this is bbc world news — i'm sally bundock. our top bsuiness stories: grim news for airlines — the uk chancellor says they should tap their shareholders for more money before asking the government for help this is bbc world news — i'm sally bundock. and wall street sees our top stories: its biggest percentage gain since 1933 on hopes of a coronavirus stimulus as world leaders begin package... asian markets follow suit.. to coordinate their response over the coronavirus pandemic, the us president says he hopes normality will be restored injust over two weeks. the number of deaths in europe has passed $12,000 despite efforts to curb people's movements across the continent. heartbreaking and harrowing — a warning from doctors and family members of coronavirus victims about what the uk is in store for. india begins its first day the uk chancellor rishi sunak has told airlines under a three—week lockdown following a last—minute shopping spree by concerned residents.

hello and welcome to bbc news. almost 19,000 people are now known to have died from the coronavirus pandemic around the world. economies are also being hit hard as governments impose shutdowns. governments are now starting to coordinate their response. later on wednesday, finance ministers from g7 countries in europe and north america will hold a video conference and on thursday, leaders of the 620 will also discuss the crisis. attention is currently focused on the united states, and its rapidly increasing rate of infection. however, president trump has continued to suggest that he would like to reopen the us economy by easter, just over two weeks away. i think we're looking at a timeline.

we're 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 do sections of the country, we do large sections of the country, they could be, too. we're very much in touch with tony and with deborah. who suggested easter? who suggested it? i just thought it was a beautiful timeline. so that wasn't based on any of 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'd love to see it come even sooner, but ijust think it would be a beautiful timeline. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes joins me now.

is the thought process about businesses reopening by easter? dismay around the country. america los angeles talked about what the president had been saying, the idea that it could all be over, the beginning of the end, a couple of weeks times by easter. we can't see an end to it. this is the epicentre of the crisis. much most than anywhere else in the country. there is clearly no end in sight. the governor of new york state saying that other states are likely to follow what is happening in new york within the next two or three weeks and it is a state where they have a serious shortage of ventilators, hospital equipment. they really can't see beyond, never mind getting to a point where americans are getting back to

work. and there is a lot of commentary coming internationally about concern of this idea that businesses could reopen in the us. the world health organization saying the us could become the global epicentre of the pandemic. look at what's happening in europe right now, in italy and spain in the united kingdom. that extrapolating the data is saying the united states is just a couple of weeks behind. he saw people potentially dying asa he saw people potentially dying as a result of the economic shut down more as a result of the virus and again, he's been widely criticised for saying something like that. for now, thank you. peter bows in los angeles, look at what's happening. financial markets had a strong day. partly to do

with the thought that there would be stimulus measures announced in the us soon. the number of deaths from coronavirus in europe has now passed 12,000. italy remains the worst—affected country, followed by spain and france. rich preston has this update on the impact of the virus on the continent: the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in europe, despite strict measures on people's movement across the continent. in france, parisians have been living in a state of lockdown for just over a have been living in a state of lockdown forjust over a week. sites normally filled with people on a sunny spring day, deserted. in marseille, drones to monitor people's movements. a particularly high number of cases in the east of the country. intensive care units

overwhelmed. the military on hand to provide reinforcements. but many patients having to be transported to elsewhere in the country. in some cases, even to germany and switzerland. officials in italy set on monday the country had seen 743 deaths in124— monday the country had seen 743 deaths in 124— hour period. the second worst daily figure for the country which has now had 6500 deaths. here in the northern count —— northern town of vertova, the highest concentration of fidelity ‘s. the cemetery closed off to prevent gatherings and limit the spread of infection. yoursecond worst hit country spain has called on nato for humanitarian assistance after it reported its highest number of deaths in a single day, more than 500. tight restrictions are in place limiting people's

movements but not everyone is heeding the warning. police say nearly 1000 people have been arrested for ignoring the quarantine rules. in russia, president vladimir putin visited a hospital preparing to deal with an influx of coronavirus cases. russia has reported nearly 500 infections so reported nearly 500 infections so far. doctors warned the president that russia should prepare for an italian scenario. translation: if we suddenly have a chinese or korean scenario by april or may, doctors will be overjoyed but it seems to me that we must all prepare for the worst. in its attempt to stop the spread of the virus, authorities in moscow are using controversial facial recognition technology. with thousands told to go into quarantine, the cameras are monitoring to make sure they do just that. stay at home, don't enter the city. richard preston, bbc news. here in the uk

