good morning. hello, you're watching bbc news. i'm victoria derbyshire, i'm with you this wednesday morning to bring you the latest on the coronavirus crisis and to help guide you through. the headlines: ministers say they are working on measures to support you in yourjob and to help you if you rent your home. there are millions of renters across the country, and of course some of them will feel particular anxiety about this. the housing secretary will come forward very shortly to set out a statement of how we will provide support for renters. also, supermarkets are taking more action to help elderly and vulnerable people buy food and supplies, and to curb panic buying. also, a moving tribute to the man thought to be the youngest in the uk to die from covid—19. craig ruston was 45 and had

motor neurone disease. in france, there are police checks and fines for people breaking strict confinement laws. and after nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british woman jailed for spying in iran, is temporarily released from prison.. because of an outbreak of coronavirus, we'll be speaking live to her husband richard in the next half hour. the government is being urged to do more to help families and workers affected by the coronavirus outbreak, after announcing billions of pounds of help for companies. the chancellor, rishi sunak, made more than £300 billion in loans available

to affected firms. but business groups said action had to be taken to pay workers‘ wages, while labour said people struggling with their rent had been ignored. this morning, the government is expected to announce how they plan to protect millions of people who rent their homes. let's go through some of the measures unveiled by the chancellor yesterday. he announced a three—month mortgage holiday for homeowners. mr sunak pledged £330 billion in government—backed loans to help businesses pay for supplies, to pay their rent and workers‘ salaries. also, a package of tax cuts and grants worth £20 billion to protect companies and households. there have now been 71 deaths in the uk from the virus. almost 2,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus almost 2,000 people have tested positive for it but the actual number of cases could be as high as 55,000.

that was a figure we learned yesterday. a new—born baby is among the latest confirmed cases. the environment secretary george eustice is holding talks with supermarkets to ensure the security of food supplies. supermarkets are introducing new measures to restrict stockpiling and to help the elderly, vulnerable and those with disabilities. 0ur correspondentjohn mcmanus has this report. 45—year—old craig ruston, living with motor neurone disease, and now believed to be the youngest victim of the coronavirus. he died on monday morning. his wife, sally, says she's heartbroken. the government now moving to prevent similar tragedies. in 1973, in the context of the energy crisis, the government assumed emergency powers. fast forward 47 years, and another conservative government is about to ask parliament to give it sweeping powers, this time to tackle a pandemic.

the emergency coronavirus bill will be put before commons on thursday. if passed, it will allow the police to arrest and isolate people to protect public health. the border force would also be able to suspend operations at airports and other transport hubs if security couldn't be guaranteed. in hospitals, paperwork would be cut back to allow patients to be discharged quickly and free up vital beds. recently—retired nhs and social care staff could return to work without losing their pension rights, while those who stay away from work to self—isolate would get statutory sick pay from day one. yesterday, the chancellor, rishi sunak, announced £330 billion in government—backed loans for all businesses. there'll be £20 billion in cash grants and business tax cuts, and a three—month mortgage holiday for homeowners who find themselves unable to meet payments. but there's been no word on whether those who rent will receive similar help. we have never faced an economic fight like this... but this is state intervention

on a scale not seen in decades to tackle an unprecedented problem. the coronavirus pandemic is a public health emergency, but it is also an economic emergency. we have never in peacetime faced an economic fight like this one. some businesses are already adapting. morrison's says it is creating 3,500 newjobs in its home delivery operation prompted by the coronavirus. from today, sainsbury‘s will restrict customers to a maximum of three of any grocery products and only two of items such as soap and toilet paper and, like iceland, it's reserving some shopping hours for the elderly and vulnerable. john mcmanus, bbc news. lets talk about how the chancellor's proposals have been received by workers, small businesses, large businesses. our business presenter dominic 0'connell is here. a lot of companies have said the

loa n a lot of companies have said the loan guarantee scheme is welcome but thatis loan guarantee scheme is welcome but that is a long way off, they don't wa nt to that is a long way off, they don't want to be filling in forms, what they want is emergency rapid help, particularly in terms of income support so they can keep people employed. 0ne support so they can keep people employed. one of the ideas floated this morning by the cbi is to reverse national insurance payments, so use reverse national insurance payments, so use the existing infrastructure of national insurance payments and use it to push money into companies to support their payroll. the other thing talked about is there is a £36 billion vat bill due in at the end of this month. how about scrapping that? all of these things can happen quickly with the existing infrastructure, and again, that refrain, we don't want to be filling in forms to get help. in the last couple of minutes toyota announced it is suspending production at all of its european factories including in teesside, in wales, lancashire. it is hardly surprising because all of the european car manufacturers have done this now, we're still waiting to from land rover.

burniston is briton's single biggest car plant, we had the same from this yesterday. most of them are doing a two—week shutdown. if the virus continues to affect the economy for longer than that, how will they be able to restart? the other reason they are stopping is the disruption in the flow of parts from china and manufacturers all around the world that they need to keep going. difficult to see how they might be able to restart after that two—week break. i wonder what more measures might be coming to help workers. i will review this from paul who e—mailed to say, unless the government pays me my full net weekly wage i will not and cannot self—isolate and i will be going to work to try and survive. i've got a rent, bills and debts to pay. that applies particularly to self—employed workers who will not be covered by the safety nets already in place. there is talk about something for people in rental properties today. they will be a specific thing for the aba —— aviation industry. there is the

thing about income support, which is quite tricky, which is where the national insurance idea comes into play. very difficult to push money into companies without being able to manage it and know where that money goes. it is quite tricky territory for the treasury and just underlines that this crisis isn't like any other financial crisis we have had before. thank you very much. thank you, dominic. do get in touch this morning, you can send an e—mail to me. 0ur assistant political editor norman smith is at westminster. norman, there's a cobra meeting this morning. we are going to get more announcements from the government. we are most of is frantic work going on to put in place the sort of financial support packages people clearly need if we are to get through this. i think the reason we haven't got them now, frankly, is these are pretty complex measures, which in normal times treasury officials would spend months and months and months working over. now they are having to get them together

in hours. people are working through the night, very long hours, they are getting tired and it's difficult. but we will get measures soon. so we may get proposals to help tenants, for example, with their rent. that may come today, it may come tomorrow. it is a question of how quickly they can nail it down. similarly, they want to move ahead at speed and try and protect people's wages. what we do know is thinking in government is the key objective is to keep people in work. that is for a number of reasons. 0bviously that is for a number of reasons. obviously to protect people against hardship. that's kind of obvious. but it's also to sustain demand in the economy so people keep buying things, so businesses keep turning over. but interestingly, also to retain a sense of normality, that normal life goes on and there isn't this sort of psychological shock that people suddenly face when they are out of work, when seemingly having been in savejobs

are out of work, when seemingly having been in save jobs with good prospects and so on. that is the priority rather than bolstering sickness pay, or taking further measures on universal credit. the prime thinking in government is keep people in work. so that is where all the effort is going into at the moment. how they do it is not clear, whether they go for some sort of wage subsidies, or cuts to national insurance, employers are part of your national insurance, which has been mooted, but it's not clear. 0ther been mooted, but it's not clear. other countries, as we know the us in particular, pretty much arejust parachuting cash into people's bank accounts. that hasn't been ruled out. rishi sunak was asked about that in the commons yesterday. he didn't say he was going to do it but neither did he rule it out. i think blu ntly all neither did he rule it out. i think bluntly all options are on the table, but with the objective of keeping people injobs. table, but with the objective of keeping people in jobslj table, but with the objective of keeping people injobs. i know this is an anxious time for lots of people concerned about their livelihoods. i hear that very

clearly in the conversations i've been having with businesses over the la st been having with businesses over the last few days. but of course that is why we have moved so quickly to provide this £350 billion package of support. this is one of the most comprehensive packages of support from any government and we will continue to provide support where it is needed. the prime minister has been absolutely clear that we will do whatever it takes to protect people's health, livelihoods and to protect businesses. the budget was the start. we have had a significant intervention yesterday and we are ready to do more. election, with the business secretary. he did a round of interviews this morning, to be honest we didn't learn that much. what we did learn is we are going to get more and quickly and yesterday's £350 billion package wasjust get more and quickly and yesterday's £350 billion package was just the first step. —— alok sharma. £350 billion package was just the first step. -- alok sharma. can i ask about the emergency bill that will be rushed through tomorrow and i don't know if it's actually called

the coronavirus bill, but can you tell our viewers what kind of impact that will have on their lives? potentially not that much, in the sense that most of it is directed at enabling primarily nhs workers to respond more effectively to coronavirus. so an awful lot of it is about getting nhs staff into different places in the nhs where they are dealing with coronavirus, so there will be an extension to medical insurance to enable people who don't normally work in the sort of areas around coronavirus to be able to transfer to work in them. also, to get more staff into the nhs. there will be measures to make it easierfor doctors, nhs. there will be measures to make it easier for doctors, nurses, paramedics and midwives who have retired to come back to the nhs, likewise social workers who have retired. likewise volunteers who work in the stjohn's ambulance, who will be able to take four weeks off

and be guaranteed pay. a lot of the admin, as we know, the nhs is packed full of red tape. a lot of that will be stripped out. some of it is quite controversial, so easierfor be stripped out. some of it is quite controversial, so easier for doctors toissue controversial, so easier for doctors to issue death certificates to detain people under the mental health act, to discharge people from hospital. the whole process around death, funerals, cremations, is frankly going to be stripped down and simplified. let's be honest, you probably are going to be more deaths. much of this is permissive. it is not actions the government is going to take, it is powers they wa nt going to take, it is powers they want in their back pocket such as detaining people if they are infected, or closing down schools. it is giving them the powers to take those actions if necessary. thank you, cheers norman. we will talk more later. thank you for your messages. the volume of messages is

absolutely overwhelming but we are very grateful for them. we are trying to reflect what is happening in your life wherever you are in the country. this on twitter from its her story. we are a small nonprofit organisation less than two years old. there is nothing for us. we don't want loans, we want lifelines. another tweet says, we have had our work hours reduced to just four hours a week and have been told that if we take any leave we won't be paid, and if we do take leave then we may not have a job to go back to. you can message us on twitter, send an e—mail, victory we will talk to a couple of experts after ten o'clock. at 10am we will switch to bbc two, for now we are on bbc one, but after ten o'clock we will speak to two experts to try and answer some of your many questions coming in to us on bbc news. the european union is formally banning travellers from outside it for 30 days in an

unprecedented move to seal its borders amid the crisis. it's expected to apply to all 26 eu states as well as iceland, liechtenstein, norway and switzerland. there are exemptions, though, for british citizens though. the ban came as deaths continued to soar in italy and spain, and france began a strict lockdown. europe is now considered the epicentre of the pandemic, which has killed 7,500 globally. rich preston has this. more than 3,000 people have died from coronavirus in europe and officials are desperate to contain the spread of the virus. the european union's entire external border will be sealed. all non—essential travel into the eu blocked for 30 days. and let me stress once more, we are ready to do everything that is required. we will not hesitate to take additional measures as the situation evolves. in the german capital berlin, a near total lockdown.

