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U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson Still in ICU; Austria's Small Shops to Reopen Mid-April; China Has Lifted Lockdown Restrictions in Wuhan; Spain's Death Toll Up, New Cases Down; Trump Threatens the World Health Organization; New York City Reports 800+ Deaths Tuesday; Virus Hitting African Americans Especially Hard; Middle East, Africa Working To Combat Virus; John Prine Succumbs to Coronavirus. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired April 08, 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]
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HALA GORANI, CNN HOST (voice-over): Hello and welcome. We are bringing you the very latest on the coronavirus pandemic. And we start in Britain. The
prime minister is still in intensive care. We have the latest from the hospital on the condition of Boris Johnson. We're also live at 10 Downing
Street.
As Europe tries to find ways out of the crisis, I speak to two senior government officials on what they are doing, Spain and Austria.
And after 76 days on lockdown, Wuhan in China, where this entire epidemic started, reopens in spectacular fashion.
So we're going to start with the British prime minister.
And welcome once again to our viewers around the world. Here we are.
And he is said to be in stable condition and responding to treatment. That's according to 10 Downing Street after spending another night in
intensive care at St. Thomas Hospital. Boris Johnson was admitted on Sunday night due to persistent coronavirus symptoms. He was later moved to the
intensive care unit when his condition worsened.
According to Mr. Johnson's spokesperson, the prime minister is receiving oxygen but he's breathing without mechanical support. In other words, he's
not on a ventilator. CNN's Clarissa Ward joins me now from outside the hospital where Mr. Johnson is being treated and Nick Paton Walsh is live at
10 Downing Street.
Clarissa, our chief international correspondent there, I want to start with you.
Boris Johnson according to 10 Downing responding to treatment, his condition is still stable. That means it hasn't improved since yesterday.
What more can you tell us?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It has been three nights that the prime minister has been in the hospital behind
me, two of those nights in the intensive care unit and very little sign that his condition is changing at all.
We're being given minimal information, I should emphasize; all we really have been told as you mentioned is that he's in stable condition. So he is
neither deteriorating nor is he improving. As far as we know, though, he's breathing on his own.
You mentioned he has not been intubated, he's not on a ventilator. We're hearing reports he's conscious, in good spirits and still essentially the
person who is making the major decisions for the British government.
We know that he deputized some actions where necessary to foreign secretary Dominic Raab. But it is believed he still is playing some sort of a role,
though to what extent we don't know.
We don't even really know, Hala, what kind of communication is happening between his cabinet and the prime minister if, indeed, there is a direct
communication or if it is happening through the hospital.
And perhaps because of that and because of the lack of clarity surrounding both his health and the sort of government mechanisms for ruling or
governing while he is temporarily out of commission, so to speak, I think that's contributing to an overall sense of anxiety in the country because
we are, in this time of crisis, because there have been more than 6,000 COVID-19 deaths and because the number of deaths is still steadily
climbing, even as it appears that the number of hospital admissions may be, and I stress may be, starting to plateau -- Hala.
GORANI: All right.
And Nick Paton Walsh, we understand from 10 Downing that the prime minister, quote, "has the ability to contact those he needs to."
That's not the same as saying he is contacting those he needs to contact.
What more can you tell us about that?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: No, I mean, a lot of this comes down to passing exactly what terminology Downing Street chooses
to use about the prime minister's condition.
Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary standing in as deputy, was yesterday acting in that capacity, quote, "where necessary." The official
spokesperson today said he has been deputizing, quote, "across the board," since Monday evening which would possibly suggest depending how you choose
to interpret that change that he has taken a larger role, possibly.
It is hard to understand if Boris Johnson is indeed now looking at his third night in intensive care, why his doctors are permitting him to still
be involved in the running of the country. Many people who experienced this disease need to rest, to recover, it is not something you can simply, to
use the phrase he once did, take on the chin. It is exceptionally dangerous.
So yes, there will be lots of questions about exactly the extent of Dominic Raab's deputizing and also, too, a lot of speculation in the U.K. media as
to the unanimity (ph) of the cabinet.
These are people who joined the conservative government with an extraordinary majority and very little reason, frankly, for them to think
they should be vying for increasing their share on power.
[10:05:00]
WALSH: But a very key important decision comes up on Monday, which is whether or not to extend the lockdown that has been put on Britain. Most of
the suggestions are, it seems, from the signals being given to the British media here, they're likely to extend that lockdown.
