this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: president trump confirms funding for three states worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic — but the senate fails to back a $1 trillion stimulus plan for the us economy. olympics organisers say they may delay this years tokyo games — setting a four week deadline for a decision. spain bars most foreigners from entry for the next month, as restrictions tighten even further across europe. stay apart or face tougher measures — britain's warned a lockdown is looming if social distancing advice isn't taken seriously.

president trump has approved emergency medical help for the states of new york, california and washington, all hot spots of coronavirus infections in the united states. in a white house news briefing, mr trump said americans were enduring a "great national trial". the extra money he said would go to fund field hospitals offering thousands of extra beds and more more tests. a navy ship — being sent to los angeles — will provide additional medical services. in addition to large quantities of supplies, i've also directed fema to supply the following: four large federal medical stations with 1,000 beds for new york, eight large federal medical stations with 2,000 beds for california, and three large federal medical stations and four small medical stations with 1,000 beds for the state of washington. this action will give them maximum flexibility to safeguard against the virus without having to worry

about costs or liability and freeing up state resources to protect the health and safety of the people in their state. the federal government has deployed hundreds of tons of supplies from our national stockpile to locations with the greatest need in order to assist with those areas. i approve the state of new york's request for a major disaster declaration — something which governor cuomo has been asking for and i agree. and we had it done in very rapid fashion. the us congress has so far failed to agree on a $1 trillion stimulus package in response to the coronavirus. negotiations are continuing over a deal designed to help american workers and companies affected by the global pandemic but our north america correspondent peter bowes says the package is facing a lot of trouble. it's quite simply a problem of democrats and republicans agreeing on the detail of this bill and the sticking point appears to be the emphasis of the aid, and whether it

will help corporate america rather than the everyday worker who are suffering — many of whom have lost their jobs because of the effect of this virus. there was a vote a few hours ago that may have moved things forward significantly. it didn't reach the necessary threshold to move this bill forward, so negotiations continue. it's interesting that the president also talked about this and said that his main emphasis was on helping american workers and pointing out the fact that he is a republican, implying that he actually agrees, to some extent, more with the democrats on this than some of his republican colleagues in congress. and there have been complaints about medical supplies or the building of ventilators? this has been the big complaint from state governors, from mayors around the country, they felt as if they were not getting enough federal help, help from the trump administration, to provide those facilities, the ventilators, the masks, the medical gowns that are so urgently needed.

and bill de blasio, the mayor of new york city, had a very dire warning. he said within days people who could have been saved may well die because of the lack of those supplies. it was only a few hours that president trump came forward and said that those supplies were on the way. there was a truck heading to new york city, there was that medical ship heading to the port of la that would have 1,000 beds, and the mayor of los angeles in the last hour saying it would, in an instant, become the largest hospital in la and alleviate the pressure on other medical facilities on land. you are speaking to me from la, is there that this that that federal aid would make a huge difference or that many more supplies are needed 7 there is a sense it will make a huge difference. not only the ship coming but several structures. we don't know the details of these places or where

exactly they will be, but clearly many structures that will help treat people as well, and again, the mayor of los angeles speaking in the last few hours, sounding positive about the kind of aid that was coming from the federal government but still striking a very serious tone. and another thing we've been talking, you and i, a lot about over the last few days, this question of social distancing and people not necessarily abiding by the order to stay at home. we have seen it again in los angeles, people have been going to the beach and the mayor of los angeles implying that within a few days they might introduce some form of fine to discourage people from doing that. peter bowes. pressure is growing on the international olympic committee to postpone this summer's games. canada has said it won't be sending a team while the australian olympic committee have said the games

