we see the prime minister, abe shinzo coming in, approaching the podium at the moment. he is about to make his explanation for what it means for the tens of millions of people living in those parts of the country. let's listen in to the news conference with simultaneous interpretation. >> translator: we hold a press conference of the prime minister abe shinzo and this is the venue that we are holding this press conference. we have taken up good distance and you can take off your masks when you ask questions. first, we will have a statement from the prime minister and then we will open up the podium for questions from you. firsrst at the outset, througho japan, doctors, nurses, assistant nurses, hospital staff and the people who a are involv in the countermeasures as public health facilities as well as experts in clinical technicians, on behalf of the japanese public i would like to offer our heart felt gratitude. the novel coronavirus fight against the virus they are at the forefront with a strong sense of responsibility and right at this moment, in order to save as muc

japanese prime minister abe shinzo said they were working together for medical supplies. >> translatotort the new cocoronavirus infectction is ra in asia, as well. ununder the circumstances, it i extremely important to expand regional cooperation. >> abe also said the leaders will jointly promote the development of drugs to treat the virus. >>> authorities in taiwan on tuesday confirmed there were no new cases of the coronavirus infection for the first time in more than a month. >> translator: we recorded no new cases on tuesday. the pandemic has not stopped, but still, this is something to be happy about. i hope we can keep this number. >> the last time there were no new cases recorded was march 9. taiwan has reported 393 cases and six deaths. most of the patients who tested positive were people who had returned from overseas and their family members. the authorities began barring foreigners from entering taiwan nearly a month ago. they subsequently imposed a measure requiring people who enter taiwan to undergo 14 days of quarantine. those who do not comply risk a fine of about $32,000.

this comes after the japanese government denied comments attributed to prime minister abe shinzo. in the initial statement, on monday, the ioc wrote japan agreed to covering the cost of postponing the games, as the existing agreement for 2020. both the japanese government and the tokyo organizing committee reacted to the statement. they said abe and ioc president, thomas bach, had not discussed additional tal additional costs in their phone talks on march 24th. they requested that the comment be deleted. the ioc later revised the statement. it, now, says the japanese government stands ready to fulfill its responsibility for hosting the games. it adds, the ioc, the japanese government, and the tokyo 2020 organizing committee, will continue to assess and discuss the impact of the postponement. the games have been rescheduled to open on july 23rd, next year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. a japanese government panel has estimated a tsunami over 20 meters could hit the coast of the nation's northern prefectures if a mega quake were to occur along trenches off the pacific coast. the

japan's prime minister abe shinzo took to the stage on friday at a news conference and laid out the reasons behind his decision to expand the state of emergency to a nationwide as part of the measures to take control of the spread of the coronavirus. the government declared the state of emergency for seven prefectures last week. the number of infections continues to rise across the country. some of the officials attribute to people traveling. >> translator: we must definitely avoid people who have been from cities with high number infected areas. if we allow that to happen, that would cause nationwide and rapid expansion of this disease which is the most dreaded outcome. this is decision was made to expand the state of emergency nationwide. >> to help with the economic fallout. he's planning handouts of $930 per citizens. there will be no income cap for the payment. >> translator: we are asking everyone to cooperate. prolonged effects of this covid-19 is spreading all over in this difficult situation. as long-term war is expected, it's important to have a sense of unity with people in order

. >>> 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

prime minister abe shinzo t tola meeting of senior officials from his governing liberal democratic party on monday that the pace of infections seems to be slowing, but he says he's still not optimistic. abe said he will continue to ask people to refrain from nonessential t travel durining spring holidays through may 6th. nearly 4,000 people have tested positive in the capital so far. the increase comes as local governments urged people to stay home amid a nationwide state of emergency. data from mobile carrier ntt suggests those measures are having an impact. on sunday the number of people in tokyo's shopping and entertainment hub of shinjuku was down 82% compared to earlier this year. and in osaka's district the number of people fell 88%, and data from another carrier showed that visitor numbers have declined sharply at major tourist sites across japan. meanwhile lawmakers have started discussing a bill that would help fund measures to deal with the pandemic. >> t translatotor: we wawant to the supplementary budget apprproved as soon as possible we can implement these measures. we will

