this is bbc news, i'm ben brown. our top stories: 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're all working very hard to make that a reality. a huge temporary hospital is being builtjust outside london, as britain sees a big jump in the number of coronavirus deaths. 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.

the tokyo olympic and paralympic games are postponed until 2021. it is the first time the event has ever been delayed during peacetime. hello and welcome to bbc news. the world health organization has warned that the united states could become the global epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic. there are now over 53,000 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. but attention is increasingly focused on the united states,

and particularly new york city. meanwhile, lawmakers in washington are close to reaching a deal on a rescue plan for america's workers and companies. laura trevelyan reports. the iconic landmarks of new york city are yearly and the. the usually bustling subway and streets shadows of their former selves. the city is shut slow the spread of the coronavirus. but the curve isn't flattening here. it is getting steeper. this gigantic convention centre on the west side of manhattan is being turned into a 1000 bed hospital. 140,000 beds will be needed when infections are at their peak, says the governor of new york, who has this dire warning for the rest of america. look at us today. where we are today, you will be in three weeks or four weeks or five week or six weeks. we are

your future. already, louisiana is seeing a surge cases, with worries that the mardi gras in new worries that the mardi gras in n ew 0 rlea ns worries that the mardi gras in new orleans may have spread the coronavirus. as restaurants and bars are closed from coast to coast, the economy is contracting before our very eyes. the president's own hotels are affected, like this one by central park. 0n hotels are affected, like this one by central park. on twitter and on the tv special today, mr trump is contradicting experts who want social distancing to continue until the viruses under control. he wants america back at work. i would love have the country opened up and just raring to go by easter. in response, the front runner for the democratic presidential nomination said mr trump should put public health first. he should stop talking and start listening to the medical experts. you talk about having and economic crisis, you want

and economic crisis, you want an economic crisis? watch this spike, watch the number of dead go up. lawmakers in washington said they were closing in on a stimulus dealfor the said they were closing in on a stimulus deal for the battered economy. americans have seen their lives turned upside down by the coronavirus outbreak in just a few weeks, and here in new york of the city is braced for infections to peak in the coming days. laura trevelyan reporting there. there has been a lot of criticism of president trump's call for the country to reopen by the easter holiday in just over two weeks' time. speaking at a white house news conference a short while ago, he appeared to downplay that idea. i think we are looking at the time line, we were discussing it, we had a very good meeting today. you know, if you add it allup, today. you know, if you add it all up, that's probably nine days plus another 2.5 weeks. it's a period of time that's longer than the original two weeks. so we're going to look at it. we will only do it if it is good, and maybe we will do

sections of the country, we will do large sections of the country. they could be two. we are very much in touch with tony and with deborah. who suggested easter? ijust thought it was a beautiful time. so that is based on the data... it was based on a certain level of weeks from the time we started, and it happened to arrive actually... we were thinking in terms of sooner. we were thinking in terms of sooner. i would love to see it come even sooner, sooner. i would love to see it come even sooner, but ijust think it would be a beautiful timeline. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowesjoins me now. a little confusion then about when president trump thinks america might be, in his words, back open for business. yes, he did seem to play down his remarks from 24 hours ago, talking about america getting back to work, and even suggesting that the effect of not working, that the business shutdown, could result in more deaths than the virus itself. well, as we havejust

deaths than the virus itself. well, as we have just heard, deaths than the virus itself. well, as we havejust heard, it has prepared comments before that news conference, he did seem that news conference, he did seem to be a little steadier in terms of his prediction, suggesting that he would look at the data, he would listen to his experts. but then when questioned about it, repeating this goal, this hope, that easter sunday could be the time that america begins to get back to work, describing it as a beautiful timeline. and throughout this crisis, there has been criticism from his opponents that essentially he hasn't been taking this coronavirus outbreak seriously enough. it's almost like we're living in two different worlds. the world as donald trump sees it and the world as most of us, the majority of the scientific experts, the medical experts who are giving news conferences in virtually every city around the country on a daily basis. and we saw it a few hours ago, again in new york city, and the governor of new york, andrew cuomo, without really dire prediction about how the number of cases in that area,

metropolitan new york, are increasing dramatically. two—thirds of the new cases around the united states are in that area, and warning other states and other cities that they are perhaps just a week or behind what is happening in new york. again, talking about it in very sombre, very angry terms, directing his comments at the federal government about the lack of equipment, lack of ventilators in particular, saying that they needed some 30,000 ventilators, they had received 4000, posing the question, who is going to make the decision about 26,000 people who have to die? peter bowes, thank you very much indeed. reporting there from los angeles. three young doctors working in the a&e department of a london hospital have issued a stark warning to the uk, as the death toll from coronavirus rose by 87, the biggest daily rise so far. but the doctors warned that they are seeing people in their 20s and 30s who are very sick, and they said that the surge of cases was onlyjust beginning. they urged everyone to take the government's new restrictions very seriously. in a separate development,