cannot be held injuly. the decision by the two countries came as prime minister shinzo abe admitted the games may have to be postponed because of the pandemic. rupert wingfield hayes is our tokyo correspondent. canada and australia have made their opinions clear. it seems no matter what japan and that the ioc might want, the decisions seem to be made by athletes in competing nations. i think it is really interesting that canada has now come out and explicitly said it will not send a team to the tokyo 0lympics will not send a team to the tokyo olympics and paralympic this year. as far as i'm aware, thatis this year. as far as i'm aware, that is the first country to do that. the australians, as you said, have followed saying it can't happen. this could start a chain reaction and and prime minister shinzo abe this morning in parliament set a postponement was under consideration if the games can't be held safely and that he been discussing that with the ioc over the weekend. he said, no decision will be made

forfour said, no decision will be made for four weeks from now and the governor of tokyo has come out and said the same thing, four weeks to a decision is made. i think the action by canada and australia show that four weeks is too long and that there is possibly now going to be a chain reaction of countries following canada. in this may be forced on japan following canada. in this may be forced onjapan and the ioc at much more quickly than they think. is strange, almost every other major sporting events this summer, including the european football tournaments, has been cancelled immediately without any discussion. some might criticise tokyo for even having a discussion or even the ioc or notjust cancelling or postponing immediately. that's true and actually, opinion polls here injapan have shown an overwhelming majority of people in the last couple of weeks have set a postponement is the obvious thing to do. it's... is the obvious thing to do. it's. .. you know, is the obvious thing to do. it's... you know, the olympics is the biggest sporting festival in the world by a long, long way. many, many thousands of athletes are coming.japan has thousands of athletes are coming. japan has spent $30

billion building new national stadiums, roads, new event places all over tokyo and elsewhere. so it is a massive measurement by a city and a country to host the games. clearly the big mailfor any country is then, holding the games, getting the sponsorship, getting the visitors, getting the ticket sales, if that does not happen, they are in for a massive loss of procedure and tourism and so on. so they are very reluctant to do so. i think what we're seeing now is a big shift in rhetoric from the ioc, from the japanese government i don't want to make predictions, but it feels like there is a certain inability to this now. in the discussions you're hearing in japan this now. in the discussions you're hearing injapan and other countries, is there consensus, should it be 2021, no date put on it at the moment? it looks like the most likely postponement date will bea likely postponement date will be a year, sojuly 2021. that has problems. it is not going to be easy. there are other sporting events being held next summer. sporting events being held next summer. it will clash with

those. some of the stadiums have been booked for events next year. the big one is the 0lympic next year. the big one is the olympic village has been sold, people will expect to be moving into their flats next year. where the athletes then going to stay if they come to the 2021 olympics. there are lots and lots of issues but i think it would be preferred that it's a yearand it would be preferred that it's a year and not two years because if it was in 2022, there are a number 0lympic games taking place in china in the winter and they don't want to be holding two 0lympic the winter and they don't want to be holding two olympic games in one year. fascinating decisions to be made there. thank you, rupert. the pandemic is now affecting more than 160 countries and has claimed more than 13,700 lives. italy has seen 651 new virus deaths in the last 2a hours in comparison with almost 800 on saturday. the current death toll nears 5,500. a critical week lies ahead to see if the infection curve continues to flatten. sima kotecha reports from rome. every day, it gets quieter here. now, even hotels are closing after the government ordered all non—essential businesses to shut down, another move that

turns this tourist city into something like a ghost town. hotel proprietors are anxious about what lies ahead. translation: on a financial level, let's hope the state helps us in some way. if they don't, it will definitely be very worrying. but on the other hand, she's keen to isolate. translation: we don't know who's positive with coronavirus. even we could be infecting people who come to stay with us. thousands of doctors from across italy have applied to be part of a task force working in the worst—affected areas. here in rome, a moving tribute to all those working in hospitals, trying to save lives. it says, "we stand with you". planes with extra medical supplies have arrived from russia to help hospitals

here cope with the rising death toll. in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus, in some regions, people are no longer allowed to go more than a few hundred metres from their homes. it seems as if europe has stopped and each day, with new death figures, it feels that little bit more still. sima kotecha, bbc news, rome. the spanish government has extended its state of emerency for two weeks until the 11th of april. spain's death toll from the virus has jumped to over 1,700, with more than 28,000 cases of infection. damian grammaticas reports. streets drained of life, but out of sight, spain's fight against the virus is ceaseless. here, in a hotel, the first of many that are being requisitioned to serve as an overflow for ha rd—pressed hospitals, it's how spain is trying to contain the infection.

