welcome to bbc news — i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories: spain orders residents to stay at home unless they're buying essentials or going to work. the prime minister's wife is among a surge in coronavirus cases. france ramps up its response — restaurants, cafes, cinemas and nightclubs and all non—essential businesses have closed. more than 200 scientists write to the uk government urging it to introduce tougher measures to stop the spread of the virus. and we look at the impact coronavirus is having on religious practice around the world.

hello and welcome to bbc news. european countries are continuing to take extraordinary steps to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus. in spain, it's been confirmed that the wife of spanish prime minister pedro sanchez has the coronavirus. this report from rich preston. governments across europe are under pressure to act now to limit the spread of covid—19. public gatherings of and in most shops and businesses are closed. cafe is and restaurants will only be able to carry out home deliveries. the next two

weeks, people have been told to stay at home unless they are going to work or buying food or medicine. the wife of the spanish prime minister pedro sanchez, pictured here with a husband last year, has tested positive for the virus. on the streets, cheers of support to help stop going to work in caring for the sick. at the stroke of midnight, sweeping new restrictions came into force across new restrictions came into force gci’oss france. new restrictions came into force across france. public places described as non— essential forcibly shut including cinemas, days and night clubs. the traditional french bistro an integral part of the country's cultural identity closed. more than 90 people in france have died of coronavirus and authorities say this is the only way to prevent mass fatalities. translation: i am aware of the efforts and sacrifices that are required

but i have confidence in the ability of frenchmen and women to understand the seriousness of the moment and to adopt together pacific responsible and supportive behaviour that will enable us to overcome this crisis. -- specific. italy remained europe's worst hit country with over moo deaths. its national lockdown has been in place for nearly a week but the number of cases and vitality is keeps rising. on friday, the world health organization said europe was now the presenter of the covid—i9 up work, a virus which started in china and in ten weeks is spread around the world and killed thousands of people. —— outbreak. richard preston, bbc news. around 13 million people living in metropolitan manila in the philippines are now under strict new rules set by the government to slow the spread of covid—i9. president rodrigo duterte's lockdown comes as the country confirmed it has 111 cases of the novel coronavirus resulting in 8 deaths.

howard johnsonjoins us from manila. i could see behind your checkpoint run by the police. this is a checkpoint on the southern tip of metro manila, this city of some 13 million people. two days ago, president rodrigo duterte announced there would be a lockdown on this city to try to stop the spread of covid—19. today we are seeing it enforced. we saw an exodus of people leaving the city prompting questions about whether it was a good idea to have these two days to allow people to leave, perhaps they could spread the virus around the country. that's the question being asked but we are seeing police officers handing out these leaflets with all the advice about washing hands and social distancing and also testing people's temperatures on this checkpoint. if they are

not showing a temperature above 38 degrees, they are allowed to pass, noting where they are going to but it seems contrary to the idea of having a lockdown on the city, people are being allowed to leave here today unless they have symptoms of covid—19. today unless they have symptoms of (avid-19. and howard, the of covid-19. and howard, the country has confirmed it has 111 cases of the virus, doesn't it? what happened around a month ago is we saw the first three cases in this country. this is the country where we saw the first death outside of china and there was a month where nothing much really happened. people here lulled into a sense of security and then in the last week, we've seen then in the last week, we've seen the numbers spike up to 111 as you say, the number of deaths here as well which is causing concern and the fear is there has been underreporting due to lack of testing, not enough test kits here in this country. last week, 2000, they are buying in more test kits and being more proactive with

the testing rather than waiting for people to come with symptoms, to display those symptoms. that's what's being going on here. there is concern the numbers could rise here in the numbers could rise here in the coming weeks. what about closing bars, restaurants, clu bs, closing bars, restaurants, clubs, things we've seen in major european cities and countries. there is a document going around this week from the government, there will be cu rfews in government, there will be curfews in places in parts of the city from 8pm till 5am in the city from 8pm till 5am in the morning. no mass gatherings, no cinemas, no screenings allowed anymore. shops will be allowed to sell food and on line services to get the goods to people but there is a restriction of movement in this city and if there seems to be an out rake in an area, that area will come under special lock down and an even tighter lockdown in the particular area. they will put all of their resources into working out where the accused

and people will be quarantined in their homes and we will see tougher measures of movement in those areas. howard, thank you very much. in the united states, the white house doctor says president trump's test for coronavirus has come back negative. a letter released to the media explained the president agreed after having an indepth discussion with his doctor and that it was a week after he met with brazil's president, some of whose entourage had tested positive. meanwhile, as the country tries to limit the spread of covid—19, a first death has been recorded in the southern state of louisiana while georgia will suspend its presidential primaries from this month until may. our washington correspondent, jane o'brien, reports. a new sense of urgency in the us, as more than 500 additional cases are confirmed and the death toll rises to 50. testing is being ramped up, and for donald trump, it has become personal. facing criticism after being exposed to an infected person

