this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm simon pusey. 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. as the death toll in the uk jumps, doctors say that young people are among those who have become seriously unwell. 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's the first time the event has ever been delayed during peacetime.

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. the worst hit countries are italy, with over 6000 deaths, china with over 3000 and spain with 2,800. there are now signs of an emerging global response to the pandemic with leaders from the g20 group of countries agreeing to hold a virtual summit on thursday. new zealand is the latest country to declare a state of emergency. but attention is increasingly focused on the united states —

and particularly new york city. the state governor andrew cuomo has pleaded for medical supplies, warning that covid—19 is spreading in his state like "a bullet train". meanwhile, politicians in washington are close to reaching a deal on a rescue plan for america's workers and companies, as laura trevelyan reports. the iconic landmarks of new york city are eerily empty, the usually bustling subway and streets shadows of their former selves. the city is shut down to 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 1,000—bed emergency 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 weeks or six weeks.

we are your future. already louisiana is seeing a surge in cases, with 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. on twitter and on a tv special today, mr trump is contradicting medical experts, who want social distancing to continue until the virus is 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 frontrunner 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 an economic crisis. you want an economic crisis? watch this spike, watch the number of dead go up. markets rallied on tuesday as lawmakers in washington 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, the city is braced for infections to peak in the coming days. laura trevelyan reporting there. there's been a lot of criticism of president trump's call for the country to re—open by the easter holiday — in just over two weeks‘ time. speaking at a white house news conference he appeared to downplay that idea. i think we're looking at the time line. we were discussing it, we had a very good meeting 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'll only do it if it's good,

and maybe we'll do sections of the country, we'll do large sections of the country. they could be, too. we're very much in touch with tony and with deborah. who suggested easter? i just thought it was a beautiful timeline. 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. i would love to see it come even sooner, but ijust think it would be a beautiful timeline. 0ur north american corespondent peter bowes told me how and why president trump hopes he could relax social distancing rules. well, it seems to be an arbitrary timeline. and he did acknowledge that he will look at the data, he will listen to his scientific experts. but if you look around the country, the data, the numbers that are coming out of every single city, and of course the major states like california, washington and new york, there is no data to suggest that the end is in sight.

in fact, quite the opposite, the mayor of los angeles talking about going into a tunnel, a dark tunnel, unable to see the way out. and we've heard a lot, of course, from new york about the rapidly rising statistics in that state. quite a lot of criticism from within the media at least that donald trump is more focused on business and the economy, obviously which he was lauded for, partly why he was elected president, than the health of the people and the lives of people. well, based on his comments, and looking at the reaction, again, of people around the country, that is the impression that he is giving — that when he gives these daily news conferences, he gives more emphasis seemingly on the economy, how good it was, how bad it is now, and how good it will be when all of this is over, and constantly repeating the fact that he believes it is going to be sooner rather than later. and that's what leads a lot of people to say that he isn't

listening to his medical experts, he isn't taking note of the very dire predictions about the number of potential deaths around the country. we're hearing in the last few hours about people, for example in new york city, who have decided to leave the city having to put themselves into self—quarantine because they may well have already been infected by the virus. there's a of concern about new clusters of the virus developing in other parts of the country through people travelling around. the prime minister of new zealand, jacinda ardern, has warned that the country could have several thousand cases of coronavirus before containment measures take effect. speaking ahead of the implemenation of a state of emergency in which non—essential services, schools, and offices will be shut for a month, mrs ardern said that now is not the time to be relaxed or flexible. i have one simple message for new zealanders today. stay—at—home. it will break the chain of transmission. and it

will save lives. if people do not stay—at—home, other than to go to the supermarket or their gp orto get go to the supermarket or their gp or to get some fresh air close to your home, then you risk both spreading the virus to others and you risk getting it yourself. breaking the rules could kill someone close to you and that is why it is so important. self isolation is oui’ important. self isolation is our best tool to beat the virus. but if you do not comply with the rules you run the risk of forcing us to extend the period of lockdown and, worse, you could contribute to the virus causing harm to thousands. i cannot repeat this enough. staying at home will save lives. let's look at the impact of the pandemic elsewhere in the world. brazil's president, jair bolsonaro, has accused state authorities of taking excessive measures to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

