this is al jazeera. hello malcolm i'm peter darby you're watching the news line from our headquarters here in doha are coming up in the next 60 minutes the next 8 weeks are critical we can learn and we will turn a corner. on this virus the u.s. president declares a national emergency that frees up $50000000000.00 to fight the 19 outbreak. washington's travel restrictions come into effect barring people from $26.00 european nations for one month. with the chinese government declaring an end to the

worst of the virus outbreak life slowly starts to return to normal. a homecoming for south african stranded in the chinese city of new hand where the corona virus was 1st reported. and corner virus wipes out most of the walls and made just 14 advent of the english premier league at the boston marathon and formula one are all off the global sports calendar into chaos. ok welcome to the news or let's get going the coronavirus pandemic is forcing countries around the world to take extreme measures affecting all aspects of life for billions of people here's a global snapshot of what's been happening now the united states has declared a national emergency and a travel ban is in effect for most european. and planning trips to the united

states canada suspending its parliament while the prime minister justin trudeau advised citizens against any foreign travel and he himself is now under quarantine after his wife tested positive turning our attention to mainland continental europe that's the epicenter according to the world health organization this time yesterday spain declaring a state of emergency as people in italy get accustomed to living life under lockdown it is however a mixed picture across asia with a jump in cases in indonesia and the philippines but crucially turning our attention to china the authorities there are declaring the worst of the outbreak is over with only 11 new infections confirmed on friday and in china's hu bay province where the 1st cases were reported a 50 day lockdown is finally starting to ease we have multiple reports from correspondents around the globe katrina you starts our coverage from beijing. in

who betty people are starting to celebrate the chinese government says the peak of the outbreak here has passed and the province wide lockdown is easing for the 1st time in more than 50 days residents of show county are enjoying a day out for leo it feels like winter is finally over again for the economy the economy very very very happy today it's a bright sunny day and the flowers blooming the lockdown is over so i'm taking my dog for a walk in the park also relieved to walk outdoors recovered coronavirus patients and on medical workers there are celebrating the closure of the city's last makeshift hospital daily numbers of new virus cases and deaths nationwide have dropped to single digits but the chinese government has been accused of rushing to declare victory to help its political image state media are working to convince the public that life is returning to normal. but psychologists say the transition will

be challenging you know the seams people will need time to adjust they have inside for so long i will feel awkward both physically and mentally some people may react to this freedom by panicking some may have potential psychological problems. says in who they factories and businesses have been given permission to resume operations. re tongues company is one of them the hardware engineer is eager to return to the office he hasn't been able to work from home and is worried about his income. company is definitely reducing the money of course this affects our personal income we don't know how we get paid for february not all counties have lifted restrictions millions are still under orders to stay home. he just has been making the most of her time indoors with family but is struggling to contain her excitement. on the day that i have full freedom i'm going

to feel like an excited bird flying out of his cage. for now she's getting ready for her day under the sun katrine you al-jazeera teaching sarah clarke is our 1st correspondent tracking the story for us out of hong kong so just specifically sarah on what's happening in and around new zealand get us up to date . well certainly looking at the new zealand scenario the prime minister there just into our journey has announced on saturday after a special emergency meeting she's announced that they will have tough quarantine restrictions self isolation for 14 days for all travelers arriving in new zealand this is not just foreign travelers it's also the new zealand citizens should start the pacific islanders they will be exempt from this particular quarantine because at this stage it appears the pacific islands appear to be void of the crown of us

but looking at the trends across the region we've had this downward trend continuing in china live in new cases and 13 deaths and the government this is that the recovery rate is also increasing look at south korea we have another record low since february 2170 cases taking the total number now to about $8086.00 now the philippines on saturday reported 34 new cases a total of $98.00 as of saturday and the philippines is also declared a number of tough restrictions on residents and citizens are the philippines particularly the capital of suspended number one all land air and ship travel to and from the capital they've also declared a not curfew now these particular rules will come into play on sunday and in hong kong on saturday at the last hour or so of confirmation of 3 new cases of the crowd a virus here in the city that japan is also passed a bill allowing. it to declare a state of emergency if required that this particular new law it boosts the government powers to number one force residents to stay indoors it also allows the

government the regional governments to close the schools if they're required and also stated on saturday that vaccination if it does become available all japanese citizens will be able to access this vaccination under a publicly funded program but by has stated that he's cautious about making any decoration of emergency but at this stage 26 people have died in japan so far due to the coronavirus sirrah thanks very much. also in hong kong nicholas thomas a health security expert focusing on asia he joins us on skype with the stomach welcome to the news hour one swallow doesn't make a summer of course but the news out of china is that good news. i think it is and i think it shows quite robust public health measures don't do lead to measurable outcomes in china and in other parts of the region as well what are the lessons that the chinese authorities are maybe already or should be passing on to other people who are lagging behind because of the infection rate. i think that we have

