hello. this is bbc news. i'm simon pusey with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. almost 1,300 people have now died from coronavirus in the uk, a rise of 209. deserted roads and empty parks — a top official says the uk could face up to six months of restrictions. over time, probably over the next six months, we will have a three—week review, we will see where we're going. we will need to keep the lid on, and then gradually we will be able to hopefully adjust some of the social distancing measures. in the us — a prediction from the leading government expert that coronavirus could kill up to 200,000 americans with a peak in around a fortnight. for the next two weeks, and

during this period, it is very important that everyone strongly follow the guidelines. italy grapples with the world's highest death toll from coronavirus and a severe shortage of medical staff in the north. and life and death in india as prime minister modi apologises for a chaotic lockdown that has hurt the country's poorest. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments in britain and globally. the british government has said all parts of the country are now on an "emergency footing" and it could be six months before life in the uk returns to "normal". at the latest downing street briefing, it was announced that millions of items of personal protective equipment

were being delivered to nhs staff. across europe, the number of people killed by the virus has risen to more than 20,000. italy has seen the most deaths from coronavirus and the country's deputy health minister says he believes italy is currently experiencing the peak of the outbreak. in the us, the government's leading expert has warned the pandemic could kill up to 200,000 americans and millions more could be infected. india's prime minister, narendra modi, has apologised to the country for the lockdown, but says there was no other option. more on that in a moment. but first, this report on the uk's response from our science editor david shukman. the stark reality of fighting coronavirus. from roundhay park in leeds, one of the biggest in europe, almost deserted, to trafalgar square in london, usually crowded, evidence of social distancing in action. but we won't know how well it's working for two to three weeks.

in this critically important time, the prime minister, borisjohnson, himself infected, has been chairing meetings while in self—isolation. and he has written a letter to be sent to 30 million homes across the uk with a stark message. "it's important for me to level with you," he says. "we know things will get worse before they get better. but we are making the right preparations, and the more we all follow the rules, the fewer lives will be lost and the sooner life can return to normal." but that won't come soon. the daily briefing at number ten made that very clear. over time, probably over the next six months, we will have a 3—week review. we will see where we are going. we need to keep that lid on and then gradually, we will be able to hopefully adjust some of the social distancing measures and gradually get us all back to normal.

so i think three weeks for review, two or three months to see whether we have really squashed it, but about three to six months, ideally, and lots of uncertainty in that, but then, to see at which point we can actually get back to normal. that idea of a long haul was echoed by scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon. 13 weeks is likely to be the kind of period that we have to be prepared to have measures in place. of course, we will continue to keep under review the type of measures and we will not keep measures in place for any longer than we have to do. police in bristol out reminding people to stay at home. and according to scientists advising the government, measures like this should stay in place until the virus really is under control.

once we start to see a change in the trends and, indeed, a decrease in the numbers of cases, then we can have more confidence in the current measures having an effect. but what we need to remember is, we need to allow this virus to decrease to low levels before these can be completely lifted. all this on a painful day made worse by the loss of an ent surgeon. amged el—hawrani, confirmed to have died of covid—i9, he passed away at glenfield hospital in leicester. he had been volunteering in a&e. in a statement, his son, ashraf, said, "most of my dad's time was dedicated towards his family and the rest of that time was dedicated towards his profession. he taught me the significance of respect and equality." we have had confirmation of the very sad death of an ent surgeon, amged el—hawrani. what do you think that says, what message does that send to nhs staff on the front line? it clearly is a worrying event. it is worrying for the nation because it is another death in our statistics. it is another loss to the family and it will be a loss to an nhs family as well. and tonight, some more optimistic news about the nhs. 20,000 retired doctors and nurses have now offered to return to work, prompting this response from the prime minister.

one thing i think coronavirus crisis has already proved is that there really is such a thing as society. once again, a reminder of the incredible importance of everyone making an effort to stop the spread of the virus. a slow and difficult process. david shukman, bbc news. america's leading infectious diseases expert has warned that up to 200,000 people in the us could die from the coronavirus. dr anthony fauci, who's a member of president trump's covid—i9 task force, said millions of people in the country would catch the virus. some cities, including new york, have warned that they may soon run out of medical supplies. the latest figures show there've been 237 more deaths in new york state over the past 2a hours.

president trump responded to this news by extending the country's social distancing guidelines by another month. i want the american people to know that your selfless, inspiring and valiant efforts are saving countless lives. you're making a difference. the peak and death rate is likely to hit in two weeks so i will say it again, the peak, the highest point of death rates, remember this, is likely to hit into weeks. nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is one. that would be the greatest loss of all. therefore, the next two weeks and during this period, it is very important that eve ryo ne it is very important that everyone strongly follow the guidelines. we will be extending our guidelines to april 30 to slow the spread.

