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Key Model Now Forecasts 134,000 U.S. Deaths by Early August; U.S. Government Tightens Rules for Antibody Tests; U.K. Launches COVID-19 Tracing App; Doctors Say Virus was Spreading in France in December; China versus U.S. on Origin of Virus; Three Russian Doctors Fall from Hospital Windows; Greece Seriously Taking Tough Measures; Africa's Leaders Forced to Confront Healthcare Systems They Neglected for Years; Coronavirus Sweeps across Brazil; Naples Pizzerias Are Back in Business. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired May 05, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
HALA GORANI, CNN HOST (voice-over): Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I'm Hala Gorani. This is CONNECT THE
WORLD.
What price will reopening the United States take, at what cost?
A new projection says the number of coronavirus deaths could vastly increase.
Also this hour, here in the U.K., the government is testing a contact tracing app on a small island, will it help people get back to normal?
And as some countries' numbers decline, in Africa, they are rising. I'll speak to a senior official from the World Health Organization about what
can be done there.
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GORANI: Well, in the United States, several new computer models are making one thing clear, the price of reopening America's economy will be tens of
thousands of lives. Here's senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: A warning from Dr. Anthony Fauci as more states roll back social-distancing guidelines.
FAUCI: When you have a lot of virus activity and you know that you're able to contain it to a certain degree by the mitigation, the physical
separations and you start to leap frog over some of these, you're inviting rebound.
JOHNS: Nearly 69,000 Americans have died from coronavirus so far, according to numbers from Johns Hopkins University.
And this morning, one model often cited by the White House shows the human cost of reopening the country too soon could be extreme. It suggests
134,000 people could die of coronavirus by the first week of August.
Monday morning, it predicted just over half that many, about 72,000.
DR. CHRISTOPHER MURRAY, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION: There's clearly a huge relationship between how much people
are out and about and how much transmission occurs. So no surprise, as people go back to being more active and interacting with each other, we're
going to see increased transmission.
JOHNS: "The New York Times" on taping an obtaining an internal document showing Trump administration modeling projects there will be 200,000 new
cases and 3,000 coronavirus-related deaths daily by early June, about 50 percent more than the current rate.
The White House pushing back against the report, writing in a statement, "This data is not reflective of any of the modeling done by the task force
or data that the task force has analyzed. The president's phased guidelines to open up America again are a scientific-driven approach that the top
health and infectious disease experts in the federal government agreed with."
Despite President Trump's persistence.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some states I think, frankly, aren't going fast enough.
JOHNS: Some states resisting the push, like in New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo has yet to move forward with any reopening plans, despite the
rate of infections slowing.
CUOMO: This is the number that haunts me every day. And this number is not declining anywhere nearly as fast as we would like to see it decline.
Still, 226 New Yorkers who passed away.
JOHNS: Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, a battle brewing between Congress and the Trump administration after it blocked coronavirus task force members
like Dr. Fauci from testifying in the House later this month. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisting those conversations are crucial for properly
allocating resources.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): The fact that they said we're not -- we're too busy being on TV to come to the Capitol is, well, business as usual for
them. But it is not business that will be helpful to addressing this. We need to have the -- we must insist on the truth.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: That was Joe Johns reporting and Joe joins me now live.
So you know, this model is very concerning, I'm sure, for Americans around the world. Yet despite the fact that many states in America are seeing
increasing daily deaths and their curves are not flattening, they are reopening portions of their economy.
Why is that decision being made in many U.S. states?
[10:05:00]
JOHNS: Talking to people here at the White House, they indicate in their view there is a balance that needs to be struck, a balance between concerns
about additional coronavirus sickness and/or death, that they want to weigh against the concerns for the economy. And in their position it is a state
by state decision here.
Also, important to say the White House -- and just to sort of reiterate what was in the piece, Hala -- the White House is indicating that this was
a report that was not ready to be published yet.
That is what they argue, at least, that the -- in fact, in "The Washington Post" this morning, the creator of the model says that the numbers were not
ready to be published yet.
Nonetheless, it is also important to note the very same numbers apparently, according to the report, were presented to a group of individuals who
handle emergency response. So there are a lot of questions about the numbers.
Nonetheless, it is very concerning and what the people here at the White House say is they're leaving it to the states, Hala.
GORANI: And the president is traveling to Arizona; most Americans are told to stay put but the president is making this trip.
What is he up to today?
