, chris whitty is always the voice behind this and it is a good idea.ning to experts when others said he wasn't. he said he wasn't. michael gove has this respect for authority, and chris whitty is the real hero of this. he is the start this, absolutely. calm, measured, very english. we've run out of time — the check has been so amazing we've run out of time! onto the ft, oil prices plunged, sending tremors through battered global markets. the question is, how much further will they fall? isis question is, how much further will they fall? is is the start ofjust a continued bear market, or have we reached the bottom ? continued bear market, or have we reached the bottom? that is for greater minds than myself and the financial markets to work out. heading to the guardian, stock markets and biggest fall since 2008. olivia, there is a sense that many people believe, or at least markets believe we could be heading to a recession? you have this push and suddenly began to freefall. that is what is so scary. a lot of people over here say that we haven't yet reac

here's proffessor whitty explaining why.d certainly make a difference less to the disease but definitely to the nhs is being able to test nhs and other critical workers who are self isolating who currently a re workers who are self isolating who currently are not being tested because we do not have sufficient testing, this is a global problem because basically every country is wanting this new test for a disease that wasn't being tested for anywhere three months ago. everybody wa nts anywhere three months ago. everybody wants this. there is a global storage and that is a bottleneck for us storage and that is a bottleneck for us but the next party is to get critical workers back to work and to make sure if you have this. we would like that not to fight the disease but to support the nhs. the guardian reported today that public health england says a 15 minute home test kit will be released, that can tell you if you've had the disease. this will be available to health workers and the public. this article says the uk government

what professor whitty is saying is because normal flu is what professor whitty is saying is because normalfluis saying is because normal flu is dying away a new coronavirus cases are rising rapidly, the advice will probably be whoever gets a heavy cold, cough or a temperature should just stay at home and self—isolate and do so for seven days from the moment the symptoms first appear. that is quite a change. there were questions today at the press conference with the prime minister and professor whitty about why the uk is in following other countries, like closing down big public events? yes, they are stung in by the suggestion they haven't acted quickly enough that their argument is we may do things differently here, they said, to other countries but going too quickly with some of these big measures like school closures may not have a big impact to begin with but it is very hard to do a u—turn and stop them. so if you do something like that, you have to be sure it will have an impact. they are saying right now they don't think these big measures well but there may be a come dill, thyme in the

my confidence comes from the fact that chris whitty is a genealogist used to dealing with infectiousld by history but we could not be in better hands if we get it right. that is the first thing. we have got to recognise the nhs is only part of the issue. it is also down to the population not only relying on the nhs, but the nhs will relying on the nhs, but the nhs will rely on the population. they have got to do the things that make it safer, isolating and washing their hands, and the other things, we will have to see how it develops but i am hopeful if the strategies which chris whitty and have —— and his tea m chris whitty and have —— and his team have sorted out, we will be able to decrease the peaks to allow us to spread the site. that is sketching out to some extent where we might be going. thejourney we are on is one that lots of people would find difficult to grasp because we do not get these kinds of major public health emergencies in this country that often. what sort of advice are you offering, friends, patients, about how to mentally deal with what is going to be a long pe

chris whitty said he had symptoms compatible with covid-19.ready treating over 6000 coronavirus patients and thousands more are expected in the coming weeks as new hospitals like this one at the excel centre in london. the government says testing help reversals for the virus will start from three new labs this weekend. these tests will be trialed for people on the front line, starting immediately, with hundreds to take place by the end of the weekend, dramatically scaling up next week. health workers have also been calling repeatedly for better personal protection equipment stop the government has changed its guidance to recommend the wearing of equipment for some high risk procedures that might generate infected droplets. but the hospital doctors unions as it doesn't go far enough. they want all staff and patients in hospitals to have access to surgical masks, whether they have the virus not. in london many streets are the virus not. in london many streets a re nearly the virus not. in london many streets are nearly empty. the capital is deal

another question, what advice is being given to people with asthma is very chris whitty, and his pressrence with boris johnson made whitty, and his press conference with borisjohnson made a very useful remark. they said the people they are most worried about are the people who would fall into the criteria of having the flu vaccine so criteria of having the flu vaccine so that's a good way to remember the kinds of conditions that are regarded at slightly high risk in this circumstance. people with asthma could have poorly controlled asthma, because asthma in some cases is very mild and for instance, a person may experience symptoms when they walk too fast or go out in the cold and that might make them wheezy. some people on the other hand have very severe asthma. this is referred to as brutal asthma. you ta ke is referred to as brutal asthma. you take lots of medication to control that. —— brutal asthma. take lots of medication to control that. —— brutalasthma. in those circumstances, they are regarded as high risk. those individuals should ta ke high risk. those individuals should take

