good morning, welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. our headlines today: tougher measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis will be considered by the prime minister at an emergency cobra meeting — they could include banning mass gatherings, new measures for older people and isolating households. as the international response intensifies, germany is partially closing its borders. new york and la are shutting bars, restaurants and other public venues. preparing our workplaces

for coronavirus. i will have advice to you if you are staying the pandemic continues to effect sport. rugby union's premiership is set to be postponed for up to three months while horse racing across britain is expected to close it's doors to fans. a cold start for some, a frosty start as well. england and wales dry with sunshine and then the win is strengthening in scotland and northern ireland. more details in 15 minute top story. it's monday the 16th of march. our top story: the prime minister will discuss new measures to tackle coronavirus at an emergency cobra meeting. it comes as efforts to keep the public informed are being stepped up. borisjohnson will hold the first daily news briefing today, following criticism from opposition mps over the government's handling of the crisis. the number of people who've died of the virus in the uk has risen to 35, an increase 01:14 in 2a hours. simonjones reports.

this is something we are now going to be seeing on a daily basis. the prime minister and senior ministers supported by scientific and medical experts holding briefings following criticism that there has been a lack of transparency over plans to stem the spread of the virus. many admit they are anxious, particularly after the government said over the coming weeks, everyone over the age of 70 could be told to stay at home, potentially for a period of months. it's just scary and straightaway it scares my husband and yes, because he is in that age bracket. i don't fancy being locked away for a few weeks. ahead of today's news conference, there will be a meeting here at the cabinet office of the government's emergency cobra committee. that will look at the next steps for shielding the vulnerable and elderly from the virus and whether mass gatherings should be banned. there will also a phone call involving leaders of the g7 nations in which borisjohnson will urge them to put more money and expertise into speeding up the development

of a vaccine. among those to have lost their lives is retired police officer nick matthews, who was 59. he previously suffered a heart attack. his wife described him as her soulmate. and jez martinez‘s 78—year—old grandfather died at wickham in buckinghamshire. she said he had tested positive for the virus. it was very shocking. obviously we are grieving. there's been a lot going on, as we've seen. the testing has been stopped but now the worry is for the rest of my family and everybody else that may go through this. to ease demand on the emergency services, the scottish government says gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled from today and head teachers, feeling the pressure, will meet the education secretary to discuss their concerns. british holidaymakers have been facing a battle to get home after countries like spain went into lockdown. this was a scene at the airport in tenerife. and in the us, the race

is on to get out before transatlantic flights are grounded. the stress levels have changed, been feeling very, very anxious and just really wanting just to have the security of getting on that plane and taking off. the sense of uncertainty has meant panic buying in the shops is continuing. it's clear that daily life will not be normal for some time to come. simon jones, bbc news. we can speak now to our political correspondent, iain watson, who joins us from our westminster studio. we know there will be these daily briefings. that is quite a change, isn't it? yes, the opposition will be pressing for daily press briefings with the prime minister andindeed briefings with the prime minister and indeed when he is not present, other senior ministers. the government said they were always going to do this at some stage well, that stage has certainly come now. they have been under criticism as well for appearing to be out of step with response to some other

countries. they had meeting with deputy chief officer does make chief medical officer on friday and they said they wanted more answers and greater transparency from the government. it looks like they will publish some of the underlying assumptions behind their strategy on friday because they have been following the signs. as you are mentioned, there was going to be that cobra briefing as well. what do they expect to come out of that, first of all, a definition of what a mass gathering would be. as scotland, they have set it at 500. at massachusetts, 25 stop the governor has defined that and —— the government has to define that. they will have more advice for the elderly and vulnerable but we are not expecting that to be them staying at home and self isolating for several days. we are getting daily press briefings and you can also see that in international spots —— response is required, hence boris johnson will be speaking to the leaders of the main industrialised

nations this morning. strict measures have come into force across parts of europe to try to limit the spread of the virus, including the closure of schools, shops, and businesses — as well as the sealing of borders. the number of infections has risen sharply — with italy, spain and france all recording their highest death tolls in a single day. rich preston reports. across europe, the lives of millions of people have come to a standstill. their movements restrict dead. everyday activities halted as successive governments try to contain the virus. spain is coming to terms with the dramaticjump in the number of fatalities. an additional 97 over the weekend, bringing the total to over 280. hospitals are at capacity. those deemed not ill enough are sent home. the prime minister pedro sanchez has declared a two—week state of emergency. people are told to stay at home unless leaving to go to work or to buy essential supplies.

museums, cultural centres and sports centres a re museums, cultural centres and sports centres are closed. similar measures have been introduced in france was top cinemas, nightclubs and anything described as non—essential are shut. bistros and rosaries have been forced to close. these cornerstones of the french social and cultural scene lie empty. their doors locked. italy remains the worst hit country in europe with the death toll of over 1800 people. it has had a national lockdown in place for over a week now but still, the number of infections and facilities keeps rising. —— fatalities. european union members have been told the best way to get through the crisis is to pool resources and to work together to start making essential medical supplies and life—saving equipment. and germany, europe's largest economy, is closing itself off from the outside world, sealing its borders. people without good reason will not be allowed to enter the country. commuters and goods

vehicles will be exempt. germany has had more than a800 confirmed cases and has had 12 deaths. while some in the early days are criticised quarantines the early days are criticised quara ntines and limits the early days are criticised quarantines and limits on movement as knee—jerk overreactions by their governments, many now said the measures are too little too late. rich preston, bbc news. let's get the latest from sima kotecha, who's in rome. sima, we now know other countries are following italy's lead? spain is enforcing similar measures restrict king movement. france is closing down businesses and germany has closed some of its borders. here in italy it is incredibly upsetting and grim. more than 1800 people have died. most of those fatalities are in the north and most of the cases also in the north where hospitals

are also in the north where hospitals a re really also in the north where hospitals are really struggling. some are running out of intensive care beds. some in desperate need of ventilators. doctors really being pushed to the limits the prime minister said that his priority here is to make sure that doctors and nurses keep working and remain safe. there is also a concern that the outbreak in the north could move to the south because it tens of thousands of people in recent weeks have travelled from the north to the south and hospitals there are not as well—equipped. the government is worried that if the outbreak does move there then people will be especially vulnerable. thank you very much for that. bars, restaurants and theatres in both new york and los angeles have been ordered to close to slow the spread of the virus. the move follows a similar ruling in ireland, where all pubs and bars were told to close at midnight last night for the next two weeks. the government there has also asked people not to hold house parties. you might have seen pictures over

the weekend of italians lifting each others' spirits by singing from their balconies — but one performance was particularly special. singing the tenor, maurizio marchini, sang ‘nessun dorma' from his balcony in florence. after blasting out the famous line of "vincero" — which means "i will win" — he was joined by his young son.

it is genuinely giving me goosebumps. if —— imagine if you are one of the people privileged enough to hear that. we will keep you right up to hear that. we will keep you right up to date on breakfast this morning. a bit later, we have a panel, we will be talking to a doctor about the health advice for all of you. anybody feeling ill or who perhaps might be feeling ill. we will be talking about the science is well behind it and also whether or not, how prepared the nhs is as well with the chair of the bma. so much talk about. be in touch as well. if you think there are questions we might be able to answer. do be in touch today. lots more on the bbc website and how to reduce your risk of being infected. lots of questions are answered. you just need to visit our website or go to the bbc news app. we will also be looking at how so many people are getting involved,

little kindness project in the community, in their towns and cities, trying to make a difference, to particularly elderly people. i know lots of people get in touch with this programme talking about some of the questions and concerns they are facing. we will try and address and cover everything we possibly can today because i know lots of people are watching this this morning thinking, what will this morning thinking, what will this week bring? we will try to get to some of the bottom of the questions. not a lot of spot on, is there? there is a little tiny bit of sport on but it is about to be postponed, i think is a safe thing to say. really difficult times for everybody to stop i know it seems a bit mad that we are talking about sport actually, isn't sport the thing that unites us and lifts us 7 thing that unites us and lifts us up? a bit of light relief. that is what i was thinking. i can tell

you... the pandemic continues to effect sport. and now england's rugby premiership is set to announce a postponement to the league season. clubs will discuss a potential four week suspension of play — however some teams believe a longer break of three months is necessary. european cup competitions are also set to be postponed. the pro 1a and french top 1a have already indefinitely suspended their fixtures. horse racing in britain is set to go on, behind closed doors, until the end of the month. the british horseracing authority are yet to announce whether april's grand national will go ahead. today's meeting at kelso won't have spectators due to scottish government guidance.

the italian football federation wants euro 2020 to be postponed so their top flight league — which is one of many on hold — can finish. the first game of the tournament is due to be played in rome on june the 12th. uefa are holding a meeting tomorrow to discuss what happens next to the tournament and all football across europe. there is a lot to sort out, isn't there? we spoke to the chief executive of brighton. he said his to—do list, think of all the practical stuff, catering contracts, paying all the people who would normally work on match day. there we re normally work on match day. there were no matches going on. his to—do list is somewhere between 200 and 300. and that is one club. one industry. one sport. thank you very much. see you later. here's carol with a look at this morning's weather. morning everyone. it is a cold start

and for some of us a frosty one as well. if you are in england and wales today a dry day with sunshine but in scotland and northern ireland although you start off on a cold frosty note the cloud will increase as this clutch of weather fronts come in from the west and introduce rain and strengthening wind. a nippy start to the day with a little bit of cloud around even some misty nurse here and there and the odd patch of fog but that is it. sunshine will prevail across england and wales. the cloud will thicken and wales. the cloud will thicken and the rain will arrive and tops of strip and strengthening wind. 6—10 in the north but a mild 12—13 as we push further south. here we have south—westerly winds which are milderfor south—westerly winds which are milder for us. south—westerly winds which are milderfor us. through south—westerly winds which are milder for us. through the evening and overnight the weather from producing this rain across scotland and northern ireland sinks south reaching england and wales as a weakening feature. it will be quite

cloudy across england and wales, dry in the far south—east clear skies so it will be cooler. patchy rains across wales and south—west england but pushing north there will be clear skies and showers so, again, a nippy night clear skies and showers so, again, a dippy night particularly clear skies and showers so, again, a nippy night particularly in a sheltered glenn. tomorrow we start on this cloudy note across england and wales and then the rain picks up across northern ireland, north—west england, reaching the borders and moving northwards across scotland, again, with something else no or mountain snow. temperature wise, six degrees to 1a as we push towards london. as we move through wednesday that same front coming in today will be with us still instead of going north it will sinks south again as a wea k feature. north it will sinks south again as a weak feature. the wind strengthens across the far north of the country with the weather front coming in here and you will also see some rain. as that sinks south across england and wales it will still be a feature with a lot of cloud around

and patchy rain but look at these temperatures. in the south, 12—15, somewhere between 16 and 17 locally, way above average for this stage of march and as we push north, again, the temperature roughly where it should be between seven and ten or 11 degrees. moving through thursday the weather front will be in the south producing a fair bit of cloud with the odd spot of rain across the channel islands, self was england but for much of the uk, showers across “— but for much of the uk, showers across —— apart from showers across the north—west of scotland, largely driver temperatures will drop again. thursday into friday a little more uncertainty about the forecast, perhaps some rain in the south but dry under high pressure in the north. not a lot going on with the 11 -- north. not a lot going on with the 11 —— weather this week. almost a relief. thank you very much, carol. let's take a look at today's papers, all reporting different aspects

of the coronavirus pandemic. the mail describes the queen as "unflappable" — and urges readers to "pull together for our elderly". it says hundreds of local groups will come together to help the over—70s if they have to go into isolation. the daily telegraph reports that people could be taken into custody orfined £1,000 — if they refuse to be tested or quarantined. the guardian says that cities across europe have fallen silent amid lockdowns — its main image is pope francis blessing an empty st peter's square yesterday. online, the main image on the huffington post is of nick matthews, the 59—year—old retired police officer, who was named as having died after contracting coronavirus. his wife mary paid tribute to him as her soulmate and best friend. we will look at some of the inside pages. you mentioned toilet roll but

look at this, let's have a sense of what is going on all over the world in reaction to coronavirus and this isa in reaction to coronavirus and this is a good one from the inside of the daily mail. the eiffel tower, closed. uk poles postponed, police blocking access to a beach in barcelona. and this is a selfie sent toa barcelona. and this is a selfie sent to a church in italy after services they were halted. lots of queues at airports for example. in america, these passengers cue for ten hours to get through checks at chicago airportand, again, to get through checks at chicago airport and, again, panic buying. this is in la but extraordinary. we do live... every hour something seems to change and so many different things going on all over the world. i am touched by the number of people who are helping others. you talk about the churches

