kate brady kate hi we heard they're urging solidarity between nations what does he mean by that and what's germany's role. well germany certainly plays a huge role in their response not least of all here in your report germany is indeed the largest economy and we've slowly seen germany take a less nationalistic approach to its response to current virus something that we saw among many e.u. member states initially with border closures and bans and limitations also been initially put in place when it came to the exports of medical protective gear but we are now seeing of course germany taken many patients from neighboring a new member states into its intensive care units of course germany luckily hasn't been quite as badly hit by coronavirus as some other states and on top of that we also saw the finance ministers come to agreement this week on a huge financial aid package which aims not only to question the economic impact of the coronavirus now during the crisis but also in the aftermath so of course as we have formed in my ear how germany and especially how germany in the e.u. reacts and responds right now will very much affect the future of the european union after the coronavirus and of course particularly when it comes to the success and survival of the eurozone as well. and we've also heard chancellor angela merkel address the public several times on this topic and when she's the one with the power to make decisions why did president john much use to give this address this weekend. well it very much comes down to the fact that it is east as this weekend and like in many places around the world easter is a huge religious festival here in germany but also it's something that's steeped in tradition it's a long weekend when people would usually be taking a long weekend away or visiting family and friends spending time with loved ones which is something that is simply not possible this weekend unless of course you are living with the relatives and friends and so the temptation is there as you can see behind me we're set to have a glorious day of sunny spring weather here in berlin at least and the temptation to go out and maybe start to let your guard down and be a little more irresponsible when it comes to practice and social distancing is certainly that right now although there has been some moments of cautious optimism in germany this week the last thing germany wants right now is the peak or rather. increase a sudden increase a spike should i say in a coronavirus cases. political correspondent kate brady thanks very much for the update. taiwan is one of the few areas of the world where professional sports are resuming amid the coronavirus pandemic its baseball league season began on saturday with no sense watching there was a very different atmosphere robot drama some down of b. to china trust brothers stadium while cardboard cutouts of fans replaced the real thing as the club tried to give the players at least a small flavor of the match stakes perience. in france has been under lockdown for almost 4 weeks and for the country's elderly population going out to buy food can be difficult or even deadly but in one rural area a champion mountain biker is gearing up to lend a helping hand. devotion mountains in eastern front i'm a chair mountain bike world champion rider christophe beck taff calls the area home and since francis coronavirus lockdown he's been providing a delivery service to his community. we know we. have received food orders over the phone which from those in need e

kate brady kate hi we heard. solidarity between nations what does he mean by that and what's germany's role well germany certainly plays a huge role in their response not least of all here in your report germany is indeed the largest economy and we've slowly seen germany take a less nationalistic approach to its response to current virus something that we saw among many e.u. member states initially with border closures and bands and success and survival of the eurozone as well. and we've also heard chancellor angela merkel addressed the public several times on this topic and she's the one with the power to make decisions why did president stand much use to give this address this weekend. well it very much comes down to the fact that it is east of this weekend and like in many places around the world easter is a huge religious festival here in germany but also it's something that's steeped in tradition it's a long weekend when people would usually be taking a long weekend away or visiting family and friends spending time with loved ones which is something that is simply not possible this weekend unless of course you are living with the relatives and friends and so the temptation is there as you can see behind me we're set to have a glorious day of sunny spring weather here in berlin at least and the temptation to go out and maybe start to let your guard down and be a little more irresponsible when it comes to practice and social distancing is certainly that right now although there has been some cautious optimism in germany this week the last thing germany wants right now is a pink or rather a a increase a sudden increase a spike should i say in a coronavirus cases. political correspondent kate brady thanks very much for the update. well the restrictions imposed on daily life in most countries have had disastrous consequences for businesses large and small but he isn't used to story with a happy ending as orders flood into one company for some very seasonal traits teri schultz reports from belgium this easter most belgian confectioner's have chosen cove in 1000 confinement with the rest of the population generally live to paul who runs a one woman artisanal shop in lawns in the south east of brussels relies on easter profits to survive until christmas the lockdown had her worried. trying to market her handmade wares online posted a photo she received of chocolate bunnies wearing face masks to show a sense of humor and resilience the next morning her phone started ringing off the hook with people ordering masked rabbits a 20 crazy crazy crazy and i said what do you know it's not me but after that brief moment of panic she thought why not her people are being asked to make mas

