Far . One has to say that the german public has been very patient in accepting many of the restrictions. And as we just saw in that report, people on the street also feel that the restrictions are correct, that there should be tightened even further. Possibly, the recent poll suggests that 2 thirds of german germans at least support these measures. In other words, we can expect that the measures will meet with approval. Whether that will actually lead to reduction in the infections is not clear yet at the moment. You know, we talk about flattening the curve. Whats happened at the moment as the curve has been flattened in germany, but at a very high level, the experts talk about a plateau in the curve and thats obviously too high. The hospitals are still under pressure. So it seems that such increased restrictions are necessary while taking into account where you have just referenced. It makes it difficult to understand why exceptions are being made for christmas. How does the government justify that . Theres, i think there is, in a sense, a little bit of a carrot and stick policy involved here. People are being promised that they can celebrate christmas, which in germany is the most important family time of the year that they can celebrate christmas in their families with a fairly large group of people, possibly 10 people plus children. If theyre stick to the restrictions on travel then and that will be until just a couple of days before christmas. So i think the government is trying to tell people you will have the possibility of christmas with your family. You dont need to feel kind of loneliness and isolation in that time, but you have to stick to the rules until then. Right now, hans, the German Government is introducing plans piecemeal. And i was just wondering, are there any signs of a more Long Term Strategy for germany . What one is trying to do is to make it as long term as possible. Recently the law in germany was changed so that parliament has to be informed every 4 weeks or so. Of new measures. And measures can only be imposed formally full 4 weeks at a time. If they are extended beyond that, they have to be re approved by the authorities and parliament has to be informed. But at the moment we are talking about rules that are being extended into january. So there is some consideration already of doing this on a longer term level. At the same time, there is the hope that with vaccines in the offing, possibly the long term doesnt need to be that long. That sooner or later, rather sooner than later, vaccine will be available and the whole situation will be somewhat more relaxed. And i do tell you political correspondent, branch reporting. Thank you. Lets now have a look at some developments in the corona pandemic. The European Union says it has reached a deal with the u. S. Biotech firm were derned out the supply of up to 160000000 doses of its covert 1000. 00 vaccine candidate. Well, the deal will be formally approved on wednesday. Austria meanwhile says its planning to begin. Coronavirus vaccinations in january frontline, Health Workers and at risk groups will be 1st to receive the vaccine. The country hopes to vaccinate at least 50 percent of the population. And malaysia says it will close some factories of the worlds biggest rubber glove maker, because more than 2000 of its workers tested positive for covert 19. Well, as i know about some of the other stories making headlines, this hour. Authorities in france have begun an investigation into allegations of Excessive Force by police as migrants. Police used tear gas and baton is when they dismantled a camp of homeless migrants in the capital, paris, or frances interior minister described images of the incident as shocking. The u. N. Has expressed concern over the safety of civilians in ethiopias to agree region as thousands continue to flee the area after 3 weeks of deadly fighting. The Ethiopian Military and to gray and forces have proved, claimed advances in the past day. Is not yet been possible to verify either side claims. 3 weeks after the u. S. Election, president elect joe biden has finally been given the green light to start the transition process. President donald trump tweeted on choose day that he was directing his administration to cooperate in the handover process was the closest hes come to conceding defeat. Meanwhile, biden has pushed ahead and begun announcing nominations for his own administration. President elect joe biden has officially revealed his picks for the top positions of his cabinet, making a clear shift away from trumps america 1st doctrine. Instead, a lot of familiar faces from the Obama Administration signaling bidens intention to return to a more established approach to interacting with other countries. Bidens choice is a policy veterans like his longtime adviser, anthony blinken, named to secretary of state. He will be tough to beat steering the country back to what the paris climate agreement, the World Health Organization and the iran nuclear deal. The best known of the nominees is former secretary of state, john kerry, poised to become bidens Climate Change envoy from a Federal Reserve chair, janet yellen is to service treasury secretary policy if confirmed she would