And it's great to have you with us here on this Wednesday night in tonight.

The numbers now tell this story of a growing crisis here in the U.

S.

The president has said prepare for a very painful few weeks in tonight, the vice president making news as well with what he said just today and we have all seen that played out in Italy.

It is still playing out there and now the vice president saying that the White House modeling suggests Italy may be the most comparable area to the United States tonight, the numbers here In just two weeks time, we've gone from 7700 reported cases to more than 206,000.

One month ago March 1st, there was one reported death from the virus in the US Tonight, the death toll is more than 4600 more states now heeding the call to flatten the curve.

At least 45 states now imposing stay at home restrictions.

Florida, Mississippi, Georgia.

Imposing those restrictions just today here in New York City tonight, video provided by Mount Sinai Queens patients lining the E.

R.

Hallways there, that field hospital in Central park tonight.

Up and running we were There is the first Corona virus patient arrived today, of course, many more to come.

And New York's governor tonight, Andrew Cuomo, saying the peak of this here in New York the hardest hit areas so far, won't likely come until the end of April and that as many as 16,000 New Yorkers could die.

Just before we came on the air tonight, we have now learned of the grim guidelines being given to E.

M s first responders in the New York City area, and we'll have that for you in a moment.

There were also those two cruise ships held off the coast of Florida.

Hundreds of sick passengers and crew on board.

Four have died, including an American.

Authorities don't want them to dock in Florida.

Temporary hospitals going up in Detroit, in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Dallas.

Parts of California tonight.

And of course, as we do every night, we will get to it all and carefully.

And the president saying just moments ago, difficult days ahead a few days from now are going to be horrific.

We begin with a B.

C's with Johnson tonight.

Tonight, a doctor taking us inside New York's Mount Sinai Queens Hospital, now pushed to the brink.

This is O R.

You can see all the rooms are filled.

Usually these halls are very empty.

Now, you can see uh, stations everywhere because of this makes it very hard to work.

And we're trying our best to treat everyone that we can.

Many of the patients immediately put on oxygen All these patients here sitting out always because we're full health care workers on the front lines, making painful sacrifices.

I said goodbye, uh, to my wife on my daughter for who knows how long?

It's gonna be several weeks, probably before I see him in person again.

Everyone in the hostel is working overtime and texutil because you're physically and mentally exhausted.

And tonight news on Dr Colleen Smith, who shared these images from one of the first hard hit ers in Queens.

All that you see now confirming she's tested positive herself for cove in 19 hospitals, so overwhelmed iconic public spaces now used to treat patients.

This is really an extraordinary moment here.

You can see that ambulance pulling up behind me.

We're told that this is the very first patient with Cove in 19 could be transported and then treated here in this field hospital in the middle of Central Park.

This facility has 68 beds, medical teams and volunteers from Samaritans purse stepping up to meet the needs.

Some will be transferring, who are already ventilated, and so we will then transfer to our ventilators to take care of them.

The death toll in New York state close to 2000 surging by nearly 400 overnight.

One projection showing 16,000 New Yorkers could die.

And tonight, word of the youngest known victim, a six week old baby passing away from complications of the virus in nearby Connecticut.

What we're looking at now is the apex top of the curve, uh, roughly at the end of April, which means another month of this, the governor shutting down playgrounds, calling on the NYPD to enforce the rules.

How reckless and irresponsible and selfish for people not to do it on their own.

I mean, what else do you have to know?

What else do you have to hear?

The White House Corona Virus task force with that grim projection that even if Americans followed the restrictions, 100 to 240,000 people could die in the US.

As I said yesterday, difficult days are ahead for a nation.

We're going to have a couple of weeks starting pretty much now, but especially a few days from now that are going to be horrific.

At least 45 states now is stay at home orders.

But tonight, growing pressure on the rest in Florida.

The governor reversing course now issuing a statewide stay at home order for its 21 million residents.

The governor abandoning his county by county approach after consulting with the White House.

I'm gonna be doing an executive order today directing all Floridians, toe limit movements and personal interactions outside the home in Louisiana, a jump in cases nearly 1/3 of hospitalized patients are on ventilators.

Of those numbers are staggering, and there's looks like there's no end in sight that these numbers continue.

We will be maxed out hospitals and ventilators by the end of the weekend.

Just last night, congregants flocking to this church defying bands on social gatherings.

But Vice President Pence today telling our Byron Pitts he had a message for the faithful.

We really believe this is a time when people should avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, and and so we continue to urge churches around America to heed to that.

Across the country field hospitals, going up from Massachusetts to Illinois and in Seattle, this exhibition hall soon to be a 250 bed hospital, complete with two operating rooms.

But tonight, the mounting loss of life is taking its toll.

34 year old Scott Blanks, from Whittier, California, was initially sent home from the hospital on Lee to return days later with pneumonia, a ventilator unable to save him.

He never had any like complications or never was hospitalized.

Nothing.

It's kind of un riel right now because we weren't even allowed.

Like to go see him just awful.

With Johnson back with us live from New York tonight and what I want to get back to those new guidelines for first responders in the New York area.

They now have new orders guidelines about howto handle cardiac patients, and it would seem that this is somewhat of a tacit acknowledgment that certain near death patients will likely not be able to save be saved because of hospitals across the city already overrun with coronavirus patients.

David.

These new orders, obtained by ABC News, outlines specific guidelines on how to respond to cardiac emergencies, telling E.

M s cruise in the field that if they cannot get a pulse on their own that they should not take that patient to the hospital.

These orders also reflect concerns about CPR itself.

Spreading Corona virus a sign of just how stretched thin these emergency rooms are.

David Very difficult decisions in days ahead with Thank you and hi everyone.

George Stephanopoulos here.

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