so the prime minister has been forced to govern by teleconference. he announced the current state of emergency will last until mid april. restrictions on daily life getting even tighter. and this is what we found when we ventured beyond madrid. empty motorways. miles and miles of them. with virtually no traffic. this is one of spain's main north—south highways. the only things moving? trucks. filled with food. so apart from the bare essentials to keep this country functioning, spain really has come to a standstill. but despite these measures, there is no sign that the spread of the virus is being brought under control. the shutdown has left this entire country eerily emptied, public places abandoned. and this is the ancient city of cordoba, usually filled with tourists. not now.

nothing. if the virus is a natural disaster, it is one that has left everything intact. just the people have vanished from view. manuela's family have run their gift shop here for 100 years. translation: it's like a nightmare. my main worry is nobody in my family gets the virus. back in madrid, lorry—loads of oxygen for a new 1,000—bed treatment centre the army is building in the city's convention centre, as all of spain's efforts are now directed at trying to save lives. damian grammaticas, bbc news, madrid. the indian capital, delhi, is preparing to go into official lockdown as authorities try to contain the spread of the virus. the move, which will also impact the city's neighbouring states, will last until at least the end of march. offices and schools will close their doors. public transport will also shut. more than 300 people have

so far tested positive for covid 19 across india, seven people have died. hundreds of millions of indians took part in a voluntary curfew as part of a nationwide exercise at the weekend. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: new ways of worship and religious gathering — including the live streamed barmitzvah. very good. applause so proud of both of you. applause 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! streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. streaking across the sky, the white—hot wreckage from mir this is bbc news, our top story this hour: president trump announces funding for thousands more hospital beds for three states worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic. here the prime minister urged

the public again to follow the rules for social distancing and help slow the spread of coronavirus. borisjohnson said if this didn't happen — further measures would be brought in. the number of people who have died from the virus in the uk has risen to 281, with 5,683 confirmed cases. 0ur health editor hugh pym has more. outside a fish and chip shop in scarborough today, people enjoying the sun, the local streets busy. it's fair to say social distancing has been variable. this was richmond park in south—west london and in recent days there may well have been confusion over the government's messages on what was and wasn't acceptable in the new world of limiting social contact. at his daily press conference the prime ministerfirst had thanks for nhs staff and those who had followed official advice to restrict their leisure plans, cancelling mother's day visits for example, or sacrificing business by closing pubs, restaurants and gyms. but he hinted there could yet be more measures to come.

we will keep the implementation of these measures under constant review and, yes, of course, we will bring forward further measures if we think that is necessary. so, always remember in following this advice, and i know how difficult it is, but always remember that each and every one of us, you, you are doing your bit in following this advice. with early morning trains like this full as some heading into work and aisles at supermarkets packed with shoppers and trolleys, the message isn't always getting through, so doctors and public health experts were out on the streets of bradford today, stressing the guidance to people on measures to limit the spread of the virus. for almost all of us

there are no new rules which say we should stay at home. it's ok to go for a walk or have a run, especially on a day like this, but there are clear, new guidelines on what we should and shouldn't be doing if we do go out. the advice to the general public is to stay at least two metres apart, to avoid all gatherings, for example groups of friends, and to avoid all non—essential travel. the over 70s and those with an underlying condition should be extra careful, for example people with asthma and diabetes, or women who are pregnant. they are advised to significantly limit face—to—face interaction, including friends and family. there is different guidance for up to 1.5 million people with serious health conditions, including cystic fibrosis, specific cancers and those needing dialysis. they have been told not to go out for 12 weeks. we will be setting out to them how we are going to help them, so they might be staying at home for a long time, but they shouldn't feel alone. we are going to do this in a number of ways. medicines are going to be delivered through community pharmacists and food

