this is bbc news. the headlines at 11.00. more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses are asked to return to work to fight the coronavirus. it comes as the health secretary moves to reassure nhs staff that they'll have the protective gear they need. in terms of getting the protective equipment out, the masks and the other protective equipment, that is a massive operation that's ongoing right now. the chancellor is expected to announce new measures to try to protect millions of british jobs hit by the pandemic. ministers urge people to shop sensibly, saying there is no need to stockpile food. it comes as one critical care nurse appeals to people not to buy more than they need.

people are just stripping the shelves of basic foods. you just need to stop it! because it's people like me that are going to be looking after you when you're at your lowest. just stop it! the number of dead in italy overtakes that of china. almost 3,500 people have now died. and the queen issues a message of solidarity to the nation, saying she and her family are ready to play their part. you're watching bbc news with me, carrie gracie. the government has announced

new measures to boost the resilience of the health service, as infections from the coronavirus grow in the uk. england's top nurse and doctor have urged recently retired medics to re—register and return to the workforce, to help tackle what they call the, "greatest global health threat in history". letters are being sent to more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses, saying, "your nhs needs you." it comes as the government publishes a list of key workers in england whose children will still be able to go to school after they shut down. the chancellor is expected to announce new measures to protect jobs, amid warnings that thousands may be laid off. ministers have pledged to ensure all hospitals have enough protective gear and ventilators. and the queen has urged people to come together for the common good. so far, there have been 144 deaths and 3,269 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the uk.

it comes as schools across the uk close indefinitely, except for those looking after the children of key workers and vulnerable children. simonjones reports. a premature end to term. schools are closing today, to try to halt the spread of the virus, the government has now revealed which key workers will be allowed to continue to send their children to school be looked after. they include nhs workers, nursery and teaching staff, police armed forces and prison, transport were, those transport workers, those involved in food production, its distribution and sale, people who work in essential financial services such as banks, and journalists providing public service broadcasting. families only need one key worker parent to qualify. there will also be provision for vulnerable children.

last night, some of those workers were thanks at a message at wembley stadium and now there's a plan to boost those numbers. the nhs is gearing up for what is said to be the nhs is gearing up for what is set to be a hugely challenging period. health regulators are writing to 50,000 former nurses and 15,000 former doctors who've left the profession in the past three years, asking them to consider returning and doing their bit. this has been welcomed by the unite union, which describes the coronavirus threat as a supreme public health battle of our generation. 0vernight, 150 lorries took kit from the warehouse where we have stockpiles to 150 hospitals. about half the hospitals in the country. the rest will get their lorry load by the end of the weekend. for younger people, the message is they may be less vulnerable than others,

but they must follow the guidelines on social distancing. others, tamoor tariq, who's 30 and has a weakened immune system, has contracted the virus. please think about where you're going, who you're mixing with and the impact it might have on you, because it can lead to getting this virus, which is quite painful. it's quite difficult to manage and it takes everything out of you. most people who get the virus won't feel many symptoms, but some will end up in hospital. in another sign of how the disease is affecting all aspects of life, after the closure of some underground stations in london, from monday, train services across the uk will be scaled back. there's been a drop in demand of almost 70% on some routes. core services will be maintained to carry goods and to ensure people can get to work and medical appointments in what rail companies are calling a time of extraordinary national challenge. simon jones, bbc news.

with me now is our correspondent richard galpin. it isa it is a strange world. many millions of people fear losing theirjobs and others are being pulled out of retirement? and a huge number. they are talking about 50,000 nurses and 15,000 doctors. very, very big numberand it 15,000 doctors. very, very big number and it gives an indication of the scale of the challenge which ahead as the rate of infection sta rts ahead as the rate of infection starts to surge, reaching the peak expected and may orjune. starts to surge, reaching the peak expected and may orjune. that is a numbers for england but there are also the other nations doing the same thing? we are hearing scotland talking about doing the same thing and these are people who have only recently retired. it is important to say, since 2017. the younger retirees and they will come in and be assessed as to what role they can play. it could be more at the front line or it could be more back room for example answering calls from the

nhs helpline, calls from the public. a variety of roles. also, they are talking about getting students nurses and others to come in as well on top of that. younger people coming into work in the nhs. on the retirees, presumably the point of having those who have retired within the last three years as that they are the last three years as that they a re less the last three years as that they are less at risk themselves and their skills are fresher? that is crucial. someone who had been retired along thing would not be up dispute and there would be a lot of training for them so that is really not going to work and i think obviously those older people would be very concerned about their health. you don't want to bring along a lot of people who then end up along a lot of people who then end up getting the virus themselves. before i let you go, richard, the other thing we should be talking about i think is protective personal equipment, so many anxieties from health professionals, and it will be a factor in the minds of those being

asked to return from retirement? this is a huge issue again. i was speaking to a doctor a few days ago who was absolutely alarmed. not only saying they don't have masks, for example, and very, very worried, not only for their own health, but also as doctors, that they end up infecting other people. are they getting answers they need from health secretary? the health secretary is pledging to provide the ppe. in terms of details, don't think we have any yet. we can talk now to professor martin marshall. he's chairman of the royal college of gps. thanks forjoining us. you are at the gp end, what are your preoccupations the gp end, what are your preoccu pations right now? the gp end, what are your preoccupations right now? there are a number of challenges the general practices facing. the biggest challenge that gps as well as the whole of the nhs has had to face perhaps ever and its history. the keyissues perhaps ever and its history. the key issues for us, certainly around the size of the workforce. the

decision to bring back people who have recently retired and indeed to bring junior doctors who perhaps haven't completely finished their training into the workforce, is absolutely welcome because we know the workforce is being diminished by people who are either ll or self isolating. the use of ppe is also important, some people are concerned about the quality of the ppe that is being used and its availability. all the evidence we have at the moment, everything we are hearing from nhs england and the department of health, is that there is out there at the moment and what is being provided is adequate. so that is important as well. the next most important as well. the next most important thing is technology, the increasing amount of work is known to be have to be done online. usually telephones, we want adequate technology resources being made available, to allow them to carry on

working. particularly those working at home. taking those one by one, on the ppe, are you reassured by what you have heard from health secretary in the last 24—hour is? a has been out this morning trying to explain that there is more coming and more has been delivered to the places needed. in terms of the amount, we know there is enough going into general practice at the moment. it isa general practice at the moment. it is a concern that as the workload in general practice goes up as we reach the peak of epidemic, it will be potentially more of a risk. we will keep on talking to government about the importance of ensuring there is enough and it is getting out there, in terms of the quality of the ppe, the evidence we have been shown suggests that, for relatively low risk medical specialties like general practice where you are dealing with aerosol, what is available is probably 0k. dealing with aerosol, what is available is probably ok. we are in uncharted waters here. so we don't know, we don't have good evidence year but what we have seen so far,

we are reassuring gps that it is adequate. that raises another question in my mind. are you co mforta ble question in my mind. are you comfortable now the public is getting the message that they should not turn up at gp surgeries if they think they are infected with the virus. is that getting through to the public? our experiences that most of the public understand it and respected. but not all do. it is difficult to get these public m essa 9 es difficult to get these public messages out in my own practice in east london we had a big sign in the entrance room, the entrance of the building saying if you have the symptoms, please turn back and go home and call us or call 111 and still people were squeezing round outside in order to try and get into see their gp. it is not easy to change, but i think the vast majority of people have got the message now. can i ask for your knowledge on the question of recruiting those who have recently gone into retiring from your experience in the to medication you

have had, with doctors and nurses, will people answer that call? yes i think these well. i think this is important and one are working closely to make sure it is intimated quickly and efficiently. there are a lot of gps as a public will know who have retired recently, perhaps at a relatively young age, still full of a lot of experience and expertise, who would like to be out there, and i suspect that the vast majority of gps who are approached will rise to the call. we have to think carefully about how best to use them, where they feel safe, and that might not be in face—to—face care, that might well be providing either telephone or online advice or maybe in back—office clinical, but i think the vast majority of people approached will rise to this challenge. to more pressing questions before i let you go. 0ne is on testing. have had a lot of

health workers exposing concern about this, they want to get tested, do you feel reassured by what you're hearing from the government about the waiters tried to scale up its testing programme? this is a big issue for health professionals of all sorts, not just the issue for health professionals of all sorts, notjust the general practitioners. we know that maybe 20% of the workforce is currently either partially or completely out of action and we know that a lot of those people probably haven't got covid—19, so having early testing is really important so they can get back into supporting their collea g u es back into supporting their colleagues so we have called for this to happen. we do understand the constraints, partly in terms of the availability of the reagents and various components of the testing. but also, partly because this isn't just about health workers, there are a lot of essential workers out there, society, police, prison officers, people who stack shelves in supermarkets, people who run utilities, there is probably many millions of public and private

sector workers who might benefit from being tested so this is a real practical challenge for us and i think we have to be just a little bit patient and, about our cause but we have made that message very clear to people working in government. one on the social distancing that the government keeps asking people to do that we have seen impassioned m essa g es that we have seen impassioned messages from various nhs workers asking the public to do. saying, we're here, doing what we're doing, so that you can stay—at—home. when you see people still going out or going to bars and restaurants, what are your feelings? has a public got this message about social distancing enough? probably not yet. it is a difficult message to get through. it is so important that health professionals a re is so important that health professionals are allowed to get to work and it is so important that, in doing so, they are protected as much

