the us vice president has warned americans to expect a coronavirus scenario comparable to italy. the warning comes as america now has 200,000 confirmed infections, and over 4,500 deaths. in new york alone, nearly 400 people died in the past 2a hours. britain has also recorded its worst one—day figure for coronavirus—related deaths, 563 — a rise of nearly a third. the government is facing increasing pressure over its handling of the outbreak, amid criticism over shortages of protective equipment for frontline health workers and delays in ramping up testing. italy has extended its stringent lockdown measures, but families are now allowed to take their children for a walk. one of the hardest, cruelest parts

of all this is burying the dead, and the fact that social distancing rules mean hardly anyone can attend a funeral now. maybe 10 people at most — all 2 metres apart. cremations are closed to the public. only a small number of mourners are allowed at graveside burials. some funerals are now being streamed online. 0ur ireland correspondent, emma vardy, reports. the last time i seen her was when she was being put into the ambulance. it's heartbreaking. just heartbreaking. i wouldn't wish it on anyone. no church service, only a prayer at the graveside for anne best from fermanagh, who died from coronavirus. despite a lifetime together, her husband of 51 years, tom, now in isolation, was unable to be with her at the end. i told myself that i was going

to break all the rules and walk up there and see her buried, and i couldn't do that because it would be selfish on the other people. at least now they're together, and they're not suffering any more, you know, or in pain. yeah. so that's the main thing. quarantine is a lonely place to grieve. i'll put you on speaker. can you hear me 0k there? ican hearyou. we reached out to fiona in belfast — on the weekend both her mother and her father died from the virus within hours of each other. we held their hands and were hoping, even though they were not conscious, we were hoping they could hear us and knew that we were there. we got to say at least goodbye, which we know a lot of families haven't had that chance. her mother isobel will be buried, but her father christopher, known as arty, wished to be cremated, which will have to take place without any family there. we can't even do the normal — the wake, you know.

my mum would love it, my dad would love a big celebration. playing elvis. why did you want to share this? this is something i would never, ever normally do, but i want to do it for their memory and also to raise awareness about how real and serious this is. because, you know, they are notjust a statistic any more. it is heartbreaking for all our family. and nobody is able to do the natural things they would want to reach out and do. everyone... we are alljust in our houses, you know, all trying to stay safe. yeah, no, it's just... it's hard enough losing both your parents, especially so close together, but then you can't do the normal process and you can't, you know... so, yes, it is very, very hard. normally in northern ireland, large funerals are a common sight, so the restrictions feel all the more stark. no more than ten people can be at a graveside, and with mourners still compelled to socially distance, it is changing the way we are able to grieve. those who stand beside the bereaved

must ensure restrictions are respected. none of us want to do this. we want to assist our bereaved families. we don't want to get to the stage where it is just going to be us and the grave—diggers and the minister at the graveside. it's a hard conversation to have. but i mean, we feel as funeral directors we can still stand together with the bereaved and help them through it in a dignified and most respectful manner that we've done for years. mourning the dead is often said to be as much about a celebration of life, and many people who have lost someone during this time are hoping to arrange more fitting services for their loved ones when the restrictions have passed. but right now, the full grieving process is on hold. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. now on bbc news, the travel show. my name is tony giles. i'm from england. i'm totally blind and severely

deaf in both ears. and i'm travelling around the world trying to visit every country. we're in the old city! israel is country 124. i see a place with my senses — i see a place by the sounds, by the smells, by the textures. the hustle and bustle of people shouting, buy this, buy this, come and look at this! i feel the atmosphere, the energy, the buzz. i was born with my eye condition, so i don't have any vision apart from sunlight sensitivity. and i've gradually gone deaf as i've

got older and i am now 80% or severely deaf in both ears but i use digital hearing aids. i travel alone, because it's the biggest challenge i can get. and the travelling by myself... excuse me! ..i get to interact with more people. if i travel with someone, particularly someone sighted, they would be doing all the work, they'd be doing all the guiding, and i would not get to touch and find as many things as i do by myself. today i'm going to catch a bus into the old city to go to the western wall. western wall? western wall, yeah. ok, let's go. i will help you. 0k. let me hold your arm like that. where are you from? i'm from england. huh? england! i was lucky that the bus driver was nearby waiting, so it was really easy to find the bus.

yeah, i've got it... let go, let go. new orleans was the first place i went to by myself — a foreign city by myself. didn't know where i was going, i was blind, and ijust froze. and then i took a couple of deep breaths and said to myself, "tony, this is what you want — if you don't want it go home." a couple more deep breaths, turn left, walk down the street, and the rest is history. excuse me, are you hear me...? this is your stop station. my stop? yes. you can get off. 0k, thank you. you want any help? i'm good. just trying to get my bearings, trying to work out which way the traffic is going, and if i can use the sunlight, but i can't sense any sun at all.

