when i went to east finds out what it takes to join the elite brigade. on al-jazeera. u.s. health officials tell people to wear face masks as infections soar past a quarter 1000000 but the president says he won't follow that advice. hello i'm sam is a and this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up. remembering china pays tribute to its thousands of corona virus victims. as more countries

face rising infections demand for protective gear outstrip supply plus. when she the. award winning american soul legend bill withers dies the age of 81. more than 1100000 people around the world now have the corona virus the u.s. is urging people to take greater precautions to help contain the pandemic face masks are now being recommended a reversal of previous official advice well the u.s. government is also promising to pay for tests and treatment for tens of millions of americans without medical coverage more than 250000 americans have been infected in china millions stood in silence to honor. more than 3000 people have died of corona

virus china says it's contained the spread but some restrictions have been tightened again to prevent another wave and the head of the international monetary fund is describing the pandemic as humanity's darkest hour georgieva says it's pushed the world into recession and she's calling on advanced economies to help developing countries katrina you is live for us in beijing and katrina this year's annual tombs sweeping festival takes on special significance of made 3 minutes of silence right. that's right and also it's a stark reminder that this pandemic is far from over here in china not only is the tomb sweeping festival it is a national day of mourning and normally on this day families would be gathering at each other's homes they would be going to the cemetery but because of the virus people have been told to avoid crowds and if they can to stay at home but the

nation did mark the day with 3 minutes of silence at 10 am local time here flags were flown at half mast people stopped what they were doing heads bowed traffic was stopped and sirens all around the city were wailing and people were joining in with their cars honking their horns and also their birds along the river into han and this is to really to remember the lives of those who have lost their life to kovan 1000 here in china more than 3000 people according to official figures and it's also to honor the lives of 14 health workers doctors and nurses who have been designated as national motto is who will who lost their lives while they were treating coronavirus patients mostly in who by province and that list includes dr lee when lee young who was famously one of the 1st whistleblower doctors to call attention to the outbreak late last year when it was 1st beginning now this is the 1st time that china has held such a such a day for

a public health disaster this is previously only happened because of natural disasters such as earthquakes katrina you mentioned there that people are still being told to try and stay at home but we can see behind you plenty of cars out on the streets how is the push to try and get banks normal wife then really shaping up . it's really a push and pull i think for the government a delicate balance between making sure there's no 2nd wave of infections and also trying to get the economy up and running again as you mentioned in beijing and many cities around china people are back to work businesses are open restaurants were open people are going to parks it's starting to feel more like normal life and even who bay province the epicenter of the outbreak a lot of restrictions were eased this weekend about travel was also possible starting from last week but in also that in these major cities it's not exactly normal life everyone is still wearing a mosque there are so many temperature checks everywhere you go and there's also

for domestic travelers going into many cities they have to come in and do a compulsory 2 we quarantine period and of course the foreign travel is also completely banned at the moment and in the last 24 hours 19 new coronavirus cases were announced in china and 18 of those were imported cases or the fight against this virus is still far from home for here in china right katrina you've heard from beijing thanks for. as we mentioned earlier health officials in the u.s. announced new guidelines on the use of face masks to halt the spread of the virus but president trump says he has no intention of following them around a quarter of a 1000000 people in the u.s. are confirmed to be infected jabatan c. has more. all week have been reports of a debate within the u.s. government on whether to recommend the use of non-medical cloth musk's whenever people go outside and on friday the decision was announced the c.d.c.

is advise in the use of non-medical cloth face covering as an additional voluntary public health measures almost immediately donald trump undermining the advice. but this is voluntary i don't think i'm going to be doing it. authorities hope the public weren't mistake this advice there for permission to wear specialist masks which should be reserved for those treating the infected and would mean that they feel they may no longer feel they need to stay in isolation the president also issued an order preventing the export of personal protective equipment such as and $95.00 masks to ensure the u.s. a supply of over troubles is suggested that such exports may be up to his discretion in italy if spain who has big problems these have these are countries with tremendous problems france if they ordered if they have long term orders and they're in there and they want to get certain things i've let them go out in certain instances because i think it's only fair there are fears that if the u.s.

