Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Ten 20200427

And asking if the new scheme will meet their needs. Also tonight we consider if the lockdown is already under strain in some areas, after police in North Yorkshire reported problems at the weekend. In italy, seven weeks after quarantine was imposed, the government announces a relaxation from next monday. And we report on life under lockdown in one of britains smallest communities, on the isle of mull. And coming up in sport on bbc news hopes for a premier league restart, as clubs including arsenal begin their return to training under strict coronavirus isolation rules. Good evening. The Prime Minister returned to work today at number ten, more than three weeks after he was admitted to hospital with the effects of coronavirus. After he was admitted to hospital in a statement, he warned that the United Kingdom was at the moment of maximum risk, and he urged people not to lose it sounds kind of crazy but that is really what they are doing. What is it like being back at work . Nervous but im taking every safety precaution i can. How long have you been to work . May be a month and a half, two months. Has been tough . Very. I had to get out here and risk it. What happening in georgia is a great big experiment, is it possible, is it prudent to county commissioner georgia mami lobbied the governor to allow more businesses to open. Many heaters wont get enough wants a lot of the emotion and the fear from this scenario is behind us, we will be able to look back and say ok, you may have lost your business but it wasnt because the state told you you couldnt open. It was because the demand was diminished from the effect of a virus. For businesses in monroe county, not an easy decision to reopen or not. For now, this pizza restaurant will remain ta keaway pizza restaurant will remain takeaway only but they are pleased to have the choice. That has been the greatest thing, that we as shop owners were able to make our own decisions and we dontjudge any other person, because everybody is like situation, financially, employee wise, is completely different. Out on the coast, there are some signs that some georgians are some signs that some georgians are tiring of the restrictions, many of which have not been relaxed. The authorities tell the beach you can for example get a tattoo or a haircut in georgia but not a p pa re ntly haircut in georgia but not apparently a tan. As long as people we re apparently a tan. As long as people were up, moving around, walking, running. If you want some form of exercise, they are in compliance. This is savannah, georgias oldest city. I think that has been our issue. We are sitting here and hearing it and looking at each other, saying do theyjust say that . Neither can they fully protect customers or importantly employees. They are frightened, they are perplexed about what this means for them. Going to work and now having to go home to their loved ones or their families, they are very concerned and unfortunately we dont have much of a plan because it has caught a lot of us off guard. Certainly not supported by data and science at this time. We are just telling people to protect themselves as best they can. The world will now be watching georgia. How far is it possible to leave it to individuals and businesses to protect themselves. To let them decide what risk to take. We are all very much heading into the unknown. David reporting from georgia. Tens of millions of coronavirus tests will be needed for the us to reopen safely and the president will talk about testing today. This comes as the white house cancelled the daily coronavirus news briefing only to reschedule in a different form. For more, cathy k. Is the president trying to reset after his comments about disinfectant caused all that chaos . We have had kind of mixed messages, because over the course of the weekend, the president was saying, im not on twitter, i am the weekend, the president was saying, im not on twitter, iam not going to have these press briefings they are just fantastic ratings for what he calls the Fake News Media and then we have a confusing day when there was going to be a press briefing and then it was cancelled, and then it was back on again, but without the task force to talk about testing. If it is not chaotic, it kind of gives the impression of being chaotic in the white house, and you are right. Those thursday comments about ingesting disinfectant have really dominated the conversation for the last few days, with the president is getting pushback from democrats, even from some republicans and getting pushback of course from the companies that make disinfectant as well, and then some Health Authorities around the country having to say we have put out a warning because we are getting so many enquiries about whether people should be ingesting disinfectant. It will be seen i think as a turning point for the president who said he was no longer going to have any more of these press briefings but here we are on monday and there was another one. But he will make an announcement on testing we are told, just 5. 