must not lose our focus at the inception of this pandemic and i said this when i spoke to the state premiers of the federal states as well because the wriggle room that we have here that we have given ourselves this room for maneuver is being implemented primarily by the federal states through their ordinances and their laws governing infectious diseases and so to ensure that we interpret this latitude we've given ourselves as narrowly as possible and not as broadly as possible because otherwise i fear we run the risk of not being able to keep the loosening of restrictions on to control the situ. that we have right now is that what it is to step to because what we have started doing now opening some of the shops again what this means in terms of infection cases we will not see for 2 weeks only 14 days later can we gauge the impact of easing these restrictions and i think both the federal states and the national governments the state premiers myself and the citizens do not want to have another shutdown. not really but that would be the consequence where we just see the exponential growth of t

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 itsel

here in germany where the one hand in north rhine-westphalia we have a state premier wanting to see fast easing of restrictions a past to the return to normal and the very you have a much much tougher stance on that partly also because bavaria borders all stria and that's believed where a lot of the infections came from so she's has a cautioning words at the same time saying that this is the moment for europe to stand together. while she also spoke about the economic impact and how best to get europe through the crisis what did you say on that front. well she signal quite clearly that germany is willing to see a budget that i quote has to be different from the budgets before the e.u. is currently discussing its long term budget so a lot more money beyond the 500000000000 already on the table will have to be pledged all around but but her pointing towards the e.u. budget again in this speech of the day means her way of saying no once again to so-called corona bombs that would see other e.u. countries stay in stand in for national particularly italy wanted to see those happen what we

is t w news live from berlin and germany's government takes stock chancellor angela merkel and state premiers are reviewing the impact of the latest measures curbing the pandemic but officials are playing down hope so that any new moves to loosen the lock down also coming up german police carry out raids across the country after berlin bans all hezbollah activities and classifies the islamist group as a terrorist organization. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program germany is to extend social distancing measures until may 10th that is according to chancellor angela merkel's chief of staff who was commenting ahead of a government meeting to review germany's coronavirus lockdown now at this moment merkel and the country's 16 regional leaders are discussing proposals on reopening schools and resuming sporting events but will not decide on any further easing of restrictions until may the 6th that is when data is expected on the impact of the 1st round of easing which saw some shops reopen from last week now the head of germany's public health institute is urging people to remain cautious he's war

been largely positive some of the noises the health minister spawn for example as well as the 2 state premiers of germany's largest states have both indicates it's all indicates a draw the this would be possible under the conditions if the medicine and the medical side checks out of course this isn't just about risk it's about perception as well and there will be some people who say look why should footballers have special rules why should football be allowed to carry on when some people are still dying from the current. virus so it's going to be a difficult one groups as well have been opposed to restart in terms of the tests maybe 2025000 tests would be needed now we've heard from. that they have already decided that might not be such a good idea let's have a listen. i don't see why certain parts of the population whether athletes or any other group in which society has a certain interest should be routinely screen shot. so that is the ethical question why should healthy for be tested when people who are sick with the virus possibly congress their hands in the test the response that says the

are urging the german government to ease even more of the current restrictions on thursday the state premiers of germany's 16 states will reassess the situation with chancellor angela merkel. let's get more now from our political correspondent thomas sparrow tell us what can we expect then from chancellor merkel's talks with germany's state premiers later. terry this will be mostly a discussion on the measures that were already taken a few weeks ago as a sort of into remote balance if you will where the regional leaders and on that i'm a go will take stock on what was decided and what progress has been made that could be decisions for example in the reopening of museums or the conditions that have to be met for religious gatherings to take place or also for example something particularly interesting what will happen with german football the board as league but it is not expected that there will be very big announcements those big announcements if there id be an announcement would be spectator in the meeting that will take place next week so again this is mostly a sort of interim balance of th

and this is why it was so difficult for the politicians to make this decision marcus or to the state premier of the various said that it is emotionally difficult and that it is extremely painful but you know given the current situation with the pandemic in germany and internationally i mean you should also not be happening this is a pretty surprising that the 1st has been done so. it's not completely surprising at all you said it the decision to cancel all big gatherings or big events here in germany until the end of august was taken a few weeks ago and people should have pat then it dawned on everybody that the october fest will probably not be able to be held because of course the various simply cannot risk creating another breeding ground for the virus some $2000000.00 foreign visitors come to the uk professed every year and a very it is one of the states with the most cases of the coronavirus and the very is understanding as well that we are going to have to live with the virus for a while to come this decision to cancel the event comes one day after the state premier of the very announc

