the government promises more measures to help workers hit by the coronavirus crisis, and people who rent their homes. labour says tenants need to be protected from eviction if they can't pay their rent. they're worried sick that they can't pay their rent if they get ill, lose pay, or feel they need to self—isolate. i can indeed confirm that we will do... we will be bringing forward legislation to protect private renters from eviction. the prime minister also said there'll be a decision imminently on whether to close schools. also this lunchtime... one of the latest victims of

coronavirus, his family paid tribute. my husband and my sons and everybody, everybody, we want people to know how serious it is and that eve ryo ne to know how serious it is and that everyone must ca re to know how serious it is and that everyone must care for each other. supermarkets take action to reduce stockpiling and panic—buying. the bbc suspends production of hit dramas like eastenders and casualty. and the 50th—anniversary glastonbury festival is called off, postponed until next year. and coming up on bbc news. an almost empty plane leaves tokyo to pick up the olympic flame from greece, as games organisers remain determined to see the event go ahead.

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. borisjohnson has promised more measures to help workers and tenants through the coronavirus crisis. the prime minister said there would be legislation to protect people renting in the private sector from evicton. he also said there'd be a decision imminently on whether to close schools, and promised to increase coronavirus tests to 25,000 a day. well, supermarkets have introduced new measures to reduce stockpiling, with restrictions on what customers can buy. among the latest events to be postponed, the glastonbury festival, which is called off until next year. and the bbc has suspended filming on dramas like casualty and eastenders. our health correspondent, lauren moss, reports. earl sewell or 72. a grandfather and looking forward to his son's summer

wedding. he had emphysema and, on friday, was taken to hospital in birmingham, where he tested positive for the coronavirus. on monday, he died. a lot of people i think are not taking this seriously enough. in myself and my husband and my sons and everybody, or my family want people to know how serious it is and that everyone must care for each other, help, particularly the elderly. but also, at the same time, people need to take precautions for themselves. as many others make life changes during the outbreak yesterday, the chancellor announced a £350 billion package to help businesses and promised mortgage holidays for those in financial difficulty. but some politicians and unions say more support is needed, and soon, for renters, the self—employed and those not on staff contracts. 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. and i understand that people will have concerns about that. emergency legislation is also expected to be put to parliament this week to give the government more powers to tackle the coronavirus. this could include temporarily closing airports and ports if there are staff shortages at border. the police would also be able to detain somebody thought to be infected. and retired nurses and doctors can be brought back into the nhs. but in the more immediate term, some doctors are complaining they don't have enough protective equipment like masks. don't have enough protective equipment like masksi don't have enough protective equipment like masks. i am deeply worried because i am hearing from so many of my colleagues that they don't have the protective equipment they so desperately need to keep themselves and their patients safe. they are equally concerned for their families, just as we all are. and

they are also worries that they are not being tested if they show symptoms. the prime minister insists the government is committed to supporting front line services. our nhs staff should feel that they are able to interact with patients with perfect security and protection, so there is a massive effort going on comparable to the effort to build enough ventilators to ensure that we have adequate supplies of pv equipment notjust have adequate supplies of pv equipment not just now, have adequate supplies of pv equipment notjust now, but throughout the outbreak. while we are told to socially distance ourselves from others, the national trust is planning to keep parks open free of charge so people can go outside. testing for the virus is set to more than double in england, as indoor space is empty and commutes become quiet, there is no question that life is changed. no one knows how long for. lauren moss, bbc news. our health editor, hugh pym, is here. the prime minister announcing a big

increase in testing for coronavirus, why is that so important? well, it is important because the government and the nhs has been criticised by some experts, even the world health organization, for not doing enough testing, for giving the impression that it was going to go a bit easy on that because people just being sent home and told to self—isolate and just get through it themselves. now, that was always denied that that was the position. but certainly, this week of the rhetoric has changed from the chief medical officer chris whitty and the prime minister that they were going to mmp minister that they were going to ramp up testing. nhs staff have been worried, they say they should be tested if they show symptoms because if the virus is ruled out, they can go straight back to work. we have heard that on many occasions. today, we heard boris johnson heard that on many occasions. today, we heard borisjohnson say it would be ramped up to 25,000 to date. a couple weeks ago, it was only 2,000 to date, it was increased last week. they are bringing in more commercial equipment to do that. they say they have enough staff. trying to give assurances also to those nhs staff,

