the u.s. has closed its borders with mexico and canada for all nonessential travel tens of millions of americans are being told to stay at home. iran's coronavirus death toll has surpassed 1500 after reporting 123 new deaths it president hassan rouhani says he's considering lifting restrictions by the beginning of april. and south africa the number of people infected with corona virus has risen sharply to 240 the country's health care system is already struggling the people worry the pandemic could overwhelm it entirely amid a mother has this report from johannesburg. doctors detected the 1st case of covert 1000 in south africa earlier this month over the past 2 weeks more than 150 people have been treated for the virus as the government tries to contain the outbreak many are worried 28 year old stepson quater is one of the $7000000.00

south africans with hiv he says with an already compromised immune system his priority is to keep safe it feels like it's another. reload of a sort their reaction really ill evolute and something that is got a lot of fear and words people living with hiv because in their denial of seeing what if they get infected what's going to happen why don't you choose that what's the next steps millions like to pull have no option but to use often overcrowded public transport while private taxi operators have promised to disinfect and provide hand sanitizer many have been slow to implement the new guidelines public hospitals and clinics are normally crowded with people waiting for hours to see a doctor they are concerned the corona virus could easily spread when you come to our part of the world our public health care systems are broken our intensive care

units are full even before we get to covert 19 so again there's a real danger and this is why i think we need international support for africa we need a mobilization of resources poor water and sanitation infrastructure in parts of south africa mean that many may not be able to wash their hands as often as they should increasing the risk of contracting cold 19 in upmarket suburbs like this one homes in spaces a large states a wide it's easier for people to keep apart but for millions of others the reality is quite different. thousands of townships across south africa overcrowded dozens of families share one toilet streets aligned with rubbish and people have little if any space to themselves the government is using t.v. radio and the internet to spread awareness as quickly as possible and as promised quarantine spaces for people who don't have their own it's closed schools and

banned gatherings of more than 100 people compared to europe and asia african countries have fewer reported cases of the virus but some experts worry that poorly equipped public health systems a failing to spot the true total and warn the continent should prepare for the worst for me al-jazeera johannesburg south africa the head of the world health organization has urged countries in africa to wake up ahead of a possible spike in cases in the continent we have seen how the virus actually accelerates at after a certain tipping tipping point so the best advice for africa is to prepare for the worst and prepare to do violence really speeds up then accelerates you know the. continents or countries so that's our advise and i think africa should wake up my continent should wake up. i don't do is an associate fellow in

a global health program at chatham house she says the focus for african nations is on containment. south africa and probably uganda has the most doctors per population and that's just one doctor or a 1000 people and that's a lot that is already overwhelming just for the health care workforce and then when you think of intensive care units we think of hospital beds we also have a critical shortage across the continent as well so really the efforts right now need to be focused on insane meant really identifying those important cases looking at the context of those cases and making sure that they're all quien teenagers you know some warning quarantine or if there is an isolation you know i think having them as soon as possible and really trying to contain this as much as possible well french citizens are are just going to drastic changes in their lives due to the pandemic the doctor about it takes a look at how the restrictions are affecting them. instantly recognizable from the

sky a closer look reveals that paris is a changed city 3 calls are scarce on roads usually snow with traffic neighborhoods once vibrant on nearly deserted as days past people are forced to adapt to the french president's order to stay indoors to stem the spread of the coronavirus a reduced french parliament discuss the crisis less than 30 and he's were allowed to see it in accordance with the new rules. irrespective of our personal responsibilities or our convictions that our times can diverge we stand by the idea here that it is in all our interest and that of the country to guarantee continue to serve our citizens during the confinement people may leave home for essential work to buy medicines or food at a market in a paris suburb some shoppers ventured out at a bakery people kept their distance i know we are not allowed to get out. to be

able to go to the local bakery burials are being held behind closed doors with only close relatives allowed thousands of police officers have been deployed to enforce the regulations those breaking them are fined across france it is a similar picture looked up cities both small it in picturesque harbors in the west of the rural town of chalet is shuttered and quiet the sports center closed only the supermarket open well this is a pretty typical small town in regional france and on a day like this with fine weather normally the cafe behind me on the main square would be packed with people enjoying the sunshine but it is empty the streets are empty there are very very few calls and i have to say it is very eerie. life under lockdown is clearly challenging but as coronavirus cases in france rapidly climb opinion poll suggests that most people support the restrictions. and in such an

