this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 4: 1a more patients who had tested positive for coronavirus in the uk have died, bringing the number of deaths in the country to 35. the health secretary warns that at some point in the coming weeks older people and those with health conditions will be asked to stay at home to protect them. 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 introduced a travel ban on the uk yesterday. man speaks spanish on loudspeaker. and spanish police use drones with loudspeakers to tell people to go home. the foreign office advises against all but essential travel to spain. good afternoon. the department of health has made an announcement in the last half an hour. 1a more people in the uk have died after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the uk to 35.

the health secretary for england, matt hancock, has warned that the measures the government will take to combat the coronavirus will disrupt the ordinary lives of almost everybody in the country. he confirmed that in the coming weeks people over the age of 70 and vulnerable people would be asked to self—isolate, staying at home and cutting down on contacts with others. the department of health says they will put out more guidance tomorrow on what social—distancing measures elderly and at risk people should take. here are the day's other main developments: in total 1,372 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the uk. that is people who have had a test on the test has been positive. over 40,000 people have been tested. the rest have proved negative. mtat 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. in the last hour, the chair of the construction companyjcb said

he had been approached to help by ministers. 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 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 its 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. household shows 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 correct 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 political correspondent jessica parker is here. good afternoon. we can start with what we do know. there will be some kind of announcement tomorrow about social distancing. do we have any

indication as to what parameters the government is looking at because some of the measures and other european countries have been pretty dramatic? yes, it is important to talk about the difference between social distancing and self isolation. obviously we have been hearing from the health secretary, matt hancock, the health secretary, matt hancock, the idea it was the over 70s, the vulnerable and elderly, there could bea vulnerable and elderly, there could be a move to ask them to self—isolate. social distancing is oui’ self—isolate. social distancing is our last radical step artisanal —— but it is about reducing your day—to—day contact with people in order to reduce your chance of getting the virus. we could get more guidance tomorrow. there is a cobra meeting tomorrow that will be chaired by the prime minister. we will expect some communication, perhaps further guidance from that. more broadly, looking at what has happened over the weekend, and there have been dribs and drabs of information, accusations it has

caused confusion, pressure is building on downing street to take more control of the communication. to make it more structured and predictable when you're going to hear from predictable when you're going to hearfrom them? exactly, so people know where they are on a day—to—day basis and to stop speculation because people are very worried and scared. understandably so, the death toll has gone up again, it is what has been predicted, no surprise in the numbers but every figure is an individual case, a family who have lost someone they would probably not have been expecting to lose, certainly not in these circumstances, and there are practical nor cons of every decision the government takes, if they were to say, like ireland, as pressure comes from sinn fein in northern ireland, shut the school is, there are kids who have to be looked after, probably at home, mum and dad are working, the grandparents are looking after them and suddenly you increase the risk of vulnerability.

no easy answers. if mum and dad are working or there are no grandparents, dear mum and dad have to stop working, and if they work in the health service, what impact does that have? there are a massive number of ramifications going forward. northern ireland is a particular case. there was a meeting between politicians in northern ireland and the irish government about cross—border cooperation but a difference of opinion as to when schools and colleges should close a northern ireland given that is happening in the republic already. they are only one mile apart in some places. that family down the road, their kids are not going to school, but it is fine for my kids to go? that is a difficult issue playing out in northern ireland and the republic of ireland as well. where some of this stuff started, overnight in terms of isolation for the over 70s, for vulnerable people, it was advice that came out from the

scientific advisory group for emergencies, a scientific group attended by the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser, they released information saying they thought the government would need to move towards shielding, the term that covers social distancing or people staying at home, a more radical step, but household isolation, that has been lost as well, household isolation being if one person starts to show symptoms of the coronavirus, the whole household stays at home and self isolates for a time. there is a logic to that and that has a massive impact. exactly, perhaps we'll hear from the government as to what extent they are moving towards that, emergency legislation is expected to be published as well, so there will be more clarity, but there is pressure for there to be more clarity. thank you. tens of millions of europeans are living under lockdown. in a moment, we'll look at the latest developments across the continent and be live with our corresopndent

