And low turnout in municipal elections in france seen as a midterm test for president his governing party is expected to face big setbacks. I mean well into the sports news is not just a city and so place the f. A. Cup semifinals to the drawing board now but also already true thanks to the labor not in the sun chelsea are into the last one no one of the less than the best of the action coming up. Now the number of confirmed coronavirus cases around the world is now more than 10000000. 00 and there are warnings that time is running out to get the pandemic under control in the worst affected country thats the United States where several states are reporting record numbers of new infections the spikes are concentrated in a. Southern and western states mostly controlled by republicans even as Vice President mike pence claimed the country is that inning the cut of more than 2500000 and affections have now been recorded across the us india has also announced its highest ever daily jump with nearly 28000. 00 cases confirmed that on sunday that takes the countrys total to nearly 530000 china says its launched a mass coronavirus testing scheme in the Capital Beijing aimed at screening all 3000000 people in the Education System tests have already begun for University Students and teaches well our correspondent Patty Culhane is in maryland just outside washington d. C. For us patty as weve been saying it does seem that every day brings with it new records just how bad things then are well we expect to get new numbers shortly but just saturdays saudi increase of 65 percent of new cases 65 percent of cases over the last 2 weeks i want to show you this map this is from a group that tracks whether states are ready to reopen based on the concrete tyria from the federal government basically having enough i. C. U. Beds intensive care beds having a decrease in cases take a look at this map if its red it means these states are not ready to reopen the economy even though many of them have and it says that only really 4 states in the entire country are in a place where they can go ahead and start lifting restrictions but thats not what were seeing on the ground were seen a few weeks ago that a lot of these southern and western states just basically lifted all the restrictions we saw people flooding into bars or restaurants and shops many of them not Wearing Masks and Health Officials said this was whats going to happen now weve seen the Vice President come out in an interview today and say that states are reopening these trying to say it isnt connected to the move to reopen the economy but were starting to hear a little bit different of a thought from his own health and Human Services secretary lets take a listen. But the window is closing we have to act and people as individuals have to act responsibly we need to social distance we need to wear for our face coverings if were in settings where we cant social distance particularly in these hot zones or patti as you say we have had fairly contradictory messages from the administration especially when it comes to mosque wearing and i say that mike pence said at an event today in dallas he decided to wear a mosque today is as did many of his supporters does this shift do you think for the administration. Well it depends on the next time we see you u. S. President donald trump so far today what weve seen from the president is he tweeted and then deleted a video of some of his supporters one man yelling white power we havent really heard much from him today hes golfing again at his Virginia Golf Course but the Vice President often takes a different tact than the president the president the Vice President says though the president wears mask live in a couple of pictures of him doing so but the general rule is he doesnt and his supporters dont even when theyre in a packed crowded auditory not packed but crowded auditorium theyre not Wearing Masks and the president has made this a very political issue youre seen poll after poll say republicans say they are not worry mask and public the vast majority of democrats are and a lot of it has to do with the media that these people are consuming theres a fascinating poll of independents and it said it last independents you watch conservative media and they were Wearing Masks not the majority of the independents you watch over a wide range of media the majority of them wore Wearing Masks so somehow in the middle of this pandemic in this very polarized country the issue of worried a face mask which Health Workers say is the only way to stop the spread of the virus has become a partisan issue. Speaking to us from just outside washington d. C. Thank you very much patty well we can now speak to graham hes a reporter for High Country News and he joins us from Norman Oklahoma state that has also been seeing some big spikes grain you in the middle every opening in your state and youre seeing these records being broken over the last week how do people there regard the state governments plans. Well i dont think that theres a been a huge backlash that the governor because it does seem that a lot of people in oklahoma are taking the law down measures very seriously and weve had a lower number of cases relatively compared to other parts of the country but our per capita rate has often led the nation so governors to spend very reluctant to slow down the reopening efforts he was at the trial it also was not wearing a mask and he downplayed a lot of questions and concerns from reporters who asked about what the next move is now that we are seeing in a prize but hes done what the federal government has done here which is largely who left that decision up to the local levels so we are seeing some mayors. Even some conservative mayors the mayor of