hello. good morning. it's tuesday. how are you? welcome to bbc news. i'm victoria derbyshire and here are the headlines. police officers across the uk are told to take a "consistent" approach — when using their new emergency powers on restricting our movements. the comments — from the body that co—ordinates uk forces — come amid criticism of the way some officers have handled the new measures. the transport secretrary says the police are doing a difficultjob. there will be one or two instances where perhaps they have not approached it in the right way but in general across the country — not only are people complying very well — but — generally speaking — the police are taking a very sensible approach towards it. british airways says it is temporarily suspending all flights to and from gatwick airport due to the virus — as hundreds of stranded brits

are still struggling to make their way back home. the country with the highest death rate — italy — extends its lockdown until easter, but there is some hope as the country reports a sharp decline in the number of infections. president trump says the next 30 days will be vital to stopping the virus in the us — as the number of cases rises to over 164,000 — the highest number anywhere in the world. in a few minutes, we'll talk to one employee in rochdale who feels he's being forced to go to work in unsafe conditions. if you feel in a similar situation send me a message on twitter or email victoria@bbc.co.uk. and after 9:30am we'll be answering some of your health—related questions about the virus with a gp and a virologist, so stay with us for that.

police forces in the uk have been told to be consistent in their use of emergency lockdown powers, after concerns some are being too heavy handed. guidance to officers calls for a "coordinated" effort and emphasises the importance of professionalism. in other key developments.... british airways is suspending all flights to and from london's gatwick airport, the uk's second busiest. the move comes after easyjet grounded its entire fleet due to the unprecedented travel restrictions. supermarkets have recorded record sales in march as shoppers stocked up for a long period at home. analysts say sales in the past four weeks have been even higher than levels seen at christmas.

and families in england with children eligible for free school meals will be able to claim supermarket vouchers while schools remain closed. the vouchers are worth £15 a week per child. with more now on that guidance to police forces, here's keith doyle. you shouldn't be driving unless it's essential. in weston—super—mare, police are reminding people of the rules about only undertaking essential travel. just come out walking the dog. right, 0k. the only thing we'll say is please read the government guidance on essential travel. the guidelines say you should take exercise near your home. have you driven here? derbyshire police were criticised for heavy—handed tactics after using drones to show people driving to remote areas for exercise. dyeing the water in a local beauty spot and leaving notes on parked cars were other tactics that police used to discourage people travelling.

now, the national police chiefs council has reminded forces of the guidelines and that enforcement should be a last resort. we're not going to enforce our way out of this problem. we will get out of this problem because people want to solve the problem, and we will get out of it because we've got the public at our sides and they will lead us through it. people queuing outside this pharmacy are keeping two metres apart. the uk's chief scientific advisor said that social distancing measures are making a difference — with cases not rising as fast as feared. the latest figures from public health england are 22,141 cases in the uk, with 1,408 deaths and 180 of them in the last 2a hours. the numbers being admitted to hospital are expected to rise over the coming weeks. with more and more cases, the british medical association — which represents doctors — says they're still facing a fatal shortage

of personal protection equipment, despite government assurances. the bma is urging the government to make it clear what frontline staff should do if they don't have the necessary protection. we've got many doctors who are worried, if they are not protected, what should they do? no frontline workers should be expected to be on the front line without adequate protection. these are some of the hundreds of britons who have been flown home from peru after the government chartered flights. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, has announced a £75 million plan to bring home tens of thousands of british nationals. the government advice is to get home on a commercial flight if there is one, if there isn't, then embassies will advertise government charters to help bring those stranded back to the uk. keith doyle, bbc news. let's talk to our assistant

political editor norman smith. he political editor norman smith. is at home. good m debate he is at home. good morning. this debate about the line that police take. 0ne former supreme courtjudge claimed britain was turning into a police state. yes, i mean, ithink there is concern, shall we say, that some of the police actions do appear to be somewhat heavy—handed, and the problem is if you are to police a lockdown clearly the police cannot be controlling every street in every town in every city. they need the consent of the public and the danger is if the public think the police are being heavy—handed you lose that consent, which means it becomes very ha rd to enforce consent, which means it becomes very hard to enforce the lockdown. secondly there is the obvious danger if you adopt an unnecessarily shy with the aggressive tone, that in itself generates conflict and develops into situations and, you

know, it just makes develops into situations and, you know, itjust makes it much more of an argy—bargy situation when what the police want to do is encourage people, persuade people, that actually maybe they shouldn't be out on the street, and that is the danger, if they lose that sense of goodwill from the public. that has certainly raised a little bit of disquiet. at the downing street news conference seeing the police have to show common sense. and grant shapps are urging the police not to overreach. we are asking them to do something completely unprecedented that normally — with our policing— by—consent approach theyjust do not have to get into, and i am sure they are not particularly liking having to do this, and of course the best thing we can all do is just follow the guidance, and most people are doing exactly that. stay home and protect the nhs and save lives. you have heard it many times. i think the police are doing a difficultjob. there will be one or two instances

where perhaps they have not approached it in the right way but in general actually across the country — not only are people complying very well — but generally speaking the police are taking a very sensible approach towards it as well. 0ne one of the difficulties i think, there seems to be a slightly inconsistent approach between different forces, so lancashire police have issued 123 enforcement notices since thursday. bedfordshire police have issued none. it cannot be that people in lancashire i123 times more disobedient than people in bedfordshire. clearly the police forces are taking a different approach under police forces recognise there needs to begin a fourth mag uniformity and consistency. in terms of the criticism you mentioned earlier, it is true he warned about the dangers

of moving towards a police state, but actually he laid the blame for that knot at the foot of the police as it were about at the foot of the public because he said in these times it is the public who demand that the police take action and in a way they had called for tougher restrictions, clamp—downs, and were seeking the police to enforce a much tighter regime, so yes it is critical of the police but he was saying they are only doing it because we want them to do that. thank you very much, norman. most of you on twitter have said that you have not really seen the police in the past week about four men a patrol car and then they have just with that year. children in england who would normally receive free school meals are being given supermarket vouchers from today — as part of a national government scheme. they'll amount to £3 a day, but headteachers have warned that — even with the vouchers — some parents will struggle to feed their children. the department for education says

the rate exceeds that normally paid to schools for free meals. in italy, there's been a glimmer of hope with a sharp fall in new coronavirus cases. just over 1,600 new patients were diagnosed in the latest daily tally — less than half of sunday's figure. so, is the lockdown there — which has now been extended to april 12th — working to curb the infections? let's cross to rome. 0ur correspondent jean mackenzie is there for us. remind us how strict the restrictions are. yes, italy has one of the strictest lockdown is in europe. it has been in place for three weeks. i heard you saying that people in the uk have not really seen police officers, that is not the case here, there are police everywhere throughout rome checking papers and asking people where they

are going because people here are not allowed to work unless they have essential jobs and not allowed to work unless they have essentialjobs and all nonessential factories have been shut down and people have been told to stay on site unless they are going to buy food. this lockdown is going to extend until april the 12th. do you think people will continue to comply. is there a possibility that people will be a bit cross about that? i think they will continue to comply. people have been very good so far add following these restrictions because people here are scared, they turn on the news every single night on the here hundreds and hundreds more people have died and hundreds more people have died and that is enough to keep you in your home, but there are problems, because it has been so strict, people have not been working, and some people are running out of money. reports on the size of supermarkets being robbed as people get desperate. certainly this extension is going to be a blow for people even though they will have

seen it coming. the 12th of april is an at least date and many people expected to be extended for longer. it will depend on what happens with these rates of infection. thank you very much, jean mckenzie, in rome. president trump has said that america faces a vital 30 days in the fight against coronavirus, and suggested that social distancing could save up to a million lives. health services in new york have been overwhelmed by the number of cases — with more than 1200 deaths. the state governor has appealed for medical staff from anywhere in the us to come to their aid. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports. a symbol of wartime and a morale booster for new york, this military medical ship docked in manhattan will provide relief to the city's hospitals overwhelmed by covid—19. the us navy ship, comfort, has space for 1,000 beds. it will be used by non—coronavirus patients, while shorebased hospitals focus on the pandemic.

with more and more states ordering people to stay at home, americans are buckling down for at least another month of the economic shutdown and social distancing. 30 days that president trump says will be vital. by very vigorously following these guidelines we could save more than a million american lives. think of that. one million american lives. 0urfuture is in our own hands and the choices and sacrifices we make will determine the fate of this virus and, really, the fate of our victory. we will have a great victory. we have no other choice. mr trump said progress was being made with the number of americans tested for the coronavirus. today, we reached a historic milestone in our war against the coronavirus. over one million americans have now been tested.

more than any other country, by far. not even close. but president trump's numbers have been widely questioned, with the us well behind italy and south korea in the number of people tested. peter bowes, bbc news. the world health organisation has warned that the coronavirus is a long way from finished in the asia—pacific region. it's urged governments to prepare for mass infection — and warned of the threat of a renewed crisis in countries where the situation appears to be under control. we can speak now to our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, in beijing. what have the who said specifically? this is an explicit warning for those countries where the coronavirus appears to be, well, kind of under control. we had in a press c0 nfe re nce kind of under control. we had in a press conference today that the world health organization thinks that they should not drop their

guard and what's more they should be ready for a large explosion in new cases, parts of the fear is that people coming into these countries, like here in china, south korea, singapore, from overseas, can bring the virus back and like nothing it can take off again into the community. if we have a little look around here you can see people overrun most of these corners here, people riding bikes and the like, they still have masks, and even though it does seem to be kind of under control here, apart from the fa ct under control here, apart from the fact that you kind of have to have a mask, i have mine in my pocket, to get into the shop or most buildings, there is still concerned that it is not over, although you can feel the stea m not over, although you can feel the steam coming out of it. the who does not want there to be complacency.