prevents exports of p.p.t. 2 latin american calendar front line workers will have the protection that they need to deal with the pandemic and that other countries may limit their exports of essential equipment to the u.s. perhaps the most startling announcement was that tens of millions of people in the u.s. without any medical coverage will haue their bills directly paid by the government today i can so proudly announce that hospitals and health care providers treating uninsured corona virus patients will be reimbursed by the federal government. despite raising hopes that he was brokering some sort of deal between saudi arabia and russia to reduce output and stabilize oil prices doldrum seem to be leaving the issue up to market forces they'll figure it out for free market will figure it would be a trumpet hosted several c.e.o.'s from u.s. energy companies but who are putin and said he would be willing to reduce oil output if it was in coordination with a reduction in u.s.

output but from from statements on friday it seems he got no such agreement several times the al-jazeera washington stand voyde to is a resident scholar at the american enterprise institute he says government should focus on reviving the economy when the health crisis is over layoffs are continuing and the economic downturn is slowly spreading from the most directly affected industries throughout our economy and so the total shock could well be much greater than what we saw during the global financial crisis 1st and foremost we should obviously deal with the public health threat then on the economic front i do think that deploying large amounts of funds is crucial but not in the traditional keynesian way read we're not trying to stimulate aggregate demand in the usual way because we have in fact intentionally reduced demand for it for things like barbershops and cruise ships and hotels almost to 0 and so there's no point in trying to stimulate demand for those goods and services instead what we should use

the money for is to help households and firms bridge this period bad and so that means sending out cash help help it helping states and local governments reach this difficult period make sure that employers do not lay off all of their workers all those kinds of measures it was what we need in a sense we need to but the economy is sleep but they care of it so they can wake up and be active again by the time the public health threat goes away that's what we should do ploy large amounts of money. germany's chancellor has warned people to stay at home over easter saying it's too early to lift restrictions angela merkel made the comments after leaving self quarantine having tested negative for the virus the country's strict measures and early testing are being attributed to its low mortality rate of just over one percent indonesia's president is urging

millions of citizens not to travel back to their hometowns to celebrate the muslim holiday of next month but with people out of work because of the virus many are desperate to get out of the capital despite the risk just that washington has this report from jakarta. this is the time of year when workers in jakarta begin to return to their hometowns for ramadan fasting and to celebrate with their families it's usually something people look forward to but the corona virus outbreak has stripped the joy from this annual tradition usually the holiday travel doesn't start until right before but this year some are making the journey early. my family asked me to come home because there are many coronavirus cases in jakarta . i have no income many companies are close so i decided to just go home most of the confirmed covert 19 cases in indonesia are here in the capital

with so many travelers crowding into transport hubs it's only a matter of time before the virus spreads to other communities more than 14000 people left the city this week on buses to other parts of java last year 20000000 indonesians travelled through the country to see their families before 8 the government says that cannot happen this year. for the safety of everyone i asked to take strong actions to prevent the movement to their hometowns for those who have left already and those planning to make the journey this isn't just about maintaining an annual tradition many workers have lost their jobs because of the outbreak and without any income they say they can't afford to live in the capital among this group of travellers are people who've had their lives disrupted by the pandemic maids who can't enter the apartment buildings they once worked in and food vendors on empty streets as customers stay home when the. economy

is it. because of the state of who. these people are really at risk economy glee and they decided to come earlier so it's not only about the. or about losing their t.v. they're. back in their home towns these travelers will soon see their families but reunions are overshadowed by the risk they may have brought the virus with them just to washington al-jazeera jakarta. well still ahead on al-jazeera policing a pandemic health work is an understand call for more protective gear. has been surprisingly cold in southeast europe eastern europe in the last few days

