Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20200327

Your country loves you. The nation comes together in an emotional thank you to nhs and care workers battling coronavirus. Good morning, youre watching bbc news. Im annita mcveigh. House buyers and sellers have been urged by the government to put off completion during the coronavirus lockdown. Even those scheduled to move today have been encourged to delay. In other developments firefighters are to be given additional responsibilities to aid the uks fight against the virus. Over the next two months, theyll be asked to deliver food and medicines, drive ambulances, and if necessary, help move the remains of victims whove died. The chancellors package of measures designed to help self employed people and freelancers during the crisis has been met with a mixed response. And the nhs has tweeted that last nights nationwide round of applause was emotional. many people came to their doorways and windows to show their appreciation for Health Workers in the clap for carers. Lets get the latest from our correspondent, charlotte rose. A moment of togetherness, because of the virus which has forced us apart. Last night, thousands of people across the country came out on their doorsteps to applaud the efforts of nhs workers on the front line. In towns and cities, and even palaces, people paid tribute. Earlier, chancellor rishi sunak announced a multibillion pound package of support for self employed workers. Musicians and sound engineers, plumbers and electricians, taxi drivers and driving instructors, hairdressers and childminders, and many others, through no fault of their own, risk losing their livelihoods. To you, i say this. You have not been forgotten. Those who earn less than £50,000 a year can apply for a grant of up to 80 of their average monthly profits, up to a maximum of £2,500. But, with payouts not coming untiljune, and some workers being exempt, many are still worried. So youre going to give us the money injune, did they say . So what youre saying is, you you are presuming that everybody thats self employed has enough money to survive until then, and thats not the case. I unfortunately probably wont qualify, because my business has only been running for two years. My husband will be able to claim, so that means that as a family, we will be able to have money from the government to tide us over. Whilst the government is firefighting on the economy, firefighters will be brought in to help the nhs. They will help drive ambulances, deliver food and medicine to vulnerable people, and if there are mass casualties from the virus, to transport the dead. The police, too, have a role to play, enforcing social distancing measures. Officers can now issue £60 on the spot fines if they find people are out and about for non essential reasons. Fines can be increased for repeat offenders. Derbyshire Police Say People should not be driving to the place they want to take their daily exercise, but its not clear whether this is actually against the rules. Loudspeaker the government has a lockdown in force. Forces are concerned that, with some fine weather expected this weekend, people will be tempted to go against the advice to stay at home. They hope these new powers will make people think twice. Charlotte rose, bbc news. Lets talk more about the measures for the self employed. 0ur Political Correspondent leila nathoo is in westminster. The measures have been broadly welcomed but there are concerns about gaps and, the main concerns are at the length of time that people have their ongoing weekly, monthly expenses, theyll have to wait to get their money untiljune. What is the government saying . Good morning. This is the main Sticking Point with these plans. Remember these have been long awaited, the plans for employees were already set out to help earlier. There has been some delay in putting together this support package. The government says the recent there has been a delay is because its a hugely complex system, identifying people who are self employed at any one time. Because people move in and out of self employment, identifying the people who need the support most. Identifying peoplepos macro incomes because for many self employed people it varies from week to week, month to month and thats why they say there was a delay in putting in the system. That is now the reason given for why the system wont be up and running before june. Given for why the system wont be up and running beforejune. Broadly the package of this 80 grant to be paid injune, package of this 80 grant to be paid in june, backdated package of this 80 grant to be paid injune, backdated to march for all those earning less than £50,000 profits, that has broadly been welcomed by unions, business groups. Clearly, this point of the delay has been one causing people a lot of concern. Ministers are insisting there are already support measures in place, heres what the business secretary alok sharma told us earlier. I completely understand that there are very many people who are worried about their livelihoods, about how they are going to pay their bills and what weve ensured through the system is that there is support already available for people. Weve ensured that those who have mortgages are able to have a mortgage holiday for three months. Weve also ensured that the welfare system, we put more money into that so there is an extra £1000 on the standard allowance every year when it comes to universal credit and of course, if youre self employed, the minimum income floor has been removed at this point. Weve also said that for those who would normally be paying a bill at the end ofjuly, in terms of their Self Assessment to hmrc, that can be deferred until 2021 and of course, some of those who are self employed will also be registered for vat and weve said there are deferrals oii that as well so there is a package of measures in place to support people right now. The shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell suggesting that former hmrc who lost theirjobs and job cuts could be brought back or should be brought backin brought back or should be brought back in an emergency basis to help process payments sooner. Is there any chance that might happen . That was the suggestion from the shadow chancellor earlier, seeming to think there was a capacity issue. In hmrc that was the reason for this delay, the grants being paid injune. I mean, i have to say, alok sharma seemed to suggest that wasnt a problem, that wasnt the reason for the block, he says the reason for the block, he says the reason for the delay was actually due to the complexity of the system designing Something Like this. He used the word unprecedented and if you zoom out, both the measures to support the self employed and employees are like nothing we have seen before and ona like nothing we have seen before and on a scale that is really up until now, has been unfathomable. So i think theres a little bit of leeway in saying the government has been designing a system from scratch in order to support self employed people. Thats not to say there wont be people who fall through the cracks. Although ministers are insisting 95 of people for whom the majority of their income is earned through self employed will be covered. For people who fall through the cracks, for example people who became self employed after the 201819 became self employed after the 2018 19 time share for instance, if they are left without a source of income, they are to turn to the benefit system we are told by the government. But there are big delays, big phone queue is to try to get through for help there . Do we have any kind of idea for the government is going to do in terms of trying to speed up the response on that front . Its clear a lot of systems a re on that front . Its clear a lot of systems are now under huge stress. The idea that self employed people who are facing a dramatic loss of income, who cant get these grants who are perhaps ineligible, also being urged to turn to banks for loa ns, being urged to turn to banks for loans, hardship funds, those sorts of things, its clear theres going to be pressure points everywhere. The welfare system is something that weve seen huge pressure the welfare system is something that weve seen huge pressure on, the welfare system is something that weve seen huge pressure on, there been tens of thousands of new claimants recently, reports of huge queues even to get a slot on a phone consultation. I mean, ministers are obviously trying to put systems in place but they are scrambling to keep up with what is a very, very massive scaled situation and its not clear, actually, how they will be able to cope with this Going Forward but clearly, you heard from alok sharma earlier, saying people are working day and night to make sure this is in place. Thank you. Lets talk about this some more. As weve said chancellor rishi sunak last night unveiled a package of support for self employed people, which could be a grant worth up to £2,500 a month. But it may not be accessible untiljune, and will only be available to those who have a tax return for 2019, meaning the newly self employed wont get anything. And anyone with a Trading Profit of more than £50,000 in 2018 19 will not be eligible. Lets speak to paul johnson, the director of the institute for fiscal studies, whojoins us from north london. And josefine thieme, a freelance camera assistant, who joins us from hampton in south west london. Good morning to both of you. Whats your response to the announcement from the chancellor yesterday, does it help you . For me, it helps me a little bit. Its obviously not going to bea little bit. Its obviously not going to be a huge amount because its only on my profits. Not on the whole pate that ive earned as a self employed person. Which was the case for employed people. You know, 80 of the whole earnings, notjust the profits and as freelancers we have a lot of expenses. Weve got to pay fuel for our vehicles that were used to get to work. Etc. Equipment. Asa used to get to work. Etc. Equipment. As a camera assistant ive got to renew certain pieces of equipment as Technology Advances and so theres a lwa ys Technology Advances and so theres always costs. 