Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At 9 20200313

With a new, persistent cough or High Temperature to self isolate for seven days. Well have more at 9 15, when well be speaking to a director at nhs providers. The spread of the virus continues to cause big swings on Global Stock Markets early trading bounces up in europe after devastating falls yesterday over fears of a global recession. The canadian Prime Ministers wife tests positive for coronavirus. Justin trudeau says he has no symptoms but will self isolate for m days. And in sport after the arsenal manager mikel arteta and chelsea star Callum Hudson odoi test positive for the virus the premier league will hold an emergency meeting on whether future matches should go ahead. Good morning and welcome to the bbc news at nine the governments chief scientific adviser sir Patrick Vallance, has defended the countrys new approach to slowing the spread of the coronavirus. In a press conference yesterday, Boris Johnson announced that the uk was formally moving from the contain to the delay phase of the disease. He advised that anyone with a High Temperature, or a new, continuous cough, should self isolate for seven days. In total, ten people have died from coronavirus in the uk, with 596 confirmed cases. But Health Officials say the number infected will actually already be between 5 10,000. Sir patrick explained why the measures had been put in place. Broadly, actually, the Scientific Community is aligned on the measures that need to be taken and the question is around what time and what way. As we just said, the first set of measures are actually rather large. Weve just asked a lot of people to isolate, stay at home if theyve got symptoms of mild upper respiratory tract infection, cough, or fever. Thats a big change. That is the intervention which is going to have the biggest impact at the moment. Weve also talked about the possibility of whole households staying at home if one person has got it. That may come in later and importantly, we are also talking about making sure that during the peak, when people are most likely to get infected, the elderly and vulnerable are properly protected which will be over a many week period. This is not a short term aim, this is going to go on for weeks. So there are things that will come in due course at the right time. And of those, just to deal with the schools one, schools, closing schools is a very effective way of dealing with pandemic flu. In this disease the role of children is less clear in terms of spreading the disease. And you would have to close the schools for a very prolonged period, so months. Four months or so, in order for this to be effective. It is inconceivable that those children are not going to mix anyway. And of course, many of them may also be sent to be looked after by their grandparents during that period. The consequences of those have other impacts, of course, on this illness so although School Closures may be something that needs to be done at some point, we need to get these other, bigger, more impactful measures in place first. The former Health Secretary, jeremy hunt, says the governments decision not to cancel Public Events because of the coronavirus outbreak is concerning. He told bbc newsnight that the uk was in a National Emergency and suggested the governments new approach did not go far enough. I dont want to second guess what the precise social distancing measures are that we might adopt, because i think, you know, we have to look at the evidence as to what works. But i think it is surprising and concerning that were not doing any of it at all, when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that italy is at, and you would have thought that every single thing we do in that four weeks would be designed to slow the spread of people catching the virus. Yesterday the government issued new advice for how to tackle the coronavirus. Lets look at what they announced. Anyone with mild coronavirus symptoms should now self isolate for seven days. That means anyone with a High Temperature, or a new persistent cough. You shouldnt ring 111 with mild symptoms you can put yourself in self isolation. If symptoms worsen or are no better after self isolating for a week, use nhs 111 online, unless you have no internet, in which case, call. So how exactly do you self isolate . If you live with others you should try and stay two metres from them in the house. You should sleep alone, and where possible, use a separate bathroom. Friends and family can drop food deliveries off on your doorstep. If you share a home, try and use the kitchen separately and take meals back to your room to eat alone. Other measures being taken include recommending that over 70s should not go on cruise ships. School trips abroad have been banned and of course the main advice remains to wash your hands frequently, with soapy water, for at least 20 seconds each time. Lets ta ke lets take a look at what is going on in hospital. Their advice is slightly different. Large scale gatherings have been cancelled in scotland. Our scotland correspondent lorna gordon is in edinburgh. Lorna, gordon is in edinburgh. Tell us more about the measures lorna, tell us more about the measures and fight the first minister has decided on this. The Scottish Government advising that from monday, Mass Gatherings of more than 500 people were paramedics, ambulance crews or ambulances might be in attendance, should be cancelled. The nations are united in their scientific advice and that is, you know, this isnt about stemming the spread of this virus, but here, the spread of this virus, but here, the decision has been taken that they should be cancelled to ease the pressure on those front line workers going forward. So it will probably apply to things like football matches, rugby matches, perhaps concerts as well. Big games that are going ahead this weekend, the Old Firm Game across in glasgow is going ahead. Because the resources are already in place for that. But it is unclear what will happen after that, in other words, is this the end of the football season here in scotland orfrom the football season here in scotland or from next week onwards, will games be played behind closed doors . A couple of other interesting facts are probably worth mentioning about scotland. A couple of hundred icy you beds with ventilators here in scotland, plans in place, or are being worked on, to double the number of icy you beds and hospital capacity, more details of that expected next week but some Health Boards here in scotland, nhs highland and lothian confirming that they have started cancelling nonurgent procedures to help free up capacity as those numbers of cases continue to rise. Intensive care unit beds. Lorna, we have a lot to get through this morning and i know you have lots to go through as well. We will speak to you later. Thank you so much. Schools, colleges and childcare facilities are beginning the first day of a shutdown in the republic of ireland. The government is asking people to work from home if possible and to reduce social contact. The country has 70 confirmed cases and one person has died. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page is in dublin. Chris, obviously its a big morning, how is it going . It really feels quite strange, carry, to be standing here beside the river liffey in Dublin City Centre after 9am and things arejust so Dublin City Centre after 9am and things are just so quiet. Russia might basically hasnt happened, just looking at the Office Buildings around here, many thousands of workers would usually be at their desks, particularly a lot of become International Tech Companies Based here but the Office Buildings are noticeably empty. People are being advised to work from home where possible. Schools, colleges, child ca re possible. Schools, colleges, child care facilities are all shot. The government has also asked all indoor gatherings of 100 or more people and outdoor gatherings of 500 people plus to be cancelled, that is affecting all sorts of things, church services, funerals, weddings, this would have been a busy time of yearfor this would have been a busy time of year for weddings, this would have been a busy time of yearfor weddings, st this would have been a busy time of year for weddings, st patricks this would have been a busy time of yearfor weddings, st patricks day coming up next week, pretty much a holiday period here in ireland. Already lots of stories about people looking at the guest list for their weddings and trying to cut them down to bring them below the limit of 100 people. Some people been asking questions particularly about the childcare arrangements, for example Health Unions have raised the question what happens to people working in the health service, and the front line of all this, if they find it hard to get someone to look after their children . That said, look at the reaction across society in ireland, for the likes of business organisations have been saying, in spite of the fact they know the economy will take a hit because of these measures, people are generally on the whole very accepting of what the government has done. You certainly hear a lot more praise for their actions than you hear concerns and frustrations that mood is reflected in the newspapers here this morning. The irish independent for example, the headline is war on virus as lockdown begins. The irish exam quoting the minister leo varadkar who said yesterday although things would be tough we will prevail again. And the deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney summed up things like this, to pull together as a nation he said we are going to going to have to ask people to stay further apart. The advice from ministers is that people should limit their socialising. Across the border in Northern Ireland, interestingly, restrictions on the scale of what we are seeing in the republic have not been brought in. Ministers in the devolved institution of stormont has said scientific advice they are receiving is that the evidences and to justify restrictions as that as we are seeing on the Southern Side of the border. Though that is being kept under review on a daily basis, we are told, in belfast. Chris, fantastic update, we will talk to you later in the morning to see whether all of that has changed. Now lets look at the economic impact. The Tourism Industry is warning the coronavirus pandemic could put millions ofjobs at risk. The world travel and Tourism Council says the outbreak presents a significant threat and is calling for a range of measures including a reduction in taxes and a bigger budget for promoting tourist destinations. Coronavirus is also hitting the Global Economy. Asia enduring another day of turmoil on the markets as investors feared the pandemic would wipe out growth. Here, the footsie has opened up a little. Lets get the latest on how its affecting the markets. Our Business Correspondent Katie Prescott joins me now. Sta rt start with the uk, take us global. Such a dramatic week in Global Stock Markets, some of the biggest falls ever on the ftse100, this morning its up to 6 , sometimes called a dead cat bounce after a massive false yesterday but its now settled at about 2 but as i say come over the wickets lost about 1000 points. It might be slightly good news but it has been an extremely difficult week and i think its because investors dont know how to interpret how the coronavirus is going to hit business. And whats really striking is the Central Banks have stepped in 0b, weve seen the federal reserve, bank of england and actually, those actions havent reassured investors in the weight that perhaps they might have in the past. People speaking to, they have said we need intervention from government, this is a health problem, not a financial problem, its very different to what happened during the financial crisis. We mentioned a moment ago turmoil in asia, down and a little bit back up, slide steadying later in the day . Exactly right. The japanese key index was down about 10 at one point and then bounced back up again, exactly what we are seeing reflected in europe this morning. And again its that struggle for investors to know what to do and they are so concerned about the shutdown in the Global Economy as you heard from the travel and Tourism Industry, closing of borders and there is a realfear on how Tourism Industry, closing of borders and there is a real fear on how that will hit business. I know you will keep an eye on that. Come back and tell us when we need to hear more. Turning to sport. Chelsea winger Callum Hudson 0doi has become the First Premier League player to test positive for coronavirus. The premier league meets today to discuss future fixtures. 0ur correspondent laura scott is at the premier leagues headquarters in central london. Laura, difficult decision, obviously. Big meetings are people not banned in this country but very serious considerations and play the premier league . Exactly. Really big meeting taking place this morning. We understand all 20 premier league clu bs we understand all 20 premier league clubs willjoin on some sort of a conference call. Weve seen interim chair of the premier league arriving before that meeting today. And it comes in light of mikel arteta, the head coach for arsenal testing positive for coronavirus and in the middle of the night we heard that chelsea winger Callum Hudson 0doi has also tested positive. Really big decision to be made today on the immediate, short term fixtures this weekend but also, what they do with the season. Because they could either decide to suspend for a few weeks like they have done in italy and spain. 