More us states are ordering everyone but essential workers to stay at home, to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Illinois, connecticut and new york made the announcements on friday. Nada tawfik reports. From california to new york, an eerie emptiness across americas normally bustling urban centres. In the age of social distancing, people are avoiding hotspots in hollywood and the big apple. After a week of tightening controls, officials announced even more measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus. In the golden state, a stay at home order went into effect on friday for all a0 million residents. People were told they could live their homes only for essential business. Having gone through several catastrophic situations in past years just gives us more strength. We had earthquakes, we had two fires. We are used to dealing with situations over which we have no control. New york also took drastic measures, as cases topped 7,000. Governor cuomo said the state was on pause, ordering all non essential businesses to keep their workers home from sunday and warning it would be enforced. This is not voluntary, it is not helpful hints. We are going to monitor it. There will be civil fines and there can be mandatory closures for businesses that do not comply. I am not kidding about this. The numbers are going up at such a rate that, as i said, it has more than doubled the capacity of the hospital system. The changes are rapidly impacting peoples daily lives, leaving many to question what might be next. President trump, flanked by his Coronavirus Task force, said a National Lockdown would not be necessary. I dont think so. Essentially, you have done that in california, youve done that in new york those are really two hotbeds, probably the two hottest of them all in terms of hotspots. I do not think so. You go out to the midwest, you go out to other locations, and they are watching it on television but they do not have the same problems, by any means the same problems. He did, however, announce that the United States was closing its borders to all but essential travel from saturday, after agreement with mexico and previously canada. With increased tension on officials handling of the pandemic, two republican senators have faced calls to resign. Its alleged they deliberately sold a large amount of stock before concerns over the coronavirus sent the stock market plummeting. Senator richard burr of North Carolina received private briefings on the outbreak as the Senate Intelligence committee chair. In a statement, he said he relied solely on public news reports to guide his decision and asked the Senate Ethics committee to review the stock transactions. Georgias republican senator kelly loeffler, who is married to the New York Stock Exchange chairman, said advisers handled her transactions. As the us enters a new stage in the fight against the virus, natures wonders have provided a much needed distraction. In the nations capital, people ventured outside to see washington dcs famous Cherry Blossoms in peak bloom. A safe outing, just as long as they keep their distance. For more im joined by our north america correspondent peter bowes, who is in los angeles. What are the main issues authorities are grappling with in los angeles . There are so many issues, the very fact that people are being told to stay at home, this is a state of a0 million people, and those people are being asked to stay indoors, except unless they need to go to the Grocery Store oi need to go to the Grocery Store or to buy petrol, or to seek emergency medical treatment or indeed if they work for the emergency services. The most part, the vast majority of people simply have to stay at home. They are not able to go to work, and that for many people is the number one issue, they are not able to make money. A lot of eyes will be on what is happening in washington as the white house negotiates this 1 trillion stimulus package. Part of that package is to give americans working perhaps up to 1200 to get them through the next few weeks. The people in los angeles and california think enough has been done by President Trump and the white house to address these issues . There are mixed feelings on that. Certainly over the last few weeks there has been a lot of negative reaction to what the white house and Trump Administration has been doing. In terms of getting the coronavirus testing kits out to the places that need them, and there is still a huge amount of short supply of those testing get. People are sometimes a little confused as to who exactly should get tested, whether that is whether you have symptoms you should get a test, authorities and doctors say you dont. People are very concerned doctors say you dont. People are very concerned that there is not enough in terms of supplies, also respirators and masks as well, two of the other big issues. Thank you very much indeed for that update, we will no doubt check back in with you later on in the same topic. The British Government has announced unprecedented measures to tackle the Economic Impact of the coronavirus. The state would pay 80 of the wages of all those not able to work for the next three months. The uk Prime Minister, borisjohnson, said theatres, gyms, restaurants and pubs must close. Heres our Political Correspondent alex forsyth. This will be a familiar sight across the country from tomorrow. Restaurants, cafes, pubs, clubs, all shut down. No longer by choice, now by command. The impact enormous for business, having to cope with the doors closed, and for workers, wholl have nowhere to go. The Prime Minister said these were the next necessary steps to try and slow the spread of this virus. We are collectively telling telling cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants, to close tonight, as soon as they reasonably can, and not to open tomorrow. Though, to be clear, they can continue to provide take out services. Were also telling night clubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres to close on the same timescale. A serious moment matched by a significant intervention from