a part of our. world 3 part documentary stories where. w. . this is deja news live from the east on the lock down churches around the world celebrate the holy day with no congregation in rome pope francis holds his easter vigil in an emptiness and painters worshippers worldwide swap church pews for live streams on the couch at heart also on the program. and now the dr a in the covert 19 pandemic for us overtakes italy with more deaths than any other

country america's wounded mass to stay in lockdown to avoid a fight taliban is running into the hundreds of thousands. plants nicaraguans are celebrating easter as normal with no restrictions on daily life that worries global health officials president daniel ortega is accused of risking an epidemic in central america. i'm rebecca ridges welcome to the program christians around the world are celebrating easter under a lockdown as global health authorities struggle to contain the spread of the corona virus pope francis held mass on the eve of the holiday in a largely empty some pages basilica in rome the pope described the service as a message of hope urging the faithful not to give in to their fears over the virus . the pontiff will give his easter sunday blessing when fewer than 20 people

present churches worldwide are also holding easter services we know the congregation. well throughout the day we'll be speaking to our correspondents around the world about in the time of corona we begin with on a sentence in manila and a thanks very much for joining me the philippines is a minute catholic country waster is a significant holiday how is it looking this year. easter is a celebration of faith and family but over 19 has come to celebrate both from a distance at the church where i am at easter sunday mass as would normally be playing on a new you know continuously all throughout the day but as you can see it's very very quiet there own young humanises and social of this than seeing a secure t.v. and for so many people are celebrating mass by watching live at home like my 75

year old mother is doing that today it certainly looks very quiet behind now when used to seeing in the philippines rituals religious ritual religious rituals rama used to such as so flagellation on the line what's happening to these traditions this. year as background yourself large elation is a personal sometimes you know a gratitude for answered prayer or for a traditional yearly act of repentance and some self flagellation rituals are so i labrat that they draw thousands of tourists now on that scale those gatherings of flagellation are strictly prohibited under the law but that hasn't stopped individuals for forming their own self flagellation self fired so they shun or in smaller groups. and you know you mentioned your mom as an example many filipinos would only be visiting family during the easter weekend how a people live dealing with a lockdown. definitely and this is

a time for family and we've seen many families gathering zoom calls sex absolutely even the older members of the family and tech skills to get online virtual and virtual to get together however not all families are as fortunate this church where i met is. 45 construction workers who try to go home to their home towns by walking when the lockdown was declared they were turned away at their villages because they had a strict no entry no one out no one and. it is unsure now when they will be able to return to their family so it's another reminder that while 19 purely in fact any one of us we are beginning its impact very different way it's absolutely certainly a different different to celebration this year correspondent and of santos in manila thanks very much. thank you. the united states has

overtaken italy as the country we've the highest confirmed death toll since the beginning of the outbreak more than 20000 people have died in the us according to the latest down to from from johns hopkins university in maryland president donald trump has said he wants to reopen america as soon as possible but public health experts insist it's far too early to think about easing restrictions that have closed businesses and kept most americans indoors as. we spoke to our washington correspondent all of the salad he gave as this is his has meant of the emergency in the u.s. i think there's good news coming from new york the number of hospitalizations 2 are slowing and that's just the social distancing of the measures that were put in place are actually working but the casualties are still a concern there naturally legging behind so we'll have to see if that changes as well and as you said other areas are infected affected as well of course. mostly detroit the state of louisiana. where the number of infections is still spiking and

the white house even warns that the pandemic and the epicenter of the pandemic might move south next from new york to other cities like philadelphia baltimore even washington d.c. where we are located experts believe that if the economy is open too soon we're going to see very high numbers in casualties in the united states. but time now to take a look at some of the other coronaviruses news from around the world and the struggle with covert 19 goes on in spain which says it's not relaxing recently restrictions on public life the government was roundly criticised for announcing that thousands of people would be allowed back to work next week the country's health minister said spain was not yet in a deescalation phase and would remain under lockdown. in the democratic republic of congo say the 1st person to contract a bowl in more than 50 days has died in the east of the country officials were

hoping to declare an end to the epidemic on sunday allowing congo's health services to focus on containing covert 19. aid organizations have become distributing face masks and information in yemen after the country recorded its 1st case of covert 19 on friday. landed a possible widespread outbreak in the country describing it as a nightmare scenario in a country already suffering from one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. here in germany the president has people to come together during the coronavirus pandemic frank. germans to stick to the restrictions even as spring weather over easter makes socializing outdoors more tempting than ever sunrise t.v. address also look to be on germany to the global response to the pandemic. and will we search worldwide for a joint way out of the crisis is will we fall back into isolation and unilateralism