and supplies are going to be delivered through local councils, with the support of supermarkets and the armed forces. as for the front line of the nhs, ministers say specialist protective equipment has been dispatched to doctors and nurses who could be treating patients with coronavirus. but some say it hasn't yet arrived. we have been hearing over the last few days and weeks from doctors across the country who are really particularly worried about the lack of personal protective equipment that they have been seeing on the front—line. we have had doctors tell us that they feel like lambs to the slaughter, that they feel like cannon fodder. today doctors and other members of the respiratory team in belfast put out their own message on social media. we are facing our greatest challenge and we are frightened. help us. please stay at home.

doctors and nurses have died. we need to stay healthy so we can help you. hugh pym, bbc news. let's get more now on the situation in the united states where there are growing concerns about the rapid spread of the outbreak. cases in new york city now acount for 5% of all cases around the world. i asked professor paeter hotez from the baylor college of medicine's national school of tropical medicine in houston texas just how concerning the situation is in the big apple. i'm joined by professor peter hotez from the baylor college it looks like new york city, who would have dreamt a month or two ago would become one of the epicentres globally for this epidemic. we are hearing stories of 500 or more patients in the major hospitals, the big teaching hospitals, columbia and cornell, at least 2000 hospitalised so far at around 500 in intensive care units. let's just the beginning. it's going to continue to go up. this is the big question.

will all of the new york hospitals be able to handle this surge and at the same time, we are seeing healthcare workers get sick and infected and sick and either out of the workforce are in some cases, being hospitalised themselves. the tragedy of course, we knew this was coming and yet there was not enough done to stop it. we've seen governor andrew cuomo speaking often. is new york taking the right steps? they are doing the best they can. we've all heard the term social distancing where we are asking individuals to stay indoors. not everyone is heeding that advice u nfortu nately. so the numbers will continue to climb and then the question is if the hospitals can't handle it, what's next? there is lots of discussions about bringing in the united states military building makeshift hospitals including one of our convention centres so we don't know where this is going to top off. as healthcare

workers continue to get sick and the demoralisation of colleagues, taking care of colleagues and hospitals and icus, this is what we hope to avoid. it looks a lot like italy and many respect right here in new york city. what might america learn from other countries in particular, south korea, japan and singapore which seems to have had success with contact tracing and keeping the death rate lower. we knew what we had to do, we couldn't as a nation get organised to do it. we could not organise ourselves to do all of the diagnostic testing that needed to be done. we did not ramp up as quickly as we needed. we didn't do the social distancing early enough. we are missing opportunities and now we are trying to rely on building new technologies such as convalescent serum, antibodies or prophylactic drugs. 0ur lab has developed a vaccine

and moving that into clinical trials but vaccine clinical testing is a slow for many of us — aspects of daily life have changed in ways we might not have anticipated even a couple of weeks ago. mother's day get togethers didn't happen and church services didn't take place. but faith communities — and many others — are finding ways to come together — as phillip norton reports. on this mothering sunday, when many are far from family, friends or loved ones... church services like never before, on facebook, youtube, and this, broadcast on local radio stations. the temptation is to pull up the drawbridge and just look after ourselves.

that is the kind of thing that leads to panic buying, to growing fear and to spiritual and emotional, as well as physical, isolation. all faiths finding new ways to celebrate and support. 13—year—old yuval‘s bar mitzvah, broadcast to his family. glory be to the omniscient... here in east london, this was friday prayers. welcome to st albans cathedral. a scene repeated all across the country. we are keeping our social distancing. just weeks ago in flooded yorkshire, the church was a focal point. but there were no services for vicar eleanor robertshaw in snaith today.

