this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: in italy, coronavirus kills nearly 800 people in a single day — the highest total anywhere in the world since the outbreak began. nobody was prepared for a tragedy of this magnitude. in spain, there's been a big rise too — an increase of more than 300 people, bringing the total number of deaths there to more than 1,300. in the uk, the prime minister urges everyone to follow guidance to stay at home, to protect the nhs and save lives. the death toll rises by 56, bringing the total number of dead to 233.

hello and welcome to bbc news. the coronavirus pandemic has now infected more than 300,000 around the world. in italy, nearly 800 people have died within the past 2a hours from the virus, by far the worst single day total worldwide since the pandemic began. and it brings the total number of deaths in italy up 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. as we heard there, tougher measures have been introduced in italy, which stop people visiting parks, playgrounds or public gardens. let's go to the capital, rome, where our correspondent sima kotecha reports. 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 actually 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? yeah! 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, though. 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.

you're 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. irene tinagli is an mep for north—west italy, representing the lombardy region, which has been worst hit by the coronavirus. she's been in quarantine for the past three weeks and spoke to us earlier. nobody was prepared for a tragedy of this magnitude. people thought it would be a bad virus, obviously worse than the flu, but nobody expected this kind of death toll, so now many people are starting to get really scared. the streets are completely deserted. of course there are people in line for groceries

sometimes, but the situation is obviously very serious, although the towns who were quarantined first, in those areas, the contagion has stopped, so this is a good sign that may be in a week or so, even in the area that right now is most affected, it could be decreasing, so that is what we all hope. lets go from italy to spain now. in spain, the number of deaths from the virus has jumped by a third in a day, to more than 1,300, behind only iran, china and italy. madrid has been particularly badly hit and hospitals there are struggling to cope. spain's prime minister, pedro sanchez, has praised the country's response to the crisis, one week into the state of emergency. but he underlined the importance of people continuing to stay at home, warning that the coming days would be extremely challenging. translation: unfortunately,

the worst is yet to come. hard days are ahead of us. we're yet to suffer the impact of the worst wave, the most harmful, that will push our material and moral capacities to the limit. also, our attitudes as a society. here in the uk, borisjohnson has issued a fresh warning 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 disease. he has urged everyone in the uk to follow official 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. health officials say 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's going to be ppe, enough for all of us 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. and 132 patients needed a ventilation machine to help them breathe. 16 patients sadly died. 17 were able to be 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. it 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. let's ta ke let's take a look at how the pandemic is affecting different parts of the world. turkey has imposed a curfew for its senior citizens and banned restaurants from serving at tables, as the death toll from coronavirus more than doubled from nine to 21 injust 2a hours. the number of confirmed cases is fast approaching 1,000

there. the french health minister has appealed to the public to hand over protective masks so they can be used by health workers, as hospitals in the country face more and more cases of coronavirus. he said there's no need to wear masks while shopping. health workers in france have criticised supply shortages. brazil's largest state, sao paulo, is closing down for two weeks from tuesday to help fight coronavirus. all non—essential businesses and services, including bars and restaurants, will shut. the state is home to around 46 million people and is brazil's business, industrial and financial powerhouse. there are more than a thousand cases of the virus in the country. 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 19,000 people. meanwhile, 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. on friday, 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, quote, "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 our signing of 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 way, way since january, and we could have been prepared. so instead of a wall 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 immigration courses and pay 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. so that's 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're 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 unsanitary 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 again fulfil... the immigration advisor‘s view of the closing of the borders, and this is another excuse, exploiting a biological crisis to seal our borders. but — sorry to interrupt. borders around the world are being closed off, flights are not flying, health authorities around 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, when someone is fearing death, that is essential for those rights to be protected. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: # islands in the stream. # that is what we are... the music world pays tribute to american country legend, kenny rogers, who's died at the age of 81. let there be no more war or bloodshed between arabs and israelis.

with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa should be excluded from the 1970 competition. chants streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. onlooker: wow! this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the death toll in italy has seen another dramatic rise — nearly 800 people have died in the last 2a hours from coronavirus, the highest total anywhere in the world since

the outbreak began. in spain there's also been a big rise in the death toll — an increase of more than 300 people, bringing the total number of deaths there to more than 1,300. authorities in the chinese city of wuhan have begun removing some of the checkpoints installed to enforce a strict lockdown since january in an effort to halt the spread of coronavirus. the checkpoints started coming down after no new cases of the virus were recorded for a third straight day. other parts of china are also easing restrictions as stephen mcdonell reports from beijing. countries around the world are going through a coronavirus emergency. but in china people

have been living at four months. now, with the weather turning good, and a feeling that the situation is pretty much under control, more and more of them are busting out of their houses. when you talk to people here, one thing that strikes you is that, for many of them, despite the early bungles, despite the early cover—ups, there seems to bea

early cover—ups, there seems to be a belief that once the national government got involved that the authorities would find a way through this crisis. and elsewhere in the world, uganda has recorded its first case of coronavirus. all inbound passenger flights and cross—border travel have been suspended. eritrea and angola have also reported their first infections bolivia is postponing may's presidential elections because of a countrywide quarantine beginning on sunday. the electoral authorities said they would suspend the vote for two weeks to match the quarantine but did not set a new date. in peru, the government has ordered the main international airport in lima to close on sunday, frustrating plans by the spanish government to repatriate hundreds of spanish travellers. social distancing measures mean limited attendance at funerals to only close family members. but one community in the west of ireland found another way to pay their respects to a grieving family, in west kerry, people came out to line the two—kilometre stretch to the cemetery as the hearse passed by,