unusual time there are displays of solidarity that ease the tension each night in france's cities towns and villages she is ring out to thank the health workers who battled tirelessly to save lives. natasha butler al-jazeera western france. as more countries around the world go into lockdown social distancing is being recommended as one way to contain the new coronavirus that's an unusual time for tens of millions of people but there are ways that can make small but crucial differences in their lives rather go up to explains. the where the. lonely. board where you let me go inspired. and creative life under quarantine for some it's not often in recent history that hundreds of millions around the world have shared

a common experience so unique and unprecedented. some have been living under lockdown for days others for weeks and some for months trapped inside their homes doctors say that could lead to stress and anxiety the big surprise i can give here is just to kind of plan something in your life that you might focus on and start so i was there when i was out in trying to do some shopping i saw a lot of people rushing to libya i was store struck hardware stores sort of gardening and i think that's a very good idea to. get a sense of control great sense of achievement back into your life in china where tens of millions have been under lockdown for weeks online gym classes and physical exercises are some of the ways people have tried to cope and keep themselves fit. or maintain or matter how are active have things to do at home

maintain your social contacts. short route have it then. and important to stay in touch with your friends and admitting that i'm things especially hard for patients at hospitals and their family members who are barred from visiting them in italy where many are dying without their families by their side this frontline doctor is helping his patients connect virtually. initially i thought this would have worried them to see me in a state that would emotionally drain them it turned out to be the exact opposite we participated all together in something miraculous. in this hospital in south korea doctors are using our right and pets icon 30 to 50 year old to help patients deal with extreme loneliness in our hospital. we gently many

a come from 19 patients and they being very straws trust. big. the psychological problems so we tried to provide a lot of the psychological consultation a pandemic that's cut off nations separated friends families and neighbors from each other has also brought the feeling that we are all in this together. priyanka gupta and his ear. al-jazeera has spoken to a doctor in southern italy who has tested positive the virus giuseppi spina is a new model just who is working in the only hospital in his area where his wife became unwell his tongue while a turnover is now on lockdown the local hospitals being closed and he's in quarantine it's thought all the cases are linked to a school in the area but some have accused dr spinner of spreading the illness

here's a story. no you get no my tell moliterno in the basilica region has a cluster of corona virus cases there are not many towns in the south like militant which is in total lockdown there's no movement allowed looks like life is being extinguished here it's like a ghost town there's no one outside apart from a few people at the pharmacy or the local grocery store. in the days before my wife contracted the virus a few people visited the house friends and colleagues and people who were being tasted you know with my wife it happened all of a sudden she was healthy and then suddenly came down with a favor in a heavy dry cough it was violent and very strong and what really caught my attention was that her oxygen levels dropped dramatically on top of that is the other symptoms the lung obstruction persistent shaking and coughing tightness in an intense migraine will let if you will die the difficulty in the south of italy is that there's not enough tests you're only

a few tests available every day in the entire region but more importantly it's absurd how difficult it is to find protective equipment like the face masks and gallons necessary to fight kovac 19 and end up missing when i treated my wife at 1st i wasn't wearing protective gear because she had a small fever so i didn't think she had covered one thing so that's how i caught the virus as well i'd been taking consultations in the hospital and various departments while i was positive but i didn't know it and so the hospital's closed down temporarily to clean and sanitizing entire compound you know my colleagues were tested not just the doctors but also the paramedics and the nurses. from a human point of view 19 has been devastated because my wife was the 1st confirmed case in the whole basilica region it's unleashed an incredible wast next door on me related to the gossip those who thought that i was the one who brought this virus to our area but covered 19 is a global pandemic it doesn't respect borders doesn't follow rules the. has reached

all corners of the globe in some way i do feel guilty guilty for having a germ even though i don't have any symptoms and even though i'm living with it my life continues normally except of lost a bit of appetite makes one understand just how incredibly dangerous this virus can be for a human body if you don't have a strong immune system to fight it this virus will inflict damage and that's why there have been thousands of deaths in our country. one of the strain is most famous beaches has been closed after people ignored a ban on mass gatherings authorities say the closure of cities borne diabetes will extend to others if social distancing advice is being ignored there comes a day after thousands flock to the beach in defiance of rules limiting gatherings to 500 people haiti has announced its 1st 2 cases of coronavirus the president declared a state of emergency in a country with an already fragile health care system there harding as more. the