0bviously, those 80 that are offered to us, is only on profits. But your initial reaction in terms of whether this will be enough to cover those costs, your other living expenses, or do you not quite know what the sums will work out at yet . Personally, ive started making the calculations but youve got to first work out your average over three years. Etc, etc. Got to first work out your average overthree years. Etc, etc. Im still working it out at the moment. It is very early days. All, turning to you, what do you make of this offer from the government. It has been broadly welcomed, as i wasjust discussing with our Political Correspondent. But there are gaps in the system, arent you . Yes, for a lot of people this is really pretty generous and for many, actually quite a lot more generous than it is for employees. Because you can claim this, even if youre still working and may be getting half or even 80 of what you were getting in previous years, you can still top up but if you are an employee you cant and foran you are an employee you cant and for an employee its either you get the Job Retention scheme amount in full or you get nothing. So you cant work part time and receive any of that. I have a couple of big problems here, i think firstly, the big cliff edge of £50,000, if over the last few years youve been earning profits of £49,000, you can get this info, if youve been declaring profits of £51,000 you can get absolutely nothing at all, so theres clearly a big issue there. There is certainly an issue of delay in payments to the end ofjune, for those who dont have much in the way of savings or cant get bank loans or what have you, thats really a potential problem. But overall, bought the majority of the self employed, in the end, by the time they can claim this, i would say this is a pretty generous, probably more generous than one might have expected and in some ways, considerably more generous than whats being offered to employees. Ill come back to a couple of the points you made in a moment. Butjosephine, your living situation, how you will manage up untiljune if money doesnt come through until then . Untiljune if money doesnt come through untilthen . Well, luckily, im used to being unemployed all the time, im a freelance. For the past six years. Theres always been stretches, particularly january through until march. Theres not much work. Im always careful with my money and i have got savings. Being 29 im also thinking about saving for a house deposit. But of course, not everyone will be in that boat and theres friends of mine who have only had paye jobs and for them, this really doesnt apply. There is a problem in our industry particularly, in the assistant grades, we have to take on longer jobs such as a seven weekjob or a 20 weekjob, as paye employee so even though we are technically self employed, we have to pay tax as if we are employed the whole year. 0r over several years. But dont get the same benefits and its those people and they are especially the ones earning much less than 50 grand a year, there camera training for example, earning 500 a week. Who now arent really covered by this. And if they werent on a job at the moment, then theyre not going to get anything from their employer either. And because, you mentioned your savings for hopefully your first home. Because youve got those savings, does that mean you wouldnt be eligible for any benefits, for example . Well, this is what i was trying to find out. Yes. 0bviously, with universal credit, if you have more than 16,000 in savings you can apply. Im going to bring paul in, he is listening to you, i dont know if you would have any advice on that point forjosephine. Yes, its true what she says about universal credit. If youve got much at all in the way of savings and certainly, if for example your in her position, youre saving to put a deposit on a house, then im afraid the universal Credit System isnt designed to help andl Credit System isnt designed to help and i think, one of the big changes, actually, in the universal credit syste m actually, in the universal Credit System relative to what went before is even less generous when it comes to people who have some money in savings. Thats one of the things even though people are told to save some money perhaps to get on the property ladder . Youre shaking your head in recognition, perhaps your head in recognition, perhaps you feel thats pretty unfair, josephine . Youre trying to do what you think is the responsible thing but then the penalty is you cant access but then the penalty is you cant a ccess a ny but then the penalty is you cant access any benefit in this really extraordinary time. Because of that . Yes, its almost like youre being punished for being careful with your money. Paul, ijust want to come back to that point making earlier. If you had £49,000 and profits you can if you had £49,000 and profits you ca n a ccess if you had £49,000 and profits you can access this help info. If you had 50,000 plus in profits as a self employed person you get nothing. The government as i think saying its making assumptions that if you are making profits of 50,000 plus you have a financial cushion to edit this crisis but do you think thats a fair assumption, the right cut off point . Thats a fair assumption, the right cutoff point . I think the problem is its a cut off point for its everything or nothing i think the government would not have wanted to do that but i think they are forced to do it by the complexity of trying anything else. Its probably the case that most with more than 50,000 have got the kind of financial cushion that they need but its not going to be true of all. If youre the only earner in the house, youre bringing home 55,000, youve got a significant mortgage, children and so on and that suddenly goes down to zero you might not have very much of a christian at all. This is really going to be a period of hardship. Very much of a cushion. For those individuals, its going to be extremely tough and im afraid, what weve ended up with here, for both the self employed, employees and businesses, is quite a lot of rough justice, roughjustice businesses, is quite a lot of rough justice, rough justice that will be helpful to most, and in fact probably the large majority, significant minority really struggling through absolutely no fault of their own. 0k, paul and josephine, thank you very much for your time. The government has urged house buyers and sellers to put off completion until after the outbreak over fears about social distancing. The housing secretary, robertjenrick, said even those scheduled to move today should try to delay. Estate agents and surveyors are also facing tight restrictions. We can speak now to our Business Correspondent Simon Gompertz. Simon, good morning to you. Logic dictates obviously that because of social distancing rules, certain things cannot happen but do you think there could be completions going ahead on house sales that are done entirely online . Yes, good morning. Youre right, its all about social distancing. Its also the case that you can pay money online. Theres nothing to stop that happening, so much is done that way nowadays. The problem is actually getting close to people during the process of moving house. The government doesnt have particular worries about unoccupied homes, so if youre just buying a home that doesnt have anyone in it, thats not a particular worry. Its where you might come into contact with the current owners of the home who are moving out or with the various professionals involved and indeed with house movers. And house movers, incidentally, their association has said there will be no more service from now on for this very reason. So yes, things can be done online but you cant actually move your body online and thats what the particular worry is. Clearly, the notion of being shown around houses is completely out of the window . Yes. Weve already seen viewings being effectively banned. And also, Estate Agents offices, while the agents themselves can work, obviously, if they need to, they cant have people coming into the Estate Agents office. Again, you can look at things online, you can have a virtual viewings nowadays. But this does really put the damper on activity. And when it comes to actually completing a sale, the language of the government has come up language of the government has come up with at the moment is that even if you have already signed and exchanged contracts, and what that normally means is that you are committed to pay the money and move ona committed to pay the money and move on a particular date, the parties should get together and the language is amicably agree a later date for completing, which you know, under the current scenario, might be too high ahead. That word amicable, usually that would be ok, often its quite tricky to do and people would be worried that the whole thing will fall through and there will be penalties accruing from not having completed. 0k, lots of anxieties around that and a lot of goodwill neededin around that and a lot of goodwill needed in the situation. I also want to ask you about what impact, knock on effect this might have on the rental sector . Well, the same principle applies to the rental sector because its all about social contact. And so, people who wanted to move the rental accommodation are also being advised to delay it until later. I have to say, these rules arent completely strict because there is a recognition from ministers that some moves cant be avoided and theyve also, you know how the police have a role in this, making sure theres not too much social contact, where a move is actually critical, the police have been told thats ok, youre going to been told thats ok, youre going to be able to let that go ahead. So there is a little bit of wiggle room but i think the point about this is, effectively, the market, the Housing Market is going into deep freeze because of this, people arent going to wa nt because of this, people arent going to want to embark on a move in any case stop weve seen that already this week. If you looked at wednesday, the number of homes being put on the market was down by two thirds on the same time the previous week. We are seeing a really dramatic effect and housing analysts are saying if you look over at the next period of months, we are likely to see at least 60 fall in transactions because of these new guidelines. And of course, it could be worse than that. 0k, simon, thank you for your thoughts on that story today. Lets take a look at what is happening in the rest of the world with regards to coronavirus. The United States now has more confirmed cases of the coronavirus than any other country in the world with more than 85,000 patients in total. The country has also seen an unprecedented surge in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits, as peter bowes reports. Now the global epicentre more positive tests for covid 19 than any other country. In some communities, the number of cases is doubling every three days. More than a quarter are in new york city, where the Emergency Services say they are overwhelmed by people calling for help. Its worse, they say, than after 9 11. And were not even started yet. So, if were doing 6,000 today, its going to be 8,000 tomorrow. More and more people are going to call. Its a sustained impact like this, weve never dealt with. At his latest briefing with the white house covid 19 task force, President Trump was generally upbeat. Beautiful day. He responded to the surge in cases. Its a tribute to the amount of testing that were doing. Were doing tremendous testing, and im sure youre not able to tell what china is testing or not testing. As more and more people fall sick, and with much of the country at a standstill, the virus has had a catastrophic impact on americas workforce. Social isolation orders and shuttered businesses have led to a huge spike in the latest jobless figures, 3. 