as possible and actually does require social distancing. i travel to work on the tube in london and most of the tubes are very quiet and most of the tubes are very quiet and most people are very respectful about spacing out what we do know that isn't always the case and when i look that isn't always the case and when ilook in that isn't always the case and when i look in some bars and restaurants, you see people there. we need to keep this public health message up, it is important, because social isolation and of course, boring but important, hygiene, hand washing, are the things that will really manage to get on top of this problem. on the social distancing, overnight we have seen california with four fewer deaths, far fewer cases than the uk, asking people to stay—at—home, effectively locking down the public. do you feel satisfied that it is not time for that yet in the uk? 0r satisfied that it is not time for that yet in the uk? or would you like to see the government do that? i believe and have confidence in the scientific advice that the secretary of state and the prime minister have received from the chief medical 0fficer received from the chief medical officer and chief scientific

adviser. this is a really difficult call, the science is not perfect but we have probably got some of the best scientists and modellers in the country, in the world, in the uk, who are supporting and helping people working in the nhs to make the right decision. the advice they are giving is that we need to do this not all in one go, we need to do it cautiously, that is what is happening. the situation is evolving as the evidence and data changes, the advice is changing and that is difficult for clinicians in the public to keep up with when they are told one thing one day and another thing another day but i think we have to recognise that a cautious, incremental approach is probably the right one. let's hope it is. we simply won't know, we will only know in retrospect. thank you so much for bringing your expertise, good luck to you and all the members of the royal college of gps. the headlines on bbc news. more than 65,000 retired doctors

and nurses are asked to return to work to fight the coronavirus. the chancellor is expected to announce new measures to try to protect millions of british jobs hit by the pandemic. people are urged to shop sensibly, as supermarkets struggle to cope with panic buying. competition laws in britain have been temporarily suspended to allow rival supermarkets to work together, as they struggle to cope with people panic buying. it's part of a package of measures which will allow stores to keep their shops staffed and stocked with food. there are increasing fears that crucial health workers, who are working long and unpredictable shifts, are unable to buy the food and products they need when they eventually reach a shop, all because of hoarding. dawn bilbrough, who's a critical care nurse, recorded this tearful message after a tiring shift.

tearfully: i'm a critical care nurse, i've just finished 48 hours of work, i just wanted to get some stuff in for the next 48 hours. there's no fruit, there's no vegetables, ijust don't know how i'm supposed to stay healthy. and there's people who arejust stripping the shelves of basic foods. you just need to stop it! because there's people like me that are going to be looking after you when you're at your lowest. just stop it, please! concerns aboutjobs and wages during the economic fallout of the pandemic are expected to be addressed by the chancellor today. it's thought rishi sunak will announce an emergency package to help those facing hardship in the fight against coronavirus. the government has come under pressure from labour, unions and senior conservatives to do more to help employees struggling because of the crisis.

the car maker, jaguar land rover, is to suspend production at its uk plants from next week because of the outbreak. it hopes to reopen the sites in the west midlands and merseyside in four weeks' time. its factories in brazil and india will continue their operations. let's get more on this now with torsten bell, chief executive of the resolution foundation, which is a think tank that works to improve the living standards of people on low to middle incomes. he was economic adviser to the then—chancellor alistair darling during the 2008 financial crash. hejoins me from haringey in north london. good morning. thanks forjoining us. what would you like to hear from the chancellor? what we need to see is a recognition that we have now certainly move from just a medical crisis into our economic crisis and its important to understand as a lwa ys its important to understand as always when we go into economic

crises the exact nature of the one we face and in this case it is one thatis we face and in this case it is one that is going to be particularly felt ha rd est by lower that is going to be particularly felt hardest by lower earners, low income families because they are the ones that work in the sectors hit most by the social distancing measures we are putting in place. for good reasons, to tackle the medical emergency, but they are having very fast and that economic effects. secondly, the nature of this challenge is that we cannot say too firms and to families, when it will end and that is particularly dangerous because it means firms, fa don't know what the end of the tunnel is, they might lay off workers and families don't know how long this will go on for, they cut back spending more than they would and those things together are what a real dangers for this crisis. those of the dangers. we have seen other countries facing the same dangers, deal with them in different ways. what concrete measures can reassure the lowest paid and the businesses who employ them ?

the lowest paid and the businesses who employ them? i think we need to do at least three things. 0n sick pay itself which is the relatively straightforward part of this, we need to make sure as many people as possible are covered under arsenal 2 million low—paid workers who are not covered by statutory sick pay but people following elle is the small hit to families that will be taking place, the bigger risk is people not having enough revenue coming in and laying off workers are cutting their hours, that is what will drive the majority of this economic crisis so we need to match other things. the first is that we have to understand that because those firms are not getting revenues and, we need to ta ke getting revenues and, we need to take pressure off their wage bills. the state needs to be paying part of the wages of those workers that can't work today, that is how we support the struggling firms but also how we give reassurance to families that their wages and incomes are not going to see such big falls in future that they need to cut back their spending today so we need what we call a statutory

retention pay, paying at least two thirds or more if they haven't got work to do but crucially keeping them attached to the firms they work for a normal times and will go back to work for in future. thirdly, we need to recognise that even if we do all of that, people are going to lose theirjobs all of that, people are going to lose their jobs because all of that, people are going to lose theirjobs because some of the self—employed are going to see work dried up and some firms are going to go bust so we need to see immediate increases in the level of the social security safety net, the amount of money you get tomorrow if you fall out of work, that is how we make sure that people don't suffer hardship and that the level of the shock to the overall economy is no bigger than it needs to be. shock to the overall economy is no bigger than it needs to hem shock to the overall economy is no bigger than it needs to be. it is huge. we have heard the chancellor only last week in his budget attempting to do something for business and earlier this week talking about subsidised loans, direct cash payments, to business. do you want the chancellor to pay what you were talking about there,

the statutory retention pay, in order to help employers keep their workers? to you want that to go directly to the workers or to go through the business to the workers? the most important thing here is that whatever we do we do it fast and it will be much quicker to pay these people through the firms they are already attached to. even then it will not be easy. the government does not have a ready—made system for making this happen so it is already difficult but the last thing we wa nt already difficult but the last thing we want to do is have a different system that doesn't involve the money going through the firms, through their payroll system so people get the money when the ruc receiving their pay in the way they are used to receiving it. that is the athlete priority. if we look back even to ten days ago, the reason we're having to raise to update the scale of the economic response to this crisis because for too long people been thinking that this is just too long people been thinking that this isjust a too long people been thinking that this is just a short—term too long people been thinking that this isjust a short—term medical emergency, the economic problem is just helping firms through when their workers a second home. that is

not what is going home. this is a full—blown economic crisis, it will go on for significantly longer than that and we can't tell firms when it will come to an end so offering them loa ns will come to an end so offering them loans is not going to help, they will not want to take on alone knowing they can't pay back and they will lay off workers unless we step down and say your wage bill will be dealt with, don't worry about that, and families will also know that their incomes are supported. hugely ambitious problem you have set out, how confident are you on a scale of one to ten that you are going to hear what you want to hear from the chancellor later today?” hear what you want to hear from the chancellor later today? i am pretty confident that inside and outside government, the consensus has now been reached that this is the right approach to take, we need to both provide this direct wage support, this retention scheme in pay, to make sure that we keep workers and businesses in action, and then also that we increase the benefits, the safety net that keeps our system fit for purpose because at the moment, benefit levels are back at the levels they were in the early 1990s despite our economy being 75% figure

soiam despite our economy being 75% figure so i am confident but i'm also realising it is not easy. it is a huge effort, it is not something we're set up well to do so it is very, very hard but it is also absolutely crucial. thank you so much forjoining us this morning. some breaking news. third death in wales from the coronavirus. a 71—year—old with underlying health conditions and was being treated at the princess of wales hospital in bridgend, coming to us from our wales correspondent. more on that and on the rest of the numbers later. from this weekend, the government has urged all elderly people to self—isolate for their own

safety, for a long period of time. it isa safety, for a long period of time. it is a shielding policy so we will talk about that now. with me now is ruthe isden, head of with me now is ruthe isden, head of health influencing at age uk. do you think the elderly have got this message and made whatever preparations they can?” this message and made whatever preparations they can? i think people have heard the message. it is an extraordinary ask for extraordinary times and it took a little bit of time for it to sink in but i think everything we are hearing, people are thinking now or have been thinking very carefully about what it means to them and they have been making preparations. alongside that, has come a lot of anxiety. a lot of people very fea rful anxiety. a lot of people very fearful saying i don't know how i will cope and that is where we have been trying to work really hard to

reassure them that organisations like us will be there and there are lots of people and offers of help out there who feel they were needed because i think that message has sunkin because i think that message has sunk in and people have really engaged with what they need to do. tortuous about the preparations that people have made because that will also help some —— talk to us about some of the preparations people have made because that will help some of the viewers. they have been very sensible, talking to family and friends, reaching out to help from community groups to say this is what iam going community groups to say this is what i am going to need. a lot of people have already decided they don't really wa nt have already decided they don't really want to go to the shops so they have got in what they need to get ready. we have also been saying to people shops are continually refreshing their supplies three don't need to buy everything but it is about putting in place a plan for how you will do that going forward. getting those immediate things ready has been important. some other

things about how people prepare is making a list of the usual supplies you are going to need, this new medication, helpful phone numbers, making sure if you have a mobile phone that it is working and charged, things like that that you can do to get ready in the home. and also talking to people about what you're going to need. in addition to practical things like getting your shopping and medication, it will be a tough time so how do they support you? regular phone calls, staying in touch online if available, making sure you have the things you need for hobbies. people have been supporting friends and relatives to get setup with e—readers, have digital subscriptions for newspapers or arrange to have their newspapers delivered if they used to having buying them. and thinking creatively about how they can do things online. i have heard examples of people moving their book club to a weekly dialling so people can stay

connected. huge amount to get ready. a lot of people have asked for advice and information about how to plan, all of those things we have discussed are on our website if you wa nt to discussed are on our website if you want to have a look at that as well. and your website, reminders, particularly we don't have time to talk longer but particularly thinking of who may not have lots of friends, family, neighbours to help them, remind us of the website. www. age uk forest coronavirus. that will have information about what self isolating means, and phone numbers you can use. age uk for

