this is bbc news — the headlines: the total number of people who have died in hospitalfrom coronavirus in the uk has risen by 938 to more than 7000. however the director of the national health service said the number of new infections and hospital admissions are starting to show signs of flattening. there is growing concern in the united states of the apparently disproportionate impact of coronavirus on black americans. statistics from chicago alone showed that its black population accounted for 70% of death from covid—19 complications. and there is similar information from new york. the sauddi—led coalition fighting in yemen announced they are holding military operations for two weeks. starting on thursday, there are attempts to support un brokered peace talks to end five years of war.

now bbc news, victoria derbyshire has more information on health advice on the coronavirus outbreak in this special programme. hello and welcome to this bbc news special. i'm victoria derbyshire. over the next half—an—hour, we will share the latest information, health advice and reports about the world on lockdown because of coronavirus. we will show you what to do if someone you are living with starts to show symptoms. plus we will find out how other pandemics have changed the world, and what is expected. and a reminder, there is further health advice, news and information about coronavirus on the bbc news website.

but first, millions of us are now living and working at home. what happens when the person you are sharing with starts to show the symptoms of the virus? the bbc‘s laura foster explains how to live and look after someone who may have covid—19. caring for someone with coronavirus at home. one, what they need. someone with coronavirus symptoms needs rest, nutritious food and to regularly drink lots of water. paracetamol can help lower a fever but if symptoms get worse and don't paracetamol can help lower a fever but if symptoms get worse or don't go away after a week, then contact your health service. two, isolate their area. they will need to stay isolated at home next seven days. ideally they should have their own room and food should be left out the door. if you have to be in the same room, keep two metres away and possible, where a medical mask don't touch it and throw it away when you leave the room. do you share a kitchen or bathroom?

in that case, have a shared room area that you use before they do and clean them afterwards. numberthree, clean, clean, clean. everything they've touched could be infected so clean things like door handles often, give them a bin for the tissues and don't shake dirty laundry — that could spread the virus. wash your hands regularly after you've been near them, when cooking and before you eat. number four, isolate yourself. everyone in the house needs to isolate for two weeks. all your medicine and food should be delivered and left on your doorstep. you can exercise outside but keep 2m from everyone else. remember, you can only take care of someone if you yourself are well. part of their care is your care. meanwhile, in the united states, where hundreds of thousands of people have tested positive, many pregnant women are at home, approaching term and understandably anxious to know how the birth of their child could be impacted if the local hospitals are overwhelmed with virus cases. angelica cassas has this report.

when it's the birth of your child, you want to feel like you are in control and i am just so not. that's pretty scary. the covid—19 outbreake has obviously been very terrifying, especially for pregnant women. i would advise for everyone to come up with a plan, come up with a plan with their family and their loved ones, come up with a plan together with their 0bs. traditionally, if you're pregnant in the united states, you visit with a doctor for regular check—ups leading up to your due date. when it's time to give birth, you are hospitalised, go into labour and are released a couple of days following your child's birth. now covid—19 is changing some of that. hospitals are restricting partners from being a part of the birthing process. fears over the coronavirus are leading more pregnant women to consider delivering their babies at home. so the couple purchased this medical supply kit online

for a possible home birth. everything is super uncertain right now. we talked a pregnant woman about how they are feeling and about how the coronavirus pandemic is making them rethink their birth plans. my name is carly rangers, i am 22 years old i am expecting my first child. i was already a high—risk pregnancy. it's very likely that i will have to get a c—section or i will go into pre—term labour, which means i'll deliver early. every day, the news just kind of seems more bleak. i went from feeling so prepared and then as soon as this hit, well, money has to come from somewhere. my partner got laid off temporarily because the virus. you want to be proactive and prepare for things but you don't know what to prepare for. pregnancies is already a stressful and challenging time. there are major life changes, body changes, emotional changes and pregnancy during a pandemic brings all new kinds of challenges in stressful situations as well. this is dr lina wen —

