this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 8. as the death toll in the uk increases to 144 — the prime minister says it will take twelve weeks to turn the tide on coronavirus here. i know how difficult it may be, or it may seem right now, but if we do this together we will save, as i say, many, many thousands of lives. as the queen left london for windsor castle — issuing a message of solidarity to the nation, borisjohnson said exams are now cancelled in scotland too — tomorrow pupils in england and wales will be told how their gcses and a levels will be awarded. interst rates are slashed to the lowest ever level — just 0.1 per cent — as the bank of england tries to shore up the economy.

the prime minister says he's confident we can "send coronavirus packing" — as long as everyone takes seriously the government's restrictions and instructions on how to live our lives for the next few months. borisjohnson said he thought it would take 12 weeks to turn the tide on the virus in the uk. but he said that depended on the public following government advice — social distancing, working from home where possible, and washing our hands. he warned that stricter measures may be imposed in london because compliance in some parts of the capital has been very patchy. today the bank of england slashed interest rates to an historic low to try to shore up the economy the latest death toll in the uk is 144, that's up by a0.

3,269 people in the uk have tested positive for covid—19. meanwhile, the queen issued a message to the nation — praising the work of scientists, medical staff and the emergency services as the uk enters a period of great uncertainty. our political editor laura kuenssberg has been following the day's events. the royal standard lowered, the queen, departing for windsor castle, urging the nation at a time of great uncertainty to come together as one. leaving the quiet capital where the government is frantically trying to manage an unknown future. what is now a regular routine, the prime minister talking to the public at five o'clock. but no immediate sign of drastic new action today. we can turn the tide within the next 12 weeks and i'm absolutely confident that we can send coronavirus packing in this country.

but only if we take the steps, we all take the steps that we have outlined. you told the country yesterday you wouldn't hesitate to take extra measures, people are worried about what that might mean. can you tell people what might be next, will you within days seek to shut pubs, cafes, clubs? as long as we think that people are actually staying away from places where they may transmit or pick up the disease in the way that we've recommended, with recommended they should avoid those places, if we feel that is working, then we just want to say thank you to everybody for their extraordinary efforts and encourage everybody to do likewise. if we feel that it isn't working, as i said yesterday, and we need to bring forward tougher measures, then of course nothing is ruled out. there is no prospect of us wanting to stop public transport in london or stop the tube or the buses. we are not going to be telling people

that under no circumstances, if they really need to go to work, can they go to work. i hope people understand that. more limitations on our lives would hit firms hard. but supermarkets say there is no need to worry about food, there is enough supply, and they are urging shoppers not just to think about filling their own shelves. mps on all sides are nervous. any business who needs cash to pay salaries will be able to access a government backed loan on attractive terms. you can hear the disquiet. what about people losing jobs now? if the government does not act immediately, large numbers of people will be unemployed. can i urge the government to say something today to give people assurances that their help will come? where can they get answers, because they are so worried? ministers are putting forward this

afternoon a longest of emergency laws, from giving the home secretary the power to close the borders if needs be, forcing business to share information about food supply, making it easier for retired doctors to get back to work. this, the coronavirus bill, is an encyclopaedia of emergency powers that ministers think they might need to manage the crisis in the coming months. powers for a mighty state it hopes it might never need but a disease the country is struggling to control is changing the face of this place right now. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. if you want to edit these astons, you must take control of this page the queen and the duke of edinburgh are both at windsor castle tonight — having issued a message of solidarity to the nation. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell sent this update from buckingham palace. the queen left buckingham palace this morning, week earlier than had been planned, she is now at windsor with the duke of edinburgh who has travelled down from sandringham. they will be there till after

easter. this afternoon this message from buckingham palace, from the queen, not a broadcast is many heads of state have done but an exceptional message an exceptional time. stocks about the world entering a period of great concern and uncertainty in which we are all being advised to change our normal routines in regular patterns of life for the greater good of the communities that we live in. at times such as these come in on to say, iam reminded times such as these come in on to say, i am reminded that our nation's history has been forced by people and communities coming together to work as one. she expresses thanks to all of those in the front line and we are enormously thankful for the expertise and commitment of our scientist and medical practitioners, and emergency and public services. but now more than at any time in our recent past, that we all have a vitally important part to play as individuals, and she finishes by saying that you could be assured that my family and i stand ready to

play our part. pupils in wales, northern ireland and england will get more detail tomorrow about how their gcse and a level results will be awarded after this year's exams were cancelled. the education secretary in england, gavin williamson, said he would do everything he could to ensure that grades would be available in august. it was confirmed today that school exams won't take place in scotland either. instead qualifications will be awarded on the basis of course work, teacher assessments and mock exams. here's our education editor bra nwen jeffreys injust a day, their life has changed. yesterday, exams to win their a—level grades. now instead, coursework, predicted grades and teacher assessment are likely. today, wachter and ewan were struggling to take it in. it is definitely stressful. i have been in school for seven years and this might be my last day in the school, or tomorrow might be, so i might not see any of these people and my teachers ever again, and that does make me sad.

