this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 2: the health secretary, matt hancock, warns that measures to combat coronavirus will disrupt the lives of everybody and older people and those with health conditions will be asked to stay at home. the protection of the vulnerable and elderly by asking them to stay away, to stay at home, that is in our action plan, but we do not want formally to say yet that people should do that. british companies are urged to join a "national effort" to produce more ventilators and other medical equipment "at speed". supermarkets urge shoppers not to buy more than they need, saying there is enough for everyone if people are considerate. the foreign office advises

against "all but essential travel" to the united states after president trump yesterday introduced a travel ban on the uk. woman speaks spanish spanish police use drones with loudspeakers to tell people to go home. the foreign office advises against all but essential travel. hello, good afternoon. welcome to bbc news. the health secretary, matt hancock, has warned that the measures the government will take to combat the coronavirus will disrupt the ordinary lives of almost everyone in the country. he confirmed that in the coming weeks people over 70 and other vulnerable people would be asked

to self—isolate, staying at home and cutting down daily contacts. here are the day's other main developments: matt hancock said ministers would ask the nation's manufacturers to switch to the production of ventilators needed to treat people who develop severe symptoms. more doctors would be trained in their use. supermarkets in the uk are urging customers not to panic buy during the outbreak. and the foreign office has advised against all but essential travel to the united states, following the us government decision imposing restrictions on travel from the uk. the foreign office is also advising against all but essential travel to spain, and the balearic and ca nary islands. easyjet is the latest airline to cancel all flights to spain, beginning tuesday. ryanair is also limiting the number of flights to the country. here's our political correspondent nick eardley. for weeks now we have all been told to wash our hands more, but the government is increasing its response to coronavirus. already, if you have a persistent cough or fever you are to stay at home and new measures could be coming soon. many of them will be focused

on those most at risk, in particular the elderly. they could soon be asked to shield themselves from the virus by staying away from other people for months. protection of the vulnerable and elderly by asking them to stay away, to stay at home, that is in our action plan, but we do not want formally to say yet that people should do that, and the reason for that is simply this length of time that they would need to stay self isolated, stay at home, to protect themselves, it is a very big ask. it is a very long time. the scottish government says its plans for the elderly focus on reducing contact rather than complete isolation but soon families are likely to be asked to isolate together, too, if someone in a household show symptoms. engineers will be asked to produce as many ventilators as possible. the government needs more and has said it will buy as many as can be produced.

there are also plans to take over beds in private hospitals if the nhs comes under too much pressure. i think this response is going to be one of the biggest challenges that our generation faces. some questions are being asked about the response, though, including about the idea immunity can be built up by protecting the most vulnerable while others get a mild illness. ministers say that is not the plan, despite the government's chief scientist suggesting it was part of the approach. labour wants more information about how decisions are being reached. we do that not to undermine the government, because we want the government's strategy to succeed, but it is important we can all reassure ourselves the government is taking the right approach. the prime minister is holding talks with officials this afternoon. emergency legislation will be published in the coming days and new measures are likely to be introduced soon. our health correspondent

laura foster is here. good to see you again. let's start with what is being suggested will be in the announcement this week affecting people over the age of 70? this is something, they are using the phrase in the coming weeks a lot which could mean anything from this coming week to 4—5 weeks down the line. what matt hancock is suggesting is there will come a time when people over the age of 70, they are being classed as elderly, some discrepancies about what age being elderly starts and people who are vulnerable would be confined to their homes. you would still be able to visit them, as long as you are healthy and they were healthy but the idea is that when you visit you should maintain some distance. if you are in your house, you cannot catch coronavirus from anything outside your house. in terms of the practicalities of this, when it comes into force, and we do not know exactly when, certainly not know, there will be practical issues to resolve, like

