Johns Hopkins' Dr. Lisa Cooper Discusses Boston Opening Clinic To Help Homeless With Signs Of Coronavirus & Impact Of Virus On Most Vulnerable Communities; Pentagon Mobile Hospitals Being Put On Alert Amid Outbreak.
KEILAR: The Trump administration is suspending all foreclosures and evictions through the end of April, hoping to provide some reliever for homeowners and renters. This move comes as a growing number of Americans face losing jobs and missing rent and mortgage payments during this pandemic. As the spread of the virus continues to worsen here in the United States, it is also deepening the social and economic division. In Boston, officials have set up a temporary medical clinic in a homeless shelter to treat people with signs of coronavirus and more pop-up clinics could be established. Joining me to discuss the impact of the virus on our most vulnerable communities is Dr. Lisa Cooper, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity. And, Doctor, thanks again for joining us. And just walk us through who you are focused on, these groups most vulnerable during this pandemic?</s>DR. LISA COOPER, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & DIRECTOR, JOHN HOPKINS CENTER FOR HEALTH EQUITY: Thank you. Yes, there are several groups of people who are in vulnerable groups at this time and they are actually vulnerable people even when there's not a pandemic. And so that includes older persons. It includes very young children. It includes people who have chronic medical and mental health conditions, those with low income and low wage jobs. There are people who are homeless as you mentioned earlier. People who are institutionalized or in prison and then we have people who have disabilities, physical and mental disabilities, like hearing and vision impairment. Those are the groups.</s>KEILAR: So let's -- that is a number of groups. Let's start with children, for instance. We've seen schools shutting down and meal pickups set up for those that need it and that creates logistical and scheduling difficulties. And sometimes, it is not two meals, just one, period, during one mealtime. What are the long-term effects for that group, for children and for low-income Americans who rely on that food?</s>COOPER: Right. So as we know there are a lot of families that rely upon one individual to work and to provide for those families. And so what happens if, when school closes there's a lot of the children don't have access to the food that they get at school on a regular basis. They also may not have supervision because their parents might be hourly workers and they might be needing to go to work at this time for fear of losing wages or of losing jobs. So you do have kids who are really not going to get the nutrition they need and are, therefore, then more likely to be falling susceptible to illness. And a lot of the individuals in these low-income groups tend to be racial and ethnic minorities as well as people who are immigrants and people with language and cultural barriers as well.</s>KEILAR: And one of the new cases of coronavirus that was announced yesterday was a person who was staying at a homeless shelter in New York City. What happens if the virus spreads throughout that community?</s>COOPER: There are devastating consequences. We know a lot of people in that situation -- for example, people who are homeless tend to have higher rates of chronic medical conditions there they're already vulnerable to getting ill. And then they're in crowded conditions, of course. They don't have the type of nutrition that those of us that have higher levels of income and access to those kinds of resources have. And so the likelihood of an infection spreading in that situation is extremely high.</s>KEILAR: Dr. Lisa Cooper, thank you so much.</s>COOPER: Thank you.</s>KEILAR: We have breaking news. The Pentagon is now putting field hospitals on alert. Let's get straight to Barbara Starr. Barbara, what is happening here?</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This is very significant, Brianna. What we're talking about are these mobile hospitals that could basically be taken by air to any location in the country where they are needed. And it is the equivalent, we are told, of a thousand beds, over a number of units. So a number of field hospitals and the military medical personnel to man them now alert. The equivalent of 1,000 beds. And when you add them all together, they would go to any number of locations where they are needed. They could be set up very quickly and move around. Not expected that they will treat coronavirus patients because they're not set up for infectious disease treatment. What they will do, like the hospital ships, they will treat people moved from hospitals who have some noninfectious situation, and go to these places, this is the plan, and that frees up hospital capacity for coronavirus patients. But, Brianna, what is happening here at the Pentagon today is basically military medical policy being set minute-by-minute. Just a few days ago, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he saw the military medical capacity as "a last resort" -- his words. He wanted to see the civilian and State National Guard step up first. He was concerned about taking this away from the military if they were needed to treat military troops. Now we are seeing that on the move. They are now talking here at the Pentagon about activating active duty, putting active-duty medical teams first out there and on the hospital ships if they can't get enough, and then moving to the reserves and then moving to the private-sector civilian medical care. This is a wholesale shift here today from what we have seen just days ago. A few days ago, the Pentagon was in the mode of the states have to deal with it first. If they're overwhelmed, we'll step in. Today, we're seeing the Pentagon, at the direction of the White House, step forward and we're going to begin to see military medical capacity and personnel begin moving into place -- Brianna?</s>KEILAR: It is stunning. Barbara Starr, thank you so much for that report from the Pentagon.