this is bbc news, the headlines at two o'clock. .. 16 million people — or a quarter of italy's population — are placed in quarantine. its prime minister says coronavirus has created a national emergency. 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. cheering

a right royal welcome for meghan, who visits the school to celebrate international women's day. and how coronavirus has dominated at westminster. that's the week in parliament, in half an hour, here on bbc news. hello, good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. italy has imposed sweeping restrictions on the movement and activities of more than a quarter of its population in areas of the north and east of the country. some 16 million people are affected by the virtual lockdown as the government tries to limit the spread of coronavirus. the restriction applies to the entire lombardy region, italy's wealthiest, and 14 other provinces. all travel not deemed essential is banned. jon donnison reports.

in central milan this morning, an uneasy quiet. a quarter of italy's population, some 16 million people, including those living in the country's second biggest city, now in quarantine. translation: we are facing an emergency, a national emergency. we have done so from the outset with exceptional precautionary measures, and we are facing it with great awareness, without underestimating the situation. but such a drastic measure is an admission that italy has so far failed to contain the virus, with around 6,000 cases and more than 230 deaths. it is not a complete lockdown. trains and planes will still run, but many travellers are choosing to stay home and police will be able to restrict people's movements. bars and cafes can stay open but must ensure customers can sit a metre apart.

marzio toniolo, a primary school teacher, has been making a video diary with his family. he has already been in quarantine for several weeks. he says people have to cooperate with the new measures or the problem will get worse, with hospitals already overloaded. venice, which ordinarily welcomes more than 20 million tourists a year, is also now considered a red zone. rome is not part of the quarantine area, but this morning, pope francis gave his weekly address by video link rather than from the traditional balcony overlooking worshippers in st peter's square. and all top—flight football matches across the country will be played behind closed doors until at least april, but as the number of cases continues to rise rapidly, the question some are asking — is this all being done too late? jon donnison, bbc news.

the latest figures from the department of health for this country have just emerged in the last few moments. this was as of nine o'clock this morning. the department of health is now talking of 273 positive tests for coronavirus as of this morning. that fit figure was 211 so it has gone up by 62 since that last announcement. the total number 23,500 people have been tested in total, so the vast majority of those obviously by definition given the number of positives turned out to be negative but we are now talking about 273 positive tests in the uk as of nine o'clock this morning, and of course to patients who tested positive for coronavirus have sadly died but those of the latest figures from the department of health, now looking at 273 positive tests in the uk. we

we re 273 positive tests in the uk. we were talking about lombardy moment ago. one of the people who will be affected by the italian lockdown is peggyjohnson — a british ex—patriate currently living in the village of montaveckio 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. 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 health care 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 following two weeks of isolation. 0ur correspondent stuart flinders is there and has more. it has been a pretty tough few weeks for them. they flew in as a group of 32 people who had been on board the diamond princess, a cruise liner 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 coronavirus and were sent to specialist centres in liverpool, sheffield and newcastle. the remaining 28 have spent the past two weeks here and last night the first of them started to begin theirjourney 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 did 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 ofjapan. 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. 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. that quarantine period turned out to be a complete waste of time when it turned out that one fifth of the passengers and crew and holiday—makers on board, 3700 people, all had coronavirus. they 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, one, the wife was going home but the husband has got to go to heathrow to collect a car which has been parked

there since they began their holiday more than a month ago. the latest figures i mentioned five 01’ so the latest figures i mentioned five or so minutes ago, they have been broken down a little bit more and we have some details from scotland but the overall picture across the uk was of 273 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the uk. that is from the department of health and social care, that was up from 209 a day earlier but they nudge that up to 211 this morning so it has gone up 62 from this morning, but i mention 110w 62 from this morning, but i mention now there is a breakdown of scotland figures, 18 confirmed cases of coronavirus in scotland, an increase of two maxims yesterday when there we re of two maxims yesterday when there were 16 cases, new cases, one in greater glasgow and clyde and one in lothian and these are the official figures from the scottish government which were released at two o'clock

this afternoon. the first case was confirmed in scotland last sunday, no further regional or national brea kd owns no further regional or national breakdowns within those uk figures as yet. let's reflect on all this 110w as yet. let's reflect on all this now with doctor amer khan, a gp and broadcaster in leeds. good afternoon. those figures first of all, the uk figures confirmed cases up all, the uk figures confirmed cases up 62 from this morning to 273, is this roughly where you would have expected us to go? yes and i think they are going to continue to rise and we have to be realistic about that, we are moving on from the containment phase to the delight phase, and it is really important that people adhere to the hygiene measures that the government are putting up there. you mentioned those two phases because we are still in that containment phase now, but clearly it is only a matter of time before we move on. yes, and i don't think there's much time before you move on and the whole purpose of the delight phase is to stop a massive pick of people being

infected all of the same time an overwhelming our nhs services so we know that people are going to be infected and we know it will be a lot of people but we want that number to lot of people but we want that numberto climb lot of people but we want that number to climb slowly and that is the purpose of the delight phase, so we are not overwhelmed as health professionals ourselves by the demand put dollars given what you say they are, how much can we usefully learn from the italian experience in all this? i think we can learn a lot, they moved fairly quickly, i know there are large numbers of people infected there, however the government have gone to great lengths to try and tempt to that and slow down the process, so i think this is new to all of us, i have been adopted for years and i have been adopted for years and i have not come across anything on this scale before, so yes the nhs is prepared and the government are doing a lot to try and delay things, but this is all new territory for a lot of us on the ground, so we are learning every day as we go along.

