China is reporting a decrease in the number of new cases for the third day in a row, but the death toll in the country where the virus began is now nearing 3000.

In other developments, Italy's death toll has jumped by nearly 50% to 79.

Meanwhile, Iraq, Poland, Chile and Argentina have reported their first cases of covert 19.

And Australia's largest supermarket chain is rationing sales of get this toilet paper after panic buying hit stores in recent days.

Meanwhile, criticism is growing of the U.

S government for failing to quickly implement effective testing for the pathogen.

Knowing if a sick person is infected with the virus is the first step in determining who needs to be quarantined.

Our next report looks of testing method developed here in Berlin and now being used across the world.

Determining whether or not someone has the Corona virus isn't a simple and straightforward as it sounds.

The process generally begins when a patient complaints of symptoms like fever or a dry cough.

The challenge is distinguishing a cove, it 19 infection from the flu or other respiratory conditions because the symptoms are so similar.

Testing begins with a swab sample usually taken from the mouth or nose, although experts believe mucus coughed up directly from the lungs is a better indicator.

Many of the various tests use a method known as the polymer Rae's chain Reaction, or PCR.

It works like this.

If a sample contains the Corona virus, the chemicals in a test kit begin to react with its unique genetic material and start copying it over and over again.

The copies are tagged with the dye, so even when low loads of virus or in a sample, they grow more and more detectable with each new generation of copies.

One such test for the Corona virus was developed in Berlin back in January by Dr Christiaan Costin and his team.

It could take several hours to get a positive for a negative result.

Perhaps will look at our recipe order some specific ingredients that they will receive after like two days at the same time, order this molecule for us that they will also receive within very short time, Um and then they can start testing.

In the last few weeks, the W.

H O has sent some 250,000 of Boston's PCR kids to labs across the planet.

The means to detect the virus quickly will play a vital role in combating it effectively.

But in parts of the world like Africa, the technology is still far from comment.

Derrick Williams was the author of that piece.

He Joins Me Now in Studio from or On Corona Virus Testing.

I mean forcible.

How big is the gap between the demand for these tests and the availability of these tests?

Well, that depends very much on where you are.

A China is has reported that they're now producing and carrying out upwards of one and 1/2 1,000,000 tests, a day, a day and a story a week in a week in the course of a week.

South Korea is that would be the next country that's tested the most number of people there over, ah, 100,000 people that they tested so far, they've even set up.

They've set up these drive thru centers where you can actually drive your car up and you can get testing testing your car, which is actually helps cut down on the infection rate among the people who were actually conducting the tests.

Um uh, Italy is upwards of 20,000 tests right now, but, of course, the other big hot spot, Iran.

We don't really have a lot of numbers thereabout.

The implication would be that there's not a lot of people getting tested there and interestingly, also in the U.

S.

As as as we heard earlier in the show, there's also in the hundreds.

Well, let's talk about us.

I mean, what's going on there?

We heard about this major scandal right now involving testing for the Corona virus in the United States.

Right it sze Really the Centers for Disease Control seem to have really, really dropped the ball that really bungled.

That's pretty badly.

It's It has to do with the way that that it's set up.

The way that it set up in the States is that first the virus gets isolated by the CDC, and then the methods get developed by the CDC, and then they pass that along to commercial developers, and and they've never made it past that second stage yet they've had to sort of jump over.

The FDA is not allowed to approve testing that hasn't come from the CDC.

And so So they couldn't use, for example, this test from Berlin.

Well, they possibly could, but they But they were you the way that the that's it's set up in terms of the regulations in the states, the FDA has to approve it.

They're now doing that.

The U.

S.

Has said that by the end of next week there's going to be about a 1,000,000 test kits available and that they're going to be testing people.

There's some skepticism about there's a lot of outrage in the American media.

Lot of frustration.

One of someone has caught the virus they've recovered from, it could attest.

Then later, detect.

Okay, this is a person who who had the virus at one point.

These things.

This is testing for for an active infection.

What you're talking about is a syrah logical test.

So that's a blood test.

The checks to see whether or not you have produced the antibodies antibodies of these proteins produced by the immune system, whether you produce the antibodies that fit with a Corona virus.

And so and that's something, though, that is important information tohave in the long term for a number of different reasons, not least because we believe that many people who have it have had very mild symptoms or might even be asymptomatic.

So being able to prove retrospectively that somebody has had it or not had a is going to, for example, allow us to define things like the fatality rate in this disease.

But it's also going to allow us to do things like drawing links between clusters of infections.

That was somebody that might have silently carried it from one to the other, not even knowing that they were ill.

So knowledge is power.

The more testing we can do, the more numbers we have, the better.

But where do we go from there?

How do we start to use that information?

How do we continue to battle the spread of the Corona virus?

It's been very interesting for me.

Watching the discourse on this over the last couple of months is that we've moved away from The whole idea has been containment, containment, containment.

We need to do what we did with stars.

We need to shut it down at the source is quickly as we possibly can, and then it just goes away, but so the W H O is continuing to say we need to contain this disease.

But the only place that it's actually that could arguably be said said to have contained the disease so far is China on?

Of course, they've done it with these draconian measures that are not gonna work in other parts of the world.

And so you have there.

Also, the question is, is how long is this hiatus?

How long is it going to continue?

Could there be a second wave of infections with people bringing it back to China sometime in the near future?

And so we've moved away in this discourse, away from the idea of containment towards what's called mitigation, which is that experts are beginning to say, I think that we have to accept that this is going to be endemic.

