hello i'm ros atkins, welcome to outside source. this week president trump said of america's handling of covidl9 — "we've done a good job". today america has passed 3 million infections — by far the highest in the world. 3 million infections — the number of people who've tested positive for coronavirus in the united states has officially passed three million. but the white house insists the latest wave of cases is flattening out. because of what the american people have done because of the extremely work of health care workers around the country, we are encouraged that

the country, we are encouraged that the average fatality rate continues to be low and steady. we'll also be in washington for more on the us decision to leave the who. this isn't really news we'd want but the who is saying it's now looking at evidence that covid can be spread by tiny particles in the air. we'll explain more on this. the uk government's has unveiled a 20 billion pound plan to support the economy. our message to businesses claire, if you stand by your workers we will stand by you. —— clear. stand by you. —— clear. and melbourne has begun its lockdown. we'll hear from one resident who's not allowed to leave home in any circumstances. welcome. yet another stark statistic from america to begin today's programme. the us has now recorded more than three million coronavirus infections — far more than anywhere else. that means the us has more cases than asia and europe together. here's vice president mike pence. sadly, more than 133,000 americans

have lost their lives. in our sympathies are with all of the impacted families. and while we mourn with those who mourn because of what the american people have done, because of the extraordinary work of our health care workers around the country we are encouraged that the average fatality rate continues to be low and study. this isn't going away. in the past 24—hours the us reported a record 60,000 new cases. california and texas both recorded 10,000 new cases on tuesday. and testing is being escalated. anyone without symptoms can get a test now in texas, louisiana and florida. miami is a particular concern. from wednesday, indoor dining at restaurants is out — and gyms are closing. anthony zurcher is in washington for us. anthony, this is of course a health crisis but i assume it's almost a political crisis now for the trump administration two. absolutely. they we re administration two. absolutely. they

were promising that if states began reopening, getting back to business as usual the economy would rebound and the virus wouldn't research. the problem is while we see some good news with the economy and employment is dropped and economic growth has started to come back at the same time the virus has been spiking. and all indications that these new closures that are being ordered in states like texas and arizona and california and florida, that is going to take a toll on the economy as well. we are about for months away from a presidential election with the housing crisis continuing and the economy very likely starting to turn south again. and to what degree can donald trump and mike pence dictate house dates handle this in terms of their economies and restrictions? it's always been up to the governors. and trump essentially cheerleading or pressuring depending on the circumstances trying to get them to take action. the latest battle ground right now is in the public schools. donald trump is

pressuring state to reopen schools at the end of august, beginning september. a lot of school districts are very reluctant to do that because the virus is still very much a widespread and growing in the number of states. he is setting up another source conflict where kids wa nt to another source conflict where kids want to delete that parents won't have the kids back in school but they're not sure it's a full top teachers don't want to go back and lets it say. it is good becoming a partisan divide where you have donald trump and republican saying it's time to do this while democrats and public health workers are saying no, you have to try to find a safe rate of doing it. and it'sjust going to get worse the closer and closer we get to the fall. anthony, stay with us. another story, this time yesterday the us began formally withdrawing from the world health 0rganization. today secretary of state mike pompeo has been explaining why. but, don't forget the history. this is an institution that had a run on sars, wrong on a bowler, the united states had to create its own system to do the work to prevent and come up with

solutions to the hiv—aids problem. we did that, the united states or that. the world health organisation has a long history of corruption and politicalization. one senior us official had told cbs news that who has failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms. we also know the president is hostile. he called the president is hostile. he called the who a puppet of china. he says who failures have cost lives. here is mike pompeo again. we are not going to underwrite an organisation that has historically been incompetent and not performed its fundamental function. there is a real focus on the failures that took place around wuhan. in the world health organisation fundamental inability to perform its basic, core mission of preventing a global pandemic spread. well, we've seen widespread regret or regret at all trump decision. germany said it's a setback to international cooperation. china chose stronger language. the usa's action has

broken international efforts towards fighting the pandemic. and it is especially brought about a negative impact on developing countries that urgently need international support. we urge the us to carry out its international obligation to show us the image of a responsible power. you have to give a years notice to leave the who. so if donald trump we re leave the who. so if donald trump were to lose the election in november this may never come to pass. joe biden is challenger and he has been tweeting. . .. anthony, i am curious here, does membership of the who one way or another really cut through an day—to—day american politics? probably not. obviously, they are much more concerned with the virus in their own backyard, with the economy and with other issues. the

