from fast cars to ventilators — how one uk engineering firm retools to support the fight against coronavirus. hello and welcome to bbc news. time now to focus on the top business stories. we begin with a stark warning about the global economy. the head of the organisation for economic co—operation and development has told the bbc the world will take years to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. angel gurria added that many economies face the worst recession in living memory. you don't get a worldwide

recession, you're going to get over no growth or negative growth in many of the economies of the world, including some of the larger ones. and therefore, you going to get, not only low growth for this year but you will also leave a sequel that will also leave a sequel that will be affecting us for u nfortu nately, will be affecting us for unfortunately, a few years to come. the head of the oecd there speaking to bbc radio. so, no wonder governments around the world are already taking drastic action to try to limit its spread. germany is stopping people from meeting in groups of more than two outside work. the greek government has announced a total lockdown in the country as cases there continue to rise. meanwhile the us congress is still ironing out the details of a more than $1 trillion deal designed to help american workers and companies affected by the virus. the british prime minister has warned tougher measures could be introduced if people do not take the government's

self distancing advice seriously. i'm joined by dan kemp, cio at morningstar investment management. dan, good to see you. are you not surprised hear what the head of the oecd is warning given what we are going through globally at the moment? good morning, sally. no, i'm not surprised by the comments of the oecd. there clearly is a terrible situation both for individuals and the global economy at the moment. and there will of course be some knock—on impacts into the future. i think, knock—on impacts into the future. ithink, as knock—on impacts into the future. i think, as investors, we need to look beyond this year and even those knock—on effects over the next couple of yea rs effects over the next couple of years and really think about,

five to ten years ahead. that isa five to ten years ahead. that is a normal investment time. , not what is happening over the next days, weeks, months. we all have to buttoned down the hatches no matter where we are in the world for some time wouldn't you say? just looking at stock markets today, a barrel of oil, brantz, is $26. gravel times we are experiencing at the moment. gravel times we are experiencing at the momentm is incredible times, without question. people are going through appalling situations as we know but at the same time, what we are seeing in the stock market is prices fall very far very quickly and it is my view that we would be able to find some good long—term value in those current prices. as we get past this pandemic, as the world benefits from the government interventions that we are already seeing, the challenge for investors is, now

that we are experiencing this incredible downswing in market prices, not to assume that those prices will carry on going down forever to look for those opportunities. you mentioned government intervention and the announcements coming from various governments, including the uk, it is very bold and courageous stop at companies needed the money now don't they. today, we're going to hear from the chancellor again about how practically, uk businesses will receive the funding they so desperately need and quickly. well, that's right. we're all for that intervention from governments and free come quickly as well. to save the jobs of individuals, to save some businesses facing cash flow crisis. but it's also worth remembering that a lot of businesses, particularly large businesses, particularly large businesses and those that aren't quite so directly impacted by the virus, are well funded and will get through

this situation relatively unscathed. and so, it is worth focusing on the positive stories that are coming out, as well as the negative ones. but certainly, that fast intervention from a governments seems to be the key to easing the pressures on individuals and those businesses under stress. in kew again, dan. we will show you the market numbers again at the end of the programme. the week is not started well in asia but let's focus on some of those positive stories as dan said, it was important to do so. among those responding to the uk govenment‘s call for businesses to support the nhs are a number of high—tech engineering firms who honed their skills in the world of motorsport. they're companies based around oxfordshire and in the midlands which make up what's known as britain's motorsport valley. theo leggett reports. probe drive made its name

building racing and rally cars and that is still the core of its business but now this oxfordshire firm wants to do something very different. it says it can help fight the coronavirus epidemic by building ventilators for the nhs. what we are very good at at everyone, and the motorsport injury two industry as a whole uk, turning around projects very fast. we have got great engineers and technicians and we can turn our hand outside of welding racing cars into almost anything and ventilators seem to be something we believe we could help with. the government has been scouring the country to find businesses with the facilities and expertise to build a vital medical equipment and fast. experts believe the nhs simply won't have enough ventilators to meet demand at the height of the epidemic. health secretary, matt hancock, has urged many factors to help where they can. prodrive it says the people and equipment here are ideally placed to help out. is a clean room because it isa out. is a clean room because it is a positive pressure

environment and we have got sticky maths outside of the isolated doors to pick up contaminants. around us, we also have our own manufacturing facilities in terms of fabricating, welding, freddie printing, harness assembly, et cetera. as well as our own on—site design teams as well. this isn't just on—site design teams as well. this isn'tjust prodrive, this pa rt this isn'tjust prodrive, this part of the west midlands is full of high—tech engineering companies, mainly focused on motorsport. they used to acting quickly, designing things, building them on site and they reckon those skills could be really useful in the current crisis. with motorsport events cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, companies like this one have 20 of spare capacity. and they say they're willing to go full speed ahead to ensure the nhs has the equipment it needs. theo leggett, bbc news. japan's prime minister shinzo abe has for the first time acknowledged that the tokyo olympic games may have to be postponed. mr abe's statement came hours after the international olympic committee said it was making

contingency plans including the possibility of postponing the games due to the covid—i9 pandemic. let's go to mariko 0i in our asia business hub. something we were talking to rupert about this moments ago. what are the economic implications of this? marika is in ourasian implications of this? marika is in our asian business hub and has the details on that. talk us has the details on that. talk us through what this would mean if it is postponed beyond 2020 will stop forjapan and elsewhere? well, sally, of course there will be extra costs if the games were to be postponed. example, hotels are usually well in advanced fully booked during those duration of the games which would now have to deal with a possible change of dates for example. but at least, the fact that the ioc ruling out so far a complete cancellation of the games. that is really probably for the japanese government which has already spent a lot of money in preparations for those games.

