w0 rse owe i’ it has been a lot worse over previous weekends, mind you, and there is a hope that it will get better. this is bbc news. the headlines at 11pm: a sixth person dies of coronavirus in the uk, as health experts warn that cases could peak in a fortnight‘s time. health minister nadine dorries has revealed that she has contracted the virus and is currently self—isolating. 60 million italians under travel restrictions, as the country struggles with coronavirus amid a sharp rise in cases and deaths. public gatherings are forbidden, tourist sites are virtually deserted, and doctors give stark advice to the public.

stay—at—home and be prepared for a kind of war, because we are facing a war now here. in downing street, the chancellor is putting the finishing touches to his first budget, where measures to deal with coronavirus are expected to feature prominently. in edinburgh, where the former first minister is on trial for sexual assault and attempted rape, one of his alleged victims has been cross—examined. and at 11:30pm, we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers — ben chu and anna isaac. stay with us for that. good evening. in the past hour, a minister in the department of health has confirmed that she has tested

positive for coronavirus. nadine dorries, who has a background in the nhs, says she has taken all necessary precautions and is now self—isolating. ms dorries says that public health england has been in touch wither her and are now trying to trace people who have come into contact with her. meanwhile, a man in his early 80s has become the sixth person with coronavirus to die in the uk. the patient, who had underlying health conditions, caught the virus in the uk and died in watford general hospital. more than 26,000 people have now been tested for the virus in the uk. there have been 382 confirmed cases. part of the government's plan is to try to limit the number of people who need hospital admission, and that means gps playing a central role, as health editor hugh pym reports. this is the sort of protective equipment which nhs staff have to wear if they're in contact with patients possibly infected with the coronavirus. here, two nurses demonstrate

how it's put on ahead of carrying out a test. gps are now being sent the equipment for use in their surgeries. 0ne leading gp said they expect many patients to come in, even though those who might have the virus have been urged to stay away and call nhs iii, and that will mean non urgent appointments being cancelled. we do expect cases to rise rapidly, and over the coming weeks practices who are routinely doing health checks, assessing people's blood pressure, diabetic control, long—term problems with heart disease and lung disease. those routine checks will need to stop. some gps have complained they haven't yet received the equipment. ministers say it is being sent out this week. we wanted to get the timing of the roll—out right so that the equipment is there should this epidemic hit in a very large way. a sixth patient has died in the uk with the coronavirus. at watford general hospital, a man in his early 80s who had

underlying health conditions. and at the specialist children's hospital great 0rmond street, a health worker tested positive for the virus. non—essential heart surgery and related appointments will be stopped for two weeks. the son of a patient who died at the north manchester general hospital, now in isolation himself, spoke to the bbc. my father obviously has passed away and i cannot even go to the hospital. this illness, two months ago or so, didn't even exist and yesterday itjust took away my dad, and it's really, really heartbreaking. so, with the spread of the coronavirus, what is the nhs facing up to here? whether it's gp practices or hospitals. 0ne senior health official said today there could at some stage be thousands of cases in the uk. we can expect, if you like, a peak in cases. it has a relatively slow take—up at the start and that's really where we are at the moment.

it will start to rise quite sharply. hello, jonathan, it's doctor meier here... gp video consultations will be more common, with infected patients at home, and others who want to avoid surgery visits. this is a demonstration with a member of staff. the nhs care we're all used to is set to change radically for a time as the virus epidemic reaches its peak. hugh pym, bbc news. more on the news the health minister and conservative mp nadine dorries has announced she has tested positive for coronavirus. political correspondent iain watson is in westminster for us. as an mp and a minister, she will have had a busy diary and met lots of people? that's right, i got herfull statement, so let's go through that first and we can talk about the consequence of this. nadine dorries has said in a statement that as soon as she was informed, she took all the lies

cautions and has been self isolating at home. as far as i'm aware, she was tested last night and got the test results, testing positive today. she says public health england has started detailed contact tracing and the department and my parliamentary office are closely following the advice, and then she said she would like to thank public health england and the nhs staff. as you are saying, she may have met a lot of people, so this contact tracing is very important and i've spoken to sources at the department of because potentially in the midst of because potentially in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, a health minister in contact with her collea g u es minister in contact with her colleagues could force all of the health team into self—isolation, but i'm told the advice of the health secretary and other ministerial collea g u es secretary and other ministerial colleagues have received tonight is it's not necessary for them to self—isolate and they haven't been in contact with nadine dorries for several days. i'm told she started to feel unwell on friday, that's when she got the classic symptoms of