to look at china in a number of ways i think the quarantine aspect works with china and other places but if you look around the region china gets. taiwan singapore on congress different strategies coming out quarantine is important we have issues of south korea. a lot of thing in china but i think the clearer idea. of the message being sent out by the government and the employment of resources that are just minutes going to commence. over and above all of that however is a lesson and it only. or states in the region their primary purpose was to contain and eradicate the virus not simply to mitigate its. containment and eradication so they've given up on containment for obvious reasons eradication but something way way down the line so where are we in the middle of that. well we're

starting to see the numbers of new infections dropping off at least in our part of the world. and that's going to continue to look that's likely going to continue to fall into domestic tastes converse lee what we're seeing out of the world now is more fear of the virus coming back to us from you're going to change a lot and that's sort of the next hotspots for the virus outbreak can you just back up a 2nd and talk about china's reaction again there are accusations shot in a row and of course particular on social media that there was a lack of transparency and a lack of reaction although having said in fairness to the chinese authorities they did build a big hospital in 6 days which is kind of where the russians are heading as well as we speak. yes i mean i think you have to desegregate their responses at the local level medical facilities the medical professionals were trying to get the message out from pretty much day one once they worked up what was going on it was the policy side which dragged its feet and allow it the virus to get

a foothold it had an infectious disease law and its technical protocols being followed this would be a much more contained you should. and that's i think to us going forward that the lessons from the past then informed us here in the region and local sars or bird flu swine flu have to be robustly implemented it can't be a political decision it has to be unpublished all 3 spots ok let's break the idea of a political decision has clearly been taken i'm thinking about the u.s. donald trump travel burn here will there from work or does it just turn the u.k. into a portal for people who are maybe already infected anyway. well you have the u.s. and that's that same question. in a case of the u.s. the latest studies the latest data is suggesting the virus is already present sort of a foothold in the u.s.

the united states don't believe you test for these so that in fact in traces appears to be very not and with lax screening at major airports which is going to be a problem in some stopping international transmission and it's also a new problem and constant testing domestically as well although the congress has passed a series of laws designed to help but waste get over the virus and distances over the virus if their employees get sick in the u.k. that going for almost the reverse strategy to going to need a geisha payment. herd immunity which while scientifically scientifically valid is very much trying to test it and goes against what the document shows currently finds it and this is going to set the u.k. very much. from what's missing in europe at the moment does that mean that the british government is in effect making or taking a political calculation that in medical terminology perhaps should be relabeled as

a huge medical risk. we're not just a political calculation but also an economic calculation containment in eradication costs it costs money in terms the immediate need for structure and that has not been a spec since different sectors of the economy we've seen here in asia it's their decision by the u.k. for example to only bank massive dance starting next weekend but they're quite willing to bet and stop the election process going forward so long ball actions is a clear indication of political mixmaster just going forward it is possible to back those mascot the rings of major leagues to enable social distancing to take place it is possible to shut down the universities but you have 5 vice chancellors of different universities saying this isn't possible so that is going to increase risk in the short to medium term of u.k. citizens to exposure to the pirates what the u.k. don't use hoping to do is in the long term if there is

a repeat of irish 2 in short it's a lower level of impact later on but that as i said is very much on test that ok we'll leave it there nicholas thomas thank you very much thank you well as we've been mentioning the us president all from declaring a national emergency freeing up a 50000000000 dollars to fight the coronavirus his promise to sign a sweeping bill just passed by the house of representatives as we were hearing there from nicholas thomas but will free up widespread testing kits which should in theory be online within a week he's been accused of playing down the seriousness of the pandemic alan fisher has specter our coverage from washington from the u.s. president a dramatic announcement i am officially declaring a national emergency. 2 very big words with more than 40 dead and the number of infected growing the president has opened up funding include states to take important steps to blunt the spread of the virus emerging every state to set up

emergency operation centers effective immediately i'm also asking every hospital in this country to activated some urgency preparedness plan so that they can meet the needs of americans everywhere the hospitals are very engaged but the president refused to accept the crisis is know much greater because testing wasn't more widely available no i don't take responsibility at all because we were given a. set of circumstances and we were given rules regulations and specifications from a different time wasn't meant for this kind of an event with the kind of numbers that we're talking about. the trumpet ministration is planning to introduce drive through testing there will be a web site to tell people if they need the test and we have to get it what's missing is when these new measures will kick in the government's top expert says he hopes these steps will shorten the epidemic speaker what you've seen now with this order is that we're going to be able to remove the constraints so that people at

