good afternoon. borisjohnson has warned that unless the public starts to practise "social distancing" more effectively, then hospitals here will soon be overwhelmed by the coronavirus. the prime minister urged people not to visit their parents on mother's day because of the dangers to elderly relatives. 1.5 million people at greatest risk are being told they must self—isolate for 12 weeks. the government says it's drawing up plans to deliver food parcels to those without friends, family or neighbours to help them.

here's our health correspondent, richard galpin. the streets across this country are now quieter, this following increasingly urgent calls from the government for people to stay at home. even the churches are closed, and this is mothering sunday. and now, the government is implementing even more stringent measures to protect 1.5 million people who are most at risk. effectively putting them into a 12 week lockdown. most at risk. effectively putting them into a 12 week lockdownm most at risk. effectively putting them into a 12 week lockdown. if you are one of these into videos, i understand he would be very worried. we wouldn't have done this lightly. we wouldn't have done this lightly. we are doing this because it is absolutely critical to save lives. at the same time, we will be setting out to you how we are going to help them so they might be staying at home for a long time but they should not feel alone. is a 1.5 million people who will receive letters or text messages in the coming days

include those who have had organ transplants or who have severe respiratory conditions, cystic fibrosis or specific cancers. the advice is for them not to go out for 12 weeks. and not to have any gatherings of friends or families, nor shopping, leisure or travel. meanwhile, there is still concern about how seriously people who are healthy are taking the advice to keep at least two metres apart from each other. what is described as social distancing. in london, the police are expected to be given extra powers. the emergency bill thatis extra powers. the emergency bill that is going to go through parliament next week will give additional powers to the police and others to enforce the law. i am not somebody who says these things lightly. but i am quite clear that u nless lightly. but i am quite clear that 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. to add

to the challenge now facing the country, some nhs staff say they have still not received the protective equipment they need, such as masks, to stop them or their patients being infected. the fear is that the rapid infection rate in italy, which has overwhelmed the health services there, leaving 800 people dead on saturday alone, could be replicated here. and at the moment, there is nothing which can stop the virus spreading.” moment, there is nothing which can stop the virus spreading. i think we have to be realistic. vaccines take a long time to develop and test to make them safe and prove they are effective and then you have got to produce enough vaccine for everybody. that is 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 is absolutely we have to make sure that it is a bsolutely safe we have to make sure that it is absolutely safe and that it does good and not harm. we are looking at at least a year. the hope has to be

that the increasingly stringent measures 110w that the increasingly stringent measures now being implemented will slow the spread of the disease. richard galpin, bbc news. our political correspondent helen catt is here. just take us through the government's advice on self isolation, then an social distancing. there are sort of three levels to this. so the first one is social distancing. every single one of us should be doing that. what it means, it is a fancy word but it basically means staying away from anyone you don't live with. yes, you can go fora anyone you don't live with. yes, you can go for a walk. it is important for your mental health and physical well—being, the government says. but don't arrange to meet friends or otherfamily don't arrange to meet friends or other family members. don't join large groups or gatherings while you are out and if you come across other people, try to stay two metres away, the recommended distance. then there isa the recommended distance. then there is a second level of protection for people who are over 70 or have underlying health conditions, and the advice is just to make sure that

you really, really, really strictly follow those rules because you are a higher risk. then there another group, the1.5 million higher risk. then there another group, the 1.5 million we have been talking about. they are going to be told that they have to stay at home for at least 12 weeks from when they get a letter this week and that is to try and almost completely cut off face—to—face contact as far as possible. that is because they've got medical conditions that the nhs think mean they would be extremely high risk of developing a very serious illness if they catch coronavirus. those are the levels. if you are sitting there, thinking, i'm young and fit and healthy, i don't need to pay any attention to this, it is worth remembering it is not just about stopping you getting it, it is about stopping you potentially spreading it to somebody who is less young and fit. thank you, helen platt, a political correspondent. spain has recorded nearly 400 deaths in the past 2a hours, its highest daily total so far. more people have died there than in any other country apart from italy and china.

