if this is bbc news, i'm ben brown. the headlines. the prime minister warns the national health service could soon be "overwhelmed" with coronavirus patients. london's mayor urges people to act responsibly. u nless unless people stay at home, unless people stop using public transport u nless people stop using public transport unless it is essential, unless people stop interacting with each other, more people will die. borisjohnson urges people to "make the heroic and collective national effort" to slow the spread of the virus. he cautions against visiting loved ones on mother's day. nhs england writes to 1.5 million people, who are most at risk, strongly advising them not to go out for 12 weeks, to protect themselves. more than a billion people in india are under a m hour—long curfew

to try to limit the epidemic. in europe, italy edges closer to complete shutdown. spain races to create more space to treat the sick after the number of deaths rises by a third. and in america one in five people are ordered to "stay at home" as state authorities struggle to control the pandemic. hello and welcome to viewers in the uk and around the world. the british prime minister boris johnson has warned the coronavirus outbreak is accelerating and could overwhelm the national health service if people don't do more to slow its spread.

he's urging people not to visit parents on mother's day, and says everyone should join what he's called a "heroic and collective national effort" to follow social distancing advice. (gfx)the number of people who've died in the uk from coronavirus has risen to 233 with more than 5,000 confirmed cases. nhs england is to write to one and a half million people most at risk, strongly advising them not to go out for the next 12 weeks. globally, the number of coronavirus—related deaths is now more than 13,000. we'll have reports from around the world over the next half an hour, but first, simonjones reports on the situation in the uk. borisjohnson says he's been forced to take measures never seen before either in peace or war. he warns that the uk is no more than three weeks behind italy when it comes to the spread of the disease, writing about the need for social distancing, he says:

if you do it, if you follow the advice, you are saving someone‘s life. this is the time in your lifetime, whereby your action will save somebody‘s life. it's as simple and stark as that. to try to convince people to stay at home, bars and restaurants are being closed. on a typical mothering sunday, places like these would have been expected to be full of people, but now some have been boarded up. borisjohnson says he understands people's strongest instinct is to visit their mother on mothering sunday but he's telling people to stay away. he says statistics show that if your mother is elderly or vulnerable, she is much more likely to die from coronavirus. in an effort to prevent the nhs from being overwhelmed, letters are being sent to the 1.5 million people most at—risk in england, advising them not to go out for 12

weeks from tomorrow, to protect themselves. they include people who've had organ transplants, have respiratory conditions such as cystic fibrosis and some cancer patients. 4,000 nurses and 500 doctors who've recently left the profession have answered a government call to return to work. but there's concern about whether some people are taking the need for social distancing seriously enough. many parks on saturday were busy. the national trust has now decided to close all its gardens. but in scotland, many flocked to glencoe to ski. i don't know what people are thinking but i think a realisation has to sink in that there's a different way of being at the moment and we're just going to have to get used to it. it makes me really angry that people have travelled into our community unnecessarily. in italy, where almost 5,000 people have died, residents in the worst—affected region, lombardy, have been banned from taking part in any sport and physical activity outside. all companies and factories across the country have been told to close immediately if their work isn't essential to

combating coronavirus. and the warning in the uk is that it too may need to introduce tougher measures in the coming weeks. simon jones, bbc news. the question on everyone‘s lips across the world is, how quickly might a vaccine be found? speaking to the andrew marr programme, dr michael ryan, executive director of the world health organization, urged caution, warning that the process could be a long one. i think we have to be realistic, taxis take a long time to —— vaccines take a long time to develop, test, prove they are effective and then you have to produce a vaccine for everybody, that's a very long process. we have to be very careful. this vaccine will be given to potentially billions of people and we have to make sure that it's absolutely safe and it does good, not harm. we are

