al-jazeera. and. the biggest single lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic begins in india imposes restrictions are more than 100000000 people. a lot of the whole romany want your knowledge is there a large one headquarters here in doha also coming up one of asia's busiest ports closes its doors to tourists as hong kong bans and nonresidents from entering its territory. but the olympics remain on the calendar the tokyo hosts say they are not

yet planning to postpone even as pressure grows. closer violence in getting ahead of a controversial referendum the could extend the president's term in office. good to have you with us welcome to al-jazeera a lockdown of india's major cities has begun and one of the biggest single government moves to slow the spread of the coronavirus its capital new delhi the business capital moment by as well as chennai and calcutta amongst them curfews are also in place nationwide and international flights have been banned for a whole week and so grounding their fleets as the crisis hits international travel singapore airlines for example is the latest to cut back on operations taking 96 percent of its fleet out of commission and it follows decisions by emirates.

turkish airlines to hold the all passenger flights japanese prime minister shinzo has conceded that the tokyo olympic games may need to be possible that's after weeks of insisting that the major sporting event would go ahead as planned in july and dozens of cuban doctors have arrived in italy tell the italian health workers italy is one of the countries that's been hardest hit with more than 5000 people that have died well elizabeth raman is in new delhi she describes the implications of the lockdown across india in pretty much all of the major cities around the country the 14 hour curfew that was in place on sunday that promise in that interim already requested people to observe in his address to the nation on thursday while halfway through the day on sunday it was decided the government decided that that would be extended to all 75 districts of the country with confirmed cases that's now 80 cities and districts it's more than 10 percent of the country so as well as

no one being allowed to go out on this they work in essential services like health care we've also had indian railways cancel all trains all interstate buses have been cancelled and so have metro services around the country now this while most people are observing this lockdown and we've had promised that in the morning to eat saying that some people aren't taking it as seriously as they should most people are. there are scenes of very crowded places this is not what the government wanted but there are scenes of many migrant workers trying to get back to where they're from there of course a lot of very large number of migrant workers around india and a lot of them are at bus stations just trying to get back to where they're from and they can't because interstate buses have been canceled and in fact in some states

all all buses have been canceled will keep your message let's cross over to hong kong and give you a good policy the very latest the chief executive has been speaking within the last hour with a very startling news for the public at large. that's right to hell for so long the hong kong has resisted closing its borders allowing international passengers to travel through this is a major hub it relies on tourism and transit passengers as you said at one of the busiest airports in the world and now the chief executive has said all international passengers who are not hong kong residents will be banned from entering the city hong kong residents who come in will be subject to corona virus testing before being put into quarantine all so she kept mentioning caroline kept ments mentioning that only hong kong residents will be allowed in perhaps implying that people from mainland china are not residents of the city will not be allowed

in and this is a big move so far even at the height of the outbreak hakani had left its land border open allowing mainland chinese to enter come in and out of the city it's also a political hot potato so kerry was very careful to carry out saying that all decisions made are political are not politically based draw there and more scientifically based she also mentioned that shops restaurants many entertainment centers will be shut down this is also in other drastic measure given that homes economy has been suffering already or be a massive setback for the economy and for the many people here who are facing unemployment and have not been able to go out to work due to social distancing measures so yes a very very large announcement from carrie lamb one that is set to lock in hong kong shut the city down pretty much for the 1st time since the since the outbreak and the main reason for this is that there has been

a surge in new cases over the past week with cases more than doubling in just a week and today they have announced 40 new infections many of them both from abroad of people coming in or returning from overseas and also cluster infections from communities within hong kong. like you. but stay in the region because in the philippines congress is considering giving the president to merge unsee powers over the corona virus outbreak to miller island they're going to joins me now from manila jamila obviously the philippines already under stringent and restrictive measures to talk us through what we expect to happen in this meeting. well also hailed the congress session started early this morning they are deliberately to keep points that the president is asking for an 8000000000 us dollar stimulus budget that will help they see as the definition of the government

