that was nicola sturgeon talking in edinburgha that was nicola sturgeon talking in edinburgh a shortt is the headteacher at huntington school in york. ahead of the cobra meeting his school had made a series of changes, including a german exchange cancellation. hejoins me now. tell us what some of those changes were. we have been working hard in the last couple of days to work out what to do for students if we have to close and what we can do online for them to continue learning. we are finding it really hard to make some decisions because one of the things we are worried about is that we have a lot of young staff here who have their own children so if we close they will be working at home. how much can we ask of them when they have young people to look after, their own children to look after, their own children to look after, will be really hard. so we have made some changes around the online connectivity with students and staff. i havejust left online connectivity with students and staff. i have just left a meeting with my senior team and my subject leaders and they are planning how

in just a few minutes we hope to be hearing from scotland's minister nicola sturgeon who will be appearing at these lecterns in edinburgh. we expect in the next few minutes. we will keep our eyes across to that and bringing nicola sturgeon to you as soon as she begins her news conference. her latest update on the situation in scotland. volunteers up and down the uk are pulling together to try to help vulnerable people in your communities cope with coronavirus. a small village shop in wiltshire is organising an army of helpers who will deliver groceries across the community. fiona lamdin reports. 26—year—old alex is a busy mum of four but is determined to help her community in wiltshire. this is one where someone is asking for some baby milk, and this person said, i've got this, unopened, it's free, you can have it if you like. she set up a facebook group and within hours, 1000 people had joined it. somebody was self isolating and they had no pasta so i took it to them. show me your pasta, did you have some? yes, i took it from my, i had some spare pasta. this is a bag of pasta that i took

first minister nicola sturgeon says pubs that refuse to close are putting lives at risk. my message to them is, close now. we will have emergency powers within days to force you to close, and we will use these powers if we have to. nhs england writes to 1.5 million people who are most at risk, strongly advising them not to go out for 12 weeks, to protect themselves. spain reports nearly 400 more deaths from coronavirus. that's up by a third in 2a hours. the country's state of emergency has been extended by 15 days. in india, more than a billion people have been asked to observe a 14—hour—long curfew to try to limit the epidemic. hello and welcome to viewers in the uk and around the world. the british prime minister boris johnson has warned that unless the public starts to practise "social distancing" more effectively, hospitals here will soon be overwhelmed by the coronavirus. he urged people not to visit their parents on mother's day because of the dangers to elderly relatives. nhs england is to contact 1.5 million people at greatest risk to tell them they must self—isol

you also heard from nicola sturgeon.irmation of the northern ireland executive of a further death in northern ireland in the last 24 hours. we have now three additional deaths in scotland, seven additional deaths in scotland, seven additional deaths in england and one in wales. we have not —— seven additional deaths, one in wales. we have not had the england fatality figures yet. 0ne have not had the england fatality figures yet. one from the statement, they have had to employ the military to bring out one patient from the islands. and the ferry services will be stopped for nonessential travel. we will bring you more from the rest of the uk at the top of the air. this is bbc news. the headlines: the national health service could soon be overwhelmed if people don't practice social distancing to tackle coronavirus. that's the warning from the british prime minister. london's mayor urges people to act responsibly. unless people stay at home, unless people stop using public transport, unless people stop interacting with each

nicola sturgeon was speaking in edinburgha nicola sturgeon was speaking in edinburgh a short time ago. the decision has been taken that we have now moved from a contain phase into the delay phase where the objective is to seek to slow down the spread of the virus and to reduce the numbers who will be infected at the peak, the numbers infected at any one time. that is clearly important in terms of trying to alleviate the pressure at any one time that is placed on our national health service. and another key focus of that, and indeed later phases of the response to the virus, will be to protect those groups in society that the early data tells us are more at risk of developing serious illness. i should reiterate that the vast majority of people who get this infection will suffer mild symptoms that they will recover from quickly. ms sturgeon also said any decision on whether to close schools has not yet been made, in light of the anticipated move from the contain phase amid the coronavirus outbreak, to the delay phase. local authorities and schools that we are now advising that overseas

