today at five — a significant rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the uk. the number of confirmed casesjumps to 85, as a public health campaign urges people to wash their hands regularly. at this point in time, we think it is likely, not definite that we will move into an epidemic here in the uk. new government measures to help deal with the outbreak — people who self isolate will get statutory sick pay from their first day off work. we'll have the latest, and we'll be talking to an employment lawyer about workers on zero—hours contracts. the other main stories on bbc news at 5. former new york mayor michael bloomberg stands down from the us democratic leadership race — and says he will now

supportjoe biden. boris johnson says the home secretary is doing an outstanding job, as the labour leader calls for an independent investigation into bullying claims against priti patel. playing ping pong and cooking up a royal storm — the duke and duchess of cambridge continue their first tour of ireland. the uk has seen its biggest daily rise in the number of coronavirus cases to date — as the chief medical officers warns that an epidemic in the uk is ‘likely‘ 85 people in the uk are now confirmed to have coronavirus, up from 53. the prime minister announced today that those eligible for statutory sick pay would be paid

from the first day of their illness rather than their fourth, if they had to self—isolate because of the virus. and the health secretary is currently leading a meeting of the emergency cobra committee, sophie hutchinson reports. this image shows of the new coronavirus can affect the lungs. the red and yellow area points to a severe respiratory infection. with warnings for the worse case scenario might see one in five workers off sick, the prime minister said action is being taken to make sure they would not be left out of pocket. the health secretary will bring forward, as part of our emergency legislation, payment of statutory sick pay from the very first day you are sick instead of just four days under the current rules and i think that is the right way. nobody should be penalised, mr

spiegel, for doing the right thing. when the prime minister brings for the legislation, will he guarantee that workers' rights to sick pay from day one as he is indicated will apply on statutory sick play, will apply, those currently not legislated will have to make a terrible choice between health and hardship? the prime minister was jeered when he replied that the number has risen again, one of those newly infected is a member of staff at this hospital in carlisle. they had been in italy but have not been back to work. hospitals across the uk have been asked to carry out more video consultations with patients. officials say the nhs is preparing for a search in cases. patients. officials say the nhs is

preparing for a search in casesm it isa preparing for a search in casesm it is a relatively small wave, then you might feel rather like a bad winter in the nhs, but in summer or late spring. if it hits a much larger wave from the first thing we would do is 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 if he gets to very large wave, we had to reconfigure the nhs in a much more fundamental ways. this new campaign was launched today to encourage frequent handwashing for at least 20 seconds. people are being urged wash their hands they arrived at work, before and after eating and if they blow their nose. meanwhile, there's been a boosting demand for hand sanitizers, with some pharmacists limiting their sales. only those containing 60% alcohol are effective in soap and water is as good. these viruses have been layer of foil on the surface and it is what they have to use, it

is part of the machinery that they use to get into a cell. in good water to detergents, the reason that handles are useless because they are more portable than a sink and a bar of soap. concerns about the coronavirus today made a major publishing event, the london book fair schedule for next week which a tt ra cts fair schedule for next week which attracts 25,000 people from around the world, was called off. but unlike in china were severe measures of been in place to contain the virus, officials here have said closing whole cities is very unlikely in the uk. in the last few minutes we've h our health correspondent sophie hutchinson is here with the latest

developments these are still extremely small numbers probably have seen with them is very small numbers, this is a considerable jump. the largest increase we have had was 13 new cases in one day. so we are seeing, 36 new cases in one day. what we know about them is the vast majority of people who have either been abroad or have been in contact with people who have recently been abroad and infected parts of the world. the concern is the three people that we know about that are bringing the total to five people who simply do not know where they picked the virus are from. they seem to have had no contact with someone travelling to a pa rt contact with someone travelling to a part of the world where a lot of the infection is located. and implies that his move from person to person within the country. and that is the real concern. a spread that we are unaware of. there are hundred gp practices carrying out some

surveillance of the moment, doing random testing and also hospitals and intensive care units they have have problems respiratory problems and there are now testing to see if there coronavirus. when experts look abroad, italy, iam reading the number of italian deaths of patients who tested positive for the virus is 110w who tested positive for the virus is now risen to 107 from 79. i was starting to move towards measures being taken abroad. how does that look. the government is clear that what we need to do is remain in the containment phase and try to isolate people who are infected and actually so people who are infected and actually so far, it is been extremely successful if you look at it compared to someone like —— somewhere like italy where there are so somewhere like italy where there are so many somewhere like italy where there are so many cases and now we somewhere like italy where there are so many cases and now we have had new information, hundred seven deaths and other scientists of said actually, for every death, he

