cnn.com/impact. >> sanjay, thanks for doing this town hall again. and i want to thank everybody who wrote in with your questions and who joined us for this town hall. we are all in this together. the news continues here on cnn. >> hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. i am michael holmes. the u.s. is struggling to get ahead with the coronavirus epidemic tearing through the country. more than 8,400 people have now died here. and that number, rising quickly. president trump says it is about to get much worse. >> this will be, probably, the toughest week between this week and next week. and there will be a lot of death, unfortunately. but a lot less death than if this wasn't done. but there will be death. >> the white house coronavirus task force says these next two

weeks are crucial to flatten the curve. urging everyone to stay home. even avoiding the grocery store and pharmacy as much as humanly possible. dr. anthony fauci says social distancing is the most important tool. and remains that way. despite that, the president still refusing to issue a national stay-at-home order, and eight states still don't have them. meanwhile, state leaders are warning of dire medical supply shortages. the governor of illinois says they don't have enough tests to see how many people even have the virus. he says the lack of a federal plan is creating, quote, the wild west out here. we are covering this from all angles for you. ed lavandera is in one of the virus hotspots, new orleans. outside a covid pop-up hospital. ryan young takes a look at doctors' diaries in chicago. in orange, california, checks in

with a recovering patient who donated plasma to a person with the virus. and examines the economic fallout from the virus in l.a. we've also got nick peyton walsh in london. and jeremy diamond following all the developments for us in washington. and that is where we begin. with the white house coronavirus task force. jeremy diamond tells us what the president and his advisers are doing. >> well, as the united states marked a record on saturday for the single most coronavirus deaths reported in a single day, president trump warned of the grim reality to come. and that reality is that things are about to get a lot worse. the president warning that this will be a horrendous time for the country. saying that there is going to be a lot of deaths in the coming weeks. specifically, this next week to come. but the president, even as he said that, in the next breath,

we heard him also talking about the extent to which he would like to see the country begin to reopen. this has been a singular focus for the president. particularly, as he looks at the economy in a re-election year. so the president, once again, sending some mixed messaging. i did get a chance to ask the president, on saturday, though, about this issue of ventilator shortages. ventilator manufacturers have been ramping up production. sometimes in cooperation with auto manufacturers. but even as they do that, there is still likely to be a shortage of ventilators. that, at least, according to the models. and so i asked the president about that. >> ventilator manufacturers are doubling, tripling, even quadrupling their production in some cases. >> that's true. >> and, yet, medical experts and some of these manufacturers are predicting that there will, still, be shortages of tens of thousands of ventilators. is it time for you to level with the american public that there likely will be shortages of ventilators, in some cases? >> could be. i mean, it could be you have shortages. and it could also be that you have some that have way

overestimated the number of ventilators they need. we think that, you know, we have a good -- a good amount ready to move. i mean, literally, like an army. they're ready to move to any hotspot. but some of the ones that you're talking about, always a nasty question from cnn, but some of the ones -- because i think that, frankly, you know -- because you know what, you've asked that question about ten times over the course of about a month. look. we're mobilized and ready to go. we have a lot of ventilators ready to go. and if we had given them all out, we wouldn't. and you would be overstocked in many areas. >> and you see the president there conceding that, indeed, there could be a shortage of ventilators in parts of the country. that, as the coronavirus task force coordinator dr. debbie birx said the apex of this coronavirus pandemic, in several hotspots in the united states, is expected to hit in the next six to seven days. so even as you see ventilator manufacturers ramping up production, that is a question of weeks and months, not a

matter of days. but the president, also, faced questions on another front. and, that is, why he is not urging governors, these eight republican governors in the united states who, so far, have refused to issue stay-at-home orders. the president saying that it's not his role to direct governors. but, at the same time, suggesting he might change his tune if indeed there is a significant outbreak in one of those states. of course, what we do know is because of that asymptomatic spread, once you do see an outbreak, in many cases, it's already too late. jeremy diamond, cnn, the white house. >> let's turn to louisiana now. and horrific word from the mayor of new orleans. the city's mortuaries have already reached their limit and cannot accommodate, even pick up, more bodies. the mayor has asked the federal government for additional refrigeration to store the dead. this comes as the case count went up by more than 2,000 in louisiana, on saturday alone. cnn's ed lavandera is in new

