this is news a live from berlin covered 19 is just beginning to threaten the african continent and it's hitting south africa hard the military is out to enforce a lockdown but people are finding it difficult to stay in especially those who are most at risk. under equipped and under blockade in gaza access to health care is minimal in the territories fighting against time to get ahead of the virus. sports fans and build roots or a clear stand out in europe still attending football matches as life in the eastern

european country remains largely unchanged by the 10 damage. i'm michael okwu thanks for joining us the corona virus is spreading across the globe and just starting to take hold in africa with more than a 1000 registered infections south africa is officially the worst hit nation on the continent the country has just begun a 3 week national lockdown and local authorities are taking a hard line in enforcing it we're no mother no the army is out on the streets here in one of jhana spectro neighborhoods it's trying to enforce what seems difficult for many staying at. for the lead waba family lockdown means 6 people sharing 12 square meter as. that normally only happens at night when they

sleep and they have no running water they have to collect it themselves from a tap a kilometer away. social distancing doesn't really work here but it's badly needed millions suffer from tuberculosis and aids and particular risk as nigerians have come up we have no choice we have to come to this place to get water and to go to the toilet. the main roads are almost empty this is one of the strictest block towns in the world only those an essential services such as hospitals are allowed to go to work. food shopping is allowed but the queues are often long and few here keep their distance. i know that i can't go to work and that worries me i don't know if my employer will still need me after the lockdown is over. the standstill will likely ruin many businesses in south africa but fear of the uncontrolled

spread of the virus is even greater because it could spell the collapse of the country's already stretched health service earlier i spoke with correspondent adrian chremes in cape town we wanted to know how well the lockdown is working so far 3 days in. well you can see it behind me the streets are rather empty just a few people outside it's going to do shopping which is still allowed there's a plenty of checkpoints on the streets off cape town here but so far so good there are some issues however that i was able to observe for example a big problem is the homeless people who came might be able to see right behind me they're still dozens of them on the street that i've seen throughout town although the president promised a week ago that they will be taken off the streets that the states will take a on them this has obviously not happened also some of the people who work in essential services working for supermarkets for example complained to me that is

very difficult for them to get to work public transport is still running for them but they told me the busses overcrowded and this of course should not be the case when you having a lockdown and when you're trying to stop the spread of the virus and you know i have to say it's difficult to watch the report that we just gave viewers and not ask yourself do these people stand a chance. there are fundamental infrastructure problems that make fighting 19 i think. clearly an enormous effort what is the government doing to address those issues. absolutely i mean the president said we have to do this lockdown because otherwise our health system might just collapse 80 percent of the many poor population relies on the public health sector and it's already now overwhelmed we've created in the report it's could be a major challenge if the numbers continue to increase like they do now experts believe only after 2 weeks of the doc down there's a chance that the number of new infections will decrease but even that is of course

not guaranteed and nobody knows how the situation could possibly develop specially in the poor areas in the townships where people live in very crowded spaces under very difficult circumstances how patient can these people be and how will the states cater for them because many of them don't have savings they will not be able to so wife basically if they don't have a job and they don't have anything to do. what's the emotional reaction that people are having to this. well i mean you basically are not allowed to do anything any more than shopping or go to hospitals you're not allowed to have a walk to go out with your dog or do some talking all this is banned so obviously it is difficult for people but as i said i think the people most affected are the ones in crowded townships at the moment and this is really interesting in the next week to see how they are really trying to cope with the situation and if the state will really be able to bring the resources to this side of the city and off the

country to support the poor population. thank you so much. let's take a look now at the latest developments in the virus pandemic more than 31000 people worldwide have now died from the virus with the global number of infections nearing 700000 in spain of record number of fatalities overnight 838 people died of the disease raising the death toll to more than 6500 according to the health ministry in australia gatherings will be restricted to just 2 people starting monday and played. in state parks will be closed and norway is to. answer 2 key questions how many of those who appear to be infected actually have corona virus and how widely spread is the virus. the covered $900.00 pandemic is threatening countries in regions without advanced health care respirators gloves

face masks in hospital beds or crucial in fighting the virus and they're severely lacking in gaza in the densely populated palestinian territory awarded the virus could spread unchecked more than 2000000 people there live under strict blockades from both israel and egypt. it's been less than a week since the coronavirus reached gaza but already it's clear that the territory is woefully under quick to cope with the pandemic well thirty's are doing what they can. as the municipality is organizing the cleaning and sterilising of the markets in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. we're doing this despite being short of facilities and equipment. it is our duty to try to prevent the virus from spreading. the u.n. has already warned that the crumbling infrastructure will not be up to the