believes there are 200 people infected and he said he went on to say that in italy, he thinks might be as many as 50 200,000 cases of coronavirus and italy is considering shutting down all schools and all universities in there and consultation about that at the moment. there's certainly no discussion at all about shutting down schools and it's partly because there is road knock on effect for pa rents of there is road knock on effect for parents of pupils of the stay home and can go to work and some of them may be health care workers. we may go to italy a little later on in the hour. let's turn to business and economic elements. the biggest airline is hanging in the balance from the business newsroom. with me now from the business newsroom is our business editor simon jack. it has been in financial trouble for many years. back injanuary, it had a threshold moment with the government promised to review some of the taxes on the flying,

potentially extending a loan which the outreach of rival airlines that you cannot prop up an individual company and what i am told that the idea of the government extending to fly beat was already deeply uncomfortable and as i say, it was objected to by rival airlines in the coronavirus has only made a bad situation worse and promised changes to airport passenger duty, which potentially could have fixed, if you like, the business model by lowering the taxes on domestic flights, is that there will be very difficult to achieve while we are still in the eu transitional period. all the laws still apply until the end of this year, so there is, the changes that cannot happen to the end of the year, this airline will continue to be lossmaking, which makes a load of taxpayer money to airline that much

more difficult. some of the question was, are we throwing good money out the back, those fears of only intensified which means a hedge fund and capitol, holy things have got to decide whether they're prepared to put in enough to keep this going. we think there's enough money to keep going until the end of march, but something needs to be done before the budget, which is one week away, gives you a sense of how dire the financial situation is. they fear that the future looks pretty bleak in the future of the airline definitely hangs in the balance. 200 jobs and many peoples travel arrangements depend on it. thank you very much. in regards to the next james bond

film, no time to die. mgm producers announce that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of no time to die will be postponed until november 2020. that is just been published on the website so the next james bond film, the release of that now postponed until november 2020. let's take a look at the picture in italy. bethany bell is in milan for us. bring us up—to—date on the situation there. we are getting reports the next couple of minutes that the number of cases reported here in italy is now over 3000. we do not know except confirmation of that, but it does appear to have been a

bigjump in the but it does appear to have been a big jump in the number of cases recorded here. the number of deaths also appears to have gone up and over hundred people not known to have died from the coronavirus italy and we are expected to hear from the government a little bit later this evening that they have been in consultations all day long trying to decide whether they should take the decision to close schools and universities across italy and an attempt to try and stem the spread of this virus. schools and universities in northern regions which have been most affected by the outbreak are already closed and certainly here and universities across the northern region, but now we hope to hear it from the government as to where they would ta ke government as to where they would take the step of closing schools and universities and other parts of the country as well. which would be an enormous step. is it possible to

gauge the public mood in the public view of a measure is significant is that? it is a very mixed feeling about this, some people you speak to say we need to do everything we can to try to stop the spreading even more, we have already had so many different cases and other people say, what are we doing with their day today life, how was that people can go to school and was doing to her economy, we have the situation where tourism is massively being hit by people cancelling trips here businesses are suffering, trade fairs and one thing that the government is also been considering todayis government is also been considering today is whether to ban big public gatherings that have already been closures of a lot of public events, including football games and this is something that really is having an impact on life here in italy and

people are frightened that it may just get worse. and a reminder, you can keep up to date with all the developments around the coronavirus outbreak and the symptoms to watch out for — and what it means for you, on the bbc news app and on our website. that's bbc.co.uk/news. mike bloomberg has dropped out of the race for the democratic presidential nomination, and backed joe biden, after disappointing results on super tuesday. the former mayor of new york, had spent more than half a billion dollars in the race to become the party's nominee. in a statement he said: "i've always believed that defeating donald trump starts with uniting behind the candidate. after yesterday's vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great american, joe biden." his decision follows a successful night forjoe biden, who won 9 out of the 1a states on the biggest night of the campaign so far. bernie sanders won 3 of the states, and it projected to win california,