3 Million People laid off because of covid 19. Never before in us history has there been such a dramatic rise in unemployment. They have to go back to work. Our country has to go back. Our country is based on that. And i think its going to happen pretty quickly. Mr trump said robust testing protocols might allow some counties in the country to lift their safeguards against the coronavirus. He said the white house was working on a plan to be revealed next week, although it wouldnt mean an end to social distancing. In the meantime, soldiers are setting up this Field Hospital in new york, and a 1,000 bed Naval Hospital ship is being deployed to manhattan. Another is heading to los angeles, where local officials fear there will be a critical shortage of beds in the coming days and weeks. Peter bowes, bbc news. Well, this morning President Trump spoke to the chinese leader, xijinping. Mr xi said the us and china needed to unite to fight the virus. China has announced a temporary ban on all foreign visitors, even if they have visas or residence permits. The country is also limiting chinese and Foreign Airlines to one flight per week. Almost all of the new infections in china came from foreign visitors to the country. Meanwhile, President Trump has tweeted this response since the phone call with president xi. He says that china has been through much and has developed a strong understanding of the virus. We all need something a little lighter in these times. Doctor who fans from around the world gathered together online last night, to simultaneously watch the episode that relaunched the series on the 15th anniversary of its first broadcast. The event was intended to bring together fans of the sci fi drama at a difficult time for so many. Those taking part included the writer who helped reinvent the series, Russell T Davies who joined twitter to share his thoughts and memories of the story. 0ur entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba reports. It wasnt being broadcast on any particular channel. Still, last night, at exactly seven oclock, huge numbers here in the uk and abroad were all watching the same thing, at the same time. I first got into doctor who exactly 15 years ago tonight, so why dont we watch it in self isolation . Its that feeling of being involved somewhere. Its like being part of one, big, massive family, really. Who are they, then, students . The idea behind the simultaneous viewing of rose, the First Episode of the new era of doctor who, was to create a shared experience for fans who, right now, feeling isolated. That make sense, well done. Russell t davies, the man who brought doctor who back, and who wrote this episode, joined twitter for the first time to interact with people who were watching and sharing their thoughts on social media. Ive had enough of this now well, these are strange days. They are very strange. None of us have ever been in this situation before. And the one thing that has brought me joy all my life, since i was born, is doctor who. And there is whole generations of families all stuck at home. And this is just one way to alleviate a bit of a strange situation, with a lovely live streaming, it was like a singalong for me, lets all sing along with doctor who. Inside, right now. So far, the global viewing events have been hugely popular. Last night, it trended on twitter at number one, here and worldwide, an indication of its popularity. Were talking millions it all began last weekend, with fans watching the 50th anniversary special. A welcome chance for many to revisit a much loved favourite. How can you forget this . The idea for all of this came from doctor who magazine writer emily cook. We started self isolating and i was feeling a little bit down about everything. I wanted to watch some doctor who to cheer myself up. I just put out a tweet wondering if there was anyone else, perhaps on their own in their home, that might like to join in and watch with me. Itjust kind of escalated from there, really. And then we came up with the concept of anyone, wherever they are in the world, from their home, canjoin in and watch the same episode, at the same time, on whichever platform they can access. And theres more to come. On monday, writer Richard Curtis isjoining twitter. Fans will be able to enjoy his insights, together with those of script editor emma freud, for the episode vincent and the doctor. Hold my hand, doctor. Another event designed to help those far apart feel closer together. Lizo mzimba, bbc news. Now its time for a look at the weather. The weather has been doing a little bit to lift us in most parts of the uk. Afair bit to lift us in most parts of the uk. A fair bit of sunshine. A foggy start in the north east of england. That will clear, but the cloud across mainland scotland is going to stick around for much of the day for many, particularly across central and southern areas. The far north of scotland, increasing amounts of sunshine. Some of you started the day with clear skies overhead. More of you will finish with it. For Central Scotland southwards, plenty of cloud, occasional rain and drizzle. Staying cloudy for much of the east, cloudy in the west. Bright skies in between. A chilly breeze north sea coasts. West of wales, sheltered from that, 16 degrees. A cold front is working its way southwards, introducing colder air. By southwards, introducing colder air. By night, it will be less chilly. Still a bit of frost at the top and tail of the country. This weekend, temperatures will drop widely and there will be an added wind chill. More details on that later. Hello this is bbc news. The headlines. Dont move home the government urges house buyers and sellers to put off completion until after the coronavirus outbreak. America passes china and italy to record the highest number of coronavirus cases, 83,500. President trump says its a tribute to the number of tests being carried out. Retired metropolitan Police Officers are being asked to consider returning to work to help cope with coronavirus. Firefighters are to take on new roles, such as driving ambulances or delivering food, alongside their currentjobs. The bbc understands that guidance on when Health Workers need to wear personal protective equipment will be updated within 48 hours. Applause your country loves you. The nation comes together in an emotional thank you to nhs and care workers battling coronavirus. Now on bbc news, its time for your questions answered. With me is dr wing Yiu Jason Lee who works at the centre of immunobiology welcome to another your questions answered. Again, we will be endeavouring to answer as many of your concerns as possible, as we are co nsta ntly your concerns as possible, as we are constantly doing on the bbc for you. With me is dr wing Yiu Jason Lee who works at the centre of immunobiology at the blizard institute, which is currently carrying out research on covid 19 together with barts health at Queen Mary University of london. Iamso i am so sorry for stumbling over the name. He joins me from whitechapel in east london. And also im joined by laura suter, who is personal finance analyst at aj bell. She is in south east london. Really good to have both of you with us today. There are so many people sending us in questions every day, thousands of questions, on a range of subject related to coronavirus. Lets get through as many as we can. Jason, this is from ian rumgay, who asks, i have read there are two strains of the virus, one mile down the other aggressive. Would the mild variety provide immunity for the more aggressive . First thing, are there to make restraints . They have been found in just one study done in china, at peking university, looking at just over china, at peking university, looking atjust over 100 patients. So we dont have a full picture of whether these strains can be found elsewhere. This is the first thing. So, with limited data, we have no idea if a mild or aggressive strain will provide immunity to each other. That is something a lot of people asking about, if they have had the virus, does that give immunity . Is there a broad answer to that . So, naturally, our immune response will be able to provide and produce antibodies against infections that we have had. It would go the same with coronavirus. We must be careful in analysing the data, to make sure that these antibodies that we make offer a protective immunity. That means that the antibody can protect us from future infection, or exposure to the virus. So, at the moment, research is still ongoing. 0k, moment, research is still ongoing. Ok, lets move to you, laura. 0bviously, huge concerns for everybody about their finances during this outbreak. We have been focusing today on the package of measures for the self employed announced by the chancellor yesterday. This question from lana walker. She asks, why is there nothing for those of us in the first year of self employment . We dont get any equality with the rest of the uk workforce, employed or self employed. This is going to be a struggle. Yes, the big package of measures announced for the self employed last night was a massive package, but it doesnt cover everyone. And the chancellor acknowledge that. 95 of self employed people will be helped by it, but there are 5 that will slip through the net. The difficulty they have had, and wired took longer to come up with this system for self employed people, it is much harder to prove earnings and how much you are making, versus employed people, who pay tax through their employer each month and through paye. So it means people who have not filed a tax return for 2018 19 will not be eligible for the 80 scheme announced yesterday. A lot of thatis scheme announced yesterday. A lot of that is because people who have already filed tax returns, hmrc can easily look at how much they would have been earning and work out the support that is available for them, whereas people that have not filed tax returns yet because they have re ce ntly tax returns yet because they have recently set up a self employed do not have the ability to prove that, and the system cant be automated as it can with others. For those individuals, there is still help available, but it is not as generous as what was announced last night. Here, we are looking at things like benefits, universal credits, employment support allowance, and universal credit has been temporarily increased. For those people, they fall into the 5 where they will not be as much help. Lana does not say what she does and if she is able to continue with her self employment, but she is u nfortu nately self employment, but she is unfortunately getting the wrong end of the stick here, because she has recently become a self employed person. Yes, you could never have predicted that when you setup. Setting up four months ago, you never would have predicted we would be in this situation now. That would be in this situation now. That would bea be in this situation now. That would be a factor to consider. There are other things, we dont know her personal circumstances, but if you set up as a company there are Business Interruption loan schemes that can help you access things like interest free loans or ove rd rafts. So, there is help out there. The government was also deferring some tax payments. Whether that is income tax payments. Whether that is income tax or vat. So, there are packages out there, and, to be fair, the government websites are very useful in terms of providing guidance and information. So, dont