Orders will remain in place for at least 3 more weeks. Until gail welcome to the program e. U. Commission president jose to form the line has admitted that the bloc was unprepared when the coronavirus pandemic hit and that it failed to help when italy was most in need of more than 21000 coronavirus deaths the pandemics hit italy harder than any other european country and wrote expressed dismay at the use initial response European Countries were slow to send medical aid and some even back on the export of vital medical supplies addressing the European Parliament in brussels i said i found a lot apologize to italy as at the block has now come together as never before to fight a pandemic. Yes it is true that no one was really ready for this it is also true that too many were not there on time when italy needed a helping hand at the very beginning and yes for that it is right that europe as a whole offers a heartfelt apology but saying sorry only counts for something if it changes behavior and the truth is true that it did not take long before everyone realized that we must protect each other to protect ourselves and the truth is that europe has now become the worlds beating heart of solidarity w. s a writ of walker joins us now from brussels welcome richard so was the lion apologizing for mistakes made by the commission by the block by individual countries or just everyone. Well i think it really was something of a collective statement of apology phil certainly because i think there are really 2 levels of these 2 aspects of this is as you were just mentioning earlier there was the one aspect of individual countries kind of going it alone in the early stages of the crisis shutting down borders in uncoordinated ways not helping out with that crucial equipment that italy really needed in the early days of the pandemic when it wasnt ready for what was hitting it in northern italy and on the one side but also on the other side as a whole the system not recognizing just what a danger this pandemic would be so i think all of that is equally important in his love for the Alliance Message here but it is something that she has hammered home a few times over the last few weeks but i think shes now beginning to look to the future because one of the Biggest Challenges to European Solidarity is coming up how are they going to find the money for a huge economic sort of reconstruction plan a Marshall Plan even that theyre calling it to pull the european economy out of the crisis once the outbreak is finally beginning to ebb away and italy will be right at the center of that as well because it isnt just have a problem with the virus it also has a problem with a huge amount of debt so getting it on board in negotiations around how to fund that recovery is going to be really important i think was love wonderland will be quite happy that luigi pretty mio the Italian Foreign minister has welcomed these words from her today. Richard walker in brussels speaking with men in the area now britain will keep its current coronavirus lockdown measures in place for another 3 weeks foreign secretary dominic robb has warned that lifting the lockdown too soon would pose a risk to Public Health and me calling me by allowing the virus to spread he said the relaxing physical distancing would reverse the gains and sacrifices the country has made so far the lock down will stay in place until the death rate for some more testing is available moments ago he laid out the governments plan to keep efforts squarely focused on stopping the spread. Dramatically expanding n. H. S. Combat still in terms of the number of beds can start right saber equipment on the frontline so people can pick. At that point in time to be needed most and thats also. To be able to step to right right across the opportunity to spread to protect the n. H. S. And to save lives straight to the u. K. Capital that debit cards from the shelves of pots is in london a welcome shot so why is the u. K. Extending this lockdown. Well the governments emphasis on at least 3 weeks because the governments conclusion is that the crisis is definitely far from over weve heard secretary for and secretary dominic rob theyre saying very simple message stay home safe lives and they are apparently behind the scenes talking about exit strategies but at this point it would be way too early because the Biggest Issue here in the u. K. Remains testing only about 20000. 00 tests done per day only for severe cases in the hospital and for frontline doctors and nurses at this point so the government has no idea how fathers virus has really spread in the community at this point. The death toll the u. K. Death toll from covered 19 is rising and we know those figures dont include deaths in care homes yet we hear the foreign secretary saying that everyones efforts have paid off. Well thats just not the case yet at the moment the because it is slowly flattening but definitely not going down the u. K. Death toll need to be reaching 14000 today and you mentioned care homes hundreds of people across the country have died in care homes suspected of covert 19 but again the issue of testing no tests are available so these deaths are not on the record yet another issue at care homes at the moment also protective gear and not enough mosques and gloves for the workers there and that really marrows with doctors and nurses at the front lines in the hospitals here they complain that they cant protect themselves and we have now reached a point where over 20 doctors and nurses have died in the u. K. As a result of cope with 19. Dollars a pop said london thank you. And lets take a look at some of the stories making news around the