this is bbc news. the headlines at 11am: an infant school in berkshire is the latest place to close, after one of its staff tests positive for coronavirus — bringing the number of confirmed cases in the uk to 23. the government insists it's prepared to do all it can to contain the virus. we won't take anything off the table at this stage, because you've got to make sure that you have all of the tools available, if that is what is necessary. labour calls for home secretary priti patel to attend the commons tomorrow to explain allegations from her departing civil service chief that she bullied staff. in the us, democrat presidential candidate joe biden wins his first primary in south carolina — boosting his chances of being his party's candidate to take on donald trump in november's election.

and in half an hour — foreign correspondents in london will discuss the week's with an outside perspective in dateline. good morning. the health secretary matt hancock says the government "isn't taking anything off the table at this stage" in its preparations for dealing with coronavirus. speaking to the bbc‘s andrew marr, he said in the worst case scenario the government would have to take some "quite significant actions" that would have "social and economic disruption". but he stressed the government wanted to minimise that disruption. ministers are considering bringing recently retired nhs employees back to work to help boost staffing levels, and relaxing limits on school class sizes if teachers are unable to work. it's hoped advertising campaigns could also help people

to reduce their risk of infection. andy moore reports. willow bank school at wokingham in berkshire, where about 180 children in infant classes have been told to stay at home for the next few days. the head teacher wrote to parents saying a member of staff had been diagnosed with coronavirus. the school, she said, would be closed for deep cleaning. the staff member is one of three new cases announced yesterday by the chief medical officer. they had been overseas in italy and asia. another case at haslemere in surrey is causing concern, because the person hadn't been abroad and it's not known how they contracted the virus. the government says it's ordered a so—called war room to be convened in the cabinet office to roll out a new public information campaign. it also says it's considering bringing retired health professionals back into the nhs. longer term, home working may be encouraged and unnecessary travel discouraged.

the total number of confirmed cases here in the uk is now 23. italy is the worst—hit country in europe, with over 1,000 people infected and 29 deaths. in the us, one person has died in the state of washington, on the west coast, and there are fears of an outbreak among 50 people who are ill at a nursing home. it's been confirmed that one carer has the virus and an elderly woman is seriously ill. additional cases in the united states are likely. but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover. and we think that will be a statement that we can make with great surety now that we've gotten familiar with this problem. outside of china, south korea is suffering one of the worst outbreaks. the army has swapped camouflage for white suits to disinfect this train station. the country recorded over 800

new cases yesterday, almost twice as many as china. andy moore, bbc news. the health secretary, matt hancock, spoke to andrew marr this morning, responding to claims there aren't enough hospital beds with ventilators to cope with coronavirus, if there is a major outbreak. andrew marr asked how many are currently available. we don't take anything off the table at this stage, because you've got to make sure you have all the tools available, if that is what is necessary. under the worst—case scenario, we would have to take some quite significant actions that would have social and economic disruption. and you've already seen some other countries take some of these actions. we have 15 now, and we can mmp actions. we have 15 now, and we can ramp that up to 500, and then, necessary to 5000. 5000 ventilator systems 7 necessary to 5000. 5000 ventilator systems? 5000 beds that are able to

cope with the worst impact of this virus. but, of course, the numbers get enormous, it doesn't matter what scale of a peacetime type nhs you have, the pressure on it, of course, are going to be very significant. we understand that, but we also have plans to rise to that challenge. we are putting a lot more resources into 111 and that is one of the resources we are working on today. 0bviously, resources we are working on today. obviously, the response of iii resources we are working on today. obviously, the response of 111 has been fantastic and that is one of the resources we are working on today. 0bviously, the resources we are working on today. obviously, the response of 111 has been fantastic, three years but having that clarity of message to the you've got a problem is really important. of course, the number of calls going to 111 has risen very sharply, by more than 50% in the last week. i understand that. we had a plan already to put more resources into 111 and that's happening. but i would also say, andrew, on that, i hope that people will also bear with us. i haven't

