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CDC: U.S. Infections Much Higher Than Reported; Miami Mayor Hopes Masks, Beach Closings Will Slow Virus; Disneyland Workers Push For More Safety Measures; COVID-19's Deadly Lessons In New York; Some U.S. States Pause Or Roll Back Reopening; Coronavirus Is Hitting States Trump Needs To Win Reelection; Russian Intel Offered Taliban Cash To Kill U.S. Troops; Deaths In Spain Creeping Up As Nation Works To Reopen; Taking Masks To The Next Level. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired June 28, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The world hurtles toward another grim coronavirus milestone, 10 million cases, a quarter of them here in the United States and they are still rising fast. Also this hour --
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JUDY SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ, PRESIDENT, NEW YORK STATE NURSES ASSOCIATION: We're the same human beings all over the place and they should have been prepared based on what we went through. It was like we suffered so much in vain, that people didn't pay attention to that.
ALLEN (voice-over): A warning from somebody who has been through it all already, I speak with the president of New York State Nurses Association about what other states can learn from the experience in New York.
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ALLEN (voice-over): We're live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast, thank you so much for joining us. Our top story, the world is about to pass two pandemic milestones almost simultaneously. That's when the global total of documented cases hits 10 million and the global total of deaths marks a half million.
A big reason those numbers are going up is the United States. Americans are less than 5 percent of the global population but account for 25 percent of all the world's infections and deaths.
The U.S. recorded 87,000 new cases in just the past two days. Among the worst hit are states that reopened in May. A month later, they are facing alarming spikes in new cases and hospitalizations.
Many young people are falling ill and now the CDC says the true number of infected Americans is many times higher than previously thought. To date, Johns Hopkins University has documented 2.5 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S.
But the CDC says the actual number of infections among Americans is at least six times higher. And as mind boggling as it sounds, the true figure could be up to 24 times more the official count.
The U.S. health agency came to these conclusions after testing blood samples from all across the country and finding many of them had antibodies indicating a prior undetected case of COVID-19.
Out of 50 states, Florida is emerging as the epicenter; 9,500 new cases were reported on Saturday, a daily record. It adds to the fast rising infections of recent weeks. Miami's mayor spoke about the immense public health crisis now facing his city and state.
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MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ (R), MIAMI, FL: The numbers we've seen, for example, 2 days ago, we hit the high water mark of 1,500 cases. That's 3 times higher than what we had in late March, early April, at 500 cases.
The state of Florida hit 9,600 cases which is 7 times greater than their high water mark of 1,300. So I think Florida, as a state, open bars, we never opened bars in the city of Miami. And the fact that we are closing our beaches now and we are requiring masks and we are now considering stiffer penalties for businesses that do not comply with the rules.
These are things we are hoping are going to help us reverse this horrible trend that we are seeing over the last couple weeks.
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ALLEN: Let's look at one scene in Florida. Our Randi Kaye is in West Palm Beach.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Florida, yet another record day, spiking cases, 9,585, that is the highest number of cases in a single day. The governor still saying that that is because of increased testing. Increased testing from about 24,000 tests a day to 45,000 tests a day.
We are seeing higher positivity rates here in the state of Florida, mostly among young people, ages 33 to 35 years old, mostly asymptomatic. But they do hang out a lot in bars and the governor has decided that that was a reason to close all of the state bars which he has done.
But the governor has decided not to issue a mandatory order that everybody in the state of Florida wear masks. So he's leaving that up to the local government and local municipalities, saying he will trust people to make good decisions.
But we see people out and about here in West Palm Beach, not wearing their masks. So it is unclear if everybody really is making good decisions.
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KAYE (voice-over): In Miami, they've decided to close the beaches in Miami-Dade County, despite the spiking cases coming over the very popular, busy July 4th weekend.
