president trump has warned that americans there in for a "very painful" two weeks as the white house warns the country's coronavirus outbreak could kill as many as 240,000 people. the death toll in the country is now more than 3,400, surpassing that of china. the british government has admitted it has to go further and faster with its testing programme for coronavirus cases. it has set a target of 25,000 tests a day by the end of april — but so far only around 8,000 tests are being carried out. the number of coronavirus cases in russia hasjumped by 500 in 2a hours — that's according to official government figures. the russian parliament has approved a series of laws aiming to slow the spread of the outbreak— including jail terms for those now on bbc news, with more

than a third of the global population confined to their homes — the world is going through an unprecedented social experiment. here's victoria derbyshire with stories of life in lockdown. hello, and welcome to this bbc news special. i'm victoria derbyshire. stay with us, as we look at the world in lockdown, as an estimated 3 billion of us are quarantined and forced to stay put. we look at how life for tens of millions has come to a standstill. plus, we will give you ideas on how to keep you and your loved ones safe. and a reminder there is further advice and information about covid—19 on the bbc news website. first, the bbc‘sjim reed takes a look atjust how many people around the world are in lockdown.

so it's vital to slow the spread of the disease. stay at home. it will break the chain of transmission and it will save lives. a quarter of the world is now living under some form of lockdown. 3 billion people have been told to stay at home. in most of europe, day—to—day life has stopped. in the north of italy, hospitals are still struggling to cope. it's three weeks now since the start of the world's first full national lockdown. the street is completely deserted. on a sunday afternoon, usually there would be, certainly, lots of people. translation: it is a national emergency situation. every one of us has a responsibility to our bit. so you mustn't approach each other. in northern europe, similar measures are now in force. in the uk, any social

gathering is now banned. the public has been ordered to stay at home, with only a few exceptions. so this is what a lockdown looks like in the south of london. you're allowed to go out for essential needs, so i've been in the house for a couple of days now, about to go out to the big supermarket. they're now restricting the number of people in the building at any one time, so the queue to get in goes around there and finishes there. there are differences, though. in sweden, schools, cafes and bars have stayed open, at least for the moment. in the us, meanwhile, some individual states are moving faster than others. the sooner we get back to normal the better, but obviously that's up to the experts. even the president has to listen to all those people and hopefully he'll do that. new york state still makes up around half of all cases nationally. broadway theatres and schools have been shut. residents have been ordered to stay at home.

in asia, 1.3 billion indians have been told to stay indoors for 21 days. the government is desperate to stop the virus spreading in its huge cities. translation: no-one is helping us. people are scared to give us a ride because of the virus. the police are also asking for identity cards. in other countries, though, rigourous infection tracking has allowed life to go on. in singapore, the streets are busy and the shops are open. it has closed its borders, but there's no lockdown. here, a heat sensitive camera takes your temperature before you are allowed into an apartment building or restaurant. i feel very fortunate to be living in a place like this in this moment, because most of my friends and family members, they don't have the luxury to contemplate the idea of going out for a drink. in china, meanwhile, the number of new hospital infections in the city where the outbreak began has slowed to a trickle.

and the residents of wuhan are now being allowed to walk the streets again. translation: for us, the news about lifting the lockdown is like the biggest recognition of staying at home for more than two months. it is a positive sign, then — a relaxation of restrictions in a world that elsewhere has been shutting itself down. in south korea, one of the first countries after china to be badly impacted by the spread of covid—i9, people have been confined to their homes for weeks, including one family who captured the world's attention back in 2017. academic professor robert kelly was working from home when his kids popped in to visit during this bbc interview. ..the question is, how do democracies respond to those scandals. and what will it mean for the wider region? i think one of your children hasjust walked in. i mean, shifting sands in the region, do you think relations with the north may change? i would be surprised if they do. the, um...

pardon me. that's quite all right. my apologies! that clip has been seen more than 36 million times. the bbc‘s david eades caught up with the kelly family to see how they were getting on with life in lockdown. i think south koreans have actually dealt with it really well. i think social compliance here has been pretty high. you don't see the kind of stuff that you've seen in the us, people going to the beaches, people refusing to stay off subways and stuff like that. i mean, south koreans have actually really responded really well. and that's why the curve hasd flattened, right? i mean, the cases are down now to, like, only 100 a day. so it's actually been pretty successful. sorry, my kids are... no, no! you must never — that is one thing you can never apologise for now. it's part of the scene, isn't it, it's what we expect. but in a sense, also, we're living in a world, robert, now, where working from home, that tele—working phenomenon, is something

we all have to deal with. people see this, they might have laughed and loved what they saw a couple of years ago, they can empathise now. this is a new way of working. and i guess it's transformational? yeah, i mean, it's pretty tough for us. as you can, see it's very difficult. and i put this on twitter too, right, that employers who have employees with kids, like, our age, it's going to be very, very difficult. i get maybe two hours of work done in a day, maybe three. we're fighting with them all the time, they've got nothing to do, they're climbing up the walls. it's just really, really tough, right? that's why i'm glad things are lightening up a little bit, because at least we can take them outside so they can use a little bit of their energy. three weeks ago it was very, very hard because they couldn't go anywhere. there are only so many games you can play and puzzles you can do before theyjust kind of, you know... meanwhile, people in italy have been under quarantine measures for several weeks. one of those is elisabetta abrami, confined to her small apartment in rome. she has been keeping a video diary of the ups and downs of a week in lockdown.

