hello and welcome to this special programme. i'm victoria derbyshire. over the next half an hour, we are going to try and tell you as much as we can about coronavirus to help you answer that you can share the information with others. for the latest on the spread of the disease, you can always head to our website for information on how it is affecting people in your community and your country. the main advice to stop the virus from spreading, wash your hands often, for around 20 seconds, avoid touching your face and maintain social distancing, which is making sure areas of around two metres between you and anyone else. as laura foster explains. politicians and scientists and even celebrities wa nt to and scientists and even celebrities want to explain that we have to operate social distancing which means no coming into contact with people and they should need to, so no more visitors at your house,

visiting other peoples houses, going to restaurants, pubs, clubs, sporting events, you get the idea. you can work from home at the government says you should and your employer should help you do this. if you can't work from home, avoid busy travel times, you can go out for a walk and buy essentials but you need to stay at least two metres from eve ryo ne to stay at least two metres from everyone else, and imagine you are holding a big broom, you will be the correct distance away if you can't touch anyone with it. the people who need to practice social distancing the most of those over 70, anyone with an underlying health condition and pregnant women. nearly everyone should do it to stop the virus spreading and reduce the pressure on health services. if you directly contact health services. if you directly co nta ct you health services. if you directly contact you have with others you are reducing the of catching the virus and passing it onto someone else. we are hearing a lot about quarantine, and social distancing and quarantine are not the same thing. a big

problem with coronaviruses that you can have it not know about it meaning you can go about your day as have always done, feel fine but actually infect around 2—3 people within a week. what happens is those people go on to infect another 2—3 people go on to infect another 2—3 people each those people when infect others and that is how the virus spreads. look at what happens when people stay at home and practice social distancing. for instance if this person did not go down to their friends house and if this person worked from home, if this person did not go to the corner shop, if this person didn't visit their mother, this reduces the number of cases from 406 tojust this reduces the number of cases from 406 to just 15. as the number of cases goes down so does the pressure on doctors and nurses and on the health service. this will make the difference between people living and people dying. you can go out to exercise once a day and fetch food and medicine but only with people you live with. stay—at—home

and stay at least two metres away from people if you do have to go out. it is not such a difficult thing. that is the message from the government to keep your apart so we do not spread and catch the coronavirus but unless you are two metres tall it is hard to know what that looks like without the measuring tape. it is about three steps so, one, two, three. enough space so that you can put a bed between you. or two shopping trolleys. you should not be able to touch anyone with a brain. that is great in theory but how does that look in the real word? if you are in the street that is about half a parking space and if you are in the countryside that is about to regular benches. you are exercising you may have to come off the path across the road but that will add to the exercise and on public transport do not sit in the same row and have space in front and behind you. in an

office you need to be for desk chairs apartand office you need to be for desk chairs apart and went shopping to not you close together. many shops have rules and hammy people can be —— how many people can be in at one time, and make sure you keep the two metre distance. have deliveries left at the doorstep and if you are still not sure if you are keeping up distance then add a bit more. 0r not sure if you are keeping up distance then add a bit more. or see if you can hit them with a broom. washing our hands and keeping clear of other people, both are vital to stop the spread of the virus, but what about other things you are co nsta ntly what about other things you are constantly in touch with? like your phone. washing your hands is vital and if you're worried about germs on your phone you can clean it effectively with simple soap and water and i'm a microbiologist and i will show you how to clean the phone. turn your phone off and the case. all the major phone makers warn against using chemicals,

handrails and wipes because that can damage the protective coating on the screen. dumping a microfibre cloth in water and soap and gently rub the surface of the phone with the damp cloth. take care not to get moisture in any of the openings because even a water resistant phones will lose their protection over time. just using soap and water can remove bacteria from your phone and we can test that by using this device. it gives a reading of relative light units and that is a measure of the activity on your phone so the higher the number the more germs are present. we tested these phones and their cases before and after cleaning with soapy water and they we re cleaning with soapy water and they were all significantly clean afterwards. 0n were all significantly clean afterwards. on a surgical service we would want to get a figure of 50 or less in all of our phones and cases have readings lower than that. if

you have an iphone apple says you can you have an iphone apple says you ca n clea n you have an iphone apple says you can clean it with 70% alcohol wipes. these are the ones you can get from computer shops. there are also devices you can use to sterilise your phone using radiation, we should not harm your device with ease but some fans could be discoloured over time. with all of these methods as soon as you touch your phone you will get gyms by condorrat so make sure you keep washing your hands regularly and thoroughly —— germs by conduit. what about other surfaces where the virus may lurk? this is jim about other surfaces where the virus may lurk? this isjim reid. there are two main ways of catching coronavirus in the first is to particles in the air, someone breathes out and the virus is spread in droplets and a single cough can produce 3000 droplets. you breathe it in and become infected. this is why governments across the world are telling us to stay two metres away from each other to stop the spread.