seen a story of anybody waiting. there was one case of somebody waiting four days to get through. but i would say that people should also bear with the system. everybody has a part to play and people should be patient. of course more people are calling 111 than before, that's to be expected in the circumstances. matt hancock talking to andrew marr. british tourists at a hotel in tenerife are being tested again today, after they received guidance from the foreign office saying they could fly home within 2a hours of testing negative for the virus. 0ur correspondent fiona trott is there. the focus has been on that hotel behind you, what has happened today? todayis behind you, what has happened today? today is a crucial day for the british guests here. arrangements are being made to get them home. all day yesterday, they were queueing up for nasal swabs for covid—i9 and some of them are being called back for a second test. that is because

they cannot fly more than 2a hours after that test. let me explain why thatis after that test. let me explain why that is so important. remember, companies like jet2 were that is so important. remember, companies likejet2 were saying we can't fly you back unless you have had a two week quarantine here or you have tested negative. if they test negative, some of the guests are saying they are expecting the results today, some think it could be tomorrow. if they get a negative result, they get to the airport and don't show any symptoms, they could get on a flight back to the uk if and when that plane is ready. don't forget, once they get back to the uk, they do have two self—isolate until march ten. medical staff are having to keep a close eye on the five people who are confined to their rooms. they have been in their rooms since tuesday and they came into closer contact with the infected italians which prompted this shutdown. 0ne infected italians which prompted this shutdown. one of their fellow travellers, as you know, tested positive for coronavirus yesterday, a fifth case here and they are now

being treated in hospital. fiona, what have people said to you about... reports about the conditions in the hotel. presumably this whole business of having to remain in the room, the practicalities of that, of trying to feed and never mind just getting bored and frustrated, have had to be managed by people over the last week or so. at first, when the hotel enforced this shutdown, people had to stay in their room. then they reassessed the situation and they said they could go into communal areas if they wore a mask. we had from guests inside the hotel that that wasn't happening. that caused some anxiety, of course, understandably. some people refusing to leave their room at all, even though they were told it was safe to do so if they took these precautions. but i think really there was a real sort of change after public health england

visited the island and looked at the situation. and the foreign office told gu ests situation. and the foreign office told guests here that all british guests, told guests here that all british gu ests, 232 told guests here that all british guests, 232 were staying here, they we re guests, 232 were staying here, they were all the risk. that is when these conversations began about getting them home. initially, after that shut down, there was some anxiety about the kind of quarantine measures that were not enforced inside the hotel. but, gradually, as the days have gone on, things have become more relaxed and we've seen guests leaving here each day. it appears on the ground they are different protocols for different countries. we've seen people from different nationalities already make their way home. but, different nationalities already make theirway home. but, of different nationalities already make their way home. but, of course, this is why today, for the remaining british guests here who are having the second covid—i9 test, it is a crucial day, they are waiting to see if they can get on a flight. the owner, in tenerife, thank you very much. —— fiona in tenerife.

governments around the world have moved to limit some public events. this morning, tokyo held its marathon. 0ur correspondentjenny hill is there and has more. well, the numbers are continuing to grow. relatively slowly here in japan, but they are growing nevertheless. particularly in the north in hokido where the number of cases have almost doubled in the last few days. there are well over 60 people infected there. you will perhaps recall that on friday that the authorities there declared a state of emergency and asked people to stay in their homes all weekend. reports from the scene suggest streets are all but deserted. speaking of streets, this road behind me should this morning have been hosting the tokyo marathon, or part of it. 38,000 runners should have been pounding along here watched by goodness knows how many spectators. organisers had to scale it right back. they stopped general competitors from taking part in the event. only 200 elite athletes ran the course, watched by very few people because the authorities specifically asked people to stay

away, not to gather along the route to cheer the athletes on. another events in the sporting calendar are also being disrupted. we have just heard about one of the biggest events in japan's sporting calendar, the spring sumo wrestling tournament, which organisers were considering cancelling but they have decided it will go ahead as planned next weekend but no—one will watch it in the stadium. the wrestlers will compete in an empty arena. all of this, of course, raising questions over the tokyo 2020 summer olympics, just five months away. yesterday, we heard from the prime minister, shinzo abe, who insisted yet again that the games will go ahead as planned, but the torch relay, which is due to get under way in just a few weeks' time is being considered at the moment. because that torch is expected to travel all over japan before it comes back here to tokyo. the event organisers are saying they are considering scaling back some of those events and we are likely to hear

