our key priority. invest in kazakstan seize the best opportunities in the heart of eurasia. this is al-jazeera. over there i mean live from doha with our special coverage of the coronavirus pandemic coming up in the next 60 minutes it's one years since the 1st coronavirus cases were reported in china with a 1000000 lives lost in economies in shambles we take a look at the devastation caused across continents. a ray of hope but all the vaccines for those rich countries or there are concerns developing countries may take years to get enough supplies. my next worst nightmare is not getting out of

this nightmare without having a lot more suffering and they have. caught between politics and the regime pandemic we speak to the man in charge of the u.s. since coronavirus response. i'm 7 ash it's been a sporting yet like we take a look at how fans and athletes have got 3 of the last 12 months. so it was on december 31st 2019 that chinese authorities 1st inform the world health organization of an unknown illness causing pneumonia like symptoms in the past year the coronavirus pandemic has a retard with our lives and change the way we work travel holiday having a meal in the restaurant even shaking hands is no longer a harmless act as it since the 1st cases were discovered more than 82000000 people

around the world have been infected and the death toll is now more than 1800000 there is a glimpse of hope out of the grim figures more than 46000000 people have recovered so far and the global vaccine rollout is now underway the virus is widely believed to have started in a market that traded wild animals in the central chinese city. within weeks experts at johns hopkins university were tracking reported cases of the infection then when the w.h.o. declared a pandemic on march the 11th there were $118000.00 cases globally but 90 percent of those infected with covert 19 were in just 4 countries china south korea italy and iran this is how the situation looks right now covert 19 a spread to 191 countries right across the world across all cultures we've got correspondents covering the story from all angles john holeman is standing by in mexico city alan fisher is in washington d.c.

rory chalons is there monitoring developments in london and from rome we've got stephanie decker but 1st let's hear from katrina you who begins our coverage and where it all started. i'm involved on the original every cent of the 4 in a virus outbreak and this is junk. and around me normal life seems however soon people are going about their daily business or shopping to going to work and it's difficult to imagine that this was a 1st place where of course the going to case was discovered the 1st place the one is locked down in the 1st place with family members moving to loss of that loved ones but this what's happening around me now this is the image that the chinese government wants to portray to the world success in controlling the outbreak in this city of 11000000 people to has it been a new case discovered here for about 7 months and many of the locals we spoke to pride in this when they describe what has gone through it talk about resilience to talk about heroism but of course this is not the full picture the chinese

government remains heavily criticized for the handling of the outbreak especially in those early days 12 months ago the health care system here was at breaking point people were pouring into hospitals and thousands of people died while many people have moved on we spoke to those who still haven't they're still mourning what they've gone through mourning what was lost and they're demanding answers and justice. 12 months ago john high spot they checked into a hospital to receive treatment for a broken leg while he was there the 76 year old. died he was one of the 1st victims of a mysterious disease which would later be $1000.00. before my father died he said. we are i don't want to die. the doctors do say for me those were his last words. is now suing the chinese government he says local officials withheld information about the current virus outbreak allowing it

to spread. more wars a mistake it was a crime murder none of their relatives die only the ordinary people died was because they knew how bad the virus would be protected themselves but they were supposed to care for older citizens. as the new morning alike disease too cold across one pod in january a mass banquet celebrating chinese new year went ahead regardless just over a year ago one on one with a place locals to buy fresh seafood and meet today it's shut down completely then stopped and believed by many to be the starting point of the pandemic it's we lost the world and in that millions of people. china has not suffered as badly as other countries since the outbreak according to official figures about 90000 people have been infected and 5000 have died for almost 3 months millions of people were put

under strict locked out and able to leave their apartments. joe was one of them but the business owner says life has now returned to normal. vision with the silver dollar the freedom that the chinese government did the right thing they saved us there was no other way look at what's happening in western countries now it's scary it's safe here. world health organization team will arrive in hot next month to investigate the origin of the outbreak beijing was reportedly initially reluctant to provide access when it comes to the crowd of ours china's leaders appear to be doing all they can to control the narrative this week citizen journalist junk john was sentenced to 4 years in jail for. locked up charged with picking corals and provoking trouble. junk high is still mourning the death of his father he says he's

been intimidated by local authorities and called a traitor for his complaints against the government. or you girl. i will never shut up even if i'm the only one left shouting johnnie's people say truth is always in the hands of the few if i don't speak up and hold those responsible accountable how can one year on he would be silenced and will never forget. and while much anger remains so do many questions namely how did the corner bars outbreak 1st begin now in recent months the chinese government has been focusing on the threat of cold chain imports and state media here have been propagating the theory that the corner virus may have 1st come to china via frozen food imports now the world health organization has called this theory highly speculative and we hope to know more once the team arrives here in january and that's expected to consist of 10 experts and scientists from all around the world yes how did it all begin

