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 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 — her hospital needs her. if i'm negative, i will want to work, yeah. so, straight back into the hospital? straight back to the war, because now, things are 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 are taking. 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. well, the limits on movement are being stepped up, with ever—more police spot checks to see if people can justify why they're 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're 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 genetic vaccination that is a fragment of dna that is injected into the muscle. we are really confident this technology will work, since 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 it is just the good news of a day? but i trust in these containment providers. at crematoria, the backlogs are piling up. needless to say, manufacturers of coffins are allowed to stay open. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. well, in other news, alex salmond has been cleared of all the sexual assault charges against him. the former first minister of scotland has walked free after being cleared by a jury following a trial at the high court in edinburgh. the jury returned a verdict of not proven on one charge of assault with intent to rape, but found him not guilty of all the other 12 charges, including an attempted rape. here's our scotland editor, sarah smith. faced with shocking allegations, alex salmond always maintained he's never attempted a nonconsensual sexual encounter in his entire life. throughout the trial,

he argued that people were making up claims against him for political reasons. he didn't go into details. there's certain evidence that i would have liked to have seen led in this trial but, for a variety of reasons, we were not able to do so. at some point, that information, those facts and that evidence will see the light of day. but it won't be this day, and it won't be this day for a very good reason. there will be a scottish parliamentary investigation into this whole process, with questions surrounding nicola sturgeon‘s role. i will absolutely be very happy, in the fullness of time, to set out my role and to, you know, set out and explain the actions i took. all along, my most important consideration has been ensuring that complaints of this nature that are brought forward are not swept under the carpet, that they are properly investigated. the court heard evidence from nine women, who claimed they had been sexually assaulted by mr salmond. they continue to have the right

to remain anonymous. several of the women who claimed they had been sexually assaulted by alex salmond said it happened here, at the first minister's official residence. they said he had touched or grabbed them, kissed them — or tried to — without their consent. mr salmond said that whilst, on rare occasions, his behaviour had been inappropriate, he had never done anything against the law. he described two consensual encounters in his bedroom at bute house, and said other incidents were either misremembered or made up. telling the court... "events are being reinterpreted and exaggerated out of all possible proportion. some are fabrications, deliberate fabrications for a political purpose." i think we've won the election! cheering alex salmond was one of the most powerful and influential politicians scotland's ever seen, massively increasing support for scottish independence during the 2014 referendum. once very close to the current first minister, nicola sturgeon,

this court case has caused bitter personal and political rifts. the snp are now divided like never before — over policy and personalities. thank you very much indeed. thank you. alex salmond has now cleared his name, but there may be seismic political consequences to come. sarah smith, bbc news. back now to the coronavirus pandemic, and the world health organisation says the pandemic is accelerating around the globe. south africa has announced it will put troops on the streets to enforce a strict lockdown — for three weeks, starting on thursday night. president cyril ramaphosa said the alternative was a human catastrophe. the country has the highest number of cases in africa, with 402 cases. our africa correspondent, andrew harding, is injohannesburg.

a limited number of cases and no deaths, but the government is determined to clamp down early? i'm sorry, i thought we might get an due at the last moment, but i'm afraid we haven't, we will try to get back to him later if we can. the iranian government is strongly advising people not to travel within the country, as people are still celebrating the persian new year, or noruz. iran is struggling to contain one of the biggest outbreaks outside china, with one person dying from the disease every ten minutes. more than 1,800 people are confirmed to have died. rana rahimpour reports. ignoring the warnings — over the last four days, more than eight million iranians have been travelling to visit family members and to celebrate the persian new year. that's according to iran's red crescent, who've been screening people for the virus at checkpoints across the country.

many thousands showed symptoms. translation: we will come back very soon. we won't stay long. we are not travelling, we are just going to visit our parents. the iranian authorities are taking measures. shrines have finally been closed and new hospitals are being built, but maybe too late. with more than 20,000 confirmed cases, the country's health service is struggling to cope. and it's the nurses and doctors who are paying the highest price. translation: hey, guys, are you all well? unfortunately, i'm not well. i still have a fever. i'm taking multiple medications. god willing, they will work. two days after posting this video online, dr mehdi variji was dead. dozens of medics have lost their lives battling covid—i9 in iran.

