this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: the us navy sails into virus—stricken new york city, as donald trump says americans must social distance to save million lives. this is our shared patriotic duty. challenging times are ahead for the next 30 days, and this is a very vital 30 days. syria reports its first cases. we'll talk to an aid worker who fears a disaster is about to unfold a national silence and tough new restrictions as the number of infections in spain makes another jump. new social distancing rules come into force in australia — gatherings of more than two people are now banned.

hello and welcome. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. we start in the us, where the death toll has passed 3,000 and over 163 thousand confirmed cases — the higest in the world — the grim news emerged after new york governor andrew cuomo warned the rest of the country could face what new york is currently going through. meanwhile, president trump has said the next 30 days could be crucial and praised the efforts of american companies to produce more much needed equipment, like masks and ventilators. 0ver1 million americans have now been tested, more than any other country, by far, not even close. the same modelling also shows that by very vigorously following these guidelines we could save more than 1 million american lives.

think of that. 1 million american lives. with more analysis on president trump's words, here's our north america correspondent, peter bowes. well, donald trump has clearly backed down from his aspiration that easter could be a turning point as far as america dealing with coronavirus. in fact he has said that could be the peak time for the number of deaths this country. the time during which americans will have to stay at home has been extended to the end of april and the president describing the next 30 days as vital in that fight to try to get control of the situation. also revealing that a million americans have now been tested, which he described as an historic landmark. in fact he claimed it was the most tests carried out by any country. that aside, we still have health workers, especially

in new york city, saying that they are on the edge, it's proving to be difficult to deal with the situation. they still don't have enough supplies, especially ventilators, and the governor of new york, andrew cuomo, appealing to health workers in other parts of the country that are not as badly affected as new york city to actually go there and to help, such is the problem, such is the level of exhaustion felt by 70 people in new york city trying to deal with this. 0ne morale booster in the last 2a hours has been the arrival of a us navy ship, comfort, in new york. it has docked in manhattan and it has a thousand beds, several operating theatres. it will care for non—coronavirus patients, relieving the stress, to some extent, on those hospitals on the shore. peter bowes there.

professor akiko iwasaki is virus researcher at the yale schools of immunology and medicine. as you can see she is spending bowed to speak with us. social distancing measures now increasing in the us for an extended period of time. how significant are they? well, it's getting more and more significant by the day. and i think that's going in the right direction. we needed to practise strict social distancing in order to flatten the curve. and buy flat on the curve, obviously, that means not having a huge spike of people infected and overloading hospitals all at the same time? —— and by flattening. hospitals all at the same time? -- and by flattening. that's correct. what difference does it make with social distancing dan and how are people there responding to that new way of life? so it's very difficult to adjust to this new way of life. for instance, most schools are closed now and parents who are,

you know, with small children oi’ you know, with small children or children of school age, have tojuggle both the or children of school age, have to juggle both the work and the childcare at the same time. there's also a new learning system now in place with online learning for most colleges and schools. so these are all new ways that we are kind of adjusting to and dealing with ona adjusting to and dealing with on a daily basis. and as eve ryo ne on a daily basis. and as everyone now in the united states on board with this. at the beginning of this outbreak there were comparisons to the flu and a sense that not eve ryo ne flu and a sense that not everyone was taking it as seriously as possibly they should? i don't think the entire country is on board, u nfortu nately. entire country is on board, unfortunately. there are some pockets of the country which is not practising the strict social distancing at. and it's really important to have a united effort to do this, because of some people aren't practising the social distancing then they could be spreading the virus throughout the community. and we know a

vaccine is a year away, at least, by most kind of gases at the moment, but what about treatments? what are your thoughts, hopes for that? yes, so thoughts, hopes for that? yes, soi thoughts, hopes for that? yes, so i really hope there will be some affect give and save antivirals as well as, potentially, immune mediated therapy, like monoclonal antibodies that will block this from spreading. if that can be made widely available and if it is proven to be safe than i think we have a way out of this strict social distancing in the future. fingers crossed for that. professor akiko iwasaki, thank you. thank you for having me. here in britain, an entirely new hospital, built in a conference centre injust a week, will be ready to take its first patients on wednesday. initially it's ready for 500 coronavirus patients, but eventually rising to 4,000. our health editor hugh pym has the latest.