how our elderly people going to get their feet if they are not able to leave their homes and people have got to limit contact with them? lots of people are already isolated from being older. there will be questions about how they get food and medication as well, particularly for those with underlying health conditions. you do not want to bring ina conditions. you do not want to bring in a measure like this too soon because it could be up to four months, staying inside, which is a long time. they are calling it fatigue, whereby if you bring in a measure to sin, people will say, this is not for me, i am out, i am fine. there is also the psychological impact ofjust staying inside but at the moment the government advises you can visit people who are elderly and vulnerable, but only if you know you are healthy. let's talk about a practical thing, the supply of ventilators. people might be surprised to learn that there are apparently only 5000 ventilators available. that was the figure earlier today. presumably

demand is expected to increase significantly because of the effective virus has on the lungs. it is too soon to say how significantly but that is what the government has been advised to do and to prepare for. there is an idea that you can stop elective surgeries, operations and so forth, thereby freeing up those machines to help others, but there are only 5000 at the moment but the government wa nts to at the moment but the government wants to build more. across europe, other countries are trying to do the same, so the answer is to turn to other manufacturers. within the country? within the country, but we have been trying to find out this afternoon how easy is it for engineers and manufacturers to switch to building something else and we will only get a clear picture of that once the government start speaking to all these organisations from tomorrow. what are we expecting to hear? we have got quite a lot of conflicting models of how to manage this,

different countries doing different things. we played an interview with the south korean foreign minister from the andrew marr show where she put the emphasis on testing. we do not have that emphasis, part from people who are already in hospital, but we are looking at social distancing, whereas austria is banning groups of more than five people collecting together which eliminates the entire social activity of the country. that is quite a range of options. the government says it is being led by medical advice but presumably these other governments are being led by medical advice as well. it is quite confusing? absolutely but with science, you can have the fa cts but with science, you can have the facts of the violence and how it behaves but you have to apply to the situation that is the country you are in. —— the virus. the cases in italy started in a concentrated area and overwhelm the health service in the north of the country. in the uk it has spread across the whole

country and that is having an impact in different ways. the government has a team of scientific and medical advisers and they are saying they are making the best decisions based on the science, and they will stop at nothing to stop the virus but going forward, it is clear we will be asked to do more and there will be asked to do more and there will be more changes than the ones we have already seen. thank you very much. i was just looking at something coming up on oui’ looking at something coming up on our wires, you will be interested m, our wires, you will be interested in, i know, as well as you're at home, the latest figures for scotland. the scottish government says the number of coronavirus cases has now risen to 151, an increase of 32 on the figure yesterday. these are the official figures the scottish government released daily around two o'clock. there have been around two o'clock. there have been around a067 negative tests in scotla nd around a067 negative tests in scotland so far, so an increase of 32 on the number of people infected

in scotland, taking it up to a figure of 153. thank you very much. to get more on the impact of the virus on travel, our correspondent, jenny kumah, is at heathrow. what level of disruption has there been? this is a difficult time for both travellers and airlines. lots of disruption, to and from flights from spain. this is as the foreign office advises against all but essential travel to the country which is the second worst hit by the coronavirus after italy. today we have had easyj et after italy. today we have had easyjet saying that from tuesday they will be cancelling flights for they will be cancelling flights for the rest of the month to spain and ryanair says it will reduce its flights to spain from midnight tonight to thursday midnight. there has also been disruption further afield. in the us, in some airports, they have introduced screening measures for people returning from

europe. this comes as the us has said it is extending its travel ban from europe to the uk, and the republic of ireland. this is also causing lots of concern to airlines who say that it will hit a number of vital routes to and from the usa. what about the help that is available for travellers whose flights are disrupted in this way clearly it is not the individual airlines making a random decision, there is clearly a reason why they are doing this, they are being informed by the authorities of how best to handle the situation. the spanish government has declared a state of emergency, not —— lots of reasons not to send people there, but individuals have had holidays and business trips disrupted, they may have to stay where they are, what sort of compensation can people expect? the advice is to contact the airline if you're facing disruption. they are putting a number of measures in