translation: our staff are risking their lives here and we don't have the equipment. just look at how unsafe my clothes are. just plastic bags tied around her feet. with iran's medical staff completely stretched and millions of people refusing to stay in, officials are warning of a second wave coming in a few weeks, possibly killing far more people. rana rahimpour, bbc news. well, we can now go back to our correspondent andrew harding in johannesburg in south africa. and you, the government is putting troops out on the streets, they are determined to clamp down early. -- andrew. that's right, fiona. this continent is basically several weeks behind the rest of the world in terms of infection so african leaders have looked around and decided their only option is to move early and to move hard, hence these brutal restrictions that are coming in here in the next few days, with

people being locked at home. the army on the streets, as you say. will it work? welcome the answer here is, it has to. the concern is that millions of people in south africa and across this continent have immune systems that are already weakened by hiv, malnourishment. so if this virus really does spread and cannot be controlled, the results could be truly catastrophic. the danger, of course, is enforcement in these impoverished, cramped, overcrowded neighbourhoods where basic hygiene, washing hands and so on is such a challenge. and people live eight people to a room. andrew harding, from johannesburg, thank you. finally, these are difficult times for everyone. but amid all the worrying news, there have also been reasons for hope. we could do with some. our correspondent david sillito reports on how some of us are overcoming the restrictions and helping others to raise a smile.

social distancing. a life indoors. for all ages. if there's germs crawling around, you can't go outside, so we have to stay indoors. thankfully, people are coming up with new ways of coping. # do you want to build a snowman? #. this, jessica kingsley, a children's entertainer who's been seeing if she can run a birthday party entirely online. day—to—day life has been utterly transformed, but it is easy to overlook the other story — the thousands of new ways people are finding to connect and to help. from the often unexpected offers of help and support from neighbours to new online communities. support that's both physical... and spiritual. today saw the launch of a new local radio campaign, a reflection ofjust how many of us want to know if we can help,

if we can make a difference, or even just find a way of keeping up spirits. # if you just smile #. # do you want to build a snowman? #. and back at the experiment with an online children's party. just their little faces! those rapt faces. it seemed to be working. i could still see all their eyes on me, and enjoying it, and that's... that was amazing. david sillito, bbc news. before we go, a reminder of the extraordinary new measures announced tonight by the prime minister to try to combat coronavirus. the key points are... from tonight, you can only leave your home for very limited purposes. they are to shop for basic neccessities such as food and medicine. you can go outside for only one form of exercise a day, alone or with members of your household. you can leave home

for any medical need or to care for a vulnerable person. and finally, you can travel to and from work, but only where absolutely necessary and if you cannot work from home. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello, i'm gavin ramjaun — and this is your latest sports news. the future of this summer's olympic and paralympic games, has been thrown into further doubt today. international olympic committee member dick pound, has told us media, the games will be postponed, probably until the summer of next year. it comes after australian and canada announced they won't be sending any athletes, if they do go ahead injuly. the ioc have said they will make a decision in the next four weeks. the canadian sprinter, andre de graase said it was the right call. it's going to affect me a lot.

i mean, not to be able to go to the olympic games, you know, we base our lives around the olympic games. you know, it's just going to be really, really tough to be able to adjust to that. so, you know, we arejust hoping that, you know, that things... right now, it's a waiting game. so we are just hoping that things turn around and, you know, and hope for the best for the future. the british three—time olympian martyn rooney says postponing the games by more than a year could force him into retirement. the 400 metre runner won bronze in the relay as an 18 year old at the beijing olympics in 2008. my plan this year, i was like, "this is my last season, "my fourth olympic games." i was just going to leave it there. if it's within the next year, i could probably convince my wife, my body, my coach, all of the people i work with to get me

through this next year, but if it's longer than that, then i will have to leave it at that and call it a day there. uefa has postponed the finals of the champions league, and the europa league. with no new dates arranged. european football's governing body, took the decision, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, which has halted leagues around the world — and postponed euro 2020 this summer. a working group — which was established last week will now look at what options are possible. but the finals in turkey, poland and vienna respectively, will not now be happening in may. the azerbaijan grand prix has become the eighth race of the formula one season to be postponed because of the coronavirus. the street race in baku was due to take place on seventhjune, but organisers have said they will work closely with fi to find a date later in the year. the next race on the calendar, is the canadian grand prix on 14th june, which is yet to be moved. former scotland rugby union international rory lawson said he was ‘totally floored' and felt empty — after living with