to follow guidance to stay at home, to protect the nhs and save lives. he warns the country is only two to three weeks behind italy — where almost 800 people have died in the past 2a hours. it comes as the nhs has struck an unprecedented deal with england's private hospitals to secure thousands more beds, ventiliators and staff. but there are still concerns that people are failing to heed official advice to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. this is the time in your lifetime whereby your action will save somebody‘s life,

it's as simple and as stark as that. there's an appeal to stop panic buying with the reassurance "there is more than enough food to go round". and in china people start heading out for the first time — good evening, this is the bbc news at ten. borisjohnson has issued a fresh warning tonight that coronavirus will overwhelm the nhs unless everyone starts to practise "social distancing" — and that the uk was no more than three weeks behind italy when it comes to the spread of the disease. he has urged everyone in the uk

to follow offiical guidance to stay at home to save lives. it comes as the nhs 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 1200 more ventilators, and 700 doctors. news of the deal came hours before health officials announced that a further 56 people have died in the uk after testing positive bringing the total here to 233. with the latest here's dominic hughes. tonight, a stark warning from the prime minister, the nhs is at real risk of being overwhelmed by the coronavirus. borisjohnson warns we are just two or three weeks behind italy and the virus is accelerating. but, some good news, too, in what looks like a really significant deal with private

hospitals — 8,000 beds, 1,200 ventilators and thousands of staff will be made available at cost to the nhs. this is fantastic news. it will really help me and my colleagues on the front line to feel supported and to have the capacity in the hospital to admit the sickest patients to give them the care they need. my only concern about this is ppe, visors, masks, gowns. we know we've had some shortages in the nhs recently and i would like to see assurances that the new staff who are coming on board are going to be protected and that there will be enough for everyone to use. medical staff are still extremely concerned over access to adequate protective clothing. the government says enough of the right kit is available. meanwhile, on the first day of what is meant to be something close to lockdown and strict social distancing, in the centre of newcastle, some people were 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 life. this is the time in your lifetime

whereby your action will save somebody‘s life. it's as simple and as stark as that. a picture of those who are being admitted to critical care units after falling ill to the virus is beginning to emerge. data was collected on 196 patients in england, wales and northern ireland. more than half of them were being looked after by hospitals in london. there's a significant difference between women and men. more than two thirds were male. 132 patients needed a ventilation machine to help them breathe. 16 patients sadly died. 17 were discharged to regular hospital wards. the rest remained in intensive care. there is now real concern about the number of cases that are presenting in london, but also a small but significant cluster in birmingham and the west midlands, but the truth is, this virus is spreading throughout the country. here in salford, the deaths of two patients were announced yesterday. later this week 1.5 million vulnerable people,

including some cancer patients and those with lung conditions, will receive a letter which will strongly advise them to stay indoors for the next 12 weeks from monday, to shield themselves from the virus, all part of the effort to make sure that the nhs is not overwhelmed in the months ahead. dominic hughes, bbc news. so, the government stressing just how crucial it is to follow official advice to help reduce the spread of the disease. phillip norton is in york for us. how have people been responding? have a look here, this is york city centre and at this time of night on a saturday it would normally be thriving with people out enjoying nights out and there would be the sound of music from pubs in the area but it is almost silent. this scene is being repeated across the country in towns and cities with bars and restau ra nts in towns and cities with bars and restaurants closed. the only people we have seen around here in the city

centre are takeaway delivery drivers who are helping businesses as they adapt to the shutdown but there are concerns about the number of people who ignored the advice and went for a day out today, we have had reports of seaside resorts around the country reporting almost bank holiday light conditions including brighton, bridlington and skegness. tonight warnings on the mountain rescue teams in wales where there have been reports that snowden was full of people out climbing. the national trust has said it will be closing its parks and gardens from midnight but clearly growing concerns and growing calls for more tourist destinations too close to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. thanks forjoining us. meanwhile, the government says 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 needed to shop at the end

