brent: this is dw news, live from berlin. tonight in the unprecedented fight against the coronavirus, angela merkel calls for unprecedented solidarity. >> the situation is serious.

take it seriously. since germany unification, no, since the second world war, there has been no challenge to our nation that has demanded such a degree of common and united action. brent: the chancellor is calling on every person in germany to protect the most vulnerable in the country. also coming up, as the global number of coronavirus cases tops 200,000, an eu travel restrictions mean long delays at border crossings, some people having to wait in their vehicles for more than 24 hours, others not getting throughout all. airports stand empty as airlines around the world cancel flights. plusus -- >> i collalapsed on the sofa, i sleep but not well because i'm waking up every hour with nightmares. brent: we will visit an intensive care unit that is battling to save lives in italy's hard-hit lombardi region.

preparations for the olympic games contitinue wiwith a plane leavining japan to pick up the olympic flame from greece. as the coronavirus pandemic spreads, a growing number of athletes want the games cancele d. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to her viewers on pbs and around the world, welcome. german chancellor angela merkel has addressed the nation in a rare televised speech saying the country faces its biggest challenge since the second world war. this as the country's top disease control official warns that germany could be dealing with 10 million coronavirus infections in the coming months, if its citizens do not adhere to measures outlined by the government. >> i'm addressing you today in

this unusual manner because i want to tell you what is guiding me as chancellor and my colleagues in the government at this time. that is part of an open democracy. that we explain our political decisions and make them transparent. that we do all we can to justify and communicate our actions so that they are understandable. and truly believe we will succeed in the task before us. so long as all of the citizens of this country understand that it is also their task. brent: that was the german chancellor angela merkel. let's go to our correspondent, melinda crane. good evening to you. there's so much about this speech that stands out. what stands out particularly from merkel's words? melinda: first of all, simply the way she addressed the german people, she has never done this before in her very long time in office. except for her new year's speeches.

this is the first appeal of this kind that she has ever made. and for her, it is really her blood, sweat and tears speech. her delivery may have sounded low-key, but the fact is the words she used, i simply never heard her speak like that. they were very personal. they were very urgent. there was even something, that for her, amounts to pathos. i think as strong as some of this language was, saying this is the biggest challenge the country has faced since the second world war, and that is a high bar given the fact that germany went through the cold war, i think it is undoubtedly correct to say with this kind of life and death threat looming, that it is indeed a challenge of that nation -- nature. surely she has done her absolute utmost as a communicator to bring that home to the german people. brent: do you get the impression that the chancellor's message,

that it will hit home? that people will react positively to her appeal? melinda: hard to say. the picture is mixed at the moment. the drastic measures that were put into place early this week have been followed to some degree in the official sector, that is to say schools closing, bars and restaurants mostly closed and/or almost empty, big events being canceled. but the fact is that if you go out on the streets and into the parks, at least here in berlin, you see a lot of people are absolutely not respecting these new requirements and particularly young people. they may be thinking to themselves, even if i got sick, it will not do much damage to me. at the fact is that they are known as super spreaders. they can carry this infection on to the elderly and the vulnerable. that is the whole point of what she said. but will these young people pay attention when the chancellor speaks in this very

old-fashioned way on national television? let's hope so. but it is far from clear. brent: here is another excerpt from the chancellor speech. take a listen. translator: i appeal to you all to stick to the rules we have put in place for the foreseeable future. we as a government will continually check which restrictions we can lift, but also which need to be kept in place. brent: she did not announce a total lockdown in the countr. do we expect the german government to consider that and to take further measures to contain the spread of the virus? melinda: i think if we see the numbers keep going up, and if we see that many people are not practicing social distancing absolutely. that is in the toolbox. i think it is the government -- something the government would consider. they would have to declare a national emergency but i think they would get the support for that at this point. brent: in her speech, the chancellor mentioned the german

economy, the health of the german economy. take a listen. translator: these are already difficult times for the economy, for businesses large and small, for shops, restaurants, freelancers. the weeks ahead will be even more difficult. but i assure you, the german government is doing everything it can to lessen the economic consequences. and above all, to save jobs. brent: we know that the german governor -- government is in a very envious position with a budget surplus. what is the government already doing on this front? melinda: there are so many different instruments being considered at the moment that i can't take you through the whole plan and pleat. but let's look at a couple of them. support for small businesses and freelancers who are basically facing an existential reduction of demand. than there is the whole system of short work, which is a system