JOHNS: Right. As you know, the president has been eager not only to get the country opened up but also to get out of the White House, where he's
been, since just about March 28th, except for one trip out to Camp David. And he is going to Phoenix, he's going to attend, among other things, a
meeting with Native Americans.
And one of the things on their minds is $8 billion that was set aside for coronavirus aid that they haven't received. We just got a news release,
saying part of that money is coming out.
And he's also going to go to a factory that has in part been converted to create N-95 respirator masks. This is something the president has been very
high on.
But most important thing to say about this trip, I think, Hala, is what is very obvious, that is that Arizona is likely a battleground state. It is a
state that could be in play in November. The president hasn't been able to get out and campaign and highly interested in going to states that he needs
to try to win re-election when we get there.
GORANI: Thank you, Joe Johns, at the White House.
I want to talk more about these U.S. coronavirus models with CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Is this -- these models are taking into account the fact that many states are lifting lockdown orders, right?
Because initially the projection or at least the hopeful optimistic goal was for far fewer deaths in the U.S.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Hala. So the optimism was based on the United States doing the kind of social distancing
that it was doing starting sort of middle, end of March. That's not the way it turned out.
They did it for a while but it didn't continue as we see more and more states opening up. And you don't have to be a professional immunologist to
understand this concept; the more people get together, the more the virus is going to spread.
GORANI: And now let's talk, though, about these antibody tests as well. We talked a lot about vaccines. But antibody tests aren't always reliable;
they're tightening rules regarding these tests. Tell us more about that.
COHEN: So there has basically been seven weeks of testing chaos, antibody testing chaos in the United States. Seven weeks ago is when the Trump
administration changed their rules, as you sort of hinted there, making it more relaxed.
And so now the Trump administration is changing it back, something experts said should have been the case all along.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.
COHEN (voice-over): Just weeks ago, President Trump was so proud of removing regulatory barriers in the fight against coronavirus.
TRUMP: We've cut through the red tape to give doctors and patients unprecedented freedom to make their own healthcare decisions.
COHEN: But on Monday, his administration reversed course. It has to do with this, an antibody test. It tells you if you've already had COVID-19 and
might possibly be immune to it.
In mid-March, the Food and Drug Administration started allowing companies to sell tests without first proving they got actual got accurate results.
The outcome, dozens of companies started selling these tests and many of them often gave false results.
Monday, the FDA reversed course and said now test developers do have to show their test work accurately.
How would you describe what the FDA did back in March?
REP. LLOYD DOGGETT (D-TX): A real breach of the public trust, yielding to President Trump instead of remembering its traditional responsibility to
protect the public health.
[10:10:00]
COHEN: FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said it was all part of an evolution. We are continuing to adapt approach based on real world
experience and data, he said Monday. This has all informed the changes to our policy regarding antibody tests.
But Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat who chairs the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, said it was obvious that relaxing the
regulations was a bad idea.
DOGGETT: It seems to have come as a surprise to the FDA that if it does not do its job, who authorizes (ph).
COHEN: Recently, earning FDA authorization, this test by Roche, they do have data and their data shows it has almost 100 percent accuracy.
SEVERIN SCHWAN, CEO, ROCHE GROUP: And so this is pretty extraordinary. And what that allows us is to really reliably test whether a person has been
infected by the coronavirus.
COHEN: Even with a nearly perfect test, there is a problem. If the test shows you've previously been infected and have antibodies, you might have
some degree of immunity to the novel coronavirus, but maybe not.
SCHWAN: There're still open questions on how long will this immunity be. Will it be for one year, two years, several years? Will it, you know, be
full immunity or is the reinfection just less severe?
COHEN: Scientists still need to work that out, another mystery of the virus. FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said it was all part of an
evolution. We are continuing to adapt approach based on real world experience and data, he said Monday. This has all informed the changes to
our policy regarding antibody tests.
But Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat who chairs the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, said it was obvious that relaxing the
regulations was a bad idea.
DOGGETT: It seems to have come as a surprise to the FDA that if it does not do its job, who authorizes (ph).
COHEN: Recently, earning FDA authorization, this test by Roche, they do have data and their data shows it has almost 100 percent accuracy.
SCHWAN: And so this is pretty extraordinary. And what that allows us is to really reliably test whether a person has been infected by the coronavirus.
COHEN: Even with a nearly perfect test, there is a problem. If the test shows you've previously been infected and have antibodies, you might have
some degree of immunity to the novel coronavirus, but maybe not.
