this is bbc news, i'm ben brown. our top stories: a huge temporary hospital is being builtjust outside london, as britain sees a big jump in the number of coronavirus deaths. france's death toll rises above 1,000, as the country struggles to keep up with the speed of the virus. india puts more than a billion people into lockdown, as the prime minister says it is essential to prevent the country being set back decades. but, amid warnings that the us could be the next epicentre of the pandemic, president trump says he hopes that it will soon be business as usual. i hope we can do this by easter. i think that would be a great thing

for our country, and we are all working very hard to make that a reality. hello and welcome to bbc world news. the world health organization has warned that the united states could become the global epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic. there are now over 50,000 confirmed cases in the country, and over 600 people with the infection have died. globally, there are now over 400,000 known cases of the virus, and over 18,000 people have died. here in the uk, 87 people with the virus have died during the past 2a hours. that brings the national total since the start of the outbreak to 422. 0ne hospital in north london was forced to declare a critical incident on monday because it did not have enough staff

or resources to deal with the surge of patients requiring intensive care. the government has now announced plans to convert a conference centre in the capital into a new hospital to help tackle the rising number of cases. 0ur health correspondent hugh pym has more. we are standing at the foot of the mountain, and we are looking up, and we don't know where that summit is. we don't know what we're heading towards... three doctors at a london hospital tell me what they are now seeing daily on the front line. patients in their 205, patients in their 305. we don't know what the outcome for some of these patients will be. they will go to intensive care, they may be in intensive care for some weeks, and some of them will die, and it's completely heartbreaking and harrowing. london is ahead of the rest of the uk with the coronavirus. they are warning other areas what might happen. so we have all of these people who are incredibly,

critically unwell. and people are dying alone. people have no company, they have no comfort. and that's incredibly difficult for healthcare providers, to try to help people recover or, in some cases, pass away with dignity and kindness. we are stretched as it is, and that is incredibly hard. but they are ready for whatever comes next. there's a lot of training that is going on to prepare for this onslaught, that we are guaranteed to be seeing in the next few weeks and months. i think there is a positive, a tentative positive, that we are trying to prepare for that as best we can. in a hospital bed in durham, michelle had a plea to the public — be careful, and responsible. i'm begging you, please, please be careful. be responsible. some patients receiving care for different conditions, including cancer, are worried about what will happen as hospitals postpone some treatments to focus

on coronavirus cases. a bowel cancer surgeon told me some procedures were having to be rescheduled. it's quite terrifying to them. these are patients who were expecting to have surgery done, and now they're facing uncertain dates, they're facing hospitals that are going to be full of patients with covid. and we're doing our best to deal with both the psychology of the situation, but also get them to timely care. it's a lot of pressure on everyone. . . masha is having chemotherapy in a private ward at an nhs hospital. she has been told it is not certain it will continue there. i'm unsure if there will be enough nurses to be able to look after me, if i will even be able to get my treatment. it is all very scary because, you know, once you start chemotherapy, you need to carry on. and so, if i have to pause it, i won't know for how long i will have to pause it. i don't know then what it will do to my health. 0ne hospital trust has postponed

chemotherapy treatment, along with other outpatient appointments, for two weeks, while they prepare their wards and staff for an influx of coronavirus patients. we are increasing our preparations for care of patients with covid—i9, and we're seeing increasing numbers of admissions to hospitals. and we're very conscious that our cancer patients are at particular risk, particularly if they develop covid—i9, they can become seriously ill. every hospital is preparing, and the government announced there will be a temporary new one here, at the excel conference centre in london's docklands, with room for 4,000 patients. more will be created at other locations. the planning is on a big scale, but the nhs will need every bed it canfind. hugh pym, bbc news. staying in the uk, it's the first day that severe restrictions on daily life have been introduced to try and curb the spread of the virus, and already there has been confusion. under the new measures, britons must remain in their homes, except for a limited number of essential reasons to leave. here is the health secretary.

these measures are not advice. they are rules, and will be enforced, including by the police, with fine starting at £30, up to unlimited fines for non—compliance. we can talk now to our political correspondent jonathan blake, who is at westminster for us. jonathan, i suppose the problem for the government and the health secretary, we're just hearing from, is that we are still seeing pictures of large groups of people particularly on the tube trains in london, packed together. yes, and since the prime minister's address to the nation last night, where the overriding message was people to stay—at—home, there has been some confusion around the exceptions to that rule. namely, most importantly, when and whether people should go to work or not. and the guidance is that, if you are deemed a key

