Shelves a cost europe including the u. K. Where the government is accused of not acting quickly enough to contain the strain. Thank you for joining as the United States is stepping up its efforts to combat the spread of corona virus and the Economic Impacts from it mayors of some of the largest cities have already ordered the shutdown of bars and restaurants and the Federal Reserve bank has stepped in to try to provide relief for businesses but the head of the Coronavirus Task force is warning the worst is yet to come alan fischer reports from washington. From the president of the United States was aimed at comforting americans relax doing great it will pay us moments later from the man heading the drive against the virus. Starkly different message the worst is yes the head for us it is how we respond to that challenge the number of confirmed cases in the us is no more than 3000 states are shutting down bars and restaurants curfews are starting to be introduced the face of america is changing at airports chaos as the extended european travel ban kicks in here. Staff carrying out Health Screenings have been overwhelmed the governor of illinois blamed the trumpet ministration for a lack of planning and foresight he didnt get the response he wanted well heres what i got i got a call at about 11 oclock last night after that tweet from a white house staffer who yelled at me about the tweet the administration at its no Daily Briefing admitted mistakes were made the lines again that we saw overnight at a limited number of airports including chicago are unacceptable weve adjusted our processes we continue to surge personnel at the same briefing when asked how many ventilators the u. S. Had to help patients with breathing difficulties the government secretary in charge said this we dont disclose concrete numbers on particular items for National Security purposes but we have many ventilators thousands and thousands of ventilators and a quick internet search reveals one study says the number is there and 160000 Americas Central Bank has also cut Interest Rates to almost 0 to try and protect the economy the most dramatic intervention since the Global Financial crisis in 2008 theres a clear warning that even when the medical recovery begins the financial shock will be felt for a very long time. The 2 leading contenders for the democratic president ial nomination faced off in washington in the latest debate a new audience and both make it 6 feet apart neither convinced the trumpet ministration is on top of the crisis 1st thing we have got to do but were not on president has to shut this president up right now because he is on the mining the doctors. From the scientists who are trying to help the American People this is a crisis this is like we are being attacked from abroad this is something that is of great consequence as like a war and in a war you do whatever is needed to be done to take care of your people this is no whats on trial it would not be a significant election issue alan fischer wishing to reserve and theyve been reports of panic buying across the u. S. With shoppers talking up on basics like toilet paper Vice President mike pence has assured people surprise will not run outs stores will stay open throughout the days that lie ahead. We were told that hours may be reduced to allow for cleaning and to resupply but American Families can be confident your local Grocery Store is going to be open its going to be well supplied and they specifically asked us to encourage americans just. By your weekly needs and grocery because the Grocery Stores will remain open china meanwhile has reported its lowest number of new infections but the pandemic is having a major impact on the wall 2nd largest economy figures just out show production in factories fell by a record 13. 5 percent in february and the regional shutdown of shopping malls and other businesses has led to a 23. 5 percent drop in retail sales economists warn recovery may be slow as the global spread of the virus is likely to hit a rebound in overseas imports despite factories returning to normal well weve got 2 reporters across this say in asia mcbride is in seoul where the numbers all of these cases are also dropping but for us as sought to katrina you in beijing katrina the Economic Impact as we expected is already having an effect on chinas economy tell us about those numbers for us. Thats right follow me starting to see how big of a hit its having so important Economic Indicators have been out in the last few hours industrial in output is the big one its down by 13. 5 percent and thats the biggest jump that weve seen since records began another important indicator we saw was fixed Asset Investment or Housing Investment thats down by 24. 5 percent and thats the biggest other than we saw during the Global Financial crisis in 20082009 retail consumption is also down by 20. 