it's the journey. inspiring stories of people who are severely on their chosen. witness documentaries on al-jazeera. a tele starts open up again coronavirus restrictions are coming off thread there is concern about a 2nd wave of infection. so i'm fully back to boyer watching al-jazeera live from doha with continuing coverage of the corn a virus crisis or vaccine within months is a prediction of president trump as he blames a chinese mistake for the pandemic and the race is on to find the formula for immunity against a virus but it's an expensive and difficult process and brazil's president flouts

social distancing measures again as infections keep rising in latin america's hardest hit country. based spin the worst hit country in europe with the highest coronavirus death toll outside china but after 8 weeks of lockdown italy is beginning to ease restrictions imposed in response to the pandemic the bustle is returning to the streets of its towns and cities is a capital rome the government says measures will be east further if the infection rate continues to drop almost $30000.00 people have died in italy let's speak to francesco john best tony who is in milan on skype francesco's so what exactly is restarting today and how do italians feel about restrictions being eased. this is

the phase 2 of the emergency beginning today in italy more than 4000000 people went back to work this morning as the country tries to restart the economy without pushing the curve of the infractions again factories building sites and wholesale trade reopened today there was also a lifting of the restrictions on personal freedom people are now allowed to go out for a walk and to visit their family and some close friends but in these meetings they need to wear a mask in the hardest hit region of longer day where i'm speaking from the mask is mandatory every time outside home that's why i'm wearing a social gatherings are still banned and it's not possible to move from region to region but sporting activities can now be practice also far from home also in parks that reopened today even though the areas for children are still closed schools were not restored until september shops museums libraries and everything or all of

the businesses will probably reopen in the next weeks but the feelings of the italians are makes at the moment there is a glimpse of hope that the worst has passed but many fear that this phase could bring to a 2nd wave of of infections the government was criticized because it didn't explain very well how it will handle the health system the health crisis in the 2nd phase yeah and what precisely the strategy of the government if there is one to prevent a 2nd. well apparently it doesn't seem to be very change from the phase one there are no new big new measures to control the virus except from masks mandatory on public transport and on some clothes places and new distancing rules but many people are worried because nothing was said about the possibility of increasing the number of tests that in march were not enough for everyone who

needed to be tested there was a public debate about the content pricing that the government is working on for has been working on for more than one month but it's not ready yet the government didn't even decide to isolate infected people in facilities like hotels to avoid infecting family members and it's not easy to understand why some regions are making immunity tests and some are not so much as been demanded again to the responsibility of people which are now asking the authorities to implement new strategies to 4 possible possible new cases thank you very much for that update francesco tony reporting there live from milan. to southeast asian nations are taking cautious steps to lift coronavirus restrictions thailand and malaysia have spent weeks under law we'll have more from malaysia in just a moment but 1st. explain some of the measures left out entirely. this is the 2nd day the 1st business day of the relaxation of these restrictions that were imposed

back in march you know it's a slow and steady process according to the government you know it's going to be every 2 weeks where they re evaluate how things are going and then will decide if the move forward in lifting some of these restrictions right now some more shops are allowed to open up restaurants are allowed to have people dying in but distancing very strict social distancing measurements within those restaurants though we've always had a and encourage work from home directive from the government here never really fully enforced that remains in place also when you look at the public transportation here in bangkok very critical for this very very crowded city people riding on public transportation still have to wear a mask when it comes to the future of big contributor to the gross domestic product here in thailand how thailand makes its money comes from the tourism industry and there have been a couple of announcements about how things will be moving forward we know that there is a a ban on inbound international flights that will stay in place until the end of may that is in place the airports here in thailand will only be open from 7 am to 7 pm

to further curb the air traffic if you will some domestic flights restarted at the end of last week but still very limited at this stage now when you look at again the importance of it that's why we're here in this neighborhood of old bangkok this is really a touristy area called zone area there is still very few tourists here obviously that is going to remain the case for several weeks if not months to come you know we're looking at projects in numbers coming out from the government down at least 40 percent the 1st quarter of this year into his numbers that's going to be even bigger for the 2nd quarter and again that's very very important for the economy here so obviously the government is rambling to try to figure out other ways for the nation here to make money. most businesses are not allowed to reopen including retailers like this one and shopping malls but they're going to have to open many sets in safety measures including temperature screening and making sure there's no space within that. and this is for people to maintain a practice physical distance thing now employ its however have been advised to