0ur north america editor jon sopel is at the white house with the latest. i think this will be a very salutary warning from the much respected dock. it is the first time i've heard them give an official estimate of between one and 200,000. the first death was over a month ago. it took a month, two days ago, for it to reach 1000 deaths. that has doubled in 48 hours and thatis has doubled in 48 hours and that is the scale at which the death toll is rising from this. there was a sliver of good news out of new york where the governor they gave a briefing and said the rate at which people are being admitted into hospital is slowing slightly but this is the epicentre of the outbreak and it is still a very serious situation there. donald trump has abandoned his plans for imposing a quarantine new york, newjersey and connecticut and just said he will issue a tougher travel

advisory. in spain, the number of coronavirus fatalities rose by 838 in the last 24 hours, marking the country's highest daily rise in deaths. much of the country remains in lockdown. 6,500 people have now died from the virus there, and there are just under 80,000 confirmed infections. it's one of europe's hardest hit countries, but spanish health officials say the virus there could be near its peak. the head of italy's coronavirus response team has told the bbc there is now a severe shortage of medical staff in the north of the country, the area worst hit by the pandemic. doctors and nurses from across italy and around the world are being asked to volunteer to work there. there have now been almost 11,000 deaths from covid—19 in italy with over 97,000 confirmed infections. jean mackenzie sent this report. they have come from around

the world to serve on the front line of this crisis. doctors from russia, cuba and now albania, and from every corner of italy too. ijust finished from the hospital after 12 hours. i'm so tired! giuseppe has never worked in an emergency room. he only qualified last year, but he's left his home in sicily for a field hospital at the epicentre. why did you decide to travel to work up here? the emergency was here and it's still here and so i'm here to get my contribution, my little contribution, and help my colleagues. the force at which this virus struck the north of italy has left it exposed. 300 doctors were flown in from different parts of the country last week, but this wasn't nearly enough. the situation in the north is so acute, so many doctors and nurses have fallen sick now that the government is appealing to people from all over the country to travel up there and help.

the north is still in a deep crisis. we have a shortage of specialised people in the health sector because they have been contaminated. and so, of course, more of them now are observing a quarantine period. with 4,000 nurses now infected, hundreds more are being drafted in over the next two days. simona is one of them. the hospital, it's full. and so crowded. all the people were hit by that virus like a train, like a tornado. it's terrible. tonight, there's been an improvement. the rate of new infections

and deaths is slightly down. but make no mistake — this country is still in crisis, with a long, hard fight ahead. jean mackenzie, bbc news, rome. india's prime minister, narendra modi, has asked for his country's forgiveness after imposing a sweeping coronavirus lockdown that he said had hurt millions of the country's poor. in his weekly radio address, he apologised for the impact of the 3—week lockdown, but said india was in a life and death battle. faisal ali has more from delhi. with buses and trains suspended, these migrant workers have begunjourneys on foot to reach their villages. they cannot afford a plane ticket. some walked hundreds of kilometres, barefoot, with families and many with children. translation: my wife and son, my brother and i walked all the way from sonipat. it took us two days and one night to reach

the bus terminal. the economic cost of the lockdown is taking its toll, particularly on contract workers on daily labourers. most of them now out of work are trying to reach their homes all over the country. there are nearly 100 million internal migrants in india and those working in the big cities are affected by the 21—day shutdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. that criticism has led the country's prime minister to apologise. translation: first of all, let me seek forgiveness for all countrymen.

my conscience tells me that you will definitely forgive me as i have to take certain decisions which have put you in a lot of difficulty. possibly many will be angry at me for being locked in their homes. i understand your troubles, but there was no other way to wage a war against coronavirus. with such huge crowds moving from one place to another, questions are now being asked — how many of them could turn out to be a potential courier of the virus which the government tried to contain by announcing a lockdown. faisalali, bbc news, delhi. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the german personal trainer who's lifting weights — and lifting spirits, during the glum coronavirus lock—down measures. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can at worst produce a meltdown. in this case the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing.

the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: almost 1,300 people have now died from coronavirus in the uk, a rise of 209. and in the us, a prediction from the leading government

expert that coronavirus could kill up to 200,000 americans. let's get more on that story now. dr dena grayson is an infectious disease expert and viral pandemic doctor, shejoins us now from florida. let's start with florida. no lockdown in spite of cases doubling every three days. simon, it's ridiculous. we had all these spring breakers that came and visited our wonderful state, not all of them bringing the virus with them but equally as bad, a lot of these spring brea kers as bad, a lot of these spring breakers then went home potentially carrying the virus. it's really a very, very disastrous situation. we have a high number of floridians who are elderly as well, we are one of the old estates in the country and many people enjoy retiring here which is a great

