04/03/20 04/03/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york city, the epicenter of the pandemic, this is democracy now! >> i stand here today as i am about to read the names of some of the doctors, nurses, front line providers that have fallen to the coronavirus serving in the front lines. amy: as frontline health care workers nationwide demand safer

conditions, tests, and protective gear, we will speak with an icu nurse at a protest underway outside mount sinai hospital in manhattan as we broadcast. then we will look at the pandemic in asia as it surges in the philippines and indonesia. and we will speak with a stanford epidemiologist in taiwan about how taiwan, right next to china, has contain the virus with just five deaths so far. >> preparing for the next crisis. toy allowed the government take equipment stockpiles. amy: in the congressional hispanic caucus joined thousands of doctors and immigrant rigighs groups demanding the release of tens of thousands of ice detainees. we will go to the border for an update. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from new york city, the epicenter of the pandemic in the united states. i'm amy goodman. the united states has recorded nearly 1200 deaths from covid-19 in just 24 hours, the worst daily death toll for any country since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. nationwide, over 6000 people have died, with more than 1500 covid-19 deaths in new york city alone. medical workers report chaotic scenes of patients overflowing out of hospitals that have run out of beds with bodies quickly filling refrigerated trucks serving as makeshift morgues. in the bronx, doctors and nurses wearing surgical masks and scarves held a protest thursday to protest the critical lack of ppe -- that is personal

protective equipment. of angrye a lotot nurses. everyone is frustrated. of course people come off the end of their shift and they are cryingng because they don't know what they're taking home potentially to their families. they do not know what they are coming into the next day. we are seeing a massive amount of six patients, a mass of amount of patients that are dying because of this illness. at the end of the day, we are not protected. amy: one 28-year-old doctor at thursday's protest said she heads to work each day feeling like a "sheep going to slaughter." new york governor andrew cuomo says the city has just six d das until its hospitals will run out of ventilators crucial to keeping critically ill covid-19 patients breathing. cuomo pasta bs when he came as the house oversight committee reported just 9500 ventilators remain in the national stockpile with another 3200 set to arrive by april 13. far short of what will be needed

to treat covid-19 patients in emerging hotspots like new jersey, michigan, illinois, louisiana. president trump has promised to deliver 100,000 ventilators, but most will not be available until late june at the earliest. on thursday, president trump tweeted -- "massive amounts of medical supplies, even hospitals and medical centers, are being delivered directly to states and hospitals by the federal government. some have insatiable appetites & are never satisfied." trump's son-in-law and white house adviser jareded kushner, o has been tapped to l lead much f the coronavavirus response, mada rare television appearance at a white e house e press briefing ththursday. the notion of the federal stockpile, supposed to be our stockpile, not state stockpiles they then use. amy: with the national stockpile of medical equipment nearly

exhausted, tennessee's department of health has advised medical workers to prepare to use swim goggles as eye protection, plastic bags as gloves, and tissues, gauze and diapers as masks. in florida, a statewide remain-at-home order went into effect early friday after republican governor ron desantis ended his weeks-long opposition to strict social distancing measures. houses of worship are exempted under the order as essential businesses, raising fears of community spread at churches, mosques, and synagogues. at least 144 people have died of covid-19 in florida, which has one of the nation's largest populations of residents 65 and older. meanwhile,e, florida officiaials alallowed a pair of coronavirus-stricken cruise ships to dock in fort lauderdale thursday, with the sickest and most vulnerable passengers allowed to disembark.

governor desantis had ordered the ships to remain at sea, saying he opposed the "dumping" of hundreds of coronavirus patients in sosouth florida, but reversed c course afteter a call from presidedent trumpmp. fofour people died of sususpectd covid-19 a aboard the ships, wih hundreds falling ill. the labor r department reports a staggering 6.65 million americans filed for unemployment over the last week, bringing the total number of u.s. jobless claims to more than 10 million since the coronavirus pandemic reached the united states. millions more are expected to file claims in the coming weeks, with state unemployment agencies reporting jammed phone lines and crashing web servers due to record levels of traffic. economist ben zipperer of the economic policy institute estimates in just two weeks, mass layoffs left 3.5 million people with no health benefits. he tweeted -- "the covid-19 pandemic lays bare

the cruelty of tying health insurance coverage to employment." vice news reports amazon executives have launched a pr campaign to smear fired employee christian smalls after he led a strike at a staten island amazon warehouse demanding sanitized work spaces, protective masks, and covid-19 tests for workers. at a meeting attended by multi-billionaire ceo jeff bezos this week, amazon general counsel david zapolsky reportedly declared smalls not smart or articulate and outlined an anti-union campaign with smalls as the "face of the entire union/organizing movement." so far, employees in at least 30 amazon fulfillment centers have tested positive for coronavirus. new york city has joined losos