challenge basic health care and sanitation it says simply inadequate. members of the palestinian islamic jihad armed wing the brigade taking to the streets not to demonstrate or bully but to join the effort to stop the virus from spreading. business to is contributing its expertise this gaza factory is producing protective clothing for medical workers to its own design. we want to protect ourselves and medical stuff production has reached around 1000 suits so far there are 6 factories working for us. or our mosques in the palestinian territory have closed while mass rallies planned for next week along the border with israel have been cancelled. people are doing what they can to prepare for the pandemic but. i mean it's likely to

hit them hard. he is the director of the united nations relief and works agency for palestinian refugees in gaza great to have you with us so far. in factions in the gaza strip how would you describe the situation there right now. good afternoon to you i would describe this situation as one of a mixture of panic since the 1st 2 cases where announced a couple of days ago and very warry to walk which happened if there is an indigenous infection and a serious outbreak as was evidence and your report just now in the hospital sector here is woefully unprepared in many ways what i've been told is for every 100

patients what good deal you would need at least 5 intensive care unit beds a 60 in the whole of the gaza strip so you can do the math as soon as they are more than $1500.00 people also the hospitals would simply not cope so that's one big concern the other concern is that in these crowded conditions you know with 812 people often sharing a 2 bedroom apartment let's say it's extremely challenging. the measures being advised by the world health organization like social distancing and of course proper hygiene it conditions in terms of hand washing and so on has a challenge at the best of times. for mathias gaza has been blockaded for years by israel in egypt of course how might those countries respond for example is there any talk of temporarily lifting restrictions for humanitarian reasons. well there's

a couple of things to say about this number one that there has been over these last 2 or 3 weeks since the koran at reach the region let's say a relatively pragmatic cooperation with the israeli authorities so the goods we have needed to bring in for hospitals and so on as united nations they've been all through and they have also not curtailed the movement of other goods we run for example as we're through to operate over a 1000000 people so more than 50000050 percent of gaza's population depend on food and of course you know locked down it's critical that people have access to food so so far that has not been blocked what has been blocked as movement of people and that's understandable our water use and our appeal to israel but also egypt as another neighboring country and the international community here is not to forget it is on the stand

a book that we have to speak up and make and all countries including israel and egypt being affected that the focus is at home trying to keep one's own populations down and healthy but an outbreak in gaza will also affect israel and egypt and the last thing we would want is a complete shutting off the borders people need food and need other materials for the hospital sector and so forth it is we have less than 30 seconds but i want to ask you this we know that the key to slowing outbreak is social distancing is that even realistically possible there. it is really challenging but we should never give up weeks learnt from the epilogue crisis that also happened in impoverished overcrowded areas that social behavior change is also bull and we are doing what we can to effect that really appreciate you being with us mathias sessional a director of the un's relief and works agency for palestinian refugees in gaza thank you so much thank you. billiards has

been a major exception in these times most countries have practically cancelled public life including sports matches but they lose his football league has been playing on and despite health concerns fans aren't shying away from the last holdout for life football on the continent. most of europe has suspended sporting events and large gatherings it's not been long get a crowded football stadium is already a jarring sight but the new normal in belarus is still the old normal and top flight matches like saturday's main start b. are still underway in front of full houses albeit with some coronavirus precautionary measures included in football isn't the only thing much of life has gone largely unchanged in the eastern european country the authoritarian state has long had extremely tight travel restrictions and so far has reported only a few cases of the virus president alexander lukashenko has encouraged people to

continue business as usual claiming that working with tractors and in the fields has healing power for agricultural laborers despite the panic the virus has unleashed around the world many fans and make share their presidents attitude. will keep on coming to the stadium until it's no longer allowed president said that working on tractors would cure everyone so we'll be fine. they're currently the only football fans in europe with anything to cheer about although that could change if the coronavirus crisis ends up having substantial impact on bellers. well around the world we've seen communities applauding the efforts of healthcare workers who've been on the front lines of the global pandemic this week and france also began paying tribute on the eiffel tower in the nation's capital a special light show is capped off with a simple. and a reminder for everyone in paris and everywhere. around the world that lockdown is

really important and that they should stay at home. he watching t.v. news don't forget you can get all the latest news and information around the clock on our website at the different dot com i'm michael okuda in berlin i have more news for you as always at the top of the hour see them. go beyond theology. to. all of the stories that matter to you. whatever it takes. to running. a little bit d.w. made for mines.