Transcripts For ALJAZ NEWSHOUR 20240713

None of the stuff we see moving in and more uncertainty in Sport English Premier League is the latest coronavirus casualty all games are off until april at the earliest. And the us president has declared a National Emergency over the coronavirus pandemic and says hell likely soon be tested him self after possibly being exposed. Announcement frees up 50000000000 dollars to address the growing crisis that hes been accused of previously downplaying hours earlier the World Health Organization said the epicenter had moved from china to europe or italy has the highest number of infections and deaths spain is deciding declaring rather an emergency as other in new countries close their borders all straight meanwhile roared back from huge losses the day before european stocks were also up capping a rollercoaster week lets begin our coverage with alan fischer in washington d. C. From the u. S. President a dramatic announcement officially. Emergency. 2 very big words with more than 40 dead and the number of infected growing the president has opened up funding include states to take important steps to blunt the spread of the virus merging every state to set up Emergency Operation centers Effective Immediately and also asking every hospital in this country to activate its Emergency Preparedness plan so that they can meet the needs of americans everywhere the hospitals are very engaged but the president refused to accept the crisis is know much greater because testing wasnt more widely available no i dont take responsibility at all because we were given a. A set of circumstances and we were given rules regulations and specifications from a different time wasnt meant for this kind of an event with the kind of numbers that were talking about. The trumpet ministration is planning to introduce drive through testing there will be a website to tell people if they need the test and we have to get it whats missing is when these new measures will kick in the governments top expert says he hopes these steps will shorten the epidemic speaker what you seen now with this order is that were going to be able to remove the constraints so that people at the state the local level the individual physician all the way up through the federal government will have as many constraints as possible removed for them to do everything they possibly can so that we can implement the things that weve been talking about across the city on capitol hill the house of representatives is working on a relief bill to help people impacted by the virus it will provide paid sick leave for those who have to skip work and provide free widespread testing the 3 most important parts of this bill are testing testing testing this legislation to sell a taste for a coronavirus testing for everyone who need to test including the uninsured. President trump was forced to take action his public life across america is being impacted with Sports Events canceled schools closed events push polling its a remarkable step from a man who initially clean coronavirus was being hyped to politically damn each him and his reelection effort thank you thank you for. Democrats the Democratic Party leadership there they have said that they have reached a deal to. To for a bill rather to deal with what is happening with the coronavirus deal that we dont know yet if its reached the president so where things stand what is in this package that the democrats want to pass alan. Well were still not entirely clear the democrats say that they have a deal theyve been speaking to steve and each one has been representing the administration we are told that they have been around 13 phone calls a number of conversations donald trump was asked about that specifically it is News Conference he said that there was no deal because the democrats he claimed without offering any evidence had gone back and some of the things that the greed there was a suggestion that they were asking for too much which that was outside the scope of dealing with the coronavirus but certainly in the last hour were hearing from the democrats that a deal has been reached no the democrats had said to the administration look we either get bipartisan support to pass this or we will take a majority in the house and then pass it so this is going to go through with bipartisan support were told what happens next well then it goes to the senate when are they going to vote on it not until early next week were not expecting Mitch Mcconnell back in his office until monday afternoon so its going to be monday evening at the at least unless for some reason he calls everyone back over the weekend and that is highly unlikely at that point it will go to the president s desk but it was seen in the past some bills have gone to the president s desk and he at the very last minute says im not signing this certainly the democrats in the last hour suggesting that there is a deal alan theres probably in the history but its going to be a lot a made of the moment where donald trump said that he did not take responsibility for how all of this has played out what is been their reaction to that practice that coming from a president in the middle of a global emergency. Well its certainly the most remarkable quote you remember that back in 2016 when Donald Trumps to the Republican National convention and accepted the nomination to run for president he told all of america that there were many malays is in the United States but he alone could fix it and here we are 4 years later saying its not his responsibility people have been drawing parallels with previous president s who said the buck stops here in the oval office and here we have donald trump saying this is nothing to do with me the point i suspect he was trying to make is that the plan that was in place really didnt cope with something on this scale a pandemic as big as this and he was asked about scrapping an office which would deal with the threat that a pandemic would bring and he said he didnt know anything about it yet 2 weeks ago told the New York Times that no one had expected something as big as this so its again though toms story is not quite matching up and him really just reacting to that moment to what he thinks will get the best answer but clearly the markets were slightly heartened by donald trump they had their best day in more than a week but whether or not the American People feel more assured certainly anecdotal evidence would be that most people are getting