within the last few moments the scottish first minister nicola sturgeon has been speaking and she hasose at the end of the week. school and nursery closures here and now inevitable. she also said people should not assume schools and nurseries will reopen after the easter break, she said she cannot promise that they will reopen before the summer holidays. earlier she was speaking about why it is so important that these measures are introduced. the measures that we are asking the public to follow in the days and weeks to come are absolutely designed to reduce the numbers that get ill, that get seriously ill and die. so we can all have an impact on those numbers. we can't stop this virus, we can't make it go away completely, we are heading into a very difficult period. but each and every one of us by following the advice that's been given, can reduce the risk of getting infected ourselves and certainly reduce the risk if we do get infected of passing that on to other people. she made those comments when she was that promising increased funding for a age scotland helpline, for elderly peo

scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, says that scotla nd minister, nicola sturgeon, says that still in the containment face of the honours. two people of we re face of the honours. two people of were found to have the virus overnight. the two cases confirmed overnight. the two cases confirmed overnight bring the total to three, in the grampian area and in ayrshire. one has returned from travelling in italy, the other has had travelling in italy, the other has ha d co nta ct travelling in italy, the other has had contact with another confirmed positive case, though i must stress thatis positive case, though i must stress that is not the first case confirmed in scotland, so i'm not able to give more information, confidentiality continues to be important, but all appropriate steps have been taken, and both patients are being cared for, and we are very much in the containment phase, and ike would assure everyone that it is being followed up and tested when necessary , followed up and tested when necessary, and all the appropriate advice is being given. there is no change to the in

nicola sturgeon making it clear in scotla nd nicola sturgeon making it clear in scotland they are stillhey try and do that. because they just cannot how they try and do that. because theyjust cannot have a depleted workforce when already, staff shortages, as you can imagine, in the health service, they are already happening because people are sick themselves or they have to go into quarantine with their families because other people have symptoms. thank you very much, vicki young, oui’ thank you very much, vicki young, our chief political correspondent, and we will talk to her again after we hear from the and we will talk to her again after we hearfrom the prime minister and his advisers. all schools in scotland and wales are to close by the end of the week, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to escalate. the education secretary, gavin williamson, will make an annoucement on the situation for pupils in england in around half an hour. in a moment, we'll talk to our wales correspondent, hywel griffith in cardiff — but first, lorna gordon is in glasgow. bring us up—to—date with the situ

nicola sturgeon has just taken to her feet together and updatem nicola sturgeon has just taken to hertoday, thank you for your hard work this year. you are allan for your hard work this year. you are all an enormous credit to the schools annual communities and, of course, to your parents. i also want to say thank you to our teaching staff and all our nonteaching staff in schools and early years settings. and although schools who continue to be working flat out in our education service, they fathered over the last few days and in the days to come, to adapt to what is a rapidly changing situation. i think the very fact that the deputies first minister confirmed yesterday, they will be a no exams this year for the first time in our history and that underlines the seriousness of the situation we are facing, so wanted to ta ke situation we are facing, so wanted to take the opportunity today because it is so important to remind eve ryo ne because it is so important to remind everyone of the advice that we are asking you to follow. reduce your social contact and that it is absolutely essenti

and we do have an update coming from nicola sturgeon within about the next 20 minutes, or so.p an eye across the lines from scotland and bring it to you as soon as we get it here on bbc news. 0ne soon as we get it here on bbc news. one more bit of breaking news, this is about the airline, emirates. that it will be ending flights from wednesday of this week, it will suspend all passenger flights from wednesday, march 25. no end date to that for obvious reasons, but that is the latest update on that. spain has doubled the current 15—day state of emergency as its death toll rose by nearly 400 in the past 24 hours. italy's prime minister, giueseppe conte, has announced a new set of lockdown measures which edge closer to shutting down the entire country. more than 4,800 people have now died in italy. freya cole reports. singing. they are the delivery drivers working in lombardy, italy's worst hit region. rallying his colleagues, the worker belts out a tune, encouraging them to keep going. day by day, italy's lockdown is growing more severe. in the lombardy region alone, exercising

