leo varadkar, who is in threat. leo varadkar, who is in washington for st patrick's day, making that announcement live in the last few moments. now, let's stay with the subject of coronavirus, because here to answer your questions on the subject is deputy chief medical officer were england, doctorjenny harries. we are very grateful that you are coming along to talk to us today. as well as being on the news channel and bbc two, the bbc news facebook page and website. can i ask for your response to what the irish prime minister has been saying, in contrast to what is happening in the uk? i'm sure some of your viewers may be asking questions on these, but i think the important thing here is to

really be understanding of what it is people are asking to happen, why they are asking that, when those interventions should go into place and how long they should be there. all of those things may vary from country to country. in the uk, we have been planning consistently for many weeks and in fact years with pandemic flu, and we have extremely good modelling. any interventions will be designed to come in at exactly the point where they will be most effective, save the most lives, manage our health system is properly and disrupt life as little as possible. i think it's what underpinning those decisions is what we will talk about. let's begin with the questions. this one from an eater in maidstone. can you catch the virus more than once? also, how long are you ill for? ifi

also, how long are you ill for? if i may be due the second one first, because that might allay peoples concerns. normally you are ill for about a week. we are still learning about the disease. people get symptoms, they may get a new persistent cough, they may get a fever or some other symptoms, feeling generally unwell, muscle aches, that sort of thing. it will tend to go on for two or three days, build up, go off again and then by about a week, for most people, most of that will have gone. how similar is that to, say, how we might feel if we have flu? pretty similar. i think for most people, obviously, when we talk about flu, people have very different ideas of what it is and you may find once somebody has had a real flute rather than the cold that they thought was flu, they realise it can feel pretty rough for a few days. nevertheless, it is pretty similar. learning about these

symptoms all of the time, but most people are feeling ok again after about a week. some people a little bit longer. it will tail off but about a week. just to clarify, can you catch it more than once? while we are watching the virus, we are watching what it does. it seems pretty sta ble are watching what it does. it seems pretty stable at the moment, which means it's not changing very much. that means that once somebody has had it, they should be building antibodies to it. if they were re—exposed, if you like, once they have had it in this current cycle, very unlikely they would get it again. not possible. i think as we look forward into future years, we will have to see how the virus behaves, just like we do with the flu. antonia asks, should i be self isolating? i'm 68, have underlying health issues, asthma, high blood pressure, high cholesterol plus prediabetes. some of the health

conditions that are associated with more susceptibility to the effect of this virus. a really good question. first thing is it's really good that she is aware of those things, and she is aware of those things, and she is aware of those things, and she is in the normal group for being advised to have a flu vaccination, for example. she is recognising she has the long term conditions that might increase her susceptibility. at the moment we are encouraging people to do effectively what they do for a normalflu people to do effectively what they do for a normal flu season. these are respiratory illnesses and for most people with those sorts of conditions, we would normally say be careful during this season, be alert but not alarmed, and cut down, perhaps, over the period when normally flu but in this case coronavirus is circulating, to keep yourself safe. antonia shouldn't be socialising with somebody who perhaps has an obvious cough, for

example? this is quite straightforward stuff, andi this is quite straightforward stuff, and i know in the background of all the things we have seen on the tv, it can seem quite simple but in reality, forcibly with considerable number of conditions, we need always to be alert. 0k. to be alert. ok. antonia, i hope that answers your question. catherine from northern ireland asks, i'm 22 and suffer from allergies northern ireland asks, i'm 22 and sufferfrom allergies all northern ireland asks, i'm 22 and suffer from allergies all the time so constantly have a runny nose and cough. how will i know if i have it? another really good question. cough. how will i know if i have it? another really good questionm cough. how will i know if i have it? another really good question. it is, and as the case numbers wise and as we try to look for it more, and we expect more cases of coronavirus, that there will be a little bit of flex over if you like with people who have the common cold or something like she has, and not