talking at least a year. that doesn't mean that we are helpless. we can do a lot to stop this disease right now, and we can save a lot of lives right now. we will work out vaccines, they will come, but we need to get down and do what we do we need to do now. a further seven patients in wales who tested positive for coronavirus have now died, that brings the total to 12, up died, that brings the total to 12, up from five to 12, a further seven patients in wales who had tested positive for the virus have died. this is from the chief medical 0fficerfor this is from the chief medical officer for wales, doctor frank atherton, with those latest figures. bringing the uk wide death toll now to 244, it was 233. 0ur political correspondent

helen catt is here. we have been hearing, helen, from the prime minister borisjohnson, really urging people to take the government's message, to socially distance, much more seriously than many people have been taking it. he is used the opportunity of this being mother's day in the uk to issue a very stark warning to people here about needing to keep these social distancing measures, staying two metres away from people, avoiding unnecessary contact. and he has used the occasion of mother's day which, there is an emotional draw there to spend time with family and friends, to one that is the worst thing you can do, that you must stay away. —— he is warning thatis must stay away. —— he is warning that is the worst thing you can do. using very emotive language, the idea of getting us all on side, it isa idea of getting us all on side, it is a message that has been reiterated by the mayor of london this morning, siddique karen. —— siddique khan.

life has changed, we have got to do things differently now, social interaction leads to the disease spreading and people dying. don't leave your home unless you really have to, work from home. don't use public transport unless it is genuinely essential. look out for your neighbour who is elderly and vulnerable, just shop for what you need, don'tjust do it for yourself, do it to stop the disease spreading, do it to stop the disease spreading, do it to stop the disease spreading, do it for your vulnerable loved ones who will die if you don't, do it for the heroic nhs who need your help. these are extraordinary times which need and demand extraordinary measures. the stark warning on boris johnson earlier, that we were looking at the nhs being overwhelmed in capacity, the question potentially to the scale of what we are seeing in italy, in two to three weeks' time. the questions that are going to be asked, if it's so important that we observe social distancing, why isn't the government

taking some sort of enforcement action? that was put to robert jenrick earlier. today we are taking a further very significant step, the chief medical officer has identified a group of individuals across the country for specific medical reasons, underlying health conditions, who are particularly at risk of coronavirus. and we are writing to these people, around 1.5 million people, in england, and we are asking them as soon as practicable, to stay at home and do so practicable, to stay at home and do so for a prolonged period, perhaps as long as 12 weeks. that is the community secretary robertjenrick explaining why they don't want to bring in enforcement measures but he did reference what will happen for 1.5 million people in england this week, the nhs will write to them and they will be asked to stay at home for 12 weeks and that means at home, just your house and garden, not going out and doing shopping, getting your friends and family and social networks to look after you and bring things to you. that's to

protect the most vulnerable so people with particular medical conditions which mean the nhs think they would be the most likely highest risk of developing a serious illness from coronavirus. the government urging all of us to do oui’ government urging all of us to do our bit, but some people saying the government needs to do its bit in making sure the nhs is fully equipped with all the necessary equipment, especially the protective equipment, especially the protective equipment that it will need cash in the next few weeks. -- in the next few weeks. there are two strands to this, people taking personal responsibility but then also the idea of getting the nhs ready to cope with the best way it can. they have been questions raised about that, jeremy corbyn, the labour leader, earlier was raising some questions about how ready the nhs can be. the world health organization saying, test, test, test. we are increasing the amount of testing but it's still not enough. even the nhs staff haven't been tested, never mind care staff haven't been tested yet. and so how can we accurately know

how many cases of coronavirus there actually are? what we do know, sadly, accurately, is the number of deaths from coronavirus at the moment. but we have to be better at testing, and the provision of protective equipment. the nhs staff have not all got full protective equipment at the moment, or protective clothing. care staff have almost none at all. and care workers, some of whom work in care homes, are obviously at risk. a letter from a letterfrom 4000 a letter from 4000 front line nhs staff has been written to the sunday times this morning, stressing the need for more protective equipment. the government says it is getting that out, it accepts it could do more but it also says it has been trying to boost capacity in the nhs. so yesterday we saw a landmark deal where the nhs has bought up almost the entire capacity of private hospitals in england, another 8000 beds, 20,000 staff, to try and boost