angeles in recommending that all residents wear masks or otherwise cover their faces while in public. this comes as the centers for disease control and prevention is e expected to reveverse its longng-standing advice thahat members of the general p public should not wear non-medical masks when leaving the home. meanwhile, the food and drug administration has lifted a ban on imports of chinese-made kn95 respirator masks amid a severe shortage of medical-grade n95 masks. the food and drug administration has approved a test that screens for antibodieses in the blbloodf people who've recovered from exposure to the novel coronavirus. this comes as hospitals in new york city and in houston, texas, have begun experimental convalescent serum therapy for critically ill covid-19 patients. the procedure involves harvesting antibodies from the blood of people whose immune systems have beaten the disease. meanwhile, the natational acadey

of scienences warns the novel coronavirus appears to be able to spread through aerosolized droplets. the finding could invalidate a cdc recommendation that people who stand six feet apart are protected from the virus, with reresearch sugststing that infected people can spread the virus simply by talking or breathing. the democratic national committee said thursday it will delay y its presidential nominanating conntion in mimilwaukee byby a month t to at 17. thdnc's s announceme camame as democratic f frontrunner joe bin ged wiscononsin to proceed with in-person titing at polllling sites s across thehe state duria scheduled primary election next tuesesday. >> a convention having tetens of thousands s of peoplee in one ea is very didifferent ththan havig people walk into a polling boooh with a accurate spacing, six to0

feet apart, wanted a time going in and have machines scrubbed down. amy: on thursday, a federal judge declined to postpone the election but said wisconsin was ignoring public health data and "endangering its population." wisconsin's poll workers are overwhelmingly elderly and many have health conditions that put them at high risk of death if they're infected. democratic governor tony evers has called up the national guard to fill in for an estimateted 70 poll workers who've refused to participate. biden's opponent, senator bernie sanders, has called for a delay to allow wisconsinites to vote entirely by mail. wisconsin senator tammy baldwin and the mayors of milwaukee, green bay, and racine are also calling for a delay. wisconsin has reported at least 38 deaths from covid-19 and residents who wish to brave in-person voting will be exempted from a shelter-in-place order. europe continues to bear the

brunt of covid-19 deaths, with spain's death toll passing the 10,000 mark, france passing 5300 deaths, and the united kingdom approaching 3000 deaths. italy reported another 760 covid-19 deaths thursday, bringing the total number to almost 14,000. but italian officials cited a glimmer of hope that after weeks of increasingly strict social distancing measures, the rate of new infections appears to be leveling off. the coronavirus pandemic has unleashed new technologies that are challenging civil liberties like never before. in san francisco, , the founder and ceo of the videoconferencing company zoom apologized wewednesday overer software flfs ththat have alwed d hackers s to steal passwords, to join private calls,s, and even to hijack mac ususers' webebcams and mrorophos zoom has s seen a suddenen surgf nearly 200 million daily usesers working and stududying remotely.

in tunisia, police are remotely operating robots -- equipped with cameras, microphones, and loudspeakers -- to check residents' id's while enforcing a lockdown in the capital tunis. indonesian authorities are using drones to spray disinfectant in some residential neighborhoods, raising coconcerns over prprivay and toxic chemicals. sosouth korea's government has collllected massive e amounts of cellphphone data to create a public map warning residents if they've come into contact with someone who has covid-19. in israel, the high-tech firm nso group is promoting software that would assign every person a score of 1-to-10 ranking how likely they are to carry the virus. nso group previously developed spyware known as pegasus, which allows hackers to turn on a cell phone's camera and microphone and trawl through personal data and messages. the group is being sued by

whatsapp after the malware was discovered on the phones of human rights activists and journalists, including a s saudi dissident close to mururdered journalist jamal khashogoggi. presidential candidate joe biden called thursday for sanctions against iran to be eased to slow the spread of covid-19, which has ravaged a health care system already devastated by u.s. sanctions before the pandemic arrived. biden's opponent senator bernie sanders has long called for an end to sanctions on iran, and earlier this week sanders joined 33 other lawmakers in a letter to secretary of state mike pompeo demanding he allow for shipments of humanitarian assistance. at the white house, president trump was questioned thursday by al jazeera correspondent kimberly halkett about the iran sanctions. >> would you consider easing sanctions to allow mededical supplieses to get in? pres. trump: they have not even allowed us to do that.

