today at 6pm, 3 patient in scotland dies from coronavirus. nearly 800 people have now tested positive for coronavirus in the uk. the world health organization says more than 5,000 people have now lost their lives worldwide. europe has now become the epicentre of the pandemic. with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from china. we will bring you more on the situation in the united states in a moment. president trump will be giving his speech shortly. here, the premier league, english football league and scottish fa fixtures are all off until april, and there is no six nations rugby this weekend. there is a new uk guidance for those with flu—like symptoms, don't visit to relatives in care homes. shut

down on one side, and life as normal at the other, how the irish border divides its strategies to tackle the virus. and i news watch, how bbc news is reaching out to hearfrom a section of the audience it's finding ha rd to section of the audience it's finding hard to appeal to through its young reporter project. join us tonight at 7:45pm here on bbc news. hello, good evening, and welcome to bbc news. the world health organisation says europe is now the epicentre of the global coronavirus pandemic. the news emerged as organised sports, both professional and amateur across much of the uk came toa and amateur across much of the uk came to a standstill because of the outbreak. the premier league, english football league, and

scottish football association have all called a temporary hold to fixtures until the 3rd of april. in by, fixtures until the 3rd of april. in rugby, all six nations matches have been cancelled this weekend, and next month's london marathon has been postponed. in the uk, 798 people have now been infected. that's up by 208 since yesterday, but it's not the actual number may be much higher. 11 people have now died here, and the government says it expects more deaths in the weeks and months to come. the advice now is if you have a high temperature or a new persistent dry cough, then you should self—isolate for seven days. we will have more on all of that in a moment, but first, on an extraordinary day for sport and the virus, here is our sports editor, dan rowen. whether it's football, rugby, golf, or formula one, world sport has come to a stand—still. this morning, the premier league finally confirming an unprecedented shut down.

after an emergency meeting, saying it was unanimously decided to suspend the premier league with the intention of returning on 4th april, subject to medical advice and conditions at the time. the decision followed the news that arsenal manager mikel arteta positively tested for coronavirus. hudson—0doi then the first player to confirm he had the disease. as you may be aware, i've had the virus the last couple of days, which i have recovered from. i followed the guidelines and self isolated from everyone. liverpool have enjoyed a glittering season but with the club on the brink of a cherished title, the fans have been left in limbo. it's disappointing that 30 years, we've waited 30 years for the title, we can wait another three orfour months. typical liverpool, we can only do it the hard way! hopefully we'll do it in the next few months. it is quite tough but it's only suspended, it's not... it's not cancelled, so... we will still be there. with a host of clubs with players now in isolation,

the whole of the english professional game has been suspended. those in the cash—strapped football league facing an uncertain financial future. we had six home games left and if we don't play them, we will be looking at a quarter of £1 million hole in our finances at least. it's very worrying for any industry, which footballers, which relies on people paying to come to watch it for the majority of its income and all the associated things. it's extremely worrying. with british football entirely derailed, matches in scotland, wales and northern ireland were also suspended. this afternoon, april's london marathon also cancelled on a day when world sport went into meltdown. the start of the fi season suspended until may, with four races cancer. with four races canceled. golf, the prestigious masters tournament due to start in april was called off. on a chaotic day, tomorrow's six nations between england

and wales was off and then on. we thought from the point i made from other sporting events, for us to be the only sporting event to be going on when other people were mindful of the seriousness of the situation. i think we just took into account supporters, players, our staff. and what of the biggest event of total? today the torch relay cancelled over mounting concern over tokyo 2020. despite questions over whether it should have taken place, the cheltenham festival concluded today, with 69,000 fans present. this last action major sport could see for quite some time. the coronavirus has left british sport in a very difficult position, caught between official government advice to carry on a mounting pressure to stop. within football, they hope will be back next week euro 2020 is postponed by an entire year, creating space for the league season to be resumed and concluded. but there are real concerns within the game that that may

