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Long Lines as U.S. Travelers Return; France and Spain Restrict Movement to Stop Spread of COVID-19; Global Stock Markets Tumble, Wall Street Falls into Bear Market; Questions and Answers about Coronavirus; Volunteers Help HIV Patients in Wuhan; Service Workers Face Added Risks during Health Crisis; How to Shop amid Coronavirus Stockpiling. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired March 15, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, everyone, and welcome to Studio 7 here at CNN Center in Atlanta. I am Michael Holmes.
Coming up here, massive lines at airports across the United States. Americans return home to Europe to beat the deadline.
The White House says the president tested negative for the coronavirus as the United States ramps up its travel restrictions.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers some of the common questions about the virus for us.
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M. HOLMES: A warm welcome, everyone.
Travel to the United States right now has become a real nightmare for thousands and thousands of people. Passengers getting off planes are hitting a wall of humanity, chaos too, confusion as well, like here at O'Hare International in Chicago. Just have a look at the crowds.
People waiting in unimaginable long lines for hour after hour, not only for immigration and customs but to get the CDC screenings to ensure they do not have symptoms of coronavirus.
Precautions like social distancing, you can forget about it.
A frustrated governor, JB Pritzker of Illinois, tweeted directly at president Donald Trump late on Saturday. He said it was the best way to get the president's attention. He said, "The federal government needs to get its s@#t together now."
Earlier I spoke with Katherine Rogers, who found herself in the middle of all that chaos and asked her what she went through.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATHERINE ROGERS, RETURNING TRAVELER: We got off our plane. We were directed down a hall in the international terminal. We've got on an escalator and it was just -- there were people just piled up at the bottom. And that line went all as far as the eye could see, around the corner, through the customs area and snaked around.
We went through two different Customs and Immigration checkpoints before CDC screening.
M. HOLMES: This is clearly more than one plane.
So this was multiple planes coming in from Europe to beat the ban?
ROGERS: Yes, mostly Europe and I guess also a couple of other countries that are on the list.
M. HOLMES: Absolutely extraordinary.
What was the main holdup from your perspective?
ROGERS: We had a customs official make an announcement, work his way down the line, announcing what would happen, that we would go through multiple screenings and be checked by the CDC. He said this was at the request of the president.
He acknowledged that the situation was terrible and that there was nothing else they could do.
M. HOLMES: How long was your ordeal?
How long was it?
ROGERS: Four and a half hours.
M. HOLMES: Four and a half hours. I've seen reports of longer than that, seven, even more.
Do you feel, at the end of the day, you were given a screening?
ROGERS: Well, we were given a questionnaire, asking where we had been and if we felt all right. There were three questions.
Do you have a fever?
How do you feel?
Then there was an infrared thermometer and that was it.
M. HOLMES: Wow.
ROGERS: I don't --
(CROSSTALK)
ROGERS: -- having everyone in the same place was a terrible idea.
M. HOLMES: This is what I was about to say. The phrase of the day is social distancing. Looking at these photographs, it is the opposite.
What is your reaction to that, when we're being told to stay away from each other?
ROGERS: Everyone was flabbergasted. It seemed illogical and counterproductive.
M. HOLMES: What were they saying to each other?
What were they saying to you?
ROGERS: There was a lot of conversation in 4.5 hours in line with people.
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ROGERS: You've got the general get to know you. And then you got the, what are we waiting for?
What could be taking so long?
Why do they have us all in the same place?
No one felt that it was safer for us to be coming in from all over the world and then kept together for 4.5 hours.
M. HOLMES: This, of course, after getting off a 9-10 hour flight in some cases, on top of that.
The other thing that -- somebody messaged me earlier and said, all these people have been gathering in one place, they've come back from overseas, they will probably all go to Costco and Kroger tomorrow to stock up on their groceries.
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ROGERS: That is a fair point, yes.