the state the local level the individual physician all the way up through the federal government will have as many constraints as possible removed for them to do everything they possibly can so that we can implement the things that we've been talking about across the city and capitol hill the house of representatives passed a relief bill to help people impacted by the virus it will provide paid sick leave for those who have to skip work and provide free widespread testing the 3 most important parts of this bill are testing testing testing this legislation to sell a taste for a coronavirus testing for everyone who needs a test including the uninsured. the senate is not expected to vote on the bill until monday the president has indicated he will sign it president trump was forced to take action as public life across america was being impacted with sports events canceled schools closed events perspire and it's a remarkable step from

a man who initially claimed coronavirus was being hyped to politically damage him and his reelection efforts alan fischer al-jazeera washington. well rob reynolds is at the international terminal of los angeles airport he reports now on the confusion surrounding the travel ban. i'm standing outside the international departures area at los angeles international airport and it's fairly busy tonight you can see that a lot of travelers are wearing masks that does seem to be the norm for travelers these days and of course now that the president trump's travel ban on 26 european countries says come into effect there's a lot of questions there are a lot of questions in the travel industry and among travelers themselves the president announced this ban in a speech on wednesday it was rife with errors and misinformation and many travelers were confused

a lot of people in industry were confused as well so officials had to eventually come out and say that the ban on traveling from europe does not apply to u.s. citizens or permanent residents they will be allowed to come home but they will be checked given health checks at the airport on arrival and they will be asked to go into a 14 day quarantine now let's look at some of these numbers here and they're quite large last year there were 550 flights between the u.s. and the shang an area of the european union that's the $26.00 nation area that allows travel free of visas and passports within the borders of that area that's about $125000.00 travelers each and every day and of course this is going to wipe out billions of dollars in revenues for airlines for hotels for travel agencies rental car agencies you name it anything involved in the travel industry

delta which is one of the largest u.s. air carriers and told its employees it's asking them to take unpaid leave this is going to idle 300 planes out of its fleet and cut down the capacity by 40 percent over all over this 30 day period of the band from european try. although european union leaders have condemned the travel ban they say they weren't even consulted by the white house is saying now is the time for cooperation rather than you know wrote lateral action and president probes own former homeland security adviser thomas foster said that the travel ban will do little to spread. to stem the spread of covert 19 and it's more or less a waste of time and effort ok let's go live now to london and our correspondent there so the democide is this travel bans concerned was the european reaction like . well rob we're just telling you about the european reaction it's been very

negative because it wasn't coordinated the general gist of that is the many governments fear of a really worldwide travel response is needed and the latest is that the u.k. may be added to the ban according to sources in the united states lots of things happening here in the u.k. over the last 24 hours the number of cases now covered 19 stands at around 800 it went up 205200 just in 24 hours to friday lots of people here are starting to debate the government's response because as you're hearing from our guest in hong kong earlier it stands in such sharp contrast to what other governments are doing this idea of herd immunity this idea of accepting that many a large percent of the population will eventually catch the virus so there's been a bit of a u. turn the government's now preparing for next week to ban large gatherings bed but

basically pain catch up to the organizers of the london marathon who put spoken vats event to the premier league and football and so on they are now 'd starting to say people should not be getting together in such large numbers they're also talking about what can be done in the short term to make sure the national health service can cope talking about getting in volunteers there are lots of other european countries that are taking similar steps to stop travel a number of e.u. nations have totally or partially shut their borders to known to foreign nationals including poland and the czech republic there's been a big jump in spain in the number of cases and now there's a state of emergency there for the next 2 weeks to try to get on top of the numbers the w.h.o. is clearly saying that the that europe is the epicenter now of the outbreak it's also warning countries guarded code to delete like the u.k. that they need to take all measures possible and not just. rely on this immunity

idea and i think that's now starting to be taken on board by the your forties here in britain. thanks very much let's bring in. he's an aviation analyst who joins us on skype from london as well welcome to the news hour kemi aviation industry worldwide absorb this and survive this. is very difficult i mean i think the aviation industry airlines and airports their profit margins even at the best of times are relatively small compared to other major industries and this is a difficult period for the aviation industry the last time it suffered this level of crisis was during the 2008 financial crisis and before 911 but i think many airlines have come out and said actually this crisis because it's difficult to forecast how long it will last is seeing a bigger impact than mine 11 and the 2008 prices we were reporting just in the past

