changing the rules to deal with coronavirus. workers will receive statutory sick pay from the first day of illness under emergency legislation. the prime minister says people who self—isolate are doing the right thing and shouldn't be penalised for staying off work. the health secretary will bring forward as part of our emergency coronavirus legislation measures to allow the payment of statutory sick pay from the very first day you are sick instead of four days under the current rules. will he guarantee that workers' right to sick power from day one, as he hasjust indicated, will apply on statutory sick pay, will apply to all claimants and those people that are not currently eligible for statutory sick pay, therefore will have

to make a terrible choice between health and hardship? there will also be help for affected businesses and the staging of the tokyo olympics is being discussed this lunchtime. we'll have the latest on all today's announcements and speak live to our health editor. also this lunchtime: in super tuesday voting in the us — joe biden continues his comeback in the race to be the democrats' presidential candidate. we're very much alive! cheering and make no mistake about it, this campaign will send donald trump packing. cheering borisjohnson boris johnson tells borisjohnson tells mps the home secretary is doing an outstanding job, as the labour leader calls for an independent investigation into bullion claims against priti patel. the duke and duchess of cambridge hear about mental health support for young people, as they continue their tour of ireland.

and coming up on bbc news — a third defeat in four for liverpool, asjurgen klopp‘s side are knocked out of the fa cup by chelsea. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. statutory sick pay is to be available to workers from the first day of illness, under emergency legislation to tackle the coronavirus. the announcement, in the last hour, comes as a public health campaign is launched to remind people to wash their hands regularly, as attempts continue to deal with the spread of the disease. 53 people have been diagnosed in the uk so far, and 90,000 around the world. our first report is from our health

correspondent sophie hutchinson. this correspondent sophie hutchinson. image shows hc coronavirus this image shows how the new coronavirus can affect the lungs. the red and yellow areas point to a severe respiratory infection. the number of cases here in the uk is still low, but with warnings that a worse case scenario still low, but with warnings that a worse case scenario might see one in five workers off sick, the prime minister said action was being taken to ensure they wouldn't be left out of pocket. the health secretary will bring forward, as part of our emergency coronavirus legislation, measures to allow the payment of statutory sick pay from the very first day you are sick instead of four days under the current rules. and i think that's the right way forward. nobody should be penalised, mr speaker, for doing the right thing. members call out "hear, hear" when the prime minister brings forward the emergency legislation, will he guarantee that workers'

right to sick pay from day one as he has indicated will apply on statutory sick pay, will apply to all claimants and those people that are not currently eligible for statutory sick pay, therefore will have to make a terrible choice between health and hardship? the prime minister was jeered when he replied that some of those would be entitled to sick pay and that there was also universal credit. the number of cases in the uk has risen again. one of those newly infected isa again. one of those newly infected is a member of staff at this hospital in carlisle. they had been in italy but hadn't been back at work. hospitals across the uk have been asked to carry out more video consultations with patients. officials say the nhs is preparing for a surge officials say the nhs is preparing fora surge in officials say the nhs is preparing for a surge in cases. if it is a relatively small wave, then it might feel rather like a bad winter in the nhs. but in the summer or late spring. if it gets a much larger wave, then the first thing we would

do would obviously be to cancel those things that can be delayed and push them out in time to a later point when it is safer to do them, and then if it gets to a very large wave, then you would need to reconfigure the nhs in a much more fundamental way. this new campaign was launched today to encourage frequent hand washing for at least 20 seconds. people are being urged to wash their hands when they arrive at work, before and after eating and if they blow their nose. meanwhile, there has been a boost in demand for hand sanitiser is with some pharmacies limiting their sales. experts say only those containing 60% alcohol are effective and that soap and water is as good. these viruses have a layer of oil along the surface. it's what they have to use, it's part of the machinery that they use to get into a cell and soap and water removes that layer and the