in italy, but first to spain, where nearly 300 people have now died, and 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 streets 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. with191 deaths, spain is europe's worst—hit country after italy, with confirmed cases rising by 1,500 injust 2a hours. italy has now recorded more than 1,400 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. away from spain, other european countries are bringing in new restictions to combat the spread of the virus. in ireland, publicans in dublin's popular

tourist area of temple bar have announced a complete closure of all bars and nightclubs with immediate effect. it means the area, which takes in excess of 20 million euros a week, will be closed down for st patrick's day on tuesday. france has announced the closure of all public places that are non—essential to public life. that includes restaurants, cafes and cinemas. pharmacies and food shops are open. long—distance train, plane and bus travel is going to be progressively reduced over the coming days. local elections have taken place across france today, although turnout appears down by 5%. germany is to close its borders with france, austria and switzerland tomorrow. goods and commuters will be able to cross between the countries. in austria itself, where around 800 cases have been reported, gatherings of more than five people have been banned. the netherlands are set to take the decision to close all schools as it steps up its measures. and in the vatican, the pope will carry out the traditional easter week celebrations without worshippers

because of the pandemic. we will stay in rome. italy is the worst affected country in europe. more than 1,400 people have died there and 21,000 are infected. the country is in lockdown. sima kotecha is in the vatican city in st peter's square. it is quite a scene behind you. normally, especially on a lovely early spring day, on a sunday afternoon, not square with the fill of people. it must be a very eerie feeling? it is really bizarre. this is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world and it is eerily quiet. you have a couple of police cars, this whole section is barricaded with a metal fence and to my left, you have some dog walkers. the government says you can walk if you have a dog but you cannot walk

for no reason at all. the stringent measures are in place across italy, restricting movement, telling people they cannot move from city to city without good reason and you cannot walk, you can walk your dog, you can run, you can go to the shop, but if you want to stroll through here, for example, you cannot do that. more than 1400 people have died across italy from coronavirus. more than 21,000 have been infected. it is a dire situation, more debts here than anywhere else in the world apart from china. some medics arrived from wuhana from china. some medics arrived from wuhan a couple of days ago, they are advising doctors in rome about how to treat coronavirus at a hospital. they are hoping they can help with the situation. there is a major frustration among some people because they cannot move around freely. these measures have been in place for almost a week, not like spain where they have just been enforced. they have been going for a

few days and people are still adjusting, trying to get used to the fa ct adjusting, trying to get used to the fact that it is not everyday life. bells toll. that is charming. you can hear the bells, but many parts of italy and the square are not as they once were. all those tourist destinations around europe, significantly reduced in terms of numbers, and questions about the long—term economic impact of that, but in terms of public a cce pta nce of that, but in terms of public acceptance of the measures, the few italians you have been able to meet out on the streets, what is the sense? are people accepting this, are they resentful, do they believe the arguments being advanced, are they waiting to see if there is an easing of the numbers of casualties, the number of fatalities and new infections, what are they hoping to hear? the prime minister's approval ratings have gone up since the

measures were in place so perhaps thatis measures were in place so perhaps that is an indication of people accepting what he's doing. we have seen the rate of growth of infections go down in the past couple of days so perhaps a sign that the measures are working but also perhaps slightly premature to make an assessment on whether they are being effective. from the probably dozen or so people i have spoken to, there is a mixed reaction to what is happening to point at some are very frustrated, they can't live their daily lives, visit the elderly for example because they are concerned they might infect them. others are just accepting it and saying that this is how it has to be, and this is what we must do. to beat the infection. as i said, there are some medics and doctors from china here, advising the italian doctors and they are saying that the two key things that must happen to defeat coronavirus are early isolation and early detection. and if italy can do those two things and

other countries can follow suit, coronavirus will be eliminated. sima kotecha in vatican city, we will see you back safe and sound i hope soon. our correspondent, jenny kumah, is at heathrow. she updated me on the disruption to services and passengers. this is having a huge impact, in particular flights to and from spain have been hard this weekend. a number of airlines have announced that they will be either reducing flights to spain, or stopping them altogether. for example, rya nair today said they will be reducing flights from midnight through till midnight on thursday. we also had easyj et midnight on thursday. we also had easyjet saying that they will cancel flights for the rest of the month from tuesday but running a normal service until then. they say they will be operating a number of return

