Im phil gal welcome to the program the u. S. Senate has approved the biggest stimulus package in the countrys history to try and cushion the economic blow from the corona virus pandemic the legislation will provide to chile and dollars to help stabilize businesses and households hit hard by the outbreak the package which is expected to be approved by the house of representatives on friday comes as the number of infections souls with the u. S. Looking likely to become the pandemics new epicenter Many Health Care workers say they dont have the supplies they need. A long line of drivers all waiting to be tested for the coronavirus this is florida but the queues are getting longer right across america. And the number of confirmed infections is gathering pace along with the 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 safety and a part time we. Dared to come to walk by and by being scared we are trained to do you know i am and were committed to doing mad doc to say hospitals nationwide out overwhelmed and theres not enough protective gear there are people that literally are wearing bandanas because they have Nothing Better to protect themselves from the respiratory droplets of patients who are and who would not and i think the National Shame the u. S. President donald trump downplayed the dangers of a pandemic for weeks before changing his tone but he has criticized the shutdowns advocated by Infectious Disease experts to bring the outbreak under control for not going to let the cure of the worse than the problem. At the end of the 15 day period will make a decision as to which way we want to go d where we want to go the timing and essentially were referring to the timing of the opening of the century the opening of our country this was a medical problem were not going to let it turn into a long lasting financial problem an increasing number of states have closed down nonessential businesses heating i mean as hard this restaurant is trying to keep going by serving takeaways but i own a young mint owns 2 of eateries and pays 12000. 00 a month just in rent. Hes had to lay off most of his 25 stone off. This just taking it all us surprise and also off our feet we dont know how to deal with this every day is a new challenge for us is very challenging and for the most part 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. It is struggling to make sense of whats happening here in hollywood he has to pay rent of a 1000. 00 a day. All we can do is. Help each other and hope for help from washington. Well here in germany the parliament the bundestag has also approved a sweeping rescue package to try and push the economic damage caused by the pandemic the Country Singer shopping creasing coronavirus deaths of 30 percent from yesterday to today a total of 206. 00 the measures approved by parliament will support the countrys Health Care Infrastructure and pump billions of euros into struggling businesses and in a historic move has voted to suspend limits on government borrowing a parliament in crisis mode the bundestag has changed its rules to allow decisions to be taken with fewer members present the 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 of the orators who are being tested to their limits every day. Did you. Think we all agree we should include in those who day after day and in spite of the greater risk of infection they face ensure that people have the supplies they need. In just one day because green lighted government plans to take on more debt this year than ever before the crisis package includes an emergency budget of 156000000000 euros 50000000000 to keep Small Businesses of bloat and money for hospitals expecting a wave of coronavirus patients. Finance minister all our short standing in for chancellor merkel is at home insult by salacious acknowledge these are joke again take some spin he said the country can afford it germanys strict rules on government borrowing are suspended for now. Believing that were facing a crisis unprecedented in our postwar history is greater than all those we have faced recently it really time and its a challenge to humankind as a home. For the gunson mention that theres no script for dealing with the pandemic said child but the government will do everything to reduce its impact on the economy it is. The most and 1st we have to ensure that theres a Good Health Care provision for people who are sick from the coronavirus and ensure those treating them are protected by 2nd we must protect the livelihoods of people affected by the crisis thirdly we missed stabilize our economy and preserve jobs at home despite the unparalleled measures when it came to the vote opposition parties rallied behind the governments plan but no one inside the bundestag or elsewhere could yet be sure if it will work. More on this from v. W. Financial correspondent to Chelsea Delaney at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange welcome chelsea so big stimulus packages from the u. S. And from germany how are investors reacting. Well busters are certainly relieved to see germany come out with it with really big strong aggressive you cannot mix stimulus measures the vast majority of this bill is going to be about 600000000000 euros worth of loans for struggling businesses there had been some concern coming into this that germany wouldnt be aggressive enough and providing stimulus to the economy given its history with being really strict on balanced budgets theyre basically throwing that out the window and saying theyre going to do whatever it takes theyre also considering at this point a 2nd wave of stimulus in a few months. Reopens that economists say if this is not a Silver Bullet the economy is