to bring special tools to this remote region in the north of russia they hope that in the mud at the bottom of the lake they will find more mammoth remains. well that's your news update at this hour but of course the news it doesn't stop when we do. you can get all the latest information around the off on our web site at www dot com you can also follow us on twitter and instagram at state of the union is i'm sorry richardson in berlin thanks so much for watching. combating the corona pandemic. where does research stand. what are scientists learning. background information and news. hour corona up to. 19 special next on d w. every journey begins with the 1st step and every

language the 1st word i'm going to call the coaxing germany. why not learn with him for. its simple plain on your mobile and free. music you learn in course. terms maybe see. early february a man tested positive for cope with 19 after disembarking from this ship the diamond princess ship was quarantined immediately after arriving in japanese waters a few days later more than 3700 passengers and crew members who were on board 700 people on board soon sickened with the virus for weeks the ship was the site of the

largest outbreak outside china. 5 months later cruise ship operators are pushing to reopen but can they guarantee passenger safety during a global pandemic. be question welcome to your coverage not in special indeed all the news some want to get germs and berlin as always so very good to have you with us and for millions of people cruise ships meant one thing the holiday of a lifetime when i was before covert 19 now operators want a fast reboot but after outbreaks like aboard the diamond princess did all use then facility and wants to know if anyone will ever want to take a cruise again. most of these big boats aren't going anywhere i was never a fan 2016 was my 1st and last cribs i caught the norovirus i was sick as a dog ever since then i've kept my distance this is as close as i'll get to the giants of the sea hamburg germany has made port but i am one of the few despite

health scares and the sect is huge carbon footprint business have been booming over the rotavirus. now operators face billions in losses and lawsuits health experts say the ships helped spread the virus the industry says it took extraordinary measures to limit outbreaks germany's attorney i had to call on australia for help when the virus program. is. whose entertain it was trapped aboard and is critical about one thing she should have been kind of the ships don't have a party to carry out corona tests of the like you have been caught has to be done on land and takes time outside and the passengers want to take a cruise again one of you can fight definitely and guns are booked out passengers all want to come back. for the next 2 years and i'm certain many many people will want to do the trick and you know it isn't much and it'll take a lot to convince me to set sail again but i've got nothing against this little guy

head of the fatah combo to hold my hand he's an expert in the field. of cruise ships more susceptible to something like the coronavirus than other places that certainly are because wherever you have big crowds of people $4000.00 operative 1000 plus the crew on the narrow area of progress are mixed together the risk is there to basically these giants of the seas. some which have only just been finished but are they going to run at full capacity there was a very big demand and this was the reason why more and more trips of this i guess being built they really thought everybody thought of the figure that business. can go in continuously and call on me to stop before. some smaller expedition boats are now allowed back to sea but with only half the passengers and no stops along the way the big ones are still in dog. they look so

a load completely empty but bookings are already surging operators are offering big discounts and promises of a gold standard in public health some analysts expect another boom even bigger than before the crisis just don't count on making. of a more i'm joined by professor alexis. he's the chairman of the truth research society and co-director of the institute for maritime tourism and brave a half a university of applied sciences now that out of the way good to have you with us 1st question simply has to be would you board a cruise ship right now. me personally i would probably do this more for research purposes all right as you probably would weigh a mask and not look for fun but the problem is why did cruise ships get caught up in this pandemic in the 1st place more so than aviation other modes of transport

what went wrong well i think there's a degree it's very easy to trace back let's say a coral outbreak or an order on a ship rather than an airplane as simply because you know in an airplane people go in and out and it's very difficult introspect where you came from plus cruise companies for deployed in asia and there where they had the outbreak started and therefore the noose and i think this is basically what happened i don't think that . asian is less risky that crucible that but as i mentioned it's very very difficult to trace back to where the people got it it's it shows up in the cruise the north was on a cruise. or doesn't really matter whether it's a cruise but the cruise gets targeted for right that it's of and there are very difficult to perspective and of course on a cruise ship you spend so much more time so if there's