just a week ago it was a giant conference hall, with room for a dozen football pitches. now it's a hospital, with intensive care beds and ventilators, and ready in a few days' time to receive the first patients. the capacity eventually will be 4,000. and if those beds are used, it'll be the biggest hospital in the world. sir simon stevens, head of nhs england, toured the site at london's excel centre today and met some of those who are making things happen. as it was announced the number of patients was increasing by 1000 today. today, there are over 9,000 positive coronavirus patients in hospitals across england. and we know that number is only going to increase. that's why what you see here is a mass mobilisation, taking place right across the country, but also at these new nightingale hospitals. this has been an extraordinary team effort on the part of nurses and doctors, therapists and pharmacists across london, but also volunteers, paramedics and people returning to help.

the first staff were applauded in today, volunteers from other hospitals and recently retired doctors and nurses will be caring here for seriously ill covid—i9 patients at what's now called the nightingale hospital. this is what the hospital could look like when it's finished, with thousands of beds and a mortuary. army staff are working with the nhs team to make it a reality. it's in the heart of london's docklands with business hotels all around. the fact they've transformed this conference centre into a giant hospital so quickly shows how serious they think the pressure on the nhs could be. birmingham's national exhibition centre will house a nightingale hospital, so too the central convention centre in manchester. the sec in glasgow will also become a temporary hospital in two weeks' time, with space for up to 1,000 patients. the principality stadium in cardiff is set to be used as an nhs field hospital. and in belfast, a coronavirus assessment centre will

open this week. there may be plenty of new hospital beds, but staffing is a problem with an estimate a quarter of doctors are off with a virus or because a member of their household is unwell. the lack of protective kit is still said to be a problem by some doctors, nurses and care workers. most are anxious about what the next weeks will bring. they know this new hospital and many others could fill up quickly with very sick patients, some of whom will not survive their stay. hugh pym, bbc news, at the nightingale hospital in london's docklands. two deaths have now been recorded in syria. earlier the health ministry confirmed a woman died from the coronavirus disease on sunday after being taken to hospital. several other people have tested positive but medics suspect there are many more. let's get more on this now, zaher sahloul is a critical care specialist at christ advocate medical centre in chicago, and also the president of the

humanitarian organisation medglobal. he has recently returned from idlib. a couple of months ago, i understand, you were there on the ground. give us a flavour of what's happening there. well, i mean, as we know, two months ago there was a huge displacement population in idlib, about 950,000 people, civilians, who were displaced because of the bombings of the assad regime and the russians, which also targeted 67 hospitals that were bombed and went out of service. in idlib province you have 3.5 million people, half of them are displaced, one point to million of them live in tents, in camps, and only a0 hospitals remain in service. there are only 95 ventilators for the whole province of idlib. actually, my hospital here in chicago is double that number of ventilators than the whole province of idlib that is serving 3.5 million. the situation could be

catastrophic. that's really start, isn't it, the way you put that into contrast, and catastrophic is probably accurate. you've got so many people in such confined places, social distancing, things like that, you can't get anywhere near that? definitely. it's impossible for people who live in camps to have access to even soap and water to wash their hands. social distancing is impossible when you are living ina tent impossible when you are living in a tent and you have 15 members of your family in a tent and you have 15 members of yourfamily in in a tent and you have 15 members of your family in the same tent. if you got sick, if, god forbid, and we have coronavirus in idlib, so far there are no reported cases, although there are rumours that there are some, if the coronavirus to spreading idlib it would be beyond catastrophe. asi it would be beyond catastrophe. as i mentioned, there's enough icu. most people do not have access to healthca re icu. most people do not have access to healthcare and many of the hospitals have been bombed and destroyed. you already have a shortage of physicians and nurses to start with in that area of the world,