the second way is through something scientists call fomite transmission, those virus particles land on a hard surface and are spread when an infectious person touches it. because a person is shedding the virus from their nose and throat and they are coughing it out into the air that means anything they touch will be covered in this virus and if you come along later and touch the same surface you could pick up from that surface a collection of these virus particles if there are enough of them, you can transfer them to your nose and eyes and you could infect yourself. it is still early days but a team in the united states has run tests on corona already. they found the virus that causes covid-19 they found the virus that causes covid—19 can remain active on some surfaces. 0n copper the result showed traces for up to four hours. 0n cardboard up to 24—hour is. on

plastic and stainless steel for up to three days. to mitigate the risk wash your hands frequently and use alcohol gel which deactivates the virus very efficiently, if it has more than 70% alcohol, and also wrap your sleeves around your hand to open the door or usual elbow. the amount of virus on a surface of sharply with time according to studies so doctors say it is important to be extra careful with services that are touched frequently by others. as for food packaging deliveries and other things that come to the letterbox, we think the virus can live on cardboard for 24—hour sand on plastic for up to three days. scientists say treat those results with caution, though, because we don't yet know how much of the virus is needed yet to infect someone or how easily it is transferred back to someone. someone or how easily it is transferred back to someonem someone or how easily it is transferred back to someone. if you are worried that the chef stuck in the supermarket might have the virus, you could wash that down, as

well, but that is probably not necessary “— well, but that is probably not necessary —— if you are worried that the shelf stacker. the risk is probably really low. the most effective thing you can do is to wash your hands with soap, fancy soap, any soap, cheapside, for 20 seconds. if the particles are on your hands it should be enough to kill the virus and break the chain of transmission —— cheap soap. that is the advice from top scientists at the world health organization to gps working to save lives in hospitals. alongside the good advice have come some dangerous myths about the virus. chris morris now. above all watch your hands —— wash your hands to limit the spread but there have also been myths circulating on social media and elsewhere which amount to fake health advice. here area amount to fake health advice. here are a few things to ignore. the

first one, eat garlic to avoid infection. garlic is a healthy food, the same goes for other fruit and vegetables, but the world health organization says there is no evidence that eating garlic or anything else has protected people from covid—19. drink water every 15 minutes, again, drinking waterand staying hydrated is good for you, but that doesn't mean it can stop coronavirus. if you get a virus like this when you breathe in and there is no biological mechanism to suggest you can crush it out of your system by constantly drinking water. —— flush. the third myth, don't eat ice cream. the idea of avoiding ice cream or other cold foods can prevent the virus taking hold is totally untrue. trying to heat your body to make it inhospitable for the virus just won't work. we know the

flu virus does not survive well outside the body during summer heat but we don't know enough about how the heat might impact the new coronavirus. the fourth myth, drinkable silver, the use of tiny particles of a metal suspended in liquid has been suggested but the clear advice from health authorities is that it doesn't treat infections in the body or boost immunity, and in fact it could cause serious side effects like kidney damage, seizures or even turning your skin blue. the best advice in all circumstances, keep washing your hands. these are difficult times,... keep washing your hands. these are difficult times, . .. anxiety has keep washing your hands. these are difficult times,... anxiety has a very physical effects. the way ahead is hard. a changing world is troubling if you already have an issue with anxiety. if i don't have a plan or something to work towards

thatis a plan or something to work towards that is when i start cracking. i was sobbing my heart out. for someone like francesca with a history of heart problems, watching each coronavirus development as she cares for her daughter, her stress levels have been rising. it comes in waves and to begin with you take note of everything and then the more the news ramps up, being a new mother, suffering from health anxiety myself, it has got progressively harder. doctor everyone's cup of tea but i do like a creepy crawley. i have suffered with anxiety all of my life and just as i get on top of something something like this will smash it apart and it is really hard. it is notjust people who struggle with anxiety who are