it's a question that has dominated politics in the world's worst affected country the united states as president donald trump downplayed the threat for months telling americans not to be afraid by what he called the china virus can we help reports now from washington. rounds of applause after a partisan impeachment but failed attempt to remove u.s. president donald trump from office as the clapping stopped a new reality for the president emerged i'm deeply concerned that we are way behind the eightball on this the coronavirus may have started in china. but it was now spreading fast in the u.s. and when the white house was facing growing questions about its response to the virus trump reacted as he often does they tried the impeachment hopes but it was not a perfect conversation. they tried anything they tried it over and over and this is

the new hoax at the same time his top scientists like dr anthony found were telling him something different we will see more cases and things will get worse than they are right now as the number of covered cases surged and businesses closed trunk privately told journalist bob woodward he understood the danger i want to always plays i still like playing it down yes because i don't want to create a panic still the us 1st spies was hampered by trump's denial of science fearing it may impact his reelection i think the president in his own unique inimitable way pride responded to it in a way that definitely created a lot of confusion or scientists and medical professionals only because so much of what he was advocating didn't comport with our reality instead trump publicly suggested his own scientific treatments and then i see the disinfectant.

in a minute when they live in is there a way we can do something like that. injection in. recommendations meant to prevent. the spread of the virus such as social distancing and mask wearing were also ignored or downplayed. some americans many of them trust supporters simply refused to do either claiming their rights were being infringed members of the trumpet ministration also publicly flooded government recommendations. even gathering in large numbers at the white house in august for trump's republican nomination after rose garden event to announce trump's new supreme court pick in september corona virus spread throughout the white house and then chile infecting the president himself he spent 4 days in

the hospital until he returned removing his mask upon his arrival as he recovered many members of his staff tested positive for the disease even now as the vaccine is finally being distributed many americans say they won't take it facts became something that were highly debatable and i think there breeds an environment in which a lot of innocent and naive people are going to be misled about whether or not it's a good idea to get this vaccine us president elect joe biden will soon inherit addressing coronavirus misinformation while also managing expectations given widespread relief is still months away kimberly health hit al-jazeera washington well let's cross over live to washington d.c. fisher is standing by outside the white house and the thing isn't that even know there is still this disconnect between the administration and the states over the

rollout just is cases a spiking. well the difficulty is of course that the administration talks with one voice when it comes to what people should do and then donald trump goes out on the trail and says other things that causes huge confusion and causes real problems and it causes this spike that we're seeing we were told there would be a spike after thanksgiving and there has been we are told that christmas will bring another spike and it will carry on because of the new year break just in the last 4 days the transport administrators here in the united states say that more than 1000000 people traveled in each of those days for them for the medical staff that is a real what a real concern that they're going to be more pockets of this disease we're seeing a record number of hospitalisations 3900 deaths just

yesterday alone and there is the worry that it could go over 4000 you remember that donald trump and the l a day said that it was contained it was stuck in the united states and so people have gone through this crisis here in the united states not quite knowing who to believe who to understand and in the end we have seen the country suffer the washed of all the industrialized countries in fact of all the countries in the world the rate here of infection and of death is greater than anywhere else it is a storyteller has no doubt and thanks very much indeed for that alan fischer there outside the white house where let's head now from the man at the center of this politics versus science debate dr anthony found he spoke to steve clemons the whose to al jazeera is the bottom line. one of the questions that i have about you know of the situation we're in right now is whether or not science itself has been badly impacted or whether it's prevailed you know i tell people you know clearly science

is delivering on this in this pandemic in some ways but have galileo was alive today i'm not sure that he would be found guilty again there seems to be a struggle over rationality empiricism and science how do you feel about that struggle right now and you become identified really as the most respected person in the world when it comes to science it does that burden burden you and how do you feel about the prospects for science itself looking forward. well it's a complicated issue no i don't feel that is burden me this is the life i've chosen and this is what i do so it's not a burden because you know it's my life and i've chosen it and happily chosen it my concern is that there is a lingering anti science feeling in this country that is sort of mixed in with an anti vaccine feeling that we've got to overcome but being transparent about what

we've done and what we want to do with science so there is good news and bad news you know the good news is science has really triumphed in this outbreak the sobering news is that there's still a lingering pushback against science in this country you know about a year before kovac broke out you and i had a conversation and i ask you to tell me what your worst nightmare was as you look forward 'd and you know you described the respiratory kind of virus that cold it was and it was just one of the chilling moments when i look back at interviews i've done and i guess now i ask you as you sit here today what is your next worse nightmare as you look forward you have well you know my next worst nightmare is not getting out of this nightmare without having a lot more suffering and death and i think that we need to really really put put every effort possible into getting the entire country to it here it's