allow people to work from home as far as possible and we'll see that on the streets on monday morning it seems that busier than they want the last 6 weeks but nowhere near a regular day now and schools and colleges remain closed malaysia hasn't reopened its borders and interstate travel is still not allowed the prime minister has described the easing of restrictions as a controlled and cautious reopening of economic activity malaysia has lost 14 and a half $1000000000.00 since the cubs were put in place 6 weeks ago but not everyone agrees with the government's decision making or you can go i think it's still a bit unsafe the virus is invisible i'm just here to get a bit of banking done and then i'm going to head home as soon as possible. that's a petition online urging the government to reconsider its decision to ease restrictions and as of 9 am on monday morning in malaysia that petition has gone more than 470000 signatures but malaysian health officials say the country has not

aged blacks in the and there's very much a sense that what the government is trying to do is strike a balance between protecting lives and preserving jobs. and i speak to a mom who is a doctor and president of the hong kong public doctors association she's on skype by hong kong thank you very much for joining us there is clearly a dilemma for governments here and different opinions as to whether this is a right time to start easing restrictions what do you as a doctor believe should be the indicates if a government's to decide that it's ok to lift restrictions. i think it's the pens the friend the chin different countries but i think 1st of all we must see a very clear sign that there is no the new customers of new cases appear in that country for example like home call we have almost like 14 days 15 days with no new local color in fact cases so doesn't that conflict that gives the confidence to

government as well as the public to ease some of the lockdown measures it also depends whether the public health care system are they get well prepared for the 2nd wave of these seas whether they have they have already recovered from the 1st wave whether the government have enough current time facilities to call on time newly confirmed cases again whether the context raising measures has been people want as there is and the other single cases they can trace the contact and current time you want in a very quick face so so you're saying that you base the easing of restrictions on the number of new cases but for what period of time. usually are in theoretical for any in fact of the season and he in fact if these these that may cause a. best way is we take to incubation period that these these folder.

mostly we believe that you patient period of the disease is fucking days so the safest way to do observe is trying to see if there is. no more new cases expression no more new local call it cases in 28 states from the last cases you can say that it is pretty say. may have no have been a very low whistle and not the new cases so what about when it comes to avoiding a 2nd wave of infections what should government strategy be. first of all i think i know that some countries who may have quite good results in their local control they are eager to unlock the city but i think. growly the condition has not been set we know that in some countries like russia

where all south america is still not the cup that condition has not yet peak so i hearing international travel of the fleischer has to be. under control and restriction of the when i think for a full government who want to unlock this 1st of all they should have a well planned contact raising well planned for current team a competent facilities all isolation of the city so that surfaces pieces of eligible wants to call them the cases out happened again because content tracing early isolation and early current time is the best way to prevent and the way for some world he outbreak thank you so much for speaking to us ari sina ma is the president of the hong kong's doctors association thank you for your time you're welcome. now japan is extending its state of emergency until the end of may prime minister shinzo abbay says health experts will assess the situation on may 14th to

see if a further extension is needed japan's state of emergency has been in place for several weeks empowering local governments to urge people to stay home and for businesses to close but it's less strict than many other countries with no fines or penalties for people who don't comply. president donald trump says he's confident the u.s. will have a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year he was speaking at a virtual town hall meeting answering questions from americans about his handling of the pandemic rob reynolds points we're joined now by president in a virtual town hall style event broadcast on the u.s. television network fox news president donald trump predicted rapid development of a covert $900.00 vaccine we are very confident that we're going to have a vaccine at the end of the year by the end of the year have a vaccine by the end of this year we think we're going to have a vaccine by the end of this year and we're pushing very hard trump went on to

