Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC Newsroom Live 20200303

Relatively short one in the sense of it isa relatively short one in the sense of it is a number of weeks. So will see this coming from the modelling and what we will try and do is, in a sense, be prepared to slow down or postpone anything that can be postponed and then deal with the peak that we find ourselves with at the point it arrives. And, you know, asa the point it arrives. And, you know, as a doctor myself this is normal medical practice. To actually adjust what you do clinically to the particular group of problems in front of us. That is what the nhs will do as any group of doctors or nurses will do. Thanks very much. The daily mirror. A couple of questions if i may. I was wondering what specific advice she would have people in care homes because busily they will be elderly and vulnerable and whether that will affect visitors or whether individual should stay within the care homes. Could you give us more detail on the local resilience plans that you have in place in the uk and the devolved administrations dealing with councils helping with things and helping with the outbreak. We have all heard scare stories about morgues in hyde park and so on. Can you give us what plans will be in place of people do die will it be handled with dignity . Obviously there are long established plans that we are working with. We will make sure everybody gets the dignity they deserve. There are long established plans to make sure of that. On care homes specifically we will give very specific advice. One thing we are keen to avoid and this is going back to Patricks Point at the beginning is doing things too early. If you do things too early you get no benefits and what you do get is a social cost. What we want to do is give advice at the point we think it will have an effect on improving the lives and reducing the chance of infection of people in ca re chance of infection of people in care homes and at that point we will give specific advice. Kate ferguson from the sun newspaper. Hi, Prime Minister. What words of reassurance do you have four brits sitting at home worried about what this means to them that they can get through this crisis and britain can get through this crisis . Ijust this crisis and britain can get through this crisis . I just want to really repeat what i said at the outset. There are some very simple things we can do to protect ourselves and to stop the spread of the disease. Number one is to wash your hands. Im not going to repeat how to wash your hands. The second thing is to repeat what the cmo and the chief scientific adviser have told us. This is overwhelmingly a disease that is moderate in its effect and people recover speedily and well from it. That is what we are seeing in the overall majority of cases. I have no doubt at all that with the scientific advice that we have andy levels of preparedness that we have with our fantastic nhs and our ability to test and survey the spread of the disease in this country, we will get through coronavirus. No doubt at all. We will get through it in good shape. I dont know whether anybody wants to add anything. I think those other things. There are some things to do now which are clear and other things we will give advice on as they come up we will give advice on as they come up at the right time. I re emphasise the point that if you do things at the point that if you do things at the wrong time you end up with a lot of disruption and you make it less effective when they come in because people stop doing them at that stage. The documents talks. Inaudible we are now engaging with businesses of all kinds to make sure they understand what the reasonable worst Case Scenario is that you describe and of course making the necessary preparations that they have the protection they need. I dont want to go into more details at this stage because i think as we are trying to make clear this morning we are taking each step as it comes. Jason. Are taking each step as it comes. Jason. Thank you. It sounds like you are racing people for some big sacrifices here, covering people at work for extended periods, may be being quarantined that time, almost a wartime effort. I know youre a student of these things. Do we still have that bulldog spirit as it were . Cani have that bulldog spirit as it were . Can i congratulate you on your fatherhood and ask if you are planning on taking Maternity Leave . On yourfirst point. Paternity leave. Ido i do think this is a National Challenge and the potential is there for this to be something that our country has to get through but ive got absolutely no doubt that we have the resources, the Health Service, the resources, the Health Service, the expertise to do it. Im very confident that the British Public understand that. The British Public can see exactly what the balance of risk is. I think we are doing some very clear advice and they are getting a clear picture of how we need to behave and i think we will get through it in very good shape. On your second question, i think the a nswer on your second question, i think the answer is almost certainly yes. I cant remember what the question was. Laughter Prime Minister, what advice do you have for parents who think that their children may be suffering from School Closures in a few weeks times . Would you give a bit more explanation on that. One School Closures, we dont think that schools should be closing in principle. We think schools should stay open and School Authorities should follow the advice of Public Health england. That is where we are. I think there are probably two things to say in addition to that. The first is that there are no evidence at the moment that children are particularly badly affected by this virus, in fact quite the other way. Currently the evidence from china at least would imply that children get this disease much less, either because they get it less often or but they are getting it but it is much milder. First reason to close schools which is that this is particularly dangerous for children which some infections are would not be sensible in this case. The second reason is that in some epidemics closing schools dampens the epidemic significantly. One of the things that patrick is doing isnt modelling out if that would help specifically in this particular epidemic and if it were to be done asa epidemic and if it were to be done as a way of pulling down the peak of the infection tojustify as a way of pulling down the peak of the infection to justify the considerable burden including to the nhs which would start to lose health ca re nhs which would start to Lose Health Care workers who have to look after children at home. These things are difficult balancing acts and the Advisory Group are working through this. We are modelling what the impact of School Closures might be and of course it is wrong to do that in isolation. There are several measures you could take to try and limit this and other countries have taken various measures. School closures need to be a part of that. There is no point in looking at it in isolation and saying just do that. It has to be done as part of