several days ago, he says he is now being tested. after a slow and at times mixed response, americans are reeling from the disruption to their lives. many are stockpiling food and medicine and confronting social restrictions. museums has closed and gatherings are limited. there are few economic safety nets in the us, and millions of americans have no health insurance. lawmakers have passed emergency measures offering paid sick leave and free testing. most people without symptoms, or asymptomatic, aren't being tested, and could still be spreading the disease. until you really understand how many people are asymptomatic, and asymptomatically passing the virus on, we think it's better for the entire american public to know that the risk of serious illness may be low, but they could be potentially spreading the virus to others. the impact is perhaps being felt most in the cities, which are starting to empty. the administration says there are no immediate plans to restrict domestic travel,

but the president says it is being considered. in such a vast country, that would have been unthinkablejust a few days ago. but this is the new reality, as america shuts down. joe lombardi is managing director of dailyvoice.com, an online news platform in new york state. he told us what the latest developments are in the region. unfortunately, today in new york state we had our first two fatalities related to the covid—19 outbreak. an 82—year—old woman in new york city, who had emphysema. she had been hospitalised on march 3, and then she died on friday night, last night. and then this afternoon in the hudson valley,

about a0 miles north of new york city, another woman, this one 64 years old, she had died on thursday. well, the report came back from the medical examiner this afternoon that it was, indeed, of covid—19. and the rockland county executive, the county in which the woman had died, has said it is time to take more severe local action. he is going to work through the weekend and make an announcement on monday at one o'clock. we don't know if it could involve quarantines or what it might involve, but he is taking this very seriously. so what's been done so far and is there a sense amongst people that that it is enough? yeah, well, no. they definitely don't feel that way. there's a lot of anxiety, there is a lot of panic buying at the supermarkets. and that's a whole other issue in itself, because they're making a big point about social distancing, which is very important, they're making a big point about not having gatherings of more than 500 people in new york state, of more than 250 people in connecticut, but you have people cramming into the supermarkets, bumping

into one another, and i was talking to a town supervisor in westchester and he basically said a sneeze is a sneeze, whether it happens in a movie theatre, a broadway show, a supermarket, so that situation really needs to be managed. what the big issue was was a lack of testing. now, finally, they're getting to the point where the people who needed to get tested, people who have symptoms, people who have been in contact with others who have tested positive, are now being tested and that's why we're seeing the numbers going up, up, and right now in new york state we are at about 600 and a majority of them are in westchester county and new rochelle, immediately north of new york city, due to community spread covid-19. so the big thing right now is they just started in new rochelle a mobile testing unit, basically a drive—through testing unit. you call, make an appointment, if they agree that you need to be tested you show up. you don't have to get out of your car so you don;t have

to go to a doctor's offers if you have symptoms, and then they will get those results. and they were hoping to test 200 people the first day, which was yesterday in new rochelle, and ended up doing 300. they are going to roll out another mobile testing facility on long island. most of the cases in new york have been in the metro area, new york city, westchester, and long island. and what about president trump and how he has been dealing with this crisis? of course, he's changed very much the way he has spoken about covid—19 over the last couple of weeks. how are people on the streets feeling about him and how he is dealing with things? honestly, he has been very, to say the least, uneven, inconsistent, came out and called the virus a hoax. and then he said later i didn't mean the virus, in the media coverage of it. and then vice president pence, who has been charged with kind of leading a taskforce on covid—19, really convinced him that an oval office

address, the first of his presidency, was necessary and there were a couple of times he went off the teleprompter and made some inaccurate statements they then had to clean up. and the stock market, as you know, went down dramatically right after that address. but, honestly, there's so much going on right now. i know from new york and connecticut, working very closely, the focus is really on the governor, governor cuomo in new york has a daily briefing at 12 noon. i think one of the main things is to be out there and communicate. he takes dozens of questions from reporters. now, nationally, they have caught up with that, vice president pence is having daily briefings. but, really, right now, people are looking within their own communities for leadership. and as you know, with an outbreak like this, every community is different. we really saw that in new rochelle. i mean, new rochelle is as bad as anywhere in the country,

probably worse than anywhere in the united states. and so i think folks really are looking for the governors and their community leaders, supervisors, to really take charge. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we look at the impact coronavirus is having on religious practice around the world. 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: spain has introduced a 15—day state of emergency as it's also confirmed the wife of the spanish prime minister has tested positive with coronavirus. all non—essential services have closed in france as part of strict new measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus. in the united kingdom, more than 200 scientists have sent a letter to the government criticising its coronavirus strategy.

