so how with intercultural understanding my name is only one way and i work and to tell people. this is deja vu news live from berlin charting a course for europe's recovery and americal prepares to stand out of her growth goals for the e.u. as germany takes over the council's presidency in trying to tackle the many challenges created by the pandemic also coming up after pressure from more than 200 scientists the world health organization that makes the corona virus could be transmitted by tiny particles suspended in the air so what does this mean for our

behavior and our health. plus millions of people in the australian city of melbourne have been locked down again the government says it is the only way of preventing a catastrophe. i'm susan was going to thank you for joining us german chancellor angela merkel has arrived in brussels on her 1st international trip since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic she will meet with the heads of the e.u.'s main institutions to discuss germany's e.u. council presidency which is that to be dominated by economic recovery michael is expected to make the case for a massive relief fund for european economies struggling with the coronavirus endemic this is the 2nd time that germany has headed the important e.u. body. and after her arrival chancellor merkel took time to speak to journalists

here's what she had to say. just as many as i am happy that my 1st trip abroad after the outbreak of the pandemic is to brussels and to the european parliament today i will present the priorities of the german presidency of the council. the next few months will be all about the great task of trying to contain the pandemic and cope with its consequences health consequences social consequences and economic consequences. let's bring in our correspondent in brussels richard walker is there for us hi richard tell us more about what germany's plans are for the next 6 months . as we just saw we just heard uncle americal speaking she's now just sent to the chamber i think one thing that she said on her arrival here the really kind of says it all this isn't the council presidency that we were anticipating and that

really says it all it really is about the economic recovery that is going to be the primary focus of the next 6 months especially the weeks ahead with this summit coming up next week so what is the plan agel americal herself has been really someone right at the forefront of this saying that europe needs a recovery plan to stimulate the economy to pull it out of what could be a really really devastating recession even depression because you have a taste of how bad things are there were new numbers out of the european commission just yesterday for costing that the e.u. economy would contract by more than 8 percent this year that is really a dramatic contraction something that hasn't been seen in the european union's history so the idea is to put together a plan running to hundreds of billions of euros to stimulate the economy particularly in economies that have been worse hit because what we're seeing also from the economic data is that the impact of the coronavirus is not being in.

evenly spread there are some countries that are being hard hit economically as well as by the pandemic much harder than others for example spain and italy they're really looking to miracle to provide leadership on that and as you've been speaking we've been looking at some pictures of chancellor merkel as you said she'd entered the chamber we saw the commission president underlined seated there as well i want to ask you about that economic recovery package because this is so important moving forward and yet there is some controversy over this hundreds of billions of euro that's supposed to provide economic stimulus and recovery where are the hurdles right now. yeah so feels like everyone pretty well agrees that some major bold recovery plan is needed but of course when it comes down to it this is money we're talking about and that is always a matter of massive discussions and there are debates about virtually every aspect that you could imagine the scale of the fund so the number of 750000000000 euros is what the european commission is talking about our bill americal herself together

with the french president manuel markov came out with a plan just before that saying 500000000000 was the right amount there are some countries that have been dubbed the frugal for a group of smaller northern european countries saying that they want to fund to be smaller so that's one issue what kind of nature should the fund have should it give out money as grants or should it lend money which countries then have to pay back and that's a big question those frugal for a keen for it mostly to be about lending so that money is paid back the countries that need the money most italy and spain of course are saying no what's the point if you just lend us the money this is only going to make our economic situation more difficult. and there's an east versus west kind of divide that isn't over this with countries in eastern europe which are poorer than countries like france and spain and italy saying well why should we be helping out these countries even if they've had a bigger economic. impact we're still behind their main economic development so

there isn't any kind of multiplicity of these different divisions that angle merkel is really going to try and straddle in the next few weeks but i think one kind of symbolic thing that she's done is she's really kind of blew herself to a man where mark or france on this made clear that the 2 of them are going to be working very closely together i think their hope is that angle americal can kind of rally germany's traditional kind of slightly more brutally minded countries in northern europe france can hold together these southern european countries and try and find some unity there but even beyond that this issue with east and west through turned out to be just as difficult ok tall task ahead for chancellor americal and germany as it takes on the e.u. council presidency richard walker for us there in brussels will be coming back to you in a little bit thank you. and we're keeping a close eye on that chamber there i will be bringing you live coverage of

chancellor merkel's address as soon as that begins in about 10 minutes time we're expecting stay tuned for that now to some other news the world health organization says there is emerging evidence the corona virus could spread through droplets in the air that statement comes after more than $200.00 international scientists claim the corona virus can be spread from person to person through tiny droplets that remain suspended in the air for several hours they also claim that these airborne droplets can travel for tens of meters the w.h.o. has promised to publish information on the known roots of transmission of the virus these are fields of research that really growing and 4 weeks there is some evidence emerging but is not the diff definitive. and therefore the possibility of airborne transmission in. in public settings especially in very specific conditions crowded closed poorly ventilated

