this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at midday... 16 million people in northern italy are placed in quarantine for a month because of coronavirus. in lombardy, ski resorts, gyms and nightclubs can't be opened. restaurant customers must sit at least a metre apart. china reports its lowest number of new infections in a single day, since january. here, new emergency laws, including court cases over video link or phone, to help tackle the virus are announced. a doubling in funding for flood defences to £5 billion is expected in the budget on wednesday. she really is beautiful, innit? a slightly unorthodox royal welcome for meghan who delivers a message for international women's day. value and appreciate the women

in your lives and set the example for some men who are not seeing it that same way. and click asks if ai can help fight coronavirus misinformation? that's in half an hour, here on bbc news. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the italian government has announced a massive lockdown, affecting millions of people, in northern italy. ski resorts, cinemas, gyms and nightclubs can't open in the region of lombardy. restaurants and cafes can, but customers must sit a metre apart. and their opening hours will be restricted. around 16 million people

across the north and east of the country are now in quarantine as part of the stringent new measures being introduced to tackle the spread of covid—i9. all but emergency travel is prohibited to and from the entire region of lombardy, including the city of milan. in china, only 44 new cases were reported — it's the lowest number of new infections in one day since january. all new cases are in wuhan, where the outbreak started. here, the government's announced plans for emergency laws to help tackle the virus. among the measures are plans to allow people to leave theirjobs and volunteer to care for those affected. there is also proposals to allow court cases to be heard via video links. and the new laws will also consider the emergency registration of retired health professionals. rich preston reports. the italian authorities‘ hand has been forced by a steep rise in the number of infections in the country. officials say there are now more than 5,000 confirmed cases — a jump of more than 1,000 in 2a hours. more than 230 people have died.

the new restrictions will hit italy's financial centre in milan, and the tourist hotspot venice. most of the cases have in the region of lombardy as well as 14 other provinces in the north and east. translation: we are facing an emergency, a national emergency. we have been applying precautionary measures from the beginning. we are acting with the utmost determination. lombardy is home to 10 million people. that's like locking down tokyo or new york. gyms, swimming pools, museums and ski resorts will be closed. restaurants and cafes can open but customers need to sit at least a metre apart. religious events like funerals or weddings are banned, and the pope's weekly sunday blessing will be delivered by video stream, instead of addressing the thousands who usually gather in st peter's square. movement within the so—called

red zones will be for urgent matters only. anyone who breaks the quarantine rules could be jailed for three months. one of italy's leading politicians says he has tested positive with the virus and has been self—isolating. translation: i have always said, don't panic. let's fight this and in this moment i will, of course, give a good example and follow the advice of the doctors and of scientists. i will try to lend a hand by working from home as much as possible and i am fighting, as it is right to do, for each of us and for the country. officials say they will start recruiting retired doctors to help deal with the surge in cases. the new measures are due to last until the 3rd of april. rich preston, bbc news. 0ur correspondent bethany bell is in bologna and has more. this is not a total lockdown. trains and planes will continue to run out of the affected regions but the police will be able to stop

people and ask them why they are moving in and out. the government says people who have essential work reasons, and if there are emergency situations, then it will still be possible for people to move backwards and forwards but they have also asked people within those zones to restrain from moving as much as possible. this impacts milan, italy's financial capital, and also affects towns like venice, parma and modena, crucial tourist spots. we are in bologna which is about a0 kilometres outside the lockdown zones. all over italy, people are very concerned about the spread of this virus and about the quarantine measures and what that will mean for italy's struggling economy. also there is a big sense of uncertainty — has the government taken these measures too late? that was bethany bell in bologna.

one of the people who will be affected by the italian lockdown is peggy johnson, a british ex—pat currently living in the village of montevecchio in lombardy. she spoke to us about how her daily life will change. there is no social interaction, they don't want any big gatherings of people. all of the sports facilities — i can't go to the gym, the swimming pools are closed down, all the kids are at home from school probably until the 3rd of april. restaurants and bars are allowed to open if they can guarantee that the clients keep one metre from each other. i don't see how that will work. how will a way to serve you? people are starting to take it more seriously. i have to defend italy in this. italy has been slandered as the worst place, the place that spread it over the world, but italy was the place that did most tests and of course they found more victims because they were doing the tests. they put into place a lot of measures before any other european country. i think they have handled it very well.