perhaps more concerning the i worried that the coronavirus is going everywhere in asia, everywhere means everywhere, every country should prepare, including paul pacific island countries which at the moment do not even have the capacity to do their own testing, so they will test people and send the tests off to another country and they have to come back again. you can imagine how long that will take and sue other countries are at the moment rallying to assist those countries. you can imagine papa new guinea or something like that, coronavirus going through a country like that could be very tough on them. either way, the message is pretty clear to this place to not sort of bring their guard down. people still should be very worried and that is partly because we have had people coming in from overseas, mostly chinese citizens, 90% of them returning to china because they

think it is safe to be here. some of them have boarded planes with symptoms knowing they were sick and taken drugs to try to suppress their fever. they arrive in the country and they test positive. that is why we still have very strong quarantine measures here. it is why although they are opening up wuhan next week, who the province, from anywhere you have to do quarantine. foreigners com pletely have to do quarantine. foreigners completely banned from coming into china for the moment except for diplomats and those with special reasons to come in here. flights have been drastically reduced. airlines can basically fly one service from a country into china a week, and so you can imagine how much that has reduced the air travel coming in and out of this country, because this is a key source of

infection. if someone has infected the get on a plane the infect eve ryo ne the get on a plane the infect everyone on the plane and going through an airport they can potentially infect everyone in an airport. that has been the focus here in terms of trying to make sure thatis here in terms of trying to make sure that is not another explosion in this in china. thank you, stephen, in beijing. the headlines on bbc news... police officers across the uk are told to take a consistent approach — when using their new emergency powers on restricting our movements. british airways temporarily suspends all flights to and from gatwick airport due to the virus — as hundreds of stranded brits still struggle to make their way back home. and italy extends its lockdown until easter — but there is some hope as the country reports a sharp decline in the number of infections. as the country faces potentially months of lockdown, many of you have been getting

in touch with me to say you feel you are being forced to go to work even though you believe it's unsafe. warehouse workers atjd sports have complained of having to work in what they say are hazardous conditions, holland & barrett workers have started a petition to close their stores, saying the company isn't providing enough hand wash or protective gear, and one boohoo member of staff says they fear the online clothes store won't close "until someone dies". let's talk to simon — not his real name — he asked us not to use his real name to protect hisjob. he's in rochdale. he works in the dispatch department atjd‘s warehouse in the town. and to tony clare, from the shopworkers' union usdaw. you have been told to take either unpaid leave are going to work. how do you feel about that choice?

unpaid leave are going to work. how do you feel about that choice7m unpaid leave are going to work. how do you feel about that choice? it is u nsafe do you feel about that choice? it is unsafe and it is just not acceptable. we are going to work in fear, we are worried about our families, we are worried about letting the nhs down as well because the government is saying stay at home, help the nhs, save lives. we are going in warehouses like this like td and sports direct and we are letting everybody down. we are really worried and concerned. how would you describe what it is like unloading goods from the lorries and on the production line? on the production line you are virtually side by side, so social distancing is nonexistent. in some areas you can control it. you can unload or load a lorry on your own, but in certain areas in the department you just cannot do that. what about hand sanitiser? is that being provided or

any masks? no masks. we are bringing our own end. the hand sanitiser we get it to a degree. sometimes we are going to wash your hands in cold water on the toilet and a hand sanitiser is are asking them to be refilled. the finger clock areas should be shut down. you should do it in should be shut down. you should do itina should be shut down. you should do it in a different way to sign in and out. are you worried about catching coronavirus? in the workplace, yes. ifi coronavirus? in the workplace, yes. if i was at home self isolating with my family, we can control it better and do the government guidelines better, and going into work four days a week and then i am off again, i could have it and not realise, and then i am putting my family at risk, and certain members of staff have families who are nurses, doctors, in

the care profession, the food profession, who are key workers. and ido profession, who are key workers. and i do not classify myself as a key worker and diane putting labels on garments, clouding, trainers etc, we are not essential and we should be shut down for safety reasons and to help the country and the health service, as the government is stating. every advert is saying stay at home and help their nhs, save lives. i feel like we are letting... these warehouse companies likejd and sports direct are letting everybody down. we have a statement fromjd everybody down. we have a statement from jd who says our priority as they well—being of our staff and customers. the current advice states that online retail is still open and encouraged. people postal and delivery service will run as normal. we have taken the necessary steps to ensure the correct safeguards are in place and dramatically reduce the

number of colleagues on site by more than 40% to 400 on a day shift and 300 at night. we have increased hiding and cleaning processes and implemented social distancing measures and other distribution centres. it is untrue. like, the nene canteen uighurs, there is ta bles nene canteen uighurs, there is tables there, colleagues have measured them, they are not even two metres apart. social distancing in certain areas you can but throughout the warehouse different departments you just cannot do it. you are in a crowded area. you are putting stickers on or relabelling or order taking, you are bunched together. it just cannot be done properly and safely. i repeat what jd say, our priority remains the well—being of our customers and colleagues during this time and they are clear they have reduced the numbers on chef

turned up the cleaning and hygiene processes . turned up the cleaning and hygiene processes. let me bring in someone from the shop workers union. should jd warehouses close? absolutely. look, we have got to stop indulging statements like that from companies. your viewers can choose who they believe. do they believe that statement from the company or do they believe simon and the hundreds of other workers who have contacted the union, who have contacted the mayor of manchester andy vernon, to complain about all the things that simon referred to, no hot water, lack of hand gel, hundreds of people using the same cloaking machine, and possibility of practising social distancing. we have to stop indulging statements like this from companies. this is not an issue that can be spun away through a fancy corporate worded statement. this is a matter of life and death in the

country is getting at but sadly employers like jd country is getting at but sadly employers likejd are country is getting at but sadly employers like jd are not getting it. they cannot see past the sale of the next pair of trainers or t—shirt. the next pair of trainers or t-shirt. they say they are getting a tan following the latest government guidelines. if you look at what the health secretary matt hancock said last week, i want to be clear that where people absolutely cannot work from home they can still go to work, indeed it is important they do to keep the country running, adding that employers have a duty to ensure workers are to metres apart. the government advises a shambles, an absolute shambles, and that needs to be called out. when they first announced measures last monday, in terms of workplaces i what everybody envisaged was that it would be the nhs and essential services such as the food chain where people would still be going to work. the goalposts have moved and moved and

we have got to the position now where the decision about whether to open has effectively been delegated to individual employers, and when you hear the tales of how employers are interpreting that guidance on the front line through people like simon who says this every day, then i think it is about time the government got their act together and made it clear that companies should only be open if they are essential, and otherwise they are putting the lives of their workers and their communities at risk. let us look at the numbers. at any given point there are 5000 people working in that warehouse at rochdale for jd. it is the biggest distribution ce ntre jd. it is the biggest distribution centre in the country i am pretty certain. it takes about just over a week for every one of those people to attend work on the shift pattern that they have. they'll go home to a handful of two, three, four people,

they have a metro stop next to the site which everybody comes to work on, so people are coming to and from work on public transport. if you do the maths to very quickly get to tens of thousands of people that are affected by this. it is a significant proportion of the population of rochdale and if you look on your bbc website you can actually put in rochdale and it will tell you how many people have currently died from coronavirus, so this is not, as i said, something that can be spun away by the latest corporate statement. this is a matter of absolute life and death. thank you very much. an official for the shop workers union in the north west of england. and simon, thank you to you for speaking out here on bbc one. you to you for speaking out here on bbc 0ne.jd you to you for speaking out here on bbc one. jd say their priority demeans the health, safety and well—being of their colleagues and

customers —— priority remains. i have heard from so many of you worried about going to work and we will read some of those during the course of the morning. british airways is suspending all flights to and from london gatwick. the airline said it would be contacting its customers to discuss their options. the company is still operating flights to and from heathrow but on a severely—reduced schedule. yesterday easyjet grounded all its flights because of the pandemic. we can talk now to our business correspondent, theo leggett. he is at home. why have they made this decision and how will it affect customers? quite simply there are not enough planes flying to merit using two hubs. gatwick has shut down one of its terminals because there is so little demand. unprecedented travel restrictions across europe which is limiting where the airlines can fly and its

passengers are isolated at home they do not want to fly so although there are some passenger services it is a heavily reduced service. there are planes flying around for cargo but even that is starting to slip back a little bit. british airways has said to staff based on the unprecedented circumstances it is going to stop flying out of gatwick for the moment. this is an entire industry thatis moment. this is an entire industry that is suffering. easyjet yesterday said it would ground its entire fleet. there are rescue flights going on but a warning from ground handlers, who do baggage handling and refuel planes and the ice, there are four companies in the uk responsible for nearly all of that and they say they could be in a really difficult position within a few weeks if they do not get help, and the airports are also saying they are struggling because in order to service the planes that sylvia they have to remain open but they are not the revenues. this is an

entire industry faced with a situation that has never occurred before. they are all doing what they can to cut back and cut their costs and try to survive the immediate crisis so when we are allowed to travel again and things can resume they will be able to. meanwhile passengers, obviously many of them will have cancelled their flights long ago, those passengers affected can go to british airways for a refu nd can go to british airways for a refund or alternative service. thank you. it's tuesday morning. it's half past nine. time for the weather update with carol. good morning. stiff north—westerly breeze coming in across the north west of scotland, blowing in showers, also across parts of northern ireland. the rest of england and wales, there are a bit of cloud, one or two showers but all of us today should seek a mess of sunshine at some stage through the day. temperature —wise, 8—11d.

