Beginning of a of an epidemic like this that the hope is actually that as they did in the sars epidemic that youll be able to get on top of it early and fairly fast and be able to squash it to actually wipe that out that i think that that the show is still saying that thats ultimately obviously the goal but now German Health authorities have moved way past that and they are looking at possibly this peaking in june to august those are those are the the numbers that they that theyre that theyre coming up with and theyre saying that it is going to in fact thousands more in the country so theyre essentially saying you know were not going to be able to stop the operate we can only really slow the spread of it at this point well and thats and thats the ultimate goal right now at this point its about slowing things down because there is obviously theres no vaccine thats going to take the experts are saying 18 to 24 months to develop there arent really in the antivirals although there are some hopefuls in the pipeline being tested in places like. China. Antivirals that were developed actually for other diseases that might possibly actually also show an effect on the corona virus but the ideas until we have those kinds of tools and tell we have those kinds of vaccines were going to have to work with basically living with the symptoms and what that means is that in terms of saving the system from crashing stopping it from crashing youre going to have to slow down the number of the infections as much as you possibly can and that will then of course relieve trying to relieve the strain on the Public Health system ok michelle i want to come back to you now because there has been some criticism of the German Government and how it has handled these decisions that you know as you mentioned many of these decisions are being handled by local authorities and actually i think i see in the pictures now i believe that i guess is some movement there in the press center so i just wanted to and i think i see the chance are walking in with the Health Minister so were michelle will come back to a little bit were going to listen in to this press conference now. Right just before they get started talking we see the Health Minister and the german chancellor there and theyre just about to take a seat and as we as michelle i was saying we havent heard so much yet from the german chancellor on the coronavirus 2 yen spawns right there is a lot of you know hes the head of the robert cock institute thats germanys federal agency for disease prevention as youre saying derrick this is germanys Public Health body one thats been especially a vocal in this crisis it has been it has been and its basically what theyve been saying all along is that we need to prepare we need to prepare at the same time they are they are reminding people that 4 out of 5 people who get this disease have mild symptoms so theyre trying to diffuse the panic to some extent but theyre very very interested at this particular point in getting germany obviously wanting all right lets listen it up to be here for the right to locking them to fit in thats just that. We would be out of the room can also see us and campbell. And that we can see it and in the audience id like to ask you to take your seats at this point. Because you back that menus well it could be in pretty colleagues i would like to welcome you to this press conference after the Video Conference that we had yesterday of the European Council id like to welcome the german chancellor to talk to im going to matt cook the German Health minister. And. The head of the robert carr institute and the chancellor would begin ladies and gentleman. Yesterday evening i suppose it was Late Afternoon we had a conference with the European Commission president of the 109 and the president of the central bank Christine Legarde etc. And with the heads of State Government and i would like to just inform you about this conference. We obviously discussed the whole question of the coronavirus that was the focus of our Video Conference and just as an aside it was the 1st Video Conference of the heads of State Government so you can see that digitization a new forms of communication have even reached as we discussed a number of different issues the 1st was the question of containment of the danger emitted by the corona virus the virus has reached europe it is here and we all need to understand this and the response that we put in place to a virus that we dont sufficiently understand so far one that we havent got any vaccines for. So the standard for our Political Action comes from what scientists and experts say to us which is why its so important to me that its not just the German Health minister sitting here today but the institute which is the Government Agency for Disease Control the robert carr institutes head is here professor. Now youll be aware of the fact that the German Health minister has regularly. Informed you about the results of the discussions with the institute and you will see that from week to week as things change and our system its become clearer and we have new insight we keep you posted but its important to know that once the virus has arrived and we do not have immunity in the population at all to this virus and yet there is no option for vaccination also no treatment option that a High Percentage of experts say 60 to person or maybe 60 to 70 percent of the population will become in. Vectored if this is the situation. And in the meantime well be working on treatment. Since being aware of this fact and aware of the fact that there are. Vulnerable groups of the populations people with existing ellis older people who can have a more serious case of this virus if they catch it means that our approach has to be defined by ensuring that our Health System not be overwhelmed but rather that we have to be able to deal with the options we have in the Health Care System to ensure that we slow down this spread of disease and this is why all of the measures that were putting into place are crucial because they gain as time so its not the case that it doesnt matter what we do its not the case that its hopeless even though the advice that we