the first minister nicola sturgeon also announced that 13 more people have died in scotland after being in glasgow. lorna, bring us up—to—date with what the first minister said. yes, we've been hearing more details in the last few minutes, the emergency legislation, the coronavirus scotla nd legislation, the coronavirus scotland bill is being published today. it's a kind of catchall bill, the civil servants have been looking through the areas of government which would normally be pretty easy to perform to complete and which are now in the present circumstances, proving extraordinarily difficult and that's what's making of this legislation that will provide extra protection for tenants, it will affect jury trials. protection for tenants, it will affectjury trials. special measures for those that would normally go before a jury. it will also have provision for the early release of prisoners but those, says nicola sturgeon, our powers of last resort. the first minister said the measures are time limited but necessary. the first minister said the measures are time limited but necessarym is

there is very little medical reason at the moment to ban such avenge, as i think nicola sturgeon, firstr of scotland, has made clear. they do have issues with resilience of the public services and we want to be keeping that issue under review here across the uk as well because, let's be clear, that may become a factor for all of us and we may also be wishing to go forward with stopping those kinds of events as well. we are not saying no to that sort of measure. of course not. we are keeping it up our sleeve but it is very important we get, in order to maximise the benefits of oui’ order to maximise the benefits of our interventions we get, the timing right. if i could just our interventions we get, the timing right. ifi couldjust add our interventions we get, the timing right. if i could just add one thing to that, which is an important part of the science on this is the behavioural science. and what that shows is that, probably common—sense this audience, people start off with the best of intentions but enthusiasm at a certain point starts to flag. if you start too early and then peopl

that was nicola sturgeon.minister said that a third person in scotland has now died from covid—i9 and that there are now 227 confirmed cases of the virus in scotland. you've been sending in your questions about coronavirus and the measures the prime minister and chancellor announced yesterday to help workers and businesses. earlier, my colleague joanna gosling put those questions to an employment lawyer during your questions answered. joining me is kevin porter, an employment lawyer and partner at a commercial law firm, joining us live from central london, to answer your questions on how coronavirus might be impacting you with work issues. thanks forjoining us, kevin. just to start with a question from lauren — what if my employer ignores the advice and insists i work in the office even if i could work from home? it's a good question, a lot of people are asking us the same thing. at the moment it is only advice from the government and they have said unless it's urgent or necessary to work from your workplace,

nicola sturgeon are talking a short time ago. peruvian authorities to get stranded british tourists back to the uk early next week. at least 400 tourists were in peru when the country brought went into lockdown last week. let's get the latest now on the situation with the independent‘s travel editor, simon calder. a lot of people will be surprised that that number of britons arts stranded in peru. yes, it is actually worse than that. they have set upa actually worse than that. they have set up a big social media site themselves, they are counting 650, that includes a couple of dozen irish travellers as well. they are spread right across a country where it is five times the size of the uk. most of them are in the capital lima 01’ most of them are in the capital lima or in the tourist hub of cusco but there are many other people in the towns and cities and deep in the amazonianjungle towns and cities and deep in the amazonian jungle who are desperate to get home. they have watched, for example, the israelis, others have brought in

first minister nicola sturgeon announcing that the scottish government moving from containment to delayonavirus. she says that from next monday gatherings of more than 500 people will be banned. on the basis that will be banned. on the basis that will free up emergency services staff to cope with the expected rise in the number of cases. that is the announcement you heard live there from edinburgh, from the first minister. across the bbc we have seen an minister. across the bbc we have seen an almost unprecedented amount of information about the virus and how it might impact you. now it is time to answer your questions on the coronavirus. the world health organization has declared coronavirus a pandemic. doctor margaret harris joins me declared coronavirus a pandemic. doctor margaret harrisjoins me now from the geneva. thank you for your time. i'm going to crack on straightaway. we are getting so many of these. i want to put this from sue in london who asks, should officers, schools, and public places be closed? that is really the question of the hour. we are getting this from every cou

be a scottish parliamentary investigation into this whole process with question surrounding nicola sturgeon'sin the fullness of time to set out my role and set out and explain the actions i took. all along, my most important consideration has been ensuring that complaints of this nature that are brought forward are not swept under the carpet, that they are properly investigated. the court heard evidence from nine women who claim they had been sexually assaulted by alex salmond. they continue to have the right to remain anonymous. several of the women who claimed they had been sexually assaulted by alex salmond said it happened here at the first minister's official residence. they said he had touched or grabbed them, or kissed or try to, without their consent. mr mcadoo said that whilst on occasion his behaviour had been inappropriate, he had never done anything against the law. he described two consensual encounters in his bedroom at bute house and said other incidents were misremembered or made up. he said... i think we have won the election. alex salmond was one of the most powerful and inf

