♪ hello, and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. we start here in japan where prime minister abe shinzo is calling on people to practice stricter social distancing measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. the warning comes as the number of confirmed cases rises across the nation. >> translator: the number of infected people has already reached 10,000. frontline medical staff are facing extreme difficulties. please refrain from going out to

reduce the burden on medical inststitutioions and to prproter health. >> a abe declared a state of emergency for tokyo and six otheher prefecectures two weeks but expanded the declaration to the entire countntry last week. since then the number of people venturing outside has dropped but t some tourist spots contin to be packed with visitors, including the city of kamakura, it's a seaside town located just outside tokyo. abe says it's important to reduce the trend, especially with the string of holidays set to start next week. the minister in chaharge of coronavirus measures says h he wants the companies to abide by the government's request to shutter their doors. >> translator: we've received multiple reports that some businesses are not following the request. there are also cases of people traveling to other prefectures to visit facilities that are still open. >> japan does not have laws to

force businesses to close, but nishimura says he may disclose the names of businesses that do not follow the request. meanwhile, japanese health authorities said on tuesday 12 more people died from the virus. that brings the total d death tl to 288, including 13 from the "diamond princess" cruise ship, which is quarantined near tokyo in february. the total number of confirmed cases in japan now exceeds 11,400. more than 700 cases have also been linked to the ship. medical staff across the globe are facing the fight of their lives. the weight of the coronavirus is threatening to overwhelm entire health care systems. as nhk world reports, some frontline workers here in japan are struggling with another problem. >> reporter: a bell rings out across an almost deserted tokyo shoppingng district. it's a nightly tribute to

exhausted doctors and nurses. but elsewhere, medical staff are facing hardships, even when they are off the clock. earlier this month, a doctor at this hospital tested positive for the coronavirus. after the diagnosis was made public, a local daycare refused to care for children whose parents work at the facility. this nurse says she faced didiscrimination a and stigma, even though she never worked with the infected doctor. without child care, she had to take time off work. >> translator: i work at the hospital because i want to help people. itit's frustrating that i'm blocked from doing that byby no being able to take my child to daycare. >> reporter: after a public outcry, the daycare reversed its policy.

it was a relief to staff who say it's hard to function when team members can't come to work. this was not an isolated incident. from cab drivers to nursing homes, medical staff and their families are being refused service out of fear they may be infected. the stories have caught the attention of lawmakers of all political stripes. they are calling on the government to provide financial incentives to people willing to put their lives on the line. she knows what medical teams are facing. she's a a trainined nurse who k japanese nurses can d do m more patients thahan medical profesessionals receive. >> t translator:r: patients wit unrelated ailmlments havave alr had operations postponed.

under these circumstances if nurses quit, or are forced to take leave, the medical system could collapse. >> reporter: but the lawmaker says a strong sense of duty helps workers overcome their challenges. one of the hardest hit cities have come up with its own way to show their support. every friday they give doctors and nurses a standing ovation. >> translator: this practice allows us to express our gratitude to all of the medical teams working during this crisis. >> reporter: it's a small action, but with no indication of how long this epidemic will last, they hope to inspire at least some medical staff to keep fighting. yotsumoto jun, nhk world. moving to bahrain where a member of japan's self-defense force has tested positive for the coronavirus.

japan's defense ministry says the male in his 20s was confirmed to be infected on saturday and is being treated at a local hospital. he is among a dozen sdf personnenel working as liaisonst a command center. the merrettin self-defefense foe has a desestroyer and d defense aircraft deploloyed off somalal for anti-piracycy opererations. seven members have been tested fofor the v virus aftfter a clet an accommodation facility was found to be infected. the other six are in self-isolation. the defensemen psychiatry says the command center remains in operation with anti-piracy missions going ahead as planned. stock markets across asia fell on tuesday, some of them sharply, following overnight losses on wall street. this reflects the historic plunge of oil prices as the coronavirus crisis saps demand. tokyo's nikkei average dropped almost 2% from monday's close. analysts say the oil crash is fueling concerns over the