4 million americans have been tested for coronavirus, how much will he ramp it up . So testing has got better in the us over the course of the last month, but governors and states are still not saying it is enough. Back in march, on the 6th of march, the president said that anyone who wanted a test in america could get one. Here we are at the end of april and that is still not the case. The president of the white house understands there is this clamourfor the white house understands there is this clamour for more testing, and he has been meeting today with ceos to talk about how to ramp up the testing of the united states. At the same time, he said today again, the white house is doing an excellent job when it comes to testing. When you rank america compared to other countries around the world though, it is still Something Like 38th in terms of per capita testing, which is what really matters in the country, how many people you are testing as a proportion of the population, and everybody now on the Public Health side sees testing as the key to doing what those states are doing, which is starting to want to reopen. The president was on the phone with governors from around the nation today. What is he hearing from them about this tension about reopening . Look, it is such an interesting mix. As the president himself has said publicly, this is a puzzle, the united states. It is not one country. In the sense that it has lots of different states doing their own separate things and there is no one national strategy. And we are getting mixed reports from different states of beaches being crowded in california, and the governor having to come out and say look, this is not what we want, because even there was a beautiful sunny weekend in california and there is a heat wave, that doesnt mean the virus will go away. Youve got similar reports from some parts of georgia of beaches being absolutely swamped over the course of their weekend, and then restau ra nt of their weekend, and then restaurant saying no, we are not confident about doing that. If you look at all the polling around this, americans are quite reluctant to go back early, compared to other countries, and they are trusting their governors more than the message coming from the white house, and the message again from governors on the core with president trump, we need more testing. Cathy k, thank you. For our International Viewers watching on bbc news, we will have additional coverage of the president s press conference later on, please stay with us. How to open up americas economy while keeping the virus under control is the big juggling act. For more on the medical side, lets turn to dr craig spencer, director of Global Health in emergency medicine at Columbia University medical center. Is it even at peak infection yet in america yet . We know there are things to follow, i am not a politician, i am a physician taking ca re of politician, i am a physician taking care of covert patients but what the white house plan has had is a decrease in the number of cases over the span of a couple of weeks, as well as a massive increase in the amount of testing. We know that in georgia and many other states that are already opening, that has not happened, so by that criteria they are not saved. Concern is the virus is continuing to spread in the communities, in barber shops, restau ra nts a nd communities, in barber shops, restaurants and all other places of business that as soon opened back up the virus will spread, it will increase in a couple of weeks and we will be back in the same situation we we re will be back in the same situation we were in and we will warning about just a month ago. What a lot of people dont recognise is that we did this social distancing notjust to spread stop the spread of the virus but to buy us time to ramp up testing, think of next steps, and u nfortu nately we testing, think of next steps, and unfortunately we havent done that second part very well. Here in new york, there were still 1000 new cases yesterday, more than 300 people died. As the curve really flattening here . New york u nfortu nately flattening here . New york unfortunately is really the best case scenario. Ive been surprised at how willing my neighbours here in new york city have been to stay home and wear masks and do things in a city well known for being quite stubborn. A lot of my neighbours in our communities have stepped up to stop the spread of this virus will stop the spread of this virus will stop we are on the back end of this, we are still at a critical high number of new cases, new people going into the icy you, put on ventilators and dying. It sounds better than it was a week ago but it is still much worse than it was two months ago. We again are also here in new york need to be reminded that the virus is still in our communities, we still have a huge percentage of tests coming back as positive, which means the virus is circulating and as soon as we go back out and go back to some kind of normal activity of the virus will continue to spread to more will go to the hospital and more will end up dying. In new york, Antibody Testing suggests more than 20 of us have had the virus. What do you make of that statistic . It is we had to say. Antibody testing is tough, it is looking at blood to see if people have antibodies, if they have some type of immunity, meaning have they been affected . A lot of these tests are not perfect, especially the way they were done, the sample itself is not representative of the larger city or state. It may be as high as 20 or 25 , wejust dont city or state. It may be as high as 20 or 25 , we just dont know. City or state. It may be as high as 20 or 25 , wejust dont know. What it does say