this exclusive report. this is how coronavirus samples arrive at liverpool university. bio—security is paramount. the samples, from throat swabs are contagious so this part of the process was a demonstration, otherwise we could not have filmed inside the containment lab. the scientists are tracking how the virus is spreading from person to person in the uk. we have some patience and we have no doubt idea how they got infected. looking at their genetic material and comparing it with others, we can fill in the missing link. it is like a detective story. with that information we may be able to understand the spread of the disease better, which may help us the disease better, which may help us control the outbreak in the long run. and this lab is where that detective work happens. the genetic analysis is so precise, scientists can work out the chain of infection from one person to the next. these

are samples taken from patients in the uk with covid—19. they are no longer infectious and once their sequence, longer infectious and once their sequence, which takes just a few hours, scientists will have a more com plete hours, scientists will have a more complete picture than ever before about what is making them ill. this tiny machine reveals the unique genetic signature of each patient‘s coronavirus infection. it also shows all the other viruses and bacteria which are present. from their work on another coronavirus called mairs, the scientists know it is a combination of infections which can be deadly. so the technology we have been using in the lab allows us to ta ke been using in the lab allows us to take a sample from the patient, analyse that sample within near real time, within hours, and identify these dangerous bacteria. we can then feed that information back to then feed that information back to the clinicians who can then design appropriate antibiotics to treat those particular patients and help

them recover from covid—19 those particular patients and help them recoverfrom covid—19 a lot more quickly. the work here may explain why some people get seriously ill with covid—19, but the vast majority don't. and that information could be crucial in saving lives. fergus walsh, bbc news, liverpool. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello, and welcome to sportsday. i'm chetan pathak. jamie vardy returns to get leicester back to winning ways, as they beat aston villa to strengthen their hold on third place in the premier league. wolves europa league game in greece

against olympiakos will be played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus, but the government says in britain it's business as usual for now. that as the italian prime minister confirms tonight that all sport in italy is suspended until april, but it doesn't include international competitions like the champions league. and the egyptian footballer looking to break records at the age of 75. the latest on how coronavirus is affecting sport in a moment. but we begin with the monday night match from the premier league where after two weeks out with injury. jamie vardy ended his nine game goal

drought as leicester thrashed aston villa 4—0 to consolidate third place in the premier league. they went head after half an hour when villa keeper pepe reina ran out of his area, allowing harvey barnes a virtually free shot on goal. jamie vardy came on and soon made his presence felt. he scored a penalty to make it 2—0, and then struck again with just over ten minutes to go. leicester weren't done though — barnes scoring his second to make it 4—0. leicester are five points clear of chelsea, and eight ahead of manchester united. the continuing impact of the coronavirus outbreak is being felt across sport. tonight, italy's prime minister giusseppe conte has confirmed all sporting events in the country have been suspended until at least 3 april. it doesn't include teams playing in international competitions like the champions league. here though, the department of culture, media and sport says there is no rationale to postponing

events in britain at the moment. alex gulrajani reports. for now, the lack of the pre—match handshake is the only change to life in the premier league. some took precautions, but still, the crowds packed in both in manchester and in london. different sports, same message. the show will go on — for now. we are clear message. the show will go on — for now. we are clear we message. the show will go on — for now. we are clear we don't need to cut down on the number of people attending events, we should not be cancelling events at this stage. as a precaution i say we keep these things under review, and that may change in the future. but we certainly have no plans of the stage to ta ke certainly have no plans of the stage to take such steps to appoint power brokers from government, sport and broadcasting all met in london today. the aim, what to do should the outbreak worsen. while there a meeting, officials in paris decided to postpone saturday's six nations meeting between ireland and france, leaving wales and scotland in cardiff the sole surviving men's

match of the finale weekend. cardiff the sole surviving men's match of the finale weekendlj cardiff the sole surviving men's match of the finale weekend. i think it looks good, don't see any reason why that would proceed. the basic message coming out today is to not panic. let's monitor the situation, but carry on as if there's no medical rationale for cancelling events. we'lljust medical rationale for cancelling events. we'll just keep medical rationale for cancelling events. we'lljust keep talking and go from there. tomorrow sees the start of one of the world's most famous horse racing festivals, cheltenham. over a quarter of a million people were here last year, and the message is clear — it's business as usual. it's been confirmed that the ceremony for the lighting of the olympic flame will take place in greece without spectators. tokyo 2020 has also said that the travelling delegation with the torch relay will be reduced as much as possible. and in america, the decision‘s been taken to cancel the indian wells tennis tournament in california, with organisers saying it was just too big a risk to hold a gathering of this size. many of the players, including rafael nadal, had already arrived for the event, some only found out on social media.

indian wells is sometimes referred to as the unoffical fifth grand slam. earlier we asked our tennis correspondent russell fuller what the ramifications were for the tour. if a decision is taken to cancel a tennis event because of one local case in the area, you would think be very difficult for any major events to be played in the weeks and months to come. it may well be that other events take a slightly different view. if we look ahead to miami, that takes place in florida. there are already three confirmed cases of the coronavirus there. and a very big music festival in march has already been called off. the wta chief executive says it is too early to say that after miami, the tour moves on to europe. big events are scheduled there in monte carlo, in madrid, and most notably in rome.

