banks that are. our future depends on what happens here in one of the most fragile ecosystems on earth. northern lights voice within the arctic circle starts december 21st w. this is the news and these are our top stories. voting has ended in venezuela's parliamentary election boycotted by opposition latest polls is expected to tighten president nicolas maduro script on power by giving his party control of the national assembly that being the last major institution in venezuela outside his grasp the opposition claims the vote was rigged. the

very has announced tough a coronavirus lockdown rules aimed at slowing the rate of new infections there the new measures will see people having to provide good reason for leaving their homes and a maximum of 5 people from 2 households will be allowed to me in public a very has the highest coronavirus death toll in germany. thousands of people have taken to the streets of the bell of russian capital minsk and elsewhere to demand president alexander lukashenko resign from office the march was the latest in nearly 4 months of weekly demonstrations hundreds of people have been detained by police. this is day to billie news from berlin you can follow us on twitter and instagram the handle is at d. w. news or visit our website to be found at d.w. dot com. from.

the spring of 2020 as cases of covert 19 increase in germany so do the number of patients in i.c.u. use and isolation wards relatives and chaplains are prevented from visiting the sick and dying. of course the troubles the relatives they ask who is with my father my brother my son well what should have to die for. germany's health care system has risen to the challenge many critically ill patients have been saved but many people dying of covert have been denied visitors for weeks on end. and we've seen this medicine can heal the body but the soul requires love for it to heal and that's what is being neglected here those stories for us looks like support. what needs to be done so that covert patients and their relatives don't

suffer psychological trauma. patient is transfer. or to the copan center at the university hospital in essen western germany currently there are 12 patients being treated here the new patient is unusual he's just 29 years old. this is a patient who's come from some distance away he was receiving noninvasive breathing assistance but it was insufficient we've connected an artificial lung put him on life support he was brought here by helicopter with. this 29 year old patient isn't in a high risk category yet each day the doctors discover more alarming symptoms the

sars kovi 2 virus is not only attacking his lungs his heart liver kidneys and probably his nervous system are also affected the doctors are worried. when somebody is so ill that they need assisted rethink by means of an artificial along with their in a dangerous condition over here about a 3rd of such patients die but this is a case for concern. on their rounds doctors observe the young man through a window of only certain nursing staff and specialist positions are permitted to enter the intensive care unit and then only with personal protective equipment all the patients on the i.c.u. ward are completely isolated even those who aren't infected with coded the isolation can last for weeks. the patients are very stressed when they're awake they're alone locked in a rooms of all everyone who enters has to be totally masked so the staff don't

enter as often as they would normally be opening the door and looking in so that the patient doesn't feel so alone a life as. a relative or hospital chaplain is only permitted to see the patient when the doctors have given up hope but the patient often dies before that final visit. this is new to me and that's very painful the hospital chaplains. want as well and very hard for the relatives when it's no longer possible. extreme it's part of our culture not to leave the time and i will to die. make light on a common. 87 year old gilford hoax and his son georg know what dying in isolation means. this not a courtyard was on a marine pride and joy it was her garden she was very talks wife.

that's our wedding photo of her for. ana marie and bill for talks got married in 1963 they had 2 children this picture was taken on their golden wedding anniversary in the 1st months of 2020 ana marie was taken to hospital the doctors diagnosed acute blood poisoning she was taken to the i.c.u. her condition seemed critical but she could still receive visitors. or you could bring her on an artificial long was a difficult step or those low voice that was the last time i saw her alive. no she wasn't conscious but i was able to hold her hand and i could tell that she knew i was there. sadly that was the last time i saw her. with the pandemic restrictions everything stopped. for me the worst was that i couldn't visit my wife mother for me who drove.

march the 16th a monday germany imposes on lockdown schools and kindergartens close factories shut down the hawks find themselves standing in front of closed doors at the hospital visits are no longer permitted. timor's elman is head physician at the intensive care unit an ameri hooks is one of his patients she has tested negative for coded but the whole hospital is in lockdown even close relatives are not permitted to visit. if you know. what i think relatives play an important role in the healing and care process nobody knows the patient better than their own relatives no one is more familiar to them than the partner or the children. but at that time it was absolutely impossible which i regret deeply that all. the result was often traumatic. we think it does

this interpret says so at least for accompli i think it complicates the process of grieving. for one thing people feel guilty if i wasn't there i couldn't be that and also because certain things couldn't be sad or experienced. and things that help with the grieving process and for help relatives to accept the ponting and hear the lock down certainly made it harder to come and decide to see him live if we had. annamarie hooks didn't appear to be dying so the doctors didn't someone her relatives. said it soon became clear that in the alley a tip situations where the patient is expected to die quite soon that relatives could be permitted to visit them again but this patient wasn't in that situation at all films. after 50 days in the i.c.u.