still going to contract no matter what because we are and i mean basically a shutdown right now stay with us please joe its not like your thoughts on this news for me kate Consumer Research institute theyre reporting that the coronavirus pandemic is shots of German Consumer Confidence as 1000000 significant jobs will fade short time working Consumer Climate index has pledged to reach those levels since the financial crisis so faced with future consumer the hoarding cash which is likely to hit the retail money from 3 and Service Incentives and you have no he says they should not prepare a recession. So chelsea delayed from food i suppose that survey results not surprising given the current environment how markets react to. Those attacks just opened up here in frankfurt its down a little over one percent as you said its not a surprise that were seeing a huge drop off in Consumer Confidence even so it was much steeper than economists had expected and the survey only took place between march 4th and march 16th so before the shutdowns really began in germany would suggest more more contraction Going Forward and i think now that we have seen governments take a lot of action. Economic measures are the economic damage that this the shutdowns are causing are sort of coming back into the forefront here in germany of the finance ministry is predicting a 5 percent contraction for the German Economy this year and i think thats really going to be a key focus for investors right now thank you for that tells the delay to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Dont take a look at some more of the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic 3 months into the outbreak on the global death toll from covered 19 related illnesses was not passed 21000 russia is holding over flights to and from the country from friday and moscows man has ordered all shops except Grocery Stores and pharmacies to close from south today russias also reports that its 1st 2 deaths from the disease iran is banning travel between its cities the government there fears that could be a 2nd wave of infections. Away from the corona virus pandemic the man accused of carrying out new zealands worst mass shooting in modern history has changed his plead colts to guilty the selfconfessed white supremacist is accused of opening fire on worshippers in the city of Christ Church killing 51 people and injuring dozens more Prime Minister just in the odd and representatives of the Muslim Community expressed relief at the changed plea guilty plea removes the need for a lengthy trial little authorities fear it would be used as a plot for the neo nazi propaganda to get more from journalist to Pete Mackenzie in the new zealand capital or wellington while complete the defendant had previously denied all charges so why did he change his plea to guilty. The defendants motivation its unclear exactly right up until this point he pleaded not guilty it seems that on tuesday he changed his mind and notified his lawyers that hed like to change that plea to guilty to the mighty charges on wednesday a formal notice was given by the state court of conveying for a special care in which the terrorist was convicted he raised the question about one of the night when they were presented but at the ins place dont be to watch charges it does save the country and the victims from the ordeal of probably 6 week trial which would have released again the events in a deeply traumatic quality but it remains unclear what exactly the terrorists motivation of ok so what happens now. So whats next is that on the 1st of may the court will convene for a special airing to sit tight for a sentencing because of the intense restrictions on social distancing and the pressure that the court system is under as a result because it might seem pandemic its unclear when that sinks and saying what type life its likely more than a few months down the track. But the sentence itself is likely to be incredibly harsh the last mass murder and you dont stray in 2003 by william bell with 3 people died in one person was seriously injured led to a sentence of 30 years in prison without parole this offense is obviously exponentially worthless so were likely to see an incredibly harsh sentence laid down despite the fact that the defendant changed his play from guilty to not guilty to guilty i know how people there are reacting to this news of a guilty plea. Will the guilty plea has been met with a significant amount of relief around the country particularly that a spokesperson for the Muslim Association of canterbury the area where most victims are said that i think the victims will be away huge weight has been lifted from their shoulders and the Prime Minister of the country Prime Minister a. Response to the shooting was praised around the world since it would provide some relief for the many people whose lives were shattered. Collins until sentencing takes place at the same time as there is this massive relief about the guilty plea theres also been some outrage amongst members of community over the way local media has been covering. And you up until now theres been a norm that the name and its image would be shot as a gesture of respect to the victim but in recent coverage the defendants name and his image have been charred and shown quite significantly which is an issue that new zealand will have to grapple with as to how we have this conversation Going Forward over the weeks and months that we wait until sentencing ok thank you for that pete mckenzie. Well research into the coronavirus a story in tennis wimbledon could be the next sports casualty of the pandemic the tournament to shuttle to begin in late june featuring the top