prove impossible and this campaign is abandoned. that of course would be extremely cruel on liverpool football club. tonight, their managerjuergen club said the suspension of the season had his support and that if it saved just one life, it would be worth it. damn, thank you for that. dan roan live at anfield. well, the uk's chief scientific adviser says that coronavirus is here to stay and more deaths are still to come the number of people who have died worldwide has now reached 5000. but is the uk government taking the right approach to tackle the virus? here is our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. —— because of coronavirus. italy has the worst outbreak by far in europe,

but other countries are catching up. europe has now become the epicentre of the pandemic. with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from china. the uk government is hoping to avoid scenes like this by trying to avoid scenes like this by trying to change the course of the outbreak here. so what is the science behind the government's delay strategy? well, if no action was taken, there would be a huge peak of cases crammed into a few weeks, well above the capacity of nhs intensive care units. the government's aim is to flatten that peak, and have more of the cases towards the summer, when the cases towards the summer, when the nhs is better able to cope. that strategy only works if we all follow the new advice. if you have a continuous cough or a fever, at or

above 37.8 degrees, you stay at home for a week. it's reckoned if that happens, it will cut the peak of cases by 20%. what about closing schools? plenty of other countries are doing that. the scientific advice here is that it wouldn't have much impact, because children are not driving transmission of the virus, and it would mean nhs workers would be stuck at home. i'm about to do an online shop, so my daughter can have some microwave meals here and get her cell food, because otherwise you'd be preparing food for other people. sophie began self isolating today after waking up with a fever. she's a single mum with a fever. she's a single mum with a fever. she's a single mum with a 13—year—old daughter. every time i'm using a room i wiped oi'i every time i'm using a room i wiped on the surfaces in there with usual household cleaners, so that everything is clean and safe to be in contact with. the government

acknowledges that millions of us may get cobit i9 acknowledges that millions of us may get cobit 19 in the coming months, because the virus can't be stopped. 0uraim is not because the virus can't be stopped. our aim is not to suppress it completely, also, because most people, the vast majority of people get a mild illness to build up some degree of herd immunity as well, so that more people are immune to this disease and we reduce the transmission at the same time, we protect those who are most vulnerable from it. the government's strategy is at odds with what other countries and major sporting bodies are doing. ministers are convinced the science here is correct. fergus walsh, bbc news. the welsh health minister, von gaffin, says that 20,000 people could die in wales from the coronavirus in a worst—case scenario. routine surgery is to be cancelled in wales from monday in a bid to tackle it spread. nonurgent

outpatient appointments will also be put on hold, and waiting time targets and monitoring are being relaxed. the government has announced it is bringing forward legislation to postpone may‘s local and mayoral elections in england for and mayoral elections in england for a year due to the coronavirus outbreak. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young, has more for my spinsters. —— more from westminster. well, the government's saying that because they think that the peak of this virus outbreak will be in a couple of months‘ time. we heard yesterday from the chief medical officer that they thought that would be in about 10—14 weeks. that means that these elections would actually be really in the run up to that very difficult time, so they say it's just simply not practical to do that. so they're postponing the elections for a year, and it's important to say what these are. these are council elections in england. that involves 2,700 counsellors, the mayor of london, the london assembly, the four combined authority mayors

in greater manchester, liverpool, tees valley, and west midlands. and then there are single authority mayors in bristol, liverpool and salford, and police and crime commissioners in england and wales. now, earlier today, the electoral commission wrote to the government saying they had massive concerns about holding these elections. and that's for various reasons. in a democracy, voters need to hear what the candidates have to say, and in the current climate, that would be extremely difficult. large meetings, for example, maybe people would be reluctant to go to those. people knocking on doors. again, maybe something that's not practical. and, also, they expect that local authorities will be very much focused on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in the coming weeks. so having to think about elections where you have to staff polling stations, get all the paperwork there. even if you do postal votes, that simply won't be enough. as well as the fact that you probably think that lots of people will be at that point, either isolating themselves because they think

