A gloomy economical outlook for asia the International Monetary fund says therell be 0 growth of the region for the 1st time since the 1960 fps because of the coronavirus and surviving the coronavirus in the slums of nairobi theyre short of food and social distancing doesnt mean much in those cramped conditions. Hello im terry martin good to have you with us germany is preparing to gradually reopen its schools and allow smaller shops to resume business chancellor Angela Merkel announced the measures wednesday after consulting the leaders of germany 16 states many restrictions will remain in place though as the country continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic the chancellor said the countrys efforts to contain the outbreak had 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 metres 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 theatres cinemas and music venues will keep their shutters down only shops up to 800. 00 metres where it can reopen from monday facemasks are also being recommended in shops and on transport announcing the amended restrictions chancellor Angela Merkel warned against complacency but the. 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 of me to come in. And instill fear. Controls along germanys land borders with its neighbors in the shank in free travel zone will also remain in place for another 20 days. So how do people in berlin feel about the new measures. And im not surprised and i assume that it will continue on like this. First 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 thats what im looking for for the bars and the clubs again the definition. For now germany will continue keeping its distance. Earlier we spoke to Political Correspondent anna welsh i asked her about the governments position on face masks government stops very short of making it mandatory but im going to america highlighted the fact that we are seeing more and more people aware in mosques even without it being made mandatory by the government does of course the example of neighboring australia where people for example are being handed the entrance of supermarkets and since store can only stores here in germany i can only reopen was theyve made sure that their respect social the sensing and hygiene has become very well imagine something similar in that people are on their own will wear masks without it being mandatory all these measures that were announced yesterday be imposed across the country or will german states continue to implement their own rules. Well they will be implemented across the country indeed however this is up to 16 states to be responsibly for doing so for example how we send where schools we reopen to each region each time and stay to the side and of course this will all depend on the evolution of the pandemic east the current stays flat eat a number of infections dont increase and more and more places will be able to reopen and there will be a new evaluation of the situation on a pretty thorough it is but im going to america warned that as long as we will have to live with the virus was no perspective of a vaccine or a cure this wont be back to normality. Emmanuelle thank you very much that was the Political Correspondent and then well shots and heres a quick roundup of some of the other coronavirus developments around the world cases of the Novel Coronavirus topped 2000000 worldwide over a quarter of them are in the United States a study of dutch blood donors has shown that around 3 percent developed antibodies against the virus Authorities Say that suggests several 100000. 00 people in the country may have already had the disease australia will keep locked on restrictions in place for at least another month in the meantime it will expand testing and improve its ability to Contact Trace and several u. S. States of announced rules or recommendations for residents to wear face coverings when they cannot maintain 2 meters of social distancing. Heres a look at some of the other stories making news around the world today the 1st flight carrying unaccompanied children from greek migrant camps has arrived in luxembourg a number of European Countries have agreed to resettle 1600 children from overcrowded camps on greek islands around 50 will travel to germany on saturday activists have criticised you governments for not accepting more. Frances Defense Ministry says almost 700 of the nearly 2000 sailors on board its shoulder goal Aircraft Carrier and escort vessels have tested positive for the corona virus more than 30 have been hospitalized carrier was ordered back to port after an outbreak on board. And partial results from south koreas general election show a landslide election victory for the left leaning governing party the Democratic Party looks set to gain a majority in the National Assembly boosted by an Effective Response to the coronavirus the election was carried out under strict social distancing rules. Israels president has tasked the countrys parliament with forming a government after Parliament Speaker binny gunson Prime MinisterBinyamin Netanyahu missed a deadline to reach a unity deal the country could now face its 4th election in just one year. The i. M. F. Says that the Asia Pacific Region will experience 0 growth this year for the 1st time since the 960. 