other things. When you put the other things together where School Closures fit in that compared to the disruption and given that children arent affected as may be rather low down. We are modelling that at the moment and we will come up with advice about what interventions will make the most impact, what combinations make the most impact and what the potential societal disruption associated with that is in order for the pro minister to make decisions around those. That is very helpful. Thank you. Chris smith from the times. When youre considering some of these more drastic measures such as School Closures and restricting gatherings, other things you have under these powers you are thinking of introducing. The 2011 pandemic plan was much more laissez faire but that has now shifted. Can you talk about how you will make those judgments between mitigating and disruption . The principle that will guide us in all of these decisions is the scientific advice. When it comes to calculating the trade off that you identify between efficacy and disruption it is the science that will help us take the decision. Lbc. Thank you, Prime Minister. In the documents published today it mentions that plans are in place for a severe prolonged pandemic as experienced in 1918 with spanish flu. How seriously is the government taking that prospect and how likely is it to get that bad . |j taking that prospect and how likely is it to get that bad . I think probably on the statistical abilities of the 1918 style epidemic, i probably ought to pass to sir patrick or chris. The first thing to say is that this looks very different to the 1918 pandemic because in 1918 it affected children and young people resist largely affect elderly people with pre existing diseases. So it looks very different in terms of that. In terms of the scale, at the moment we have a reasonable worst Case Scenario. We think for all the reasons i laid out early on that actually the scale is less than that. It looks like the numbers should come down in terms of the percentage of the population affected and the perception of the mortality rate as well. The reasonable worst Case Scenario is based on pandemic flu and the data that we now get on the information we get is suggesting that actually those numbers can be modified, there are some differences, it lasts slightly longer so there are some changes. What we think in terms of the profile of an epidemic and this may change as we get numbers from europe and the uk is that you can think of it as roughly two to three months from an outbreak of sustained person to person transmission two to three months after the peak and two to three months from the peak to the client again, that is the timeline we are thinking. Thank you. Lisa. If people think they have this illness they have to self quarantine. They are going to need food. What practical advice could you give about people keeping their larders and fridges stocks without triggering panic buying . |j larders and fridges stocks without triggering panic buying . I can tell you that we have a behavioural subgroup and the first thing to say is the advice is that people dont panic they take what they think is logical decisions based on what they believe. The advice of the moment is that there is absolutely no reason to be doing any panic buying of any sort, going out and keeping large supplies of things. Clearly they will need to be measures in case of household quarantine for making sure that food is on the right place at the right time but we would imagine that could be a role in case of household quarantine if that measure becomes necessary. Clearly there would need to be things in place for ca re would need to be things in place for care homes at that point of that decision is made. This goes back to the point chris made early on. If you take the issue of looking after the vulnerable and having issues of social distance in there, what you dont want to do is end up in a position where people truly become socially isolated in the wrong way and you dont want situations where people are afraid to go to the front door for fear of catching something. They will need to be measures if those things become necessary. The other thing that is very clear from behavioural science is that the response of the British Public to disasters and emergencies is extraordinary outbreaks of altruism. Given that they are in high risk groups, the elderly and the ill are likely to feel quite frightened today and are maybe not reassured by the 1 rate and hand washing. What can you say to to feel slightly less frightened . I would oversee just repeat what patrick and chris have already said about prioritising the need of the vulnerable and the elderly but on your statistical concerns. Elderly but on your statistical concerns. I think the thing to be clear about is that even for the highest risk group the great majority of people will survive this. If you look at the chinese data, if you take the very oldest people great majority survive. So it is important to stress that. If you are talking about the low risk groups the rate of mortality is well below 1 . I think there is always a danger that people think this is a higher risk than it already has them personally. The second thing to say is that the point of the nhss approach that this is going to be to prioritise those who are in greatest need of treatment and that is the way the nhs would respond to this at all stages of this epidemic which will have a beginning, middle and end and we willjust respond slightly differently in those three stages. Emily ashton of buzzfeed. I just want to ask about holidays. Lots of people have booked spring and Summer Holidays notjust far afield but europe which they are really looking forward to. Should they be prepared to cancel those holidays and stay in the uk or do you think those holidays can still go ahead . A lot depends on where the outbreaks are. At the moment the outbreaks are. At the moment the outbreaks are. At the moment the outbreaks are across europe and across most of the world in some form or another and they are contained in many places but they are becoming uncontained and some other places. Again it depends on the stage. Once the epidemic is everywhere and actually restricting travel makes no difference at all. At the moment we certainly dont recommend any change to behaviour in relation to that. As it grows and if it does grow in the uk then it doesnt really make any sense to say you are at more risk somewhere else in here. Very important point to thatis in here. Very important point to that is that the first thing with advice on travel is to do with whether it will transmit the virus around and at the later stage it simply wont because it will be everywhere. The second stage is if you happen to be in a place with a very weak Health Service at the peak of their epidemic, we can on the nhs, that might be more problematic. That is particularly an issue for people who are older or have existing health conditions. Those stages people might want to think about the practicalities of being in about the practicalities of being in a place that has a less strong Health Service but that isnt a