New Jersey's first recovered coronavirus patient shares story

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New Jersey's first recovered coronavirus patient shares story

John Mormando details his recovery journey on 'Your World.'

This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," March 20, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: All right, well, here is the good news, my friends.

The week is over, and not a moment too soon, as you look at a White House and a nation's capital gripped with trying to deal with the coronavirus, news at the Corner of Wall and Broad that they were getting creamed and reamed, the Dow swooning today, better than 927 points.

It's at 19160, far lower than when Donald Trump took office and, if you are counting, the worst week for the markets since back around the time of the 1987 stock market crash. That was then. A lot of people want to know what the heck is going on now.

Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto, and you're watching "Your World," a world gripped now by growing concerns that this virus thing is getting kind of out of hand.

We got word today out of Italy that the number of deaths in a single day, north of 620 individuals, was the highest recorded by any country on any single day, including China, in the better-than-four-month history of this virus. And it's not slowing down.

It's escalating in Europe. It is escalating in other regions, and it is escalating here.

We just got word that the New Jersey governor now is putting sort of a ding on any sort of emergency activity. If you are not essential, you are not going to work. If you're a business whose items are not considered essential to have, you are not going to open your doors.

If that sounds familiar, it should, because it's happening in California, it is happening in New York, it is happening in Pennsylvania. Fully 70 million Americans are under the grip of such restrictions, and it probably won't end there.

Let's get the read from John Roberts at the White House and how the president is handling all of this -- John.

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Neil, good afternoon to you.

The president right now in a conference call with small business owners. They, of course, are among the hardest hit because they rely on constant cash flow. They don't have a lot of reserves. And if they can't bring people in the doors or ship items out the front door, then they are going to have a difficult time keeping going.

There was some track -- some talk, rather, earlier this week by Larry Kudlow, the president's chief economic adviser, that, if it comes to it, that the United States government may have to cover revenues for a lot of those small businesses.

Another big piece of news today, the United States now all but closing down the border between the United States and Mexico to all but essential cross- border traffic, including trade. Same sort of thing with Canada has now been going on for a couple of days.

And the Centers for Disease Control today announcing that all illegal immigrants who try to cross the border, whether it be the northern border or the southern border, will quickly be sent back from where they came.

Here's what the president said about that earlier today:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By doing a global pandemic, they threatened to create a perfect storm that would spread the infection to our border agents, migrants, and to the public at large.

Left unchecked, this would cripple our immigration system, overwhelm our health care system and severely damage our national security. We're not going to let that happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: But there is a little bit of optimism here at the White House, the president bullish on the possibility of a new treatment.

In foreign studies, hydroxychloroquine showing some effectiveness in treating coronavirus, shortening the length and duration of the disease, but a bit of difference of opinion between the president and his chief infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Again, the president very optimistic about it, Fauci more circumspect. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I feel good about it. That's all is, just a feeling. I'm a smart guy. I feel good about it.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: We need to do it in a way as, while we are making it available for people who might want the hope that it might work, you're also collecting data that will ultimately show that it is truly effective and safe under the conditions of COVID-19.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Well, President Trump saying earlier today that the government has procured many, many units of hydroxychloroquine.

I wasn't able to discern and actually differentiate Neil, whether or not that's for critical -- critical studies in patients -- clinical studies, or whether that's to use in the patient population at large.

I think is probably for clinical studies.

Dr. Fauci acknowledging that it might be effective, and that would be a good thing, if it is effective, the president saying, if it's effective, that would be a game-changer -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, John Roberts, thank you very, very much.

Before we get to the Capitol, I want to update you on these various states that are looking at shelter in place reactions to this ongoing virus threat.

Illinois the latest now to recommend that its residents shelter in place. That's not considered a lockdown. But, to many, it is the first step in that degree.

Remember, California's Governor Newsom had the same requirements out there; 40 million residents will be affected by very big limitations on their travels and go-abouts in the country's largest state.

The situation is playing out much the same in New York state, in New Jersey. Right now, as I said, this affects, by my math, doing rough equivalent some of these states, 80 million Americans, so, again, about a quarter of the U.S. population.

We will keep you posted on that, as that number is likely expected to grow. In Illinois, this staying in place starts tomorrow, in some of these other states, like California and New York, immediately.

All right, in the meantime here, let's get the read on how they're trying to get a handle on this in Washington by, well, spending a good deal of money and targeting it, and fast.

Chad Pergram on that -- Chad.

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Neil.

Well, the goal here is to get this agreement forged in the United States Senate, Democrats and Republicans, sometime tonight. Here in the past couple of hours, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the Treasury secretary have all spoken by telephone here.