observing social distancing rules. cases of coronavirus in ireland have climbed by more than a hundred to 785 and three people have died of the illness. in australia, the authorities have closed sydney's famous bondi beach. police took action after beach—goers exceeded the newly—imposed limit on outdoor mass gatherings. australia has just recorded its biggest daily jump in confirmed coronavirus cases, with the total now above 1,000. shaun hassett has more. this was bondi beach on friday. it's the most popular strip of sand in sydney. too popular, in fact, for the current crisis. on saturday, the authorities closed it down. it's with a significant level of disappointment that we have to move today to not only remove people from bondi beach, but use this as an opportunity to remind everybody that the health act

must be complied with. large crowds of people flouted the restrictions brought in earlier this week. the australian government has banned outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people. it's also requested people to keep at least four square metres apart when out in public. what we saw this morning here on bondi beach was the most irresponsible behaviour of individuals that we've seen so far. some beach—goers admitted they were trying to squeeze in one last swim. i think this is a last hurrah, to be quite honest. i think that from tomorrow this will definitely... i mean, we shouldn't be doing it now. officials say this closure will be temporary. when the beach reopens, police and lifesavers will work to make sure the 500 person limit is respected. but the government has warned of long—term closures if people don't practice responsible social distancing. and that applies to more than just beaches.

the prime minister has flagged the possibility of locking down virus hotspots as early as next week. shaun hassett, 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 sillitoe 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... # i found 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 designfirm... # 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. # kenny rogers, who has died at the age of 81. international hotelier, sol kerzner, has died at the age of 8a. the south african founder of sun international came to prominence when he established the controversial sun city resort in bophutatswana. famous for his hotels in the bahamas, mauritius, south africa and dubai, kerzner organised the vip function for president nelson mandela's inauguration in 1994 and received a high honour from the queen in 2010.

that is it from me. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones. this is bbc news. hello there. there is a lot of fight and settled whether in the forecast right across the country. but we will see subtle changes in the north—west as high pressure hold on for most of us, this weather front will encroach into bring more cloud, outbreaks of rain to the north—west and also fairly strong winds. the rainfall amounts really could mount up here as we move into next week. but for most of us is going to be settled, thanks to that area of high pressure. so drier most with a good deal of sunshine around. we will continue to have a chilly winter, certainly over the next few days and nights will be cold with some frost around. now, as we head into the early part of sunday, looks like we could see some low cloud just rolling in of the north sea into the north—east of england and into is in scotland, a bit more

cloud for the west of scotland as well. further south, though, the skies. it's going to be a chilly one and we will see a touch of frost in places, particularly through central, northern areas. now, the cool air mass is still with us as we head through sunday, being brought in on an easter south—easterly wind. so there will be a bit of a chill to the erikin. it will be a chilly start generally across the board, but we should see that low cloud across the east coast drift northwards and clear away. then we should cease more sunshine through the day for northern ireland and much of scotland. by the afternoon most of us seeing some sunshine, with fewer cloud around. the wind still a feature, but not as strong as they were on saturday. so i think, with the sunshine, and slightly lighter winds, it shouldn't feel too bad if you are out in the breeze the top temperatures 11— 12 degrees. cool across southern and eastern coast. as we had through sunday night, with another cold one under clear skies. that weather front sta rts clear skies. that weather front starts to close into the north—west of scotland. so here less cloud —— cold that it will

be further south. it could be quite a cold night through sunday night. for monday with start off with quite a bit of frost around, at least clear skies with plenty of sunshine. so that will compensate for the cold starts. winds a little bit later, coming in from the south—east. for the north—west, turns cloudy, outbreaks of rain for the hebrides and into the northern isles as that weather front loiters there. but elsewhere, in the sunshine, not feeling too bad, with light winds,10— feeling too bad, with light winds, 10— 11— 12 degrees. tuesday can be weather front introducing more cloud to scotla nd introducing more cloud to scotland and northern ireland and the rainfall starting to mount up in the north—west corner. some of it heavy at times. notice the temperature isa times. notice the temperature is a little bit higher as well, 13-14 is a little bit higher as well, 13— 1a degrees through tuesday. feeling that little bit milder as we lose the cold air from the east. so it stays generally fine and dry through the week across england and wales, a bit more cloud to the north and west.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the death toll in italy has seen another dramatic rise, due to coronavirus. nearly 800 people have died in the last 2a hours, by far the worst single—day total worldwide since the pandemic began. the covid—19 pandemic has now infected more than 300,00 around the world. there's been a dramatic rise in the number of deaths in spain too — an increase of more than 300 — bringing the total to more than 1,300. spain's prime minister has underlined the importance of people continuing to confine themselves to their homes. in the uk the prime minister urges everyone to follow guidance to stay at home, to protect the nhs and save lives. he also warned that the coronavirus outbreak is "accelerating". the uk death toll has risen by 56 — bringing the total number of dead to 233.