00 s. Due to the massive economic damage caused by the corona virus and a new report warns that the impact in asia will be quote severe across the board and unprecedented massive drops in industrial and retail activity major supply Chain Disruption and a huge collapse in demand from europe and north america have been felt across the continent since the start of the year. Well clifford couldnt from v. W. Business is covering this story for us and joins us now in the studio good to see you clifford so we know the coronavirus is having a devastating impact impact on economies around the world what are the biggest factors affecting asia according to the i. M. F. Well i think one of the things that weve seen is theres never a good time to have a Global Pandemic but its a particularly bad time for asia as its slowly emerging from a very bruising trade war seeing a lot of slowing growth in the in the regions biggest economy. Also in the other side these days in areas so the i. M. F. Is calling this the Great Lockdown recession and. You know its the worst the worst in 6 decades as you say so what were seeing is china and then also the global slowdown these 2 factors together really causing havoc with asian economies now you mention china during the recession of 2009 china was able to pick up a lot of the economic slack in the region are they in a position to do that now well back then chinese economy was growing by 9. 4 percent and that didnt change during the whole Great Recession now its in much more indebted position this bruising trade war with the us. Its doesnt have the same tools as at its disposal as it used to so were not really seeing any major policy response from from china yet to help theres been one or 2 small things but they havent really freed up any money again because theyre worried about incurring too much debt so china isnt going to be able to carry the burden of the Global Economy this time around the way it looks just. Say should be done in response to the slowdown particularly in asia well i met is calling for the global a coordinated Global Response they say that the 1st priority has to be to shore things up protect the Health Sector contain the virus. As it were but then after that Central Banks need to do things like provide liquidity cut Interest Rates a key thing for them to do is to support lending to small and Medium Sized Companies these are the backbone of a lot of asian economies. Theyre in a very very difficult position now because as we know these these economies are often still very much in the developing stage exactly and many of these are emerging economies they dont have particularly Strong Social safety net some of these countries. What what are the implications of this slowdown for the in terms of the impasse. On the poor in the people who may not have resources to to cope well i think in. Young rees blog today the i. M. F. s economist blog today he said we need to whatever it takes approach and i think thats what were going to see were going to see different responses from from Different Countries so far a lot of these countries have already applied for i. M. F. Health thats one thing that he offered again half of all countries have actually applied for i. M. F. Help at this stage so clearly this is going to be a big factor but whatever it takes to support these Small Companies to just get to keep the economys going on till the virus is eventually dealt with the good news is that growth could return to nearly 8 percent next year according to the i. M. F. The condition of the virus doesnt come back so if theres a coordinated approach between stopping the virus and trying to keep economies afloat the chances for the Global Economy are looking reasonably positive for it thank you very much for coming in from a business. To the kenyan capital nairobi where 60 percent of the population about 2 and a half 1000000 people live in cramped conditions in urban slums many rely on schools to provide meals for their children but those are now closed and food banks for the poor and homeless are rare in kenya so some businesses and geos are calling on people to donate money food and goods for those in need. Reports. With the arrival of the coronavirus in kenya a young group of volunteers set up an initiative to distribute food could those who construct up together with Community Activists they now do reckon with runs in poorer neighborhoods around nairobi and. We can rely on donations from the public so we get donations and then we buy food in bulk. And repack them in smaller relief box which we call sanitation and food packs so in the packs theres like 2 killers of flour 500. 00 drums of beans red beans theres a 500 grams of sugar and theres. The mother islam house of a 200000 people many here dont have Running Water sanitation entire families live in single room shacks and social distancing is a luxury icon for. Rachel mccully a Community Activist lives here and knows who needs the food most of the elderly the sick and orphans are priorities you know even so everyone here feels the effects of the economic downturn. Most even family members. Now. And then some of the employers. In the past 2 weeks a number of initiatives have come up online asking people to donate food or money to poor households the good thing is that people can donate money via their mobile phone from the safety of their home in case of a lockdown this might be the best way of reaching those and meet. Government hasnt reached people here in the funds for the elderly and orphans rachel says that with the support of private initiatives they have helped 400 households. The volunteers know its only a drop in the ocean but at least its a start. And finally a bit of encouraging news for older coated 19 sufferers a 106 year old woman has been released from hospital in britain after recovering from the disease great grandmother connie is believed to be the countrys oldest patient to recover. She said she felt lucky that she had fought off the virus and was hungry after her month long ordeal she received a round of applause from hospital staff she left. And just a reminder the top story were following for you here today on the governors choice chance were going to tackle his nelson 1st steps towards lifting the lockdown reopening the economy small shops being able to vote for business again next monday social distancing measures will stay in place. This is d. W. News from berlin you can find all our stories on it e. W. Dot com im terry Martin Thanks for being with us. And. Language courses. Video. Anytime anywhere. W