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Trump Warns of "Very Painful" Two Weeks Ahead; Cruise Ship off Florida Reports at least Four Deaths; Illinois Governor: White House Sent the Wrong Masks; Inside Look at Spain's Makeshift Hospital; U.S. Hospital Revamped for COVID-19 Patients; Popup Hospital with 4,000 Beds to Open in London; White House Weighs Asking People to Wear Masks; Designers, Seamstresses Try to Fill Shortage of Masks; India Quarantines Members of Delhi Religious Gathering; South Africa Begins Three-Week Lockdown; China Prepares for Influx of Imported Cases; Roma Football Club Helping Out Elderly Fans. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 1, 2020 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, reality bites. The U.S. president warns of a painful, difficult 2 weeks ahead as the number of cases and deaths from the coronavirus is expected to surge.

A rare look inside an ICU completely revamped to handle COVID-19. Doctors and nurses taking extraordinary precautions to care for patients while keeping staff safe from the virus.

Also the rush to build a makeshift hospital on the banks of the River Thames before Britain sees a peak in coronavirus cases as well.

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VAUSE: A grim, almost apprehensive U.S. president warned Americans of a painful two weeks ahead with confirmed cases of the coronavirus expected to surge, also the number of dead. For a second day, White House protections were stunning.

A best case scenario would see a final death toll between 100,000 and 200,000, that is the best case. Keep in mind the global number of fatalities is just over 40,000. In China, just over 3,000 people died of the virus.

Field hospitals are being opened in New York, Miami and other cities. Refrigerated morgue trucks are now parked on New York City streets ready to collect dead. And with a shortage of masks for health care workers, the president is urging anyone out in public to use scarves or other material to cover their face to try and reduce the rate of transmission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The reason why we feel so strongly about the necessity of the additional 30 days is that now is the time, whenever you are having an effect, not to take your foot off the accelerator and on the brake but to just press it down on the accelerator.

And that is what I hope and I know that we can do over the next 30 days. And as I said yesterday on one of the interviews, we are a very strong and resilient nation. If you look at our history, we have been through some terrible ordeals.

This is tough, people are suffering, people dying. It is inconvenient from a societal standpoint, from an economic standpoint to go through this. But this is going to be the answer to our problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Dr. Fauci talking about the need to continue these social distancing restrictions.

After almost three months, President Trump seemed either dismissive or unconcerned by the threat posed by the outbreak. At one point, he likened it to the seasonal flu, even calling it a hoax. But on Tuesday, Trump made a point of saying not only is the coronavirus not the flu, he said it is vicious.

He spoke of a friend, now hospitalized because of COVID-19. The president's realization comes as hospitals in New York City start to buckle under the pressure of this crisis. CNN's Erica Hill reports.

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ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: The headline across America: hospitals need help.

GINA RAIMONDO, RHODE ISLAND GOVERNOR: More testing, more beds, more ventilators, more doctors.

HILL (voice-over): Convention centers in Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans and Los Angeles being transformed into overflow facilities as emergency rooms are overwhelmed with the coronavirus.

Navy hospital ships on both coasts available for non-COVID patients, while in Central Park, a field hospital is starting to treat those who have tested positive.

FAUCI: We are still in a very difficult situation. We hope and I believe it will happen, that we may start seeing a turnaround. But we haven't seen it yet. We are just pushing on the mitigation to hope that we do see that turnaround.

HILL (voice-over): As beds, staff and supplies run low, there are new concerns about the impact on care.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, it's kind of like drinking out of a fire hydrant.

HILL (voice-over): The chair of NYU Langone's emergency medicine department telling doctors in an email to, quote, "think more critically about who we intubate," according to "The Wall Street Journal."

In Georgia, the state's nurses' association estimates as many as 3,500 retired nurses have asked to return to work -- and they are needed.

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HILL (voice-over): New modeling predicts the coming weeks will see a significant surge in cases. By mid April, 2000 people could die each day in the U.S.

ANDREW CUOMO (D), GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: We have been behind it from day one since it got here and we have been playing catch-up. You don't win playing catch-up. We have to get ahead of it.

HILL (voice-over): In New York City, new data on who is affected. More than half of the nearly 41,000 positive cases are under age 50.

Across the country, a renewed push for serious social distancing, as the White House considers new guidelines.

FAUCI: When we get in a situation where we have enough masks, I believe there will be some very serious consideration about more broadening this recommendation of using masks. We are not there yet.

HILL (voice-over): On board the Holland America Zaandam cruise ship, making its way toward Florida, the company says eight people have tested positive. Nearly 200 have flulike symptoms. Four older passengers have died. Their cause of death has not been released.

It is not clear when anyone will be back on land. Florida has not yet approved the ship to dock.