poorest country in the americas is on lockdown haiti's airports schools factory and seaports are. worried shoppers are stocking up with basic supplies you know. i'm asking all of you to stay even if you've heard everything is shutting down goods will continue to come to the country we ask everyone to follow the advice of the government to prevent the worst. president said the 2 patients who tested positive are in quarantine and came from abroad but the pandemic is expected to hit haiti's crumbling health care system hard there are just over 100 intensive care beds available for the 10000000 people that live here 2 thirds of the population don't have access to decent sanitation regular hand washing is a luxury the state of emergency is being enforced to stop new cases but health care workers are concerned it could also prevent medical supplies and volunteer doctors

from coming in to get it but again we don't have supplies we haven't even heard from the ministry of health we don't have gloves or mosques to fight the virus in 2010 u.n. peacekeepers were responsible for bringing and cholera to the country at least 10000 people died the. cholera caused major damage in haiti with the arrival of the coronavirus in the face of a major crisis that could take cholera and will be even worse for the coronavirus. gas stations ran out of fuel on friday haiti's fight against 19 is likely to be brutal hard in al-jazeera. doctors nurses and other hospital workers in the u.s. is saving simply don't have enough medical equipment and supplies to treat everyone who gets sick there warning if things don't change they'll end up in a similar situation to italy. reports from york. scenes

of desperation inside a hospital in italy new york now the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in america is trying to avoid this. but new york is facing a shortage of ventilators like this needed to keep sick patients breathing thousands more are needed they don't exist we have about 5 or 6000 secured we need 30000 federal government owes 12. i mean this is a bad situation but it's not only a lack of medical equipment for patients but also for those trying to help them. doctors nurses and staff at hospitals just like this in new york city are on the front lines of the crisis many of these health professionals say they're lacking some of the most of basic essential step protect themselves such as gloves and masks hospital staff taking to social media to call attention to the desperate

situation this emergency room doctor tweeting i'm lucky i got the last pair of goggles in the e.r. for today it's 9 am this doctor had to ask strangers for donations of new masks i found 2 boxes on my doorstep this morning she tweeted thank you to whoever you are and this is what new york city officials say they will need by early april 3 1000000 and 95 respirator masks 50000000 surgical masks and 25000000 surgical gowns and gloves most of these products are made in china and in short supply on the global market so new york's mayor has gone so far as to say the u.s. military is the last resort and we expect those goods that are produced that we need for our hospitals to get there in time so only one organization that can guarantee that that is the united states military when will president trump give the order that is my question when will he give the order if the supply problem

isn't fixed soon this stark warning we might get into that terrible ethical problem that the italians are fortunately finding themselves in which is who will live and who will die who will get the ventilator who will be taken off the ventilator and who will be given it instead for new york a need for medical supplies and soon gabriels on doe out zita new york. ok let's move away from corona virus writer news briefly now north korea has fired 2 missiles into the sea off the peninsula as east coast according to south korea's military there earlier this month and launched several missiles into the same area as part of what its leaders are calling fighting drills the u.s. and china have been pushing pyongyang to return to talks on ending its nuclear and missile programs robin wright has more from south korea's capital so the difference between this test and the previous 2 tests we've had this series does seem to be

a lot sophisticated weaponry on show the 1st 2 tests were from the east coast of the peninsula and it they appear to be you know the rocket launches a low range artillery these loaches of 2 projectiles were from the west coast they flew right over the peninsula 400 kilometers landing in the sea that separates the from japan and it does appear that south korean military officials here that they were short range ballistic missiles also they don't hit a guy system appeared to have been in use so it's led people hate to conclude this is part of a new more sophisticated guided weapon system that the north koreans have been developing south korea has condemned this launch saying that it is extremely inappropriate to say the least to be conducting this sort of test while the rest of the world is struggling with the corona virus outbreak for years an informal