that's right, nicola sturgeon earlier said it was inappropriate to continue as normal.if you have these large public gatherings requiring emergency services like police and ambulance to be there on standby, it is taking them away at a time of intense pressure elsewhere. that is her argument, and she suggested stopping events of more than 500 people. that doesn't mean it will happen. that is the point she will make at the cobra meeting, where she will be. i'm sure there will be a strong view there should bea uk will be a strong view there should be a uk wide approach here, and as we heard from naaman the view at westminster is that introducing these bands now might be counter—productive. they don't think big events outdoors in the open air area big events outdoors in the open air are a problem with the virus. you are a problem with the virus. you are vulnerable if you are sitting next to somebody but there is not a wider problem. and if you ban them now where do we go next? 0n schools in the view is closing schools now would have a big social cost, a lot of pa rents woul

scotland‘s first minister nicola sturgeon has confirmed that another 139 people have tested positiveon had also died of the virus — making the total number of deaths there now a1. 0ur scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie is in glasgow. she gave us the latest on the coronavirus situation in scotland a little earlier. the first minister spoke earlier this afternoon, the first weekend of lockdown in scotland. she acknowledged that this has been a weekend like no other. she also said there will be many weekends like this. they are talking about possibly 13 weeks that there may be some restrictions in place. she acknowledged that this is going to be extremely difficult, but she also said it's essential to save lives. another thing she talked about was the provision of personal protective equipment, for hospitals, social care and for gps. she wanted medics on the front line to know that they are available and they are being distributed. an area of concern that has, i know, been expressed in recent days is around provision of personal protective equipment for those on the front line o

nicola sturgeon speaking at holyrood this lunchtime. let's have a look at the weather.oment, apart from the far north—west of scotland. the winds will ease a little bit through the night, the rain trying to make some progress south eastwards, but it is not making much progress. for england and wales we keep clear space through the night. it is going to be quite a chilly night with parts of the midlands, east anglia, the south and south—east of england likely to get down to freezing or a touch below. tomorrow for england and wales, spells of sunshine with northern ireland and scotland, to slow—moving pa nto and northern ireland and scotland, to slow—moving panto and rain will set in place. the rain will be on an offer most. a little bit brighter but cold for the far north and west of scotland. further south, temperatures once again in parts of merseyside, north wales could get to 16 or 17 degrees. looking further ahead, more sunshine to come across england and wales, always more in the way of cloud in northern ireland and scotland. calls for more clarity, after the gover

nicola sturgeon, the first minister.. 0ur scotland correspondent, alexandra mckenzie is in glasgow. this was a pretty forceful message, she didn't mince her words? the language was incredibly stark. she said, we need to act now. she said that every corner of scotland is at risk. she said that the military needed to help to transfer someone from one of the islands. so every corner of scotland is at risk from coronavirus. 0ne corner of scotland is at risk from coronavirus. one of the problems last night was that some of the pubs in scotland didn't close. most pubs did, but some didn't. the first minister took to twitter last night and said there would be emergency legislation brought in to close down those pubs, but she made an appeal for them not to wait for that, but to close now because lives need to be saved. since that briefing with the first minister, we have had a very strongly worded press release from police scotland and they are going to bring in legislation to close down those pubs that were open last night. wha

question of large gathering, scotland is taking a different view full of the first minister, nicola sturgeoned for next week to reduce the burden on emergency services. uk is to be four weeks behind italy on the progress of the virus. but there is also some good news. the death toll continues to rise but in the ten towns at the heart of the out back there have been no new infections. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: stock markets are again recording huge losses in response to the coronavirus pandemic. at one point, the nikkei index injapan was down by 10%. all major sport has now been suspended across the us and broadway performances are off for a month. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the daily telegraph and boris johnson's warning that many more families will "lose loved ones". the paper describes the next steps as detailed by the pm as a "nuanced reponse". however, the guardian says medical, scientific and public health experts have criticised the uk's approach. the papers says the mea