Where do we go from here in terms of preparations and where do we move forward in the future in terms of of, of planning, for this?

Derrick Williams with D.

W Science.

Thank you very much.

With the economic damage caused by the Corona virus becoming increasingly clear, more and more companies are calling for state aid.

Some governments have already responded with a variety of measures.

South Korea, for example, is to deliver an economic stimulus package to the tune of $13.7 billion.

The cash is mainly and but smaller businesses like the country's numerous market traders, who have been badly affected by the crisis.

United States states has altered its monetary policy in an attempt to calm markets.

In a surprise move, the Federal Reserve lowered the base rate by 0.5% keeping interest rates between one and 1.25%.

China to has implemented a range of measures to support its economy.

Small businesses have been granted tax and social security payment cuts as well as access to cheap loans.

However, the government says there are no plans for a comprehensive stimulus packages package like the one delivered in 2000 and eight.

Let's go straight, our financial correspondent in Frankfurt.

Only Bart's is there for us.

Only more more central banks are moving, too help with the Corona virus crisis.

What are you hearing from the C B.

Can we expect anything from them?

Yes, we can.

President Christine Lagarde said that there would be appropriate and targeted action commensurate with the situation s o, the CB will do something.

We just don't know what and when.

Next week there is a policy meeting with all the decision making members that that are going to be present.

That will be a good time.

It would be a good time to present a solution if not until then, something has presented.

What we're hearing is that it won't be a rate cut.

The lending rate is already at zero.

For banks and the deposit rate, it's a negative territory.

What we're hearing is that the baby is looking at injecting cash into small and medium sized days that have gotten into trouble over Corona virus having to pay salaries, having to pay suppliers landlords.

But it sounds that sounds more like economic policy than monetary policy.

More voices are emerging, saying that these measures are all premature, and some are even saying they're completely misguided.

What's your take on that?

Yeah, that's Ah, my take on that as well.

I'm hearing that a lot from market participants, traders, analysts.

I'd like to give you one voice, which I will read, which I think pretty well sums up the critics arguments from Frank Dicks Meyer from Ah, Lien's largest insurer in Europe.

And he says that THEAN prevention of central banks at this stage is useless, even unhealthy.

A demand shock must be addressed by the fiscal policy in the country's A supply shock is more complex, but it's not a rate cut that will be able to remedy that really bounce there in Frankfurt, Thank you for this update.

But the global economy starters amidst the Corona virus outbreak and oil demand is sharply down.

Prices are to OPEC.

Experts will come together in Vienna this week to discuss production cuts.

The virus has bean, paralyzing economic activity and dragging on growth, especially in China.

For weeks, their shops have been closed on, assembly, lines have stopped.

Transport is also badly affected.

In many places, thousands of flights have been canceled, with no letup in sight.

Global oil consumption highlights.

The problem.

Has production lines and supply chains grind to a halt?

Demand for crude has fallen sharply.

That's had an immediate effect on oil prices.

They've fallen by 21% since the start of the year.

They're currently floundering a two and 1/2 year lows.

That's come as a shock to all producing countries.

OPEC member countries are now thinking about throttling output again to try and boost the price and keep their government's revenues flowing.

With me in the studio now is an dry, oaky cc off centurion.

That's a company that advises OPEC companies, OPEC and all companies.

And Jay.

How has Corona affected the old market?

Thank you for having me.

Coronas really affected our market, where there's been a slowing the man, and you really seen big issue prices have gone down on debts.

Say you were somewhere around six over and around 60.

Right now it's already around 50 on.

You're really seeing the market going crazy with what is going on with the coronavirus because there's very slowing.

Demand is slowing jet fuel the man, and so it's really, really sending the market into crisis.

Right now, a big chunk of that slowdown in demand comes from China.

Is it is that the main driver, China not needing so much order at the moment?

It's what is one off is one of many on you have right now, a lot off industrial basis around India around Europe, around the United States that people cannot get together.

You have a lot of people stay in home from from Big Adrienne, so you're going to see a big big for the decline, especially with jet fuel.

It's well within the industrialization and manufacturing plants.

So it's not just China's.

China is part of it, but it's going to be big and it's cool right now.

It's even bigger than China on.

That's what that's what caused by global concern on the coronavirus special.

With all prices on the old markets, what can we expect from that Vienna meeting tomorrow?

OPEC is always a great place to be when with the negotiations and the back and forth, this happens.

Right now.

You have this big this big tent with OPEC, plus, so it's going to you're going to have to active big question.

Do we go on a 3 to 500,000 cut to really make sure that you stabilize the market so that consumers and producers can both live with?

Do you?

Are you going to walk on the supply glut?

That is what's going to happen.

So you're going to see who wants a cut?

Who doesn't want to cut.

But his Big 10 with Russia included, really gives a chance that consumers can really feel not continue to feel the pain.

JJ, but also produces, can feel that they can stabilize on grow the market.

So who will be for production cut and who will be against it and why?

It really depends because, you know, right now you already have a lot of production off the market.

In under 1000 Barrows out of Libya sent escalating sanctions against Venezuela.

That's a lot off oil that's already out of market.

So you have to be seen how Saudi Arabia, which is one of the biggest producers to get our Russia howdy, howdy can come together.

I think there is right now, it growing dynamic way.

The Russians don't really wanna push for a cut, but they are going to have to in order to stabilize the market.