tokyo governor koike yuriko met prime minister abe shinzo on tuesday to discuss the situation. koike said she wants abe to use tokyo asas a reference for deciciding whehether to declcla state of emergency. >> translator: tokyo is on the brink of an explosive e increas of infections. we are trying to prevent a a situation like thahat and tryin to prevent further spread on various levels. this is done by the state. it's needed now. >> there are more than 2,200 confirmed cases across japan, not including 712 cases from the "diamond princess" cruise ship. a total of 77 people have died, including 11 from the cruise ship. >>> one of the main concerns among officials is the coronavirus spreading through cluster infections. one such case is three university students who returned to japan from europe on march 14th and have tested positive for the virus. they likely spread the virus to more than 30 people across at least ten prefectures by attending gatherings and traveling to their hometowns for spring break. the rising concerns are compelling large companies to encourage their employee

. >>> japanese prime minister abe shinzo has announced a plan to provide two cloth masks to every household in the coununtry. >> traranslator: thehe cloth ma that i'm also wearing will be effective in responding to the growowing demand for masks as cloth ones can be washed and reused. >> abe unveiled the plan of a coronavirus task force meeting late on wednesday. the government will use the postal system to deliver the masks to 50 million households. deliveries will begin l ler this month statarting with prefectur which have many cases of infection. abe also saidd the cost o of th memeasure wilill be included i supplementary budget for this fifiscal yeyear. the annououncement promimising two cloth masks prompted widespreread criticismsm on soc media. some users wrorote on t twittert two masks won't b be enougugh f many householdsds and the measu is a waste of taxpayer money. others said they thought it was an april fool's joke. >>> some japanese industries that rely on foreign workers say the coronavirus is threatening production. the country is now denying entry from dozens of countries an

abe shinzo is calling for the public's cooperation to help keep the virus from spreading. >> translator: i strongly believe that it will be posossie to get out of this situation by having a state of emergency in place for one mondays. if we reduce our contact with people by at least 70% or preferably, 80%. >> the declaration covers tokyo, kanagawa, saitama, chiba, osaka, and fukuoka. it will be in place until may 6. the governors of those prefefectures held a teleconference wednesday morning to discuss how to counter the virus. they're calling on the local government to support medical systems and compensate businesses that close temporarily. the government is not imposing a lockdown as some foreign governments have. officials want to minimize the impact on economic and social activities. public transformation and super markets will remain open. a number of companies said they will shut down voluntarily like coffee shops like starbucks.. people had mixed reaction. >> translator: now i understand that the situation's really serious. with staggered working hours, i have been able to spend

prime minister abe shinzo and liberal democraticic party poli chief discussed the situation on friday. the plan is to provide about $2,800 to households whose income has fallen to a certain level. >> translator: i emphahasize th speed is importantnt and that t money must b be provided quickl. >> the handout is part of the government's emergency economic package which is expected to be finalized next week. the central government has yet to declare a state of emergency but says it will if there's a serious threat to public health and the economy. tokyo governor koike yuriko says that will give her city greater power to fight the virus. >> transnstor: we w would ask residents to stay at home based on the special measures law. we would also ask facility operators and event organizers to restrict or suspend the use of venues for public events. >> koike said stores selling food, medicine, and other daily necessities would remamain ope. along with banks, the stock exchange, and other essential services. koike once again asked people to refrain fromm nononessenti outings over the weeeekend. >

shinzo abe's saying that -- shinzo abe saying they will lift that.tail sector increased dramatically according to s&p global ratings. they said the impact on the ratings will depend on the duration of shutdown, but they expect to take action across the spectrum of retail. raam ratnam joins me. great to have you on the show. thank you for joining us. let's pick up on that point, where you said the degree of any impact on ratings will depend on the duration of shutdown but also the projecting of a future rebound. how did those two things stand for you right now? raam: sure, thank you for having me. good morning. look, i think clearly the kind reflects a much larger spread for a range of sectors, and clearly retail and consumer -- i heard your previous speaker from accor talk about the global and so far in s&p ratings, we have taken a range of rating actions across corporate and sovereign issuance due to the recent issues and the range from anywhere from automobiles, gaming, entertainment, and consumer as well. thea: in terms of some of hardest hit area

we start here in japan where prime minister abe shinzo is calling on people to practice stricter socialistancing 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 receiv

