now with the announcement that theatres
on Broadway will close their doors
tonight and the Dow Jones continuing to
fall seems the president Trump's oval
office address last night has not calmed
fears in the United States
Siobhan Kennedy is in Washington first
now Siobhan well John they say that a
crisis could make or break a president
think of George Bush's handling of
Hurricane Katrina or President Roosevelt
stepping in during the Great Depression
in that sense Donald Trump's primetime
address to the nation last night was
really his big moment his chance to show
leadership to calm things down to show
that he was in control will that has
spectacularly backfired that the markets
went immediately into a tailspin the Dow
is currently down about 2,000 points and
he also simultaneously managed to insult
the European leaders and at the same
time send the traveling public into
chaos he's also hurt the airlines who
had no idea that his travel ban was
imminent what seems to be the big
criticism here John is that he hasn't
focused on public health where Americans
are desperate for information and
testing kits instead he has chosen in
his own inimitable style to instead
point the finger a Samba president
addresses the nation my fellow Americans
tonight I want to speak with you about
our nation's unprecedented response to
the corona virus outbreak facing
criticism he hasn't acted quickly enough
this was Donald Trump's moment and he
had a centerpiece ready to deliver to
keep new cases from entering our shores
we will be suspending all travel from
Europe to the United States for the next
30 days
Americans returning home would be exempt
from the travel ban as would travelers
coming from the UK
even though cases there are increasing
and the reason the European Union failed
to take the same precautions and
restrict travel from China and other
hotspots as a result a large number of
new clusters in the United States were
seeded by travelers from Europe so the
president wasn't only banning the
majority of Europeans he was blaming
them too if the idea was to calm the
nation and the markets boy did it have
the opposite effect as Wall Street
opened in New York shares tumbled
forcing an automatic shutdown for the
second time in a week a first in stock
market history there was anger in Europe
too the European Union disapproves of
the fact that the u.s. decision to
impose a travel ban was taken
unilaterally and without consultation
and on-the-ground
travel chaos after the president's
unclear message even left Americans
confused I think a lot of people
panicked last night when it wasn't clear
that like American citizens could still
return home so
I know a lot of people that were freaked
out and trying to change their flights
professor Larry Gustin is one of the
world's leading experts on government
responses to pandemics like the corona
virus and this was his verdict on the
president's travel ban this doesn't make
Americans safe at all the epidemic here
is just as bad if not worse than in most
parts of Europe this is a microbe and
you just can't erect travel bans and
expect that you're going to be safe
being safe is about being tested early I
want you to slowly turn it around and
want to make sure you have but across
the u.s. medical units have struggled to
access the test kits because
manufacturing has been too slow
production is now being ramped up and
the White House insists millions of test
kits are on the way but could it be too
late China South Korea Japan have done
you know magnitudes of orders of more
testing than in the United States and
we're no longer probably in a phase
where we can contain it where testing
really helps you identify cases isolate
them contact trace put them in
quarantine
we have that sweet spot and the window
of opportunity may have closed sensing
that some districts like this one in New
York are moving to mitigation closing
schools canceling mass gatherings and
working from home the president
apparently worried that ordering those
measures would be too alarmist but in
the absence of a clear message across
America people are taking matters into
their own hands clearing the shelves in
preparation for worse to come well a
growing number of countries are imposing
travel restrictions and quarantine
measures India has announced a
suspension of all entry visas for a
month as well as restricting return
travel for its citizens who are
currently abroad the Philippine capital
Manila has quarantine measures in place
with travel in and out of the capital
suspended in the last 24 hours
Iran has reported over a thousand new
cases and its death toll has risen to
400
twenty-nine with every province affected
Latin America's biggest airline is
cutting 30% of its international flights
because of falling demand and Denmark
has closed all its schools and
universities along with Norway Greece
Lithuania and Slovakia our foreign
affairs correspondent Jonathan Rugman
reports this was an empty row this
morning
let Dolce Vita this is not all bars
cafes and restaurants
now joining schools and universities in
closing shut all non-essential travel is
banned in Italy and when a man fainted
in the capital's main railway station a
team in protective clothing was filmed
taking him away food shops are open
these queueing shoppers clearly well
over the 1 meter apart required only a
few people are allowed inside this
delicatessen at any one time
the manager uses yellow tape to enforce
a safe distance though with over a
thousand dead in Italy so far he's
certainly not complaining about doing
his bit gross or gendered Massimo the
government's doing its best were in a
war against an invisible enemy and our
generation just isn't prepared for this
type of situation in Spain King Felipe
and the entire Spanish cabinet have been
tested for the corona virus after the
infection rate soared in a few days over
80 have died
many schools have shut for a fortnight
and the Prime Minister is conducting
future meetings via videolink
France holds local elections this Sunday
but politicians have been told to avoid
the usual kissing and handshakes
[Music]
in Greece the ceremony for the lighting
of the Olympic flame looked like a
vision from heaven though without
spectators and amid an urgent call by
the Greek government for more doctors
and nurses there's speculation the
Olympics in Tokyo in July will be
postponed and though the organizers
insist that the games are going ahead
Donald Trump has suggested a year's
delay I like that better than I like
having empty stadiums all over the place
I think if you cancel it make it a year
later that's a better alternative than
doing it with no crowd in Norway there
following Denmark's lead by closing all
schools and universities those involved
in treating patients are forbidden from
leaving the country until the end of
next month
the Danes with over 500 cases are
claiming one of the most dramatic
increases anywhere in Europe public
sector workers who aren't critical to
the emergency response are being sent
home in Iran the cabinet met wearing
face masks the surge in cases there has
left over 10,000 ale with more than 400
dead this is a satellite image of a
cemetery in the holy city of calm filmed
last October back then there was still
burial space in the top right of the
picture but by last month that space was
filled with many more graves suggesting
a far higher death toll than officially
claimed well the French president
Emmanuel macron has just been making a
national address about the crisis
Jonathan Rugman has been watching it
Jonathan bring us up to date on what
he's been saying well the death toll in
France has risen from 48 to 61 in the
last 24 hours
and president macro in his address to
the French people has announced that all
schools universities and nurseries will
be closed in France from Monday and he
hasn't put a date as to when they're
going to reopen he has said that young
people are the most likely the the most
the best spreaders of this virus and
that's those are the grounds on which he
is closing schools and universities he's
also urged people aged 70 and above
and the vulnerable those with health
issues to stay at home for as long as
possible we know that five French MPs
have the virus the French Culture
Minister has the virus and it's pretty
clear that the French are looking across
the border at what is happening in Italy
in particular with two thousand new
cases reported today and they've decided
to go further and faster than they have
before