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CONNECT THE WORLD
Trump Warns of "Very Painful" Two Weeks Ahead; Popup Hospital with 4,000 Beds to Open in London; Italy May Be Underreporting Coronavirus Deaths; China COVID-19 Epicenter Easing Restrictions; U.S. Hospital Revamped for COVID-19 Patients; When Will Global Lockdowns End?; South Africa Reporting Nearly 1,400 Cases and Five Deaths; WHO Wants 10 Percent of Global GDP for Health Care; Israeli Ultraorthodox Jews Ignoring Coronavirus Warnings. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired April 1, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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HALA GORANI, CNN HOST: You are watching CNN. I'm Hala Gorani. Welcome, everybody. We're coming to you live from London once again. This is CONNECT
THE WORLD.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is going to be a very painful, very, very painful two weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: A sobering assessment from the White House as the U.S. death toll climbs once again.
Also, tens of thousands of lives across Europe may have been saved by social distancing. But the U.K. is still bracing for the worst with pop-up
testing and hospital sites.
And China will now report asymptomatic cases.
Will new numbers give us a fresh perspective on the pandemic?
We are once again taking you around the world again this hour, with stories and insight from Denmark to Israel to South Africa.
We start in the United States, once again, where some very alarming numbers are coming to light. After downplaying initially the impact of the
coronavirus threat, the U.S. president is getting serious now and he is getting, in public, somber as well.
Donald Trump is warning Americans to brace for very difficult days ahead, as his deputies offer a pretty grim assessment: at least 100,000 Americans
could die from COVID-19 and maybe even more than twice that number. Here is Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have almost 10,000 ventilators that we have ready to go. We have to hold them back because the surge is coming. And it is coming pretty
strong. And we want to be able to immediately move it into place without going and taking it.
I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. But this is going to be a very painful, very, very painful two weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, the warning comes as the number of U.S. cases tops 186,000 in total and deaths approach 4,000 across the country. Brynn Gingras
explains how the most impacted states in America are trying to cope.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The White House coronavirus task force presenting a chilling outlook.
TRUMP: This is going to be a rough two week period.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Dr. Anthony Fauci says some models predict 100,000 or more Americans could die from the coronavirus and he encourages stay at
home measures as a key tool to help mitigate the disease.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: 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.
GINGRAS (voice-over): The White House's goal is twofold, slowing the spread in New York and preventing cities like Chicago, Detroit and Los
Angeles, from seeing runaway cases over the next 30 days.
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: There is no magic bullet, there is no magic vaccine or therapy. It is just
behaviors. Each of our behaviors translating into something that changes the course of this viral pandemic.
GINGRAS (voice-over): But as states like Illinois watch case numbers rise in New York, the governor says he's worried a lack of federal help for
critical supplies will leave him short-handed.
J.B. PRITZKER, ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: If we don't have those ventilators delivered in the next week, we're not going to be prepared across the state
for the kind of onslaught that we're going to see.
GINGRAS (voice-over): New York governor Andrew Cuomo frustrated by the lack of a national plan.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): So you have 50 states competing to buy the same item. It's like being on eBay with 50 other states, bidding on a
ventilator.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Meantime, President Trump says the federal government is keeping almost 10,000 ventilators on standby.
TRUMP: We have to hold them back because the surge is coming.
GINGRAS (voice-over): While states struggle to purchase equipment, they also need more trained personnel to treat patients.
GINA RAIMONDO, RHODE ISLAND GOVERNOR: Doctors, nurses, CNEs, physician assistants, therapists, social workers, if you're out there, I'm calling
you up. I'm asking you, please, to respond.
GINGRAS (voice-over): And in many hospitals like where critical care nurse Carley Rice works in South Georgia, there's a fear of not being able to do
enough to help everyone.
CARLEY RICE, CRITICAL CARE NURSE: We have what we need but eventually we're going to run out of space and we'll have to rely on the other
communities.
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RICE: And I just pray that each patient is taken care of the way that they need to be taken care of and we have everything that we need to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Take a close look here: those are COVID-19 pods being built at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. They went up in the hospital's lobby
ahead of the coming influx of patients. It looks like some sort of war zone field hospital in terms of preparation.
