oh. this is d.w. news live from berlin spain prepares to go on lockdown after a large spike in the number of coronavirus inspections empty streets and closed shops as the government just wants to order spaniards across the country to stay home unless it's essential meanwhile china's quarantine appears to have paid off the country begins to come out of hibernation as the number of new cases drops to just a handful. and it may be time to say goodbye to plastic as scientists turn to violence

gold materials to make things. i'm calling aspen thanks for joining us across europe borders are closing businesses are shutting their doors as people get ready to wait out the coronavirus pandemic at home italy is still the worst hit country in europe but spain has reported 1500 new cases between friday and saturday and madrid is now preparing to announce tight new restrictions on movement across the nation. half empty food markets in madrid boss restaurants and shops shut down and people told to stay at home and a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus spain is the 2nd hardest hit country in europe after its elite the spanish government has declared. 2 weeks state of

emergency and announced increased measures to control the covert 19 outbreak famous tourist sites like barcelona as landmarks like rather familiar have been closed off elsewhere it's early remains under a nationwide lockdown and the effects of social distancing are plain to see rome's piazza del popolo the people square all but deserted empty canals also in venice normally overrun by tourists the streets of venice and now being decontaminated. france has also ordered closures of cultural and tourist attractions both the eiffel tower and the louvre museum are closed to the public but for the city's few remaining tourists at least one typical parisienne attraction remains open. the moulin rouge was open for business friday night before to closing its doors. nobody said you know if he does it we know that from monday

schools will be closed so we'll stay at home i have 3 children so our work from home starting monday i think tonight will have a good night because it's the last christmas that. germany is also ramping up its defenses closing schools and many public facilities and as of choose day burdens world famous nightlife will grind to a halt as bars and clubs will also be closed and many of the clubs don't know how they are going to survive. we have never experienced such a big threat to the cultural scene it's possible that by the end of this crisis a large part of the culture for which berlin is known and thanks to which many people feel good in berlin will disappear if you mention this. i. yet every cloud has a silver lining as the corona virus has spread rapidly across the world so did the

spirits of solidarity in rome people may be self isolating in their apartments but it doesn't mean they can't support each other in one voice. well here in germany chancellor angela merkel has called on people to avoid social contact to prevent the elderly and those with preexisting health conditions from contracting the virus those are the groups most likely to suffer dangerous symptoms or even death william know a glue craft has been following that advice he's reporting today from home william are people where you are taking those suggestions seriously. well i certainly am not because i'm sick not because i'm in quarantine but that is the prevailing public health advice that if you can stay home you should stay home and fortunately we have the technology that we can have the best of both worlds both

continuing to work and trying to live our lives as best as possible while staying home and protecting others i was out in my neighborhood earlier today things seem pretty much usual maybe a little quieter than normal but i was out at the weekend farmers market people it was a beautiful day today it was as crowded as ever maybe the only big difference i saw was the free samples were being covered up or not being offered at all like they they usually are so on one hand it's good to see that people aren't panicking they're going about their lives by the other hand people should be taking the advice and the request seriously that they should stay home and avoid contact with other people and observe social distancing not for us but for those who are more vulnerable the elderly and people with special medical conditions there was one post on instagram that struck me particularly hard as i was going through my research today from jody edinburg she's a canadian living in florida and she's been posting rather sick firstly about

keeping in mind the vulnerable people because it is true the majority of people might not have problems if they catch this virus but there are people both young and old old people and also young people with medical conditions who will be in a very serious situation if they catch the corona virus and it's all the more reason to be protecting ourselves and protecting those people from us who may very well be carrying the disease without even knowing it so what about those those add risk groups the elderly people with preexisting health conditions how are germans chipping in to help their neighbors. well although spontaneously it seems that both in real life and on social media people have been reaching out saying hey i'm healthy i'm young i'm available helping out our neighbors you'd see for example the popular notes group notes of berlin that posts usually funny things going around that they see on the city people that posting notes about helping out neighbors in their buildings and in their neighborhoods there's also been

a shop in hamburg that deals with 0 waste and sustainable products they put a post on their instagram account saying that they are happy to reach out to people putting together packets and boxes boxes of food for the elderly or people who are otherwise can't get out of their house or shouldn't be leaving their homes and people have been responding i spoke to the woman who's running that homburg shop and she said that their response online and their neighbors have been out have been tremendous that people are willing to pitch pitch in people who maybe have a bicycle and can carry extra things to to those in need so the outpouring of support really has been quite incredible all around germany. in small ways and big ways both online and like i say and offline i would certainly be good to see there are william noah glue crawford porting from berlin for us thank you very much now here's a check now on the latest coronavirus developments the 2nd worst hit country in

