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South African Doctors: Omicron Cases "Extremely Mild"; Brazil Confirms Latin America's First Omicron Cases; British P.M. To Offer All Adults Booster Shots By End Of January; Experts: Vaccines Are Best Defense Against Omicron; Experts Warn Even Mild Cases Risk Stronger Mutations; Many Nations Have Suspended Aid Since Taliban Takeover; UNDP: Ban On Women Working Will Worsen Afghan Crisis. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 01, 2021 - 01:00 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, everyone. Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, vaccinate and boost, vaccinate and boost. The plan now in many parts of the world as the Omicron variant continues to spread, but how effective are the current vaccines?
The high cost of the Taliban's decision to ban women from the workplace. A billion dollar hit to the economy, a devastating blow to a country and an economic death spiral at CNN exclusive this hour.
And a glimpse of the future. Unprecedented rainfall at Greenland summit this past August will happen more often and sooner than expected, with more rain and snow falling over the Arctic in the warming years ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Thanks for being with us, everyone. Now, right now, the common strategy among health officials dealing with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus comes down to this. In vaccines, we trust and get a booster.
Ministers of health in both Israeli and South African governments are the latest to say that vaccines currently available will likely be effective. The variant of concern has now been identified in at least 20 countries and territories, most recently Japan and Brazil.
A week ago, South Africa was the first to report the existence of the Omicron variant. And now new tests have revealed the variant was in the Netherlands at least five days earlier than South Africa's announcement. Despite that, at least 70 countries and territories have imposed some kind of restrictions on travelers from Southern Africa.
And the U.S. is considering tougher entry requirements for all international visitors including mandatory COVID test a day before arrival. And four major U.S. airports have ramped up measures to try and screen for the virus in arriving air travellers.
White House Senior Medical Adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says it's still unclear if symptoms from the Omicron variant are less severe. But the chair of the South African Medical Association says the majority of cases she has seen have been extremely mild.
And regulators in the E.U. say vaccines adapted to target the new variant could be approved by regulators within four months.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: Get vaccinated if you're not. If you are vaccinated, get boosted. We know that that is your surest pathway right now to protecting yourself against the new variant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In the hour ahead, CNN correspondents will be reporting in with the very latest from North and South America, from Europe, Africa, as well as Asia. And first to South Africa, where the Omicron variant is now the dominant strain. CNN Correspondent David McKenzie has more on that, as well as the latest new details on how they determined this variant of concern was present in the Netherlands days before it was detected in South Africa.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A coronavirus testing center in Johannesburg. The Omicron variant is already dominant here just weeks after it was first detected. A doctor who's treating Omicron patients is expressing cautious optimism.
DR. ANGELIQUE COETZEE, CHAIR, SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: But the majority of what we are presenting to primary healthcare practitioners are extremely mild cases, so it's mild to moderate.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): The White House says there aren't enough cases yet to evaluate the variants danger but that they are prepared.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, U.S. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION: Our variant surveillance system had demonstrated we can reliably detection variants from Alpha in the start of 2021 to Dover this past summer.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): The CDC is strengthening its booster recommendations for Americans, saying, all adults should get another dose six months after their second Pfizer or Moderna shot or after just two months if they had the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. It's a similar story abroad, where the U.K. government says it will now make boosters available to everyone over 18.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: What we're doing is taking some proportionate precautionary measures while our scientists crack the Omicron code.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): In England on Tuesday, face masks became mandatory again in stores and on public transportation. Israel confirmed its first cases of Omicron community spread. The Sheba Medical Center said a doctor who travelled abroad and then infected a colleague.
In the Netherlands where some are already isolating in this airport hotel, the government said the Omicron variant was in the country a full week earlier than it originally thought, founded test samples from November 19th that were just sequenced. Japan found its first Omicron variant case, a man who traveled from Namibia. Its borders close to all foreigners on Tuesday.
South African leaders are slamming those global travel bans as ineffective and punitive.
[01:05:02]
XOLISA MABHONGO, DEPUTY PERMANENT REP. OF SOUTH AFRICA TO THE U.N.: We feel that the travel ban is very unfair. South African science should be commended for discovering this new variant and sharing the information with the world. We have played our role very responsible.
David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The Omicron variant has now been detected in Brazil. The first cases reported in Latin America. Details now from CNN's Shasta Darlington.
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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Brazilian health officials have reported the first two cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Also, the first reported cases in Latin America. Information about the couple's contradictory. According to the Anvisa health agency, a passenger who had flown in from South Africa on November 23rd, with a negative COVID-19 test result, did a new test along with his wife to prepare for a return flight back to South Africa when the results came in positive.
Sao Paulo state and municipal authorities, however, say the Brazilian couple arrived together from South Africa on November 23rd, before testing positive on November 25th, showing mild symptoms of the virus. Both the 41-year-old man and 37-year-old woman are now in isolation, they say. The plane from South Africa arrived before the worldwide notification of the new variant.