Brynn Gingras joins me he from outside another New York hospital with more.
Because though we're seeing very high numbers, Brynn, we haven't seen the peak and hospitals are doing what they can in anticipation of what is going
to come, even with these social distancing measures in place. Talk to us more about some of the other preparations we're seeing.
GINGRAS: Exactly right. Essentially right now, there is a balancing act going on in hospitals all across this state. They're trying to basically
try to keep the levels really the same across the board, whether that means transferring patients -- COVID patients from one hospital to another or
transferring out non-COVID patients to the overflow places that are popping up around the city, like the Javits Center, a big convention center here in
New York City or the Comfort, which is the military hospital that came ashore earlier this week.
At this particular hospital, though, it is like you just described at the other, it is a war zone scenario. We learned just within the last 48 hours
at this hospital 19 patients had to be intubated. That means 19 people needed to go on a ventilator. That is extremely more than what they usually
see.
And in addition to that, there is E.R.s -- the E.R. is filled with patients in the hallways, not in rooms anymore just because there is not enough room
in the ICU units. So it is basically what we're seeing all across this city.
And, like you said, this is just almost not the beginning but it's certainly not the end. We have a couple more weeks before we may even see
the worst of it.
GORANI: All right, Brynn Gingras, thank you very much, in New York City.
Let's move on to Europe, where the U.K., Spain and France all reported their deadliest days on Tuesday. The death toll in the U.K. where I'm
broadcasting from now, stands at more than 2,300. So over 2,000 for the United Kingdom.
To help stem the rapid spread of coronavirus cases, the car park of an IKEA store in London has turned into a drive-through testing facility. And there
you see the white tents. By the way, this shows you where cars can pull up to and hopefully get tested.
The testing, the rate of testing has been a big issue in this country. Also in London, a pop-up hospital is rushing to open on the banks of the Thames.
Nick Paton Walsh gives us a rare look inside the new facility -- Nick.
(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.
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 --
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WALSH: -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, inside the ExCel Centre in London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Whatever numbers the authorities and medical professionals and healthcare workers are confronted with, that is what they have to prepare
for because Italy and Spain are really in the thick of it. Perhaps you can even argue that Italy is starting to see perhaps more encouraging numbers.
But the U.K. and the United States still have several weeks before the worst of this coronavirus pandemic wave hits them. In fact, in the U.K., a
very young child; in fact, a 13-year-old boy, is the youngest person to have died, believed to have died because of COVID-19 so far.
Joining me now from London, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Dr. Martin Marshall, the U.K.'s most senior GP.
Thanks for being with us. When people read headlines like 13-year-old with no underlying health conditions, it is believed at least the family doesn't
think this child had any underlying health conditions, is dying from COVID- 19, they're understandably very concerned.
What would you tell them?
DR. MARTIN MARSHALL, ROYAL COLLEGE OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS: It seems to rub up against the advice we have been saying, which for most people this
is a mild condition and is really only in the elderly or those with pre- existing conditions who are at major risk.
Sadly, a terrible, terrible situation for the family of this young child who died. It is a real rarity. And the message remains the same, this is a
very significant problem for older people and for people who have health problems. It is usually, usually a mild condition for those who are young
and fit.
GORANI: Do you believe that the measures in place now in the United Kingdom, as you speak to your colleagues, other GPS and healthcare
professionals, go far enough in the U.K.?
MARSHALL: I think we're getting there. This is an unprecedented crisis, of course, for all health systems, including the NHS in the United Kingdom.
The good thing is we have a relatively centralized, relatively controllable healthcare system. We can shift resources between different parts of it.
We can do things very quickly as you heard earlier with the Nightingale hospital. General practice isn't in the forefront of people's attention;
most attention is on ventilators and intensive care units, very sick patients.
General practice remains the most important part of this is in many ways because we're dealing with the vast majority of people who got this
condition and not only, of course, people who have COVID and also pre- existing illnesses that still -- still alive, still need managing, still need looking after.
