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CNN 10
Storms In Vietnam And The United States; International Travel In The Era Of Coronavirus; Newly Discovered Reef The Size Of A Skyscraper. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired October 29, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: The landfalls of two different storms in two different parts of the world headline today`s show. I`m Carl Azuz. Welcome
to everyone watching worldwide. We`ll start in the Asian country of Vietnam.
Typhoon Molave struck its east coast on Wednesday. It was the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane when it made landfall. Its wind speeds were just
over 100 miles per hour and Vietnam`s prime minister expected it would affect a large part of his country.
As Molave carried heavy rain along with its dangerous winds. October is part of Vietnam`s rainy season but this has been a particularly destructive
year. We told you exactly a week ago how excessive rains had caused deadly flooding and landslides in the country.
Typhoon Molave can make things worse soaking areas that have already been inundated with rain. It`s the fourth named storm system to make landfall in
Vietnam this month. And on the other side of the Northern Hemisphere, the U.S. state of Louisiana is weathering its fifth named storm of this busy
season.
Zeta was expected to make landfall on Wednesday afternoon as a Category 2 hurricane with wind speeds of around 100 miles per hour. And it was
expected to bring rain to several states in the American southeast.
The silver lining to this particular system is that it was fast moving. That can get things over with faster in the areas it hits as opposed to
slowly turning overhead and lashing them for hours with powerful wind and heavy rain.
Before it made landfall on Louisiana, Zeta had hit Mexico`s Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 1 storm. Hurricane Zeta is named for a letter of
the Greek alphabet. That`s what meteorologists use with they run out of names on their annual list.
It follows Tropical Storms Cristobal and Marco and Hurricanes Laura and Delta to all make landfall in Louisiana this year. It`s the first time that
state has been hit by five main storms in the same season since record keeping began in 1851 and Hurricane Zeta tied two records set in 2005. One,
for the most named storms, there were 27 in each year and one for the most times a single state was hit in a storm season. Florida also saw five
storms make landfall in 2005.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you`ve been hearing the word typhoon and thinking to yourself, well that looks an awful lot like a hurricane. Well in fact, it
is. Typhoons or hurricanes are cyclones. They are the same thing just in different oceans. A lot like a hotcake is a flapjack is pancake is a short
stack. If you are west of the dateline, so west of Hawaii, north of the Equator, you`re a typhoon.
If you`re in the Atlantic or the Pacific around America, you are a hurricane. And if you`re around the Indian Ocean or in the Southern
Hemisphere, you`re a cyclone. So it`s not out of the question for a hurricane to become a typhoon if it moves over the dateline. In fact, after
crossing the International Dateline Hurricane Genevieve turned in Typhoon Genevieve a few years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Restrictions related to coronavirus are tightening up again in Europe. The spread of the disease has sped up in several countries there
and officials are concerned that an increased number of life-threatening cases could put a strain on hospitals. German Chancellor Angela Merkel
announced a partial lockdown on Wednesday.
Her country`s schools will be allowed to stay open but its restaurants, bars and clubs will not. And fans will not be allowed to attend live sports
until the lockdown ends. It`s currently scheduled to last the month November though that could change.
Switzerland has banned gatherings of more than 50 people and required restaurants to close by 11 pm. Italy is requiring restaurants to close by 6
pm and movie theaters and gyms have been shut down as well. There have been protests, some of them peaceful, some of them violent. The worldwide
shutdowns and lockdowns have been put in place to slow the spread of coronavirus, save lives and give medical officials more time to ramp up
testing and prepare for new cases.
But some economists have said, they don`t know if the shutdowns have been worth the impact they`ve had on economies. And critics say they`ve caused
more problems in society than COVID-19 has. So there`s a lot of controversy surrounding both the disease itself and the responses to it. And because
those responses have been so different from place to place, they`ve had a particularly pronounced effect on travel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The world is a patchwork of travel restrictions. Closed borders, quarantines, pre-travel testing requirements,
all of which keep changing. It`s enough to put people off travel all together and that`s damaging for the aviation sector, for tourism, for the
whole global economy. However, one solution to travel could be a passport. Wellness (inaudible) fit bit, a digital health passport.
The app is being developed by the Common`s Project Foundation in partnership with the World Economic Forum. The concept is simple enough. A
traveler checks the app to see what the COVID-19 rules are at their destination.
For example, it may require a PCR test 24 hours before travel. The app tells the traveler where they can get a government approved COVID-19 test
and upload that test result to the app. If negative, the app generates a QR code confirming the traveler`s compliance to be scanned by airline staff
and border officials. However, testing prior to travel has its limitations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At that moment that person is safe to fly or migrate or whatever -- whatever it is because they were PCR negative. Which is
probably, sort of, you know, meaningless if they were about to turn PCR positive five minutes after you did the test.
STEWART: Common Pass says screening minimizes the risks and is already a requirement for entry into many countries. A trial of their app is underway
for volunteer passengers flying with United Airlines and Cathay Pacific between London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. If it goes well, Common
Pass hopes more airlines and airports will use it in the future.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve actually managed to convene over 50 countries that have come together through dialogue that led up to Common Pass. Most of the
world`s biggest airlines, most of the world`s biggest airports and I think one of the realizations is that they`ve come through is (inaudible) is this
kind of system has to work in a globally interpretable way. It can`t only work within one bubble or within one travel corridor.
STEWART: If a COVID-19 vaccine is successfully developed, Common Pass hopes travelers will be able to log their vaccination into the app. Yet, there
are concerns to little is known about vaccine ethicacy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn`t feel comfortable as -- as a sort of minister of health, to be, you know, stamping and sealing the legislation on the use
of (inaudible) passports in places.
STEWART: Immunity passports are pie in the sky, at least for now. Helping people to take to the skies with an app that simplifies and coordinates
COVID-19 travel restrictions is at least on the horizon. Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. In which nation would you find the Ningaloo Reef? Australia, Madagascar, New Zealand or the Philippines. The Ningaloo Reef is
in western Australia while the Great Barrier Reef is off the country`s northeast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re diving on a newly discovered or newly mapped 500-meter high coral reef.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: When I say chipmunk caf,, you might think cat caf,. Like where you can have a latte with a tabby. This is a little different. A Georgia food
critic built a mini-caf, for the mini-chipmunk who lives outside her home. She`s named him "Felonious Munk" because he`s a chipmunk and she`s built
him everything from a bar-b-que to a ramen noodle bar. The builders says this has helped her get through the pandemic when she couldn`t get to
restaurants.
Is this a (inaudible) rated? It`s "rodent" rated and "rodent raided" too. It`s for a good "claws". It`s open to guests of all "stripes" and they
don`t have to "chip" in to "scamper" in for a meal that will make them go "nuts". I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. We`re visiting a park today, Park High
School. It`s for the students living in Livingston, Montana. We hope your Thursday is amazing.
END
