chris page, bbc news, belfast.now allowed to travel more than five miles from their home, and stay in self—contained holiday accommodation like cottages and caravans. it's come as welcome news to people who work in the industry — and for anyone hoping for a staycation this summer. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon has been meeting some of them. the breathtaking beauty never went away during lockdown, even while the visitors did. loch lomond and the trossachs national park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in scotland. in normal times, four million people travel here every year. from today, some of them can stay again. self catering is leading the way in being allowed to open back up. fiona campbell owns two holiday cottages in the national park, and has spent the last few days getting them ready. there was a massive spike of interest as soon as it was made aware that people could open slightly earlier. people are desperate to go away. they're desperate to enjoy the wide open countryside, the bea

chris page, bbc news in groomsport, cou nty chris page, bbc news in groomsport, county down stop.st attractions that rely on foreign visitors are suffering. ben is out and about in london at the tower of london. it looks like a rather beautiful morning. when were its doors last open? really interesting, as we look at the impact that it's having all sorts of industries. good morning to you both. look at this glorious start of the day down here in london. one of london's oldest buildings against some of its newest. the tower of london next to the city of london. down here on the side of the river thames, it's down here on the side of the river thames, its glorious. really struggling because like all tourist infrastructure right now, destinations, attractions, the same number of visitors coming to this country are not coming, normally they get around 15,000 visitors through the doors here every single day in the summer. at the moment, there are just day in the summer. at the moment, there arejust 500 day in the summer. at the moment, there are just 500 or so coming through. partly be

chris page, bbc news, belfast.ford has set out dates for a large number of businesses to come out of lockdown over the next three weeks. our correspondent tomos morgan is at oxwich on the gower peninsular. tell us more about what is in store. from tomorrow, hotels and self—contained accommodation will begin reopening in wales. the major announcement from the press conference today is setting a date for indoor restaurants, pubs and cafe is to reopen. he said they can reopen from the first as long as rates begin to decline. many of the businesses we have been speaking to so businesses we have been speaking to so realistically they might not have an outdoor space or it might be very limited, and they had been waiting for the date to be announced. that will no doubt be a relief to many of the businesses across wales will stop there has been a huge nest in the announcement half an hour ago of businesses that can reopen in the next couple of weeks. —— a huge list. there can be a fitness class outside of up to 30 people.

scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie in fife, but first to our our ireland correspondent chris pageig day in terms of relaxing the lockdown here in northern ireland, businesses that involve close contact with customers, they have opened their doors again, so places like the statue parlour in south belfast back in business, also beauticians, reflexolog ists, in business, also beauticians, reflexologists, massage therapists, all while back customers with strict social distancing, new hygiene measures, perspex screens, hand sanitising stations, this is very much the new rules that people are working within. but northern ireland is ahead of the rest of the uk in allowing places like this to open. some other restrictions being eased, for example the rules on hospital visits are being relaxed, also visits are being relaxed, also visits to care homes are being allowed again, so something that will be welcomed by many families in this part of the uk. now, the levels of the virus here have been very low for the last few weeks, the average number of new cases a day has been in single figures.

chris page in belfast, thomas morgan in cardiff and alexandra mckenzie in glasgow. thank you all.nt has published a full list of countries for which quarantine will not apply to people arriving back in england. we can speak to the ceo of heathrow airportjohn holland—kaye. what is your view over the way the government has approached this? this is fantastic news. for those people going to a pub or restaurant tomorrow you can raise a glass to grant shapps, he has saved all summer. grant shapps, he has saved all summer. if you are going on holiday overseas you can go ahead with your family but the millions ofjobs in the uk that depend on aviation, we can the uk that depend on aviation, we ca n start the uk that depend on aviation, we can start to have visitors coming to the uk to help support ourjob's. i am glad the government has given a long list of countries we can now connect with. thinki said in may travel numbers through heathrow were down by 95%. this is a big list but it doesn't include some very popular destinations like portugal and the united states. how problematic is that

