This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. The british Prime Minister sends a letter to every household in the uk warning that the Coronavirus Crisis will get worse before it gets better. Ministers say the public should prepare for a significant period of social distancing. I wish i could predict when this will end but it is vitally important that at the moment and four weeks ahead, people maintain the strict social distancing guidelines that have been laid out. Ten thousand people in italy have died from the virus the biggest death toll in the world but its Health Minister hopes infections have now reached their highest level. We are living in the peak of this
epidemic. I believe in one weeks time, maximum ten days, we will see a drop, a significant drop of positive cases. Spain is to introduce even tighter limits on who can leave their homes as it announces a new Record Number of deaths in the past 2a hours. In the uk, government commissioned trials for possible treatments have begun we hear from one of the scientists leading this early research. And the kitchen rave to the bbc news theme tune thats gone viral. We bring together its creator and the original composer, at a safe distance. Hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. Were covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. The death toll worldwide has reached nearly 31,000 and there are now more than 665,000 confirmed cases. The uks Prime MinisterBoris Johnson has sent a letter to every household warning that the crisis will get worse before it gets better. More than 1,000 people have now died in the uk. Senior uk government minister michael gove has said people should prepare for a significant period when social distancing measures are still in place. Across europe, the number of People Killed by the virus has risen to more than 20,000. Italy has seen the most deaths from coronavirus and the countrys deputy Health Minister says he believes italy is currently experiencing the peak of the outbreak. Elsewhere, australia is reporting a decline in the rate of infections. In south korea, everyone arriving from overseas will have to undergo two weeks of quarantine. The country has nearly 10,000 confirmed cases. Our first report is from andy moore with the latest uk developments. The nhs is gearing up for the coming storm with the preparation of emergency hospitals in major cities across the country. This one in east london is due to take its first patients at the end of the week. It comes as a grim milestone is reached in the casualty figures, a total of more than 1000 people have died from coronavirus. Over 17,000 people have tested positive. The Prime Minister is just one of them but, from self isolation at downing street, he is still chairing emergency meetings, and now he is writing to 30 million households across the uk. In the letter he says. He also says. At the daily downing street briefing, we were told that every one of us had a part to play in keeping the death toll as low as possible. If it is less than 20,000, as sir Patrick Vallance said, that would be a good result, although every death, as ive said, is absolutely a tragedy. But we should not be complacent about that. Although that would be a good result, it will only happen if we stop the transmission of the virus. The first 2000 food parcels have now been delivered to old and Vulnerable People who have been advised
to stay at home. By the end of the week, it is hoped 50,000 packages will have been sent out. Andy moore, bbc news. 0ur Political Correspondent helen catt is in westminster and explained more about Boris Johnsons letter to the british public. This is going to 30 million households at a cost of £5. 8 million and we are getting used to hearing stark warnings from the Prime Minister and this one carries one of those. He warns that things will get worse before they get better. He says we are making the right preparations and the more that we all follow the rules, the fewer lives will be lost and the soon at life can return to normal. Alongside the letter, there will also be a leaflet that will give advice on things like the symptoms of coronavirus, advice on how to effectively wash your hands and some more advice on those rules about
when you can and cannot leave your house. Of course, over the last week, since they were brought in, we have seen some confusion there, the government has already had to clarify to people that you shouldnt be going to second homes or caravans if you have them and that when you ta ke if you have them and that when you take your daily exercise, that should be done locally. Michael gove was asked on the Andrew Marr Show how long the daily exercise should be, he said for most people, and ours walk for 30 minutes of running would be appropriate. Michael gove is also asked about how long all of this would go on for and, not surprisingly, he couldnt give a definitive answer on that. No, he couldnt, that was put to him and he said that he couldnt make an accurate prediction but that eve ryo ne accurate prediction but that everyone does have to prepare for an extended period. All of us will have people who we love who are at risk from this virus and therefore all of us are from this virus and therefore all of us are exercising that degree of discipline, because we want to make sure that those who we do love get
the care that they need at the time that they need it. So, i cannot make an accurate prediction but i think everyone does have to prepare for a significant period when these measures are still in place. We also heard from the Labour Shadow Health secretary who thinks that the government needs to be clearer on guidance on who should be going to work, the labour party thinks that it is time to look at only essential place is being open, essential Construction Projects in that kind of thing, so a lot more questions being asked to put this letter is going out to provide more advice. The Italian DeputyHealth Minister, pierpaolo sileri, says he believes italy is currently experiencing the peak of the coronavirus outbreak. More than 10,000 people have died there the highest death toll anywhere in the world. He told the bbc that the country might see a drop in the death rate in a week or ten days time. 10,000 people with the virus have died in italy more than any other country. Mr sileri was speaking to the bbcs andrew marr. If lockdown starts to work, we started lockdown in the middle of march, we started the first lockdown between the eighth and the 9th of march so obviously we need to wait at least 1a, 17, 18 days after that to see the reduction of numbers of infected people. Over the last few days, we had an increase of infection and this was due to the increase of swabs, so we are searching more, and obviously we have more results of positive people, mainly with low or without symptoms. Could i ask you to explain exactly what has changed do you think . Over the last two or three days, we have started to do more swabs, especially to trace. You are testing more . We are testing more, exactly. 