Brazil has since suspended flights from the region. Brazil requires negative PCR tests to enter the country but it does not require vaccination. The two Brazilians are the first confirmed cases of Omicron in Latin America, a region hit-hard by the coronavirus.
In Brazil alone, more than 600,000 people have died from COVID-19. With high vaccination rates, however, the numbers have steadily improved and authorities were slowly rolling back restrictions. Those plans could now be put on hold. Since the discovery of Omicron, several Brazilian cities including Salvador have already announced they're cancelling New Year's celebrations and many others are seriously considering the possibility.
Shasta Darlington CNN, Sao Paulo.
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VAUSE: Japan is increasing border restrictions from Thursday. Foreign nationals with Japanese residency will be prevented from re-entering the country if they visited one of those 10 African nations on the banned list. CNN's Will Ripley live in Hong Kong with more on this. I still don't understand this. Explain the logic of that ban if it does not include the Netherlands.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. The Netherlands were to test samples that were taken on November 19th and 23rd, before the flight from Southern Africa even arrived were positive for Omicron. Now they say it's still not clear whether the -- those people who tested positive in the Netherlands had a travel history that included Southern Africa.
And yet if Japan -- if you would believe the authorities who say they're acting out of an overabundance of caution, why is the Netherlands excluded from this ban on 10 Southern African nations including South Africa, Angola and Namibia, where a man -- Namibia where a man in his 30S, oh, tested positive in Narita Airport and became the first confirmed Omicron case in Japan.
When somebody has a residency in Japan and they can't go back, that potentially separates them from their job, it could potentially separate them from their family members, their children, if they were away travelling on business. This ban could be extraordinarily disruptive for people's lives who have invested and who pay taxes in Japan, just because they're coming from these 10 Southern African countries, they're now banned from entering.
And this is, of course, in addition to Japan's ban on all new foreign arrivals, even people whose visas haven't been processed yet, people who might have plans to study in Japan or might be starting a new job in Japan. No matter what country you come from, you can't get in because of these new restrictions over a variant that anecdotally scientists are saying at least in the early days looks like it's relatively mild in terms of the cases, although still a lot more information needs to be learned.
In Hong Kong, they're also tightening restrictions here, adding more countries to their highest risk category. They're adding Japan, incidentally, Portugal, and Sweden beginning on Friday. And if you're a Hong Kong resident, and you're coming from one of the countries on this highest risk list, which is basically going to be any country where Omicron has been detected, you have a 21-day quarantine, you're tested for COVID multiple times, including getting tested even after you're out of quarantine on day 26. And if you're not a Hong Kong resident and you're not fully vaccinated, you can't enter this Chinese territory at all. Similar restrictions in place for China even though they're not outwardly concerned about this new variant because they say their quarantine procedures which are already some of the harshest in the world, including up to seven weeks quarantine for certain incoming seafarers, for example. They say that their system is in place and should be able to detect this and not let Omicron get into the general population, John.
VAUSE: Will, thank you. Will Ripley live for us there in Hong Kong. Appreciate that.
Now as concern over the variant spreads across the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says all adults will be able to receive a booster shot by the end of January.
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JOHNSON: All of our sites will increase their capacity and will stand up extra hospital hubs on top of those already active. There'll be temporary vaccination centers popping up, like Christmas trees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Confirmed cases of the Omicron variant have now been found in 20 countries and the U.S. is stepping up its hunt for the new strain of the virus. And on that, here's CNN's Nick Watt.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The question is when not if the Omicron variant reaches the United States could already be here. Among the first to study Omicron? This guy.
ALEX SIGAL, FACULTY MEMBER, AFRICA HEALTH RESEARCH INSTITUTE: It looks like a problem, but we don't know to what extent is going to be a problem. I wouldn't, at this point, say that this is hugely different from stuff we've seen before.
MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, COVID-19 TECHNICAL LEAD, WHO: I think we'll get some information on transmissibility in severity in the coming days, maybe a week or two. I do think it will take some time for us to get a better understanding of the impact on vaccines. Our estimate is between two and four weeks.
WATT (voice-over): Here's what we already know about Omicron mutations.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: These mutations have been associated with increased transmissibility and immune evasion.
WATT (voice-over): So, will vaccines work as well as they did against the Delta variant? There is no world, I think, where the effectiveness is the same level. Moderna CEO told the Financial Times, if Omicron does indeed diminish protection from vaccines --
STEPHANE BANCEL, MODERNA CEO: Boosters should reduce dramatically the gap.
WATT (voice-over): This variant was first detected in Southern Africa, now dominant down there.
COETZEE: What we are presenting to primary healthcare practitioners are extremely mild cases, so it's mild to moderate. So these patients, they don't need to be hospitalized for now.
WATT (voice-over): Still, Dr. Fauci cautioning against such anecdotal accounts.
FAUCI: Most of those are among younger individuals. We believe that it is too soon to tell of what the level of severity is.
WATT (voice-over): And remember, this will likely not be the last coronavirus variant.