being able to distinguish perfectly with coronavirus. as those cases rise, we will know that most people have coronavirus. in her case, the important thing is we are looking for a high temperature, a fever, and a new persistent cough. what she is describing is something she is very familiar with, so i think she will see a change in the symptoms she has. there are ways you can differentiate. if you are just joining us, welcome to this special edition special edition. the deputy chief medical officer england doctor jenny harries is here to answer your questions. we are on bbc news, bbc two and the facebook and website. this next question is, will everybody get it eventually? that is a bit never ending, but let's go with this season, with this cycle. a large number of people

could get it. the thing about a new virus is nobody has antibodies ready made for it. we haven't been exposed before and this virus is having a field day. the desire will be to find as many people to infect as it can. when we plan, we do plan for a worst—case scenario and it is possible that up to 80% of the population could get this. but we need to be really clear that the vast majority of those people are going to have quite mild illness, will be at home, no problem. that is still a very, very high estimate, we think. if we look at somewhere like china, we think about up to 20% or so of the population have been affected. very difficult to say until we've got good testing until we look back and check to see how many people have had it. some people will have it and get no symptoms whatsoever. even if you are somebody who catches it, it's possible you may have no symptoms. we don't know if it's going to become a seasonal virus cold.

absolutely. the next one is from natasha in manchester whose has will the uk be quarantined and on lockdown in the coming days and weeks? the sort of pattern that we've seen in italy? that goes back i think to the start of the programme when we were looking at the announcements around the republic of ireland. i would like to pre—empt what ministers are going to say later today, and they are meeting this afternoon in a cobra meeting and will be looking at all the medical and scientific evidence that has been put forward. i think viewers will need to wait for that. the approach that we've been taking in the and across all the uk nations is to base what we are doing on science. i know it seems counterintuitive to many viewers and readers of the media that we would wait, but the really important thing about some of these social distancing measures, where you are trying to reduce the number of co nta cts, you are trying to reduce the number of contacts, is to make sure that they go in at exactly the right

time. some scientists are already saying those sorts of social distancing measures should be in place, aren't they? they are and thatis place, aren't they? they are and that is why i started by saying it is really important they go in at the right time. with respect to them, i'm not sure they would necessarily have all the information we have to hand. the important thing we have to hand. the important thing we are trying to do, we will seek cases rise very steeply. what we don't want to do is see too high a peak. we are trying to push that away so we can manage patients safely through our health system, and that means intervening at the right time. can i add a supplementary question? a line from china earlier today saying that the coronavirus outbreak within its borders has passed its peak and the whole country, china, is reporting just 15 new cases in 2a hours. we don't have exact confirmation of those figures, but if that is the pattern in china, would be expected necessarily to see the same sort of pattern in terms of peak and

levelling of in other countries? so, there's a whole load of issues there. without going into detail i think that is about how people are counting the numbers. it's about when you start counting and what interventions are in place. it is good the numbers are coming down. we will be watching to see what happens when some of the measures come off. china is onlyjust taking some of their lockdown measures of and even when they have lockdown, we are not clear what it is that they have done that has been affected. what we are trying to do in the uk is ensure these social isolation measures, if you like, safe isolation, that people assume as we go forward i think will be recommended today, will be the ones that maximally keep us will be the ones that maximally keep us safe and manage our health services. in china they have been draconian in the sense of really clamping down and what we want to do is make sure we use effective

measures, and i'm sure the uk has that tightly planned. a question from paul ince in deland who asks, will this years flu jab help at all? —— paul from sunderland. no. completely different virus. it won't have an effect. we are doing lots of work to look for one that will be effective. coronavirus is quite tricky or we would have one already for the common cold. it is likely to be some time away. still time for people to have the flu jab? absolutely, because we don't want people getting flu infections at one time and then being extra vulnerable. we are going to hear next from kelly in leicester. good morning. thanks for joining in leicester. good morning. thanks forjoining us. kelly, i'm sorry to interrupt. i'm going to ask you to start again

