this is bbc news. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: the united states now has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world — with infection rates in key cities like new york and los angeles doubling every three days. it prompts a wave of closures and a surge in unemployment, over three million claim for benefit. italy takes a turn for the worse. there's now growing concern about the rising number of infections in the south of the country. south africans stock—up ahead of a three—week nationwide lockdown, as the government tries to get ahead of the virus. britain applauds its

healthcare staff — to give thanks for their tireless work as they try to save lives. hello and welcome to bbc news. there are now more confirmed cases of covid—19 in the united states than in any other country in the world. according to the latest figures from johns hopkins university, the us now hasjust over 83,00 cases, overtaking both china, and italy. the news comes as the total number of confirmed cases around the world has now passed half a million. in terms of lives lost, countries in europe continue to be worst affected, with more than 700 deaths in italy in the last 2a hours, bringing the total to more than 8,200. there was a jump in deaths in spain too. and as the us

economy goes into lockdown, the number of americans filing for unemployment has surged to a record high — nearly 3.3 million people applied for unemployment benefits last week. let's stay with the total number of us cases though — a short while ago, president trump was asked about the numbers. it's a tribute to the amount of testing that we are doing. we are doing tremendous testing. and i'm sure you're not able to tell what china is testing or not testing. i think that is a little hard. the bbc‘s north america correspondent peter bowes is in los angeles. it is a grim milestone. it had been expected, and we just heard there the president asked about this. he confirmed that he had expected the numbers to continue rising, and we're seeing it in dramatic ways in new york city, in los angeles, two of the hotspots that we've known about for a few days. in new orleans, in louisiana, it's also a hotspot. it hasn't had as much publicity as those other cities, but the number of cases there increasing rapidly. another densely populated city,

which seems to be a common theme of those places across the united states that are badly affected. and itjust goes to show that all of those warnings that have been given by health workers about — by doctors over the last few days, about social isolation and people staying at home as far as possible, absolutely necessary. and most people — for the most part, people seem to be following those restrictions. are the big cities reacting in the same way with their measures, or are they doing things very differently? well, it is a little bit differently, according to the severity, and hearing some really terrible stories coming out of new york city. some of the health workers there in some cases reduced to tears after their shifts, because they say they simply haven't got enough equipment to cope with what they have to deal with right now. now clearly, in other parts of the country, and that includes parts of california, perhaps the less densely populated cities, the situation isn't at that point. but we are hearing very

serious warnings, the mayor of los angeles speaking again last night about this, that california may only be a matter of days behind new york in terms of the severity of the situation here. a stimulus bill worth more than $2 trillion is expected to pass congress soon. it will include direct payments of $1,200 to adults, an expansion of unemployment benefits, and financing for affected industries, such as airlines. but will that be enough? d taylor is the president of the unite here international union which represents workers in areas like hotels, gaming, food service, laundry, and transportation. we've lost about 98% of our members who are not working right now, and every one of our industries there are crushed. 0ur gaming operations are closed, hotels are either closed or losing staff, all the stadiums and arenas are closed, industrial cafeterias are closed, universities are closed, massive layoffs also in airports. so people in our industry, in the hospitality industry in general, are not working. restaurants and bars are closed.

it's a devastating situation for our members, but also for workers in this industry across north america. if they're not working, how are they surviving? well, i mean, obviously unemployment, but that is clearly not enough. i mean, one of the things here in the states, as you know, for a lot of employer—based healthca re, you lose your healthcare the last day of the month you get laid off. so we'll have millions of people lose their healthcare right in the middle of the healthcare crisis, which makes no sense to me or people who have common sense. theyjust spent $2 trillion, and yet at the same time, we're going to have millions of people lose their healthcare in a healthcare crisis. so just to clarify, from your understanding, if you lose a job, you might get this payment, but you won't get healthcare? is that your understanding