0bviously, when you test more, you find more positive people and this will explain the increased number of positive that we found over the last two days, but i believe that we are living in the peak of this epidemic. I believe in one weeks time, maximum ten days, we will see a drop, a significant drop of positive cases. Spains death toll rose by 838 cases overnight to more than 6,500, marking the highest daily rise in fatalities. The government has ordered all non essential workers to stay at home for the next two weeks. Spain is the second worst hit country in europe, behind italy, with nearly 79,000 cases. Journalist Graham Keeley has the latest developments
from madrid. The government are going to approve these new restrictions, they will come into force from tomorrow, it will mean that essentially nonessential workers, for example construction workers, postal workers, people working on production lines which dont relate to the epidemic, car workers, some opticians and people running shops that are not related to food, they will not be allowed to go to work for the next two weeks. They will have to stay at home. In terms of the number of fatalities there, spain, like italy, suffering particularly badly, is there any sense in spain as to whether that country is approaching the peak of the virus, in terms of the damage it is doing . Well, the government is saying that they are cheered to some extent by the fact that the number of cases is beginning to level out. However when you speak to doctors in hospitals, they say that that may be what the government is saying but it seems that actually the problem is that not enough people are being tested because there is a shortage of testing kits, so the real picture may not be quite so optimistic. How is the Health Service coping in spain . It is not, basically. As i said, when ive spoken to doctors in the past week, they have said we dont have enough resources, we dont have enough protective gear to wear and our hospitals are completely overwhelmed, particularly the intensive care units. They are very scared themselves to go into these units and work every day because of the obvious risk of infection and younger and younger people are getting infected and they are afraid that that may happen to them. Is there a feeling that spain wasnt prepared for this crisis . Absolutely. That is the general feeling, they feel that a crisis of this proportion was far too much for the existing Health System and possibly that spain acted too late to bring in a state of emergency which has been in operation for the past two weeks. What is the mood, as far as you can pick it up generally, people happy to obey all restrictions and social distancing restrictions and regulations . Yes they are, there is generally a lot of cooperation with the authorities. Obviously there are some people who disregard the restrictions and the police have made over 900 arrests, but generally people are staying in their homes and not going out for unnecessary reasons. The general mood is trying to Work Together to overcome this. South korea says it will quarantine all new arrivals
from overseas for a fortnight. Officials say half of all new confirmed cases in recent days have been diagnosed in people who have come into the country. Our correspondent laura bicker was at Incheon Airport as a flight arrived from london. This setup is all about protecting south korea from a fresh outbreak of coronavirus. All arrivals from europe will be tested at one of the stations. There are eight of them, all standing by. Over the last few days, around half of all south koreas new coronavirus cases have come from overseas. Many of them from europe. And that is one of the reasons why everyone is being tested. To wait for the results, you are taken on a bus to a Residential Centre and get your results in about 12 hours. These testing centres are outside, but others within the country, you get this sort of plastic phone booth type testing service,
where you can walk in and be tested in a matter of minutes. Before you arrive here into this area, you go through a series of checks. A temperature check, then you have to fill in all your Contact Details and they verify that. All arrivals have to download this application on their mobile phone and have to fill in their symptoms for 1h days while they are in self isolation. If they fail to do so, the authorities will track them down. When it comes to self isolation, the government has said that anyone who breaks these rules, if south korean, will be fined, and if you are a foreigner you will be deported. The latest measure that they have introduced is that all passengers coming in on flights must pass a temperature check. If they dont, they will not be allowed on the flight. Now, the south korean authorities are coming under increasing pressure to close their borders. People here feel like their own
outbreak has been dealt with. The one thing they are worried about now is people coming from outside the country and reintroducing this virus. A fresh cluster could emerge. President trump has made a u turn on the idea of imposing a quarantine on the states of new york, newjersey and connecticut, the parts of the us worst hit by the coronavirus outbreak. The president rowed back after the states governors fiercely opposed it. Mr trump said a strong travel advisory would be issued instead. The United States has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, with more than 120 thousand. To date, no confirmed treatments for patients with coronavirus have been found. But trials are being conducted into whether drugs used for malaria and hiv could make a difference. One of those trials is starting in britain. Ive been speaking to professor christopher butler, the chief investigator of that trial. He explained how it works. The niche of this intervention right 110w the niche of this intervention right now is aimed at those who are at higher risk of complications but are in the community and not yet that sick that they need to go to hospital and we are hoping to find drugs that might prevent that kind of disease progression and help them get better quickly in general practice, in the community and take pressure off the secondary care services. So, just to be clear, this isa services. So, just to be clear, this is a treatment rather than a vaccine, and how would this particular one work . Well, there is some early evidence that this drug, hydroxychloroquine, might prevent viral replication and attachment of