Mitch McConnell wants to move this through the Senate, actually write the text tomorrow, and have a procedural vote perhaps sometime tomorrow night.

Now, what that could tee up is a Monday passage of this bill, and maybe as early -- I'm going to let you in on a little secret here -- procedurally, depending on how they do it, when they say Monday, it could be Monday at 1:00 a.m.

And then the House of Representatives would have to move, maybe later in the day, maybe Tuesday, maybe Wednesday. That's Congress moving at warp speed here, Neil.

Here's something that's key. I was told yesterday -- and this is something that speaks to the markets here -- by a senior source working on this that this has to be done -- quote -- "by Monday." The markets are not going to tolerate inaction. This needs to be done by Monday.

And I inquired further, and they kind of hearken back to what happened in 2008. The implication here is that Hank Paulson, the then Treasury secretary, called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the 18th of September 2008, and said, I need to meet with you tonight, or we're not going to have an economy by Monday.

I asked this source, I said, is that what we're really dealing with here? And they said, this is pretty grim. That's why they're trying to underscore, by Monday, get this done as soon as they can.

But here we are late on Friday afternoon, they still don't have bill text. And, again, they have to get Democratic buy-in, because the House of Representatives is controlled by the Democrats.

And, also, there is some Republican reluctance. You're going to need 60 votes to get this through the Senate to avoid a filibuster. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, he lost eight Republicans on his side of the aisle when they move the phase two bill on Wednesday.

So you have to have agreement with Democrats, Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, I would probably advise, I might offer advice, that they focus on the virus and getting that under control, and less about stimulus, that will come much later.

But we will see what happens.

PERGRAM: That's something that Chuck Schumer commented on. That's something that Chuck Schumer said. He said, look, he said, we have to deal with the virus.

And that's why a lot of things he's asking for are health-related, and not so much economic.

CAVUTO: Yes, all right, thank you very much, my friend.

Let's get the read from Senator John Thune right now, the Senate majority whip.

Senator, I know good intentions run rampant throughout the Capitol, and I give all of you guys great credit for that.

But it's very, very clear, just if I were to look at market reaction, that any sort of stimulus that's being considered, whether it's the Federal Reserve driving interest rates down to near zero percent again, or buying trillions of dollars worth of corporate paper, Treasury paper, mortgage- backed security paper, none of that works.

I'm wondering if greater effort should be placed in just addressing the virus itself.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): You're absolutely right, Neil.

That's what -- that's where it all starts. And we're trying to deal with the symptoms. And we really need to be treating the cause. And the cause, of course, is the coronavirus, which we need a vaccine for.

Obviously, in the meantime, we need to do everything we can to stop its spread, which has been the focus of all the activities by the medical professionals. And everybody is, I think, stepping in, trying to contribute to that.

But we need to make it as easy as possible and get rid of the hurdles, the regulatory obstacles to getting a vaccine out there as quickly as possible. And, usually, it takes -- there are tests and -- research period, test period, all that you have to go through.

I think we ought to be looking at everything we can do to streamline that process in order to get to the vaccine. We need to be able to get this and beat this, because, if we don't, obviously, it could be with us for a really long time.

And, as you can tell, that's having a profound adverse impact on the economy, which is what we're trying to address here on Capitol Hill. But, ultimately, it comes down to beating this disease. And that's going to require coming up with that vaccine.

CAVUTO: Do you think, Senator, the president appreciates the gravity of all of this?

The only reason why I mentioned is, it came to light today in his press briefing, where Dr. Fauci sort of dialed back some of that optimism he had about getting this under control, that it's pretty severe, that it's not to be dismissed.

I'm sort of giving it a quick read, but that he wasn't on the same page as the president, Dr. Fauci, in other words, to say that this is something the president doesn't really appreciate is getting bad?

THUNE: I think the president gets that.

I mean, his team is up here right now in full force. I mean, we have got Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary Scalia. We have a whole battery of people up here from the administration who are working with Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to craft a bill that addresses not only the health crisis, the health care crisis component, but also trying to deal with the economic harm that's been caused, not only for families and individuals and workers, but also for the small businesses that employ them.

And so there is a -- it's a full-court press, I believe. I think the president understands that. I think everybody understands that. All you have to do is look around the country and see what's happening.

But I think he is rightly focused on trying to come up with solutions that will beat the disease. And combating the virus and its spread is the best we can do right now. But we need to be putting all our efforts behind coming up with a solution that ultimately will treat this.

And I think that's where Dr. Fauci and all the members of the president's team have their eyes and their focus right now, but, in the meantime, we have got to assist the states, we have got to assist the hospitals, health care providers, people on the front lines, and try and do something to ensure that our small businesses don't go away.

