this is bbc news. the headlines: "be responsible when you shop." an appeal by a senior british government minister, who estimates that £1 billion worth of extra food has been stockpiled. it is making life more difficult for those front line workers, such as oui’ those front line workers, such as our doctors and nurses and nhs support staff who were working so ha rd support staff who were working so hard in such difficult circumstances. more beds, ventilators and thousands of extra staff will be made available from next week after a deal between nhs england and the nation's independent hospitals. the uk department storejohn lewis is to temporarily close all of its 50 shops on monday — the first time in its 155—year history that's happened.

the death toll from the northern region of lombardy, which has borne the brunt of italy's contagion, has risen by 546 in a day to 3,095. in spain, more than 300 people have died in the last 2a hours from coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths there to 1,326. i will take you straight to washington, where president trump is giving an update on coronavirus. the citizens are working with urgency and speed towards one common goal, which is saving american lives. we

are in communication with foreign countries. now at 148 foreign countries. now at 148 foreign countries. you talk about a spread, you talk about a violent spread. 148 countries. not even believable. it has been no week of national action and great national solidarity, people getting along with republicans and democrats, independents and liberals and conservatives, and actually it is a nice thing to see. we are all one big beautiful american family and thatis big beautiful american family and that is taking place right now. last night i approved a disaster declaration for new york, working closely with the governor. it is the first time in our nation's history that a president has used the act to declare a major disaster in response toa declare a major disaster in response

to a public health crisis. it is never happened before. considering other areas, where we may or may not be doing that, and working closely with the governor of california and others, we may be doing the same thing depending on their needs and what they are asking for. there has been unprecedented action in new york and we have had a tremendous federal response all over the country. i want to thank all of the people in the federal government and in the state governments and local governments. we are working hard, everybody is working hard and the people standing alongside me are working hard, i can tell you. we have also reached agreements with canada and mexico with new travels at our northern and southern borders to hold the entry of the chinese virus while continuing trade and

commerce, and while we have had very good talks with prime minister trudeau and today with the president of mexico. we talked aboutjoint measures to prevent the spread of the virus in our country and to temporarily suspend nonessential travel. we had a great conversation this morning. how close cooperation with mexico and canada will keep our people healthy, keep their people healthy, keep everybody safe. i had a call with 12,000 small businesses, representatives of these businesses, the engine of our country, people don't realise that, you talk about the big ones but these small businesses, when you add them together it is the real economic engine of our country. i assured them my administration is doing everything within its considerable

power, frankly, to support them and their employees was nobody has ever done what we have done. likewise i had calls with all sorts of representatives and systems like the hospital system. we spoke to many of the hospital systems throughout the country, nurses and doctors, those representing hundreds of thousands of nurses and doctors. airlines and cruise ship companies, the business roundtable which was fully attended, so roundtable which was fully attended, so all of the top ceos of our country and beyond, frankly, the businessman of the world. these are businessmen that control the biggest companies in the world, many of them have taken hits and many are just going forward. their businesses have been great, some have been badly affected, some haven't been affected at all. and rightly some are doing very well, they continue to do very

well. walmart is an example that has helpful to us. doug mcmillan from walmart was really healthy to us. people are certainly buying more than even at christmas by substantial numbers. they are doing incredibly. they put on tremendous extra staff so they won't have empty shelves. a lot of things have happened that are very good. restau ra nts, happened that are very good. restaurants, fast food executives, grocery stores, all retailers, literally all of them in groups, and we spoke with the g7 leaders at length, as you know, you probably know about that. i spoke to many of the governors almost all of the governors in conference calls and individually. very importantly, the religious leaders, we had a great conversation yesterday, the vice president and myself, with the religious leaders of our country,

many of the religious leaders, and we had a number of them during the last few weeks. yesterday we had a very, very significant call with the religious leaders of our country. i signed legislation providing workers with paid leave at no cost to employers, and free testing for those who need it. the testing is going very well, and that will be discussed. we will quickly pass additional legislation that will provide relief to small businesses and affected industries. there has never been anything like what we are doing on the hill right now in negotiating. rich mcconnell, chuck schumer, they are all up there, kevin mccarthy and nancy closely, they are all negotiating very hard