and you might sing with this thing coming down which is a cold front will get cold as to which take burden is the example of what is going to happen in the immediate future yes it will be 10 or 11 degrees but by the time we get to the end there we came up to $172021.00 degrees so there is a warming trend going on the whole of this part of year probably the exception of the baltic states and so scandinavia and that where that coat is coming into contact the warm water you got still some snow in bulgaria and rain for greece will run across to turkey and rain returns having left spain returns to portugal comes across into spain during the last part of weekends or during sunday really and then for turkey this is rain not snow but it's still there over disappointment at the same time but it's up $78.00 in vienna is up to $49.00 time still cold but not us colder probably not subzero winds or so they're actually in the mediterranean the windiest weather is going to be through tunisia and libya that us along shore breeze are not very warm and you tend to pick up the sand from the hot bits of the

libyan desert bring it north was to a rather high temperature to carter at 35 degrees or probably a dusty 35 as well and that will last. the u.n. fact finders accuse the bernese military of genocide this is the political that you think or. do you believe the nobody is a fascist or poor kids don't have all gone they. wouldn't vote the recognize the both sides have legitimate grievances against the other climate justice is the foundation of climate action and that is why the palookas must face. to face with up. on al-jazeera.

welcome back you're watching al-jazeera time to recap our headlines the u.s. centers for disease control is recommending americans wear masks in public to protect against the corona virus but president donald trump says it's voluntary and he wants to follow that advice. millions across china stood in silence to honor more than 3000 people who died from the outbreak there china says it's contained the spread and some restrictions have been tightened to prevent a 2nd wave of infections. countries and cities are competing for supplies of personal protective equipment for health care workers what's being called a bidding war the pandemic has led to a worldwide shortage of masks gloves and downs over reports.

there's not enough protective gear to go around countries are scrambling to get hold of supplies especially face masks and just soon as possible but some governments are being accused of using unscrupulous tactics and paying inflated prices to get their share. and then is accusing the u.s. of carrying out modern piracy at bangkok's airport and diverting a shipment of mass destined to germany for itself then these are marked that must marked off to the whole world is buying them right now it's worth gold at the moment it's sometimes very very difficult to plan things in advance and that sometimes deliveries that were thought to be secured suddenly don't arrive as planned. the heads of 3 regions in some of the west's hit coronavirus areas in france have accused the united states of affectively hijacking millions of shanghai airport they were made in china and destined for france then it's alleged the us paid $3.00 to $4.00 times the going rate to obtain the us denies the allegations

but it's need as great. as the more than a 1000000 people diagnosed with the virus globally the u.s. has the highest number of infections and like many other countries is struggling to find enough protective equipment donald trump is under pressure new york an epicenter of the virus will run short of ventilates in a few days. despite u.s. strange relations with russia and china president donald trump says will take whatever he can get was a very nice offer from president putin i spoke to him the other night as a job and they had access to medical equipment things and i'll take it i'll take it i think it's very nice we've got them from china we also help other countries a lot of mosques and ventilates is meant to us states are in a price bidding war against each other to replenish dwindling supplies the federal emergency management agency or fema says a black market has emerged with some equipment made in u.s.

factories being sold to brood brokers come in there bidding and bidding on always different people driving the price up and guess what you know where it's going the domestic sources here are being export. across the border canada is investigating reports that one of its orders was diverted to the us i've heard reports on this issue and of course there are concerning we need to make sure that the equipment that is destined for canada gets to and stays in canada and i've asked ministers to follow up on these particular reports we are working not just here at home but overseas as well to ensure that the equipment that canada has ordered makes its way to canada. to start slow some governments have been accused of using a number of tactics including stockpiling medical supplies blocking exports of protective equipment and seizing shipments transiting through their territories to other countries fighting covert 19 is a race against time with