worker, you should definitely go to work. if not, you should work from home, if at all possible, but if that isn't possible, then you should go to work. and that is what the government has been at pains to try to get through to people today. but it has been met with concern and confusion, not least in the construction sector, where many building sites have remained open. but people are worried and construction workers' unions are worried that both travelling to and from work, if it's on public transport, certainly the tube in london, as you say, has been very busy at rush hour still, due in part toa busy at rush hour still, due in part to a reduced service, and then at work, people aren't able to practise the social distancing guidelines that the government wants people to, so that the government wants people to, so there is a certain amount of concern and confusion around that. and as you say, in this first day of this new regime, under strict measures, where people are being told to stay at home wherever possible, the police have been

telling people, advising people, and trying to disperse groups where they can. but the reality is, with rules like this, it's just not possible to enforce it wholly and widely across the entire country. so the effectiveness of these measures really will depend on people understanding them and following them by themselves. and the other thing the government are trying to do is ramp up the national health service preparations for this outbreak really hitting its peak. we had that announcement, quite a dramatic announcement, that they are creating this sort of field hospital in east london with 4000 beds. yes, a big drive from the health secretary, matt hancock, today to not only get that temporary hospital up not only get that temporary hospital up and running in the east of london, in docklands, the xl centre there, a big venue with capacity for 4000 patients. it will be staffed by the military and also medics from the military and also medics from the nhs, but also to recruit 250,000

volunteers, that is the government saying, to support volunteers during the crisis, and those are people who will be in many cases delivering essential medical and food supplies toi.5 essential medical and food supplies to 1.5 million people who are being contacted to 1.5 million people who are being co nta cted by to 1.5 million people who are being contacted by the nhs over the next few days, and being told to stay at home for 12 weeks. they are the most vulnerable, and the government believes that keeping those people shielded in their homes as one of the most effective ways of stopping the most effective ways of stopping the spread of coronavirus and limiting the number of people who affected with it and ultimately die from it. so many measures announced today with an effort on increasing the resources for the national health service, and making sure they have what they need. but as we have heard tonight, still concern about protective equipment reaching the people who need it, and the capacity of hospitals, particularly in london, which are beginning to see a surge in cases. many thanks indeed

for that, jonathan blake, in westminster. in italy, a glimmer of hope, with the number of new infections slowing for the third day in a row. the death toll is still very high. more than 740 people died in the past 24 hours. but the italian prime minister said he hoped lockdown restrictions could be loosened soon. france, meanwhile, is struggling to keep up with the speed of the pandemic. intensive care units in eastern france are becoming overwhelmed, with patients having to be transferred to other cities. lucy williamson reports. in places like mulhouse, it is the very ill who are leaving hospital. intensive care units here are overflowing, and with dozens more critical cases admitted each day, patients are being sent to marseille, to brittany, even to germany and switzerland, in a neverending scramble for beds.

and one senior doctor told me that stocks of a key life—support drug have virtually run out. translation: our health system was not ready for this. i'm not sure there's a health system anywhere that's ready for it, because the scale of the crisis is bigger than any system could face. the mechanisms that we are putting in place are not enough. in the hospital car park, a military field camp has been set up, with 30 intensive care beds, enough to last the hospital here about a day. the government this week tightened quarantine restrictions across the country, and introduced a six—month jail sentence for those who regularly don't comply. the health ministry has said the epidemic could start to peak here this week. a doctor working in the heart of the crisis has described it as a huge wave moving west, and warned it could saturate hospitals in paris within days. five doctors have so far died from coronavirus.

many more are off sick. the government has ordered 250 million facemasks. translation: i protect myself with the stock we bought for bird flu, which has expired, but we use it because we have nothing else. gps are given surgical masks instead which don't protect against anything. it's totally useless. applause each night, residents gather at their windows to applaud the courage of medical staff. recognition from a nation without immunity that the eye of this epidemic is now travelling across france. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. president trump has declared that coronavirus will kill fewer people than a massive recession or depression, and he says he would love to have america open up by easter. his comments came as the world health organization warned that the united states could become the next epicenter of the pandemic.

the death toll has now risen to 677 — many of them in new york. nick bryant is there for us now. this is ground zero, a phrase that for new yorkers revives such awful memories, now reapplied to this terrible present day. in what has fast become a quiet city, the case count is doubling every three days. and the peak could come in the next two weeks, far earlier than previously thought. the health system is already buckling under the pressure. here, the queue was for people waiting to be tested. but it is the desperate need for beds, ventilators, medical staff to treat the sick, that poses such a grave danger. this manhattan exhibition centre is being converted into a field hospital. new york might need as many as 140,000 beds, and

right now, just over 50,000 are available. so the news that donald trump wants to open up america by easter is being fiercely resisted by new york's democratic governor, who fears the cost in lives. yeah, my mother's not expendable. and your mother's not expendable. and our brothers and sisters, they're not expendable. and we're not going to accept a premise that human life is disposable. and we're not going to put a dollar figure on human life. first order of business is save lives, period. likening the coronavirus again to the flu, president trump told fox news he was already looking to ease the restrictions on movement that have brought much of the us economy to a standstill, claiming america was not made to be shut down. you're going to have suicides by the thousands. you're going to have all sorts of things happen. you're going to have instability.