CAVUTO: But who do you -- I guess what I'm asking, Senator, not -- OK, not to be rude, sir, but just to be clear, the president, he's not minimizing this. I don't want to give people the wrong impression.

He's optimistic. He's looking at the half-full glass. I get that. As a leader, that's a positive thing to do.

But when Dr. Fauci says, well, what he said, not quite, I -- this is still a serious issue, I mean, shouldn't he be deferring to the medical experts and their read?

THUNE: I think we all need to defer to the medical experts. And I think the president, like all of us, is listening very carefully.

I'm hearing from our health care providers in my state of South Dakota. And, obviously, their input shapes the decisions that are getting made here.

I think what people want out of the president, they want calm, measured and reassuring leadership. And I think that's what he's providing.

CAVUTO: All right.

THUNE: But he needs all of us to pull together.

And each and every one of us, as you know, needs to be washing our hands and staying away from crowds and making sure that...

CAVUTO: Indeed.

THUNE: ... if we're not feeling well, that we're not going outside.

CAVUTO: All right, sir, thank you very, very much.

I know it's been a crazy day, and it will be a crazy weekend for you guys.

By the way, we will be monitoring all of this live on my weekend show again on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00, when a lot of this will be hitting the fan, including this congressional action to deal with this.

But just for those of you who tuned in here, it was an awful closing on an awful week. The Dow now is back to levels it wasn't only before the president was inaugurated, but not too far from when he was first elected, 19173.

To put this in perspective for you, the Dow in little more than a few weeks has shed more than a third of its value, 35 percent from its highs, some issues 50, 60, 70 percent from their highs.

It's not that the economy is bad. It's not that the underlying fundamentals are questionable. It's not that the fact that companies are doing very well is at issue.

The question going forward is, can they continue to do that, when companies like AT&T and a host of others are saying, we're not so sure, when FedEx is saying, we're withdrawing guidance on the future because we don't know what the future looks like?

They sell first, they ask questions later.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, Illinois' governor the latest to propose a shelter in place for his residents.

That echoes what New York Governor Cuomo and California Governor Newsom have done in their respective states to limit residents from getting out and going to work, doing much of anything. It's not a lockdown.

But for a lot of folks who are in the middle of it, it certainly feels like that. If you look at all the states that have variations of this, you're talking 80 million Americans, so roughly, roughly a quarter of the U.S. population. Again, that could grow, out of an abundance of caution, we're told, by a number of the governors using it, including the governor of Illinois just a few minutes ago.

Let's get the read on how effective such measures are to combating a virus that seems to be spiraling out of control.

Dr. Bob Lahita joins us now at St. Joseph University. He's the chairman of medicine there.

Doctor, thank you for taking the time. I very much appreciate it.

DR. BOB LAHITA, ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: Thank you for having me, Neil.

So you're asking about...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: Go ahead. What do you make of this?

LAHITA: I think this is following the prescribed method of suppressing the infection.

There's two things you can do. You can suppress the infection, which is to keep people away from potentially infected individuals. And that's the way to go in the beginning. We're seeing an uptick in the number of aces, for sure, in the hospital emergency room, and as far as ambulance and 911 calls.

So, putting people in homes and apartments is a good way to suppress the infection rate. Social distancing that we practice now will cut a hole in this epidemic. So, this is not so draconian as everybody thinks, everybody saying, oh, my gosh, the sky is falling.

We got to slow the infectious process. And that's mitigation. That's the next step. But that doesn't stop the spread. So it should be the first line of defense -- it shouldn't be the first line of defense.

What should be the first line of defense is to suppress things. So that's why Governor Cuomo, I think, has chosen to keep all essential -- nonessential people out of the street, out of circulation, as it were.

CAVUTO: In Florida, they had quite the other problem, where people would congregate, but outdoors, on a beach or what have you. And Governor DeSantis here wanted to clamp down. And now he's going to address reporters in 10 minutes or so.

What do you think of those types of gatherings?

LAHITA: I think those type of gatherings are terrible.

I think that young people think that they're immune, no pun intended, to this infection, but they are not. In fact, we're seeing many of our most acute and most of our very, very sick cases are among 20- and 30-year-olds.

So the initial thoughts young people didn't have to worry is not the case. And to be in groups, closed groups, where there are more than, say, 20 people together gathered is insanity, as far as I'm concerned.

And we're seeing people now, young, young people, children, actually infected. Fortunately, we haven't had any terrible situations with children, but, in young people, I'm surprised at the number of people around the state who are intubated.