as we head through the evening and overnight we hang on to a fair bit of cloud but like during the day, there will be some holes developing. we see some clear skies here, showers continuing as well. where we have clear skies across parts of the highlands, southern england, into east anglia, that's where the lowest temperatures will be and also we will be more likely to see frost. moving through wednesday and thursday, once again we are looking atafair thursday, once again we are looking at a fair bit of cloud, but turning wet and windy in the north and also here, much colder.

hello, this is bbc news with victoria derbyshire. the headlines... police officers across the uk are told to take a "consistent" approach when using their new emergency powers on restricting our movement after some forces are criticised for their approach british airways says it is temporarily suspending all flights to and from gatwick airport due to the virus — as hundreds of stranded brits are still struggling to make their way back home the country with the highest death rate — italy — extends its lockdown until easter but there is some hope as the country reports a sharp decline in the number of infections president trump says the next 30 days will be ‘vital‘ to stopping the virus in the us — as the number of cases rises to over 164,000 — the highest number anywhere in the world

let's talk about your very many questions that you send in on a daily basis, there are so many of them and every day, we try to answer as many of them as we can. we cannot get through all of them, there are absolutely thousands! with me is nhs gp, dr kalpa na sa ba pathy, who is also an epidemiologist at the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine. and i'm alsojoined by the virologist, dr chris smith. thank you both of you for coming on the programme. first of all, both of you, how are you? surprisingly well and corona virus free, i hope! and that the same for you? so far, so good! excellent. alistair has this

question, i'm a resident in a sheltered housing complex and to date, have heard no information with regards to covid 19 within such complexes. please advise us on what we as residents should be doing. chris, you first. wright, the whole point of the current measures is to trying to break the chain of transmission because you can think of this as a bit like a relay race in the now cancelled 0lympics, of this as a bit like a relay race in the now cancelled olympics, the bat on that the runners are trying to pass on is the virus and we are trying to discourage the buyers passing from one to the next, in other words, drop the pattern. if you live in close proximity to someone else there is a chance they could pass the infection to use of this is all about trying to break the chain. if you are in sheltered housing it will depend on who you are living next to, who is visiting you, providing care to you and so on. so it's all about keeping you away from the people who could infect you. so it will depend on who is looking after you. i would be interested to hear a bit more about

who is in charge of the housing and who is in charge of the housing and who is in charge of the housing and who is dealing with care for those people. alistair doesn't give that kind of information but clearly, there should be a management led strategy in place, she did there? yes, absolutely. if you've got vulnerable people and you have ca re rs vulnerable people and you have carers going person to person there has to be a strategy there to make sure the carers don't go from one house to the next if they are unwell or the people in the houses are unwell. that could be how transmission occurs so there should be some kind of plan in place and how to care for those people and make sure they are protected. next question. where are we on protective clothing? are we still struggling to provide front line nhs staff with the proper clothing? yes, i think it's still patchy, certainly in general practice, i can say we've got a limited quantity. but depending on how many patients we end up seeing at the moment, as far

as possible, we are doing all consultations remotely by telephone or video. when patients had to be seen, obviously we are going through kits. i think things have got a bit better but that's something we always need and are mindful of. follow—up from katrina. do you come again, if! follow—up from katrina. do you come again, if i may, following the latest briefing from the chief scientific adviser sir patrick balance, how do you think the epidemic is likely to go, is the nhs going to cope or will it be overmanned? i think at the best of times the nhs, it's always a close called then, we are at full capacity, coming to the end of the winter pressures. —— sir patrick balance. we will only know when we know. of the measures that have been put in place in terms of social distance and, hopefully our having an effect. however, there is a lag with when, the time when social

distancing happened, some of those, we are into our second week now, some of those infections will have happened before the strict measures we re happened before the strict measures were ta ken happened before the strict measures were taken and then there's the lag time before which people need hospitalisation. certainly, if they are not stable in the sort of normal ward, that needs escalating, all of that takes time and there is a lag. i think the simple answer is we don't really know, it's always going to bea don't really know, it's always going to be a close call thing but they measures, the sooner they can bring out additional beds, staff, equipment, the better. this is from dave,in equipment, the better. this is from dave, in worcestershire, chris, this one is for you. what is the advice for retail staff handling money? surely plastic notes must spread the virus? hello, dave, scientists in america have lived at this now and there's quite a good paper that's been published on it. what they did was at known quantities of this new

virus to different services and wait for a certain period of time, swab the services and try to infect cells ina dish the services and try to infect cells in a dish with the swabs to see if they could demonstrate there was a viable infectious virus still on those surfaces after a period of time. they found it varies according to the surface you are dealing with, some services support the virus for quite a long time, plastic for example or stainless steel, you could recover viable virus for up to three days, paper and cardboard similar sort of timescale. they could actually get this from some metals as well, steel for three days, copper only a few minutes. they have also tested the air, they could recover airborne virus that was viable for a matter of three hours so it varies according to the surface. if you are dealing with packets and that kind of thing, money would also be included in this ballpark of material, yes there is a theoretical risk that if someone has contaminated that surface with a

large amount of virus, you could pick that onto your skin and if you we re pick that onto your skin and if you were to touch your eyes, nose or mouth, which is where the virus needs to get in order to grow, it cannot infect you through the skin of your hands, there is theoretical risk but if you follow the guidance that has been given, you should wash your hands regularly, not touch these things and then touch your face, you're probably going to be a very low risk, i would argue. ok, good. i'm going to alternate between you. jock asks this. what does germany have a lower death rate? actually, that is probably a more epidemiological question. you are right, let me switch back to chris. the recent the rate looks lower is because the denominator is bigger. because they tested more people including people who are not severely ill, the number that die out of the bigger pool of people that appear in the figures appear smaller. it's not necessarily that art death rate is higher, what it is

is that because we are only testing a smaller pool of people who are already quite ill, then out of those who are quite ill, the proportion that die naturally it will be bigger. this actually relates to the question about testing. and the fact germany, for whatever reason, has been able to procure and roll out testing to an extent that in the uk, we haven't done and instead, we prioritised the sick patients and just now, they are starting to roll out the testing in front key workers. but not yet in the wider nhs and social care staff population. which really needs to happen. chris, i could see you nodding. yes, the germans have acknowledged they've tested a very large cohort of extremely fit downhill skiers and most people with chronic health problems and who are older usually don't become very fast, vigorous downhill skiers are so by definition the germans are

testing a wider pool of people just as we were hearing. as a result, they are including in their metrics, people at very low risk and if you are at very low risk you will make the apparent death rate look much lower. ok. right, david in derby asks much of the produce in my local minimarket costs up to twice what i'm used to playing at a supermarket. how far am i allowed to cycle to get to a supermarket? i don't mind which of you would like to go for that. sounds like a legal question would then medical but either way if he cycles a bit further it's going to be good for himself so i would say that is a good thing but this is all about taking the spirit of the arrangement which is trying to break the chain of transmission. if you are going miles and miles and miles but you are doing it on your own, arguably your risk, if you don't meet anyone on the way to the shop is going to be no higher than if you went to the shop round the corner and you've actually benefited your health in the meantime so i think if you can

make a justified case what you are going to a shop and you are going to buy some things that you are going to regard as essential for your day—to—day living, i don't think anyone can object to that. if you we re anyone can object to that. if you were to shop around and go to lots of different outlets, you would need lots of different people, that's not in the spirit of this and is offering the virus opportunities to jump offering the virus opportunities to jump from one person to the next and that puts you under the people at higher risk. so if you go out, go out wants to get a good deal, i would say that's absolutely fine. if you were to cycle from land's would say that's absolutely fine. if you were to cycle from lands end to john 0'groats to do your shopping i think someone might say that's not quite in line with what we are trying to achieve. especially if you went through derbyshire. brenda says iam82 went through derbyshire. brenda says i am 82 years old, at home recovering from a recent heart procedure. i have been self isolating since the 4th of march. i did an online grocery shopping order but should i use antiseptic wipes when goods come? will the goods the virus? this question keeps being

asked. do you want to go for that, asked. do you want to go for that, asa gp? asked. do you want to go for that, as a gp? 0r asked. do you want to go for that, as a gp? or would you rather chris did it? chris answered the question earlier about the data on the various services and so on but from my point of view, when i'm talking to patients, i like to give the message simple and that is when you've touched anything that has come from outside but the home, your normal living environment, wash your hands before they go any further near your mouth, your eyes, your nose, really, your face. those are the simple measures that i think are easier to stick to them trying to think about different surfaces and how long the virus may survive on them. so with regards to your question and the point, really it is a case of if she is handled, once she's put the food away, washing her hands before she continues and washing her hands before she is