The mayor of London said that was likely -- no way he could see that it could in fact be lifted as early as next week. That's one key decision
ahead for a government without a figurehead, frankly, and I think the -- behind me, they're struggling to try and find a path between not alarming
the public but also making it sound as though there is a coherent strategy when, perhaps there may be, hour by hour, learning more about the prime
minister's condition.
Interestingly enough, we did hear yesterday from Downing Street spokespeople, they don't actually necessarily have a team inside that room.
That may explain some of the gap between the information that emerges from the hospital to here to the public. A complicated task indeed in the best
of times -- Hala.
GORANI: Right.
And, Clarissa, to you now, what care is the prime minister getting in intensive care that, since we know he's not on a ventilator, he wouldn't be
getting in just an ordinary hospital bed?
Do we know what else he's receiving, what other treatments he's getting that he wasn't getting before he was moved to that specialized unit?
WARD: So we know he's getting what they have categorized as standard oxygen treatment. One of the main side effects of COVID-19 is that it
really destroys or it can destroy or limit the lungs' ability to absorb oxygen into the blood, that being absolutely crucial for sustaining human
life.
One of the reasons that they moved the prime minister into the ICU was so that essentially he could be intubated and put on a ventilator at a
moment's notice if that needed to take place. So far there is no indication that that does need to take place.
But just to give you a sense, when you go into the emergency room in many of these London hospitals that are treating COVID-19, you have a special
area for people who are suspected of coronavirus, one room for suspected corona, second room is for confirmed corona and perhaps they just need
oxygen or some antibiotics if they have a secondary infection.
And then the third ward is for what they call full escalation, confirmed corona and you may well need a ventilator. You only end up in that third
ward, Hala, even if you're the prime minister, one would assume, if your health is looking very bad, if your oxygen levels are looking perilously
low.
And so while he's not on a ventilator, make no mistake about it, it is clear that his health is not in good shape. And as I said before, that's
really contributing to a sense not just of anxiety in terms of crisis but also people really coming out and saying we want our prime minister to get
well again.
We have seen trucks driving by with large signs saying, get well soon, Boris, I think no matter what side of the political spectrum people fall
on, they really do want to see Boris make a speedy recovery -- Hala.
GORANI: All right, Clarissa Ward and Nick Paton Walsh, thanks to both of you.
Staying in the U.K. here, the mayor of London has said that 14 public transport workers have died as a result of being infected by coronavirus.
Sadiq Khan paid tribute to those who lost their lives when he spoke to Sky News earlier today.
He praised them for helping essential workers move across the city, saying they were critical in the fight against this deadly pandemic. And
meanwhile, Khan has vowed to make public transport as safe as possible.
The city is enforcing middle door boarding on buses to make sure drivers can maintain social distancing. Passengers are also being discouraged from
sitting near drivers to try to keep them as safe as possible because, obviously, drivers come into close contact with passengers on a daily
basis. This is putting them at risk.
Now these are restrictions that are in place across the U.K. and other countries. But after weeks of tightening their social distancing measures,
there are countries in the European Union that are starting to think about loosening these rules.
Just after the Easter holiday, Austrian officials say small shops will reopen mid-April here. It is the first step in a plan to gradually lift the
country's lockdown. All shops, malls and salons will be permitted to reopen at the start of May, followed by restaurants and hotels later that month.
The Austrian chancellor announced the plan Monday. But the government says people will need to wear face masks in shops and on public transport.
Austria's health minister Rudolf Anschober joins me now from Vienna with how this is going to work.
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GORANI: How practically do you start reopening the Austrian economy in waves here?
Can you talk us through it?
RUDOLF ANSCHOBER, AUSTRIAN HEALTH MINISTER: Yes.
(Speaking German).
(CROSSTALK)
GORANI: OK. Apologies, sir. We are not able to translate your -- you speaking from German here.
Are you able to join us in English?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you hear us?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you hear us?
This is the interpreter.
(CROSSTALK)
GORANI: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
GORANI: Oh, Apologies, apologies.
Please go ahead then, sir. I was unaware we had the interpreter with you. So go ahead and talk us through the reopening of the progressive and wave
by wave reopening of the Austrian economy.
ANSCHOBER: Yes. (Speaking German).
(CROSSTALK)
GORANI: Sir, if you don't mind, if we could just get the translation of what you just said so that we're able to kind of break it up a little bit
in digestible chunks, yes. Go ahead.
