. >>> joining me now with the latest from these two hot spots we have journalist al goodman in madrid and cnn contributor barbie nadeau in rome. al, i want to start with you there in madrid. talk to me about these new rapid tests being distributed. >> hi, rosemary. these 1 million rapid testing kits are the first wave of a batch of 5 million that the government has been trying to get these. they had a batch earlier. they didn't work out. it wasn't reliable. but now they've got some, they're going to get them out to the 17 regions of spain, especially the area right here around madrid, the hardest hit around the country and to the area of barcelona, the second hardest hit area. the spanish reference lab has tested these kits. say they are 80% reliable to determine if you have coronavirus. if you test positive on this, you've got it. if you test negative but you're in a high risk group, they're still going to go back and test you with an even more reliable slower test. the numbers are working in the favor. the number of new cases and the number of deaths are going up much more slowly th

for now, back to madrid and al goodman.l, yes, the authorities there making sure people stay put this holiday weekend. >> reporter: and the authorities say that people mainly are, although this is such a huge difference, like in italy and across europe, traditionally, roman catholic paspain, there he been 126,000 fined since the start of the lockdown and more than 2,200 arrests. and some reports of people going out to villages or the beaches but the security officials say that's not widespread. what is still happening is that the lockdown continues through the end of -- almost the end of april. that will be a total of six weeks, despite improvements in the drop in the rate of deaths which are now nearly 16,000 and in new cases which are under 1% in their increase. the government doesn't want to lift this up too soon. although there are economic pressures so that on monday, the day an easter, construction workers and some others will be able to go back to work. so we play see activity at a construction site like this which i

al goodman is live for us in madrid with more about this. lly important, al, considering the easter weekend. >> reporter: it is good friday, and this is easter weekend. it's been holy week in spain, which is such a huge event for this traditionally roman catholic country. these days there would have been millions of spaniards observing processions in the streets for their faith and just social gathering. that hasn't happened. basically tvs nationally and in the streets are showing last year's processions. there are processions off of balconies. the country is more or less stoically accepting this shut down which is going to 6 weeks. more than 100,000 people have been fined starting at $100 each for violating the lockdown order, and there have been more than 1600 arrests. the prime minister in a contentious parliament session got the approval for an extended lockdown order with the opposition criticizing for mishandling. the prime minister warning them and the whole nation that he expects to be back in two weeks to ask for a further extension

al goodman.any thanks for bringing us the live report from madrid. >>> india reported almost 1,000 new coronavirus cases on sunday. this is one way the police are watching things. drones are out. residents aren't allowed to step foot outside their homes. the country's 1.3 billion people in the midst of a three-week lockdown. >>> singapore is seeing a spike in coronavirus infections with 233 new cases reported on sunday. all locally transmitted. the government had slowed the virus with strict quarantine restrictions but now they are expecting a second surge. singapore had been haled as the great success story in fighting the coronavirus. why is it seeing the spike in cases? what's behind that and how is singapore dealing with it? >> reporter: it is, quite as you say, we were hailed as a great success story back in early march when we saw increases in new cases at zero. here we are, 233 cases up and last week a record jump of 287 cases. how did we get here? that's your question. when the coronaviru

. >>> journalist al goodman joins us now from madrid. al, 300,000 workers across the country returned to their jobs monday. how did that go? how's it looking now? >> reporter: hi, rosemary. that 300,000 was pretty much right here in the madrid region, but this day because about half of the country was still on vacation on the monday after east easter, yet, it could be well over a couple million according to the estimates. this lockdown continues. it's six weeks long. it goes until the end of april. they were able to work at the beginning of that. in the last few weeks they were told to stay at home. they wanted to get down the new infection rates pouring into the hospital, ease the tension. so these workers were allowed to go back. we talked to some of them as they were going back on monday. here's what they had to say. >> translator: in my situation i want to work because i have no money left. to pay the rent, bills, i have my child at home. i want to go back to work. let's hope these measures don't make matters worse because we are alre

