WEBVTT - Race to Find a Coronavirus Treatment, Cities Lockdown 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:02.960 This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.480 Jason Kelly. We're here every day bringing you the latest 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:09.800 news from the world's of business and finance, plus technology, politics, economics, 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:13.480 all harnessing the power of Bloomberg Business Week reporters and editors, 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:16.759 not to mention our journalists and analysts more than a 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.520 hundred and twenty countries. You can download Bloomberg Business Week 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:22.439 on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot Com. You can also 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:24.919 listen to our radio show weekdays at two pm Eastern 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.120 only on Bloomberg Radio. All right, you're listening to Bloomberg 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:30.560 Business Week. Cal Master Jason Kelly. We've got another city, 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.640 as we know, I'm really state Jason, that's in lockdown. Well, 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:36.000 and this is a really important story because a lot 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:38.320 of what's happening on the West Coast is more and 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:40.720 more quickly making its way to the East coast. Let's 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:43.400 go to Los Angeles now, Chris, Paul Mary my fellow 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:48.080 bureau chief out there in Los Angeles. Uh, Chris, great 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:50.280 to have you with us. I know it is incredibly 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:54.440 busy for you because the state of California, the Governor 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:58.400 Gavin Newsom declaring essentially what we heard Governor Cuomo here 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:02.320 in New York declared today a effectively sheltering in place. 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:04.760 Help us understand what's going on on the ground in 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:07.559 Los Angeles. Well, yes, it was kind of a bizarre 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:10.040 evening last night because first we had l A Mayor 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:13.200 Eric Arseti having a press conference where he announced much 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:17.320 tougher urn stage cleat sheltering in place order. Uh, and 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:20.320 then an hour later produced some motoring it from the 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.480 entire states. So it became a situation where you wondered 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:27.839 that did these people even talk? Uh? You know, it's 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:31.160 um was the first day went into effect in Los Angeles. 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.240 I took a walker around. I went to my supermarket 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:35.639 this morning. It was a sobering site with a line 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.160 people down the block, separated five a few feet. They 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.280 were letting them in, uh, five at a time. Uh. 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:45.720 Security guard there told me that was due to robberies. 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:51.920 They've had frequent robberies. It was also security inside the supermarket. Uh. 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:54.120 And they were at a toilet paper uh and they 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:59.240 were announcing that things that they were out of the line. Um. Uh. 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.680 You know. The rest of the city is ysily quiet. 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:05.080 It's it almost feels like a science fiction movie. There's 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.080 no cars on the street. This is um, you know, 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:10.520 a city where it can take me forty five minutes 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.440 to an hour to drive six miles to work. Uh. 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:18.120 And uh there's you know, a smattering, particularly the afternoon, 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:21.440 of people dog walking and jogging, and sometimes you see 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:25.959 people wearing masks. Uh. But for the most part, yerily quiet. 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:29.400 I went around his mother's tours. You are classic strip 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.440 stopping centers that are all around the city, and uh, 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.600 surprisingly quite a few of them are still open. I 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:40.120 mean there were you know, sandwich shops, dry cleaners. Uh, 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:43.720 those are all allowed in the order. Uh. Both to 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:47.000 the owner of an Irish import shop. Uh, he does 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:50.360 sell groceries. He felt that was okay by him. But 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:54.320 there are some other businesses a pawn shop, tied and 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:58.600 massage place uh that were at least had open signs 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:03.880 uh and sort of questionable interpretation of the central services. Chris. 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:05.680 You know, I do wonder too. It sounds like people 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:08.320 certainly taking it seriously because we've heard, you know, we 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:10.520 just heard from the New Jersey governor and even from 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:12.799 the Massachusetts governor saying, you know, you you got to 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.720 take this seriously, you cannot be out and about. But 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:19.840 we've had stories about folks in Florida, younger generations, uh, 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.680 you know, out there and congregating in large groups. What 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:25.520 are the conversations that you're hearing or it sounds like 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:27.880 people are all of all ages are taking it seriously? 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:31.120 Is that the case? Certainly for what I'm seeing? You know, 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.400 I see you know, people just literally moving off of 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.080 the sidewalk as you're walking to you into the street 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:41.400 just to keep within six feet of you. Um, have 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:43.840 been to teach yet, probably will take a drive up 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:46.720 to the to uh you know, Hollywood and Highland and 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.120 check out, you know what is sort of our kind 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:53.880 of premier tourist destination there on the Chinese Heater and 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:58.200 the Walk of Fame. But um, it's it's definitely quiet 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:02.480 in Los Angeles today, all right, Chris, Paul, Mary, thank 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:05.880 you so much for that update. Obviously, you know, anyone 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:08.600 who's been to Los Angeles, even the way you describe it, 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:10.400 it's hard to get your head around in New York 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:12.720 City from what I hear, I haven't been there in 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:16.720 a week. Uh, in Downtown Manhattan, in Midtown Manhattan, rather 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:19.599 wear our offices Carolina. You're there earlier this week, but 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:21.960 I think a similar scene and certainly it's going to 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.080 get even more so, uh now that we have this 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:28.039 effective shelter in place. That was Chris Paul Mary. He 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:31.479 is our Los Angeles Bureau chief, longtime resident of that city, 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:34.039 so uh, it really knows what he's talking about there. 