hello, it's thursday, it's ten o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire and we're live from new broadcasting house. coronavirus latest — president trump has banned travel from most of europe to the united states for 30 days. it doesn't include the uk, though. to keep new cases from entering these shores, we will be suspending all travel from europe to the united states for the next 30 days. the new rules will go into effect friday at midnight. the ban will come in to force at midnight on friday but as it only applies to 26 european countries. will it really be effective? tom hanks and his wife have tested positive for coronavirus, an unnamed cabinet minister has been tested and is self—isolating. the pm is expected to announce

new measures to combat the virus here later today. also today, we can reveal that people are so desparate to come off anti—depressants, they're turning to charities which deal with illegal drug addictions to get help. i've tried to come off this medication three times before, only once successfully and i'm currently withdrawing again. but like six out of every ten patients, i felt i was not warned about the risks of withdrawal by my doctor. i've also found the withdrawal symptoms shockingly debilitating, and conflicting advice by medical practitioners about how to withdraw really confusing. hi. welcome to the programme. we're live until 11 this morning. i want to know where you are on coronavirus today, particularly as we appear to be on the cusp in this country of moving from trying to contain the virus to delaying the peak of it. let me know what is

happening in your life and work and wherever you live in the country. use the hashtag victoria live. email victoria@bbc.co.uk, text 61124. now for a summary of the news with annita mcveigh. good morning. president trump has suspended travel from europe into the us in an attempt to combat the spread of the coronavirus. the restrictions will be in place for 30 days from tomorrow but do not apply to the uk. so far, 38 people have died from the virus in america. the chancellor rishi sunak has told the bbc that he doesn't see a need for the uk to adopt a us—style flight ban as part of its response to the spread of coronavirus. in this country, we are determined to take the right steps at the right time and in all cases and at all steps, we are going to be guided by the advice of the chief medical officer and the chief scientific officer. we haven't believed that is the right thing to do. the evidence here does not support that. what we are trying to do is to contain the virus

while recognising that it is now likely it will spread more significantly. the us travel ban comes as oscar—winning actor tom hanks has confirmed he and his wife, rita wilson, have tested positive for the coronavirus. in an instagram post, he said he had come down with a fever while filming in australia. he said he and his wife would be tested, observed and isolated for as long as necessary. here, people with even minor signs of respiratory infections could be asked to self—isolate under new guidelines being considered to delay the spread of coronavirus. the prime minister is holding an emergency cobra meeting later today to plan the government's response to covid—i9 after the world health organization declared it a pandemic. in italy, all shops except food stores and pharmacies will be closed as it strengthens its lockdown due to the virus. a british soldier has been killed in a rocket attack on a military base in iraq. the missiles were fired on a camp

near baghdad where coalition forces were training iraqi soldiers. us military sources said an american soldier and a contractor were also killed. a ban on parking on pavements could be rolled out across england. the government will consult on whether to extend the ban which is already in place in london and give local authorities more power to tackle the issue. campaigners say it causes problems for disabled people and the elderly. a bbc investigation has found that a hard drive belonging to a paedophile could not be used as evidence because it was kept in a police commissioner's safe for 14 years. the hard drive, which contained indecent images of children, belonged to the ex—lord mayor of leeds, neil taggart. the office of the west yorkshire police and crime commissioner mark burns—williamson did not disclose the computer equipment until after taggart had pleaded guilty. mark burns—williamson said he was unaware of its existence and has apologised for "embarrassing" mistakes. sales of no or low alcohol beer

are up 30% since 2016, as 18—24 year olds increasingly shun alcohol. "nolo" alcohol is set to be one of the driving trends of 2020, according to the craft brewers‘ trade organisation. it says growing health consciousness has prompted almost one in four young people to become teetotal. the number of alcohol drinkers across the british population also appears to have fallen slightly. a rare medieval diamond and gold brooch discovered by an amateur metal detectorist is about to go on display at the victoria and albert museum in london. only seven flower—shaped brooches of its kind are known in the world. it had lain untouched for 600 years, before being found at a farm in northamptonshire by a man who initially thought it was an old bottle top. the museum says the object is priceless. and very beautiful. back to you, victoria. thank you.

let's go through the various developments on coronavirus with you in the next three minutes. —— few minutes. us president donald trump has announced sweeping new travel restrictions on europe to tackle the outbreak in the us. travel from 26 european countries to the united states is being suspended from midnight tomorrow. but the uk is excluded. meanwhile, tom hanks has announced that he and his wife have tested positive for coronavirus. here, an unnamed cabinet minister is self—isolating and has had a test. they will get their results today. borisjohnson is expected to announce futher measures to tackle the outbreak here this afternoon after an emergency cobra meeting. globally, there have now been more than 126,000 confirmed cases and more than 4,600 deaths globally. here in the uk, there are officially 460 confirmed cases and eight people have died. i want to read some messages from you because i am asking you what are you because i am asking you what are you thinking on how you are feeling

about it. so many messages already. rosie says, "stressed due to immune suppression, myself and my elderly mother, who is frail and high risk". jill says she is concerned about those in care in nursing homes and those in care in nursing homes and those who have conditions reducing their immunity, particularly if their immunity, particularly if their carers become restricted by movements. lindsay reckons the cove na nt‘s movements. lindsay reckons the covena nt‘s response is movements. lindsay reckons the covenant‘s response is completely inadequate. she believes the government is happy to gamble with the lives of potentially hundreds of thousands of people who are vulnerable to this. ss says, "i feel like the k is not doing enough". leanne says she is stressed after chemo, she's had a lumpectomy and she is on the vulnerable category. but chris says he is fed up with the media hype and is thinking it may cause the end of the company he works for. keep your thoughts coming in. kay says not enough testing is being carried out and we simply don't know the scale of it. you can message me on twitter using the hashtag victoria life or sending me a tweet directly. e—mail us at the

