captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc d >> woodruff: gening, i'm judy wdruff. on the newshour tonight, the toll of vid-19. deaths in the u.s. exceed 30,000, as millions of americans file first-time unemployment claims. then, feeling the pain. hearing fr americans who have lost their jobs after the pandemic erases a decade of employment gains. plus, empty skies. with passenger demand in free fall, how will air travel survive the coronavirus? >> the airline industry, not just in the u.s. but worldwide, is in a complete crisis. markets have evaporated. airlines need cash at the moment just to survive. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> life isn't a straight line, yourself heading in a new direction. fidelity is here to help you work through the unexpected, with financial planning and advice for today, and tomorrow. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democraticme

enga, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcastin and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. e >> woodruff: at ite house tonight, president trump is ending pandemic shutdowns. across the nation, officials have put out new numbers on "covid-19's" toll in lives, and livelihoods: more than 32,000 out of work.ions more thrown

amna nawaz begins our coverage. >> nawaz: as the covid-19av pandemic rages the economy, another 5.2 million americans filed for unemployment last week. that new jobless claims total, ofllion people, means that all the gains of the last 10 four weeks.wiped out in just the economy also lost 70,000 jobs in march, ending a 113- month streak of job growth. a stunning turnaround after hitting 50-year unemployment lows, just months ago. the economic freefall is further fueling president trump andrs otefforts to end shelter- in-place rules and re-open parts of the country. on a call with all 50 governors today, sources tell the newshour the president laid out a three-stage approach for lifting restrictions, with guidelines for employers and other groups, like schls, bars, and hospitals. he cold governors, "they could call their own shoon when to

open." earlier today, louisia governor john bell edwards underscored the need to reopenbu statness. >> we're not going to go back to normal until we have a vaccine or some effective therapeutic treatments, but we're not going to wait until then before we start to reopen the economy, get >> nawaz: but, new york city d mayor bill de blasio ware president's rush to restart could bafire and cause a"an boomeffect." >> if he's smart about it and careful about it we can aually get to a restart of the economy thate can sustain. if he jumps too soon, it'll be horrible, it'll set us back further. >> nawaz: the centers for and seven governors in the midwest announced they'll work rdination to re-open the economies, following similar agreements earlier this week by governors in the northeast and the immediate effects of the economic downturn are already being felt. food pantry providers say demand have declined. but donations in dallas, texas today, cars

snaked alonghe highway, waiting for national guard troops to distributeoxes of food and, millions of americans anticipating their $12 stimulus checks will have to wait longer, as technical glitches kp those who filed taxes with services like turbotax or h&r block from receiving those funds. as they navigate the economic burden americans also face n gr developments in the public health crisis. sioux falls, south dakota is now a new national hotspot after more than 640 cases were traced back to a smithfield pork plant, since shuttered. in a small new jersey town, the virus continues to devastate nursing home populations. cording to the "new york times," police there discovered 17 bodies inside one facility, where 68 people died recently. 26 had tested positive for covid 19. countries around the world are also still grappling with containing the virus and mitigating the financial fallout.

in northeastern france, an optical business owner says he's looking at months of lost buheness and doesn't know ho can safely reopen his shop. >> ( translated ): when it comes i don't see how we can fit glasses on people wearing maskdo masks that wt yet have at the moment in any case. i don't see how i can ask my employees to work without masks >> nawaz: authorities in greece have tightened restrictions ahead of sunday's orthodox easter. police are stopping and questioning drivers-- anyone traveling for the holiday fa30s a fine of euros-- $326. a similar lock down in japan, with more than 9,000 covid-19 cases and nearly 200 deaths.wh and ere prime minister shinzo declared a nationwide emergency to discourage travel during an upcoming holiday. >> ( translated ): we ask lol governments to urge residents not to take non-essential, non-e trips back to their hometowns or any trips that involvetravel between areas and prefectures to avoid the sprd during golden week.

hold as the world gl toon on stop the virus spread. for the pbs newshour, i'm amna nawaz. >> woodruff: we had planned to bring you an interview with vice president mike pence. his office had to reschedule and we hope to have that conversation soon. now, this country is experiencing a sudike of job loss not seen since the great depression. 22 million lost jobs in about a month with many more cuts to come, and a sense that these mbers don't fully captur what's really happening. we are going to focuivon this extey from a number of angles. let's start by hearing from some who have lost their jobs or have had to shut down most of theirsi ss and are struggling. >> i'm kamesa carter. i live in jacksonville, florida. and before the covid 19 pandemic, i was a substitute teacher. >> my name is josiah welch. i live in longview, washington. >> my name is jennifer. s am here in las vegas, nevada.

