This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. Im rich preston. There are now more than a million confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world 50,000 people have died. Ten million americans have lost theirjobs in two weeks, as the economy shuts down to slow the spread of coronavirus as the death toll reaches almost 3000 in the uk and after days of criticism, the government announces plans to significantly increase coronavirus testing and days after saying staff on board his Aircraft Carrier needed quarantining, the us navy sacks its captaiin. Carrier needed quarantining, the us navy sacks its captain. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world now stands at over one Million People. Experts say over 50,000 people have died, with the number of reported cases doubling in the last week. Italys death toll has reached almost 14,000, and spains reported over 1,000 deaths in a single day, taking its total to 10,000. The United States is the worlds third worst hit country with over 5,500 fatalities. There are nearly a quarter of a million confirmed infections in the us. Half of the countrys deaths have been in new york. Here in the uk the Health Secretary has announced plans to carry out 100,000 tests every day in england by the end of the month. It was also announced that 569 more people have died in the uk in the past 2a hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 2,921. Our Global Health correspondent, tulip mazumdar, reports on the events that lead to more than one million infections. A milestone that nobody wanted to reach. It is believed the outbreak started here, at a wholesale Seafood Market in wuhan, in china, at the end of last year. By early january, the country confirmed it had identified a new coronavirus and cases there started to soar. It didnt take long for covid 19, as it was later named, to then spread all around the world. It took more than two months from the first reported case in china for the number of infections to reach 100,000. Then, just two weeks later, cases double to 200,000. Now, in the last week alone, the number of infections have jumped from 500,000 last friday to more than1 million now. And here is how it all unfolded. Cases in china were rising rapidly in the first couple of months of this year. South korea was next to see a sharp rise. But by the middle of march the global picture changed. Italy was hit hard, along with iran and then spain. And then a huge rise in cases in the us. All these countries were ramping up testing at these times too. So a million is obviously a huge number, and presents an important milestone. But i think what we need to remember is that these are the numbers of diagnosed cases. And in fact the unknown, the amount of people who havent had a test to know that theyre infected, is obviously likely to be much greater than that. So my worry, really, is what this means globally. And were keeping an eye on many other countries around the world, especially for example africa, where some of the case numbers are really beginning to creep up. We have seen what happens when this virus hits countries with relatively Strong Health systems. In europe and the us, medics have been overwhelmed. There are grave concerns about what will happen in countries with far weaker healthcare facilities. South africa currently has the largest outbreak on the continent, with more than 1,400 known cases. Smaller outbreaks are also under way in countries including burkina faso, cameroon and senegal. Elsewhere, there is some very early, very cautious optimism. China says it has largely stopped the spread of the disease there, with parts of wuhan now reopening. South korea has also seen cases fall in the last couple of weeks. But it is still extremely unclear how this pandemic will play out, as cases globally continue to rise. Tulip mazumdar, bbc news. The virus is striking
at the heart of the us economy. A record 6. 6 million americans filed for Unemployment Benefits in the last week. The scale of the Economic Disaster is stunning, as the us shuts down to contain the virus. Heres our north america editor, jon sopel. Its a perfect spring day in washington, and this is one of the cities busiest shopping streets except its not. The stores are closed, the streets empty, nobody is buying. And this is what that looks like in graph form years of unemployment going up a couple of hundred thousand here and there, but 10 millionjobs have gone in the last two weeks. These workers in california are among the many whove suddenly found themselves out of a job, victims of coronavirus. We still have to pay rent, we still have to pay bills, thats a lot of stuff that we still have to pay, and with nojob, what are we going to do . The us is closed for business,