in their own articles today about changes to religious services and churches and people live streaming and changing things, recording audiobooks et cetera. i spoke to someone yesterday who was desperately trying to return from spain and this was at the end of last week and people were crammed onto this flight and it had been delayed for a few hours and eventually got back and he spoke to an elderly couple in their 70s from burnley and the flight was going back to the east midlands airport and they did not even aware that was so how would they get home? and he, this is a lovely act of kindness, he saidi this is a lovely act of kindness, he said i will look after you. he drove them back to his house in sheffield where they stayed the night and then drove them home. got to look out for each other. you do. people putting notes under neighbours doors saying how to reach me if you need me and need help. we having a village shop

in my village this morning. it is strange to have a national crisis like this and yet so much of the control of it and what happens is reliant upon us in terms of... because of how much is out of our hands. but how we act with ourselves and ourfamily but how we hands. but how we act with ourselves and our family but how we react with each other. and sometimes it is may be difficult to know what to do. this is a picture from the back page of the mirror. football clubs are self isolating at the moment maybe not officially clubs have sent players home and told them to stay inside, have no contact with people they would not normally see. so not strict self isolation but to be careful. this from the back page of the mirror, a chelsea start out playing football in the park and they have this picture and this is a difficult situation, isn't it? of

course we have a player who tested positive for the current advice and teammates are calling the selfish. out ina teammates are calling the selfish. out in a park having a kick and i think people are confused about what you are meant to do, maybe? i don't know. one more sport story to show you. i mentioned in that little bulletin, here we are in the telegraph. an interesting peach that make peace about the grand national. you would wonder how it could at this point, it is early april. an interesting article here arguing if it should go ahead. by the time it is due to happen, potentially we would have all been kept inside our houses for over two weeks. could it bea houses for over two weeks. could it be a moment when, perhaps with no spectators they just be a moment when, perhaps with no spectators theyjust run the race? it requires five ambulances and that is the controversial thing. so you are asking who is put at risk to go to work. and the peak of the virus

is meant to be ten or 1a weeks away. so depends on infection rates. thank you very much and we will see you later. now you may remember, our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones appeared on the programme last year to talk about being diagnosed with parkinson's disease. since then, he's been receiving treatment, and talking to research scientists about the work they're doing on brains to find out more about the condition. it's led him to make a very personal decision. a warning — rory‘s report contains images of a human brain in a laboratory setting. the whole system went down and it turned out we ran out of data. last yeari turned out we ran out of data. last year i was diagnosed with parkinson's disease and a few months later after my hand was seen shaking on television i went public with having the condition. ever since i have been looking into the technology and the research that which may help and today i will visit a place at the centre of that research where i could contribute and possibly you could as well. at

the hammersmith hospital in west london is the world's only brain bank for research into parkinson's. it relies on people signing up to donate their brains so they can be delivered here quickly after death. we are in the heart of the operation here, the dissection room where the brains arrive. 120 brains delivered here each year. see what happens. this is a brain from one of our donors, a lady who bequeathed her brain to us and we have got in the brain to us and we have got in the brain back here in a8 hours to allow us brain back here in a8 hours to allow us to doa brain back here in a8 hours to allow us to do a dissection for both the diagnosis and, ultimately, tissue for research. can i... can i? here you go. just over the table. golly! it is quite heavy. i expected it to be spooky but this is really interesting. i am thinking of whether i should leave my own brain

andi whether i should leave my own brain and i will make my decision over the course of this visit. the dissection quickly confirms what was going on in the donors brain. it is what is missing that is the clue, there should be a black line of dopamine cells. this lady has lost nearly all of those cells. all her dopamine cells ? of those cells. all her dopamine cells? yes. and the fact that i have a tremor, would suggest perhaps some of those cells are not there anymore. ok. to continue this vital work they now need more people to donate their brains. i am thinking about it, what would you say to me? i encourage you. you have seen what we do here and these are invaluable, these brains. i have huge respect for people who make this commitment. this is what makes us human. we are altruistic and we want to help but it is entirely your choice.|j altruistic and we want to help but it is entirely your choice. i find that very moving what he said. it

may influence what i do. sorry. the research here could end up finding what has proved elusive so far, a cure. but that means more people need to donate. darren, who has parkinson's, has signed up. i hope it helps to find a cure. ultimately. because people like you and i, we are told there is no cure. yes. the drugs they use were developed a0 yea rs drugs they use were developed a0 years ago. this woman's late husband left her brain for the project.|j have left her brain for the project.” have also pledged to leave my brain to parkinson's which i have done recently because it has got to be good to help other people and make people aware that you can do that. so now it is decision time for me.” hope you have learned a lot about what is possible with brain tissue. it is absolutely crucial and is helping researchers all over the world understand parkinson's and,

hopefully, you feel inspired to may be pledged your brain to parkinson's. i have to say i have been incredibly impressed by what i have seen. it is not a difficult decision. i'm going to sign up. there you go. rory making a personal decision which is incredible because they need brains for research and some people will do that. a fan testing insight into the thought process in making that decision. —— fantastic insight. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london. public health england is warning people against using home testing kits to see if they have coronavirus. it says that while some of the products look for the virus

or the body's immune response to it, there's no guarantee that the results are reliable. the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine says that while the use of the tests isn't advisable, public health england should be evaluating home testing methods to try ease pressure on doctors. amidst concern over the coronavirus, londoners are being asked to be more considerate and help those in greater need than themselves. there've been hundreds of offers of support across the capital with volunteers helping run errands for vulnerable people who are worried about leaving their homes. however, others have told bbc london they're concerned not everyone is being so helpful. i saw one elderly gentleman and an elderly lady being pushed aside by people grabbing pastor, milk, any sort of supply without a care in the world. and in these times, we all have to think about how we can help those who will need that little bit extra assistance. the olympic auxin qualifying event in london will be

moved behind closed doors due to coronavirus. the decision by ioc boxing task force due to concerns for public athlete and volunteer welfare. a faulty train causing severe delays on the victoria line. london bridge is close to private vehicles until october due to maintenance work. now the weather with kate kinsella. a chilly day that we start in lieu figures that it is bright with sunshine and it feels perhaps a little milder than it recently has. a little bit of cloud coming and going through the day and the wind is slight and the temperature where it should be for this time of year, the today of 13 celsius. overnight tonight it stays clear with temperatures again feeling quite

chilly by the time we get to dawn tomorrow morning. low single figures celsius. we will see the cloud starting to edgy and as we head into tuesday morning. that cloud will continue to cover all parts as we head through the afternoon. still breaking up and we will get a couple of sunny spells again with temperatures around 1a celsius. on wednesday, cloud around but temperatures in the mid teens celsius so a little milder for the next few days, a little cooler as we head through thursday and friday and a little more unsettled. before we go, there's a lot of misinformation surrounding the coronavirus, so for the latest official information, the bbc news website has lots of information that's being updated all the time. and there's also regular news, information and updates on bbc radio london. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. now though it's back to dan and louise. bye for now.

hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. we'll bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment, but also on breakfast this morning. as tourists abandon holiday hotspots across europe because of the virus, we'll be speaking to brits who are struggling to get home. if worrying about getting sick is giving you sleepless nights, dr michael mosley will be here to tell us how he's tackled insomnia — and the trick is spending less time in bed. and the actorjulie graham plays a grieving mother in a new psychological drama series — she'll tell us how it brought back some personal memories for her. good morning, here's a summary of today's main stories from bbc news.

scientific advisers and the prime minister will discuss the next steps in the uk's fight against the virus at an emergency cobra meeting. downing street has also announced boris johnson, or a senior minister, will hold daily televised news conferences on the coronavirus outbreak. a total of 35 people have died in the uk after contracting covid—19. large scale events like football matches and music festivals in scotland are cancelled from today to free up the emergency services to deal with coronavirus. first minister nicola sturgeon advised event organisers that mass gatherings of more than 500 people should not go ahead. strict measures have come into force across parts of europe to try to limit the spread of the virus, including the closure of schools, shops, and businesses. the number of infections has risen sharply — with italy, spain and france all recording their highest death tolls in a single day. germany has sealed most of its borders to non—commercial traffic.

so what's it actually like to contract coronavirus and how do you go about the practicalities of looking after yourself at home when you are contagious? dr clare gerada, who's a gp, has been self—isolating from her husband at her home in london since testing positive last week. she joins us now to talk about her experience so far. first of all, how are you? good morning, louise. i'm really getting much, much better. istill feel as ifi much, much better. istill feel as if i have been through five rounds with mike tyson but each day i am getting better and stronger and each day i can't believe that i had it. so, there you are. tell us about your first symptoms and how it has been. it is what it says on the tin, really. i came back from new york where they quite clearly said they didn't have a problem at the beginning of the week i was there and then declared a state of emergency towards the end so i fairly knew when i got a high

temperature and intense for throat, headache and dry cough, so exactly what you are told is going to happen happened. i really did know that it was coronavirus. at the time, we we re was coronavirus. at the time, we were one—on—one and still routinely testing. i had the test and i wasn't surprised. it lasts about this a8—72 hours in the real acute phase and then you are left feeling as if you have a combination of fight —— you have a combination of fight —— you have had a fight with a heavyweight boxer and climbing mount everest. the amazing thing is how amazing one's body is. my body, 60 years old, it has fought this virus and created its own defence, antibodies, helped and defended my kindie is: i helped and defended my kindie is: ——, lungs and heart. —— kidneys. it is quite amazing and we forget that power of our own body because of it is not like a car that breaks down and has to go and be fixed or thrown out, it repairs itself. the body

repairs itself and we get better. clearly, i haven't got any underlying health conditions, i am relatively fit and well so i have gone through this, it was uncomfortable but i have got through it. others with underlying health conditions will probably need additional help. the majority of us, our body will just additional help. the majority of us, our body willjust deal with this. it is painful but i have done it and iam not it is painful but i have done it and i am not an extraordinary fit person. can you also tell us because you have been careful to try and not pass it on. self isolating, even from your husband. how does that even work? it is very difficult. he hasn't got it. i suspect the self isolation has truly worked. we wring each other up on the mobile. he created a distance from me, if i appear, and vice—versa. when i was really unwell in bed, he would come wrapped in his chelsea scarf and wearing gloves and keeping two

metres away from me. if i used any utensils or cups, i would put them in the dishwasher myself though he didn't have to touch them and when i was well enough, i got up and cleaned the surfaces. we have done it, kept a social different —— distance. it would be hard if we had separate bathrooms —— didn't have separate bathrooms —— didn't have separate bathrooms. give me fits for saying this, i wish he had got it because then we would be in the same boat and we are not, he hasn't had it and boat and we are not, he hasn't had itandi boat and we are not, he hasn't had it and i have the he has still got to be very careful and all sorts of things but we have done it. eventually you will be better. you will be able to go back to your work asagp will be able to go back to your work as a gp and that puts you in, from your patient‘ point of view, a good position to help them. yes, isn't that wonderful. i have been looking at the literature of immunity and common sense says i at the literature of immunity and common sense says i will now have a lot more immunity than someone who

hasn‘t had it. there have been reported cases of this people getting it twice but maybe they are just being tested again for the same illness so common sense would say that i have got immunity and therefore i would be able to help my colleagues, patients, iwould be able to do the bits that no—one else wa nts to able to do the bits that no—one else wants to do or doesn‘t readily want to do like home visits. people are still going to need face—to—face general practice care. if you are pregnant, you are still going to have to put your hands on your abdomen. you can‘t do that remotely. if you have a kid that is sick, he might not be corona. i am really looking forward to getting back. i know that sounds very odd at this stage but i‘m really looking forward. i‘d will try to go back to work next week, in helping out with my colleagues, doing the face—to—face work, possibly helping out in the home visiting service which inevitably will have to get going. iam which inevitably will have to get going. i am there to help now. briefly, apart from getting back to work, what are you most looking forward to a —— after getting out of

sight —— self isolation. forward to a —— after getting out of sight -- self isolation. i'm looking forward to walking my dog. i suspect ifi forward to walking my dog. i suspect if i wrapped up properly, i probably could but i‘m wondering if i meet somebody. thank you. you are doing a greatjob in the media. it is so important having you tell us what is going on and giving us other news so you, too, keep well. we will thank you. she is my new hero. we are trying to keep every body informed. please send in your questions. interesting to hear from somebody who is going through it and what it is like as well. we will be here six

o‘clock every morning to keep you company as well. we are trying to give you accurate, clear information. not panicking but listening to doctor claire, she says it is difficult and hard and her experience was tough that she has come out the other side. after eight o‘clock this morning, we assembled a health panel. as tom solomon and the chairman of the bma, they are going to be here. we will be asking them some questions but also, if you have a question about sci—fi isolation, treatment, symptoms —— self isolation. get in touch. you can send questions in to us by emailing bbcbrea kfast@bbc. co. uk or share your thoughts with other viewers on our facebook page. and you can tweet about today‘s stories using the hashtag bbcbreakfast — or follow us for the latest from the programme.