chris page, bbc news, belfast. dates for a large number of businesses to come out of lockdown over the next three weeks. our wales correspondent tomos morgan explained what's next for businesses. from tomorrow, hotels and self—contained accommodation will begin reopening in wales. but the major announcement today from the press conference of the first minister is setting a date for indoor restaurants, pubs and cafes to reopen. he says that they can reopen from the third, so long as the rates continue to decline. outdoor spaces in the hospitality industry can restart from monday, but many of the businesses that we have been speaking to over the past few weeks say that realistically, they may not have an outdoor space, or it may be very limited, so they have been waiting for this date and now something has been given, so that will no doubt be a relief to many of those businesses across wales. there's been a huge list today in first minister, mark drakeford's announcement just half an hour ago, businesses that can reo

we'lljoin our correspondent chris page in northern ireland in a moment but first, let's cross to ournd today, open air hospitality will be open, able to open up. but his pubs, cafes and restau ra nts to open up. but his pubs, cafes and restaurants that have open airspace. also the national trust for scotland will be opening up many of its gardens, like this one at falkland palace in fife. this was a royal hunting lodge in the 1500s and i'm joined by the operations manager, wendy purvis. what have you been doing to make sure it is safe for people to come back today? what can they expect? we have over nine acres of gardens so plenty of space for visitors to spread out but we have had to work out what social distancing may look like so what is two metres looking like in our willow labyrinth and can people socially distant in there and sadly, it will not work out but we have lots of other spaces. we have things like all of our gates have been opened wide so people do not have to touch them to open, we have got a 1—way system going in the greenhouse which seems a bit crazy but it means th

let's speak to our ireland correspondent, chris page. s, what's the reaction been to these changes in northern ireland? well, it is a significant day for the 80,000 plus people with health conditions, which means they have had to shield for the last four months. from today they are able to leave their homes again though there is, i think, a sense that for many of those people it could be a day and anxiety can of some nervousness. the advice from doctors is if you are in that situation, you should ta ke are in that situation, you should take things at your own pace and go out when you feel ready to do so. also ministers in the devolved government, the likes of the storm on chief medical officer, had also made the point that people who are well used to being out and about should be all the more powerful today to follow general guidelines, bearing in mind they could be coming into co nta ct bearing in mind they could be coming into contact with people who had not been outside for a very long time. they say it is all the more important to kee

chris page for us there.ood bets. it's expected to give the green light to other destinations today. we are waiting for that news. travel journalist simon calder can tell us more. he's in derry, londonderry in northern ireland. good morning, simon. good morning. it isa good morning, simon. good morning. it is a little complicated, because the announcement we can pass on to people from the government is those four countries. what does it mean for those four countries, those of all? 0k, for those four countries, those of all? ok, fine. let's take france, italy, spain, germany and also greece, because we were told about that last week, and there will most certainly be other countries joining that list when it's published sometime today, i don't know. but basically at the moment there is a double log on you and i travelling abroad. first of all, the foreign office warns against all but essential travel anywhere. if i went to miles from here across the border into the republic, that would be going against the advi

chris page is in belfast, tomos morgan is on barry island.he latest? she is in the rain, unfortunately. big focus on the easing of restrictions today. play parks in scotla nd restrictions today. play parks in scotland reopened earlier this week, but now children aged 11 and under can meet outside with other children and adults without having to physically distance, that means they can play more normally with their friends. and if their grandparents are not shielding, they can hug them. an easing of restrictions for them. an easing of restrictions for them outdoors. they can only meet eight people from three different household at any one time still, thatis household at any one time still, that is true for children between 12 and 17. they still have to physically distance outdoors but they can meet more groups throughout they can meet more groups throughout the day. the other big change today is that self catering accommodation here in scotland reopens, that is ahead of the wider opening of the tourist industry onjuly ahead of the wider openin

our ireland correspondent chris page is at a gym in belfast for us this morning.ow this will work in practice was to paint a picture for us. that is right, charlie was up l fast is getting active again. this gym, the yard in east belfast, has just opened its doors so the members are back using the equipment. it is fitness social distancing style so for example every other machine will be in use for the time being and people will be wiping down the equipment after they finish with it. going to have a word with the two owners. johnny and curtis. to see you here on bbc brea kfast. curtis. to see you here on bbc breakfast. what are you —— what is it like to be reopening? you only opened six or seven weeks before lockdown. leave great to be reopening. you have put in place measures to keep people safe. we are following all the guidelines given by the government. every second machine is switched off and it is for the protection of our members and our staff. you have a ready got people through the doors, plenty of interest has been expressed. even the last few days. the

