this is d.w. news live from berlin spain prepares to go on lockdown after a large spike in the number of corona virus infections streets are empty and shops are closed as the government is poised to order spaniards across the country to stay home unless it's essential teen while china's quarantine appears to have paid off the country begins to come out of hibernation as the number of you grow the virus cases drops to a handful. and it may be time to say goodbye to plastic the scientists turn to

biological materials to make things like headphones. i'm married to evanston it's good to have you with us. across europe borders are closing and 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 is now also preparing to announce thyssen new restrictions on movement across the nation that's after 1500 new infections and 70 deaths were reported in spain just between friday and saturday the death toll in spain and now stands at 193. madrid has turned into a ghost town instead of the usual traffic jams motorists have an easy drive through the capital the regional government has ordered the closure of bars and retail

a stop loss mints only pharmacies grocery stores and newsstands can remain open many residents have fled the city to go to the countryside or the coast those still in madrid are trying to get by as best as they can. i'm not so worried but i'm still thinking about the situation now we have to be brave and stick together. it's time to show that we are a civilized country and comply with health regulations the most conservative form see and this gradually everyone is realizing that this virus spreads extremely fast . several regions have already introduced strict measures authorities in catalonia sealed off for communities on thursday after the number of infections suddenly surged now the entire country is set to follow suit well as we just heard spain is expected to announce a lockdown affecting the entire nation and for more let's bring in developing

a correspondent dan phipps shows who is in the city of seville hello to you again for that so tell us exactly what these restrictions would need for people on a day to day basis. well it's basically. the whole country of spain very similar to what we've seen in the last days and in italy it will come in several stages the main stage come into effect on monday morning and then nobody will be allowed to post anymore except for supermarkets pharmacies medical doctors and similar cities but with immediate effect all bars are closed all restaurants are closed and public life basically already this coming to a standstill well now we know that about half of spain's coronavirus cases are in

the capital madrid why have authorities decided to introduce and nationwide lockdown now. i think there are several reasons 1st of all. new cases are not only in madrid about there are also a lot of cases in other regions of the country now and another reason is that they have been room us for sunday snow that they could come lock down of the entire city of night it and already schools and universities has been closing in much of it so a lot of people in my village have started to leave the country and have started to go home or started to go to to other regions so there's the sia that they are taking the virus with them. now did these new restrictions also affect forests who are still in spain. so there's a lot of uncertainty around the tourists still what we know is that most tourists

have left the city and most of us cities and spain on the right and a lot of other tourists have canceled it so there are not so many tourists left in the country those ones that are left from my from my point of view and from what i can see on the streets they are still quite relaxed but of course there's a lot of uncertainty and because a lot of airlines have also started to choke and so they have connections already in the morning this has become obvious well we are still waiting for spain's prime minister to actually and nouns these lockdown measures officially he was supposed to speak several hours ago do you know what's behind the delay. yes indeed she was supposed to address the public much earlier from what i have been gearing is

that she is still meeting with the ministers behind closed doors because. he is also trying to sort out the very concept of economic program. together with the other measures to make sure that people don't panic and that the economy keeps going as much as possible and another reason of course is that from the constitutionally point of view it is a very big thing in spain as you know it's a very regionalized country with a lot of autonomy in the regions so it basically means that all the power will be centralized in much of it and that is very exceptional space. shots reporting from the spanish city of seville we thank you very much. well now look at some of the other coronavirus developments elsewhere in the world japan's prime minister shinzo abbay says he expects the tokyo olympic games to go ahead as planned he said he had not discussed postponing or canceling the events during

talks with u.s. president donald trump earlier this week trump suggested japan should consider postponing the games because of the spread of the coronavirus. in france yellow vest anti-government protesters have taken to the streets of paris in defiance of a ban on large gatherings banned was introduced to halt the spread of infection police moved in to break up the protest paris has shut down its tourist attraction and schools across the country are closed. poland's plan to impose a 14 day quarantine on its citizens returning from abroad has triggered a scramble by many to cross the border by midnight on saturday the country is also shutting its borders to foreign travelers without presidency permits international trains and flights will be suspended. the authorities here in germany have announced a series of measures to slow down the spread of the coronavirus outbreak including