but when you look at the quarantine measures now being talked about in parts of italy, i should stress parts, to some they will look drastic and to you today look about right under the circumstances?” think it is easy for things to feel drastic. i think we always have to prepare for the worst case scenario and we don't want to panic people and we don't want to panic people andi and we don't want to panic people and i have seen the seeds of panic buying of supermarkets, it is not about panicking people, it is patrick preparing for the worse case scenario because if we don't do that we will be caught off—guard and it will be even worse, so everything we are doing might sam drastic, is preparing for the worst which is really important, we have to be prepared. what with our own health and social care services, we are seeing this proposed emergency legislation today, registration of retired health professionals, the idea being that some would come out of retirement to help if need be. does it strike you as a sensible measure? i think so, yes. already without the coronavirus the nhs is

stretched, so if you add this into the next it is going to be really ha rd the next it is going to be really hard for those of us working every day in the nhs, so any help that we can get, be it from retired health professionals who are i am sure willing to come out and help, be it from undergraduate medical students, nursing students, we have got to have a plan in place because the number of patients is going to increase dramatically. we have already seen just from phone calls on 111, they have gone up a third which is a huge amount and they had a drop people in to help answer the phones and that is the beginning, so iam phones and that is the beginning, so i am worried as a gp seeing patients every day how we are going to go. we have put measures in place at our practice to try and reduce the risk of infection, but we also know deep down it is just a matter of time. and that extra help we talk about is so crucial and social care as well, isn't it, where for example you have a lot of honourable people being looked after. yes, social care will bea looked after. yes, social care will be a real pro bubble. we have had calls last week from nursing homes

where we look after elderly or vulnerable patients, patients have had temperatures, fevers, coughs, we have been up to see them and they are have been up to see them and they a re low have been up to see them and they are low risk at the moment but as time goes on the numbers of people infected gets higher and higher, we are infected gets higher and higher, we a re really infected gets higher and higher, we are really going to have to review the way we look after our nursing home patients, because they can't go to hospital, they can't leave the nursing home because of their other illnesses but if we go out to see them, we risk infecting ourselves and then other people, so there is a lot of things that haven't quite clearly been defined yet for us, but i'm hoping that it sounds like. good to have your thoughts, thank you very much, doctor amir khan in leeds. here is 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 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. that was jane hill. spending on flood defences in england is set to double in the budget. £5.2 billion has been allocated to build 2000 new schemes in the next six years. northern ireland, scotland and wales will each receive the same percentage increase

to fund their own flood defences. the government is promising money to help struggling high streets in order to help reduce regional inequalities. retailers say business rates are one of their biggest problems — especially what's called transitional relief — this slows down the speed with which their rates bills go up and down. they say its cost the sector hundreds of millions of pounds. emma simpson reports from blackpool. this is one of the best retail streets in blackpool and this unit is one of the best units in the street. ten or 15 years ago we would have been fighting the retailers off, the demand would have been strong. no longer. this used to be a top shop, but it has just handed back the keys. now paul moran's company is struggling to find somebody to fill the gap because the business rates bill is too big. the rates bill on this shop is dramatically higher than its rental value.

it is the first thing they will look it, it is the first question they will ask, what is the rate bill? and it is deterring tenants from taking this unit. this town is feeling the impact of the huge upheaval in retail, driven by the rise in online shopping. the market is changing fast, but business rates are not keeping up. business rates are a tax based on how much a property is worth in rent. now, if rents fall, so should rates. if they go up, so will the rates bill. it sounds reasonable, but changes to rates are gradually phased in to help businesses adjust. too gradually, though, for towns like this one where bills are not coming down fast enough. that's the problem. take this poundland store round the corner. rents fell dramatically in 2017 when the government last revalued property. its rates bill should have gone down by 46%,

but by the end of next year, it will only have dropped in real terms by 13%. this one shop is effectively paying £167,000 in extra tax through the system known as transitional relief. i call it comic relief, in fairness. we are a business that is thriving, but transitional relief costs us millions of pounds. the boss of poundland says it needs to be scrapped. i could open more shops, i could employ more colleagues, i could create better products for existing customers. itjust holds the business back from investing and driving growth. the government is promising a fundamental review of business rates and is halving them for small shops at the budget. but that will not be much help to the big chains which are trying to steer through turbulent times in the towns in need of the most support. emma simpson, bbc news, blackpool. the duchess of sussex has used one