a public health measures and put aside this this very difficult situation of of politicizing it and not wanting to it here to public health measures also to get the vaccine out and distributed in an official way so that very quickly we get as many people vaccinated as possible and he said that we will end this outbreak there's no doubt it will end we've been through a terrible experience but it will end when it does and we have to look one. because outbreaks continue to happen they've happened long before people have even recorded history we've seen in our lifetime with multiple outbreaks hiv ebola zeke in our 19 endemic flu there will be other outbreaks that we've got to make sure that we prepare and use the lessons learned that we have actually learned from this experience and make sure we do better next time dr anthony fauci there well amid

all this death and destruction of vaccines all of the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel there has been of course a global race to develop or procure a jepp as part of operation was speed the united states a spent $18000000000.00 these are just some of the drug makers that deals with vaccines and treatments sunnah fee pfizer to some of them and to speed up clinical trials governments have given almost $9000000000.00 to drug makers then there's not for profits like the bill gates foundation they've provided an additional $2000000000.00 the world health organization hopes to raise $35000000000.00 to ensure the vaccines reach low income countries and aims to deliver a $2000000000.00 doses by the end of next year while pfizer is charging around $20.00 a dose the real hope for the world rests on astra zeneca which is being distributed at a cost of around $3.00 a dose india's serum institute the world's largest vaccine manufacturer it plans to license manufacture and distribute $200000000.00 doses to low and middle income

countries at a cost of $3.00. russia and china have developed their own vaccines but there are concerns over the lack of trial data and costs after not taking money to fund its vaccine development from governments pfizer says it will make a profit from its vaccine it's been estimated it could make $14000000000.00 astra zeneca says it won't make a profit during the pandemic but could benefit from july next year. let's take all of this on we can speak to a doctor ok to broad who's director of immunizations vaccines and biologicals of the world health organization joins us now from geneva dr braun welcome to the program good to see you here the reality is isn't that the rich countries have themselves covered and poor countries will have to wait perhaps it is. no that's that's not the case in fact we have a global facility that kovacs facility that is designed and has the involvement of

a $190.00 countries and economies around the world to deploy equity and with speed to vaccines that are available to the world and so the intention of the kovacs facility is to deliver $2000000000.00 doses of vaccine by the end of 2021 and that includes the $92.00 lowest income countries that are that are part of kovacs so our aim is really to get vaccines out as quickly as possible to all countries around the world but it does it by the end of 2021 what kind of coverage will be provided globally can we put any kind of percentage on it in the design of the kovacs facility is is aimed to get 20 percent coverage in all countries around the world that are part of the kovacs facility by the end of 2021 and then to go beyond that 20 percent coverage after in subsequent 20 and beyond so we're really aiming to get the highest priority groups health workers and those who are at highest risk

of severe disease and death are the groups that were aiming to cover in all countries or in 2021 so high income countries is one thing but low income countries how do we secure how do we garren t. access to those countries and it's just never been done before the rate that it needs to be done on the scale that needs to be done. yeah you're absolutely right we're working in unprecedented times for an unprecedented damage and the way that the copaxone solidity is working is by securing both donations of doses but primarily through funding of doses for the 92 countries that are the ones that will require support in order to to to have the vaccine we're also working day to day and night to help countries get ready for the deployment of vaccine we've seen even in the high income countries the challenge of deploying these vaccines both in the speed and the scale that people are trying to put them and

groups of people who need the vaccine most so all countries are going to need substantial support and especially low income countries where the share one country is making these bilateral agreements with vaccine companies and we were reporting yesterday that some countries have enough vaccine to cover themselves perhaps 4 times over perhaps 5 or 6 times over. yeah the important thing to recognize for countries that are doing bilateral 'd deals says they do know that all deals for products that some of the products we don't even know whether they work yet so when countries were doing this they were hedging their bets about which products would actually demonstrate efficacy and safety and be authorized for use now that we're starting to see the results of a number of vaccines coming out tend there does seem to be. a high success rate of these specks scenes it may be that countries that have done by lateral 'd deals have overcommitted to their doses damages position on this as we do understand that

countries have an obligation to their their own population but we're never going to get out of this pandemic unless every country has access to vaccines and so it's really something that we all have to be in this all together no country is going to be safe until every country is safe 'd and that's the reason why it's critical to have a mechanism to fairly allocate scenes across all countries which is exactly what the kovacs facility does by having a process and a mechanism to to allocate those sex scenes i've porting to a proportion of the population having a few countries that have a lot of that scene and a large number of countries with only a little bit of vaccine it's not going to end the spend in the funny doctor brought in the question that everybody wants to know the answer to in your estimation when do you think when you believe this pandemic will be over. well i think we're in this for the for for the law whole i think where our focus needs to be on what