chris: okay. all right, i heard this. >> they say that exquisitely in the plan. go read it, 110 pageslse and while the president is trailing in the balls, a lot of senate republicans, your old home, they are in trouble as well. let me put it this graphic on the screen because there are a half-dozen senate incumbents, senate republican incumbents, according to real clear politics, who are either losing or are in toss-ups. we got less than 2 minutes. is her old boss, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, about to become the senate minority leader? >> well i think the most important thing to start with as we are 114 days until the election and if you look back 114 days, chris, we were just beginning in the middle of march and economic shutdown due to coronavi even envisioned, so i think my point there is in the trump era, 114 days is a long time. there is an awful lot that is going to happen and i think the issues that govern what voters are looking at a november may be entirely different from what they're looking at now. let me just say the outset, the one piece that's concerning the

go read it, 110 pages. chris: josh, i want to push to something else. the president is trailing in the polls, a lot of senate republicans, your old home, they're in trouble as well. let me put up this graphic on the screen. there are a half dozen senate incouple bents, -- incumbents, according to real clear politics who are either losing or in toss-up. is your old boss, mitch mcconnell, about to become the senate minority leader? >> well, i think the most important thing to start with is we're 114 days until the election. if you look back 114 days, chris, we were just beginning the middle of march an economic shutdown due to coronavirus. the politics of today weren't even envisioned. i think my point there is that in the trump era, 114 days is a long time. there's an awful lot that is going to happen. and i think the issues that govern what voters are looking at in november may be entirely different from what they're looking at now. let me say at the outset, the one piece that's concerning for senate republicans is that at the candidate level democrats

in a moment, we'll speak to our ireland correspondent chris page, who's in belfast with some people tryingut first our scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie is at falkland palace and gardens, a national trust property in fife. tell us more about this place. well, the national trust has been struggling financially since lockdown, but from today lovely gardens like these here at falkland palace can open to the public. this was a hunting lodge back in the 15005, was a hunting lodge back in the 1500s, and mary queen of scots played tennis here on a tennis court thatis played tennis here on a tennis court that is still in use today. and i am joined by the head gardener, susan. the gardens are absolutely gorgeous, you have got them in good shape for the day, hard work? yes, there is lots to do, and there will be for quite some time to come, but as always, there's always lots to see in the garden at this of year. i think it is fair to say that the wilder parts of the garden are thriving at the moment, some of the areas that are a little bit more buffered need a little bit more tender loving

chris page is in belfast.ack. for example, this one reopening as of noon today. there are rules attached, firstly if you want to sit indoors, you are going to have to order a meal. you can only drink alcohol on its own, if you like, if there is an outdoor seating area. pub landlords will be hoping the weather improves a little bit as the day goes on. also, entertainment in bars, the likes of music, live football matches on a screen, that is all being discouraged. all in the spirit of keeping social distancing. the requirement for the hospitality industry has been cut from two metres down to one metre, if ministers are stressing, if they can put in measures to reduce the risk, making sure ventilation is good in indoor spaces. nonetheless, businesses, the wider business sector welcoming today the fact that the hospitality industry is able to open its doors again. it is a very important industry here, generate about £1 billion of revenue, sustains 65,000 jobs in the tourist industry has been a big economic focus

very kindly so it was a practical matter, i don't think he really had a choice we met chris, a wonderful book, real pager, i learned so much, i really enjoyed it. you've done a fantastic job and i encourage everyone to go get countdown 1945. you really will enjoy it. thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you steve. >> thank you steve. >> coming up nobody likes a tight squeeze. leanfire supplements from force factor contain ingredients clinically shown to help increase energy, burn fat, and double your weight loss. don't struggle to fit in. unleash your potential, with leanfire. available at retailers nationwide. ♪ steve: welcome back everyone. charlie and katrina are back with quick final thoughts on the 2020 race made katrina, we talk tonight about positive patriotism and the opportunity for president trump to lead in that direction. thinking about joe biden. i don't think there's any doubt that he himself personally is a very patriotic guy but he seems to be so captured i the left that actually if you had a biden presidency it would be going in a direction that isn't not in line with what we think o

