Major funng for the pbs newshour has been provided by life isnt a straight line, and sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. Fidelity is here to help you work through the unexpected, with Financial Planning and advice for today, and tomorrow. Carnegie corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, d the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing supportu of these insons and individuals. Rp this program was made possible by the ation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Ank you. Woodruff at the ite house tonight, President Trump is putting out guidelines for ending pandemic shutdowns. Across the nation, officials have put out new numbers on covid9s toll in lives, and livelihoods more than 32,000 dead, and millions more thrown out of work. Aw amna begins our coverage. Nawaz as the covid19 pandemic ravag the economy, other 5. 2 million americans filefor unemployment last week. That new jobless claims total, of 22 mi all the gains of theast 10 years were wiped out in just four weeks. The economy also lost 70,000 bs in march, ending a 11 month streak of job growth. A stunning turnaround after hitting 50year unemployment the economic freefall is further fueling President Trump and others forts to end shelter inplace rules and reopen parts of the country. Wi on a cal all 50 governors today, sources tell the newshour the president laid out a e threestagproach for lifting restrictions, with guidelines for employers and other groups, like schoos, barnd hospitals. He cold governors, they could call their own shots on when to open. Earlier today, louisiana governor John Bell Edwards underscored the need to reopen state business. Were not going to go back to normal until we ve a vaccine or sapome effective thtic treatments, but were not going to wait until then before we start to reopen the economy, get nawaz but, new york city mayor bill de blasio warned the president s rush to restart could backfire and cause a boomerang fect. If hes smart about it and careful about it we can actually get to a restart of the economy that we can sustain. H jumps too soon, itll be horrible, itll set us back further. Th nawazcenters for and seven governors in thed midwest announeyll work in coordination to reopen their economies, following similar agreements earlier this week by governors in the northeast and governors on the west coast. The immediate effects of the economic dnturn are already beinfelt. Food pantry providers say demand is skyrocketing, but donations ve declined. Snaked along the highway,ars iting for National Guard troops to distribute boxes of food. And, millions of americans antipating their 1200 stimulus checks will have to wait longer, as technical glitches keep those who filed taxes with Services Like turbotax or h r block from ceiving those funds. As they navigate the economic burdens, america also face grim new develpuments in the blic health crisis. Sioux falls, south dakota is now a new national hotspot after more than 640 cases were traced back to a smithfield pork plant, since shuttered. In a small new jersey town, the virus continues to devastate nursing home populations. Accoing to the new york times, police there discovered 17 bodies inside one facility, where 68 pele died recently. Po 26 had testetive for covid 19. Countries around the world are also still grappling withco aining the virus and mitigating the financialt. Fall in northeastern france, an optical Business Owner sats hes lookinonths of lost business and doesnt know how he can safely reopen hi. translated when it comes dont see how we can fit glasses on people wearing masks, masks that we dont yet have at the moment in any case. I dont see how i can as wmy employees k without masks nawaz authorities in greece have tightened restrictions ahead of sundays orthodox easter. Police are stopping and questioning drivers anyone traveling for the holiday faces a fine of 300 euros 326. A similar lock down in jan, with more than 9,000 covid19 cases and nearly 200 deaths. And where ime minister shinzo abe today declared a nationwide emergency to discourage travel during an upcoming holiday. translated we ask localo rnments to urge residents not to take nonessential, non urgentrips back to their hometowns or any trips that involvetravel between areas and prefectures to avoid the spread during golden week. The latest celebration on hold as the wod struggles to stop the virus spread. E for s newshour, im amna nawaz. Woodruff we had planned to bring you an interview with vice prident mike pence. His office had to reschedule and we hope to have that conversation soon. Now, this country is experiencing a sudden ike of job loss not seen since the great depression. 22 million lost jobs in about a month with many more cuts to come, and a sense that these numbers dont fully capture whats really happening. We are going to focus on this extensively from a number of angles. Lets start by hearing from some who have lost their jobs or have had to shut down most of their business and are struggling. Im kamesa carter. Relive in jacksonville, florida. And behe covid 19 pandemic, i was a substute teacher. My name is josiah welch. I live in longview, washington. My name is jennifer. I am here in las vegas, nevada. My name is austin mcmullen, 31 years old, living up here in raleig north carolina. Im sunyatta amen, the head of calabash tea and tonic in washington, d. C. Im alana calhoun, and i was previously working for an soterpreting agency. I bough food for myself and for my family so they can have some food to survive. And right now, i just i just dont have nothing in my bank account. I just, not even savings. Its just been