address below. so let's focus on that travel ban now. president trump had been criticised by some for taking a relaxed attitude to the coronavirus outbreak. on monday he tweeted this:. but last night, all that changed. in an address to the us nation from the oval office of the white house, he said this. to keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from europe to the united states for the next 30 days. the new rules will go into effect on friday at midnight. these restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground. there will be exemptions for americans who have undergone appropriate screenings,

and these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade in cargo, but various other things as we get approval. anything coming from europe to the united states is what we are discussing. these restrictions will also not apply to the united kingdom. at the same time, we are monitoring the situation in china and south korea, and as their situation improves, we will re—evaluate the restrictions and warnings that are currently in place for a possible early opening. the white house later clarified that from midnight friday, non—us citizens cannot fly to america from the 26 european countries which you can pass between without needing a passport. these are the ones in the so—called schengen agreement, which includes france, germany and poland. and plenty of others, too. let's

talk to adam fleming in brussels. lots of questions, first of all, president trump said it was because europe was not doing enough. how are leaders across europe reacting to that? i think the first thing that happened was surprised because this happened was surprised because this happened in the united states in the evening but during the night in europe, so they woke up to the news. then i think there was some confusion because the american authorities then had to clarify what president trump actually meant. in his statement, he talked about this affecting trade, but they said no, it is just people, not trade. and then i think as it sank in, people realised this is quite atypical trump response. for a long time now, european leaders have been saying that when it comes to the united states, they can't be relied on as an ally when it comes to defence or diplomacy so actually, should it come as a surprise that the us isn't going to be a an ally for europe when it comes to fighting the virus

question much charles michel, the president of the opinion council who chairs the summits of eu leaders said he will be assessing the situation throughout the day and said economic disruption must be avoided. then he said at the end of the tweet, "europe is taking all necessary measures to contain the spread of the virus, limit the number of affected people and to support research". that is him trying to hit back at donald trump's assertion that europe has been too slow and too lacking in its response to covert and 19, i think. —— covid—19. to covert and 19, i think. —— (avid-19. however ban to covert and 19, i think. —— covid-19. however ban were? it will kick off on friday night and affect the schengen agreement countries, as you said, the 26 european and non—eu countries and the passport free zone, where there are no systematic checks if you cross the border from one to the other. anyone who has beenin one to the other. anyone who has been in those areas in the last 1a days will not be able to get entry into the united states. whether that means that flights are automatically banned from all of those countries to the united states, we are not

quite sure, yet. also, it seems that it will apply to people who are not even from those countries but have beenin even from those countries but have been in those countries in the last 14 been in those countries in the last 1a days, for example, me, even though i am british, i live in belgium and i've been here for the last 1a days so presumably i would be denied entry as well. however, it will not affect countries that are not in the schengen area, so the uk and ireland, very notably, but there are other eu countries that are not in that area because they have not been allowed tojoin in that area because they have not been allowed to join it yet so this will not apply to people who live in cyprus, for example, or croatia or bulgaria or romania. there is going to bea bulgaria or romania. there is going to be a meeting today at schiphol airport in amsterdam where they work out the practicalities. that is a big hub for airline travel from the eu to the us. but that is interesting because a number of people have been saying, you could just nip overfrom people have been saying, you could just nip over from paris or belgium oi’ just nip over from paris or belgium or germany or wherever you happen to be and get a plane at heathrow but you are saying that if you have been in those countries, in the passport

free border in the last a0 days, you are not going to be able to do that. the text we —— 1a days. the text we have seen from the department of home and security that was issued after donald trump's statement said that. but in practice, if you are on a flight from heathrow to washington oi’ a flight from heathrow to washington or chicago or san francisco, do they let you in at all? do they check your passport to see if you have beenin your passport to see if you have been in the eu? well, you don't get sta m ps been in the eu? well, you don't get stamps on your passport for crossing the schengen area so how could they tell us to muck again, not to personalise but if i get on the eu rostar personalise but if i get on the eurostar tonight, fly to the us over the weekend, how would the us authorities no that i am telling the truth or i'm not telling the truth about where i've been in the last 1a days? it's just maybe we will see quite chaotic scenes at american airports with those few flights from europe that will be allowed to land in the us. also for american citizens who have been in the eu, they will be allowed to travel back to america but the department for

homeland security says they will only be able to land at certain, specific airports where they will then undergo checks. you could see then undergo checks. you could see the situation where even american nationals who are allowed to travel back to the us have to go to specific places and what happens to them? also, specific places and what happens to them ? also, it specific places and what happens to them? also, it is worth remembering, this goes against the scientific advice that, say, the british government has got. they're planning is based on the fact that experts say that with the interconnections and the number of flights coming into the uk from around the world, if you were to suspend 90% of those flights coming into the uk, you would slow the peak of a pandemic by one 01’ would slow the peak of a pandemic by one or two weeks. if you cancelled 99% of those flights, it would see a delay of the peak of maybe one or two months. i think a lot of scientists and a lot of european politicians will just scientists and a lot of european politicians willjust be wondering whether there is actually any scientific health efficacy to what donald trump is doing or whether this is really a 99% political move rather than a health one. thank you

for joining rather than a health one. thank you forjoining us. let's talk to two people. let's talk to anna maria corazza bildt. she is an italian—swedish politician and runs a hotel business in italy. greg swenson is from republican overseas and is supportive of president trump's travel ban. is this backed by any scientific evidence whatsoever? we don't know that and i can't imagine... that would be a pretty crucial question to ask and get an answer to. of course, the speech occurred last night so we are hot off the press come here, as he mentioned. do you think it is backed by scientific evidence? i would think so. really? the president gets a lot of criticism either way so the people that watch the president and the media will criticise him no matter what he does. i think a lot of the initial criticism was that he was being too positive and dismissive of it and this is going back a few weeks. remember, he announced there was a public health crisis in january, and in spite of that, he got a lot of heat for not being...