their information from their localities their counties their cities their states before theyre even looking to guidance from the federal authorities about whats the best thing they could do its just an interesting note to say that were getting updated figures more than 40 dead right in 2100 cases that would suggest in the last 2 or 3 days the number of cases has doubled which is exactly what the experts said would happen and theyre hoping that the measures announced by donald trump will blunt that rise significantly over the coming week or so ok alan fischer with the latest from washington allan thank you actually when i said merchants a physician a Public Health professor at George Washington University Also the former balls were. City Health Commissioner she joins us via skype from the city of baltimore we appreciate your time very much so. Considering the position that you have had when there is a National Emergency what is it that you hear what this this mean for people in the Health Profession well im glad that the president declared a National Emergency because this is extremely serious its extremely serious down but were going to be expecting many tens of thousands of new cases in the coming weeks and to hear that level of gravity from the president is important we would expect as any local officials would resources to follow because this is going to be really very expensive we need resources to provide Health Insurance paid sick leave as you were speaking about we also need resources for local officials and Health Care Workers who are on the front lines and im hope that the president can also talk in coming days to not only about the need for testing which is so critical but also about the need for these aggressive social distancing measures and how much of a change this will be for peoples daily lives when its a very challenging time thats ahead those 2 things that you just mentioned though the president has not demonstrated either he is saying to hes been very cavalier about whether or not he actually personally will be tested and has even not stressed the importance of getting tests hes hes shaking everybodys hand so i think it bears repeating how significant those 2 things are it seems that the way that china and south korea finally got a handle on this was testing testing testing testing isnt that what we all need to be saying. Thats right testing testing testing combined with aggressive social distancing because this is a new disease a new virus for which there is no vaccine and no treatment which means that the only way that we can prevent person to person spread is by social distancing is by canceling these large events by taking matters into our own hands and not shaking hands. On low or sick having good hand in face hygiene staying 6 feet away from people testing ourselves isolating ourselves land we believe that we may have been in contact with people who could have the virus and who tested positive i mean individual actions make a big difference and the president and really all our leaders should be modeling that behavior what would you say right now so that perhaps we can do our part not to overwhelm the system we saying what is happening with a Hospital System in italy that its its its a burden its a could practically collapse are so many patients there and we know whats probably an about to come in the u. S. What would you say to somebody who is who is anxious that they may have sentence obviously obviously self isolate but your 1st reaction to want to be to rush to the emergency room is that what we should do. No although i do understand the fear that many people may have at this time the problem though is that we just dont have enough tests so if you have mild symptoms or no symptoms but are worried you cannot get a test because we just dont have enough and you certainly should not go to the hospital or the e. R. Because you will overwhelm the Healthcare System and youre not going to get a test anyway call your doctor if your concerns come up with a plan which your doctor hopefully in a short course will be able to get tests and that the other way that we can avoid overwhelming the Health Care System is knowing that the peak is not right now that peak is yet to come and the peak is going to be in a few weeks time which means that we can all help to reduce the rate of transmission and try to reduce that peak by preventing spread to each other keeping ourselves healthy and keeping our loved ones and those around us healthy too by voiding these Mass Gatherings right so basically were not totally helpless and this we can take a little bit of control dr wayne away and thank you very much and as dr when mentioned social distancing there were going to have much more on that later in the news hour for now u. S. Markets rally during President Trumps announcement the dow jones closed at 9. 4 percent recouping losses on thursday and london the footsie 100 mishal a surged 8 percent but again subsided in the afternoon trading finishing up 2 and a half percent but there wasnt any bounce back in asia tokyos nikkei index fell another 6 percent Christian Salome has more from new york. This press conference was timed shortly before the markets closed less than an hour before markets closed President Trump made his remarks pushing all 3 of the major stock indices up over 9 percent regaining most of what they lost on thursday i think there were a couple things that the president did and said that investors found particularly reassuring the 1st was talking about increasing Testing Capacity in the United States that was a big concern. Across the board and in this country and with investors in particular and he did this surrounded by not only Health Officials but corporate c. E. O. s representing Companies Like walmart and google and walgreens talking about what was being done to increase Testing Capacity and showing that businesses are going to be part of that solution i think thats something that investors in particular will find very reassuring he also announced that the Energy Department would be buying up strategic would be buying up oil to top off the Strategic Oil reserves for the country that was also something that the markets found very reassuring oil prices which had been plummeting went up a bit today Energy Stocks which also had been suffering as a result of lower demand and a price war between the russians and the saudis they went up today as well so there was good news there for investors