this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: president trump declares a national emergency — unlocking billions of dollars to fight coronavirus in the us. to unleash the full power of the federal government i am officially declaring a national emergency. two very big words. as italy struggles to cope, the world health organization says europe is now the epicentre of the pandemic. more cases are now being reported every day that were reported every day that were reported in china at the height of its epidemic. more european countries seal their borders — and the uk prepares emergency legislation to ban mass gatherings. and the pandemic wipes out most of the world's major sporting

events — football, golf and formula i all postponed. hello and welcome to bbc news. president trump has declared a national emergency in response to the coronavirus outbreak, with more than 1,700 confirmed cases in the united states and 47 deaths. the move gives the government access to up to fifty billion dollars in emergency funding. nick bryant has more details from washington. grand central station on the first full day of new york city's state of emergency. morning commuters so far unaware that the entire country was about to be placed on a similar crisis footing.

in the city of his birth, there's been fury at donald trump for not taking the pandemic seriously enough, for fumbling the federal government's response. the federal government has botched this, absolutely out of control. there has been little to no testing. they have been completely misinforming people. what we are hearing has changed from one day to the next. he doesn't believe in science, for heaven's sake. could i say that trump is completely clueless? it's all about him. in the fragrant setting of the rose garden, he addressed what for many americans as the most frightening crisis of his presidency. i am officially declaring a national emergency. two very big words. he was asked about his controversial european travel ban and why it didn't include the uk, a decision that is clearly now under review. we are looking at it based on the new numbers that are coming out and we may have to include them in the list of countries that you could say ban or whatever it is during

this period of time, but, yeah, their numbers have gone up fairly precipitously over the last 2a hours, so we may be adding that. his tone tonight was self—congratulatory, and there were still indications he doesn't quite get the magnitude. ok, i like that. of a crisis he has minimised for weeks. but in the suburbs of america, graphic reminder of where the superpower has fallen short, in testing for the virus. here in new rochelle, a hotspot on the outskirts of new they have opened up drive—through testing centres under the eye of the national guard. and tonight, the president was asked if he should be tested for the virus. are you going to be? most likely, yeah. when? not for that reason, but because i think i will do it anyway. he's a president so often at the centre of chaos, at the head of the nation that is yearning for calm. the national emergency allows donald trump to throw more money at this problem and cut through regulatory redtape. at

the criticism has been that he views this pandemic through the prism of november's presidential election, that he is worried about the impact of the economy, that he is worried about the impact on the markets, and he is worried about the impact on his chances of spending four more years in the white house. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. our correspondent david willis is in los angeles. good to see you, david. just break it down for us. what does this mean in practice, this new state that the us is in? well, i think by unveiling this package of financial measures, lewis, the president is seeking obviously to head off the criticism that has hovered around him over the last days that he initially downplayed this crisis. at one point referring to it as a hoax, only for all of those claims to come back and bite him somewhat. this $50 billion in federal government funding that will be

unveiled as a result of the declaration of a national emergency here basically will be used to harness the full resources of the federal government to bear down on combating this coronavirus. it will also help the national emergency declaration to eliminate some red tape and make it easier for government agencies and health departments and so on to operate more flexibly in combating the virus. president trump has said that 5 million test kits will be available by next week. and they are planning to set up drive—through testing at certain pharmacies across the united states. ijust want certain pharmacies across the united states. i just want to touch briefly on the markets, because we have been seeing over the last days crashes there in the united states. what was the response to donald trump's speech? well, it's very interesting. the dow jones index was going up when he was

speaking, but after he finished speaking, but after he finished speaking its gains doubled. the last of trading on friday to nearly 2000 points. that's the biggest points gain ever, i'm informed. so clearly the markets which have been desperate for some sort of reassurance, some sort of concrete reassurance, some sort of concrete measures on the part of the trump administration, breathing somewhat of a sigh of relief now and gaining consolation from what president trump had to say in the rose garden today. interesting. david, give us, just a more personal sense, walking around the streets, what is the kind of reaction of people in the us to what's going on? lewis, let me sum it up with this little and don't for you. a friend of mine texted me a short while ago saying that she got to costco, which is a very big supermarket warehouse type store, an hour before it opened this morning and there were