the mirror also reports on borisjohnson, matt hancock and chris whitty, with calls for medals for nhs by 181 in 2a hours. borisjohnson has vowed to keep leading the fight against the pandemic — that's on the front of the daily express. the guardian leads with reports that borisjohnson failed to heed his own advice on social distancing. the sun has the pm's committment to continue leading the coronavirus effort, while his pregnant fiance, carrie symonds, moves out, as he self—isolates. the ft says that ministers are coming underfire for ignoring offers of more ventilators for the nhs. and the daily mail features prince harry and meghan leaving canada for la — amid coronavirus concerns. where else to start but the sun. the prime minister is having to do what eve ryo ne prime minister is having to do what everyone else is doing with the symptoms and isolate. that is right. he is having to do what many of us are doing and self—isolate and work from home although i imagine his home is a bit better setup than others. he has addressed the public earlier today and informed us that he does hav

days ago, has also tested positive and the government's chief scientific adviser, professor chris whittyis displaying symptoms. more than 6,000 people in the uk are now in hospital with the virus — the first new temporary hospital opens next week — there'll be two more now at conference centres in birmingham and manchester. in italy, almost 1,000 people have died in the past 2a hours — the biggest daily rise so far in a country that's been locked down for almost two weeks. go home! here, police start cracking down on people who are leaving their homes when they shouldn't be. and england's huge new army of volunteers gear up to help the most vulnerable — more than 700,000 people have nowjoined the scheme — starting next month. and coming up in sport... we hear from the chairman of non—league south shields as they ask the football association to think again after the season was scrapped with the team 12 points clear at the top of the northern premier league. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. there's been a big rise in the number of people in the uk who have died of coronavir

professor chris whitty.jected claims that it "sat on its hands" as the airline flybe collapsed. the downfall of the exeter based carrier has put 2,000 jobs at risk. it went into administration after a bid forfresh financial support failed. passengers have been told not to turn up at airports. the aviation minister kelly tolhurst said ministers stood ready to help at what she called "this sad and challenging time". flybe‘s failure came two months after the government announced a rescue deal for the airline. since then, we have been working tirelessly to explore multiple options with flybe‘s shareholders to find a solution. flybe outlined that problems with their business have been compounded by the outbreak of coronavirus. which in the last few days has resulted in significant impact on demand. the directors, therefore, decided it was not viable to keep flybe operating, unfortunately, in a competitive market, companies do fail, and it is not the role of government to prop them up. the collapse of flybe is dis

one of the things chris whitty talked about was testing.r not testing enough. currently we are testing just over 5000 people per day. the government hopes to get that up to 25,000 so we can test health workers and allow them to get back to work properly and maybe do some testing in the wider population, and that might allow us, if we reduce the number of infections, to contain it and that could be one of the options in the long term strategy. if we get the numbers low, we might get back to be able to contain it but there is a long way to go before that happens. and chris whitty did also say that the virus was acting as they were expecting it to. yes, it's been a very fast changing situation. a week ago, we were being told if you had mild illnesses to self—isolate for seven days, then on monday, they brought in the more drastic measures with everyone having to reduce their social contact and those in the at risk groups had been advised strongly to reduce their social contact but it is a new virus and it's only been around three months and we

the government's chief medical adviser, professor chris whitty, is also self—isolating after displayingvideo on social media, borisjohnson said he currently has mild symptoms and will be working from home to lead the national fight back against coronavirus. the uk death toll has now reached 759, in just three weeks. here's our chief political correspondent vicki young. keeping their distance. like many neighbours, the prime minister and chancellor stepped outside to pay tribute to nhs staff last night but four hours later, boris johnson tested positive for coronavirus. i've taken a test, that's come out positive. so i am working from home, i am self isolating and that's entirely the right thing to do. but, be in no doubt that i can continue, thanks to the wizardry of modern technology, to communicate with all my top team to lead the national fight back against coronavirus. that top team has been spending less time in the same room this week — cabinet was held remotely. the chief medical and scientific advisers where keeping further apart advisers were keeping further apart at online pre

