a risk group writes we can take a look at some pictures of the most recent e.u. summit and we can say that that face mask a woman there's also a lot of touching and heads being linked together as quiet words have you leaders been letting that guards down. but this is this is really hard to tell we were not in the room journalists are not allowed on the premises when the leaders meet for covert reasons then as it seems they have already very in moscow and keeping their distance as good as possible the best some brief encounters like you would have in the shop or in the public transport they had dinner together but at this dinner they were sitting very wide apart so it's hard to tell if this may be a cause of the contagion or not. but all in all the efficiency insist that protocols and hygiene rules here too that every european meeting. now we have a clutch if you need is self isolating and working from home how is that likely to

affect the conduct of a you business. many of them say they just work from home office they are not if they have not fallen ill or they have no symptoms and also in monaco is working from home the. that is maintained although he has to cancel some trips he wanted to go to lebanon next week that will not take place now and you have to wait and see how that works we had the prime minister of the united kingdom brownstones new really severely fell in and he was not working for a couple of days but as of now nothing has really changed brussels keeps up working and maintains business as usual thank you for that bad ringgit in brussels. germany's daily cover the infection rate is hitting new records topping $30000.00 in a single 24 hour period the health minister says e.u. member states planned to roll out a vaccination program from the 27th of december but as the number of hospital cases

in germany skyrockets a leading doctor has told a doubling of fears that the coming weeks will see more medics making decisions about who gets lifesaving treatments and who doesn't is a look at the dire situation in one german hospital. a new kind of a patient has a drive by ambulance or tribe or good university hospital he's traveling in a special isolation pod so none of the transport team gets infected the patient is only in his forty's he's transferred to viviane it's months intensive care unit with 5 members of the team she turns him on his stomach the prone position is an important therapy for a seriously ill tova patients the team make sure the patient is well padded as he will lie like this for several hours afterwards the inflammation sits at the back of the lungs and a lot of fluid collects there the lungs can't heal if we lie on them the whole time by turning patients on to their stomachs their lungs get air and can heal.

once a day the team turns each patient on to their front and back and it's a big effort. but printing and being put on a ventilator is not sufficient for many critically ill patients. need to be connected to an artificial lung to keep them alive. it pumps the patient's blood into a machine where carbon dioxide is extracted and oxygen added. to the blood is and pumped back into the patient's body. just for patients who are this ill there aren't many options left this is the last trump card we've got to buy therapeutic options are so boring we give accident and the artificial lung but that only gives us more time it belongs have to heal on their own up. in the hospitals pharmacy there's no wonder drug against the

coronavirus ram disappear one of the great hopes at the start of the pandemic has yielded disappointing results as have many other drugs medics of the virus for nearly a year now but the odds of surviving a severe case haven't improved much you know it's bad for the 2nd person on a ventilator dies behind each of those numbers as a human being much in the 2nd wave many young and healthy people have also been infected but that's no guarantee for a milder cause of the illness. and you have to get this is a young man 45 years old with a severe case of coma he's a prime example that a young healthy person without any notable preexisting medical conditions can be brought to the brink of death by this fire and of course. into the intensive care units really are at that limit we have to be clear about that there might still be

some spare beds but every day there's fewer and patients like here for a long time for weeks or even months and that means beds don't free up quickly. at the moment they can still fight every single patients life but the time off to christmas could turn into the intensive care teams was nightmare. well let's get more on this from d.w. correspondent hans brands welcome hans as we see the die situation in one hospital give us a wider picture across germany. as one hospital today that reported that a small tree was overflowing and that it now had to store bodies in refrigerated content is there's also been some alarm about reports from eastern saxony that's in the far east of germany on the border of the czech republic and poland that's the area where the infections are highest in germany at the moment is pretty remote the hospitals are small their facilities are limited and in that area there are already

reports that doctors have to decide whether somebody who is seriously ill can be given survival chemical to be given additional treatment so that there might possibly survive or that there might be other patients that have a better chance of survival that also involves transporting people that i was seriously ill for hundreds of kilometers because in this remote areas there is no additional resources available so on paper and germany they are still over 4000 intensive care beds that are free and about 11000 in the emergency hospitals that have been set up in exhibition halls and such like areas but transporting people to those places is not always possible so the situation really is getting more and more critical in german hospitals right but i guess the imminent arrival of a vaccine will help lighten the burden. yes it will but it's not hospital staff that are 1st in line to get this vaccination 1st in line people that are threatened most seriously by the disease people in care institutions in old age homes and so

on 2nd line the hospital soft but even if the old people get vaccinated 1st that will eventually be a relief to the hospitals because those people will most likely not end up in hospital still vaccination is going to start within about a week or so so there is some relief on the horizon at the moment ok thank you for that new political correspondent hans front. i will take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world will start in sweden where the king says his country has failed in its handling of the corona virus pandemic called ghost stuff whose role is largely ceremonial make the red criticism during an annual television appearance sweden's pandemic policy has left measures largely voluntary and has been blamed for a high death toll amongst the elderly. russian president vladimir putin has left off allegations that the kremlin that was behind the poisoning of the opposition leader alexei in the valley if there had been such

