Today, Vice President Mike Pence led a discussion with the chief executives of over 50 States, territories, and Washington, DC, to provide an update on the all-of-America approach to respond to, prepare for, and mitigate the effects of COVID-19. The leadership of governors, mayors, county commissioners, and tribal officials is vital for effective emergency management. Emergency management in America is locally-executed, State-managed, and Federally supported, which allows for innovative solutions to be identified at the local and State level for the majority of issues. The Federal government helps scale best practices, coordinates key priorities, and provides regulatory flexibilities and key resources to supplement, but not replace private sector, local, and state resources. Federal leaders stressed that local leaders need to work with State leaders. Participants also discussed the importance of connectivity to healthcare providers and their associated supply chains to create a clear dashboard of all the key resources in each community and across each State. Many States have worked diligently to pull-together all of the key stakeholders in their State to have a coordinated, innovative, solution-focused supply management ecosystem.

The Vice President and Dr. Birx urged State and local leaders to regularly highlight the “15 Days to Slow the Spread” community mitigation guidance established by the CDC. Participants discussed the historic actions taken by the Federal government to support State, local, and private sector leaders, importance of data sharing between State and Federal governments, States removing telemedicine barriers, importance of Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) agreements to surge resources and personnel, preserving key medical supplies by curtailing elective medical procedures and appointments, and supporting small businesses and American workers.

The Vice President applauded specific Governors for driving innovative solutions to this unprecedented challenge, including implementing best practices in scaling testing, conserving key resources, communicating with local and tribal officials, waiving state regulatory barriers, and utilizing established emergency management structures to ensure coordinated efforts and communications across all levels of government.

Since January 2020, the Trump Administration has held over 60 briefings with over 35,000 State, local, and tribal leaders in every State and territory in the Nation. Leaders at every level of government and the private sector are working to bend the curve.