flights. further afield, more disruption is anticipated as the us government has said it will ban travellers from the uk and the republic of ireland, and that comes into force in the early hours of tuesday morning. today we have heard that the foreign office is advising against travel to the us, in all but emergencies. a lot of airlines very concerned about the impact this is happening also on their businesses. particularly with those flights to the us being vital routes to their business. jenny kumah, one more foot ifi business. jenny kumah, one more foot if i may while we have you —— one more thought. about any possibility of compensation for travellers. a lot of people will end up having to spend extra money, particularly those currently abroad, and cannot actually get home at the moment.

what sort of help might be available for them? it very much depends on the airline and your insurance policy so advice is to check with the airline. they will take their cue from the foreign office. if the advice is to only travel in an emergency, you will need to check, if you do travel in an emergency, if your insurance will cover you for that. the airlines are saying in the meantime that they are struggling and calling on the government to offer them financial support. today the trade body airlines uk has called on the government to stop its prevarication and bean counting. the government said it is working with the sector to support workers, businesses and passengers and they say they have done things like influence of the eu commission to relax flight slots and they said the treasury stands ready to help all businesses, including the airline industry, impacted by the

coronavirus. jenny kumah fair at heathrow dealing with some technical problems so our apologies at that —— about that. us airports have been thrown into chaos as new coronavirus health screening measures for people returning from mainland europe come into force. long queues formed as travellers waited for hours for the screenings before passing through customs. the uk government is advising against all but essential travel to the united states. that is even if you are able to get there on a flight departing from somewhere else. president trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, the white house says. mr trump underwent a test days after hosting a meeting at his florida resort with a brazilian delegation, some of whom had the virus. several cruise ships are reported to have cases of suspected coronavirus. more than 600 british passengers are 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 headlines on bbc news... fourteen more patients who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the number of deaths in the uk to 35. the health secretary warns that at some point in the coming weeks older people and those with health conditions will be asked to stay at home to protect them. british companies are urged to join a "national effort" to produce more ventilators and other medical equipment "at speed". supermarkets are urging customers not to buy more than they need after numerous reports os shoppers stockpiling. our business correspondent katy austin has more. 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. one of the big questions that came out of the interview with andrew marr and matt hancock was mr hancock saying the government will ask the nation's manufactures to switch to producing ventilators which are not currently made in the country at all, because they are needed to help treat people with severe coronavirus symptoms. dr maxjonas is a consultant in intensive care medicine at the university hospital of southampton. earlier, i spoke to him by phone and i asked him to explain the importance of a ventilator. about one in 20 people

who are infected with the virus will require some form of enhanced critical care, and some of those will need help breathing and that is where the ventilator comes in. the ventilator is just a sophisticated device for helping gas getting into the lungs and helping it to get out as well. were you at all surprised by the figure that was announced today that, at present, the uk has about 5,000 ventilators available? it does not surprise me. we have not been in this situation before. 5,000, for what we would be currently using them for, would probably be a surplus but of course the situation has changed because we have a virus that attacks the respiratory system in people that need intensive care, so we are short and we will need to do something about that. i do not know if you can answer this question but i will put it to you and you can tell me pretty sharply if you cannot. is it possible for manufacturers

of other goods of this kind, basically electronically operated, but have a certain number of moving specialist parts, is it possible for them to turn to production of this because my understanding is, and correct me if i'm wrong on this, that there is not a domestic manufacturer of ventilators? there is not a domestic manufacturer but i imagine that certain manufacturers in the uk can make parts. all the ventilators that i know, and i have been to several production lines, they are built on a production line in germany, switzerland and america and they have parts from other countries that are bolted in in a production line fashion. the important thing is to go back to the 1940s, the 1950s, the uk led the way in creating bits of equipment, including the east radcliffe ventilator, and they got round problems by putting sturmey—archer bicycle gears into ventilators. there is innovation. you can do that. if you look at the manufacturers