is probably more people have been infected and we are aware of, testing has been limited but we need to be aware that Antibody Testing alone is not going to be the key to opening up. These tests are not reliable enough to determine on a person by person basis whether you have been infected, whether you are safe from reinfection. We also dont know what antibodies mean and whether they actually infer any type of immunity, meaning if you were infected once, we dont know how long you were infected if at all. So we need to be really careful in how we need to be really careful in how we rely on these antibodies, and what we use them for, in terms of deciding on whether to open up certain areas or not. Dr spencer, thank you forjoining us. In other news. In germany, its now compulsory to wear facemasks on public transport and in most shops, as part of the fight against corona virus. Against coronavirus. With its new rules, germany follows in the footsteps of other European Countries where mask wearing is mandatory, including austria, poland and the czech republic. New zealands Prime Ministerjacinda ardern says the coronavirus has been eliminated in her country. Community transmission has stopped and new cases have been in Single Digits for several days. Officials are easing the lockdown, but most people will still be required to remain at home. Construction work has restarted on Notre Dame Cathedral in paris, a year after it was seriously damaged by fire. Restoration was suspended to comply with corona virus restrictions, but that order has now been lifted. Last years fire destroyed the 850 year old cathedrals spire and roof. Youre watching bbc world news america. Still to come on tonights programme. The light at the end of a very long tunnel for italy. How one of europes worst affected countries is now planning its comback. Speculation has been swirling over the health of the north korean leader. Officials in neighbouring south korea have dismissed reports that kim jong unis seriously ill. But others point out that he hasnt been seen in weeks, and was recently a no show for a Major National celebration. The bbcs laura bicker has more. So what is the latest about where kim jong un so what is the latest about where kimjong un might be . Today the Unification Ministry in south korea said it could say with some certainty that there was no unusual activity in north korea. Well, what does that tell us . It certainly doesnt confirm or deny any of the rumours that kim jong un may be dead, gravely ill, recovering from heart surgery or hiding from covid 19 at his resort. These are many of the rumours currently circulating around the world. It certainly does not confirm or deny those. What they are trying to do is certainly downplay this swell of speculation surrounding kim jong un. Britains Prime Minister Boris Johnson is back at work after recovering from coronavirus. He says there are real signs that the country is passing through the peak of the pandemic. But, he warned that lifting the stay at home restrictions too soon could lead to a new wave of death. Heres our Political Editor laura kuenssberg. The lectern is kept for major moments. Borisjohnson ready to show hes back in residence. Not ready to say in detail whats coming next. I want to thank you, the people of this country, for the sheer grit and guts youve shown, and are continuing to show. If this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger which, i can tell you from personal experience, it is then this is the moment when we have begun, together, to wrestle it to the floor. But the thinking in number 10 is that the virus is not yet down and out, and the risk of another more deadly outbreak outweighs immediate concerns over the economy. I understand your impatience. I share your anxiety. A couple of weeks ago we had met the rooks in wolverhampton who had almost been enjoying the sunshine of lockdown but lucy is now eager to hear more 35 days in. The mac where we wa nt hear more 35 days in. The mac where we want to hear what life might look like after lockdown. We are having those conversations every day up and down the country in our living rooms and if the government thinks to have that conversation with us might confuse us is a bit patronising. I think we need to have some hope. We first met Hector Woodhouse will stop this is the view from my office window. Who lives on his own nearly a month ago. It can be a bit depressing. Yes, you do feel lonely a bit, because your routine becomes completely different. But youve still got to try and keep a sense of humour, and by gosh, were going to need that. If ministers and their scientists continue to see the pace of the disease slow, its possible there could at least be a plan about there could at least be a plan about the plan by the end of the week. Labour believes they must. What we are seeing is lots of countries now setting out their plan for what happens next, and i dont want the United Kingdom to be behind the curve, so what im saying is set out the principles, lets debate them andi the principles, lets debate them and i hope we can all get behind them. The political could hardly be more personalfor this more personal for this number ten, but the whole countrys recovery will lag behind the Prime Ministers own. It was exactly seven weeks ago that italy locked down. Starting next monday, parks will reopen and manufacturing and construction can start up again. The government there says after europes worst coronavirus outbreak, it will move slowly. 