welcome to bbc news, i'm simon pusey. 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 with this ever today 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 than were reported every day than were reported in china at the height of its epidemic. more european countries seal their borders — and the uk is thought to be drawing up plans to ban mass gatherings. and the pandemic wipes out most of the world's major sporting events — football, golf

and formula i all postponed. president trump has declared a national emergency in response to the coronavirus outbreak, with more than 17 hundred confirmed cases in the united states and 47 deaths. the move gives the government access to up to $50 billion in emergency funding. nick bryant reports. attention customers... 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've been completely misinforming people. what you're hearing has changed from one day to the next. he doesn't believe in science, for heaven's sake. could i say that trump's completely clueless? it's all about him. in the fragrant setting of the rose garden, he addressed what for many americans as the most he addressed what for many americans is 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's 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 we will — 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. our numbers are lower than just about everybody. but in the suburbs of america, a graphic reminder of where this superpower has fallen short — in testing for the virus. here in new rochelle, a hotspot on the outskirts of new york, they've 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. most likely. 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 to cut through regulatory red tape. but the criticism has been that he views this pandemic through the prism of november's presidential election, that he's worried about the impact on the economy, that he's worried about the impact on the markets, and he's worried about the impact on his chances

of spending four more years in the white house. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. i've been speaking to dr edourdo gomez — an expert in public health policy and associate professor at lehigh university's college of health in pennsylvania. he told me what he made of the efforts by officials to cope with the pandemic. well, i read the response as very slow and sudden. this has been a delayed response at the federal level, especially in the local level, to some extent. but now and escalated increase, a rapid increase in federal attention and funding to the situation. i think today's declaration of an emergency from president trump was a positive step forward in increasing awareness and providing assistance to the states. in general we started off very slow, but we have accelerated very quickly in federal attention to assisting the states.

how much parted public opinion play in today's ——how much has public opinion played in today's announcement on a public emergency? obviously the trump administration has faced a lot of criticism for acting too slowly. yes, public opinion has affected, in many ways, one is pressure on politicians, pressures on state governments, the washington state governor, for example, due to pressures, put a lot of pressure on the trump administration this week to make this announcement and go public. so i think it has played a major issue. i think as more citizens here find out the importance of this virus, how easily it is spreading among the states, the endless information on social media and the news, more and more pressure has been exerted on state representatives and on governors, and i think this week it finally came to a tipping point where this pressure did have an impact on the trump administration's announcement of a declaration of emergency. we're obviously looking at a national level. what are states doing to react?

america is a very big place and different states have different needs. sure, well, the states with the biggest needs, california and washington state, new york, weather most ——where the most cases have been, have been the most aggressive, in terms of closing schools, imposing quarantines, in new york, in new rochelle, bringing in the national guard to cleanse the area and provide services, providing a containment area, not a quarantine. i think we have seen the most aggressive movements in those states with the most cases, those three states. a lot of activity in other states, we are seeing social distancing initiatives. again, closing universities, schools, asking people to watch their contact with others, to limit their involvement in mass events or sporting events. you have also seen national sport associations close big events, national competitions, but i think most of the concentrated effort and resources, i mean, going to these three problematic states, california, new york and washington state, have had the most severe cases.

the world health organization says europe is now the epicentre of the global coronavirus pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined — apart from china. fergus walsh reports. 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. but 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. well, in the aftermath of some criticism of the measures taken so far in the uk, it's emerged that ministers are considering plans to ban mass gatherings, possibly from next week. our 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 science—led approach, but what they are

particular concerned about isn't the spread of the bar is a big public ——of the virus at 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. one country which has banned mass gatherings already is ireland. prime minister leo varadkar has 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 isjust 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 may be not if, but when it follows. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: how often should you clean your smartphone, and what's the best way to do it? we have all 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 billions of dollars of federal funds to fight the coronavirus. the world health organisation says the epicentre of the pandemic has now moved from china to europe, with 1,200 deaths reported in italy. the city of seattle in the state of washington is the centre of the coronavirus outbreak in the us.

we're joined from there now by a journalist on the seattle times, nicole brodeur. what is it like on the streets of seattle now? it is very quiet. we have everything but tumbleweeds. you can get anywhere very quickly if you wa nt to anywhere very quickly if you want to go, but nobody wants to. what are some of the local authorities been doing to help reassure people? do you think enough has been done to try to calm people down? well, the schools, the governor today closed all the schools statewide. the space needle is closed. restaurants are closing, 50 in the last week have either shut down or temporarily closed. they are laying off staff. it is a lot to ta ke laying off staff. it is a lot to take on in terms of people's income. lots of people are losing money, lots of money. berber drivers, everything you can think of, it is affecting people in a big way. —— uber.

