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CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL

D.C. Mayor Holds Press Conference

Aired October 21, 2001 - 13:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The Capitol Hill news conference is about to begin. I believe Lieutenant Dan Nichols of the U.S. Capital Police is speaking -- excuse me, this is Anthony Williams, the mayor of Washington, D.C.

MAYOR ANTHONY WILLIAMS, WASHINGTON, D.C.: I want to thank -- if I could have everyone's attention.

I want to thank everyone for being here today. I have with me Linda Crop (ph), who is the chair of our District Council. Sandy Allen (ph) is the chair of our Human Resources Committee on the council, Human Services. Ivan Walks is our director of health. Deborah Willhite is the senior vice president at the U.S. Postal Service; she's with us. Dr. Remi Cabaz (ph) from the Center for Disease Control is also with us. Ann Peterson (ph), the health commissioner from the state of Virginia. Georges Benjamin (ph), the secretary of health for Maryland. I thank all of them for being with us.

A couple of them will have a few comments to make to you, as well, before we answer questions.

I want to start out by sending the prayers and condolences of everyone in our city to the gentleman who is now gravely ill from contracting anthrax here in our city at the Brentwood postal facility.

Throughout this episode, since September 11, we've seen one story after another where people have exposed themselves in harm's way in the line of duty. Our postal employees are just another example of that, and certainly, our prayers and condolences go to all of the families who are and have been involved in all of this.

As you know from what we reported to you yesterday, since September 26 -- and Ivan can speak to you about this -- we've had a notification system working with our hospitals, our hospital associations, in the region, to move from tracking diagnosis to tracking symptoms.

And on that basis, we were alerted to someone in Fairfax who was, as they say, presenting himself with symptoms of inhalation anthrax. It now turns out that this has tested positive.

And on this basis, working very, very closely with federal officials, Centers for Disease Control, Secretary Thompson, Governor Ridge from Homeland Security, to craft a coordinated response, and they've assured us of everything we need moving forward.

We're now moving toward a new strategy, and that strategy is based on what we've done consistently, where we have confirmed cases, to go in on a conservative basis, on an aggressive basis, and make sure that everyone's getting the treatment they deserve as soon as they need that treatment.

And based on that, over 2,000 employees, I believe it's 2,000 employees exactly at the Brentwood facility here in the city, as well as 150 employees at the airmail center near BWI Airport, Baltimore- Washington International, these employees will be receiving testing and will be receiving treatment today beginning at 2 o'clock here at 441 in the District and tomorrow at D.C. General Hospital. And the Postal Service and CDC are working together to notify all the employees involved.

Before I turn this over to Ivan, I want to emphasize a couple of things. One, we're going to do everything we can and everything we have to do, working with the Postal Service, working with the CDC, with federal officials, with the state of Virginia and Maryland, our hospital association, through our public health department, to see that people are getting the treatment they need when they need that treatment, irrespective of where they are, where they come from, what they look like or where they work. It's very, very important.

Secondly, to let people know that we are on top of this situation, we're going to be providing information to people in real time through you and the media as soon as we get it, so that people understand what the threat is that's involved, what the risk is that's involved, so we can manage that risk, get on top of that risk, and continue our effort to bring back this city as we bring back this country, showing that we're going to stand up, return to our quality of life and repudiate what these terrorists have tried do.

Again, my heart and my prayers and certainly the hearts and prayers of everyone in our city go out to families involved and workers involved. My mother and father work for the post office, so this is something very personal to me. They're all raising families, they all have loved ones. And our prayers are with them.

And without further ado, let me turn this over now to Ivan Walks, who is the chief health officer for the District, to talk about some of the details involved.

Ivan?

IVAN WALKS, D.C. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DIRECTOR: Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Good afternoon. Today we're coming to talk to you about two things. One is about the positive test result. Many of you know. We've gotten phone calls for the last several hours.

But I want to start by talking about an upgrade in our public health system regionally that has worked. We talked a little bit about this yesterday when, by moving to a symptom-reporting paradigm, we received early notification that someone had come in with symptoms that were suspicious. We all knew. We notified you when we got early test results that did not rule out anthrax, so we could all be on the same page.

We've worked very closely with Maryland and Virginia; they're here today. CDC has been with us. We've been working with the folks on the federal side; their supplies are here with us today.

BLITZER: Dr. Ivan Walks, the chief health officer of the District of Columbia, providing details of the new cooperation between the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, in dealing with this latest anthrax case, the anthrax scare, the investigations going on in Washington.

Mayor Anthony Williams of the District of Columbia telling all of us that the postal worker, unidentified in a hospital in Northern Virginia, in Fairfax, Virginia, is, in his words, gravely ill.

And outlining new procedures that going into effect today. Some 2,000 postal workers at the Brentwood facility here in the District of Columbia will be tested and treated for potential anthrax infections. One hundred and fifty other postal workers at the airmail center near Baltimore-Washington International Airport, about halfway between here and Baltimore, actually closer to Baltimore, will also be tested and treated, presumably receiving at least some days of Cipro, the antibiotic that has been effective in dealing with anthrax.

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