0r, weeks like they have done in italy and spain. Or, i mean, they could try to keep some fixtures going with clu bs try to keep some fixtures going with clubs that currently arent affected but its a really difficult decision for them to make today, in terms of what they do with the season. We understand the afl are also having a Board Meeting today and they could decide to follow at the premier league do. 0r decide to follow at the premier league do. Or they could decide that actually with some of the club not affected, they need to keep going with their fixtures. But back to the premier league. There are still around 90 fixtures still to complete this season. If they do suspend for a few weeks, it will be really quite difficult to try to reschedule those with the euro is coming injune. Really major decisions to be made here today. Laura, give us a time, as best you can for this announcement . Well, we understand the meeting will start at 10 30am, we dont at this stage know how long it will last but we understand that there may be some clubs who want tougher action taken there may be some clubs who want tougher action ta ken today. There may be some clubs who want tougher action taken today. Perhaps even an abandonment of the season. It will have to be a decision made across the clubs about what they do and whether they can get that consensus quickly on the next steps but with the government still saying Mass Gatherings can go ahead, it presents quite a lot of difficulties with the premier league, going to ta ke with the premier league, going to take their own position on this. We will await the announcement from the meeting in due course. Laura, thank you very much. Big decisions for them but also for every single one of us. Im joined by saffron cordery, who is the director of policy and strategy at nhs providers, which represent nhs trusts. Isaid i said difficult decisions for every one of us, saffron, but hugely complex and logistical plans for nhs trusts. Absolutely. Trust leaders are telling us about the preparations that they are making. We note that the nhs plans for situations like this, although we are in unchartered territory but this is about how we make sure that hospitals are ready to receive more patients, how our Community Services are ready to go out and tell people who are stuck at home and also, how ambulances are really managing with that extra demand in quite a difficult circumstances. So people are difficult circumstances. So people a re really difficult circumstances. So people are really making plans. And also making plans for the fact that many staff may become more will become unwell. Its about finding that real supply of staff as well. Each one of those points that youve raised we can spend five minutes talking about. Absolutely just to put this in the context of some of the things said in the downing street press conference yesterday, four weeks behind italy, is, possibly10,000 cases out there at the moment, that we dont know about. And i suppose, one of the worries for everybody will be cant the nhs cope, even with flattened peak as everyone talks about. Can the nhs cope with an italy situation . The nhs is going to do everything it can. I cant predict the future, we dont know whether the nhs will cope but it is putting every single plan in place andi putting every single plan in place and i think this whole issue about where the peak comes or whether we flattened the peak is actually really, really important because if we can flatten out how people come into hospital and when they need Critical Care, that will really help us Critical Care, that will really help us because if you have x numbers are people coming and thats much more difficult to provide than if you have people over a consistent period. There is method behind this approach. And there is thinking behind it. So when we talk to trust leaders they are thinking about how they scale up their Critical Care, they scale up their Critical Care, they know that they can do that, weve got 4000 Critical Care beds at the moment. We can increase that several fold so that there is more capacity. Cant we just stop on that thought . Lohan was saying in edinburgh scotland has 200 and will double it, how do you increase the number of Critical Care beds so fast . You basically stop doing some things and start doing other things. We arent in the situation yet where we are cancelling elective operations so routine treatments, routine operations, that arent life critical or time critical. We may get to that point where we cancel routine operations, that means we are clearing out people who would ordinarily need Critical Care beds so thats how you create some capacity. And the other way is basically, you get to the point where if you are not performing operations and you have Additional Space which is already kitted out to provide that kind of very intensive Critical Care treatment. So there are plans in place to expand that and you note you also mentioned deploying of ambulances and im just interested in that because having watched the first secretary of scotla nd watched the first secretary of scotland yesterday explaining in some detail why she intended to ban gatherings of 500 plus people, not because of infection spread but because of infection spread but because she wanted to leave ambulances available to deal with the epidemic, not to be dealing with large scale events. So what do you think nhs trust providers in england, wales, Northern Ireland feel about having to do both things at once . I can only comment on behalf of england, i dont know whats happening in wales and Northern Ireland but i think that at the moment, they are pushed but they are coping. We know that it requires are coping. We know that it requires a visit from someone or to someone who may have coronavirus requires additional equipment and a clean out of the ambulance once they have conveyed them to hospital but i think at the moment we are in a situation where they are coping. We have not heard that they are concerned about those kind of incidents but it may come to that andi incidents but it may come to that and i think this is, you know, where we have to wait and see, essentially. We can only wish you and everybody else involved the best of luck and do come back and talk to us. Regularly, if you can spare the time. Absolutely, thank you. Thank you forjoining us this morning. Now, lets look at some of the foreign news around the virus. The whole of italy remains under lockdown there are more than 15,000 cases there, the second highest number per country after china. Lets get the latest now from rome and our correspondent sima kotecha. How is it going . Well, difficult period here like it is in many parts of the world more than 1000 people have died from this virus. Most of those fatalities have been in the north and