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tv   Outside Source  BBC News  March 19, 2020 9:00pm-9:31pm GMT

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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 are being spread on social media.
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in the uk, there are now almost 3000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 144 deaths. the prime minister is urging people to take social distancing measures seriously, but he struck a note of optimism earlier. ido i do think, looking at it all, that we can turn the tide within the next 12 weeks. and i'm absolutely confident that we can send a coronavirus tracking in this country, but only if we take the steps. we all take the steps that we have outlined. it's the first time the govermment has offered a timeframe on this new reality. but the prime minister also said that nothing is certain.
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i cannot stand here and tell you that we will, by the end ofjune, that we will, by the end ofjune, that we will be on the downward slope. it's possible, buti that we will be on the downward slope. it's possible, but i simply can't say that is for certain. of course not, we don't know where we are andi course not, we don't know where we are and i could say that this is going to be finite. now if you've been on whatsapp or social media, you may have seen images like this claiming to show troops and tanks moving in and around london. unsurprsingly, the pictures are not what they seem. the photo appeared online in ukraine earlier in the week and is at least three days old — it only surfaced on british social media accounts yesterday. a good reminder to beware of rumours circulating online. so no tanks on london streets. but the government has published legislation setting out new emergency powers. under the proposed law, airports and ports could be shut and people held on public health grounds. police could force people displaying
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symptoms into isolation. and regulations eased to allow some medical students and retired clinicians to treat patients. the powers would last two years. mps plan to debate and vote through the measures early next week. the government insists they could be "switched on and off" based on medical advice. but the prime minister said he hopes the current measures are making a difference. if we feel that it is not working, asi if we feel that it is not working, as i said yesterday, tougher measures, then of course nothing is ruled out. but i want to thank everybody for what you're doing, i know it's tough and difficult, but we just know it's tough and difficult, but wejust got to know it's tough and difficult, but we just got to do it together and please, please, please follow the advice. he said even if stricter measures were needed in london, the government will not shut public transport. but london mayor sadiq khan has urged people to avoid the transport network.
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it came after his late—night tweet. here's what mr khan has said. make no mistake, this is a crisis. and i make no apologies for folks in the full resources at my disposal to tackle it. as we know, social distancing is key to the government's response. but while chief medical officer is convinced it will help tackle the spread of covid—i9, he's clear there are downsides too. doing things which actually increase people's social distancing sounds fine until you realise that might also increase loneliness, and if we are not careful increase people's ability to get exercise. there are
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whole bits of consequential from interventions and if you do them to relate you get all the negatives and a relatively small or almost non—measurable effect on the epidemic. the queen has gone to windsor castle with prince philip and issued a message to the nation, saying people are entering a period of great concern and uncertainty, adding. this is the latest update on testing in the uk from the department of health and social care. 144 patients who tested positive
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for coronavirus have sadly died." remember though, the true number of vases is thought to be much, much higher, because at the moment only people in hospital are being routinely tested testing. well today we heard this on government plans to step up screening. —— cases. we are in negotiations today to buy a so—called antibody test, as simple asa a so—called antibody test, as simple as a pregnancy test, they can tell whether you have had the disease. and it's early days, but if it works as it claims, but we will by literally hundreds of thousands of these kits. as soon as possible, because obviously it has the potential to be a total game changer. let's speak to our political reporterjessica parker who's in westminster. we heard the bit of the about it
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there. they faced some criticism which is the threat of people doing the right thing and they are not being paid because they're in the gig economy or do not have full—time staffjob. >> this was something thatjeremy corbyn was talking about today. those that may be in the gig economy oi’ those that may be in the gig economy or in insecure work, they are being advised to self—isolate in certain circumstances, but is there enough support and is there enough money to help those people get through the coming weeks and months, and another point that the labour leader raised was that in his view gears of austerity have rendered public services in a bad position initially to deal with the coronavirus crisis, and it's not actuallyjust labour that has criticised the government package, they announced £330 billion in government backed guaranteed loa ns, in government backed guaranteed loans, but conservative mps sticking in parliament today were raising their concerns and saying that
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businesses are laying off people now. the chancellors is expected to unveil more measures tomorrow and business rates have extended across the sector and a lot of pressure on the sector and a lot of pressure on the government to do more to support businesses, to help businesses and keep on workers and pay workers during this crisis. the health secretary matt hancock has been on the bbc‘s question time programme tonight and asked if he could live on £94 a week of statutory sick pay, and he said he could not but the government promising to do all it can and help workers and businesses as well. i'm struck by this thing about communication, about government medication and how well m essa 9 es government medication and how well messages are getting out. normally that's a very kind of westminster issue, doesn't really matter to people in on an issue like this when it's a pandemic and getting the right information clearly is so