0ur correspondence just said that if you cancelled 90% —— 99% of flights, it might push the pandemic back a bit. there is a lot of uncharted territory and a lot of uncertainty, which is why the markets are doing so poorly. let's stick with president trung's decision, could it be about the upcoming election? everything is political, right? there is no doubt the democrats... but you said it was likely to have been based on science. but you said it was likely to have been based on sciencelj but you said it was likely to have been based on science. i assume that but i've not —— i don't know because i've not talked to the president or anyone in the white house since the speech last night because of the time difference but there is no doubt this is uncharted territory. he is going to get criticism no matter what he does. he has been pretty aggressive and direct to the people in terms of his communications. that is just his style a nd communications. that is just his style and he is going to make m ista kes style and he is going to make mistakes when he communicates directly with the people. it is one of the reasons he got elected. what do you think of this, anne—marie, the travel ban? i think that in the

face of such a global pandemic and it is difficult to criticise anyone from taking two serious measures. of course, from taking two serious measures. of course , one from taking two serious measures. of course, one could object, why the schengen area and not the schengen area, why not the scientific criteria about the countries that are most contagious? but at the moment what is important is that everyone takes it seriously, that we are all in it together, and i think the measures some european countries have ta ken are the measures some european countries have taken are the model and we need transatlantic cooperation. it would have been good to coordinate in advance with european leaders, to have clarity on what the measures would mean, rather than just have clarity on what the measures would mean, rather thanjust making a statement in the middle of what for europe is the night. i hope that this is not about blaming and shaming europeans and showing that, you know, as usual, as nationalists like trump do, to create an external enemy rather than joining forces like we should all do at the moment. 0k, do you agree? i think a coordinated response is important at

this point. but he did not coordinate. yes, ithink, look, he did it on prime time in the us, maybe that is his way of speaking directly to the people. i don't want to monday morning quarterback this thing, there's not been a lot of press about it because it was last night in the us but i agree, a coordinated response is always better and i think it is better to wear on the side of caution right 110w. “— wear on the side of caution right 110w. —— are on wear on the side of caution right now. —— are on the side of caution. he got a lot of criticism at the beginning of the crisis for not being aggressive enough and trying to be too positive but that is just the hard balance when you are a leader, to try to create some sense of urgency but at the same time, create some sense of, you know, being somewhat positive and not creating a panic. he is doing a lot for the american workers right now thatis for the american workers right now that is his top priority. anna maria, i wonder if you think president trump has a point where he says, look, the europeans acted too slowly, they brought in measures but it was too late? i don't think it is the time to criticise any european,

really, it is very inappropriate, it isa time really, it is very inappropriate, it is a time to see how we can help each other, how we can cope together, and how our open society and democracy can show that we are able to implement tough measures, and really, the common enemy at the moment is the virus, it is not europe or anyone else. yes. does it make you feel humbled at all, this virus crisply welcome of course, we all feel that we are all in it together and we all feel powerless. but there things we can do, individual response abilities, as european, western american, global citizens, we can show we can do everything we can to follow the expert definitely reduce mobility is like them. thank you forjoining us. iam going i am going to read some more messages, asking you what you are

thinking on how you're feeling. phil on twitter says number one he's on chemo and has got heart disease and diabetes. he's also got interstitial lung disease and numberfive, he is over 60, otherwise he is healthy. "my feeling is that people who repeat the mantra that only the lives of the elderly or immunocompromised are at risk should ta ke immunocompromised are at risk should take a walk in my shoes. kate is another one who says she feels not enough testing is being carried out in this country. she says we don't know the true scale of it. caroline says she is feeling vulnerable and so it goes on. here, borisjohnson will be chairing an emergency meeting of cobra at downing street this afternoon and is expected —— the -- the uk —— the uk has a60 confirmed cases including the health minister nadine dorries.

norman's at westminster. it would appear we are moving to the next phase which means wattel peoples lives? we are moving to the delay phase but we are not moving to the really radical and disruptive measures with other countries have pursued as part of the strategy, so we are not yet in the area of closing schools, travel bans, barring big sporting or public events. instead, it is going to be sort of a continuation, a calibration of the kind of softly softly, slowly slowly strategy, so there will be much more advice and guidance to people. it will be more ofa guidance to people. it will be more of a permissive strategy. for example, i expect we will hear advice to maybe work more from home, if you have particular issues such as asthma or something like that. it might be suggested you should think about working from home if you can. there will be advised that if people are feeling unwell, actually, just south isolate, let's do it as a precaution. there might be advice about staggering your commute into work. do you really have to go in on

