cards culture history. details travel. extremely. this is news live from berlin the u.s. federal reserve cut interest rates in a bid to boost the economy during the coronavirus crisis president donald trump welcomes what he describes as a terrific move he also tells americans to stop panic buying we'll go live to washington also coming up germany closed its borders with some of its neighbors travel to austria switzerland denmark and france will be hit as berlin increases

measures to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus. and the shutdown continues to tighten across europe spain imposes almost total lockdown telling residents to remain inside their homes it's the 2nd worst hit country in europe after italy. i mean any use of welcome to the show u.s. president donald trump has congratulated the federal reserve on another cut in interest rates the u.s. central bank on sunday dropped its target range to between 0 and 0.25 percent it's the 2nd cut in 2 weeks and that shoring up the u.s. economy during the coronavirus emergency and trump also had advice for americans on how they should behave during the crisis. there's no need for anybody

in the country to hoard essential food supplies they said to me could you please tell i'm just going by enjoy it have a nice dinner relax because there's plenty but you don't have to you don't have to buy the quantities. because it's hard to refill the stores on a basis as rapid as dishes refilling them for more on that let's go to our correspondent stefan simons in washington stefan trump is urging the public to relax but on the other hand top u.s. health official has just told americans to prepare prepared to hunker down is there a mixed message here yeah you can say it's always exactly what he said he serves to relax and that we are that america is actually doing great and that everything is under absolute tremendous control that's the president talking and just minutes later as you just indicated his top expert dr anthony fauci comes out and says like no we're not in great shape and the worst is yet to come so you see there is mixed

messages there is at least many many experts and political observers say so tremendous spending by president trump or just a disconnect to the reality which is. experts are still actually trying to convey to the public problem here is. that before social distancing and no tests no tests available country right from shore to shore from north to 1000 that's the biggest problem and what measures is the government taking to reassure the public that it has the outbreak under control there. well that's where it's getting fuzzy today was a day where again though i was president made promises of 1000000 more tests being available 'd soon by tomorrow or the end of next week but the thing is the problem is a little bit deeper and why it's not only tests that's bad enough no tests available for millions of americans no test kits available for millions of americans but it

also is i.c.u. beds it is respirators ventilators all of that the american health system is absolutely ill equipped to fight off or combat compendia make like we see it in the making as we speak let's talk about the economy for a 2nd because the u.s. federal reserve has just taken a kind of drastic action we haven't seen since the height of the financial crisis in 2008 so what is the intention there. well the intention is to calm the markets but now you bring the sheriff to tell but the sheriff has only really tiny guns and what i mean by this is this is it for the for the federal reserve now the interest rate slashed to 0 or a 0.25 percent there's not much more in the arsenal the federal reserve can do ok they said we're buying bank away investing $700000000000.00 in their own buying that's all great but futures at the moment are actually at the minute at the limit

low that means 1000 points 5 percent of what they can go down that's the maximum so the market is not really reacting as wished for probably by the federal reserve and by president dump trump pardon. because nobody knows is that a thing sign of confidence what the federal reserve does or they are freaking out if that's the case then the markets will follow suit so a tiny gun with just one bullet in it it seems and there's also been reports of chaos in some large airports what's the situation there. yeah that is social distancing us as it's best and as many many critics say typical for what this government is not or that administration on the federal level is not able to provide and that is a plan and then execute a plan so that it makes sense thousands of americans coming home and at the airports because there's the travel ban and of course this widespread panic

so to speak and they're all crowded together in masses waiting to be screened don't talk for hours and hours and hours and try to get one right gov its response is that the government per tweet the government the federal government should get their i say act together now stefan simons thank you. now german newspaper developed reports that u.s. president donald trump is attempting to entice the german medical company cura back to develop a coronavirus vaccine is exclusively for the u.s. trumps takeover bid is reported to have sparked a diplomatic row between the between the scene behind the scenes given german health minister yet has told the press that the company will not develop the vaccine for use and one country only. is searching for a breakthrough this cure vaca lab in southwest germany hopes to be the 1st in the race to develop a vaccine against the corona virus that is being noticed with reports surfacing

donald trump is trying to lure the company to the u.s. fairly and is encouraging the buyer pharmaceutical firms to stay. political and we are seeing a lot of political support and the issue is taken very seriously from various sites specifically we have received support from an international vaccine initiative of any so that these clinical trials can also quickly get here. clinician for. the company says research into several possible vaccines has begun with the 2 most promising to be chosen for clinical tests it expects to have an experimental vaccine developed by june or july and will then seek approval for testing on humans . kill vax specializes in a method called and which makes human cells produce proteins that trigger immune responses against infections or cancers on. this basis we are now building that new vaccine we now have