coronavirus, including a dry cough, pains in her chest. she's apparently in good spirits today, but of course she had a constituency surgery over the weekend, she was signing some legislation on friday and i'm told she was present at a downing street reception on thursday. the way public health england work is the way, people she has been in contact with are traced backwards, people she has been in close contact with over the past 2a hours, and then work backwards. so at the moment we don't yet know the full consequences, we don't yet know how many other people may yet have to be tested or how long they were in her company. of course, there's been lots of talk at westminster about the potential need to suspend parliament. health secretary matt hancock made it very clear last week that he thought decisions of great magnitude needed to be taken, down the line of closing schools or

earning public gatherings, public scrutiny would be necessary and the speaker i know is reluctant to suspend the house of commons and as far as suspend the house of commons and as faras i'm aware, suspend the house of commons and as far as i'm aware, there no suggestion the house of commons would be suspended. public health england traces will be trying to work out when and where no —— where nadine dorries was in westminster and who she was in contact with. iain watson in westminster there. unprecedented measures are being enforced tonight right across italy to try to limit the spread of coronavirus. as the number of cases and deaths rises sharply, italy faces growing isolation, with thousands of flights cancelled and stringent controls on its borders with austria and slovenia. public gatherings, including sports events are banned, and schools and universities are closed. italians are being advised to stay at home. the number of confirmed cases has risen to more than 10,000. and the number of deaths in italy has increased by more

than a third to 631. here in the uk, a sixth person has died italy correspondent mark lowen reports. "all residents stay at home", orders the police. from naples in the south to the supermarkets of rome, to the financial capital up in milan, news of the restrictions spread as fast as the virus. in bologna today, they began to adjust to the toughest limitations since the war. public gatherings banned, bars and restaurants closed from 6pm, tables a metre apart, schools, museums and nightclubs shut. everyone is affected. italians, tourists, and expats living here, staying put as several airlines stop flights. well, obviously we won't be able to travel in the immediate future. we've been told we can only take trains between cities in italy for reasons of work or health or for some extraordinary emergency and apart from that we must stay

put, but that seems sensible. another thing is they have put this spotlight on age groups and it makes me feel really, really old. but i'm optimistic about it. moving around requires a form which we also had to complete, allowing travel for work or health emergencies or to return home. we would have to produce it if asked. it says here that falsifying this document could lead to prosecution. never could people in italy have conceived of the idea that they would need this to be able to move within their own country. as we drove out, traffic seemed quieter. roads are open, though slovenia says it will close its border and austria has banned italians entering unless with medical certificates. we have come out of bologna and we're on the motorway to rome

and we haven't seen any police checks for the documents, so it's still not clear how these restrictions are going to be enforced. we pulled over and got through to a doctor in one of the worst virus—hit areas. hospitals are near breaking point. we need more beds, more doctors, more nurses, because i think that in one to two weeks we will reach the top so if we will not have more facilities we will not know how to take care of the patients. we are facing a war now here. in rome, deserted tourist sites show the huge economic impact. the government now discussing suspending tax and bill payments to ease pressure. from inside the vatican, the pope led mass, urging priests to have the courage to visit the sick — a risky call. and often it's too late. even funerals are now banned,

replaced with a restricted blessing. the virus is killing and taking italy's dignity with it. mark lowen, bbc news, italy. several airlines, including british airways and ryanair, have cancelled all their flights to and from italy for a month, leaving some passengers stranded. others, including air france, have announced drastically reduced timetables. transport correspondent tom burridge provided more details from heathrow airport. with airlines cancelling thousands of flights today, some people have contacted us who are out in italy wondering how they're going to get home. some people, a small number, will be able to book on ryanair flights which will still operate until friday and easyjet is going to operate a small number of what it calls rescue flights in the coming days, both to bring people back to britain and central travel out to italy. now, the government is talking to airlines, i'm told it's a fluid situation and they're trying

to work out exactly how many flights are needed so anyone who lives in britain who is out in italy at the moment can get home but airlines are being hit more broadly because passenger numbers locally have fallen off a clear and that's why you've seen airlines like norwegian air cutting 15% of their flights out of their schedule in the coming weeks and saying they'll temporarily get rid of some staff stop you british airways has e—mailed all their staff asking if they will take under voluntary unpaid leave. the airline industry is a precarious place at the best of times, this is the worst of times and airlines are being hot hard. tom burridge reporting there. let's take a look at some of today's other coronavirus developments. china's president, xijinping, has visited the city of wuhan, the origin of the coronavirus outbreak. his visit is being seen as a sign that the authorities believe they have the situation there under control. china has recorded its lowest number of infections, just 19 on tuesday. all were in wuhan apart from two people who had arrived from overseas.