a patch tube train? could you go in a patch tube train? could you go in a bit later? the responsible at this stage, it seems to me, will be handed to us —— responsibility at this stage will be handed to us to think about what we can do to minimise the spread of coronavirus, rather than the government coming along and saying, "right, we're going to close that, we are telling you to do that", and to start barking out instructions. 0ne you to do that", and to start barking out instructions. one thing it is pretty clear they are not going to do is to follow donald trump in this travel ban. we had the chancellor this morning, he was polite about it but it was pretty clear that they don't think it will make any difference whatsoever. i think what we will get today will be a continuation of the slowly slowly, softly softly strategy. a continuation of the slowly slowly, softly softly strategylj a continuation of the slowly slowly, softly softly strategy. i want to put this to you from quite a lot of people online and people watching the programme. they don't have confidence in the official number of confirmed cases. they feel that if more testing was going on, there would be more positive cases and so

thatis would be more positive cases and so that is worrying them as they are trying sensibly to go about their daily lives. i mean, it is difficult to know what to say. people are apprehensive and nervous and there have been stories about people ringing up nhs 111 feeling they have got the symptoms but then because they have not been to an affected area 01’ come they have not been to an affected area or come in contact with somebody who has got it, not getting tested. it is a difficult balancing act. i think a lot of it depends on the sort of messaging people take from the government. in that sense, i think it has been useful, actually, that a lot of the presentation has not been done by the politicians. it has been left to the politicians. it has been left to the chief medical officer and the chief scientific officer which i think has helped to provide a degree of reassurance and i suspect he will probably see more of that maybe even today. thank you forjoining us. more messages from you. helen says,

"ivm more messages from you. helen says, "i'm cross that everyone with a healthy immune system is only thinking of themselves. i have a child with an autoimmune condition who is much more likely to be at risk. i am who is much more likely to be at risk. iam hating who is much more likely to be at risk. i am hating all the tweets saying not to worry because it is only people like her who will die. i'm all right jack only people like her who will die. i'm all rightjack hurts". michael says, "i can't decide if i'm more worried about the grim reaper coming for me or the halifax coming for my house". kelly says, "i'm really worried for my parents who rely on a weekly shopping delivery because they can't get out due to health reasons. they are elderly and vulnerable. i'm sure there are lots of people in this situation but how can we prioritise these people?" "without sounding unkind, maybe you will need to do it for them if you live nearby or someone else live nearby. i'm going to ask my elderly neighbours if there's anything i can do to help them". blair from west sussex contacted us and said she was fobbed off by 111 when she called for information

about her son who is ill. professor hugh pennington is in our aberdeen studio this morning. we are also going to talk to a doctor who is an associate professor in public health at the university of southampton. thank you for joining us. claire, can i start with you? you e—mailed us and you called one last night because your son who is 11 has a high temperature, a cough and shortness of breath and a headache. what did they say to you? initially, the first two questions, i spoke to two operators, the first one asked me if he had been abroad in the last 1a days to which i said no. and that they asked if he had had direct contact with an infected person and i said not to the best of my knowledge. i explained his symptoms and they said, when it does sound as if he could do with a test. but the problem is, because i had

a nswered but the problem is, because i had answered no to both of the questions, they can't really order one or arrange it. it seemed quite odd, really, but given that we know it is in the community now... they put me through to another operator who gave me advice about how to manage the fever and the symptoms. thankfully, this morning, he is very much better, his temperature has come down. but it left me feeling really concerned that if people like me are phoning, eitherfor myself really concerned that if people like me are phoning, either for myself or in this case my son, with symptoms, and they are not organising testing, then how on earth are they going to get on top of how many people in the community are really carrying this? you know, obviously, it is quite a frightening situation for the children at the moment and i reassured them that we are very lucky because we live in a country with a good nhs, but then i feel that they are sort of falling at the first hurdle. but children are not in the address group. no, and in

fa ct, in the address group. no, and in fact, and i am very aware that thankfully, children don't seem to be too badly affected with symptoms and my son has been quite unwell, but nothing really alarming. his temperature was very high last night. it is more of the responsibility we have to our grandparents are the friends that he has with compromised immune systems, it is the rest of society and i wonder how any other people like me in the last two weeks have been told we don't need a test, but in fact, we don't need a test, but in fact, we are positive and walking around spreading it. well, we don't know the answer to that. i am glad your son is a bit better this morning. let me bring in professor pennington and dr alwan. first, let me bring in professor pennington and dralwan. first, your let me bring in professor pennington and dr alwan. first, your reaction to the travel ban? i'm surprised... i'm not surprised that trump has shot from the hip, as it were, and we shot from the hip, as it were, and we have heard there are all sorts of administrative difficulties actually enforcing it. i don't think the scientific evidence is very strong that it will make very much

difference. ok, it is perhaps a war between trump and europe. a war of words and a war of opinions and he is trying to blame the europeans for covid—19 when in fact, it did not start in europe and european countries are doing an enormous amount to control it within their borders. ok, italy has had a problem because it got going before they realised they had it. fair enough. but they are doing amazingly crony and things in italy, —— draconian things in italy, especially considering italian culture, to get a grip on it and the number of cases yesterday, the new cases yesterday has fallen so maybe they are beginning to have an effect. it is difficult trump. here in the uk, we are on the cusp, good morning, we are on the cusp, good morning, we are on the cusp, good morning, we are on the cusp of moving from containment into the delay stage. we are hoping to slowing down the spread of the virus and pushing back the peak into warmer weather. is