and they want to get to a solution thatis and they want to get to a solution that is the right solution. i think we are getting very close. we have also announced that we have moved tax day from april 15 tojuly 15, which is a big deal, it gives businesses and individuals extra time. we have moved the date way back, so it will bejuly 15 in said of your traditional april 15. importantly, of your traditional april 15. importa ntly, you will of your traditional april 15. importantly, you will have a lot of time, but you will not have interest penalties or any kind of penalties by filing add that later date. foreclosures and evictions are suspended for single family homeowners with mortgages for the next 60 days, and our great head, ben carson, will have something today. there will not be standardised testing, which is another big deal. requirements for

stu d e nts another big deal. requirements for students for the current school year, they are not there to do that, so we are waving that. i imagine it is probably the first time ever that it has been waived, but it is only fairto it has been waived, but it is only fair to the students and their pa rents. fair to the students and their parents. it is also waving interest and other things that we are discussing right now on federally held student loans and directing that borrowers be allowed to suspend their student loan payments without penalty for 60 days. we will be talking about student loans to help the students, who are under a great burden right now. we will be talking about that further. but we are waiving many aspects of student loa ns. waiving many aspects of student loans. we have powerful new authorities to help state and city

hospitals acquire supplies was up there has been a call to action to there has been a call to action to the private sector and the call was made right here stop it has been pretty amazing, what has happened with the private sector. they are really in sixth gear, which has responded in full force to provide much—needed masks, swaps, ventilators and every thing else. there is movement on that is incredible right now. everybody knows haynes, a great company, a consumer cotton products company, is producing masks on a large—scale now. the fda has taken rapid steps to make them available for medical use right now. most exciting to me is what the fda has done in order to

get possibly a very successful number... it is notjust one or two, but a number of therapeutics, medicines that can help people that are already sick, help people not get sick, and obviously you know about the vaccine and tony will discuss that later. but the vaccine is moving along. this is something that for right now, this is what we really... it is incredible. what the fda has done and what doctor stephen han, who is highly respected, he is fantastic, he has only been here for a few months and he has got into the swim of it. the fda has really moved mountain is to get approvals on things that may be work. we will find out soon. an example where we

are repurposed in alcohol, they went out and repurposed their alcohol production capabilities in arkansas, texas and kentucky to make camp sanitiser. that is a edge to make hand sanitiser. their first delivery will be on tuesday. it will go to various states, starting in new york and working their way around. they are making a tremendous amount of hand sanitiser at a very high level. we have activated the national response coordination centre to level one, the highest level. it is a nerve centre of all of our government response to crisis and it is coordinating very closely with our nation's governors, many of whom we re our nation's governors, many of whom were in the call yesterday with the governors. you can see the

relationship, and we have had numerous calls with governors, but the relationships are pretty amazing. they love what we are doing, and the coordination between the federal government and the governors, states and even local has been pretty incredible. pete gaynor who is with us will provide you with an update on the centre's operations. fema has been incredible since they were brought in last week. the ones that are using it are loving it. ithink week. the ones that are using it are loving it. i think we will change the way our country functions medically, and probably in other ways because of what is going on right now. this will reduce the chance of infection and protect

hospital capacity. it solves many problems. every american has a role to play in defending our nation from this invisible, horrible enemy. it really is an invisible enemy and we will be successful, very successful, hopefully very much sooner than people would think. we say stay at home and save lives. it is a time of shared national sacrifice, but also a time to treasure our loved ones and to take stock of what is most important, our faith, our families, our neighbours and our great country. i want to thank all of the incredible people of our country, the citizens of our country. what you have done and the way you are responding has been very special, something that we will never forget, that the history books will never forget. we will have a great

victory, we will be celebrating a great victory in the not—too—distant future. i want to thank everybody. i will introduce out vice president, mike pence, who has led to the task forceful he has not slept much, maybe a tiny bit, maybe a little bit, but not much. he has done and a credible job. bit, but not much. he has done and a crediblejob. mike, bit, but not much. he has done and a credible job. mike, thank bit, but not much. he has done and a crediblejob. mike, thank you. well that was president trump bringing us up to date with developments in the united states. i am going to take you now to a press conference going on in italy, where we have had an update on the figures bear, this is a daily press conference that takes place... italy has borne the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak in europe and we have just been told that the death toll in one day has gone up by