as you say, more than 15,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed here. It is incredibly difficult for some People Living here. Their movement has been restricted. There are strict measurements in place, they are not allowed to move freely without permission from police. If they do, they can be fined or face a prison sentence but there is a glimmer of hope. The government has told us these stringent measures are working. In the north of the country the previous red zone, the first red zone that was confirmed, cases have decreased or in some cases, stopped completely. We note that chinese experts have arrived in rome today. With experts and materials to help italy deal with this outbreak. But it is going to take time and the Prime Minister is saying over the next couple of weeks is going to review these measures to see if they will work but the government is adamant, it wants to be the first country that beats this outbreak in europe. And it really believes that it can. Thank you very much for that update from rome. Now lets move to france. Emmanuel macron has announced new measures to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus in france. Almost 3,000 cases have been confirmed in the country and 61 people have died. With local elections due to take place this sunday. Hugh schofield is in paris. Ratcheting of precautions . Hugh schofield is in paris. Ratcheting of precaution57m Hugh Schofield is in paris. Ratcheting of precautions . It is. Its interesting. France and britain have been very much on the same path, one gets the same language from both countries, france in particular drawing a distinction between their reaction with the more drastic approach from italy but now weve had a divergence, france clearly going down the road which the uk so far is not going down, closing schools. Not out of line with many other countries, of course, ireland has done, poland it, other countries in europe doing it. From monday, all schools and creche facilities and nurseries and universities will be shot in france foran universities will be shot in france for an indefinite period. That will ta ke for an indefinite period. That will take us up to the spring holidays. Will be shot. So from next week there will be at drastic, very dramatic change in peoplepos macro lifestyles, for children, also for working parents and they will have to find arrangements to cope with the situation and the government is stepping in and promising loads of money to parents who stay at home. Basically they have put online a form under which a parent can claim money from the state or their employer can claim back money from the state to compensate for the loss of earnings by having to pay this person who is not working. The expectation that this is going to cost the state tens of billions of euros in the weeks ahead. Thank you very much for that. Crossing the atla ntic very much for that. Crossing the atlantic now. In canada, the wife of the Prime Minister, justin trudeau, has tested positive for coronavirus. Officials say Sophie Gregoire trudeau has mild symptoms and is feeling well. Mr trudeau will self isolate with his wife for the next 14 days. Time is nowt to look at the science of all of this. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghoshjoins me now. The scientific adviser for the government going around the tv and radio studios this morning, conveying the government s quite nuanced messages. Talk us through what you see is the most important right now. Its completely different from europe. We heard what france was doing, the situation in italy. But in the uk, we seem to be not going down the route of having drastic measures just yet. There havent been any bands on Mass Gatherings, schools are still open, and so the reason for that is that the government s chief scientific adviser and the chief medical 0fficer deals at this early stage of the epidemic it would actually be counter productive. The epidemic it would actually be counterproductive. Its interesting, isnt it . They are taking a different view based on their behaviour or understanding, in a way, rather than just the science, arent they . They are basically saying we dont feel confident that we can sustain peoplepos macro changed behaviour over the months that this is taking. Its a judgement call, absolutely right, the same all across the world, its true that in some countries the epidemic is more advanced and the drastic measures will be introduced in the uk at that stage but in many other countries, thats not the case. They feel that asking people not to gather, for elderly people particularly to self isolate for several months, is not a practical approach. And what they have focused on is the interventions they believe will do the most to try and push the curve, the peak of this epidemic into the summer months and spread it out so that the nhs isnt overwhelmed. As i say, its based on computer models. They are making a hugejudgement call. And computer models. They are making a huge judgement call. And some scientists do disagree with them but they are the people in the and they are the ones that are going to have to have to make the decision. Its really interesting and its worth saying also, the mathematical and computer modelling you are talking about is based on to some extent, on figures and intelligence that is emerging day by day. I was reading an interesting piece about whats called i think the generation interval, in other words, that kind of transmission when people are infected but they are presymptomatic and suggesting that a study of that in singapore and in north east china suggested pre symptomatic sufferers are actually highly contagious and then that creates, if true, creates questions over the uk government approach, doesnt it . With any new epidemic, particularly something as global as this, theres always new information coming in. Every virus is different. And so, you start with a basic model, get information and you refine those models. The uk government would be doing that as we speak. And adjusting its information accordingly. Thank you very much for that, i know you will be across it all morning and you will come back and as the story unfolds, which it will do, we will get more from you and from the rest of the team of correspondents who are all across the coronavirus story, both nationally, domestically and internationally. Now, lets take a quick break from all of this, heres sarah with the weather. Thank you. Find morning for much of us out there in the uk, blue sky, sunshine, not dry everywhere. Some showers in the forecast, things looking u nsettled the forecast, things looking unsettled as we head into the weekend but for the here and now, showers around the east coast of england, more rain moving on from the south west later. For much of the south west later. For