How coronavirus is changing the world

                                        a new strain of virus has brought the

world to its knees

the virus they're working hard looks

like by april

it miraculously goes away hope that's

true

some countries are managing to protect

the public others

are failing

[Music]

we're at war this is serious

take it seriously

in a race against this deadly disease

political systems compete to prove their

superiority

will win china will win

sometimes we need to act even when we

don't have 100

certainty is it so hard

the pandemic has thrown political

accountability and personal tragedy into

sharp relief

covid19 patient day one

this 62 year old woman is running a

fever and having trouble breathing

textbook symptoms of pneumonia

she will spend the next 39 days fighting

for her life

we don't film her every day some scenes

are reconstructions based on her medical

records

how does this virus affect our bodies

and where did it come from

wuhan in central china has a population

of over 11 million

this is where the virus was first

identified but has this word originated

china's critics will later claim that

the tsar's cov2 strain was created in a

lab in wuhan

according to another theory it jumped

from wild animals to humans at a wet

market in wuhan

whatever the origin by december 2019 the

city's hospitals were struggling to

contain an outbreak of unknown ideology

in late december we received a signal

that there were

a cluster of unexplained pneumonia in

huhan

and china we had no diagnosis it could

have been flu

and so we activated our networks to

verify

the event in the early days we all

thought

this is something that was local

was linked to a single source and

like most single source outbreaks and

will come to an end

but yeah that might not be the case

one of the first doctors to sound the

alarm was li wen yang

on december 30th he warned his

colleagues in local hospitals via a

private chat group

one hour later one member wrote

lee replied

lee's worst fears were confirmed when

wuhan authorities moved to silence him

he was interrogated by the police forced

to sign a letter of reprimand

and to promise to stop spreading rumors

time was running out

liu peyen and his family and wuhan were

unaware of the extent of the danger

posed by the new virus

in early january he took his father to

his annual medical checkup

at this point the news the online media

and video sites were all reporting that

there was no

human to human transmission

and that the outbreak was under control

and its spread

could be avoided

today he believes his father contracted

the virus during that routine checkup

on january the 15th he came down with a

fever

but across china it was still business

as usual

preparations for the lunar new year

celebrations were underway

millions of people were traveling across

the country to visit family

meanwhile liu pei yen's father was

fighting for his life

he was transferred to a hospital where

covid19 patients were being isolated

coming here triggers hellish memories

my

he's saying goodbye to my mother via

video chat

he's convinced that his father's death

could have been avoided had the wuhan

authorities warned of the virus sooner

while the spread of kovit 19 gathered

pace in wuhan

the rest of the world germany included

was focused on other issues

only a handful of scientists understood

the gravity of the situation

at the biotech company kirvak in

tubingen researchers were anxiously

awaiting the first novel coronavirus

genome sequence

the talks began after the christmas

break we agreed to start as soon as the

sequence was made available

it couldn't hurt even if we changed our

minds later

we decided to start the same day and not

waste any time

the high stakes international race to

develop a vaccine against the new virus

was on

researchers in berlin were also getting

to work

one of the first diagnostic tests for

kovid 19 was developed at berlin's

charity hospital

before long it was apparent that

scientists worst fears were being

realized

[Music]

again

foreign

province some 60 million people faced a

travel ban

and were soon effectively under house

arrest

the liu family was completely unprepared

for the lockdown

at first they had no idea how to even

get their groceries

but then the state intervened and

appointed managers for each housing

compound to help out residents

we had a wechat group where people could

post if they needed something

was making a huge effort neighborhood

committees were set up to supervise

entry and exit points

and make sure residents had regular food

supplies

and china is a surveillance state we

knew that before

because the state is able to use

existing surveillance infrastructure

to efficiently impose strict local

lockdowns on shut down

the one-party state was effective but it

also made sure

any descent was quashed

covid19 patient day three

the 62 year old patient's condition is

deteriorating fast

her breathing is so labored that she

requires intubation and artificial

respiration

her lungs are severely inflamed

but by day five her condition starts to

improve she's responsive

things are looking up

[Music]

and cheering

by january 31st some 12 000 cases of the

new coronavirus had been registered

almost all of them in china but the

first cases outside the country were now

also being recorded

in mid-january governments were being

told to get out their pandemic plans and

be prepared

a crisis was potentially unfolding a

number of countries took it seriously

because they'd had prior experience

one of the first countries to launch a

rapid response to the coronavirus was

taiwan

[Music]