augment a possible economic blow to the country it is going to help supposedly feed the millions of filipinos who are on lockdown at the moment particularly in the region of those on a one contentious demanded the president is asking for is basically additional powers greater powers to control try that enterprises you know are rest hotels transport companies hospitals and according to the government they need these powers in order to respond quickly to the current crisis today marks the highest number of cases today over 18 you cases are recorded to date however the health services and health workers dealing with this or it seems we have lost for the moment of course go back to her through the day as we get to a conclusion from that meeting in congress. well not too far from the philippines

we had to japan because it's prime minister shinzo says the perspire moment of the olympic games must be considered it comes as canada announced it won't send its teams to compete if the competition is held this july as planned alexia brian explains. after weeks of insisting the show must go on now something of a turnaround from the japanese prime minister cannot concessional huma we've hoped to hold the games to mark that the world has defeated the coronavirus i thought that cancelling them is not an option at all but if that becomes difficult we will think of the athletes 1st and foremost and we may have no option but to consider postponing. the games us it to be held in july but the virus that's caused both human catastrophe and economic crisis across the globe is threatening the world's biggest sporting event canada became the 1st country to announce its and then pick and paralympic teams want people to surprising in the games urging the international olympic committee and the tokyo organizes to push back the event by

at least a year we're witnessing a remarkable upsurge in athletes speaking out against the international olympic committee who has been very slow to act in the face of the coronavirus situation and in that sort of leadership vacuum you've seen athletes and sport bodies rise up and what canada has done just moments ago is absolutely remarkable tokyo's olympic chief is warned that the games $1000000000.00 budget and he is planning are at stake and that cancelling would be bad for both stakeholders and athletes you know go to lego you we never intend to talk about a consolation but japan and international olympic committee will talk together about what to do postponement to only be one of the many scenarios like the increasing pressure from athletes to call off the games is not just because bringing hundreds of thousands of sportsmen and women coaches and fans together

could help spread the virus but they argue that having them continue high level training is putting them and their families at risk i think again it should be postponed and i think it's the best option is the least worst option available to us no so they've got an amazing opportunity here in the games and then they will together we see the back of this bonus. just a few weeks ago the idea of postponing the olympics was unthinkable now it's looking more and more likely another victim of these unprecedented times the i.o.c. says it will make a decision within the next 4 weeks from now the olympic torch relay is set to go ahead from thursday but without the usual fanfare with crowd surged not to attend. an al-jazeera ball still ahead here on al-jazeera kenya edges towards total lockdown but people there say there's no room to isolate plus. is only

terrorist treat and trace the golden rules to stop the pandemic but a global shortage of testing kits and lab supplies is making it difficult both stories after the break. hello the usual rains across much of indonesia some fairly heavy downpours of course in the late hours of the day you can see here through cheese day it didn't start out too badly across much of borneo sumatra so not as heavy as we have seen of late but it does tend to get a little bit more widespread and havea as the the warm up of the day takes place you can see here on wednesday some or all the heavy downpours later on and becoming very widespread throughout much of borneo across into silhouette he wanted to showers in the southern areas of the philippines and again want to scattered showers really across areas of thailand on towards vietnam now the monsoon rains

there back across northern areas of australia that's good news very welcome rains these are and also more rain working its way across south australia ahead of that time it is not cheap bad 23 in adelaide moshe's like into sydney the same across into biz them again temperatures feeling pretty good 24 and 26 degrees celsius mostly dry across both islands of new zealand but still some very windy conditions and really the warm air is in place of course through the interior alice springs and also across into perth 34 celsius on cheese day and even a degree warmer as we head to wednesday but plenty of rain across the north and also some heavy rain through much of new south wales but a cool it and melbourne at 18. from fossil fuels to modern day renewable as societies develop their energy demands increase requiring innovative solutions to make such demands as

a global power development of investment companies brash power is uniquely positioned to deliver against the stigma we provide business growth promote social economic benefits and provide innovative safe and viral mentally sound energy solutions for future generation the brash pioneering future energy. all. over. oh. on the back i want you all just means the whole rob never mind of our top stories india has extended a curfew across major cities to fight the spread of coronavirus there's been a rise in the number of cases in the past few days 1000000000 indians stayed home and a 14 hour lockdown on sunday singapore airlines and its subsidiaries are grounding