That means have a tube placed into their lungs so they can breathe better. These are young people and not necessarily older folks. Older folks are at the greatest risk, however, those with heart disease, diabetes, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. They know who they are. They in particular should stay home and out of circulation.

CAVUTO: Doctor, thank you very, very much. You always calm me down when I talk to you. I always appreciate that.

(LAUGHTER)

LAHITA: Thanks, Neil.

CAVUTO: Doctor, thank you very much for all your front-line work to help folks get through this.

They are the leaders in this battle, folks. We should be very grateful for all their hard work.

At the corner of Wall and Broad, a sell-off the likes of which we haven't seen in pointage terms since we really got back to the '87 stock market crash week, in overall percentages, the worst week since the 2008 financial crisis.

We are at levels now that are below where they were when Donald Trump first assumed office, and not all that far from when he was first elected president of the United States.

It could be interesting come Monday, because all the traders on the floor of the exchange, they won't be there. It will all be handled electronically. Think of that. The virus has chased the traders off the floor.

We will have more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, it's been a rough week. And I'm not talking just for the coronavirus, but world reaction to that virus, and, at the corner of Wall and Broad, for example, one of the worst we have seen since the financial meltdown.

With today's 913-point hit in the Dow, it's barely hovering over 19000, let alone 20000. Keep in mind, a little more than a month ago, it was flirting with 30000.

All of this could get a little complicating on Monday, when the New York Stock Exchange will still be trading, but without those famous floor traders you tend to see in all of these shots. It will all be done electronically.

They can do that, but the question is, what is lost in that process? Could it complicate the process? Could it exasperate the process right here, exacerbate the process any?

Let's get the read from Tim Anderson, the New York Stock Exchange trader.

How will this affect what you do, Tim? Obviously, there's no floor traders come Monday. What will that mean for the exchange?

TIM ANDERSON, TJM INVESTMENTS: Well, for a lot of people, it will mean, the portfolio managers and the big institutions that really rely on direct feedback from people on the floor as to the volume and price that a lot of stocks that they own, where they're going to open at, they won't get that information as quickly or as accurately as they might get it if people were down here that they're used to talking to on the phone every day.

So, a lot of them really tailor that how they're going to manage their buy and sell orders that day, in relation to what the volume might be around the opening, and then a lot later in the day around the close. So they will be guessing a lot.

Maybe there will be a little bit more tentative. Maybe the volumes will drop off a little bit. But, clearly, this is a world of the unknown, and we don't really -- we don't really know yet what all the implications will be.

CAVUTO: What happened today? I mean, we were down very much for a good chunk of the day, and then we accelerated it, and in the last hour-and-a- half, really accelerated like in the last half-hour.

ANDERSON: Yes.

CAVUTO: And the only thing I could go back to was the press session today that the president had, where there was a slight difference between his optimism and Dr. Fauci's more, I wouldn't say cynicism, but caution.

Maybe that was it. Maybe reports in Italy of deaths that exceeded on a single day more than we have seen on a single day out of any country, including China.

What was it? What is it?

ANDERSON: I really think you had a lot of big institutions really just raising cash just to have the cash reserves, because they don't know what we're going to be dealing with next week.

And the reason I say that -- and I don't want to make light of a day where the Dow was down almost 1,000 points. We're down 4.5 percent kind of across the board. But with these moves early in the week and the prior week, we'd have 20 issues down for everyone that was up.

I mean, some of the advanced decline stats the last two-and-a-half weeks have been mind-boggling. Today, we have got three stocks down for every two that are up.

So, the -- what we call the internals of the market aren't showing nearly the across-the-board weakness that we're seeing in the market averages. That, to me, tells me we're in maybe the initial phases of trying to define maybe a low or a tradable range for the near term.

I mean, without just over 30 percent in a month, as you just -- you stated at the intro.

CAVUTO: Right. Right.

ANDERSON: I mean, that's a lot. I don't care how bad the news is. Clearly, we're going to have really bad economic data in the second quarter. But when we come out of that, a lot of it should reverse.

CAVUTO: All right.

Well said. I appreciate that. And good luck on Monday. We will see how it goes without all those very smarty-pants traders on the floor to help guide us through all of this. We shall see.

In the meantime here, with the Dow drop today, we are off about 35 percent from our highs, and that's in little more than a month. And, as he just pointed out, that's a lot. Was it too much?

After this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)  CAVUTO: All right, the scene right now in Tallahassee, Florida, where we are waiting to hear from the Florida governor. He has already cracked down on large gatherings at beaches. Easier said than done.

The impact and what he could say in three seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: All right, a lot of people, through no fault of their own, are suffering mightily because of what's happened and the reaction, the global freeze on all types of business activity, since the coronavirus first emerged as a global threat, probably no more so than the airline industry that is increasingly looking at a bailout or some help of some sort, maybe about $50 billion worth.

