revises this coronavirus death toll up by 50%. offificials say the deaths i got uncounted because some people died at home and there was a delay collecting figures. 'france death toll falls with fewer patientss. the numbers have been fluctuating the mid a consistent reporting from nursing homes -- inconsistent reporting from nursing homes that were included this month. , they up on france 24 plan to reopen the u.s. economy. donald trump has given governers a roadmap that has

strong testing and seeing a falling coronavirus cases. those of the top stories. france 24. we start with wuhan. the chinese city at the origin of the outbreak which has oll byd its death t 50%. the adjustment comes amid mounting criticicism of the countrtry's hahandling of the pandemic.. authoritieies initially try to cover up the outbreak, reportedly punishing doctors who raised the alarm online in december. the foreign ministry claims there was no lack of transparency. i asked our beijing correspondent to break the numbers down for us. figure ofook at that an increase in 50% of the number of covid-19 fatalities in wuhan. the authorities i in the city explplained the increase byby te

fact t they cononducted an invevestigation, a d detailed investigation into the data collected over the past few months, whether at hospitals or funeral parlors or the city's securityty services to see if their previous estimates w were correct. they amended that data with these new deaths. they explained it is sort of normal this happens because the cityty's i infrastructurure was overerwhelmed at t the begeginnf this e epidemic and d could not handle the influx of patients. that meant some people died without treatment either at home or in the retirement homes. this is how they explained these new figures. it comes at a time of the chinese government is under a lot of pressure from western governments, the united states, france and the u.k., who are asking questions about the reliability of chinese figures. about whether or not there was a cover up from chinese authorities at the beginning of this pandemic, with reports

saying the authorities -- the president t and beijing knknew t this virus for s six days before really alerting the public. today the ministry of f foreign affafairs said china has not haa cover up and does not allow coverups. there are still many questions. jeannie: here in france where the death toll standing at 18,000, officials are saying covid-19 has been contained. the announcement comes a month after a national lockdown was in the second day t the number of people in hospitals has declined. the french health system is still under huge stress and it's crucial that french citizens continue to comply with the confinement regulations until may 11. france, the fourth highest tally of fatalities in the world, has been criticized for taking few concrete actions in the earlier

stages of the pandemic to impose strict social distancing measures or promote large-scale testing. a shortage of tests continues to be a problem. france 24 has that report. >> this family business specializing in carbon-based products is racing against the clock. they are aiming to reduce 1.5 million nasal swabs a week used the test people for covid-19. the factory which usually makes cotton balls has changed production line in record time to meet the increased demand. >> [speaking foreign language] reporter: the model has already been approved and is being used in hospitals and the french defense health service.

the number of orders from across france is continuing to increase. >> [speaking foreign language] reporter: french resident emmanuel macron said the country will have the capacity to test every person wiwith symptoms by the 11th of may. amid those ongoing questions about testing and vaccinations and cures, i would like to welcome a senior research fellow from london. thank you for being with us thts friday. observers say we can't lift the confinement measures and resume

normal life, whatever that may look like, unless there is widespread coronavirus testing. is notthe problems is it proving to be 100% accurate. in terms of the antibody testing, i t think there is stil a lot of work that needs to be done on an increasing the accuracy of tests. the swab testing is likely to be more accurate. i think the more important point arehat, you know,w, there many reasons why this virus is circulating in the popupulation. whilile testingng is an impmport compmponent to control the epidemic, it is not the only thing that will help control the epidemic. one of the really important things is our behavior in terms

of social distancing and good hand and hygiene for example. ththose are thinings we can alao to not only protect ourselves against infection but also reduce the likelihood of unwittingly passing the infection on too others. i think it's important to remember we all have a role to play in helping reduce the spread of this pandemic. >> you just mentioned hygiene measures and social distancing measures in place. a question a lot of people are asking, when do you think we will be able to hug again? well, hopefully we can still hug the people in our household even with social distancining. say howit is hard to this pandemic and the epidemic in different couountries will ly

out and when we will really bring this virus under control. imagine inntil -- i time social resestrictions being imposed at the m moment will be reduced. wewe will go back k somewhat to normal life. i think realistically until there is a vaccine that can help bring up the immunity in the population, i'm not survival go back 100% on normal. hopefully we will still be able to hug one another before that happens. >> here is hoping to that. talking about the timing, you were the co-author of a study that claims large peaks and coronavirus cases during the winter. with the summer months approaching in europe are we certain to see a drop in potentially a second wave again in the winter? what i would say is that

seasonality may play a role in the spread of the virus in the coming months. in these commonly circulated coronavirus is that cause the common cold that they have these winter peaks and much fewer cases in the summer. i think even if that pattern holds to covid, it has a tetendency to spspread more easy in the colder months in the summer months, i think there are other factors that have a big role in the spread of the virus. the fact that the population has really high levels of susceptibility. there are so many susceptible people in the population. it is probably easier for the virus to spread. also, our behaviors dictate to a large extent how easily the virus spreads. that is why it is so important to follow the public health advice in the couountries we are in. i would say although there are

