Fire following unrest over covert 900 Safety Measures. And we explore new york city from sunrise to sunset to find out what life really is like under on lockdown. Welcome to the program the u. K. Government is defending itself against criticism its mishandled the coronavirus pandemic the death toll continues to rise rapidly more than 16000. 00 people have died in hospitals across the country and the sunday Times Newspaper points the finger directly at Prime MinisterBoris Johnson it accuses him of wasting precious time in stopping the spread paul brennan reports now from central london. The accusations of complacency a misjudgment to spread across 4 pages the headline a damning assessment of government failure to prepare the quotes alleged 5 weeks of missed opportunities and political in nashua the british Governments NationalCrisis Committee is called by the acronym cobra Prime MinisterBoris Johnsons failure to attend any of the 1st 5 coronavirus koger meetings is singled out for particular criticism of government ministers rejects the sunday times allegations the idea that the Prime Minister skipped meetings that were vital to our response to the drain of us i think is protests and the truth is that the other meetings across government some by the Health Secretary some chaired by other ministers but the Prime Minister took all the major decisions and i think anyone who considers happened upon is just a little while ago nobody can say that the press some throwing heart and soul into fighting this virus an unnamed Senior Advisor to downing street is quoted in the sunday times as saying this is no way youre at war if youre pm isnt there he liked his country breaks he didnt work weekends theres a real sense that he didnt do crisis planning and a Senior Source at the department of health is also quoted saying that a pandemic was always at the top of our National Risk register always but when it came we just slowly watched. The Prime Minister from the moment it became clear that there were challenges in terms of coronavirus developing in in china has absolutely been leading our nations effort to combat the coronavirus making sure that resources and money is not an issue or concern for any department especially Health Service in terms of dealing with this. As britain start their 5th week of partial lockdown the government is firefighting criticisms from several angles concerns are growing the frontline medical staff are running desperately low on supplies of protective masks and surgical gowns. National Health Service providers warned on friday that stocks may run out within 48 hours the government said 84. 00 tons of that equipment would arrive on sunday from turkey the shipment now wont arrive as planned. Care home groups are also saying that a lack of testing means the true scale of deaths and infections among the elderly are being seriously underestimated by the government with more than 4000 fatalities not officially accounted for paul brennan aljazeera westminster and in the United States the white house is also under increasing scrutiny for its handling of the pandemic now new York Governor Andrew Cuomo says his state is about to begin Antibody Testing which will reveal the true scale of how many people have had the virus were going to do that in the most aggressive way in the nation where were going to sample people in this state thousands of people in the state across the state to find out if they have the antibodies that will tell us for the 1st time what percent of the population actually is had the corona virus and is now at least short term. To the virus this will be the 1st true snapshot of what were really dealing with. Well the question of when to ease the lockdown restrictions is dividing the u. S. President trump keeps pushing a positive message he says there are signs that covert 19 has passed its peak but experts warn that moving too fast could be disastrous as on the galahad reports from the state of florida. After weeks of stay at home odors hundreds flocked to the reopened beaches in Jacksonville Florida the medical of this controversial move as essential activity even as the state hit more than 27000 coronavirus cases its what authorities call a pathway back to normal life. But in other parts of the u. S. The scenes a very different across the country a small but growing protest movement is calling for restrictions to be eased from utah to wisconsin in both republican and democratic led states people are taking to the streets urging a return to normal life we are still a free country at least for now and people have to make a decision and thats their personal decision if they dont want to be 6 feet apart or 7 peter peter parker i cant i cant dictate that to them despite declaring that individual governors are in charge President Donald Trump seemed to encourage the protests in a series of tweets on friday all 3 states have democratic governor as his tacit support is seen as deeply political in a time of crisis and you know it is there are a lot of protests out there and i just think that some of the governors have gotten carried away you know we have a lot of people that dont have to be told to do what theyre doing theyve been really. Doing everything weve asked him in new york the epicenter of the pandemic measures to ease restrictions still far off the states governor says this is no time to play politics how does this situation get worse and get worse quickly if you politicize all that emotion. We can not go there thats where i work so hard when anyone raises any political agenda to me i work so hard to distance myself from it. Some states are beginning to ease restrictions many are still battling the coronavirus and testing is in short supply the desire to get