point about moving the virus around it is simply a practicality. We understand that the Health Secretary has spoken to social Media Companies about posting fake news about the coronavirus. What would be your message to the likes of twitter and facebook who may be allowing these types of stories . We all have to be very responsible and the media has an Important Role in this and social media and Electronic Media in particular of all types. Im sure they will want to control convey they will want to control convey the right messages. Victoria mcdonald from channel 4 news. There has been some confusing advice about things like shaking hands. Im intrigued to know whether you have develop a personal policy yourself. Next time there is a visiting dignitary and youre standing on the doorsteps of downing street will you shake their hands and if not how will you avert an International Incident . Im shaking hands continuously. I was at the hospital the other night where i think there we re the other night where i think there were a few coronavirus patients and i shook hands with everybody and i continue to shake hands. I think its very important. People will make up their own minds. I think the Scientific Evidence is that i will hand over to the experts but are judgment is washing your hands is a crucial thing. Before you shake hands, obviously. If the Health Secretary meeting with Eu Health Ministers to discuss the situation and what sort of coordination is being discussed . And what sort of coordination is being discussed . Secondly, and what sort of coordination is being discussed . Secondly, could you confirm that the uk will not seek continued access to the eus Early Warning system for situations such as these in the future . Thanks. We continue to have a global coordination which you would expect. I congratulate the chinese authorities on the speed with which they posted the news of an outbreak which has had Serious International implications. I am getting a signal from the back. I will take two more questions and then if that is ok. Three more questions. Thank you, Prime Minister. The advice and suggestion that cities could be locked down to contain this is that advice now not a likely course of action . And secondly, the mortality rate of 1 , he did suggest it would be higherfor the rate of 1 , he did suggest it would be higher for the elderly, rate of 1 , he did suggest it would be higherfor the elderly, could you tell us what the figure is . |j be higherfor the elderly, could you tell us what the figure is . I think you should properly answer both of them on the lockdown necessity and mortality. The Health Secretary has been really clear that there are multiple options that need to be looked at ranging from ones that have huge effects or large effects and very small implications for individuals, washing their hands being top of the range, through to ones that have very big social effects and much less implications. We have presented a combination of those modelled out scientifically to work out what the right things to do. In general, and i dont want to ta ke do. In general, and i dont want to take anything off the table but looking down of cities is when it started in one place with a high transmission in that place and nowhere else. It seems unlikely we will be in that situation in the medium to long term future. It is important that all the options are available to people. What was the second question . Around the 1 . I think that the chinese authorities have very helpfully laid that out. The Times Newspaper did a nice graphic showing the chinese data this morning. The first thing to say is that there are some questions about how you calculate mortality andi about how you calculate mortality and i dont want to go into that because it is a pretty Technical Area but i think what is clear is that there are a significant ramp up in the risk of people dying with this infection once they get over 80. It begins to take off a bit earlier than that but the exact percentages will depend on a lot of factors, including the health care syste m factors, including the Health Care System that you have in place. I would not expect and i dont think patrick would expect the numbers we are seeing in china automatically to move are seeing in china automatically to m ove over are seeing in china automatically to move over to the uk. I think well get more data from european systems which are more comparable to our own very soon. We are very happy to update things once we have those. We know that you are considering Emergency Powers. Could you give us a sense about what kind of powers you are considering . Given the age of vetera ns you are considering . Given the age of veterans and the wartime generation will ve day commemorations have to be scaled back . On the second point about specific events, we are still in the contain and Research Stage of this. We havent taken decisions on specific events as we have been discussing just now. On the powers issue, it is very important for eve ryo ne issue, it is very important for everyone to understand that it is necessary to have some legislation in respect of things like school operation, borders, quarantine. But these are exceptional and short term. They are not intended to last beyond the outbreak. The last question. It says in the document that the ministry of defence plans delivery of key operations in the uk and overseas. Can you expand on what those operations are and what the risks might be if you have to ensure they can be delivered . risks might be if you have to ensure they can be delivered . I will not expand now not those operations are but i can tell you that insofar as is possible the mod and the Armed Services and all of Public Services will be going about their business in the normal way. Ijust want will be going about their business in the normal way. I just want to bring this to a close bite recapitulated in the four essentials of this plan. It is contain, delay, research and if necessary mitigate. I hope it has been useful. I want to thank particularly the chief medical officer chris and our chief scientific adviser patrick for what has been a very clear presentation of the assessment of the risk and the steps that the government proposes if those risks should transpire. Thank you all very much for coming along this morning. Thank you. That is the Prime Minister with the Coronavirus Briefing to journalists. The government has put out its plans for preparedness this morning. The message from the Prime Minister is that this is a mission to provide resilience. The four stages they are looking at our contain, delay, research, mitigate. The message is dont panic. The government, the Prime Minister says, is ready, the country is ready and he is confident we have the ability and resources to get through this in good shape. He says the potential is there for this to be something our country has to get through and a National Challenge but he is confident that we will. In terms of certain measures come in and will be done as the situation develops and based on science. Norman smith is at downing street. So the government and Public Policy officers treading