they have tried their best to contain it. the supermarkets, even though there was a bit of panic buying at the beginning, they are more or less pretty well stocked at the moment. there are not many people in there. just today at my local supermarket, they said they would deliver groceries free of charge to anybody over 65 which is good because people who can't move, at least they can get their groceries. psychologically. .. i've got lots of books to read! lots of things to do on the computer. i'm getting used to the idea because already i have been more cautious than most people because i have an underlying lung condition so i'm a bit more at risk. i've been using my mask and washing my hands and not touching my face and all those things. i've not been out much in the last couple of weeks, i have to admit, so it'll be an extension of that for me. that was peggyjohnson. for a second consecutive day in china there have been fewer than 100 new cases of coronavirus

in the whole country. the health authorities are reporting 44 new suspected cases in the past 2a hours. and there have been a further 27 deaths, all of them concentrated in hubei province, where the outbreak began. emergency laws which would help to recruit millions of healthcare volunteers are being drawn up by the government, as ministers prepare for a likely coronavirus outbreak here. the bill, expected to go through parliament by the end of the month, would make it easier for potential volunteers to take time off work. 0ur political correspondent, chris mason, reports. down the decades, people have been volunteering for the stjohn ambulance. the organisation has a history going back over 140 years. the government wants to make it easier for those who volunteer now to do so for longer if, as expected, the coronavirus outbreak gets worse. around three million people volunteer, in what the government calls a health, community health and social care setting, for organisations like the stjohn ambulance or the red cross.

the health secretary, matt hancock, wants those described as being "skilled, experienced or qualified" volunteers to be able to do so for up to four weeks, if they choose to, without fear of losing their dayjob. other plans include allowing court cases to be heard via telephone and video links to ensure the justice system continues to function in the event of an epidemic, and making sure there is no impact on the pensions of retired health professionals who return to work having re—registered. it's also budget week. new chancellor rishi sunak will give his first budget on wednesday. he tells the sunday telegraph his focus will be on what he calls "the economic security of the country," and he wants to ensure that there isn't a permanent impact on firms that are otherwise financially sound. ministers are well aware they have to be prepared for things getting significantly worse. late last night, oxford university said one of its students had tested positive for the virus,

having returned from abroad. but they have been advised the risk to other students and staff is very low. chris mason, bbc news. more patients quarantined after returing to the uk from china have been leaving arrowe park hospital near birkenhead this morning. 0ur correspondent stuart flinders is there. thank you for talking to us. what are they saying to you about the experience of the past couple of weeks? it has been a pretty tough few weeks for them. they flew in as a group of 32 who had been on board the diamond princess, the cruise line injapan, when coronavirus was found to be on board. they came back to the uk, two irish nationals and the rest are british, and immediately four were found to have

had coronavirus and were sent to specialist centres in liverpool, sheffield and newcastle put the remaining 28 have spent the past two weeks here and last night the first of them started to begin their journey home and back to their normal lives. they are described as guests here and not patients, and most left in large taxis with blackened windows this morning but a couple didn't stop to talk to me. how are you? i am fine, very well, thank you. what has it been like in there? very well looked after. the hospital were terrific, really terrific. but if i am on the box or anything, please, i want to say thank you to the government of japan. it was a very robust quarantine. without it, i think, thousands more would have been infected. that didn't happen. 2,000 to 3,000 now are testing negative, thanks to them. they were correct. thanks to japan and thank you so much to the hospital. now i am going to go away and have a haircut — the first thing i am going to do. we are very looking forward to going home.

looking forward to going home now. we are very looking forward to going home. thank you. it'a a relief. what's it been like in there? 0k. it's lovely. they have looked after us. where are you from? kent, sheerness. what are your names? elaine and john spencer. the whole experience, effectively you've had four weeks of this, haven't you? we have had four weeks. that's a month's isolation. that is a long time. thank you. thank you very much. the reason it has been four weeks is because before they began their two weeks here they were in isolation for two weeks on board the diamond princess and that quarantine period turned out to be a complete waste of time when it turned out that one fifth of the passengers and crew, the holiday—makers on board, 3700 people can all add coronavirus. they we re people can all add coronavirus. they were brought to the uk and now have begun their journeys were brought to the uk and now have begun theirjourneys home all over the country and there is one couple i know who were heading down south, w011 i know who were heading down south, won the wife was going home but the husband has got to go to heathrow to