al goodman is in madrid with more on that. hi, al. how are you doing out there?porter: hi there, robyn. well, the prime minister and health officials are cautiously optimistic because the rate of increase and deaths, it's slowing down. the rate and percentage increase in new cases is way down, just about 1%. but the social prime minister for the mishandling. they don't want to open up too early. he won approval as expected for a two-week extension of a lockdown and that makes it six weeks. all the other mps were voting from home. that was by design. representatives from each party. but the lockdown order the prime minister said in the parliament warning the people that in two weeks' time he says he's confident, that's the word he used, he's confident he's going to have to come back and ask for another extension, which would take it into may, and that's because testing of people in spain for the covid-19, robyn, has been very, very low. now they're trying to ramp it up to see exactly where it is. they want to open things up very gradually. for instance, constructi

journalist al goodman joins me now from madrid with the latest.et the numbers stabilizing, but what does that mean? >> reporter: well, this is what the spanish officials have been talking about for almost two weeks, that they're trying to reach the peak so they can start to push the numbers down, but the key numbers, the numbers of new cases, deaths, even though they are second in the world behind italy, the absolute numbers and percentage increases as you just said, they're moderating, so we're seeing increases that we hadn't seen in quite a while in terms of the moderate growth of this, and there seems to be an easing on the intensive care unit beds. nonetheless, the prime minister announcing on saturday that the lockdown order would be extended for another two weeks, basically he and other officials saying they don't want to let everybody out on easter sunday, which is when it was supposed to end, they don't want to let everybody come out suddenly and have a repeat and have to do it all over again. it will be a six-week extension. this is a ver

al goodman as well, you and your team on the streets of madrid. what's the view from where you are? >> reporter: there is some cautious optimism. the people are seeing these numbers, that the number of new cases and the number of deaths while rising is rising more slowly, but everyone concerned with the most recent figures in the last day, 329 more people went into the icu, intensive care wards. that was almost three times the day earlier and the highest in a week. that's more than 6800 people who have gone through the icus. that's such a serious concern for the medical community, to have enough beds and to have enough ventilators. that's one of the reasons that although some of the numbers look stable, the icu number isn't stable. the government announcing this and extending the lockdown, the stay at home order for another two weeks. it will be an entire six weeks almost until the end of april. they don't want to allow everybody out so they're trying to get it right this time. robyn? >> no one wants a second wave. al and barbie, thanks to you both. >>> we have breaking news at this

rosemary. >> many thanks to al goodman joining us. >>> a hospital is hoping six new helpers will cut the risk of doctors and nurses becoming infected with coronavirus. this is tommy. he and his five robotic colleagues taking on the roles that would usually require face to face interactions. the robots can travel through the ward and relay vital signs to doctors. staff can also use them to talk to patients without face to face interaction as well as minimizing the risk of infection. the hospital's director says the robots are also helping in other ways. >> translator: this allows us to use less protective clothing like masks and overalls which at this time are in scarce supply. the advantage is therefore -- >> it's good to see those moves in the right direction. and the hospital also hopes the robots will make isolated patients feel less lonely. >>> well the coronavirus pandemic has forced many small businesses to shut their doors, and now they're struggling to survive. just ahead, i will speak with a comedy club owner in the united states about the challenges he's facing right now. b

well, cnn's al goodman joins us now from madrid. ose grim numbers from spain, and of course, the constant in all of this is medical professionals not getting the protective gear they need to save lives, despite what we're hearing from authorities. talk to us about what you're learning overall. >> reporter: that's right, rosemary. the number in spain of health care workers who are infected with coronavirus is more than 13,000. that's about 14% of all the cases. and they have complained about not having enough gear and that debate has been raging at the madrid convention center behind me, set up as a field hospital with 1,300 beds. over the weekend, be a number o workers, cleaning people and orderlies, refused to go into the areas where the patients were because they said they didn't have the right gear. they and their unions complained vociferously. a family doctor assigned over here with some of his colleagues said it was chaotic when he arrived on friday to continue a series of shifts that continue to this day. he said they didn't g

al goodman joins me now, from madrid. tell us about the changes and how spaniards and health experts feel about it. >> hi, michael. the kids will be able to go out once a day, for one hour, within one kilometer of their house or about a half a mile, with one adult who lives with them. now, this hasn't happened, as you just said, for the entire six weeks of this lockdown order. now, parks like the ratiro park here in madrid, and parks across the country and playgrounds for kids, those will remain closed but this is a big deal. the government's been under a lot of pressure from families and politicians to make this happen, to let them get out of a lot of these spanish apartments that are so small. the health experts did not want this to happen until the numbers stabilized and they have. the numbers in the coronavirus pandemic here in spain. they have. the number of deaths is going down now in the 300 range per day. that's a tragedy for each of those families but it had been in the 400 and 500 range. and just for the last co