thing but certainly not in the case of a deadly virus that u nfortu nately afflict case of a deadly virus that unfortunately afflict the older population much more severely than younger. with heard in the last few hours millions will be affected in the us alone, potentially hundreds of thousands of deaths. potentially hundreds of thousands of deathslj potentially hundreds of thousands of deaths. i think thatis thousands of deaths. i think that is a very conservative estimate by doctor fauci. these estimates of 100,000 — 200,000 is conservative, as i mentioned, in the best case scenario, that is what we are looking at and, you know, it's really frustrating to someone like me when we've seen this horror show unfold in china, they waited too long to lockdown and many, many people died. we saw the same movie ta ke died. we saw the same movie take base in italy and in spain and now you are seeing it there in the united kingdom and here in the united kingdom and here in the united kingdom and here in the united states and we have still not locked down a fair number of our population.

florida is the third most populous state in the united states and populous state in the united states a nd u nfortu nately we populous state in the united states and unfortunately we are not blocked down and i think thatis not blocked down and i think that is going to lead u nfortu nately to that is going to lead unfortunately to more infections and more debt. the world health organization talks about testing being crucial to work out what is going on. new york has had some raising of testing happening in the last few days but lots of other states have been criticised for a lack of testing. that's exactly a lack of testing. that's exa ctly s pot a lack of testing. that's exactly spot on. i think that governor cuomo has stepped up and is showing good leadership and is showing good leadership and trying to make tests available that is readily accessible for new yorkers. they copied the south korean model and they have drive—through testing. i know a few other states, maryland as well, but here in loreto, it's very difficult still to get a test. i've been screaming the testing, as have several other experts since january, since january, and a reminderfor

your viewers, the united states and south korea, each of our countries had our first patient diagnosed with coronavirus on the exact same day. south korea had theirfirst the exact same day. south korea had their first test approved one week later and we u nfortu nately one week later and we unfortunately spent most of the month of february wasting time and meanwhile this deadly virus was spreading undetected throughout our communities. 0utside throughout our communities. outside of the us, globally, 43% of the world's population is currently under lockdown. this is such a global issue, isn't it? it's hard to comprehend the scale of it. you know, this is a100— comprehend the scale of it. you know, this is a 100— year event. that is one thing to be grateful for, is that we haven't seen a pandemic like this since the 1918 flu pandemic so i think that is one sort of saving grace that you are sort of saving grace that you a re exactly sort of saving grace that you are exactly right. i think we should expect those numbers to rise with respect to lot downs. i think many of us and myself

included believe it's very likely that as winter approaches in the southern hemisphere, we are going to see a real uptake hemisphere, we are going to see a realuptake in hemisphere, we are going to see a real uptake in a number of infections in the southern hemisphere and as bad as things are in the united states, as bad as things are in the united kingdom and the rest of western europe, think about how bad things are going to be in sub—saharan africa, things are going to be in sub—sa ha ran africa, places where you can't even wash your hands. this is really going to turn i think, the situation is not going to get better any time soon, at least not globally and i think u nfortu nately globally and i think unfortunately things are going to get much, much worse before they get better. absolutely, and we're going to be talking about slums and the issues that causes a bit later in programme. but for now, thank you very much indeed for joining us. local councils and care providers in the uk have warned that supplies of personal protective equipment for social care staff are not reaching the front line. in a letter to the health secretary, two organisations say some masks and gloves supplied to staff in care homes

are dirty and damaged, while a major care provider has said its supplies are being diverted to the nhs. our home editor mark easton reports. there are our masks that we are desperate for and are hoping for a supply very soon. as i say, our mask order has been delayed. they're down to one or two days of protective masks at this extra care home in northampton. just been outside. there we go... supplies of hand gel are running low, too. desperate staff fear they won't be able to protect vulnerable residents from a virus that might well kill them. the mask that we are using, we're not sure how to prioritise who has a mask first or which service user we go to that has a mask. so we're managing at the moment but we don't know where our next supply would come from. the company that runs this centre has repeatedly ordered

new masks for their 2,000 carers across the uk. but suppliers have told them that protection equipment has been diverted to the nhs. the company that runs this centre has repeatedly ordered new masks for their 2,000 carers across the uk. but suppliers have told them that protection equipment has been diverted to the nhs. we're really down to the bare bones now of masks and gel in terms of supplies. and we're desperate, really, to try to get some more equipment through quickly so our care staff can be fully protected and deliver the important service that they do. the government says it's working around the clock to give the social care sector the equipment and support it needs. but english local authorities have written to the health secretary to say supplies are not reaching the front line. councils across england are so worried about the shortage of masks for carers that they are appealing to closed nail bars, construction firms, anyone who's got supplies to consider donating them to social services. jamshal ali died a few days ago after he tested positive for the virus in a london care home. only a handful were able to attend his burial. the family say more should have been done to protect him. any family who has someone in a care setting really should make the effort of talking to the care home. they really should find out what measures are in place so that their loved ones