despair. There is help there. May be some tips for you there, lana, i hope so. Jason, rob holt asks when well testing to be more readily available . As far as we know, Public Health england has already purchased a large amount of test kits. These must be validated by health care workers, as well as scientists, across the country, so that they can accurately tell that the antibodies are present in people who have been exposed to the virus. At the moment, we dont have a timeline on when these tests will be available. But they will be available as soon as all of the tests are validated. You cant say if it is weeks or months at this stage, then . I cant. But we are at this stage, then . I cant. But we a re really at this stage, then . I cant. But we are really working very hard, every single day, four hours and hours, to work on this. We know you are and we thank you very much for that. I am sure you were pleased to see that cla p sure you were pleased to see that clap for carers last night. Letters add our appreciation for you and all of your colleagues in the health ca re of your colleagues in the Health Care Sector for all of the work youre doing. A question to you from sarah boland, who says, what help will there be 45 of self employed he will not be eligible for support . I will be interested to know. For the 5 . Maybe you could pick up on that advice you are given to the previous viewer who asked about that . Some of the 596 will be people like the previous person who has not been operating long enough to be in the scheme. Some will be people who have higher profits. It is only open to those individuals who make profits of up to £50,000 a year. So, if you are above that, you would not be eligible for this scheme. That is another part of that 5 . Its a lot of the same advice, looking at things like deferring vat or other tax payments, it is looking at the loa n tax payments, it is looking at the loan scheme available from the government, seeing which benefits you might be eligible for. And then there is also a whole host of other personal finance measures you can do outside of explicit government support. So, things you can do to reduce your outgoings during this time, if your income has fallen. So, mortgage holidays, for example, where people can take them, there is help with council tax, helpful people in difficulty there. Speaking to Energy Providers and deferring payments there. There is lots of other things that you can do. And accessing more credit and overdrafts from your bank as well. Jason, james veras asks if covid 19 can be transmitted through water, for example if an infected person sneezes on a drink and you end up drinking that liquid, does the virus to survive in the liquid . So, there is no scientific studies, u nfortu nately, to is no scientific studies, unfortunately, to verify that. There are studies suggesting, in a laboratory setting, that the virus can survive on surfaces like metal and plastic for a limited amount of time, ours. But there is no study on if it cant survive in water. Of course, also, the hygienic reason, we should not drink any liquid that we should not drink any liquid that we suspect or know it has been contaminated. It comes back to those basic hygiene precautions, doesnt it . Laura, a question from anna sheather, who asks what real and solid support is therefore Single Person limited companies . In the latest announcements from the chancellor, it appears that sole traders, Single Person limited companies, are not eligible . So, some people who are self set up their own company, as a way of doing that. If you are the director of your own company and you are paid through paye, pay as you own, you would be eligible for the previous package of measures that the Government Back are announced as an employed person. That means you can access the up to 80 of wages, up to £2500 a month. So, for those individuals, they would be eligible for that. The difficulty is where people have paid themselves to dividends, rather than through income. Lots of people do that because it is quite a tax efficient way of paying yourself. Those individuals might find that they now miss out on that, because their income level is not quite so high. So, they would not get that. But there is help available if you are employed by your own company. Thank you for that answer. A question for you, jason, from peter bowell. He asks, plasma from those who have recovered from coronavirus will likely contain antibodies to the virus. Might immunoglobulin, i think thatis virus. Might immunoglobulin, i think that is another word from antibodies, made from this, help those currently in the acute phase of the disease . To answer this question, we must know two characteristics of the antibodies. That means for the people who have been exposed to the virus, when do these antibodies started to be produced by the immune system . Usually, after a viral infection, our immune system makes these antibodies within 7 14 days, and so we must verify whether the infected people are able to make these antibodies, as well as the quality of the antibodies. Whether the antibodies can neutralise or stop the virus from infecting the cells, and whether these antibodies lead to the destruction of the virus within our body. So, these turn questions, the quality and amount of antibodies, must be validated in these individuals that have been exposed or infected by the virus before we can answer the question if the antibodies or the plasma can be used to help those in an acute phase of the disease. And to prepare the plasma, it requires very stringent procedures that must be carefully validated before we consider this option. 0k, laura, we have time for one more question from robert munns. This is an important one. There seems to be one area of society that seems to be one area of society that seems to be one area of society that seems to have been forgotten about. What happens to people on zero hours contracts who are now unable to work . He says, i myself am on 12 weeks isolation and i am not getting paid. It is a really tricky one, because those on zero hours contracts are probably most likely to find that their income drops first, because they are the easiest people for companies to say we dont have any available work for you right now. If you are paid as an employee, on a zero hours contract, through paye for your company, you would be eligible for the employed scheme, where you get 80 of your wages up to £2500, assuming you have some regular earnings. It will be based on an average of the regular earnings you had recently. So, there might be some help there. If you are self isolating, which i think the viewer mentioned that they were, then you might be eligible for statutory sick pay. Otherwise, we are looking at the same benefits that i mentioned before. So, esa, universal credit, and we know there are problems with people being able to call upon claim for those and there are long waits at the moment. People need to persevere and do as much online as possible, and go to the government websites, look at their specific circumstances and see what help there is available. 0k, both of you, thank you so much for answering our viewersquestions. Good luck with your continuing research on covid 19. Thank you both very much. As ever, thank you for sending in your questions. Keep your questions coming on any area of life affected by coronavirus, which is pretty much everything right now. We have some figures now from iran, the latest death tally from iran, caused by coronavirus, with the country reporting 144 new coronavirus deaths, bringing the nationwide total to 2378 so far during this pandemic. The government has indicated that additional coronavirus Field Hospitals are being considered around the uk. Work is currently under way to transform Londons Excel Centre into the nhs Nightingale Hospital, to relieve pressure on hospitals treating coronavirus patients. 500 of the 4,000 beds being set up will be ready from next week, the government has said. Lets speak now to dr kanal patel, a dentist whose team has been drafted in to work at the new hospital. Thank you very much forjoining us this morning. Tell us what you know at this stage about the work that all of your team from your dental practice will be doing. Hello, good morning. So, as most of you may be aware, we were told to put down our drills early this week, all dental practices across the nation, due to the lack of correct ppe to treat our community, patients and our team, to keep them safe. So, this whole institute of the Nightingale Hospital, on wednesday, we got a message from the chief dental officer, i think it was every single dental practice practitioner in the country, that we should be ready to be deployed when asked upon at the Nightingale Hospital. As far as im concerned, i think all of us dentists across the country were ready to volunteer, regardless. But i know it was a very, very sad day for me and my team on monday, when we had to close our clinic. Because what we do on a day to day basis is help patients. And we felt as if we we re help patients. And we felt as if we were stepping back and not being able to do our part for the wider nhs. So, being summoned to be ready to deploy when asked upon to the Nightingale Hospital, me and my team are ready to go and do our bit. Youre talking about all of your team, receptionists, admen, the dental nurses, dentists, do you know what roles you will be involved and once you get there . Yes, so, on wednesday, when we received a letter from the chief dental officer, it said that due to the Clinical Experience and our skills that we have as dentists, training at university level, that we may be asked to do a wider range of treatment. It has not been specifically said what exactly. But they have requested our entire team is to be prepared, from receptionists, two nurses, to dentists. I think, from what we are hearing, dentists. I think, from what we are hearing, if we are asked to do something outside of our dental profession, we will hopefully be made competent enough to do so, and iam sure made competent enough to do so, and i am sure we will. You mentioned, dr patel, that you are asked to down tools, as all dentists were, because ofa tools, as all dentists were, because of a lack of personal protective equipment. Do you have guarantees that when you get to the xl centre, transformed into the Nightingale Hospital, that the personal protective equipment will be there for you . From speaking to colleagues, for them to create such an institute, it will be available. One of the main reasons why we were close down locally was to be called in. As nhs workers, our biggest fear was us transmitting diseases ourselves, possibly. Having the correct ppe is necessary, and i dont believe they would call as in without having it in place. After the clap for carers last night, i think its amazing that you and your tea m think its amazing that you and your team are more than happy to get into the front line of this fight. You are ina the front line of this fight. You are in a profession that is there to help people, but there are risks and it isa help people, but there are risks and it is a really great thing you