SCHWAN: There're still open questions on how long will this immunity be. Will it be for one year, two years, several years? Will it, you know, be
full immunity or is the reinfection just less severe?
COHEN: Scientists still need to work that out, another mystery of the virus that's caused this global pandemic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now public health experts welcome this change from the FDA, saying it is about time. Hala?
GORANI: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.
So it is about antibody tests, of course, and in the longer term it is about a vaccine. But in the short term, with the help of technology, there
are ways to try to limit the spread of the virus. For instance, contact tracing apps to try to sort of limit the spread of COVID-19.
This contact tracing app was rolled out today on the Isle of Wight. It uses Bluetooth to alert users if they have been near someone who has symptoms or
tested positive for the virus. Of course, it is a small population, it is self-contained and it is easy to evaluate whether it is a successful
initiative. Hadas Gold joins me from London with more.
Do we have any sort of -- are we able to assess early on whether or not this has been a success or not yet?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, this app just started rolling out today and it is the first week that they're actually fully testing the
U.K.'s own version of the contact tracing app on the Isle of Wight, known as one of Queen Victoria's favorite vacation spots.
But now it's the first place this app will be tested. There are reasons for testing it on an island but how this app works is that it uses Bluetooth
technology to track what other devices you've been around. This information is anonymized but the phone keeps track of it.
The app marks your symptoms. If the app decides your symptoms line up with a possible COVID-19 diagnosis, it will alert the other devices you have
been around they have been in touch with a risky contact.
Then, if you do manage to get a test and put that into the app you tested positive, it will then again alert the people they have been around
somebody who has tested positive. Won't tell them who, only they have been around somebody for enough time with close enough distance that that person
has been tested positive.
If you test negative it will alert everybody and say, hey, it was a false alarm, it is OK. We have seen these similar apps pop up in other countries
around the world. There is a major difference between the U.K.'s app and other apps we're seeing.
First, it is not using the framework that Apple and Google started, offering it for free around the world. One of the main reasons for this is
because the U.K. wants to be able to store the data from these apps centrally.
The reason for this is because they want to be able to study the data. If you don't study the data centrally, you can't study trends, different
symptoms that might be popping up. The privacy advocates are against this, they say that by storing the data centrally opens it up possibly to bad
actors and it is safer to actually store it decentrally.
But this is the way the U.K. decided to move forward. They got the endorsements from the former head of U.K. intelligence services and the
information commissioner, say that thus far it is OK.
But one of the major hurdles here is actually just getting people to use the app. The government says they want at least half of the 80,000
households on the Isle of Wight to download this app. Experts say you need at least 50 percent to 60 percent of a population to download this app and
use it in order for it to be at all effective.
GORANI: I wanted to show our viewers a graphic that illustrates just how difficult that might be, especially among the most vulnerable residents on
the Isle of Wight.
[10:15:00]
GORANI: Older people are more vulnerable to COVID-19-19. And only 40 percent of people over the age of 65 in the United Kingdom use their phones
to go online in 2019. It gives you a sense just how much more younger people, less susceptible to contracting and showing symptoms of COVID-19,
how much more younger people use their smartphones.
How do you get around that?
GOLD: The government acknowledges there is an issue with the fact that you need a smartphone to use this app. That's why they say this app is only one
part of their broader strategy of tracking and tracing and testing.
And that's why the U.K. also wants to hire 18,000 human contact tracers, people who, if you get a positive test, they will physically pick up the
phone and start tracing where you have been and calling the people you may have been in contact with to notify them in the same way the app does.
One advantage of an app is that you have to know who you've been -- you might not know who you've been around, you might be in a store or riding a
bus. And the app will pick up other phones that have been around you.
If you to recall to a human contact tracer, I took bus number 13, on Tuesday, at 2:00 pm, it is harder to keep track of who has been on the
buses. But the government says all of these things together, the app, the contact tracers, increased testing, are all one of the only ways they'll be
able to start lifting the heavy lockdown we have in the United Kingdom.
GORANI: All right, thanks very much, Hadas Gold.
Still ahead, new information, new startling information about when the coronavirus first spread to Europe. Doctors in France now say it happened
in December.
And a new report sheds light on the likely origin of the coronavirus and it is not exactly what the U.S. president is claiming. We'll explain next.
