most years it's enough for easter bunnies to bring joy and chocolate but this year it's no ordinary year and hungry rabbits come bearing an extra treat vaccine this chocolate maker wants his easter bunnies to bring a ray of hope by holding a syringe the seasonal treats will not wear masks with the focus instead on hopes of reopening. you're watching the news there's more at the top of the hour until the a lot of. 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 coming. on t w. w's crime fighters are back to africa is most

successful radio drama series continues this season the stories focus on hate speech for vengeance and sustainable charcoal production. all of a sow's are available online and of course you can share and discuss on africa's facebook page and other social media platforms. crime fighters tune in now. this is news in berlin a year ago alcoa had 19 special went on air to help understand a frightening and baffling pandemic. part let's bring in our science correspondent derrick williams has a couple of. back then a it was a poll about hand-washing costs were rare in europe. today they're essential

and we have vaccines. we didn't expect to cope with $1000.00 special to still be on a year on but the pandemic is still here and so we'll wait. and it's been locked down off the lockdown with another on its way here i'm totally over it a bit you are and no wonder it's been a. years since germany officially classified the corona virus as a pandemic there are lots of lessons to be learned from this crisis the biggest challenge being understanding how we perceive the dangers of a microscopic pathogen how science progresses and how politicians decide what's best for us i've had to switch from business anchor to science journalists not the easiest track in the ups and downs of a pandemic but seemed far away suddenly became a painful reality here at the stock company in late january 1 of them play us was

the 1st german to contract covert 19 from a colleague who had traveled from china the german health minister from maine up to mystic there's no cause for concern. a few weeks later things looked quite different infections were spreading throughout germany in mid march the chancellor took the unusual step of addressing the nation on t.v. . this is it is serious please take it seriously too that there has not been any such challenge to our country since germany unity not since what with 2 that has demanded such great joined solidarity based action which has hundreds and call germany's 1st lockdown started the streets of berlin were virtually deserted museums and theatres had to close and the economy came to an almost complete standstill. schools and nurseries also closed the living room became the new classroom but online teaching was difficult as laptops and software was scott's

. meanwhile supplies of protective clothing in hospitals were battling doctors for to keep people infected alive early may nearly 7000 of them have died the high number was relatively low in comparison with other countries infection numbers started to fall the lockdown worked that reduce the burden on hospitals. finally summer time restrictions were eased people return to the streets but the easing of measures brought new infections. by november the numbers was so high that people were told to stay at home again what became known as lock down life began for months parts of the population had been protesting against the restrictions. but lockdown light wasn't enough shortly before christmas infection numbers reached such

a high that public life was entirely shut down again with alcohol bans in public and even nightly curfews in some places at the end of the year germany's vaccination campaign had kicked off politicians promise that those who wanted the job would be vaccinated by the end of summer but many vaccination centers remain empty due to a shortage of doses but the fast rays of sunshine many are now longing for more freedom one year after the outbreak restrictions are being lifted bit by bit but in the meantime you taishan zone infection numbers are rising again all he's doing our goal is a new role just in founding director of the quest center for transforming biomedical research what was the biggest challenge for you as a scientist within this year. as a stroke researcher at the charity i would answer keeping our research long time in laboratories looking shut our work under superior respected conditions many of our

technicians helping out in morris testing one of the physicians look busy creating credit and she is someone trying to analyze and consequently trying to improve biomedical research and propel an institute for our boy this is this 1st busy year kind of under a magnifying that's on our wonderful researches on the one hand but also putting our spotlight on the many things we could do even better so it's always been a tough year but science and scientists have have never been in the spotlight like they had being in this pandemic has that been good or bad for research. well i think the pandemic has convinced people that science is the best thing we have i mean the key to progress and ultimately be only way to get out. of trouble such as an up on demi i think a good example of this is the changing sentiment against wrexham nations i mean we have evidence that many active exercise are or have been converted not to receive

a check what about internationally. i know germany is a special case with the chancellor who's a scientist herself but what about in other countries well absolutely but and i'm sure there are many international idiosyncrasies regarding the and we can go ahead to quit this isn't one i mean i think appreciation of research and science in general appears to be on the rise. what's enough listening down to scientific evidence when it came to policy decisions where the right scientists listened to and at the end of the day with the scientists saying the right things and giving across the right messages. certainly an area in which we could have fun. it's true that in many countries including germany when you mention i mean scientists. policy makers and in most countries claim most countries claim that