DR. PETER SINGER, SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE DIRECTOR GENERAL, WHO: Omicron is like a wake-up call as though we needed another wake-up call to vaccinate the world. One of the best ways to keep Americans safe is actually to vaccinate the world.
WATT (voice-over): Because the more the virus spreads, the more it mutates.
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WATT: And here in the U.S., authorities are upping their surveillance at four of the busiest international airports, JFK, Newark, Atlanta and San Francisco. And also, they are now analyzing one in seven of all positive tests. Looking for variants.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
VAUSE: The first known cases of what we now call COVID-19, appeared in Wuhan, China in late 2019. But it quickly became a global pandemic. 677 days since the first lockdown in Wuhan. The virus has killed more 5 million people.
Right now, there are more than 262 million cases around the world. And despite all this, this pandemic seems to continue with no end in sight and the advice remains the same. Wear a mask, wash your hands, get vaccinated. And while most of doing that, there are a number of some who are not, which means this plan isn't working. So what's plan B?
Dr. Jayne Morgan joins us now, she's the Executive Director of the Piedmont Healthcare COVID Task Force here in Atlanta. Welcome to the program.
DR. JAYNE MORGAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PIEDMONT HEALTHCARE COVID TASK FORCE: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: OK, so if you compare (ph) this time last year, we now have pretty highly effective vaccines, or the number of highly effective vaccines as well. There's also booster shots. Clearly, most public health officials are counting on vaccines to try and contain this new variant. Listen to this.
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WALENSKY: To be crystal clear, we have far more tools to fight the variant today than we had at this time last year.
JEFFREY ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Vaccines remain our most important tool in our fight against the virus.
FAUCI: We are hoping and I think with good reason to feel good that there will be some degree of protection.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And yet the big picture is that coronavirus has been able to spread because of these low vaccination rates. And there's also been this outright refusal by many to wear a mask and to socially distance. And each time there's a new confirmed cases, another chance for mutation. And that's how we ended up where we are right now. It seems we're going to be able to mitigate the worst of this variant, but we're not going to be able to end the pandemic for all it seems.
MORGAN: This is absolutely true, John. And so when you hear this talk of people saying, at some point, that pandemic moves to an endemic state and we'll just have to learn with it at some low level of the virus being in our environment. What that really means is that the virus continues to find host like people who are unvaccinated and unprotected and continues then to replicate and mutate and, therefore, continues to present a threat to human life no matter how low that threat is, it doesn't completely go away.
[01:15:11]
So endemic is not a safe state for us to be in to transition from pandemic to endemic. We really need to end the pandemic.
VAUSE: Because the risk here is that every time this virus transmits to somebody else, there's a mutation and that mutation eventually, is it a matter of when, not if, that mutation could end up being -- be able to evade vaccines, being more contagious in the Delta variant, essentially, what would be kind of like a doomsday variant if you like, and that's why there's this need to eradicate it once and for all.
MORGAN: Yes, absolutely. And, you know, the virus replicates when it enters the body It doesn't always mutate. But when it does, these are errors in the replication process. And when several of these mutations get together, oftentimes, in a patient who may be immunocompromised, have the virus for a long period of time, because they're very ill, it has time to learn to cluster together and to bring us these variants.
VAUSE: And I want you now to listen to the British Prime Minister on other measures, which may be needed because of the new variant. Here he is,
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: And ruled out anything. I've got to tell you, and I think another lockdown of the kind that we've had before is extremely unlikely. I'll be upfront with you about that. So the moment, we've seen a cause to move to plan B. But as I said to you many, many times before, we've got to keep that under view.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: You know, again, I think when we think about these lockdowns, and we've had all of us have been through more than one at this point, the challenge that we have had is that not everyone has cooperated in society. Some of us have adhere to the lockdown, and others of us have not. Some of us have adhered to public health measures, and others have not. And so we continue to have these variants, most recently, the Delta variant, which still is giving many parts of the world, including the United States, quite a difficulty.
VAUSE: Just very quickly, we almost out of time, but just when the news broke of another variant -- which could be more contagious, possibly, you know, have more severe symptoms -- it seemed like a gut punch, especially after 20 months of, you know, wearing masks and socially distancing and trying to do the right thing.
MORGAN: The scientific community, including myself and others, have warned that these variants will continue to come. Delta is not the last variant. It's not a matter of if, it's only a matter of when. This is what viruses do. That's why viruses are a formidable foe, certainly viruses that are spread by respirations by free air. So we should expect Omicron to not be the last variant.
VAUSE: And our action to ensuring that we keep snatching victory -- or defeat from the jaws of victory at every turn. Dr. Jayne Morgan, thank you so much for being with us.
MORGAN: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, in South Korea, it's the Delta variant which is surging. New COVID infections are hitting record highs, hospital admissions have surged, and there's still no sign of Omicron.
Also heading back to the classroom in Cuba. What an aggressive vaccine strategy mean? So reopening schools, as well as dealing with the Omicron variant.