Everyone was kind of surprised. Most people got word in the middle of the night or the middle of Wednesday night, Thursday morning, wherever they were, but that something was up.
But if you called your airline and asked about what you should do -- and I am a citizen, can I come back, what do I do -- the airlines had no idea what was going on. So it was very confusing for everyone. No one knew if they needed to come home immediately or if they could even get a flight. So it was not a clear situation.
M. HOLMES: Clearly you think that this was not well thought through from ban to entry?
ROGERS: No, I do not think so. The people working were very polite. Someone mentioned to us who was working there that this is such a fluid, constantly changing situation, we have no idea. M. HOLMES: Where were you coming back from?
ROGERS: Paris.
M. HOLMES: Paris.
How are you feeling being back in the country now with what's going on?
ROGERS: Well, that's to be determined. I am very tired. It has been a long 24 hours. So I hope that my experience tonight was not indicative of our entire response to the pandemic.
M. HOLMES: There has been a lot of complaints about that in terms of testing for sure.
One question I should ask you, have you seen anyone that looked as if they were unwell or triggered anything?
ROGERS: I do not think so no. There were some wearing masks and gloves but there was no -- I did not notice anyone overtly ill.
M. HOLMES: Katherine, really appreciate your time. You must be exhausted. I hope you get some rest. Thank you so much.
ROGERS: Thank you.
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M. HOLMES: And the World Health Organization says more than 142,000 people have become infected during the pandemic. Nearly 5,400 of them have died.
The new U.S. travel restrictions on people from the European Union have been extended, as we've said, to include citizens of the United Kingdom and Ireland. That begins midnight on Monday. It does not apply to American citizens but they may do self quarantining when they are back in the United States.
In the U.S., which has more than 2,800 cases, the White House says U.S. president Donald Trump's test for coronavirus came back negative. The White House now says that it will be screening anyone coming in close contact with the president or the vice president for signs of fever.
That resulted in one person being turned away from Saturday's news conference at the White House, as the president waited for results of his test. We get one from CNN's Kristen Holmes.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump surprised reporters and Americans when he announced at a press conference this morning that he had decided to take the coronavirus test.
Remember this came after the president said that he wasn't too concerned, that he would probably take it but that he did not have any symptoms. Now we have the results back. We will pull up this letter for you. This came from the White House doctor late on Saturday night.
It said, "Last night after an in-depth discussion with the president regarding the COVID-19 testing, he elected to proceed. This evening, I received confirmation that the test is negative."
He goes on to talk about the week after -- it's been a week since the president had dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-lago and that they'd been monitoring the president. At least one member of that delegation was positive for the coronavirus.
This is coming at a time when we had asked the president repeatedly if he was going to get tested. We asked what kind of precautions he was taking to keep himself safe. Essentially the president said he was not going to change anything. He said he would keep having those rallies.
He has since canceled some of them but he said he is going to keep shaking hands. We saw him as recently as yesterday him shaking hands with everyone in the Rose Garde, even though those whole health officials were the ones who told him not to come into contact, no handshaking, keep the social distancing.
This is clearly an effort to ramp up the reaction to the coronavirus, particularly when it comes to President Trump and his safety regarding the virus -- in Washington, I'm Kristen Holmes, CNN.
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M. HOLMES: France is closing all restaurants, cafes, cinemas and clubs in order to fight the pandemic. The prime minister saying the measure applies to all places that do not perform an essential function. Places of worship will remain open but religious ceremonies and gatherings will be postponed.
Journalist Catherine Norris-Trent joins us from Paris.
Give us a sense of these restrictions and how they're going to unfold and what precautions might think about it all?
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CATHERINE NORRIS-TRENT, FRANCE 24 CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michael. France is entering a new phase.
Pretty much on lockdown. You are still allowed out to walk around the streets. But all cafes, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, theaters, cinemas are all closed down. All apart from nonessential stores such as food shops or drug or pharmacies.