we are still here. every morning. sally, hello. i‘m not sure how much longer i will be able to tell you about sport! nobody has said anything yet! sally is here again... laughs. it‘s fair to say with the majority of events called off, it was a rather strange weekend for sports fans. and now england‘s rugby premiership is set to postpone their league season — with some clubs calling for a 12—week suspension of top flight matches. european cup competitions are also set to be put on hold. it‘s after the pro 1a and french top 1a already suspend their matches indefinitely. switching codes and super league clubs will meet with the rugby football league about how the sport continues. four toronto wolfpack players are self isolating after experiencing mild coronavirus symptoms. just two super league games went ahead this weekend — and yesterday castleford tigers beat defending champions st helens to go joint top of the table. two tries from derrell olpherts in the first half plus that from jake trueman sealing a 28—1a win.

the uk‘s first horse racing meeting behind closed doors takes place at kelso today — that‘s due to scottish government guidance banning gatherings of more than 500 people. and it could become a familiar sight with the sport set to continue without fans until the end of the month. the british horse racing authority meet later and say they‘ll announce "as soon as possible" whether april‘s grand national will go ahead. and it‘s a big week for football with uefa meeting tomorrow to decide what happens to all european competitions including euro 2020. well the italian football federation want the championships postponed. rome hosts the first match of the tournament onjune the 12th but want time for their top flight to finish instead. the serie a is one of many leagues that‘s been suspended due to covid—19 with italy the worst affected by the coronavirus in europe. netball‘s superleague have postponed their fixtures due to the pandemic — meaning all three of today‘s matches are off.

the league‘s board and all clubs will meet tomorrow about the rest of the season. the olympic boxing qualifying event in london will continue today — but behind closed doors at the copper box. the event began on saturday and goes on until next tuesday. there was some badminton action over the weekend — at the all england championship in birmingham. and standby for this amazing rally. it came in the men‘s doubles final, japan playing indonesia, and theyjust kept going on and on. in the end an amazing aa shots. indonesia won the point but it was japan who took the title. with the premier league season on hold, some of the players have had to keep themselves

occupied as they undertake precautionary self isolation. now you might have seen liverpool‘s alex oxlade chamberlain dancing with his partner perri edwards from little mix over the weekend. i love james milner! what is he doing? milner's tea! who said james milner was boring? he is great, i love him. here‘s carol with a look at this morning‘s weather. that is right. we have a sunrise. some beautiful sunrises across the land today for many of us. starting off on land today for many of us. starting offona land today for many of us. starting off on a cold note with some frost

around and this is the scene in forest in money murray —— murray in scotland. scotland and northern ireland, it will cloud over and you will see some rain. for england and wales, after a frosty start for some, we‘re looking at some sunshine and lengthy of sunshine easing at times. but we have is a ridge of high pressure across us but also a set of weather fronts coming our way from the atlantic and they are what will introduce some cloud and then rain with some snow in the mountain tops and strengthening wins. we have cloud crossing parts of england which will break up through the course of the morning and then it will be a fine day with temperatures 10-13 will be a fine day with temperatures 10—13 across england and also wales. scotla nd 10—13 across england and also wales. scotland and northern ireland, between six and 10 degrees. through this evening and overnight, the weather fronts producing this this evening and overnight, the weatherfronts producing this rain sinks southwards and as the rain bumps into the high—pressure, it will start to weaken and the band will start to weaken and the band will be mostly clouded with patchy rain across wales, south—west

england, getting down into the far south—east, under clear skies, a cool night and behind that band, we are still looking at showers and equally clear skies as well. starting tomorrow for england, wales, on a cloudy note, the cloud building through the south—east stop one or two spots of rain but the heavy rain returns across northern ireland, through northern england, especially cumbria, and especially —— scotland. once again, we will see some snow on the scottish mountains. normally in london, it would be around 11 as it would be in cardiff. the words though, we still have this weather front, instead of the words though, we still have this weatherfront, instead of going north on tuesday —— as it did on tuesday, it is sinking south on wednesday. there will be rain and strengthening wins but in between, dry weather and in some of the

showers across the highlands, some of them will be wintry and the tops of them will be wintry and the tops of them will be wintry and the tops of the mountains again and temperatures 7—11 until we get towards southern counties. somewhere in the south—eastern wednesday could hit temperature higher than 15. on thursday, weather fronts west —— resting in southern counties and again, patchy rain. drieras resting in southern counties and again, patchy rain. drier as we push further north with one or two showers affecting the highlands temperatures are slipping back down again. we‘re looking at between six and 10 degrees. this week, the weather will be fairly quiet. as we head into friday and saturday, even through thursday, actually, the weather front in the south is giving us weather front in the south is giving usa weather front in the south is giving us a wee weather front in the south is giving us a wee bit of a headache. this is where we think it is going to be, producing some rain, but equally could be a little bit further north ora could be a little bit further north or a little bit further south. high pressure in the north should keep things fairly settled and then as we head into the weekend, well, again, one thing we can tell you is it is going to turn a little bit colder.

we will have an easterly wind coming our way. thank you very much, carol. see you in about half—an—hour, thank you. many of the biggest names in business have sent their workers home amid the spread of the coronavirus. but what if you run a factory or a smaller company that can‘t easily ask employees to work from home? nina is in burnley to find out how they‘re coping. morning, nina. good morning louise and dan. it is to work from home if you just need a computer. quite another if you work at this factory where you need massive machinery. they make plastic containers here, i have a couple of these sort of boxes in my house, while many businesses ask their workers to stay at home it is not practical here. no—one could fit this machinery in their living room. so it poses real questions for

employers like tony. let‘s talk to him. a tricky time for you. what are you saying to workers who feel u nwell you saying to workers who feel unwell at the moment? we are lucky that our workers are very intelligent people so we give them a list of symptoms and if they get the symptoms, we asked them to not come to work and to self isolate for seven days. like i said they are intelligent people so they do not need to be no need, theyjust do what is necessary. and full pay if they do that? no, not in position to do that but the government have brought in sick pay. so they get their statutory sick pay. long—term if workers are off, what impact would have on you and your company?

we have been lucky we have only had six recorded cases so far and i think it is obvious that there will be more. we need people in the factory. so it is a day—to—day thing that we look at every day, the situation every day, because it changes every day. at the moment everything is fine. we have three people self isolating and they don‘t have the virus it is just a precaution. at the moment there is no problem. a day by day situation. exactly. and dave runs another company and he has founded easier. you‘ve been able to help employees stay at home. do you feel you do that too soon? our business could run indefinitely with people working from home. there might be a case where we want to bring the team together but it is not entirely

necessary. we can take this service anywhere. so people can do their jobs anywhere. so people can do their jo bs exa ctly anywhere. so people can do their jobs exactly the same from their living room? yes. there are certain things where you need people but 99% of what we do is entirely, it could go anywhere. what about the long—term impact of people working from home? the isolation? and people sometimes skive a little bit when they work from home. how do you make sure they deliver? you need to trust your workers. so i am not worried about people not working hard. we offer flexible working and we have excellent software tools in place to mitigate that but i do get the idea of people working from home and feeling isolated so things like lunchtime huddles where we will all get on a web conference and have a chat and listen to albums together, we try to do some of that. so make

sure you keep interacting with your collea g u es sure you keep interacting with your colleagues as much as possible if you work from home. just a reminder of where you stand if you decide to stay at home today. if you have been advised to safe isolate, you are entitled to statutory sick pay and if you are self—employed you are entitled to a support allowance. small firms can apply for loans of up small firms can apply for loans of up to £1.2 million. and businesses that work in retail, hospitality, leisure and other areas that a customer facing leisure and other areas that a customerfacing are leisure and other areas that a customer facing are entitled to a break with their business rates. if you choose to work from home you should be entitled to exactly the same salary. loads of pressures on employers at the moment, we wonder what the long—term implication is beyond the supply chain and consumer behaviour but regardless of that the

advice remains, if you have a fever ora dry cough advice remains, if you have a fever or a dry cough stay at home. thank you very much, nina. get in touch with us and let us know what your employers are telling you. are your employers are telling you. are you going into work? can you stay at home and work was to mike let us know what is going on. . as usual, i know what is going on. . as usual, i know many of you join us and interact on social media so find us on twitter. it is often a healthy chat going on during the programme on facebook as well. so any of those ways for contacting us this morning. so many businesses are trying to adapt and let employees work from home. but those working in the service industry rely on getting customers through the door for trade. what would happen if bars a nd restau ra nts here were to close? well, we can look to ireland for an idea, where the government has ordered the closure of pubs and bars. we can speak to gareth cummins, a landlord in dublin, about the impact it‘s having on his business. tell me, you have been told you must

close, presumably a huge impact. we we re close, presumably a huge impact. we were told to close yesterday. we decided for the actual announcement to close that itjust seemed like the writing was on the wall for the drinks industry in dublin itself so yesterday morning at around midday we decided to call it. we were going to lose indefinitely. yesterday a noon at around apm the government announced that from midnight last night there would be complete close your across—the—board. night there would be complete close your across-the-board. give us an idea, i don‘t know hamley staff you employ, what is the situation? from what we gather you probably have no idea about when you will reopen. we area idea about when you will reopen. we are a very small pub. independently run with no backers norfinancial aid. we have been at the same location for nine years. we have three full—time employees and may be for part—time. we operate, we hold maybe 200 people, may be, maximum.

it isa maybe 200 people, may be, maximum. it is a busy part of the city centre. as it stands we have no idea. we are getting use the same as everybody else in the country, reading on the internet and it is not like we‘re getting a private e—mailfrom the not like we‘re getting a private e—mail from the government or our accountants. e—mail from the government or our accou nta nts. we e—mail from the government or our accountants. we are completely in the dark as well. we are winging it every single day. i am sure you have done the sums yourself, how long do you think you can keep things going with being close? being a small as we are we are very much, very, very much a week to week operation and i am sure there are thousands of other businesses like this in ireland. if we‘re closed down, the biggest issue for us is this is saint patrick‘s weekend, the festival as they call it, before the announcement of the shutdown before anything happened we put a lot of money into stock for preparing for this week. ireland is the place to be this week, normally

and coming in after new year‘s eve you have january february which of january — men generally saw months so everybody sits and waits for march come around for a week kick. we put an awful lot of money into stock over the last two weeks in preparation for this so our reserve of funds will be very low at the moment. and if that continues, realistically we could tap away for another week or two, maybe three, maximum, and that would be us then. this may be a dense question but how long can you keep stock that you purchased for? last a long time? most dear in keg barrel form probably around a month, two months in the right conditions. u nfortu nately in the right conditions. unfortunately keeping it in the right conditions means keeping it in a refrigerated cold room which means keeping the electricity going to that cold room which uses an awful

lot of electricity and that is another bill that will come in eventually and that we are not making the business to pay for. spirits, almost indefinitely, month, six weeks to two months. now, spirits of a different kind, how are people feeling in dublin? you have been talking to other businesses and residences, what is the overriding feeling at the moment is to mark everybody knows that everyone is in the same boat and that there is not one person out there who has anything different. so i am in communication with a lot of friends and customers and staff and everybody is trying to figure out a way for them to keep themselves entertained at home for the foreseeable future. i think everybody is trying to use a little common silence and avoid what you see, the queue for the supermarket, you just find a supermarket that does not have a queue. gather in large groups. everybody is worried,

more so than afraid, because, obviously, this is never happened to us obviously, this is never happened to us in our lifetime before and this seems to be our vietnam, this is our little worn out and we have to out how to fight it. thank you very much, gareth there are a landlord in dublin and alexa many people in small businesses, big concerns over what happens in next few weeks. we will keep you up—to—date. we have a gp on later and we will be discussing the nhs and to cope. the news weather and travel where you are. good morning from bbc london, i‘m alpa patel. public health england is warning people against using home testing kits to see if they have coronavirus. it says that while some of the products look for the virus or the body‘s immune response, there‘s no guarantee that the results are reliable. the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine says that while the use of the tests isn‘t

advisable, public health england should be evaluating home testing methods to try and ease pressure on doctors. amid concern over the coronavirus londoners are being asked to be more considerate and help those in need. there have been hundreds of offers of support across the capital with volunteers helping to run errands for vulnerable people who are worried about leaving their homes. but others feel, some could do more. i saw one elderly gentleman and an elderly lady being pushed aside by people grabbing pastor, milk, any sort of supply without a care in the world. and in these times, we all have to think about how we can help those who will need that little bit extra assistance. the olympic boxing qualifying event in london will be moved to behind closed doors — due to the coronavirus outbreak. the event is taking place at the copper box arena and will run until the 2ath of march. the decision was made by the international olympic committee boxing task force — due to "concerns for public, athlete and volunteer welfare".