of their gruelling shifts. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley has this report. an unprecedented crisis and challenge for the government, the prime minister continued to urge eve ryo ne prime minister continued to urge everyone to follow advice, warning of the consequences of people do not act together to try and stop the spread. ministers are trying to prevent things getting worse in other ways. in shops, prevent things getting worse in otherways. in shops, long prevent things getting worse in other ways. in shops, long queues like this one in sidcup this morning, have become a familiar sight. inside, empty shelves are common, so sight. inside, empty shelves are common, so this afternoon a plea from the government, don't buy more than you need. be responsible when you shop 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 care nurse who found shelves empty after 48 hours of work. we should all be ashamed that 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's 90 so she cannot come on her own, so how does it work? when i come i look like i'm the person who is nicking the stuff from the old people, when, actually, my mum can't come out to get it. so i've just got her stuff. a bit chaotic and a bit strange. come here and there's 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 that 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, but might it have to go further? many of the pleas that have been made so far have fallen on deaf ears. is 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 dictate this, different stores on different items are working together to identify what an appropriate limit is. for now, the pleas continue, but the question is whether they are enough. nick eardley, bbc news. a number of high street firms, including top shop and john lewis, have announced they're temporarily shutting their stores, although they will still trade online. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn has said the government should do more to provide economic security for those affected, while one minister has admitted it will be operationally difficult to help self—employed people, as our business correspondent katy austin explains.

huge chunks of the economy have already felt the pain as customers stay away. jobs have already been lost. this restaurant in london has already been badly affected. then came the call to close. i have tried to treat the staff the best i can, and if the government could help with that, that would be a fantastic help. the managers want to use the new measures from the government to help reduce redundancies. the latest emergency support package for the chancellor was welcomed by

business groups is something that will save hundreds of thousands of at riskjobs but many self—employed people say they are facing a cliff edge and they need more help. at the moment one child a date so my income has gone from £200 a day to about £40 a day, a massive decrease. the association representing self—employed people would like wage subsidies extended to them, as well. that is their income, so maybe they need about 80% to make sure they can meet bills and pay for food. the chief executive to the treasury said the government was doing what is operationally deliverable in a short timescale. we are working with banks as to the forbearance so they can get through the cash flow challenge, but we are looking at flexibility to support them, as well, so a range of

measures have been set out. many businesses are trying to adapt to say this out, and more temporary store closures were announced this weekend. meanwhile, the wage grant scheme will not be available for a few weeks and a cash flow crunch looms for the worst hit firms. katy austin, bbc news. we can return to the top story. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley is in westminster for us. an extraordinary week with some of the most extraordinary interventions in modern british political history but the message from number ten tonight is still stark. the prime minister telling the country that the uk at the moment is just two or three weeks behind italy. urging eve ryo ne three weeks behind italy. urging everyone to follow the advice saying without a huge national effort to try and stop the spread of this virus, the nhs here could well be overwhelmed. in the next few days

the government will urge 1.5 million people in england alone to stay—at—home for 12 weeks to protect themselves from the virus, the list of whom they think is the most vulnerable will be published soon. an extraordinary period in british political history and the prime minister has said people should stay—at—home to literally help save thousands of lives. nick, thanks for joining us. 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 in the worst hit area of lombardy, with the regional president announcing that from tomorrow all sport and physical activity outside, even on your own, will be banned. sima kotecha is in rome for us tonight. more alarming figures coming out of

italy and further stringent measures will be enforced tomorrow in the worst affected areas. the hospitals in the north are suffering the most with some running out of ventilators and face masks and the children here are also feeling the impact of this outbreak as well. no children, just empty playgrounds in rome's largest park. even tougher rules that have come into force today say people cannot go into them to try to curb the outbreak. here, for several weeks, schools have already been closed. 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. that's the only two noises that you hear. in lombardy, the worst affected region, teachers say some children felt lost without social contact, but virtual lessons are helping. to begin with they were scared, i think.

their reality had been taken away from them. being able to deliver reality through a computer, even if it's on a completely different scale, has been particularly important. from tomorrow, people in lombardy will no longer be able to exercise, even on their own in open spaces. as part of the message aimed at slowing down the spread of the virus, all vending machines will also be banned. 0relio, how do you feel about the coronavirus? thumbs down? thumbs down! one parent in rome tells us she's worried about the psychological impact the outbreak will have on the young. he's having nightmares. he's having nightmares? yeah, i don't know if it is connected but he's having nightmares about spiders most nights. he said he's not worried because he's brave. well, that's fantastic. 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. the number of deaths from coronavirus in spain hasjumped to 1,326 in the country's biggest one—day rise so far. it overtook iran as the world's third worst coronavirus—stricken country yesterday, after china and italy. the number of registered cases in the country has risen to nearly 25,000. the us athletics governing body has added to the growing number of calls for this summer's 0lympics in tokyo to be postponed because of the coronavirus. the federation's chief executive said in a letter that holding the games in the current global situation would not be in the best interest of athletes. the husband of a british woman who died after testing positive for the coronavirus whilst