we heard just now, who are concerned about a lack of protective equipment. he said more urgency was being given to distribute that around the nhs. but these two areas, testing and equipment can very important in the current action on the virus. ok, thank you very much, our health editor, hugh pym. as we saw, jeremy corbyn has clashed with the prime minister over the government's response to the outbreak here. our assistant political editor, norman smith, is in westminster. norman, in particular, what is the government's latest thinking on whether or not to close schools? well, i think all the signs our schools are going to be closed in the very near future because mr johnson told mps a decision on that would be taken imminently. now, why that matters is because the government have been trying to hold off on school closures because they feared many parents who were doctors, care workers, nurses would therefore have to stay at home and

therefore have to stay at home and therefore wouldn't be able to go into hospitals and care homes, making it much harderforfront line staff to deal with coronavirus. but i think the bottom line is the facts we re i think the bottom line is the facts were changing around them because there are indications a number of schools are having to close anyway because of reported cases of coronavirus. and also, that has been the experience of other european countries and we have tended to follow their model. so i think we will get a decision soon, ahead of the easter holidays. elsewhere, we had to promise that there would be legislation soon to protect tenants from evictions if they got into financial difficulties because of coronavirus. we know there are going to be talks, possibly a big bailout package, for the airlines tomorrow. also consideration of what sort of support to give to workers, with discussions with the tuc about possible way guarantees. and you just have the sense that everything is now happening incredibly quickly

and decisions which ministers would normally have had weeks and months to ta ke normally have had weeks and months to take are now having to be taken hour by hour. norman, many thanks. norman smith, our assistant political editor. supermarkets have announced measures to curb panic—buying and to help the elderly and vulnerable people buy the food and supplies they need. sainsbury‘s and asda have both said they will stop shoppers buying more than three of any particular food item. sarah corker reports. he is outside tesco in chillingham this morning, all supermarkets have seen heightened demand for products both in—store and online. retailers have now set limits on products like pasta, tissues and hand sanitiser is, to curb stockpiling. sainsbury‘s and asda have both said shoppers will only be able to buy three of any particular food item. will only be able to buy three of any particularfood item. and going forward , any particularfood item. and going forward, priority will be given to the over—70s and the vulnerable. my

son is today dedicated to the first hour of shopping at their stores to the elderly —— iceland. it proved popular with shoppers in glasgow.|j have a few neighbours who are quite elderly and they might need help as well. that is why i got two, you are allowed to take two. there are some gaps on supermarket shelves up and down the country. but retail bosses say they have enough food and products for everyone, if we all just buy what we need. supermarkets have had well rehearsed contingency plans in place for years since the sars outbreak in 2003 and their no—deal brexit planning has also come in useful. morrisons has said it is hiring an extra 3,500 staff, including drivers and pickers to help cope with increased demand. asda and sainsbury‘s are closing their cafe is to redeploy staff elsewhere. the prime minister has repeatedly told the public there is

no need to stockpile. signs on supermarket shelves urge people to be considerate in their shopping so that others are not left without much needed items. broadcasters and tv production companies have been forced to abandon filming because of the virus. the bbc is suspending production of hit dramas like eastenders and casualty, and the corporation has just announced how it intends to fill its schedules. our media editor, amol rajan, is here. what have we learned this morning? it is worth saying that the creative sector as a whole, which had been a thriving, fast growing part of the british economy, has been absolutely devastated by coronavirus. a huge number of shows and productions have been suspended, line of duty, peaky blinders and the crown, britannia. much of the sector is staffed by freelancers on short—term contracts you can't get work elsewhere because all the productions are down, devastating for them. we have learnt

