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 the right time, and we have to move now to have the greatest impact. the government here prepares for an emergency cobra meeting. it's expected to announce stepping up its response to delay the spread of the virus rather than containing it. in italy, all shops except food stores and pharmacies will be closed as the lockdown there strengthens. good afternoon. welcome to bbc newsroom live. i'm xxx ina dramatic in a dramatic move to tackle the coronavirus crisis, and president trump has banned travel to the us from 26 european countries. the band does not include the uk ireland and us residents are exempt.

it will begin on saturday morning and last initially for 30 days. in a televised address from the white house president trump said, strong but necessary action was needed, and blamed the spread of the virus on european countries not taking adequate measures to control it. hear the prime minister is holding an emergency cobra meeting later it is widely expected the government will announce it is stepping up its response to the outbreak, switching to tactics aimed at delaying the spread rather than containing it. in the last hour ireland has announced that all schools, colleges and childcare facilities will be closed from tomorrow and mass gatherings will be cancelled. italy meanwhile has announced a further tightening of restrictions, it is closing all shops except food stores and pharmacies in what is europe's toughest lockdown yet. stock markets across the world have continued to plunge, in london at the ftse 100, that should say plunge, in london at the ftse100, that should say 5%, it fell by 5%,

and there were big falls on european and there were big falls on european and asian exchanges as well. we will get more on all this in the next short while, but there is this report on president trump's announcement. after consulting with our top government health professionals, i have decided to take several strong but necessary actions to protect the health and well—being of all americans. 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 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 but various other things as we get approval. anything coming from europe to the us is what we are

discussing, these restrictions will also not apply to the united kingdom. that was president trump announcing that decision. that was announcing those new measures, travel restrictions on 26 european countries. well, the eu has condemned president trump's ban. the european commission chief spokesman said the eu does not ship from the hip and was instead taking strong action against the virus. the european union disapproves of the fa ct european union disapproves of the fact that the us decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation. the european union is taking strong action to limit the spread of the virus. an emergency cobra meeting is

expected to get under way this lunchtime. let's talk to our assistant political editor, norman smith. first, what is the government's response here to those travel restrictions? they haven't been as openly critical of the eu, but i think people here are somewhat bemused by president trump's actions and frankly don't believe it will make a difference, although they say publicly, listen, we are taking the advice of our medical chiefs and they don't think we need to take these sort of steps and it wouldn't make much difference. indeed all the indications are the british government will be sticking with it softly, softly, slowly, slowly strategy of gradually, incrementally increasing precautions rather than going for some sort of big bang approach. in terms of travel bands, anything like bars on flights, don't

expect that to be happening today, andi expect that to be happening today, and i think that was made pretty clear by the chancellor, rishi sunak, when he was asked about it. although he voiced his opinions, in perfectly polite and diplomatic language, i think it was pretty clear he didn't think much of president trump's approach. 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 chief scientific officer. we have no belief that is the right thing to do, the evidence here doesn't support that. what we are trying to do is to contain the virus whilst recognising that it is now likely it will spread more significantly. interesting to see the irish prime minister leo varadkar in washington announcing turn some pretty stringent measures in response to coronavirus coming into force from tomorrow. he talks about taking the right action at the right time. what sort of actions do you think are going to come out of this cobra meeting today? what is striking i

think is we do now seem to be diverging quite markedly from our near neighbours and other european countries who have decided to go for the much more drastic action, closing schools, barring public gatherings, travel bans, all that stuff, which boris johnson gatherings, travel bans, all that stuff, which borisjohnson has pretty much said we will not do, the reason is this, frankly i think british politicians are sceptical that it will be easy to sustain those sort of restrictions over a protracted period of time. and although i think the irish restrictions only last until march 30, the question is what happens on march 31 if you still have the numbers of people affected by coronavirus going up and up in ireland, presumably they will then roll over the restrictions, in other words you could get to a stage where they keep getting extended and extended. and the view here is, actually that is not going to work

because, firstly, people will become impatient, they will grow weary with it, and in the end they might end up ignoring the restrictions, in other words the whole package collapses. secondly, the view of the british government is, if we have to go down these profoundly disruptive parts, both economically and socially, save it for the crunch, save it for the peak of the crisis. at the moment the strategy is just to try and eke this out, to try and delay it as much as possible so we get to the warmer months, and then the hope is that basically the virus may not be quite so virulent when the weather warms up a quite so virulent when the weather warms up a bit. also the nhs will be under so much pressure. in other words, it becomes easier for the under so much pressure. in other words, it becomes easierfor the nhs to help predominantly older people who are those who will be most at

