Undermine the European Union and fighting to brussels scare tactics explores the citys unusually quiet streets as lawmakers in the European Parliament to beat a package to help keep the e. U. Economy afloat during the crisis. Im sorry kelly welcome to the program the u. S. Senate has unanimously approved the biggest stimulus package in the countrys history to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic the package is expected to be approved by the house of representatives on friday and comes as the number of infections soars with the u. S. Looking likely to become the pandemic flu epicenter Many Health Care workers say they dont have the supplies they need. Alone. A line of drivers all waiting to be tested for the corona virus this is florida but the queues are getting longer right across america. 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 weve cared to come to walk by being scared we are trained conceive modern and were committed to doing mad doc to say hospitals nationwide are 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 that the National Shame the u. S. President donald trump downplayed the dangers of a pandemic flu 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 where we want to go the timing and essentially were referring to the timing of the opening. Essentially 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 business is heating owners hard this restaurant is trying to keep going by serving takeaways but owner on mint owns 2 of eateries and pays 12000. 00 a month just in rent. Hes had to lay off most of his 25 staff. This just taking it all as 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 its 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 lap. A small team does the cooking. Very scared owner tom stop it is struggling to make sense of whats happening here in hollywood he has to pay rent of a 1000. 00 a day. Im concerned. All we can do is help each of them help each other and hope for help from washington. All we can do is help each other well the Coronavirus Crisis has seen the European Union countries closing their normally open borders and putting domestic needs ahead of a coordinated response the return to National Reflexes is a development that germanys president from fatah steinmeyer has criticized he says that there needs to be more solidarity 9 does kind of this virus doesnt have a nationality and the suffering doesnt stop at borders but you can have a neither should we. Scientists around the globe are working together to find a vaccine treatment and counter strategies but. The better politics business and science Work Together now the sooner we will succeed with us giving. Our future doesnt lie in isolation but in sharing knowledge. Was germanys president there russia has used more than a dozen military planes to carry medical aid to italy supplies to help combat the coronavirus pandemic were dispatched following a plea from italys Prime Minister but there are concerns that russia is using aid as a Political Tool to gain influence in the e. U. This footage of Russian Military planes landing in italy was sent directly to us and to many other Media Outlets by the Russian Defense ministry in an operation dubbed from russia with love moscow has provided italy with special disinfection vehicles medical equipment and around 100 military specialists they reportedly have 1st hand experience fighting outbreaks of other Infectious Diseases. Russian authorities may be keen on showing off their aid operations but in moscow not everyone agrees with the governments policy even if so far only a few 100 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in russia itself and that we should have everyone here but we need to help our own country 1st. We have to help everyone we can whether its syria or its a little more because the good the river out welcome back to us. Makes me wonder does russia have enough ospital its just russia period start to snuff what you will which i dont understand why we are helping europe was it your. Butt on state t. V. For aid from russia and china is presented as a moral victory over the e. U. This is essentially a collets of the european idea of a transition to a different political culture and to change values all those pretty words about solidarity mutual support Company Values humanity and human rights they are all gone with the wind. Nina while in brussels officials are pushing back against criticism that countries arent helping each other enough i would help if we. Look at that from a controversial point of view china was helping to pass chinas helping india president russias not being affected thank god for them and hes in a situation that can bring hope to one of the countries in europe which is the most affected in italy critics accuse moscow of pursuing a hidden agenda offering aid in return for rome support to lift sanctions against moscow but the kremlin spokesman insists that all russia is trying to do is help. And here are some more of the latest developments in the current virus pandemic 3 months into the outbreak and the global death toll from cova 19 related illnesses has now passed 21000 russia is halting all flights into and out of the country from friday and moscows mayor has ordered the closure of all shops except Grocery Stores and pharmacies from saturday russia has also reported its 1st 2 deaths from didnt have disease and iran is banning travel between its cities the government fears a 2nd wave of infection. The japanese government is banning arrivals from 21. 00 European Countries and setting up a Coronavirus Task force as it warns that the epidemic could spread rapidly and widely 40 new cases have been confirmed bringing the countrys total to 1300 but japanese people have been slow to get the message about curbing the spread of the virus. Enjoying the outdoors people in tokyo have been taking to the citys parks to soak up the spring weather and admired the seasonal Cherry Blossom crowds gather in public spaces despite appeals by the authorities to help contain the corona virus outbreak. We want to go to more still like there are more people here than i expected so the it was right policeman might come and tell us to leave if its. Understood. That you have a small good thing like being inside the house for a long time so it is clear to be outside. It healed mind. On thursday came a stern warning from tokyos governor urging people to avoid nonessential outings the middle q is that a crucial juncture it faces the risk of an explosive spread off the coronavirus. The call immediately prompted residents to queue up at supermarkets to stock up on food and