businesses in europe's biggest economy ground to a halt. 0fficials raised the risk of infection to german people from medium to high. in france, severe restrictions on people's movements as of midday tuesday. within minutes, police were on the streets. an extra 100,000 officers deployed to enforce the rules. emergency measures being put in place at this hospital in bordeaux, preparing for a potential surge in cases. in spain, 15 residents of this nursing home in madrid confirmed killed by the virus. spain's seen nearly 12,000 cases, more than 500 of them fatal. a state of emergency has been declared across the country. saxophone plays 0thers doing what they can to lift their spirits in the face of increasing restrictions on normal life. rich preston, bbc news. saxophone plays

in the united states, all 50 states now have confirmed cases of coronavirus. the total number of people who have tested positive has reached more than 6,300 and 108 americans with the virus have died. politicians in washington have proposed a $1 trillion economic bailout package, which may include literally sending cheques directly to households, and help for airlines and hotels. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british woman jailed for spying in iran, has been temporarily released from prison because of an outbreak of coronavirus. she'll have to wear an ankle tag and has to stay within 300 metres of her parents‘ home in tehran. we can talk now to her husband, richard ratcliffe. good morning to you. good morning, victoria. how do you react to this

news? really good news. it is something that we have been hoping for, something that i've probably been quite guarded about and top with the home office, temporary release isn't the best outcome, but it is much better. she can only go 300 metres from her parents‘ home, she can't really go anywhere. in iran it is in the middle of the coronavirus, there isn't much people are doing, but it is lovely to be out of prison. when did you last speak to her? i spoke to her this morning and i spoke to her yesterday, there was a huge grin on herface and yesterday, there was a huge grin on her face and i talked to her later when our daughter came home from school and she was able to show her mummy her new bedroom in london and her toys and got very excited. i spoke to her again this morning and she had slept well outside prison. we said there was a bit of an anti—climax and thinking about those that were left behind. but i think obviously there is a whole journey

and obviously this is the first step of something that will continue and it is not as temporary as it is formally set to be. but lovely to speak to her and see herface formally set to be. but lovely to speak to her and see her face and see her looking better than i was expecting. how is her health? a couple of weeks back we were sure she had to coronavirus, she was showing all the symptoms and she was ill for a couple of weeks but recovered about properly about three orfour recovered about properly about three or four days recovered about properly about three orfour days ago. she has clearly lost a lot of weight but seemed well when i spoke to her. the revolutionary guard who were holding your wife in detention, are effectively in charge of tackling coronavirus in iran. yourfight now is to make sure she doesn't have to go back into thatjail in a couple of weeks' time. what does that involve ? of weeks' time. what does that involve? that's exactly right. the push we will make with the government to say listen, last time she was out for a few days and went backinit she was out for a few days and went back in it was disastrous. this is a chance for you to almost reset the relationship with iran and this is a step forwards on our case. there are others that need to be brought out

as well. in reality in the middle of this humanitarian crisis there are all sorts of ways in which the uk and iran can cooperate, all sorts of historical issues that could be settled, settled through emergency humanitarian supplies, and that is something that iran seems to be signalling that they are open to and something that the uk seems to be needing to try and find a solution for. so you are calling on the foreign office to do what? calling on the foreign office, calling on the mod to settle outstanding issues and to find a way to settle them through the provision of humanitarian supplies. through the provision of humanitarian supplieslj through the provision of humanitarian supplies. i have spoken to you many times over the last few yea rs. to you many times over the last few years. i remember the christmas before last you telling me you really hoped this was the christmas that she would be home. i wonder now if it's possible to think that this could be the beginning of her coming home. i think it is always so careful not to get your hopes up kind of node we are in at the moment. hopefully, i mean, certainly her big grin was positive. certainly

a lot of effort went into getting her out of prison. we have seen all sorts of moves from the iranian ambassador here and foreign ministry. hopefully things will move. we will see what happens if she has to go back in two weeks' time. we will see what happens between the uk and tehran and we are watching very closely how things develop. thank you so much for talking to us. we really appreciate it. richard radcliffe, the husband of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, temporarily released from jail in iranfora temporarily released from jail in iran for a couple of weeks. as you heard richard ratcliffe say, the fight is on to make sure she doesn't go back inside. you can keep up with the latest developments about the coronavirus and what all of the latest announcements mean for you here on bbc news, and you can find more on our app and on our website. we are going to talk about supermarkets, by the way, in the next few minutes with the former head of waitrose, to talk about the various issues, the various measures that supermarkets are having to

bring in because of panic buying. also to talk about the fact that there are no online delivery slots available when elderly people or vulnerable people try and get one of those delivery slots. that coming up in the next few minutes. many m essa g es in the next few minutes. many messages about supermarkets and stockpiling as well which i will read from you in a moment. people are beginning to feel the impact on their everyday lives. we know that you are because you are messaging in your thousands. people are trying to adapt to working from home and avoiding larger social gatherings. tim muffett has been speaking to people in london to find out how people are coping with the uncertainty ahead. london, with a different look and feel. instead of crowds, empty streets. in leicester square, instead of cinema—goers, we find lillian from brazil. here for a two—week language course, now stranded. are you worried? a lot because i have two kids

in my home in brazil, so it is a hard time to stay away from your children. i think i made a wrong decision to come here. you came down from yorkshire to a bustling, buzzy west end. here we are in the west end... exactly, and there's nothing here. we weren't expecting it at all. no, we walk through chinatown and it was dead. difficulty find somewhere to eat, everywhere you go there's no—one there. london is a magnet, it draws people to it, but no people means no passengers. awful. i've been driving a cab 20 years and this is the worst period i've ever seen the trade, definitely. how worried are you? very worried. i'm a mortgage payer, i got a wife and two kids. it's just... you know, pretty awful. theatre land is closed.

jordan luke was starring in this musical, a modern day take on romeo and juliet. he is now ill, self isolating and worried. there's definitely a real sense of anxiousness in the arts industry because people don't know when they're going to be returning to work, whether some shows are even going to be able to survive it and open again and whether we're going to be during this period. it's notjust a lack of people in trafalgar square which is so eerie, it's the sense of uncertainty as to how long this is going to last and how many businesses are going to survive. in hackney, north—east london, the bird cage pub is open but there are no customers. the people are being told not to come, but the bars are not being told what to do. i work full—time in a bar and it's myjob to be here, but what do i do, for example, or what does the premises do? shut, do we not shut? do we stay open to the public?

there is no solution to it for us. around the corner, this shop is busy... too busy for some. i think people are not in the right state of mind, many people are panic buying, they are scared, nervous on the possibilities of what's likely to come. i guess the unknown is the most scary part. hey, drew, how are you doing...? downstairs, sarah normally runs a community food kitchen for the elderly. that service won't be available any more, they won't be able to gather and come to us to get that vital meal and people will go hungry. sarah hopes to start delivering free meals to those who need them, but she needs donations and volunteers. in the capital, life has changed. the hope is that london can take it. tim muffett, bbc news. isaid we i said we would talk more about supermarkets and let's do it.

with food shoppers struggling to book online delivery slots, panic—buying and scenes of chaos in our shops, supermarkets are at the forefront of the coronacrisis. tesco, sainsbury‘s, the co—op and waitrose all say they're introducing restrictions on the number of products you can buy. morrisons is increasing the number of delivery slots by recruiting 2,500 extra pickers and drivers and is introducing a range of food parcels for order. tomorrow, sainsbury‘s is setting aside the first hour of trading at every supermarket for elderly people and vulnerable customers plus offering those people priority slots for online deliveries for next week. we're going to speak now to someone who was at the very top of the industry for nearly a decade. lord mark price is a conservative member of the house of lords. he was managing director of waitrose from 2007 to 2016 and sits on the board of two major food and drinks businesses. we were trying to talk to you face time, mark price, but that's beaten us so we will talk to you on the

phone. thank you for talking to us. i have so many messages about the situation in supermarkets. let me read you this text which has come m, read you this text which has come in, iam read you this text which has come in, i am self—isolating but will have to visit the shops because all of the home delivery slots are booked up. when you go to the shops nothing is there. i'm really worried about the elderly and vulnerable because they may not be able to survive. do you agree? yeah i can totally sympathise with that point. i think it is really difficult. as you mentioned, isit i think it is really difficult. as you mentioned, i sit on the board of two large food producers, suppliers. they have lots of stock, they have lots of production. i was talking to the boss of a large business that produces sauces injars. the issue is not with the supply chains, the people who produce are producing enough. the challenge we have got is

keeping goods on the shelves at the moment. therefore, ithink keeping goods on the shelves at the moment. therefore, i think it is very welcome that a number of supermarkets have started to say they are going to limit the amount that people can have so that it is more fairly distributed amongst all those that need it. so you welcome that kind of rationing. stephen e—mailed to say, is there a way that all the online delivery slots could be reserved for those who are having to self—isolate? be reserved for those who are having to self-isolate? well, again, that would be a matterfor the supermarkets. would you back that idea? i think that it sounds like a really good idea. i think the challenge would be how do the supermarkets know? how do the supermarkets know? how do the supermarkets know? how do the supermarkets know who is self—isolating and not? in principle it is fine but if only those people who needed to order online ordered online, then of course we would have enough capacity. but what you have to remember is that at the moment in the uk 7% of food is delivered online, 93% still goes to the shop. the reality is there just won't be

enough capacity. what i found over the last week is that i went to my local large supermarket and that was cleared of things. but i went to my local shop, the corner shop, and i went to my local garage and interestingly they did have stock. i think what they are finding is they are going to the large warehouses, the bookers and costcos and they are finding stock. regrettably, as people stop eating out of home, and that will present huge problems for the hospitality businesses, food thatis the hospitality businesses, food that is going they will find its way into the supermarkets, and therefore it will come to people. i don't think the issue we have got is about producing enough food for people. i think the issue we have got is holding enough in the supermarkets at any one time. so we are not going to run out, is what i'm hearing you saying. what do you think of the stockpiling, panic buying? on the one hand, it is completely understandable because it is counterintuitive to say to people

you may have to stay at home for two weeks and on the other hand are safe don't stock pile. so it's a question about thinking about what is appropriate. i am about thinking about what is appropriate. iam reliably about thinking about what is appropriate. i am reliably informed that a family will get through about ten rolls of loo paper in a fortnight. so it's about people trying to understand, what would i really need for that time while i am self—isolated and try and stick to that. i think it is human instinct but the problem we have got is that if everybody at the same time decides they want to buy pasta and sauce there just isn't enough capacity in the supermarkets to serve that all at the same moment. if everybody behave rationally as we do normally and bought for a week ahead, or three or four days ahead, while they were able to do that, then your shelves in the supermarket would be full. they cope with christmas, they cope with winter weather, they are used to the peaks, but it is when it is prolonged and when people are buying beyond what they think they might need that it creates a problem for everybody.”