which is completely locked from the rest of the world. so a potentially devastating cocktail of factors in place in syria. as you've said, we've had no reported cases so far, is that a surprise to you? it is that a surprise to you? it isa is that a surprise to you? it is a surprise, but there is no testing in idlib, so all of these patients who are suspect, these patients who are suspect, the samples are sent to turkey, luckily, so far, there are no confirmed cases, but that doesn't mean there are no cases. in the rest of syria we have ten confirmed cases in two days. the problem in syria is if the government, the syrian regime, was too late in doing any meaningful guidelines or enforcement of social distancing or disinfection and so distancing or disinfection and so forth, they allowed many people from the rest of the world, especially from iran, to come from syria, there are many iranian fighters in syria and there are also religious terrorists who came from iran who came to syria in a few weeks before this crisis, which makes me think, and many people

think, that there are many cases in syria that are not declared. and this is also not unique to the syrian regime. they have a policy of lack of transparency and hiding things. and so if the numbers to start to increase, we do get reports of them, it is spreading throughout the country, what kind of help, what kind of support would be needed there was really the most important thing, from my perspective, i mean, i live in chicago, my hospital has 150 patients with covert and we are doubling the numbers every day, our main concern is ppe ‘s, masks for the doctors, gowns, eye shields. the same thing in syria. because you have less doctors there. so if you have few doctors and nurses and they got info did in idlib it would bea got info did in idlib it would be a catastrophe. that would mean they would not be able to ta ke mean they would not be able to take care of patients. so ppe for doctors and nurses, personal protective equipment, of course more ventilators,

more icu, medications, to take ca re of more icu, medications, to take care of the patients who are critically ill. half of them are dying in the united kingdom, so imagine what would be the death rate in the icu in idlib, where you have very limited resources. sorry to interrupt, that doesn't bear thinking about. but your warnings and your language have been really start and we have heard and understood that. thank you so much for talking to us. we really appreciate you taking the time. thank you. thank you. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: stolen during the coronavirus lockdown. burglars target a dutch museum and make off with a painting by van gogh. 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: a navy hospital ship has arrived in new york, as the state's governor launches a nationwide appeal for healthcare professionals in the struggle against coronavirus.

syria has reported its first deaths from the virus — aid workers fear it could be devastating among displaced communities. spain has overtaken china in the number of infections with more than 85,000 cases. only the united states and italy have more. tough new restrictions have come into force, as the capital madrid held a moment of silence to remember those lost. guy hedgecoe reports. the new normal in spain. the country's once—buzzing capital is now a virtual ghost town. spain has been in lockdown for over two weeks. but now that's been tightened further, as non—essential workers have been told to stay at home. the spread of the virus through care homes has been one reason why the death rate in spain has been so high.

the vast majority of spaniards have been complying with the terms of the national lockdown, but the government hopes that these new reinforced measures will help bring the virus under control and that that in turn will take the pressure off a health care service which is under enormous strain. an all—too—common sight — ambulance after ambulance speeding through the streets. over 12,000 health care workers have contracted the virus and many feel they lack the protection they need, even at this critical stage. translation: it's frightening when your suit rips or when somebody‘s saliva gets on yourface. that's when you're most afraid. the government says the measures it's been taking are starting to pay off. we're seeing an improvement in the number of infected citizens, we're seeing an improvement in terms of the curve starting to show a different trend. i think it's a little bit unfair to pinpoint to spain

being an exceptional case in what i see is a general case around the world. the lockdown has been a challenge for spaniards. a massive change of lifestyle for a society that loves to interact. all sing but, like so many across mainland europe, singing seems to be cathartic — almost the new way to get through it. these young women, who live opposite a hospital, keep their spirits up by cheering the health workers who have suddenly become national heroes. clapping guy hedgecoe, bbc news, madrid. let's get some of the day's other news: there's been a sharp fall in new cases in italy, the country worst affected by the pandemic. 1,600 new patients were