lines around the block. the shelves in many of these grocery stores a re shelves in many of these grocery stores are virtually empty. and, certainly, essential items, rice, for example, water, toilet paper, of course we know all about that, are non—existent right now. there is evidence of panic buying here in many parts of the united states. 0k, buying here in many parts of the united states. ok, thanks for that, david. david the united states. ok, thanks forthat, david. david willis in los angeles. the world health organization says europe is now the epicentre of the global coronavirus pandemic. the news emerged as organised sport, both professional and amateur, across much of the uk, came to a standstill because of the outbreak. this is italy, one of the most advanced healthcare systems in the world. in the northern city of brescia, they're reduced to treating patients in warehouses and tents, 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. denmark announced it is closing its borders to foreigners from tomorrow. nearly a dozen european countries have now imposed border controls. in spain, a state of emergency will come into effect tomorrow, which could see restrictions on movement. the foreign office has advised against all but essential travel to madrid and some other regions. france announced it is limiting gatherings to no more than 100 people. the eiffel tower and other key monuments and museums will close. a shutdown of schools will last at least two weeks. all of europe wants to avoid scenes like these in italy. the uk's approach is in stark

contrast to measures taken elsewhere. so what is the science behind the government's delay strategy? well, if no action was taken there'd 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 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, a temperature 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%. i'm about to do an online shop, so that my daughter can have some microwave meals and get herself food, because i shouldn't be preparing food for other

people. sophie rivett began self isolating today after waking up with a fever. she's a single mum with a 13—year—old daughter. and every time i use a room i'm wiping down the surfaces. the government acknowledges that millions of us may get covid—i9 in the coming months, 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 is adamant its a strategy to fight coronavirus is the right one. lives will depend on it. fergus walsh, bbc news.

it's emerged in the last hour that ministers are considering plans to ban mass gatherings here in the uk from next weekend. 0ur political correspondent jessica parker has more details. ministers are drawing up plans that could see big public events, mass gatherings stopped from as early as around next weekend, although exact timescales aren't exactly clear at the moment. this is, of course, after football authorities decided to suspend elite football matches until early april. and we heard from the government's chief scientific advisor, sir patrick vallance, this morning, saying that the government still felt that stopping big events would not have a big effect on stopping the spread of the virus, although he didn't rule out looking at stopping large events in the long run. and, of course, it is part of the government's possible number of measures in his action plan. i think some people, though, critics perhaps of the government, will suggest

this is something of a u—turn after they didn't seem to go down this line of banning big public events, whereas other places across the world have but what i'm told from whitehall sources is it is not a change of heart, they are still doing their signs led approach, but what they are particular concerned about is not the spread of the bar is a big public events, but the necessity to have, say, ambulances and health officials present as well as police, and they feel that those public resources, those public services will be better used elsewhere going forward . i think beefed up powers and maybe some plans as well for compensating those organisations who could lose out from big events being stopped for a time being, that is going to form part of some emergency legislation that we already expected to see next week, a package of measures to deal with the coronavirus, but i think we big headline news tonight, that the government is, after all, looking at banning mass gatherings for a temporary period of time, we don't know exactly how long.

jessica parker there. ireland has banned mass gatherings — setting the limit at 100 people indoors, and 500 outdoors. prime minsiter leo varadkar also ordered all schools and colleges to close until the end of the month. ed thomas has been looking at how measures in the republic contrast with those on the uk side of the irish border. 3pm, and instead of the school run, just silence. ireland has woken up to isolation, an invisible virus that's changing lives. whoa! what? 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. stay with us on bbc news, still to come — how often should you clean your smartphone, and how? we have the answers. today, we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision — all of this caused by an apparently organised attack.

the trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. now, this was an international trophy, and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. this is bbc news, the latest headlines:

president trump has declared a national emergency in the united states, unlocking billion of dollars of federal funds to fight the coronavirus. the world health 0rganization says the epicentre of the pandemic has now moved from china to europe, with italy now counting 1,200 deaths. let's stay on the coronavirus and its spread in the us. we can now speak to peter kochinsky, who trained as a virologist at harvard,and is now a managing partner of are a capital management, which invests in biotechnology. he's also author of the great american drug deal, on how to make medicines affordable. thank you very much for being with us. so, let'sjust start with us. so, let'sjust start with that announcement by donald trump. billions of dollars, potentially, now available. how would you be spending them? what do you think the priority is? there are so many think the priority is? there are so many different fronts that we have got to be shoring ourselves up on. we definitely need access to more testing, drive—through testing, we need