claim that he was not told till late january by u.s. intelligence agencies about the spreading coronavirus some reports indicate that those agencies sounded the alarm on january 3rd on january 23rd i was told that there could be a virus coming in but it was of no real important other words it wasn't all we got to do some we got to do something it was a brief conversation trump blames china directly for the pandemic he promised to report with new information on how it originated and spread i think they made a horrible mistake and they don't want to admit it more than 68000 people in the u.s. have died from cold at 19 and the numbers are rising trump said the toll could reach 90000 higher number than he has cited before many public health experts are warning against premature lifting of stay at home orders saying that could lead to

a new surge in infections. without giving any specific dates trump said the u.s. needed to restart its economy soon we kids stayed close as a country that could have a country left the president ducked a question about safeguarding vulnerable nursing home residents and called white house reporters questions horrible it is widely considered that the presidential election in november will be a referendum on trump's handling of the pandemic rob reynolds al-jazeera the chinese state media says the u.s. has been launching a groundless accusations against spain jane after u.s. secretary of state michael bell said there is significant evidence go read 19 aeration aged in a chinese knob his comments have been made to a rowing u.s. backlash against china over its initial handling of the outbreak while the intelligence committee continues to do its work they should continue to do that and verify so that we are certain i can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in one that

the best experts so far seem to think it was manmade have no reason to disbelieve that at this point is the scientific consensus was not manmade or genetically modified that's right i agree with that i've said i've seen their analysis i've seen the summary that you saw that was released publicly i have no reason to doubt that that is accurate that ok so just to be clear to you do not think it was manmade or genetically modified. i've seen what the intelligence community said i have no reason to believe that they've got it wrong. now afghani's son's health ministry says the number of infections in the capital could be much higher than limited testing has detected so far a random test so 500 samples suggests 80 percent of kabul it's 5000000 people could have contracted coded 19 more than 80 deaths and nearly 3000 cases are officially recorded so far well let's speak to why he do it on my arm who's spokesman for afghanistan's ministry of public health is via skype from kabul thank you so much

sir for being with us on al-jazeera so this a to 6 on this survey show that the majority of kabul citizens have suddenly been infected by covert 19 why is that when there's been a lockdown in place for the past few weeks in a lockdown that's been extended even. that comes from having me 1st of all i would like to clarify. jeremy which was done by the ministry of public health it was random their own demise segue and we looked at $500.00 random samples and we did there are a test of those $500.00 individuals are from 500 individuals 160 were positive and there are other things that you know about the accuracy of there are just what's not. 100 percent yeah we don't dr p.c.r. test at n.b.c. our 1st we found that 60 percent and what's around $156.00 people

were affected. by rest it's an alarming sign for us to get it more vigilant to take more vacation early measures to implement all the preventive measures and stay. in force lockdown and other preventive measures to reduce the spread of the current by restaurant and unit because the virus has already been hit community for this mission and the spread of the virus has been debated so you say that for you the priority now is implement the stay at home ashes but as you know for many afghans staying at home is not an option the economy of the country is very fragile millions of afghan children are struggling with hunger according to save the children so how do you reconcile with that it's a choice between sickness and starvation for many people. this is one of the biggest challenges for the afghan government and luckily there are 11 stakeholders

there are the ministers have been working very hard to utmost the problem of starvation and unemployment and there is a program that they distribute most not ready to take the risk and the ministry of health has been working closely with 'd the relief. agencies with the relief program to make it whether this is. press to poor and needy and of course there are other related programs that support needy people and you know that afghanistan besides. over to the besides military and besides we have been at war for 2 decades in daytime one of our because i was there and some program is. being attacked to work and in recent days if you calculate the number of flights that have been taken by work is more than the number of fatalities due to what 900 right but obviously the concern about this pandemic

in a country as fragile as i've gotten stan so what are your current predictions as far as a number of cases and deaths and how well prepared is your health care system to handle this crisis what's needed the most right now. well we have been doing our best to utilize limited resources that we have and we use it in a more status in an admissions way but you know. that's requires lots of assistance from the international. war one fortunately we have received letters from world bank from mission development bank from we're un agencies who will be assessed and have to be honest come in fighting against our own outliers in addition this is michael as a medical doctor as an afghan on the opposite of the mr public and that. they should not forget that we understand and find. the translation. process rather than