ANSCHOBER (through translator): Yes, there is a progressive opening, so we will start opening the small shops from Tuesday on, in order to start up
our business very slowly. So the maximum size of the shops that will be opened is 400 square meters. But people will be required to wear masks, so
masks and (INAUDIBLE) protection and there will also be exit restrictions; in other words, 20 square meters per person in a shop.
So in order to avoid any infection or potential transmission and, in parallel, we will do large scale testing and measuring.
GORANI: OK.
How can you assure people -- and this is going to be the big concern, Minister -- that this will not lead to a new spike in cases?
ANSCHOBER: Yes. (Speaking German).
(CROSSTALK)
ANSCHOBER (through translator): So, yes, this is indeed the major challenge we are faced with because we are the first country to ease the
lockdowns, nobody has done that before in the E.U.
So as I mentioned before, we want to slowly start up the economy. And everything we do is performed in a very controlled manner. So, as I
mentioned, there are clear safety requirements that have to be strictly adhered to, as mentioned the masks, then the access restriction and the
(INAUDIBLE) tests.
We want to roll out these tests and focus particularly on the risk routes. So we want to roll out large scale testing particularly on old people,
nursing homes and also as regards to high risk groups, so people with comorbidities or (INAUDIBLE) people who suffer from cancer will technically
(ph) be tested.
GORANI: All right, we really appreciate you updating us, Austria's health minister, Rudolf Anschober, joining us live from Vienna with the help of
his interpreter, thanks to you as well.
Updating us on this plan, which is a progressive reopening of the Austrian economy that will start after Easter with smaller shops and the requirement
to wear face masks as well. Thank you very much.
Coming up, I'll be speaking to Spain's foreign minister. Spain had its second day of increasing death rates after a week of decline.
[10:15:00]
GORANI: How concerned should Spaniards be?
Are they seeing a light at the end of the tunnel?
Plus, the lockdown is lifted in Wuhan, China. It is finally opening its borders. Things are far from back to normal, though. We will have a live
update from China ahead.
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GORANI: Lockdown measures in the central Chinese city of Wuhan are officially lifted. The city was sealed off, sealed off for 76 days in order
to stop the spread of the coronavirus. CNN's David Culver has more now from Shanghai.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Counting down the moments, like the start of a new year, Chinese media documenting a dramatic midnight
reopening of Wuhan.
Officials rushing to push aside highway barriers, traffic flowing once again. For 76 days, this city, with a population larger than New York City,
was walled off from the rest of Mainland China. Today, the original epicenter of the novel coronavirus no longer on lockdown.
A water cannon salute for the first commercial aircraft returning to the airport. Inside the city train stations, an unusual sight: crowds of
people, passengers going through security and screenings, only those with a clean bill of health allowed to leave. Railway officials say about 55,000
tickets were sold for outbound travel on Wednesday alone.
Row after row of trains were at the ready. Just before the January 23rd lockdown took effect, CNN traveled to Wuhan. We took you to the suspected
source of the outbreak, the seafood market. We met locals, who, like us, were unaware of the unprecedented lockdown that loomed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CULVER: Behind me, this is one of a few hospitals here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CULVER (voice-over): A few hours after filing our report, we, like so many here, got word of plans to shut down Wuhan. We then boarded a train back to
Beijing to begin our quarantine but relied on video chats to keep in touch with those inside the lockdown, like Iris Yu, stuck in her apartment for
more than two months.
As of Wednesday morning, she was on a board a train fully protected, headed to Southern China.
IRIS YU, WUHAN RESIDENT (from captions): After 80 straight days in quarantine, I finally came out today. Now I'm on the train to Shenzhen now.
CULVER (voice-over): As for the Wuhan she's leaving behind --
YU (from captions): Though it is not fully operational. But it indeed is recovering.
CULVER (voice-over): Even officials caution, this is far from back to normal.
CHRISTOPHER SUZANNE, WUHAN RESIDENT: We receive daily text messages from the government, saying, hey, don't be complacent, be cognizant that there
may be a second wave.
CULVER (voice-over): A possible second wave.
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CULVER (voice-over): It is for that reason that Wuhan residents like American Christopher Suzanne are not allowed to roam freely within the
city. Neighborhood committees are monitoring people as they enter and leave their homes and enforcing quarantine if necessary.
SUZANNE: I have a special ticket, it's a red piece of paper, it allows me outside for two hours per day. But only one person, per family, per day,
two hours. So my wife, she doesn't go outside, she is still, you know, scared.