MAXIMILIAN JO, SON OF CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS: It's truly a nightmare scenario. If your own country won't take you in, where are you supposed to go?

HILL (voice-over): As more Americans begin to feel the economic impact of the pandemic, other needs are increasingly apparent. The line for this food bank outside of Pittsburgh stretching for more than one mile on Monday. Officials say they saw the demand increase three weeks ago when the virus first hit the area.

HILL: Here at the field hospital that is being finished behind me, they are ready to begin receiving patients tomorrow. Meantime in New York City, the mayor announcing today an additional 250 ambulances and 500 EMTs and paramedics being sent to the city to help deal with the massive influx of 9-1-1 calls -- back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Dr. Raj Kalsi is a board certified emergency medicine physician, with us this hour from Illinois.

Doctor, thank you so much for being with us. And thank you for coming back to talk to CNN.

First, how are you holding up?

DR. RAJ KALSI, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: Thank you for asking. We are doing OK. Every day is a new day. We are checking our own symptoms, asking ourselves if we are feeling OK.

And I have to be honest, I get a little anxiety when I get a tickle in my throat or if I have a dry cough because you always wonder that we are going to get this COVID. We are doing well.

VAUSE: That's good news. You are about to face the worst of this crisis in a week or so, like so many hospitals around the world, you will be facing this crisis with a shortage of protective equipment, other medical supplies. I want to listen to an emergency room nurse in Los Angeles, who spoke with Anderson Cooper. Here she is.

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ELISSA RILL, E.R. NURSE: We have nurses that are going online to try to buy masks. We are contacting dentists' offices and nail salons ourselves, just trying to be able to get all the masks that we need. And it's sort of boggling to me that this isn't a national -- like why isn't it our leaders that are doing this?

Why is it that it's nursing staff ourselves that are the ones responsible for trying to find the supplies that we need?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Is it a similar situation where you are, trying to find and source and finance your own equipment?

KALSI: I feel that I'm a little bit more privileged than some of these horrific tales I'm hearing from different parts of the country, even maybe different parts of the world. The organizations that I work with, I work with eight different organizations. So far we've been able to provide at least the bare minimum requirement of surgical masks.

And, for us, on the front lines, E.R. doctors, I am getting N-95 or full PAPR, which is an acronym for -- P-A-P-R, which is kind of like an astronaut suit that you see in Italy and some of the Asian doctors wearing.

So for that purpose, I'm actually doing very well. And they are allowing us to go online and buy our own equipment. Some of my organizations allow us to get them fit tested, which means qualified by hospital protocols so we can use them in the hospital and feel like we have our own that we can just keep using and then replacing our own filters.

VAUSE: You may be getting the N-95 masks, which is critical, but I'd like you to listen to the governor of your state, Illinois, talking about the problems he's had, specifically to do with those masks. Here he is.

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J.B. PRITZKER, ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: My team is sorting through the shipment of 300,000 N-95 masks the White House personally told me would be sent to our state.

And while we do not have a final count on this yet, I can say with certainty that what they sent were not the N-95 masks that were promised but instead were surgical masks, which is not what we asked for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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VAUSE: There's a big difference when it comes to protective equipment between an N-95 and a surgical mask, right?

KALSI: That is correct. The surgical mask, if you've ever seen one, I think people that are not in medical fields will feel like they are about the same. They look the same. But when you wear one, when you actually apply one, the surgical mask is open on the sides and on the bottom.

And that allows a lot of vectors, meaning viruses and other particulates, to come into the side, up into the bottom, where the top is sealed.

An N-95 is designed to be fitted to your face so it's completely sealed on all four corners, under your chin so that when you breathe out, it allows exhaust from your breath but it does not allow you to bring in anything other than through the filtration system, designed in the mask.

VAUSE: It's designed to protect against viruses, it does offer some protection but not as much. Erica Hill's report touched on this, this memo from the head of a New York hospital, the emergency department, to fellow doctors with this advice. This is about ventilators.

"We do not have the luxury of time, data or committees to help with our critical triage decisions."

He then urged them to think more critically about who to intubate, then he added that doctors will have support in decision-making at the department and institutional level to withhold futile intubations.

So in other words, doctors in that E.R. will be making life and death decisions pretty much on the fly and, when they do, the hospital will trust their judgment.

Are you expecting a similar situation for where you are?

KALSI: If the surge happens where I am at -- and we are in the suburbs and the rural communities outside of Chicago -- I think we will get to the same point. Our expected surge date can be anywhere between April 7th and April 16th, based on the models.

And if we get to that point, I'm not sure that we will have blanket carte blanche to make the decisions that want to make. Often as doctors we are worried about medical legal liability.