kate brady kate hi we heard. solidarity between nations what does he mean by that and what's germany's role well germany certainly plays a huge role in their response not least of all here in your report germany is indeed the largest economy and we've slowly seen germany take a less nationalistic approach to its response to current virus something that we saw on many e.u. member states initially with border closures and bans and limitations also been initially put in place when it came to the exports of medical protective gear but we are now see of course germany taken many patients from neighboring a new member states into its intensive care units of course germany luckily hasn't been quite as badly hit by coronavirus as some other states and on top of that we also saw the e.u. finance ministers come to agreement this week on a huge financial aid package which aims not only to question the economic impact of the coronavirus now during the crisis but also in the aftermath so of course as we have formed in my ear how germany and especially how germany in the e.u. reacts and responds right now will very much affect the future of the european union after the coronavirus and of course particularly when it comes to the success and survival of the eurozone as well. and we've also heard chancellor angela merkel address the public several times on this topic and when she's the one with the power to make decisions why did president choose to give this address this weekend . well it very much comes down to the fact that it is east as this weekend unlike in many places around the world easter is a huge religious festival here in germany but also it's something that's steeped in tradition it's a long weekend when people would usually be taking a long weekend away or visiting family and friends spending time with loved ones which is something that is simply not possible this weekend unless of course you are living with the relatives and friends and so the temptation is there as you can see behind me was set to have a glorious day of sunny spring weather here in berlin at least and the temptation to go out and maybe start to let your guard down and be a little more irresponsible when it comes to practice in social distance and it's certainly that right now although there has been some moments of cautious optimism in germany this week the last thing germany wants right now is a pink or rather a increase a sudden increase a spike should i say in a coronavirus cases political correspondent kate brady thanks very much for the update. and we'll bring you the full to address from the german president in a few minutes time. well turkey has made a decisive move to try to slow the spread of covert 19 from bin midnight on friday some 31 cities have been put into temporary lockdown the decision came so swiftly that many were caught unaware leading to confusion and panic. taksim square at the heart of istanbul completely deserted it's an extremely rare sight and a likely city with some 16000000 residents and the strict lockdown will remain in place for the entire weekend all shops even supermarkets about to close only pharmacies and bakeries are allowed to make deliveries the lockdown came into force on friday night just 2 hours after it was announced in many places long queues formed quickly outside shops videos posted online showed scenes of turmoil in some markets panic buying customers crammed into close contact many people clearly angry about being given little or no notice of t

let's get more on this now we are joined by dint of you political correspondent and kate great kate brady from berlin so kate tell us these recommendations here from germany's national academy of sciences what do they actually mean. well what it means basically is that we could indeed potentially see at least a relaxation of those restrictions that are currently in place here in germany and which were implemented on the announcement by german chancellor angela merkel on march 22nd but of course if you look very closely at some of these recommendations that have been made by the institute it does indicate that it would be indeed a very slow very gradual return to any kind of sense of normalcy here in germany and even though there is the suggestion that perhaps schools could reopen even that would be for a very small groups of maybe around 15 children to make sure that students would still be able to practice social distancing for example and also if you look at the recommendation that perhaps restaurants could be opened again that people could go and be closer in closer contact with each other in public that