eating or drinking. you know, those are the basic measures to follow, that probably will be, just able to be followed through rather than trying to pick out the different surfaces. the other thing i thing to remember is the probability, i think, i don't know if your other expert would agree, the probability of picking things up especially the longer since the last person is handled it, diminishes. the key things are we have talked about the two major distancing, it can be directly transmitted if somebody if someone to the next person through their breath, even when they are talking. but also through surfaces, if there happens to be a heavy viral load, if there is a lot of the virus on that particular service but as a rule, i think, on that particular service but as a rule, ithink, it begins on that particular service but as a rule, i think, it begins to be a diminishing probability and in fact,

if we follow the basic rules of the two major distancing, and washing before touching your head and neck, we will be fine. finally and briefly chris, would it happen help —— help if everyone was compelled to wear a mask? no, michael, don't waste your money, masks can be useful in certain settings, they are useful in hospital if they are the right sort of mass, fitted correctly to the personpos macro face so they don't like. the kind of masks you see people bearing on public aren't doing them any help at all, once they get damp from the breath of the wearer viruses they get damp from the breath of the wearer viruses go they get damp from the breath of the wearer viruses go through them well and are not capable of filtering the viruses, the viruses are so small, one 10,000th of a millimetre, the masks don't fit tightly to your face so they like. thank you both, really grateful for your time.

another consequence of the coronavirus crisis, is that women are now allowed to have abortions at home for the first time in england and scotland after new measures introduced because of the pandemic. the uk government has agreed to relax laws to allow women to take both pills needed for a medical abortion at home. the measures — put in place so that women do not have to travel to visit a hospital or clinic — will last two years or until the coronavirus epidemic ends. the welsh government says it's also considering temporary changes. however, the british pregnancy advisory service has warned that women in northern ireland will have to continue to travel to england to access services — a journey which they say could be putting women and their families at risk of contracting coronavirus. in a moment, we'll talk to a woman who is having to travel from northern ireland to england at the weekend to access an abortion. let's talk first to our reporter emma ailes.

first of all, what did the changes the uk government has announced actually mean? up until now, the law in the uk since abortions can only be carried out on approved sites, that would be a hospital or clinic. up that would be a hospital or clinic. up until now women have been continuing to travel to clinics to access abortion is and some are having to travel many miles because of the strain on services has been so great. matt hancock, the health secretary has approved changes which mean up to the tenth week of pregnancy, women will be able to have an abortion without having to visit a clinic. the way it will work is women will have a consultation with the doctor over the telephone or over video chat. and if two doctors sign off on the prescription of the pills will be delivered and taken at home. because these powers over health matters are devolved to the separate nations, this only applies in england. scotland has actually approved the same changes, they approve them a week ago and the welsh government says it's considering the same temporary measures however we spoke to the

health department in northern ireland and they said at the moment nothing will change, women will continue to have to access a clinic. todayis continue to have to access a clinic. today is actually the day when you abortion regulations come in in northern ireland. that's right. abortion was decriminalised in northern ireland last year in legislation and that's meant women haven't faced prosecution since then however, the actual law takes effect today. and the government had said that from april this year, women would be able to access medical abortions on two nhs hospital sites in northern ireland, however, the health department in northern ireland said because of delays to setting up those services and now consequently because of the coronavirus, there has been a delay and women in northern ireland will have to continue to travel to england to access a clinic. they said the situation with coronavirus will require consideration the

moment, no changes to allow medical abortion pills to be taken at home, that women will continue to travel, and those with serious underlying health conditions, which will put them ina health conditions, which will put them in a higher risk category for coronavirus, that is considerably worrying. absolutely, emma, thank you. let's speak now to clare murphy from the british pregnancy advisory service. and also on the phone to ‘anna', not her real name, but we'll be using that to help protect her identity. she's from northern ireland and will be catching an overnight ferry on friday to england to have an abortion. thank you both so much for talking to us. anna, talk us through what you will do on friday night into saturday. currently my only option is to take an overnight ferry from belfast to liverpool which is approximately eight hours. from liverpool then travelled to the clinic, receive the medical attention and then ultimately get another eight hour ferry back that

evening. you are unable to have what is called a medical abortion where you will take two pills. because you would have to stay overnight for that and there is no where to stay overnight because all the hotels are shut stop you are having to have a surgical abortion which involves a general anaesthetic? that's correct. 0riginally general anaesthetic? that's correct. originally the options open to me was to have the medical abortion but it required that women from northern ireland stay overnight and originally, that was the plan but all of the accommodation options we re all of the accommodation options were taken away. how do you feel about that? it adds another element of fear and apprehension, definitely. when it could be such a simple procedure that is now being turned into surgery with general anaesthetic. you will travel back in the overnight ferry on saturday night, having had a general

anaesthetic? that's correct. that could be a bit stressful. absolutely, absolutely. 0n could be a bit stressful. absolutely, absolutely. on top of that as well, in order to reduce footfall you're asked to consider coming back yourself, not bringing someone to support you with you which adds another element, it's quite an odd thing. you are alone. let me bring claire in. good morning, what do you think of the situation? it's just morning, what do you think of the situation? it'sjust heartbreaking andl situation? it'sjust heartbreaking and i cannot believe this is what we are putting women through at the best of times let alone in a time of crisis like this. it's bitterly ironic, isn't it, as you were saying, today is the day that the new abortion framework comes into play in northern ireland but there

are no services up and running to provide the care women need. it should be a day of celebration of women 's writes in northern ireland but on the ground, there is nothing there for them so women like anna, ata time there for them so women like anna, at a time of crisis, are being forced to travel, the flights are cancelled, the reason why anna is travelling on an eight hour ferry is because we can no longer, we run the northern ireland booking service, we cannot book women onto flights any more, the flight has been cancelled. if women get here on the flight, then they then can't often get back. as anna was saying, all the hotels are close, women are coming over and finding their hotel booking was cancelled just like that. it's an absolutely dire situation. and it's completely addressable. in what way? well, as your reporter pointed out, women in england can now receive the pills for early medical abortion at home, they've had a telephone or

video consultation with a doctor. 0r another health care professional. the pills can be dispatched to them in theirown the pills can be dispatched to them in their own homes, they don't need to leave their houses, it's particularly important, women with underlying health conditions women who have been told they can't leave their house and are in self isolation. this is absolutely the case for women in northern ireland as well and there's no reason to pills for early medical abortion could not be sent to them at home, with access to the same back—up, 24—hour after—care with access to the same back—up, 24— hour after—ca re that with access to the same back—up, 24—hour after—care that women in england or scotland are going to get on shortly in wales. northern ireland is going to be the biggest outlier with women having to travel even further distances in the most horrific situations. why are we putting women on an eight hour ferry journey, bleeding, exhausted aftera medical intervention? it's inhumane. i want to ask you about the decision to allow women in england to take both pills at home for a medical abortion during this crisis. so they

don't have to go to a hospital or clinic. the government indicated it would allow this to happen. then it backtracked. and now it's decided it is going to allow it. what was going on there, do you think? it's a very interesting question. it's not been made clear to us what happened last week. what do you think? i must say week. what do you think? i must say we are grateful that common sense has prevailed. and we are now going to be able to provide this service but yes, it was very frustrating, very confusing. but we are very pleased that the government has seen sense on this issue. and we can provide this very, very important service to women and you know, hundreds of women were being forced unnecessarily from their homes at a time when we know we can provide that service safely and effectively to women in their own homes. so we are glad that his been introduced

here, scotland is about to follow suit, it looks like wells as well and really, really, we need this for northern ireland as well. is it still a requirement that two doctors sign offa still a requirement that two doctors sign off a termination for a medical abortion at home? it is. this hasn't changed, the underlying 1967 abortion act. which requires that two doctors sign off every single abortion. in this country. which is pretty unique now to anywhere in the world and ironically, again, in northern ireland, the new framework actually allows one health care professional which can be a doctor, nurse or midwife, to certify an abortion so northern ireland has actually been, in many ways, this really great framework there, the services aren't there to back it up. you know, obviously, as an organisation which wants to provide women centred care according to the highest medical standards, we know

this service should be treated in the same way as any other health ca re the same way as any other health care procedure. this requirement that two doctors sign off every single abortion serves no clinical purpose. it creates huge bureaucratic hurdles, particularly in some nhs services, where doctors are potentially self isolating, it's ha rd are potentially self isolating, it's hard sometimes at the best of times to find two signatures stop women often have to go back to their gps to get this legal authorisation which as i say serves no clinical purpose, it doesn't make an abortion safer, it is a legal requirement under the act that a woman seeks legal permission, unlike any other health care procedure, to make the decision about her own pregnancy, she needs two doctors to agree she meets the grounds of the act. it's not a mother in law, it's a lot which really has no place in the zist which really has no place in the 215t century. —— it is not a modern law. going forward, yes, we