of what will happen? well, that is the facts in the states. now, our union, we'll get along. we make sure of that. some benevolent employers have extended healthcare, but that is a rarity. so in the states, if you have employer—based healthca re, you lose your insurance the last day of the month you get laid off. so, if you get laid off yesterday, you're out of insurance come april 1st. there will be millions of people like that, and yet congress has not addressed that issue at all. the direct payment, though, of $1,200 to adults, that will surely help people not necessarily live well, but simply to get through the next few weeks and months, the worst period of the crisis, until potentially the industries can open up again. oh, no, $1,200 is nothing. if you want to pay rent in any major metropolitan us city,

it's more than that. and if you have to go and get medical care and you're not insured, that eats up all that money in a second. so that's not even a drop in the bucket. they have improved unemployment insurance. that's good, but they've done nothing on healthcare, they've done nothing about federal sick leave, in reality. so we have people who make choices about, 0k, should i go to work, even though i might not feel well or i have a fever, or should i stay home and lose pay? well, people in our industry often just go to work because they can't afford to lose pay. that's another issue that was not addressed in this $2 trillion package. in europe restrictions on people's lives continue to be ramped up. in italy — the death toll has climbed sharply again — the number of confirmed cases has now reached more than 80,000 and the death toll stands at 8,165 people. there are fears that southern italy could be facing a similar outbreak to that experienced

in the north of the country. mark lowen reports from rome. in today's italy, the essentials are food and solidarity. local associations buy the basics for those in need. dozens are taking part, doing their bit to get the country through this crisis. it's the first time in italy we live something so hard and difficult, so powerful and difficult situation. so this is only way for me to help people — something very basic. they deliver to the elderly and the isolated, acts of kindness to ease the social and economic emergency. for this virus is grinding italy to a halt, once—buzzing factories forced to close to stop the flow of people. this one, of bathroom fittings, shuts today. the last of the 130 employees are being sent home, the ovens slowly cooling.

the lockdown is containing the outbreak, but it is crushing the economy with it. translation: closing the factory has an awful impact. in the current situation, we understand we have to do it, to send the message of hope and to slow the spread of the virus. but we can't shut for too long. the economy can't be stopped. if this continues for months, it will be hard to sustain our business. it is a sacrifice being made for cities like bergamo, the epicentre, where they blessed the urns of 113 victims, grouping together the fallen. wearing a sash of the italian flag is the mayor, who we reached. with the uk finally emulating the italian lockdown, a warning. translation: britain had an advantage of being two weeks behind italy with the outbreak. they should have used it better. i'm afraid boris johnson lost precious time. there is a risk it could cost many lives. losing those days could turn out to be a serious mistake.

the containment measures may have started to work in northern italy, although there is again today an increase in new infections. but concern is now growing in the poorer south, and here in the capital, where cases and deaths are rising. in rome, this hospital has opened a new coronavirus wing, and it is already under pressure. the peak hasn't yet been reached here. with crematoria bursting, the army is clearing coffins away. it's that word again they're more used to, war. man versus virus, and the latter is still winning. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. depending on where you're watching from, you might be at home in total lockdown — or perhaps you're being asked to reduce contact with people, and try to use social distancing measures. but some people are taking it more seriously than others. joining us now from boston is asaf bitton who is a primary—care physician and researcher at the harvard university's school of public health.

thank you forjoining us. how effect is social or physical distancing in saving lives? social and physical distancing is one of the most effective tools we have right now to mitigate the spread of this pandemic. it's really a tool that when operating in a co—ordinated, aggressive fashion across the country, can save probably or reduce probably over 90% of cases. that is a huge figure. a question for you, how do you, in yourdaily question for you, how do you, in your daily life, go about the moment practising physical 01’ the moment practising physical or social distancing? well, it's a huge change. it's something fundamentally different from the life that we we re different from the life that we were used to, even a couple of weeks ago. at its base, what this means is keeping physical separation between you and people outside of your household. so that means when you go outside, you need to maintain at least two metres or six feet from other people. you don't sit on park benches, you