you can'tjust come in and say let's close up the united states of america, the biggest, the most successful country in the world, by far. i would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by easter. donald trump is clearly itching to open up the country, claiming it will save the us economy from recession, and maybe even depression. but public health officials are pleading with him not to do that, warning it could result in a devastating loss of life. rarely has a president faced such a fateful or potentially calamitous decision. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: in the midst of isolation, fear and uncertainty — we find out what can be done to protect our mental health.

the two main symptoms of coronavirus to look out for are a continuous dry cough and/or a fever. if you're sneezing a lot, got a runny nose or a headache, you may be ill but you've probably not got coronavirus. so, how high a fever is a coronavirus one, and what exactly is a continuous dry cough? well, it's when you cough and there's no mucus or phlegm — basically no gooey substance in your tissue. and this is not the odd cough here and there, it has to be coughing regularly for no other reason, such as clearing your throat or smoking. so how high a fever is a coronavirus fever? well, if you have one, you will know about it. technically, it's a body temperature of more than 37.8 degrees celsius, or 100 degrees fahrenheit, but if you've not got a thermometer, basically you will feel hot and your chest and back would be hot.

this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: the uk becomes the latest country to turn a public space into a temporary hospital as the country's death toll continues to rise. intensive care units in france are being overwhelmed as the country struggles to keep up with the speed of the virus. in the face of indefinite isolation, contagion, uncertainty, and with no return to normality in sight, coronavirus is taking its toll on our collective mental health. in these unprecedented times, what can we do to keep up some sort of balance? let's get some advice from neil leibowitz, who is the chief medical officer of an online therapy provider talkspace.

thank talkspace. you very much for being with us. thank you very much for being with us. ina thank you very much for being with us. in a nutshell, what is your advice to people who are understandably extremely anxious about what the future holds, but also struggling to cope with isolation frankly? so, thank you for having me. first, reach out to the people you love, yourfriends, close contacts. now‘s a great time to spend time with them, reconnect, whether by facetime, video or by using the phone, and if it's overwhelming for you, seek out treatment. therapies are available online to help you if your anxiety becomes overwhelming. do you think for a lot of people it is overwhelming? absolutely. there's fear about the virus, "what if i get it and whatever my loved ones get it?" there is economic fears and increasingly fears about loneliness and for some people that's really too much to bear. what is your

advice to people on how to spend their days? if they are not facing weeks of self—isolation at home, obviously a lot of people are tempted to binge watch box sets of tv, or watch endless news programmes, which are pretty depressing frankly at the moment, but what do you say about people structuring their day? we need to find things we look forward to, whether it is a call to a friend or some sort of an event or workout or run if you're going outdoors, put something on the calendar. it's going to be smaller, not the symphony or the trip you've been hoping for, but something that gives you something to look forward to each and every day. in the uk, the prime minister has said to go out once a day for a form of exercise, how important is it to keep some sort of physical exercise in mind as you go from day to day in this crisis? really, really important. you hit right on it. for most

people, that physical activity is really going to help keep their spirits up and give them something to look forward to and really help keep their mood. great to talk to you. all good advice. neil leibowitz, chief medical officer of the online therapy provider talkspace, thank you for your time. thank you. india, a nation of 1.3 billion people, has tonight gone into a complete lockdown lasting at least three weeks. india has recorded over 500 positive coronavirus cases, and reported ten deaths. delhi correspondent arunoday mukharji has more. with uncertainty looming, india on tuesday prepared for the worst. in cities, hundreds of commuters looked to finish up last—minute errands, and state borders were sealed. many standard struggling to get back home. once bustling cities slowly turning into ghost towns. the police patrolled the streets,

ensuring citizens followed orders, threatening action if they didn't comply. but india's measures were only going to get tougher. on tuesday night, india's prime minister ordered citizens to stay at home for the next three weeks. no sooner had he spoken, these were the scenes outside convenience stores. citizens jostled to stock up, preparing for the long haul. as anxiety peaked, the prime minister's office assured citizens that the supply of essential items will not be affected, that food and medicines will be available. this is an important message... in unprecedented circumstances, the uk high commission reached out to its citizens who may be stranded in india. if you require urgent consular assistance, please contact us on the numbers on screen. in a country of 1.3 billion people, the next three weeks will be crucial and could make or break the country's fight against coronavirus.