i have to be careful going down the steps, because they're all marble and slippery and worn so i have to go slowly and take care. no, no, it's ok. yeah, yeah, yeah. all right, thank you. two people came to try and help me but they were a bit aggressive, theyjust grabbed me, which is not the correct way to help — it's a bit frightening. if people want to help, and many people do, ideally you would want them to speak to you and say "hello, can i help?" but obviously not everyone speaks english. so if they don't, then touch you gently on the hand, on the arm, but not pull and not grab, ideally. you have to be patient, you get lost all the time. it's very difficult if you're looking for something specific when you can't see.

because obviously you can't pinpoint it. excuse me? you might get ten people walk past and then someone will stop, "are you lost, do you need help?" and then you can interact with them — that's how it works. excuse me, is this damascus gate? yeah. straight in front of me, no? 0k. want to help? yeah. i like this! i like the atmosphere and the smells. and it's all close, and compact. it feels authentic.

i'm going to the western wall, and on the way i'm going to hopefully explore some of the via dolorosa, which is stages of the cross thatjesus walked. good morning, how are you? good, good, how are you? you want to see my shop souvenir? i could have a brief look, why not? yes? come on. what do you sell? very good! laughs. beautiful! yeah. this is coffee. coffee yea h ? ok, i get this. about $3. that's five? that's two five, yeah? yes. two five. thank you. i probably write a blog once a week,

so i document myjourneys, and my travels, and i want to share it with the world, really, and try and inspire people to believe in themselves, and they can overcome whatever their challenges are. and i also add pictures i've taken. 0riginally i did it because i thought it would just be funny, someone seeing a blind person take photos. it's an extra way of sharing, i can show my family and friends and stuff, that's the idea, to try and share with everyone. thank you. excuse me! take the hand! people... don't leave him! over here... 0k, thank you. someone on a motorbike coming

through, that's not very clever. hello. looking for the station of the cross... this way, this way... this is the station of the cross? come back. 0k... then to the left... this is where he put his hand, here. this is where christ... up, up, up, up... to the right... yes, exactly. 0h, 0k! thank you! welcome. apparently i'm at one of the stages of the cross, wherejesus put his hand on the wall and leant against a wall. defined handprint, very smooth, also quite rigid, quite bumpy. it's a lovely texture.

right, this is some barrier, i presume. hmm. is this the way in? hello? sorry, machine? womans. woman? yeah, it's not man. the wall is sort of separated, male and female, and the guy took me into the male section and took me up to the wall. 0k. there's all these notes in it. massive blocks, very smooth. the texture, the shape of the wall, the bricks, from a historical and a spiritual point of view, it's worth visiting.

tony at the western wall. so, i'm heading to bethlehem, which is in palestinian territory. and it's separated by a dividing wall and a checkpoint. so, i'm going to have to get off the bus, get through the checkpoint, and somehow meet my host. i e—mailed him using my laptop with speech software, and he sent me his phone number, and i memorised it, and i'm trying to call him with my phone now. i can use the phone because the buttons are tactile. i couldn't travel without my memory, my memory is my biggest asset. i'm using my memory constantly, i'm exercising it all the time — i have to remember phone numbers, i have to remember directions.

it allows me to find things. my memory gives me my independence, along with my cane. i'm now at the checkpoint betweenjerusalem and bethlehem. i've got to walk across the checkpoint and go past the dividing wall. railings... getting through the checkpoint is a little bit complicated. slightly more complicated than i thought, slightly more confusing. and then we'd just have to sort of try and follow other people, people sort of pushing me from one way to the other. have to get past this... looks like we're on the palestinian side, the palestinian territories.

it's quite exhilarating. as you come out of the tunnel into the taxi area, and where the wall is, you can hear all the people talking and smell the food and coffee and stuff. that's quite lively, that's quite interesting. can you show me to a taxi? taxi cab. i'm looking for a taxi. where? church of the nativity. 0k. maybe you want, i'll take you for photo at the wall, we stop and take photo. 0k, cool. you happy? yeah, always! how big is the wall?

it's very big. 30... 20 metres? yes. it's far. tony... yeah? welcome to bethlehem, you're going to church? yeah, the church of the nativity. all this way... yes, wall. behind the wall you have hotel banksy behind the wall, you have hotel. i'm feeling excited to be in bethlehem, it's a new city, new town, new experiences. driving through bethlehem, along the wall, has sort of given me a brief sense of how long the wall could be. it certainly feels quite long travelling along it.

in my mind it would seem quite impressive. and i guess quite scary to a lot of people. here the church, tony. yes, this the church. ijust called my host to let him know i'm still coming. adam, we're at the church. hello?! hello... ? adam? give me, i call him... hello... ? adam? give me, i call him... hello? i call him, he's coming, one minute he coming here. thanks, mohammed. thank you. hi, tony, how are you? hi, adam, good to meet you, looking forward to seeing your place.