the virus to the cells and getting into the cells. So, it might, and it also has Anti Inflammatory Properties which might play a Critical Role in the development of severe lung complications. So, it is a well known drug and it may prevent the virus from getting into the cells and have generalised Anti Inflammatory Properties which could be beneficial. I think when President Trump mentioned it, he called it potentially a game changer, would you agree with that . Well, i think we absolutely need much better Clinical Evidence before we start making assertions like that. There is a preliminary Laboratory Evidence that this drug may be useful in terms of limiting viral replication and there are three studies, all of them controversial, which may or may not show, it would be a huge mistake to provide this drug on a large scale
without the proper evidence that it actually helps people, because there is no drug on this planet that doesnt have side effects, including hydroxychloroquine, and we shouldnt be making drugs widely available that are not proven to benefit people more than harm people. Do you think that somewhere out there, there is something that can at least alleviate the symptoms of this . There are drugs such as paracetamol, which will help people feel better, particularly if they have a mild illness, and we have noted that most people who get this might have mild illness and many will be asymptomatic actually, so paracetamol and supportive measures will be useful for everybody. I am sure that there are specific treatments which will be developed, iam sure treatments which will be developed, i am sure we will get a vaccine, these might be some way off now, but a drug like hydroxychloroquine, i think that if it is going to work,
most of the trials, most of the interventions have been evaluated in hospitals, in people who are really quite sick, and it might be quite a heavy lift to expect Something Like hydroxychloroquine to be making a dramatic difference when people are already on ventilators and are already on ventilators and are already very sick, so getting it early on in the illness, particularly those at high risk, i think that is where these kind of interventions might play an Important Role in keeping people out of hospital, so this will be one of the first trials done in primary ca re the first trials done in primary care treatment in earlier stages of the disease. Sweden has seen more than 100 deaths from coronavirus, but its cafes and restaurants are still open and children are still going to school. Maddy savage reports. Its just become warm enough to sit outside in the swedish capital and people are making the most of it. Its beautiful weather outside and i think its important to support the bars and restaurants
and be outside for now. I think its nice to be out. I try to isolate myself but it is kind of hard when you see here in sweden people are still running around outside. Gatherings of more than 50 people are banned here. But there are a few strict rules. The focus is still on guidelines to limiting travel and working from home. Voluntary responsibility is the key to the swedish strategy, trusting the public to make enough changes to slow down the spread of the virus. The approach is controversial. I think we have high trust in the authorities in sweden so i think people are prone to listen to their recommendations. But for this kind of very critical situation, im not sure that it is enough. I am hoping that it is. Swedes love the outdoors, and keeping people physically and emotionally healthy as one reason there is reluctance to lockdown. In general the Business Community thinks that the swedish government has implemented more rational, sensible policies than in other countries. How much riskier do you think it is for other countries then that have closed a lot more businesses and other parts of society . This will cause great harm. There will be mass unemployment and im dead scared to see the effect of that. Even without a lockdown, businesses are taking a cut. This barbershop is usually packed. And soon they will have trouble paying the bills. And staff here fear they may be forced to stay at home if sweden follows other countries and changes its style. There have been lots of videos circulating on the internet this week with people performing their own routines to the bbc news theme tune. Lets take a look at the post which started it all. Bbc news theme plays as rave the bbcs Sophia Smith Galer spoke to david lowe, who composed the tune, as well as rachel leary, who we just saw raving to it. I am massively fangirling right now because here we have rachel, who is
responsible for one of the best videos on the internet right now. How funny is that to say . Oh, my goodness. And we have david, who is responsible for composing that bbc news theme tune. Thats the one. David, are you aware that the internet right now is full of people raving to your theme tune . Its a very pleasant shock, to see people doing that. Especially rachels film. I think it sounded brilliant, i dont know how you put it together but it sounded absolutely fantastic. Tik tok is a crazy place at the moment. Theres been a video going around for a while now of people doing fake dj sets but its to a completely different song. My mum would tell you, i always, whenever the bbc news theme comes on, ill be sat on the sofa, like throwing my fists up in the air and she found it so funny so i thought im going to combine these two together. Oh, my god, its got the beat, you know,