brazils president says he has tested negative for corona virus in a Facebook Post shareable sonora says hes been given the all clear despite brazilian and some u. S. Media as well as his own son saying he had contracted the illness also in met several u. S. Officials over the weekend including president and Vice President mike pence one of most an hour as they caught the virus during the trip and is now in quarantine. European countries sitting on the continent thats the new at the center are pulling up drawbridges denmark is blocking entry to most foreigners while others states impose order checks as in the hayward reports spain has declared a state of emergency. Closing for the foreseeable future spain is in the grip of the Coronavirus Crisis and didnt madrid restaurants and shops are being told theyll have to shot only pharmacies and supermarkets will be open from saturday across space a state of emergency. Room until the new the state of emergency is a legal tool recognized in our constitution to confront a crisis as extraordinary as that which now faces the entire world and our own country in italy where public life has come to a standstill an entire nation some 60000000 people remain under quarantine but the spirits are important one of these the desperation to not tell pass we must have hope for we must be strong and white. Experts from china have arrived in italy to help bring in 30 tons of Vital Equipment from shanghai and experience on how they battle the outbreak. Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic wes more reported cases and is done the rest of the world combined apart from china across the rest of europe measures to stop the spread of the corona virus are being ramped up a ban on public gatherings of more than 100 people is being introduced in france schools universe is a nursery as well from monday in the u. K. Top flight football including the permian has been suspended until the beginning of april after several players a manager has tested positive for corona virus or are in self isolation and in a continent which prides itself on being some European Union Member States and now imposing tight restrictions on. Introducing border checks all as in the case of the Czech Republic stopping power and travel together of course we all want to protect our citizens from the spread of advice so lets look together at how we can do that and how we can do it most effectively. Certain controls may be justified but general travel bans are not seen as being the most effective by the World Health Organization its no surprise then that businesses are already taking a hit the Airline British Airways has more jobs will go as it prepares to deal with fewer people traveling attempting to put the brakes on this piracy it seems its getting harder every day and he would aljazeera the mayor of the italian city of florence. One of millions living under quarantine he says officials are doing everything they can to encourage people to stay home even if its difficult to do so. So in the past all right. Central tuscany now we have. 40 busy 470 people infected. But the situation is under control is not serious as the 30 baht only way to stop the contagion is to stay at home and not to move in fact the tuscan government and Italian Government promoted by state are told me youre a stock i like it and be banned now we have betty has focused to push people to to stay get told and told the school troll. Story everywhere around Security Forces will clear the streets of major cities within the next 24 hours in a renewed effort to fight the spread of the virus state media says shops streets and roads will be emptied iran is one of the countrys worst affected by this pandemic with the death toll of 514 and more than 11400 infections the country is struggling with the lack of life saving equipment and has asked for an emergency 5000000000. 00 loan from the International Monetary fund in misrata joins us live from tehran to tell us more about what the status of course is is trying to do in the next 24 hours. Well richelle the fact is here in iran ever since the outbreak began the countrys government a struggle to bring the spread under control you can observe it on a daily basis as the death toll and the number of cases continues to rise president Hassan Rouhani as president rouhani is government has taken criticism over and over again from across the political spectrum and most recently earlier this afternoon 100 members of parliament sent him a letter saying that he should take direct control away from the Health Ministry into his own hands to try to combat the spread of covert 19 in iran theres a real loss of trust in the governments ability to take this on alone last night we saw that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei issued a command to the chief of the Armed Forces Major general mohammad the buffery now he will lead a parallel task force with a much more military slant after their 1st meeting on friday morning mr bahari took to the airwaves of the state news machine and told the public some of what they intended on doing and most importantly within 24 hours the plan is that the military will begin to crowd control to try to stem the flow of large populations gathering at bazaars at supermarkets at shopping malls basically population denson vironment step to ron is the epicenter of the virus here in iran so were likely to see its about 3 in the morning here likely in the next 10 to 12 hours we will see a heavier police and military presence on the streets trying to control population movements within the city and were likely to see that play out all over the country and the fact is that this is a very clear signal from the government that the military is now stepping in to try and solve the problem that the civilian government was struggling to in terms of addressing this Public Health crisis i think people react to the thing. Well that really is the key question here according to a poll taken by the miscible government into iran 60 percent of the population of this city doesnt take the spread of the virus seriously and that really has been the problem for the government from the start it is no rose the persian new year thats like christmas and new years combined so you have a large crowds in supermarkets in Shopping Centers in in bazaars shopping for the Holiday Season despite the threats of the spread of this virus so people are likely to be frustrated even more the economy was already a problem many people say its a practicality to keep their shops open to continue to go to work its an economic necessity for them so there will be likely a great deal of frustration but just to give you a sense of the kind of message that is coming from the government in his letter to the Major General of mohamed bathory the Supreme Leader said that there is evidence of the fact that there is this covert 900 and the country might be a biological attack now there have been senior members of the military and the political machinery here in iran that have been spreading what is essentially an allegation a Conspiracy Theory that the United States might be behind the spread of the covert 1000. 