it this is bbc news. the headlines: the national health service could soon be "overwhelmed" with coronavirus patients — warns the british prime minister. london's mayor urges people to act responsibly. unless people stay at home, unless 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. in europe, italy edges closer to complete shutdown.

spain extends its state of emergency by 15 days, as the number of deaths there rose by nearly 400 overnight. more than a billion people in india are under a m hour—long curfew to try to limit the epidemic. 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. the number of people who've died in the uk from coronavirus has risen to 240, with 7 new deaths in wales reported this morning. there are more than 5,000 confirmed cases. the world health organization has told the bbc it will take at least a year to develop a vaccine against the virus. globally, more than 300,000 people are confirmed to have been infected with the virus, and more than 13,000 have died. spain, one of the worst affected countries, has just extended its state of emergency for another two weeks. 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. 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. there have been lots of questions about a vaccine and how quickly can one be developed. 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, vaccines take a long time to develop, test, prove they are effective and then you have to produce enough 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 hard on the vaccines, the vaccines will come, but we need to get down and do what we do we need to do now. our political correspondent helen catt is here. the british prime minister bob johnson urging

everybody yes, cop shot life has changed, we have got to do things differently for a while 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 neighbours who are elderly and vulnerable, do some shopping for them, leave it on their doorstep, only buy what you need, there is plenty to get around. don't just do it for yourself, 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 our help.

these are extraordinary times which need and demand extraordinary measures. so, you might be thinking, it's so important, why is the government not bringing more enforcement of that? they have already closed pubs and nig htclu bs they have already closed pubs and nightclubs and restaurants, but why aren't they

we are contacting the 1.5 million people who will need to stay at home. many of those people will be looked after by friends, family and neighbours but where they will not be able to do that, and there are some people who are isolated and lonely who do not have that support network around them, we will create a big national effort to help those individuals with the armed forces, councils and volunteers, and they will receive parcels of food from us starting from the end of this coming week. for the rest of us, we need to act responsibly and be thoughtful and considerate when we go shopping. we have a food sector which is resilient. it should be able to provide enough food for all of us.

that was the communities secretary in the uk. the british government is urging everyone to do their bit but some people are saying the government has not done its bit in adequately equipping the nhs. there is the stuff we can all do to try and limit the spread of the virus, but there is also trying to get the nhs to get its capacity boost it as far as possible to cope with the predicted upsurge in demand. they have been questions raised about whether enough has been done to provide protective equipment and the readiness of the nhs. the world health organization have said, test, test, test. we are increasing the amount of testing but it's still not enough. even all nhs staff haven't been tested, never mind all 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 provision

of protective equipment. 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. the government says it is getting more protective equipment out and will get more to hospitals later today. it has also been taken steps today. it has also been taken steps to boost the overall capacity of the nhs so we saw a deal yesterday where the nhs in england bought up almost all the capacity of private hospitals. the government has been talking to manufacturing companies here to try and get them to make ventilators that are needed. they have also freed up space with nhs hospitals by cancelling all nonurgent operations and the government is doing its bit to boost capacity in the nhs as far as

possible. italy's prime minister giueseppe 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 as its death toll rose by nearly 400 over night. 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. let's show you the scene live in

madrid. it is very quiet, as you can see, almost nobody on the streets, just a couple of cars. and the death toll there has risen very considerably. it has the second worst outbreak in europe after italy. the death toll has gone up by 404 from 1326 to 1720, and the number of confirmed cases in spain has risen from just under 25,000 to just over 28 and a half thousand. big rises in the statistics there from coronavirus in spain. 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, enforced by the gendarme, and in general people seem to be excepting it. but exceptions are for food and medicine, and by car, 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 than 300 lives there. the state of new york, considered to be the epicentre of the american outbreak, has now ordered all nonessential businesses to close. 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 is a 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 are 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 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. the coronavirus pandemic has affected all aspects of our daily life, including sports. several major events like the premier league, euro 2020, the rugby and formula 1 — have been postponed as a result of the pandemic. how can we keep active in this period of self—isolation and no sports? joining me now to talk about that is tim hollingsworth — the chief executive of sport england. people are self isolating for a number of weeks, how will they keep active and stay fit or a semblance of fitness? there are lots of ways, andi of fitness? there are lots of ways, and i don't think it has never been

more important that they do. everyone is starting to understand that there is a new normal here and we have to adapt. the limitations that have been put in place are an extremely important thing for us all to observe that even within that there is still an opportunity for those who are not yet self isolating to be very sensible, follow all guidelines and get outside for a run, walk or bike ride, but in the home, there is a huge amount the people can still do to stay active and particularly why that is beneficial to their physical and mental well—being at this time. beneficial to their physical and mental well-being at this time. so they can exercise. if they don't have a garden they are a bit limited. not at all. there are still a lot of opportunities for people to think about how they can be active in the home and we are talking to each other down the line. there is so each other down the line. there is so much online and on the internet