germany of course this decision can be taken at local level any time but america will talk to the state premiers of all the federal states of these 16 federal states later this afternoon it will probably be a topic of discussion but one state premier an influential one from the very a has already said that he's warning against such measures because he warns of stockpiling yet what is truly doing to make sure that it's got enough given that there's a global shortage of these things well of course germany has the same problem as all other countries that it's trying to protect it's medical workers and the people who work in key infrastructure and there are simply not enough masks available of course before the corona crisis most of germany's masks came from china or other countries in asia and that is no longer happening so some german companies have already switched their production textiles firms for example like sports where firms they have switched their production to producing facemasks and on tuesday the finance minister said that he wants to encourage those measures and that he's working on

well she's the one who actually knocks the heads together in the end and holds regional leaders state premiers to calgary and in that sense she can ask them she going to advise she can call on them to do something but what measures taken and we saw it with the face much there are great differences in which shop sizes can open how many pupils are actually returning back to school but one also has to know that the spread of the corona now ladies and gentlemen. also i could believe. extraordinary very serious time we experience in here and the government and the parliament of the entire country are being tried as they have not been tried since the 2nd world war since the years in which. the german federal republic was emerging image what's on the line is the health and the lives of the people in this country and it's about solidarity and cooperation and germany and all of that i am standing here speaking to you as the chancellor of the german government in recent weeks has concluded measures here which our president. there's nothing that we can orient ourselves on in the past. we have introduced.

this is news live from berlin germany the government takes stock of chancellor merkel and state premiers are reviewing the impact of the latest measures curbing the past that make but officials play down hopes of any new moves to loosen the lock down also coming up german police carry out raids across the country after berglund bans all as well activities and classifies the islamist group as a terrorist organization and its unemployment figures in germany leap in april by 13 percent millions more are for lying on wage subsidies from the government as pandemic measures to impact the economy plus as the world heads into recession there's an urgent appeal from the united nations proper tour on housing i am proposing that governments around the world set a standard that no household should pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent. she says that a drastic rethink is needed to help people pay their rent during the tandem. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program germany is set to extend social distancing measures i'm told may tempt that is according to chancellor angela merkel's chief of

this is g w news live from berlin germany's government take stock chancellor angela merkel and state premiers are 2 are going to be impact of the latest measures curbing the pandemic but officials played down hopes of any new muslims to loosen the lockdown also coming up the threat inside lock down experts fear a huge number of domestic abuse cases are going to unchecked as descriptions make it harder for victims to get help and german police carry out grades across the country after berlin bans all has full activities and classifies the islamist group as a terrorist organization plus british fund raising hero captain tom morris celebrates his 100th birthday just days after completing a record breaking charity walk to raise money for health care workers battling the coronavirus. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program germany is set to extend social distancing measures until may 10th of that is according to chancellor angela merkel's chief of staff who was commenting ahead of a government meeting on the country's coronavirus response merkel and the 16 state leaders are set to discuss proposals

a urging the german government to ease even more of the current restrictions on thursday the state premiers of germany's 16 states will reassess the situation with chancellor angela merkel. let's get more from dublin chief political correspondent and melinda craig welcome and let's start with that graph that we just saw in that report will bring it back up and what's interesting about it is we see that the new infections in germany initially rising and they only seem to start to fall once the countries schools were shut and it's been mainly downhill since then ok so germany is about to reopen its schools will and this looks like a quite a big risk. indeed it does the reason that they are taking this step as part of the overall relaxation of restrictions is that schooling is considered high priority going to school is mandatory here in germany it's an absolute exception that preparing to have been homeschooling their kids for the last 6 weeks and there's also concern about the welfare of children especially children from vulnerable families troubled families who might be subject to domestic

meanwhile the german government to ease even more of the current restrictions on thursday the state premiers of germany's 16 states will reassess the situation with chancellor angela merkel. are let's talk a little bit more about the vat tend to do that i'm joined by our chief political correspondent melinda crean she's here in berlin good evening to you melinda let's take a look again at that graph that we just saw in that report let's pull it up again if we could what we see here are new infections in germany and italy rising and only seem to start falling once the country's schools were shot and it's been mostly downhill since then so the launch of seems to tell is that reopening schools would be a big risk is that the case. yes and i think the authorities are very much aware of that but it is a priority amongst the different measures of relaxing restrictions for one very simple reason surely attendance is mandatory here in germany schools require each of those pupils are required to go to school by law and learning at home under the supervision of parents is the absolute exception here i