I have not heard much talk about that anywhere in the media. We are bound by our oath, the Hippocratic oath, bound by our ethics and morals as people and also by the law. No one is talking about a moratorium about evaluating the tort laws for doctors in this pandemic.

It's something I'd really like to hear more about. We are afraid of the consequences of making those decisions, making people DNR and refusing intubation for one person because they're elderly with multiple medical problems, to save a younger person with no medical problems.

That scares me and bothers me. We need more national talk about that.

VAUSE: It's a terrifying situation.

The way to avoid this dilemma, minimize the number of patients, which is why social distancing is so important, right?

KALSI: Absolutely. I have to tell you, I think most of the country has done an amazing job and this is a time where people may become complacent and may feel that they are pulling their hair out. Sometimes me and my wife are as we home school our three kids, God bless our teachers for what they do.

But this is the time and I believe Dr. Fauci said stay on the accelerator. Let's go another 30 days and do it together. We can do this and make that number maybe even smaller. I believe it.

VAUSE: It's a model, not destiny. Dr. Kalsi, thank you for being with us.

KALSI: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

VAUSE: Italy's top health official has told that the death toll may have been underestimated. The head of the national health institute told reporters the government only records coronavirus deaths that are confirmed with a positive swab.

He said many other people have died who were not tested. In Italy, the virus has claimed more than 12,000 lives. Officials say the latest data shows a slowdown in the infection rate and with fewer intensive care patients, there is, quote, "confirmation of hope."

Spain is offering more financial help to help small companies. The government is suspending evictions for six months, declaring a six- month holiday on social security payments for small businesses and the self-employed. Meantime, the Spanish health ministry reporting another nearly 850

deaths in the past 24 hours. The staggering number of cases has forced Spain to find more sites to treat patients. Scott McLean takes us inside the country's massive facility in Madrid.

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SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have been allowed into what is a normally a convention center that is being used as a hospital. In fact, right now, this is the largest hospital in all of Spain.

I'll quickly show you around, what we are looking at. We're not allowed to zoom in on any of the patients or anything like that, for obvious reasons. But you can see the beds are pretty far spaced out. This would normally be used for festivals, conventions, things like that.

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MCLEAN: So obviously there is a heck of a lot of space here. You can see that virtually everyone here is wearing a mask and the staff is also wearing protective gear as well.

This particular spot has been a source of contention in recent days, because one of the biggest unions in this country has come out and said, yes, while there is plenty of space here, there was not always enough of it. The changing rooms were too cramped, there was not enough space for people to stay 1-2 meters apart from each other and they did not have enough protective equipment.

In fact, some of those union members had said they would not come to work at this particular facility because it was so ill equipped. From what we have seen here today, things undoubtedly seem to be improving.

I will give you another look. You can see there is relatively a lot of space. The staff seem to be well protected.

The staff we have spoken to seem to be relatively protected. But as you can imagine, with this situation in Spain, it came up relatively soon. This was not supposed to be a hospital. So the director of the facility says exactly that. They are learning as they go. Things are improving as they go and that seems to be the case.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Scott McLean, thank you for that report.

We will take a short break. When we come back, hospitals in the United States being pushed to their breaking point. We will look at one hospital ICU making drastic changes to handle an influx of patients.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As you walk through and you see the hard work being done and people doing everything they need to take care of patients, it is awe inspiring, considering the fact that they too are putting themselves in harm's way.

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VAUSE: The coronavirus has upended routines and practices in hospitals around the world. It is highly infectious, can survive for days on surfaces and that means a new reality, how doctors and nurses treat patients with this disease. CNN's Sara Sidner takes us inside one hospital completely revamped for this battle with COVID-19.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Harborview Medical Center here in Seattle is believed to be the first hospital in America to have a patient die of COVID-19. That was more than a month ago. And since then, everything has changed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has changed how we run this place.

SIDNER (voice-over): Nurses and doctors at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center suit up to go to battle with coronavirus. They have to go through an exhausting dressing regimen, hoods and tubes and masks and gowns just to enter a patient's room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think the greatest risk actually for health care workers is when they remove things, that they contaminate themselves.

SIDNER (voice-over): They have a checklist and a spotter helping with every step. They also have to adapt to new realities and shortages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are what are called PAPR hoods. These are the hoods that hook up to these machines that filter air.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) hose goes on the back of the hood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then you get cleaned inside and out so they can be reused because the way, they were built was for one-time use. But that is not the way. If we did, that we would already be out.

SIDNER: Wow.

SIDNER (voice-over): They have completely revamped two intensive care units.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this whole unit was meant to be for people with brain injuries and strokes and so forth; so now we have to move all of them someplace else because we have to continue that care.

SIDNER: So all the people with brain injuries removed and this was turned into a COVID-19 ICU?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.

SIDNER (voice-over): All to try and help coronavirus patients live, isolate them from others and keep the staff safe, too.