World Bangladesh says its rescued nearly 400 stuff in ranger refuge de jesus whod been drifting for weeks at sea in an overcrowded fishing boat Officials Say they were trying to reach malaysia at least 2 dozen people died during the voyage. South koreas ruling party is one resulting victory in the countrys general election the left leaning Democratic Party of the satellite policy 18300 seats a voter turnout was the highest for 30 years despite strict coronavirus can take measures. Israels president has asked the countries the parliament to form a government after parliament speak up any gaps the Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu missed a deadline to return to deal with a country could not face its 4th election in a year. Im a quick roundup of some other coronavirus developments around the world and you just heard the white house says g 7 leaders of called for a review and reform. Assess of the World Health Organization u. S. President donald trump and chad the Video Conference of the worlds richest economies and so already cut off funding for the Un Health Body the number of infections worldwide has now topped 2100000 the majority of cases are in you are more than a quarter are in the United States of people hospitalized or 4 coronavirus and related deaths in new york before going to them lowest levels for more than a week according to the states governor has extended the lockdown on businesses and schools until at least the 15th of may and the german state of bavaria has announced that the army will october 1st beer festival is unlikely to go ahead this year. But there is actually preparing for a gradual loosening of its lockdown some schools and smaller shops for open in the next couple of weeks physical distancing measures will however remain and chancellor merkel said german efforts to contain the outbreak have been partially successful but the situation remains fragile its been 3 weeks since chancellor Angela Merkel announced the initial restrictions on contact now theyre being largely extended social distancing rules will remain in place until may 3rd groups will remain limited to 2 people and at least 1. 5 meters must be kept from others from may 4th the schools will gradually reopen 1st for School Leavers in primary and secondary education day care will remain shut religious gatherings will also remain banned while major events including germanys beloved football will be called off until august 31st. Meanwhile restaurants cafes theaters cinemas and music venues will keep their shutters down only shops up to 800 meters squared can reopen from monday facemasks are also being recommended in shops and on transport announcing the amended restrictions chancellor Angela Merkel warned against complacency. What weve achieved is an interim success no more no less and i emphasise it is a fragile interim success this is now determined our deliberations that should be no rushing forward even if its with the best intentions we have to understand that as long as theres no vaccine we have to live with the virus. Thats kind them to become in the. Interest of. Controls along germanys land borders with its neighbors in the shank and free travel zone will also remain in place for another 20 days. So how do people in berlin feel about the new measures. Im not surprised and i assume that it will continue on like this. For us its ok easing the restrictions is more difficult than the shutdown its like being on a diet when youre strict its ok but the moment you start loosening the rules is when the danger starts. But theyre looking for the bars in the club again. For now germany will continue keeping its distance. While countries like germany austria and spain look to cautiously ease that lockdown measures others remain in lockdown of course in countries like china south korea and singapore point to the success of their Movement Restrictions which relied heavily on tracking technology so how far should we be willing to give up rights like privacy and freedom to associate for the greater good. He is amnesty internationals a Deputy Director for europe welcome to day w i want to do the speed and severity of the various Movement Restrictions are around the world of course understanding problems. Well indeed that i mean if the International Law is serving with a lot of. Recourse and those are worrying about the new measures that are being introduced that this lets be honest i mean these its measure of the not come as a surprise on this years launch today its a 2009 the. Border for europe and we can already see this science of what this coming through in the report because they the companies that have been the more. The most affected they are more. Prominent in that as of late interview she is surveillance measures and restricting the freedoms at the time of the virus have already being identified in the course of 2015 and in the in the past years in some cases in fact excuse all for introducing Health Measures as being a tool tool or a strict individual freedoms freedom of the press to undermine the judiciary and to the sort of like are ordered by decree as it has happened in some countries its interesting though is that even though that happens its hard to generalize across the whole world but it does look like many of us do not mind losing some rights if we feel that its for the greater good we look at south koreas government just winning a major election victory with its handling of the pandemic which as i say rely heavily on the use of tracking technology. Yes that can be a case of it could be the case in fact it depends its nothing new in europe a lot of countries are being a little. Money put it in fear. Of