they have the virus or they have it. so, for all those reasons, the government has decided to postpone this for a year. vicki young at westminster. the government published new guidance on what care homes should do to try to prevent the coronavirus spreading amongst the most vulnerable. the advice is that people with flu—like symptoms shouldn't visit relatives. the elderly and those with underlying health conditions are much more likely to develop serious complications from the virus, as are a social affairs correspondent in oui’ a social affairs correspondent in our respect —— not reports. at this nursing home in scarborough they have already gone further than today's government guidance by asking relatives not to visit as they try to protect their vulnerable elderly residents from the virus. lyn, with her hands carefully washed, sees her very poorly 91—year—old father matthew several times a week. did you have a good night's sleep? yeah. but she accepts this could be her last visit for a while. we can always telephone, and ask how our relatives are, and i'm sure the carers will explain to them, you know, the reason why

visitors aren't coming. our own common—sense should tell us, you know, we have to think for them. today's guidance says people shouldn't visit if they have flu—like symptoms. the the home's owner, who also represents other local care providers, isn't convinced that has gone far enough. are we acting quick enough because we are looking at making sure that visitors perhaps can't come in into the home in the future unless it is an emergency, so we are taking our own actions now to prevent something more serious later on. this is our general store room. many care providers are also worried about getting enough stocks of hand gel, gloves and other protective gear. the government now says additional equipment will be provided for them. alcohol gel is a big thing, hand washing equipment, everything we need for that and it is becoming more of a struggle to get hold of things like that at the moment. this meeting in york is a chance

for care and public health professionals to plan together. the challenge is introducing measures that can be sustained. it might be that stopping visitors might help their physical health but it might have a really poor impact on their mental, emotional health. and getting that balance right to protect older people will have to be kept under constant review. alison holt, bbc news, york. it is approaching quarter past seven, the latest headlines here on bbc news. the world health organisation declares europe the focal point of the global coronavirus outbreak. here, the premier league, the english football league and scottish fa fixtures are all off until april, and there is no six nations rugby this weekend. there is a new uk guidance for those with flu—like symptoms. don't visit relatives in care homes. well,

because to nhs help lines have more than doubled since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, with tens of thousands of us dialling in every day. but now the government's moved to the delay and its action plan, anyone who has a high temperature or persistent new cough should self—isolate or stay at home for seven days without first calling 111 . seven days without first calling iii. the new advice is to only dial the helpline or your gp if symptoms are severe. here is oui’ the helpline or your gp if symptoms are severe. here is our health correspondent, dominic hughes. hello, you're through to the nhs 111 service. it's been a busy few weeks at this nhs call centre in bolton. services like 111 and nhs 2a in scotland say they're receiving more than twice the normal number of calls, and the coronavirus epidemic is presenting health experts with a fast—moving situation. they no longer wish to provide any further swab testing at the moment. the advice we are all being offered

on coronavirus has changed. now, we're being told that if you have a persistent cough or a fever, you should stay at home for at least seven days. you won't get tested, you don't need to call 111 and you certainly don't need to turn up at yourgp‘s surgery or a hospital. however, if you are still feeling unwell after seven days, or your symptoms worsen, then you should seek medical advice. just extremely hot and a horrible headache. elsa scales and her husband have been self—isolating, after falling ill following a trip to spain. she struggled to get through to the 111 service, and was then told she didn't need a test and will now probably never get one. i'd like to know one way or another whether i have or i haven't got it, because i'm isolating now, until 22nd march at least. and if i haven't got it, is there any danger of me getting it again? because both of us, both my husband and i, are vulnerable adults with underlying health issues.

more and more of us are likely to find ourselves isolating like elsa. this is where we are confined, which isn't a bad place to be confined. and that could present some logistical challenges. what that means, practically, is to stay about two metres or three steps away from anyone else that you live with, so that might mean sleeping in a different bed, and it will mean having your own crockery, cutlery, toothbrushes, etc. nhs officials say the information available on their dedicated web page should be the first port of call. but the likelihood is that as the epidemic builds, some of that advice will change too. dominic hughes, bbc news. the education secretary for england, kevin williamson, has told teachers, the government is clear that schools should remain open despite the outbreak, unless advised otherwise by public health england. butjust how are schools dealing with the current crisis? 0ur education editor reports.

