this is bbc world news. our main headlines... spain records its highest daily death toll of people with coronavirus so far. it comes as the authorities in italy say, more than six hundred people have died in the last twenty—four hours — a slight drop on the numbers from two days ago meanwhile — the uk foreign secretary advises all british travellers to return home — as the government considers further measures to stop the spread of the virus. as the west struggles to keep the virus from spreading — we'll ask why taiwan has managed — so far — to keep infection under control. plus — food safety in the age of corona virus. what are the do‘s and don'ts — when it comes to mealtime.

hello and welcome to bbc world news. when italy first quarantined 11 northern towns over fears of a potential coronavirus outbreak in mid—february — it was a small part of a global story that still largely centered on china. today — one month on — europe finds itself at the heart of the world's coronavirus pandemic, ramping up restrictions on its citizens whilst straining to cope with the explosion in infections. thousands of army reservists have been called up in switzerland to relieve hospitals under pressure as the number of people testing positive for coronavirus jumped by fifteen percent in twenty—four hours; it is now more than eight and a half thousand. spain has again registered its highest daily death toll of people from the virus, four—hundred— and— sixty—two have died in the past day.

the deputy prime minister, carmen calvo, is being tested in hospital. in italy — there is some good news, the rate of infection has dropped for the second day in a row but it's still europe's worst affected country. 6077 people have now died, with 601 deaths in the last day. in a moment we'll hear from damian grammaticas in madrid, but first — mark lowen sent this report from italy... tightening the screw on people and the virus. two weeks into a nationwide lockdown, the measures are toughening again. italians now banned from leaving their town and travelling across the country. not since wartime curfews have these scenes played out. the limits on movement are being stepped up, with ever more police spot checks to see if people can justify why they are out.

and yet, polls suggest that most italians would support even tighter restrictions. there is virtually no sense of rebellion or complacency here. with streets deserted, all nonessential companies will now be shut down too. italy is running out of things to close. still open is this laboratory where they are working on a coronavirus vaccine. dna injections to produce an immune system response. they're aiming for clinical trials by the end of the year. we are going to use a vaccination that is a fragment of the dna, which we inject into the muscle. we are really confident this technology will work, because we have been using this technology to generate anti—cancer vaccines. it can't come fast enough for hospitals in the worst—hit region of lombardy, where all 800 intensive care beds are now taken. 2a doctors have died. latest figures show a slowdown in new cases, but experts warn caution. we have to wait more days to evaluate if this decrease is continuing or, if it is just the good news of a day.

but i trust in these containment orders. at one crematorium, the backlog is piling up. among the companies allowed to stay open are manufacturers of coffins. coughing listen to the coughing from virus patients sprawled in the corridors of a madrid hospital. it's a health service starting to be swamped. inside another hospital. spain's capital is the epicentre of this country's outbreak. medical staff say this isjust the beginning. cases are expected to keep rising for days yet. so they are making desperate appeals. translation: we don't have beds, ventilators, staff, protective equipment.

i am just finishing a ten hour shift. look at me. look at my tears. please, stay at home. we watched today a constant flow of new arrivals. ambulance after ambulance. every time, it means hospital staff are being exposed themselves. and healthcare professionals really are making extraordinary sacrifices here. more than one in ten of all confirmed infections here in spain are amongst doctors, nurses and other health workers. maria is an anaesthetist in isolation after testing positive. her symptoms have been mild, but also infected have been her boyfriend and baby. things are so dire, maria is waiting for a new test and the all clear as her hospital needs her. i will want to work, yes. so, straight back into the hospital? straight back to the war, because now, it is so dramatic here in madrid. so dramatic, she says, doctors

are now having to prioritise. the young get ventilators before the old. first you need to take care of the young people, of course. very old people who are not going to recover from this case of disease, well, you help them not to suffer, but probably, they won't go to the critical care unit. in one of those units, doctors removed a breathing tube and the patient recovering takes their first breath unaided. applause a moment of triumph. the reward for all the risks the medics have taken. damien grammaticas, bbc news, madrid. here in the uk — the british prime minister hasn't held his daily corona virus briefing yet. he will be holding it at 8:30pm london time. that address will come off the back of the meeting with the emergency planning committee

progress. let's check in with our political correspondent jonathan blake who's in westmisnter — do you think a big announcement is coming? it seems to be a clamp—down on public movement. that seems to be the way things are going, he has been sharing a meeting with the committee cobra and downing street later on this evening. before that the group for emergencies mapped as well and they have been talking about the need or possible need to impose further restrictions on people's movement after seems at the weekend where many people it seems weekend where many people it seems we are choosing not to follow the advice that the government has put out over the last few days, to enforce social distancing and a more strict way than we have seen so far. the prime minister will address the nation in a televised address which will be broadcast at 8:30pm this evening here uk time. i think it is

