insisted that the u.s. is open for business. the u.k. prime minister boris johnson has been discharged after being treated in intensive care for coronavirus. hello and welcome on peter. live from our headquarters here in doha also coming up . when things are at their worst sometimes people are at their best. a positive message from the new york governor as the u.s. state battles the world's worst coronavirus outbreak. to churches on easter sunday strike a somber tone. usually

a sacred celebration for the world's christians. one other international news story taliban prisoners have been released by afghanistan's government raising new hopes for a delayed exchange. after a week in hospital in i.c.u. the u.k. prime minister boris johnson has today been discharged in a statement mr johnson said he owes hospital staff his life he will continue his recovery from the coronavirus at his official country residence checkers in spain a rise in the number of deaths there has been reported for the 1st time in 3 days 619 people have died in the past 24 hours and the united states has now surpassed italy to have the world's highest death toll from the virus more than 20600 people on known to have died since the outbreak began. we've got 3 correspondents covering

the story marta hero is standing by in madrid we've got mike hanna waiting for us there in washington with the latest from the u.s. 1st to london and my colleague barbara mr johnson i guess given his personality will probably have to be kept in one place because he's got to recuperate this is not something you bounce back from. no it's not paid to and this statement from the spokes person at 10 downing street says as much let me just read you what they've been saying in the last couple of hours on the advice of his medical team the pm will not be immediately returning to work he wishes to thank everybody at some thomas' for the brilliant care he has received all of his thoughts are with those affected by the illness now. the statement also said that the prime minister. after being disturbed from hospital

was heading to checkers his countryside residence sometimes the government cabinet to meet there with the prime minister on certain occasions but right now he is not going to be holding any meetings he will be under the advice of his doctors to take it easy to rest for a considerable length of time after let's not forget being admitted to hospital a week ago that was sunday evening on monday he went into intensive care and although it was reported that he did not need this instance of a ventilator he clearly had difficulties breathing he wasn't well and just now we have been hearing from his fiance kerry simmons that over the last week there have been dark times she's also found stuff at that hospitals and thomas's in central london on saturday boris johnson put out a statement saying that they'd saved his lives now there's been certain criticism here in britain as well for the focus on the prime minister's progress on an hourly

basis at the same time as we've seen the the death toll rising rise by now around 1000 a day this steep rise was predicted by the scientists because they're saying that the peak of transmissions could be around 2 weeks in the future and certainly they're saying that for that reason some calls for restrictions on people's movements to the east here in britain well they won't be happening any to. time soon that is not the time for reassessments nadeem as you're talking to us we were looking at pictures there of mr johnson clapping outside number 10 on number 11 downing street and also him inside downing street just to be clear we haven't got any pictures of him leaving the hospital i guess from a p.r. point of view they don't want the world to see him looking a bit tired a bit drawn maybe he's maybe lost a bit of weight you know because he's gone through a lot they don't put you in i.c.u. unless they think your life is heading in the wrong direction.

well certainly going into i.c.u. meant that he might have meant might have needed the use of a ventilator although they say he didn't. and that his condition certainly did deteriorates before picking up again i'm not sure about the p.r. decision maybe we'll see pictures in the hours to come he certainly didn't look a well man on thursday of last week that is over a week ago when he was seen at in downing street clapping for n.h.s. workers as part of that national tribute or and then in the next day when he put out a video release calling on people to stay at home so he has been seen looking very ill i'm not sure of his condition right now of course he will not be going back to work that's what we've heard but beyond that there is a round going on with some of his cabinet colleagues over their tone and how sensitive they're being or not towards n.h.s. workers on saturday the home secretary pretty patel refused to properly apologize

to health workers and their families for the lack of protective equipment the lack of sufficient equipment which some families have said have contributed to the deaths of their loved ones and then matt hancock whose beat will be sharing today's daily briefing shortly he on friday was criticized for saying that n.h.s. workers should use their equipment sparingly suggesting that they weren't doing the right thing when in fact they'd been pleading with the government to provide more equipment so that they didn't have to reuse masks and gowns and the like when they felt that that was dangerous in the gates guidelines and in the words of some of their unions they are putting their lives at risk every time they go to work now so i think the government really has some some serious questions to answer about its messaging as well as its actual steps and actions that it's taking to improve protective equipment for health workers the wider population and also if it can meet its test its target of $100000.00 tests by the end of this month ok.