on holiday in bali, has spoken for the first time of the devastation of his loss. kimberley finlayson who was 52, had underlying health conditions and had undergone two emergency operations in an indonesian government hospital. mr finlayson said perhaps the outcome for his wife might have been different if she had been treated in the uk. 0ur correspondent, jeremy cooke reports. myself and my four children are absolutely devastated to lose the most beautiful wife and mother. she's so generous, she's so full of life, she's so powerful and courageous, supportive of all of us. i've lost half of myself. in the holiday hotel room in bali he should be sharing with his wife, ken finlayson is alone, grieving. she actually booked this hotel, but she never managed to get here. 52—year—old kimberley fell ill soon after arriving from the uk. she had diabetes, but had

been in good health. this phrase "underlying health issues" has come into our language over the past, the really difficult past ten days or so. the irony of that phrase, to me, is that i don't know many people in their 50s that haven't received medication, haven't had some health issues. ken is warning other british travellers that health care in less—developed countries is not the same as back home. he watched kimberley die in a government hospital, during surgery. she said that she loved me... and... you know, we... ..exchanged that for a few minutes. and, you know, looked into one another‘s eyes.

you know, so we had that time to do that and i'm at peace, in that sense, and hopefully kimberley is. even in his grief, ken's thoughts are with other british families who may also lose loved ones to covid—19. you need to be strong for yourfamily and the memory of your loved one who died in such tragic circumstances. ken has tested negative for the virus, but is still unable to get back to the uk. his strength comes from his family and from the memory of the wife whose life he shared for 32 years. my wife was the most incredibly generous, loving... ..mum. ken finlayson ending that report from our correspondent, jeremy cooke. the authorities in the chinese city

of wuhan have removed some of the checkpoints installed to enforce a strict lockdown since january in an effort to halt the spread of coronavirus. the move was prompted as no new cases of the virus were recorded for a third straight day. other parts of china are also easing restrictions. the good weather saw people heading out for the first time to enjoy the parks in beijing. you can keep up with the latest developments about the coronavirus outbreak, on the bbc news app and on our website. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. that's all from me. goodnight. good evening.

let's return now to italy, where nearly 800 people have died within the past 24 hours from the virus. it's by far the worst single—day total worldwide since the pandemic began. and it brings the total number of deaths in italy to 4,825. bbc world service europe editor danny aberhard reports. the figures are frightening. on average, one coronavirus patient is dying in italy every two minutes. that's despite nearly two weeks of lockdown in the worst affected regions. the northern region of lombardy is especially hard hit, including one of its cities, bergamo. military lorries have had to help transport its dead to cemeteries and crematoria elsewhere. the head of the department of medicine at bergamo's main hospital, stefano fagiuoli, told the bbc there was no medical solution to the emergency. isolation is absolutely

necessary to try to reduce the burden of this emergency. and there is no sanitary system able to face this situation. the issue is the compression in a very short time of a huge number of people having the same identical problem — that is the real challenge. italy has brought in new restrictions, including closing all parks and stopping people from going to holiday homes. its prime minister, giuseppe conte, has indicated he might tighten measures still further. in the meantime, there's been one ray of light — the authorities put out an emergency appeal to recruit 300 doctors to help embattled regions. by the time the deadline expired, well over ten times that number had volunteered to help. mr conte described them as heroes in white coats. in the us, a number of states have ordered shutdowns with one in five americans soon set to be under

a stay—at—home order. the virus has claimed almost 280 lives there and infected more than 19,500 people. and president trump says the us has agreed new measures with the leaders of canada and mexico to control non—essential travel across its northern and southern borders. we've also reached agreements with canada and mexico on new travel rules at our northern and southern borders to halt the entry of the chinese virus while continuing trade and commerce, and we've had very good talks with prime minister trudeau and, this morning, with president lopez 0brador. we talked aboutjoint measures that were taken to prevent the spread of the virus in our countries and to temporarily suspend non—essential travel. we had a great conversation this morning with the president of mexico, and our close cooperation with mexico and canada will keep our people healthy,

