Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
Record Cyclone to Make Landfall in Bay of Bengal; U.K. Ponders Schools Reopening; Seventy Schools in France Close again after COVID-19 Scare; Trump Calls U.S. Case Numbers "a Badge of Honor"; Meatpacking Employees Still at Risk; Moderna Vaccine Moves into Phase 2 Trials; Russia Hits 300K Confirmed Cases; UAE Becomes First Regional Producer of N-95 Masks; How COVID-19 Patients Face Recovery. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired May 20, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
HALA GORANI, CNN HOST (voice-over): Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani in London. This hour, as if a global pandemic wasn't enough, India and
Bangladesh are having to deal with a massive cyclone that just made landfall. We'll speak to aid agencies on the ground.
The question of when it is safe to return to school is raging. We take you across the world to see how different countries are handling it.
And while parts of the U.S. are partially reopened, the president talks about a travel ban, this time with Brazil.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: Millions of the world's most vulnerable people already battling COVID-19 are now enduring life-threatening winds and rains from a tropical
cyclone. Amphan is bearing down on Eastern India and Bangladesh. These are images coming to us directly from West Bengal, where the storm made
landfall a few hours ago.
You can see just how chaotic it already is. The storm has weakened somewhat but at one point it was the most powerful storm to ever hit the Bay of
Bengal. Millions in India fled their homes.
And across the border, Bangladesh had to evacuate 2 million people but nearly a million Rohingya refugees living in this camp were not. Take a
look. Oxfam sent us these images. People gathering water ahead of the storm.
The country's state minister for disaster management and relief explained that the warning level in the area is still relatively manageable but the
question, of course, is what will happen to all these people, many of whom are quite vulnerable and defenseless if the storm hits in a major way?
Joining me now is someone who knows the dire circumstances of places like Cox's Bazar firsthand, Dipankar Datta, Oxfam's country director for
Bangladesh is in Dhaka.
Thank you. A couple of questions for you. First of all, obviously you have COVID, you have the economy around the world collapsing, you have a refugee
crisis and now a cyclone. Talk to us about what you're hearing from aid workers on the ground.
DIPANKAR DATTA, OXFAM: Thank you for connecting us. Unfortunately, it is really a crisis on top of crisis. More than one crisis as you have already
seen. And aid workers, it is an overwhelming situation for the aid workers in Bangladesh.
As we hear right now, the cyclone are (INAUDIBLE) forest areas in West Bengal (ph) and also the houses, makeshift houses, it has already hit
Bangladesh. And we are also hearing already two people have died (INAUDIBLE). Thousands of makeshift houses has already been uprooted.
So the situation is complex here. It is pretty complex. We are not expecting that level of a hit in Cox's Bazar in the Rohingya camp area but
definitely there will be heavy rainfall (ph) and we can expect the area will be inundated by the water and the makeshift houses and even 60
kilometer per hour wind will cause a lot of shelter damages in Rohingya camps (INAUDIBLE). So --
(CROSSTALK)
GORANI: Let me ask you --
DATTA: -- as much as -- oh.
GORANI: Yes, what is your biggest concern now?
Because obviously you're talking about areas getting flooded, you're talking about makeshift housing destroyed, millions of people whose kids
are out of school, who've already had to deal with the threat of COVID-19.
What is your biggest concern in that part of the world right now?
DATTA: The biggest concern right now, you see, like, along with the refugee crisis, along with COVID-19, we're expecting probably 1.5 million
people to be displaced. More than 600,000 shelters have been blown away (ph). So we need to rebuild them, these houses. And sometimes it is not
just a matter of two weeks' work. It takes years to build a livelihood (ph). That's a high risk of waterborne diseases. That is a risk of diarrhea
spreading out and the worst fear we have is we are expecting the tidal wave is already there.
[10:05:00]
DATTA: So 10 to 15 feet tidal wave in the area, that means the water will be contaminated. (INAUDIBLE). So it is a daunting task to really rebuild
the life and livelihoods of the people. And (INAUDIBLE) context has made it --
(CROSSTALK)
GORANI: Dipankar --
DATTA: If you just look at --
GORANI: Dipankar Datta, yes, sorry, we're having slight connection issues, I'm sorry, it just sounds like I'm actually jumping in and interrupting but
it is because of the delay that we have with you in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
You were talking about your concern about waterborne diseases because this isn't just about COVID, it is about all the illnesses that spread in
densely populated areas, where there may be unclean water, issues with shelter. That has to be top of your mind.