kate brady hi kate so we see chancellor merkel playing very safe over there wasn't so forming her approach. well clearly there is still a lot of concern and we heard that voiced by angle america today that we could see the progress that germany has made so far in the fight against 19 pandemic going to waste if people are cautious enough and if they don't adhere to the social distancing rules are still in place and there is concern we've heard that voice earlier today as well by angela merkel. according to reports at least in a meeting with some leaders or other leading figures in her conservative party that she warned that there was too much focus on easing travel restrictions particularly in the different 16 states around germany rather than focusing on making sure that people are still are daring to those social distancing measures that are still in place are making sure that people are still keeping at least one and a half meters away from each other making sure that people are gathering in groups of no more than 2 and that people that you are meeting with are moving around cities with off from your household and so one thing that merkel did point out as well is that the results are the consequences of these relaxations that we're starting to see take place across germany this week the results of those won't be seen for another 14 days so there will be a reassessment in another 2 weeks and the key message from merkel is that germany just cannot be callous right now and that the cautious approach needs to continue. why would the different states be taking different approaches in lifting the restrictions. well this comes down to the fact that germany has a federal system of 16 states in germany and what was decided last week between merkel in the state premiers over those 16 states was at the end of the day a compromise and so they decided that shops of a size up to 800 meters squared could really open a for they could ensure that those social social distancing measures are still held but of course different states have been affected differently by coronavirus particularly in the south and the various and that's been particularly hard hit as well in the west western germany as well and so there is a certain sense of confusion there today as to what is a political show different states and what has been decided at federal level if you just take the city state of berlin right here for example of those shops that i mentioned up to 800 meter right whereas a square are actually allowed to reopen today and so that's because a lot of confusion among some shop owners and also people who were looking forward perhaps to getting out and about again today ok very quickly germany has done better than other european countries in managing the pandemic why is that well there's been several factors of course there was a lot of testing carried out here in germany something that's being invaded in other countries as well but on top of that germany also had a lot of luck as well and luckily a lot of the 1st cases here in germany were actually among younger people which of course is a very different story from what we saw in italy for example where it was the older generations who were most hard hit all right kate brady political correspondent thank you. it's often say that doesn't discriminate between rich and poor but in reality there is a difference in the way people with less money are impacted. or high rates of infection among african americans have been linked to poverty in france people in disadvantaged areas outside paris. also hit hard. in france's war against the coronavirus this is the front line. sand in me on the outskirts of paris has a very high death rate from cove of 19. people who've got drugs out of the death right because of preexisting conditions related to poverty such as obesity. the mentees conditions often go undetected and want treated early yet the kind of network of doctors is weaker than in other places it's one of france's biggest medical deserts here a former neighborhood resident shares leftover bananas and tomatoes from a wholesaler and word spreads fast. the lockdown is increasing longstanding inequality. things are difficult. children usually eat in school for

correspondents around the world about easter in the time of coronavirus right now let's go to kate brady in berlin kate a german chancellor angela merkel urged people to stay at home during the easter holidays are people complying. it certainly seems that people have heeded the words of the german chancellor this weekend she spoke a couple of times earlier this week telling people to stay home and that the decisions that people made to this weekend as to whether they went out or not could indeed have a huge role in the decisions made by the government this week when they meet to discuss the future of restrictions to slow the spread of current virus here in germany and certainly i was out earlier today here in berlin and it certainly seemed that there were indeed fewer people on the streets than yesterday so large a speaking at least according to authorities as well people do seem indeed to be listening to the advice of the german chancellor and staying at home and of course following those rules as well when they do go out and keeping that distance from others so how is the government able to enforce t

social interaction is certainly going to be very very different for a long time to come kate brady in berlin thank you kate well spain has been one of the hardest hit countries in the coronavirus pandemic now the country is loosening some of its coronavirus lockdown measures after a fall in the death toll and a fall in new cases in recent days so workers are returning to their jobs after 2 weeks at home transit officials in the capital madrid are limiting the number of passengers on metros and buses and distributing 10000000 facemasks to commuters but most of the country is still required to stay at home after more than $17000.00 coronavirus steps. let's bring in correspondent philip schultz who has the view from seville on the story so you have a look i mean we've seen one of the worst outbreaks of cove in 1000 in europe and you know spain has had very strict lock down measures there as a result now construction and industrial workers are being allowed to go back to work what are the reasons behind that decision and why now. i think one of the main reasons behind the decision is that the spanish governmen