be the 1st woman to take over this pivotal role and would face a difficult task of shaping u. S. Economic policies at a time when the country is facing a pandemic, and the ensuing recession for the area biden appears to be making good on his Campaign Promise that his cabinet will reflect americas diversity. With his picks for the u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations and the department of homeland security. He also names the 1st woman to become director of National Intelligence wise. But many of bidens cabinet picks will require confirmation in the senate, where republicans still hold a narrow majority. For now at least, but the transition process officially underway. Some of the uncertainty and turbulence of the past weeks seems to be settling down. Well, earlier we spoke to the foreign minister of portugal, the country that will take over the e. U. Presidency in january, and we asked him how he believes the Incoming Biden Administration will change. Transatlantic relationships are too nitty right now with the election of president by them and the appointment of the future. The next secretary of state lincoln with the poor, very poor we will be and paul martin, the politician. So we have to, since the momentum to restore the relationship between the europeans and the americans, those in relationship allies. The problem with the front of the new station was about President Trump treaty. Its, its his european allies. So if they were enemies or adversaries, we are not adverse to reserve america. We are good friends of america, we are allies and the transatlantic bond. The transatlantic link is a very, very important the ground for the stability and the security of the global order. So we have to restore this relationship in a very close way. And of course, the election of joe by them is momentum that i think we are all going to seize. And that was the portuguese foreign minister speaking earlier to us now to colombia. It has produced some top level cyclists over the years, but none of them have a story like lantos, a florida almost a decade ago, lost both his forearms, his right leg, and his right eye in a bomb attack on his family home. Last 2 years of rehabilitation, hes now going for gold at next years tokyo paralympics. When jose florian never imagined himself as an athlete, and least of all, a cyclist swimming is his favorite sport. The military was his choice of career. Will that change though, when he was forcibly recruited as a child soldier by colombias fark rebels, he eventually managed to escape to the army, but not the reach of the rebels whod been extorting his mother. This is the sportswear, an explosive device caused me to lose parts of my party. This is where i lost my arms, my right leg. This is where i lost the vision in my right eye. Here they destroyed me in a single moment. They destroyed me because i was born again. Gloriana was in a coma for 12 days and needed years of rehabilitation. Realizing he had more chances, a cyclist than as a swimmer, he had a bike adapted by engineers. They made him carbon fiber supports for the stumps of his elbows the knee. He changes gears with his chin on a pad on the handlebars, and he breaks with his fly. So i dream of being the paralympic champion, the World Champion and the world cup champion. Thats the biggest ambition i have. So thats why i train and push myself every day. Lorianne says none of it will be possible without the support of his family. His wife, angie is his carer. And shes also his, you know, my family represent my engine of my life, my willpower, my strength, that the support i need to get up in the morning. But i think. d the centerpiece of the Family Living room is what the family called the tree of triumph made by florians older brother. Its already pretty crowded, but no doubt thered be room for one more meadow. The biggest achievement of them all, all inspiring. Now a mysterious monolith has been found deep in the remote red rock area of the u. S. State of utah. Well, the helicopter crew spotted the metal object while counting big corn sheep. The mom, a list stands at about 3 meters high, it appears to be firmly planted in the ground. Theres no evidence of how the monolith got there, but the public believes it was placed by an artist and not an alien. Local police say its illegal to install such structures without a permit, no matter what planet youre from. Youre watching the news from berlin coming up next is our special with the latest on the pandemic, and the vaccines to fight it. And i hope you can at the top and balance the fight against the corona virus. 10 damage has the rate of infection been developing. What does the latest research say information and context . The coronavirus update 19 on t w. How does a virus spread . Why do we panic when well just 3 of the topics covered and the weekly radio show is called spectrum. If you would like any information on the crawl of virus or any other science topic, you should really check out our podcast. You can get your podcast. You can also find us at science you know, the stress of the coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on all of us. Theres the ever present fear that you or a loved one could catch the virus. On top of the strain of having to work from home with normal ways of relaxing and socializing on hold for now, scientists are starting to study the emotional impact the pandemic is having on people everywhere from the oldest to the youngest 1. 