there are over 1,100 confirmed cases here, and 21 deaths but prime minister boris johnson hasn't closed schools or introduced travel restrictions. big public gatherings are still allowed and there is no advice to work from home. people with mild symptoms won't be tested but instead are being asked to stay at home. sophie hutchinson has more. on your marks... get set... go! a large group of runners out today, keeping fit, but the question is for how much longer? concerns about the coronavirus mean the government may ban mass gatherings. it is understood the measure could be brought in as early as next week in order to free up emergency services to deal with the virus. the evidence tells us that stopping mass gatherings does not 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, it draws on the police

and the ambulance service who need to support it. today, the death toll in the uk jumped, almost doubling from 11 to 21 patients. all those who lost their lives were in the at—risk groups, aged over 60 with underlying conditions. there are now more than 1,100 confirmed cases in the uk. one of them is a newborn baby and its mother, but officials believe the true figure could be as many as 10,000. the world health organization has raised serious concerns about the uk's strategy to allow enough people to be infected with the virus who then recover, in order to build up so—called herd immunity. meanwhile, hundreds of scientists have written to the government, urging them to introduce tougher measures to stop the virus spreading and warning of the risks of a lack of action, and other experts agree. the uk government response has, in my view, placed the country at a considerable higher risk of becoming the next domino to fall in the series

of outbreaks we have seen around the world. just remember this — if you cut your number of contacts in half, then you have cut in half the number of opportunities the virus has to transmit. if everybody were to do that, there would be a chance of slowing the infection to the extent you would not be overwhelming the nhs. do you know the (national anthem plays).? do you know the (national anthem plays). ? shall we do you know the (national anthem plays).? shall we sing it? the government has announced it is developing plans for more new ventilators to be produced as quickly as possible and said the nhs will buy up beds in private hospitals to boost capacity. it has insisted its approach is the best way to keep the public safe, and stressed those with a dry cough and a fever should self isolate. more now on the spanish government's decision to impose a national lockdown to try to control the spread of the coronavirus. that development coincided with news that the prime minister's wife and two female cabinet ministers tested positive for the virus after taking part in an international women's day march in madrid last weekend.

miguel murado is a freelance journalist in madrid and he told me more about how the country is responding to the crisis. in the last 48 hours there has been talk of people understanding these in the wrong way, as if it were a holiday, going to the coastal towns in spain, spreading the disease. unfortunately. buti think this is going very quickly and people are beginning to understand, i think, a majority of people understand now the seriousness of the threat and the fact that the numbers are going up and the numbers are going up and the decisions made by the government are so the decisions made by the government are so harsh, i think will convince whoever is not convinced yet that they have to take care of themselves. and of course the wife of the spanish prime minister has tested positive for coronavirus, having been on a huge demonstration last sunday. i mean, that is pretty big news, isn't it? yes.

this is going to be controversial because that huge demonstration on sunday, because of women's day, was seen by many voices who were warning that this was a mistake, that those demonstrations are typically very big in spain and that many people could get infected. the government allowed it to go ahead — and even encouraged people to join in the demonstrations, and even sent all the female cabinet ministers to the head of the demonstration. and now, as it happens, two of those female ministers have tested positive and now, the wife of the prime minister, who was also at the head of the demonstration, has also tested positive. so this is, in a way, a blow to the credibility of the government. also, it means that the prime minister will have to be quarantined. but i think more generally, and leaving aside all these debates and controversies, it shows us how far the virus has gone. and the fact that people —

you know, that people that are famous are getting it in such huge numbers, it means that it is already everywhere. and how about you on a personal level? how worried you about what is happening in spain right now because i imagine the way of life is so different and everything is so different right now and so difficult so many people. well, i am... i am one of these convinced that it is important to stay at home and those of us who have small children, it is a little bit more difficult and i have a four —year—old does not understand what is going on and wa nts to understand what is going on and wants to play in the street and of course i tell him he cannot. i have been reporting from workplaces so i am —— war zones so workplaces so i am —— war zones soiam no workplaces so i am —— war zones so i am no stranger to curfews but this is an eerie feeling and of course curfews in war zones are a terrible thing but in this case, the fact that you don't see the danger that the danger is anywhere, the people who you cross in the street and

ca rs who you cross in the street and cars for example could give you a virus and that anything you touch could get you infected. this is a very, very strange feeling. and one that i have not experienced. i am not worried about myself, i am worried about myself, i am worried about my family and my mother who was an elderly person. these other people i think we should be most worried about because for most of us, hopefully, it will be the milder version, the milder symptoms of this that we will suffer. but for some people, it is extremely dangerous and we have to take care of them. the coronavirus is also having an impact on religious practice around the world. pope francis is delivering his wednesday and sunday addresses only via video link, churches and mosques in bethlehem are closed for at least the next two weeks, and the saudi arabian government is restricting access to the holy city of mecca. our religion editor martin bashir reports.

