this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at three... another 12 people in the uk test positive for coronavirus — 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. another school in gloucester, st mary's school in tetbury, also confirmed a member of its staff tested positive for 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. 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... we'll be bringing you the best of this week's interviews and reports from the victoria derbyshire programme.

good afternoon. welcome to bbc news. 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 released an update — 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, 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 — but he added he wanted to mininise the social and economic impact of any measures. this afternoon, it's been confirmed that a member of staff at st mary's school in tetbury has tested positive for the virus — the school will close until at least wednesday. a school in reading is also closed after a teacher there was hospitalised with the virus.

here's our health editor, hugh pym. parents with children at this infant school 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. our health editor, hugh pym joins us now. we have these 12 new cases. could you take us through the key points? these 12 new cases announced an hour oi’ these 12 new cases announced an hour or $0 these 12 new cases announced an hour or so ago. we've been told, of the 12, eight of them have come from countries which have been affected, so countries which have been affected, so they are easily explained. they picked up the virus there, including italy. three more have contracted the virus from somebody as he tested positive in the uk. we don't know who that is but it shows the contact tracing, which is what public health england does, bringing other people who had been in contact with someone

else who has tested positive, and they have shown that positive as well. there is one more in ethics which cannot be explained because the individual has not travelled abroad recently. —— in essex. that is potentially a little more worrying because it suggests there isa worrying because it suggests there is a possibility there is transmission going on in the uk which is not linked to foreign travel. public health officials in a case in essex will be looking carefully for other contacts it is to see if it can be explained by someone to see if it can be explained by someone else who has come back from abroad. we have heard about other measures from that hancock. what has he been saying? yet he thinks isolating patients at hospitals may yet be enough. he is clearly looking

toa yet be enough. he is clearly looking to a scenario when you get many more cases stop transmission is going on right around the uk, within the uk permit you need to move to a new phase of preparation. he said nothing is being ruled out, including school closures if appropriate and possibly large spectator events. france has banned indoor events in confined spaces for more than 5000 people. again mr hancock said that was not being ruled out although there was nothing definite along these lines currently being planned. there are two schools that are directly impacted. it is deep cleaning i suppose that will be taking place. one school in berkshire and one school in gloucestershire, tetbury, where a member of staff has returned from foreign travel, contracted the virus and tested positive. in both cases,

the schools have made it clear they will not reopen until they are absolutely certain it is safe to do so. absolutely certain it is safe to do so. deep cleaning will go on and officials will be tracing the contacts these members of staff may have had. remember you need to be a quite close quarters with somebody, at least two metres for 15 minutes 01’ so. at least two metres for 15 minutes or so. they will be tracing the contacts. do you know what has struck me here, when we look at some of their new cases, they are coming from hotspots around the world. it does make you stop and think about the airports they have passed through. a lot of this has been identified as their final destination when they get home. it makes you wonder about what is taking place at airports. what do you know? doctors and health staff say you do need to be in close contact with somebody, less than two

metres, in the same building, the same airport with the same railway station is very unlikely to lead to any risk. they will have to weigh up the huge consequence economically against a risk to the public. what is happening in airports with our teams in the uk public health officials who are available if there isa officials who are available if there is a report from aircrew coming back from one of the affected areas if someone from one of the affected areas if someone looks and well. they can be met in the airport and taken aside and isolated if necessary and tested. there are staff on hand to give information to travellers on their onward journey, information about nhs111, all that sort of thing. that is fantastic. thank you very much. just to remind you, 35 cases reported now in the uk. earlier, i spoke to dr peter 0penshaw. he's professor of experimental medicine at imperial college london.

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 that there 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 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 have to try to screen for the virus are working rather well. public health england needs to be absolutely 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 scale that might be needed to detect every case. i we should also say, in a way, the way people are managed is not going to be very specific, mostly, to having determined they do have this virus in that there are no specific antivirals 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. you spoke earlier about the symptoms and how difficult it is to trace contacts. when we hear that the british government is saying you have a 24—hour window, this is to 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 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 really keen to know how you would see and transmission of this virus evolving in the next few weeks. the jump in the number of cases we havejust had reported by chris is not really unexpected. those of us 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 on not only the nhs but also on all our other systems and organisations. 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 in tenerife if you have a test for covid—19 and it comes back negative, you go to the airport and show no symptoms, you can go back to the uk. but it has to be within a 24—hour

period. we have spoken to one guest who told us they had their test at 4pm yesterday and they still have not had the result — making it almost impossible for them to book the flight, get to the airport and get on that plane. they also said they asked for a second test to try to time it properly for a flight but they said that has been refused. they say they went to reception to ask about the test result and a member of staffjoked it had come back positive. that is just one person's account. there are 200 british travellers here trying to get a second test to time it with a possible departure, and get back to the uk. but that person described it to us as an unbearable situation inside the hotel and they said that people were starting to lose their patience. if guests here can get on a flight back to the uk,

the advice is they have to self—isolate until march the 9th. they hope that can happen. from other guests we have spoken to today, it sounds like it is proving difficult on the ground because no one at the hotel seems to be coordinating it. 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 has not publicly commented on allegations made by sir philip rutnam. and today the bbc has learned another formal complaint was made against her.

