this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: italy's death toll overtakes china's — almost 3,500 have now died. we report from inside one of italy's hospitals battling to keep patients alive. as the us tells its citizens to avoid any travel abroad president trump orders the fast—tracking of an anti—malarial drug to treat covid—19. we are working on scaling these to allow many more americans to access different drugs that have shown really good promise. australia bans non residents from coming to the country, as it ramps up measures to control the spread of coronavirus. as japan comes under increasing pressure to postpone the olympics, athletes are still training, including surfers hoping to take part

in their first games. hello and welcome to bbc news. italy has passed a landmark, which just a few weeks ago would have been unthinkable. more than 3,400 people have died from coronavirus, surpassing the number in china. a nurse working with coronavirus patients in italy has said that the situation is so bad that some medical workers are no longer counting the dead. italy's government says it will extend its nationwide lockdown beyond the end of next week and warns it may even stop people from going outside altogether. from rome, 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. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. in the us, more than 11,000 people have been infected with the virus, and over a 150 have died. the us state department has raised its travel advisory to the highest level, telling americans — do not travel abroad. companies across the country are telling employees to work from home, if not laying them off, as lawmakers in washington work on a trillion dollar stimulus plan. everyone is adjusting to life under this new reality, as laura trevelyan reports.

america's biggest city is rapidly closing down. theatres on broadway have deemed their lives and the 75% of workers in new york have been ordered to stay at home. i found the iconic brooklyn bridge to be deserted on thursday morning. the stud's governor is battling more thanjust the stud's governor is battling more than just the virus. this isa more than just the virus. this is a health issue, it is a public health crisis but more than that, i am telling you, was than if the virus, is the fear that we are dealing with and the rumours and how they spread. the number of workers filing for unemployment insurance in the us for the first time surged on thursday's economy puts on the brakes. the trillion dollar stimulus package including sick leave is under way. the market rallied a bit. the trump administration

is working on giving $1000 it directly to americans who need the money most. money for people. from the middle class ona people. from the middle class on a down. period. while testing expands, the president says read papers been slashed and existing drugs, including one used to treat malaria patients, could be used to treat coronavirus patient. we are going to make the drug available almost immediately. they've gone through the approval process and if they did, they took it down from many, did, they took it down from any did, they took it down from many, many months to immediate so many, many months to immediate so we're going to be to make that drug available. but the president caused confusion with the food and drug administration commissioner for qualify existing drugs have not yet been approved for use of coronavirus patients. we want to do that end of a clinical trial, large and pragmatic, to gather information and answer the questions that need to be

asked and answered. an analysis of coronavirus cases in the us shows it is notjust the elderly arrest. 20—21; years old make up elderly arrest. 20—211 years old make up 20% of those going to hospital and 20% of intensive ca re hospital and 20% of intensive care cases get the young are enjoying that spring break from couege enjoying that spring break from college as of this crowded beachin college as of this crowded beach in florida shows. they are ignoring advice. beach in florida shows. they are ignoring advicelj beach in florida shows. they are ignoring advice. i think they are blowing it out of proportion. i am not going to let it stop it from partying. americans are adjusting to the bizarre new normal. in minnesota, fitness instructors are holding remote classes in massachusetts, a distillery is brewing its own hand sanitiser. surely it will not be long before we're copping this street from israel, dog walking by drain. these are strange and

unsettling times but human ingenuity is alive and well. let's look in more detail at president trump's announcement that the anti—malarial drug, chloroquine, has been approved for use as a treatment for covid—19. the drug, has recently been administered to coronavirus patients in china and france, with some indications it might help. mr trump said it could be a "game changer". but a public health official was more cautious, saying that potential treatments were in their early stages, and it was important not to give false hope. so what hope is there for the drug? drjohn scott is a professor in the department of pharmacology at the university of washington in seattle. it is something that has had some hope. it is a drug approved for treating arthritis and malaria. effectively, but this drug does is it mobilises the cells garbage disposal

