counter. the global corona crisis you can find more information online at the w dot com and on t.w. social media channels. no troops no concerts no visits throughout the world drastic measures are being imposed to combat the coronavirus millions must accustom themselves to an ongoing state of emergency the european union is hunkering down borders are closed for 30 days member states are checking passports again and what used to be open internal crossings every government seems to be thinking of its own people 1st even as leaders rattle off appeals for cross border solidarity so how are people reacting to what consequences will the emergency measures have for our societies our topic

today corona how should we handle this crisis. a. hello and welcome this week show is a bit different from usual our guests are exclusively colleagues from d.w. because here too we're working under extraordinary new conditions trying to counteract the spread of the corona virus as far as possible and that's why you also see us sitting much further apart than we are accustomed to it is my great pleasure to introduce our guests beginning with thomas sparrow he is a political correspondent here. and he says we need bold political decisions but this is also a crucial time for personal solidarity i'm also very glad to welcome kate ferguson she's a. colleague from d.w.

business and she says leaders from the world of business and politics need to be guided by the principle of cooperation and not competition and very glad to have with us as well barbara more she reports for daily use board and she says it's not just about professional sports with the closure of the many small sports clubs and important social support in everyday life also breaks away from many people. so let me begin by asking all of you how you personally are coping what the biggest challenges are that you're facing and perhaps also what you're already missing thomas i think something that i'm particularly missing as a south american journalist and also american citizen is probably hugs we very much used to shaking hands to having people i mean it was really been a challenge for me to try and keep this distance from other people and be conscious that this is very important at these times on a very personal level i would say that is something that i have i'm particularly

missing. obviously trying to stay at home as much as i can to try and be much more aware of what's at stake as i said i think this is high time for solidarity and i'm trying to also make sure that's the case in my personal life also what work wherever i am it's not only about being selfish and hoarding things it's about really thinking about the other people as well barbara i have 2 kids at home and 11 years old and since monday we're doing home schooling with them so that's of course a very new situation. i think it's working ok so far but i'm also living in a community with elderly people with actually one child that has them immune disease so i'm also very aware of me being responsible for not infecting anybody else could you just tell me how you explain this to a child. luckily my kids are old enough to like reflect a bit on the situation and then of course it does help to say look. this neighbor

she is older and we really have to take care of her we have to protect ourselves in order to protect her and that makes it much easier if you have a concrete example extreme to explain it's. like homeless i have an awful impulse to hug but i've only realised when i've been denied the opportunity but something that i personally have been really struggling with is my own risk assessment so over the past few weeks as this crisis has been growing and we've seen the disaster unfold in other countries i've been questioning all of my own decisions should i have met that person for coffee a few weeks ago should i be taking public transport should be leaving the house at all and it's something that i continuously struggling with because you're guided on one level by what leaders are telling you to do but then you have your individual responsibility as well so i 2 trips that i counseled this month but it really took quite a lot of thinking for me to come to that decision thomas i know that you've just returned from latin america what was the situation there and how were people there reacting there are fewer cases in south america than the number we see here in

europe especially in some of the european countries that are very badly affected by all this so in south america the situation is only just starting but it has meant that political leaders are taking decisions very early so in particular in colombia where i was borders have been already closed people have been told to stay at home which is very difficult for colombians to actually stay at home and particularly those who actually need to go out to work probably haven't got that safety net that you have in other parts of the world so it is a very difficult situation to go to supermarkets and they are also empty as and i've been seeing from my own family when they go and buy things that's very difficult for them to get what they want so south america is a bit behind compared to europe and there is a lot of concern that maybe south america will see in a few weeks what europe is seeing right now and that's why you also see political decisions you can be critical of them you can support them but there are political decisions trying to minimise the impact of the coronavirus it's said that europe and the us did. use the time after china started to wrestle with corona that they

did not use their window of opportunity do you think latin america is doing so and that is the absolute key element there when you look at what's being debated in latin america it's exactly that saying we need to be able to act now so not when we have hundreds of cases but we have only a few cases if you see for example the case of outside of ours they close the borders when they had 0 cases because i said we're not giving this a chance we're not going to wait until we have 100 to start making decisions nobody here for many people in america and also in colombia particular is it has to be done before the situation gets very bad you constantly wait for a long time. even after concerts and trade fairs had long since been cancelled major soccer games for in the bundesliga and also in the champions league were still being played in front of tens of thousands of fans that is now over what does that mean for football fans in germany including yourself yeah i think this was