a careful line which is to say theyre absolutely across it, the preparations are there but try not to spread panic. think that is right. So much of the press co nfe re nce was think that is right. So much of the press conference was really about the tone. It was interesting that the tone. It was interesting that the Prime Minister chose to be flanked by the chief medical officer and chief scientific officer to show this is a National Crisis and nothing to do with party politics. I thought the thrust was just to do with reassuring people. It was pointed out that of those who were affected by the virus only 1 , just 196 affected by the virus only 1 , just 1 were at risk of dying from it. Also that figure being around suggesting 80 of the population could be infected, well, we heard the figure is likely to be a lot lower than that. I thought the most interesting thing really was that this looks like being a long haul. The governments strategy is to delay some of the more draconian measures that have been mooted and clearly it is thinking about, such as closing schools and may be banning some Public Events and public gatherings, restricting travel and is potentially even sealing off whole cities. All of those options on the back burner because what came across that is central to the governments strategy is playing this long. They wont introduce those measures to soon because firstly there is no point but also people simply tired of them if you have those measures in force weeks and weeks in advance of the virus really spreading. People give on them or they will think when the virus does spread that they didnt make any difference anyway. We were told that if those measures have to be introduced they are likely to be there for around 12 weeks. If the virus does spread and they are still in the containment phase. There is an acknowledgement that the likelihood is it will spread. Once we get to that then it is quite a long haul anyway. In terms of the specific pressures that have been identified by many people in particular on the nhs, we didnt really get much clarity beyond suggestions that they are obviously going to encourage former doctors and nurses to reregister, come back and nurses to reregister, come back and work in the nhs. Earlier there we re and work in the nhs. Earlier there were suggestions about volunteers being used in care homes. There will being used in care homes. There will be more money for the nhs but clearly if you have a significant number of the population affected than the pressure of the nhs will be hugein than the pressure of the nhs will be huge in the clear hope is that many people will be able to manage its time because the symptoms are still relatively mild. The promised was also asked about the issue of what happens to those who have to stay away from work and are freelancers or on zero hours contracts, what is the danger of real hardship for them. We didnt really get any clarity on that beyond mrjohnson saying that they were going to keep all options open. Still a lot of questions that we havent really got the detailed answers to. In part because i suspect the government doesnt have the detailed answers to. At the moment, the thrust of it was to carry on as normal, wash your hands which is being said over and over again and let see how this goes. It is not inevitable, it is likely but everyone will have to be patient because this is going to be a long haul. Thank you forjoining us. What did you think about the approach in that news conference, the strategy to try to delay the potential peak of this illness . It all sounds very sensible and reasonable. The four parts of his plan are the four parts of any outbreak. We already know what those look like. They have been around for a long time as strategies. I would emphasise, that the Research Part of that plan needs to underlie really all of the plan. The Research Needs to starts from the beginning and carry through until the end of this outbreak. In terms of the research, we are learning about this virus all the time. Where are we now in understanding the incubation period, the fact that it seems some people get it, they dont show symptoms, they may never show symptoms but they may never show symptoms but they could be spreading up, and whether it can recur . There are so many aspects they need to be understood. The amount that we already know about this virus is quite remarkable given the length of time we have had to study at, really from the end of december. We know the viral structure, we know the symptoms, the incubation periods, some treatments and vaccines have already started to be developed. This is Ground Breaking in the research that has been done. Nothing has been dispersed to my knowledge, no outbreak has been researched this quickly and this effectively. The Scientific Community have been fantastic at making all of the knowledge freely available to everybody else around the world, to the entire Scientific Community. For somebody watching at home he is hearing the message loud and clear, if you have symptoms you should self isolate, spell outjust what the symptoms are. They might resemble the common cold if somebody is starting to come down with Something Like that, they might start to worry. Symptoms are temperature, sore throat, dry cough and if that gets more serious, difficulty breathing. This can look like other infections and other respiratory viral infections. If you are in any doubt, ring 111 and speak to someone for advice. In terms of mitigating the peak and delaying the peak, talking about the potential measures of containment like closing schools, restricting travel, there have been all sorts of suggestions out there, cities going into lockdown. At one point we do say two sorts of measures potentially come in . Those are worst Case Scenario measures. We are not even close to that yet. I would worry about the effectiveness of closing down schools, for example. It is unlikely you will be able to keep kids inside if they are sent home from school. They will want to play with their friends. I dont think that will have a lot of impact. Cancelling of large Public Events, again we are away large Public Events, again we are away away from that yet. That is a worst Case Scenario. No one needs to worry at this stage that events are public outings will be cancelled. The Prime Minister said in a briefing when he was asked about shaking hands, he is shaking eve ryo ne shaking hands, he is shaking everyone plasma cannons. What do you think about him saying that . everyone plasma cannons. What do you think about him saying that . I am an virologist, so i know what is on people plasma cannons, so i dont shake hands at the best of times if ido,| shake hands at the best of times if i do, i wash my hands quite soon afterwards. There are alternative ways to say hello. Nod your head, some people bump elbows. Washing your hands really is the best thing your hands really is the best thing you can do if you do decide you want to still shake hands with people afterwards. I would urge people that the virus could be passed this way. Can you really stop yourself getting it if youre out and about, travelling on public