive up and be swapped without having to leave your car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: So that was the announcement. Part of it, earlier today, President Trump announcing steps his administration is now taking to make it easier for Americans to get tested for the virus and that includes what you just heard, is drive through testing center.

Fox News National Correspondent Alex Hogan standing by a New Rochelle, New York, 15 miles North of Manhattan. That is the country's first and at the moment only containment zone. What is it like there tonight, Alex?

ALEX HOGAN, FOX NEWS NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bill, good evening. As you mentioned, this is the first testing zone here in the East Coast. And New Rochelle has the most amount of cases of New York of what we're looking at. If you're walking around the city itself you probably wouldn't notice anything different, but it's a different story behind the guarded bridge behind me.

All drivers are told to keep their windows rolled up and you cannot pass this point if you don't have an appointment. Past this bridge, we're seeing, white tents with people in hazmat suits. There mobile testing site here is the first drive through on East Coast and patients never need to leave their cars.

With the doctor's recommendation, they can make an appointment, fill out information online drive the mobile unit for a swab before then heading home. Colorado has a similar drive through which saw wait times as long as three hours today. Others popping up in Washington State in Texas.

The New Rochelle area, however, is the first COVID-19 containment area in the country. Lawmakers drew a mile radius around the city, closing buildings to clean them. Four miles away on Glen Island, this little park is now transformed into a pandemic testing site. Governor Andrew Cuomo visiting the center today saying that this will not be a short term issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I think this could be a 6, 7, 8, 9-month affair. People should start to recognize that. This is not going to be over in 30 days, it's not going to be over in a couple of weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOGAN: Major changes going into effect across the state today with a ban of gatherings of 500 people. Broadway going dark, closed restaurants, worship centers and schools closed as well. The federal government saying that as of today, states do have the right to take this into their own hands when it comes to testing. And in New York here, that means that now the state will be able to conduct at least 6,000 tests every single day throughout its 28 labs. So a lot of changes, Bill.

HEMMER: Yes. Remarkable sign too behind you on the left shoulder too. Alex Hogan, thank you. New Rochelle, New York.

Want to take you together into the contrary, right now Elizabeth Schneider lives in Seattle, Washington. That's been a hotspot that state. In late February, she was feeling sick after party, had flu like symptoms. Had a fever of 103. Turns out she contracted the virus. But nearly three weeks later, she says she's feeling great. And tonight she's got a message for everybody watching

Elizabeth Schneider with me by computer. Nice to see in Seattle. What's your message for America, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH SCHNEIDER, CORONAVIRUS SURVIVOR: Now, thanks for having me, Bill. And I'm really excited to share my story with everyone. So I think my biggest message and take home for everyone is please don't panic.

Yes, this is a virus that is relatively new to the scene in terms of infections in humans. But if you're like myself, and if you're young and you don't have any underlying health conditions, you should have milder symptoms and you should be able to come out the other side and I'm living proof of that. As long as you take care of yourself.

Stay home, do isolate yourself from others. There are people in our community that are getting very severe symptoms from this virus, and they could threaten their life. But I would like to tell everyone, please don't panic.

And also, the other thing I want to mention is, when I got sick, I did not get any respiratory symptoms. And so, you know, I think the symptoms are showing up different in different people. And so you may not be able to recognize or suspect that you have COVID-19.

HEMMER: Wow, that's, that's very interesting. But I want to get the stuff. How are you feeling right now, by the way, Elizabeth?

SCHNEIDER: I'm feeling great. Yes.

HEMMER: Well, you look good.

SCHNEIDER: Thank you.

HEMMER: Here's what's confounding. You say you felt bad on February 22nd, and then you felt a little something three days later, but you weren't confirmed with the virus until March 7th? Well, March 7th, is just a few days ago. How do we understand that timeline? And how do we understand that you weren't feeling anything in your lungs, when all the doctors are saying that's what the virus goes for?

SCHNEIDER: Yes. I know, those are all really, really great questions. So, yes, the timeline - so you mentioned February 22nd. That actually was the day that I attended a party with a group of friends. So I was feeling fine on that day and then three days later and February 25th I did wake up in the morning, I felt a little tired.

I just thought that I had had a really hectic weekend. I went to work. I was feeling unwell. I came home. By the evening I had a fever that spiked to 103 degrees. And you're right, I did not have any coughing. I didn't have any shortness of breath, tightness in my chest.

I had all the typical symptoms that you would expect from a nasty flu. I had body aches, I had fatigue. I had a headache. You know, I was really tired. I did have nausea one day, but I honestly didn't really suspect it was the coronavirus.