in italy's worst affected region — lombardy — under the new rules announced late on saturday, sport and physical activity outside, even individually, is banned. bethany bell is in quarantine in austria after having been in italy. bethany, what's the picture where you are, and in the rest of europe? well, austria is in lockdown. people are not allowed to go out of their houses unless they have essential work—related reasons or family emergency or medical reasons to do so. but of course, the situation just over the border in italy is far more serious. there, we have seen the italian prime minister say that all nonessential businesses should shut down unless they have an essential function in supply chains. now, we don't know exactly the

details of that yet. we are told that supermarkets will stay open and pharmacies and banks and post offices, public transport. but really, in italy, they are reducing public life to a minimum as they struggle to contain the spread of the coronavirus. you mentioned there, also, these extra regulations in lombardy, which of course has been the region of italy which has been the region of italy which has been the region of italy which has been the hardest hit. and in spain as well, we understand that the state of emergency that was declared may be continued until the middle of april. bethany bell, many thanks. now, as we're warned not to visit elderly relatives on mother's day, some businesess are preparing to miss out on their usual sales as more customers avoid going into shops. those businesses with an online presence are expected to fare better but a tough time ahead is expected for the retail and catering sectors. here's our business correspondent katy austin. sending their love from

a locked—down care home. on this strangest of mother's days, families are having to stay in touch online. and people haven't been shopping for their usual gifts, either. with no walk—in customers, cat has pushed her mail—order cake kits instead and took on staff who lost their jobs elsewhere to deliver them. i've sold more than double what i normally would which is incredible, because if i do have to close for a couple of weeks, then i'm ok with that. if i have to close for longer, then i don't know what the situation is going to be. restaurants, tea rooms and pubs are now shut, losing any mother's day bookings which hadn't cancelled. even some florists have had a dire week. this year, out of the 34 years that i've had my own businesses, this is the worst mother's day ever and ever. why is that? people are thinking about food more than flowers. i know everyone... they are panicking, people are panicking.

for shops and businesses who sell all sorts of gifts and cards, mother's day is normally a boom time. because of the pandemic, there are just fewer people out there shopping on high streets this year and there is a big shift to buying things online for delivery instead. but it is thought that still won't make up for an overall drop in the amount customers have spent. this chocolate chain has temporarily closed quieter shops and shifted staff to online in the run—up to mother's day. shops up and down the country are seeing a broad reduction in footfall but we are seeing a marked, 100% plus increase in shopping on our online channel. does the online increase make up for the loss of physical sales? um, not wholly, no. it offsets it. but right now, being online is a bigger advantage than ever. firms who are reliant on people coming into their shops or venues face an unhappy mother's day. katy austin, bbc news.

you can find more on the coronavirus outbreak on the bbc‘s news channels and online. bye for now. you're watching the bbc news. so let's take a look at what's happening in other countries around the world. in a moment, we'll hear from our correspondents in paris and los angeles, but first here's laura bicker in seoul, in south korea, where they seem to have dramatically slowed down the spread of the virus.

here in south korea, despite the government has sent out an urgent message saying government gathering michaelson if there has been a nearby stop nap thing, you know

you're near a week. that this is a prolonged war against the virus life back to normal. sunday morning in a provincial town about 100 miles from paris, and it is slightly surprising to see the sunday market as usual with people coming into buying supplies of fresh food. when you look closely, it is rather different from the north, a checkpoint as people come in, and people keeping their distance, in general much quieter. the rules here in the countryside are the same as in french cities, confinement at home is compulsory. enforced here by the