first minister nicola sturgeon revealed the new total, up by 56 from thursday, as she gave a briefingdown to help deal with the spread of the disease. i think the very fact that the deputy first minister confirmed yesterday that for the first time in our history there will be no exams this year underlines the seriousness of the situation that we are facing. i want to take the opportunity today, because it is so important to remind everyone of the advice we are asking you to follow. reduce your social contact unless it is absolutely essential to go out. that means working from home where possible, it means staying away from crowded places like pubs, restau ra nts a nd crowded places like pubs, restaurants and cinemas. if you are over 70, eligible for the flu vaccine because of a health vaccine or pregnant, you should take that advice particularly strongly and stay at home as much as possible. there will be further advice published later today for pregnant women in particular. if you show symptoms of a new and persistent cough or the mild fever, stay at home for seven days and if someon

nicola sturgeon said she will discuss this at the cobra meeting.and, from the first minister, said nicola sturgeon. let's catch up with all the business deals with alice. in the business news: shares have tumbled after us president donald trump restricted travel to the us from mainland europe in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus. london's ftse100 index sank more than 5%, with similar declines seen in other european markets. meanwhile, amazon has told workers they can take unlimited sick days this month — but only those who test positive for the covid—19 virus will be entitled to any sick pay. many us warehouse workers are entitled to only ten days' leave a year — for all holidays, sickness and emergencies. and the owner of some of the uk's biggest shopping centres, intu, has said there are doubts that it can survive unless it raises extra funds. its comments came as the firm — which owns manchester's trafford centre and the lakeside complex in essex — reported a £2bn loss in 2019. more on this injust a mo. now, not only is coronavirus thr

it‘s interesting the prime minister did not use the words lock although nicola sturgeon did afterwardscribe it. incredible curtailing of people possibly individual freedoms but it‘s clearly for the greater good. you just have to hope that all the people who did not listen to the warnings over the weekend and went out and about maybe thinking ifeel fine, won‘t happen to me, is not that serious may be now will be taking on board but that means they are getting very serious now and people i‘ve got no option other than to try and stay indoors. very briefly, if it had not been for that glorious weather of the weekend in most parts of the country, and people had not gone out in such large numbers do you think we would have seen these measures at this time tonight? perhaps not as soon as tonight but it‘s very much the same curb that italy was on two or three weeks ago and borisjohnson and the government are desperate to flatten that out and bring it down from the peak that it could potentially reach to try and take the pressure of the nhs. we think around seven and thousand former nhs workers

once very close to the current first minister, nicola sturgeon, this court case has caused bitter personalifts. the snp are now divided like never before — over policy and personalities. thank you very much indeed. thank you. alex salmond has now cleared his name, but there may be seismic political consequences to come. sarah smith, bbc news. back now to the coronavirus pandemic, and the world health organisation says the pandemic is accelerating around the globe. south africa has announced it will put troops on the streets to enforce a strict lockdown — for three weeks, starting on thursday night. president cyril ramaphosa said the alternative was a human catastrophe. the country has the highest number of cases in africa, with 402 cases. our africa correspondent, andrew harding, is injohannesburg. a limited number of cases and no deaths, but the government is determined to clamp down early? i'm sorry, i thought we might get an due at the last moment, but i'm afraid we haven't, we will try to get back to him later if we can. the iranian government is strongly advising people not to travel

nicola sturgeon is not thinking about this, she is thinking about updating us daily on coronavirus newsheard the last of him by any means now, have we? absolutely not, now that he has cleared his name, he will very much go on to maintain his place in political life and of course he still has a television programme that goes out every week and the last thing he will want to do will be seen to retire from public life as though he has in some way been disgraced because he has vindicated himself, he has proven his innocence as it always said he would and he will want to be seen to be taking an active part in political and public life as somebody who was at that reputation restored as you will see it. thank you very much. the health secretary matt hancock has described people who ignore government advice on social distancing as ‘very selfish‘. ministers are considering tougher measures if people continue to gather in large numbers, orfail to observe advice about how to stop the spread of coronavirus. this is london this morning — it looks a lot quieter than over the weekend —(take when large

