welcome back and thank you for joining us again. this is nhk "newsline." we begin in the united kingdom where prime minister boris johnson who has tested positive with the coronavirus is now in intensive care after his condition worsened. on sunday evening johnson was mitted to a hospitatal in centntral lolondon with persist

symptotoms causese by the coronaviruss including a a temperature and a cough. on monday evening the prime minister's office announced that on the advice of his medical team he had been moved to the hospital's intensive c care uni. johnson has asked foreign secretary to deputize for him when necessary. >> the department of m ministrys in safe hands and the focus of the g government will continue be on making sure the prime minister's direction. >> johnson tested positive for the virus on march 27th. earlier on monday he wrote on twitter that he was in good spirits and keeping in touch with his team. he also thanked the national health service for taking care of him and other patients adding you are the best of britain. new york governor andrew cuomo said he's hiking penalties for anyone failing to comply with

social distancing rules in the state, which has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pan demmi neyork h has more than 1 130,0 caseshihich aountntsor nrlyy 40% of the couny'y's totals. so far the country' death tol is over 400. speaking t repters on mday cuomouggestedhat theedical stem isearing its limit. the engine is at a red line and you can't go any faster and by the way you can't stay at red line for any period of time because the system will blow. >> cuouomo stressed new york is running short on ventilators. he says medical officials are struggling to use one ventilator for two people. he says there are signs of a possible flattening of the curve, but it's still unclear whether the state had turned a

corner or not. the governor also said he would extend the statewide shutdown order through april 29th. in both spain and italy the number of cases are slowing, but medical services continue to face challenges including an incrcreasing number of patientsn serious conditionons and infections spreading between houseworkers. spain confirmed the number of new cases at more than 4,200, the lowest in t two w weeks. daily deaths was a also the lowt since march 25th at 637. in italy on monday the total death toll rose to more than 16,000, the highest in the world. but its daily new cases was down by over 700 from therevious day. a world health organization expert has said that lock down measures are having an impact.

>> the lockdowns in many situations are proving effective in dampening the flames of the epidemic. >> the world health organization said on monday that the number of people infected with the virus worldwide increased more than 77,000 from the previous day to more than 1.2 million. more than 67,000 people have died. turning to japan, prime minister abe shinzo is expected to declare a state of emergency for tokyo and six other prefectures on tuesday to fight the coronavirus outbreak. the move comes as tokyo and other major japanese cities have seen rapid spread of the coronavirus and an increase in the number of cases untraceable with infection routes. the situation has raised fears that the country's health care system could be overwhelmed. the declaration based on recently enacted law will cover

the following prefectures. tokyo, kanagawa, and fukuoka. it's set to be in place for about a month. the government set to hear opinions from a panel of advisory experts tuesday morning before issuing the declaration. abe is expected to answer questions about the state of emergency declaration from members of both lower and upper chambers of diet. >> translator: the declaration will be made for the sake of keeping our health care system intact. >> on monday abe said he wants to obtain more public support to fight against the virus. he also said it will not be a lockdown as has happened in some foreign cities. in line with the emergency declaration the government is set to revise it's basic

guidelines for the outbreak. abe will hold a news conference at 7:00 p.m. tuesday to explain how peoples lives will change and why the country needs stricter measures. one day before the tokyo governor once again urged people to stay at home. >> translator: let's come together to overcome this crcrisis. >> g governors in designated ars will be ableo make various independent measures on their own. koike emphasized people will be allowed to go out and buy food and medicine as well as visit hospitals when the declaration is in place. she also said publicc transportation will keep running. koike said she will categorize businesses into three groups, ones to close, ones asked to close and ones that are essential. she said her governmentt is

considering financial support. the international monetary fund says china's economy is starting to recover even though external demand for its products remains weweak. that was thehe finding i in a rt released on monda about the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. the ins says one economic indicator has been improving after a sharp fall early this year. daily satellite data shows an increase in nitrogen dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. that means industrial and transport activity have been picking up. the imf says this suggests measures to contain the virus can work and pave the way for economic activity to resume. the recovery may be a result of efforts by president xi jinping to get companies to restart business. but the ins says there's still

huge uncertainty about it future path of the pandemic. it warns a resurgence in china and other countries can't be ruled out. the coronavirus is taking a toll on a growing range of businesses in japan including language schools. they have been unable to welcome new students from overseas because the government has invalidated visas from more than 170 countries. one school based in tokyo had planned to accept about 700 new students from 28 countries and territories as the epidemic here got under way this month. but only about 90 of them have made it to japan. the fate of the rest is unknown. >> translator: i keenly feel a sense of crisis because if the situation does not improve our business will become financiciay unviable. we believe we need public support or aid. >> the coronavirus pandemic has also devastated global tourism

