this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at five: this is bbc news. the headlines at another 12 people in the uk test positive for coronavirus, six. the headlines at six. bringing the total number of cases another 12 people in the uk test positive for coronavirus, in the country to 35. bringing the total number of cases the government insists it's in the country to 35. the prime minister has been visiting prepared to do all it can public health england. to contain the virus. coronavirus is a concern, we can't take anything it is a novel illness. off the table at this it is something that this country stage because you have really amply has the to resources to deal with. make sure you have all of the tools we have state—of—the—art available if that is what is testing facilities, a fantastic nhs, we will have to get necessary. through this but believe me we are it comes as an infant school in berkshire closes, going to beat it. after one of its staff tests positive for coronavirus. another school in tetbury, gloucester, has also confirmed a member of staff two schools have closed — has tested positive. one in berkshire, another in gloucester — labour calls for home secretary after a member of staff in each test priti patel to attend the commons tomorrow, positive for coronavirus. to explain allegations from her departing civil service borisjohnson says he has "confidence" in his chief that she bullied staff. home secretary priti patel,

who faces allegations greek authorities have been using tear gas as clashes intensify with migrants on the border with turkey, they say they've already stopped almost 10,000 from entering. in the us, democratic 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. ‘aguero! it's found its way in‘ 0.04‘sergio aguero scores for manchester city in the carabao cup final — they lead aston villa 2—0 at wembley

12 more people have tested positive for coronavirus in the uk, the chief medical officer, chris whitty gave an update on those cases. saying that. three of the patients were close contacts of a previously known case. one of the patients had no known contacts. and the others travelled from countries where the virus had been identified. that means the total number of cases in the uk stands at 35. this morning 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 corona virus, but he added he wanted to mininise the social and economic impact of any measures. and this afternoon, its 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 admitted to hospital with the virus. 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 nhs 111 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 reports that they're struggling to contain the outbreak. hugh pym, bbc news. this afternoon boris johnson has paid a visit to public health england to discuss attempts to limit the spread of coronavirus. earlier i spoke with our health editor hugh pym who explained more about the 12 new cases of coronavirus in the uk. we have been told, of the 12, eight of them have come from countries that have been affected. they are easily explained, they picked up the virus there, including italy. three more have contracted the virus from somebody else

who tested positive in the uk. we don't know who that is but it shows that contact tracing, what public health england does, will bring in other people who have been in contact with someone who has tested positive, they are tested and they have shown a positive as well. there is one more in essex that cannot easily be explained because the individual has not travelled abroad recently. similar to the case in surrey which was reported on friday, no recent foreign travel. that is potentially a little more worrying because it suggests there is a possibility there is transmission going on in the uk which is not linked immediately to foreign travels. in that case in essex, public health will be looking to see if it can be explained by someone else who has recently come back from abroad. we have heard about some of the measures from matt hancock. what has he been saying? the health secretary thinks

containment with a policy of quickly isolating patients in hospital facilities and tracing contacts may be enough. he is clearly, as are other health officials, looking to a scenario where you get many more cases. there is transmission going on around the uk and you need to go into 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. mr hancock said that was not being ruled out then i was nothing definite along these lines currently being planned. 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, who's there, says there's a sense of relief for some of the holiday—makers. the latest i can tell you is that some british guests from this hotel had been locked in the hotel since tuesday, sms of them, will definitely be flying back to the uk tonight. is that we here at the ground at the moment. there have been challenges for them this afternoon. as he mentioned, they we re afternoon. as he mentioned, they were hopeful, that a who are tested and got negative and at that airport they did not show symptoms, they could get a flight back to the uk. it have to be back in a 2k hour period. it can be carried for that time but it could not be transmitted. if the flight was more than 2a hours after the test they would have to be tested at the end.