>> we know sanctions hit people, not the government. pres. trump: they have not even asked us to do that. amy: in fact, iranian officials have repeatedly demanded the u.s. lift sanctions, with foreign minister javad zarif condemning them m as a campaignf economic terrorism. on wednesday president trump again threatened to attack i ir, claiming in a tweet that he'd learned of iranian plans for a sneak attack on u.s. forces in iraq. in brazil, amazon land defender and indigenous leader zezico guajajara has been assassinated. his body was found this week near his village with gunshot wounds, marking the fifth assassination of amazon forest protectors in the past six months. meanwhilile, a 20-year-old indidigenous woman l living in a village deep in the brazilian amazon has tested positive for covid-19 -- the first case in the region -- raising fears that the pandemic could spread to remote indigenous villages with lethal effects. colombia also reported the first

two coronavirus cases among the yukpa indigenous community in the city of cucuta. in arizona, memberers of the bordrder community o of aho are warning of a potential coronavirus outbreak as the trump administration intensifies the construction of the border wall, triggering an influx of tightly-clustered work crews into the small town, which is some 40 miles north of the u.s.-mexico border. in nicaragua, a ministry of health spokesperson says president daniel ortega is unlikely t to ordeder residentso remain at home o or to practctie strict sococial distancing measeses to mbatat the coronarus. tens of f thousands of nicaragus are remainining atat home voluntarily afteter reports of e first covid-19 related death a d at least five confirmed d cases. in neighboring e el salvador, to deaths h have been repororted ag nearly 50 confirmed cacases, ththough testing remains extxtry limited. residents of rural communities in el salvador are struggling to get information about the

pandemic, and health advocates warn many people have no access to hospitals or other health resources. president trump is set to welcome top oil company executives to the whitite house today to discuss release measures for the fosossil fuel industry. demand for oil has plummeted amid the coronavirus pandemic and a price wawabetween russia and d saudi aria. oil prices surged 25% % thursday after trump tweeted that his friend -- saudi crown prince mohamed bin salman -- had agreed with russian president vladimir putin to cut oil production. president trump wednesday announced u.s. navy ships are being deployed to waters near venezuela in one of the largest u.s. military operations in the region since the 1989 attack and invasion of panama. this comes as venezuela state prosecutors have summit venezuelan opposition leader juan guaido for an alleged attempt to coup d'etat against

maduro and attempted assassination. belovedew york city, brooklyn elementary school teacher has died from complications of covid-19. sandra santos-vizcaino was described by the community as a generous, talented teacher and an amazing hugger who pushed and supported her students unconditionally. santos-vizcaino was a third-grade teacher at prospect heights' p.s. 9 who had been working as an educator for at -- over two decades. she was a member of the association of dominican american supervisors and administrators and was awarded the outstanding education leader award in the dominican republic for her education work in the island. before her death, she had been building her dream home with her husband in the dominican republic, looking forward to retiring there one day. she's also survived by her two children. she was 54 years old. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from the epicenter of the pandemic in the united states, new york city. as the coronavirus death toll in the u.s. passes 6000. medical workers nationwide have been first to work shifts of up to 16 hours and are reporting chaotic scenes of overflowing hospitals and bodies quickly filling refrigerated trucks serving as makeshift morgues. in response, nurses in california, florida, kansas missouri, nevada, and texas are , protesting one of the nation's largest hospital chains for a "lack of preparedness" amid the coronavirus pandemic. they're calling on hca health care to provide test personal protective equipment, , ppe, for nurses and other staff. here new york city were more than 1500 pepeople have died, nurses and doctors at montefiore medical center in the bronx protested thursday over the lack

of ppe. today another protest is underway in front of mount sinai hospital in manhattan calling for more protective equipment, better staffing, and covid-19 testing for frontline staff. for more, we go live to that protest now, where we are joined by tre kwon, an icu nurse at mt. sinai west and a member of the covid-19 frontline workers task force at mount sinai hospital. kwon ended her maternity leave early to help her colleagues address the pandemic, which is overwhelming new york city hospitals. tre kwon is member of left voice. welcome to democracy now! can you describe where you are, who you are with, and what you're demanding right now? >> hi, amy. i am a nurse here at mount sinai. we are in front of the emergency room. we are going out into the sidewalk to demand protective personal equipment, ventilators,

