this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at three... ten more people in the uk have died after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 21. plans to ban mass gatherings are being drawn up to curb the spread of coronavirus. the spanish government is reportedly set to put the country into lockdown in an attempt to control the virus. jet2 cancels all flights to spain, the balearic islands and the canary islands with immediate effect. some european union countries are to close their borders to most or all foreigners. and in half an hour, click will show you how to keep your devices coronavirus free.

good afternoon. ten more people in the uk have died after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the uk to 21. england's chief medical officer, professor chris whitty, said all of the latest to die were patients in "at—risk" groups. the rise comes as the government draws up plans to ban mass gatherings, in response to the escalating outbreak. the total number of cases in the uk now stands at 1,140. almost 38,000 people have been tested. elsewhere in europe, spain has announced 1500 new cases today. as a result, the authorities there have urged people to stay at home, unless they're going to work, buying food or drugs, or in need of medical attention. the airlinejet2 has cancelled all flights to the country and even turned planes back mid—flight earlier today.

holidays to spain organised through tui, which were due to begin in the next few days, have also been cancelled. several european union countries have now said they'll close their borders to most, or all, foreigners because of the coronavirus. they include denmark, poland, slovakia, czech republic as well as cyprus. and a ban on travellers from most of europe entering the united states has come into force. president trump indicated that the uk may soon be included in the measures. we've reports from around the world, but first this report on the situation here in the uk from our correspondent karen stanczyszyn. on your marks, get set, go! it's business as usual for these park runners in richmond, many across the country are still going about their weekend as normal. but the uk has moved into the next phase in its fight against covid—19, an attempt to delay the spread of the virus. so far that hasn't involved banning mass gatherings, but now the bbc understands the government is drawing up emergency legislation to take more robust measures from as early as next weekend.

the evidence tells us that stopping mass gatherings doesn't have a huge impact on the spread of the virus, but, for example, the decision has been taken in some countries because of the impact on public services and because when you have a mass gathering, that draws on the police and the ambulance service who need to support it. many sporting events are being affected — most football matches have been suspended and this weekend's six nations rugby is cancelled. the world health organization says europe is now the epicentre. there have been more than 1200 deaths in italy, which is still in lockdown. spain has declared a state of emergency, and this morning, airline jet2 announced it was suspending flights to the mainland, the balearic islands and the canaries. holiday company tui has also now cancelled holidays to spain that have flights leaving between now and monday. a ban on non—americans travelling to the united states from 26 european countries has also begun, with president trump suggesting the uk could be included very soon.

here, the advice remains anyone with a new, persistent cough or a fever must stay at home. and experts aren't immune from catching this virus. i thought when i became ill in the middle of this week, or last week, this must be corona because i'm very, very rarely ill, and i had, as many people who have got corona who are listening, a terribly, terrible sore throat, dry cough and a very high temperature. if you are ill, self—isolation is the best way to protect others. kathryn stanczyszyn, bbc news. kathryn's with me now, with more on the increase in the number of coronavirus—related deaths in the uk. a number of things are going on, we know there are discussions about what to do about large gatherings of people and the ruled might change on that but firstly let's talk about the update on the number of

fatalities, people who have died as a result of contracting coronavirus. this is an announcement from nhs england who say there have been ten more deaths due to covid—19 which brings the total number in the uk up to 21, from 11 yesterday, the largest amount in a day, doubling overall. we hear that out of those patients come at the age group is broadly over 60, one patient in their 60s, one in their 70s, five in their 60s, one in their 70s, five in their 80s and one in their 90s. two have not had the aegis specified but they were being cared for by nine different trusts across the country datum at their —— their ages. eight spread across the country. and a reminder that the virus is in almost all parts of the uk. and we are hearing about numbers in scotland increasing in terms of cases of coronavirus if not deaths,