many of the very strict measures countries have introduced, forcing tens of millions into their homes and daily life coming to a standstill, have been welcomed. but there are concerns some governments are using the covid—19 outbreak to consolidate power and give certain leaders almost dictatorial powers. the bbc‘s christian fraser spoke to three academics and asked how they thought the lockdown

would change many of our lives. a lot depends on what choices are made in the next few months. i wouldn't want to make any crystal ball predictions right now. one thing i do know from past epidemics and past crises like these is that people are much more willing, when they are afraid, to give enormous powers sometimes to the state, and they will exchange freedom and exchange all kinds of other things in exchange for safety. and we have already seen, for example, how governments in italy and france have actually carried out a strict lockdown measures that have been popular and have won a lot of popular approval. we may also see some governments use this crisis in order to break or bend democracy. politicians keep turning to these war—like analogies. it is different to war in some respects, because we're not destroying things. so one would presume that it

would be easier to pick up the pieces. or has there been such a fundamental shock to the system, economic system, that things are going to change irrevocably? i think you're right, it is different from a war, both in terms of not having things destroyed but also in a war typically you see production re—orientated towards producing weapons and producing other things that military forces needed. in this case, basically both the demand and the supply side of the economy has been shut down dramatically because of the need for these extreme social distancing measures. i think when you look at the longer—term impact, clearly the longer these measures have to go on, the greater it will be. i think what you will begin to see

is that all different parts of society will look for greater economic resilience. so, firms, for example, will be looking to reshape their supply chains to make sure they're more robust and more able to cope with shocks of this kind, but potentially other kinds of shocks as well. individuals will want more social protection, they will want lower debts, they will save more and also seek more insurance. one of the lessons we're learning about how global politics will change is the high degree of interdependence among 195 nation states and 7 billion people, so it's terribly important there be a global response to this crisis as well as, of course, the local response where the front lines are. there's lots of things world leaders have to work on and where global politics will change globally is there's a second wave coming, the globe has to be. we know there will be future pandemics, we know climate change is an abiding concern of every country and so the g20, the united nations, european union, whatever the multinational mechanism is, this has to work

at an international level as well as at a governmental level. now, while the majority under lockdown conditions across the globe are staying at home, many are having to shelter in places where they have become stranded because of flights being cancelled and orders being closed. my name is dilys sila. i'm beth. i'm marcus. i'm ellie, i'm 26 and from the uk. i am with my friend claire, we're both from london, we're both stuck in sydney at the moment. we're just, sort of, sofa—surfing at the moment, we're staying in someone's garage. not ideal but at least a comfy bed. we went to the flight centre to try and book more flights and the lady laughed and said the flight‘s £20,000, and i said we don't have that sort of money, and she said money shouldn't be an object. we have a campervan at the moment but more campsites are closing. our current campsite closed its doors to the public today, so we've been told we are only allowed to stay until the 13th of march,

which is when our booking ended. all of the kitchen and laundry are closed, so we have to do our cooking, cleaning, washing, all for three people in the van at the moment. we've tried to ring the british consulate and we e—mailed, but we've not had reply yet. i'm currentlty in accra, ghana. i flew on the fifth of march hoping to return on the 31st. the president of the country did the national address and said no flights would be going in or out of the country for about two weeks to control the coronavirus pandemic. they tell you to go and rebook the flight but you can't because they're not taking into account the borders are actually closed, so we're stuck and we don't know what to do. we've had to flights cancelled in the last week or so, and basically we've had to rent an apartment in auckland. it's very expensive. my partner has just retired from the nhs, and is desperate to get back to help there in the uk.

we're basically stranded and marooned, and we could be here a long time. we're literally trapped here in sydney, we have no idea what to do anymore. no place tuesday and no money because no flights have been refunded to us. we're at our wits' end and all we want to do is come home. please, someone, help us. we feel like we've been forgotten, so saying we should fly back if we can, they need to take into account some countries have borders closed and they need to do more to help. the lockdown is also affecting millions who share accommodation. ella is in a flat—share in north london and showed us around her flat and what they're doing to stay safe. hi, my name is ella and i live in north london with four other people. now, one of my housemates is in the high—risk category, so i'm going to show you some of the measures we've put in place to keep everybody safe.

first things first, and no prizes for this one, we wash our hands as soon as we get in. even though we've got a fair amount of space where we live, it's quite difficult to remember to keep the recommended government distance of two metres, which is about the length of a small elephant. thankfully, the hygiene measures we've put in place are a lot easier to keep up. in the bathroom... we keep the bathroom as clean as possible. no more shared hand towels, we separate our toothbrushes and we even have our own personal supply of loo roll. in the kitchen... no more shared tea towels and each housemaid has their own cutlery and crockery. we keep the place clean and antibac the dinner table after every use.