collect a cart which has been parked there since they began their holiday at more than a month ago a car. and what about arrowe park? how well—prepared are that if there an increase in the rate of infection they have to provide facilities for? of course this was not the first batch of coronavirus people being isolated. 83 people were brought here from china at the start of this scare. they came here and spent two weeks here and were very complimentary about the treatment they had to treated as guests, as i said. they have gone and right now the hospital has brought in a team of clea ners the hospital has brought in a team of cleaners who will deep clean the whole area where people were in here until this morning and then they are ready to go again if necessary. thank you very much. staying with

cruise ships. in the us, all 3,500 crew and passengers on board a cruise ship, including 140 britons, are to be tested for the virus. they've been stranded on the grand princess off the coast of san francisco since last week. they are awaiting decisions on the future of their journey. so far 21 passengers have tested positive for the disease. 0ur correspondent sophie long has more. well, another day has passed and 142 britons and more than 3,000 others remain stranded on the grand princess cruise liner. the ship was supposed to dock here in san francisco first thing on saturday morning, but has been prevented from doing so because it is now known at least 21 people aboard do have coronavirus. now, the company that owns the ship say they want to bring her in to dock as soon as possible so they can get people into the appropriate medical or quarantine facilities. we heard from vice president mike pence on friday evening. he's the man co—ordinating the operation to contain the virus here in the united states, and he said they had a plan and that the ship would be able to dock in a non—commercial port before the weekend was out.

but i have been speaking to people on board and they said they had no information. they still don't know where they are or where they are going and when they will get there. they say it's becoming increasingly difficult. they have been confined to their cabins now since thursday lunchtime. they are getting deliveries of food but they say they are becoming much less regular and they are concerned about medical supplies and food supplies running out. on friday evening, one passenger, who is said to be critically ill, was evacuated from the ship along with his travelling companion. but more than 3,000 others remain stranded on that ship and they still have no idea where they are going or when they will get there. well, here's my colleaguejane hill, with a reminder of some important information about the virus. this is what we all need to know about reducing our risk of catching a coronavirus. wash your hands regularly. rub the palm and back of your hands

in between the fingers and not forgetting the thumbs. it should take 20 seconds — long enough to sing happy birthday twice. avoid touching yourface with unwashed hands because this can spread disease. the first symptoms of coronavirus are a fever and a cough and you may experience shortness of breath. if you have a cough or high temperature, that does not necessarily mean you have coronavirus but if you think you might, don't go to hospital or your gp. stay at home and call nhs111, or use their online service. they will be able to tell you what to do next. you can keep up—to—date with the latest developments about the coronavirus outbreak, how to guard against it, and what it means for you, on the bbc news app and on our website. jane hill with some useful information on dealing with coronavirus. the headlines on bbc news... 16 million people in northern italy are placed in quarantine for a month because of coronavirus.

china reports its lowest number of new infections in a single day, since january. here, new emergency laws, including court cases over video link or phone, to help tackle the virus are announced. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's holly. still talking about coronavirus, it is affecting a number of events in sport and it has been announced today that the bahrain grand prix will be the first ever formula 1 race to be staged behind closed doors. they say they know how disappointed many fans will be but safety is their priority. here is oui’ safety is their priority. here is our formula 1 reporter. news overnight that the bahrain international circuit have announced there will be no spectators allowed at their grand prix happening in two weeks' time. this will be the first timea grand weeks' time. this will be the first

time a grand prix race has been held behind closed doors. whilst teams, drivers, personnel, media and all of the logistics staff will be there, it will be a very different feel to the bahrain grand prix. of course this is a direct result of coronavirus and bahrain have been very quick to treat, find and isolate cases and they want to continue a very proactive stance. the f1 paddock at the moment is getting ready to go to australia and many of the teams and garages are already set up at the albert park circuit so it is very much a watching brief. the new regulations coming in in italy make it difficult for the likes of pirelli, ferrari and alpha to address how they will move forward if they are not allowed to go in and out of the area where they are based. for the time being, it is business as usual in formula 1. it is business as usual in formula 1, even if some events might have to look to follow the lead of bahrain and do it behind closed doors. de