needs to be done in the coming few months and through 2021 and the answer to that is we need to be using every tool in the tool box all of the interventions that we have already masking physical distance saying the limitations of large numbers of people and the vaccines are going to be a real game changer here we're going to see a real change in in the spend demick assuming and we know that we can get these vaccines out to every country and to the highest priority populations and it's by using really good science and using epidemiology and doing not only the right thing but a smart thing from a scientific perspective that we're going to be able to see the massive impact of these vaccines as they get to put across all countries to cater brian for the world health organization thanks very much. thank you. all right let's move on to mexico now which is recorded more than 1400000 cases of the virus and at least 124000

deaths that is the 4th highest toll in the world john holeman has reported from markets hospitals i'm going and says and food banks throughout the year he's been back to mexico city now and found many people struggling to cope with the effects of the panda. in the summer of 2020 al-jazeera went out to film intensive care units ambulance crews and hot spots throughout mexico city to try to find out what code has hit this latin american country so hard. we found under equipped hospitals soft lockdowns and the government and sometimes population that didn't seem to take the pandemic as seriously as it could. we thought then we were filming it is it peaked. but now 6 months later things are worse than ever the capitals on the red alert and mexico city's hospitals are full as things

deteriorated we wanted to find out what had happened to those that we met this summer. last time we saw her paramedic majority come on or was hurtling around the working class suburb of neza well. since then the pandemics hit her hard personally the way the other the only truth is i felt the same as my patients that i was going to lose my life that i would never see my family again she's been seriously ill with covert since we last saw her so has almost everyone else in her team she now has trouble getting up stairs and have families try to persuade her to give up the job but she says she can't let down her neighborhood even though she's overwhelmed and fed up cameras in the hands of the angry at the same people who don't take care of themselves there was a real campaign to tell them to use a face mask to protect themselves and their loved ones and they. just don't take any notice in mexico in the early days of covert many believed it was just

a conspiracy even now the streets especially in the center of busy and some don't wear mosques. it always seems little changed since may when we followed majority on shift a met jose luis a last case of the day one of the not for his blood oxygen levels was so low she rushed him straight to hospital a month later we were there too when he made it back home still hooked up to an oxygen tank this is him now the tank is little more than a souvenir. we have this was my support i can walk without it now thank god i just have it in case of emergency. but when he saw his homecoming for the 1st time it was extremely tough for him he's gaze was fixed on one person you. see that's my dad and he's not here with me now but soon will be together. we found out that 4 days before a visit his father had been hooked up to a ventilator seriously ill with cove it possible he says trying to stay strong for

his family and focus on the one positive at least his father was able to get a ventilator the capitol's hospitals and now all but out of beds many people have been reduced to queuing outside shops for oxygen tanks to treat their relatives at home even during the summer things weren't that bad critics say it's because mexico didn't look down in time to hold a 2nd wave the government waited too late december to close but norm essential businesses in the capital for their part if thirty's question how they could have a low down but almost half the country lives in poverty and leave our work and that's especially because government paid for them and for the rest of the economy has been minimal. in the summer we spent time with some of the city's poorest. but lost the little income she had to to the pandemic and only food banks were keeping the family going you know whatever the left hand if it wasn't for them for all of

the people that have helped us i feel like i'd be selling a kidney or an arm just to keep my children fed. but now her mother tells us things are worse now your yes it out of the majority of the food banks closed some because of the season and some because of the pandemic to avoid people gathering and getting infected and worse still nancy isn't around to help any more one a told us she's abandoned the family now she and her partner is struggling to pay. vied for her grandchildren alone it was a desperate picture everywhere we look one of the few chinks of light we found with the ts an intensive care nurse last time we met his girlfriend alone that was pregnant was velda was isolating from her you'll go to the only legal now his son turn has come into the world i made a list. i look at him he's in such peace while i'm suffering here it turned into

longer still isolating him task 3 i was away was vulgar wanted to be with them all there but felt it would be wrong to take time off he was indicted walkie i need to keep working here there are a lot of my colleagues that are off sick so there's a gap that needs to be filled. many medical staff have got infected a more have died here than anywhere else in the world but some so affected the level of care now a vaccine has arrived there the 1st in line to get it. but it will take some time before it gets to the rest of the population and the start of the new year could be the toughest period yet one of the worst hit countries in the world. live to mexico city now and don't homans life for us and john say your report really encapsulates what people in communities and families have been going through so now as we enter 2021 how we said what's the situation in mexico.