diagnosed in the latest daily tally — that's less than half of sunday's figure. officials say it's evidence the country is heading in the right direction. but the death rate remains high. there's been a sharp increase in the number of patients dying in france. registering its worst daily figure to date — a18 deaths. france has now recorded more than 3,000 fatalities. official figures though account only for those who die in hospital, not at home or in residences for the elderly. the tokyo summer olympics will be held betweenjuly 23 and august 8 next year — exactly one year after the games had been due to take place. the international olympic committee said the new dates would give the authorities time to deal with the disruption caused by the covid—19 pandemic. engineers in the uk have developed a breathing aid — that could keep coronavirus patients out of intensive care.

the device sends oxygen to the lungs, without the need for a ventilator. it was created in just a few days, as our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, reports. for the very sickest covid—19 patients, as in this intensive ca re patients, as in this intensive care unit in italy, a mechanical ventilator offers the best chance of survival. it ta kes the best chance of survival. it takes over thejob the best chance of survival. it takes over the job of weaving, giving the lungs a chance to recover. patients on ventilators need to be sedated and they require expert staff. the nhs has around 8000 of them will stop it is planning to acquire another 8000 from suppliers in the coming weeks. but it is estimated up to 30,000 could be needed at the peak of any outbreak here. this doctor spoke to usjust peak of any outbreak here. this doctor spoke to us just after coming off shift in intensive care. and i think it is encouraging that from the government, they've said that they will try and find 30,000

ventilators. i think it looks as ifa ventilators. i think it looks as if a less than a third of those will be available in the next few weeks when i think this epidemic will peak in the uk. the government admitted a communication confusion after the uk failed tojoin an eu schema to source extra ventilators. but denied that the nhs had been disadvantaged. by the nhs had been disadvantaged. by contrast, this new device has been approved stop known as continuous positive airway pressure or cpap, they already use the nhs butter in supply. a tea m use the nhs butter in supply. a team of university college london working with mercedes formula 1 devised anyone. normally, medical devices at the moment, it would take yea rs. the moment, it would take years. in this instance, we been able to do it in days. university college london hospital which demonstrated the device is now using it to treat patients with coronavirus.|j sincerely think it may actually save many lives by preventing patients from needing to go

onto a ventilator and again, saving that vital resource for the very, very severely ill. this is a great example of how the nhs, universities and industry, working together at extraordinary pace to meet the challenge posed by coronavirus. if the trials of this device go well. the mercedes formula 1 says it can produce up to a thousand of these are day. in italy, around half of covid—19 patients on cpap did not need intensive care so the new device could greatly ease pressure on the nhs. fergus walsh, bbc news. tighter social distancing measures have just come into force in australia, where gatherings of more than two people are now prohibited. 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalil has the details. so you're seeing the two people rule, outside gyms, playgrounds, skateboard

parks — all of these closing in addition to all of the other closures. we've heard from the health officials here in new the police commissioner has said there are hefty penalties for people who have broken the two person role and 13 tickets have already been issued for people who broken those rules. there's been a shift in concern among authorities here around community transmissions. the focus of the story has, and continues to be, to a large extent about overseas travel. people coming from overseas, carrying the virus and transmitting it. as i have the closure of the borders, banning travellers from going outside. australia is returning are now being quarantining australia is returning are now being quara ntining hotels. australia is returning are now being quarantining hotels. what are now seeing, in addition to that, is a concern about community transmission and that is why you see the rules getting stricter and stricter every week. south wales for example, it has nearly half of the cases of australia's nearly a500 cases. see pockets of transmission. we had health officials here talking about outbreaks in the bondi area