3 or 4 hours here in al-jazeera various countries in effect closing their borders that means they're closing their air borders as well the borders that we fly through literally when we go from country to country do we have to accept that's the new normal for the foreseeable future. yes and i think for the last 24 hours more and more countries have said that they are going to stop international flights it. is the latest one to join that list of countries a number of countries particularly india and the u.s. did so only this week and it's difficult you know if the border is closed airlines will start canceling flights because demand will drop significantly and it makes the situation watch worse for the aviation industry and also it's compounded by the fact that many large businesses are asking their employees not to fly overseas and in many cases banning them and so they're not just seeing a demand reduction in leisure traffic but also in business traffic as well when it

comes to our safety when you know when we're talking about exposure potentially to the coronavirus would it be fair to say that the airport terminals and the aircraft themselves are probably no super clean because the airlines and the airport operators have been cleaning everything federally but the problem is the star of that work in the airport because they're working in those transit lounge is they're working in the bars if the bars are open they're working in the canteens in the restaurants if they are open and they're the ones who are encountering people flying in or into lining from airport to airport. yeah it's it's the it's the usual case the airports around the world ha the one place where you will find a very high turnover all people essentially from different parts of the world. and you know it could be a case that somebody has traveled to northern italy or in china over the last month has an experienced any symptoms is has passed through the airport and actually has

had the virus and unknown to them a lot of their lines are actually doing 30 checks on their aircraft as well they are cleaning their aircraft. disinfecting rare very thoroughly and also in fact every almost every aircraft type in the world has their own air pollution and their filtration system which includes a have of those which actually when it's wet and very well is able to trap and stop heiresses to the rate of might i point 99 percent and i think a number of airlines including ryanair and indigo in asia have put out e-mail announcements to passengers saying that there have been foreign cleaned. but there nevertheless there is quite a lot of reluctance amongst the traveling public not to travel on aircraft because the perception is that you know that when you're in a small confined space such as an aircraft cabin you will be more exposed to the

virus not that there is no scientific evidence that that is the case but there is a general. reluctance by the passengers to be flying because of that reason ok we'll leave it there on a part of thank you very much. well the pandemic has wiped out world's most major sporting events during the global sporting calendar into chaos sports correspondent is here are we losing more events today there's not that much more salutes i mean we're getting that sort of reaction now from a lot of the sporting associations have been affected i mean let's be honest and for a lot of us sport is the rhythm of life isn't it we almost know what day of the year it is or was sporting events is taking place and when you see events like golf masters the 1st major championship of the year being called off it really does put into context just what impressed unprecedented symes i was sort of living through now i mean the the english premier league is an example liverpool on the brink could happen on monday that they win the 1st title 30 years you know something that

club has been desperate see do and i think you're going club manager really getting the tongue right not just for liverpool but i think reflects what a lot of people in sport of thinking saying is false he's concerned sports is is the most important of the least important things in life and then at the moment if it's about sports over the water good of society then it's not a concept and let's take liverpool as an example at the moment where players aren't showing symptoms of coronavirus but in guidelines from that box is the players having to try it on their own away from training facilities and that is being reflected in football clubs all over the world so this idea that clubs are perhaps going to start playing again in league is going to restart in april looks pretty fanciful more plays around europe and around the world to contracts in coronavirus is it really going to be fair to say right league start again tonight for the 3rd it looks unlikely and i think the other thing to think of beyond that beyond the sort of big leagues is what sport means to society people on

a practical level at the lower leagues they're reliant on that week to week events taking place there are people whose salaries reliance on being involved in games where it's a week a lot of clubs at a lower level are going to face financial crisis at this time. a lot of individuals are going to be struggling to make their mortgage payments so it be really nice if we if we take a step back at this time of perhaps the big clubs when they come out of it and all the money that's swirling around leagues the premier league think or perhaps it might be a good time now to redistribute some of that wealth make sure that the club slow it down an association is lower down get a bit of money to save in 3 days your employer will mean his personal popularity ratings going sky high you know put your expensive homes and money was coming out of the dog that was right here on social media yesterday but the clues in the name isn't it's team sports these guys don't just do and the women they just don't do what they do in a bubble now they're not they don't do it we're in a hazmat suits they travel together they live together they train together they play together and that's a big petri dish in the reality is you got to be careful about that and also the

fans who want to be out there on the stadium yes i think so many of the events i would take comments by politicians you know we saw the u.k. prime minister saying talking about spectators is about premier league games forgetting the fact that the players are just as vulnerable as anybody else and i think also when you look at the big event of the olympics it's all very well. thomas back is that of the i see all the organizes japan saying that everything's going to be ok events may well overtake them unilaterally a member associations my say was just not practical for us to be holding a limb pick charles at the moment some of our athletes a sick look at the athletes of kenya who dominate some of the distance events than allowing their athletes to travel outside of the country i'm just looking at that the build up to the track and field year this year the 1st major events in the diamond league which is that which is the big track and field meets of the year is in cats are in april a country which is limiting access to the nationalities of from many countries then