the biggest prize of the night. and after a disappointing night for elizabeth warren says she is assessing her options after a disappointing night our correspondent barbara plett usher is in washington. any surprises on that with michael bloomberg? this seems to be quite a lot of surprises in the last 2a hours. he decided very quickly to pull out of the race, given that he spent so much time and money, especially money, more than half $1 billion and having a big super tuesday splash and then realising that he just tuesday splash and then realising that hejust did tuesday splash and then realising that he just did not do well in any of the states and only had one victory, the territory of american samoa. he entered the race because he wanted to be donald trump and he didn't think that the main moderate candidate, that there weren't any

moderate candidates who were strong enough to do so but his campaign was undone byjoe biden who the sudden resurgence and basically he had to sit by and watch and big states in which you pumped millions of dollars into and so he has come off the back of that and just in the number of crunching and he said it is clear that he does not have a viable path to the nomination and if he stays m, to the nomination and if he stays in, it will probably help donald trump by splitting the moderate float and he decided to supportjoe biden. and what of elizabeth warren now? she was not expected to win big at all, but she really won quite small, perhaps less than she had anticipated. she did not come at the top two of any state, she did not win her own state. what you say was that she wanted to stay in the race for the long—term to try and gather as much support as she could and when they got to the national convention, if there's still a

majority, she can influence the outcome. whether she will stick with the policy of that strategy or not is not clear, and thereto very clear, a two man race. joe biden and bernie sanders. kind of on the same ideological pages she is. thank you very much. the italian prime minister hasjust started a press conference about the coronavirus. we will not dip in because he is speaking in italian and we do not have a ready translation available, but there is a significant line that she was hit —— hinting at. saying that schools and universities will close in italy

from thursday until the 15th of march. so that is what ten days away and clearly there was speculation that there would be a case because of the situation in italy, particularly northern italy were there so many cases and figures released that over hundred seven people in italy have died as a result of being infected by the coronavirus and that is a significant rise in that figure since yesterday. but now the announcement from the italian administration says schools and administrations will close in italy from the 13th of thursday until the 15th of march because of the coronavirus. just a reminder that there was the breaking news a moment ago with regards to the latest james bond film. that is been confirmed by mgm, universal and the producers and they have announced in the last

little while and then announced it after they say careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of no time to die when i'll be postponed until november 2020 and i was be postponed until november 2020 and iwas an be postponed until november 2020 and i was an as in the past ten minutes or so. i was an as in the past ten minutes orso. in i was an as in the past ten minutes or so. in one item of news that is coming from liverpool city council, this is news of the first case of coronavirus in that city confirmed. and the resident became infected while in italy and was apparently receiving specialist treatment and that was according to the council, a spokesman said, public health in lynn, the full city council and the local nhs are working closely together to effectively manage the case which is been announced today and this apparently, the news came out after the mayor of liverpool shared a special meeting with the health and well—being board to discuss preparations of a possible

local outbreak. the first case of coronavirus confirmed in the city of liverpool in the last few moments. the prime minister has defended the home secretary in the face of bullying allegations, which she's denied. priti patel, who was sat next to mrjohnson at prime minister's questions, has not publicly commented on the allegations. our chief political correspondent vicki young is at westminster. where does this take us? she has the support of the prime minister but i think the problem of the home secretary is there's been more allegations with the dramatic resignation and threatening to sue the government and does allegations of come from other civil servants working in different departments where priti patel was working, so is very important for not just where priti patel was working, so is very important for notjust to be sitting to the prime minister in the front row in the house of commons,

but for him to wholeheartedly support her, which is exactly what he did. she is doing an outstanding job delivering change, putting police out on the street, cutting crime and delivering a new immigration system and i'm sticking by her. she has categorically denied and rejected all allegations made against her. she did point out a joint e—mail to the staff office where is she said she regretted the resignation and that it was now time for the home office to come together as one team and she says she deeply cared about the well—being of civil servants and the well—being of civil servants and the professionalism. thus the only reference that there is been from her to this allegation swelling around her and her to this allegation swelling around herandi her to this allegation swelling around herand i think her to this allegation swelling around her and i think it is a problem for her and i think she is safe in thatjob with that wholehearted backing from the prime minister but there is this cabinet office to see if she broke the