5. 1. Missing children, perhaps cant fully comprehend the unusual strain that this pandemic is placing upon them is not normal times for anyone. And the impact is being felt strongly by those who would normally need the most help. The elderly are among the money thing. 3 friends have met up to play cards in leipzig, germany, they are between 70 and one over 90 years old. They all still live in their own homes. They regularly to exercise classes together and made up in a restaurant on sundays. So how do they feel about the contact restrictions . And basically, i dont want to take any risks. I prefer to follow the recommendations. I want take any risks with this research. And of course this is stressful because you become really isolated and very alone. And you need a bit more as of at least i personally need a little bit more company. Just Nursing Homes have had restrictions for a long time. Visits are now limited to half an hour each day. One of this homes residence is lucy, a little. She is 99 years old has 4 children, and shes a grand and great grandmother. They mention excel and really go to sleep. Humans are meant to be social. You can have a good life when you have closeness, when you can hug things that arent possible now. And how think you have to think in the end, i dont care to shake hands with the children. Thats not what youre supposed to do. And thats the hardest part. The see a little man has experienced a lot in her life. Escape from war illnesses and great upheaval, pinocchio lesson. All we can do is stay calm and accept whatever comes our way and the impact of winthrop coming back. The only thing we can influence that is by being considerate to each other. The impact of the coronavirus on the Mental Health of people of all ages is something thats being studied very closely. We can now speak to professor christoph corral from the sherry tate medical school here in berlin. Hes conducting a Major International survey called the collaborative outcomes study on health and functioning during infection times or co fit for short. And i think we need a short version of that. Thank you very much for joining us professor. I mean, whats the aim of your study . Yes. When cofa it actually cooled. It hits the world as we were stunned by it myself and michael saw me the cool v. I. I. And we thought we need to do something to learn from it and feel fortified. So the idea is to state and be fit cool fit during the cool bit and then mc and up and mix trying to understand who are the people who are at highest risk of having poor outcomes from it. And one are coping strategies to actually do well during the pandemic, so that we could learn from india, from individuals for individuals, but also do Something Like that in space. Governance, that politicians and society could learn from what kind of strategies to deal with. Pandemic health, both physical and Mental Wellbeing or actually make it worse. So what sort of thing is you asking people . So you are asking many things. Its a long survey thats a little bit of weakness about 30 minutes for a adults and adolescents and about 15 to 20 minutes for all children age 6 to 13. Were asking them obviously where they live, how they live, where they know someone who is infected or theyve been infected themselves if theyre in karm, teen right now or not. But also do they have a physical or Mental Illness already . And what is the help seeking behavior during the pen demick . Are they getting the medication or they can have a need . And then we also symptoms looking at not full validated scales, but we drew out single questions to b. S. Trans diagnostic as possible having as many mental domains and physical domains we want to cover. And then we already saw that having drawn all just a couple of questions, always on 0 to 10, how much you feel. It is true knowledge that youre anxious, lonely, or stressed, angry. And how was it the 2 weeks before the pandemic hit in order to see a change . And then we also ask about coping strategies, what works the best . And then we want to see people who do well, what kind of coping strategies they use versus those that dont. So that we can actually recommend certain strategies to people who may not use them appropriately. Theyre already send theories on the impacts that their pandemics been having on Mental Health, all the specific ideas that you are trying to either challenge all or prove with this. So i mean, were looking both at no modifiable risk factors which are basically socceroo definitions and modifiable risk factors. So can we do something that we want to change . So for example, how much people go outside, how much they are in contact with other us, is it just personal contact or what about also online contact that is already pretty good. What about telemedicine . That supplements for in person visits and can still maintain well being . So where were testing a couple of also resilience factors. It doesnt resilience change over time, or