gendarme, and in general people seem to be respecting it, but excursions are allowed for food and for medicines, and here the countryside, because of the distances involved, that generally means by car. indeed, the big difference between the city in the countryside is just that, it is space. here there are gardens, there are fields and farming life is going on as usual, and, in general, the psychological pressure from compulsory confinement is much lower. this is los angeles, where shopping malls like this one are virtually deserted. almost every story here is in darkness. this is america's most populous state, and people have been told to stay at home. businesses have been ordered by the government to shut down, and people are largely abiding to that. the roads are still quite busy, and

thatis the roads are still quite busy, and that is because a lot of people are getting out of the weekend to do grocery shopping, they are queueing outside, maintaining social distancing. inside, they are finding that the food stores are still reasonably well stocked. the farmers markets in particular seem to be full of fresh fruit and vegetables, which people are making the most. the big concern here is, like everywhere, along this go on for? so many people are now living without a wage, and a lot of people by abiding by the new movement regulations, i think in big part because of what the governor of california said the other day, that 50% of people living in california could be infected over the next six weeks by coronavirus. let's talk more about social distancing and self isolation. our health editor hugh pym.

there does seem to be a feeling that's whenever borisjohnson and everybody else says about this, not everybody else says about this, not everybody is getting the message, not everybody is really practising this unreality. we are still seeing crowded beaches, for example, crowded beaches, for example, crowded parks. yes, and i think there is confusion about what you can and can't do, and people are sometimes misinterpreting it. shall we run through what the advices to anybody who is not at risk, who is perfectly healthy? they want to go for a walk, that is absolutely fine, with members of the family, but don't gathering a large group of people for a chat for longer than, you know, just a minute or so. it is actually 15 minutes or more is deemed to be when you are potentially vulnerable or more likely to spread it on to others. don't gather in large groups, but by all means go for a stroll with members of the family. you have put something online to illustrate this,

using your own family, to show your support you mean. it was initially done by my wife to just illustrate to members of ourfamily done by my wife to just illustrate to members of our family what it involves. so, iam to members of our family what it involves. so, i am two metres tall... at least! so, this is the recommended social distancing if you go for a walk in your local park, and it is possibly a bit more than what people expected, but it is just to and it is possibly a bit more than what people expected, but it is just to demonstrate the situation. going for a walk in your neighbourhood, this is what you metres should look like. if you do bump into friends wa nt to like. if you do bump into friends want to have a chat, the advices certainly don't stay at home if you're in that broad swathes of the population, just be very careful when you're going out. it goes against the grain, we are very sociable people, especially in this country, we like to chat, but we have got to learn to live a little

bit differently for the next few weeks and just keep our distance from even our closest friends. indeed, and in work, as well, sitting a bit further apart, being a bit more careful, and certainly there were people out yesterday who may have just misunderstood, thinking it was a right to go to a crowded beach or gathering in a large gaggle of people for a long period and apart, that is not something which is in any way considered helpful, and nhs england's medical director has said in the last 2a hours, this could affect somebody‘s life, ultimately, because if the virus is being spread and it gets to somebody who is vulnerable, it's a serious issue. these guidelines really have to be observed. and the nhs in england are writing and texting to about 1.5 million patients, many of them with various underlying conditions, telling them they have got to

self—isolate for about 12 weeks. that's right. there are two more groups that i have been talking about, the ones who are a especially vulnerable, with types of cancer or leukaemia treatment, dialysis, transplants, that kind of thing, they have been told they must stay home for 12 weeks. health will be given. there is a group of people, the over 70s, people with a different type of underlying health conditions, parkinson's, respiratory issues, where it is fine to go out, but take the guidelines for the rest of the population particularly seriously. so if you're out in your garden, or a brief seriously. so if you're out in your garden, ora brief walk, but seriously. so if you're out in your garden, or a brief walk, but don't get into these group discussions. that is this other group to whom