actually a crucial point where many people finally understood that something serious is happening because never before. bigger leaks all of the words suddenly shut down and even now the euro's being postponed this is obviously a big thing so i think this is more like. an alarm for everybody saying no it's not really have the situation we have to act but of course the difficult for the fans not only that. teams aren't playing that the league's not playing but also for those being active themselves because also the smaller clubs are shut down and so you can't go to the offense interrupt here and. whatever but you have to be creative and stay at home one thing that i to out there because i am also a sports fan and what i realize when all these events started to get cancelled is that this is above all a challenge that is not only for politicians not only for world leaders it is something that it's absolutely up to us as well to make sure. this doesn't spread

any further and when you see that clearly with sports when you have all these events being canceled when you're being told you really have to make your own you have to participate in a way that you reduce the impact of these. things that we saw when you when you have events consequences the it does but also in particular sports which is something very important for many people around the world when it comes to wake up calls we're certainly getting one from the stock markets as well they are absolutely setting records as they plummet what do you think is in store for us and what's your personal feeling as you watch these curves just fall and fall and fall well i think if there is one tiny good thing to come of this crisis it's the myth of our own invulnerability has been completely exposed both on an individual and on a global level and when it comes the stock market we haven't seen as much volatility since the great depression but i also think it's important to separate what's happening on the stock market with the experience of everyday people is stocks always go up and they're likely to continue to be volatile for as long as we

have this crisis because this is a public health issue so it's completely unpredictable but i think it's very important for governments to act quickly and decisively to shore up people's people's lives and make sure their jobs are secure and germany so far has actually done quite a good job of us by implementing some policies so that if a company wants to let somebody go because of the coronavirus instead of actually firing them they will keep them on the books but continue to give them some pay and i want to come back to that a little bit later on in the show but 1st of all i'd like to take a look at how some people living under lockdown which we don't have yet here in germany but we may eventually how some are proving especially creative and dispelling fear and loneliness. fighting isolation by making music together through the days of quarantine they

give each other courage as here in rome. was an italian courts had gives a free open air concert not to a live audience but rather live on facebook. and the berlin philharmonic played dario in bar talk to an empty house music lovers were able to live stream the concert into their living rooms. how much do we really need to be together. thomas we saw in that in the 1st sequence from italy people out there on their balconies and not only their a balcony is playing a big role in italy in spain people are apparently doing cygnus on their balconies

with a trainer on a rooftop instructing them do you think things like that that we saw things like what we saw in the report are just temporary distractions or do they actually help to build that sense solidarity that you are talking about i absolutely think that they help to build that sense of solidarity i think in times of crisis around the world you can have the worst out of people but you can also get the best out of people and these examples that we're just seeing here how people are being very creative to try and make sure that these very difficult a very bad situation for many people can be and at least in a little bit improved in many different ways is something that you also see in other parts of the world by the way is also you're all starting to see right here in germany actually something very interesting recent days of people asking to buy vouchers of their favorite. that they can then we deem later on when the crisis has been overcome i thought there was a fantastic idea of trying to help your favorite restaurant or your favorite

supermodel a favorite shop they can oversee not stale things now as they would be full about the way in which you can help so i definitely think it's high time for solidarity great thank you barbara in your opening statement you said that the cessation of sporting events would deprive many people of a very important social support that they need in a time like this so is there any substitute for that in the virtual world and how are sports fans coping yeah i think there's a lot going on now like. with social media there is another way to connect then again virtually this is we have seen that in china already people having challenges through the. groups who can do more sit ups and groups sitting together or even having a drink together and just virtually being connected and there's actually also a lot on the market like there is a program for bike riders you can actually sit in the basement on your on your on

your bike on a fixed bike and. be virtually connected and actually. at the moment live in writing against other cyclists sitting in that basement and doing the same so i think a lot of these kind of turn of are going to come up now and we'll hopefully do some substitution kate you said in your opening statement that we need political decisions that are very much based on cooperation. do you feel like we are seeing that adequately and are people paying attention i have to say i live in crowds back one of the central districts in the city frankly at least until today people there have not really fully been adhering to the new rules just yesterday i saw about 25 young men playing a game of pick up some. or in a local park very close together definitely not social distancing very sweaty. do you think people have gotten the message. of seeing similar scenes you know on the