0k, any internet enabled device, you will be able to go on to get access to... getting ready to take school work online. with their gcses looming, plenty of questions. but again, today, head teachers told to stay open. the minister asking them at their conference to remain calm. in the overwhelming majority of situations, there is absolutely no need to close a school, or to send pupils or staff home. obviously, there is action to be taken in the event of a positive test, but even then, your local health protection team can help stabilise the situation. in one country after another, schools are shutting, some parents and politicians asking why the uk is out on its own? head teachers arejust trying to keep going. we are trying to stay open, not just for the school and for the learning, we are a vital cog in this community. but he also knows some families may have to self—isolate. we are very aware about who our most vulnerable students are,

and we will be working with them to put a bespoke package round them. exams start next month in scotland, early may elsewhere. so how are you all living with the uncertainty? even if the school does now close, it isn't going to panic us to do everything from home. not a lot of people will revise at home, and if people do, it won't be as well as they would at school. for the moment, at least, the government is holding back from school closures. that's partly because they would cause massive disruption. parents would have to take time off work, pupils revise for exams from home, and it is the vulnerable children who would lose out most. want to try meat balls? at this charity warehouse, they are getting ready. some children rely on school for their main meal. we know already that three million children are at risk of hunger through school holidays when they don't have access to free school meals,

so we know those children, if schools do close, are potentially at risk of going hungry. ministers say they will look out for poorerfamilies, but any plans haven't yet reached these grass roots. branwen jeffreys, bbc news, birmingham. we can take a look at other developments concerning the pandemic now. as we have heard, the biggest concern in europe remains italy, which saw the largest rising cases ina single which saw the largest rising cases in a single day confirmed infections now top 15,000, with 1016 people having died. the european commission has promised the country whatever support it needs. in spain, the prime minister has declared a state of emergency from tomorrow, allowing the authorities to confine infected people and ration goods. they've also decided to close restaurants and bars tomorrow with only supermarkets and pharmacies allowed to open. spain has the

second—highest number of corona spires cases in europe after italy. and in iran, the coronavirus has claimed another 85 lives. the highest single day death toll in the country so far. i ran‘s military chief has ordered the security forces to clear city streets in the next 2a hours in the latest attempt to halt the spread of the disease. now, in ireland, the measures introduced to tackle the coronavirus outbreak are much stricter than in the uk. in the republic all schools and colleges are closed until the end of the month. 0ur and colleges are closed until the end of the month. our special correspondent, ed thomas looks at the different approaches on either side of the border. 3pm, silence. ireland has woken up to a virus that is changing lives. whoa! he attacked. how did you do that?

danielle now stays at home with her sons, with a makeshift kitchen classroom and a sense of being alone. day—to—day life, we've completely hunkered down. we're not seeing friends, we're not seeing family. so, it's pretty isolating. i couldn't ask anybody to help, because... so you said to your family, "stay away?" i rang my dad this morning and i said, "listen, "i'm not going to see you for 2—3 weeks." we were due to go and see them this weekend, and ijust said we will do a facetime. that's it, i'm not risking it. they're too precious. all schools and colleges are now closed. no face to face, all on audio. yeah, no face to face. for katie, a psychology student, lectures are online. a sudden end to her final year. it's quite saddening. you want to see your friends and just have a good college experience. so i feel that my college experience has been cut short because of trinity closing. but it has to be done. but this is the picture north of the border, in northern ireland, life and learning goes on. schools are trying to stay open