taylan view the lettuce pool all of our knowledge and all of our research so that we can find vaccines and treatments more quickly or via the letters ensure within a global alliance that the poorest and most vulnerable countries also have access. to the ninety's and know this pandemic is not a war masons do not stand against other nations soldiers against soldiers rather this is a test of our humanity. it is bringing out both the best and the worst in people. let us show each other the best in us. and let us show that in europe as well towards the germany cannot emerge strong and fit from this crisis if our neighbors are not strong and fit as well. it is not without reason that this blue flag is

standing here 30 years after german unity 75 years after the end of the war we germans are not merely asked to show solidarity we are obliged to do so isn't it sort of lifted. of more i'm joined by political correspondent kate brady we heard steinmeyer there urging solidarity between nations what does he mean by that and what is germany's role. well certainly we're seeing germany's role of just we've already seen this week in the last couple of weeks germany's certainly been taking on more of that responsibility that she talked about especially when it comes to the number of patients from italy from spain from france that have now been admitted to intensive care units here in germany where of course germany luckily hasn't been hit quite as badly as in other neighboring european states and we also saw as well the some final cohesion between e.u.

finance ministers this week of course there had been some criticism from other e.u. other eurozone states specifically towards germany towards the netherlands towards austria who would initially blockaded this idea of corona bonds of mutual eyes debt that could have potentially acted as a question in the aftermath of the corona virus crisis but there has now been a different agreement between e.u. finance ministers so it seems germany is certainly starting to step up in its role as one of one of europe's leaders and of course that's reiterated in exactly what i was saying yesterday evening. we've seen chancellor angela merkel addressing the public several times on this topic can you receive the one with the power to make decisions or why and why did president don meyer choose to give the address this weekend. well most specifically simply because all is

easter weekend and the temptation for germans to perhaps get a bit complacent this weekend is very much there as you can see even here and by then behind me the glorious weather is on its way and easter here in germany like many places around the world is a huge religious festival but also when that steeped in tradition people usually use in the long weekend to spend time with family with friends with loved ones which of course is simply off the cards this year over this weekend and that's something that we heard reiterating again as we've heard as you say from angela merkel as well this week that this year easter will be different and although there has been some cautious optimism voiced this week it does seem that perhaps the curve might be flattening here in germany it's simply too early to you to drop your guard here and start reducing those restrictions that have been in place here now since march 22nd and you mentioned the stand my urging people to stay home this

weekend under michael has come out asking the same i was out of the weekend and i've seen lots of people on about how are germans coping with this crisis so far. well large speaking they have coped rather well of course there has been some reassurance given to them as well particularly economically due to that unprecedented financial aid package that's being promised by the german government to all kinds of businesses and all kinds of employees and day to day life people have largely been a daring to those restrictions not going out in groups of more than 2 making sure that people keep in the distance when they're out in public but as you say even yesterday the sun was out again and clearly people were being led out onto the streets and it is very apparent that people are starting to let their guard down and now is clearly not the time to get complacent as germany like anywhere else in the world does not want to see a spike in coronavirus cases indeed brady data being political correspondent thank

you. well one most governments have brought their countries to a near standstill to combat the outbreak one place where life goes on as normal is nicaragua despite daya warnings from global health officials the administration wants nicaraguans to celebrate easter as they always do there are no restrictions on daily life. and easter procession like every year in defiance of the global pandemic. even the pope has warned catholics not to celebrate the holidays and groups but nicaragua is one of the few countries in the world without lockdown measures to slow the spread of the virus. catholic church cancel the processions and all religious activities. but we pilgrims decided to carry on the tradition like we do dear after a year so that it's not lost i know. a few residents of the capital managua wear

face masks otherwise public life here continues largely unchanged schools and shops are open the streets thronged with people. critics of the leftist president on yet ortega want to know what his plan is if the outbreak does hit but ortega is nowhere to be seen some speculate as absence is due to medical problems leaving the government unable to focus on the pandemic is unable because. it's so obese kristie that they're. here were give us money. here really are more to. ortega's wife says he sends nicaraguans his love but some feel left alone will mean that i'm ok. we have to look after each other because honestly the captain has left the ship as they say.

saying it could be done about it but. we need a captain. that more could be done. while the number of confirmed cases in nicaragua remains low many here worry it won't stay that way for long. here watching t.v. news from the war news headlines at the top of the hour and time to get you can stand today on our web site that's dot com you can follow us on twitter and instagram to. i'm a decorated in that and thanks very much. and all. the language courses. video and audio. w. media sector.