as always, there's plenty more information and advice (webtrail) including on our website about the coronavirus. including this article on how you can keep up a healthy outdoor exercise routine while making sure you are keeping a safe distance from other people. you can find that piece, as well as our live blog with all the latest coronavirus developments at bbc.com/news or the bbc news app. it is the spring equinox and we have some fairly springlike weather over the next few days. for the remainder of today, blue skies for much of the uk, away from parts of southern england where we keep this band of rain and a few showers, working into kent, the odd rumble of thunder for the channel isles but further north, a dry picture into the afternoon. temperatures not great for the time of year, 7—11, chilly wind in the

south, staying with us through this evening and overnight but clear skies for much of the uk. a chilly night ahead with temperatures getting down to freezing or below in the more rural sports, especially the more rural sports, especially the north and north—west, generally above freezing further towards south. into the weekend, high pressure with us, drifting away towards scandinavia, went rotating around that area of high pressure, lots of dry settled weather, spells of sunshine too. not feeling particularly warm. temperatures 9-12. particularly warm. temperatures 9—12. goodbye. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses are asked to return to work to fight the coronavirus. it comes as the health secretary moves to reassure nhs staff that they'll have the protective gear they need. in terms of getting the protective equipment out, the masks

and the other protective equipment, that is a massive operation that's ongoing right now. the chancellor is expected to announce new measures to try to protect millions of british jobs hit by the pandemic. ministers urge people to shop sensibly , saying there is absolutely no need to stockpile food. the number of dead in italy overtakes that of china — almost 3,500 people have now died. and the queen issues a message of solidarity to the nation, saying she and her family are ready to play their part. sport, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's holly hamilton. from the bbc sport centre, thanks, from the bbc sport centre, yes, they sport or lack thereof. another major sporting

event has been postponed. snooker‘s world championship won't take place next month now, with organisers hoping to reschedule the tournament injuly or august. judd trump had been due to defend his title at the tournament, which was scheduled to take place from 18th april to 11th may. world snooker tour chairman barry hearn joins me now. why the change of heart to close doors? we never really considered closing the doors for the championships itself. it was a question of either cancelling the event is completely this year or postponing to a time when we feel hopefully the situation has improved and our broadcast partners find the way to rearrange states that are acceptable. that is where we are now. ince is a horrible situation, but in the context of what is happening in the world it is just another thing and we have to stage it as quickly as possible with the

consent of all our partners in the event, the broadcasters and sponsors. so it wasn't a difficult decision to make any current situation, as you can imagine, we are alongside so many other people suffering and we have to keep it in context. it is a sports event that we would love to stage injuly and august and we are reasonably hopeful we will be able to. all we ask is ourfans and we will be able to. all we ask is our fans and players' we will be able to. all we ask is ourfans and players' patients we will be able to. all we ask is our fans and players' patients and we will get a decision made as fast as humanly possible. it is a difficult time though, certainly for your players, who are freelance. will there be any talk about financial help or aid for those people? we are looking into two different options at the moment and again, it all depends on government advice and a situation we find ourselves in. but we are looking out behind closed doors in a sterile environment for a limited number of players to keep them occupied and playing and earning, as you quite

rightly pointed out. they are self—employed people and if they don't play, they don't get paid. i know also that the government body is looking at the size of their reserves and how they can help in the intermediate period depending on the intermediate period depending on the situation with the virus. as i say, if fast moving and fluid situation, but thank you for your time today. the rugby season is officially over. the rfu has confirmed all levels below the premiership have finished. the decision applies to all league, cup and county rugby in england — which means the championship campaign will finish with at least seven rounds to play. the rfu said a further update would be issued in april as they aim to "ensure fair and balanced outcomes". england manager gareth southgate says, "we shouldn't spend another moment" thinking about the postponement of euro 2020 and called for all england fans to "look out for each other". in an open letter to supporters,

he wrote, "we were due to play next week, but now is clearly not the moment for us to take centre—stage." the heroes will be the men and women who continue working tirelessly in our hospitals and medical centres to look after our friends and families. some wise words there from gareth southgate. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. let us look through key developments again this morning. the government is taking steps to boost the resilience of the health service, as infections from the coronavirus grow in the uk. as infections from the england's top nurse and top doctor have urged medics to re—register and return to the workforce, to help tackle what they call the "greatest global

health threat in history". let's take a look at some of the developments today. letters are being sent to more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses, saying ‘your nhs needs you." in other key developments, the government has published a list of key workers in england whose children will still be able to go to school after they shut down. the chancellor is set to announce a wage subsidy package to protectjobs amid warnings of millions of lay—offs. ministers have pledged to ensure that all hospitals have enough protective gear and ventilators. the queen has urged people to come together for the common good. so far there have been 144 deaths and 3,269 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the uk. italy reported 427 more deaths

on thursday, overtaking china's toll. california announced a state—wide stay at home order for its a0 million people. china again reports no new domestic cases. let's turn to schools and universities. with me now is chris hale from universities uk. before we talk about schools and how they have responded, let's talk about your existing students. what is the situation across the country today for them? a lot of universities now, or the majority of universities, have now put their education provision online stop so they will be encouraging students to stay home and they will be uploading lectures. they will have the facilities to let students access them and engage with lecturers and

their peers as well. they will also be exploring ways in which they can do exams and assessments in an alternative way, using online means. what about international students? because of course, many international students don't have an alternative home to go to in the uk and some of them can't get home to where they originally lived because of the collapse of flights internationally and closed borders. absolutely, and universities are very aware of those students. they are looking at options around giving them possession within student accommodation and making sure they are being looked after. —— giving them provision. they will be aware of the situation the students. universities are doing everything they can do to make sure they support them, make sure they have food and they have got a roof over their head while they are here. a key challenge as well is making sure the uk visa office and the home 0ffice flexible about their visas as

well, obviously because some of the usual requirements are bad reporting and those kinda things won't be able to happen under the circumstances. what about, let's turn to school leavers, with so many teenagers in either difficult and anxious and uncertain time today because they don't know how they will get their exa m don't know how they will get their exam results, how universities will assess their applications. do you have any further like to shed on that for them? the first thing i would like to say is to reassure them, if you are holding an offer from a university and you are due to start in the autumn any new academic year, we will find a way to make this work. so students can start university and continue with their education. i don't think there are any easy options and what we come up with will not be perfect. these are unprecedented times, but universities will need to be flexible and they will be flexible, and they can support students to

ensure they progress to continue their education. universities are very experienced at this as well, so they have professional staff and their admissions teams will be looking at these things and we will be flexible. this is a national emergency and we want to do what we can do to help students and ensure they are reassured. there are live are life conversations happening with the department for education, with the department for education, with ucas, the office will students and we do expect a further announcement about this later today or imminently. those discussions have been taking place over the last few days and we will certainly push for clarity on this and come up with a consistent answer that is communicated to students to without them with the reassurance that they need. thank you very much for providing the clarity that you can this morning for us. the government has released the list of key workers whose children will still be able to go to school from monday.

it includes nhs staff, including all front line healthcare staff and those working in the medical supply chain for medicines and medical equipment. nursery and teaching staff are included, so they can continue to work and look after the children who will still go to school and nursery. that is for the sake of those other key workers. public safety and national security workers, including the police, military and prison officers. transport workers also count as essential workers, and that includes those transporting freight as well as public transport. food workers, this includes those involved in production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery. those working in essential financial services will also be able to send their children to school. and people working in public service broadcasting have also been classed as key workers. the full list is available

on the government website, and if you think you fall inside the government list you should contact your employer. let's talk to leanne somers, she is a gcse and a—level teacher in walsall. thank you so much for talking to us. before we talk about all and other children who are going home for an uncertain length of time today, as you are talking a moment today, as you are talking a moment to go about the key workers and their children, can you tell us what their children, can you tell us what the arrangements will be for them? what can they expect in school for monday? so we are at actually open for those students and operational. those students will be able to come into school as normal, and receive the education they have received prior to this. staff are working

really ha rd prior to this. staff are working really hard together with other schools in our community, helping each other out to ensure that those stu d e nts each other out to ensure that those students and vulnerable students have that support in place for them. and what will it be? well they actually get an education or will it effectively be a form of childcare and teenager care? just somewhere for them to actually be all day west no, they will be having lessons and they will still be able to access their education, as will those stu d e nts their education, as will those students at home. that is what we wa nt to students at home. that is what we want to provide for our students through this time, and helping pa rents through this time, and helping parents as much as we can to do that. so let us talk then about that group, the children and teenagers who will not be coming into school on monday. for then, this must be a very strange day. what is their mood? we still have students in. and they are actually quite sad and emotional that today could ultimately be their last day.