lin maeshun was responsible for

containing the spread in her

neighborhood

some of her new responsibilities include

checking up on people who are sheltering

at home

and bringing them food supplies and

reading material it's a social service

provided by the city of taipei

but it also enacts social control did

you check your temperature today

mr mao has just returned from the us he

has to quarantine for two weeks

he receives financial assistance while

he stays at home

i cannot leave the disappointment

because if i

brought this cell phone out

then the cdc all the police will

will win now

even as garbage is taken care of a

municipal trash collector specifically

comes by to pick up garbage from homes

of people in quarantine

it's separated from other waste and

incinerated

shen shenzhen was minister for health

during the 2003 sars outbreak that

claimed 73 lives in taiwan

[Music]

i think that we have prepared for the

sukkot v19

pandemic for 17 years after the sus

outbreak

we came across this on h5n1

avm fruit and then that's an h1n1

pandemic flu so this entire

health administration as well as taiwan

cdc

have practiced on how to control

the pandemic for several times

that included stockpiling face masks

unlike in many western countries

taiwan ramped up its production of

surgical masks

each person was allowed to purchase two

every seven days

taiwan never imposed a strict lockdown

like the one in muhan

the small island proved to the rest of

the world that it was indeed possible to

contain the virus

by late august only seven people had

died of kovid 19 in taiwan

years of preparation as well as

extensive contact tracing had served the

authorities well

the west meanwhile remained oblivious to

the oncoming threat

or were they simply indifferent nine

months from now we are going to take

back

the house of representatives we are

going to hold the senate

and we are going to keep the white house

[Applause]

in berlin the international film

festival

and wealth stars

started

france too had yet to ban mass

gatherings

the christian open door church a french

evangelical mega church

a five-day rally held here became ground

zero for the epidemic in france

[Music]

there hasn't been a service here for

weeks

pastor samuel peter schmidt is

devastated

it breaks my heart to see the church so

empty yeah it's especially hard because

i know how

fun it normally is

over two thousand worshipers attended

the prayer meeting in mid-february

[Music]