a new field hospital is being opened next week at a conference centre in east london that can take up to 4000 patients. here is our health editor hugh pym. 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 20s, patients in their 30s. 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're 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, who are trying 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're ready for whatever comes next. there's a lot of training that's going on to prepare for this onslaught that we are guaranteed to receive in the next few weeks and months. i think there's 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'll 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—19, 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—19, 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. let's get some of the day's other news: libya's national centre for disease control in tripoli has confirmed its first case. health workers have been disinfecting the streets of the capital to limit the spread of the coronavirus, but experts fear an outbreak could be catastrophic due to the country's degraded health system. most libyans often get their medical treatment

in neighbouring tunisia. panic buying has begun in south africa, as shoppers stock up on food and other essentials ahead of a 21—day lockdown beginning on thursday. more than 550 confirmed cases of covid—19 have been recorded in the country, the highest number across the african continent. 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 are warning the dire conditions are leaving refugees more vulnerable to disease than ever before. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we speak to an expert about why losing your sense of smell and taste could be a symptom of coronavirus.

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 news. the latest headlines: president trump says he hopes american businesses will be operating as usual by easter, despite a surge in the number of cases. the uk becomes the latest country to turn a public space into a temporary hospital, as the country's death toll continues to rise. india — a nation of 1.3 billion people — has gone into a complete lockdown lasting at least three weeks. india has recorded over 500 positive coronavirus cases, and reported ten deaths. 0ur 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. 0nce 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. by now we know the main signs of coronavirus infection — fever, a dry, persistent cough, sometimes muscle soreness and headaches. but scientists are increasingly confident of another strong indicator of covid—19 — a lost sense of smell and taste. for more on this i'm joined by professor claire hopkins, president of the british rhinological society. thank you very much for being with us. tell us more about this. at what stage might we see this loss of smell and

taste ? see this loss of smell and taste? losing your sense of smell and taste after a common cold or an upper respiratory tract infection is common so there is nothing new in finding that and we perhaps were not particularly surprised to find those who tested positive for covid—19 reported similar things. what we were surprised to find is that a large number of patients, particularly young patients under 40 are now reporting loss in the absence of any other symptoms. they are relatively well only a mild fever, if that had all but over time they have completely lost their smell of —— sense of smell and taste. would you say that all cases at some stage would have this loss of smell and taste? we think it is quite common and we have not been able to work out how many patients have reported it. in a recent german study looking at

100 patients, two—thirds did lose their sense of smell and taste at some point, some before other symptoms develop and others after but it is unlikely to be found in all patients. that finding, if it is correct, how does that help us is correct, how does that help us in the fight against the virus? we think it is important. 0ne virus? we think it is important. one of the biggest problem are silent spreaders, those were otherwise fit and healthy but have the infection and they have been carrying on no more social contact. they will go on to infect two or three other people. this may be a good way to identify those people and focus on self isolation and observing strict rules. do we have any idea why some people, the only symptoms, as you say, that they would show is a loss of smell and taste. why would that be? coronavirus, we know, has the ability to invade and damage the olfactory bulb. what we

don't yet understand is why some patients have a severe course and others seem to get mild infections and we have not yet been able to work out why we see such a variation of presentation. good to talk to you. professor claire hopkins thank you for being with us. in italy, there's been 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 never—ending 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 mulhouse 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. amid anger at a shortage of protection for medical staff. 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.

the international olympic committee has announced that the tokyo games, which were due to begin injuly, are to be postponed by a year, because of the pandemic. it is the first time the games have ever been postponed in peacetime and comes after mounting international pressure for them to be delayed. we're joined now by oliver trenchard, a journalist who writes about sport in japan. many people have been calling for this postponement and the japanese have been quite relu cta nt to japanese have been quite reluctant to delay them. what do you think has changed their mind? i think there is a degree of inevitability in the end. definitely the statements from the canada olympic team and some statements from the uk and usa athletes stating that they may withdraw from the olympics and certainly added to the pressure that the japanese government and the ioc were facing. with the vast sporting