al goodman joins me now from madrid, and al, if i'm doing my math correct, now is the time, and you should have children dancing about you. >> reporter: well, michael, right now, if you can see up here, let's just walk a little bit up here. you can see that there are some people, these are the first people i've seen come out, because the time to come out has just started at 9:00 a.m. they can go out once a day for one hour for up to a kilometer or a half he-mile from their ho and they have to be with a parent who lives with them, an adult who lives with them. this is right here next to a park which remains closed. and right here you can see there's a lockdown continues because that police checkpoint is checking for people who are out without authorization. so there's a lot going on here this day as these, as the lockdown measures in part are lifted. and the prime minister was under a lot of pressure to do that. because of this, this has been six weeks since the kids have been able to go out many p but the health authorities did not want to do this until they got the numbers down to a level

we're joined now live from rome with the story there along with al goodman who is in madrid. od to see you both. al, i want to start with you. what is behind the message from the spanish prime minister about easing restrictions? >> well, the spanish prime minister, natalie, and health officials are encouraged that the numbers of new cases and the numbers of deaths while going up by percentages has been going down in terms of their rising slower, the race of increase is slowing down which is what they wanted in terms of trying to reach the peak so they can start the downward curve and one indication of that is that there's a little less pressure on some of the intensive care wards including here at the hospital where i'm standing. there's been a field hospital that was built last week to take additional patients, but regional government officials confirming to cnn that that field hospital behind me is currently -- doesn't have any patients because they don't have that pressure at this particular hospital which is one of the largest and most important in the capital. these field

journalist al goodman is in madrid, spain, joining us live. children have been allowed to go out for one hour a day. how did that go and what other restrictions might be lifted? >> reporter: hi, rosemary. that started right here. the parks like the tiro park here in madrid. parks, beaches, playgrounds remained closed across the country. on sunday, after six weeks of confinement, kids were able to go out with one adult for one hour near their home. that brought a lot of joy. at this hour the spanish cabinet is meeting because they may open up some other things in the de-escalation phase. the prime minister has said possibly on saturday, this saturday a dumgts may go out for an hour to exercise, run, take a small bike ride. also the elderly may be able to get out. the prime minister and health officials didn't want to do this until they were pretty clear that the numbers in this coronavirus were coming under control so the number of new deaths is now just over 1% each day. it had been much higher at the height of the crisis. there are now more p

journalist al goodman is in madrid for us. also expecting to get a deescalation plan from spain's prime minister this week, al? >> reporter: that's right, frederica. the kids have been out en masse here across the country. we've seen them on bicycles, scooters, walking, being carried by their parents. i talked to a 9-year-old boy who said he was bored at the house for the past six weeks. i talked to a 12-year-old boy who said it was strange to be home for that long. that's a big deal, six weeks at home but the prime minister and health officials didn't want to do this until they could get the numbers, the stajts in the coronavirus pandemic numbers down. a tragedy for each of the families. in the peak, 900s per day and more recoveries than more cases. that's why this phase. the prime minister saying a de-escalation in nay and june bus phased. not all at once. they don't want to have a big second wave where the hospitals would be overwhelmed again. so next saturday if everything goes well with the kids, if they can stay apart, no

let's go to our journalist al goodman out in madrid.ve seen you for weeks now and it seems that spain's been looking to try to reopen, but it shows how precarious that decision is to move forward or stay hunkered down. >> reporter: that's right, natalie, the percentages, the rate of increase is looking better to the experts and the government but not enough. so the rate of increase of new cases is at about 1.4%. it's been hovering around that range for several days now. the rate of increase in deaths has been about 2.9%. spain on saturday passed a grim milestone of 20,000 deaths and in the last week, that means that 300 people to 500 people have been dying from coronavirus every day, a tragedy for each of their families. all of this prompting the prime minister to announce that the lockdown will be extended until may 9th. that makes a total of eight weeks that started in mid-march. however, he had some good news for kids. here's what he had to say. >> translator: therefore, from april 27th, the spanish government will take measures to a