an announcement about that in the coming week. let's look elsewhere in the region. what is the situation in china, the source of the coronavirus outbreak? there are still new infections and deaths being reported in china, but overall, the pattern seems to be one of improvement. the world health organization have said the rate at which new infections are being reported, the rate of new deaths, is slowing. that is giving rise to encouragement and they say the chinese authorities, with the measures they imposed, by locking down cities, some say draconian measures, appear to have worked in terms of starting to keep that outbreak under control. of course a huge number of people have been infected and have died. here, and in the rest of asia, a slightly different picture, because it is spreading. we are seeing some new cases in japan, more than 900 cases of them. the vast majority of them were people who were infected on board the diamond princess cruise ship. on top of that, well over 200 people have now been infected.

there is a lot of concern about the people came off the diamond princess cruise ship and then travelled home. they have started testing positive in all parts of the world. but here injapan it is reckoned around six people may have travelled on public transport whilst they were hosting the infection. jenny hill in tokyo. in south korea, nearly 9,000 members of a religious sect are said to be suffering from symptoms of the virus. the centre for disease control says it has interviewed all of the 239,000 members of the shincheonji church ofjesus, which is at the centre of the outbreak in the country. president moonjae—in has said the government is waging an all—out response to contain the virus as the number of confirmed cases continues to rise. 18 people have died there. a doctor in south korea has told the bbc that countries affected by virus outbreaks should learn from his country's mistakes. translation: so, in the past,

our strategy was elimination and containment, but now, we are switching our strategy to mitigation and risk reduction. we can't quarantine and treat all patients. those who have mild symptoms should stay at—home and get treated. we should change our end—goal strategy to lower death rates. so, other countries like italy, that's seeing a huge number of patients should also change their strategies, as well. and tomorrow evening on bbc one, we have a special programme on the outbreak — that's coronavirus: everything you need to know — at 7:30pm tomorrow. the home secretary, priti patel, is coming under pressure from labour to answer claims made by her departing permanent secretary that she bullied staff. ms patel has reissued denials in response to newspaper reports — but she has not publicly commented on allegations made by sir philip rutnam. he is suing the government

for constructive dismissal. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent, helen catt. if there is that sort of rift it moves quietly. pretty extraordinary for it to boil over in this public way with the senior civil servant in front of the camera is resigning saying they are going to sue the government for disruptive dismissal and are choosing one of the most senior cabinet ministers, the home secretary of lying and bullying. she has denied that claim had not responded publicly but we haven't had a huge amount of response publicly in the either side partly because that is in the context that sir philip rutten will take legal action, everyone has been careful but that was put to matt hancock, one of priti patel‘s cabinet collea g u es one of priti patel‘s cabinet colleagues and here is what he said. what i would say is that priti is a

very determined home secretary. she is probably closer to where the public are on the issues of law and order than any home secretary in recent history. i think she drives things forward. now, i also think she is extremely courteous. and every dealing i've ever had with her, she has been very courteous. i can't get into the details of the case, not least because it looks like it might be going to court. i'm not close to it. what i would say is that the work between ministers and officials is vital. let me ask you one more coronavirus. .. if you look at coronavirus, officials, medics, the nhs, right across government, all pulling together and working together to deliver. i suppose the contrast, the difficulty here is that matt hancock isa difficulty here is that matt hancock is a collie, not somebody working with relations between bosses and employers different. but on that point on policy, everybody thinks coronavirus is a bad thing that has

to be tackled. presumably, some of theseissuesis to be tackled. presumably, some of these issues is because the home office is dealing with subjects where there might not be a consensus on where the policy is. what is interesting is the point he pointed it at the end. that for coronavirus, it at the end. that for coronavirus, it is vital you have officials and ministers working together and the home office has a huge amount of what to do over the next year, it has got to put in place an entirely new immigration system. if there has been a breakdown between ministers and officials, it sounds that is likely to make that a lot harder. that is, unwittingly, matt hancock flagged up one of the problems with this. that's kind of interesting. the other interesting thing is the phrase he used about saying he believed priti patel was closer to where the public are on law and order issues than many recent home secretaries. that is interesting, if that sort of theme is what we start to hit out of the government. there has been this sense of a lot of the defences has been this sense of a lot of the d efe nces of has been this sense of a lot of the defences of priti patel, this idea that this is a government that is coming to ruffle feathers and it is the government against the machine,