have a number of messages that i will whizz through with you if i may, not price. angela e—mailed to say, what can the government do about shop owners who are trebling the price of goods at this time? even goods with flash prices are being charged at exorbitant prices. i think it is difficult for the government right now but i did read a piece on the competition commission and whether there was profiteering that was going on. i think if you are going to do anything about that it will take legislation and it is going to take time for that to come into force. i'm afraid to say in the short term there is little that can be done. the supermarket worker wishes to remain anonymous. they say i am concerned that the end my colleagues are in contact with tens of thousands of shoppers every week. however, there has been no discussion about how these workers in particular can stay safe. my firm follows government guidance, yet in food retelling we cannot work from home and the nation needs to be fed.

i completely sympathise and understand that point of view. i did read a newsletter from one of the supermarkets that was making a very clear statement about the way it was protecting the people that work there and also how it was going to try to protect its customers. in all of the businesses that i'm involved with at the moment, the first priority is the well—being of the people that work there. from what i have seen, the number of supermarkets are very conscious about their employees coming into contact with customers and are making sensible recommendations about what they need to do. pat works in a supermarket and self—isolation for those workers is not an option, even those who are over 70 all you have underlying health conditions because if they don't work, they don't get paid. yesterday as the shelves are being stripped bare and people were queueing up the aisles, me and my collea g u es queueing up the aisles, me and my colleagues are working our socks off trying to keep up with it all were subjected to verbal abuse from some

customers. most customers were lovely, one or two thanked us for our hard work, but they were the exception. please think of us as we remain at work throughout this crisis. i want to ask you, lord price come out what you thought of the measures announced by the chancellor yesterday to help pubs, restau ra nts a nd chancellor yesterday to help pubs, restaurants and other businesses? the government has understood the gravity of the issue. you have businesses that are going to be struggling to find cash to pay their employees and to pay their suppliers and therefore stepping in as he has done with that unprecedented package of financial measures, to pay no business rates for 12 months, to up to over £300 billion worth of guaranteed loans, all of those things have to be welcome, to keep those people going, but i'm sure that there is more to come in terms of support of the individual. we are at the beginning. hopefully we can get through this in a number of

months and things start to return to normal. in the meantime people need to be reassured. they need to be reassured that when they go to the supermarket that there was some kind of limiting so that they can buy what they need, they need to be reassured by the government that they will have support for their businesses, and if people are u nfortu nate businesses, and if people are unfortunate and are made redundant and go on to sick leave, they must be reassured that again, the system that we have, the social system we have come i will take care of them. these are unprecedented times. what iam these are unprecedented times. what i am pleased to see is the government stepping up to the mark and demonstrating through this package of measures yesterday that they are going to look after business. you explain the supply chain and the fact is that supermarkets will not run out of supplies. is there and paracetamol out there? i don't know about that, i needed i'd previn and my local supermarket didn't have any at the weekend but i found some in my local petrol station. i'm not an expert on the supply chain of drugs. all i

would say is that people should buy insensible measures what they need, and if they do the supply chain should cope. that has been my experience of more than 20 years working in the food business and now sitting on the board of two food businesses. what the food industry cannot cope with is when everybody decides to buy in excess of a particular item. if people buy what they need, the system is able to cope. i know that you are part of engage in business a networking organisation which shows that many more companies are interested in working from home. is this on account of coronavirus orjust generally? we have seen a spike from coronavirus. 1.5 million people work from home in any event in the uk. what we do is surveys to help organisations measure the happiness of their employees at work, and we also do that for employees working

from home, and we are seeing understandably over the last two weeks, those we have contacted by normal companies are saying we want to think about how we measure the happiness and engagement of our people working from home, so we have seen a spike in that. we have a messenger app, we have seen it go up by 4000% in two weeks, teleconferencing, etc. we are starting to see people thinking about working in a different way, how do they work from home effectively? so we are seeing a response both from businesses and from individuals as they adapt to this new world. thank you very much, lord price, conservative member of the house of lords, who sits on the board of two major foods and the house of lords, who sits on the board of two majorfoods and drinks businesses and was on the board of waitrose. businesses and was on the board of wa itrose. steve businesses and was on the board of waitrose. steve says, how do i prove that i'm a vulnerable person to a

supermarket? i am that i'm a vulnerable person to a supermarket? iam immunosuppressed andi supermarket? iam immunosuppressed and i have been ordered to isolate and i have been ordered to isolate and work from home by my employer. surely i don't need to provide my list of needs to shop staff ‘s do i need a note from my mum?! this evening, there's a bbc news special on the coronavirus crisis. rachel burden and fergus walsh will be looking at how the nhs and small businesses are responding to the crisis, and they'll be answering plenty of your questions in coronavirus: your essential update. that's tonight at 7.30pm on bbc one. just to let you know, we are on bbc 0ne right now. we will switch to bbc two, at ten o'clock when we will have some experts answering some of your questions, because there are so many. it is time for a look at the weather. carol is here. good morning, everyone. it has been a cloudy slot across england and wales with some rain courtesy of this weather front which is slowly slipping southwards. in doing so it is weakening. at the other end of the country the isobars are

tightening, the wind will pick up and here we have a lot of showers, wintry in the hills. for scotland and northern ireland, starting off with some sunshine. through the day this system slips southwards and brightening up behind it across north wales and northern england. behind that weather front it is going to be a cool day. i had a bit, we still have mild weather. and where the cloud and rain is broken for a length of time you could get highs of 16 degrees. this evening and overnight we have this week weather front producing patchy rain and drizzle continuing in the south. still cloud here so temperatures holding up. behind it, a colder night with some frost and the risk of ice. tomorrow, we still have that front in the south are cloudy with patchy rain, brighter in the north, but it will feel cooler tomorrow for most. let's bring you what there is of the sport. the tokyo 0lympics

most. let's bring you what there is of the sport. the tokyo olympics are still planned forjuly but organisers are coming under increasing pressure to reconsider. athletes cannot train, and there is going cannot travel plan. this thought is reflected in a social media post from gb athlete katarina johnson—thompson. she says... despite back, the ioc has said no drastic decisions would be taken regarding potential postponement of the games. in spite of the coronavirus set back the team gb climber shauna coxsey has been

adapting training at home i had a what she hopes will be her 0lympic games debut. there is lots that you can do on a yoga mat, about shoulder stability, hip mobility, core stability, hip mobility, core stability, it is about creating —— thinking creatively and me trying to communicate that as well. i have a great team around me to help me stay focused on my goals and as an athlete there are always hurdles, there are always unknowns, often as an athlete and right now it is an unprecedented situation but we are trying to do everything we can to stay focused, and stay training in whatever capacity we can. uefa will begin work for the best solution for a number of different football fixtures and competitions following the postponement of euro 2020 because of the pandemic. the tournament is now scheduled for 2021. joe wilson explains. when the, reality. football for now is empty. sport has stopped. so this theyjust

prepare for euro 2021, one of the biggest events in the world, postponed for a year. uefa thought the tournament with hop across the continent with 12 host cities, dublin to st petersburg. but imagine that happening in june dublin to st petersburg. but imagine that happening injune as europe right now closes down. impossible. we knew that we have to stop the competitions. we think that postponing the euros is the only chance to get a chance to the national leagues and to all of the clu b national leagues and to all of the club competitions to finish their competitions. in other words there is now an window of opportunity. june could be a time when domestic leagues resume and fulfil their fixtures and clubs would welcome but there are consequences. knock—on effects of moving the euros, because next summer there is already so much for all scheduled. there is already

the euro 2021, for women's football, with matches staged in england. the women's euros is very important to us and we will have those conversations with uefa. it could get slightly later in the summer, and we will evaluate options with u efa and we will evaluate options with uefa before making a decision. and we will evaluate options with uefa before making a decisionm this crisis the importance of sport clearly diminishes, but it produces moments ofjoy like little else, remember the last men's euros tournament ‘s moving the euros will come as a huge financial cost and details of ticket refunds will come soon, but ultimately football is just a small part of what is happening globally. joe wilson, bbc news, wembley. the impact on sport dominating the back pages. the express has the headline referring to the uefa chief about the plan to move the euros

back to next summer. senior figures think that the olympics on 90% certain to be delayed. it has a picture of alexandre lacazette training alone at his london home. you remember his manager mikel arteta tested positive for coronavirus. he is in isolation. 0n the back page of the independent, horse racing has been suspended until the end of april. but they raced yesterday. this is sarah kavanagh raced yesterday. this is sarah kava nagh after raced yesterday. this is sarah kavanagh after riding a 33—1winner, and the caption, where as the hand sanitiser?! quite apt. and the french open might switch to a later date. —— the american open. that is because the french open which would begin in late may will now take place in september. in a pointed