meanwhile edging the german government to ease even more of the current restrictions on thursday the state premiers of germany's 16 states will reassess the situation with. its own people in israel have been celebrating independence day which marks the creation of the state back in 1948 but the usually festive occasion was muted by israel's coronavirus walk down the pandemic has actually had an impact on politics in israel since it forced reluctant partners benjamin netanyahu and bibi guns to form a coalition government at least in part to deal with the pandemic meanwhile people in israel are wondering when restrictions on their daily lives will start to be eased. so there are no customers but i slung keeps the place ready for guests and how 6 weeks ago she had to close the pam lease restaurant in the kibbutz just outside of jerusalem because of the cope with 19 pandemic says she supports the overall handling of the health crisis by the government led by benyamin netanyahu but she thinks 3 me worried about her family's life the hood. the. weekly that after a month and a half of lockdown we are stil

a urging the german government to ease even more of the current restrictions on thursday the state premiers of germany's 16 states will reassess the situation with chancellor angela merkel. the task of reopening economies and schools is of course uncharted territory for policymakers in this pandemic but let's take another look at the graphic we saw in the graph we saw in that report if we could bring it up again and we see new infections in germany initially rising and only seeming to start falling once the country schools were shut and it's been mostly downhill since then so doesn't reopening schools pose a big risk as what we asked the chief political correspondent lyndal crane. indeed it does the reason that they are taking this step as part of the overall relaxation of restrictions is that schooling is considered high priority going to school is mandatory here in germany it's an absolute exception that preparing have been homeschooling their kids for the last 6 weeks and there's also concern about the welfare of children especially children from vulnerable families troubled families who

are urging the german government to ease even more of the current restrictions on thursday the state premiers of germany's 16 states will reassess the situation with chancellor angela merkel of. a member of the german parliament representing the opposition business friendly pretty democratic is also a medical doctor good to see you again. what do you think of the way chancellor merkel is handling this crisis. well i think this is the time that we have to limit the impact of this crisis and i'm a little disappointed since i do not understand the strategy of our government anymore the whole society here in germany did a great job cutting down a new infections the hospital systems were perfectly we didn't have any problems to this regard our death rates is very low and i think now if the time that we have to talk about a losing strategy which is very important for society without without also understanding that we cannot go back to the situation that we had in february or december of last year so we have to understand what is the schedule for government for the new normal in our country and i th

political correspondent song would you welcome song and so those talks between the chancellor states premiers overrun by merely your 2 hours clearly a lot to get through. well indeed there is some sense that there was a discussion even argument to between the different states in germany you've got slightly different ideas of how quickly they want to reopen schools for instance reopen businesses and what other messages they want to send to their people because you know different states have got slightly different issues there's a staggering of the school holidays in the school exams in germany between the different states and also of course the geographical different differences a country like a state like the varia in the south closer to austria closer to italy which has been particularly hard hit of course it's understandable perhaps that they've got a slightly more cautious approach than some of the other parts of germany in the north the been further away from the senses of the virus. and the the vexed issue of facemasks that this is a recommendation rather than it being mandates that why

details of the latest easing of restrictions in germany following a virtual meeting with the 16 state premiers it's been the 1st time strongly convinced we can best work in the interest of business but also of social contacts if we focus on taking small steps towards allowing more contacts but if we don't have to take steps back and that's why we have to stay care for and have to adhere to measures of hygiene. under the new rules religious gatherings are allowed again provided hygiene and distancing requirements are met in churches synagogues and mosques visits to zoos museums and memorials will also be possible again under the same requirements intensive care units and hospitals will start receiving non-code 1000 patients again and playgrounds can reopen as early as this week. but 2 decisions were postponed for now one should germany's bunder sleekest soccer league resume its season with games behind closed doors and to just which requirements need to be met before schools and child care facilities can reopen gradually. said it was important to get a clear idea of the impact of the fast depp'

