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United Nations' Development Program: World's Education, Health & Living Standards Falling; British Medical Association: Risk To Children Is Small; White House Putting Politics Above Science?; The Psychological Toll Of The Crisis; Businesses Are Reopening, But Are Public Bathrooms Safe? Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired May 20, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: I'm Hala Gorani. They were already dealing with a global pandemic, now India and Bangladesh are having to deal
with a massive cyclone that just made landfall. And the question of when it is safe to return to schools is raging around the world? We take you across
the globe to see how different countries are managing it.
Well, aid groups are racing against time to help millions of the world's most vulnerable people already facing outbreaks of COVID-19. People across
Eastern India and Bangladesh are now trying to shelter from a monster cyclone. You can imagine how difficult social distancing is, none of that
is going on there in this particular shelter?
You can see it with your own eyes. These images are the Odisha State just south of West Bengal where the storm made landfall. Last hour we spoke with
the Bangladeshi Country Director at Oxfam who has said two people in Bangladesh have died.
One of a tree uprooted here in the Bhola District you can see villagers boarding fishing boats as part of evacuation measures. The other person who
died drowned on a boat in the coastal area. For nearly a million Rohingya refugees living in camps in bazaar Bangladesh, this storm could hardly have
come at a worst time.
Joining me now is International Committee of the Red Cross's Delegate Haiko Magtrayo. Thank you for being with us. Talk to us about what your front
line workers telling you is going on with the areas currently hit by the storm.
HAIKO MAGTRAYO, ICRC COMMUNICATION DELEGATE: So yes, good evening. It is evening time now here in Cox's Bazar and the entire day was just grey and
cloudy. It's already started to rain this afternoon and long with strong winds as the cyclone is now in the coast of Bangladesh.
So all of us, our thoughts are just with the communities we work with in vulnerable situation across Cox's Bazar, including Bangladeshi communities
and the displaced population from - living in displacement camps who are in very uncertain situation.
In addition to the increasing threat of COVID-19, there's a cyclone that we are facing now. So both the threat of cyclone Amphan and COVID-19, as we
all know does not discriminate this situation is affecting everyone, both Bangladeshi and people who are more - are facing multiple layers of
vulnerability.
GORANI: How many people had to evacuate and where are they sheltering? Because we've showed video where it's just impossible to maintain social
distancing when people who are in crowded camps already have to seek shelter, you know, on higher ground?
MAGTRAYO: Indeed. And this is our main concern. The latest cyclone bulletin released 10:00 am it is already signal level number 9, the highest signal
is level number 10. In the camps, the third flag is hoisted which the highest signal is warning that's given to the population. So far there's no
cyclone shelter for people living in camps but there are for Bangladeshi communities in the surrounding areas of the camps and in the wider in the
wider Cox's Bazar District.
GORANI: Thank you so much and good luck to you and the people of the ICRC. Haiko Magtrayo joining us live there from the affected region. Chad Myers
has more on what people in the area can expect. So our guest just said that it was cloudy all day and now really started to rain and the weather has
started to turn.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And the storm has now moved on shore and is beginning to lose a little power, Hala. That's the good news. 48 hours ago
this was 270 kilometers per hour and it was a monster storm. It still has a monster surge with it but right now the JTWC saying that even though it's
made landfall, and over land it is losing some intensity and we're down to 140kph.
[11:05:00]
MYERS: And if you're living in a shelter or something that's not even considered a shelter 140 is plenty of speed, much better than 270 but still
a very deadly storm here. It's 95kph in about 12 hours. As it gets over land it loses the water contact and the water makes it stronger. The land
will make it weaker that's what we're seeing.
That water though is pushing up into the tributaries, somewhere in the ball park 4,000 kilometers of tributaries in this delta region in through here
and if you think of the word delta you don't think of highland you think of a lowland and so we're not seeing a lot of elevation to this and that's why
so many people had to get off the way.
We always think about a cyclone or typhoon or hurricane, remember they're all the same but different oceans, we think about that as a point but it
isn't a point. This thing was all the way from Lisbon to Poland.
That's how big that this cloud field was and that bigger cloud field made a bigger surge just like it would have if it was a larger storm or an
equivalent to a cat 5 it's probably a cat 4 surge even though it came in as an Atlantic hurricane equivalent of a category 2.