Also, you need money to operate your organization. And people have other concerns right now with COVID shutting down the world's economy.
DATTA: Exactly. And if you look at the joint response plan, less than half of it is only, like, committed by the donors, so which is only halfway. And
like in Oxfam, we have innovative tools and techniques, we have desalination treatment plant. We have contactless handwashing stations for
(INAUDIBLE) but we (INAUDIBLE) will need to scale it up.
If we do not scale it up, you know that the spread of COVID, it will be very hard to stop. It will spread like a wildfire. And with the food crisis
and with the whole waterborne diseases, people's immune system will go down.
And once the immune system goes down, (INAUDIBLE) where other populations in the country, that COVID spreads like wildfire in many parts of
Bangladesh.
(CROSSTALK)
GORANI: Dipankar Datta, yes. I'm going to let you -- I know how busy you are, Oxfam, Bangladesh and other organizations there on the ground trying
to help people who are going through a very tough time. Thank you very much for joining us.
Let's get the latest on the path of the storm.
(WEATHER REPORT)
GORANI: Now we have been talking about COVID obviously for the last few months.
What impact will it have on education among other things around the world?
Imagine all these millions, tens, hundreds of millions of children out of school for such a long period of time.
The U.N.'s development program says education, health and living standards around the globe are declining.
[10:10:00]
GORANI: And that is the first time that that has happened in 30 years of tracking. Obviously the main reason is the pandemic.
The UNGP (ph) estimates 60 percent of children globally are not getting an education at all. It is no surprise that number is much higher; 86 percent
in the world's poorest countries, 20 percent in the richest countries.
And British doctors are echoing that warning. They are recommending that schools reopen as soon as it is safe to do so. The British Medical
Association says there is growing evidence that the risk of coronavirus to children is relatively small.
The union says the longer students are out of school, the greater the harm to their education and well-being, particularly for disadvantaged schools.
Clarissa Ward, our chief international correspondent, joins me now from London for a closer look.
It is a big question out there, teachers' unions, everyone is having this debate about when it is safe and when it makes sense for kids to go back to
school.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The reality is that nobody can really claim to definitively have all of the answers here
because this is unchartered territory.
And it is a question that a lot of countries are grappling with. Some countries who have pushed to open those schools have found that there have
been upticks again in the infection rate.
What we're hearing in the U.K. is reservation from some scientists that, until the U.K. has properly and effectively implemented a test and trace
policy, essentially, that it doesn't make sense or it could be potentially dangerous or counterproductive for those schools to open.
Now earlier today we heard Boris Johnson behind me in the Houses of Parliament, saying, hold on a second, by June 1st, we will be able to
trace, we'll have 25,000 trackers.
And at the current rate of infection, which is roughly 2,500 new cases a day, that would potentially or should cover the government in terms of
tracking who those people come into contact with and where the sort of potential ripple on effect of the virus may go.
Whether or not that will do anything to assuage some of the concerns that have been voiced also by teachers' unions, who are arguing very strongly
that they should be allowed to make the call, based on an individual school situation as to whether they need to close again, remains to be seen.
One thing is clear, though, across the board, people do seem to understand the very real necessity of getting children back to school particularly in,
you know, households which are economically disadvantaged, households where there may be some kind of abuse, households where there isn't enough money
to feed children, where parents have been traditionally reliant on schools for providing lunch for their kids.
So clearly it is not sustainable for the schools to remain closed. But there are a number of troubling and persistent and concerning questions
that need to be addressed, that scientists and teachers' unions particularly feel need to be addressed before rushing into it on June 1st.
Hala?
GORANI: Right. Thank you very much, Clarissa Ward, live in London.
From the debate in the U.K., let's take you to France, where there was a debate and, after lifting its lockdown, 70 schools in France have shut back
down over new suspected cases of COVID-19.
The news comes after France suffered its first child death from a rare inflammatory condition associated with COVID on Friday. The 9-year-old boy
who died had tested positive for corona but did not have symptoms.