clear that we will see at the very least a marked change in town from the prime minister urging people more strongly and underlying how serious the situation is to follow the guidance put out by the government. that is to stay home where possible and if you go out to practice social distancing and stay at least two metres away and not gather and large groups and that has been the case that we have been reporting over the weekend. there may be further measures as well. we do not know what they are. there is a resistance to language like lockdown and downing street so i think we'll see a step or two further along the way from what the government has done so far rather thanjumping to an government has done so far rather than jumping to an extreme set of measures but frankly we will have to wait and see what the government has decided to do in the prime minister makes that address a little later on. we had the latest briefing from the world health organisation who are stressing the importance of

social distancing but underlying that will work on its own and again talking about the crucial nature of testing. where is the uk on testing? they have been ramping up the numbers tested on a daily basis to at least 25,000 was the latest figure given by the health secretary matt hancock i think i am right in saying earlier this week. there is theissue saying earlier this week. there is the issue of protective equipment in hospitals. the health secretary has today been trying to demonstrate how far the government is going and getting protective equipment to hospitals quickly enough so they have the supplies that they need. he admitted there has been problems there and there have been reports from doctors and other health care staff particularly in london but across the uk as well that they have not had the equipment they need and are fast becoming stretched to the

limit by the number of coronavirus cases that are being seen year in the uk. i will be the key part in the uk. i will be the key part in the prime minister's message this evening as it has been throughout andy's distancing measures and the restrictions put on people's daily lives are to stop the spread of the disease and also relieve some pressure on the health system that has been gearing up for cases. thank you very much and more of the detail we will learn in about an hour and 20 minutes. singapore, japan and hong kong have managed to control the pandemic much more effectively despite its close links to china, taiwan has similarly managed to keep the infection under comparative control.

so far, taiwan has diagnosed fewer than 200 patients with corona virus — and almost all are believed to have been infected outside of the country. just 2 deaths have been recorded from the virus. how has taiwan kept its numbers so low — apparently by acting early to prevent international travellers from infecting more people in the country. within three days of the virus first being reported in mainland china, taiwan had set up screenings for all travellers from wuhan. that was before any human—to—human transmission of the virus had even been confirmed. now, anyone who enters the country has to spend 14 days quarantine, enforced by the police using your phone's gps technology. eleanor 0lcott is a chinese—language student, quarantined in her taipei apartment, she sent us this earlier. if you leave quarantine in taiwan and you have your phone on you, that police have gps trackers on your phone so they know if you have left the apartment.

evenif even if you leave your phone in the apartment because you know they are tracking you, the police will regularly call your phone to make sure you are actually there. so i failed to pick up my phone one time and i, within ten minutes there was and i, within ten minutes there was a local police officer calling my apartment to make sure i was in the apartment. last week the taiwanese government banned all foreigners from travelling into taiwan. i was one of the last foreigners he does not have a resident card here could have arrived. 0ut there have subsequently arrived, flown from european countries where the situation is very bad have to quarantine and a special hotel for two weeks. they get financial aid to do so. i am actually personally under quarantine as well. my last day as in today's time and i have a regular police check to make sure i

have not broken my quarantine conditions. they have my phone number so they are tracking and they can regularly check if i want to leave the apartment, they will know and have a policeman asking where i was. taiwan up to now has highjust under 200 confirmed cases of coronavirus which given its geographical proximity to china is quite impressive. very quick and effective response from the government. when they heard of stories of a sars —like virus spreading as early as december, they dispatched authorities to check out the situation and also started to do health checks on passengers to check they did not have any symptoms. as soon they did not have any symptoms. as soon as they did not have any symptoms. as soon as the chinese government accepted and acknowledged there was an outbreak, they immediately close off all travel between hubei and

taiwan. people died from sars in 2003 so as a result of this people have a real sense of responsibility to control the spread of the virus. everyone has facemasks and everywhere you go you get temperature checked and there is hand sanitizer available and there is no run on facemasks because the government took control of that. there is a sense of people helping each other. the world will take years to recover from the coronavirus pandemic — according to the organisation for economic co—operation and development. the gloomy prediction comes from secretary general, who said the economic shock was already bigger than the financial crisis. let's bring in our global trade correspondent dharshini david.