793 and now stands at 4825. so, some very sobering figures they're coming out of italy and i can also tell you that the total number of confirmed cases, testing positive for coronavirus in italy, has risen to 53,578. that is up from 47,021 on friday. so that is jumped by over 6001 day. so, some pretty grim figures there coming out of rome. let us go back now to washington. barbara, a fairly general sum up there from president trump, what is

there from president trump, what is the picture of what is going on there when it comes to coronavirus? well the picture here is that they are watching with great concern what is going on in europe and how the health care systems have been overwhelmed there, especially in places like italy and they are wanting to prevent that from happening here, so at the moment, for states, california, happening here, so at the moment, forstates, california, new york, illinois and connecticut have called for a shutdown. basically, they have told people that they have to stay at home unless there is a real reason for them to leave, unless they need to get food, unless they need to get medicine, they can be for exercise, but businesses that are non—essential have been shut down, businesses, corporations and so on and we are expecting new jersey to make a similar statement sometime today probably, so over the weekend, those cities are going to go pretty much into a shutdown and this affects about a quarter of the population in the united states, nearly a third of the economy in the united states, millions and millions

of people and governor cuomo of new york are speaking earlier today and he said the idea is to try and stop the wave of cases that would overwhelm the health care system and he said we are looking at this being a number of months, i know many of you wanted to be a number of weeks but realistically we are talking about a number of months to try and keep the numbers down so that we can cope for the health care needs. he said their calculation in new york is that between 40 and 80% of their people could get infected, if it is 80, he said that is 50 million people so the whole idea is to slow the rate of the infection so that fewer people get it so that the hospitals are able to respond in a way that meets the need of those who have been hit the worst. thank you very much. we'll have the latest on the coronavirus pandemic in europe and elsewhere in a moment. but we start in london where, in the past couple of hours,

the government have given their latest briefing on coronavirus — this time focused on supermarkets and the food supply chain. let's remind ourselves of those main points. the environment secretary, george eustice, urged people to "be responsible when you shop", saying that there is more than enough food to go around. the british retail consortium chief executive, helen dickinson, stressed that supplies were holding up, adding that there is "plenty of food in the supply chain". and nhs england national medical director, stephen powis, asked people not to stockpile food, and said panic buyers are depriving nhs staff of the supplies they need. we'll hearfrom him in a bit. but first, here's the environment secretary. we recognise that this is a challenging time and that there are many things that the government are asking the nation to do differently asking the nation to do differently as we work together to fight this pandemic. however, there is one message i want to start with loud and clear this afternoon. be responsible when you shop. think of others. buying more than you need to

means that others may be left without. it is making life more difficult for those front—line workers, such as doctors and nurses and nhs support staff, who are working so hard in such difficult circumstances. as you shop, think of those who are finishing their late shifts and need to pop to the local shop at the end of a long day. today, the prime minister and i have spoken to the retail sector. there is more than enough food to go round and our food supply chain is more than enough food to go round and ourfood supply chain is is more than enough food to go round and our food supply chain is able to expand production to cope with increased demand. in the last week, sales of some foods have increased significantly and manufacturers have produced around 50% more food than they usually would. there is no shortage of food available and more is arriving in shops every day. the challenge that all of our retailers face is keeping shelves stocked throughout the day in the face of

increased purchasing behaviour. we all have a role to play in ensuring that we come through this together, the government has taken steps to set aside rules restricting delivery to stores and relaxed restrictions on delivery driver hours so that more goods can be delivered to every store every day. we have also set aside competition laws so that supermarkets can coordinate their effo rts supermarkets can coordinate their efforts locally, sharing staff, sharing delivery vehicles and coordinating their store opening times to ensure that food reaches every pa rt times to ensure that food reaches every part of the country. the environment secretary there. and here's the medical director of england's national health service issuing a plea for people to keep medical staff in mind when going down to the shops. it is incredibly important that they too have access to the supplies and food they need. i am sure many of you saw the critical care nurse in tea rs you saw the critical care nurse in tears yesterday at the end of a long