36 more cases announced today their. the chief medical officer for england, professor chris whitty, said that obviously they were sorry to confirm this and offer their sincere condolences to the families involved in this difficult news. and the advice is the same, if you have a continuous cough that is new or a high temperature, please stay at home for seven days and this is the stage we are at, not necessarily a bad broader testing but people staying away from other people if they feel poorly. in a sense of the numbers become less important when you talk about the infection is spreading widely among the population, it is about how you protect the most people and particularly vulnerable people from being infected because others are still moving around perhaps unaware they have got it. absolutely and these are the sorts of questions being asked particular today because we heard yesterday that the government was not going as far as to say we should close all schools

and it was not banning all mass gatherings at the moment. what we are hearing now is that legislation is in the process of being drawn up to potentially allow that to happen, it may be at the end of next week or maybe from next weekend. the reason given for some of those more robust measures we are seeing in places like spain and italy is because medical experts, the government are saying that experts say are not quite there yet for the peak and they are trying to push this further down the line and flatten the peak as it comes. and creating a herd immunity, something where more people might have it but get rid of it again, is a good thing. 0bviously some are questioning if we should be going down the line being a little more robust about people not coming into co nta ct more robust about people not coming into contact with each other but it seems what the government is saying about emergency legislation and mass gatherings perhaps being put in is more about easing pressure. gatherings perhaps being put in is more about easing pressurem gatherings perhaps being put in is more about easing pressure. it helps the nhs manage it? if you have a lot

of ambulances or police on standby for huge events, they are not able to help with other things. that is what the government is saying the moment that we know that number 10 have had a meeting today but we have not heard anything from that as yet but we might get used later. thank you very much, kathryn stanczyszyn with that update. it is interesting, talk about the debate about whether to close schools. that is being held within the northern ireland executive. the first and deputy first ministers of northern ireland have been meeting leaders from the irish government, including the prime minister leo varadkar, to discuss a plan for responding to coronavirus on an all—island basis. the sinn fein leader, michelle ryan, who is deputy first minister, said that she thought they should be closing schools but that is not the policy of the northern ireland executive at the moment because it is in line with what the uk government recommends what is not closing them but the republic of ireland is closing schools. miss ryan was saying parents are asking why it is different here to one mile down the road over the border.

in a news conference after the meeting, first minister of northern ireland arlene foster explained the steps they have agreed. we have both moved from the contain phase to the delay phase and in this new phase there are a number of staged actions, some of which we have taken, some of which will be taken in the coming period. 0bviously all based on scientific and medical advice. whilst these actions will have a significant impact for a period of time on our daily lives, they are designed with one objective and that is to save lives. it has been very good today to hear the details of the particular medical circumstances in both jurisdictions and it is detail that informs the timing of our decisions. and our approach in northern ireland has served us well, but we are certainly not complacent. we are certainly not and we are continuing to take the expert advice that is provided to us in terms of the timing of everything that we do.

that was arlene foster, the first minister of northern ireland, speaking after a meeting with the irish government earlier. reports in the spanish media say the government there is preparing to put the country into lockdown in an attempt to control the virus. spain has more than 5,800 positive cases. guy hedgecoe is our correspondent in madrid. if this decision is taken imminently, it will come just a matter of a couple of days or even less since prime minister pedro sanchez announced the measures but only for areas hit hardest by the virus. that's right. there has been a big difference in terms of how hard—hit areas a big difference in terms of how ha rd—hit areas have a big difference in terms of how hard—hit areas have been across spain. the virus has spread across the country but that you mentioned the country but that you mentioned the figure of nearly 6000 infected but nearly half of those have been in madrid, in the city or

surrounding region put to other areas that have seen large outbreaks have been catalonia, the basque country in the north, but the measures talked about today by the spanish government would cover the whole country. this is a state of emergency being announced, it has only happened once before in modern spanish history. it's a very drastic decision but it means the government will be centralising police forces for example, the health care services, and it will be implementing these restrictions on movement of all spaniards right across the country. and in terms of the effect already of the measures announced by mr sanchez yesterday, what impact have they had? the government has said all along it will take several days after implementing any kind of measures before we find out whether they have been successful or how successful they have been. it's hard to tell so far. i suppose some of the most

drastic measures announced yesterday were, here in madrid, in the capital itself and surrounding region, bars, restau ra nts, itself and surrounding region, bars, restaurants, cafe is and many smaller businesses and shops have been shut down completely. small food shops and chemists are still open for example. but so far people seem to have responded, i suppose they feel they have to. madrid certainly is very quiet today, much more quiet than it would normally be ona more quiet than it would normally be on a saturday. people seem to be responding to these restrictions that have already been introduced. guy hedgecoe in madrid, thank you for the update. we will bring you that announcement when it comes, if it comes, as predicted. that should be very soon, from the spanish government about extending the locked out across the whole of spain. i'm joined now via webcam by professor david alexander. he is a professor of risk and disaster reduction at ucl, and also vice—president of the institute of civil protection and emergency management.