with hotels, airlines and restaurants facing billions of dollars in losses. one of the hardest hit places is hawaii. as tourism is the u.s. state's biggest industry. we look at how people are coping amid the uncertainty. >> reporter: honolulu's international airport is a front line in the battle to stop the spread of the virus. the state requires all visitors arriving in hawaii to self-quarantine for 1 14 dayays. at this timime of the year more than 30,000 people usually fly in each day. but that sunk to just 1,000 under the new restricts. inno the normally crowded waikiki

beach is quiet and almost all stores are closed with no tourists to be seen. hawaii has long been popular with couples from japan looking for an exotic marriage ceremony, but this church is seeing cancellations pouring in. he works as a wedding coordinator. he says he can't charge current fees because the current situation is treated as a disaster. >> translator: april, may and june are our busiest season. if all are canceled our annual sales will be down by almost half. >> reporter: worked for a travel firm mainly dealing with japanese tourists, but she was

sudden suddenly laid off. >> translator: i was told there was no work for you and was laid off all of a sudden. i want to work for anyonee whoh needs me. >> reporter: for the state government it is a challenge to support not only the large hotels but also small and medium sized companies that might not have the resources to survive. >> their family businesses, we want them to survive, we want them to flourish someday. >> official figures show that the last month has seen more than 80,000 people lose their jobs. the question now is what people can do to make ends meet while they ride out the storm.

nhk world. and now turning to world weather it our meteorologist yoko cukumigata. how severe is the situation? >> one third of the population has been affected by strong winds and heavy downpours. sustained winds of over 200 kilometers per hour hit the area causing flying debris and damagiging trees. its become the second largest cyclone to hit the island on recocord. it will move southeast skirting the coast on fuji tuesday night as a category 4 hurricane. sustained winds of nearly 200 kilometers per hour of trees and even overturned cars. of course heavy downpours will be the major concern. heavy downpours as much as 100

millimeters as we go into wednesday and it will continue to move southeast as it weakens. a couple of high pressure systems in europe have created calm and mild weather acroross good portion of the continent. temperatures are more like early summer in somome places, like paris. so nearly 25 degrees on monday. well above average temperatures and dry weather also spreading across ukraine that hasreated dadaerous firire conditions. first fires began in the exclusion zone on saturday and laststed i into monday. authoritities say thehe firire radiation to j jump 17 times higher than normall readingngs. fortunately the radiation did not reachch kiev which is jusus0 kilometers from the zone. it tookk a a team of 13838 fifirefighters to p put outut t blaze. unfortunately, we are not

expecting rainfall in the country throughout the week. the potential for forest fires to occur will persist in the area. and kiev and moskow with even warmer temperatures over the coming days. that's all for now. have a nice day.

and that brings us to the end of this edition of nhk "newsline." thank you very much for staying with us. welcome took to "news line in depth." today we feeper stories on precious resources and sustainability. sand and gravel literally build

the foundation of our economies. finding applications in diverse sectors from construction to electronics. now with overexploitation supplies are running low and now countries like japan are struggling to obtain the material. one kyushu man is working overseas to meet domestic sand trade demand. >> reporter: the waters of kyushu in southwestern japan are an important source of the country's sand. >> translator: that's where the sand is. >> reporter: but it's getting harder and harder to find sand suitable for concrete. the government has limited where it can be extracted due to environmental concerns.

the amount of sand retrieved has decreased 80% compared to japan's peak. >> translator: with natural disasters and reconstruction work becoming more common, it will be a major blow if we lose our sea sand supply. >> reporter: a growing number of firms are now importing the material including this local trading company. its president has been scouring asia for new sources of supply. >> translator: hello? >> reporter: but he has been struggling to keep up with demand. >> translator: there's a global sasand shortage. people are fighting to get their hands on it. it's a sand war.

>> reporter: he's visiting a major local sand processing company. the firm's main product is kyushu sand. it's essential for the production of tap water. with domestic sand supplies tightening he shows his client a sample from malaysia. >> translator: this is it. >> translator: the shape is nice. it's almost round. >> repororter: t the grain size the sample is just right for water filtering. it's a ray of hope for his client. the company has been increasing word about the effect of the supply. >> it's scary to think about a

future in which we're unable to get the material we need. >> reporter: usa and is his client travel to malaysia to visit a sand producer. >> translator: i'm'm determinedo bring back sand to japan. i hope i'm able to secure about 8,000 tons. >> reporter: they head to malaysia's largest river, which is the country's biggest extraction site. mountains of sand for use in concrete are piled up along the riverbank. pumps suck up river water extracting 30,000 tons of sand a day. usa and his client want to check the operation. >> the quality is good.