pandemic's impact on the global economy. other benchmarks in the region also ended lower. the shanghai composite fell for the first time in four trading days. hong kong's hang seng slipped more than 2% with oil-related shares dragging the index down. now to new york's oil market. wti futures for may delivery on monday fell below zero for the first time ever. that means producers have to pay buyers to take oil off their hands. last beak, major oil producers, including saudi arabia and russia, reached a deal to cut production to shore up prices, but analysts say that's still not enough to make up for evaporating demand. and now looking at the effects on the travel industry, australia's second largest airline says it's entering voluntary administration to recapitalize amid plunging demand for travel. >> a necessary decision made by our board, brought on by an

unprecedenented global pandemic >> lastt month, virgin australi suspended nearly all of its international flights due to travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus. even before the pandemic, the airline had been struggling. local media say its total debt amounts to more than $3 billion. the airline employs about 16,000 staff across australia and new zealand, but more than half of them have been temporarily asked not to work until business resumes. the airline says it will continue to operate its scheduled international and domestic routes. the international olympic committee has hinted that it wants japan to shoulder most of the additional cost of the tokyo olympic games caused by their postponement. the olympics have been rescheduled to open on july 23rd next year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. they were originally scheduled for this summer. the additional cost due to the postponement is estimated to amount to several billion dollars. the ioc posted a statement on

its website on monday in question-and-answer form. it says japanese prime minister abe agreed japan will continue to cover the cost it would have done under the terms of the existing agreement for 2020. it added, the ioc will continue to be responsible for its share of the cost. the ioc said the proportion of the additional cost it would shoulder would amount to several hundred million dollars. japan's chief cabinet secretary told reporters it isn't the case that the government has agreed with the ioc on the amount of additional costs each side will pay. >> translator: my understanding is that the ioc and japan's organizing committee confirmed at a meeting last thursday that the impact from the postponement, including the additional cost, is their shared concern. >> suga added, he believes both sides have agreed to continue

jointly assessining and discussg the matter. u.s. media reports north korean leader kim jong-un is in grave danger after surgery. cnn quotes an intelligence official who says the u.s. government is closely watching the situation. the report comes as south korean media "daily nk" said on monday kim underwent cardiovascular surgery on april 12th and is staying at a cottage outside the capital. the last time his activity was recorded was a meeting of the rulingng workers p party held o april 11th.. last wednesday kim missed a visit a mausoleum of his grandfather, a key annual event time to celebrate the birthday of the founder. speculation about kim's health grew after his absence.

south korean officials are taking a cautious approach to the intelligence. a defense ministry spokesperson declined to comment, and a presidential palace spokesperson says no unusual signs have been detected in the country. the japanese government also declined to comment on the matter. the chief cabinet secretary weighed in on tuesday. >> translator: japan is collecting and analyzing information on north korea's moves with great interest. i would like to refrain from commenting on the reports. japan will continue to gather and examine relevant information in close cooperation with the u.s. and other countries. switching gears now to a check on the world weather. residents of the northeastern united states are looking at the possibility of strong storms for tuesday. our meteorologist jonathan oh has the details. jonathan, what's the latest? >> hello. yes, we are talking about the storms of impact in the southern united states moving their way up toward the north. and as we go through tuesday,

we'll talk about the possibility of seeing some strong winds and stormier weather as well. looking at the satellite perspective over the past 24 hours, you see all of that moving toward the north, but on the back side, there's another system coming in. so, the energy will kind of feed off of each other in the process, and that's the c conce with this particular setup. so, looking at the front here, the surface map showing us another cold front once we see this low going off. another one will be coming in behind it, and that is going to create the stronger winds, and again, the possibility of seeing some of these stronger storms as we go through the day tuesday. high pressure also coming in behind it, as that really kicks up against the front that's going to really tighten the pressure gradient and make things quite windy. to the desert southwest, we have another low pressure system developing down here. and the concern is, as it does so, it's going to try to bring some moisture into the southern and central plains. as it does so, we may be talking about some thunderstorms for tuesday, and that could mean some stronger storms as well

