Has been under virtual lockdown since march 17th the government now says the unprecedented peace time restrictions will remain in place for at least 3 more weeks. And a new rapid fire result test for the corona virus is approved in the United States. Say 15000 kids will be delivered soon starting next week the u. S. Now has more confirmed cases of 19 than any other country in the world. Thanks for joining us here in chancellor Angela Merkel has called on german citizens to remain patient and help to contain the spread of the virus nearly 400 people have died from the disease in germany with more than 50000 confirmed infections. Merkle thanked the vast majority of citizens for changing their daily behavior to minimize bodily contact the situation is german in germany is currently far less serious than in italy or spain but the Chancellors Office confirmed restrictions will not be relaxed before april 20th those include the closure of nonessential shops and the ban on more than 2 people meeting in public. And for more on this lets bring in our Political Correspondent kate brady who has been following the situation in germany kate the measures imposed are they sufficient are they effective. Well so new there was the murmurs at least of some cautious optimism earlier this week from the robot cooking for Public Health here that indeed that curve may be flattening but right now it is indeed too early to say exactly what effect these measures are having now of course they have being officially in place these closures of nonessential shops for example is in the ban on logic gatherings for for almost a week now and we had just there theyre going to be in place now until april 20th and there is still the concern as well that there are many cases here in germany that still a no no we also heard just at the end of this week from the Health Minister on announcing that germany plans to increase its testing as well in the coming weeks at the moment or rather in the last week there was somewhere around half a 1000000 tests carried out in a week and the plan is to hope that to somewhere to around a 1000000 mark per week so of course we could see a spike in cases here and Health Experts have said that we could still be experiencing the calm before the storm here in germany but of course the main aim right now is to keep the situation stable but of course the number of cases is still continuing to rise here in germany. You know as youre saying so far people seem to be sticking to the rules but look the weather is Getting Better were getting these longer days people may be tempted to go after this long winter do you think theyll be able to hold out. Well that certainly does seem to be the case today Police Local Authorities were out in force and more so than in previous days today worried of course that many people might be tempted to go outside now that weve had woman temperatures hand only but across the country and just around the corner from me hey actually Police Actually had to clear a gathering of some 150 people so clearly you know everyone is still a daring to those matches and theres going to have to be a lot of will put in place in coming weeks as weve heard previously from the chancellor as well she did say that all of these initial measures were implemented. To basically behave themselves stay at home follow these regulations the quicker we can flatten the curve the quicker we can get back to normal life so of course if people are still refusing to a day to these clearly not going to be as effective as one might hope ok Political Correspondent kate brady for us there thanks for. While germans are coming to terms with restrictions on public life their french neighbors are struggling with even tougher isolette isolation measures in place there france has been under virtual lockdown since march 17th and on friday Prime Minister said the unprecedented peacetime restrictions on public life would remain in place until at least april 15th. And into the spring is in the air in paris but theres barely anyone out on the streets on the 12th day of the lockdown the french capital was largely deserted and most who had to be out werent exactly comfortable about being the. Who was going to have to go to work i get nervous when i use public transport im talking to you know without a musket but when i get on the metro a put on my mask and keep my distance. And i respect the advice weve been given because im not a scientist. Police have been out in high numbers enforcing the lockdown they say theyve issued more than 225000 fines for violations so far. But Authorities Say in general the measures have been wildly well received. And despite the circumstances many say theyre simply learning to live with confinement. Bush with and im starting to get used to it its becoming routine you know im at home and im working from home so its pretty quiet for me. But not all french like it quiet across the country people are finding new ways of coping with being cooped up at home. This cello player for example didnt take to social media to show off his talents he simply stepped out onto the balcony. The french appear to be complying with the lockdown so far but with the confinement measures set to last to at least the 15th of april possibly longer who knows how long that public support will last. Time now take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world. In a press conference on saturday japanese Prime Minister shinzo asked people to refrain from nonessential meetings stuff the spread of coded 19 hes almost promised an unprecedented stimulus package to combat economic fallout from the coronavirus. China has scaled back its restrictions on the original epicenter of the pandemic the city of has partially reopened after more than 2 months of almost total isolation people are now allowed to return to no one is allowed to leave it. And the plan to fly some 800 Cruise Ship Passengers from australia to germany this week has been derailed by a sharp overnight increase in corona virus infections on board a ship called the r. Tamiya is anchored south of perth and most of the passengers are german. And the United States more than 100000 people have been infected with the