00 fires here in the country but the Supreme Leader pushing this points hes the senior most person to have done it so far and what it really tells us is that its a message to the people of iran this is now a Security Matter a national Security Matter with perhaps irans most significant enemy at the center of it so its a signal to people to fall in line and follow government guidance but i can tell you earlier this evening on the streets of iran there was still traffic people were still Walking Around and several shops remained open and to make clear that is as you say a conspiracy aaron so thank you very much saying this rob a life in tehran. Take a look at how a few other nations are responding russia has started building a new hospital in moscow it will be able to trade up to 500 patients so far russia has recorded 45 infections no deaths the hospital project has raised concerns of the release for not reporting the true number of cases tunisia has suspended all prayers and mosques and banned public gatherings its also closed to its maritime border a sense of spending flights to and from italy a country a 16 confirmed coronavirus cases the pandemic is expected to hit the economy which relies heavily on tourism and many countries have been closing schools but not in taiwan where students are still going to class and faction rates there remain relatively low although the government has increased infection measures. And. Its a very special feeling i think that we can prevent bacteria from getting too close. To full we are less likely to spray our saliva on to other people were less likely to get infected easily. And corona virus continues to impact sport all around the globe especially football the worlds most watched competition the English Premier League has suspended matches until the start of april and officials are offering no guarantees the season will ever be finished. It was the Health Update from this premier League Manager that finally forced the worlds most lucrative league to take action just hours after was announced that off the bus mikel arteta had contracted coronavirus an emergency meeting was held in london its a very good decision weve got great League Management they made the right decision on the t. V. We. Got it in for you want it in the premier league even after they pitiful none of the snow will see. To wasnt the only case Callum Hudson adored was the 2nd e. P. L. Star to announce he tested positive and like carter to the teenager is currently in isolation as you may be away d for the last of which ive recovered from. Everybody for a week. On the pitch very soon the move to suspend football could cost the league millions but the decision is receiving support from those within the game what happens if one of the players contract this problem and unfortunately in the last 24 hours or so. I cant see any alternative than to suspend him and and see where we are in a few weeks the list of suspended competitions which already included the top divisions of spain and italy got even longer on friday with the announcement germanys been as legal as possible until early next month one of frances league also announced a halt to their season. Training sessions will continue because we dont have a date yet know when the chamber trip will resume but we have to continue training while taking precautions for the players and the people who are still here at the club. Games had been due to be played behind closed doors and from the problems with that policy were highlighted when parasites a man found gathered outside the stadium on wednesday for a european much in defiance of the order that game was in the Champions League which itself is now being suspended indefinitely europes governing body will meet on tuesday to decide whats next for football across the continent so how malik aljazeera. More coverage of the pandemic ahead but for now some of the other major news stories we are covering our president has condemned their strikes by the u. S. Which killed 6 people and of the u. S. Militarys Central Command has defended the strike saying they target iranian backed fighters. The u. S. Says the strikes were in response to a rocket attack that killed 3 soldiers on wednesday to american and a british soldier died after nearly 20 rockets were fired at a military base north west of baghdad so a fault in imports from baghdad that there are calls for more action against the u. S. And u. K. For that attack. Well there has been a flurry of reaction in response to these strikes from a wide range of political and military institution condemning them as violation of iraqs sovereignty of course this is then some very stark contrast to what weve heard come out of depended on today where general kind of mckinseys called the strikes a success strikes against positions of uranium back groups that would help keep calling troops safe that would help deter their ability to conduct future air strikes weve heard condemnations come from the joint Operations Command here in iraq which governs all military activity and what is particularly infuriated them is the fact that 5 members from the army and police were killed in these strikes these are Security Forces that used to partner with american troops in their fight against isis of course this is unintended and something that has been raged military actors here in europe also had a condemnation from the president s office the foreign minister has some passages from both the u. S. And the u. K. And weve also heard from some of these iranian backed groups who have used the casualties used as example of these strikes that have resulted in the deaths of 6 people to call for further action against u. S. Troops who are present here so the backlash from iraq is quite strong indeed turkey and russia have agreed on the details of a cease fire and serious breach in the plan was finalized after 4 days of talks in ankara now under the agreement turkish and Russian Forces will carry out joint patrols along the m 4 highway linking syrias eastern live starting on sunday a cease fire deal has largely held since march 5th after it was reached in moscow last week. Flooding in egypt has killed at least 21. 