shift because she could not get access to the supplies that she needed. frankly, we should all be ashamed that that had to happen, it is unacceptable, these are the very people that we will all need to look after perhaps us or our loved ones in the weeks ahead. it is critical that by not stockpiling, by not selfishly shopping, by leaving those supplies for others that are health workers are able to get access to what they need, these are the people that we will all be relying on, more than we ever have done in the weeks ahead. john lewis is to temporarily close its 50 stores on monday, due to the coronavirus. it's the first time in its 155—year history that the business will not open its doors. its chairperson, sharon white, explained that the compa ny‘s priority was "the welfare of customers, communities and partners." and we're also just hearing that the ladies fashion retailer hobbs

is temporarily closing its stores from tonight. since this crisis began, many travellers on cruise ships have been left stranded at sea. in japan, passengers of the diamond princess were quarantined on the ship after severel passengers tested positive. now a cruise ship in latin america, the coral princess, can't find a country that will let it dock, even though none of the passengers have been diagnosed with covid—19. evelyn fleck, from edinburgh, is on board the coral princess cruise ship currently docked in montevideo, uruguay where she has been for six days, unable to leave the ship. a very frustrating situation, how you coping? we are actually all pulling together very well, the passengers are supporting each other and are being very caring towards each other, the cruise line have been absolutely amazing, we know we

are well and safe, they are giving us food, water and they have extra supplies of medicine yesterday as well. well, you are very upbeat given the situation. i understand that you were asked to leave the port of buena in argentina, you are sailing to uruguay but you don't know if you will be allowed to disembark. that's right, when we we re disembark. that's right, when we were in when 0siris, the local government decided our to have a lockdown, we think you made the right decision to leave, we would have been in quarantine there for 14 days and we wouldn't have been so upbeat as we wouldn't have had food orfresh upbeat as we wouldn't have had food or fresh water supplies and that would have been more difficult. so, we are here at the moment, we are waiting to hear if any passengers

will be able to fly from uruguay, at the moment, the most recent information we have is that there are some flights to other latin american countries, but there are no onward flights to europe. i suppose our request is that we want the british government to get orders and other travellers home. there is something like 300 uk citizens on board the ship and as a group, if we stick together, i think there is enough people for a plane to take those, there is a risk of splitting us up and individuals ending up stranded in different fragmented locations and we are also worried that some of the roots home that some nationalities have had to take our via america and we don't have visas or insurance to takers into america so if we get taken there, it isa america so if we get taken there, it is a risk for us as well that we become unwell. absolutely. we will

have to leave it there. thank you so much forjoining us. just emerged about the present death toll in the uk, it has reached 233 after nhs england said that a further 53 people had died in england after testing positive, so thatis england after testing positive, so that is the new death toll in the uk which has reached 233. now, time for a look at the weather. good evening, another dry day. we have had more cloud in the north—east today, we have had more cloud for northern ireland and that is because we have a very weak weather front close by but that should move away through the next 24 hours, it is pushing

some cloudy skies and patchy rain into the north west of scotland but for most of us under the starry skies, a whole night. —— matt a cold night. we are looking at —4 or —5 in the north. this low cloud for the east coast of england and eastern scotla nd east coast of england and eastern scotland should lift through the day, we should see more sunshine for northern ireland tomorrow and with slightly lighter winds as well, it won't feel as chilly as it has done today, there will be some sunshine on offer as we go into monday and tuesday but we do have a weather front approaching the north of scotla nd front approaching the north of scotland so some wet and windy weather there. there is more online as ever.

the nhs has struck an unprecedented deal with private hospitals across england to utilise nearly their entire hospital capacity to help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. the nhs says the deal will provide 8,000 additional hospital beds across england, nearly 1,200 more ventilators, and 700 doctors. it's been announced today that a further 56 people have died after testing positive with the virus in england, scotland and wales. currently there are more than 4,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the uk.

with the latest here's dominic hughes. the dominic hughes. first day of what is meant to be something the first day of what is meant to be something close to lock down. but in the centre of newcastle, some people are still out and about. from the experts though, a real sense that a moment of crisis is fast approaching. if you follow the advice you are saving somebody‘s light. this is the time in your lifetime, whereby your action will save somebody‘s lie. it is a simple and stark as that. a picture of those being admitted to critical ca re those being admitted to critical care after falling ill is those being admitted to critical care afterfalling ill is beginning to emerge. data was collected on 196 patients in england, wales and northern ireland. half of them were being looked after by hospitals in london. 57 were female, 139 were male. 132 patients needed a ventilation machine to help them breed. 16 patients, sadly died. 17