0ur rome correspondent, mark lowen, sent this report. For 30 years, theyve been cooking up italian classics in this family run business. For seven weeks, its been delivery only, but from next monday, they can offer takeaway, too, as the worlds First National lockdown of the pandemic starts to ease. Therell be strict rules on hygiene and numbers, but for the owners daughter, its welcome. Translation on one hand, its a relief because were overcoming the emergency stage of the outbreak and can see a glimmer of hope, but on the other, were full of sorrow because it wont be a simple return to normality. The lockdown has had a catastrophic impact. Its been the sacrifice of the lifetime to build our restaurant. We can reopen, but many wont. As italy starts to unlock, parks, too, will open up and outdoor exercise will be allowed, a breath of fresh air for veronica and herfour year old son, tito. Im happy ill be able to play inside, he says, and im look forward to feeding the ducks. Movement, too, will be eased. The Police Checks will remain, but people will be allowed to travel within their own region and to visit relatives with face masks, a taste of freedom for a nation thats endured such suffering. This is a road map to reopening by a government keen to show italians that their sacrifices are paying off. Italys National Lockdown came exactly two weeks before that of britain. The authorities here feel that people now deserve to see a way out so that patience doesnt fray. But it is already. The clergy frustrated that Church Services cant resume, though small funerals can. The Italian Business Group says it compromises freedom of religion. I think that the soul of the people need to be nourished, not only by food, but even by spiritual sources. So, i think that the government should re think about it in short times. The lockdown has been italys salvation, and lifting it too early could be its curse. But easing it aims to give italy faith that it will recover one day. Mark lowen, bbc news, rome. Here in the us, hard hit Small Businesses were able to apply for another three hundred and ten billion dollars in government aid this morning and the Computer System was so overwhelmed with applications, that it crashed within an hour of opening. As Michelle Fleury reports from brooklyn, restaurants that have been forced to close their doors are struggling to remain solvent. 0vernight bars and restaurants were forced to close their doors in South Brooklyn because of the coronavirus outbreak. This wine bar now sits empty. This has been a very stressful time, very stressful time. John owns the owls head wine bar. Caught in an impossible situation, he was forced to get creative. He now offers takeout and delivery. Husbauers social Media Presence is whats driving sales will stop thats allowed him to keep on his three staff, but the bills are still mounting. I still dont know what my dealings with my landlord or what arrangements im going to have. Hes being nice right now but we have no idea what that means in the future. Will be oh back rinse . For others, the decision to stay open was too big a gamble, and Greenwood Park shut and all 24 staff were laid off, like more than 80 of restaurant workers state wide. We applied for everything we could immediately, the first day. The Us Government created the paycheque protection programme, ppp. Loans to cover for eight weeks. Larry hyland, one of Greenwood Parks owners, applied for that help, but he says it is flawed. Half the staff probably wont even want to come back. They make more money now on unemployment and i wouldnt wa nt now on unemployment and i wouldnt want to go back either if i were them andl want to go back either if i were them and i wouldnt want to ask them to. They make less money until the money runs out, and then we dont get open. The timing of the pandemic has hit larry particularly hard. The summer months are the busiest, this season they will be unlike any other. Even if he can reopen, larry doubts it will be the same. Other. Even if he can reopen, larry doubts it will be the samelj other. Even if he can reopen, larry doubts it will be the same. I cant see us ever being able to be full again, not fora see us ever being able to be full again, not for a long time, not until this vaccine or whatever they are talking about comes out. Restau ra nts accou nt are talking about comes out. Restaurants account for the majority of the countrys jobs lost, yet they received less than 9 of the first round of Small Business loans. In a recent survey, one in four american restau ra nt recent survey, one in four american restaurant said they wouldnt make it if the lockdown is lasted another month, and they argue it is notjust an economic issue, it is also a cultural one. After all, bars and restau ra nts cultural one. After all, bars and restaurants are where we go to celebrate, to commiserate, to reconnect with old friends and to make new ones, and right now they need help. Michelle fleury, bbc news, new york. Lets recap our top stories now. There are now three million confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world. Nearly one third of them are right here in the united states. President trump is announcing new federal guidelines on testing this evening. He had said over the weekend that his regular press briefings were a waste of