CULVER (voice-over): While some stores are back open, other businesses will stay closed, unable to weather the economic pressures of the harsh
shutdown.
Following subdued Lunar New Year celebrations in late January, state media marking this moment as a new beginning of sorts. But the unknowns linger
over a city still haunted by this devastating virus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CULVER: China's state media intentionally portraying these images of Wuhan springing back to life and the images that you saw there of the skyline,
they also pay tribute to the front line healthcare workers, many of whom got infected and some who lost their lives.
But there is also another reality to all of this and that is that, for the folks within Wuhan, many of them have this deep rooted hesitation. They're
not really fully comfortable leaving their homes. One likened it to PTSD after this 76-day experience.
And even if the government starts easing restrictions within the city, which is starting to happen, little by little, they're not sure if they
want to rush out of their house altogether.
GORANI: Well, it is understandable. Thank you very much, David Culver, a very difficult time there in that part of China for many, many weeks. Thank
you very much. We'll stay in touch with you for more from Shanghai.
Well, after a promising week of declining numbers, Spain's coronavirus death toll has increased now for a second consecutive day. The country is
reporting 757 deaths in the last 24 hours but the total number of new cases is down. CNN's Scott McLean is in Madrid.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is some progress to report from Spain. The increase in active confirmed coronavirus cases was just 610.
That is the lowest it has been in almost a month and lower still than the daily death toll, which creeped up in the past few days, but is lower than
the peak that we saw last week.
There are questions about the accuracy of the numbers from Spain, though. Health officials are now promising to revisit the numbers and how they were
counted in care homes after questions were raised about whether people who died with symptoms but without ever being tested were added to the official
tallies.
The Spanish parliament will vote tomorrow on whether to extend the state of emergency but the prime minister has promised that nonessential workers
will be allowed to return to their jobs beginning on Monday.
This affects industries like construction and manufacturing. It does not mean that bars, restaurants and shops will be reopened. There are also
concerns about people who are asymptomatic, spreading the virus once all of these restrictions are eased.
That is why the Spanish government is dramatically ramping up its testing capabilities. It is also looking for places like student housing and hotels
to house people who have tested positive but don't have symptoms in isolation so that the cases don't spike for a second time.
And, Hala, I asked this country's health minister when we might see the borders reopened; he told me they're still not thinking that far ahead.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All right, that was Scott McLean reporting from Madrid.
Spain hopes to relax its lockdowns starting next week. Joining us now from Spain is the foreign minister, Arancha Gonzalez Laya.
Thanks for joining us. As I mentioned there before, we went to our Scott in Madrid, the death toll in Spain has increased for the second consecutive
day after a week of declines.
How concerned are you about these numbers?
ARANCHA GONZALEZ LAYA, SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, the situation is stabilizing in Spain. We are seeing for the first time more recovered
people than those hospitalized. We're seeing the pressure easing off in the hospitals and in particular in the intensive care unit.
So we're on the right path. But we're not yet there. This is why we're putting all our efforts and all our energy now in winning battle by
ensuring citizens remain at home. Nonessential work is not performed.
And we can see the curve finally moving the opposite direction, see a declining trend. If we continue in this, if we continue it, I'm sure that
in the next few days we will see a better trajectory in the curve.
GORANI: So are you concerned at all about letting your guard down a little too soon, with the plan to reopen some parts of the Spanish economy next
week?
[10:25:00]
LAYA: So what we have for now planned -- and everything is very gradual in Spain because, as I said we are not there yet, we haven't won the battle --
this is why we have to be cautious. We've got to be careful and we have to keep in mind security and safety of our people first.
What we are doing as the first step is go back in the economic activity to where we were two weeks ago, basically. Economic activities will be able to
be performed but they will have to be performed within a certain set of measures to ensure safety and security of workers.
Protecting the workers, making sure that there is no transmission on that side and, again, maintaining the rest of the citizenship for now at home
until we really can say that we are on a downward trajectory.
GORANI: Healthcare workers, some unions, in fact, are very upset with the government, 12,000 healthcare workers in Spain have contracted COVID-19.
They say that there are huge shortages of protective equipment, some of them are going into hospitals wearing rubbish bags.
What do you say to those healthcare workers in Spain who are saying they haven't been protected enough?
LAYA: We know that healthcare workers are on the front line and at the front line of war like we haven't seen in Spain before. So yes, there may
have been instances where they did not have enough material for what they needed.
