Return to the pitch, but the fans will have to watch from home. Plus, Donald Trumps flipflop. The u. S. President while expect plans to wind down the countries Coronavirus Task force, just days after signaling that the task force upon days were numbered. Doctors and nurses in the colombian capital of bogota are already risking their lives to save others. Now they tell dw news they are facing a new challenge, abuse and discrimination. Plus, more than five years after a german pilot killed 150 people by c crashing his planene in n e alpsps, the victims families are now heading to court. They say of tonsil is to blame. They say lufthansa is to blame. Brent im brent goff. To our viewers on pbs in the United States and all around the world, welcome. Back in business, with the option to shut down again. Today german chancellor Angela Merkel announced that germany will ease some of its coronavirus lockdown measures in the coming weeks, but she warned that the steps must be taken gradually and with caution. Lets take a closer look now at some of the challenges confronting germanys state as they try to manage reopening their economies. This is what the new normal in germany could look like, although shops open, more people out on the streets wearing face masks. Restaurants and beer gardens are to reopen as well, but there will be regional variations due to germanys federal division of powers. We have seen Good Progress as far as the number of new infections is concerned. That means we can now take further steps. But we have to be careful to keep control. And the Emergency Response mechanism we have developed means i can feel quite confident. That means the state premieres have agreed to adjust their measures on the ground for the number of new infnfections. If they rise above a certain number, tougher restrictions must be reintroduced. The decisions we make today dont just concerned the question of how can we ease the restrictions, but also, how can we continue to ensure Public Safety. No it is difficult between finding a balance between Public Safety and civil liberties. Is being left to the 16 state governments to decide for themselves how and when to reopen daycare facilits, straws, and hotels. Social distancing rules are to be extended for another mth, but members of two separate households will now be allowed to meet. Large events remain bned until e end of the summer. Football fans can look forward to the bundesliga season being allowed to resume in late may, with restrictions. A relief for many parents, children were gradually start getting back to schools and kindergartens. It is an almost complete return to normal and the chancellor said it is up to germans themselves to make sure there regained freedom works. Brent lets pull in our chief political correspspondent in berlin. These are significant steps that have been agreed to. What do they tell us about how the government, how state governments view the statete of the pandemic here inin germany . Melinda they tetell us that the federal governmnment says that,t most, germany has come out of the very firstst phasese of the pandemic. The words caution and careful were mentioned frequeneny other chancellor this evening, and in the past, she has s said it woud be a crying shame if germany were to squander the good results that it had achieved in the first phase of dealing with the pandemic. What we can also see from this meeting, it is reported there were some heated exchanges during the course of the meeting, is that the heads of the federaral states, the minisr president s are very eager to get their economies up and running once again, and for obvious reasons. The crisis here, as elsewhere, has takenen a very great economc toll. Those are the two sides that are being balance here with these measures, anand what we can say for certain is that its going to be trial and error. This will be a test, and depending on the results, we may see germany return to a stricter lockdown. Brent we know there is an emergency brake built into the agreement that was reached today. Im wondering, how much risk are we talking about in the strategy that the government is following right now . Melinda no question that there is a risk. There is a risk to reopening schools and kindergartens. Its still not quite clear to what degree children can spread the virus, and certainly there is potential risk there. There will once again be the possibility for people to visit their relatives in old age homes. There will be a relaxation about contact restrictions, now members of families of two different households can get together. All of those definitely heighten the possibility of f eing if the virus is transmitted from one person to another. Germany had managed to greatly assist best suppressed the socalled reproduction rate, the rapidity with which the virus doubles. So germany is on pretty good ground at the moment. But that number could go up. In fact, the head of the Country Center for Disease Control said that he is definitely expecting that there could be a second and even a third wave of the virus in the future. Brent we know that these decisions made today represent some of the boldest steps yet in moving toward normality again here in europe. Its because germany has fared so well compared to its european partners, when it comes to this pandemic. Why has gegeany done s so well . Melindnda there are a couple of Different Reasons for that. First of all, germamany got a a little bit of advancee wararnin. The virus began peeking at here than it did in italy, and germany watch what was happening in italy, and then moved into action pretty quickly to put into place serious restrictions. But it was last minute, people who were inititily infecteted, manyny of them werere young. Ever coming back from ski vacations in atrtria or p possiy also in italy. Those young people had a better chance of recovevering from m te virus than older