>> my namestin mcmullen, 31 years old, living up here in raleigh, north carolina. >> i'm sunyatta amen, the head of calabash tea and tonic in washington, d.c. >> i'm alanaalhoun, and i was previously working for an interpreting agency. >> i bought some food for myself and for my family so thecan have some food to survive. and right now, i jjust don't have nothing in my bank account. i just, not even savings. it's just been really tough. >> between both shops, we're used to serving 400 and upwards people a day. and so to go from that to noay people aas tremendously rsheartening. but you still hat and you still have lights and you still have bills and you still have staff. it's intense. >> i was in sales for a major hotel company and i was living on 100% commission, so that is completely pulled out from under me. >> i'm a single parent of two

together and i've alking with a lot of my creditors to make arrangements and to gio exte on a lot of things. l >> you knoe i've always been the one to suppormy family and just it's really hard right now, like to think about everything. >> i ended up getting immediately furloughed the day iter i had moved everythi and returned my u-haul, so i didn't actually technically get to woreven one day. it was just a devastating knock to the stomach that almost hard to, like, overcome. and i went to a dark space, but like a self reflecting like, what in the hell am i going to do for about a couple fter >> i hang my hat, ow, take a lot of pride in being an employer and have so for years and being able to offer health insurance and things like that through our ss. it's heart wrenching to have to say to half your staff, look,

you guys have to stay home. >> approaching your parents basically with your tail tucked between your legs as an adult saying "so any way that you could help me through this?" is not an easy thing to do at all. if it weren't for my parents assting me, i wouldn't kno that i'll be able to have all the ducks in place to make sure i isn't lose my home before is over. >> right now, i'm fortunate in i fear that i'm nog to bet now. able to pay our bills, that eventually we're going to become homed ss. at scares me.ju >> it' it's just been because you expect that every two weeks or every week you'llng get a check con, so you can stay afloat. but with all this and people not having jobs, it's like that little anchor has go and it's just, it's just terrible. >> woodruff: and we so appreciate each one of you telling your story.

the primary engine of the u.s. economy is small business, and they are some of the hardest hit. and a new blow hit today: theli massive $349 b relief program for the aid is now out of money.li ou desjardins joins me to tell us what is happening in congress to try to get help to small businesses and their employees. so, lisa, tell us what did happen on all this today. and what exactly does this program mean for small business? >> judy, the fact thsat thi program is now out of money means no more relief will be going out until congress fixes this problem an adds more funding. what this program is judy, is essentially the most wide-sweeping lifeline ever to businesses in america. it is intended to help sm businesses stay open. and it would give small businesses an urecented amount were relief: eight weeks of payroll that the u.s. government will essentially pay for entirely, as well as lease

and utility costs. so it is something lot of small businesses say they need. but, judy, because of the demand rising so fa, a tsunami of demand from small businesses, that $349 billion isready gone in just two weeks. udy, that14 days, amount of relief is more than the smalliness administration has given out in 14 years. so it's rather remarkable what they've done, but it st shows how immense the need is. >> woodruff: so, lisa, ho it this one program and whether it's continued or not is going to matter so much? >> right, and i should say there is a second progr also for small businesses that has similarly reached its maximum funding. but this one is more funding for businesses. judy, talking about how important small businesses are-- the reason for program-- look at this-- small businesses make up 48% of the workforce in the united states. the number of those businesses,i we're tal about 30 million

small businesses. most of them would ble eli for this money. but, judy, because of the money running out, just 1.6 million of those businesses were able to get this money approved. and, judy, tonig, many businesses don't know if they got that money or if n. for example, the tea shop owner in that lovely story that we just said, owing about people's needs, she has applied. ing's not sure if she's gett the money yet or not. >> woodruff: and, lisa, you've been reporting on theat negons about all this under way between members-- leaders in the congress, the trump admatistration. ne point you said it looked promising. what's happened? >> well,the promise is that it seems republicans may be open to some ideas from bmocrat let me back up and explain what's happening. democrats are the ones who are essentially refusing to add more fundinjust on its own. so let's look at where the two sides are. first of all, the republicans r heht now, they have proposed for over a week, adding

a quarter of a b to this program, just that, nothing else. democrats, however, say tha they need some of that money to specifically go to some eas that are underserved, that they don't think that money is reacthng right now. also want more money right now for states and for hospitals. they say those arrgent needs as well and need to be passed immediately. so, judy, it's a strange situation where nearly everyone agrees all of these areas need money, but they disage over timing. and, judy, the pressure will be on democrats over the weekend t nd of if there's a political fallout from them block more money for this ogram. it will likely be days, least until next week, before congress can pass any fixes for this. >> woodruff: and just quickly, lisa, what's the difference then in who would get money, what the republicansment versus what the democrats want? >> wl, in general, everyone-- the same group of people would get money. it's sort of a matter of timing. democrats' plan would probably help more community banks, places that don't see these