this annual gathering is a highlight on

the church calendar

for five days the community sings prays

and dances together

lombian looking back i would say the

mood was utterly normal

in the rest of the world everything was

still mainly fine

at the time the problem was restricted

to asian countries

to china

a false sense of security that proved

disastrous

for all on the second day of the

gathering president emmanuel macron

visited the city of meruse

and gave a speech about islamic

separatism just a few hundred meters

from the church

he spent an hour shaking hands with

members of the public

no one wore masks no one practiced

social distancing

it was mid-february large gatherings

were still nothing unusual

manhattan in ireland mass gatherings

should have been banned

everywhere much easier

aspects of society that are taken for

granted

should have been challenged

but no one wanted to make a decision

that would have made them politically

unpopular

the pastor's son jonathan peter is a

member of the church and a medical

doctor

he recalls that on february 21st the

french ministry of health released a

statement about

on covid19 last day of our rally the

ministry wrote there are 12 confirmed

cases of kovit 19 on french territory

there is no active transmission chain in

france

jean attol had already started to feel

unwell during the event

but the statement by the ministry calmed

his biggest fears

i read the email and thought okay

everything's fine

i can't have the virus but there was a

major discrepancy between what we

thought

in fact he had already contracted the

virus

but at this point there was no way of

being sure of anything anymore

when jonathan heard of the first

confirmed covid19 case in the community

he was keen to get tested himself

to do so he had to drive 120 kilometers

to a testing center in the city of

strasbourg

france's coronavirus testing capacities

were completely unprepared for the

onslaught

allowing the virus to spread undetected

and so by detecting the virus as early

as possible

is the only way you can break the chain

of transmission

because we know now that this virus is

very transmissible

at the beginning of the disease not not

so much at the end but really at the

very first day this is where people are

more contagious

france was slow to realize how far the

outbreak had progressed

the religious gathering in munlus

contributed to a countrywide infection

thousands of attendees are believed to

have transmitted the virus

by february china was flattening the

curve

in march the number of new infections in

europe exceeded those in china

a ranking of countries by corona related

deaths per million made europe the new

epicenter of the pandemic

this was a sorry example of how economic

interest

can take priority over public health

concerns we assume that

40 to 50 percent of infections in

germany can be traced back to ish

have the austrian authorities intervene

sooner things may have turned out

very differently in germany and in

austria

by the end of winter break in mid-march

it became clear that the virus had

reached germany

despite the warning signs the country

was not fully prepared

on march 7th marin johnsecourt traveled

to switzerland with her family and some

friends

no lockdown measures had yet been

introduced the country was considered

low risk

but all seven of them came down with a

new virus

they had no idea how they could have

contracted it

they hadn't attended any large parties

we'd never experienced anything like it

before we all felt ill

we all had the same awful symptoms

and all of us had it equally bad

it had us very worried

her husband and daughter were the first

to show symptoms on the journey home

once they'd arrived both marin and her

husband's conditions deteriorated

rapidly

he couldn't get any medicine we were

isolated

we were in a bad way i felt so abandoned

i wondered what would happen if i died i

didn't know how sick i was

i hadn't even seen a doctor

eventually i realized the only option

was to call the emergency services

i talked to my sister because my parents

were both so sick

and together we decided to call the

emergency number that's right

marun was transferred to intensive care

she had pneumonia caused by the

coronavirus

by now the health authorities and

hospitals in germany were bracing for

disaster

suddenly there was growing public

concern about the potential impact of a

covid19 outbreak

the who recommends countries stockpile

personal protective equipment in order

to be prepared for a pandemic

however there was a shortage in germany

the authorities relied on international

supply chains

there was this assumption that if they

suffered a shortage somewhere

they could order it from china and have

it delivered in two days

but the supply chain was disrupted

meanwhile politicians and scientists

were arguing about the usefulness of

face masks

solitude in the earthquake an atom

foreign it only became mandatory to wear

a face mask in shops and on public

transport by late april

after the pandemic had peaked in germany

by then

over 6 000 people had already died

covid19 patient day nine after initial

signs of recovery

her condition has deteriorated

dramatically

she has severe difficulty breathing and

the doctors have no experience in

tackling this new disease

the candidate is fallout we don't know

it's clinical progression

it's like a marathon and we're probably

only about 22 kilometers into it

day 12 the doctors are surprised to

detect a bacterial superbug

the patient has administered a high dose

of antibiotics

okay okay the virus was attacking her

organs

as her liver starts to fail it becomes

clear just how unpredictable this new

virus can be

germany could afford to give not only

business but also the health system a

financial boost

hospitals prepared for the epidemic by

earmarking thousands of beds in

intensive care for covid19 patient

the fact that germany invests a

substantial amount of its resources in

healthcare

appeared to be paying off

we do not need us we shouldn't forget

that prior to the corona crisis

germany was often criticized for having

too many hospitals

too many intensive care units prior to

the crisis

this was seen as a flaw in the system

but now

it's proven to be a strength a bonus

which allowed us to take appropriate

measures

in a further effort to contain the

spread of the virus the government also

increased testing capacity

germany didn't want to make the same

mistakes as france or italy

there's always an element of luck

clearly

i think we were lucky that the crisis

hit italy first italian served as a

warning to the general public

we also got lucky with the vapor still

cluster because it taught us a lot about

the virus

who holds a doctorate in quantum

chemistry the german government followed

the advice of experts

as it set about tackling the epidemic

by now the epicenter of the crisis had

shifted to the u.s

new york city began digging mass graves

for its countless victims

the white house also consulted with

experts

but unlike in germany their advice

wasn't always heeded