The mayor there says he does not want to see a spike on top of a spike -- Randi Kaye, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
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ALLEN: Texas is another state seeing an alarming increase in cases. It reported almost 6,000 new infections on Saturday. The surge has many local leaders urging residents to take more precautions. Here's what the mayor of Austin told us a short time ago.
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MAYOR STEVE ADLER (D), AUSTIN, TX: I need my community right now to just be real vigilant with respect to wearing masks and social distancing. And those that can, I want them to stay at home.
But right now, this messaging that is coming out of Washington is confusing people and we -- and we need more help from our state leaders to make very clear, this is very serious.
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ALLEN: Much of the concern is over hospitals reaching capacity. Alexandra Field is in Houston where some intensive care units are already filling up.
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ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Officials here in the Houston area, another of the country's hotspots, now sending out more warnings, letting people know the city's hospitals could be overwhelmed in a week to 3 weeks if we continue to see new COVID cases rise at this rate.
Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical complex, reported that 100 percent of their ICU beds were full this week. They also reported that 28 percent of those beds were filled by COVID patients.
Hospitals are now moving to implement their surge plans across the city. Governor Greg Abbott has taken some steps to try to put the genie back in the bottle. He's placed new restrictions on bars and restaurants as we see more of these cases affecting people in their 20s and 30s. But officials say more needs to be done. Nothing will stop the spread
that we are currently seeing, short of an all-out stay-at-home order, something the governor has not ordered -- in Houston, Texas, Alexandra Field, CNN.
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ALLEN: Dr. David Nabarro is a COVID-19 special envoy with the World Health Organization. He joins me now live via Skype from Geneva.
Good morning, Doctor. Thank you so much for being with us.
DR. DAVID NABARRO, COVID-19 SPECIAL ENVOY, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Good morning. How do you do, everybody?
ALLEN: I'm doing pretty well, thank you very much. The world is about to hit 10 million confirmed cases and half a million deaths.
When this disease first made headlines in late January, did you see it getting this far this fast?
NABARRO: I always recognized that this virus has an incredible capacity to spread really quickly. And it is dangerous. And I suppose I hoped that all countries would be able to get on top of it and push it back.
But I did at one level, also with colleagues, have a sense of dread. It is not too late. Yes, the virus is advancing and it is advancing all over the world but we also know what needs to be done to hold it at bay.
And we're going to have to get on top of it, because, otherwise, for the next few years, it is just going to go on and on spreading and causing real distress. So, yes, now is the time when all nations need to get together, to get on top of this virus and push it back so that it doesn't continue to threaten humanity.
ALLEN: And we now heard that the CDC is projecting that infected Americans -- that the numbers may be at least six times higher, possibly a whopping 24 times higher.
When you see how the U.S. and, say, Britain as well, are reacting to this, countries that are seeing huge numbers, what worries you?
NABARRO: Most importantly I would like to be sure that every human being everywhere understands that this is a dangerous virus. And we've all got to act together to deal with it.
I'd love it if every single political leader could be really leveling with their people about the importance of acting in a way that reduces the risk of transmission: physical distancing, mask wearing, hygiene, shielding the people who are most at risk.
Secondly, I'd love it if we could also focus what needs to be done in the way of basic health services to make sure that, when outbreaks do start, we close them down very quickly. And that's finding people with the disease and isolating them and then getting their contacts (INAUDIBLE).
If everybody knew the basics and if every government everywhere could implement the level of health care that is needed, then we can get on top of it. So that's my hope.
And I suppose that's what I (INAUDIBLE) happen.
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NABARRO: But I feel some countries are still lagging behind others and it is the countries that are perhaps not moving this as much in line with the rest, that are still unsure about the seriousness of this virus. I'd like to say to them, please catch up with the rest because we've all got to do this together.
ALLEN: Well, you mentioned the importance of leadership here. Certainly in the U.S., the fight against this has become very political. People wear or don't wear a mask as much to make a statement as for health reasons.
