-Virtual handshakes. The new thing. -It's very good.

Yes, virtual handshakes and Wi-Fives.

-Um... -(laughter)

Let's-let's jump straight into it.

-This is a very strange time for people. -Yes.

I will speak for myself when I say

-it is a very confusing time. -Mm-hmm.

I don't know if I should be afraid,

should not be afraid,

should be a little bit more panicked,

not panicked at all.

Where do we stand right now?

From New York, and then from what you know

about what's happening in cities around the world.

You know, uh, Franklin Roosevelt,

the famous quote,

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself"?

You know, there-there is an element of this

that is fear that's been generated beyond the facts,

-beyond the reality. -Okay.

And, so, when you really look at coronavirus, it's serious.

We have to make a lot of adjustments to address it.

But, um, it...

I worry that it's becoming sort of the cause for...

making a bunch of decisions

that actually alter all the rest of our life,

including in some very bad ways.

Let me give you an example.

-Some people are saying, "Close our schools." -Mm-hmm.

Now, we have a lot of evidence that this disease, thank God,

does not really have that much of an impact

-on healthy children. Okay? -Right.

The-the... Very sadly, the biggest impact

is on older folks with serious, preexisting medical conditions.

And when we say "older," what is that range?

-What is that? -Certainly over 50,

but I think in reality, it's much more.

We see a lot of the fatalities,

-70s, 80s kind of thing. -Right.

So, it's not to...

Look, God forbid anyone is hurt by it,

but when you think about folks saying,

"Close everything. Close schools."

When, in fact, the evidence says

our kids are, thank God, pretty safe.

-Mm-hmm. -And we want our kids to get an education.

And a lot of parents say to me,

"Our kids need the schools not just for education."

It's where they get their meals.

It's parents who don't have any other choice

where they're gonna have their kids

-if they don't have the schools. -Right, right, right.

So, it's thinking about the whole picture.

We do have to make serious adjustments,

and government has to act and people have to act.

But let's not make this the false idol.

Let's, you know, have an honest conversation

about what it is and what it isn't.

So, so, then, what is it in that regard?

Because I think what's been really tough

in America, particularly, is that from the top,

it seems like the president is slightly more concerned

with how coronavirus affects his image

as opposed to setting expectations

-for the nation. -That was, like, the nicest thing

you ever said about Donald Trump.

(laughter)

-Man, it's coronavirus. -(cheering and applause)

-You know, that... that is fair and balanced. -Coronavirus.

-Yes. -Fair and balanced.

But-but what I'm... what I'm saying is it...

I-I have noticed that, you know, we...

As-as society, we have lived through multiple pandemics.

-Yes. -We've lived through multiple epidemics.

-Yes. -The difference now being, specifically in America,

people don't know what the messaging is,

because from up top,

-it seems discombobulated at best. -There is no messaging.

-There is no messaging. -Right.

Look, we had a chance weeks and weeks ago

for the president to say, "This is a very serious thing.

"It's gonna be with us for a long time.

"You're gonna have to make some adjustments in your life.

"We're all in this together,

and we're going to get through this together."

We got everything but that.

And what the president really should have done

was get the testing out there to the local level

where we could actually get ahead of this.

They still haven't done it.

-They still haven't done it. -(cheering and applause)

So...

So, let me ask you this.

Can people get tested?

Should people get tested?

If I feel sick, should I go get t...

How-how does this even work for people in New York,

and-and how do you think it should work,

you know, scaling outward?

So, one day, I think we're gonna have

such abundant testing capacity that it's something that can be

-really broadly brought out into the population. -Mm-hmm.

But until that day, the focus on people with symptoms.

Folks who have traveled to the most affected areas.

Folks who have been in contact with someone

who does have confirmed case of coronavirus.

That's where you got to start.

But, you know, doctors can do a very initial test.

They have it right now. That's not about coronavirus.

They can tell you if your problem is something else.

-Right. -They do it all the time.

It's called a BioFire test, and it tells you

you've got all sorts of common, you know, issues.

Cold, flu, et cetera kind of things.

Um, once you know that you're sick

and it's not one of those more traditional things,

we want those folks

-to get a coronavirus test, obviously. -Got it.

So, we have a sense of priority,

and what we're finding is among the...

We have 53 people as of today who have tested positive.

A lot of them are at home.

They're-they're healthy. They're seeing it through.