But by and large, the situation now has significantly improved mostly by two means, massive imports of material that are coming into the country
every day but, number two, also by the ramping up of domestic production of testing material, of respirators, ventilators, which has seen the situation
improve significantly.
But it cannot be excluded that in a situation with a massive influx of patients into our hospitals, there may have been incidents where healthcare
workers would have been affected and infected. This is also an area where the government -- the autonomous region are putting a lot of efforts to
protecting them.
GORANI: All right, I want to ask you about the about the European Union because, in the end, a union such as this one should be coming together at
this time, countries helping other countries within the union. One thing you said is that this virus could be a threat.
Either the European Union, you know, confronts the virus or the virus will damage the European Union.
Which scenario is materializing today?
LAYA: Well, we're working steadily, although slowly, as we speak, to craft a more solid European response. Some pieces of the response are there. The
response from the European Central Bank is there, the response from the European Commission is there.
But the member states of the E.U. are still working on details of important pieces of the response: one, a reinsurance for the unemployed; number two,
an investment plan that would give loans, cheap loans, easy credit to small and medium enterprises, which are the bedrock of the Europe community.
And number three, a mutual assistance to mutualize our debts that, as I said, is work in progress. We would like to have been faster. But for us
what counts is that we get the right response. This is where we are working at, hopefully to see some results in the next few days.
GORANI: All right and everyone hopes to see better results in Spain and anywhere around the world that was affected by this pandemic. Arancha
Gonzalez Laya, the Spanish foreign minister, thank you very much for joining us on CNN.
We're going to take a quick break. The U.S. president is threatening to pull funding at this time for the World Health Organization.
What is behind the threat while we're all confronting a deadly pandemic?
And what the WHO is saying about it coming up. We'll be right back.
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[10:30:00]
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GORANI: The World Health Organization, the WHO that has been working around the clock trying to deal with this pandemic, is defending itself
against criticism by the U.S. president, denying the body is, in Mr. Trump's words, "very China centric."
During Tuesday's coronavirus briefing, Donald Trump threatened to pull American contributions to the WHO. He said the WHO criticized his January
31st travel ban with China and downplayed the virus.
The WHO generally opposes blanket international travel bans, arguing they're ineffectual. President Trump himself has been criticized for
downplaying the virus in the early weeks.
The U.S. is the WHO's largest member state contributor by far. The group says the acute phase of a pandemic is not the time to cut back funding.
Now President Trump's threat to pull funding comes as we get new data on his approval numbers. You'll remember a Gallup poll in which 60 percent of
Americans approved of the president's handling of the outbreak.
A CNN poll conducted by SSRS earlier this week indicates 55 percent of Americans think the president could be doing more during this pandemic and
43 percent say he's doing everything he can.
So let's go to our senior political director David Chalian for more.
It appears that the president's approval when it comes to his response to the pandemic, that those numbers are going down.
Can you tell us why?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, certainly on the issue, as you said, that question about can you be doing more or not, we see, as you
noted, 55 percent say he could be doing more.
Of course, partisanship tells everything, right?
So if you look at that, only 18 percent of Republicans think the president could be doing more; 84 percent of Democrats say so. And independents there
in the middle. So you see what we have noted, when we ask flat out, do you approve or disapprove of the way the president is handling the coronavirus
outbreak, what we have seen there is an uptick in his approval and his disapproval over the last few weeks.
Now 52 percent, a slim majority of Americans in this poll, disapprove of the job the president is doing in terms of handling the coronavirus
outbreak.
GORANI: And this is unusual at a time of national crisis, right?
Because, for instance, as an example, after 9/11, George W. Bush benefited from huge approval rating numbers because the country kind of came together
after having been attacked. In this case, we're not seeing that.
Why is that not translating?
Why is that not happening now with this particular threat to the country?
CHALIAN: It is such a good question. We call that sort of the rally around the flag effect. When Americans sort of rally around their leader, their
president, in a time of crisis. We see some of it, right?
What I should note is his overall approval rating, President Trump in this poll, is it at 44 percent. That's about where it has been the last three
months in our polling. So it is not as if he's necessarily losing support broadly in the country. But the little bit of support that we have seen for
him.
[10:35:00]
CHALIAN: The few places where you see Democrats and independents coming around to him and supporting some of his actions is not nearly the size
that we normally see that rally effect.
I think it is because this president is the most polarizing president in history. So much polarization is already baked into his numbers that, even
at a time of national crisis, he doesn't benefit from that.