orleans with more. >> the state of louisiana is bracing for what could be a very difficult week. these are the coming days where the governor of this state and medical officials have been warning that the onslaught of coronavirus cases here in this state could begin to tax hospitals across the state. with the shortage of beds, ventilators, medical equipment, that they so desperately need. the latest numbers we have is that there are nearly 12,500 cases of coronavirus in this state. just over 400 deaths, as well. and the numbers that the state officials and medical officials here look at the most is the number of beds being used and ventilators being used. and that continues on an upward trend here, as well. to prepare for all of this, medical teams here have unveiled and say that the makeshift hospital at the new orleans convention center. it will be up and ready to go by monday morning, and will begin accepting its first patients. that thousand-bed hospital unit

that has been set up there will treat coronavirus patients, but not necessarily the ones that need the most acute and approximate momost serious attention. these are people who are not quite ready to go home, still need around the clock medical attention. and the hope is that will alleviate the pressure on the hospitals, especially here in the new orleans area. and this is the area that has seen, by far, the most cases in this state. and it has become so dire here, this is what the mayor has said here in recent days of just how dire the situation is in this city. >> our coroner's office is at capacity, as relates to our dead bodies of our loved ones. mortuaries cannot even go pick them up or store because they're out of capacity. i have had to ask the federal government for additional refrigeration so that we can take care of our people, while

they're resting in god's peace. but not resting well because they haven't been laid to rest, as they deserve. >> medical and state officials here say they have been basing a lot of their projections as to what might happen in these hospitals on the scientific models and all the data that is coming into these teams. and one of the grim predictions that they are looking at in these numbers is the projected death toll. the death toll that could be reached here in the state of louisiana. and that total that they're seeing right now is just over 1,800. and that is the same number of people that died here during hurricane katrina 15 years ago. ed lavandera, cnn, new orleans. >> and joining me now in atlanta, cnn medical analyst, dr. matthew. good to see you, doctor. you are a primary care physician, a public health specialist. so perfect for this. i mean, every day, we are hearing stories of, you know, the courage really of healthcare work. the risks that they are facing

themselves. the exhaustion. the tears. the hard decisions. speak to the levels of stress being faced by those on the front lines. >> you know, michael, good day to you and good day to all our viewers across the world. you know, i'm not even sure, michael, i can really give you a pulse of what's going on in the emergency rooms and in the icu settings all over the united states. you know, i happen to be part of this chat line with the emergency room doctors, and i'm telling you it is extremely painful. it's literally like walking into a war zone and you don't have the ammunition. or if you have the ammunition, it's failing. you don't have enough ventilators. you don't have enough personal protective equipment. you don't have enough masks. so how are our frontline healthcare providers supposed to take care of patients that are literally dying when you don't have enough equipment? and -- and the means to do it. >> how -- how worried are you about the shortages of that sort of equipment? the protective equipment. and especially when it comes to

the health of doctors, nurses, emts, all of those who are dealing with infected patients. i mean, there is the risk of potential attrition, obviously. >> absolutely. i'm extremely worried. and, you know, i think this will be an understatement, michael, if i told you that i don't think about it literally every minute of the day. it's just a very painful situation because we're in the -- in the beginning, if you will, of the pandemic. we're just at the very beginning of -- of -- of climbing up that curve. we're not even able to talk about flattening the curve right now. and hundreds of people are dying in new york. so it is extremely frustrating because it's not like, you know, my fellow physicians and healthcare providers can just decide to not go to work the next morning. they're scared. i have physicians that are writing their wills. they're 28 and 29 years old. talking to family members of if something should happen to me, you know, i want to be a dnr. i do not want to be

resuscitated. give the ventilator to a patient that might need it. it's pretty painful, michael. >> it's unimaginable really. i did want to ask you about the president on saturday, i mean, pushing and pushing and pushing this drug hydro -- hydroxychloroquine. which is used for malaria and lupus, of course. but the president was basically on a sales pitch in that briefing. it was extraordinary. you know, what do you have to lose? people should take it. try it. try it. take it. what did you make of all of that coming from a layman? >> you know, i'm a physician. i'm a scientist. i'm a public health specialist. you know, i believe in clinical trials and making sure that these medications are truly put to the test to make sure they're safe. you know, michael, i was born and raised in west africa to east indian parents. i have actually taken that drug for preventing malaria, which is, you know, fairly common in africa where i grew up. so, yes, this medication has been on the market for a long time. and, yes, we do know the side