Your organization has felt the political fallout with Washington announcing it is cutting funding amid claims the WHO bungled early stages of this.
How much is the political fighting, Doctor, hurting what should be a worldwide unified effort that you say must be achieved?
NABARRO: Well, politics are real. We can't wish them away. So we have to live in a world where people are needing to find reasons to promote themselves and make sure they get voted in, in various elections coming up.
Just to say to everybody, this virus does not understand politics. This virus just exploits any weaknesses that we have. And as you said in the presentation we had just now, if there are inconsistencies in the political positions taken by leaders, then the virus will exploit them.
So I do actually ask that ordinary people (INAUDIBLE), people who are trying to get on with their lives, people with families who need to be looked after, that we all come together and say, we must put dealing with this virus before anything else.
We really must because, otherwise, the next few months and years are going to be really difficult for humanity. And that's really necessary. It's (INAUDIBLE) to be clearly across to everybody now that the virus exploits political differences. And actually where there are political differences, things are much, much worse.
ALLEN: Yes, absolutely. The United States is the leader, of course, in the cases. And we watched this epicenter move from central China to Iran to parts of Europe. The U.S. Now has a quarter of all cases as well as deaths. Latin America is poised to possibly be the new epicenter.
And hearing you say, well, we could be in this for months or years reminds people the work that has to be done to try to stop this, especially in some fragile countries.
NABARRO: Yes, in places where governments are not strong, in places where there are (INAUDIBLE), this is much, much worse than what is happening in the United States right now.
The United States has got a wonderful health system. It also has got some of the brightest communicable disease experts in the world. You know what to do. It is just a case of doing it.
People know what to do, they've got fabulous support services. But go to poor countries, places where people are living in slums or in favelas or townships and they don't have the resources, they don't have health services that can cope. They are suffering, very, very badly.
We all need to come behind them. You're dealing with an international broadcasting system in CNN, you're connected with people all over the world. (INAUDIBLE) together on this, all of humanity. Otherwise, we will find ourselves facing such terrible problems, as I say particularly for poorer people, people in refugee countries.
And we won't even have the numbers. At least in the United States, you know what's going on because you've got good testing. But there are so many countries where there is very little testing and we're finding out after a terrible accident, there's been a lot of people dying in a particular city.
We shouldn't be like this, we've got to work together to get on top of this.
ALLEN: I hope people are listening, thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for your expertise and your time. David Navarro, Doctor, thank you.
NABARRO: Thank you. Thank you for all you do. Bye-bye.
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ALLEN: Companies like Disney are wrestling with questions of how and when to reopen theme parks amid this pandemic. Their approach in California is not sitting well with some of their workers, who say more safety measures are needed.
They protested around the Disneyland resort Saturday to demand more to be done and our Paul Vercammen talked with some of them.
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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Anaheim, about 100 cars circling Disneyland. They represented some 3,000 unionized hotel workers, who want Disneyland to put in very strict safeguards when it does reopen. Here is one of the union leaders. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They need a comprehensive plan. It begins with testing, which they are saying no to. But they have got to tell us the details.
We asked them, what happens if a cook gets sick?
How are going to test and protect the other folks in the department?
They don't know.
How are you going to handle the increased cleaning?
They don't know.
Then, beyond that, we ask them, you need to do comprehensive regular testing.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are not willing to do it.
VERCAMMEN: Now Disneyland says it has forged deals other unions. We talked to at least one union that says it's OK with Disney's current plans to reopen under some safety measures.
Doctor Pam Heimer, the chief medical officer, she outlined some of the things Disneyland plans to do; among them, increase use of disinfectant and cleaning. Having both guests and workers wear masks, taking temperature tests from the guests as they come in and checking the temperatures of those workers when they leave for those shifts.
What remains to be seen is when will Disneyland reopen?
It's an important economic barometer in California, 21 million visitors a year, some 31,000 employees at Disneyland. And that doesn't even count the thousands and thousands of other people, who somehow get paid by their business interactions with Disney -- reporting from Southern California, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you.