if you like. it is interesting that picks up on that a little bit. two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 16—year—old boy was stabbed to death in coventry last night. officers were called to reports of a young man found collapsed in the stoke area of the city, at about half past ten last night. the victim was taken to hospital but died a short time later. west midlands police say two 17—year—old boys are in custody. the headlines on bbc news... an infant school in berkshire is the latest place to close, after one of its staff tests positive for coronavirus — bringing the number of confirmed cases in the uk to 23. labour calls for home secretary, priti patel, to attend the commons tomorrow — to explain allegations from her departing civil service chief that she bullied staff. in the us, democrat presidential candidate joe biden wins his first primary in south carolina — boosting his chances of being his party's candidate to take on donald trump in november's election.

sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's ben croucher. including the latest on the cricket. england are through to the semi finals of the women's t20 world cup after a comprehensive victory over west indies in their final group game. england made 143 from their 20 overs with nat sciver continuing her strong tournament, top scoring with 57 off 56 deliveries. she was in the game in the windies innings too, taking the catch to remove opener deandra dottin as they struggled to really get going. sophie ecclestone took three wickets forjust seven runs in an impressive bowling display by england. 46 runs the winning margin. they'll stay in sydney for their semifinal on thursday. they'll bejoined in the semis by south africa — who beat pakistan by 17 runs. south africa will top the group if they avoid defeat in their final

game against west indies. liverpool managerjurgen klopp has been trying to put a positive spin on their first league defeat of the season, saying they can play free football again and then not have to worry about defending their unbeaten record. it was ended by watford — 3—0 at vicarage road — with klopp admitting they deserved nothing from their performance. if you win in the right manner, deal with it and if you lose, deal with it like a with it and if you lose, deal with it likea man. you have to lose like a man. it feels exceptionally average, it is absolutely not what we want but we have to accept it and let's carry on. watford climbed out of the bottom three as a result, along with west ham. michail antonio scored their third in a 3—1 win over southampton. just goal difference separating them and bournemouth who conceded late to draw with chelsea. brighton are just a point above the relegation zone after losing at home to crystal palace.

aston villa have a game in hand because they're at wembley today — up against manchester city in the league cup final. city are chasing a third successive triumph in the competition, but having played real madrid in the champions league in midweek, manager pep guardiola is wary of a more—rested villa. they had all week to prepare in that game. our mental and tough... game was the game against madrid. i know we will suffer from that over the next days because it's normal. it is notjust the game, it is the days and weeks before, preparing for this difficult game. how difficult and demanding it is. a drop of adrenaline or something, in your mind and your body. it's an opportunity because nine years ago, the manager at walsall in league 1, looking to keep them up.

if anyone told me in nine years, i would be sat here as a premier league manager with aston villa leading them into a domestic trophy, i would have said that you were crackers. i see it as a massive opportunity. the lads have done ever so well to get to the final. we have always expressed, you know, the tradition of the cup for this football club. now we have an opportunity against one of the world's best teams. for the first time since the summer of 2016, heather watson will be a top 50 player when the tennis rankings are confirmed tomorrow. it's after her three—set victory in the final of the mexican open against canada's leylah annie fernandez. it's her fourth career title and she said she was really, really happy. england's tommy fleetwood says victory in the honda classic in florida would prove himself as an all—round golfer as he starts the final round later with a one—shot lead. he made four birdies in the last five holes of his third round. he's yet to win on the us pga tour. that's all the sport for now.

you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website — and live track cycling, table tennis and the london half marathon too. and the london half marathon too. if you can tell yourself away from bbc news, of course. i might need a bit of light relief later this afternoon, ben. services on the northern rail network have been taken under government control. the operator, arriva rail north, has been stripped of its franchise after years of poor performance. the transport secretary, grant shapps, has set up a panel of local politicians, industry experts and passenger representatives to try to improve services. simonjones reports. long—suffering passengers branded the service "northern fail". delays, cancellation, overcrowding, strikes, and the introduction of a botched new timetable. they wanted change and trains that run on time. it's really unreliable. um, it's late every day. er, half of them don't turn up. ijust find that i tend to work from home quite a bit, just to avoid the commute.