place. the airlines are saying this isa place. the airlines are saying this is a tough time for them. they are calling on the government to give them financial help. there was some concern amongst industry leaders that there were not any specific measures announced for the aviation industry. we understand that bosses from virgin atlantic will be writing to ministers tomorrow calling for financial help. the trade body airlines uk has said the government needs to do something because things are becoming quite critical. the government says it is working with the sector to provide support to workers, businesses and passengers. it says it is liaising with the eu commission to relax flight slots and it says the treasury stands ready to help all businesses, including the airline industry, that have been impacted by the coronavirus. thank you very much. let's bring you some other small but significant updates of what is happening at the

moment. perhaps the biggest announcement in the last few minutes is that germany is to close its borders with austria, france and switzerland from monday. that is being reported by focus online. a very dramatic move. a number of countries have banned visits from nonnationals, or people who are not legally resident normally. no tourists or business trips but this is complete closure of borders by germany which will take effect from tomorrow. the foreign office is advising people not to travel to myanmar. the british government says all but essential travel should not ta ke all but essential travel should not take place because of the risk of quarantine for british nationals arriving in the country. worth mentioning that the number of countries are looking at the option of force quarantine for anyone who lands in their country. australia is the latest example of that, a 1a day period in which anyone visiting from outside the country will have to be monitored to ensure they do not

develop symptoms in the course of that two weeks. something to bear in mind if you have holiday or business plans in australia in the next few weeks. the uk civil aviation authority is describing this as the most challenging period for aviation and package holiday businesses we have witnessed. underlying consumer desire for aviation and holidays is strong, they say, so they are hoping that once the pandemic is behind us, much of the normal business will return but they are obviously looking for support for the industry in the interim. in spain, where 288 people have now died, a state of emergency is in force. for the next 15 days, people will be confined to their homes, apart from going to work or shopping forfood or medicines. kathryn stanczyszyn reports. another european capital city almost deserted. spain has declared a lockdown, meaning people are banned from leaving home except for buying essential supplies and medicine, orfor work if they

can't do so remotely. authorities have decided to use drones to encourage those out on the street to return to their houses. schools are shut, museums and sports venues closed, and restaurants and cafes can only do home deliveries, a huge adjustment for society. a week ago, we were fine. we were all dancing, partying, out on the streets, and, within seven days, we are now confined to our homes, so this is something very serious to consider, and the spanish culture is to be outside, so it's very hard for people. the uk has advised against all but essential travel to spain, but british citizens there already are being allowed to fly home. with 191 deaths, spain is europe's worst—hit country after italy, with confirmed cases rising by 1500 injust 2a hours. italy has now recorded more than 1a00 deaths. it began a nationwide lockdown almost a week ago.

yesterday, there were coordinated outpourings of gratitude across spain and italy for health professionals battling the coronavirus. the state of emergency in spain will last for two weeks. it could be extended as the spread of coronavirus continues. kathryn stanczyszyn, bbc news. a couple of anecdotal stories out of spain, one of a british woman taking a neighbour's dog out for a walk and told by police to go home. leather case in a small village where people had booked to go to the local bar and the manager was going around knocking on doors telling people he was going to be shut down in accordance with the advice —— in another case. people are obviously concerned about the impact on the health. away from spain, other european countries are bringing in new restictions to combat

the spread of the virus. france has announced the closure of all public places that are non—essential to public life. that includes restaurants, cafes and cinemas. long—distance train, plane and bus travel is going to be progressively reduced over the coming days. local elections have taken place across the country today, although turnout is down by 5%. the austrian chancellor has announced that gatherings of more than five people are now banned. and the vatican says the pope will carry out the traditional easter week celebrations without worshippers because of the pandemic. several cruise ships are reported to be containing cases of suspected coronavirus. more than 600 british passengers are currently on board the braemar, which is off the coast of the bahamas. 20 guests are in isolation, having shown flu—like symptoms, after five people tested positive for covid—19. there are also 20 crew members who are isolated, including a doctor.