a stand on and. lost in war in afghanistan because you are has been to war and civil unrest has devastated most of infrastructures and afghanistan now that. verse 3 aspect that our reforms. i do use i just see the international community to pressure on the warring parties was an end to. never ending and enduring war in afghanistan while we hope your messages had thank you very much for speaking to us why he doing my ass spokesman for the afghan ministry of health thank you for your time this year much for having me. battle iran away some mosques have reopened in areas the government deems safe but the capital tehran remains a virus hotspot must play as a band because president has done rouhani says social distancing is more important then but he has the latest. iran's government announced the names of more than

$100.00 towns and cities across the country that they now consider safe or white zones these are places that health officials say have seen a dramatic drop in the rate of infection of the coronavirus mosques have the green light to go ahead and reopen their doors and in some cases friday prayer congregations will also go back to normal but it has to be said these are small population centers in a very big country to iran still one of the worst affected places in iran this city remains a red zone major religious sites into one musher than home in the cities places that were considered hotspots for the virus at the start of this outbreak those remain closed for now when the pandemic began in iran the government response was about weighing what was good for public health against what was good for the country's economic health some say iran implemented a lockdown too late and reopened too early now in the islamic fasting month of ramadan the country's leaders are under pressure to find a balance between managing public health and the country's spiritual health we have to remember that modern day iran was built on the back of

a religious revolution this is a country that has a large and vocal population of religious people and this is one of the most religious months of the islamic calendar it's a time of religious gatherings and the government will no doubt be feeling the pressure to reopen places of mass worship some mosques like the one behind me local neighborhood houses of god have restarted limited operating hours individuals can go inside and pray throughout the day but as long as they maintain social distancing measures it's a small but significant nod by the government to the country's religious identity but bigger gatherings of any kind for any sort of mass worship remain forbidden now brazil's amazon rage and has become the new front line in the battle against call that 19 infections are rising quickly leaving hospitals overwhelmed in the city of this but president continues to downplay the pandemic. reports. face mask projected on the statue of christ the redeemer the symbol of. it's

a call for awareness as the number of cases keep rising across brazil. has been marking from the start keeps hugging and shaking hands with supporters. on sunday he once again led a protest in the capital against stay at home measures ordered by local governors as he fights against corruption from the country's congress and supreme court. we want the true independence of the 3 powers not only a fraction of the constitution we don't want that enough with interference we want to admit any more interference i'm being very clear patience has run out last week replace the country's most popular anti corruption crusader former justice minister . who now accuses him of trying to meddle in police investigations against him and

his sons but while the president is focused on this political problems the virus is spreading rapidly in the amazon state capital health services have been overwhelmed by the number of sick people the city is handling more than $100.00 deaths per day 3 times the normal average. mass graves to. the mayor of international plea for help as concerns grows that the virus could have devastating effects on the. indigenous tribes. we have to save the lives. of the forest. something like barbara rees. a call for help that so far has rung

hollow for a president to screech 6 a seems more worried about political survival than keeping brazilians alive i listen to them. by european leaders are holding a virtual conference in the coming hours hoping to raise at least $8000000000.00 for vaccine research there are at least $100.00 different scene projects in development around the world last month the world health organization launch an initiative to streamline the search for a covert $1000.00 vaccine the u.s. isn't taking part in the e.u. says a global response is needed to be the pandemic stephanie decker has more. the world is desperate for a vaccine against covert 19 and the race is on to find one developed in many countries i think the largest number in the us a bullet by china market is a professor of vaccine epidemiology at the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine they are keeping an up to date database of all the vaccines being worked

on there are over $100.00 the bad news is that they usually break the back seat is a problem the initial discovery who actually having a back seat to be given on a population level is usually about 10 to 20 years. but the urgency now means teams all over the world are trying to speed up the process we work day and night and follow probably 1000 people on a person. we have a 3. people 3 shop working group and for 24 hours several are at the stage of human testing including this trial the oxford university we're told there is never been a vaccine against a coronavirus group for approval and that the success rate of vaccine trials are between 5 to 10 percent even once there is a vaccine it will take quite some time before there is enough to vaccinate entire populations and while we wait there are questions about natural immunity it is