well makes curious just to now the 3rd highest kogut death toll since the pandemic began so as we were saying there in the report things are getting better here at the moment they're worse than even what we thought with the peak when we were filming special back in the summer also at the moment hospitals are all but fell ventilators are overtaken so this really is a critical situation at the moment it specially for the capital and its surrounding areas the government ordered a lockdown until the 10th of january. city's mayor has said as long as people don't go out during this long term as long as that money sustains we should just about be able to scrape by where we stand right now which is mexico city's main thing you think you have a christmas tree market and you should be the streets are full so definitely in parts of the capital that is being a baby in the sense of the streets of busier but we have seen a drop of recent days now as you've been saying since the start the program the

chink of light here is the back seat. is very proud of the fact that it was the 1st country in latin america. and by the end of january the medical staff in the country should be vaccinated. but it's still going to be a long time until the rest of the population gets vaccinated and as you said astra zeneca the vaccine that's coming from the u.k. . has made a deal with the u.k. with that vaccine provider to produce the vaccine here argentina as well and that's going to be a big game changer as well when that starts to roll out here in mexico all right john thanks for that that's the situation in mexico city and across my school john holmes reporting there now to the u.k. which has placed another 20000000 people into the toughest 10 restrictions the measures have been imposed across 3 quarters of england the british government says

mutants more infectious strain of the virus is spread through most of the country the number of people being admitted to hospital in england has gone past levels seen during the peak of the break was back in april that's. joins us live from london and all of this just demonstrates just how important it is to get the vaccine out fast and efficiently to wool and all the while trying to stop the infection spreading as best as possible. yeah i mean i think i'm beyond all the scientific language of viral loads and pandemic modeling and all that kind of stuff the reality is actually pretty simple it's basically like one of those old western films where you've got a wagon train that's under attack and lockdowns and tears except for a basically they're like circling the wagons you have to do it because you need to

buy yourself time but that's all the circling the wagons that's all the lockdowns really do it buys you a bit of time and what you're actually waiting for is the cavalry to come riding over the hill and save you and the cavalry of vaccines basically a virus needs a host and if it can't find a host because most of the population has been vaccinated as it is immunize to gainst then there has nowhere to go really within that species is basically like shutting the door in the viruses face leaving the outside in the cold to wither and die so that's why it is so important but it's also why lock downs and behavioral modification is so important as well it was the sense of people in the u.k. now looks very different opinions but on the whole other accepting of these news restrictions it is it does except to that this is what's going to be done. yeah i think so you're you do have some outliers people who think that this is all of

the conspiracy and the vaccines are all a big conspiracy as well and it's an infringement on civil liberties and a government power grab or whatever i think in the main most people. firmly behind lock downs they don't enjoy them of course and they suffer under them because. many people have lost their jobs because of these lockdowns because of this hole that is taken on the economy but you know when it comes to saving lives and the lives of people you know your grandparents etc then yeah most people are behind them. or i really think so that's a real chance in london in the situation across the u.k. . it's me now which is re-impose restrictions off a surge in new infections it was the 1st european country to be hit by the current violence well then $72000.00 people have now died of covert $900.00 which is the

highest death toll in europe correspondent mohammed jem june was in italy in february when cases started to rise he has this report on the harrowing year that followed and that has affected so many that. by late february the corona virus outbreak in northern italy meant that milan's piazzi deal to almost normally bustling with tourists was as quiet as a small town even a small towns in the lumbar the region found themselves surrounded by checkpoints and crowded with ambulances. at the time my team and i were barred from accessing quarantine areas so we spoke to volunteer medic medical frequently in the town of settling on skype yes. 'd i don't live alone so every time i go back home i think about it because maybe i've been in contact with someone that has it by march 1000 was ravaging italy and a strict nationwide lockdown was imposed in the small southern town of no one

doctor wasn't just battling cope at 19 but also the stigma that came with it. from a human point of view 19 has been devastating actually because my wife was the 1st confirmed case in the whole basilica region it's unleashed an incredible wasc next door on me related to the gossip those who thought that i was the one who brought the spiral into our area in the summer and autumn months italy seemed to get its outbreak under control but as winter approached concerns were growing again. by the end of the year the number of italians dying from coronavirus in the country 2nd wave of infections surpassed the toll from the 1st wave. when we caught up on skype with giuseppe spina and his wife carmella they told us that they saw only one viable way forward. our family feels a little bit more serene and safe because we have developed a share of antibodies and this has allowed us to keep afloat so far but i truly

believe that the vaccine is the only solution out there otherwise we will never overcome it. as news emerged that the new variant of corona virus had been discovered in italy the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine has helped many feel a renewed sense of hope like marco who when we checked in with him again said he was happy about all the prospects that came along with being vaccinated. it got back to human interactions as they were before the idea that it can give us the chance to hug each other without any concern to us the thought of being able finally to reopen our businesses and everything that comes with it a surge in the number of coronavirus cases meant the country returned to lockdown over the christmas and new year period at the vatican st peter's square usually packed with the faithful sat empty. even as italians hoped and prayed for a much safer and far happier 2021. and. let's