she's a physician, the former health commissioner of baltimore and a former president of planned parenthood. for her, this is also personal. i'm 38 weeks pregnant myself at the moment. pregnant people are still medically vulnerable because of changes to their immune system, to their physiology and should take extra precautions the way that other categories of people who are medically vulnerable should take precautions as well. we believe, based on the limited data we have, there is no maternal foetal transmission because there is no covid—i9 found in amniotic fluid, it's not found in breast milk but these are preliminary studies and there is a lot that we just don't know about the impact of covid—i9 on pregnancy. being pregnant is terrifying enough, because of all the things that could go wrong. because of anita's age, she is even more at risk. i am in my mid—to—late 40s. i was going to have a baby shower that i was excited about because this is a first pregnancy, and i may not be able to have that. that's kind of heartbreaking.

anita lives in new york, the epicentre of the virus in the united states right now. there's always the fear infection, and contamination. you're still dealing with medical staff. you wonder how much cross—pollination there is. unfortunately when we look at what has happened in other countries, there are certainly documented cases of people having delayed care during pregnancy or even forgoing certain types of care during pregnancy because their providers have simply not been available during this overwhelming capacity of demands on our healthcare system. i actually was going to look into a doula around now and of course, with these new recommendations, i'm not sure if it's the right thing to do. now is the time to prepare. this is not a time to panic. there are steps that we can take to prepare ourselves and our families. for many, being cooped up at home can be claustrophobic and tough on your mental health, but for people under lockdown and in quarantine in migrant

and refugee camps, there are added pressures to contend with. the simple task of even regularly washing your hands becomes really, really difficult. 0ur population correspondent stephanie hegarty reports on the situation in camps in greece, speaking to people in the moria settlement in lesvos, where 18,000 people are staying in a facility built for 3,000 people, and cases of covid—i9 are already on their doorstep. wash your hands, we are being told. keep surfaces clean. use hand sanitiser. stay 2m away from each other. but how do you stop coronavirus in a refugee camp? refugee and migrant camps are a ticking time bomb for a coronavirus outbreak, and very few of them more so than moria in covid—i9 in greece, where 18,000 people are living in a facility built for 3,000. you can't travel to moria.

greece has a quarantine in place for visitors, and we don't want to risk bringing the virus there. but a group of young filmmakers have sent us this footage. there are the water taps. there is no water inside it, there's no water. yasser is 18. he's been here forfive months. and the trashes are right next to them, so it's disgusting. the few hours that people have access to water, and at that times, it's overcrowded and someone would like to use the water, there's also other toilets. you see them, they are not usable. people have no good access to doctor, ‘cause about the crowding. and they have no access to corona masks, to prevent themselves from virus corona.

and that's it. coughs. while the rest of europe is being told to stay home, people here have to crowd around a truck to get a limited supply of drinking water every day. they have to queue for food, and like everywhere else in europe, the shops on the island of lesbos are running out of soap and cleaning products. that shortage will hit the camp hard. and this is where the shower of the men's, and as you can see, it's really, really dirty. it's the same as the shower here. a small group of people living here are doing whatever they can to try to prepare for an outbreak. deen mohammed is a pharmacist from afghanistan. the who says cotton masks aren't very effective but at least it's something.

so this is now a factory and these are our volunteers. hello, guys. there are no cases in the camp yet but medecins sans frontieres, who are working here, are preparing for the worst. do you worry, as governments are dealing with a pandemic, refugees and migrants might be left behind. yes, that's the big worry. if people are coming here sick, we know they should be in self—isolation and this is just impossible in moria. so it's the worst set—up that you could have, and if the outbreak starts in moria, it's going to be extremely difficult to contain. the greek government say they are setting up isolation containers, but msf

worry it's not enough. they are calling on the government to evacuate sick and elderly people, with better health facilities. meanwhile, people here do what they can to keep the virus out. stephanie hegarty, bbc news. now, with so many people under lockdown and unable to move around, it stands to reason that people are travelling less and therefore greenhouse gases have decreased as a result. there's been reports that the air pollution levels of the major cities in places like india, for example, have dropped significantly. but climate scientists are warning despite these positive signs, the virus could still have a negative impact on the environment. here's why.

