i believe. this is d.w. news live from berlin no entry the european union will not let foreigners in for at least 30 days german chancellor angela merkel says european leaders agreed to the move and a video conference steps have been taken she said to assure the smooth transport of goods within europe also coming up politics in the time of a pandemic despite the health risks 3 large u.s. states hold presidential primaries democratic frontrunner joe biden is on track to pad his lead but in sanders

a coded 19 will almost certainly not overshadow the results and this summer's european football championship just postponed due waste announces the popular tournament held in june 2021. i'm told me a logical welcome to the program we begin with the coronavirus more borders ah being closed the european union has started a 30 day ban on nani use citizens entering europe german chancellor angela merkel made the announcement after a series of video conferences with all the european leaders she said europe would do what's necessary to protect the public's health and the economy. that's if the law does feel and the 1st thing we agreed on was the commission's proposal regarding travel. restrictions will be placed on travel into the european union

from states not to not members of the european free trade area or are not in the u.k. nor if i nor travel will be forbidden with it all but the most exceptional circumstances this restriction will be valid for 30 days of. germany will be implementing these changes with immediate effect well and. the fault. of the public fully joins me in studio for more on this. the e.u. is locking its external border as with other countries can you break this down for us who exactly is affected well basically who defects you just said at their it's you know the external borders with the european union as so that means that within the european union there will be movement although it will be restricted now it was decided we saw it there are the leaders of the $27.00 members that decided video

conference to push ahead with this now as i said the internal borders are in closed but there are restrictions it doesn't affect e.u. citizens who are returning home it also doesn't affect cross border workers and it also doesn't affect citizens of former member states the united kingdom it also doesn't affect in fact norway switzerland and ice them to also germany said that it basically it will be effective immediately now also one big area of this that's important is the repatriation of e.u. citizens the leaders have decided that that's very important and they are pushing ahead with that ok now as the economy is expected to be a massive impact as a result a lot of all of this did michael address this she certainly did and obviously this is a big concern for germans and also a you members they said. you know essentially not just i'm going to merkel but many of the leaders across the e.u. have been saying that we should be expecting serious economic consequences that's

what i'm going to merkel said but they do want to where essentially safeguard the flow of good stuff very important and in fact goods will be able to travel across these external borders and then within the european union in fact you know the aim is to make sure that goods are flowing freely and also one of very interesting areas the e.u. commission is looking as well at how medicine and medical supplies at whether they should be allowed to leave the e.u. and in fact at they do want to restrict that something that angle of merkel is very much in favor of ok we've seen restrictions in italy and spain in france should we expect similar restrictions in terms of movement here in germany what we've already seen some changes i mean i was in spain just last week and you know it when you come to germany it doesn't seem like much has changed but of course the schools have now closed there are contingency plans already in place there is this plan already to have double the number of intensive care beds we're seeing at you know

normally buildings which are used for affairs essential to being prepared for to be turned into some sort of sort of medical centers and so you know there are plans in place but we aren't seeing the lockdown yet in germany that we're seeing in spain italy france and belgium in fact is also introducing pretty restrictive measures to ok thanks publicly elyas. germany's disease control agency raised its coronavirus risk assessment to high and called for stricter measures to contain the virus now has almost 9300 confirmed cases the country is not yet under general lockdown but appeals for people to stay home and avoid unnecessary contact having an effect. there's a curious calm in the normally pulsating heart of berlin on tuesday morning far fewer people than usual were out in about in the german capital foreign minister

heiko marson announced another unprecedented measure a travel warning for the entire planet and said no unnecessary trips should be made in addition the government will provide 50000000 euros so german citizens currently abroad can come home. also i think the ministry of foreign affairs has agreed on a unique program with commercial airlines which will bring back german travelers from particularly affected areas within the next few days. on monday drastic steps were announced to beat the virus shutting many shops apart from essential businesses such as food stores and pharmacies civic life is shutting down schools the actors and museums are being closed nationwide as even children's playgrounds are deserted many parents are having to stay at home to look after their families the government is offering them extra support that's just fear fly

endings in what we're seeing is that many families are wondering about money issues they want to know how to deal with a drop in income this is a huge concern it's not a private matter it needs to be resolved and the state has to help that if you understood. politicians continue to search for the right responses to this rapidly evolving crisis. the world health organization has praised china for its efforts to contain covert 19 but all countries here in europe doing enough he is w.h.o. spokesman christian lynn my yeah this is a interesting development now just a few weeks to go. people were criticizing all over europe of the strong measures and then china indeed. as joe was. kind of praising but not on the strong measures mainly the strong. working on testing in treating and tracing every patients as a combination of efforts which are importantly it's the. comprehensive approach of

