But as the pace of the outbreaks slows, some countries are beginning to scale down containment measures. Germany is among them. Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced plans to gradually ease her countrys lockdown. Germany will start that work next week, when it allows some small shops to reopen. Then, in early may, some schools will open their doors. But restaurants will remain closed except for takeout and delivery services. Major events will still be banned until the end of august. The situation in russia is getting worse as confirmed cases topped 24,000 on wednesday. One doctor used social media to shed light on the outbreaks crushing effect on the healthcare system. Moscow has seen 60 of infections in response the government is imposing strict, new conditions on travel within the city. The head of the World Health Organization says the agency is weighing the impact of americas funding freeze. We regret the decision of the president of the United States to order a hold in funding to the World Health Organization. We support, from the people and government of the United States, w. H. O. Works to improve the health of many of the worlds poorest and most vulnerable people. Donald trump said earlier, washington would suspend its contribution. He criticized the w. H. O. As china centric. Trump says the payments will be cut off while his administration reviews the w. H. O. s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Tedros said the organizations performamance will be assesesse member nations and others. He said areas for improvement will be identified, and there will be lessons for alall of uso learn. The u. S. S. Is the biggest overa donor to the w. H. O. , providing over 400 million last year. In tokyo, officials reported 127 new coronavirus cases, with six deaths, on wednesday. That brings the total infections in japans capital to more than 2,400. Translator covid19 is n no just a matter of peoples health. It is having a serious effect on economy, consumption, flow of people, and goods. It has affected peoples psychology. Leading to concern and uncertainty about the future. Its affecting tokyo and all other places across japan. The new infections come as authorities in tokyo and other prefectures are calling on residents to stay home as much as possible. Officials want to reduce human contact by 80 to curve the spread of the virus. Theyve also asked nonessential businesses to close. Now, a team of experts is urging people to strictly follow the request. They say the worstcase scenario could see more than 400,000 people die, nationwide, if no measures are taken to contain infections. Translator if the epidemic is allowed to spread, without any measures being taken, the number of seriously illll paties will exceed the number of artificial respiratorsrs at han. The team says 850,000 people could be in serious condiditiont the peak, and half of f them wod die. Infection clusters continue to emerge across japan. A total of 40 cases are linked to a f facility for people w wi intellectual disabilities i in hiroshima. Elelectronics manufacturer tosha says it will close all of its offices and factories in japan from monday until may 6th, when the governments state of Emergency Declaration expires. It aims to reduce, as much as possible, the number of employees who have to commute. About 76,000 people, including staff of affiliated companies, are expected to be affected. Telework is generally not an option for factory workers. As the government tightens travel restrictions and steps up quarantine measures, the number of visitors to japan drastically dropped last month. The Japan NationalTourism Organization estimates that about 194,000 visitors arrived in the country in march, down 93 from the same month last year. Across japan, officials announced more than 500 new cases on wednesday. About 8,70 people have tested positive for the virus, so far. That does not include 712 cases linked to the diamond princess cruise ship, which was quarantined in yokohama in february. More than 190 people have died, including 13 from the ship. South koreas ruling party is headed for a major win. Voters cast ballots across the country wednesday. Breaking a n nearly 30yearold turnout record, while wearing gloves and masks. Votes are still being counted. But local media project a majority win for the democratic party. Public broadcaster kbs says the party, along with its associates, will secure 180 seats out of 300. Its main opposition will net around 100. The United Future Party is now headed for a shakeup. Its chief says he will step down over the disappointing loss. The results paved the way for president moon jaein to push forward with policies to revive the countrtrys sluggish econom and reform the prosecutors office. He still has two years left in his president ial mandate. News agency says moons party saw a bump in polls because of how hes handled the current pandemic. The coronavirus radically reshaped both the campaign and election day. Candidates cancelled rallies and did away with handshakes. Voters t took unprecedented precautions at polls. South korea has seen over 10,500 infections, but numbers have leveled off recently. The government has been praised, both at home and abroad, for its approach to testing and contact tracing. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to change the way we live, one key way to reduce exposure outside the home is to avoid touching surface, such as door handles, as much as possible. Thats the goal of a u. S. Startup thats created a cuttingedge mobile restroom thats entirely handsfree. Nhk world has the tstory. San francisco, california. This looks like an ordinary pickup truck hauling a trailer or small container. But when stops on a street corner, you can open the door using a smartphone app. And inside is a clean, modern restroom. This mobile restroom that can be driven to where its needed was developed by a local startup with a very specific need in mind. Now, its gaining attention as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Fran heller is the startups founder and ceo. Five years ago, while training with a group of runners, one of them had a hard time finding a toilet. Many Public Restrooms in the u. S. Are unappealing, for various reasons. Some are occupied, overnight, by homeless people. While