absolutely need to get rid of that requirement. it's simply not fit for purpose. it just requirement. it's simply not fit for purpose. itjust is so out requirement. it's simply not fit for purpose. it just is so out of step with every other way in which we treat women 's with every other way in which we treat women '5 health today and the idea women have to ask permission to get this legal authorisation to make this decision makes no sense whatsoever. thank you very much for coming on the programme, both of you, we really appreciate your time. claire and anna. anna, 26, from northern ireland, travelling on a ferry on friday night to get an appointment for an abortion in manchester on saturday. thank you for your messages about you feeling forced to go into work when you didn't necessarily want to. this from a woman in sheffield, my husband works at a warehouse in sheffield, this company not closing their warehouses, the workers are worried about their safety and the safety of their families. just

because a friend says its following government guidelines they are believed yet the workers are not. send me an e—mail. 0r message me on twitter. now time for the weather, here is carol. hello again. for most of us today not as windy as it was yesterday. it's not going to feel quite as cold but we have quite a stiff north—westerly breeze coming in across the north—west of scotland, blowing in some showers here and also across parts of northern ireland. for the rest of england and wales, fair bit of cloud, one or two showers but all of us today should seek a mess of sunshine at some stage through the day. temperature wise 8—11d. as we head through the evening and overnight we hang on to a fair bit of cloud, like during the day, there will be some holes developing and that's where we seek some clear skies. showers continuing as well. where we've got clear skies across the highlands, southern england, into east anglia, that's where the

lowest temperatures will be and we are likely to see some frost. as we move into wednesday and thursday, once again looking at a fair bit of cloud, turning wet and windy in the north. and also here, much colder.

this is bbc news — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. police officers across the uk are told to take a consistent approach when using their new emergency powers on restricting our movement — after some forces are criticised for being too aggressive. britian's transport secretary says it is a difficultjob. there will be one or two instances where perhaps they have not approached it in the right way but in general across the country — not only are people complying very well — but — generally speaking — the police are taking a very sensible approach towards it. president trump says the next 30 days will be vital to stopping the virus in the us — as the number of cases rises to over 164,000 — the highest number anywhere in the world. the country with the highest

death rate — italy — extends its lockdown until easter — but there is some hope — as the country reports a sharp decline in the number of infections. the world health organisation says the coronavirus is a long way from finished in the asia—pacific region — and warns of renewed crises in countries where the situation appears to be under control. british airways temporarily suspends all flights to and from the uk's second biggest airport — gatwick — due to the virus — as hundreds of stranded travellers struggle to make their way back home. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments

here in britain and globally. police forces across the uk have been told to take a consistent approach when making sure people comply with emergency measures to curb the spread of coronavirus. there has been criticism that some tactics have been heavy handed, with one former supreme courtjudge claiming britain is in danger of becoming a police state. in the us, the number of people who have died has passed 3000, and there are now almost 165,000 confirmed cases across the country — the highest in the world. new york city is the worst—hit, with more than 900 confirmed fatalities. president trump has said the next 30 days could be crucial in the fight to stop the spread of the virus. there is a glimmer of hope from italy, the country worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic. the number of people infected there has seen a sharp fall. just over 1600 new patients were diagnosed in the latest daily tally — that's less than half

of sunday's figure. and the world health organisation is warning that the coronavirus pandemic is farfrom over in asia — and we cannot let down our guard. it's urging governments to prepare for mass infections and warns of a renewed crisis in countries where the situation is beginning to appear under control. we have more on all these stories coming up, but first with more on that guidance to british police forces here's keith doyle. you shouldn't be driving unless it's essential. in weston—super—mare, police are reminding people of the rules about only undertaking essential travel. just come out walking the dog. right, 0k. the only thing we'll say is please read the government guidance on essential travel. the guidelines say you should take exercise near your home. have you driven here? derbyshire police were criticised for heavy—handed tactics after using drones to show people driving to remote areas for exercise. dyeing the water in a local beauty

spot and leaving notes on parked cars were other tactics that police used to discourage people travelling. now the national police chiefs council has reminded forces of the guidelines and that enforcement should be a last resort. we're not going to enforce our way out of this problem. we will get out of this problem because people want to solve the problem, and we will get out of it because we've got the public at our sides and they will lead us through it. people queueing outside this pharmacy are keeping two metres apart. the uk's chief scientific advisor said that social distancing measures are making a difference — with cases not rising as fast as feared. the latest figures from public health england are 22,141 cases in the uk, with 1,408 deaths and 180 of them in the last 24 hours. the numbers being admitted to hospital are expected to rise over the coming weeks. with more and more cases,

the british medical association — which represents doctors — says they're still facing a fatal shortage of personal protection equipment, despite government assurances. the bma is urging the government to make it clear what frontline staff should do if they don't have the necessary protection. we've got many doctors who are worried, if they are not protected, what should they do? no frontline workers should be expected to be on the front line without adequate protection. these are some of the hundreds of britons who have been flown home from peru after the government chartered flights. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, has announced a £75 million plan to bring home tens of thousands of british nationals. the government advice is to get home on a commercial flight if there is one, if there isn't, then embassies will advertise government charters to help bring those stranded back to the uk. keith doyle, bbc news.

let's talk to our assistant political editor norman smith. he political editor norman smith. is at home. the pol to he is at home. the police are trying to find that the right line to tread when it comes to enforcing these measures. i think they themselves know they have to have a consistent approach and tone is crucial which is why the national police chiefs council have come forward with this guidance to get some sort of clarity to forces who at the moment seem to be taking rather different approaches. we have the police in lancashire who seem to be a shame quite a lot of enforcement notices, 120 3 cents thursday, and the police in bedfordshire who have issued none. different police forces are doing different things. some are heavy—handed and some have a more relaxed approach. there is a broad agreement they have to have one

simple consistent approach and actually ought to be a little bit more relaxed. the reason being that obviously if you are going to police a lock and you need public consent. there is no way you can police every town and every city so that means making sure the public are on board, not going into heavy—handed, and some of the tactics i think there is a view have been over the top, frankly, such as chasing up dog walkers in the peak district and that sort of thing, and quite obviously if there is a slightly heavy—handed approach that can result in conflict, can result in hostilities, and it makes a situation where there doesn't have to bea situation where there doesn't have to be a situation, so what we are seeing is not just to be a situation, so what we are seeing is notjust the police but ministers see and do not overreach. use your common sense is what the foreign secretary said yesterday. a similar message from the transport secretary grant shapps.

we are asking them to do something completely unprecedented that normally — with our policing— by—consent approach theyjust do not have to get into, and i am sure they are not particularly liking having to do this, and of course the best thing we can all do is just follow the guidance, and most people are doing exactly that. stay home and protect the nhs and save lives. you have heard it many times. i think the police are doing a difficultjob. there will be one or two instances where perhaps they have not approached it in the right way but in general actually across the country — not only are people complying very well — but generally speaking the police are taking a very sensible approach towards it as well. 0ne one other sort of coronavirus development this morning, we have had figures released in the far owe last two minutes from the office for national statistics and it is interesting because it gives the number of people who have died outside of hospital. all the figures we have been courting day by day our nhs related figures, and the 0ns has

provided the total number, including people who have died at home or in ca re people who have died at home or in care homes, and they are quite significantly higher, maybe not surprising, but significantly higher. they say up to the week of march the 20th there were 170 deaths in hospital, but when you include people who died outside of hospital those numbers go up to 210, and other words an additional 40 deaths outside of hospital. by my rudimentary maths, that suggests to me that the current numbers are run under divestment by about 25% the total number of people dying from coronavirus when you include those who are not dying in hospitals but are dying in care homes and at home. the ons are dying in care homes and at home. the 0ns will be providing those figures on a weekly basis but they will give us a much clearer indication of the true death rate,

death total, from coronavirus, and the indications are actually maybe not surprisingly but actually it is quite a bit higher. thank you very much, norman smith. president trump has said that america faces a vital 30 days in the fight against coronavirus, and suggested that social distancing could save up to a million lives. health services in new york have been overwhelmed by the number of cases — with more than 1200 deaths. the state governor has appealed for medical staff from anywhere in the us to come to their aid. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports. a symbol of wartime and a morale booster for new york, this military medical ship docked in manhattan will provide relief to the city's hospitals overwhelmed by covid—19. the us navy ship, comfort, has space for 1,000 beds. it will be used by non—coronavirus patients, while shorebased hospitals focus on the pandemic. with more and more states ordering

people to stay at home, americans are buckling down for at least another month of the economic shutdown and social distancing. 30 days that president trump says will be vital. by very vigorously following these guidelines we could save more than a million american lives. think of that. one million american lives. 0urfuture is in our own hands and the choices and sacrifices we make will determine the fate of this virus and, really, the fate of our victory. we will have a great victory. we have no other choice. mr trump said progress was being made with the number of americans tested for the coronavirus. today, we reached a historic milestone in our war against the coronavirus. over one million americans have now been tested. more than any other country, by far. not even close.