way here for example but what i think is really important for us as journalists to do is to frame social distancing as the ultimate act of solidarity that it is so if one of us here at the table which become infected with social distancing within a month or $244.00 people but in fact as a result with social distancing we can reduce that to 4 and that message really needs to come across that it is really great that we're seeing these examples of community spirit that's really heartening but actually the best thing you can do to save lives is to stay away from really any time about how i say something just to that temper can you say it in response to an additional question i'd like to tack on to that namely in regard to the chancellor's appeal which is that you got what it was the chancellor gave exactly that message and she gave it in language such as i have never heard her use before very personal very urgent it was the 1st time she's addressed the germination in this form since she has taken power and she's

been in power a long time do you think that message is going to be heard will it get through to those people who need to hear it those young men playing soccer in my park melinda that was exactly what i was planning good to talk about that each buy and i'm a cool yesterday that her dress on national television she normally does those addresses only on new year's eve or new year's day and this is the very 1st time in 15 years as johns that you give such an address on television and that just gives you an idea of how urgent it is and how important is that decisions are not only made right at the top but the people understand what it is saying kate that this has to be done by all of us and i agree with you totally that i'm going to merkel's message yesterday was very clear it was human it was authoritative it was very clear and i do hope that people here in germany will understand that it's time for them to. act but it's not time for them to keep playing football outdoors or taking their kids to the playground it's really time for all of us to understand that this is a very big responsibility that we have and when it comes to those playing in the park

we can hope that if not i'm going to mangle also the head coach of the national football team of germany's national football team has been has had a speech yesterday going to the same direction so maybe those still playing football in the parks would listen to him at least and also for the roots on the other hand kate we at the same time are seeing shortages of things like toilet paper as people essentially get engaged in hoarding behavior and even more serious stockpiling of very important medical goods including breathing masks and hand sanitizer price gouging by some people who've bought up tens of thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer what does that tell us about how people are reacting to this crisis and you think we'll see more of it as things get worse well as tomas said earlier we're seeing the very best and the very worst of humanity come out of a crisis which is to be expected here in germany we have a wonderful word to describe this sort of panic buying stuff which

a colleague of mine is appealing for us to install into the english language like the i don't know how history squirreling things away and yet we have seen a lot of but not address last night i'm actually really did reassure people that supermarkets would be stocked and really a big issue for supply is actually people panic buying the just exchange are solid at the moment and those cargo trucks are not being stopped at borders so we don't really need to have to worry about speaking of borders let us dive a little bit deeper into the subject of shortages and the economic effects of this crisis at the beginning of the week germany largely shut down its borders with france denmark luxembourg switzerland and austria officials claim that the movement of goods won't be affected but reality tells a different story. border checks are once again backing up traffic as here on germany's border to france a microscopic virus is bringing europe to its knees the union is isolating itself.

the only ones allowed in are those who work here or need to stock up on necessities like medications. only trucks are allowed through without checks but traffic is backing up at border crossings like here include. that in itself may lead to considerable disruption to supply chains. for now we see no cause for worry but everyone should act responsibly and take only what they really need rest assured that everything is being done to guarantee adequate supplies. yet even before borders were closed supermarket shelves were emptied all across europe as here in britain. and shortages of medicines are expected over the coming weeks. this is the downside of globalization it has many upsides but these are the classic downsides. can our basic needs be covered. thomas let

me address that question to you can our basic needs become and also in regard to the border closures even the chief of staff of the commission president of the european union has said border closures aren't going to do a whole lot because the virus is long since here in the individual member countries of the european union so what's going on with these border closures and will they imperil supply well the hope is that it won't imperil supply and there are guidelines already in place to make sure that essential goods like medicine for example of food can indeed reach those who need it the most i do agree that border closures may not have a very big effect but at the same time the goal of all these measures including border controls is to slow down the process of the coronavirus. make sure that you've probably seen that flattening the idea making judge you spread it as much as possible as well health services at a national level but also at the european level kind of cope with this and maybe in

