In the run up to easter coronavirus Restrictions Mean this years celebrations will be more muted. And so again welcome to the program the United States now has more confirmed cases of corona virus than any other country including china overstated 6000 people in the u. S. Have become infected and then the 1300 have died the crisis has hit the American Economy hard fuelling the record unemployment claims and the countrys biggest city new york is struggling. These are desperate days in new york with more than 3 and a half 1000 new cases in the last day alone medical facilities are critically overstretched a long line of worried people will. Outside this hospital in the borough of queens just to be tested for the virus. Almost any scenario that is realistic will overwhelm the capacity of the Current Health care system. Thats why the authorities a trusted please stepping up their response this hospital in manhattan is setting up a makeshift morgue getting ready for a wave of deaths or more thats creepy. Than a temporary mark. If. Im scared to be here. And where were not as. Determined President Donald Trump insists the battle will be won we are waging war in this virus using every financial scientific medical pharmaceutical and military research to halt its spread and protect our citizens and know that we will achieve victory and quickly return to the path of Exceptional Health safety Impreza Perry for all of our citizens other emergency measures include this 1000 bed u. S. Navy hospital ship due to arrive in new york harbor on monday to ease the pressure on the citys own hospitals normally packed times square is now eerily deserted with no tourists in town and to yorkers heeding a government ban on working and socializing in public. A city already in fear knows that the worst is still to come. In washington i asked him about the 2. 00 trillion dollars rescue package due to be voted on by the house of representatives later. Its again an unprecedented money that is urgently needed and as you say its mostly needed as a kind of emergency relief so to compensate 5 people and businesses that are suffering from the situation right now from the lockdowns across many Economic Centers in the United States but if you look at the Health System that puts a killer in the epi center in new york that Many Health Workers there described as catastrophic where french trucks are used right now to store the bodies of patients in the hospitals well that money of course is necessary and would help but only if the necessary material is available and new yorks Governor Andrew Cuomo desperately is calling 440000 when the latest for instance hes also stressing that the Health Care System is running out of supplies very soon so money is certainly not the only problem here its also the fact that the material is not available in the market all of a summit in washington meanwhile the president s of the u. S. And china appear to have resolved their feud over which of their countries started they sat pandemic after President Trump talked about the chinese virus that Chinas Foreign Ministry suggested that it had been brought to chime in by the u. S. Military presence trump should have spoken on the phone and agreed to Work Together to fight the pandemic. This news just in hong kongs government has banned public gatherings of more than 4 people because of think about a virus pandemic meanwhile the chinese territory is teenagers having to study for their graduation exams with their schools closed exams have now been postponed until the end of april so the students of a bit more time to get up to speed but most of them having to attend Classes Online and there are doubts about whether thats good enough. The 1st one the poor what do you see from this one pro love how they all are. Just woke up this it doesnt work i really thought its 11 am and students here is dancing their 1st lesson of the day so is the rest of the world adjust to Online Learning his students in hong kong this is the new normal. Schools were closed in any february no no no after the sense coronavirus cases here are managed in a student can set foot in this classroom for weeks in just a couple of months jason high has built up a database of interactive classes only as from scratch the challenges are already emerging some students he says are treating their time outside the classroom as an extra holiday and sieges a finding they have little way to enforce control in particular worry for those in their final year its all about their motivation to learn to study for some very Good Students ok that would be a good chance for them to stay home law and do the self study period the 4th im watching those students i do afraid about their performance if you dont push them. Maybe i do worry about ok for the resolve that may not be that. These High School Seniors say theyre trying their best to keep. These the most important in films in their lives. But even before the outbreak students here were already facing one of the most challenging lines in memory their final year has been under the shadow. Months of prodemocracy protests with many young people finding themselves on the front lines in the mint and that alone was already taking its toll i think this is because its because we cant be scared by the protests and sometimes we heard of. West there by the polies so its hard to concentrate too so we do not have ropey prayers we suffered but you know you hear from the prior to send her here today sam again so many things are stuck in the us these students have lurched from one crisis to another its putting not just their education but even then Mental Health the rules are when coronavirus cases surged again here authorities delayed the final exams into the end of april but even that may not make up for the challenges faced by the High School Class of 2020 and many a warning this is a year they may not be clean are coming from 0000000 take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the World European Union leaders holding a summit by video didnt have tasked finance ministers with working out a program of support for that economist a battered by the corona virus pandemic they dispense a 6000. 