that would delay things even more. but what we were hearing from two guests but what we were hearing from two gu ests by but what we were hearing from two guests by telephone and from inside the hotel is that one and then had a pass at ii:00pm yesterday they got the result two o'clock today and. another person said he had his task three o'clock yesterday and is do to get his results at one o'clock. he is still waiting for that test results. it is only two cases out of more than 200 guests here at this hotel, but if it is indication of how the process is working, it certainly doesn't appear as though it is happening as quickly as they are needed to get back on the flight and get back to the uk. 0ne gas does describe the situation as unbearable and people inside the hotel are beginning to lose their patients. yes they are hearing that some will be coming back to the uk tonight, we don't know how many, and has been

very challenging for them. when they get it back, they will have to self—isolate and help march the 9th. the us has reported the first death from the new coronavirus in the country, in the state of washington. let's get the latest fromt he united states. 0ur correspondent peter bowes is in los angeles for us. this man in his 50s, the first step in the united states. peter i understand there is a lot of attention being put at the moment on attention being put at the moment on a nursing home within watching his state. what are the details that? we know that doesn't people have been diagnosed with a coronavirus on this particular day nursing home care and one of the potions. details the person who died, was on a separate

hospital facility. it also person who died, was on a separate hospitalfacility. it also in washington state. that was a man in the 50s. secretary confirmed is still not know how he contracted the virus. he is known to have any connections with who travelled overseas are from china or from anyone close to him who had been infected. still a lot of work to be done. this is the thing that's concerning people. he talked of community infections. people in california as well in the state of 0regon california as well in the state of oregon to. people are getting sick that they had not had any known connection with the countries where the disease is prevalent. and because of this washington state has declared a state of emergency. talk us declared a state of emergency. talk us through some of the measures that we re us through some of the measures that were announced yesterday. he stated

a note didn't see it as a procedure releases funds to help feel with the situation. elected president is doing and the vice president as well is leading the effort, they are telling people to get on with their everyday lives. the risk to the vast majority of americans is still low. that said, there i now travel restrictions imposed, the tougher channel restrictions imposed on people who have been to iran. people strongly advised did not travel to certain areas of south korea and italy where the disease is much more prevalent. interesting in washington state, today we hear about some scientific research. samples taken from the first person in the us to be diagnosed back injanuary who had travelled from china, and someone

more recently diagnosed, it shows a close connection between samples taken from those two people. suggesting that this virus has been in the community, in washington for up in the community, in washington for up to six weeks of potentially affecting up to 1500 people. what is the atmosphere right in the united states and around this virus? people concerned about this. they are concerned about this. they are concerned because there has been a huge amount of media coverage. what is happening in the last few days a large effort by the trump administration and local authorities as well. to delay the fear of people. and called the scaremongering. to tell people that this is similar to a flu accepts a little worse than the fact that the death rate is slightly higher. the

vast majority of people even if they are infected are likely to recover from this. peter bowes thank you very much. update on the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country has now reached almost 1000 700. a concentrated across the northern parts of the country including lombardi begin. the death toll has alsojumped, lombardi begin. the death toll has also jumped, fl from patients tested positive and italy has risen by five to 34. an official confirming that yet again. as of the latest details from italy. as of the latest details from italy. the louvre museum in paris hasbeen closed all day, following a staff meeting called

to address the concerns of staff over the coronavirus. there were long queues outside the world's most visited museum for much of the day, as people stood in the rain hoping it would open. it's been reported that 300 of the museum's staff voted not to open amidst fears over the spread of coronavirus. 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, 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 the substance of the complaint was or what happened to it — 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 is 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. 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. 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. greek authorities have been using tear gas as clashes intensify with migrants on the border with turkey. they say they've already stopped

almost 10,000 from entering. 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 have 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. two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a fatal stabbed in coventry last night. officers were called out to the stoke area of the city at around 10—30. police cordons have been in place today, as investigations continue. 0livia hutchinson reports. forensic teams working in coventry again this afternoon. this latest incident means there's