of her last appearances as a senior royal to urge men to do more to respect women. she was speaking during a surprise visit to a school in east london on friday. the details have been released this morning to mark 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. as we mentioned in that report, today is international women's day, a worldwide event which celebrates women's achievements while also calling for gender equality. this year's theme is each for equal, which aims to challenge stereotypes, fight bias and broaden perceptions. the bbc‘s charlotte gallagher is at whitehall and joins us live. yes, iam yes, i am and thousands of people have marched down whitehall behind me and are now in parliament square just about a few hundred yards in front of me, thousands with lots of placards, wanting gender equality, men, women, children and it wouldn't bea men, women, children and it wouldn't be a march in britain if we didn't have a few dogs as well. there are lots of families here and i am joined by one, all the way from ireland for today. ev, joined by one, all the way from ireland fortoday. ev, how joined by one, all the way from ireland for today. ev, how old are you? 11, and what does your sign

site? it says the future is female. why did you have that on your sign? it is true, and also it was something i thought of. why did you decide to bring the girls today? they are both fairly feminist little women and we believe in women's rights and equal rights and gender equality and that is what we have always taught them and women are equal people and we should have equal people and we should have equal rights so it is important we have to march for the women that can't, thousand 500 million moment that countries wealth domestic violence is considered a crime, and the count, so it is worth coming out in the rain. you are nine, aren't you, can we see your sign? so the people it can see. deeds and words. you design that yourself, didn't you? yes. it is your first match today, what do you think about it

apart from the weather? is very crowded because everyone is coming one way. siren. everyone is going along a stream. would you go on more matches in the future? may be. i love the glitter, very good. another good sign we have got here. this is the face of feminism. a man. ijust wanted to make that point. there are lots of men out today.” wanted to make that point. there are lots of men out today. i am encouraged to see it, i thought i might be the only one. you consider yourself a feminist? i do. is that important letting them know they can do whatever they want.” important letting them know they can do whatever they want. i want them to grow up in a row without are at least equal to men. that is the

message we are bringing.” least equal to men. that is the message we are bringing. i will let you go and before you blow away or wash away in this weather and people now are going to head to a rally at parliament square, you can probably see no crowds are building up. sunday talks big the actor, bianca jagger, lots of people to entertain the crowds there and i am sure i'll speak you very soon. thank you very much ina speak you very soon. thank you very much in a rather wet and windy whitehall. let's return to the coronavirus and the new numbers that we re coronavirus and the new numbers that were released by the department of health a little earlier on. the number of confirmed cases in the uk has risen so 273, up from 209 at the same time yesterday. let's have a word with our health correspondent nick triggle. put these figures into some sort of context for us. we a lwa ys some sort of context for us. we always knew the figures were going to go up. we are likely to see a sustained rise up at the next two or

three months until the figures, that is what the experts expect. with today's figures we always have a regional breakdown. it was quite interesting about that, how evenly spread around the country. london has had the most cases, 38, southeast has had 30, and then north—west has had 26. but all parts of the country have seen some cases. what will be important in the coming ways to keep an eye on is how quickly these numbers go up. yesterday public health england said the uk was on the teetering on the edge of the community transmission, where the virus is spreading across the community. we know the government has had a battle plan in place and there are steps that could ta ke place and there are steps that could take such as asking people to socially distance themselves, maybe work from home and things like that, but at the moment the government is still saying it is in the

containment stage. thank you for the update. nick triggle there our health correspondent. in a moment it will be time for the week in parliament but now time for a look at the weather stopped stav da naos. now time for a look at the weather stopped stav danaos. thank you. good afternoon. it is an afternoon of sunshine and showers post up some of them quite heavy. some hail and thunder. when trainers with a higher rank in the north. through tonight showers will fizzle away from the east. just a few peppering western coast. a chillier night to come as well in the last night with a touch of frost across eastern scotland. another area of low pressure hurtling in from monday. it will start mainly dry, one or two showers around. chilly, bright, lots of sunshine around before the wet and windy weather pushes into northern ireland and then west of scotland and western england and also wales, quite heavy and persistent particular for wales quite heavy and persistent particularfor wales and quite heavy and persistent particular for wales and didn't know eastern areas will tend to stay dry until after dark but the wet and

windy weather spreads to all areas overnight, the rainfall totals really mounting up. northern england and wales. into tuesday it looks like it'll be another on saturday. the very mild, particularly in the south and in a trans there and showers wednesday and thursday. that's all from me. now let's head to the week in parliament. hello and welcome. and it's been a week dominated by coronavirus. england's chief medical officer says the nhs could face huge pressures in the worst—case scenario. but he does have some reassurance. it's easy to get this perception that if you're older and you get this virus, then you're a goner. absolutely not. the great majority of people will recover from this virus. the prime minister announces new measures on sick pay to encourage people to self—isolate

if they suspect they