and adequate safety protocol for health-care workers on the front line. we formed this task force because we saw the whole thing up we are all in this together like cuomo, trump, politicians, and even ceos are claiming, is totally bogus. we're the ones who have our bodies on the line. we are the ones who are putting our families at risk. we are demanding attenention now instead of rapidly responding to this p pandemic with appropriate protective gear, they're actually blaming nurses and even accusing folks of hoarding supplies. cuomo is try to scramble now to build beds. he is doing the big talk, but he is the one who has been closing down hospitals overr the last decade. he has been the kingpin of hospital murders. he is also the one even a proposed medicaid cuts during a pandemic crisis. we see the solution is not going to be presented by these

demagogues who are even now passing a $2 trillllion stimulus package for corporations with critical relief for working-class folks. we are inspired by the actions by the nurses in the bronx, amazon workers who walked out in solidarity with chris smalls who's facing retaliation for his organizing. amy: tre kwon, can you talk about the covid-19 frontline workers task force, what exactly it is, and can you respond to president trump repeatedly tweeting and speaking at his daily news conference suggesting that the hospitals and new york are hoarding equipment and ventilators while the mayor of new york city de blasio, says that new york city will run out of ventilators and just a few days -- in just a few days?

>> we formed our task force over the last week when we e saw our demands were not being met. it is an interdisciplinary task force. residents, doctors, nurses. we invite all health care workers to form those kinds of worker-let assemblies and committees at their hospitals just as we were led by nurses. this initiative was totally planned by as for as. we invite the union leadership to take up these kinds of organizing and support it. -- wholeheartedly. trump saying we are hoarding supplies is absolutely absurdd will stop the hospitals we are working at now, we have to reuse and reuse. we have to use one account for some folks for the entire ship. we h have negative pressure roos that have not been tested and enensured their actually effectively isolating the airborne particles.

we have to use one face shield and we're supposed to wipe that with hydrogen peroxide once we come in and out of the patient's room. we are in crisis with patients being intimated left and right. we have more filling up. this is a total lie. lack ofattention to the ventilators, but it is not j jut ventilators. sinai, until a few days ago, only have several days left of personal protective equipment. seven days is what we were told three or four days ago. we don't know where the situation is now. we see also the response we are getting this morning we were told with the calling of our action, mount sinai executives are finally responding to our demands to extend a quarantine -- it is supposed to be 14 days. that way we can recover and come back to work and not infect our patients or peers. they're also supposedly offering free testing for health carere woworkers.

however, they have not told us when that is going to begin and how we will have access to the testing. his only after hca hospitals have announced the same policy. amy: tre kwon, can you talk about your own personal experience? you are aststounding. you gave birth three months ago. you werere supposed to be on maternity leave for six months? >> well, amy, you probably know this country does not provide paid maternity leave for the working class, so i was going to stay out for five mononths to sx months to spend time with my baby and usese my savings. i went per diem during pregnancy because i was feeling really sick and dehydrated and i have medical conditions during pregnancy because we can barely take a break during our shifts. we were already chronically shortstaffed before the pandemic hit. but i came back a few weeks ago because i was home full of worry and obsessed with w what was gog on with my coworkers come anxious like the rest of us,

watching on our tv's and computers at home. i could nonot stay home anymore while i i heard my coworkers and colleagues scrambling on the frontlines. risk to myself, maybe it is a risk to my baby, but this is what i am. i am a nurse. i think it is my duty to take care of patients to someme extet what i can do. amy: you have released a statement of purpose, which notes "under the defense production act, the president could take over 3m, honeywell, and can really clark, the largest manufacturers of 95 masks and other protective equipment. explain that further. >> what is really necessary, amy, my opinion is thatt the industry needs to be nationalized and put under total public control.

actually, democratic workers control. that would be the only rational way to respond to this crisis. all of these corporations are sitting around waiting for their package from the federal governme. and they have a right to wait for that because certainly, that is what has happppened. but ultimately, what is required is centralized, coordinated planning but not under the hands of trump trump is yet another billionaire boss bigot who is also looking out for his own interests. it really needs to be under thee control of the public, the working class. i mean, this is an ideand i think in this crisis, it is finally becoming really concrete , why health care needs to be national public and human right. why can we not have corporations in charge of determining who gets care? people are too afraid to go to the hospital because even with covid, becse they are afraid of the bills that will remain behind them after they die. , inc. you for

being with us, icu nurse at mt. sinai west. member of the covid-19 frontline workers task force at mountt sinai hospital. she is standing in front of herr hospital rigight now involved in protest. i wishsh you the verery best. you and alall of your colleagues aree heroeoes, defending the lis of everyryone, even beyoyond yor particular hospital. i was your baby all health, your family all safety. thank you so much. when we come back, we look at the response to the coronavirus in asia from the philippines to singapore to taiwan. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