now been eight fatal stabbing is in the city in less than two years. ramani morgan from birmingham was just 16 years old. unfortunately we still have a small proportion of young people who have a propensity to carry and use knives. so we'll keep pushing really hard to try and reduce incidents of knife crime. but yes, it causes me huge concern as the commander of coventry, definitely, and i know that it's a concern for the chief in the region. two 17—year—old boys have been arrested on suspicion of murder, and are currently in custody. police discovered ramani collapsed here on clay lane. he was taken to hospital, where he later died. it's understood he'd been attending a house partyjust around the corner from this police cordoned on chandos street. what happened isn't believed to be gang—related. west midlands police says its keen to hear from anyone who was at the party. the force is also encouraging people driving through the area last night with dashcam footage to get in touch as the investigations continue. 0livia hutchinson, bbc midlands today, coventry.

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 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 14 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. in a momentjane hill will be here with a full update and we'll be joined by viewers on bbc one, but first — 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.

bringing the total to 35. a teacher at the infant school is among those affected the school has been shot in the government says it many more closures and may be necessary. we don't take anything off the table at

this stage, because we have to make sure that you have all of the tools available if that is what is necessary. the very latest and speaking to a health editor. i also internet‘s programme pressure grows on priti patel on bullying allegations. following the resignation of her top civil servant. he sees his tear gas and rubber bullets as it closes its border to thousands of refugees trying to escape from syria into europe. and i woman who says it was too easy to change and gender when she was 16, takes the clinic that helped her to colt.

there has been a significant increase in the number of people are testing positive for coronavirus. 12 bit cases in england how secretary has that is supply school but the spread of the disease cannot be contained. the total number of cases a big uk it now stands at 35. if iran saves his respiratory degrees which causes pneumonia like symptoms, has infected more than 87,000 people. 0ne one of two schools that will be closed tomorrow because members of staff have tested positive for the coronavirus. at this infant school in berkshire, parents have been told it won't open until health officials are certain it's safe. the task now is checking up on those that were in close contact with the individual who is now in hospital. we know exactly who this member of staff has beenin

exactly who this member of staff has been in contact with. and public health england now are in the process of getting hold of all of these people and making sure that their health is looked after properly. three of the latest cases are thought to be linked to a man who went into a gp surgery in surrey and tested positive last week. the rest of the 35 so far diagnosed in the uk are in different parts of the country, though these are so far isolated, individual cases. the government is considering plans to bring retired doctors and nurses back into the nhs if cases are 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 is necessary. but i want to minimise the social and economic disruption. and, at this stage, we still have the hope, although the numbers

elsewhere are rising fast, we still have to 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 nhs for now, people are urged to call the nh5111 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. and hugh pym's here now. it's clearly spreading, how worried should people be? people might be a bit worried, there were only 13 cases last week, there are now 35. it does seem to be moving a bit faster. health officials said this was always likely to happen, they are not surprised, the official strategy is still containment. that is trying to make sure anybody testing positive is going to hospital, and then the contracts are traced. the prime minister has said just a short while ago, on a visit

toa just a short while ago, on a visit to a public health laboratory, that there will be more cases, but he is confident the nhs has a plan and the professionals to tackle this. we heard from matt hancock, the health secretary, earlier today about the next phase. that is if cases really start accelerating, they have to move from containment to just delaying the onset of something bigger. involving policies like school closures, big public event is being cancelled. i think that is, in terms of government thinking, moving a little bit nearer. but there is no suggestion, at this stage, that these rather wide—ranging policies will actually be adopted. thank you. globally one of the countries struggling to deal with the outbreak is south korea. the leader of a religious sect there is under investigation for failing to co—operate with efforts to contain coronavirus. there are more than 3,700 confirmed cases, and 22 deaths so far. authorities say members of the fringe christian group