. >>> prime minister abe shinzo is proposing more relief to help deal with the pandemic's economic fallouthe's planning to give handouts of 100,000 yen, or about $930 per citizen. a senior official of the governing liberal democratic party says abe aims to secure the funds by revising the supplementary budget bill. the cabinet approved the bill earlier this month. it was due to be submitted to the diet next monday. abe has told yamaguchi natsuo, the head of the opposition party komeito,o, that there would be income cap for the 100,000-yen payment. it could carry a price tag of 12.6 million yen or $117 billion. the finance ministry says there's never been such a large-scale revision of a supplementary budget. >>> the coronavirus pandemic has reached another grim milestone. johns hopkins university says more than 2 million people have now been infected around the world. over 137,000 people have died. europe remains a major coronavirus hotspot, along with the united states. in italy, there are still hundreds of new cases being confirmed each day, but there was a small glimmer of hope. on wedn

abe. is what shinzo abe's doing any different from what president trump is doing?ally different. avigan has been around for a while, and unlike hydroxychloroquine, it has been used to test its efficacy against our viruses. >> reporter: reports in china show avigan has been effective in treating coronavirus. but research is limited. clinical trials are under way in japan and set to begin in the u.s. japan plans to provide the drug for free to 20 countries. there are potentially dangerous side effects, including birth defects. if someone has coronavirus. >> yes. >> reporter: would you recommend they take this drug? >> this covid-19, that may kill people. so life or death. which do you choose? >> reporter: hydroxychloroquine can also have serious side effects like heart trouble and eye damage. researchers around the world are testing all kinds of drugs. they may be the only hope until a vaccine is developed, if a vaccine is developed. patients under quarantine, isolated in their homes, can battle loneliness and desperation. >> you feel really depressed. >> reporter: t

." >>> as the number of new cases rises, prime minister abe shinzo is repeating his call for people to stay at home. >> translalator: in urban arare the rate of outings has decreased by more than 60% during the week and more t than 70% on weekends. experts say y in order to reduc social contactct by 80%, the public needs to o make further efforts such as working remotely. >> he added itit's important to strengthen social distancing measures, especially with a string of holidays known as golden week, set to start next week. the warning comes as officials in the seaside city of kamakura located near tokyo say they've seen a rise in the number of visitors in recent weeks. >> translator: we can'n't overlk this situation in which h so ma people are visiting our cicity. the governmement's stay-at-home request has s not been enough t deter visitors. >> this map shows the decrease in the number of outings nationwide based on cell phone data. on sunday tokyo and other major cities saw a decrease of over 50%. 12 prefectures saw less than a 40% drop. a panel of experts is calling for more social

in fact, after facing criticism for his response to the pandemic, prime minister abe shinzo has now declaredtate of emergency. and in britain, prime minister boris johnson has been moved to an intensive care unit after his coronavirus symptoms worsened. so now, because the u.k. doesn't have a line of succession for when the prime minister is out of commission, johnson deputized his foreign secretary to fill in for him. and i'm not going to lie. i thank god that in america, the president doesn't just get to pick whoever he wants to take over for him. it's good there's a line of succession, because who knows who trump would pick. ( trump ) "while i'm in the hospital, doc antle will be in charge. he's like a dr. fauci that (bleep). and speaking of president trump, while the u.s. is bracing for an explosion of new coronavirus infections, the white house is also bracing for more backlash. they haven't been listening to coronavirus warnings they have been receiving for months. just today, axios reported that peter navarro, trump's trade adviser, wrote a memo back in january, where he warned very a

shinzo abe declaring he will make this declaration. people are waiting for more details. they will stop short of an actual lockdown. japan still has the lowest number of virus cases and deaths. the question is how long can they keep these numbers so low? another part of what shinzo abe is talking about is the stimulus package which is 108 trillion of, nearly the equivalent one trillion u.s. dollars. this is spending, new fiscal spending to help businesses and by the virus. it will make a difference for the economy. looking at a 20% drop in gdp. the payments will cover income shortfalls for lower income workers, one year tax deferments for businesses, property tax cut to zero for smaller firms, and the reserve fund for further action. on thes a lot of money table, shinzo abe looking to offset what will be a negative at a timejapan's gdp, when consumer spending is pushed into negative territory. japan probably in a technical recession, we do not have first quarter gdp numbers yet. two quarters in a row by any definition is seen as a rece