the chancellor. A package worth billions, not just for employers, but those losing work and wages too. Were paying peoples wages, up to 80 , so someone can be furloughed rather than laid off to protect theirjobs. Were deferring over £30 billion of taxes until the end of the financial year. Were lending unlimited sums of money interest free for 12 months. Were abolishing Business Rates altogether this year if youre in hospitality, retail and leisure. Were providing cash grants of £25,000 for Small Business properties. These closures come with a price. How long, if you can, do you see these measures lasting, and how do you plan to enforce them . I think everybody can see the imperative of doing what is necessary, of protecting our nhs and saving lives. As the signs go up and shutters come down, many will be working out what the help on offer means for them, whether its enough. Claires just taken on a five year lease of this pub in norwich. Wed like to believe that well come through the other side of this. We really, really, really do. And im going to be honest, im struggling to hold it together at the moment. And its not going tojust be me, its going to be all of us. The government is putting in place significant measures to try and counter the impact of this virus in just days and weeks, policies that would usually take months if not years to implement, and all with the knowledge the decisions it takes now will have crucial consequences for all of us as the way we live our lives profoundly changes. This is a state intervention on a new level. Some want more from the chancellor. Id like him to increase the level of statutory sick pay. Id like him to make sure that employers pay their way in making sure people get their wages. And id like to see that he improves benefits for those people who are unemployed and carers, and those with disabilities. In scotland, an acknowledgement people will have to make sacrifices. Doing everything we can to slow down the spread of this virus now means that we will save lives and we will protect our nhs. We cannotjust carry on as normal. Life right now is not normal. It will certainly feel very different very soon. Now the struggle to manage this virus has reached a whole new level. Alex forsyth, bbc news, westminster. Theres been another sharp increase in the number of deaths in italy. 627 people have died from the virus. Further restrictions have been imposed on the population, with some of the countrys regions banning walks in the park, jogging and bike rides. In the grips of a Global Pandemic governance around the in the grips of a Global Pandemic, governments around the world are battling to keep their citizens safe. But as cities are shut down and borders closed, concerns remain that not everyone is taking the threat seriously. Tanya dendrinos has this report. As the world goes into lockdown, global icons normally teeming resemble ghost towns. But in australia, despite a raft of new measures bondi beach was anything but a symbol of social distancing on friday. Well, its definitely not ideal. It is a worry with so many people all together, and i do think the whole world is probably looking at us right now, thinking what a massive mistake that were making. A crisis bubbling away, beach goers not quite blissfully unaware, but still not missing the opportunity to soak up the autumn sun. I think people are taking advantage of the hot weather while they can, and a lot of people have been stuck indoors so they probably think oh, you know, ill take my chance and go for a swim. But at the same time, ijust think, well, here we are, supposed to be excluding ourselves from big crowds, its sort of doesnt make sense. Back home in canada, there are about 30 people skating on a lake and everyone was up in arms about how, you know, they werent being conscious and werent being aware of what they were doing. And if you look at what weve got going on here, you know, its just a bunch of people hanging out at a beach, it forced stricter measures. The New South Wales government closing the famous stretch of sand, saying others will follow if social distancing rules continue to be flouted. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization made meanwhile, the world health 0rganization made an impassioned plea to young people, issuing a stern reminder which seems to have been lost on many. You are not invincible. This virus could put you in hospitalfor weeks or even kill you. Even if you dont get sick, the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else. The message is simple the key to defeating covid 19 is solidarity. Not just among nations, but also generations. Tanya dendrinos, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc world news, still to come the main event in the netherlands may have been cancelled, but plans are afoot to host an alternative Eurovision Song Contest well be finding out more. Today, we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. More than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. Nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. The trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. Now, this was an international trophy, and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search. Above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and thats what the voters wanted. This is bbc world news. The latest headlines with empty streets from new york to california, President Trump says he doesnt expect to impose a National Lockdown in the us. In the uk, the government has announced unprecedented measures to tackle the Economic Impact of the coronavirus as the Prime Minister says restaurants and pubs must close. After several days with no home grown infections, according to chinas official figures, there is a feeling there that the coronavirus emergency appears to be under control. People in beijing are finally heading outdoors, as china correspondent Stephen Mcdonell reports. Countries around the world are going through a coronavirus emergency but in china people have been living at for months. Now with the weather turning good and feeling the