don't sit on park benches, you don't have your kids playing on playground structures and when you go to the grocery store, you go to the grocery store, you come back and before you put all the food in your house, you actually clean it off because, again, this virus can live on services for a few hours at a time or even a few days. to be all have in our minds the concept of that 6—foot difference, that 6—foot space. 0ccasionally, different countries, you see bubbles around people in normal times and different countries distancing different ways. this six feet something we're going to get used to? i think we need to. certainly in large cities across the world, it is not the norm, especially for people taking public transportation going to large social gatherings but it has to be the new normal. because the reality is, if we don't socially distance of physically distance, we don't have really much of a chance of containing this pandemic stop today, the us surpassed 80,000 cases and has the number one amount of

cases across the world. and the problem in united states right 110w problem in united states right now is that we don't have co—ordinated response. now is that we don't have co-ordinated response. new york on the east coast, is one of the most crowded cities on earth. some people have to leave their homes to get food 01’ leave their homes to get food or to care for other people or key workers. how they meant to dodge people when they are walking in the streets? well, you know, i have family in new york and on a good day, a normal day, you have to sort of sometimes wait in line to walk. soi sometimes wait in line to walk. so i completely understand this issue. 0ther so i completely understand this issue. other good thing is that we see both from a cellphone data and other data that people are, especially in new york and on the coast, really taking social distancing to heart. and for those key areas like grocery stores, what they're doing it most grocery stores is putting people in a queue and keeping them apart so that they don't overrun at the stores and grab them all so they're too crowded the same time. thank you so much forjoining us.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: how britons are going out onto the streets to applaud the healthcare the streets to applaud the healthca re staff the streets to applaud the healthcare staff who are trying to save lives. the two main symptoms of coronavirus to look out for are a continuous dry cough and/or a fever. if you're sneezing a lot, got a runny nose or a headache, you may be ill but you've probably not got coronavirus. so, how high a fever is a coronavirus one, and what exactly is a continuous dry cough? well, it's when you cough and there's no mucus or phlegm — basically no gooey substance in your tissue. and this is not the odd cough here and there, it has to be coughing regularly for no other reason, such as clearing your throat or smoking. so how high a fever is a coronavirus fever? well, if you have one,

you will know about it. technically, it's a body temperature of more than 37.8 degrees celsius, or 100 degrees fahrenheit, but if you've not got a thermometer, basically you will feel hot and your chest and back would be hot. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the united states now has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, as more than three million people claim for unemployment. italy takes a turn for the worse. there's now growing concern about the rising number of infections in southern italy. the south african government is trying to get ahead of the spread of coronavirus, so far the country hasn't recorded any deaths but nearly a thousand people are infected, a lockdown has just started there. 0ur correspondent andrew harding has been looking at how the nation is preparing to stay at home for the next three weeks.

the beaches of cape town are already empty. the lifeguards sent home. and in johannesburg, the middle classes are queueing for supplies ahead of tonight's lockdown. polite but jittery. it's panicjust in case. just in case we are asked to stay indoors longer. so, yeah, part of it is panic i think. panic and a bit of commonsense? yes, yeah. adding to the stress, for some, the news that alcohol will be scarce. south africa's stern please minister also had some bad news for parents. medical

teams here are gearing up for a dramatic increase in coronavirus cases. this is a developed nation which has planned well for the pandemic, but still... my biggest worry at the moment is the schools aren't open in poorer communities where it's more difficult to identify patients and contain, then we will be sitting with a very large problem. and in those poorer communities today, clear signs of trouble. the message about social distancing has not got through to some. what can i do? i need my tattoo to be done. across south africa, millions live in cramped conditions.