Oklahoma City trying to enforce stricter state home measures but by and large most. But most of the local government officials in the state seem to be moving along with the with governor steps to try to reopen the state at a steady pace and we say that people havent been necessarily adhering to social distancing that the Health Experts that ive been speaking to have been expressing concern particularly around young people and those crowding into boz and other places as they reopen what are you seeing as you move around the. You do see a lot of younger people in restaurants and bars norman where island here is a college Town University of oklahoma is here you know its its not uncommon to see driving past a bar and see it full of people theres been several bars in Oklahoma City over the recent months that have caught a lot of public attention for allowing people to come in and not social distance and not wear masks. I think that more people and more local governments are encouraging mask wearing but i havent seen a lot of evidence that thats taking place in places other than that the Grocery Store you mentioned there and i want to ask you because patti was saying it is very much a political statement is that how its regarded in oklahoma i think so i mean its kind of hard to tell like you said you know. I think governor just its definitely playing to his base which largely questions how bad the pandemic really is whether or not mass clearing is necessary she hasnt hes been very reluctant to take a step to ask people who are local officials to start wrist requiring a mask he kind of pisses on a personal responsibility and. Pace the the idea of requiring mass wearing as infringing on peoples personal liberties so i dont get the sense that theres a a real strong pushback within his base and oklahoma is a very very conservative state and yeah i mean in terms of his political future or anything like that i dont get the sense that this is really changing anyones mind oh let me ask you more about his political future because President Trump himself went to oklahoma and his while his rally last week knocked rather empty and as you say oklahoma very much a red state odd things changing could this have implications for november. I dunno you know i think when you look south to texas where Governor Abbott is has reversed course quite significantly and public about reopening the been very. Very open about the fact that he regrets opening that quickly and i think that that you know that pressure is even being you know illustrated in places like arizona but still it seems to be sticking to his guns that reopening and reopening at a steady pace and a careful pace is the right option at a press Conference Last Week he said that you know these the rise in cases is just something that were going to have to live with and i mean thats almost a direct quote. You know there isnt a strong democratic rival thats been popping up on anyones radar recently so in terms substance political future i think he still sits pretty strong in oklahoma in terms of reelection grammar there are reports that the High Country News speaking to us from oklahoma thank you very much great to get that update from ukraine you bet. Well speaking of reopening some disneyland workers in the us protesting the companys plans to open the california resort during this ongoing pandemic many are concerned that employees went to given enough protection from the outbreak especially given the recent surge in cases across the u. S. Disney had hoped to welcome guests back to its the impacts next month but the restart date has since been delayed labor unions have called on the company to provide on site testing. We want the park to open but we wanted to open the safe and right now disney has not assured the conditions to do that they are resisting testing they cant tell us details of how theyre going to handle cleaning what theyre going to do if somebody gets sick and our workers want to come back they love disney they love their jobs but they cannot afford to come back safely and neither can california open theme parks and youve opened california to the world so when we do it weve got to do it state. Well the Global Pandemic has also left tens of thousands of migrants in limbo across africa and kenya many of them have been stranded without work waiting for coronavirus restrictions to be lifted the International Organization for migration is calling on governments to organize humanitarian flights to get them home mama to the reports now from nairobi in the 2nd part of our series on people whove been left stranded by car the 19. These are some of the migrants stuck in transit unable to reach their destination or get back home because of the coronavirus pandemic. Nondoing the mission is a Syrian National whos been stranded in the kenyan capital nairobi for the past 3 months he was put in this hotel together with other migrants by the u. S. Into plus an organization for migration but only after completing a mundus a 14 day quarantine period the other on the docket of this is nothing we can do but be patient when the veil of a shut everything down we have been treated well of the law and taken good care of by the united nations. Sigel is fisherman was on his way home from seychelles when the kenyan government announced the looked on measures. With his Vacation Time already spent here he dreads and in for the delays because of what. I guess hope they dont extend the lockdown so all the deal can come to an end i really dont want to lose my job. According to the International Organization for migration tens of thousands of migrants are stranded across africa in djibouti hundreds have been abandoned by traffickers in a country with one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the