especially those year 11 students. it has been a real uncertain time for them, but they have and got on with things as normal and we have just tried to alleviate some of those anxieties. we have been working really, really hard to prepare work packs for them, so we have been physically getting them those and we have set up online platform so that they have access to lessons online. they have open communications with their teachers and their personal coaches here at our school, so there is a lot of things going on to support them and pa rents things going on to support them and parents at home. we are still running our lessons as normal, buy online platforms, so we are still planning, as we would normally, so that they can access those lessons and keeping that communication open for them so that if they have any questions or worries or concerns, they can access that and communicate with us at any time. and as it all going to be down to them to

communicate with you, or will you as a school be trying to check—in with them, check it that students are using those lesson plans, check that stu d e nts using those lesson plans, check that students are ok at home and that their mental health as well as their physical health is not suffering? gas, we will be checking in with students. we will be looking at their work, feeding back as we would normally, setting targets and deadlines for them. not to add any stress or pressure. we will be checking in, checking other noble stu d e nts checking in, checking other noble students and making sure parents have opened open communication as well. we will be doing all that we can to keep that open and we will be in communication with them just as much as they were with us. cue for talking to us and we wish you and all your students the best of luck. 0n cue. now it is time to look at other

countries and how they are dealing with this. in italy, the death toll continues to rise with hospitals overwhelmed in the worst hit areas — especially in the north of the country. with the latest from rome, here's sima kotecha. some people here in italy are calling it the 9/11 of italy. incredibly alarming figures. and as you say, we've now surpassed china. if you look at the population of the two countries, china having a population of 1.4 billion, italy having a population of 64 million, there are questions to be asked, why this has happened, in a smaller country with fewer people. and it's very prevalent, as you said, in the north of the country, where hospitals are stretched, they are running out of key equipment. the stringent measures that had been put in place across the country now for 11 days, restricting peoples' movement, closing businesses and schools. telling people to stay in their homes unless they want to go for a jog or go outside for health reasons or go to the shop, get some medicine from the pharmacy. those stringent measures could be made even more strict.

there is talk from the sports ministry that they might actually say to people you can't even go outside to have a jog any more. so if those measures are implemented and they are even more strict, we are going to see fewer people on the streets. walking around rome, you do see the odd person having a run or making their way to the shops. what is interesting about here in rome, how people are being innovative, if you like, lots of balconies across here, people doing exercise on the balconies, star jumps, yoga, some people playing music, it's really challenging people as to how they can spend their time with all these hours and days inside their homes. what about the best of europe? 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee says other eu countries are now looking at italy as they prepare for the weeks ahead. across the eu, across europe, schools, colleges have closed. there are various degrees of strict confinement, the czech republic last night for example saying it is now a

legal requirement for everybody who is on the street in small numbers, no more than ten, has to wear a face mask, scarf covering. here in belgium you cannot be in gatherings of more than one friend and people are being advised to call the police if you see groups on the streets congregating. it's a two strike system, first you will get a warning, secondly there is a 4000 euros fine or a three—month prison sentence, that's how seriously this is being taken, but you are right, on the hospital issue, look at the curve. you have the italian system, 40,000 cases, seemed to be two weeks ahead of european countries depending on what measures they put in to curb this flow. spain suddenly on 18,000 cases in the past 24 hours, a big rise there. you have germany on 15,000 cases, france on 11,000, and switzerland, a very small comparative country, on 4000 cases. i say these points because these are the five countries that others are looking at, like the british, like the dutch

and here in belgium as well, to say this is what is going to happen in a few days. belgian doctors, i've been in one hospital yesterday talking to some hospital staff, belgian doctors have told me they've been told to expect an explosion in the next three days in numbers and they are being given a fixed guide of who they should turn away and who they should treat if they cannot deal with them in the icu units because they're too busy. that's the position they're in here. let's turn to the impact on the arts in the uk, after the prime minister advised people against going to pubs clubs and the theatre. rebecca johnson was appearing in a production of love, loss and chianti at the riverside studios in hammersmith, but it's shut after three weeks. let's talk to her about how she is getting on. how have you adjusted at least to the initial blow? yes, i meani least to the initial blow? yes, i mean i have to say it is a very

strange time and completely, of course it was absolutely necessary that we had to close the show. nevertheless, you know, it leaves one without a source of income and... just one without a source of income and...justi one without a source of income and...just i think one without a source of income and... just i think the indefinite nature of it, the uncertainty of quite when this period of time will come to an end and when we will be able to get back to earning some money. and providing, you know, a social function. money. and providing, you know, a socialfunction. entertaining people, getting them an escape, as theatre does. yeah, . .. people, getting them an escape, as theatre does. yeah,... and i'm just thinking it must be notjust a social function for audiences, but it must be very difficult for all of you to suddenly, having been in such an intensely social role, a social job, to suddenly be effectively thrown out of those roles and alone? yes, i mean i suppose that is what you face as an actor in general. you

know, you don't work all the time, soiam know, you don't work all the time, so i am quite used to being intensely with a bunch of people and then when a show closes you lose that bunch of people. camaraderie is pa rt that bunch of people. camaraderie is part of thejob that bunch of people. camaraderie is part of the job and it fluctuates, soi part of the job and it fluctuates, so i guess we are sort of use to that, but i think it is more the deep uncertainty at the moment that is quite hard to process, quite hard to understand and i know from collea g u es to understand and i know from colleagues around me that i am very much not the only one. this is across the board in the collective sense of, when will things be all right again? when can we get back to doing what we do? and entertaining people, creating theatre for people to come and watch, and to provide that social function, not just for us but for other people. i think thatis us but for other people. i think that is what human beings do. we need contact with one another. of

course. on the financial necessity question, are you going to be watching the chancellor later in the day? are you concerned about what comes out of that and the way it might impacta comes out of that and the way it might impact a year in terms of support for jobs? might impact a year in terms of support forjobs? i have to say, i have been watching those daily briefings absolutely eagle eyed every day and i will definitely be looking to see what comes out of that announcement later on. it would be lovely if there were some kind of guarantee that theatres could claim on their insurance for the impact of this. who knows what will be announced though. because the very real situation is that there are a lot of arts organisations that could com pletely lot of arts organisations that could completely go to the wall because of this. and that is notjust the organisations, but then that means the impact on actors and all the

backstage staff that make theatre possible. you know, this is the way we earn my living is, this is the way we feed our families, so we earn my living is, this is the way we feed ourfamilies, so it is... ya, way we feed ourfamilies, so it is...ya,i way we feed ourfamilies, so it is... ya, i will be glued to that announcement. as will we. thank you so much for talking to us today and as with everybody who is suffering so much and have seen their lives turned upside down, we wish you all the very best in getting some light at the end of this tunnel and getting it as soon as possible. keep very much. let's turn to another com pletely very much. let's turn to another completely different aspect of this crisis because at the coronavirus pandemic spread, there's been plenty of misleading advice online on how to tackle it. chris morris has been fact—checking some of the most prominent examples. ( we know what the experts say. above all, wash your hands frequently to try to limit the coronavirus spread, but there have also been

a variety of myths circulating on social media and elsewhere which amount to health advice. here are a few to ignore. eat garlic to avoid infection. there is no question that gaelic is a healthy food. the same goes for other fruit and vegetables, but the world health organization says there is no evidence eating garlic or anything else has protected people from coronavirus. drink water every 15 minutes. again, staying hydrated is good for you but that does not mean it can stop coronavirus. you get a virus like this when you breathe then. there is no biological mechanism to suggest you can flush it out of your system by constantly drinking water. myth number three, don't eat ice cream. the idea of avoiding ice cream or other cold foods can prevent the virus taking hold is totally untrue. trying to heat your body to make an inhospitable environment

for the virus will not work. we know the flu does not survive well outside the body during summer heat, but we do not know enough about how that heat might impact the new coronavirus. myth numberfour, drinkable silver, the use of colloidal silver, tiny particles of the metal suspended in liquid, has been suggested, but the clear advice from health authorities as it does not treat infections in the body or boost immunity and it could cause serious side effects like kidney damage, seizures or even turning your skin blue. the best advice in all circumstances, keep washing your hands. chris morris with some good advice. a line of breaking news coming in from pret a manger, the sandwich maker, then that its staff are to ta ke maker, then that its staff are to take a 25% pay cut. a20 5% reduction

in hours as well, due to a 75% cut off from sales. this is the result obviously the coronavirus crisis and that so many people are working from home and not coming into work places and binds damages. the move is also to affect staff at the head office. they are trying, they say, to avoid job losses and that is why they have done that. they expect these measures to last at least three months. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. it is the spring equinox today and although it was a pretty chilly start to the morning with some frost around, particularly in the north, many others are seeing a dry day with some sunshine. this is the picture in cumbria. through the rest of today, we will keep the sunny spells and quite a chilly wind blowing as well, but they won't be sunshine everywhere. we have got quite a stubborn, slow—moving weather front across parts of england and it has been with us for 80 days and it is still sticking with us for the best of today. but

at the spots of gentle any far south. high pressure holds on elsewhere, so a lot of blue sky and sunshine, a brisk easterly wind that will make things ill quite chilly around coastal parts of norfolk and down towards kent. if you shower down towards kent. if you shower down here and down towards the channel islands as well. some of them heavy with lightning. away from those areas, some sunshine and temperatures not too bad around 11 degrees. a bit more clad in ethyl south, keeping temperatures a bit above freezing here, but further north, especially in rural spot, temperatures getting down to three thing or a bit below. a frosty morning testing saturday for most of theirs. high pressure is still with us into the weekend, butjust getting off towards the east, the winds rotating around that area of high pressure. we are looking at a largely dry picture for the weekend, variable amounts of cloud, certainly some sunshine, that quite a chilly

wind as well, so certainly don't pack away the winter coat just yet. there will be some sunshine though after a cold, frosty start to your saturday morning. we have got the winds coming in from the east, again taking the edge of those temperatures. not great for this time of the year, between around 7-12d. as time of the year, between around 7—12d. as we fast forward into sunday, we have more cloud and a few spots of drizzly rain for the western isles and northern isles, but for the rest of the uk and other dried out with some sunshine and a little less windy by the time we get to sunday, so it will feel a touch warmer, even though those temperatures are still not great, 7-11d. temperatures are still not great, 7—11d. high pressure stays with us into next week, looking at sunny spells, dry weather for most of that and perhaps temperatures up to 12 degrees by tuesday. bye—bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11... the headlines at midday... more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses are asked to return to work, to fight the coronavirus. it comes as the health secretary moves to reassure nhs staff that they'll have the protective gear they need. in terms of getting the protective equipment out, the masks and the other protective equipment, that is a massive operation that's ongoing right now. the chancellor is expected to announce new measures to try to protect millions of british jobs hit by the pandemic. downing street urges shoppers to be considerate, saying there is no need to stockpile food. it comes as one critical care nurse appeals to people not to buy more than they need. tearfully: people are just stripping

the shelves of basic foods. you just need to stop it! because its people like me that are going to be looking after you when you're at your lowest. just stop it! the number of dead in italy overtakes that of china. almost 3,500 people have now died. and the olympic flame arrives injapan, as the government insists it still plans to host the 2020 games. you're watching bbc news with me, carrie gracie. the government has announced new measures to boost the resilience of the health service, as infections from the

coronavirus grow in the uk. england's top nurse and doctor have urged recently retired medics to re—register and return to the workforce, to help tackle what they call the "greatest global health threat in history". letters are being sent to more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses, saying "your nhs needs you." it comes as the government publishes a list of key workers in england whose children will still be able to go to school after they shut down. the chancellor is expected to announce new measures to protect jobs amid warnings that millions may be laid off. ministers have pledged to ensure all hospitals have enough protective gear and ventilators. and the queen has urged people to come together for the common good. so far, there have been 144 deaths and 3,269 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the uk.