urinalysis on the take of the depth and length of the recession here? —— your analysis. we keep saying that this is a fascinating situation i think it underscores how rapidly things are moving. it was not long ago where they said that they would reduce... but we expect the global economy to regain this year but it is joining economy to regain this year but it isjoining the chorus economy to regain this year but it is joining the chorus around the globe saying is there going to be a recession and when we are looking at the major economies we are likely to see a recession. the big question is how deep is it going to be and all the money and the government and central banks around the world placing in, is that enough to keep people and businesses going and the longer time and make sure job losses are limited and we aren't in a lasting depression. day by day we

can see around the world in different countries on movement and travel we can see businesses are having to pull the shutters down even temporarily. shops, restaurants and others. all of that is but a huge economic downturn and the question is how can that be limited. totally unsurprising. government and central banks trying to prop up central banks trying to prop up central economies. major myths from the us federal reserves but what is left in terms of the big guns that still have to be fired? we keep hearing about the massive bazookas and the feds of christ had done what has never been done before, and they have come out and said what we are going to do and in other words i limited easing. making sure

financial markets have enough funds that they are confident that there are enough funds going inside the will not face a credit crunch. there was a separate that had pay—outs to businesses and households and even students, underlying how far they are going to go but none of it and accept the fact that we are seeing stalemates when it comes to be us congress and have not been able to pass this package that is worth about $2 trillion. this is unprecedented in many ways but so too is the crisis and frankly we are going to have to see much more it when this is through. and we see governments and central banks acting day by day and each state we are saying wow that is huge but each day the damage is mounting as well. and likely there will be more. and looking at the way the us markets

are reacting, they got their hopes up are reacting, they got their hopes up and therefore is a stalemate going on in the us congress and shows exactly how nervous they are at the moment. thank you for taking us at the moment. thank you for taking us through all the latest. talking about the stalled stimulus package in washington. we look at the latest on that with eight democratic congresswoman a little later here on this programme. let's turn to some of the more basic things. more than i in 3 americans, have been instructed not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. the hope is, it will slow down the spread of the virus, and most households have responded well by cutting off physical contact with the outside world as much as possible. but unless you live on a farm there are some things it is impossible to do in isolation. like keeping fed. let's speak now to restaurant—owner james kenji lopez—alt, from san mateo in california — who has taken steps to make sure that his food is safe to eat. and he has written about it. glad to

have you here on the programme. i will try to get there as many of the basic questions as i can. let me start with the virus itself, how long does it stay on contaminated surfaces like topping boards, packaging and that sort of thing? said the interesting thing is that actually stays on hard surfaces like plastic and metal, plastic can be up two days and about one day on copper and on more porous or organic surfaces like a day. said something like a cardboard box or a letter in the mail about a day. and terms of practicality should people avoid open baskets of food that other people may have touched, does that make a difference? the name way it is transported as respiratory so when people sneeze, copy or breathe heavily so what you want to really do is avoid other people. 0bject heavily so what you want to really do is avoid other people. object so far there have been no known cases of it transmitted through food or touching other objects that it is a

goodidea touching other objects that it is a good idea to wash her hands heavily. you should be relatively safe even buying salad or apples that other people have touched before. give it a good wash before you eat it. on that subject at supermarkets, grocery stores, a lot of people have been asking the basic question on how to shop safely and environments like that. most likely, it is a new virus and you do not have all the information yet but there are no cases of getting it from food. no cases of getting it from food. no cases of getting it from food. no cases of it being transmitted said the feed itself is probably safe that way you want to watch out for is the crowds. when i would advise that shopping at smaller local markets that are less likely to have many people coming and more people going through the doorway, more chances at the doorway has contaminated air around it because these micro droplets in the air, it can stay in the airfor up to three

hours. the less he passed through other people's air, the better off you are so i would recommend going to smaller markets. the smaller markets also tend to be better stocked as well right now. it is all about physical contact and you mention food. briefly mentioned as a follow—up to what you have said, is food a vehicle for transmitting and you are saying absolutely not? there is no way to say absolutely not because it is a novel virus and we do not know everything about it but so far there have been no indications and no cases of ed being acquired through eating food and similarto acquired through eating food and similar to other coronavirus says, there has been no similar viruses not transported through food. eating with your hands, take away food whether that is a greater risk other than cooking at home and the culmination of sterilizing food or

reheating food. if you want to be extra safe, reheating the food is the best way to do it and you want to bring food to at least 149 fahrenheit and hold it there or above for three minutes and that is pretty much guaranteed to get rid of anything on there so if you want to stick to hot food, and holding food should not be an issue but you want to make sure that you wash your hands carefully after just to make sure that you wash your hands carefully afterjust in case he sprayed it on your face or your nose and keep it away from your face and eyes and if you are going to ta ke and eyes and if you are going to take out food, try to find restau ra nts take out food, try to find restaurants that are doing it in a contact free way so you do not have to go close to someone. proximity is the main way in which it spreads. you manage to take many questions thank you for your brevity and all the advice. thank you so much for joining us on the programme. thanks for having me.

there are still no drugs, that can kill covid—19, or vaccines to protect against it. but how far are we from developing them. tim muffett has been to one research project where scientists hope their work will hasten the development of a vaccine. in this quarantine unit in east london, a doctor monitors people infected with a respiratory virus. they have got the virus through choice. they are paid volunteers, on whom vaccines and drugs are being tested. the plan is for other volunteers here to soon be given a mild strain of coronavirus. we will take healthy volunteers and we will inoculate them with a version of the human coronavirus, follow their disease time course and then return them to healthy. it is known as a controlled human infection model. it will deepen scientific understanding of the virus. volunteers will be paid around £3,000 and will have to stay in a room like this for two weeks. so this is the room where our volunteers will be staying. this isn't a big room.