others are hotbeds f for drug dealersrs and u users. So heller decided to do something about it, and set out to create a netetwork of mobile restrooms. Today, with our Global Health crisis, it is even more important to be mindful of good hand hygiene, and not touching a surface if you dont have to is ideal. The door opens when you scan the qr code displayed on your smartphone. And it closes, aututomaticalall after a certain peperiod of tim. Getting in andnd out is entirel touch free. The restroom can even be delivered to affiliated business sites, such as the parking lot at the supermarket. The mobile restroom costs about 2 to use. A japanese plumbing and bathroom equipment manufacturer is investing in the startup to jointly develop new products. Whats also exciting about good to go is that theyre able to provide a safe, secure location for people to use a bathroom. Customers enjoy the bathroom experience much more than they did before. Using modern technologogy to provide a cleaner, safer experience as mankind faces the current pandemic. Next, the plan is to expand the production to meet the needs of people all over the world. Sugaya fumio, nhk world, san francisco. Its time now for World Weather with our meteorologist. So temperaturewise, its been quite a roller coaster ride this week in japan. We had a warm day yesterday, but looks like cooler weather is expected to come back again. Hi there. Absolutely true. And its going to continue for the next couple of days. As you see, towards the end of the weekend and into the new week, we will be experiencing those up and down trends in temperatures. And the weather, in general, across asia is going through that seesaw movement all because these pressure systems are perfectly situated to influence the weather in different ways, at different times. You can see keeping quite clear and dry and then below, bringing moisture and possibilities of showers in certain parts. Also, with that, comes slightly cooler air with a drop in temperatures along the northern and central parts of japan going in toward the eastern side of china, where rainfall will also be slowly spreading into that eastern coast. Beijing will be 22 degrees with showers expected. And then towards the southern parts, we see warmer temperatures for shanghai, taipei, towards manila, the philippines, and thailand, do expect warmer temperatures mid to upper 30s. Tokyo will be just around 17 for thursday. Dropping to 15 by friday and saturday. And, then, by sunday, increasing about six degrees more, to 21 degrees. The rest of japan is seeing temperatures slightly cooler than what we saw on wednesday. But it will get cool, again, towards the weekend. The United States has seen much colder weaeather for the north we are seeing snowfall in certain portions, such as the rockies and also closer towards the ohio valley, where we are seeing a highpressure system. But do expect some snowfall in certain parts, especially toward chicago. And then, also, temperatures and rainfall i expect to fluctuate towards miami, florida. We will see possibilities of some thunder showers, so, please, do take care there. Otherwise, just stay warm as much as you can. Your temperatures. Single digits in certain parts. Especially, towards denver, chicago, and crossing over in towards canada. We are expecting these cooler conditions to just set in. So it feels like winter right in the middle of spring, as we are seeing snowfall also in certain parts. And some of the snow will just turn into rainfall as temperatures slightly warm up quite a bit. Temperatures, very high for miami at about 32 degrees. And that is where i leave it for the weather. Stay warm and stay safe at all timings. Have have a great day. And thats all for this edition of nhk newsline. Im Yamamoto Miki in tokyo. Please stay safe and stay healthy. Thank you for joining us on nhk worldjapan. Welcome to newsline in depth. Im aiko doden. Today, we feature two stories about healthcare professionals, who are drawing on personal experiences to bring change to their fields. Their work is leading to improved medical care. Japan is particularly vulnerable to naturural disasters. As a result, comprehensive Disaster Management programs are in place. But identifying victims of disasters has long been problematic, as we saw in the deadly great east japan earthquake and tsunami. Dna, fingerprprints, and d dent records are used to identify remains. But in the chaos of the disaster aftermath, these procedures were sometimes neglected, resulting in more than 20 remains getting mixed up and handed over to the wrong families. One specialist, alarmed by this situation, has made it her mission to raise the bar on National Dental identification techniques. Isnt your average dentist. After the march 2011 disaster, she decided to devote her career to forensics. She put her expertise to use across her home prefecture of iwate, which was hit hard by the tsunami. Translator this is the chart we use to record data about the deceased. We start with the teeth at the back. Kumagai matches what she finds with existing dental records to figure out who the victim is. Like dna and fingerprints, each persons dental records are unique. They have become an important way of putting names to the missing or t the deceased. Kumagai still remembers one heartbreaking request she received at a morgue after the quake. It was from a man carrying a memo with his spouses dental information, which provided crucial clues. Translator he said to me, i think this body is my wife. Will you takake a look at her teeth . Dental characteristics are useful in identifying someone, only if we have their existing records to match them with. Otherwise, it is extremely difficult. Dental information has helped identify more than 1,200 of the victims. But the tsunami swept away clinics where many peoples records were kept. Kumagai thinks that if is this information had been centralized, it would have made a big difference. Translator if there was a database that was stored safely, it would play a vital role in identifying disaster victims. The Japan Dental Association wants to make that idea a reality. As a first step, its standardizing the format for dental records to make t them easier to share. Some regions are also starting to collect dental information for people who give their