with a high of 25 in oklahoma city and 16 in denver. yeah, we're looking at thunderstorms possibilities there. showers from chicago into toronto. new york looking at a high of 13 as we go through tuesday. let's look at what's happening across japan, where it's been, in contrast, a relatively calm day, kind of cloudy for a good portion of the day, as we saw a system rolling across. and now we're seeing things starting to clear up just a bit. now, as we go through wednesday, we're going to see relatively calm weather, except for those up to the north. there's that low up toward hokkaido, and that's goingng to bring a chance for some rain once again. and so, it's going to be wet toward the north but dry elsewhere, and we're going to be seeing temperatures still trying to reach to around 20 degrees or so in tokyo as we go throughout the day on wednesday. 15 osaka and fukuoka at 16. rain coming back to sapporo by thursday. hope you have a good day wherever you are.

and that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. there's much more to come here on nhk world japan, so please, do stay with us.

♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." i'm aiko doden. today we'll be looking at how communities can learn from disaster and pass on the most valuable lessons to future generations. by their very nature, catastrophes like earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and typhoons are, of course, unpredictable. just as each is different, so, too, is the response of the people and communities affected and how they come together to get back on their feet. here in japan, the recovery

process is still continuing after two major earthquakes, one in 1995, the other just nine years ago. we begin with the great east japan earthquake and tsunami of march 11th, 2011. the disaster left nearly 16,000 people dead and more than 2,500 others missing. among the many stories of personal tragedy was an elementary school in miyagi prefecture where 74 children died when their teachers chose to wait out the tsunami, rather than evacuate to higher ground. now, that inspired a drive to learn from the decisions made that day and improved disaster readiness. >> reporter: a university in miyagi held its first ever disaster preparedness program. as part of it, 20 teachers from around japan visited the ruins of okawa elementary school,

where 74 students perished. on that fateful day in march of 2011, there were around 50 minutes between the first earthquake and the tsunami that battered the school. ever since, families have been asking why that time wasn't used to move the children to safety. the school's manual recommended evacuating students to an empty lot or playground, but these didn't exist. even though there is a mountain nearby, children were not moved to higher ground. the teachers met with toshiro sato, whose daughter was one of the school's victims. >> translator: higher ground is right there, but that alone couldn't save lives. for that, you need decisiveness and action. the teachers were responsible, though i know they never would

have wanted this to happen. >> reporter: the visit deeply affected the teachers. >> translator: we must never allow another tragedy like the one at okawa elementary school. >> translator: we study disaster preparedness, but i now realize that not all measures in the past have priororitized childre. >> reporter: the participants went on to another school where its contingency plan saved many lives. atsushi asakawa was the principal at the time. the evacuation sites designated in the school's manual were the school roof or a nearby hill. due to the strength of the earthquake, asakawa immediately chose the hill.

that decision spared the lives of 91 students when the tsunami wiped out the school building below. >> translator: if the faculty hadn't spent the previous year or two discussing disaster preparedness, i would have simply taken everyone to the roof. we need to use our knowledge to make the right decisions. otherwise, there's no point in preparing. >> reporter: the training program wrapped up with teachers discussing their concerns. one of them is miwa, the vice president of an elementary school. >> translator: we have a school manual and conduct drills, but they are just a formality. i don't know if any of our plans would actually save lives. >> reporter: shimosaka's school

is only 50 meters from the ocean in soki. there are fears that an earthquake could trigger a tsunami. >> reporter: after participating in the program, shimosaka decided to have a second look at her school's measures. she started with the manual, which recommended evacuatining the school's third floor. >> translator: if there is a hugege tsunami a and you're on third floooor, there's nowhere run. the manual only recommended locations within the grounds. >> reporter: shimosaka looked for other places to designate for evacuation.