Let's get the read on whether that comes to pass, whether it should come to pass from David Neeleman, the JetBlue founder, Azul Airlines founder. He is a pioneer in the airline industry. A lot of people said JetBlue wasn't going to go anywhere, that Azul wasn't going anywhere. Well, he made mincemeat of them.

So, David, let me ask you a little bit about this and the bailout that that's being kicked around.

And I understand where the airlines are coming from. It's not their fault that this virus got out of control and people stopped traveling.

But should they be restricted if they get it? In other words, should they be restricted on buybacks, stock buybacks, that sort of thing?   DAVID NEELEMAN, FORMER CEO, JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORPORATION: I think it depends on if it's a loan or if it's a grant. Obviously, if it's a grant, and they get money, then they should accept some of the terms.

But part of the problem, Neil, that we're at -- I'm sitting here watching the stock report -- I have spent -- the last two weeks, I haven't slept three hours a night. I'm trying to figure out how to save jobs. I'm trying to figure it out.

And I think the most discouraging thing for all of us is kind of the lack of uncertainty. If we could just tell us, this day, it will all end, then we will all be fine, but the lack of uncertainty.

And just in the last, I don't know -- I -- I stay up all night reading stuff, because I just can't -- I just -- I'm just an innovator. And just in the last few days, I have just -- I have -- I have found hope.

I have -- actually think that this thing's going to resolve itself really quickly. And how -- and I know that seems kind of crazy to all these people that are really upset right now.

And -- but one of the things that, when you saw this thing, it started in December. It could have started sooner in China, and then it exploded throughout the world, and it went to 100 different countries, one thing that never really kind of made sense to a lot of people is, is, how are we only having 295,000 cases, if something exploded this much?

And then I started reading some research. And a lot of people know that the denominator is wrong, but we don't know how many -- what factor it is wrong.

And I started reading some things out of University of Padua out of Italy, and a study that was done in China that says, between one -- nine out of 10 people that have this thing didn't -- never had a symptom. They never had a symptom.

CAVUTO: That's right.

NEELEMAN: And the science -- the study out of China is 87 percent.

Now, if we fix that denominator, right, if the denominator -- if, in the world, the cases were 10 times higher, if one out of -- if you have 10 times, these people are off infecting people who aren't having symptoms, and they're infecting people who don't have symptoms, then really the number is, if it was just 2.7 million, instead of 272,000, and then the death rate would be a lot lower.

So, how do you know that? And so...

CAVUTO: Exactly.

NEELEMAN: And so, Neil, I got really excited.

CAVUTO: I'm glad you mentioned that. I'm glad you mentioned that, because that denominator, with more cases, with more cases, will prove that.

(CROSSTALK)

NEELEMAN: Right. Right.

So, our death rate in the United States right now is 2 percent, which is bad. And we know that the majority of those people are old and had underlying conditions.

But what if the number that we had in the U.S. today wasn't 18,000, but it was 180,000? What if it was 1.1 million that have already had it? Then we would have an infinitesimal number, and that would change the way people think about it. Now,...

CAVUTO: But then, David, shouldn't we wait -- I'm sorry to jump on you, but then shouldn't we wait before we give anyone bailouts to see this curve turn on the virus, because it could be pouring good money after bad, right?

(CROSSTALK)

NEELEMAN: It could be. It could be.

Let me just tell you the most exciting part. Today, Boris Johnson is doing a great job. He had his press briefing today. And he came up with some really exciting news.

And I had read -- I -- first of all, Holland -- what Holland is doing -- what you have to do -- it's not the test that you get at the stations that you -- that you test that will tell you if you have the antibodies built up in your body. You have to actually take a blood test.

So, the Dutch have come up with their own test that determines the antibodies. And they're going to be testing -- 2,000 people a day in Holland give blood. So they're going to test this week 10,000 blood samples.

CAVUTO: All right.

NEELEMAN: And they're going to see what percentage of the people have the thing.

And then Boris Johnson today, in his press conference -- this is really exciting -- he said they're developing a test in England that's as easy as taking a pregnancy test that you will be able to take to see if you have the antibodies or not.

Now, I have got my parents that are 85 and 86 quarantined in Utah. They can't leave the house. And we can't see them. They can't see their grandkids.

But if I could go to them and see if they have the antibodies to be able to let them go, or if people that are afraid could take a test and see if they have the antibodies, and then the rest of us could just see...

CAVUTO: That would change things. It would change things substantially.

NEELEMAN: It would change things overnight.

CAVUTO: All right. All right, David..