players in the game the all England Lawn Tennis Club is to decide in the coming days whether to perspire no counsel at this years event the french open tournament that was due to start in may has already been pushed back to late september. And players where theyve been does leave the football side down only on burn them have agreed to waive their wages to try and help keep the club afloat during the stoppage caused by the pandemic abundance link it tames have pledged a proportion of their wages go to only Young Players on the 1st 2 for go 100 percent but its unclear how long this is likely to last the clubs managers and other employees are agreed to take pay cuts and bell it was a promoted to the point as they go for the 1st time last season. Ill be back at the top of the hour up next w. C. I have covered 19 special report of a good. Come battering the corona pandemic. Where does research stand. What are scientists learning. Background information and news. Hour daily corona update. Covert 19 special next on d w. This is the w. s covert 900 special from berlin after originating in asia reaching europe and northern america coded 19 is now quickly spreading across the african continent over the weekend the nema craddick republic of congo registered its 1st death from the virus now the country has closed its borders and declared a state of emergency president felix says the country is at war with an invisible adversary public life has been suspended and the country has gone into lockdown closing bars and restaurants and now most flights to and from kinshasa are banned in this covert 900. 00 special were looking at how african countries are preparing for the upcoming challenge on their already Vulnerable Health care systems. Im john thanks for joining us corona virus is sweeping across africa but the true number of cases is unknown as mass testing has not yet been rolled out heres some of the latest information we have for you the number of confirmed cases in africa shot past the 2000 mark on wednesday now the majority of the continents 54 countries have registered infections ivory coast and senegal have both declared states of emergency and south africa will begin a lot down starting thursday. Joining us from abroad seville in the republic of congo is michel yeah hes the Program Manager for Emergency Response at the World Health Organization in africa also here is edwards hes a professor and immunologists at Reading University welcome to you both michelle ill start with you what sort of advisory has the w h o given africa if any. The advisory in fact he went through a different step their 1st step is for iran the containment face is. To prevent local transmission on as much as possible so this helps to detect day. Cases now that we have a serious inc a local transmission on it we have it in more than 15 countries in africa now the nest is a how to scale up quickly to be able to contain the. Situation and also to start preparing for of a mitigation phase nikky guess on phase is equivalent to a Wide Community spread that con is a layer of ice trash they had have this is like what we are seeing now in your European Countries now they are all the jets are also predicting that african countries fell experienced their peak number of infections this summer and now how prepared would you say the continent is you spoke of upscaling the capacity is the shelf. I would say thats the 1st step culture respect from quite well by detecting they sporadic cases thats where important to not freak out but 5 a nest is where we need to mobilize maw and we need more at fault we need more support in most of the african countries because it is a step that they will have to deal with and out of people needing intensive have in their system in many african and for fossett it is you dont have such capacity so they need to think about how to scale it up with for temporary treatment such as how to get assessed or are suggesting provide also rescued out to the mice in how to get access to protective equipment so at this level countries are less prepared because they are locking the ressources most of them have them for up a preparedness and Response Plan but this applies for example is one of the major challenge to fulfill the spot that is utterly gente because we are moving to are they wide contamination in many countries already. Now michelle spoke at there of the white contamination do you alice see the crisis in africa reaching a similar level to what were seeing here in europe how would that look like. I think i think you know thats thats what weve you know ive been thinking about exactly that since way back you know when we were hearing about the outbreak 1st of all and we han in china i think one positive is i think the much work has gone on to try and expand for example diagnostic Testing Services across africa and weve learnt a great deal from programs to tackle big infection has such as hiv and malaria so for example simple Rapid Testing technology is now relatively quick and appropriate to drawl out so we have these sorts of tests here which can be done without in the burra tree theyre not perfect but theyre very easy to scale out what im hoping is that what weve learnt from those kinds of activities those kinds of Public Health activities will help to deal with early identification and early containment in these states but it is a huge problem given that we cant contain outbreaks very effectively in europe i think will be the same in any other country across the world now testing of course a important part of the response to the coronavirus michel would you say that people are taking the gravity of the situation there in africa seriously. I think mos