very kindly so it was a practical matter, i don't think he really had a choice we met chris, a wonderful book, real pager, i learned so much, i really enjoyed it. you've done a fantastic job and i encourage everyone to go get countdown 1945. you really will enjoy it. thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you steve. >> coming up if you have moderate to severe psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, little things can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight

very kindly so it was a practical matter, i don't think he really had a choice we met chris, a wonderful book, real pageearned so much, i really enjoyed it. you've done a fantastic job and i encourage everyone to go get countdown 1945. you really will enjoy it. thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you steve. >> coming up katrina and charlie are back with the latest on the race for the white house. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ it's not just fund fees that matter. fund taxes matter too. every time a fund manager sells a stock ... and here's the worst part, because of high turnover, you actually might have to pay taxes even if the fund itself loses money. that's why you want to own low turnover funds whenever possible. the less you pay in fund fees, the less you pay in taxes, the more wealth you can accumulate... ♪ steve: welcome back everyone. charlie and katrina are back with quick final thoughts on the 2020 race made katrina, we talk tonight about positive patriotism and the opportunity for president trump to lead in that direction. thinking about joe biden. i don't think there's any doubt that he himself personally is a

chris: that's not the -- >> this thing is many pages long. end prosecution of illegal border crossers. support deathly and -- these are the worse -- chris: i'm not disagreeing with you on any of those. i'm disagreeing about defund police. the white house never sent us evidence that the bernie, biden platform calls for defunding or abolishing police because there is none. it calls for increased funding for police departments that meet certain standards. biden has called for redirecting some police funding for related programs like mental health counseling. >> reporter: the white house not providing some of the evidence to fox news sunday about defunding the police. president trump also says that if he gets any kind of legislation, any kind of bill that talks about renaming military bases that are currently named for confederate generals, he says he might consider vetoing it. eric, arthel. eric: all right, david. thanks so much. arthel: the president also fielding some tough questions on a new fox news poll out today. it shows presumptive democr

chris: that's not the -- >> find it. this thing is many pages long. prosecution of illegal border crossers. support deathly and -- these are the worse -- chris: i'm not disagreeing with you on any of those. i'm disagreeing about defund police. the white house never sent evidence that the bernie, biden platform calls for defunding or abolishing police because there is none. it calls for increased funding for police departments that meet certain standards. biden has called for redirecting some police funding for related programs like mental health counseling. this week, you said that black lives matter and the confederate flag are both matters, issues of freedom of speech. >> yeah. chris: but in the case of the confederate flag, there are a lot of people who say these were traitors who split from this country, fought this country in large part to preserve slavery. is the confederate flag offensive? >> it depends on who you're talking about, when you're talking about. when people proudly have their confederate flags they're not talking about racism. they

brookings institute was the primary source for the steel dossier were chris steele got his information to obtain wire taps for carter pagejillian: a public viewing for john lewis will resume, lawmakers praising the civil rights icon as a hero is a patriot during a ceremony in our nations capital. todd: todd piro joins us with the tributes. >> reporter: he spent his life as a fight about the loss bringing a rare moment of peace. ♪ amazing grace ♪ >> reporter: lawmakers shedding tears the congressman who passed away earlier this one from pancreatic cancer, lewis the first black lawmaker to lie in state in the capitol rotunda, an honor party leaders said was well deserved. >> has really bent toward what is right because people like john paid the price to help bend it. >> under the dome of the capitol we bid farewell to the greatest americans in our history. it is fitting that john lewis joins this pantheon of patriots. >> reporter: donald trump said he would not, joe biden and his wife also paying their respects, lewis will lie in state in the georgia state capitol tomorrow. todd: the race for the white house, progressives

chris, one of the things that concerns me most is that we're not on the same page.t all 50 states, what's on their web site, and most of the essential information isn't there. every person in this country how can able to know very easy what's the risk in my community and how well is my community doing bringing that risk down so i and my family can be safer. to do that, we need simple things like not how many tests are being done. that's a useless number. how many tests are being done that come back within 24 is -- 24 and 48 hours. that's important. and we need to know things like of the cases that were diagnosed today, how many of them were isolated within 48 hours, 72 hours? because that's how you stop the chain of transmission. how many have been identified as contacts, warned and entered quarantine so that they didn't spread it to others? that's how other countries are getting a handle on this epidemic, and we can do that here -- ♪ ♪ arthel: we interrupt "fox news sunday" with this fox news alert. the hearse carrying congressman john lewis of georgia, is arriving