supplies. It will be clear this is a person who couldnt get anything i was so shocked i had to come out again im glad i was able to buy things today. With packed crowds moving from tokyo as parks to cash registers warnings of a looming National Crisis have grown all the louder. And we spoke earlier with the tokyo bureau chief of the Washington Post simon den year and asked him why the global message about social distancing wasnt getting through in japan. Well so far japan hasnt seen the kind of excel aeration in coronavirus cases that weve seen in so many other countries many European Countries in the u. S. So people havent felt the coronavirus was as much of a threat the government had taken a fairly soft line up until now it had been doing beijing a lot of recommendations it did close schools but that was about it people were still commuting and as you said last week it was incredible everybody was held in the streets how an army Cherry Blossom viewing very popular there were there was an indoor martial arts event where thousands of people gathered in the stadium there were thousands of people to see the olympic torch north of tokyo it was as though nothing was happening and compared to the sort of scenes we saw weve seen in europe and in the us it was pretty incredible for us it was like sense of unreality and then in the last few days im afraid all props fortunately reality has struck home the number of cases is rising and the government is finally beginning to warn people that this cant go on and that was simon down year tokyo bureau chief at the Washington Post speaking with us earlier the European Parliament in brussels is debating special measures to cushion the Economic Impact of the pandemic measures include a stimulus package and a proposal to set up a Natural Disaster fund to help Member States stressed Public HealthServices Like most european cities brussels is in lockdown but you can still ride your bike as he that he is gay or mattis does every day. Its week 2 of the lockdown in brussels i barely recognize the streets on my way to the city center. No traffic jams no tourists and most employees of the e. U. Institutions all working from home. Everyone is told to keep a distance of one meter and a half between themselves and other people outdoor exercise however is still allowed even recommended among members of the same Family Living together or with a friend. I hope that it doesnt get any structure simply in terms of managing the family being able to use the park being able to give us an exercise to just us to see if they have to change things and impose a total lockdown well have to accept it. Maybe some people take advantage of the freedom we still have. Using speakers in cars and even Drones Police are stepping up checks and surveillance in public spaces hundreds of fines have been handed out im told many to young people we know and im not sure if children too we know they like to have the social contact we understand it that they have to listen to what they have to do and what they cannot do so they have to respect it as well so what about Police Officers themselves to to what extent are they concerned if some of them are kind of tired because you not only have to worry about the citizens but also about your family because you have contacts with everybody thats what many cashiers tell me to taxi class barriers have been installed and a limit of one customer potential metres of retail space has been imposed food deliveries are still possible and public transport is still running in belgium but there too a limit of 5 passengers on Small Business and 12 and bigger ones applies in belgium the peak of this epidemic has not yet been reached and many residents expect that the current lockdown will be extended. Well meantime brits stuck at home are being offered a temporary solution to their coronavirus lock down a pub in a box london beer maker signature brew is boxing up cans of different beers along with classes snacks and even a pub quiz for people missing a night out of the company is delivering the boxes to customers homes in a bid to keep its businesses afloat and thirsty drinkers. Youre watching t. V. Good news up next is the w. s covert 19 special report and dont forget you can get all of the latest news and information around the clock on our website thats a d w dot com you can also follow us on social media im sarah kelly and for lent thank you so much for joining us c. C. Combating the corona pandemic. Where does research stand. What are scientists learning. The global corona crisis you can find more Information Online at d w dot com and on t. W. Social Media Channels. This is the w. s covert 19 special from berlin after originating in asia out reaching europe and northern america covert 19 has now quickly spreading across the african continent over the weekend the new. 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 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 lockdown starting on 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 different steps their 1st step is for iran the containment face is. To prevent local transmission on as much as possible so this helps to detect they. Cases now that we have a serious single local transmission on it we have it in more than 15 countries in africa now the nest is how to scale up quickly to be able to contain the. Situation and also to start preparing for me to guess on face guess one face is something equivalent to a wired community as spread that con is a layer of ice trash they had to 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 now how prepared would you say the continent is he spoke of upscaling the capacity is the shelf. We set out the 1st step culture respect from cloud 12 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 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 their follow up at preparedness and Response Plan but the supplies and 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 their 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 that 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 in 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 a laboratory 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 8 important part of the response to the current virus michel would you say that people are taking the gravity of the situation there in africa seriously. I think most of the. National party to is taking it seriously if we look at all the states often meant to see declare is on that we will start to recall in many african countries that out thinking in serious you nest is reality for they hold population on and im not sure thats a they have.