capacity in the nhs. the government has been talking to manufacturing companies about making more ventilators so they say they are trying to boost the nhs the best they can. thank you, helen. italy's prime minister gieseppe conte has announced a new set of lockdown measures which edge closer to shutting down the entire country. more than 4,800 people have now died. spain has doubled the current 15 day, state of emergency. with the latest from europe, here's freya cole. singing. they are the delivery drivers working in lombardy, italy's worst hit region. rallying his colleagues, the worker belts out a tune, encouraging them to keep going. day by day, italy's lockdown is growing more severe. in the lombardy region alone, exercising outside has been banned.

the use of vending machines, forbidden. and for the rest of the country, the prime minister has ordered all nonessential factories and businesses to close. translation: we are slowing down the country's productive engine, but we're not stopping it. it's not an easy decision, but a decision that allows us to face the most acute phase of the contagion. it's not yet clear what factories will close but supermarkets, pharmacies, post offices and banks will remain open. public transport will continue to run. but the strict new measures will span across all of the country, as a desperate attempt to slow the spread of the disease. on saturday alone, italy recorded nearly 800 coronavirus deaths. translation: i believe we have now taken all measures we are able to take before effectively shutting

down the entire country. but i ask myself, how will we live? and how will we be able to sustain ourselves if we are no longer able to shop for food, and if supplies are not able to make it to our supermarkets? spain is also in a race to save lives. authorities in madrid are working frantically to build a makeshift hospital inside a large exhibition centre. already, intensive care units are struggling to cope. more beds are needed, and they're needed fast. around the world, more than 300,000 people have tested positive for the virus. scientists are developing and testing possible vaccines, but as it stands, there is no cure and it's putting every health system under immense strain. freya cole, bbc news.

the indian government has put the country under curfew for 14 hours the prime minister, narendra modi, says it'll test the country's ability to take tough measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis. as part of the precautions against covid—19, indian railways have cancelled passenger trains till the end of march. so far there have been only 315 confirmed cases in india and just four deaths. let's speak to malishka mendonca, a radio presenterfrom mumbai. how worried are people in india about coronavirus, given the number of cases in india is still relatively low at the moment? yes, when i last checked, we were actually at 41, that was the latest. the curfew is in full force, i am

sitting on my balcony on a sunny day in mumbai, with only the birds chirping, this is a crazy busy city, there is no traffic and no people on there is no traffic and no people on the streets. having said that, it is tomorrow that also worries us. as of today, the prime minister has asked for it, and when he asks you for it, the country get into action as they should. because they think there is a plan for should. because they think there is a planfora should. because they think there is a plan for a future. today people will stay home until nine o'clock but we don't know until tomorrow. yesterday i went to the doctor and i saw children out in droves, parents we re saw children out in droves, parents were out, still outside, not exactly understanding how serious this is. that is my big worry. i think slowly and steadily, as we keep hearing reports from all around the world, people are beginning to panic a little. with every reason, i suppose. we need to get more testing done. and once that gets done, we will know the actual figures. right now, we stand at 341, everyday we

have new figures. cities are slowly shutting down, in mumbai right now, nothing has been allowed to move, including the trains. they have been changed and closed for normal serve —— passengers, essential services —— passengers, essential only. changed and closed for normal serve —— passengers, essential only. today we will stay at home but i worry about tomorrow. at five o'clock the prime minister has asked us to clap and make some noise for our health workers which is a great move. we are hoping that the governments along with our people are getting out there to figure out what is next, hospital beds, ventilators, or how it will contain them —— the virus. so you will make a lot of noise to support your health workers, but are you and other people there confident that the health service in india is capable of dealing with a massive outbreak if it does come, on the scale that we have seen in china, the scale we have seen in italy? india is a large