we re breed. 16 patients, sadly died. 17 were discharged to regular hospital wards, the rest remained in intensive care. there is concern about the number of cases that are presenting in london, but also a small but significant cluster in birmingham the west midlands. at this virus is spreading throughout the country. in salford, the deaths of two patients were announced yesterday. medical staff are concerned over access to protective clothing, despite government promises that enough of the right kit is available. and a reminder, for one doctor of the serious situation we face. this is the week that the most people who are infected without knowing it will cause it to spread. what you do today will affect the intensive care beds in hospitals over the next few weeks. please, please, please stay at home if you can. some good news. the nhs has done what looked like a really significant deal with private hospital. it should make 8000 beds,

1200 ventilators and thousands of staff available to the nhs. they will be needed in the weeks to come. dominic hughes, bbc news. the government's once again urging people to follow its advice to help stop the spread of the disease after ordering pubs, clubs and leisure facilities to close. phil norton is in york for us. are people listening? it looks pretty quiet there? yes, any other saturday night and this would be a very busy scene. people heading home from the shops after they close here in york city centre. people heading into york city centre for a night out. but the restaurants and bars are closed. but driving here from hull, the traffic out of hull seemed like any other saturday. there have been concerns raised about the number of people heading to the east coast, bridlington and skegness are said to have been taxed. it has prompted an urgent

appealfrom the taxed. it has prompted an urgent appeal from the lincolnshire taxed. it has prompted an urgent appealfrom the lincolnshire police and crime commissioner on twitter. he says it is for —— time for eve ryo ne he says it is for —— time for everyone to be responsible or made to be. we cannot face thousands of extra visitors on top of the residence we have got to support. thank you. meanwhile, the government is stressing that there is more than enough food to go round and people have no need to stockpile. the environment and food secretary, george eustice, said people should think of others, especially health workers who need to shop at the end of their gruelling shifts. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley has this report. it isa it is a site many others have got used to over the last few days. queues of shoppers in sidcup, people waiting to stock up on food and supplies. another familiar scene inside, empty shelves, which have meant some of us haven't been able to get the essentials. so this afternoon, a plea from the government, don't buy more than you

need. be responsible when you go shopping and think of others. buying more than you need means that others may be left without and it is making life more difficult for those front line workers such as doctors and nurses and nhs support staff who are working so hard in such difficult circumstances. you just need to stop it. people like dawn, the critical ca re nurse it. people like dawn, the critical care nurse who found shelves empty after 48 hours of work. we should all be a that has to happen, it is unacceptable. these are the very people we will all need to look after perhaps us or our loved ones in the weeks ahead. there is thought to be £1 billion more food in people's houses now compared to three weeks ago. the reasons though, aren't always simple. my mum is 90 so she cannot come on her own, so how does it work? when i come i look like i am the person who is taking the stuff from the old people, when my mum cannot come out to get it.

chaotic and a bit strange. come here and there is nothing available. although the supermarket shelves may look empty, the message from industry chiefs is there is enough to go round. there is plenty of food in the supply chain, the issue is around people and lorries. so getting the food right into the front line onto our shelves, which is why we have seen shortages in some areas. the government has relaxed some rules for supermarkets. many of the pleas that have been made so far has fallen on deaf ears. as the government prepared to intervene at some point and perhaps introduce compulsory limits on what people can buy? i don't think it is necessary or appropriate for the government to take this different stores in different items working together to identify what an appropriate limit is. for now, the please continue, but the question is

whether they are enough. nick eardley, bbc news. in business, a number of retailers, including top shop and john lewis, have announced they're temporarily shutting their high street stores although they will still trade online. and with all eyes on the government on how it will support business through the current crisis, one minister has admitted it is operationally difficult to help self—employed people. they are not eligible for the scheme announced yesterday which will see the government pay 80% of wages of retained staff up to £2,500 per month. with me is our business correspondent, katy austin. and this is a source of understandable concern? it is. the chancellor has had to ring his response quickly to prevent an economic catastrophe. yesterday's measures were broadly welcomed as job saving. self—employed people are worried, think about musicians and driving instructors, a lot of them are not making money at the moment, or very little but they are not eligible for the wage subsidy

scheme. groups representing them say their income has fallen off a cliff and they should get the same support as anyone else. instead, they are having to rely on benefits, which are being increased to higher rates. the secretary to the treasury said there are the deferral of tax payments, payment holidays for mortgage payers and banks to be fore bearers and strengthening the safety net but there is a lot of pressure to go further to protect those livelihoods and all that goes with it. thank you. let's take a look at what is happening elsewhere. in spain, there's been a big rise in the number of coronavirus—related deaths, up by a third in a day. more than 1,320 people have now died there, behind only iran, china and italy. 400 british tourists are at risk of being stranded in peru after the government there said its borders would be sealed tomorrow — with no more planes allowed in or out.