really tough. Between both shops, were used to serving 400 and upwardsd people. And so to go from that to no people a day was tremendously sheartening. But you still have rent and you still have lights and you still have bills and you still he staff. Its intense. I was in sales for a jor Hotel Company and i was living on 100 commission, so that is completely pulled t from under me. Im a single parent of two young men. So i just try to hold it together and ive been talking with a lot of my creditors to make arrangements and to get extensions on a lot of things. You know, le ive always been the one to support my tmily and just its really hard right now, like nk about everything. I ended up gettingel immedifurloughed the day after i had moved everything in didnt actually telly geto i to work even one day. It was just a devastating knock to the stomach that it was almost hard to, like, overcome. And i went to a dark space, but like a sflecting like, what in the hell am i going to do for about a couple days aftl. That phone c i hang my hat, you know, take a lot of pride in being an employ and have so for years and being able to offer health insurancthings like that thugh our business. Its heart wrenching to have to slfay to our staff, look, you guys have to stay home. Approaching your parents basically with your tail tucked between your legs as an adult saying so any way that you could help me through this . Is not an easy thing to do at nl. If it wefor my parents assisting me, i wouldnt know that ill be able to have al p the ducks ce to make sure i dont lose my home before this is over. Re right now, im fortunate in the fact that weot in extreme dire straits row. I fear that im not going y be able to r bills, that eventually were going to become homeless. And thatcares me. Its just its just been because you exct that every two weeks or every week youll get a check coming in, so you can stay afloat. Buotwith all this and people having jobs, its like that little anchor has gone. And its just, its just terrible. Wooapuff and we so eciate each one of you telling your story. The primary engine of the u. S. Is econommall business, and they are some of the hardest hit. And a new blow hit today the massive 349 billion rr ief program e aid is now out of money. Our lisa djardins joins me to tell us what is happening in congress to try to get help to all businesses and their employees. So, lisa, tell us what did happenn all this today. And what exactly does this program mean for sml business . Judy, the fact that this program is now out of money means no more relief will be going out until congress fixes this problem and adds more funding. What this program is, judy, is essentially the most ridesweeping lifeline ever to businesses in am. It is intended to help Small Businesses stay open. And it would ve Small Businesses an unprecedented of payroll that the u. S. T weeks government will essentially pay for entirelwell as lease and utility costs. So it is something a lot ofss small busi say they need. But, judy, because of the demand rising so fast, aun tami of demand from Small Businesses, that 349 billion is already o weeks just tw in those 14 days, judy, that amount of relief is mo than the Small Business administration has given out in 14 years. So its rather remarkable whatv thdone, but it just shows how mense the need is. Woodruff so, lisa, how is it this onprogram and whether its continued or not is going to matter so much . Right, and i should say there is a Second Program also for Small Businesses that has similarly reached its max um but this one is more funding for businesses. Judy, talking about how important Small Businesses are the reason for thislorogram at this Small Businesses make up 48 of the workforce in the United States. The number of those businesses, were talkingbout 30 million Small Businesses. Most of them would be eligible for thisoney. But, judy, because of the money running out, just 1. 6 million of those businesses were able to get this money approved. And, judy, tonightmany businesses dont know if they got that money or if not. For example, the tea shop owner in that lovely story that we just said, shwing about peoples needs, she has applied. The money yeor not. Hes getting woodruff and, lisa, youve been reporting on the negotiatio about all this under way between members leaders in the congress, the trump administration. At one point you said it looked promising. Whats happened . Well, the promise is that some ideas from democrats, butto let me back up and explain whats happening. Democrats are the ones who are essentially adfusing to d more funding just on its own. So lets look at where the two sides are. Th first of alle republicans here right now, they have proposed for over a week, adding a quarter of a billion dollars to this program, just that, nothing else. Democrats, however, say that they need some of that money to specifically go tome areas dont think that mis, that they reaching right now. They also want more money right now for states and for hospitals. They say those are edrgent ne as well and need to be passed immediately. So, judy, is a strange situation where nearly everyone money, but they disagree over timing. And, judy, the pressure will be onemocrats over the weekend to see kind of if theres a political fallout from them block more money for this program. It will likely be days, least until next week, before congress can pass any fixes for this. Woodruf and ju quickly, lisa, whats the difference then in who would getmoney, what the republicansment versus what the democrats want . Well, inl, geneveryone the same group of people would get money. Its sort of a matter of timing. Democrats