the shincheonji church ofjesus infected one another in the southern city of daegu last month, before fanning out around the country. more than 9,000 of its members are now thought to be showing symptoms of the disease. 0ur seoul correspondent, laura bicker, has been speaking to one of the church leaders. the army has been deployed to deal with south korea's latest threat. they're battling this virus with disinfectant, but as more cases are confirmed, it appears this is a war they're not winning. a lot of public anger has been aimed at this secretive religious sect. the infection has spread rapidly among the followers of shincheonji church ofjesus. and as officials raced to trace the outbreak, it's claimed leaders hid the names of members. now they're being accused of murder. in a rare interview,

the church denied all charges. translation: we feel very sorry for causing concern and worry to the people of korea and the world. i understand people criticise us. but rather than point fingers, we think what's more important is to end this situation and to make sure no more confirmed cases come out. meanwhile, hospitals in daegu have been overwhelmed. at least three people have died while waiting for a bed. doctors believe it's time to free up space for the most serious patients. translation: 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. thousands fear they have the virus and are lining up to be tested. these drive—through clinics speed up the process. south korea is using every resource it has and still this infection

continues to spread. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. the home secretary priti patel is facing mounting pressure to respond to bullying allegations made by the former top civil servant in her department. sir philip rutnam resigned yesterday, saying there had been an orchestrated camapign of briefing against him. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is at westminster. iain, how much pressure is she under? well, certainly the opposition politicians are ratcheting up that pressure. the labour leadership contender keir starmer is calling on priti patel to make a statement on the allegations to mps in the commons tomorrow, and the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, has said there should be an inquiry, and priti patel should be suspended from the home office while that inquiry ta kes the home office while that inquiry takes place. but in the last few minutes, the prime minister says not only does he have full confidence in

the home secretary, but she is doing a fantasticjob. now, the home secretary, but she is doing a fantastic job. now, jane, the home secretary, but she is doing a fantasticjob. now, jane, we found out that when she was a previous minister, at the department for work and pensions, and employment minister, there was a formal complaint made about her behaviour then,in complaint made about her behaviour then, in 2016. but her spokesman said she was not aware of this. we don't know if the complaint was pursued, and, in addition to that, no complaints have been made at the home office. why does this matter? the home office has to deliver key election pledges behalf of the government, on policing and immigration. if there is any trouble there, the government as a whole could get in trouble on delivering its manifesto pledge. iain watson, thank you. greece says it has stopped almost 10,000 migrants crossing over the land border from turkey, which is struggling to deal with the number of people fleeing syria's civil war. the growing crisis comes after an air strike in syria killed at least 33 turkish soldiers deployed to support the syrian opposition. turkey's president has said he will break his country's deal with brussels to prevent migrants entering the eu

unless he gets greater support for his intervention in syria. 0rla guerin reports from pazarkule on the border between turkey and greece. at first light, they joined the migrant trail from turkey. heading for the river meric, all that separates them from europe. this small group manages to cross, reaching the shores of greece, which fears a new flood of refugees. at border crossings with turkey, it's been pushing them back. greece doesn't want a repeat of 2015. caught up in the chaos this afternoon, reza, an iranian we met who hopes to reach london. they're pushing us by water. tear gas.

it's not fair. and the young have been in the firing line, like this one—year—old, whose family is from afghanistan. the greeks shot at us and threw tear gas at him, said his father. he could have died. but for turkey, which has been sheltering almost 4 million syrians, the refugees are now human bargaining chips being used to put pressure on europe. well, families are still arriving here, and they're not coming by accident. they are being encouraged to travel by the turkish authorities, led to believe that they can enter europe. instead, they're stuck here with no way to cross into greece, and they and their children are having to camp out in the cold. and this is what awaits them now at the border. a battleground. greece says it won't allow a free for all. turkey says it's

overwhelmed by refugees. it is determined that europe will share the fallout from syria's long and brutal war. 0rla guerin, bbc news, on the turkey—greece border. the former us vice president joe biden has dramatically revived his bid to become the democratic party's nominee to take on donald trump in november's presidential election. mr biden won a resounding victory in the primary in south carolina, after performing poorly in three previous state ballots. 0ur north america editor jon sopel reports. so it would seem reports ofjoe biden‘s imminent demise were much exaggerated. the former vice president's southern firewall proved to be rock solid and flame retardant. his first victory tasted sweet. now, thanks to all of you, on behalf of the democratic party, wejust won, and we won big because of you.