just last week, we were hearing from various japanese economists that were saying that if the games were cancelled, it would result in the loss of a0 billion us dollars. even if the games were to be postponed, they would be extra costs and of course, the ioc has to think of various other people, including the rights holders broadcasters and sponsors who also have spent a lot of money in preparations for the games and they usually play quite a crucial role in decision—making. but i think it's fair to say that the pandemic has become so global that it became inevitable for the ioc to say that we are now considering alternative options, including a possible postponement by a year or even two. that would at least give those athletes some clarity on what is going to happen. all right, thank you very much, marika, with the latest on that. let's squeeze in some

other business stories. abbas has confirmed that it will resume only partial aircraft constructions after its french and spanish factories reopen today after a four day shutdown. workstations will only open after it is safe to do so, airbus said but didn't say how sleepily its production would fall. mcdonald's will close all of its restaurants in the uk and ireland by the end of today after fears of the spread of coronavirus escalate. previously, if fast food giant closed its seating areas but continue to offer takeaway and drive—through services. mcdonald's says it's wants to protect the well—being of staff and customers. let's have a look at the markets. as i mentioned, we are having a pretty torrid week. they are very harder to read aren't they. i'm just going to look at the numbers. injapan, we are up look at the numbers. injapan, we are up by nearly 2% at the moment but elsewhere across asia we are seeing how the ——

heavy losses. the price of oil is down 3.5%, $26 a barrel oil is down 3.5%, $26 a barrel oil is right now the price of rent. i think we should remove those graphics because they are difficult to read. japan was closed on friday for a public holiday when it markets were more positive so perhaps the japanese markets are bouncing for that reason today. elsewhere, across asia, there is heavy losses for financial markets and when we look at predictions of how wall street will open today, it is not looking good at all. they are predicting several percentage points down for the s&p 500 and the dow. and just to say, on that mcdonald's story, they employ 135,000 people across the uk and the majority of those around zero hours contracts. that is the number of people who won't be working from the end of today. that is just a look at some of the top business stories. a lot more

detail on business on our website. you are with bbc news. let's remind you of our top headlines. countries across europe tighten restrictions to try and stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. stay apart or face tougher measures — britain's warned a lockdown is looming if social distancing advice isn't taken seriously. can plans for tokyo 2020 stay alight? sparked by international pressure, organisers consider a delay to the summer 0lympics. across south america, governments have been closing borders and shutting down public spaces, preparing for a worsening coronavirus scenario. while there aren't the number of cases that we've seen in europe, the fear is that this deeply unequal region will not be able to cope if the virus spreads.

0ur south america correspondent katy watson is in brazil's biggest city, sao paulo, home to the highest number of cases in the region so far. these little brazilians are having to relearn that the art of saying hello. swap hugs and kisses for smiles they've been told and are coming up with their own new ways of reaching family and friends. it is very difficult for us because brazilian people like to hug and kiss each other every day. so we have to tell kids, every day, not to kiss and hug and they gave us solutions to make hearts and kiss far from each other. and they realise the importance of that. across town at latin america's biggest hospital, it is full on crisis mode here. they want to take all the possible precaution so this epidemic works grew in a

better way than we've seen in other countries. this doctor heads up the emergency team. they are blocking off an entire floor for patients to avoid any risk of the virus spreading. in two weeks, she thinks half of this new ward will be full. in a month, there will be no beds left. translation: hearing sao paulo, we don't have enough intensive care beds because we more that 100% occupancy. measurement and arises. the lab downstairs is testing both patients and hospital workers. the government says it will provide up to 10 million rapid tests in the coming weeks to stop the spread of covid—19. doctor say that up until now, coronavirus has been an upper—middle—class problem here and for the most part, the there wealthy brazilians returning from aboard and treated in private hospitals. what is of the virus that spreading through poorer communities with difficult

living conditions and will be public health service be able to cope. bianca lives in a slum in the south of sao paulo. she shows me the sewer that runs right past the door. clean water in this neighbourhood is ha rd to rely water in this neighbourhood is hard to rely on. nobody has come to talk to them about coronavirus and many here just don't understand the threat. if the test positive monastic quarantine, it is virtually impossible when families of ten are living in a tiny flat. translation: we know what the public health system ‘s life, we know that there are long waiting lists, they are oversubscribed. and there are lots of older people living here and the majority of kids, when their mothers go out to work, have to be left with their grandparents. they are going to extra lamps here, trying to stop older, more vulnerable neighbours from leaving the house. and a sterilising the kids toys and washing their hands but there is growing fear that these poorer communities will bear the brunt of the devastating virus. there are still no drugs that can kill covid—19 nor vaccines