coronavirus thats more than more confirmed cases than in any other country but according to Health Experts the country needs to do more to reveal the extent of the outbreak to help achieve the u. S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new rapid test from Abbott Laboratories the company says the test can detect the corona virus in about 5 minutes and is so small the size of a toaster that it can be used in almost any Health Care Setting a plaster supply 50000 tests a day starting april the 1st. And a look into this im joined by dr eric fay gold digging and at the dimia ologist and Health Economist at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health thank you for joining us doctor is this test for real it almost sounds too good to be true. Its definitely real and these are the technology has a bolt a lot in the last few years to make this possible and im still waiting for it to see some of the accuracy measures because i think those 2 have the Peer Reviewed and published but any test right now is much better than the one we have right now which takes almost a whole day turnaround and is only 30 to 50 percent accurate so this test that is on a rapid scale can immediately tell people you need to be quarantined or not is would be infinitely better and faster in terms of helping us contain this fire so what we have now. In january experts were already warning this disaster could spread beyond chinas borders and you were one of them why did the u. S. Not take this threat seriously. Well the us was under a lot of other busy things like impeachment during that time and i think sometimes people its really hard to imagine. The almost the apocalypse compared to. Where people can really want to believe because it is almost so hard to believe that we have this kind of global recession depression upon us and people being locked in their homes compared to what was happening people dont want to accept that that is the reality and often times. The governments are frozen d and sometimes he just wants to you know keep calm and carry on but sometimes you that is not what you need to do sometimes you need to activate getting the tests ready getting masts ready ventilators all these processes these should have done been started months ago ok what id like to ask about President Trump because he had 1st was saying this wasnt really a problem then suddenly he began to take stronger measures under criticism most recently of the 2 trillion dollar bailout which came from the senate and then telling General Motors to make a ventilator so thats all good but has a government waited too long and the u. S. Yeah its. Really him calling or hoax or just corona flu and saying that you know its just the flu and you can still go to work with it was just it absolutely the wrong thing it was the most this is the 1st time in which misinformation came from a top and it wasnt just simply misinformation but actually cause it tons of lives you know this virus previously had a doubling time of 6 days which means you know missing 3 weeks met you know 200 cases becomes or becomes 806 you know cases you know within just a few weeks we present really messed 10 x. Or 50 x. The number of cases and illnesses that we could have prevented had we moved faster and this is a failure of Political Leadership in the worst extreme so and now we have this pandemic on our hands and its so busy theyre full of many governments who fail to react and were paying the price at. Your speaking of many governments being at end volved how is the world. Sorry for interrupting you there you are talking to many governments and being involved how is the world overall dealing with covert 19 in country cant countries fix it alone yeah so in terms of vaccine production that seems will be the ultimate solution for its vaccine unfortunately is still about one year to 18 months away maybe we can find drugs that will work much sooner within 5 to 6 months. Ramp up but all these kind of things to get International Cooperation and in terms of supplies actually germany is actually this number one source for regions to conduct the Laboratory Tests in which we have a global short issuance and all the supply chains for masts in rental leaders all these things require Global Supply chains and this is why world has to come together not get caught up in trade disputes in terrorists this is the time to for us to come together as a human race to create a Manhattan Project to solve this epidemic if were killed millions i believe all problem requiring a global answer than dr eric fadal doing epidemiologists and Health Economist at the harvard chant school of the kalf thank you for that theres a look now at more of the latest development with this pandemic confirmed cases of covert 19 infection have now surpassed 600000 globally doubling the tally in less than a week saudi arabia has confirmed 99. 00 new infections raising its total to more than 1200. 00 the highest number in an arab country that despite having imposed tight restrictions russia has ramped up efforts to combat the coronavirus fully closing its borders and shutting down all moscow Shopping Centers restaurants and larger parks a Brazilian Court has blocked in the creek by president gyre both a narrow that exempted places of worship from confinement orders ruling that religious services pose a Public Health risk. The search for a safe and responsible place to enjoy a movie is driving South Koreans from their couch to the car seat and if youre old enough to remember drive in theaters you know what i mean evenings here at this transformed Football Park in seoul have become movie night for hundreds of people looking to catch a flick outside of their living rooms cinemas big screen must be viewed through a car windshield but the drive in has become a retro hit online tickets regularly sell out within 10 minutes of release. This is to give you news up next our special report code 19 how ready is the global south by richard walker. Thanks for watching. Crime fighters are back with africas most successful radio drama series continues only disowns are Available Online if you can share and discuss on w. Africas Facebook Page and other social media platforms. To