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U.S. COVID Death Toll Racing with Vaccine Release; Rich Countries Hoarding COVID-19 Vaccines; No Deal Yet for Brexit; Trump Backs Lawsuit to Invalidate Millions of Votes. Hong Kong Tightness Restrictions amid Resurgence; Kindergarten Adapts to COVID-19 with Nighttime Learning. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 10, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM, I'm John Vause. And coming up this hour, in the hours ahead, regulators in the U.S. could give the green light for the first COVID vaccinations to begin.
Wealthy nations have spent billions of dollars to secure a stockpile, leaving developing countries locked out of vaccine market, unable to compete.
Also Donald Trump's latest scam to overturn the will of the American people.
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VAUSE: The day after the U.S. recorded its highest death toll from COVID-19, Pfizer could get emergency use of its vaccine. More than 3,000 people died on Wednesday in the U.S. ad the number of COVID U.S. hospital admissions again set another record, 106,000.
In the coming hours, an independent panel of experts will review the research for the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. The FDA could give it authorization by the end of the day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX AZAR, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: If everything is on track, it could be a matter of days, then FDA approves the vaccine. We would then authorize shipment within 24 hours; 20 million people should get vaccinated in just the next several weeks. We'll just keep rolling out vaccines through January, February, March, as they come off the production. Lines
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Thousands have already been vaccinated in the U.K.. The rollout has been mostly smooth but at least 2 people developed allergic reactions. Anyone with a history of serious allergic reaction should avoid getting the vaccine. Meantime Canada just authorized the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for
emergency use and a limited rollout could begin as soon as next week. Here's CNN's Paula Newton, with details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Canadian regulators have now approved this vaccine for emergency use. They say the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is amazing and they point to interesting thing in the data, which perhaps we haven't heard before.
That is they are confident that there is a case to be made, that this will provide continuing immunity, that perhaps boosters may not be needed all that often, if at all. The fact that there is also the possibility that, if you get this vaccine, that you will not spread the disease to others. You cannot infect others. The data showing that you will not be severely ill.
Most people, will not get severely ill after getting this vaccine, even if they are infected with the virus.
Here in Canada, the hard part begins, especially as the country is in the middle of a deadly second wave. They're having a dry run on the vaccine this week. Vaccinations should be in arms next week.
This rollout is largely symbolic, Canada getting just a few hundred thousand of the 20 million doses that it ordered. Here in Canada in the middle of a deadly second wave, the priority here will be health care workers but also those very vulnerable residents of long term care centers -- Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Earlier this year the world's wealthiest nations were panic buying supplies of potential vaccines and developing countries could not compete. The People's Vaccine Alliance , a watchdog group, says just one in 10 people in some of the world's poorest nations can hope to get a vaccine by the end of next year.
The overwhelming majority of doses from Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna have already been bought up by wealthy countries. Canada has reportedly bought enough doses to immunize its citizens, 5, maybe 6 times over if all the leading vaccines are approved.
Here's the situation the United States, 800 million doses from all of those drugmakers. The vaccine watchdog identified 67 countries that are being left behind, Kenya, Myanmar, Pakistan, Ukraine and Nigeria have reported more than 1.5 million COVID cases.
CNN's David McKenzie is live for us in Johannesburg.
It's clear that the rich countries have bought these. Vaccines but will be the impact of these ultimately for those wealthy countries if the developing world doesn't get those vaccines as well?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, they are, as you mentioned, John, a call for moral obligation for equitable access to vaccines that are approved. That is the ethical side.
There's also just beyond the morals just the basic self interest that scientists are saying, I've been speaking to them in the last few days, these rich countries.
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MCKENZIE: It's not in their interest to buy up or have a glut of vaccines, particularly you look at Canada you mentioned, the U.K., the E.U. -- potentially, eventually, they will have many times over the amount of doses. There is a finite supply. Countries that cannot afford to make these bilateral deals, many of them in Africa and Asia and Latin America, won't be able to effectively vaccinate their population.
At least until everyone is safe from the scientific point of view, an epidemiology point of view, no one is safe. Take a listen to the head of the vaccine program in Africa.