arunoday mukharji, bbc news, delhi. let's get some of the day's other news. japan postpones the tokyo 2020 olympic and paralympic games, bowing to mounting pressure as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. officials say it's in the best interest of athletes, spectators and everyone else involved. three confirmed cases of covid—19 on the greek island of lesbos have sparked fears of the potential impact if the virus reaches the overcrowded moria refugee camp, which is home to around 20,000 people. humanitarian organisations warn the dire conditions are leaving refugees more vulnerable to disease than ever before. with the coronavirus spreading at a rapid pace, many governments have introduced strict controls on domestic and foreign travel,

but this has left many people trapped abroad. some governments are working to repatriate those facing difficulty. for others, though, it is uncertain when they'll see home again. tillyjerred is a briton currently stuck in new zealand. she's trying to get home because her dad has been in hospital for a week with severe breathing difficulties. thank you very much for being with us. tell us a bit more about your situation and can you get out of their? i can't at the moment, no. u nfortu nately i their? i can't at the moment, no. unfortunately i have had around five flights now cancelled, with numerous airlines, andi flights now cancelled, with numerous airlines, and i have spent a lot of money, over £2500 on flights, all of which have been cancelled. the cancellation notification we got via the airlines was with less than ten hours to the flights in some cases.

yesterday i was notified i could go to the airport and get on my flight andi to the airport and get on my flight and i turned up at check—in to be turned around again. at the moment, there's no way of us getting out of there's no way of us getting out of the country. tell us a bit more about why you need to get out and your father's condition. yeah, of course. so, my father has been very unwell in hospital in the uk for the past week or so. my father has an underlying condition, which is copd, which obviously with the virus that is going around at the moment is a highly vulnerable case. clearly we've advised that the test results have come back negative for the virus, so obviously we're super happy about that, but still very u nwell happy about that, but still very unwell and needs urgent medical attention quite a lot, yes. have you had any help from the british authorities out there, or are those offices closed down? sure,

the embassy or consulate, which is in wellington for the uk, has turned people away from the doors. people that were able to attend the office there were simply given a pamphlet ora there were simply given a pamphlet or a leaflet at the door yesterday. they've also turned the phone lines off. however, we have been very active on social media. we've been in contact with the wellington consular and received an e—mail yesterday from morgan clark, who is our british high commissioner here in new zealand. yesterday she arranged for a register to be made for all of us to put our details on there so she can get a scope on how many people there are here and where we are. she's advised us she is currently talking to a number of airlines. we are aware dominic raab, the secretary for foreign affairs, is in talks with singapore. if we can get singapore open as a hub it may be possible for commercial

flights to be booked for us. tilly, good luck to you. thank you for being with us. i'm afraid we're out of time but thank you for joining us. tillyjerred there. you've been watching bbc news with me, ben brown. hello. tuesday brought us the warmest day of the year so far, the warmest day of the year so far, the warmest place was real in north wales with the temperature nudging just a shade above 19 degrees celsius. we'll see quite a bit of warm weather across particularly the southern half of the uk again today, high pressure is to thank and it is speeding into the uk all the way from the core of europe. towards the north—west we have a weather front in play and that's bringing more cloud, further outbreaks of rain today as well for northern ireland and scotland but with shelter from the mountains and hills to the south—east of northern ireland, across eastern scotland, hopefully we'll see a little sunshine as the day wears on. the cloud could drift

a bit further south, turning the sunshine hazy in northern england and western wales with the odd spot of drizzle. where we have the best of drizzle. where we have the best of the sunshine will have the highest temperatures, across a central sleight of uk, 15 or 16. three wednesday evening and overnight into thursday, it almost looks like it's not moving, this weather front, but it's slowly moving south. by the end of the night clearer skies for the north—west of scotland, so the risk of patchy frost dear. to the south of patchy frost dear. to the south of the front with clear skies and light winds to take us through thursday morning, a frost across many parts of southern england, especially towards the south—east and other parts of wales. here's thursday and here's our front still sitting in place straddling scotland and northern ireland, perhaps a bit less in the way of rain on the length of that front and looking much brighter by this stage in northern scotland with the cloud trickling down into northern england. starting to become a shade cooler on thursday, our top temperatures 13 or 14 degrees. by

friday, it's a bit of a case of spot the difference. less rain in association with our front but again it's barely moved, so more sunshine in northern scotland and drew the south of the uk, looking pretty bright but notice again the temperature is starting to slide. what we have is a play—off between two areas of high pressure, the continental one that's brought the milderairand one coming continental one that's brought the milder air and one coming in off the atla ntic milder air and one coming in off the atlantic that will start to wind out over the weekend and as it does, it sta rts over the weekend and as it does, it starts to introduce a northerly or north—easterly air flow. a lot of settled and fine weather but come the weekend, it will feel considerably colder and there is some sign that on sunday there could quite a few wintry showers feeding into eastern extremes of the uk. here is your five—day outlook. a lot of their weather to come but you can see that drop in temperatures. —— fairweather.

this is bbc world news. the headlines: a temporary hospital with 4,000 beds is to open at an exhibition centre in east london next week to help deal with the coronavirus outbreak.