plan would probably helpore community banks, places that dont see these loans often, not as big of a bank. But i want to also mention an important group, th selfemployed. That is the bulk of Small Businesses, individuals like plumbers, accountant, farmers they all can apply for this money. However, they were not allowed to apply for it until a week after everyone else. Thats because the guidelines for them are more complicated judy, they are at the back of the line and they are theost likely to have been frozen out of this program right no oodruff and finally, quickly, lisa, where does it stand . Right. So there are negotiations continuing, talks go on. Weve heard from all offices tonight. But as i say, judy, even if th reach the deal over theeekend, even if congress is meeting right now which is barely meet ago i dont think any deal could tually become law until late next week, but talks continue. Woodruff lisa desjardins, thank you very much for staying on top of this for usf woodrven as the president and congress negotiate over further relief and aid, the job losses a f staggering. , they are roughly equivalent to the number of jobs created since thlast painful ression. Elise gould is a senior economist with the Economic Policy institute, a nonprofit thinktank in washington, d. C. Elise gould, thank you very much for joining us. As we said, these numbersre almost impossible to comprehend 20someodd million americans out of work. I mean, how do you put this some context . Whats going on . Its a great. Theyre devastating numbers, just like those stories re devastating that you aired, all those people in so much pain. There are millions of them. As you said, there are more than 20 million. K about the economy. There are about 150 Million People woromking in the eco that represents one in eight, more than one in eightou if you look you, more than one in eight workers have now filed for employment insurance. F ose are devastating losses. Woodrnd you described to us how this is happening in wave of people, but now, we are seeing this cascade into virtually all sectors of the economy. Thats right. At first, we saw it mostly in oleisure andspitality, when we saw the tourist industry begin to shut down. Now youre seing it in restaurants, and youre seeing it in retail. Its its really cascading. Woodruff and youve also talked to us about how its not just people worrying about their Economic Security. Its Health Security on the line as well. When you think about whats been happening in this pandemic, there are two ways this is affecting people. One is there are the ontline workers, right, those essential workers whether they be health ca workers or Grocery Store workers or workers in essential workers every day are putting their own health on the ne, health of themselves, of their family members. They may live with people who are at risk, in particular, risk of their health. So whave to think about those workers. And then we think about theou other of workers, those people facing devastating economic insecurity. So those people who have lost their job, who have beenou fued, who have their hours cut, who have no hope of getting employment a time soon. Woodruff elise gould, you also told us maybe theres an undercount involved, that were not seeing the true numbers, even when we look at these devastating numbers that are coming out. Thats right. So some of what we passed in the last legislation, the cares act, allowed additional people to be able to file fplor unment insurance. Thats just coming up on line now. So those selfemploy workers, those gig workers who can now apply, workers who had to quieit jobs to take care of their kids when their kids school closed, were going to now start seeing all of those nbers of people applying for Unemployment Insurance in the comweumming s. Woodruff and finally, elise gould, the Economic Policy institute has taken a deeper a lohow women may be more affected by these job losses than men. What did you find . Well what, were seeing is the sectors that are more likely to be affected initially, in particular, in leesure and hospitality, those that sector has more women in it, and so were seei more women affected initially. Iore also seeing among those dispropotely affected so even more than their sector would suggest. Woodruff and is that something you expeto continue as these again, the waves of people who are affected begin to show up and seeking Unemployment Benefits . Unfortunately, i do. I think that its really important for us to track as many demographic characteristics as we can with the da tamoing forward to see who is really st quickly,by this recession. In terms of benefits, in the i mean, for many of theseor men, people, theyve never had to ask for Unemployment Benefits in their lives. Thats right. We are seeing unprecedented numbers of peoplling for Unemployment Insurance. These are people we know, people in the economy today, have livyc ck to paycheck. They cant go without that paycheck that they need to be able to put a roof over their head, to be able to put food on the table. It is absolutely naeythat m come through, and that that money continue until we get on e her side of this pademic ask can be used as stimulus to make sure the economy gets back on track. Druff and as we heard so vividly from those americans whthe voices were shared us just a few minutes ago. El e gould, the Economic Policy institute, thank you. Thank you. Woodruff one of the business sectors hardest hit by the pandemic has been air travel. Passenger volume is down a stunning 96 in the u. S. , while Airline Losses have topped 300 billion worldwide. Economics correspondent paul solman has our story