much of the day, much of the uk it looks fine and dry. Temperatures for most of us 8 12d, cold for aberdeen and newcastle, the breeze coming from the north sea. We will see some heavy showers through the midlands, parts of north wales, later overnight we see the rate pushing eastwards. Fairly light and patchy for most of us, snow over the high ground of scotland, temperatures first thing tomorrow mostly above freezing. Still quite cold across parts of scotland, milder elsewhere. That patchy rain and hill no fairly quickly clearing with these, some sunshine before the next band of wet and windy weather arrives in the west later. Milder with temperatures in the warmest spot reaching 14 degrees. Hello, this is bbc news with carrie gracie. The headlines the government defends its approach to slowing the spread of the coronavirus, as new official measures come into place. Although School Closures may be something that needs to be done at some point, we need to get these other bigger, more impactful measures in place first. The former Health Secretary is among those questioning whether more needs to be done to tackle the virus and says the decision not to cancel Public Events is a concern. I think it is surprising and concerning that we are not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that italy is at. The latest advice is for anyone with a new, persistent cough or High Temperature to self isolate for seven days. The spread of the virus continues to cause big swings on Global Stock Markets early trading bounces up in europe after devastating falls yesterday over fears of a global recession. The canadian Prime Ministers wife tests positive for coronavirus. Justin trudeau says he has no symptoms but will self isolate for 14 days. And after the arsenal manager mikel arteta and chelsea star Callum Hudson 0doi test positive for the virus the premier league will hold an emergency meeting on whether future matches should go ahead. The government is facing questions over whether its latest Health Measures will do enough to slow the spread of coronavirus. From today people with a new persistent cough or High Temperature are being told to self isolate for seven days. Unlike many countries the uk hasnt closed schools or banned large gatherings of people. Earlier this morning, the chief scientific adviser sir Patrick Vallance spoke to my colleague Charlie Stayt schools. Broadly, actually, the Scientific Community is aligned on the measures that need to be taken and the question is around what time and in what way. As we just said, the first set of measures are actually rather large. Weve just asked a lot of people to isolate, stay at home if theyve got symptoms of mild upper respiratory tract infection, cough, or fever. Thats a big change. That is the intervention which is going to have the biggest impact at the moment. Weve also talked about the possibility of whole households staying at home if one persons got it. That may come in later and importantly, were also talking about making sure that during the peak, when people are most likely to get infected, the elderly and vulnerable are properly protected, which will be over a many week period. This is not a short term thing, this is going to go on for weeks. So there are things that will come in due course at the right time. And of those, just to deal with the schools one, schools, closing schools is a very effective way of dealing with pandemic flu. In this disease, the role of children is less clear in terms of spreading the disease. And you would have to close the schools for a very prolonged period, so months, four months or so, in order for this to be effective. Its inconceivable that those children are not going to mix anyway. And of course, many of them may also be sent to be looked after by their grandparents during that period. The consequences of those have other impacts, of course, on this illness, so although School Closures may be something that needs to be done at some point, we need to get these other, bigger, more impactful measures in place first. So if closing schools is relevant to how youre going to tackle it more generally, it seems to be that you are saying that its because you dont think people would take it seriously for long enough, rather than. It could be done now and that would be useful, but you think people would not be ready for that and couldnt sustain it over a period of time, along with large gatherings, for example . No, i think large gatherings are a different point but ijust want to be clear. There are three interventions which we think have the biggest impact and those are the three we are focusing on getting in place. They are big and they are the things we need to make sure we get at the right time. Schools would have a lesser impact than those and they need to be done at the right time of the outbreak in order to have the effect, and that right time isnt yet. It doesnt mean it wont come, it doesnt mean it isnt one of the things we will keep in regular update. Mass gatherings are a different question. Most of the infections will be spread by small groups. Actually, the most likely people you will be infected by are those you know, your friends and family that you come into contact with a lot. The Mass Gatherings, closure of Mass Gatherings, one person whos infectious can either have a high probability of infecting a small number of people in a small space or a very low probability of infecting a large number of people in a big space. So closing Mass Gatherings may have an effect on its own. Its a relatively small effect, really quite small compared to the other things were talking about. But again, on its own, it doesnt make a difference and it isnt one of the top things you need to do to try and control this sort of epidemic. We need to get the important things done first and properly implemented. Those are the things that will create the social distancing that are so important to try and break and reduce the transmission of this disease. One of the lines from the press conference yesterday, you were standing next to borisjohnson when he made these comments and its been picked up by many of the papers this morning, which was that he said many more families will lose loved ones before their time. He phrased it saying, i have to level with you. People will possibly be interpreting that in different ways. I wonder if you can explain a little more about what that means in real terms . I think we can see across the world that this is a pandemic and we can see whats happening in the countries. Its worth noting that at the moment, in the uk weve had 11 deaths. 