how hard do some people find it to stay in a room this size for two weeks? for some people i would say it is challenging, hence we do a really watertight screening process to make sure that they are suitable. it is important to stress that volunteers here will not be infected with covid—19, the disease caused by a specific strain of the coronavirus. they will be given a much weaker strain with milder symptoms, but scientists here believe it will still provide crucial information. it helps fast—track the developments of antivirals and vaccines, so it speeds up the effort of understanding if that potential product is going to be valuable or not. a vaccine seems to be the only answer to this global crisis. the search for one has united the world's scientific community. it is a race against the virus, not against each other, and there is a huge effort to produce new vaccines against this disease. and we are seeing a whole number

of different platforms that have been in development over several years suddenly coming to fruition and being tested in clinical trials. at porton down research center in wiltshire, vaccine trials on animals are due to start this week. initial safety trials in humans are expected to begin next month at oxford university. it is a daunting, urgent challenge on which so many lives depend. tim muffett, bbc news. japan's prime minister shinzo abe has acknowledged for the first time that the tokyo 0lympics may have to be postponed. the olympic committee was the first to say that there is no team to go to compete. a couple of the mind developing in the last hour. france confirms they have 800 60 deaths and dutch authorities

putting a ban on public gatherings untiljune the putting a ban on public gatherings until june the 1st. putting a ban on public gatherings untiljune the 1st. i will be back with more of the headlines injust a moment as well. see you later. thanks very much. a very good evening. if you are wondering how long the fine weather is going to last, it's going to last quite a bit longer. mostly dry through this week. then a sting in the tail as we hit the weekend. this delightful picture taken earlier on in great yarmouth, and it was representative of the weather right the way across region. clear blue skies and sunshine. more of the same to come for a few more days, but some chilly nights for sure. talking of chilly, it's going to turn even colder come the weekend. now, most of the thick cloud has been way up to the northwest of us, which is where it's going to stay through the next day or so, just a little wispy high cloud for us, which really shouldn't change the weather too much at all. for us, we are going stay mostly clear. the winds fairly light, away from the coast, which does mean temperatures will be

taking a nosedive through this evening, and by the early hours, we will be down too close or even below freezing, i know we are reaching the end of march, but, yes a sharp frost in one or two spots. gardeners take note of that. i think the coastal fringe will probably escape that breeze still coming in off the sea, but it will be a cold start to your tuesday, wherever you are. again, those fronts staying well away from the northwest. we are getting a feed of dry continental air from the southeast. again, there will be a notable breeze along the coast, where it will feel chilly, but head any distance in the land, and the breeze will be quite light, the sun quite strong, and temperatures after that cold start will bounce back quite nicely. if anything, a little bit higher than today. so up to the low possibly mid teens, and that sunshine is pretty strong now we are reaching the end of march. now, if you are expecting things to warm up, as i mentioned, you are going to be disappointed because as we head towards the end of the week and into the weekend,

we are going to get a shot of cold air once more from the arctic. and these blobs of white, well, they are indicative of potentially some wintry showers. now, the next few days stay fine, as i mentioned, through to the middle of the week, with light winds and sunshine. it will feel quite pleasant, but then temperatures start to edge downward through thursday and friday. the breeze beginning to pick up as well. it's not really until the weekend when that arctic air really sweeps in across the region. there will be more cloud in the sky, there will be some showers around as well, and don't be at all surprised come the weekend if you encounter the odd wintry flurry. you have been warned. enjoy your evening.

this is bbc news, broadcasting in the uk and around the world. i'm matthew. the headlines... after days of round the clock negotiating — key legislation to address the impact of coronavirus on the us economy fails to advance in the senate. the foreign office tells uk tourists abroad to return home now — as the british government considers emergency powers to slow the spread of coronavirus. as airlines struggle to cope with the worldwide outbreak we talk to those workers whose jobs are most at risk — cabin crew. also badly hit, the hair and beauty industry. with over half of workers here in the uk self employed, we'll find out how they're coping. and as self isolation prompts us all to be more creative,

how about the bbc news dance to pass the time. hello and welcome to bbc world news. for the second day in a row, democrats blocked a 2 trillion dollar coronavirus rescue bill, as chaos erupted on the senate floor with lawmakers venting fury about their failed efforts to address the pandemic‘s impact on the us economy. it's the ongoing argument facing senators: what is the best way for the us to spend nearly 2 trillion dollars? while republicans are urging quick action, democrats argue that republicans are prioritizing corporate industry over american workers in the legislation. how will the logjam end? joining us now is the democratic congresswoman madeleine dean from pennsylvania.