marsalis, junior, he died of complications from covid 19 at the age of 85. , one of new orleans's best-loved musicians and the father of six sons, including the legendary jazz artist branford and wynton marsalis. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, broadcasting from newework city, the epicenter of the pandemic in the united states. i am amy goodness. we turn now to look at the coronavirus in asia. in the philippines, authoritarian president rodrigo duterte said wednesday he's ordered soldiers to shoot to kill residents if they resist a strict lockdown on the island of luzon. his order came after residents of manila's quezon city shanty town staged a protest, saying they've gone hungry without food promisedhen the lockdown began more than two weeks ago. the philippines death toll is 136 with more than 3000 confirmed covid-19 cases. as those numbers grow, nurses and doctors report drastic lack of personal protective

equipment. 17 frontline medical workers have died. this week, democracy now! spoke with er nurse aris santos serrano, who works in a hospital near manilila. >> the situation right now is a little bit difficultlt because f the e series off p patients ---e of patieients we're havining rit now in o our c country, ththe phililippines. i am workiking on a levelel one hohospital, soso we u usually dt see e the icu tytype of patitie, but sincnce the surge, we are obliged to ateast treat emergency cases for patients who arare shing g sytoms of covid-19 the e e conseratatio is the ppe. we need toave them. buofof course, since ther's ononlyimitededumber of supplies proveded fors, i it reallll difficul to tend patients. our situation right, in my

partmentthere are allowin one ppe for o c covidurse. so tt is difcult becse if aatient wld come th very itical cdition, is hard for onnursenly to aend at patie. i ha been to earlieri had t mting witmy boss, a isike our ock of pnd in 95 mas would last fothree or .our days quarantine will stl l be t weeks. we are still expecting the ceses risise up. it is relyad becau they are docts whore dyingight now in m coury. amy:hile thehilippin has seen surge icases, ionesia isow reporng the sond most fatalities in asia after china with 181 d dead. nearly as many have died in south korea, which saw an early surgrge in cases but has been

widely praised for its efffforts to flatten the curve. singapore, hong kong, and taiwan have also had success in containing the virus. later in the broadcast, we will talk about taiwan. but for right now, we're going to singapore where we are joined by natashya gutierrez, editor in chief of vice asia. welcome to democracy now! thank you for joining us. can you start off by talking about the situation in the philippines? >> absolutely. it is heartbreaking to hear that account at that nurse because it is exactly true we're hearing front liners not even being protected so there is questions on how can doctors curb this virus if they themselves are i n danger. in the philippines, we're talking a country of 100 million people. march 16 we saw a lockdown in the island of luzon, 57 million peoplele. that wasas only just the third country after italy and china had had such extreme measures put in place.

president rodrigo duterte at that time had declared a state of emergency for six months. note, this is along the state of ememergency any leader h has declared. it is still that way. people can only go out for essential -- meaning food and groceries -- for once a week. i think what makes people nervous is why deployment of military a and police on the streets. there's a curfew in the philippines. people are able to leave their house between 8:00 and 5:00 a.m. the president has also asked for emergency powers to reallocate about $4 billion to help the poor, but as mentioned earlier, there are riots because it is not clear where t this money wil go. there is not been any clear plan from the government. i would say currently the overall general sentiment in the philippines has been one of disappointment and confusion over the government's action. any people asking for clarity

regarding the government's plan. amy: can you talk more about duterte, who is known of boasting about raping people, diversely murdering people? using this moment of the pandemic to expand his authoritarian powers? >> that is exactly right. there's a a lot of concern over presidident duterte's actctions. it is not a secret he is someone who has authoritarian tendndencies. hehe iseclared a a war against drugs. this has actually targeted mostly the urban core. sadly, we are seeing the same with the pandemic. we are seeing the people who are getting arrested are the poorest of the poor. we have had politicians, senators break their stay-at-home orders says -- notices, one going so far as entering a hospital and putting front linersrs at risk. and yet he has not been arrested, has not been apprehended. the department of justice said we should trtreat him with compassion. meanwhile, we're seeing people

breaking quarantine who are being put in dog cages. we are seeing arrests of homelessss people. the ones who are really suffering in this sort of a militaristic operation are the poorest of the poor. of course, again, his request for emergency powers -- again, it is making people quite nervous because that is jus added powers.. yet, the philippine people are not seeing any major differences or any competent agagainst -- in the government to see they're actually using the funds properly. amy: these commons that duterte made "shoot them dead. i will not hesitate. my auditors are to the police and military also the village officials that if there are troubles or occasions whether violence in your lives are in ."nger, shoot them dead >> this is reminiscent of the way he also directed police to kill people who are using drugs. the scary part is, a as soon a e d sasay that, we suddenly saw a