And this was back, over two weeks ago before there was a big outbreak in Washington State, so I didn't think of it. And the reason that I got tested and got the positive result just recently this past weekend, it's because it was only really a group of my friends who also got sick from the party, they recommended I sign up for the Seattle flu study. And it took some time for them to receive my sample. And so by the time I got the call on Saturday saying that I was confirmed positive, I was already recovered and feeling better.

HEMMER: Well, you've got a message tonight Washington State has 457 cases, and of those 457, you had 31 people die in your state alone. I got to think you're feeling pretty lucky. But I really appreciate the message you have tonight. Interesting story, Elizabeth Schneider. Thank you. Good luck to you. I hope you continue - if things change now you come back and we'll monitor that as well. OK?

SCHNEIDER: All right. Thank you so much for having me.

HEMMER: Thank you for sharing your story, enjoy the weekend. What you get it? Thanks, Elizabeth.

What about America's hospitals on the verge? Are they on the verge of being overrun? Some experts are warning that from coast to coast. So what's being done about it. The latest on that from the Cleveland Clinic when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: So experts are warning that if left unchecked, the coronavirus outbreak could inundate hospitals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We could still be easily overwhelmed if there is a sudden influx of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of patients who need intensive care. We just simply don't have the beds. We don't have the ventilators. We don't have the supplies for these patients.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: It makes you stop and think about that. Dr. Roger Klein, former medical director of molecular oncology, Cleveland Clinic, also advised HHS and many other health agencies. Doctor, good to have your expertise tonight, and good evening to you.

DR. ROGER KLEIN, FORMER ADVISER TO THE CDC, FDA, HHS: Hi, Bill, thanks for having me.

HEMMER: That last comment, we don't have the bed, we don't have the ventilators. What do you say to those who say our hospital system has been maxed out or could be maxed out, Doctor?

KLEIN: Well, if we were flooded with many, many, many patients, we'd worry about the sickest patients, and of course the tools to take care of them are not easily replaced. So it's within the realm of possibility, although I wouldn't consider it likely.

HEMMER: OK, we've heard the story throughout the week. Are you saying they are being alarmists? Because it appears that it could be an issue.

KLEIN: Again, you worry about the essential tools, like ventilators. You worry about critical care beds, if, again, if we were flooded with very sick people. If it does happen in some areas, it could be a problem. I think we need to try to look at it from a silver point of view, though. And --

HEMMER: With a silver lining is what you're -- so you don't sound concerned about that. How come?

KLEIN: Well, I'm concerned, and I'm taking it seriously, but I think it's yet to unfold. I know in Washington, you had somebody on from Washington, I know their laboratory there is inundated with samples. And that number you have may have changed a bit, their 568 cases. But they repurposing staff to work in that lab and process specimens.

HEMMER: You gave our producers a number of interesting ideas here about what you think could be an issue, and one of them is if the health care workers start getting sick, what sort of example that may send throughout the medical community. What do we need to understand about that?

KLEIN: So I think this is among the most critical issues. Personnel issues are among the most important issues with which hospitals are dealing right now, and it's underappreciated. People who work in hospitals, are care givers, they are people, too. They have children. When we close schools, for example -- now, in Ohio schools are closed for weeks. People don't necessarily have childcare. So what happens, they may have to stay home and take care of their kids. Doctors, nurses, technicians, these are all people. So even if they don't get sick, they may have to take care of a loved one. And staffing issues could become very important. These are very skilled people. They are hard to replace. And if we would really get inundated, as you suggest, with patients, we could have staffing problems from it.

HEMMER: Doctor, how long before we beat this, what do you think?

KLEIN: I'm optimistic. I'm an optimist.

HEMMER: Weeks or months?

KLEIN: We're testing now. I've always been a proponent of testing. Let's test. Test as many people as we can. Let's see who has it, let's see who doesn't have it. Let's see how severe it is, just like your example on television, Ms. Snyder (ph) today, and we'll get our arms around it now.

President Trump did the right thing. He increasing flexibility with regulation. Hospitals are now free to more easily deal with the issues. We're going to be testing people. We're going to find out how bad it is, who has it. We'll deal with it.

HEMMER: As you know, we're behind the curve on all that and catching up quickly, we hope. Thank you, sir. We've got some breaking news, but Roger Klein, thank you for your time in Cleveland, Ohio. Thank you, sir.

KLEIN: Thank you very much.

HEMMER: You bet. From the Hill now, from Washington, Democrats saying the House has finally reached that deal. You heard it a moment ago. We expect the vote any minute now. How will that go? Chad Pergram has got a late night tonight up on Capitol Hill. Chad, good evening to you.

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS PRODUCER: Good evening, Bill. We're still waiting for the bill text. We think that they are going to put that out sometime in the next 30 to 40 minutes, have a debate about 40 minutes after that, and then maybe vote sometime after midnight.