And I would also note it is also because there is great question and criticism from his opponents about whether or not he did enough early
enough to prevent what this spread of this virus is.
Are things worse because of his lateness to the issue?
I think that has been a major part of the conversation as well, which is probably keeping his numbers down a bit as well, Hala.
GORANI: And even by the standards of Donald Trump, his behavior during these briefings has been eyebrow raising, calling Jonathan Karl of ABC "a
third rate reporter," sparring and arguing and insulting journalists who are asking perfectly fair questions about the pandemic.
I wonder how is that -- we're outside the U.S., so we can't really take the pulse of the American electorate and public.
But how is that being received by ordinary Americans?
CHALIAN: Well, I would just note it is not just his interactions with journalists and the press. You noted in the intro to this segment, the
World Health Organization comes in for criticism, China comes in for criticism from the president. It seems when he's up giving briefings, he
doesn't have enough fingers on his hands to point in all the directions he wants to point, except to him.
He infamously now has said of several weeks ago in the Rose Garden that he does not take any responsibility. It is actually a line that Democratic
opponents of his are using in advertising against him right now, as they're trying to frame him as a failed leader.
I think is what we have seen for three years of the Trump presidency, always looking to blame somebody else. And I think he's continuing to do
that, the press being one example of that as you cite from the podium in the briefings every day.
GORANI: And how is this affecting the overall race, for the presidential race?
Because we obviously -- the president is conducting briefings every day, we see him all the time, we're not seeing the Democratic front-runner all that
much. Joe Biden.
So what is the overall impact do you think on the race?
CHALIAN: If I had the answer to that, I would be so happy. It is the million dollar question. There is no doubt in my mind, Hala, that this
presidential election is now going to rest upon how the American people judge President Trump's response to the virus and how he deals with the
economic fallout that is upon us because of the virus as well.
And so those two things are going to determine everything here. The election is not until November. But I will tell you this is the biggest
impact I see on it right now.
This was the time, the spring of 2020, when the Trump re-election campaign wanted to focus exclusively on Joe Biden, paint him in a negative light,
someone out of step, part of the Washington culture. They were going to use this time to advertise while he was still wrapping up the nomination race
and paint a negative picture of him in the minds of voters.
That's not happening at all right now. So you're right to note, President Trump gets to play the role of commander in chief, of course, be in command
in a time of crisis. But with that comes the flip side of criticism of how he's handling it. And this is now not shaping up to be a choice election
between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
This is now shaping up to be a referendum election on how the American people are judging Donald Trump in this moment of crisis.
GORANI: All right, David Chalian, political director, thanks very much for joining us.
By the way, speaking of the United States, it has marked a grim record, the most new COVID-19 deaths in New York City alone. Athena Jones is at the
Javits Convention Center, now being used as a hospital and she joins me now.
Why, despite the fact that social distancing is being taken seriously, it seems to me, in New York, why are numbers still so high?
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is a fact that this is a delayed indicator, a lagging indicator, that the high number of deaths
you mentioned, largest single day increase in deaths here in New York City, more than 608 people dying in a single day.
So it is a sad, grim milestone. But if you talk to city officials, they say, look, this is a lagging indicator; yes, we put in place social
distancing guidelines, we're beginning to see the impact of that now.
So you have that sad milestone of deaths. It could take a while for the death numbers to fall. People may be hospitalized two or three weeks ago
and take that long to decline and die.
[10:40:00]
A. JONES: I will mention that Governor Cuomo, who is going to be briefing us again in the next 20 minutes or so, giving us the latest update, says
that it looks as though New York -- we may be seeing the curve flattening in New York.
He pointed to a drop in the increase in daily hospitalizations, people needing to be hospitalized, a drop in the number of people who need to be
put on a ventilator, intubated for help breathing, and also a drop in the rate of increase of new cases.
So those are all good signs; even though we're still dealing with a whole lot of patients, whole lot of sick people, whole lot of death and
overwhelming the system, Cuomo said you have to look at the three day average.
We'll see when we learn from the briefing a short time from now whether things are still moving in that direction. And one update on the Javits
Center here behind me, this temporary hospital, and the USNS Comfort, the Navy ship docked off the coast of Manhattan here.
They are now treating combined total of 160 patients, 58 patients at the USNS Comfort and 104 patients here at the Javits Center. There are many
more beds available and so the good thing is those beds right now are going to be available for any hospitals that need to transfer their overflow of
patients here to the Javits or the Comfort -- Hala.