GORANI: How much will those patients suffer in terms of delayed procedures?
I'm reading even cancer surgery is being delayed because hospitals anticipate being overwhelmed with COVID patients. And this is threatening
the lives of other people who need medical attention.
How concerned are you with that?
MARSHALL: Well, there are risks, there are risks in a number of areas, risks for people who are sick, who have a temperature, for example, but
haven't got COVID, might have something like meningitis, for example.
There are risks for people who might have early cancer or perhaps are in the middle of treatment and there are also risks for routine preventive
measures, like immunization programs for children. So the risks are there.
I think the risks that we're now talking about, that we're planning for, particularly in general practice, our Royal College of General
Practitioners has put out guidance for general practices, to understand which things they can stop doing that aren't priorities, which things are
still important.
And that includes the diagnosis of conditions that might be cancer. It includes routine preventive measures in important areas like immunizations.
And it also improves routine care for people with long-term conditions, like diabetes or heart disease, particularly where those conditions tend to
be unstable.
That's why general practice is still doing routine business as usual work, if you like.
GORANI: I wonder, I mean, this could lead to the preventable loss of life here. If you delay mammograms or Pap smears or other screening tests for
certain cancers or illnesses that could eventually be deadly and don't catch them early enough for them to be easily treatable, you might -- this
COVID pandemic could kill people because it is a very severe respiratory illness in some cases but also because it has delayed the diagnosis of
people who might have needed an early intervention but couldn't get it.
MARSHALL: I think that's absolutely right. I think that's a risk that people are now realizing and starting to talk about. And we know from
previous epidemics and pandemics that that has been a problem.
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MARSHALL: For example, the Ebola pandemic in 2014 in West Africa, more people died of malaria and HIV and tuberculosis than died of Ebola. And in
the United Kingdom, when we had a flu epidemic in 2011, we also saw increase in mortality from things like heart disease and stroke as well.
So this is a very real challenge and it is one that I think we're up for and we're now starting to address.
GORANI: Yes. Thank you very much, Dr. Marshall for joining us. We appreciate having you on the program as the U.K., as we saw there in that
report by Nick Paton Walsh, prepares for an influx of COVID patients. There are many others who also need medical attention and everybody is stretched
to the limit. Thanks again.
I want to highlight some -- I want to say good news but at least encouraging news against the virus.
A new study by scientists at Imperial College London estimates 59,000 lives have been saved across Europe because of measures like social distancing
and restricting movement and that those measures are working to at least stem the infection rate.
So essentially this could have been -- it is certainly a dire situation -- but this could have been a lot worse, had these measures not been put in
place, according to this study.
Now let's go to Spain. Spain is in the thick of it. This country is going through a very difficult time right now. It just had its biggest daily jump
in deaths in the country, 864 people over the course of a day. More than 100,000 people there have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
And Scott McLean is joining me from the capital's largest makeshift hospital.
Talk to us about what is going on there.
And are these healthcare facilities able to manage the influx, are they able to keep up, Scott?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the healthcare system in this country obviously has been pushed to its limits and even beyond, especially
so here in Madrid. The hospitals are bursting at the seams, so they're filling up empty hotels.
The more mild cases end up here at this sprawling convention center that is easily the size of any airport. It is the largest hospital in all of Spain.
And yesterday it allowed CNN inside for the first time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCLEAN (voice-over): The Ifema convention center in Madrid normally hosts car shows, art displays, even baby fairs; now it hosts only COVID-19
patients there is no room for in hospitals.
This is Spain's largest hospital. There is obviously plenty of space here. But one of the country's biggest unions says there hasn't always been
enough. The change rooms have been too small and protective equipment has been too sparse.
DR. ALBERTO CABANAS, PHYSICIAN: It was an absolute chaos (INAUDIBLE) were no (INAUDIBLE), no organization, no human resources.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Dr. Alberto Cabanas says the facility is so disorganized, that doctors have waited hours to get protective equipment
and some staff, himself included, have even gone entire shifts without seeing a single patient. One union says some of its members were even
refusing to work there.