that the right approach, do you think, now? absolutely, ithinkjust touching on that, i had the previous conversation with your previous guest, touching on how we need to think about the broader community and that is exactly right, i think we and that is exactly right, i think we need a mind shift in this pandemic. we need to really get people to think like public health professionals have always thought in terms of population first rather than individuals. you know, group wellness will always translate into individual wellness rather than the other way around. can i just check with yourself and also professor pennington, do you think it is right that the government appears not yet to be saying that we should ban mass gatherings and so on, do you agree with that? so... so in terms of what the government... we will hear today what the government has to say about

that, as we move into the delay stage. i do think that measures of social distancing, practising measures while we're waiting for the guidance in of... obviously, the government is dependent on data and modelling in terms of the right time to introduce these measures. but i think common sense, when we are talking about things like, if you are feeling a bit unwell, and you can afford to work from home or not go to work, then do that, definitely and don't convene unnecessary gatherings if you can come if you are an employerora gatherings if you can come if you are an employer or a manager for example. on that point, let me go back to you, professor pennington, 52,000 people at anfield watched liverpool play atletico madrid last night, 3000 fans had travelled from the spanish capital, that is ok still, yes? it is ok in the sense that there is no expectation there will be much virus spread there. let's hope they are right. but the big problem about football matches is that if you played in behind closed doors, and there has been a

lot of talk about that, well, people go to the pub and watch it in a pub and you are much more likely to catch a virus if somebody is there excreted it in a pub than you would be on the terraces. there will be a bit of wind blowing outside. what do you think of the official number of uk cases? i am pretty confident that thatis uk cases? i am pretty confident that that is a good estimate. it is not... 100% accurate. we know that for all infectious diseases, there is underreporting, not everybody who falls ill goes to see the doctor, traditionally, with things like food poisoning, we know a gross underestimation. but i think this virus is different. have extremely good tests, and it is very sensitive. we are not missing people because the test when it is being doneis because the test when it is being done is missing them. i think there has really been a very good effort in the uk because there has been speculative testing of people who have not been to countries where the virus is spreading, and all that kind of thing. i think we have a

pretty good handle on the actual numberof pretty good handle on the actual number of cases. it may be a bit more than that but the good news yesterday is that we are going to increase the number of tests to 10,000 per day. player, you are shaking your head in disagreement, do come in. —— claire, you were shaking. it simply if people aren't being tested and they are displaying symptoms and we know for two week's now it has been transmitted from person to person, i don't understand how there can be a true picture of the number of people carrying this virus and how it can be contained... let's let professor pennington a nswer let's let professor pennington answer that. this is a point being made by a number of people. how can the figure we have, still under 500, really be the true figure?|j the figure we have, still under 500, really be the true figure? i didn't say they were the true figure, said they were close to being a true figure. there will be some cases

being missed, but i think they are a pretty good accurate estimate of what is going on. if we had many more cases, we what is going on. if we had many more cases, we would unfortunately see many more deaths. sorry, can i just say, the thing i find perplexing, though, is that the website and the helpline still shut you down at the point of no to being abroad and noted direct contact, which must leave such an enormous number in the community of people that could be carrying this virus. i don't understand why once it has started transmitting within the country the parameters of the advice didn't change. go ahead, professor. well, you know, ithink all we didn't change. go ahead, professor. well, you know, i think all we can do at the moment is use the test we have available. we've been doing a fairamount of have available. we've been doing a fair amount of testing. the vast majority of tests have turned out to be negative and i think that's a very important statistic. that if the virus was much more common than we the virus was much more common than we thought we would have a higher percentage of the tests that have been done, and many being done on

symptomatic people, of course, and only a very small number of them have turned out to be positive, well thatis have turned out to be positive, well that is a good indication that what we're doing at the moment is a pretty accurate information, with the important caveat there will be cases going under the radarjust because they haven't been tested or they have been tested too early, because clearly you can actually have the virus, test negative, then two a three days later, the virus is being excreted enough for the test to pick it up, although the test is a very sensitive one. thank you all for the moment, we appreciate it. thank you very much for coming on the programme. 0n thank you very much for coming on the programme. on twitter, the london cat mccluskey says the government is taking a pragmatic approach based on scientific evidence and facts. the media are whipping up hysteria making things worse “— whipping up hysteria making things worse —— the london husky. they say this is one of the lowest rates across western europe. there is growing uncertainty about whether

major sporting events and cultural events scheduled for the coming months will go ahead. there are even question marks over the olympics. the olympic flame for the tokyo games will be lit today in greece, but only 100 guests will be allowed to attend that ceremony. 0ur reporter steve holden has been looking at this for us. so the olympics are going ahead currently. we know that. yes, and the ceremonial start, the torch, that happened today, and only 100 get invited. no children there. children normally make a big part of this event today. then the torch will go through 37 cities in greece before the flame is then handed over to the japanese. that route is now under review. it will be up to authorities in the local towns about whether they follow the advice by the greek government about spectators attending. as you said, the olympics and paralympics attending. as you said, the olympics and pa ralympics themselves attending. as you said, the olympics and paralympics themselves will be taking place. no change there at the moment. lots of sporting events

are already affected. yes, all events in italy are off, things like the six nations postponed, tennis as well. formula 1 is interesting because you have the australian grand prix happening this week. lewis hamilton a bit concerned that that was taking place, but then the bahrain one next week behind closed doors. the chinese one being postponed indefinitely, for next month. matthew pennington mentioned, but football matches, still waiting to hear whether there will be any change to premier league and football league matches in the uk and whether they will take place behind closed doors. but at the moment things are full steam ahead. what about singers, bands, whether they will carry on touring and doing gigs. they will carry on touring and doing gigs, that type of thing? loads already postponed. mariah carrey has postponed a gig, pearljam due to do a tour of north america, that has been postponed. miley cyrus had a gig in melbourne australia cancelled, saying she was very much doing this because of her tour and crew and protecting the people