to provide funding to hospitals, healthcare workers. make sure we equip them with all the right equipment. we need more ventilators. we need more devices in order to make sure that people can get the oxygen that they are going to need to stay alive when they go into respiratory distress. we need to get the ball rolling, and we have got the ball rolling on funding new vaccines for this effort. barda is basically shot down funding to everything other than covid—19, which is a good move... sorry to interrupt, just on the vaccines, i know this is an area of your expertise. where area of your expertise. where are we on that? bring us up—to—date. are we on that? bring us up-to-date. well, we are early in it, but we are moving quickly and i think that it is not impossible that in about a year and not impossible that in about a yearand a not impossible that in about a year and a half we may see signs ofan year and a half we may see signs of an improved, available vaccine. i think that is about how quickly our industry can move. we still have to test these things. obviously that is quite a long time scale. in

between that, measures like social distancing, things like that, how effective can they be. they can be very effective. viruses need us to socialise. so we can deny the virus that and we can really slow the spread. so is it realistic to get our country the size of the united states, essentially eve ryo ne united states, essentially everyone playing ball, playing by the same rules, and being disciplined, for weeks, possibly months? so, ithink disciplined, for weeks, possibly months? so, i think we can bend the curve. i think it is probably too late for us to squelch this entirely. i think social distancing and transmission really works at a very local level. and i think if families can sequester themselves for a while, you know, two weeks, and if they come out 0k at the other end of doubt, as most will, they can start to socialise with other families but they trust you have sequestered themselves stop and as long as you trust the people not to be sloppy in

their interactions, you can certainly grow the people that you are interacting with. two of the world's most prestigious marathons, in london and boston, are the latest global sporting events to be postponed. several of the biggest football leagues in europe, including the english premier league and the bundesliga in germany, have suspended matches. also the masters golf tournament in the us state of georgia, one of the four majors of the year, will not take place in april. chetan pathak from bbc sport had more. it was only 2a hours ago we had a statement from the english premier league saying it would be business as usual this weekend, but the big turning point came late on thursday when arsenal released a statement saying their head coach, mikel arteta, tested positive for the coronavirus. i really had no choice but on friday, the premier league, to say that matches are now suspended until early april. we

know that arsenal, chelsea and everton a re know that arsenal, chelsea and everton are in isolation at the moment. callum hudson to the chelsea winger is the first premier league player to test positive for coronavirus. all elite football in britain is. the major leagues across europe as well, the bundesliga followed suit. there was some matches that were going to be played behind closed doors but thatis played behind closed doors but that is no longer the case. the big question now is when these games will be played. they were supposed to resume in april. think about the sorts of stories that are building. liverpool winning the first thing was premier league title in 30 years, there is some talk about perhaps having to go into the summer. but we have got to european football championships, of course, supposed to be played. uefa is meeting on tuesday and on the way for, the champions league and europa league suspended also at the moment. let's go back to the united states, where there are huge numbers of people who have no health insurance, and there is no requirement for companies to offer sick leave. aleem maqbool reports from tucson, arizona. this mobile clinic really is

just a drop in the ocean. trying to help at least a few of the many millions of americans who can't access healthcare. i have not seen any evidence that anything is going to be different with the coronavirus. for years and decades, we have been 0k as a society knowing that there are so society knowing that there are so many in our community who are uninsured or underinsured. and we have been 0k and we are going to pay the public health price because these individuals without access to garage going to get sicker, are going to spread the disease more frequently, because they are not getting access to care, getting isolated, diagnosed and treated. even americans who do have insurance often don't seek help because of the additional costs involved. we were getting sick a lot and taking my children to see their paediatrician, it is like $100 each visit. just for a check. and then to tell them, offer them to tell me, no, but they can't prescribe anything, that it is just can't prescribe anything, that it isjust a can't prescribe anything, that it is just a virus, can't prescribe anything, that it isjust a virus, go home and heal from that. as well as the

huge numbers of people across the united states who don't have any health insurance and the many more who, even though they do, are still worried about the cost of seeing a doctor, in border cities, there are millions of people who are afraid to seek medical assistance because of their immigration status. many have been here since they were children but still don't have us citizenship. some told us they were scared to go to a doctor. being undocumented, for sure, is hard in itself, just seeking medical attention, but then there is also the aspect of presenting yourself to the legal system, but they even have its medical facilities. you know, sometimes they have, you have to present to authorities and, like, that ru ns authorities and, like, that runs a risk of potentially being deported. added to all that, the fact there is no requirement in the us to offer paid sick leave and you have a