NEELEMAN: And so I'm excited. I think -- and I wish we would talk more about that stuff in the United States.

CAVUTO: Got it.

NEELEMAN: But what they're doing to Europe, I think it's awesome.

CAVUTO: All right, thank you.

I'm being very rude to you. And I do not mean to be, my friend. Thank you very much for your curiosity with all of this.

NEELEMAN: No.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: It always proves to me why you are a pioneer in this industry.

To that point, and what we worry about, about the escalation in the number of cases, there is that flip side that David pointed out. It increases the dominator. The death rate, as a result, it is a macabre, maybe even tragic way of looking at it, but it does go down.

So many more people have this thing, but so fewer people are dying from it in percentage terms. There is that -- after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: How many cases of coronavirus are out there?

We're able to identify more now. And that does sort of change the denominator in all of this, which means you have a larger number of pool of people. But the flip side of that is, a smaller percentage of those people are dying from this.

So, it's a good and a bad thing.

Bill Hemmer has been looking at this from the very earliest days. He joins me now with a look at the latest.

Hey, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hey, Neil. Good afternoon to you.

And I just want to show you the Johns Hopkins map here, 258,000 total confirmed around the world.

Neil, just as you were coming to us, we reset the machine here. This come from a Web site generated out of Baltimore. That was at 265,000. Now it's at 258,000. Now, I'm not trying to be overly optimistic about all this, but I just want to point this out, that this is all happening in real time.

And these numbers literally change sometimes by the hour, certainly by the day here. So, the total recovered mark here is 87,000 globally. At 2:30 this afternoon, that was at 81,000. So you're getting a shift a little bit, as some of these countries and populations start to pull away from that, the time where they were worst affected by the virus, and now starting to move out of it.

One place that is not the case is Italy, 47,000 cases, Neil. There are more than 4,000 deaths report in that country. They had a grim headline -- going to move across the room -- they had a grim headline today, Neil.

They reported more than 670 people died today in one day alone out of Italy. And that's -- that follows a day after they reported another death toll of more than 400 in a single day. So, Italy is really getting racked on this.

Neil, I want to show these to you. This is the Italian line in yellow, South Korea in blue, and the United States here in green. The Italian line is not where you want to be. We here in the U.S. were below the South Korean line yesterday. And, today, we have just ticked above that, OK?

So I'm going to change something for you, Neil, and show you, perhaps in the U.S., to give us some more perspective about what's happening out there as we take in this information.

This is as of late last night, so, Thursday, March 19. These are the cases in the U.S. in yellow, and the New York cases here in blue, new cases going back a couple days, 12,000 in the U.S., 6,600 in New York. Just hold on to that number and watch this graph here.

Across the country, as of last night, We're at 14,250. But in New York, this is a -- this is a problem, Neil. In New York late last night, we spiked to 7,100. And that number could change rapidly.

Just for a bit more perspective on New York specifically, if you're at 7,100 last night, with 35 deaths reported -- that was Thursday. But take you back to Monday to start the week, on March 16. Watch this here, 1,300 on Monday, popped to 2,300 on Tuesday, 4,100 on March 18, and then yesterday 7,100.

Now, you could say that that's because we're testing more. And that's in all likelihood the case. You're getting more tests out there. People don't feel well, and they're going in for the examination. And they're coming back positive.

But at the moment, for the United States specifically, New York City is the epicenter for this. And we're going to watch this throughout the weekend.

New York right -- Neil, would ranked arguably eighth in the world a for, city for a single state, as opposed to all the other dozens and dozens of countries that are trying to add this up.

CAVUTO: Wow.

HEMMER: It's a problem here locally, Neil, and we will watch it for you.

CAVUTO: Just amazing.

Bill, thank you very much, my friend, Bill Hemmer, on all of that...

HEMMER: Sure.

CAVUTO: ... as he has been throughout this entire crisis.

The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, is addressing residents in his state. He urged people to get the heck off the beach, particularly younger people, millennials, and all the way down to Z and you name it, saying that they were being selfish. And now he's putting some teeth in that.

Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): ... is that construction workers, staff and cooks who were ill were not screened, and were allowed to go work their jobs and mix with the residents unimpeded.

That is exactly what you are not supposed to do. And so law enforcement will be there to help monitor the situation. We have requested the CDC to embed an infection control specialist on site.

I have now -- AHCA has an embedded staff at the facility around the clock. But if you are an operator of one of these facilities, you need to take responsibility to protect your residents.

This is a virus that is in certain communities spreading in Florida. And Broward is one of them. And you need to take action to protect your people.