but president trump's numbers have been widely questioned, with the us well behind italy and south korea in the number of people tested. peter bowes, bbc news. in italy, there's been a glimmer of hope with a sharp fall in new coronavirus cases. just over 1,600 new patients were diagnosed in the latest daily tally — less than half of sunday's figure. here's our correspondent jean mackenzie in rome — talking about the strict restrictions in place there. there are police everywhere throughout rome checking papers and asking people where they are going because people here are not allowed to work unless they have essentialjobs and all non—essential factories have been shut down and people have been told to stay inside unless they are going to buy food. this lockdown is going to extend until april the 12th. do you think people will continue to comply? is there a possibility that people

will be a bit cross about that? i think they will continue to comply. people have been very good so far at following these restrictions because people here are scared — they turn on the news every single night and hear hundreds and hundreds more people have died — and that is enough to keep you in your home, but there are problems — because it has been so strict, people have not been working, and some people are running out of money. reports in the south of supermarkets being robbed as people get desperate. certainly this extension is going to be a blow for people — even though they will have seen it coming. the 12th of april is an at least date and many people expect it to be extended for longer. it will depend on what happens with these rates of infection. the world health organization has warned that the coronavirus is a long way from finished in the asia—pacific region. it's urged governments to prepare

for mass infection — and warned of the threat of a renewed crisis in countries where the situation appears to be under control. here's our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, in beijing. we heard in a press conference today that the world health organization thinks that they should not drop their guard and what's more they should be ready for a large explosion in new cases. part of the fear is that people coming into these countries, like here in china, south korea, singapore, from overseas, can bring the virus back and like nothing it can take off again into the community. if we have a little look around here you can see people over on most of these corners here, people riding bikes and the like, they still have masks, and even though it does seem to be kind of under control here, apart from the fact that you kind of have to have a mask, i have mine in my pocket, to get

into a shop or most buildings, there is still concern that it is not over, although you can feel the steam coming out of it. so, the who does not want there to be complacency. perhaps more concerning, they are worried that the coronavirus is going everywhere in asia, everywhere means everywhere, every country should prepare, including poor pacific island countries which at the moment do not even have the capacity to do their own testing, so they will test people and send the tests off to another country and they have to come back again. you can imagine how long that will take and so other countries are at the moment rallying to assist those countries. you can imagine papa new guinea or something like that, coronavirus going through a country like that could be very tough on them. either way, the message is pretty clear to this place to not sort of bring their guard down.

people still should be very worried and that is partly because we have had people coming in from overseas, mostly chinese citizens, 90% of them returning to china because they think it is safe to be here. some of them have boarded planes with symptoms knowing they were sick and taken drugs to try to suppress their fever. they arrive in the country and they test positive. that is why we still have very strong quarantine measures here. it is why although they are opening up wuhan next week, hubei province, from anywhere there you have to do quarantine. foreigners completely banned from coming into china for the moment except for diplomats and those with special reasons to come in here. flights have been drastically reduced.

airlines can basically fly one service from a country into china a week, and so you can imagine how much that has reduced the air travel coming in and out of this country, because this is a key source of infection. if someone who's infected they get on a plane they infect everyone on the plane and going through an airport they can potentially infect everyone in an airport. that has been the focus here in terms of trying to make sure there is not another explosion in this in china. stephen mcdonnell, in beijing. the headlines on bbc news: police officers across the uk are told to take a consistent approach — when using their new emergency powers on restricting our movements. president trump says the next 30 days will be vital to stopping the virus in the us — as the number of cases rises to over 164,000 — the highest number anywhere in the world.

the country with the highest death rate — italy — extends its lockdown until easter, but there is some hope as the country reports a sharp decline in the number of infections. spain has the third highest number of infections in the world — with more than 85,000 cases — but spanish officials are hoping that restrictions are starting to stem the spread of the coronavirus. on monday, another 6,400 cases were confirmed — the lowest increase in new infections for a week. there's hope that tougher new restrictions could slow it further — but authorities are cautious — as the madrid—based journalist james badcock reports. there is also the idea that this may be due to the fact that we are living at the tip of the iceberg. testing has been quite slow in spain. it has had trouble getting new rapid

testing kits in and they are only going to start with that, really, today, so wejust do not know how many people have it. many people are... the advice is to stay at home if you are not terribly ill. yesterday we had a report by... a study published by imperial college london which said that spain has probably 15% of its population infected. that is way more than any other european country, even much more than italy, so it is really hard to say. the government has toughened its lockdown measures, and that is a measure of how tough a battle this is turning out to be, so the next two weeks everyone must stay at home, all workers, unless they are considered essential for the battle against the virus. "i am scared." that's the message to governments from the president of the world's largest humanitarian organisation — the international committee of the red cross. as coronavirus spreads to conflict zones, peter maurer is this week speaking with world leaders

and calling for urgent global action to prevent catastrophe. the red cross has launched an appeal for 800 million swiss francs — which is £673 million — to assist the world's most vulnerable people in the fight against coronavirus. peter maurer is the president of the international committee of the red cross. thank you for talking to us. thank you for having me. what specifically are you scared of? the situation in conflict and war torn society has been very complex over the last couple of years. already everybody knows about the complexities in syria and iraq and yemen and the whole of africa and we come now and we see on top of those more environment dynamics we see a pandemic coming to those countries,

with very weak health systems to respond, with sometimes weak governance systems to respond, but a lot of people in conflict regions in particular in refugee camps in displaced camps, where the usual distancing that is recommended in other developed countries, industrialised countries, is simply not working, where we see people in detention with the deep knowledge, i see over the decades you cannot separate what is going on with detention with what is going on assist in societies left the virus comes to these very fragile contacts then there is a big risk of spreading into larger societies than larger populations which for the time being have been spared of the

contagion of covid—19. time being have been spared of the contagion of covid-19. you see if the virus comes but do you not think it is inevitable? i think there is a lwa ys it is inevitable? i think there is always a hypothesis that you have to ta ke always a hypothesis that you have to take into consideration. you never know exactly and scientists may debate on what exactly the pathway ofa debate on what exactly the pathway of a virus on a country as. at the present the who says that we think they have strong evidence that the viruses in 194 countries, but not yet to the extent that we have it in particularly visible cases as you have discussed before. the question will be what they dynamics are, and the dynamics as we see it can be extremely harmful, extremely critical, given the fragility of the health system, the governance

systems, and the society at large, which have been hampered and which have been weakened by war and conflict. imagine that 50% of the health infrastructure in syria is down since the beginning of the war and similarfigures down since the beginning of the war and similar figures we down since the beginning of the war and similarfigures we know down since the beginning of the war and similar figures we know from other contexts as well. what do you think the impact would be of a pandemic reaching conflict zones like syria or yemen or africa? we have to fear that the impact will be, of course, higherfatalities eventually, biggerspread into be, of course, higherfatalities eventually, bigger spread into the population. it will be a further weakening of people who have already a lot of difficulties getting along with their lives. what strikes us most in the 20 largest conflict regions of the world there is the lack of resilience have a lot of people to withstand some of those health challenges. these are

populations who are already today in very fragile health conditions, so the fear is that the effects will be even more damaging than in countries like europe or the united states, or even china, where you have health systems which have populations better served than in the places in which we operate today. conflict zones which we operate today. conflict zones of course which we operate today. conflict zones of course means which we operate today. conflict zones of course means displaced people, people fleeing to safety, to refugee camps, for example. we are soap and clean water are a luxury, if they exist at all. that is indeed one of the big concern is that we have, and that is also the reason why over the last month in the big context in which we operate we have accelerated and fast tracked some of her assistance programme in water,

sanitation, as you say, cleaning material, cleaning instructions. we have done crash courses also with volu nteers have done crash courses also with volunteers of the red cross and societies in order to teach populations in refugee camps, in detention facilities, in order to at least catch up with some of the measures we have advocated for a long time, i must say, but which u nfortu nately long time, i must say, but which unfortunately many countries have not prioritised in the past and this risks to be a big burden as we move forward with the spread of the pandemic. this i wonder, you have launched your appeal, you are hoping for money from governments and the public around the world, but at a time in the developed nations, their economies are collapsing effectively, albeit temporarily we hope, to give worry that they will

decide they cannot afford to put money into your appeal to help some of the most vulnerable people on the planet? i have been slightly comforted already the last couple of days talking to major donor countries, to leaders and major donor countries, who recognise that they cannot insulate and isolate their economies, and the impact of corona on their economies from what is happening elsewhere, so i think there is a basic recognition that we need to prevent and prepare for the outbreak of corona in fragile contacts and therefore money is necessary. i would not exclude and this is certainly a concern of ours that over time when the crisis lasts, when budgets are strained in the most industrialised countries, but we will see negative impact.

