distancing would usually be impossible in the middle of the rush—hour. but this morning, it felt like a ghost train. this city of perpetual motion is shutting down. its bars, its restaurants, its school system, and it's frightening for new yorkers like liz sa nta na. oh, no, it's devastating, what's happening right now. it's a very emotional for a lot of service people,to lose theirjobs. sorry. times square is normally the pulsing heart of manhattan, bumper—to—bumper congested. but just about the only activity was on its dancing big screens. images from a chinese news channel, with scenes that are now playing out here. they call times square the crossroads of the world. but nobody wants to meet here any more. the nation's capital looked like a scene from some dystopian drama. and at the white house, the physical barriers that protect the president are now being augmented by medical checks on people going inside.

and it's notjust the health of the nation that's on donald trump's mind, but the economic fallout after another calamitous day on the markets, which took yet another hit after he'd answered this question. is the us economy heading into a recession? well, it may be. we are not thinking in terms of recession. we are thinking in terms of the virus. once we stop it, i think there's a tremendous pent—up demand, both in terms of the stock market and in terms of the economy, and once this goes away, once it goes through, and we are done with it, i think you are going to see a tremendous surge. us airlines are seeking a $50 billion government bailout, given so much of the world has been immobilised. but one sector of the american economy is experiencing a dramatic spike in sales. the queue here in los angeles was for guns. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. let's take brief look at some of today's other news. we will have more on the coronavirus ina we will have more on the coronavirus

in a moment. the trial of scotland's former first minister, alex salmond, has heard allegations from a civil servant that he initiated a sexual assault by telling her he wanted to recreate a pose on a christmas card. the witness, who can be identified only as woman b, said it happened during a meeting at mr salmond's official residence. alex salmond denies 13 charges relating to nine women. a police officer, who was called to the scene where pc andrew harper was killed in berkshire last year, has told the old bailey that he witnessed his body "tumbling" in the road. pc harper died when he was dragged by a car near the all. three teenagers deny murder. the comedian, actor and presenter roy hudd has died at the age of 83. he was best known for the radio 2 series the news huddlines, which ran for more than 25 years. the bbc has announced a two—month delay in requiring people over 75 to pay for their television licence. the benefit was due to be

scrapped on the 1st ofjune, except for those claiming pension credit. that's now been put back until the beginning of august. the bbc said these were challenging times, and now was not the time to make the change. back to our main theme, then. across the uk, organised efforts are being made to try to help the most vulnerable deal with the effects of the pandemic. community groups have been established in many areas, offering a range of services, as sian lloyd reports. vital supplies for the elderly. this outreach group in birmingham have been running a food bank, but now they're responding to the coronavirus. since friday, they've been providing supplies for people who are self—isolating. demand is rising. this delivery is on its way to an elderly woman who can't get out of the house. if i can sacrifice a little of what i have to help others, then so be it. that way, both of us will survive, rather than me trying to hoard and i survive and the other person perishes.

there's been a surge in people wanting to lend a helping hand in their local communities. the groups we met today will carry on as planned in the wake of the latest advice. 550 people havejoined since saturday, and they are all willing to help in their local street. things are gathering pace. adrian and jennie are mobilising volunteers in their neighbourhood of sandwell. so we've got these little cards that have been produced that we are just popping our names and telephone numbers on, and people can ring those individuals and say, "i need this help" or "i just want to chat." and it's happening across the country. in falkirk, the owners of a local shop have been handing out kits with soap, hand wash and masks to vulnerable people. a community group set up near wrexham this weekend is already being supported by people from all walks of life. we have got police officers. we have an excellent counsellor. we have teachers and people who work in the nhs, hr managers,

so a real cross—section of the local community who have all come forward because i think we understand things are going to get worse before they get better and we want to make sure that vulnerable people are protected. and in padstow, this shop is opening early for the over—70s this week to allow customers a calmer environment. it was a really busy half hour. we were amazed, actually. it was like a little social club. a lot of the older ladies having a bit of a natter and filling their trolleys up. in cardiff, more people doing their bit, reaching out to those who may not be able to make essential trips in the weeks and months to come. sian lloyd, bbc news. before we say good night, a last word with fergus walsh, our medical correspondence, to take stock and remind viewers of what the government is urging us all to do from today and may be the other question is, how long are we likely

to be in this position? so profound changes to all our lives. from now, if any person in a household has symptoms of a continuous cough or a fever, the whole household must stay—at—home for 14 days but we should all avoid all unnecessary social contact, pubs, restaurants, bars, theatres, any social venue. we should work from home where possible, particularly to the over 70s, pregnant women, as a precaution, and those with underlying health problems. the most seriously affected by suppressed immune systems, about i million, affected by suppressed immune systems, abouti million, 1.4 million systems, about1 million, 1.4 million people, those with leukaemia, transplant patients and so leukaemia, transplant patients and so on, they will be told to isolate themselves for up to 12 weeks. but we don't know how long these restrictions are going to last for 01’ restrictions are going to last for or really what the exit strategy will be but this virus could be with

us will be but this virus could be with us for years to come. fergus walsh, many thanks, our medical correspondence, there. for the latest developments on the coronavirus outbreak, including what symptoms to look out for and how to reduce your risk, just visit our website at bbc.co.uk/news, or go to the bbc news app. you can see all the links there. and all the latest detailed government advice on the virus can be found at gov.uk, and follow the coronavirus link. you can see all of the latest government information and advice online. that's it. newsnight is under way over on bbc two. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night.

hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm jane dougall with the latest on the impact that the corona virus is having on sport. will the european championships go ahead? uefa has called an emergency meeting to consider the options. the biggest festival in the racing calender is off. there will be no grand national at aintree in april. and the olympic european boxing qualifying event in london is now suspended after tonight's session. but not before the first british boxer secures his place for the tokyo games. hello and welcome to

sportsday, i'mjane dougall. welcome to the programme. with sport in the uk effectively cancelled because of corona virus, attention now turns to competitions further afield. an emergency meeting will be held by uefa tomorrow to discuss how the champions league, the europa league and the european championships can continue. the first match of euro 2020 is scheduled to take place injune in rome but the italian football federation is calling for the tournament to be postponed. earlier i spoke to our football reporter simon stone and asked him if that would be in the interests of most countries participating. i think part of the discussions tomorrow will be trying to get clarity from the leaks, from the major clubs about their intentions of what they will do if ua forgive this major concession of moving the european championships and i think

what ua four will want is an acknowledgement from the other leagues, from the other clubs that there was support the other competitions, all of which are major money spenders without which ua folk could not make the payments to all of the smaller countries. so it is not just about the premier of the smaller countries. so it is notjust about the premier league, it is not just notjust about the premier league, it is notjust about la liga, and this is what they were trying to protect in making this momentous decision tomorrow. one thing that i was told that within the talks, if they decided tomorrow, within the talks that take place tomorrow, maybe an idea to be floated that get these tournaments down to the quarterfinals and then instead of the final being played at the champions league inestimable, instead of the final of the league being played, to play the quarterfinals, the semifinals and the final as a kind of mini

tournament in those cities over the space of the week and that might not be decided tomorrow, but i think there will be part of the discussions and it's one of the ideas of trying to get the seasons finished. simon stone talking to me earlier. other sports have been heavily affected by coronavirus, with many having to postpone matches and some even fearing for their very existence. in the last few hours aintree racecourse has announced that the grand national — due to take place in april has been cancelled with organisers saying it's no longer appropriate to hold the event. lots more to update you on, here's our reporter austin halewood. once again brought another day of cancellations and postponements across the sporting world, events and mainland europe had been stopped for a few weeks now but it is only in the last few days the uk sporting scene really has grown to a halt, the rugby union and competitions have been suspended now, as of

england premiership, it has been initially halted for five weeks, by initially halted for five weeks, rugby league, super league, that is also been suspended as things stand, thatis also been suspended as things stand, that is a lease until the 3rd of april with the huge financial implication that has, some feared that this may go completely and the existence must the government steps in to support. i think we need to keep talking with them, to keep talking with government and others might be able to help us through these next few weeks and months and it is the key part of all of this as we have started over the last couple of weeks with all of our contingency planning smell of her communications to the government and others that are involved in the sport and have implications. there vital to their communities need to such a greatjob in those local communities and so it is important that the job continues for many more years. they've already extended their suspension on events,

tournaments and stuttgart and they've all been cancelled now, while the suspension was originally into the 20th of april, that is not been extended until at least the 2nd of may and the world—famous race between oxford and cambridge and london was scheduled but that is not been cancelled as well. when exactly can we start to see sports events starting to return as normal. the nba's member through —— midway through a suspension, but that will bea through a suspension, but that will be a best case scenario. that is only if the season starts back up at all. there's kind of a timeline for best case scenario for the nba and we are hearing that they are looking for the end ofjune mid june for the playoffs to start and then in august, they're looking for the nba finals and they will host the draft and this word gets muddy again

because they're looking for possibly the end of november, early december for training practices to start, preseason games but the rumoured start date forward to the nba is around christmas time or mid november and i would shorten the season to around 80 to 85 games, there's just so much up season to around 80 to 85 games, there'sjust so much up in season to around 80 to 85 games, there's just so much up in the air but some of these leaks will cancel the entire season i'm hopeful that it does not because a lot of people like myself use the sports as an escape from reality but we are not sure to do with this extra time but it isa sure to do with this extra time but it is a strong reality that will possibly see them cancelled altogether. resuming the action at a later date around the world might not be quite as simple as first thought, but of course this year, the big event coming this summer was the big event coming this summer was the tokyo olympics and organises in tokyo have insisted that they will

go ahead as planned, even with lots of different qualification events being cancelled around the world right now and that is the international olympic committee are starting crisis talks a little international sports federations and we are not expecting anything concrete on that meeting it is been described as an update, but with the games do to start, it is understandably growing concern. the olympic european boxing qualifying event in london, which started on saturday and went behind closed doors on sunday, will be suspended following tonight's session. galal yafai has become the first british boxer to secure his place for the tokyo games after beating russia's rasul saliev on a unanimous points decision. peter mcgrail has also booked his place in tokyo after he beat czech republic's kevin godla by a unanimous decision in the feather weight class. the big question now is when the rest of the olympic