On a better note, I'm happy to report that, yesterday, we announced the launching of a drive-through test site in Broward County, in conjunction with memorial health care and the Florida National Guard.

And I was very measured about what to expect, because most of these sites that tried to launch don't end up working out. And there's some major problems. So I told everyone, be patient, we're going to try to get it right.

But I'm happy to report, as of 4:00, the initial goal, I think, was to do about 250 samples collected. They have already collected 407 samples in this one test site on their first day. This is in C.B. Smith Park, 900 North Flamingo Road, Pembroke Pines, Florida.

And really the only thing you can do is go into the main gate. Hours of operation, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00, Monday through Sunday, started today, Friday, March 20.

The test result is, as many of you know, there's backlogs with the private labs. Memorial Health's lab is almost online. But we're obviously -- we'd love to turn those test results as soon as possible.

But this is something where they go in, they get screened. If they pass the initial screening, they go to step two. They fill out the registration and lab form. There's a collection. Then they get -- then they leave in their car, and Broward Memorial will run the lab and inform the individual of the results.

And so we would like to scale this up, and hopefully replicate it around the state, because I really think that the number one thing that we need is just a lot more people to have been tested.

If we have that...

CAVUTO: All right, we are listening to Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, the Sunshine State.

The problem there is, they have a lot of college kids and others enjoying the warm weather and enjoying their spring break and in crowds decidedly more than 10 or 50, more like hundreds. And the governor finally had to pull up a dad, and say, what the heck are you guys doing? Stop it.

So, they have stopped it. They have not gone to shelter in place in that state. The weather is simply too nice to do that.

And he's not signaled -- that is, Governor DeSantis -- that he would follow the likes of what California is doing, what New York is doing, what Illinois is doing, where they are trying to tell their residents, if you don't have to go outside, then don't.

Julie Banderas has been following this very, very closely.

But, Julie, it does seem to be the trend that a lot of these states and cities, municipalities, are going...

JULIE BANDERAS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Right.

CAVUTO: ... to limit your ability to go anywhere.

BANDERAS: Yes, it's interesting also to note that we heard from two governors today of two very large states.

We heard from Ron DeSantis just moments ago. We heard from Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has been doing, I must add, an incredible job at informing and keeping New Yorkers up to date, now that number, as Bill Hemmer just mentioned, reached over 7,000 corona cases here.

The difference, though, is the lack of urgency that we have seen out of the state of Florida until today. As you mentioned earlier, the beaches weren't closed. Spring breakers were out there. Key West was still open.

Well, now the Keys, the hotels, all the resorts, they have finally closed. The governor is also issuing executive orders to close movie theaters, concert houses, auditoriums, playhouses, bowling alleys, arcades, gymnasiums, what have you.

He is now issuing a number of executive orders, the way that our governor here in New York did. He also mentioned something interesting to note here, that they have now opened a remote test site.

Remember, Florida's numbers are nowhere near New York's. Right now, they have 520 cases in the entire state of Florida. Of course, those numbers go up as tests come in and 10 deaths at this point.

In Broward County alone, which is where he mentioned they are going to be setting up that remote test site, 124 cases there, in Miami-Dade, 113 cases.

They say there's two steps. Step one, you go in, and you get screened. Step two, you fill out a lab form, you go home, you wait for a phone call.

So, at least Florida's finally catching up, Neil.

CAVUTO: Finally.

All right. Thank you very much, Julie.

BANDERAS: Sure.

CAVUTO: Julie Banderas on all of that.

You get so freaked out when you hear about the coronavirus, right, that a lot of people think, oh, my God, what are my odds of just dealing with it? What are my odds of beating it?

Well, actually, very, very, very high, in fact, higher beating it than really getting really, really sick over it. Meet a survivor -- right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAVUTO: We do know, with the faster discovery of more cases -- and they can really rapidly discover this now, sometimes within minutes -- that you're going to get a lot more cases.

You have heard a lot about the denominator growing larger. And that worries folks, because when they hear that there are tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of potential more cases that could crop up worldwide, oh, my God, it's the end.

Well, the fact of the matter is that, obviously, that would change the equation a little bit. There'd be fewer people as a percentage that are really getting hurt by, let alone killed by this. But you can survive this.

And my next guest is a very good example of that. His name is John Mormando. He is a New Jersey virus survivor. He joins us out of Oakland, New Jersey, via Skype.

John, good to have you.

How you feeling now?

JOHN MORMANDO, RECOVERED FROM CORONAVIRUS: Hi, Neil. Thank you.

I'm feeling much better. Thank you. I'm feeling much better than I was a week ago. I can tell you that.

CAVUTO: Could you tell me a little bit about how you got it, how you came out of it?