That came after a bit of a shock announcement from the French prime minister Edouard Philippe. A lot of people were out enjoying a meal, not really having listened to some of the advice from the government to keep distance from others.
There was a buzzing nightlife in Paris on Saturday night. Then the prime minister appeared on television, telling the nation that they should remain indoors, hat they should not get together in groups together.
Then four hours later, the ban came into force. For a lot of people, it's hitting home for them. Just about how serious this could be. France has entered what it has calls stage 3 of dealing with coronavirus.
That means that it is actively circulating through the whole of the French territory, 4,500 confirmed cases and 91 deaths. We are in state street (ph) so French authorities are not seeking to identify everyone, just those with severe symptoms. There will be several more cases besides those identified so far.
M. HOLMES: If they're not testing everyone with symptoms, then we don't know how many there are, same as the U.S. Catherine Norris- Trent, appreciate it, there in Paris.
The Spanish government imposing a nationwide lockdown after a spike in coronavirus there. It comes as the prime minister's wife tested positive for the infection. The situation changing so rapidly in Spain that British airline Jet2 decided to turn around five flights midair that were already en route to Spain. It has now halted all flights into the country.
The strict measures on public movement now in place have emptied the once bustling streets of Madrid. Journalist Al Goodman is there and explains this how life is changing in the capital.
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AL GOODMAN, JOURNALIST: What Spain's coronavirus state of emergency looks like in Madrid. The city of 6.6 million people told to stay home, like the whole nation.
With the restrictions, the capital is like a ghost town. This gourmet food market, which is normally packed, is closed, like all other bars and restaurants in town. But it does make it easy to get one of these tourist tuk-tuks.
Spain suddenly has the second highest number of infections in Europe after Italy. Madrid is hardest hit with more than half of Spain's cases and fatalities. Prime minister Pedro Sanchez wants to slow down the pace of new infections that officials say could overwhelm hospitals.
Under the state of emergency starting late Saturday, the government banned people from leaving their homes except for a few essential activities. They can still go to food stores and pharmacies but they have to go alone.
People can go to work but driving must only be for essential activities and not for leisure.
This man out shopping for food is a medical doctor and a cancer specialist. "I'm reasonably concerned, he says, "but also reasonably optimistic
that this situation could be controlled more quickly than what is being predicted."
This butcher says clients are buying extra meat just in case. There are still supplies for now.
"As quickly as we opened we might have to close," he says. "The government says it will get worse. Many people do not know how this will play out."
This couple arrived from Britain for a birthday celebration weekend. They are now out searching for food.
KEVIN MEEHAN, BRITISH TOURIST: I think the virus is spreading and all cities will be getting worse, maybe on lockdown sooner than we think.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it will be the same all over Europe very quickly.
GOODMAN: But the Spanish prime minister says not so fast. It will take weeks, he says, but Spaniards working together will stop the virus -- Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.
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M. HOLMES: The pandemic is wreaking havoc on global markets. Saudi Arabia and the UAE announced a massive stimulus plan. What that might mean for the price of oil, we will discuss when we come back.
Also, should you stay or should you go?
What to consider if you're weighing travel plans during the pandemic.
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M. HOLMES: Welcome back.
Globally countries around the world are attempting to combat the coronavirus not just on their populations but also their economies, so much so countries are coming up with stimulus plans. Joining me now to discuss is our own John Defterios from Abu Dhabi.
Let's talk about the pressure on the markets.
In particular, what is the outlook for Europe?
Obviously there are risks of a slowdown if it is not already happening.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: I saw your report from Catherine in Paris. We've seen France and Spain are following in the footsteps of Italy, limiting the movement of people, closing restaurants, limiting transportation, doing the right thing when it comes to health.
But we have to start recognizing what this impact will have on economic growth. I think it is very difficult to avoid a recession and even perhaps wiping out a half-year or two quarters of growth entirely.
This is almost like a cancer hitting the weakest economies. They were the weakest coming into the downturn before the virus appeared. So this is the challenge for Italy, in particular, with a debt to GDP of over 130 percent.