for as long as they can. i feel the school is a safe environment for the children. there should be a consensus between both the north and the south, and there shouldn't be any division. and questions too from students at queens university in belfast. the virus isn't going to stop at the border, is it? i think we should shut down. shut down the schools because it will stop the spread of it. i'm from spain, actually, and, like, the university is just starting to close right now, so i don't know why they're not following. but the irish republic did act to slow the spread of the virus. the question for northern ireland maybe not if, but when it follows. ed thomas, bbc news, dublin. well, now let's take a brief look at some of the day's other top stories. the pilot of the plane that crashed killing the footballer emiliano silo wasn't licensed to fly the aircraft, that's according to the air accidents investigation branch,

which published its findings today. sala who is 28 and pilot david albertson died in a crash in the english channel two days after the striker signed for cardiff city in january last year. in the trial of sexual assault charges of scotland's from her first minister, alex sammons, worker for the snp from her first minister, alex sammons, workerfor the snp claimed he kissed her on both cheeks and then tried to kiss her on mouth. the witness known as womanjay then tried to kiss her on mouth. the witness known as woman jay said then tried to kiss her on mouth. the witness known as womanjay said the alleged attack shortly before the independence referendum in september 2014 had been like an awful nightmare. mr salmon denies all 14 charges against him. the colleague ofa charges against him. the colleague of a police officer killed after being dragged behind a carfor more than a being dragged behind a carfor more thana mile being dragged behind a carfor more than a mile has told a court that pc andrew harper's feet were whipped out from under him as he ran after a suspect. pc andrew sure had responded to a report of a stolen quad bike with pc harper in berkshire in august last year. the accused, henry long, 18 years old,

and 217—year—olds all deny murder. an independent public inquiry has found that corruption wasn't the reason for the failure of high—profile energy scheme in northern ireland, which led to the colla pse northern ireland, which led to the collapse of the assembly. i found that to switch from oil and gas to more environmentally friendly heating was a project too far for the northern ireland executive. now let's return to the coronavirus outbreak, and with the uk taking less stringent action than many other countries, how much is everyday life you're been affected so everyday life you're been affected so far, danny savage now reports from york. york is the city where the first two uk coronavirus cases were identified and successfully isolated. the station is now a much quieter gateway. people aren't travelling, so obviously it has a knock—on effect. we aren't working, you know. currently, i'm not earning enough a day for what i need to earn, so... so you're going to have a big shortfall? at the moment, yes.

there are now lots of empty seats on lots of trains. friday is one of the busiest days of the week for travel, but not now. it feels like first thing on a sunday. everybody is feeling it. bookings are down, cancellations are up. john relies on travellers for his income. nothing is off the table for the coming weeks. it is alarming, you know, because obviously the bills will still continue to come in, the direct debts will continue to go out, so, you know, it may be that i have to look at doing something else this year, but i'm sure it's not just me in that situation. even though the government is broadly advising people to carry on as normal, they obviously aren't. this would normally be thronging with people, down the side of york minster, but it's virtually deserted. this street is generally normally absolutely heaving the whole time and the street is very, very quiet. and then you think, well, i don't want to move away from them because it looks a little bit too obvious. life has changed. we are acutely aware of things we may have ignored before, like someone who looks like they've got a cold. far more conscious of that? far more conscious about it, about where i'm sitting

and if the people around you are coughing i might not go and sit next to them next time. everywhere, things are being cleaned and cleaned again. products even mention the virus on their packaging now. but with peak infection rates potentially months away, are people really prepared to avoid public spaces for such a long time? danny savage, bbc news, york. now it's time for a look at the weather. good evening. well, clear skies for some of us tonight, but also some rain on the way, and the rain has already reached western parts of the country, and that is the onset of a changeable weekend. and that is the onset of a changeable weekend,