risk, and to do so effectively rather than having a huge surge of people arriving. but it is a very different strategy now emerging in britain, and it is a high—risk strategy too, because if boris johnson has got this wrong, if the number of cases of coronavirus escalate dramatically in the uk but go down in ireland and other countries, then people will say, hang on, shouldn't we have been doing what the irish were doing? so this is a really huge call by boris johnson, even though he is shielded to some extent by the fact that he is saying he is listening to what oui’ is saying he is listening to what our medical advisers are saying, but clearly other medical advisers are taking a rather different view. interesting points, norman. thank you. we'll be talking to our correspondent in dallas in the next few minutes about the travel restrictions introduced by president

trump. first, let's talk more about what will happen in the republic of ireland. schools, colleges and childcare facilities there are to close from tomorrow for two weeks, due to the corona outbreak. the teashop leo varadkar made the announcement in the last half hour. it's important to recall that the disease affects will be mild for the majority of people, especially the young and healthy, but we know that older people and those with a chronic illness are at real risk and we will have a duty as a society to protect ourselves and above all to protect ourselves and above all to protect others. our parents and grandparents, our family protect others. our parents and grandparents, ourfamily and friends, our co—workers and neighbours. we've not witnessed a pandemic of this nature in living memory and this is uncharted territory for us. we said we would ta ke territory for us. we said we would take the right actions at the right time, and we have to move now to have the greatest impact. so from 6pm today the following measures are

being put in place, and they will stay in place until the 29th of march. schools, colleges and childcare facilities will close from tomorrow, where possible teaching will be done online or remotely. cultural institutions will close as well. our advice is that all indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people and outdoor mass gatherings of more than 500 people shall be cancelled. let's talk to our ireland correspondent in our belfast newsroom. very interesting, the taoiseach announcing he is in washington for st patrick's day, announcing that in the early hours of the morning, how much pressure was there on him to do this?” of the morning, how much pressure was there on him to do this? i don't necessarily think it was a case of pressure. there had of course been 20 of speculation over the last 2a, 48 hours 20 of speculation over the last 24, 48 hours just as the number of covid—19 cases in the irish republic

increased. 43 cases now. yesterday the first death in the irish republic was announced. the top team of public health experts in the republic advising the government met yesterday, according to mr varadkar, then they change their advice to the government, so that is what has prompted him to make this decision. so it's not completely unexpected, the irish government has a sub—committee of ministers looking at its coronavirus response, and that wasn't due to meet until tomorrow so people thought perhaps after that meeting tomorrow you might getan after that meeting tomorrow you might get an announcement like this. the fact it came today, perhaps 24—hour earlier than what people expected, but there have been hints from senior ministers in the irish government that these kind of measures were being considered and that the government had to make a decision as to when would be the right time to put them in place. the

health minister said doing it too early might make things worse, not necessarily any better in the short to medium term. so now they've decided this is the time to put in place these measures, a kind of general shutdown, schools, colleges, childcare facilities will be closing from tomorrow, cultural institutions as well. some think mr varadkar was keen to emphasise is that measures have been put in place to check business supply chains will be as disrupted, the disruption will be kept to a minimum. shops will stay open, public transport will continue, the advice to businesses and employees is that people should work from home where possible and that social interaction should be reduced. the deputy prime minister said, ireland is pulling together as a nation by asking people to stay further apart. thank you very much.

in belfast, we are going to have more ntoday‘s main stories coming up, but right now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. let's get more on the travel suspensions by president trump into the us from a number of european countries, but not from the uk, not from ireland, and from a number of others. we can talk to a washington correspondent whojoins others. we can talk to a washington correspondent who joins us from dallas airport in washington. i think it is safe to say there is a great deal of confusion being caused by the announcement. there was a lot of cleaning up that had to be done by the white house after the president's address from the oval office last night. a couple of things he said that simply were not the case. for example, he said there would be a trade and cargo ban of

material from europe, would be a trade and cargo ban of materialfrom europe, that is not the case. he cleaned that up in a tweet himself. he said all travel would be stopped, that isn't true, us citizens will be allowed in that 30 period to come from europe back here to the us. and in need those with permanent residents will be allowed to come, green card holders, people with the right to residence ina right people with the right to residence in a right to work here even if they are not us citizens. having said that, it is still a huge step. you are talking about thousands upon thousands of flights in each direction and that 30—day period that will be affected. those 26 countries, those borderless country is not permitted to come here. it will create an enormous amount of economic knock—on and personal knock on the people, and businesses are only really starting to get to grips with it, i think. thank you. joining