We'll see an experiment in real time because the U.K. is taking a different approach, trying to keep transport open and everything moving as much as possible to try to protect growth and even air travel at this point.
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DEFTERIOS: So we will have two experiments playing out.
This uncertainty is wreaking havoc on Wall Street. We saw a 9 percent jump on Friday after a lot of gyrations and markets going into bear market territory with loss of 20 percent or more.
Let's take a peek at the Dow futures, they are actually pointing lower yet again. We have a snapshot here of the Dow futures, Nasdaq futures and the S&P 500, pointing down anywhere from 0.6 percent to 1.5 percent.
You can see one day you're up, with hopes of a plan going forward; the next day you're down and it looks we will open on Monday morning Wall Street down as well.
M. HOLMES: It will also be based on facts that are created by this whole virus. Tell us about efforts in your region where you are in the Middle East, of course, impacts there.
What kind of stimulus going on?
DEFTERIOS: Michael, they put this report out yesterday of a stimulus plan for both the UAE central bank and Saudi Arabia because trading starts here on Sunday, $40 billion in total, three quarters coming from the UAE, about 8 percent of their total GDP, about $30 billion.
They're targeting small and medium-sized enterprises, trade and tourism. So the wheels of commerce continue to move forward. I thought it was interesting that, despite the announcement, we're seeing the Dubai stock market index down about 3.5 percent, Abu Dhabi trading down 2.5 percent. We see a different picture in Saudi Arabia, with the market much more
stable, taking the stimulus in stride. I have to say this is quite a bold measure we're seeing in the Middle East, particularly in the UAE because of the uncertainty on transport and serving as a global service airline hub.
They are very oil dependent economies and we've seen this challenge with oil prices down 50 percent since the beginning of the year.
M. HOLMES: To that point very quickly, you mentioned Saudi Arabia amid all the virus related economic fallout, there's been a little oil war as well.
DEFTERIOS: Yes. It emerged when I was covering the OPEC Plus meeting in Vienna. So the strategy is instead of cutting down to 1.5 million barrels a day, they disagreed with Russia so it is an all out price war with Saudi Arabia and the UAE adding 3.6 million barrels a day starting in April.
South Korea put out a report saying its oil demand is down 10 percent. So this is a perfect storm, demand is dropping, Russia and the Arab producers disagreeing with what to do next. As a result, we've seen prices down around $30 a barrel. It is quite a shock to this region on revenue.
M. HOLMES: I'm sure it is. Good to have you on top of these things for us, John. Thank you. Appreciate it.
U.S. stocks bouncing back from that brutal week on Friday. but will it last?
Despite all the gains, all industries and it down more than a percent for the week. Earlier I spoke to Ryan Patel, senior fellow at Drucker School of Management to find out if that R word -- recession -- is appropriate now.
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RYAN PATEL, GLOBAL BUSINESS EXECUTIVE: The fine point is the recession where it is not even in the conversation because we're still trying to figure out how much the drop is. The R word isn't in conversation right now. Most people are not talking about it because they don't know the details of how bad the companies are hit.
If you think about what recession means, it means employment rates are low, it means consumer confidence is low, it means that there is fewer people working, less money being spent.
If we saw what we saw this past week, in those big jumps -- and we will see that in the next few weeks. We'll see some of these companies maybe close longer term. But that could obviously trigger that R word in that case.
Obviously it's interesting how the recession word is not out there because people are also hopeful to see stabilization. On Friday, that was probably the first time something, some kind of policy put some stability into the market. But as you know, there are a lot more developments happening.
M. HOLMES: I think a lot of what he said that would push the Dow up literally as he spoke later turned out to be exaggerated or not true. After the latest news conference, the futures I think are down. The markets do not seem overall reassured. If they opened now, they probably erased those gains on Friday.