no running water here and a0 people sharing this toilet. if i have that virus, i'm using this toilet, i'm going to infect 39 people. this is famously the world's most unequal society. the virus looks set to expose that cruel fault line, that chasm, between the very rich and the rest in the harshest possible way. and so those who can try to get out of town. this family hoping for a last—minute bus to the countryside... we are leaving. we are evacuating ourselves. ..before an entire nation locks down. tonight, the first signs of what's to come here. the army and police preparing to enforce this lockdown with they say, prison and fines for those who disobeyed. andrew harding, bbc news, south africa. leaders of the g20 countries have called an emergency video summitamid the covid—19 pandemic. they sayed to inject five

trillion into the global economy to minimize the damage of the virus as experts warn the pandemic might trigger a global recession. so how painful is this going to be? david wessel is the director of the hutchins center on fiscal and monetary policy. it is going to be devastating. we are basically in huge parts of the world telling the economy to stop. it's like the umpire blew the whistle and everybody left the field. it is unprecedented, it is sudden, you talked earlier about an increase in unemployment, 3.3 million claims for unemployment benefits. we know that is the top of the iceberg but we have never had a week with more than 700,000 claims ever and that was during the great recession of the 1980s, so it is going to be bad. i think the really important things to make sure that we take steps now so that the virus recedes, the damage isn't permanent and we can restart the world economy.

should g20 countries, we talked about them there, co—ordinate their economic response, or can they do so? i don't have much hope that they can. 0ne they do so? i don't have much hope that they can. one of the lessons of the great recession of one decade ago was international co—ordination was incredibly important and useful, and they worry that this time, partly because the leadership from the united states is wanting and partly because everybody‘s instinct is to close their borders and hunker down, that we will not do those things that are needed to stem the virus, to get aid to stem the virus, to get aid to countries that can't afford or don't have good public health systems, to avoid a kind of, people grabbing onto their medical equipment and putting on export controls, so i think it is really important that the 620 do it is really important that the g20 do things to say that we are all pulling in the same direction, to take care of the emerging countries that don't have the resources available in the uk or the us, and to try to avoid building more barriers to

trade than we have already built in the last couple of yea rs, built in the last couple of years, which i think have hurt world economy already. let's talk for a second about the us and the $2 trillion aid package. what is your assessment of whether or not that will work? i think it will work but it depends what it is designed to do. we will have a deep recession, there is no doubt about that. what the bill is designed to do is shore up our public health system, take ca re of our public health system, take care of people who are without incomes because they have been laid off, improving unemployment benefits, i think the benefits are slightly greater than was said. you are afamily of greater than was said. you are a family of two with two children, you will get $3400, thatis children, you will get $3400, that is a substantial amount of money. we increased unemployment benefits by $600 a week and the third thing they are trying to do is keep benefits on life—support —— businesses on life—support and thatis businesses on life—support and that is really going to make a

big difference. if we can do that, when the virus recedes the economy can keep on growing again. if we have permanent damage, lots of bankruptcies, if employers go out of business and we have to rebuild networks of workers and creditors and suppliers, then it will take us a long time to get back to normal and that will be very painful. across britain tonight, thousands of people opened their windows and doors or went out into the street to applaud national health service staff who are working on the frontline of this coronavirus crisis. they clapped from all corners of the united kingdom, and buildings were lit up in blue, the colour of the nhs. members of the royal family took part including prince charles, who has the virus and is in self—isolation. david sillito reports. applause it had begun with a single post on social media. a young yoga teacher suggested a doorstep show of support for the nation's carers, health workers and all those who support them.

and the result, this... cheering and applause ..in what is a time of isolation and fear. street after street, after street. a national moment of thanks and togetherness. glasgow. . .. applause belfast. . .. applause leeds... applause london. . .. applause as you can see, it's an extraordinary sight. on this street alone everyone has turned out. a reminder ofjust what this has done, notjust to help the carers, but also bring communities together. people are working as cleaners, people are working as nurses, people are working as doctors and we've got some people out in the street as well who work in the local pharmacies. and this is an absolute nightmare so it's time we alljust have