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VAUSE: In Honduras, Xiomara Castro looks set to be elected president after her main rival conceded defeat. Just over 52 percent of the vote counted, Castro holds a commanding lead. Castro become the country's first female president 12 years after her husband was ousted in a coup. Even though Afghanistan is in the grips of an unprecedented and worsening humanitarian crisis with dire shortages of food, fuel, and medical supplies, can you tell that government has spent much of their first three months in power doggedly trying to reverse two decades of progress on gender equality. Among the latest IIDX (ph), women banned from appearing in television dramas and soap operas. Girls and young women are once again prevented from attending school, which means Afghanistan is the only country in the world where half the population is actively prevented from receiving an education.
Despite earlier assurances of progressive Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalists are just that, returning to their old ways, committing mass violations of human rights, which was many donor countries withholding financial assistance. It's impossible to know the full impact of these restrictions are having and will have, but we can now count the economic costs, are yet to be published report by the U.N. expects a work ban on women will cost the Afghan economy up to $1 billion a year in lost productivity.
Lost wages from those jobs could reduce household expenditure by $1.5 billion. Afghanistan was already in the grips of a sharp economic slowdown before the fall of the national government. But now with most international assistance on hold, along with a pandemic and nationwide drought, the economy is at a high speed nosedive. And this U.N. report expects an economic recession this year, between 20 to 30 percent, which would push more than 90 percent of the population below the poverty line.
Unemployment is expected to increase by more than 40 percent in the short term. The less pessimistic outlook is 26 percent. The cost of basic goods wheat, flour, cooking oil has surged. Wages have fallen. Just 5 percent of the population say they have enough to eat. And that 5 percent on average lives on $2 per person per day. Almost everyone else is living on an average of $0.74 cents a day.
And joining us now, the UNDP President, Representative in Afghanistan, Abdallah al Dardari. Thank you so much, sir, for being with us.
ABDALLAH AL DARDARI, UNDP RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE IN AFGHANISTAN: Thank you very much. Thank you.
VAUSE: Your report makes for some very depressing reading. The bottom line, though, seems to be Afghanistan is on course for an economic crash so severe, it's likely to destroy the foundations of civil society and enter the very most basic in public services. Is there a way of avoiding this?
AL DARDARI: There is, but that requires rethinking of the way we do business now in Afghanistan. We need to look at the humanitarian situation, provide all the humanitarian aid that is necessary, but at the same time, we need to think beyond humanitarian. As you know, no humanitarian crisis could be solved with humanitarian aid only. It requires systems, it requires economic policy and it requires institutions.
So in the report, this is what we are saying. It -- there has to be a different approach, a much more elaborate approach on saving the economy, saving the system, saving the banking system and others in order to sustain a resemblance of a national economy that could create jobs for the ordinary outcomes (ph).
VAUSE: Is there a timeline here? Is Afghanistan facing a point of no return? And if so, when is that?
AL DARDARI: I think we are already there. Therefore, time is our main enemy. If you look at the deterioration in all the sectors, take the private sector, for example, most of the firms are closing, and that will cause massive unemployment, in addition to the situation we are facing today. So I think time is, as I said, is our main enemy and we have to move today.
In the next -- by the time June 2022, we would have a 97 percent poverty level. That's universal poverty. That's unprecedented, even in the worst case -- cases of humanitarian situations anywhere around the world.
VAUSE: Basic empathy and shared humanity is not -- is often not enough for many people. So why should people care about what happens to Afghanistan? Where's the self-interest here for everyone else?
AL DARDARI: Think about what would people do if they continue losing their livelihoods and sometimes losing lives because of hunger. People will move away from Afghanistan. People will leave their land and move to neighboring countries and that will cause another migration crisis.
[01:25:04]
The world is not ready for it. It will cause also massive number of young people joining terrorist groups moving to illicit economy, that which will have ramifications around the world, not just in the region. It is a global good to help Afghanistan avoid this disastrous outcome.
VAUSE: The Acting Taliban Prime Minister made his first national address over the weekend. He said the lack of food was a test from God, blamed everything on his predecessors, which is politics and to be expected. But he also said steps have been taken to end the economic crisis.
But one thing the Taliban could fix, and this is within their power, they could end the human rights violations which they commit. They're getting the rights and the violations against women and girls and against marginalized groups of society. And that would be in a return of international assistance. So why -- is it likely that that could happen anytime soon? And if not, why not?
AL DARDARI: One of the reasons we published this report is to make a very strong and loud hold for everyone, including the Taliban, that we need to take action today. That if we keep girls and women outside the labor market and outside education, the consequences are disasters, not just the loss of one -- additional $1 billion to the GDP, but also on the medium term, the possibilities and the opportunities of recovery in Afghanistan will be much weaker if we don't engage girls and women in education and in the labor force.
So, this is our call. This is what our contribution to this dialogue which has to convince all stakeholders inside and outside Afghanistan that we need to change course immediately.
VAUSE: Abdallah al Dardari from the UNDP, thank you so. We really appreciate your time. Thank you for being with us.