that has long been in place in germany, part of the social market economy. basically what happens is that when firms faced a -- face a drastic thing in returns, shutting down their production, those workers are not laid off those workers still get paid. they get paid another full amount of wages, but two thirds i believe it is. the government hopes to top that off so that not all of the burden falls on the employer's. it is to the did -- to the benefit of company so they can keep their workers. it is to the benefit of workers so they can maintain some economic stability. and it is to the benefit of the macroeconomy because it keeps money in circulation. those are provisions that have been proven time and again to help in a crisis. germany is in an enviable sense in that sense as well. brent: our chief political correspondent melinda crane with analysis of the chancellor speech. thank you. italy has seen a new high in the number of deaths and new

infections. 475 people have died of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, italy's death toll stands at nearly 3000. that is almost as many as in china. many european countries has quote -- have closed their borders and eu leaders proposed a ban on travelers entering the eu. france is taking unprecedented steps to cope with the outbreak. > operation relocation. france's army prepares to airlift critically ill patients to military facilities. these planes are normally used to evacuate soldiers from conflict zones. now they are bebeing flown toto flight -- fight with the president has called a public health war. hospitals in the country's east are stretched to the limit. france has been placed on a strict lockdown after the number of cases in the country rose sharply. the eu's travel restrictions have seen mile-long traffic jams for commuters, like here on the

german-polish border. some had to wait in their vehicles for more than 24 hours. >> and just took us three hours to drive to kilometers on the motorway. the traffic jam here is 40 kilometers long. it is catastrophic. polish trucks are standing in three rows. unbelievevable. >> polish cars to the borders opened. german citizens are not allowed. in while some places reporter: -- >> there will be a lot more passengers we have to send back then usual. these people can stay in the transit area, get themselves something to eat and drink, and then they will preferably get back on the flights they arrive down -- they arrived on. reporter: adapting to the new

normal. belgium is the latest eu nation to impose a countrywide lockdown. challenging times for the elderly who are most at risk. this supermarket chain has dedicated its first opening our two seniors only -- hour to seniors only. brent: in the united states, president donald trump has likened himself to a wartime president in the fight against the coronavirus. he says he will invoke the defense production act in case it is needed which would allow the government to use the private sector to accelerate the production of needed equipment. trump says he plans to send hospspital s ships to affected s in the country. pres. trump: we are sending, upon request, the two hospital ships, they are being prepared right now. they are massive ships. they are the big white ships with the red cross on the sides. one is called the mercy and the other is called the comfort.

they are in tip top shape. they soon will be. they are getting ready to come up to new york. i spoke with governor cuomo about it, he's excited about it. i also -- we have not made the final determination as to where it will go on the west coast. the comfort is located now in san diego. and it is going to be -- we will be picking the destination fairly shortly. brent: let's take this story to our reporter who is in washington, d.c. trump says he is a wartime president invoking the emergency authority of the defense production act. run us through what this means? reporter: well, first of all, that means he calls himself a wartime president, now a significant change in attitude and may be realization that he has a real problem on his hands. remember, i want to point this out, a few days ago, the president was busy downplaying

and underplaying the entire threat of the coronavirus, calling it weeks before that even a hoax. however, the law we are talking about now, he is enabling the government to direct industry segments to produce specific things. that means, for example, to nail down masks. my -- why masks? the united states health system and hospitals are totally overwhelmed already, they are not equipped to handle very many more coronavirus patients. so the health care workers can work -- cannot work without masks. the president has now given more leeway to tell a company called 3m not to produce post-its, but masks. brent: that is a very good point. let's talk about what donald trump said today at the press conference. he referred to the coronavirus as the chinese virus.

what happened when a journalist challenged him on that today? stefan: the president was defiant and said he had no reason of not calling at the chinese virus because that is where it came from. of course, it is not just the president trying to rebrand coronavirus as the chinese virus. secretary of state mike pompeo called it yesterday the wuhan virus. of course the chinese are not really happy about this. there are many people here, many observers, experts, and average people, americans, who say, that is wrong, it is the coronavirus, and it is dangerous. because of course, asian americans are looked at funny here and there upon the streets. and that is not a very comfortable position for them to be in. if the president of the united states is now branding the problem in the united states with this virus as the chinese virus.