We're still looking at 4 to 5 meters, mainly of the land here. Not 4 to 5 meters above sea level anyway and getting the water on the fields, the crop
and into the crop lands and salt water's never good for the fertility of land, for sure.
The surge won't be so bad if you're - from Calcutta but you'll see awful lot of rainfall try to come down the hill as we push all the rain up the
surge still coming in from the south and those two things clash and you get more flash flooding as well.
A lot of things going on here and of course the COVID issue, as well, trying to keep people separated when you're trying to put them together in
a shelter is two things that don't go together very well, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Chad, thanks for that. The United Nations has a stark warning about education around the world. The U.N.'s Development Program
says the Coronavirus pandemic is bringing down education, health and living standards globally.
The group estimates and this number is really jaw dropping because the group estimating 60 percent of children globally are getting no education
at all and the world's poorest country, the number is 86 percent getting no education at all. 20 percent in some of the richest countries, though that
country to country varies.
Let's bring in one of the man sending the warning Pedro Conceicao is the Director of the Human Development Report at the United Nations. Thank you
so much for joining us. 60 percent of kids not getting an education, I mean, what kind of impact is this having on development? What kind of
impact is this having on economic growth and on the ability for - of people to make a living?
PEDRO CONCEICAO, DIRECTOR, U.N. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT OFFICE: It's having a dramatic impact in what we call human development which
incorporates both living standards, health which remains critical and the most important aspect of the crisis we are confronting and the measures to
put in place to contain the virus in many cases imply the closing of schools.
9 out of every 10 children today confronting a school that is closed but that doesn't mean that education cannot continue and carry on. It could if
kids have access to the internet. Now when that doesn't happen, it implies that effectively kids are unable to continue their learning so the number
that you cited corresponds to the fact that kids could be formally enrolled in school but unable to learn because they cannot connect to remote
teaching.
GORANI: Yes. And this decline in living standards is the first recorded, right, since the U.N.D.P. reports have been published?
CONCEICAO: It's the first decline in this measure of human development that combines living standards with health and education. This crisis is
unprecedented because it's hits on three dimensions at the same time. So we had the for instance the global financial crisis in 2009 that was a hit to
living standards around the world but health and education held up pretty well.
With this crisis, all three dimensions are being hit at the same time and this is what's bringing down human development for the first time on
record.
GORANI: So how far does this set us back globally?
CONCEICAO: Our estimates is that the hit that we're currently seeing to human development would take us back to what level was six years ago but
it's important to understand that the year is not over and much depends on the response, the type of response that we put in place as well as the
measures that we put in place when it comes to the recovery.
[11:10:00]
CONCEICAO: And we emphasize the importance of looking at efforts to reduce inequalities and disparities because that will help us to mitigate these
that we currently observe as being a dramatic hit on human development.
GORANI: So what needs to be done in order to try to limit the negative impact that you detail in the report on the world's children and also on
just people's livelihoods and their development?
CONCEICAO: Well, we can look at the mobilization of resources that is occurring all around the world to mitigate the impact of the crisis. Our
colleagues at the IMF estimate as much as $8 trillion mobilized for the crisis so if part of these resources are allocated for instance to increase
internet access that would increase the opportunities that kids have to continue to learn even though schools are closed.
And this would cost our estimates that this would cost in low and middle income countries increasing internet access as much as 1 percent of this $8
billion. So it all boils down to the decisions that we make on we allocate the resources that to a logic sent already be mobilized and making
decisions that support those that are more vulnerable at the risk of leaving them further behind and increasing inequality.
GORANI: Yes. But the issue, too, is, of course, the money is needed but the money might not be available. You have mass layoffs. You have governments
that have to come up with trillions of dollars in order to prop up their economies so they don't completely collapse.
And I guess your concern at the U.N. and other aid agencies around the world are that the world's most vulnerable will not be getting the help
that they need. You could be seeing a worst-case scenario this year.
CONCEICAO: Well, that's true. With the countries that are less able to mobilize resources should be supported by the international community. That
is the concern we have across countries but it's also important to think that even within countries there are decisions to be made on how the
resources that are available are allocated?
So looking at those that are left behind or more vulnerable is important but also look at the long-term and making decisions that will help us to
make investments that will help us to address the challenges such as climate change, for instance.