chris whitty, two senior adviser —— sir patrick valance.nstruction workers should be going to work or not and that is because there seems tad been a bit of mixed messaging. for example, in scotland, the first minister nicola sturgeon said building site should be closed for the period of the effo rts be closed for the period of the efforts to combat the virus. the government message in england is actually, we don't want the economy to grind to a halt so if you are able to go to work and able to keep able to go to work and able to keep a safe distance, about six and a half feet, between you and fellow workers, you should be doing that. a lot of construction firms are saying thatis lot of construction firms are saying that is just not practical or possible on a building site and some have decided they will shut anyway, others are saying they will keep open. there has also been some conflicting messaging in the last 24 hours about what builders should do if they are working in peoples homes. yesterday we had a cabinet minister, michael gove, su

the government's chief medical officer hasn't tested positive, but professor chris whitty said he hadd—19. the nhs is already treating over 6,000 coronavirus patients and thousands more are expected in the coming weeks at new hospitals like this one at the excel centre in london. driving testing centres for front line nhs staff had already opened up. this is in nottingham. more are coming on stream this weekend. up. this is in nottingham. more are coming on stream this weekendm somebody falls ill, they can come into one of the driving centres that we have set up at boots and get tested, so that the very next day they will have a result to know if they will have a result to know if they do or don't have the coronavirus. and if they don't it's often safer than to go back to work. health workers have also been calling repeatedly for better personal protection equipment. the government has changed its guidance to recommend the wearing of equipment for high—risk procedures that might generate droplets. but the hospital doctors union says it doesn't go far enough. they want all staff and pa

i am not saying that chris whitty and others are wrong.. but there are public— health and political decisions that need to be made and then there are individual decisions to be made. and unless we try to address this on both fronts, we are going to make a mistake. we are six weeks into the response and we haven't anything about schools and children. looking at the effect on what children can do about climate change, children will take messages home, but it is so disorganised. i have heard from some schools where they can't get hold of hand sanitiser, for example. that isjust wrong. let me bring in a couple of messages. nicola says, i am watching your programme on both my children are displaying all the symptoms of coronavirus. i am are displaying all the symptoms of coronavirus. i am aware are displaying all the symptoms of coronavirus. i am aware that it could be another viral infection but there is no test being offered. i went on nine to 111 and they advised me to speak to a gp, which i did. i was told to keep them at home while they ha

professor chris whitty speaking in number ten, the chief medical officer for england.th more than 360 deaths confirmed, italy is the worst affected country in the world after china. the italian prime minister has called the outbreak his country's darkest hour. up to 60 million people in the north of the country including venice and milan are facing the toughest restrictions on individual movement since the second world war. our correspondent bethany bell has sent this report from bologna, near the restricted zone. sirens large areas of northern italy are in quarantine. the italian government has taken tough measures to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus. milan, italy's financial capital, is under partial lockdown. people have been told they can only leave or enter the area for essential work orfamily emergencies. venice, one of italy's top tourist destinations, is also affected. british visitors can travel home. planes and trains are still running. but the uk government has said anyone returning from the red zones in northern italy should self—isolate for two we

the uk's chief medical adviser, professor chris whitty, says authorities across the country are now mainly rather than contain — the spread of coronavirus. globally there are now more than 97,000 cases of coronavirus of those — more than half over 53,000 have recovered. the number of people who have died now stands at almost three and a half thousand. with the latest here's our health editor hugh pym. according to the royal berkshire trust, the patient had been in and out of hospital. she tested positive for the coronavirus last night. condolences have been expressed to her family by the trust, health leaders and the prime minister. 0bviously our sympathies are very much with the victim and their family, but the situation is pretty much as it has been in the sense that we are still in the contained phase, though now our scientists and medical advisers are making preparations for the delay phase. the first british fatality with the coronavirus, though outside the uk, was a tourist who'd been on the diamond princess cruise ship, which had been quarantined injapan. more details of cases in th

england's chief medical officer, professor chris whitty, said all of the latest to die were patientsrisk" groups. the rise comes as the government draws up plans to ban mass gatherings, in response to the escalating outbreak. the total number of cases in the uk now stands at 1,140. almost 38,000 people have been tested. meanwhile, the united states has extended the travel ban on most european countries to include the uk and ireland. this will come into effect at 4am on tuesday morning. the vice president, mike pence, said american citizens returning from the uk will come through specific us airports. elsewhere in europe, the spanish government has declared a state of emergency across the country as the death toll from coronavirus rises to 190. jet2 and tui have cancelled all flights and holidays to spain. and tonight, the french government has confirmed most shops and public facilities in the country will be closed from tomorrow. let's get more on that travel ban brought in from the united states to the uk. the announcement was made by vice president mike pence. so, as the presidentj