CABANAS: Can't happen. There's people just doing nothing and people overwhelmed with workload.
MCLEAN (voice-over): The Madrid regional government allowed us inside to see the corridors and this perch overlooking one of the pavilions. From
above, the staff below looked well equipped and the situation seemed calm, save for the sporadic applause every time a patient is sent home healthy.
Nurses Marta and Vero (ph) say at times things have seemed chaotic but not today.
"We haven't had any problems with equipment or with the robes today," said Vero (ph), "but we take it day by day."
There have been challenges turning a convention center into a hospital from scratch, according to Fernando Prados (ph), who runs the operation. But
chaos, he hasn't seen it.
"In eight days, more than 1,500 patients came here and we have discharged more than 500. If there had been chaos, that wouldn't have been possible,"
he says.
"It is true that there were some who complained. We have given them our apologies and found solutions."
They'll have to; with Madrid's case load continuing to grow, this impromptu convention likely won't end soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CULVER: And it has been more than two weeks now since Spaniards were ordered to stay at home and it seems like their sacrifice is finally
starting to pay off. The percentage increase in active cases grew by its slowest rate in three weeks and the number of recoveries yesterday hit a
record high.
Some Spaniards, though, seemed to be getting a little bit stir crazy inside of their homes; new rules prevent them from leaving for work unless their
jobs are deemed essential. Yesterday alone, Hala, police gave out more than 10,000 tickets for people who were out without a good reason.
GORANI: All right, Scott McLean, live in Madrid, thanks very much. Great report from inside that makeshift hospital.
We have been talking a lot about the very high numbers out of Italy.
[10:20:00]
GORANI: Well, a top Italian health official actually believes that those numbers might be underreported. That's even with record highs on Tuesday.
Here is the latest from our team on the ground. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ben Wedeman in Rome. In Italy, the total number of new reported cases of coronavirus is starting
to come down. Also down is the number of people being admitted to intensive care units.
Yet there is something of a mystery surrounding how many cases there actually are in this country. Some officials suggest as many as 600,000
people may have been infected by COVID-19.
But that most showed very few symptoms or no symptoms whatsoever, all of which underscores just how difficult it is for those who are trying to stop
the spread of this disease.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: And that was Ben Wedeman. Thanks very much.
Still to come after the break, China is shutting its borders to nearly every foreigner, making it an ordeal for foreign nationals trying to get
back home. We'll hear from some of them.
Plus, how do you do social distancing when you don't have a home?
What South Africa's lockdown means for the homeless there.
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GORANI: Well, China is changing the way it is reporting new cases of coronavirus. It was not before today, the last 24 hours, counting people
who didn't have symptoms.
The country is now including asymptomatic cases in its daily total, meaning those who tested positive but did not show any symptoms of the disease were
not counted. On Tuesday, it reported 36 new cases plus 130 asymptomatic cases. David Culver is in Shanghai.
Let's talk about how this may affect the total tally since the beginning of the outbreak, which began in Wuhan all those weeks ago.
CULVER: We've heard for the past several weeks now a lot of folks questioning the numbers coming out of China. The national health
commission, the Chinese government releases those every day.
And recently they have been touting these zero new locally transmitted cases, very specific in how they label that within Mainland China. Folks
have been skeptical of that.
They say there are imported cases, which they consider to be a new threat, if you will, and one they're concerned about. But a lot of pressure is also
put on the government to release the asymptomatic, because there is belief that can cause a lot of the transmission, especially as you start easing up
some of the lockdown restrictions in place.
They're hoping that folks will start to get back to business, people start to move around again and, by doing so, even if they're asymptomatic, could
potentially transmit the disease to other people and then the numbers go up even more. So there is a lot of concern about that.
[10:25:00]
CULVER: But more than anything else, it is going back to the imported cases that the government really focus on as they consider that now to be
the external threat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CULVER (voice-over): China taking no chances when it comes to people entering the country, shutting down its borders to nearly every foreigner.
Those who managed to get in before the closure endured hours of screening, mandatory testing and, for some, immediate quarantine.