GORANI: Because here you have a perfect storm. You have the collapse of the world economy, you have a pandemic, you have a refugee crisis and countries
putting up borders as the flow of refugees is increasing so really you're at a point here in world history where as you mentioned for the first time
since all of those three aspects of human development have been measured together we're seeing a retreat. How concerned are you as you've been
studying this question?
CONCEICAO: Well, we're seeing primarily that we are all living in a world that is interdependent that we are all dependent on each other. So we
cannot really consider ourselves free from the COVID-19 until every country in the world has been able to control the dissemination of the virus.
So it's giving us an increasing sense of awareness of our interdependence and also the way in which people around the world responding shows that
it's possible to come together and change our behaviors in a way that serves a shared purpose.
GORANI: All right. Thank you very much, Pedro Conceicao.
CONCEICAO: Thank you.
GORANI: With more there on the United Nations Development Program Report. Really, just some stark numbers there that give us a sense of just how had
by the pandemic has affected us all but mainly how much it's affected children in disadvantaged parts of the world?
Children we have been talking about them since the beginning because so many of them are out of school. So to protect their health, you're removing
kids from an environment where they can learn and where they can socialize with classmates and peers.
Here in the U.K. for instance there's been a big debate about when it is safe to put kids back in school? The British Medical Association is
recommending that classes resume as soon as it is safe and the union says there's growing evidence that the risk of Coronavirus to children is
relatively small.
The longer students are out of school the greater the harm to their education and well-being. Clarissa Ward, our Chief International
Correspondent joins us. So, their arguments that you can make on both sides. Also there's a question of whether or not the teachers might be
exposed to the COVID-19 virus, as well?
[11:15:00]
GORANI: But there is no doubt that keeping kids out of school for long periods of time is very detrimental to them.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. There's no easy answer to this question, Hala. Part of that is because if you look
at the behavior of children, obviously, they're not very good at social distancing. Kids are kids.
They want to run around, touch and play and have fun and play tag and all those things. They're also not the best at maintaining their personal
hygiene and rigorous washing of hands so these are all things that the schools themselves and teachers themselves will have to take on as their
responsibility and essentially try to enforce.
And some of those Teachers Unions saying they have concerns that potentially by allowing children to go back into school June 1st which is
the plan for three different classes in primary school here in the U.K. that you would be allowing for a situation where there could be a spike
again in the rate of infections and what they want the see is more freedom to essentially decide If a situation is going bad that they can then close
the schools again.
But understandably on the other side of the argument you have the very stark reality that children are suffering enormously as a result of being
basically locked up for more than two months now. Of course, they can go to the park but they can't play with each other.
For many parents who can't really make ends meet they rely on schools to provide lunch for their children, parents who are working rely on schools
for a number of reasons, as well, for support.
And so there's a real concern from both academics and sociologists and also scientists that by delaying the sort of opening of schools again you will
be putting children at a disadvantage and particularly, of course, Hala, children who are from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, anyway. Sowing
the seeds of inequality and why it's a fraught and tense debate, Hala.
GORANI: Thank you, Clarissa. In France, 70 schools have been shut down a week only after lifting their lockdown restrictions and returning to face
to face classes there. The Education Minister says the closures are in low numbers overall. 1.4 million students have returned to classes so far.
Tens of thousands of schools but these closures come days after the first child in France died from a Coronavirus-linked illness and after doctors at
one Paris hospital reported a cluster of the inflammatory syndrome, 17 children were diagnosed there in 11 days.
And speaking of schools, South Korea as well has started to reopening schools it has announced 32 new Coronavirus cases. There have been several
delays and hurdles to reopening these schools. After welcoming students back. Some schools were even forced to close. CNN's Paula Hancocks reports
on this first day of classes.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A temperature check, hand sanitize and wet wipes back to school during a pandemic. These are high school seniors,
the first to physically come back a sign South Korea is trying to return to normality. Students queue two meters apart as they wait to enter the
building and another temperature check with a thermal camera.
Desks in the class room have been arranged to be at least one meter apart. Masks must be worn at all times. This semester may be starting more than 11
weeks later but it feels like a milestone in South Korea's fight against Coronavirus.
Over the next few weeks, younger grades will also be coming back in a phased approach and schools are hoping that by June 8th every student will
be back. Online learning now replaced by face to face classes. The cafeteria of school in Seoul has been disinfected and plastic partitions
put in between where students sit.