david, shinzo abe humbled by coalition partners who have slightly different views about how to deal withoking at this helicopter cash idea which many other countries are looking at? they are, but one must also say, i was quite surprised when i looked at the latest figures at the number of cases injapan, it was still around 9000. and only i think up to yesterday, 146 deaths. now the wider point is trying to get to this balance, which we are going to have within weeks if we haven't already got it, of on the one hand saving lives, on the other hand saving the economy. in the prime minister in japan is battling with that as we speak. yes, and they have been blighted with economic woes the last 15-20 blighted with economic woes the last 15—20 years, and reluctant to take on more debt. 0livia, on to the telegraph, because when this whole thing blew up, certainly in the uk, didn't it appear that the government was looking, even their chief scientific officer was talking about herd immunity? but new research deals a blow to hopes of that working? yes, the research suggests that it would take it

abe. is what shinzo abe doing any different from what president trump is doing? >> marginally different.igan has been around for a while and unlike hydroxychloroquine, it has been used to test its effectiveness on other viruses. >> reporter: clinical trials are under way in japan and set to begin in the u.s. japan plans to provide the drug for free to 20 countries. there are potentially dangerous side effects, including birth defects. if someone has coronavirus. >> yes. >> reporter: would you recommend that they take this drug? >> this covid-19, that may kill people, okay. so life or death? which do you choose? >> reporter: hydroxychloroquine can also have serious side effects like heart trouble and eye damage. researchers around the world are testing all kinds of drugs. they may be the only hope until a vaccine is developed, if a vaccine is developed. patients under quarantine, isolated in their homes can battle loneliness and desperation. >> you feel really depressed. >> reporter: this tokyo apartment is full of supplies. she has to wait up to ten days for her coronavirus test results.

shinzo abe says he wants cash handouts as quickly as possible. ."ome to "daybreak: europe a powerful rally in the u.s. session yesterday. investors seem to be looking for the virus peak. cameron crise says, if you are looking for the bottom, it may not come for more than a year. manus: diamond warns that a recession could be similar to 2008. a trillion dollar stimulus from japan. the ministry of singapore going with liquidity requirements. good morning. nejra: if we wonder whether the rally will continue into the u.s. session, u.s. futures lower earlier. on these, seeing green screen and asia and also in terms of european futures. the big move yesterday, taking the futures above the moving average and pushing through the end of march high. do we get to a 70 handle? we are at 69 right now. oil resuming its rally after we secretary the energy had a productive discussion over the phone with his saudi counterpart. in the u.k., boris johnson is in critical care. his coronavirus infection worsened. britain enters a critical period. scientists predict the

critics say prime minister shinzo abe is offering too little, too late. take a look at the markets today. we are seeing a bit of risk off. some of the gains seem to be reversing. there were some new numbers coming out from china. 62 additional new infections in the country. that certainly led to some worries. hong kong and singapore extending social distancing measures. basically saying perhaps we are still not out of the woods yet despite the fact that wuhan is lifting its lockdown today. andt still recovering snapping out of two days of losses in the markets. let's look at the boards. s&pralia, new zealand, downgrading the outlook for australia to negative from stable. open toand, increasing qe. looks like they are willing to extend bond buying. the csi 300, still a little bit of pressure after the three-week highs we reached yesterday. the nikkei, pretty much flat now. like investors were taking this state of emergency declaration in stride. saying we could be a very good chance of hitting a bottom. watching currencies. seeing so many go back to the ye

abe touting? >> reporter: happy easter to you, by the way. look, prime minister shinzobe, he is excited about this drug called avigan because he says that clinical trials which are limited in japan, showed very promising results. he's in the process of distributing this drug to 20 different countries, giving it away for free, hoping other countries will start their own trials so they can get a body of data together. they're starting clinical trials in the u.s. state of massachusetts very soon. epidemiologists have told me that the best hope at this stage is to find an existing drug that works against the coronavirus because it might be quite a while if ever before they find a vaccine. as the world battles the novel coronavirus pandemic, u.s. president donald trump and japanese prime minister shinzo abe are peddling possible treatments. trump is touting hydroxychloroquine, despite slim evidence its actually effective against the virus. >> what do you have to lose? what do you have to lose? >> reporter: for abe it's avigan, the japanese brand name for favipiravir. we will