keep their people healthy, keep everybody safe. yesterday, president trump said he was barring all migrants illegally crossing the border with mexico from entering the us. he also said the border would be sealed off "mostly, but even beyond, this global pandemic". the emergency measures have left migrants within the country's borders in an uncertain state. the immigration attorney cesar vargas spoke to me from new york and explained what impact the changes would have. the changes will be so detrimental to so many immigrants who are escaping violence, persecution, sexual assault and just violence that many people are travelling thousands of miles just to get the us, so we understand this is an emergency, we understand the need to protect our people from this coronavirus, but we also need to respect international treaties to protect people. the us has international

obligations to allow people who are fearing persecution to still make their case, and this is where we are at at this moment. the government knew about this since january, and we could have been prepared. so instead of a war and spending billions of dollars to create something that does nothing to protect the american people, we should have been really preparing to keep centres clean to ensure that we create more staff to process claims. at the very least, this is nothing more than the trump administration's effort to fulfil a restricted immigration policy and at best we will have people who will be put in places where they will be much more susceptible to this virus and other diseases. that is what i want to drill down on here, is the fear of people who are intercepted and the conditions they are kept in, or is this a case of you are worrying their legal

protections will not be fulfilled? both. there are people whose rights to get a claim for asylum to make their case will be restricted, and second, let's remember how this disease is spreading. this is spreading because there are un—sanitary conditions, people who are not maintaining social distancing, and when you leave people in a place, whether in mexico or their home country, these are people who will already be susceptible because of the dirty conditions, unsanitary conditions, and this is not about sanitary conditions, this is about immigration policy which is trying to fulfil again... the immigration advisor‘s view of the closing of the borders, and this is another excuse, exploiting a biological crisis to seal our borders. sorry to interrupt. borders around the world

are being closed off, flights are not flying, health authorities around the world the world are saying, do not travel, surely that is what president trump is implementing here? no question about that. they are limiting non—essential travel. but when someone is escaping violence and fearing death, that is essential for those rights to be protected. time for a look at the weather with helen willetts. good evening. if you've been following the weather forecast for the last couple of days, you'll know we've been talking about a lot of dry weather over the weekend, and that's certainly true and has been true today, continues tomorrow with high pressure around in fact for many this week. but for the north—west in particular, some very wet and very windy weather with gales due in for the start of the new week, and we could have as much as 3—4 inches of rain for parts of highland and island scotland in particular. but elsewhere, for most of us, there 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 keen today, limiting our temperatures particularly near the east coast. bear in mind, the north sea is at its coldest at this time of year. as a result, we'll pick up some sea haar and fret for eastern parts of england and scotland overnight. we still have our weak weather front, passing close by to the western and northern isles, perhaps giving us a little bit of drizzly rain here and preventing a frost, but for most it's a cold night again, a widely frosty night, —5, —6 in the glens of scotland under that ridge of high pressure. through the course of sunday, hopefully, as that slips further southwards, we replace our easterly winds gradually for a south—easterly. so it may not feel quite so bitter out and about if you're caught in that wind, but it will feel like winterfirst thing in the morning with that frost. now, hopefully, that low cloud near the east coast will lift and break through the day to reveal the sunshine. more sunshine for north—east scotland hopefully than today and for northern ireland, and our weather front

is moving away for a time from the northern and western isles. so more sunshine and slightly less wind hopefully equates to it feeling a little warmer if you are out. 0vernight, though, tomorrow night and into monday, it turns better again, very little cloud to prevent those temperatures from plummeting, a widespread frost as we go into monday morning, and again it'll be a sharp frost in the glens of scotland at —6, possibly —7 celsius. the nights are still quite long at the moment despite having gone through the spring equinox. a little bit of frost around, possibly increasing amounts of mist and fog as well as we lose those winds over the mornings into the start of the new week, but by monday you can see that rain's arriving for the highlands and the islands, coupled with the strong to gale force wind, so a very different day here but, for the vast majority, lots of fine and dry weather. we will see more cloud coming in across northern ireland and scotland and eventually some rain works its way to these parts as well by mid—week.