♪ >> this is dw news ally from berlin. tonight, money as medicine. german lawmakers approve an unprecedented relief package to show the country's economy. from the coronavirus pandemic. the legislation aimed at propping up business. it is also a paradigm shift for germany. rolling back historic restrictions on taking out new debt. sick patients, crowded hospitals, spain suffering in

the outbreak. the country has more -- more deaths than china. in the capital, so many people are dydying officials have been forced to use in ice skating rink as a city morgue. in the united states, the number of cases raises upwards. health care workers are facing critical shortages of protective gear. as the trumpet administration doing enough to deliver aid to those who need it most now? ♪ >> i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs and around the world, welcome. it is a government lifeline, the likes of which modern germany has never seen. the german parliament received a sweeping rescue package. it is designed to support health

care infrastructure and rush billions of euros in aid to businesses that are struggling. in a historic move, lawmakers voted to scrap long-standing rules governing how much money the country can borrow. >> they parliament in crisis mode. they have changed the rules to allow decisions to be taken with fewer members present than normal. those who were there sat at a safe distance from each other. parliamentary president called on deputies to show support for the key workers who are helping to keep the country going. >> we express thanks and respect to the doctors, care workers and those in the health and security authorities who are being tested their limits everyday. i think we all agree we should include in thanks those who day after day at in spy of the greater risk of infection they face, ensure people have

supplies they need. in just one day, they have greenlighted government plans to take on more debt this year than ever before. the crisis package includes an emergency budget of 156 billion euros. 50 billion to keep small businesses afloat and money for hospitals expecting a wave of coronavirus patients. the finance minister standing in for chancellor merkel who is at home in self isolation, alleging these are gigantic sums. the strict rules on government barbering are suspended for now. >> we are facing a crisis of unprecedented in our postwar history. greater than all those we have faced recently. it is a challenge to humankind as a whole. there is no script for dealing with the pandemic, but the

government will do everything to reduce the impact on the economy. first, we have to ensure there is a good health care provision for people who are sick from the coronavirus and ensure those who are treating them are protected. we must protect the livelihoods of people affected by the crisis. . we must stabilize our economy and preserve jobs. despite the unparalleled measures, when it c came to the vote, opposition parties rally behind the plan. no one inside or elsewhere can be sure if it is going to work. . >> for more, let's bring in our political correspondent. good evening to you. they approved more than 150 billion euros in new debts. that is quite a taboo that german lawmakers just broke. is in a? >> it is indeed. the supplementary budget amounts

to 43% of germany's regular budget for 2020. in order to pass this bill on the supplementary budget, germany had to suspend the so-called debt break, which has been at the heart of germany's financial policy in the past few years. the debt break limits the amount of borrowing to her .35% of gross domestic product. breaking this rule means breaking a taboo. >> when we are looking at the pandemic, how successful has germany been so far in flattening the curve, reducing the number of new infections and pushing them into the future? >> we have seen an increase in confirmed infections today.

33,200 confirmed cases. more than 160 cases -- 160 fatal cases. at the beginning of the week, there was the hope that the measures implemented already showed some effect and the curve is indeed flattening. today, the director of germany's disease control agency warned that we cannot say this right now. it is too early. we still have to adhere to the rules we have implemented earlier in the week. >> these attempts to fight the coronavirus, there are some unintended consequences. border controls are being tightened. we understand that germany will not be letting in any seasonal farm workers anymore. take a look -- take a listen to with the country's agricultural

minister had to say. >> given the rapid spread of the coronavirus and the considerable health risks that come with it, especially for vulnerable groups, the interior ministry has introduced new restrictions on travel to germany. restrictions will now apply to seasonal and harvest workers. they will be denied entry at the established border checkpoints. the new rules are a big blow to our agricultural sector. >> this is a huge blow to the farming sector. what exactly do these travel regulations mean? >> these new regulations ban seasonal workers from several countries from entering germany. countries from outside of the european union, from britain but

also from e.u. countries such as romania, bulgaria or austria. the ban hits the agricultural sector in germany at a crucial time. germany's farmer's employee 300,000 seasonal workers each year. the minister of agriculture said they are going to evaluate the measures in the two months time. for a lot of farmers, this might come to light. the famous german asparagus harvesting season is imminent. if they only evaluated in two months, that is too late. a lot of farmers and vineyards need seasonal workers. they need them now. >> it is a good question. who is going to harvest the asparagus this year? we may not be eating any asparagus anytime soon. new figures compiled by johns hopkins university show eight

sharp increase in deaths from the coronavirus in germany. the death toll now at 206. so far, germany's mortality rate has been very low compared to other countries, medical experts warn they expect that to change. spain has seen another surge in its death from the pandemic with more than 3400 covid-19 deaths. spain is now second only to italy. spain sackett -- spain's deputy prime minister has tested positive for the virus. hospitals are struggling to cope. >> madrid's hospital is overwhelmed. patients filling the hallways, struggling to breathe. waiting for the privilege of oxygen. for many here, the shortage of ventilators and medical staff could prove to be deadly. for a shocking number, it

already has. spain's death toll from covid-19 has surpassed china's. >> i d do not want to get invold in politicss because it is not the time, but when i hear on tv there is division material and my colleagues complained there is not, i cannot believe it. when the g governor's crisisis committee says we havee everything, it is not true. >> so many have died this week that madrid's morgues are overwhelmed. this ice skating rink will take in the overflow, keeping bodies out of the sun as the country praise for reprieve. other provisional facilities are popping up around spain. in barcelona, the military has erected a temporary homeless shelter were up to 1000 homeless people will be able to isolate.