let‘s take a look at the travel situation now. clear the travel situation now. across all the lines this morning. on the roads — london bridge is closed to private vehicles until october due to maintenence work. the a3 is busy as a result. in holloway — two lanes are closed on holloway road southbound — outside the tube station for repairs to a burst water main. now the weather with kate kinsella. a chilly day that we start in low figures that it is bright with sunshine and it feels perhaps a little milder than it recently has. a little bit of cloud coming and going through the day and the wind is light and the temperature where it should be for this time of year, the maximum today of 13 celsius.

overnight tonight it stays clear with temperatures again feeling quite chilly by the time we get to dawn tomorrow morning. low single figures celsius. we will see the cloud starting to edgy and as we head that cloud will continue to cover all parts as we head through the afternoon. still breaking up and we will get a couple of sunny spells again with temperatures around 1a celsius. on wednesday, cloud around but temperatures in the mid teens celsius so a little milder for the next few days, a little cooler as we head through thursday and friday and a little more unsettled. you can get up—to—date and accurate information on covert 19 on our website or on the abc news app. we also have announcements from health correspondent as well as videos on how to protect your mental health. i will be back in 30 minutes, for now back to the studio.

good morning, welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. our headlines today: tougher measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis will be considered by the prime minister at an emergency cobra meeting — they could include banning mass gatherings, new measures for older people and isolating households. as the international response intensifies, germany is partially closing its borders. new york and la are shutting bars, restaurants and other public venues. what restaurants and other public venues. does it mean business what does it mean when it can‘t be business as usual? what will the impact be on trade and what does it do to employees‘ right? we are at a factory in lancashire. the pandemic continues to effect sport. rugby union‘s premiership is set to be postponed for up to three months, while horse racing across britain is expected to close its doors to fans.

good morning for it is a cold start of the day for some of us, frosty with it patch of dog. for england and wales, dry with sunshine, scotla nd and wales, dry with sunshine, scotland and northern ireland after a dry, sunny start. you will see rain and strengthening wins. —— winds. it‘s monday the 16th of march. our top story: the prime minister and scientific advisers will discuss what further action the uk will take to combat coronavirus at an emergency cobra meeting. the government has also announced it‘s now going to regularly update the public on the situation. borisjohnson will hold the first daily news briefing this afternoon. the number of people who‘ve died of the virus in the uk has risen to 35, an increase of 1a in 2a hours. simonjones reports. this is something we are now going to be seeing on a daily basis. the prime minister and senior

ministers supported by scientific and medical experts holding briefings following criticism that there has been a lack of transparency over plans to stem the spread of the virus. many admit they are anxious, particularly after the government said over the coming weeks, everyone over the age of 70 could be told to stay at home, potentially for a period of months. it‘s just scary and straightaway it scares my husband and yes, because he is in that age bracket. i don't fancy being locked away for a few weeks. ahead of today‘s news conference, there will be a meeting here at the cabinet office of the government‘s emergency cobra committee. that will look at the next steps for shielding the vulnerable and elderly from the virus and whether mass gatherings should be banned. there will also a phone call involving leaders of the g7 nations in which borisjohnson will urge them to put more money and expertise into speeding up the development of a vaccine. among those to have lost their lives is retired police officer

nick matthews, who was 59. he previously suffered a heart attack. his wife described him as her soulmate. and jez martinez‘s 78—year—old grandfather died at wickham in buckinghamshire. she said he had tested positive for the virus. it was very shocking. obviously we are grieving. there‘s been a lot going on, as we‘ve seen. the testing has been stopped but now the worry is for the rest of my family and everybody else that may go through this. to ease demand on the emergency services, the scottish government says gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled from today and head teachers, feeling the pressure, will meet the education secretary to discuss their concerns. british holidaymakers have been facing a battle to get home after countries like spain went into lockdown. this was a scene at the airport in tenerife. and in the us, the race is on to get out before transatlantic flights are grounded. the stress levels have changed,

been feeling very, very anxious and just really wanting just to have the security of getting on that plane and taking off. the sense of uncertainty has meant panic buying in the shops is continuing. it‘s clear that daily life will not be normal for some time to come. simon jones, bbc news. we can speak now to our political correspondent, iain watson, who joins us from our westminster studio. good morning. an interesting change, the daily press briefings we will now get from either the prime minister or a senior government minister. it will feel a lot more serious and the reaction to it. if the prime minster is available, a senior government minister will be there and also the expert advice they have been relying on, the chief medical officer in england. the opposition has been calling for this for several days now. the government said they were always going to move to this phase at some point but it

is interesting it is happening now and the first of the daily press conferences taking place when there is another emergency committee meeting, another cobra meeting, which will be discussing banning mass gatherings. also they have to define what a mass gathering is. scotla nd define what a mass gathering is. scotland has been suggesting it is 500 people and some american states put it as low as 25. i think we will put it as low as 25. i think we will put —— get a timescale on the band. they will be more advice for our elderly and vulnerable people but i am not expecting the suggestion that people should down the hatches and close down the doors at this stage but it does look as though this is coming to the over 70s and perhaps those with other underlying health conditions as well. there will be a briefing for opposition politicians. they have called that meeting for more transparency and it does look as though the government this week will publish some of the underlying assumptions behind the strategy

following criticism that they are out of step with many countries elsewhere in europe. thank you, good to talk to you. we‘ll be talking to the transport minister a little later on breakfast as well. lots of questions for him. looking at what‘s happening across the rest of europe — people in spain have been banned from leaving their homes unless they are going to work or buying essential supplies. spain is now the second worst hit country after italy, with 191 deaths from covid—19. police there are using drones to enforce the restrictions on people‘s movements. germany has closed some of its frontiers to all but commercial traffic in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus. the restrictions come into place from this morning. authorities there have also urged people returning from italy, switzerland and austria to self—isolate for up to two weeks. restaurants, cinemas and most shops in france are now shut as the country tries to slow the spread of coronavirus. its official death toll increased by nearly a third yesterday — it now stands at 91. our paris correspondent is hugh schofield.

hugh, what‘s the city like this morning? it is not a ghost town. it is clear that traffic is light and it feels different. people are still going to work but there is traffic, light traffic but there is traffic was not major in the day we may feel the effects more clearly because shops will be shut. people will normally be out taking their morning coffee. the chairs were piled up and so on. schools are shut, too. this is the day when all of the measures are going to hit. the school closure was announced last thursday and then the closure of bars, cafe ‘s and restau ra nts closure of bars, cafe ‘s and restaurants announced on saturday. this is the first day in which all those are going to come together. it is going to feel very different. it,

i have to say, there is already a muttering that things aren‘t going far enough. we know that in italy and in spain, things have been taken much, much further. there is a com plete much, much further. there is a complete lockdown in those two countries and people are confined to their homes and have to have good reasons to leave. here in france over the weekend, we know the government looked at what had happening in france and were not happening in france and were not happening with the response. it was a beautiful weekend, the first spring weekend and people are out en masse, in parks, on the champs—elysees, and gathering. there isa champs—elysees, and gathering. there is a lot of room here that the government might today step in to order much more drastic confinement to homes. hugh schofield in paris, thank you very much. bars, restaurants and theatres in both new york and los angeles have been ordered to close to slow the spread of the virus. the move follows a similar ruling in ireland, where all pubs and bars were told to close at midnight last night for the next two weeks. the government there has also asked

people not to hold house parties. millions of people in spain have been confined to their homes but — for some of them — that‘s no excuse for skipping their exercise class. a fitness trainer was filmed leading a workout from the roof of a building in seville — while residentsjoined in from the surrounding apartments and balconies. some of those videos have been brilliant. there are about four accordions. we‘ve got lots more coverage on the coronavirus situation coming up. we‘ll find out more about the government‘s strategy

with the transport minister grant shapps in about half—an—hour. and at ten past eight we‘ll put your questions to a panel of medical experts. we will try and reflect some of the videos like we just saw from spain. those people going out of their way to train put a bit of kindness and happiness to those on the street and community as well. so much of that going on. a lovely little card that was printed over the weekend, lots of people putting through the boxes asking if they can help, do you need anything? do you need me to go to the shops? relax of kindness. you know they make a huge difference to people who are really worried at the moment. here‘s carol with a look at this morning‘s weather. this morning is a beautiful start of the day across many areas. we are seeing lovely sunrises but under the clear skies, it is a cold start and

a frosty one for some of us with patchy mist and fog around the top also, some chari are breaks of rain following the snow in the tops of the pennines was up more rain not too far away from western scotland. —— showery outbreaks. for england and wales, we are going to have a fine and dry day with a fair bit of sunshine, whereas for scotland and northern ireland, the cloud will build and we will see rain coming in and the wind will also strengthen. temperature wise, six to about 13 degrees. later on in the afternoon, we still won‘t have —— we will still have it. the rain will continue to cross northern ireland as well. move away from all those areas, back into dry weather, sunshine, albeit hazy at times, as the cloud comes and goes through the course of the afternoon. as we move on through the rest of the afternoon, evening and overnight period, the weather front producing this rain dinks slowly

southwards —— sinks. it will bring a brand rush band of cloud. —— it will bring a band of cloud. behind it, clear skies and showers. this band of rain coming our way stop if i show you the weather front responsible, on tuesday, it brings heavy rain across parts of northern ireland and scotland in cambria and then on wednesday, it sinks southwards as a weakening feature ringing a band of cloud and patchy rain but further showers and windier conclusions —— bringing a band of cloud. —— windier conditions. much more whether coming up. schools and businesses in france are now closed, while the spanish government has banned citizens from leaving their homes unless they‘re going to work or picking up urgent supplies. the rules are also having an impact on british tourists. in a moment we‘ll speak to nick serpell, a british traveller in southern france. but first let‘s speak to jason allen, who is trying to get

back to wales after a weekend in benidorm. he‘s at alicante airport. what have you been told? we have been told we need to do extra security checks. we have to be stopped by the police. we are hearing large parts of europe, serious issues in terms of finding food, many places in lockdown, particularly in spain and italy. were you able to enjoy any of the weekend? was were you able to enjoy any of the weekend ? was it were you able to enjoy any of the weekend? was it a case of not being a holiday? yeah, that was the case with but we made the best of what we could do on the balcony. all the shops around us, or they were selling was christmas and it is all

we have had, just crisp sandwiches. —— crisps. were all big boys. we have had, just crisp sandwiches. -- crisps. were all big boys. it sounds an interesting weekend, eating crisps. what about your contact with police authorities? we we re contact with police authorities? we were ina contact with police authorities? we were in a hotel but the boys went out to get some water and obviously some more beer. the police said no, go back into your apartment and stay in there. how have you been staying entertained otherwise? we watch a few games on our phone and singly a nswer few games on our phone and singly answer from balcony and then yesterday we were singing the songs to keep ourselves entertained. so

despite the fact it has been a difficult weekend and certainly not the one you had planned you have managed to enjoy some of your time in spain? yes, we have. what will happen when you get to the airport was too much have you been guaranteed a flight? hopefully yes if we get to the airport and we‘re getting there hours early to make sure. we don‘t know about security checks because i hopefully we won‘t have too many tests. i know you have been spending the weekend on the balcony. are you orany of your the weekend on the balcony. are you or any of your friends worried about contracting the virus at all? we we re contracting the virus at all? we were out partying on friday because the lockdown went down then and we have been in contact with a lot of

people. and we don‘t know what the government will be telling us when we arrived back in the uk. we appreciate you talking to us. we hope you have as an stressful a time as you possibly can at the airport. enjoy your hamburger if you get one. and they are not in loan in having problems getting home. —— they are not alone in having problems getting home. nick serpell and his wife neri are on what should have been a year—long trip around europe in their motorhome. they‘re now planning to cut it short. we can speak to nick now — he‘s in southern france. can you tell us about your situation? it has been a rush. we crossed into italy ten days ago and just as italy went into north —— lockdown we decided to stay in southern italy and the weather was nice and everything was open and then last monday we woke up to discover that the whole of italy was

on lockdown and no—one was allowed to move. you needed a to fill in a form to go out on the road. so we made a dash for france, which we did ina made a dash for france, which we did in a couple of days. we expect any moment to be hauled over by the police and questioned but nothing at all. we arrived at the french border, nobody on the french border, we sailed through into france with no checks, in fact we did not realise we were in france until the language changed on the road signs. so we are currently in provence and france, the shops have now closed so we are heading as quickly as we can for the tunnel back to the uk. does that mean literally you cannot buy food? food shops are open. the banks will be open. yesterday was strange because in this part of southern france shops tend to shut on sunday a nyway france shops tend to shut on sunday anyway so this morning will be the first time that the food shops will have reopened after the weekend and