0bviously, that is a tragedy for those families and friends of those people. But it is still a relatively small number when you think that about 8,000 people die from seasonal flu every year. So we definitely will see more deaths and that may be quite a large number that we see, and thats something we are trying to reduce as much as possible. And that is why during the peak, at the time when you are most likely to become infected, its crucial that we then have in place measures that protect the elderly and the vulnerable who are at most risk of getting serious illness from this. A couple of lines of breaking news. 0ne a couple of lines of breaking news. One is from the London Underground. They are saying a London Underground driver has tested positive for coronavirus. That is all we have on that. And from tokyo, the tokyo met atan that. And from tokyo, the tokyo met at an government has said it is going to postpone the Opening Ceremony of the olympic Aquatic Centre, due to the virus. That had been planned for march the 22nd. 0bviously, been planned for march the 22nd. Obviously, the olympic organisers are having a terrible time with this. They have had to massively scale down their torch arrangements earlier in the week and are even questions over the games themselves injuly and questions over the games themselves in july and august. Questions over the games themselves injuly and august. That is the latest. The Opening Ceremony for the new Aquatic Centre is to be postponed. We will bring you or lines coming in. Lets recap some of the days other coronavirus news. The premier league will hold an Emergency Club meeting to discuss future fixtures. Bbc sport understands all 20 premier league clubs want to decide on a unified strategy, and one of the possible options that will be discussed at the meeting is postponing the rest of this weekends scheduled fixtures. Sophie gregoire trudeau, wife of canadian Prime Minister justin trudeau, has tested positive for coronavirus. A statement from the Prime Ministers office says the world travel and Tourism Council says up to 50 million jobs could be lost because of the pandemic. The news comes after thousands of International Flights were cancelled and some Insurance Firms suspended travel cover for new customers. The association of school and College Leaders say parents need clear advice ahead of exam season, as it is likely to overlap with the predicted peak in coronavirus cases in the uk. The department for education in england is advising all schools to stay open. And the release of the new fast and furious film is the latest to be pushed back as the impact of the coronavirus outbreak hits hollywood. Disneys blockbuster remake of mulan, which was supposed to arrive in uk cinemas on march the 27th, has also been postponed. Lets look at some of the epidemiology and mathematical modelling of this now. Bbc newss head of statistics robert cuffe is here. You cant all these numbers for us. What is your assessment at this point . The numbers are suggesting that even though things are moving fast and the chief scientific adviser Patrick Valen said last night that the uk was about four weeks behind italy in terms of the number of cases, i dont think we should be thinking just yet that we are four weeks away from the situation we are seeing in italy. If you look at the growth in case numbers, it suggests that we are seeing a very different epidemic here to what the italians have seen. When you say very different, that sounds alarming. Do you mean the peakis sounds alarming. Do you mean the peak is going to arrive faster than in italy . There are good reasons to believe it is going to arrive slower and there will be less pressure. We are four weeks behind the total number of cases in italy, according to Patrick Vallance, but they are expecting the peak in about three months. Some of the early clues that are in the history of the growth of numbers. Lets take a look at that growth. We are showing how many cases there are in each country. Although both countries are moving in parallel at the moment, there are big differences when you look at the middle of february. Early in february, the uk was running slightly ahead of italy, but there was a big slightly ahead of italy, but there wasa bigjump slightly ahead of italy, but there was a big jump around february the 20th, when italian cases suddenly shut up. People working in the field so that represents a hidden transmission that was going on that was suddenly caught on that date. There was no chance for italian authorities to find patient zero, to do the Contact Tracing and the isolation and there was contain measures. Is that graph taking us up to now . Yes. They said yesterday in the News Conference in downing street that despite the confirmed cases, they suspected that the actual infections were between 5000 and 10,000 which is not represented in that graph at all. Well, one of theissuesis in that graph at all. Well, one of the issues is that confirmed cases are not cases, because they are the people who come forward, show symptoms and get tested. If you think about flu, every year most cases are never detected because most people never report to a doctor. So they are using other ways of estimating what the total spread is. So if you look at the top of the iceberg, you estimate the size of what is underneath. 0ne iceberg, you estimate the size of what is underneath. One way to do thatis what is underneath. One way to do that is to look at the death rate. Scientists believe the death rate is about 1 . So you look at the total number of deaths and say they probably got infected a while ago. And then you think the epidemic was 100 times larger a while ago and projected forwards. You can do some back of the envelope calculation that give you the numbers that Patrick Vallance was talking about yesterday. It is a broad range between 5000 and 10,000, but it is worth remembering that even if 10,000 people are infected, that is less tha n 10,000 people are infected, that is less than one in 6000 people in the uk. So it is still not very widespread, and that is important to bearin widespread, and that is important to bear in mind at this stage. The numbers will get higher, but we are not there yet. It is about reproduction of the virus and how if one person with the virus spreads it to less than one person, you will have a shrinking epidemic and if they spread it to more than one person, you will have a growing epidemic. We will be in that situation for a while. You will see the consequences of this undetected spreading italy. As you had earlier, it is all in the north. It is not rome or sicily. If you think about lombardi, which houses milan, that accou nts lombardi, which houses milan, that accounts for the same proportion of italy as london does. They have been running at roughly 60 of cases throughout the epidemic. So all the demand is concentrated there, or the demand is concentrated there, or the demand on services in hospitals is over there. In london, demand on services in hospitals is overthere. In london, it