this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at two... 12 new people test positive coronavirus in the uk — bringing the total number of cases in the country to 35. 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 stage because you got to make sure you have all the tools available if that is what is necessary. it comes as an infant school in berkshire is the latest place to close, after one of its staff tests positive for coronavirus. 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.

at least 500 migrants have crossed from turkey to several greek islands on small boats — after greek authorities said they've stopped almost 10,000 others from entering the country. 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. how civil are our mps? 100 years on, who was the first women to speak in the house of commons? join me in half an hour for the week in parliament. good afternoon. we start with the news that 12 more people have tested positive for coronavirus in the uk, bringing the total number

of cases in the uk to 35. the chief medical officer, professor chris whitty, gave the update within the last few minutes, saying three patients were close contacts of a known case, one had no known contacts and the circumstances were being investigated further, while others had recently travelled from countries where the virus had been identified. earlier today, the health secretary, matt hancock, said the government could take emergency powers to close schools and cancel public events in its efforts to tackle the coronavirus. mr hancock says, "nothing is off the table" at this stage, but added he wanted to mininise the social and economic impact of any measures. his comments came as a school in reading closed, after a teacher was hospitalised with the virus, as the number of cases in britain rose to 23.

here's our health editor, hugh pym. parents with children at this infant sahool in berkshire have been told it won't open again, until local authority leaders are certain it's safe. a member of staff, understood to have recently returned from italy, has tested positive for the coronavirus. meanwhile, in tenerife, more than 200 britons at the hotel which has seen a virus outbreak have been told by the foreign office they can fly home within 2a hours of testing negative. but, when they get back, they should self—isolate for another week. the government is considering plans to bring retired doctors and nurses back into the nhs if cases spread. the health secretary said he hadn't ruled out significant restrictions on everyday life. we don'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's necessary. but, you know, i want to minimise the social and economic disruption. sure. and, at this stage, we still have the hope,

although the numbers elsewhere are rising fast, we still have the hope that we might be able to avoid this outcome. possible measures being considered by ministers include some school closures, cancelling large public events, perhaps including sport, and encouraging people to work at home. for now, people are urged to call the nhs111 helpline if they have symptoms, having returned from any of the worst—affected countries. there was a 50% jump in call volume last week. in south korea, the army was on the streets, spraying disinfectant. local doctors say this virus is much harder to deal with than previous infectious diseases, like mers. translation: isolating patients and then tracing their recent contacts, he says, isn't working any more. iran, meanwhile, has reported a steepjump in the number cases to nearly 1,000,

but authorities have dismissed media reports saying they're struggling to contain the outbreak. hugh pym, bbc news. let's speak to dr peter 0penshaw — professor of experimental medicine at imperial college london. thank you forjoining us. i want to go through the key points. the first raises the point of contact tracing. he said three of the new patients we re he said three of the new patients were close contacts of known case. take us through this. tracing contacts works very well if people have symptoms. it is quite difficult to keep track of an infection that is being transmitted when the symptoms are not evident. that is one of the particular problems with this outbreak but i seem to be people spreading the virus without

having any symptoms very much at all in some cases. the second point is that we still don't have confirmation as to one patient who isa confirmation as to one patient who is a resident in essex. we don't know how he contracted the coronavirus. what we do know is that he had not travelled to one of the hotspot countries. what are your concerns about that? actually, i think it means the systems we had to try to screen for the virus are working rather well. public health england needs to be congratulated and thanked for mounting such a massive effort of testing. it is not possible obviously to test everyone here thinks they might have symptoms and it is not going to be feasible to rule out testing on the scanner might be needed to detect every case. i we should also say, anyway, the way people are managed is not going to be very specific, mostly,

having determined they do have this virus in that there are no specific antivirus at the moment. it is rather generic. still eight out of ten people who catch the virus are going to get better by themselves, without need for hospitalisation or any medical care. use spoke earlier about the symptoms and how difficult it is to trace contacts. —— you spoke. the british government is saying you had a 24—hour window, two travellers in tenerife, a 24—hour window from being tested before you can get on the plane and get home. how confident would you be in that 24 how confident would you be in that 2a hour window following a negative test? it is the best we can do in practical terms at the moment. if you have a negative test you are unlikely to be infectious within the next close window. i can quite understand how they have made that