it was almost like a shock that i kind of expected to happen. ijust felt like a lot of my hard work had been sort of like not put to waste, but it just feels like, it is so uncertain what's going to happen. after years of studying for exams, having them just cancelled has left many teenagers with a massive sense of anti—climax, and they are notjust missing exams, they are also missing out on saying goodbye to their school friends and goodbye to their school. head teachers are working out who they will let in. vulnerable children and those of key workers, sorting out exam grades will have to wait. i think there is an issue around examinations and we will deal with that but that is properly not the priority over the next two or three weeks. i think it is about the safety of young people, ourfellow citizens of the nation, i think it is a national crisis and we will have to step up and do what we can. round the uk, families

are adjusting. we will have to make do, we have got parents who can help out because they are both elderly. months without the back—up of schools. my work has let me work from home, so i'm going to work from home some days and going to work on other days and set up a school the house. she is setting up a school. children saying goodbye to friends, for now. a bit sad, honestly, because, you know, it may be the last time i am here, so... sally is a primary teacher. she intends to go on working as best she can knowing it will help others doing life—saving work. obviously, my mum is in the very at—risk category, and i want all the nhs workers to still keep going to work. how much has changed for them? no exams, no proms, no celebration of results.

branwen jeffreys, bbc news. let's discuss this in more detail — i'm joined from gloucestershire by the chief executive of the education policy institute and former schools minister, david laws. and also i'm joined by from east london by the guardian education columnist and former teacher, laura mcinerney. thank you both forjoining us. david, first of all, what choice did the government really have but to close schools, and to do it quite hastily in the end? i think that they probably didn't have much choice. the medical advice changed. their tyre strategy relating to this virus altered. he had previously seemed to be willing to allow schools to stay open, they had a policy of come in a way, allowing the virus to spread and build up resista nce the virus to spread and build up resistance in the population. then there appeared to realise it was too dangerous strategy and did what virtually every other country across

the world has done and close schools. ultimately although there are many really difficult things that schools and children within them now have to deal with obviously health concerns at this time have to come first, so i think once that medical advice has been received there was no choice other than to follow this basic strategy. laura was saying schools are closing but remaining open for the children of key workers and for children who are disadvantaged and really need schools is that sort of safe space in places where they get fed everyday. how much pressure will the schools be under? i think the main thing the schools are concerned about right now is what exactly is the definition of a key worker, so they can work out exactly how many key workers children they can expect and also who comes under that vulnerable children category. we know at the moment it will be children who have a social worker and any child with an education and health care plan, but that includes

children and every child in a special school. wilson of the schools are being they should expect and need to be open during easter for these groups which means if they are a special school what you do about giving your staff a break over the easter holidays or again into the easter holidays or again into the june half term? the easter holidays or again into thejune half term? untilthe government clarifies those decisions schools are under immense pressure with inquiries from parents and they just can't plan. do you think the government was too hasty in calling out the exams? i think it's not a very difficult for schools that you have to remain open for a few more days to potentially keep their students who are going to be incredibly disappointed and eject dejected and motivated to learn. as a long time now between here and the summer, and the autumn when schools hopefully will open up again. if you are in year" hopefully will open up again. if you are in year 11 and stop learning maths a chance of you be able to pick back up for a level in septemberor pick back up for a level in september or october is going to be very difficult, so whilst i actually do understand they needed to make

decisions and get on with the certainty i think there are some big knock on consequences psychologically for those young people that are now having to be dealt with. i have two children who are both do to take a levels and we are both do to take a levels and we are coping with that rather stunned feeling that they have come home with today. i sympathise with many families across the country. how, then do schools, the exam boards work out what grades children should get? essentially there's all sorts of technical issues around this, but essentially instead of the exam boards setting papers and barking them themselves the results are going to come from schools looking at the work of the children, looking at the work of the children, looking at predicted grades, making their own assessments and those are then somehow going to have to be checked by the qualifications regulator, presumably by looking at previous yea rs presumably by looking at previous years exa m presumably by looking at previous years exam results and looking at

the performance of particular cohorts of pupils. there will be disputes, there will be issues about appeals if people are not satisfied, there will be issues about whether some schools will over generously marked their pupils. this is going to be extremely difficult, it's going to be very controversial. but we are into the world of second and third best solutions, because we are trying to deal with this pandemic in which lives are at risk. the other real challenge i think for the education system as laura hinted at is how do we make sure that children, not only get qualifications but keep learning over the months ahead which could be quite prolonged? over the months ahead which could be quite prolonged ? particularly children from more disadvantaged homes who may have less opportunities for online learning, less books and equipment, parents less books and equipment, parents less in a position to support them. there's a real risk that those most disadvantaged pupils are going to fall behind more over the months