back to some kind of normal is clear the careful approach to doing so vital thank you very much a nation divided it was perhaps inevitable the politics would play a part no matter what challenges lay ahead throughout this crisis the mantra has been were in it together but any sense of unity now seems to be falling apart conservatives believe the cure is worse than the disease others and has to be a more science based approach the fact remains many states a yet to peek in their coronavirus cases the decisions governors make now will be crucial but that hasnt stopped some trying to score political points at the gallacher aljazeera miami florida. Is accused of stoking islamophobia as well after raising questions about social distancing in mosques joining the holy month of ramadan or White House Correspondent can really help it as well. There are increasing questions about a retreat by u. S. President trump on saturday accusations he may be stoking islamophobia in the United States the reach we reads lets see if authorities enforce the social distancing orders for mosques during ramadan like they did churches during easter i asked the president about this retreat heres what he had to say didnt put him back on the list this monster to follow so i think i just had a call with a mom so i just had a call with ministers rabbis we had a tremendous call with the faith leaders no i dont think that at all i am somebody that believes in faith and it matters not what your faith is but our politicians seem to treat different faiths very differently and they seem to think and i dont know what happened with their country but. The Christian Faith is treated much differently than it was and i think its treated very unfairly now when it comes to enforcing social distancing the department of justice did take on the case of at least one church in mississippi where worshipers attended in their automobiles with the car windows rolled up the department of justice said that these worshippers were simply exercising their right under the 1st amendment of the u. S. Constitution now many in the United States watching very carefully to see if this same effort will be applied when it comes to those who may want to celebrate during ramadan which begins in the u. S. On thursday. Now turkeys government is urging people to stay home hoping the rate of infections will reach its peak in the coming days it now has the highest number of reported cases of the virus in the middle east overtaking iran well it also has more infections in china where the virus 1st appeared more than 2000 people have died so far in turkey with 127 new deaths recorded more than 86000 infections have been confirmed with nearly 4000 of those diagnosed in the past 24 hours a lockdown has been extended for 15 days prohibiting travel between 30 of turkeys largest city. Limits elect is the managing editor of the daily suffer a progovernment english language newspaper in turkey he says residents are complying with lockdown measures majority of the people regardless of what car what party they come from even if they do have some sort of criticism they support the way that the way the government has handled this issue in fact the trust for it for the for the Health Minister for example has been like skyrocketing like no other ministers before how he has handle the information sharing the transparency with regards to that has been largely supported by the public and in fact the reason why. You know of course the numbers are rising in turkey but and this has a lot to do of course with our population with the numbers of testing and you know it has passed in iran our neighbor but if you look at the testing numbers we have done turkey has done double the tests in iran so far and the measures prior to the 1st case in turkey are significant post 1st case and when it comes to treatment for example d the situation of the Health Care System in turkey is not comparable to its neighbors. In the neighboring region. So yes there there is there will be some criticism regardless of how the government is acting in there maybe its a role for a project to do but i think overall if you look at the big picture to handle this. In a successful way now one of the few jobs not affected by the pandemic lockdown in latin america is korea work in colombia its become particularly popular amongst venezuelan migrants who are desperate to make a living even if it means putting their health at risk on the run p. N. T. Reports from the capital bagatelle. On the deserted streets of bogota theyve become familiar figures backpack wielding couriers on bicycles delivering food and medicine to lock down colombians most of them here are venezuelan migrants who say they have no alternative but risking exposure to the coronavirus. The day my gone with the mother of 4 says contagion is always on our mind but since her husband lost his job saying at home was not an option it on my face. Its not easy to go out and expose yourself to the virus especially when you have kids waiting for you when i get home i need to take szell precautions wash change clothes before touching anybody. Trying to be safe means context with customers have been reduced to a minimum. Yet there may be a bright side people who look down on them as own skilled migrants now say theyre essential in the fight to control the virus. Because you know i receive messages on the app saying that we are heroes like the doctors or the policeman i was a nurse back home when youre sharp to becoming a doctor so i feel what i am doing is not all that different from my passion helping others. Delivery services had already become a lifeline for venezuelan refugees across the continent but as latin america hunkered down thousands of lost their jobs