the banks are open, pharmacies are open and, bizarrely in this country, the tobacco nests are open as well. so if you need to have a cigarette to keep the virus at bay, you are ok to keep the virus at bay, you are ok to get a packet of cigarettes. you will not be alone in trying to get home. what are people telling you? do you think you will be able to get backin do you think you will be able to get back ina do you think you will be able to get back in a few days? we are on our way now. we have a motorhome so we are not dashing back in a day which we could do but it is all autoroute from here. we are aiming to be on the tunnel by wednesday but it depends if there are spaces on the trains. i phone this morning to find out what the first available booking we can make is and then make our way back then. at the moment, france has not gone into complete lockdown and travel is still allowed. in fact, this part of france seems to have taken all of this with a huge gallic shrug. we watch people embracing each other and shaking hands, we

we re each other and shaking hands, we were on a site near st tropez and everybody was caving normally. we went to the hypermarket there and did some shopping on friday, no restrictions no panic buying, eve ryo ne restrictions no panic buying, everyone is together and there was no separation. they just everyone is together and there was no separation. theyjust seem to be going ok, whatever at the moment. whether that will change if macron brings in new shutdowns for travel, we don‘t know but at the moment they seem laid—back. we don‘t know but at the moment they seem laid-back. thank you for that view from your motorhome there in france stop people having so many difficulties. for example on—board cruise ships we have incoming bands on flights in america that happens at four am. there is so much changing specifically to do with transport, and getting back home. and we are building up to the easter holidays of cause and that is traditionally a time where people would go away. ski resorts closed,

holidays cancelled, so much.” would go away. ski resorts closed, holidays cancelled, so much. i like to stay up—to—date on this morning, we‘re doing our to give you accurate information. and many of you have questions as well and we will be speaking to the transport secretary later this morning. meanwhile, back in the uk, people are taking to social media to encourage collective kindness to help people through this difficult time. this form, which has been shared widely on twitter and facebook, is being used to offer help to vulnerable people who are self—isolating. and thousands more havejoined or donated to groups offering to help. we‘re nowjoined by two women involved in similar projects — we‘ll talk to sali hughes, co—founder of the charity beauty banks in a moment. first we can talk to rachel pleasant, who‘s coordinating volunteer efforts in greater manchester. so what has made you think i need to help those in my street and my

community? what kickstarted this? the idea was not for me. two other ladies decided they wanted to help the people who may be are stuck at home and old and vulnerable, they may be do not have family nearby who could help. so they set up a facebook group on saturday and before we know it we have had 2000 people joined the before we know it we have had 2000 peoplejoined the page before we know it we have had 2000 people joined the page and 3500 m essa g es of people joined the page and 3500 messages of support saying please let us help. it has been amazing. that sort of thing is encouraging. we are following this this morning and people are worried and there are concerns about health relatives, friends and family members and also a desire to make sure that those who are vulnerable, that there is support from others in the community, perhaps people you don‘t even know. we are a real community in my area and it has been lovely. the idea started and what happened from that was that we got maps of

the area and started to ask people, tell us the streets that you live on, what street can you take? take this flyer, printed out, popular details on it, push it through your neighbour‘s door please offer help, support, there have been other groups that have sprung up around the area, they all now have their own groups as well. it has been amazing. sally, tell us what you have been up to. i co- run a charity could duty bank is supplying essential toiletries that make bold beauty bank. —— called beauty bank. we launched an appeal yesterday and since yesterday we have raised $60,000 to pay for soap, sanitiser washing powder and so want to help people who do not have the money to

stockpile and who probably access food banks and homeless refuges and things like that and to help them stay clean. you say you have given hand sanitiser, presumably even getting hold of it is a problem. how are you doing it? we are an existing charity and we work already with suppliers and because both of us work in the beauty industry we work directly with brands. so we think we can get our hands on, certainly for the first drop, a lot of hand sanitiser for those who really need it stopped the second drop will include things people will have run out of ike's sanitary protection, toothpaste, razors and so on. the first priority of course is hand care. and that has been lovely. what has been lovely is seeing kindness, so much kindness around. apart from people perhaps stockpiling, do you think that people really feel that thatis think that people really feel that that is how they can help get themselves through as well?”

that is how they can help get themselves through as well? i think it is important. in terms that make in times of when people do something positive it makes you feel calmer and more in control. and because two years on this issue of helping people in hygiene poverty it is only now that a lot of people can really relate to the notion of going to the supermarket and being unable to get what you need. this is the first time that many of us have looked to the shelf and thought i can't have something i need. and that helps them to relate to those living in poverty. i do think the act of giving just makes us feel better and it feels as though we are doing something and are part of a collective effort. we've seen that in previous crises and it isjust human nature. rachel is agreeing. the image that i think many people are seeing mostly is of people fighting over toilet roll at the supermarket but this is a different and far more positive one of looking out for your fellow man and woman.”

think wejust felt out for your fellow man and woman.” think we just felt that panic never solves anything, let‘s focus and energy on helping people in our community and building those groups, may be for longer term than this as well. something else people talk about this morning, this is one of those, sally was talking about the fa ct those, sally was talking about the fact that this is a crisis but a slightly different crisis in that we can actually affected ourselves in terms of hygiene and hand washing and self isolation measures. but also in looking after other people, thatis also in looking after other people, that is something you cannot rely on someone else to do, it is a step you can take yourself which is a positive way of looking at it stop and we have been clear that people need to they save and keep those they help save. we have clear guidelines about no contact, leave the things you buy for people on the doorstep and people can leave listed change of the doorstep. beyond the end of the phone for somebody. it will all be done over a phone call.

just for some people, knowing somebody is there at the end of the phone if they are frightened or lonely. it is so much better. thank you both indeed and thank you for your generosity and good work. let us your generosity and good work. let us know if you are involved in a project or have been assisted by one. social media over the weekend, some of the shops that are opening specifically for one hour for older people to go and shop, between eight and nine in the morning, and asking other customers not to come into the shop at that time. tiny things like that make a big difference. we will keep you up—to—date on this continuing story and answer your questions as well. we will try and have everything you need to know here for you. time now for the news, travel and whether in your area. good morning from bbc london, i‘m alpa patel. public health england is warning people against using home testing kits to see if they have coronavirus. it says that while some

of the products look for the virus or the body‘s immune response, there‘s no guarantee that the results are reliable. the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine says that while the use of the tests isn‘t advisable, public health england should be evaluating home testing methods to try and ease pressure on doctors. amid concern over the coronavirus londoners are being asked to be more considerate and help those in need. there have been hundreds of offers of support across the capital with volunteers helping to run errands for vulnerable people who are worried about leaving their homes. but others feel, some could do more. i saw one elderly gentleman and an elderly lady being pushed aside by people grabbing pasta, milk, any sort of supply without a care in the world. and in these times, we all have to think about how we can help those who will need that little bit extra assistance. the old vic theatre is the first

well—known london theatre to cancel a play because of the outbreak. and games barring alan cumming and daniel radcliffe was due to run for another two weeks. the old vic said it had become increasingly impactful to sustain business as usual. it urged those who had purchased tickets to consider donating the cost back to the theatre. let‘s take a look at the travel situation now. clear across all the lines this morning. on the roads — london bridge is closed to private vehicles until october due to maintenence work. the a3 is busy as a result. in holloway — two lanes are closed on holloway road southbound — outside the tube station for repairs to a burst water main. now the weather with kate kinsella. a chilly day that we start in low figures but it is bright with sunshine and it feels perhaps a little milder than it recently has. a little bit of cloud coming and going through the day and the wind is light and the temperature where

it should be for this time of year, the maximum today of 13 celsius. overnight tonight it stays clear with temperatures again feeling quite chilly by the time we get to dawn tomorrow morning. low single figures celsius. we will see the cloud starting to edge in as we head into tuesday morning. that cloud will continue to cover all parts as we head through the afternoon. still breaking up and we will get a couple of sunny spells again with temperatures around 1a celsius. on wednesday, cloud around but temperatures in the mid teens celsius so a little milder for the next few days, a little cooler as we head through thursday and friday and a little more unsettled. you can get up—to—date and accurate information on covert 19 you can get up—to—date and accurate information on covid—19 on our website or on the abc news app. we also have analysis from health correspondents as well as videos

on how to protect your mental health. i will be back in 30 minutes, for now back to the studio. hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin: we will be speaking to the transport secretary in a few minutes time. scientific advisers and the prime minister will discuss the next steps in the uk‘s fight against the coronavirus at an emergency cobra meeting. downing street has also announced borisjohnson, or a senior minister, will hold daily televised news conferences on the coronavirus outbreak. a total of 35 people have died in the uk after contracting covid—19.

large scale events like football matches and music festivals in scotland are cancelled from today to free up the emergency services to deal with coronavirus. first minister nicola sturgeon advised event organisers that mass gatherings of more than 500 people should not go ahead. strict measures have come into force across parts of europe to try to limit the spread of the virus, including the closure of schools, shops, and businesses. the number of infections has risen sharply — with italy, spain and france all recording their highest death tolls in a single day. germany has sealed most of its borders to non—commercial traffic. we‘re joined by the transport secretary, grant shapps who‘s in westminster this morning. given that you are transport secretary, let us talk about the impact on the airline industry. we are hearing this morning that easyj et are hearing this morning that easyjet might be having to ground most of their flights because of the

impact on the airline industry. are concerned are you about that? impact on the airline industry. are concerned are you about that7m impact on the airline industry. are concerned are you about that? it is of easily big concern was of airlines are at the forefront of this crisis because of course travellers the very first thing internationally that was hit. i am meeting with the airlines at the airport, in fact, the whole of the transport sector right across the board this week. i‘m taking that information and putting it into the economic and business committee that the chancellor will be sharing from today. our view is that whether you area today. our view is that whether you are a business or indeed an individual in this country, with covid—19, good businesses should not be put out of business and people should be allowed to continue after we get through this crisis. and that is what we will be aiming to achieve. easyjet will be not alone, saying they will have to reduce capacity. how will you be shoring up the airline industry? there are lots

of different things that need to be done. i was battling away to prevent ghost flights from flying. these are flying —— flights that are simply flying —— flights that are simply flying to keep their slots available for the following years and i wrote to the eu commission —— commission, they listened and eventually they got that abolished. there are other inks that need to happen as well. i will be discussing those things with the chancellor and the airline sector and indeed the whole of the travel sector. hauliers will be feeling the pain as well. the train numbers are down as people travel a lot less a nd numbers are down as people travel a lot less and that will obviously be a large part my focus in this week ahead. let us talk about easyjet. they have 15,000 staff and they are talking about staff having to perhaps take leave and they are talking about the grounding of the majority of the easy let —— easyjet

fleet. it is havejobs majority of the easy let —— easyjet fleet. it is have jobs as jobs as well, isn‘t it? fleet. it is have jobs as jobs as well, isn't it? the budget this week, the chancellor richie —— rishi sunak was talking about welfare payments and support payments so people can claim quicker. there is no sugarcoating this, this is obviously an international crisis and we need a great national effort to help everybody in society get through this but we will get through it. we will beat this virus but there is no shortcut to getting there. is so important to the whole country and jobs to be able to move around. igoing country and jobs to be able to move around. i going to talk to ba, are you going to talk to easyjet?” around. i going to talk to ba, are you going to talk to easyjet? i have a series of transport summits being set up for this week to do exactly that and as i say, take that information to the chancellor and i

sit on the cobra emergency committee force of the prime minister will be chairing it later today and it is very important for not just transport but every walk of life to know that the whole country is going to come together. the government is going to support them in the whole country is going to come together and we will get through this but we have some difficult weeks and months ahead of us. so you will be asking for money, basically for that particular industry? i will be discussing that with the industry and the chancellor but as i say, there are lots of ways of doing that. preventing those flights from having to take off empty or nearly empty. the ghost flights that will then give people time to pay. facilities through hmrc and then there is a whole host of other things that i know we will be discussing and we will see where that goes but being no doubt, we understand the severity of what is going on and notjust to airlines, across the country and across the

economy, indeed globally. working together, we will get through this. the other issue is getting people from the uk who want to get back to the uk when there are no flights available. for example, we know the band comes in tomorrow on us flights. what are you doing that at —— about that now? we are spending on that issue working with the airlines, tracking who is flying from where in order to get people back. we had an earlier example of that last week with easily. where we we re that last week with easily. where we were working with the airlines. in fa ct, were working with the airlines. in fact, i think we got people back who wa nted fact, i think we got people back who wanted to be returned and i know that, for example, rya nair. wanted to be returned and i know that, for example, ryanair. flying earlier than they expected to because they didn‘t find there would because they didn‘t find there would be any more demand. we are working very closely with the airlines and for people who are abroad and maybe watching the programme, it is important that they do contact the foreign & commonwealth office, the