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:37.640 You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:41.560 Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. Now, this story, it's the 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:44.080 cover story of the magazine this week. I must read. 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:47.000 It's about finding the cure for the coronavirus and the 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:50.440 researcher who helps save millions of lives from HIV now 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.240 trying to do the same with COVID nineteen. Rob Lingrith 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:55.560 is healthcare reporter at Bloomberg News. He's on the phone 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:58.120 in New York. Also with us. Joel Weber, editor of 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:00.960 Bloomberg Business Week, on the phone from Brooklyn. This is 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:03.760 a great story, um, and this was an individual Rob, 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:06.320 to be quite honest, I didn't know much about tell 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:11.479 us about him well, so he first walking into fame 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:13.360 in the ninety nineties when he was one of the 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.200 doctor Hoe David Hoe. He was one of the key 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:21.120 people who tested HIV drug cocktails. It dramatically lowered the 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:25.080 death rates for HIV and AIDS UH and he was 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:27.280 the first doctor to be named Times Man of the 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:28.960 Year back then. So he's kind of one of the 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:32.880 world's most famous living age researchers. And now he's you know, 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:36.159 changing much of his lab to focus on rapidly finding 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.840 a treatment for the coronavirus. And so, Joel, how did 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:42.880 this figure into the way that you guys have been 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:46.400 covering this story. I mean, it's a very powerful cover 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:49.120 and I have to say an optimistic when at a 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:52.359 time when uh, a lot of us are feeling pretty 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:56.040 down about our chances here. Well, look, to be clear, 0:05:56.240 --> 0:06:00.520 you know they're not they're not near a cure like 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.120 right now. This is not a plug and play moment, 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:06.880 but you know, this is an example of a line 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:11.680 of coverage that we're rapidly working on, which is, you know, 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:14.320 what are our chances do you actually get something that 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:17.360 looks like a treatment or a cure? And you know, 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.640 David Hoe is sort of a huge name in a 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:23.480 certain world, and that was why we wanted to put 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:25.560 the spotlight on him. But to be clear, you know, 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:27.480 and and Bob can speak more to this. There are 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:32.920 similar efforts going on lots of different places right now. Yeah, 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:35.680 so Bob talk about that, because you know, it does 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:38.839 feel like we are getting this sense of urgency and 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:40.599 maybe it was going on and we just weren't paying 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:43.279 attention to it but this week, and maybe it's because 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:45.080 a lot of this is being pumped up by the 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:48.920 President and others that there is this in a very 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:52.960 productive way, sort of a race for a cure here. Yeah, 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.279 that's absolutely kind of what's going on. And I think 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:57.120 you know what happened was, you know, when it was 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:59.840 still mostly in China, I think there was a sense 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.640 of wait and see a little bit among some of 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:05.760 the big drug and biotech companies. So you just didn't know, 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:08.400 you know, whether this thing, like so many other epidemics 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:10.880 in the past, I was going to like fade a 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:12.480 little bit and by the time they had treatments and 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:14.560 I've no one but needing them anymore. But that's clearly 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:16.440 not going to be the case. This thing is around 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:19.720 it It's here to stay, even if it, say, for example, 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.600 size little in the summer, even if the social distance 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:26.040 distancing stuff works, and then slows it down a lot. 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.120 That disease isn't going to go away. There's only been 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:32.320 one virus in the world that's ever gotten not to 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.280 such an extent that he's like totally eradicated in that smallpox, 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:38.440 and that wasn't a respiratory virus. Isn't that Isn't that 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:40.920 incredible when you think about that, like all the virus 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.360 in the world in the history of the world, and 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.000 we really only eradicated one of them, and that shows 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:48.680 you what we're up against here, Bob. You know, you 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:50.920 know one thing I also thought was really striking your 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.080 story is that, you know, you talked about the work 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:56.000 that doctor who has done and that you know, when 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.120 Stars was around, he was you know, had developed antibodies 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:02.440 um but by the time you know, we got wrapped up, 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.480 everybody kind of lost interest in finding some kind of 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:07.520 treatment for it. And he didn't need a lot more money. 