this is bbc news. i'mjane hill. the headlines set 2pm. the prince of wales has tested positive for coronavirus — clarence house says charles is suffering mild symptoms; his last public engagement was on march 12th. measures to help the 5 million self employed will be announced tomorrow — the prime minister says the government is working hard on a fair package. we have produced quite an incredible package to support the businesses and workforce of this country. we do need to ensure that we protect the self employed as well, and he will be hearing more about that in the next couple of days. some construction companies halt projects, to try to help fight the pandemic — but others are still working, amid confusion about the government advice. hundreds of thousands of britons

remain stranded abroad — with flights cancelled and some borders closed. and hundreds of thousands of people sign up in a single day — to volunteer with the nhs, helping the most vulnerable self—isolators. the call for 250,000 the call for 250 , 000 volunteers the call for 250,000 volunteers is looking to help people with their shopping, with transport, and then also simply, if you like, calling on isolated people. hello, good afternoon. the prince of wales has tested positive for the coronavirus. clarence house says prince charles, who's 71, is displaying mild symptoms but is otherwise in good health. the duchess of cornwall has also been tested,

but does not have the virus. buckingham palace says the prince last saw the queen nearly two weeks ago and that her majesty is also in good health. in some of today's other developments, the chancellor is to unveil a package of measures tomorrow — aimed at helping the 5 million self—employed people who have been affected by the coronavirus crisis. nearly 500,000 people have applied for universal credit in the last nine days, as people turn to the benefits system to keep families afloat during the outbreak. an appeal, launched yesterday, for 250,000 people to help the nhs through the crisis has already exceeded its target. the volunteers are needed for delivering food and medicines to people's homes, and driving patients to appointments. spain, meanwhile, has registered 738 fatalities in the past 2a hours — the country's steepest increase

since the outbreak. the country's death toll now stands at more than 3,400, surpassing the number of coronavirus fatalities in china. 0ur first report is from our correspondent, richard galpin. the 71—year—old prince, who has a busy schedule, had his last public engagement on march 12th when a palace source said he also saw the queen. it is understood he became contagious the following day and after then he he'd had a small number of meetings. he and the duchess of cornwall are currently in balmoral in scotland and are both self—isolating. he tested positive on monday after showing mild symptoms, but it is thought unlikely it will escalate into a more serious case. meanwhile, the nhs appeal yesterday afternoon for a volunteer army has been hugely successful.

by 9:45am this morning they'd had more than they had asked for, 252,000 people had joined up. in times like this, as the chief medical officer has already said, we see outbreaks of altruism, people wanting to help, so it is a wonderful response in the same way that all those doctors coming back, nurses saying they will come back, i am bowled over by it. the volunteers‘ role is to help the most vulnerable people in the country who have to remain at home for 12 weeks to avoid being infected by coronavirus. the call for 250 , 000 volunteers is looking to help people with their shopping, with transport, if they have a dbs qualification they can help with patient transport. i understand black cab drivers in london are hoping to be mobilised in that effect because they are more secure. also simply calling on isolated people, making a phone call and keeping in touch.

proving less successful is the government's decision to allow construction workers to keep working to help the economy. but several firms say they are closing. it is extremely difficult to adhere to the government advice for workers to keep two metres apart from each other. in scotland construction has been halted. in westminster there is still no change. in the construction industry in particular a number of employers have concluded they cannot follow the public health england guidance and are choosing to close down their sites, in some cases they are doing so over a short period of time, so those sites remain safe, and that is the right thing to do. but if you or your employer believe you can continue to operate safely within those guidelines, then it is sensible for you to do so. but there are, of course, exceptions for critical buildings, like the one under way to transform this, the excel conference centre in london, into a hospital.

it is due to be up and running by next week. two wards with 2,000 beds in each. it is to be named the nightingale hospital. this broad—ranging series of initiatives in recent weeks leading some experts to be more hopeful the nhs will be able to cope as the infection rate surges and then peaks in two and a half weeks‘ time. in westminster today, this the last question time before parliament, like so many other institutions, is expected to close its doors for several weeks. but before the mps here start working from home, it is thought they will pass a set of emergency laws to tackle the coronavirus crisis. and those laws include giving the police extra powers. can you all go home, please. it is not a holiday. the government believes keeping people inside their homes is one of the most effective ways of slowing the spread

of the deadly virus. let's talk about prince charles. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell is here. how much more do we know? mild symptoms, we are told by clarence house. the nhs in scotland is making it clear that he qualified under the clinical criteria to be tested. he is of course 71 and he was exhibiting symptoms. he and the duchess of cornwall travelled up to aberdeen on sunday not on a scheduled flight, presumably on an rafflight scheduled flight, presumably on an raf flight and i think that by then some of these symptoms must have been evident so he was tested, or they were both tested on monday, the test results came back late last night. his were positive, hers were negative, so as we have heard they are both self—isolating at birkhall, thatis are both self—isolating at birkhall, that is his not insubstantial house on balmoral estate. we are told he is in good spirits and up and about

and working, albeit, as i say, self—isolating. importa ntly, and working, albeit, as i say, self—isolating. importantly, he last saw the queen at buckingham palace on the 12th of march. we are told that that was a brief meeting. he was presiding over an investiture at buckingham palace on that day so he will have met hundreds of people and the royal family had will have met hundreds of people and the royalfamily had been will have met hundreds of people and the royal family had been together a couple of days before that at the commonwealth day service at westminster abbey. you will remember that the prince of wales walked behind the queen and other members of the royal family, behind the queen and other members of the royalfamily, the cambridges and sussexes were at that service. but buckingham palace was quick to stress that the queen is in good health. she, of course, is at windsor, she moved there a week earlier than had been planned as a precautionary measure. she has been joined there by the duke of edinburgh. but at the back of everyone's mind is the fact she is just a month short of her 94th birthday, he is 98, but we are told that she and indeed they are following all of the appropriate advice about keeping safe. nick, for

now, thank you very much. nicholas witchell, our royal correspondent. the chancellor is to unveil a package of measures tomorrow, to help the estimated five million people in the uk are self employed, after criticism that they have been left with no financial support to get them through the coronavirus crisis. as our consumer affairs correspondent sarah corker reports, the delay is already causing real hardship. i am ronnie penicuick. i am a relatively small roofing contractor in edinburgh for my sins, and i am a sole trader, self employed. my name is elina and i work as a freelance consultant for fashion brands. from roofers to hairdressers, to taxi drivers, the uk's 5 million self—employed are anxiously waiting to see if the government can and will bail them out. this is my van at the moment. ronnie from edinburgh says his work as a roofer has disappeared overnight. he has now closed his business.

the government really has to step in and help in whatever way they can to speed things up. truly forget about the economy for the moment and get money at the front end and help these people who are struggling right now. this is an area i have cleared out. like ronnie the only financial help freelancer selena from london can get is £91; a week, if she claims through universal credit. i have been taking a much, much, like, a massive hit on my income if i were to go on to universal credit. it will not even hit like 40% of what i normally earn in a month. that is in stark contrast to the health of direct employees, those affected by shop, pub and restaurant closures, who will see 80% of their wages covered by the government. but even those who can get

financial support are finding it difficult to access. damien shut his restaurant in cambridgeshire and is now doing a takeaway bread service, but says the lack of information is frustrating. i'm not going to call hmrc or anything like that. ijust make bread and i donate the supply to the community and wait until i get more information and until somebody gives me some clues. there is growing confusion over whether construction workers can safely go to work. photos of crowded building sites have angered many. the government is now under intense pressure to support the self—employed, many of whom are now facing financial ruin, but it is proving complicated to design a scheme that is fair and deliverable. we've produced a quite incredible package to support the businesses and the work force of this country. we do need to ensure we protect

the self—employed as well and he will be hearing more about that in the next couple of days. a lot of our clients are struggling themselves, so they have become less responsive, which makes us a bit anxious. at the end of the day when it comes to cutting costs, we are the easiest to cut. planning is the key now for who can and who can't work. we need to get sorted out uk wide and not get so many mixed messages. but these workers were among the first to lose work and say they are the last to get help. nearly 500,000 people have applied for universal credit over the last nine days — with more than 100,000 claims yesterday alone. the department for work and pensions has admitted there have been problems with the system that verifies applicants' identity — at one point yesterday, people were waiting in an online queue of more than 100,000 people. michael buchanan reports.