irresponsible, that is what it is. brent: irresponsible. we know not everyone in the u.s. sees this virus as a serious threat. and a new poll shows the political divide between democrats and republicans is amplifying that. stefan: you are absolutely right. most of the democrats, most of americans who call themselves democrats, say they would vote democratic party, they are absolutely appalled at the performance and failure of prudent management of this crisis by this administration. they actually don't believe anything of what comes out of the mouth of this administration anymore. now, republican voters, it looks very different. maybe this has to do something with that fox, the network, the conservative right wing network in the united states recently changed its tune from downplaying the coronavirus, now

calling it a crisis. brent: that is a very good point. stefan simons, on the story therefore us in washington, d.c. thank you. doctors and nurses are on the front lines in this battle against the virus. in europe's worst affected country, italy, 2.5 -- 2500 workers have tested positive. the northern region of lumbar day which has been at the center of the outbreak is appealing to recently retired doctors and nurses to return to work to help overwhelmed colleagues. we take you now inside an intensive care unit in northern italy. reporter: into the epicenter of the coronavirus isis -- coronavirus s ing i in italy. >> surgicacal gloves, shoe cove, headgear, specicial gloves that are difffferent to the ones i've got on now, and most impotently,

facemasks and protective glasses. reporter: she and her colleagues have lost count of the number of hours they have spent -- they have spent treating patients in the intensive care unit. patients are connected to ventilators, while lying on their stomachs. ththe prsure makes i it easasier oxygenen tonter t the bloododst. at least that is what is supposed to hapappen for people suffering from pneumonia. now the method is not workiking and the doctors and nurses can't explain why. >> unfortunately, wewe have not seen anyonon recover yet in this hospital. ideally we would like to take someatience ofoff the ventilators and see whether they get better. >> we need a successful case to know that we are doing the right thing. andreas: up until now, she says 107 patients have already died in this unit of the hospital, out of 854 people who were brought here.

>> we hahave had severeral deats anand it is really wearing u us down, because we are e thinkinge are not in a position to do what we are here for, treatining patients so o they get better. we are watching them die and inside, we are dying too. andreas: the hospital increment a has been taken in coronavirus patient since the outbreak. outside, they have e set up tens for triage,e, sortingng patientr treatment. >> what shocks me is that we have no power in the face of this emergency. of course, we are u ud too dealining withh severely y ill patienents who are clolose to d, and we know what our job is. but we have never had such a rapid influx of people in danger of losing their lives. it's hard. it is hard for everyone. andreas: the death rate is significant. but there has been one ray of light here today. a 23-year-old man made a full recovery and was able to leave the hospital.l. > at 9 -- 9:00 i collapsed on

the sofa. i sleep, b but not well, becausi wake up every hour with the nightmares.. my husband a and daughter weight at home for me, they try to talk to me, but i donon't take iinin. they asked me ifif i'm listening but i c can't. it's terrible. andreas: c carla must renee will keep trying to help and heal. that is her job at the hospital in criminal, the epicenter of the coronaviruss crisis. brent: the italian doctors and nurses there working overtime. we asked some of dw's correspondence around the world to give us their assessments of the coronavirus from their locacations. >> i could never have imagined that people in europe would ask me to send them this.. hand s sanitizer from nigeria. but nothing is normal these days. here in west africa, a region where people already face

infrastructure and insecurity challenges, they now watch in disbelief as people are fighting over toilet paper and parts of the world considered much better off. >> the government has shut down schools, colleges, gyms, and food across the country and has advised private companies to allow for their employees to work from home. the streets are bear to businesssses. some states have put a ban on gathering for more than 50 people. interestingly in delhi, the one exception being made is for weddings. >> since the soviet union were usually hushed up, people in russia often think the government must be hiding something from them. so when it comes to the coronavirus, many people here don't trust official reports and they worry that the true extent of the catastrophe can only bebe guessed a at. >> f from the beginning of thehe

crisis, israel has taken d drasc stepeps to close -- - to slow dn the spread off covid-19. israraelis returning from any cocotry has t to g go straight o self-quarantine for r 14 days. forereigners cannot enter the country unless they have a place to quarantine. brent: dw's reporters around the world with the coronavirus outbreak. . let's look at the otheher storis making headlines. bmw is shutting down production. the carmaker says it needs to protect the health of its employees. the company already had at leaet three identified cases of coronavirus and its research and development center in munich. earlier this week,. can and another also announced they are shutting down plants. the irish no-frills airline ryanair has announced it is reducing its flight schedule by 80% until march 24 which is next wednesday. and that from then on, it says most, if not all ryanair group flights will be grounded.