time. And borisjohnson is back at work, following his recovery from covid 19. The british Prime Minister said lockdown measures would not be relaxed too soon. You can find much more on the website. And check it out on twitter. I am website. And check it out on twitter. Iam laura website. And check it out on twitter. I am laura trevelyan, thank you for watching bbc world news america. Take care and have a good night. You are watching the bbc news channel. In case you were wondering what happened to bbc 0nes news at ten, we were originally waiting for a press co nfe re nce ten, we were originally waiting for a press conference by donald trump in the rose garden at the white house. Now, he has delayed that. We will be returning to that when he starts, we think, in a few minutes time. Before we go back to washington for that press conference, lets catch up that press conference, lets catch up with the weather. Thank you for tuning infor up with the weather. Thank you for tuning in for the forecast for the next seven to ten days. Some big changes on the way. Unlike the last few weeks, this week is expected to bring frequent spells of rain. It is also going to a cooler, also going to be quite a bit cooler, and also the pollen levels will be quite a bit lower, so perhaps some good news there for hay fever sufferers. The rain clouds will be coming in from a couple of directions over the next few days, the satellite image shows clouds bring to the south of us, so that is rainfor bring to the south of us, so that is rain for tuesday, and this weather front here is the one that will come our way on wednesday. Lets pick up on the first out of rain. Here it is, early hours of tuesday affecting seven parts of the uk. Could be quite heavy in the morning, but notice in the northern two thirds of the country, dry, clearand notice in the northern two thirds of the country, dry, clear and pretty chilly first thing. There will be sunshine for shorter places like newcastle, belfast, belfastand edinburgh and it will stay fine here for much of the day, whereas in the south, this slow moving area of cloud and rain giving a really chilly day too many of the southern towns and cities, notjust in the south but also in the midlands, it could be around nine or 10 degrees. That was tuesdays wet weather across the south. As another spell of rain heading our way on wednesday brought by this area of low pressure. You can see weather fronts moving across the uk there. The difference compared to tuesday will be rather than a coming in from the south and being slow moving, its actually coming in from the west, pushed by some pretty fresh winds. So that means that any towns and cities should see maybe a couple of hours worth of rainfall, rather than a wash out of a tuesday that were going to have in the south. So wednesday, it is a weather front that will be moving relatively swiftly across the uk, with showers following in behind. Then thursday, we continue to see that low pressure dominating our weather. There will be showers around and there is another low pressure out in the atlantic. We can see we are getting different weather pattern to what we have been used to for weeks now. It has just been so settled, calm, and incredibly dry. Now we are seeing one weather front after the other. This is thursdays weather forecast, not a wall of water by any means and the fact there will be plenty of sunny spells around too, but there will be hit and miss showers, and those temperatures in some areas perhaps lower than the average of the year. Friday, we can see some clear weather across northern and eastern areas, but showers coming in from the south, so in fact it does look as though the end of the week will start to be pretty showery as well. That means with low pressure heading our way, the following weekend will be also pretty u nsettled. Weekend will be also pretty unsettled. This weekend, so weather fronts moving across the country, and that spells rain but it may end up and that spells rain but it may end up being quite sunny for a time on saturday. This is still a long way off. These weather fronts sometimes tend to be a little bit faster or slower, but suffice to say there is a weather front heading our way, so some rain will be affecting parts of the country on saturday, and also on sunday. Those temperatures still around 13 or 14 degrees, but there is an indication that as we head through the first week of may. Lets ta ke through the first week of may. Lets take monday here, the 4th of may, for cardiff and london, you can see those temperatures starting to pick up those temperatures starting to pick up again but generally from the weather icons you can see that the weather icons you can see that the weather remains on the unsettled side. Hello im tim wilcox, welcome to viewers on bbc news we arejoined by we are joined by our International View is right around the world. In a moment well cross to washington where President Donald Trump is due to hold the daily press briefing, but before then, 0riginally told he wasnt going to be holding a press conference. The secretary said to be a change of mind it was due to start this press briefing about one half hour ago but has been pushed back. We expect to see the president there and also Industry Leaders with the latest guidelines about how the country is dealing with the pandemic and indeed the opening up of various states. As soon as that starts we