-- there may be a reduction in cases due to the seasonality of the virus in the summer, we should remain vigilant and make sure we are doing things like good hand hygiene even when restrictions start to lift. >> you briefly alluded to vaccinations earlier.. we know that tb vaccine has been called a potential weapon against the coronavirus. is it too early to say that would be the case? i think it is very early in vaccine develolopment for thisis virus. researchers around the world are working as hard as fast as they can to develop one. i think it will take some time to develop. i think it is still early days. >> i would like to thank you very much for being with us on france 24 at this hour. turning our attention to the u.k., where lockdown

restrictions will continue for another three weeks. saidursday, dominic raab lifting social distancing restrictions was too eararly and it would riskk a a second wavevf ththe virus. there are questions surrounding a concrete plan given there have been no words on how and when it will end. the country's death toll stands at 13,729. to the u.s. now where donald trump has given governors are roadmap for recovering from the economic pain of the coronavirus pandemic. the president laid down a three-phase plan. chapter one, restaurants, cinemas and sporting venues could reopen under certain restrictions. schools, day care centers and bars would not. again,ing up america keen to kickstart the e economy donald trump unveiled a program to ease the lockdown

state-by-state. backtracking on remarks he had the ultimate authority to reopen the economy, the president promised governors they would be handling the process themselves. >> governors will be empowered to tailor an approach that meets the diverse circumstances of their own states. every state is very different. >> the guideline for outline three phrases. states will have to sacrifice certain criteria to start the first phase, including evididene of a decrease in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations over a 14-d-day period, a and a rebud teststing system.. during phase one most people are encouraged to continue working from home. non-essential travel will be minimized and large venues suchh as cinemas and places of worship will be able to reopen under strict social distancing measures. phase two will allow non-essential travel and gatherings of up to 60 people. schools will reopen and bars may operate at a reduced standing

room capacity. phase three will allow visits to care homes, a widespread return to work sites and the relaxing of social distancing and public venues. trump says 29 states may be in the -- may be ready to reopen soon. more than 22 million americans filing front appointment in one month, the government is eager to get the economy back on its feet. the u.s.'s top infectious expert said has urged for patients. -- patience. >> it will be staggered. that is clear the obvious. we feel obvious sooner or later we will get to the point hopefully sooner with safety as the most important thing, to a point where we can get back to some form of normality. reporter: for lockdown measures to be successfully relaxed governors and democrats are stressing the u.s.'s testiting capacityty needs to be dramatically increased.. >> three nasa astronauts have

returned to a whole new world, coming down to earth after months in space. they touched down essential thanhstan wherere a smaller usual welcoming committee was sn hand to grgreet them. departure, the trio had to spend about a month in isolation due to the cocoronavirus pandemic. they were unable to say goodbye to their families in person at the time. from me and the team here at the french tony for headquararters in paris. thank yoyou for watching. do stay tuned.

that same year, the awaward went to french president emmanuel macron. and narendrara modi for r the creation of international solar alliance. 21 in paris, india wants the world to know it is doing good work. have set a target of

100 gigawatts of solar power by 2022. >> an ambitious target, but india has already achieved 80% of its goal. solar is the showcase e of the countrtry's environment of commitment. india also has 300 environment responsible for a quarter of them. i feel the government is deliberately trying to destrtroy people h here. >> in the mining state, undederground tolls have b becon openen pit mine. he worked there for 30 years. villagers inl the the coal mines finally get help? and how? we can't even breathe. >> for more than a century,

uncontrollable underground fires have r ravaged the mind. mines. it emerged through cracks in the earth that never stop growing. two years ago, a father and son died in one of these fires.. respiratory diseasases are very common because o of the the toxc gases. for want of better opportunities nobody leaves. >> i i wrote a letetter to the government of modi asking him to come to the coal mine unprotected, without a mask so they get it. >> coal remains the country's largest source of energy. output continues to increase. two newmeters away, coal-firired power plants are under construction. it is adani's $2 billion project. the site will consume several million liters of water a day, drying up the villages around it. of the 11 in one villages and farming is her

occupation, like everyone else here. >> everyone depends on the land here. i have three different crops and itit helps me feed m my family,y for my children's school. >> the power stations will burn up to 20,000 tons of coal per day to reduce electricity that will not benefit the region, but go to bongo --. -- bangladesh. what angers her the most is the appropriation of their land. >> we already had nothing to eat. cannot even imagine what the future will be for my children. i never wanted to sell my land. our senator there. >> a family member sold off herr land witithout a signature. >> we went to the police station and even to the court butut noby wanted to listenen to us.

