Deserted as the curfew came into force more than 30 cities across the country are affected plus. The champion a mountain biker in france who is helping his community cheer and walked out and hes back on his bike to provide a personal Delivery Service and shopping for anyone who needs that. Im kyra trades and welcome to the show we began here in germany where the federal president has urged the german people to show solidarity during the coronavirus pandemic in a rare televised address a friend asked the germans to do their part by staying home over the long easter weekend his speech also looked beyond germany to the Global Response to the pandemic. And will we surge worldwide for a joint way out of the crisis will we fall back into isolation and unilateralism tile and lettuce pool all of our knowledge and all of our research so that we can find vaccines and treatments more quickly. And lives ensure within a Global Alliance that the poorest and most Vulnerable Countries also have access. Ninetys and know this pandemic is not a war. To not stand against other nations soldiers against soldiers rather this is a test of our humanity. It is bringing out both the best and the worst in people so let us show each other the best in us. And let us show that in europe as well. Germany cannot emerge strong and fit from this crisis if our neighbors are not strong and fit as well. It is not without reason that this blue flag is standing here 30 years after german unity 75 years after the end of the war we germans are not merely asked to show solidarity we are obliged to do so isnt it so for listed well for more im joined by d. W. Political correspondent hans brandt urging solidarity from germany to other European Countries do we know in concrete terms what mr meyer means by that. Well i think you can interpret his reference to the war rhetoric rejecting the war rhetoric as a kind of criticism of donald trump in the United States of other european leaders such as the french president a man who unlike or who has been using this kind of bellicose language. Is also responding to the fact that here in europe the 1st response to the corona crisis was a very nationalistic one a nationalistic impulse borders were closed the export of medical equipment was prohibited here in germany as well and he sees that as the wrong way of dealing with this crisis hes calling for concrete solidarity for instance there are hundreds of patients from italy and france covered 9000 patients being treated in germany but hes also i think referring to a much higher level in this discussion within the European Union as a very acrimonious debate going on about how the rebuilding of the yukon in me in europe can be financed and germany as the richest country in europe is very much in the focus of this discussion and there to shine my i think is calling for solidarity but chancellor Angela Merkel has addressed the public several times on this topic and she is the one with the power to make decisions why is president steinmeyer choosing to give best interest now. Yes indeed it is a very rare occasion its hardly happened ever before partly it has to do with the function that the president has and German Society his function basically is to talk to talk to people to talk to themselves to the society to meet people to shake hands as it were all of that is not possible now and khurana times and i think theres also a sense of a bit of a religious impulse playing a role here steinmeyer is a practicing christian and i think is appealing to other christians that under these circumstances they cannot meet in their congregations that have to stay at within the easter holidays in the east. Weekend a lot of people would like to go outside to meet the spring as it were to enjoy the spring time and hes calling for discipline for people to remain inside thats right we heard steinmeyer urging the public to show solidarity and play their part by staying home so how are germans coping with this crisis and. I think one has to say these things have been going pretty well in germany so far the social distancing has worked well even though the restrictions here in germany are not as strong as severe as they are in other countries in europe one is allowed to go out on the streets in pairs of 2 people and people have been sticking to that but everyone has been saying the proof comes this weekend comes these easter holidays if people stick to these rules now then there is a chance of things being relaxed within the foreseeable future. Political correspondent thank you for that. The United States has overtaken italy to become the country with the highest death toll from the coronavirus pandemic a tally by Johns Hopkins university it shows the us with more than 20000 deaths chicago and other cities across the midwest are bracing for a potential surge in victims Public Health experts have warned that the number of u. S. Deaths could surge to 200000. 00 if the current lockdown in most states is lifted after one month. In an effort to slow the spread of coven 1000 in turkey the government has imposed a lockdown for some 31 cities across the country the measures came into effect on friday night at midnight and is expected to remain in place of her 48 hours the quick implementation of the shutdown it took many by surprise and caused confusion in many cities including ankara and istanbul. Taksim square at the heart of istanbul completely deserted its an extremely rare sight in a lively city with some 16000000 residents and the Strict Lockdown will remain in place for the entire weekend all shops even supermarkets about to close only pharmacies and bakeries are allowed to make deliveries the lockdown came into force on friday night just 2 hours after it was announced in many places long queues formed quickly outside shops videos posted online showed scenes of turmoil in some markets panic buying customers crammed into close contact many people clearly angry about being given little or no notice of the shutdown by the government that was also criticism from istanbuls mere. On twitter he wrote that the measures also took him by surprise. Probability it would have been much better if the government had coordinated with us were sad that this happened where did i ask all citizens to please remain calm. Turkey is currently seeing a sharp rise in the number of covert 19 infections latest figures show some 4800 new cases daily the hope is that the