so this is exactly what we expected from prime minister shinzo abe.mergency for tokyo, for osaka and for five other prefectures. mostly those are prefectures that surround these two very, very large urban areas. if you take tokyo and its surrounding areas, it really is the world‘s largest metropolitan area, with a population altogether of around 37 million people. so this state of emergency really does affect a vast number of people. we understand it‘s going to go into effect initially for a month, but it won‘t be the same as the lockdowns that have been declared in the uk or in america or in some other european countries because the japanese government simply doesn‘t have the power to do that. this is an ‘advisory‘. the japanese government is requesting that businesses close. it‘s requesting that ordinary citizens stay at home as much as possible, but a lot of life will continue to go on. the tokyo transportation network will continue to run. a lot of people will continue to go to work, but it‘s hoped, a because this is a disciplined and law—abiding

japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, declares a state

while injapan, prime minister shinzo abe is facing criticism there for not doing enough to help businessesnfor there is some helicopter money going in for some households, about $1000. and finally, the daily express in the uk reports on the remarkable story of a 99—year—old veteran who has raised almost £10 million for the health service — doing laps of his garden! lots to get through. welcome to you both, can we start with you, sonya, looking at the front page of the times, i don't know if you caught the press conference today from matt hancock with chris whitty. he was careful not to say peak, but it looks more promising in terms of the figures? yes, so obviously the number of deaths is still going up bya number of deaths is still going up by a very high number each day. i think it is important to say that. but the pace at which the death rate is going up has slowed. and what the message in the press conference today was that it is too early to know if there's a bit of a bank holiday effect going on, so there's more of a time lag —— time lag. so that might account for some of the slow do

shinzo abe now saying that the fiscal spending for an economic package will be ¥39 trillion.e ministers saying the package will not be limited by what has been done in the past. of course, we have seen the worsening economy in japan as the infections across japan rise. right now, we are getting the latest eco-data out of japan as well as. we are seeing labor cash earnings year on year growing 1% . now, this is a slowdown from the previous month of january. of course, we have seen the outbreak probably reducing overtime pay significantly, even if the employment numbers have yet to take a hit and we could see a further reduction as the coronavirus outbreak intensifies in japan. real cash earnings year on year, growth of .5%. this number is beating estimates . also, household spending your on your beating estimates. a contraction of only zero point 2%. the contraction was supposed to be more than 3% on it comes to household spending for the month of february. whenalso coming at a time we are awaiting samsung's first quarter preliminary results. joining us now from seoul is globa

we are waiting to hear from shinzo abe to make an announcement as early as today or tomorrow.ring the government of tokyo will be speaking to the media sometime this afternoon. there will also be a coronavirus task force convened later today. there is so much going on. now that the olympics have been postponed by a year, the japanese taking it quite seriously. despite the economic pain they have been feeling, the tokyo area is the 11th biggest economy in the world with one third of japanese gdp. getting a second stimulus package likely to be released or announced soon. it could be released in a couple phases. the first would be emergency measures to prevent job losses, the second phase would be once the epidemic is contained to support patient recovery in the fourth quarter gdp is sinking. that was before the coronavirus. japanese economy in serious trouble, but now they are worried about more cases of the coronavirus making rings even worse -- making things even worse. haslinda: president trump talked but wehe markets rising, are seeing increased cases in the likes of singapo

prime minister shinzo abe launched a stimulus package close to $1 trillion. critics say he is being too slow to respond to the pandemic. shery: china is lifting travel restrictions in wuhan, the city where the virus initially emerged. the city has been in lockdown for 11 weeks, with millions kept at home. cities already resumed services to wuhan. the move comes as china announced no new virus deaths for the first time. wuhan willavel to be formally lifted wednesday. ahead, an exclusive interview with nissan coo. ashwani gupta shares his plan for dealing with the virus and recovering sales and profitability. this is bloomberg. ♪ shery: global automakers are reeling in production plans as coronavirus stalls new cars. japanese brands are no exception. let's head to yokohama for an interview with nissan coo ashwani gupta. how do you plan to deal with the ongoing impact of the coronavirus, first in terms of factory disruptions, and secondly, in terms of the demand-side, given nissan was already struggling with profitability and maintaining sales even before the pa