who i think represents an ideological divide between conservatives, donald trump conservatives, donald trump conservatives and liberals over the role of international organisations ona role of international organisations on a larger scale. towards dealing with global issues. if you listen to conservatives and donald trump, who, wto un, all those international organisations are kind of all of the same piece. and that if they don't help the united states and the united states has taken advantage of. on the flip side if you listen tojoe biden, of. on the flip side if you listen to joe biden, democrats, of. on the flip side if you listen tojoe biden, democrats, they will say it is important for the united states to have a role in these organisations and be an international leader because other countries look to us. and it's much better to be in the game, working with other countries than on the sidelines. when i saw that joe biden twee, to what extent is his primary pitch to voters that he will reverse what trump is on? that has been his main message from the very beginning. he is trying to characterize donald trump is a blip in the american history. four—year

kind of a mistake that can be moved away from. and if donald trump is reelected then it would represent a fundamental change in how the united states operates. there is they say elections have consequences. not a lot about lot of americans will vote on who membership. it's not can move people one—way or the other. it is a very real consequence of the november election whether united states cities in the organisation or leaves. thank you very much. this time yesterday, the us began formally government has removed more of a covert crisis was not the chancellor said the government will pay businesses £1000 around $500 ina will pay businesses £1000 around $500 in a job retention bonus for each furloughed person brought back and employed through each furloughed person brought back and employed throuthanuary. there are also plans for a £2 billion or two and half billion dollar kick start scheme to create thousands of job placements for 16 to 24—year old. he's also announced a so—called

stamp duty holiday on the first £500,000 of all property sales in england and northern ireland. this suspension will start immediately and will run until the end of march next year. immediately and will run until the end of march next year. people are anxious about losing theirjob, about unemployment rising. we are not just going to accept this. people need to know that although hardship lies ahead, no—one will be left without hope. here's what his opposition counterpart had to say. the very first thing the chancellor must do is prevent additional economic damage due to the slow public health response of his government. as we've seen throughout this crisis, the failure to match soaring rhetoric with meaningful action has consequences for people across our country. other measures announced by the chancellor today include a temporary vat cut from 20% to 5% will be applied to food,

accommodation and attractions from next wednesday until the middle ofjanuary, and everyone will get 50% off meals in participating restaurants through august. there are some caveats — this applies up to £10 per head for adults and children, and applies monday to wednesday. here's sarah corker with more details. the "eat out to help out" discount means that people can get up to £10 off per head if they dine out between monday and wednesday in august. it does not include alcohol and businesses can sign up through a government website and then claim the money back and the funds will be back in a bank account within five working days. this cafe owner told me the extra support would make surviving this year more likely for many traders. it is really good to incentivise people to go out and spend within the industry and hopefully will the give the industry a good boost. and small businesses can thrive

as opposed to just get by. and the cut to vat for six months has been warmly received by the hospitality sector. phil has been a leading figure in the manchester food and drink industry for decades. i think it is welcomed that there is a vat cut down to 5%. i don't know why they did not make it a 0%, that was what really should be called for. but hopefully it will be passed on to the customer. the measures today are music to the ears of the uk's 3.2 million hospitality workers but with social distancing rules still in place, will there be space for those who do choose to venture out? i want to turn back to the coronavirus. i want to turn back to the coronavirus. a shift on from the world health organization on covid—19 to talk about it. previously, it has played down the possibility of airborne transmission. now, it says there's emerging evidence that covid—19 is being spread via tiny particles

in people's breath. the theory is that when an infected person exhales, micro—droplets remain suspended in the air and can then be inhaled by others who in turn become infected. the who has always emphasised infection via larger droplets that fall on to surfaces. here's what it's saying now. we believe that we have to be open to this evidence and understand its implications regarding the modes of transmission and also regarding the precautions that need to be taken. now, if this is confirmed, the advice on how to avoid infection may change. here's more from bbc global health correspondent naomi grimley. there has been an almighty row in the epidemic world between virologists around the world about whether it is airborne or not, and this time, the reason that the who has had to take notice

is that a letter by 230 doctors and clinicians was written to thejournal for infectious diseases, saying that it really was time for the who to take notice. they cited things like a choir practice in washington state and also a restaurant in china where people fell ill even though they weren't within a matter of a few feet of sick people, so that's why it's become so salient now. stay with us on outside source. still to come: we'll bring you a full update on the covid—19 pandemic in latin america after a spike in cases there. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has said that from friday people arriving in scotland from dozens of countries will no longer have to self—isolate for 1h days. the list is similar to the one issued for england last week. but ms sturgeon said spain

and serbia would not be exempt from the quarantine measures, at this time, because of the prevalence of the coronavirus there. we'll be liaising closely in the coming weeks with the relevant authorities, as well as with airports and airlines, to gather more information on control of outbreaks, on prevalence and on whatever mitigations, such as testing, we could possibly put in place as an alternative. now, this has been a very difficult decision, but as i hope i have demonstrated today — and i know i have taken quite a bit of time to do it — it is evidence—driven and it is motivated only by a determination to protect scotland as far as possible from a resurgence of this virus in the weeks ahead. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom.

the us now has more than three—million confirmed cases of coronavirus, more than any other country in the world.