SIDNER: So I am not wearing the full personal protection equipment, because, in these rooms where the actual COVID-19 patients are, these are considered negative pressure rooms. That means that we are considered in a safe space not wearing full personal protection.

(INAUDIBLE) cared for but we don't need to wear the full apparatus unless you are a doctor or nurse, who has to go into the room to care for the patient.

SIDNER (voice-over): Inside the rooms, patients are hooked up to a shocking number of tubes, using those precious ventilators, the only thing keeping them breathing.

DR. JOHN LYNCH, HARBORVIEW MEDICAL CENTER: So for the ICU patients, they tend to stay -- they get very sick and they stay sick very long. So you could require the ventilator for weeks at a time. That's really the big issue.

SIDNER (voice-over): Across just their four hospitals, 60 coronavirus patients were hospitalized last week. Already this week, it's at least 100. For each one, a delicate dance to keep staff healthy and patients alive.

SIDNER: It is -- just coming in here and seeing the work that is being done and seeing the patients being cared for, it is stressful. It's -- I am scared for their families as well. And so as you walk through and see the hard work being done and the people doing everything they need to take care of patients, it is awe inspiring, considering the fact that they, too, could be putting themselves in harm's way.

SIDNER (voice-over): Outside the hospital, a large tent has been erected to assess and test potential coronavirus patients. This is happening before the anticipated surge here.

SIDNER: I feel dread and I feel fear and I am not working on the front lines.

What are you feeling as you are dealing with all of these COVID-19 patients?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is certainly a sense of anxiety, because we, right now, we are kind of wondering what it's going to be like when that peak comes and when people are flooding in.

SIDNER (voice-over): While the number of new infections in Washington seems to be slowing down, there is a growing sense they have not seen the worst of it yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What they do every day is heroic, going and taking care of patients without protection is not acceptable.

SIDNER: The surge everyone is worried about is expected to happen here on April 19th. And all of the hospitals in this region are hoping they are prepared -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Seattle, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Now to London, where the death of a 13-year-old boy on Tuesday from the coronavirus marks the youngest known victim in the U.K. Just a day earlier, the virus claimed the life of a 12-year-old girl in Belgium.

But adults age 60 and older are still more likely to develop life- threatening symptoms. The U.K. has reported a 14 percent spike in new cases. For those on the front lines, an IKEA store in London has converted its parking lot into a drive-through testing center that caters to health care workers.

Meantime, a sprawling conference center in London is being turned into a makeshift hospital. As CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports, it will add another thousand beds to an already strained National Health Service.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: This is NHS Nightingale, potentially a 4,000-bed capacity pop-up hospital here in just over a week. Behind me is very much the showcase of what they want us to see about the United Kingdom's readiness for the surge in cases they think could possibly be happening in the week ahead.

But it is still a work in progress. Tireless efforts to get out these separate booths in an area which was an empty conference center just 10 days ago. Startling to be sure, but in the event that they have to receive the overflow from other hospitals in London, the equipment and beds already here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will only receive patients who have COVID-19.

WALSH: You have to have a positive test to come here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right. I understand that if we have to open all our beds, then, yes, I believe we will be one of the biggest hospitals.

WALSH: Of course, it is important to stress this will not be a hospital that directly receives patients. They will have to coordinate the task of trying to work out who amongst the other facilities in London and the United Kingdom urgently needs this kind of help and also manage expectations.

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DR. ALAN MCGLENNAN, CHASE FARM HOSPITAL: It is worth emphasizing over and over again that this is a hospital that gets referred to by another NHS hospital. So we don't have (INAUDIBLE). We don't have a front door. It is very important that any physical care nurse could volunteer, (INAUDIBLE) elsewhere, if they come back into the system, that would be excellent for us. Because those are the ones that are in a shorter supply.

WALSH: There has been a lot of publicity about what this venue might be able to do. But in the weeks ahead, they will find out what the limits of that exactly are and also the troubling truth about exactly how many patients there will be that will require intensive care in the surge in the United Kingdom that could possibly happen over the next 2-3 weeks.

It is the only country whose leader has been tested positive for coronavirus and the efforts here are a bid to reassure people in the U.K. that everything possible is being done to ensure they are ready for whatever numbers come in the weeks ahead -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, inside the ExCel Centre in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: China is changing how it counts the number of coronavirus infections. Patients showing no symptoms will now be included. According to Johns Hopkins University, there's more than 80,000 cases in China.

Even so, officials are now starting to ease containment measures as well as other restrictions. For more, Steven Jiang is live in Beijing, as he is often these days.

What is behind this decision to count those who are infected but asymptomatic?

How do they do this?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: This is because there is increasing interest and controversy over these people as the country is starting to lift these lockdown measures, especially at the epicenter.