give you as to how we should proceed are oriented always on the question of how we can ensure that our Health Care System is not overwhelmed as we tackle this virus. So 1st and foremost its about gaining time. And we will also have to set priorities its important that all of the state levels can work the Law Enforcement authorities the Defense System the political Decision Making bodies we also have to ensure that the Health Care System works that medical personnel can work and let me express my huge gratitude at this point to so many who are already working so hard in the Health Care System today then we have to ensure that we maintain our Economic Life as well and so in the question of what can we do to slow the spread of the virus while we have this prioritize ation on the one hand and. This is why whether or not a Football Game takes place whether without an audience without spectators if we can contribution ensuring that people who are old people who are sick maybe are protected from this disease by ensuring that no spectators go to a Football Game as hard as it is for fans thats what we need to do and this is why the recommendations that the German Health minister has pronounced namely that events with over 1000 people should be cancelled but even below the 1000 mark there are things that we can do to contribute to slowing down the spread now we know that across europe. People are being affected by this virus every european country is impacted on by this fire is differs in terms of the extent and this came out of Video Conference and let me say to our friends in italy at this point who are most strongly impacted on by the virus at the moment the reports that were getting from italy the statements from the medical staff as well who are working almost at the level of being overwhelmed this is very hard to see and we send our best regards to both the political level of the health level but also the ordinary people in italy and we very much hope that the harsh decisions made there will help improve the situation one thing that came out of the Video Conference is that we need to coordinate closely the Health Ministers will be doing this on the ministerial level and the undersecretary level they are in contact every day the European Commission will ensure that renowned view ologists form a group of experts to constantly offer. Advice as to how europe can respond to this virus in a unified manner its not about europe closing off to everyone else its ensuring that hopefully no Health System in the European Union is overwhelmed this leads to the question of the medical equipment theyve been many. Weve had a great deal of demand for this because we have introduced export. Approval. But that doesnt mean that were not exporting anything anymore we just want to scrutinize exports and make sure that it goes to the right people who really need it so thats what thats about. We also need to focus on research i called for the alliance seppi which looks at the research on vaccinations that we support them and that all of the european capabilities that we have regarding the vaccine native germany has very quickly. Freed up money 140 millions from its budget to quickly drive forward this Nation Program the other aspect is the impact on the economy all of the things that have happened here you know this from hotels trade fairs catering all of these things are being impacted on economically by this virus and this is why its important to have a cold war didnt ated approach with which each member state has to contribute and the German Government has acted very quickly here you will heard about the introduction of the short time work compensation which we had during the wake of the financial crisis we have a good Social Security system which will act as an automatic stabilizer weve got the act on the infection. Crisis which looks at this and then theres continued wage payments made in the case of sickness and we will be freeing up money. Not least through the reconstruction loan agency k f w so we will be. Showing ourselves up against this problem economically we will remain flexible. And one important conclusion that came out is that the benefit regulation will be flexible and theyll be a Corona Response Investment Fund on a new level which will carry a permit which will have to 25000000000 yours. To support things that now germany is a federal country which means that decentralized approaches to problems in one federal state can be dealt with on the ground which is an advantage of this is why the new challenges that mayors are facing that the local Health Authorities are facing i want to say youve done well with this but federalism is not there for passing the buck federalism is there for everyone taking on responsibility for what theyre responsible of were going to have a conference of state premiers we need to coordinate our approach in each of the federal states so that the situation is dealt with in the same way no matter where. Which federal state it is and i think we would do very well from a National Level to a region level and a local level to ensure that the recommendations that we have received not least from the robert carr institute to ensure that these are put in place so we find ourselves in a situation in which there are many things we do not know and what we do know we need to take very seriously we have to exert every af. It will take every measure that is necessary this is true for the German Government and everyone with political power but it is also true for our citizens 83000000 people who live in this country because its about protecting older people people with previous conditions a vulnerable group. And for this we need to ensure our solidarity we need to ensure that reason government things and we have to have a heart for these people as well and i hope that we will manage to stand this test very well minister thank you madam chancellor ladies and gentlemen our top goal remains containing the spread of this virus in germany and in europe to slow it down so that we do not. Endanger our Health Care System i said this on monday and in my statement on wednesday this is. Driving all of this issues that were making