5 percent while unemployment is up and thats really not surprising that were seeing that in china this current Virus Outbreak has had a huge impact essentially the entire country was paralyzed for the month of february even as early as late january people were staying in people were not working people were not gathering and this time is supposed to be a time of celebration and spending its the Chinese New Year period the Chinese Government is under a lot of pressure to restart the economy and get those numbers up much 16 is the date in many major cities but businesses have to resume operations unless they have a very good reason to then the government says that industrial capacity in china is back up to about 80 percent but still many factories are having trouble starting their operations is still a lot of people having trouble traveling within china because there still are some travel restrictions there in place chinese president xi jinping has said that he still confident that china could hit its 6 percent g. D. P. Growth target for this year but analysts say that that looks unlikely even with some targeted stimulus measures that have been put in place by the Chinese Government now the good news jill katrina is that the number of new cases is going down but authorities are not concerned about the virus being ordered back into china so what sort of measures are they putting in place to deal with this. Thats right so theyre stepping up travel restrictions on people flying into the country internationally certainly in beijing now if youre flying into beijing from another country as soon as you land youll be persis and youll have to undergo a compulsory 2 we quarantine period in a designated Government Hotel center and you also have to foot your own bill for that quarantine period which is different because previously quarantine periods were paid for by the government and this seems to be a sign from them discouraging people to fly into china saying if you can stay away certainly in china if youre coming into beijing from other areas of the country you have to undergo that 2 week quarantine period at home at least and the government has put into some very strict criminal charges if you have are caught circumventing those restrictions you could face up to 7 years in jail now of course we have seen as you mentioned good news these numbers are going down but as more people go to work as more people leave their homes including inside who are big problems the government is worried that these numbers could go back up again so these restrictions these tight interest actions are designed to really keep that downward trend continuing for as long as possible katrina thank you very much katrina you live for is to. Go to Seoul South Korea where bike ride is so robbers china concerns in south korea about inspections coming from outside what measures are south korean authorities taking to deal with this. Thats right the last thing that south korea wants as china wants is to import reinfection wants more especially as we continue to have these falling numbers here today monday only 74 new cases of being reported they havent had a number as low as that for 3 weeks so we have this gradually continuing trend which is good news in other developments here the government has announced that daegu down in the south east of the country and its surrounding provinces to become to be classified as a special disaster zone now that sounds more dramatic than it actually is its more of an administrative measure to allow state level funding to help that part of the country it is the hardest hit by the coronavirus weve had nearly 90 percent of all of the cases have been down in the southeast of the country and so in a way it is a hopeful sign because it is addressing the economic crisis which is going to be left after the Public Health crisis thankfully seems to be under control but we do know that the government here is taking more measures to try to look at visitors especially from other parts of the world that are considered to be more contagious than south korea and were talking a particular about your up already for a number of countries from europe the more stringent screening was in place at all ports of entry well ask there are now going to be expanded to all european arrivals and there are measures which may be applied to everybody arriving here in south korea its interesting fairly that these measures south korea has opted not to have a blanket ban on all visitors or all visitors from certain countries or even designating that people have to go and have 2 weeks of quarantine they in some ways use a more flexible sophisticated maybe smarter approach that could be copied by other countries where they rely more on technology that basically as people come into the country as well as having normal Health Screening they have to show the device that they have a. Arrived with their smartphone or their tablet there make sure it works that they can be reached here in south korea on that number and then they have to before theyre allowed into the country download the app that basically in whatever language they choose they have to interact with it it keeps a track of their health for that all important 2 week period and if you dont interact if you dont tell us what your temperature is or whether you have any symptoms then an official will follow up with you to ask you why not so it is a. Proactive approach if you like and south korea probably feels it has the confidence to take this kind of approach because of course with its experience it has now in place very extensive medical facilities especially Testing Facilities more than a quarter of a 1000000 tests have been carried out for the corona virus so they do have the confidence that if anybody is infected and wandering around the streets of south korea they will be found very quickly and can be isolated and treated so there are some hopeful signs here moving forward thank you very much for that rob mcbride live for us there in seoul now italy reported hundreds more deaths on sunday the countrys worst single day 368 were added to the toll taking it past 1800 its nearly a week since a nationwide lockdown of 60000000 people began restricting travel in banning public gatherings italy is the worst affected country outside china that countries across europe have closed business is encouraged people to stay home has more than that. The latest tool in the fight against Coronavirus Police drones in madrid flying over public spaces urging people to stay home whenever possible. The countrys