and, chris, one of the things that concerns me most is that we're not on the same page.ed at all 50 states, what's on their web site, and most of the essential information isn't there. every person in this country should be able to know very easily what's the risk in my community and how well is my community doing bringing that risk down so i and my family can be safer? to do that, we need simple things like not how many tests are being done. that's a useless number. how many tests are being done that come back within 24 and 48 hours. that's important. and we need to know things like of the cases that were diagnosed today, how many of them were isolated within 48 author hours, 72 hours? because that's how you stop trains of transmission. -- chains of transmission. how many have been warped and entered quarantine so they didn't spread it to others? we can do that here also, but we need to be on the same page, we need to focus on measurements that matter. we need to make those publicly available and hold all of us accountable for improving our performance so to we can get

chris to come and get me. i asked him, man, where the hell you been? eventually he tells me they went to go do something and something didn't go right. the next day, ladell king pagedd you do me a favor? if you help me move this truck, i'll give you something." so i'm like, "sure, i'll follow you." but i never got in the suburban. i drove ladell's car. i followed him to the southside, to that grocery store. and we ended up going down the street to kermit lottie's shop. and i never got out of the car. and he comes out, and he looked spooked. he's like, "man, he don't want it." "there's a body on the truck or something." i'm like, "what?" granted, i was definitely doing something i wasn't supposed to be doing, i'm not trying to minimize that. i knew it was hot, but i didn't know someone was dead. i have no doubt that these two are involved in this murder. these people set me up to take the fall because they knew somebody was going to fry for this. >> the dynamic was one where julius would have been a convenient patsy. >> the state's case against julius was based on the testimony of people who were hugely unreliable. >> ladell king was in the business of having cars s

and when i look at people's facebook pages, as i often do, trying to report back like what led them to this fate, a lot of times, chris, more often than i would like to admit, you see a lot of the same talking points on these people's facebook pages, weeks before they die. >> meaning like this is a scam, this is a hoax, i don't buy it? >> absolutely. from them and from family members. and unfortunately, what happens usually after their own family member dies, not like mr. green, who writes something telling his experience, their facebook pages just go quiet. so it seems like we're having a quiet realization among a lot of people in this country when they have their own loved ones die. the hope is, it doesn't take that to change every single person's die to follow a few simple health protocols. >> yeah. and we see that there is the sort of consensus around masks that's 68% of people say they generally wear masks. so it's not that the polarization has worked as perfectly as other areas. people are -- that's 74% saying every time or most of the time. the problem is, there's 20, 25% of the population that operates in this

is full of ideas from critical race theory, including this page that describes white culture as "individualism, progress and objectivity." chrisdoesn't it sound like it was written by a white supremacist there? unbelievable. >> yeah, there is a really increasingly fine line between old federal racism and new style critical racism theory. and what has happened is progressive's have economic divide, classical marxism is not a winning message. it has not worked anywhere that it's been tried in the last entry. so they grasp onto something unfortunately working much better for their rain. it is did dividing people along racial lines and using the rhetoric of race to achieve the economic outcomes of marxism. seattle is really ground zero. and it is really astonishing. if you look at these documents, they are basically making the argument the entire justice system is an institution of white supremacy and an institution of white domination and a corrupt, evil racist culture. the only solution for them and this is the highest level of government is to burn it all down. that is what we are seeing not only in the streets, but we see that

of ideas from critical race theory, including this page that describes white culture as "individualism, meritocracy, progress, and objectivity." chrisdoesn't this sound like it was written by a white supremacist there? unbelievable. >> yeah. there was an increasingly fine line between old-style racism and new style critical race theory and what has happened is this, progressives have realized that the economic divide, classical marxism is not a winning message but it's never worked anywhere it's been tried century.st so they've grasp onto something that's working much better for their aim, it's dividing people along racial lines. and using the rhetoric of race to achieve the economic outcomes of marxism. and seattle is really ground zero. it's really astonishing, if you look at these documents, basically making the argument that the entire justice system is an institution of whites at the receipt, an of white domination, and an evil, corrupe only solution, at the highest levels of government, is to burn it all down, and that's what we are seeing not only in the streets but we are seeing that in the board rooms, the decision-making c