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ALLEN: Next here, there are shocking new reports that Russia offered to pay the Taliban for killing U.S. and British soldiers. And now there are troubling questions about what the White House knew. We'll have a live report about it coming up here.
Also, learning from COVID-19 in New York. Why a top nurse warns her state may have suffered in vain.
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ALLEN: New York remains America's worst hit state but it has seen a major drop-off in new infections and deaths. It was a very different story back in April, that's when a nursing union president spoke with CNN's Don Lemon. She talked about the horror of the virus, especially for some of her fellow nurses who gave their lives fighting to stop it.
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SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: We have lost some nurses. They've succumbed to the virus and we have quite a few already in the ICU. We're terribly at risk because of the intensity of the virus, the virulence of the virus. It's attacking our own systems and that's the big reason that we need the PPE, particularly the hazmat suits that protect us because --
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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I hate to cut you off but, I'm going to let you finish. You said you've lost some nurses meaning, they are sick or they have passed away?
SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: They have passed away.
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ALLEN: Nurse Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez is the president of the New York State Nurses Association. She joins me now from New York.
Judy, thanks so much for coming on.
SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: Oh, well, thank you for having us on your program on behalf of the 42,000 nurses in the New York State Nurses Association and the millions of patients that we take care of every day.
ALLEN: We're thinking of all of you right now. You came on our air in early April, April 3rd, when New York was being ravaged. You had just received an antibodies test.
How are you doing after all you've been through?
I haven't been through as much as most of our members. Many of our members have suffered terribly. We lost quite a few members to the disease and thousands have been infected since the beginning.
ALLEN: When you recall what New York went through, that interview was powerful in April, describing the scenes in hospitals. Now we see the surges in Arizona, Florida and Texas.
What goes through your mind when you think of what front line healthcare workers now face in these states?
The mayor of Austin says they may run out of hospital beds by mid- July. Houston hospitals are nearing a tipping point.
SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: Well, it is depressing because, you know, they should have learned from what we went through in New York. We're pretty disappointed to see the preparation that is needed and the care that is needed in terms of social distancing and isolation and quarantining, staying safe.
I think some of those parameters were not met in these other states. And now they're reaping the horrible effects of that. So my heart goes out to the people there and the caregivers.
ALLEN: And Arizona health officials said that soon the only option for hospitals in that state might be crisis standards of care.
What does that mean?
SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: It is not a standard. They call something a standard of care, crisis standard of care, it's built around scarcity. There is no excuse for scarcity right now. There was no excuse back in April and there is absolutely no excuse now.
I have no idea what the federal government is doing, what the CDC is doing, what the Departments of Health is doing, if they're not prepared for what everyone predicted would be the pandemic spreading to other states, particularly if states did not stay safe and follow the criteria that we developed in New York and that was developed before them in Wuhan, in China.
It is a shame, it is -- I just don't understand the logic behind not being prepared. Crisis means you reduce your standards. They're not standards. The staffing is impossible. Your training is not working. Your PPE is not adequate. No excuse for it. No excuse at all.
ALLEN: The U.S. is still deficient in testing. Now testing sites are being overrun in the states. Governors are scaling back openings. The Texas governor said he opened bars too early in this crisis.
There was a threshold the states were to meet before they opened. But they went ahead and opened anyway.
Is this crisis that we are seeing in part based on a crisis in governance?
SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: Well, I'm a nurse. I'm not a politician. But I would have to say that we're missing some key elements in leadership in this country and in many of the states, for people to not pay attention to what occurred here.
I don't know if they didn't believe what we were going through, if they couldn't understand it or they thought New Jersey and New York and Connecticut and the Northeastern states had some kind of a problem they weren't going to have.
We're the same human beings all over the place.