because the picture fro is just as he began to ask your question. let's try again. i'mjust try again. i'm just wondering what's best. has been much evidence on the coronavirus on those particular areas, and all... this virus? we are being a little bit bedevilled by the technology but, kelly, let me fill in gaps where the picture and the sound froze. kelly, you are pregnant at the moment. how many pregnant? nine months. deal when? we are going to find out when kelly is due. kelly is obviously due to give birth any day now, by the sound of it. she is asking should she be worried? next week? next week, ok. what measures can she take to protect her family? congratulations in advance, hopefully, for a safe landing. i

think a simple one, actually, for many pregnant ladies is there has been some very new guidance from the royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologists. it is online. just look it up. really sensible questions and answers about things like breast—feeding and delivery, all those sorts of things. i think you will be better to be having your baby ina you will be better to be having your baby in a proper hospital maternity unit. i don't know what you have planned. you should be talking to your hospital now. and they will be monitoring your baby and yourself. i think the good news is that the early evidence that we have suggests that the virus doesn't pass from the mother to the baby, which is really good, and the only sort of real risk we might think about is we want you to breast—feed because that's really good for your baby, but perhaps to be taking precautions around that if

you should become l yourself. as you are, you look very well and healthy. i'm assuming you do not have coronavirus at the time, so i think normal safety precautions, whenever we have a baby. you are always very alert to hygiene so the message it is the same to the general public. always make sure you wash your hands very thoroughly, but to particularly for you if you are handling your baby ora milk for you if you are handling your baby or a milk or those sorts of things, and just be very sure. if somebody you know has coronavirus and obviously try to keep away. we do know that... you are right at the end of your pregnancy but we do know that women when they are pregnant area bit that women when they are pregnant are a bit more susceptible to infections, so we would generally advise, whether it's coronavirus or flu, that you try to stay away from people who are symptomatic for any reason and they help you by staying away as well. hopefully we can talk to you now, kelly. did that answer all your

concerns? i think we should limit visitors. obviously at the moment once the baby is born... we are having trouble with this line, but, kelly, ithink she we are having trouble with this line, but, kelly, i think she can hear you. clearly, kelly is wondering whether she should limit visitors once the baby is born. in the normal way of things, lots of visitors arrive to see the new baby but perhaps not on this occasion? i think safe standard practice and i think reducing the number of contacts think reducing the number of co nta cts is think reducing the number of contacts is a good thing. to be honest, once you got over the first excitement of having a lot of visitors, you often do find that you are on your own looking after the baby are on your own looking after the ba by a nyway are on your own looking after the baby anyway and the visitors drop off. it may be a sensible thing to be aware of that. particularly, if people are coming to see you, keep them a little bit further apart as we are advising generally, and really good hygiene, and and

respiratory. coughs and sneezes into tissues, and protect the baby that way. i hope you managed to hear all of that. all the very best with a new arrival next week if he or she decides to make an appearance then. kelly, thank you so much. we have another question here from martin in manchester. how long does the virus stay active on surfaces, for example door handles and clothes? a difference between hard and soft surfaces? absolutely. a lot of work has been done on this, so the advisory group has looked at this in detail because it affects what we do at home, and we clean, places at work and all sorts of things. generally it stays longer on hard surfaces. on soft surfaces it probably doesn't last much more than about 2k hours and on ha rd much more than about 2k hours and on hard surfaces, most of it has gone by about 48. advice has been very precautionary, and we are using a 72 hour upper limit. having said that,

you can actually clean it and it's not a particularly strong virus. it will be clean quite well with normal household detergents and bleach. from that perspective, it is very easy to clean. the important thing is if you are cleaning, to dispose of the things that you've been using safely. out in the rubbish. they will be safe after three days anyway because the virus is unlikely to remain. this is where the hand washing and not touching ourfaces all comes into play as well. arlene in scotland asks, i work in a care home and i have a faulty valve in my heart. she says she is also prone to chest infection. what do i do? questions for her and the people she is looking after in the care home as well. there is guidance for care homes, and we are looking at this as well as we get more information about the virus and keep continuously updating that. she has recognised the risks by asking the question, so i think the first important one is for the