now under a 2 week state of emergency and as the death toll more than doubled even people out exercising were ordered. In france schools bars and restaurants are closed gatherings of more than 100 people are banned and people are being urged to work from home public transport is still running but more measures are on their way as of them at this stage in urban areas we will maintain public transport to allow french people to commute for strictly necessary purposes and regarding Long Distance travel by train between major cities by bus or by plane this will be gradually reduced. In the u. K. The governments been accused of not acting quickly enough to contain the spread as people stocked up over the weekend almost emptying supermarkets in some areas hundreds of scientists queried the governments strategy the Health Minister now says water time style measures are coming hes asking british manufacturers to make more ventilators soon everyone over the age of 70 will be asked to self isolate for up to 4 months and this week should see new measures including a ban on large gatherings we will change the law so that we take the power to be able to close math at Mass Gatherings if we need to and and take other action that you just normally wouldnt but we might have to in order to respond to this to this virus italys record is another dramatic rise in the death toll there have been more than 20000 coronavirus cases there in the vatican with some Peters Square empty pope francis delivered his weekly sunday prayers a fire live stream you know let me reach you know i want to renew my proximity to all the 2nd those who are nursing them and for the many volunteers helping people unable to leave their homes but everyone meeting the needs of the poorest and the homeless as of sunday night the czech republics borders with poland closed a move designed to slow the spread of the virus and in poland theyve shut the border with germany temporarily. This is a historic moment we have just restored an internal European Union border between poland and germany for the coming 10 days germany has confirmed its borders with austria switzerland and france will be closed from monday although commuters and goods vehicles are to be allowed through another sign of how europes turning inwards as the number of corona virus infections continues to grow the dean barber al jazeera. I said ahead on aljazeera well look at other stories making headlines and why protesters are brockett the highway and seriously prodding says russian and texas troops begin joint patrols says rouse president turns to the opposition to form the next government and a year of political stalemate. Yet more cloud of rain pushing into western parts of the shadows to doubt is the southeast this area of low pressure swelling away across turkey central parts to generate settle but you see the Better Weather up towards the northwest pushing across seaports shells into scandinavia High Pressure overspread at the moment its not too bad at present this will go on through monday quite a bit of cloud and rain will spill in a much colder day on monday 12 cells is the top temperature in madrid next is some snow over the spanish play pushing up towards boston rather peyronies right sleep the snow coming in here central parts of france also seeing some of that wintry mix when she weather to just around all the parts of scotland pushing across Northern Areas of olland as well as a central parts of europe not bad because that snow down into the southeast and cold is some Winter Weather to around the Baltic States pushing into western parts of russia has issued at this time of the years ago and its achieved i think squatting down across the the northwests not too bad into western half this by into political some showers there into the east side of spain for a time they will gradually ease still rather live below weather on the other side of the mediterranean for northern parts of africa what is generate dry cool for some over the next couple of days just 21 in tripoli. Perception is validation. Leave what he sees but in one life time we cannot see everything that we would lie and he experiences of others and the legacies that a previous generations. Of that testimony we would know very little. Witness documentaries that open your eyes on aljazeera. The end. This isnt just there are top stories this hour restaurants and bars in major cities across the United States are being closed as the country steps up its efforts to curb coronavirus the centers for Disease Control is recommending against Mass Gatherings of 50 people or more the outbreak is having a major impact on chinas economy manufacturing the past month dropped in the newest level in decades and retail spending was down more than 20 percent and each city has recorded its launches daily increase in deaths with 360 more on sunday it comes as thousands of new cases were recorded across europe which has become the center of the epidemic. Now one of irans top government officials has died of the cold 1000 virus his the most high profile death in the country where there are concerns the pandemic could overwhelm Health Facilities and the struggling economy there now almost 14000 confirmed cases in iran its believed to have 110000 hospital beds 30000 of those in the capital tehran the countrys already under pressure because of u. S. Sanctions and with the outbreak facing further pressure on medical services the government has asked the International Monetary fund for 5000000000 dollars in emergency funding present Hassan Rouhani has offered no interest loans in cash handouts to ease the financial burden on millions of households. Now a cruise ship carrying more than a 1000 people is set to do