events cancelled and postponed worldwide at the moment i think it was just a matter of time, really. the japanese government agreed on a postponement. really. the japanese government agreed on a postponementm does bring certainty and clarity at least four athletes who were preparing for the games and training hard. of course, yes. it is good news in some ways for athletes and they now know where they stand in terms of preparation as they we re terms of preparation as they were about to enter the vital three orfour months were about to enter the vital three or four months of preparation leading up to the games. so they now have clarity and can focus their mind and preparation schedule ahead of 2021. we don't know when exactly the games will be held but it is certainly a little clarity for athletes. what are the financial implications for sponsors, insurers. . . the financial implications for sponsors, insurers... talk to us sponsors, insurers... talk to us about the money side of all of this. from a financial perspective you have all the hotel bookings from various

athletes across the 200 countries that come to japan. that equates to about 1 million reservations up and down japan which is a huge number of reservations for companies to rebook. then you have the insurers who now have to go through various contracts that they have and see the triggers have been activated in those contracts are not around the cancellation of the olympics that has been brought by the ioc and japanese government. sponsors have a similar situation in terms of contract stop with the ioc and in some cases it may be the case that they have to do extend the contract they have to do extend the co ntra ct to they have to do extend the contract to 2021 because they would be valid until the end of august, at the end of the paralympics. they august, at the end of the pa ralympics. they now august, at the end of the paralympics. they now need to face re— negotiating some of those contracts to when the olympics will take place now and 2021. a massive financial implications for the olympic games which is estimated to cost maybe £10 billion in

total. and if you have a ticket, where do you stand? there is no official line yet from the ioc about ticket refunds but we do expect that people who have purchased tickets already will be entitled to refunds. there are a number of issues that the ioc and need to work through over the coming days and weeks as they deal with the announcement of postponement but it is my understanding that fans were purchased tickets already will be offered refunds and i think there is another wave of tickets you to go on sale in the next week and that has been com pletely the next week and that has been completely scrapped now stop it is my understanding that fans may be able to get a refund in due course. briefly, i gather even though they will be held next year they will still be known as the 2020 games? that is correct. even though they will take place in 2021, the tokyo olympics will still be known as tokyo 2020. when you think of the huge amount of merchandise and branding that has gone on for the games,

there are massive issues around there are massive issues around the logo to begin with. no new logos as far as i understand. oliver, out of time. thank you. this is bbc news. tuesday brought us the warmest day of the year so far. the warmest place in north wales where the temperature knowledge a shade above 19 celsius. we will see a bit of warm weather across the southern half of the uk again today. high—pressure is to think it is speeding into the uk all the way from the co re the uk all the way from the core of europe. toward the north—west we have a weather front in play that brings more cloud and there will be further outbreaks of rain. with shelter from mountains and hills in the south—east of northern ireland across eastern scotland hopefully we will see some sunshine as the day wears on.

whereas the cloud could drift a bit further south, turning the sunshine a little hazy in northern england and western wales, with the odd spot of drizzle. where we have the best of the sunshine will have the highest temperatures, so across a central slice of uk, highs of 15 or 16 degrees. through wednesday evening and overnight into thursday, it almost looks like it's not moving, doesn't it, this weather front, but it's slowly sliding south. by the end of the night, i think clearer skies for the north—west of scotland, so the risk of a patchy frost here. to the south of the front, though, with clear skies and light winds to take us into thursday morning, i think we're going to see a frost across mainly parts of southern england, particularly towards the south—east and other parts of wales too. here's thursday, and there's our front still sitting in place straddling, scotland and northern ireland. perhaps a little less in the way of rain on the length of that front. it's looking much brighter by this stage in northern scotland, with the cloud trickling down into northern england. starting to become just 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. there's less rain in association with our front, but again it's barely moved, so for northern scotland, more sunshine, and to the south of the uk, looking pretty bright as well. but notice again the temperatures starting to slide somewhat. what we have is a play—off between two areas of high pressure — the continental one that's brought the milder air, and one coming in off the atlantic that will start to win out over the weekend, and as it does so, it starts to introduce a northerly or north—easterly air flow. so, we will still have a lot of settled weather, a lot of fine weather, but come the weekend, it is going to feel considerably colder, and there is some sign that on sunday, there could quite a few wintry showers feeding into easterly extremes of the uk. here's your five—day outlook — a lot of fair weather to come, but you can see that drop in temperatures.

this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump says he hopes american businesses will be back up and running by easter, despite a surge in the number of cases. that is as the world health organization warned that the united states could become the next epicentre of the pandemic. 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. that is as the number of deaths has risen to more than 400. a three—week lockdown has come into force in india, the world's second most populous country. the prime minister says it is essential to prevent the country being set back decade. but it is not clear how or even if people will now be