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GORANI: Well, a few weeks ago I was speaking to friends and they said, you know, I think maybe I had the coronavirus but it was in January, so it
couldn't be that, because the novel coronavirus only spread to Europe in February and more widely in March.
Well, here's news that might be interesting to those people. There is new evidence from France that it could be much earlier than previously thought.
Jim Bittermann joins me now from just outside Paris.
And it would be -- it is startling to imagine, Jim, that this virus that we thought only arrived on our shores in 2020 could have been there a lot
earlier.
What are French authorities saying?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: They're particularly surprised as well because this apparently happened in December 27, almost a
month before the first known and confirmed cases appeared in France. There was a number of cases that came into a hospital in Paris.
[10:20:00]
BITTERMANN: And the doctors decided to go back and take a look at the severe flu cases that came in, see if there is any of them that could
possibly have checked positive for coronavirus.
In fact, one out of 24 cases did indeed test positive, a Franco-Algerian man, he had severe symptoms and bad case, he got out of the hospital,
survived.
But his children also came down sick, his wife did not. In any case, the doctors were astounded, because it really did move up the whole timeline
and puts a whole different timeframe on how the coronavirus spread.
This man had never been to China, he only traveled -- last time he traveled outside of France was back in August of 2019. So it really does sort of
raise some questions about how it did spread to Europe, whether this was the first case or maybe others out there.
And now hospitals are going back to check to see if some of the cases that were identified as flu could possibly have been coronavirus -- Hala.
GORANI: Yes, and the U.S. as well, some cases early on now believed to be potentially COVID. Thank you very much, Jim Bittermann.
A coalition of several Western nations has been looking into the origins of this coronavirus that has disrupted our lives so much and caused so much
misery.
An intelligence assessment from the group indicates the virus likely began at a Wuhan market and not from an accident at a lab there. Now that
contradicts claims U.S. president Trump and his secretary of state have been promoting. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They could have stopped it. They are a very brilliant nation, scientifically and otherwise, it got loose, let's say and could have capped
it, could have stopped it. But they didn't.
QUESTION: Have you seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan institute of virology was the origin of
this virus?
TRUMP: Yes, I have. Yes, I have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, let's bring in David Culver, who joins me from Shanghai.
Before we get to some questions about whether or not this virus originated in a lab accidentally, let's get to the Chinese reaction because they are
pushing back very forcefully against this.
What are they saying?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're using state media to do that in part because it's the midst of a five-day holiday here and so the national
holiday mean means haven't had any press briefings.
Nonetheless, state media has been coming out strong, Hala, against secretary of state Mike Pompeo in particular. Over the past week they have
mentioned him multiple times, essentially calling him a liar, calling him evil and saying he's been pushing out what they perceive to be a lie.
They suggest that the U.S. should be investigated by the global community for their mishandling of this virus in recent weeks. And so it is seeming
to push what is now a politicized origin theory going back and forth, when the reality is perhaps the U.S. would have found more, I would say, support
from the international community, particularly from its allies in going forward with questioning the origin if it was from the market, for example
and saying, well, there was cover-up early on, our reporting showed silencing of whistleblowers, underreporting and hence it still merited
asking a lot of these questions.
Now it has risen to a really politicized level that has gotten U.S. allies putting a lot of doubt on the claim that it started in a lab -- Hala.
GORANI: Yes. "The Washington Post" reported a few weeks ago -- this is Josh Rogin -- that there were cables sent from U.S. embassy officials in
China back to Washington, warning about the safety and the management weaknesses at this lab that the president referenced, and proposed more
attention and help.
The first cable which Josh Rogin obtained also warned that the lab's work on bat coronaviruses and their potential human transmission represented a
risk of a new SARS-like pandemic.
So it -- by the way, the State Department is not confirming this and not releasing any cables.
But if this is the case, there is at least something that needs investigating here about where this virus came from.
CULVER: I think there is no question origin of this needs to be investigated. What you lay out there is part of what has been mounting
circumstantial evidence.
We have seen that with the location of the lab. It is not far from the seafood market where the first really rapid spread of the virus was
determined to have happened. And that's why they shut it down early on. Also, you have the fact that they investigate coronaviruses there, using
bats.
[10:25:00]
CULVER: Beyond that, you have this is perhaps a lab that has substandard conditions and that is something that photos have raised in other reports
that haven't been substantiated or verified by CNN.
But they, again, go to this circumstantial evidence that suggest that this lab wasn't up to standards. However, beyond that, there is no concrete
evidence and that's what the Chinese have been pushing harder than ever, show us the hard evidence and stop bluffing, as they put it.