demand on services in hospitals is over there. In london, it is very different. We are seeing lots of early phase epidemics. In italy, there are 15,000 cases which would cause less pressure if they were spread around the uk. Which is more like us. So your message is one of optimism . We are moving towards a serious situation, but we are not dashing towards italy had long as fast as we can. I have been interested in this suggestion of presymptomatic transmission. Is there any useful modelling on that . I have not seen the full detail of all the models going into the discussions. We were discussing a moment to go with somebody from the nhs, one of the difficulties of this from an epidemiologists point of view is that it is changing so fast and we dont have all the information on how it behaves in different groups of people, which depends partly on how those groups of people behave. And how they interact. We know the population mixing structures when term time is on and when term time is out, and that informs you what measures we should take. But some of the basic advice doesnt depend on presymptomatic transmission or the fine details. The idea ofjust washing your hands is something we are fairly confident will slow the spread of the epidemic and that is a very effective measure. Those are the reasons we are hearing so strongly, the social distancing and the washing of hands, because they will have the biggest impact. Robert, thank you. Now lets look at what is preoccupy you this morning, and there is no surprise here that the most watched on the bbc news website is all about coronavirus. The uk is not banning groups of people gathering together and not closing schools, but you are obviously very interested as bbc consumers in those countries that may be doing Something Different, including france and the republic of ireland and the United States. Going down to the most watched. Most watched is advice on how to safely clean your smartphone. Dr lena ciric, a microbiologist from University College london, explains how you can do that using just household soap and water. While washing your hands is vital, if youre worried about germs on your phone, you can clean it effectively with simple soap and water. Hi, im dr lena ciric. Im a microbiologist at University College london, and im going to show you how to clean your phone. Unplug your phone, turn it off and remove the case. All the major phone makers warn against using chemicals, hand gels and abrasive wipes on your device, as this can damage the screens protective coating. Dampen a microfibre cloth with water and simple household soap. Gently rub the surfaces of the phone with the damp cloth. Take care not to get moisture in any of the openings because even water resistant phones lose their protection over time. Finally, dry your phone with a clean microfibre cloth. Even just using soap and water could effectively remove bacteria and viruses from your phone and we can test that by using this little device and these swabs. The device gives a reading of relative light units, or rlus. That is a measure of the microbial activity on your phone, so the higher the number, the more germs are present. We tested all of these phones and their cases before and after cleaning with soapy water and they were all significantly clea ner afterwards. On a surgical surface, we would want to get a figure of 50 or less and all of our phones and cases had readings lower than that. If you have an iphone, apple says you can safely clean it with 70 isopropyl alcohol wipes. These are the ones you can get from computer shops or online. There are also devices that you can use to sterilise your phone using ultraviolet uvc radiation. These shouldnt harm your device, but some phones or cases could be discoloured over time. Just remember, with all of these methods, as soon as you touch your phone, you are going to get gems back onto it, so make sure you keep washing your hands regularly and thoroughly. I will do that as soon as i get off sport now. And many events have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak. Mike bushell is at the cheltenham festival. Yes, good morning from a chilly cheltenham but it has been business as usual this morning. From seven oclock, the racehorses were coming out here with theirjockeys and getting a feel for the ground. The trainers walked the course is well on this big day forjump racing. For the purists, the cheltenham gold cup goes off at 3. 30 this afternoon. I have spoken to a couple of trainers and jockey Rachel Blackmore this morning and they didnt want to talk at all about the coronavirus even though coming from ireland, in ireland racing will take place behind closed doors with no fans in attendance. Talking to a correspondent from the racing post earlier, he said it has been a strange week and the atmosphere has been different and there has been a lot of talk about whether it should have gone ahead. To be fair to the organisers of cheltenham, they have followed the advice from the government and Health Officials that they didnt need to cancel it. It came earlier than we saw in the last 24 hours, with a lot of football making the headlines in terms of the impact of the coronavirus. There has been talk that if it had been a week later, it might have been cancelled, but it has gone ahead. 0nly later, it might have been cancelled, but it has gone ahead. Only time will tell if that was the right decision. Elsewhere, there is the Big Premier League meeting and the emergency meetings to discuss whether big fixtures should now be cancelled for the time being until a later date. I guess the efl would follow suit but we have had the golf cancelled overnight, halfway through that tournament. The australian grand prix was cancelled as well, the opening race of the formula 1 season. It remains to be seen whether this will be the last big attended racing event for some time. There will be another 60,000 plus here today. They will be told to wash their hands. There are sanitising stations around, extra toilets and a lot of advice on what people should do. But in terms of attendance this week, it is down but not by much. Yesterday over 65,000 attended. That is 2500 down on the record thursday attendance a year ago, so down, but not by much. Mike, thank you. pres the United States says it has carried out airstrikes in iraq now a brief look at news other than the virus. The United States says it has carried out airstrikes in iraq against a pro iranian militia. The pentagon said the strikes were in retaliation for a rocket attack near baghdad on wednesday that killed two americans and a british soldier. How much do you spend on your Childs School uniform . New Research Suggests some parents are being put off applying for certain schools because they are struggling to afford items such as blazers. The Childrens