president trump trump support

and then i see the disinfectant where it

knocks it out

in a minute one minute and is there a

way we can do something like that

by injection inside well i feel about

vaccines like i feel about tests this is

going to go away without a vaccine it's

going to go away and it's

we're not going to see it again anybody

that needs a test gets a test we

they're there they have the tests and

the tests are beautiful

anybody that needs a test gets a test

donald trump failed to keep his promise

new york city lacked the test kits when

they needed them the most

the city's health commissioner was

growing desperate

we had been loudly pleading for testing

to come to our jurisdiction

um and what happened was that you know

things happen and the unfortunate story

is that the testing kits that we got in

new york city didn't work

anthony almohera is a paramedic with the

new york city fire department

the team has been dramatically reduced

as a result of public spending cuts

hospitals were also feeling the pinch

you had nurses wearing garbage bags

we're supposed to be america right we

love going around telling other people

what to do

we like to say look at us this is the

society right this is peak civilization

we're wearing garbage bags as ppe that's

embarrassing

that's a shame those people that got

sick in those hospitals those nurses and

doctors

that's a direct result of that

management of that hospital the

management of the city and the

management of this government overall

the u.s a world power completely

mishandled its response to the pandemic

to this day it still failed to control

the spread

before long angry americans were taken

to the streets to vent their fury and

anti-lockdown protests

the u.s has no short-term work scheme

like germany's

and no uniform health system

unemployment has soared during the

coronavirus pandemic

in the u.s economic conditions played a

greater role than they did in europe

that's mainly because the us is not a

welfare state

it lacks a social security system that's

in place more or less across europe

using an upper fast flaking technology

phoenix arizona early july the

coronavirus testing facility opens in

two hours

tests are free financed not by the state

but by donations

neil mack has been waiting in line since

one in the morning

my last day at work was march 31st

so i haven't worked since then and i

don't have any insurance

so this is one of the three places that

you can go without insurance

many people have no health insurance the

unemployment rate nearly tripled in

april

most here have covid19 symptoms and free

testing is the only

way they can find out if they have the

virus

in mid july 25 percent of tests in

arizona came back positive

it's shocking how many people really

need to be tested you know

i think we closed last and opened

earliest i think possibly and i think

that

that was a huge problem and i would see

people on

my app next door complaining about

wearing masks or wanting to go to bars

and their rights being you know taken

away and i just thought that was beyond

ridiculous

fearful of the economic toll arizona was

slow to respond to the pandemic

then it lifted restrictions too soon

as a result the number of cases has

skyrocketed

the u.s might be one of the wealthiest

nations in the world but few countries

have been as severely hit by the

pandemic

[Music]

covid19 patient day 15.

you try to apply everything you know

about medicine

but even then you find yourself

overtaken by events

the patient has developed new symptoms

a life-threatening clot in her lung a

pulmonary embolism

blood thinners aren't helping her

circulation is collapsing

the doctors alert the family

by now doctors have learned that this is

a typical development

the virus attacks not only the lungs but

the blood vessels too

day 22 the patient undergo is a

life-saving emergency tracheotomy

poorer countries have been defeated by

the pandemic such as nigeria

at night during lockdown the streets of

lagos are dangerous

residents have set up a citizens militia

attacks are increasingly commonplace

overwhelmed by the challenges of the

pandemic

the state is powerless to intervene

[Music]

we went from trying normal public health

interventions to becoming strike going

very aggressive

with lockdowns of the country and

quickly realizing that this would be

impossible to really enforce in our

context

officially nigerians are supposed to

stay home for 36 days

mass gatherings are canceled

36 year old muruf abdul salam has lost

his job because of the lockdown

he doesn't have any savings

he's a sound engineer and has his own

small studio

events provided him with most of his

income now that they've been cancelled

he's lost his livelihood

i know staying indoors in social

distancing is the best solution to

tackle karana

but her government should give us

something to eat even if it comes weekly

or monthly

so that we can all survive this pandemic

he and his wife live with their four

children in a tiny apartment

we have been asking our neighbors and

close relatives for food and assistance

that is how we have been able to survive

the public has been given little support

during lockdown

[Music]

the government has a limited food

distribution scheme which has led to

stampedes as people scramble to collect

the meager supplies offered

in nigeria lockdown measures have failed

to contain disaster from spreading

i think it's very important to look at

how people are living

and say okay what would be the best

measure to

reduce transmission and and then work it

out like that

and not just copy and paste what has

been done in other countries

the ideal solution of course is a

vaccine one that is widely available

covid19 patient day 27

after the tracheotomy the patient's

condition improved today the nurses

managed to help her into a chair

she's awake and can respond to questions

by nodding or shaking her head

recent weeks had seen her condition

fluctuate dramatically

but she now appears to be stabilizing

the doctors considered transferring her

out of intensive care

we have yet to fully understand this

tiny novel virus

researchers are skeptical if it really

only spread from wuhan to europe in

january

[Music]

the albert schweitzer hospital in kolma

france

michel schmidt head of radiology has

examined hundreds of covid19 patients

and made an interesting discovery

after what happened in march in april it

occurred to me to look through our

records

beginning in the summer of 2019 to see

if there was anything

unusual

a long x-ray made on november 16th

showed typical signs of a covid19

infection

what's especially noticeable is this

opaque area

he found another suspicious case in

november 12 more

in december

we thought this was an unusual flu the

patient had a high temperature

a lung embolism pneumonia but it didn't

add up

later he gave the patients an antibody

test all came back positive

the french radiologists findings tie in

with the studies conducted in other

countries

a number of indications suggest that the

virus was already spreading around the

world in late fall of 2019.