head over to its name to rome where we find mr fanie deca it's me re imposing restrictions after a surgeon new infections a 72000 people have now died of cave it 19 it's a grim picture. it is and it's been incredibly difficult year for this country we had the prime minister yesterday at his end of year press conference. saying that the next year would be better lying hope in the vaccine saying they'd be in a major push to vaccinate around 15000000 out of italy 60000000 population by april certainly what they've done as you said there is now a lockdown pretty much been in place since the 21st of december we're now in what is a red lockdown until pretty much the 7th of january bar one day that means that bars restaurants are closed you're not allowed to leave your house other for essential and if you do leave you need to fill in a form nic which can be checked by police and you can be fined there's

a nighttime curfew people need to be indoors at 10 pm until 7 am so really everything's trying to be done to have people not congregate not mingle to stop the spread. of time early this year we seem to be constantly crossing to actually hearing an ongoing tale of infection and the near impossible health care challenge of dealing with as far as you know here we are again what's the sense you're getting from people that. well people are exhausted people are tired it's not only affected them economically businesses jobs unemployment of course this is also a country that is hugely reliant on tourism so we're talking restaurants bars air be in these hotels the ski slopes are closed everyone is affected by then you have the mental side to it because country was in lockdown for almost 10 weeks straight where people were not allowed to leave the house has had an incredible mental toll also on people who could not see their loved ones who had loved ones die who couldn't bury them this is a country with an extremely elderly population which is even what the prime

minister afraid to yesterday saying this is why the death toll is the highest in new york which is why also that group is going to be one of the 1st that will be vaccinated so i think most of them certainly adhering to the lockdown because they understand that this is the only way to control the virus because it's been such a dreadful year this is should be the biggest party night of the year next and the streets are eerily quiet you can't hear anything so i think people putting a lot of hope that this vaccine may change things but of course still aware that social distancing and face mall still have to remain in place yeah it's a very strange new year's eve right across the world. thanks will. well kevin 19 has had a catastrophic impact on humanitarian crises around the world and put a strain on relief operations in libya people are still reeling from 9 years of conflict their families have been bombed out of their homes leveling entire towns and health care facilities have been destroyed in yemen aid delivery has been

obstructed because of fighting according to the u.n. a surging from inmates yemen the worst humanitarian crisis in the world then there's a range of refugees in bangladesh they're some of the most vulnerable people to illness hundreds of thousands of people living in densely populated camps with limited access to health care and sanitation so far the few have fallen ill the number of covert 1000 cases in war torn syria however is increasing for myself bases have been converted into makeshift hospitals in a bid to treat patients when i speak now tomorrow local crews the emergency relief coordinator and u.n. undersecretary general for the united nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs joins us now from london mr welcome to the program 2020 as we've seen has had no end of humanitarian crises dreadful in themselves but how much worse has a pandemic made them. well i remember talking to you on al-jazeera exactly

a year ago actually when we were full costing what 2020 would break and we were worried about the impact of conflicts in all the places that you were all just and your introduction and described as well as the growing biped of climate change droughts and floods and so on the effective the pandemic really has been to make all of that much worse for the world's most vulnerable countries not mostly as you indicated just now because of the direct effect of the virus mostly because if they are effective the contraction of these countries are already very fragile economy which if meant that more and more people have simply lost their ring cottons faced with the threat of starvation and the thing when most worried about coming into 2020 won is the possibility that famines multiple famines around the world could be back in these circumstances with these these mass the wholesale tragedies unfolding right across the world how do you prioritize how do you decide where to focus.

well you have to try to reach everybody wherever they are who is at risk of losing their lives in these crises and the good news is that they don't if the richer countries have remained generous in 2020 we will i think that record fundraising for our pails that i coordinate through my office will reach more than a lot more than 100000000 people when we bring all the books together i think we'll have raised $20000000000.00 sick and when we add everything up we generate every time and that is that record the problem there is the needs are growing faster than the result says we have to do with those needs and so we have red coat fund raising requirements again the next year and it will be a really i think not just a matter of human generosity and empathy but in the interest so if they reach it well to step up even more in 2020 want to help these very vulnerable countries

because otherwise the problem spring that will spread to other places as well bred looking to the ballot nations looking to them for billions of dollars in funds it's hard at this time they can little afford it given the further they go to rebuild their own economies. it is hard and that's why it's been encouraging rob we have had record fund raising for our pales this year even through the crisis there are some things that could have been done frankly a very little cost to the richer countries for example the cons of things that we've done in the 2009 financial crisis empowered the international monetary fund and the well bank to provide more is duals just to their poorest members and i hope that those things will now be dumb it should be done during the course of this year they radiate a commentary on the difficulty rich countries and duty 20 and so on have had in agreeing on what to do but i think with the incoming u.s.