transport, it survives on surfaces . It does not survives on surfaces . It does not survive long on surfaces. It survives hours to days. One of the key things is really disinfecting surfaces that may be contaminated. Public transport, hopefully, they will be cleaning things like doors and handles more frequently. Things like packages from china i have heard a concern. They dont need to be because the virus will not survive that long on surfaces. When they talk about delaying it are potentially late spring, summer, what is the trend with viruses like this . They say they want to do that in order to avoid the peak of winter viruses. We know that flu hits in the winter, but why is it that some viruses survive in the winter but then die out as it starts to get warmer . You would think it would be the other way round. It is to do with a lot of people spending time with a lot of people spending time with other people indoors in cold weather. The key thing to delaying the outbreak of this virus until summer is to ease the nhs and the pressure on hospitals because of the current outbreaks of seasonal influenza and other seasonal infections, such as rsv. Those hospital beds will be more free in the summer months to take patients that may be infected with coronavirus. What about boosting immunity individually, taking Natural Remedies like echinacea, boosting yourself with extra vitamin c . Should we be should we be doing things like that . Make sure you have a balanced, healthy diet, drink plenty of water and get lots of sleep. Those are the best things to do for your immune system. There is some evidence that things like garlic or vitamin c may help, but the evidence is quite weak. I wouldnt encourage anyone to start taking supplements without speaking to theirgp taking supplements without speaking to their gp first. Travel is obviously something on people mine says they think about planning trips, that was raised at the session with the chief medical officer and the Prime Minister. Basically the message was once the epidemic is everywhere, it makes no sense to change your behaviour and currently the messages are not to change your behaviour anyway. As the message that we all basically carry on as normal . Yes. We cant stop our daily lives. If you want to go on holiday, go on holiday. At the end of the day, you could get back from a holiday to italy and the next day there might be an outbreak in your town. To miss out on life events and town. To miss out on life events and to change the way you are living your daily life is really quite an extreme measure. This virus will be with us for some time, so we need to adapt to living with it and not trying to completely avoid the outbreak, which is impossible at this stage. What about vaccination . How far of this stage. What about vaccination . Howfarof might this stage. What about vaccination . How far of might that be . There is talk that there might be some vaccination trials starting as early as april. However the trial process ta kes as april. However the trial process takes quite a long time, so it will probably be, best Case Scenario, a year to 18 months until we have a vaccine candidate. That would be remarkable, the fastest i have ever seen a vaccine produced. It has been great to talk to you, thank you for giving us so much useful advice. Thank you. In a press conference in downing street, the chief medical officer for england explained how the virus would affect children. There are certain things we know now and we are reasonably confident that overall around 1 of people could get this virus, they could die based on the chinese experience. That means 99 of people will not. If, as i think its entirely possible, a higher proportion than we currently are aware of get the infection without any symptoms, that mortality rate will go down. Lets take 1 overall as the current reasonable figure. It goes up a bit in people who are older were more vulnerable. It would be much lower than that in younger people who have no other health problems. That bit of the information we know for sure. The bit of information that we dont know, there are two bits that are critical. The proportion of people who have no symptoms at all, because we dont have tests which can work out if someone has had an infection with no symptoms at all. It may be that in china are very large number of people have been infected with no symptoms and have not been counted in the numbers. We dont know that. The second thing we cannot be sure of is what proportion of the population can get infected. It will not go above 80 , so for planning purposes we go up to the highest rate that reasonably could. In reality, my view and patricks view is that the proportion of the population who get impacted is likely to be lower than that and probably a lot lower than that. Putting an overall number is largely speculative, but those are the key things it is important for people to understand. Bank of England Governor Mark carney has said that the bank will support the uk through an economic shock caused by coronavirus which could be large but ultimately temporary the front of battling the coronavirus is the Public Health workers, as well as the exceptional support is abided by the fco to uk citizens abroad. The bank of englands rules to help uk businesses and households manage through an economic shock that could prove large, but will ultimately be temporary. The bank will take all necessary steps to support the uk economy and Financial Systems. We are monitoring the situation closely across all our functions and ensuring that all necessary contingency plans are in place. The mpc is assessing the policy implications of various policy scenarios, including the extent to which supply disruptions have consequences by a fax on cash flow, the cost and availability of finance, as well as confidence effects. The treasury has confirmed that the budget has been redrawn to protect the economy. Later this afternoon we will be answering your questions on coronavirus. That is coming up at three 30p and bbc news. At 3 30pm. Bishop auckland in County Durham with its 25,000 residents used to be the heart of coal mining country, but the gradual demise of the industry has brought with it decades of economic decline. So with clarks the latest shop to close its doors in the North Eastern english town, is there anything that can be done to save our high streets . Bbc news will be following the progress of Bishop Aucklands town centre this year as part of a project called bbcmyhighstreet, and dani hewson is there for us. Bishop aucklands high street, like many high streets up and down the country, has had its fair share of issues. You can see a number of stores closed, one in four are currently vacant, which is more than double the national average. Some of the big names have been sucked up into a nearby retail park, like many other high streets, others have just disappeared entirely. Many locals are wondering what is the point in coming here at all . Cannot be saved . Then they have a millionaire benefactor who is putting in a huge sum of money. He has bought the castle, is running a whole of terrorist activities and is hoping