a case to take to it then you need stuck with it i'd of course you mentioned risk i mean the typical cruise ship client is middle aged or older and knowing that this is the high risk group what advice do you give them. well i would at this point of time i would the hordes normally the average age for cruiser is around about $47.00 so i think there is a big span of what we call middle age but if we are talking about people high risk people people that have previous still misses out at this point a virus than to will turn the cruise in the same way i would advise them to restrict their traveling as much as possible. so what you say that those cruise ship operators have learnt their lesson to make it safe. while i don't it's not like they've been trying to keep it safe and they had outbreaks in the past. the big issues how do you deal with

a crisis when such occurs. and communication has been a big war plus i'm afraid they're currently trying to to really stock up as quickly as possible this is the forward whereas i think this should be read trying to really carefully redesign test and trade the personal vote for the new situation because if something goes wrong in the current situation is going to escalate in the media and the industry cannot afford more negative press than they already have indeed so fingers crossed hopefully it'll all work out all right alexis at papa thomas's from the institute for maritime tourism in broome a half which thank you so much for your time and to stay healthy. thank you very much the same to you. and now for the last time this week we've got our science correspondent derek williams answering your questions

and this week he wanted to know about t. cell immunity. what is currently known about t. cell in unity the immune system is quite complex when the body is infected with a virus that mounts an immune response in it what are called antigen presenting cells in just proteins from the virus and display them on their surface this activates t. helper cells which initiate a host of immune functions one is to help activate what are known as site a toxic or killer t. cells to destroy cells in the body that are already infected and they also stimulate so-called b. cells to produce antibodies that bind to the virus the antibodies prevent the virus from infecting other cells and tag it for elimination and antibody levels are what

we focus on when we think about how long immunity lasts but but what are called memory t. and b. cells also play big roles and immune systems long term remembrance of specific pathogens and quick response if you're infected again research into and debate on t. cell immunity is ongoing but it appears that even in recovered covert 9000 patients whose antibody levels later drop on t. cells continue to provide some protection against getting the disease again the big question is how much protection. if you catch a bad cold and then catch coven 19 a few weeks later with the symptoms be milder. great question impossible to say at this point but one explanation. for why we're seeing what looks like preexisting in nudity in some people might be down to protein structures in stars co 2 that it

shares in common with corona viruses that cause colds and whether or not they can help at least some immune systems recognize tobit 19 and get a head start on fighting it off although we're still trying to pin down exactly what role t. cells might play in of unity a recent very small scale study looking at the dynamics of immune response notice something they're interesting in the control group of unexposed test subjects 2 in 10 people actually responded to sars co 2 proteins that's an indicator that there could indeed be at least some weak overlap in terms of a new response if you've recently had a cold and then get over it 19 but but that's still a really big maybe. derek

williams there and of course he'll be back next week so you can post your questions to him on our you tube channel keep those questions coming if you'd like to keep up with the latest developments on the coronavirus subscribe to our newsletter go to d.w. dot com slash corona dash newsletter. before we go we want to end this week with a look add to whether world stands in the fight against the pandemic data from $209.00 countries and territories tell us that while than half of those countries worldwide are reporting more covert $9000.00 cases than they did just last week and while less than a 3rd were able to claim their infection rates were falling 15 have no infections at all. taking a look at the numbers week by week we can see that the number of countries free

from the corona virus shown here in blue continues to be on the retreat meaning the virus keeps spreading. and that's a good night in special on d w of course you can find more analysis and updates on the pandemic on our website that is to w dot com slash coronavirus for me in the team thanks for watching. a chance is always yet undeniably different. during the pandemic summer visitors are slowly starting to trickle back at fred what kind of an experience are they and are. our tests for a safe visit to the german capital. t

w. the amazon is being held for the slow. we're generally aware of what's happening but you know what's really going on there . and as i. said. the crime fighters are back but never goes most successful radio drama series continues from the olympus odes are available online and of course you can share

and discuss on w. africa's facebook page and other social media platforms. to mean you know. i'm sure that of us are also. in support of. what the baby was able. to deliver. summer and. river boats on the ship.