are doing. Soon as my team head of the opportunity that we may have, i could see within them, on a day to day basis, we help people. They were ready to tell that line. Looking at my team, i was so proud of them, the messages that we got when we offer the opportunity to the team. It was sad on monday, we were doing our part by staying home, but we believe we have the skills to help where we can, and we are more than happy to do so. What the nhs is doing, and the thought that we had to sit at home while our colleagues we re to sit at home while our colleagues were able to help, we are ready to do it. We are ready to go. And hopefully we can make a difference. We wish you all the best, dr patel, who will be working at the Nightingale Hospital in london. Spain has extended its lockdown for at least another two weeks, as the number of deaths linked to coronavirus passed 4,000. Our reporter in madrid, gue hedgecoe, explained more about the spanish governments efforts to tackle the virus. The government has been using that warlike language to describe the battle against coronavirus. And it has been saying, you know, repeatedly, that its desperate to get more medical equipment. Now, the issue of the quick tests, or test kits, has been a big one over the past 24 hours or so, because the government bought a batch from a chinese manufacturer. It turned out that this batch of 9000 was faulty. So it has had to return those tests to the manufacturer, and there has been a great deal of political controversy around that. People saying that the government should have checked before it bought them to make sure that they were working. But i think that reflects, to a certain extent, the enormous pressure that there is on the government to try to get this equipment that it desperately needs to take the pressure off the health care service. The latest figures showed, for example, that we have 655 new deaths yesterday, over the previous 24 hours. That is clearly a shocking number. But it is a lower figure than that of the previous day, which was over 700. And the number had been increasing. The death toll number had been increasing, day on day, for about a week, quite steadily. So, yesterdays figure, when it turned out it was slightly lower than the previous day, came as perhaps because of some cautious optimism. And the government said it is going to be looking at the figures very closely over the coming days to see if this reflects a change of tendency, and perhaps spain hitting the top of the curve, and we could perhaps see the flattening out of the virus over the coming days. That is what the hope is. During this time of crisis, many of us are trying to find the best way to support the elderly or more vulnerable in our communities. But people in one devon town think theyve found the answer. In ilfracombe, theyve got every street covered by a network of volunteers, who started working together a few years ago. Jon kay has more. Oyez oyez self isolation will not silence him. Ilfracombes town crier may be confined to his doorstep, but he still has a message to deliver. Stay safe, my friends. You know it makes sense. Its certainly different. Out of his robes and tricorn hat, 84 year old roy joined me for a video call. It sounds like everybody is coming together . Ilfracombe is absolutely brilliant. We have a really Fabulous Community spirit. Normally, youve only got to ask and it is done. We are very, very fortunate. Ilfracombe is a seaside town. Many of its 11,000 residents are elderly and vulnerable, and will need protection in the weeks ahead. Bicclescombe park, ive got three volunteers. And this is how theyre doing it. Before they had to start working from home, we filmed the offices of one ilfracombe, a pioneering project bringing the council, nhs, Emergency Services, charities and businesses all under one roof. Working together, theyve been able to organise an army of volunteers. What weve done is try to break it down into these kind of bitesize areas. So they become kind of their own micro community. So, they all start looking after each other, theyre are all communicating through facebook. After a shout out on social media, 150 people came forward to act as street coordinators, going door to door, leafleting every household, offering help. You always know that you live in a Fabulous Community. But its when things like this happen that you really start understanding, and you get the goose bumps when you feel that everybodys coming together to really help each other out. So, even though the town is shut down, every single street is now covered by a volunteer, and communities across the uk are watching to see how this north Devon Community is pulling together. Take mel. Her gardening and cleaning jobs have stopped because of the crisis. So now she has a new role. 0h, fantastic. Is this my order . Yes, i managed to get everything that you needed. She is one of the volunteers, shopping and collecting medicine for people like 86 year old mo, who lives alone. Its hoped every Single Person will now get the help they need. I dont know what i would do without the volunteers. Absolutely fantastic. Otherwise i would not have anything. I started thinking about the people in my community who are vulnerable, who are elderly, and who might slip through the cracks as this whole drama unfolds. Of course, these are still early days. No one knows how long this crisis will go on for, or how badly a town like ilfracombe may be hit. The nearest a e department is half an hour away. But for now, at least, the Community Response is giving confidence and hope. When this is all over, i want to see all of you, and then we will party god save the queen jon kay, bbc news. Coming in from tesco in the last few seconds, it says it is to limit the number of items customers can order in an online shop to 80, obviously to ensure that there are supplies to go around for everybody. Tesco will limit the number of items customers can order online to 80. Now its time for a look at the weather with matt taylor the son has brought on the spring blossom, more of it to come for england and wales today. The morning fog will clear to blue skies overhead. More sunshine to the west of Northern Ireland and northern scotland. But across the rest of scotland, the day stays fairly cloudy, particularly across the mainland, through central, eastern and southern parts. The chance of some heavy showers here and there, rain and drizzle, quite murky over the hills. A bit of cloud lingering across eastern Northern Ireland. England and wales, sunshine throughout. Onshore breeze, temperatures eight or 9 degrees along eastern coasts, but west and wales could hit 16 or 18 degrees. We are not going to see temperatures like that over the next few days, this cold front will introduce ever colder air. Showers in northern parts of scotland. Elsewhere, it stays dry. Frost in the south, may be frost in the north. Through this weekend, and added wind chill to make it feel even colder for all of us. See you soon. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. America passes china and italy to record the highest number of coronavirus cases, 83,500. President trump says it shows the Us Health Services are working. Its a tribute to the amount of testing that were doing, were doing tremendous testing and im sure youre not able to tell what china is testing or not testing. I think thats a little hard. In a telephone call, chinas president offers the us leader help in the fight against coronavirus. Dont move home the uk government urges house buyers and sellers to put off completion until after the coronavirus outbreak. Retired metropolitan Police Officers are being asked to consider returning to work to help cope with coronavirus. Firefighters are to take on new roles such as driving ambulances or delivering food alongside their currentjobs. The bbc understands that guidance on when british Health Workers need to wear personal protective equipment will be updated within 48 hours. Your country loves you. The uk comes together in an emotional thank you to National Health service and care workers battling coronavirus. Youre watching bbc news, a warm welcome to viewers from around the world. Latest figures from the us suggest the coronavirus has now established a third epicentre after europe and asia and its a point not lost on china. Donald trump has previously caused anger in beijing by referring to a chinese virus but he and chinas leader xi xinping have held a phone call expressing a common willingness to work together. In that call, president xi is reported to have offered to provide support to the us. According to Chinese State media, he said relations between the two countries had reached an important juncture and that cooperation is the only choice. Just as confirmed cases in the us are ramping sharply upwards the chinese authorities reported that in hubei province, the origin of the virus, no new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours and of the 55 new cases reported in the country, 54 of which were brought in from overseas travellers. In a bid to prevent more cases being imported, beijing has announced that from tonight, no foreigners will be allowed to enter china including those with residence visas. Only diplomats will be exempt. All airlines have also been restricted to one flight a week per route, and must only fly at 75 capacity. Our north america correspondent peter bowes has the latest on how the pandemic is unfolding in the us. Now the global epicentre more positive tests for covid 19 than any other country. In some communities, the number of cases is doubling every three days. More than a quarter are in new york city, where the Emergency Services say they are overwhelmed by people calling for help. Its worse, they say, than after 9 11. And were not even started yet. So, if were doing 6,000 today, its going to be 8,000 tomorrow. More and more people are going to call. Its a sustained impact like this, weve never dealt with. At his latest briefing with the white house covid 19 task force, President Trump was generally upbeat. Beautiful day. He responded to the surge in cases. Its a tribute to the amount of testing that were doing. Were doing tremendous testing, and im sure youre not able to tell what china is testing or not testing. As more and more people fall sick, and with much of the country at a standstill, the virus has had a catastrophic impact on americas workforce. Social isolation orders and shuttered businesses have led to a huge spike in the latest jobless figures, 3. 