this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. don't go to the theatre, cinema or pub, the message from the british prime minister. but how will businesses cope? and, the city that never sleeps shuts down. we visit the empty streets of new york city. and this is the morning after the worst day for financial markets since the late 1980s. look at the close on wall street. shares across asia are mixed as investors begin to believe a global recession

maybe inevitable. after initially adopting a gradual response to the coronavirus, the uk government set out a dramatic increase in restrictions and precautions. this comes after several big manufacturers announce shut—downs. vauxhall‘s parent company will shut all of its european manufacturing plants due to fears over the coronavirus. psa group said plants at ellesmere port and luton will close this week and will remain shut until at least 27 march. fiat chrysler has said it will suspend production at the majority of its european factories for the same period. on a more personal note, people are being urged to work from home where possible, particularly in london, where the virus is thought to have advanced faster than elsewhere in the uk.

here's the prime minister at the first of what will now be daily news conferences from downing street. now is the time for everyone to stop non—essential contact with others, and to stop all unnecessary travel. we need people to start working from home, where they possibly can, and you should avoid pubs, clu bs, and you should avoid pubs, clubs, theatres, and other such social venues. that is a snapshot of what is to become a daily news briefing. so, how is business handling shutdowns and coping with staff affected by coronavirus? chris southworth, secretary general, icc united kingdom joins me now. one of the latest lines from the uk government is today it will announce new financial measures to help the economy, the chancellor is acted to be

at today's briefing from street, what would you downing street, what would you wa nt downing street, what would you want him to say? anything that offers financial assistance, airlines, car manufacturing, is really welcome, and i would like to see the government show much bolder, more effective action around trade governments have been putting in trade protection measures for the last ten years, this is a perfect moment to show some leadership and start reversing that trend, whether that is on medical supplies, that trend, whether that is on medicalsupplies, removing import export quotas, removing taxes where possible. so special measures for a period of time that would just help with the flow of vital things going back and forth, supply change dominic chains need to be assisted as much as possible. absolutely, anything to keep the flow of trade moving, and anything that alleviates cost for companies isa alleviates cost for companies is a good idea right now. our political correspondent is

hearing that there will be help for the airline industry in particular, that is in the uk, i would imagine other governments around the world are thinking on malign. governments around the world are thinking on malignlj governments around the world are thinking on malign. i think this is a good moment for groupings like g7 or g20 to show some leadership around the big economies, around collective action on key industries like airlines is a good example. it is quite frustrating for business leaders right now, especially in the uk when the prime minister says avoid pubs, avoid letters, avoid the cinema, but they haven't said such premises should be closed down which means those who run those pubs and means those who run those pubs a nd restau ra nts means those who run those pubs and restaurants can't claim for financial assistance from insurance. the burden is on business. we have to be really careful and alert here, there will be a lot of companies that have been under immense stress and strain in the last three plus years and it won't take much to tempt them over the edge. the regional airline that

went into administration, there area went into administration, there are a lot of companies that will be living on the margins. many small companies, small margin businesses, it doesn't ta ke margin businesses, it doesn't take an awful lot, they won't have the cash reserves so we have the cash reserves so we have got to be very alert to those, so the advice the government gives, we need to be very, very careful not to overburden business, it is not sustainable in the long run. and your team are working from home? we are all working from home? we are all working from home for the next couple of weeks, yeah. all right chris, it has been good to have you here. also, do tell us if you area here. also, do tell us if you are a business owner, what are you doing to try to cope with all the change and change in guidelines, has it impacted you? get in touch, #bbcthebusiness. now let's brief you on some other business stories: us treasury secretary steven mnuchin says he is seeking a "big number" for an additional stimulus package intended to prop up the economy amid the coronavirus outbreak,

but he did not elaborate. one senate republican, marco rubio, told reporters that mnuchin had asked republicans to move on an additional measuretargeting airlines and small businesses this week. amazon is looking to hire 100,000 warehouse and delivery workers in the us to keep up with a surge of online orders. the company said it would spend over $350 million to raise the pays for these employees in the united states and canada by $2 an hour, 2 pounds in the uk and about 2 euros in the european union through april. the cruise industry is struggling to return 90,000 passengers, who're still at sea, as more people test positive for covid—i9. one british cruise ship is asking cuba for permission to dock while several carnival and royal caribbean ships have stopped in places like brazil to disembark passengers in recent days. four major operators have

suspended their cruises for the next month, about 500 trips in all, draining at least $1 billion in revenue. hong kong will quarantine all people entering the chinese—ruled city for 14 days, starting midnight on thursday to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. let's go to our asia business hub where mariko oi is following the story. tell us more about these new measures? as you said, hong kong has become the latest to impose measures that have been implemented by others like australia and zeeland, but of course hong kong was one of the first cities to be affected by the out rake back injanuary, and now what they are trying to do is to stop the second wave of infections. meanwhile,