loans often, not as big of a but i wa also mention an tnk. important group, the self-employed. that is the blk of small businesses, individuals like plumbers, accountant, farmers-- they all can apply for this mone however, they were not allowed toapply for it til a week after everyone else. that's because the guidelines for them are morcomplicated. judy, they are at the back of the line and they are the most likely to have been frozen out of this program right now. >> woodruff: and finally,kl qu lisa, where does it stand? >> right. continuing, talks go on. we've heard from all offices tonight. but as i say, judyth, even if reach the deal over the weekend, even if congress is meeting right now-- which is barely meet ago i don't think any deal could actually become law until late next week, but talks continue. >> woodruff: lisa desjardins, thank you very much for staying on top of this for us. >> woodruff: even as the

otpresident and congress nte over further relief and aid, the job losses are staggering. so far, they are roughly equivalent to the number oncjobs created the last painful recession. elise gould is a senior economist with the economic i polititute, a non-profit think-tank in washington, d.c. elise gould, thank you very much for joining us. as we said, these numbers are almost imssible to comprehend: 20-some-odd million americans out of work. i mean, how do you put this in some context? do you explain it? what's going on? >> it's a great question. they're devastating numbers, just like those s were devastating that you aired, all those people in so much pain. there e millions of th as you said, there are more than 20 million. think about the economy. outhere are 150 million people working in the economy. that represents one in eight, e more than one ht. if you look around you, more than one in eight workers have now filed for employment insurance. those are devas.tating loss

>> woodruff: and you described to us how this is happening in waves, how there was a first wave of people, but now, we are seeing this casce into virtually all sectors of the economy. at first, we saw it mostly in leisure and hospitality, when we t w the tourdustry begin to shut down. now you're seeing it in restaurants, and you're seeing it retail. it's-- it's really cascading. >> woodruff: and you've also talked to us about how it's not just people worrying about their economic security.se it's healthrity on the line as well. >> right. when you think about what's been ing in this pandemic, there are two ways this is affecting people. one is there are the front-line workers, right, those essential workers-- whether thy be health care workers or grocery store workers or worrs in transportation-- all those essential workers every day are putting their own health on the line, health of themselves, of their family members. they may live with people o are at risk, in particular, risk

of their health. so we have to think abut those workers. and then we think about the other group of workers, tho people facing devastating economic insecurity. so those people who have lost their job, who have been furloughed, who have their urs cut, who have no hope of geting employment any time soon. >> woodruff: elise gould, you also told us maye' theran undercount involved, that we're not seeing the true numbers, even en we look at these devastating numbers that are coming out. >> that's right so some of what we passed in the last legislation, the cres act, allowed additional people to be able to file for unemployment insurance. that's just coming up on line now. so tholf-employed workers, those gig workers who can now apply, workers who had to qt their jobs to take care of their kids when their kids'chool closed, we're going to now start seeing all of those numbers of peop applying for unemployment insurance in the comumming weeks. >> woodruff: and finally,h elise gould,e economic policy institute has taken a deeper look at how women may be mor affected by these job losses

than men. what did you find? >> we what, we're seeing is the sectors that are more likely to be affted initially, in particular, in leesure and hospitality, those-- that sector has more women in it, and so we're seeing more women affected initially. sectors, women areamong those disproportionately affected so even more than their sector would suggest. >> woodruff: and is th something you expect to continue as these-- again, the waves of people who are affected begin to show up ando seeking unemyment benefits? >> unfortunately, i do. i think that it's really important for us to track as many demographic characteristics as we can with the data moving forward to see who is really being hurt by this recession. >> woodruff: and just quickly, in terms of benefits, in the past, whether it's women or men, i mea for many ofthese people, they've never had to ask

for unemployment benefits inli theies. >> that's right. we are seeing unprecedented numbers ofpeople filing for unemployment insurance. these are people we know, people in the economy today, have lived paycheck to paycheck. they can't go without tha paycheck that they need to be able to put a roof over their head, to be able to put food on the table. it is absolutely nas that money come through, and that that money continue until we get on the other side of chis pande ask can be used as stimulus to make sure the economy gets back on track. a >> woodruff: awe heard so vividly from thoe americans whose voices were shared with us just a few minutes ago. elise gould, the economic policy institute, thank you. >> thank you o >> woodruf of the business sectors hardest hit by the pandemic has been air travel. passenger volume is down a stunning 96%n the u.s., while

airline losses havlltopped $300 n worldwide. economics correspondent paul solman has our story on the it's part of our regular series "making sense." >> reporter: clear skies; barren airports; sidelined jets as far as the eye can see. >> i think it's going to be probably 21 before we see a return to normalcy. >> reporter: brian pearce is chief economisof the industry's worldwide trade group. >> the airline industry, not just in the u.s., but worldwide, is in a complete crisis. markets have evaporated. just to survive.sh at the moment >> reporter: and they'll be federal bailout, the first $25 pay employees through september 30th. b 1ut more th,000 in the industry work for subcontractors, as herbertt stew philadelphia does.