thank you for being with us. let me ask you firstly what you make of the way things are developing in the uk at the moment. we have this situation where we have decided not to implement, so far at least, measures to restrict mass gatherings. the republic of ireland has closed schools and imposed significant management controlled so presumably they‘ re getting significant management controlled so presumably they're getting the same medical advice so what the different policy approach? one thing you can say about the medical advice, much of it is based on assumptions about the spread of the disease which are based on parametric models. that is a model that is rather simple where you put numbers in and you get numbers out. the kind of numbers you get at the end depend on the numbers you put in at the beginning. that is why, for example, you heard the

assumption that they could be half a million deaths put if there were, they would probably include me but i don't think there will be. it's the sort of thing is a model will give you as a. the trouble is we don't really have the data to put into the models and therefore there are large areas of uncertainty in the prediction of how the virus will go. what were looking at and what we can say on the basis of the very recent past until now is that there are explosive and very rapid changes in it. really you have to be ready for those. i think the uk should have done much more and much earlier. what sort of things would you have liked to have seen by now?|j what sort of things would you have liked to have seen by now? i think banning mass gatherings is necessary. are not convinced it is in ineffective measure. let's bear in mind there are all sorts of different types of mass gatherings as well, plus we have to specify what we mean by banning mass gatherings. are we going to close

museums and art galleries? are be only talking about football matches? what is it? in any case, social distancing does appear to have some effect. it does not stop the virus but it does slow it down, it does possibly reduce the number of cases and the transmission rate and so on so it's worth doing despite the pain and difficulty and disadvantages it creates. but i just and difficulty and disadvantages it creates. but ijust correct an impression here? —— could i put it in this emergency there were not phases. there were no phases in the way the disease develops put if there are phases at all, they are in there are phases at all, they are in the response to it and therefore what the government does put yes, there might be phases in that but there might be phases in that but the disease itself is not subject to phases. and in terms of predicting at what point it will grow and how quickly it will expand and what proportion of the population be affected, you are saying that

whatever information you put in will affect the result you get in if you don't have adequate information you can't expect the models to give you an accurate advice on what to do? all these models are based upon assumptions that are often derived from previous events but one thing you can say about this pandemic it does differfrom you can say about this pandemic it does differ from others. you can say about this pandemic it does differfrom others. yes, it has a certain number of things in common with 1918, the great pandemic, and with 1918, the great pandemic, and with swine flu and sars, in 2003, but it's not the same it does not have exactly the same characteristics. therefore any assumptions based on previous events are likely to be, well, let'sjust say it debatable when it comes to this one. it's a very difficult art to predict exactly what will happen next. we therefore have to be proportional and adopt measures before they are needed, or perhaps more strongly than they are needed just to be sure we do not find

ourselves behind the curve instead of in front of it. about ten or 15 yea rs of in front of it. about ten or 15 years ago, we got very keen talking about resilience and i remember talking to a minister in the then government who was in charge of resilience. he said to me there was nothing more likely to cause you to wa ke nothing more likely to cause you to wake up in a cold sweat at night than worrying about whether you have enough places to put bodies in the case about major terrorist incident or outbreak of a public health emergency. he could not have envisaged what we are seeing now and as you said, some of the worst predictions will almost certainly not come to pass but presumably there are things that do have to be planned nowt so we are ready for when the virus becomes more widespread? —— planned now put at what sorts of things should we have been considering? what will those in authority have been preparing behind the scenes? i take issue with one thing you said, that he couldn't have envisaged at this point i believe he could and should have and might well have done because we do