p people would have. So the vitality rate, particularly in that first wave, was pretty low. Thirdly, because of that advance warning that germany got, it was able to keep the Health Systems from being severely overburdened, meaning that people got high Quality Health control, doctors workforce to essentially engage in n triage between patients. All that, plus the fact that germany did very extensive testing, more e extensive than almost anywhere else come a certainly in europe and the u. S. , means that the rate of deaths to overall infections look pretty low. So number of different factors working there. Brent lets hope it stays that way. Melinda, thank you. Fans of Germanys Bundesliga soccer got the news they wanted today. Games will resume on may 15. They suspended all matches in midmarch because of the pandemic. Todays decision makes the bundesliga europes first Major Football League to resume play. It will be a kickoff watched by the entire world of sports. Tennis at wimbledon . Canceled for the First Time Since world war ii. The Tokyo Olympics . Postponed until 2021, if it even takes place. The same goes for the canceled european football championship. The list of postponed major sporting events is long. Top class ports worldwide have come to a standstill. Sports worldwide. But the german Football League is now allowed to start the game. The chancellor announced it on wednesday. Among other things, the topic of shops which can now open without restriction, but of course with the as well as the first and second german Football League, which will be allowed to hold games again from the second half of may onwards under the approved and tested rules. League had their own response. Todays decisioion is good news for ththe bundesliga and thehe sesecond bundesliga. The c cbs and t their employeess now have a g great responsibiliy to implemement the medical andnd organizational guidelines in a disciplined manner. The dfl, the Umbrella Organization of the german Football League, is breaking new ground with the resumption of play. The central component of its concept, close testing of everyone involved. There are to be 20,000 tests in the next few weeks. The fifirst wave of testing resulted in 10 positive cases out of the more than 1700 test. There will be strict hygiene and distance rules, and of course, games without spectators. The socalled goes games are to be played in the first and Second Division until the end of the season. The dfl decided the restart date for german football will be may 15. Brent businesses are grappling with the economic fallout from the coronavirus lockdowns. In germany, the all important Manufacturing Sector is among those hardest hit. Industrial orders and marks fail by more than 50 , the lowest level in threeecades, asas demand both home at home and abroad plunge because of the epidemic. On wednesday, the new released its Economic Forecast for the rest of 2020. It makes for grim reading. After more than two months of lockdown, romans are slowly getting used to spinning a little money in their neighborhoods again. Citizens and many other e. U. Countries are taking similarly tentative steps toward normality , but the economic damage already done across the 27 country blocked by covid19 has been severe. It is now quite clear that the e. U. Has entered the deepest economic recession in its history. Covid19 abruptly changed our previous world. Economic activity in the e. U. Dropped by around one third, practically overnight. The disruption resulted in a series of shocks to demand, supply, and thats and capital flows. And the result of all that . The forecasts that its economy will fall by massive 7. 4 in 2020, the worst fall since that you was founded in 1958. Unemployment in the eve is forecast to rise by nearly 2 , up to 9 for 2020. While the impact will be felt across the continent, some countries will be hit harder than others. Italy and spain, two of the worst hit countries, are forecast to suffer contractions of around 9. 5 each, more than france and germany. The yous two biggest economies. The e. U. s two largest economies. They expect the economy to slowly recover in the second half of 2020, but for those gradually emerging from lockdowns, that probably still feels a long way off. Brent here are some of the other stories making headlines around the world. Spain has extended the countries coronavirus state of alert for another two weeks. It came after a day of sharp criticism from parliament from opposition parties. Spain is one of the hardest hit countries here in europe. Britains Health Ministry has reported that the number of deaths linked to the coronavirus is now past the 30,000 mark. Most 650 people died in the u. K. In the last day alone. Britain has the highest number of covid19 for talent hes in all of europe. U. S. Secretary of state mike pompeo has busted china for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. In repeated allegations that a virus escape from a lab in the city of wuhuhan, and accused beijing of initially covering up the outbreak. U. S. President donald trump has tweeted that the countries Coronavirus Task force will continue to operate indefinitely. This is a reversal for the u. S. President , who just yesterday said that the task force would be wound down. Observers say such news would have signaled that reopening the economy, not ending the pandemic, is the administrations top priority. Meanwhile, some models are showing a spike in the number of new infections and deaths in the u. S. New york has taken an unprecedented, some say historic, step in its battle against the virus. This is history in the making. Its not the actual cleaning of the new york subway that is so unusual, its the fact that it is the first time the system will close during the night so that it can be disinfected. Its a measure of the links to which the city is going to protect its citizens. More than one third