they're anti khurana measures are science based but which scientific evidence they look at look to which decisions generally remain completely opaque i think it was in transparent and one of one maybe you can argue about prioritization and. use a scientific evidence of political reckoning in many cases so to parrot darwin i would say it was the survival of the ideas that shit so i think attributes of good scientific policy clients should should be inclusiveness rigorousness transparency and also excess ability and this is certainly not how we are resigned over the last year so has the pandemic brought science closer to the people or divided society. well currently societies like stream equal rights and that was certainly already true before corona but it may have been even worse and so so. i think

science is being used on both science with the trends scientific findings often are 100 contradictory or are tentative and until better evidence meets our previous uncertainties. i think that this is a defining element of science and one of its major strengths and the way progress is made however sometimes it is against science and they weapon out simon's but importantly i believe that in most cases these people do not fundamentally this cost science they they just distrust politics and politicians and i get that they are choosing the wrong research results or make decisions without proper scientific basis so tell me as a scientist what's your personal take away one year on in this pandemic. my personal take is that science right as an international joint effort has the investments they have it's fantastic potential but science during the pandemic

could have done even better i mean we have completely failed to provide solid evidence for example through randomised control studies regarding the usefulness and if you can see up in areas measurements which together make up what we call social distancing so even after more than a year and millions of deaths love my office remains a black box with which we are basically experiment so even you know it's late in the game i think we should start now this i fear will not be no last pandemic we're facing or if there are other thank you very much for being on the show today thank you. well one institution really has suffered over the past year is the theatre but the show must go on the curtain went up again at the famous bellino ensemble on friday despite the rising coated infections in germany under strict hygiene conditions the play panic hats was performed in front of about $350.00 guests

gordon said to test the negatives beforehand every 2nd seat was all complied and mosques were compulsory during the entire performance it's part of a pilot scheme in the capital between 7 cultural venues to find the best way to stage a vent safely during the pandemic. next on the program a concert of the berlin philharmonic orchestra is planned for around 1000 visitors on saturday. for the past year the w. has confined derek williams to his home study to answer your questions on the coronavirus we've all had a chance to delve into derek's mind and check out his bookshelf so here he is again like every day except today is a little different we had a question we wanted to us derek. how much time does terror expand in front of his bookshelves every day.

so that there are incidents for. the there who. want to leave behind all the speculation about dillard plotting and to have the pastor. explodes on the top. so mixing and matching. the sound to one of.

the. informative as ever you see it a little more eloquent than that i bet it was all in thanks for watching it's been really nice having you here the past year i hope you keep joining us and obviously the show is going be going on for a bit longer stay safe so you get some. migrant workers drops me packing industry. thousands of romanians come to germany to run a decent living. and on the romanian job market the gap is filled by asian or cursed by a social dumping. it's

a spiral and desperation. close up. next on. india tempeh to market economy reduce their district needs so sustain it and don't depend on big companies designer thames and is taking a stance against the cheap garment cranes such a nice club you don't get in the market. it's nice to have an interesting background or from culture. in 60 minutes on g.w. . closely . carefully

you don't know super genius to be a good. band. discover the world. subscribe to the documentary on you tube. several german meat packing plants was hit last year by the corona virus thousands of workers were infected. if not of my marrow never go back to germany was as it was the worst experience i've ever had a spotter than a. more than full mean romanians work in foreign countries mostly in western

europe many put in moments from now ok some can visit their families and leave few weeks. are best said he has to earn money so that we can survive with them some of this group them. this is created and labor shortage in romania so many employers who hire workers from asia they usually pay the minimum wage doesn't treat your ice palace where i made all day is really hard work i've been. in a few i need to provide for my wife and son to give them a nice life that's why i came to romania.

in april 2020 cheering a new wave as kofi cases in europe 25000. romanians left their homes to work in germany they took off from the airport inclusion in northern romania on special flights arranged by germany's agriculture ministry. among them is alberto google and his wife maria. i'm the one up with that one going to look what i called all kinds of romanian companies to try to find a job where you got no response which at that sam one man because of covert we have no food and no money. but now fortunately not we're going to germany to work it is just to go on. the average monthly wage for unskilled workers in romania is about $300.00 euros a month these people were likely a lot more than enough in germany the book went out the 1st 2 months on an

asparagus farm and then we'll go to work and a slaughter house up a tree just. pleasure knows he's running a risk of contracting coverage but he has to earn money. the average minimum wage in germany is just under 10 euros to our butts more than 3 times what it is in romania. elisabetta move to the explosive moving to germany that there's a put there we'll try to protect ourselves against the virus some urgent some but we have to work at the bottom i don't have a job here all my guessing and everything in romania has been shut down because a covert although some have gone there aren't many jobs here anyway and if you do find a job it won't pay much that is that they move for the slap up there. but

for alberta an area their 1st job in germany was a disaster when it was better to cell phone pitches that showed their living conditions but despite the pandemic workers lived close together in containers. that maria became ill. before you moved out in the here's a video of my wife it was cold outside and she had a headache and a favorite in the container next door there were 4 romanian suspected of having covert one of youth. alberto got into an argument with a supervisor he a marina with and find it. are cold war or so that were up until a week ago my wife and i were flown to germany to pick asparagus or open push but i'm all on the 4th or 5th bullet but the company screwed us over tricked us she. treated us like slaves school and it's.