others like india have also announced a ban on the entry of anyone from the eu, turkey, as well as the uk, at least until the end of the month, and as more travel restrictions take effect, as you were just talking to your guest about, airlines are struggling. american carriers have asked for government bailout to stay afloat. asian carriers also say at this rate they will run out of money by may. qantas has just cut its international capacity by 90%, with the company's capacity by 90%, with the compa ny‘s boss calling capacity by 90%, with the company's boss calling at the single biggest shock for the industry. alan joyce single biggest shock for the industry. alanjoyce worked in the industry during the 9/11 attacks as well as the global financial crisis and according to him this is even worse than that, so other carriers have done similar things cutting capacity and asking their staff to go on unpaid leave, but there are now concerns ofjob loss. indeed, thank you for

now. america's largest city is going dark. as the number of cases of coronavirus cases continue to rise, new york city is closing bars and restaurants and telling people to stay home. while necessary, it will have a devestating impact on the city's economy. samira hussain reports from new york the city that never sleeps is grinding toa the city that never sleeps is grinding to a halt, despite 8 million people living here, there were very few people roaming the streets of manhattan. during the lunch hour rush, the food court would normally be packed. city officials have closed all public schools and have instructed restaurants to do the same, and offer only ta keaway the same, and offer only takeaway or delivery. movie theatres, bars, and gyms are all shut and could be for a very long time. people work from home, local are already bearing the brunt. no business. zero business. this is supposed to be my rush—hour. this is a time to make money. it is not

making money and even is not covering my costs. i don't have any imagination what i am going to do for my bills, for my life, it is very, very, very bad time. the coronavirus will inflict a massive amount of damage on new york city's economy, with officials estimating a loss of more than $3 billion in tax revenue in the next six months. we are on a path that is a trajectory that does not look positive. i believe it is more likely we could be in a recession today thanl could be in a recession today than i was a couple of months ago, couple of weeks ago. i think we have to have all hands on deck now, we're going to need help the federal government. but the federal government. but the federal government remains absent, with no new bill to shield americans from the economic fallout of the coronavirus. for now, though, one famous new york gathering spot remains open, the new york stock exchange. but traders on the floor are

not having a very good time, as financial markets continue their free fall copy the move to close america's largest city may be necessary to preserve public health and health system, but there is very little doubt that it will have a devastating impact on the health of this city and the country's economy. let's financial markets today in asia, itan financial markets today in asia, it an absolutely dire day on monday, but as you can see, we are seeing markets go up today, but when you consider that markets in australia, the all ordinaries have seen a near 30% decline, the asx 200 and is the peak in february, today small gains do not count for much, but interestingly the stocks that are doing well, nintendo shares are up 5% today, in japan nintendo shares are up 5% today, injapan you would imaginea today, injapan you would imagine a demand for things like xbox, nintendo, when you

stay at home is pretty high right now, so those are the kind of companies that are doing well at the moment on the markets. that's it for the business briefing this hour. italy is the european country with the largest number of cases of coronavirus. eighteen months ago venice resident marianna purisiol showed us how her city was suffocating under the pressure of tourism. now, she shows us how venice has been completely cleared of crowds by the shutdown. here's how life there has changed. 18 months ago we spoke about how the city was submerged and suffocated by mass tourism. it becomes really stressful, it's gone out of control. well, this is my sitting at the time of the coronavirus. ! this is my

city. this is one of the most photographed places in town, this is a tourist hotspot and backin this is a tourist hotspot and back in the day, i had to elbow my way through the crowd and avoid the salty sticks from all directions. now, ican avoid the salty sticks from all directions. now, i can take a photo or a video from every angle of the bridge. from a selfish point of view, i feel privileged because they can now admire the beauty of my city undisturbed. what's for the future? that's my anxiety.

incredible how things are changing, and so quickly. in so many countries around the world, we have heard from so many of you. take a look at people's comments, get involved, tell us what is happening where you are. we have all the very latest on bbc online updating all the time. this particular story updated very recently, talking about the new financial measures to support the uk economy that are likely to be announced today. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: france's president warns anyone who violates a ban on non—essential travel will be punished, as the country engages in a "health war". the uk issues new guidelines also urging people to stay at home as much as possible, though schools will not be closed. after share prices in new york tumble again, the us government is working on a new stimulus

package to help counter the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the times looking at boris johnson changing his approach to tackling the coronavirus — the uk's introduced drastic new measures — the paper says it could save a 250,000 lives. from britain's leader to his french counterpart — emmanuel macron is on the front page of le figaro with the headline "we're at war" as europe seals off its borders. the financial times says the pandemic‘s caused another plunge on the markets despite central banks' efforts to allay investors' fears on monday. more business reaction on london's city am — "catastrophic" is how it describes the outlook