[Music]

what we know is when the virus has been

detected

initially and in and but

maybe this virus came from somewhere

else or

in china or elsewhere and we don't know

really if if the

the really first time this virus emerged

was in in this market in the world

at this stage it seems unlikely many

scientists believe the virus was

transmitted from animals to humans in

south china or neighboring countries

long before it was detected in wuhan

but the outbreak in wuhan marked the

start of an international race to find a

vaccine

only a vaccine can stop the pandemic

the company curavac in tubingen is hard

at work

[Music]

a vaccine is in production here in this

tank

the research is top secret

[Music]

the company began production in april

hoping to get a head start

it was a high risk move but mariola 14

blitzchek is confident she made the

right decision when she approved

development of a vaccine in january

time is of the essence everyone is

expecting a vast amount of vaccines to

be available

soon

the company is pinning its hopes on this

substance

could it be the silver bullet the world

is waiting for

[Music]

some 30 vaccines are currently being

tested on humans right now

will kyravac's vaccine prove effective

and safe in trials

that means it's loose

any vaccine that ends up going to market

will need to be widely available

covet 19. when as many people as

possible

around the world are vaccinated

we won't achieve much with vaccination

programs that are merely

local or national

but inevitably most governments put the

interests of their own people first

countries that can afford to can order

supplies of the vaccine

the race to develop a vaccine has become

a race for political power

this is

this morning for the first time in the

world a vaccine against the new

coronavirus was registered

we have repeatedly addressed that china

is leading the world

in vaccine development for covet 19.

the pandemic has become political a

battleground in which leading nations

vie for power

but when it comes to managing the

pandemic beijing is far ahead of

washington

china is no longer in crisis but playing

the role of the savior

dispatching ppe and deploying doctors

all over the world

[Music]

let's make concerted efforts to protect

the life and health

of people in all countries

in the u.s the virus rages on

embarrassing the white house

administration

as it ravages the public as trump

continues to blame his domestic crisis

on china

his america first slogan has never rung

so hollow

china's cover-up of the wuhan virus

allowed the disease to spread all over

the world

china has total control over the world

health organization

we will be today terminating our

relationship with the world health

organization

the us is losing its world superpower

status

and china is eager to take over the

leading role it long played in

geopolitics

the

the chinese model is sure to gain

popularity in the wake of this crisis

given how efficiently china was able to

limit the number of deaths

and minimize the economic following

patient day 35 today we're allowed to

film

unbelievable yesterday i thought she was

getting better

i thought we'd be able to transfer her

soon

the 62 year old patient has acute kidney

and liver failure

the doctors don't understand they still

don't know what to expect

you think you're close to the goal when

someone

day 38 x-rays show that her abdominal

vessels are inflamed

the doctors have never seen anything

like it

her organs are failing and there's

nothing they can do

the patient appears to be losing the

fight

day 39 at 1002

the patient is pronounced dead massive

organ failure

the global pandemic has been wreaking

turmoil around the world for just over

eight months

in taiwan the government continues to

manage the situation well

so far there have only been five hundred

infections

in germany infections are once again on

the rise like many others

maran yonzekowat is still suffering from

the long-term effects of covid19

she still has some difficulty breathing

and hasn't fully recovered her sense of

taste

when i see how carefree young people are

i want to shake them and say

guys you have no idea how much you might

suffer if you get this illness

in early august nigeria extended the

second phase of the nationwide lockdown

by four weeks

the country has avoided the worst

experts wonder if this is because its

population is relatively young

in china after talking to us liu pei yen

came under pressure from the police

and was forbidden from giving any

further interviews

according to beijing the economy saw

modest growth in the second quarter of

2020

the us economy continues to reel

in november the country goes to the

polls

trump's response to the pandemic could

impact the election

coven 19 has claimed hundreds of

thousands of lives worldwide

over 20 million are infected the virus

clearly isn't under control and the

outlook

is far from encouraging