the foreign secretary dominic raab says he's asking peruvian authorities to lift restrictions so rescue flights could bring people home. in italy nearly 800 people have died within the last 24 hours, bringing the total of deaths there to 4,825. a lockdown to limit the spread has been in place for weeks. now tougher measures have been introduced, which stop people visiting parks, playgrounds or public gardens. sima kotecha reports from rome. no children, just empty playgrounds in rome's largest park. even tougher rules coming into force today say people cannot go into them to try to curb the outbreak. here for several weeks, schools have already been close. the only noises that you can hear are the bells, you know, the church bells. which is nice. but the other noise is the ambulances. the only two noises here. the worst

affected region, teachers say some children felt lost without personal contact but virtual lessons are helping. the reality has been taken away from them. being able to lead the reality through a computer has been particularly important. how do you feel about the coronavirus? some's down? 0ne you feel about the coronavirus? some's down? one parent in rome tells us she is worried about the psychological impact of the outbreak will have on the young. he is having nightmares. he is having nightmares? yes, i don't know if it is connected but he is having nightmares about spiders most nights. he said he is not worried because he is brave. you are brave, you seem very brave and you look very brave. nobody has

lived through times like this before. the spaces may be smaller, but as ever, everybody is learning to adapt. sima kotecha, bbc news, rome. and you can keep up with the latest developments about the coronavirus outbreak, on the bbc news app and on our website. we're back with the late news at tennow on bbc one it's time for the news where you are. goodbye.

hello, this is bbc news. tributes have been paid to the country singer, kenny rogers, who has died aged 81. best known for hits such as coward of the county and the gambler, he had 20 number ones in the us country charts. david silltoe has more # baby when i met you, there was peace unknown. # i set out to get you with a fine tooth comb. # i was soft inside. # there was something... my mom said it very well one day. she said, "that boy never worked a day in his life. "all he ever did was sing." he'd grown up in houston, one of eight children in a poor family in the city's housing projects.

# there are people leading people... he'd started out singing close harmony and then turned to jazz. this is him playing bass. after that came folk... # ifound my mind in a brown paper bag... but his breakthrough was ‘60s psychedelia in the band the first edition. # i tripped on a cloud... but the future was a country—tinged song of theirs about a korean veteran. when the band folded... # ruby... ..kenny rogers went solo. # don't take your love to town... # you've got to know when to hold them... ruby, lucille, coward of the county, the gambler — few country stars have crossed over with such success. # there'll be time enough for counting. # when the dealing's done... there were always those who doubted his country credentials, but who needs the purists when you've got the mansion? 0ffstage, he'd had five marriages, a serious tennis habit,

an interior design firm... # it's kenny rogers' roasters! ..and a chain of chicken restaurants. # islands in the stream. # that is what we are. # no one in between. # how can we be wrong?...# but, really, it was all about the music. from jazz and folk to the country duet that topped them all. # from one lover to another, ah—ha # now it's time for your questions answered here on bbc news. a little earlier my colleague geeta guru—murthy put your questions about the coronavirus pandemic — as well as the impact on health services to a london based gp and clinician.