ministerial code and further down the line, possibly, this tribunal which could be held in public could be very difficult for her with so many things going on, the immigration system, coronavirus, all of these things that she is going to have to deal with that's going on around her. we have seen a number of events cancelled as a result of the outbreak, six nations rugby match was postponed and cancelled sporting events include the world athletics indoor championships in the form of the one chinese grand prix. other sports across the world such as basketball, football and tennis have also been affected by the virus and there are still questions of her major sporting events such as the euros and the olympic games in

tokyo. many technology events have been cancelled as well, including the mobile world conference in barcelona the individual conference in california. one of the biggest events, the london book fair was today cancelled due to coronavirus fears. many events to be affected by airline providers, cancelling flights and the ground of 150 aircraft and that is a fifth of its fleet leading tech companies including amazon and google. with me discuss all of this martin who is from mass media, the uk possible is the largest events company. people all of the country having to weigh up all of the country having to weigh up some very difficult decisions. yes and i think it is really important for the industry, which is worth £113 billion of to the uk annually to lead the charge of not panicking. there is a crisis which

we re panicking. there is a crisis which were “— panicking. there is a crisis which were —— we must address, but contacting the insurance companies could cause drastic problems with supply chains and other small businesses that rely on the events industry. you mentioned insurance. some will be covered in these kinds of eventualities but some others will not. unfortunately you are correct. there will be cases where they do not have the correct insurance and something on the scale is almost a once—in—a—lifetime event and there are some insurers who will not even have offered in the first place. we know forfact not even have offered in the first place. we know for fact that a number of agencies, insurance agencies that offer this, it would not be taken up by other organisers, but if you get by early, hopefully you'll get early that he make tend to associate the people in the band are the ones make it all happen. but there's so many

ingredients in the preparation takes weeks. there is a complete supply chain. with the events industry, the site of a clear—cut identity in the face of the public or the government as well. but it is the roots of the tree that is the other sectors in the world. automotive health care, there are supported by the events industry, venues, agencies of varying sizes from boutique to large—scale, caterers suppliers. all of these rely on this business. and this world of streaming, some of its could still be held, some of to be there to make it happen, but he can strea m there to make it happen, but he can stream an others do not have to attend. yet, i made the events industry is very creative in the technological solutions to get that content out there, to keep the show going, there are numerous and people find innovative ways and video

streaming is an obvious choice. you can do that, you gave your fancy set up can do that, you gave your fancy set up in your speakers and that message can be relayed out to a virtual audience. thank you very much. more news about the situation in italy. italy possibles prime minister starting that news conference in rome a moment ago is saying that italy's self—service risks being overwhelmed by coronavirus which is a startling confession in light of what is going on there, but northern italy in particular has been quite seriously affected by the coronavirus and the figures that we mentioned, 107 people of god died in italy and when i mentioned the other announcement that came from the education department in the past few moments that universities right across the country will close from thursday until the 15th of march. so

some seriously significant measures being announced in italy and the prime minister now acknowledging that the health service has been overwhelmed by the coronavirus. more on that to come in the ever come but turning our attention to other news. it's an criticism that they pursued a show trial. the outcome of the investigation will not be made public. the duke and duchess of tort mental health and duchess of tort mental health and social justice charities and duchess of tort mental health and socialjustice charities on the second day of the visit to ireland. the roles are given a tour of the youth mental health centre and teddy make visited in mental health facility for young people before visiting a research centre. and

aimed at improving relations. let us turn our attention to the news that is breaking a moment ago about the bond film, the postponement of the release of no time to die. what do we know at this stage? big news that is broken in the past few minutes the james bond is that many anniversaries over the years, —— adversaries. coronavirus is one of them. they say that to careful consideration and further evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of no time to die is going to be postponed from april until november, so much, much later in the year and no direct mention of coronavirus in the message, but this comes one day after two of the biggestjames bond fan sites wrote an open letter to the producers of the bond film, asking them to cancel the premiere it's going to bend the 31st of march