it almost feels like, what else can you throw at us? everybody‘s already really fatigued from dealing with the flooding and now, to move straight into this is just exhausting. but we have the advantage that community spirit was so built up then that itjust continues and that's brilliant. there are unsold mother's day flowers, the nation told to keep away from mum. for many, this is how mother's day greetings have had to be made. happy mother's day, mum. sorry i can't be there this year. oh, that's ok, phillip. i quite understand. it's the same for everybody. and for these mothers in lockdown in a care home in prestwich, a message to theirfamilies. the point is to take each day as it comes, carry on regardless, be happy. it's a weekend when we have distanced ourselves from the ones we love, but it's seen people come together in new ways. philip norton, bbc news. how are you improvising your way through all this? what have you come up with? if you've got some ideas, you can reach me on twitter — i'm @jamesbbcnews. more on our website.

we will update you on the status of the pandemic as well as the tokyo 0lympic status of the pandemic as well as the tokyo olympic games. please stay with us. hello there. for this upcoming week, it looks like much of the country will be fine and settled with some sunshine thanks to high pressure over the baltic states, but we will have this weather front affecting the north—west corner of the country, bringing strong winds and some persistent and at times heavy rain to the north—west of scotland. eventually weakening and sinking southwards across the country on thursday and then introducing colder northerly winds to all areas by the end of the week but for much of this week, it will be dry thanks to that area of high pressure, certainly across england and wales and we will have that rain in the north—west and nights will continue to be chilly as well. as we start monday, is going to be a cold one, thanks to clear skies and light winds, a widespread frost away from the north—west where we'll see more of a breeze and cloud. that frost could be hard

in places and we could see mist and fog as well as the winds will lighter. but it does mean it's a chilly start to this morning but there should be plenty of sunshine, certainly for england and wales. for the north—west of scotland, this weather front bringing outbreaks of rain to the northern and western isles at the cloud pushing into scotland and northern ireland through the day. it will be windy here as well with local gales, a breezier day further south although you have all that sunshine which will tend to be a little bit hazy at times, it shouldn't feel too bad with temperatures reaching highs 12 or 13 degrees, but always cooler around some southern and eastern coasts. as we head through monday night, it stays cloudy, windy, outbreaks of rain across this north—west corner really piling up across the outer hebrides and the north—west highlands but here, it won't be a cold night like it will be further south for england and wales. so a bit of a repeat performance for tuesday. england and wales, largely dry, with some sunshine, albeit a little bit hazy at times. more cloud generally for scotland and northern ireland and it stays windy, with that rain really starting to pile up across the northern and western isles in particular. we also import some slightly milder air from the south, so we could see temperatures reaching 111—15 degrees in england and wales.

the pressure pattern then for wednesday, little change. high pressure keeps things largely fine and settled for england and wales, that weather front bringing generally more cloud to scotland and northern ireland, will start to weaken as it sinks south—eastwards so there'll be some spots of rain on it. further south, again, quite mild, those temperatures around 11—14 degrees. but the milder air doesn't last. it gets squeezed out as we see a new area of high pressure building over the atlantic. that will bring northerly winds right across the shores. down from the arctic. so it will be settling down towards the end of the week but turning colder for all. there will be some sunshine but also some wintry showers across the north of the uk on that northerly wind. that will bring northerly winds right across the shores. down from the arctic. so it will be settling down towards the end of the week but turning colder for all. there will be some sunshine but also some wintry showers across the north of the uk on that northerly wind.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

the us government is to fund thousands of hospital beds for coronavirus patients in the hot spot states of new york, california and washington. meanwhile partisan disputes in the senate have been holding up the approval of a huge stimulus bill to help an economy hit hard by the pandemic. britons have been warned to take advice on social distancing seriously or stricter measures could be imposed. prime minister borisjohnson said a lockdown like those seen in other european countries was being considered and said people ignoring advice were putting lives at risk. the international olympic committee say this year's games in tokyo won't be cancelled but could be postponed in light of the outbreak. shinzo abe a told parliament that a delay might have to be entertained. some countries say the games should not go ahead as planned.