around her. this week madonna cancelled the final couple of dates on her tour cancelled the final couple of dates on hertour in cancelled the final couple of dates on her tour in france as well, and then the big one, the big californian festival in april, kochella, postponed until the end of the year. what is interesting as uk festivals, because at the moment they were all due to go ahead —— coachella in california. glastonbury, due to take place in the end ofjune, they say they are working closely with public health england, monitoring everything, but the festival is still 16 weeks away. they are continuing to plan and monitoring the coronavirus. festival republic, who do reading and leeds, download, all going ahead at the weekend. radio one's big weekend at the end of may still going ahead. obviously it depends on whether the artists decide, no, too much of a risk to go to these places, let's step out. one thing i want to mention, the eurovision song contest, the world's largest live

music event in may, more than a0 countries taking part, all of the countries taking part, all of the countries and their fans converging in the netherlands, and at the moment still due to take place but i wouldn't be surprised the way things are going if something changes there. like mike but may is a few months off and we look at what is happening in hubei, still at the lowest daily rate for infections —— yes, but may is a few months‘ of. we will look at what is coming. thank you, steve. this statement... who is this from? this is a statement from brussels and this is what it says about the us travel ban. "the coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action. the union disproves of the fact —— disproves of the fact that imposing this travel ban was taken unilaterally

and without consultation. the european union is taking strong action to limit the spread of the virus. " so the european union criticising president trump‘s travel ban from 26 european countries, starting tomorrow night, for 30 days. the eu said we should have done this in consultation, and there is no point in doing a unilateral ban because coronavirus is a global crisis. how should the most vulnerable, elderly and those with pre—existing conditions live their lives given the coronavirus outbreak? well, boris johnson promised on monday that there will be further guidance published for these groups, who are more susceptible to the virus. many have decided to self—isolate already. perhaps you are doing that yourself right now. let me know. we can talk now to steve guest, who has chronic inflammatory lung disease and is in his second week of self—isolation to avoid catching the virus. also with us, anna lawless, who has

stopped going to social gatherings in the sheltered accommodation she lives in, as she says she is concerned that visitors will spread the virus, also, we will talk to maria ruocco who says she‘s worried about her 90—year—old dad, who has been treated for colon cancer and lives in southern italy. she obviously can‘t visit him. anna, i will start with you. you live in a residential complex with elderly people — what changes have you made to the way you live? well, i normally get my shop delivered. i buy things locally. i was lucky, i was able to get a tiny hand sanitiser. but apart from washing hands regularly... i have stopped going to the social gatherings and there are quite a few held in a community room. everyone

here is aged between 60—100. almost everybody coexisting in because it is my conditions. what is the attitude of most of the residents? people saying, if i get it i get it, there is nothing i can do about it. the same as the flu anyway. right. i get that spirit, that attitude, but actually there is something people can do. are people washing their hands and washing them properly?” don‘t know. like my are you? i have. i know also the hand basins here do not have mixer taps, which means you either have to wash your hands in the ball or scold them in the hot water. i am washing that more than usual. that is good. maria, hello. how are you and how was your dad doing? so far so good. there are

days where he doesn't seem to appreciate how precarious the situation is. he keeps on saying, oh, i've gone through worse, then five minutes later he rings back and he is absolutely in tears. is not totally alone, my understanding. there are carers going on for a number of hours a day? three hours per day. like mike but your biggest worry is you can't get to him and neither can worry is you can't get to him and neithercan any of worry is you can't get to him and neither can any of your siblings —— your biggest worry is you can‘t get to him. if absolutely. there is only one way in and one way out and only food and people who have good reason to come out or get in are allowed. and i spoke to someone and said, my case, even if i get to italy, i won't be able to get in. is your dad washing his hands? you can‘t go out,

he has to wash his hands. welcome he is indoors, he hasn't gone out for a week. —— well, he is indoors fuzzy he doesn't understand the situation, but because he has memory problems, you know — — but because he has memory problems, you know —— he is indoors. we are worried, we are constantly worried. my nerves... every time the phone rings. it's very stressful. i can see that. but he has carers going on for my a few hours each day. they are going to look after him. italy is doing what china did and look how they have reduced the number of cases, overnight. i hope so, itruly hope so. i am keeping cases, overnight. i hope so, itruly hope so. lam keeping my cases, overnight. i hope so, itruly hope so. i am keeping my fingers crossed. absolutely. let me bring in steve. you are in your second week of isolation. hi, how‘s it going? not bad at all. this is something i have to do because of my condition.

talk us through your condition and why you have decided to take this measure? i have copd and i am very prone to getting infections on my lungs. so i decided to keep away from people. the only time i have been going out is to have a short walk with my dog. other than that, i've avoided people completely. including not going to your sister‘s 60th, was it? 60th birthday next week, andi 60th, was it? 60th birthday next week, and i just 60th, was it? 60th birthday next week, and ijust told my family i won't be going in case someone is infected there, and i don't want to ta ke infected there, and i don't want to take the chance. fair enough. when does your self—imposed self isolation come to an end, steve? i'm going to give it tilljune. 90 days. june? are you really? yes. ifi need