that is the reason why we are not being hard to fast—track expenditure now to be able eventually to prevent the worst. travel has been limited between many countries, as everybody knows. is that restricting the ability of your staff to provide humanitarian assistance? it is definitely a very delicate issue which to that extent... and we haven't known it in the past. we haven't known it in the past. we have responded to sars and a bowler in other contexts but with less geographic spread —— and ebola. the measures that governments have taken is inhibiting also some of the humanitarian respond and at the same time we are cognizant that we do not wish through our presence and the presence of health workers to spread the virus through the activities

that we had entertaining, so additional precautionary measures from humanitarians are essential as they are in error industrialised society's hospitals where particular ca re society's hospitals where particular care has to be taken for medical personnel, so similarly we need to find a balance in protecting a humanitarian space in which we can operate under the same time precautionary measures so that they humanitarians do not become one of the origin of the spread of the virus. thank you very much for your time today. thank you for your interest. the president of the international committee of the red cross. a deal has been struck between the government and major airlines to help bring home british nationals who are stranded abroad because of the coronavirus outbreak. it's estimated there could be

as many as a million britons stuck overseas. £75 million will be spent on charter planes to bring people home from countries where commercial flights are no longer available. british airways is suspending all flights to and from london gatwick. the airline said it would be contacting its customers to discuss their options. the company is still operating flights to and from heathrow but on a severely—reduced schedule. yesterday easyjet grounded all its flights because of the pandemic. our business correspondent, theo leggett, told me how this will affect passengers and why the decision was made by ba. quite simply there are not enough planes flying to merit using two hubs. gatwick has already shut down one of its terminals because there is so little demand. we have unprecedented travel restrictions across europe which is limiting where the airlines can fly. also passengers are isolated at home and do not want to fly and that means although there are some passenger services it is a heavily reduced service. there are planes flying around for cargo but even that is starting to slip back a little bit.

british airways has said to its staff based on the unprecedented circumstances it is going to stop flying out of gatwick for the moment but this is an entire industry suffering at the moment. easyjet yesterday said it would ground its entire fleet. there are warnings from ground handlers who do baggage handling and we feel planes and are responsible for de—icing, four responsible for de—icing, four responsible is are responsible for nearly all of that and they say they could be in a really difficult position within a few weeks if they do not get help and the airports are also saying they are struggling because in order to service the planes that are still there a need to remain open and they cannot play off all their staff but we are not getting the revenues so this is an industry that is facing a situation that has never occurred before and they are doing what they can to cut costs a nd they are doing what they can to cut costs and try to survive the immediate crisis so that when we are all immediate crisis so that when we are a ll allowed immediate crisis so that when we are all allowed to travel again and

things can resume they will be able to. meanwhile passengers are obviously many of them will have cancelled their flights long ago and those passengers affected can go to british airways for a refund or an alternative service. hello, this is bbc news with victoria derbyshire. the headlines... police officers across the uk are told to take a "consistent" approach when using their new emergency powers on restricting our movement after some forces are criticised for their approach president trump says the next 30 days will be ‘vital‘ to stopping the virus in the us — as the number of cases rises to over 164,000 — the highest number anywhere in the world the country with the highest death rate — italy — extends its lockdown until easter but there is some hope as the country reports a sharp decline in the number of infections the world health organisation says the coronavirus is a long way from finished in the asia—pacific region — and warns of renewed crises in countries where the situation

appears to be under control british airways temporarily suspends all flights to and from the uk's second biggest airport gatwick due to the virus — as hundreds of stranded travellers try to make their way back home and coming up shortly, we'll find out more about a 6.5 million dollar painting by vincent van gogh — which was stolen from an art gallery in the netherlands — that was closed because of the coronavirus outbreak police forces in the uk have been told to be consistent in their use of emergency lockdown powers, after concerns some are being too heavy handed. guidance to officers calls for a "coordinated" effort and emphasises the importance of professionalism. katy bourne is the police and crime commissionerfor sussex and the chair of the association of police and crime commissioners.

good morning to you. good morning. what's your view on whether some forces have been a little too heavy—handed ? forces have been a little too heavy-handed? i think the strength of our police model that we have in this country is that the police with the consent of the public. there are different models up and down the country. that is its strength but at times it can also be problematic. so a police force will be expected to police according to its county so if i look at mine in sussex, they have a very different style to another police force elsewhere. yes, it is disappointing to see some police forces have been a little zealous in how they have interpreted this legislation. you are thinking are you of derbyshire police using a drone to shame dog walkers in the peak district, putting notices on ca rs peak district, putting notices on cars in peak district car parks saying you should not be here?|j think saying you should not be here?” think there's a few examples of where that style would not have been the same in my own county. certainly

iam in the same in my own county. certainly i am in constant contact with my chief constable and he is very clear that actually, enforcement will only happen at the very last instance so the whole policing style is one of where we engage with the public, talk to them, educate them. as part of the beauty of it, it's getting in there, in the community, explaining to people fight we are all doing this, let's face it, it's massively disruptive to all of us. we are doing it to save lives. the majority of the public have been brilliant, certainly in my own county i've seen up certainly in my own county i've seen up and down the country, they are fantastic, going home, complying, very mindful. but there are one or two individuals, we've had some cases here, the police will only enforce the law and issue a fixed penalty notice is a very last resort. i was asking on twitter about incidents with the police since the new emergency powers came in and most people have said, you know, either i haven't really seen any police or if i have, i've given them a friendly wave and rachel says

and banco to the police were doing a difficultjob. it is a balancing act. it's trying to judge these new powers, doing the kind of things you have never been asked, your forces have never been asked, your forces have never been asked, your forces have never been asked to do before. you're right. everyone uses the word unprecedented, it is unparalleled probably in policing times, certainly in our lifetime but at the end of the day, i'm not an apologist for the police. myjob is to represent the public and be their voice and policing and all police and crime commissioners up and down the country will be looking to their police forces and holding them to account, how they interpret this legislation and behave within their communities. i would legislation and behave within their communities. iwould hope legislation and behave within their communities. i would hope that my collea g u es communities. i would hope that my colleagues will be taking this quite seriously, i'm sure they will and we will be having those conversations with the chief constables. certainly in sussex the approach in the first insta nce in sussex the approach in the first instance is engage with people, only use enforcement as a last resort but again, we've seen businesses here over the weekend, they were having a

paid login so people could pay some money, go round, have drinks, lock the doors. working with the local authority they take the license away and shut the premises down. sorry was that since stricter measures we re was that since stricter measures were brought in by borisjohnson? yes, absolutely. we've seen insta nces yes, absolutely. we've seen instances up and down the country, individuals or businesses, not many, but there have been a few, it's been quite problematic. the police work with the local authority, they have powers around licensing and the local authority leader was very clear, we will take the licence away. you adhere to these regulations, we are doing it to save lives at the end of the day but i'm very clear with the police. the public are on the whole, fantastic about this. i cannot thank the public enough. this is massively disruptive for all of us and for some, it's really alarming but we know why we are doing this, we are doing it to save lives and the police are there to use their common

sense, let's face it, i absolutely agree. have you handed out any of these penalty notices, any of these fines to people since stricter measures were brought in? yes, a small handful, at the weekend i think it was about four had been given out, only in extreme circumstances. the initiative must be always to engage with the public, the majority of people understand. can you give some examples of where fines were issued? i don't have the detail on those. as of sunday i think there were two in specific areas but at the end of the day, i have talked about this one particular business that has had its licence revoked. where people are absolutely flouting this with no disregard and behaving recklessly, of course police will act. sorry to interrupt. when one former supreme courtjudge claims britain is in danger of being turned into a police

state, what do you say?” danger of being turned into a police state, what do you say? i listened to his interview and i have a certain amount of sympathy with that, these are difficult times, it's difficult to know what is the right or wrong thing to do. my postbag is full of people asking perfectly reasonable questions, can i drive two miles up the road to the forest i always try to exercise my dog? there's nobody around, i'm going to be ok. the message from the police here is be sensible about it. if you have to ask too many questions really, do you need to be doing this at this time? the overall message is let's stay home, let's minimise contact with others so we don't spread the virus. the sooner we do it, the sooner will we will be out of it at the other end. thank you for your time. as i said, most of my messages on twitter are praising police forces in england and wales although i've had this from janet who says i've seen three drones outside my window in the past

two days, how dare they treat us like prisoners? it's bad enough being restricted in this way. i've already been out of my routine because of cancer so this is really unbearable, treat us with respect. the international council of nurses has told the bbc that their members are facing unprecedented physical and psychological challenges as they continue to battle the global coronavirus pandemic. it says its 20 million members need to be properly shielded from the virus, and it's calling for an urgent increase in the supply of personal protective equipment. 0ur global health correspondent tulip mazumdar has this report. the women and the men on the frontline of this global battle. all over the world they are putting their lives at risk to protect ours. china was the first country to face the full force of covid—19. south korea followed soon after.

health workers have been sending us videos from their clinics from all over the world. translation: when caring for patients we must wear full body protection, two layers of overshoes, gloves, masks, and goggles. in five minutes the whole body is drenched in sweat. it becomes hard to care for patients. the us is the latest country to be hit hard by this pandemic, with more cases now than anywhere else in the world. europe has been at the epicentre of this outbreak for more than two weeks now. here in eastern france, the military have set up makeshift critical care facilities. the italian health system is overwhelmed. patients now being admitted into massive tents. translation: we are at war with a totally invisible enemy. we are fighting for everyone and trying not to get hurt

ourselves. we feel like we are the spearhead in this battle. our efforts are not awarded with a positive outcome sometimes. another issue is in connection with the family member. the contact is made by phone and often we receive calls asking for updates. they never can see their relatives and we can hear the voices on the other side of the phone. all this as the world faces a chronic shortage of crucial personal protective equipment for health workers. the world health organization estimates that globally the response requires around 89 million medical masks and 76 million gloves each month. as always, nurses are stepping up, they're saving lives, but they're putting themselves, often sacrificing themselves ahead of other people. that is not possible to continue in the long—term. and if we don't properly look after our health workforce, after our nurses, if we exhaust

them my fear is that this will make the virus worse. there is no global tally of the number of infected healthcare workers. in china, the government says more than 3,000 have been infected and at least 22 medics have died. spanish officials say around 13% of all those infected are healthcare workers, which would mean more than 10,000 have caught the virus there. in italy, the infection rate is at around 9%. the death toll among doctors stands at at least 61. no—one can predict how long this pandemic will last. but it's the efforts of healthcare workers all around the world that all of us are relying on. translation: it's really painstaking and energy consuming work, but every day we are hoping for people's recovery. following in the footsteps of florence nightingale, we will fulfil our mission.