lot of killings. we hopope that is not the case.. officicials and authorities who understand how difficult this pandemic is for some, people who can't even have the luxury of practicing social distancing themres, and justst treating withth justice, hohopefully. but t it is what makes a a lot f pepeople nervous because we have seseen it in thehe past happene, particularly with the drug war. amy: comparere what is happening in the philippines to i indonesa as well as where you are in singapore. i thinkgapore, you know, the number one thing the governrnment has done frfrom ths clear commmmunicatioion. obviouously, it isis a small coy unlike the philippines and indonesia. it has 5 million people. cohohesiveiairly government a and strong medical resources.s. fromom therere?, they implementd what every outbreak response should be -- early dedetection, tracing,e contract

strictct quarantine. it was q quick to act as the situation evolved when we s saw more imporortant cases, gradualy closed borders. just this afternoon, four hours ago, the prime minister r also announced more extreme social distancing m measures - -- whics essentially a partial lockdown starting tuesday. that is after we sign increase in the number r of local trtransmissions. we are seeing a governrnment tht is nimble and clclear in theheir commununication. what is been consistent throughout his constant reassurance through not just the words of the government, but as well as economic stimulus plans and a consistent messaging on things as simple as food will not run out. ththey clearly explain their policies which i is such a drasc difference f from what is happening in the philippines. and the residents are quite happy with the response of the government here. as for indonesesia, that is the largest population in the world. we are talking 200 million

people. i think what happened with indonesia is that when a lotot f the other coununtries started declaring states of emergency or perhaps announcing their firstt cases, indonesia was very much in the state of limbo, announcing -- bali was open to tourists. how can a country that big, an island of 17,000 people, possibly not have a single-payer case? i think only about two days ago or just yesterday, the president declared state of emergency but until now, jakarta and major cities -- there is no national lockdown despite the fact the mortality rate is 9.4% for covid-19. amy: natashya gutierrez, they can for being with us, editor and chief of vice asia. we are not leaving asia right now. hasurn to a country that successfully staved off the worst of the coronavirus pandemic -- taiwan.

despite being just 100 miles from mainland china with regular flights to a and from wuhan, taiwan has managed to contain the spread of covid-19 through early action and aggressive measures such as ramped up production of medical supplies and advanced tracking of quarantined citizens. taiwan has so far seen just five deaths and just under 350 confirmed cases. most schools and businesses remain open. for more on taiwan's strategy and what the world can learn from it, we are joined by dr. jason wang. he is director of the center for policy, outcomes and prevention and associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at stanford university. he is joining us from the stamford area in california. professor, thank you so much for being with us. lay out the story from the beginning. december happens. there is the coronavirus outbreak in wuhan. what happens next?

what specifically does taiwan do?? just next-door. >> so last year, there was a rumor of a new coronavavirus. the taiwanese government said some doctors from their cdc to investigate in wuhan. they noticed this could lead to an epipidemic -- now a a pandem. so they were on high alert and vigilant. as early a as january 1, they to check on the symptoms and signs ofof passengers comimg on flights, if they had fever or respiratory issues. later on they stopped all flightss fromm wuhan and also other level 3 other areas. triageeaged to papassengers in the airport. so if somebody is coming from

level 3 other area, they are asked to do 14 days of quarantined, during which time the government brings them food and checks up on them three times a day. and if they get sicker, than the government will help them to get way away fromial the main hospitals. basically, triage them to a special fever clinic. now if somebody decides to break quarantine, they will give them a big fine. they also integrated the national health insurance program with the immigration and customs database. so they sent batch h files onon immigration database, the last 14 days only because they want to protect private information. so they only send the last 14 days to the national health insurance data centeter. when a doctor sees a patientnt e doctor will be like,, give into wuhan in the last 1414 days. soso they made sure the doctors and nurses have protective gear

and then they could ordrder the appropriate tests, inincluding covid-1919. so this allows the frontline s to be protective. amy: i want to stop for a second. the issue e a protective gear -- such a massive problem in the united states right now. president trump boasting, we've had the best response and the earliest r response in the worl. now people are learning about the words "supply chain." was that taiwan did, how it managed to get ppe to all its frontline -- i can't say all, but to most of its frontline workers and the issue of tests. why the u.s. has fallen so far short and taiwan surged a ahead agaiainst next door to chihina. >> i think early on, they know that the importance of managing distributed also to