quoted, rolls—royce, jbc, etc, they make systems for delivering gas into aeroplanes, which is how we fly at 30,000 feet, so they have experience and hopefully, given the blueprint, they can produce something that is as rugged as a jcb and as luxurious as a rolls—royce. that would be a good combination if they get it that way round! can you talk about management issues in terms of hospitals and gp surgeries in particular, for dealing with what is likely to be an excess number of cases, rather than what would be the case forjust flu? everybody has pointed out that this is very different to flu because, from a human race perspective, we are naive to this. we have not seen it before so our immune systems aren't there for it. i think the important thing about all of this, and i know that there are political aspects and people saying other things,

it is to have one clear voice. my confidence comes from the fact that chris whitty is a genealogist used to dealing with infectious diseases. he will be told by history but he's thinking very carefully and we could not be in better hands if we are going to get it right. that is the first thing. we have got to recognise also the nhs is only part of the issue. it is also down to the population not only relying on the nhs, but the nhs will rely on the population. they have got to do the things that make it safer — isolating if they have symptoms and washing their hands, and all the things that have been communicated on a daily basis. the other things, we will have to see how it develops but i am hopeful, if the strategies which chris whitty and his team have sorted out, we will be able to decrease the peaks to allow us to spread this out. that is sketching out to some extent where we might be going.

the journey we are on is one that lots of people would find difficult to grasp because we do not get these kinds of major public health emergencies in this country that often. what sort of advice are you offering friends, patients, about how to mentally deal with what is going to be a long period of heightened stress? that is a really good question. i find it difficult. i am over 60 and i have other issues so i am in a higher risk group myself. my view on this is, if we are sensible and we work together, and a lot of people have compared this to world war ii and the blackouts, we need to work together as a country, which is really important, we need to help ourselves and help others, but what i think is important is you socially distance yourself if you're worried about contact and you are in a higher risk group, and by that i mean more than two metres. you wash your hands frequently if you touch things which you have picked up, and just the basics

like that will reduce the number of transmissions. we are still not entirely clear about this virus and its transmission mode, but i believe that if we are sensible as a population and actually work together and do not panic buy and do all the things which are inevitable because of the anxiety raised by the communications to date, i think we will get through it, and i really feel that the message, especially to the elderly because i have seen publications out there, the nhs will do everything we can to adapt and overcome and have a bed for any patient that comes through and i think if chris whitty gets it right and we follow his advice and do not have political sort of interference, actually we will get through this. max jonas talking maxjonas talking to me from southampton earlier. with football matches off, panic—buying taking place, and fears of increased pressure on the nhs, coronavirus is affecting us all. but it's also brought out a great deal of community spirit,

as alexandra mackenzie has been finding out. they sing at this london nursery, children are learning that washing their hands is important, but it can also be fun. they're filming a music video with a specially composed song about hand washing. they want to encourage families around the world. excellent! i think it's important to wash your hands because then you will get all the germs in your hands and you will get ill all the time. wash your hands to get off the germs. there is germs spreading around because people are sick. so to avoid the germs you have to wash your hands. the message seems to be getting through to these youngsters. washing our hands often helps us slow down the spread

of covid—19 and other germs. if i can save the lives of one child, if they are going to see ourcampaign, and the importance of it, then i would be so happy. here in stenhousemuir in falkirk, it is the elderly who are being looked after. shop owners jawad and asiyahjaved have spent around £2,000 of their own money on hand sanitiser, wipes and masks for some of the older people in their community. david, this is for you and your wife. i'm concerned because of my age, but i also think the job they're doing is magnificent. whatever age we are, the next few weeks are likely to bring a great deal of uncertainty as covid—19 tightens its grip across the uk. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. as skies clear and winds drop there is a frost on the way

for many parts of the country tonight. we have still got some rain to clear away from southeast parts this evening. the showers that are following tend to die out, but the cloud will probably move south away from scotland into northern england and eastern england and that should keep temperatures above freezing but a frost more likely elsewhere with the lowest temperatures in scotland. many will start dry and sunny on monday. the cloud even breaking up across northern and eastern england but the cloud will increase in scotland and northern ireland as the wind picks up and we see some rain moving in during the afternoon but still dry in the afternoon for england and wales after that cold start with some sunshine during the day. temperatures up to around 11—12 degrees. we move the story onto tuesday and the rain that was in the north will be much lighter as it heads into england and wales but it returns as some heavier and steadier rain into northern ireland and western scotland. for eastern parts of england, thanks to a south—westerly wind, temperatures could be as high as 14 or 15.

hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: 14 more patients who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the number of deaths in the uk to 35. 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 introduced a travel ban on the uk yesterday. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's karthi. good afternoon. it's been a strange weekend for sports fans with most professional sport called off. premiership rugby is now considering a 12—week suspension of top—flight rugby due to the coronavirus outbreak. a special meeting will take place tomorrow when clubs will discuss a range of potential next steps, including a four—week suspension as well as continuing to play until government advice on mass gatherings changes. the pro14 competition has already been suspended. ferrari has suspended its formula one team operations and closed its car factory until the 27th march as a result of coronavirus. in a statement, the company said it has taken

the decision to protect its workers. ferrari is also experiencing serious issues with its supply chain which can no longer allow for continued production. other f1 teams are still working for now, despite the uncertainty over when the season will start. netball‘s superleague is the latest league to postpone fixtures due to the pandemic. matches were played yesterday, but the three remaining games due to be played tomorrow have all been called off. the league's board and all clubs will meet on tuesday to consider options for the rest of the season. the wife of arsenal manager mikel arteta says he's feeling fine after contracting coronavirus. lorena bernal added she sympathises with people suffering from the disease and those who have lost loved ones as a result of it. in a social media post she explained arteta's symptoms were relatively mild. my my husband is feeling fine, he is well. it is true that he had

symptoms of a virus, but those symptoms of a virus, but those symptoms would have never stopped him from going to work in a normal situation. he would havejust him from going to work in a normal situation. he would have just taken ip proven paracetamol and he would have gone to work so really, it is nothing major. —— iburprofen. some temperature, some headache, but that is it. police have today confirmed that jan vertonghen‘s family was held at knifepoint during a burglary that took place while the player was on champions league duty with tottenham in midweek. the belgian defender was in germany for the second leg of spurs' last—16 defeat against rb leipzig. men wearing balaclavas forced their way into the house while his wife and children were inside, stealing a number of items before leaving. metropolitan police are appealing for information. rugby league's super league is continuing, with castleford hosting champions st helens. the latest score is

castleford 14, st helens 4. they are adjusting to the second half. —— just into the second half. meanwhile, the rfl chief executive, ralf rimmer, says leeds could face punishment for cancelling their game at catalans dragons after one of their players showed symptoms of coronavirus, which subsequently was shown to be a negative test. yes, it is a possibility. we spoke with leeds at some length this week oi'i with leeds at some length this week on that particular issue. we have applied to guidelines which the government has asked us to observe and leeds took a unilateral decision not to travel to that fixture, so that willjust not to travel to that fixture, so that will just follow not to travel to that fixture, so that willjust follow due process i'io. “— that willjust follow due process i'io. “ process that willjust follow due process no. “ process now. leicester riders have won the women's british basketball league trophy for the third year in a row. they beat durham palitinates by 70 points to 66 in a replay of last year's final, thanks to a game high 23 points by match mvp sara hinriksdottir. if you're lookning for some live sport today, you can watch the men's trophy final between seven—time winners newcastle eagles

and semi—professional solent kestrels on the red button and the bbc sport website now. it is finals day at the all england badminton championships in birmingham and it is viktor axelsen of denmark who has been crowned champion for the first time in the men's singles. axelsen, who is the world number seven, beat the top seed in birmingham, chou tien chen, in straight sets to become the first danish winner of the men's title since 1999. very emotional about it, too. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. thank you. some latest news from the netherlands which says it will close schools from monday until the 6th of april. that ban will be extended with bars, sports clubs, shops and coffee shops being shot from tonight. the dutch prime minister