how many country you visit before? i've visited 124 countries. oh, my god, that's nice! yeah. yeah! you're like ali baba. i'm very lucky! i love to travel! have you done much travelling? not... just here, it's not easy to go move, or to travelling another country. so you get travellers to come to you? yeah! you have steps here... this is actually couch surfing, so in theory you stay for free. 0k, have steps, five... you live in a castle! yeah.

it's a website and you can find people on it, they have profiles, and they want to travel or they want to meet travellers, and that's how it works. now, come here, the lift. oh, this is home! we've landed, thank you! shukran. i have had a wide range of couch experiences, i've slept on floors, on mattresses like this, i've slept on couches, and also i have couch slept in africa where the toilet‘s outside, and it's a hole in the ground. i think it probably helps not seeing, i don't see the dirt or the danger or the holes, ijust get on with it. the main thing is you're meeting

the people, the local hosts and sharing their food and their culture and their knowledge and whatever they can offer you. and hopefully you make friends at the end of it. good night and good dreams. shukran, and to you. people think being blind must be terrible, poor you, they don't understand, they don't know what they're talking about. i'm so lucky and i'm leading a fantastic life, to be able to go country to country when i want, where i want... this is the way to travel! with very few restrictions on what i want to photograph or do, and you come here and you see people, yeah, they can see and they can walk but they can't go places, it's just sad. you know for directions to go trains? ok, so can you give me directions? just a straight, not left, not right. so, just straight? yeah. and i wish you be happy

and lucky in your life. 0k. shukran. bye—bye, good to meet you, adam. bye — bye. bye— bye. is this the entrance to the church? you can go in straight now. 0k, thank you. i can roughly hear a voice but it's a bit disconcerting. the echo splits the sound, so it takes away the direction. we'll get there, it can't be far.

there is a big metal thing with studs which could be... yes, that's a gate! oh, yes! yes, oil, candles... it's got a waxy smell... polish. finding the entrance is like reaching my goal, it's like reaching my target, and everything else after this is a bonus. 0nce they've started singing, isuppose, louder, and i thought i've got to get close to this, because there's going to be a lot of energy involved, and then i've got to try and get closer and closer, eventually using my cane and picking out the steps, then a guy helped me down.

realising that i was the only person to get close to hear that, feel that, makes me feel very privileged, very warm inside. i'm absolutely buzzing after that. energy is incredible! that was cool, just to be here for that if nothing else. it was quite crowded going down those steps, and they're quite slippery, very deep. oh, my goodness! from the fire into the furnace. very hot in here, and i guess it's from candles and

more people coming in. this is my hand, yeah? this is the place where jesus was born, here is the star where he was born. kneel down on your knees. kneel down... more, more, more, more, more, more, more... you can touch the place wherejesus was born. this is the star, it has 14... it's a flower, or? no, it's a star. the star of david, yeah. marble? the ground wherejesus was born is down here, you feel it, he was born here. so this is the grotto. yes, he was born here. 0k. about there? yeah, it's not ok like this, let me help you a little bit,

it's like this, you can take a photo now... definitely an experience, a very humbling experience, to sort of be in a place where one might argue history occurred 2000 years or so ago. visiting the church, the smells, the sounds, that's what makes travelling, for me, special. i travel by myself because it's my challenge, it's like climbing a mountain, you feel, oh, this is difficult, it's a struggle, and then you get to the top, and you're like, yeah, i've made it, this is magical.

that's what it's all about. broadens my horizons. and makes me become, hopefully, a better person. hello. 0ur weather is about to do a 190 degree turn in the next few days. in the end of the week, colder as we pick up northerly, north—westerly winds and then by the weekend, much warmer, temperatures soaring as we switch round was southerly or south—westerly and here we go, thursday, friday, behind one area of low pressure cold air sinks in. saturday sunday, low pressure

tries to come in from the west and we switch around much warmer air. here we are today with colder trickling in from the north behind a wea k trickling in from the north behind a weak weather front. showers scotland, northern ireland, parts of england, when as the cold air are wives, gusty winds across shetland. windy day across the board and the temperature profile gives you some indicator as to how far south of the cold air will slide during thursday afternoon. it will be right the way across the uk for friday but come saturday, the wind starts to turn southerly and by sunday, those temperatures begin to soar, potentially even up to 20 degrees in the south.

this is bbc news, i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: expect it to be like italy, the trump administration issues a stark warning about the spread of coronavirus. together, we have the power to save countless lives. we are attacking the virus at every front, with social distancing, economic support. here in the uk the daily death toll passes 500 for the first time. italy extends its stringent lockdown measures, but families are now allowed to take their children for a walk. and the painter david hockney, in lockdown in france, shares with us some of the drawings that have kept him busy.