situation is pretty much under control more and more of them are busting out of their houses. When you talk to people here, one thing that strikes you is that many of them, despite the early bungles, despite the early bungles, despite the early cover ups, there seems to bea early cover ups, there seems to be a belief that once the National Government got involved, that the authorities would find a way through this crisis. Stephen mcdonald recording Stephen Mcdonald recording Stephen Mcdonell reporting there from china. Lets get some of the other coronavirus news from around the world. In switzerland, everyone has been told to stay off the streets, with experts suggesting that the outbreak is just four days behind the devastating situation in italy. The government has banned groups of five or more, but they are yet to impose a full lockdown. There have been a,8a0 cases of the virus there and a3 deaths. In nigeria, officials are asking people not to take an anti malaria drug in an attempt to fight the virus after hospitals in lagos said they were treating people with complications caused by overdoses. Nigerias Health Minister says there is no proof that the drug is effective against covid 19. Indonesia says a state of emergency will come into force in the capital jakarta from monday. Bars, cinemas and businesses will be forced to shut down. The government has also stressed that people across the country should avoid all religious gatherings after large crowds were seen gathering at mosques. As we heard, a swathe of Public Places across the uk are being told to close in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Danny savage reports from harrogate in yorkshire. As the Prime Minister announced that all pubs, bars and restaurants should closed, people were surprised at the immediacy of the order. Can i finish my pint . Thats what i said. She says yeah. I thought you were kicking us out drink up and go home was the gist of the announcement. Its the sensible thing to do, having them shut down and i think after this, you will see it from today, people, the public just not being outside as much. Pretty annoyed. On your birthday on my birthday as well. Yeah. Mental, crazy. You dont really believe its happening. Obviously, it needs to happen. Yeah, it will affect many peoples just general routine as well. So yeah, quite shocking. The bar manager here now has to shut up shop but was putting on a brave face. Weve kind of modelled our Business Plan around sort of a 3 month to 6 month closure, should that be the case, and we think we can get through it with the help of the government and the loans. Harrogate was a town of disparities. Some restaurants and bars had closed down before today. Now, its a blanket order. On a friday night, bars and restaurants should be busy and crowded, but look at the street here. Its virtually deserted. Friday the 20th of march, 2020 will be remembered as the night that part of our culture, part of our lifestyle, abruptly stopped. And for how long . At the local theatre, they reckon at least until the start of may. A few stragglers were making use of last orders. Some pubs were virtually giving away beer tonight. Shutting them is just another sign of how serious the government is about wanting us to stay in, not giving us an excuse to go out. Danny savage, bbc news, harrogate. The organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest are exploring the idea of staging an alternative show after cancelling this years event because of coronavirus. 0ur News ReporterGareth Barlow is here to tell us more. Do we know anymore about what this alternative show could be . Not at the moment. We know one thing, it will not be a competition and normally it is a fierce competition between the that enter and the European Broadcasting Union that hosts this and puts on the song contest has given very little detail apart from that. They say they want to honour the songs and artists who have or any other acts together and got their performances ready so i think what we will see potentially is perhaps a special programme that brings together all of the music videos they have already put together and it will also be putting it out on social media. Why do think there has been his case of course, maybe the uproarand case of course, maybe the uproar and people loving your vision and looking forward to it . What do you think happened . It isa it . What do you think happened . It is a staple of european life and has been going on for 6a yea rs and has been going on for 6a years and people travel the world and follow the song contest world and follow the song co ntest fro m world and follow the song contest from city to city over the course of the years and if you look on social media a lot of people are saying that they wa nted of people are saying that they wanted the dose of happiness in the dose of escapism and fun, especially considering the current climate of the coronavirus crisis. Some people are quite pleased to be seeing the back of it but the overwhelming reaction of something to be put on forced the all led to the ebu deciding to put it in some form or shape. Seeing some pictures now of your vision and people are excited that it will be going ahead so explain why people get so worked up about it. It is brilliantly bonkers, you have a1 countries around europe, australia snuck in as well, and there are rounds of musical eliminations before this huge televised final watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world. It is glitzy and poppy and full of power ballad and it can get quite political because the varying countries then vote on each others acts but it is fun at its heart, it is fun and people buy intermittent countries buy into it and there are europeans and parties and people watching what is going on and you know, in the library arena or live event so it is just a good fun night. And i think people did not want to lose that, both the audience the doors of the organisers. Lots of doom and gloom but there is still your vision in some form, at least. Gareth barlow thank you very much for bringing us up to date on that. British wartime singer Dame Vera Lynn has shared a message for the world on her 103rd birthday. She says keep smiling and keep singing while social distancing and in self isolation, because it will help pass the dark times. Freya cole reports. Well meet again. Dont know where, dont know when. 103 years old, Dame Vera Lynns spirit is as strong as ever. Some sunny day. Shes released a new video showing Archive Footage of her performing her signature tune. Its been more than 80 years since it was first released, but the lyrics are as poignant as ever. Always do. Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away. Known as the forces sweetheart, Dame Vera Lynn entertained british troops during world war ii with songs that captured the hearts and lifted spirits. During some of the worlds darkest days, she travelled as far afield as egypt and myanmar to boost morale on the front line. Along with a new video, the singer released a statement, saying but i know well meet. At the very end of her birthday video, the 103 year old recorded a short message for everyone who is social distancing or in self isolation. Keep smiling, and keep singing. Freya cole, bbc news. We have been hearing about the millions of people in the us and around the world and told to practise social messaging and kevin bacon posted an instagram message to his fans, telling people to stay at home under the hashtag i stay at home for a loved one. Many other stars have also joined the campaign as each celebrity nominated another to show their support. As always, plenty more information and advice on our website. Including this article on how you can keep up a healthy outdoor exercise. You can find that piece, as well all the latest coronavirus developments at bbc. Com news or the bbc news app. You can obviously download but at any point. That is just about me for now. You can reach me on twitter. Im sipusey. But for now, do stay tuned and thanks a lot for watching. Hello there. There was a little bit more in the way of sunshine to go around on friday and it really turned out to be quite a glorious day across many areas. This was the scene in cockermouth in cumbria. Thanks to trevor for sending that beautiful weather watch picture in. You can see the extent of the sunshine we had. But further south, we had this weather front with us again and it continued to bring some dull and damp weather in across the very far south of england. Even into the early afternoon, we had a little bit of light rain reported in hastings, in east sussex. Now, overnight tonight, many of us will have dry conditions. The breeze keeping the frost at bay across many south eastern areas but the further north you go with those lighter winds, well see temperatures dip well below freezing. That said, there are just a few showers dotted around as well across the hills of southern england, the hills of north east england too, but for most of us, it is a dry looking picture. Now, for the weekend, this area of High Pressure, this area of low pressure not really changing very much. Theyre just shuffling position a little bit more, and that means the winds are going to switch from an easterly to more of a south easterly direction. But that is still a cold wind that will be blowing and making it feel pretty chilly out and about, particularly in the morning. Now, there will be some patchy cloud around as well. Cloudy to start the day across western areas, but its quite high cloud probably quite a nice sunrise for some of you. But its the winds that make it feel cold and those winds will be at their strongest across the hills and western coasts of wales and across the moors and coasts of south west england. Gusts of a0, perhaps even 50 mph in one or two areas, that will make it feel quite chilly, certainly knocking the edge off the temperatures. And i suspect we will have some areas of cloud in the north sea affecting eastern areas of scotland in particular. We might have some of that both morning and afternoon. So it wont be nice gin clear and sunny everywhere. Now, on into the night time, saturday night. Again, we could see some patches of cloud coming in from the north sea but where the winds do manage to drop out, we could well see a slightly more widespread frost. So a colder start to the day on sunday but then that said, the winds will be blowing a little bit less strongly on sunday, so it probably wont feel quite as chilly. And there will still be quite a lot of dry weather still a lot of sunshine to go around. Perhaps some slightly thicker cloud just edging into the scottish highlands, just threatening an odd light shower, but for most of us, its another fine looking day. And temperatures as you were, really highs between eight and 12 degrees. A little bit cool with the onshore winds around the eastern coasts of scotland and england. Into next week, our area of High PressureStill Holding on, but we see this weather front starting to slip in across the far north west. So monday looks like being another dry day with sunshine. Then we will start to see some rain approach the far north west as we go from tuesday and wednesday. That is your latest weather. Bye for now. This is bbc news, the headlines the us is closing its borders to all but essential travel from saturday. The move has been agreed with canada and mexico as part of efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Elsewhere, stock markets in new york have closed down sharply, ending their worst week in more than a decade. In the uk, the government has announced unprecedented measures to tackle the Economic Impact of the coronavirus, with the state paying 80 of the wages of all those not able to work for the next three months. The Prime Minister has announced that restaurants and pubs must close. Italian authorities have announced that the countrys death toll from the virus has jumped by 627 in a single day. Theyre reported to be about to close public parks and limit the areas in which people can take exercise. You in which people can take exercise. Can find more ir website. Now on bbc news, with exclusive access to two film makers