cheering and applause. and we are very much alive. what made the difference was that this was the first state to vote with a significant african—american population. their support for him was almost as enormous as the food portions in this spartanburg diner. joe biden. biden. you're biden? yeah, i like biden. because he's an honest man. biden is probably my top choice. bernie sanders is the standard bearer for the left in this gruelling contest. he came in second last night, but is expected to return to frontrunner status on super tuesday, in a couple of days' time, when 14 states vote. you cannot win them all. there's a lot of states out there, tonight we did not win in south carolina.

at this college, they are getting ready for the new baseball season. and among young people, bernie sanders is the runaway favourite. for all that, there is a clear majority supporting a centrist like joe biden. the trouble is, that vote has been split by another of other candidates who are also moderates. or to put it in baseball terms, there seems no one capable of knocking it out of the park. jon sopel, bbc news, spa rtanburg, south carolina. a woman taking legal action against an nhs gender clinic says she should have faced more challenges from medical staff when she told them, aged 16, that she wanted to transition from female to male. the high court has given the go—ahead for a full hearing of keira bell's case to be brought against the tavistock & portman nhs trust. the tavistock clinic says it welcomes this examination of the evidence in this contentious area, as our social affairs correspondent alison holt reports. keira bell is 23 years

old and her adult life so far has been defined by the decision she made when she was much younger. at 16, she was prescribed drugs to delay the signs of female puberty. she later took male hormones, so her voice deepened and facial hair grew. initially, i felt very relieved and very happy about things, but i think, as the years go on, you start to feel less and less enthusiastic or even happy about it. keira was treated here at the uk's only gender identity clinic, run by the tavistock trust. she's taking legal action against them because she believes, when she started taking puberty blockers and cross—sex hormones, she was too young to understand the implications. she says, as a child, she felt isolated and different and, as a teenager, she was desperate to change her gender. but she now believes she should have been challenged more and had more psychological support. i feel angry that i was allowed to run with this idea that i had,

you know, almost like a fantasy, as a teenager, i was allowed to run with that and it has affected me in the long run. i've onlyjust kind of stepped into adulthood and i had to kind of, you know, deal with this burden. what would you tell your 16—year—old self now? that's kind of the point of this case, is that when you are that young, you don't really want to listen to anyone and a lot of things won't get through, so i think it is up to these, you know, institutions, like the tavistock, to step in and make children reconsider what they are saying, because it is, you know, a life—altering path that you are going down. it's a difficult area and the head of the gender identity clinic says they are always cautious, working closely with children and families to help them make their decisions. so this is a really complex area with strong feelings on all sides, and, for young people, they come to us in often really great distress around their sense of themselves.

we are talking about identity here, their identity and a feeling that their gender identity does not match that body. and what goes along with that is huge distress. the clinic says it welcomes keira's case, as it will allow a considered review of the evidence about the most appropriate way to support young people. alison holt, bbc news. that's it. we're back with the late news at ten. now on bbc one it's time for the news where you are. goodbye.

hello. this is bbc news with lukwesa burak. borisjohnson has paid a visit to public health england to discuss attempts to limit the spread of coronavirus. the north london trip by the prime minister comes

after chief medical officer, professor chris whitty, announced a further 12 coronavirus cases in the uk. i'm here to talk about what we're doing to test for coronavirus and the great work that's being done by the great work that's being done by the public health england professionals here in this room. what they're doing is testing literally thousands of cases. i think we've done about 10,000 so far. and as you know, we've found about 35 people in this country have or have had the illness. and clearly there may be more, that is likely now to spread a bit more, and it's vital therefore that people understand that we do have a great plan, a plan to tackle the spread of coronavirus. and i am very, very confident that in the nhs we have professionals who will be well able to cope with it. we have the testing