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important it really does matter. absolutely. we are really in unprecedented times where i know we use that a lot at the moment but it's pretty appropriate. we have a news daily news conferences since monday with the prime minister and speaking on question time this evening, he said in his view what's happening is burning question that peoples have sometimes go have answered, so i suppose an example of that would be yesterday we learned that would be yesterday we learned that school to be largely closing except for vulnerable children and if children for key workers. so the key workers, critical staff can we think probably nurses and doctors in those kind of people lee central to the effort going forward to fight coronavirus would still be able to send their children to school, but one of the things people have been waiting for since that announcement was made is an exact list of who are those key workers. who as of monday
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the synced school provision? would be one parent is a key worker or do but parents have to be a key worker? in order to be a title to that provision as well. i think you are right, these issues around communication, the government is coming under some scrutiny t for that, they're doing daily press cou nts that, they're doing daily press counts as do their best they would say. thank you. jessica parker in westminster for us. so what happens next? well we're in uncharted territory — so it's impossible to tell. the problem with trying to suppress the virus is that as soon as you lift those measures the fear is it rebounds with a vengeance — which is why china is now being closely watched now. here's nick triggle on how the nhs is preparing. the first thing to say is that people will only get a mild illness with symptoms passing in a few days. a minority may end up severely ill, just over 4% hospital treatment.
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needing ventilation to support their failing lungs. researchers have been looking at how long patients need hospital treatment from. evidence from places such as china and italy shows that on average people will spend eight days in hospital. if they end up on a ventilator, that doubles to 16 days. another challenge is that the number of cases can come quickly. the staff been taking do not manage to suppress the virus. as many as half to come at two or three weeks. in a just trying to free up beds. in england is around 100,000 hospital beds. currently nine and ten are occupied. ijust beds. currently nine and ten are occupied. i just bosses beds. currently nine and ten are occupied. ijust bosses are up to be to free up another 30,000 by cancelling routine operations and discharging patients quickly. the bank of england slashed interest rates to just 0.1 per cent today. they're now at their lowest level ever. here's our our economics editor faisal islam explaining why trying to create a kind of air bed
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for the whole economy by cutting interest rates not all the way down to zero because it wants to keep the banking system able to do certain things, and they just banking system able to do certain things, and theyjust cut it down to 0.1, justa things, and theyjust cut it down to 0.1, just a above zero and how that would be passed on through economy obviously. as important is this money of buying government debt. it's what's known as quantitative easing. we had it during the financial crisis, a bit morejust after the e referendum we have come backin after the e referendum we have come back in today and did more than they ever have done this evil decision. the point of that is to lower interest rates not just the point of that is to lower interest rates notjust overnight but over a year, two years, five yea rs oi’ but over a year, two years, five years or ten years, long—term interest rates also to help. the number of people who have died from coronavirus in italy has now overtaken the figure in china. in the past 24—hours the italy death toll has jumped by more than 400 deaths — taking it to just over 3,400.
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across europe it's been another day of grim statistics and images as the virus spreads. according to the afp news agency — more than 100—thousand people are infected across the continent. in france — tougher restrictions have been brought in on day 3 of the lockdown. cyling is now banned and any outdoor activity is restricted to just 2—kilometres from people's home. the authorities say the initial 15 day lockdown will be extended. 372 people have now died in france.|n madrid — the centre of spain's outbreak — some hotels are being used as makeshift hospitals to free up space in public hospitals. in germany this is the border crossing into poland. trafficjams are gowing. this one stretches 50—kilometres. but we've seen lots of messages of solidarity this one stretches 50—kilometres. but we've seen lots of messages of solidarity
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from those in lockdown. verona in italy — the national anthem being played at an empty fruit and vegetable market. italy's nationwide lockdown has been extended beyond the end of next week. northern italy is worst hit by the outbreak. some grim footage coming out of one affected town — bergamo. this video was posted on social media. it shows military trucks carring coffins of coronavirus victims to other provinces because the local crematoriums are struggling to cope. nearly a hundred people have died in the town. listen to this senior doctor at a hospital in bergamo. we are in full emergency with this
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coronavirus. 0ur health personnel, nurses and physicians are working around the clock my countless hours, to find this incredible situation. we do not know how long this pandemic will last. i have two messages, the first one is for the general population. please stay at home. his second message is for whoever wants to help us. we are in desperate need of both nurses and physicians together with ventilators and things for protection. another grim warning from a nurse working at a hospital in milan. this is her assessment. translation: we are all working in a state of very high stress and tension. psychological tension has gone through the roof. u nfortu nately, we gone through the roof. unfortunately, we cannot contain the
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situation in lombardi. there's a high level of contagion, and we are not even counting the dead any more. italy has been under a severe nationwide lockdown for 10 days. and the prime minister giuseppe conte has warned that life won't immediately return to normal when the worst is over. here's mark lowen in rome. italy's lucked out as the model being adopted elsewhere. public transport and traffic are still running but people are only going out in urgent need. and it's orderly with measured queues for the supermarket as people are allowed in one by one. the fruit and vegetables are stocked as normal, there's very little sense of panic buying here. and with the lou roles, well some brands are down but with this level of outbreak italians are behaving, on the whole, rationally. face—to—face talks on the future relationship between the uk and the eu after brexit — have all but stopped. some of mr barnier‘s team—members are also now in isolation.