because after she reached agreement with the federal state premiers here in germany on what steps would be allowed as part of this meeting of a threat. of a certain size being allowed to open some people being allowed to go back to school her concern is that now people are taking the new situation too lightly and the scientists who listen very closely to scientists and science she often echoes exactly what they say she is worried that in 2 weeks time on we will learn what impact this easing of restrictions has had there could potentially be and 2nd way there could be a spike in new infections and then the pandemic could unfold what everybody. exponential figures that could then eventually overwhelm the health system and this is the small success that it's being it's not being celebrated that much among politicians but certainly people feel a lot more at ease not having seen that stress test for the health care system here in germany so far i guess he's right nobody wants to hear that this pandemic that far from over i what. well she also said that only a vaccine could end this violence

other sectors there's no chance of catching up on that night i don't know what effect the various state premier marker surtur is pushing for the reduction of the sales tax and the german economy ministry says it will consider the idea the finance ministry is considering help for the restaurant sector on the baltic sea they're keeping their fingers crossed 300 beach chairs are waiting for tourists just on top of the beach chairs protected zone like a little cornered center you sit in the chair and you have absolutely no contact with your neighbors it's screened off for now all the baltic businesses can do is wait there's still no word on when the beach bars cafes and restaurants generally open they have a correspondent in a hostel has been following developments and joins me from a parliament restored you know good morning to you germany is allowing a few businesses to reopen from today which ones exactly and what is the russian not behind it. as of today shops that are no bigger than 800 square meters can be opened again and also car dealerships and bike shops can reopen and some other shops li

angela merkel will say on wednesday about scaling back the lockdown here she's didn't discuss with state premiers recommendations that include gradually reopening schools and shops but any rollback of the current restrictions will involve a delicate balancing act. germany has a tough decision to make keep restrictions in place like france or like austria start the country down the path towards normal life the consequences could be enormous either way easing restrictions could put people's physical health at risk but there are also risks to keeping them in place and the contradictions are warranted but they have a very high cost not just an economic cost but also a social and psychological cost we need to think about how we can transition responsibly step by step into some sort of renormalizing nation and i think we need to do that quite soon. germany's public health institute the r k i is not against relaxation but wary of how it happens as of tuesday morning the r.k. ised latest figures for germany were $125098.00 total cases that's an increase of $2902.00 from the previous day total deaths are

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 of restrictions at least that are currently in place on movement here in germany the question is whether the fall in the new number of cases here in germany that we've seen over the left over the last 3 days is the question is whether or not that is steady and continuous enough of course another thing to look at as well is the fact that one of the recommendations given by the institute is this idea of making masks all the wearing of masks compulsory in public and of course for something like that to be implemented as well the german government would of course have to ensure that there are enough masks available to everyone in germany which is something that the health ministry has already been working on this of course we'll have to wait until wednesday

really be about convincing the politicians that the plans safe and practical we had today from the state premier of the various markets saying that he wants the rubber institute which has been advising the german government to give its view on some of these proposals i would say the noises that from politicians so far have been largely positive for example yet spahn the health minister has given his backing on the set medical conditions of course but this is also about deception because some people would say look is it really a good look the playing football when people are dying from the coronavirus we have a contact sport when others are encouraged to do social distancing so i think that is a big problem even found groups opposed to restart their football to have special rules from anyone else and i mention the issue of testing on the league thinks it will need 20000 tests to complete the season it says that's just no point 4 percent of the current testing capacity and obviously if the tests need to go to other sources then they will let that happen but again you know can you really think leig

other sectors there's no chance of catching up on that night ahead in the horrific to the various state premier markers surtur is pushing for the reduction of the sales tax and the german economy ministry says it will consider the idea the finance ministry is considering help for the restaurant sector on the baltic sea they're keeping their fingers crossed 300 beach chairs are waiting for tourists just on copies of the beach chairs a protected zone like a little cornered center you sit in a chair and you have absolutely no contact with your neighbors it's screened off for now all the baltic businesses can do is wait there's still no word on when the beach bars cafes and restaurants generally open. rights and you know we saw there especially in the hospitality industry there's a lot of pressure to reopen business and there is this debate taking place here in germany about easing restrictions but chancellor merkel has been criticizing that debate and what did she have to say. according to report this was a telephone conference that of course happened behind closed doors but according to reports s