continent the agency says its providing many with Financial Support food clothing shelter and other essential relief however it seems there is a limit to what it can do and just governments to assist and protect stranded migrants the International Organization for migration flows some of both measures of the by governments to stop the spread of 19 are having an impact on migrants its a small problem but in 40 countries of not access to work making them vulnerable to exploitation from different parts of the world its now calling for the establishment of humanitarian corridors to help people Cross International borders in a timely and dignified manner their discussions underway to ensure that you open up humanitarian spaces for all different categories of migrants that are coming into kenya who remain stranded in kenya so its very important to ensure that we open the airspace especially for humanitarian purposes. Aid workers say covered 1000 has exposed migrants as the most marginalised people during this crisis they also fear migrants rights might be cut because theyve been blamed in some places as kutty has of the disease and maligned by politicians and media like. Well that was point 2 but in parts 3 of us areas our latin america editor lucien human will be reporting from chile my border closures have left thousands of people from across the region stranded thats on monday here on aljazeera. All that has whalens who fled an economic collapse have begun returning home as cut neighboring colombia restricts Economic Activity to prevent the spread of private 19 bad decision has left many migrants without money to pay rent or even buy food that heading home is also a challenge for many as to raise about explains. Him if he can a loan was one of the millions of venezuelans who left the country in recent years she was living in england via right at the border with venezuela but when the colombian government imposed a lockdown she decided to return home because she couldnt find work the trip she says was one of the most difficult in her life yet. What they kept us in a station for 4 days with more than 500 people there was lots of security and there was medical attention but it was filled with people i thought we were all going to get sick. From there they were taken to a school where they spent 8 days until they were put on a bus towards 30 kilometers away from there in a swollen capital. And out the window for 30 hours we were given no food or anything and all the time we were being stopped by Security Forces they wouldnt let us open the windows of the bus and i was trying to grab them when i arrived i had to spend another 2 weeks in quarantine. Is just one of the thousands of venezuelans who have returned but authorities are not making the trip easy for them even though the government has repatriated people using you many tarion flights there are thousands more quite trying to get back in by land but border officials are allowing only 300 people a day 3 times a week. 1000 infections have been on the rise in the past weeks whos in a major challenge to venezuelas Health Care System which some say is on the verge of collapsing resident evil amado accuses migrants of being used by colombias president even located to spread the disease and he said weve proven the buses were contaminated so that venezuelans would come back and this is by the orders of iran venezuela was under siege and were trying to take care of our border and oh people i know one of but human Rights Groups say thats not the case and abuses against returning migrants have put thousands of people at risk. Weve seen margarets being called biological weapons carriers of the virus and they are paying a price for leaving the us while theyre not given food or sort theyre in overcrowded places and shouldnt be treated like. Him if he can a lawn says the ordeal to return was worth it shes now back with her 2 year old son the challenge now is to survive in a nation where economic difficulties have become the norm. And. Well theres plenty more ahead here on this news hour including the. Car where the no time to be silent protests in colombia after the killing of a mother and her daughter. By mykola gauging the astronomy and industrial crispier would go looking at the reality of valuable energy is eventually replacing killed in a coal mining industry. And in sport still going to one of footballs veteran players rolls back 3 years with an eye catching cold in. The legislators in the u. S. State of mississippi vote very soon on scrapping the regional flag on sunday the last in the country to feature the confederate battle emblem now the states house and senate both passed a resolution on saturday paving the way for the flag change many view the current design as racist for its links to slavery in the south the states republican governor says he will sign any bill into law which will remove the image from the flag point playing a big role in these changes which were resisted by conservative mississippi politicians until very recently were College Football players and coaches in a state where they are incredibly popular one of them kyle and hill a star running back at Mississippi State university had even threatened to leave the program if the state did not change its flag he tweeted either change the flag or i wont be representing the state anymore adding im tired another player had tweeted last month that it was crazy as an africanamerican student athlete that i play for a team in a state that still has the Confederate Flag incorporated into their flag still in 2020 well we can speak now to byron de andra or hes a professor of Political Science at jackson State University and he joins us now on skype from jackson mississippi pr