recycling industry inside gaza has accounted for at least some of the huge amount of plastic waste generated by the strips more than 2000000 residents but in recent years thanks both to the israeli blockade and a lack of proper waste management it's been in decline environmental experts say the consequences could be long term and damaging our faucet report. in the skies over gaza migratory birds look for an easy feed drawing them here a giant landfill east of gaza city they aren't the only one sifting through the more than 2000 tons of solid waste dumped every day. across the road and his team represent the 1st layer of gaza's informal plastics recycling industry they each earn about $9.00 a day. i should start them off. it has had

the workers i have here they separate it all out it could be used for pipes coat hangers blankets even furniture others collect plastic from the streets bring it to people like mahmoud shihab at his factory it's shredded washed and reformed into hoses for electric cabling irrigation 5 years ago there were more than 70 plastics factories like this now there are fewer than 10 mahmoud blames the israeli economic blockade for cutting demand and hampering the electricity supply but he says gaza's hamas leadership needs to do more. on. the blast that the government needs to tell people how to dispose of plastic properly and at the same time send plastic to factories like ours in big amounts it's much better than throwing in the garbage given gaza's other challenges widespread poverty repeated conflict between its armed groups in israel it unsurprising that recycling hasn't been a priority but that means more than 90 percent of the plastic discarded more than

$300.00 tons a day is simply dumped and this is what that looks like on the ground or more to the point in the ground and that's why gaza's plastics problem is also a chemical contamination problem. some 2 thirds of the waste here is organic as it rots away it takes with it toxic material from plastic and other waste it's mixed in with that further degrades garza's already tainted soil and water and threatens its food chain. from the health. of the. environmental conditions that we are living here. in one small area of gaza city though there is at least an effort underway a pilot project to encourage separation of waste such projects have been tried before and shelved but it is at least a step towards reducing gaza's plastic problem that al-jazeera gaza. conservation

efforts to save the african appear to be working over the past 6 years there's been a slight rise in the population challenges to protect them from. regular muhammad as more. african rhinos have long been under threat from their horns widely sought after for ivory use in asian traditional medicine and for newman's but the numbers of black rhino has seen what's described as a modest increase the international union for conservation of nature reports a 2 and a half percent annual increase in numbers over a 6 year period to 2018 and that's protective measures by conservationists we have almost a military style of protecting them that means. very good to very good intelligence and very rapid response to any threats. kenya's capital rangers and law enforcement tranquilize this one they drill its horn to insert a tracking device. it's part of

a wider effort to increase the species and ensure viable breeding. by moving them from established populations to new areas thousands of both white and black rhinos used to roam outside national parks and reserves but almost all were killed by poachers a crackdown against organized crime has reduced rhino poaching in recent years but there's still a long term cost to keeping them safe they need an interconnected landscapes. at the moment we have small pockets we have some protected areas but we haven't got a strategy in africa at this moment in time to secure continuous protected areas. the prospects for white rhinos and look stock they're already critically endangered and the conservation group reports a 15 percent decline over 5 years to 2017. south africa is home to the largest

white rhino population they've been targeted dead because of their large horns environmentalists say the counter measures in place show there are improvements but the illegal ivory trade remains their main threats the few more that have been saved from the poaches is a glimmer of hope to save them from extinction. and that search for the.

in response to global warming germany is gradually shutting down its coal industry but is it happening fast enough we don't have any time to waste anymore we can't wait so we're taking direct action to call for the immediate phase out of culture might as climate change activists challenge communities reliant on the industry for jobs people in power who will win the cold war on al-jazeera. singapore is being accused of expanding its coastline with illegally dredged satins some of the islands off the coast of indonesia literally vanished it's a big business smuggling sample it will take to say they're in the sand is our fair you say this beautiful beach but behind it is something that's not so plentiful tragedy is that people are just not aware and ecological investigation into a global emergency sandals at this time on al-jazeera.

centuries it was the remote this of brazil's indigenous communities that protected them from the rapacious outside world now it's what shields those who are encroaching on protected indigenous territory starting fires and threatening the residents of the county when i had the 1st contact with the outside walls in 1978 and. talking head native language translated for us into portuguese remembers it well she says they brought diseases that decimated her community but that. we had a lot of land and we lived peacefully we lived with fear that are very few of us. the invaders are coming closer it's difficult of us to gauge why a place so remote so tranquil should not so so munch to the rest of the walls indigenous people who live here with realized that now is the smoke those the skies and the ash is pollute the river the rest of the world is beginning to realize it too.