jason: we learned this eveningng from shinzo abe that he will declare a state of emergency tomorrowow that will probably go into effect the following day for about a month. this will apply initially to tokyo, the citity of osaka, and five other registered with a rise in the 19 cases in the last week or soap yourur this will nt be a european-style lockdown -- week or so. this will not be a european-style lockdown and they will not force people to stay in their homes. thathat will happen is governors will ask residents to remain in their homes of other than to go out for example to buy food or collect medicine or to take one session of exercise every day. theyey wilill also havave the 3t businesses to close. there are no legal penalties. people will not be fined for going out as they are in france at the momenent, but authohorits are hoping that now the state of emergency hahas beenen made offl that people will do their best to stay homome unless they absolutely have to go outside. peer pressure works perhaps more effectively in japan and in many other liberal democracies, theyy hopepe

shinzo abe widens the state of emergency to cover the country after critics said his initial plan offeredoo little, too late. shery: let's get you started with a quick check of the markets closing in the u.s. markets finishing in the green after fluctuating all day. president trump mapping out a phased country reopening amid economic numbers. u.s. futures higher by 2.8%. president trump saying some states may be able to open before may 1. the dow jones up .1% in the regular session. we had some big banks like morgan stanley showing the best performance in more than a decade. we saw a selloff in airlines stocks, united airlines saying travel demand was essentially zero. we did get more than 5 million americans filing for unemployment benefits. the nasdaq managed to end higher by 1.7%. take a look at what oil is doing -- gaining ground at the moment after finishing under the $20 per barrel level also up still trading around an 18 year low as we see projections demand will fall to a 30 year low. while we are waiting for out with trump to come comments from the white house, he said some u.s.

. >>> a new survey by nhk suggests the country is evenly split on its view of shinzo abe's cabinet. more than 1,200 people responded. 39% of them said they approve of the cabinet, that's down 4 points from last month's survey. but the disapproval rate dropped, too, down 3 points to 38%. of his supporters 53% said the cabinet seems better than any alternative. 16% said it repepresents politil parties they support. a third of those who don't support the cabinet say they don'n't trust abe. 28% say theyy don't expect much from his policies. now, the survey also suggested that fears about the coronavirus are rising. 89% of people said they're worried they or their family could be infected. that's up 15 points from last month's survey. 46% had a positive view of the government's response to the pandemic whihile 50% viewed it negatively. japan's government declared a month long state of emergency last tuesday for tokyo and six other prefectures. 17% of respondents said the declaration had come at the right time. but 75% thought it was too late. the japan business federation is calling on m

shinzo abe's state of emergency now covers the whole of japan after critics said his initial virus response offered to little, too late -- too little, too late. shery: breaking news out of south korea. we are getting the jobless rate coming in at 3.8%. as expected, a rebound from the previous month of february. february was a 3.3%. in the month of march coming in at 3.8%. in line with estimates but still a rebound. of course, we have seen weakness in retail and hospitality, employment, given this coronavirus pandemic. the government has tried to create jobs and that has helped the economy. they of course have already passed a $10 billion extra budget, but we are now seeing the jobless rate climbing to 3.8%. this as president moon jae-in has called for more aggressive measures on job creation. of course, moons ruling democratic party of korea just won the implementer elections. take a look at how markets are trading at the moment. we are seeing big upsides for u.s. futures, gaining more than 3%. this of course as president from just announced his plans on reopening the u.s. economy, saying 2

prime minister shinzo abe says he will make the declaration tomorrow for tokyo and six  other areas. there will be no hard lockdowns during the declaration, but the japanese government is launching a $1 trillion economic stimulus package to help counter the economic impact of the pandemic. >>> as sal mentioned, rail writers can expect a major cut this morning. the agency is taking a drastic action, they are affecting all the areas in san francisco. >> reporter: service already running thin is being cut to the bone. the agency announced they will cut service on roughly 70 routes, affecting nearly every line in the city. five workers had tested positive for covid-19. the agency says service cuts are a risk management action to help protect the drivers, staff, and public areas >> we are expecting about 30 to 40% of our operators not being able to come to work. that means service on monday will be a complete disaster. >> reporter: some critical lines like those near hospitals will continue to operate to help essential workers like hospital staff and low income workers who lack alternati