thank you so much for being here on the programme. what is your response to another failed attempts, when so many americans need help and need help now? thank you for having me on the programme. i am coming to you from my home in montgomery county pennsylvania, which is suburban philadelphia, in this county is particularly ha rd philadelphia, in this county is particularly hard hit. we have the worst cases in the most cases across the commonwealth of pennsylvania, including sadly one death here just about two days ago. so, i'm very disappointed with senate republicans for holding up this robust legislation in favour of a non—transparent package. i can't imagine shamefully how republicans, mitch mcconnell, or secretary of treasury, minh nguyen, would be putting forward an important robust bill and hoping that they would be able to hide from the american taxpayer how the money is spent, as we support businesses. before you

move on, for people watching around the world, they won't understand what the issue, the logjam here actually is, the republicans blame democrats, you just blame the republicans. when you say there's a lack of transparency, what are the key problems from the democratic perspective? one of the ones that is most damaging was the notion that bailouts to large businesses would be non—transparent. bailouts to large businesses would be non—tra nspa rent. in bailouts to large businesses would be non—transparent. in other words, we would not know, congress nor the taxpayers would not know how the large corporations were spending the dollars that we would be sending them. of course, that makes no sense. whatever we provide families, individuals, businesses, small, medium and large, must be totally transparent. 0bviously, medium and large, must be totally transparent. obviously, we want to avoid what happened in the past. we know that there were many stock buy—backs in 2008, increases of executive compensation, which is not at all anticipated by the crisis that we suffered then. now we suffer

any pertinent greater crisis. i call upon mitch mcconnell and secretary mission to say, of course, full transparency and robust bailouts and helps for rent and loans to small and medium businesses as well. how long do you think that sort of standoff is likely to go on? will the democrats bend at all, unless the democrats bend at all, unless the republicans give ground on those two things you have just outlined? because there is concern amongst democratics that the secretary it's done to his discretion, and that is worrying democrats and lawmakers, is to? it is. i would worrying democrats and lawmakers, is to? it is. iwould say worrying democrats and lawmakers, is to? it is. i would say that it is much more within our voting body. i am very pleased that speaker pelosi and her leadership team has collected all of the recommendations from our various committees, i sit on the financial services committee, we put forward a robust package, i had two pieces and that, and so i'm very pleased that the speaker will be putting forward robust legislation to make sure we maximise

dollars for individuals, families, local and state municipalities are particularly hard—hit, and that we prioritise the first part of this crisis, which is the public health crisis. of course we will have to bail out and help and support large businesses, like the airlines, we just want to do it with full transparency. my other concern is that we won't do it large enough. i have a bill i proposed legislation, and there is any piece of legislation in the senate that is for direct cash to americans, including adults and children of $2000 in ourfirst including adults and children of $2000 in our first fast payment, and then a quarterly payment from there on out as triggered by our measures of unemployment. i hope that we don't do this in a small way, and i hope that we recognise that we have to do the —— do this for a long time and we have to recognise the needs of families and small businesses. really be final thoughts, because coronavirus has come to capitol hill. we have heard of mitt romney and rand paul, how concerned are you

that he appears, senator paul to have gone to the senatejim, to have other meetings in a week whilst he awaited his test results? how worrying is that? it's dismaying. i don't understand why he would've done that, knowing he had had tested we found he is positive. i pray for his full recovery to health, you know that two of my colleagues have been diagnosed with coronavirus. 0ne i sit with on financial services, a terrific young man of only 45 years old, but if you saw his interview, you see how serious the consequences are. he talked about it being as sick as he has ever been. so i pray that everybody will be restored to health, but that we actually take very seriously the social distancing that we have to, because we are responsible to one another. we are interconnected in this isolation, and we have a responsibility to tamp down and avoid the spread of

coronavirus, not only for ourselves but for our fellow man. madeline dean, thank you so much for taking time to speak to us here on bbc news. thank you so much. major us airlines experienced their 10th consecutive year of profits in 2019 before the coronavirus outbreak hit the us. the collapse in travel that has followed is jeopardizing the jobs of 750,000 people directly employed by us airlines, and large carriers are now shrinking their international networks to the smallest in decades. this includes cutting thousands of domestic flights, parking hundreds ofjets and urging employees to take unpaid leave, in a bid to save cash as demand crumbles. as airlines seek financial help due to losses from coronavirus outbreak, workers are left asking, ‘what about us? . nyiasha johnson is from philadelphia. she was laid off on thursday last week from the city's airport. and economic worries aside — she's also concerned about her health as she has several pre—existing conditions. thank you so much for being here on