effects and we know the benefits, like you mentioned. it's used to treat rheumatoid argume arthritis and lupus and malaria. but the problem is we don't have enough clinical trials to really assess the safety in covid-19. so it would be very difficult for me and my physician colleagues to say take the medicine, try it, because we don't really have the scientific proof. and you've got to remember there could be a lot of side effects, like heart problems and heart arrhythmias in certain patients that take this medicine. >> yeah. exactly. it was a curious performance. the insistence on it was extraordinary. i did want to also ask you your thoughts on the fda's plan to have people who have recovered from the virus donate plasma to people currently suffering from the virus. i want to play some sound now from the fda commissioner. >> we've allowed academic centers and other laboratories

and hospitals around the country to do this on a compassionate use basis. what we did was we pulled this together in what's called an expanded access program and run it through the red cross because they have got the greatest system and capacity for doing this. and this allows us to scale up so that when people get sick, we can actually have these donated plasma packs given to the patients who are sick. >> what's your thought? i mean, how promising is that avenue? >> you know, we don't really know how promising that can be. i mean, i'll tell you what is promising, though, michael, is that we're talking aisn't certan things that are going through the pipeline right now. one of which is, you know, we're drawing the plasma or drawing the blood of a patient who has recovered, and checking their antibody levels and seeing if maybe that could be given to a covid patient to make sure they recover. so there are some promising, you know, research -- research ideas that are going on, on that front. but it's still all very new. this is an evolving story and a virus that we're not familiar with at all. >> yeah. we keep coming back to it.

and there was some more articles on this in "the new york times" and "washington post" today about how -- i mean, how infuriating is it that precisely the situation we're in was predicted? i mean, cnn counted ten different government reports from 2003 to 2015. there was another one in 2017. another one just last year. the current health and human services alex azar said last year it was the threat that worried him most. and yet, here we are. doesn't help in the present but how frustrating is that looking back? >> you know, extremely frustrating. you know, if you realize that, yes, maybe you had a chance to get a headstart. you know, we're late in the game here. but, you know, ultimately, what i want to be also is a voice of hope. you know, we're in the middle of this pandemic and we have to just deal with it and move forward. and if we all can just sort of stick together, like dr. fauci mentioned, we really need to make sure that all states really have a hands-down shelter-in-place type program so

that people are not doing it in a sort of patchwork. the only way to decrease the new infections and fatalities, michael, is to do this together. >> yep. exactly. still eight states not doing that. all republican states and no guidance from the president to make them do it. doctor, we got to leave it there. appreciate it. thank you so much. >> thank you, michael. >> and as dr. matthew mentioned in that interview, the fda is allowing people who have recovered from the coronavirus to donate their plasma that is filled with potent antibodies. cnn's paul has the story of one covid-19 survivor who is doing that right now hoping to help others get well. >> the antibody-rich plasma from recovered covid-19 patients is valuable to hospitals because they can use it to treat current patients who are in dire straits. here at st. joseph's hospital in orange, one of the only in the west, they found their man.

jason garcia. 36 years old. recovered from covid-19. garcia was going through some tough times of his own. he had been isolated from his family inside his house. he couldn't even pick up his 11-month-old daughter. he was getting served food underneath the door. but once garcia recovered, they found that they could use him here. he donated his a-positive blood to one person at this hospital who was undergoing some very tough times. said that patient turned around, then blood went to a second patient. it will go to a third. and garcia is ecstatic. >> it felt amazing. it felt good. i'm glad that, you know, that the nightmare of testing positive and the fear, the dread to, you know, know that i recovered. and now that this thbad thing c potentially -- you know, my

antibodies are there to give to other people and potentially help them fight the fight they are having problems with and pretty much helping fight the fight of their lives and survive. so i'm glad that this turned out to be a positive thing. >> so using the blood from somebody who has survived the disease is a longtime strategy. and now, the fda has approved two trials of treatments from covid-19 survivors, like jason. and this is going to be developed in other areas around the country, no doubt. reporting from orange, california, i'm paul, now back to you. >> thank you, paul. now, jobless numbers soar in the u.s. as more and more businesses close their doors. how millions of suddenly-unemployed workers are struggling to make ends meet. we'll have that and more when we come back.