statement the us tennis association criticised the french federation's decision to move the date of roland garros, stating that, at a time when the world is coming together, we recognise that such a decision should not be made unilaterally. staying with tennis, wimbledon has closed its museum tours and shop, but the outdoor facilities will remain open. the organisers say that they are still planning for the tournament to take place in late june, but they acknowledge that the situation is evolving, and they say that they will act responsibly. more details of all of the impact of coronavirus on sport, with the delays and cancellations and postponements all on the bbc website. that is it for now, victoria. thank you, jane. coronavirus is putting huge pressure on our hospitals and nhs staff and in recent days front—line nhs workers have been expressing worries about a lack of protective equipment for them and about not

being tested for the virus. with me is labour mp for tooting, rosena allin—khan. she's running to be deputy leader of her party. she's also an a&e doctor and will be working in hospital this week. and we're going to talk to dr helgi johannsson who is a consultant anaesthetist and council member at the royal college of anaesthetists. thank you very much for talking to us. as a front line medic, how are we feeling right now? very concerned. deeply worried, because i'm hearing from so many colleagues that they don't have the protective equipment they desperately need to keep themselves and their patients say. they are equally concerned for theirfamilies, just say. they are equally concerned for their families, just as we all are. and they are also worried they are not being tested if they show symptoms. this is a problem for a number of reasons. firstly, they are worried that they are potentially spreading the disease to their patients. they are also worried that, because the nhs is stretched to capacity with regards to staff, if they don't have the virus, they

have to self—isolate for 1h days currently, if they are not tested when they could potentially go back to work after two or three once they feel better. as they are not enough of the personal protection equipment around? do we not have the supplies ‘s this is what i'm hearing on the front line, that they don't have the supplies. we heard yesterday from the head of nhs england that there is the supply in this country, it just has had an issue reaching people at the local level. this is where the government needs to step up where the government needs to step up and support hospitals and receiving what they need. it is not ok receiving what they need. it is not 0kfor our receiving what they need. it is not ok for ourfront line receiving what they need. it is not ok for our front line nhs staff to be going to war with this virus without being able to protect themselves and their patients. as in any cities, tell us what your role will be in dealing with coronavirus patients —— as an anaesthetist. anastasia and critical care are

aligned specialties. we do lots of critical care in training. critical ca re critical care in training. critical care doctors do some anaesthesia in their training. so we help each other. and critical care doctors are going to be absolutely on the front line of this crisis when it comes. i can moment it feels slightly bizarre because everything is working fairly normally. but it feels like the calm before the storm, as it were. have you seen any patients coming in with a virus? many of my colleagues in london hospitals have, but personally, no. i heard last night that one of my friends has just developed symptoms. so it is bringing a quite close to home. staff numbers, have you got enough people? how many in your team are off with sickness or self—isolating? this is going to be a problem. the advice that if a member of the family develop a cough, the whole

family develop a cough, the whole family has to self—isolate is a real issue. we have a lot of colleagues that are nursing staff and doctors who have young children, and many of those young children have had infection after infection since they we re infection after infection since they were born. and this is likely to continue. and this is normalfor a young cab, and now those people are having to self—isolate because what is probably just a having to self—isolate because what is probablyjust a normal bug. we know we don't have enough ventilators, doctorjohannson, know we don't have enough ventilators, doctor johannson, to help those in this country who may become critically ill with this virus and access to a ventilator could be a matter of life or death as we know. the machines get oxygen into the lungs and remove carbon dioxide from the body when people are too sick to breathe on their own. tell our audience about how you are turning anaesthetic machines into ventilators. so, most of the

modern anaesthetic machines have good and sophisticated ventilators that can easily be turned into the intensive care ventilators. they are slightly different, and they work with different things, and they don't necessarily have all the state of the art sophisticated ventilation, but they certainly have good ventilation that will be usable in this situation. by stopping elective surgery in this country, we are able to liberate a lot more ventilators used for these patients. my ventilators used for these patients. my problem is the staff to staff those ventilators. this is going to bea those ventilators. this is going to be a problem in the weeks and months to come. where are you going to get them from? this is the problem, particularly when we fall ill. this is going to be the main issue. it is not that we are going to be able to

train up people who are not skilled in using ventilators. it is highly specialised. intensive care nursing, and anaesthesia doctoring is a highly specialised area, and it ta kes a highly specialised area, and it takes a while to train somebody who isn't familiar with the procedures and policies and the way we do things, to become safe enough to do so. and this is where we need to make sure that we keep our workforce both healthy and safe. on that subject, have you seen a shortage of personal protecting equipment, facemasks, visors, aprons? this will bea facemasks, visors, aprons? this will be a problem nationwide. at the moment, we have enough equipment for us. i was talking to one of my collea g u es us. i was talking to one of my colleagues earlier. i think it is really important to be sensible about this. we need to make sure that we use the equipment very well, and prudently, because the way that

the virus is spread, it is heavy droplets it is spread with. if you are going to be 2—3 metres away from somebody who is not coughing or has a mast you are actually very safe, and using the full equipment not just overkill, but will use it inappropriately, and stop it being used when we are actually doing the procedures that require full protective equipment, and those are the procedures that actually we do, both in critical care and in anaesthesia. so when we are securing somebody‘s airwaves, and a patient is unable to breathe because of this issue we put in a breathing tube and we do the breathing for them on the ventilator. those procedures are the high risk procedures where we need the full equipment. our view has texted to say about why are government asking about taking back retired professionals when there are hundreds of us already qualified

with nojob to hundreds of us already qualified with no job to go to, hundreds of us already qualified with nojob to go to, i'm one of them. i qualified in november 2019, still looking for a job and am confused. another says, as an nhs staff nurse, i'm concerned because i live with an asthmatic has—been. am i putting him at risk by continuing to go to work —— an asthmatic husband. speak a matter of course, this is why we have to be able to be testing staff members if they have symptoms. people have husbands, wives, children. we need to be making sure that nhs staff can get the testing they need for exactly circumstances like this. if i can go back to the point about bringing in retired staff, this beggars belief that this was the first government suggestion, because we are asking people who are in the most at risk groups are ready to return to work and put themselves at risk at a time when we arguably do not have the

protective equipment they need, nor will we be testing them.” protective equipment they need, nor will we be testing them. i suppose not all staff are over 70. not all of them are, but lots of them will be over 60 and in some countries they are considering those to be the most at risk. at the end of the day, we should have a workforce that is able to manage under this strain without bringing back retired people. a nurse, sarah jane, tweets, iam the people. a nurse, sarah jane, tweets, i am the most front line, because i work in a&e, i have colleagues who are pregnant or have asthma or cardiac history. where do we stand? there is confusion out there. there is not only confusion but mixed messaging. the government are making suggestions and not calling for firm action. that is leaving people in limbo. we had the same situation this week with regard to pregnant teachers. people didn't know whether

to go to work or stay at home. what we need is to leadership, during these unprecedented times, we need these unprecedented times, we need the government to clearly tell people what they should be doing in the best interests of their safety because there should not be that ambiguity. if you are pregnant you are considered for precautionary reasons to be in a vulnerable group, and if you can work from home, then you must do that, but teachers cannot. speaker matter and neither cannot. speaker matter and neither can a&e nurses. the needs to be seen, go home, we will make sure that you are paid, you will be tested if you have symptoms, and we will be taking care of you. the department of health says we have central stockpiles of a range of medical products to ensure uninterrupted supply to the nhs, we have well established procedures to deal the supply issue should they arise by working closely with the industry, the edit chess and others in the supply chain to minimise shortages and minimise risk to patients. i gather that you were

visiting your elderly father in a home last night. i was visiting him and a care home with the very real understanding that last night may have been the last time that i was able to feed him. he doesn't eat u nless able to feed him. he doesn't eat unless my brother or i visit him, and currently he is in an at—risk group and in a matter of days care homes are going to restrict people from coming in from outside to see their loved ones. i wasn't sure whether i was doing him a disservice, by visiting him. so what are people like to do, when we have an elderly parent, we want the best for them, we have young children, and we are full of questions ourselves. and if the politicians and medics cannot get answers, imagine what it is like for people at home who are understandably confused. this is why we are seeing stockpiling, people don't know, are they going to be able to get toilet

roll in two weeks' time? you are backin roll in two weeks' time? you are back in hospital soon, how will the shifts pan out? we take it day by day. my nhs colleagues work incredibly hard. they are the most selfless group of people i've ever met. i assume it will be extremely busy. it always is anyway. we have winter pressures, and all year round. this whole outbreak is going to make things even more pressure. thank you both very much for your time. we really appreciate it. we are going to bring you all of the weather now, with simon. we have mixed fortunes across the uk. for many northern parts, scotland and northern ireland, we have some sunshine. picture has come in from aberdeenshire. elsewhere, it is cloudy with rain across wales and

northern england. and our weather watcher in lincolnshire shows is that cloud. we have back with a front bringing that cloud and rain across wales, the midlands, eastern england. further north, some windy conditions on the far north—west of scotland. that will continue to bring in some wintry showers over the higher ground of scotland but for most of scotland and northern ireland, some sunny spells, elsewhere, staying cloudy with rain moving towards the south—east but not reaching the smart south of england until later in the day. feeling quite mild, although more chilly further north at between seven and nine celsius. then we have this area of rain moving into southern parts this evening, with temperatures around 7 degrees and further north, we will see a frost with temperatures below freezing. that weather front is still across

the south going into thursday. that weather front is the dividing line with milder air to the south which is still just with milder air to the south which is stilljust holding on across the south, with colder air towards the north. as we go through the day that whether front will continue to bring cloud and outbreaks of rain along the m4 corridor to greater london, south wales and the south—west of england. cloud increasing in northern england and north wales making the sunshine hazy, but further north, driver sunny weather throughout the day on thursday. temperatures between 6—9. that whether front is still there as we go into friday. it will bring cloud with a east or north—easterly winds bringing cloud across southern parts, and it could feel chilly in some northern areas. but a largely settled picture with sunny spells throughout the day on friday. maximum temperatures around ten

celsius. going into the weekend, some rain at times across western areas of the uk. for most of us come looking largely dry, with brighter or sunny weather at times and temperatures between eight and ten degrees. that's all for now, goodbye.