AL DARDARI: Thank you very much. Thank you.
VAUSE: Coming up on CNN Newsroom, a new report, a new dire warning about global warming in the Arctic, and what it will mean for rising sea levels. Stay with us.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN Newsroom.
An update now on what we know about the Omicron variant, it's been found in at least 21 countries and territories. Nigeria is the latest with three confirmed cases, all with a history of travel to South Africa. The World Health Organization continues to warn against blanket travel bans, saying that just not effective. Still, dozens of countries have imposed some kind of travel restrictions, mostly focusing on South Africa, where the variant was first detected as well as its neighboring countries.
Meantime, the U.S. actively hunting for Omicron but it says it hasn't shown up in screenings so far. The CDC Director says the U.S. is checking one out of every seven positive code PCR tests for variants.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
An update now on what we know about the omicron variant. It's been found in at least 21 countries and territories. Nigeria is the latest with three confirmed cases, all with a history of travel to South Africa.
The World Health Organization continues to warn against blanket travel bans saying they are just not effective. Still dozens of countries have imposed some kind of travel restrictions, mostly focusing on South Africa where the variant was first detected as well as its neighboring countries.
Meantime, the U.S. actively hunting for omicron but it says it hasn't shown up in screenings so far. The CDC director says the U.S. is checking one out of every seven positive COVID PCR tests for variants.
Around the world, countries with access to vaccine supplies are relying heavily on booster shots of the vaccines. CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports on Cuba's vaccination rollout aimed at
getting children back to school.
But first Paula Hancocks reports from South Africa -- from South Korea I should say -- a nation free from the omicron variant but still seeing its deadliest days of the COVID pandemic.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: South Korea like so many other countries is waiting for its first positive case of the omicron variant.
And officials here are particularly concerned about a potentially more transmissibly variant considering the situation is already quite bad in the country.
The health system particularly in the Greater Seoul area is close to capacity.
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HANCOCKS (voice over): Living with COVID does not translate to living with omicron. South Korea's plans to ease more restrictions are on hold. President Moon Jae-in called the situation severe and has closed the border to southern African countries. Even without reported cases of the new variant, the country is struggling with record numbers of deaths and critical cases.
KWON JUN WOOK, DIRECTOR, KOREAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH (through translator): We already expected the overall number of confirmed cases would increase. But what we haven't predicted with such a high increase in critical cases, and death toll.
HANCOCKS: Most patients of over the age of 60, were vaccinated in the early stages of the process and are getting a booster shot. Officials are trying to speed that process up.
Initial success with the test, trace and treat policy Kwon says was largely done to routine annual training for infectious disease experts, just one month before the first Korean case of COVID.
KWON: In December, 2019 we were doing so called, simulation training against new infectious diseases. Coincidentally, the subject was a new coronavirus.
Thanks to the training, we were quick to set up PCR testing and mass testing.
HANCOCKS: In January 2020, I spoke to the doctor looking after the very first Korean COVID patient. He told me then that they had seven COVID beds set up and were hoping they would not need any more.
The country has now seen almost 450,000 cases, and over 3,600 deaths. Dr. Kim says his hospital is full and cannot take in another COVID patient.
DR. KIM YEONJAE, NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER (through translator): The hardest part after working almost two years, is that we don't even know when this is going to be over. It's emotionally very hard.
HANCOCKS: Although South Korea never had a full lockdown, restrictions and curfews put pressure on small and medium businesses.
LEE CHANG-HO, NATIONAL BEER BARS ASSOCIATION (through translator): I've had to use up all my savings, sold my assets could stay afloat. I've taken out the maximum amount of bank loans I can.
HANCOCKS: Lee Chang-ho has closed four of his eight bar businesses, and he's been lobbying the government to do more to help the self- employed.
LEE: at the beginning, all citizens received the government's disaster relief fund, which was the same amount for everyone. The total doesn't even come close to one month's rent.
HANCOCKS: The bank of Korea finds around 2.5 million self-employed people have a combined debt of some $700 billion as of the first quarter of this year. Many that may not be able to withstand another wave of infections and fear that could accompany a new variant.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS: Now, while they may not have identified a positive case of the new variant here yet, the crunch on ICU beds is already acute. ICU beds occupation soared from 42 percent to more than 70 percent in just the last four weeks across the country. The numbers are even higher in the capital, Seoul.
And while health officials say they may be able to find more beds, more ICU beds. It's very difficult for them to be able to find qualified doctors and nurses to be able to man them.
Paula Hancocks, CNN -- Seoul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cuban school children return to class. It's been a long time coming on this island where in-person schooling had been interrupted for most of the pandemic.
Until November, this is how students were keeping up with their lessons. What Cuba's state-run school system calls "tele-classes" hours of televised courses, broadcast to specific rates throughout the day.
It's not interactive like online learning, but officials say it was the best available option in a country where most people still don't have a home Internet connection.
With schools, parks and even the beaches closed, many Cuban parents say the pandemic has been especially tough on their kids.