other things, i think we will see how it develops, but i am hopeful, if the strategies that chris whittybe able to decrease the peaks to this out. uber volu nteers decrease the peaks to this out. uber volunteers is on a mission to ensure elderly people are not left in isolation completely. madeleine moon isolation completely. madeleine moon is one of those volunteers and she joins us by webcam. thanks for speaking to us. you are probably looking forward to a long and peaceful retirement. now you have done your time as an mp. where did this idea come from? to people had the same idea at the same time. i was thinking of this because i have done a lot of work when i worked in defence, around resilience planning. kerry marlow, who is a local retired police officer, and a community activist, had been thinking of it two streets away. we came together and we have had a fantastic response from meetings at the surgery and talking to church representatives, talking to church representatives, talking to church representatives, talking to the local veterans' hub. everybody is keen to do this. one of

good morning, mr whitty.few weeks ago, is now a household name, at the forefront of plans to tackle the coronavirus threat. one of the problems they are facing up to is protection for nhs staff. some say they haven't got masks and other personal protective equipment, ppe, so they are at risk of infection at work. we don't feel that the government have been transparent with how many masks they have, how many advanced masks they have and how much protective equipment is available for frontline staff over the coming days, weeks and months. we fear that it might be already too late. if i've already been exposed, then it's too late. in the commons, the prime minister wanted to reassure staff it was a priority. there is a massive effort going on, comparable to the effort to build enough ventilators to ensure that we have adequate supplies of pp equipment, notjust now, but throughout the outbreak. a major ventilator company, though, said the uk was very poorly equipped. ministers this week appealed to british busine

england's chief medical officer, professor chris whitty, said all of the latest to die were patients in "at—risk" groups. the rise comes as the government draws up plans to ban mass gatherings, in response to the escalating outbreak. the total number of cases in the uk now stands at 1,140. almost 38,000 people have been tested. elsewhere in europe, spain has announced 1500 new cases today. as a result, the authorities there have urged people to stay at home, unless they're going to work, buying food or drugs, or in need of medical attention. the airlinejet2 has cancelled all flights to the country and even turned planes back mid—flight earlier today. holidays to spain organised through tui, which were due to begin in the next few days, have also been cancelled. several european union countries have now said they'll close their borders to most, or all, foreigners because of the coronavirus. they include denmark, poland, slovakia, czech republic as well as cyprus. and a ban on travellers from most of europe entering the united states has come into force. president trump indicated that

professor chris whitty. that workers will get statutory sick pay from their first day off work, rather than from the fourth, to help contain coronavirus. people have been urged to self—isolate if they suspect they may have the virus, to protect others. borisjohnson delivered the news at prime minister's questions. when the prime minister brings forward the emergency legislation, will he guarantee that workers' rights to sick pay from day one as he has indicated, will apply on sick pay and all claimants and all those who are not currently eligible for statutory sick pay, therefore will have to make a terrible choice between health and hardship. the right honourable gentleman is raising a very important point and we are very much aware of the issues faced by the self—employed and those on zero—hours contracts. i should stress that some of them will be entitled to statutory sick pay — a great many. others will be entitled to help through the existing system such as universal credit, and we are urgently looking

the uk's chief medical adviser, professor chris whitty, says authorities across the country are now mainlyg to delay — rather than contain — the spread of coronavirus. globally there are now more than 97,000 cases of coronavirus. of those, more than half, over 53,000, have recovered. the number of people who have died now stands at almost 3,500. with the latest, here's our health editor, hugh pym. according to the royal berkshire trust, the patient had been in and out of hospital. she tested positive for the coronavirus last night. condolences have been expressed to her family by the trust, health leaders and the prime minister. 0bviously our sympathies are very much with the victim and their family, but the situation is pretty much as it has been in the sense that we are still in the contained phase, though now our scientists and medical advisers are making preparations for the delay phase. the first british fatality with the coronavirus, though outside the uk, was a tourist who'd been on the diamond princess cruise ship, which had been quarantined injapan. more details of cases in the uk

sympathies have expressed to the family by the trust and the chief medical advsider, chris whitty.ay of continuing debate and speculation about the government's action plan on the coronavirus threat. trying to contain the coronavirus has all but failed for the nhs and other health systems, according to the government's chief medical adviser. now it's all about attempting to delay and reduce the scale of its spread. he said half the cases could occur over a three—week peak of the epidemic — and that, he told mps, could put great strain on services for all hospital patients. the bit of the system which will come under pressure first will be those conditions that require people to have oxygen and particularly to have critical care, and that bit, i think, will come under pressure at quite an early stage if we have a high end of the range epidemic for this. the chief medical adviser outlined what he believed the benefits of the delay phase would be. first, it would push back the peak number of cases from winter, when pressure on the nhs is greatest. it would buy time for scientists to i