this is bbc news, on and bbc world news. hello this is bbc news — i'm victoria derbyshire with you on bbc two and bbc world news — we'll be bringing you all the latest news on the coronavirus pandemic globally and here in the uk. the headlines: as almost 200,000 people are now known to have contracted coronavirus worldwide, the global response to the pandemic is under scrutiny. the world health organisation calls for "aggressive" action in southeast asia to combat the fast—spreading virus. the first people are turned away from the eu border under the bloc‘s the first people are turned away from the eu border under the area's new travel ban for non—eu citizens. the uk government says it's working on measures to support people in theirjobs and to help those renting their home.

and supermarkets take action to help elderly and vulnerable people buy food and supplies, and to curb panic buying. no, thank you forjoining us. countries around the world are continuing to tighten restrictions in an attempt to combat the coronavirus pandemic. more than 198,000 people have been infected worldwide. the european union is banning travellers from outside the bloc for 30 days to seal its borders. the measure is expected to apply to all 26 eu states as well as iceland, liechtenstein, norway and switzerland. the ban came as deaths continued

to soar in italy and spain, and france began a strict lockdown. the coronavirus has now hit all 50 states in the us. the trump administration is seeking an economic stimulus package of $1 trillion to help avert an economic crisis. and the world health organization has issued a stark warning to countries in south east asia, urging them to immediately scale up all efforts to stop the virus infecting more people. so far thailand and indonesia have the region's highest number of confirmed cases. but over the last few days, the rate of new infections in china, where the virus originated, appeared to be slowing down. europe is now considered the epicentre of the pandemic, which has killed 7,500 people globally. rich preston has this report.

more than 3,000 people have died from coronavirus in europe and officials are desperate to contain the spread of the virus. the european union's entire external border will be sealed. all non—essential travel into the eu blocked for 30 days. and let me stress once more, we are ready to do everything that is required. we will not hesitate to take additional measures as the situation evolves. in the german capital berlin, a near total lockdown. businesses in europe's biggest economy ground to a halt. 0fficials raised the risk of infection to german people from medium to high. in france, severe restrictions on people's movements as of midday tuesday. within minutes, police were on the streets. an extra 100,000 officers deployed to enforce the rules. emergency measures being put in place at this hospital in bordeaux, preparing for a potential surge in cases. in spain, 15 residents

of this nursing home in madrid confirmed killed by the virus. spain's seen nearly 12,000 cases, more than 500 of them fatal. a state of emergency has been declared across the country. saxophone plays 0thers doing what they can to lift their spirits in the face of increasing restrictions on normal life. rich preston, bbc news. saxophone plays the uk government is being urged to do more to help families and workers affected by the coronavirus outbreak, after announcing billions of pounds of help for companies. the british chancellor, rishi sunak, made more than £300 billion in loans available to affected firms. but business groups said action had to be taken to pay workers' wages, while the opposition labour party said people struggling with their rent had been ignored. this morning, the government is expected to announce how they plan to protect millions of people who rent their homes. let's remind ourselves of the measures unveiled by the chancellor yesterday. he announced a three—month mortgage holiday for homeowners. let's go through one or two measures

unveiled by the british chancellor yesterday. he announced £330 billion in government—backed loans to help businesses pay for supplies, rent and salaries. also, a package of tax cuts and grants worth £20 billion to protect companies and households. there have now been 71 deaths in the uk from the virus. almost 2,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus but the actual number of cases could be as high as 55,000. we learned that yesterday. a new—born baby is among the latest confirmed cases. the environment secretary george eustice is holding talks with supermarkets to ensure the security of food supplies. supermarkets are introducing new measures to restrict stockpiling and to help the elderly, vulnerable and those with disabilities. 0ur correspondentjohn mcmanus has this report.

45—year—old craig ruston, living with motor neurone disease, and now believed to be the youngest victim of the coronavirus. he died on monday morning. his wife, sally, says she's heartbroken. the government now moving to prevent similar tragedies. in 1973, in the context of the energy crisis, the government assumed emergency powers. fast forward 47 years, and another conservative government is about to ask parliament to give it sweeping powers, this time to tackle a pandemic. the emergency coronavirus bill will be put before commons on thursday. if passed, it will allow the police to arrest and isolate people to protect public health. the border force would also be able to suspend operations at airports and other transport hubs if security couldn't be guaranteed. in hospitals, paperwork would be cut back to allow patients to be discharged quickly and free up vital beds. recently—retired nhs and social care staff could return to work without losing their pension rights, while those who stay away from work

to self—isolate would get statutory sick pay from day one. yesterday, the chancellor, rishi sunak, announced £330 billion in government—backed loans for all businesses. there'll be £20 billion in cash grants and business tax cuts, and a three—month mortgage holiday for homeowners who find themselves unable to meet their payments. but there's been no word on whether those who rent will receive similar help. we have never faced an economic fight like this one... but this is state intervention on a scale not seen in decades to tackle an unprecedented problem. the coronavirus pandemic is a public health emergency, but it is also an economic emergency. we have never in peacetime faced an economic fight like this one. some businesses are already adapting. morrison's says it is creating 3,500 newjobs in its home delivery operation prompted by the coronavirus. from today, sainsbury‘s

will restrict customers to a maximum of three of any grocery products and only two of items such as soap and toilet paper and, like iceland, it's reserving some shopping hours for the elderly and vulnerable. john mcmanus, bbc news. let me bring you this breaking news, filming on all bbc news studios film and drama, eastenders, holby city, river city etc will be suspended because of coronavirus, filming on eastenders, doctors, holby city, casualty and river city suspended following the latest government update about coronavirus. in russia, president putin says the situation with the coronavirus is ‘under control‘. all borders are closed and mass gatherings are banned. so far, 114 cases of coronavirus have been detected in russia — and no deaths.

even so, urgent work has now begun on a new temporary hospital on the edge of moscow — from where sarah rainsford now reports. just a few days ago this site on the outskirts of moscow was a peaceful, pretty much empty field but now it isa pretty much empty field but now it is a hive of activity at the heart of russia‘s efforts to deal with the coronavirus. because this is the site that has been chosen for a massive new hospital, a temporary facility which is meant to cater for up facility which is meant to cater for up to 500 patients infected with coronavirus. there are truckers here, there is a massive trafficjam on the road outside as diggers and machinery is brought in to build this facility as quickly as possible. workers are being bussed here from all over the country.

just down the road here from the building site normal life is going on. the buses are still running here. people are still out and about as usual. i‘m interested in what they know about coronavirus and what they know about coronavirus and what they think about what‘s happening. it looks like they are stocking up on ice cream here.

according to the official statistics, there isn‘t a huge number of confirmed coronavirus cases yet in russia but the number is increasing every day. and some of the measures this country is taking to counter its spread, in moscow the government has already asked old people to stay at home. they have closed many schools. and also public gatherings, mass gatherings have been banned now. there are also introducing widespread testing for coronavirus. if in the past this was very much presented as a foreign problem, certainly russia now knows it isa problem, certainly russia now knows it is a problem it has to deal with as well. sarah rainsford reporting. let‘s get more on the european union banning travellers from outside the bloc for 30 days, and sealing its borders due to the coronavirus crisis. the measure is expected to apply to all 26 eu states as well as iceland, liechtenstein, norway and switzerland, but there are exemptions for british citizens. let‘s go now to bbc correspondent gavin lee who is in brussels for us. fill us in on how this is supposed

to work. basically, last night at a video conference between all of the european leaders deciding that all of those countries that share the schengen open borders zone, the open passport zone, plus the other eu countries that don‘t come agreed unanimously, we are told via video conference, that they will put these border checks in place. if you are not an border checks in place. if you are notan eu border checks in place. if you are not an eu citizen and if you are a non—eu citizen and you have emergency medical reasons or you have a family member in the eu you can still enter, but aside from that it is ultimately a travel ban for non—eu citizens that the european commission and ursula von der leyen, the european commission president, was at pains to say this is not a travel ban, temporary travel restriction but playing with semantics a bit. it is one of the same thing. the only other exception is cross—border workers, for example, there are a lot of sub—saharan africans in morocco dumb americans in spain for the fruit and vegetable picking season, that will be allowed to continue. they will need identification documents. —— ——

moroccans in spain. 0ther need identification documents. —— —— moroccans in spain. other countries have closed their borders internally and said unless you are resident of our you cannot come in. the whole pillar of the eu, as we have talked about the freedom of movement of people, that‘s temporarily disintegrated. in about an hour's time, belgium is going to be on lockdown. is that right? in less than that, in 15 minutes‘ time at belgium follows the domino effect of countries that are taking the most strict approach. they call it sensitive quarantine, or basically constructive behaviour. here in belgium the prime minister has said basically other countries have shown that it may have started working in italy or spain where you need to have certificates or documents to be out on the streets and one of five things we are told in belgium, if you need to go to the shops, if you need to go to the doctors for a

pharmacy, if you have to go to work or you are walking an animal or you are with family and have to be 1.5 metres apart. i mentioned friends because that‘s something the prime minister said, you should not be with friends at this time, you have to make sacrifices, and really restrict them almost bring public life down to zero and i think we are seeing most countries doing the same thing. the dutch at the moment haven‘t quite done that and there has been a message from the belgian interior minister saying do not stop to go over the border to have more freedom on the belgian side than in the netherlands because that happened a couple of days ago when the belgians closed the cafe is and the belgians closed the cafe is and the dutch didn‘t, many belgians close to the border went over to the dutch side and the government said you cannot do that, that is making a nonsense of the system. where are you broadcasting to us from? is this going to affect you? where are you? i‘m at homejust going to affect you? where are you? i‘m at home just outside brussels. i am literally living the line to a tee from the government message which is save lives and stay at home, that‘s the message from the

belgian government. we will be gathering at different points but evenin gathering at different points but even in our bureaus, the point is, like most work companies in the uk and here in belgium, we are trying to limit numbers and also need to be given certificates and we need documents on the streets. we are still in the process of getting those so we can do interviews and speak to people and the police will be checking. today they said they will not be fined is in place but they expect fines in place but they expect finds to be in place for people out on the streets without documents to prove where they are going. thank you, gavin. as we try and guide you through these uncertain times, as well as bringing you the very latest developments, we‘re also going to do our absolute best to bring you the most useful and accurate and straightforward advice. and we‘re going to try to do the same today we have been doing that most days. we can speak to dr rebecca cooper, a public health consultant working on the coronavirus outbreak, she‘s also a labour councillor. and drjeremy 0liver, a clinical psychologist with an expertise in wellbeing. from the volume of messages that we