the efforts to fight coronavirus are ramping up as more people test positive for the disease. the uk government is opening a new temporary hospital in london and has appealed for a quarter of a million volunteers to help the nhs. the number of uk deaths rose to 422 on tuesday, a rise of 87 in one day. charlotte rose reports. we have all of these people who are incredibly critically u nwell are incredibly critically unwell and people are dying alone, people have no company. a stark warning from those on the frontline. three junior doctors from a london hospital wa nt doctors from a london hospital want people to take this illness seriously and to warn the rest of the country what's coming their way. there are patients and there in their 30s. we don't know what the outcome of some of these patients will be. they will go to intensive care, may be in intensive care for some weeks and some of them will die. and it's completely heartbreaking.

warnings as well from families have seen what covid—19 can do. so sheena's 70 old father died on monday after contracting the virus. he had underlying conditions but wasn't diagnosed and collapsed in hospital. he was in hospital in intensive ca re was in hospital in intensive care ina was in hospital in intensive care in a coma for a week. prior to that, he was home ill with what they suspected was pneumonia. we are all going to be totally fed up with having to stay in, for sure, i know i definitely am but we need to be looking at italy which is quite terrifying. but they are really struggling. shops have been shutin struggling. shops have been shut in the streets are almost silent. after the prime minister told uk citizens to stay at home. but there is still confusion as to who should be going to work and who shouldn't. change here for piccadilly line. pictures are packed tubes prompted the

health secretary to give this advice. i want to be clear when people absolutely cannot work at home, they can still go to work. indeed, it's important they do to keep the country running. key workers, for example, in the nhs, social care, pharmacists and medicine supply train should go to work unless, as we've said before, they are self isolating. in the daily press conference, mr hancock said construction work could continue that in scotland, building sites are being shut. shadow chancellor john mcdonald said the government's approach was irresponsible, dangerous and self—defeating. as hospitals across the country prepare for across the country prepare for a surge in cases, the government has announced its creating a new temporary hospital at the excel conference in london. the nhs nightingale will provide an extra 4000 beds specifically for coronavirus patients. the army is being brought into run the alongside nhs staff. the

government is also calling for an army of 250,000 volunteers to support the health service. the battle against this virus is ramping up. we want to bring you some breaking news. unknown gunmen have attacked a sikh temple in kabul. security forces are still on the scene. it's not known who the attackers are if there are any casualties. we can talk to our correspondent in kabul. what more can you tell us? well, the security officials you say that a number of gunmen, at least two of them, have entered this temple in the old part of kabul city. there are a couple of explosions ahead. in a gunfight

was going on. we don't know exactly how many worshippers, but normally at this time in the morning, the worshippers, the morning, the worshippers, the hindus and sikh, they go to the hindus and sikh, they go to the temple in the morning so details are yet to emerge from the incident but at the moment, the incident but at the moment, the security officials say units of spatial forces are in the area and they are fighting the area and they are fighting the attackers. thank you, when we know more, we will talk to you again. 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 it's first case. health workers have been disinfecting the streets this 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.

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 10 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.

joining me now from delhi is our correspondent arunoday mukharji. you are talking about how people have been getting ready for this lockdown. what is the mood among people about this? i would imagine a lot of emotions. anxious, concerned and extremely worried. this is unprecedented that the entire country is on a complete lockdown. there is silencejust outside where i live. all the streets are completely empty. when people try to stock up on essential items. that's where the anxiety stemming from. this is going to end up hitting supplies. groceries and other important items. the prime minister's office was click to clarify. essential supplies

will not be hitting the government is taking all precautions and care to ensure essential supply vehicles and essential supply vehicles and essential workers will not go about unhindered. 21 days is what india is looking it. the prime minister said this was essential. seeing 21 days could end up reversing 21 yea rs seeing 21 days could end up reversing 21 years of the future. and what about the migrant workers who come to work in delhi. are they stuck there? very heartbreaking visuals that came in. as they struggle to find transport to go to their respective hometowns. remember, public transport has been com pletely public transport has been completely locked down, trains

are not working, state borders have been sealed. only essential vehicles. leaving their villages. there are also visuals. many of them walking walking on state borders. there is quite an additional scene and even on the ground, we've been getting reports. many essential vehicles are being stopped because of confusion but officials say this could be just teething problems for the next few days. thank you. as countries around the world struggle to contain the spread of the virus, taiwan, which is just off the coast of mainland china, has had relative success with a combination of strict measures and technological inovations like a phone tracking system dubbed the "electronic fence".