more or less literally. The old saying goes that when america sneezes the rest of the world catches cold maybe not the right phrase to use in the midst of a Global Pandemic but this is going to hit the global economy. But the president is confident the rebound will be swift. Nobodys ever seen anything like this. The entire world has shut down. You go from having the most powerful economy in the world, and from other countries that are doing well, to being everything is shut down. Its very sad but, were going to get it going and were going to be stronger than ever. That is tomorrows battle. The fight against covid 19 is the immediate concern and, in new york, the governor says they will run out of ventilators soon. Right now we have a burn rate that would suggest we have about six days in the stockpile, but we have extraordinary measures in place that can make a difference if we run into a real ventilator shortage. America is adjusting to a new reality queueing forfood, unemployment soaring. The most powerful country in the world somewhat powerless in the face of this invisible enemy. Jon sopel, bbc news, washington. Earlier our north america correspondent, peter bowes, told me about the confusion in the United States at the moment about face masks. Americans have been getting some mixed messages about facemasks. People in los angeles and new york city have been advised that they should wear one, not ordered to wear one, but local officials saying that they should, whereas donald trump, asked about this in the daily briefing, and again he saidthat people wouldnt be ordered to, and again he said that people wouldnt be ordered to, some people didnt want to, he said, and one of his chief scientific adviser, dr deborah birx, said that she was worried some that people might get a false sense of protection if they were wearing a facemask because theyd been ordered to. She said you can still get the virus, you can still be infected even
if youre wearing a facemask. You might touch something then touch your eyes, for example, which are not protected by a facemask so you wouldnt be 100 protected. She said the main purpose of a mask is to protect other people from you, if youve got the virus, but not necessarily to protect you from others. And in his press conference there was also discussion from President Trump about increasing the numbers of respirators and ventilators available from the federal government . Yes, youve been hearing so much from hospital workers, from governors around the country, still about the shortage of supplies, whether it be ventilators or medicalfacemasks or protective clothing, especially in new york city. Well, the president said some 100,000 ventilators were being made or, at least, ordered to be made, and they will be distributed to the states. But there has been this kind of stand off between the federal government and local
authorities, in terms in terms of who perhaps is ultimately responsible for any stockpiles of ventilators, but the clear message, from at least President Trump, was that these pieces of equipment are on the way, and that those patients who required them will be getting them soon. The worrying message from new york city was that theres still only a six day supply of ventilators left. The captain of the american Aircraft Carrier stricken with coronavirus has been sacked, apparently for going public with his concerns about the health of his crew. Captain Brett Crozier wrote a scathing letter to his bosses asking for stronger measures to help control the virus onboard the uss theodore roosevelt. But the letter was leaked to the press, as bill hayton reports. The uss theodore roosevelt, one of the worlds most powerful war machines. A Nuclear Powered community of 5,000 people,
jammed in a very confined space. In the driving seat, with the power of life and death, was captain Brett Crozier, until thursday. I am here today to inform you that today at my direction the Commanding Officer of the uss theodore roosevelt, captain Brett Crozier, was relieved of command by a Carrier Strike group commander, rear admiral stuart baker. The problems may have started during the ships most recent port visit to da nang in central vietnam, at the beginning of march. Two weeks later, the first crewmembers fell ill. Within days, the numbers were in dozens, and the situation looked potentially catastrophic. Captain crozier headed for the Us Naval Base on the Pacific Island to guam, to offload the sick, and sent an email to his superiors calling for, in his words, Decisive Action to protect the rest of the crew. But he copied the e mail to at least 20 other people. That is just not acceptable. He did not take care and what that did is it create a panic on a little bit of a panic on the ship because the ship
was not prepared, the chief petty officers were not prepared to answer questions from the crew, in terms of how bad the situation was. It misrepresented the facts of what was going on on the ship as well and, at the same time, the families here in the United States were panicked about the reality. The revelations about conditions on board prompted plenty of criticism of the pentagon and of the trump administration. Supporters of captain crozier have taken to social media to applaud his concern for his crew, but it looks as though his naval career is over. Meanwhile, his former ship remains docked in guam, meanwhile, his former ship remains docked at guam, with many of the crew in isolation. So far, says the pentagon, none has required hospital treatment. Bill hayton, bbc news. Lets take a look at the impact of the pandemic elsewhere in the world president putin has extended the paid time russians have off work because of the coronavirus pandemic until the end of april. Mr putin acknowledged the outbreak still hadnt reached its peak, but he didnt