struggling to cope, the government will extend the state of emergency until mid april. police are tightening controls to enfororce the countrywidede lockdownwn. ananyone without a permit to be out will be fined. police say they have handed out over 80,000 fines 10 days ago. >> people are not respecting confinement measures. people are irresponsiblele. a lot of us s have to t to wor. thisis is the second control i haveve pasd. i think it is great. >> with over 400 millilion euros of mededical equipment on orderr from chinana, spain is looking o see if f its effffts w will stao stifle the spread of the virus. >> joining me tonight from madrid is a journalist. it is good to have you on the program. we understand the spanish

parliament wants to improve an extension of the state of emergency but there has not been an officiaial announuncement ye. why is therere a holdup? >> well, t they are stilll discussing. ththe d deliberations are still going on in parliament. momost of thehe pololitical p p, esespecially the opposition, already announced supportrt of e extension for another r 15 days. there will be no surpris there. it i is expected t to pass thrh. this parliamamentary ssision has seserved maiainly for the opoppn to voicece their criticisms and polititical parties to p pose amenenents. that implemented on the 14th of march when the lockdkdown start. >> we know there is a lot of criticism to g go around. the hospitals in spain are overcrowowded.

there are shortageses in manpowr and supplies. what is the government doing now to prevent theheealth care systemem from collapspsing? >> well,l, right now, the priory and main activity of the government or at least the announcement is regararding the deals mainly with china but other countries like sweden or turkey regarding the lack of equipment. especially ventilators and other masks and also -- today, -- in the case of the ventilators and until april. the whole system is completely overwhelmed. the workers are working around the clock to increase their capacity. every piece of equipment counts. >> we know that many of the sick

are the doctors and nurses themselves. ii want too ask y you in madridf you thought y you had t the coronavirus, what would you do? where would yoyou go? >> well, i know several close cases to me who are in different states of the symptoms. some have been supervised from their homes. some received the tests straigightaway because they are bad enough. to be honest, there is still sosome confusision from the peoe regardrding a availability of t. there are different voices saying the o outcome is diffefet dependnding on the case. what i see from the e people is that initiallyly, there e was se optimimism.

now, thehe people are starting o ask momore questioions to the government. they are starting toto get quite angry about the wayay -- the distribution of medidical uipment isis being handled. >> that is understandable. it is understandable. it is a matter of life and death at this stage.e. joining us tonight from madrid. thank you. here are more of the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic. prince charles, the heir to the british throne, has tested positive for the coronavirus. buckingham palace says he has mild symptoms. turkey's president says he will -- his country will overcome the outbreak in two to three weeks in timely action. saying, we hope preparations for every scenario. the governor of the u.s. state of minnesota has ordered all

residents to stay at home for two weeks. other midwestern states including michigan, illinois and wisconsin have similar orders in place. lawmakers in washington have agreed to the big's bailout in the history of the u.s. to cushion the blow from the coronavirus legislation. would provide $2 trillion to provide stabilization to businesses and households. the relief comes as cases of infection continues to raise upwards. any health care workers say they do not have the supplies they need to protect themselves and save lives. >> a long line of drivers waiting to be tested for the coronavirus. this is florida, but the cues are getting longer across america. the number of confirmed infections is gathering pace along with a number of those known to have died from the

virus as the scale of the outbreak becomes increasingly clear. doctors are worried about their own safetyty. >> it is s the first time we hae been truly scared to come to work. despite being scared, we are trained to save lives. we are committed to doing that. >> doctors say hospitals nationwide arere overwhelmed. and there is not enough protective gear. >> there are people who are literally wearing bandanas because they have nothing better than that to protect themselves from the respiratory droropletsf patients who are infected with covid-19. >> u.s. president donald trump downplayed the dangers of a pandemic for weeks before changing his town. he has criticized the shutdowns advocated by infectious disease experts to bring the upright under control. >> we are not going to let the cura be worse then the problem. at the end of the 15 days, we will make at -- make a decision as to where we want to go.

we are referring to the timing of the opening. the opening of our country. this was a medical problem. we are not going to let it turn into a long-lasting financial problem. >> an increasing number of states have closed down non-essential businesses. this restaurant is trying to keep going by serving takeaways. the owner owns two other eateries and pays $12,000 a month in rent. he has had to lay off most of his 25 staff. >> it t is takaking all of thosy surprise and off of our feet. we do not k know hohow to deal h this. every day is s a new challenge r us. it is very challenging. it is very terrible. >> we will get through this is the message from one bar owner in california. people who have lost their jobs can get a free meal here.