kate brady for more on that hi kate tell us why the chancellor sent its all concerned. well it seems to me that one of the main concerns particularly among the state premiers of the 16 states around germany of the last couple of days has been focused very much on the actual easing of restrictions and not making sure that the the the restrictions that are still in place of being a did too so we're talking about social distancing rules that are still in place making sure that those were at least 1.5 meters between the people making sure that you're not going out in groups larger than 2 people making sure the people you are with are from your household instead it seems that there is a bit of competition going on between many of the state premiers around germany right now to try and prove that they can relax their restrictions the earliest of course germany does have a federal system which sometimes works in its favor but of course if we do see a negative effect from the relaxation of these restrictions here in germany it could well be that we that that is certainly a negative aspects of this federalized system in germany where each state is able to decide ultimately for itself how it proceeds forward what is the situation at the moment in the different states that we're talking about here and what is the reasoning behind these different approaches. well one of the big differences that we've seen or rather one of the biggest relaxation that we're seeing come into place today in several states is the reopening of shops up to 800 meters squared in size and that also includes car dealerships libraries as well but there are plans in some states like north rhine-westphalia in western germany for example that want to open dues as well a lot of shopping malls and so there is concern there from other states that we that that could lead to an increase in cases again if people start to become careless which is what was being we were hearing from angela merkel just within the last hour when she was reiterating again that now is a time for caution and not to become careless in the main reasoning ready for this relaxation was i think in part a sense of morale building for people and of course they could see as well from the statistics of being released here in germany that the did in seem at least to be flattening in the last week or so here in germany but of course there is also that effort here in germany and that needs to try and reopen some stores and many small businesses want to get back to business and want to start getting customers back to their stores but as i say this is very different from state to state at the moment and that of course is cause some confusion between states between across germany as well but also some frustration as well that there isn't one federal decision on this this is very much being a compromise between the 16 state premiers and german chancellor angela merkel and so a lot of people are still very confused as to what they are allowed to do right now . despite the fact infusion of the most message of caution from the chancellor of germany seems to have done better than some other european countries are containing the pen to make why is that. well this comes down to a number of factors really of course we've seen huge numbers of tests and here in germany something that's become envied by many other countries around the world but there has also been a large amount of luck involved here in germany as well that was of course the restrictions that have now partly being relaxed they were brought in quite early compared to some other countries but like i said there has been some look particularly when it comes to who has been infected and who was infected fessing that was mostly among younger people as well which is very different from the story that we're seeing play out in italy for example all right our political correspondent kate brady with the latest thank you very much. now to some of the other coronavirus stories making news around the world officials in the australian city of sydney have reopened 3 beaches in a tentative step to ease coronavirus restrictions locals are allowed to exercise there but strict physical distance distancing measures do still apply the city's most famous stretch of sand bandai beach remains closed. brazilian president jarboe sonora joined crowds at a public rally in brasilia sunday and criticized coronavirus lockdown measures imposed by state governors brazil was the highest number of infections in latin america but also narrow has downplayed the threat and is pushing to reopen the economy. now much is still unknown about the origins of the corona virus most scientists agree it originated in bats but the big unanswered question is how it made the leap from bats to humans some u.s. news organizations suggest the virus might have been accidentally leaked from a lab in the city of wi

kate brady for more on that hey kate so what are the main issues that are being addressed in the report . i think the biggest takeaway if anything from this report is that if there is indeed a relaxation on the restrictions currently in place here in germany within the next week or so it will certainly be a very slow very gradual process but there are several aspects that the report focuses on one of the main points perhaps is the re opening of schools here in germany particularly for all the students out the recommendation that's been made in this report and it's saying particularly for all the students that this could perhaps be possible as of course they will be most likely to be able to adhere to those social distancing rules making sure that students perhaps are still making sure that they're staying a safe distance apart from each other and also even being able to wear masks and so some of the last children to here would return into education or daycare would be the youngest children here in germany another point as well as the reopening of small businesses of restaurants for example which like we heard in there in the report would be very much dependent on how people can still be able to keep a safe distance from each other and also whether or not people would be able to wear a mask whether there will be enough masks indeed available in germany and this is something that the german health ministry is already working on with businesses here in germany to ensure that perhaps the the manufacturing of of facial mass here in germany has done so has actually increased instead of germany actually relying so much on asian manufacturers so it certainly would be a very slow process if these recommendations are to be followed and we could even also see the increased use of publicly available g.p.s. data as well here in germany and that would be perhaps used to help trace the contacts to people who have got corona virus or of have corona virus which of course plays a big role in that chain of infection here in germany as well kate you do say if these recommendations are to be followed i mean how likely is it that the policymakers here will look at this report how much weight will they give it as they make as they deliberate lifting the swapped out. well this in this institute is extremely important and certainly it's the institute that german chancellor angela merkel will be listening to and paying attention to when she goes into those talks with the 16 state primary is here in germany on wednesday when they're set to deliberate exactly what happens april 19th when these current measures are set to be at least renegotiated and possibly be relaxed but of course at the end of the day it comes down to politics and at the same time german ministers particularly when it comes to looking at the societal and economical effects of the coronavirus restrictions of movement here in germany taken particular notice of what effect that might have a say on the economy and of course they don't want to risk a spike in the numbe