mr bolsonaro questioned the use of closing schools and said that the country needed to save jobs. 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 the virus on the greek island of lesbos have sparked fears — of the potential impact — if it reaches the overcrowded moria refugee camp, which is home to around 20,000 people. humanitarian organisations are warning the dire conditions there are leaving refugees especially vulnerable to the disease.

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. here's 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 205, patients in their 305. we don't know what the outcome of 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, 01’ in some cases pass away with dignity and kindness. we are stretched as it is, and that's 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. and i think that 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. so 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'll be enough nurses that will be able to look after me, if i'll 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. in italy there's been

a glimmer of hope, stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the tokyo 0lympic and paralympic games are postponed until 2021 following mounting international pressure. 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. doctors in the uk warn that young people are also being seriously affected by the virus and that the recent surge in cases is only the beginning. let's get more now on the situation in the us. there are concerns in hospitals there, as there are around the world, that staff are being left exposed to the virus by a lack of personal protective equipment.

and as cases continue to rise across the us the situation on the frontline is becoming more and more of a struggle. joining me now from washington is doctor ashely alker an emergency medicine physician who is working on the frontline against this virus. thank you forjoining us. our hospitals and states across america prepared? do they have enough personal protective equipment? the hospitals do not have enough personal protective equipment. is back with emergency medicine physicians today in new york and california, and we are all facing what looks like a critical lack of equipment for protection. this includes but is not limited to a 95 masks most hospitals are now reusing. there are grassroots movements in the us to try to get this pte from the community to the hospital. 0ne pte from the community to the hospital. one group was started

by an amazing group of physicians. you mentioned new york there, it is a hotspot for the virus at the moment. 25,000 cases or at least that is the ones that have been reported. the federal government sent 400 ventilators? yes, there is a critical shortage of ventilators and new york city and it was announced today they we re and it was announced today they were able to secure around 7000 ventilators, but it is estimated that they will need around 30,000 in order to manage their patient population through this pandemic. who is most responsible here? is it federal, state, or everyone working together? it seems like right now it is definitely not do you think the messaging from the very top in the white house has been strong enough, because there has been quite a lot of criticism from the trump regime that there has been quite a few mixed messages coming out, donald trump saying one thing and his scientist saying

another. it is hard, i think in the united states the pandemic has been politicised. i think doctors are trying to focus on the well—being of their patients and urging everyone to do social distancing and trying to help flatten the curve. are you worried in your position about contracting the virus yourself or your colleagues doing the same? because that doesn't to be happening in hospitals around the world. yes, it is definitely a concern. i have friends who are doctors who have the virus. it is something that we are concerned about, it is a reason why we are really focused on finding ways to get pte to protect us and nurses and paramedics. we have viewers from around the world watching this programme, if anyone is watching and they feel like they have the symptoms, what kind of advice would you give

them? its respiratory viruses, so coughed and they will also have a fever. the emergency symptoms that we look for are shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and those, you need to reach out for to an emergency department. that's all we have got time for, best of luck in fighting this virus. stay safe and thanks so much for your time. 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. 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.