finding things tough. in a matter of days everyone's life has changed dramatically which makes it really important that we find our own way of dealing with that stress. panic attacks are a certain spike of anxiety and adrenaline. charity dealing with stress have seen a huge increase in calls to the helpline. dealing with stress have seen a huge increase in calls to the helplinelj can't increase in calls to the helpline.” can't recall anything on this scale, it is simply unmatched and we are in uncharted territory. for some of the more 8 million people who have an anxiety disorder, help comes with an apple or at least a charity uses. acknowledge that you are worried, pause, push back against the thought, let go of the worry, and explore the moment because right now you are fine. francesca has found acknowledging the anxiety helps as

well as speaking to friends online. i was having a panic today and i asked people to reassure me that everything would be ok and i got so many replies are people saying things will be fine. go to this website and it really helped to calm me down. no one is going to offer online classes teaching people about her animals. having a plan helps her. i need to find something i can be in control of and go forward with that and hopefully it will work. picking our own techniques for coping in the coming weeks will be important. coronavirus has been affecting the way of life for tens of millions around the world and perhaps one group who would have felt it a little more than usual this week whether thousands of athletes training for the tokyo olympics. they have been postponed to 2021. but while most sport may have come to a halt because of the

virus pandemic, many teams are trying to remain active in their community. stevenage football club probably have more challenges than any other because they are bottom of the football league but they are trying to lead the way in switching their resources asjoe wilson reports. professional football, north hertfordshire... in adversity, what else to do but adapt? and so, stevenage fc‘s captain and central defender becomes food deliverer. the football has stopped, but the community which surrounds the club is still there, waiting. there are people around the world that have got a lot of people they can rely on, but there are people, especially in this community, that don't have anyone to rely on, and it's good for the club to all come together and help towards the one cause. just a friendly voice at this time can be crucial.

stevenage's foundation will continue to take calls, offer advice, even when staff start working from home. i have had a few people call up saying, i'm really sorry that we are taking up your time, and i'm saying, no, that's not a problem, that's exactly what we are here to do, just talk to you. lots of football clubs are helping in various ways at the moment. but here, the perspective is unique. football was suspended with stevenage admittedly at the bottom, last place in league two. a couple of weeks ago, we might have even referred to that as a crisis. now we really know what a crisis is. our league position is just out of the window. we're not worried about that. we're really worried about making sure the next time we kick a football here at the lamex stadium that as many of our staff, players and supporters and volunteers are all in a healthy position to come back and support us. without money from matches, the future is, to say the least, a challenge. but clubs like stevenage are nothing without their communities. the support is mutual. right now, that may be measured in sandwiches. after all, the opponent is the same for everyone. joe wilson, bbc news, stevenage.

hello, i'm a writer and journalist and this is what i'm going to do this week. try to learn how to use my new sewing machine.” this week. try to learn how to use my new sewing machine. i have been cooking and providing free meals to anybody elderly, vulnerable, homeless or for whatever reason unable to feed themselves.” re ce ntly unable to feed themselves.” recently set up an e—mail address where people can request a song for someone who really needs it at this time so the sun i'm working on now is for a doctor called annie —— the song i'm working on. her partner told me that she loves brussel sprouts.

# she loves brussel sprouts... something that rhymes, may be doubts? i'm worried about my pa rents, doubts? i'm worried about my parents, they live in the south of spain andi parents, they live in the south of spain and i worried about my friends. this has been very useful to control the panic. embroidery is also great for anxiety. i finished all this during the quarantine, look at that. at the moment there are no parties to be had and events have all but stopped so that means i haven't had any work. i'm always cooking regardless and i'm always in the kitchen. doing something. above all else it isjust helping people ina all else it isjust helping people in a small way. we know she also collect little pennies as mementos. # she collect all the pennies and if

you need her she'll be ready... it rhymes! i'm on my way to start my deliveries for the day and i've got a huge local delivery in battersea and then i will be going to slough where there are elderly ladies waiting the arrival of food. this is my friend. in spain our public health care is saving us from a disaster and every night at eight o'clock there is a collective applause from the window to thank our doctors and nurses and eve ryo ne to thank our doctors and nurses and everyone that is keeping us safe. and then you end with hopefullyjust a positive uplifting message. for annie or anybody who is going