[05:25:00] SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: And they should have been prepared, based on what we went through. It was like we suffered so much in vain. If people didn't pay attention to that, they should have learned and been ready. It is just inexcusable. It is inexcusable in my opinion.
ALLEN: People are trying to make sense of it for sure. Despite the surges in nearly half of U.S. states right now, there are still a debate over wearing masks for some people. They just don't want to do it.
What would you say to them about that?
SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: How much is your life worth to you?
The problem is that, you know, in New York, many of us have been isolated for so long, we stemmed the tide by mask wearing and by isolating and at this point, it is a little bit safer for us, because it is kept at bay. It's kept the virus at bay.
But now in these other states, they're not doing the same thing. I just think they're all in grave danger. Even if people are asymptomatic, they can still pass on the virus.
ALLEN: Overall, what is your concern for hospitals right now as far as PPE?
Do you think that these hospitals can operate in a safe environ, now that they have had a couple of months at least to prepare for what some of these hospitals are going to now see and be tested by?
SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: Well, I would hope that the state -- in the states where there is a surge right now, that they have some kind of preparation.
But we're talking about scarcity and crisis standards. That's a very bad sign. In New York, we are very concerned that our hospitals, I don't think that they learned from what happened before.
We're very upset about the fact that we're not collaborating in a way that we should to prevent the complications we had last time, when it comes to training, having beds available, having enough staff, having the appropriate PPE.
We're not getting the good information we need from our facilities. Many of us are desperately trying to work together. You have to have a coordination, cooperation, communication, all the things that are necessary.
Debriefing what happened before, what went wrong, what went right. We're not seeing that level of cooperation with our managers and our administration. We're very disappointed.
And there is a further complication which is quite frightening, I think it's because of the nature of the healthcare system being built around profit, all the areas that have been unprofitable, we're seeing them shuttered. Mental health services across the state, there is going to be a
terrible crisis because they're shutting down facility after facility after facility that care for patients with mental illness. We're now seeing it happen with pediatrics, with obstetrics, women's health, we're concerned about primary care.
All the areas of health care that don't generate income are being marginalized and our patients are going to suffer. With or without COVID, there is going to be more deaths and more really bad outcomes for patients.
That's why our organization supports a single payer type of health care, where everybody would be able to receive the same care and certain types of health care are not profitable and, therefore, primary care is essential.
We appreciate your time, we appreciate you sharing the issues with us. Thanks so much, Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, we wish you all the best.
SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: Thank you so much.
ALLEN: Talking about Florida, the mayor of Miami has closed the beach there for the July 4th holiday. But for many around the world, it is time to go to the beach. As parts of Europe ease lockdown restrictions, they're having problems with crowding. We'll tell you how some governments are making sure people stay safe.
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ALLEN: Welcome back. To those of you watching here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Natalie Allen. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, 87,000 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the United States in just the past two days. That has pushed the U.S. total to well past 2.5 million. More than 125,000 people have died in this country since February. And now the CDC says the true scope of the pandemic is far more troubling.
According to a CDC survey, the actual number of infected Americans is at least six times higher and possibly a whopping 24 times higher than the official figures.
U.S. vice president Mike Pence is set to speak at a Texas megachurch in the coming hours. He's to appear Sunday morning at the First Baptist Church in Dallas and later meet with the state's governor.
He initially planned additional stops in Florida and Arizona. Now those stops have been postponed amid the alarming rates of new COVID infections. But cases are surging in Texas, too. That state's governor has now put
the state's reopening on hold, ordered bars to close again and reduced restaurants to half capacity, hoping to contain the surge.
In another story, the Kremlin and the White House are responding to shocking new reports about the war in Afghanistan. A European intelligence official tells CNN Russian intelligence wanted to see U.S. and British forces die in the conflict.
And it offered cash to Taliban fighters as rewards if they killed them. The White House isn't denying the reports but it is denying President Trump and vice president Pence were briefed about it.
The U.S. Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, says the same thing. But that clashes with "The New York Times," which first reported the story.