the resources appropriately. january, thatrly in a quick c count of the stockpils in the country. they said, we are 44 4 million surgical masks. 23 million people in taiwan, so less than two masks per person. immediately they said, n no expt of surgical m masks oututside of tataiwan right now because w wed to make more. so then they quickly got together all the suppliers of ththe three different t leadersf mamaterials for the surgicalal s . they say, you can'n't sell this right now. we havave to make more. they quickly established production just for masks. within three weeks, theyey rampd up the production from 2 million a day to 10 0 million a day. today they could probably make 11 millilion to 12 million a da. they are donating 10 million masks to the united states and

also europe. this is a case of special times the government starts to manage the capacity of critical supplies for people who o are fighting i in the frontline.. i think this is very important. i think it is because of experienence. they experienced sars, so they know there is going to be a shortage of ppe's very soon and people will start hoarding masks. right noww if you are inin taiw, coululd take your national healh insurance card and you could get a mask. you can 10 masks per week. so normal citizens can get 10 masks per week. you can still go to school, go to work, take the metro. to use your insurance card to get the masks. amy: can you talk ababout the importance of public education? we only hahave a few minutes. while prpresident trump was sayg there were 15 cases in the united states, sure to go down to zero, and now admitting in the united states what we are

likely to see is between 100,000, 200 50,000 people die of covid-19. talk about what taiwan was saying to its people. it also talked about something that is troubling a lot of people, the surveillalance of is citizens come up the people who live in taiwan, the kind o of surveillance technology that theyey are using to track peopl. >> first of all, the public education component. so early on, after sars, they informzed you need to citizenry in a democracy. the government needs to have policies and the citizens need to comply and help out the government, so it is a joint effort. they s spend a lot of time teleg people what quarantine is, why it is important to stay at home when you're on quarantine, and how to wash your hands so -- the vice president is new but gmail just he's to be the former minister of health during sars.

from the podium of the president, he basically was teaching the public how to wash hands and to where a mask. they put a lot of effort over the last two or three months daily. this is daily. the thing about the tracking betweenit is a balance privacy and rejection of the public. the public.n of when you're under quarantine, they going to take the metro and infect other people. now they are using less and less invasive technology, including you can't go that out of the vicinity because they don't way to infect the public. amy:y:o they arere tracking youy bluetooth. looks they use to track you by gps around your home. but now they a are changing it o a less aggressive form.

they are adjustiting as well also, you can't track people forever. under the comedic will do these control a act -- comedic c will expires.ct, this they have a lot to govern that kind of technology. it is not random. it is a bipartisan effort that was amended the communicative disease control act after sars. this is something the whole population agreed on. let me tell you. in terms of the democracy, in january of this year, 75% of the eligigible voterers v voted fore presidential election. 75 percent voted in n the prpresidential election. so if you do not have the public susupport, youou can do whatat u want. and now the e current administration and the minister of publichas 90% support in the polls.

amy: dr. wang, we have 30 seconds. what can the united states and the rest of the world learn from taiwan? schools are open now. we are talking about five covid deathshs altogether? >> y yeah. has enormous u.s. capacity. right now the local, state, federal gogovernment has to act together in a coordinated way very quickly to contain the virus. setting the right tempo. you need to go fast. you need to pull all of the resources together. we have more talent here and capability that anywhere else in the world. i am totally confident if we pull ourselves together, we can do this. and we need to. amy: dr. jason wang, director of the center for policy, outcomes and prevention and associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at stanford university. speaking to us from his home in california. to protect against community

spread. when we come back, we look at the tens of thousands of immigrants detained in immigration jails and stuck in a camas on the u.s.-mexico border. the congressional hispanic caucus has called for ice to release its detainees. to 40,000s close people. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "waiting" performed by zero eviction. they recorded the song in response to philippines president rodrigo duterte's oppression of the poor who are demanding rice promised them since the philippines went under lockdown amid the pandemic. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. the congressional hispanic caucus has joined thousands of medical professionals and immigration rights groups to demand that ice, immigration and customs enforcement, release all -- detainees from immigration jails as the coronavirus continues to spread. at leaeast four asylum seekers d five icecegents have tested positive for covid-19 -- and the number is likely t to be far higher. more than n 37,000 immigrants ae jajailed in crcrowded facilities across the united states.