with rain, but some sunshine in the forecast as well. on top of that, it is going to be quite breezy too. so, during the course of friday, we saw weather systems traversing the atlantic. they are approaching us, you can see the first signs of the weather friend here moving across ireland and moving into the uk. so, through the course of saturday night, a weather front slides across the country and brings some outbreaks of rain, but then a gap between weather fronts during the middle of the day on saturday. so, this is what it looks like through the early hours of saturday. so that weather front moves across the uk. there's that gap that's heading our way. just towards the west, just off the edge of the forecast area here, you can see the next weather system. but that does mean the weather front is over us earlier on saturday morning. outbreaks of rain. here it is earlier on saturday. the middle of the day on saturday, it looks as though we will be in between weather systems before the next arrives later on saturday. and that will be in place across the country during sunday too. you can see it's going to be changing a little bit through the course of the weekend. so here's the patchy rain early on saturday. then that gap, some sunshine for glasgow, liverpool, birmingham, down into portsmouth as well. but, later on saturday, the next

weather front already moving in, bringing outbreaks of rain to northern ireland, southwestern scotland and around the irish sea as well. then, saturday night, the thrust of that rain and the wind moves into scotland and some northwestern areas. you can see that weather front trailing further southwest as well, affecting cornwall, devon and also wales during early sunday. then, early sunday, i think rain will also spread across other parts of the country as well, further towards the east and the south. and then it brightens up. so if you're confused by now, suffice to say the weather is going to be changing through the course of the weekend. some of us will get some rain then sunshine as well. the temperatures more average, around about 10—11dc. and then the thinking is that sometime next week, the weather will calm down a little bit. it's also going to be milder. temperatures in some areas could get up to around about 15 degrees. that's it for me. interrupting thomas to take you to the white house, as you can see, president trump emerging from the building to walk down to the podium there in the rose garden, behind him

there in the rose garden, behind him the vice president, let's listen in. beautiful day in the rose garden. appreciate everyone being here. today, i would like to provide an update to the american people on several decisive new actions we are taking in ourvery several decisive new actions we are taking in our very vigilant effort to combat and ultimately defeat the coronavirus. we have been working very ha rd coronavirus. we have been working very hard on this. we have made tremendous progress. when you compare what we have done to other areas of the world, it is pretty incredible. a lot of that had to do with the early designation and the closing of the boarders. as you know, europe was just designated as the hot spot right now, and we closed that boarder a while ago, so

that was lucky, or through talent or luck, call it whatever you want, but through a very collective action and shared sacrifice, national determination, we will overcome the threat of the virus. i also announced wednesday night, following the advice of the medical professionals, we are doing a tremendousjob and professionals, we are doing a tremendous job and we appreciate it very much. we are suspending the entry of foreign nationals who have been to europe in the last 14 days from entering the united states. citizens, permanent residents and theirfamilies, citizens, permanent residents and their families, any of the families returning from europe will be subject to extra screening as well as self isolation for a period of 14 days as the world health 0rganization confirmed today, many of the things we said we 100% correct, including our designation before them of europe. like our

earlier very aggressive actions with china, this will save countless lives. i appreciate a number of the folks behind me, the people behind me, they said that it saved a lot of lives, that early designation. but it is only the beginning of what we are it is only the beginning of what we a re really it is only the beginning of what we are really doing, and now we are in are really doing, and now we are in a different phase. we had some very old and obsolete rules that we had to live with. it worked under certain circumstances but not under mask circumstances. they were there for a long time and we are breaking them down now, and they are very usable for certain instances but not for this. to unleash the full power of the federal government with this effort today, i am declaring a national emergency officially. two very big words. the action i am taking will open up access up to $50 billion of, very important —— very

importantly for our shared fight against this disease, and i am urging every state to set up emergency operations centre is effective immediately. you are going to be hearing from some of the largest companies and greatest retailers and medical companies in the world. they are standing right behind me and beside me, and we are also asking every hospital in this country to activate its emergency preparedness plan so they can meet the needs of americans everywhere. the hospitals are very engaged. new york and various other places are also very engaged. ijust york and various other places are also very engaged. i just spoke with the governor and we had a great conversation, and we are working very strongly with many states including new york. the emergency orders i am issuing today will also bring a no authority to the