let's go to al goodman, he joins me now live from madrid. i'm sure the children are thrilled and i would imagine the parents are even more thrilled to give their kids a break. >> reporter: that's right, natalie. they've been allowed out for just a little more than an hour. we've been following a father and his 6-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son up and down here just next to the park which is closed. all the parks and the playgrounds are closed. the 9-year-old boy says he's been very bored. and i've seen other kids and parents going out as well. the kids can go out once a day for one hour with a parent who lives with them. the prime minister has been under such pressure to do this measure. but he and the health officials didn't want to take this measure until the numbers from the coronavirus case were starting to even out. and that is what's happened here in recent weeks where the death toll has been going down now in the 300s, a tragedy for those families, but it is down from 500 -- where it had been before. and the number of people reco

al goodman for us in madrid.ou for your reporting. >>> italy has been extremely hit hard in this pandemic. the country reporting the most deaths from coronavirus in the world. more than 15,000, according to johns hopkins university. but that number seems to be leveling off as well as the number of coronavirus patients needing icu beds. we're in rome with that glimmer of hope. we'll take it as you've been reporting now for weeks and it hasn't been good. >> italy had some good news yesterday with the question of new patients in their icu for the first time they saw a drop in that by 74 patients. that's a small but significant number because it's the first time it's happened and the authorities here say that that has lessened the pressure on those hospitals and on the doctors and nurses that are working so hard to confront these cases. that was a little glimmer of hope. in addition to the total number of new cases, we see daily increases now that are far fewer than in weeks past. that's giving hope that this curve i

our guests julie fisher dr peter drawback and adam goodman and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al-jazeera dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a.j. inside story for me and the whole team here bye for now. i. full of struggles full of pleasure. look at it yeah pretty much what i said. flowing out of the goodness of the way that i'm going along parts of a but i'm a woman without a thought what if to an intimate look at life in cuba. is what your mom or what i like i say your cable but but the comment that your failure to get my cuba. on al jazeera. we understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the world. so no matter what. al-jazeera bringing you the news and current affairs that matter to. al-jazeera. in 2011 al-jazeera gains rare access to the pyongyang film academy and some of north korea's brightest young stars. what did it take to serve a national propaganda machine. a compelling portrait of the privileged life of the c

our guests julie fisher dr peter drawback and adam goodman and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al-jazeera dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a.j. inside story for me and the whole team here bye for now. i. when diplomacy fails and fear sweeps then our borders are wide open wide open to drugs terrorists we've proven the barriers are built to impose division to sixteen's instead of being an obstacle. into became another obstacle to peace in a 4 part series al jazeera revisits the reasons for divisions in different parts of the world and the impact they have on both sides walls of shame on al-jazeera. to his supporters hungary's prime minister is a guardian of europe's borders manning the ramparts against migrant told. to others victor or as an authoritarian demagogue whose far right agenda poses a significant threat to democratic values people in power investigates the leader taking his country to extremes hungary europe's bad boy on a. it do

journalist sal goodman joins me with the latest from madrid. he's been there throughout all this. alwe've got new cases and deaths declining but new icu patients up somewhat. that speaks to the tricky nature of trying to control this thing. >> reporter: that's right michael. in the most recent reporting period, 329 new patients went into the i krurks. that was nearly three times as many as the day earlier and the highest absolute number in a week. so, even though as you say the number of deaths and new cases both in absolute numbers and percentages, those are not going up as much as they have been. they're in single digital percentage increases. this icu problem which is the most serious problem for spain and so many other places, how do you have enough beds, how do you have enough ventilators. that is their biggest earn can. s that one reason that the government has extended the lockdown order for another two weeks to make it another six weeks almost until the end of april because you have the statistics which are starting to look good and then you have the human reaction to this te

our guests julie fisher dr peter drawback and adam goodman and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al-jazeera dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a.j. inside story for me and the whole team here bye for now. i. the latest news as it breaks the pollution is blamed on thousands of small scale gold mines west you run the clock at this one boys as young as 15 and dozens of men with detailed coverage new restrictions every day across the well as each country fights to find backfill against coronavirus from around the world the publication of weinstein's assault launched the me to movement millions of women took to social media to say it happened to them too and it has to stop. when diplomacy fails and fear sweeps then our borders are wide open wide open to drugs terrorists we've proven that barriers are built to impose division and it's not the 60s instead of being an obstacle to do a good job wastes into became another obstacle to peace in a 4 part