are getting, which is phenomenal, there is a lot of stress being experienced by people, however much they try to keep calm. what do you say about that? it is understandable, isn‘t it, jeremy? absolutely. the fear, the unknown, your life has changed from the routine that you are used to. it feels a bit like being plunged into a dark room and you can‘t necessarily see where the way out is. anxiety is completely understandable. what i would say is anxiety is generally felt both within the head and also in the body as well. and so you are turning questions over and over again in your mind wanting to get answers. that‘s exhausting. it is telling your body to be on alert all the time. so, where possible, try and have a section of the day where you try and answer the questions you have got him a look online and watch programmes like this, but also give yourself a break, recognise that there are some questions you won‘t be able to answer. a key question might be, am i going to get the

virus? no epidemiologist can tell you. you can watch red dots on a map but that will not tell you whether you will get the virus. the questions you can answer to change it to questions you can answer to change ittoa questions you can answer to change it to a practical question, what can idoto it to a practical question, what can i do to help stop myself getting the virus? 0r i do to help stop myself getting the virus? or what can i do to help stop other people getting it and there is plenty of information out there about that. let's crack through some because there is so many. this is from an anonymous person. i run a large retail shop, two staff have been isolated for coronavirus as they have all the symptoms. we have worked in store with these people for two or three days while off—colour but not realising it was the start of the virus in before being isolated. should we now be isolating all staff and those who volunteered for 1h days for all who came into contact with them?” volunteered for 1h days for all who came into contact with them? i think as wasjust talked came into contact with them? i think as was just talked about, there is a lot of anxiety around this and for retail, i'm sure we will talk more about this, with other experts, businesses and shutting down businesses and shutting down businesses and shutting down businesses and up government will be able to give people —— help

government will be able to give. in terms of the staff, if there are staff that have demonstrated symptoms, if you have worked in close contact with those staff, you should think about isolating yourself. but obviously i understand about businesses, it is tricky, but i think for the public health we need to be really aware that we are trying to minimise the spread of the infection and that if staff have shown symptoms we should think about isolating now. ok, so that is clear. this breaking news from chelsea football club, they say they are joining the medical response to the coronavirus outbreak in london with news that the nhs has accepted the club‘s offered to make the millennium hotel at stamford bridge available for nhs staff with costs covered by club owner roman abramovich. this will be for a two month period and then reconsidered in the light of circumstances at the time. the millennium hotel at sta mford time. the millennium hotel at stamford bridge in london is going to be made available for nhs staff with the costs paid for by the club‘s owner. how do you react to that? wonderful to hear club‘s owner. how do you react to

that? wonderfulto hear and reassuring that businesses are joining with public sector institutions and hospitals to make this work. for individuals, isolating at home i think hearing about the fact societies grouping round we need to hear that all those around us are helping, that we are not just individually trying around us are helping, that we are notjust individually trying to fight this on our own. i think there isa fight this on our own. i think there is a sense there is a whole set of people, even private businesses, are prepared to give up profits to help make this work for everybody. this isa make this work for everybody. this is a question for you, this person says they cannot find an answer anywhere. my fiance is 35 weeks pregnant. she is in the at—risk category. i‘ve been advised to work from home from now on so there is no risk of me bringing the virus home. however, we also have a six—year—old who is still going to school. what should we be doing in terms of whether or not we should be letting her go to school in case there is a risk of her bringing the virus home? so, this is the ongoing conversation, isn't it, about whether schools will close and when they will close. i think we are

waiting for the government to announce that. but in the meantime what should this family do? in the end they have to make a decision that they feel is right for them, don‘t they? that they feel is right for them, don't they? of course. with pregnant women the evidence is still emerging in terms of how at risk they are. let‘s just be really clear. so, the reason, we heard, from the chief scientific and chief medical officer of the other day that pregnant women we re of the other day that pregnant women were considered to be in the at—risk category was precautionary. that was the word they used, it is precautionary. theyjust the word they used, it is precautionary. they just want to the word they used, it is precautionary. theyjust want to be absolutely on the safe side. there is no particular evidence that pregnant women are more at risk, or that newborn babies are more at risk, so lets bring some sort of perspective to the conversation. absolutely. i think that family are doing absolutely the right thing in that both the adults are working at home. and i think while the child is not showing any symptoms and while the schools are open i think it is fine for them to go. bear in mind for all parents, i am a parent myself, but prepare for the fact we are probably not going to make it to the easter holidays without the

schools closing. prepare for how we are going to deal with having the children at home. i would add to make a plan when she comes home from school, go straight to wash hands, change out of the school uniform, have a shower if it is practical if there is time before bath time time and do all of those things just to minimise, if it is the pregnant mum thatis minimise, if it is the pregnant mum that is concerned, then all of those practical steps. all of the hygiene measures and perhaps two or three metres apart, why not do that within your own home? and perhaps no play dates at the moment. kids love to bring the kids home but perhaps not at the moment. they having a six—hour play date every day if they‘re going to school. six—hour play date every day if they're going to school. sure, but not bringing the children back. toby says my wife is currently 31 weeks pregnant and is finding it impossible to access antenatal services. she is presenting with symptoms similar to those of covid—19, a persistent cough. they have been trying to arrange for her to be swabbed that are facing a brick wall as my wife is not an inpatient at the hospital won‘t admit her despite her previous

history and current symptoms. she is being told to self—isolated, where we have myself and four other kids at home she would then be put at risk. whilst pregnant women are told to avoid others for 12 weeks, she is scheduled for a cesarean in six weeks‘ time yet being told she cannot attend her midwife, co nsulta nt cannot attend her midwife, consultant and scan appointments necessary to ensure the safe delivery of our babies. what frustrates me is that the guidance the government has issued, not instruction or law, so why are hospitals not taking it as guidance of doing what is right for patients? there is a lot of information there but it is somebody else who is worried about somebody who is pregnant who may be presenting one of the covid—19 symptoms. and they can‘t go to their antenatal and all the other appointments. what should they do? again, as you say, there is a lot of information in there and we can understand the high anxiety. i would absolutely urge the lady and her husband to get in touch with the

midwife and gp and speak through those anxieties and make sure that the care is there to the extent that it can be. 0ur nhs is excellent, has excellent staff, and i'm quite sure she has had excellent antenatal care until now, so there is no reason why she cannot speak to people remotely on the phone and just get those answers. i understand if she is due to have a c—section in six weeks' time she wants reassurance and wants to know what is going on. if she has a dry cough and is demonstrating some of those symptoms, then she needs to speak to the gp, speak to her midwife and see what can be done about getting her tested. that's perfectly reasonable. i would say to viewers, we are going to talk about businesses and what kind of help certainly the british government has unveiled in the last 2a hours. we are going to hearfrom unveiled in the last 2a hours. we are going to hear from self—employed people, freelancers, we will talk about that in the next half an hour. andy says, my wife has coronavirus symptoms and asthma, so in an at—risk group, and has been very ill all day. but the gp and hospital will not see her without an nhs111

referral. i have spent over ten hours on hold for 111 and i‘ve still not spoken to anyone. we can‘t help with the phone lines but how can we help, how can you help with some anxiety reducing measures? practical immediate anxiety tips for anyone feeling very stressed out, it will not solve the big questions of why you can‘t get in touch with someone, or why the gp has asked that, but you can try breathing. it sounds like a very simple thing we do but when you are feeling stressed your body can freeze. so you can breathe, the same for children, breathing as if sniffing flowers, breathe out as if sniffing flowers, breathe out as if blowing out a candle, to try and do that for at least five minutes concentrating just thinking about that. that will get oxygen back into your body and if you have been kind of not breathing because you have been feeling very stressed that will help calm you down. also, you can try moving about so you are doing some sort of exercise, preferably near a window if it is open, or

outside if you can. you are wanting to get the oxygen in and get the brain energy away from the front of your brain to the back where it looks after your muscles and that will help calm things down, so that you can then be ready to think about the questions you need to ask and where else you can get the information you need. i‘m surprised to hear that the gp is asking for an nhs to hear that the gp is asking for an nh5111 to hear that the gp is asking for an nhs111 referral. that is something lots of gp surgeries are just doing the normal telephone triage appointments. if they‘re used to seeing you face—to—face they are going to telephone triage and setting that up. that is a surprise to hear. i would encourage them to go back and speak to the gp again. i'm surprised to hear that as well. nicola says i am a single parent, i lost my husband 18 months ago to cancer, i have twin girls aged seven who are scared to death if i catch this virus what will happen to them. who will look after them if i‘m probably, they think. i already take two immune suppressing drugs for

arthritis and have a poor resistance to chest infections every year. how cani to chest infections every year. how can i self—isolate and look after my kid too if i get sick? the grandparents are in the at risk age category and my mum just had a stroke a few weeks ago. i will really struggle if i get sick and have to go into hospital. what happens to the kids if so many people are in self—isolation? that isa people are in self—isolation? that is a message that is representative of quite a few messages coming in. single parents that single parent with a health issue and understandably really stressed and worried. absolutely. as you say, thatis worried. absolutely. as you say, that is something that will affect a lot of people. what we are doing locally, and i'm sure it is happening around the country, setting up community groups, so we are aware there are vulnerable people in the community and we are starting to reach out and say look, if you need help contact us. as a local labour council i can speak to constituents and get in touch with the council and try and arrange, or help to arrange appropriate help. if

there are community groups in your area i would encourage you to get involved with them. look up who your local council is, get in touch with us. we are there to represent you and speak to different services and try and help you as best we can. you are not alone and i totally understand that you might feel that you are but you really aren't. i think communities will step up this time and as a local councillor we are there to help and advocate for you as well. if you need help you have to find a way of asking for it. thank you both very much for coming on the programme, doctor 0pelka cooper, public health consultant working internationally on the coronavirus outbreak and also a clinical psychologist with an expertise in well—being, thank you. doctorjeremy 0liver. —— doctor rebecca cooper. the south african government has introduced a raft of measures designed to restrict the spread of coronavirus — including a travel ban and school closures which come into effect on wednesday. south africa recorded its first case of coronavirus just