migration for the stones and thats something. Thats not new that has already been identified in the past in fact i mean the. Question in the water that we have is that we are we missing the creation of the new normal situation is like is this becoming normal i mean we should be careful and im this is always calling for their vision of extra measures to assess whether these are proportional to the to the purposes that they want to achieve being an excuse to expound power without accountability i will leave that question hanging in the are we moving into the new normal for now though. Im just internationals that pretty direct for europe thank you. Michael good evening. Brant goff well you know next to world news update at the top of the hour between now and then of course as always the web site the w dot com all the op ed all from all good stores for a self good day. Combating the corona pandemic. Where does research stand. What are scientists learning. Background information and news. Hour carona update. Covert 19 special next on d w. How does a virus spread. Why do we panic and when will all of this trigger through the tax and weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would like any information on the crown of virus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast so you can get it wherever you get your podcast you can also find us at dot com slash science a. Look at. The World Health Organization is facing growing criticism not just from the u. S. President has the w. H. O. Been handling the pandemic as well as it could or have there been shortcomings before we address these questions lets have a look at what the w. H. O. Is and what is within its record. Help for all that is the primary goal of the world health. Organization 7000 employees work for the Specialized Agency of the United Nations. The w. H. O. Provides guidelines on Healthy Living for example on the prevention of diabetes or the dangers of smoking. The Organization Also set standards such as in Quality Control for food or medicine or with regards to water or air pollution. It promotes the development of Health Systems in developing countries and the production of vaccines. In the event of a crisis such as covert 19 its role does not extend beyond assessing the Global Situation and giving recommendations the w. H. O. Has an annual budget of around 2000000000. 00 to compare the United NationsChildrens Fund spent 3 times that amount in 2018. Welcome to this edition of covert 19 special here on the news im chris its good to have you with us the number of global corona virus infections has surged past the mark of 2000000 and fighting a pandemic in real time makes an accounting of potential missteps difficult but as the outbreak progresses there are people calling upon the World Health Organization to explain past actions in dealing with the coroner virus. And december 31 2019 chinese authorities told the World Health Organization about a mysterious flu like illness spreading in the city of han 2 weeks later the w. H. O. Published a tweet it would be haunted by preliminary investigations conducted by the chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human to human transmission of the Novel Coronavirus identified in china. The next day a man flew from uom to the u. S. Becoming the countrys 1st case it would take another 2 weeks before this statement from the w. H. O. Im declaring a public roads emergency of international concern. Over the global outbreak of cologne of course on our voters cases around the world snowballed at an alarming rate blowing past 2000000. 00 as of today u. S. President donald trump under heavy criticism for his handling of the crisis sought to level blame at the w. H. O. He accused it of failing to hold china responsible and of withholding early Vital Information our countries are now experiencing and look all over the world. Tremendous death and economic devastation because those tasked with protecting us by being truthful and transparent failed to do so dealing with a pandemic in the present makes looking back at past ups difficult past the death toll mounts so do the calls for accountability who should have behaved differently and when the w. H. O. Know me over the world some answers. Now we would have liked to talk to a w. H. O. Representative about this issue but he canceled the interview on short notice so were grateful to be joined by. A Senior Researcher on governance for Global Health at the Berlin Social Science Center welcome to the program ana we just saw in the report it took the w. H. O. One month after it 1st learned about the virus in china to declare an international Public Health emergency and declared the outbreak a pandemic on march 11th was the organization too slow to act. Well i guess we are seeing accusations of inappropriate slow or risky responses to the comet 900 pandemic everywhere and not last with regards to how the u. S. And the u. K. Have been initially dealing with the outbreak so why would we assume that an organization thats made up of 194. 00 Member States that has virtually no sanctioning power a very small budget and a huge mandate is free of the power politics that surround this m pandemic of the power politics that we can witness nationally and internationally so the doubly joe is like all other International Organizations the pending on reliable information from its Member States on contagious outbreaks of contagious diseases and its also heavily marked of course by socalled health the promise the that is attempts by the most influential Member States and that includes the United Nations states and china to push through this the interest not only in times of