obviously ordinary people being affected, but also the big tech giants of seattle. some big headquarters there, facebook and google et cetera. designers here. they are right down in south lake union. again, there's nobody there. everybody working from home. so you have a lot of, you know, the lunch trucks are shutting down, the restau ra nts trucks are shutting down, the restaurants are hurting. there is really nobody in the streets. it is a very strange place to be right now. given that seattle is heavily affected, what do people think of donald trump and the administration and their response to what has happened? well, i will say for television that it has been very slow. the response has been very slow. vice president mike pence was here last week meeting with our governor, jay ansley, who is really setting an amazing blueprint for how the rest of the country and even europe can deal with this. he hasjust

been strong and decisive and really great, while we're still waiting for tests. nobody can be, you know, the tests we are still waiting for, vaccines are under way, hopefully, so... we are not thrilled, but we can handle this. so do you know people, nicole, who think they have the symptoms for the virus but they cannot get their hands ona but they cannot get their hands on a testing kit? no, i don't know anyone personally, but i know anyone personally, but i know those people are out there. a lot of the healthcare workers have been tested, but in the nursing home where this whole thing started, some of those workers have not even been tested yet. so it is very frustrating for the families of those who are affected, older people especially, it is a very strange time. older people are shopping at three o'clock in the morning so they don't come into co nta ct the morning so they don't come into contact with anybody. it is really weird. sounds really surreal, nicole. that was

nicole broder of the seattle times speaking to us from seattle. 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. they 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 are in isolation at the moment. callum hudson is the chelsea winger who's the first premier league player to test positive for coronavirus. all elite football in britain is off. 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 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 english 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 uefa, the champions league and europa league suspended also at the moment. covid—i9 has spread to a number of high profile people including the hollywood actor tom hanks. some celebrities — including the castaway star — are using their platforms to spread the right message. freya cole has the story. # to think i'd lay down and die. # oh, no i will survive. a 19705 smash hit which has a powerful message for the world today and to take it one step further, gloria gaynor has transferred her words of wisdom into a social media challenge and it is going global.

# oh no not i, i will survive. people are mimicking her hand washing techniques to lower the risk of catching the virus. who knew, washing your hands could be so much fun? # as long as i know how to love, i know i'll stay alive. # i've got all my life to live... celebrities are doing their bit to spread the right message. tom hanks and his wife, rita wilson, had both been diagnosed with coronavirus and have told fans they are in isolation and taking one day to time. high profile government figures have also fallen ill. canada's prime minister justin trudeau is running his country in self isolation after his wife, sophie was diagnosed. the brazilian far—right president, jair bolsonaro has also announced his test results came back negative, after one of his close staff members had the virus. during such uncertain times, there is one sure fact — that this virus is

indiscriminate in the way it spreads and who it targets. freya cole, bbc news. 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? it's something we handle every day but how clean is it. take a look. well, washing your hands is vital. if you're worried about germs on your phone you can clean it effectively simple soap and water. hello, i'm a 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, hand gels and abrasive wipes on your device, as this can damage the screen's protective coating. dampen a microfibre cloth with water and 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 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 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. on a surgical surface we want to get a figure of 50 or less, and all of our phones or cases had readings lower than that. if you have an iphone, apple says you can safely clean it with 70% alcohol isopropyl wipes, the kind you can get from computer shops or online. there are also devices you can use to sterilise your phone using ultraviolet uvc 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 as you touch your phone, you're going to get germs back on it. so make sure you keep washing your hands regularly and thoroughly. you can get more information about that and all the coronavirus news available to you on our website, including this guide to the symptoms to look out for and what you can do to protect yourself. finally, on a lighter note — italians have found an alternative way to enjoy the time spent in the government—imposed lockdown. people up and down the country have taken to their windows and balconies, playing instruments, singing and clapping along to the national anthem, in an attempt to lift their spirits.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @sipusey. thanks for watching. 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 watch 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 that developed from merseyside down towards the midlands. that is where some of the heavier showers were during friday afternoon. and of course the skies looked 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 cloud coming in across

england and wales. this weather front is weakening quickly because out in the atlantic we have a developing low pressure system, and 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 there 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 that is going to be feeding rain back into northern ireland. rain getting into western scotland, western parts of england and wales, as we go into the afternoon. it will be mild and quite windy as well. through saturday night, this weather front becomes quite slow—moving for a time across 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. cooler air for scotland and northern ireland. on sunday, that 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 feeling pressure. a mixture of sunshine and showers around, some of the showers heavy 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's notjust dry, it will get quite mild, up to 16 in london. showers at times for the north. that's your weather.

he this is bbc news, the headlines:

president trump has declared a national emergency — giving the us government access to billions of dollars to tackle the coronavirus. the move relaxes regulations on the provision of healthcare and could speed up testing. wall street surged by almost 10% following the announcement. the world health organization says europe is now the epicentre of the pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world, apart from china. a number of countries in the eu say they'll close their borders to most or all foreigners because of the crisis. emergency legislation is being drawn up to ban mass gatherings in the uk, possibly from next week, in response to the worsening coronavirus outbreak. scores of major sporting and cultural events have been cancelled. there's more on our website — bbc.com/news. now in a few minutes it'll be time for newswatch,