population, and a very dense population. so yes, there is huge cause to worry. that's why i'm very happy that the authorities as trying to stimulate. they are saying india is in stage two as of now. we won't really be able to handle h three if we get there. so that's why staying at home, washing of hands are not touching yourface, is at home, washing of hands are not touching your face, is very important. a lot of people have come forward saying, we will help ventilators and masks. other measures being taken, hand sanitisers, they started selling it ata sanitisers, they started selling it at a hajj rate, so the government had to cap the price at which you can sell hand sanitisers or masks. beyond that, we are not certain how it will go, we are hoping that the government, even right now, as we do what they say and staying at home,

to keep this under control. right now very few hospitals can take in patients. right now, private testing, it is still conjecture whether it will happen. once that begins to happen and we see the number of cases of this virus, if we are right about it, i guess we can ta ke are right about it, i guess we can take it forward from there. as of now, we are all praying that we can contain this ad stage two. so —— at stage two. thank you so much for talking to us. elederly people are among the most at risk from the coronavirus, and they've been advised to isolate themselves for the next three months. but that makes it difficult for them to carry out vital everyday tasks like the shopping. joining me now is steve mcguirk who runs place 2 place cars, a taxi firm in kent. his company has volunteered to go to the supermarkets and do the shopping for the elderly.

ifa if a being with us. tell us how the scheme works. —— thank you for being with us. we are just effectively, we have a large population of elder people where we are, particularly the royal british legion village, and we do a lot of work for them in normal terms. they expressed to us the concerns they had about going to the concerns they had about going to the shops so it made sense for us to try and do a bit for them in return. that is a pretty full time job, isn't it? are you still keeping the business going at the same time? to be honest, the business itself has gone very quiet. we do a lot of corporate and airport work. where that has gone quiet, we can use the time to keep the driver is occupied and help local people at the same time so it is win—win effectively. are you able, when you go to the source for people, are you able to find supplies for them? that —— go to the stores, because that has been the difficulty many part of the country. we have been but that will be an issue i think. i think the

supermarkets are working with local communities now so we will be able to get some form of past where we can go in. we are restricting the shop, only £20 maximum, we don't wa nt to shop, only £20 maximum, we don't want to be going and taking all the stuff that people need. elderly people only really ordered very basic simple stuff anyway, which is perfect. how long will you keep it going, as long as it's needed? absolutely, yeah. we have a couple of restau ra nts absolutely, yeah. we have a couple of restaurants in the local area that are delivering free food to elderly people, who are self isolating or can't get out, doing that free of charge. we have offered with them to do the deliveries for them as well. everyone is pulling together and doing what they can do. it's important. i guess this is a lifeline for some of the more elderly people in the area. yeah, in normal times, a lot of the work would be going to and from the doctors in the shops. so those people, we can't really have contact with them, we do the shop and drop and go quickly, but for them,

otherwise, a lot have no relatives orfamily at otherwise, a lot have no relatives or family at all so we just try and doa or family at all so we just try and do a little bit in return. you are doing a greatjob. steve, thank you so much and keep it up. thank you, cheers, goodbye. in france, the rules are that everyone should stay indoors unless they're shopping for food. in rural areas, the traditional sunday market is a bit of a grey area as hugh schofield reports from just outside paris. sunday morning in a provincial town around 100 miles south of paris, and it's slightly surprising to see the sunday market in operation as usual, with people coming in to buy supplies of fresh food. when you look closely, it is rather different from the norm because there is a police checkpoint as you come in, some people are wearing masks, and they are certainly keeping their distance from each other and in general it's much quieter. the rules here in the countryside at the same as french cities, confinement at

home is compulsory, in 40 by the gendarme, and in general people seem to excepting it. but exceptions are forfood to excepting it. but exceptions are for food and medicine, to excepting it. but exceptions are forfood and medicine, and by car, here in the countryside where there isa here in the countryside where there is a lot of distance. the big difference is the space. here there are gardens, fields, farming life is going on as usual, and in general, the psychological pressure from compulsory confinement is much, much lower. many parts of the united states now have enforced shutdowns. millions of americans are under orders to stay at home, as the country tries to control the coronavirus pandemic which has so far claimed more 300 lives there. our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. around america, everyday life has been turned upside down. coronavirus is in every state from california to connecticut, new york to illinois.