shutdown will slow its spread of a more d. W. Dorian jones and joins me from istanbul why are we seeing a last minute today curfew just for the weekend well. Measure was taken at the behest of turkey scientific which is monitoring and leading the campaign against his pandemic but the way it was carried out the curfew is a center of major controversy given the fact that people only had around 2 hours notice it was then clear what the parameters of the curfew would be and it resulted in panic buying and the scenes of violence in some cases and just general term more than shock of course is terrible turkeys largest city and many other cities in the blame games already started talking to syria minister sort of and so you know who the order was given up under his name said this was his decision he pointed the finger at the presidency and that is a sign that there is some discord within the ruling party over the way this whole incident was handled even though there was these growing calls for these measures of curfew to be introduced even by. Immoral but the way it was carried out i think has one little few ports in the country so were seeing a panic buying and clearly one consequence of the last minute announcement were overcrowded supermarkets and the like are there others saying that the measures are counterproductive. Well i think that certainly is a criticism because there have been these widespread calls for social distancing as there has been for a while to globe and it has been pretty much largely followed by turkish people especially in istanbul and many other cities but when you had these people faced with the fact that they had to have to shop of in the space of 2 hours at that very late night when most shops or closed people discarding social distancing in a desperate effort to get urgent supplies for the weekend and that really has led to a lot of concerns that this could lead to a further spread of the virus when these measures are into containing. So we know turkey is seeing a steep upturn in the number of new cases of coronavirus how is the Health System coping. Well that is certainly a big question the Turkish Health ministry is saying that they are coping with the demands of this virus they say that theyre operating at only 63. 00 capacity they still are plenty of room to deal with more demands that are expected to come in the coming days and weeks now its very difficult to independently verify this the few doctors that have spoken out in the initial days of the virus criticizing measures have faced sanctions and it has been largely silent since then we have heard anecdotal reports on social media of people being turned away from hospitals but this is impossible to verify but the fact is that turkey does have a pretty good medical system the turkish presidency has invested heavily in both the private and the Public Sector but the the evidence is be sure that even those the most Adults HealthService Systems in the world are elsewhere to struggle when faced with the demands of the time. But are in jones in istanbul thank you very much for. The time to take a look now at some more coronavirus news from around the world aid organizations have begun to distributing facemasks and information in yemen after the country recorded its 1st case of covert 1000 on friday aid organizations are alarmed at a possible widespread outbreak in the country describing it as a nightmare scenario in a country already suffering from one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises. Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has extended a nationwide lockdown by 2 more weeks to slow the spread of the corona virus it was due to end next tuesday so far the number of deaths and infections has remained relatively low but there are fears a surge would overwhelm the Nations Health care system. The honduran military has staged a reenactment of the crucifixion of jesus at an army base in the countrys capital the easter tradition is usually performed in front of an audience but this year with the country currently in 1000 locked down the event was only broadcast on state television. Well france has been under lockdown for almost 4 weeks and for the countrys Elderly Population going out to buy food it can be stressful but in one rural area a champion mountain biker is hand helping helping them out devotion mountains in eastern fronts. And bike World Champion rider christophe but tough calls the area home since francis coronavirus lockdown hes been providing a Delivery Service to his community. We know we. Have received food orders over the phone from those in need especially the elderly once the order is taken he gets ready to hit the road as soon as possible all of the video of this with the advantage is that by using an electric bike i can take Forest Trails and paths to go as quickly as possible to see isolated and vulnerable people. Francis lockdown came into effect on march 17th and since then only essential Services LikeStores Selling food have been allowed remain open the 1st stop today for better is the local bakery. Bread in tow but his back on his bike cutting through the mountain tracks to drop off his 1st delivery to 2 elderly women. Christine and jeanette are delighted with the Home Delivery of fresh great. Old people need to be looked after my mother still kicks in she needs bread and fresh projects hes already stopped by before we often need something from the bakery ok theres not much time to chat to stuff but needs to get going to his next delivery and with no end in sight for now to francis lock down the service he provides will no doubt keep him busy and fit. Taiwan is one of the few areas of the world where professional sports are resuming amid the coronavirus pandemic its Baseball League season began on saturday but with no fans watching there was a different atmosphere. Robot drummers bumped out of the China Trust Brothers stadium while cardboard cutouts of fans replace the real thing at the club tried to give the players at least a small flavor of the match to experience baseball is hugely popular in east asia but unlike taiwan south korea and japan have not yet set a date for his option of play. Thats the latest from v. W. News im Clare Richardson for more news at the top of the hour join me again at the top of the hour thanks for watching. Beyond. The stories that. Really. Whatever it takes. You know running. A really good job you made for mines