to make a difference. Many of the big chains are long gone. This high street has been in steep decline, as our spending habits have changed. Clarks shoes is the latest departure from Bishop Auckland. Its just like a ghost town now. You only come into town if you have two, theres nothing here to bring you into town for a wander. It is depressing, isnt it . It is, youre right. I must admit, im not taking internet shopper, so id rather have shops, and theyre just. Where are they . Its a bit daunting, really, coming and seeing the shop empty. Bernadette rush closed her bridal shop in december after more than a decade of trading. Once the high street lost all of the big names, there was no attraction, then, to draw people in. She didnt want to sign a new nine year lease so now works from home. I havent got the overheads here as i had in the shop. We looked at moving further into the marketplace, and we were talking about thousands of pounds a month, rather than hundreds, and itsjust not affordable in this day and age. Plus, if the rent goes up, your rates go up as well. Newsreel the Main Shopping Centre at Bishop Auckland. In the 605 and 70s, the town was bustling, once synonymous with coal mining and the railways. But over the decades, the change is stark. This was once a prime retail space, but its been left to decay. Its been empty since Beales Department store closed for the final time in 2017, and here in Bishop Auckland, almost one in every four shops is now empty. Thats nearly double the uk average. But this man, a city investor and multimillionaire, has a bold vision, built on tourism. There, with got auckland tower, weve got the thing that looks like a porcupine. Jonathan ruffer has been buying up property here. He built this tower and has plans for galleries and museums. I wanted simply to bring Something Back to the region, given that things went well for me down in the south. Can i ask how much of your own money youre investing . More than you and i are worth put together. Back on the high street, despite the clear challenges, some young entrepreneurs are willing to take a risk. The high street might look as though its dying but theres more to the town than the high street. Theres lots of independent retailers and lots of culture and its more of an experience. You could sell all this from your bedroom at home, why do you need a shop . We chose to open a shop because theres nothing like this in the area. County durham is known as the land of the prince bishops. This town is trying to reinvent itself by marketing its rich past, swapping retailfor tourism. One new independent is the 19505 tea room not far from the castle. Ale55ia, what prompted you to open a retail outlets on the high street which is dying . When we heard about the regeneration of the castle, the tower and the the regeneration of the castle, the towerand the mine the regeneration of the castle, the tower and the mine and art gallery, we thought this is a time we need to be in. We grew up here and it is such a beautiful place we need to embrace that. Are you hopeful things are going to change . Have things improved . They have. The numbers have doubled, maybe even travelled since we started. The footfall is here and people want to come to Bishop Auckland. It is certainly bu5y even at the moment. Graham is a retail a nalyst bu5y even at the moment. Graham is a retail analyst and he can put it into perspective, ju5t retail analyst and he can put it into perspective, just take the high street is looking right across the country in comparison to this one. This is a very different high street because of this huge amount of cash which is going into it. Is it really representative of what is going on in the rest of the country . Bishop auckland has suffered the same issues as many times around the country. We used to be well served by big name stores but it has lost many of those. In a way, it almost needs turbo charging. What is fantastic about all the work that is going on is it is given to time the boost it needs. Will itjust be for tourists or will there be something for the locals a5 tourists or will there be something for the locals as well . It is important it is rooted in the people that are there, the community. Bishop auckland has lots of fantastic independent shops and cafe is, like this one. Also the things involved in the ogden project, they are about involving the local people. You have to take everyone with you. The places that are doing well are once for all the different people are working together for a common goal. Not everyone has a castle, but all high streets of something unique. I am guessing that is what they will have to work on. In the last 20 or 30 years we talked about clone towns, were all trying to run the country ended up looking the same with the same big names, but that is changing. Having to look at their past to understand how they can move forward in the future. It is all those features about the heritage, the history, what makes it less interesting and distinctive. The times that can do well are the ones that can reinvent themselves based that kind of heritage and promoting the great changes that the time will have. Thank you, graham. Clearly there are a big problem still facing this town but they are still facing this town but they are still hopeful. We will come back and check up on it over the course of the year. Thank you very much. The Prime Minister has been talking this morning about coronavirus. He has been putting out a message of preparedness and dont panic, it is all in hand. Lets talk to hugh pym. They had a fine line to tread between putting out what is the worst Case Scenario, and saying that it is important not to panic. Thats right, joanna. It is the question of preparing for the worse, showing the public that they are preparing for the worst. What they dont want is to have some secret plan, and telling everyone things are fine and then that plan leaks. That is the intention. Absolutely, the hope is that it can be contained. They still think we are in the containment phase, which is when patients with the virus are taken off to the hospital and isolated, then you trace their contacts and then they can be isolated. I asked at a briefing of officials before the press co nfe re nce , briefing of officials before the press conference, are we about to move on from that phase and the a nswer move on from that phase and the answer was, if globally containment isnt working, then it will not work here. I got the sense that they were prepared for the possibility we would move onto the next phase, which is when you have hundreds or even a few thousand cases or more, then you move to this next stage, when you think about School Closures, you think about encouraging people to work from home, to think about getting people to be careful about their social interactions in the evening, etc, then maybe another phase where you look at slightly more interventionist measures. Are they clear about when those measures could come in, when the Tipping Point is . They are analysing the development of this virus. They get a few weeks morning when they see from their data how rapidly the cases are