ana marie hawkes is sent back to a non intensive ward she knows nothing about the lockdown regulations outside she can't understand why she's been placed in isolation on top of that she's hard of hearing so she can't really follow a telephone conversation. with her home small food we did try when the nurse said it's your son she said oh georg when are you coming to visit me. if you can't come this morning can you come this afternoon we spoke to the doctor and i realized she's not understanding what this pandemic means to hear over the banning of visits to do this because. she received good medical attention but for more than 7 weeks neither the chaplain nor any of her relatives could visit her. then unexpectedly annamarie hooks died alone. the house usually sure before

we abandoned her somehow increased the loss and. more and that still hurts. us. they'll treat and georg folks know that they're not alone in this situation during the 1st phase of the pandemic some 2000 hospitals and about 12000 senior citizens residences in germany were in lockdown for several weeks hundreds of people died like ana marie hopes without comforting words spiritual solace or the consolation of relatives. this they hope will be a lasting side this can cause stress in later life. we see it in our walk with patients from a psychosomatic department people from autism clean where the subject of grief dominate all the conversations but me not the team up there is the limit isn't parts in the grieving process is delayed or prevented from occurring let. them 5 or 10 years later they return sometimes in the context of a depression with

a mental that if you know what and i have to be walked through again was in his i can well imagine is happening as a result of the pandemic and. think that. the hoax family feel a mixture of sadness and guilt they have to deal with a death for there was no opportunity to say goodbye it makes bill frist who looks angry. unfortunately there was no opportunity to talk because of the terrible situation and it still weighs heavy on me that they prevented it all humanly speaking a disaster the catalyst for. the have. and how did we always stuck to the rules that in retrospect i think we shouldn't have. had to left i realize now that maybe i should have fought for my father to be allowed to visit her and that we shouldn't have simply accepted what

the authorities said or that. anna marie daughter lives more than 3 hours drive from her parents' home when she heard that her mother had died she set off immediately not realizing that the distancing regulations extended even beyond the point of death but inside from harvest and i and at that point i didn't know it was really the end. that i wouldn't be able to see her again i expected to be able to see her if you know. that the. funeral directors had strict orders once the coffin was closed it should not be opened under any circumstances no further contact not even a glance at the body hospital chaplains argue that more humane methods must be found even in the midst of a pandemic. or by minute shouldn't forget that hospital chaplains are used to dealing with agents who are in isolation or for how to protect ourselves from

becoming infected oyez is for the clinics we saw account of a situation regularly and hospital and in differing zone our use your i'd say the whole situation was a bit more threatening than other situations because it was a collective threat and was experienced as sonship at all until our late. let's look at an example this hospital chaplain in essen was summoned to the i.c.u. to see a covert patient. he steps on how to miss to act and dienst the tony award contacted me directly because i was on duty and i rushed over common busking i actually it wasn't complicated i was mad as usual you own and they explained to me that the patient wasn't a church goer but that his faith was important to him and also his connection with the evan jellicoe jervis different sort of formulation. has been done i put on the protective clothing quickly including the f.f.t.

to mask and was taken to the room where this elderly patient lay lark i then removed my mask for a moment so that he could see my face like a normal bit of mine because it just seemed con which meant that instead and i noticed that when i spoke about his family he was very moved. but i could sense it but we're out of stuff. is done totally on talk and on the following day he died saturday i also had the opportunity to speak to his relatives on the phone and tell them about it will be i got the impression that it comforted them to know that their father hadn't passed from this life without christian consolation or not isn't causing so schoolhouses i'm leaving regardless. but even though hospital chaplains can sometimes stretch the regulations the painful dilemma continues at funerals. when the urn containing

ana marie cox ashes was taken to the cemetery no more than a dozen mourners were allowed to attend. talwar here it is difficult and sad to have to say goodbye. if we gather here in the cemetery during unusual times i. fall we would have liked to honor your wife our mother and your grandmother with a grand funeral if i advised. that's not possible at present the whole want to get even in these limited circumstances let us give the departed a worthy sendoff even for this good night katie.