this is d.w. news live from berlin no entry the european union will not let foreigners in for at least 30 days to slow the spread of coronavirus german chancellor angela merkel says european leaders agreed to the move in 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 front runner joe biden has his lead

over but he sanders. and this summer's european football championship is postponed the way for announcers the populaton amental will be held in june of 2021. i'm told the allotted for welcome to the program we begin with the coronavirus more borders are being closed the european union has started a 30 day ban on non e.u. citizens entering europe german chancellor angela merkel made the announcement after a series of video conferences with other european leaders she said europe would do what's necessary to protect the public's health and the economy. 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 that are not members

of the european free trade area or are not in the u.k. . if the. no travel will be forbidden with it all but the most exceptional circumstances this restriction will be valid for 30 days of guns. germany will be implementing these changes with immediate effect well and. the fault. joins me in studio for more on this i thought 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 it there 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 after the leaders of the 27 members decided.

to push ahead with this now as i said the internal borders are 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 a former member state at 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 at 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 angle 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 something that angle or 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 at double the number of intensive care beds we're seeing at you know

normally buildings which are used for fairs essentially 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 and it's. germany's disease control agents you raised its coronavirus risk assessment too high and cold for stricter measures to contain the virus germany now has almost 9300 confirmed cases and the country is not yet under general lockdown but appeals for people to stay home and avoid unnecessary contact which is now having an effect. there's a curious carmen 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. there's also 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 itself that if you're interested. politicians continue to search for the right responses to this rapidly evolving crisis. now the world health organization has praised china for its efforts to contain covert 1000 but all countries here in europe doing enough here's w.h.o. spokesman christian lindenmayer yeah this is a interesting development now just a few weeks to go. people were criticizing all over europe of the strong measures and china indeed. as joe was. kind of praising but not on the strong measures mainly the strong. working on testing in treating and tracing of the patients as a combination of efforts which are importantly it's the. comprehensive approach of

trying to limit any further 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 and 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 several 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 it would still need to be passed by congress. former u.s. vice president joe biden has won the democratic presidential primaries in illinois florida and arizona the 3 states went ahead with the ballot despite widespread health concerns over the spreading coronavirus biden now has a commanding lead over his rival the month senator of bernie sanders ohio postponed its primary duty of covert 19 fears there now over 6000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the u.s. and over 100 deaths. correspondents deafens him and in washington d.c. joins us now 7 joe biden a surgeon a head is he now unstoppable. looks like it was

a clean sweep for joe biden in all 3 states not just by a little but by a landslide bernie sanders saw with the voters never the light in any of those states in good old joe biden and here he did again what he did in the other states before winning those 3 and that is getting the black vote like democratic voters to the polls the moderates and older democratic voters they all voted and went in droves for joe biden and it looks really really really difficult for bernie sanders now there needs to be some serious thinking and. strategizing about bernie in bernie sanders camp and campaign about where to go and how to go forward from here doesn't look so good now did over the coronavirus have an impact on voter turnout yeah there was definitely an impact on the voter turnout however those states who had the primary votes 'd tried to do the

best they can and they emphasize social distancing made sure that people are 6 feet or way from each other they had a one in one out policy that means that one person gets into the polling station leaves his vote and gets out and then only another one comes and so on the hand sanitizers at the ready but yeah absolutely right the corona right virus threat here is imminent is real and. the question is will there be any other primaries the next state to supposed to have a primary georgia has already said it's not going to happen in georgia. next week they have to find a different date well what about on the campaign side with the candidates how is this pandemic affecting that. equally as with the primaries you saw bernie sanders and joe biden today addressing

a crowd via lifestream nobody is. coming to big large gatherings and should not according to the guidance of the c.d.c. and now the us government and of course the campaigns need to adjust this so this will be. this will be really really tough too in the next weeks for the campaigns to negotiate and to navigate how to actually get the primaries and their campaigns back on the feet under those circumstances not going to be easy all right each of the respondent stephens in the us in washington d.c. thank you. a 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 weigh for us confirm that the euro 2020 tournament will be postponed until next year you have also put all of the 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 is that it moved iras that is 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 schedule clash between the newly scheduled men's tournaments and other competitions next summer you a full also confirms 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 giani infin tina said that features 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 t.v.

news will be back with more news of the top of the on remember you can always get all the news and information around the clock on our web site it's d w dot com i'm told me a lot of thanks for just. one which of course is. video. any time. yes.