3 Million People laid off because of covid 19. Never before in us history has there been such a dramatic rise in unemployment. They have to go back to work. Our country has to go back. Our country is based on that. And i think its going to happen pretty quickly. Mr trump said robust testing protocols might allow some counties in the country to lift their safeguards against the coronavirus. He said the white house was working on a plan to be revealed next week, although it wouldnt mean an end to social distancing. In the meantime, soldiers are setting up this Field Hospital in new york, and a 1,000 bed Naval Hospital ship is being deployed to manhattan. Another is heading to los angeles, where local officials fear there will be a critical shortage of beds in the coming days and weeks. Peter bowes, bbc news. Just hearing from france, warnings from the government there, about what they are calling a coronavirus surge expected in the country in the next few days. The french Prime Minister warning of difficult days ahead. Difficult days ahead. Since the french Prime Minister. The most recent figures from france 29,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus. In the country. More than 1600 deaths accounted so far from the virus. The french Prime Minister raising the alarm over an expected surge of the coronavirus in the country, warning of difficult days ahead. So what developments have there been in the uk . Well, house buyers and sellers have been urged by the government to put off completion during the coronavirus lockdown. Firefighters are to be given additional responsibilities to aid the uks fight against the virus. Over the next two months, theyll be asked to deliver food and medicines, drive ambulances and if necessary, help move the remains of victims whove died. And there has been a mixed reaction to the package of measures announced by the chancellor to help self employed workers as our Political Correspondent leila nathoo told me a little earlier. These have been long awaited, the plans for employees were already set out to help earlier. There has been some delay in putting together this support package. The government says the reason there has been a delay is because its a hugely complex system, identifying people who are self employed at any one time. Because people move in and out of self employment, identifying the people who need the support most. Identifying peoples incomes because for many self employed people it varies from week to week, month to month and thats why they say there was a delay in putting in the system. That is now the reason given for why the system wont be up and running before june. Broadly the package of this 80 grant to be paid injune, backdated to march for all those earning less than £50,000 profits, that has broadly been welcomed by unions, business groups. Clearly, this point of the delay has been one causing people a lot of concern. Ministers are insisting there are already support measures in place, heres what the business secretary alok sharma told us earlier. I completely understand that there are very many people who are worried about their livelihoods, about how they are going to pay their bills and what weve ensured through the syste m and what weve ensured through the system is that there is support already available for people. Weve ensured that those who have mortgages or able to have a mortgage holiday for three months. Weve also ensured that the welfare system, we put more money into that so there is an extra £1000 on the standard allowa nce an extra £1000 on the standard allowance every year when it comes to universal credit and of course, if youre self employed, the minimum income floor has been removed at this point. Weve also said that for those who would normally be paying a bill at the end ofjuly, in terms of their Self Assessment to hmrc, that can be deferred until 2021 and of course, some of those who are self employed will also be registered for vat and weve said there are deferrals on that as well. So there is a package of measures in place to support people right now. The shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell suggesting that former hmrc staff who lost theirjobs injob cuts could be brought back or should be brought back on an emergency basis to help process payments sooner. Is there any chance that might happen . That was the suggestion from the shadow chancellor earlier, seeming to think there was a capacity issue in hmrc that was the reason for this delay, the grants being paid injune. I mean, i have to say, alok sharma seemed to suggest that wasnt a problem, that wasnt the reason for the block, he says the reason for the delay was actually due to the complexity of the system, designing Something Like this. He used the word unprecedented and if you zoom out, both the measures to support the self employed and employees are like nothing we have seen before and on a scale that is really up until now, has been unfathomable. So i think theres a little bit of leeway in saying the government has been designing a system from scratch order to support self employed people. Thats not to say there wont be people who fall through the cracks. Although ministers are insisting 95 of people for whom the majority of their income is earned through self employment will be covered. For people who fall through the cracks, for example people who became self employed after the 2018 19 tax year for instance, if they are left without a source of income, they are to turn to the benefit system we are told by the government. But there are big delays, big phone queues to try to get through for help there . Do we have any kind of idea what the government is going to do in terms of trying to speed up the response on that front . Its clear a lot of systems are now under huge stress. The idea that self employed people who are facing a dramatic loss of income, who cant get these grants who are perhaps ineligible, also being urged to turn to banks for loans, hardship funds, those sorts of things, its clear theres going to be pressure points everywhere. The welfare system is something that weve seen huge pressure on, there have been tens of thousands of new claimants recently, reports of huge queues even to get a slot on a phone consultation. I mean, ministers are obviously trying to put systems in place but they are scrambling to keep up with what is a very, very massive scaled situation and its not clear, actually, how they will be able to cope with this Going Forward but clearly, you heard from alok sharma earlier, saying people are working day and night to make sure this is in place. As we mentioned the uk government has urged house buyers and sellers to put off completion until after the outbreak over fears about social distancing. The housing secretary, robertjenrick, said even those scheduled to move today should try to delay. Estate agents and surveyors are also facing tight restrictions. Our Business Correspondent, Simon Gompertz explains. It is all about social distancing. It is also the case that you can pay money online. There is nothing to stop that happening. So much is done that way nowadays. The problem is actually getting close to people during the process of moving house so the government doesnt have particular worries about unoccupied homes. So if you are just buying a home that doesnt have anyone in it, that is not a particular worry. It is where you might come into contact with the current owners of the home who are moving out or the various professionals involved and indeed with house movers. House movers, incidentally, their association has said there will be no more service from now on for this very reason. So, yeah, things can be done online but you cant actually move your body online and that is what the particular worry is. And clearly the notion of being shown around houses is completely out the window . Yes. We have already seen viewings being effectively banned and also Estate Agents offices, while the agents themselves can work obviously if they need to, they cant have people coming into the Estate Agents office. Again, you can look at things online. You can have virtual viewings nowadays but this does really put the dampener on activity. And when it comes to actually completing a sale, the language the government has come up with at the moment is that even if you have already signed and exchanged contracts, and what that normally means is you are committed to paying the money on a particular date, that the parties should get together and the language is amicably agree a later date for completing which, you know, under the current scenario might be two to three months ahead. Now, that word amicable, usually that would be ok. Often it is quite tricky to do and people would be worried that the whole thing would fall through and that there will be penalties accruing from not having completed. Ok, so lots of anxiety around that and a lot of goodwill needed in the situation. Simon, i also want to ask about what impact, what knock on effect this might all have on rental sector . Well, the same principle applies to the rental sector because it is all about social contact. And so, people who wanted to move their rental accommodation were also being advised delay until later. I have to say, these rules arent completely strict because there is a recognition from ministers that some moves cant be avoided and also, you know how the police have a role this and making sure there isnt too much social contact, where a move is actually critical, the police have been told, well, that is ok, youre going to be able to let that go ahead. So, there is a little bit of wiggle room but i think the point about this is, effectively, the market, the Housing Market, is going into deep freeze because of this because people arent going to want to embark on a move in any case and we have seen that already this week. So, if you looked at wednesday, the number of homes being put on the market was down by two thirds on the same time the previous week so we are seeing a really dramatic effect and housing analysts are saying that if you look over the next period of months, we are likely to see at least a 60 fall in transactions because of these new guidelines and of course it could be worse than that. Well, preparations are urgently underway to turn the excel london into the nhs nightingale housing 4,000 patients. That is to relieve pressure on other hospitals. Our correspondent Angus Crawford is there for us. Good morning. How far are we away from the transformation being complete from the xl centre to be turned into a hospital and ready to accept patients . I spoke to the chief nursing officerfor patients . I spoke to the chief nursing officer for england yesterday. She said she was confident that it would be open and ready to receive its first patients early next week. But you see, there are two huge logistical issues here, one is to turn what is essentially an aircraft hangar into a functioning, multi bed hospital with potentially 500 to start off with that with the ability to then ramp up that with the ability to then ramp up to 4000, that logistical problem. How do you physically make that happen . Weve seen behind us at the moment, they are fitting a large white liquid oxygen tanks to pump oxygen white liquid oxygen tanks to pump oxyg e n into white liquid oxygen tanks to pump oxygen into the building. Weve seen all sorts of workers involved including military personnel. Thats one aspect of it. Actually building a hospitalfrom one aspect of it. Actually building a hospital from scratch about the other is how you staffed it. That is a major issue. We note that there are serious Staff Shortages across the nhs in england, particularly in london, this is partly because there was a lack of staff already before the crisis but also, very high levels of sick leave so they put out a call to nhs staff