it comes as schools across the uk close indefinitely, except for those looking after the children of key workers and vulnerable children. simonjones reports. a premature end to term. schools are closing today, to try to halt the spread of the virus. the government has now revealed which key workers will be allowed to continue to send their children to school be looked after. they include nhs workers, nursery and teaching staff, the police, armed forces and prison officers, transport workers, those involved in food production, its distribution and sale, people who work in essential financial services such as banks, and journalists providing public service broadcasting. families only need one key worker parent to qualify. there will also be provision for vulnerable children. last night, some of those workers were thanked at a message at wembley stadium and now there's a plan to boost those numbers. the nhs is gearing up

for what is set to be a hugely challenging period. health regulators are now writing to 50,000 former nurses and 15,000 former doctors who've left the profession in the past three years, asking them to consider returning and doing their bit. this has been welcomed by the unite union, which describes the coronavirus threat as a supreme public health battle of our generation. 0vernight, 150 lorries took kit from the warehouse where we have all the stockpiles to 150 hospitals. that's about half the hospitals in the country. the rest will get their lorry load by the end of the weekend. for younger people, who have been continuing as normal, the message is they may be less vulnerable than others, the message is they may be more

they must follow the guidelines on social distancing. 0thers, tamoor tariq, who's 30 and has a weakened immune system, has contracted the virus. please think about where you're going, who you're mixing with and the impact it might have on you, because it can lead to getting this virus, which is quite painful. it's quite difficult to manage and it takes everything out of you. most people who get the virus won't feel many symptoms, but some will end up in hospital. in another sign of how the disease is affecting all aspects of life, after the closure of some underground stations in london, from monday, train services across the uk will be scaled back. there's been a drop in demand of almost 70% on some routes. core services will be maintained to carry goods and to ensure people can get to work and medical appointments in what rail companies are calling a time of extraordinary national challenge. simon jones, bbc news.

that's return to the question of the call up for recently retired doctors and nurses. i am nowjoined by former gp dr mike scott, who retired in 2018. that's right, new year's eve 2018 was the last full working day but i happen calling back to help out a little bit since then. in this case, when you get a message, saying your nhs needs you, will you be saying yes, i will register, yes i am in there? i think the crisis has got so bad that the answer to that has to be yes, now. are quite a few things i would like clarity on about protection, about who is going to pay me. i have gone back to my old practice to help them but they paid, i get paid by the doctors at their own expense. i don't think that's sustainable. it sounds mercenary but it's important want to get a lot of people back. there are questions about insurance reliability and there are questions about

competence. i have a lot of skills, they don't disappear overnight, but i want to be in a role where i knew i was effective and i knew what i was doing. let's take those one by one. on the protective equipment, it has been very controversial over recent days, the health secretary has been trying to reassure health community that the equipment will be there. as and when it is needed, are you reassured? i thinki am. there. as and when it is needed, are you reassured? ithinki am. i am pleased to hear it is being taken seriously. i was at the practice a couple of days ago and they were running short of masks and protective aprons are not sure when the next delivery would be. so if we're going to put our lives on the line, which a lot of the people already in the health service are doing on a daily basis, we need to support of the right equipment. wood then the pay question which was your second issue, presumably, they are

just going to give you a number and you're going to say ok? i am not bothered how much i get paid, just wa nt to bothered how much i get paid, just want to go back and leave my ex partners out—of—pocket because they have to pay me themselves. that is what it comes down to four gps, we are not paid a salary, we are partners in a little business. the insurance question, they must have thought about this? they must have, i have not had either yet, i think they are going out today and tomorrow, they already have made some arrangements and i have some insurance but only to work very limited hours, for us having to work closer to full time i would need more public liability insurance in case i made an more public liability insurance in case i made an error. more public liability insurance in case i made an error. i don't want someone to sue me and take my house off me. the competence question, they have talked about elements of retraining. you are the expert, what do you think you would need to get you into position where you could be

effective? i think i could walk straight back into general practice and do everything petty much as effectively as i was doing it a year ago, but the real battle ground may be in hospital, accident and emergency departments, i would be working alongside people i could ta ke working alongside people i could take queries to, there is a legal thing as well in that doctors who are practising need to be fully registered with the gmc and i think a lot of the doctors who have retired will not have kept up their registration and their appraisals and the amount of postgraduate education you need to remain registered. so that may need a change in regulations too. registered. so that may need a change in regulations toom registered. so that may need a change in regulations too. it has been a fascinating to talk to you. we wish you all the very best and come back and tell us if you do go back how you're getting on. that would be a pleasure, thank you very

much. we talked with age uk about half ago, you may have seen that, about the situation for elderly people over the next few weeks, particularly this weekend begin the period of extended selfish relation. —— self isolation. i want to talk about disabled people who may be self isolating. joining me now to discuss some of the issues affecting disabled people who are self—isolating isjessica leigh, campaigns manager for the charity, scope. as we go into this very long period of self isolation for vulnerable groups, how are your community feeling about it and how prepared are they? i think there is understandably quite a lot of anxiety and concern amongst disabled people in the wake of this crisis. we know that some disabled people might be quite at risk during this and we have seen at scope that a quarter of our calls in the last week and been about coronavirus. 0ne

of the great concerns as they are not getting clear and specific enough information from the government directly to disabled people in an accessible way. so we really need to see some clear guidance that can support disabled people. has that been acknowledged? 0ne feels some sympathy for the government as it is buffeted by this blizzard of needs and demands on every side. do you think this need has been acknowledged and they are just getting to it on the list? has been acknowledged and they are just getting to it on the list7m is obviously a time of great uncertainty for a lot of people and eve ryo ne uncertainty for a lot of people and everyone is having to respond asbestos possible. i think we really do need to see a lot more specific information for disabled people. there is a lot of concern around things like access to continued social care and guidance around ca re rs social care and guidance around carers that may need to come into the homes of people who are self isolating. we are seeing scrums in supermarkets for disabled people need to access basic groceries and a

lack of delivery slots for people who are self isolating and can't get to shops. so there is a great number of concerns arising and we need to see those address to mitigate the anxiety disabled people are feeling. when you put it like that, those anxieties are very real and potentially very grave on the social quercus and, can you reassure with any quercus and, can you reassure with a ny a nswe rs quercus and, can you reassure with any answers “— quercus and, can you reassure with any answers —— social care question,? we welcome the 1.6 billion the government has invested into social care. it is a difficult and underfunded area which is crucial for and underfunded area which is crucialfor a and underfunded area which is crucial for a lot of disabled people. what we need to see as the government monitoring that situation and staying in touch with disabled people to eventually get that continuity of care and guidance. no one knows how much is needed so the government needs to make sure the continue to monitor. on the shopping question, the husband a lot of attention on the difficulties for the elderly as they get pushed and jostled out of the way and as they

go into this period of self isolation, how will they get their shopping. but you make a very good question about the disabled, they need some protection, is it coming? we really hope so. we have seen some welcome measures. sainsbury‘s has acknowledged that disabled people should be included in the measurements they have put in place for elderly people and we would like to see lots of other businesses follow suit to consider the needs of disabled people. some clear guidance from the government to businesses to help make sure those provisions are continued and readily available for people who might be self isolating. thank you so much for talking to us andi thank you so much for talking to us and i am very sure we will be back talking again at some point over the next few weeks. thank you for now. concerns aboutjobs and wages during the eceonomic fallout of the pandemic are expected to be addressed by the chancellor today. it's thought rishi sunak

will announce an emergency package to help those facing hardship in the fight against coronavirus. the government has come under pressure from labour, unions and senior conservatives to do more to help employees struggling because of the crisis. let's get more on this. with me now is paul nowak. deputy general secretary of the tuc which represents 5.5 million workers. thanks forjoining us. what you want the chancellor to say today? what we need to see from the chancellor is a comprehensive package of support for working people, a package that is going to protect people's jobs and protect people's livelihood and i think we want the chancellor to send a message today whether they are working in pubs, airports, factories, no one is going to lose theirjob as a result of this health crisis and nobody is going to be hit in their pocket and i think that will be important for hundreds of thousands of workers to hear that we

assurance from the chancellor today and also to businesses that employ them because we are dealing with a massive public health crisis but alongside that, we can't see working families tickets in their income and livelihood. that support forjobs, do you want it to employers but conditional on them keeping the workshop on? how should it work? absolutely any support has to be focused on securing people'sjobs and incomes and we have seen good exa m ples across and incomes and we have seen good examples across europe, in denmark, norway, germany, austria, government has worked with employers and unions to design schemes to do that, protect jobs. to design schemes to do that, protectjobs. a to design schemes to do that, protect jobs. a lesson to design schemes to do that, protectjobs. a lesson we learn from the financial crisis ten years ago was that sometimes you can bailout companies but they were still laying people off and people were still seeing cuts in their pay packets. i hope and i think it will be different and this will be a comprehensive massive package of support, hopefully, that will send