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across belgium there are nearly 18—hundred cases of coronavirus — and tough lockdown measures are being enforced. here's gavin lee in brussels there are police patrols on the streets, there are, it seems to be largely fun today but there's been incident parks in brussels having played football or a picnic and it's been dispersed by the police, the wording from the interior minister here is get to warnings. and if you are seen again there's a 4000 euros fine ora are seen again there's a 4000 euros fine or a three month prison sentence, and the ministry is saying you should call the police if you see groups of people out of the house. in monaco, prince albert has tested positive for the virus and is now working from home. the pandemic is causing huge amount of stress on everyone — around the world. people are exhausted.
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this was the dutch parliament on wednesday. keep your eye on the top of the picture. the minister for medical care fainted at his lectern. the 56—year—old says he was exhausted from weeks of intense work on coronavirus. more than 2,000 people in the netherlands are infected. lets move to germany, where the death rate from coronavirus is much lower than in other countries. there are more than 14,000 cases nationwide the bbc‘sjenny hill has some answers from berlin. there are a number of theories as to why the death rate in germany is comparatively low. the first kisses the experts say, germany is in the relatively early stages of the epidemic. secondly, it has a well
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resourced and other rather robust health system. the third of perhaps crucially, it's about the experts say, the way in which testing has been carried out here. the authorities have tested very widely and tested very quickly. that in theory means that people are being caught in the early stages of infection, and in theory it means there's these undetected cases out there. it's perhaps worth noting that a lot of the people that have been tested and confirmed positive so far have been relatively young. having said all of that, they do expect that that death rate to start to rise. nearby countries have recorded much higher death tolls. one example is spain. injust 24 hours, the number of fatalities jumped from 200 up to 803. more than 17,000 people are infected across the country. the bbc‘s guy hedgecoe is in madrid. here in the madrid region we are
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seeing around 40% of all cases. the puts a large motor pressure on the level health care services. the government has tried to take measures to alleviate that notjust here in madrid but also across the country, for example by nationalising private hospitals. it does seem to be a big problem here in madrid in particular. for the first time, china has reported no new home—grown cases of the coronavirus. that includes wuhan, the city where the outbreak began, which has been on lockdown for nearly two months. the quarantine rules have been relaxed slightly in wuhan, it is still designated a high risk area, but people are now being allowed to walk around their compounds and exercise outdoors. chinese media claiming if no new cases are reported for 14 consecutive days — the restrictions could be reduced further. sinapore, south korea and japan are having some success battling the virus at home, which is of course good news. but a growing concern in asia is people bringing the virus back from abroad.