is it something that youre born with into the pandemic . What about altruism and altruistic behavior change and thereby also improve outcomes . These are all, some of the questions were asking with in looking on the program and specifically the impacts for young people and older people. Are there specific groups that you are expecting to see the pandemic having a lot to impact on . Yes, all are looking at 1st of all, this is an anonymous for the general population, but were very interested in subgroups migrans, pregnant women, women in general, the young, the very old, the people who live alone from Plant Health Care workers. All of these will be examined. We conned if 110000 people across the world, 147 countries, 6 continents to dissipate, we need more people to understand it better. But what weve learned already is that women seem to bear the brunt. They have more stress and more angry, and they also feel somewhat more lonely than males. And particularly, it seems those that have to do triple times going, there are home running the household, but they have to do home schooling and maybe also do a home office kind of work. And it seems that they are much more effect that all theyre more open and honest about it. Because also more women participated in the survey saw will be interesting to see which groups to turn out to be the greater effective professor christoph corral from the sheraton medical school and the co fit study. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. And you can take part in the survey by visiting co fit dot com. They want people from all over the world and its available in lots of different languages. And you can help create a better understanding of the human impact of covered 90. Now is the part of the program where we put one of your questions submitted through how you chip channel to our science correspondent, derrick williams. I would like to know why the Pfizer Vaccine needs to be kept. So very cold, especially since it presumably has to be warmed up prior to administrative. To answer this i 1st have to go over a few basics of cell biology. The vaccine developed by biotech and pfizer is whats known as a messenger r. N. A. Or m r n a backseat l m r n a is a chain like molecule that fulfills a very important function and cells. It contains codes to make proteins and it acts as a messenger between the cells control center and its protein building machinery as hence the name. But the protein, this particular m r n a vaccine that codes for isnt a human one. Its a protein thats made by the corona virus, and when the m. R. N a is injected, it causes your cells to begin making that viral protein. And that provokes an immune response, just as if you caught coke at 19, sending in the Pretty Simple quick to produce more in a code molecules to make these, these complicated proteins and getting the body to do all of the work of producing them. This business, elegant solution to a complex problem. But of course, it cant be all easy. Weve been trying to produce these kinds of vaccines for decades now. And one of the major hurdles has been keeping the m. R. In a stable long enough for it to accomplish its task. After all, messenger r. N. A. Isnt built to last in the cell thats supposed to break down again after its proteins have been produced, not hang around because that would cause all kinds of problems. So lots of the research in the field involves keeping this pretty fragile molecule stable. And one way to do that is to code it in a, in a specially designed molecular envelope and then, and then fine or use it at all to low temperatures. When he thought back out again, the more n a begins to degrade, but its not instantly. The best description ive heard of the process compared these vaccines to chocolate covered ice cream bars with, with the coding, hoping to retain the integrity of the ice cream to some extent, even as it slowly melts. Pfizer and by on tag say that there vaccine, if refrigerated remains stable for up to about 5 days after thawing and modernity, which, which makes the other m. R. And a vaccine can do that. Making headlines at the moment, it says that its doses have a refrigerated shelf life of up to 30 days. He said, as a comment on i do ship channel. So for must stay healthy food every day counts for us and for our planet. The idea is on its way to bring you more conservation, the book. How do we make seduced . Greener . How can we protect animals and their habitats . What to do with the following waste . We can make a difference by choosing reforestation over a g. Force recycling over disposable smart solution. Some oberstein said in a way, its good news truly unique. And we know that uniqueness is what allows us to live in, survive the boom ideas to be a modern mental soup to global 3000. 00 on t w. I dont know if this is state of the news africa coming up on the program 6 talk in africa. The company is making big moves to grow its use of markets on the continent that could regulate his channel through music. Also on the program. More than print of album for people have seen their houses here demoralized as you can see, its just robbers and people who have been here in the neighboring we have a report on this slimy fiction