to events in china and then shortly after that we have a track and field meets in italy now she's not practical that those events are going to take place so i think that's the important thing to think of that moment it's very it's very interesting listening to these these guys are in charge of things saying stuff about what's going to happen events are going to have insight thank you very much. ok let's go to another top story iraqi security officials say there's been a 2nd attack on a base housing u.s. troops there's no word on casualties yet it comes a day after u.s. airstrikes on multiple sites in iraq the pentagon says it targeted those responsible for killing 2 american troops and one british soldier in an attack on weapons day some of alton joins us live from baghdad smyrna is it surprising to see in assange just one day after the u.s. claims have carried a successful strikes to degrade the capabilities of those iranian backed groups. well it is indeed paradoxical because just yesterday we had the pentagon give

a statement providing an overview of what it's called defensive precision strikes against positions of iranian backed groups in iraq and general kind of mckinsey said that all of those strikes were successful targeting primarily weapons depots of groups like hezbollah which the u.s. is blamed for attacking its personnel at taji earlier this week now some analysts have suggested that because there were no secondary expert explosions following the u.s. strikes on those weapons that pose it is possible that actually those the pows were potentially empty that they did not actually contain any weaponry so that is one factor the other factor is that those strikes resulted in the 6 casualties including 3 members of the army 2 members of the police and one civilian and that is what drew widespread condemnation from the iraqi government and military but also fresh threats from the iranian backed groups to carry out fresh attacks

against u.s. forces so today's attack on could be another response to that it is very unusual for such an attack to take place during broad daylight which is a very bold move usually these rocket attacks occur during the night so the question is whether the u.s. wants to get bogged down in tit for tat attacks here in iraq between those groups because that is something that could keep escalating for a while this is the 2nd phase of these escalations just this year and of course all of this comes amid again fresh calls for the withdrawal of u.s. troops in the most important thing to say here is that it is iraq he is who are bearing the brunt of these tensions we just got news that there were 2 members from the iraqi security forces who were injured in this morning's attack on the base so in total we now have 6 fatalities and several people who were injured as a result of these to. attacks between the u.s. and iranian backed groups but none of them actually have anything to do with either

side and that is something that will certainly create further backlash from the iraqis and we're likely to see more developments on the political side as well some other things very much will always make time for the world on this program here's richard. thanks rush he said. we're looking at a tropical cyclone which will potential to drop 400 millimeters of rain in one location and normally we get very very excited about that this particular site clone is impacting at the moment a problem northern parts of madagascar and i was fortunate to go to mother glasgow recently i was talking to people there and what comes across is there anything which affects us or northern side comes from the north doesn't have any great impact and as a result the rain which falls from here is actually all welcome because it goes into the rice paddies and helps with culture and that's really what we've got at the moment very slow moving storm system which is producing at winds of sustained winds of 112 kilometers per hour things are at the moment is moving towards the

west now is moving onshore just 4 kilometers per hour so its movement is very very slow and as a result over the mountainous areas in the far north is going to produce a huge amount of rain as i say $300.00 to $400.00 millimeters of rain over this almost greater concern is whether or not you have an impact further south on or some of the other islands in the region law re-union for instance as it stands at the moment it is a very finely balanced look so the storm system will actually bisect the islands reunion but i think for both areas some very stormy skies in the next few days peace richard thanks very much still to come for you here on the news our iran security forces are ordered to clear all streets in their stepped up battle against the coronavirus. and in sports and be patient 0 apologizes for what he's admitted was careless behavior 2 sales coming up with santa.

a nation where corruption is endemic now embroiled in a battle to hold the power. as this radical transformation. i mean i don't know about it i mean if you want to go shouting lines on the romanians pressing for change of the unconventional methods to eliminate corruption remain people. on al-jazeera. when the news breaks the war and awful was dotted with the ins of getting more police on the presentation and economic development when people who need to be heard the top leadership world where the potential for barratry of a bar a few weeks before the public could pose a danger al-jazeera has teams on the ground the syrian army says determined to defeat the rebels and continuous advanced was this is a good bit to bring you move would winning documentaries and life mean.

welcome back you're watching al-jazeera a reminder of our top stories this hour a 30 day ban on all flights from mainland europe to the u.s. is now in effect president trump has declared a national emergency freeing up billions of dollars to fight the coronavirus. some good news out of china the authorities have begun easing travel restrictions for residents in a province the epicenter of the virus that means healthy people will now be allowed to move within the region has been under lockdown since january iraqi security

officials say there's been a 2nd attack on a base housing u.s. and u.k. forces a multiple rocket launcher fired missiles at the tide shia base north of the capital baghdad on saturday there's no word on casualties and yet. there's been a huge jump in the jump rather in the number of dead from the coronavirus in iran iranian state television says another 97 people died pushing the death toll to 611 state media says shops streets and roads have all been emptied the country is struggling with a lack of lifesaving equipment and has asked for an emergency 5000000000 dollar loan from the international monetary fund iranian state t.v. says the corona virus has killed another 97 people pushing the death toll to 611 amid confirmed cases that tally 12729 is in basra he joins us live from tehran says in from where you are how's it looking. well these figures