They're having very limited symptoms.

Some are in the hospital. Some are in tough shape.

Others are coming out of it.

-Mm-hmm. -So, it-it's not just one thing.

But I do think the idea is, why don't we,

as a nation, mobilize all our resources,

get the testing truly to be

all over the country where it's needed,

get people tested in a really extensive manner.

Then we'll know what's what and we can get people help.

Listen, 80% of the people who get it

have very little, uh, negative experience.

-Right. -It's like cold or flu in reality.

For the other 20%, most of them have a tough time,

but they'll come out okay in the end,

except that small percentage-- and God forbid--

and that is typically the oldest

and folks who are really ill who may not make it.

Is-is it-- is it uncomfortable to say,

for a person in a leadership position,

"Hey, the people who are going to die from this thing

were the people who might have just died from anything else?"

And I'm-I'm not even saying that as, like, a joke.

But we-we've accepted that with-with certain other things

in life, where we go, like, "Hey, man,

"because of your respiratory illnesses, because of your age,

"because of this... anything-- You know,

"if you got a chest infection, it could have killed you.

If you got this, it could have killed you."

Is it hard for leaders to just say that,

"Hey, uh, yeah, you were-- you were already,

"like, on death's door, man.

This thing's just gonna take you out"?

Or do you-- do you have to, like--

Is-is that-- Does that make the messaging harder?

-'Cause it sometimes feels like, as leaders, -Right.

you guys have to be like, "Look, I mean, s-some--

It may be that some of you just..."

Whereas I-I know you can't say it,

but it would be gangster if you guys could just come out

and say, like, "Hey, if you were gonna die,

"you were gonna die,

and corona's just, like, making that happen."

Trevor, I...

I really don't think you should run for public office.

-I, um... -I agree with you.

-I... -(cheering and applause)

-I agree with you. But-but I honestly... -Yeah. Just...

Like... (stammers) like, what balance do you have to maintain

-as a leader, like, in terms of being opaque -Yeah.

versus telling people-- Like-like, you're saying,

"Don't panic," but then, at the same time, you're saying

-people must change their lives. So what does that mean? -Right.

So, I'll give you an example to your previous point.

So, my predecessor as mayor, one day,

said about kids who are danger,

kids who are in danger of child abuse, he said,

literally, at one point, we can't save every child.

Because some of it is beyond the reach of government.

They don't-- We don't even know about it until it's too late.

I heard that, and I found that chilling.

I think our goal is actually to try and save everyone, right?

Our goal is never to give up on anyone.

So that's why-- Even though I get your point

about people in public life, there's a second side of that.

Uh, we have people who are older,

who have those serious medical conditions,

who are in the hospital right now, who have coronavirus

and are fighting for their lives,

and what we should say is,

"L-Let's pray they get through.

-Let's give 'em all the help." -Mm-hmm.

And some of those folks will come through.

So you don't give up on anyone.

But the honest thing is to realize

what it is and what it isn't, right?

If it is something that,

for the vast majority of people,

doesn't have that bad an impact,

then when we're making all the other decisions--

schools, workplaces, right, subways--

you got to worry about it.

And I look at Italy.

Look at Italy now.

The entire society's shut down.

The-- People's livelihoods shot to hell.

You-- How much time is it gonna take to ever get back to normal?

And what's that gonna mean for the people

who didn't have money, couldn't afford the rent?

Their-their lives fell apart.

Their careers fell apart. All this stuff.

So you got to balance the whole equation.

And-and one thing, you know,

my public health professionals believe--

they think six months is probably a valid measure

right now of what it's gonna take us to get through this

to some kind of normal again. That could change, right?

But why don't we just level with people and say,

"We're gonna go through something together.

"It will not be easy. You're gonna have to make adjustments.

"You're actually gonna have to look out for each other.

"You're gonna have to change some of your habits.

"Like, government can't do all that for you.

We have to do a lot."

What are some of those habit changes?

Like, you know, you sneeze like this.

-Got it. -Right? You do the elbow bump.

And if you're sick-- here's a crucial one--

how many of us-- how many of you have gone to work

when you are sick? Right?

Everybody. The American ethic--

Not you, God bless you.

You don't come from here.

So, you come from a part of the world,

people think they're sick, they don't have to work.

-In America, what do we do? We power through, right? -Yes.

Don't do that. If you get sick, stay home.