system is that we need, a way of triaging people coming back into this country who may have been in contact with coronavirus. but i want to repeat the key message that i think everybody needs to hear, repetitive though it may be. the best way we can help the nhs and help ourselves and stop the spread of the illness is to wash our hands. and do that, it's 20 seconds, that's two times happy birthday, i'm told, to wash your hands with hot water. you are chairing a cobra meeting tomorrow. is that soon enough? as you know, there have been many, many cobra meetings in the last few days and since the outbreak began, and i'm very confident that this country has the capacity to deal with it.

what we're saying is that we will be setting out the various measures as the disease progresses, if it progresses in the way that we think it may, we will be setting out the various it may, we will be setting out the various measures it may, we will be setting out the various measures in which we think the public should be responding, in which public bodies should be responding. we will be setting that out tomorrow, the next day. but the crucial thing is, as i say, the public does what it can. we all do what we can to stop the spread ourselves. the health secretary said no tactic is off the table when it comes to containing covid—19. can you tell us more about what those tactics could be? well, i don't want to go now into the kinds of things that might be necessary. but you can imagine that obviously there will be questions that we will need to consider about very big public events, that kind of thing, the

continuation of... should schools continue to operate? my view is that they should as far as possible. i don't want kids being sent home unnecessarily. that is certainly where public health england is, and i think that's the right thing. i think the crucial thing for the public to understand is that coronavirus is of concern. it is a novel illness. but it's something that this country really amply has the resources to deal with. we have state—of—the—art testing facilities. we have a fantastic nhs. we will have to get through this, but believe me, we are going to beat it. finally, following the resignation of sir philip rutnam, we hear that there appears to be a formal complaint made about priti patel when she was an employment minister. do you have confidence in the home secretary? i absolutely do have confidence in priti patel. i think

she's a fantastic home secretary. it's never an easy job. she's a fantastic home secretary. it's never an easyjob. anybody who has been home secretary will testify that that is one of the toughest jobs in government, and there is a big task ahead of us now. we are delivering at last a new immigration system for this country, a points—based immigration system. that will take a lot of work by the home office, a fantastic department. and i want to make one thing absolutely clear. i am full of admiration for our civil servants and thejob admiration for our civil servants and the job that they do. we politicians could not begin to accomplish things without fantastic, absolutely brilliant alpha minds in the civil service. we depend on them. that was the prime minister speaking a short time ago. well, a little earlier i spoke tojohn ashton, who's a former president of the faculty of public health. he told me that the government has been too slow to act over the spread

of the coronavirus outbreak. if the latest information is confirmed, it looks as though we've moved from containment to community spread, and that is an escalation of the situation. i'm afraid the show so the situation. i'm afraid the show so far for the last two or three weeks has not been impressive. we've been playing catch up now, and from what i've been reading in the sunday papers, the plan that's going to be revealed this week is the sort of things that we should have been sharing with the public two or three weeks ago. i think the big problem now as we move into a more accelerated scenario is of building trust when the public are being kept largely in the dark until now, so that's a problem. we still don't know. the reproductive rate of this virus, the numberof know. the reproductive rate of this virus, the number of people that get infected for each case, you know, seems to be about 1.4 or so, and if that's going to be the case with the

community spread here, then we can look forward to quite a sharp increase over the next couple of weeks, and so we will be needing to ta ke weeks, and so we will be needing to take the public along with some of the measures that are only now going to be shared with the public. it would be better if it had been shared two or three weeks ago, which is what i've been calling for all along, because we may be looking quite soon at restricting social gatherings, sports events and all of that. it certainly looks as though people should be thinking very hard about holidays at easter, and it would help if the government was to make an announcement on that, because people are going to be stuck with regard to insurance claims if they have to cancel their holidays. that wasjohn that was john ashton they're speaking to me earlier. let's turn our attention to the weather now.