certainly tell the tragic story that people here in iran are facing on a daily basis now it's difficult for us to go out and to try to speak to people directly but on social media you can see almost every day people talking about losing relatives losing loved ones even nurses and doctors who have lost family members but go back to work the next day to try to help those that are seeking treatment that are seeking care and i'm certain that leaders must be asking themselves here into iran would of the circumstances here have been different had it not been for us sanctions you know unilateral u.s. sanctions placed on the iranian economy now if iran had been able to continue to sell its oil it would have had more money to throw at this problem sanctions have truly had a compound an effect on iran's ability to deal with the spread of the corona virus outbreak here in the country businesses have businesses individuals and the macro economy at large simply doesn't have that buffer of extra money that is often

required to throw at a problem that is straining the health care industry that is straining people's pocketbooks that is straining the country's overall financial reserves now we've seen iran get help from countries like qatar one of its only in closest allies in the middle east from china from russia from the world health organization but even the medical supplies that are coming in are a band-aid on a gaping wound which is the country's struggling economy and it simply is a fact that sanctions are now hurting iran's ability to react to this public health crisis on a national scale but we also heard from president hassan rouhani who via video conference chaired the counter corona headquarters a meeting of the weekly meeting for the task force that he started at the beginning of this crisis and he said the main requirements right now is for people to remain calm and to increase public participation in the government's health care advice and guidance on limiting movements to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus

really it's been a massive problem since the beginning and that is simply because. many people here say they can't close their shops they can't limit their movements they have to go to their offices to continue to try to make money to pay rent and president also said that no other country would have been able to do what iran has done under the circumstances that it is facing zain thank you. so the arabiya announcing it will temporarily suspend all international flights for 2 weeks starting from sunday the kingdom has reported $24.00 new cases of the coronavirus on friday raises the total number of infections to $86.00 cats germany france and spain to its flight plan list taking the total number of restricted countries to 18 the gulf state has recorded 337 cases of the virus. indonesia's capital jakarta has announced it's closing all schools for 2 weeks after at least 4 people died from the virus 69 of tested positive there jessica washington joins us live from the capital jakarta so

jessica how significant is this announcement from the authorities there. i think we've got a calm slink that to jessica we will go back to her just as soon as we can mexico has just 15 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and while the authorities say the number could go up they feel they are prepared to deal with an outbreak however some health experts are warning the country isn't learning the lessons of a similar virus that it dealt with earlier. reports now from mexico city. while countries around the world continue to implement containment measures in the fight against the corona virus pandemic in mexico everything appears to be business as usual for the city for their part mexican officials seem confident in the low numbers of confirmed cases saying the country has been preparing for years applying

the lessons learned from the 2009 outbreak of h one n one otherwise known as the swine flu. then the government ordered a public health emergency that led to a near shutdown of the entire country. but in the end health officials received praise from the world health organization and the u.s. centers for disease control who called mexico's response to the outbreak a model for the world today authorities say they're far better prepared than ever before they never see to see there is no need for fear there's no need for panic though it is a natural reaction we need to turn down the fears so that we can face reality and address this epidemic with the appropriate level of public health policies not more and not wastes oh i believe there are others who. worry mexico was under estimating the impact that corona virus could have especially in the country's poorest regions there he sat. on the access to health services i mean usually the middle class

and and the rich people have access to private systems and those kind of opportunities the nordic seas for most of the population most of the public hospitals in the in the country there crowd that long waits nawin off supply of this it while the worst of the now global pandemic has until now largely spared countries in latin america concerns about over the level of preparedness in the region mexican health officials say they expect more confirmed cases of corona virus in the coming weeks but add that the government does not yet feel it necessary to implement containment measures like canceling public events or closing schools. so are mexican authorities acting too cool in the face of the coronavirus pandemic we asked dr ali handle messiest one of the lead scientists who helped develop public policy during the h one n one pandemic 10 years ago and. as for authorities it's very difficult to please

everyone because if you do one thing people ask you why you didn't do more and you when you do more others say you're exaggerating it's very difficult for thirty's to make a decision that will please everyone. the number of confirmed cases of corona virus in mexico has only recently entered double digits the government continues to urge citizens to observe basic hygiene as the best prevention against the spread of corona virus and most importantly not to panic panic doesn't appear to be spreading it on one end up in mexico city. ok let's go back to jessica washington joining us live now from jakarta with the schools close so jessica how significant is this announcement from the authorities were. this is something that people have been calling for for at least weeks and now all

schools around because it will be shut for at least 2 weeks it's not just schools that will be affected but also key truest hotspots like theme parks museums and now it's unclear how long these restrictions will be in place but they will of course meet send it if the virus just continues. on and with one of the world's most densely populated city. authorities here have confirmed at least $96.00 confirmed cases of the virus around indonesia among them 5 deaths and these numbers are all the over mockable when you consider that in tunisia only confirmed its 1st case of the virus here across this uk appellate go just last week so those b. is that into the was under testing and perhaps on the estimation the spread of these fires are still being realized so jessica just to be clear is the trend.