It says Mr. Trump was told about the intelligence in late March. Russia and the Taliban both are denying the report. So this story is just breaking. And our international security editor Nick Paton Walsh is tracking the developments for us from London.
Give us more details about this, Nick.
What do we know, what do we not know?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: A European intelligence official saying to me, as you outlined there, Russian military intelligence officers from the GRU appear to have been offering cash rewards to Taliban militants in Afghanistan to kill U.S. or wider coalition soldiers.
Now it isn't clear the exact timeframe we're talking about here, it's said to be recent. Mention there "The New York Times" reporting briefings on this from back in March, potentially.
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WALSH: What is clear to this European intelligence official is that this Russian scheme does appear to have resulted in coalition casualties of some description. The official is not clear what nationality or the variety or the number of casualties we're talking about. So a lack of precision there certainly. But it is not, this official says, as though the Russian scheme was an idea that was without consequence.
The same European intelligence official says that frankly they are bewildered as to Russia's motivation here. And they also called the scheme callous, shocking and reprehensible.
It is startling to imagine that Russian intelligence would want to allow themselves to be caught at such a kind of activity, if these reports do indeed prove true. And the broader issue is why would Russia want to foment something like this in the first place.
The Taliban aren't necessarily known for their reluctance to kill American or coalition soldiers if they get the opportunity.
The question here is, if this is at the behest of Moscow or possibly a rogue part of Russian military intelligence, are they trying to expedite the American withdrawal from Afghanistan by increasing casualty numbers?
But Donald Trump made it absolutely clear himself he wants to get out of Afghanistan. He's been trying to get a peace deal with the Taliban for months now, currently stalled over the issue of a prisoner exchange.
So a lot of confusion, I think, is the motivation here, a high risk move, if indeed true, by Russian military intelligence here.
One more important detail here, Natalie, is that the European intelligence official I spoke to said the particular part of the GRU, Russian military intelligence that are accused of being behind this, is unit 29155. They are also accused by European intelligence officials of being behind the attempted -- successful poisoning of the Skripal father and daughter in Salisbury in 2018.
That killed another innocent Briton as an inadvertent consequence. But there are also other prominent such attacks across Europe. Now it seems this as well, startling activity if true on their behalf and also a remarkable new twist to what is still America's longest war with exceptionally -- Afghans on a daily basis, Natalie.
ALLEN: As you say, there could be evidence that these deaths -- these killings were carried out, so there is much yet to be learned from this developing story. Thank you so much, Nick Paton Walsh there in London for us.
Now we take you to Kentucky, where one person is dead, another injured after a shooting in Louisville. It happened during a protest in Jefferson Square Park Saturday night. Demonstrators have been gathering to demand justice in the killing of Breonna Taylor there in Louisville.
Officials say law enforcement performed lifesaving measures on one of the victims. But he died. A short time later, police received word of a second shooting victim at the nearby Hall of Justice. This person was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Much more to learn about what was behind these shootings.
Mississippi may finally remove the Confederate battle flag from its state banner. Here is what we're talking about. You see it up there in the corner.
Mississippi is the only state that still has Confederate imagery on its flag, which many people consider a white supremacist symbol. Both chambers of Mississippi's legislature cleared the way Saturday to start the process to remove this controversial flag.
On Sunday, they will take up a bill allowing the current flag to be removed and redesigned. It is expected to pass. The governor says he'll sign it. A descendant of the Confederate president says it is time to change.
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BERTRAM HAYES-DAVIS, GREAT-GREAT GRANDSON OF CONFEDERATE PRESIDENT JEFFERSON DAVIS: It does not represent the entire population of Mississippi. It is historic and heritage related, there are a lot of people who look at that that way and God bless them for that heritage.