>> we had a massive layoff at m. company he they laid off about 600 to 1,000 employo s. i will als, as well, probably laid off. so this is going to hit me dramatically e're the frontline worke and we were the first ones to go and i think we'll be the last ones to go back. >> reporter: laid-ofon skycap joseph travers, father of four. >> my concern is once this is all over there's gonna be millions of people out of work. and there's only gonna be so many jobs because companies are losing money. they're not gonna want to bring us back and it's scary. it's a scary situalyon for any fa >> reporter: also left out of the federal responseo the airline crisis: the grounded public. >> it's frustrating to have to be going to your gate, and your gate sayit's canceled. and the next flight is six hours away, and then you wait that six hours and that one is canceled. >> reporter: and if you're canceled?

>> they're really avoiding any commitment tgive a refund to anybody. >> reporter: sign language interpter betty colonomos had paid thousands for flights to teach five upcoming seminars. she's refunding her customers. but she can't get her money back, not even from travel insurance. >> and i feel bad for the peopl like myself e not getting a paycheck, who need, who need money to live. i mean, if they bail the airlines out, then they definitely should be runding money to people. >> reporter: but business is dead, says economist pearce. amounts to somethie $35 refunds billion in the second second quarter. of business. are going to go out em >> i don't want o go out of business. i don't want to go out of

i mean, i think th ridiculous argument because they have not been operating a just break-even level, let's face it. >> they've beerunning their businesses completely recklessly. and why is it that we're holding the bill here? >> reporter: the federal airline rescue is fundamentally flawed, says anti-trust expert tim wu. >> they' been running a game where they squeeze people into tiny seats, do everything they can to extract every last dollar out of everybody, to make the most profit theyould and then thrown that all into stock buybacks. and to realize after all those billions being spent, they didn't keep anything for a edictable event like this. >> reporter: well, they didn't know there was gonna be a pandemic. >> actually, they warned about it in their stock-- in some of their documents, warned about the possibility of a pandemiin g their business. >> reporter: but how could they have prepared for a near standstill, ks airline blogger brett snyder. >> these were relatively healthy companies that could withstand significant downturns. just not a complete destruction

of all demand. i think that's hard to say that a company should hold on to multi billions and billions of dolls of cash just in case this type of thing were to happen. >> reporter: meanwhile, pilots helming e few flights still operating have their own beef with the fed>>al government. e have over 200 reports of test positives. we have three deathsr >> reporter: fight attendants have died, 250 have tested positive. ex-marine joe depete, a pilot for 33 years, now head of the airline pilots association, asked for mandatory regulations from the federal aviatio administration last month. >> one was the cleaning and disinfecting of our airplane to make these ready for flight. the second was the notification to other crew membs who may have been exposed to someone who tested positive. the other was to use cleang solutions and productshat were recommended by the c.d.c. to be effective. >> reporter: depete says he got no immediate response at a time

when, for his pilots, every day counts. risks, unnecessary risks,tional preventablrisks to me is unconscionable. >> reporter: the f.a.a. gave us this statement in response: "the reports of airline failures to follow this crucial health guidance. any allegation to the contrary is inflammatory and inaccurate"" turbulent time thousands of flights canceled daily, future bookings down almost 100%. friendlier skies, perhaps a long way off.for the pbs newshour, pl solman. >> woodruff: in the day's llher news, watreet managed small gains, despite the latest job losses. the dow jones industrial average was up 33 points to close at 23,537. the s&p 500 added 9 points, and, in south korea, the ruling party has won big in parliamentary elections held wednesday.