of the 17,000 deaths in the u. S. So far have occururred in the n new yok metropololitan area. Fatalities there now appear to be declining, but Officials Say this operation is set to go on for a whwhile. The governonor has s said ths will last during the pandemic. We dont have a hard in date for it, but obviously would like it to be over as soon as possible. But elsewhere in the u. S. , a different message is starting to emerge. With the song live and let die playing in the background, President Trump toured a factory in arizona, his first major trip out of the white house since the lockdown began. President trump our country is now in the next stage of the battle, a very safe phase and gradual reopening. Its a reopening of our country. Who would have ever thought we would be saying that . A reopening. A reopening. Some states, such as washington, are already starting to ease restrictions on public parks and other open spaces. But there are concerns that nonw is not the time to in the lockdowns. Most models show that outside of new york, the rate of infections and deaths is still going up. The fear is that many more americans could end up paying with their lives. Brent lets take the story to the u. S. Im joined by our washington correspondent. Lets start with the u. S. Secretary of state, mike pompeo, his comments about there being no certainty, but significant evidence that the coronavirus originated in a chinese laboratory. What has been the reaction to that plane . Reporter well, there has been a lot of criticisms and skepticism as well, with many reporters asking the question during the press briefing with secretary pompeo. How can it be to have significant evidence but not be certain . And even though secretary pompeo said it doesnt have anything to do with politics, it is not a secret that it is part of the republican strategy and president Donald Trumps reelection strategy to be tough on china, to blame china, to deflect attention from the administrations own shortcomings in dealing with this crisis. So there has been a lot of criticism, and we also have to add that secretary pompeo has not provided any evidence to justify, to support his claims. On the contrary, we have heard from the department of defense today that they dont know where the origin was, and President Trumps own top Infectious Disease expert says that it is very unlikely that the virus emerged from a lab in wuhan. Brent the story continues. Lets talk about germany for a moment. Today germany announced new ground rules would be in place for gradual easing of its lockdown. We know that in the u. S. , they love german chancellor Angela Merkel the usc these german measures here with the pandemic as part of a positive role model for stopping the spread of the virus . Reporter well, i think it is fair to say that many here in the u. S. Have seen Angela Merkel as a leader who acts with caution, whose actions are based on science and on facts, and many critics of President Trump say that that is something his approach should show as well. So that is a point here that the u. S. Definitely sees germany as a leader in the west in taking on this pandemic. Brent lets talk about the u. S. President , donald trump. He now says the u. S. Coronavirus task force will continue indefinitely. Yesterday, of course, he suggested the opposite of that. Why this uturn . Reporter well, the reason he gave for his change of mind is very telling. I think it tells a lot about his thinking and his priorities. He said today that he had no idea how popular the task force was until yesterday when he started announcing that he is thinking about winding it down, when he said he got a lot of phone calls from people telling him that the work the task force is doing is highly appreciated, so that was the moment he says that he decided that he wants to keep it on. However, he also added today that he may add new members to the task force next monday. I think that its focus will be shifted from combating the epidemic to reopening the country. Brent we wonder what kind of role dr. Fauci will play. We will find out. Alexander, thank you. Harassment, eviction, even physical attacks. Thats what a growing number of Health Workers caring for covid19 patients are reporting. They say that people are fearful that they can spread the coronavirus. It is a phenomenon that has been reported around the world from europe metoo asia, to north and south america. Heres a look at what some hospital workers in columbia are experiencing. Liv is a nurse in bogota. Wearing her nursing uniform feels her with pride, especially in these trying times. But recently she has sufferedd i rececently had to transfer soe money. The place i went to didnt want to let me in. E lady y at the front desk told me she couldnnt servee me bece i was clearly a Health Care Worker and could be infected. I was left humiliated. And hurt with the situationon. We are not out to harm anybody. Reporter since the pandemic reach columbia, numerous doctors and nervous have reported social stigmatization. Buses that wont stop for them, supermarkets wont let them do their shopping. One bogota nurse was reportedly beaten on the street and accused of spreading the virus. Christian was a doctor who was evicted after residents inn his buililding demande h he leave, fearing he would bring covid into their homes. The landladyy tell me that people were very scared. The tenants button to leave if i didnt. In that case, they would refuse to plalay the can pay the cancellation fee, saying it had put their lives in dangeger. So the landlady tell me that she was sorry, but i had to leave, because she had to protect the other tenants. Reporter cases like those are fortunately quite rare, but even isolated incidents put added pressure on those already carrying societys biggest burden. Most times, it seems to be a common misconception that motivatetes abuse. People thinknk the close hea