that if you can just now the supervisor kicked us out you get to chill a bit because that's so for the time being we'll have to sleep on the street. after a few days other than to manage to find jobs for himself and his wife at a meat packing plant owned by the 2 news corp. we've come to the bavarian town a striving to meet eric mcconnell a romanian citizen who works for nonprofit human rights organization mcconnell advises romanian migrant workers on their legal rights and he says he's been flooded with calls from people who need his help. mcconnell says the working conditions for many of our main ins in chamouni are atrocious he provide some examples. we talk about that event and for the hour right

nick are some companies have threatened these workers seem in for a fake are public with information about the business they're fired right away and they don't get out before the moment of warning many of the workers live in housing that the company provides work dished out in and if they cause trouble tossed out onto the street before. that's what happened to alberto he was fired and he and his wife were forced to leave the company housing that. 3 days the couple slept in the woods where kano has heard lots of these stories in manassas but it is or not the company always does this at night because there are no lawyers or union officials around to know why is that if these workers have heard of me they'll call if not they end up on the street at night with no money so the workers want to keep their jobs so most of them don't complain next we traveled to

a village in romania to meet elisabetta moldovan. was. elizabeth also had a hard time while working in germany she'd been employed at the same strawberry farm for several months every year since 2010. for 2 months of work she was paid 3700 euros but in 2020 cheek aim back on a much earlier than expected and without any money. oh. hi there usually busy that the average. guy that just calling we'd say. elisabetta sister in law also works occasionally in foreign countries most recently as a nurse in italy but she lost that job because of the pandemic. i

thought you were doing fine in germany with a good showing and suddenly there you were on the web and on t.v. and you're talking to a labor minister what was that all about. but there was thought well we organized a protest demonstration. along with the owner and the minister violetta alexandru came to visit us at the farm in germany. and the other workers who paid only a fraction of what they'd been promised son nothing so $150.00 harvest workers most of them from romania held a protest march the demonstration called the attention of romania's labor minister . when it got to probably now she wanted to find out why we hadn't been paid and then she asked me why did you go to germany in the 1st place did someone force

you to go on the so i looked at her and said well minister i had to leave because i had no other way to around money. i couldn't find a job in romania she. has opinion. elisabetta work to local cotton factory for 50 years then she lost her job in this part of romania it's nearly impossible to find work the pays well so now elisabetta looks after the household and her grandchildren. as like us this is our house the only shot my husband and i got alone from the bank and started building in 2007. we had to go to germany to work so that we could make the loan payments bunch. she that that's there we turn on our street you'll see 2 new houses right lots of people here get a bag loan and then go off to work in germany england italy or other countries to

make the payments got angry i. hope it got us laying out that there's a. romania's population is just to have a 19000000 about 9000000 people have jobs. 4000000 of those people work abroad during the summer and that number can rise to 5000000 as people take the seasonal jobs on farms or at construction sites. the minimum wage in romania is 2 year 81 an hour that wages higher in many western european countries. for example it's 9 euros $35.00 in germany and in france it's 10 year i 15. we've come to this village in southern romania to visit help. he's just come back

from germany and fears the may have been infected with corona virus. he self isolating right now he says his work in a german meat packing plant was a nightmare. and. there's no way of my memory i'll never go back to germany not even when the pandemic is over it was the worst experience i've ever had. alberto was working at a plant owned by the. new school duration more than $1500.00 workers they were infected with cause it including some of his colleagues the speeches the facility would take in the fall of the outbreak. mephitic a cinch and i was scared to tell you the truth. i knew that the virus was dangerous and i was and i was right in the middle of it at work. when you're carrying around a 50 kilogram slab of meat you can't keep

a social distance so everyone was in close contact with each other and we had to keep working i was so scared that i felt sick i told my boss that i wanted to stay home i also wanted to talk to a doctor for michael he said you're not going anywhere. a few days before the plant was forced to close out burton who counts and went back to romania but his wife continued to work there as long as she could. i. i left because i was so afraid of getting sick will never be with my wife wanted to stay to keep earning money despite the risk to her health and i. may even manias who work in the gym a meat packing industry have gone to any mcconnel for help then why did the company will punish them for speaking out so we agreed not to show their faces. to.