at the hall because they said if just one person in that venue has the coronavirus, it could spread to other people and it would not be the kind of publicity that the bond film wanted. it is not create teddy fitting for daniel craig possibles last run as james bond to go out with that. collin, thank you very much. let's bring you up—to—date with the weather forecast. we have seen some thicker cloud running into england and wales today and some are bricks of rain and drizzle. great amounts he could sell that what the weather is transferring eastwards into wirtz east anglia in the southeast of england, that is a re got most of the rain during the early part of the rain during the early part of the evening. that'll ease off in some cloud and misty and murky in the hills, will also cease and have

your rain coming into the english channel and the far south of england. we have clear skies, scotla nd england. we have clear skies, scotland and northern ireland, toby frost run with mist and fog patches and sunshine on the way tomorrow. more cloud elsewhere but it will brighten up in many places and at what are weather moves its way through the english channel into the far southeast of england where we'll sit for most of the day can be quite a chilly wind as well in southern england not take the edge of the temperatures. some have your showers western scotland and northern ireland, this will continue into the evening. as he moved to friday, we've got a few more showers coming in from the atlantic but for many eastern areas, it is probably going to be dry in the woods picking up it will be milder but some have your rain coming into scotland and northern ireland during the day.

this is bbc news. the headlines. the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the ukjumps to 87, as a public health campaign urges people to wash their hands regularly. in italy — where107 people have now died because of the virus — the government says schools and universities will be closed from next thursday, until mid—march. the latest james bond film, ‘no time to die' has its release date postponed until november — producers say it's after "careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical

marketplace". also coming up... a come back for the rock band, genesis, they've announced their first tour for 13 years. and now for the sport. good afternoon. the ioc president thomas bach says there has been no talk of the olympics being cancelled or postponed despite the growing impact of the coronavirus on sport. the tokyo games are due to start onjuly 24th, a number of test events have been postponed but speaking to the media after an ioc committe meeting in lausanne, bach refused to engage in the possibilty of the games not starting on time. i will not add fuel to the flame of speculation by giving a boot hero, viewing more speculation. our

statement from yesterday is very clear, we are fully committed and we continue to work with the task force and the same is true for the organising committee. we have challenges with the qualifications now, there are many measures we have been undertaking. this is a challenging moment but i must also say i am pretty proud of the olympic movement, of the great solidarity and flexibility everybody has shown so far, to address these challenges. anthonyjoshuas promoter eddie hearn is pushing

for a world heavyweight unification fight against tyson fury in december. both fighters, who hold the four major titles between them, have fights in the summer first. there are negotiations going on behind the scenes about trying to wrap that fight up no, going into these rematches. —— no —— now. that there is no reason why this can't happen in december, we must give the fans, the timing is perfect, but just fingers crossed. we gotjoshua at madison square gardens, got a lot to focus on. hopefully fury can be wilder again. another british fighter waiting for a world title shot is dillian whyte. he is the mandatory challenger for fury‘s wbc belt, but deontay wilder has a rematch first so whyte will defend his interim belt against alexander povetkin in may. been a very frustrating because i've

done everything asked of me. beaten more top ten fighters then wilder and fury have beaten. it has been very frustrating, but they kept sonny liston away from the title for a long time. it's messed up, it is what it is, you just get on with it. i want to be champion of the world, that's my thing. i'lljust keep working, keep growing and keep having fun—friendly fights, because i could disappear to america and fights nobody and make good money doing that, but i choose not to. i choose to stay home and have good fights. six more teams are looking to reach the fa cup quarterfinals tonight the holders manchester city face championship side sheffield wednesday at hillsborough. city's run of 11 major honours started with the fa cup nine years ago. they won their third successive

league cup on sunday i think the most important thing with the league was... i think with the mentality of the club, we realised first one was the most difficult one and the players... people came back, we came behind them. manchester city at sheffield wedneasday is on bbc one, with build up under way from 7:30. all matches kick off at 7.45 tonight tottenham and norwich is live on the iplayer, while leicester take on championship side birmingham in the evening's other match. just two days after having his contract tgerminated by sale, former england winger chris ashton has joined fellow premiership side harlequins. he says that quoins can help him become the first player to score 100 tries in the top division, he's currently on 86.