ahead. and the ramifications of that could last many years. yes, if we have children falling behind now it's very difficult to catch up and the focus in the last few days has been on children who have had their a—levels cancelled. i understand why but the other end of the spectrum some of them just getting their feet under the table with school and getting used to going in and out it's been cancelled and very difficult to explain that to very young children but also learning to read, learning to write and those are very formative things. they often happen very quickly at the age often happen very quickly at the age of development. so it is tricky. on the other hand wasting a lot of parents feeling very competitive about what they should be doing with their children, about what they should be doing with theirchildren, a about what they should be doing with their children, a lot of anxiety and worry. that also is not going to help the children and their stress levels. in time there's lots of resources out there, teachers are going to be available, lots of plans happening in schools, almost every

school looking at providing some kind of workbook or online materials and they will be doing television programmes from the bbc. parents just have to try to get their children to stay motivated and not let them believe that suddenly learning does not matter. it always matters, exams or not. good to hear your views tonight. thank you very much forjoining us. we were watching bbc news. the headlines. as the death toll in the uk increases to i44 — the prime minister says it will take twelve weeks to turn the tide on coronavirus here the queen leaves london for windsor castle — issuing a message of solidarity to the nation exams are now cancelled in scotland too — tomorrow pupils in england and wales will be told how their gcses and a levels will be awarded. the government says it won't be placing extra restrictions on facilities and transport

in london yet — despite the number of cases and deaths rising faster in the capital than anywhere else in the uk. but boris johnson urged londoners to heed the advice about restricting their behaviour and social contact after evidence emerged that in some parts of london, the recommendations were being ignored. our home editor mark easton has been gauging the mood in the city. the sirens are screaming, stay at home, stay well, protect the nhs. for the most part, london is empty. but not everyone is listening. if i need to go somewhere, i am going to go somewhere. what about other people, you might affect other people? well then they should stay inside. it is hard to change your habits and routines. the instagram generation wants to show the world they were there. and the threat is invisible on deserted streets. just wanted to see how busy it was. i am doing the same, just taking a look at london and then heading back

before totalisation isolation, which i think is coming next. just the last of the few days of freedom. i think is coming next. the plea is not to go out to bars and cafes and restaurants but some people are clinging on to their normal lives, in an increasingly abnormal situation. i live on my own, i got no family or anything, it isjust me there. you can have too much of tv or too much of anything. there. you can have too much of tv or too much of anything. so, to get over the road and buy a paper and come in here and have a couple of pints. at the regency cafe, the full english will soon be off. the owner is shutting up shop. there is very little reason to be open now, and the risk factor, and people also are frightened, aren't they? absolutely. i live on my own, i need a support system. if the prime minister stays i have got to stay indoors, it looks desperate. it is quite frightening. london's big shopping streets have been almost

abandoned but neighbourhood supermarkets, hairdressers and market stalls were doing brisk business today. people can feel that life is about to change, they are searching for supplies, they're getting ready. i am out to get some vital supplies, i've just filled up my car with petrol. i live on my own so i've only got myself to rely upon. just around the corner from the shoppers, a temporary mortuary is being assembled, a blunt reminder of why some want the politicians to order us to close the door on our social life. interest rates are now at their lowest level ever — slashed to just 0.1 per cent today by the bank of england. earlier, our economics editor faisal islam explained why. this is the bank of england kind of on overdrive, maximum power trying to create a kind of air bed for the whole economy by cutting interest rates, not all the way down to zero

because they want to keep the banking system able to do certain things, just cut it down to 0.1, just above zero. in the hope that will be passed on through the economy obviously. but as important is this £200 billion of buying government debt, it's what was known as quantitative easing. we had during the financial crisis, had a bit morejust after the during the financial crisis, had a bit more just after the eu referendum, there come back in today and then more of it than ever have done an ethical decision, and the point of that is to lower interest rates, not just point of that is to lower interest rates, notjust overnight but over a year, rates, notjust overnight but over a yea r, two yea rs, rates, notjust overnight but over a year, two years, five years, ten yea rs. year, two years, five years, ten years. also to help. but also it helps and a lot more government borrowing, and taxes are coming in and spending needs to be higher. also sound quite interesting that markets are borderline disorder route yesterday. a sharp fall in sterling and blame some of that on the rumours of the lockdown.