96 percent of the fleet in response to the outbreak both emirates and turkish airlines have also significantly reduced their operations and the international olympic committee says it's considering perspiring the 2020 take yo games by up to a year it's been under mounting pressure from athletes and national bodies to cancel or delay the event. europe remains the big concern with italy taking over china as the new hotbed of the pandemic as the number of actions and deaths increase more lockdowns are in place across countries now the u.k. is seeing a significant rise with nearly 5700 infections and more than 280 deaths. lawrence joins me now from the british capital lawrence of the keeping a very close eye on the u.k. people's behavior in the u.k. is making the u.k. government rethink its messaging. yes it's almost inevitable now really the weekend

that's just past was really nice you know it was sunny and felt like spring and we were treated to all sorts of extraordinary images of things like huge long queues of cars and people trying to walk up mount snowdon which is one of the highest and quite easily navigable mounts mountains in the whole of the u.k. in london parks were full of. streets selling flowers and all this was thing and they and the government which had been trying to say look chaps please can you just have some social distancing and don't meeting groups because we know how it's spreads the scottish medical advisor said over the weekend that the epidemiologists now think the one infected person could infect between 4 and 6 people rather between 2 and 3 which was the thinking so the risks are obvious to them yet people are ignoring it and one of the question is why what why is that some he wasn't that people full well we're going to go into law anyway so maybe this is the last weekend we're going to chance or do anything so they just played russian roulette

with the rules well maybe they just didn't understand what the government has kept saying to people or that perhaps the little young and healthy with a walk up a mountain so is not going to kill us but obviously the government has kept saying it's not about you it's about the health this and about your ability to kill of the people and so there is enormous frustration out in government the people just ignore the rules means and consequently there's all sorts of talk about a much bigger lot down at the the soul scene in places like spain this really in the next day or 2 what that would look like he's a bit unclear now because they have said they want to try to keep people moving around and things like exercise and very good for mental health in a crisis like this but you know there's been a lot of criticism of the government so to some degree you've got to feel a bit sorry for them at the time like this because people are just basically the ignoring rules the rules goods that's why the issues are across the english channel into mainland europe the numbers that are obviously certainly increasing and sunny

catching up on it and it's a real concern about what's going across what's happening across the english channel. yeah i mean everywhere there's that there's one big question about exactly how many cases there are all because very few countries pop with the exception of germany a testing in the way the world health organization one certainly in the u.k. there's one thing saying this is how many people are infected there's another thing completely how many people have actually been infected or mean everybody knows several people including 2 of goal symptoms but even know they don't know if the got it because they can't is there testing going on but the other peculiar thing about it is they they the rates for infection versus the death rate is really inconsistent so for example spain which as you said is catching up and it's only 28000 cases and 1700 deaths whereas in germany 25000 cases and yet only 94 deaths so why is that and what one of the things that i think the

trans workout of the moment sees water countries which are just behind it solely on this and that includes plainly was spain's catching up fast germany france u.k. these sorts of big economies all these assume going to be where it's really is now in a we could choose time so why have countries like spain and italy been hit so hard in the hospitals are overwhelmed whereas other countries like germany with a very big infection rates seem to be able to dealing with the deal with it a bit better and you know that is going to be absolutely crucial if health services are going to be completely silent the other question of course of the moment is if the peak is about to happen all these countries how long does it last for the belgian health minister said we think if the peak is about to happen then we're looking at 8 weeks until this all subside slightly so april may looking like a really really bad picture in europe for the updater lawrence thanks very much for joining us from london. african hour kenya is edging towards

a total lockdown as the number of cases rises to 15 the government is suspending all international flights from wednesday and has ordered pubs and restaurants to remain closed kenyans are also being urged to take social distancing seriously but that's not possible for many as catherine so reports now from nairobi. many of the conversations in nairobi the epicenter of call the 1000 in kenya are about the disease the government has restricted international travel and closed schools and universities kenyans advice to wash hands regularly stay home if possible and avoid large gatherings. but doing that in makeshift slum housing is nearly impossible areas where millions of people call home many sharing single room shocks a few spaces to isolate or enjoy the luxury of walking from the house most leave on last in $2.00 a day this is one of the most densely populated areas in the city people here are