multiplying. That is when they would know there is a Tipping Point. That may only be a few weeks away, but we must emphasise there is no suggestion that this is definitely going to happen. They say at the peak they want to delay the peak into the summer, because then you have less pressure on the nhs. If youre in the School Holidays gcap if youre in the School Holidays g ca p less if youre in the School Holidays gcap less risk of it, that is what happened with swine flu a few decades ago. At the peak, in the most stretch scenario, no guarantee this would happen, you might have one in five people off work and more needing time to care for family. It is better off if they stay at home. You are looking out the possibility of police only focusing on serious crime and public order because their officers are off sick. The nhs might have people off sick. Hence, their plan to bring in retired doctors and nurses. It is an interesting point. I was talking to a retiree yesterday who said they are potentially the most vulnerable in being on the front line. It is certainly the case that you are vulnerable on the front line. If you are at a certain age you are more vulnerable. Young people under the age of 20 and upwards are much less vulnerable than those older. Nhs staff will have to think about whether they wa nt to have to think about whether they want to come back, im sure well. In a moment well have all the Business News, but first, the headlines on bbc news the government has outlined its plans to contain the spread of the coronavirus it suggests up to a fifth of employees could be off work in the coming weeks in a statement at downing street, borisjohnson says most of those who contract the virus will only have mild or moderate symptons and most cases will be best managed at home. The government says its planned for a range of outcomes and will draw on the military to provide support to in the Business News european markets have risen for a second day on hopes that governments and Central Banks will intervene to tackle the Economic Impact of coronavirus. The ftse 100 was up more than 2 in london, and there were similar gains on other european markets. The dowjones in new york closed 5. 1 higher last night its biggest one day gain ever. Social media giant twitter has told its employees to work from home to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. The firm said it was mandatory for staff in hong kong, japan and south korea to work remotely and is also strongly encouraging its 5,000 employees around the world to not come into work. It comes a day after the firm banned all nonessential Business Travel and events for its workers. Tech giant apple has agreed to pay up to 500 million to settle a Class Action Lawsuit accusing it of slowing down older iphones as it launched new models, to induce people to upgrade or buy new batteries. In 2017, appple admitted it slowed down some iphones to prolong their life, but many suspected it was to encourage upgrades to more expensive phones. The pay out could amount to around £20 per person weve had the latest update on the fierce competititon between our biggest supermarkets. The Research Firm kantar that compiles the figures say sainsburys was the only one of the large grocers to show a jump in year on year sales. Spending there was up 0. 3 , its first growth since october 2019. Tescos sales dipped 0. 8 , while asda was down 1. 2 . In a sign of our concern over the spread of coronavirus, sales of hand sanitiser more than tripled last month, liquid soap sales were up 7 and Household Cleaning Products rose 10 . Fraser mckevitt is head of retail and Consumer Insight at ka ntar world panel that compiles these figures. Good morning. There are only so many shoppers to go round. The market has picked up slightly, so there has been a bit of growth coming back in. Underlying that, overall prices are not going up very quickly. So much fierce competition out there. For us as consumers, delayed has been kept ona as consumers, delayed has been kept on a weekly shopping bills. Within that there are the winners and losers. We can call it sainsburys is one of only retailers to really grow amongst the big supermarkets in the last weeks. They have done well. Good news as far as sainsburys is concerned. Good news for us if prices are being kept down. We are right bank things like cleaning agents and Hand Sanitisers. There is no getting away from the news today about what is on the mind of people. The sale of Hand Sanitisers is up 255 in february the data we have only runs to the 23rd of february, so that does not include the last ten days. Anecdotally, there has been a bit of panic buying out there. We are not saying that yet. We see no evidence of foodstuffs in particular, people trying to stop out those. Dont panic, said the government, just be sensible. Retailers, we think about them as customers going in and then providing us, but they are logistics firms at the back end and they have been doing a lot of planning to make sure that the food will be on the shelves. It is good to see you. Time is tight, but grateful for your time. The Dow Jones Industrial average leapt up 5 closing more than 1,200 points higher on monday, its biggest one day gain ever. All european markets doing pretty well today after some disastrous figures over the last week or so. Markets are optimistic that Central Banks will step in to ease some of that impact. Now its time for a look at the weather. There is some sunshine out there. Showers affecting western parts of england up to western scotland at the moment, they are drifting their way eastwards. In kent, there is some good dry weather with some sunshine. These showers will drift away a bit further eastwards, so eastern parts of england seeing most of the showers and further west it will be a bit drier and brighter. Maximum temperature is getting up to about eight or 10 celsius, a rather brisk north westerly wind making it feel chilly. Tonight, the showers will clear away, leaving lengthy clear spells. A widespread frost expected into wednesday morning, except perhaps the far south west. In cardiff, three or 4 degrees, that is because cloud is moving in here. The rain is expected to move north at eastwards. For north east england and scotland, it should be largely dry. Youre watching bbc newsroom live its midday and these are the main stories this morning up up to one fifth of employees could be off work after coronavirus peaks according to government plans for dealing with the outbreak. The government says it is planning on a range of outcomes and will draw on the military if necessary. range of outcomes and will draw on the military if necessary. I fully understand public concern, your concern, about the global spread of the virus and it is highly likely that we will see a growing number of uk cases. For planning purposes, of course we go up to the highest rate it reasonably could but in reality, my view and patricks view that the proportion of the population who gets in fact it is likely to be lower than that and probably a lot lower than that and probably a lot lower than that and probably a lot lower than that. Governments chief scientific adviser also warns against people overreacting to the outbreak and stockpiling food and medicine. The advice is that people dont panic and that they take logical decisions on what they believe. The advice at the moment is that there is no reason to be doing panic buying. In other news, the democratic president ial candidate joe biden gets the backing of three former rivals ahead of super tuesday. 