ELAINE CHOW, AMERICAN LIVING IN SHANGHAI: So this is me before, in my tiny little room here in Osaka.
Elaine Chow, an American living in Shanghai, chronicled her journey back into Mainland China from Japan.
CHOW: When I first landed, seeing all the people in hazmat suits come up to you and hold a temperature gun to your head was unsettling. But at the
same time, you're, like, OK, they definitely take this whole not getting infected thing pretty seriously.
CULVER (voice-over): It is a time consuming process. Passengers go through a health screening, a detailed interview about their travel history and
finally customs; 3.5 hours later, Chow boarded a bus to her district's testing center.
The nasal and throat swab 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 midquarantine 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.
KIM WONG, INTERNATIONAL TRAVELER: Going through the U.S. and Japan, like, I felt by far this was the most organized and streamlined process that I've
seen.
CULVER (voice-over): A very different experience returning to China for American Michael Rosenblum. After crossing over from Hong Kong, he said he
was forced to pay for this government designated quarantine hotel stay.
MICHAEL ROSENBLUM, QUARANTINED RESIDENT: 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 (voice-over): Rosenblum says he had already tested negative, not once but twice and he later learned it was his neighborhood committee that
determined he should be in quarantine before returning to the community.
ROSENBLUM: In so many words, somebody said, look, you know, they're not allowing you to leave. I was told I could go home if my test result was
negative.
How long am I expected to stay?
They said at least for 14 days.
CULVER (voice-over): After six days, the local health officials finally allowed him to go back to his home in Guangzhou.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CULVER: But the reality is those three individuals got in just before that new law took effect here. Essentially it shut down the borders to nearly
all foreigners. I've got to tell you, now within China, domestically, travel is getting increasingly difficult, too, at times.
If I were to go from here back to Beijing, they would then put me into a quarantine, potentially a government center, if you will, and that would be
another 14 days we would be required to quarantine and that's the case for many major cities.
They're just so uneasy about this idea of imported cases and the numbers going up from there that they're now starting to close back down on some of
those phased freedoms that we had seen take place.
GORANI: And I want to ask you about the economy, because China has been, over the last several years, used to these huge economic growth numbers and
now, essentially, you know, one of the most vibrant economies in the world, that is the engine for much of the Google economy and a big part of the
supply chain of the entire world economy is slowing down drastically.
What kind of impact is this going to have on the ordinary people in China?
CULVER: It is going to be devastating. And you're starting to see that. I toured a few local businesses today. You're starting to see that hit at the
small business level, if you will, some of them shut their doors before the Lunar New Year, this virus hit. They're not going to be able to open up the
doors at all.
They simply cannot have sustained what they went through over the past several weeks and they're not going to be able to get back into business.
There were others that have weathered it and that are starting to come back online, albeit after what was a painful few weeks. And really 2.5 months.
And then the industry as a whole are starting to come back online in some fashion. But even if they're coming up production wise, there is a real
concern as this virus is spreading internationally because a lot of these industries are exporting their goods to other countries.
And if those other countries are experiencing now similar lockdown measures, they've lost their clients and customers and they're very aware
of that. And it is a concern not only at the local level, not only at the business level here in Shanghai, but certainly at the political level. This
is something President Xi Jinping stressed repeatedly.
GORANI: Absolutely. I think we're in for a very long period of difficult economic times as we continue to weather this pandemic. David Culver, thank
you very much.
[10:30:00]
GORANI: A lot more to come this evening. Life as we know it, and we have been talking a lot about this, has come to a standstill.
How long will it be until we're able to live normal lives again in these countries so badly affected?
I'll speak to an expert ahead.
Also, the U.N. makes a desperate call for help, as developing nations try to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. What the secretary-general of the
United Nations is asking for. We'll be right back.
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GORANI: Well, the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in the United States happened in Washington state. And Washington quickly became a hot
spot. Its hospitals were among the first to adapt to the immense challenges of treating this disease. Sara Sidner shows us how one Seattle hospital is
dealing with this new normal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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.