will address the nation from tomorrow. in the uk, the battle has risen to 35 after 14 more people died having tested positive for the virus. the health secretary says people aged over 70 will be asked to self—isolate in the future in order to shield them from the coronavirus. he was speaking on the andrew marr show on bbc one. let's listen again to the full interview. i'm joined now by the health secretary, matt hancock. welcome, matt hancock. it is good to be here. you were here two weeks ago and when we were speaking then 36 people were infected in britain and nobody had died. what do you think of the situation two weeks hence? so far we have seen over 1,000 people affected on the formalfigures. we think the figure is higher than that. much higher? that is right. sadly now we have seen over 20

people have died and we are working round the clock to protect life and to keep people safe, in particular to protect the vulnerable and those who are most vulnerable to this disease, the elderly and people with pre—existing health conditions. it is a 24/7 effort. when we spoke a couple of weeks ago, some people were surprised at the extent of the measures we were saying we were prepared to take, that we set out in the action plan. no longer. now people are saying these are the sorts of measures that we need. on thursday at the press conference, we were told around 10,000 people were probably infected. what is your guess about that number now? it will be a little higher than that. we can see the number of infections is rising and that is why we are moving through the action plan to take the further steps that are needed. we have always said that we will do

the right thing at the right time and guided by the very best science. they are the bedrock of the whole response and to do so as transparently as possible, answering whatever questions people have. in transparency terms, is it accelerating now? are we heading towards an exponential part of the growth? on thursday the chief scientific officer was saying we were four weeks behind italy. is that the case? we do think it is accelerating and we expect the numbers to rise. thankfully that rise so far has been slower than in other places in europe. that is in large part down to the amazing work of public health england and the contact tracing. but of course we want to beat this virus and stopping it would take some quite extraordinary interventions that you don't normally have in peacetime.

i think this response is going to be one of the biggest challenges that our generation faces. the sort of measures that are needed are simply not the sort of things that you normally have to contemplate. let me ask you about some of them. there has been a lot of talk, and you mentioned the elderly earlier on, and quite soon anybody over the age of 70 will be asked to stay inside their house for up to four months. is that a realistic thing to do? 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. 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's a very big ask. it is a very long time.

we do know that if you ask people to do this sort of thing, then they can tire of it. we know it has negative impacts and real negative impacts. sorry tojump in, it is notjust all of those millions of people staying inside their houses, it is also presumably anybody who is caring for them. there are five million carers in this country, 600,000 people caring for someone with dementia, but there is no point asking them to stay inside their houses, unless they are taking the same measures for those bringing in food and helping them change their beds and so forth and bring in other people. you have got to make sure that if people stay at home they get the help they need. that will notjust be the social care system, we are putting a huge amount more extra cash into the social care system, but it is not so much about the money it is about having the people. we will need a massive community response. lots of others will have to shield themselves as well.

millions of us will have to stay inside our houses for four months. how long before you say this has to happen? that will be in the coming weeks. next week possibly? i will not go into any more detail on the timings because we want to be ready to say that when we judge, based on the scientific advice, that the time has come. but we will be taking further measures. really the plan is to try to bring the number of infections down and try to bring the nhs capacity up. the nhs capacity that we need is very specific. i know there is a debate about the funding of the nhs in the past. frankly, the fact we have got the most numbers of doctors and nurses at the start of this is a good thing, but the nhs capacity that is needed is very specific because this is a respiratory illness and we need

ventilators and we need the people who can operate them. we have been buying up ventilators since this started. just before i come to ventilators, on older people, a lot of people will be watching this programme wondering, should i visit my elderly relatives, my parents, my grandparents, and a lot of carers wondering for how long can i visit these people in this house? what is your advice? they cannot wait for ever, they need to know what to do. our advice is very clearly if you have a symptom, no matter how mild, then you must stay at home, both to protect yourself, but also to protect others. this is the central message, alongside the message of washing your hands. those are the two things that right now we are asking people to do. who will look after these people? who will look after sick people, particularly older people staying at home? this is what we need, both the formal social care system and the whole community to do.