europe that would be spain has confirmed more than $1500.00 new cases of coronavirus that's between friday and saturday alone dutch airline cayle m plans to cut up to 2000 jobs amid the global outbreak us president donald trump has declared a national emergency in the united states over the spread of the virus and ending on some good news south korea has for the 2nd day in a row reported more recoveries than coronavirus cases new infections so some good news there coming from south korea. virus appears to be retreating in china that's where it emerged late last year the government says there were only get this 11 new cases on saturday and that for the 1st time most of them were imported from overseas now the success of this quarantine program in china is already being touted in state propaganda. triumphal scenes in china this

week infection rates are decreasing on friday the country proudly announced on the 8 new cases. who hand city reported 5 new cases before the eyes of the nation the city close the last temporary hospital to china wants to signal to the rest of the world that it has the virus under control after more than 3000 people died from it . there right we're happy that patients finally recovered. young gong from to han has been cornered in this apartment for 50 days in the beginning he and his family were very scared his neighborhood is still a ghost town no one is allowed to leave the house but the fear is gone. you know you cannot really read that some provinces are open again people can step out we hope that the intestine rate in our city rouhani is going to be 0 soon then

we can finally go outside. the chinese government staging dance events to lighten the mood beijing is practicing normality crowds are going back to the vegetable markets in the capital after months filled with fear people are stepping out of their apartments again. so didn't he just yet although it's much better before there are almost no people now they're coming back out. a month ago the streets of beijing were nearly deserted now they're busy again giving off the impression of normality. nevertheless it's a bit better but not as good as before the epidemic may go these. workers from all over the country are taking special trains to get back to the factories in china as freeing itself from its self imposed restrictions it's a risky decision for the leadership in beijing workers could still carry the virus

with them the shoot 1st will get key industries back on track in an orderly manner . in rouhani and in the rest of the country people are celebrating the containment they want to believe and the triumph here's a check now on some of the other stories making headlines around the world a barrage of rockets has hit a base housing u.s. and other coalition troops north of baghdad officials say at least 3 coalition troops into iraq the soldiers were wounded there is no word yet on responsibility champa camp taj was already the target of an attack this week that killed 2 americans and one british soldier. anti-government protesters have clashed with security forces and she lays capital santiago police responded to stone throwers with water cannon since october chile has been rocked by a protest that started over a hike in public transport fares and brought in the 2 include calls for better pensions health care and education. bill gates has stepped down from microsoft's

board of directors to focus on philanthropy gates co-founded microsoft in $1075.00 he was its c.e.o. until the year 2000 the billionaire now plans to spend more time on his foundation tackling issues like global health and education. well climate activists have been taking aim at plastic is made from fossil fuels and is a major source of pollution in the seas but it's also extremely versatile and can be shaped and molded into any number of products so the question is what can replace it scientists in finland think they may have an answer and it could be music to environmentalists ears. the term bio based economy has been a catchphrase for decades now but products have remained few and far between especially in the area of electronics at the v t t technical research center in finland the scientists decided to demonstrate how

far the field has come with a set of biotech headphones unlike plastic the materials and now more sourced not from fossil resources but from living organisms. using our by reactors we can produce lots of different molecules polymers. from care because we can make for example that expired a silk or by a plastic precursors or even by a polymers. the headphones prototype is made from 6 different biotech materials they include a bio plastic produced by yeast a leather substitute made from a fungus and a bio synthetic sound transmission element derived from that synthetic spider silk the researchers designed the headphones to try to raise awareness for greener production processes. we thought it was a great opportunity to combine differ materials no one had done it before actually to bring on the seafront microbes to into the development of electronic devices.

of course the electrical components inside the bio based headphones still have to be made of conventional materials but as we work on ways to leave oil in the ground replacing most of the plastic in products like this with bio engineered alternatives this is at least a small step towards a more sustainable future you're watching the news live from berlin stay tuned for a documentary looking at the work of islamic charities in crisis regions around the world but we leave you now with some heartwarming moments of entire neighborhoods in italy fusing to let the coronavirus get them down in fact they're raising their voices to fill the empty streets with music.

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