announce any new measures such as a lockdown. In the last 2a hours, russia announced its highest number of deaths caused by covid 19. As lockdown measures continue in egypt, thousands of people there have taken to twitter to call for palaces belonging to the countrys president to be turned into quarantine centres. It follows social media outrage after expats locked down at a five star hotel were told they would have to foot the bill themselves. President sisi reversed the decision on wednesday. Global oil prices have surged after President Trump said he expected saudi arabia and russia to end a feud that has driven the price of crude to eighteen year lows. Mr trump said he thought the two countries would agree to cut supply by at least ten million barrels. As the death toll reaches almost 3,000 in the uk and after days of criticism, the government has announced plans to significantly increase coronavirus testing. There are two types of tests
one is the swab test, which tells you if you currently have the virus or not. The other is an Antibody Test which will tell you, weeks later, whether or not youve had the virus many people may get it without ever knowing. Our medical correspondent fergus walsh explains. This is what a home Antibody Test looks like. This one is for hiv and can be bought online. Its this kind of highly accurate fingerprick blood test which is needed for coronavirus. An Antibody Test would tell you if youve previously been infected with coronavirus and have built up some immunity which might protect you in future. The British Company behind the hiv test says it hopes to have a similar one for coronavirus ready within weeks. I think it would make an incredible difference. The question everyones asking themselves is, have i had it . I had a cold injanuary
and i didnt feel well, so for us, antibody detection is the key, really, to accelerating how we handle this. The government agrees. Its already bought 3. 5 million Antibody Tests, but these are still being evaluated to check theyre accurate. We are currently working with Nine Companies who have offered these tests and evaluating their effectiveness. These Antibody Tests, blood tests, offer the hope that people who think they have had the disease will know they are immune and can get back to life as much as possible as normal. But theyve got to work. This is one of several covid 19 Antibody Tests already on the market. This one is designed for Health Professionals to use, rather than in the home. You draw two drops of blood, put them in a sample tray, add a chemical and wait ten minutes. This is really rather surprising. Ive not had any symptoms of coronavirus,
yet these two lines here suggest that i have previously had covid 19 and it suggests that i may now have some immunity from the disease, if this test is accurate. The company that makes the test is based in northern ireland. It says its highly accurate, but its not been endorsed by medical regulators. We have not been approached directly by the government or Public Health england or any of the other Public Health agencies of the four nations. If we were approached, wed be happy to submit our tests for validation. We think thats a good thing. An accurate Antibody Test would help us get back to this britain at work. Medical staff and other key workers could be checked to see if they have had coronavirus and may now have some immunity. It cannot come soon enough. Fergus walsh, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come getting the message across. Police in mexico promote hand washing and social distancing amid anger over the governments handling of the crisis. The accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worst, produce a meltdown. In this case, the precautions worked, but they didnt work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. The republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. From today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. The president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing
a trade union conference. The small crowd outside included his assailant. It has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. The eiffel towers birthday is being marked by a re enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. This is bbc news, the latest headlines the number of people around the world who have been diagnosed with coronavirus has passed 1 million over 50,000 of them have died. More than ten million American Workers have lost theirjobs in the last two weeks alone, as the economy shuts down to slow the spread of coronavirus. Nato has tasked its top military commander with aiding the fight against the invisible enemy of covid 19, following the alliances first ever videoconference summit. Defence ministers agreed to step up the supply
of Medical Equipment through the natos strategic airlift capability. Us general tod wolters is now set to co ordinate those efforts, which have already seen supplies brought in from china and south korea. In a joint declaration nato members also agreed to Work Together to tackle disinformation about the virus. German foreign minister heiko maas addressed the issue, when asked about the alliances relationship with china and russia. Translation what we are warning about and what we need to discuss our today does as nato meeting, and where it sorted out at the eu level, if some are abusing the situation for propaganda purposes in order to look better. As long as we have suspect states behind the disinformation that exists, i believe it is appropriate to take countermeasures within the European Union and within criteria which aim to make the available Information Fact based and not fake news based. Does the covid 19 pandemic