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not motor? it's pronounced "motaur." for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! welcome back. just days after extending national social distancing guidelines, u.s. president donald trump, once again, suggesting that the country should get back to work soon. he says he's considering putting together a separate coronavirus

task force, focused on reopening the economy. that economy is going through a devastating period, of course, with a staggering 6.6 million americans filing for unemployment in the last week alone. now, that doesn't even include the millions of workers in the so-called gig economy. federal financial aid is on the way, but many fear it will come too late. and it's going to be difficult to get to everyone. here with some of the stories. >> the average worker. what are we going to do? by the time we get them, they're not going to be any help. >> in newark, new jersey, lyft driver antonio says it's too late for washington stimulus checks. he is down to his last $65. >> currently, unemployed. there's no rides. i don't know how to feel right now. i'm definitely lost. i want to be mad but i can't be mad at anybody. it's nobody to be mad at. >> the calls and the cash flow

have simply stopped for williams and millions more who earn their living in the gig economy. the workforce that relies on booking appointments or gigs for their income. >> you have to be out every day working and constantly thinking about where that next job is going to come. so something like this, when we're unable to get out there and work, it's making us realize just how fragile -- how fragile it is. >> in los angeles, actor tom mayberry is used to gig after gig after gig. but, now, the married father of twins is experiencing a frightening, new scene. >> i do wake up without any auditions in my e-mail, without my manager calls, without my agent calling. and it's kind of a shock to the system. >> and a shock to the u.s. economy. according to a 2018 research poll, nearly a quarter of the american workforce relies on gigs for their income. now, all but gone. employers that are still busy, from supermarkets to drugstores and online retailers, have

stepped up their hiring efforts. but it's not nearly enough to absorb the nearly 10 million unemployment claims made last month. >> on the jobs. >> america gonzalez and her son jason used to clean 10 to 15 homes a week in houston, texas. >> we have seen probably like a 50% drop and that is a very drastic drop, actually. it feels like we're in the desert. it feels really, really tough. >> while they are grateful for the few clients that continue to support them, they've had to speak frankly about what might come next. >> the thing that we agree on is if worse is to come and we can't pay stuff and we end up being without a home or a car, then it's still going to be okay. >> within two weeks, the first money would be in people's accounts. >> two more weeks in washington's best-case scenario is longer than many can afford to wait. >> what about the people like us right now? you know, we're just waiting. >> cnn, los angeles.

>> also, for those in the restaurant industries, you might imagine, now that dining out is a thing of the past across much of the world, few knows that better than anyone. he is award-winning chef and owner of several restaurants here in the u.s. state of georgia. he joins me now from the city of athens. good to see you. now, you are a successful restauranter. several restaurants. it struck me in that article when you said you had $26 in your checking account. do you think there is an assumption someone like you would have plenty of cushion? >> yeah. there's always that assumption. but it's a very low mark in business. and we make up a huge amount of the gdp and employ a lot of people. but it's not one that's going to make me retire early. >> do you think people realize the cost involved? i mean, i certainly didn't because in that article, you mention you talked about 16,000 in rent next month at empire

state. one -- one of your restaurants. and payroll costs of 44,000 every two weeks. as you say, a fine margin. do you think people understand just how expensive it is to run that? >> i -- i think they are beginning to. but, again, what we provide in this world is nourishment. and the most painful thing about laying off 120 people is i don't get to be the employer. i don't get to do the -- fulfill the contract i promised to these people, who work so diligently and so professionally for me every day and rise to their best. and be the employer that i want to be because the rug's been pulled out from under -- out of an industry. >> yeah, in fact, i was going to read a quote from the article because you do say -- and it's -- it's -- it's a powerful quote. you said my real worry is for all the people that i promised, in life, to provide for and can't. that's very hard because i want to be remembered as a good employer, a good human, and a

good dad. awards and accolades don't mean -- and we'll just leave the word -- at the moment. i mean, how tough has that been for you? not just for you, your family, but those who depend on you for their livelihood, for their food. do you worry about their financial, as well as their emotional wellbeing? >> i -- i -- yes. every moment of every day, that's what i worry about right now. i'm also sitting in a room with no pants on. so these are the times that we live in. >> it is for many. there are initiatives out there to help small business. i am wondering if you think it's enough, given what's going to corporations. i mean, what -- what impact is it going to have? >> we just have to realize that there is a threading together that makes a -- a really strong fabric in this country, which is small business. and when we pull that apart and fray it and provide them with nothing, we fall apart.