fanfare. easter sunday last year, and more than 100,000 pilgrims gather in rome. bells toll. but the church of st peter, which for centuries has welcomed saints and sinners, is now closed, and it may stay that way this easter. so what of the catholic church in england and wales? if we here, in this country, are asked to close churches for the celebration of mass, i will say yes, people should not come to mass. but yes, the churches should remain open so that people can go and pray, and yes, i will ask priests to continue to celebrate mass, even if they do it on their own. and everyone was singing along to all the songs... the church's wider ministry is also being impacted. for almost 65 years, the hosanna house and pilgrimage trust has taken disabled children to lourdes in france every easter. it is the catholic church's

oldest and largest pilgrimage, but it is not happening this year. it was very difficult having to pick up that phone and having to ring a family and explain the reasons why the pilgrimage wasn't going to be taking place. for a lot of these children, this could be the first holiday they have ever had. for the families, this could be the only respite care that they receive. coronavirus does not discriminate, and for muslims, the hajj pilgrimage to mecca, which attracts over 2 million pilgrims in july, is also now in jeopardy. qari asim, an imam in leeds, is preparing worshippers for potential disappointment. as a person of faith, i believe that my god wants me to not only protect my own self, but also protect the lives of others. and if that means postponing a particular obligation due to circumstances beyond my control, then i am following the message of god, you know,

by not performing that particular religious obligation. back in rome, the annual delivery of flowers from the netherlands used to decorate st peter's on easter sunday has been cancelled, signalling the possibility that, for the first time in modern history, this year's open—air mass will not take place. martin bashir, bbc news. there's is, of course, more on the global pandemic on our website. there's background and analysis, including this guide put together by our data visualisation team, giving you all the latest facts and figures on different aspects of the outbreak across the globe. check it out on bbc.com/news. also, if you have anything to

say to me or my team, you can tweet me. keep it clean! i'm @bbcmaryam. hello. well, the weather's going to be a little hit—and—miss early on sunday morning. some of us will need our brollies, for sure. but it won't be long before the sun comes out and actually, for many of us, sunday is going to end up being a pretty decent day with at least some sunshine. now, currently a weather system is barrelling across the uk. it has brought rain to scotland and some other western parts of the uk, certainly through the early hours of sunday morning. you can see the rainfall here falling across parts of wales, the south—west of england, and scotland and northern ireland too. but two different wind directions. one coming across the north across scotland, so here it's colder. also a little bit of wintriness across the highlands. here, the winds are blowing out of the south—west, so it's quite a bit milder. so i think a mild start to much

of england and wales, but scotland and northern ireland will feel a little more chilly early on sunday. now, you can see the various areas of rain crossing the country, so this is a weather front that will bring some rain around lunchtime in the south—east and east anglia. showers in scotland, but the vast majority of the uk sunday afternoon enjoying a fine day. it won't be clear blue skies, but at least the weather is looking dry and bright. now, monday, two things happening on the weather front. on the one hand, we've got high pressure building in from the south—west. on the other, there's a low pressure lurking close to iceland. but the high pressure will be more dominant across the uk on monday, and early scenes outside of town probably looking something like this, so some mist, some frost around. crisp, sunny, calm conditions on monday. certainly across england and wales, across much of eastern scotland too. but early in the morning, we'll start to see weather fronts affecting — or a weather front affecting — western scotland and northern ireland here, and stronger winds. so very different weather here. but the vast majority of the uk, i think a fine day

on monday, beautiful sunshine on the way. and then, monday night into tuesday, that weather front‘s going to slip a little bit further south. in fact, it's trailing out into the atlantic here, and there's another sort of pulse of rain running along it. so that does mean that we're expecting some rainfall to reach, again, north—western areas during the course of tuesday. perhaps a bit more cloud overall across the uk on tuesday. i think the sunniest spots will be in the south and in the east, but look at these temperatures. these are south—westerly winds, 15—16 degrees tuesday for some of us. monday and tuesday will feel like spring. and then, towards the end of the week and into next week, it's not necessarily going to turn that warm, but the winds will die down, the sun will come out, and we will have a high pressure, with crisp weather on the way.

this is bbc news. the headlines: spain's prime minister, pedro sanchez, has banned people from leaving home unless they need to buy essential supplies and medicines or to go to work. it comes as his wife maria tests positive for covid—19. the country is europe's worst hit state after italy. france has brought in strict measures after seeing a sharp rise in infections. prime minister edouard philippe has ordered bars, clubs, cafes a nd restau ra nts, cinemas and most shops to close. as many people as possible are being asked to work from home while schools will close from monday until further notice. the united states has added britain and ireland to its flight ban on european countries as it tries to limit the spread of covid—19. vice—president mike pence says internal travel restrictions are being considered.