that reassuring message right throughout the economy. that will help people in the short—term but it will also do us all well in the longer term because it will mean we are better placed to recover once we get over the next 3—4 months. the chancellor has heard the message from unions and employers alike. we need a package of support that will just secure jobs need a package of support that will just securejobs going need a package of support that will just secure jobs going forward. one of the things that possibly hasn't got much attention in the midst of all of the different angles and this crisis is that for some of the lower paid, they are not in a position to work from home. the people at the bottom of the pile are the least likely to withstand the pressures of this pandemic, aren't they? these will often be people who can't work from home, also people who have to self—isolate or have contracted the virus themselves and would be also can claim statutory sick pay because

they don't earn the earning threshold, nearly 2 million people in that position and those who do qualify for statutory sick pay it is not high enough. the health secretary himself said last night, on question time, he could not live on question time, he could not live on £94 25 a week. none of us could live on that for any sustained period of time to this package of support needs to deliver sick pay for all that crucial support to employers directly for the purpose of protecting people's jobs and livelihoods. we can't allow hundreds of thousands of people to be put out of thousands of people to be put out of work because we haven't acted to the scale that we need to. as i say, we have seen packages like this developed across europe and i am hopeful the chancellor will learn the lessons from those other exa m ples the lessons from those other examples and deliver something that works for british workers and the companies that employ them. thank you. thank you. we have not spoken in the last few minutes about the direct health issues.

you can find out more about the symptoms of coronavirus and how to protect yourself on the bbc news app and on our website, which is bbc.co.uk/news. the headlines on bbc news... more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses are asked to return to work, to fight the coronavirus. the chancellor is expected to announce new measures to try to protect millions of british jobs hit by the pandemic. people are urged to shop sensibly as supermarkets struggle to cope with panic buying. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's holly hamilton. another major sporting event has been postponed — snooker‘s world championship won't take place next month now. 0rganisers hope to reschedule the tournament in july or august. judd trump had been due

to defend his title at the tournament scheduled to take place from 18th april to 4th may. so disappointment for him, but a more worrying time for players who aren't so high profile. earlier, i asked world snooker tour chairman if any provisions have been made for the sport's lower earners you are looking behind closed doors ina you are looking behind closed doors in a sterile environment for a limited number of players to keep them occupied and playing and earning. these are self—employed people, they don't get paid when they don't play and i know also that they don't play and i know also that the governing body is looking at the size of their reserves and how they can help in the intermediary period, dependent on the situation with the virus. the rugby season is officially over — the rfu has confirmed all levels below the premiership has finished. the decision applies to all league, cup and county rugby in england — which means the championship campaign will finish with at least seven rounds to play.

the rfu said a further update would be issued in april as they aim to "ensure fair and balanced outcomes". england manager gareth southgate says "we shouldn't spend another moment" thinking about the postponement of euro 2020 and called for all england fans to "look out for each other". in an open letter to supporters he wrote... the heroes will be the men and women who continue working tirelessly in our hospitals and medical centres to look after our friends and families." "they won't receive the individual acclaim, but we all know their importance is beyond anything we do on the pitch." "hopefully we will be closer to each other than ever, and ready for the beautiful distraction that football can bring." the england football team's doctor rob chakraverty has left his role at

the football association. his position had come under intense scrutiny following revelations in a bbc panorama programme about his time as a medic at uk athletics, when he was involved in a controversial procedure on four—time olympic gold medallist mo farah. that's all frmo for me for now — carrie. covid 19 first appeared in the uk at the end of january, since then the numbers have risen sharply. the bbc‘s head of statisitics robert cuffe is with me to give us a picture of how the virus is spreading, and where. how our cases growing? they look to be doubling roughly every 3—40s and we can show that here. it is actually harder to keep track of how quick is growing. if you think a

week ago, last friday we had about 600 cases in the uk, just under, it has doubled and doubled again and since then we are up atjust over 3000. it can be hard to see what, think about what this means. 0ne 3000. it can be hard to see what, think about what this means. one way to think about it as if you think about all the cases we have had so far, we could see all that again and 3-4 far, we could see all that again and 3—4 days if this keeps going or if you are working in nicu you can think we are running at about 50% capacity, everything is going fine. and three orfour capacity, everything is going fine. and three or four days later it has doubled and you have gone from half—full doubled and you have gone from ha lf—fu ll to doubled and you have gone from half—full to full and things are getting hard to stand. sudden growth is important to keep track of. understanding exponential growth is the key? exactly, and the same picture if we look at the deaths. the hockey stick curve, it bobs along at the bottom and the exponentially growth, the doubling of doubling happens, to a lower rate. we had ten deaths in the uk this time last week. now it is up

144. those jumps can this time last week. now it is up 144. thosejumps can be this time last week. now it is up 144. those jumps can be very sudden with small numbers but the pattern we tend to see is is roughly doubling every three to four days with cases and deaths it is doubling every 2—3 days. and say what about the geographic spread? we have had a lot of it london. what about the rest of the country? looking at a map you can see clearly why the attention is on london. it is growing fastest air but let's orient ourselves on the map. scotland, it is about 270 in northern ireland just under 80 and 170 think in wales. at a blob in london stands out. you would expect it of course. london is the biggest city, but that is just london is the biggest city, but that isjust under 40% london is the biggest city, but that is just under 40% of the cases, a disproportionate amount and it is getting worse. a week ago, london was accounting for just getting worse. a week ago, london was accounting forjust under a quarter of cases. so it has, it is

bigger than the rest of the country and getting further ahead. presumably that is because socialist distance and just doesn't happen typically among the because people are —— social distancing. people are thrust together? i think that is why the government is emphasising the measures so strongly. everything looks fine, you think i don't need to worry about it and suddenly it can go from half—full to full in 3—4 days if that exponential growth is not slow down. some people might be watching at home but thinking the thing is, it isjust watching at home but thinking the thing is, it is just because there is more testing, not because there is more testing, not because there is more testing, not because there is more virus i doubt many would say output if they were, what would your a nswer output if they were, what would your answer be? we are seeing a combination of more testing and more virus. around the essendon at my end of the last week we tested about 2000 people a day and last week getting about 1—5% of positives per day. this week we have wrapped up capacity. yesterday we tested about

8.5 thousand so a big increase but higher proportion of positive tests. so course it catch more people if you test more but the virus is growing. we have talked about it slightly as i uk in relation to itself over the last few days, but how about the uk in relation to others? how do we look compared to italy or iran when they were at the same point in the upward curve on that hockey stick? that pattern of doubling every 3—4 days is a very common one across countries. in italy, that growth rate is slowing down and deaths and number of cases but that means they are decelerating, not reversing. it is just growing a little bit more slowly tha n just growing a little bit more slowly than it used to be so they are still on an upward curve. it was great listening to you. but i think it was —— grim listening to you. but

i think worth it. thank you. british passengers on board the costa pacifica cruise ship in marseille are saying they are having difficulties getting back to the uk. they understood they would be able to disembark and would be repatriated, but are now being told they are sailing to genoa in italy. joining me on the phone is julia hann, a french tutorfrom cardiff who is one of those people on board the cruise ship. tell us what is happening?m tell us what is happening? it has been a very, very tense morning. we have set sail for been a very, very tense morning. we have set sailfor genoa, been a very, very tense morning. we have set sail for genoa, it was supposed to set sail at five but there was so much mutiny on the bounty on board that they have taken up bounty on board that they have taken up the anchor and set sail much earlierfor up the anchor and set sail much earlier for genoa. up the anchor and set sail much earlierfor genoa. it is up the anchor and set sail much earlier for genoa. it is a very difficult situation and they are not keeping us well informed. we have

heard about many problems on various cruise ships. you actually have any coronavirus on the ship to your knowledge? the one thing we have in our favour as we have no coronavirus on this ship. we set sail from south america, on the 9th of march which is nearly two weeks ago, there were very few cases is nearly two weeks ago, there were very few cases so is nearly two weeks ago, there were very few cases so there is no coronavirus on board so there is no reason why the french authorities could not allow it to disembark in marseille but according to koster, the french authorities stopped any disembarkation is, so we're going to genoa, which is properly the worst place in the world for coronavirus but they have promised us they will see safely repatriate us in the next couple of days. this might be a stupid question but why don't they sail to the

stupid question but why don't they sailto the uk, stupid question but why don't they sail to the uk, and disembark you in southampton or somewhere which would bea southampton or somewhere which would be a whole lot easier for the italians and indeed for presumably a lot of the passengers? it is a good idea but that will take maybe ten days to travel around gibraltar back to the uk and the ship has got around to hundred brits, including about six from wales. but there are so many different nationalities, there is argentinian, brazilians, germans, new zealanders, every nationality can think of is on the ship. i agree that probably the best thing, we thought we would get off at marseille and get to the airport and then everybody could travel around but nobody got off. we tried our best. we had an interview with the french authorities who threatened to detain us when we said

we would get off regardless. threatened to detain us when we said we would get off regardlesslj threatened to detain us when we said we would get off regardless. i think we would get off regardless. i think we have some video of the scenes at the moment people were told about that and where understandably upset that and where understandably upset that they could not actually disembark when they had expected to. it is not possible! we can hear people shouting, were you there at that moment?” we can hear people shouting, were you there at that moment? i was. they brought in some officers to try and calm people down, but theyjust got even more i rate and started shouting themselves. it was a nightmare because they did not announce it. people felt most agreed