dangerous backdrop that could all exacerbate the spread of the coronavirus here. so we all now know that washing your hands and disinfecting surfaces is part of slowing the spread of the coronavirus, but have you thought about your smartphone? take a look. well, washing your hands is vital. if you're worried about germs on your phone you can clea n germs on your phone you can clean it effectively simple soap and water. hello, i'm a microbiologist at university couege microbiologist at university college london, and i'm going to show you how to clean your phone. unplug your phone, turn it off, and remove the case. all the major phone makers warn against using chemicals, handrails and abrasive wipes on your device, as this can damage the screen cosmic protective coating. dampen a microfibre cloth with water & household soap. gently rub the surfaces of the phone with the damp cloth. take care not to get moisture in any of the openings, because even water

resista nt openings, because even water resistant phones lose their protection over time. finally, dry your phone with a clean microfibre cloth. even just using soap and water can effectively remove bacteria and viruses from your phone, and we can viruses from your phone, and we ca n test viruses from your phone, and we can test that by using this little device and these swabs. the device gives a reading of relative light units, or rlus, which is a measure of microbial activity on your phone. the higher the number, the more germs are present. we tested all of these phones and their cases before and after cleaning with soapy water, and they were all significantly clean afterwards. 0n all significantly clean afterwards. on a surgical service we want to get a figure of 50 or less, and all of our phones or cases had readings lower than that. —— surface. if you have an iphone, apple says you have an iphone, apple says you can safely clean it with 70% alcohol as approval wipes, the kind you can get from computer shops or online. there are also devices you can use to sterilise your phone using ultraviolet ubc radiation. these shouldn't harm your device, but some phones or cases could be discoloured over time. just remember, with all

of these methods, as soon a student touch your phone, you are going to get germs back on it. so make sure you keep washing your hands regularly and thoroughly. that's it. this is bbc news. hello again. well, yesterday, what a glorious start to the day it was. most of us did have a lot more in the way of sunshine, and some stunning weather which pictures were sentin weather which pictures were sent in from scotland. you can see the snow glistening under those clear blue skies in the spring sunshine. it wasn't like that everywhere, though. we did have this line of showers but develops from merseyside down towards the midlands. that is where some of the heavier showers were during friday afternoon. and of course the skies look quite different. this was the scene in tamworth, as it turned pretty cloudy through the afternoon. and we had the heavy downpours and of course a few rainbows. the latest satellite picture, though, shows an area of cloudy standing in across england and wales. this weather front is weakening quickly because out in the atlantic we have a

developing low pressure system, and the developer it is really starting to take over. and what it means over the next few hours is that the rain, as it pushes east across england and wales, is fragmenting, becoming light and patchy, whereas further north in scotland there is still a bit of oomph to the rain as it comes in across western areas in the next few hours, and indeed they will be hill snow in scotland about 200 metres of elevation. the weekend is quite unsettled. it will be windy, some rain and sunshine as well. many of us will start on a grey note, although some sunshine quite quickly for northern ireland. eventually, as the patchy rain clears england and wales and later in the day for western scotland, we will see some sunshine coming through, then quite quickly, the next low pressure system comes in and thatis pressure system comes in and that is going to be feeding rain back into northern ireland. rain getting into western scotland, western parts of england and wales, as we and the afternoon. it will be mild and quite windy as well. through saturday night, this waterfront becomes quite slow—moving for a time across wales and south—west england. 0ver wales and south—west england. over the hills, we could see

around 30, maybe a0 millimetres of rain building up. it will be a very mild night, temperatures nine or ten for england and wales. cool the airfor scotla nd wales. cool the airfor scotland and northern ireland. malcolm on sunday, that meant a rain pushes east, but as it does so the front will be decelerating, slowing down, so really dragging its heels as it works into east anglia and south—east england. behind the front, the cool air extends in across many areas, so front, the cool air extends in across many areas, so feeling pressure. a mixture of sunshine and showers around, some of those showers around, some of the shah was happy with some hailand the shah was happy with some hail and thunder in those heavy ones for scotland. now, into next week, pressure rises towards the south of the uk, so the weather is becoming settled across southern areas, whereas further north we have got rain and showers in the forecast. something of a north — south split. in the south it is not just like it got quite mild, up to 16 in london. showers at times for the north. that's your letter. —— weather.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: president trump has declared a national emergency in the united states. mr trump said the declaration would give the government access to up to $50 billion in emergency funding. following his comments, share prices on wall street surged by almost 10%. the head of the world health 0rganization says europe is now the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined apart from china. a number of countries in the european union have said they'll close their borders to most — or all — foreigners because of the coronavirus. emergency legislation is being drawn up to ban mass gatherings in the uk — possibly from next week — in response to the worsening coronavirus outbreak.