unit. this is a compound that has been known for a long time and it has been purposed for this particular role but it remains to be seen how effective it is. if this is not the game changer everyone hopes it is, what other options are available to us? i think the standard options used to treat patients is isolation is still the most important. but really, it is hard to be able to assess how effective this new compound would be, given the very little opportunity to test it which is really important for any drug thatis really important for any drug that is being repurposed for a different role. putting that to one side for a second, moving one side for a second, moving on to vaccines, where are we on that? vaccines are a very powerful way to combat any this

ease, including covid—19. this is something that is being approached aggressively but it will take approximately 18 months until we have a vaccine that works and have significant quantities to immunise a population all over the world. how hopeful are you, given your profession and expertise, the fa ct profession and expertise, the fact that we have such an international response to this, scientists right around the world putting their minds to try and help. does that mean we could get solutions much more quickly than under normal circumstances? i think that is a very important point. i think it is something that obviously we are working internationally all over the world and we can ta ke all over the world and we can take advantage of social media and sharing our results to work ina and sharing our results to work in a consolidated effort to combat this disease and that is definitely ongoing and that is one of the heartwarming

elements from a research point of view. barriers are down and people are working as one consolidated team. iran has reported its biggest jump in coronavirus deaths. 149 new fatalities have been confirmed in the past 2a hours. the country now has the third highest death toll — nearly 1,300 people infected by the disease have lost their lives. and the size of the outbreak is a concern for neighbouring pakistan and afghanistan — countries with weak healthcare. secunder kermani reports from islamabad. disinfecting the street in iran. only china and italy have had higher death tolls as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. authorities have asked for us sanctions to be removed to help cope that they have been accused of being slow to act on lockdown procedures. we have been passed messages

from one doctor working in the country. we are hiding his identity to protect him from repercussions for speaking out. right now most places are in a state of chaos. official numbers are ridiculous and good for nothing. there are not enough resources to look after infected people or to protect those treating them, like masks and protective clothing. hospitals are only taking in people who are extremely sick and turning everyone else away. iran's biggest shrines have now been close though it has resulted in protests like this and pilgrims visiting the religious side have already helped spread the virus to surrounding countries. this is a quarantine camp in pakistan, near the border. more than 4000 people have had to be processed leaving iran but instead of isolation, conditions here are crowded and unhygienic.

translation: here, in just crowded and unhygienic. translation: here, injust one hand, the rough 3— six people and we are being kept around two weeks. suppose one person has coronavirus, everyone will get it. this is highly unorganised and totally illogical. more than half of pakistan's cases have emerged from this camp. a lack of testing here means they have only been detected when taken to separate sectors and their own provinces. officials say the camp is now being improved. concerns are also rising in iran's other neighbour, afghanistan, with tens of thousands of migrants and refugees have been returning in recent days. in countries like pakistan and afghanistan, medical professionals want the already weak healthcare system will be overwhelmed by a major outbreak. the number of cases

is comparatively low in both countries but so is the number of tests carried out. it seems inevitable the figures will rise. secunder kermani, bbc news stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: how australia is ramping up new measures to control the spread of coronavirus today, we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision — all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. now, this was an international trophy, and we understand now that the search for it has

become an international search. above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the number of people killed by the coronavirus in italy has reached more than 3400, exceeding the total who have died in china where the outbreak began. the us has told its citizens to avoid any travel abroad and has urged those who are away to return home. australia has announced that from friday it will ban the entry of all non—residents in an attempt to limit the spread of the coronavirus, allowing only citizens,

permanent residents and their families to enter the country. prime minister scott morrison has said that the order will come into effect at 9pm local time. so far australia has recorded more than 600 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with a sharp rise in infections this week. earlier, i spoke to the bbc‘s shaimaa khalil who is sydney. is the latest and most far—reaching travel restriction here in australia, in co—ordination with new zealand who have already started to ban on noncitizens and nonresidents. the new zealand prime ministerjacinda ardern says that she realises how extraordinary this is and that word you keep hearing from different leaders, unprecedented. the australian prime minister scott morrison says this is really an extension to the travel restrictions that have already been put in place earlier this week. both countries have said that anyone arriving to their borders, australia or new