a global shortage of factory 3 g.'s protective gear some are resorting to making their own men time instead of waiting. al-jazeera. new york state has more than 100000 cases not far behind italy and spain dr matthew body is a physician at mount sinai queens hospital in new york city he shared a behind the scenes look at the tough task facing health care workers there every day. i'm getting ready to put on my personal protective equipment for the day. just this right here is my 95 mask that i will be wearing for the whole day through my shift. it's a little hard to bruise. but it's very easy on the hole there. to protect us from here articles. and then this is a 2nd mask of just surgical mask that goes over

a 95 to protect it from any splashes or droplets or secretions that may come my way . and lastly. are these one form of eye protection to protect their eyes from splashes this is what i'll be wearing generally throughout the day if i need to go into a high risk receiver like integrating the patient meaning putting the patient on a ventilator we have a full face masks i call her entire area and all her equipment and after her done the procedure that comes off and we want that down this is up to for the next use. this is our field only there for really these holes are very empty and there you can see those patients everywhere because of this makes it very hard to work and we're trying our best to treat everyone that we can all these patients here even though we're overflowing we're trying our best to still provide them care which we are doing patients. and things i think i. just finished my

shift. there she supposed to finish at 5 but there were a lot of things to do and patients to take care of so it's 7 o'clock now when i'm finishing it just took off my p.p. you. know if you can see the marks from where my p.p. oh they in my nose is a little red from the mask. but that's what we're doing to protect ourselves it's been a tough day. he has been really for and everyone's trying their best to get round the treatment that they need. and you know i'm. tired. i'm going to go home. and try to sleep and then we'll be back tomorrow. i want to say that i mean that's the things that i see in that you are scary. and a little scared myself. but it's good to see all these people coming in from all

over from other services in the hospital from other areas in the nation stepping in to help out health care workers in pakistan are calling for the government to do more to help them fight the virus many cities are on the lockdown the prime minister is urging people to practice social distancing but critics say that's not enough charles traffic reports. these policemen in the city of peshawar are lucky to have protective clothing. to stanley health workers demand government help police and security forces are having to focus less on fighting crime and war and stopping the spread of covert 19 and yeah a lot of the work to give the men who often you saw in the field. also organize works lost. and this is the people

who didn't want to see if you will see that you were deposited in. the streets of bashar or in the northwest of pakistan on the virtually empty police used a little table has to urge people to stay at home. government spending on health care for pakistan's 225000000 people has been less than one percent of g.d.p. in recent decades hospitals are often significantly ill equipped and overcrowded the best of times. is coded 19 spreads desperate attempts are being made to prepare health facilities to cope with the rising number of infected people holiday met it's what are you health professionals the frontline force against covert 19 but unfortunately we are going to fight this battle without any protective gear it's of the utmost importance for us at arms and ammunition for military when they were going to a battlefield and it would be considered a suicide if we fight without proper kits dr osama was the 1st doctor in pakistan

to be killed by the virus he'd been treating cope with 19 victims many who had arrived from neighboring iran has been one of the worst hit countries it's not known how many health workers have been infected across pakistan many with sincere sorry florentine yourself why so late to islamist if you but. the government is least concerned about the safety of mrs their wellbeing or even as they pay a wide role in health care and sadly this $1.00 knows for $99.00 patients on normal days and if the situation gets out of control how they gonna cope so they must hire more nurses to tackle this crisis. china has sent medical equipment across the border the help is vital but nowhere near. this hospital police gave a girl of only to show respect to stop and to try and push the wrong. foot to the

medics here and it's hospitals across for her still didn't take sara to save lives . and. the u.n. secretary general is repeating his appeal for a global ceasefire during the current virus pandemic some armed groups have answered that call including separatists in cameroon but as nicholas hock reports a temporary truce isn't enough for the 1000000 people forced from their homes during the country's 3 year conflict. was asleep when soldiers broke into a room and gang raped her she became pregnant with triplets and cares for her children alone shun from her community because of what happened she fled the english speaking region about manda to do and cameroon's economic capital she earns whatever she can sweeping floors or begging for money on the streets. the life is tough it's very difficult i drop my kids to school and then