"It's been difficult because children have their routines, just like we do," she says. "The routines of school, other kids, do their homework, their chores, but I think the tele-classes have helped a lot."
[01:34:58]
OPPMANN, But even education officials acknowledge that the televised classes don't work for everyone, and that kids need to be back in classrooms.
"It's no secret that we have students that might not have a TV in their home," she says. "Or students who could have a broken TV, or there's so many people at home, that it makes it difficult to concentrate on the lessons."
While the world waits to see what the impact of the omicron variant would be, Cuban health officials say that more than 80 percent of the population is fully vaccinated. And that the island has already begun vaccinating children as young as two years old.
Studies show that vaccinating kids may be crucial to avoiding higher death tolls.
(on camera): Even the most children infected with the coronavirus usually have mild symptoms, they can still pass the virus onto more vulnerable people. A study released in November by the COVID-19 scenario modeling hub, says that vaccinating children in the U.S. could prevent 500,000 new cases and some 15,000 new deaths this winter.
In Cuba, vaccinations are not mandatory for kids to return to school. But Llaneres (ph) she wanted her six-year-old daughter, Milenes (ph) to receive Cuba's home-grown vaccine, before starting in-person schooling.
"It's necessary that students can interact with their teacher, she says, "even though, we parents, have done our best at home."
It is a very big needle but little Milenes doesn't shed a tear. And many parents here say after more than a year without in-person schooling, there is nothing they look forward to more than getting their kids safely back in the classroom.
Now, as the omicron variant threatens the gains that have been made, they hope that this new normal can last.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN -- Havana.
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VAUSE: Germany is considering tougher restrictions for those not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Measures being considered by lawmakers include limits on private gatherings and expanding the so- called 2G rule, requiring proof of vaccination or recovery from COVID to enter all stores.
Meantime Greece will mandate vaccinations for those 60 and older, and those who have not scheduled their first dose by January 16 will face fines of 100 euros per month. The Greek prime minister says it is not intended to be punitive, but it is the price of health. Revenue raised from the fines will pay into a fund for Greek hospitals.
Please join us for "CNN TOWN HALL, CORONAVIRUS FACTS AND FEARS" hosted by Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci. That is Wednesday 8:00 p.m. in New York, 9:00 a.m. Thursday in Hong Kong, 5:00 a.m. in Abu Dhabi.
Still to come here, 30 white rhinos, one 747, the first ever flight to safety for a near threatened species. More on an incredible journey when we come back.
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VAUSE: Earlier this year, rain fell at Greenland Summit for the first time. It was this past August. According to a new report, it is a sign of what we can expect on a warming planet.
The study predicts the Arctic will experience more rain than snow sometime between 2060 and 2070 because of global warming. That's earlier scientists than scientists have previously thought.
Researchers say the rise in rainfall has the potential to destabilize Greenland's ice sheet, as well as trigger global rises in sea levels.
Let's go to CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for more. And of course, this is on top of the expected increase in the sea levels because of global warming, I imagine.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, and John, and a lot of people forget that when it comes to the Arctic, that is a region of the world that is warming at a much more disproportionate rate than the rest of the world.
So we've seen 1.5, 2 degrees here for a global average. That region into the Arctic, we're talking 2.5 to 3.5 degree in warming in store.
And we talked about this 14th of August event which at the Greenland Summit we are talking upwards of 3,200 meters high, very unusual to see temperatures across this region get above the freezing mark, but of course a significant rain event took place back in the middle of August. With that said, upwards of seven billion tons of water fell and, of course, lead to significant melting in place as well.
But again, temperatures typically at this altitude and in this region of the world stay below freezing for the entire year.
And you know, this was the third time in the past decade, we have seen temps exceed the freezing mark. So that itself was impressive.
But when it comes to this rare event, the study essentially suggesting it will be far from rare here within the next three to four decades. And Michelle McMichael -- McChrystal, is the lead scientist for this particular study.
She spoke to CNN saying initially they thought by say 2090 to about 2100 would be the year we see temperatures consistently warm enough here to support rain showers across that the area of the world.
But now they have moved that back with models suggesting that around 2060 to 2070 this would occur given the increasing temperatures on a global scale.
Now, the importance of this is, of course, significant as it gets because you notice the loss of sea ice in this part of the world leads to more open waters, this open water allows that sunlight, the warmth across the entire planet to allow these waters to evaporate at a higher rate. So the Arctic gets wetter, and of course additional sea ice melts as a result of it, and all of this spells trouble for the rest of the world.
And again, this is what I was talking about earlier in the segment John, that the Arctic is warming at about a 3 percent rate higher than the rest of the world. So about a 3.1 degree warming compared to the earth having warmed a little over one degree Celsius just in the past decade -- three decades or so.
So again, an impressive run here for the Arctic.
VAUSE: Pedram, thank you. Pedram Javaheri there with details of that report, not good news as always. Thank you.