in japan, the prime minister shinzo abe has declared a state of emergency.ple are being advised to stay inside and distances will shut. coronavirus infections in tokyo are more than double the past week, about 1200. this comes after the govnment announced a massive stimulus package which he described as the biggest in orthr to soften is economic below. rtit is around $1 trillion, 20% of japan's gross domestic output. our correspondent is in tokyo. >> if you take tokyo and its surroug areas, wo really is thd's largest metropolitan area with a population of around 37 milli people. so this state of emergency really does affect a vast number of people. we understand itill go into effect inially for a month. but it will not beck same as the wns declared in the u.k. or in america, or in some other european countries. the japanese government survey doesn't have the power to do that. this is an advisory. the government is requestin businesses close, ordinary citizens stay at home as much as possible, but a lot of life will continue to go on. the tokyo transportation

shinzo abe saying he will extend that to nationwide through may 6.gest concern is japan's golden week is approaching, and the travel period could spread the virus. japan has seen a surge in cases, 100 78 deaths. one glimmer of hope, tokyo has seen for the last five days, the pace of new infections has come down off that record. singapore saw a record jump in cases. this has to do with workers living in dormitories. 728 new infections reported. singapore has over 4000 cases. 10 deaths. nine out of 10 of those new infections were from those 20 dormitories of migrant workers, where they live tightly packed in there. that is a sad tragedy unfolding in singapore. rishaad: always a pleasure. stephen engle for us in hong kong. the shortage of personal protective equipment has been a problem for frontline health workers, politically. we talked to a professor about this shortage of ppe and the requiref patients who ventilation. >> but we are looking at how many people become critically ill, we are looking at about 20% of people hospitalized eating some sort o

japan initially appeared to have the outbreak under control, but on thursday the prime minister, shinzo abeibuya, director of the institute for population health at king‘s college london. he is also the former chief of health policy at the world health organisation, and now serves as a senior adviser to the director—general. what does that mean in detail? there is obviously a growing number of cases but my biggest concern is hospital transmission because of the lack of testing. so why. .. lack of testing. so why... i mean, it is perplexing on the surface thatjapan, such an advanced economy with such an advanced economy with such an advanced medical system, such an elderly population as well, should actually have these problems and not prepare in the same way that we saw so prepare in the same way that we saw so many other asian countries taking it very seriously in the first place. obviously we are not prepared for this kind of pandemic because we are primarily targeting chronic disease. injapan, the number of beds and especially nicu is very limited. but japan has had especially nicu is ve

overnight markets were mostly lower, take a look at the asian numbers, japanese prime minister shinzo abe reportedly to expand state of emergency to cover the entire country. the nikkei's average down one and a third percent overnight. trump administration reportedly considering paying u.s. oil companies to cut production as demand falls and prices hit levels not seen since 2002 with the price of crude oil 20.17 a barrel. some of the top stories that we are watching this morning. president trump is expected to reveal plans to get americans back to work. today sources telling fox news that the president will speak with all governors this afternoon before addressing the nation on his strategy for reopening the economy. >> the battle continues but the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases. hopefully that will continue and we will continue to make great progress. these encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalize guidelines on reopening the country. maria: the decision on what individual states do will fall to the governors. we are ta

japanese prime minister shinzo abe declaring state of emergency in japan.e reportedly is preparing a stimulus package worth nearly a trillion dollars. china claiming to have first day without a coronavirus death since january, always concerns about the country misleading the world when it comes to the virus and we don't know how many deaths really the country has seen. dan briett yesterday telling me to expect later on in the week and the president expects 10 to 15% production cut. let's check interest rates. 10-year rising for a second day in a row. .715%. that's up 6.7 basis points this morning. and now the latest on the coronavirus this morning throughout the world. the united states first reporting more than 10,000 deaths from the virus. there are now more than 368,000 confirmed cases in the united states. meanwhile china's national health commissioner reporting zero deaths from the virus marking the first time since january that china has said this but questions remain about china tallying death rates and number of infections. we consider to question c