on theco equences. Its part of our regular Series Making sense. Reporter clear skies; barren airports; sidelined je as far in the eye can see. I think its to be probably 2021 before we see a return to normalcy. Reporter brian pearce is chief economist of the industrys worldwide tra group. The airline industry, not just in e u. S. , but worldwide, is in a complete crisis. Markets have evaporated. Airlines need cash at the moment just to survive. Reporter and theyll be getting some a 50 billi federal bailout, the first 25 billion in grants ans to pay employees through september 30th. B more than 100,000 in the industry work for subcontractors, as Herbert Stewart in philadelphia does. We had a massive layoff at my company here. They laid off about 600 to 1,000 employees. I will also be, as well, probably laid off. So this is going to hit medr atically. Were the frontline workers and we were the first ones to go and i think well be the last ones to go back. Te rep laidoff boston skycap joseph travers, father of four. My concern is once this is over theres gonna be millions of people out of work. And theres only gonna be so many jobs because companies are losing money. Theyre not gonna want to bring us back and its scary. Scary situation for any family. Reporter also left out of the deral response to the airline crisis the grounded public. Its frustrating to have to gate says its canate, and your and the next flight is six hours away, and then you wait that six hours and that one is canceled. Reporter and if youre canceled . Theyre really avoiding any commitment to give a refund to anybody. Reporter sign language intecorpreter bettnomos had paid thousands for flights to teach five upcoming senars. Shes refunding her customers. But she cant get her money back, not even from trav insurance. And i feel bad for the people ke myself who are not getting a paycheck, who need, who need money to live. I mean, if they bail the airlines out, then they definitely should be refunng money to people. Reporter but business is dead, says economist brian pearce. The demands for, for refundst amto Something Like 35 billion in the second second quarter. The airlines are goingo go out of biness. I dont want them to go out of business. I dontant to go out of business either. I mean, i think thats a ridiculous argumenvebecause they ot been operating on a just breakeven level, lets face it. Theyve been ruing their businesses completely recklessly. And why is it that were holdi the bill here . Reporter the federal airline rescue is fundamentally flawed, says antitrust expert tim wu. Theyve been running a game whe they squeeze people in tiny seats, do everything they can to extract every last dollar out of everybody, to make the mon profit they could and t thrown that all into stock buybacks. And to realize after a those billions being spent, they didnt keep anything for a predictable event like this. Reporter well, they didnt know there was gonna be a ndemic. Actually, they warned about it in their stock in some of their documents, warned about the possibility of a pandemic owining their business. Reporter butould they have prepared for a near standstill, asks Airline Blogger brett snyder. These were relatively Healthy Companies that could withstand significant downturns. Just not a complete destruction all demand. I think thats hard to say that a company should hold on to julti billions and billions of dollars of cash in case this type of thing were to happen. Reporter meanwhile, pilots helming the few fligill operating have their own beef with the federal gover we have over 200 reports of test positives. We he three deaths. Reporter four flight attendants have died, 250 have tested positive. Exmarine joe depete, a pilot for 33 years, now head of the Airline Pilots association, asked for mandatory regulatiers from the f Aviation Administration last month. One was the cleaning and disinfecting of our airplane to make these ready for flight. The second was the notificion to other crew members who may have been exposed to someone who tested positive. The other was use cleaning solutions and products that were bcommended by the c. D. C. Effective. Reporter depete says he got no Immediate Response at a time when, for his pilots, every day counts. To expose them to additional risks, unnecessary risks, preventable risks to me is unconscionable. Reporter the f. A. A. Gave us this statement in response the f. A. A. Is taking seriously reports of Airline Failures to follow this Crucial Health guidance. Any allegation to the contrary is inflammatory and inaccurate turbulent times, thousands of Flights Canceled daily, future bookings down almost 100 . Way off. Er skies, perhaps a long for the pbs newshour, paul solman. Woodruff in the days other news, wall street managed small gains, despite the latest job losses the Dow Jones Industrial average was up 33 points to close at 23,537. The nasdaq rose 139 points, and, the s p 500 added 16. In sth korea, the ruling partybi has won in parliamentary elections held wednesday. Voters had to wear masks and edastic gloves, and get their temperatures che but turnout was the highest in nearly 30 years. The outcome may boost president relations with north korea. Prove israeli Prime Minister benjan nyaet and rival benny gantz are still deadlocked over forming a government. They misd a new deadline today, and the countryspr ident gave Parliament Three weeks to find someone who can fashion a coalition. Otherwise, israel faces its fourth election in just over a year. A World War Two veteran in britain reached his goal today and raised nearly 16 million for Health Care Workers battling the pandemic. Tom moore is 99 