as britain economy rapidly slows down people are forced to turn to the benefit system. since monday last week, 477,000 claims have been made for universal credit. many believed to be from the self—employed. it is creating huge pressure on the government. we are currently experiencing high call volumes. call back later. jonathan hume's contract as a research associate ended early this month and has been calling the helpline for the past few days. since friday i tried from about eight up to 100 times. 100 times? yes. sometimes it will draw after you choose the options on the system and the other few times when i have got through i will be on hold for two hours and then my network will cut me off. about six to eight hours in total on hold. universal credit is a new service... the benefit is designed

to be claimed online, but those who have done so have also experienced problems. queues to verify their identities passed 100,000 yesterday, with many simply giving up. officials at the department for work and pensions told mps this morning there had been 105,000 applications for universal credit yesterday alone. little wonder, they admitted, there had been problems. we have had capacity problems absolutely with the verify system and we are working closely with the government digital service and their providers to build incapacity. there are things they are doing to build capacity to change the way the system works and i am hoping that system will see changes and improvements over the coming hours. with job centres now closed due to coronavirus, staff will be redeployed to deal with new claims, part of the 10,000 additional civil servants being moved to cope with the surge.

forjonathan hume trying to process his claim by a dwp imposed deadline of thursday, it is all very stressful. until it is sorted i have no income and i don't know what is going to happen after the time limit for organising the meeting is past, whether my claim will be automatically entered, or whether they will make an allowance for it. there has been no communication from anyone. ministers maintain welfare payments will be made in a timely manner, but they are facing significant challenges. in the rest of europe, spain continues to see a dramatic rise in the number of deaths — recording its biggest daily death toll yet. 738 people have died in the last 24 hours. total deaths in spain — 3,400 — are now greater than in mainland china where the outbreak originated.

the government in madrid is now looking to the eu for help with protective equipment for its medical workers. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee says the catalonia region now also has a rising number of infections. there are two records, notjust the highest single number of deaths in 24 hours but also the highest number of cases in 24 hours, 7973, that gives us a sense of the speed of the spread in the sharpness of this spread in the sharpness of this spread across the country. in madrid, where we know there are two thirds of those deaths, two thirds of 3500 deaths have happened, but also the catalonia region in the east, a big spread there. huge concern of concentrated areas of spain where the authorities simply cannot cope because the motor is, the morgues in madrid are full to capacity, soldiers have come in and opened up an ice rink but they are bringing bodies into the temporary morgue there. it was reported this morning in spanish state newspapers and state television that they had asked nato for official help. nato,

we understand, they cannot provide the sort of medical equipment that spain needs. what we are talking about is1.5 spain needs. what we are talking about is 1.5 million face masks, 500,000 respirators, 500,000 fast emergency testing kits, hundreds of ventilators. this will have to go to eu countries and elsewhere, possibly china, to see what comes back. the eu is going through a procurement programme at the moment and it is in its early stages and there are reports that at the moment countries combined could only provide around 10% of what is needed around the eu. so that's something that may take some time. but worrying for spain today. across to italy where that figure is still the highest anywhere in terms of the death toll in the world, 70,000 cases, 7000 deaths, giuseppe conte, the prime minister there, saying they will look to increase now the penalties for people violating the strict lockdown there, up to 4000 euros, and if you are in quarantine and you therefore breach that quarantine you are

looking at a possible five yearjail sentence. that is the severity italy is taking it with now. gavin lee. now a reminder of the latest headlines on bbc news. prince charles tests positive for coronavirus — clarence house says he is suffering mild symptoms. hundreds of thousands of people sign up in a single day — to volunteer with the nhs, helping the most vulnerable self—isolators. the government says financial measures to help the 5 million self—employed will be announced tomorrow. let's turn our attention to the united nations in new york because in the last few minutes it has issued an appeal for $2 billion of help. let's crossover immediately and here antonio guterres. countries with strong health systems are buckling under the pressure but now the virus is arriving in countries already in the midst of a

humanitarian crisis caused by conflicts, natural disasters and climate change. these are places where people have been forced to flee their homes because of bombs, violence, floods, living under plastic sheets in fields, or crammed into refugee settlements. they do not have homes in which to socially distance or self—isolate. they like clea n water distance or self—isolate. they like clean water and soap with which to do the most basic act of self protection against the virus, washing their hands. and should they become critically ill, they have no way of accessing health care system that can the hospital beds and ventilation systems. millions upon millions of people who are least able to protect themselves. this is able to protect themselves. this is a matter of basic human solidarity. and it is also crucial for combating the virus. the world is only as strong as our weakest health system. if we do not act decisively now i fear the virus will establish a foothold in the most fragile

countries, leaving the whole world vulnerable as it continues to circle the planet paying no mind to it borders. this is the moment to step up borders. this is the moment to step upfor borders. this is the moment to step up for the vulnerable. 0lder persons. persons with chronic illnesses and persons with illnesses who face a disproportionate risk and require an all—out to protect their lives. we are also aware of the other impact the crisis is having on the world's women across many fronts including losses of life with heightened exposure to domestic violence. we are launching a $2 billion global humanitarian response plan to fund the fight against covid—19 in the world's poorest countries. coordinated by the un's office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, this interagency plan brings together departments from the world health organization and other un partners

and identifies new needs as well. properly funded, it will save many lives and other humanitarian agencies and ngos collaborating over supplies for testing and equipment to treat the sick while protecting health care workers. the plan also includes additional measures to support those communities that continue to generously open their homes and towns to refugees and displaced persons. we need to act now to stem the impact of covid—19 in our already vulnerable humanitarian context. and we need to maintain the support for existing humanitarian response plans in which 100 million people depend. if such funding is diverted the consequences could be catastrophic. the further spread of cholera, measles and meningitis, greater levels of child malnutrition and a blow to the ability of these countries to combat the virus. let us do everything we can to prevent covid—19 from

wreaking havoc in places with the least capacity and resilience. at the same time, we are doing our utmost to plan for and respond to the early recovery in countries around the globe that need it most to achieving a sustainable and inclusive economy that leaves no one behind. i have asked the united nations coordinators and un country tea m nations coordinators and un country team is to support countries around the world in addressing the social economic implications of this pandemic and will require adequate funding mechanism. but now, now we ask you to support these humanitarian response plans that are a necessity for global health security. it is a moral imperative and in everyone's interests. it is a crucial part of winning this fight. i appeal to governments to give theirfull support. i appeal to governments to give their full support. thank you. we are staying with this from the united nations all done via webcam, as you would appreciate. thank you.

your excellencies, secretary general, colleagues, mark and henrietta, i'm pleased tojoin colleagues at this very critical moment in the fight against the corona pandemic. iwant moment in the fight against the corona pandemic. i want to begin by reiterating the secretary general's comments that now is the time for solidarity in the face of this threat to all of humanity. as you know, the pandemic has accelerated over the last two weeks, and while covid—19 is a threat to people everywhere, what's most important... most worrying, is the danger of the virus poses to people already affected by crisis. people and communities that are already

uprooted due to conflict, displacement, the climate crisis or other disease outbreaks are the ones we must urgently prioritise. despite their resilience, they do need our help today and this new plan lays out what has to happen right now in order to save lives and slow the spread of this virus. i implore leaders to stand together and heed this appealjoining the secretary general's call. since this outbreak was identified, blue show and our partners have been ramping up surveillance and lab testing across low and middle income countries. we have brought scientists together with funding in research and development diagnostics, treatments and future vaccine. we have communicated online via the media and in person with many world

leaders to ensure that preparations are accelerated and populations are protected. we have worked with business leaders to ensure supply chains are working and bottlenecks are overcome. the new global humanitarian response plan builds on that effort and sets a six—point action plan for how to prepare and respond to this emergency. first, the public must be effectively prepared for the critical measures that are needed to help suppress the spread and protect vulnerable groups like the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. second, ramp up surveillance and lab testing so that those with the virus can be identified quickly and isolated safely, helping to break the chain of transmission. third,

prioritise treatment for those at the highest risk of severe illness. and fourth, slow, suppress and stop transmission to reduce the burden on health care facilities. this means safe hand washing, testing, isolating cases and contact tracing, encouraging community level physical distancing and suspension of mass gatherings and international travel. for many on our planet, following even this basic advice is a struggle. but we as a global community must strive to make it possible. fifth, we are building the ship as we sail and it is critical that we continue to share learnings and innovations so that we can improve surveillance, prevention and treatment, and ensure equitable