not just worried about the disease and how it may affect them but also how they will survive with no money to feed their families or even enough water to regularly wash their hands. don't wash his clothes for a living she shares 2 rooms with more than 10 oftens lispro. her biggest concern right now is finding water in normal circumstances she uses 80 liters a day costing around $4.00. some nonprofit organizations are setting up water points but they're not enough. to. get government quarter only thrice a week which we have to go in for check for to point they tell us to wash our hands all the time we want to for without water supply what can we do. least in math are recorded the hustle and bustle in the slum for al-jazeera following the introduction of the government house restrictions he tells us disease

is rife including the common flu which poses a problem. by doing. even though many people have the flu children are always coughing it's a common thing and difficult to tell if it's caught on or not these noire here where we can get tested it's very hard for the response to both because beatles in town used to be self medicate. the government to step up with symptoms and their contacts as well as starting random tests in targeted areas but medical experts are urging preparations for mass testing should the disease start spreading quickly we need to have a lot of people to. and on testing that is number one number 2 we also needed to expand our testing facilities beyond where we had in our doctors say they hope to minimize the spread of covered 19 to areas such as my viral with some of the most vulnerable kenyans leave bad deeds and others here want more preventative measures

now to keep them safe catherine sorry al-jazeera now will be kenya. new zealand will go into lock down from 1000 attempts to stop the virus spreading prime minister just in the order and announce that all non-essential businesses and schools must close and residents must stay at home there's more than $100.00 mostly important cases of the virus in the country australian prime minister scott morrison has already announced similar measures to new zealand he warns issue will be difficult so together and with the rest of the world we face this unprecedented challenge a once in a 100 year event a global health pandemic that is fast becoming an economic crisis the likes of which we have not seen since the great depression life is changing in australia for every australian and life is going to continue to change for many young

and old. 2020 will be the toughest year of our lives. they world health organization says testing people with symptoms of the virus lies at the heart of fighting the pandemic but many regions are running out of testing kits laboratories don't have enough supplies to detect cases so countries are having to ration the kits and that means less testing as priyanka gupta explains. a new virus with no known treatment or fact seen after covert 901st emerged in china governments around the world face to staggering challenges 1st to contain it spread and 2nd detecting people who have it isolate test treat and trace the world health organization says the most effective way to fight the pandemic is to test every suspected case the world is not manufacturing testing kits and lab supplies fast enough to keep up with the rising demand but 20 percent

of people at the buyers sure and. people are responsible. but there. are out there so it's very important that we ramp up the difficulty right now is that agents. are running short all around the world so there are shortages of walkouts in many countries health workers are depending on what's called true questions to prioritize those who should be tested that includes travel history contact with an infected person preexisting conditions like diabetes heart disease among others and symptoms if you don't aggressively taste and high so white people as has singapore and taiwan and other east asian countries you build up as

a significant legal pole of people who are carrying the virus and then it's no longer pause. able to contain it you can only belie infection and stop it and unfortunately it only has got to that critical point countries such as china and south korea race to develop a rapid testing kits early on. south korea was one of the 1st to set up make should drive to centers in and around the country. thousands of people are being tested every day by many countries like the u.k. are having to ration their testing supplies added time when tens of millions of people are in the lockdown the push to test as many people as possible has never been more urgent priyanka gupta and dizzy are 30000000 children in the u.s. get free or subsidized school meals every day but with classes canceled to stop the spread of the pandemic private groups have stepped in to ensure those students

don't go hungry most a small nonprofit agencies like the virginia based mobile hope it's found a $1.40 delivers breakfast and lunch to families she took us along. i'm donna fortier and i'm c.e.o. and founder of mobile home. we had probably 80 to 100 volunteers come in and we packed about 1200 bags. and i think now if we're at this rate we're going to one out of food probably the 1st week of distribution. and i think there's more of an urgency with the families and the families are a lot of them can't go to work and so now they're really starting to worry about are they going to be able to pay their rent and then says to ok all right what do you want to be in the most the wealthiest county in the country as we're now and we still have all those needs it's kind of this unforgotten you know or the forgotten community on one of those rooms and where you stand