people in the care home, if she is symptomatic, she should definitely not be going to work. she needs to move herself out. that would be the advice. keep yourself at home as soon as you start to get any symptoms, to protect the people in the care home. in relation to herself, she would fall into a more vulnerable group, so, again, she needs to keep aware of who she's interacting with, if her friends and family are visiting, if they have snuffles, if they are feeling ill, to keep away. keep down the social contact to keep away. keep down the social co nta ct over to keep away. keep down the social contact over the next few weeks. and potentially visitors to the care home as well, although some measures may be introduced to cut that back? it is not very well timed, there is, in the sense that i'm sure ministers will be looking at this sort of information now, and we are developing good guidance for care homes because we recognise how important it is to keep those residents safe. a reminder that if you are just joining us, welcome to the special

edition. i'm joined by the deputy chief medical officerfor edition. i'm joined by the deputy chief medical officer for england, doctorjenny harries, who is here to a nswer doctorjenny harries, who is here to answer your questions on coronavirus. we are on the bbc news channel, bbc two and streaming live on bbc news website and facebook. we have another question now. hopefully our technology is working a little bit better this time. it is craig in newcastle. hello and thank you for taking the time to get involved today. what is your question for our guest? how long after you start showing symptoms are you sick for? how long does coronavirus last? i keep hearing the sort of 12 or 14 days until you start showing symptoms, but how long before you are better? thank you, craig. ican but how long before you are better? thank you, craig. i can hear you perfectly, you are a little bit fuzzy on the screen but i got the question this time. if you start off with when you get exposed to the

virus. most people it takes about five days to develop. you wouldn't know until you got today five, effectively. you get symptoms and start feeling a bit rough. over the next two of three days, you could start to feel pretty rough. you will be want to go to bed, you might have a temperature and might have a new cough that you are aware of and may get some muscle aches and shakes and things like that. most people, after five or six days, are really on the mend again and at about day seven or eight, you are absolutely over it. there will be a few people in whom those symptoms continue for a bit longer. as long as you are getting better each day, that's fine. obviously, if somebody is getting worse after those seven days, that isa worse after those seven days, that is a real signal to make sure that you are in contact with health services, but that will be a minority of people. most people are a week and that should be done. does that clarify things, craig?

yes, thank you. good to hear from you. thank you very much for sending that question and appearing for us today as well. let me pick up on when those symptoms appear, that is day one of the two—week period of self isolation? i've probably confused you there. from the individual‘s perspective, they become ill. the first day they become ill and they have symptoms, they will then have two or three days when they are feeling a bit rough, they will get better than going forward and at the end of about seven days, they should be mostly done with it. if people are still ill at the end of that period, and particularly if they are starting to feel a bit worse, those are the people that we really need to be aware of and they need to be linked in with our health systems. it's a week. all right. let's get this question now from hazel who asks, why are people here not wearing masks? clearly, some people are. she asks, even if it is not

effective when there is sneezing nearby, masks will stop hands touching face. that is what we would all think, and it's very reasonable to think, but it's not what happens in practice. just to be clear, if a health care worker advises you to wear a mask, perhaps if you are a case, to prevent any virus coming out, that is when you should wear one. health care workers and care workers generally are also given advice about when they should wear it, but that is a different group of people. for the average member of the public wondering down the street, this is really not a good idea. what tends to happen is people will have one mask. you can imagine, they don't wear it all the time. they take it off when they get home, put it down on a surface that they haven't cleaned or they will be asked and they haven't wash their hands, going to have a cup of coffee somewhere, they held take it off, wipe something over it, put it back up. you can trap the virus in the mask and start breathing it in.