ters had to wear masks and plastic gloves, and get their temperatures checked.th but turnout wahighest in nearly 30 years. the outcome maboost president moon jae-in's efforts to improvi relation north korea. israeli prime minister benjamin nenetanyahu and rival gantz are still deadlocked over forming a government. they missed a new deadli today, and the country's president gave parliament three weeks to find someone who can fashion a coalition. otherwise, israel faces s fourth election in jer a year.wo d war two veteran in britain reached his goal today and raised nearly $16 million for health care workers battling the pandemic. tom moore is 99 years old. he pledged to walk 100 laps in his garden, and online donations went viral. r,today, moving with a wal moore finished his feat, as a military honor guard saluted. he

said he was overwhmed by the response. >> it's unbelievable that people would be so kind to give thatf sortney to the national health service. and maybe i was responsible for starting it, but not deliberately. >> woodruff: moore turns 100 years old on april 30t and, the actor brian dennehy has died. his representative says he passed away overnight in new haven, connecticut, of natural causes. dennehy's many film roles included the sheriff in "first blood", who battled sylvester stallone as "rambo." on stage, he won two tony awards, including one as willy loman in "death of a salesman" in 1998. brian dennehy was 81 years old. still to come on the newshour: the origins of the virus-- the competing theories of how covid- 19 began. on the frontlineat an embattled veterans hospital in

new york. the delicate and necessary work of decontaminating ling masks.h plus mre. >> woodruff: from the moment covid-19 began to spread, there tre questions about its origin. this weere have been reports u.s. diplomats have been concerned about a lab in wuhan, china,he city where the outbreak began. nick schifrin examines what the u.s. knows, and doesn't know, about how coronavirus spread. >> schifrin: today in wuhan, the markets sellive animals. the shop keepers insist their product is clean, and had nothing to do with the covid-19 outbreak.et

sey of state mike pompeo seemed to agree with the shopkeepers, and raised on fox news last night, another source. >> this virus originated in wuhan, china. we know there is the wuhan institute of virology just a handful of miles away from where the wet market was. there is still lots to learn. >> schifrin: the wuhan institute of virology's website includes these photos, showing off its technology.ff u.s.ials tell pbs newshour they've long been concerned about lab security. and they consider thepo ibility, that covid-19 was accidentally released by a lab employee working with animals that carry coronaviruses. >> more and more we're hearing the story. we are doing a very thorough examination of this horrible situation. >> schifrin: but t intelligence community has not happened. for sure that's wh u.s. officials tell pbs newshour it's still posble the market, was the source. >> the results are inconclusive, if you will. >> we've had a lot of intelligence, take a hard look at that. and i would just say at this >> schifrin: last ina'se.

ministry of foreign affairs blamed the us military for spreading the via s. chinese meve even blamed italy. today, spokesman zha tlijan said it early to know the source, but denied it was the lab. >> ( translated ): this is a ulscientific issue which sbe studied by scientists and medical experts. many well-known medical experts in the world alsbelieve that aims of the so-called laboratory leaks have no scientific basis. >> schifrin: we turn to dr. luciana borio who served on the national security council staff as the director of medical and biodefse preparedness policy during the first two years of the trump administration. she's now a vice president at in-q-tel, a non-profit, investment organization that funds technologies the interested in.. munity is rio, thank you very much. welcome to the newshour. those two scenarios i just laid out, some kind of accidental release from a lab in wuhan, and a possible release in the nearby

wet market, are either of those >> that's right, nick. so the national biodefense strategy contemplates three general categories of biological threats: the deliberate threats, an accident from a lab exposure or release; and naturally occurring exposure. we don't believe the strain has any features that it was a deliberate event at all. it's a natural strain. whether it's a human exposure that led to the pandemi initially occurred in a laboratory setting or a wet market or something like that is going to be very difficult to ascertain and we don't know >> how would you. sorry to interrupt you. how would you ascertain that, if it is so difficult? what information would you need? >> that's right. it might not be possible just through scientific means of analysis of thetrain. it may need some other type of investigation undertaken by the intelligence community to see what other information may have

been available with respect toco unications, for example, around the time. but it may be very difficult. and we knocathat biolo threats in general can be very difficult to attribute in a but, you know, there's, again, either way, what we have to remember todais that we have a pandemic on our hands. and the most important thing nto focusright now is to contain it. there will be a time when we're going to be able to go back and say, "what happened? and i have to say that there's more to do globally to minimize human exposure to wildlife in those wet markets, because, clearly, they po a threat to our security. and there's also more that we have to do to be able to make sure that experimentations with path gens of pandemic potential, a way that meet very stringentn biological safety st>>andards. o, obviously, there have been questions by u.s. officials about the safety stndards

within these labs, as well as concerns that china isn't closing the wet markets. al among the u.sconcerns is the original virus, the original genome. when it comes to actually finding out what happened, how important is it that china share information that it has from patients, presumably from as early as december? >> yes, so the more information scientists have, the more they'll be able to understandvi thisus. you know, there's a lot of work that was done early on when a sequence was exposed. it allowed the development of a diagnostic test, having the virus in the right hands and the right labs can help facilitate product development. it's very important to share information about something th really impacts the entire world, impacts everybody. and we have to be able to worko together able to contain it. >> lastly, in the 30 seconds or so we have left, your last point-- we have to work together s contain it. how important iit at the end of the day to actually know the origin of covid-19?