hundreds of thousands of british tourists are thought to be stranded abroad because of travel restrictions introduced because of the virus. holiday—makers in peru are being quoted 2000 pounds for a place on a commercialflight back to london. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, has admitted the situatuon was "very difficult" and that it could take some time before people got back to the uk. sue bagnall, from evesham in worcestershire, is one of a tour party of british travellers stuck in the capital lima. thank you very much forjoining us. tell us when you discovered that you we re tell us when you discovered that you were stranded. we discovered the other night we were moved to lima. ourflight had other night we were moved to lima. our flight had been cancelled. who is helping you ? our flight had been cancelled. who is helping you? our tour company, they have been brilliant. they are doing everything they can to get us ona

doing everything they can to get us on a flight out of lima. at the moment they think that there might bea moment they think that there might be a flight on saturday, but unless there's enough seats sold on the planet won't go ahead. tell us about the situation regarding coronavirus and peru. as far as we are aware, just under 200 cases currently, so they seem to be containing it quite well. how free are you to come and go as you please? we are basically restricted to the hotel. some of us had been allowed to go out to the nearby shops, but now the shops have closed down and there's army and navy policing the streets. what are you being told about what it might ta ke to you being told about what it might take to get home? and they were concerned about people within your party would be rather more prone to

coronavirus. just quite a few people who have got complex medical conditions. all have got enough medication at the moment but if we are stuck here for a few weeks it will become a real issue for them. 0r will become a real issue for them. or if they became ill i'm not sure how they would fare around here. it's a concern, we don't know in the hotel at the moment is very fluid and everything is changing by the hour. we are not sure whether the hotel will stay open. we don't know what it will mean for us. normally, if you can refer to normal times at the moment, there would be helpful in the british embassies, some support in a foreign country for british diplomats. how readily available is that? the actual building is physically close to the moment. and the staff are working from home. we have had contact with

them, andl from home. we have had contact with them, and i guess there's lots of people around in different areas of peru, lucky enough to be in lima, but there's people stuck in the more remote areas that are struggling and so remote areas that are struggling and so the staff first spread fairly thin, trying to sort things out. how wise was it for you to be allowed to come to peru under the circumstances? i think that's our main concerned which is that we should not have been allowed to travel the first place. we followed the commonwealth for an office at the commonwealth for an office at the time. and you were told that it was all right? yes. it's a great shame, it's a truly beautiful country i'm sorry your trip has ended this way. i hope you will get home reasonably cheaply and quickly. thank you very much for talking to us.

as many of us adjust to working from home, or not working at all, a lot of businesses have had to change their working practices, too. but for some, there's been a realisation that they can be a huge help to their local community during these testing times. one of those is verdant spirit company, a gin producer in dundee. now, as well as producing gin, they're also going to start produciung hand sanitiser that they'll delivering out to their local area for free. we can speak now to their mamnaging director, andrew mackenzie. not too closely related at all but a lot of the processes are the same entity rely on using high—strength alcohol as part of their constituent parts. and also the licensing we have to produce gin also covers up for producing the hand sanitizer. although they are completely

different products the processes and components are quite similar. how fortu nate, components are quite similar. how fortunate, if you could say that. which of the idea come from because there was somebody else doing and asked you to help them is that right was yellow yes, a distillery up in aberdeen have been doing it orjust started doing it, what had gone out there and many requests sent into them to supply various health authorities and care concerns with sanitizer, and a phone to me on monday night having received some calls from our area asking if we can get involved. and so it first thing tuesday morning i was on the web looking for ingredients in seeing whether we could cope with this with our expertise and source the ingredients for it. it looked pretty much like we could. so we launched a funding campaign, and we were up and running. what did you need, what we re running. what did you need, what were the ingredients that you had not gotten stock? we had the alcohol in stock, and obviously water is

pretty freely available, but needed the supply of glycerine and hydrogen peroxide. and the hydrogen peroxide was the tricky part to source can but we managed to cover that. to eve ryo ne but we managed to cover that. to everyone is rallying around? absolutely. yes. how much have you produced, what are you waiting and doing with it because of the men ordered everything in, this only started on tuesday, with got everything out except the hydrogen peroxide which should be arriving tomorrow, we should be struck to mixing up then and hopefully delivers out early next week. and he was going to be the lucky beneficiary? the federal list of some e—mails and and hundreds of phone calls, and miles of e—mails coming in. so we've got a spreadsheet particular of local care homes, surgeries, nhs trusts and other bodies and we are going to come we are asking them what sort of quantities they will be looking for, and ourfirst

quantities they will be looking for, and our first batch quantities they will be looking for, and ourfirst batch is 100 leaders with another 300 leaders to follow on behind and working our way down the list of trying to fulfil what needs we can. you do know that by appearing here on the bbc news channel the phone will start ringing ain? channel the phone will start ringing again? that has attended to be the case so far. we are happy to help and can only make what we can double scale of production we can. but those would be a fairly local thing and once it was picked up by the media and went crazy. marketing inquiries to supply for malta and i can e—mail this evening for a distillery in brazil as to how they can possibly take this task up as well. it's a pretty crazy time. it's very different from what i planned and we should have been watching house of commons gin yesterday. your

better off what they're doing something useful. yes. thank you for talking to us. from the vergence spirit company, not just talking to us. from the vergence spirit company, notjust gin but sanitizer as well. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear clear his will lead to a chilly start for our friday morning and affects each of which is down as low as minus six degrees and sheltered rural areas. more clout across central and southern england will prevent a frost and that means another drab and prevent a frost and that means anotherdrab and damp prevent a frost and that means another drab and damp start, maybe some cherry rain in the south. drive a semi spells elsewhere but the temperatures are struggling, seven to 10 degrees the overall high. an area of high pressure will move in and dominate the story for the weekend, but it's raining in a nagging easterly wind, so after a frosty start lots of sunshine to look out for on saturday, but you

need to factor in the direction of that wind. it's just going to take the edge of the feel of things, and temperature struggling for this time of the year. middle and the way of change sunday into monday, for most of it dry, settled and sunny but cool hello, this is bbc news. the headlines.