and we've seen that in the unemployment this week. and this is not a bailout. this is an investment in the cares act and ppe, into the restaurant business and the hospitality industry and small business, overall, to support it. to bring it back. to invest in it because it is a mainstay of this economy. and this culture that we have. it's so important that we have restaurants right now. most of all, i'm just worried about all sorts of things right now. but, mostly, about undocumented workers in this country, which are very much tied to our industry in a lot of ways. that they won't have anything to fall back on. so we just have to make a lot of headway, a lot of different areas. >> yeah. i -- i -- i will say i've been contributing to a go fund me page for a couple of restaurants in my neighborhood that i frequent. i mean, what can people do to help? >> you know, that's an

interesting quandary. i mean, you can buy a gift certificate to a local restaurant. use it later, though. don't use it when they first open up because they need that cash flow for the next little while. you can give to a go fund me page to help their employees and backup and the backbone of what they do. i'm not worried about myself. i'm going to figure this out. i hustle in life every day and happily do so for good. but it's most important that i support my people right now. and it's most important that the general public and my consumers try and support what they love and what we give. so any which way you can find it, find good to-go places. go and get to go. but trust your radar on what's sanitary and what's safe. and who's doing a great job. >> i wanted to ask you, do you think the industry will be fundamentally changed after this passes? i mean, the president said everything's going to bounce back. it'll be better than ever. perhaps that's a little optimistic. do you see fundamental change? will some of these restaurants be gone forever?

>> the president, though he's -- owns hotels, i don't know if he really has a real finger on the pulse of what's going on. i put that very nicely. i -- i -- i don't know. i mean, tom placio is a very respected chef and good friend of mine says, you know, before the bailouts or the investment through the cares act, 75% of restaurants probably won't come back. i would now say we're going back to maybe a third of restaurants won't come back. but this has been -- you have to realize that we were the first. we were the first line of defense against a war and we got knocked over faster than anything. and we put up a good fight every day. this is what we do. but we didn't win this one. >> well, we wish you luck and hope you do bounce back. i get the sense that you will, and we're thinking of your employees and if people can contribute, gift certificates,

there are go fund me pages, get the takeout. hugh atchinson, thanks so much. appreciate it. you're watching cnn "newsroom." we'll be right back. at papa john's, we want you to know that from our 450-degree oven, to box, to you,

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welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm michael holmes. you are watching cnn "newsroom." more than 113,000 coronavirus cases are reported in new york state. with more than 3,500 deaths. hospitals, overwhelmed. and the virus isn't even at the peak yet. cnn's evan mcmorrow santoro

looks at how the state is coping. >> another day of preparing for the worst here in new york. the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the united states. governor andrew cuomo announced the jacob javita center next to me will be converted to a field hospital, specifically for coronavir coronavirus patients. 2,500 beds specifically to help with the pandemic. >> it's going to be very staff intensive, very equipment intensive. but the theory there is, to best we can, relieve the entire hospital system downstate by bringing those covid patients to javits. and, from the intake to the treatment, and it's going to be very difficult to run that large a facility. but if that works and if that works well, that changes the numbers dramatically. >> in other news, the governor

accepted a thousand ventilators from the government of china, as well as another load of supplies from that country. other states in the united states, oregon, sending 140 ventilators to the state for -- to a governor and to a mayor, who still say they need more material and more personnel to be able to handle the apex of this virus, which they expect to come in a week or maybe a little more. evan mcmorris santoro, cnn, new york. >> now, on the front lines of the pandemic, the healthcare workers, of course, even though they deal with life-and-death situations every day, this crisis is unprecedented. and they have had to push fears for their own safety aside. cnn's ryan young talked with some of those workers in chicago. >> it's just amazing to me how quickly people turn. they come in and, suddenly, they looked okay and then they don't. >> as chicago's rush university medical center, doctors and

nurses come to work to fight covid-19. >> i'm seeing all the beds lined up in the hallway. waiting to be used. that's not anxiety provoking at all. >> their work starts right as they walk in the door. >> patient was hypoxic. so they are trying to get her oxygen saturation improved, and get her stabilized quickly. so this is kind of what happens when a patient comes in. you try to minimize the number of people that are in the room right now. so you can see there's probably only three or four people in there. only the key people. and they will try to get her stabilized so that she doesn't need to get intubated and put on a ventilator. >> stress level is definitely high. difficulty sleeping at night. i think it's important to note that this affects the young and the old. no one's really immune to this at all. >> this is our decon area. see. don't enter unless.