>> the most importa thing that we have to do is to be able to stabilize and restore our economic security and h ourealth security. so that's going to be the most important thing. we can't lose focus on that. we may or may not be able to ascertain the origins, and, you know, the important thiat is we coain this. >> dr. luciana borio, thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> woodruff: as part of our continuing series with frontline health-care workers, william brangham spoke today with maria lobifaro. she's a nurse workinat a v.a. hospital in brooklyn, new york that's been nverted to care only for coronavirus patients. lobifaro is a member of nurses in the counregisterede

as you'll hear, she says her job often comes with too little otection and support >> so, you know, every day's different. i've worked on a weekend where we were reusing the same gown from nurseo nurse, the same protective gown. so when my shift finished, i had ne pass that gown on to th nurse. and then the next day i came back to work and we had gowns. and go. really been very touch as far as staffing, i think that was one of the major issues thah in the hospital, especially in the i.c.u. just tripled our capacity overnight and so there was definitely weeks-- i would say all of last month-where the i.c.u. was really struggli. one nurse with five critical

patients on ventilators. and that's aatio tt's really unheard of. >> brangham: what's the ratio normally? >> so the only state that has an actual ratio is california, and they have a 1-to-1nd they have laws protecting that ratio. >> brangham: one to one, one nurse. >> to one patient. >> brangham: and you guys are at 5 to 1. >> yes.so re-covid, generally it was like two patients to one nurse. these patients are. so much sicker, than the averag. patient. and now a nurse is dealing withe five ps. so at times it mean most of the time it was really just unbearable. it was really to the point where a few of us had to actually put our foot down and refuse a sixth patient. ot it has been a struggle.

as far as p.p.e.ective covering and protective gear it's like lacking on the c.d.c. level. if you do a simple google image search, italy p.p.e., china p.p.e. and then look up a p.p.e., it's you don't need to be a nurse or a doctor or a medical professional to tell that our country is lacking seriously. i mean, in other cou, if you look at the health care infection rate, significantly lower an what the u.s. is at right now. and why is that? like other countries are in a full-on astronaut suit, where they don't have any part of their skin exposed. but yet for the u.s., we're just in like a little thin paper gown and sometimes you're reusing that gown! how many more medical professionals need to get sick or even die for them to realize that.

but it's a serious problem. >> brangham: that's got to be incredibly fstrating because here you are doing this lifesaving work, really. the country is tasking you with helping stamp out this pandemic and yet you obviously feel like we don't have your back and some substantive way. >> well, i mean, prior to this, we dealt with patients with infectious diseases all the time. you know, berculosis and, you know, and, you know, the things that we're doing today, if we seriously reprimanded.d be and it's very discoura because i'm going into the room, not the head of the c.d.c., they're at home. and, you know, it's my skin that's exposed, not their skin. so it's been overwhelming, to say the least. >> brangham: when you see all of the support, when people are clapping, when there's a shift

change or people posting signs or tying ribbons around trees, and what do you make of all of that support? >> i'm very conflicted on that topic.t so p me feels, you know, so proud that my city is supportive. t i'm really overwhelmed by the supp the public. on the other hand, i'm just doing my job every d'v, a job thatalways done.e, an i.c.u. nuou don't go see death.ield expecting to not tit's expected, but i thi amount that i've been seeing b lately hn overwhelming, combined with the just the public." you're a hero." it just really sets a-- i guess, an unrealistic expectation of

how i can perform at work. >> brangham: you're not bulletproof. >> exactly.no and i'a superhero. and if i was a superhero, i wouldn't have to make ons every day. whose beide do i stand at? do i stand that the patient who ns a heart rate of 20 rig and is probably going to die in the next 10 to 15 minu or do i go to my other patient who's, you know, went to the bathroom on themselves and unfortunately has been in that for two hours now because i've just been so busy. so if i was a superhero, i wouldn't have to make these you know, i couldn't feel as further from a superhero as i feel sometimes. >> brangham: well, maybe not a superhero, but you feel pretty close to one, to me. >> thank you so much. >> brangham: maria lobifaro, thank you very, very much for your time and thank you for all of the work that you're doing. >> oh, thank you so much.ou and i hopetay safe and you and your family as well.