a process where we can quickly respond to new threats so we believe that this r. and a technology is a very good a way to quickly provide solutions. and to be. if the vaccine is successful in human trials back says up to 10000000 doses could be produced in several weeks. experts originally thought a vaccine would be 18 months away meaning a successful cumin trial as early as july would be welcomed by the global community . meanwhile a europe's borders are closing germany joins a growing list of e.u. countries to at least partially shut out its neighbors in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus the german government has announced that boundaries with switzerland austria and denmark will be closed new restrictions are also being imposed on the french german frontier despite the growing threat of the coronavirus in the southern state of bavaria local elections

went ahead as planned but it might be some time before the results are announced. disinfectant gloves and votes the procedure was quite different from previous municipal elections in bavaria many voters avoided a trip to the polls by opting for absentee ballots due to a lack of election volunteers vote counting was slow. berlin social and cultural life came to a halt after authorities ordered bars and nightclubs to shut down. cinemas and museums are also closed gatherings of more than 50 people are now banned in the capital. the city's government ordered the crackdown after many people were infected at nightclubs. and we've got in another thought in this situation we have to completely eliminate contact between people in close spaces where they're crowded together the time for partying is now way that. the german armed forces are

also getting ready to help in times of crisis above all they will support hospitals according to the defense ministry the bonus ferries are already securing masts protective clothing and medicine public transport is to be partially reduced in the coming week with schools closed and a lack of daycare options many parents won't be able to go to work. german interior minister hornsey ho for has also been announcing restrictions here in germany and we spoke to our correspondent william glu crossed shortly after the minister spoke germany's interior minister horse a offer just finished a press conference along with officials other officials of the german government outlining what is going to happen come into force starting monday morning at 8 am that is when border restrictions for france austria switzerland denmark and luxembourg are going to come into force he noted that goods and commuters will continue to pass through the border as they have been he noted germany's reliance

on exporting goods for a large part of its economy is as a good reason for allowing goods to continue going back and forth but nonessential people people without business in neighboring countries day will not be allowed to cross the border the idea is to help slow the spread of the coronavirus and also to prevent hoarding of groceries and other goods in border regions horsetail for it would not commit to a concrete end date for these border controls when they'll be lifted it's based on as he said risk assessments and how things progress in these border areas. we move now to other covert 1000 hotspots in europe like spain and france which are among the worst affected by the outbreak both countries have imposed severe restrictions on public life they're following italy's lead and have announced nationwide bans on public gatherings shuttering non-essential businesses spain is

in near total lockdown police are patrolling the streets of madrid sending people home who refused to obey orders to self isolate 47000000 spaniards are now banned from leaving their homes for the next 2 weeks after the prime minister declared a state of emergency more than 280 people have died in spain making it the 2nd worst affected country in europe. our correspondent marcus burnished is in the spanish capital he sent us this summary of the situation there as you can see maybe behind there is nobody in the streets there are some cars mostly taxis buses driving but the rest is. the rest of the spaniards at least here in madrid they are respecting their new routes to stay at home there . during the day that wasn't developing during the day that you list people were found in the streets and this is what. controls but also because

people realize really. you especially madrid the latest figures they just think of. this by. italy has more active coronavirus cases than any other country in the world now that a majority of affected people in china have recovered on sunday 368 new coronal related deaths were reported in italy bringing the total to $1809.00 that's an increase of 25 percent compared to saturday the number of new infections also continues to rise rapidly in italy the total number of infected people is now nearly 25000 despite widespread efforts to control the spread of the virus. spring in rome sunny and 20 degrees celsius many romans are eager to go outside for some fresh air but parks are closed and police are keeping an eye on the streets they've registered 20000 violations in recent days the country has been under

quarantine for almost a week. but rather be punished than have my dog urinate in my apartment. no i'm not afraid i've seen how people of being very careful and a very aware of their surroundings. i always wear gloves and pay attention and when i go to my elderly mother i take a shower and completely change my clothes a italy is no longer the scene of panic buying there are lines in front of supermarkets because only a few shoppers are laden cytisus time psychologists fear the effects of the quarantine loneliness and the ban on meeting with friends will have consequences to make matters worse many italians are struggling to make ends meet meanwhile the vatican has announced easter events will be held without thousands of pilgrims church authorities into scale during the celebrations amid tight restrictions.

you're watching the news from berlin up next world stories the week in reports with a special report from d.w. correspondent you leon as thousands of migrants and refugees remain stranded at the border between turkey and greece i'll be back with more headlines of the top of the hour in news and don't forget you can get all the latest news and information around the clock on our web site that's d.w. dot com thanks for joining us. staying up to date don't miss our highlights. program. w dot com highlights. any time playing. video.