the foreign office is working with fred olsen cruise lines in order to help bring uk citizens home from the vessel. president trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, the white house has said. mr trump underwent a test days after hosting a meeting at his florida resort with a brazilian delegation, some of whom had the virus. the headlines on bbc news... the health secretary warns that measures to combat coronavirus will disrupt the lives of everybody, and older people and those with health conditions will be asked to stay at home. british companies are urged to join a "national effort" to produce more ventilators and other medical equipment "at speed". supermarkets urge shoppers not to buy more than they need, saying there is enough for everyone if people are considerate. supermarkets are urging shoppers to stop stockpiling

during the coronavirus outbreak. the british retail consortium is asking customers not to buy more than they need, as our business correspondent katy austin reports. queues outside supermarkets and shelves emptied of essentials like loo roll, hand wash and long—life foods show many shoppers have not heeded the official advice that there is no need to stockpile. people at this store in london felt there had been an overreaction. there's no nappies, toilet paper, nothing, nothing. so it's going to be a struggle. i think that somebody needs to put kind of a cosh on it and say, you can only take so much. it's a little bit over the top, frankly. one of my friends said, like, you've got to get bog roll, tea bags, and i was like, why? don't know, she's frightened me, so i've come out to get it all. supermarkets have had to adapt quickly by speeding up supplies, increasing warehouse space and they're running online delivery services at full capacity. they are also being allowed to extend their delivery hours,

but still many shops are limiting the purchases of the most in—demand products. here at aldi, customers are being asked not to buy more than four of anything. now they've written to customers, asking them to be considerate in the way they shop, telling them that buying more than is needed can sometimes mean others will be left without. shoppers are reassured, though, there is enough for everyone if we all work together. the risk is that we alljust buy that little bit more than we actually need, and, if we all did that, then that would cause more of a problem in terms of making sure that we've got the right supplies coming through the system. today's letter is a plea to all customers to stop panic buying for fear of overstretching the system and leaving the most vulnerable without what they need. katy austin, bbc news. we saw helen dickinson in that report, she is chief executive of the british retail consortium. thank you forjoining us. can you give us a sense of the picture being given

to you by your different members about what they are experiencing? what they are experiencing is a real pick—up in demand, particularly for certain products put they were mentioned in your clip, whether everything from toilet paper to pasta, rice, long life goods. the reason behind the letter that a number have signed today is firstly, to give that level of reassurance to the public that businesses themselves and all of the colleagues work within them are working very ha rd to work within them are working very hard to make sure that we have got what we all need. and to ask everybody to really be considerate and to only buy what it is we do actually need. because that will ensure there is enough for everyone. in terms of the practicalities in the weeks ahead, you have to

maintain your supply chains, you obviously don't know and no part of the economy knows how many people currently working in retail will be effected, the number who might be affected in terms of getting replacement supplies into shops and restau ra nts a nd replacement supplies into shops and restaurants and so on. in those circumstances, it is not entirely irrational what people are doing, because you can give assurance now and say everything is fine but you don't know any more than we do what the health consequences will be and the health consequences will be and the knock—on effect will be on retailers. we are already hearing retailers. we are already hearing retailers are saying we cannot meet home delivery schedules because there has been this uptake in demand. but it's a real dilemma for you and for customers? it is but i guess the reason for doing what has been done today is to request that, let's not make that situation any worse than it potentially could be. certainly at the moment, while there are shortages of some products,

there is plenty of food in the supply chains across the businesses. what retailers have been doing over the last few days and even the last couple of weeks is bringing more supply in, it is feeding into the warehouses and the distribution networks and those shortages are just in certain goods that we are seeing across some stores in some areas, in particular categories. but there is still fresh food, the supplies are good. there are lots of other things available, even if there is a shortage of some things. that is the point worth making, there are alternative product lines that people can use, their favourite might not be available but that is hopefully something else. and let me ask you, an area that might not be a specialist for you but your thoughts would be interesting given your range of members, but products are

airfreighted in range of members, but products are air freighted in rather than range of members, but products are airfreighted in rather than brought in by sea, so what are the concerns from your members' point of view that the airline industry is facing? most of the food we eat is actually grown and produced in this country. again, it is worth remembering that. it might be that certain products that are not grown or produced here, we will see a shorter supply of some of those but we just need to recognise that most of what we eat in this country is actually grown and developed here. helen dickinson of the british retail consortium, grateful for your time this afternoon and hopefully we will talk again but thank you for now. a group of voluteers is on a mission to ensure vulnerable elderly people confined to their homes by coronavirus in porthcawl are not forgotten. they aim to drop off essentials and offer emotional support over the phone to people in isolation, relieving some of the pressure