MORMANDO: Well, as of right now, I think I got it from my bowling alley.

On March 1, I saw a buddy of mine. We said hello. He turned out a couple days later he was in the hospital. So, I -- he said he had pneumonia. So I didn't think anything of it.

I didn't get any symptoms at all for three to four days. And then I started getting a fever, and I started getting a cough. And then I started thinking, well, maybe this could be it.

So, I self-quarantined myself and went to the hospital the next day, did all the tests for everything but COVID, and now came back negative, Neil. So, we just thought it was a virus, maybe just a viral infection.

I didn't go out of the country. So, I wasn't really in the demographic for COVID-19. But, as it progressed, I started picking up things and just started thinking, this is -- this might -- this might be it. So I progressed it to my doctor in another hospital. And they admitted me.

CAVUTO: And how long were you in the hospital when they admitted you?

MORMANDO: So, I was at home for a full week, and then I was in the hospital for a full week.

They kept me there for just until -- at least until the fever started going down.

CAVUTO: Right.

MORMANDO: We wanted to see if that -- that was the main thing.

Once the fever started going down, they thought I was safe enough to go home. And that's -- I came up on Wednesday. So I have been on for a couple of days now.

CAVUTO: That's great. Do they consider you cured?

MORMANDO: They consider me recovered, because it's been 14 days since my first symptom.

Personally, I feel great. I'm feeling a lot better, thank God. I still have a little cough, but I think that's more than the pneumonia-like substance that is still in my lungs that's part of the virus.

I have no fever at all. I'm not getting any chills. So, I consider myself cured, but I'm not taking any chances. I'm still quarantined in my house away from my wife and my son. And I won't be going to work for anytime soon, or anywhere else, for that matter.

I'm considering myself in self-quarantine for another two weeks, to be safe.

CAVUTO: Yes, we want you to take care of yourself.

You know what's interesting too? Because you know, in New Jersey now, Governor Murphy has this statewide curfew in effect, says, if you don't have to go outside, don't. If it's not something viable, rethink it.

MORMANDO: Right.

CAVUTO: A number of states are doing the same thing.

Now, you suspect you pick this up in a bowling alley.

MORMANDO: Yes.

CAVUTO: Bowling alleys, like theaters and all, are few and far between that are operating.

MORMANDO: Right.

CAVUTO: Do you think that's overdoing it? What are your thoughts?

MORMANDO: I do not think that's overdoing it.

I mean, I got it from a handshake, Neil. It's -- this is something that we need to do.

CAVUTO: Wow.

MORMANDO: People do not need to go -- I mean, I'm an avid bowler. People do not need to go bowling.

There's no way they should risk their lives to go bowling, to go to the theater to go anywhere. I mean, it's serious. And we have to be diligent with us and smart.

CAVUTO: So, when you see some of these images, young people in particular earlier in the week who were still out on the beach, having a great time and all of that -- now, that they have been reined in and told, stop it already.

MORMANDO: Right.

CAVUTO: But, when you see that, what do you feel like saying?

MORMANDO: I think it's insane.

I mean, I know everybody -- listen, everybody likes to have a party, but it's insane. And their parents should be knocking them in the head, because this is just the dumbest thing I have ever seen.

(LAUGHTER)

MORMANDO: It really is. I'm sorry. It really is. It's the dumbest thing I have ever seen.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: I hear you.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: I agree with you.

MORMANDO: I mean, they all have -- they all have news on their phones.

CAVUTO: Yes.

MORMANDO: They see what's going on, and they just don't care. I mean, it's just crazy. It's...

CAVUTO: Yes.

MORMANDO: It should be illegal. I'm sorry. It's just -- it's just stupid.

CAVUTO: I'm with you, my friend. I'm so glad you're doing better right now.

MORMANDO: Thank you so much.

CAVUTO: John Mormando, please take care of yourself.

MORMANDO: Thank you. I am.

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: ... scare there.

MORMANDO: Yes.

CAVUTO: But this is very hopeful and an inspiration to a lot of folks.

Good health, my friend. Good health.

Isn't that amazing? So, you can survive this.

But all you kids on the beach, like he said, get off already!

All right, we are going to be exploring this in a lot more detail with our live show tomorrow. We will be looking at it from all angles with those who have a lot at stake and those even who do not, but looking at the long-term impact of this with a couple of big votes that will be going on through the weekend to provide more stimulus and more aid on the powers that be at both parties.

Remember, we are here for you. We're following the impact of this. This is your life. It's not just about money. It's just about market gyrations. Markets will come back my friends.

I'm the money guy here at FOX, and I can say that.

What we want is for you to come back. And you will.

Here comes "THE FIVE."

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