me now is an infectious disease epidemiologist. thank you for coming along. it was interesting earlier today to see the news emerging from china, they are saying they have reached the peak, the number of new cases is very minimal, i'm just checking back to see if i can find the details, 15 in the last 24 hours. 15 new cases. how much can we extrapolate from that as to how this virus might behave elsewhere? that is quite difficult because obviously china took quite extreme measures. comparable to what italy is doing now. and obviously these have been effective at least in the short term. that does not mean the epidemic cannot restart. why do you say that? let's say, unless the

epidemic is eradicated globally it will very likely re—emerge in different places. or as a seasonal virus? you're talking about is something different than a seasonal virus. it is very likely to emerge asa virus. it is very likely to emerge as a relatively seasonal fashion, all the viruses we have, all the coronaviruses we have in circulation tentacle create epidemics in winter, the flu season. if we look at how the flu season. if we look at how the common cold, how behaves, could we extrapolate from that again that this virus will also not respond so well to the conditions as the weather gets warmer?|j well to the conditions as the weather gets warmer? i think extrapolate might be a bit too strong, but there is some evidence there will be a seasonal effect in there will be a seasonal effect in the epidemic. and it is actually very common for all these viruses to be more... to create more infections

in the winter. we have been reporting in the last hour or so, as you will have seen, in the studio, about the measures being taken in the republic of ireland, the right action at the right time the irish premier lister said. we think, based on what we've been told about the cobra meeting taking place here in london later, that the measures announced here will not be as strict as those. which country do you think is taking the right approach right now? it is very difficult to say and it's only in hindsight that that decision can be made. in principle, the immediate threat is for health ca re the immediate threat is for health care services to be overrun, overstretched, and of history that creates a lot of extra mortality because the virus itself is a fairly aggressive disease but with the right treatment mortality has been

—— can be kept down compared to when hospitals are overrun in patients cannot be correctly treated. so it isa cannot be correctly treated. so it is a question of do you try to delay, as we expect the uk government is going to do, or do you ta ke government is going to do, or do you take this much more stringent measures to face it tough head on, which tactic is going to work is the ultimate question. again, we will only know in the future. at the moment there is a consensus that the epidemic should be delayed in most places because a number of cases are going up and obviously health care systems will be under a lot of pressure very soon. that is obviously not something we want to see. professor, thank you very much. sporting events in several european countries have already been suspended with is being held in empty stadiums. if the uk escalates its response to the virus outbreak its response to the virus outbreak it may have a similar effect on football matches here. chelsea will

be playing its champions league tie behind closed doors next week. tim joins me now. thank you for your time. it is a difficult one, football is a spectator sport, is a football is a spectator sport, is a football match in an empty stadium really a football match? i'm not sure it is, at that level i think football without supporters is nothing. but i think it's important to say that at the end of the day football is only football and that public health and the health of the people going to games and playing in games and the wider population is obviously more important. but i do have concerns about playing what could be ten games, if the premier league was cancelled, every club playing ten games behind closed doors, and just being on television, it can't be the same for the players and it certainly isn't for the spectators. it's a difficult one because if they postpone it how long for? the football calendar is already very crowded, so went they fit in? you could be talking with

this running into the next season, potentially, if it was delayed for months. indeed. then what happens to next season? it's not an easy one. and i don't normally have much sympathy for the football authorities, but i do on this, because they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. i think it is inevitable that something will happen, it is impossible to see that the season will end with people attending ten games between now and the end of may, but i don't quite see that whatever they do it will be optimal. i think the clubs will be desperate to get games played, and at the top level they will still get tv money, but that doesn't help clu bs tv money, but that doesn't help clubs in lower divisions who don't get tv money, and if they don't get any match day revenue and have to refu nd any match day revenue and have to refund season tickets, they may be could be worse off than they are right now. will you be campaigning for supporters who have paid for

tickets, have paid the season tickets, have paid the season tickets, to get money back?” tickets, have paid the season tickets, to get money back? i think the clubs are beholden to refund match tickets, but i think manchester today announced they would refund travel money for the europa league game, and i think there is a case if people have bought tickets and travel in good faith. i think the clubs will put their web pushback on that and start talking about acts of god. but if people have bought tickets and travel and accommodation in good faith i think they should be looked after. but how far that goes on what the reaction of the clubs and the premier league will be to that, who knows. as a fan, how concerned would you be about going along to watch a football rap match? we've had conversations about being in enclosed spaces versus being in the open air, but in the football stand is you are pretty close to the people around you, you don't have the distance of a metre or a metre