through this difficult moment. # annie, annie, we are with you all the way # annie, annie, we are with you all the way... 7 there you go, that is how you do a song about someone called annie who likes brussel sprouts. covid—19 is forcing family gatherings and parties across the world to be cancelled and for young children it can be especially upsetting. those tasked with organising children's upsetting. those tasked with organising child ren's birthdays upsetting. those tasked with organising children's birthdays are not being deterred, and they are ready to use tech to keep youngsters happy. social distancing, life indoors, not much fun, especially if you are three. if there are germs

outside we have got to stay indoors. do you want to build a snowman... one thing has not been counselled, jessica today is a character from frozen she is going to give little a birthday online —— one thing has not been cancelled. harry wanted a frozen party and the fact we were still able to have won has been unbelievable. # let it go, let it go... for jessica, the experiment with a virtual birthday party seems to be working. just look at their faces. how did that feel? really weird but

lovely, because it meant i could still give the children the magic and that is what it is about, because it is their special day. this crazy pandemic should not take it away from them. #do it away from them. # do you want to build a snowman... ican # do you want to build a snowman... i can see their eyes on me and enjoying it and that was amazing. finally, starting pitchers have emerged of empty cities and deserted streets. —— pictures. these are some of the images from across the globe.

that is it for now. please keep up to date with everything on the bbc

news website. i'm victoria derbyshire, thanks for watching. the weather has been fairly stagnant this week, blue skies and sunshine for much of england and wales are more in the way a cloud with patchy light rain over parts of scotland and northern ireland, which has been down to the frontal system, still with us on saturday, just a band of cloud at this stage, but the dividing line between the milder air flooding over the uk, on eighth strengthening —— on a strengthening breeze and it will feel very different this week. much more clout than we have seen recently for england and wales and wintry showers especially for eastern counties of scotla nd especially for eastern counties of scotland and england and the winds will be strengthening for the day, so temperature might reach 7—13 with

the strengthening way and it will start to feel colder. for the early hours of sunday morning the clocks go forward one hour and we start british summer time and it will feel even colder on sunday, because the winds will be strengthening further. write a bit of cloud and the best of any sunshine for northern ireland —— quite. still some wintry showers for eastern counties but the winds will be stronger and gusts of 3040, maybe even 45 in eastern and channel coast, so whilst the thermometer might read 6—9, nobody really getting into double figures, when you add the strength of the wind it will feel close to freezing the sun, significant wind—chill on sunday. —— close to freezing for some. the isobars start to move further apart through monday and we start to lose the nagging biting north—easterly wind. it will still feel cold but not as cold as it would have been on

sunday. showers for eastern counties of england on monday and some could be wintry, the best of any sunshine the further west you are but temperatures perking up on monday in lighter winds. high pressure the dominant feature as we go through monday into tuesday, so a lot of dry weather and we should lose most of the wintry showers along eastern coasts and a bit more in the way of sunshine on tuesday, still some cloud coming and going and we might get off to a fairly frosty start, but tuesday looks to be a fairly quiet day with mostly light winds away from the north and west of scotland, so it won't feel quite so cold on tuesday. i miss into double figures for many. on wednesday little change but there is one su btle little change but there is one subtle change —— temperatures into double figures. there will be outbreaks of rain for a time on wednesday, but how far south that comes we need to keep an eye on, but it looks like northern ireland, the

rest of england and wales will stay mainly dry with spells of sunshine and the rain mostly focused across scotland. probably to the north of the central belt. temperatures, 9—11 may be getting up to around 12 in any sunshine, and for the end of the week high pressure tends to stay across england and wales and there will be lower pressure developing in northern scotland and keeping an eye on this area of low pressure in the atla ntic on this area of low pressure in the atlantic and this could push rain eased by the time we get to the weekend. when that arrives it will start to introduce milder air as well but still a long way off in those times could well change. goodbye. —— and those timings could well change.

the men in charge of britain's fight against coronavirus, both test positive for the disease as the uk's death toll climbs again. just hours afterjoining the nation to applaud nhs workers — borisjohnson found out he too had the virus. i've developed mild symptoms of the coronavirus. that's to say, a temperature and a persistent cough. and on the advice of the chief medical officer i've taken a test. that has come out positive. the health secretary, matt hancock, with the prime minister two days ago — also has it and the government's chief medical adviser, professor chris whitty, is displaying symptoms. the principality stadium in cardiff is to be turned into a temporary hospitalfor 2,000 people —

along with huge conference