people have been told to stay at home. the northern and southern borders closed to non—essential traffic, with both canada and mexico cooperating with the trump administration to limit the spread of the virus. in the us, more than 300 people have died. the number of cases has surpassed 20,000, with half of them in new york. young americans have faced strong criticism for not heeding the warnings to stay indoors, with spring break beach parties in miami and crowded city parks in new york, many appear oblivious to the threat posed by covid—19. these pictures of young people on beaches, these videos of young people saying, "this is my spring break", you know, "i'm out to party, this is my time to party", this is so unintelligent and reckless i can't even begin to express it. mike pence has become

the face of america's response to coronavirus. it was revealed on friday a man in his office had tested positive, with mild cold—like symptoms. the vice president said he and his wife took a test on saturday and were negative. officials say it still isn't necessary for every american to be screened. donald trump has been criticised for appearing in a tweet to offer hope that the use of two drugs currently being studied will help fight the virus. the president's words were put in perspective by one of his chief advisers. i'm not totally sure what the president was referring to, but i believe he was referring to a report that used both hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin together to have some possibility of being in effect. many of the things you hear out there are what i called anecdotal reports. in washington, senators at the white house are continuing to negotiate a $1 trillion emergency stimulus package to help ease the burden on working americans,

many of whom have lost theirjobs because of the virus. newjersey is the latest state to order non—essential businesses to close and its residents to limit their public interactions. in california, people have been queueing to buy food as the state's make 40 million residents get used to a new way of life. as more and more us states order people to stay at home, this is becoming a more familiar scene, a deserted shopping mall on what should be a busy weekend. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. social distancing measures are changing the way people work, socialise and even worship. the bbc spoke to the archbishop of york, john sentamu, about how the church of england is planning to move services online after being instructed to close for three months

because of coronavirus. what is interesting is that people now are streaming services, and some are being trained on how they can use their computers to receive the services. the church near you has already started streaming services, which will have a lot of people actually, to continue to abide by the government's information, and of course we had very challenging words today from the prime minister, that if people do not actually have this social distancing, the nhs may be overwhelmed in the next five days. which actually in the end means people should self—isolate. let's show you the seen live in madrid, a few cars moving around but empty. the spanish government has extended for another 15 days the state of emergency, the death toll, era's second worst outbreak after italy, has chopped —— jumped from

1002 to 1326 according to spanish health ministries. this is the scene in delhi, normally bustling with people and pretty much empty as you can see. we were just talking to a radio presenter in mum by saying people are on the whole taking pretty seriously the idea that they should stay home. —— a radio presenter in mumbai. relatively few deaths in india confirmed, but with such a big population, real concern that if the virus really takes hold, it could cause a massive loss of life in india. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello, it is a dry sunday out there across much of the uk. a good deal of sunshine around, just a bit of patchy cloud here and there, and this is how it looks as we go through the afternoon. just 7 or 8 degrees along these north sea coasts. elsewhere, some of us are creeping

into double figures. still a bit of patchy rain towards the western isles of scotland, and elsewhere it is dry. abundant afternoon sunshine. still breezy, but the wind is not as strong as yesterday. it does still feel a bit chilly in the breeze. overnight, the winds ease a bit further in england and wales, allowing a widespread frost to take hold. a patchy frost in southern and eastern scotland. towards the north—west of scotland, a chance of rain. increasing cloud into northern ireland. for most of us, temperatures are holding up. turning very wet for monday across the far north—west of scotland, especially into the western isles. increasing cloud and breeze for northern ireland. the best of the sunshine will again be across england and wales, and temperatures will be a little higher tomorrow.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the prime minister warns the national health service could soon be "overwhelmed" with coronavirus patients. london's mayor urges people to act responsibly. u nless unless people stay—at—home, unless people stop using public transport, u nless people stop using public transport, unless people stop interacting with each other much more people will die. borisjohnson urges people to "make the heroic and collective national effort" to slow the spread of the virus.