Many seats left empty. This is the one area they're allowed to take the masks off. The Principal Kim Seung-Kyeom has been working for weeks to
prepare for this day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM SEUNG-KYEOM, PRINCIPAL, JOONKYUNG HIGH SCHOOL: I'm so happy to see my students back again after a long wait. The students can now begin the
school life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: But Kim knows the risks involved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEUNG-KYEOM: If we get a confirmed case, the school will immediately shut and return to online classes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: Dozens of closed had to close again in - west of Seoul after two students tested positive believed to be linked to the outbreak in the
Seoul's Nightclub District. Schools have been fully disinfected ahead of time. Officials say the health of the students is number one priority.
A cluster of cases in the Seoul's Nightclub District pushed the opening date of schools back by a week and another potential outbreak in a Seoul
Medical Center is also concerning health officials but for some of those in school today just being here feels like a victory. Paula Hancocks, CNN,
Seoul.
GORANI: Coming up, when the U.S. President was asked about a Latin America travel ban this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We are considering it.
[11:20:00]
TRUMP: We hope that we're not going to have a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: We'll tell you which country he is particularly concerned with. Plus, New Zealand launches a digital diary-like app to help trace
Coronavirus, details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Now New Zealand has launched an app help trace the spread of coronavirus. It's called NZ COVID Tracer it is like a digital diary and
people can use it to submit list of locations they have visited. Those in self isolation, for instance can use it to carry out and then submit daily
check-ins. Our Business Reporter Hadas Gold joins me now live from London with more on how this app is meant to work?
HADAS GOLD, CNN REPORTER: So, Hala, this app is different from many of the other apps we have been talking about in recent weeks namely because it
relies a lot on the human to do most of the work.
So how the app in New Zealand works is that there will be QR codes posted at different public buildings and every time you enter a building or got to
a public place you would be asked to scan that QR code and sort of mark down where you have been throughout the day.
So that if you are tested positive for Coronavirus you would have as the Prime Minister has said a digital diary of where you have been compared
that to other people and they can potentially spot what might be certain hot spots in that time?
Other apps that we have been talking about in the U.K., in Europe and in Asia and also in New Zealand's neighbor Australia they take the action out
of the human's hands and give it to the phone pretty much because the phone using Bluetooth is always running in the background and will keep track of
other devices it has been in contact with and then mark those devices if you have been tested positive.
There are obviously positives and negatives to each one. Some people saying New Zealand has done such a good job in taming the pandemic that perhaps a
lot of New Zealanders will use it and will put in the information as they need to and others say that's a lot to ask of people.
Of course, there are lots of concerns with all of these apps. There are still debates over where the data is stored, centralized storage whether it
is decentralized storage? But one of the biggest issues is just getting and a biggest issue is just getting enough people to use it because experts say
in any population you really want only 60 percent of the population to download this app and use it to get - help you get a handle on the
infection.
And I have not seen data in a country where they've been really above 25 percent download rates and so it is not clear if any country will get to
the 60 percent rate. But as many of these leaders including Prime Minister Arden has said these technologies are not the end all be all to getting a
grip on this virus.
These technologies will work in conjunction with these human contact tracers that people who will be calling people on the phone and trying to
keep track of where they will be and New Zealand says this digital diary resource will just help this human contact tracers do their jobs, Hala?
GORANI: Thank you, very much.
[11:25:00]
GORANI: Coming up on "Connect the World," thousands are evacuating in the U.S. State of Michigan as floodwaters rise after two dams failed. And later
in the program, David McKenzie talks to us about a reporting from the U.N. on the potentially catastrophic consequences of COVID-19 in Africa. We'll
be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, we started this hour with a look at the massive cyclone impacting India and Bangladesh. There is a weather related emergency to
tell you about on a much smaller scale in the United States but you get a sense of the severity of it with the pictures happening in Michigan.
There's massive flooding in one county after days of unrelenting rainfall caused two dams to fail. These areal pictures will show water is rushing in
just at the point where one of the dams breached. Water levels could rise more than 2.5 meters and the Governor has declared a state of emergency.
She is urging people to evacuate immediately and seek higher ground. Authorities are trying to move out thousands of people while also taking
precautions to prevent the further spread of the Coronavirus. The Michigan National Guard has been called in.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released 60 pages of guidelines on how to reopen the country? It is slightly shorter version
of a document that the White House dismissed last week. It outlines suggestions for reopening schools, restaurants, child care facilities and
other establishments.