tulip mazumdar, bbc news. this e—mailfrom this e—mail from an a&e this e—mailfrom an a&e nurse in what she calls a big hospital in birmingham. she says thank you for continuing to highlight the lack of equipment forfront line continuing to highlight the lack of equipment for front line health care workers, myself and my colleagues in this hospital and others across the uk had been made to work in equipment treating both positive and suspected positive covid—19 patients. equipment that is absolutely not suitable for the job. just basic gloves, aprons, surgical mask, dangerously unsafe, especially working in close contact with these patients. paul in peter brook says i don't feel safe at work, i work in a factory building engines on a production line. some operations are less tha n production line. some operations are less than two eaters apart, i'm diabetic and worry about catching coronavirus at work. and one more from a viewer who says i'm an

on—call firefighter in devon and somerset, we are expected to get on the back of a fire engine and sit next to our colleagues with no masks or gloves. all we have been told is keep the windows open. thank you for those. let me bring you this breaking news. from spain. it's to do with the numbers of dead from coronavirus. the death toll has risen to 8189. the latest figures. up risen to 8189. the latest figures. up 849 cases on yesterday. in the last 24 hours they are reporting 849 more people have died with coronavirus. compared to yesterday. the total number of cases in spain ifi the total number of cases in spain if i can bring either, bear with me, 94,417. the total number of coronavirus cases in spain. that's a

rise of nearly 10,000. the headlines on bbc news... police officers across the uk are told to take a "consistent" approach — when using their new emergency powers on restricting our movements president trump says the next thirty days will be ‘vital‘ to stopping the virus in the us — as the number of cases rises to over 164,000 — the highest number anywhere in the world the country with the highest death rate — italy — extends its lockdown until easter but there is some hope as the country reports a sharp decline in the number of infections as health systems struggle to cope, coronavirus is a worry for all of us but some communities are more at risk than others. 0n the islands of greece 35,000 refugees and migrants are staying in facilities that were built forjust a fraction of that number. in lesbos, cases of covid—19

are already on their doorstep. the bbcs population correspondent stephanie hegarty was sent this footage by a group of young filmmakers living in the migrant settlement of moria, they spoke to people there who are doing their best to keep others safe. wash your hands, we are being told. keep services clean. use hand sanitiser.

matthew saltmarsh is a spokesman for the un refugee agency.

josie naughton is the ceo of choose love charity. thank of choose love charity. you both for talking to us. matthew, thank you both for talking to us. matthew, firstly, how much could refugees be hit by coronavirus? good morning, of course the current coronavirus situation could be an emergency on top of an emergency for refugees because of course, the vast majority of them are already living in low income countries, where they have poor levels of health and sanitation. and there's very poor public infrastructure and services so the risks of contagion are very high among refugee populations. thankfully, so far, the numbers that have been reported of refugees contracting the coronavirus have been limited but of course, the dangers are extreme, given the conditions in which they find themselves. josie, tell us what your

charity does. the charity supports grassroots organisations who are filling the gaps that are being left by governments in refugee camps all over the world. particularly on the greek islands. together, with our partners who are really used to adapting to emergency situations, this is kind of unprecedented, we are really trying to prepare for an outbreak. we are working with organisations who are building emergency field clinics, trying to get in as much protective personal equipment as possible, funding salaries for doctors and trying to improve the access to tabs, water, distribution of soap, sanitiser, trying to get those items into the country because there is a shortage everywhere. these populations already are reliant on organisations offering basic things like food and for their shelter, tents, it's important that our partners are able

to adapt and still find ways to distribute and ensure these communities are getting essential services to keep them alive. matthew, if you're a refugee and don't have a home, how do you self—isolate? don't have a home, how do you self-isolate? that's extremely difficult. take the situation like bangladesh, the border with mayan mark, there's 650,000 refugees in one settlement. it's a sprawling, densely populated area and of course the ability to isolate is extremely limited so what we've been doing with partners is bring in extra medical equipment, supplies, to train refugees and train partners and other staff, to set up triage points, isolation points where that's possible but of course, that's possible but of course, that's going to be extremely limited. 0ther that's going to be extremely limited. other steps have of course been taken by governments to run refugee responses, to try to seal

off camps and some settlements as best they can and to limit the numbers of people going in and out. but of course, these measures are limited and people are crossing their fingers, limited and people are crossing theirfingers, to be honest. limited and people are crossing their fingers, to be honest. josie, in terms of greece, we saw our report, do you want the camps, do you want refugees to be moved to the mainland? do you want refugees to be moved to the mainland ? do you you want refugees to be moved to the mainland? do you want health workers to go to for the refugees are, where the migrants are to do health checks on them? i mean, what is happening right now, at the moment there is a huge response from grassroots organisations and it needs to be coming from the top, it needs to be governmental solutions being provided but absolutely, if it's not possible for all of the population to be evacuated from the island, at least the most vulnerable, the elderly, the sick, unaccompanied minors. and we really need more provisions to be made. on lesbos, the camp alone, we've heard 20,000

people, in the local hospital there is only ten intensive care unit beds. so should there be an outbreak in the camp, everyone is living in such close proximity to one another it doesn't bear thinking about. we've had partners, as we just heard, who are building areas where people can be isolated but these are still outside, in the cold. so moore really needs to be done. you mentioned bangladesh, matthew. is there other regions in the world you are concerned about? there are, across the world as 25 million refugees, central and southern america, middle east, syria has produced a 6 million refugees and into asia. right across the world. we as an agency, have launched a $255 million appeal, government level appeal, but individuals can

also support us by going through national websites and providing money so we're really looking at this but we also agree there are specific solutions in areas like greece where of course, refugees and asylu m greece where of course, refugees and asylum seekers, we think, should be transferred to areas like the mainland, where they can be given proper support and they can be included in national health systems. josie, finally, in terms of funding for you, you need funding to help these people, don't you? we really do and we have actually launched an appeal today, specifically to support our partners through this coronavirus emergency. we know it's a really difficult time for people at home but if they are able to donate, evenjust at home but if they are able to donate, even just a at home but if they are able to donate, evenjust a pound, dollar, it makes a huge, huge difference and enables us to support front line doctors to get soap or and it has a huge, huge impact. thank you

both, we are very grateful for your time. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. here is carol. hello again. compare the weather this week and last week, there is a difference in temperature. this time last week in north wales the mercury hit 19.4 celsius, today it's more likely to be nine celsius. high—pressure very much in charge of the weather and if we look at the isobars, you can see they are fairly spaced out so not much of a breeze although it will be when the across the north west of scotland. a north—westerly wind here, that's going to be blowing in afairfew here, that's going to be blowing in a fairfew showers here, that's going to be blowing in a fair few showers across northern and western scotland, northern and western parts of northern ireland. for the rest of scotland, northern ireland, england and wales, again,

fair bit of cloud, some hose developing, sunny skies developing as well. fewer showers. temperatures between eight and 11 degrees. but the wind is lighter than it was yesterday, as indicated by these white circles. they show the average wind speed so it won't feel quite as cold as it did yesterday. this evening and overnight we hang onto a fair bit of cloud, showers mostly in the north and west, there will be some holes in the cloud in sheltered glens, southern england, into the south—east, temperatures falling away, looking at some frost but no issues elsewhere. as we head through tomorrow we have very slack isobars in the south but this would have been coming in across northern scotla nd been coming in across northern scotland will eventually introduce some colder weather and also stronger winds. but that's for thursday. 0n stronger winds. but that's for thursday. on wednesday, early cloudy day, some showers, sunshine developing, this weather fun from the north slipping southwards is a weakening feature. still some patchy rain on it and temperatures up to around 12 degrees. wednesday into

thursday, this front thinks south, look at the isobars, squeezing, going to turn windier and it's going to turn colder. you can see the dark blues appearing on the chart compared to the manager yellow further south. starting in the south once again, fair bit of flour, baking times, sunny spells developing. 0ne baking times, sunny spells developing. one or two showers. in the north, colder air at streaming in, wintry showers mostly on the hills and mountains but in some heavier bursts we could see them at lower levels, and very windy. moving through friday into saturday, still afair bit through friday into saturday, still a fair bit of cloud around but you will notice the temperature recovering.

this is bbc news. the headlines: police officers across the uk are told to take a consistent approach when using their new emergency powers on restricting our movement, after some forces are criticised for being too aggressive. britian's transport secretary says it is a difficultjob. there will be one or two instances where perhaps they have not approached it in the right way, but in general actually across the country not only are people complying very well but generally speaking the police are taking a very sensible approach towards it all. the death toll in spain increases by 849, the highest daily number in since the epidemic started. spanish deaths now total to over 8,000.