These people are people who have tested positive but without displaying any symptoms. Last week there was a case in central China, a woman who became infected with this virus after coming into contact with a friend, a local doctor who was later identified as asymptomatic.

That is why, increasingly, you have controversies involving how the government counts these people, which, according to current guidelines, are not being included in confirmed cases.

So starting today on April 1st, they are going to include such cases in their daily reporting. But they already revealed the number on Tuesday, which is up to the end of Monday. They had more than 1,500 asymptomatic cases around the nation.

They say these cases and close contacts are being placed under quarantine for 14 days. If they develop symptoms in this period, they will become confirmed cases and will not be released from quarantine until they have tested negative twice in tests 24 hours apart -- John. VAUSE: Steven, we appreciate the, update, live for us in Beijing.

Should everyone in public wear a face mask with shortages in hospitals for health care workers?

We'll have recommendations from the White House in just a moment.

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The novel coronavirus killed at least 830 people in the U.S. on Tuesday, just like yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that.

[00:30:39]

Tuesday was the deadliest day so far. The White House task force warns that current predictions show a death toll eventually between 100 to 200,000. But, according to President Trump, it could have been so much worse if it wasn't for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One hundred thousand is -- is, according to modeling, a very low number. In fact, when I first saw that number, and I asked this a while ago, they said it's unlikely you'll be able to obtain that.

I think we're doing better. Now, I think. We have to see, but I think we're doing better than that, because as Johns said, that will be, you know, a lot of lives taking place over a relatively short period of time.

But think of what would have happened if we didn't do anything. I mean, I've had many friends, business people. People with great, actually, common sense. They said, Why don't we ride it out? A lot of people have said. and people have thought about it. Ride it out. Don't do anything, just ride it out. And think of it as the flu. But it's not the flu. It's vicious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, it's taking a global pandemic of biblical proportions, it seems, for the president to finally listen to his advisers. CNN's Jim Acosta reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even as top administration health experts are seeing some signs of hope in the battle against the coronavirus --

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: If you look now, we're starting to see glimmers that that is actually having some dampening effect.

ACOSTA: Dr. Anthony Fauci is hinting Americans may have to do more than just practice social distancing and start wearing protective masks.

FAUCI: When we get in a situation where we have enough masks, I believe there will be some very serious consideration about more broadening this recommendation of using masks. We're not there yet, but I think we're close to coming to some determination.

ACOSTA: Such a move would be a departure from what the administration has said for weeks, that it was only necessary to wear masks if they had coronavirus symptoms.

VICE ADMIRAL JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: What the World Health Organization and the CDC have reaffirmed in the last few days is that they do not recommend the general public wear masks.

ACOSTA: Another big concern: Medical experts don't want to exacerbate ongoing shortages of personal protective equipment for doctors and nurses on the front lines fighting the virus. But with coronavirus cases soaring in the U.S., the president suggested Americans may have no other choice.

TRUMP: I saw his suggestion on that, so we'll take a look at that. For a period of time.

ACOSTA: Hard-hit states are already competing against one another to scrounge up sorely-needed ventilators, driving up prices. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo just purchased thousands of those devices from China, brushing off comments from the president that he doesn't need that many.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): We are broke, and the last thing I want to do is buy a single ventilator that I don't need.

ACOSTA: Top Republicans are pushing back on the notion that the president failed to prepare the nation for the crisis, arguing he was tied up with the impeachment trial.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY) (via phone): It came up while we were, you know, tied down in the impeachment trial. And I think it diverted the attention of the government, because everything, every day was all about impeachment.

ACOSTA: But, hold on. Here's the reality.

CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS, U.S. SUPREME COURT: Guilty or not guilty?

ACOSTA: The president was acquitted on February 5, five days before he declared at a rally that the virus would quickly disappear.

TRUMP: And, by the way, the virus. They're working hard. It looks like by April, you know in theory, when it gets a little warner, it miraculously goes away? I hope that's true.

ACOSTA: The president also played golf during the weeks that followed. Faced with questions about why he downplayed the crisis, Mr. Trump says he was just trying to be optimistic to keep Americans calm. TRUMP: I don't want panic in the country. I could cause panic much

better than even you. I could do much -- I would make you look like a minor league player, but you know what? I don't want to do that.

ACOSTA: But even some of the president's most loyal supporters say he hasn't done enough.

MIKE FRANCESA, HOST, "MIKE'S ON": Don't give me the My Pillow guy doing a song and dance up here on a Monday afternoon when people are dying in Queens.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thanks to Jim Acosta for that report from the White House. Now, as the White House continues to debate the pros and cons of wearing face masks in public, around the world, famous fashion brands, designers and anyone who knows how to sew, are all pitching in to make up for the chronic shortage right now.