we'll have more for you in sportsday at half past six. let's return to the latest on the coronavirus, where the uk has seen its biggest day—on—day increase in coronavirus cases, bringing the total number to 85. -- 87. we on bbc news know that you want as much information as possible about coronavirus — well today, sees the start of — the chief medical officer ones that the virus being an epidemic in the uk is likely. in government, we had this experience twice. once with foot and

mouth, it was already beyond is when we we re mouth, it was already beyond is when we were react with it, and then the fuel strike, which led to the country finders news. to identify it is going to be a crisis and then tried to move fast enough to do with it is key. is the simple -- system agile enough to do that because no, the government needs to react quicker. one of the problems is it is not just about quicker. one of the problems is it is notjust about government, you have to involve people outside government, the businesses, for example what will happen disc shops to people stop panic buying. what happens in all the people in the shops get sick? we have to cooperate internationally because this is a global phenomenon on. it is a shame we left the eu machinery on this and we left the eu machinery on this and we will probably have to get back into that so we can do with this in the widest international way. what about the importance of

communication? one of the ways government might avoid panic buying is to keep the public as informed as possible, but it is a balance?m is. thejob possible, but it is a balance?m is. the job and test for boris johnson is to be the explainer and g. he needs to be out there on television —— chief. he needs to tell people not to panic and setting out a plan. he needs to be communicating almost every day on this and that will be a fundamental test of borisjohnson. this and that will be a fundamental test of boris johnson. a great deal of reliance on the chief medical officer who has already talked about the likely possibility of an epidemic. people hear that word and shudder, but he has to be frank, doesn't he? there's been a lot of nonsense talked about how expert are useless, but experts are essential. when we dealt with foot and mouth,

we relied very much on our scientific adviser. he came with us with a and how it would happen and we relied on that model and put com pletely we relied on that model and put completely on that happening and thatis, completely on that happening and that is, indeed, what happened. we are having similar reports on the site is now and the key thing is to put your trust in those scientists and be sure that they are correct and be sure that they are correct and stick to the plan. striking a measurement from italy in the last half hour. the prime minister talked about the potential for the health service not being able to cope. when people hear that, we start to imagine that happening here at some point? there is a very difficult to balance for a prime minister or government to make of these things. you need to be not so complacent that you do nothing and not encourage panic by going to find other way. just after the terrorist

attacks in 2007, we had a warning there was going to be a bomb on the tube is the next day and the proposal was we shut down the tube system. proposal was we shut down the tube syste m. to ny proposal was we shut down the tube system. tony blair decided not to because that would play into terrorist hands, she have to be careful in those circumstances, he was told, he would be to blame if he -- if was told, he would be to blame if he —— if something happened. thejob of the prime minister is to make the difficult decisions and not go too faror difficult decisions and not go too far or too little. so far, how do you think this government has done on this? i'm glad to see the prime minister come out with the chief scientist yesterday. that is important as he needs to be out there on a regular basis, communicating and explaining. it was u nfortu nately were slow communicating and explaining. it was unfortunately were slow off the mark they need to be ready with to do with us, to explain ad to get that balance right between do too much and too little. the problem is

unexpected consequences. when you deal with the fuel x dispute... we worried about the cash running out of money. you always need to be ready for those kinds of things is sometimes happy ready to bring in the army, as we did with the foot and mouth thing,. thank you very much. well, let's have a look at the impact the virus is having on the uk. julianne ponan is ceo of a small business called ‘creative nature' that makes healthy, organic snacks. her business is already feeling the impact of coronavirus. what is the impact been? we just had a huge launch for a product and we have a two—month sampling campaign confirmed, but we got told to do with the letter with immediate effect, no sampling allowed. our whole campaign is gone. this is due

to the risks of touching the foods and others as well? how much of the financial impact? because we invested so much on the lodge, it is thousands and thousands of pounds. no warning, but you must have wondered? we don't worry, because we have another lodge coming up on the 10th of march, so we don't know what is going to happen and we are very worried. what other things are you having to weigh up? we import and export products, so again that is a problem. we have got enough stockpiling at the moment but our sales are going up because people are shopping more online but in tesco's we just want to make sure that our home baking is sold. people are looking to travel for your country, —— company comic in the country, —— company comic in the country or beyond. yes, trade shows