When it comes to the Fed, who Trump loves to criticize, what room is there for them to move?
How many tools are still there?
PATEL: He's criticizing the Fed and now looking for them to do something. It also does not provide that much confidence. There is not much room for the Fed to do it.
[03:25:00]
PATEL: What we really need -- and you hit it on the head -- we need a strong message from the administration, a strong plan for companies to follow because it is unclear.
You talk about Thursday and Friday this past week, going into the next two weeks. You think about New York and Los Angeles, things are shutting down for the next two weeks. Schools are shutting down. Companies are moving their policy. It does have an effect.
That wasn't baked into the markets so (INAUDIBLE) -- don't get me even started on conferences and things that are postponed. We don't know even where their revenue stream comes from. I think right now how we talk about people being resilient, communities being resilient, Wall Street will need some resiliency.
M. HOLMES: What would a rate cut do anyway during a pandemic situation?
It could potentially have long-term problems to cut too much.
PATEL: When you're talking about negative rates, that's the conversation on the table. Bank of England had to cut rates. But when you have these low rates it does not really feel that much of a difference. It has to be tied to other stimulus packages.
That are not something that's going to happen in a few months. It needs to hit now, immediately to make an impact, otherwise you will not feel it.
M. HOLMES: Right. We often talk about consumer confidence is everything. Now is not the time for much consumer confidence.
What sort of impact will that have, aside from grocery stores, which must be doing very well?
What is your take on consumer confidence in this sort of pandemic environment? PATEL: Cash is king. People are hoarding and spending. Yes, groceries are winning but they do not have enough inventory to sell. They're out immediately one day and they were not ready to pack up. I think what happens is why consumer confidence goes down is for multiple reasons.
The first one is layoffs in jobs, how long are you going to pay someone who's an hourly worker?
Yes, some companies have been stepping up like Patagonia and Starbucks, ensuring that hourly workers get paid.
But how long does that go for?
Months?
Weeks?
We don't know the actual acceleration yet. But for the next two weeks, I can tell you, it will almost feel like a lockdown here.
You see what happened in Spain, Italy, France is there, too. So there is a domino effect. And companies are starting to look at it. American Airlines decided from March to May, they will cancel long haul international flights. That has an effect.
So when people see these things, it does hurt consumer confidence because it tells them spending is probably not something they should be doing.
M. HOLMES: Indeed. Ryan, good to see you, Ryan Patel in Los Angeles, appreciate it.
PATEL: Thanks, Michael.
M. HOLMES: From toilet paper to hand sanitizers, the coronavirus has led to shortages of key goods in the U.S. What experts say you really need to stockpile when we come back.
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M. HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM and it's time to check the headlines for you this hour.
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M. HOLMES: Many of you have questions about the rapidly spreading coronavirus and what it means for you and your loved ones. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to provide some answers.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: All week long we've been getting all sorts of questions about the coronavirus, they keep coming in, they are different questions from last week and different from the week before.
So we wanted to try to answer as many of them as possible.
The first one, when it comes to taking precautions against COVID-19 or the novel coronavirus in the office, what can employees do?
I think basics definitely apply obviously. If you are sick, don't come to work. That is true with or without a coronavirus infection spreading.
If you see somebody sick, obviously don't be near that person. The distance that those respiratory droplets will be around is around three to six feet. So that is a safe sort of distance in terms of a social distance within an office space, within any kind of space really.
And by the way, that is why a lot of these big mass gatherings are increasingly getting canceled because it is hard to find the social distance of people sitting right next to each or standing right next to each other. So keep the distance.
Stay home if you are sick. Clean surfaces as much as possible. You know, be that crazy person with the wipes for a while. I've been that crazy person for a long time. I think it can be a benefit.
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GUPTA: What are some of the common ways people spread germs and viruses in the office?
Same thing, typically through the respiratory droplets and by touch, touching things, moving your hand, touching something else, moving the virus from one place to another place and then someone touches it and they get infected.