the glastonbury festival is being postponed for this year. people who have paid £50 will find the deposit rolls over to next year. eastenders, the bbc bbc one, production has been suspended on that programme. dramas and so operas generally have five or six weeks with in the can so most of eastenders is shut in a pub, which might seem wildly inappropriate a few weeks from now. it will go down to two nights a week, monday and tuesday, but how much will be on the airforthe tuesday, but how much will be on the airfor the next tuesday, but how much will be on the air for the next few weeks is com pletely air for the next few weeks is completely in the air. a lot of holes in the schedule, are we facing loads of repeats? there is a massive paradox, with many people staying at home, the ratings for tv programmes are soaring. but commercial broadcasters are struggling to turn ratings into revenue because advertisers are not advertising at all and it will get harder and harder to make programmes, particularly life programmes. other broadcasters are going to announce their plans imminently. the bbc has put out a lot of information about

its plans, i should tell the viewer is highlights. most major news bulletins like the six o'clock news and ten o'clock news will be protected, there will be a virtual church service on sunday mornings led by the archbishop of canterbury initially. there will be delayed closure to the red button information service that was going to be closed imminently, but that will be delayed. a lot of old shows will be delayed. a lot of old shows will come back like french and saunders. spooks also. that is potentially chilled's iplayer service. other broadcasters will announce their plans imminently but for now, life on air is very much up in the air. ok, thank you very much, amol rajan, our media editor. across the world, medical researchers are racing to find a vaccine for the virus, but it's thought that could be a year or 18 months away. our science correspondent, richard westcott, has been given special access to a team at cambridge university who are trying to find the key to beating the disease. the race to find a vaccine for coronavirus didn't start in a lab. it started on a computer.

so, this is the dna of coronavirus? yes, it is. wow. within weeks of the outbreak, the coronavirus dna had been read and put online for scientists across the world to access. like many others, the cambridge team has been using it to find out exactly what they're up against. the sequence helps us to understand how the virus actually looks in terms of its physical properties. and that's really important because the spike protein that you see around the edge of the virus, that is what we need the antibodies to attach to, to prevent the virus from entering our cells. that's interesting. so, these letters give you a picture? absolutely. a picture of what it looks like and how you can attack it. yes. things then move into a tightly sealed lab. they haven't got the actual virus in here yet. their early tests are done on safer, man—made copies of parts of the virus. this is a highly restricted lab. very few people are allowed inside. and we are not allowed inside.

but we are going to be able to talk to jonathan, who's leading the research, using a bit of technology to get hold of him. jonathan, hi. can you hear me? nice to see you. are you collaborating with other people around the world? i mean, are all, you know, experts like you chatting online and sort of sharing ideas about what to do next? absolutely. this is a huge global effort. i was in australia, in geelong. i was in british columbia, i've been in the us. and we have teleconferences daily on the state of the situation, the variability, the transmission dynamics. and really trying to get as much information from the epidemic that will help us develop the very best vaccine as quickly as possible. have you ever known anything like this in your career, in terms of the speed it's happened? no. this is really, really unique. it certainly has spread globally very, very quickly and it's caught everybody off—guard.

they've already begun testing possible coronavirus vaccines on animals. but to be sure it's safe and effective, it could be next summer before a human version is finally approved. richard westcott, bbc news, cambridge. companies are now assessing whether the measures announced yesterday by the chancellor will be enough to help them through the uncertainties ahead. our economics correspondent, andy verity, is here. more than £300 billion of guaranteed loa ns more than £300 billion of guaranteed loans announced for businesses. how does a business to get hold of one of these loans? for big business the way that they borrow money is the issue that they hand out lots to have once to lend them money, country notes and the government has said we will be buying that if you

