Almost Half of China Currently Under Quarantine or Restricted Travel
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this morning, the Chinese government is facing more criticism that it isn't doing enough to protect frontline medical workers who are treating patients infected with the deadly novel coronavirus. It comes as the director of Wuchang Hospital -- that's in Wuhan, of course, the city at the center of the outbreak -- became the first hospital director to die from the virus. He was one of more than 1,700 health care workers in China infected with it. Joining me now is CNN International anchor Kristie Lu Stout. She joins us from Hong Kong. This is a major concern for those fighting the coronavirus because remember, it was just a few weeks ago that that doctor who was the whistleblower --</s>KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: That's right.</s>HARLOW: -- on all of this, succumbed to it.</s>LU STOUT: Yes. You're referring to the death of Dr. Li Wenliang. And just over a week after his death, the virus has claimed another high- profile medical victim, the director of a hospital in Wuhan. He's also a neurosurgeon. His name is Liu Zhiming and he died this morning from the virus. And his death underscores just the danger medical workers in China have been facing, as many are just overwhelmed and under-protected. And China says it will designate all of them -- the frontline doctors, nurses and medics who died while fighting the virus -- as martyrs at the epicenter of the outbreak. Of course, Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, it is all but sealed off from the rest of the country. Even harsher lockdown measures are in place, requiring millions of people in the province to stay at home, 24/7, with food and daily necessities delivered to their door, almost -- and the scale here is breathtaking, Poppy. Almost half of China's population, some 780 million people, are now living under some form of quarantine or travel restriction. The outbreak is a health crisis; it's also turning into an economic mess. Scores of businesses, factories are not fully operational in China, given the harsh restrictions on movement. And that is affecting the global (ph) sectors that reach so deep into China: textile, apparel, auto, toys, technology with that warning from Apple, you know, warning investors that the virus is hurting its business more than expected -- Poppy.</s>HARLOW: Yes. Much more. Kristie, thank you very much for that reporting, live in Hong Kong. So this morning, 13 Americans who have tested positive for coronavirus are being treated at a medical facility -- this is in Omaha, Nebraska -- meantime, about 160 others are expected to be released today from their 14-day quarantine at a Marine Corps air station in Southern California. Joining me this morning is Dr. Carlos Del Rio, professor of medicine and global health at Emory University. Doctor, thank you very much for being with me.</s>CARLOS DEL RIO, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF DEPARTMENT OF GLOBAL HEALTH, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Good morning, Poppy.</s>HARLOW: Let's begin with this news that an American passenger who was evacuated on one of those U.S. chartered jets overnight from a cruise ship that was docked in Japan, told CNN that she didn't know that there were others contaminated on that flight until she</s>DEL RIO: You know, I don't think it's much of a concern. I can tell you that the CDC and the people that plan the evacuation and bringing home those almost 400 Americans, did a very, very good job. This was a very carefully planned operation in which people were tested, people were put -- those that were infected were placed in sort of isolation compartments, areas in the plane and they were separated from the noninfected individuals. And then they're going to be -- you know, those infected, as you mentioned, have been taken to the University of Nebraska, to their biocontainment unit for management. And those that are not infected have been kept in quarantine either in San Antonio or in California. So I think what the U.S. is really trying to do is prevent further spread in this country from those affected (ph) individuals. Let's remember, the U.S. up to now had had 15 confirmed infections. With this number brought in, it's almost doubled the number of people that we now have in the country.</s>HARLOW: Yes. And when it comes to what Kristie just reported -- and that is the death of this hospital director, just this morning, as a result of this in China -- and then the doctor who blew the whistle about all of this in China, dying from the disease just about two weeks ago, is China doing enough to protect the frontline people addressing this, the doctors that are addressing the crisis?</s>DEL RIO: You know, it's very hard for me to say yes or no. I suspect they're probably not doing enough, simply because -- simply because they're overwhelmed, right?</s>HARLOW: Yes.</s>DEL RIO: It's very hard to do as much as you need to do when you probably don't have the necessary equipment. But what we know from this infection, what we know from SARS, what we know from MERS is that there's a lot of transmission within hospitals, what we call nosocomial transmission. And not only health care workers, but other patients are at risk. So we as health care workers have to take really special precautions and CDC has and WHO has recommended that we use gloves, that we use a gown, that we use a special mask called an N95 mask, which has to be fitted, and that we use eye protection, we need to use a face mask, you know, eye cover. So I would suspect that there's simply not enough supplies of these materials available for all the health care workers in China.</s>HARLOW: What is the most important thing that you have learned about this disease, about this virus? You -- we talked in the break about learning something --</s>DEL RIO:  I -- HARLOW: -- new every time. What has this taught you?</s>DEL RIO: I think what this tells me, again and again, is the importance of rapid detection so we need surveillance, of rapid detection and of rapid containment of the infection. If I would say something, is that the delay that we saw in China because they initially did not believe it, they suppressed Dr. Li, et cetera, that was a deadly mistake because in fact, this infection could have been contained much sooner if China had taken the -- instead of denying it, had taken the actions necessary.</s>HARLOW: Yes. But contained how, right? I mean, actions necessary, look at Wuhan, China right now. I mean, can you imagine something like that happening in the United States --</s>DEL RIO: Oh --</s>HARLOW: -- an entire city quarantined like that?</s>DEL RIO: -- well, it's not an entire city. Think about the number of people essentially under quarantine in China right now --</s>HARLOW: Yes.</s>DEL RIO: -- it's twice the population of the United States.</s>HARLOW: Yes.</s>DEL RIO: I mean, it is not just a city, it's the entire country, right? So, I mean, I think, though, that because of the Chinese New Year and the travel that happened, they should have contained it, they could have stopped that travel before it happened. By the time they stopped travel, it was a little bit too later, almost --</s>HARLOW: Yes.</s>DEL RIO: -- the genie was out of the bottle.</s>HARLOW: For the average American watching at home this morning and wondering how concerned they should or should not be about contracting coronavirus --</s>DEL RIO: I would --</s>HARLOW: -- how should they think about it this morning?</s>DEL RIO: -- I would say I would not be concerned about it. I think we need to be -- keep up with the information, which you guys are doing a very good job of keeping the information. But the reality is, I think the risk for the average American today, it's not at all there. Simply, I'm more concerned about influenza. We have heard, already, about 7,000 deaths from influenza this season. But I would tell people, you know, wash your hands, have respiratory (ph) hygiene, cover your mouth when you cough, when you sneeze. And just if you're sick, stay home. Because -- and if -- for the flu, get your flu shot because it's still -- the epidemic is still ongoing and you can still be protected from the influenza by getting the vaccine.</s>HARLOW: Dr. Carlos Del Rio, thank you for those sage words. We appreciate it very much.</s>DEL RIO: Thank you, Poppy.</s>HARLOW: Of course. The Democratic candidate vowing to take on billionaires is now leading a national poll, followed by a billionaire. A big question now, can Democrats ultimately unite after all of this division?