as the death toll in the uk increases to 144 — the prime minister says it will take twelve weeks to turn the tide on coronavirus here the queen leaves london for windsor castle — issuing a message of solidarity to the nation exams are now cancelled in scotland too — tomorrow pupils in england and wales will be told how their gcses and a levels will be awarded. interest rates are slashed to the lowest ever level — just 0.1 per cent — as the bank of england tries to shore up the economy. italy's death toll overtakes china's — almost 3 and a half thousand have died — we report from inside one of italy's hospitals — battling to keep patients alive young people are being warned not to be complacent about the coronavirus. england's chief medical officer professor chris whitty said the vast majority of people in all age groups

would recover but it was a mistake for young people who are healthy to think they would all just "breeze through" the pandemic. meanwhile doctors and nurses working on the frontline are calling for nhs staff who have symptoms to be tested quickly so they can return to work. our health editor hugh pym reports. coughing. a patient who's coughing sees the gp at the bridgwater surgery in watford. it's a specially organised service for patients with respiratory problems, on a different floor to the rest of the practice. this may or may not be coronavirus, you know, we can't say for certain, because you've got underlying asthma... the gp sends her onto hospital to decide whether a test is needed. many doctors and nurses themselves say they want virus testing for nhs staff, so if they develop symptoms and they don't test positive, they can return to work more quickly. we are very much on a war footing at the moment. alan is an emergency care doctor, who was frustrated that testing

isn't readily available. for lots of people, not being tested means they are getting hit by a compulsory time off work, and that, you know, leaves a lot of stress for them, and a lot of stress for the workforce still in work. it is an issue i put to the government's chief medical adviser. how quickly can you roll out more testing for nhs staff who feel they want to be reassured that they might be able to come back to work, or be at work? for the nhs, the ability to test their staff, our staff, i am an nhs worker myself, when people are actually unwell and self isolating, particularly if they've got mild symptoms that mean they could normally go back to work is absolutely critical. the welsh government has started testing for nhs staff. in england, the nhs has announced an increase to 25,000 tests a day for hospital patients. there was this message, meanwhile, for younger people who might be continuing their social lives

as normal, although less badly affected on average by the virus than those who are older, they must follow the new guidelines. the mixing, in pubs and restaurants and so on that we have said is really a part of allowing the disease to spread, needs to stop, and it needs to stop amongst young people, as well as older people. a large majority of people who get the virus won't feel many symptoms, but the worry still is for those who are most vulnerable and may become the sickest. now it's time for your questions answered. tonight we're putting your questions on health and self—isolation to the experts. joining us is dr amir khan, a gp who works in bradford.

thank you very much is running this. lots of questions and as always,. do i sleep for 12 weeks or do i go to work was shallow this is really important. diabetes is a high risk category, it is classed as a condition that makes you compromised and makes it less likely that you will fight the infection off quite as easily as some other people who are not diabetic. yes, where possible, you should be self isolating or at least social distancing for 12 weeks, it is really important because we are looking at the data coming out of china and other countries, diabetics seem to be top of the list to get complications from covid—19. seem to be top of the list to get complications from covid-19. as it matter for type one or two? it does not matter which type, it is about

how well it is controlled. if it is poorly controlled diabetes for a long time, it is a presence of high levels of sugar and your blood over a period of time which weakens your immune system. steve says i am 64 yea rs immune system. steve says i am 64 years old, i am taking blood thinners and will do for the rest of my life, is this classed as an underlying condition that will make me vulnerable to covid—19? underlying condition that will make me vulnerable to covid-19? it is difficult to know that because you have not said what your condition is there, you talked about medication, but blood thinners are taken for things like heart rhythm problems or if you're prone to developing clots or after you had a heart attack or stroke, all of which puts you in a high—risk category of a gory cardiovascular disease. , yes, you should be self isolating for 12 weeks as per the national