that idea of a long haul was echoed by scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon. 13 weeks is likelyhe kind of period that we have to be prepared to have measures in place. of course, we will continue to keep under review the type of measures and we will not keep measures in place for any longer than we have to do. police in bristol out reminding people to stay at home. and according to scientists advising the government, measures like this should stay in place until the virus really is under control. once we start to see a change in the trends and, indeed, a decrease in the numbers of cases, then we can have more confidence in the current measures having an effect. but what we need to remember is, we need to allow this virus to decrease to low levels before these can be completely lifted. all this on a painful day made worse by the loss of an ent surgeon. amged el—hawrani, confirmed to have died of covid—i9, he passed away at glenfield hospital in leicester. he had been volunteering in a&e. in a statement, his son, ashraf, said, "most of my dad's time was dedicated towards his famil

the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, has suggested that pupils may not return to classroomsntil september. the uk was behind other european nations. borisjohnson said the decision was not taken lightly. schools, he said, will remain open to vulnerable children and the children of key workers, which include nhs staff, emergency workers and delivery drivers. we also need to keep the nhs going and to treat the rising number of cases, so we need health workers who are also parents to continue to go to work, and we need other critical workers with children to keep doing theirjobs, from police officers who are keeping us safe to the supermarket delivery drivers, social care workers, who look after the elderly and who are so vital. we therefore need schools to make provision for the children of these key workers who would otherwise be forced to stay home and they will also need to look after the most vulnerable children. the closure of schools poses a huge challenge to parents who are trying to earn a living — many of them now working from home. the government also stressed that ch

the first minister, nicola sturgeon has been speaking in the last few minutes?and over the weekend she has been speaking in an increasingly stark and serious language as this virus has spread quicker than they had originally thought it would. scotland's first minister has spoken in the last few minutes and this is what she had to say. let me be blunt, the stringent restrictions on our normal everyday lives i am about to set out are difficult and they are unprecedented. the amount effectively to what has been described as a lockdown. i know how difficult all of that is and i am not going to seek to sugar—coat it in any way. but these measures are essential for the protection of all of us. so life in scotland is going to be incredibly different for everyone. but the reason for that, as the first minister has been telling us is to save lives and to make sure our nhs is not overwhelmed. alexander in glasgow, thank you. in the past few minutes the first minister of wales, mark drakeford has said that tighter measures will also be introduced in wales. from now on, all

the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, this afternoon said four more people had died aftern to close and i thank them for that. the message to shop still open is this and it is clear, if you are not providing essential items like food or medicines, please also close. however, today, it has been clear to me that there are still too many people across our country who are being expected to or expecting to go to work as normal and that presents a serious and unnecessary risk of spreading the virus. if you runa risk of spreading the virus. if you run a business and the nature of your business makes it difficult for your business makes it difficult for you or your workers to work from home or practice safe social distancing, you should close for a period of effort to combat the virus. if your work is not by eating by this i urge you to speak to your employer to take action. i was out on the radio about building sites and hair salons and on the radio about building sites and hairsalons and my on the radio about building sites and hair salons and my advice would be to close. i know

nicola sturgeon has announced gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled in scotland from ireland, which has over a0 confirmed cases, is to close all schools and colleges. we have not witnessed a pandemic of this nature in living memory and this is uncharted territory for us. we said we would take the right actions at the right time and we have to move now for the greatest impact. so from 6pm today the following measures are being put in place, and they will stay in place until the 29th of march. schools, colleges and childcare facilities will close from tomorrow. where possible, teaching will be done online or remotely. but health officials here say it is vital that big steps like shutting schools and banning large public events are not taken too soon. the important thing we are trying to do, we will see cases rise very steeply and what we don't want to do is see too high a peak. we are trying to push that away so we can manage patients safely through our health system and that means intervening at the right time. the third emergency cobra meeting of the week is happening

in scotland, the first minister, nicola sturgeon, has announced that a further 13 people have died becauseaking the total there to 60. during her daily news conference, she also outlined plans for an emergency bill, which is expected to be passed tomorrow. this is what she said about that bill earlier. amongst other things, that legislation provides for the continuing functioning of the justice system during this emergency period. it also relaxes restrictions for businesses and government in relation to some statutory processes . and, as i have covered at this briefing previously, it provides greater protection for tenants, particularly protection against the possibility of being evicted during this crisis period. it is, in so many ways, an unprecedented response to what is an unprecedented situation. some of the provisions in this bill are of a type that i would never have wanted or expected to be introducing to parliament, and we will ensure that these provisions do not remain in force any longer than is absolutely necessary. in russia, a full lockdown has been imposed in many regions as