Take 30 white rhinos weighing in at 1.5 tons each, the largest single rhino translocation in history. It happened over the weekend, the rhinos taken away from the (INAUDIBLE) in South Africa and arriving in Rwanda.
CNN's Zain Asher has details.
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ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 40 hours and some 3,400 kilometers, 30 white rhinos complete a long journey from South Africa to a new home in Rwanda. It is the largest single transfer of the species and a move to replenish the white rhinos' struggling population, one largely devastated by poaching since the 1970s.
The journey was no easy feat. White rhinos are one of the largest land mammal species and can weigh up to 2 tons. Following months of preparation, the partially sedated rhinos ere transferred from South Africa's Phinda Private Game Reserve.
They boarded a Boeing 747 to Rwanda, to their final destination. Akagera National Park, a space that the staff of African Parks believes will provide a safe haven for the threatened species.
JES GRUNER, CEO, AKAGERA MANAGEMENT COMPANY: White rhinos are being persecuted on the continent, they are not stable, they're on their (INAUDIBLE) age. They could go either way. If something happened to Kenya or South Africa on the scene of white rhinos, that is where the majority of white rhinos are. Then white rhinos are really on the brink of extinction.
So it makes no better sense than to bring them to safe areas, areas we know where they would thrive.
ASHER: Gruner says the animals will be safer here than they were in South Africa where he says three rhinos daily are killed by poachers.
GRUNER: We brought black rhinos here in 2017, they are thriving. We brought the lions here, they are thriving. We have proven as the management of the park but also the government collaboration that it is a safe progressive place, and that we can ensure their security.
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ASHER: Poaching remains the primary threat to these animals, targeted for their horns. There are only about 20,000 southern white rhinos remaining, considered near threatened. And only two females of another sub species the northern white rhino on the brink of extinction.
The 30 white rhinos are welcome additions to the park, which has seen a decline in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. White rhinos enjoy grazing in open spaces, so visiting tourists can expect to get a good look.
IAN MUNYANKINDI, AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK: The white rhinos are going to be seen in the open spaces by almost all the tourists. So it's going to be something that will really help a lot on the tourism side.
ASHER: Initially placed in two large enclosures, authorities say the rhinos will soon be able to roam the expansive park with plenty of room to grow.
Zain Asher, CNN.
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VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, Sudan's pro-democracy demonstrators refusing to back down. Police firing tear gas on thousands as they march through Khartoum.
Also ahead -- the island nation of Barbados celebrating the status as the world's newest republic. Ahead, how this new era for Barbados, marks a fresh start and ends its long-held ties to the British monarchy.
And she was a cabaret singer and dancer, a wartime spy, and civil rights activists. France bestows one of its highest honors ever on Josephine Baker.
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VAUSE: Protesters in Sudan are refusing to accept last week's power sharing deal between the civilian prime minister and the military. Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the street of Khartoum
Tuesday, demanding full civilian rule. They were met by police firing tear gas.
The civilian alliance Sudan Central Doctors Committee reporters 43 people have been killed since last month's military takeover.
More details now from CNN's Nima Elbagir.
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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been days since a deal was reach to bring together Sudan's former partners in power once again. The military who engaged in a takeover and the once deposed prime minister representing the civilian leadership.
And yet, protests continue in Sudan. So do the deaths of pro democracy activists. Today saw tens of thousands of Sudanese pro-democracy protesters take to the streets.
And CNN producer told us getting to within less than a kilometer of the key seat of power in the Sudanese capital, the presidential palace, until they were dispersed using tear gas.
The deal between Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and the military was supposed to put a stop to all this. And yet, if anything: the civilians, the protest movement on the street seems to be solidifying as the opposition political forces Prime Minister Hamdok's former allies refused to join this new power sharing deal with the military.
Protesters in Sudan say that they have seen what happens in other transitional contexts where the generals take back power and the world goes on as usual. But they say, that they refuse to allow this opportunity for democracy, this opportunity for justice to pass them by.
And for now, they say they are committed to staying on the streets, whatever the prime minister and whatever those among some of their civilian leadership may believe is the right cause for the country.
Nima Elbagir, CNN -- London.
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VAUSE: The wife of the former Mexican drug boss, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, was sentenced Tuesday for her role in her husbands' narcotics empire. Emma Coronel Aispuro was -- pleaded guilty rather to drug trafficking and money laundering, will now serve three years in prison.
El Chapo was sentenced to life in prison plus an extra 30 years in 2019. Currently serving time at a super max prison in Colorado.
Now to Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking trial which heard emotional and disturbing testimony from a woman who was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell's long-time companion.
The abuse she said began when she was 14. And while under oath she recalled graphic details which at times linked Maxwell to a number of key incidents.
We have details now from CNN's Randi Kaye.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A British socialite now having to answer for her alleged twisted behavior. Ghislaine Maxwell was born in 1961 and grew up in the English countryside. In the 1990s, she dated Jeffrey Epstein and they remained close after the relationship ended.