the programme, tell me a little more about how you were told, when you we re about how you were told, when you were told and the impact it's likely to have on you and your family? hello, i it was a security guard at the airport. i was told on wednesday... well, apologies, as you can see, we have lost that line there to philadelphia. hopefully, we will try to get that back. 0ut there to philadelphia. hopefully, we will try to get that back. out of the corner of my eye, i can see that the corner of my eye, i can see that the image has returned, so, hopefully, we can go back to that interview, because, of course, so many different workers have lost their jobs, many different workers have lost theirjobs, and many different workers have lost their jobs, and of many different workers have lost theirjobs, and of course, with all of those questions we were just talking about, but the stimulus package not kicking in yet, all manner of fears about what the coming weeks and months lies ahead, welcome apologies, we haven't been able to fix that just yet, we welcome apologies, we haven't been able to fix thatjust yet, we will try to come back to that interview,

let's look at another strand here, because coronavirus has come to south america relatively late compared to other parts of the world — but the number of infections is slowly starting to rise. governments have begun closing borders and placing restrictions on public spaces. 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 — and she sent this report...(tx sot) these little brazilians are having to relearn 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 greeting 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 to kiss far from each other. and they realise the importance of that. across town at latin america's biggest hospital, it's and they realise the importance of that. across town at latin america's biggest hospital, it's full—on crisis mode here. they want to take all the possible precautions so this epidemic works through in a better way than we've seen in other countries. this doctor heads up the emergency team. they're 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: here in sao paulo, we don't have enough intensive care beds. that's a fact because we're at more that 100% occupancy. intensive care beds. that's a fact because we're at more that 100% occupancy. imagine when that number rises. the lab downstairs is testing both patients and hospital workers. the government says it will provide up to ten 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, they're wealthy brazilians returning from aboard and getting treated in private hospitals. the concern is what happens if the virus starts spreading through poorer communities

with difficult living conditions and will the 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 her door. clean 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 somebody tests positive and has to quarantine, it is virtually impossible when families of ten are living in a tiny flat. translation: we know what the public health system is like. 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 lengths here, trying to stop older, more vulnerable neighbours from leaving the house. and are 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.

family gatherings and parties across the uk are being cancelled, as people observe the government's warning to avoid all unnecessary contact. but those tasked with organising children's birthdays are not being deterred — and are ready to use technology to keep youngsters happy. david sillito reports. social distancing, a life indoors. it's not much fun, especially... if you are three. if there is virus crawling around, you can't go outside so you have to stay indoors. are you ready, everyone? can you knock like this? # do you want to build a snowman? # come on, let's go and play...# but one thing hasn't been cancelled. jessica kingsley is today elsa from frozen, and she's found a way to give little

harry his birthday party online. harry started asking us in december to have... ..a frozen party, and we've been looking forward to it, counting down the days since at least the beginning of february, so the fact we managed to have one was just unbelievable. # let it go, let it go # be at one with the wind and fly # let it go, let it go...# meanwhile, forjessica, this experiment with a virtual birthday party seems to be working. just their little faces! how did that feel? really weird but really lovely because it meant that i could still give the children magic and that's what it's about, you know? because it is their special day. and this crazy pandemic shouldn't take it away from them. # do you want to build a snowman?...#

i could still see all their eyes on me and enjoying it, which was amazing. david silito, bbc news. let's get back to some of the politics as we were singing a little bit earlier, we have seen action from the feds, but also in the last hour and from the feds, but also in the last hourand a from the feds, but also in the last hour and a half, we have seen another move to get to that us stimulus package passed in the us, another move failed, for more let's bring our very own katty kay who joins us from her home in washington. another attempts, and another failure, what does this mean, when will they try again do you think? looked, they are still carrying on the discussions, the democrats say that as soon as adil has actually been agreed between democrats and republicans, they can vote on a very fast. they are not ruling out on voting on it today, the treasury secretary had set a deadline, which has now passed, but that does not mean the negotiations are happening. broadly, what democrats are saying

is look, this is an awful lot of money that is being pumped into the american economy, potentially for american economy, potentially for american corporations, and there ought to be some accountability. so they want more controls over who gets that money, they want more money for hospital workers, they wa nt money for hospital workers, they want more money for who are unemployed. the republicans are saying, we have just unemployed. the republicans are saying, we havejust got unemployed. the republicans are saying, we have just got to agree the bill now. there was a lot of tension on the floor of the senate between democrats and republicans. republicans saying, we can't afford to play politics with this. the democrats saying this is such a lot of money, we have to make sure it spent in the right way. to two questions. the first one after those comments from the mayor saying that he had medical supplies for one more week and a lot of confusion about whether the president has implemented the defence production act, has he come and if not, why not? well, he said that he has invoked it. he has signed it into law, but he hasn't actually used it as fired as we understand. to go to

american companies and say that you must give priority to producing much needed equipment, ventilators, masks, and protective gearfor health workers, yesterday, the president said, look, we know what happens in a country like venezuela when you nationalise everything, which seemed to suggest that the president doesn't like the bill on political grounds, because he thinks it puts too much power in the hands of the state. of course, there's an isn't actually nationalization from a stress testing companies into paying companies to prioritise the production of these goods, not actually taking those companies over. a final word on that relationship between the president and the main scientists at the daily briefings. he has given a fascinating interview where he has been really open about the strains of standing on the same podium as donald trump. as he puts it and the quote on our screens at the moment...