Everybody was waiting for a tweet from the president of the United States. That was the green light that they had the deal that he would sign this. All the House Republicans were willing to get onboard. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was just here in this space a few minutes ago, and this is what she said. She said it's not easy to change a word. In other words, she was going back and forth with the administration, specifically Steve Mnuchin, the treasury secretary. They spoke 12 or 13 times today, more than 20 times over the past two days to work out this deal. And she said, quote, "I don't think any of us went to sleep all week."

But they finally got this in form. This is the first bill to try to spray some foam on this fire, dealing with coronavirus, because they realized here on Capitol Hill that members could not go away. This will pass overwhelmingly with both Democratic and Republican support in the House sometime tonight. It then won't go to the Senate until sometime early next week. The Senate is out. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, sent his senators home. They probably won't be able to process this until Monday night at the earliest. We don't know if they will have to run some parliamentary traps. As you know, Bill, sometimes it takes a while, but the president said that he will sign this, and that gives those Republican senators, who haven't seen this -- and keep in mind, we don't know the cost of this bill, That's very significant, air cover to vote yes. Back to you.

HEMMER: Thank you, bud. Appreciate it, Chad. Thanks for the long hours. We'll see what they get done on Monday. Chad Pergram in Washington.

In a moment here across the country, those who test positive for the virus are being put under quarantine, so what does that actually mean? Your questions on that. We'll speak to a coronavirus patient. He's currently on lockdown for 38 days. His story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: I want you to meet a friend of ours, feels like a friend, anyway. We've been following his story now for 38 days. His name is Carl Goldman. He was one of more than 700 passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship to test positive for the virus. He's been under quarantine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center since early February. He's back with me now. And Carl, good evening to you, at 38 days and counting. I know every time we talk you tell me you feel good. When was the last time you were tested, Carl?

CARL GOLDMAN, QUARANTINED FOR CORONAVIRUS: Bill, I still feel good. If I could be anywhere in the world, it's here in Nebraska with the good folks here at Nebraska medicine. But they test me, and I was tested again yesterday, and unfortunately, I came out positive one more time. Here in Nebraska, they do things really high-tech. They hand the results on a post- it note. So that's my results right now.

HEMMER: Does green mean something, Carl? What is that?

GOLDMAN: That one, I don't know. That just means I'm positive.

HEMMER: Wow.

GOLDMAN: I think I'm doing a run on post-it notes now here in Nebraska.

HEMMER: How often are they testing you, Carl?

GOLDMAN: They test me every 48 hours. They stick a swab up my nose, down my throat, and they come back about four or five hours later with the results because they have a lab right here on the premises. But I'm not the own one like this. There is probably about 10 percent or so from the Diamond Princess who are stuck in this hamster wheel like I am, where we feel great. I heard your discussion with Elizabeth earlier today, and her symptoms are almost identical to mine, with the 103 fever, spiking very quickly, then going away and feeling fine. For me, I just had a dry cough for a while, but that's been it. And here I sit still with a positive tests, and we're looking at a bunch of us that have been here -- again, we've been quarantined since February 4.

HEMMER: How many? How many are there?

GOLDMAN: Here in Omaha there is about five, but from the Diamond Princess there is another group at both Travis Air Force Base in California and over at Lackland in Texas, and they are going through the same thing.

HEMMER: Carl, let me ask you a specific question. You mentioned Elizabeth from Seattle who was with us 20 minutes ago. She said she had no respiratory issues. Have you?

GOLDMAN: Yes. I had a cough. I also had, the first four or five days, a little shortness of breath, particularly if I was walking around or walking or talking on the phone, and that lingered for a while. But the cough is really all that lingered, the dry cough. And what's so weird, Bill, is my wife, Jeri, is home now in California. She went through both quarantines on the Diamond Princess and then 14 days here, and she never picked up the virus.

HEMMER: Wow. How do you figure that one out? Carl, what is your -- what's the most positive news you have tonight? Do you have any sense of how much longer you will be in quarantine?

GOLDMAN: The most positive news I have is the CDC and the doctors here are scratching their heads so much, they decided they are going to do some testing back in Atlanta, taking samples from all of us from the Diamond Princess, which will give them a good sample group. And then they will put those samples in a petri dish and actually grow a culture out of it to see if our cells that we have in our body, with the coronavirus, are dead or alive, because the tests that we're getting may be showing up simply because we have dead cells.

HEMMER: Good luck to you, Carl. You're getting pretty good at this TV gig. I hope your body responds faster than you know, because 38 days is too long, and I know you agree with that, Carl. Best to you and give our best to Jeri, all right?

GOLDMAN: Thank you, Bill, you take care.