Here's CNN's Richard Quest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE (voice-over): It is the fashion accessory that could save lives. All around the world, masks are becoming mandatory attire for health workers in the time of COVID- 19. And with economies halted and manufacturers otherwise shuttered, companies large and small are kicking into overdrive, answering the call, trying to meet the incredible demand for more masks.

[00:35:18]

In the United States, the White House says there simply isn't enough supply for everyone to wear a mask. The nation's top infectious disease doctor told CNN healthcare workers must come first.

FAUCI: The one thing you don't want to do, you don't want to take masks away from the healthcare providers who are in a real and present danger of getting infected. That would be the worst thing we do.

QUEST: And so in an effort reminiscent of the Second World War, the likes of Gap, General Motors, and even Major League Baseball say they're opening their factories and getting to work.

When New York Governor Andrew Cuomo asked for help, calling on companies to be creative, the designer and "Project Runway" alumni Christian Siriano put his sewing staff to the task.

CHRISTIAN SIRIANO, DESIGNER: We're up to almost 500 a day, so we will have a couple thousand by the end of the week, and we're really excited. I mean, who knew that that was what we were going to be doing?

QUEST: Italy has been amongst the hardest hit by coronavirus. It's also home to some of the world's top fashion houses. Prada says it will make 100,000 masks by next week. Gucci says it will make more than a million in total.

Throughout Europe as leaders warn of shortages, the offers are rolling in. The owners of France's Yves St. Laurent, Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Givenchy; Zara and Balenciaga in Spain, they're all promising hundreds of thousands of masks.

In Greece, modern ingenuity is on full display. Start-ups there are using 3-D printers to crank out face shields. These can go straight to doctors and nurses on the front lines, where having a mask is truly a matter of life and death.

The Tunisian fashion designer Haloud Gezmi (ph) has retooled her small workshop in Tunis into a mask powerhouse. She has 30 tailors and is making up to 1,500 reusable masks every day.

With so many people stuck inside, making a mask at home is turning into the perfect social distancing activity. Jan from SewItOnline.com put out this handy do-it-yourself guide.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the hospitals have asked us for in masks is they want one side and a different side on the other side.

QUEST: From mom-and-pop outfits to household names and multinationals that spun the globe, companies are stepping up, churning out masks, and trying to do their part in the fight against coronavirus.

Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Just when they thought the worst was over, China is now preparing for an influx of imported infections of the coronavirus.

When we come back, the very latest on how Beijing is preparing for round 2.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:59]

VAUSE: A very different world it is with the coronavirus.

More -- India is reporting more than 1,500 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Officials are concerned that a gathering at a mosque in central Delhi may have been the starting point for many of those cases. Many you see here are boarding buses and heading to quarantine facilities.

Two dozen cases have been linked to that mosque alone.

CNN's Vedika Sud is live in New Delhi. So Vedika, this religious function at a mosque happened a few weeks ago, but notably, before the nationwide lockdown came into play. So explain, what is the connection here?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Before I even tell you about the connection, let me just tell you this is the biggest logistical nightmare that the capital city, Delhi, is facing currently.

Now just to connect what really happened. So we had a lot of people at a mosque in central Delhi gather on the 12th and 13th for an event. We believe that there were a few clerics that came from abroad, as well, perhaps the carriers of the coronavirus.

Now they had congregated on the 12th and 13th, but after that, on the 22nd of March, while they were still here, the prime minister, if you remember, had announced voluntary self-quarantine for a day, which was on Sunday, because a lot of them could not move out. And hence, this stayed on, and that's when cluster cases started.

And that is the biggest problem we are facing right now, because more than 1,500 people have been evacuated from the area. We've seen visuals of them being put onto buses and moved out from there. I believe 441 of these people are symptomatic, and that is the worry; because this could really push the numbers up for not only Delhi but India.

I also believe that over 1,000 people have been quarantined. We have confirmed this and the Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, has spoken of it, as well.

So this is the current logistical nightmare that Delhi is facing currently, John. Because how they're really going to go back and trace the last person who attended this event, because they've moved out of Delhi. They've moved to other cities in India. This is really going to be a tough task, not only for the Delhi government but the Indian government, as well, John.

VAUSE: And given these numbers are rising, are there questions about how effective this enforcement of the lockdown has been? Do they need to ramp up the way they enforce this lockdown and ensure people stay indoors?

SUD: Well, what I believe is that the police got to know about this only two days ago. Now, this is the concern. There is this problem in India that we've been facing, like in other areas of the world where people are not coming out and testing or giving volunteer -- or really voluntary information about them being in huge groups. And this itself going to be a big problem for India.