yeah, there are not very many people in the administration who are prepared to criticise this president in public. he has gone a lot further than most other members of the administration, and there is some tension over his role, and also on how long this shutdown is going to last, because the news in washington todayis last, because the news in washington today is people in the conservative media outlets are saying that we have to prioritise the economy, we have to prioritise the economy, we have to prioritise the economy, we have to get things back moving. it seems that the president would like that, but then you have people like doctor fauci who has been pretty outspoken, as you just said, saying, we have got to see how long this can last, because we can't guarantee that in the 15 days, we feel the virus is under control. so a lot of tensions in the white house at the moment, and the doctor taking on the role of scientist, president trump it seems listening as well to economists and business leaders, worried about the state of the american economy. thank you very much for the latest there from washington. now let's get down to some of the day—to—day questions of

course that the lockdown is prompting, because the lockdown ta kes prompting, because the lockdown takes effect right around the world. many people are asking pretty simple questions about their hair. when we lay next get my haircut? it is one of those every day activities that has to take the backseat as nations deal with the coronavirus. splitting hairs? n ot exa ctly. according to the national hair and beauty foundation — there are 43,000 hair and beauty businesses in the uk. in total they contribute £7.5 billion in turnover for the uk economy. around 250,000 people work in the hair and beauty industry here in the uk. of those — 54% of are self—employed, and over 80% of are women. today, salons and barbers were asked to close in scotland by the first minister, but the uk government has yet to make a decision in england. well let's discuss all this with hairdresser to the stars nicky clarke, he's cut everyon's hair from david bowie, to the beatles, even margaret thatcher and i'm pleased to say he joins

me now from his home. thank you so much for being here on the programme, in terms of your shop, have you closed or are you still open? no, we closed on friday, actually. i think that we were certainly looking at the situation and, of course, saturday was going to be our busiest day anyway, but i think by the time he got to six o'clock, we just thought this is think by the time he got to six o'clock, wejust thought this is not right. we decided to make a decision. in fact, actually, all of our staff have actually been very very supportive of it. of course, it's very you know unprecedented times now. it's going to be a tough road ahead for everybody. you know employees, the freelancers, and the employers alike. will come to those sorts of questions in a moment or two, but interesting what you just described, because scotland's first minister was there at the microphones earlier in the day and she was saying to construction workers to hairdressers specifically, you have to shut. now

you took that decision yourself. you didn't wait for the authorities, that's interesting, because businesses whilst they wait for the authorities to make any further moves, they are making their own decisions, aren't they? they are. i think that when boris made the decisions in terms of shutting the pubs in the clubs in the cinemas, i think he was you know, hoping that there would be a lot of people making those decisions on their own back. of course, we did, and a number of other people did as well. i think there's always going to be those people that feel that they probably need to have, you know, the law telling them. i think that most hairdressers actually just felt that it was the right thing to do. it's amazing, isn't it? since friday, we are now in the afternoon, it almost seems kind of unreal that anybody would be putting themselves into that kind of situation when you can see the facts in the figures, not only in this country, but what's happening around the world as well. there is no way around in your trade

when you talk about social distancing being able to keep going. but in terms of all of those people you employ, let's turn to that, because we know that businesses will because we know that businesses will be covered in part by what governments have laid out, but i said early in the introduction, 54% are self—employed. that is a huge problem for all of those people, and potentially people you employ as well. yeah, it is. it certainly, we have employees and we have freelancers. so there is a real mix there. of course, human beings, they'll need to survive, they all need to live, i think that it is a very worrying time, because, of course, they don't no matter how much they can isolate themselves from each other, we are going to have people working, you know, in separate stations. you can't get away from the fact that you are in close proximity to your clients. from that point of view, we had to

make that decision. for how long, we don't know. as you say, very very many worrying concerns. although, i saw one tweet saying we are going to find out in the next few weeks what people's real hair colour looks like. i suppose that is really true, isn't it? it's funny. the later side of this in terms of this incredibly tragic thing that we are all going through is that hutu people that i feel most concerned for our women doing their colour, and actually men finally enough, because, of course, going a few weeks is quite a big thing for me but to go for a few weeks for a woman, it doesn't normally seem to be that much of an issue, except for their colour. normally seem to be that much of an issue, except fortheir colour. i think those are the two areas that we are going to find a real issue, i think. we shall see, nikki clark, thank you so much for taking time to talk to me. thank you. well, among the challenges of isolation is how to keep yourself occupied? do you read a book? clear out your closets? watch that series you