wa nt to said we will be buying that if you want to do that. for small businesses they will get a loan of up businesses they will get a loan of up to £500 million as outlined by the chancellor rishi sunak yesterday and you apply for that if you want to get it through your bank. it will just be underwritten by the government normally in normal times if you want bank manager and asked for a loan without income the bank manager would run a mile but with this government guaranteed they should not. the government is offering grants to certain businesses? this is for the retail, hospitality and leisure businesses sell shops, pubs and theatres etc. you would get through a special arrangement. as a small business you get £25,000 and if you're one of the smallest businesses you will get £10,000 in grants but that is not ready yet and will take a few days. the treasury is giving instructions

to local authorities and you should apply to your local authority. hopefully that can be done online. and the self—employed ? hopefully that can be done online. and the self—employed? that is a gap in provision at the moment, we have millions of self—employed people who have no income if they cannot go out of the house. they're being told they can fall back on the benefit system but of course universal credit takes weeks to collect so self—employed people need to hear urgently from the government what help they're going to get. and business rates? from you do not have to pay, that is an easy one to remember. thank you very much. our top story this lunchtime. the government promises more measures to help workers hit by the coronavirus crisis — and people who rent their homes. borisjohnson says an announcement on the possible closure of schools is imminent. coming up on bbc news.

the us open say they might be happy to follow the french open's lead and move their tournament later in the year. it's due to start at the end of august. european union countries have begun to stop non—residents from entering the eu. many of its countries are now at the centre of the outbreak, with belgium the latest to impose a partial lockdown on its citizens. gavin lee reports from brussels. the scene in brussels this morning. long queues outside a supermarket just before the new restrictions to public life began. the food stores aren't closing, but the fear and panic is causing a phenomenon. the flemish have a word for it here, hamstering — people storing in excess of what is needed during the pandemic. translation: i've been looking for flour for two

weeks, it has gone. i have no pastor but i'm good for toilet paper! two weeks ago there was no sign that coronavirus had spread here. now there are more than 11100 cases, 1a people have died. belgium's prime minister said there was no other option but to take the next step. translation: professional national security council has decided to take more severe measures for the civilians are obliged to stay home in order to avoid as much contact as possible outside of their close family except to go to work, for essential journeys, to go to the doctor, to go to the grocery store, to the post office, the bank, the pharmacy, to get petrol or help people in need. across the eu a growing number of countries such as poland are deploying soldiers on their borders, only allowing their own residents inside. last night after hungary closed its border with austria, hundreds of romanians and bulgarians working elsewhere in europe became

stuck on the route home. hungary later allowed a so—called humanitarian corridor to let them through. the fight against coronavirus has turned europe's cities into ghost towns. in belgium, authorities say they will be enforcing this confinement. gavin lee, bbc news, brussels. the italian authorities say they may need to extend the country's lock down if the number of new cases of coronavirus doesn't slow. the government has ordered restaurants, bars and most shops to shut until next week, and schools and universities are closed till april. but since the measures were introduced, the number of new cases has doubled. spain recorded more than 2,500 new cases yesterday, an increase of nearly a fifth. more than 550 people have died. in madrid, more than 800 people have been fined for breaking strict rules put in place to restrict movement.

france's army has transferred some patients in critical condition to a military facility, to try to ease the strain on hospitals in the east of the country. the decision to move patients to military hospitals came as doctors in several eastern cities warned their health systems are at breaking point. in scotland, the first minister nicola sturgeon says there could be blanket school closures in the coming days. and the scottish government has launched a helpline providing businesses with advice and guidance. let's talk to our correspondent, lorna gordon, in glasgow. within the last few moments the scottish first minister nicola sturgeon has been speaking and she has said it is her view that the schools in scotland will close at the end of the week. school and nursery closures here and now inevitable. she also said people

should not assume schools and nurseries will reopen after the easter break, she said she cannot promise that they will reopen before the summer holidays. earlier she was speaking about why it is so important that these measures are introduced. the measures that we are asking the public to follow in the days and weeks to come are absolutely designed to reduce the numbers that get ill, that get seriously ill and die. so we can all have an impact on those numbers. we can't stop this virus, we can't make it go away completely, we are heading into a very difficult period. but each and every one of us by following the advice that's been given, can reduce the risk of getting infected ourselves and certainly reduce the risk if we do get infected of passing that on to other people. she made those comments when she was that promising increased funding for