guidelines. i've been having mild flu symptoms and should i stay at home, even though i am not sure it is coronavirus? i have a three—week—old baby at home. is coronavirus? i have a three-week-old baby at home. there is no way to know if you have coronavirus because we are not testing of the communities any more, only those in hospital that are being tested. if you have symptoms ofa being tested. if you have symptoms of a high—temperature fever or a dry cough, included within that illness that you have described, then i would self—isolate from a minimum of seven days. with regards to your three record baby, i think the best thing to do during that period of seven days is to keep that bee bee two metres distance from use of someone else will be having to do most of the looking after, you can put your feet up for a week. no cuddles, that is what you miss out on. you'll make yes, but it is the right thing to do. self—employed

person dealing you're absolutely right to self—isolate, because you're asthmatic and diabetic, the fact that your mum has breathing problems, both of you should be self isolating for 12 weeks, it is difficult when you're self—employed asa difficult when you're self—employed as a hairdresser and i am difficult when you're self—employed as a hairdresserand i am hoping that the money coming through the government will come your way and from her point of view, it should be self isolating for 12 weeks. your right to do that, christine. can someone be asymptomatic as a carrier of covid—19 for more 14 days?m someone be asymptomatic as a carrier of covid-19 for more 14 days? it is highly unlikely. the 14 days is really a safety net and it is probably a bit longer than needs to be, because we do not know enough about covid—19 to say any different, so 14 days is the maximum for now they should be self isolating for.

how far should we take the social distancing idea was? my daughter who lives there has been 50 miles away, can we see her occasionally? we are socially distancing ourselves, but cani socially distancing ourselves, but can i see my niece and daughter? should i wait to seven to 14 days before seeing her? there are lots of different parts the question, you mentioned that your daughter is pregnant, let us talk about that. first of all, earlier this week, women who are pregnant have been moved into a high risk category and it is probably a precautionary measure, but we do know that the immune system fluctuates during the course of a pregnancy, sometimes it is weaker and sometimes that's to be stronger and it is unknown how the coronavirus will affect pregnant women, so it is best to be cautious. but we do know is that there is no evidence that pregnant expecting mother of the coronavirus can pass

it on to the baby while the baby is in sight of her. that is known from the small numbers that we are seeing in wuhan china, and in terms of social distancing for grandma, yes, because the daughter is now in a high risk of being, it is, you must not go and see her. it is a tricky one, depends on how old you are and if you're a it is unlikely that it would then be passed on to your pregnant daughter, but it is hard to know. it is becoming the new normal is to socially isolate or socially distance yourself for 12 weeks. which he should do about going on a wedding on the weekend? i support the importance of social distancing,

but we are not sure whether or not to attend? this is a tricky situation because the new normal is social distancing and self isolation, but it has not been around for that long and we're just not used to it. but we would prioritise things like that going on in our lives, we have to adapt to the new normal and are very social occasions, you're not going to come within two metres of someone who is unwelcome of which is hard to do, i would really think about not going in there lots of people there from lots of different parts the country most likely. so, it is best not to which is so hard for the bride and groom. ican which is so hard for the bride and groom. i can only imagine with the for them, but from a purely medical point of view, the answer is no you should not go. that says i am asthmatic but i work with covid—19 patients, should i be doing this? i ta ke patients, should i be doing this? i take steroids twice

being asthmatic and being on steroids makes you a higher risk because asthma is a long condition and steroids can damping down your immune response. but this is a response that they are all having with their colleagues, a lot of health care workers have long—term conditions which puts them in the high risk category. we are trying to, but unfortunately, or fortu nately to, but unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, we have to go to work and look after our patients and where the front line staff. so if we say, if we say to our colleagues after you have a long—term condition, that you cannot be looking after these people, there will be left high and dry with minimal staff. so, my will be left high and dry with minimalstaff. so, my opinion will be left high and dry with

minimal staff. so, my opinion is that yes, we should be going to work. the final question, i am 78, inclined to go on doing an occasional shop locally even though iam occasional shop locally even though i am self isolating. i assume there will be prevented because of the moment, the advice is not mandatory but should i enforce this to the letter? she may not have symptoms but she is choosing the self—isolate. but she is choosing the self-isolate. we have to be mindful of self isolation and the elderly, because we do not want to mentally isolate them as well. she talked about shopping there but perhaps going outside and open spaces, keep your distance from other people, two metres away, that is still class the self isolating because you're not coming into contact with those people and that will really do your mind good. in terms of shopping, if this knowing us to do your shopping for you, then you have to do it for

yourself. but go at times where it is not busy comes the first thing in the morning, a lot of markets are opening up or later into the evening where there is less people around, keep your distance from everyone and margo, really, if you need to go outside, open places away from crowds with dual your words good. —— will do you play world of good. we appreciate you and thank you to eve ryo ne appreciate you and thank you to everyone who sent those questions and to us. more people have now died from the virus in italy than anywhere else in the world. 427 more people have died in the past 24 hours alone — bringing the death toll to more than three thousand four hundred — that's more than china's total. and more than 5000 new cases have

