this is bbc news. the headlines at six. the headlines at six. another 12 people in the uk test positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 35. the prime minister has been visiting public health england. coronavirus is a concern, it is a novel illness. it is something that this country really amply has the resources to deal with. we have state—of—the—art testing facilities, a fantastic nhs, we will have to get through this but believe me we are going to beat it. two schools have closed — one in berkshire, another in gloucester — after a member of staff in each test positive for coronavirus. borisjohnson says he has "confidence" in his

home secretary priti patel, who faces 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. in the u.s., 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. aston villa score in the carabao cup final, but they still trail manchester city 2—1 at wembley, we'll have the latest in sportsday in half an hour.

good evening. the prime minister has said the coronavirus is likely to spread more throughout the uk, mrjohnson comments come following a significant increase in the number of people who tested positive for the virus, with 12 new cases in england. the health secretary has said the government could take emergency powers to close schools and cancel large public events if the spread of the disease can't be contained. the total number of cases in the uk is now 35. in the past hour, health officials in italy say the number of people infected hasjumped toi,700. the virus — a respiratory disease, which causes pneumonia—like symptoms — has infected 87,161 people in 60 countries. our health editor hugh pym

has the latest. one of two schools which 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 who were in close contact with the individual who is now in hospital. we know exactly who this member of staff's been in contact with. and public health england now are in the process of getting hold of all 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 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 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 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.

on a visit to public health england, the prime minister said that the virus is likely to spread more in the uk, and spoke more about the preparations the government is making. 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 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. let's bring you some of the latest developments of the virus. the foreign office has announced that all but essential staff will be withdrawn from the british embassy in iran due to the outbreak. the louvre museum did not open today due to staff concerns of infection.

and around 200 britons quarantined in tenerife will be allowed to fly home if they test negative for the virus....as our correspondent fiona trott explains. 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 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 again. that would delay things even more. but what we were hearing from two guests by telephone and from inside the hotel is that one and then had a pass at a:00pm yesterday they got

the result two o'clock today it was negative. 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 guest 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. 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 3700 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 thousand of its members are now 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 if 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. 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. and you can find out more about the symptoms of coronavirus and how to protect yourself against it on the bbc news app and on our website bbc.co.uk/news.

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. 0ur political correspondent ian watson joins us now. labour a talented batch that the pressure on priti patel labour leadership as called for her to make a statement in parliament to mile about these allegations. in addition to that the shadow chancellor, said an inquiry should be made into her behaviour and during that she should behaviour and during that she should be suspended from home office. bbc has been told there was a formal

complaint that priti patel his behaviour. not at home office but when she was administered four years ago, that spokesman says he has no knowledge and she doesn't either at that complaint. i don't know if that was pursued. clearly there are people willing to pile the pressure on to her. she will be the relieved pressure will be coming off her position, because borisjohnson has given her his full backing. he made it very clear that she still had a big job to do as home secretary. i have absolute confidence in her. it is neveran i have absolute confidence in her. it is never an easyjob. anyone will testify that does is one of the toughestjobs in testify that does is one of the toughest jobs in government. testify that does is one of the toughestjobs in government. a big task ahead of us. we are delivering at last a new immigration system for this country, point space in the patient system. a lot of work by the home office. a fantastic apartment.

an absolutely clear, i am full of admiration for our civil service and the job that they do. we as politicians could not begin to accomplish things when not fantastic, absolutely brilliant, awful —— —— outside minds. interesting contribution not full confidence in priti patel but also making it very clear any effect the home office has the responsibility for carrying out key parts to the ma nifesto for carrying out key parts to the manifesto that he stood on of those new place officers in the integration system. if home-office fails the government as a whole, may find it far more difficult to hold on to its promises. the promises it made during that election campaign. for that reason, the prime minister is not keen to see any further disturbance at the top of that department. he'll be reluctant to

move to help and secretary. also interesting that he took time to pray for civil service and servants who recognise our essential for delivering that agenda. he is making it very clear that he does not want a continued war of words. even though the former the senior official of home—office has departed. to some extent the language to the civil service and making it clear to priti patel that despite opposition pressure for her to leave, it is no rush to see her leave office. thank you very much. 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 prime minister has been visiting public health england borisjohnson says he has "confidence" in his home secretary priti patel, who faces 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. 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 olivia 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 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. but with 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. services on the northern rail network are now running under government control. the operator, arriva rail north, was 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. 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 the turkey and greece border. 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 one—year—old yashar, whose family is from afghanistan. "the greeks shot at us and threw tear gas at him," says his father, zaman. "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. our 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, the heart 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 1a states vote. you cannot win them all. there's a lot of states out there, and 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 is being 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 parallel life has been defined by her decision when she was made mexican there. at 16 inches prescribe to descent fee near puberty. she took mary conformance 01’ puberty. she took mary conformance or her voice deepened and facial hair grew. initially i felt very relieved and happy about things but i think as the years go on, you start to feel less and less enthusiastic or even happy about it. he was treated here at the uk gender identity clinic. she is taking legal action against them because she believes when she started taking the hormones he 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 on how to more psychological support.|j been challenged more on how to more psychological support. i felt angry that i was allowed to vendor this idea that i have. almost like a fa ntasy idea that i have. almost like a fantasy as a teenager. i was allowed to run with that. it has affected me ina long to run with that. it has affected me in a long run. isaac stepped into adulthood and deal with this burden. what would you tell your 16—year—old self now? disappointed this case, when you are that young adult went to listen to anyone. a lot of things won't get through. i think it is up to these institutions to step in and make sure children reconsider what they are saying. it is a life altering path that you are going down. it is a difficult area and they had at the clinic says they are a lwa ys they had at the clinic says they are always conscious working closely with children and families to help and families to help them make

better decisions. this is a very complex area with strong feelings. for young people they come to us and often great distress around their sense of themselves. we were talking about identity. their identity. the feeling that their gender identity does not match that body. and what goes along with that is huge distress. the clinic says it will use clearance case to review all of the evidence before to support young people. alison holt, bbc news. in the past few minutes —— manchester city have beaten aston villa 2—1 at wembley to win the carabao cup for in a row we'll have all the reaction to that in sportsday after the weather.. now it's time for a look at the weather. most of us did get to see some sunshine earlier today,

most of the stay dry. still some showers around through tonight, particularly north—west england, north—west wales and ireland. looking at the southern and eastern places getting rain the day goes on tomorrow, could see a bit of sleet and snow to the hills, before it clears away. temperatures keeping up here, but elsewhere frosty and potentially icy to start again tomorrow. the rain, sleet and snow will is there a way to the east and behind that it is spotty showers, ganging up on scotland for more hill snow and rain as the afternoon goes on. it is still breezy out there, not as windy as it has been an intensive temperatures it will be in single figures for many others. it will stay that way through the week, frosty in places overnight, but not as wet as it has been.

hello. this is bbc news with lukwesa burak. the headlines. another 12 people in the uk test positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 35. the prime minister has been visiting public health england. coronavirus is a concern, it is a novel illness. it is something that this country really amply has the resources to deal with. we have state—of—the—art testing facilities, a fantastic nhs, we will have to get through this but believe me we are