But a senior CDC official tells CNN that references to faith-based guidance were stripped from the final document after complaints from the Trump
Administration. Some CDC workers say that's just one example of how the White House is putting politics above science. Drew Griffin has our story.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Multiple sources inside the Centers for Disease Control tell CNN they're convinced politics not science is the
driving force behind the White House response to COVID-19 and those decisions have made the affects of the pandemic in the United States worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JAMES CURRAN, DEAN, ROLLINS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Now there's not been as much input from the CDC from my point of view.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: CNN spoke to six current CDC staff members and many of them say that the White House has stifled the CDC in its Coronavirus response and at
times limited its ability to provide health information to the public.
One source telling CNN, we are working under a black cloud of an administration that doesn't have our backs. Another saying, we have been
muzzled. Dr. James Curran is Dean of Public Health at Emory University and Former Assistant Surgeon General at the CDC.
[11:30:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has the CDC been sidelined here?
CURRAN: I think the perception is that the CDC has been sidelined and at least part of the time. Once you feel like the work you're doing is going
through a political lens it gets to be very, very discouraging.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: On March 2nd, as COVID-19 was racing across the globe, a CDC Internal Daily Report obtained by CNN found evidence of local transmission
in 29 other conditions, 2 days later that's grown to 85 international locations. The next day March 5th three of the top 6 countries affected by
the disease in Europe internal emails reveal a CDC global travel alert is about to be issued expected to be posted that night.
It would have urged precautions for international travel anywhere almost two months after a travel warning had been issued for China but it was
delayed for unexplained reasons but the travel alert to be posted March 5th does not take place until March 11th. The same day President Trump would
announce his restrictions on most flights coming in from Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GFRIFFIN: Each day of delay bringing exponentially more Coronavirus exposure to the East Coast of the United States, according to Dr. Ali Kahn,
a Former CDC official.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ALI KHAN, DEAN, COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER: Those were the days when these cases were essentially being
transported via air travel and we now have really good genetic data that probably between two to six weeks before we started to see the peak in New
York, cases were already slowly spreading within the New York area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: One senior official inside the CDC says they told the White House about the virus' rapid spread across Europe but that the White House was
extremely focused on China and not wanting to anger Europe. Even though that's where most of our cases were originally coming from. Kahn says the
original sin as he calls it was the botched testing that the CDC that lost time and allowed politics to intervene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. KHAN: And if we had testing in place, people very quickly would have recognized that there were cases in the U.S., probably in early January,
that were being missed similarly we're identifying people coming in from Europe if we had widespread testing across the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: A Trump Administration official responded to this report telling us that the CDC's views are represented at White House Task Force meetings
and rolled in to the White House briefings. As for the CDC itself, the official told us it's just within one of many agencies that's part of the
Task Force. Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
GORANI: Well, the United States by far has the highest number of Coronavirus cases in the world, more than 1.5 million people have
contracted the virus in the U.S. Nearly 92,000 died but instead of coming together to address the pandemic Americans are more than divided than ever
over things like the government's response, restarting the economy and what kind of restrictions should remain in place and for how long? Some of
President Donald Trump's claims are fueling those divisions including this one Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: When we have a lot of cases I don't look at that as a bad thing. That's a certain respect as being a good thing because it means our testing
is much better. So if we were testing a million people instead of 14 million people, we would have far fewer cases, right? So I view it as a
badge of honor, really it is a badge of honor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So 1.5 million cases, more than 92,000 dead. The U.S. President says he views that as a badge of honor. The U.S. States of Georgia and
Florida are doing some backtracking after questions are surfacing about the COVID case numbers they have been reporting. Rosa Flores joins me now from
Miami to explain.
After these states, Georgia and Florida, decided to ease lockdown restrictions a couple of weeks later they published figures that appeared
to show that the number of cases, the rate of the rise of number of cases was slowing. What are we learning now about these numbers?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Hala, there's a lot to unpack but starting with Georgia because that state posted a bar chart on their
website that shows a downward trajectory of cases in some of the most impacted counties where there were issues with the dates and then the state
went ahead and brought that bar chart down.
And we received a statement from the State of Georgia that says, "While the underlying data used for the graph was correct the sorting logic used was
not correct".