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.
[10:35:00]
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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, Sara Sidner joins me live from Washington.
Amazing reporting here. And really we got a sense of the emotional toll as well, that this is all taking through you on some of these medical
professionals.
How are they coping?
Because they're on the front lines and we have seen doctors and health care professionals in some cases lose their lives as a result of being exposed
to this virus.
What are they telling you about the road ahead?
SIDNER: Yes, we did have those conversations with one of the nurses there. And he basically said, look, there are a couple of things happening here
for us. One, we wonder if we're in the eye of a hurricane and that the other half of the hurricane, the one that tends to hit you harder, is still
coming.
And there is this sense of anxiety and dread that there is suddenly going to be a surge of patients. And they have all these checklists, right, they
have put on the outside of each patient's door to make sure that they don and doff all of their equipment, properly, so they don't contaminate
themselves.
But if you have a surge of 100 patients in a few days, you know, how do you continue to do that and care for the patients when they need immediate
care?
So there is definitely anxiety about that. The other big anxiety for them is going home. The last thing they want to do is infect their children,
their wives, their husbands, their parents, their grandparents.
For those who live in a household that has many people in it, they are terrified of coming home, walking in the door and contaminating their loved
ones.
And so they're taking extra precautions, even wiping the bottoms of their shoes, leaving their shoes outside, just to make sure that they're not
contaminating those who are in their own communities and in their own homes, Hala.
GORANI: It is a good point, added anxiety, they don't have to worry about that when they're treating other illnesses, but they have to with this one.
Sara Sidner, as always, fantastic reporting, thank you so much.
Sara was talking about some of these containment and self-isolation measures being put in place around the world.
Well, in Denmark, street buses, town centers and waterfronts are normally bustling and now, like most places, there is just silence. However, the
Danish prime minister says social distancing is paying off and things could change soon. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
METTE FREDERIKSEN, DANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): If we, over the next two weeks across Easter, keep standing together by staying apart
and if the numbers remain stable for the next two weeks, then the government will begin a gradual quiet and controlled opening of our society
again at the other side of Easter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The other side of Easter, is that realistic?
Let's get more on how long all of this could last, not just for Denmark but for countries around the world, many of you watching us this hour. Bill
Hanage is an epidemiology professor at Harvard University.
[10:40:00]
GORANI: Thank you very much for joining us, Professor Hanage. First off, I know each country is different.
But fundamentally, when you look at the countries most hit hardest by the pandemic, how long do you think -- what is the most likely scenario of how
long people will have to live under these very restrictive measures?
BILL HANAGE, EPIDEMIOLOGY PROFESSOR, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: I think if you look at what has been happening in other countries from Wuhan to Spain, it
is important to note that after you start putting in the measures, it is about four weeks or more before you see the real surge peak. And after
that, I think anybody (INAUDIBLE) is probably selling you something (ph) so I think right now we just have to deal with a couple months.
(CROSSTALK)
GORANI: The -- sorry, we're just having -- this is sort of the new normal for broadcast news as well, you're breaking up. Please finish your thought.
HANAGE: What you'll find is that, once the surge hits and people are able to say that the community transmission has dropped to a stage where we can
be secure, there is not going to be another surge as soon as we open up, then there is going to be some controlled -- as you were saying from
Denmark, some controlled relaxing of these things.
But knowing how to do it and when to do it is going to be absolutely reliant on getting more data, including antibody tests.
GORANI: Let's talk about this. How to do it and when to do it, will have to be reliant on data. Talk to us about antibody tests.
Is this testing and studying the blood of patients who had COVID-19 and recovered?
How does that work and how long could that take?
HANAGE: So antibody tests can tell you whether you have been infected and it looks like they work roughly about seven days after the infection. So
they're useless for telling you if somebody is infected now but they can be very useful if telling you somebody has been infected.
The reason that is important is that, after the first wave, we want to know how many people are actually immune and that's going to include the other
people we know of but it is also going to include other people who do not know they were infected.
It is increasingly clear there is a large amount of asymptomatic infection and probably transmission as well. So those numbers will be absolutely
essential.