access for the poorest to all research and development breakthroughs. and finally, we need to protect the health and humanitarian supply chain so that our front line workers are protected and able to travel freely as they give life—saving care. our message to all countries is clear. heed this warning now, back this plan politically and financially today, and we can save lives and slow the spread of this pandemic. history willjudge us on how we responded to the poorest communities in their darkest hour. let's act together and right now. thank you. well, very clear warnings there on behalf of the world health organization and the world health organization and the united nations doing that online, as you'd expect, from geneva

and new york. but a very, very stark message, not surprisingly, i suppose, but the key elements of this is that the un is appealing for $2 billion to help fight coronavirus, saying the disease now has a foothold around the world. you might have heard the secretary general antonio guterres making the point that individual country responses simply aren't going to be enough. and also of the who making the point that it is also countries that are already affected badly in other ways are perhaps about to be hit by coronavirus. so in a country where war is still going on, or where war is still going on, or where they are still feeling the effects of climate change or natural disasters. we will doubtless talk a little bit more about this as we get more details from the un. but launching an appeal and essentially making the point that tackling the coronavirus is everybody‘s job, making the point that tackling the coronavirus is everybody‘sjob, it is not just about coronavirus is everybody‘sjob, it is notjust about individual countries working on their own. it is about people working together. we will talk more about that over the

course of the afternoon, i'm sure. we will reflect on the sheer impact of having to stay at home as well because of course you are only meant to leave your home if you simply have a job that you can't do from home orfor a few have a job that you can't do from home or for a few other key essentials that we are now all aware of. changing everyone's lives. these new rules, changed in a very short period of time. we do know that it has left a lot of people feeling scared or anxious. let's take a few minutes to talk about what we perhaps can all do to try to help come to terms with this and to look after our mental health and notjust think about our physical health. a registered clinical psychologist joins us now. thank you forjoining us. thank you for your time. it is a very new experience for an awful lot of us. i know it is a big topic but what are the key things people can be

doing if you are not used to spending this much time in your home? there is a lot of things people can be doing. the first thing really is to think about our mindset and really think about why is this happening to us and why am i self—isolating or engaging in physical distancing? it is about reframing this, it's not the fact we have to stay at home but we have an opportunity to help others by protecting others by staying home, so really thinking about our mindset and reframing it is important. remembering it is not about us. we are doing it because then everybody benefits. exactly, and that is a major message that needs to get about because then we can think about because then we can think about being in this together, solving this is everybody‘s problem and in line with that is also thinking about what do we do at home to look after ourselves. it is about maintaining routine that's going to be really important. it is also going to be thinking about how to do things differently, so thinking

about how do i connect with people differently? how do i look after myself differently? how do i look at myself differently? how do i look at my house differently? we can feel very trapped in our homes, but it's also an opportunity to do something different in terms of actually decluttering a wardrobe, going into the loft and sorting out bits and pieces that you meant to do. because these are things that can be donated to other people, or even sold online ata to other people, or even sold online at a later date. we are really thinking about how we can help ourselves to help others, and think about our mental health. i have had lots of inquiries from different people thinking about notjust the impact of this emotionally but practical strategies, so thinking about the physical dimension but also really thinking about writing, because that can be really helpful, challenging ourselves to new skill, maybe your language, doing some creative acting, lots of things are going online and there are loads of things we can do to look after our mental health. there is lots of brilliant stuff out there, lots of

help, but there are certain caveats to all of this and there will be people stuck at home who frankly who are very worried and perhaps have no money coming in, they are perhaps in a job where they are not being paid. i know we hope to hear more from the government to more about self—employed people who have not had any help so far, but there is many more issues than that and if you are worried and you think i don't know how to pay for any food, or perhaps i can't get out and don't know how to get any food because my local supermarket has run out of fresh fruit and vegetables? there are people in that position. that's are people in that position. that's a different place altogether, isn't it? and how on earth can someone help themselves if they are in that situation? the first thing is really thinking about what i can control and what i can't control. it is about accepting that we are in a very unusual position that many of us have never experienced before. thinking about what information is out there online and remembering i'm not alone, there are other people in

a similar situation as i am. so thinking about those sorts of things, it alsojust thinking about those sorts of things, it also just seeing how you can connect and get the information that you need to help yourself. and speak to people. there are lots of therapists online and people who are trained offering help and support and helping people to manage their anxiety. it is important to remember the anxious feelings that we feel is a normal response to an abnormal situation and that needs to be held in mind as well. dr roberta babb, thank you for talking to us. much more to come in the next half an hour. we will pause and catch up with the weather prospects. then rich has those. split fortunes today, lots of sunshine for england under way, through this evening and overnight, this band of cloud across the north west really not moving anywhere quickly, still producing some outbreaks of patchy rain, underneath a band of cloud and

patchy rain it will be relatively mild, six or7 patchy rain it will be relatively mild, six or 7 degrees above the northern scotland a touch of frost as the sky is clear and further south across england and wales there will be a frost, one or two places could get down to minus five degrees. could be the odd patch of mist tomorrow morning but essentially tomorrow is another dry and mostly sunny day for england and wales and we still have a band of cloud and patchy rain affecting northern ireland, parts of scotland, although the far north of scotland will see something brighter but colder with one or two showers. temperatures further south, again 14, may be 15 degrees. we look ahead towards the weekend and it's going towards the weekend and it's going to turn colder, and it will turn increasingly windy as well. hello, very good afternoon, you are watching bbc news. i'mjane hill and these are the latest headlines. the prince of wales has tested positive

for coronavirus. clarence house says prince charles is suffering mild symptoms. his last public engagement was on march the 12th. measures to help the 5 million self employed will be announced tomorrow — the prime minister says the government is working hard on a fair package. we have produced an incredible package to support the business and workforce of this country and we need to make sure we protect the self employed as well and he will be hearing more about that in the next couple of days. some construction companies halt projects, to try to help fight the pandemic — but others are still working, amid confusion about the government advice. hundreds of thousands of britons remain stranded abroad — with flights cancelled and some borders closed. and hundreds of thousands of people sign up in a single day — to volunteer with the nhs, helping the most vulnerable self—isolators. the call for 250 , 000 volunteers is looking to help people

with their shopping, with transport, and then also simply, if you like, calling on isolated people. much more to come but we are going to catch up with some sports news. let's get the latest news from sarah. starting with brighton, because they have started a campaign for clu bs to because they have started a campaign for clubs to donate match tickets to front line nhs staff, tackling the coronavirus. the club have set aside 1000 tickets per game for when the premier league returns. they have also suggested that other british clu bs follow also suggested that other british clubs follow suit with similar offers. they said they were passing the batten on along the south coast to bournemouth who duly took up the challenge and said they would offer 1000 tickets for next season. manchester city manager, pep guardiola, says they have donated

one to a local hospital and charity, where it will be used to help purchase medical equipment and protective material for staff involved in treating patients. roger federer was also donating one a million swiss francs to the most vulnerable families in switzerland. players and directors from the bundesliga bayern munich have agreed toa bundesliga bayern munich have agreed to a 20% pay cut while there is no football being played. the club's board has agreed to be cuts after meeting with senior players, and that means that other employees at a clu b that means that other employees at a club will full salary. a german team have also adopted a similar measure, with pay being suspended since the 8th of march. deep is tokyo olympics could be held in the spring of 2021, as a special task. now look set all the options. some visitors took the opportunity to watch a sport

ceremony in a town north—east of tokyo. plenty of precautions there as the flame was displayed after its journey from greece. and an olympic cauldron was lit on the day. they say that yesterday's decision to postpone the games was a tough one. it was very hard to take because first of all, we had to consider the dreams of the olympic athletes, which we wanted to make coming true, given the latest worldwide dramatic developments in the spreading of the virus, we did not see the opportunity any more to organise the olympic games, which safeguard the health of every participant. the reaction continues to come in from athletes hoping to have been at

those games. vicki holland was the first british woman to win a an olympic triathlon medal with a bronze in rio and she won the last world cup event in australia just because before the season was cut short due to these areas. while she understands the need to postpone the games, she says it will make things more difficult for her. those who are more difficult for her. those who a re early more difficult for her. those who are early on in their careers will feel like they can put it another year of strength work in and do a lot more endurance work in that year, but for me i am probably towards the end of my career and i was looking at one last push going into the summer and then possibly thinking about winding things down a little bit. for me, i have got to think about ok, there is another winter to go now and it is quite tough out there on the track in winter. we do try to escape the winter. we do try to escape the winter a little bit. i had actually just being in australia, so i think thatis just being in australia, so i think that is something i will try and planning next year. an 11-year-old skateboarder was set to become britain's youngest ever olympian at the summer games. she could still

break that record if you get to compete by the 25th ofjuly next year, and while she has a while ahead on those young shoulders. yes, i guess it will be a longerjourney. ijust have to enjoy this journey and get better and better and stay healthy. more importantly, it is to keep people safe, especially grandmas and grandparents, and the ones who are already sick. it is way more important than my sport right now. i honestly think that the world is going to be a better place after this. ijust think people are going to be closer to their families, i guess. we hope so, don't we? that is all the sport for now. in a moment, we're going to speak to a virologist about how testing for coronavirus is being carried out here in the uk.