years old. He pledged to walk 100 laps in his garden, and online donations went viral. Today, moving with a walker, moore finished his feat, as a military honor guard saluted. He said he was overwhelmed by the response. Its unbelievable that people would be so kind to give that sort of money to the National Health service. And maybe i was responsible for starting it, but not deliberately. Woodruff moo turns 100 years old on april 30th. And, the actor Brian Dennehy has died. His representative says he passed away overnight in new haven, connecticut, of natural causes. Dennehys many film roles included the sheriff in first blood, who battled Sylvester Stallone as rambo. On sge, he won two tony awards, including one as willy loman in death of a sesman 1998. Brian dennehy was years old. Still to come on the newshour the origins of the virus the competing theories of how covid 19 began. On the frontlines at an embattled Veterans Hospital the delicate and necessary work of decontaminating lifaving masks. Plus much more. Woodruff from ment covid19 began to spreue, there wereions about its origin. This week, there have been reportu. S. Diplomats have been concerned about a lab in wuhan, china, the city where the outbreak began. Nick schifrin examines what the u. S. Knows, and doesnt know, about how coronavirus spread. Schifrin today in wuhan, the rkets sell live animals. The shop keepers insist their product is clean, and had nothing to do with the covid19 outbreak. Secretary of state mike pompeo seemed tagree with the shopkeepers, and raised on fox news last night, another source. This virus originat wuhan, china. We know there is the Wuhan Institute of virogy just a handful of miles away from where the wemarket was. There is still lots to learn. Schifrin the Wuhan Institute of virologys website includes these photos, showing off its technology. U. S. Officials tell pbs newshour theyve long been concernedse about larity. And they consider the possibility, that covid19 was accidentally released by a lab employee working with animals that carry coronaviruses. More and morethere hearing story. Oi we are a very thorough examination of this horrible situation. Schifrin but the Intelligence Community has not concluded fosure thats what happened. U. S. Officials tell pbs newshour its still possible the market, was the source. If you will. Nconclusive, weve had a lot of intelligence, take a hard look at that. And i would justt,ay at this pots inconclusive. Schifrin last month chinas ministryf Foreign Affairs blamed the us military for reading the virus. Chinese media have even blamed italy. Spokesman zhao lijan sa its too early to know the source, but denied it was the translated this is a enientific issue which should be studied by ssts and mecal experts. Many wellknown medical experts in the world also believe that claims of the socalled laboratory leaks have no scientific basis. Schifrin we turn to dr. Luciana borio who served on the National Security Council Staff as the director of medical and biodefense preparedness policy during the first two years of the trump administration. Shes now a Vice President at inqtel, a nonprofit, investment oanization that funds technologies the Intelligence Community is interested in. Dr. Borio,hank you very much. Welcome to the newshour. Those two scenarios i just laid out, some kind of accideleal e from a lab in wuhan, and a possible releasin the nearby wet market, e either of those still possible . Thats right, nick. So the National Biodefense strategy contemplates three icalral categories of biol threats the deliberate threats, an accident from a lab exposure or release; and naturally occurring exposure. We dont believe the strain has any features that it was a deliberate event at all. Its aatural strain. Whether its a human exposure that led to the pandemic initially occurred in boa tory setting or a wet market or Something Like that is going to be very difficult to ascertain and we dont know how how would you. So y to intrupt you. How would you ascertain that, if it is so difficult . Ma what infon would you need . Thats right. So it might not be possible just through scientific means of analysis of the strain. It may need some other type of investigation undertaken by the Intelligence Community to see what other information may have been available with respect to communications, for example, around the time. But it my be verfficult. And we know that biological threats in general can be veryt diffic attribute in a potential source. Either way, what we have toin, remember today is that we have a pandemic on our hands. And the most important thing to focus on right now is to contain it. There will be a time when were going to beable to go back and say, what happened . And i have to say that theres more to do gloobally t minimize human exposure to wildlife in m those werkets, because, clearly, they pose a threat to our security. D eres also more that we have to do to be able to make sure that experimentations with path gens of pdemic potential, like coronaviruses, are done in a way that meet very stringent biological Safety Standards. So, obviously, there have been questionsy u. S. Officials about the Safety Standards within these labsas well as concerns that china isnt closing e wet markets. Also among the u. S. Concerns is thoriginal virus, original genome. When it comes to actually finding out what happened, how important is it that china share information that it has from patients, psumably from as early as december . Yes, so the more information scientists have, the moe eyll be able to understand this virus. That was done early on when ark sequen was exposed. It allowed the development