[11:35:00]
FLORES: The graph was fixed on May 11th. Then we move on to Florida where a woman named Rebecca Jones, she's really the scientist, the guru behind the
highly acclaimed dashboard. And this is the website that accounts for all of the deaths and all of the cases in the state of Florida.
Well, she was removed from her post May 5th and she has had conversations with multiple news organizations we should add but not with CNN and to
these other news organizations she's alleged that she refused to change state data to drum up support to reopen the state.
That, of course, raises a lot of red flags. We reached out to the State of Florida and here is what they said, "Rebecca Jones exhibited a repeated
course of insubordination during the time with the department including her unilateral decisions to modify the department's COVID-19 dashboard without
input or approval from epidemiological team or for supervisors. The blatant disrespect for the professionals who were working around the clock to
provide the important information for the COVID-19 website was harmful to the team".
Now, we have made multiple attempts to talk to Rebecca Jones and she has said that at this point she is not doing any interviews but, Hala, we
should mention that she is still technically employed but according to the Department of Health she has until tomorrow at 5:00 pm to resign or she
will be terminated, Hala?
GORANI: So what is the reality of the impact of these states reopening when the case numbers weren't necessarily on the decline Georgia and Florida in
particular? What are we - I mean, has - is it case that the case numbers haven't gone up or is it too early to tell?
FLORES: It is too early to tell and if you talk to the experts they always say that there's going to be a lag of time between the time that
restrictions are loosened and when you actually see the impact. And so, it just depends and at least here in Florida some of the most impacted
counties, the local governments have decided not to follow the advice from the state and not reopen at the same time with all of the other rule areas
of the state.
Here in Miami where I am, for example, the city is not reopening until today, Hala. They have waited until they have put the ducks in a row. They
want to make sure that they have police officers available to enforce the restrictions and they're only opening retail stores at 50 percent capacity.
They're reopening parks today for the first time so and it's been weeks since other parts of the state have reopened. And so that just gives you a
sense that even though the states have reopened at the state level the local governments some of them especially in the most impacted areas have
taken it a lot slower because they're listening to the people on the ground and they're listening also to the data showing the number of cases and the
number of deaths impacting their local communities, Hala?
GORANI: All right. Rosa Flores, thank you very much, in Miami. And while the U.S. continues to reopen, President Trump says he is considering a
travel ban this time on Latin America particularly Brazil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to ask you a question on Brazil.
TRUMP: Brazil?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. The third place now, catching up to Russia in second place with number of cases. Are you finally considering a travel ban
from Brazil and Latin America?
TRUMP: We are considering it. We hope that we're not going to have a problem. The Governor of Florida's doing very, very well testing in
particular Florida because a big majority comes into Florida. Brazil has gone more or less herd. You know what that is, herd. They're having
problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. Well, the United Nations - I'm sorry. Let's continue to talk about Brazil. Brazil reported its biggest daily jump in infections and
deaths. Currently has the third highest number of confirmed cases globally but as you can see the U.S. still has a very much a significantly higher
number of infections, by far.
Now let's talk about the United Nations. It released an alarming statement on what it's calling the catastrophic consequences of COVID-19. Saying tens
of millions of Africans could be destitute because of the pandemic. This comes one day after the World Bank Program said that 60 million people
around the world could be forced into extreme poverty.
The Coronavirus has reached all 54 African countries now. The highest number of cases is in South Africa with more than 16,000 infected. CNN's
David McKenzie joins us now with more. Thankfully, though, the numbers across Africa are still much lower than numbers across Europe.
[11:40:00]
GORANI: I mean there are various reasons for that potentially it could be that the population is younger or it could be that Africa has not reached
the phase of COVID pandemic that other parts of the world have?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I think one other reason, Hala, is that many countries in Africa did act more swiftly, possibly
because just on virtue of the connectedness relatively of the continent.
The pandemic came here later than parts of Europe certainly and the Americas. So the governments acted swiftly and also have had an effect. I
think it's both a positive reaction by African governments and also just timing issue that worked in Africa's favor many countries in Africa.
You do mention those alarming numbers from the U.N. And I think the World Bank number in a way is more instructive at this point. Certainly many
countries in Africa are facing the exact same issues faced by many other parts of the world, that people are losing their jobs, that industries like
tourism and the service industry are being hammered and those people are being furloughed or out of jobs entirely.