coronavirus spread has also effected upcoming tennis tournaments. players will be asked not to hand out used towels or sweatbands to fans and they will also not accept tennis balls or pens for signing at upcoming events from the start of next week's tournament in indian wells. there are two games in the premier league today with chelsea hosting everton and then the huge game at old trafford as manchester united take on manchester city. 15 points separate the teams at the moment with city in second and united in seventh but there was one much water in the scottish premiership which has kicked off, rangers at struggling ross county. it is still goalless after 20 minutes. australia have thrashed india by 85 runs in the women's t20 world cup final in melbourne. this was set to be the biggest event in women's sporting history, even katy

perry was there to begin the proceedings. after her performance, it was an extremely one—sided final with australia ruthless as they posted an imposing 184—4 from their 20 overs with half centuries from alyssa healy and f mooney. india we re alyssa healy and f mooney. india were never in the hunt, bowled out for 99 in the final attendance of 86,000 just fell short of the biggest crowd at a women's sporting event put our reporter is that alongside england cricketer alex hartley. this australian team is fantastic, they lost their first game to india but have thrown everything out the water and beaten them ina everything out the water and beaten them in a world cup final and it will not get better for them. they area will not get better for them. they are a fantastic team and still really young. beth mooney was fantastic, really consistent and fantastic, really consistent and fantastic at the top of the order. she is doing this time and again. the find of the tournament was the 16—year—old, she did not deliver today, dropped the catch in the

first over but i don't know if the occasion got to her, only 16 but i don't blame her. in rugby union, scotla nd don't blame her. in rugby union, scotland will try to halt france's grand slam challenge when the sides meet at murrayfield this afternoon. scotla nd meet at murrayfield this afternoon. scotland lost their first two matches against ireland and england but then beat italy in the third week. france are unbeaten so far. but then beat italy in the third week. france are unbeaten so fanm isa week. france are unbeaten so fanm is a massive challenge, playing a very good team that are in form and who have the goal of a grand slam in two games time if they win both games. the pleasing thing is that we are back at home this weekend and on the back of a victory, like the french. we know how good a team they are. and how good we will have to play to beat them. but we have prepared well this week and we are up prepared well this week and we are upfor prepared well this week and we are up for the challenge. that game is at three o'clock. that is all the support for now and you can follow that another premier league build—up on the bbc sport website. that is

all from me for now. thank you, holly. the chancellor, rishi sunak, has said that the government is preparing for all eventualities as the coronavirus outbreak spreads, and he said ministers will take whatever action is required. speaking to the bbc‘s andrew marr, ahead of this week's budget, he acknowledged it was a tough time for businesses. he has stuck firmly to the long established tradition and rule that chancellors keep to of saying very little about what is in the budget, other than a few select leaks and announcements beforehand until he stands up on his feet in the house of commons on wednesday. we didn't learn a huge amount as to the contents of the budget this morning but rishi sunak has been out and about. as you say, only in the job for three weeks or so, delivering the first budget we have had for more than a year now

because the one we were due to get in november was delayed because of the general election and, add to all that pressure on top of that, the coronavirus which, i would imagine, has meant they had to, to an extent in the treasury, rip up the plans and start again. but the chancellor has said this morning that the government is ready to respond in the short term and offer help to businesses and to ensure that, in the chancellor's words, the economy doesn't suffer permanent damage as a result of the coronavirus and he suggested that there would be some help to employers. let's have a listen to what he had to say on andrew marr a little while ago. it's a huge task and one i feel a great responsibility to make sure we get our response right. what i can tell you is i am very well supported and we are working around the clock to make sure that whatever the scenario is, we are very well prepared. are you going to be spending and borrowing more to get us through this crisis? you will have to wait for wednesday but we are looking

very hard at the range of scenarios and making sure that in each of those we can respond appropriately, and that means providing support for public services. we've already done that with regard to the nhs, making sure we can support vulnerable people and also making sure we can help businesses get through what could be an impact on their businesses, could be significant but for a temporary period of time. so, talking about businesses. one thing many employers are going to have to deal with is paying a much higher proportion than usual of workers' sick pay with the forecast that, in a worst—case scenario, up to a fifth of us could be off sick from ourjobs at any one time. as we have reported, the government has relaxed the rule on how soon people can claim statutory sick pay, specifically if they are self—isolating for the coronavirus. the chancellor was asked about that this morning and whether that was working as it should and also the issue of people who are self—employed and can't claim statutory sick pay getting access to benefits as quickly as they need to.