we're taking care of our persons under investigation. >> the sick, many times, show up in denial of their symptoms. not wanting to be sick. unsure, afraid, of what could be next. >> some people turn around and leave, actually. or it can be -- it can be an anxiety-inducing experience i think when people come in and maybe they haven't been in the medical system for a while. or they're -- they don't really know, you know, the state of things now. and they see us in full personal protective equipment and our masks and the tents set up. >> so you can see right now, we have a patient who has come in who actually is known covid positive. and is feeling very short of breath. >> despite the risk to themselves, those here believe in an oath to help save lives. >> i think something that's going to stick with me through all of this is just kind of the initiative people are taking. and the ingenuity people are exhibiting. just, like, figuring this out as we go.

>> i think every healthcare professional gets into this field because they want to help people. so being able to be somebody who can make a difference in this time is also something that i think is empowering. >> ryan young, cnn, chicago. >> the government's change of heart and their sudden rush for coronavirus testing in the united kingdom with the deadliest week still expected ahead, can enough healthcare workers get tested for the virus in time? we'll have more after the break. ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. whoo-hoo! great tasting ensure with 9 grams of protein, 27 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients to support immune health.

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welcome back. a rare event for an extraordinary time. queen elizabeth, to address britains about the coronavirus crisis. her televised speech will be

broadcast sunday night, 8:00 london time. messages from the queen, aside from her annual christmas day broadcast reserved for historic moments and, of course, the pandemic qualifies as that. more than 43,000 confirmed infections in the uk, as of saturday, with more than 4,300 deaths. and health officials say it is too soon to say when the outbreak will peak. the pregnant partner of prime minister boris johnson says she is showing symptoms of the disease. says she is on the mend, although she says she hasn't been tested for the virus. mr. johnson is positive and continues to self-isolate. the uk has had a pretty big aboutface when it comes to testing for the virus. but where could exposed health workers get one? cnn's nick peyton walsh explores the options. >> it is no longer needed for us to identify every case.

>> for the uk, testing was not a priority a month ago, yet, now, it is. why now? the uk's sudden rush to testing perhaps explained by a rapid healthcare testing center behind me here. nearly a tenth of healthcare workers aren't turning up to work because they're not sure if they have the disease. and that is a question that's increasingly difficult for britains to answer in general. >> here in cambridge and, yes, it is named after the dance. results in 90 minutes and it's easy to test and process. >> i can teach it to you if you know how to cook, you know how to do, which leaves half of the men out. >> one line means negative. two, a slight infection. three, a bad one. >> so you're negative. >> kick started by $3 million from a wealthy donor, the company says it cost $24,000 a machine, and $38 a test. but they can't make enough of them to ensure its 99% accuracy

fast enough. the uk health service wants a lot. now, they say, health workers, officials, everyone, all want a test. but that's just not possible. >> this is really, i said, like a worldwide tsunami. and you don't have the lifejacket for the whole world. >> and, here, in a cramped, airless office in old street london, a life jackets for sale. used to do health dna testing and is now repurposing its kits to test for coronavirus. for about $250 less, if you are a healthcare worker, you receive it at home. then express mail it to their lab. the results come about three days later. >> we're talking thousands in the period of one week since we launched. >> right. so that's somewhere in the region of 200,000 pounds, at least, worth of inventory coming into you at the moment. >> well, it's not all coming from individuals. we are talking about bulk orders coming from private clinics. >> so you open this,

straightforward, sterile there. put it in your mouth back of the throat? >> to the back of your throat. keep doing this for a minute. >> it's cramped here. not ideal. they decline to name the lab they use, yet, say it has government approval. but no home-testing method does yet, uk officials told cnn, we don't have confidence in their reliability, they told us. so what would you say to anyone who looks at what you're doing here, and was between deciding you are a' good samaritan trying to officer a service or whether or not you are simply making money out of a crisis, what would you say to them? >> we say we are simply offering a service at a very reduced price from what other providers are doing. >> the uk behind in a global race to test, with still no mass solution at hand. >> nick peyton walsh reporting there. well, face masks are getting hard to find. some people making their own.