but before that, let's have a look at the latest advice from the government about the partial lock down that's now in place. if it depends where you live as to what it means. the latest government restrictions mean you can now only leave your home for very specific reasons. they are to shop for basic necessities like food and medicine. you can go outside for one form of exercise a day, alone or with other members of your household. all gatherings of more than banned. you can leave home for any medical need, or to care for a vulnerable person. and finally, you can travel to and from work, but only when absolutely necessary and if you cannot work from home. you can find out more about the symptoms of coronavirus and how to protect yourself. all on the bbc news app and also on our website.

the prime minister has said today that testing for covid—19 is vital for our success in beating the coronavirus. borisjohnson said testing had risen from 5000 a day to 25,000 a day, and he insisted that it has been a priority for the government "ever for the government "ever since the crisis has been upon us." however, currently only people in hospital are being routinely tested, leaving many people at home unsure whether they have had the virus or not. let's talk now to professor jonathan ball, professor of virology at the university of nottingham. when the prime minister says they are trying to increase the numbers of people being tested, what you make that? is it sufficient? remind our viewers why they are trying to get more tests out there and why thatis

get more tests out there and why that is important. so testing is important because it is the only real way that you are going to get any idea about how much the virus is circulating out in a community because it is the community circulation that drives the hospital admissions because the more undetected, under the radar diver spreads, unfortunately is that they are spread around populations, you will then cn increase in numbers of people who require hospitalisation and unfortunately, things like critical care as well as increases in deaths. so getting a handle on how much virus is out there is really pivotal. at the moment, as you rightly say, the pro focuses primarily on people who are admitted to hospital. and is it simply be a case, that in the uk we just don't have, haven't had as many testing kits as other countries? there are still people following this thinking, i don't really understand

why we are in this position. thinking, i don't really understand why we are in this positionlj thinking, i don't really understand why we are in this position. i think maybe some people might argue that there is a little bit of complacency about how rapid this virus can spread, and yet the danger signs we re spread, and yet the danger signs were there early on in wuhan in china. that should have been a red light or a red flag to us all that it isa light or a red flag to us all that it is a virus that can spread incredibly rapidly. now it is true that the number of diagnostic tests, it takes time to manufacture and to build those, but sometimes in an outbreak desperate times need to desperate measures and there is a lwa ys desperate measures and there is always the possibility that lots of hospitals and labs up and down the country developing their own tests. you know, there are issues about standardisation of those tests, but it is all possible and i think u nfortu nately we a re it is all possible and i think unfortunately we are in a position now because we have been very slow at rolling out the tests and so, originally it was in a central lab

in london, and it then got rolled out to various regional laboratories and now a number of hospitals associated with teaching hospitals are starting to do their own tests, but of course it has come very late in the outbreak and more recently, we have heard that governments are announcing an ambition, an aspiration to take the number of weekly tests. at the moment, there aspiration is 10,000 tests per week and they want to increase that to around 200,000 cases, and that requires significant testing facilities. they are developing very large testing facilities, but it is going to take time to develop and establish. and a priority, i'm assuming an absolute priority has to be health care workers, doesn't it? and people in care homes, people right at the front lineabsolutely, so people who at the front line do need to know if they have the there is not because they will have to

self—isolate for seven days. that could be extended up to 14 days if they are in a household. another test we have not considered very widely and routinely is an antibody test, which tells you whether or not a person has been exposed to the virus before. if they have got antibodies, we think they are likely to be safe and are unlikely to be reinfected, so if you imagine a health care worker, if they know their antibody status and they know they are antibody positive, they have got antibodies, and the risk of them catching that there are a significantly decreased. these are all part of an incredibly important jigsaw and we are only now starting to play catch up. and i am sensing from everything you have said in your tone, and from everything you have said in yourtone, andi from everything you have said in your tone, and i absolutely don't wa nt to your tone, and i absolutely don't want to put words in your mouth, but i feel as if you sound quite pessimistic about where we are right now. pessimistic about where we are right now, but optimistic in that a penny has finally dropping and there

isa penny has finally dropping and there is a realisation that mathematical models that the government has relied on a lot to develop their policy around this outbreak... they can tell you a reasonable amount about how the virus might behave and thatis about how the virus might behave and that is an important caveat, might. but to no how full sure the virus is going to behave, you have to have ha rd facts going to behave, you have to have hard facts underpinning that model and wona hard facts underpinning that model and won a bt hard facts underpinning that model and wannabe key heart that model and wannabe key heart thatis that model and wannabe key heart that is how much viruses out there. how much is it transmitting? who has got the virus and where is it going to? last week, i think we started to see a dawning, i realisation that this is where most ethics needs to be put. and we need the information. we need data, but we need to protect people, number—one, but also having the figures and the tax informs social policy really, in forms for example how long we will all be leading the way we are living today or indeed, whether restrictions need to be tighter? than an absolutely. you need to understand and know whether or not these measures are

working, how well they're working or evenif working, how well they're working or even if they are. a big question is what is going to happen in the future, so if you have very good numbers of people who have been infected with the virus, you can come up with a more accurate prediction of the illness rate and the death rate. you also know how many people have been exposed to the virus and that gives you an insight into what the future burden is likely to be on the national health service. and that is incredibly important, to know whether or not going to be in the same position in six months‘ time. it is an important pa rt six months‘ time. it is an important part of the puzzle. theatre, thank you so much from the university of nottingham. thank you for your expertise this afternoon. let‘s talk a bit more about the many britons with been talking about for the last few days. hundreds of thousands of britons who have been away on holiday or travelling for a long period of time, but now many of them are simply stuck. the borders have

been shut, and we know many, many flights have been cancelled across the world. our correspondent has been speaking to people who still don‘t know how or when they might get home. please, please get us home and to get back to work. my mum is very concerned to get back to the uk because we know we have medication and everything there. trapped in far—flung corners around the world. normally dream destinations, but now desperate for escape. 18 you‘re will and his friend ben have been travelling in cambodia for a month. we have done everything we can to get them out in the past ten days. so far every flight has been cancelled. we are sick to we cannot get our boys home. we are really concerned about the advice coming from the foreign office, which is

nonexistent. they have recommended some flights to us, but they have all been cancelled. we make the atmosphere is starting to get quite hostile towards us. some restaurants are banning certain nationalities from entering and there are lots of hotels and hostels shutting around the city as well. the challenge facing the foreign office is unprecedented. embassies that are closed and staff flown home days ago, doors shut to our travellers. dominic rab told people yesterday that partners in 168 countries are working around the clock, but it still isn‘t enough. working around the clock, but it still isn't enough. we doubled our capacity and we are now doubling it again to deal with the surge in demand. we might as a foreign office staff, we are spat at and abused when trying to help it national come home and we are working very hard,. tens of thousands of brits have now returned from spain, that is 80 countries place restrictions on

their borders, usual routes by international hubs are closed. it is thought 1000 brits have been stuck in peru. later today, 200 people will leave lima on a government backed british airways flight, each passenger paying £250 to get home. front line passengers have been prioritise. but with grounded planes all over airports, questions are being asked about whether the government should step in to provide more of these flights. ben and will have flights booked for next monday, but has the situation changes each day, brits are leaning on the foreign office for support like never seen foreign office for support like never seen before. it is worth mentioning that i think, in the last little while the government has been talking about this topic a lot and it is being asked a lot of questions by journalists about this. it is being asked a lot of questions byjournalists about this. downing street is saying the gun that is working to help britons who are stranded abroad. the prime minister official spokesman said, we are

working with transport providers and governments overseas to ensure that british nationals are able to get back to the uk, ideally by commercial means. that is what the government says. it goes on, in exceptional circumstances where there are no commercial flights home, we are working with carriers to try to get people back to the uk, as we have done for example from china and from peru and from cruise ships in cuba and japan. so the government says it is aware, it is trying to work on the problem and we of course are trying to find out more, for example 24 hours ago we we re more, for example 24 hours ago we were talking to a young british woman who were stuck in cambodia, along with other britons and they have tried everything to get home. they were really in a very difficult situation and their hotel was closing today as well, so things we re very closing today as well, so things were very difficult for her and we are trying to find out the situation there. but the government saying it is trying to work with overseas governments and with airlines. let‘s look at the situation in india.