administration there is a chance that somebody has basic things could be done it wouldn't cost much and they would ease a lot of the suffering of lots of people and they well as poorest countries finally got this to give an impression of what's at stake here this to select one of the perhaps the worst crisis that you have there own you'll you'll endless books of crises if you like is that yemen that that you're most concerned about is it the impending from in the. it is again unfortunately the situation in yemen really just simply because of the huge numbers of paper many many millions of people who are right on the brink of starvation and already we see signs of a small famine in yemen. less something different is done and the question is going to a not whether we have a small fan in but a large famine or a truly huge famine on the scale of which the world has not seen since a 1000000 people lost their lives as you will remember in ethiopia in the mid 1980

cents very much on the car celeste if decisions are taken very quickly. glowed kohak from the un office full of the coordination of humanitarian friends we appreciate the time thanks so much. now iran is the worst hit country by the coronavirus pandemic in the middle east officials there say international sanctions have been preventing medical aid from reaching those in need brings us this report from tehran where doctors are pitching in to make up for the shortage of supply. a makeshift factory making masks insall help village in south to her on a group of dentists made unemployed by the pandemic decided to use their own money and buy these machines they got a permit from the health ministry and the local council provided the space free of charge they now employ 20 women from this area who make about 120 dollars each month for man hours and you can as a single mother it's

a job that would not have existed without the pandemic or u.s. led international sanctions that tell you get out of it i'm very satisfied with my work even if corona ends i'd like to continue my job the work environment is friendly and i like to work with this charity group. these women now produce 10000 masks daily working 6 days a week their soul to medical facilities and hospitals across the city in the shadow of the modern would we have experience in every crisis when ordinary people assist the government would be result sooner faster and in a better way either in a war than earthquakes floods and now in corona said these guys citee is an afghan national and a single mother of 5 this job is her only source of income more than most and. on the way i've been working here for 8 months and i'm very satisfied with my work

my husband lives with his other wife enough gonna stay on and i support a family of 6 the doctors and the women here all say their work will continue even after the pandemic is over the main message from officials here during the pandemic has been one of self-reliance since iran can no longer rely on the international community to meet its medical needs and this small factories is one example of how necessity has forced the message ingenuity to meet demands and for women. it's been a life saving source of income. the president says iran is in an economic war since the united states withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2013 and imposed a series of crippling sanctions on the country's oil and banking sector. during the early days of the pandemic iranian officials try to buy protective equipment including masks from other countries but due to international sanctions on iran's banking sector paying for them has been difficult while iran has had the highest

number of fatalities in the middle east during the pandemic this factory is one of the few positive things to emerge during hard times and for these women it's been a lifeline that could continue for years. al-jazeera to hone. well all arenas of human life have been affected by the pandemic not least sports let's cross over to germany more on that yes thanks nic this 14 year has indeed been defined and disrupted by coronavirus major events like the olympics and faced costly delays all top level athletes have got had to get used to before me an empty stadiums and the riches and reports of how sport's been coping with the pandemic. oh. in march basketball star really go bare attempted to make lots of concerns about

catching coronavirus white police hands over the assembled media equipment. old geezers gone back to the seeded teams heading back to the arctic 2 days later a game involving his utah jazz team was called off for the last minute it later emerged go bear had become the 1st n.b.a. player to test positive for cope with 19 the team's departed the scene it will be more than 4 months before they returned. the olympic flame continue to flicker on even after most other sports have been snuffed out but at the end of march the decision was taken to perspire only 2020 tokyo games by a year. they really have a cost on determination to deliver a great games and yes they may be slightly altered there may be in a different format. and who knows i mean we're still you know we're still dealing with the pandemic even with a vaccine on the horizon but i am pretty sure we will have

a games. africa's biggest sporting event the cup of nations was pushed back a year and the european football championship will also start 12 months later than intended but the ambitious plan to host it across 12 different countries is still in place for 2021 it's a big challenge and in times with pandemic and with this strange situation even a comic situation next year would be a bit tough maybe for some parts of the world or the world it would be a special challenge with you know u.f.a. is a serious organization we like challenges. world cup host cats all became home to an entire continent the asian champions league took place in the sort of by secure environments all athletes are getting used to. was in england liverpool lifted the league championship for the 1st time in 30 years the supporters left to celebrate a triumph they weren't allowed to witness inside the stadium the.