with delivery orders spiking so has the number of recently unemployed my. Screw years there are now 25000 people working. Here and the company says they have to wait another 45000 people none of them receive Health Insurance for their work in exposing themselves and very few seem to have it. Nor the companies dont offer insurance im here with gods blessing. Brainy men this says that at times he receives masks in hand sanitizers but that he has to buy most elements on his own. Reports that in the United States more than 40 grocery workers have died after catching the virus worry him but he says the issue is one of survival one way or the other. Its a blessing to simply be able to go out and make some money live with what we really basis you know work means no food. Even when working means putting yourself at risk with little or no protection. From it does really beg the question after your report what the Delivery Companies are doing to protect the koreas. Yes. B. And i food which are the 2 largest at the Livery Companies in latin america have turned their offices into care centers where these riders can go to get their backpack their bikes to close these infected but from what we understand its very difficult for them to do it at least on a daily basis with to is what the companies suggest they do because for example here in bogota theres only one office is way in the north of the city so its too far away for many of these worker to go all the way there to get these infection and we also understand weve put this question in to be the Largest Company here in cologne me and they said that theyre tapping into their revenues to import hundreds of thousands of a masks and gloves and other protective as elements for the riders but theyre saying theyre having difficulty doing that about their war king on it and we understand that in some cases they went to their largest ploughs where these riders gather to distribute some of these them in any case these writers say that they are better off than the great majority of the venezuelan migrants that here in colombia there are almost 2000000 of them and you might remember that last week we reported on the fact that many who havent been able to make any money at all since march 25th when the lockdown started here have been in many cases the victim from the rooms and small apartments where they live off and they have to pay this daily and they havent been able to do so and so thousands of started to walk back to venezuela even if they fled the economic devastation there theyre now saying were better off back home where the rest of our family is and where at least we. We have a roof since in colombia theres nothing left for us to do and theres also the issue that the government and the district here really been able to do much for them because the situation is already so bad for poor colombians that they are absolutely being left on their own for the update i was under up yet either in bogota thank you. The polls in mali have officially closed after voters cast their ballots in the 2nd round of legislative elections despite threats of violence and the pandemic hand washing facilities have been set up outside polling booths and guards a warning people about social distancing in the capital bamako another government went ahead with the vote despite the kidnapping of an Opposition Leader and threats from fighters linked to al qaida there are 147 seats up for grabs in the National Assembly formerly is a consulting fellow with the Africa Program a chance and house joins me now on skype from maidstone in the United Kingdom good to have you on the program increased conflict at polling stations attacked and the Global Pandemic sort of the hands of the public staying at home in fear i mean one does wonder how a free and Fair Election could ever have been achieved. There are certainly a lot of questions about whether a really worthwhile free and Fair Election can take place and particularly in the level of participation because obviously many voters are the will of chosen to stay at home or in many cases it wasnt safe to go and vote because of insecurity but the money in government face to real die lemma the term of the Outgoing Parliament actually should have ended in december 28th in january 2900 and so this parliament has been this Old Parliaments been continuing for 15 months on a sort of provisional basis and so there was a really desperate need to get a new parliament elected for the security crisis in mali has been going on since 2011 at least and there was no reason to think that security conditions would improve anytime soon so that wouldnt have been a good reason to postpone the election insecurity was the reason for the delay already but that i did get in there porter says that because instability was the issue certainly in the 1st phase of the election which is why there was such a low turnout how significant has the issue of terror groups for example be in terms of the last decade to where we are now why people havent felt comfortable going to the polls because of this particular reason. Well insecurities actually been getting worse the viewers may remember that right back in 2013 french and African Forces intervened to end the jihad is control of northern mali but jihadist groups were able to continue with terrorism and those attacks have actually not only continued but become more widespread and theres been into coming all violence now the government drew up a priest plan and reached a Peace Agreement with the non jihadist groups back in 2015 and a key stage in that agreement is to get decentralization more power and responsibility and spending power down to the regional and local level and thats why they needed parliament to approve this next s