as the number of cases hits 90, chris whitty says measures will be ramped up. by delaying the start of a significant amount of commuter transmission, and by a variety of other measures that we'll come on to, push back the point in which we have the peak of this epidemic. it comes as a senior doctor tells of fears the nhs is not in a position to cope if there is a spike in cases. also this lunchtime... uk airline flybe goes into administration. when did you first hear? early hours of the morning. got quite a shock? yeah. yeah, i thought we would be saved but not this time. as more air strikes in northern syria kill at least 15 civilians, talks are held to try to find some way out of the conflict. the charity save the children is strongly criticised in a report into its handling of claims of executives‘ inappropriate behaviour towards staff. and rain cancels play, meaning england are out of the women's t20 world cup. coming up on bbc news, the football association investigates an incident where eric dier allegedly confronted a fan who insulted him and his family

the key thing, to reiterate what chris whitty has said is testing and ramping up our ability to test. ability to test who has had the disease, rather than who has got it now. both of those things are important to get a proper handle on this, especially this question of how many people have had it and been asymptomatic. that is the biggest unknown worldwide that would completely change all sorts of things if we can get a handle on that number. thanks, robert peston, itv. couple of questions. first, your restrictions on freedom of movement, your urge to families and households to isolate. these are volu nta ry. households to isolate. these are voluntary. in some countries, they have introduced criminal sanctions if individuals refuse to obey what is effectively a curfew. how likely is effectively a curfew. how likely is it, how prepared are you to introduce criminal sanctions if necessary? and on this issue of testing, one issue that i hear repeatedly from people in the health service, is they are deeply uncomfortable about being forced home if they have got a cough because they would l

i can absolutely and i have huge admiration for chris whitty. | i have huge admiration for chris whittyl not accept and how much to spend. what chris whitty is doing is provide his scientific advice on where he thinks the risk are but in the end the decision has to be made on where to close those schools. all of the evidence from other influenza pandemics around the world is that closing schools earlier rather than later stops the peaks of this kind of disease. you mention when you are in office dealing with the ebola outbreak, can i ask you about the cobra meetings? we have been talking about coronavirus, but when you have been in those meetings, how much and how well listen to our those experts in terms of the making of decisions that those cobra get—togethers?” think people listen very, very carefully a nd think people listen very, very carefully and pay tribute to the way the government has been very careful to listen to expert advice. but i think the two things less clearly understood, one is the experts don't a lwa ys understood, one is the experts don't always agree with each oth

that was professor chris whitty speaking to mps a little bit earlier. speaking today about coronavirus. earlier, he a nswered about coronavirus. earlier, he answered a question about concerns about how businesses may be affected by the outbreak. this is why the whole principle has been to minimise the economic and social disruption, subject to keeping people safe, which of course has to be the top priority. but also, following the science. there are some things that are widely thought to have a very significant impact but, in fact, the science suggests that they don't and there, ourjob leading the nation through this is to explain what we are doing and why we are doing it and we have taken proactive decisions to have an approach that is led by the science. so, for instance, at the start of this, i was encouraged to stop the flights from china and the scientists told me that they felt that would not be effective and we decided not to, despite some pressure to do so. and there was only one country that took that decision against the advice that decision a

good morning, mr whitty.s now a household name, at the forefront plans at the forefront of plans to tackle coronavirus threat. one of the problems they are facing up to is protection for nhs staff. some say they haven't got masks and other personal protective equipment, ppe, so they are at risk of infection at work. we don't feel that the government have been transparent with how many masks they have, how many advanced masks they have and how much protective equipment is available for frontline staff over the coming days, weeks and months. we fear that it might be already too late. if i've already been exposed, then it's too late. in the commons, the prime minister wanted to reassure staff it was a priority. there is a massive effort going on, comparable to the effort to build enough ventilators to ensure that we have adequate supplies of pp equipment, not just now, but throughout the outbreak. a major ventilator company, though, said the uk was very poorly equipped. ministers this week appealed to british bu