have scenario development. a scenario is not a prediction of the future, it's an exploration of possible future outcomes, floral. in other words, the worst case, not so bad case, best case and anything in between. —— floral. we do actually know quite a lot about pandemics and what they do to the economy, people's psychology, the way that people behave, the medical side of it and so on and the health system. all of that, i trust it was fully explored the reason i'm not sure about that is because so much emergency planning in this country isa emergency planning in this country is a secret, or at least a part of it ourand is a secret, or at least a part of it our and therefore we don't get to examine even with the right credentials some of what is done. and only the vaguest and simplest parts of that really reach the light of day as far as the public and academics are concerned. but

scenario planning should enable us to understand these things quite clearly predict the impact of a pandemic is not unforeseen and not unexpected. professor david alexander, thank you very much for being with us, fascinating to talk to you. the headlines on bbc news... ten more people in the uk have died after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 21. plans to ban mass gatherings are being drawn up to curb the spread of coronavirus. the spanish government is reportedly set to put the country into lockdown in an attempt to control the virus. in sport, it's the first weekend of no premier league, afl or women's super league games in england and it isa similar super league games in england and it is a similar situation in scotland, wales and ireland —— efl put up the majority of national league football games are going ahead. the tokyo limpets will carry on, according to the japanese prime minister —— 0lympics pundit although he admitted the ioc would make the final

decision. and england's lady, as one south african open by one stroke. we are back with more on those stories at around are back with more on those stories ataround 5:30pm. clinical psychologist professorjo davies joins me now from bath. —— daniels. we were talking about the psychology with professor alexander a few moments ago, making the point about how people are dealing with the stress of the situation. can you talk us through that a bit? you must be watching most as a leaf case study, about how populations respond —— live case study. how they respond to disturbing news and get the balance about carrying on with normal life and preparing. you're right, it is a

very difficult balance to get. at the moment we are facing a global health threat which is triggering for most people a fight or flight response. we are all responding in a very fear —based weight, engaging in behaviours which we think will help us, like accessing sources of information frequently, notifications, just to reassure us when some of the things we are doing are making us feel more anxious. on that question of anxiety, you're saying that it's perfectly normal to feel anxious in a situation and we should not beat ourselves up for feeling a bit more on edge than we might normally do? absolutely, it's a very abnormal situation for us and in that sense we are responding in a very normal way. basically responding in a fear —based way to a situation that is a threat to us, really, a real threat which is uncertain and unfamiliar and spreading fast so it is very normal to feel worried at this time.

spreading fast so it is very normal to feel worried at this timelj suppose the other pirates we have is the one about information or misinformation —— the other virus. presumably that is a real problem with social media because every time you look on your phone or on your computer, or you watch a channel like this or listen to the radio, you are hearing so much information and being asked to makejudgments on stuff you need to retain and stuff to ignore. and that is perpetuating anxiety, because not all of us can draw a distinction between what is fa ke draw a distinction between what is fake news, useful news, which is why it's so important we reduce our checking of information and of the news coming in. we reduce notifications and ensure that we are only accessing reliable sources of information such as the bbc, impartial or nhs based websites. and not too many conspiracy theories, it won't make you feel better! and presumably won't make you deal with

the situation. but what tips would you give people? situation will clearly go on for some months, even ina clearly go on for some months, even in a best case scenario has it lasting until the summer. given this level of stress that might be sustained for that long, what is your advice to help us manage it apart from what you said about perhaps checking the phone a little less often and try not to look at places that will give us anxiety but no useful information? given we are inafight no useful information? given we are in a fight or flight response at the moment because of the health threat, there are ways to dampen that downpour that we need to carry on, where we can, with normal activity, maintaining perspective and we can do that through staying in touch with people. it's a time when people are isolating themselves a lot and we need to make sure we are keeping in touch and maintaining perspective. we have not become preoccupied. it's easy to do that but that will increase anxiety and

instead, shift focus onto pleasurable and meaningful activities. try to engage in exercise, that helps with anxiety and stress. and generally try to turn down the notifications and reduced checking of the information as it comes in. some very good advice. professor, thank you very much. good to speak to you. we will try to live up to your kind words about the bbc! the trade body representing uk hotels, restaurants and the hospitality industry has warned that large businesses are at real risk of collapse because of the coronavirus outbreak. uk hospitality has written to the chancellor asking for more support for what it called an "existential threat". our business correspondent katy austin reports. in eastbourne, on the sussex coast, businesses are worried. many depend on visitors coming to stay or locals eating and drinking out. but, amid coronavirus fears, customers are staying away. after a string of cancellations, takings at this guesthouse are down £12,000 on last year.