a search for work i'll do anything to support them. all. the campaign group human rights watch says the soldiers who raped her belong to the rapid intervention battalion the elite force trained and managed by former israeli navy commandos are confronting around 20 armed separatist groups in the english speaking regions they're fighting to break away from the rest of french speaking cameroon and it's their own country called amazonia. after human rights watch documented killings and rapes of villagers in english speaking regions by rapid intervention battalions the united states military said it reduced funding and training yet u.s. commandos continue to support and train them the key to have a good response to do a symmetric tract it is information it is and villages and where you will have a lot of us with. it is a good point. almost a 1000000 people have fled the 3 year of separatists fighting all are living in

makeshift tents or with local population the government in the capital day is limiting access to international humanitarian organizations to the english speaking regions if you have 60000 people. requiring assistance. and considering you have 10 times more war displaced was in cameroon the situation calls for an urgent action from the international community. has received support from neighbors not from the government should need to answer children's questions who is my father or younger when ass and why can't we all go back home because hark al-jazeera or another world news donald trump has fired the u.s. intelligence community's inspector general michael and concern inform congress in september about the whistleblower complaint that led to trump's impeachment he's scheduled to leave his post in 30 days the trump administration had previously

sacked several other officials who took part in the impeachment process. soul legend bill withers is died from heart problems the 3 time grammy award winner was best known for his hit singles lean on me and no sunshine it was 81 years old laura but mandy takes a look at. the. new face so full of baritone voice powerful melodies and engaging there though with his music has stood the test of time. it's inspired generations from r. and b. rap and soul and it's been played in films commercials and of weddings throughout the world. even health care workers choirs and. it was uplifting here during the crew of ours.

born william harrison with his junior he grew up in slab fork west virginia after school he joined the navy for 9 years before becoming a milkman and then a factory. between shifts he took himself to pocatello he bought from a pawnshop. a demo tape recorded landed in the hands of a section at sussex records in 19711 of the record it would be a hit a no sunshine one of a grammy award. with his joint columbia records in 197510 years after his 1st grammy he won another for a song here called it with grover washington jr just the 2 of. them. he won his 3rd grammy for recording of lean on

me in 1987. was sold out of the music business like he is today amber business. you know if you don't ever so that's where it all starts. with this one also be known i 1st saw a man who turned his back and. in 1905 he quit singing and retreated from public life he didn't just talk of. the system but he made a quip for the told someone he was with us and they didn't believe him. but he did make a rare appearance when he was inducted into the hall of fame in 2005. 1 this time many honesty in his lyrics so many connect.

and let's take you through some of the headlines here on al-jazeera now the u.s. centers for disease control is recommending americans wear masks in public for protect against the spread of coronavirus the president donald trump says it's voluntary and he's chosen not to follow that advice millions across china has stood in silence to honor more than 3000 people who died from the outbreak. from beijing and hundreds of other towns and cities sirens sounded so called martyrs day china says it's curb the spread of the virus but some restrictions have been tightened again to prevent another wave of infections trinny you has more from

beijing. this is to really to remember the lives of those who have lost their life to covert 9000 here in china more than 3000 people according to official figures and it's also to honor the lives of 14 health workers doctors and nurses who have been designated as national masses who are who lost their lives while they were treating coronavirus patients mostly into bay province and that list includes dr lee when lee young who was famously one of the 1st whistleblower doctors to call attention to the outbreak late last year when it was 1st beginning the number of people who have died from corona virus across europe has now exceeded 40000 italy and spain account for more than harmful those. headlines the news continues after inside story stay with us. how much is the coronavirus on the stock market affecting the race to the white house looking to. sound secure the democratic

nomination i believe we can beat down trying follow the developments in the u.s. election campaign on al jazeera. is the oil price war between saudi arabia and russia about to end crude prices enjoyed that biggest ever $1.00 day rally after the u.s. president raised hopes of a truth will donald trump's intervention be enough and what's the impact of the rift between the oil superpower this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm bernard smith over the past month to.