a desire it would have been done he said with a smile jody's news conference in moscow for corona virus pandemic has led to enormous upheavals in our lifestyles how we work out of socialism whether you want to call home a study in space has found a significant increase in demand for homes with more indoor and outdoor space city dwellers appear to be packing up and moving to the suburbs or the countryside one reason is that more people are working from home but there are others. that d.w. report of problems oh yes i can tell a small welcome public i'm guessing spade is not alone in this shift it's certainly not essential spain has found through a report that came out from the notary generals of the notary general of course when you buy a house have to go to the notary and sign also they've got all the figures of what's happening and they've noticed that actually the sales of apartments are down on last year so what's up are that sales of actual homes with gardens or outdoor

spaces so there's clearly a shift because a lot of european cities but it's not just in europe people who live in apartments often they don't have space i tore space or if they do it's quite small and it's not just in spain do you k. in fact is seeing a shift at cities like liverpool and london are seeing not only inquiries for larger homes i would cite those urban centers but actually the purchases even in some towns. the eastern england are predominantly for. londoners who want to get out of london the same is happening in the united states cities like san francisco los angeles new york which are also very expensive. are also seeing a shift in that a lot of people are moving out because they can get a far larger home for a similar price of out of say a small or medium size apartment ok so it is happening but expos expecting a significant shift away from large urban areas i think it's easy to kind of get sort of caught up in this and assume that everybody can work from home. from home

for example and there are many other jobs to come work away from home so it's definitely affecting some people the big question is is this just happening now that we're still in the middle of the pandemic so i put a lot of questions with regards to this movement in this despite the of mobility to an expert from university college london it was professor dante she's an expert in geography and says what she had to say to. many different types of it is just not possible to move out of cities especially if you think about service sector because if you think about people who are clean as bus driver and so on and so forth that 6 place is still the case they it's not possible to do remote especially if your front line because you're if you're working in hospitals so these are jobs that never be are very unlikely to be possible to be down remotely and so then you will see problems. with with you know seeing this as a kind of universal blanket application in which people are just moving in and out

. it won't happen everywhere. so you can see there from a professor dot it's not everybody there are many many jobs in particular actually people from we'll say lower income jobs are not going to find it that easy to move out of that their current homes ok so if we don't see this huge shift away from urban areas what what what can we do to improve them well the big area is that we have to look at what that what has been exposed during this pandemic we found that a lot of people protected from lower income parts of the of cities urban areas big and small have suffered the most they're living in at smaller apartments they don't have as much access to green spaces they have to travel further and to get to their jobs and they spend longer times either out of their home so there's all these areas we need to tackle but 1st really that's the main issue that our urban areas have and create like what's being done in certain cities like for example in paris and barcelona are trying to test this concept of perhaps having everything within

easy walking distance so putting a heavy emphasis on about propofol and it's thank you so much. does it show up so that it's covered 19 special airs next top of the world news at the top of the switch if. the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. has the rate of infection been developing what does the latest research say. information and context the coronavirus update 19 special. on t w. you're going to unofficial estimates more than 1200000 venezuelans live in colombia needy and illegally.

already i call them when i return to venezuela. i don't think i'll ever go back there to live there again i don't. witness. matters. people with disabilities are used to facing obstacles. as a group. and are more likely to fall into poverty yet their experience is far more widespread than you might think. 15 percent of the global population has some form of disability as people age the experience becomes more common. half of those over 60 are disabled among children it is one in 10.

for many especially in developing nations has made things all the more challenging overstretched health care systems and lockdowns mean many of the services they rely on day to day have disappeared how has covert 1000 affected group of people. to make sure their needs aren't neglected. now doesn't come as a surprise that people in need special care are facing extra difficulties during a time when health care systems around the world are stretched sometimes beyond the limits of the pandemic is taking its toll on people with disabilities on several fronts here's one example from india. samir khan was just 10 when he was 1st diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy. that has a crippling effect on his whole body. help from for all of his to.

but despite his condition confound it a garment factory in delhi's matter per district it took him 3 years to set up the business and to establish trust with his clients even though. we the members have come to their image and they had some hesitation in working with me. again that i was confident of others were not. with be on the on for them and likely to win their confidence was the biggest challenge. for them me and i hope that what i still will come in india. but then there was another challenge the covert 19 pandemic led to a nationwide lockdown the local markets were can self as well as shut down and even now the lockdown has been lifted business has failed to pick back up.