a really good and so every little bit that we can do that helps them save money to be able to do that is what we're here to do. with the people that we. love he says he's feeling. it really affected me because you know 3 kids in babysitting and when they get destroyed with him they go bordeaux him and they have fun a school or special my oldest kid she's 7 and she's like i love school when i go somewhere and i go to school and get them from birth you don't mind. so they have something to eat own home. thank god it's always something the school has been helping with and. basically you want me i kids. there's a lot of good thanks and there something you're really going to enjoy. you know

secretary of state my pompei was landed in afghanistan on an unannounced visit to help salvage a deal between washington and the taliban but it comes as the 1st direct talks between the afghan government and the taliban have taken place on exchanging prisoners last month the armed group signed a deal with the u.s. and qatar aimed at ending the 18 year conflict. opposition says at least 10 people have died in violence following a controversial referendum in parliamentary vote it follows months of protests against the vote which will decide if the president can stay in power. reports. there were several attempts to stop this election it was boycotted by anti-government protesters who say it's a ploy designed to extend the power of guinea's president potentially for 12 more years surrounded by security forces the 82 year old president walk to a voting center seemingly unfazed by months of criticism and the threat of a new coronavirus let me say. this is

a message of peace and solidarity we've made all the arrangements we have had washing units everywhere people are keeping a safe distance even though we've only had a few cases before voting day clashes broke out on the streets of the capital opposition leaders accusing curity forces of killing at least 10 demonstrators and some cities government offices and schools that were to be used as polling sites were set on fire by protesters to prevent people from voting. roads were blocked and businesses closed the disruption caused voting delays in some districts but no cancellations what did. you see when we brought the voting material and form the section chief of the area was not safe there have been violent clashes some officers climbed the fence to escape opposition leaders are now calling for more anti-government protests they say it's time for the president to step down. little

bit of money did a sponsor the government is irresponsible it doesn't care about the lives or the health of the people of guinea president condé is only interested in a 3rd term in office. while opponents and says the vote is being used as a power grab supporters of the government call it a crucial step for development whatever the result it's unlikely to heal the country's divisions. the young are just here. you're watching i was there with me the whole raman our top news stories india has extended a curfew across major cities to fight the spread of the coronavirus now this follows a sharp rise in the number of cases in the past few days a 1000000000 indians stayed at home and a 14 hour lockdown on sunday singapore airlines and its subsidiaries are grounding 96 percent of their fleet in response to the outbreak both emirates and turkish airlines have also significantly reduced their operations and in the philippines

congress is considering giving president rodriguez deter the emergency powers over the corona virus outbreak it would allow him to take control of private companies to help curb the spread of the outbreak more than half of the population has already been ordered to stay indoors the international olympic committee says it's considering perspiring the 2020 tokyo games by up to one year it's been demanding pressure from athletes and national bodies to counsel or delay the event. or social game while the international community is being severely affected in a negative way we hope to hold the games to market the world has defeated the coronavirus i thought that canceling them is not an option at all and the decision that would be made by the committee is in line with what i just said but if that becomes difficult we will think of the athletes 1st and foremost and we may have no option but to consider postponing. you're remains a big concern with italy taking over china as the new hot bed of the pandemic as

the number of infections and deaths increase more lockdowns are in place across countries the casing a significant rise with 80 $5700.00 infections and more than $290.00 deaths prime minister boris johnson says he's considering restrictive measures like other e.u. nations and new zealand will go into lockdown for a month as it attempts to stop the pandemic prime minister just and are done announce that all non-essential businesses and schools must close and residents must stay at home there's more than $100.00 mostly imported cases of the virus in the country and other news u.s. secretary of state mike pompei was landed in afghanistan on an unannounced visit to help salvage a deal between washington and the taliban it comes as the 1st direct talks between the afghan government and the taliban have taken place on exchanging prisons those were the headlines the news hour is here in half an hour with the stars the attain next on witnesses i and grandpa to stay with us. talk to al-jazeera we ask what you were force were when you saw that document for the 1st time we

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