well it is certainly an upward trend because as as i did say we only had our 1st confirmed case just last week now that doesn't necessarily mean that the virus has spread more than it was when the outbreak began what it does probably point is that there is a more rigorous testing scheme in place now we are seeming to get some mixed messages from the world health organization here in indonesia when this outbreak began what we were hearing consistently was that internees it was doing the right things in terms of its testing approach in terms of quarantine and testing the right number of people now what we've heard recently is that welsh health organization has spoken directly to president junko which otoh advising him to really ramp up testing efforts and to take this this route. break incredibly seriously and it also works or improve florentine measures as well jessica thanks very much. african plane carrying more than 120 people evacuated from new landed

back in south africa in the past 22 and a half hours or so the group that's been stranded in the chinese city since the outbreak of corona virus began with me to miller joins us live from kwame in south africa for me to do we know how many people on board a carrying the virus or all the all clear well according to the government too has been at pains to stress that these are people that are healthy that have been tested and also underwent multiple screenings while in who had so according to the government nobody aboard this flight has had a positive test for the corona virus and this is very much what south africans want to hear the group is being transported now by bus from the people of quanah international airport to a quarantine site just further down this road that's been identified by the

government and they say this is the ideal spot to ensure that people off or away from the nearest city that it is secure and you also see that there's a police cordon behind us blocking this road in any traffic on the road behind us that will carry these buses to that quarantine site so the fact that all these people the government says have not tested positive for the corona virus is an important issue for the government for people in south africa who are concerned about what exactly this repatriation will mean for south africa which so far has recorded 24 cases of the coronavirus all of them from people who have traveled abroad and returned to south africa for me to thanks very much. ok let's round up some of the top stories turkey and russia have agreed on the details of a cease fire in syria's a deadly breach and the plan was finalized after 4 days of talks in ankara under

the agreement turkish and russian forces will carry out joint patrols from sunday along the m 4 highway linking syria's east and west the ceasefire brokered last thursday is launched lee holding the u.n. says the cease fire hasn't done much to improve the diet conditions the earlier we spoke with dr sun e.-d. who's a cardiologist at a hospital in it lived it supported by the charity islamic relief he describes now what it's like had the situation in the past few months was in fact so much are able because many hospital here and many right now the care center where after there is more than the already before off without my care center and i mention the service because they are targeted and nearly complete the orb are shelley. and there would be displacement huge amount of people yelling at the order where there is no health care centers who

can manage to give them the correct care in fact of the in struggling to make these. hospital and care and health. debt up by. when we lost many houses all and the medical staff feel that they are an safe where in hospital they are all always unconscious and it makes them how difficult for us there in such circumstances. the afghan government has delayed the negotiated release of taliban prisoners earlier this week president ashraf ghani agreed to start the release of talks with the taliban the government said $5000.00 prisoners would be last out in phases the taliban however wants them all released at once at least $21.00 people have died in egypt 20 days of heavy rain caused major flooding 6 children are among the dead

with most of the victims in rural areas cairo's water authority cut off supplies after rising waters overwhelmed the sewage system. and anti-government protest in the chilean capital santiago has turned violent demonstrators threw rocks and other items at the police who responded with water cannon and tear gas protests like this started in october over a public transport price rise demonstrators also want better pensions health care and education the president is promising a new more compassionate constitution. after 11 months in jail a co-founder of hong kong's occupy protests has been released. jenkin man says he has no regrets over his role in the 2014 protests also known as the umbrella movement that was when thousands of demonstrators shut down big parts

of the city for weeks demanding greater freedoms as one of 9 people found guilty on charges of public nuisance. still to come here on the news for you. there is some sports news to report santa will have for you the rally driver making a lucky escape as his car goes up in flames in mexico. the shocking treatment of disabled people in eastern european state run caverns in these cages who cannot have access to a toilet or water and the bureaucratic indifference to their plight she has his hands and his fates tied to the bed 5 years after 1st highlighting such abuses the people in power returns with a 2 part investigation to continuing mistreatment and neglect europe's recurring shane hot one on al-jazeera reporting in the field means i often get to witness not