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:09.120 I think it was about twenty million. You write in 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:12.200 your story, I do wonder is this different because we 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:15.040 are anticipating that the coronavirus in some form or another 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:17.920 um or COVID nineteen, this is going to be with 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:21.320 us for a while. Yeah, I think this will definitely 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:22.680 be with us for a while. And I think what 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.560 happened with Stars and some of the other coronavirus outbreaks, 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:27.360 so there's another one in the Middle East called Middle 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:30.200 East Respiratory syndrome. What happened in the past is we've 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:32.480 got a false sense of security and that some of 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.360 those uh you know, didn't really fully take off and 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:38.000 when we were able to suppress them before they really 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:42.320 caught hold. But this one just spreads more easily, and 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:44.240 it's just out there in the world now, and so 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:47.200 we really do need to develop a treatment. And the 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:49.640 long term I think there it is a virus. We 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:53.600 have a track record of eventually developing treatments for viruses 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:56.280 that are successful. So I think long term there's reasons 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.480 from optimism, but we must be realistic and that a 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:01.400 lot of these treatments they aren't going to come like 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:03.680 right now when we want them right now. What we have, 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:05.720 as we say in the story, is kind of soap 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:08.640 and social distancing. Those the main tools we have right now. 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:12.760 And so help us understand, I mean, Bob, you understand 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:16.880 this so well. That's sort of the the medical pharmaceutical 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:20.040 sort of industrial complex. And I'm not saying that conspiratorially. 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:23.320 But it's a complicated world, and you do have some 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:28.560 of the biggest companies attacking this. How much cooperation is there, 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:31.280 how much healthy competition is there? Help us get a 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:35.400 sense of the broader landscape here, Well, yes, you do 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.360 have all sorts of companies starting to do all sorts 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:40.480 of things with both drugs and vaccines, and it's hard 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:43.680 even for someone like me to keep track of. Frankly, uh, 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:46.240 and it's I really don't have a good sense of, 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.160 you know, what the competition, what the corporation is now, 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:52.319 because so many different new things are starting up all 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:55.480 at once. There's companies like Jolliett Sciences that are testing drugs. 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.400 There's companies like are You General and Pharmaceuticals that are 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:02.319 also working on antibodies. The Regeneralan is another company, and 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:04.920 I believe there is some corporation between doctor Home and 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:09.079 Regeneral on at least some of the projects. Uh. But yes, 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:12.280 there's many things being started up very rapidly, and it's 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:15.439 just it's a very modeled it on certain situation because 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:17.160 many of these things are just kind of going into 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.079 testing now. We really don't have a good sense yet 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:21.480 of which ones are going to turn out to be 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:24.400 the most promising. So, Bob, can you bring it back 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:26.720 to Hope for a second and real quick and just 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:29.640 and I know I can hear Carol already just telling 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:31.400 you know, you know, go ahead and wrap it up 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.120 and keep No. No, no, no, that's a great question. 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:38.040 We no, no, no, we have good time. What is 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:42.040 the approach that doctor who is using or thinks he 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:46.040 will be able to use to to you know, take 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.439 a number on the coronavirus. Yeah, so he is the 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:52.480 doctor Hall is basically leveraging some of the years of 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:56.920 expertise and learnings uh they've gotten from developing treatments for 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.680 HIV successfully and in fact, one of the main approaches 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:04.080 uh he he is taking is as to try to 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:08.520 attack some of the same enzymes in the coronavirus that 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:13.439 were also present and successfully attacked by HIV drugs. Uh. 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:16.160 So he's basically implying from the learnings to make kind 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:19.400 of pill style drugs uh that they could block the 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:23.959 replication of dis coronavirus and possible other future coronavirus strains. 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:26.679 And that's one of the main things he's doing. Uh. 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:29.520 And he's also separately in a separate project working on 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:34.800 antibodies against the coronavirus based on blood samples from patients 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:37.560 who have recovered. So he's kind of doing several separate 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:40.240 projects at once and hopes that one of them comes through. 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:42.920 What I'm curious about too. Until you know, we thought 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:44.640 this was such an important story. We gave We're gonna 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:48.400 give you a lot of time today. I even went 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.640 on surveillance yesterday and teased up this story. Um, what 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.079 I'm curious is what's his time frame? Because I think 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:58.480 as Americans, we're watching the task Force updates, the Coronavirus 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:01.400 Task Force updates. There's a lot health officials talking about, 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:04.120 you know, drugs on the market that are already out 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:05.760 there that maybe could be used. I think there's a 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:09.440 lot of confusion about, you know, exactly what is the 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:12.920 medical cure. When is the medical cure potentially going to 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:18.160 be out there? Um, it's not anytime soon. Yeah. Well, 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.520 the short answer is, you know, we don't know. Uh. 