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RICHARD MIHIGO, WHO COORDINATOR, IMMUNIZATION AND VACCINE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: Until everybody is protected nobody can be safe because we are now living in an interconnected world, global villages, we said.
And even for those countries that could protect themselves, they can't be living like in an island. So, I think we need absolutely the world in which people can interact, not only economically but socially.
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MCKENZIE: To put it in perspective, he said that potentially in Africa, while many countries in Africa, John, they could see a delay of some three years before they get an effective coverage of the population of inoculation.
It is not just the health issue that is at stake. We are also looking at economies. Several countries and airlines, said that they will not accept travelers or immigration unless people have vaccine cards.
You could really foresee a pretty terrible situation that large chunks of the world population are separated from the rest because of that inability to get a vaccine and kind of get the world moving again, particularly since it looks to be an oversupply in the next 6 months of vaccines to certain countries.
There are negotiations going on right now, to make sure that the excess vaccines are placed back into facility that has been set up, called COVAX. It was originally planning to have an equitable distribution of the vaccine. It seems like at this stage that isn't happening.
VAUSE: David, thank you, David McKenzie live from Johannesburg.
Stay with this story a little longer, Dr. John Nkengasong is the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is with us from Addis Ababa.
Doctor, thank you for being with us. Earlier this year we had some panic buying amongst these wealthy nations to snap up all the potential vaccines that they get their hands on. It seems like it's a situation, where Canada can immunize the whole country 5 to 6 times. Over the U.S., the U.K., the E.U., can vaccinate their populations 2-3 times.
Lower -- 70 lower income countries will only be able to vaccine one in 10 people.
If that situation stays as is, what will be the end result in terms of trying to end this pandemic?
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG, AFRICA CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: I think the end results will be catastrophic. I think the moment that we have all talked about global solidarity, global cooperation, the moment is now.
The litmus test is actually now because it makes absolutely no moral sense to have excess doses of vaccines in certain countries and absolutely no doses of vaccines in other areas of the world, like Africa.
I mean the future of our continent hinges on the line with respect to the timely access to the COVID-19 vaccine for our continent. So I think we really want a global health community club to stand up as one and show that unity of purpose, that we need vaccines everywhere in a timely manner.
VAUSE: The White House pandemic adviser, the famous Dr. Anthony Fauci, had this message for the United States and for other worldly states. This is what he said. Listen to this.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We have a moral responsibility as a rich country, along with other rich countries, to make sure that, when we have the facilities and the capabilities, be it lifesaving drugs for HIV, lifesaving preventions for HIV or a vaccine for COVID-19, that, as a global community, we do everything we can to make sure that there is the equitable distribution of those countermeasures throughout the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There is a global effort to try and ensure a fairer and more equitable distribution, it is called COVAX. But if you want to look at moral responsibility, the Trump administration refused to be part of that initiative. So the U.S. is not included.
Without the United States will COVAX be able to meet its goal?
I think it wants to distribute 2 billion doses of the vaccine.
NKENGASONG: I think we -- as Trump appealed that we are making to the entire world, that COVAX should be supported and supported strongly.
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NKENGASONG: So that they should be able to meet its goal. I think COVAX represents an innovation and expression of that global solidarity that we have all along called on. As Dr. Fauci mentioned, we should always remember the tragedy that happened with the HIV drugs, where, in Africa, almost 12 million people died between 1996 and 2006, where drugs were available but inaccessible to the continent.
We should never allow such a moral disaster to happen again.
VAUSE: It's not just the access to the vaccine. There is huge demand for needles, gloves, cold storage units and infrastructure issues in poorer nations. This seems to be a never-ending list of challenges and problems.
NKENGASONG: Yes, the time is unprecedented and we need unprecedented measures. The continent as a whole is preparing actively to make sure that those systems are in place, that will require a quick and timely distribution of the vaccines with a call for the end to end distribution of the vaccine.
As Trump politically, a chairperson (INAUDIBLE) with African Union commission and the President Ramaphosa of the (INAUDIBLE) of the African Union, expressed that there is a very strong recognition of exceptional leadership that is rallying the whole country to say we need extraordinary measures to prepare ourselves for the timely delivery of this vaccines.