settings that have been described cannot be ruled out let's get some perspective on this story now we have viral or just dr mohamed more near with us from lancaster university in the u.k. dr munir thank you for joining us 1st of all what does this mean for us if this virus can spread through this airborne airborne route. yeah well if it isn't economics by the world health organization that this white house can transmit to other people through the airport that mean of massive chain you know where daily life which is already pretty much distorted that means that we probably have to move their face masks indoor we have to work really effectively on to the ventilation and conditioning because your circulation indoor would probably mean higher exposure to the virus and we also probably need to think about commuting maybe trains and the buses need to be traveling within those open and so on so once

it is it in a nice message and use it acquired ok so we're talking about even more precautions here that says it's still emerging evidence behind the spend more than 200 international scientists are convinced that this is true so why is the world health organization being cautious. i think one of the major problem is being misinterpretation of the data because they are going that mean define for the corner what is frost mission has been basically based on the studies those going to conducted in 1000 forty's and fifty's and at that time point we have a certain limitation on instrumentation what kind of instrument we can apply to really detect the spread of the infection but as we move along we have no new technology to really determine how much the distance is a small problem can travel and now we have a clear idea that one sneeze can generate more than 30000 different droplets mystery and it's from the size of 50 to 5 micron meter and even the smallest droplet which is 5 micron could have thousands of lives in them that can travel up

to 10 feet some much more 'd than what we are currently observing the social distances so i think now there are strong evidence that is and asserting that it's a need to revise the strategy to control this infection this is pretty overwhelming for a lot of people to hear her already taken precautions so given what we know about coping 1000 to this point what is the best advice you have for preventing yourself from catching the virus i think at this moment there borden thing that i would like to highlight is that carrying on following all those control you know that we have already been practicing for example moscow or face covering in the gathering of washing hands keeping the social distances and also being digital vigilant of all the information that would become available on to the new guideline especially when we are in the war that also have a lot of destruction on to moving forward with opening up of the countries and working in the offices where there are limited spaces so certainly

a lot more need to be generated would be much more helpful in us at defining moving forward dr mohamed when you're from lancaster university with us thank you very much. and let's go right back to brussels as we said we're are following chancellor merkel delivering an address there to european lawmakers i believe we have pictures of her just beginning to speak if we can bring those pictures are all listening to chancellor merkel here we got like many of you. i have missed the director in person contact this is my 1st trip soon it is a pandemic started and i deliberately chose to come here to the heart of european democracy at a time when the european union wishes to stand resolute in the face of this crisis at such a time the e.u. needs the european parliament there are huge challenges ahead that require enormous

effort we need parliamentary debate we need political coordination kill cultural the translation and mediation between different countries and regions and so we need you and it is a particular honor for me today to present the priorities of the german presidency there are 5 priorities i feel that the current juncture fundamental rights cohesion climate protection digitalisation and europe's responsibility in the world these 5 priorities are very important because we need to sustain about change in europe to safeguard preserve europe only in this way. with europe cope with the lightning speed of change and ensure its sovereignty and responsibility and fully live up the 2 with role we're all aware

that my visit to day. comes at a time when the european union is facing its greatest challenge ever the global pan. demick has hit people hard in europe over 100000 lives have been lost in europe alone many citizens. would not able to visit loved ones because of strict quarantine rules bid farewell to them as they passed we must bear that in mind when we commit to economic recovery we need to mourn our dead to recognize the pain of farewells that were not possible that will stay with us for some time to come. our economy has been dealt a severe blow millions have lost their jobs. they are also worried about

their own health their health of their family members in addition many citizens fear for their very livelihood. and they need our shared common support. we need to break transmission chains to this end the most basic fundamental rights had to be restricted that was a high price to pay for generations in europe fought hard for those fundamentals by. human rights civil liberties are the most valuable asset we have in europe only for very important reasons for a short space of time should such rights be restricted a pandemic should never be used as a pretext to erode democratic principles all countries in europe. has a different recollection of the evil of the past the fight for freedom the

rule of law democracy but those achievements form the basis of fundamental rights in europe now for me personally i spent 35 years of my life in an unfree society and so restricting bright steering the pandemic really. was a very difficult decision for me. germany's taking on the european council presidency at an important time we will show great respect and invest great passion into this challenge i believe in europe i am a fervent advocate to europe not just as a legacy from the past but as a harbinger of hope for the future europe is not some things passed down to us some sort of fate that is incumbent upon us europe is a living project that we can shape and change. europe does not

restrict our room for maneuver in a globalized world europe gives us.