in london to come forward. We know that dentists are being brought in to act as medical staff here. We note that there will be military medics in their, stjohn ambulance in there and ive seen adverts on social media today advertising for everything from hospital porters to reception staff. An enormous task in hand. It looks like the work inside is going ahead to plan, to convert this extraordinary space physically. I think the next big question is how it will be properly and adequately staffed . It will be properly and adequately staffed . Angus, these are two awards, 2000 beds each, vast numbers, obviously the hope is that those beds will not be filled but what is the expectation, given the progress of the virus in the uk at the moment . Do people think that actually, ultimately, many of those beds will be filled . I think they are preparing for the worst but hoping for the best. Of course, as well as the beds and the bed space, there will be a small mortuary within the building. So what the chief nursing officer said to me yesterday was we are going to start with a capacity of 500, full capacity at that time. Ambulances be expected to come behind me, they will come through this space, ducked behind me and release their patients but what they are anticipating is that they will have an ability, a facility, to expand and ramp up if the virus continues to spread. If it continues to be spurious the mac serious need. They can take this to full capacity of 4000 and thats not all. We now know other sites across the uk are also being looked at, the nec in birmingham, the team x in manchester and also potentially sites in glasgow as well. As i say, i think the authorities are preparing for the very worst but very much hoping it will be less bad than that. Absolutely, angus, thank you very much. Angus crawford reporting there for us. Well, as the nhs comes under pressure from an increase in cases of covid 19, the rate of sickness amongst staff is up to 50 in some hospitals in the uk. Health staff around the world are thought of as the most at risk of contracting the virus, with Critical Care staff being some of the most vunerable. So how are they coping . Im joined now by dr sulagna roy, who is a Junior Doctor in the nhs. Hello to you and thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. Brief reprieve from your very, very busy schedule right now. How much more difficult has day to day working become for you . First of all, thank you for having me. I think being a Junior Doctor at this time isa think being a Junior Doctor at this time is a very valuable experience because although in the crisis seniors are taking the other hand, our role has shifted into basically helping our seniors where we can and ijoined the helping our seniors where we can and i joined the nhs helping our seniors where we can and ijoined the nhs seven months ago, i see myself as a new b and ive never seen organisations being able to reconstruct in such a short amount of time. A lot of changes happening. And with changes come new training, new information, new updates, new regulations. So itsjust a matter of having all these changes in a short amount of time that can be very overwhelming, especially to those who have justjoined a team likeJunior Doctors. It is those who have justjoined a team like Junior Doctors. It is a baptism of fire, of course it is. Give our viewers some idea of the hours you are working right now. The hours will depend on which department you are working out. Since this crisis blew out, we are shifting people from separate specialties to be able to help out in the wards with positive patients. Our working hours are kind of adapted towards that. Those for example who had been in specialties, that arent really in demand at the moment because elective procedures are being cancelled and outpatients are cancelled, i think those, their entire training contract has changed, let alone working hours. With the shortage of staff a lot more people are having to last minute fill in. If they were to have a morning shift, some people come in in the morning and find theres not enough people in the evening so they either go home and come back later on at night or they will stay throughout the entire day. These things are unprecedented and its a day to day decision as opposed to knowing in advance what your hours are. More work than sleep by the sounds of it. Have you noticed a marked drop of in the number of staff because of illness, people feeling that they need to self isolate and so on . Yes, definitely. I think throughout the whole country, you will see hundreds and hundreds of people on a daily basis calling in sick or isolating. Because as of yet, as you may know, we are not getting tested and those who do get tested our patients. So health care workers, we are coming into work every day, not knowing what we are going to be exposed to but also not knowing what we are exposing other people too. And i think the main worry isnt so much what would happen if we are positive, its more like if we do get it, how many people are we harming . We are working with a blindfold. Do you have the personal protective equipment that you need . Well, it is in the process, at the moment, in my department, we have pba s, whether its enough, thats another question. We are having to ration them. And so we are having to change the way we see patients because of the lack of ppe. We have to ta ke because of the lack of ppe. We have to take into account there is a set amount that we have for a day and therefore only one clinician can go in or one nurse can go in to see the patient. That has a knock on effect on how we care for the patient because we had to think about ourselves. More and more. You need more. 10096. How much easier would it make yourjob more. 10096. How much easier would it make your job and more. 10096. How much easier would it make yourjob and that of your collea g u es make yourjob and that of your colleagues if a test was rolled out to be able to establish whether front line staff like yourselves, have actually had the virus or not . It would make a massive impact because at the moment, you know, the symptoms of covid 19 is very much similartoa symptoms of covid 19 is very much similar to a common cold, especially if you are a healthy individual or a flu caused by any virus. We are the dealing with big symptoms and there are people self isolating because they meet the criteria. They dont know if its covid19 or not and in normal situations, before this, a lot of Staff Members would have these minor flu symptoms and still be able to work, whether its an extra week or so and they would only call in sick when they are genuinely really sick. So we are having a lot of Staff Members who dont really know if they have it or not, a lot of them have this, they are feeling like frauds because they dont know if they should stay at home because they have a temperature, in normal situations, if you have a bit of a dry cough you would still go into work because you dont think its contagious. Terrible position for people to be put in when they want to be helping. Finally and briefly, doctor roy, what did that club for ca re rs doctor roy, what did that club for carers mean to you last night . M gave us a sign of hope. I didnt think it was going to go through and i heard it from my flat, ijust finished work. I came home. To hear those clubs, that support from everyone, means so much and i can guarantee you, its boosted staff morale. I came into work today and the attitudes have changed tremendously. A lot more people are being hopeful and i think this is what its about, we need the nation to work with us because together, we can do it, for that to happen, people need to continue to do what they are doing and stay at home thank you for the work that you are doing. Thank you also for taking the time to talk to us and best wishes to you. With flights around the world being grounded, and countries entering into lockdown, many are finding it hard to return to their home countries. Nadene ghouri is from the uk, and is currently stuck in the ukraine with her newborn son, gilbert, who was born via surrogacy. Ukraine is likely to go into lockdown soon and the British Embassy have advised all uk nationals to leave on whats likely to be the last flight out of the country in just a few hours. However, her sons british passport hasnt come through, despite the foreign and Commonwealth Office agreeing to fast track the process. Thank you so much for talking to us. This should be an absolutely magical time for you with no worries. But you are in a real predicament, arent you . I am, yes. I mean, its taken 12 years for my husband and i too have a much longed for family and right now we are in the situation hes in the uk and im here in ukraine with our baby, unable to get home. You know, he was born just before everything went crazy. And the situation is that we had to apply for gilbert s british passport which we knew would take a certain amount of time but whats happened here in ukraine is that its gone from a relatively low number of cases up to a really fast increase and escalation in the past few days. Thats largely because 100,000 ukrainians have come back into the country, many of whom have come back from europe and is believed they have brought the virus with them. What we are seeing happening here is a sudden increase in cases, the kyiv post reporting this morning that the hospitals here are already struggling to cope. And there were flights going back to heathrow this week because they were bringing ukrainians in. And it was possible for british nationals to get on those flights to go home. The last of those flights leaves this afternoon. So four days ago our mp contacted the Foreign Office on our behalf to ask us if they could give as emergency travel documents for gilbert which would be a temporary travel document so he could travel home with me. The Foreign Office have been very helpful and supportive actually. But it took the Passport Office full four days to reply to that Foreign Office request which i find quite staggering. And yesterday morning i got the call from the Foreign Office to say it was bad news, Passport Office were refusing to authorise this, the temporary travel documents. Five minutes after that i got an advisory from the British Embassy warning all british nationals still left in ukraine that they need to be on the flight this ukraine that they need to be on the flight this afternoon. They may not be able to get out. Within five minutes of each other i got very contradictory pieces of information. You and your husband, gilberts pa rents you and your husband, gilberts parents come on his birth certificate yet there is this issue it seems with the Passport Office . That flight goes this afternoon. Is there any prospect do you think of you and your baby son being on it . |j would have loved that to be the case but i think the flight leaves at 3m this afternoon ukrainian time. Its now 12pm here. I dont think so. I think the very best i can hope for now is that the Passport Office will at least fast track his application, if they are not willing to give me temporary travel documents then i would hope they would fast