this specific point those border closures may have an impact not a very big impact not an impact on it's on their own but they can help to have an impact i do believe that. v.w. and i'm learned 2 of germany's biggest car companies v.w. in fact biggest car company in the world are stopping production for now is germany and perhaps the world as a whole about to slide into the worst recession that we've seen since the great depression of the thirty's and you mentioned it in the outset is germany with its so-called social market economy pretty well equipped to handle this if that is in fact what occurs yes we most likely are going to head into a severe recession but it's what happens off it up so economists hope that they'll be what's called a v. shaped recovery so at a very steep decline but then when that when this virus is is under control that things will go will improve very quickly again but in order for that to happen you need policies in place and so what's happened here in germany is

a number of measures have been introduced to ensure that things will continue smoothly so one of them as you mentioned was this quick it and this is a benefit short work short. this is a benefit that applies to people who would otherwise lose their jobs because of in this case the coronavirus instead of being fired they keep their jobs on the books they no longer work because they're not needed but they get 60 percent of their salary paid for by the government and that is something which typically works very well in korea in crisis situations because it means that when the crisis is over things can continue seamlessly and they've also introduced tax deferrals for companies struggling and they are also offering unlimited low and so they are doing a lot to ensure that the recovery is a smooth as possible thomas if we look at the situation in europe. the whole we could be forgiven for concluding that the european union is this only in the game we've seen very little solidarity in terms of support for either the suffering

people or economies of spain of italy is brussels finally now waking up a bit too late but they are waking up what you saw at the beginning was basically all the countries mostly affected dealing on their own basically trying to solve the situation on their own asking for brussels for help and that's why now for example you see chancellor angela merkel among other european leaders try to stress the fact that they are working together to find solutions i agree that that's absolutely necessary but i do also think that that came a bit too late that that help should have been that much when the crisis was not as bad and not now when you have thousands of cases in many different european countries. football also losing millions in in forgone income particularly problematic for the smaller football soccer clubs is there any help for them and what will be the consequences of spawning these really important matches like the european football championship i mean of course we have to keep in

mind that only like 3 to 4 percent of all the football players worldwide are as months as the public thinks they do think they do so for many it's actually a very very fragile situation especially players in latin america or in africa where contracts are like not as secure as they are in bonds leader. for german clubs actually the 1st have already. a different world wide i'm afraid for smaller clubs and also for women's football for example that has been on the rise recently finally numbers are growing but structure is extremely fragile so i'm i'm afraid they're going to. get some have to take some steps back and start forward we're slowly coming to the end of our. discussion so i'd like to take us back to something all of you have said you've said in a crisis like this we can see both the best and the worst of people what do you

think will come out in the our our top our title asks how we're handling the crisis do you think as it's so often said in this crisis we might find an opportunity to perhaps change track or would you expect that we may see selfishness prevail in the end. they'll be examples of both i have no day but i do think that for any country perhaps but no coronavirus cases yet or very few this is an opportunity to learn from the experience of others and that has to be the priority we have seen many medical system struggling because they've been underfunded for decades do you think that will change after this i can only hope that political pressure increases you know we have a huge case of so many americans who are uninsured and their status within this crisis is uncertain and so you would hope that there would be a drive for change so we can only wait and see. i think those people believing in

some of the they just have to be louder and more present to in carts with body else to support each other once i think in 10 or 15 years time when we look back at this or at least that's my hope we will look at those scenes from the balconies in spain and italy and think that i was a very good example that we also were able to learn from those offers of selfishness because this will not be the last crisis where you will see the worst and the best of humanity the chancellor said yesterday it's the worst crisis germany is facing it's the 2nd world war i've sometimes wondered whether later we will see this as the kind of hiatus in history the 2nd world war as world was for many people thank you very much to all of us for being with us today and i wish all of you the best of health and i wish the same to you dear viewers we hope you stay healthy we are going to be taking a break. it's to the point for at least 4 weeks and we hope to see you after that and stay well. on. the

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this is g w news live from berlin the worldwide death toll from corona virus surges past 10000 medical staff around the world are struggling to cope working long hours with not enough equipment and fears of getting sick themselves will go to spain where concern is growing that the health care system will not be able to cope but the country with the most deaths is now italy overtaking china and despite a near total lockdown there at the epicenter of europe's outbreak the spread is now .