France's education minister says the school closures are actually in low numbers compared to the 40,000 schools that have reopened since the
lockdown ended. Melissa Bell joins me now live now from Paris.
What made authorities shut these 70 schools?
Were the cases inside the schools, outside the schools, what made them, you know, take that step?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What they told us is far, Hala, the ministry stressed it did not mean because 70 schools had been closed there
were cases in all the 70 schools, simply in all, in different parts of the country.
COVID scares among people who might have been in contact with some of the schoolchildren or some of the teachers led those schools to close, 72 of
them in all. That's only 40,000 that opened last week, mainly primary schoolteachers.
It has been less than a week since they have been back at school. That will be a worry that already they had to close. This was the big question.
Can you successfully open schools, given all the difficulties in getting small children?
And these are the ones first in France to respect things like social distancing.
But it is important to remember that those numbers are low and also it isn't yet all schools that opened here. The authorities have been going at
it one step at a time, primary schoolchildren last week. This week 11- and 12-year-olds who will be obliged to wear a mask during school hours.
[10:15:00]
BELL: And all these changes being made to try to ensure that they can get back to school without that spread taking place again.
And just going back to what Clarissa was saying, Emmanuel Macron made clear his priority was reopening the school system as quickly as he could because
of the question of social justice, because of the gap that widens when you have children out of the school system.
We're still very much early phase in this, Hala. Authorities to continue to look at the figures before they take the next steps for the older children
to see whether they get back into the classrooms anytime soon.
There are encouraging figures coming from France for the time being. This successful gradual reopening has happened without the numbers rising. The
number of people in ICUs falling and they fell once again yesterday.
GORANI: All right, Melissa Bell, thank you very much.
Well, from Europe to Asia, South Korea is reporting 32 new cases of coronavirus. Just as some face to face classes resume across the country.
There have been some setbacks, schools in one city were shut down within hours of opening after two students tested positive for the virus.
How did the first day back in school go in South Korea?
Here is Paula Hancocks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A temperature check, hand sanitizer 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 a semblance of normality.
Students queue two meters apart and another temperature check with a thermal camera. Desks in the classroom have been arranged to be one meter
apart. Masks must be worn at all times.
This semester may be starting more than 11 weeks late 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 to school 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 at this school in Seoul has been disinfected and plastic partitions put in
between where students can sit. Many students left empty. This will be the one area students are allowed to take their masks off. The principal has
been working for weeks to prepare for this day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm so happy to see my students back again after a long wait. The students can now begin their school life.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): But he knows the risks involved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If we get a confirmed case, the school will immediately shut and return to online classes.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Dozens of schools had to close again west of Seoul after two students tested positive, believed to be linked to the outbreak
in Seoul's nightclub district.
Schools have been fully disinfected ahead of time; officials say the health of the students is their number one priority. A cluster of cases in Seoul's
nightclub district pushed the opening date of schools back by a week.
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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All right. After the break, President Trump's latest divisive comment on coronavirus. This time he's trying to put a positive spin on the
U.S. case count with more than 90,000 dead.
Plus, the U.S. president says he's considering a travel ban on Latin America. When we come back, we'll look at which country he's particularly
concerned with.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:20:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: Welcome back to our continuing coverage. We're still seeing global case numbers rising at a steady pace. Since the last week of March, there
have been more than 50,000 new confirmed cases around the world every day, not since then, every day.
Worldwide we're quickly approaching 5 million cases with more than 323,000 deaths. The most staggering numbers are in the United States. It has more
than 1.5 million cases. Despite that, the country is reopening. All 50 states are easing restrictions to some degree or another.
And Americans are more divided than ever on what the right approach is. Their president, president Donald Trump, well, his claims are fueling some
of those divisions. The most recent that the U.S. should be proud of its high case count.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: When we have a lot of cases, I don't look at that as a bad thing, I look at that as in 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 few cases. Right?
So I view it as a badge of honor, really. It is a badge of honor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns is live from the White House with more on this comment.
The president sees 1.5 million cases as a badge of honor. I'm not sure he would say the same about the over 90,000 deaths and also the U.S. certainly
isn't the country that tests the most of all those affected by COVID.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Right. And, you know, there is a tendency in Washington, D.C., for people to try to throw out
particular lines as trial balloons to see how they play with the public. This perhaps was an example of that.