india is in its first full day of a three—week lockdown. the prime minister, narendra modi, told the country‘s 1.3 billion citizens that the only way to save themselves from coronavirus is for no—one to leave their home. arunoday mukharji has sent this report. the message for all indian citizens, stay indoors and stay safe or else face not only health but legal consequences. once bustling cities turned into ghost towns overnight as the country observes a complete lockdown. only those doing the most essentialjobs allowed on the streets. we came across this family of four who failed to get home before the lockdown. translation: no one is helping us, people are scared to give us a ride because of the virus, the police are also asking for identity cards.

desperate and worried for the children they are having to cycle almost 15 miles to get home. these were the scenes in old delhi as hundreds of homeless gathered demanding food from authorities. some fear hunger will kill them before coronavirus. others who were out to buy medicines and groceries told us the situation was challenging, but agreed a complete lockdown was needed to beat the virus. there is no vegetables, nothing a baby needs, i did not find milk or bread for the people at home. translation: this is good that the prime minister has enforced a lockdown, this is the only way forward. these are unprecedented scenes in a country of 1.3 billion people, unimaginable before the crisis. many observers say that only a politician like narendra modi could take and implement such a drastic step.

while the lockdown comes at a massive cost that alone cannot help battle the virus. we need a good sanitary system with testing, testing will be the backbone of a good response strategy. if you do not know where the fire is you cannot tackle the fire. the reality is that india has tested fewer people than most other countries, the virus is already likely to have spread in far greater number than officially recognised. disaster could still be for the world‘s second most populous country, disaster could still be ahead. a one and a half trillion pound stimulus package has been agreed in the us by senate leaders and the white house, to try to alleviate the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

the deal includes a payment of $1,200 to most american adults, and money for small businesses to help them pay their staff. our correspondent in los angeles, peter bowes, has more details. it is huge. it‘s never been seen before. it is $2 trillion. it took several days of negotiations to get there. democrats and republicans were disagreeing over that time in terms of the detail and the emphasis where that money would go but we now know they have reached a deal with the white house as well. and there will be $2 trillion, and most significantly perhaps for american workers who have been laid off because of this crisis, cheques of about $1,200 will be going out fairly soon. there is also money in there for businesses, for states, and very significantly for hospitals. $130 billion for american hospitals that are of course struggling to control this virus as it spreads. there is really no end in sight in terms of the number of people it is affecting. the markets are likely to welcome this, global economies,

but especially the american people. speed is of the essence now and i think that‘s being reflected by what we are hearing coming out of congress, that there will be a vote, probably later on wednesday in both houses. it could well become law within days. and that is just a matter of digesting the details, sorting out the paperwork and getting those cheques out because this is money that is needed right now by those americans who are simply worried about paying for their food and getting through the next few weeks, and those hospitals are very, very concerned about where the essential supplies are going to come from and ultimately how they are going to paid for. the world health organization says the us has the potential to become the global epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, but president trump has been sending out a different message — that america could have the virus under control as soon as easter. this easter is a special day for many

reasons, for me, for a lot of our friends it‘s a very special day. and what a great timeline this would be. easter as our timeline. what a great timeline that would be. all the very latest on coronavirus coming up from 3pm. but now let‘s look at the weather. split fortunes across the uk, scotla nd split fortunes across the uk, scotland and northern ireland stuck with cloud and outbreaks of rain, but lots of sunshine for england and wales. this evening and overnight, this band of cloud across the north—west is really not moving anywhere quickly, still producing some outbreaks of patchy rain. underneath this band, it is going to bea underneath this band, it is going to be a relatively mild night, 6—7d, but for northern scotland a touch of frost is possible as the sky is clear and certainly across england and south wales as well. it could be and south wales as well. it could be a patch of nest tomorrow morning,

but essentially a sunny day tomorrow for england and wales, but still with this band of patchy cloud and rain affecting scotland and ireland. the finalfor rain affecting scotland and ireland. the final for scotland will seasoning brighter, but colder with some showers. 13—15d, and as we look ahead towards the weekend it is going to turn colder and going to turn increasingly windy as well.

this is bbc news i‘mjayne hill. the headlines at 3pm. the prince of wales has tested positive for coronavirus — clarence house says charles has mild symptoms; his last public engagement was on march 12th. measures to help the 5 million self employed will be announced tomorrow — the prime minister says the government is working hard on a fair package. we have produced quite an incredible package to support the businesses and workforce of this country. we do need to ensure that we protect the self employed as well, and he will be hearing more about that in the next couple of days. some construction companies halt projects, to try to help fight the pandemic — but others are still working, amid confusion about

the government advice. hundreds of thousands of britons remain stranded abroad — with flights cancelled and some borders closed. empty streets in india, a quarter of the world‘s population is now in some form of lockdown. and hundreds of thousands of people sign up in a single day — to volunteer with the nhs, helping the most vulnerable self—isolators. the call for 250 , 000 volunteers is looking to help people with their shopping, with transport, and then also simply, if you like, calling on isolated people.

hello, very good have —— good afternoon. the prince of wales has tested positive for the coronavirus. clarence house says prince charles, who‘s 71, is displaying mild symptoms but is otherwise in good health. the duchess of cornwall has also been tested, but does not have the virus. buckingham palace says the prince last saw the queen nearly two weeks ago and that her majesty is also in good health. in some of today‘s other developments, the chancellor is to unveil a package of measures tomorrow — aimed at helping the 5 million self—employed people who have been affected by the coronavirus crisis. nearly 500,000 people have applied for universal credit in the last nine days, as people turn to the benefits system to keep families afloat during the outbreak. an appeal, launched yesterday, for 250,000 people to help the nhs through the crisis has already

exceeded its target. the volunteers are needed for delivering food and medicines to people‘s homes, and driving patients to appointments. our first report is from our correspondent, richard galpin the 71—year—old prince, who has a busy schedule, had his last public engagement on march 12th when a palace source said he also saw the queen. it is understood he became contagious the following day and after then he he‘d had a small number of meetings. he and the duchess of cornwall are currently in balmoral in scotland and are both self—isolating. he tested positive on monday after showing mild symptoms, but it is thought unlikely it will escalate into a more serious case. meanwhile, the nhs appeal yesterday afternoon for a volunteer army has been hugely successful. by 9:45am this morning they‘d had more than they had asked for, 252,000 people had joined up. in times like this, as the chief medical officer has

already said, we see outbreaks of altruism, people wanting to help, so it is a wonderful response in the same way that all those doctors coming back, nurses saying they will come back, i am bowled over by it. the volunteers‘ role is to help the most vulnerable people in the country who have to remain at home for 12 weeks to avoid being infected by coronavirus. the call for 250 , 000 volunteers is looking to help people with their shopping, with transport, if they have a dbs qualification they can help with patient transport. i understand of course that the black cab drivers in london are hoping to be mobilised in that effect because they are more secure. also simply calling on isolated people, making a phone call and keeping in touch. proving less successful is the government‘s decision to allow construction workers to keep working

to help the economy. but several firms say they are closing. it is extremely difficult to adhere to the government advice for workers to keep two metres apart from each other. in scotland construction has been halted. in westminster there is still no change. in the construction industry in particular a number of employers have concluded they cannot follow the public health england guidance and are choosing to close down their sites, in some cases they are doing so over a short period of time, so those sites remain safe, and that is the right thing to do. but if you or your employer believe that you can continue to operate safely within those guidelines, then it is sensible for you to do so. but there are, of course, exceptions for critical buildings, like the one under way to transform this, the excel conference centre in london, into a hospital. it is due to be up and running by next week.