So try not to touch things. It is hard. And when I say touch things, I mean touch objects, touch surfaces, touching your face. Try not do that as much as possible.
What would you recommend to keep our mental health in check as we increase social distancing and working remotely?
That is a great question and I'm thinking about it a lot personally with my own family, my own friends.
First of all, social distancing does not need to mean social isolation. There are many ways that we can still stay connected and maybe we can even stay more connected than we typically do. One thing about this virus, as I've been reporting on it for so long
now and talked to so many people here in the United States and in other places around the world, is that there is this realization I think that we are -- we're all in this together.
This is a pathogen that affects everyone and doesn't discriminate against anyone. We're all in this together. And we're in a position now where our individual behaviors have such an impact on the people around us.
Your health is so dependent on how I behave and my health is so dependent on how you behave. So if you are practicing good hygiene and making sure you are not a source of spread, you are doing it not just for yourself but all the people around you as well.
And I think there is something that is, in a way -- it brings us together in a way that I have not seen before. And I think that hopefully maybe that relieves a little bit of anxiety and brings us together. And we'll keep answering questions; please keep sending them in. And we'll do our best to get to as many of them as possible.
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M. HOLMES: If you do want more answers, you can check out Dr. Sanjay Gupta's podcast, "Coronavirus: Fact versus Fiction." You can find it on our website or however you normally get your podcasts.
The coronavirus has created dilemma for travelers, especially if they booked in advance. CNN's Anna Stewart looks if it's still safe to take that trip.
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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Coronavirus is continuing to spread fast around the world. Some governments have placed travel bans on passengers coming from certain areas.
So for some globe-trotters, that dream vacation may have to be put on hold. But for others, there's still the option to go. With many train stations and airports still packed with travelers getting off to various destinations, you may be wondering, should I stay or should I go?
The answer, well, it's something of an equation.
Where are you going?
Who are you?
What would happen if for some reason you get stuck at your destination?
And what will the impact be on your return?
Let's take the first of the equation: where are you going?
LIAM SMEETH, LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE: The situation's really fast moving and changing almost every day so the key thing if you're going to travel is to check the government website of both your home country and where you are going. See if it's a high risk area.
There's some places you should not go at all, such as Wuhan province and Iran.
STEWART (voice-over): Some countries have closed borders and others have issued bans to and from specific regions of the world. The U.S. State Department has recently warned its citizens against traveling abroad.
Then there's the question of who you are.
SMEETH: There's a certain risk group of people with underlying illnesses and older people.
STEWART (voice-over): Underlying health conditions not to put people at risk include heart disease, lung disease and diabetes.
What happens if you get there but, due to the spread of coronavirus, you can't get home?
Are you covered by insurance?
If not, can you afford an extended trip?
SMEETH: Certainly people should not be traveling to areas if their governments or those of the countries are saying they don't want visitors because they won't be insured. Otherwise they need to speak with their insurance to know what is covered. You need to consider that you're going to be stuck for two weeks.
STEWART (voice-over): Then the last thing to consider is if you will need to self quarantine when you return. Depending where you travel or connect through, there are varying degrees of risk. You also need to consider how easy it would be to work from home and whether your employer will pay you to do that.
SMEETH: I think returning from very high risk areas, returners are asked to phone health authorities and self isolate, even if they're well.
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SMEETH: But for most areas, as long as you're well, get home safely and if you don't have any symptoms I think you will be OK.
STEWART (voice-over): So should you stay or should you go?
It will be different for everyone and you have to work out that risk. There's always next year and your health is much more important than a holiday. (END VIDEOTAPE)
M. HOLMES: Anna Stewart reporting there. A new network of giving, borne out of fear and stress. Those infected with coronavirus are not the only ones worried about getting the help they need. We'll explain when we come back.