the french mirage jesus i know that i don't understand the company's promise big wages up to 2000 euros a month or not but they also promised normal working hours that it's been a good idea budget done for. the when the new workers arrive at the plant they find out of they'll have to work 12 sometimes even 16 hours a day. and then the resigned company housing of 56 or even 10 people to a room. makana meets with the workers in public places away from the prying eyes of the bosses. when you meet i think it's the mood when a worker finally gets the courage to complain to a supervisor he's in for a rough time and how defensive they'll tell him keep your mouth shut otherwise you're out the door if it's going to threaten to withhold the workers' pay for to slap them with

a fine because they can find someone to replace them right away when nobody said she she called you should this kind of psychological pressure amounts to modern day slavery was it was. elisabetta song powell also wants to work in germany in spite of the pandemic. powell is 20 years old and still lives with his parents he has a job but it doesn't pay very well. you know. if i go to germany i'll miss my parents and my girlfriend a lot. i even worry that my girlfriend believe me but at least i'll be earning good money. better. house neighbor patron works in a german meat packing plant he's taken a few days off so he can visit his family in town has lots of questions about his

job. to. do it out there also tell me what are the conditions like. what sort of work do you do and how many hours a day when the 3 of them quit the job. and i work in the store to house a couple neck meat from 4500 pigs a day sounds like a tough job. you don't know what kids are you can't understand why powell would want to go to germany to work. they would call often wake up at night because i think i hear my child crying will come with that part of course is just a dream pretty bad and loving if i could find a job here when you want. elizabeth his brother also works in a german meat packing plant for many romanians taking jobs like that is the only way that they can provide for their families. there but for things i'm really worried brother and his wife and the children have been diagnosed with b.

they haven't answered their phone for 2 weeks. and now has some power also wants to go to germany to work. i wish she wouldn't not this year anyway not while we're still dealing with a pandemic. if you went to germany i worry all the time all states in greece are that there are. so many nickel residents have left clues that some prisoners who put in workers from asia to fill the gap and usually worked at low paying jobs. these men from sri lanka came to romania in late 29 tain all of them are unskilled workers. including 39 year old.

sri lanka to look forward to the age of 18 he married and had a son he hasn't seen his family for more than. that was my wife just now i'll go upstairs where the signals better and then i'll call her back. i sure could cut down his expenses so that you can afford a good internet connection for these calls he also sends money home. he gets by on the equivalent of about 100 euros a month it's a hard life to cool it with his family make it worthwhile. i want to see them and talk to them every day. when i see my son's face i feel

a little better. it helps me relax in the tension inside me just goes away. sugar has worked in kuwait dubai and singapore his life there wasn't much better than a decent now. i don't know what would happen to them if i died. but as long as i'm alive i'll try to help my family. i work hard. i don't need a lot in life. but i'll provide a good life for my son and my wife. i'll keep trying. that's why i came to romania. meanwhile there's good news and bad free is a better. for has been sultan has found a new job despite the corona pandemic but he'll have to leave the country again. my poor husband is going to france again to work in construction or he can't earn

a living by oh no they nia and we need the money so early yeah so what else should i pack my agent and take these shorts was ok. to overalls and i think that's all there. it's always hard to say could bikes just persevered be settled sent them plenty by hope that you'll be ok this becomes but i'm so afraid that this time something bad is going to happen. i'm also worried about the virus but i'll do everything i can to feed my family. elizabeth and salter know that they have no other option.

meanwhile back inclusions shifted to commercial kitchen where shoka works is upset the employees from sri lanka haven't shown up for work yet. here are 2 of them on their way to a bank that haven't been paid in several days so they've gone on strike. today people are going to work because we haven't gotten our salary yet. my family is waiting for the money i'm going to check my account right now to show currency equivalent of about 400 euros a month he needs his money and is ready to fight for it. i keep checking my account over and over again. things are going well. i can't sleep they won't send the money so we won't go to

work things like heaven like these so i know but the families in real life by you know. we had several goes that way we came here you have no problem if you want us all you want but you're right. meanwhile zoltan will leave for the airport in about an hour. it. is time to feed the pigs one last time. south of here with you my wife will take care of the animals while i'm gone when i want that. zoltan plans to work in france until november during that time he'll come back home several times to visit. you it's hard for me to leave my family guess that but i have to go to france to earn money i made a few of those while i'm there i won't be able to see my grandchildren my wife and my son. and that makes me very sad it is.