track his application and get a passport to me in the next few days. So if there is another flight next week then i still have some hope of getting on it. How worried, ifi may still have some hope of getting on it. How worried, if i may interrupt, given that you are in a foreign country, in this situation with cases growing, fears of a lockdown, how concerned are you for your health and the health of your baby in the situation . Well, im really concerned. The hospitals here are already struggling to cope, they are seeing a massive increase in cases, i dont know what will happen to myself at the baby if we get sick. I dont really know anybody here. At the moment we are not seeing the crazy scenes we saw in the uk, people arent panic buying here is yet but i cant see they are beginning to. I went out yesterday to try and get some supplies and i could see basic goods are already in simply, could see basic goods are already in supply, ive been struggling to get nappies for example for the last couple of days. And of course im on my own here so every time i go out to the supermarket i have to take a month old baby with me, hes one month old baby with me, hes one month to date. Im putting both of us at risk every time i step out the front door. Obviously i desperately wa nt to front door. Obviously i desperately want to get home, im devastated the Passport Office did not see fit to allow us on the flight today. Particularly given the Foreign Office were very supportive and were trying to make that happen for us. So thats the thing thats really surprised me. We wish you well with this difficult situation that you are in. We will watch out for any news that you manage to make it, hopefully back up with your new baby son gilbert. Thank you so much for talking to us. In italy the number of coronavirus cases and deaths has risen again and people now worry the virus is spreading quickly in the south of the country. One region has announced it will extend the lockdown to april 14, and many others are expected to follow. Most italians have already spent more than two weeks at home. Jean mackenzie reports from rome. Hi, alan. Hello. How are you . All right. Be in no doubt, for italians, this lockdown is serious. In the 18 days since it began, this family havent left their flat once. Only alans been out to get food. Youre the brave one . Why have you chosen to be so strict about this . Because we think it is the only way to overcome this situation. We saw the number of people infected and the number of dead people increasing, day by day. With hundreds more deaths announced here every night, this pandemic is still taking lives at alarming speed. And so, the rules are getting tougher. Were invited to meet the commander of the local police. How often are you finding people breaking the lockdown . We are on the edge of the city here, and police are stopping people from being able to travel any further. Although italy has been in lockdown for nearly three weeks now, the restrictions just keep getting tighter and tighter. So now, anyone caught leaving without a valid reason can be fined up to 3000 euros. And anyone found with the virus outside their home, so not in quarantine, can be sent to prison for up to five years. Anything to stop the virus spreading, with fears the epicentre could be shifting from the north, to down here, and into the south. How much longer do you think you can do this for . I dont know. We hope a couple of weeks. And yes, we are spending much more time together as a family than before. And that is one of the fairly positive things coming out of the situation. The lockdown will almost certainly be extended. For how long, no one knows. And so, life in this new dimension must continue indefinitely. Jean mackenzie, bbc news, rome. The government has written to local authorities in england asking them to house all rough sleepers by the weekend as a part of their efforts to control the spread of coronavirus. The move will include housing those in hostels and night shelters. Lets get more on this now with the chief executive of crisis the National Charity for homeless people. Jon sparkes. Just talk to us about the exposure of rough sleepers to the virus, are they more exposed than the average person . Absolutely, people facing homelessness, whether they are rough sleeping, or staying in hostels with shared accommodation, they are highly vulnerable. And they are not able to take the advice that is being given. They have less access to sanitation, for example, and, of course, if they are needing to self isolate, that is almost impossible for them. Really important that the government is mobilising and making sure we safeguard very, very vulnerable people. You were saying this insistence that everybody should be housed by the weekend is a landmark moment. What is it going to take to make that happen . Well, it is going to ta ke make that happen . Well, it is going to take a great effort across local authorities, across local Health Systems and volunteers. To make sure that people are not only in self contained accommodation, whether that is student accommodation, hotels, empty apartment blocks and so on, but, of course, they are treated in the same way as everybody else and it is a Public Health emergency, and people who are showing symptoms need to be cared for, people who are not showing symptoms need to be protected from the virus. So, it is going to take a massive effort. It is also going to take breaking down some of the rules on barriers that exist to helping people who are rough sleeping generally. I mean, it is incredible that the government is making this effort. Their aim is to end rough sleeping by 2025. I think if we get this right now, this can accelerate that target. It can prove it could be done in 2020. In terms of getting support to local authorities, to councils, to actually allow them to do this, achieve this, to get rough sleepers off the streets, what package of help needs to go to the local authorities . Yes, there are a number of things that need to happen at the same time. First of all, getting hold of the accommodation in the first place. There needs to be a National Appealfor first place. There needs to be a National Appeal for accommodation which are self contained, so people can self isolate and socially distance. But local authorities need the resources too. There needs to be a stream of funding so they can deal with the cost of accommodating people quickly and get the specialist support the people need once they are accommodated, including whether that is social care, whether that is just basic facilities, and depending on whether it is experienced clinical care. Local authorities need dedicated funding to make that happen. They also need to be free to accommodate everybody. So, restrictions to housing benefit for certain people with no recourse to public funding because of their migrants status needs to be lifted, rules about people being locally connected or priority need to be lifted as well. This is about everybody, making sure that everybody in our society are safe. John, thank you very much for your time today. John sparks, the chief executive of crisis. Lets get more on that news about the Housing Market coming to a halt, after the uk, and urged buyers and sellers to put off completion until after the outbreak due to fears about social distancing. We can talk now to laura conduit, a property solicitor at farrer and co. Thank you forjoining us. Im guessing you thought this would be inevitable . Yes, i dont think anybody was surprised to see that guidance published yesterday. I think its actually incredibly helpful. People were left a little bit in limbo before that was produced. So, actually, we are now much better placed to give our clients advice and help people through this difficult time. What is your advice to clients . Lets look at the different stages of the process if, for example, they were on the point of completion, and that can be done by an exchange of e mails, are those sorts of co nveya nce e mails, are those sorts of conveyanceis e mails, are those sorts of conveyance is still going ahead . Transactions are still happening, it depends on each case what the particular circumstances of both the buyer and seller are. So, for example, if there is a probate sale where the property is already empty, and the buyer is a cash buyer, then there is absolutely no problem with competing completing on the action. If there is a physical move that needs to happen, it would only be possible if the person was making that move himself, unless the move can be done safely and in line with government guidance. Of course, when it comes to anything where social distancing cant be achieved, whether it is viewing a house or, indeed, the actual process of moving from one property to another, clearly, that cant go ahead right now. Also, the rental market is bound to be affected as well . Yes, but i think the measures that have been put in place to protect tenants from eviction, extending the two month payment into three months, is incredibly helpful. All of the guidance coming out is giving people certainty and enabling people to make longer term plans. And i dont think it stops anybody looking for a new rental property. I dont think it stops anybody looking to buy or sell the house. All it does is to give a framework in which that can be done. It suggests that people will not be doing it in such a hurry, perhaps. Do you think, ultimately, a lot of sales and transactions are going to fall through because of this . We have seen a little bit of that. But by no means seen a little bit of that. But by no m ea ns every seen a little bit of that. But by no means every transaction. As i said, it comes down to the particular circumstances of the individuals. Its more difficult where there is lending involved, but mortgages are still possible at the moment. Lenders are in discussion with valuers as to whether desktop valuations are acceptable, and the mortgage process can be applied, subject to devaluation coming at a later date when an is possible. The evaluation. So, it may take six weeks to the point of exchange, although we often do them much more quickly. That is the nationwide standard. The Due Diligence process, applying for local authority searches, all of that work and still be done where people have already found a property and where they want to offer that property and make progress. I guess in a nutshell you need a lot of patience, and a bit of goodwill is what is required . Definitely good and above all, remembering the key message to stay home. That is the priority over anybody buying or selling a house at the moment. It has to be. Of course, thank you very much. A property solicitor, joining us. South africa has reported its first two deaths from the virus, as it begins a three week lockdown. Police have started arresting people who ignore the order to stay at home. Our correspondent Andrew Harding has been looking at how the nation has been preparing for the closures. The beaches of cape town are already empty. The lifeguards, sent home. And injohannesburg, the middle classes are queueing for supplies ahead of tonights lockdown. So, yeah, part of it as panic i think