Fighting the Pandemic
June 25, 2020
With the actual corona crisis ongoing and ever-present, this documentary looks at where the fight against the disease has been effective and where it hasn’t. It evaluates the actions of democratic and non-democratic governments as well as collective and individualized societies during a time of great uncertainty and ignorance triggered by SARS-CoV-2. This investigation is the work of a large research team. It has gone out to meet well-known scientists and public health experts all over the globe who have been analyzing developments in different global regions. The film also tries to explain why countries like Germany and Taiwan were able to control the virus, while the US was simply overwhelmed by it. It looks at what we can learn from these situations for the future, too. In addition to the US and Europe, the researchers also go to China, where the new virus was first reported. The authorities there initially suppressed news of the outbreak only to react later with a draconian lockdown.
Viewers will encounter many people who have experienced the virus first-hand: doctors, test subjects, businesspeople, government critics, the jobless, vaccine researchers, mayors and normal citizens. The film also poses the question: could the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 be politically weaponized in the competition between systems of government: for example, by those promoting democratic civil rights as opposed to authoritarian regimes?
Broadcasting Hours:
DW English
FRI 28.08.2020 – 01:15 UTC
FRI 28.08.2020 – 05:15 UTC
SAT 29.08.2020 – 15:15 UTC
SUN 30.08.2020 – 19:15 UTC
MON 31.08.2020 – 09:15 UTC
Cape Town UTC +2 | Delhi UTC +5,5 | Hong Kong UTC +8
Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3
San Francisco UTC -7 | Edmonton UTC -6 | New York UTC -4
London UTC +1 | Berlin UTC +2 | Moscow UTC +3
DW Deutsch+
MON 31.08.2020 – 09:15 UTC
Vancouver UTC -7 | New York UTC -4 | Sao Paulo UTC -3