are being cared for. here's a drink for you, love. ash carby, who has parkinson's and advanced dementia, needs carers four times a day at his home in north london. his wife says they arrive on public transport without masks to protect him or themselves. they have to go within 2m of him and there's no protection. they could be asymptomatic but contagious and give it to him. if he gets it, i doubt he'd survive, to be honest. this is our dining room that has been tailored... the government says every social care provider will get the supplies they need and denies the health service is being prioritised. but this is a sector that has long felt it has played second fiddle to the nhs. mark easton, bbc news. russia has become the latest country to close its borders to slow the spread of the coronavirus. the measures, which will come

into force from monday, accompany a lockdown across moscow which will see residents confined to their homes. the capital has recorded two—thirds of the 1,500 cases across russia, according to officialfigures. now time for something a little more uplifting and it involves lifting weights and lifting spirits. in germany, the lockdown measures have been extended to at least april 20 but one young man is making the most out of the glum situation. meet peto cervantes, the 19—year—old witness instructor in hamburg spreading good vibes when they needed most. he lunges and stretches, from the street below, even when it's snowing. ready, ready? you don't need any special equipment for this gym class. the main idea is to keep active and happy while living in self isolation. translation: i saw a wine party on the balcony and i thought, why wouldn't they do

sport? if you start the day with sports, music and a good mood, it changes the atmosphere and the whole street. the message is simple. 30 minutes a day and it will help keep spirits high at a time when it's easy to feel down. moving together as a community to help pass the time. freya cole, bbc news. you'll find plenty more coverage on our website. there is this article about engineers from university couege engineers from university college london and mercedes formula one who have built a device which delivers oxygen to the lungs without needing a ventilator in under a week. that is on the bbc news website or you can download the bbc news app. we will of course be back with more news on the virus around the world in about half—an—hour and you can reach

me in some of the team on twitter i am @simonpusy. —— @simonpusey. stay with us in bbc news. hello there. through the first half of last week we had some spring warmth. in fact, last tuesday, temperatures got up as high as 19 degrees. this week, starting on a much colder note. certainly during sunday temperatures for most of us didn't get out of single digits. and we start monday morning with those temperatures around about freezing. high pressure in charge of the scene, a strong area of high pressure out to the west. this really has been dominating our weather for the last couple of days, feeding winds in from the north. we've had really strong winds through the weekend, the wind easing a touch during monday and some notice also some slightly lighter colours of blue coming into the mix, just signs the air might not be quite as cold as it has been. now, having said that, still quite chilly on monday, a brisk breeze and some showers across northern and eastern areas across the midlands

and even into wales through the day. any wintriness in the showers becoming confined to the very highest ground in the north with that air turning a little bit less cold. we will see a fairly brisk breeze but not as windy as it was, say, during sunday. and those temperatures justa notch up, 9,10, 11 degrees, although that is still a little below par for this time of year. now, as we go through monday night we'll continue to see large areas of cloud feeding down from the north, we'll see some clear spells as well, one or two showers here and there and as you can see from the green shades on the chart, yes, it will be a chilly night but most places will probably hover just above freezing. so, a change in the feel of the weather into tuesday. 0ur area high pressure sinks a little bit further south and that allows us to draw the air in from the atlantic. it cuts off that flow of air from the north, so it's not going to be quite

as cold with this west or north—westerly wind toppling in. still a lot of cloud, some spells of sunshine, one or two showers, but those temperatures up to nine or 10 degrees. now, as we move into wednesday, for northern ireland, for england and wales, it's a similar sort of day. large areas of cloud, some sunny spells but we will see a frontal system bringing some showery rain into northern parts of scotland. the winds starting to pick up here once again but those temperatures again just a touch higher at ten or 11 degrees. now, for the end of the week, some changes. 0ur area of high pressure slips away south—westwards, a low pressure dives in from the north, another frontal system into scotland, rain and snow with that, another shot of cold air for the north of the uk but for the south of the uk, it looks like it will stay that bit milder. to sum up through the week ahead, a chilly start, some rain and snow, particularly north, a lot of dry weather too but it should turn milder from the south later.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: the british government has said all parts of the country are now on an "emergency footing" and it could be six months before life in the uk returns to "normal" — almost 103,000 people have now died from coronavirus in the uk — a rise of 209. in the us, a leading infectious diseases expert has warned that up to 200,000 people could die from the coronavirus. president trump says the us is carrying out 100,000 virus tests a day, which accounts for the high numbers testing positive. in spain, another 838 people have died from covid—19 — the country's highest daily number of deaths. there have now been 6,500 fatlities from coronavirus. just under 80,000 people have the infection but spanish health officials say the virus could be near its peak.