So what the World Bank is doing and the IFC is trying to bring in emergency funding into the governments, in the case of the World Bank, and businesses
in the case of the IFC to try and hold over these countries that might not have the social safety net that more developed nations had.
We haven't seen, Hala, the levels of hunger and desperation that were predicted by the U.N. yet. It could be that as this progresses we could see
that but at this stage it hasn't materialized and recently the World Health Organization has said that Africa might see individual hot spots but not
necessarily the devastating sweep of the pandemic that some earlier predicted. We just don't know 100 percent at this stage, Hala?
GORANI: Okay. David McKenzie thanks very much. Are we going to break? We are right now. Social distancing is good for our bodies but not necessarily
for our minds. We'll talk about the psychological impact of the pandemic on all of us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: We spend a lot of time and energy discussing the physical impact of the coronavirus outbreak, how many people are sick? How many people have
died? But there's another side to all of this and it is how this pandemic is affecting us mentally?
It's not just the threat of a deadly disease that is weighing on society. There's also social distancing. It's affecting our collective psyche. We
are stuck at home. Kids are out of school. The elderly already having to deal with problems like dementia they too are having to weather this in
their own way a lot of times in isolation.
[11:45:00]
GORANI: Joining me is Til Wykes, she is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at King's College London. So how has this pandemic - what's the biggest
takeaway for you several months into this pandemic about how it has affected us psychologically?
TIL WYKES, PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON: I think the biggest thing is actually that we're now talking about mental
health issues. And that's really important. People have always suffered from anxiety and depression and more serious mental illnesses and now the
community is talking about it and recognizing this as a problem and I think actually that's a big positive for pandemic. But we have known from
previous--
GORANI: Tell us about--
WYKES: Sorry.
GORANI: No. Sorry. Finish your thought.
WYKES: Okay. We have known from previous pandemics like SARS and MERS that there have been serious mental health consequences afterwards. We know now
already that from research in China and Italy that the general populations are now feeling much more anxious.
We don't know how long this will last we don't know whether if we start to come out of lockdown and out of the main concerns about catching the virus
then perhaps we'll feel a little better so we don't know about the long- term consequences for the general population.
GORANI: What are those consequences? I mean, we know that - we are now talking about it which is great. It's positive that we are but what are the
potential consequences for people who have spent several months in lockdown or worried of getting sick and now being able to spend any kind of - not be
close to friends and family for this long?
WYKES: Clearly for children who have been out of school that's meant for them a lack of social contact. Some of them may have been able to have some
social contact and they clearly had time to play with - potentially with their siblings or with parents.
But they'll probably still have somewhat of a play deficit. Many of them have - we actually know now was that there's been about a 50 percent
increase in the way children feel in terms of feeling lonely. We know that the length of time that you feel lonely the more likely it will affect your
emotional health.
And that for children we may expect to have some behavioral and emotional difficulties later, particularly if the lockdown goes on for a very long
time but play is also important for social and emotional and cognitive development. So it is really important that as soon as we can, as soon as
it's safe, we allow children to play perhaps in small groups, perhaps in the open air to help them too actually make up for that play deficit.
But for adults, I think it's slightly different. For those people who already had some health anxieties, then this pandemic is clearly, you know,
really enhanced the negative feelings which is a terrible for some people to experience and we may see some new cases that we might not have seen
before coming to professionals for help after the event. We also know that- -
GORANI: But--
WYKES: People who have had COVID-19 are likely to have longer term consequences. So not just the physical problems although we now know there
are quite a lot of those and it takes a long time to recover but from the SARS and MERS pandemics we know that people have long-term psychological
difficulties, particularly if they caught the virus and particularly if they were in the front line of health services.
So the ICU staff who had to deal with SARS and MERS ended up with post traumatic stress symptoms and stress disorder about a year later so
serious--
GORANI: Can I ask you just in the interest of giving people some advice here, what - I mean, lots of people watching us and I get messages on
social media, people even telling me they're stressed, they're anxious, they feel lonely, they feel like they can't cope. What can people do to try
to mitigate some of the affects on their mental health of this prolonged lockdown?
[11:50:00]
WYKES: I think we all need to rely a lot more on our own communities. There is a lot of voluntary support now being produced. The communities has
really come together to support individuals who have those problems.