GORANI: All right, well, I'm sure everyone will be eager to figure out exactly where this originated and now importantly how to stop it. Thanks
very much, David Culver, in Shanghai.
Now there are some positive stories here; New Zealand, not recording any new cases. Australia and New Zealand in fact, the two countries are working
on a plan to restart travel between the two countries. Both leaders agree that will only happen once it is safe to do so.
The Australian prime minister Scott Morrison says it will take some time. And in a rare move, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern made an
appearance via video link in an Australian cabinet meeting, where she and Morrison announced the plan to create a trans-Tasman corridor. Both
countries have managed to stabilize their coronavirus outbreaks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACINDA ARDERN, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: I would note such a discussion is only possible as a result of the world leading results on both sides of
the Tasman to get the coronavirus under control. I do think that we should both be proud of the efforts that have been made and also the demonstration
of the important bond between us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Now those are some positive stories.
In India, though, it is a very different picture. The country has recorded its highest single day increase in cases, 3,900 in the last 24 hours.
Lockdown measures there have left thousands of migrant workers stranded, banned from returning back to their homes.
Some violent clashes broke out between police and the workers in the city of Surat in Western India.
Coming up, the coronavirus has now reached dozens of countries in Africa. I'll speak it a top World Health Organization official about what is going
on there and we'll be right back with that.
Also coming up, investigations are underway in Russia. Three doctors mysteriously fell from hospital windows. How it is putting the spotlight on
hospital conditions, who are fighting against the coronavirus pandemic there. We'll be right back.
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[10:30:00]
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GORANI: So three healthcare workers in Russia have mysteriously fallen out of hospital windows over the past two weeks. Two of them are dead, one
remains hospitalized, badly hurt. And there are investigations underway in all three cases.
Why did this happen?
Matthew Chance reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a potentially very dark development in Russia where a doctor who criticized
conditions at his hospital on social media is now fighting for his life after falling out of a second story window.
Alexander Shulepov, a doctor who works in an ambulance in the city of Voronezh, is now in a serious condition with head injuries, according to
local media reports. Earlier, he'd been diagnosed earlier with coronavirus and had posted defiant messages online saying he had been forced to work
after testing positive. Shulepov later retracted his statements before plunging out of the window in unclear circumstances.
One of his colleagues has told CNN that he's been preparing to be discharged from the hospital where he's been receiving treatment. What's
provoking so much speculation on social media is that this is the third Russian doctor who's mysteriously fallen out of a window in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, a doctor in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk died of her injuries after falling during a meeting with local health officials. A
local media said the doctor opposed the changing of her hospital into a coronavirus facility because of lack of protective gear, although the
regional health department issued a statement denying that.
Last month the head of medical services at Star City, the main training space for Russian cosmonauts also died after falling out of a window there.
The authorities there called it a tragic accident and gave no further details.
What we do know, though, is that the Russian health care system and the medical staff who work in it are under increasing pressure as the
coronavirus pandemic ravages across the country -- Matthew Chance, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: So a country like Greece, with the second oldest population in Europe, you would expect would have one of the highest rates of infections
of death as a result of coronavirus. But that has not been the case.
And officials in Greece have been praised for how they handled this whole pandemic; 146 deaths since the beginning, fewer than 3,000 infections and
it looks likes potentially an early strict lockdown may have saved thousands of lives. Nic Robertson investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Welcome to Greece, the new normal at Athens International Airport.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Thorough COVID-19 testing, we are negative. Everyone off our flight is getting it. It's tough love, but Greece is
defying expectations. Despite an aging population and creaking healthcare, it is holding off COVID-19.
And it's no easier if you live here. Until this weekend, just to leave home you have to register with the government, text the number one through six,
get at the pharmacy, buying groceries, exercise, all part of a hard-fast lockdown. Greece is new post populist, but pragmatic prime minister says
it's working.
KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, GREEK PRIME MINISTER: So, we feel we have reached that point where we have almost completely suppressed the epidemic, at least its
first stage, and we can -- we will gradually begin to relax.
ROBERTSON: Do you feel like you have dodged the bullet?
MITSOTAKIS: We feel we've dodged the first bullet very clearly.
ROBERTSON: Putting on a mask there. Putting on personal protective gear because we're going to go into the ICU.
So how are these patients doing?
Dr. Anastasia Kotanidou leads the way.
