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How Are Small Businesses Coping with Corona Virus Closures; How are Some Former CNN Heroes Joining in the Fight Against COVID-19
Aired March 30, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Getting started for the new week of CNN 10, world news explained objectively in 10 minutes. My name is Carl Azuz. How
long is the question being asked by workers, students, politicians and business leaders around the world with so many places shut down. According
to Johns Hopkins University, there were more than 684,000 cases of corona virus worldwide when we produced this show. Most who have the disease are
expected to recover, though more than 32,000 people have died from it so far. The United States now has the most cases of any country with roughly
125,000 people who`ve caught the disease.
More than two-thirds of America`s population has been told to stay home to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. The cases are not spread evenly across
America though. More than 40 percent of them are in New York, by far the hardest hit state. That`s why on Saturday, the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control told people in New York and in two neighboring states, Connecticut and New Jersey, not to travel to other states. But there are places like
the Dakotas, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia that have reported fewer than 200 cases each. So when American health officials says the Trump
Administration is trying to find a balance between keeping the country shutdown and reopening it entirely. This could mean that some schools and
businesses where there aren`t a lot of corona virus cases, may reopen in the weeks ahead.
Of course New York is not part of that. The U.S. government has given the green light for four new emergency hospitals to be built there. It`s also
working to get more ventilators, machines that help hospital patients breathe, built and distributed. Companies like New Balance are working to
make more facial masks. Delta airlines is giving free flights to medical workers heading for corona virus stricken areas. Some small businesses,
the ones you`ll find on main street, are coming up with creative ideas to serve customers while they and others wait for financial help from a $2
trillion stimulus bill that President Donald Trump signed on Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Behind the forced closure of each door on one short block of stores is the story about the small businesses that employee half
of America`s private workforce.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, when you put everything into watching something grow and then it stops suddenly. I was sitting on the floor just
sobbing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jen Yates (ph) and Alex Artunion (ph) own fitness center studio Metamorphosis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scrounged every single dollar, every penny to open and we did it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are we going to survive with, like, we`re going to wake up the next morning and have zero income. Like, how does that work,
you know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Small businesses like studio Metamorphosis are due to receive close to the $400 billion earmarked in the $2 trillion government
stimulus plan.
(INAUDIBLE)
But as business owners wait for that financial relief - -
(INAUDIBLE)
- - they`re trying to stay connected to customers. Yates (ph) holding free virtual workout classes making no money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. The flag of Cambodia is the only one in the world with what feature? Dragon, Famous building, Trident, or Religious symbol.
Cambodia`s flag is the only one with a specific building, an ancient temple named Angkor Wat.
It`s also one if the nations served by a man who became a CNN Hero back in 2017 and he`s among those heroes who are in the spotlight again because
they`re expanding the work they do to help treat or prevent corona virus. We`ve reported on the heroic efforts of healthcare workers and grocery
store workers. Today, here`s a look at some former CNN Heroes who are in the fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: As COVID-19 continues to spread, so do the efforts of people who bring us hope and inspiration. These CNN Heroes are
on the front lines of the pandemic bringing medical care and supplies to those in need.
DR. ROB GORE, CNN HERO: (inaudible) good stuff.
COOPER: Rob Gore is the founder of KAVI, a non-profit that focuses on violence prevention but in this day job he`s an ER doctor at a Brooklyn,
New York hospital. He`s at the epicenter of the fight against the virus in the U.S. putting his life on the line daily to save others.
GORE: I`ve worked in disaster zones in the past. I`ve worked in post- earthquake Haiti. I`ve worked in South America. I`ve worked in East Africa and this feels like a culmination of - - of all of them. Not in a
sense that you see widespread tragedy but the issues regarding resources and access to care, issues regarding just fear. I have never been a part
of a pandemic. I notice a series of tents in front of the different hospitals and in any kind of disaster situation you have to think about
where patients are going to go.
So you think about overflow but also you want to ensure that those infections don`t get spread within a hospital setting. Right now I`m not
staying at home. My wife is at home. I do recognize that I`m around sick people a lot but I don`t want to bring anything home. So we`re actually
staying at an Air B&B not too far from where I live. If you are a health care professional or work at a place that`s essential for survivability of
people in your city, in your town, stay home. Use these times while we`re self-quarantining to reflect and find out what it is - - what`s important
to you.
COOPER: Jim Withers brings medical care to people experiencing homelessness in Pittsburgh.
DR. JIM WITHERS, CNN HERO: Safety net, anybody home?
COOPER: More than half a million Americans are living on the streets and have nowhere safe to shelter during this crisis.
WITHERS: So there`s the guy up at Bates (ph) that was coughing - -
COOPER: Dr. Withers and his team have quickly mobilized leading the city`s efforts to try and make sure this vulnerable community is being served.
WITHERS: We`re very concerned about the people that we have out here on the streets that they may be at higher risk in some ways for the COVID
infection that`s coming. So we made a concerted effort right now to develop new policies and procedures to be able to screen people for the
COVID virus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we`re still figuring this out as we go. We do have testing kits. We`re also giving out soap and jugs of water. We also
have added (ph) tents and sleeping bags should we need to put someone in isolation. (inaudible) spread it to other people.
WITHERS: I think it`s really important in these times to remember that we`re all in this together. These are our brothers and sisters out here.
Hopefully the lessons that we learn here, of being together and taking care of each other will last far beyond this COVID epidemic.
COOPER: Hand washing has now become a critical prevention tool.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh very good, very good. Yes.
COOPER: But Samir Lakhani has known for years how life saving this simple task can be. He`s dedicated his life to providing recycled hotel soap to
rural communities across the world. To help battle this pandemic, he`s trying to make sure soap gets into as many hands as possible.
SAMIR LAKHANI, CNN HERO: All of a sudden we have woken up to a new reality where everyone is talking about hand washing with soap. In some parts of
the world only one percent of households have access to soap for hand washing. In the last two and a half months, we have provided over 375,000
bars of soap to people in affected countries and also we are on track should this virus still persist to reach 2.5 million people by the end of
this year. All of a sudden I feel a certain sense of closeness to the people in my community but also to people around the world. It is as if
the color of our skin and our boundaries have just dissipated and dissolved in front of our eyes.
COOPER: The disappearing of boundaries, inspiring acts of selflessness and unwavering courage from everyday heroes reminding us all that we`re not in
this alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Here`s a video worth 10 out of 10. The Georgia Aquarium is among many places that are closed to the public but that doesn`t include puppies.
And they`re not there to feed the fish if you know what I`m saying. The Atlanta Humane Society recently took a couple adoptable puppies for a play
date near some of the worlds largest fish tanks. Was it cute? Yes. Were they interested in the marine animals? Not particularly.
Though they`re still just guppies, I mean puppies, but maybe later on downstream they`ll get interested in "dogfish", "Doberman Perchers",
"Sharkpaies", "Amber Jack Russells", "Bass Hounds", "Poor Beagles" or "Bulldog Sharks". I`m Carl Azuz. Ranburne High School in Ranburne,
Alabama, thank you for requesting a mention on our official YouTube channel. We are posting all kinds of explainers on all kinds of topics
there so please be sure to subscribe to YouTube.com/cnn10.
END