determination. it seems the best we can possibly offer at the moment in terms of trying to reduce the likelihood of transmission. nothing is going to be 100% in this sort of situation. i am keen to know how you would see the spread and transmission of this minus evolving in the next few weeks. and a jump in the number of cases we have just had reported by chris is not really unexpected. we have been following the outbreak closely. you can see there is ongoing transmission in so many different countries outside china that it is not a surprise there has been a jump in places. it does add to the concern we do need to do everything we can to limit the amount of spread and delay the peak in number of infections because it is the peak really which puts an enormous strain are not only the nhs but also on all our other systems

and organisations. really what you are saying is we could have some time to go before we see that peak. yes. are we doing enough? have we started too late in trying to contain this? i don't think so. we have been very well informed by the chinese about what may be coming our way. we have tried to balance the needs and interests. clearly, it may not be eventually possible to contain the outbreak completely and we may have to deal with it as best we may have to deal with it as best we can in terms of strengthening nhs provision and all the other public health services. letsjust play out a scenario. a member of the family attract covid—19. what would be the best steps to take to protect your immediate family members? really this is something people should discuss with nhs111. they should

ring the telephone helpline and get advice. trying to limit the spread within a household is... it depends on what is feasible within the household. not all of us have enough rooms to be able to self—isolate. people who can take time off work to leave food outside of a room. it is something every household needs to discuss at this time to try to be ready for what plans we can actually put in place. let's just ready for what plans we can actually put in place. let'sjust go back to the coronavirus, as it is out there within this huge petri dish and evolving, what sort of developments and evolution could the virus be getting up to? what would your concern be? there is a race to create the vaccine. in the meantime, the virus is doing its own thing as

well. viruses do what they do, which is evolved. 0ver well. viruses do what they do, which is evolved. over time we can see this virus is accumulating mutations in its genome, which is what viruses do. whether that will make it more or less fit in terms of being able to spread and what it will do to disease severity we don't yet know. this is a new virus and we have to keep watching it and see what happens. it is vital that we do whatever we can in terms of research to nail this one down and to try and find treatments which are going to be effective as quickly as possible. fortu nately be effective as quickly as possible. fortunately the chinese have instituted a number of clinical trials already and we are waiting to hear what the results of those trials are. in the medical field hear what the results of those trials are. in the medicalfield but what are the unknown variables about the virus that remain which would help towards creating a vaccine? the virus that remain which would help towards creating a vaccine 7m terms of helping design vaccine, we really need to know what types of

immune response. we know with the common cold it is possible to infect people with the same virus which has not repeated or change. you can do that repeatedly after an interval. we don't know whether that is a guide to whether this coronavirus will also be able to infect people, despite having undergone minimal evolutionary change or whether in fa ct evolutionary change or whether in fact it will be possible to make a vaccine that will be protected. we are all hoping for the but i think they will not be available within they will not be available within the time span of the first waves, or few waves, of spread in the community. we must not pin our hopes on developing a vaccine in the immediate term. my neck and we have had to make the cases of reinfection injapan and china. ——

had to make the cases of reinfection in japan and china. -- we have had. they had both been reinfected with the virus after being declared clear of it. we are not absolutely sure those are reinfection is or whether it is the virus undulating along and reappearing. it might be the same virus they had and it has gone underground and then returned. we are not sure whether that is reinfection. the symptoms around ten seem to vary between very mild, you won't know you are carrying it. —— around covid—19. what is so dangerous about carrying the virus? how is it attacking the body that is making it so dangerous? it is not so much a cold as a car. people with cold symptoms, it is more likely they have got a cold. —— cough. it is more people presenting with a

calf, feeling feverish and slightly unwell, displaying a either, that is the sort of thing rather than a cold. —— presenting with a cough. some people do not know they are infected and may be passing the virus on to others. thank you for that. it has been fascinating. thank you. 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. just take us through what has been happening today and where we are. some of the british gas at the hotel are facing a challenge at the moment. 0n the one hand they are optimistic. if you had a test for