ANASTASIA KOTANIDOU, DOCTOR, UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS: Better now.
ROBERTSON: Better? Good.
KOTANIDOU: Yes, yes.
ROBERTSON: Yes. Life of for some still in the balance. But ICU here at one- fifth capacity, thanks, she says to the early lockdown.
And they subdue in the hospitals?
KOTANIDOU: Yes.
ROBERTSON: One hundred fifty deaths around 2,600 confirmed infections. Less than New York some days, and not a single doctor or nurse in this Athens
main COVID-19 hospital infected.
KOTANIDOU: So, we don't have any infections from staff or doctors.
ROBERTSON: No?
KOTANIDOU: No.
ROBERTSON: That's incredible.
KOTANIDOU: Yes.
ROBERTSON: This seems to be dare I say, a very strong message for the United States and the United Kingdom, whose track record on this pandemic
are probably some of the worst in terms of death and infection rates.
MITSOTAKIS: I think we've done the right way. Of course, we didn't get everything completely right but if you look at the numbers, you can't argue
with what we have achieved.
[10:35:00]
ROBERTSON: Mitsotakis' challenge now? Restarting the economy. Selected stores reopened Monday, another new normal. Hair salon owner Constantino
Sklavenitis greets customers with a temperature check and hand sanitizer. Reopening after several weeks, one-third capacity, but longer hours.
CONSTANTINO SKLAVENITIS, OWNER, BEAUTIQUE HAIR SALON: Economically we're definitely taken a hit. Now hopefully within two months, yes, we can go
back to norm, but normal will not be what it was.
ROBERTSON: It could be a long journey. Tourism, 20 percent of the country's economy tentatively targeted to begin July.
And that's where things could get tough. Imagine these beaches teaming with tourists again. Friend and potential enemy invisibly intertwined. A blade
that cuts both ways. Economic salvation or a second wave of COVID-19 suffering.
MITSOTAKIS: Ideally, we want to have more high-end tourists, where we can actually respect social distancing. We have it --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTSON: But it's a risk.
MITSOTAKIS: It's tough. It's a very tough trade-off. I will be honest with you, Nic, nobody knows exactly how to do this.
ROBERTSON: Remember our COVID-19 test at the airport?
The key to tourism success, the prime minister says, is a new international standard, where visitors are tested at home before they arrive -- Nic
Robertson, CNN, Athens, Greece.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: So we're seeing some hot spots -- Spain, Italy, France -- with declining numbers, Greece was early on and remains a relative success
story. But as we're seeing that, Africa is seeing a sharp increase in confirmed cases across the continent.
You'll remember in the early days we were saying there aren't that many infections in Africa. Well, at least 50 countries now have confirmed
infections and more than 45,000 total cases, with the most in South Africa, Egypt and Morocco, according to the World Health Organization.
And more than 1,800 people have died on the continent. Of course, the total could be higher because some countries aren't able to perform autopsies for
all the recorded deaths. Joining me is Dr. Ibrahima Soce Fall, the assistant director general of emergency response for the World Health
Organization.
Thank you, Doctor, for being with us. Talk to us about Africa and your concerns for the continent.
Compared to Europe, Asia and U.S. numbers, it is quite low.
What is your biggest fear here?
DR. IBRAHIMA SOCE FALL, THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR GENERAL OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Thank you very much. As you said, the
numbers are still low in Africa. But when we talk about Africa, we are talking about 54 countries, different government and (INAUDIBLE) the
analysis by country. But we are seeing that Africa was the last continent to be affected by the pandemic.
They have had time to prepare for (INAUDIBLE) and also the capacities they have, you know, dealing with this outbreak but we are still not (INAUDIBLE)
really important to scale up the testing capacity everywhere and using the current system in Africa.
But (INAUDIBLE).
GORANI: Yes. And I mean, it is a young population --
(CROSSTALK)
GORANI: -- in Africa. So sorry to jump in, it is a young population in Africa. So I guess from that perspective, at least it's not like the very
old populations in some European countries, it should be less impactful, less deadly, if you will, in populations in Africa.
But you have a major vacuum in some cases of information. You're not getting the information sometimes that you need to, to vulnerable
populations.
How do you remedy that?
FALL: It feels like we have a younger population in Africa. And this can be an advantage in terms of severity of disease. But as you rightly said,
in many places in Africa, we have also a younger population, like in (INAUDIBLE) where we have displaced population, (INAUDIBLE), refugees.