00 people 6 children are among the dead with most of the victims in rural areas cairos Water Authority cut off supplies after rising waters during 2 days of heavy rain overwhelmed the sewage system a former chief minister of india to mr kashmir has been released after 7 months in custody was arrested along with other leaders in india revoked kashmirs National Semi autonomy status in august it was charged with disturbing public order in delhi imposed a lockdown on the majority muslim populated territory after withdrawing its baton to me an inquiry into a scandal that led to the collapse of northern irelands government has found evidence of many errors but not corruption the socalled cash for ash scandal stem from a scheme that encouraged people to switch to renewable fuel but applicants could make huge profits by burning as much wood fuel as possible or their ireland was left without a government for 3 years after the power sharing assembly collapsed over that scandal. In the news hour turning off the lights the city that never sleeps goes into a state of emergency and chinas ambassador summoned over claims the coronavirus was brought on by the American Military and in support the 1st 3 races of the formula one season hit a red light and he has that story. But. We have some rather severe thunderstorms developing across southern areas of the United States that are really coming out of the Southern Plains you can see here by this sort of mass of clouds and sunny through saturday this is where we likely to see these severe thunderstorms pushing it away out of texas across into oklahoma and then pushing on tools the ohio valley and eventually of tools the Tennessee Valley but you can see here the temperature change 5 celsius in kansas meanwhile to the south and to the east of the system the very mild air in place 19 degrees and this is why we could well see some severe storms developing in the next 24 hours and tools the west widely unsubtle some wintry weather really. Sunday this is now becoming a lot more widespread and heavier across the Northern Areas of california if you shine. On sunday and not take you warm in the hive it is a better picture across much of the south and the eastern half United States on sunday and how much is not bad 11 celsius in washington d. C. And then across the caribbean and Central America very widely scattered showers nothing particularly heavy we have also more rain into areas of hispaniola also got to much of mexico similar stories you had to sunday on a bit cooler in the bahamas 23. Journey boot dong. Because if you dont believe theres a very for everybody theres a lot of corruption and Beautiful Lake the beautiful lady you have to be very patient and woody is also the same as a cinder he can see how i was introduced to it though when my father and my mother or a king fall king for the personal story to discover the source of one of the most expensive commodities sent from heaven an outrageous era. The refugees mean starting again. But building a new life in a new country is no easy task for what youre trying to. Witness follows one of the last Refugee Families from syria to be granted an american visa. From the personal sacrifices to the families try and. Beat the syrians on aljazeera. Ruses. The top stories right now on aljazeera this president has declared a National Emergency over the corner virus pandemic 50000000000. 00 will be freed up for states to combat the virus half a 1000000 extra corner virus tests will also become available next week and u. S. Stocks rallied as trump made that announcement the dow jones closed 9. 4 percent off for grouping the previous days historic losses european markets managed to make slight gains but tokyo and hong kong stock exchanges they closed down and the World Health Organization says europe is now the epicenter of the kind of virus pandemic with many countries going into lockdown denmark as the latest walking entry to most foreigners while other states are imposing border checks and in spain a state of emergency has been declared. The famously busy streets of new york city have been much emptier than usual as a state of emergency took effect more than 400 infections have been reported so far prompting authorities to open a drive through mobile Testing Center in new york aerials on to reports. Just 20 minutes north of new york city this is new rochelle new yorks governor sealed off the city of 80000 but more than 100 people contracted coronavirus the highest cluster anywhere in the u. S. Scenes like out of a Science Fiction movie a drive through testing station for corona virus the facility designed to handle 200 cars a day has one huge advantage over traditional testing methods according to new yorks governor its actually safer to keep them in their car so they can come in for the testing its less exposure overall back in new york this city is slowly grinding to a halt the metropolitan museum of art which hosts millions of visitors a year is now closed for those who rely on the crowds for their livelihoods like the Street Vendors out front its been terrible as business is the business. Museum is shut down is notorious so we have to tough it out until its all over. Ive never seen business this bad before never but its not just the met dozens of cultural institutions throughout new york city have been affected in the z. M. Of Natural History but Whitney Museum in new york city opera and even Carnegie Hall hall are closed because of coronavirus fierce. Taxi drivers tell us business has been slashed in half waited for hours for right at the airport. Every driver. Because theres no passengers or what. The lights have gone off on broadway to some of the worlds most popular shows among those ordered to close for a month missing out on leads of dollars in revenues and theres also a scarcity the shelves of the supermarket look like the streets largely empty new yorkers rushed to stock up fearing the worst of taking measures to protect themselves gabriels on doe. New york walt disney has halted production on all of its live action films the studio says its in