And we need partnerships, global partnerships, to make sure that these vaccines are delivered in a timely fashion to the needy across the continent.
VAUSE: Very quickly, it seems surprising that there is no international treaty or agreement or some kind of U.N. guideline on how vaccines should be distributed.
NKENGASONG: Absolutely. I think what we should really do is to sit down under the umbrella of the United Nations and have an honest and courageous discussion as to what I characterize as global governance around access to vaccines. This pandemic is going to live with us for long. It is going to be challenged and to bring it under control, if we do not have vaccines that are distributed to all the populations that are in need in a timely fashion. So I think there is an urgent need for the United Nations to really have a unifying dialogue, specifically around the distribution of vaccines across the world.
VAUSE: Dr. John Nkengasong, thank you so much for being with us, sir. We appreciate it a lot.
NKENGASONG: Thank you.
VAUSE: There is no vaccine for the economic devastation that has been caused by the pandemic. There is no new stimulus deal in the United States, either. But there are increasingly scenes like this, cars lining up at a California racetrack, farther than the eye can stretch, for a holiday food giveaway.
This is a bimonthly food pantry, open since April, and more than 200,000 people have been served. There were toys and gift cards for the kids as well as holiday foods, including turkeys and vegetables.
After losing every single legal challenge to the 2020 election, it seems Donald Trump is not done losing yet and 18 Republican states have signed on for his latest legal lunacy. More on that when we come back.
Also, a big Brexit dinner in Brussels but it seems a trade deal was just not on the menu.
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VAUSE: The only agreement from that big Brexit dinner in Brussels on Wednesday was to keep talking. British prime minister Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula van der Leyen agreed on Sunday -- agreed to a Sunday deadline, I should say, for a post Brexit trade pact.
But both sides are playing down expectations, emphasizing that there are gaps on key issues. Here's what the E.U. chief had to say on that dinner.
"We had a lively and interesting discussion on the state of play across the list of outstanding issues. We gained a clear understanding of each other's positions. They remain far apart."
They did agree on having the fish, though.
U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden is making his case for a congressional waiver for his choice for Defense Secretary. If confirmed, retired Army general Lloyd Austin would be the first Black man to hold the post but because he retired from the military just 4 years ago, Congress must waive a law that requires the Defense Secretary to have at least 7 years out of the armed forces.
It is designed to keep civilian control of the military. Some Democrats oppose a waiver, the president-elect says that it is justified.
In the meantime, Donald Trump is taking another legal step in his relentless campaign of overturning the election. Results. He is supporting a Texas lawsuit asking that the Supreme Court should invalidate millions of votes in four battleground states. CNN's Kaitlan Collins has details.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Out of public sight, but still in denial, President Trump pushed his false claims of a rigged election again today, while tightening his grip on the GOP.
After the Supreme Court rejected a Republican attempt to overturn the results in Pennsylvania, Trump distanced himself from the setback claiming on Twitter this case had nothing to do with me even though his legal team had touted it.
RUDY GIULIANI, TRUMP ATTORNEY: I think it's a very good case.
COLLINS: Trump has moved on and is now cheering a long-shot lawsuit filed in Supreme Court by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, asking to extend the deadline for certifying the election, claiming that Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin engaged in, quote, election irregularities.
Trump tweeted: This is the big one -- as Michigan's attorney general dismissed it as a publicity stunt.
DANA NESSEL, MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: I go back where the taxpayers in Texas that have to finance this ridiculous and frivolous lawsuit.
COLLINS: Trump GOP allies are trying to validate it. Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson emailed Republicans today asking them to sign on to an amicus brief for the case saying Trump, quote, specifically asked me to contact all Republican members of the House and Senate today and request that all join on to our brief.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We won in those swing states.
COLLINS: As Trump and his allies deny reality, some of his cabinet secretaries are preparing to accept it.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar became the first to confirm he's met with President-Elect Joe Biden's transition team.
ALEX AZAR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: I already met with the Biden transition team. We want to make sure they get everything that they need.