and a half. i would be concerned, and a half. i would be concerned, and partly because it isn'tjust a game, it is the queueing for the trains, being on the trains, queueing to get in the grounds, all of that. we are playing aston villa on saturday and i'm in two minds whether to go or not. if the game is on and we can actually attend! at the end of the day i would probably go. but a lot of people have these decisions to make and that is obviously a personal decision. but literally nobody knows where we will be in two days time let alone a week's time. so if the government moves to the delay phase, what will happen to people in care homes? we can speak to ruth desden, head of health influencing at age uk. good afternoon. what are the chief concerns you have at the moment about people in care homes, both the

people who are resident there or visiting, and certainly the staff?” think we know that people living in ca re think we know that people living in care homes are obviously going to be older and living with many long—term health conditions, so we really do wa nt to health conditions, so we really do want to be sure we safeguard older people living in care homes as an at—risk population. i think it is really important that people follow the advice and think carefully about how we prevent and mitigate any risk of this virus spreading in those locations. what measures are care homes taking at the moment? even before the government makes any announcement, if it does make an announcement, if it does make an announcement specific to this sector. public health england has already published guidance for care homes, setting out the really sensible steps and precautions they can take to try to ensure minimising the risk of the virus coming into contact with residents and what to do if it does. obviously care homes

are already looking at that carefully a nd are already looking at that carefully and thinking about whether there are any of their own policies and procedures they may need to adapt accordingly. i think it is also important to say that the care homes there are already thinking about these things and already thinking very carefully because of course it is notjust coronavirus, even seasonal flu and ordinary things like that can have a devastating impact. so they are very used to thinking about what they can do to safeguard the health of their residents and how they insure their staff know all the correct policies to follow. i think they are already thinking seriously about this and already have plans in place. and i'm sure lots of family and friends will be thinking about whether they should be visiting anyone in a care home at this point. what concerns are there about staffing levels if members of staff become ill, if they have any doubts about what whether or not they may have coronavirus, and also if i can ask you, what about people who might rely on ca re rs about people who might rely on carers in their own homes? this is going to be a potentially very

worrying time for the social care sector, and clearly they have an extremely important role to play. it was very welcome extremely important role to play. it was very welcome yesterday that the government announced that the health and social care services would tricky with significant financial support in order to step up do what needs to be done. we are looking to see if funding and plans follow that announcement to show the sector what support they can receive to do the things they know they need to do. clearly they will have to think carefully about how they manage the impact on staff, how they make sure they have enough stuff available, how they fill gaps in rotors they have, and how social care workers continue to come into homes safely and deliver the care people need. thank you. stay with us on bbc news, coming upjust thank you. stay with us on bbc news, coming up just after half past 12 we will be answering some of your questions on coronavirus with

victoria bacon and tom burridge. that is coming upjust victoria bacon and tom burridge. that is coming up just after half past 12. in other news, a civil servant has alleged that alex salmond, the former scottish first minister started a sexual assault by telling her to get on the bed. she was giving evidence on the fourth day of mr salmond's trial. he's accused of fourteen sexual assaults against ten women, and denies all the charges. mr salmond says he is innocent of all the charges, today we heard from all the charges, today we heard from a civil servant who worked closely with the first minister. she told the court of an evening where she was doing paperwork in a bedroom in his official residence, she said he was drinking heavily and when she

tried to leave he told her to get on the bed. she said she felt quite panicked that this was a working environment where you do whatever the first minister asks of you. so she said she sat on the edge of the bed. she said she did not recall what happened for the first few seconds but said she then found herself lying across the foot of the bed with the first minister lying on top of her. she said he put his hands under the skirt of her dress, ran them over her thighs and bottom and over her breasts. she said he kept repeating a phrase like, you are irresistible. she said she felt are irresistible. she said she felt a mixture of panic and disbelief. she said he shifted his way and she managed to get away. shortly afterwards she said she told a civil servant colleague about what she says happened to her, part of his response was she said, that this could be a crime. she said that the meeting was arranged with her line manager and another individual, the outcome of which was that they would contact the first minister and he would apologise. the meeting was arranged in which the first minister said he was sorry what for what had

happened, that it was unacceptable and he apologised. and the jury has heard from other women? yes, yesterday a senior official in the scottish government told the court that mr salmond would often greet her by kissing her on the lips which she said made herfeel disgusted. she also claimed that on three or four occasions he put his hand on her back and moved it so that it was on the side of her chest or bottom. mr salmond's lawyer put it to her that he also kissed members of the public because that is the sort of man he was. and that the alleged incidents were absolutely nothing, that they were not distressing in any way, shape orform, the that they were not distressing in any way, shape or form, the woman said the lawyer's statement was categorically wrong. she also denied suggestions from him that she encouraged other people to make complaints about mr salmond in an attempt to turn things that were trivial, nothing, into criminal charges. the court also heard from

female politician who said mr salmond had also given her and her husband left, she had been on the back of the car with mr salmond when he put his hand on her leg above her knee, she rejected suggestions from mr salmon's lawyer that she had not told about the alleged incident at the time because it had not actually happen. mr salmond denies all 14 charges against ten women and the trial here in edinburgh continues. lorna, thank you. they health ministry in spain reporting 84 deaths from the coronavirus outbreak, 47 yesterday. ajump of, well... a quite significant jump. 47 deaths ajump of, well... a quite significantjump. 47 deaths in spain from coronavirus yesterday to 84 deaths today, according to the spanish health ministry. time now for a look at the weather forecast.