closing schools and suspending the country's top flight football league many people are stockpiling food and goods like disinfectant and toilet paper more than 4000 people have been infected in germany so far and 8 have died the government is calling on people to avoid social contacts to prevent the spread of the virus. well meanwhile the united states has extended its coronavirus travel ban to include the u.k. and ireland the new restriction will apply as of monday night the u.s. already has a ban in place for $26.00 european countries which went into effect on saturday the development has caused confusion and anger for travelers here in europe t w watched events unfold at berlin's main international airport. at butlins take aleppo's on friday there was only one topic taking off coronavirus these passengers

awaiting in line for the last direct flight to the u.s. from berlin for now u.s. president trump 1st downplayed the current virus but in a sudden escalation on wednesday announced new drastic measures to keep new cases from entering our shores we will be suspending all travel from europe to the united states for the next 30 days the new rules will go into effect friday at midnight u.s. citizens are exempt from the ban but amid confusion and concern many americans have packed up their suitcases earlier than planned i just booked my flight at 2 pm yesterday and it was a really i mean for instance student here and it was just a really quick process but we made it and yeah it's it was very stressful at the time but it's fine now i don't feel any greater risk here you know what i love about living in berlin is meeting all the people and being on the move on and being on the buses and seeing new faces every single day and when you think about it

that's more of a risk than the way we live it in the states typically where we drive in cars and we're much more isolated so i think it'll be good to get home but i could've stayed the longer we stay the more risk i mean stranded in europe these are college students you know they're going to have some knock on effects for coursework and things like that so far so for us the decision was a good one to come home early. the days following trump's decision have seen stocks tank and tempus rice in the e.u. . and china and india and china the decision in the us is not one that was made with us the suggestion in the announcement of this decision that they have been phased in europe also suggests that the reason that played a role in this decision may not have been grounded in. but in berlin travel operate as a trying to keep a cool head and overwritten of the american administration but we as

a german to operate with selling more comported we need to find a solution for our clients for the moment of the part of the islands where we. customer focus and have give the possibility to rebook to relate to the time of the you as the world grapples with coronavirus american passengers leave in berlin on friday opted for the emergency exit but when they land but carm turbulent time still lie ahead on both sides of the atlantic. all right let's turn our attention now to some of the other stories making headlines this hour 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 iraqi soldiers were wounded no group has yet claimed responsibility camp taji was already the target of an attack this week that killed 2 americans and

one british soldier bill gates has stepped down from microsoft's board of directors to focus on philanthropy gates co-founded microsoft in 1975 and was its c.e.o. until 2000 the billionaire plans to spend more time on his foundation tackling issues like global health and education. all climate activists have been taking aim at plastic it's made from fossil fuels and is a major source of pollution in the seas but of course it's also extremely versatile and can be shaped and molded into any number of products so what can replace it scientists in finland think bay 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 the sort of biotech headphones unlike plastic the materials and them were sourced not from fossil resources but from living organisms . using our by reactors we can produce lots of different molecules polymers. that form carry of course we can make for example synthetic spider 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 bios and thetic 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 to from materials in no one had done it before

actually to being 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 is at least a small step towards a more sustainable future. and that's the latest from d.w. news this hour stay tuned for d.w. reporter that we leave you now some heartwarming moments from italy people there are confined to their homes because of the coronavirus lockdown bombed entire neighborhoods are raising their voices to fill the empty streets with singing have a listen.

if. you. can the body more than target and in the end this for me you are not allowed to stay here anymore we will send you back. are you familiar with this. with the smugglers with clients of the what's your story ready ready. i'm working i was a women especially in victims of violent crimes.