the state premiers of germany's 16 states will reassess with chancellor angela merkel.nt: let's talk about that. i'm joined by our chief political correspondent melelina crane. good evening to you. let's take a look at the graph and pull it up if we can. we see new infections in germany rising initially. they seem to start falling once the country's schools were shut. it has been mostly don't hope -- downhill since then. so the logic seems reopening schools would be a big risk. is that the case? melinda: yes. i think the award -- thehe authoritities are aware of that. it is a a differentnt priority,e simple reaeason. school attendance is mandatotory in germany. schools, p pils are required to go by law. learning at home under thehe supervision of parents is the exception in t this country. there has been a pususto get schools reopened. also for t two other reasons. a lot of concern about the effects onon pupils being s siay isateded, partiticularly kids sm troubleded families where t thee may be d domestic violence, also kids who might not have access to digital technol

a urging the german government to ease even more of the current restrictions on thursday the state premiers of germany's 16 states will reassess the situation with chancellor angela merkel. as football fans around the world wait for their favorite teams to return to television screens supporters of the german team are trying to solve what they see as an even bigger problem how does a fan remain part of the action when they're not allowed inside the stadium. all these quiet in german football the sounds of singing birds has replaced the screaming fans the sight of empty stands likely to remain for many months yet the sun. and it's very difficult to watch a game on t.v. instead of actually being met life in the stadium on t.v. you just don't get the emotions you can get by being in the stands with friends for the diehards of birds you can glad back football without fans is unthinkable and so they making cardboard cutouts of themselves to literally remain part of the scene using a mobile app interested parties can take a photo of themselves which is then printed on cardboard and. thanks taken

as she outlined the latest easing of restrictions in germany, following a meeting with the 16 state premieres>> i am strongly convinced we can best work in the interest of business, but also social context if we focus on taking small steps towards allowing more contact, but don't take a step back. that's why we have to adhere to measures of hygiene. >> under the rules, religious gatherings are allowed, provided hygiene and distancing requirements are met. visits to zoos, museums, and memorials will be possible under the same requirements. intensive care units in hospitals will start receiving non-covid-19 patients, and playgrounds can open as early as this week. two decisions were postponed. one, should germany soccer league resumed its season with games behind closed doors? and two, which requirements need to be met before schools and childcare facilities can reopen? angela merkel said it was important to get a clearer idea of the impact of the first steps to ease the lockdown two weeks ago before deciding on steps, happening next wednesday. brent: let's check in with our political correspon

in the bundestag alice vital saying the following a state premier was democratically elected from democratically elected representatives then the chancellor comes in and says this election has to be undone and voided so what do you do you just keep going until you get the election result you want we have to stay to the to the who gained what's in the parliament so it's a democratic procedure by not voting for their own candidate but voting for. probably minutes until you get it cleared you're getting past and the did as german chancellor she's pushed the party so far to the left she's created the space for the far right f.t. they are now the largest opposition party in the bundestag they are playing can you ringback make her into rugby as you yourself have highlighted well they are not the largest opposition party they are the largest opposition party but they have only 1000 seats so we should not overestimate the 2nd as regards the role of our party we are in the center and america has detected that normally in germany you have a left majority and it is her merit that she has achieved since 200

week when angela merkel herself discusses a possible relaxation of those restrictions with the state premiers of germany 16 states here on wednesday. let's talk about the relaxation of these measures what would that it's a plan look like. well it's certainly according to what experts have been suggesting so far it seems that we can certainly if there is any relaxation of those restrictions a toll in the coming week or so that it will be very slow and very gradual and that we've heard from several experts groups around germany and one group of experts has already reported they presented a paper to the german chancellor and they are based in one of the most hard hit regions of germany in north rhine-westphalia and then suggesting as well a very slow very gradual return to some sense of normalcy here in germany so we could perhaps see at least some students slowly returning to school we could see some restaurants perhaps reopening albeit most likely with some restrictions in place as to how many a few might be allowed to sit next to each other but of course these are the customs that we've becom

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

a urging the german government to ease even more of the current restrictions on thursday the state premiers of germany 16 states will reassess the situation with chancellor angela merkel. and the number of unemployed in germany jumped by 300000 in april that's a 13 percent rise from march it reflects the onset of wide reaching pandemic measures in the country economists had expected a rise in jobless numbers given widespread business closures but the figure has dampened or was dampened excuse me by state support for companies more than 10000000 employees in germany are registered for wage subsidies in order to remain on payroll. financial correspondent chelsea delaney is standing by in frankfurt so are these mounting job losses a temporary phenomenon while the lock downs are in place or something more. it's not a temporary blip these these impacts we're seeing on the economy are going to have they're going to be around for a long time what the data has shown us so far is a particularly severe blow to the services sector so people working and restaurants and hotels in tourism and retail that