GORANI: I think people are very eager to get some sense of a timeline. I know it is difficult but there are various scenarios, one of these possible
scenarios, and you were quoted in an article about the possible timelines, could have people living under at least some set of restrictions for up to
a year.
Do you think that's probable?
HANAGE: I think that's actually more than probable. I would say that's likely. I don't think it is going to be the same as now. It will not be the
same as now.
However, the main reason for the very extreme distancing that we're seeing at the moment is to try and stop patients entering the health care system
by becoming infected now.
There is a lag. It is like you're trying to turn off the faucet but you have to wait for a few minutes until it actually stops running. If you
don't turn it off at the right time, your bathtub overflows. So that's what we're trying to do now to stop that.
Once it has happened, it is possible that some changes may happen that are going to be useful. I think people, including the CDC, are starting to look
into the possibility of masks. Masks are not very good to prevent (INAUDIBLE) unless they are a very specific type of mask. And they avoid
transmitting it.
So the whole thing is social distancing, is you got to assume you are infected already. How do you stop infecting somebody else? If a mask can
help do that, if enough people wear them, it could be a return to something a little bit closer to normal.
GORANI: All right. Bill Hanage, thank you very much, of the Harvard School of Public Health for joining us with more on what we might be able to
expect going forward. Thank you very much.
The death toll, to South Africa now, the death toll is now at five in South Africa, which relatively speaking sounds like a pretty low number as the
country is nearly one week into a 21-day lockdown.
But for those without a place to call home, those people who are essentially homeless, the order seems more like a dangerous lockup with the
potential to further ignite the fast spreading virus. CNN's David McKenzie reports from Pretoria, South Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On day one of the lockdown, the army and police ordered them to go to a home they do not
have.
MCKENZIE: What do you think about this whole lockdown?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to give us a tough time.
[10:45:00]
MCKENZIE (voice-over): On day four, around 1,000 of them were taken here, to a soccer stadium in the nation's capital. South Africa's homeless were
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 has COVID-19.
MCKENZIE: But it is a real risk. If one person gets, it everyone can get it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It'll be like wildfire.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Before the pandemic, Sasha Lalla's (ph) program treated many of these men for substance abuse. Now he is here to make sure
they are not locked away and forgotten.
MCKENZIE: Why does it worry you if COVID-19 could get into these communities?
SASHA LALLA, COSUP: Because I think then we will be seeing a situation where people with compromised immune systems are not just at risk of COVID-
19. They are at risk of death. So we have a responsibility to keep our most vulnerable safe.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): The city says it is working on more permanent, safer shelters. But the need is now.
MCKENZIE: It strikes me that even if one person in here becomes positive, it is almost impossible to slow this virus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Almost impossible but we are really hoping we don't have anyone right now who has contracted the disease. If that is the case,
we will be taking them to 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.
MCKENZIE: Are you scared about this virus?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very scared. Two weeks and we are carrying out dead bodies here.
MCKENZIE: And the cost of getting it wrong, unimaginable -- David McKenzie, CNN, Pretoria, South Africa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, the U.N.'s secretary-general is calling this pandemic an unprecedented test for humanity. In a newly released report, he believes
that there are big challenges ahead. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES: It is essential that developed countries immediately assist those less developed to bolster
their health systems and their response capacity to stop transmission.
Otherwise, we face the nightmare of the disease spreading like wildfire in the global (INAUDIBLE) with millions of deaths and the prospect of the
disease re-emerging where it was previously suppressed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Guterres wants countries to spent 10 percent of their GDP on health care. Richard Quest joins me now live from New York with more.
That might be a tall order. But I think that economies around the world and countries that have more money to allocate to health care might start
reconsidering how they prepare for the next pandemic after what happened with COVID -- Richard.
RICHARD QUEST, CNNMONEY EDITOR AT LARGE: I think that's exactly the case. When you put it, if you want to put it in blunt economic terms, the most
countries in the developed world will be spending upwards of 10 percent to 13 percent, possibly 15 percent or more on the stimulus packages required
to restart their economies.