virus is killed immediately. the reason handrails are useful is they are more portable than a sink and a bar of soap. concerns about the coronavirus today hit a major publishing event, the london book fair, scheduled for next week, which a tt ra cts fair, scheduled for next week, which attracts 25,000 people from around the world and it was called off. but unlike in china were severe measures have been in place to contain the virus, officials here have said closing whole cities is very unlikely in the uk. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. let's talk first of all about those changes announced in the last hour to sick pat’- announced in the last hour to sick pay. let's talk to our economics editor faisal islam who is in our business unit. significant announcement? tell us more about that. a couple of big announcements since the action plan was launched yesterday morning. on statutory sick pay as announced by the prime minister at prime minister's questions, the eligibility of three days' weight for that is gone, so on the first day, this £94.25 a day

sick pay can be paid when the legislation brought forward by the health department goes through. there is a couple of interesting things here. firstly, this is paid for by businesses, there isn't going to be taxpayer funding for that so businesses will have to stump that up. freelancers and self—employed don't apply, about 5 million of those, it is for paid employees. and there is this sort of remaining issue about, can they do this just for coronavirus self isolators? i don't think they could, it will be a temporary measure while the epidemic is out there. and i thought about businesses as well because they have been worried about insurance. what has been said on that? we were approached by many businesses and groups who have expressed concern to government that they cannot claim for losses because the government in england and wales, but not in scotla nd england and wales, but not in scotland and northern ireland, have yet to say that this disease is a notifiable disease, a formal legal move by the government, and so their

insurance claims to cover losses we re insurance claims to cover losses were not covered. the government has now told us that it is about to clarify that covid—i9, coronavirus, isa clarify that covid—i9, coronavirus, is a notifiable disease so some of these insurance policies should cover their losses. two significant moves today. faisal islam, thank you very much, the latest for business. let's discuss the overall health picture with our health editor hugh pym. in terms of the numbers of people affected in the country at the moment, what is the expectation? we have heard from the prime minister and health secretary and health officials that they are expecting a significant increase in the number of cases. there was an interesting interview today. we heard a bit of it there with professor chris whitty, the uk government's chief medical adviser, and he made it clear that uk onward transmission was basically now happening. what that means is up until relatively recently all of the cases involved people who had just come back from one of the worst

affected countries. now there is onward transmission, he thinks, to use the word, essentially, epidemic now in the uk, which implies quite a bigjump in the now in the uk, which implies quite a big jump in the number of cases. i think that's what he is hinting at in the days ahead, that we should expect quite a lot more cases. this is entirely consistent with everything that has been said up until now and all the plans we have heard about the long—term possible plans including school closures and so on. plans including school closures and so on. interestingly, though, the uk caseload, we don't know what it will be over the next few days. but compared with italy which is into the thousands, france quite a lot more into the hundreds, this is where other european countries are right now. so i think the answer is, expect more, this is essentially now, according to the chief medical adviser, an epidemic the uk. hugh pym, thank you for now. hugh pym, our health editor. large sporting events a re our health editor. large sporting events are under scrutiny, some have already been cancelled or postponed and attention is now particularly

focused on the olympics. let's talk to our sports reporter dan rowan who is at deal limp its headquarters in lausanne. what has been said there? later today we will hear from the president of the ioc, the most powerful man in all of sport who for the first time will hold a press conference and take questions about their handling of this crisis. you remember yesterday that he gave a brief statement where he expressed his confidence that tokyo 2020 would go ahead as planned but we had no opportunity to ask him whether he had any kind of plan b, whether they we re had any kind of plan b, whether they were working on any kind of contingency because one would assume that they must be, or indeed how late any kind of decision to delay or postponed could be made. yesterday, japan possible olympics minister told the country's parliament that is part of the contract that tokyo has with the ioc it is possible to delay the games until later on this year. —— japan's olympics minister. in tokyo earlier

today, the message has been very much one of business as usual. the president of the tokyo 2020 local organising committee saying that everything is proceeding as planned. when asked whether or not there could be a decision at a later stage, he simply said, "i'm not god, i don't know." i think that does give you a sense of how the scale of these games come as such, with billions of pounds having been spent, thousands of athletes involved, huge broadcasting and sponsorship deals, that the idea of cancelling at this late stage is almost too much for the organisers to contemplate. so i think as it stands they are getting on as they hope to expect. dan, thank you for now. dan roan, oursports hope to expect. dan, thank you for now. dan roan, our sports editor. hugh pym referenced the number of cases in italy and just in the last few minutes, the italian government has announced that all schools and universities are to close in an attempt to contain the virus. let's talk to bethany bell in milan. what exactly is the government saying, bethany?