the sand has been washed, so it's quite >> would it be possible to use a mesh with 3 millimeter holes? >> well, it's kind of a hassle to separate sand like that. if can buy 5 500 tons, okay, bu 10,000 tons just isn't enough. >> who are you exporting to? >> mostly customers in china. we send the country between 300,000 and 500,000 tons a month. >> china used to be a sand exporter, but it stopped in 2007 as its domestic construction

increased along with its appetite for sand. the country now uses its economic might to consume supply from all over the world. boat like this to dock in japan. it really demonstrates the scale of things in china. >> usa gives up on the fact but not on securing sand from malaysia. this local mining company wants to develop its sand extraction techniques by working with japanese firms. >> translatotor: we're looking r partners we can cooperate with on a long-term basis. >> translator: japan is an advanced nation, and tit would e ideal if we could gain its technical support. >> reporter: the two companies are able to find common ground

and will begin exporting sand to japan within a few months. >> translator: i'm glad we were able to meet. i'm going to do all i can to secure stable sources of supply at the best price for m my clients. >> as we've seen demand for usable sand is skyrocketing. the u.n. reports that 50 billion tons of sand and gravel are used around the world every year for not just cement but also for treating beach erosion, creating artificial islands and land reclamation. a panel expert said sand is not infinite, so the implementation of sand management measures as well as the cracking down on illegal sand mining may not be sufficient to protect reserves. innovative solutions to replace the resource will be critical to resolve the situation.

currently recycled plastic, soil, bamboo, wood and straw are being explored as alternative building materials, and recycled plastics are being targeted for road building. the time i is now for the globa community to treat sand for what it is, a resource as vital as i biodiversity and clean area. our last story is about a business not only reusing waste but up cycling. its high end merchandise is keeping clients warm fashionably and sustainably. >> home to several luxury brand shops it's one of tokyo's premier shopping areas. since 2015 this apparel maker has been producing jackets filled with recycled down. last year the company produced 90,000 down filled products. with 60% of the natural

insulation coming fromm recycle sources. >> our down filled products are quite environmentally friendly. this has allllowed to gaiain a l customer base that not only appreciates the quality of our product butut sharere the same economic philosophy as we do. >> the down is sourced by an organization called green down project. it currently provides recycled down to 100 participating companies. they collectct used downwn clot from customers all across the country and send them to one central facilitity for processi. that f facility is owned by the kuwada feather company that sells to bedding manufacturers in japan and overseas. >> translator: backk in the day we used to have a lot of high quality down, but that's not the case anymore. so now we n need to rescue andd

recycle this quality material from products that are going to be thrown away or there won't be enough. >> reporter: once it arrives the down is run through the company's special cleaning and filtering process. this giant washing machine rapidly mixes and swirls the down around, and the individual feathers collide with each other and dirt and grime are removed at a microscopic level. the cleaning process uses a chemical based soap that's imported from france. and the water they use is collected from a well that produces extremely soft water, which is ideal washing the down. the process has been proven effective at removing both dirt and discoloration. after cleaning the down is separated. its run thru a sorting system that separates the higher quality down from the larger feathers that are often mixed in with lower quality down

products. inside there are four separate chambers aligned in a row. when the feathers are blown in the heavier feathers fall into the first few chambers. since the down is much lighter it blows past the first chambers and falls into the chambers located further to the back. over 200 kilograms of the fluffy down is filtered per cycle. next samples are taken and the down is inspected by hand for quality. despite their strict standards 80% of the dowown for itit proc ends up being reused in products. >> translator: feathers are surprisingly durable. they're even strong enough to be fossilized, so they're definitely usable for at least 100 years. i want peoplee all around t the world to realize that this sort of m materiaial is perfect for

upcycling. >> according to the chair person of green down projects, a down recycling initiative, 1 kilogram of incinerated down generates around 1.8 diagrams of carbon di dioxide. for some time consumer awareness of sustainable fashion has been growing with shoppers favoring clothing of recycled cotton, wool and cashmere. at the same time shoppers are also quality focused, so going high end as we saw in a s story may be key to sustainable resources and business success. sustainability continues to be a major trend in retail with shoppers willing to shell out more for items aligned with their lifestyle philosophy. upcycling adds value making

ethical and economic sense. thanks for watching, and see you again next time.

>> britain's prime minister is moved into intensive care as his symptoms worsen. hello, this is "al jazeera." also coming up, the coronavirus death toll passes 50,000 in the number of fatalities across the continent seems to be falling. the republic of congo is to shut down their main commercial hub

in the capital. and staying connected