to talk us through what we can learn from taiwan's response, and the state of the oubtreak across asia is drjason wang a health policy expert from stanford university. i think they started early. by proactively testing people. as people from wuhan china at the time were coming to taiwan in early january. this helped officials had already boarded the flight from wuhan injected four passenger symptoms before they deplaned. to enter taiwan. very soon, they linked the national health insurance programme with immigration and chuck customs. all passengers that are coming from epicentres of whether virus hotspots are

and by doing a lot of these things early, including use of mobile technology to track individuals in the quarantine and to check for their symptoms, while they are in quarantine and providing food to those people that couldn't go out and also to help them to ta ke go out and also to help them to take care. i think they had done it very early trying to contain the virus. given what you are saying about taiwan, how it has successfully contained in this, their death rate is extremely low, are you concerned about what is happening in the us where you are and what the president has been saying this recently about businesses reopening perhaps at easter time? yes, i do believe that we have two give social

distancing and what we call medication strategy some time to work. if we left it too early, i think there is a possibility that there is going to bea possibility that there is going to be a resurgent of the infection among the population. so, if we look at the virus spread, usually incubation period is around 5—14 days before it spreads to other people, and we should give it time so that people don't end up time so that people don't end up getting a surge in infection in the city and cripple the healthcare system. social distancing will help. tell us about the use of big data, you mentioned in taiwan, data was key to them containing those who were infected and finding out who they were with as well at the time. took us through how that has been quite critical in the fight globally.

i think the use of data for decision—making is critical. in the case of taiwan, because they already had datasets available, they were able to quickly link them. in many places in the us, data are kept in separate servers and separate databases, in separate servers and separate data bases, but in separate servers and separate databases, but even under those situations, i think individual institutions such as hospitals could quickly come up with a quick way of assessing people's risk by just with a quick way of assessing people's risk byjust creating a new database to track people's travel history or contact, and that way they could integrate that with their existing electronic medical records to triage patients quickly so that the sick patients with respiratory symptoms are not infected, for example the cancer patients, that are also very sick in the hospital. all right, we're

going to have to leave it there but we really appreciate your expertise. thank you very much for being on the programme. 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. rupert wingfield—hayes is our tokyo correspondent. rupert, tell us more. it was an announcement that the government in japan did announcement that the government injapan did not wa nt to government injapan did not want to make but they really had no choice in the end. absolutely. i think many people here in tokyo, certainly the opinion polls have shown that most japanese people expected this, this didn't come as any surprise and 70% of people said that it was inevitable because

of the spread of the covid—19 pandemic. nevertheless, until monday, the japanese government and the japanese olympic committee was insisting that no decision was coming, that they would need at least another month to decide what they were going to do. 24 hours later that all changed and suddenly prime minister abe and the olympic committee came out last night and said the games are being postponed until 2021. they haven't given a date for the new opening ceremony, they say it will not be this year and it must be held before the end of summer next year, so quite a wide window but it is definitely being delayed by quite a long time. and there is a lot to try to figure out between now and then in terms of venues, availability, scheduling, at least, it is endless, isn't it? yes, it is a very, very competitive fare, this is the biggest sporting event that is held anywhere in the world by far. i read yesterday that there are 41

different locations here in japan where there are venues for the olympics, many of them are booked for next year. there are booked for next year. there are other athletics competition going on around the world next year which will also have two then be moved to make way for then be moved to make way for the olympics. there are many, many problems involved, not least of which is the cost of stopping the newspapers here in japan this morning complaining quite loudly that the cost of delaying the olympics as anything up to 6 billion us dollars and that japan is anything up to 6 billion us dollars and thatjapan is going to have to shoulder that bill by itself. the ioc, they say will not lose a penny by this delay and certainly the financial papers here, there is a little bit of unhappiness about that. i'm sure there is. rupert, for now, thank you. ina in a moment, we will be looking at some of the business applications of the coronavirus, in particular the uk chancellor saying that the airline industry should not first come to the government

for financial first come to the government forfinancial aid copy first come to the government for financial aid copy we will discuss that in detail in. ——in just a moment. 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. 00:29:37,925 --> 2147483051:51:33,677 done it very early trying to 2147483051:51:33,677 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 contain the virus.