We also know the president has gotten himself into trouble when he's been riffing here at the White House, particularly on coronavirus. But aides
have been trying to clean up that statement, simply because of the headline it creates, the president talking about a badge of honor for the United
States with 1.5 million people testing positive for coronavirus.
What the aides here at the White House say and the president's counselor, Kellyanne Conway, out here a few minutes ago, what they say is, you need to
focus on what the president was referring to, which is testing.
Testing that was a problem at first has now been ramped up substantially in the United States. And when you get more tests, you're going to find more
positive cases. That's what the president apparently was trying to say.
Nonetheless, it goes down into absurdity when you try to justify the fact that the United States has the largest number of coronavirus cases in the
world, Hala.
GORANI: OK. Joe Johns, thanks very much for that update.
While the U.S. continues to reopen, President Trump says he's considering a travel ban on Latin America, particularly Brazil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: I just want to ask you a question on Brazil.
TRUMP: Brazil.
QUESTION: Yes. Third place now, catching up to Russia in second place with the number of cases. Are you finally considering a travel ban from Brazil
and --
TRUMP: We are considering it. We hope that we're not going to have a problem. The governor of Florida is doing very, very well testing, in
particular Florida because big majority, come no Florida. Brazil has gone more or less herd you know herd and they're having problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Brazil is the country with the third highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, reporting its biggest daily jump in infections and
deaths on Tuesday. But you can see the U.S. has a significantly higher number of cases. There it is, at 1.5 million plus.
Where are we going right now?
Full disclosure, we're having a bit of a technical -- oh, here we are. We're talking about meatpacking plants, is that correct?
In the United States, workers at a meatpacking plant say they are still at risk.
[10:25:00]
GORANI: Still at risk of being exposed to COVID, despite reports to the contrary. That story tops our North American pandemic update.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dianne Gallagher in Atlanta. On Tuesday, President Trump praised meatpacking plants, saying they're, quote,
"very clean now" and that there are fewer and fewer problems.
But the workers inside those plants, they're still getting sick at alarming rates and outbreaks across the country continue.
In Nebraska this week, health officials said that 25 percent, a quarter of all the cases in the state, are meatpacking plant workers. They said just
over 2,600 have tested positive for COVID-19. The last time we had an update from Nebraska on May 7th, that number was just over 1,000.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. That virus stricken aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt
at pierside for so many weeks in Guam, now ready to go back out to sea and will probably do so this week.
According to Defense officials, the Navy believes there are now enough healthy crew members aboard to go out to sea for a few weeks at least.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: I'm Shimon Prokupecz in New York City. The NYPD shut down a Jewish orthodox school they say was
operating illegally inside a Brooklyn building.
The NYPD responded to the building after receiving community complaints that there were students inside the building, That people inside the
building were operating an illegal school. Of course, all schools across the state and city have been shut since the pandemic. The NYPD says they
removed everyone and that they shut the building down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Newton. The U.S.-Canada border will remain closed for another month until June 21st. The Canadian prime
minister, Justin Trudeau, was getting pressure from local leaders, who feel that the level of infection in the United States is still too high to
reopen the border to nonessential traffic.
That border remains open for commercial goods and essential workers, healthcare workers, that cross from Canada into the United States.
Now even if the border is reopened in a month, Canada is looking at extending its quarantine measures and that includes for Americans who cross
by land, that they'll have to quarantine for two weeks when they enter Canada.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All right, after the break, I will be speaking to one of the world's leading vaccine experts. You want to hear from her. This is someone
who is on top of the -- all these trials and can really bring us up to date.
Also, Rolls-Royce is cutting 9,000 jobs because of the pandemic. We have a live report.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: Welcome back. There is more encouraging news. We don't want to call it good news yet. But it is encouraging in the search for a COVID-19
vaccine.
Drugmaker Inovio says its vaccine candidate has produced antibodies that would block the virus, technically. That information comes from a test in
mice and guinea pigs. Inovio is doing early trials of its vaccine in humans.