people with disabilities are among the worst hit as a result of the virus in india many have lost their livelihoods and face financial difficulty. particularly those working in the informal sector according to a study by an indian disability rights organization. you're broke you were situation where everybody's been impacted right and people with disabilities would just be that much more impacted almost 3 times as much women by disability as well but have be even worse. and without intent and without political really it's going to be a conversation that and you know. most of times workers have not returned and he was forced to sell off half the machines in his factory khan fears a 2nd wave of the virus could mean the complete breakdown of his business. that we risk our lives doing business and they go to the extent that i can sit

around doing nothing for a very long time i have to work to fulfill my financial needs happening. in the name financially is to make. the garment factory was a means for economic self-reliance the khan he wanted to employ and support people like him but today and for the foreseeable future the factory will remain empty. this pandemic is challenging on so many levels let's get more from jane buchanan she is the acting director for disability rights and human rights watch she joins me via skype from new york welcome to the program jane we are talking about a very diverse group of people here now facing a whole array of challenges which part of that group are you most concerned about during this pandemic. we're especially concerned about the most marginalized among people with disability is and that includes people who are segregated and locked away in closed institutions institutions or people with

disabilities psychiatric hospitals as well as the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who are chained and locked in prayer camps and other types of institutions down the way you know i'm able to lever access any service as whatsoever and how is the been impacting the care for these people. people with disabilities around the world all types of disabilities can face a lot of barriers in accessing health care and that includes even just basic things like accessible transportation because if you can't get to your doctor or the hospital there's no chance to even even get care so i'll many of the obstacles that people disabilities are already face in their marginalisation are just amplified with a pandemic. is there any indication that people with disabilities face greater

health risks from covert 90. well that can certainly be true for people with certain types of disability is where covert 1000 infection could create more complications but again people who are lacking access to health care and people don't have the information they need for about cope at 19 because governments are presenting it in an accessible way so the materials aren't accessible to people maybe with intellectual disabilities who benefit from a different type of language in communicating about these things sign language interpretation for television broadcasts and messages about the pandemic and how to protect oneself where to get care now you mentioned that you're most concerned about people being locked away in an institution because of their condition do you

see that the danger that the concerns and needs of these people on a state level are being neglected now that societies are eyeing the vaccine and try to not catch the virus in general. oh er or extremely concerned about people who are basically already forgotten by society ignored as he said locked away. they've been left you know in very precarious conditions for the entirety of the pandemic in close contact with other people and without the opportunity to socially distance and so yes and even as societies begin to really. take steps with a vaccine syria to. minimize the impacts of kobe and hopefully reduce infections and deaths governments really can't forget those who are most at risk

most marginalized. and they people who are locked away shouldn't be there they should be out living in the community with the supports they need and that would be an end and also a really urgent step that government should take at this time to protect us groups which countries are you particularly concerned about and why. you know there's so many different situations around the world it's it's really impossible to pick one or another country i mean i think at this point where concerned about equitable vaccine distribution among the lower income countries in middle income countries you know for all of those people but again especially people with disabilities or are there is who really. may be left out of. the vaccine distribution early on but around the world we see you know people who are already. lacking

access to the economic markets are more likely to be unemployed the economic impacts of cove it will be long lasting and in many places and there needs to be really. extra effort on the part of governments to ensure that quality an excess of the ready for people with disabilities otherwise they risk you know even greater paparazzi and isolation as the economic impacts go on to begin and of human rights watch thank you for your thoughts thank you. and now it is time to take a look at some of the questions about the pandemic you sent us and as usual our science correspondent there are growing ems says ready with the answer. can you get vaccinated if you had covert 1000 but we're safe and to magic. the messenger r.n.a.

vaccines now being approved for emergency use and the number of countries were tested on tens of thousands of volunteers and and it's thought that between 5 and 10 percent of them had actually had covert 19 before those trials and there were no reports of serious adverse effects among those test subjects also in most other diseases there are mechanisms that would cause someone who had them once to react badly to subsequent vaccinations many experts have said they think that was coded 19 vaccinating someone who has already had the virus will act like a booster shot reminding the immune system that sars totoo is still around and possibly even strengthening and reinforcing the immune response so if you had the disease already whether symptomatically or

a symptomatically the current consensus is that getting vaccinated should be safe and maybe even beneficial but but that raises another question if you've had covert 19 do you need the shot from what we've seen so far in the vast majority of people a natural immunity to the disease after an infection lasts for a while at least at least for several months and while boosting that with the vaccine makes sense don't forget that supplies of vaccines will be critically tight in the short term that means it's likely that many. governments will probably tend to bump people who've had the disease more to the back of the line assuming that they're simply in less danger than someone who's never been exposed but eventually when supplies of vaccine are sufficient i assume experts will recommend them for almost everyone including those who had coded 19 and recovered.

do you have a question for barry well just send an e-mail to feedback english add to d w dot com and type expert in the subject line or leave a comment on our huge huge chunk of the social thanks for watching stay safe see you back here tomorrow.

in the far north. beyond the inhabitable world. it's lonely. barren. and breathtakingly beautiful. the arctic go take a journey around the north pole meet profiteers and talk with people experiencing a changing environment. or the ice disappears and it keeps retreating

our future depends upon what happens here in one of the most fragile ecosystems on earth. northern lights in the arctic circle starts december 21st d w. this is state of the news africa on the program today consarn grows for the millions of people still cuts all ethiopia's northern region off to bright sound may has begun arriving but agencies say they're still not being allowed to reach people they know in meet and that the situation there is critical. just last week it behind the scenes of a new film being produced in cameroon the producers say peace is the message.