so i think there have to be serious questions about whether tennis can put together a calendar over the weeks and months to come. wolves‘ europa league last—i6 first—leg match at olympiakos on thursday will be played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus outbreak. the greek government announced on sunday that all professional sports events for the next two weeks will be played without spectators. today, uefa confirmed it was the case for this game. wolves had sold 1,000 tickets for the match. here are some of our other sports stories today... england'sjoe marler has been cited after grabbing wales captain alun wynjones by the genitals in their six nations win at twickenham. the prop could face as much as a 24—week ban. courtney lawes will also face a disciplinary hearing after being cited for a dangerous tackle during saturday's match. harry kane has returned to training at spurs following a hamstring injury that kept him out since new year's day. the england captain tweeted this video of him doing drills today. there had been fears he might not return by the end of the season.

and zak crawley scored 91 as england drew their opening warm up match ahead of the test series in sri lanka against a cricket board xi. ollie pope also weighed in with a half century. he hit 77. the first test starts next thursday in galle. the road to tokyo 2020 for britain's boxers begins this weekend with the olympic qualifying tournament at the copper box arena in london. ba ntamweight prospect peter mcg rail from liverpool says all those hoping to get to tokyo have been briefed about coronavirus. bell obviously it's everywhere. but all we need to do is just not let it affect us, just focus on our performance. it's not that it's not there, we are told to take precautions and wash our hands a lot. instead of shaking hands, we've

been told to give a little one of them. but we can't let it affect us too much, because if you start thinking it, the limericks might not happen. the way i look at it as, it's still going on, it is still happening, we have to make sure we are 100% ready. next, rugby league continues to go global. first toronto wolfpack joined super league, now a new canadian side ottawa aces say they want to follow in their footsteps. on monday, they announced they'll be joining league one next year. their chairman is eric perez, who set up toronto. it will be somewhere on the path that we will rise up from league i and hopefully get to the super elite, then do a little bit of winning on the way, pick up some silverware and trophies. but it has been a very differentjourney, whereas we had an expansion team with toronto, ottawa is actually a clu b with toronto, ottawa is actually a club that moved from hempstead in hertfordshire to ottawa. so it has been a process of relocation rather than expansion. and it is in a

different city, an unbelievable city, i think the pride. so it has been a better journey city, i think the pride. so it has been a betterjourney in a lot of ways because you learn from the first time around and you don't know what to expect —— to know what to expect. not a lot can surprise me know. we have great partners, we can spread our wings a bit more whereas toronto was the first time out we had to prove the concept not eve ryo ne had to prove the concept not everyone believed. so it was a little bit more difficult to make things happen. this is a different story, a different case, and i think we are better for it. the thought of playing football as a professional was once a distant dream for ezzeldin bahader. but he is proof that you're never too old to fulfil your ambitions. at 75 years old, he's now playing for a team called october sixth in egypt's third tier, and he's nowjust one game away from officially becoming the oldest footballer in the world. rhia chohan has the story.

ezzeld i n ezzeldin bahader is a man who is close to making history. the 75—year—old egyptian is bidding to make the guinness world record book as the world's old professional that all this professional football player. to make it official, he has to make two games. he played over the weekend... translation: to see the player who is 75 years old is something i've never heard about before. a player who is 75 years old playing the against a team like them? unbelievable. he's already made history even before playing. scoring from the penalty box for his third division team, october sixth, he made his dream debut, becoming the old est made his dream debut, becoming the oldest professional to score in an official game. and he had his biggest fan there to celebrate it. translation: i'm so happy. i'm very, very happy. and i hope that he achieved his dream because nothing

is impossible. translation: i was more anxious than you when the player was arranging the players, he said wait, don't shoot. i took as a moment to shoot myself just shoot. i took as a moment to shoot myselfjust prepare shoot. i took as a moment to shoot myself just prepare myself. shoot. i took as a moment to shoot myselfjust prepare myself. i don't know what would've happened. when i took the cake i slow down a bit to see where the kuyper was going. the grandfather of six fell in love with the gameplay on the streets of cairo as child. almost seven decades later, he shown that it is never too later, he shown that it is never too late to chase your dreams. just another 90 minutes of football sits between him and the world record. that's all from sportsday. coming up in a moment, the papers.

hello, and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are olivia utley, deputy leader writer at the sun, and author, broadcaster, and commentator john kampfner. a pleasure to have you both in here. pleasure to be here. we all elbowed when you came in here. and feet. heels in touch —— heels and toes touched. i've been told we need to move on. many of tomorrow's front pages are already in. in the daily mail, stay at home if you have a cold — britain's chief medical officer will soon tell people to take a week off work if they show any symptoms, to help halt the spread of the virus. the same in the telegraph, self—isolate if you have a cold — health chief prepare drastic steps as britain prepares for a significant rise in the number of cases.

the express has the same story, they say the new advice will be issued within a fortnight, as a fifth briton dies from coronavirus — and the total number of cases hits 319. in the metro, tech firms tackle virus liars — the likes of google, facebook and twitter join forces with the nhs to fight fake news on covid—i9. in the observer, stock markets biggest fall since the 2008 financial crisis, with coronavirus fears triggering panic selling — 125 billion is wiped off the ftse 100 in a single day. in the financial times, oil price plunge sends tremors through battered global markets — stocks and shares suffer as russia and saudi arabia embark on an oil price—war. i think we will start with the daily mail first i think we will start with the daily mailfirst and i think we will start with the daily mail first and the virus, stay at home if you have a cold as the crisis deepens. chief medical officer warns britons will soon be

given this