you could be putting yourself more at risk by putting a mask on? just because of this issue, behavioural issues, which are really important when we're talking about diseases. people can adversely put themselves at more risk than less. if you are advised by health care workers if you are a patient, then do. health ca re you are a patient, then do. health care workers and social care workers helping people will be different. the average member of the public wondering down the street, not what we do. i wouldn't do it. james asks, while i appreciate i should quit smoking anyway, i am i at higher risk of suffering more as a smoker ifi risk of suffering more as a smoker if i caught the virus? lots of evidence developing and put a little bit early because we haven't got enough detail to go through yet. there isn't strong evidencejust enough detail to go through yet. there isn't strong evidence just now that just the smoke there isn't strong evidence just now thatjust the smoke itself is, but of course almost every smoker will

be developing underlying conditions or has them. absolutely, you should not be smoking. this is the best time you could possibly think of to stop smoking and it is very likely that you have some underlying health symptoms which would disadvantage you, if you like, if you became ill. definitely stop smoking. it tends to give pneumonia and breathing problems, if you have been smoking, we know that your breathing capacity is reduced, if you like. very briefly, lots of people mentioning on facebook that you should hold your breath, try holding your breath for ten seconds to see how your lungs are functioning? there are more technical ways of doing it. one can hold 1's breath and see how good you are and it will give a rough indication. if you try that when you have a significant chest infection, it won't. i wouldn't advise it as a clinical technique. if you are having problems breathing, that is a clinical problem. doctorjenny harries, deputy chief medical officer for england. we

really appreciate your time. thank you for sending in your questions and we hope that this has answered many of the concerns that you have about coronavirus. we have a day of sunny spells and showers for many parts of the uk. this morning started off dry with some sunshine. salary clouds have been building up and this is the scene in hereford this morning. a few showers passing by. in scotland there have been quite heavy snow showers. look at that scene from the highlands. some disruption likely there. now, we've got an area of low pressure towards the west of scotla nd pressure towards the west of scotland with isoba rs pressure towards the west of scotland with isobars quite close together so it will be quite windy for many of us as well today. continuing to bring in a future was across scotland, northern ireland

and into northern areas of england. a couple of showers dotted around elsewhere. there will be some sunshine in between and all of us at risk of catching a shower or two. quite windy, particularly in northern ireland, southern scotland and the north of england. gusts over the pennines and about 60 mph. through this evening and overnight — i should say as well that it's pretty chilly. notably colder than yesterday across the south—east of england and temperatures here at about 11 degrees this afternoon. showers moving their way through overnight, wintry over the high ground in scotland. turning quite chilly with clear skies for most of us. ice across northern england and scotla nd us. ice across northern england and scotland into tomorrow. further south, overnight temperatures at around four or south, overnight temperatures at around fouror6 south, overnight temperatures at around four or 6 degrees. into friday we have this very small ridge of high pressure just before this next area of low pressure moves in. a fine start to the day for most of us a fine start to the day for most of us with lighter winds. there may be

some frost around as well, but some sunshine which will continue with a couple of showers in the north—east of england. further south and west, code increasing and without some rain moving into cornwall and devon, pembrokeshire by the end of the day. top temperatures on friday about 6-11d. top temperatures on friday about 6—11d. how about the weekend? is going to saturday, one weather system going to saturday, one weather syste m m oves going to saturday, one weather system moves through, being followed by another one later on saturday and overnight into sunday morning. it could be stubborn to clear away during sunday. quite mixed over the weekend. on saturday there will be a future was before rain in the north and west later on. by sunday morning, that will be positioned across england and wales and it will eventually clear away later in the day. temperatures 8—11dc. blustery winds as well. a bit more positive into next week with high pressure building, turning much more settled.

he you're watching bbc newsroom live — it's midday and these are the main stories: president trump suspends travel from 26 european countries into the us — but not 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. the irish prime minister leo va radkar announces that all schools, colleges and childcare facilities will close from tomorrow to help protect people from contracting the virus. we've not witnessed a pandemic of this nature in living memory and this nature in living memory and this is uncharted territory for us. we said we would take the right

actions at