secretary of health, the secretary of hss will be able to waive provisions of applicable laws and regulations to give doctors, all hospitals and health care providers maximum flexibility to respond to the virus and care for patients. this includes the following critical authorities. the ability to waive laws to enable telehealth, a fairly new and incredibly thing that has happened in the not so distant past. i tell you, what they have done with telehealth is incredible. it gives remote doctors visits and hospital checkins remote doctors visits and hospital check ins the power to waive certain federal license requirements so that doctors from other states can provide services to those with the greatest need. number two, the ability to waive requirements that

hospitals the number of beds to 25, and the length of stay to 96 hours. the ability to waive the requirement ofa the ability to waive the requirement of a three day hospital stay prior to admission to an nursing home. a big thing. the authority to waive the rules to hinder hospital's abilities to bring additional physicians on board or obtain needed office space, they can do as they want. they can do what they have to do. they know what they have to do now they don't have any problem getting it done. the authority to waive rules that severely restrict where hospitals can care for patients within the hospital itself, ensuring that the emergency capacity can be quickly established. it will remove can be quickly established. it will re m ove every can be quickly established. it will remove every obstacle necessary to deliver to the people they care that they need and they are entitled to. no resource will be spared, nothing whatsoever. ten days ago, i together

the ceos of commercial labs at the white house and directed them to be able to work towards a solution to increase the availability of tests. 0ther increase the availability of tests. other countries have called us and worked with us, and they are doing similar things or will be doing similar things or will be doing similar things or will be doing similar things as a result of that action. today, we are announcing a new partnership with the private sector to vastly increase and accelerate our capacity to test for the coronavirus. we want to make sure that those who need a test can get a test very safely, quickly and conveniently, but we don't want people to take a test if we feel that they shouldn't be doing it. we don't want everyone running out and taking it. only if you have certain symptoms. using federal emergency authorities, the fda approved a new test for the virus. we did this within hours of receiving the

application from... a process that would normally take weeks. we therefore expect half a billion additional tests will be available early next week. it will be announcing —— we will be announcing new locations probably saturday night. i want to thank the company for their incredible work, and i wa nt to for their incredible work, and i want to think thermo fisher. the fda's goal is to hopefully finalise the application very quickly. this will bring additionally 1.4 million tests on boa rd will bring additionally 1.4 million tests on board next week, and 5 million within a months. i doubt we will need anywhere near that. in the same time, we have been in discussions with pharmacies and retailers to make a drive—through test available in the critical locations identified by public health professionals. the goal is for individuals to be able to drive up for individuals to be able to drive up and be swabbed without having to leave your car. i want to think

google. google is helping to develop a website. it is going to be very quickly done. unlike websites of the past, to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing ata warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location. we have many locations behind us. we cover this come true and large parts of the world, by the way, but we are not going to be talking about the world right now, but we cover very strongly our country, stores in virtually every location. google is 1700 engineers working on this right now. they have made tremendous progress. 0ur overriding goal is to stop the spread of the virus and help all americans who have been impacted by this. again, we don't wa nt impacted by this. again, we don't want everyone taking this test. it is totally unnecessary, and this will pass. this will pass through, and we are going to be even stronger

for it. we have learned a lot. a tremendous amount has been learned. i want to thank deborah, and i want to ask her to maybe say a few words as to what is happening. doctor birks is a highly respected person. i have gotten to know her very well over the last six days, and what we have done is rebuilt something that is very old, very old—fashioned and somewhat obsolete, and certainly obsolete when it comes to the kind of numbers we are talking about. doctor birks, please. thank you, mr president. it is a pleasure to be here with all of you. i think you know, at the beginning of this epidemic, hhs or cdc proactively developed an asset, built on the existing flu surveillance system. that system was then converted to diagnostic system. but last tuesday,