So put it in a museum and honor it there or put it in your house. But the flag of Mississippi should represent the entire population. And I am thrilled that we are finally going to make that change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Demonstrators shut down a highway in Colorado on Saturday, while calling for justice in the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain. Protesters blocked Highway 225 in Aurora, Colorado. The police department tweeted that demonstrators were peaceful and there were no injuries or arrests.
McClain died last August after a confrontation with Aurora police, placed in a chokehold and then suffered a heart attack while being transported in an ambulance. He was declared brain dead three days later.
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ALLEN: Coming up next here, we look at efforts that Spain is taking to keep its beaches safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
Also, the rapidly spreading virus makes its way into some of Brazil's most remote regions in the Amazon. We'll show you the efforts underway to reach these folks and try to help them.
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ALLEN: Summer is underway in Europe and those on holiday are making their way to the beaches. In the United Kingdom, thousands have gone to the beaches despite COVID-19 restrictions.
The prime minister warned of the dangers of taking too many liberties as the country eases out of lockdown.
In Belgium, authorities are taking extra precautions to prevent crowding, they're tracking mobile phones in order to enforce social distancing at seaside resorts and beaches.
In Spain, a step back as the country reports eight deaths on Friday. This is a jump from last week, when it had a maximum of three a day. The Spanish health ministry also reported almost 200 new cases in the last 24 hours. Yet Spain continues to take steps to reopen. And with the summer
weather, officials are using technology, drones, for example, to keep an eye on people on the beach. Our Atika Shubert is on the beach there in Valencia, Spain, to talk more about these efforts to keep people safe.
Hello to you, Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Natalie. As you can see, it is a brilliant day at the beach. And it is not too crowded. This is actually pretty quiet right now.
We have games of beach volleyball, people camped out there on the beaches. But there are specific rules that people need to follow. The groups need to be smaller than 20 people; between groups, they have to keep spaces of two meters apart. And in addition to that, there will be regular disinfection of beach facilities here.
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SHUBERT: So the showers, the loungers (sic), where people wash the sand off their feet and we have seen this happening now for the last -- on a very regular basis here. In addition to that, you mentioned some of those high-tech measures.
We haven't seen this happening yet at this beach. But I do know that at other beaches they have been using apps to book space, for example. There is also an alert that will tell you if a beach is getting too crowded.
There is also a plan by other beaches to use drones for crowd control. If there is too many people on the beach, they'll use drones, to monitor how many people are on and then to actually speak it beachgoers to tell them to move space, to find a better way to space themselves out.
But so far today, which is really the first holiday weekend here, it has not been too crowded. That's probably because most of the people here are local residents today or domestic tourists. We haven't seen the number of foreign tourists we would normally have in the summer.
So the real test of that may come later in July, when they are expecting more foreign tourists to come, Natalie.
ALLEN: So far, so good. At least today. So we talked about the use of drones.
How will that work?
SHUBERT: What it means basically is that if they feel that they're getting too many people, to get a very quick snapshot of just how many people are there, the police could put up a drone to sort of map out the area.
They also have the ability to use the drone to actually give to -- to speak to beachgoers, to give them an audio warning, they need to put more space between them. So that's one way a drone would be used.
But what we're seeing more frequently for a lot of beaches is the plan to use apps so people can monitor it themselves to see how crowded the beach is, whether or not they want to go.
And some narrow beaches you can use an app to book a space for you and your group so that you can have that space for a few hours, without anybody else coming into your spot.
ALLEN: All right, Atika Shubert there in Valencia, thank you.
Brazil is suffering one of the world's worst coronavirus outbreaks now, reporting more than 1,100 new deaths in just 24 hours. Some of the hardest-hit areas are the most remote, deep in the Amazon. CNN's Shasta Darlington shows us why.
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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A house call to one of the most remote inlets of the Amazon River in Brazil. So far away that medical workers must travel hours by boat to get there. But not isolated enough to be spared from the coronavirus.