Excitement about a vaccine spiked earlier this week, you'll remember, when Moderna, another group, reported that its candidate produced neutralizing
antibodies in humans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These antibodies were proven to be able to block the ability of the virus to infect cells. Even at the lowest dose that we
tested, we are already seeing an immunoresponse at the level of people who have been infected with this virus and are believed now not to be
susceptible to further disease.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, let's talk more about vaccines with Dr. Melanie Saville, the director of vaccine research and development for the Coalition of Epidemic
Preparedness Innovations and she's been in this field for many decades, a preeminent expert on the subject.
Thank you very much for joining us. How -- I know that the -- your group, the CEPI, who you obviously -- the group you're a part of and you work for,
is also responsible for funding some of this Moderna research.
How encouraged are you today?
DR. MELANIE SAVILLE, COALITION OF EPIDEMIC PREPAREDNESS INNOVATIONS: Well, thank you, Hala, for inviting me to the program.
So maybe just to start off with, I really think vaccines are the potential exit strategy from the COVID-19 outbreak. And there is a huge amount of
effort in terms of vaccine development from the scientists.
And actually there are over 200 vaccines, we counted, in development and obviously Moderna is one of those vaccines that is in the clinic. There are
now up to eight vaccines in clinical trials.
So it is encouraging to see that very first clinical data on the immune response of a vaccine against COVID-19. I think it is fair to say this is
very preliminary data. But also it is very important to show data as soon as it becomes available. And obviously this is just one of the many
vaccines that are under development.
GORANI: So how likely is it that a vaccine that in the initial trials shows that it is producing antibodies in humans, how likely is it that that
vaccine will ultimately be successful?
SAVILLE: And that is a very good question because vaccines are actually quite challenging biologics to develop. And it is very difficult to say
from very early days to whether a vaccine will go through all of the testing that is needed and ultimately show that it is effective.
But another important point is that it is scalable, so it can manufacture, you know, hundreds of millions of doses, if not billions of doses. So with
that in mind, we don't expect that all of these vaccines will get all of the way through and be able to serve the global community.
But certainly the first step to take is actually to demonstrate that there is an immune response to the vaccine in a clinical trial. And obviously the
other important piece there is to ensure that that vaccine is safe.
GORANI: I guess my question is, if, in your experience following vaccine development over the years, when an initial trial shows that a human
subject produces antibodies when exposed to a vaccine that is being developed, I mean, is it then likely or, you know, unclear that down the
line this vaccine will be successful?
How encouraged should we be this is already potentially showing that it is successful in that regard in the early stages?
SAVILLE: Well, there is a lot that we don't know about the COVID-19 virus. So you know, we only have known the virus now for five months. And so we're
learning a lot about the virus, a lot about what might be protective against the virus.
So we do believe that antibodies, from seeing patients recovering from COVID-19, are produced in those that do recover. That is the very first
step. But we have to say we have not licensed a vaccine against a coronavirus to humans. There is a long way to go. And I think it is fair to
say we need several shots on goal (ph) --
(CROSSTALK)
SAVILLE: -- to really hit the main pieces.
[10:35:00]
SAVILLE: Now one of the main pieces as you point out is, is it going to protect people?
I think the other main piece is it going to be scalable?
And lastly, once you have scaled vaccine, to make sure you have enough vaccine to protect the world's population.
GORANI: What if this vaccine is developed and the expectation is that not this year but next year and then this version of the virus, this COVID-19
is in retreat and another form of the virus, whether it is mutated or something else pops up, what happens if this vaccine is developed
essentially after this pandemic is over?
SAVILLE: That is always a concern, you know, that if you put all of your investment into developing vaccines and then the pandemic is over. What we
are seeing specifically here with COVID-19 is that the virus is a pandemic and it is circulating globally. We know the majority of the world's
population still remains at risk of the virus.
So it is unlikely, I think, that the virus will go away. I think we also have to monitor very carefully whether the virus mutates and whether the
vaccines that are being developed now will continue to protect against a virus that potentially mutates.
I have to say, coronavirus is, you know, this is the third coronavirus that we have seen. Coronaviruses are prone to outbreaks. And anything that we
learn here from COVID-19, we are likely to see coronaviruses again. This will at the very least advance the field.
GORANI: So there is a debate about whether or not pharmaceutical companies should profit financially from the development of any vaccine since so much
public money, taxpayer money is being invested in the research.
What is your take on that?