and events. we are worried we will lose the money because we have paid in advance. what happens if the show is cancelled because might we lose thousands of pounds again. what help or guidance from the government would you like to hear?|j or guidance from the government would you like to hear? i would like to see a plan. what is going to happen in terms of businesses and events, the will give us a small amount of advice but what is going on? we need to know as a small business how this is going to affect our staff members. good luck and thank you. we have been queueing from the italian prime minister. let's take a look at the picture in italy. bethany bell is in milan for us. the prime minister has made the

decision to disclose all schools and universities across the country in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus. you may remember that schools and universities in the northern part of the country, most affected so far, have already been closed for over ten days. now there has been an extra decision to close them across the country until march them across the country until march the 15th and these big implications for everyday life and what that means for people, in terms of childcare and how they manage that, this comes as the number of cases as people testing positive for the coronavirus in italy hasjumped people testing positive for the coronavirus in italy has jumped to over 3000 at the death toll is now over 3000 at the death toll is now over 100 people. enormous pressures on the health service no? yes, huge

pressures . on the health service no? yes, huge pressures. a number of people are requiring intensive care and the fear is, if this spreads beyond the clusters and hotspots which are still the areas in northern italy, what that does mean for italy's health care. the government says it is trying its best with these big draconian measures of shutting down the schools for two weeks to halt —— try and halt the spread. there has been a lot of pressure and criticism and people are asking if they have acted quickly enough or if they fail to recognise that this virus was here for longer than we thought. has the medical service slipped up in its handling of this? many questions being asked and another mention —— measure being considered is whether there will be another quality red zone around the northern cities because there has been a spike in the number of cases in a particular

city. many questions being asked to in italy and many people doing uncertain about the health issues but also about what this means for italy's struggling economy. the prime minister today announced that workers will get statutory sick pay from the first day off work, not the fourth day as was previously the case, in order to help contain the coronavirus. here to explain how the virus could affect you in the workplace is employment laywer, anne sammon. the significance of that and i split from borisjohnson, the significance of that and i split from boris johnson, what the significance of that and i split from borisjohnson, what you make of that? it takes the position of saying you had to be off work for four days for receiving pay, what is important to remember is that statutory sick pay is £92115 per week. that is not a lot. the theory being if people stay at home the spread of the virus will hopefully be reduced?

spread of the virus will hopefully be reduced ? yes. spread of the virus will hopefully be reduced? yes. that means that bp —— people might be at home but you might be healthy, i began obliged to work out on? if an employee is at home and we want to work and have symptoms of coronavirus, they can work if you want to. equally, if the senior to stick their employer cannot force them. sick pay will come to them automatically? yes. ordinarilya come to them automatically? yes. ordinarily a doctormike note has to come in after a particular period of time. the issue right now is that we are being advised not to see a gps. e—mails might be the alternative route to this. there are some questions about those who are self—employed and those on zero—hour contracts, those who have employment which is the less fixed. what is the situation bear? for people working

and are self—employed, they are not entitled to statutory sick pay, zero hour workers will depend on the relationship they have with their employer. some will have it and some will not. that is clearly something we will have to question with the people you are dealing with, there is no clear and factual. is there —— is no clear and factual. is there —— is an employer obliged to act if they regard somebody as unwell but that person is still at work? employers have a duty to provide a safe working environment. if they know someone in the workplace has a contagious illness, they have to send that person home. we have to ta ke ste ps send that person home. we have to take steps to remove them to it after the people still there. we are quite new to the coronavirus spreading around the uk, are you looking to get further clarity on any of these areas from your point of view? people will be coming to

you seeking advice in the coming weeks. we have quite a lot of clarity from a legal perspective, the question is what people choose to do to provide additional benefits for their employees. as far as you are concerned, the picture is clear. thank you. here at bbc news we know that you want as much information as possible — today, sees the start of — the coronavirus podcast where our top specialists will provide the very best information and analysis on a weekly basis. here's a taste. this all feels very familiar, we have all covered epidemics. you, the last pandemic. some of this fear and confusion, lots of questions. this comes up confusion, lots of questions. this comes up all the time and what we are trying to do here is get to nub of what is going on and also allay some fears, there is lots of panic out there but also lots of good information. we also need to correct