in her daily news conference scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon has confirmed that another 6 peopletaking the total to a7. she also outlined further plans to cope with the spread of the virus by announcing that the scottish exhibition centre in glasgow will be turned into a temporary nhs hospital. initially it will offer an extra 300 beds but will have the capacity to house more than 1,000 patients. she also announced the suspension of various screening programmes including those for breasts, cervix and bowel. it's not an easy decision, i want to repeat that. but the balance of risk supports the approach that we have taken. it is, however, worth stressing that if you detect any symptoms of the conditions we would normally screen for, if you notice a lump on your breast, for example, you should contact your gp immediately. we will restart the screening programmes that we have paused, as soon as we can. this is a temporary suspension and it will be reviewed after 12 weeks or earlier if evidence suggests restarting the programme is feasible. however, at this moment posing these program

that idea of a long haul was echoed by scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon. 13 weeks is likelyind of period we have to be prepared to have measures in place. of course, we will continue to keep under review the type of measures and we will not keep measures in place for any longer than we have to do. all this on a painful day made worse by the loss of an ent surgeon. confirmed to have died of covid—i9, he passed away at glenfield hospital in leicester. he'd been volunteering in a&e. in a statement, his son said... we have had confirmation of the very sad death of an ent surgeon, what do you think that says, what message does it send to nhs staff on the front line? i'm very saddened by the fact one of our professional colleagues has passed away. it clearly is a worrying event. it is worrying for the nation because it's another death in our statistics, it's another loss to a family and it will be a loss to an nhs family, as well. once again, a reminder of the incredible importance of everyone making an effort to stop the spread of the virus — a slow and difficult process. david s

first minister nicola sturgeon says pubs that refuse to close are putting lives at risk.ithin days to force you to close, and we will use these powers if we have to. nhs england writes to 1.5 million people who are most at risk, strongly advising them not to go out for 12 weeks, to protect themselves. spain reports nearly 400 more deaths from coronavirus. that's up by a third in 24 hours.

scotla nd scotland was my first minister nicola sturgeon had given her reaction to the five further casesirus in scotland. we have 16 in scotland, an increase of five since we reported figures yesterday. we have been expected to see an increase in cases and that increase is likely to be rapid and perhaps accelerate in the days to come. i wa nt to accelerate in the days to come. i want to stress that we are still very much in the containment phase of this outbreak and that means we are doing everything possible to avoid spreading from individual to individual. when a case is identified, we need to make sure that all of the people been ink on tacked with them are being followed up tacked with them are being followed up and even testing. —— contacted. every day we managed to reduce the spread, it is a day more we are preparing the nhs for a greater demand in the weeks to come. it is an extra day for the scientists who are working hard on treatments and vaccines. over the next few days we are likely to see a shift into what is called paa phase, which is all about slowing down spread and the n

that idea of a long haul was echoed by scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon. 13 weeks is likelyind of period that we have to be prepared to have measures in place. of course, we will continue to keep under review the type of measures and we will not keep measures in place for any longer than we have to do. all this on a painful day, made worse by the loss of an ent surgeon, amged el—hawrani. confirmed to have died of covid—i9, he passed away at glenfield hospital in leicester. he'd been volunteering in a&e. in a statement, his son ashraf said... "most of my dad's time was dedicated towards his family and the rest of that time was dedicated towards his profession. he taught me the significance of respect and equality." we've had confirmation of the very sad death of an ent surgeon, amged el—hawrani, what do you think that says, what message does that send to nhs staff on the front line? i'm very saddened by the fact one of our professional colleagues has passed away. it clearly is a worrying event. it's worrying for the nation because it's another death in our statistics, it's an