the best interest of cast and crew members to let that movies were like the Little Mermaid remake which was actually due to begin filming in london next week on thursday it is the announce that is shutting its u. S. And european theme parks. And the Police States of 3 disney films including the lawn have become the latest to be pushed back its to reduce the risk of crime to virus spread and cinemas earlier this month the release of the new James Bond Film was postponed until november kenya has confirmed its 1st case its said to be a woman who travel to the United States and britain more now from and nairobi. Ethiopia has announced its 1st case who it says is a woman from japan guinea conakry has also announced its 1st case the ministry of health says its a belgian woman who arrived in the country a few days ago and shes now in an Isolation Unit that was actually built to try and contain west africas a bolo outbreak which started 7 years ago and here in kenya the minister of health has announced the countrys 1st case he said its a kenyan woman who travelled from the us through the u. K. And arrived here in kenya more than a week ago but only tested positive for corona virus on thursday so the ministry of health has since said that it started to try and contact all of the people that shes met travelling across the country over the last 8 days shes now in an Isolation Unit one of just over 130 beds that the government says it has prepared in case of an outbreak the ministry of health also said that people should take some great precautions to try and prevent further spread such as keeping one metre away from anyone who coughs and sneezes but thats just not possible for many kenyans who are travelling to and from work every day on crowded mini buses and also living in homes where several family members share a bedroom many people here depend on working for cash in hand just to be able to survive no work means no pay no pay means no food and a lot of the measures that are being talked about in prevention in europe and america simply wont be possible here such as working from home subsidising the incomes of people doing piecework and keeping distance to people here waiting to see how far and how fast the outbreak will spread not just in kenya but across subsaharan africa. This is something youve heard from the w. H. O. Consistently as they try to help countries manage this pandemic is something called social distancing so lets talk about that the idea is the Young Healthy symptom free people and places with no infections or just a few infections just stay home stay away from large events large gatherings social distancing also applies to one on one interactions the w. H. O. Says we should stay at least a metre away from anyone showing symptoms like coughing or sneezing and the u. S. Centers for Disease Control recommends double that distance and 0 physical contact the c. D. C. Also wants Visitor Restrictions that care home says elderly patients are the most at risk from cope and 19 the purpose of social distancing is only slightly slow down the virus so your Health System can cope the objectives are different and i think we have to be clear that social distancing measures are not a panacea social distancing managers are not going to stop this epidemic theyre not going to stop this pandemic. Purely in their own right. Large Public Events in australia including sporting matches are being cancelled and travelers are being asked to push back their overseas trips the government says millions of australians may end up contracting the virus within months. Reports from sydney. Some had been waiting for hours before the decision was made that a strike. Would not go ahead it many are angry they were told. Early a mclaren pulled out after one of its team members tested positive for corona virus formula one champion Lewis Hamilton accused organizers of pushing money for health if the rice wasnt cancelled terribly just supported the event count go ahead the reasons for that. Spectators were banned from watching the one Day International cricket match in sydney between a stray in new zealand which meant an empty stadium and cash registers on thursday the government was still advising people to attend Public Events but in an effort to fight the virus and off to pressure from Health Experts that quickly changed we will be advising against. Organized. Norm essential gatherings of 500 people. The Prime Minister also told us not to travel overseas if it wasnt essential with financial pressure on the ideation industry travel agent Flight Center rees closing 100 stalls across the country the number of job losses isnt clear and Virgin Australia is cutting flights to cope with the fulling demond. The number of cases in australia. To rise and no surprise it is hitting the economy as well as the share market we have stocks plummeting the Australian Government has announced a 7000000000. 00 stimulus package handing out 750. 00 payments to some to try and prevent a recession for the 1st time in 29 years. Among those industries in hospitals with the barossa or hollywood Actor Tom Hanks and his wife 3 she will soon as well as the nations harlem affairs minister. Who now have to work from home for a while. Aljazeera sydney hundreds of filipinos are trying to get out of the capital manila after president go to turkey announced a travel ban on the city approved a sweeping lockdown of manilas 12000000 people on thursday the restrictions will start on sunday but Authorities Say it wont affect the delivery of goods the philippines has 64 cases of corona virus and 5 people there have died. As a number of new krona bias and factions continues its downward trend in china other Asian Countries are beefing up measures to limit the effect on their economies one has more from kuala lumpur. Major stock markets in asia took their cue from wall street overnight tumble on thursday and extend their losses from the day before japans nikkei index plunged by more than 10 percent in early trade but recovered to close 6 percent lower in south Korea Financial regulators imposed a half year ban on short selling starting on monday the 1st time its done so since 2011 in a bid to curb volatility its going to be very hard to stabilize the markets what were going to need to see is the slowdown in the case in that start. But i think youve got the biggest problem Global Markets the u. S. Which is so low Interest Rates and so on. You know its hard for asian markets to bounce