anything, i'm going to buy everything online. i can last until the beginning of june. everything online. i can last until the beginning ofjune. right. are you allowing people to come to see you? no. i have cancelled all my hospital appointments until after june. anyone who comes to my door, i have a distance between the street and my door ofjust over two metres, and my door ofjust over two metres, and i'mjust and my door ofjust over two metres, and i'm just telling them there and then that i won't be able to see them at the moment. 0k. presumably, you‘re able to get fresh fruit and veg delivered, can you? i am getting all my stuff online, yes. i you? i am getting all my stuff online, yes. lam you? i am getting all my stuff online, yes. i am getting fresh fruit and vegetables. like my ok. well, i feel we fruit and vegetables. like my ok. well, ifeel we may fruit and vegetables. like my ok. well, i feel we may have a duty over the next couple of months to keep you company, steve, so at least you can chat to us. how about that? it could be worse. i have my dogs to

keep me company anyway. perfect. what is your dog called? but presumably nicky is not going out for walks? i take her out at half past for walks? i take her out at half pa st two for walks? i take her out at half past two in the morning when there is no one around. you are going out to ta ke is no one around. you are going out to take her for a walk is no one around. you are going out to take herfor a walk in is no one around. you are going out to take her for a walk in the is no one around. you are going out to take herfor a walk in the middle of night orjust letting out? green that when there is no one about. anna, do have family members you can depend on if you need to self—isolate? depend on if you need to self-isolate? no, i have nobody. the family membersl self-isolate? no, i have nobody. the family members i do have are distant and a long way away and i haven't had any contact with him since my early teens. and my last good friend passed away just over two early teens. and my last good friend passed awayjust over two years ago, so basically i'm completely alone. apart from my cat. thank god for

pets, eh? some care homes and sheltered accommodation have decided to close the doors on visitors. do you think that should be applied to your place, or not? i'm uncertain. possibly it would be a good idea but it would also cause a good deal of distress to people. i'm thinking of people who have family living in continental europe planning to visit people here. and of course there is absolutely no testing unless you have been abroad. sure. i will come back to maria. i know you have a flight back to maria. i know you have a flight booked to italy this weekend. you‘re not going, are you? flight booked to italy this weekend. you're not going, are you? they cancelled it. easyjet. iwas due you're not going, are you? they cancelled it. easyjet. i was due to fly to italy because on monday the 16th my father was supposed to go to

hospital. he was meant to go to hospital. he was meant to go to hospital. what‘s his name? hospital. he was meant to go to hospital. what's his name? leonardo. like my ok. —— hospital. what's his name? leonardo. like my ok. -- ok. you have to stay strong for your dad. i know it‘s hard, but yeah, and rely on those carers, know they are doing their job. i hope so. my fear is if anything happens to her, you know... don‘t say that, let‘s just cross each bridge when we come to it. i know. thank you all for coming on the programme. i wish you all a lot of luck, obviously, maria, and steve, and anna, thank you for speaking to us. 0ver four million adults now take antidepressants in england, but what about those wanting to come off the medication?

although they are not addictive, some people really struggle to withdraw and mental health charity mind have told us they are signposting some people to street drug charities for support. these charities usually help those misusing alcohol and illegally—obtained drugs. 0ur reporter alex gatenby has been trying to come off anti—depressants and has struggled to find support, so she has been investigating. inner restlessness, insomnia. stabbing pains inside my body. slurring my words. waking up on and off all night. itching all over my body. brain zaps. no motivation, apathy. these symptoms are common with street drug withdrawal. but some people feel like this when coming off anti—depressants. and we‘ve discovered that they‘re feeling forced to turn to street drug charities for help. actually, the process of withdrawing from something like a street drug and withdrawing from a medicine is not that dissimilar. on occasions we might signpost someone to a drug reduction organisation. and some patients feel the same.

they‘re prescribing and creating involuntary drug addicts. i am one of these people and i want to find out why it‘s so hard to access the right help. i‘ve taken three different anti—depressa nts over the course of the last ten years. now, i‘ve tried to come off this medication three times before, only once successfully, and i‘m currently withdrawing again. but like six out of every ten patients, i feel i wasn‘t warned about the risks of withdrawal by my doctor. i‘ve also found the withdrawal symptoms shockingly debilitating. and conflicting advice by medical practitioners about how to withdraw really confusing. prescriptions for anti—depressa nts in the uk have doubled in the past decade. although they‘re not addictive, they can lead to dependency issues. and of the seven million people

taking these drugs in england, four million are at risk of withdrawal symptoms if they try and this programme has learnt that some patients are now approaching local drug dependency charities for support. on occasions, we might signpost someone to a drug reduction organisation, and although there might be initially a little bit of resistance to that thought, probably some sense of stigma or worry about going to there, actually, the process of withdrawing from something like a street drug and withdrawing from a medicine is not that dissimilar. the first time i tried to come off this medication, my doctor told me i could reduce by 20% every five days and i actually became so ill. that‘s when i called you at mind and was told that on my dosage it should have taken me anything from 12 to 18 months. how common is it for mind to hear about those kind of experiences? that must have been a really difficult process for you to go through. yeah, mind hears from tens of thousands of people each year.

i think it‘s not really well understood how long and how difficult a process coming off anti—depressants can be. for example, if you‘ve been prescribed and been on a medicine for about six months, we might think that it‘ll take you another six months to successfully reduce and come off that medicine. and why do you think there is such a lack of knowledge about anti—depressa nt withdrawal within frontline services? certainly the guidelines to doctors don‘t always necessarily talk in full detail about some of the difficulties that people will go through, and they certainly don‘t talk about the length of time it might take to do it successfully and safely. although many people do not struggle with anti—depressa nt withdrawal, research shows thatjust over half of patients who stop or reduce these drugs experience significant withdrawal symptoms. health bodies only officially recognised that anti—depressa nt withdrawal can be severe last year, so there‘s no universal withdrawal advice. but the current nice guidelines from 2009 say