in california, after five days stuck on a cruise liner off the coast of california, more than 120 british passengers on the grand princess are this evening waiting to board a plane home. they'll have to be screened for coronavirus, but if they are free of infection they should arrive in the uk tomorrow afternoon and begin two weeks of self—isolation. it's notjust italy that's been badly affected, let's have a look at some of the other countries in europe. in spain, where1,6li6 people are confirmed to have coronavirus, the lower house of parliament has been closed for a week after a member tested positive for the virus. almost 1,500 people now have the coronavirus in germany. the first ever bundesliga football match to be played behind closed doors will take place tomorrow night. and in france, the second—worst affected country

in europe after italy, there have been nearly 400 new cases in the past 2a hours, bringing it to a total of 1,784 cases and 33 deaths. lucy williamson provided more details on the measures being taken in france. president macron has said that he thinks what he called disproportionate measures would be counter—productive at this stage, but there are at least five mps among those who have been tested positive including one government minister, and already in the worst affected areas of the country, schools have closed, all gatherings, there are no markets, people are cancelling their weddings, and across the country as a whole the restrictions are being tightened, so there is now a nationwide and on any gathering of more than 1000 people and that means that sporting events are being cancelled, concerts are being cancelled. 0ne are being cancelled, concerts are being cancelled. one problem france does have is that it got the first round of its local elections coming

up round of its local elections coming up this weekend, so special measures are having to be put in place to stop the virus spreading at polling stations, and they include asking voters to bring their own in. —— there own pens. in another sign of the economic impact on coronavirus, some tourism operators in the uk say they're seeing significant cancellations. danny savage has been talking to business owners in the yorkshire dales and the lake district. it's only march, but the effect of coronavirus is already being felt on tourism in the lake district. for the main ferry company on windermere, they're already dealing with foreign visitors not coming. it's having a huge impact on the business. but now people living within driving distance are staying away. what we're seeing now is the reluctance of uk visitors to move around the uk, and we are hearing reports from hotels and self—catering accommodation that they are not receiving the level of bookings that they would imagine at this time of year. these boats are tied up because its low season, but there's a fear that this

could be the scene in months to come, and that would be a real indicator ofjust how big a hit tourism is taking. other businesses aren't hiring staff this year, because they don't believe the demand will materialise. well, we've already had quite a few cancellations already. louise lets a spacious self catering annex in her home to tourists. cancellations have consequences, not just for her. it's the cleaning lady, the laundry people, the decorators, the gardeners — their income will go down because they don't have any other source of income. she can't understand why uk visitors are beginning to stay at home at this point. we popped down to ikea and john lewis at the weekend, and they were packed, cheek byjowl, and yet folk are thinking, we better not travel to the lake district or to anywhere else in case there's a health problem. ifind it quite bizarre, actually. so, this is the workshop room. this is our biggest letting room. a0 miles away in the heart of the yorkshire dales —

neil and jane run an award—winning bed—and—breakfast in bainbridge. in the last few days alone, they've lost 16 nights of future bookings. but, because it's a virus, they understand why. if we get somebody coming here with a cold, if we get a slight sniffle, when do you know? that's what the difficulty is, the uncertainty. nobody knows at the moment, which is why i think our future bookings are quieter. i'm very optimistic, yeah. i think it will pick up once people understand what's going to happen next. i think there's a lot of uncertainty about what's going to happen. back in the lakes, this is what it should look like this spring, but will it? the losses are already stacking up, and they are worried not just about their health but about their incomes, too. danny savage, bbc news, windermere. the headlines on bbc news: a sixth person dies of coronavirus in the uk, as health experts warn that cases could peak in a fortnight‘s time. the health minister, nadine dorries, has revealed that she has contracted the virus and is currently self—isolating.