have the potential to create fundamental change in the geopolitcal landscape . To dsicuss this im joined by melvin a goodman. Melvin is a former a cia analyst, and state department official, and is now a senior fellow at the centre for international policy. Thank you very much forjoining us. Nato secretary generaljenz stoltenberg stressed the alliances primary role remains collective security, stressing this Health Crisis should not become a security crisis. Is there a Security Risk from covid 19 . Isa is a major Security Risk from covid 19 and it has to do with preparedness. It makes no sense for nato to say that its core capabilities are unimpeded by this pandemic. This pandemic will reshape the international order. Every International Crisis has been reshaped or reordered in the wake of the crisis, when it was well what one 01 crisis, when it was well what one or world 9 11. I think the United States, this is what i would call its suez moment, in relation to the terrible british decision in 1956 to the
invasion of egypt which led to the of the british influence and power in the middle east. In United States has handled this crisis so poorly, not taking a leadership role, not paying attention to what needs to be done with domestic security and leading International Organisations and i think the United States is going to be really harmed over the long run. For a nato statement to be released now to talk about accepting macedonia as the 30th member of nato. It was the expansion of nato in the 1990s, was the expansion of nato in the 19905, i was the expansion of nato in the 1990s, i think, was the expansion of nato in the 1990s, ithink, by president clinton at that led to the weakness of nato and i think it has been in decline ever since. I think the western world has to understand that the real threats to sincerity are not in the national. The focus on russia and china as propaganda is a mistake i think. The threats to International Security are really domestic. We have met the enemy and the enemy is us. Focusing on the us in particular. On a national level, the us defence budget well over 600 billion. How should a government like the us reconsider the way it spents its defence money . If you look at the us defence budget, it is of 1 trillion. The pentagon alone gets sent two 760 billion. If you add in the intelligence community, the department of energy which is responsible for nuclear energy, vetera ns responsible for nuclear energy, Veterans Administration and department of homeland security, you realise the United States spends more on defence than the entire international community. What has gotten from that in vietnam, iraq, afghanistan . When you look at the United States, we have tremendous social and economic inequality. You have terrible diseases and suicides related to drugs, the opioid crisis, our infrastructure is crumbling. Needs to reinvest in our roads and ridges and i bet you you have to do the same thing in europe we have division between prosperous countries in the north and the less prosperous countries in the south. And you have a Division Within nato
between east and west with regard to reception towards russia. I think we have to get away from this focus on the so called rogue threats, the money that weve wasted, blood and treasure that has been lost in places like vietnam and iraq and afghanistan. The iraq and afghanistan itself may be responsible for the loss of 6 trillion from the us treasury. This is outrageous and meanwhile, we having trouble in the United States and you are too in britain, in responding too in britain, in responding to this terrible crisis. Melvin a goodman from the centre for international policy. Thank you very much forjoining us here in bbc news. Mexico seems to be faring better than its northern neighbour, the United States, when it comes to coronavirus cases. So far, only about 111,500 infections and 50 deaths have been reported there, compared to more than 230,000 in the us. But those numbers are on the rise, and theres been growing anger over the mexican governments handling of the crisis. The bbcs will grant has this report
a uniquely mexican way to tell people to wash their hands. Amid accusations the message wasnt getting through, state police in quintana roo performed a mariachi song to remind the public to practise social distancing and self isolation. However, some say the response at the federal level has been less harmonious. The countrys president Andres Manuel lopez 0brador has come in for widespread criticism. For days, he said people could go outside, attend large events, even kiss and embrace. Those at mexicos first drive through coronavirus test, being run by a private clinic in the capital, were angry at the president s attitude. If the president really cares about his people, then he must protect them, says this woman, fearing mexico will struggle to do with the crisis. The Mexican Health authorities insist they have taken the problem seriously from the start. With the number of coronavirus patients rising above 1,000, the government has now declared a Health Emergency which grants it
new powers to enforce distancing and isolation. Translation we dont want to go to the scenario that other countries a re u nfortu nately going through so this is the moment. The World Health Organization has also broadly defended mexicos response. Translation mexico is benefiting from the experiences of those countries that have already taken these measures. The steps they have taken are very laudable. They are on the right path. The thing is, mexico faces a number Underlying Health challenges. Its population, for example, has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the world an astonishing 10 of its Adult Population suffer from the condition. And its the second most obese nation on earth. Im especially worried for my son, said this customer