00 negotiations but failed to come up with a solution of their own. British vacuum cleaner maker dyson has developed a new ventilator that can be used to help the most serious cases of Coronavirus Infection found james dyson says hes drawn on his companys expertise in air movement motors and Power Systems and a ventilator can be produced fast and. Governor of tokyo has urged people to wait until next year before they celebrate a Cherry Blossom season traditional this year people comes amid a spike in new coronavirus cases and fears of a wider outbreak tokyo residents are still strolling in parks to view the blossom but signs happy put up brevity parties. For travel restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus mean upcoming villages ceremonies celebrations in jerusalem will be more muted than usual passover is in 12 days followed by easter and then the beginning of ramadan for the city streets and religious sites are already and usually quiet. The old 30 of 2 is the ancient city with its holy sites has to adopt sivia restrictions to. Pandemic. This is a very unusual to see in the area is completely quiet streets are empty shops are closed residents are required to stay home or foreign visitors cannot enter the country anymore. Processions and prayers are being held to ask for the protection of the city and its people. The. Church of the holy sepulcher usually thousands of christian pilgrims from all over the world come to visit what is believed to be this side of the tomb of jesus and his resurrection in recent days the church has been eerily silent except for the monks guarding it on thursday it closed its doors completely to the public like other churches in the old city. Churches have called on people to avoid touching or kissing religious objects some churches have started to light stream their sunday mass and easter celebrations will most likely happen without and you are suppose a few 100 metres from there at the western wall daily jewish worship has also changed tapes separate groups of worshipers gatherings of more than 10 people are forbidden and access to the holy site has now been further restricted only jewish residents of the old city are allowed in the al aksa compound one of the holiest sites in islam has been closed by the Islamic Religious authorities to keep worshipers safe in other mosques people have been asked to pray at a safe distance from each other or to pray at home unprecedented times even for an ancient city like to. Get more from day dubliners a religious fast correspondent martin welcome martin so talk us through how the worlds big religions are dealing with this crisis. Well by and large i mean really just so tory these across the world and certainly across someone on theistic world have actually shut down operations to a large degree and have actually stopped large masses congregating or allowed large group groups congregating that includes of course synagogues churches and mosques there are some exceptions i think that the thing that hes. Interesting to point out is that because religion is one of the ways in which people find solace at time of deep crisis it has not only sort of comes with it we new political power so to say its a place where people that do not find a space or 2 cannot find help in the state because a state simply thats not have the resources now do turn to religious communities these also means that in some cases religious communities have actually the fight. The call to quarantine i mean not only we have seen this in pakistan for instance among the Muslim Community but also we get reports off of and jellicoe communities in the u. S. In which theyre calling people to come into the church to essentially pray and you know present a spiritual lets say a spiritual response to the fires these things because of course extremely extremely dangerous and become a Health Hazard nonetheless it is clear that at a time like this it has to be expected that people will turn to religion. Pope franciss jews who gave his obey at all the blessing today 2 weeks ahead of a state which is not that unusual. Yes i mean there. At a time of crisis its very important for the pope to talk to the city and to the world or to be a daughter we write that many ways and in fact i mean because the church has found itself suddenly in if they dont eventually organization of the sarabi i mean the church is dependent on building the congregations and having essentially been briefed in front of the congregation to minister to the pastoral work. No doubt you can explain to you turn to ways to actually build and help the congregation we have heard many reports particularly coming from the rome about a good morning ratio which is sort of the center of people what he said held an epicenter of the crisis many priests actually losing their license theyre actually going to hospitals are going to be very sick to keep the last rites and to essentially hold hands and hold people through the last moment if their lights are extremely isolated because one of the things that sort of the human tragedy of this weve sights. That the grief of isolation right in which people in their last moments go through so yeah ok religious offense correspondent martin get thank you for that there was a. Quick look at some more often latest developments in the corona virus pandemic 3 months into the outbreak on the total number of cases this past the many if more than 24000 deaths russia has reported its biggest one day increase in infections bringing its total to more than a 1000 and the government has ordered all cafes and restaurants to close for a week and britains largest Supermarket Chain is limiting Online Shopping to 80 items tesco says its to ensure there are enough essential supplies for all of its customers. This is d. W. I. Up next october at 19 a special world news at the top of the hour and of course as always the web site. Of good it. Comes betting the corona pandemic. Where does research stand. What are scientists learning. Background information and news. Hour daily carona update. 