During this visit, one man is found to be very ill and is taken to the hospital. His daughter says she is afraid for him and says, "We are sad because, even though he is going there, we don't know when he'll get there and we can't be sure he'll come back."
Hundreds of cases of coronaviruses have been reported near Brazil's Madajo (ph) Island, where many victims have been buried before they can be diagnosed, let alone treated. The people are poor, fishermen and farmers who earn a few dollars a day, who live in small wooden shacks with no space to social distance and no phones to call for help.
One resident says, "There are a lot of negative thoughts among us.
"How long is this going to last for?
"How many people are going to die?"
The water ambulances have become a lifeline for the sick, who can't travel the long distances, sometimes as much as 36 hours, to get tested in the town centers.
One health official says, "We use the boats to get by river to places with difficult access."
This makes a difference when combating COVID-19. This woman was stuck at home with a headache and flulike symptoms. The mobile clinic was able to test her and confirm she has the virus.
She says she is grateful for the help, saying, "Thank God they've been coming. We are very happy to people be able to get the service at home," a service that is more and more in demand, as water ambulances navigate the river to try to find more cases, as virus rates reached unchartered (sic) levels -- Shasta Darlington, CNN, Sao Paulo.
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ALLEN: Breaking news coming in to CNN and that staggering milestone in the coronavirus pandemic we mentioned a short time ago. Johns Hopkins University now reporting that the number of cases worldwide is now above 10 million. The death toll, slightly below 500,000 globally.
All of this coming since the first cases were reported in late January, just over five months ago. The United States making up about a quarter of the confirmed cases we have seen as pandemic ravages Brazil, which has steadily moved into the number two position.
[05:50:00]
ALLEN: Russia, India and the United Kingdom making up the rest of the five countries with the most confirmed cases. But again, the breaking news right now, somewhere in world, the 10 millionth person has now contracted COVID-19.
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ALLEN: Much of the world has accepted that wearing masks is part of life during a pandemic and the masks keep changing. Here's Michael Holmes with that.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thought your mask was just there to protect you from the coronavirus?
Well, not anymore. Some creative minds have been working to make the mask do far more than just that.
Like the smart mask in Japan that can translate from Japanese into eight different languages.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Japanese).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is hot today, too.
HOLMES (voice-over): This innovative idea is the brain child of Japanese startup Donut Robotics.
TAISUKE ONO, DONUT ROBOTICS (through translator): It is hard to hear what customers at the cash register of supermarkets and convenience stores are saying, because there are partitions to prevent droplets.
[05:55:00]
ONO (through translator): By wearing this mask it can improve these communications by transcribing the conversations on smartphones or delivering the sound of the voices.
HOLMES (voice-over): So how does it work?
The C mask, as it is called, fits over a regular mask and links via Bluetooth to a smartphone or tablet application that transcribes speech into text messages. It also makes calls and will boost the mask where it's voiced.
Donut Robotics says the mask should be available by September in Japan.
In the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, some creative designers have come up with a way to identify the face behind the mask. At this print shop, Nicholas Septiemsugandhi (ph) and his employees are printing customers' faces on reusable masks, giving people an opportunity to look like themselves.
Some go as far as printing smiling faces on their masks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Thanks to the face mask, we no longer look like we are sick.
HOLMES (voice-over): Here in the Jordanian capital, Amman, Chef Omar Sartawi is using eggplants to make biodegradable masks. Sartawi he uses the peels from the vegetable; it is a somewhat tedious process. A single peel could take up to two weeks to be turned into a mask.
Sartawi says the whole idea was to put a positive spin on mask wearing. He is working with Jordanian designers Princess Nejla Asem and Salam Dajani, who are using their skills to add what they call character to the masks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it's basically going to be something like this.
HOLMES (voice-over): So mask wearing might be here to stay, at least for a while longer. But some innovators seem determined to make it worth our while -- Michael Holmes, CNN.
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That's our news. I'm Natalie Allen. "NEW DAY" is next.