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despite having no new domestic cases, china did record 34 new infections among people coming into the country from abroad. as steven mcdonnell reports 34 new cases, most of those are in beijing, in fact and a lot of these are chinese people returning home from north america and europe, believing that this is now the safe place to be. and for that reason the government even issuing a statement saying that all of these chinese stu d e nts saying that all of these chinese students studying overseas, initially have a good reason to they should not come back. they want them not flooding back to the country because everything is under control now. and imagine there have been cases of people with coronavirus and boarding planted ticket drugs to suppress the conditions and so it seems like they are all right. they arrive in beijing, somebody gives
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them a proper test and they have the coronavirus. now imagine that again could be could be infecting everybody on the flight. more infections and that's why in big chinese cities there cease strict quarantine rules. we're going to look at what's going on in other parts of the world now. in india, which has more than 170 confirmed cases, and 4 deaths, prime minister narendra modi has ordered a curfew of stagerring proportions. the bbc‘s arunoday mukharji in delhi has the details. asking citizens to not come out of their homes unless absolutely necessary from the premise or set a symbolic curfew on sunday from 7pm to 9pm will be a test of the resolve and show of unity. all except those involved in essential services have the urge to observe this public cu rfew. the urge to observe this public curfew. the prime minister, many observers say use this opportunity to perhaps prepare citizens in case
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india has to observe a formal locked out in the near future. the coronavirus has so far multiplied more slowly in africa than in asia or europe, and there's been speculation that's because of the higher temperatures there. one factor that's being highlighted is the role of religion on the continent. here's the bbc‘s anne soy. people congregate friday for the muslims, and over the weekend for christians. and across the continent as more and more calls for religious leaders to reconsider holding big meetings as south africa's president held a meeting with religious
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leaders today in south africa to urge them to do this. in kenya there was a urge them to do this. in kenya there wasa similar urge them to do this. in kenya there was a similar call from the president over the weekend, and we have seen that the evangelicals have heeded the call, some of them streaming their services on sunday. the muslims have said that people should not go to the mosques, this is unprecedented. now does this sound familiar? you receive a whatsapp message from a friend, or see a post on facebook, with information about the coronavirus. it's from someone who sounds informed and trustworthy, like an uncle with a master's degree, or a friend who's a consultant at a london hospital. it's a list of tips and advice — some true, some benign, and some possibly harmful. many people have received one of these messages by now, so a team at the bbc decided to focus on just one of them, and trace its history. marianna spring is the bbc‘s disinformation reporter. let's talk about it with her. see you picked a message, first of all what was it saying? it's this post that's been going around, its a list which effectively tells you
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the kinds of symptoms and also suggestions for cures or preventative measures that you can ta ke preventative measures that you can take for coronavirus, and you might recognise it because like you said it has these introductions where it seems to be from somebody you know. the really common one is an uncle with a masters degree with work in china, but we have seen this introduction mutate to say things like somebody that has got a nephew in the military, or even stamford hospital board in a professorfrom there. these sources are untrue, it solves a lot of the information in them. they will say things like, coronavirus hates the sun, as you are saying is example of coronavirus in hot countries and no evidence to suggest that the case and similarly things like drink hot water, he kills our viruses, no evidence to suggest that. but we did was trace back this specific post that seemed to have copied and pasted across platforms from facebook and facebook groups to twitter, instagram, it's been six or more different
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languages. arabic, ethiopian, french, spanish, italian, and worked out where it had come from. seem to start on this facebook group back at the start of february, a facebook group called happy people wrote the post was shared and the message a lot of the people sharing the post they said ijust lot of the people sharing the post they said i just copied lot of the people sharing the post they said ijust copied and pasted it, i don't know who the person is, it's not my uncle with a masters degree. very briefly, only 20 seconds left, where should people go to try and find out what is true and what's not? go to all the trusted sites, the public health bodies, their websites are brilliant, need to be really careful, check the source before when you see a post and its a source it's probably fishy. just because one thing is right and it does not mean everything is right, if it makes you feel emotional in some way they be happy and excited it might be fake. that's it from outside source — coming up next, it's newscast
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hello. in a very well lit covered by the looks of things. i have the studio all to myself. you could self a sleep in here, i tell you. you may
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have to. you might have to and are, we are sitting further apart than we normally would. two metres, visited? probably two metres isn't it two here absolute packed programme because we are in a massive story, we have a lot to talk about. and it is not to come it is actually 12 because the prime minister is now saying that that is in the tide is going to turn. this is out sunday when he said it. i think that we can turn the tide within the next 12 weeks and i am absolutely confident that we can send coronavirus packing in this country. 12 weeks the tide, is that realistic? i think this is
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the prime minister trying to pep up the prime minister trying to pep up the nation and get them on board for all of the things that are being asked of them after the very gloomy predictions we had earlier in the week, but i think that the details of turning the tide and, it is not quite that easy because all of the scientific data in which they base their analysis suggests that if you keep these measures going, you can reduce the epidemic and you can make sure that the nhs does not get overwhelmed, but once you lift them, it will pop back up again. and the prime minister was trying to sound more positive but the country, do your bit, and finesse the —— eve ryo ne your bit, and finesse the —— everyone has to play their part. and thatis everyone has to play their part. and that is a big political message were
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distilled extremely dangerous and we are still taking a very different approach to other countries in the way that they handled it. there's been a lot of speculation about increasing restrictions and that is not happening yet in the press conference earlier, i strained to get out of the prime minister what might be next. closing bars, pubs, shops and restaurants? have a listen. you said that you would not hesitate to take extra measures, people are worried about what that might mean. can you tell people what that might mean? would you shut pubs, cafes, clubs? we are guided very much by the science and whether we think the advice that we have given is working. 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 recommended, that we recommended that we avoid those places, if we feel that is working,
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