a age scotland helpline, for elderly people taking heed of the advice to socially distance themselves as the virus takes hold. in the last few moments nicola sturgeon announcing her view that schools in scotland will close at the end of the week. there's concern about misleading information on how to treat coronavirus which has been circulating on the internet. our correspondent, chris morris, is here. quite a lot of confusion about what is being said online. this is about paracetamol and ibuprofen and the advice is now clear, as a first choice take paracetamol to trim —— to treat the symptoms of coronavirus but if you are already on ib prison, to deal with other reasons, other conditions, do not stop taking that without talking to your doctor. ibuprofen is an anti—inflammatory drug and there are those for whom it can have the unfortunate

side—effects, people with heart disease or asthma for example. the problem is we do not really know how covid—19 reacts to ibuprofen so i think now we are going for a safety first regime at the nhs advice has changed. until a couple of days ago it said take either paracetamol or ibuprofen and now it concentrate on paracetamol and that advice was summed up this morning on bbc brea kfast summed up this morning on bbc breakfast from the university of liverpool. the story around ibuprofen has actually got very weak evidence and although we are taking a cautious approach, it's very hard to find any hard evidence that ibuprofen is causing harm. so if people are already on it, and for good reasons, they should carry on taking it. if it is a new thing for you and you're unwell than perhaps avoid it. and some fake news circulating about this crisis? we have lots of good news stories about people helping friends and neighbours but there are

scammers out there and in the last few days we've had plenty of stories on the internet about ibuprofen, purporting to be from hospital in cork in ireland, from vienna, from the south of france. the vienna story apparently saying that the disease spread more quickly in italy because people were taking ibuprofen. these are also stories so if in doubt go to places that you can trust, the nhs website, mediate that you can trust and worth repeating do not automatically believe everything you read on social media. thank you very much. the restrictions introduced on monday are having an impact on people's everyday lives across the uk, as many work from home, and avoid social contact. tim muffett has been speaking to people in london, to find out how they are coping. london, with a different look and feel. instead of crowds, empty streets. you came down from yorkshire to see a bustling, buzzy west end. here we are in the west end...

yeah, exactly. and there's nothing here. yeah, yeah, we weren't expecting it at all. absolutely dead. not at all, we walked through chinatown and it was dead. it's difficult to plan, you just don't know where to go. everywhere's. .. 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 for trade, definitely. how worried are you? very worried. you know, i'm a mortgage payer. i've got a wife, two kids, you know. it's just... you know, it's pretty awful. theatre land is closed. jordan luke gage was starring in this musical, a modern day take on romeo and juliet. he's now ill, self—isolating, and worried. there's definitely a real sense of anxiousness within 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 and open again and whether we're going to be paid during this period.

it's notjust the lack of people here 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? do we shut? do we not shut? do we stay open to the public? there is no solution to it, for us. round the corner, this shop is busy. too busy for some. i think people are not in the right set of mind. many people are panic buying, they're scared, nervous on the possibilities of what's likely to come. so i guess the unknown is the most scary part.

in the capital, life has changed. the hope is that london can take it. tim muffett, bbc news. you can keep up to date with all the developments on coronavirus, and what the latest announcements mean for you, on the bbc news channel, on our app and on our website. and 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 your questions, in "coronavirus: your essential update". that's tonight at 7.30pm on bbc one. time for a look at the weather, here's nick miller. good afternoon. we start with some

sunshine and this beautiful view from scotland. here and in northern ireland so far that there is some sunshine to be had but for england and wales there is a lot of cloud around and for some it is raining. you can see this on the radar picture but it is gradually edging further south as we go through the rest of the afternoon. living northern ireland and scotland with showers and sunny spells. some of us in northern england, things to brighten up by the cloud and rain still with us for the midlands, east anglia even at the end of the afternoon. these are the average wind speeds, feeling colder in north wales and the north of england but mild in the far south east with more sunshine to be had. going through this evening and