19 special and next on d w. How does a virus spread. Why do we panic and when will. Introduce through the tax from cover and weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would like any information on the coronavirus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you get your podcasts you can also find us at. Science. We have a simple message for all countries test test test. A simple message yes a simple solution are not sure and certainly not all countries have been employing it the fight against corona virus has multiple fronts testing tracing infection chains racing to create vaccines and treatments or seeing what already exists and what could be adapted to treat the Novel Coronavirus how should countries prioritize. Im joined on and those are the kinds of questions we want to answer in this d. W. 900 special its the same one scientists and government officials have a grappled with since the beginning of the outbreak now back to the message to test test and test south korea was one of the countries which followed the World Health Organizations advice most diligently and managed to flatten the curve heres how south korea did it. A south korean hospital has created a new system for testing patients suspected of suffering from the corona virus coded 19 after an initial consultation patients enter a booth to have samples taken and talked to a medical technician using an intercom. So young he on had developed a fever and other cold like symptoms and decided to get a test just to be safe. Manyang a border if you dont know that you have it the pandemic sprats even if youre a little anxious its good to have a test at 1st i was scared when i had about it but it wasnt as painful as i thought and it was actually kind of interesting. To do this are the brainchild of dr kim saying gil really designs were quickly put in service on march 10th the booth helped medical workers process patients 10 times faster than the traditional procedure. Its all you got you prior to the introduction of the system patients were treated in large negative pressure aims which take a long time to sterilize them ventilate its inefficient and doctors and nurses have to meet people face to face and were nervous about exposure and tie it this physical separation is safe and enables print examinations. Dozens of hospitals in south korea and abroad have expressed interest in implementing a booth testing system although these prototypes are not scaled for manufacturing dr kim has shared his know how. Testing has been a key pillar to south koreas response to the corona Virus Outbreak seeking to flatten the curve and reduce the number of new cases without implementing a complete lockdown test kits manufactured here have been export to other countries to strengthen their response to the pandemic. Drive through testing has also been an innovative way so 3 has battled the corona Virus Outbreak despite fewer coronavirus cases in so 3 in recent days medical intern part jan sue argues for rapid testing. Of thousands of atoms the number of confirmed persons is gradually decreasing. The most important thing to get rid of the epidemic is to identify the suspect to patients as soon as possible and have them self isolate overseas necessary treatment so if you have even a little fever or suspected symptoms its recommended that you go to the hospital and get tested conducted with some time after examining thousands of patients drive through and booth testing have only uncovered a few cases of the coronavirus but they have offered a lot of reassurance to a nervous population. Joining me now is al edwards he is a professor and immunologist at the university of reading in the u. K. Now south koreas method seems to be working so why arent all affected countries doing mass testing if they can its a really good question i think that the video you just saw gives you some glimpses as to why testing itself is a very valuable tool but its quite labor intensive and it has to be done really carefully because if you do testing in a way that isnt properly and safely controlled there is a risk that you can also spread the virus or put your Health Workers at risk when they take those samples so its a delicate balance and it needs a lot of manpower well because of the complexity of this task we can imagine that not all countries are able to enroll this kind of mass testing what would you recommend for those countries. So i think the most important thing is to spread the resource you have wisely so whats really important is to 1st of all prioritize people who are in hospital and also Health Care Workers because these are the most Vulnerable People and also the most exposed people and by prioritizing the use of your testing results and by using that smartly as possible even if you have limited testing results its still incredibly value and it gives you so much data and so much information about whats going on. What about home testing kits could they help at all yes theres a number of different technologies and tools out there. These can even be a simple i have one here at this little plastic that could potentially be used at home this kind of technology is going to be incredibly useful but it does have to be used very carefully so when you do a lab test you have the best possible accuracy if you do a home test theyre not quite as accurate but theyre more convenient so you have to make sure that you use the best possible science and medical practice to use these tests effectively rather than just using them without proper consideration now testing is of course one issue but how much of an issue is for example Global Access to vaccines and treatments going to be are we in danger of seeing