covid—19 and it comes back negative, you go to the apple and show no symptoms, you can go back to the uk. __ go symptoms, you can go back to the uk. —— go to the airport. we have spoken to one guest who told us they had their test at full pm yesterday and they still have not had the result meant making it almost impossible for them to book the flight may get to the airport and get on that plane. —— four o'clock. they also said they asked for a second test to time it properly for a flight that they said that has been refused. they say they went to reception to ask about the test result and a member of staffjoked ask about the test result and a member of staff joked it ask about the test result and a member of staffjoked it had come back positive. there are 200 british travellers here trying to get a second test limited time at the possible departure, and get back to the uk. at that person described it to let as an unbearable situation

inside the hotel and they said that people are starting to lose their patience. —— described it to us. if people can get on a flight back to the uk, the advices they had to self—isolate until march the 9th. they hope that can happen. —— the advice is. from other guests we have spoken to today, it seems like it is proving difficult on the ground because no one at the hotel seems to because no one at the hotel seems to be coordinating it. you need to time and be lucky to get your result and secure a place on a flight home. are the airline is helping with this? are they supporting the brits in this position? absolutely they are, thatis this position? absolutely they are, that is what they are telling us and the foreign office is supporting them as well. the experiences we are hearing from a couple of guest we have spoken to, they may call a

travel company for advice and get different advice from the different people they speak to. from what they had told us, it seems to be coordination, that is the key thing here, to try and get the communication, find out what flight they can be booked on to make sure they can be booked on to make sure they get that test within that time. a lot of people here need to have a test. medical staff on the ground are trying to get through all these passengers that need one. we are hearing and officially as well that other nationalities were told they also had to go for a test, which adds to the amount of people the medical staff need to deal with. it is proving a bit of a challenge on the ground at the moment, it seems. thank you very much indeed. and tomorrow evening on bbc one, ae have a special programme on the outbreak. that's coronavirus: everything you need to know — at 7.30pm tomorrow.

the headlines on bbc news: 12 new people test positive for coronavirus in the uk, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 35. the government insists it's prepared to do all it can to contain the virus. 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. at least 500 migrants have crossed from turkey to several greek islands on small boats, after greek authorities said they've stopped almost 10,000 others from entering the country. 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 has not publicly commented on allegations made by sir philip rutnam. and today the bbc has learned another formal complaint was made against her. let's speak to our political correspondent, helen catt. helen, first off, what do we know about news from another complaint. there was a formal complaint made against priti patel when she was at the department for work and. it is understood to have come from a member of her private office. —— their department for work and pensions. we do not know what happened to the complaint, whether it is upheld or rejected. we do not know the answer to that. we have been told there are conflicting views of how she was when she was at

the dwp. 0ne whitehall source said she created a hostile and unhappy environment by civil servants —— for civil servants by undermining them. another source at the department for work and pensions said she was difficult and not afraid to say what she wanted but they would not call her a bully. a conflict about what she was like to work for essentially. what it really tells us is it was unlikely to die down in the coming days. the tensions with their briefings, the leaks, they are unlikely to be going anywhere. this is what the new allocation tells us. there is a lot of talk about her feature in her role as home secretary. tell us about the support she has received up until now. priti patel says she is not aware of the complaint at the dwp. she has had shows of support from colleagues.

matt hancock this morning described her as determined and courteous. he said he believed she was closer to public opinion and issues on law and order than anyone in recent history. the former transport minister also came out in support of priti patel, saying she was fine to work with. borisjohnson was asked if boris johnson has full confidence in priti patel and downing street said he had full confidence in his cabinet. like a big thank you very much for that. storm jorge is bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the uk today, causing yet more disruption to flood—hit areas. dozens of flood warnings are still in place across england, wales and scotland, meaning immediate action is required. this time the brunt of the severe weather is expected to be borne by the south west and yorkshire, as well as parts of wales. greece says it's blocked almost 10,000 migrants from entering