Epstein would later face federal charges of sexually abusing young girls and running a sex trafficking ring. Prosecutors believed that Maxwell essentially served as Epstein's madam, recruiting girls and grooming them for Epstein to sexually abuse even allegedly takin part herself.
AUBREY STRAUSS, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY FOR SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NY: Maxwell was among Epstein's closest and helped him exploit girls who were as young as 14 years old.
KAYE: One of those allegedly abused at age 14 took the witness stand today, identified only as Jane. Prosecutors say Jane met Maxwell and Epstein at a Michigan summer camp in 1994.
After they realized they all lived in Palm Beach, Florida prosecutors say Maxwell and Epstein asked for Jane's number, describing them as, quote, "predators".
Jane testified that back in Florida, Maxwell began talking to her about sex and taking her to Epstein's house. Jane testified that Epstein said he could introduce her to talent agents, then took her to pole pool house, pulled down his pants and pulled her on top of him while he masturbated.
Jane told the jury, she was frozen in fear, that she'd never seen a penis, adding she was terrified and ashamed. Jane recalled Epstein touched her breasts and vagina. She says the abuse also included oral sex and intercourse, testifying that sometimes Maxwell took part in the sex acts along with others, turning it into an orgy.
Maxwell's defense attorney rejected the allegations and questioned Jane's credibility.
Epstein's former pilot also testified. Larry Visoski (ph) flew Epstein for nearly 30 years along with some very high profile passengers. On the stand, the pilot recalled flying Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Maine Senator George Mitchell, Ohio Senator John Glenn, and actor Kevin Spacey others.
None of those high-profile passengers are alleged to have committed any wrongdoing related to the ongoing trial. Regarding Ghislaine Maxwell, the pilot called Epstein's number 2, his quote, "go to person".
STRAUSS: Maxwell enticed minor girls, got them to trust her then delivered them into the trap that she and Epstein had set for them.
KAYE: In 2019, Epstein took his life while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking young girls. Then last year, Maxwell was arrested. The 59-year-old has pleaded not guilty to six counts which including conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts and sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ghislaine is looking forward to that trial. She's looking forward to fighting and she will fight.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN -- New York.
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VAUSE: On the surface, at least, it all seems amicable enough. Barbados officially cutting ties with the British monarchy in a ceremony filled with pageantry and celebration.
Britain's Prince Charles was there talking about the deep and ongoing friendship between the United Kingdom and the island nation.
But now that the ties have been officially cut, the islands historical relationship with the British crown, say critics, is being ignored. That relationship was rooted in slavery. Some activists in Barbados now demanding reparations.
More details now from CNN's Max Foster.
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SANDRA PRUNELLA MASON, PRESIDENT OF BARBADOS: I, Sandra Prunella Mason, do swear that I will well and truly serve Barbados --
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): 55 years after gaining independence from the U.K., Barbados cuts its last formal tie to its former colonizer. The royal standard flag lowered and replaced by the presidential standard, marking the end of the queens reign on this island. And a new future under a Barbadian born head of state appointed by the Barbadian parliament.
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MASON: Our country and our people must dream big dreams and fight to realize them.
FOSTER: Prince Charles invited as a guest of honor, amongst the likes of popstar Rihanna. He used the moment to acknowledge Britain's role in the slave trade.
PRINCE CHARLES, UNITED KINGDOM: From the darkest days of our past and the appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history, the people of this island forged their path with extraordinary fortitude.
FOSTER: It was unusually stark language from the U.K. but disappointed those holding out for a formal apology.
DAVID DENNY, CARIBBEAN MOVEMENT FOR PEACE AND INTEGRATION: Prince Charles is part of the royal family. The royal family contributed to slavery. The royal family benefited from slavery financially. And many of our African brothers and sisters died in battle, ok, for change.
FOSTER (on camera): It was in the 1620s that British settlers arrived in this paradise and they went on to build vast fortunes from the sugar and the slave trades.
(voice over): Calls for compensation for that dark period in British history grew louder during the Black Lives Matter protests as did the push to a republic.
SCOTT FURSSEDONN-WOOD, BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER TO BARBADOS: Clearly people in Africa, in this region, and in parts of the world, still feel that profound sense of injustice. And it's quite right that we recognize that and we are determined that such a thing could never happen again.
FOSTER (on camera): The queen is still head of state in 15 countries around the world and republican movements in those nations will be looking at what has happened here in Barbados and hoping that this will add momentum to their own campaigns.
Max Foster, CNN, Bridgetown, Barbados.
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VAUSE: France bestowed one of its highest honors to Josephine Baker Tuesday, a tomb in the Parthenon, Paris. Here's one singer, dancer, World War II spy and civil rights activist who's the first black woman to be honored in France.
Six members of the air and space force carried the tri-color draped coffin carrying soil from four important locations in her life. Baker's body remains buried in Monaco at the family's request.
The ceremony was held on the anniversary of Baker becoming a French citizen in 1937.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. Please stay with us. Another edition of CNN NEWSROOM after a very short break with 100 percent more me.
See you in a moment.
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