under two weeks ago — there are now more than 116 positive tests. across the continent as a whole, some 30 countries have now reported cases. many have introduced similar steps to try to contain the virus. but as andrew harding reports from south africa, the continent faces big challenges. ina poor in a poor township on the edge of johannesburg, a rising sense of vulnerability today. we don't have the drains, we don‘t have the to i lets, the drains, we don‘t have the toilets, 40—115 people using that one so we must queue will stop if the virus comes here, what do you think will happen? it is going to kill. this is a world of shared toilets, water delivered by the bucket and no room to self—isolate. water delivered by the bucket and no room to self-isolate. we are going to struggle. here is my neighbour. ifi to struggle. here is my neighbour. if i catch it it is —— he is going to catch it, everyone is going to catch it, so we are in a big danger. with only a few dozen confirmed cases so far here, south africa is

busy preparing its defences. there are already several drive in test centres. i started to present with a bit of a cough and a slightly sore throat. suddenly this week africa as a whole is starting to clamp down, closing borders, schools, banning large gatherings, hoping to learn from asia and europe‘s experiences. this entire continent may have been given a little extra time to prepare, but it is still acutely vulnerable to the virus. the immune systems of millions of people are already compromised. by malnutrition and hiv. and many health systems are already precarious at best. and hiv. and many health systems are already precarious at bestm and hiv. and many health systems are already precarious at best. if this epidemic grows and starts impacting and establishing itself in any one of our neighbours in the rest of southern africa tour, and indeed in central and eastern and western africa, we will likely see a more

difficult situation to contain. in the meantime, what to do about the daily crush. these buses the only option for most commuters across africa. will this make you change and not go on the bus any more?m africa. will this make you change and not go on the bus any more? if i had any alternative transport, i would. and so, a worried continent braces itself, resolute but exposed. andrew harding, bbc news, janice burke. breaking news from bangladesh. health officials are reporting their first death from coronavirus, the first death from coronavirus, the first death from coronavirus in bangladesh according to health officials. in the uk, the chancellor

announced a rescue package including guaranteed loans of £330 billion to support companies, a three—month mortgage payment holiday for homeowners — but nothing for home—renters or the self—emplopyed and freelancers. let‘s get some reaction to these measures. richard lane is from the debt advice charity step change. michelle 0vens is here too, director of small business britain. speaking to us from their homes are andy chamberlain from the association of independent professionals and the self—employed. graham dakin, a stage hand and technician jennifer nicholls, who runs a small coffee shop in bristol, and joining us on the line is farai muzavazi a freelance events writer who is in isolation due to pre existing heart condition, and, michelle fawcett, a self employed taxi driver who is self—isolating for 12 weeks because she is asthmatic. andy, you have expressed concern about self—employed people being left behind. what do you think of

the chance‘s measures? left behind. what do you think of the chance's measures? it is probably overall a generous package but i did not hear specific mention of self—employed people and freelancers. i was concerned that they were being left behind and i am not reassured yet. there were a couple of hints on what he said but what we really need to hear is a kind of guarantee of self—employed income is. that is the crucial thing. self—employed people need to be told if you run out of work or you are self—isolating we will make sure you have the in —— the income needed to meet living costs. graham, you are a freelance technician in the events industry. how did you react to the measures announced by the chancellor? the issue my industry and other self—employed into his face is that money is running out quickly, even, i am under self—isolation myself, the issue in my industry is we are

looking atjuly, august before work potentially gets back to normal. how will you survive is macro at the moment it is very bleak. my personal situation is different to many of my colleagues. but you're talking about life and death for a lot of people at that point. michelle, a self—employed taxi driver, and you are self—isolating for 12 weeks. self—employed taxi driver, and you are self-isolating for 12 weeks. as are self-isolating for 12 weeks. as a taxi driver,... are self-isolating for 12 weeks. as a taxi driver, . .. that is are self-isolating for 12 weeks. as a taxi driver,... that is a really bad for we are going to ring you back. i definitely want to talk to you. i know that your husband is a truck driver. jennifer nichols, you runa truck driver. jennifer nichols, you run a small coffee shop in bristol. do you know if it is going to survive? hopefully. for myself and

lots of businesses in bristol, a lot of independent coffee places, there is frustration because we feel like a bomb was dropped on us on monday night which decimated trade overnight. we have been left in a position where we have to make decisions on the spot daily. are you opening your copy shop? yesterday we opened normally, following what a lot of other cabbies are doing. we arejust running lot of other cabbies are doing. we are just running cakes, lot of other cabbies are doing. we arejust running cakes, pastries and coffee from the counter. later in the week we will have to drop to ta ke the week we will have to drop to take away only. and we will probably have to shot, because if we are looking at reopening in a few months, however long it is, it might be cheaper for us to close and whether it financially to be then able to reopen but at the moment, we don‘t know.

able to reopen but at the moment, we don't know. cash grants announced by the chancellor yesterday, that you will not have to pay back of between £10,000 - £25,000, would will not have to pay back of between £10,000 — £25,000, would you be able to apply for one of those?” £10,000 — £25,000, would you be able to apply for one of those? i fall into the small business rates category so mine would be up to 10,000 but where it is difficult for my industry, it is very hand to mouth, the money comes in and goes out straightaway. it is not different to anyone else. my rent is due out next week, quite a chunk of money i have to pay to my landlord and what normally happens is i would be using money that would be coming in this weekend but i cannot do that because i‘m not going to be trading at all or very minimum trade so it isa at all or very minimum trade so it is a concern, especially in terms of my staffing. last night i had to make the decision to lay off the staff and try to keep things running with just myself. the government did

say yesterday about the grants in place for employees, but as of yet we have no idea how to access that because they will need it straightaway. they still have some work to do and getting those schemes up work to do and getting those schemes up and running stop michelle is back with us. can you hear better now? you are a self—employed taxi driver, self—isolating for 12 weeks. you are a self—employed taxi driver, self-isolating for 12 weeks. yes, i am asthmatic and i drive a taxi that i cannot do great distances in, so i cannot work. and their work is drying up because the pubs and clubs closing in ourarea, drying up because the pubs and clubs closing in our area, and basically i'm at home. fair enough. your husband works, as a truck driver. are you going to be able to pay the mortgage? will you be able to pay the bills? as long as my husband is

working that will be fine, but until they stopped all working, i don't know what we are going to do. i know that he will get ssp but i'm not entitled to anything. and i still have overheads to run my tax even though it is not out working. you pay a company to hire your car?” don't, i still have course, i have to pay the company rent every week. but you, got you. let me bring in farah, a self employed events worker. you are in self—isolation. what is your main concern?” worker. you are in self—isolation. what is your main concern? i am on a freelance contract with my employer and the events that i cover are being cancelled. and i have been self—isolation because of symptoms

due to a heart condition. i am concerned about the money that i have as savings, if it has gone, i contacted my bank about overdraft charges and they stated that the changes that will come through are still going to be going through, so potentially i could be looking at going into more debt, and with events being cancelled and potentially the office having to be closed, i am quite concerned that i didn‘t get anything from the chancellor yesterday in regards to that. i don‘t need a mortgage break, but there will not be grants for people on freelance contracts, such as my employer. the overdraft charges you talk about, from april, banks will be able to charge overdraft fees of between 15% and 40%. overdraft fees of between 15% and a0%. for many people it will not be anything like that but it is for farai. would you call on the banks

to postpone those charges? one of the problems as everything is happening so fast. it is encouraging to hear measure from the chancellor. last night was a huge step up from what was announced in the budget the week before. we are hearing from high—street banks that they are looking to support people to get them this period. i would not be surprised if we hear more positive stuff. that is not terribly reassuring but i think we will see more of that. for small businesses, you mentioned about the lending. their most common funding is an overdraft. the second most common is a credit card. and some of them do not have any lending at the moment so not have any lending at the moment so this is a huge shift in how they approach business. i expect there will be a movement on overdraft charges and credit card charges and low— cost charges and credit card charges and low—cost loans, as well. charges and credit card charges and low-cost loans, as well. you think the banks are going to do that?” think there's a lot of good discussion this week and it is

moving fast. how much they're your members expect revenue to drop by? we did research on monday and 72% say they expect more than a 50% drop in revenues over this period which is catastrophic for the small business sector. bear in mind this is in business sector. bear in mind this isina business sector. bear in mind this is in a period of a huge amount of uncertainty. we are hoping that that is not going to be the case but the expectation that the moment is that there is going to be a big hole, and thatis there is going to be a big hole, and that is leaving people feeling quite scared and concerned. there was no help yesterday for people who rent. there was talk about mortgage holidays. let‘s be clear. you will still have to pay that money at some point but you may be able to get a breakfor three point but you may be able to get a break for three months if you‘re struggling financially with a mortgage. so landlords could get a mortgage. so landlords could get a mortgage holiday but may not pass that on to the people they rent to. the number of messages we have got on twitter about that, it is a huge

issue because many people on low incomes rent. it is an enormous issue, we help over 600,000 people who come to us with debt and money problems. we need to see more from the government. it is right they have taken the government. it is right they have ta ken steps to the government. it is right they have taken steps to prop up businesses, to keep businesses and wages going, which is better in the medium term for the economy but we are not seeing the right steps to support people to get on benefits immediately, if you apply for universal credit at the moment there isa universal credit at the moment there is a five—week wait. universal credit at the moment there is a five-week wait. the dwp say that you can get a cash advance upfront. that is a loan stop you‘d have to pay that back. but you can get that. we found that out yesterday from an official, within one day of applying. it is a loan that will be deducted from your universal credit. a 5% deduction of universal credit. a 5% deduction of universal credit. a 5% deduction of universal credit with push them into a negative budget so those have to be grants, not loans. it would push

them into not being able to afford them into not being able to afford the very basic essentials. that is something the government could change right now because if they we re change right now because if they were given a loan on day one... we can turn into grant straightaway so that people who have advances have some more money in their pocket. what we would say is that it is great that business is being looked after but we need to see people going further. in the us and australia they‘ve given $750 to every australian citizen and in the us they are talking about doing that for $1000. sending a cheque for $1000 to each household, that is the discussion at the moment in the us. in terms of people who may end up struggling to pay their rent, what do you want from the government? we wa nt do you want from the government? we want banks, local government and government to show forbearance for people who are getting into trouble, we need compassion, not coming in straightaway with enforcement action and charges and we like to see