two wards with 2,000 beds in each. it is to be named the nightingale hospital. this broad—ranging series of initiatives in recent weeks leading some experts to be more hopeful the nhs will be able to cope as the infection rate surges and then peaks in two and a half weeks‘ time. in westminster today, this the last question time before parliament, like so many other institutions, is expected to close its doors for several weeks. but before the mps here start working from home, it is thought they will pass a set of emergency laws to tackle the coronavirus crisis. and those laws include giving the police extra powers. can you all go home, please. it is not a holiday. the government believes keeping people inside their homes is one of the most effective ways

of slowing the spread of the deadly virus. let‘s get more on the prince of wales‘ diagnosis from our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. the nhs in scotland is making it clear that he qualified under the clinical criteria to be tested. he is of course 71 and he was exhibiting symptoms. he and the duchess of cornwall travelled up to aberdeen on sunday, not on a scheduled flight, presumably on an raf flight and i think that by then some of these symptoms must have been evident so he was tested, or they were both tested on monday, the test results came back late last night. his were positive, hers were negative, so as we have heard they are both self—isolating at birkhall, that is his not unsubstantial house on the balmoral estate. we are told he is in good spirits and up and about

and working, albeit, as i say, self—isolating. importantly, he last saw the queen at buckingham palace on 12th march. we are told that that was a brief meeting. he was presiding over an investiture at buckingham palace on that day so he will have met hundreds of people at an investiture and the royal family had been together a couple of days before that at the commonwealth day service at westminster abbey. you will remember that the prince of wales walked behind the queen and other members of the royalfamily, the cambridges and sussexes were at that service. but buckingham palace was quick to stress that the queen is in good health. she, of course, is at windsor, she moved there a week earlier than had been planned as a precautionary measure. she has beenjoined there by the duke of edinburgh. but at the back of everyone‘s mind is the fact she is just a month short of her 94th birthday, he is 98, but we are told that she, and, indeed they, are following all of the appropriate advice about keeping safe. nicholas witchell, our

royal correspondent. the family of a 21—year—old woman who has died after contracting coronavirus are warning people to be do their bit and protect others. chloe middleton is believed to the youngest person in the uk without any underlying health conditions to have died from the virus. we do know that an 18—year—old boy also very sadly lost his life to the virus. but we do know as well that he had significant underlying health issues. in a statement on facebook, chloe‘s mum diane described her as her angel. she said...

you can find out more about the symptoms of coronavirus and how to protect yourself against it on the bbc news app and on our website bbc.co.uk/news. tomorrow, the chancellor will unveil a package of measures to help the estimated 5 million people in the uk who are self—employed. it follows criticism that they have been left without any financial support to help them through the crisis. as our consumer affairs correspondent sarah corker reports, the delay is already causing real hardship. i am ronnie penicuick. i am a relatively small roofing contractor in edinburgh for my sins, and i am a sole trader, self employed. my name is selena and i work as a freelance consultant for

fashion brands. from roofers to hairdressers, to taxi drivers, the uk‘s 5 million self—employed are anxiously waiting to see if the government can and will bail them out. this is my van at the moment. ronnie from edinburgh says his work as a roofer has disappeared overnight. he has now closed his business. the government really has to step in and help in whatever way they can to speed things up. truly forget about the economy for the moment and get money at the front end and help these people who are struggling right now. this is an area i have cleared out. like ronnie the only financial help freelancer selena from london can get is £94 a week, if she claims through universal credit. i'd be taking a much, much,

like, a massive hit on my income if i were to go on to universal credit. it will not even hit, like, 40% of what i normally earn in one month. that is in stark contrast to the help for direct employees, those affected by shop, pub and restaurant closures, who will see 80% of their wages covered by the government. but even those who can get financial support are finding it difficult to access. damien shut his restaurant in cambridgeshire and is now doing a takeaway bread service, but says the lack of information is frustrating. i‘m not going to call hm revenue & customs or gov.uk or whatever. ijust make bread and i donate the supply to the community and wait until i get more information and

until somebody gives me some clues. there is growing confusion over whether construction workers can safely go to work. photos of crowded building sites have angered many. the government is now under intense pressure to support the self—employed, many of whom are now facing financial ruin, but it is proving complicated to design a scheme that is fair and deliverable. we‘ve produced a quite incredible package to support the businesses and the work force of this country. we do need to ensure we protect the self—employed as well and he will be hearing more about that in the next couple of days. a lot of our clients are now also really struggling themselves, so they have become less responsive, which makes us a bit anxious. at the end of the day when it comes to cutting costs, we are the easiest ones to cut. clarity is the key now for who can and who can‘t work. we need to get that sorted out uk wide and not get so many mixed messages. but these workers were among the first to lose work and say they are the last to get help. let‘s talk about the huge

volunteering effort that is trying to be established right now, because we have been talking about the fact that more than 250,000 people signed up that more than 250,000 people signed up in that more than 250,000 people signed upina that more than 250,000 people signed up in a single day to volunteer with the nhs after that drive to get volu nteers the nhs after that drive to get volunteers together to help particularly vulnerable people during the pandemic. volunteers are wanted for delivering food and medicines, driving patients to appointments. or perhaps chatting on the phone to somebody who might be isolated. the scheme is one of a number aimed at relieving pressure on the nhs. one of those who has signed up to the nhs volunteers scheme is dehenna davison, conservative mp for bishop auckland — shejoins me via webcam. good afternoon. good afternoon. what do you think you might be doing? what are you happy doing? yell and afful key ways we are asking people to volunteer. one is to stay at home

and make calls to people who are feeling a bit lonely and self—isolating. feeling a bit lonely and self-isolating. anyone who has over 18 can do that even if you are self—isolating yourself, if you are vulnerable over 70 you can sign up to help with that. otherwise there are three key things. one is to help deliver medical supplies from nhs site to nhs site, one is to help deliver shopping and prescriptions and that kind of thing to people‘s homes and the other is to get people who have recovered who are now fit and healthy back to their homes. i‘ve signed up to do all four of those because i‘m fit and healthy myself and don‘t see any reason i shouldn‘t. myself and don‘t see any reason i shouldn't. it really has been a remarkable number of people phoning up remarkable number of people phoning up injust, or registering, 24 hours. i wondered what you thought of that, whether people setting this up of that, whether people setting this up thought they would get quite such a response. it shows what an incredible country have with such an amazing sense of community and camaraderie. i knowi amazing sense of community and camaraderie. i know i set up my small volunteer scheme in my constituency and within about two hours we had 80 people sign up and i

thought that was fantastic. so to see the numbers today with 250,000 people signing up in a day is incredible and it shows we really are all in this together. it is fantastic but there will be some practical considerations and there might be people who are keen to sign up, or perhaps have, but they might wa nt up, or perhaps have, but they might want reassurance about protective equipment and we all know there is a shortage of that. are they going to beissues shortage of that. are they going to be issues that do need to be addressed on a practical level? i'd imagine so but i‘d imagine also that these things will be thought through very carefully. i understand that once specific checks like devious checks for example have been completed we will get a welcome pack to explain in more detail how to protect yourself if you are going out and about. —— dbs. if you are delivering to people who are self—isolating, it will be things like leaving it on people buzzing doorsteps, not having any direct physical contact, and also just making sure we are all following

public health england guidance when it comes to hand washing and obviously of course staying two metres away from people too. in terms of your role as an mp and your experience, give our viewers a sense of what your constituents have been saying to you since this outbreak. what are their concerns? what are their anxieties? what are the key issues you‘ve been having to deal with? it has been a really wide range, because the thing about a crisis like this is it hits everyone in society in a whole host of different ways. ourjob as mps is to do whatever we can to help. so part of that is making sure people have got the most up—to—date information and making sure they have verified information as well. one of the key things i‘ve been doing is pushing out those messages constantly, not just across my social media but also through local media, newspaper articles, of heads, diaries, and also responding to e—mails and phone calls that come in as well so people have the correct information. —— p.