a small team does the cooking. >> are you scarered? >> the owner is struggling to make sense of what is happening. in hollywood, he has to pay rent of the thousand dollars a day. >> i am concerned. all we can do is help each other. >> help each other and hope for help from washington. >> help from washington, $2 trillion worth of it. let's take the story to new york. our correspondent joins me from new york. wall street reacting positively to this agreement between the white house and the senate on this $2 billion stimulus package. the markets are not jumping for joy as much as we saw yesterday. why is that? >> first of all, on tuesday, there was the best trading

session since 1933. you cannot have days like that every day. at some point, we were up in the dow jones industrial average way 1300 points. towards the end of trading, there was some pressure coming up. blue-chip is finishing with not quite 500 points. he seems to be some resistance from some senators. that could put this package in jeopardy. what we should not forget is not really the stimulus package. it is a relief package for now to make sure we at least stop the worst. >> we have some predictions up to 50 million americans could lose their jobs due to the coronavirus. where is that number coming from? >> we have pretty wild estimates all over the board.

millions of americans probably will lose their jobs within the next couple of weeks. we turned the economy around into a service industry. that is the least thing you want right now. we live e in the so-called gig economy so less people have full employment and we do not have the social systems that you have in europe. >> reporting from new york. thank you. countries across asia are taking steps to curb the spread of the coronavirus. india has become the largest country to introduce a nationwide lockdown for fear the infection could spread quickly in its densely populated cities. we asked four of our correspondence to report on what the pandemic is doing to their corners of the world. take a look. >> over the last two weeks i've

been in pakistan, the number of cases has been rising from 30 to 80,000 on wednesday. the prime minister has been reluctant to impose a lockdown, but it has not prevented provincial governments to go ahead. the army has been deployed. we are beginning to see the impact of the lockdown. reported figures have reduced. the prime minister has announced a stimulus package to admit -- to minimize the impact of the lockdown. he is meeting today to offer a stimulus package on industry and exporters. >> the coronavirus situation is getting worse are the day. currently there are 74 people suffering from the onus. as much as the government is trying to address the pandemic, they are facing many challenges. millions of people in the nation rely on daily wages to get by, which makes shutting down major

cities impossible. the government is saying people are not doing enough to socially distance themselves. most importantly, they share a large land border with iran. >> the philippines has repeportd a relatively low number of covid-19 cases so far, bubut ths numbmber is expected d to incree in the coming days as s re tetesting is scheduleded. the sign you see on the street is in contrast to the upper on social m media. poundingng their keyboards demanding mass testing after they fouound out through reports that legislators had skipped the line and had gotten tested ahead of everyone else despite the limited number of testing kits in the country. >> malaysia steppiping up coronavirus testing. the country can currently do 7000 tests per day. by the m middle of next week, te

number will climbed to 16,000. if there is a major search in cases, there will not b be enouh ventntilators. the army has set up checkpoints. people are only allowed to go outstside foror nececessities. only one person per household is is but -- is supposed to go. armor's are takingng temperatur. -- pharmacies are taking people's temperatures. >> our correspondence reporting on the pandemic from around the world. with -- south africa is the hardest hit african country. a 21 day lockdown begins tomorrow. only essential service workers will be allowed to leave their homes. the president says the lockdown is needed to keep the number of infected people from swelling into the hundreds of thousands. >> the biggest danger lurks in poor districts where most south

africans live in densely populated quarters. this is one of them. she has good reason to be fearful because she and her daughter are infected with hiv. both take antiretrovirals but they could be especially vulnerable to the respiratory disease that accompanies covid-19. with 50% of south africa's hiv patients, not having access to drugs. experts warned that south africa could be a ticking time bomb. poor hygienic conditions are unavoidable in areas where homes have no running water. she cannot afford protective gloves or hand sanitizers so the only options she has is to go to the public water pump and wash her hands there. that is why imposing a lockdown is the last resort.

the restrictions are severe. starting friday, almost no one will be allowed to go to work. doctors and other vital professions are the only exceptions. most scores -- most stores will have to close. this taxidriver can understand the government's decision. he has wiped down his seats with disinfectant and is no danger to his passengers even though they sit very close together, which could help spread the virus. he says he would not survive three weeks without working. when hiv was spreading, there were lots of deaths and no cure. but no one imposed a lockdown. what may be an advantage to south africa in this pandemic is the climate. experts suspect the virus does not spread as easily in warm

weather, which may slow the spread. she says nights in these homes are already getting cooler. in south africa, winter is on the way. >> this is dw news from berlin. after a break, i will be back to take you through the day. tonight, washington's prescription against the pandemic. a check for $2 trillion. the check will not balance. will it stick? we will ask. stay with us. we will be right back. ♪

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