if you listen to the press conference, professor chris whitty, the treat dome light chief medical adviser are increasing testing. they are trying to go further. a bit ofa they are trying to go further. a bit of a change of emphasis there, but sources tell me theyjust don't think they have the resources to test everybody. they want to focus particularly on nhs workers and those who are most important or most vulnerable, certainly. so i think they've changed here a bit on this, but they're not complying totalling with what who have suggested. some other countries but not all. it's a resource issue when it comes to testing. this question is from david, who's in nottingham. it says is it possible to have coronavirus without having a fever?” is it possible to have coronavirus without having a fever? i think it is. my understanding is the main two symptoms are a fever, and they said that fever to 37.8, and a call. the cough is persistent and it starts acutely and is ongoing. i guess there are cases where people will have a cough it and they won't have a fever. many people don't actually have, s

the prime minister, chris whitty, prince charles, they have had these tests and that suggests they areandi and that suggests they are happy enough and i think it is valid to use it, and clearly they are now rushing through this weekend to use it on the front line staff who are on this front line. that is quite right, as well, very sensible move. this will be next week in the coming days, then it will be people like amazon and boots, really poised to get this out to wider use. that will tell us more accurately what the infection rate has been. the who a lwa ys infection rate has been. the who always said that the most important thing is to test, test, test, and it is something the uk has not been doing with the rigour of other countries. the nhs have been calling for testing for some time and nhs staff doing incredible work and putting themselves and their families at risk in doing so but also they are taking time off work and self isolating if they have any symptoms so it is important in terms of capacity as well as everybody‘s individual health that it is known whether or not they hav

chris whitty gives details in the telegraph of what steps to take if people have symptoms. the financial times has info on markets. let's have a look. let's start with the telegraph. this quote that many more families are going to lose loved ones,. is a very sombre statement. it's something very u nfortu nate sombre statement. it's something very unfortunate that is going to happen. it's quite clear and already is happening. just setting out the starkness of the challenge facing, not just this country starkness of the challenge facing, notjust this country but many other countries. every country more or less. i suppose that the key message. the question is what the government is doing. not one that has gone as far as some of the country have done. it was a big jump because so far we've only talk about numbers ina because so far we've only talk about numbers in a few hundred. to say that 10,000 or more are to be infected is a very different scale. ina lot infected is a very different scale. in a lot of ways, they would clearly wa nt in a lot of ways, they would clearly want

is that we have this really encouraging news to come out in the morning and then professor chris whittyl officer later in the press co nfe re nce officer later in the press conference stood alongside boris johnson. he actually cautioned, wait, we need to test these tests to make sure they work because a test thatis make sure they work because a test that is bad is worse than no test at all. even if we find they work, priority must go to our nhs front—line workers social care workers. he said actually, everyone calm down, it's not that likely that we will see online deliveries next week. there were reports we might be able to go on to get amazon orders of these mass tests. the reason is hopeful is that if they do work, and these can be rolled out and there is easily as they say they are, this is huge news for the economy because it means we can see if we have it or not as harriet mentioned, if we are immune to it, we can get back to work and get the economy moving again as opposed to leaving this locked down for a long period of time. ithink locked down for a long period of time. i think

england's chief medical officer, professor chris whitty, said all of the latest to die were patients"at—risk" groups. the rise comes as the government draws up new plans, in response to the escalating outbreak. the total number of cases in the uk now stands at 1,140. almost 38,000 people have been tested. to help tackle the spread of the virus, the government is to ask some of the uk biggest buisnesses to help build ventilators. the nhs will fund the use of 8,000 private hospital beds, at a cost of nearly £2.5 million a day. meanwhile, the united states has extended the travel ban on most european countries to include the uk and ireland. this will come into effect at 4:00am on tuesday morning. and in the last hour, downing street has confirmed borisjohnson and president trump have spoken on the phone this evening about the coronavirus. we'll have reports from around the world, but first, the situation here in the uk from our health correspondent, sophie hutchinson. on your marks, get set, go. a large group of runners out today, keeping fit, but the question is for how much longer? co

meeting tomorrow where he will appear along side alongside chief medical officer professor chris whittysir patrick vallance. with me is our political correspondent, jessica parker. my my understanding is that prime minister is keen to chair those where possible himself alongside people at the chief medical officer, this chief scientific officer. figures we have become rather used to with recent press conferences and media appearances as well. it will not always be those people. they might bea not always be those people. they might be a rotating cast list depending on what people are working on. however, ithink depending on what people are working on. however, i think the effort is to inform people and it does follow some criticism over the weekend of the government public messaging. the way in which the announcement of asking the over 70s within weeks to stay at home emerged in dribs and drabs overnight in this apparent contradiction on whether the government exit herd immunity, tilting up immunity within the population, is something they should be aiming for. labour are welcoming the f