one final rule, we make sure the doorknobs and light switches are cleaned once a day. it may seem like a lot of rules, but having housemates certainly has its upsides. you can check in on each other and see how they're doing in these wild old times. cheers, pal! while people are stuck and home, loads of people are finding creative ways to fill the time, like rachel leary. a clip of her raving to the bbc news theme tune has spawned hundreds of copycats across social media. the bbc‘s sophia smith galer as well as david lowe, who composed the tune. i am massively fan—girling right now, because here we have rachel, who is responsible for one of the best videos on the internet right now. how funny is that to say?

oh my goodness! and we have david, who is responsible for composing that very bbc news theme tune. that's the one! david, are you aware that the internet right now is full of people raving to your theme tune? it's a very pleasant shock to see people doing that, especially rachel's... i think it sounded brilliant! i don't know how you put it together, but it sounded absolutely fantastic. yeah, tiktok is a pretty crazy place at the moment. there's been a video going round for a while now of people doing fake dj sets, but it's to a completely different song. my mum would tell you, i always, whenever the bbc news theme comes on, would be, like, sat on the sofa, like, thumbing my fists up in the air, and she found it so funny that i was just, like, "i'm gonna combine these two together." oh my god, it's got the beat, it's got the... what would you call it in musical terms? it's not like the key change, but it's like the beat change that really, like, everyone's... like, the drop! the drop in, like, the song. crescendo, i think that's

what you're talking about. 0k! the idea was the pips on the radio, when you hear the beats you know you're listening to the radio and it's time for the news, and i thought maybe... i was thinking we could do there one with a dance beat because it's all about time and accuracy and stuff. gets you hyped up for the news. you could use the pip like this and then, which is a sound in itself that works, and then start adding drums to it like... a bit more drums like that, and just building up the idea. so pips for the dance beat and then adding the baseline. i can hear this in ibiza now. the baseline's a bit of a reggaeton feel to it. that sort of feel. then building it with big drums to add a bit of drama and tension. just so many people have messaged me from the bbc saying, "thank you so much sharing that — it's really boosted my morale

today," and some of those people who have messaged me are broadcast—critical. we rely on them to keep the bbc news on the air and ijust wanted to say thank you. finally to australia, where the control measures there stopped a pub choir from being able to perform at their local watering hole, so they went online and asked people to film themselves singing close to you by the carpenters. more than 1,000 different people from 18 countries responded to their request. # why do stars fall down from the sky # every time you walk by? #just like me, they long to be # close to you # they want to be close # 0n the day that you were born

the angels got together # and decided to create a dream come true # so they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold # and starlight in your eyes of blue. ..# that's it for now. you can keep up—to—date with all the latest information on the lockdown in your area and your country on our website. you can contact me at any time on twitter — i'm @vicderbyshire. thanks for watching. hello. tuesday was marked by fairly cloudy skies across much of central and northern britain, and i think that's going to be the way for many of us as we get on through wednesday. rain to contain with as well, especially at the start of the day across the northern and western isles of scotland, north of the great glen too. this is the weather front is gradually working its way south with time. bright enough to start

in the south, but the cloud shield eventually filling in here and come mid—afternoon, i think we'll find the last of the rain associated with the weather front getting into northern ireland and maybe just hanging on into the south—west of scotland. elsewhere, a lot of cloud around, brighter skies to finish the day perhaps across the north of scotland, but the wind here will become a real feature overnight and a raft of blustery showers rattling in, not only to the northern isles but widely across northern and western scotland, and it's the combination of the strength of the wind widely across the country and the cloud which will keep many frost—free as we start the new day on thursday. by thursday, the weather front will have tracked its wayjust that little bit further south towards the scottish borders towards northern ireland, so quite a bit of cloud here to start the day. but as you'll see, there's not an awful lot of rain associated with that feature as it drifts its way further south during the day. brighter skies following on behind, but that wind really noticeable.

these are the gusts widely across the british isles. certainly 30mph or a0 mph across some northern parts. scotland — we're looking at about 50mph or so. pretty raw there. further south ahead of the weather front, temperatures still holding on to double figures, but as that front completes its journey heading ever further south as we go into friday, so i think there will be generally speaking a fresher feel across the british isles but perhaps on friday, a better chance of seeing some sunshine. there'll still be a rattle of showers into the northern and north—western parts of scotland. top temperature on the day to be found at the other end of the country, getting to a high of 11 or 12, with quite a mound of cloud around, but there will be some sunshine as well. from friday into saturday, high—pressure drifting towards the continent, allowing a southerly to develop ahead of weather fronts which will be a bit of a player for western areas on sunday. but ahead of that, the temperatures are set to rise as we pull in those southerly breezes.

welcome to bbc news, i'm simon pusey. our top stories: hard times ahead, president trump tells americans to brace themselves as the country's death toll surpasses that of china. this is going to be a very painful, very, very painful two weeks. the british government admits it has to increase coronavirus testing, with only a fraction if its daily target of 25,000 currently being carried out. when even a handshake makes news. why russia's president finds himself at the center of coronavirus concerns. and we take a look at some of the companies changing gears to do their bit in the fight against the virus.