fake news isn‘t what we want to see ina fake news isn‘t what we want to see in a crisis like this. specifically issues like people are self—isolating at home and struggling to get a supermarket delivery. we have had people on standby to go and get shopping for them and the deliver it to their houses. we have had people struggling to get medical equipment. in the early stages we had people concerned about work and what would happen there and the chancellor put in an incredible package of measures to help support people so that people are not losing out through this crisis. so we are getting there but the key thing i think for any mp is to make sure you keep communicating. there have been delays. they have been people who really have been struggling financially. i know we hear that they will be more measures unveiled tomorrow for people who are self—employed, but that‘s millions of people and there are people in very difficult situations and that has to be acknowledged that those people are struggling, doesn‘t it? absolutely. as i said earlier, this is hitting absolutely everyone in

our society and it has also unravelled so very quickly, so i think the government has done an amazing job to be as on top of things as we are. they are working incredibly swiftly and carefully to make sure that measures we put in place are not things that i rushed through but thought through carefully delivering the right sort of support to people. i‘m looking forward to seeing what measures the chancellor announces tomorrow to further support the self—employed because that incredibly important. dehenna davison, thank you for joining us. mp for bishop auckland, thank you. the time is 3:19 p m. these are the latest headlines. prince charles tests positive for coronavirus, clarence house says he is suffering mild symptoms. the government says financial measures to help the 5 million self employed will be announced tomorrow. hundreds of thousands of people sign up in a single day —

to volunteer with the nhs, helping the most vulnerable. the united nations has launched a humanitarian response plan to fight the coronavirus. the un says that 16,000 people have now been killed by coronavirus, and it is starting to reach countries already suffering from conflict and the effects of climate change. the secretary—general of the un antonio guterres said the developing world would need more support to prevent a wider global outbreak. our main objective with this appeal is to avoid that humanitarian support we are receiving for all other aspects, water and sanitation, food, protection, shelter, in all those vulnerable situations in the world syria to yemen, from south sudan to the drc, what we want is to make sure that now we have an additional support for this covid—19 and that the money doesn‘t come from the humanitarian action we are

already having. this is an action of self interest. if it is controlled in the developed world but left spreading like wildfire in the developing countries, we will have millions of cases, millions of people dying, but not only that, that will create the opportunity for mutations of the virus and the virus can come back in a way that even the vaccines that are developed even in the developed world. so there is no way to fight this disease in half of humanity. antonio guterres there, secretary general of the united nations. let‘s look at other parts of europe. spain continues to see a dramatic rise in the number of deaths — recording its biggest daily death toll yet. 738 people have died in the past 24 hours. total deaths in spain — 3,400 — are now greater than in mainland china where the outbreak began. the madrid government is looking to the eu for help with protective

equipment for its medical workers. our europe correspondent gavin lee says the catalonia region now also has rising numbers of infections. there are two records, notjust the highest single number of deaths in 24 hours but also the highest number of cases in 24 hours, 7,973, that gives us a sense of the speed of the spread and the sharpness of this spread across the country. in madrid, where we know there are two thirds of those deaths, two thirds of 3,500 deaths have happened, but also the catalonia region in the east, a big spread there. huge concern of concentrated areas of spain where the authorities simply cannot cope because the mortuaries, the morgues in madrid are full to capacity, soldiers have come in and opened up an ice rink where they are bringing bodies into the temporary morgue there. it was reported this morning in spanish state newspapers and state television that they had

asked nato for official help. nato, we understand, they cannot provide the sort of medical equipment that spain needs. what we are talking about is 1.5 million face masks, 500,000 respirators, 500,000 fast emergency testing kits, hundreds of ventilators. this will have to go to eu countries and elsewhere, possibly china, to see what comes back. the eu is going through a procurement programme at the moment and it is in its early stages and there are reports that at the moment countries combined could only provide around 10% of what is needed around the eu. so that‘s something that may take some time. but worrying for spain today. going across to italy where that figure is still the highest anywhere in terms of the death toll in the world, 70,000 cases, 7,000 deaths. giuseppe conte, the prime minister there, saying they will look to increase now the penalties for people violating the strict lockdown there, up to 4,000 euros, and if you are quarantine and you therefore breach that quarantine you are looking at a possible five—year jail sentence.

that is the severity italy is taking it with now. gavin lee. some use from the city airport in london, the airport into east london —— some news. that is suspending commercial and private flights. just another reminder of the huge impact this has had on aviation among so many other aspects of all our lives. city airport temporarily, it says, suspending commercial and private flights in response to the coronavirus outbreak. that begins this evening and they are saying for now it will be until the end of april, but of course, keeping that under review. london city airport definitely shutting tonight until at least the end of april. nearly 500,000 people have applied for universal credit over the last nine days — with more than 100,000 claims yesterday alone. the department for work and pensions

admits there have been problems with the system that, in particular the part that verifies applicants‘ identity — at one point yesterday, people were waiting in an online queue of more than 100,000 people. michael buchanan reports. more and more people are having to turn to help. since monday of last week 477,000 claims have been made for universal credit, many from the self—employed. it is creating huge pressure on the government. we are currently experiencing high call volumes. you may prefer to call back later. jonathan hume‘s contract as a research associate ended early this month and has been calling the helpline for the past few days. since friday i tried from about 80 to 100 times.

80 to 100 times? sometimes it will draw after you choose the options on the system and the other few times when i have got through i will be on hold for two hours and then my network will cut me off. about six to eight hours in total on hold. universal credit is a new service... the benefit is designed to be claimed online, but those who have done so have also experienced problems. queues to verify identities passed 100,000 yesterday, with many giving up. officials at the department for work and pensions told mps this morning there had been 105,000 applications for universal credit yesterday alone. little wonder, they admitted, there had been problems. we have had capacity problems with the verify system and we are working closely with the government digital service and their providers to build incapacity. there are things they are doing to build capacity to change the way the system works so i am hoping that system will see changes

and improvements over the coming hours. with job centres now closed due to coronavirus, staff will be redeployed to deal with new claims, part of the 10,000 additional civil servants being moved to cope with the surge. forjonathan hume trying to process his claim by a dwp imposed deadline of thursday, it is all very stressful. until it is sorted i have no income and i don‘t know what is going to happen after the time limit for organising the meeting is past, whether my claim will be automatically ended, or whether they will make an allowance for it. there has been no communication from anyone. ministers maintain welfare payments will be made in a timely manner, but they are facing significant challenges. let‘s ta ke let‘s take a few minutes generally to talk about the government response to all of this, all of the measures we have seen response to all of this, all of the measures we have seen in the last

few days, for example we know the government is under growing pressure to stop all nonessential construction work to try to slow the spread of coronavirus across the country. on tuesday, health secretary matt hancock said those who cannot do theirjob from home should go to work to "keep the country running", but critics say public health should be prioritised over protecting the economy. and we all know about the restrictions we are all living under. let‘s talk about the way any government would deal with all of this. mo hussein, is a former chief press officer to no 10 downing street. you have been an advisor to amber rudd when she was home secretary and been impressed and communications so you are familiar with all of this. it is unprecedented times and a massive job it is unprecedented times and a massivejob for any it is unprecedented times and a massive job for any government of any political colour. can i start with a broadbrush thought from you as to how this has been dealt with thus far? yes, you are right, it is

unprecedented and i don‘t underestimate the challenge collea g u es underestimate the challenge colleagues and former colleagues in government who are making very big decisions affecting millions of people, i think doing their best in very challenging circumstances. i think what has been interesting to see is this has been a science led approach rather than based on political advice. i think that has been quite refreshing because actually when the science changes the government can and has, as we have seen, changed its advice and its approach as well. there should not be any embarrassment about, or fear of u—turns, or anything like that. i think it is right that the government is nimble and able to change its mind based on the best evidence it has at the time. that's interesting. you feel it has been led more by the scientists than the economists, if i can put it that way, because we can‘t underestimate the impact on the economy. we are all too well aware of that already but you will know that when people see a packed tube train and they are

angry that it is construction workers on a tube train, not their fault, but it is their tube train and not vital nhs workers, people think, well, this is nonsense, the government is prioritising the economy over people‘s lives. government is prioritising the economy over people's lives. the balance of the government will a lwa ys balance of the government will always have to strike his public health but also keeping essential parts of the country running and still working. i think anything in isolation doesn‘t really work. so on the construction point, which is clearly very topical and very important, that is connected to people who are self—employed. a significant amount of people working in that sector would come under self—employment, so until the government comes forward with its package of measures, which i know is being looked at carefully on the self—employed, i don‘t think you resolve the issue of the construction sites as effectively and ina construction sites as effectively and in a meaningful way than you can if you resolve the wider issue of the self—employed.