advice has been offered. one more question, is the state of the nhs, what is the state on that? we have heard complaints from doctors and nurses saying that they don't have enough personal protection equipment, especially when the virus really does hit in a more serious way, possibly in two or three weeks' time. certainly in the last couple of days we have heard that some doctors and others in the health professions who have not got personal protective equipment when they should have done, the message from government is this is on the way, we have got the stock, itjust hasn't been distributed very efficiently, but some are concerned. some doctors tell me their hospitals are as well—prepared as they can be, they are boring or intensive care beds and others are quite worried about whether the nhs can handle the great amount of pressure that is likely in the next few weeks. good to see you and your family, thank

you. sport, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. an organisation of athletes from around the world have added their voice to calls for the olympics and paralympics to be postponed, because of the coronavirus pandemic. global athlete, fronted by the british olympic cycling champion callum skinner, say the games should be put back. in a statement they say "asking athletes to carry on as normal and continue to train for these games, clearly puts their physical and mental health at risk." the governing body of usa athletics, as well as several national 0lympic commitees, have also asked for a postponement. the olympics are scheduled to take place in tokyo from the 24th ofjuly, the paralympics from august the 25th. southampton's chief executive has told the bbc that premier league matches could be televised every day while people are still confined to their homes because of the coronavirus outbreak. all football is currently suspended until the end of april,

but martin semmens believes football returning could be "good thing" for the country if it was safe to do so. semmens says teams are hopeful of completing the league by the end ofjune but doesn't yet know when play could resume. my understanding, having spent a reasonable amount of time with the government, is that in the right situation and the right time, when everybody is safe and we are not using up resources, the government would like us to get back to playing. they would like us to get back to playing because we are an entertainment, and we would be a sign that the country is coming back to normal. and if people are home for another month and there is a premier league football game on tv, that can only be a good thing. the former real madrid president lorenzo sanz has died after being hospitalised with coronavirus. he was president at the club from 1995 to 2000 — in which real won the champions league twice. his son lorenzo discribed him as "one of the best, most courageous and hard working people". adding "his family and real madrid were his passion".

former england cricket captain michael vaughan says he believes it was the right thing to completely suspend the season. the county game would have got under way in a few days' time but has been put back until at least the end of may. england's international summer is due to start injune with a three—test series against west indies. cricket is, like many sports, up in the air as to when they know when they can play again. they have made the right decision. day today we are getting different messages about this terrible virus. in cricket, we just have to go on the expert advice. if later in the summer cricket can take place, and the international calendar can take place from june the fourth, that would be terrific, but first and foremost, cricket like everyone else, is hoping that everyone stays safe, and sport really becomes secondary in what the country are going through, and the whole world, at this stage. yes, worrying times for the sport, but like everyone in society we will knuckle down, we

will fight through it, and i am sure we will be back later in the summer. that's all the sport for now. the croatian capital zagreb has been hit by a five—point—three 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 forfresh 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. 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. a musician from dublin has found a way to spread a little cheer for those in isolation because of the coronavirus outbreak.

he sings mickey smyth — a regular performer at care homes and on hospital wards — has been serenading his regular audiences from a distance, keeping them entertained with his energetic versions of golden oldies and some irish classics. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello, there, good afternoon, thanks very much. sunshine, and for most of us very much. sunshine, and for most of us today, it's a chilly start. a little bit of drizzle in the west and northern isles, still some cloud here in north—west scotland, but less tha n here in north—west scotland, but less than north—east scotland compared to yesterday, and some sunshine for northern ireland, as well, and so quick to leap at the

north and east coasts, because we have actually agrees, and actually it probably feels a little less chilly out and about. looking at more of a southerly or south—westerly through the next few days. that will be the big change, you can days. that will be the big change, you can see days. that will be the big change, you can see the rain approaching tonight, another dry and fairly long nights, and quite a widespread frost overnight tonight. chilly and wintry first thing tomorrow morning, some more mist and fog, bit more cloud to make it a hazy day for northern ireland and the rest of scotland, but most of us feeling a bit warmer.

hello, this is bbc news.