well, the government has said that schools and universities across the country will be closed until the middle of march. now, schools and universities in some areas of northern italy had already closed because of attempts to try and contain the spread of the coronavirus. the government has now said that that will be across the whole of the country. and this follows a day where italy announced that 79 people have now been confirmed killed by the coronavirus. that was a jump of 27 deaths in 24 hours. the number of total confirmed cases in italy now over 2500 and the government saying it is going to do everything it can to try and stop the spread even more. it has issued advice to people saying they should keep their business, and elderly people should stay at home if they possibly can and that big events

like big public events, sports events, should be cancelled for the moment to try and stop the spread of the contagion. and of course, this is making very big concern is for people here in italy about their effect on the economy. bethany bell in milan, thank you. india is one of the world's largest suppliers of generic drugs such as paracetamol and the government there has put some curbs on exports because they are worried about possible shortages. let's find out more from richard galpin who joins me from delhi. how much more is the government saying, richard? not that much. they made this statement about stopping exports for 26 different drugs. these include paracetamol, but also antibiotics. i've been speaking to an official from the pharmaceutical industry and he is saying that this is about protecting the people of india. they want to make sure that their own population

have enough of the medicines which may be needed, particularly of course, if there is an outbreak of coronavirus in india. india is a very, very big producer of generic drugs. i've seen figures indicating it provides around a fifth of the global production of these generic drugs. so of course, if there were to bea drugs. so of course, if there were to be a dwindling of suppliers, it could have a major impact on quite a significant number of countries. richard, thanks very much. richard galpin in delhi. and a reminder — you can keep up with the latest developments about the coronavirus outbreak, the symptoms to watch out for, how to guard against the virus — and what it means for you, on the bbc news app and on our website. that's bbc.co.uk/news. now we will take a look at the rest of the day's main stories. the former us vice presidentjoe biden has continued his comeback in his campaign to become the democrats' candidate to take on donald trump in november's presidential election. the latest round of voting known

as super tuesday sanoe biden win nine out of 14 states. sophie long reports from california. they call it super tuesday and it was a super—strong start to the night forjoe biden. the former vice—president entered this race as the clear front runner with it all to lose. less than two weeks ago, it looked like he might dojust that after a poor start to this primary season. but he is very much back in the running. primary report, we are very much alive! cheering. and make no mistake about it. this campaign, it will send donald trump packing! it could be some time before we get definitive results from all of the states that voted tonight. but what a comeback forjoe biden. less than two weeks ago, his campaign was said to be on life support. tonight, it is very much alive and kicking.

but senator bernie sanders, the self—declared social democrat from vermont, still has the edge in western states which, due to their huge delegate haul, still could carry him through. we are not only taking on the corporate establishment, we're taking on the political establishment. cheering. but we are going to win, because the people understand it is our campaign, our movement which is the best positioned to defeat trump. but many establishment democratic figures do not agree. they feeljoe biden has more hope of beating president trump at the polls in november than the revolution bernie sanders is promising. after the former vice—president's resounding win in south carolina, fellow moderates threw in the towel and threw their support behind him. even billionaire mike bloomberg's cash cannon couldn't land the blows

that some thought it would. the former new york mayor is reported to have spent more than $500 million on his campaign. he must be wondering now if that was money well spent. as the results continue to come in, this is now looking more and more like a two—horse race. sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. barbara plett—usher is in washington and that really is nowjust the two candidates? that is right, for super tuesday the question was a centrist candidate emerged to take on the left wing bernie sanders and the a nswer left wing bernie sanders and the answer is yes, what a comeback for joe biden. he won most of the states but it looks like bernie sanders will be set to win the biggest prize which is california. so a two—man race, two white men in the 70s i should say and also representing different ideological wings of the