GORANI: And, Athena, there was a key model in the United States that is projecting potentially -- and this is good news, relatively speaking -- a
lower number of deaths nationwide than was initially predicted.
I wonder what does that mean for New York, where really we're seeing the highest number of deaths and cases?
How long until some of these lockdown measures are lifted?
A. JONES: Well, in terms of New York, it is hard to know how long we'll see what direction things are going. We have to wait and see what is
reported today.
But yes, that overall projection in the country, a lot lower number, around 60,000 perhaps may die. That's much different than the nearly 240,000
deaths that were estimated at one point, the White House was estimating between 100,000, up to 240,000 deaths.
That's much lower and that's because people are paying attention to social distancing. So it is something that seems to be working. But of course,
you've got a lot of cases in the system and so if you've got a lot of people who have already contracted the virus, maybe two weeks ago, maybe
they haven't been taking social distancing as seriously.
So it is going to take some time to see the numbers decline on a steady basis and to see if those new projections, that new model is accurate.
GORANI: Athena Jones in New York, thank you very much.
In the United States, staying in the U.S., African Americans are getting infected more and they're dying in larger numbers. President Trump says the
administration will release more data over the next few days to better understand this disparity.
Many black Americans have less access to healthcare and insurance and sometimes work on the front lines. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports that all of
that puts them at high risk during the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: In the beginning, COVID-19 was far away and it did not even have a name.
DR. CAMARA JONES, FMR. PRESIDENT, AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION: It is coming over to our shores from people who traveled.
GUPTA: But once it got a foothold in the United States, it's true self was revealed.
C. JONES: Once people got infected, because of their diabetes and heart disease and the like, they would get it more severely and be at higher risk
of dying.
GUPTA: Doctor Camara Jones is past president of the American Public Health Association.
I was really struck Dr. Jones, we are both doctors. And as I was hearing the story, it sounded just all of the sudden tragically familiar. Is this a
familiar story?
C. JONES: What we see is so familiar because the conditions of our lives haven't changed significantly. And so what is happening is that we are
carrying the burden of these limited opportunities in our bodies and it shows up as diabetes, the heart disease, the hypertension, even in terms of
you know, immune compromised and all of that.
GUPTA: Already we are hearing from some officials that blacks have been disproportionately hit by the outbreak. Early data shows that in Michigan,
where I grew up, 14 percent of the population is black, though they make up 41 percent of coronavirus deaths.
In Illinois, 15 percent identify as African American, but they make up 42 percent of deaths. Louisiana's population is 32 percent black, which
accounts for about 70 percent of coronavirus deaths. But here is the problem, according to Dr. Jones. As inadequate as testing has been for the
country, the problem is even worse for African Americans.
[10:45:00]
C. JONES: Our whole national testing strategy has started out as a clinical strategy, not a public health strategy. That of course, has
disadvantaged the whole nation in terms of knowing who is infected and I am told also that it has been harder for many people of color to get the
tests, just because of where testing stations have been located.
GUPTA: While blacks are less likely to be tested, less likely to be treated, they are more likely to be on the front line. Essential workers,
upon whom we all depend.
JASON HARGROVE, DETROIT DRIVER: We are out here as public workers, doing our job, trying to make an honest living, to take care of our families.
GUPTA: Detroit driver Jason Hargrove posted this online on March 21st.
C. JONES: It's not as easy for them to shelter in place. And it's not as easy because they might have front-facing jobs like health home aid, or bus
drivers, or postal workers, or working at Amazon and the like.
HARGROVE: For you to get on the bus and stand on the bus and cough several times without covering your mouth and you know that we are in the middle of
a pandemic that lets me know that some folks don't care.
GUPTA: Four days later, Hargrove, who was 50 years old, became ill. He died last Wednesday. It's still unclear how he got COVID-19.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Wow, that's a very sad, that ending to Dr. Sanjay Gupta's story about how this virus is disproportionately hitting people of color and
disadvantaged people who may not have access to health care or testing as easily.
Now to a story of another unsung hero who lost her life to COVID-19. Leilani Jordan contracted the virus while working as a clerk at her local
supermarket. She was just 27 years old. So when you hear that this virus hits only older people, well, that's not the case. She loved helping
elderly customers at her store.
A short time ago her mother told our Alisyn Camerota about the last moments she had with her child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZENOBIA SHEPHERD, LEILANI'S MOTHER: It just went through her body so fast by the time she got to the hospital she fell out and was unconscious and
put into ICU, and the next thing I know she was intubated. You know, she coded in my arms. She had a cardiac arrest.