COLLINS: CNN has now learned that the president personally asked Texas senator Ted Cruz to personally argue that case that was filed by the attorney general, if it makes it to the Supreme Court. But I stress that there is an "if" there because many legal experts have said it is a long shot case. They do not think that it is going to rise to that. But it remains to be seen -- Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Harry Litman is a former U.S. attorney and a former deputy assistant attorney general. He's also the legal affairs columnist for the "L.A. Times."
And it's been awhile and it's good to see, you thanks for being with us.
HARRY LITMAN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Good to see you, hi.
VAUSE: I'm pretty good, almost as happy as Ted Cruz I guess. The junior senator from Texas, he's joining in this. He tweeted a short time ago if, the court being the Supreme Court takes the appeal I will stand ready to present the oral argument.
Just a reminder this is how Cruz felt about Trump a few years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I'm going to tell you what I really think of Donald Trump. This man is a pathological liar. He doesn't know the difference between truth and lies. He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK, that was frivolous but Cruz wants to appear before the Supreme Court in argue that lawmakers in Pennsylvania do not have the authority to allow universal mail-in voting. but they can throw out all the votes for Biden in Pennsylvania.
How do you square that circle?
LITMAN: But he doesn't. This is not.
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LITMAN: To pick up where Kaitlan left off, it's not just an "if," it's not a long shot, it is a joke. It is a charade. Senator Cruz, who clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court, knows it this full well. There is a 0.0 chance that the court would ever have taken this. They have already turned it down.
It was based on state law, it needed 5 votes not four. They need to set aside a Pennsylvania Supreme Court rule and it was entirely based on state law.
The Supreme Court just doesn't do that. It was more than ill-fated. It was some kind of publicity stunt, really, I think you just have to call it that. No one with the slightest sophistication would think that it had anything to do with the merits.
And it didn't even raise a claim that could have changed the election after safe harbor day so there are reasons that Ted Cruz wants to say I will stand up in argue and that Donald Trump wants to bring it but they have nothing to do with winning the lawsuit. They have, if anything to do with trying to keep the base energized,
trying to undermine Biden's legitimacy and perhaps trying to raise money for Georgia and other reasons. It is, I can't stress enough, this is not a long shot, a no. Shot
VAUSE: Pennsylvania's attorney general had a message for Cruz. Here he is.
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JOSH SHAPIRO, PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: I would say that my 17 colleagues who have gone along with this circus. I don't know if I need to send you a surgeon to examine your spine or a psychiatrist to examine your head. But something is wrong with you if you continue to follow this president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, that really seems to be the point here. Not that Cruz is part of this or Trump.
But how can a third of the country's attorneys general think that it is a good idea to use the power of their office for a full-out assault on democracy?
LITMAN: That really is the broader point.
What is going?
People always used to say it had to do with some interim effect of Trump himself with the power to turn the base away from any candidate, maybe promote a primary challenge.
But he is leaving. He's about to come out as toothless or at least marginal, you can see from what Cruz said and many others just a couple years ago what they feel about him. It is puzzling. And to my light, it is speculation.
But it is less to do anymore with terror of Donald Trump and more to do with the desire to keep Joe Biden from having any kind of success or even acceptance by the 70 million or so people who voted for Trump.
But it is puzzling. And as you say, it is an attack on democracy now. It is really shabby.
VAUSE: George Conway, husband of Kellyanne Conway, seems to think that this case may just have a few holes in it. Here he is.
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LITMAN: Right.
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GEORGE CONWAY, ATTORNEY: Remember, the Supreme Court -- to do this in the Supreme Court of the United States is absolutely outrageous. They are throwing in all the garbage allegations of fraud that the Trump campaign wouldn't even put into some of their complaints in federal fissure court (ph).
It is absurd and an embarrassment and for a public official, let alone any lawyer, let alone any member of the Supreme Court bar to bring this lawsuit is atrocious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The bigger picture here, is that we have 1,500 lawyers and retired judges and legal scholars who signed a petition, calling on the Bar Association to condemn the Trump legal team and begin investigating. Here's part of the open letter.