party so very competitive. the pace is now going to pick up, 60% more voting still to be done in states that are important for the general election, like florida, georgia and arizona that will really test the mettle of these two men. it is not clear if either can get a majority at this point, it could take them all the way up to thejuly convention and they may not even have a majority then but we know that the race is fluid and that is something that the past 24 hours has taught us. here the prime minister has strongly defended home secretary priti patel in the face of bullying accusations which she denies. norman smith is at westminster whitmore. priti patel is far from home and smith is at westminster whitmore. priti patel is farfrom home and dry but her position looks a good deal stronger this lunchtime than first thing this morning when we had a third set of bullying allegations being made against her and tory mps we re being made against her and tory mps were watching the prime minister nervously to see if he was perhaps getting cold feet and might seek to

distance himself from the home secretary. but not a bit of it, this lunchtime we had borisjohnson metaphorically speaking put his arm around priti patel and pretty much say to her you are going nowhere. as if to underline the point, where was priti patel in the chamber, she was right on the front bench right next to borisjohnson right on the front bench right next to boris johnson underlining right on the front bench right next to borisjohnson underlining the closeness of prime ministerial support. just take a listen. the home secretary is doing an outstanding job delivering change, putting police out on the streets, cutting crime and delivering a new immigration system and i'm sticking by her. but it is very far from over. first probably we will have an employment tribunal at which all these bullying allegations may spill out into the public domain and the prime minister now risks the charge of pre—empting the separate enquiry by the cabinet secretary and in effect declaring priti patel

innocent before the case has even been heard and in the last few minutes we've heard from jeremy corbyn and his team who say that they have received fresh allegations from civil servants including in the home office about priti patel and bullying. it is not over yet! norman smith, thank you. our top story this lunchtime. changing the rules to deal with coronavirus. workers will receive statutory sick pay from the first day of work under emergency legislation. coming up on bbc news. britain's johanna konta gets her first win of the year, defeating kim clijsters in mexico. clijsters was playing only her second match since returning to tennis.

they've gained a toehold in europe but now, thousands of people have found themselves in effect prisoners on a small island. and down at the port today, many were trying to leave. we want to get out of this hell. everyone wants this. so, all of these people are basically waiting for a ferry to athens, to get off the island, and there seems to have been some idea amongst them that that was going to happen today. so many have risked their lives to come here and now, more are arriving and tempers are frayed. these are scenes calculated to put pressure on politicians across europe. bogged down in syria, turkey's president is sending a clear message. remember the migrant crisis? it can happen again. in the short stretch of water between lesbos and turkey,

the greek coastguard has stepped up aggressive patrols. yesterday a young syrian boy drowned in this channel, when one dinghy capsized. these people crossed two days ago. they paid $500 each for their place on board a dinghy, prompted by turkey's decision to allow migrants to leave. why now? why did you decide to come now? because the border is open, the turkish government announced it open to refugees. it's a big risk for us. the children are crying, very scared. now they are stuck here, a few hundred metres from where they landed. they're from afghanistan and their journey took them through iran. on top of everything else, there is fear and caution over the coronavirus. but there is a more immediate concern. in recent weeks there have been reports of masked men,

angry locals roaming the streets at night, setting up roadblocks and threatening both the migrants... and those who work with them. this is a deliberate campaign of intimidation, one man told us. he was so worried, he didn't want to show his face on camera. the threats come from a small minority, but even the most hospitable locals admit their small island is smuggling. the eu today called greece a shield in deterring migrants. lesbos has borne much of that burden. there are currently 22,000

refugees and migrants here. more will surely arrive in the coming days. but when the ferry left for athens this evening, it left without them. gabrielle gatehouse reporting there from lesbos. about the migrants trying to get into greece from turkey. apologies for the technical problems a little earlier with my microphone. the crown prosecution service is to review its handling of the assault case against caroline flack. the former love island presenter, who took her own life last month, denied charges that she had assaulted her boyfriend. the cps has faced criticism that it pursued a show trial against the star. it's understood the outcome of the investigation won't be made public. the duke and duchess of cambridge are on the second day of their visit to ireland — they're in dublin where they've been visiting a centre that supports the mental health of young people. our royal correspondent