30p in uk time, now british summer time, we will be hearing from the scottish first minister, nicola sturgeons at 2:30pm. they will be giving us an update on the situation in scotland, but the overall figure includes that figure that i have just given you, that includes the scottish gas as well as wales and northern ireland and england. we will bring you more once we get it, in terms of the breakdown of the figures, but let's move on now. more on that story about boris johnson's letter to the public. let's speak to our political correspondent, helen catt, who is in westminster. the letter itself shouldn't come as any surprise, the contents at least. why the decision to send it? it is not unprecedented for the government to send out advice leaflets in this way. if you think back to 2016, when there was the eu whether here in the uk, every household were sent a booklet then stop this time round, it is going to cost the government about £58 million to send these leaflets a nd about £58 million to send these leaflets and this letter, that what it will do is make sure that that key advice lines on

nicola sturgeon also announced that 1993 people had tested positive for the virus.h we are drawing in winds and showers mainly for scotland and northern ireland. they will continue this evening and overnight, a few getting pushed into england and we are is. the cloud building up in england and will is will melt away and we will have clear skies for much of the night, meaning we are likely to have a frosty. further north, more cloud. early sunshine across southern parts of england, but it won't last. it will turn into a cloudy day. some showers, as well. wet weather moving down across scotland. ahead of its sun chang four east of scotland. that rain pushes down towards northern ireland. we will get some sunshine later in northern scotland. the air will get colder here. elsewhere, temperatures like today. for the most part, the winds will be like. they will start to pick up later in the colder air across northern scotland, with much windier weather overnight into thursday. the weather overnight into thursday. the weather front is bringing the patchy rain into scotland

nicola sturgeon was there, as was scotland's chief medical officer and the scottish health secretary.as possible. they want to get their message and their information out to the public. as you say, this is the day where this advice to cancel gatherings of more than 500 people comes into force. ms sturgeon said that under constant review is whether that will be expanded to smaller gatherings. also under co nsta nt smaller gatherings. also under constant review is whether they will close schools. some schools, a few here and there, and most schools in shetland, are closed at the moment. ms sturgeon said it will not be a binary choice going forward about schools. there may be areas they choose to close schools in, and others where they stay open, but she did warn that if and when they do start closing, in a wider scale manner, it is likely to be for a very long time, perhaps three or four months. there was also more information on the testing procedures here in scotland will stop ms sturgeon said that people with symptoms going into hospital will be tested, as will front line nhs workers

nicola sturgeon, scott and's first minister, says she wants all and's first minister, says she wants and's first minister, says she wants all stores apart from essential ones, those selling food or medicine, to close down so we are almost getting a lockdown by default. added to it throughout this crisis we've tended to follow what other european countries have done, so, the indications are we will go down this road and when you look at the politics, too, that is changing as well. senior labour figures coming out and saying, look, we now need to talk about more restrictive measures. and i was struck, too, listening to matt hancock, when he was doing his early—morning interviews, his language echoed that of siddique khan in saying to people, look, just stay home, and branding those out and about as selfish. i think now it is a question of timing, when we moved to much more restrictive measures. norman, thank you very much. ministers have warned people should only send their children to school if absolutely necessary. all schools in the uk are officially closed but, under new guidance,

we are also told that nicola sturgeon has chaired a meeting of the scottish government resilience committeell also be taking part in the british government emergency committee, cobra meeting which will be chaired by the prime minister tomorrow morning, to make sure all necessary steps a re morning, to make sure all necessary steps are being taken to prepare for further expected cases in scotland. they say that scotland is very well prepared for a significant outbreak but there is currently as we know no treatment of axing. let us bring you some of the latest developments regarding virus. the foreign office has announced that all but essential staff will be withdrawn from the british embassy in iran due to the outbreak. the louvre museum did not open today due to staff concerns of infection, and some britons quarantined in a hotel in tenerife have started to begin theirjourney home after testing negatvie for the virus. globally one of the countries struggling to deal with the outbreak is south korea. the leader of a religious sect there is under investigation for failing to co—operate with e

nicola sturgeon said she couldn't put a time scale on how long the measures would last — but said theytland with coronavirus — 13 in the past 2a hours — the biggest rise so far. 0ur scotland editor sarah smith is in glasgow the scottish government is preparing for a crisis they know could last for a crisis they know could last for many months and those emergency powers include some really significant measures, like the early release of prisoners and the ending ofjury release of prisoners and the ending of jury trials release of prisoners and the ending ofjury trials in scottish courts. they are due to go through the holyrood parliament in just one day tomorrow, and the coronavirus arrived in scotland about two weeks later than it did in other parts of the uk. 0ne later than it did in other parts of the uk. one of the reasons why there isa the uk. one of the reasons why there is a slightly lower number of cases here at the moment. but the scottish government are aware that might not remain the case. one of the special covid wards treating patients with the virus — this is the front line