that they did not amount to till 10pm last night and they would have known at 5pm when we could have contacted the foreign office which we try to but everything is far more difficult in the middle of the night andi difficult in the middle of the night and i feel that they did that on purpose because there was basically mutiny on the bounty on board. just to clarify what is going on now, you are on your way to genoa with no clear idea of how you will get home from there? exactly. costa have assured us that everything is enhanced with a davis knew no true information, it is —— everything is ijust i just need to ijust need to be informed and told the truth. thank you so much for joining us and we wish you all the best in getting home safely. thanks so much. as much exposure as you can get is very much appreciated. we

hope the foreign office is listening and will help you out. take care. let's have a brief pause to look at the we have got the spring equinox equinox today and fairly sunny weather over the next few days. some clouds over southern england and one or two showers into the likes of kent, perhaps the odd rumble of thunderfor the kent, perhaps the odd rumble of thunder for the channel islands as well. it is a dry picture into the afternoon, temperatures not great for the time of year, only about 7-11d. a for the time of year, only about 7—11d. a chilly wind, particularly in the south, staying with us overnight as well. a fairly chilly night ahead, temperatures getting down to freezing or edit below in more rural spots, especially in the north. generally more freezing than other italy south. the high pressure

drifting to the east, lots of dry settled weather with some spells of sunshine as well. not feeling particularly warm, temperatures 9-12d. particularly warm, temperatures 9—12d. bye—bye. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses are asked to return to work, to fight the coronavirus. it comes as the health secretary moves to reassure nhs staff that they'll have the protective gear they need. in terms of getting the protective equipment out, the masks and the other protective equipment, that is a massive operation that's ongoing right now. the chancellor is expected to announce new measures to try to protect millions of british jobs hit by the pandemic. ministers urge people to shop sensibly, saying

there is absolutely no need to stockpile food. and the number of dead in italy overtakes that of china — almost 3,500 people have now died. the death toll from coronavirus in spain has risen above 1,000 and there are now almost 20,000 cases. it is 1002 people right now. it's the second most affected country in europe after italy. restriction measures are now being tightened across the continent. two cities in germany have virtually been shut down, whilst 4,000 euro fines and even prison sentences are being handed out in belgium for people gathering in large groups. we can go live to belgium now and speak to gavin lee.

kevin, ijust kevin, i just gave kevin, ijust gave a very brief update across europe, but you get is an now. yes, because every single country in europe, notjust the eu, but all the balkan countries elsewhere all have cases of coronavirus and all have social distancing or strict confinement measures in place, to varying degrees. in the last hour, the largest state in germany, bavaria, we heard from the president of the area saying as of midnight tonight, they will be an effective care to you. what it means is measures similarto you. what it means is measures similar to the belgians and the french, that people can only leave their homes if they are going to work or to the doctors' or to get food or to have exercise. it is interesting because there are countries going further than that. for example, in the czech republic it is legally mandatory now to be wearing a scarf or mask over your

face in public. in switzerland, we have had very little there, but actually eight and half million people in switzerland per capita, this is now the second—highest country in the world with coronavirus, 4000 cases, ninth overall in the world in terms of the highest number. there is an emergency meeting there today, and a press co nfe re nce emergency meeting there today, and a press conference expected by the prime minister, in which we are expecting wannabe measures to be people being told to stay at home entirely. they will be no sense of options for exercise, jogging, cycling, it stops. it has to be the three simple things, food, doctors or work. the other thing that is interesting is there has been a chinese delegation helping from the red cross in spain and italy, and the head of the chinese red cross was asked in milan in the last 24 hours what he thought of european response and he said, it is entirely wrong. he said, stop what you are doing right now. you are letting people walking the streets too liberally, you are letting people go

around without masks, you are letting public transport systems work. the only way we stop this at all is by stopping it quickly. you mentioned in spain at the start of this and over 20,000 cases now, and spain are shutting hotels in the next few days to try to get rid of all but essential people out in the country. when we are talking about the exponential growth there, it is higher than italy and they are about ten days behind italy, so that is a real worry for the spanish. it is fascinating listening to gavin, is there anyone, which country... it sounds like everyone across europe is increasingly take these taking these quite significant lockdown measures. is there anyone who isn't and looks more like the uk right now? the dutch, they have been more resista nt now? the dutch, they have been more resistant certainly than many other countries for just closing

resistant certainly than many other countries forjust closing all but essential means for travel, but their schools and universities are closing and even there, we are saying the messages get very hard. maybe about a week ago, the belgian was on a similar course to the uk and that has changed. the measures there are very strict and if you are outside the house with more than one family member or friend, you face effectively a fine, a warning at first and then a fine of 4000 euros and then a three—month prison sentence. people are being encouraged to indulge in belgium to call the police if they see a group of people out on the streets keep those numbers are lower. the other thing is i am speaking to specialists here, dermatologists and gynaecologists at hospitals in brussels, who have said they have com pletely brussels, who have said they have completely ended their operations and are being trained in ventilation systems. they are expecting an explosion of cases they have been told here in belgium, over the next three days. that goes back to that exponential rise they have been told here in belgium, over the next three

days. that goes back to that exponential rise they're expecting here, there are 2000 cases in belgium but they think in 3—7 kit days, we could be seeing thank you very much. let's go to edinburgh now because scotland's thus minister, nicola sturgeon has just because scotland's thus minister, nicola sturgeon hasjust taken because scotland's thus minister, nicola sturgeon has just taken to herfeet nicola sturgeon has just taken to her feet together and update. nicola sturgeon has just taken to her feet together and updatem nicola sturgeon has just taken to her feet together and update. it is essential to reduce the impact of this virus, so i want to say to all young people across the country as young people across the country as you finish school today, thank you for your hard work this year. you are allan for your hard work this year. you are all an enormous credit to the schools annual communities and, of course, to your parents. i also want to say thank you to our teaching staff and all our nonteaching staff in schools and early years settings. and although schools who continue to be working flat out in our education service, they fathered over the last few days and in the days to come, to adapt to what is a rapidly changing situation. i think the very fact that the deputies first minister confirmed yesterday, they will be a

no exams this year for the first time in our history and that underlines the seriousness of the situation we are facing, so wanted to ta ke situation we are facing, so wanted to take the opportunity today because it is so important to remind eve ryo ne because it is so important to remind everyone of the advice that we are asking you to follow. reduce your social contact and that it is absolutely essential to go out. that means working from home where possible. it means staying away from crowded places like pubs, restau ra nts a nd crowded places like pubs, restaurants and cinemas. if you are over 70, eligible for the flu vaccine because of a health condition or pregnant you should ta ke condition or pregnant you should take that advice particularly strongly and stay at home as much as possible. and they will be further advice published later today for pregnant women in particular. if you show symptoms of a new and persistent cough or a mild fever, stay at home for seven days and if someone in your household is showing symptoms, you should also at home for 14 days to ensure that you don't become affected and pass the

infection on to others. wash your hands and avoid touching your face. i know that some of the sacrifices we are asking people to make, and they are sacrifices. we are asking people to fundamentally change the way that we live our lives. these will become more apparent to us and more difficult as we head into the weekend. i know that there will be some of you who might be wanting to head out to the pub for a final night out or looking forward to a meal out with friends, but my guidance to you is clear and crystal clear. please do this. you must not consider this vital health advice to be nearly optional. we will leave nicola sturgeon bar as she carries on with that press briefing. now, a couple of new signs coming in. one is from the government, which has published some documents today, among which is a paper,

which relates to a discussion it had in february on how to prevent public disorder as the epidemic developed. the paper concluded that widespread rioting was unlikely. the meeting was attended by the head or scientist, police and home office officials. it found that public disorder would most likely be triggered by perceptions about a government's response to the virus, rather than the nature of the epidemic itself. more on that we will have it shortly. 0ne epidemic itself. more on that we will have it shortly. one other nine of breaking news, the foreign office has announced that it is to withdraw some nonessential staff and family members from embassies and high commissions around the world as a result of this crisis. it will redeploy some of them from areas that have low consular needs, but high threat of diverse, to areas where consular needs are very high. so these are in office redeploying its forces around the world to try

to meet demand as best it can and keep it staff safe. now let's turn back to the nhs issue of the day. as you've been hearing, letters are being sent to more than 65,000 retired doctors and nurses in england and wales asking them to return to the nhs to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak. let's speak to carolyn shepherd — she's in bristol, who retired as an nhs nurse in december 2017. she is expecting a letter, but won't be going. isi is i write? currently my decision is not to return to work as a front liner on the wards, particularly, because after nearly three years out of date. i would not be able to keep up of date. i would not be able to keep up with the it, the science, the general changes in nursing care and i would feel unsafe and i think that would not be a position i would want

to put any patient end, having an u nsafe to put any patient end, having an unsafe nurse caring for them. that is interesting, so your innovation is interesting, so your innovation is more about the risk you might pose to patients, rather than the risk that the environment in terms of exposure to virus would represent for you? well, obviously at the moment i do have concerns regarding that as well. i hear, mostly for my gp friends, who are very concerned about their lack of equipment, masks and gowns and things. so that is a concern. i think for those of us who are in the older generation now, a lot of us have grandchildren and caring commitments and that is very difficult to continue if i would be working as a front line nurse. we arejust working as a front line nurse. we are just having a little problem with your image there, so we will just listen to you and not be able to see you for a moment or two. i

just wanted to understand, oh, i think you are back. ijust wanted to understand i just wanted to understand i just wanted to understand what might convince you to go back what might convince you in terms of reassuring you on the risk that you would face or we're showing you in terms of the training on offer or the role on offer might convince you to feel you would have a contribution to make and that you would be safe yourself in making it? and am awaiting my letter and i am waiting also to see what other options might be available to me to help with the nhs because obviously, after 40 yea rs of help with the nhs because obviously, after 40 years of caring it is deeply distressing to think that i wouldn't be able to go back and help in some way or another. but it is not clear to me yet what are those other options could be. so really i am awaiting the letter and what options i have to go in and actually help. equipment would be good, trainingi help. equipment would be good, training i have concerns about because it takes... if you leave