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.280 And the fact is that you know, most of these 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:27.319 things we're talking about are not yet in human trials, 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:29.400 and the things how it is working on are probably 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:32.560 more than a year away from human trials. There are 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:35.880 a few things at other companies such as Agileiad drug 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:39.560 Agiliad scientist drugs that are in trials right now. But 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.400 the you know, if you look back at a bowla, 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.439 we actually developed sucessial treatments for a bola, but it 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:50.600 took a while. Uh So so it's possible we could 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:52.200 get lucky in one of these kind of off the 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.760 shelf things that they're talking about right now. When these 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:58.360 off the shelf drugs was kind of already out there, 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:02.120 uh may work an extend the catch this virus, but um, 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:07.640 the likelihoods will probably need to develop uh targeted customized 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.160 treatments that are targeted right at this virus to really 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.400 have something that really works. Well, Joel, I wanna if 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:15.600 I can, you know, just take an opportunities as we 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.520 do have. You've got a couple more minutes just to 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.000 ask you, like how it's going, you know, with the 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:22.000 magazine and things like that, we really haven't had a 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:24.319 chance to catch up with you on air about sort 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.760 of putting this all together and keeping on top of 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:29.920 the news, help us understand what's going on. Well, we've 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:33.920 never been this remote before and so I think, um, 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.679 that part is just to challenge for for you know, 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:39.600 doing doing work in general. And I know everybody else 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:41.400 knows what I'm talking about right now. It's just like 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:45.640 you go, you go stir crazy. Um after day two, 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:48.120 I think, And here we are on on sort of 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:51.240 day four and counting for most of us, UM, So 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:54.080 I think there's that's just the real thing. Um. And 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:55.840 we've been able to do a lot of you know, 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.000 the work that we need to remotely so far. So 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:01.280 knock on what everything is good on that front? Um? 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:03.559 And we you know, we just have a ton of 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:06.880 stories that we have in motion, um that we're really 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.280 excited about. Not unlike you know, some of them are 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.320 all out like bombs where it's just like let's talk, 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:13.520 let's get into the science of like how do we 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:15.840 get out of this mess? But look like this story 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:18.720 is touching so many facets of our lives. You think 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.240 about the economic implications of this and what the failout 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:25.560 shatter is all about, Like we're gonna be this is 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:29.440 by far the story and look like it's looking like 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.120 a lot longer than that. Well, I just think of 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:35.000 what you guys did last week and making it completely 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:37.560 the issue and saying, you know, talking about the last year, 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.280 you know your spot on um Bob, if I can 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.680 just bring you in for one last question, um Or, 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:44.920 we've got a little bit more David Hoe, is he 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.880 talking with the folks in Washington? I do you know 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:50.720 the magazine has done some great coverage about talking about 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.720 the importance of coordinated efforts, you know, certainly on a 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:57.040 financial and market basis, but even more so in terms 0:14:57.080 --> 0:15:00.520 of attacking the virus on a health bas is. So 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:03.080 I do wonder did David ho what was his perspective 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:05.120 or take on that that is he being reached, you know, 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:08.840 called upon. Does he feel like the health community is 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:12.160 really being brought in together to work on this? Well 0:15:12.200 --> 0:15:14.160 he does? You know, I don't know the extent of 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:17.320 his contacts in Washington. I assume he probably does have 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:19.960 lots of them. We were lucky to get and get 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:22.480 into Dr Horow, you know, and a few days before 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:24.640 New York see him in person. Before New York that 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.240 kind of totally shut down. And you know, like many 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:30.360 you know, he's has so many demands on his time 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:32.560 right now, like a lot of that researcher's responded to 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:34.720 this that he's you know, becomes very hard to get 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:36.720 through to it all sort of this fazz old sense 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:39.960 of trying to find something. But he has lots of 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:43.200 contacts around the world and China and Hong Kong and elsewhere, 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.640 and that's kind of one reason why he was able 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:48.560 to get this effort up and running so quickly, because 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:51.040 you know, he has he is very well connected to 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:55.080 the virus research community with lots of people. All Right, 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:57.560 we're gonna leave it there. Thank you so much. Bob Langreth, 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:00.560 Robert lang Grith is his byline. He's a help care reporter. 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:02.960 He's got the cover story this week in Business Week, 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:06.280 and it's an important one, all about the race story 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.600 for a cure, really a must read, telling you about 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.400 someone that maybe you've heard his name, but the backstory, 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:16.160 here's some great details about even uh dr host sort 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:19.400 of learning things about bats and their role in all 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:22.000 this and how many there are in the world, and 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:25.080 uh and whatnot. So our thanks to him, to Bob Lingerth, 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:26.880 as well as of course to Joe Webber, the editor 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:30.040 of Bloomberg Business Week, both joining us on the phone 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:34.360 from their respective homes. