this is d.w. news live from berlin the u.s. federal reserve cuts 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 closes its borders with pfizer 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. imo me and he said 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 point 25 percent it's the 2nd cut in 2 weeks aimed at shoring up the u.s. economy during the coronavirus emergency and 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 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 protect prepared to hunker down is there a mixed message here yeah you could say it's always exactly what he said he's there to 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 all for 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 rates 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 or we investing $700000000000.00 in their own ball 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

if it is a 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 time to go on with just one bullet and it seems there's also been reports of chaos in some large airports what's the situation there. yeah that is social distancing us as its best and 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 the 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 governor response is that the government per tweet the government the federal government should get their i say

act together now stefan simons thank you. german newspaper division reports that u.s. president donald trump is attempting to entice the german medical company cure back to develop a coronavirus vaccine exclusively for the u.s. troops takeover bid is reported to have sparked a diplomatic row behind the scenes german health minister yen spawn has told the press that the company will not develop the vaccine for use in one country only. searching for a breakthrough to secure vaca labs 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 view 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 begin here. commission for to begin to put. 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 in which makes human cells produce proteins that trigger immune responses against infections or cancers on the blog and 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 way to quickly provide solutions. and to be. if the vaccine is successful in human trials kill vacs says up to $10000000.00

doses could be produced in several weeks. experts originally thought a vaccine would be 18 months away meaning a successful trial as early as july would be welcomed by the global community. meanwhile europe's voters are beginning to close germany joins a growing list of you countries to at least partially shut out its neighbors in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus the government 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. 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. there isn't god and in this situation we have to completely eliminate contact between people in close spaces where they're crowded together the time for punching is now way. 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 but bonus fare is 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. we move now to other kovan 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 there following the 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 $47000000.00 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 or buses driving but the wrist is down and all the rest of the spaniards at least you madrid

they are respecting their new routes to stay at home there are there were during the day that was in development during the day that you list people were found in the streets and this is what was due to the controls but also because people realized really. year especially in madrid of the latest figures they just think of . this by. now 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 corona related deaths were reported in italy bringing the total to $1809.00 that's an increase of 25 percent compared saturday the number of new infections has also continued to rise rapidly the total number of infected people in italy 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. 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. italy is no longer the scene of panic buying there are lines in front of supermarkets because only a few shoppers are. 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 sizes of pilgrims church authorities into scale during the celebrations amid tight tristrem. let's get you up to speed now on the latest coronavirus developments elsewhere. at least 2 inmates have been killed in prison riots in jordan the violence broke out after family visits were banned for 2 weeks as part of efforts to tackle the coronavirus jordan has closed its borders and is banning all flights from tuesday on. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is corruption trial has been postponed for 2 months due to the coronavirus pandemic charges against the 70 year old include bribery fraud and breach of trust netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing if found guilty he could face several years in prison. in rome pope francis is holy week and easter services will

be held without the public in an attempt to limit the viruses spread easter sunday prayers will instead be made available online via live streaming on the official vatican news website. and britain says it plans to step up measures in its fight against the spread of the coronavirus the government detailed plans to tell people over the age of 70 to stay home for quote an extended period of time u.k.'s death toll nearly doubled in the last 24 hours to $35.00. you're watching news from berlin up next it's doc film with a documentary a short history of human trafficking for all the gold in the world that's the name of the documentary i'll be back with more headlines at the top of the hour and don't forget you can get all the latest news and information around the clock on our web site that's the w dot com thanks for joining us. oh

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