that since romania joined the e.u. in 2007 zoltan and elisabetta have been working abroad on and off. now it's time to say goodbye once again. one of the old times friends will take him to the airport. he's on his way to the friend's house right now. the best chip gopnik i understand that he has to leave to earn money for us winter will be here in a couple of months and we won't be able to work at all just. like inclusion a shoko salary has finally been deposited in his bank account so he and his colleagues headed off to work there for our slice and they hope that they won't be fired. the sugar works $10.00 to $12.00 ounce

a day for less than 3 years so now it. is there's the meat that i work with it's beef. if i have to cut it up and make hamburger patties it's really hard work . we have to turn out 30 or 35 kilos of meat every day that's all i do on this job . these days. and today he'll have to make up for the 4 hours that he lost while he was on strike. i work here every day in the burger prep section we really have to prepare a lot of meat we make patties every day. people from asia have now filled a number of unskilled shops in romania most of them are employed in the case sharing meat packing and construction sectors. a number of asian moves in romania has risen sharply and recently has most of the

illegally illegally. here at the official statistics in 2015 romania issued 5500 work faces of people from asia and 2018 that number rose to 15000 and by 2020 that figure had doubled 230000 despite the pandemic. we visit other to google again he knows that his wife is healthy but is now in quarantine. i'll bet her friends a colleague who became infected with the virus when he was working at the meat packing plant. people were getting sick one after another. the company bosses kept us working even though a lot of people were getting sick. if the authorities and the media had stepped in or they'd still be working on the ground. when there are. a bunch of can't

understand why his colleagues still wants to stay in germany. with their. mind fucked my partner. eric mcconnell is on his way to northern germany to help 2 romanians who want to apply for government legal aid lawsuits in the meat packing industry are increasingly common these days. a man defects in the work has changed over the years for 10 or 20 years ago you had a qualified foreman at the slaughterhouse. these economic people were paid a decent wage and worked just 8 hours a day that is go up there i shoot them few large mark there were 3 shifts sometimes 4 and management respected the workers. is that's not the case today let's begin. in the last decade the number of unskilled foreign workers in the german meat packing industry has tripled to of the 50000.

back into a shock and his colleagues have just finished their shift. it's 1 in the morning. yeah who did it hot it was tough today because we were really busy afterwards we had to clean up so we didn't finish until midnight and there were just 4 of us then we went out for a beer and now we're heading home you know. schilke i had to pay an employment agency in sri lanka a 2000 euro commission to get a 2 year work permit. itself and the science out of remaining here. all of us had to borrow money to pay the fee. and some borrowed from their families . but i borrowed money from a bank. so now i have to pay interest on the loans. and send money to my

family. most of the money that should to enjoy in the 1st 6 months in romania went to pay back the employment agency so he couldn't afford to send money to his family. meanwhile would manage to track down the other 2 gugu again he's moved to another country. i'm now in mt sweden doing handy work. we get up at 5 every morning and then the company takes us to work in a bus and it's sort of like a hardware store people come in and tell us what they want renovated or repair and then we do it but it pays only $1000.00 euros a month. alberto doesn't know when you return home or how his wife in germany is getting along. at the same time elizabeth is

waiting for her husband's own time to cool down from his new job in france. he's been there for food hands now. what do i want for the future is the death of. subhuman but i want the whole family to be together with them someday because i want them to find jobs here in romania the shops that pay an honest wage so that we don't have to move to foreign countries to work and once they know about it. say hi sweetie. i was waiting for your call them i can't wait to see you in 6 weeks i miss you so much already.

because india temp better market economy really said this factory makes 0 sustain and john depends on big company designer thames and is taking a stance against the cheap garment craze such a nice group you don't get in the market. it's nice to have an interesting background or from culture. in 30 minutes on d w. injustices. threaten social harmony and divides aside. our sense of justice is inherent. and it's strong. when equal opportunities disappear

and disenfranchisement moves. society apart. 75 minutes on t.w. . we've got some hot tips for your bucket list. magic or not. it's far from. and some great cultural memorials to boot. the double trouble we go. from. there is the news and these are our top stories germany's leaders have thrashed out a series of measures aimed at stemming a 3rd wave of corona virus infections chancellor angela merkel and the heads of the 16 regional states talked into the early hours of the morning a national lockdown will be extended until april 18th district 5 day shutdown will

apply over the easter holiday. at least 10 people including.