There are services that you can refer yourself to if you want to do that, if you feel that's going to be helpful for you. But there's also that we
should never have called it physical distancing. We should - sorry. We should have called it physical distancing not social distancing because
there's ways to contact other people even while we're stuck in our own homes.
There are lots of things on the internet that we can engage in and exchange things. We're all becoming fantastically good at Zoom and Skype so the
internet really does offer some contact, social contacts. It is never going to be the same as meeting people face to face.
Not the same at all. But I do think that we should make - we should take every opportunity to make social contacts even if we have to keep our
physical distance.
GORANI: Til Wykes of King's College London, thank you so much for joining us.
WYKES: Thank you.
GORANI: And it is tough. It is tough especially for people who live alone. If you have a family and kids, it's stressful but at least you're
surrounded. But if you live alone it's very difficult, for sure. Thank you very much.
The 100-year-old hero who will become Britain's newest knight his inspiring story when we come back. We'll have that for you. Captain Moor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, as businesses, more and more of them, public spaces reopen across the world, health experts are warning about the potential for COVID
to spread inside public bathrooms. CNN's Brian Todd has that story.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As more Americans clamor to get back to their favorite restaurants, movie theaters and malls, there's one element
of the reopening process health experts are keeping a close eye on. The public restroom, a place they say can be a Petrie dish for diseases like
Coronavirus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SEEMA YASMIN, FORMER CDC DISEASE DETECTIVE: You may have many people packed in there who were not able to stay six feet apart and also because
in a bathroom you have so many high contact surfaces, things look taps, soap dispenses, door handles, flush handles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: And experts say some of those features in public restrooms that we previously thought were sanitary are now potential transmitters of
Coronavirus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC FEIGL-DING, SENIOR FELLOW, FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS: The hand on drying blower is a wonderful machine to spread germs and aerosols and
droplets in the room. And another key thing is that when you flush a toilet the act of flushing a toilet is actually an aerosol general rating device
of fecal matter and we know that there are viruses in fecal matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Bathroom safety is on the minds of proprietors and customers alike as businesses start to reopen. The owner of Aut-O-Rama drive-in theater in
Ohio told "The Washington Post" bathroom safety was the number one concern people had on our Facebook package so I had to take action to make them
comfortable. A restaurant owner in Houston is enforcing bathroom distancing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT BRICE, OWNER-OPERATOR, FEDERAL AMERICAN GRILL: I have a bathroom attendant at this point where he or she stands outside and only one person
in at a time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:55:00]
TODD: Other potential solutions - some of them being tried in Europe, touch free public bathrooms where not only are the flush, the hand drier and the
sink touch free but when you exit at least part of the bathroom automatically disinfects after each person barking off sinks and toilets so
that every other one is used to maintain distance.
Removing doors from bathroom entrances like many airports have done so people won't have to touch them. McDonald's has a rule that bathrooms are
going to be cleaned every half hour, changes that many restaurant and store managers say will cost them a lot of money to make but which could make the
difference in whether their businesses survive.
One change experts say should be installing a simple feature which many public restrooms in America don't have.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. YASMIN: Many public bathrooms have toilets that do not have lids which means you're pulling the flush and generating this mist of droplets without
being able to contain that safely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Should some establishments shut down bathrooms completely or should we all simply stop using the bathrooms in restaurants?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEIGL-DING: The main reason people go to the bathroom in restaurants is actually to wash their hands. And so, I think we do not want to discourage
people from washing their hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: But public health experts say many establishments could take months or years to overhaul their bathrooms to meet some of the new sanitation
standards so they're recommending that people do things like bring their own toilet free kits to restaurants with hand sanitizer or sanitizing wipes
and they say people should wear masks when they go into public restrooms. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
GORANI: And finally, a beloved British fund-raiser is getting a promotion of sorts. Tom Moore known worldwide as Captain Tom will now have a new
title. He will be Sir Tom. The 100-year-old World War II veteran will be knighted by Queen Elizabeth.
Moore has raised more than $40 million for British healthcare workers by walking laps around his garden. He is a World War II veteran by the way, so
he is a hero twice over. He says he hopes the Queen is not heavy handed with the sword when she knights him because by then he might be a poor old
weak soul he says.
He is amazing. And adorable and also has a sense of humor about it all and there you go. It's never too late to make a difference. I'm Hala Gorani.
Stay with CNN, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Coming up, John King continues coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Please stay tuned.
END