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 1947. 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 homes to pick up valuables and treasured possessions. the problem is this floodwater is not receding. the longer it stays in people's 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 take this flood water into the river don to clear it as it as fast as possible. at the ground is so saturated, no—one knows how long that will take. it is a very nervous time for here. residents are doing their best to help each other. the village hall is filled with volunteers making hot cups of tea and snacks and people bringing donations. it is an extremely nervous time here. 0livia richwald there. from today, single—use plastic bags are banned across new york state. any retailers failing to comply can

be fined up to 500 dollars, as janey mitchell reports. (tx next) the norm for new yorkers, free plastic bags, with an estimated 23 billion used in the state alone every year. now it plans to get a handle on its throwaway culture. shoppers will be expected to bring their own reusable bags, or pay 5 cents for every paper one, with some of the revenue going towards environmental protection. most are in favour. when i was growing up, we were bringing our own bags. i'm highly in favour of this ban. i remember going to staten island once and there were a million bags floating around that landfill. it was a horrible sight. i've never forgotten it. just walk along a beach, you know, there isjust so much debris that is washed up, and it's a great majority of it is plastic. environmentalists welcomed the ban, but are critical of exemptions, including bags for prescription drugs and takeaway food. some small businesses worry about the impact on profits. paper bags cost about twice as much is plastic, and paper

is not every one's bag. customers are very happy this is happening. most. and other customers are upset that they can't use these plastic bags as their garbage bags, because a lot of people, that's what their garbage bags are, these bags. new yorkers like to pride themselves on being at the forefront of efforts to save the environment. it's the third us state to introduce a ban on plastic bags after oregon and california. but there's a long way to go before these become an endangered species in america. janey mitchell, bbc news. just to bring you an update on the coronavirus in iran. we understand that the foreign office has said that the foreign office has said that as of today, dependents and some staff of the british embassy are being withdrawn from the country due to the ongoing covid—19

outbreak. essential staff needed to continue critical work will remain at the embassy. and the statement goes on today in the event that the situation deteriorates further, the ability of the british embassy to provide assistance to british nationals from within iran may be limited. and just to remind you we have had a further 11 deaths in iran from covid—19 today, that brings the total to 54. now for the weather with nick miller. hello. i know our weather has been extreme of late, but rewind a couple of years and you will find a very different extreme that we were in the grip of, and that was the beast from the east, where the temperature on this day two years ago in this place in south wales could only reach a high of —4.7 degrees. that was our coldest march day on record. it has been chilly in the breeze today, but nowhere near that cold. we have still got storm jorge close to north scotland.

it has been a blustery day, but the winds are easing a bit now. we still have some rain, sleet and hill snow affecting parts of scotland, but for many of us it has been a fine afternoon. some showers affecting us, and they will continue to be around as we go through this evening and into night, particularly across north scotland, north—west england ireland and north wales. a bit icy tomorrow morning, some rain, sleet and snow as well. don't be surprised if there is something wintry around for you first thing in the morning, temperatures keeping up for us in the south though. the last of that rain and held so clear the on monday, some heavy showers with thunder on the hills. a longer spell of wet weather pushing in later in the afternoon in western scotland. temperatures for the most part in single figures, but quite a bit of sunshine around away from the showers, i not as windy as it has been. this week there will be

some sunshine and showers, quite chilly, and temperatures below average for the time of year for some of us with frosty and icy nights. so a selection of places as we go through this week, most of the showers towards the north and west of the uk. parts of southern england into the channel islands seeing a bit of rain still, and then towards the end of the week, it looks like low pressure is going to be coming back, and that doesn't mean a return to some spells of wind and rain, a weather front moving south thursday night into friday, another area of low pressure coming in for next weekend. so again, a bit of a respite, but it doesn't look like it is going to last too long u nfortu nately. is going to last too long unfortunately. and even though the weather is quieter, still plenty of flood warnings. keep up—to—date with these and any other weather warnings 00:58:48,955 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 at bbc weather online.