march continues to show its signs. wintry showers in scotland. through the afternoon the wintry nurse will be confined to the tops of the hells. further showers packing into northern ireland, north of scotland and northern england. nobody immune to those showers, but a fair amount of dry weather around as well. gaels for southern scotland and northern ireland, northern england. a windy day elsewhere across the board, taking the edge of the temperatures. into this evening, the wind is starting to ease down but we have a northerly feel across scotland, with wintry showers, even to lower levels and the risk of ice. a cold night across the board with the northern half in the uk expecting a frost. through friday, a ridge of high pressure is going to help settle things down. for many, lighter winds and a good deal of fine, dry weather around. down towards the south—west and wales, the next system showing

its hand as rain begins to engine. hello this is bbc newsroom live with annita mcveigh. the headlines. 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. 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. the government here prepares for an emergency cobra meeting. it's expected to announce stepping up its response to delay the spread of the virus rather than containing it. in italy, all shops except food stores and pharmacies will be closed as the lockdown there strengthens. and coming up at 12:30 we'll be answering all your questions on coronavirus and how the outbreak is affecting travellers. nicola sturgeon has told the scottish parliament during first ministers questions that in her view, the country, the uk, should now move to the delay phase. she is expecting that decision to come out the cobra meeting later, but she says there is no doubt that we will be asking people to change the way they live their lives for a certain period. she says she is also minded

to advise a cancelling mass gatherings of more than 500 people from next week. based, she said, on resilience issues. nicola sturgeon said she will discuss this at the cobra meeting. that is the very latest coming to us from scotland, from the first minister, said nicola sturgeon. let's catch up with all the business deals with alice. in the business news: shares have tumbled after us president donald trump restricted travel to the us from mainland europe in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus. london's ftse100 index sank more than 5%, with similar declines seen in other european markets. meanwhile, amazon has told workers they can take unlimited sick days this month — but only those who test positive for the covid—19 virus will be entitled to any sick pay. many us warehouse workers are entitled to only ten

days' leave a year — for all holidays, sickness and emergencies. and the owner of some of the uk's biggest shopping centres, intu, has said there are doubts that it can survive unless it raises extra funds. its comments came as the firm — which owns manchester's trafford centre and the lakeside complex in essex — reported a £2bn loss in 2019. more on this injust a mo. now, not only is coronavirus threatening our health, it's also keeping many of us from public spaces and thinning store traffic. intu, which owns some of the uk's biggest shopping centres like manchester's tafford centre and the lakeside complex in essex, has posted a £2 billion loss. they've now warned they may go bust. catherine shuttleworth is the chief executive of retail analysts, savvy. i think that's the problem, now we are going into a new area of massive

uncertainty where consumer spending is going to be absolutely decimated by this concern around coronavirus. the results we are seeing are from behind us, from before coronavirus hit. there is a concerning future for this business. how do they reinvent these spaces? they are talking about hotels and office blocks within the shopping centres to mitigate the retailers leaving them, because some of them want to leave. the reality is we will have less shopping centres overtime because i'm more of us are shopping online. we all know what's going on in terms of the way we are changing our spending. what's worrying is just how fragile consumer spending is as we are going into these kind of concerns around what might happen by the coronavirus. uncertainty is rife. the ftse100 here in london experiencing one of its top ten falls in all time. it

opened 5% lower and remained trading within that range, just to put that into context, last summer it was trading around the 7600 level. currently trading within levels of around 5500. so we've seen similar declines around europe, in paris and frankfurt, with shares trading at around 5%. in the us, you can see the dow closing down nearly 6%. a similar story in asia with indicate down. we are awaiting the opening of the us market in a few hours' time and an announcement by the us bank, following an announcement by the federal reserve and the bank of england yesterday cutting interest rates. that is the business use. back to you. more now on the coronavirus outbreak. italy is in its third day of lockdown — and remains

the worst—hit country in europe. our correspondent sima kotecha in rome how the situation is unfolding there. well, we were told yesterday that 827 people have now died across italy from coronavirus. 600 or so of those cases are in the north of italy, and more than 12,000 people have been infected. now, the prime minister yesterday, prime minister conte, said that more stringent measures were being put in place. now all the shops across the country, apart from pharmacies and supermarkets, will be closed. if you look across the street you can see there's a pharmacy there, that is open and going as per normal. butjust behind here we have a food shop — i'lljust bring you round — which is also open, but the bar above it is closed. so, as i say, more stringent measures have been put in place. remember, italy has 60 million people, and they are being told they cannot move freely across the country without special permission.