team will leave it there many thanks and i do see on twitter the u.k. prime minister boris johnson who does enjoy tweeting to his followers he's now on twitter saying it's hard to find the words to express my debt to the n.h.s. for saving my life he also goes on we're making progress in the national battle part of that national battle of course as 19 was saying there is a people's lack of understanding when it comes to getting that so vital so important safety equipment to the n.h.s. workers up and down the u.k. who are at the leading edge of the fight against the coronavirus well as we've been hearing the u.s. has become now the hardest hit country with the death toll supporting 20000 most of those are in new york state the epicenter of the break there the state governor has described how difficult the pandemic has been. it's been this orienting everybody is suffering on a lot of levels people are afraid people are anxious their own distress everywhere

they turn normally you go home for solace you go home for peace. but it's even difficult at home in this period with so many questions so large a lot of pain a lot of suffering. but also when things are at their worst sometimes people are at their best. to our correspondent mike hanna joining us from washington so mike clearly a very personal message from mr cuomo there. indeed yes andrew cuomo making that speech from a small upstate town of the miscreant me this very symbolic move by the new york state governor the reason why he was speaking from there giving the easter message from there was because in this tiny town the hospital there denatured and number of its ventilators to another hospital at downstate new york the governor saying that

this was an example of how those within the state are helping each other out acts of generosity much appreciated and using this as an example of how the people of new york state have been pulling together facing the epicenter of this pandemic stay with us mike we want to play part of a tweeted video message from donald trump during which americans to stay at home to defeat what he described as a plague this used to will be much different than others because in many cases will be separated physically only from our churches we won't be sitting there next to each other which we'd like to be and soon will be again but right now we're keeping separation we're getting rid of the plague it's a plague on our country like nobody's ever seen so mike is this is ministration torn because 10 days 2 weeks ago mr trump was saying it be

a beautiful thing to get the churches full by today the easter weekend he was saying he wants to open up the country again and he's clearly always got one eye so how the money markets are performing and how his own personality ratings are being impacted by those figures it's. yes indeed well as you say 2 weeks ago he made the stated intention that the country would be open by this easter sunday he has backtracked from that quite clearly extending the closure of the u.s. until the end of april but now we've been hearing from the commissioner of the f.d.a. he was asked on one of the networks so whether the trump administration views may the 1st as a viable date to start reopening the country he didn't answer that directly however he said and this is an important point that the health and welfare of the country's people come 1st and now this is a clear signal that arguments about economy coming before the and welfare of

people certainly not viewed as vital from the point of view of the f.d.a. commissioner was also mentioned in terms of timelines president trump as you said has been very eager to reopen the economy to reopen all if not part of the usa however the health experts have been cautioning against that and bull de blasio the mayor of new york has just been speaking within the last half hour he made a very important point and in fact a very urgent plea to the federal government he needs more testing kits you since he's been asking for this for a long period of time and federal government is not coming through with the necessary tests this in a complete opposition to president trance contention that anybody who wants a test within the country can get one and the new york mayor making very clear that it is absolutely crucial in terms of continuing to combat this epidemic to be able to track the confirmed cases to be able to gauge the curve of the pandemic and the

only way it can be done is getting tests and he says federal government the central government is failing new york city in terms of not providing a sufficient enough amount of testing its mike thanks very much let's turn our attention now to spain where the daily death toll has trended upwards again martin joins us live from madrid martin hello again we've been hearing from. the prime minister was he been saying. well he just remarked that tomorrow our own works will be entering not a new face of the law down but we go back to the beginning we have to keep in mind bear in mind that spain decreed that the lockdown for corona virus march 24th and 2 weeks later they impose tougher measures in not essential work in an economy