still not clear whether we can develop long lasting immunity to the virus we have never been here before this is a direct that's emerged that has changed everyone's life it's you know bringing so many people to be sick to be in hospital dying it's wrecked the entire economy is this is the back to that the world is desperate to have. for once the world is largely united in the desire to be able to visit and hug our families to walk the streets to fill the restaurants to travel and for so many to be able to work again to return to a life most of us took for granted our once buzzing news room here in doha has nearly full and silent with most people working from home it's a similar picture in many places across the world now despite so many vaccines being in the works it's going to take quite some time before one is available to

all of us and that means that partial lockdowns and social distancing could remain part of our lives for a very long time stephanie decker at al-jazeera headquarters in doha and the world health organization says there is no evidence a herbal tonic touted by madagascar president as a cure for the coroner actually works but that hasn't stopped the drink being exported 1st reportorial guinea and now guinea bissau norburn manley has a story. this is proving popular in the past we can scoff at 19 who know who it actually was. mother against this president only resoluteness says it's so effective he's exposing it to the other side of the continent getting the south president is also impressed he visited the airport to welcome the shipment there's no question this donation is a gesture in the fight against a global pandemic called cope at 19 i'd like to say with this guinea bissau will be

seen in a very different concept of nationhood it will be seen as a country that always has good people and today the world will talk about. it's the 2nd country to the imported it the harp which is used as a tonic contains the autumn is a plant which is normally used to treat malaria but the world health organization warns that the effectiveness of the hype has not been proven even tested by scientists but that hasn't stand its popularity tanzania's president says he's in talks with madagascar to send a plane to collect a shipment to pick a sample we are already in touch with monika scott there are just an official letter informing us about the cure i shall send our airplane to go and pick the drugs so our citizens can also reap the benefits tanzania has recorded 17 deaths but the government's been accused of failing to take the virus seriously in the

capital it's business as usual schools a shot at markets most and churches remain open. and back in madagascar the army has been knocking door to door to give the tonic the most vulnerable people the country has so far recorded few cases and no fatalities but government actions have gone beyond the hard. most unsocial distance rules have been fools measures medical experts say and fact if even if the tonic is not. until 0. welcome back the headlines on al-jazeera after 8 weeks in lockdown it's only starting to ease restrictions imposed because of the cone of eyes pandemic the government says measures will be relaxed further if the infection rate continues to

drop francesco jan best tony has the details from milan. more than 4000000 people went back to work this morning as it's a leeds rois to restart the economy without pushing the curve of the infections again factories building saw its own wholesale trade reopened today there was also a lifting on the restrictions of personal freedom people are now allowed to visit their family and close friends but in these meetings they need to wear a mask social gatherings are still bands and it's not possible to move from region to region. malaysia and thailand are also starting to open up after weeks under lockdown most businesses are being allowed to resume operations but launch gatherings and travel are still being restricted japan meanwhile is extending its state of emergency until the end of the month at least from minister shinzo obvious has health experts will assess the situation in 10 days to see if further extension

is needed in iran some mosques have reopened in areas of the country that the government deems safe but the capital tehran remains a virus hotspot spray is banned because president has family says socialists and saying is more important it's. fersen donald trump says his confident the u.s. will have a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year he made the prediction of a virtual town hall meeting broadcast on fox news channel but scientists believe it will take at least a year before a vaccine is available brazil's amazon region has become the latest frontline in the battle against 19 infections are rising quickly leaving hospitals overwhelmed and it's feared the outbreak could severely hit indigenous communities those are the headlines on al-jazeera coming up next year it's witness. on counting the cost famines of biblical proportions the coronavirus is at the end of the global economy

so what does that mean for. us grants or loans as italy and spain. in the e.u. . are a trillion rescue. cutting the cost on al-jazeera. ringback this. sort of problem.