i wonder whether this is also... so much of this will only be able to assess when the history books are written, won‘t we? because we inevitably compare ourselves to other countries and we all know the restrictions we are living in right now. right now, there are questions about, we should have done this a week ago and we should all have been in lockdown, to use that lazy phrase, but we‘re not going to until the history books i have been written as to whether this is the right call in terms of the timescale? yes, i think that is absolutely right. i think time will come for introspection once this is all over. as things stand, i think any government has to face the reality it sees in front of that, based on the best advice that it has. i think what has been interesting is to see the approach government has taken, which has been to try to take people along with it in terms of pr three society, we have —— a free society, we have cultural liberties, so to ask people

for their agreement in this. but actually to say if they don‘t, more stringent measures will come in. that is what we have seen, and guidance has not been followed in the way it probably needs to be, therefore we are seeing tougher measures coming through, but equally it is quite striking to see any prime minister has say to the country that people that you know will go before their time, let alone a prime minister who let us remember one a emphatic majorityjust 16 weeks ago. it feels like a lot longer now. so i think the government has been trying to be quite honest and level with people, but trying to take people with it because otherwise if people don‘t understand the scale of the challenge, they just understand the scale of the challenge, theyjust think understand the scale of the challenge, they just think this understand the scale of the challenge, theyjust think this is the government being annoying and trying to interfere in their lives and actually i don‘t think that helps resolve the problem either. this is not something the government can solve by itself. everybody has a role in this and everybody has to

shift their mentality from, how do i stop catching this? two how do i stop catching this? two how do i stop spreading this? that is what the government is trying to do, but it is quite challenging. shifting that mentality does take time and effort from the whole of society. yes, that is interesting. much more we could discuss, but we have many weeks ahead and i‘m sure we will talk again. thank you very much. let‘s just pause and catch up with the weather prospects. split fortunes today, lots of sunshine for england under way, through this evening and overnight, this band of cloud across the north west really not moving anywhere quickly, still producing some outbreaks of patchy rain, underneath a band of cloud and patchy rain it will be relatively mild, 6 or 7 degrees above the northern scotland a touch of frost as the sky is clear and further south across england and wales there will be a frost, one or two places could get down to —5 degrees. could be the odd patch of mist

tomorrow morning but essentially tomorrow is another dry and mostly sunny day for england and wales and we still have a band of cloud and patchy rain affecting northern ireland, parts of scotland, although the far north of scotland will see something brighter but colder with one or two showers. temperatures further south, again 14, may be 15 degrees. we look ahead towards the weekend and it‘s going to turn colder, if and it will turn increasingly windy as well. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the prince of wales has tested positive for coronavirus. clarence house says charles has mild symptoms. his last public engagement was on march 12th. measures to help the 5 million self—employed will be announced tomorrow — the prime minister says the government is working hard on a fair package. we have produced an incredible

package to support the business and workforce of this country and we need to make sure we protect the self—employed as well and he will be hearing more about that in the next couple of days. empty streets in india, a quarter of the world‘s population is now in some form of lockdown. and hundreds of thousands of people sign up in a single day to volunteer with the nhs, helping the most vulnerable self—isolators. lets get back to the news that the prince of wales has tested positive for coronavirus. scotland‘s first minister has sent her best wishes to prince charles. nicola sturgeon made the comments during the scottish government‘s daily press briefing at st andrew‘s house. she was accompanied by scotland‘s chief medical officer. firstly, i want to say my best wishes to prince charles, and secondly, and i am immediately going to hand over to the chief medical officer, even with prince charles

and people like him there are patient confidentiality reasons that limit what the cmo is able to say about this, but i will allow her to say what she feels able to. i have discussed this with the team in nhs grampian and from the information i have been given it is clear that he was tested for clinical reasons. i am very pleased also that he is very well and, as with many people who have had this virus, has had a mild illness. our scotland correspondent laura goodwin is close to the queen‘s residence at balmoral. what more is being said there this afternoon? well, we know that a couple arrived at their scottish residency in the bell moral estate on sunday evening. it was here that prince charles started what we were

told was mild symptoms. he and the duchess of cornwall met the criteria for testing and that testing was done here by the nhs here in aberdeenshire and the results were made available to them on tuesday. prince charles... i do apologise, the line there has gone to laura. many apologies, we will talk more about that any next hour, i am quite sure. but a prince of wales, we are told, has only mild symptoms of coronavirus and is said to be, clarence house says he is in all other ways feeling well. a quarter of the world in now living under coronavirus lockdown, with the addition overnight of more than a billion people in india. so how many different countries are doing things differently and what‘s the route out? our reality check correspondent

chris morris is here. chris, europe has been called the epicentre of the crisis. give us a sense of what is being done differently, depending on where you live. one of the interesting things as it often feels like italy and spain are often doing things much more rigorously and radically that we are here, but if you look at the rules in italy you can leave to go out to work if you have to do, for medical reasons, to buy food or go to the pharmacy. it doesn‘t sound thatis go to the pharmacy. it doesn‘t sound that is similar to what we have here. the key difference is the enforcement of the rules. for example, if you go out in italy you need to be carrying a piece of paper to specify why you out. police are stopping people there regularly. and then of course there are signs being issued. so for example in spain, as of last night there have been 926 arrests, 122,000 police reports filed for disobeying the rules and roughly 81,000 fines have been

issued. and of course, if people who are under quarantine are found to have gone out then there is the potential for jail sentences. have gone out then there is the potential forjail sentences. that level of the enforcement is something the police here are really relu cta nt to something the police here are really reluctant to get into, so i think one the key issues here over the next few days is how well does the encouraging language if you like,, work? the government saying we are all enlisting you in a national effort? i think that is what the government hopes is going to happen, but we will have to see. it is so interesting, that approach, but we will have to wait and see what happens here. a quick thought about how different those examples you are outlining in tears with the approach in asia as well? obviously, there is china, where obviously we know the diary started. around the cube a province, that very quickly it was locked down —— bq bay province, it was locked down very quickly and that was very difficult to do in a

country like china. but if you look at countries close to china, taiwan, hong kong and singapore, what they did is take action much more quickly. if you think of the first step towards lockdown being to protect your borders, within three days of the first case being announced in china, those countries started to screen people at their borders, so they acted much more quickly than most countries in europe did. i think one of the things people will be looking at very closely now in china is as restrictions begin to be eased very gradually, does the virus come rushing back or not? then, of course there is the issue of testing, which is being done in south korea much more effectively than anywhere else. if you want to get out of lockdown, testing is probably the key, so you know where the virus is. chris, thank you very much. sport and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here‘s our reporter. good afternoon.

some of the premier league‘s biggest stars have today launched #footballunited — a new initiative with the aim of raising £100,000 to help local communities through the coronavirus pandemic. arsenal‘s hector bellerin, manchester united‘s aaron wan—bissaka and chelsea‘s reece james are among those backing the project. proceeds will be collected by the national emergencies trust and used to support elderly and vulnerable people. the footballers already signed up are using the hashtag #footballunited to try to get other professionals involved with the campaign. well, it‘s one of a range of initiatives from across the world of sport — brighton have also started a campaign for clubs to donate match tickets to front line nhs staff tackling the coronavirus. the club have set aside 1,000 tickets per game for when the premier league returns. bournemouth also took up the challenge and said they would offer the same next season. and in spain the manchester city manager pep guardiola donated 1 million euros to fight the coronavirus outbreak there. guardiola, who is currently at his home in barcelona,

will give the money to a local hospital and charity, where it will be used to help purchase medical equipment and protective material for staff involved in treating patients. the national league clubs are understood to have told the football association they want their season brought to an immediate halt, following a conference call on tuesday. it means all levels of the non—league game are united in their desire to end the season, given there is no realistic possibility of starting again in the foreseeable future. barrow would be in line for promotion, with notts county one of five sides that could challenge them for that spot. this halt would allow clubs to cut costs at a time when many are facing financial hardship. thomas bach, has indicated the international olympics committee president, thomas bach, has indicated that postponed tokyo olympics could be held in the spring of 2021 as a special task force looks at all options.

some visitors took the opportunity to watch a small ceremony in iwaki, north—east of tokyo. with plenty of precautions, the flame was displayed after its journey from greece, and an olympic cauldron was lit. well, bach says yesterday‘s decision to postpone the games was a tough one. it was very hard to take because first of all, we had to consider the dreams of the olympic athletes, which we wanted to make coming true. given the latest worldwide dramatic developments in the spreading of the virus, we did not see the opportunity any more to organise an olympic games, which safeguard the health of every participant.

well sky brown — the 11—year—old skateboarder — was set to be britain‘s youngest ever olympian at a summer games. she could still break that record if she gets to compete by the 25th ofjuly next year. that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more for you in the next hour.

this is bbc news. i‘m reeta chakrabarti. the headlines... the prince of wales has tested positive for coronavirus. clarence house says charles has mild symptoms. his last public engagement was on march 12th. measures to help the 5 million self employed will be announced tomorrow. the prime minister says the government is working hard on a fair package. we have produced a quite incredible package to support the businesses and the workforce of this country. we do need to ensure that we protect the self employed as well and you‘ll be hearing more about that in the next couple of days. nearly half a million people have applied for universal credit in the past nine days with more than 100,000 applications made yesterday