but she found that the high ground nearby would only fit a third of her students and would also be used by residents. >> translator: preschool students would also evacuate here, so we'd only be able to fit the first and second graders. >> reporter: a bigger patch of high ground is a 20-minute walk away, raising questions of whether there would be enough time to reach it. when shimosaka returned to her school, she asked her disaster management team to rethink evacuation procedures. >> reporter: after careful consideration, they decided that

children in the lower grades would go to the nearby evacuation area. children in higher grades would go to the sitee farther away because they can move faster. the school now plans to continue reviewing and updating the manual to secure measures that will save lives. >> translator: my personal opinion is that all faculty members need to be beyond prepared to save students' lives, and that means preparation so thohorough that teachers can think on their feet and take instant action, so that will require u us to be vigilan evevery single day. >> reporte >> through the lens of unthinkable tragedy, teachers in

schools from around japan have begun viewing their own plans in a different light. as we saw with vice principal shimosaka in kochi prefecture, the simple measure that manuals alone are not enough is blindingly clear. when lives are at stake, what may matter most are flexibility and creative thinking, particularly as no two disasters are ever the same. our next report goes back a quarter of a century to the great earthquake which hit the region around kobe in 1995. on top of more than 6,000 deaths, infrastructure and businesses were badly hit. lessons learned from the rebuilding process there are at the heart of a message that one shop owner is sharing with communities in the disaster area of northeast japan but are on their own road to recovery. >> reporter: the shin nagga district in downtown kobe is

home to dozens of major commercial and residential buildings. it's also the site of a sprawling government office compl complex, the final stages of a dramatic transformation. the 1995 earthquake leveled much of this neighborhood, including an old shopping street in the heart of the community. kobe city was keen to review quickly by the sheer number of shop owners. the government's solution was to build anew. it converted the old shopping suite into a shiny, new arcade, but that was a long way from the vision of most. this shop owner masako oto is

one of the people who were back in the street, but it wasn't the rebirth they had anticipated. the area had become quieter, and the lack of business took a toll. another program was a big measure and repair costs added to the long repavement. then there was a property tax rate which had doubled because of the improvements to the buildings. several owners were forced to close. >> translator: we don't want big or fancy spaces, because 10 or 15 years down the track, the cost of maintaining them might be too expensive for us. >> reporter: it became a case study for a town on the other side of the country, own gawa in miyagi prefecture was ravaged by the 2011 tsunami.

hideki took ito's comments to heart. >> translator: mr. ito told me that we should take a pragmatic approach to rebuilding our town. his message made a deep impression on us. >> reporter: doi spent many hours talking with own gawa. the measure was that the local government decided not to sell new properties but to rent them instead. it also had compact one-story buildings that will be cheaper to maintain as they age. >> translator: i think the efforts of the residents will help build a community that can thrive 20 or 30 years from now. we learned a lot from shinegata. >> reporter: the stumbling blocks have become an invaluable guide for the country that

itself is recovering from disaster. risa urabayashi, nhk world, kobe. >> as we've seen, expensive shopping malls were never on the agenda for the businesspeople of onagawa. instead, they used lessons from an earlier disaster to keep rents low and focused on the needs of individual traders, rather than trying to appeal to big companies. and looking to the future, they now hold monthly meetings to assess and share ideas for a sustainable future. our stories today show that even years after a disaster, communities continue to face challenges and that there is no one-size-fits-all blueprint for rebuilding. they also tell us that reconstruction is not just about rebuilding the economy, but about individuals and making sure they see hope in the lives they're putting back together one day at a time.

that's it for today's "newsline in depth." thank you for watching and see you again next time.

>> u.s. oil prices back in negative territory, crippling demand during the coronavirus pandemic pushing prices lower than they've ever been before. normal,e turns to a new spain sees a slight hike in the death toll in the last 24 hours. in india, economic activity in spots of the couountry, new deli and mumbai rememain in luck down -- in lockdown.