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:38.920 with Carol Messer and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio tracking 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:42.040 the path of COVID nineteen. It is incredibly helpful in 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:44.920 learning about the virus and how to fight it. Andy 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:50.680 Pecos Pecos is Professor of Molecular microbiology and Immunology at 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:54.640 Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, joining us 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:56.720 on the phone from Baltimore. The Bloomberg School of Public 0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:00.080 Health supported by Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder, Bloomberg l P, 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.560 and Bloomberg Philanthropies. UM Andy, nice to have you here 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:06.800 with us. UM tell us a little bit about tracking 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.560 and how easy it is and what kind of coordinated 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:12.720 efforts are we seeing around the globe to be able 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:15.679 to do that in a really smart way. Yeah. So 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:18.919 you're seeing a lot of now um UH sites that 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.600 are ramping up their testing. You're seeing a lot of 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:24.240 reporting of this data in almost real time, and now 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:28.960 there's multiple web based um UM sites that you can 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.480 look at to sort of see where cases are occurring 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.040 and the rate at which they're increasing in different areas. 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:39.200 So I think tracking in terms of of of accessibility, 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:41.720 the data is getting pretty good, although I think we 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:43.959 still need to ramp up and do more testing in 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:47.639 many places, particularly here in the US. So Dr Pekasher, 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:50.879 I mean, help us understand how this is spreading. What 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:54.720 are we learning that's new and different? How much, uh 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:57.639 do we know about this that's just based on on 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:00.240 previous models. I think all of us are just trying 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:03.240 to get some sense of where this goes next. And 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:05.439 I feel like you're much smarter than I am about 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:09.119 understanding that. Well, you know, we're we're all learning along 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:11.639 the way here. Um. I think you know. The main 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:15.200 thing that has changed, UM probably over the last month 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:18.720 significantly has been we went from assuming that most of 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:23.000 the infected cases are showing severe disease UM in other words, 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:26.040 strong enough to reach after some medical care, to now 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:28.680 getting a sense that most of the people are not 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:31.840 getting disease that's so severe that they would necessarily seek 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:36.080 out UM medical care. And what that does is, I mean, 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:40.560 it's great because obviously it's telling us that there's fewer 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:42.520 cases are going to be severe in terms of the 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:46.000 overall number of cases. But it makes tracking and keeping 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:50.280 and monitoring for people who are potential spreaders very very 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.520 difficult because you can no longer say symptoms are going 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:57.800 to bring you into a containing program. And so is 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:00.080 that why. I mean, I do feel like we're getting 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:04.320 this renewed or maybe new sense of urgency from governors 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:07.399 and mayors and whatnot. Is that essentially why all this 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:09.639 social distance? This is a dumb question maybe and an 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:12.399 obvious question, but is that why this social distancing piece 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.119 is so important? Because you've got a lot of unwitting 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:18.720 carriers out there. No, I think that's absolutely the case. Um. 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:21.439 And we're starting to realize how how how many of 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.920 those there are, and so the sooner you can instigate 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:28.680 some of these UM or implement I should say, sorry, uh, 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:32.080 some of these methods, the more likely you are to 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:34.800 really make an effort to make an impact in terms 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.600 of the number of cases. And it has to happen 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:40.320 when now, when there are low numbers of cases around, 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.800 because if you can find five or six really sick people, 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:47.600 you've probably got a huge number of people who are 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:51.679 spreading in the community. UM. Dr Peckers, what is it 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:54.879 that you find so troubling about this virus in particular? Well, 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:58.240 I think it's exactly that. UM. In certain populations you 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:01.840 can see mild disease. Yet in other populations, like the elderly, 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:05.520 like those with secondary medical conditions like respiratory conditions. This 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:10.479 virus is still very very deadly UM and UM. You know, 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:13.040 initial numbers here in the US are showing that there 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:16.240 is a little bit more severe disease in younger population. 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:19.440 So I think that even younger populations need to think 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:23.760 carefully about or need to think seriously about this problem 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.520 because UM, it's causing disease across the spectrum. But again, 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:30.280 there are there are small groups of populations that it 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:32.520 causes very severe disease in and we have to find 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:35.040 ways to protect them. What does it mean for the future, 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:37.560