fco support number, so we know that they are there and that they are trying to return. obviously first of all they should contact their airline to check about arrangements but if they are stuck, we would expect them to hear at the foreign & commonwealth office through that helpline number as well. have you got helpline numbers for people that wa nt to got helpline numbers for people that want to get back from america? the first thing is to contact the airline. have you what numbers? no. the fco website, type in travel advice, today has a new checklist on their four exactly what you should do. that is both ways around. that is if you are trying to return home, go there and check it, but also if you need to travel for some reason, you need to travel for some reason, you should absolutely check on the new checklist in the foreign & commonwealth office website. what

are you you saying about concerns of the british government being out of step with other countries? in germany, they asked shutting some borders and in scotland, they are stopping mass gatherings of over 500 and there seems to be some criticism that the government here is out of step with other parts of the world. there are two things on this was up on is, we are absolutely, read —— religiously, if you like, following the advice of medical and scientific offices. we think the best way to handle this is not to do what politicians think is the right thing to do but to do what the experts, the scientists, the medical experts tell us needs to be done. that is the first thing and that is been the hallmark of the way that the british government has been handling this. the second thing i would say is other countries are just in a different position. italy, france and germany, they mayjust be a week or two ahead in terms of the infection rate. and in scotland, the government there was very clear that

they weren‘t doing it for medical reasons, they were doing it in order to release, as they saw it, medical, the availability of emergency services. we absolutely, from the outset, in everything we have done, including the action plan that we publish some weeks ago, i‘ve been clear that the uk will follow the advice of the experts, the medical experts in the scientific experts and we will see more of that today when the prime minister gives another press conference with both the chief medical officer and the sick —— chief scientific officer right alongside him. we know there is the cobra meeting ahead of that press co nfe re nce is the cobra meeting ahead of that press conference as it were. what other priorities, do you think? is it mass gatherings, shielding the elderly, what are they? is all set out in that action plan. no doubt we will be discussing it. all of those things you mentioned are on the cards. you have individuals staying at home now under advice from last

week. if you have a new cough or a temperature, either or. we then have a further escalation, things like households staying at home and things like the elderly and the vulnerable staying at home and as you mentioned, mass gatherings. you have further escalation points and no doubt we will be discussing some of this at the cobra later today. it is important people know these things are coming along. i was discussing with my parents were both in their 80s this weekend, they were setting up online shopping accounts which i was helping them to do. it is important that they know they could be a significant period people needing to stay—at—home. could be a significant period people needing to stay-at-home. the practicalities, lots of people have been doing the same and actually, you can‘t get a booking for an online grocery so how will these people looked after? in the case of my parents, they were able to set it up my parents, they were able to set it up and book a slot ahead. in a lot

of communities, i think this is where the country shows its best side, a lot of communities this weekend, for example, have been setting up an outreach —— outreach programme working with voluntary organisations to make sure that elderly people, people who are vulnerable, are looked after, effectively by the rest of the community as well. while they are staying at home and perhaps weeks to come. i think that is very important. i see that happening across the country and i think we will see that great national effort really ensuring, working to ensure that all of our systems are as safe as they can be during this outbreak. i appreciate your time. thank you very much indeed was of a busy time. we know there is going to be the cobra meeting later and then we will have these, as we now know, daily news co nfe re nces have these, as we now know, daily news conferences after that as well. that is a big change from this morning. for the latest developments

on the coronavirus outbreak, including what symptoms to look for, how to reduce your risk of becoming infected, and advice for those with underlying health conditions, just visit our website at, bbc dot co dot uk/news. or go to the bbc news app. should we take a breatherjust for a second and find out what is going on with the weather? here‘s carol with a look at this morning‘s weather. it isa it is a chilly start if you haven‘t yet been out but for many of us, it isa yet been out but for many of us, it is a beautiful one, beautiful sunshine —— sunrises like this one. there is also some missed around, we have fog patches some mistiness here but there is also some frost. there is pockets of frost, not like its of frost. the lowest average last night

was —7.6 and that was in aboyne. but you get the picture, it is a cold start of the day. high pressure is continuing. it will be mostly dry with sunshine in places. consider whether france romping in from the atla ntic whether france romping in from the atlantic introducing through the course of the day thicker cloud and rain and strengthening winds across northern ireland and western and central scotland. temperatures today, six in the north to about 13 in the south. quite mild because we have a south—westerly breeze across southern areas. through the evening and overnight, the weatherfront producing all this cloud and rain sink slowly southwards and once it does so, it weakens. it still will have patchy rain in it and behind it some clear skies still some showers but for most of us, it will not be as cold night is the one that has

just gone. we start tomorrow on a fairly cloudy node across england and wales with patchy rain but through the course of the morning you can see how the rain returns across northern ireland through northern england and also scotland. ahead of that, some showers and on the other side of it remaining fairly cloudy with some brightness and temperatures 1a or even 15 degrees. that is way above average. from wednesday onto thursday. it will be slipping slowly southwards was another one coming in introducing showery rain and strengthening winds across parts of northern scotland. remaining across parts of england and wales. in between we have a brighter spot that on wednesday, you will notice the temperature the further south you travel because although it says 15 on the charts, it is not out of the possibility we would see 16 or 17. temperatures closer to where they should be at this time of year as we move should be at this time of year as we m ove a cross should be at this time of year as we

move across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. on thursday, the weather front resting across the southern counties. really just a band of cloud, we will see the band of rain in south—west england and the channel islands but further north, dry with one or two showers. temperatures slipping from double remember, 15, 16, 17? it will bea high double remember, 15, 16, 17? it will be a high of ten by thursday. that isa be a high of ten by thursday. that is a little bit chilly, isn‘t it? thank you very much, carol. there is a lot going on this morning and most of what we talk about this morning is concerning coronavirus. many big names in business have sent their workers home. you may be at home right now when you would normally be offered work. it would wire ina normally be offered work. it would wire in a small company who cannot easily ask a employees to work at home? nina is at a factory in burnley to find out how they‘re coping. morning, nina. a big decision for all of us but also for business. they make big

plastic containers like that one here and also smaller ones for obvious reasons these staff cannot work from home. it is impractical to ta ke work from home. it is impractical to take this machinery into their living room. but for many people it will be their first experience of working from home. it is uncharted territory. increasingly many companies have been doing this a nyway companies have been doing this anyway and louisa runs a law firm and can hopefully join anyway and louisa runs a law firm and can hopefullyjoin us now. she isa and can hopefullyjoin us now. she is a firm advocate for working from home. explained was the advent —— advantages of it. you get an excellent worklife balance. you can do your work and your otherjobs, you can look after your children and put your washing in. there are advantages and your work does not need to suffer. it is win—win. advantages and your work does not need to suffer. it is win-win. some people will be watching and are

sceptical about people working from home and they say inevitably there will be an impact on productivity, basically you just do not do as much of you are at home stop i don‘t find that. everybody works for me and we area that. everybody works for me and we are a collegiate team and everybody who works here is professional. if you have work to do you get on and do it. you canjuggle your own life among that well. so it is a good way to work, i think. among that well. so it is a good way to work, ithink. can among that well. so it is a good way to work, i think. can you give us some advice for people doing this for the first time? if i work from home i have to get up and have a shower and get dressed otherwise i am just not efficient whereas you area am just not efficient whereas you are a pyjama girl. usually but not today, i made a special effort. but yes, quite often i am dressed quite casually and it really depends on what i have to do. if i have a job to get on with and i get up and get on with it i may not have gotten

changed. it does not matter to my clients into my work i am dressed in or where i am because i can do my job and! or where i am because i can do my job and i have the tools to do it. but it is good if you can organise your day so get blocks of time to concentrate on work and then you can nip offa concentrate on work and then you can nip off a five minutes to the shops, there is no problem with that. long—term there could implications for mental emotional health of we are not interact in face—to—face with other humans. what would your advice beyond that? hopefully it is not too long—term. it may be a month or two months but we have got the advantages of a lot of evolving technology. there are video calls so you can interact with friends, you do not have to feel lonely. tv, that is another means of connecting with the outside world. personally i

might use the opportunity to read a book, if i get a chance, although i expect my work will just carry book, if i get a chance, although i expect my work willjust carry on as normal. thank you. you have some great advice there and i heard today that in japan great advice there and i heard today that injapan they great advice there and i heard today that in japan they are great advice there and i heard today that injapan they are developing an app that automatically applies make up app that automatically applies make up if you need to skype from home to a conference call. another reminder of where you stand if you are working from home and deciding to stay at home today. the government advice is that if you have been advised to self isolate you are automatically entitled to statutory sick pay of £9a a week. possibly more if your employer tops it up as they do here. if you are self—employed you are entitled to use the —— employment support allowa nce use the —— employment support allowance of up to £73 a week, that should begin instantly. small firms can apply for loans of up to £1.2 million, we will talk to the federation of small business about

accessing that shortly full of and if you work and leisure, retail, hospitality, expect a break on paying disney‘s rates. much of the detail will be down to your employer at their discretion. what is consistent for all of us is if you have a dry cough or a fever you must stay—at—home. helpful advice, thank you, nina. and that is what we‘re trying to do today, we are trying to answer. . . trying to do today, we are trying to answer... know trying to do today, we are trying to answer. . . know many trying to do today, we are trying to answer... know many of you are watching and asked in question, and we are trying to get through those questions. at ten past eight we have an interesting health panel coming up. this was one question, having self isolated questions are without being tested how can i find out whether i have officially had it? we have a health panel. i like this one. how do i self isolate when there are two other people in my household going out to work stop i have a chronic health condition and we live in a small house with one

bathroom. we can‘t answer those questions but our panel will. thank you for getting involved in the discussion this morning and hopefully we will try to give you some clear and accurate information. let‘s have a chat now about what is happening in scotland. mass gatherings of more than 500 people in scotland should not take place from today to help ease the burden on the emergency services during the coronavirus outbreak. professorjason leith, is the national clinical director for the scottish government. hejoins us from glasgow this morning. thank you very much. i know you are busy at the moment so thank you for spending some time with us this morning. can we talk about those mass gatherings of 500 people that are to be cancelled and talk us through the thinking of why that is being implement it at this stage? we are not doing this for public health reasons. we have just are not doing this for public health reasons. we havejust had are not doing this for public health reasons. we have just had a very good set of advice from your business correspondent of our people should do if they have symptoms. and thatis should do if they have symptoms. and that is the principal advised across all four that is the principal advised across allfour uk that is the principal advised across all four uk countries. if you have a cough, new consistent cough and a fever you should stay home. the mass

gathering thing that we implemented at the end of last week in scotland, starting today, is to free up resell losses. we will need all the nhs resources we can get. it will not be an easy few months. so paramedics, ambulances, doctors, we decided that any mass gathering of over 500 that needs any resources will not happen from today. can i also ask you about school closure. this is a question we getan school closure. this is a question we get an awful lot. it seems to be from those who listen carefully to what was being set at various conferences last week, at some stage those school closures look like they will happen. why not implement that now? what is the thinking behind that? there is no plans for a blanket school closure in any of the four countries and we are trying as much as we possibly can to make these decisions uk wide. so the clinical advisors, the four chief medical officers and the politicians have had remarkable consensual conversations about trying to move

all four countries together. there are exceptions to the school closure rule. you will notice that shetland has closed its schools today for one week. and that is a resilience challenge, not a public health challenge. that is about staff members having symptoms and being off and shetland having a small workforce full of the challenge with schools is that if you close all the schools, somebody has to look after the kids and that will be police officers, police in control rooms, people who man the triple one hotline and frontline workers inside hospitals and community practices. we are not doing that at the expense of kids being harmed, this virus is very mild in the vast majority of people and, in particular in children. so we‘re not taking a risk with children, we think that keeping schools open now is the right thing to do. i know much of what you are saying is trying to reassure people andi saying is trying to reassure people and i am also aware that you are probably reading the same stories that many of our viewers are

reading, i saw yesterday an article in one of the newspaper saying that doctors and scientists urge the government to stop ignoring strategies from other countries that have brought cases down. can you please, this morning, off some reassurance to those who may be asking that exact question saying why is the uk taking one particular route when we look across at europe and see other countries who are doing things very differently and are seeing a reduction in some of the coronavirus cases. remember that the coronavirus cases. remember that the who is responsible for 19a countries. so the advice they give has to be applicable in the maldives, in somalia and in the united kingdom. it is no surprise that when that advice reaches somalia or scotland and wales and england and northern ireland that there is adaptation to the advice and guidance. and scotland‘s healthcare and guidance. and scotland‘s healthca re system and guidance. and scotland‘s healthcare system and the u.k.‘s healthcare system and the u.k.‘s healthca re system healthcare system and the u.k.‘s healthcare system looks different to the healthcare system in other countries. so we‘re making based on a demographic, on geography, on our