the country from turkey. crowds of refugees have gathered on the border hoping to enter europe since the government in ankara eased restrictions on their movement. groups have been seen crossing the evros river, which marks the border. and hundreds more have made it by boat to the greek island of lesbos. but speaking to journalists — including the bbc‘sjonah fisher — near the border, the greek defence minister said he considered any migrants arriving on greek soil to be doing so illegally. those that have entered greek territory had been arrested and detained. in my mind this is an illegal way of entering one country. it is clearly possible to get through. people are getting through. whoever has got through, and there have been a few cases of people who

have been a few cases of people who have got through, had been arrested by greek authorities. and jonah has the latest now from the greece—turkey border on the numbers of migrants trying to cross into europe. we drove around the border area late last night and came across about ten to 15 migrants in total. a mix of people from afg ha ns to 15 migrants in total. a mix of people from afghans to groups of west africa ns people from afghans to groups of west africans and a few syrians. we we re west africans and a few syrians. we were also there while the authorities came and picked up some of the migrant who were walking along the road. certainly people are getting through the border fence. along the road. certainly people are getting through the borderfence. i think that is pretty clear. they talk about cutting through the barbed wire and walking through, not even having to go across the river which also acts as the border here between greece and turkey. people are getting through. the question is, when they get here, whether the greek authorities are picking everybody up. they said they had picked up 70 or so people, last

night, about 60 the night before. they are pretty clear they think the security measures are blocking the large number of people who are undoubtedly on the other side of the water trying to get in and that when people do manage to get through, they are being picked out for that thatis they are being picked out for that that is what the greek authorities are saying and it is very difficult for us to count the number of people who are getting through and past the authorities at this stage. two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 16—year—old boy was stabbed to death in coventry. 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. rescuers are searching for a climber who has not been seen since an avalanche on friday. 41—year—old andrew vine was last seen on the aonach mor mountain, next to ben nevis, in the scottish highlands.

mountain rescue teams are now working with police and the coastguard, as they continue to search the mountain and surrounding area. the former us vice presidentjoe biden has revived his campaign to become the democratic party nominee to take on donald trump in this year's presidential election in the united states. mr biden won a resounding victory in the democratic primary in south carolina after he performed poorly in three previous state ballots. barbara plett—usher reports. back in the game, this is the big win joe biden needed. for all of those of you who've been knocked down, counted out, left behind — this is your campaign. 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 democrats... ..nominate me... ..i believe we can beat donald trump. already, 0bama's vice president has had a surge in funding and political endorsements, 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 frontrunner, bernie sanders, who came in a distant second. we did not win in south carolina. booing 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. and, now, we enter super tuesday in virginia. 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 forjoe biden to savour, it's the first presidential primary victory of his lengthy political career. attention shifts quickly now to super tuesday. that'll be the test of whether tonight's result 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 nick miller. there was a bit of sunshine for me today but what about the rest of the country? actually we are doing quite well with sunshine. there is a good deal of fine weather across the uk, even though it is very windy in places. still rain, sleet and hail snow particular north of the central belt and there are showers in the west, some heady with hail and

thunder. their wins are dusty that is in thunder. their wins are dusty that isina thunder. their wins are dusty that is in a bit as we go deeper into the j. is in a bit as we go deeper into the j- -- is in a bit as we go deeper into the j. —— the winds are gusty. it will be icy in places. temperatures will be icy in places. temperatures will be kept up a few degrees. elsewhere a frosty night to come, i see in places. the wet weather to the south—east will move away. showers may lead towards the north—west by ganging up into western scotland for a long spell of rain and sleet and snow. for the next few days it is not as wet as it has been either.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: 12 new people test positive for coronavirus in the uk, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 35. the government insists it's prepared to do all it can to contain the virus. it comes as an infant school in berkshire is the latest place to close, after one of its staff tests positive for coronavirus. 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. at least 500 migrants have crossed from turkey to several greek islands on small boats,

after greek authorities said they've stopped almost 10,000 others from entering the country. 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 on bbc news, bbc pa rliament‘s programme looking back at the week in westminster. hello, and welcome to the week in parliament, as the prime minister is accused of going awol... after two weeks of flooding, mr speaker, there are now even memes being produced not