Herd Immunity; A Tale of Two Asian Cities; A Gigantic Snowflake; Endless Surfing Wave; Jellyfish Sighting in Venice
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Breaking news on CNN 10. Fridays are awesome. I`m Carl Azuz. We`re glad you`re along for the ride. Herd immunity is a term that factors into our first story today. It`s when at least 60 percent of a population becomes immune to an infectious disease. This can happen in one of two main ways either people recover from a disease and then become immune to it or an effective vaccination prevents people from getting sick. There`s no vaccine for COVID-19. It could be another year or more before one comes out and doctors don`t know yet if someone is immune to corona virus once they`ve had it or how long they`d be immune. But a top disease specialist in the nation of Sweden recently told CNBC that the effects of herd immunity are being seen around the capital of Stockholm. Unlike it`s European neighbors of Finland and Norway, Sweden did not go on lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 though it banned gatherings of more than 50 people it still kept restaurants, gyms, schools and playgrounds open. And some health officials accuse Sweden of gambling with its nation`s health. The country has seen more than 2,000 deaths from corona virus while neighboring Finland and Norway have each recorded around 200 deaths though they also have smaller populations. Still, is herd immunity helping Sweden turn the page on corona virus. We don`t have the final answer on that but we do have a tale of two different Asian cities that had different approaches to the disease.</s>KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It`s a tale of two cities amid one pandemic. Singapore and Hong Kong, two wealthy Asian societies that have launched aggressive virus fighting campaigns from the start. Both cities tightening borders in late January. Both turned away many visitors in March and as both faced a second wave of infections from residents returning home from overseas, cases spiked especially in Singapore. On April 13th, Singapore had more than 2,900 cases while Hong Kong had 1,009. So how can Hong Kong with a larger population sitting right next to mainland China manage to keep the numbers lower, at least for now. Well observers say it could be due to the people here and their collective memory of another pandemic.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: SARS has remained very fresh on the memories of Hong Kongers and when COVID-19 broke out, the people immediately knew we need masks. We need to be away from one another. We need to start becoming very hygienic about things. We need to listen to the medical people. We need to borders. The basic protocol that I think are found in any government in cases of (inaudible) and crisis, the Hong Kong people knew exactly what to do and they did it.</s>LU STOUT: Nearly two decades ago, the SARS outbreak killed 774 people just under 40 percent of the fatalities in Hong Kong. So at the start of the latest pandemic, Hong Kongers were quick to wear masks. While in Singapore --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don`t need to wear a mask if you`re not sick.</s>LU STOUT: A government public service announcement said healthy people did not need to wear masks. Months later it is now mandatory to wear a mask outside. Another key difference, social distancing. In late January, Hong Kong closed schools and government offices pressuring private companies to work from home while Singapore left its schools and government offices open. After a sharp rise in cases including an outbreak among foreign workers in cramped dormitories, the city state changed course.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have decided that instead of tightening incrementally over the next few weeks, we should make a decisive move now to preempt escalating infections.</s>LU STOUT: Singapore has closed schools and most workplaces and it has also banned all social gatherings as part of a circuit breaker to fight the virus. From the start, they have been screening, quarantining, contact tracing and yet months later the lion city is under virtual lockdown.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is the price we have to pay to combat pandemics such as COVID-19. Social distancing will be in integral part of all the lockdown (inaudible) the circuit breaker measures but the critical thing is that the government and the people have to remain eternally vigilant because it may be COVID-19 this year and the next year. But there will be future pandemics.</s>LU STOUT: With an outbreak, there are no shortcuts only lessons learned from a still unfolding tale of two cities. Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.</s>AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. The largest snowflake on record fell on Fort Keogh in what U.S. State? Idaho, Montana, New York or North Dakota. A snowflake that measured 15 inches wide fell in Montana in 1887. There`s some great surfing going on in Montana. But Carl, Montana is landlocked and hundreds of miles away from the Pacific Ocean. Right. But you don`t need an ocean to surf. You need a wave and in the western city of Missoula a river runs through it creating endless waves.</s>KEVIN BENHART BROWN: When your standing out in the river with the power of these rapids, rushing down a - - a canyon and somehow you`re able to harness that energy and all this water just, kind of, flowing under you. Just gives you a sense of empowerment. River surfing is simply surfing waves that are formed in the river. They`re standing waves similar to what you`d find in a wave pool but they are found out in Mother Nature. The sport river surfing is so new. We`re part of - - of global explosion right now. The way I like to say it, we`re pioneers in the new sport. My name is Kevin Benhart Brown. Most people call me KB and I`m one of the first people here in America if not the first who build surfboards specifically for the river. When I got into the sport of whitewater kayaking I discovered these standing waves in the river and then I kind of opened up my mind to the possibility of riding actual surfboards on these waves. When we first started, we were riding surfboards that were made for ocean waves. We were like, we need some boards that are made for the waves that we`re surfing. So we built a shaping room and a glassing room and a sanding room down in the basement of our shop and it became the first Rocky Mountain Surf Shop. Surfing in the river is amazing because the wave is always there. It`s an endless ride and you can literally surf it until you can`t stand up anymore. You`re swimming through the rapids or through the currents and then you fall in and you`ve got to swim the rapid back to shore. Snow, things like that don`t - - they don`t slow us down at all. We get out there year around. I mean, wherever there`s a river there`s a wave. Really the future for the sport is when we start designing and building waves in the river specifically for riding surfboards on them. That`s like the real future for the sport of river surfing but the whole point is to go surfing every day. We live to surf so our next step is to reach out to the rest of the world and, you know, kind of show that you can live this surfing lifestyle right here in the mountains.</s>AZUZ: We`re not done virtually traveling yet. Picture Venice, Italy; the architecture, the history, the canals, the jellyfish, the jellyfish? Yes, the jellyfish pushing through the water right near St. Mark`s Square. Italy`s under lockdown. Traffic is light on Venice`s canals. A biologist says the sediment has sunk down to the bottom revealing clearer waters at low tide. So jellyfish and other marine life are easier to spot. Like mussels? Well you can see those at Venice Beach but the ones in Italy have "gondolota" attention because it doesn`t seem "realto" that such a grand display "canal" be seen. We`re thankful the jellyfish took the "ledo" on that showing us what`s beneath the surface. Hey, we hear the Mustangs are roaming wild in Massillon, Ohio doing a little distance learning there. Shot out to everyone at Tuslaw High School and thank you for subscribing to our YouTube channel. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN. END