So that's why we're working with all countries, working (INAUDIBLE) partners, also (INAUDIBLE) making sure that we command interventions that
can be done as the most difficult (INAUDIBLE) because what we can do in the normal setting cannot be applied in some of the most (INAUDIBLE) settings.
(INAUDIBLE) NGOs extremely important in Africa.
GORANI: So you're the director of -- the assistant director general for emergency response. I presume you look at the entire world and how this
pandemic is affecting the entire world.
[10:40:00]
GORANI: How do you respond?
There has been some criticism of the World Health Organization. We heard it from the U.S. president. There are also some in this country who are saying
the WHO did not hold China accountable in the beginning, that they called China transparent, when, in fact, it had manipulated numbers and tried to
silence whistleblowers.
How do you respond to that criticism of your organization?
FALL: Thank you very much. Since the beginning of this pandemic on when it was still (INAUDIBLE) very transparent, having daily (INAUDIBLE)
conferences (INAUDIBLE), daily press briefings by the director general and some key staff are not likely having it three times a week, you know, press
conferences, sharing information.
At the same time, we have been issuing daily situation reports, describing what we know in all countries. I don't think that this concern is
(INAUDIBLE) documented (INAUDIBLE) we continue to be focused on saving life everywhere.
GORANI: Dr. Ibrahima Soce Fall, thank you very much for joining us.
Ahead on the program, there is a devastating spike of COVID-19 in Brazil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI (voice-over): Mass graves like these are being dug to bury the dead. We'll take you to a city where health workers are struggling to take
the infected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: But first, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: In our day to day lives, the shipping industry is a vital sector. Accounting for about 80 percent of
global trade by volume, more than 50,000 ships crisscross the globe, bringing us the goods we need to survive.
But to fuel these giants of the seas burn has made it one of the largest polluters in the world. CO2 emissions from shipping have accounted for
nearly 3 percent of global greenhouse emissions, about the equivalent of Germany.
Now the shipping industry is being forced to burn cleaner fuels. Since the start of the year, new regulations from the U.N. agency that oversees the
shipping sector have come into force.
The International Maritime Organization rules prohibit ships from using fuels containing more than 0.5 percent sulphur. Prior to this, sulphur
rates were capped 7 times higher and some areas have even stricter limits. The new fuel is more expensive but compliance according to the IMO has been
solid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fines for noncompliance could be high in certain areas. Other sanctions can be the detainment of a ship for certain periods so it
would lose a lot of its income. And of course reputation is an issue that is increasingly important for many ship owners.
DEFTERIOS: The new fuel will improve air quality and reduce acid rain. And there should be huge health benefits, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sulphur particles can induce strokes, eventually also lung cancer. And by reducing by over 75 percent the sulphur emissions from
shipping, we have seen studies that pointed out reduction (INAUDIBLE) in the periods immediately after the introduction of the requirement by over
half a million (INAUDIBLE).
DEFTERIOS: The industry has had to adapt quickly to the new fuel standards. Today (INAUDIBLE) in the United Arab Emirates is one of the
largest producers of low sulphur fuel in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) industry by many decades. The time is now to do the same thing in the energy mix and I see now it is the evolution
coming where particularly in the marine industry we'll see that a lot more and that makes us very excited.
DEFTERIOS: An industry adapting fast to a new reality and developing a road map for a zero carbon fuel in the near future -- John Defterios, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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[10:45:00]
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GORANI: Welcome back.
Brazil is seeing an explosion of coronavirus deaths and it is the latest country to pass a grim milestone of more than 100,000 confirmed cases. In
the Brazilian Amazon, in the city of Manaus, the virus has proven special cruel. Graves in fact are being dug en masse.
And the president has compared COVID-19 to "a little flu," not taking it as seriously and continues to pressure local governors to do away with social
distancing and lockdown measures. He's appeared at rallies, et cetera. For the people of Manaus, the virus has caused death and despair. Isa Soares
reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Like so many others, the Tokush family will never be the same. Here in this improvised cemetery, the small family unit
with some others safely on the phone bid a quick farewell to their 69-year- old father and grandfather. Who went to hospital with a finger wound and came out with COVID-19. His grandson Esron, is in shock.