It's not only happening in Delhi. It's happening across the country, as well. We've also reported cases in the past from Canada and other places, but people have not come forward and reported that they have been in contact with people who have traveled from abroad.

So yes, this is a primary concern. The Indian government is reaching out to people. They're making them aware of the circumstances. And remember, we're just coming to the end of the first week of this lockdown in India. The numbers have surged. We have over 1,520 cases confirmed of coronavirus, and currently, the deaths are at 35.

But let me tell you. By this evening, if we get to know people talking about who have been quarantined and some of them shift off to medical centers, turn positive, you're going to hear huge numbers by this evening from India, and that is going to be a huge concern for us, John.

VAUSE: And for the rest of the world. Vedika, thank you so much. Vedika Sud there, live for us in New Delhi.

Well, the number of coronavirus cases in Africa remains relatively low compared to the rest of the world, but many African countries are now imposing lockdowns to try and slow the spread.

The social distancing poses a harsh challenge for millions of low- income workers across the continent. They're now struggling to simply provide for their families.

Africa's largest city is among the places that went quiet on Tuesday. The first full day under lockdown for Lagos and Nigeria. The country, with just over 100 cases of the coronavirus, is restricting movement for 14 days to slow the outbreak.

[00:45:07]

A similar situation in South Africa, as it begins a three-week-long lockdown. Those who are homeless have very few places to go. And decisions made at the highest level could mean life or death. CNN'S David McKenzie explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On day one of the lockdown --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MCKENZIE: -- the army and police order them to go to a home they do not have.

(on camera): What do you think about this whole lockdown?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to give us a tough time.

MCKENZIE: On day four, around 1,000 of them were taken here, to a soccer stadium in the nation's capital. South Africa's homeless rounded up and confined, 10 people to a tent, many instead choosing to sleep in the stands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our hope is that no one here is -- has COVID-19.

MCKENZIE (on camera): But it's a real risk. If one person gets it, everyone could get it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like wildfire.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Before the pandemic, Sasha Lalla's program treated many of these men for substance abuse. Now, he is here to make sure they aren't locked away and forgotten.

(on camera): Why does it worry you if COVID-19 could get into these communities? SASHA LALLA, COSUP: Because I think then, we'll be seeing a situation

where people with compromised immune systems aren't just at risk of COVID-19, they're at risk of death. And so we have a responsibility to keep our most vulnerable safe.

MCKENZIE: The city says it's working on more permanent, safer shelters, but the need is now.

(on camera): It strikes me, even if just one person in here becomes positive, it's almost impossible to slow this virus.

OMOGOLO TAUNYANE, CITY OF TSHWANE: Almost impossible, but we're really hoping that we don't have anyone right now who has contracted the disease. And if that is the case, we will be moving them to some of our quarantine facilities.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Here, the positive cases number more than 1,300. But the virus is already hurting everyone.

Africa's economic capital is shuttered, and millions could lose their jobs in South Africa alone. Across the continent, the U.N. says half of all jobs are at direct risk because of the virus.

For any government, there are no easy answers to this pandemic, but in South Africa, where social distancing is a privilege, the task is enormous.

(on camera): Are you scared about this virus?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very scared. Two weeks, and we're carrying out dead bodies here.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): And the cost of getting it wrong, unimaginable.

David McKenzie, CNN, Praetoria, South Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Now, China is preparing for an influx of imported cases. Officials in Beijing are now rerouting all international flights to other cities in a bid to streamline strict screenings.

As CNN's David Culver reports, to returning -- those returning to the mainland, rather, can now expect many hours of testing once they've landed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: China taking no chances when it comes to people entering the country, shutting down its borders this past weekend to nearly every foreigner, those who manage to get in before the closure endured hours of screening, mandatory testing and, for some, immediate quarantine.

ELAINE CHOW, TRAVELED FROM JAPAN TO SHANGHAI: So, this is me before, in my tiny little room here in Osaka. CULVER: Elaine Chow, an American living in Shanghai, chronicled her

journey back into mainland China from Japan.

CHOW: When I first landed, seeing all of those people in Hazmat suits. They come up to you and, you know, hold a like temperature gun to your head. It was quite, like, unsettling, but at the same time, you're like, OK, they definitely take this whole not getting infected thing pretty seriously.

CULVER: It is a time-consuming process as passengers go through a health screening, a detailed interview about their travel history and finally, customs. Three and a half hours later, and Chow boarded a bus to her district's testing center.

The nasal and throat swap done under these tents. About eight hours after that, she got the all clear. Negative for the coronavirus. And then began her 14-day, at-home quarantine.

Kim Wong is also mid-quarantine after flying in from New Jersey to Shanghai. She takes her temperature twice a day and sends it to a community doctor by WeChat. Outside her door, a sensor to make sure she does not break quarantine.