among backpackers so they are intensifying testing about. more than 200 cases are linked to the ruby princess cruise ship example where six crewmembers had to be hospitalised. that is what the authorities are worried about. that is why they are trying to contain the spread of the virus with increasing numbers in different states. a painting by vincent van gogh has been stolen from an art gallery in the netherlands — as it was closed to visitors because of the coronavirus outbreak. the painting, valued at up to $6.5 million, was on loan to the singer laren near amsterdam. rich preston reports. this is where it happened, the singer laren museum just outside amsterdam, and this is what was taken. lentetuin was painted in 188a and depicts the spring garden of the rectory at neunen, a town in the south of the netherlands where van gogh worked and lived for part of his life. experts value the painting at up to $6.5 million. translation: in 1884, he paints the vicarage garden in neunen — a very beautiful,

tranquil spring garden where one woman is looking at flowers very quietly. an image of silence, of reflection and of tranquillity, which undoubtedly offered him comfort and inspiration. through him, it gave us and our audience the same emotion. the painting was stolen early on monday morning on what would have been van gogh‘s 167th birthday. the thieves came in by breaking the glass door, and, well, at that point they got in and got through a few doors and took the painting. the museum's home to hundreds of valuable artworks, but the thieves seemed to have only one piece in mind. the singer laren museum, like others across the netherlands, has been closed since mid—march because of the coronavirus outbreak, but officials say security arrangements were not affected. detectives have appealed for anyone with any information to come forward.

that's it. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones. hello. in more ways than one, a lot has changed over the last week, none more so than in the weather, where we saw on tuesday last week the feel of late spring in the north coast of wales — 19 celsius, 63 fahrenheit achieved. a week later, well, we're lucky if we reach nine celsius in the same spot, even with some sunshine continuing. that colder theme continues through this coming 2a hours, but a little less chilly. high pressure's moved further west so the winds more westerly than northern, and notice the gaps in the isobars, starting to widen, indicating it won't be as windy as it has been. that said, a noticeable north—westerly breeze in parts of northern scotland bringing a few rain showers through the day. one or two rain showers in northern ireland and northern england but many will stay dry. sunshine coming and going through the day, the best of which will be in southern counties of england, east anglia channel islands, sunnier than in recent days, and the breeze won't be as strong as it has been, it will probably feel that

little bit less chilly. elsewhere, light winds, continuing through tuesday night into wednesday away from the far north of scotland. cloud amounts often large in the night. a few showers in the north and west. where you see any cloud breaks, a bit of frost around, the greatest chance in clear skies in southern counties of england. this is where it'll be frostiest to begin wednesday morning. a chilly start, that ridge of high pressurejust in, but changes through the day in the north. the isobars tightening up again, coming closer, breeze picking up and that weather front set to bring some more significant rain — 0rkney and shetland in the morning, and then through the day, the northern half of scotland. away from that, a few showers, plenty of cloud around for the vast majority, and the sunshine will come out later in the north of scotland. while we could see temperatures peaking at ten, it will drop because cold air is on its way. this quite significant area of low pressure pushes from iceland towards norway, introducing gales quite widely across the northern half of scotland, if not severe gales, and a shot of cold air

to see the week out, pushing its way southwards. so, for thursday, cloudy to begin with in the south. a few more showers pushing through the day. brightening up in the north but showers turn wintry, sleet and snow quite abundantly, and temperatures in lower single figures. whereas we've still got temperatures potentially around 12 or 13 in the south—east corner. but the cold snap, thursday into friday, is short—lived. just notice by saturday and the weekend, milder air returns from the south.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a us navy hospital ship has docked in new york to help the city cope with coronavirus. the governor of new york state has described the scale of crisis as staggering and warned that it will spread nationwide. president trump says social distancing can save more than a million american lives. the latest figures for the uk show another 180 people with coronavirus have died, taking the total to more than 1,a00. however, one leading scientist has suggested that transmission of the virus in the community may be decreasing. two virus—related deaths have now been recorded in syria. on monday, the health ministry confirmed that a woman had died from coronavirus on sunday after being taken to hospital. medics suspect there are many more cases. and there are fears the virus will spread rapidly. now on bbc news — hardtalk.