shinzo abe to declare state of emergency for up to six months according to local media. rest of the markets in asia up strongly up between 3 and 4 and a quarter percent. let check interest rate this is morning. 10-year treasury yield up today as you can see, we will look at the numbers here with the 10-year up 7 and a third basis point. .666% on the 10-year. now the very latest on the coronavirus. new data this morning in the fight against covid-19. shining sunlight at the end of the tunnel. the white house using phrases like glimmers of hope and things are changing all day yesterday. another sign of hope, more than 17,000 recoveries from the coronavirus here in the united states, but the white house is acknowledging we are still about to suffer through what is expected to be the very worse of the pan dem thick week. >> this is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most american's lives quite frankly. this is going to be our pearl harbor moment, our 911 moment, only it's not going to be localized, it's going to be happening all over the country. maria: a chilli

in asia overnight, japan closed higher following prime minister shinzo abe declaring a state of emergencynd rolling out a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package. other markets were lower as you can see there. oil prices this morning are on the rise, investors looking ahead to tomorrow's important meeting of opec and its partners, that will include russia and saudi arabia. the price of oil up 73 cents a barrel, 24, 36. joining the conversation this morning, dagen mcdowell in new york, michael lee and francis newton stacy. great show so far. good to see you this morning. >> great to see you. >> good morning. maria: the latest on the coronavirus, there are more than 1.4 million covid-19 cases across the world. the global death toll has now topped 82,000. let's take a look at the united states right now, because new york, new you jersey, louisiana and illinois, reporting their highest daily death tolls yesterday. it was the deadliest day, despite of icials say the outbreak appears to be slowing in certain covid-19 hot spots. andrew cuomo said the hospitalization rate is letting up even though so

when he called the state of emergency, prime minister shinzo abe made it clear it would not be a european—style and so it does. there is no two—metre rule here. no one in, one out at the supermarket. many here believe wearing a mask will be enough to protect from the virus. medical experts say that is a huge mistake. we need a further concrete message to stay home, and don't go out, and keep the distance of two metres away if you have to go out. these messages are not very effectively delivered, and a lot of people believing in wearing a mask is a solution — which it is not. japan has been attempting to control the virus, while keeping the economy open. the result is a health system that is now struggling to cope. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. let's return to events in the us and there's a fierce debate in the state of georgia over the governor's order to reopen some non—essential businesses on friday, including gyms, spas and hair salons. health experts and several georgia mayors have responded with concern, worried that the decision could lead to the coronavirus spreading much m

shinzo abe says he is trying to effectively reduce people—to—people contact.city areas like shibuya in tokyo have been reduced by about 60%. in umeda in osaka, it's been reduced by about 70%. but we have not yet reached our target level. japan is facing a new wave of infections, and with it, a push to increase relatively low testing levels. it now remains to be seen if the country has done enough quickly enough to protect its medical system and head off a major outbreak. reged ahmad, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. the spanish prime minister, pedro sanchez, says he will begin to relax the rules requiring children to stay indoors by the end of this month. however, the state of emergency set up in response to the pandemic is to be extended by another fortnight. more than 20,000 people have died after contracting the virus in spain. orthodox christians have been celebrating easter in the middle east, transporting the holy fire from the church of the holy sepulchre injerusalem to bethlehem. the ceremony, which is considered as a miracle in the re

shinzo abe says he is trying to effectively reduce people—to—people contact.ut on weekdays in city areas like shibuya in tokyo have been reduced by about 60%. in umeda in osaka, it's been reduced by about 70%. but we have not yet reached our target level. japan is facing a new wave of infections, and with it, a push to increase relatively low testing levels. it now remains to be seen if the country has done enough quickly enough to protect its medical system and head off a major outbreak. reged ahmad, bbc news. i'm joined now by satoru hashimoto, director of the intensive care division at the the kyoto prefectural university of medicine. thanks a lot for joining thanks a lot forjoining us. a lot of talk about a lack of intensive care beds at the moment. what is the current situation in japan? there are so situation in japan? there are so many alternatives in this situation as we only have very limited knowledge about covid—19. but in japan everywhere they are struggling to prepare for the worst case situation, but the progress is very slow. the biggest problem