innovation and commercial imperatives have ensured short term survival for the financial and physical fallout from the pandemic is still tumbling through every level of every sports and the richardson al-jazeera the olympic perspire man has meant many athletes had to put their dreams on hold likely told him hammett's who missed out on taekwondo gold in the final seconds in rio 4 years ago now the britain's hungrier than ever to get to the games in tokyo we spoke to him about his year in knocked out and his dreams of finally making it to the top of the podium. it was unbelievable nothing like that has ever happened in our lifetime it didn't really feel real but you have to focus only on what you can control as wild and as unexpected as the postponement was is completely outside of my control thankfully take window is the family business my dad has

a martial arts school which i was able to go and train and still. stay sharp absolutely that wasn't the case for many athletes across the country mentally it. was definitely hard to focus there when you're not in your normal training the environment and feels like the whole world has taken a break but everybody was at home it was really it was such a bizarre and unusual situation there was definitely time where it was a lot easier just to kind of their off focus what has been a little more difficult is the lack of competition from around the world this is nothing new and that's one of the issues right now is the qualification. across many many sports we have a situation where half the athletes have officially qualified but you have often because of the covert situation at bent's had to get cancelled so it's going to be a very interesting few months to see how we handle the situation i think we've seen

in sports like the u.f.c. and box in that we are able to hold some of it's in a bubble but obviously we're now in a situation where we have a lot of potential travel restrictions so it's a complicated mess but it does have to keep the faith and hopefully we can get from this and this gets to another big games listen if they hold that thing on the top of mount fuji and there are not overly concerned about safety. only because i trust but the organizing committee is going to do everything anything to make sure that there's no health this olympic games there's only one chance to win a gold medal this coast pandemic games i think this games can be. a really special one because it can act as. almost like

a beacon of hope to the world so i've been very determined. to make sure that i would have really really excites me well that's just some of the ways sports been affected by the pandemic this past year i'll be back with more later argument thanks for that thank you very much well it's not just sport from so malls to concerts to exhibitions the art world has been hit hard because of not organizers of the pop art exhibition in london well they decided to showcase their work to the public in a different way robots have been used as guides so people can take in everything from the comfort of their own homes just for baldwin went to see them in action. follow the lobster there is bound to be modern art zany works by philip called there a natural progression from andy warhol and pop art but it's not just the art that's interesting these robots are awaiting instructions from viewers at home the

machines will follow the commands of virtual visitors zipping the one work or lingering on another that's incredible it's a pandemic proof show. visitors can stay safe while going to a museum i really miss being able to see art so i think the wrote about option is is appealing. certainly if there's nothing else available it's it's creative it's interesting and it gives you a chance to feel like you're in the museum to kind of simulate that experience there are strict rules for the robots they have to keep their speed down they're not allowed to run into other robots or real visitors if they do a plug is called and they're logged off. call there came up with the idea during lockdown to ensure his show was c i thought well i have to try and like use the situation do some interesting and then i was it was actually with technology could be reached into almost critic exhibition which is almost like a fantasy shipwreck under the sea where you have to send like diving cameras into

it and i thought was something quite poetic about this idea of basically making art something new and crying to create like a new dimension to experience an exhibition who knows contemporary art is always a step ahead and the future could see the robot put to use for countless tasks bringing the outside home if lockdowns continue and people feel the pinch of code restrictions jessica baldwin al-jazeera landed. well that's special look back at the year that was 2020 so he won't be a different world on january the 1st but there is hope in the growing number of vaccines and even as we speak being rolled out across many parts of the planet may 2021 be the year we hope the world soar off a pandemic and began its recovery to better times for us all my colleagues lauren taylor will be here in a couple of minutes with another half hour of news for me nick clegg and the rest of the team here in doha it's compassionate.

january on al-jazeera it's 10 years since the arab spring sought to bring change to the middle east al-jazeera looks into how successful look i believe. a new documentary series examines through history and giancana takes of drug trafficking and the way states and drug lords abused as an instrument of power a stark selections are being doled out around the world hope of returning to normal comes back again with media trends constantly changing listening post continues to

analyze how the news is coming after one of the most intense election campaigns the u.s. is set to inaugurate its cool 6 1st of. january on al-jazeera. gay calm and make sure you're not hyping the situation be part of the debate my main characters are women when no topic is off the table there was in the last allowed our child marriage to happen legally easter basically archaic walls dad's office in the jet mines and legal one is pedophile. online jumped into the conversation and meeting to discuss this dream on out is there. may have been doing it with the money but it's boring we bring you the stories and developments that are rapidly changing the world we live in seen as congress is debating a bill seeking to raise billions of dollars from the super rich to support families

hate god by condemning counting the cost on al-jazeera. one year since the 1st coronavirus cases were reported we're back in we'll hand where life is return to normal but questions still remain. and are entailed this is al jazeera live from london also coming up science has been very successful in a year of upheaval us infectious diseases expert and the fact she celebrates the pace of vaccine development in an interview with al jazeera. unused at the beginning of the pandemic in men's nightingale hospitals are react.