>> brangham: you, too. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and now a look at what some hospitals hope could be a stop-gap solution to o shortaa critical piece of protection for those heroes on the frontlines: n-95 masks. john yang has r report. >> yang: for health care professionals on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, masks like this, called an n-95, are essential equipment. >> the overall situation is terrifying.is s the closest thing i've done to going to war >> yang: sidney longwell is an emergency room physician at tulane medical center in new orleans. >> the patients that we are seeing are a threat to u if you're gonna go into someere where your someone's coughing or you're putting aon tube down sos throat with, you need a shield for your eyes, you need goggles and an n-95 as a basic minimum.

>> yang: the virus has sprd rapidly in new orleans. like the rest of the country, the city has a shortage of n5 masks. they're designed to block 95% ob ne particles and droplets that can carry the coronavirus. use a new disposabask fors would each new patient. and now? >> we're issued an n-95 in the morning and you do your best to protect it. >> yang: when that practice began, longwell started taking his masks home for a personal recycling program. >> the oldest is to the left and they circle around to the right to the newest. >> yang: he sets them out on a table for at least seven days--e nd what's believed to be the virus's lifesp. >> this is our version of the super bowl. everyone wants to stay in the game. so that's why i'm recying here, so that if the supply chain's cut, i can at least continue to work for a couple of weeks before i would have an issue.g: >> yow tulane medical center and hospitals on long

island, boston and other cities have developed official recycling progra. >> we're in complete crisis mode. >> yang: angie birnbaum is tulane's director of biosafety. >> as a biosafety professional, i never thought that i'd be in a situation whe we're actually questioning how to decontaminate n-95 masks. but this is where we are during this pandemic. >> yang: tulane's program, which is awaiting government approval, uses a technique developed by battelle memorial institute, a scientific research non-profit.l the ba system, which was approved recently for emergency use, treats used masks with vaporized hydrogen peroxide, which has been employed for years to sterilize sensitive equipment.ap >>ous hydrogen peroxide is a great decontaminate because it doesn't leave hazardous residues behind. you will basically have a nice sterilized piece of equipment that can be reused by our health care providers. >> yang: as a test of how effectively the system decontaminates, tulane researchers add hard-to-kill

microorganisms to the masks befo the process. if those are eliminated by the vaporized hydrogen peroxido they rson, the coronavirus. not everyone is convinced. in a statement, the ecutive director of national nurses united, the biggest union of egistered nurses, said: "thereli is no ted, scientific evidence that multiple re-use ot deination of n-95 respiratory masks is safe, and will protect a health career wo the food and drug administration's letter approving the battelle system for emergency use said its" known and potential benefits outweigh the known and potential risks." and the national institutes of health said results of its stu"" indicate that n-95 respirators can be decontaminated and reused in times of shortage for up to three times" with vaporized hydrogen peroxide.is if successful, the system supply of usable masks.d t

and it just could keepys ians like sidney longwell on the front lines. >> when this started we were trying to figure outat point we would tap out and say, if it gets to this point, i don't feel safe coming to work. an adequate respirator is where we all drew the line. i know i won't fl safe going into a room without an n-95. >> yang: he says he's more conerned about his family t about himself. his father died of non-covid-19 causes late last month. >> the harde thing for me about coping so far has been not i'm literally a biological threat to my mom. i haven't been able to go to baton rouge support my m. and that sucks. also, like i've had a fewie patientsand that's like... >> yan protecting loved ones, protecting patients and

otecting themselves-- th balancing act facing frontline healthcare workers across the country. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: we return to the o new guidance othe white house, as the president and coronavirus task force continueh r evening briefing. our yamiche alcindor is here with the latest. she's just come from that briefing. so, yamiche, tell us what president and his team are saying about their plan to begin to reopen the country >> well, the big news today is that the president has now laid out a three-phase plan to try to reopen the american ecomy. and he's doing that by leaving a lot of the decision making to states antoovernors. he said he had total authority r

but heally saying i'm allowing the states to make these decisions. these three phase would happen flike this: theirst phase is people would still be focused working from home,im ming nonessential travel. the second phase would be where things start to loosen up,where you would have schools and day cares opening back up.u ght, also, the administration sailed have churches and bars opening back up, but that would be largely with social distancing still in place. and the third would beyo phase wher would have big arenas, concerts, and less social distancing. >> woodruff: and, yamiche, what is the president saying in terms of whether he expects these orders to be followed by >>e 50 states? the president is essentially tying that-- he's not really orderie states any more. on a call with governors, he's saying now they're the ones calling the shots, those were his exact words. we're seeing the president back away from the idea he's forcing governors and states to ake