that manned only stupid matt goods pharmacy people related transporting food or deliveries were able to 2 to be operational so that was a bloody lot down in the economy as well and tomorrow 1000 not 1000 of spaniards are going back to work this means he's at this is not a 2nd phase at all he's still in during a lockdown this is to activate a little bit the economy because we have to remember that 2 weeks ago we had unemployment figures in spain 100000 jobs were lost in just 2 weeks meat martin till the end of march this is the worst economic scenario ever since the spanish civil war so there's many criticism saying that we shouldn't believe those tough measures so soon we have to wait a little bit so there's a lot of controversy he says for the santa perhaps and spam is that says that we're following. all guidelines well have a look at organizational guidelines we're doing the correct thing so spain needs

a little bit of movement a good economy so he also mentioned about the guy not to have to follow people that are going to the to work tomorrow all the people that cannot work remotely from home meaning they have to go to the going about sectors that construction and manufacturing both of the sectors that were also damaged because of the. lockdown from an ira. could manage the damage in spain so he gave the guidelines that the companies have to provide employees we've probably tech equipment and they have to keep a distance of at least to meet. between each worker also everyone that kind of go by themselves out to work with their own bake will buy sickles or on transport all means. they will have to take the public transport and they will be distributing facemasks in the train stations and in the subway stations so that's what we stepped in to see tomorrow marta thanks very much. still to come here on

al-jazeera african students in china report they're being targeted because of the coronavirus. also ahead catholic churches in the philippines look to the internet to connect with worshipers on easter something. and there are some good to conditions continue across central and northern areas of china no safer japan look at this massive cloud this is all tied to a very vigorous storm system now it is bringing widespread heavy rain across much of honshu is a go through monday and some very strong winds that also warnings in place for gale force winds even severe force winds particularly impacting coastal areas some very high waves on rough seas at the same time but you can see really elsewhere it is fairly calm and play also a very warm look at this on monday and tuesday 25 celsius in beijing i'm pretty

good temperatures elsewhere we've got about 23 in hong kong and she's day and it is improving day choose across much of japan but still a fairly blustery day but time which is not faring too badly indonesia it is still about the rain particularly through borneo out across into somalia but some very heavy rains as we go through monday and she's day into the thailand cambodia and also crawls into coastal areas of vietnam in india it's still really about the hate it's a fairly quiet picture monday and tuesday in terms of rain showers we could just see one and 2 cropping up in the coast as a coward also across into should lanka but really elsewhere typical for this time of year temperatures in the low forty's the non-poor $41.00 monday on the same on shoes day. i don't think in isolating times the listening post cuts through the noise you've been looking at another side of the story now from the information around the

outbreak but the misinformation separating propaganda from fact it's reality and you have to reject the long exposing the optics try to never believe the rhetoric and shit but they cannot manipulate the listening post your insight going to the media on al-jazeera. you're watching al-jazeera a reminder of our top stories this hour the u.k. prime minister boris johnson has been discharged from the london hospital where he was being treated in i.c.u. for coronavirus he's not gone straight back to work he has to continue his recovery

as official country residence checkers. spain's reporting a rise and it's linked to the virus for the 1st time in 3 days $619.00 people have died in the last 24 hours in the total cost $16300.00 is more than 166000 no he's. the leader of the roman catholic church of the message of hope as he celebrated easter sunday pope francis for the service for millions of people watched online streaming online or on television. easter sunday celebrations very different this year some peter's square in the vatican usually packed with around 80000 worshippers but because of the lockdown across italy the traditional mass from the pope was watched by millions as we've been saying online pope francis saying the virus pandemic has suddenly changed the lives of millions and political leaders to work for the benefit of their people there are more de lima needed.

for many remaining at home has been an opportunity to reflect to withdraw from the frenetic pace of life and to stay with loved ones and enjoy their company for many however this is also time of worry but in uncertain future about jobs that are at risk and other consequences of the current crisis i encourage politicians to work actively for the common good to provide the means and resources needed to enable everyone to lead a dignified life. well there were similar scenes in one of christianity's holiest sites harry forsett reports now from occupied east jerusalem. easter bells ring out from the church of the holy circle in the courtyard below weights the custody of the church key a responsibility passed down through his family for more than 850 years but instead . this is only the 2nd easter in history when the city has been attacked like this in 1349 a play closed the doors of the church for several months the catholic patriarch of the church arrived to conduct the mass with