"The conduct of Mr. Giuliani and his colleagues is a disgrace. It is indefensible for lawyers to falsely proclaim widespread voting fraud, submit a pattern of frivolous court claims and actively seek to undermine citizens' faith in our election's integrity."
All lawyers in the country take an oath to uphold the Constitution and the wording differs from state to state but the broad brushstrokes are, it includes a line about never misleading a court or making false statements.
So if you are Trump lawyer, should you lawyer up and not use one of those other guys but get a real lawyer?
LITMAN: Right. I mean, this is not just the august Constitution. You have a duty of candor to the court. I wrote about this. So far it has been cost free. These are just political maneuvers that are essentially abusing the court. They are not really to win any cases but to have a separate political agenda.
There are patently meritless, fact and lie, and exactly the sort of thing that should promote sanctions. I think the courts have been a little gun-shy to do that now, given the overall political context.
But I think now both the bar and some of the courts may be emboldened to really put their feet to the fire, where they belong.
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LITMAN: You just can't stand up in front of a court and lie like this. As a lawyer, you are not even supposed to do it in public but certainly not to a court. It is abusive.
VAUSE: You think someone would call uncle after 50 losses at least and no wins. Harry, thank you, Harry Litman, good to see you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE (on-camera): Facebook is facing the biggest legal challenge ever to its market dominance with a lawsuit filed by dozens of U.S. states and the Federal Trade Commission, accusing Facebook of abusing its dominance in the digital marketplace and stifling competition. CNN's Brian Fung reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN FUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a groundbreaking lawsuit and experts say that it could change a lot about the way that Americans experience social media. It could even result in the breakup of Facebook.
Forty-eight attorneys general and the U.S. government have accused Facebook of engaging in illegal behavior to maintain a monopoly by buying up potential competitors and sidelining rivals.
The lawsuit's focus on Facebook's acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, two key platforms that have contributed to Facebook's dominance. Now officials are asking for a breakup of the company and any other steps necessary to restore competition.
In a statement, Facebook is striking a defiant tone.
It said, quote, "The government cleared these acquisitions years ago. The government now wants a do-over, sending a chilling warning to American business that no sale is ever final. People and small businesses don't choose to use Facebook's free services and advantage because they have to; they use them because our apps and services deliver the most value."
One of their core defenses here is that because regulators blessed these deals in the past, they shouldn't be questioning them now.
Experts tell CNN that it is entirely within the right of regulators to revisit deals, particularly in light of new evidence. The lawsuit could take years to play out. But if it is successful it could mean sweeping changes to the way that Americans use social media and the options that they have in terms of accessing social media platforms -- Brian Fung, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Up next, how a vaccine becomes a vaccination. How will the U.S. overcome more distribution challenges and who will get the first shots, will they come back for a second?
A lot of questions, some answers when we come back.
Also Hong Kong imposing some of its toughest coronavirus restrictions since the pandemic began, live to the city in a moment.
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VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world.
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VAUSE: I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Another record high for daily deaths in the U.S. from the coronavirus. On Wednesday, more than 3,000 people died adding to a staggering loss of life since the pandemic. Just since December 1st, 20,000 Americans have lost their lives to the virus, the overall U.S. death toll is now approaching 300,000.
Even survivors can require long-term care and with new infections averaging more than 200,000 per day, hospital beds are filling quickly. There are more than 106,000 COVID patients in the U.S. medical facilities. That too is another record.
The Food and Drug Administration is just hours away from considering Pfizer's new vaccine for emergency use. If that authorization is given, distribution in the U.S. could begin almost immediately. CNN's Brian Todd explains what happens next.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first COVID-19 vaccines now being distributed in the U.K.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a quick painless jab, it doesn't take long. It's been fantastic. It doesn't hurt.
TODD: But tonight there are questions among Americans here in the U.S. about the vaccination process from start to finish. Like, am I eligible yet? Everyone who wants a vaccine will be eligible eventually. But according to CDC guidelines, if you're a doctor, nurse, nursing home resident or staffer, you're eligible as soon as the vaccine rolls out in the U.S. imminently, then others considered essential.
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, BIDEN COVID-19 ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER: People who are doing things that we really can't function without whether that's with respect to food, or drug stores, or teachers, for example.