Tragedy though doesn't end it with his family, here in the city of Manaus, northwestern Brazil, excavators are digging trenches or mass. And while
they bury their dead, President Jair Bolsonaro compared the pandemic to a little flu. Shaking the hands of his supporters in restaurants and
supermarkets and joining massive protests pressuring governors and mayors to loosen lockdown measures.
And knew that could bring even more pain to the people of Manaus. According to the Secretary of Health, Amazon State, ICU beds in Manaus are at 85
percent capacity. And as the city's confirmed case count remains among the highest in Brazil and rising, hospitals buckle under the threat of COVID.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
SOARES: For Sandra, it's all too much. Her mom was admitted after having a stroke and now she says her mother has tested positive for COVID.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
SOARES: With ICU beds and short supply, many patients have been moved to maternity wards. This undercover video shows expecting mothers sitting face
to face with COVID patients.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
SOARES: It's not just patients who are expose. Several medical professionals say they favor price or for sharing their story with the
media.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
SOARES: Medical staff here say they feel unprotected, abandoned and powerless. On this ward a nurse is working without personal protective
equipment. According to a nursing technician at this hospital, mask are in short supply.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
[10:50:00]
SOARES: Understandably it's taking a toll.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
SOARES: The nightmare is likely to continue with no end in sight. President Jair Bolsonaro, city believes more than 70 percent of Brazil's
population is likely to contract coronavirus. And that the economic downfall will ultimately take a deeper tone on the country than the
pandemic.
More than a 100,000 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed. And more than 7,000 people had been killed by the virus according to figures from
Brazil's health ministry. Meanwhile the alarming rate in which (inaudible) are taking place, leave no doubt that number to be far higher -- Isa
Soares, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Coming up on the program, ovens are fired up again to serve up an Italian favorite, we should say it's a worldwide favorite. This is
happening in the birthplace of pizza. We take you to Naples. As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, people can finally enjoy a slice. We'll be
right back.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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GORANI: All right, I'm about to throw some numbers at you. It really gives you a sense of what has happened and is happening in Italy. The country is
easing up on lockdown restrictions because coronavirus cases have fallen just below 100,000. The decline marks the lowest point for the first time
in more than three weeks.
Now keep in mind that officials did report nearly 200 deaths over the past day or so. It pushes the death toll to just above 29,000. With deaths and
recoveries combined, imagine this figure, Italy has battled nearly 212,000 cases since the pandemic began, putting a lot of strain on hospitals there.
In Naples, Italy, a small step toward returning to normal life, in the birthplace of pizza, they're firing up their ovens again. Ben Wedeman is in
Naples.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dario is busy, busier than he's been in more than 50 days. Monday, Italy's
nationwide lockdown was eased and the pizzeria is now back in business but only for takeaway and home delivery.
"A year ago the restaurant would be full and there would be maybe 20 people waiting outside," he tells me.
It was here that Julia Roberts ate pizza in "Eat, Pray, Love." Today she would have to do her eating outside.
This pizzeria opened 150 years ago. In that time it stayed open during a cholera epidemic and the entire Second World War. It only shut its doors
when coronavirus came to town.
[10:55:00]
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Elsewhere in Italy, pizzerias continue to provide home delivery. But the no-nonsense governor of the region where Naples is
located wasn't willing to take risks in this relatively poor, crowded city and ordered all pizzerias to close.
He famously threatened to send police with flame throwers if students gathered for graduation parties. That, fortunately, never happened. And the
outbreak here has been mild. Now Napolitani can be reunited with their beloved pizza, which local lore insists was invented here.
Giuliano and Francesca (ph) got by on homemade pizza during the lockdown but it just wasn't the same.
"For us, to go without pizza for this long is almost impossible," says Giuliano (ph).
Bruno (ph) is happy to get his pizza again but worries, people, especially the young, are letting down their guard.
"Everyone is together," he says. "It is more dangerous now than a month ago as far as I'm concerned. But the pizza is getting cold, so goodbye."
This pizzeria has been in the same family for five generations.
"It was depressing," he says. "We have 17 workers, which means 17 families, and then there are producers of tomatoes and flour and mozzarella. Lockdown
created pockets of poverty."
Now some stomachs and pockets can be filled again -- Ben Wedeman, CNN, Naples.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, I was just telling my producer that, in the first few weeks of lockdown, I gained a bit of weight. So I've been on a diet the last two
days. And seeing this is pure torture.
(LAUGHTER)
GORANI: I'll see you on the other side of a quick break, next hour with more of our special coverage. Stay with us.
[11:00:00]
END