been confirmed just since yesterday. from rome, our correspondent mark lowen reports. in this theatre of war, the heroes hardly rest. brescia in northern italy is seeing one of the highest rises in daily cases. the hospital is overwhelmed but resilient. translation: there is a strong commitment from all doctors and nurses. sometimes they come in even when they are not on shift, or after they are on at night they come in the morning after to help us out. some of them have cried but i have never seen anyone complain. more than 8% of cases in italy are medical staff, almost double that of china. the 13th doctor died today. one of the patients here is a doctor, she says, born in 1982. he was in the emergency room, fell ill and tested positive. now he has been incubated. thousands of medics have been recalled from retirement and

rushed in from university to help, but still they are desperate. translation: i think our hospital is reaching breaking point. we don'tjust need more beds, but we need workers. we need equipment to protect our staff. we need ventilators. the spread of the virus is too fast for us to keep up. in this outbreak, not even the dead can rest. overnight, the military moved coffins from nearby bergamo to ease pressure on bursting crematoria. from one town that has cut cases to zero through mass testing and quarantine, a warning to britain over its lower response. i feel very, very sorry, because i have been living in england for over 25 years, and i left my wife and my son there, so for me it is very sad to see they are doing exactly the same mistake as they did in italy. it will lead to an outbreak which will be the same size or even worse than the one we are seeing in lombardi.

restrictions on movement here are now set to be extended, with most venues remaining closed and schools shut well into april. italy's lockdown is the model being adopted elsewhere. public transport and traffic are still running but people are only going out in urgent need, and it is orderly, with measured queues for the supermarket as people are allowed in one by one. the fruit and vegetables are stocked as normal. there is very little sense of panic buying here. and with the loo rolls, well, some brands are down, but with this level of outbreak, italians are behaving on the whole rationally. the virus has left this wounded, ageing population isolated, from each other and from the outside world. the book she reads is called fear.

speaking on question ten programme this evening, he was answering questions on the lack of protective equipment forfront line questions on the lack of protective equipment for front line health workers and ventilators, he can over the last 24 hours, 2.6 million masks have been shipped to the uk along with 10,000 bottles of hand sanitizer, this it overnight, longed for the hospitals will get the next pack of equipment they need, it was in the hospital look at the next batch of equipment before sunday night. they also went on to confirm the social care providers will get a package of personal protective equipment by the end of next week. but the issue for capacity, they haveissued but the issue for capacity, they have issued a call to make more of them and can from the 1400 companies saying that they will make their manufacturing capability turned to help and they have agreed to make

new ventilators. that is the latest from the health secretary speaking on question time. millions of elderly and vunerable people across the country are finding it particularly difficult to deal with the implicactions of the coronavirus. the government has suggested all over 70s or at risk people start self isolating. and what impact is the crisis having for people with disabilities? with me is david clarke, director of services from the royal national institute of blind people. thank you forjoining us. those with the extra challenges that blind and partially sighted people are seeing. —— facing. -- facing. it is very challenging. , medicines are vital essentials, blinded people are big users of online delivery and it is impossible

to get started for a few weeks and we have been working hard with a number of charities across the sector all day, working on a number of which which is the supermarket socially help us out and deal with that issue and another issue is partially blinded people are relying on public transport to get around that can be another issue and an issue of isa blind person get around letter touching and feeling, and the awareness of keeping hands clean and following instructions but it's very ha rd to following instructions but it's very hard to do when we're out and about and trying to be mobile. that is just a couple of the obvious issues, final issue i raise is self isolation, it is not as easy for a partially blinded person to do, and we are from all sorts of different

demographics. many of us over the age of 70 and these restrictions very much impair their ability to live the life that they want to lead. tell us about the work that they are doing to help people? we wa nt they are doing to help people? we want everyone to know that we are very much open for business and we are here to help, we have the help line that starts from 8am to 8pm and we are there, not only to answer the normal questions we would ask around, information, advice and guidance on site loss, but understand people were feeling isolated, feeling lonely, feeling the need local support and working closely with a number of charities both national and local to provide that support and we are also ramping up that support and we are also ramping up his support networks, a number of connecting opportunities across telephones and online to replace a lot of the face—to—face network that is of the fall away. but we are

really listening to people to find out what they want because this is a pretty new situation for all of us and we really do need the public support at the moment more than ever because we're trying to understand our customers needs and provide them at this difficult time. do you need more donations? clearly, donations are always useful because it allows us are always useful because it allows us to do the work want to do, when you're setting up your local groups and thinking about what is happening in your street, your class, community, society, it is really important that like many other potentially vulnerable groups, that you stop to think about the significant impact of some the things you're arranging and the eventual organising may have on the people and seek very much to help them in those circumstances and have artie mentioned things like shopping and facebook groups, we have a

number of regional facebook groups that we encourage people to join who can find out lots of local information there, but also things like our talking book provision where we are ramping that up to bring more books out of potential isolation and loneliness and making sure online shop is stacked so people can get a hold of the vital things like canes and other equipment. when they'll be spending more time at home, i think the really important thing is for public information working very hard to work with the authorities to make sure the information provided around the coronavirus is actually accessible. you'll see a lot of pictures, images, and the now, take a look at this.