TODD: And what about the rest of us?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Essentially a healthy, non-elderly person with no recognizable underlying conditions, likely start getting it in trickling in end of March, early April, once you get into April, probably full blast with those individuals.
TODD: With anyone who wants a vaccine able to get it by the end of June, official say. Another key question, how can I make an appointment to be vaccinated? Experts say, that's not yet clear.
DR. MICHAEL MINA, HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: The infrastructure to physically go in and sign up has not really been built or in the protocol hasn't really been ironed out.
TODD: But there are answers as to where I can go to get the vaccine.
FAUCI: CVS, Walgreens, doctor's offices, clinics and hospitals. TODD: Some special locations for vaccinations are also being set up. The Mount Sinai system in New York City plans to vaccinate people in pods, makeshift rooms and bays in its hospital lobbies. How will the vaccination process go once I'm there? A top exec at CVS says once you've made an appointment, they believe it'll be seamless.
JONATHAN ROBERTS, EVP AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, CVS HEALTH: So that it will be a similar experience to going into your pharmacy to get a flu shot. They'll come in at their scheduled time. They'll meet with the pharmacist or technician. They'll get their flu shot. They'll get a record card with the vaccination that they got. We'll also e- mail them that record.
TODD: That card allows you to keep a record of when you got vaccinated and when you're due for a second shot. Once you receive the vaccination, experts say they'll probably have you stay on site for at least 15 minutes to treat you if you get a rare allergic reaction. And --
MINA: People will probably feel sore, they'll get headaches. And so, in general, the recommendation will be take a Tylenol, take an Advil if you're really feeling down in the dumps after you get a vaccine.
TODD: Dr. Michael Mina says don't take too many Tylenols or Advils and don't take them too quickly after a vaccination because they could weaken your immune response to the vaccine.
Another critical part of aftercare, he says, act like you haven't had a vaccine. Continue to wear masks and socially distance, which most of us will have to do for months after vaccination -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Tough new coronavirus restrictions are now in effect in Hong Kong, a city trying to control a fourth wave of the virus. Nighttime dining services will be suspended, some businesses will be forced to close. Now to Hong Kong and CNN's Kristie Lu Stout.
These are some of the toughest restrictions that we've seen in Hong Kong. Obviously they are very serious about how this all is.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, taken very seriously here. Since the beginning of this pandemic, Hong Kong has been through multiple waves of infection. We are now undergoing a fourth wave ahead of the Christmas holiday season. The government is imposing some of the strictest social distancing measures yet, as cases continue to rise here.
Today there will be a ban on dine-in services from 6 pm. Gyms will be closed, beauty salons will be closed, beaches will be closed, playgrounds and outdoor sporting facilities, such as tennis courts and skate parks, all will be closed.
These measures, they kick in today and they will last for at least 2 weeks. Existing measures will remain in place. Schools will continue to be closed.
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The bars are closed. No more than 2 people can be dining or have a coffee together at a given time. As you can imagine, these tough restrictions are really dampening the mood here in Hong Kong.
There is a sense of fatigue and a sense of frustration. Just a moment ago, I spoke to a personal trainer and his client, who were training right here at the Victoria Harbor waterfront, now that the gyms are closed. And I asked them to just describe the mood, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there has been -- everyone has a bit of a fatigue, COVID-19 fatigue. I think everyone is just getting on with it. Everyone is just continue and get on with it. I don't think people can get any more depressed or sad. People are just almost used to it. So they're just getting on with life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Fatigue is setting in and yet people in Hong Kong feel like they just have to get on with it. Tuesday, we heard from Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, she said that the measures are necessary. She said the public transport data revealed people are still traveling around the city, despite fourth wave restrictions that were already in place.
Yesterday, we heard from the Hong Kong health department, 104 new cases of the coronavirus in the city of 7.5 million people. What is worrying them is the number of local untraceable cases, meaning that the silent chains of transmission are embedded in the community -- back to you, John.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you, in Hong Kong there.
Pre-pandemic life seems to be a time long since passed. Now there are new normals like kindergarten at night. We will tell you how that program came to the rescue for one mom.