i spoke to our political correspondent helen catt earlier, who told us the claims mean tension between her and the civil service is unlikely to die down quickly. there was a formal complaint made against priti patel when she was at the department for work and pensions. it is understood to have come from a member of her private office. we do not know what happened to the complaint, whether it was 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 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.

the constant them of 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, the briefings, the leaks, they are unlikely to be going anywhere. this is what the new allegation tells us. the headlines on bbc news... 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. 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. elinor barker claims the first medal for great britain at the track cycling world championships. everton getan cycling world championships. everton get an early lead against manchester united. spurs are drawing 2—2 with wolves. england women feel their place in the 2020 were cup by thrashing west indies. —— world cup. 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. the bbc‘s 0livia richwald is in east yorkshire and has more on the unprecedented levels of water there. this village in east yorkshire, where residents tell me it has not flooded here since 19117. that is more than 70 years. this road this way is called back lane. earlier today we were on the other side, filming where several houses had been flooded. residents there had borrowed a canoe to ferry people backwards and forwards to flooded to pick up valuables and treasured possessions. the problem is this floodwater is not receding. the longer it stays in peoples houses, the more damage it does and the more things will not be able to be retrieved and used once again. meanwhile more than 20 pumps are in operation, run by the environment agency over there. they are trying

to ta ke agency over there. they are trying to take this flood water into the river don to claim it as it as fast as possible. at the grandest saturated, no one knows how long that will take. —— with the ground so saturated. it is a very nervous time for here. residents are doing their best to help each other. their village hall is filled with volu nteers village hall is filled with volunteers making hot cups of tea and snacks and people giving donations. it is an extremely nervous time here. 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 have 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 got through, have 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 afghans to groups of west africans and a few syrians. we were also there while the authorities came and picked up some of the migrants who were walking along the road.

certainly people are getting through the border fence. 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, whether once 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 border trying to get in and that when people do manage to get through, they are being picked up. 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. a 16—year—old boy has died in a stabbing in coventry. ramani morgan, from birmingham, died in hospital after he was found collapsed in the stoke area of the city, at about 10:30pm last night.

two 17—year—old boys have been arrested on suspicion of murder. 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 president joe 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. manchester city face aston villa in the carabao cup final this afternoon. and our sports correspondent natalie pirks is there for us. natalie, manchester city are overwhelming favourites and it would be a big shock

if villa were to win today. it would be a huge shock but a beautiful day for it. let me tell you, the aston villa fans are in very good voice. interesting because both teams come into this in very different circumstances. there are ina different circumstances. there are in a relegation battle, they have lost their last three premier league matches on the spend. city coming ahead of a fantastic win in the champions league against real madrid. they have won this trophy for micro times in the last six seasons and this is their 16th visit to wembley in the last few seasons. —— this trophy for macro times. liverpool are running away with the league. they are going to take city's crown, they are 22 points ahead of them. now it is a matter of when and not if. city had just been

charged by uefa for alleged breaches of financialfair charged by uefa for alleged breaches of financial fair play. they have been banned from the champions league for the next two seasons. they have launched an appeal for the court of arbitration for sport. they are very hungry to win this. they absolutely are very hungry to win this. they a bsolutely love are very hungry to win this. they absolutely love this trophy. he has absolutely love this trophy. he has a very impressive record here at wembley since he took over as boss in 2016. he has not lost a final here but omitted his 26 final as a top—flight manager and he has won 20 of them. that gives you an idea of the sheer size of the task. they we re the sheer size of the task. they were last here 12 months ago when they were trying to get promotion for the premier league. when they step out on the turf in just over one hour, there will be very happy memories for them at very windy wembley. thank you very much.

now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello. most of us to get to see some sunshine at some stage today. some of us had even stayed dry. still a few showers around this evening and tonight particularly in western scotland, northern ireland, north—west england, north wales, where it could be icy in places in the morning. look at this weather system running across southern england towards east anglia as the night goes on and first thing tomorrow. from this you could see a bit of sleet and snow — mainly to hills, maybe not exclusively so, before it clears away. keeps temperatures up a little bit here but elsewhere frosty and again potentially icy to start the day tomorrow. the rain, sleet and snow will clear away to the south—east and behind that it is sunshine and showers again. most of these towards the north—west, ganging up on western scotland for a longer spell of rain, sleet and hill snow moving in for some of us as the afternoon goes on. it is still breezy out there, it is not going to be as windy as it has been in terms of temperatures — it will be in single figures, and that's where it's going to stay through the week with frost in places, icy nights but some sunshine and not as wet as it has

been. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: another 12 people in the uk test positive for coronavirus, 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 closes,

after one of its staff tests positive for coronavirus. another school in tetbury, gloucester, has also confirmed a member of staff has tested positive. 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, the best of the week's exclusive interviews and reports from the victoria derbyshire programme.