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. 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's very important that everyone strongly follow the guidelines. and — life and death in india as prime minister modi apologizes 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 says 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've 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 the difference. the modelling estimates that the peak in death rate

is likely to hit in two weeks. so, i'll say it again, the peak, the highest point of death rates, remember this, is likely to hit in two weeks. nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won. that would be the greatest loss of all. therefore, the next two weeks and during this period, it's very important that everyone strongly follow the guidelines. we will be extending our guidelines to april 30 to slow the spread. let's speak to our north america correspondent, peter bowes now. at press conference a few hours ago, some fairly scary numbers from america's leading infectious diseases expert. when they are talking about maybe 200,000 deaths.

scientists say this is raised on the data that they have and that it on the data that they have and thatitis on the data that they have and that it is actually unlikely or quite unlikely that that number will be reached. especially considering some of the measures of, the social distancing measures that are being brought in, but that was a potential number. it is very clear that over the next few weeks, there will be many, many more deaths in the united states and it seems president trump has been looking at that data and that is why he has just —— justified extending the guidelines in terms of social distancing and asking people to stay at home and not go to work. a different story to just a week ago when he said he was hoping, he didn't predict it, but he said he hoped that america would be getting back to work in two weeks‘ time, at around easter, when he now says they will be a peak in the number of people dying. previously, donald trump wanted to open large parts of the us by easter because of course it is such a beautiful time. what did he have to say earlier?

well, he has acknowledged that that clearly is not going to happen and that this is going to ta ke happen and that this is going to take much longer. he did actually, may be quite unusually for the president, delta quite deep into the data and some of the discussions he has been having with his scientists and member of the coronavirus task force that have been working at the white house, and talking about, potentially in the early days, looking at millions of people dying. clearly that isn‘t going to happen because of the very tight restrictions that are continuing. they may even get a little bit tighter over the next few days and new york city is still the worst affected. there was still some talk earlier on the weekend that a state of quarantine could be announced for new york and two other states, the president backing off that, again, having spoken to the experts and the governors of those states, saying now that it isn‘t necessary, simply a strong advisory going out to those people that they shouldn‘t

travel unless it is absolutely necessary. there is still quite a lot of criticism about the federal response to the virus and a lack of co—ordination with the states. is donald trump admitting any kind of fault in that? donald trump isn‘t admitting any fault in anything to do with the government‘s response to this. 0ne government‘s response to this. one of the interesting things that he had to say and this, i suppose, highlights a potential disagreement with local authorities, talking about medical supplies, ventilators, a supply of masks that many nurses have said in —— are in short supply stop on a trumpet actually questioning whether the huge numbers of masks that are being produced are actually going to the hospital, suggested that they could be being hoarded somewhere, he applied that to ventilators, suggesting some hospitals might be keeping those ventilators stashed away in a cupboard somewhere for longer than they need and urging them to essentially share them with other regions after they have

finished using them. potentially, i think controversial remarks when we hear on the other side, a lot of health workers are saying that these pieces of equipment and supplies are in desperate short supply. peter bowes, very interesting there, no doubt we will be speaking to you on the same topic very shortly. peter bowes, live in la. in spain, the number of coronavirus fatalities rose by 838 in the last 2a 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 three 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 coronavirus lock—down. 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. well, let‘s get more on events in the us now. laura nahmias is a member of the editorial board of the new york daily news and she joins us now from there. laura, thanks forjoining us. more than 1000 have died in new york state, two—thirds of them in new york city. yes. and the numbers are going up every 12 hours, every 24—hour is, consistent with what experts have been predicting would happen. and, how are people feeling governor cuomo is responding to that? there are two schools of thought, one he is doing a good job and the other that donald trump isn‘t doing enough? people are responding very well to government her cuomo‘s handling

of the crisis —— governor cuomo. he is offering consistent, regular updates, information, calm, levelheaded, details and also a measure of reassurance to the people of new york. it couldn‘t be more ofa new york. it couldn‘t be more of a contrast with the president of the united states, who, is offering guidance that differs wildly from what he offered the day or the week before, depending on which person in his inner circle he is talking to at the time stop we have seen him whip between wanting to open the government in two weeks verse today coming out and saying absolutely not, i never said that, we will potentially reopen the economy in 30 days. he has advocated

for medicines that are not approved by the federal food and drug administration, he has offered very inconsistent advice to americans about how they should handle the crisis and is essentially pitting the states of united states of america against each other to get life—saving equipment for the hospitals. you talk about the hospitals. you talk about the equipment there. there are concerns about the number of ventilators and personal protective equipment in new york. how about a thing? the mayor of new york city says the city of new york with its 8.5 million people will run out of personal protective equipment at the end of this week, that we need 400 more ventilators by the end of the week and if we don‘t get more supplies, gloves, masks, gowns, then i

don‘t know what happens. hospitals, nurses, doctors on the frontline already say they are reusing masks that are not intended to be reused or used more than once. hospitals are already conserving their personal protective equipment to the greatest degree possible and there are other people involved in the response to this crisis you are not in hospitals, delivery workers, transit workers, nypd, our department, ems personnel who also say they do not have the equipment they need to handle the crisis —— the fire department. laura nahmias, thank you for filling us in there. that is all we have time for. laura nahmias from the new york daily times. 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‘re 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. 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. now time for something a little more more uplifting, and it involves lifting weights and lifting spirits. freya cole explains.

meet the 19—year—old fitness instructor in hamburg spreading good vibes when they are needed most. he lunges, and stretches from the street below, even when it‘s snowing. 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 ona translation: i saw a wine party on a balcony and i thought why wouldn‘t they do sport? if you start the day with sport, music and a good mood, it changes the atmosphere in the whole street. the message is simple: 30 minutes a day and it will help keep spirits high at a time when it is easy to feel down. living together as a community to help pass the time. freya

cole, bbc news. and that‘s it from me. you stay tuned in on the bbc news. —— please do stay tuned in. 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. so, to sum up through the week ahead, a chilly start, some rain and snow, particularly in the north, a lot of dry weather as well 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 1,300 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. the indian prime minister, narendra modi has apologized for a chaotic anti—coronavirus lockdown that‘s hurt the country‘s poorest. the government has told its state authorities to seal their borders and quarantine hundreds of thousands of migrants from other parts of the country, to try to contain the spread of covid—19.