back when theres what i would consider a big overhang there beyond the stock markets more visible signs that the Global Economy is taking a hit singapore announced it will stop allowing cruise ships to dock with immediate effect gone are the large crowds that usually busy airports across the region as people avoid unnecessary travel and countries impose entry restrictions several airlines have asked employees to take unpaid leave in manila people were stocking up on essential a day after the philippine president or 3 go to terre day said Domestic Travel to and from Metropolitan Manila would be suspended for a month. Analysts say the move may weaken Economic Growth but many residents agree with the measure that. Money not being logged on is ok instead of the virus spreading im in favor of it because its better to do it not before they let us know that there are so many cases. In indonesia the government has started a campaign to disinfect thousands of mosques to prevent the spread of corona virus here in malaysia there are concerns that could be a sudden spike in confirmed cases after at least a dozen infections were linked to brant held. Up 2 weeks ago Health Officials estimate as many as 16000 people attended the religious gathering but amid the gloom there is some positive news china reported 8 new cases as of thursday the lowest daily figure since reporting began in january south korea to continue the downward trend reporting more recoveries than infections on friday Florence Louis aljazeera. Their state department has called the Chinese Ambassador in to discuss rumors that the virus may have originated in america a Conspiracy Theory far circulated on the fringes of the internet and Russian Media but its increasingly becoming an official chinese line and her chappelle explains. Controlling the narrative were changing it completely as president xi jinping visited this week for the 1st time since the beginning of the current Virus Outbreak his government went on the defensive aggressively responding to another message coming from washington this is the one corona virus that started in china and is now spreading throughout the world as cases rise in the United States its officials are emphasizing that the pandemic was quote made in china that this virus did not originate United States originated province in china it originated some time ago unfortunately rather than using best practices this outbreak. Was covered up such comments by senior u. S. Officials have infuriated the Chinese Government its Foreign Ministry had this to say. Move on the urge that u. S. Officials to respect objective facts and International Public opinion and spend time on preventing and controlling the epidemic and strengthening relevant cooperation rather than attacking slandering or complaining about others u. S. Officials have been pushing back against conspiracy theories floating around the internet and Chinese Media that the corona virus is an american bio weapon so we could have people in the United States dying for what appears to be influenza when in fact it could be the corona virus work over 90 some cases have been there actually diagnosed when the United States today. That testimony to congress by the director of the centers for Disease Control was insured by a chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman to support the theory that the virus may have originated in the United States and. Beijing has also pushed the narrative that the virus was brought to china by the u. S. Military nearly 250 members of the u. S. Military were in wu han in october last year along with athletes from 100 other nations to take part in the World Military games the theory has now been widely circulated by state aligned media chinas new position on the origins of the corona Virus Outbreak appears to contradict its own assessment from january and i canna from what we can see now the origin is the wild animals sold in the Seafood Market with the number of new cases on the decline in who bay province beijing appears to have taken control of the outbreak but it also wants to make sure the world doesnt blame china for one of the Worst Health Crises in a decade and or chapell aljazeera. So head and sport. First major of the season is postponed like many other competitions faces precedented upheaval. Its a tough time for the afghan Security Forces taliban attacks have increased suffering heavy casualties and the prospect of a withdrawal of u. S. Forces hangs over them yet young men are still joining up some for reasons for others is the only way to get a job despite the risks. And bomb disposal engineer in Helmand Province he knew the risks he was blinded in both eyes and lost a leg when a roadside device exploded as you try to defuse it always aware of the danger of seeing friends wounded while working on mines i wasnt scared to lose an arm or a leg is to sacrifice we have to like to serve this country this time the differences and similarities. Of cultures across the wound is another matter when you call the really good news in Current Affairs that matter to you. Their sport with andy. Thank you very much the worlds most watched football competition the English Premier League has suspended all matches and so the start of april and officials are offering no guarantees that the season well i will be finished on thursday also manage to make our tests are revealed he tested positive for corona virus assets and has since issued a statement via social media saying hes feeling better already it was a meeting of League Officials on friday held in london all games often now the league might resume when i pull the 4th. Innings a very good decision weve got great League Management they made the right decision to leave you before italy and when you wanted him you wanted in the premier league. I put up or none of the snow well see. Chelsea winger Callum Hudson has also confirmed hes tested positive for the virus what for Manchester City bournemouth and everton also checking on players with corona virus symptoms has posted this message on social media as you may be aware i had the virus d for the last couple of days which ive recovered from of following the Health Guidelines and selflessly myself from everybody for the week. On the picture recent. Well some Big Decisions being made across european football this friday european footballs governing body u. I. For has suspended all of its competitions including the Champions League and Europa League the top 2 