zealand will have two self quarantine for 14 days. now, in a few hours in australia, there will be a ban on all visitors, all non—resident and noncitizens. australians and australian residents and their families are able to come back, there are going to be very limited windows for that and you will have two self quarantine. this, of course as you mentioned, australia has seen you mentioned, australia has seen a you mentioned, australia has seen a rise in cases. we now have 710 cases, 50 new cases in queensland stopping the premise that has said that 80% of those cases have been either from someone cases have been either from someone who has contracted the virus overseas someone who has contracted the vii’us overseas or someone who has contracted the virus overseas or has been in contact with someone who has contracted the virus overseas. he talked about six months, he also talked about this bridge getting australians to the other side of a bridge. as it stands, this ban will stay in place until further notice until the health authorities here in australia say it can be lifted, and we don't know how

long that will be. now, it's good to give your kids the opportunity to talk through their anxieties over coronavirus, but in new zealand youngsters have had their own briefing by the prime minister herself. jacinda ardern invited young people to a special press conference at the beehive, new zealand's parliament building, where their concerns and questions were answered by her and a team of experts. well one of those was microbiologist dr susy wiles. and shejoins me now from auckland. what did you make of some of the questions from the kids there? oh, sorry, i have lost you. i will try again. what did you. i will try again. what did you make of some of the questions from the kids? they are great questions, they were questions that grown—ups are asking too. what is covid—19? and my going to get it, what is going to happen to people? it was great to have the opportunity to talk them

through that and in language they understand, because they are hearing all about this and many of their parents are not talking to them about. what kind of messages do you think we should be getting through to children and young people? one of the really important things is that, if people are really worried, they need to become when they are talking to children because if you are anxious your children will pick up anxious your children will pick up on that, but children need to know that this is happening, they need to know why measures are being put in place. thing is all about washing hands and we explained how washing hands stops the transmission of the virus and explained to them that children are not badly affected but it is important that we protect everyone else around us. we are really trying to push that protection of everybody message. so a message of community spirit and involvement? yes, absolutely. that we are all in this together and it is ourjob as those who are not going to be as badly affected to protect those who could have a horrible

case of covid—19. those who could have a horrible case of covid-19. and what about more widely the issue of communication, other times it is advice that can be quite difficult to get your head around. what you make of the way communication being used well or not so well? i guess the problem is that it is complicated stuff and it is moving so fast. advice is changing all the time, the one of the things that i have been doing is i have hooked up with a cartoonist and we have been trying to put some of the things in graphics that people will understand, and it is amazing, people are really getting some of the concepts we are talking about so much more easily when they are in these shareable graphical forms. let's go back to those complicated scientific principles. we have just complicated scientific principles. we havejust been speaking earlier on two people who are trying to work on

possible treatments. we are hearing words like treatments, vaccines, these have different meanings but everything seems to be getting a bit confused at times. yeah. i guess the difference is trying to explain what is a treatment that requires somebody to have the disease versus a vaccine where you are trying to prevent people from getting the disease. these are concept that people need to understand and how we talk about them and whether we can illustrate those in different ways is really important. we really appreciate your time important. we really appreciate yourtime and important. we really appreciate your time and you talking to us and communicating so brilliantly with us despite the hearing problems there. but thank you very much. it is nowjust over four months until the opening ceremony for the 2020 summer olympics in tokyo. but there's growing pressure to postpone the games. even if the pandemic peaks soon, athletes are asking how they are supposed to qualify,

which must take place in the next two months. now the former governor of tokyo, who led much of the early planning for the games, has told the bbc he is almost certain the games will not take place as scheduled on july 24th. on thursday greece officially handed the olympic flame to organisers of tokyo 2020, although in a dramatically scaled—down ceremony, open to just 12 officials inside an athens stadium where spectators were banned. from tokyo, rupert wingfield hayes reports. there may not be much surf for her to show off in today, but for now, every day in the water counts. this woman has her sights set on a middle, in the first ever olympic surfing contest. at least, that was the plan until the virus arrived.