on local gps and the nhs. madeleine moon is one of them and joins us via webcam. meadow lane, thank you for speaking to us put you were probably looking forward to a long and peaceful retirement having done your time as an mp but where did this idea come from —— madeleine? an mp but where did this idea come from -- madeleine? actually two people had the same idea at the same time point i thought about it because i had done a lot of work when i was working in defence around resilience planning. and a local retired police officer and community activists had been thinking of it two streets away. we came together and we have had a fantastic response from meetings at the surgery, talking to church representatives, talking to church representatives, talking to church representatives, talking to the local veterans help. everybody is keen to do this and one of things we can do, it is take some

of things we can do, it is take some of the pressure off the supermarkets. we can have local volunteers, perhaps some of our younger citizens in the town, going to the supermarket and picking up orders and delivering them. we are setting up a system which we are trying to make absolutely safe and secure for people so that scammers cannot get in. because of course a lot of people will be knocking on the door what might be strangers and there is the potential for that to be exploited. there is and what we are saying is that there will not be any money transferred between volu nteers any money transferred between volunteers and the people we are supporting. for example, we will not be touching any of the restricted drugs. any pharmacy visits, where we pick up medication, it is going to be medication that it is safe for a volunteer to walk through the streets with and leave outside

somebody‘s house. we will not be doing interaction on a personal basis, it will be a case of a knock on the door, confirming your food is here, your medication is here, and then the person will back away while they see that the person receiving it picks it up so we know it has gone inside and will not be stolen. and presumably you're also encouraging things like phone contact, skype and things like that? it can be hard enough living on your own when you are elderly, and this will be that much harder with all the uncertainty and potential panic and people's general unease which is and people's general unease which is a natural reaction to an unpredictable situation like this? the important thing about this is it is not one person doing it. they are doing amazing stuff, because he has the technical expertise and people working with him doing that. we have people who are going to organise,

not volunteers roaming all about porthcawl, they are more likely to be people that you would know anyway. i am sorry to interrupt you, it's a great idea and more power to your elbow. i hope other committees will think on these lines and perhaps we will see a network of contacts developing a putter if people want to find you in the porthcawl area, how do they make co nta ct? porthcawl area, how do they make contact? we have a porthcawl response to coronavirus facebook page that kerry has set up and basically, what will happen is the surgery will direct people to us. thank you very much and good luck with that. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. see if it is any good for all those volunteers.

good afternoon, it is turning tool across the uk through the rest of the day and will be cold overnight. —— turning cooler. we have seen a band of cloud and outbreaks of rain which is struggling to push towards the south—east but it will turn wetter here and behind it, some sunshine breaking through but are still a rash of showers coming in and around 9 degrees by the end of the afternoon. we can see the back of the rain in the southeast later this evening and the north tend to fade away as well but it will probably be a bit more cloudy in northern and eastern parts of england. that should keep temperatures just above freezing but otherwise, with clear skies and light winds, we will have a frost with lowest temperatures in scotland. many of us start sunny on monday, cloud in northern and eastern england breaking up but increasing through the day in scotla nd increasing through the day in scotland and northern ireland as the wind picks up and we see rain coming in in the afternoon. in england and wales, probably dry enough after that cold start but a fair bit of

sunshine and temperatures of 11 or 12 celsius. you're watching bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines on bbc news: the health secretary warns that measures to combat coronavirus will disrupt the lives of everybody, and older people and those with health conditions will be asked to stay at home. the protection of the vulnerable and elderly by asking them to stay away, to stay at home, that is in our action plan, but we do not want formally to say yet that people should do that. british companies are urged to join a "national effort" to produce more ventilators and other medical equipment "at speed". supermarkets urge shoppers not to buy more than they need, saying there is enough for everyone if people are considerate.