of a diagnostic test, having the virus in the right hands and the right labs can help facilitate its very important to share information about something that really impacts the entire world impacts everybody. And we have to be able to Work Together to be able to contain et. Lastly, in 0 seconds or so we have left, your last gint we have to work her to contain it. How important is it at the end of the day to actually kne origin of covid19 . The most important thing that we have to do is tole abto stabilize and restore our Economic Security anur Health Security. So thats going to be the most important thing. We cant se focus on that. We may or may not be able to ascertain the origins, and, you know, the important thing is that we contain this. Dr. Luciana borio, thank you very much. My pleasure. Woodruff as partf our continuing series with frontline healthcare works, William Brangham spoke today with maria lobifaro. Shes a nurse working at a v. A. Hospital in brooklyn, new york thats been converted to care only for coronavirus patients. Lobifaro is a member of National Nurses unite the Largest Union for registeredes nun the country. As youll hear, she says her job often comes with too little protection and support s you know, every days ive worked on a weekend where we were reusing the same gown from nurse to nurse,ame protective gown. So when my shift finished, i hag to pass thn on to the next nurse. And then the next day i came back to work and wthad gowns. Soreally been very touch and go. As far as staffing, i think that was e of the major issues that we had in the hospital, especially in the i. C. U. We just tripled our capacity overnight and so there was definitely weeks i would say all of last month where thei. U. Was really struggling. One nurse with five critical patients on ventilators. And ats a ratio thats real unheard of. Brangham whats the ratio normally . So the only state that has an actual ratio is california, and they have a 1to1 and they have laws protecting that ratio. Brangham one to one, one nurse. To one patient. Brangham and you guys are at 5 to 1. Yes. So precovid, generally it was like two patients to one nurse. These patients are. So much sicker, than the average i. C. U. Patient. And now a nurse is dealing wit five patients. So at times it mean most of the time it was really just unbearable. It was really to the point where a few of us had to actually put our foot down and refuse a sixth patient. So it has been a struggle. Ar as as p. P. E. , protective covering and protective gear itsike lacking on the c. D. C level. If you do a simple google image search, italy p. P. E. , china p. P. E. And then look up usa p. P. E. , its you don need to be a nurse or a doctor or a medical professional to tell that our country is lacking seriously. I mean, in other countries, if you look at the health care infection rate, significantly lower than what the u. S. Is at right now. And why is that . Like other countries are in a erfullon astronaut suit, they dont have any part of their skin exposed. But yet for the u. S. , were just in like a little thin paper gown and sometimes youre reusing that gown how many more medical professionals need to get sick or even die for them to realize that. T its a serious problem. Brangham thats got to be incredibly frustrating because here you are doing this lifesaving work, really. The country is tasking you with helpinstamp out this pandemic and yet you obviously feel like we dont have your back and some substantive way. Ea well, i prior to this, we dealt with patients with Infectious Diseases all the time. You know, tuberculosisyou know, and, you know, the things that were doidi today, if we them, then we would be seriously reprimanded. And its very discouraging because im going into the room, not the head of the c. D. C. , theyre at home. So its been overwg, toir skin. Say the least. Brangham when you see all ow the supporn people are clapping, when theres a shift change or peopleosting signs or tying ribbons around trees, and what do you make of all of that support . Co im verlicted on that topic. So part of me feels, you know, so proud that my city is supporti. So im realloverwhelmed by the support of the public. On the other hand, im just doing my job every day, a job that ive always done. An i. C. U. Nurse, you dont go into the field expecting to not see death. Its expected, but i think the amount that ive been seeing lately has been overwhelming, public. Ith the just the youre areero. It jusly sets a i guess, an unrlistic expectation of how i can peorm at work. Brangham youre not bulletproo exactly. And im not a superhero. And if i was a superhero, i wouldnt have to make decisions whose bedside do i at . Do i stand that the patient whoa has a hear of 20 right now and isrobably going to die in 1 the neto 15 minutes . Or do i go to my other patient who you know, went to the bathroom on themselves and for two hours now e iven that just been so busy. So if i was a superhero, i wouldnt have to make these decisionknevery day. Yo, i couldnt feel as further from a superhero as i feel sometimes. Brangham well, maybe not a superhero, but you feel pretty close to one, to me. Thank you so much. Brangham maria lobifaro, thank you very, very much for your time and thank you for all the work that youre doing. Oh, thank you so much. And i hope you stay safe and you and your family as well. Brangham you, too. Thank you. Woodruff and now a look at what some hospitals hope could be a stopgap solution t shortage of a critical piece of protection for those heroes on the frontlines n95 masks. John yang haour report. Yang for Health Care Professionals