so a lot of people here saying, how can we carry on with our daily lives if our movement is being restricted ? so there is a real sense of trepidation, frustration and anxiety as to how long this is going to go on for. now it's time to answer your questions on coronavirus and how the outbreak is affecting your travel plans — both in the uk and abroad. our transport correspondent tom burridge is here with me alongside victoria bacon who is from the association of british travel agents and is here with me now. thank you forjoining us and sending in your questions for your questions answered. ifi if i could just begin with you, tom,

and the announcement overnight from president trump. it will have a big impactand is president trump. it will have a big impact and is pretty confusing, because it talks about banning certain european countries but not all of them. don't think it's not going to hit the uk. british airways, a lot of its short—haul flights coming from the schengen zone into heathrow and out across the atlantic, so ba is going to be hit by that. the airline industry has been hit massively. i've just industry has been hit massively. i'vejust come off industry has been hit massively. i've just come off the phone to somebody well—placed who said this is cataclysmic, the worst thing since september the 11th. passengers are falling off a cliff and on top of that we have a row brewing between figures in the aviation industry. there was nothing really in the budget to support the aviation industry. there was a lot of support surrounding coronavirus in other sectors of the economy. airline sources are at live aid. victoria, let's take a broad overview. if your travel plans are

being affected, what to do? the key starting point is to follow foreign office advice. the situation is changing hourly if not daily, so it's very important that if you have travel plans to a specific country, keep an eye on that advice. at the moment there are three main areas, advising against travel to mainland china, parts of south korea and italy. clearly, you cannot go to those countries and if you are imminently due to travel, you should talk to your travel insurance provider or your package provider about that. all other countries at the moment, there is no travel advisory against travelling to those countries. as i say, keep an eye on the foreign office. 0k. the foreign office. ok. i'm going to parcel together a couple of questions for you, tom, because they relate to public transport. a question about at what point does the government advise not

to travel in confined spaces such as the london underground? laura asked will they, the government, stop buses and trains and coaches? i think the thing to say at the moment is the government is advising that public transport is totally... it's fine to travel on public transport as things stand. i spoke toa transport as things stand. i spoke to a senior rail boss yesterday about this. they are working through these scenarios. like any industry, any part of the travel industry and any part of the travel industry and any part of the travel industry and any part of the economy, they are looking at all scenarios going forward. cleaning procedures in london, for example, have been ramped up. the mayor of london saying yesterday they will use a more powerful disinfectant. the train buses i spoke to yesterday said they were reviewing cleaning procedures and potentially cranking them up. that kind of thing is happening and they are looking further down the track, excuse the pun, and they are looking at, for example— and oil industries are doing this— if staff start to be off

sick, at what point will they not have the staff to man the signals and trains? they say to me that is more their immediate concern and they will have to confront that quicker than a possible ban further down the line, if we even get to that point, on public transport, if scenario represents. victoria, somebody is asking what, if i'm to unsure about going on my holiday — and this is the big issue for most people — the uncertainty. how long will this last? in what weight might they be affected? it is understandable people are feeling uncertain because the situation is changing so rapidly. the situations emerge very rapidly and we don't know. nobody really knows and can call and we will be in two or three months' time. based on that, you've just got to keep an eye on it, we've all got to keep an eye on it, we've all got to keep an eye on it. if you've got a travel booking further down the line, it is

important you sit tight without because the flip side is if you have a booking, you put down a deposit, you might lose that deposit and end up you might lose that deposit and end up incurring charges. then in a few months' time, it might be fine to travel. my advice at the moment is keep an eye on the foreign office advice, follow clearly all of the advice, follow clearly all of the advice around hand hygiene and more general hygiene measures. also follow the uk government and authority advice. make sure you have insurance and check you are covered. if you are booking now, make sure you take out travel insurance when you take out travel insurance when you book. also if you book, if you book a package holiday, you will have a much greater range of protections in place at all and you can have connotations with your travel provider about that. we talk about independent arrangements versus a about independent arrangements versus a booking with a package holiday. if you do have a much