jonny dymond is there. the duke and duchess have come to the centre of government, the temple bar district here and an organisation that embraces their key interests of use and mental health. this is the shift from day one which is the ceremonial, and they finished with a point of the black stuff at the guinness brewery. today we have smaller organisations aligned with their personal interests are here mental health and youth and then off toa mental health and youth and then off to a socialjustice charity and after that they will talk about sustainable agriculture at the technology institute for the purpose of the gulf group to group sprinkling goodwill, and a little bit of stardust and building friendships and relations between britain and ireland. england's women's t20 cricket team is nervously looking skywards in advance of their world cup semifinal tomorrow against india. heavy rain is forecast, and if the match is cancelled india will go to the final — because they are currently top of the group. jo currie has more.

hit, or miss? england are targeting a place in the world cup final. they have been there four times before, and that's the kind of record to put players at ease. but first, they will have to beat india, and the weather. with the remnants of tropical storm esther pressing over the city, the semifinals could be rained off. meaning group winners india and south africa automatically go through to the final, whereas defending champions australia and england would be out. it's very, very frustrating because you don't know when you need to turn up to the ground. the girls will be prepared to play, but it's always a weird situation because you turn up and then it rains. you always switch off as a player and then it is quite hard to switch back on. equally, the england girls will be frustrated because they know if they finish top of the group and they had played their best cricket and the rain was about they would have been fine going straight through to the final. for now, england can only control the controllables. and that means preparing for india.

the only team to have won all their matches in the tournament so far. we obviously beat them in the semifinal in the last world cup, where we played their spinners brilliantly, and they have obviously got a few world—class batters as well, a few dangerous players that can take the game away from you. but we had some success against them in the tri— series and we will have our plans in place for them, obviously, to try and keep them quiet if we can. the winners travel from sydney to melbourne for the final on march the 8th. fittingly, international women's day. but who makes that journey could depend on the cricket, or the weather. jo currie, bbc news, sydney. rock band genesis are reuniting, and have announced their first tourfor 13 years. the bandmembers — phil collins, mike rutherford and tony banks, who are all 69 — will be joined by collins‘ 18 —year—old son on drums. david sillito reports. # she seems to have an invisible touch, yeah... #

genesis, from 70s prog rock to 80s and 90s chart success. # i can't dance # i can't talk... # they've been around for more than 50 years. but a reunion was, according to phil collins, highly unlikely. ill health had stopped him from drumming. but in recent years he has returned to performing and his son nick can now fill in for him on drums. and so they arrived at radio 2 this morning to announce that they're going back on the road. it's been a kind of conversation that's been brewing a little bit. i think when i was out on the road showing i could still do something, i think we all felt, why not? # turn it on, turn it on again... # it sounds a bit of a lame reason, just to say,

why not? but we, you know, kind of enjoy it. # i will follow you will you follow me # all the days and nights that we know will be.# it's been 13 years since they last played together and their last tour was, phil collins said, a chance to say goodbye properly but the music business is full of farewells and retirements that don't last very long. it's a natural progression. phil started, then he retired but he came back touring and his son nick was drumming. it seems to be moving towards an area where it could be possible. you know, i think five years ago, or before that, would have been a big ask but it sort of happened naturally. so, a band that began in the 60s with a very different look and sound, has found a renewed appetite to return to the road.

# turn it on... and more than 50 years of hit records. david sillito, bbc news. at least 25 people have died after tornados tore through the us state of tennessee. get inside, now! the storm hit after midnight and moved so quickly that many people didn't have time to take shelter. in nashville, the state's biggest city, the tornadoes caused widespread damage to homes and other buildings. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett. we still have tornado watches further south in the united states until tomorrow and here in the uk we are keeping a watch on some rainfall, and there is a different look to the weather across england and wales with