so that is the effect this pandemic could have on the environment but what about the economy? some leaders including donald trump and the brazilian president have questioned whether the price of a major economic downturn is worth paying in return for attempting to stop the spread of coronavirus. there is no doubt the virus is having a huge impact on hundreds and millions of us, but it's not the first time it has happened. the world has suffered from many pandemics including the spread of hiv, hong kong flu in 1968 and swine flu in 2009. here is what may be in store for the globe once the current pandemic starts to wane. the most commonly used comparison to today's pandemic is the 1918 spanish flu which infected about a quarter of the world's population and at the time killed an estimated 50 million people. globally gdp shrank around 10% over the three years of spanish flu between 1918 and 1920.

the un predicts that the global economy could shrink by almost 1% this year due to the covid—19 pandemic, instead of growing at a projected 2.5%. by comparison, the world economy contracted by 1.7% during the global financial crisis in 2009. to discuss how the world has shifted by pandemics in the past, i am joined by nicole hemmer, a historian at columbia university new york and to look at how we can prepare ourselves for the future, aisha ahmad, a professor of political science at the university of toronto. thank you both forjoining us here on the program. let's begin with you, aisha. this is the first time perhaps we are experiencing something collectively in real—time. for many people this is indeed the first time they have ever experienced system—level disaster and as a planet this is the most seismic global experience that we have had, most of us, in our lifetimes.

i think the queen's message, in harkening back to the second world war, really hit home for many people because it was the first time that across such far distances and different cultures and languages we are really confronted with the same global catastrophe. and so, yes, this is absolutely a watershed moment, notjust for our individual countries and communities but for the entire world. nicole, the fact is that pandemics and diseases have terrorised us through history. that is absolutely the case and what we see from studying those previous pandemics, particularly the one you were talking about, the 1918—1919 flu, they change societies on a cellular level. after this flu end, and this world war that was raging at the same time end, societies changed fundamentally. in the us they become both politically conservative as people seek a return to normalcy but also there are religious revivals, new feminism,

an upsurge of black art and culture that was released by this sense of having survived this catastrophic period. it is interesting because it begs the question then are we in a 1929 period where we had the great depression and then we had the nazis after that or are we in a state of 1945 where many institutions were built and we rethought the way in which we function. we won't know until the moment is over and it is a period right now where people are looking inward and saying what are these systems that we have and why are they failing us? but as we see with things like 0rban's edict in turkey this can be a period where fascism and dictatorship come to the fore again. it is just one of those things that while we can learn from what has

happened in the past, we cannot necessarily predict what will happen in the future. aisha, even before the pandemic there was a lot of discussion about the end of the liberal international order and are you in agreement there with nicole when she says that after a period like this we see the tightening of the grip on societies and authoritarianism? i don't think that is necessarily the direction we have to go. really, we are at the very early stages of this global transformation and i think it is very important for us to take a step back and realise that we are co—creators of the world as it will be today and as it will be in the future. right now there are actually many opportunities for transformation depending on which direction we as a global community decide to go. this epidemic has also shown us the tremendous interdependency that we have on each other across borders. if you had asked me three months ago how likely

we were to be able to transform our society to mitigate global climate change — i am an optimist and i would not have been able to give you a good answer. but it is incredible how much we have transformed in the face of a common calamity and so i do not think the history books are written towards us going the path of isolation and conservatism necessarily, we may indeed have the opportunity to transform our societies towards the good. with easter approaching most places of worship in many countries are shut, with priests, imams and rabbis resorting to conducting services via the internet to stay in touch with worshippers. but all souls church in central london, known worldwide for the quality of its music, has designed a weekly online service complete with hymns and singing. the bbc‘s religion editor martin bashir has been talking to michael andrews, the man who conducts the choir from his home. this is god's reminder

that something is wrong. this is church during a pandemic. here is a virus we cannot see. the enemy might be anywhere. this rector normally looks out at hundreds of congregants. this is church during a pandemic. now it is a single camera and online worshippers. you can get it without symptoms and yet it may kill me. god is speaking to us, reminds us our life is more fragile than we like to think. church organ plays the music at all souls is world—renowned but the choir is now dispersed across the city. so how do you hold a sunday service when no—one can come to church? that was the challenge, martin. we have been stitching together audio clips of people playing into their smartphones and tablets at home. flutes, clarinets, and saxes. we can switch to some strings. here is the woodwind.