consent. But efforts to do that, on a national level, have been running up against rules on how personal information is handled. Translator if the law is changed to allow us to share this information, there could be a chahance to build this databa. Kumagai says her fellow dentists, also, need special training. Last month, she took part in a disaster drill to share her expertise. Dentists paired up to learn how to record the condition of each tooth. Translator you need to write precisely but also in a way that everyone can understand. And you need to do that in a chaotitic situation, so it takea lot of practice. More than 1,000 dentists from across the country were involved in the identification process after the great east japan earthquake. But kumagai says there was a big range in their level of expertise. She plans to continue training her colleagues so they are better prepared in future. Translator we cant ignore the lessons from 2011. We need to learn from that experience, and improve the identification system. While kumagai continues to push for change, about 60 sets of remains from the disaster are, still, without names. She hopes to help reunite those longlost victims with their families. Nhk world. Kumagai is resolutely pursuing change to the field. She organizes workshops where she invites dental forensic expertss from abroad to help thm their share knowledge. She, also, travels overseas to talk about the lessons of the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. But, also, that International Collaboration will become more common when disasters occur. Next, a story about an author of this book here, who is a Palliative Care doctor. Over the course of his career, he has treated scores of patients, including his own father. Helping them emotionally. Or so he assumed. His own cancer challenge has made him reassess patients needs, and given him deep insight into how to talk about them. He is using his own experience to improve methods and pass on this knowledge to doctors and nurses. He has spent the past 15 years caring for people at this palliative ward in aichi prefecture. Just over a year and a half ago, the 56yearold went to the toilet in the middle of the night, only to find he had passed a vast amount of blood. A malignant tumor was discovered in his stomach. Most of his stomach has, since, been removed. Showed the disease was not only extrtremely likely to return bu also spread. The significance of being both a cancer doctor and patient wasnt lost on ohashi. Despite the pain, he started writing candidly. In august 2019, his thoughts were published. Translator after facing the fact i dont have much longer left, i lost the motivation to do anything at all. Being diagnosed made me understand the true feelings of cancer sufferers, probably for the first time. I felt like i wanted to apologize to my former patients. Live a better life. Leave no regrets. Ohashi often used phrases like this when treating people with cancer, especially those at the terminal stage. Translator i used to encourage my patients to keep on being who they are, and to focus on improving their life. But after being diagnosed himself, ohashi realized the futility of his own mantras. Thinking about it was like getting a taste of his own medicine. Because he now knows the difficulty of living with cancer. For a start, there was pain from his huge incision, not to mention heartburn. Ohashis weight went from more than 100 kilograms to just 60. Often, hed sit by the sink all night because lying down made him sick. Translator on the one hand, ill lose weight and strength if i dont eat. But, on the other, eating leads to severe acid reflux which, also, causes me to lose strength. Ohashi, finally, knew what cancer felt like. Conforming to the mantra of other people was no longer an option. Translator its absolutely impossible to improve your life when youre so weak. But you know what . I still want to live. I decided to do just that. No matter what. Even if i stop being myself, i must live. Ohashis attitude has dramatically shifted. He is now taking it day by day. The doctor is to himself now. Opening up about the pain and anxiety is easier. His family have also come to understand that suffering from cancer is no translator say whatever you want to say. Be mean to us, if you like. If it helps you, it also gives us peace of mind. Ohashi still works four mornings a week at the Palliative Care ward. The way he speaks to his patients is a far cry from the doctor he once was. He no longer uses a onesizefitsall mechanism. Instead, ohashi opens up about his own ordeal. He tells his patientnts they dot need to behave as others expect, but be free and even selfish. Translator if it hurts, then say so. Any pain in your body, heart, and soul, its better to let it all out. Translator we are more like friends than d doctor and patie. Im really grateful you shared your experiences. Its helping me cope with the tremendous fear. Last spring, ohashis cancer spread to his liver. He knows death is on the horizon, and hes working to transcend the typical relationship boundaries seen in hospital. Translator itts difficulto live the life you might want. But i try to encourage people by sharing my own weaknesses. Its okay to be selfcentered. This is how im trying to survive and i wont stop. Clearly, ohashis desire to keep on going and help others do the same remains as strong as ever. Just dont tell him to live a better life. E. Yasusuko, nhk world. Ohashis main mantra for people with intractable illnesses, accept them and live mindfully. The importance of doctor patient communication as well as listening skills. He also counts the day he listens as opposed to counting down from life expectancy. And, in that w way, he sets s a record every day. Today, we saw how medical professionals are working from inside to bring broader advancements to their fields. Their scale may be small, but they a they are affecting big change. And thats it for todays newsline in depthth. Thank you for watching and see you again next time. We are divided, the virus exploits the cuts between us. Regretsead of the who donalds suspension of funding. You are watching al jazeera, live from london. Coming up, the eus top leader calls for Member States to Work Together on easing their lockdown, warning moving too fast could be devastating