on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, masks like this, called an n95, are essential equipment. The overall situation i rrifying. This is the closest thing ive done to going to war. Yang Sidney Longwell is an Emergency Room Physician at Tulane Medical Center in new orleans. The patients that we ar seeing are a threat to us. If youre gonna go into somewhere where your someones coughing or youre putting a tube down someones throat with, yeu need a shield for your you need goggles and an n95 as a basic minimum. Y yang the virus has spread rapi new orleans. Like the rest of the country, the city has a shortage of n95 masks. Theyre designed to block 95 of airborne pticles and droplets befo, doctors and nurses would. Use a new disposable mask for each new patient. And now . Were issued an n95 in the morning and you do your best tot t it. Yang when that practice began, longwell started taking his masks home for a personal recycling program. The oldest is to the left and they circle around to the right he the newest. Yan he setsout on a table for at least seven days beyond whats believed to be the russ lifespan. This is our version of the super bowl. Everyone wants to stay in the game. So thas why im recycling here, so that if the supply chains cut, i can at least continue to work for a couple of weeks before i would have an yang now tulane medical stnter and hospitals on long island, and other cities have developed officl recycling programs. Were in colete crisis mode. Yang Angie Birnbaum is tulanes director of biosafety. As a biosafety professional, i never thought that id be in a situation where were actually questioning how to decontaminate n95 masks. T this is wherwe are during this pandemic. Yang tulanes program, which is awaiting government approval, uses a technique developed by battelle memorial institute, a Scientific Research nonprofit. The battelle system, which was approved recently for emergency use, treats used masks with vaporized hydrogen peroxide, which has been employed for years to sterilize sensitive equipmen Vaporous Hydrogen Peroxide is great decontaminate because it doesnt leave hazardous residues behind. Ly you will basicave a nice sterilized piece of equipment that can be reused by our health care providers. Yan as a test of how effectively the system decontaminates, tulane researchers add hardokill microorganisms to the masksss before the pro if those are eliminated by the vaporized hydrogen peroxide, they reason, so is thes. Coronavi not everyone is convinced. In a statement, the executive director of National Nurses united, the Biggest Union of is no validad, scientificthere evidence that multiple reuse or decontamination of n95 respiratory masks is slle, and rotect a health care worker. The food and drug administrations letter approving the battelle system for emergency use said its known and potential benefits outweigh the known and potential risks. And the National Institutes of health said results ofts Study Indicate that n95 respirators can be decontaminated and reused in times of shortage for up to three times with vaporized hydrogen peroxide. If it is successful, the system would effectively expand the supply of usable masks. And it just could keep physicians like Sidney Longwell when this started we were trying to figure out at what point we would tap out and say, if it gets to this point, i dont feel safe coming to work. An adequate respirator is where we all drew the line. I know i wont feel safe going into a room wi yout an n95. G he says hes more concerned about his family than about ermself. His faied of noncovid19 causes late last month. E the hardest thing for about coping so far has been not beinto be around my mom. Im literally a biological threat to my mom. I havent been able to go to mobaton rouge to support m and that sucks. Also, like ive had a few patients die, and thats like. Ct yang prog loved ones, protecting patients and protecting themselves the balancing act facing frontline thalthcare workers across e country. For the pbs newshour, im john yang. Woodruff we return to thew idance out of the white house, as the president and Coronavirus Task force continue their evening briefing. Our Yamiche Alcindor is here with the latest. Shes just come from that briefing. So, yamiche, tell us what the president and his team ar saying about their plan to begin to reopen the country. Well, the big ws today is that the president has now laid threephase plan to try to reopen the american economy. And hes doing that by leaving a lot of the Decision Making to states and to governors. Heaid he had total authority but hes really saying im t allowi states to make these decisions. Like thihe first phase isappen people would still be focused working from home, minimizing nonessential travel. The second phase would be where things start to loosenp, where you would have schools and day up. Es opening back you might, also, the administration sailed have churches and bars opening back up, but that would be largely with social distancing still in place. And the third would be a phase where you would have big arenas, concerts, and lessocial distancing. Woodruff and, yamiche, what is the president saying in terms of whether he expects these orders to be followed by the 50 states . The president is essentially ordering the states any more. On a call with governors, hes saying now theyre the ones calling the shots, those were his exact words. re seeing the president back away from the idea hes forcing governors and states to make decision. Hes saying i am allowing them to make their own decisions. There is a big idea in the administration to ramp up testing, because so many people, executives and state