trying to limit any photo options for source human spread and of course larger gatherings and cafes and bars and restaurants are definitely a risk yes. and on the other hand don't forget to test feet and face every single day sions that's important so in europe countries have now as we've seen many cases rising up in europe have seen the examples of china and they have shown good results in china hence many countries across europe and maybe across the world are looking at similar options. in the us the trumpet ministration is proposing an $850000000000.00 stimulus package that would among other measures send a $1000.00 check to every american the package would also include $50000000000.00 for the american airline industry a cut in payroll taxes and further loans and guarantees for small businesses the

plans come as governments around the world scramble to send direct aid to citizens affected by the pandemic this plan would still need to be passed by congress. and despite widespread concern about the coronavirus in the u.s. 3 states have been holding democratic presidential primaries florida illinois and arizona went ahead with the ballot former vice president joe biden seeking to pad his lead over vermont senator bernie sanders ohio has postponed its primary due to covert 19th years there are over 6000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the u.s. and over 100 deaths doubly correspondent stephens humans in washington d.c. joins us stephanie any indication as to how these can't candidates are performing in this in these polls. yeah early results are you know

nothing is firm yet but it looks like florida will go to joe biden and that's very firmly he has at about 90 percent of those always counted elites. 50 percent to 20 something percent to bernie sanders and that means he definitely has it illinois is still a little bit shaky also leading here is joe biden but there's just 12 percent 12 or 13 percent of the vote counted yet so that's a little bit fluffy and weakly still we can't really make a prediction there but it looks like that joe biden will beat bernie sanders at least in the state county at least 2 to one or will net all 3 states now in another davis would have been the big story but at the moment the world is all about the coronavirus and its effect has how have the fee is over the virus affected turnout . well that's really hard to say because in those 3 states the lines were

reportedly very very low and what the use states did is they adopted a a policy a one in one out policy so-called one in one out policy that means like people really lining around the blocks and for many many hundreds of yards or meter is outside and one person goes in votes gets out the next one in very very slow very very cumbersome but of course with a lot of sanitation and observing the guidance from health authorities c.d.c. and so long the democratic congress and the poll authorities polled managers didn't want to give coronavirus there any chance still that is riskier right ohio decided not to do that at all for and in response to the corona threat in the states now you mentioned ohio there which the state that decided to postpone its primary why did you know they do that when these other 3 states think it's ok to go ahead.

well it's interesting you're absolutely right it's a head scratcher 3 do it but ohio not well health director and there is actually an open office and the position the health rector in ohio and ohio said no it's not going to happen he thinks it's a bad idea or hire has many many cases and he's the one who is making the call and then there is nothing even the governor or anybody else can say so the governor said knots not going to happen postponed in june ok stephanie simmons in washington thank you and the pandemic is also massively disrupting the world of sports the french open tennis tournament has been shifted from may to september and european football's governing body you asia has confirmed that the euro 2020 tenement will be postponed until next year is also put all other men's and women's competitions on hold. you wait for us this isn't to postpone this year's european championship to next summer due to the coronavirus was an

unexpected domestic football in europe has been shut down for the time being so has the europa and champions league so postponing europe's flagship tournaments according to usa for president it was inevitable. we all know that. this that it moved iras that all across europe. make football and all life in europe quite impossible we knew we have to stop the competitions. we think that postponing the euro is the only chance to get the chance to leagues and through all the club competition to finish difficult but the. you waif along with the football association's agreed to try and complete all domestic and european club competitions by june 30th in case the coronavirus situation improves

to prevent a scheduled clash between the newly scheduled men's tournaments and other competitions next summer the way for also confirmed that the under $21.00 european championship and the women's euro both originally scheduled for 2021 will be postponed as well the way foot is currently working on solving 2 issues scheduling and how to deal with the financial impact that some clubs and leagues are bound to face one scheduling conflict for euro 2021 has already been avoided and a statement the 1st president gianni if in chino said that fee for his new club world cup slated to kick off next summer will be postponed to accommodate the new dates for the european championship as well as the copa america. you're watching. or you can keep up to date with all the news around the clock on our website it's d.w. dot com i'm told me

a lot of on the back with headlines at the top of the hour thanks for joining us. where i come from we have to fight for a free press and was born and raised in a new town the painter shifted just one to the shadow and if you frame for us when official information as attorneys have worked on the streets of congress and their problems the same 14 solution according to a lack of the freedom of the press and corruption who can afford to stay sign.