My husband and I both were in the room, you know, and I was able to hold my baby's hands for the last time -- and was able to hold her feet. It's my
baby. It's like a hole in my heart -- like a hole in my heart.
All she wanted to do was just help people. She just wanted to help. She wanted to help and make a difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, there you have it. This is how this disease is affecting ordinary people, who are losing the most important people in their lives.
We'll be right back with a lot more on the pandemic.
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[10:50:00]
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GORANI: Well, Iran is asking the International Monetary Fund for a $5 billion loan to fight the coronavirus. President Hassan Rouhani says for 50
years his countries has fulfilled all its duties as part of the IMF and they will view a denial of the loan as discrimination.
Arwa Damon has more on how the pandemic is affecting the Middle East across the region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There may be a positive trend for the Middle East's hardest hit country, Iran with the WHO
saying they are observing a flattening off of the number of coronavirus cases being reported there.
President Rouhani told the population that some of them may be able to return to what is being described as "low risk economic activity," pledging
$1 billion to further stave off the spread of COVID-19.
Now the region's other nation that is in the global top 10 is Turkey. The government here is trying to reassure the population that they have the
situation under control. The minister of health is saying that ICUs are at 62 percent capacity and that under 50 percent of hospital beds are
currently occupied.
Plus the government is planning on turning two decommissioned airports in the Istanbul area, this being the hardest hit city, into hospitals. But
there is quite a bit of criticism that the government has not implemented a full lockdown.
Yes, businesses are closed, some of them; public spaces are off limits. But you're only under a government mandated lockdown if you're under the age of
20 or over the age of 65.
Masks have now been made mandatory in places that could potentially be crowded, like the supermarket. And masks are now free. Even pharmacies are
not allowed to sell them. But the population here is very worried about what direction this country is going in if stricter measures aren't put in
place -- Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: The World Health Organization is reporting the number of COVID-19 cases in Africa is growing exponentially, at least 10,000 infections are
confirmed, killing more than 500 people across the continent. David McKenzie joins me with the very latest on that.
So we have shown, since the beginning of the pandemic, the curves in Asia and Europe; some are flattening, others close to vertical.
What do the infection curves look like now in parts of Africa that are severely affected?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you said, the WHO says there has been an exponential spread in recent weeks. I think that's more important than
the rural number of confirmed infections because it seems, according to scientists, that most parts of Africa got hit by this virus substantially
later than Europe, the Americas, China.
And so that means that we are later in this battle here in the African context. That exponential spread is what is troubling me the most from that
statement. Also that it has moved out of the major cities and into smaller areas, smaller urban areas and rural parts of Africa.
Now officials here were arguably a lot quicker than other parts of the world in terms of shutting down economies. South Africa under lockdown,
Kenya, Nigeria, very important countries in the African economic landscape.
But more than 80 percent of people in Africa depend on the informal sector. If you don't work, you don't eat. That is the extremely challenging policy
decision that's going to need to be made in the next few weeks as they try to continue locking down these societies.
More than 40 countries out of the 54 in Africa have stopped incoming and outgoing travel. So this continent is at a standstill. Whether it will be
enough to flatten the curve (AUDIO GAP) or these often very challenged health infrastructure environments will be pushed to the limit. I think the
next few weeks are going to be absolutely critical -- Hala.
GORANI: All right, David McKenzie, thank you very much.
We'll be right back.
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[10:55:00]
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GORANI (voice-over): The raspy-voiced singer-songwriter John Prine has died due to complications from COVID-19. He was 73 years old. The country
music legend was hospitalized last month after what his family calls a sudden onset of coronavirus symptoms.
Prine won several Grammies in a career that spanned 50 years, including a Lifetime Achievement Award just this January. "Rolling Stone" once called
him "the Mark Twain of American songwriting." RIP.
Before we go, a quick glimpse at the light at the end of this long and dark tunnel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI (voice-over): These are the healthcare heroes cheering on a patient, who just recovered from COVID-19. His caregivers applaud his
victory as he leaves the intensive care unit at a Madrid hospital.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Good for him. And I'm so glad we ended on something uplifting this hour, it's a tough time. It's a tough time for everyone. We're here to keep
you informed. Thanks for watching. I'm Hala Gorani. A quick break. There is a lot more ahead on CNN.
[11:00:00]
END