ca re system a demographic, on geography, on our care system that we already have in place. about what is best for two things, caring for the individual, so we want to have the best care possible for each individual person, so that means increasing intensive—care capacity, so that means increasing intensive—ca re capacity, making community care different, but also ca re of community care different, but also care of the population. these are two different things. caring for an individual, like i did when i had a properjob as a surgeon was one thing full but caring for the population as a whole is a different thing and it requires difficult decisions to be made with the best science we can. that is why each country will be slightly different on its path. there are two quick questions i would like to get to. these are difficult things to do briefly but if you could, uk government again speculation about asking over 70s to self isolate within the coming weeks. you tweeted yesterday and said that scotland has no plans to do that. what is the thinking around, particularly, this older generation? we are trying to do this uk wide and cobra will meet

later today to take advice from me and others. what we will probably move to in the next while, in the next weeks is we will ask over 70 —year—olds and those with pre—existing conditions to cut on their social contact. the last thing we wa nt their social contact. the last thing we want to do is put the elderly in rooms by themselves for three or four months. this is a long haul. this will not be done by tuesday. so there will be a point where we ask there will be a point where we ask the elderly and those with pre—existing conditions to cut back social contact. i got some trouble yesterday for saying that but that is just yesterday for saying that but that isjust an yesterday for saying that but that is just an example of the effect. people go to bingo, yes, and that is a social area and we are really relu cta nt to a social area and we are really reluctant to pull people back from the social occasions, mosques, churches, pubs... but there does come a point where we will probably have to do that. can i ask you, finally, how much are you fighting

against those amateur virologist‘s and those who have become experts in epidemiology over the last three or four days with the official advice. social media can play a positive role at times like this but also it can cause panic to spread easily. we are trying to create a balance and i. are trying to create a balance and i, among others, are trying to communicate this as best i can. i have only pulled out my masters in public health line once and that was ten minutes ago with piers morgan. soi ten minutes ago with piers morgan. so i did have to say i am not sure, mrmorgan, so i did have to say i am not sure, mr morgan, where you got your masters of public health. i don‘t like to do that but there comes a time when the amateur epidemiologist in the country are not helping us. i am happy to be held accountable, happy to answer questions as much as ican and happy to answer questions as much as i can and scotland, frankly, is fed up i can and scotland, frankly, is fed up with me answering questions, to be honest but i think there is a point for following the expertise. and that is the scientists who are helping us inside to give advice to

cobra and others. we appreciate you sharing your expertise with us this morning. thank you for your time and we hope to speak to you again soon. ten minutes past eight. as many of your questions we will answer with a special expert panel. right now, your local news, travel and weather forecast. good morning from bbc london, i‘m alpa patel. public health england is warning people against using home testing kits to see if they have coronavirus. it says that while some of the products look for the virus or the body‘s immune response, there‘s no guarantee that the results are reliable. the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine says that while the use of the tests isn‘t advisable, public health england should be evaluating home testing methods to try and ease pressure on doctors. amid concern over the coronavirus londoners are being asked to be more considerate and help those in need. there have been hundreds of offers of support across the capital with volunteers helping to run errands for vulnerable people who are worried about leaving their homes. but others feel, some could do more.

i saw one elderly gentleman and an elderly lady being pushed aside by people grabbing pasta, milk, any sort of supply without a care in the world. and in these times, we all have to think about how we can help those who will need that little bit extra assistance. the old vic theatre is the first well—known london theatre to cancel a play because of the outbreak. endgames starring alan cumming and daniel radcliffe was due to run for another two weeks. the old vic said it had become increasingly impractical to sustain business as usual. it urged those who had purchased tickets to consider donating the cost back to the theatre. let‘s take a look at the travel situation now. clear across all the lines this morning. on the roads — london bridge is closed to private vehicles until october due to maintenence work.

the a3 is busy as a result. in holloway — two lanes are closed on holloway road southbound — outside the tube station for repairs to a burst water main. now the weather with kate kinsella. a chilly day that we start in low figures but it is bright with sunshine and it feels perhaps a little milder than it recently has. a little bit of cloud coming and going through the day and the wind is light and the temperature where it should be for this time of year, the maximum today of 13 celsius. overnight tonight it stays clear with temperatures again feeling quite chilly by the time we get to dawn tomorrow morning. low single figures celsius. we will see the cloud starting to edge in as we head into tuesday morning. that cloud will continue to cover all parts as we head through the afternoon. still breaking up and we will get a couple of sunny spells again with temperatures around 1a celsius.

on wednesday, cloud around but temperatures in the mid teens celsius so a little milder for the next few days, a little cooler as we head through thursday and friday and a little more unsettled. you can get up—to—date and accurate information on covid—19 on our website or on the abc news app. or on the bbc news app. we also have analysis from health correspondents as well as videos on how to protect your mental health. i will be back in 30 minutes, for now back to the studio. good morning welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. our headlines today: tougher measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis will be considered by the prime minister at an emergency cobra meeting — they could include banning mass gatherings, new measures for older people and isolating households.

the virus is having a devastating impact on the travel industry — tui is suspending nearly all operations, british airways is dramatically cutting flights, and easyjet is warning that most of its fleet could be grounded. whether of its fleet could be grounded. you‘re a business oi an whether you‘re a business or indeed an individual in this country, with covid—19, good businesses shouldn‘t be put out of business. as the international response intensifies, germany is partially closing its borders. new york and la are shutting bars, restaurants and other public venues. good morning. how are businesses coping with coronavirus as they wake up coping with coronavirus as they wake up to some workers deciding not to come in. we look at the implications for trade and the rights for employees. the pandemic continues to affect sport. rugby union‘s premiership is set

to be postponed for up to three months, while horse racing across britain is expected to close its doors to fans. good morning, it is a cold and for ona good morning, it is a cold and for on a frosty start to the day but there is a lot of sunshine. england and wales hanging on to that, scotla nd and wales hanging on to that, scotland and northern ireland have thicker cloud, rain and strengthening wind is coming your way but i‘ll have more in about ten minutes. good morning. it‘s monday 16th march. we are trying to bring you everything we can relating to coronavirus this morning and we have health experts here and thank you for your questions this morning. let‘s tell you about the main part of the coronavirus story this morning. the prime minister and scientific advisers will discuss what further action the uk will take to combat coronavirus at an emergency cobra meeting. the government has also announced it‘s now going to hold daily news briefings to regularly update us all. the number of people who‘ve died of the virus

in the uk has risen to 35, an increase of 1a in 2a hours. lots of news about travel companies this morning. holiday company tui is suspending nearly all operations, and easyjet and british airways are cutting hundreds of flights as a result of travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. easyjet said it was because of ‘significantly reduced levels of customer demand‘, and the actions would continue on a rolling basis for the foreseeable future. it warned it could result in the grounding of the majority of the easyjet fleet. in the last half an hour the transport secretary grant shapps told us he will be meeting with the airlines. airlines are right at the forefront of this crisis crisis because, of course, travel internationally was the very first thing that was hit. i‘m meeting with the airlines, the airports, in fact the whole of the transport sector right across the board this week, and i‘m taking that information

and playing it into the economic and business committee that the chancellor will be chairing from today. so many discussions going on. we can speak now to our political correspondent, iain watson, who joins us from our westminster studio. we know there was a cobra meeting today. what are the priorities today from the government point of view? the scale of the crisis is such there are several priorities, one of them talking to other international leaders. borisjohnson them talking to other international leaders. boris johnson is them talking to other international leaders. borisjohnson is talking to the leaders of the seven most industrialised nation including america, it includes france and germany as well. trying to get an international response to the crisis. in britain he has responded to criticism that they may not have been enough information or transparency, so now we have moved to daily press conferences and also the emergency committee meeting, the cobra meeting you mentioned. it will discuss, for example, banning mass gatherings, defining what mass gatherings, defining what mass gatherings would be, in fact, and probably emerging with the timescale for a probably emerging with the timescale fora ban to probably emerging with the timescale for a ban to free up emergency

services that would otherwise be attending, for example, football matches or big concerts. there is also an attempt to try and get manufacturers to try and increase the supply of ventilators for the health service for people that need help with breathing once this virus reaches its peak, perhaps in the next 10—1a weeks. there is also supposed to be a briefing for opposition politicians as well in the government‘s plans but so far i‘m told they haven‘t set a time for that meeting. they have to do that too because this week they will introduce emergency legislation to give them the powers to clamp down, if need be, in the way that some of the european countries already have. iain watson, thank you very much. large—scale events like football matches and music festivals in scotland are cancelled from today to free up the emergency services to deal with coronavirus. first minister nicola sturgeon advised event organisers that mass gatherings of more than 500 people should not go ahead. let‘s speak now to our scotland reporter alexandra mackenzie who joins us from glasgow.

good morning to you. bring is up—to—date with the latest, what do we know? there are 153 cases of coronavirus here in scotland at the moment and one person has died, it was confirmed last night that there are now six confirmed cases of coronavirus in a care home in north lanarkshire. the six residents affected there have been isolated within that care home. they don‘t need hospital treatment at the moment. there is a deep clean being donein moment. there is a deep clean being done in that care home to try and stop the virus from spreading, and visitors will not be allowed into the care home unless absolutely necessary. the scottish government also wants to make the point that the over 70s in scotland will not be asked to completely isolate. they may be asked to reduce their social contact but the scottish government wa nt to contact but the scottish government want to make the point that they

will not be asked to completely isolate. alexandra, thank you very much for your time this morning. let‘s find out what‘s happening in other parts of the world. spain, italy and france all recorded their highest death tolls from coronavirus in a single day yesterday — and the authorities in all three countries have imposed restrictions. in a moment, we‘ll get the latest from sima kotecha in rome and hugh schofield in paris. first, let‘s go to our europe correspondent damian grammaticas, who is in madrid. there are restrictions in place there. tell us what they are and how they are being enforced. good morning. good morning. we have an official state of emergency here that came into force about an hour ago. what that means is that people have to stay in their homes. they are allowed out. across spain, this is, nationwide, only for limited reasons. so, to go to work, they are allowed out to go and buy food, they are allowed out in emergency situations, and of course, there are

people who are able to circulate, the police, people providing important services, community services. but generally, everyone has to stay indoors unless they have an explicit reason. what we have seen then our police on the streets, they have been checking people, sending people home, telling them to go back indoors if they find them out and about. and all of this because those numbers in spain are really rising fast. 150 deaths just in one day yesterday in spain were recorded. the pressure on the health service is now really, really intense. what the government is also doing under these emergency powers is things like it is now able to command private hospitals, private medical suppliers here, to take patients if necessary. and it is also drafting in medical students, people who have not yet completed all their medical training, to bring them into help as well. the

emergency service care staff in hospitals are really starting to get exhausted. damian grammaticas, thank you for the update from madrid. sima kotecha is in rome for us. most italians have been in quarantine or lockdown over the course of the last few days. give us an idea of how people are coping. what is the situation like? people are not allowed to leave their homes u nless are not allowed to leave their homes unless they have good reason. people cannot travel around the country u nless cannot travel around the country unless they have good reasons. if they break any rules that have been put in place they face a jail sentence or a fine, 368 people have died from coronavirus in italy over the last 2a hours. almost 25,000 cases of the illness across the country. most of them are in the north where the health service is under immense pressure is. doctors saying they are being pushed to their limits. the prime minister saying it will get worse before it gets better. now there is concern

that the outbreak could move from the north to the south because tens of thousands of people have travelled from the north to the southin travelled from the north to the south in recent weeks and the hospitals there aren‘t as well—equipped. so like i said, real concern. medics from china have arrived in rome where they are advising doctors about what to do and how to treat people who have coronavirus. they say that early isolation is key. looking around rome, it is eerily quiet. streets across italy are very quiet. hardly any traffic. businesses closed, shops closed apart from pharmacies and supermarkets, even though these strict measures have been put in place for a few days, people are still adjusting to them and realising that they can‘t continue living their everyday lives at the moment because of these measures. sima kotecha, thank you for bringing us sima kotecha, thank you for bringing us the latest this morning from rome. our paris correspondent hugh schofield is in the french capital. hugh, the restrictions in france are not as severe