many thanks to you forjoining us, lots of questions coming in, if i could start with one for someone who asksis could start with one for someone who asks is a mask helpful in preventing coronavirus? well, masks, there are different types of masks, that is the first thing to say, the kind that are commonly available, simple surgical masks is what i would call them, they certainly help if someone is coughing and someone in other words has coronavirus, if they were to wear that, they would at least prevent the droplets that might otherwise disperse when they cough from reaching as far if you like. what they won't do is prevent the

finer aerosol spreads or at least to a much lesser extent, importantly, it doesn't really go very far in terms of helping someone acquire kobe 19, so if you are trying to stop yourself getting it, then actually, the suggestion is that it ends up quite possibly being counter—productive because what happens is, it is irritating, it makes you sweaty, it itches, people then end up touching their face and touching the areas that actually it is inadvisable to do, so the advice is inadvisable to do, so the advice is we don't want anybody, if they can help it, touching anything from the neck up is what i say. and, masks can have the opposite effect. and ijust asked, before you get symptoms of coughing, if you don't know you have got it, if you are wearing a mask, would it stop you breathing out some of the virus in

your breath, or are you saying it doesn't? i think it probably would, like i say, it will prevent bigger droplets but it won't go all the way because the spread of coronavirus is what we refer to as droplets and aerosol spreads, and from contact with the actual bodily fluids, and so whilst the bigger droplets might be prevented from a mask or from a cloth over your mouth, it is not going to stop the finer particles and finer airborne stuff that would come through the mask. writes, 0k. let's move onto another question from leila ahmed who says am 19 and quite severely asthmatic, if i contracted coronavirus, what are the chances it would kill me? firstly to say, there are many elements to that question, the anxiety about whether coronavirus will kill you is

obviously is going to be quite worrying for you, i think the thing to say is that you are 19, that is in yourfavour, to say is that you are 19, that is in your favour, the fact that you have asthma and if you are affected quite severely by it, that is going to, that does unfortunately make you, put you in a high—risk group. i can't answer that question about how likely that is to have a particular effect on an individual patient, we never do but not least because i don't have the full picture and whatever else your situation might be, and of course, this whole thing with kobe 19 is that there are so many factors going on which we are just learning about so the health system that somebody is in will make a big difference about how they will be treated if they do get it and the supportive measures they receive such that then they can pull through it even if they get a severe form of

covert 19. here in the uk, assuming that we don't reach such a saturation point is that we don't have info tens of care beds to treat people and then i would hope that all the support is there to have a good outcome, but further than that, obviously nobody can predict individual outcomes. i can only reassure you that the most important thing you can do is listen to that advice in terms of stopping yourself getting it, keeping safe, staying within the social distancing measures and indeed if you are isolating, if you are that worried and in that at—risk group. isolating, if you are that worried and in that at-risk group. just important to check if i may, anybody who is young, nobody can guarantee that they are not going to be hit by this can they, in a severe way, even if they don't have known underlying conditions, there is no guarantee? that is a very good point because

there is no room for complacency in this, it is very clear that this condition adversely affects older people and people with underlying health conditions, it can potentially affect anybody and there are other subtle factors, if people are other subtle factors, if people are exhausted, we know that health ca re are exhausted, we know that health care workers have been affected by the virus in a way that is disproportionate to the other risk factors of age and underlying health conditions, and we don't fully know but it is a combination of factors, probably the level of viral exposure, so if you are in contact with someone who is coughing a lot and throwing out a lot of the virus, if it is a heavy load, then that might affect whoever the recipient is on the extent to which they get it but also, the fact that a lot of these health care workers have been

in very difficult circumstances in terms of how hard they have been pushing themselves and their immune systems and actually, similar could apply to a young person who is badly hung over or is exhausted for example, so young people, there is no room for complacency here really, anybody should be on their guard and taking all the advice very seriously. immunity and staying well is as important as possible. stacy melling says i am 32 weeks pregnant andi melling says i am 32 weeks pregnant and i am in self isolation is my son had high temperature, please advise ifi had high temperature, please advise if i should be going back to work after 14 days or whether i should just self isolating. so, she is 32 weeks pregnant. there are several elements, she has mentioned her son who has had a fever and i'm assuming he isa who has had a fever and i'm assuming he is a child so obviously a child with a fever, there are many explanations for the fever, and i

think it is not unreasonable to seek medical advice, gps are taking phone calls to advise people on the likely cause of a fever, it is probably important to establish what her son has got but let us assume that if it isa mild has got but let us assume that if it is a mild form of covid—19, she should be following the 14 day self isolation given that she has been in close contact with him, that certainly applies, the other half of the question is the fact that she is pregnant and is then concerned about exposing herself further when she goes back to work. now, the guidance, as she properly realises when asking that question is that pregnant women are in the high—risk group and so at this point, she should be self isolating anyway.