misinformation going right, because there have been some crazy stories going around about how this is started and how you could catch it. hopefully we can give helpful information. yes, it is mostly the elderly. there was a study of more than 40,000 cases in china where everybody gets this four out of five people get a mild disease, that is true, if you're over 80 your risk is many true, if you're over 80 your risk is any true, if you're over 80 your risk is many many times that of a 50—year—old and that of the 20—year—old. only two out of 100 cases under the age of 20, and yet we have seen cases under the age of 20, and yet we have seen young cases under the age of 20, and yet we have seen young people, one of the doctor is the alarm about this, he was 34—year—old... is a indiscriminate virus. you are not absolutely in the clear if you are young and fit. this does feel different. i am young and fit. this does feel different. iam more young and fit. this does feel different. i am more concerned now that i have been for the last couple, but i am encouraged by the global response. we world bank has

announced £12 billion —— $12 billion, that is an unprecedented amount for billion, that is an unprecedented amountforan billion, that is an unprecedented amount for an outbreak like this. it is also important to say that, when you are seeing fear, of course this isa you are seeing fear, of course this is a virus we don't know much about and still finding out about, it has spread quite widely geographically, although there are still hundred 22 countries that do not have any... the maps are really misleading. you see these maps of countries affected, but many of those we have one case but on the global map up as a red country. we have to take and gel, set the example. it is someone in the studio but not one with two professorships. welcome, crystal donnelly, professor of crystal epidemiology at university of london and professor of applied at oxford university. hello. i have happy hand

joe but i am sitting too close. i will urge away but try and keep my face next... les keep the sense of perspective. as far as we know, we do not have massive community spirit in the uk. at the moment, that social distancing... if we had have to be busy work force down with it, that would probably apply more... there is some community spread, we know that no. chief medical officer says he thinks it is likely. once you get used to this. you don't want to wait until have to be more radio, it will spell a lot. and you can listen to the bbc news coronavirus podcast right now — in its entirety — on bbc sounds. rock band genesis are reuniting and have announced their first tour for 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, turn it on again...# ..and more than 50 years of hit records. david sillito, bbc news. now, it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. sunshine was in short supply across the uk for many areas, certainly across a good part of england and wales, with cloud and drizzle. you can see how the wet weather is pushing its way towards east anglia at the south—east of england. it will tend to fade away slowly but surely overnight but it was the rather grey and misty. we got another area of rain coming steadier and heavier rain, coming into

southern counties. further north across northern england, scotland and northern ireland there will be frost tonight. icy patches with some rain, fog patches, but sunshine on thursday. more time to begin the day and that rain will run across the channel, affecting the south east of england, but many areas will brighten up. a brisk wind across southern parts of england, together with that rain, just to make it feel a touch cooler. as we head into friday we are looking at another weather front to come in off the atlantic. this one is very weak and will not bring an awful lot of rain. it is lots of cloud and shower coming in from the worst. lots of fog patches do the midlands and northern england but a good chance for eastern scotland and england with dry and sunshine. temperatures between eight and 9 degrees. more changes into the weekend,

strengthening winds and deeper areas of low pressure to bring wet and windy weather. the first weather front will increase the cloud on saturday and bring some low cloud and drizzle. second weatherfront saturday and bring some low cloud and drizzle. second weather front is much more active, steadier rain coming into northern ireland and western scotland through the day. equally, southerly winds are going to strengthen and will lift the temperatures in most places to double figures. it is a brief taste of weather because that weather front will sweep across the whole of the country on saturday night, heavy rain over the welsh hills and into cumbria fold by cooler air on sunday and brisk winds. it will be a day of sunshine and showers on sunday. once the rain has cleared the extreme south—east, lots of showers on the western side of the uk, but that wind strength will blow in showers to eastern areas. it will turn cooler as the day progresses, eight

or9 cooler as the day progresses, eight or 9 degrees. much more unsettled as we head into the weekend. it will stay into next week.

tonight at six — the biggest one—day increase in the number of people infected with the coronavirus in the uk. 36 new cases — some of them had no connection to anyone who had travelled abroad. at this point in time we think it is likely, not definite, that we will move into onward transmission and an epidemic here in the uk. italy is shutting down schools and universities as it tries to stop the spread of coronavirus. the release of the new bond film is delayed by seven months — is it the latest casualty of the coronvirus outbreak? and we'll be looking at the new rules on sick pay for those affected by coronavirus. also tonight... the greek island that's fast becoming a new migrant flashpoint — aid workers say residents are turning on them.