"to gradually reduce the dose, normally over a four—week period, although some people may require longer." and many practitioners advise taking the medication every other day. but this can cause more withdrawal problems. so to cut down my medication in increments, i have to pull apart my capsule and take out the beads inside, physically count them and then return the capsule back together. when i used to have a tablet form, if i mis—cut the tablet by too small an increment, then i would get really intense brain zaps, which is a common withdrawal symptom that people complain of, which feels like an electric shock to the brain, much like a kind of very intense head rush. and when i‘m going through withdrawal, i‘ll get these every few minutes, and it‘s really disorientating. but on any given night, there‘s seven, usually about seven people. one such drug dependency charity patients are resorting to is change grow live. melanie davis runs a benzodiazepine withdrawal group in camden, but her funding means she can‘t help people purely struggling with anti—depressa nt withdrawal.

i‘m getting a couple of calls a week, on average, with people who are struggling to come off anti—depressants, which we don‘t principally deal with, so it can be difficult because i really want to support that caller, but i don‘t have anywhere to send them. so there is a lack of support. but i‘m not aware of anywhere that specialises in that particular group of drugs. it‘s really shocking for me that people are having to resort to street drug charities for help, and even there they can‘t access the support that they need. 0ne place that people do come together is online, and these communities have thousands of members. one of those is stuart from worcester, who visited a local drug dependency charity when he felt that peer support wasn‘t enough. i made a self—referral to the local substance misuse charity, to see if they worked with people having difficulties with prescribed medication, but then i was told that it's only for people that

were abusing the medication, which i wasn't. so there was no service available. felt pretty abandoned, actually. stuart has taken various anti—depressants since 1996 and has attempted to come off his most recent medication three times. the withdrawals are far worse than the original depression. for me and so many other people, it's really an acute need and those needs aren't being met by services. it's left to people to do it themselves. so i‘ve been taking the medication for 17 years. 0k. and was taken off whilst i was an inpatient, overnight. frustrated at the lack of support available, stuart started his own group and he invited me along to meet some members. it‘s the best thing that‘s happened to me in years, honestly. just the fact that you‘re with people who have been through the same and you‘re

not, sort of... "her with mental health problems." that feeling of not being alone. yeah, you‘ve got people to talk to. nearly half of uk users of anti—depressants have been on them for more than two years. and research shows that the longer you‘re on this medication, the harder it is to come off. a new nice guideline on the safe prescribing and withdrawal management of prescribed drugs, including anti—depressants, is due for publication in 2021. but without this advice at the moment, the reality is many people tapering are essentially self—medicating. so what is the safest way to come off anti—depressants? dr mark horowitz is an expert on this subject. so it‘s important for patients to reduce their dose slowly and go down to very low doses, because the effect of very small doses of medication is actually quite significant on the brain. why is there such little knowledge about the severity

of anti—depressa nt withdrawals for some patients? for the last 15 years in the nice guidelines, it said that anti—depressant withdrawal symptoms are brief and self—limiting over about a week or two. and so when patients present with severe or long lasting symptoms, gps and psychiatrists understandably think that it can‘t be withdrawal symptoms. and instead they conclude it‘s probably a relapse of people‘s underlying illness, depression or anxiety. it seems that the severity of withdrawals for some patients is slowly starting to be recognised, but that is in large part thanks to the community of sufferers like stuart, ruth and sue, who‘ve been shouting about their experiences for so long and have had to find out how to withdraw successfully and safely on their own. although they‘re not addictive, what we now know about the dependency problems that come with anti—depressant withdrawals needs first and foremost to be passed on to gps to be put into practice in frontline services. whenever we talk to gps about it,

they want to help people. i don‘t think it‘s the case that, you know, they want to deny people the ability to come off drugs. they‘re crying out for more training, and we really want to see that happen. the health secretary matt hancock told us, "anti—depressa nts have a place but they must be used with caution. "0ur world—class medical staff have the skills and training to ensure they can diagnose accurately and decide on the best treatment plans." bbc newsroom live is coming up next. have a good day. we are back tomorrow at ten. good morning. we started off with some sunshine across england and wales, a few showers, but they are becoming a bit more numerous now. a lovely rainbow there in ealing. you can see about the whole arc there. pretty nice scenes. continuing with

showers across most areas of england and wales, the most frequent across scotla nd and wales, the most frequent across scotland and northern ireland where they will still be wintry over the higher ground in scotland and quite windy conditions for many of us, particularly northern ireland, scotla nd particularly northern ireland, scotland and the far north of england. gusts of 60—65 mph. a chilly day, particularly in the south—east of england, and temperatures into the mid—teens. tonight we will see the showers tending to clean away. one or two might wintry once for scotland with some ice and a frost across northern areas. further south, four or five celsius. for many, bright start to the day, but the cloud will increase a bit into the afternoon and with that there will be some rain spreading into the south—west later as well. bye for now.

you‘re watching bbc newsroom live — it‘s 11am and these are the main stories this morning: president trump suspends travel from 26 european countries into the us — not including the uk — in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed 38 people there. this is not a financial crisis. this is just this is not a financial crisis. this isjust a this is not a financial crisis. this is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world. that decision by president trump has caused global stock markets to plunge — with the ftse 100 falling 6%. —— falling 5%. the government here prepares for an emergency meeting. it‘s expected to announce stepping up its response to delay the spread of the virus rather than containing it.