group and so at this point, she should be self isolating anywaylj just should be self isolating anyway.” just want to try and squeeze into more questions, another one is, have all urgent cancer operations been put on hold due to the virus?” don't think so, medical care is going on for all urgent conditions that people need treating for and, to my knowledge, urgent operations have not been cancelled, it is routine operations that have been cancelled because, in the event that somebody may need to get an intensive care bed, we don't want to unnecessarily, we could prevent it, if it is a routine operation, those are the ones a bit to have been cancelled. quite a few questions coming in on funerals. here we have a question, my daughter's funeral is due to take place next week, what are the restrictions on numbers and those travelling? firstly, my

condolences, obviously this is a very difficult time because in the bereavement process, the support that we get from friends and family are so important. but, at this point there are two directions really with all of this that we need to think about and that is for any given individual, what risk they want to expose themselves to and the other way is that for any given individual who may be in the asymptomatic phase of the infection already or have mild symptoms and don't realise it yet, what is the danger that they will pass it other people? and so any congregation of people, to my knowledge there is no lockdown from the government, forbidding bylaw yet, but the advice is clear that if we come in close contact with lots of people, then we are exposing ourselves and we are exposing them.

understood, i just want to squeeze ina understood, i just want to squeeze in a last question there. joanna asks, if you and your love ones isolate for seven days, is it safe tojump ona isolate for seven days, is it safe tojump on a car and see each other? there are so many other factors attached to that question, technically i suppose it would be 14 days, assuming that they were com pletely days, assuming that they were completely on their own because within seven days they may still be in that stage where they haven't yet ma nifested in that stage where they haven't yet manifested any symptoms, it is a lot to do with the age, the likelihood that if they did get it, if they we re that if they did get it, if they were carrying it, whether they would wa nt to were carrying it, whether they would want to pass it on to someone else, so there are many unknowns to that. ultimately, any contact means an increased risk of acquisition or transmission. thank you so much for going through those questions, we're so grateful for your going through those questions, we're so gratefulfor your time going through those questions, we're so grateful for your time today.

for the north west in particular, some very wet and windy weather. gail is due in for the start of the week and we could have as much as three orfour week and we could have as much as three or four inches of rain for parts of highland and island scotland. for elsewhere, for most of us, should be dry weather with plenty of sunshine but we will pay with some frosty nights. hopefully however, we will lose the chilly wind in the next 24 hours, that has been quite key today limiting temperatures, particularly in the east coast, bearing in mind the north sea is at its coldest. as a result, we will pick up some and fret for eastern parts of england and scotland, we still have a week where the front, perhaps giving us a bit of drizzle and rain here and preventing a frost but for most, it

isa preventing a frost but for most, it is a cold night again, a widely frosty night, —50 minus six degrees in the glens of scotland under that ridge of high pressure. through the coast of sunday, that slips a little bit further south as we replace our easterly winds for south easterly winds, it will feel like winter first thing in the morning with the frost. hopefully, that low cloud near the east coast will lift and break through the data reveal sunshine, more sunshine for north—east scotland today and for northern ireland and our weather front is moving away for a time from the northern and western islands and more sunshine and less wind equates to it feeling a little bit warmer if you are out. 0vernight so tomorrow, and into monday, it turns bitter again, very little cloud to prevent the temperatures plummeting, widespread frost on monday morning, a sharp frost in the glens of scotland, —6 minus seven degrees, the nights are still quite long despite having gone through the spring equinox. a little bit of

frost around, increasing amounts of mist and fog as we lose those winds over the mornings into the start of the week, by monday we can see that rain is arriving for the highlands and islands, coupled with a strong gale force wind, a very different day here, but that the vast majority, lots of dry weather. we will see more cloud coming in over northern and eventually some rain works its way over these parts by midweek.

this is bbc news. the headlines: more beds, ventilators and thousands of extra staff will be made available from next week, after a deal between nhs england and the nation's independent hospitals. another 53 people with coronavirus have died in england, bringing the total of deaths in the country to 220. the death toll in italy has seen another dramatic rise — 793 people have died in the last 24 hours from coronavirus. it's by far the worst single—day total worldwide since the pandemic began. in spain, there's been a big rise in the number of coronavirus—related deaths — an increase of more than 300 people,