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. our 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 stranded, 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. the international olympic committee has announced that the tokyo games, which were due to begin in july, are to be postponed by a year, because of the pandemic. it is the first time the games have ever been

postponed in peacetime. our sports editor dan roan has more. four years after the baton was passed to tokyo, the flame arrived in japan this week. with world sport shut down, the biggest event of all had clung on, but today finally came confirmation — the games could not go on. translation: cancelling the games is not an option, so there was an agreement about that. what is most important is to provide a safe and secure environment for athletes and spectators. with that in mind, and in light of the continuing global situation, the holding of the games injuly as planned is impossible. organisers want a month to consider delaying an event that's cost japan at least £10 billion, but with the pandemic playing havoc with qualifying events, canada withdrew amid mounting pressure for a postponement. the head of the british olympic association told me the right decision had been reached. i feel relieved because we were getting more and more feedback from athletes and from sports saying, "it has to be postponed this year."

the one decision we have to make as soon as possible is we postpone it in 2020 and put it back to 2021, so my sense is relief. but two weeks ago i was in japan, i was involved with detailed planning ahead ofjuly, 2020, so a lot has happened in two weeks. i do feel a lot of empathy and sympathy for the japanese at the moment. once athletes' training facilities, like british cycling's national veledrome, were shut down all across the world, tokyo 2020 effectively became untenable. but organisers now face an unprecedented challenge to rearrange a hugely complicated mega event, with questions over additional costs, commercial contracts, the availability of venues and the impact on the sporting calendar. from the threat of terrorism and boycotts to the zika virus at the last rio games, the olympics has been no stranger to crises, but in peacetime, not until now have they been delayed. the flame will stay injapan, the hope that it can act as a beacon of light, but when precisely the 2021 games will begin remains uncertain. dan roan, bbc news.

that's it from us. do stay tuned. thanks for watching. hello. tuesday brought us the warmest day of the year so far. for rhyl in north wales, the thermometer creeped up just above 19 degrees celsius. another mild day to come across the uk again today too, because we're pulling our air in from the south around the western flank of this area of high pressure here. we have a front, meanwhile, sitting to the north—west, just like yesterday, not moving in any great hurry, set to produce greater outbreaks for northern ireland and particularly for western scotland. hopefully with a bit of help from the western hills and mountains as the day pans out, there could be a bit of brightness in the south—east of northern ireland and across eastern scotland. but the cloud and rain will keep things cooler here,

so the temperatures scraping into double figures. further south, and we're looking at the mid—teens once again. then wednesday evening and overnight into thursday, well, the front doesn't really move, but it does move enough to allow skies to clear across the north—west of scotland, so a patchy frost here first thing on thursday, and with the clearer skies further south, a frosty start to thursday across south wales, central and southern england. what we essentially have through the next few days is a play—off between two areas of high pressure, and our frontjust gets stuck in the fairly flabby bit, shall we say, in between, with nothing really to move it on, while the highs try to balance themselves out. so thursday, here we have the front. not much breeze around, so not moving on in any great hurry, but tending to lose rainfall on the length of the front because the high pressure is, if you like, squeezing the life out of it. the same for friday — a band of cloud very slowly trying to slide its way south across the uk. chillier to the north of scotland. to the south, perhaps

getting 13 or 14. perhaps a little bit more cloud here on friday. it takes until the weekend for the high pressure from the atlantic to start to win out, and as it does so and pushes its way in, we change our wind direction. no longer a mild southerly, we're plunged into a much chillier northerly or north—easterly, so a big change to the way things will feel come the weekend. there's a chance of some showers as well in eastern parts of the weekend, and could even turn wintry at times. so overall, still a lot of fine weather to come in our outlook thanks to the dominance of high pressure, but the biggest change will be the drop—off in temperatures for the weekend.

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. doctors have told the bbc that the recent surge in cases is only the beginning, and that there are a number of young people among the most serious cases. the number of deaths in the uk 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 decades economically, and that it is the responsibility of every individual to ensure that doesn't happen.

now on bbc news, it's panorama. it's been a week like no other. now is the time for everyone to stop nonessential contact with others. coronavirus has changed life in britain for the foreseeable future. covid—19 is real, it's here. we're already seeing patients turning up who are very unwell. incredibly high temperatures, sweating profusely... coughs. it's going to be up to all of us to keep it in check. members of the public should have a moral responsibility. health care professionals are quite literally putting their lives on the line. now there are big questions about whether the nhs can cope. this is an unprecedented public health crisis.