SAVILLE: So as an organization, really very -- something very important to us is fair allocation of vaccine to the populations who need it. So in the
context of an outbreak or a pandemic like this, this is a global emergency.
And we are working with the vaccine developers, to make sure that vaccines can be made available globally at a fair price and irrespective of the
population's ability to pay.
GORANI: But so the answer to that question would be what?
Would be no, you believe that because so much public money has been invested in this research, that pharmaceutical companies should not profit
financially from it in order -- Because some countries obviously, as you know, ordinary people couldn't afford a vaccine that we could afford here
in the U.K.
SAVILLE: So actually what we are -- what SEPI is a part of is what is called the act accelerator, access to COVID tools accelerator (ph), which
is looking for a global mechanism to work with those vaccine companies, to ensure that there is a vaccine that is available at a fair price.
And so really looking for that central mechanism to avoid individual countries buying up vaccines so that there can be that fair allocation. So
we do believe that, through that type of mechanism, that we can achieve that and that the vaccine and pharmaceutical companies in a pandemic
situation will be very happy to take part in that.
GORANI: I just have one question, sent to me from someone who is immunocompromised, asking, would any successful vaccine be a live vaccine,
as people with compromised immune systems cannot take those?
SAVILLE: And that is a good reason for having a diverse range of vaccines that are developed. So SEPI as a cohort (ph) is developing nine different
vaccines, some of which would be used in immunocompromised. Others may have a live approach and can be used in other populations.
So as we are moving forward, I think it is fair to say, one vaccine will not actually solve the problem. We will need multiple vaccines, including
those that can be used in immunocompromised people.
GORANI: Dr. Melanie Saville, thank you for joining us. We really appreciate your time during this crisis, this worldwide crisis.
[10:40:00]
GORANI: And we hope that a vaccine becomes available sooner obviously rather than is typically the case for a vaccine. We really appreciate it.
So from the impact on public health, this COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the world's economy. We have been reporting every Thursday, for
instance, the jobless claims in the United States.
Well, in the United Kingdom, Rolls-Royce is planning to cut at least 9,000 jobs as the company deals with low demand due to the pandemic. The aircraft
enginemaker says its civil aerospace division based mostly in the U.K. will see most of the job losses.
Nearly 4,000 Rolls-Royce employees have already gone on government furlough along with staff in other countries. A U.K. labor union criticized Rolls-
Royce for taking public funds while slashing jobs. It is urging the company to take a different approach.
Rolls-Royce says it will take several years for the aerospace market to recover. And Anna Stewart joins me now live from London.
And people are wondering, is this the first of many, many companies that will announce mass layoffs like this?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not the first. I don't think it is going to be the last by any stretch. It is terribly sad to thousands of workers.
As you say, the vast majority of those will be in the U.K.
So we can expect to see unemployment really start to rise quite sharply in the second quarter of the year and actually through the year. So 9,000 jobs
at least; that's nearly a fifth of Rolls-Royce's workforce.
And not as surprising, if you consider how closely tied Rolls-Royce's fortunes are to the aircraftmakers, the big ones, Boeing. They have
announced job cuts of 16,000 already. Airbus have 16,000 workers on furlough at the moment. We expect to see a restructuring in the coming
months.
This is the latest from Rolls-Royce. It will impact the U.K. operations hardest, 4,000 workers were on the furlough scheme, you read out that
response from the union, very upset by this.
Why would Rolls-Royce accept money from the government to keep everyone on furlough, all 4,000 people on furlough, to let them go?
From August, companies are expected to start paying some of that cost as well with the government. There will be a sort of recalibrating. These
businesses need to work out, at the other end of the pandemic, can they sustain the total workforce?
For Rolls-Royce, it is no. They rely on aircraft makers, airlines. And airlines rely on lockdown being lifted and people not just feeling safe but
wanting to travel. Hala?
GORANI: All right. Anna, thank you very much.
A county in the U.S. state of Michigan is under a state of emergency after two dams failed and rainwater flooded the area.
Take a look at these aerial pictures. You can see the water rushing at one point inside when one of the dams broke and breached. The governor warned
that water levels could rise more than 2.5 meters. She's urging people to evacuate immediately and seek higher ground.