a reminder of the easter message that life will prevail the coronavirus lockdown as utterly changed the face of easter in jerusalem usually this square would be thronged with christian photograms from around the world waiting to celebrate mass in the place they believe jesus christ rose from the dead. instead the congregation this year was a virtual one the service streamed online and broadcast on t.v. easter usually brings tens of thousands of pilgrims to the old city but now foreign tourism has been banned businesses are closed at the nearby sin george hotel the only guests are those being quarantined free of charge israel's hotel association says the pandemic could cost the industry more than a $1000000000.00 we are always fully booked there are 131 a year. last year hundreds of thousands of images visited general salim. or at least. over this year due to their pandemic. 0 pilgrimage as

it's also the week of the jewish passover last year this was the scene at the western wall on sunday the pres were strict to a handful including it was noted with some surprise the u.s. ambassador to israel. the main passover creased was marked earlier this week with no large family gatherings singing from balconies filled the gap that was credibly uplifting to feel like yes on the one hand we're by ourselves with our families immediate family there. we're part of a broader neighborhood a broader community of palestinian christians in the occupied west bank of also had to adjust their practices praying from home church bethlehem is looked down the church of the nativity of limits and. it hasn't been this sad since the israeli army blockaded the church during the 2nd intifada with help people and in such isolation this ancient places borne witness to so many extraordinary religious events if you would have predicted just weeks ago that april 2020 would mark

another hurry for sit out in syria occupied east jerusalem muslims in sri lanka are angry at the government's decision to make cremation compulsory for victims of corona virus 3 of the 7 reported victims so far were muslims cremation is forbidden in islam and amnesty international has urged the sinhala buddhist majority the government there to respect the rights of religious minorities in elfin and joins us live from colombo the sons of his got the makings of being something that's very contentious. you know right from the outset the issue of commission of sort of could rule nothing tell you ti's has brought a lot of emotions into this debate obviously the muslim community who it affects has said in an expressed concern that they're not evil to bury their dead you know lives clean by the. virus in the we that their culture and religion

basically the choir is now for the government obviously it is absolute crisis time that entire crowd coronata response is within an overall umbrella of sort of identifying of chasing the people of the come into contact with their own of infected patients and things like that and obviously the last part of that is told to deal with couldn't not italian now issue longer so has happened 7 deaths due to the corona virus and 3 of those 7 are members of the muslim community where this kind of concern and contention has come in so the government basically has brought in some regulations under a gadget which was promulgated that we understand that midnight yesterday taking effect an announcer day using a very old regulation from the 1920 s.

of out of the prevention of disease and pour in tea and brought in these new rules which deals with the sort of premium of all those that die of the corona virus so that's what's caused sort of reaction from the muslim community leaders of the community have called on the government to allow them to bury their dead in accordance with their rights and beliefs they see that the dummy with children would have organization allowance fall members of the muslim community to be buried in law. in with their cultures and traditions obviously under certain restrictions for example burials i believe are required to be done more than 8 feet underground and things like that but as we're hearing i did speak to a member of medical community i hope did point out that the doubly we're sure does issued guidelines that ultimately it is for the national health authority to meet

and fix a century the rules that govern their particular country so that's where the debate is at the moment peter thanks very much city leaders in southern china are denying allegations of coronavirus racism insisting foreigners are not being discriminated against africans living in gangs you see they're being kicked out of their homes and face heris mint as health workers step up testing for important factions the african union nigeria and ghana calling on the chinese government to address those concerns. priests in the philippines have bypassed the lockdown by holding virtual church services on easter sunday other ways to connect with the congregations are being flown to germany reports from manila. everest in leaders is now homeless he was a construction worker until the government imposed a lockdown to slow the spread of crude a virus

a few weeks ago his family had already left the city and he found himself stranded and alone. he was surprised when we told him it was easter sunday he said the day all seem the same to him. i prayed last night i recited the hail mary i hope things get better soon i will just wait here till they leave so i can go back to work easter is usually one of the most festive celebrations here but this is how it looks like now churches have largely remained closed and empty almost unimaginable in the philippines the last bastion of catholicism in asia the so-called enhanced community quarantined in the region of luzon has forced more than 50000000 people to stay in their homes it's a time of great uncertainty people are scared of contracting the virus and of not being able to put food on the table millions of filipinos don't get paid if they