boris johnson medical officer, professor chris whitty.veloped mild symptoms of the coronavirus, that is to say a temperature and a persistent cough. and on the advice of the chief medical officer i've taken a test. that has come out positive. so i am working from home. iam positive. so i am working from home. i am self isolating. and that's entirely the right thing to do. but to be in no doubt that i can continue. thanks to the wizardry of technology i can continue to communicate with all my top team to lead the national fightback against coronavirus. and i want to thank everybody who is involved. i want to thank, of course, above all, our amazing nhs staff. it was very moving last night to join amazing nhs staff. it was very moving last night tojoin in amazing nhs staff. it was very moving last night to join in that national clap for the nhs. but it's not just the nhs. national clap for the nhs. but it's notjust the nhs. it's our police, our social care workers, teachers, everybody who works in schools, dwp staff, and amazing national ef

and i think as professor whitty said to the health select committee last week that, really, the chancesthe uk missing an epidemic now are slim to nil. there are a few anecdotal reports of panic buying. certainly, sales of hand sanitiser seem to have gone up, but retail experts say there is absolutely no need. stock will only run down if people start to unnecessarily buy in bulk. it now seems that, one way or another, coronavirus is likely to have an impact on the lives of all of us. it's worth pointing out that, for the vast majority of those who are unlucky enough to be infected, most of them will experience very mild symptoms and will make a full recovery. so, how is all of this affecting the behaviour of shoppers here in manchester on a saturday afternoon? has it changed the way i live? yes, the way you go about things? not really, no. we've got some extra hand gel and soap and stuff, so we're washing our hands a bit more. you're washing your hands a bit more, aren't you? i don't like to touch the door handles and everything, so i touch everything with a tissue. and maybe this is a s

the chief medical officer, chris whitty, showing symptoms so he will be self isolating as well. a huge surprise that it is found its way into government and that senior figures have tested positive because, as we know, the spread of this virus is very broad. there was little detail about how the government is going about making sure that more people don't find themselves contracting this disease beyond putting in place the social distancing measures that the government has urged the public at large to do, but we heard at the briefing earlier on from michael gove, the cabinet office minister, saying that any senior figure in government who are central to the effort to stopping the spread of coronavirus would be tested if they we re coronavirus would be tested if they were showing symptoms, which is obviously a different setup and protocol to you and i if we were to show symptoms, having to self—isolate and leave it at that. it is still a shock though, isn't it? the leader of the country is diagnosed with coronavirus. he will have been in contact with a number of people over the l

england's chief medical officer, professor chris whitty, said all of the latest to die were patientsrisk" groups. the rise comes as the government draws up plans to ban mass gatherings, in response to the escalating outbreak. the total number of cases in the uk now stands at 1,140. almost 38,000 people have been tested. meanwhile, the united states has extended the travel ban on most european countries to include the uk and ireland. this will come into effect at 4am on tuesday morning. that will be midnight eastern standard time in the united states. the vice president, mike pence said american citizens returning from the uk will come through specific us airports. elsewhere in europe — the spanish government have urged people to stay at home unless they're going to work, buying food or drugs, or in need of medical attention after another 1,500 cases were announced. the airlinejet2 has cancelled all flights to the country. and even turned seven of its plane mid—flight earlier today. holidays to spain organised through tui, which were due to begin in the next few days, have also been c

the chief medical officer chris whitty has also developed symptoms, and is self—isolating. reports a record surge in virus deaths bringing the toll there to more than 9,000. more than 900 have died in a single day, according to the most recent figures. the international monetary fund has warned the world's economy has entered a recession as bad or worse than the financial crash of 2009. it says that an execeptionally high number of countries require emergency funding. and the world health organization says the chronic global shortage of protective equipment is the biggest obstacle to preventing deaths from the pandemic. our chief political correspondent vicky young has more. keeping their distance. like many neighbours, the prime minister and chancellor stepped outside to pay tribute to nhs staff last night but four hours later, boris johnson tested positive for coronavirus. i've taken a test, that's come out positive. so i am working from home, i am self—isolating and that's entirely the right thing to do. but, be in no doubt that i can continue, thanks to the wizardry of