Authorities are trying to move out thousands of residents while also taking precautions to prevent the further spread of coronavirus. The Michigan
National Guard has been called in to help.
Still ahead, Putin under pressure: critics of the Russian president say he has not done nearly enough to confront the pandemic, as the country's case
total balloons. That's next.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: Russia has now topped 300,000 coronavirus cases, the second most in the world after the United States. But its relatively low death toll of
just under 3,000 is being scrutinized, with observers claiming COVID-19 deaths are being attributed to other causes. That's keeping that number
low.
Also under scrutiny, the Russian president himself, Vladimir Putin, who critics accuse of avoiding the crisis. Matthew Chance has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Things are getting bad in Russia, desperate. This is a country where
protests rarely happen.
But now amid the coronavirus pandemic, they seem widespread. These fruit and vegetable sellers in Moscow, hit by rising rents and falling business.
This is how the ambulance workers in Southern Russia register their grievance, socially distanced and in unison. We were promised extra
payments, they chant, but haven't received a single ruble.
And it is their president, many like these doctors in the Russian republic of Dagestan, hit hard by the pandemic, are turning to (INAUDIBLE).
"There are very few of us left," she says. "Few of us have got paid, help us, Vladimir Putin," she begs. But these days Vladimir Putin seems
strangely aloof.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): The situation in Dagestan is difficult and demands urgent measures.
CHANCE (voice-over): Appearing only on video conferences, looking disengaged and bored, sometimes just fiddling with his pen.
Encouraged by Putin's lowest ever approval ratings, Russian opposition figures sense weakness. To them, the strongman at the Kremlin suddenly
looks vulnerable.
ALEXEY NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): Putin is not just delegating responsibility. He is hiding from it. In this sense,
he's not the supreme commander, just a scared old granddad hiding in his bunker.
CHANCE (voice-over): And Russians outside that presidential bunker are under pressure. Here the police manhandle a commuter, his crime, having no
face mask during lockdown.
"Why are you treating him like he killed someone?" other passengers shout. "He's just a boy going to work." Police say he was given a warning and a
fine but as the Kremlin grapples with Russia's growing pandemic and the fallout, it risks fueling resentment. Matthew Chance, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: With the need for medical masks growing around the world, the UAE is trying to become the first producer of masks in the Gulf region. John
Defterios reports it is starting by shifting production at a plant that normally makes airplane parts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: In a COVID-19 world, N-95 mask production is viewed as essential protection against a viral enemy.
That's exactly what is happening in Abu Dhabi.
The initial scramble for personal protective equipment prompted a rethink in the United Arab Emirates. This chief executive, in normal times, he
says, he delivers orders of over $7 billion for the likes of Airbus and Boeing, who are now facing their own economic turbulence.
ISMAIL ALI ABDULLA, STRATA MANUFACTURING: Everyone is seeing that we are in a war. In order to win the war against coronavirus, you need to ensure
the supplies are available in a timely fashion.
DEFTERIOS (voice-over): Now he's in partnership with U.S. giant Honeywell to become the first producer of N-95 masks in the Gulf. With the continued
coronavirus threat, the two partners say they went from a handshake to production in just 30 days.
Aside from oil, this region traditionally has been import dependent, especially for critical supplies. This entire facility is a signal that
approach is rapidly changing.
Strata's parent company launched a "we are dedicated plan" to buffer the country's citizens and economy from coronavirus risks, sitting atop a $230
billion strategic investment fund.
[10:50:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of the countries have introduced restrictions when it comes to the materials and machine and to the actual finished
masks. This enables the region to be self-independent.
DEFTERIOS (voice-over): The plan is to roll out enough masks to meet domestic demand and export to regional neighbors, from Saudi Arabia to
Egypt, for health security in areas like construction sites to hospitals and a lot more.
DEFTERIOS: This is just a test run to fine tune the process. By this time next week, this machine can pump out 45,000 masks a day over three shifts.
DEFTERIOS (voice-over): This woman joined first of two production lines as supervisor after nine years of working on aircraft wings and stabilizers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We look to the small details. We are applying the same measures and aircraft parts, same we're doing with the masks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world will change post COVID-19 and there will be more importance in investing in medical supplies, especially PPE. This is
where we are deploying our expertise to manufacture these products.