public gatherings are forbidden, tourist sites are virtually deserted, and doctors give stark advice to the public. at the high court in edinburgh, a woman who has accused the former first minister alex salmond of sexually assaulting her has been cross—examined by mr salmond's lawyers. mr salmond is alleged to have assaulted the woman at his official residence in may 2014, before attempting to rape her a month later. mr salmond faces a total of 14 charges of sexual assault, relating to 10 women. his lawyers say he will vigorously defend himself against all the charges, as our scotland editor sarah smith reports. mr salmond today heard more graphic evidence in court from a woman who says he pulled her clothes off and assaulted her in 2014. she contacted police four years later to say she had been attacked

inside the first minister's official residence of bute house. woman h told the police she was assaulted by mr salmond after a dinner in bute house in may 2014. his lawyers argue that's not possible, because he was rarely in bute house that month, and his diary shows other events for the evenings he was there. asked if she accepted there was no incident with mr salmond in may 2014, the woman replied, "absolutely not." she described alex salmond as a man who was often aggressive and bullying, saying he assaulted her in bute house again after another dinner in june 2014. mr salmond's lawyer asked, "is the truth that you weren't at the dinner at all, and there was no incident with the first minister?" woman h said, "i wish on my life that was true, but that is not true. i wish i wasn't there. i wish for my life that the first minister had been a nicer and a better man and i wasn't here." she first contacted the snp to discuss sexual misconduct in 2017, telling the court she started having flashbacks around

the time of the harvey weinstein case and the metoo movement. mr salmond's qc also asked her, "did a woman who is a scottish government official encourage you to speak to the police?" "there was nobody cheerleading me to come and do this. i'm doing this off my own back. this is not fun. i'd rather not be here. i think you see how hard this is." mr salmond has pleaded not guilty and he denies all the charges. sarah smith, bbc news, edinburgh. some news to bring you about yet another event cancelled, this time in the united states, because of coronavirus. the coachella music festival which is set to take place over two weekends next month in california has now been postponed until october, because of advice from local health authorities, so a

huge festival, that has attracted crowds of a quarter of a million in the past clearly the official thinking it is too risky to go ahead and that has not been owned until 0ctober. —— been postponed until 0ctober. measures to help tackle coronavirus are expected to feature prominently in tomorrow's budget, the first for the newly—appointed chancellor rishi sunak. he's also expected to promise to boost infrastructure spending to its highest in decades, on rail, roads, affordable housing, broadband and research. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg explains. the chancellor, barely a month into thejob is going to be under significant pressure tomorrow to speu significant pressure tomorrow to spell out how he will be able to tied businesses through what could bea tied businesses through what could be a very, very significant impact of coronavirus. how is he going to help them stump up with syncope? how is he going to help them with cash flow? is he going to help them with cash flow ? h ow is he going to help them with cash flow? how is he going to make sure that the nhs actually does get everything that needs. and coronavirus has completely changed the backdrop for the budget, the

first since the eu, since we left the eu and the first thing the general election. and the numbers have all completely changed in the last couple of weeks, with everything that has been happening on the market. has been like trying tojuggle water, for the on the market. has been like trying to juggle water, for the treasury. that said, there is no whether government are going to give up on the promises they made in the ma nifesto, the promises they made in the manifesto, they say they want to get on with the promises they made in terms of infrastructure spending, so tomorrow, i understand that they will set up more than £600 billion over five years promised will set up more than £600 billion overfive years promised or will set up more than £600 billion over five years promised or roads, rail, research, those kinds of things, and watering sum of money, not that different when we compare it with what was promised in the ma nifesto it with what was promised in the manifesto and already planned but certainly a change of gear compared to recent decades. remember, though, things like bricks and mortar, roads and railare not things like bricks and mortar, roads and rail are not the same as day—to—day spending in government departments, so promising big checks for the future does not mean that

the very real squeeze on some government departments will suddenly appear. —— will suddenly disappear. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at what tomorrow's front pages say about the budget in the papers, with our reviewers ben chu, the independent‘s economics editor, and anna isaac from the wall street journal. that's coming up shortly after the headlines. a jury at the old bailey has heard how a police officer died when he was dragged by a car for more than a mile. pc andrew harper suffered multiple injuries after the incident last august, which happened as he responded to reports of a burglary in berkshire. henry long, who's 18, and two 17—year—olds who can't be named, deny murder. 0ur correspondent helena wilkinson's report contains some distressing detail. pc andrew harper, 28 years old, a police constable with thames valley police. today, his widow lizzie was in court with other family to hear the prosecution open its case. the jury heard he was killed