getting through this will be a national effort. i don't mean those words lightly. every single person in this country will be affected, they will have to do things. this is the great dilemma. say there is somebody living in the same street as me and they are elderly and isolated, and they need care and help. do i go in to help them or not? if you are healthy, yes. risking getting the disease myself? and then spreading it? sorry, if you are healthy and they are healthy, please go and help them. there are ways you can help without yourself getting infected. the infection comes if you are within two metres of somebody, but making sure that they are ok, making sure that they have got the food they need if they cannot go out shopping, these things are critical, and you can do that without risking infection yourself. are you going to ban

mass gatherings? clearly, in our action plan, that is one of the steps we can take. the government said on thursday this was not necessary and could be counter—productive, talking about football matches and so forth. the fa went ahead and pulled them anyway, and lots of people are wondering should they go to a local club, gym or pub or whatever, and people are looking for advice from the government about what kind of gatherings they should now avoid. yes, i understand that and we will do the right thing at the right time. what we are doing is changing the law and we will publish the bill this week coming. we will change the law so that we take the power to be able to close mass gatherings if we need to and take other action that you just normally would not, but we might have to in order to respond to this virus. do you foresee a time when we will follow france or spain and close all restaurants, bars and other shops

beyond pharmacies and supermarkets? we have not ruled that out. we will do what is necessary, because the top priority is to protect life and you do that by protecting the vulnerable and protecting the nhs. that is the goal. we have got our plan, we set it out in public a couple of weeks ago. we are approaching this with the maximum possible transparency, including there is now a website and where all the infections we know of have been. the really difficult decision is to what extent you try to control the spread of the disease, allowing it to spread but at a rate that the nhs is able to cope with. or, as some other countries have done, the exponential rise is so great, throw everything at it, close all the schools and gatherings, close the tube and transport system, close the borders. you have not taken that decision, but that in itself is a bit

of a risk, isn't it? the goal is to protect life and the measures we take have to be sustainable and making sure they are sustainable is a critical part of deciding when you bring them in. but we will stop at nothing to fight this virus. i think people have got the impression otherwise, we will stop at nothing to fight this virus. like many other countries in the world, and i am talking to other health ministers and medical officers around the world, we are taking the steps that we think are necessary for our country right now. i welcome the debate. i don't mind having a debate about it because every time i hear somebody talking about it, i listen and i try to find out if there is something we have not thought of and something that we need to consider. all that matters, all that matters, is getting this response right.

and you talk about extraordinary measures we would not normally be discussing, you said that several times. are we talking about the police on the streets? soldiers on the streets? arresting people who are sick and not self—isolating ? are we talking about closing borders and the airports? we will take the powers to make sure we can quarantine people if they are a risk to public health, yes. that is important. i doubt that actually we will need to use it much because people are being very responsible. people need to be responsible. there are some areas where i think people really need to think about the impact on others of what they are doing, making sure that if you are buying food and loo roll, you buy what you need because there is an impact on others. you don't hoard. the food supply and security, we think that is strong.

but we have got to make sure that everybody acts responsibly. one of the great controversies has been the so—called herd immunity issue. sir patrick vallance, the chief scientific adviser, said on thursday, that you want some immunity in the population, we need immunity to protect ourselves from this in the future. a lot of people can understand that, but is allowing this to spread to achieve herd immunity in any way government policy? herd immunity is not our policy, it is not our goal. our goal is to protect life and our policy is to fight the virus and protect the vulnerable and protect the nhs. that is what we are doing. of course there is a scientific debate around scientific concepts, but i want to be absolutely crystal clear that we will do what is necessary to protect life. some people heard this idea of herd immunity and thought, it is ok for young people to get this disease and pass it

on and become immune. no, because the consequence of the infection rate rising too fast is very clear and that is why we need to bring the infection rate down at the same time as doing the work to increase the nhs capacity especially in the areas of most need like ventilators. let's talk about these ventilators, who will build them? car—makers will be asked to make them, for instance? yes, and specialist engineering. we have high quality engineering in this country and we want anyone with the manufacturing capability to turn to manufacture of ventilators to do that. that in itself is like a wartime measure, turning over all manufacturers to specific things. i suppose even if you get tens

of thousands of new ventilators around the country, you still need lots of new nurses, i think five nurses per ventilator plus doctors who take eight years to be trained. do we have anything like the medical staff of any kind to run this? yes. they say you don't. i was going to explain how because of course we have the number of doctors we have, we want to bring people who are recently retired back into service and for instance release doctors from some other duties and get them back into the health service, but also the clinical needs that people have when they are suffering from coronavirus are very specific. it's about ventilation because it is a respiratory disease, so we will be stopping some other activity and asking doctors who normally do other things to re—train to use the ventilators.