a 1st conference or of the prochoice which could prioritize rich countries for example. Yeah and i think thats already happening to a degree with testing even the better off countries are getting 1st access to Testing Technology and unfortunately i could see the same thing happen with their opies theres some really good news and some positive news which is that people seem to be incredibly open to sharing the information they have about improved treatments and thats vital so everybody has that knowledge but whether we can see the same sharing of resources im not so sure about whether that resource in terms of ventilators or when vaccines start to be manufactured whether people will share them around im not sure whether thats going to happen well have to see. Information sharing as well as resource sharing its going to be vital thank you very much al edward he is a professor an immunologist at the university of reading in the u. K. Thanks for your insights now vaccines seem to interest many of you as youve been sending us your questions in the last few days our science correspondent Derek Williams has some answers for you take a look. Why will it take so long to come up with a vaccine the problem with developing any pharmaceutical product is that it has to go through an exhaustive Testing Process with the vaccine you 1st have to identify good potential candidates and that when astonishingly quickly this time within weeks of identifying the virus and sequencing its genome researchers begin talking about candidates but thats just the start you next have to test your candidate for safety usually you do it 1st in animals and then in increasingly large groups of humans but only after a candidate has proven Safety Developers usually begin looking at actually how effective it is so even if and when your candidate fulfills all of those criteria you still have to ramp up production to manufacture hundreds of millions or even billions of doses now there are ways to speed the entire process up a little bit for example by by running some of those trials in parallel rather than one after the other but that approach has drawbacks to and thats why most experts usually predict that we wont have a vaccine were ready to distribute on a wide scale for at least a year and a half. Why do people talk so much about the vaccine is it medication more important. Medications are of course important for limiting the impact of the virus on patients around the world but long term to defeat the disease we need whats called herd immunity and the best way to get that is through vaccines if we dont develop vaccines experts currently estimate that between 50 and 70 percent of us would have to get covert 19 before herd immunity kicked in and stop the pandemic naturally but along the way it could potentially kill millions of people so a vaccine offers a safe alternative to achieving immunity in a large percentage of the population and thousands of prevention is really. Worth a pound of cure thats why although treatments are very important long term that scenes are even more so is that research on how existing drugs affect 19. A range of potential drugs that might one day help treat kovac 19 are being trialled around the world but we dont really have many results for any of them so far the World Health Organization is looking at 3 candidates in particular that have shown some promise 1st its examining the effects of a stablished antimalarial drug song coronavirus symptoms that each oh sponsor trials are also ongoing for combinations of antivirals that have already been approved for treating a hiv and finally one of the most promising substances is a compound called rendez if here it was originally developed as a potential treatment for ebola but it didnt work out for that disease as well as hoped retrospective testing however showed that it did affect replication in the summers byron says so hopes are high that it might also affected that pathogens close relative the new coronavirus the best thing about all of these candidates is that most or all of the development has already been done for them so production could be ramped up quickly if they did prove effective and these Clinical Trials we should know soon if any of them or. Before we let you go we step away from the sobering world of tests and vaccines to indulge in lighter fare one restaurant in hanoi has created the Corona Burger so far only available in vietnam but it looks set to take off the world wide its a beef burger in a green tea stand by her shaped by the Restaurant Owner is there lighted with his creation he says business is good i know hopefully remind customers to wash their hands before eating. And there are swiss confectioners reminding us of the season but also of the times but Chocolate Easter bunnies a decorated with little face masks. And that was our d w 19 special for more do check out our social Media Channels im joined now thank you for watching and stay healthy everyone. Until africa. In the morning shes a student in the afternoon a reporter. There tamar works on. Her free time she goes out and reports on ecological issues in her home country south africa it makes me aware and it makes them wants to join us for. What keeps us in shape what makes us see. My name is dr. I talk to me because. Watch them at work. And i discuss what you can do to improve your health. And lets try to stay. In 60. In the light of climate change. For cosmic. Whats in store. For the future. Or to make your city hall to get insight. Into your. Personal drama competition rivalry marketing numbers atmosphere power fight intuition love hate money millionaire fans fans fans and and fans. On you tube joining us. Its no secret that our planets resources are dwindling and the Climate Crisis is real thats why ill show. Off as ideas on how we can protect our environment welcome to the show im now its high in lagos nigeria. And a one welcome for me sandra teen a different compiler here in uganda the padova