only very few flights mostly between the u.k. and ireland, will ensure essential connections. millions of poor indians may get compensation for income lost to the coronavirus. home to the finish -- the famous taj mahal is the first to begin calculating who qualifies. the state, one of the poorest in india, will make online payments to poor and daily wage l labores if they lose work because of the pandemic. former u.s. vice president joe biden has topped the polls in the three latest democratic presidential primaries in the united states. the voting went ahead in arizona, florida and illinois, despite fears over the spreading virus. ohio postponed its scheduled primary due to the pandemic. and sports, the international olympic committee, like the japanese government, has refused to postpone the upcoming summer games in tokyo amid the

coronavirus pandemic. it acknowledged that there is no ideal scenario for the games under current circumstances. the ioc's insistence on holding the games has sparked criticism both from athletes and within its own ranks. >> the official tokyo games plane about to head to greece to pick up the elliptic flame and bring it back to the host country. but as with so much else recently, nothing is quite as it seems. the coronavirus crisis means there are no olympic delegates on board. yet there has been no indication from the ioc that the games will be postponed, and japan is pressing ahead as planned. >> [speaking foreign language] translator: we the government would like to work closely together with the ioc, tokyo 2020, in the tokyo counsel, to prepare for games that will be safe and secure for athletes and spectators.

reporter: but the ioc's stands have come under a welter of criticism both from within and without the organization. canadian ioc member haley wiccan heiser, a four-time ice hockey gold medalist with canada, called it insensnsitive and irirresponsible. raining olympic polevault champion of greece said being asked to train every day meant to the ioc was risking athletes health now, not just in four months time. in tokyo, the countdown clock ticks down the sececonds until e gameme butt olympic fever is notably absesent in a city that has faln victim to the coronavirus. >> [speaking foreign language] translator: if we say we will hold the olympics, then people from all over the world will travel h here. that incncreaseshe r risk that e virus can be unknowingly reintroduced and that worries me a lot. reporter: others worry about the

impact on japan, should the games not take place. >> [speaking foreign language] translator: they games are one hing. what worries me a lot more is what it would all mean for the economy. for my business, of course. but the whole situation in japan is very worrying. reporter: practice underway in anticipation of the flames arrival, whether it will light the olympic cauldron as planned on july 24 depends on the ioc's ability to weather some of the heaviest criticism it has ever faced. brent: now the president of the international olympics committee acknowledges that criticism, but he says a conference call with athletes and representatives on wednesday was "very constructive." he answered -- he said that they

heard the concern and preparation difficulties as the virus wreaks havoc acrososs the globe. >> we werere confronted w with e nyny questions concernrning the qualification sysystem and the restririctions being in a place now. but wee weree also o very consucuctive in a a way that it was an incocoideration n of the way to tokyoyo and everyrybody realized that we still haveve me than fouour months too g and wee will address these actions. we will keep acting in a responsible way. brent: that was president of the international olympic committee. with the 2020 european championship postponed until next summer due to the pandemic, germany's national soccer team has joined the efforts to contain the break by donating 2.5 million euros.

team germany among the favorites to win the championship called on fans to show solidarity as well and to donate to social causes during the crisis. the teams donation went to a coronavirus fundraising service here in germany. let's bring you up-to-date now on what we know, the latest on the coronavirus. a new study has confirmed previous estimates that the median incubation period for the virus is five days. patients are most contagious just before they start showing symptoms and in the first week of symptoms. the virus cannot be spread by a patient's stool, that is good news for caregivers and hospital workers. authorities are cautioning that the drastic measures taken worldwide could be extended and that they could last for months. this is dw news. after a short break, i will take you through "the day." we will be right back.

his week on france twenty four. bronze comes to the end of its second day of a partial lockdown with the corona virus pandemic causing eighteen million new deaths nationwide in the past twenty four hours after the meeting of government ministers a new health state of emergency has been declared. i'm gonna medical tells germans to the outbreak is the worst challenge facing the nation since the second world war. johnson the city's everyone that should abide by the new rules. with the world health organization saying thehe virus is an enemy against humanity reporter running betwe