never had time for? but what about taking in an opera? the arts sector has taken a significant hit, leaving musicians around the world in limbo — but they too are banding together, with many productions around the world, offering their performances, for free. for more, i'm joined by stanley dodds, who's a member of the berliner philharmoniker media board and second violin section. thank you so much for being on the programme. tell me a little bit more about what you are planning in the orchestra? well, it's two weeks ago since we were having the concert halls here in berlin shut down. we were actually in the midst of rehearsing a concert standard for the week, concert is thursday, friday and saturday, and our former chief conductor and we got the message on the first day of rehearsals that the concert halls will be closed. so, we decided to go ahead and play the concert for an empty hole and thought we might have that be the plan going ahead, we got

the news pretty soon we wouldn't be allowed to congregate as an orchestra. how will you eventually do it in terms of rehearsals on things like that? i have seen one orchestra earlier in the day all managing toa orchestra earlier in the day all managing to a cup online, is that the sort of thing you are doing as well? no. that, in the income is a huge job for the person cutting of images together. an orchestra needs to be in the same room to play together. so we were basically told we can't play. this is for an indefinite period. so that was the moment we decided to open the archives of our digital concert hall. try to give them something to look forward to in their day. in terms of keeping heads above water, in terms of people watching your performance, will they contribute? will they be charged? well, the initial reaction was if all the stages here in berlin were shut down, and berlin has an amazing cultural life, and all of a sudden there's nothing to do in the evening, her initial reaction was we have got to give the people something which they can just watch

for free and take down the pay wall. we initiated the 30 day ticket with the code, and anybody who puts that in gets the 30 days, they can look around to their hearts content. well, it's a fascinating idea. good luck with it in the coming weeks. thanks so much for taking time to talk with us. just a quick final word before we go. self isolation has prompted all manner of ways, creative ways to pass the time. here at bbc news, we are happy to be one of the ways to actually help. have a look at this. here's sarah sumeray dancing along to our news theme, she's promised to do the so called bbc news dance every day on the hour for the next 3 months. not sure how realistic that is, but if she inspires others to stay fit while keeping indoors, all the better. when we do breaking news, there is a five second, that's what i will be

doing for the coming weeks. thanks so doing for the coming weeks. thanks so much for being here with us. more headlines coming up in a moment or two. thanks for watching. goodbye for now. good evening. monday, for most, is being dominated by a dry settled story. in fact, the weather watcher picture here is essex, but it's fairly indicative of many areas across the country, allowing for some spring blossom to flourish now. different story though further north and west. across the western aisles, thicker cloud, thick enough for some rain at times, from a weather front that's going to stubbornly sit with you for the next couple of days. so it will bring some relentless rain for a time and some strong gusty winds elsewhere. the isobars open up, we keep those clear skies, so a bit of a north—south divide over night tonight, where we have got those clear skies, a touch of light frost not out of the question first thing tomorrow morning, as temperatures hover around freezing. but it will be a milder start up into the north with the cloud around,

but it will be wet. particularly for the northern and western aisles. windy as well, gusts of wind in excess of 50 mph for a time. we could have as much as 100mm of rain fall before this frontal system clears through. light and patchy rain through central scotland, quite a lot of cloud generally through scotland and northern ireland as well. elsewhere, we will have a little bit of fair weather cloud along western fringes, but come further in land, with a light southerly breeze and plenty of sunshine, despite that chilly starts, temperatures are likely to respond up to heights of 16—17d. that's way above the average for this time of year. now, it's almost a repeat performance tuesday night into wednesday, with clear skies across england and wales. those temperatures are going to fall away again quite sharply. we keep the cloud and the rain to the north, so it stays on the mild side. so we start off wednesday morning still with that front sitting there. it's going to start to weaken off, but, still, it's producing this conveyor belt of rain just brushing northern ireland and into the northwest of the glen, primariliry.

elsewhere, we keep some sunshine, and again, some relatives bring warmth with heights of 16 degrees. but the change will come towards the end of the week, as that weather front continues to sink south. now, it's going to weaken off, we are not expecting any significant rain, just the odd spot or two as it pushes south. but, more importantly, it introduces a change of wind direction to a colder northerly source. so, as we head towards the weekend, you will really notice the difference with the feel of the weather, although, for many, it will stay predominantly dry.

hello, this is outside source with the latest headlines for the us in the latest headlines for the us in the uk and around the world. spin records its highest daily death toll so records its highest daily death toll so far, with gas in italy dropping for a second day in a row as it enters tougher lockdown. meanwhile, the world health organization is warning that the coronavirus pandemic is rapidly accelerating. to win, we need to attack the virus with aggressive and targeted tactics. testing every suspected case. in the us, efforts to pass a $1

trillion rescue package