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M. HOLMES: At the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, many restrictions have left some HIV and AIDS patients facing the risk of running out of medication. Despite those challenges some are stepping up to donate their medication to coronavirus patients. CNN's David Culver takes a look at this new network of giving.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the epicenter of the outbreak, a flurry of activity inside Wuhan's infectious disease hospital. This is where novel coronavirus patients in serious condition get treated.
But the people you see here are volunteers, risking their own health, trying to get medications for another group of patients, those living with HIV and AIDS.
Since January 23rd's unprecedented city lockdown, activity without and within Wuhan has been heavily restricted. The World Health Organization has praised the extreme measures, believing to be effective.
But volunteers tell CNN that those strict policies make it tough for thousands of people with HIV and AIDS to get their methods.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): HIV patients need to take medication every day. If the medication stops, their bodies can become resistant. If the virus rebounds in the patient body, it's likely to cause serious infection, even endangering the patient's life.
[03:45:00]
CULVER (voice-over): The government loosened restrictions on where residents could obtain medications in late January. And it instructed community officials to get residents with chronic diseases their medications.
But some HIV patients are reluctant to reach out for help. We spoke by phone with a 69 year old with HIV in Wuhan. He asked us not to reveal his identity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I can't afford to let my community know. What if the word got out? I would not be able to walk out the door. CULVER (voice-over): With each passing day his supplied medications
dwindled. He grew desperate until volunteers got involved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm so thankful on behalf of all HIV patients. I want to tell them thank you.
CULVER (voice-over): To some extent, the same social stigma and fear that people with HIV carry with them is now being felt with those with the novel coronavirus. China's national health commission's guidelines state that some medicines that can suppress HIV can also be used to treat coronavirus, though several Chinese and international health experts dispute their effectiveness.
Still some with HIV outside of Hubei province were eager to help those diagnosed with coronavirus. This man is one of them. He called up other HIV patients to engage them to donate what medicine they could.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is prescribed medicine. You can only get it in designated hospitals. When it was announced in being effective to treat the novel coronavirus, many patients couldn't get it. So we wanted to make our spare medicine useful.
CULVER (voice-over): He made his offer public on Chinese social media to coronavirus patients. Hundreds reached out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Many people might think we are weak and we need help. But that is just a stereotype. We are only virus carriers. We can also help others.
CULVER (voice-over): Li (ph) and his friends say they have mailed out medications to more than 300 coronavirus patients. It created a network of giving and perhaps, more importantly, a shared societal understanding -- David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.
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M. HOLMES: CNN NEWSROOM will be right back.
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M. HOLMES: The coronavirus is, of course, forcing a lot of people to work from home. The goal is to stop the virus from spreading through what they call social distancing. For most blue-collar and service workers, teleworking is not an option. Many are worried about paid sick leave. CNN's Polo Sandoval with more on that.
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DAN DAVIS, AIRCRAFT CABIN CLEANER: Every hour, every minute I'm at risk.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, Dan Davis never really considered his job as high risk.
DAVIS: What I do is I go on board and clean the plane. I think have to pick up the pillowcases, I have to pick up the laundry, the blankets.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): The New Yorker is a cabin cleaner, sometimes boarding up to 10 planes a shift and coming into contact with what passengers from all over the world leave behind. To Davis, that means his risk of exposure to the virus is even higher.
DAVIS: They give us mandates, which is the gloves, the masks, the hand sanitizer.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): But lately the 57-year-old worries those measures aren't enough to protect him. He only has a handful of state- mandated sick days to use should he become ill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Housekeeping.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Like most in the service industry, taking any additional leave would mean no pay.
DAVIS: A lot of poor people are at risk if they don't go to work. As they say, damned if you do, damned if you don't. So some people roll the dice. They go and hope and pray that they don't get sick.
Federica Tlatelpa is afraid to go to work for the first time in her nearly 15 years cleaning facilities at JFK airport.
FEDERICA TLATELPA, AIRPORT EMPLOYEE: (Speaking Spanish).