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VAUSE: So much has changed during this pandemic in so many ways and in the blink of an eye, what's normal was no more. Now, for example, children have nighttime kindergarten. As Bianna Golodryga reports, one school has come to the rescue of harried parents.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RACHEL HODGE, HOUSEKEEPER AND SINGLE MOM: It has been really hard doing this on my own.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For single mother Rachel Hodge, every day is a juggling act.
HODGE: Trying to make ends meet and being able to go to school to further my education.
GOLODRYGA: In addition to raising two daughters Hodge works full time as a housekeeper in a hospital and is studying online to be a social worker. So when both of her daughters' schools in Newark, New Jersey, announced they would continue fully virtual instruction for the fall semester, Hodge knew something had to give.
HODGE: I really didn't know how I was going to do this.
GOLODRYGA: Five-year-old Vanessa was doing a START kindergarten at the KIPP THRIVE Academy. But with her mother at work all day, the only available childcare came in the form of a daycare center. Logging into class was not an option.
HODGE: At the end of the day education is what really matters. I was upset with myself that I had to sacrifice her education so I could be able to work.
[02:40:00]
GOLODRYGA : Vanessa missed school almost every day. And she wasn't alone.
MEREDITH EGER, KINDERGARTEN TEACHER: We had a few scholars that were absent the majority of September and almost all of October.
GOLODRYGA : Meredith Eger is a new kindergarten teacher this year at the KIPP charter school system. She has yet to meet her students in person.
EGER: Vanessa, can you come off mute and tell us our Zoom classroom rules?
GOLODRYGA : At the start of the school year, she still hadn't met many online either.
EGER: They needed something to help those kids that were absent.
You got it.
GOLODRYGA : So KIPP launched kindergarten night school, a separate class from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, in addition to teaching kindergarten during regular school day hours.
EGER: So good evening --
GOLODRYGA : For those students or scholars, as they're called at KIPP, who couldn't be online during the day, 11 have signed up so far, including Vanessa.
EGER: Vanessa, can you tell us who you are hello to?
GOLODRYGA: Even if the hours aren't normal? I see you're in the car. So don't worry about it. The instruction is,
does anyone remember?
Vanessa, what is it and it's made a huge difference for families like Hodges
HODGE: It kind of alleviated a lot of the stress and anxiety and also my worries of is she getting the adequate quality education that a kindergartener should be able to get.
GOLODRYGA: With crucial life skills beyond just academics.
EGER: It's how they're learning how to go to school, how to make friends.
GOLODRYGA : Studies also show a quality kindergarten education can have a big impact on college attendance and earnings later in life, which is why declines in kindergarten enrollment across the country during the coronavirus pandemic are especially alarming and forcing schools to think outside the box to get kids online for class.
GOLODRYGA: So nine, 10 weeks in, how's this experiment going so far?
EGER: I think it's going great. The second we started evening learning program they have not missed one day.
GOLODRYGA : It's been an adjustment having kids do their schooling when they would usually be getting ready for bed.
EGER: And it's getting close time to bedtime and everything. So I definitely want to try and keep them moving.
GOLODRYGA: But there are also some silver linings.
EGER: I see a lot more parents sitting with their scholars at night because they're home.
HODGE: So it works out really well. She's really independent. All I have to pretty much do for her is log on the computer.
GOLODRYGA: While Hodge is anxious for schools to reopen, she's grateful that, thanks to some creative, unconventional thinking, her little scholar can still attend kindergarten.
VANESSA PARKER, NIGHT SCHOOL KINDERGARTENER: I'm fine it finding it on the computer because I get to stay home. I'm learning a lot more in kindergarten.
GOLODRYGA : Bianna Golodryga, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: An Italian church is paying special tribute to frontline health care workers this holiday season. The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi has incorporated a life-size figure of a nurse as part of its nativity scene. The statue is to honor Italy's health care workers for their heroic
efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy was one of the first Western countries to be hit hard by the virus and has suffered nearly 1.8 million cases and almost 62,000 deaths.
Thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us for more news at the top of the hour. But for now, "WORLD SPORT" is next.
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(WORLD SPORT)
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