they told us the company had acquired our land and we could not sue them. they told us no matter where we went nobobody would listen to o. today, a special meeting is being held in her village. other residents denounced forced land purchases, which also take -- take place by intimidation. >> if you protested agagainst ts project, you were told if you didn't give up your land, you would be killed. raise your hand if that is the case. >> these are thrhreats no one takes ligightly. witnessss, to the global 23 activisist were murdered in indidia last year, making it the third most d dangerous country r envivironment elelective is him. murdered invictims, this r region 200 kilometers. one of his colleagues agreed to talk to us but on condition of anonymymity for fearar of repri.

>> he lives close toto the spac. he loved the river. this is where he grew his family. dumpingal mine hahad been on thehe riverside. >> a father of three had been fighting the state enterprise that mined coal here to get it to stop polluting the river. then june 7, 2018, community gathered. three boys came on a motorbike and d pumped nine bulletets into him. time forch a tragic the community, through the -- for the family. >> two attackers have been arrested with their motive remains unknown. > i have giveven of activisim because it is so dangerous. it has been very difficult. withs programs going ahead environment of destruction and sony places. >> waste is no longer dumped in

the river today. >> to see work it did not go to waste is something that makes me feel not only happy but i see this as a blessing for the children and the days ahead. he has beenars, fighting for a better world. she is an environment till activist, feminist, author and physicist known across the world. she also want an alternative nobel prize in 1993. she hahas also received d death threats. >> r right here in my office. i constantly got threatened. i should receive calls. i get up every day knowing today might be the last. >> scheepers india's tribal population at the forefront of her efforts. bethe very culture is to part of the earth. therefore wherever they are,,

they would be approached. because of the tricks played by the system that does not recognize their r rights, they become throwaway people, they fight for the earth on which they arere a part. defensive travel rights is the fence of the future. -- defense of the future. >> several thousand live in the heart of mumbai on the 130300 hectare forest, known as the last long of the city -- lung of the city. behind these barriers is anonotr world. here.live the forest gives us everything we need. and have a vegetable garden even eat vegetables growing in the forest. indiaias latest national census, there are close to 204 million indigenous people in the country.

that's more than any other country in the world. but there land is shrinking every day. see, thewers you hohotel. before they were just trees and the river. my father and i went fishing in the river. now it looks like these buildings will slowly take over. the forest is now threatened by the construction of the metra train and parking site. itit's a projoject that h has dd the population. for the first time they are supported by many of mumbai's residence, and even volley with stars. -- bollywood stars. >> they want to create one more issue. october, hundreds of trees were cut in the middle of the night and the situation got tense. thousands of people e were parmela. including

we meet her at a rally with her husband. >> letet your candleles here and ststand in line. > these candles are being lit to ask the trees for forgiveness. according to tribal tradition, they are the other protectors. >> these are unprecedented protests in the history of mumbai. peoplele of all ages, sex, socil class and caste took to the streets. it's up to the government to in the textbooks of future generations if they want to appear to be the one to save the planet or vice versa. >> defined at the government's position we met the indian minister of environment, forest and climate change. question. asking me a aa few hundred werere removed. we left the best examples. removed 15,000 trees.

we built the metro statation. years, 50,0000 trees have begun like this. all grown up. simultaneouslyly, 5 million andengers travel enviroronment to lee from the public transport. >> except in the case of the forest, the goal is not to put less pressure on the network but to create space to park susubway trains. >> we will notot talk abouout oe project. we will talk about policies. >> how do you make plain the number -- >> the world has to explain because the world is not in a sustainable way. my top priorities is the earth.

there are elements of life. fire -- thatnergy, is energy. and then wind and sky. to protect all these five elements we e all on the p plant use. tillotect environment important issues. > can i have something more concrete? >> that is concrete. is trying to make the voices heard and are waiting for answers from the country's leaders. >> our government has to take action. it is not our ability -- responsibility to fix the mess because before we were born. >> india has zero clclimate action. here we are destroying our forests, evicting the forest people.

it's in the name of money and development. >> these young people gathered in the streets as part of a future movement launched by greta thunberg. some are barely 10 years old. [indiscernible]e] >> according to the environmental performance index which m measures the effect of a policies, and he is currently lengthth 177 out of 180 nations. today the population is looking for concrete action and a rapid resolution to

[upbpbeat jazz music] woman: most of the things that i do require an enormous amount of planning and negotiation, andnd it can tatake a long g ti. every once in a while, i'll be like,