but what if you can't sew? well, don't worry. we have a solution for you. world sciences has an online tutorial showing how to make them from paper towels. you will need some rubber bands and a stapler, as well. you probably turn the edges in so that the rubber band, staple them, and then adjust the mask to your face. it's not likely to offer full protection but it will discourage you from touching your face. and, as they say, it's better than nothing. we'll take a short break here on cnn "newsroom." when we come back, she was so sick, her family was called in to say their last good-byes. but, now, this 90-year-old has recovered from coronavirus. next, her message to all of us. some of my best memories growing up

were cooking with mom. she always said, "food is love," so when she moved in with us, a new kitchen became part of our financial plan. ♪ i want to make the most of every meal we have together. ♪

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. here are some indelible images of the crisis from all around the world, coming out to applaud the doctors, nurses and other health professionals who are putting their lives on the line, putting themselves at risk to save us.

we want to take a minute to tell you about the lives lost. new jersey's kim smith died, the first university hospital newark employee killed by the virus. she had one of the most positive attitudes of any of the employees. the governor caulk hlling her ar hero. mary lou allen was known for her filipino home cooking and admired from rising from evidence technician to detective. the police chief says her death hit the department hard and her passing was noted with sadness by governor newsom as well. she was just 43 years old. now older people, as we well know are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus. but here is the story of a t

90-year-old woman who bounced back. sara sidner shares her remarkable story of recovery. >> i just didn't have any energy. just wanted to be left alone. >> reporter: 90-year-old geneva wood was sure she was taking her last breaths. >> i said to the doctor, this is the end. i'm not going to make it. and i want to see my family. >> reporter: doctors called her family in to say their final good-byes. >> they called to say her lungs were filling with fluid and her oxygen levels were all over the place, fluctuating, and they didn't think she was going to make it. >> reporter: wood had just survived a stroke, but for rehab, she was sent to a nursing home. >> couldn't talk. i couldn't walk. i couldn't do anything for

myself. all i could do was jabber. and they taught me to live again. >> reporter: and suddenly, she was dying. not from a stroke, but from contracting covid-19 hear. it turned out, woods' nursing home was the first place in america to have a major deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus. >> she had been fighting so hard, you know, coming back from the stroke to be taken down by a virus. it was kind of cruel. >> reporter: the strong-willed, feisty great-grandmother who had survived dozens of flus, the depression and world war ii was a mere shelf herself. then her 90-year-old body fought back. >> and it's great to be home. and i love it it here. this is what, one of the things i fought for was to be able to be with my kids, to give them a hug or a kick or whatever they

needed. >> i thought were you going to say a hug or a kiss, but you tricked me, and that was pretty darn funny. >> whatever they need, right? >> reporter: she's back, kicking butts, enjoying her special chair and making her potato soup. she has a message for politicians like texas lieutenant governor dan patrick who said the elderly should be sacrificed for the economy. >> we'll take care of ourselves, but don't sacrifice the country. >> i think maybe he should have his mother have the virus and see what he would do for her. if he wants to get rid of the elderly, he's probably old enough to get that virus and see how he feels. >> reporter: mom has a message. fight the virus with everything you've got. >> i've been given all clear. if you'll do what you're

supposed to do and don't take chances and keep, keep fighting. >> reporter: sara sidner, cnn. >> good for her. some positive news to end the program on. thanks for watching "cnn newsroom" and spending part of your day with me. i'm michael holmes. stay with us. i'll see you in an ho fon hour e news here on cnn. your customers served. your students inspired. and your employees closer than ever. our network is resilient. our people are strong. our job is to keep your business connected . it's what we've always done. it's what we'll always do. -excuse me. uh... do you mind...being a mo-tour? -what could be better than being a mo-tour?

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this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, this is a special edition of "the situation room." america marks a grim milestone. it's the nation's deadliest day yet. nationwide, more than 8300 defendants have been reported with a total tally of 300,000 coronavirus cases in the united states. worldwide, the