as in spain or italy, are they? but what is going on in france? we have a very alarming message from the senior health figure here in the health service this morning saying that the situation is very alarming, he says, very worrying. every three days the number of cases is doubling. we now stand at 5000 or more cases confirmed and 127 dead. there are these restrictions now in place this morning, the first time the french are really feeling them today because the schools are shut for the first time and the closures of shops, nonessential shops, for the first time and the closures of shops, nonessentialshops, cafe is, bars, restaurants, has all gone ahead. paris does feel different but it hasn‘t ground to a standstill, there is still traffic out there, there is still traffic out there, there are shops to open, food shops, and people out on the streets. the message over the weekend is a sense of frustration in the government that all of its warnings are not being fully heeded even yet among the population. it was a lovely weekend in paris over the weekend, the weather was great, people were out in the parks, the key sides of

the river seine were full with picnicking and so on. we are told the government says people still are not getting it, so the rumour mill is churning here that we will perhaps get later today more measures and may be measures that are more strict and more stringent, you can find the kind of programme such as they have in spain and italy. i have to say this is just rumourand it is italy. i have to say this is just rumour and it is a city rife with rumour and it is a city rife with rumour about what they happen. hugh schofield, thank you. it is interesting seeing what is going on in other countries. thank you to all of our correspondence. in just a few moments time we have a coronavirus panel where we will try and get as many questions as we possibly can, health advice from a gp, the science behind the politics from a professor and also talking about nhs preparedness. lots of people sending in individual questions and we are trying to bring them all together and much as much as we can. questions about catching it from animals as well as humans,

can you get it twice and what happens if the virus comes back later in the year? we will try and get as much detailed, clear and accurate information for you from people who know what they are talking about. a supermarket in northern ireland has set aside special opening hours for older people to do their shopping during the coronavirus outbreak. a branch of iceland in the kennedy centre, in west belfast, has been praised on social media after it announced that from tomorrow it would let only older customers inside the shop from 8am to 9am to do their shopping. it‘s to make sure they can get hold of products that are flying off the shelves because of panic buying. there are lots of nice things happening as well. one of my favourites is people singing on balconies in italy. great, isn‘t it? anyway, let‘s catch up with carol to look at the weather. we have some sunshine around in weymouth here, but it was a cold start,

temperatures at —7.6 in some places. the showers across the pennines will fade and the cloud will clear and we will end up with a dry day with sunshine. hazy at times. for scotla nd sunshine. hazy at times. for scotland and northern ireland, after a bright start with sunshine, the cloud will build from the west, we will see the rain arrive and the wind is also going to strengthen but is not going to be a particularly cold day, 6—10 in the north, 11—13 as we can further south. if you are heading out later in the afternoon it will still be raining across much of scotla nd it will still be raining across much of scotland with some snow on the tops of the mountains. eastern scotla nd tops of the mountains. eastern scotland faring a bit better with dry conditions, the same for northern ireland, the east will be drier, the west will be wetter and some rain getting in across cumbria. but for the rest of england and way we are looking at a dry day with some hazy sunshine. as we head on through the evening and overnight, the weather front producing all this rain in the north will sink steadily southwards, weakening all the time can meaning that it moves across the

west in england and wales just as a band of cloud with patchy rain in wales and south—west england. behind it, some clearer skies and one or two showers. not as cold and night as the one just gone for the bulk of the uk. then as we head through tomorrow, we have this rain coming through northern ireland and scotla nd through northern ireland and scotland that will sink slowly southwards on wednesday as a weak feature. dan. thank you very much, carol. it is 8:17am. the government will be meeting today to discuss further plans on how to delay the spread of coronavirus. let‘s remind ourselves of the current situation. a total of 35 people have died in the uk after contracting covid—19. so far over a0,000 people have been tested across britain, and out of those almost 1,a00 have been confirmed to have the virus. from today borisjohnson, or a senior minister, will begin holding daily press conferences on the crisis to keep

the public up to date with the government‘s plans. this afternoon the prime minister will also chair an emergency cobra meeting which will discuss next steps, including possible ways to shield the elderly and vulnerable from the virus. the scottish government has advised that events involving more than 500 people should be cancelled. so much to talk about. we have a specialist panel here. we can speak now to dr chaand nagpaul, chairman of the british medical association, who joins us from london. we will be with you in a minute. and with us are dr rangan chatterjee, and professor tom solomon, director of the uk‘s emerging infections research unit at liverpool university. good morning, all, we will get through as much as we can. first of all, professor, what are the latest numbers? and the question is, a difficult one to answer, is this under control? well, in this country as you know we have 35 deaths, sadly, the number of cases is going up. this is what we expected for an

outbreak like this. we have seen in europe the numbers go up quite dramatically. we have seen in southeast asia that numbers have gone up and then come down again. we are still at the bit of the curve thatis are still at the bit of the curve that is going up. let's speak to doctor chaand nagpaul, the numbers have been going up and you specifically know about the nhs. how prepared is the nhs and what is having to change? first of all, we need to know much more from the government about the preparedness. we of course have real concerns about the number of doctors. we are already short of doctors in the uk and the immediate priority from my end representing the nation's doctors is to keep them protected, free from infection, because if they fall sick and they are not able to work we will not have a workforce to look after acutely ill patients. one of the biggest concerns at the

moment is the inadequacy of protective equipment that can protective equipment that can protect doctors from being exposed to the virus. what sort of thing are you talking about? we are talking about protective masks, visors, aprons, gowns, the sort of equipment that doctors need in order to not get the infection. at the moment, though supplies are by no means adequately available in hospitals. a lot of doctors are contacting us worried that they are seeing patients with infection in wards where there are infected patients and they don't feel they have adequate protection. similarly, in gp practices, we don't have sufficient masks or of adequate quality, that allows doctors to be protected whilst they are conducting their surgeries. the other problem we have at the moment is that with the policy of self isolation for seven days we don't have rapid testing of doctors and other health

ca re staff, testing of doctors and other health care staff, so many are signing off work for a week. they may not have coronavirus, but because they are not being tested, even if they re cover not being tested, even if they recover in a couple of days, they are recover in a couple of days, they a re off recover in a couple of days, they are off work for a whole week. that is shrinking our workforce and putting enormous pressure on the system. let's bring in our gp in the studio on that question. listening to that, is that the experience you and other gps are facing? there is lots of concerns about the amount of equipment available to keep people safe, for sure. but i will say there isa safe, for sure. but i will say there is a lot of practices showing a lot of innovation here. there is a practice in st albans called the maltings surgery who took pre—emptive action and they close down their surgery. they put different zones in place, so reception staff would work in a particular zone which was cut off from the rest of the practice. people coming in with fevers and upper respiratory tract infections we re upper respiratory tract infections were put in a different zone and all nonurgent and consultation that could be, were moved over to video and telephone very quickly. they have very kindly shared their

guidance online and lots of practices are using that. i think there is a lot of innovation by doctors. obviously we want more protective equipment. on testing, this asks how will we know the true number is infected if we only tested those hospitalised and does it matter? we will not know the com plete matter? we will not know the complete number infected unless we test everybody. you can make an approximation because we know for eve ryo ne approximation because we know for everyone hospitalised how many non—hospitalised cases there are. whether it matters or not depends on the approach that you are taking. in some of the asian countries, they have had a very aggressive policy, particularly south korea, continuing to test every case and also testing all of their contacts, and then isolating all of their contacts. they have no exactly who is infected and they have managed to contain it like that. i think doctor chaand makes an important point about health workers, even if we are not testing everybody in this country, i think we should test health care workers because you need to know if they have a fever and a cough, you need to know, is it the coronavirus? in which case they isolate for seven

days. and then importantly, they had their infection and they can go back to work and work right through the winter, whatever coughs and colds they have. if we don‘t test them, they have. if we don‘t test them, they are off for seven days, they come back a month or two later they are sick again, they have to go off again. ido are sick again, they have to go off again. i do think it might be sensible to rethink this policy of who entice done is tested on testing co—workers so that we know where we are up to. interesting to see if the government looks at that again in the coming days, we know they‘re having their daily press conference now as well. can i come back to you about something lots of people have been asking about self—isolation? this is patricia‘s specific question but i‘m sure it applies to different people in different ways. how do i self—isolate when there are two people in my household still going to work? i have a chronic condition, we live in a small house with one bathroom. there are many people who are self—isolating at the moment, or considering doing it and how they would do it. what is the best practice and advice for somebody like patricia in that situation?

practice and advice for somebody like patricia in that situation7m is incredibly challenging depending on the individual situation. but if she is vulnerable and there are two people going to work where she lives, ideally we would say in the short—term other family members should not be attending work, if at all possible can they work from home? is that going to be possible? i appreciate it doesn't in every case but if we take a safety first approach, while we are learning more about this virus and more about the in knowledge about this virus, as will become clear over the coming days and weeks, i think we should ta ke days and weeks, i think we should take a safety set safety first approach and the other people in the household should be self—isolating. i want to talk to doctor rangan chatterjee. the government is looking at getting more ventilators working. what about health workers? are there the doctors available that would be able to use extra ventilators? again, i come back to the point, we must first of all make sure that the doctors currently working can continue to work and are

protected. many doctors may need to retrain other health care staff, may need to do tasks and duties that they haven't been doing up to now in order for all of us to pull together. that needs planning and one of the concerns i have is that that detail isn't available. we heard, as you know, a couple of weeks ago about a plan for retired doctors to come back into the system. we have no further details andl system. we have no further details and i represent retired doctors too, and i represent retired doctors too, and they want to know how they will come back to work, will they be registered, will they be able to provide all services, will they be indemnified, will they receive induction training? we need to have those plans ready immediately if we are to come in many ways, reconfigure the workforce so that the priority is dealing with acutely ill people in what is an unprecedented pandemic. dr rangan chatterjee, can i pick up on a point about isolation? it is a hard thing to do, it brings loneliness as well for people, so what can we do about

that? first of all, we know that one of the most at risk groups and people above the age of 70 and a lot of them have been asked to self—isolate and of them have been asked to self— isolate and a of them have been asked to self—isolate and a lot of them are pre—emptively self—isolating now, that may reduce the chance of being exposed to coronavirus and subsequent illness, there is an unintended consequence that is going to be more loneliness, we know that's a big problem already, so i think if people cannot visit their elderly relatives or their mother or father, for example, let's use technology, things like facetime, skype calls, make sure people feel as though they are still connected because i think this will be a big problem that we are going to face over the next few months that people will feel quite lonely and isolated. but i would also say communities are coming together to try and help people. people are dropping in notes to their elderly neighbours, saying have you got all your shopping? i we nt have you got all your shopping? i went round to my 91—year—old neighbour yesterday and asked the same thing. for all of the

negatives, there are many positives and communities are coming together. professor, few quickfire ones. can you get it twice? we think you cannot get this twice if it behaves like other coronaviruses and other similar viruses. we think once you have had it you have had it and that‘s why once people have had it, if they know they have, they could then rejoin the workforce. can you catch it from animals? although the virus originally came animals in china, we think it is a zoonotic virus, meaning it is circulated among animals and then spreading to humans, this is now a human virus and as faras humans, this is now a human virus and as far as we know it is not an important aspect getting it from cats and dogs and pets in that kind of thing. is there a chance that like other influenza viruses, is there a chance it could come back stronger in the winter and may be repeat again? this is one of the big issues and where the dilemma comes in terms of the approach to this virus. in places like south korea they have been very aggressive, they have got on top of it now. but the problem is, how long are you going

to continue doing that for? because the virus is going to keep circulating. it is not going to disappear. an alternative approach is to say, well, a lot of us are going to get it, it is going to happen over the next few months. and then once a large proportion of the population have had it it will continue to circulate probably in months and years ahead but will not cause such a big health strain on the health service and that‘s the dilemma about what the best approaches but there is no reason to think if it comes back in the winter it will be so much worse, it will still be the same virus. people talk about viruses mutate in, usually they mutate to become less severe and not more severe so there is no reason why it would be more severe in the winter. thank you for all of your time on bbc breakfast. very informative. we have to get you back. so many questions i‘m sure people would love to ask. thank you very much. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are.

high—pressure moving in from the south. particularly for england and a all is. towards the north and west, this is moving into western scotland, the west of northern ireland. the breeze picks up. elsewhere, cloud, but decent sunny spells this afternoon, staying dry for england and well is, 13 degrees. 10 celsius for scotland and northern ireland. tonight, this will move further south, break up. ireland. tonight, this will move furthersouth, break up. northern england, wales, northern england, showers feeding in behind. overnight, down to four celsius. largely frost—free. tuesday, cloud it again for england and well is. on the warm side. further north, rain spreading in.

this is worklife, from bbc news, with sally bundock, and samantha simmonds. economic emergency. america‘s central bank makes another unscheduled slash in the cost of borrowing because of coronavirus. live from london, that‘s our top story on monday 16th march. as the virus slows down economies around the world the us federal reserve makes a dramtic1% cut to the cost of borrowing and takes action with other central banks to limit the damage — but will it help?