POLITICO brings you a special edition of the EU Confidential podcast focusing on the coronavirus crisis. This is the first in a series of extra episodes looking at the people, politics and policies shaping Europe's response to COVID-19.

After we recap a dramatic day of shutdowns and lockdowns, POLITICO health reporters Sarah Wheaton and Jillian Deutsch talk with EU Editor Andrew Gray about how the EU and different European countries are handling the pandemic. They also turn the spotlight on the leaders and organizations who have been handed a central role. And we discuss how to talk about the coronavirus — what's the right tone for a crisis like this?

We talk with our aviation expert Saim Saeed about the unprecedented toll the virus is taking on the airline industry. What's been the impact so far? And what do airlines expect from politicians so they can still put planes in the air whenever this crisis comes to an end?

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