meanwhile, immigration advocates are working to prepare crowded encampments of asylum seekekers across t the u.s.-mexico border for a potentialllly catastroropc outbreak of covid-19. under trump administration's remain in mexico policy of , tens thousands of asylum-seekers from regions like central america a and africaca e been stranded inin mexic border cities waiting f for the asylum cases to resesolve in n u.s. co. thisis is jose estrada, a hondun asylum seeker staying at a bordrder shelter in ciudad juau, mexico. >> a big c concern for all o of those who are waiting for a court hearing date. i was memeant to have a hehearin the 30th and because of the coronavirus, has been postponed. everyone is very concerned. amy: a medical aid organization in a matamoros, mexico, encacampmentnt says there are at least five people with covid-19 symptoms and no access to coronavirus testitits. for more, we're going to laura molinar, founder and executive

didirector of thee groroup dreas without borders sueños sin , , fronteras de t tejas, a lat, womemen of color-l-led collectie providing g support to immigrant and asylee women, children, and families. welcome to democracy now! if you can start offff by talkig about this latest call by the congressional hispanic caucus led by joaquin castro, the the brother of the presidential candidate, calling for the release of ice detainees. we're talking about close to 40,000 people in ice jails. ice unilaterally, without the president's approval, could release thehem. is that right? >> yes. he could. defifinitely. amy: if you could talk aboutut e signifificance of this and whatt would d mean. who are we talking about being

released? >> we are talking abobout adult, oners, children as young as month, two months old that are currently being detained in ice detention. believe detenention jailed, especially right now, needs to be shut down immediately. wewe are committed to achieving this goal and supupporting the hispanic congressional caucus with our statement that detainees need to be released immediately and detention centers need to be shut down. amy: laura, can you talk about what is happening along the border? i mean, there are ice detention facilities, but also these refugee camps on the u.s.-mexico border. >> yeses. our work hehere in

south texas has been in , also parts of del rio and other cities. it is a humanitarian crisis. the situation is terrifying and deadly.. we have heard from several of our prograram partners inin mamatamoros that there's no real y to prepare for an outbreak. essentially, it is impossible to practice social distancing and to safely q quarantine. so many of the volunteer in theans and nurses encampments are simply tatakingt day by day and working as hard as they can to mitigate the risksks and prevent the spread f

an infection. challenges they are experiencing right now, particularly in matamoros, is they need access to ppe, testining, medication, sanitize, and other essential supplies. medical teams working at the encampmements do not have the capability to operate as an icu. they're basicically preparing ththemselves to administer palliative and end-o-of-life ca. in the casase that an oututbreak occurs.. to myy knowlededge, there is not any covivid-19 testing available in border towns such as matamoros and mexican cities do not have the resources and health care to handle the spread of infnfection. it is terrifying. amy: can you talk more about mutual aid? it is the term people are hearing more about, h how

cocommunities at the grassroots lelevel are helping -- i i mean, here we are alone together. we are part of the p protections being apart from each other, yet what people are doing along the border, what kind of help do you need frorom people all over? >> that is a great question. our mission is to increase health and healing forr immigrant wowomen and families arriving from the border. but not just asylum-seekers. families women and that recently have been released from detention centers in south texas. alsoso the undocumented communiy that is living here in south texas. in texas, there are 4.7 million immigrants living here, and that makes up approximately g got 70% of the total population here in

texas. populationhe total here in texas. many do not qualify for health care or certain social services aidso the need for mutual is paramount. our healthth advocatate model he at sueños sin fronteras de tejas , we aim to address these gaps through care coronation and resources and health education. watched --w we have launched a mutual aid fund for women and immigrant families, not just at the and camas, but also being released from detention and also just the general undocumented populations here. this mutual aid will help provide food, groceries, housing ce, health supplies, and education to vulnerable immigrant families. amy: lauaura molinar, then you r

beining w with us. we will continue to follow this critical issue, founder and executive director of sueños sin fronteras de tejas, a latinx, speakiking to us from san anton. and that is for our show. please cover your face. , whetheraltruistic act you use a scarf, however you do it, cover your mouth and your nose when you go outside. we all have to protect each other by protecting ourselves. democracy now! is working with as few people on site. the majority of our amazing team is working from home. my condolences to our democracy now! fellolow who just lost his beloveved uncle who was 92 years old. adriano, our condolences go out to your whole family, all the very best and to your aunt. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who

appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

>> the international monetary fund issues a grim warning about the coronavirus pandemic. also coming up, america's top health officials advise everyone to wear some sort of facemask. donald trump says he will not be doing it. health workers come under attack in one indian city. ripelmost