i'm very worried about what's happening at the moment. we live here as well, so if we can't pay our bills, which is a very stark reality going forward, what happens to our home? it's notjust a business, it's our home as well. next door, there's the larger york house hotel, one of a group of three in the south—east. bookings we are down 60%. we've got the money to carry on for maybe two or three months, and then we are out of money. and then what do we do? with paying staff? paying the vat? paying the veg man and the butcher, you know. we will run out of money. wednesday's budget promised billions to support the economy through the crisis, but in a letter to the chancellor that i have seen, the uk's hospitality trade body warns that support for small businesses with things like business rates and sick pay is welcome, but there is little for larger firms who employ the most people, and it warns the pandemic threatens their very existence without more government help. uk hospitality says the situation

for well—known high street cafes and restaurants and major hotel chains is increasingly serious. if nothing is done, put simply, these businesses will run out of cash in four to six weeks. they simply won't be able to trade because the bills coming through the door remain there and are so substantial, if they've got no income coming in, they can't sustain that drop in footfall and that drop in income. the treasury insists help will be on offerfor those in need, but businesses who rely on people physically turning up to spend money fear for their survival. katie austin, bbc news. people with disabilities and their carers are calling for more support from the government as the number of uk cases of coronavirus continues to rise. they're among the group most vulnerable to the effects of the virus and many say they're worried about who will care for them as the outbreak worsens.

jayne mccubbin has been hearing their stories. it's hard to avoid the fear, but what do you do when your loved ones rely solely on you? hello, dan. hello. tell me who's in this picture. 0k, in this picture is my wife, amy, and my daughter emily, who has spina bifida, hydrocephalus, and is a wheelchair user. i'm currently looking after both. but i love them absolutely both to pieces. love the stardust off them. but you're worried. but i'm very worried. because, as it stands, if i were to contract coronavirus who's going to step in and do the very personal care which both of them need? i can't leave it to a friend or neighbour, it has to be to a care professional, and, unfortunately, they are a very rare breed. right now there are over 120,000 vacancies in the social care system. what happens if a suggested coronavirus sickness rate of 20% hits? hello, liz. hi, jayne. tell me about your brother and your daughter. my brother and daughter both have down syndrome. elsa's 23 and she lives at home with me. and my brother lives around

the corner in his own flat with a 24/7 support team. this is why you're so worried. people are going to get sick. much has been said about the risk to the elderly, but there are other sectors of society for whom this outbreak is a huge concern. i mean, you're also worried because routine for your brother is so very important. i don't know how he'll cope when he can't do the things he loves. and they're just ordinary little things like going to the shops. he loves to shake people's hands. that's a bit of a no—no right now, isn't it? we're working on teaching him elbow bumps. the routines — change to routines could really upset his mental health. these are the many and varied consequences of a virus which, we're told, repeatedly, for the majority is no worse than the flu. this mother spoke to me anonymously about her five—year—old son who has a multitude of complex progressive health problems.

now, we tend to make a mini hospital at home these days so we'd only go in when we need intensive care. ijust don't think my child is going to be one of those children that would receive a ventilator if push came to shove. because there are so many other complications with your boy? yeah, so he's progressive and he's non—verbal. so there are lots of reasons for them to say "we won't bother with him". these are the heartbreaking fears surrounding children and adults with disabilities. lucy is a journalist within the bbc. she has spent many hours recently chasing detail from the government about its plans to help people like her who rely on personal assistance to remain independent. this plan emerged yesterday, suggesting volunteers could be drafted in to replace professional staff.

and detail is exactly what these people are so desperate for, before a crisis hits — not after. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello, a lot of cloud on the scene

today, we are