decision. he's saying i am allowing them to mwne theirecisions. there is a big idea in the administration to ramp up testing, b mcause y people, executives and state officials, still say testing in this country is not where it needs to be, and there are still large numbers of people who can't gett for the coronavirus when they need them and that will, of course, "be essential to opening uphe country. >> woodruff: we know, yamiche, the president met with numbers of different groups, including governors and business leaders he's been talk to.e what ee you able to learn about how the white house is handling and managing this crisis? >> well, what we're learning is that the white house is reallyy managing this focusing on what the health officials say wpresidentrump also thinking about his own political instinct. we've heard arguments from white house officials saying that they think leaving the economy closed, that it would make more people die, eitherhrough mental health or economic hardship, that people would be hurt more by keepinghe economy closed. so what we're hearing is the

president is really leaning in on the idea at hes eager to have america open back up, but also said, he stres,sed today this is based on data and science. we're hearing from some formerf republican ials, including one that our producer, meredith lee, talked, to that these are reasonable guilines so we hea the president is still leaning into his health officials. >> woodruff: rter, yamiche alcindor, following it all, what's going on at the white house this evening. thank you, yamiche. >> thanks so much. >> woodruff: tonightar from kat zwick, who tested positive for covid-19 last moh. she spent 20 days quarantined in her bedroom in northern california and spoke to our ceief but spectacular team then about the experi >> so, i'm sitting in my car and i get a call actuall urgent care and they tell me that i've tested positive for covid.

and i don't know how to properly explain or describe, both thek shd kind of the immediate grief, i think, that i felt. and almost like, this cannot be. it's been 10 days sinci tested positive. i have been in my bedroom now for 14 days. i run a therapy clinic in santa cruz, and in oakland. on march 7th i was in new york city finishing up a conference for the american group psychotherapy association and woke up and felt mildly sick. and then it was on monday the 9th that i was back home and i was getting hit now with sort of like waves of fatigue. so i contacted my primary care doctor and they asked me, "have you had any exposure to covid?" i was like, i think there might have been someone at my conference that left early, butt it had sng to do with covid, but i don't really know what. tor said, "well, you nee to go to urgent care and be

triaged in your car. you actually cany come in. a om the conference emailed the listserv of all the htendees and said he inde tested positive for covid. and i was reading through his schedu, and i realized that he and i both attended the dance, i had been on that dance floor, s which was pretll for at least three hours. and so, then i was like, "oh, my gosh, i've been directly exposed," and then, three more people emailed and said they also had tested positive that same day, and they also shared teir schedules and i was at two events with all m. and urgent care said, "you need to come on dowand we probably need to get you tested.," it was that afternoon, on the 17th, that i got way sicker. it was just like severe amount of nausea and dizziness, and i just had to sleep. my fever went up to, i think, 101.6 or sometng like that. and i was the most physically uncomfortable i ve ever been in my life. it was almost unbearable. like, i could not stand up, or i would fall or. i wanted to just see my husband's face, and i couldn't walk. and so i was crawling on the

floor out of the bedom, just to see him in the kitchen. that level of sevety lasted about three days.ri the worst of it last week, i felt extremely terrified.nd my huss calling me like a covid activist. because the thing i feel mostut passionate as people staying in their heriously and right now, a symptom that you have could be covid. niand not to freak out or about that, because panic doesn't help your immune system. but to just stay inside. the amount of support that i've received, i mean just hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of. peop the emotion that comes up is just overwhelming gratitude and recognizing that this mightd sorange coming from a therapist, but recognizing that i matter more to peopl maybe i usually think that i d when you find out that you

matter and you didn't necessarily conceive of yourself that way, i think that does alter, you know, how you show up in the world. my name is kat zwick and this is my brief but spectacular take on surviving covi19. >> woodruff: kat, thank you so much for sharing. kat is no longer in isolation and while r health has improved she is still recovering from the virus. millions of viewers watched her video online and she's responded facebook page.r questions on our and you can find all our brief but spectacular segments at and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, stay safeso and see yo. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> the ford foundation. workg with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> a by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and impred economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made fossible by the corporatio public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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>> my favorite comfort food is spaghet and meatballs, absolutely, and my mother made the best. when ias a kid, i would wait around in the kitchen, and she'd sneak me a meatball with a little bit of. today, we're going to calabria in southern italy,th wherfamous san marzano tomatoes are grown, and then, inspired by these incredibly sweet tomatoes, we'll make spaghetti and meatballs topped with a big spoonfu of creamy ricotta cheese, and i'll also show you how to make homemade spaghetti. i love to travel the globe in search of new food and wine discoveries. for me, it's about more than returning home with a handful of new recipes. 's about taking the spir of austria, of italy, of greece, od of the danube river and injecting sotheir magic into our everyday lives. food has a unique abil to transport us. join me as we discover new plates and places on