kate brady she's the author of the report you just saw hey kate so you were actually at a friday's full theater protest today here in berlin how did those who took part manage to avoid breaching the social distancing guidelines. they certainly wasn't like any fridays or feature protests i'd covered d.w. before very quiet only a group of around 20 people working there putting out those cars in front of the bundestag this morning and which is exactly how they were able to jeer to the social distancing rules currently in place here in germany and ensure that they were keeping at least one and a half meters between each other but everyone was in good spirits this morning there were a couple of local officers out from the local police authority as well but everyone seems to be getting along just fine and the protests went ahead as planned. just how much has the corner virus pandemic hurt the fridays with you to richmond well of course a friday is a future demonstrations haven't been able to take place for weeks we've seen in previous weeks that people have been turning to on online means to meet to make their voices heard but having spoken to some of those protesters that were putting out the placards this morning they said that they were concerned that they were perhaps preaching to the choir as it were and were only being able to share their message inside of bubbles so hopefully what they are hoping at least to achieve today is make their voice heard again in a reminder as it was to german politicians by making these protests a bit more present again particularly here in in germany's in in germany's government course here in berlin some activists fear that you know plan measures to reduce the impact of the pandemic may actually worsen the climate crisis in the long run can you tell us more about that. that is certainly the case and those are some concerns that people are also telling me earlier today the worry of course is that the that this will not be in focus anymore until just a few weeks ago a climate change was arguably the most pressing economic issue in the world right now so there are concerns that perhaps there will be some leniency given towards businesses as well when it comes to taking more environmentally friendly action suit to make their committees more sustainable for example but there are also concerns the money particularly here in germany that was set aside for germany's plans to run down its coal usage by 2038 this concerns that money billions of euros could be used to support the german economy elsewhere as it comes to terms with the economic impacts of the kovac 19 pandemic ok that's kate brady political correspondent thank you here's a look at some of the latest developments in the krona virus pandemic the global death toll from coal that 1000 has surpassed 190000 according to johns hopkins university the number of confirmed cases is approaching 3000000 china has reported no new coronavirus states for the 9th straight day and just 6 new cases 2 authors were brought from overseas with 4 domestic cases poland will extend closures of schools and pre-schools by a month until at least may 24th but the country's presidential election is still set to go ahead on may 10th and hungry plans to replace its walk down which included a blanket curfew on the entire population with more targeted measures from early may the new roles are to focus on those at high risk. doc says nurses and other friends find workers have been hailed as the heroes of the pandemic expressions off credit should have become a ritual in countries like spain at the at the united kingdom where residents of me

more about that i'm pulling in my colleague our political correspondent kate brady she's here in berlin good evening to you kate the authority here in germany to make face masks in public mandatory that lies with the states and not with the federal government what we have seen in the last week is one state following another almost like dahlman the following falling how do you see it. exactly but every day has been a domino effect in the past week or so again it's only been a week today since i came out and address journalists announcing that many of the social distancing measures would be remaining in place for another couple of weeks but that some shops would be opening and now at the time a week ago. that she strongly recommended that people when mosques but they were not of libertarian of course that has now changed and why seeing germany's federal system in action here and i think there really is a sense of peer pressure as well that we've seen play out across germany in this past week and of course none of the 16 german states wants to be seen as the weakest link they want to be seen as doing everything po

tracing for more i'm joined now by the political correspondent kate brady she is on the story for us here in berlin good evening to you kate is the german government what are you hearing why clee to implement all of these recommendations to ease these restrictions. i think it's certainly too early brant to be talking about implementing or rather implemented all of these left on the restrictions are currently in place of course the measures that were put in place a few weeks ago now also going to be in place until april the 19th and these talks are set to be help between the german chancellor angela merkel and the 16 state premiers on wednesday now there was indication last week from the german chancellor that if there was indeed a steady and continuous flattening of the curve here in germany that that would perhaps give way to a relaxation of some measures here restrictions at least that are that are currently in place on movement here in germany the question is whether the the fall in the new number of cases here in germany that we've seen over the last over the last 3 days is and the question is whether or not that is st