DEFTERIOS (voice-over): The CEO says there is more to come soon. But just on this N-95 mask production, they expect nearly a billion orders over the
next five years. John Defterios, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: When we come back, Queen Elizabeth will honor a beloved British soldier, who refuses to let old age slow down his service. We'll be right
back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: Well, during the course of this pandemic, we've had to cover so many stories of death and suffering. But there are also triumphs, patients
who seemingly buck the odds and recover. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke to one man who was near death and now is very, very happy to be home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HERBERT, CORONAVIRUS PATIENT: He said, I need to do a rather aggressive treatment on you.
Do you have a wife and children?
If so, we need to call them and tell them -- you need to essentially tell them goodbye, because you have about a 20 percent chance of surviving this.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I can't even -- I can't even imagine. I mean, is it hard to talk about?
HERBERT: The hardest part of all to remember is the phone call to my wife and kids. I mean, that was just awful.
GUPTA (voice-over): What started as a cough and a fever ended with 49- year-old Michael Herbert in the ICU on a ventilator for seven days, unsure if he'd ever see his family again.
HERBERT: I didn't know what was going to happen, if I was going to wake up or not.
GUPTA: In all the numbers we hear about coronavirus, the number infected, the number who have, sadly, died, we haven't heard as much about another
group of patients, those who have recovered.
DR. MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: There are more than a million people that have recovered. Many people are doing very well. There
may be some individuals who will have some long-term effects because the virus -- it depends on how severe the virus was.
GUPTA (on camera): How are you doing? What does recovery mean for you?
HERBERT: When I first got out of the hospital, I was very weak. And I had been told by the doctors, the pulmonary -- pulmonologist in particular that
my lungs would probably take four to eight weeks to heal.
GUPTA: Was that a concern that you might have long-term impacts on your lungs?
HERBERT: I can tell they're not 100 percent right now and I guess I shouldn't expect them to be.
[10:55:00]
HERBERT: They told me it would be a while for them to be all the way back.
Again, just like everybody else, I think there's a lot of unknown here.
GUPTA (voice-over): There are still a lot of unknowns and even studying recovery of coronavirus patients seemed like a luxury in the early days of
this pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today is pretty intense.
GUPTA: But now, Dr. Reynold Panettieri is trying to decipher these unknowns by conducting a six-month study of coronavirus patients who have
recovered.
DR. REYNOLD PANETTIERI, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: There's several -- several cases and participants who have described this ongoing fatigue and malaise,
a feeling of not well.
What is curious is, these patients, premorbid, or prior to the infection, where even aggressive athletes. We would not have predicted that.
GUPTA: One thing that could help predict long-term effects is looking at what happened during other coronavirus outbreaks.
Take a look at this. Those are fibrous stripes on the lungs. It almost looks like spattered paint. These could be interesting an early sign of
pulmonary fibrosis. That's a type of scarring of the lungs.
Previous studies of coronaviruses, like SARS and MERS, have identified patients who had long-lasting fibrosis. And now we are seeing reports of
COVID-19 patients with the same fibrous stripes on their C.T. scans.
It's another example of what we're still learning from infection to recovery. We're still not sure exactly how this virus will truly affect us
long term.
(on camera): It's six weeks since you were, quote, "off the breathing machine and in the process of recovery."
How are you doing six weeks later?
HERBERT: I'm doing so much better. When I finally got to see them again eventually, once I was taken off the ventilator, it was like the best thing
that ever happened to me
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Beloved British fund-raiser is getting a promotion of sorts. Tom Moore, known worldwide as Captain Tom and Colonel Tom, will now have a new
title, Sir Tom. The 100-year-old World War II veteran will be knighted by Queen Elizabeth herself.
Moore has raised more than $40 million for British healthcare workers by walking laps around his garden. He says he hopes the queen does not use a -
- is not heavy handed, rather, when she puts the sword on his shoulder because he isn't as strong used to be.
A restaurant in the U.S. state of Maryland has come up with a unique social distancing idea. Check out these bumper tables, they're large inner tubes
you can stand inside of. And there you have it. I just need to be able to see that with you. Give me a second. And here we are. Two meters apart from
each other. The Fish Tales Pub will to use once it is able to reopen.
More after a quick break on CNN. Stay with us.
END