you've written those two dates down. 1945. that's 7—year—old tom who is on a video call with his friends, 9—year—old isabelle and 5—year—old chloe. they‘ re joined by isabelle and chloe's grandad, brian who is giving them a history lesson —— all of them are self—isolating. they learnt all about world war two and have even completed the allocated homework. well, i'm very pleased to say i'm joined now by tom and his mum lucy who are in stonehouse in gloucestershire. and also with us we have isabelle and chloe and their mum, karen. they're in bristol. and we'll start with you first, karen. it's your dad teaching the children in the footage — how did this all come about? basically, we are all in isolation at the moment and isabel has a bit ofa at the moment and isabel has a bit of a cough and we followed the government guidelines and my dad has beenin

government guidelines and my dad has been in isolation, he is 82 and even more concerned now that he is now living on his own, we worry about him and normally he is quite an active social person and so, i also work full—time and thankfully, i work full—time and thankfully, i work for a very supportive and understanding company who have been very reasonable about my flexibility, particularly with me being one of the first in isolation with the children and working full—time as a challenge trying to do both, getting work done and being there for my girls. very useful having brian. how impressed have you been without attentive the children have been? they have been so engaged. yes, it has been fantastic, we've been trying to work and taking his history lesson with world war ii

which was amazing and the kids loved it. we got really engaged and answered a lot of questions we have homework and he is set for another lesson at half past 11 for tomorrow morning. tom, what is granddad brian like as a teacher? he is quite nice and fun to, fun for him to teach me. it sounds like you're doing very well and getting the answers right. both the homework you we re were sent? with granddad told us, he asked us to write. can you show us? i have my plan. let's see your plan. i love the list. nice, neat rating.

in very good coughing into your elbow, we were impressed by that. if granddad is watching and i hope he is, what with all the children like to say to him? thank you, granddad for teaching us today. thank you for teaching us granddad. thank you for teaching us granddad. thank you for teaching us, it was really fun. and i think you have quite a few more weeks of it, i hope you're still saying that on the other side of easter. how easy was it the set up the sort of network? it was ok to do once we got online and everybody‘s favourite thing, once we got on that, it was fine, but we think this isa that, it was fine, but we think this is a fantastic thing and if there's anyone out there who runs a platform that this can work on, i think will be fantastic to talk to them so we

can find be fantastic to talk to them so we canfind an be fantastic to talk to them so we can find an easy way for everybody who was isolated at the moment to not only keep contact with her family before grandchildren to speak to their grandparents and learn from them, it isjust to their grandparents and learn from them, it is just amazing to their grandparents and learn from them, it isjust amazing opportunity to make most of. how amazing is it for you that your grandpa was in contact like this doing something so productive? amazing. my dad is so enthused to support my girls and we nt enthused to support my girls and went on and tomorrow, his other grandchildrenjoining went on and tomorrow, his other grandchildren joining him as went on and tomorrow, his other grandchildrenjoining him as well, so grandchildrenjoining him as well, so it will be five on the lesson tomorrow and it means that i can focus on some work, knowing that my children are being looked after and that there granddad has some interaction is well with the grandchildren and feels like he has the chance to do his part as well remotely, so it is looking to be really positive. necessity is the mother of invention is a great idea and i'm sure will catch on and

inspire a lot of people. karen, tom, lucy, chloe, isabel and inspire a lot of people. karen, tom, lucy, chloe, isabeland brian, if you're watching, thank you all very much. to the weather. good evening. clear skies of the next two hours is going to lead to a chilly start to our friday morning and we could see temperatures down as low as minus six degrees and sheltered rural areas. a little more clouded area across england will present a frost but it means another damp start with and shall remain in the south entrance some sunny spells with the temperature struggling seven to 10 degrees and the overall height. an area of high pressure will move in and dominate the story for the weekend, but it is striking it in easterly winds after a frosty start will see a lot of sunshine to look out for on saturday, but you need to factor in the direction of that wind and it is just going to

ta ke that wind and it is just going to take the edge of the feels of things for this time of year. a little in the way of change on sunday into monday, for most of us, it stays dry settled in sunny but cool, that is it, take care. hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones, this is outside source. borisjohnson says the uk could turn the tide on the coronavirus outbreak in 12 weeks, but only if people follow government advice i know how difficult it may be, i know how difficult it may be, or it may seem right now. but if we do this together, we will save, as i say, many, many thousands of lives. in italy, the coronavirus death toll has overtaken china's — after more than 400 people die in one day. for the first time, china has recorded no new home—grown cases of the coronavirus. but there are concerns about infected people returning to the country from abroad. and we'll confront the misleading rumours about the virus that