KIMBERLY WONG, TRAVELED FROM NEW JERSEY TO SHANGHAI: Going through the U.S. and Japan, I thought, by far, this was the most organized and streamlined process that I have seen.

CULVER: A very different experience returning to China for American Michael Rosenblum. After crossing over from Hong Kong, he says he was forced to pay for this government-designated quarantine hotel stay.

MICHAEL ROSENBLUM, TRAVELED TO GUANGZHOU, CHINA: Every layer of the process, I was voluntarily complying, because obviously, A, they're trying to protect people; and B, you know, that's the law.

CULVER: Rosenblum says he had already tested negative, not once, but twice. He later learned it was his neighborhood committee that determined he should be in quarantine before returning to the community.

[00:50:04]

ROSENBLUM: In so many words, somebody basically said to me, Well, you know, they're not going to allow you to leave. Like, well, I was told I could go home if my test result was negative. How long am I expected to stay?

And they said, well, at least for 14 days.

CULVER: After six days, the local health officials finally allowed him to go back to his home in Guangzhou.

(on camera): China says it's bolstering of its borders is a result of more imported cases of the virus getting into the country. As lockdown restrictions within China eased and people start to move around again, there's also growing concern here that asymptomatic carriers could expose others to the virus. Potentially leading to another spike where the outbreak began.

David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, a joyful moment in hospital in Italy on Tuesday. Doctors and nurses, with everything they're facing, all they are doing, stopped to sing happy birthday to a coronavirus patients.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Guys, you are amazing. You would never believe this. I will tell my son about this. I will tell my grandchildren. I've never celebrated my birthday in my entire life, but this was so great and amazing.

VAUSE: Well, still to come, Italians have been under severe restrictions now for weeks, with millions of football-crazy fans unable to watch their favorite players, but one club is using this layoff to give back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Much of Italy remains on a nationwide lockdown there. That means many, especially the elderly, have been left isolated and alone. And in the capitol of Rome, the city's famous football team has decided to make a difference.

CNN'S Amanda Davis has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANDA DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a football club, Serie A side Roma can't do their bit on the pitch at the moment, so they're making sure they're doing what they can off it, with some special deliveries for their oldest season ticket holders.

FRANCESCO CALVO, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, AS ROMA: I believe we have a big responsibility toward our fans and toward the community. We know that football is not really the top priority at the moment. Even if the social impact of football is pretty important, I think that we wanted to entertain people, even though (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

And why we're not be well, we cannot solve all of the problems that this coronavirus is bringing with it, we could do something positive for the people to have an impact on the daily life of the people.

DAVIS: With all of Italy and its 60 million residents under lockdown since March the 9th and the most senior members of society, the most vulnerable to infection, four specially-designed vans distributed care packages to around 250 of the club's season ticketholders over the age of 75, including things like hand sanitizer, pasta and biscuits.

CALVO: The people that were actually physically doing the deliveries, they told me that the experience was amazing because of the affection and the gratitude they received from the fans to whom they brought the boxes. These are a small things but which gives us the motivation to continue.

DAVIS: And there was a special surprise for the club's oldest fan: 96- year-old Eliseo Lorenzetti. Born four years before the club was even founded, he was presented with a shirt signed by striker Edin Dzeko.

[00:55:10]

EDIN DZEKO, AS ROMA FORWARD: I am incredibly proud of all the initiatives the club has been working on. From the very start, us players have tried to support him in every way we can. During this difficult time, we all have to come together as a family, helping each other where we can, and that's exactly what we are trying to do.

DAVIS: And it's not just the elderly. The club are showing their support to the medical staff who have been on the front lines in the fight against the coronavirus, as well.

They're set to honor those who have lost their lives during the crisis and will make up to 5,000 free tickets available for their first open home game after football resumes.

CALVO: This is making all of us very proud for working for a club that we believe is different from any other club. It's because for the impact and the relationship that we have on the community.

DAVIS (on camera): Fans in Italy and across Europe are desperately waiting for when football will kick off again. Football clubs have always had a pretty unique impact on people's lives, but sometimes, as we've been finding out recently, it's not always the winning that counts.

Amanda Davis, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Before we go, we'll stay in Italy where two brothers have made the most of their time stuck indoors and found international fame along the way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC BY MIRKO E VALERIO VIOLINISTI LITTLE BAND)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: That's awesome. A few weeks ago, 12-year-old twins Mirko and Valerio posted this cover of Coldplay's "Viva le Vida." Since then, it has recorded more than 15 million views on Facebook and has caught the attention of Coldplay themselves, sending a message, saying, "Thanks, guys, with love from all the band." Pretty good.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. AMANPOUR is up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, and welcome to "AMANPOUR." Here's what's coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): What in the world is going on behind the coronavirus curtain?

END