officials, l stsay sting in this eountry is not where it needs to be, and there still large numbers of people who cant get fests for the coronavirus whenlo ey up the country. Ential to openin woodruff we know, yamiche, the president met with numbers of different groups, including governors and Business Leaders what else are you able to learn about how the white house is handling and managing this crisis . Well, what were learning is that the white house really managing this by focusing on whe Health Officials say wPresident Trump also thinking about his own pol instinct. Weve heard arguments from white house officials saying that they think leaving the economy closed, that it would make more people die, either through Mental Health or economic hardship, that people would be hurt more by keeping the economy closed. So what were heis the president is really leaning in on the idea that hes eager to have america open bck up, but also said, he stressed today, this is based on data and science. Were hearing from some former republican officials, including ne that our producer, meredith lee, talked, toat these are reasonable guidelines so we hear ll leaningent is sti into his Health Officials. Woodruff reporter, Yamiche Alcindor, following it all, whats going on at the white house this evening. Thank you, yamiche. Thanks so much. Uf woo tonight we hear from kat zwick, who tested positive for covid9 last month. She spent 20 days quarantined in her bedroom in Northern California and spoke to our brief but spectaculat team then abe experience. So, im sitting in my car and i get a call actually from urgent care and they tell me that ive tested positive for covid. And i dont know how to properly shock and kind of the immediate grief, i think, that i felt. And almost like, this cannot be. Its bee10 days since i tested positive i have been in my bedroom now for 14 days. I run a therapy clinic in santak city finishing up a conference for the American Group Psychotherapy Association and woke up and felt mildly sick. And then it was on mone 9th that i was back home and i was getting hit now with sort of like waves of fatigue. So i contacted my primary care doctor and they asked me, have you had any exposure to co i was ke, i think there might have been someone at my conference that left early, but it had something to do with covid, but i dont really know what. My doctor said, well, you need to go to urgent care and be y triaged r car. You actually cant come in. A guy from the conference emailed the listserv of all the attendees and said he indeed had tested posite for covid. And i was reading through his schedule, and i realized that he and i both attended the dance, i had been on that dance floor, which was pretty small for atre least hours. And so, then i was like, oh, my gosh, ive been directly exposed, and then, three more people emailed and sai also had tested positive that same day, and ey also shared their schedules and i was at two events with all of them. And urgent care saidyou need to come on down and we probably need to get you tested. , it washat afternoon, on the 17th, that i got way sicker. It was just like a severe amount ofa ad t no sleep. My fever went up to, i think, p1. 6 or Something Like that. And i was the mosically uncomfortable i have ever been in my life. It was almost unbearable. Like, i could not stand up, or i would fall over. I wanted to just see my husbands face, and i couldnt walk. And so i was crawling on the floor out of the bedroom, just to see him in the kitchen. Level of severity laste about ree days. During the worst of it last week, i feltxtremely terrified. My husband is calling me like a covid activist. Because the thing i feel most ssionate about is people taking this more seriously andin stin their houses. Right now, any symptom that you have could be covid. F and not ak out or panic about that, because panic doesnt help your imystem. But to just stay inside. The amount of support that ive received, i mean just hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people. The emotion that comes up is just overwhelming gratitude and sound strange coming from a therapist, but recognizing that i matter more to people than maybe i usually think that i do. When you find out that y matter and you didnt necessarily conceive of yourself that way, i think that does alter, you know, how you show up in the world. My name is kat zwick and this is my brief but spectacul take on surviving covid19. Woodruff kat, thank you so much for sharing. Kat is no longer in isolation and while her health has from the virus. Still recvering millio oviewers watched her video online and shes responded to many of your questions on our facebook page. And you can find all our brief but spectacular segments at pbs. Org newshour brief. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. U soon. O major funding for the pbs newshour h beey n pr bided the ford foundati edg rkiowi and by the al. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st c. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributns to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media acceup at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org. Hello, everyone. Welcome to amanpour co. Today im instructing my administration to halt we regret the decision of the president of the United States to order a hold in funding to the world health organization. Glol outrage at managers move to pull the plug on the world health organizatn in the midst of a pandemic. I explore the dangers with w. H. O. Adviser jamie metzl. Then and now from leadership to u. S. China relations, historian and authorarret macmillan joins me. Us obama, sanders, warre