that there are huge opportunities for people to build communities and be active. there are exercises, workouts, a growing phenomenon anyway, and a lot of providers have started to make that available for free. we have our own sense of how we can enable this to happen. the hashtag we are using is stay in, work out, and it is trying to get eve ryo ne work out, and it is trying to get everyone to think about what is out there that people can use to stay active, and particularly for families, there is a lot of stuff out there that people can do, there isa out there that people can do, there is a lot of work going on around that, we did some work in partnership with disney where there are dances and exercises that people —— parents can do with their children, and there is stuff for older people, whether exercising, stretches, workouts, dances, there is an enormous amount to do. at the moment, people are still going out jogging moment, people are still going out jogging and so on. there may come a time when they are not able to do

that, that has happened in some countries. but at the moment, that is the alternative, isn't it? they have got to seriously observe the social distancing protocols. it is absolutely vital that we start with that premise but once you are aware of those in following those, if you are going for a bike ride, it is an extremely social distancing thing to do. going for a extremely social distancing thing to do. going fora run extremely social distancing thing to do. going for a run or a walk by yourself. it is really important to get out still while we can but at the same time to recognise that even if that becomes limited, there is a huge amount that can happen in the home, andi huge amount that can happen in the home, and i think again we should all recognise that in this environment, this new changed environment, this new changed environment we are all living in, being active in trying to find ways to exercise, keeping it as part of your daily life, has never been more

important. both our physical well—being, our strength and ability to fight infection and build up our immune systems, but also for our mental health and well—being and making sure we are actually taking brea ks making sure we are actually taking breaks that can involve physical exertion is really important. all good advice. of course people love doing sport but also watching sport, and we have a summer where wimbledon, will that be on or off? the olympics, should that be on or off? i am delighted that is not my decision, actually, because that is an incredibly hard call in terms of tokyo. the scale of those two events versus the reality of the situation we find ourselves in, but anybody in sport, and i speak to leaders of the governing bodies, every single one of them is making the correct difficult decision right now which is that although the normal course of life, these events would be a high point in the calendar, in reality against the situation we find with the pandemic, we have all got to take a completely different

view. there is no one acting irresponsibly. we are all missing it hugely. particularly this weekend, where suddenly there was not all the sport either to play, do or watch that we have been used to. but let's be real. at this moment in time, that's not the priority. it'll come back and we will love it all the more and one of the exciting things for me is when we do get back to the situation where we have successfully ove rco m e situation where we have successfully overcome this challenge and we can get back to a more normal way of life, not only will the sport returned that we know and love but hopefully perhaps we will have engendered physical activity regimes and people's sense of being active into people's lives. there is an opportunity here, particularly thinking about how we work virtually and digitally to reach people who previously might not have thought of active lives in the same way. very

good to talk to you, thank you for all that good advice. the chief executive of sport england. in spain, the death toll there has risen by about 400, and the number of cases there has risen from 25,000 two 28,500, so a huge rise in the figures there in spain. 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 indian railways have cancelled passenger trains till the end of march. so far there have been 315 confirmed cases in india and four deaths. the croatian capital zagreb

has been hit by a 5.3 magnitude earthquake. health officials say a 15—year—old boy was killed when a building collapsed on him. the quake caused several other buildings to collapse, burying vehicles in rubble. a witness says the earthquake lasted for more than ten seconds and was followed by several aftershocks. croatia's prime minster told people to stay outside but reminded people to keep their distance due to the coronavirus outbreak. it's mother's day in many parts of the world, but people are being warned not to visit elderly mothers, and that's caused a huge fall in demand for flowers that would otherwise have been destined to become a mother's day gift. in the netherlands, growers are having to destroy millions of flowers a day. anna holligan reports from the hague. inside the world's largest flower auction, the demand for fresh blossoms has been decimated by the pandemic, leaving horticulturalists with the undesirable job of wrecking the source of their own livelihoods.

at the moment, the growers are destroying the flowers at their own nurseries. maybe 70%, 80% of the total production is being demolished. the combination of rock bottom prices and high quality roses and tulips left on the shelf is, they say, unrivalled in the last century. the dutch auction already exists for more than 100 years and this is the first time that we are in such a crisis. the growers are now asking the dutch government to rescue them with an emergency financial package or face ruin within weeks. a lot of companies, growers and trade companies, will go bankrupt and that

will be devastating. for some, it's already too late. this mother's day, the best way for most of us to show our love is by keeping our distance, to protect those and their 60s, 70s and beyond who appear to be more likely to die if they catch the coronavirus. anna holligan, bbc news, in the hague. 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 national health service could soon be "overwhelmed" with coronavirus patients, warns the british prime minister.