its got the, um. What would you call it in musical terms . It is not, like, the key change, but its, like, the beat change that really is like. Oh, the drop. Crescendo, i think that is what you are talking about. 0k. The idea was for the pips on the radio, when you hear the beeps, you instantly know you are listening to the radio, you know, and it is time for the news and i thought maybe, how about doing. I was thinking to myself, we could do the pips with a dance beat because it is all about timing and accuracy and stuff. It gets you hyped up for the news. Yeah, you could use the pips, like this. Regular beeps. Which is a sound in itself, which works and then start adding drums to it, like. Percussion starts. Bit more drums. And thenjust build up the idea, so the pips through the dance beat and then adding the baseline. I can hear this in ibiza now. So the baseline has got a little bit of a reggaeton feel to it, that. That sort of feel. And then building up with big drums to add a bit of drama and tension. So many people have messaged me from the bbc saying thank you so much for sharing that, its really boosted my morale today. And some of those people that have messaged me, they are broadcast critical. We rely on them to keep the bbc news on the air. So i just wanted to say thank you. Thank you very much. I mean, i cant believe any of this has happened. My dream when i was a kid was wanting to work for the bbc, or do something for the bbc. The ambition was to come up with a theme tune that everybody would want to go out and buy, or like, or love, because, in the end, when you write music, you want everybody to love it and it just goes to prove that if youve got a dream and you follow it, it will actually happen. So its been great. May well, if you are a bit bored today get raving to that. You are watching bbc news. The duke and duchess of cambridge are helping to launch a scheme to support the nations Mental Health during the coronavirus lockdown. The royal couple is urging people to follow guidance from Public Health england by using video calls to keep in touch with family and friends, sticking to regular routines, and focusing on favourite hobbies or learning something new. The government is also giving five Million Pounds to Mental Health charities to expand support services. Psychotherapist livvy rose is advising people on how to remain calm during this testing time. The most important thing is to be able to catch your breath. I think a lot of us, and this is very practical, a lot of us breathe from the top of our chest. This exacerbates anxiety and, so, the idea that we start to learn
to breathe from our stomachs, it starts to calm the anxiety because when we feel we are out of control, wejust get higher and higher in our anxieties, so the idea is to kind of get more breath into our bodies, start to breathe and then something very practical, start to write down, what can i control . What cant i control . We cant control the lockdown. We can control how we respond to it. And Something Else i think you want people to write down, if possible, is what we are all grateful for, the sort of gratitude list. I think thats a really interesting thing, isnt it . Because a lot of us are very lucky to have somewhere to live, to have heating, to have water out of our taps, to be able to have mobile devices to talk to people. I thinkjust the little things. That we may have food. Obviously, there are a lot of people that are struggling in this country too at the moment and we must be alert to that, but i think the daily
thing of, today, the sun is shining, which it has been out here, and spring is actually happening, we are now in summertime, the days are going to be longer, we will have more light, we can get more fresh air. What about, you know, boredom is such a problem, isnt it . This is only reallyjust beginning, this lockdown, there are potentially weeks more of it. What is your advice to people . Should they have some sort of routine . Should they aim to achieve certain things in a day, even if it isjust, i dont know, cleaning the car or polishing the kettle or something . Yeah, the kettle that never, ever got cleaned is now getting very shiny. I think its really important to get a routine together. That is part of what you can control. Getting up and just hanging about in your pyjamas is not going to be great. I think its really important to get up and do your normal routine. Have a shower. If you shave, shave. Put your make up on, get dressed. Maybe do some exercises. Do some stretching if you can. There are loads of online classes,
you can join them and its a sense of being part of the community. Also, if you are working from home, i think its really important to take your tea breaks and your coffee breaks. Facetime someone, have a little chat, feel like you are in contact. Again, it is the routine of your day. Boredom . It is time to learn a new project, i reckon, whatever that is for you. It could be just learning about a new book, learning about a new film that you havent seen before. Whatever inspires you is what we need to follow at the moment. All those things you said, when ive got time. 0r or it could be learning to rave to the bbc news theme tune. Now its time for a look at the weather with ben rich. Good evening. It certainly started to feel colder today and we take the chilly feel with us into the second
half of the weekend, particularly when we factor in the strength of the wind, are quite significant wind chill, some wintry showers, a lot of dry weather around as well. You can see the brisk north or north easterly wind blowing across the uk tonight, large areas of cloud with clear spells allowing temperatures to drop down to around freezing. Some spots in the countryside will get a few degrees below freezing and one or two wintry showers will continue at times tomorrow, particularly for northern and eastern parts of the uk. As we go through the uk, a lot of dry weather, some sunny spells, quite a lot of cloud but it will be windy, particularly across england and were, gusts of a0 mph for many but 50 mph for some southern or eastern coasts. Temperatures on the thermometer not too impressive and factor in the strength of the wind in some places, it will feel like its freezing. 0ne in some places, it will feel like its freezing. One or two showers on monday, most places dry, not quite as windy by then. Hello, this is bbc
news with ben brown