there are a range of scenarios as to what might happen here. you are talking about a scenario we do not know for sure is going to happen but we prepare for all of them, as you would expect us to do. it is the responsible thing to do. in those scenarios, there will impact on business. i am very cognisant of that. it could be significant but it will be temporary. we are actively looking at ways to help support businesses, especially small and medium—sized businesses you mentioned, a bridge through a temporary period of difficulty so they can emerge on the other side and we can get back to normal quickly. so, yes, lam looking at those things. it is temporarily of course but mike cherry, who is from the federation of small businesses, says the government should now urgently reintroduce a full rebate for small firms. we are looking at a range of options to provide temporary support for small businesses, to help get them through this. giving them a rebate on sick pay now is the kind of thing that can stop a company going under, i am just asking whether

you are going to do it. we have a budget on wednesday, andrew. the broader point is we are very cognisant of the impact it will have on small businesses' cash flow. i'm keen to make sure that when we get through the other side of this, we haven't lost all of these great businesses permanently and that is why we need to provide them that short—term support. it could be access to some sort of contingency funding, it could be allowing businesses a little bit longer to pay certain taxes than they would normally have. as you heard there, we will have to wait until wednesday to see the detail of the chancellor's plans. in terms of the budget now, only back in december the government issued its manifesto for the general election campaign and it committed itself to some rules to control public expenditure. is the chancellor going to recommit to those rules in his budget? if he is, he's not saying so now. he was asked about this repeatedly this morning and those rules, as you mentioned, in the conservative manifesto at the election, was to

balance the books on day—to—day spending by the middle of this parliament, so 2023, and to limit the amount of money the government borrows to spend on investment to 3% of gdp. they were in place when sajid javid was chancellor. rishi sunak is not saying at this point whether he is going to stick to the rules or whether the government will, in fact, in the wake of the coronavirus crisis or take an opportunity regardless of that to loosen the restrictions it has put on itself in terms of taxes and spending and balancing the books. so again, we will have to wait until wednesday but it was interesting i think of the chancellor did not say, "yes, there are rules and they are not going to change," so it could be an opportunity, as i say, to loosen the restrictions slightly. jonathan blake with a preview of the budget on wednesday. well, meanwhile, spending on flood defences in england is set to double in the wednesday's budget. £5.2 billion has been allocated to build 2,000 new schemes in the next six years.

the government says this will offer better protection to home and businesses. the rest of the uk will receive the same percentage increase for their own flood defences. the duchess of sussex has urged men to do more to respect women during a surprise visit to a school. the duchess appeared at an assembly at a school in dagenham in london ahead of international women's day. last night, meghan appeared with her husband prince harry at an event in london. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. take a good look, because we won't be seeing much more of this for a while. the duke and duchess of sussex last night at the royal albert hall, still introduced as their royal highnesses, and still very much looking the part. harry was making a final appearance as captain—general of the royal marines, complete with gold braid, medals and honours. for her part, meghan is leaving formal royal life with a strong endorsement of a cause about which she feels deeply — the rights of women.

a couple of days ago she visited a school in dagenham to make a speech timed for international women's day, today. these were issues, she said, which were relevant every day and to every person, and she had a particular message for men. ijust encourage and empower each of you to really stand in your truth, to stand for what is right, to continue to respect each other, for you young men, to continue to value and appreciate the women in your lives, and to also set the example for some men who are not seeing it that same way, right? you have your mothers, sisters, girlfriends, friends in your life. protect them, make sure they are feeling valued and safe. the speech went down well, the speaker was appreciated. she really is beautiful, innit? cheering tomorrow, harry and meghan will make their final appearance, for now, with the queen,

at westminster abbey. after that, the great experiment of their new, supposedly non—royal life will begin in canada. nicholas witchell, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren. there is probably a different look and feel to the weather today. we are back into a mix of sunshine and blustery showers. the chance of some hailand blustery showers. the chance of some hail and thunder and snow over the scottish mountains. still some strong and gusty winds, not as windy as yesterday. eight, nine in the afternoon with double figures in eastern england built up quite a few showers to plan which will continue in their western areas. later on in the night that showers will become fewer web clear skies. temperature three, four degrees, maybe a touch lower in the north—east of scotland