So just on sheer numbers alone, increasing the amount of expenditure on health care seems like a bargain. But it is not just the amount. It is how
it is spent. Let's take the U.S. where I am at the moment, more than 13 percent of the GDP, some say up to 20-23 percent of GDP is the healthcare
industry.
And yet arguably this is the one country of the developed world that seems to be least ready for this. So it is a question of what you provide, how
you provide and when you provide, not just a question of how much you provide that seems to be the issue.
GORANI: Yes. Well, certainly health care spending per capita in the United States is higher than other developed nations and the kind of care you get
isn't always on par with some of the European countries, certainly Northern Europe as an example.
But let's talk, I was asking David Culver in Shanghai about this, about the economic impact because several weeks of lockdown in the world's largest
economy, certainly one of the world's largest economies, China and the United States being the top two, what kind of -- what are economists now
saying about the impact on the world economy of this lockdown across the globe?
[10:50:00]
QUEST: So in the second quarter, we're expecting to see GDP drop by 34 percent. That is a staggering number. But it is understandable, when you
think that the government pushed pause on the economy. And when they push restart, it will build up again and many of the jobs will return and
recover.
But Hala, people talk about a V-shaped recovery. The guess is that the -- that the restart part of the thing will not be anywhere near as long as the
other side. It will recover but it will be slow, it will be difficult and, most important of all, Hala, the number of businesses that will not come
back will be in the hundreds of thousands.
GORANI: It is just going to be terrible for so many people, so many jobs lost. Richard, we'll see you a little bit later on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS."
Thank you very much.
We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
GORANI: Well, Israel is facing some very specific challenges with this coronavirus pandemic. Oren Liebermann explains why there are more
challenges when it comes to limiting the spread in the ultraorthodox Jewish community.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The SWAT team advances down the street, armed for combat but dressed for protection. In this
ultraorthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem, there are two problems: coronavirus and a community where some refuse to obey government
restrictions.
Infection rates in ultraorthodox areas are higher than the rest of the country, according to the ministry of health. The ultraorthodox community
make up only 14 percent of Israel's total population. But in one hospital near Tel Aviv, they are 60 percent of the patients, a spokesman tells CNN.
The danger of coronavirus has yet to fully penetrate the ultraorthodox community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The majority of the public and the communities understand the message and realize the importance of staying at home. The
problem being inside Israel's religious communities that, unfortunately, they're not online and not using communicative systems like telephones and
televisions. They don't exist inside the neighborhoods.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Communication is part of the problem compounded by a strict belief in God over government.
In this Jerusalem neighborhood, we found posters instructing people to obey the ministry of health restrictions to save lives. But they were right next
to other signs warning of a terrible discovery, that the coronavirus was caused by a lack of modesty and instructing women and girls to cover
themselves and obey religious law.
Despite the outward appearance of uniformity, the community has many factions and groupings. The rabbi of one group has little, if any, sway
over others, that makes conveying one message to the entire community particularly difficult.
[10:55:00]
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Many leaders have instructed their followers to abide by the latest restrictions but not everyone.
In the religious city of Bad Vashem, as police warn those on the street they were violating ministry of health directives. Officers went through
the street streets, breaking up public prayer sessions and issuing fines, a scene that played out in many communities.
Here, police broke open a door and found an ultraorthodox man hiding inside. Police say they issued steep fines to the 20 people for illegal
gatherings. Police helicopters searched from above, spotting large prayer groups, forbidden under the latest restrictions.
In this city over the weekend, hundreds gathered for the funeral of a prominent rabbi with large crowds packing the streets. Health officials say
they're considering locking down this ultraorthodox city, an option rejected by the mayor.
In a fight that has united so much of humanity, here there are still sides and no matter who wins, the entire country is at risk of losing -- Oren
Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: If you would like to lend a helping hand, you can head over to cnn.com/impact and there we have listed some NGOs and charitable
organizations. We have curated those for you and you can pick the one you would like to support and do that online. Thanks for watching. More news
after a quick break.
[11:00:00]
END