northern is a huge commuter network, from the midlands to northumberland, from lancashire to east yorkshire. but figures from the office of rail and road found only 55% of northern trains arrived at stations within a minute of the stated timetable in the past year. that compares with the average across britain of 65%. a recent survey by the passenger watchdog transport focus suggested thatjust 72% of northern passengers were satisfied with theirjourney. the company blamed external problems, such as rail infrastructure, but the government said passengers needed a service they could rely on and stripped it of its franchise five years early. now trains will be run by the government's operator of last resort. the transport secretary, grant shapps, is calling it a new era for rail in the north, but he's warning there will be no quick fix. he's set up a panel of local politicians, industry experts, and passenger representatives to draw up an action plan within 100 days. the number one priority will be to ease overcrowding. simon jones, bbc news.

the former us vice president, joe biden, has won the latest round of votes to be the democratic candidate to challenge donald trump later this year. the results so far in the state of south carolina indicate that mr biden has taken around half the votes — a critical result for his campaign after a poor performance in earlier ballots. 1a states are holding their elections on ‘super tuesday‘ this week. our washington correspondent barbara plett usher reports. back in the game. this is the big win joe biden needed. all those of you who've been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is yourcampaign! cheering. propelled to victory by an outpouring of support from black voters, he always predicted they would revive his struggling campaign, and they came through.

if the democrats nominate me, i believe we can beat donald trump. already, obama's vice president has had a surge in funding and political endorsements, building momentum as he has building momentum as he heads into super tuesday, when 1a states hold primary votes. he's the first candidate to score a clear—cut victory against the front runner, bernie sanders, who came in a distant second. we did not win in south carolina. booing. and that will not be the only defeat. there are a lot of states in this country. nobody wins them all. i want to congratulate joe biden on his victory tonight. cheering. and, now, we enter super tuesday in virginia. cheering. the left—wing senator is expected to put in a strong showing on super tuesday. butjoe biden is now his chief rival

going into that crucial vote, the leading moderate contender. this is a moment for joe biden to savour. it's the first presidential primary victory of his lengthy political career. attention shifts quickly now to super tuesday, that will be the test of whether tonight's results that will be the test of whether tonight's results will change the course of the race. barbara plett usher, bbc news, columbia south carolina. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. it's the first day of spring. a happy saint davids day to you. same to you. i have the daffodils here in clan did know there is plenty of sunshine up and down the country. good news, because yesterday storm jorge just added to the floods misery in places and we have numerous flood warnings enforce up have numerous flood warnings enforce up and down the country, head online to check them out. the storm is weakening, north of scotland. fairly

strong and gusty winds across the country through the afternoon but gradually easing down with lots of sunshine and a scattering of showers. snow over the high ground of scotland. those winds a feature but in the sunshine shouldn't feel too bad, 10 degrees, around average for the time of year. this weather front for the time of year. this weather fro nt m oves for the time of year. this weather front moves in to southern britain this evening and overnight. wet weather here could see sleety ness on the back edge as it moves east. further north, wintry showers and further snow on the hills of scotland, it will be cold with frost and ice to watch out for. not so cold across the south because you have that wet weather south eastern areas for the monday morning rush. see you later. hello this is bbc news. the headlines:

an infant school in berkshire is the latest place to close, after one of its staff tests positive for coronavirus — bringing the number of confirmed cases in the uk to 23. the government insists it's prepared to do all it can to contain the virus. we don't take anything off the table at this because you've got to make sure you have all the tools available, if that is what is necessary. labour calls for home secretary priti patel to attend the commons tomorrow — to explain allegations from her departing civil service chief that she bullied staff. in the us, democrat presidential candidate joe biden wins his first primary in south carolina — boosting his chances of being his party's candidate to take on donald trump in november's election. now dateline.

hello, and welcome to dateline london. i'm carrie gracie. this week: wake up, get ready, coronavirus is coming — the message from the world health organization to governments everywhere. hopes of stopping the new virus at national borders all but vanished over the past week — and global financial markets reacted accordingly. but if we can't stop this coronavirus, can we slow it down? my guests today: stefanie bolzen of die welt. american journalist henry chu. iain martin of the london times. mina al—oraibi, editor of the national — a news service for the middle east. i want to start by looking at how different countries and different regions are handling it so far. let's start with iran and the middle east. iran, marks out of ten? two at best.