translation: right now, i'm afraid. i don't know what is going to happen. the olympics isa dream going to happen. the olympics is a dream for me, but we don't wa nt to is a dream for me, but we don't want to have a bad olympics, so maybe it's better to have the olympics when the fare has gone. here in japan, you could be forgiven for thinking that there is no global pandemic. schools are closed but apart from that, life is going on pretty much as normal, and it is the same with the olympic games stopping the japanese government insist it is full stea m government insist it is full steam ahead for the opening ceremony onjuly steam ahead for the opening ceremony on july the steam ahead for the opening ceremony onjuly the 24th. there are now some prominent voices saying that that is denying reality. in central tokyo, the brand—new olympic stadium is ready. $30 billion has been spent preparing the city. but the former governor of tokyo says the chances of holding the olympics this year are now tiny. cancel or

postpone. 90%. japan looks like it has the coronavirus under control. this was the popular district of tokyo today. there is no sign of social distancing or public panic that has been witnessed across europe. but experts say that does not mean that tokyo 2020 can be held safely. even if you could be successful in controlling the disease injapan, if other nations like europe and africa we re really nations like europe and africa were really suffering from the infectious disease, nobody could come to japan because the risk of infection, so you have to have control injapan and you have to have control of the infectious disease worldwide. now, is it likely? i'd doubt.

many athletes, both here in japan and around the world are asking for an end to the uncertainty. they all desperately want the olympics to go ahead. if it can't, they need to be told soon. and on an eye—catching way to get one of the most important m essa 9 es a cross get one of the most important messages across about how to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and that is washing your hands properly. offices in the state of kerala in india released this video of them wearing masks and dancing to promote the importance of hand washing. you can reach me on twitter,

i'm @lvaughanjones. i'm lewis vaughan—jones and thatis i'm lewis vaughan—jones and that is bbc world news. hello there, we had some pretty big contrasts weatherwise across the uk on thursday. it was the north of the country that had the best of the sunshine. this is how things look in the highlands of scotland, and across england and wales we had this weather front that has been with us for a number of days, bringing grey and gloomy weather. the mist and gloomy weather. the mist and drizzle around here in hampshire and across the south wales sunny bridge, temperatures only got five celsius, pretty chilly. over the next few hours, that whether front stays with us so expect to stay dull, damp, some mist and health all patches are run through the night but it is the cloud that stops that images from falling too far, so those around five or six celsius across the southern areas of england. further

northwards, with clear skies and light winds, it is a cold night, the first more widespread. the lowest temperatures in scotland —6 minus seven celsius. friday and this area of high pressure is going to strengthen, this area of low pressure is going to deepen. the winds are going to blow more strongly across england and wales, a cold wind for many of us developing, but particularly so across the headlands of south—west england, with gusts of 40 mild an hour. brisk winds for the coast and hills of wales, a noticeable chill in the air for the midland. could be an odd shower working into northeast england just for a time. not many of these, for most of the northern half of the uk, looking at great weather with plenty of sunshine. the weekend, our area of high pressure is still influencing our whether. notice we have some fairly tightly packed isobars so it is going to be quite a windy start to the weekend on saturday, noticeably so across eastern areas of england and eastern areas of scotland, around the coast

feeling quite chilly. looking quite cloudy through the day in northern ireland, but there may also be some areas of cloud coming in off the north sea to affect parts of eastern england and eastern scotland from time to time. these temperatures are nothing to write home about, height 8— 11 celsius, a little bit cool for the time of year. similar weather conditions on sunday, there will be a lot of dry weather and some sunshine to go around, but again, the matador of cloud received from place place will vary. and it could be that we see some thick cloud edging into the northern and western isles, maybe even thick enough to bring a spot of rain. for most, it is another dry day so a dry weekend for most of us to look forward too. beyond that, the high—pressure still in the weather, maybe some thicker cloud for northern ireland and scotland threatening some light rain. and that your whether.

this is bbc news, the headlines: italy has now surpassed china as the country with the highest number of deaths from the coronavirus. 3405 people have now died. for the second day running, more than 400 people died in a single day. the us has warned against all international travel and has urged its citizens who are abroad to return immediately. the state department said people who didn't come back must be prepared to stay overseas for an indefinite period. it's reported more than 12,500 cases of infection. australia has announced it will ban the entry of all non—residents in an attempt to limit the spread of the coronavirus. so far it's recorded more than 600 confirmed cases of the virus, with a sharp rise in infections this week. now on bbc news, hardtalk

with stephen sackur.