leagues in france will ive also been postponed the have been plans to play games behind closed doors and the german bunds league has followed suit all games holds it until early april. Well governing body faith is asking for any International Games scheduled for march or april to be cold off fifa say rules which normally oblige cups to release players for their National Team matches wont apply World Cup Qualifiers in both a jd and south america theyve already been postponed. The australian formula one grown pretty hits a last minute red light the start of f one season is now being pushed back and so may 300000 spectators have been due to its handy 3 day events in melbourne a member of the mclaren seem to supposed to fix a virus on thursday upcoming races in bahrain and vietnam also off i want to add our thoughts with those individuals that have been affected by this. Also want to express our disappointment on behalf of the fans this is a race we always look forward to great fans here were sorry not to have it but its been a very fluid situation i think weve made the right decisions we work well with our partners what consolation came just as the 1st practice session was about to take place in melbourne we spoke to a foreign journalist phil duncan who explained why its an open eyes this sort of long so might the cool. But it seems were told that the race was off but at the same time though the local promoters he was telling breakfast t. V. That the race was still going ahead and we were in a fast food situation where hundreds of fans or thousands of fans potentially were queuing up outside the albert park gates to go in on the premise that the race was still going ahead so it was a bad sort of position for whom we want to be in their argument will be that these things take time. That they came together in the early hours of friday morning to since the sides months it seems the stakeholders the governing body the f. A. A. Inform on itself the regs are no longer go ahead and they have to get all the bits and bobs together for that to take place and weve seen the chart the chinese going precanceled that was something that that was done over many days weeks and really this situation was forced on form one after a mechanic from a plant said supposed to coronavirus i think they felt they had to put all the procedures in place before they can officially say thats it were not going to have a race in it in on their defense and their defense is just too tight i think the argument against what happened is that in communicating very well there werent very many updates so we had a situation where were going through through the night with no real official confirmation that rates have been canceled and that was something that. Bosses and the f. A. A. Will be criticised over for their handling of how long it actually did take for them to say look this race is going head. First major of the year the masters has been postponed it has been due to tee off on april the 9th all other tournament on north americas leading tour theyve been called off in the meantime as well on thursday around one of the players championship in florida did say place organizes had intended to play the final 3 rounds without spectators but later changed their minds. It ultimately became a matter of when not if we would need to call it a day. Our goal now is to focus on a plan for the near and long term and maintain the strength weve built through our organization over the past 51 years sri lankas test series against england has been called off the series was due to Begin Next Week some International Cricket is carrying on with australia playing the 31 Day Internationals against new zealand behind closed doors philip exhorts relays been snuffed out for now the flames of the birthplace of the games in greece on thursday was due to told the country before heading to japan but organizers said large crowds was still gathering to see the flame despite requests for them to stay away john kerry games i was still set to go ahead as planned and was sporting outlaw in the United Kingdom this week has been horseracing chairman festival over 4 days more than 200000 fans have attended one of the countrys most popular sporting events that culminated with fridays gold cup organizers said they were following governments advice and did all they could see sky was saif. Ok but as always sport for not more lights so this crisis has people around the world worried understandably so the best advice that were hearing from medical experts over and over is to wash your hands often and for 20 seconds so theres been the suggestion you can sing happy birthday twice to get just the right time that is not the only song that this works with. Yes the legendary Gloria Gaynor setting an example of how to survive a pandemic. Our website al jazeera dot com will keep across all the news of this pandemic thank you for joining me for the this last hour and a half to be here much more news in just a moment. Winning programming from International Film made because. That way ill just see arrests sets the stage for egypt to be through here will be the life of the lawyers the life of the ninetys dead everybody is the global x. But its getting were going to let the planet go through ruin because were not do we use obvious things open your eyes to an alternative view of the world today on aljazeera. With a plummeting birthrate and families moving to the cities south koreas rule schools are shutting down one no one east meets the grandmas who is saving these schools while finally getting an education on aljazeera full of struggles full of pleasure that at the moment i mean im there but theyre still a valid at the same theme and you need to make one make blankly funny and you go west on me having an intimate look at life in cuba if you dont mind i dont know what im going to say resolutely again and as the president i would have been i mean my leave my cuba. On aljazeera. Aljazeera right will ever meet. I am officially declaring a National Emergency as President Donald Trump ramps up his response battling to show hes addressing the outbreak after playing it down for weeks at the u. S. And Europe Markets surged after President Trumps from mark spacious still closed in the red. Im Richelle Carey this is al jazeera live from doha more coronavirus developments dominate this bulletin including a state of emergency is already taking effect in spain as other European Countries shut out foreign visitors. Bureau