nursing, it takes between three months and a year to retrain to go back on the wards again, and we don't have three months in this crisis. to look after them dilated patients took me six months when i last ventilated a patient in 1986. the equipment and the science has moved on since then, so again it is a safety issue there. thank you so much forjoining us and do come back and tell us your decision when you see the actual letter and returns on which are being invited come back. thank you for now. take care. let's go back to the question of education because of course, this is the last day of school for many schoolchildren across this country and a particular day of uncertainty and a particular day of uncertainty and anxiety for those of them who would have been studying for a—levels, but for whose exams have now been cancelled. the government are

yet to announce how greats will be allocated. with me now is clare marchant — ucas chief executive. thank you forjoining us. it must be cherry challenging for you. what we are sure and can you give to those teenagers today? certainly, we are working with governments across the four countries to understand what alternative assessment might look like. i think the key thing for me is to reassure students that people are talking about it and not to panic. for students to take their time and consider options because there will be options are available to them and they need to ensure they are keeping in touch so that they had got the latest advice and guidance. we are using social media channels now more than ever. and we had also reached out to teachers as they are potentially stepping away from schools, to make sure they that we are in contact with them.

university teams all around the country know a lot about students, they do personal statements, they do references and they have prior attainment, so it is a general message of don't panic and take your time to read the information and advice as it comes out on almost a daily basis. what would you say to those students who were hoping to really buckle down at this point? they will be saying well, my predicted grades and by teacher assessments will not represent what i hoped to achieve. what i would say is those university admissions teens andi is those university admissions teens and i have spoken to many of them over recent days, have a huge amount of information about you and like us, they are predominately working remotely, so you can contact them as well as the ucas team here or go via ucas website or social media channels. the other thing to say is even as a school closes, make sure

you continue some formal study. you wa nt to you continue some formal study. you want to be in the best possible position once you do start at university or college to really see that through, so i would encourage, however difficult it is and i do understand that with children of my own, to really keep some form of study to get the very best out of university experience what you do start. can you enlighten us a on your thoughts. some people are saying they might be new places in the current academic year in universities because we might get a drop—off of international students. do think that is a legitimate fort that might be a sure sign applicants? it is certainly a legitimate fort. i think it is probably too early to say what will happen because globally things may pan out in different ways, but certainly some of the modelling we are doing is around numbers of international students and the numbers of deferrals as well and just understanding where people might be because this is very much

an individual decision for individuals, whether they are uk stu d e nts individuals, whether they are uk students or international students, so we are working with universities to model some of that fruit, but certainly it will look at a very different mission cycle than —— admission cycle than most of us have seen very admission cycle than most of us have seen very very long time. just to remind viewers, especially if they are teenagers in the hot seat on this issue, that they should use your website, so go to the ucas website and sign up for your apps? absolutely and make sure your e—mail address is up to date. i know it sounds very basic, but that is an important way we can contact you. let's go back to some of the health issues directly. with me now isjon ashworth — the labour shadow health secretary. it isa it is a fast moving situation and what is that at the top of your list of concerns as we speak? this is an

urgent crisis and virus expert but i'm afraid it feels to me like the government briefings are confusing people and there is a lack of clarity. and we have a confusion now, where pubs and restaurants appear to be full of people, while the supermarket shelves appear to be empty and it strikes me that the social distancing measures that we are asking people to undertake, that many people are not taking then. i think the point has come now where it is not good enough for the prime minister to simply say, avoid the pub and don't go to a restaurant. i think the government needs to show some leadership. i think we need action, notjust advice, and i think we are now at the point where the government should be looking to close down pubs and restaurants. if they think that is the wrong decision, then we need an urgent explanation as to why they are not down pubs and restaurants because many of my constituents are asking that are concerned that there are many people out there that think

this is not just many people out there that think this is notjust a crisis, we think it is an inconvenience. i think we need further leadership now an action from government. so that is something specific that you would like, presumably the panacea to announce that his daily news conference later this afternoon. anything else you have put on that list of urgent announcements? yes. it strikes me that hoping people stay away from pubs and restaurants and so on, people are not heeding the advice, so we now need action from government. i also want to see testing scaled up much more rapidly. nhs staff need to get the tests if they think that they had got coronavirus. they do not get those tests rapidly, we will probably be looking at lots of stuff coming off the front line. and of course, our staff who are on the front line who are battling need to be properly protected. they need all the

equipment, the goggles, began is, the advisors. the government have been too slow in getting that equipment to front line staff, not just in hospitals, but also those staff who work in the community, the district nurses, the community nurses, the gp's. they need that equipment as well as a matter of urgency. i'm just looking at some copy coming in from one other health and science correspondence, which is the latest advice from the scientific advisory group emergency, and i'm guessing you have already seen it, but it is talking about measures to limit the spread of coronavirus needed to be in place for at least most of a year. well, indeed and we are in this for the long haul, but this is an urgent crisis, an unprecedented global health crisis and it is clear to me that walking around the streets and from the pictures we are seeing on social media, but for a lot of people it feels like it is an

inconvenience rather than a crisis. the government is asking people not to go to pubs and two restaurants, but people appear to be ignoring that advice, so that is why i'm asking the government now to take further action. because so far, i don't think people have completely, not everybody obviously, but i'm not sure everybody has completely listen to what the government are advising. thank you. as the coronavirus spreads, there has been plenty of misleading advice online as to how to tackle it, so let's put some of that to rest right now. chris morris has been fact—checking some of the most prominent examples. we know what the experts say. above all, wash your hands frequently to try to limit the coronavirus spread, but there have also been a variety of myths circulating on social media and elsewhere which amount to fake health advice.

here are a few to ignore. eat garlic to avoid infection. there is no question that garlic is a healthy food. the same goes for other fruit and vegetables, but the world health organization says there is no evidence eating garlic or anything else has protected people from coronavirus. myth number two: drink water every 15 minutes. again, staying hydrated is good for you, but that does not mean it can stop coronavirus. you get a virus like this when you breathe in. there is no biological mechanism to suggest you can flush it out of your system by constantly drinking water. myth number three, don't eat ice cream. the idea that avoiding ice cream or other cold foods can prevent the virus taking hold is totally untrue. trying to heat your body to make an inhospitable environment for the virus will not work. we know the flu does not survive well outside

the body during summer heat, but we do not know enough about how that heat might impact the new coronavirus. myth numberfour, drinkable silver. the use of colloidal silver, tiny particles of the metal suspended in liquid, has been suggested, but the clear advice from health authorities is it does not treat infections in the body or boost immunity and it could cause serious side effects like kidney damage, seizures or even turning your skin blue. the best advice in all circumstances? keep washing your hands. chris morris with some good advice. just a thought from somewhere very different on the coronavirus. in the united states, nasa says it is suspending work at two rocket centres after an engineer was diagnosed with covid—19.

that is a major setback to the space agency's goal of returning americans to the moon by 2024. the bases in new orleans and mississippi were testing hardware for the vehicles set to carry the astronauts on the mission. so lots more just in terms of the immediate medical advice for coronavirus and you can protect yourself on the news app and on the bbc uk website. there is lots of social distancing advice its isolation advice on everything you need to help you prepare. helen help you prepare. good afternoon. it is dry throughout most of the best of today and it looks dry for most of us over the next four or five days. the reason is this high pressure, which will drift east, but we have got our slow

moving weather found in the south producing a little bit of rain and drizzle. this is how it looked earlier in the day in wokingham. further north, and at the centre of that high pressure we have got plenty of sunshine across scotland. a bit more cloud for the northern isles as well and still some breaks around, but it has been slow to clear. it should do as we go through the night. quite a keen wind with that high pressure, keeping temperatures a bit below par and it was a frosty start elsewhere. that wind in the south should keep fast at bay in part that england mostly, whilst elsewhere across the uk it is a cold night again. not as hard a frost as last night, but still pretty chilly. with that high pressure with us throughout the weekend, that not only keeps our weather found that bay, that it will mean some starry nights and some cold nights to come as well. although it looks dry for most of us, there will be plenty of sunshine i think, but at times some cloud

will come and go, in the south in particular quite a chilly wind. even for the north sea coasts as well where you have got that naughty wind coming off what is a relatively cold sea at this time of year, it will still feel chilly despite the sunshine. a bit of cloud left because they far south, but more sunshine we have seen today for most parts of the uk. as a result, temperatures will creep up a degree because it won't be as cold either overnight. as we go through saturday night, we have more cloud coming up into the far north and west, so it won't be as cold, but still a chilly night. still frost around and the nights are getting shorter at the moment, the day is longer, but they are still long enough for some frost. sunday brings the risk of some cloud along the east coast as we go through the day, but it should clear away and temperatures 9—11d, so still feeling chilly after a cold start and so still feeling chilly after a cold startand in so still feeling chilly after a cold start and in the breeze, but it is basically dry. if you are out of the

breeze in the sunshine, i think it will be a pleasant enough. more information on our website.

the government calls on retired doctors and nurses to come back to work and help fight the coronavirus outbreak. letters are being sent to 65,000 retired nhs staff in england and wales — telling them their health service needs them. we are saying to anybody who has had a recent qualification and has let that qualification lapse, a doctor, nurse, to come back to the nhs, your nhs needs you. it comes as ministers promise all hospitals will get enough personal protective equipment for their staff. also this lunchtime... new measures expected from the chancellor today to protect the jobs and wages of workers plunged into uncertainty by the crisis. schools out: the gates

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