HEMMER: We'll talk to you next week. Carl Goldman, Omaha, Nebraska, trying to get home to California someday.

In a moment our medical panel will answer your most pressing questions about the virus, so stay tuned for that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Certainly, you have a lot of questions burning in your own mind about this virus outbreak and what you do and how you react. I want to bring back our medical panel to answer some of the questions that we asked for you today. Dr. Daliah Wachs is back with us, and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat is here in New York City. Ladies, good evening, again. Teri on Twitter writes this. Dr. Wachs, take this one. "How long should those who are at high-risk in self-quarantine to prevent inadvertently contacting the virus remain so? Is it three months? Six months? My 90-year-old father is one." Doctor, take that, go ahead.

DR. DALIAH WACHS, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: That's a great question. Right now, we've been telling people to just isolate and maybe stay away from public places and those who could be ill. We don't have a time frame because we don't know when the outbreak is going to start slowing down. So unfortunately, we don't have a timeframe. But I don't want your 90-year-old father to stop living. I'd love for him to get some fresh air. As long as he's not sick, as long as he doesn't have the virus or have been exposed to the virus, he still should be able to go outside, walk the dog, enjoy life. But I would suggest he avoid public places, huge gatherings, or anybody that's sick.

HEMMER: It seems a lot of these questions are hard to answer so far, throughout the entire week because it's so early in this. Dr. Nesheiwat, take this one. Tamara says this, "My 10-year-old granddaughter has leukemia. Immune system is low. We've lived this way for a year. What do you recommend for children with cancer that have to get treatments at the hospital weekly?"

DR. JANNETTE NESHEIWAT, FAMILY AND EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN: Sure. First of all, I wish her a speedy recovery. We don't usually see COVID-19 so far in children under the age of 10. It's practically nonexistent. But in her situation, her immune system is weakened and she is being treated for cancer, so we have to take extra precautions because she is more vulnerable and susceptible to viral infections, bacterial infections, and fungal infections. So that means we have got to be careful -- masks, gloves, hand washing, that sort of thing. And we have to temporarily engage in social distancing, meaning don't go to crowded areas just while she's undergoing chemotherapy because if she gets sick, she's going to have to delay undergoing her chemotherapy, and we don't want any relapse.

HEMMER: Good advice. Steve writes this, "Can you get COVID-19 if you've already recovered from it, like Chicken Pox and Mumps?" Dr. Wachs, can you answer to that?

WACHS: That's a great question. We think that you may get some short-term immunity if you get the COVID-19, but because it hasn't been around long enough we don't know if you have long-term immunity. Some think it might mimic the flu where the next year comes around and you need a new flu shot. Others are still debating. But right now, we think it offers a level of short-term immunity. We just can't say about long term.

HEMMER: David writes this on Twitter, "Is the panic we are seeing warranted?"

NESHEIWAT: It's natural and normal to be fearful because this is a new virus. It's a new virus in a naive population where nobody has immunity. But if you take common sense precautions and adhere to the CDC guidelines and recommendations of hand-washing, avoid crowded areas, social distancing, then you can do your job in preventing the trajectory of this virus, and not only protecting yourself but protecting the community.

HEMMER: Give me a sense from a medical perspective what you're waiting to see next on this story, whether it's tomorrow or Sunday or sometime next week? What would that be?

NESHEIWAT: I'm looking forward to seeing more medications being available, more trials being conducted. We are right now using medicines such as Remdesivir, Kaletra, these are medications that are being tested. But I'm looking forward to more medications available that we can use to treat current patients and more supplies that we have, good stock right now, but continued supplies, resources for doctors, paramedics, nurses to use on the front lines to treat our patients.

HEMMER: Thank you on that. OK, Dr. Nesheiwat here in New York, Dr. Wachs, thank you for your input there in Las Vegas. Thank you.

WACHS: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

HEMMER: You bet.

Stop for a minute and think about what we've seen in the past seven days. The week that was when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Time to close the week, and what a week. Time to close the week, and what a week it was and continues to be. If that pain in your neck is whiplash, you've got company. Here are the headlines. The Dow fell 10 percent in one day only to jump 10 percent the next. The Fed will pump more than $1 trillion into our system. Americans were told to stay six feet from each other. The NBA stopped playing, hockey put the seasons on ice, baseball went into a deep freeze. Talk about March Madness, just one week.

We'll get through it together, but the way we are living is changing, and it's happening very quickly for all of us. Take your time. Catch your breath, enjoy the weekend for what you have at the moment here. And we'll be here when you need us. Full coverage all weekend long, and I'll see you again on Monday at 3:00 eastern.

In the meantime, thanks for trusting us.

Content and Programming Copyright 2020 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2020 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.