to stand together, shoulder—to—shoulder and show our appreciation. they're doing such a sterling job and i take my hat clean off to them. i could never do it. my heart goes out to them. and all of this from that single online suggestion just a week ago. so this was just an idea of yours and it took off really quickly, didn't it? yeah, it went really fast. the next day even before lunch, my friends were showing me that victoria beckham had posted it on her page and the sussex royals did it on their instagram stories. yeah, that was unbelievable. and this is a thankyou to everyone who's helping. here at the whittington hospital in london, donations are coming in. bicycles, water, toilet rolls, 4,500 hand creams, money. there's also a gift list. these are presents? yes, essentially. like an iphone charger. we made out an amazon wish list,

things which staff need and have asked for, people can go on and there's a link to our website. and the applause? some of it had to be done before bedtime. there was also a royal contribution to this day's show of support, including prince charles, who has tested positive for the coronavirus and is now in isolation. it was a national thankyou. there will be many difficult times in the weeks to come, but this was a positive moment, one we will remember. david sillito, bbc news. a reminder of our top story: the us has overtaken china and italy to become the country that has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases. more than 82,000 people have been confirmed positive. well, if you are one of the people in italy who has been singing one of the people in spain or britain who has been clapping, please tell me what

you have been doing. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @jamesbbcnews. please do stay with us. hello there, temperatures on thursdays reached either at 18 degrees across the far north—west of england, thanks to plenty of sunshine. southern scotla nd to plenty of sunshine. southern scotland didn't do too badly as well with the sunshine but generally speaking, friday is going to be a similar picture to thursday, that weather front bringing more cloud across northern parts of the country, so northern parts of the country, so it could be quite grey and drizzly through the day across central and eastern scotland. to the north of the witheren, northern scotland should see some sunshine and appearing at times across northern ireland but the most part moving across england and wales the cold and frosty start copy we will have more breeze bearing in from the north—east many of us particularly across southern and eastern areas they will feel a bit cooler generally, as we had through friday night, it

looks like that cloud across northern areas begins to drift southwards into parts of wales, northern england and the midlands, and because there will be more of a breeze generally it is not going to be quite as cold as what it has been the last few nights. so for the weekend, if things are set to turn colder in fact, high pressure will be dominating the scene, sitting to the north—west of the uk but it will be bringing down these very cold winds from the north, you can see the blue colours enveloping the whole of the uk, and the wind arrows indicating the wind will be quite a feature as well, accentuating the cold particularly on sunday. saturday states of chilli, quite a bit of sunshine around but the clubs will tend to build across northern and eastern areas, and that strong north, north—east wind will push a few showers into north—eastern scotland and eastern england, these will be ofa eastern england, these will be of a wintry flavour. single values in the north and just about double figures in the south. sunday could be a bit of a cloudy day generally, there will be areas of brightness here and there and wintry showers in the north and east, a key wind especially across

the east and the south—east. that is temperature sticking in single figures for most, factor in the wind and it is going to feel almost like freezing in one or two places, so a noticeable chill factor particularly on sunday. as we head on into next week, it does look like high pressure that again into the north—west of the uk, bringing infurther chilly air but it is going to bea chilly air but it is going to be a little less cold or the start of the week than what we have over the weekend. monday's picture, again quite a bit of cloud, if you glimmers of brightness here and there, one or two showers affecting the far north but most places dry once again in those temperatures may be up to a degree or so, height of ten or 11 degrees. it stays pretty chilly throughout the week, signs of cold air returning to northern parts of the uk, again with the risk of wintry showers across some exposed coast.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the us has overtaken china and italy to become the country that has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases. more than 82,000 people have been confirmed positive. the grim milestone came as president donald trump predicted the nation would get back to work pretty quickly. countries in europe continue to be worst affected, with more than 700 deaths in italy in the last 24 hours. leaders of the g20 countries have promised to do whatever it takes to minimise the damage to livelihoods. they say $5 trillion is being injected into the global economy. the south african government is trying to get ahead of the spread of coronavirus — so far the country hasn't recorded any deaths but nearly a thousand people are infected. a 3—week lockdown has just started there and south africans have been stocking up with essential goods.

and now on bbc news, victoria derbyshire has