wembley 12 more people have tested positive for coronavirus in the uk, the chief medical officer, chris whittypdate on those cases. saying that. three of the patients were close contacts of a previously known case. one of the patients had no known contacts. and the others travelled from countries where the virus had been identified. that means the total number of cases in the uk stands at 35. this morning the health secretary matt hancock said the government could take emergency powers to close schools and cancel public events, in its efforts to tackle the corona virus, but he added he wanted to mininise the social and economic impact of any measures. and this afternoon, its been confirmed that a member of staff at st mary's school in tetbury has tested positive for the virus, the school will close until at least wednesday. a school in reading is also closed after a teacher there was admitted to hospital with the virus. here's our health editor, hugh pym. parents with children at this infant sahool in berkshire have been told it won't open again, until local authority leaders are certain it's

as the number of cases exceeds one hundred, chris whitty said measures to try to slow the rate at whicht's passed on would be ramped up. by by delaying the start of a significant amount of community transmission and a variety of other measures we come onto, push back the point at which we have the peak of this epidemic. we'll have all the latest from our correspondents. the other main stories on bbc news at 5... in the us, elizabeth warren pulls out of the race to be the democrats' presidential candidate. uk airline flybe goes into administration, putting 2,000 jobs at risk and leaving thousands of passengers stranded. probation officers had 8 opportunities to recall multiple rapistjoseph mccann to prison — before he went on his rampage of sex attacks. england's six nations games against italy on m and 15 march have been postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak. hello and good afternoon. in the past hour, the government has announced that the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the uk has risen to 115. the government's top medical adviser says the uk is now trying to slow t

you heard chris whitty express that. does it make sense?tion of is it dangerous to me, how is it passed onto babies, can i pass it onto my baby if i get it? there are so many unanswered questions. why is it all of a sudden so different? did someone die? not as far as we know, a pregnant women or woman who has given birth. do you wa nt to or woman who has given birth. do you want to come in, sonia? don't panic. this is a beautiful time and enjoy it as much as you can. is there any evidence globally that any pregnant woman or baby has been harmed by the coronavirus? we are being over safe here. we are taking as much precaution as we can so do follow the government advice but try not to panic because there is no evidence globally that pregnant women or babies have been harmed from coronavirus. you want to come back on that? do you have anything else to ask? i am self-isolating now. my job was based on me travelling around the country and now i cannot do it but i have been travelling over the past four weeks. can i, if i think over the past fou

medical and scientific advisers were keeping further apart at online press conferences, but today chris whittyn had his weekly audience with the queen on the phone. in the commons on wednesday, there were fewer mps at prime minister's questions, but ministers sat together on the front bench, including the health secretary. he developed coronavirus symptoms that night and is also in self isolation. i will be continuing to do everything i can to get our carers the support they need, and i will be doing that from here, but with no less gusto. with the prime minister unavailable, it fell to michael gove to take questions at the daily press conference. the prime minister has coronavirus, the health secretary does as well, the chief medical officer is in isolation. people will be looking at this and may be wondering whether you haven't been taking your own advice, or you may have acted too slowly when it came to stopping the spread of the coronavirus? the virus does not discriminate. we are all at risk and that is why it is so important that we practice social distancing measures. those are in place

chris whitty: and the other points. >> foreign minister, you have to be drunk into taken the action the human announced. also if i may, may suggest that we might introduce some things are you angry. people trying to exploit this crisis. this included jail terms. patrick vallance: right from the beginning, we were going to do the right measures at the right time. and according to political dictatorship. and it's going to be in the best scientific ways. this is good reason for wanting to tackle an epidemic strictly in accordance with the scientific advisor that's when we have done and continue believe that is the right approach for this country in the right approach for the uk. we have the best scientists and advisors in the world and we continue to follow them. in a different question about public hearing, i just like it very much. i do not want to see people profiteering, exploiting people's needs, a critical time. the national emergency. so we are indeed looking very captive of what is going on. in the markets have already had various powers that may be used but we are looking at the l

health secretary matt hancock has also been diagnosed with covid—19, and chief medical officer chris whitty after developing symptoms. three new temporary hospitals in birmingham, manchester and cardiff will be set up to help cope with the coronavirus crisis. another hospital is being set up in london's excel centre will be available for use next week. the city where the coronavirus pandemic began, wuhan in china, has partially re—opened — after more than two months of isolation. people are being allowed to enter but not leave. in the us, president trump approved a $2.2 trillion emergency spending package to give a lifeline to the economy. there are now more than 100,000 confirmed cases in the country. we'll have more on all of those developments — but we start with this report from our correspondent andy moore. they're the three men spearheading the national fight against covid—19 and all three are now self—isolating because they have or think they have the virus. i've developed mild symptoms of the coronavirus, that's to say a temperature and a persistent cough. the prime minister is in s