at a mexico city taco stand. I try to get him to exercise but now he cant go outside. With far fewer infected in mexico than in the us, it has prompted some mexicans to demand that americans not be allowed to cross the border. Meanwhile, thousands of Central American migrants remain in temporary camps under the so called remain in mexico policy, waiting for their asylum applications in the us to be processed. Stuck in limbo, illness and flu spread among them quickly and a further humanitarian crisis beckons. Will grant, bbc news. Lets bring you some more upbeat news now. After months of severe drought, what of the worlds greatest natural wonders, Victoria Falls has brought back to life. The flow of water for the Southern African waterfall is now well above the seasonal average following heavy rainfall further up the zambezi river. A
few will only get to enjoy this spectacle because zimbabwe and zambia have closed viewing areas as part of the coronavirus lockdown. Thank you for joining coronavirus lockdown. Thank you forjoining us, we will leave you with these pictures. Hello. Temperatures topped out at 15 degrees celsius in hampshire on thursday. Theyll take a step backwards, those temperatures, on friday, but then into the weekend theyre on the up. A frost for some of us, as friday starts, especially across the north and east of the uk. Plenty of cloud to follow, but sunnier skies arrive at the weekend. And yes, those temperatures are heading up, but with a strengthening wind. High pressure pretty much in control of things, so still a lot of dry weather around for the next couple of days. Low pressure gathering in the atlantic, though, as the weekend goes on will strengthen a southerly flow coming into the uk, and thats why those temperatures are going to be heading up. And we could well see across parts of south east england by sunday as high as 20 celsius, the first time weve reached that high since last october. But were not there yet, and there will be a frost
across scotland, parts of Eastern England to start friday, maybe 5 in rural aberdeenshire. And a few wintry showers in scotland, to relatively low levels in the north, continuing on and off during the day. A lot of cloud in the west to begin the day. Therell be a few showers around here, and cloud increasing. But where we had that cold start to the east, that cold, bright start to the east, still maybe the odd shower, but most places here will be dry. Sunny spells returning later in the afternoon to south wales, south west england, those temperatures around 8 12 degrees. Thats why its a little bit of a backward step compared with thursday. Now, overnight and into saturday morning, an area of rain and hill snow pushes north into scotland, edging further north. The clearer skies will be the further south you are in england and wales, though there could be a few fog patches around. And still a touch of frost in places, though its rather patchy in nature, that frost, as the day begins. Another look at saturday, the flows are starting to come in from the south, then temperatures gradually edging up on saturday. Its a slow process, though, and still a lot of cloud around in scotland. The rain and hill snow clearing from the north. For northern ireland, rather cloudy, and Northern England too. Elsewhere in england and wales, there will be sunny spells, and those temperatures are creeping up. More places in double figures on saturday. The breeze, though, starting to pick up. And then for part two of the weekend, on sunday, a lot of sunshine around. But it will be windy, and particularly in the west, and here itll be clouding over. We could well see some outbreaks of rain moving in. In the best of the sunshine across the eastern side of england, this is where were going to see those higher temperatures, but higher pollen levels too. This is bbc news, the headlines the coronavirus pandemic has continued to spread rapidly, with more than 50,000 people now having died from the outbreak. There are also now more than a Million People infected worldwide thats double the number from this time last week. The United States accounts for about a quarter of all cases. 10 million us workers have lost theirjobs in the last two weeks, as the countrys economy shuts down due to the spread of the virus. The weekly figures are the highest in american history. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin says assistance payments should reach individuals within two weeks. In europe, spain has seen the biggest daily increase in deaths in europe, but its infection rate is slowing. In the italian city of milan, the main crematorium has closed its doors to deal with
a backlog of coronavirus victims. Now on bbc news, panorama. The uk economy is closing down. We just cantjust keep paying wages every week when weve no orders coming in the other end, so we have to make some very harsh decisions. The disease that threatens our families is destroying our livelihoods. Cafes pubs, restaurants told to shut to fight virus, as of midnight tonight. Were with those trying to keep us going. I have three kids,
seven, five and one,
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