don't work the government says it is doing its best to speed the payment of cash grants to millions of people but not for those who are homeless although good friday and easter services are banned for their flabby has got special permission to hold a service at this makeshift shelters. he says their ordeal now is a reminder of the importance of what jesus represented compassion and love. the homeless are here to give with this as a reminder that such people exist and they should never be forgotten most especially in this time of pandemic. for now the streets outside the church in manila are a sanctuary for the homeless they say they may not be able to enter its grounds but they'll continue to lift their prayers up to god hoping that there must be a better way. dugan manila. russia has reported more than

2000 new cases over coronavirus that's its biggest daily increase yet more than 15700 infections have been reported across russia the government says 130 people have died well the number of new virus cases in germany has fallen for a 2nd consecutive day 2800 new infections are being reported the raise in the total to just over 120000 around 2700 germans have died so far. israel's president in other news is refusing to give political leaders more time to reach a power sharing deal blue and white party leader asked for 2 more weeks to form a coalition government he's trying to reach an agreement with the prime minister benjamin netanyahu after last month's inconclusive election within one year or maybe a 4th if they can't agree by tuesday. the afghan taliban says it's releasing 20 afghan government prisoners on sunday that announcement coincides with the release

of a group of $100.00 taliban prisoners by afghanistan last month the afghan president ashraf ghani signed a decree to release $1500.00 taliban prisoners as a move towards direct talks with the armed group to end the 18 year long war. is a national security analyst he says is not clear whether the taliban release of prisoners is related to the agreement signed in castle earlier this year. the stigma and doubt has come from the taliban is. the deal releasing 20 prisoners but it does not say why we have had about 200 prisoners released from the government like the african government has released 200 taliban prisoners and you're about to release a 100 more but be statement that has come from the government is that it's based on age health conditions. it does not refer to be u.s.

taliban and that was signed on february 29th of this year so none of these sides are actually going to be agreement the government has only be to releasing $5000.00 prisoners that they were supposed to release before march to be in charge of going down or could be initiated. or. it happening a top stories here on al-jazeera so far today the u.k. prime minister boris johnson has been discharged from the hospital in london where he was treated in intensive care for coronavirus he's not going straight back to work he will continue his recovery at checkers that's his official country residence in the last hour mr johnson released a video online thanking hospital staff in the last 7 days i have of course seen the pressure that the n.h.s.

is under i've seen the personal courage not just of the doctors the nurses but of everyone the cleaners the cooks the health care workers of every description physios radiograph was pharmacists who kept coming to work kept putting themselves in harm's way kept risking this deadly virus it is thanks to that courage that devotion that duty. and that love our n.h.s. has been unbeatable spain is reporting a rise in the number of deaths linked to corona virus for the 1st time in 3 days 619 people have died in the past 24 hours pushing the total past 16300 the united states has overtaken its early as having the highest number of coronavirus deadworld why eat more than 20000 americans have died the epicenter

remains new york but all 50 states are in a state of emergency for the 1st time that allows them to access federal funds the leader of the roman catholic church francis has offered a message of hope as he celebrated easter sunday mass the pontiff left the service while millions of faithful watched online city leaders in southern china denying allegations of coronavirus racism insisting foreigners are not discriminated against africans living in kwang jews say they are being kicked out of their homes and harris has health workers step up testing for imported infections the a united syria and ghana all calling on the beijing government to address those concerns up next is the listening post adrian assia from 15 g. i will see. the hero.

coronavirus cases around the world is approaching a 1000000. of the 758 ok i thought it was about as i mean by that time 5840 that's more than 60000. on. hello i'm richard gives birth and you're watching the listening post here are some of the coronavirus stories the media angles that we're covering from home this week they say numbers don't lie when you're tracking the pandemic though the numbers can mislead and misinformed italy is now more than a month into its national quarantine we speak with journalists there about the hits and misses in their coverage of covert 19 the latest social media platform taking step.