greater range of protections, it is in that situation. in any event, book not just travel in that situation. in any event, book notjust travel insurance but good travel insurance, and travel insurance that meets your needs. a few more questions on a similar theme. jack in london asks, why has theme. jack in london asks, why has the government not screened people coming in to the uk in airports? a similar question, why are there no travel restrictions on people coming into the uk? a final question, because the government not stop international flights? how will british citizens return if this happens? we are getting this question about screening a lot at the moment, and we are asking it to public health england at the moment as well and the response is that the health experts advising the government deem it not necessary at the moment, are not a wise measure. it is happening in airports abroad, which is why some people are getting off planes or on planes back to the uk elsewhere, and having their

temperature screened and when they get off at the uk it is not happening and they are wondering why not. individual governments are making their own policy. grant shapps, within the last half hour or so, has been quizzed about policy on coronavirus and he said, everything we are doing is based on the evidence and he is giving to attend another of those cobra meetings this afternoon. it is clearly something they have been thinking through for they have been thinking through for the last two weeks at least, if not longer. it is an option on the table but they have not deemed it necessary yet. if somebody has a pre—existing medical condition and they don't wa nt to medical condition and they don't want to travel because of concerns over coronavirus, can they get a refu nd over coronavirus, can they get a refund if they cancel? the most important thing is to talk to your travel insurance provider in relation to that. if you have got a medical condition which i think it is related to the virus, and we've all learned a lot about what those conditions are — respiratory conditions, for example, speak with your doctor. if your doctor gives

your doctor. if your doctor gives you advice in that regard, then you should be in a good position to make a claim on your travel insurance. tom, a viewer has asked whether it's safe to go on a cruise? obviously, there are health issues. you are coming from a transport perspective. it depends what you mean as safe. it isa it depends what you mean as safe. it is a valid question and i think we need to be careful about what we mean by safe. there is stuff around this. a massive industry body which represents a lot of cruise companies around the world has suggested that advanced screening methods for people coming from parts of the world where there is an outbreak, more effective in italy and china, should be screened before getting on board a cruise ship. the american centre for disease control and prevention has advised against cruise ship travel for people at risk. some parts of the media have looked at that and it's got a few headlines about cruise ship travel,

recommended not to travel on cruise ships. you know, ithink if recommended not to travel on cruise ships. you know, i think if you've got and existing health condition, we know you are at risk and therefore probably going on a cruise ship might not be the best idea. it isa ship might not be the best idea. it is a personal decision for most people. follow advice, look at your own situation and make a decision. one of the reasons cruises come under the spotlight is they were first one of the high—profile cases. there are clearly thousands of people on cruises right now as we speak who haven't done that but it is good advice in terms of obviously if you are in an at—risk group. i think it's right, they have, i know, introduced considerably more sanitation and screening measures on ships. cruise ships were probably the earliest to do that. compared to the earliest to do that. compared to the other methods of transport. if you have concerns about your summer holiday, because people are looking ahead to the summer, is it too early to say that your holiday

can't go ahead as planned? or if you wa nt can't go ahead as planned? or if you want to, in advance, change your travel plans, how do you do that? certainly illegally it is too early and i'd say it is too early anyway, based on what we discussed before about we don't know directionally where this is going to go. the law talks about something in terms of imminent travel in terms of your rights to be able to travel something, so we are not in a situation of anywhere near imminent travel. normally that would apply to a few days in advance. in practical terms we generally don't know where we will be in a few months' time, so it might be that some of the territory is the core foreign office is advising against travel to, they might lift the ban. the degree in italy for example is in place until the beginning of april. ijust the beginning of april. i just have a the beginning of april. ijust have a couple of very pertinent breaking news lines to bring you. slovakia says its its international airports and in a

separate development, carnival, the operators of princess cruise lines to voluntarily pause global operations of 18 cruise ships for two months, impacting voyages departing from march the 12th may the from today. princess cruises, let mejust remind the from today. princess cruises, let me just remind you, the from today. princess cruises, let mejust remind you, is the from today. princess cruises, let me just remind you, is operated by carnival. to voluntarily pause global operations of 18 cruise ships for two months. your reaction to those bits of breaking news? i think we saw some news yesterday with another cruise operator who did something similar, announcing a two month pause. you can see it is a rapidly unfolding situation, and they are responding. they made a decision on that basis. i would say all parts of the travel industry are doing these types of things. lufthansa, it's a massive airline and the biggest in europe, saying it's going to cut its

schedule of flights by up to 50% in the coming weeks. that is huge. no one is immune, none of the travel companies and airlines is immune. they are taking a massive hit and passenger numbers are down on the trains in the uk, they are down on the tube in london. people are changing their habits in response to this and making different decisions, and travel is one of the areas that has been worst hit. i think the message from both of you is it is a constantly evolving situation, so keep checking with your travel agent or rail operator because things could change day by day. thank you very much for answering those questions. thank you forjoining us and sending in your questions for your questions answered. that is something we are going to be continuing to do as we respond to coronavirus.