chris, thank you. >> just to make sure we're playing on the same page, the idea that there is a nationwide strategy how to open schools and it's the same in keeping with the nationwide strategy on how to fight the pandemic and do testing, what nationwide strategy? >> yeah, chris, thanks. this is the issue. we don't have a national strategy. the strategy so far has been one of let every state figure it out on its own. we're essentially doing the same thing with schools. there was a bit of a threat, we started threatening schools that didn't open. now we're saying to the schools figure it out opposite your own. and that's not helpful. we do need a federal government, a national strategy would be useful at this moment. >> especially as you mentioned many times with testing. i had the superintendent from one of these big counties in the president's backyard that just said, listen, we're going to have to go pure virtual. i said why? what changed? he said i can't get the tests back fast enough. i hear this all the time from people everywhere, from new york to california. what is the key to getting test resul

page. they were closing things down. why is this happening in your state? >> chris, it is a sobering moment to be sure. we have had a spike in cases and a spike in the number of people in hospitals. but we knew there would be some increase in the number of cases when we started to reopen. and what the governor said from the beginning is that we're going to treat it like a dimmer switch, that if we're reopening in a way that is increasing the numbers beyond what is safe, we will dial back. and so this week the governor announced dialing back. close the bars, close dine-in activity in our restaurants, and, you know, we are now just going to be back in that place where we have to flatten the curve again. but i will say this. you know, we've built enormous capacity as the first state in the country to issue the shutdown. we built enormous capacity during the time that we had, including increasing the number of hospital beds, ventilators, ppe. and so even though we are having this fight, we are far better able to handle it than we would have been several months ago. >> i hear you, governor, and it's good to

pages long. the whole thing was just. kind of appeared and larry i'm sure you had a chance to watch this you know chris wallace you've interviewed chris wallace you've interviewed his father and you've interviewed donald trump one hot of this go so sideways was great friends with mike. was with him shortly before his death he had been proud of chris i think chris never backed up took the facts right it is hand i don't think it was trump's finest moment he caught them in misstatements it was embarrassing even if you're a trump supporter that had to be embarrassing. chris how old is told of the fire never let up quite a minute of this when we're when he said we have the best mortality rate in the world coronavirus strong they're wrong that biden has said what he said it was incredible to see i don't on here blaming it on the he have you ever done you've done more interviews than just about anybody and have you ever been in an environment where you knew this is not a good place to do an interview there's just not going to be good karma here i mean it's all week long here in washington but 160 degrees it's uncomfortable just going o

i just saw them and there was apparently 12 pages of notes leaked -- my lawyer doesn't even have them yet -- where the prosecutor, assistant prosecutor chrisy is talking with the police officer that has to sign off on the probable cause document. the basis for the charges against us, and they were disagreements on at least 12 different points of fact, including that the crowd was allegedly "peaceful." >> sean: i support your motion today. obviously, she has fund-raising off of your case. we did have the governor on and pledged quite openly that he will pardon you. does that give you some comfort? >> you know, it does, but pardon is down the road and pardon is after i have to already fight the battle. then only if we are convicted, but i still have to incur the legal fees in the meantime and put up with all the lies and slander in the press. and you will like this. i got lynwood on my side today and he's agreed to represent usn this. >> sean: plan what? >> yes, lynwood -- >> by the way i just retained him as my attorney, good choice. i have to run but we will keep you updated on the case. he is great at what he does. when we come back, reme

news studios and opinion pages seeing that the communist at targeted in system was a root cause of this pandemic. reporters closer to the story though there was more to it chris you have worked as a journalist in china for more than 2 decades you put in china's covert 900 spawn's for the new york times what do you make of this notion of a systematic cover up orchestrated by beijing. well it's one of. which you look at the evidence is actually much for complex process the way the evidence suggests that. there were problems of communication within the chinese government i think it's probably true that health officials in beijing were trying to figure out just how contagious this was so no words i don't think from the very beginning the central leadership in beijing follows what was happening. more than that big the chinese government did panic when this unfamiliar virus was 1st discovered they didn't have a solid plan however they soon realized how dangerous it was and quickly change strategy soul just 20 days after decoding the virus the government decisively put upon a city with a population of more than 10000000 people under lockdown i'm not sure any western