saying the spread of the virus around the globe, the president realise our current approach to testing was inadequate to meet the needs of the american public. he asked for an entire overhaul of the testing approach. he immediately called the private sector lavatories to the white house and charge them with developing a high quality but thorough platform to meet the needs of the american public. we are grateful to these for taking up the charge immediately after the meeting, and within 72 hours, bringing testing access to areas such as washington state, california and now across the country. we are now very grateful to universities and large hospital systems that took up and large hospital systems that took up the charge to make up their own quality tests, made available by new fda guidance. this expanded testing throughout many states, and you can see those drive—through options that have been made available through

these options. following the meeting la st these options. following the meeting last week, commercial lavatory and diagnostic equipment companies took immediate action to adopt and develop new testing systems. last night, the initial company received fda approval, moving from request, development to approval in record time. this innovative approach sent old on unleashing the —— centred on the power of unleashing the private sector. this enabled testing for thousands of americans in short turnaround times. in less than two weeks, we have developed a solution that will meet the future needs, testing needs of americans. i understand how difficult this has been. i was part of the aid response in the 80s. we knew from first finding cases in 1981, it took us almost to 1985 to have a test. it took us another 11 years to have

effective therapy. it is because of the lessons learned from that that we we re the lessons learned from that that we were able to mobilise and bring those individuals that were keyed to the hiv response to this response. i understand that a lot of this behind—the—scenes action over the la st behind—the—scenes action over the last couple of weeks was invisible to the press and the american people. but this intense effort has not only resulted in innovative solutions. but it has also resulted in an automated, high sequencing system, bringing the testing to the american people at unprecedented speed. finally, iwant american people at unprecedented speed. finally, i want you to know, in south korea, they did have large numbers of tests are available over the last several weeks. their positivity rate is between 3—4%, with lab core and test approved... it is between 1—2%, so we want to also announce this new approach to testing which will start in the

screening website appear. it is facilitated by google. clients and patients and people of interest can go, fill out a screening questionnaire, move down for symptoms or risk factors. yes, they would move down this and told where the drive through options would be for them to receive this test. the lads will then move to the high throughput automated machines to bring and provide results in 38 to 42 hours. this is the intent, we have seen it work in our own united states, and we want to bring this across the continent. thank you very much. i'd like to maybe have tony. i think everyone out here knows you pretty well, but tony has been doing a tremendousjob working pretty well, but tony has been doing a tremendous job working long, pretty well, but tony has been doing a tremendousjob working long, long hours, and you have seen a lot happen, but this has been a great

experience in working with you and it has been terrific. tony, please. thank you very much, mr president. this is an example of another example of what i have been referring to in my discussions with many of you in the audience as a proactive, leaning forward, aggressive, trying to say ahead of the curve. what you're seeing now with this order is we will be able to remove the constraints so that people at the state, local level, the individual physician up through the individual physician up through the federal government will have as many constraints as possible removed for them to do everything they possibly can so that we can implement the things we have been talking about. the containment, the mitigation, so that as i've many times, that curve that i have referred to that goes up, we don't wa nt referred to that goes up, we don't want to have that curve. we want to suppress it down to that small mound, and what we have done today is something that i think will be

very important in having us be successful in doing that. we still have a long way to go. there will be many more cases, have a long way to go. there will be many more cases, but we will take ca re of many more cases, but we will take care of that, and ultimately as the president said, this will end, but what is going on here today is going to help it to end sooner than it would have. thank you. thank you very much, tony. if i could, some of these folks who we know, they are celebrity is in their own right. the biggest business people, the biggest retailers anywhere in the world, and one of them is doug mcmillan from walmart, and i would like to have dug to say a few words wherever you may be. when we got the call yesterday from the white house, we we re yesterday from the white house, we were eager to do our part to help serve the country and, given what we are facing, it is certainly important to do. we should all be doing that. we have been asked to make portions of our parking lots available, and scaling of a time as drive increases, so that people can experience the drive—through