across the middle east, friday prayers have been cancelled as the region tries to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. sunni, shia and christian communities have taken unprecedented measures to try and halt its spread. pilgrimages, a lifeblood of the region, have been stopped for overseas visitors to many countrys, including iraq's holy city of najaf. our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville reports. in this time of crisis, faith is a support, but it also carries risks. in najaf‘s imam ali holy shrine in iraq, locals are still welcome. but this and in many of the middle east's other holiest sites are now no—go areas forforeign pilgrims. translation: if they want to be saved from this crisis, they should obey and worship god. and also follow health instructions from the appropriate authorities.

these are some of the last foreigners still welcome. ablutions are performed, perhaps with more vigour, and in face masks. pilgrimage is the lifeblood here. millions of shia, especially from iran, would usually pray and spend money. but the shops and precincts are now mostly empty. finally on alert, the epicentre of the outbreak — iran. it has suffered the most cases and the most casualties — but was slow to respond. its deputy health minister, on the left, was noticeably unwell at a news conference, dismissing concerns over the lack of preparation. shortly afterwards he too was isolated, struck down by the virus. at mecca's grand mosque, saudi arabia has banned foreign pilgrims and tourists.

visitor numbers have dropped dramatically. neighbouring jordan has closed its borders too, along with gulf states and israel. down governments accused of incompetence and corruption. and in lebanon, services are being cut short and worshippers have been told to bring their own prayer mats when attending mosque. but there are other challenges, too. here in lebanon and in iraq, months of protests have brought down governments accused of incompetence and corruption. these are states which are barely functioning, just at a time when people's lives depend on them. faith might not give protection, but it does offer comfort. this week, a maronite priest took to the skies above lebanon to bless the country. but this is a region already overwhelmed by crises.

it will take more than prayer to keep the coronavirus in check. quentin sommerville, bbc news, beirut. 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. it's almost time for the bbc news at one with reeta chakrabarti. now it's time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. march continues to show its numerous faces, and while we have got some sunshine in the forecast today, we've also got some showers. some of the showers has been quite wintry, particularly

through parts of scotland. nothing unusual about seeing snow at this time of year. low pressure is in charge, along its southern flank we are seeing strong winds to be affecting parts of northern ireland, southern scotland and northern england. notice how we said goodbye to the mild air that we had on wednesday through the southern half of the uk. we are all in cooler conditions. plenty of showers through northern ireland, northern england and scotland in particular through the afternoon with snow becoming more confined to the hills of scotla nd becoming more confined to the hills of scotland through the rest of the day. nowhere immune to an shower but there are some lengthy spells of sunshine on offer. gales for northern ireland, northern england and southern scotland, and a windy day across the board which isn't helping the temperatures. around about average for this time of year, but quite chilly in the nagging wind. that does ease down as we head through the overnight period. we start to draw in more of a northerly flow across parts of scotland, with the show is wintry, even to lower

levels, and the risk of ice first thing on friday morning. elsewhere a couple of showers fizzling away as the night goes on and it will be chilly across the board, particularly for the northern half of the uk where the temperatures dropa of the uk where the temperatures drop a little bit lower, with frost expected. through friday we have a range of high pressure building in, settling things down. we can take a breather before the next system sta rts breather before the next system starts to show its hand. through friday, although it will be a chilly start, lengthy spells of sunshine on offer and lighter winds. they will bea offer and lighter winds. they will be a cool breeze, making the east coast feel a little bit fresh through the day, and a couple of showers around. away from the far south—west of england and back into wales, the rain starting to edge its way in. temperatures similar to today but without the wind it should feel more pleasant. into the weekend, and low pressure is once again in charge. it will send a speu again in charge. it will send a spell of rain our way as we go through saturday and sunday. into next week, it looks as though high

pressure will have a greater influence on our weather, helping to settle things down for the southern half of the uk.

a step change in the government's response to coronavirus is expected, as ministers hold an emergency meeting. it's thought the uk will move from a strategy of containing the virus to trying to delay its spread. the chancellor this morning tried to reassure. we will make the right decisions at the right time, every step of this process, people can be assured of that. in the us, president trump has imposed a mass ban on flights from 26 european countries, excluding the uk. 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. it comes as ireland closes schools and colleges, italy shuts nearly all its shops, and spain considers putting madrid in lockdown.