Society found that on average, parents spent £337 per year on uniform for each child at a state secondary school and £315 per year for Primary School children. Parents said they thought a reasonable cost would be £105 for secondary School Uniforms and £85 for primary uniforms thats almost a third of the actual cost. Now mps are debating whether more can be done to keep costs down. 0ur Political Correspondent helen catt reports. Peter is at Primary School. His sister melissa, at secondary. For their parents, that means a lot of uniform. It gets expensive. We can pay anything from secondary school ranges from £10 for a pair of football socks right up to £25 for a rugby shirt orjumper. I can get a plain navy blue jumperforfour or £5 in asdas, for example. I can get three of them for the price of one named item. I mean, we budget as well as we can, but when they have growth spurts and you arent expecting it, you have to wait. It gets expensive when they grow out of it and they seem to have only been in it for like, two minutes. Its like, hang on a minute . Wheres the money going to come from . It gets expensive, it really does. Melissas school has chosen to scrap some branded items. The uniform no longer includes a blazer, for example. But a labour mp is going to pass a law that would force schools but a labour mp is trying to pass a law that would force schools to restrict costs. So my bill is pro uniform. It can be a great leveller, buts got to be inclusive. Its got to be affordable. And thats what this is about, really. Youve done a lot of research into this, what are the things you came across that you thought this were really outrageous or unnecessary . Gym socks with logos required on them, on ties, on t shirts, on shirts, on hats, on bags and coats, and in one school. And that drives up the cost. Schools already get government guidance that says they should use uniforms that can be bought cheaply in a supermarket, for example, and keep compulsorily branded items to a minimum. But its not legally enforceable, and thats what this bill would change. At Peters School they allow plain, blue jumpers as well as their branded ones. But like many, their logoed items come from one supplier, which the bill would encourage to change. Uniform is important for us and making the children feel part of the school. But we know it is expensive. When you are talking about hundreds of children, there are not the numbers that would make it practicalfor several companies to run. Specialist schoolwear suppliers claim their items are often more durable and good value for clothes that are worn so many days of the year. The government, though, says it will help this bill becomes law. They are required to have regard to the cost of the uniform. So we expect schools to abide by that. Ultimately, there are complaints that can be made to the governing body of a school by parents if they are concerned that the school is not abiding by statutory guidance. It will make good on a government pledge from 2015 and bring the situation in English Schools in line with that in wales. For kirsty, its about choice. Im bringing my two up to respect what theyre given. If thats a £3 jumper, so be it and theyre happy with that, logoed or not. That was your break for Something Different over, im afraid. Now back to virus news. So much is happening. We have been talking about School Closures in france, portugal. Now parts of germany including berlin and bavaria are planning to gradually close schools and kindergartens next week. The closures will start on monday, when public transport systems will be reduced to a necessary minimum. Germany is following the bulk of its european neighbours in shuttering schools to help slow the spread of covid 19. Tom hanks says he and his wife rita wilson are taking it one day at a time after they were both diagnosed with the virus. The oscar winning actor shared an update on social media revealing the pair remain in isolation and joked that there is no crying in baseball. Now its time for a look at the weather with simon king. I promise i wont talk about the virus at all. We have got some sunshine across many parts of the uk this morning. We had a few showers around this thing and one or two rainbows were spotted by our weather watchers in northamptonshire. But for many of us, we started with clear blue skies. This is the satellite imagery through the morning. You can see the snow over the Higher Ground of scotland. Above that, there will be blue skies. The mountains of scotland are looking lovely with that sunshine. We have seen a bit more clad building up now and as we go through the day, there will be sunny spells, perhaps a few showers cropping up in north wales through the midlands and into the south east of england. Perhaps some showers in the north east of england as well. More persistent rain will start to move into south west england, South West Wales later. Through tonight, this area of rain will move further north. In the east, there will be a bit of snow over the Higher Ground of scotland. That rain will eventually move into the south east of england. We start off on saturday morning with a bit off on saturday morning with a bit of rain. That is the theme for the weekend, also turning quite windy but nothing desperately windy for the weekend. Then we have this area of low pressure moving in. This is sundays weather and there will be rain about. 0n sundays weather and there will be rain about. On saturday, the rain quickly cleared away and then there will be sunny spells. But then further rain spreading to Northern Ireland and the west of scotland. By sunday, that rain will have moved further south and east through the night. By the morning it will be across northern england, wales and the south west. There will be showers in the afternoon. A few showers in the afternoon. A few showers behind that area of rain, but here there will be some sunny spells developing. Next week things become a bit more settled, but that means it is slow moving. It wont be com pletely means it is slow moving. It wont be completely dry for all of us. Hello, its friday, its ten oclock, im chloe tilley. And were live from new broadcasting house. New Health Measures come in force across the uk today to try and slow the spread of coronavirus. This is about trying to reduce the speed of transmission. And we know households and individuals and small groups are often the weight these things are spread so the advice is that anyone who has a raised temperature or a cough should self isolate for seven days. Well be talking to teachers, parents and students about what precautions schools should be taking and whether its the right decision not to close them. The head of the association of school and College Leaders says it is. If youre a healthy child, a healthy adult, a school is a really good