SANDOVAL (voice-over): She tells me she feels a greater risk coming into contact with thousands of travelers every day. Labor statistics show nearly 34 million Americans have no access to sick leave.
That means lower wage employees filling traditionally blue collar jobs may be feeling added pressure to stay on the job amid the worsening pandemic.
LANE JENSEN, RIDESHARE DRIVER: People aren't going to want to go out because they're scared to go out. It's going to put a hurt on everybody's business, everybody including myself.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Oregon rideshare driver Lane Jensen is protecting himself and his customers. Uber and Lyft are among the companies now offering some form of economic help for employees who test positive for coronavirus or who have to self-quarantine.
The White House and Congress are poised to take action to help workers, including those who can't afford to stay home.
DAVIS: I wouldn't say scary but it is alarming, right? And something has to be done about this. Corona's here. It's here for -- I hope not for a while but it's here.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): As some workers heed advice to stay home, others can't afford to stop clocking in -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.
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M. HOLMES: Anxiety about the coronavirus has led to long lines at supermarkets in the U.S., indeed all around the world, of course. Many consumers are looking to stockpile food and cleaning supplies. CNN's Brian Todd spoke to some experts about what is actually needed.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shopping in the age of coronavirus, Sera Tansever wears a mask and gloves when hitting her local grocery store in Washington because she doesn't want to transfer germs to her mother, who has an autoimmune condition.
TODD: Are you scared about this whole thing?
SERA TANSEVER, GROCERY SHOPPER: Yes, I am. I've been following it pretty closely now and it is just I don't want us to be in a situation like Italy.
TODD (voice-over): Across the U.S., stockpiling seems to be everywhere. A prominent analytics firm says online sales of, quote, "protection items" like hand sanitizer, gloves and antibacterial sprays shot up 817 percent in January and February because many people can't get them in stores.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whenever we do get new rations in of hand sanitizer and wipes, we actually put them out by the registers and they go within minutes.
TODD (voice-over): And there are runs on many other items.
TODD: Were you trying to buy anything that you couldn't get?
MAUREEN MILMOE, GROCERY SHOPPER: Yes, actually. All the toilet paper is gone, a lot of the frozen foods and the breads.
CHASE HICKS, GROCERY SHOPPER: It is pretty hectic, a lot of the frozen vegetables, cleaning supplies.
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HICKS: Even to a certain extent meats and dairy are hard to come by.
TODD (voice-over): It is exhausting people on the other side of the grocery industry. At a Morton Williams supermarket in New York, bread distributor Richie Maruffi is racing to restock.
RICHIE MARUFFI, ARNOLD BREAD DISTRIBUTOR: Every single supermarket is just completely wiped out. And I can't even keep up.
TODD (voice-over): But some public health experts say, let's slow down a bit.
DR. IRWIN REDLENER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: They don't need a year's word of toilet tissue. They don't need cartons of paper napkins. They don't need to buy, you know, food for six weeks.
TODD (voice-over): Experts say it is important for consumers to realize this situation is temporary. Focus on simple nonperishables that can sustain us inside our homes.
REDLENER: Figure out what your family likes and it may be cans of tuna fish, it may be peanut butter and jelly, whatever it is that you feel like you can plan for a couple weeks of not being able to go outside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have medications in your home so you don't have to go out and refill a prescription if you don't need to.
TODD (voice-over): Health experts say crowding into the local grocery store is not the healthiest move, standing in those long lines within a few inches of people is not the kind of social distancing that is recommended. And they say, wherever you shop, do it calmly.
REDLENER: There's no reason to panic, to rush out and buy every item on the shelves. That just increases people's sense of doom and gloom here, which will not be necessary.
TODD: Public health and consumer experts have a couple other tips for people who want to stock up during the outbreak. They say if your favorite store is open 24/7, try going after midnight after they have restocked.
Or if it is available in your area, try a food delivery service to maybe reduce some of the overall stress -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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M. HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. Thanks for spending time with us.