we have an organist and then putting that together and making split—screen video with many people playing, it is just amazing. the sound that we were able to get when you combine it together blew me away while i was editing it. in christ alone plays i will give you a little bit of eric singing on his own. # no pow'r of hell, no scheme of man...# 0urjob is bringing god and people together and most of the time we think it is hard to meet with god, now it is hard to meet face—to—face with people. we have to think freshly. just hearing a voice or seeing a face is far more valuable than an e—mail or a text.

it has been incredible still knowing that when you are watching there are literally hundreds if not thousands are watching the services in the morning and also knowing that it is notjust london. people are watching all over the world. and that would never have happened before this. this church has inadvertently stumbled upon a new way of worshipping and a local congregation has become a global one. that is it for now but before we go we thought we would share some of the striking images from the last few days as the virus continues to affect the lives of so many of us.

you can keep up—to—date with all the latest information on the lockdown in your area on our website and you can contact me on twitter at any time. hello there. wednesday was the warmest day of the year so far — temperatures reached 2a celsius in sussex. on wednesday and again on thursday, though, we've still got this weak whether front moving very slowly northwards across scotland. to the south of that, many parts of the uk in that warmer air once again and those temperatures will get a boost in the sunshine.

but we've got more cloud on that weather front, moving northwards across scotland, lingering in the north—east of england, making it cooler. maybe a bit of rain from that too. to the south, some variable clouds, some good sunny spells. probably the sunniest weather towards the south—west. this is where we are more likely to see the highest temperatures. and it will be quite a bit cooler underneath the cloud in scotland and noticeably so in the north—east of england. there will also be an onshore breeze too. now, that cloud will continue to drift its way northwards, up toward the northern isles, taking a bit of rain there overnight. but elsewhere, i think, we will see some good clear spells, particularly further south, across england and wales. but, after the warmth in the sunshine during the day, temperatures here probably no lower than around eight or nine degrees. into friday — good friday — and a few changes for the northern half of the uk. whilst there may be some sunshine, there's a chance of catching a few showers which could be heavy. they are very hit and miss, mind you. for much of england and wales it's probably going to be dry. the sunniest skies for the midlands southwards and here temperatures again 23, maybe even 2a degrees.

a little bit milder, i think, across the north—east of england and for many parts of scotland. as we move into the weekend, we will start to see some erosion of the area of high pressure. pressure starting to drop a bit. lots of weather fronts coming in from the atlantic. they will certainly bring more cloud and maybe some showery bursts of rain, some wetter weather, particularly across scotland and perhaps into northern ireland, even the chance of a shower or two not farfrom the south—west of england. but again, many parts of england and wales should be dry, still enjoying some sunshine and some warmth with the highest temperatures across the south—east of england. and that is where we will see any remaining warmth on easter day, because there's more showers likelty to develop across england and wales, with soem heavier ones towards wales and the south—west. a little bit drier across scotland and northern ireland but temperatures beginning to ebb away and it will turn cooler. monday, the showers into the south and south—west will fade away and instead around an area of high pressure we will see a northerly wind. drier but cooler.

this is bbc news. welcome here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the world. i'm rich preston. coronavirus takes another 900 lives in the uk, bringing the national total to over 7,000. there have now been over 111,000 deaths in the united states. how a cough in a supermarket helps to spread the virus. new evidence suggests masks do provide vital protection. and in russia, the show must go on line. despite the pandemic, dances from one of russia's oldest theatres are taking their performances to the web.