rental holiday is being put in place. and how much? money in peoples pockets? that is for the government to look at. but in australia and the us they are looking at substantial amounts to get people through. would that be for people on low incomes? we know at the moment the social security safety net is broken already. people are already struggling to make ends meet. statutory sick pay is not going to be enough for people to pay their rent and bills. that is £18 a day and we know that it is high and other european countries including ireland, france, etc. andy, can i come back to you? i want you to be clear what you would like to hear from the government when it comes to self—employed people, contractors and freelancers. we would like the government to set up an emergency income protection fund for self—employed people stop in norway, they‘ve done a deal about how much

you are expecting to earn, we will pay y°u you are expecting to earn, we will pay you four fifths of it. they are stepping up to the plate and other countries. i don‘t believe that tinkering around with universal credit, as welcome as it is, even if they do extend statutory sick pay to self—employed people, it will not be enough to cover the bare essentials for most households, so we have to do something radical here. i mentioned yesterday, we are setting up mentioned yesterday, we are setting upa mentioned yesterday, we are setting up a petition, but that is not live because the parliament website take some time to do it, but keep an eye on our website because we want to keep pressure on the government. do you mean that people would apply for a grant payment, effectively? the government will pay them a large proportion of what they might have expected to earn in reasonable circumstances during that time period. that is exactly what i‘m talking about. thank you all very much, richard and michelle and

graham and jennifer and farai and andy, thank you very much for your time, andi andy, thank you very much for your time, and i wish you all the best. keep your questions and messages coming in. you can message me directly on twitter, or send an e—mail. increasingly people are being told to self—isolate. that means cutting yourself off from the rest of the road. it has been recommended for people with flu—like symptoms and those classed as vulnerable. but what does that involve? 0ur health correspondent fergus walsh reports. if you are told to self—isolate that mean staying at home, not going to work, school or other public places. you should not have any visitors. if

you develop symptoms, a fever or cough, then seek advice first by phone. don‘tjust turn up at the medical centre or hospital. if you live with others, then you need to stay in a well ventilated bedroom with the door shut. if you have to share a bathroom, then use it after eve ryo ne share a bathroom, then use it after everyone else. don‘t share towels and toiletries. your waste should be double bagged. if you test positive, it will be separately disposed of. if you live on your own, you can order shopping online, or get friends to help. but they should leave it on the doorstep. the coronavirus causes a mild illness

forfour coronavirus causes a mild illness for four out of five people. self—isolating will help protect older people and those with underlying health problems from getting infected. periods of self—isolation can be especially difficult for people living alone, with physical and mental health conditions and older people. lyn lives in cornwall, and joins us now. also from paris, natasha, who is 30, who self—isolate is due to a chronic health condition and hopefully she has got some tips for the rest of our guests. also we are joined by gina, who is a single mum with type one diabetes who has been self—isolating since monday. in somerset. welcome, all of you. lyn,

not having a mobile phone, does that add another layer of difficulty ‘s probably. i‘m managing to stay at home and self—isolate, so i have my landline, but when i do need to go out, not having a mobile can impact on that. you have no family in the uk. not close by, no. your only friend died recently and you live in a neighbourhood of older people. do you have anyone to contact if you needed it? i could possibly try to speak to maybe one neighbour but i would be loath to do so, in case they had the virus. i mean the my biggest single problem is getting my

repeat prescriptions for pre—existing illnesses. and that is raising my stress levels beyond the roof, because i cannot get my prescriptions for previous conditions. it is ludicrous that i am being forced to go out and try to get repeat prescriptions, but neither the surgery nor the chemist seem to be liaising. it is an impossible situation. is that bureaucratic failing or you saying that you cannot physically go to the surgery of the chemist?” that you cannot physically go to the surgery of the chemist? i have been to both and i‘m still not getting my repeat prescription that i have been fighting for, for three weeks now, and they are making my previous conditions worse, because i cannot get the prescriptions.” conditions worse, because i cannot get the prescriptions. i understand. i will bring in natasha, if i may.

let mejust ask i will bring in natasha, if i may. let me just ask you how people are taking advice from the french government, because you are in lockdown. there are still quite a lot of people wandering around. you are technically allowed to go out if you have an authorisation slip which you have an authorisation slip which you can fill out from the internet, and you can go out for food and medical supplies. there are quite a lot of people still out. my local market in the street is still on today stop you have pews of self—isolation yourself, because of a previous condition, and i wonder what you have learned from those periods, and what you can say to and gina. it is something i have had all of my life so i have had time to get used to it, whereas for a lot of people it is a sudden impact to their lives. the thing that protects me is creating a safe, calm space

for yourself. that can mean something different for everyone. staying away from social media, reconnecting with old hobbies, painting, try to that, nature, just sitting at the window and getting a little bit of sunlight. i know that those sound like simple things stop breaking your day up into pleasurable moments as much as possible. gina, i wonder pleasurable moments as much as possible. gina, iwonder what pleasurable moments as much as possible. gina, i wonder what you're missing most apart from day day contact. luckily i have a job i can still do from home, i'm not missing too much at the moment. my employer has been brilliant, sol too much at the moment. my employer has been brilliant, so i feel like i am in touch with the outside world quite a bit because of that. and you have something with purpose still to do because you can work from home. and my organisation works with older people, who are now isolating, so

anything i can do to help them accessing services will be brilliant. my employers are putting things in place to be able to do that that i may be able to help with in future, so it is on day three now, as you mentioned, so at the moment, itjust now, as you mentioned, so at the moment, it just feels now, as you mentioned, so at the moment, itjust feels like a long weekend. i don't know how long that feeling will last. i spoke to the researcher yesterday. i said come back to me when it is week six or week seven to see howl back to me when it is week six or week seven to see how i am feeling. we will. i‘m going to introduce dave who is from anxiety uk, he might be able to help people like lyn, who is on her own in cornwall, she hasn‘t got a mobile, she hasn‘t got social media, she lives in a neighbourhood of older people, no family nearby in the uk. she‘s finding it hard to get

repeat prescriptions for an underlying health conditions. what advice can you give her, try to stay calm? clearly it is very difficult, difficult and uncertain times. if they were not you would not be talking to me. as you can see, i‘m self—isolating at home already. talking to me. as you can see, i‘m self-isolating at home already. she is in self-isolating at home already. she isina self-isolating at home already. she is in a rural area. enjoy nature as much as you can to keep good mental health. i am much as you can to keep good mental health. iam in much as you can to keep good mental health. i am in a much as you can to keep good mental health. iam in a ruralarea, i can look out of the window and enjoy the birds on the bird feeder. lyn, is that possibility? i understand what he's saying but i have a mental health problem as well as long—term physical problems. and my mental health is deteriorating, because i cannot get these repeat prescriptions. understood, that is

all—consuming. dave, ido prescriptions. understood, that is all—consuming. dave, i do come back and talk to lyn. i understand that concern. you have to impress on your surgery and your gp that you need this medication. i know that parish council members pushed a letter through my door saying, let us help —— let us know if you need help, their art by the system is being set up their art by the system is being set up online and off—line around the country so if there is a buddy system so that people can get that medication for her, that would be useful. white are you on the internet ‘s could you search for that kind of by the idea?” internet ‘s could you search for that kind of by the idea? i will certainly try. someone else to do the heavy lifting with the repeat prescriptions. i am at my wits' end. it has gone beyond our normal situation for me. ijust don't know which way to turn because, like the

doctors and the chemist, they do not seem to be interlinked, sol doctors and the chemist, they do not seem to be interlinked, so i am having to go out more to sort out the these prescriptions are, in order to help myself. it is a cycle. with no end. it isjust crazy. please go online and search for local support groups. that is one of the things that has come out of the programme this morning. you‘ve got to ask for help and people will be there. we got to trust our fellow human beings, if that does not sound too... californian. thank you very much, natasha, gina, lyn and dave simpson is from anxiety uk thank you very much for coming on the problem —— programme. stuart says, this is

one of the questions that is yet to be answered. thank you for your company today. i think we are back tomorrow. we are taking it day by day. thank you. you are watching bbc news. let‘s bring you a look at the weather here in the uk. here is simon. it is quite a chilly start but we have some sunshine in aberdeenshire at the moment. blue sky sticking around here. for the south, at the moment. blue sky sticking around here. forthe south, much cloudier, with some rain. that is the scene in lincolnshire. thanks to our weather watchers for those photographs. this weather front is bringing the cloud and rain at the moment across wales, northern england and the midlands. to the south of that, it is dry, to the north of that, mostly dry with some

sunshine. it is a bit wintry, still some gusty winds, particularly in the far north—west. that rain will gradually move south into the midlands, into east anglia, the far south—east of england staying largely dry. temperatures getting up toa mild largely dry. temperatures getting up to a mild 15 here but elsewhere, it will feel chilly a competitor yesterday at between 5—8 celsius. tonight, some clear skies in the north but that rain is still with you across southern parts. the cloud will keep temperatures up at around seven celsius but to the north, the risk of frost under clear skies as temperatures for close to freezing. that front is still with us on thursday, bringing cloud and outbreaks of rain. it is the dividing line to that milder air across southern areas and the colder air towards northern parts. in southern areas, a chilly day on thursday, with the cold air moving

through, bringing outbreaks of rain along the m4 corridor, south wales on the south—west of england. further north, some sunny spells for scotland, northern ireland and the far north of england, temperatures forjust far north of england, temperatures for just about everywhere far north of england, temperatures forjust about everywhere in single figures with some places reaching ten celsius. 0n figures with some places reaching ten celsius. on friday, we have high pressured dominating things for northern areas. dry for most again across scotland, northern ireland and northern england, a brisk east to north—easterly winds bringing cloud across eastern parts, and feeling chilly across southern areas where the breeze is strongest as the rain clears, it will fuel cooler throughout friday. for the weekend, rain across the west, but overall looking largely dry with sunny spells, but we will have that nagging east to north—easterly wind. goodbye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11.00. the government says it is "ready to do more" to support people in theirjobs and help those who rent their homes. there are millions of renters across the country, and of course some of them will feel particular anxiety about this. the housing secretary will come forward very shortly to set out a statement of how we will provide support for renters. supermarkets take action to help elderly and vulnerable people buy food and supplies, and to curb panic buying. toyota becomes the latest manufacturer to suspend production — stopping work at its european factories, including two in the uk. almost 200,000 people are now known to have contracted coronavirus worldwide and almost 8,000 have died. in the uk there have been 71 deaths.