just the news as a breaking but also history as it's unfolding crossing from serbia into hungary the refugee day i might be covering politics of angel and the next and i become like protests. what's most important to me just talking to people understanding what they're going through so that i can convey the headlines in the most human way cost . here at al-jazeera we believe everyone has a story worth hearing. move. to. a good. that way sports news thank you very much on a virus that has wiped out most of the major sporting events around the world the

biggest football league in the world the english premier league was shut down on friday if you have suspended matches until the 1st weekend of april and half offered no guarantees that the season will be finished while the league is the most watched football competition and the world with tens of thousands attending live games some football fans were unhappy with the decision particularly liverpool fans and with their team close to victory for the 1st time and yes. i've received a ticket holder i am absolutely great i am off to be back playing very expert postcode drop the place behind closed doors it's not as if you just played he caught up with you put up the real thing to me and suspended it about what's going to happen and i just thank his dark forces around because of liverpool right away. and it's not just to be 2 weeks it's going to be eligible which the.

league is really running to june you can't play your dogs straight after the leagues you've got to develops a rest. for their own health as well so it's the 1st call and told the truth 3 times he'll be ready to do it at home. and syria some doria have announced that 5 of their players have tested positive for the virus and are now in self isolation syria was one of the 1st leaks to be cancelled after the italian government suspended all sports until april the 3rd due to the outbreak the club's training facilities have been closed and all sporting activities in the country has also been back. world governing body fifa is asking for any international games scheduled for march and april to be called off she 1st say rules which normally oblige clubs to release plays for their national team matches won't apply well cup qualifiers in both asia and south america have already been performed. the n.b.a.

is a patient 0 rudy go where the has spoken for the 1st time since testing positive for corner virus the utah jazz player sparked a huge backlash after he appeared to be joking about catching the virus at the press conference he later became the 1st n.b.a. player to test positive in shutting down the entire league frontman posted in the poll jian instagram admitting what he did was careless. major league baseball players are returning home a day after the league canceled spring training and will be announced on thursday the season will be delayed for at least 2 weeks from its scheduled to start on march 26th however teams think the season might not actually start until may sporting out in the u.k. this week has been horse racing's festival over 4 days more than 200000 fans have attended one of the country's most popular sporting events from

a native with friday's gold cup organizers said they were following government advice and did all they could to keep race goes safe the london marathon has been postponed until october the event attracts some of the world's best distance runners the boston marathon is also on the move that's been pushed to september. custis in many a says she's switching it to the 200 meters in the run at the took you 2020 games 29 year old a south african champion is currently banned from running in the events that ranging from 400 meters to a mile 200 meters would be an event that would allow her to avoid world that let it regulations limiting her testosterone levels so mania is a double elim big gold medalist in the 800 meters. mexico's one of the rest faulting events to go ahead despite a corner a virus a fierce 6 i'm all the rally championship and at the 1st full day at the top of the

leaderboard the frenchman is 9.6 seconds ahead of finance forward driver he moves in off the stage 6. of the biggest incident during the race came when ams for driver because his car dramatically burst into flames after completing a stage you to his co-driver or the attendant marshals could extinguish it be had to drive the car away but was soon forced to bail out leaving his fiesta to burn to the ground. that's lucky indeed. that's a big insurance claim center thanks very much lots more news on the website the address of al-jazeera dot com you can get across all the latest developments on the international news from us there on the website adrian is here in about 3 minutes i'll see you from 13 until then thanks for watching for the moment.

cultura downs thrives here every day generations of tibetans continue to be a brace of cultural heritage it's a reminder of who they are and whether. this is a suburb of the capital to be refugees here since $964.00. have been defined as migrants are not refugees because india hasn't signed up to the 1951 un convention on refugees so tibetans here have been able to access the indian welfare system so they become self-sufficient setting up their

a businesses and looking for work independently but for some it's not enough. join the listening paste as we turn the cameras on the media india has more than 424 hour television news channels. and focus on how they report on the stories that matter the most the states misleads the public the state media reflects the. climate change there it all shows a time believe they have anything to apologize listening post on al-jazeera. it could be the biggest land grab in history. as powerful nations lay claim to territories under the ocean $21.00 geologists are secret. borders. as the struggle for resources intensifies some of the world's most powerful

scientists speak out. oceans monaca on. the next 8 weeks are critical we can learn and we will turn a corner on this virus the u.s. president declares a national emergency that frees up to $50000000000.00 to fight the curve at 19 outbreak washington's travel restrictions come into effect barring people from $26.00 european nations for a month. hello i'm adrian finighan this is al jazeera live from doha also coming out with the chinese government declaring an end to the worst of the corona virus outbreak life slowly starts to return to.