in truly shocking circumstances. it was here last august in the village of sulhamstead in west berkshire where pc harper had been with a colleague when they were called to reports of a burglary. they were off—shift but went anyway. a decision the prosecution said that was to cost andrew harper his life. it was at lambdens hill, a dark country road, where the officers came across the three defendants. pc harper attempted to stop them, but his foot got caught in a tow rope that had been pulling a stolen quad bike. the court heard he was dragged for more than a mile at speeds of more than 40 miles an hour. brian altman qc, for the prosecution, told the jury pc harper had been swung from side to side like a pendulum, losing items of his police uniform along the way, with the rest of it being quite literally ripped from his body. his colleagues tried in vain to save him but he died at the scene. henry long, who's18, and two 17—year—olds who can't be named because of their age,

all deny murdering pc harper. the trial is expected to last six weeks. helena wilkinson, bbc news, at the old bailey. it's seen by some as a ‘wonder plant‘ that can help tackle climate change — but seagrass has been disappearing from around our coast. the latest research suggests up to 92% may have gone from the shallow waters around the uk in the last century, because of pollution and development. now, britain's biggest ever project to restore this marine flora, is planting a million seeds off the welsh coast — as hywel griffith explains. evolving with every ebb and flow, britain's coast is a place of natural, timeless beauty. but beneath the waves there is an ecosystem that is disappearing. sea grass grows in shallow waters, sheltering marine life, but globally it's been declining at a rate of 7% a year, the result of decades of dredging

and polluted waters. poor water quality, coastal development, a lot of industrial development, all sorts of interacting factors around our coasts have resulted in a widespread loss. to try and save british seagrass, these seeds have been gathered from around england and wales. placed in hessian bags, they are lowered down on 12 miles worth of rope to form a new meadow here off the pembrokeshire coast. in all, 1 million seeds are being laid down on the shallow sea bed beneath us. they won't grow into mature plants until the end of the year. then, the hope is that in 5—10 years' time, they'll grow to fill out a meadow the size of two rugby pitches beneath us, providing habitat for tens of thousands of little fish and millions of invertebrates like prawns and cuttlefish. but protecting marine life is only one benefit. seagrass also absorbs carbon far

faster than forests on the land. campaigners want more meadows sown around britain to help tackle climate change. we see seagrass as this wonder plant, really. you know, its ability to fight climate change, to help with fish stocks. we see it as this really practical example of what needs to happen all across the world if we are to meet our climate change targets. now, the team must wait for the seagrass to grow as they try to persuade people planting meadows right around the coast can provide one solution to the climate crisis. in a few minutes we'll be discussing tomorrow's front pages, but before that, let's look at five key developments developments today on the coronavirus outbreak. england's deputy chief medical officer said that the start of the uk peak of the epidemic is expected within the next fortnight.

drjenny harries said, "we will see many thousands of people infected by coronavirus, that's what we're seeing in other countries, and the important thing for us is to make sure that we manage those infections." meanwhile, us scientists say that it might take an average of five days for people to start showing symptoms. the researchers advise people who could be infectious, whether or not they have symptoms, to self—isolate for 14 days to avoid spreading it to others. and, to prevent the spead of misinformation, the nhs has been working with tech firms to remove false claims posted online. its chief executive sir simon stevens said, "the nhs has already been battling coronavirus fake news, from working to take down false twitter accounts to speaking out against misleading treatments being promoted by homeopaths online." lots of people are concerned about the impact self—isolation could have on their personal finances. the part—taxpayer—owned bank rbs

says it will allow people affected by the outbreak to defer mortgage and loan repayments for up to three months. tsb and lloyds said they would also allow a mortgage window, and banks are announcing extra support for affected businesses. and in scotland more than £3 million is being spent on a rapid scaling up of nhs facilities for video consultations. the "nhs near me" system is currently used for hospital outpatient appointments with consultants, but the increase in cases of covid—19 means it could soon be used for gp appointments to reduce face to face contact time. now it's time for the weather with louise lear. hello there, early heads up, i have been looking into next week and there is a potentialfor a been looking into next week and there is a potential for a few days of dry weather in the forecast. more on that injust of dry weather in the forecast. more on that in just a moment, of dry weather in the forecast. more on that injust a moment, and it's a good job as well because monday was miserable, wasn't it? a lot of heavy

rain across