and you can do that quickly enough to have effect? we would do it as fast as we can. a bit like the manufacture of ventilators. we are not saying there is a maximum amount we want to do because if we have enough ventilators for the uk, other places around the world need them too. is it possible some elective surgery will have to be cancelled? yes, of course. and is the nhs going to open other facilities, like lombardy in italy? they are looking at hotels and putting in effect emergency hospitals. yes, some people are saying should you build a hospital. actually we have seen many hotels are empty so we have ready built facilities for looking after people, but the critical thing is they need oxygen supply and the ventilation equipment, whether it is invasive ventilation orjust the mask on your face.

so what matters is notjust the space, it is making sure the equipment and the trained staff are there as well. there is a massive effort going on to make sure that capacity is as much as possible. what about army field hospitals? i am open to all options, but the current plan, the current area where we need most people is actually the people and the equipment. the physical buildings are there. many hotels around the country are currently empty, and we have hospital buildings. so for instance, one of the first things we will do is turn operating theatres that normally would be doing the sorts of operations that in this emergency can be delayed like hip operations. they have oxygen supplies in them because they are operating theatres, and they can be turned into wards. that's one of the examples

of the ways we can change the nhs because the specific needs of this disease are now clear. matt hancock talking to andrew mark this morning. time now for the weather. hello there. it is going to be turning colder tonight, it is probably going to be the coldest night of the next few. we are seeing cooler air coming down across the uk. we have also had a few weather fronts on the scene. this one here has been bringing some outbreaks of rain towards the south—east of england. behind it, the cooler airfollows as we change the wind direction from a south—westerly to a north—westerly. for many of us, we are seeing the cloud beginning to thin and break, but we will get clearer skies arriving overnight. we lose the rain in the south—east of england. the showers that are following behind that become fewer, largely becoming dry but probably an area of cloud moving down from scotland into northern and eastern parts of england, and that should just about keep temperatures above freezing. elsewhere, clear skies and light winds, there will be a frost, the lowest temperatures are likely to be in scotland. for many, tomorrow will start sunny, the cloud breaking up across northern and eastern parts

of england, but increasing through the day in scotland and northern ireland as the wind picks up, and through the afternoon, some rain moves in as well. into the afternoon, it is still dry for england and wales, quite a bit of sunshine around. after that cold start, temperatures could get as high as 12, perhaps even 13 degrees. the weather front bringing the rain into the north—west on monday is going to hang around over the next few days. it is going to get so far, then it stops, then we will see the rain coming back in again. this is the picture on tuesday, with the weak weather front bringing more cloud into england and wales, perhaps a little rain and drizzle, and then returning as thicker cloud and steadier rain into northern ireland and western parts of scotland. for eastern areas of england, it may well be dry for most of the day and because we are getting more of a south—westerly wind returning, those temperatures could be higher, at 14 or 15 degrees. milder air to the south of that weather front, colder air to the north. that weather front will bring rain overnight, tuesday night into wednesday morning. heaviest overnight because as the rain moves southwards, it becomes very light and patchy.

it is mainly over the hills, but there will be more cloud around. colder air comes down across the northern half of the uk, some wintry showers in northern scotland, but ahead of the weather front, although there is more cloud towards the south—east of england, temperatures may reach 15 or 16 degrees. but probably only briefly. the week ahead is all about this rain arriving in the north—west, stacking its way southwards. ahead of it, some mild weather around the middle part of the week and later on in the week, it does get colder once again everywhere.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 5pm: 14 more patients who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the number of deaths in the uk to 35. 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 tojoin a national effort to produce more ventilators and other medical equipment at speed. supermarkets urge shoppers not to buy more than they need,