1a states will pick their preferred candidate today. The warning over Baby Monitors and smarts cameras suggest they could be watched by criminals if their default settings are not changed. Good afternoon. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. The government has set out its plans for dealing with a widespread outbreak of coronavirus in the uk. It says up to a fifth of the workforce may be off sick during the peak of an epidemic in the uk. The military could provide support to Emergency Services if required. Police may need to focus on only responding to the most serious crimes and maintaining public order if the virus spreads. Other possible measures include School Closures, reducing social gatherings and working from home. Borisjohnson said the government was committed to doing Everything Possible to prepare for all eventualities and its priority was keeping the country safe. It is highly likely that we will see a growing number of uk cases, and thats why keeping the country safe is the governments overriding priority and our plan means were committed to doing Everything Possible based on the advice of our world leading scientific experts to prepare for all eventualities. And lets not forget, we already have a fantastic nhs, fantastic Testing Systems and fantastic surveillance of the spread of the disease. We will make sure the nhs gets all the support it needs to continue their brilliant response to the virus so far. The plan does not set out what the government will do. It sets out the steps that we could take at the right time and on the basis of the scientific advice. Our country remains extremely well prepared, as it has been since the outbreak began in wuhan several months ago. Finally, crucially, we must not forget what we can all do to fight this virus, which is to wash our hands, you knew i was going to say this, but wash our hands with soap and water and forgive me for repeating this, but there will be people first tuning into this for the first time. Wash your hands with soap and hot water for the length of time it takes to sing happy birthday twice. The chief medical officer for england, professor chris witty, spoke about the risk of coronavirus to the public. If you look at the chinese data. If you take the very oldest people the vast majority survived. If you talk about the low risk groups then the rate of mortality is well below 1 . I think there is always a danger that people think this is a higher risk than it actually is for them personally. Second to say is that the nhss approach to this will be to prioritise those who are in greatest need. That is how the nhs will respond to this in all stages of the epidemic which will have a beginning, middle and end. It will just respond slightly differently in those three phases. Sir patrick vallance, the governments chief scientific adviser, urged the public not to panic buy food and supplies. I think the advice from the Behavioural Sciences that people dont panic but they take moderate decisions that make logical decisions that make logical decisions on what they believe. The advice at the moment is there is no reason to go out and do panic buying and get larger supplies of things. Clearly there will have to beat measures in place for household quarantine to make sure that food is in place at the right place in the right time. That could be a rolling quality of that measure becomes necessary and clearly things would need to be in place for carers and so on at that point if the decision is made. This goes back to the point that chris made early on. If you ta ke that chris made early on. If you take the issue of looking after the vulnerable and having issues of social distancing there. What you dont want to do is end up in a position where people become socially isolated in the wrong way and you dont want situations where people are afraid to go to the front doorfor people are afraid to go to the front door for fear of people are afraid to go to the front doorforfear of catching people are afraid to go to the front door for fear of catching something. They will need to be measures put in place. Norman smith is at downing. What are your thoughts . The most obvious thing was the way that the pro minister was flanked by the chief medical officer and the chief scientific officer to show the gravity of the moment and to give the sense that this is a National Crisis and not to do with party politics. The Prime Ministers trying to reassure people saying that he is confident we would get through this in good shape. The reassurance came in his assessment of the illness saying that for most people if they get it it will be pretty mild and there is a speedy recovery. They can manage it at home. We heard from the chief medical officer saying that even those who are infected only 1 are likely to die. A sense of perspective about the nature of the disease. Then on the preparations, well, we got more of the practical advice from the Prime Minister and some of the more draconian measures clearly a long way down the line, suggestions about Emergency Powers to enable schools to be close and large gatherings and Public Events to be cancelled and travel restrictions and cities sealed off. That is all quite a long way down the line. I do think we have a sense of the Government Strategy here which is to say at the moment there is no point putting in place those sort of measures because the disease has not spread significantly in the country. It would be a waste of time. Also, if you did so then people would get fed up with it because those sort of restrictions are going to go on and on and on and in the end people just think theyre either going to get tired of them and ignore them or they are going to think they are not working. The Government Strategy is to delay introducing there is much more intrusive measures until the virus really does seek to spread. In the meantime, the message was pretty much to carry on with daily lives, taking sensible precautions on washing hands but also may be work more from home, travel less, that sort of thing. I thought the pro minister was pretty relaxed even on the issue of shaking hands. He wasnt too alarmed about that. Have a listen to what he said. wasnt too alarmed about that. Have a listen to what he said. I can tell you that i have been in hospital the other night where there were actually a few coronavirus patients andi actually a few coronavirus patients and i shook hands with everybody. I think it is very important. People will make up their own minds. I think the Scientific Evidence, and i will hand over to the experts, but washing your hands is the crucial thing. A lot of the details we didnt really get so on the question of can the nhs cope if you had 3 million or so people having to be hospitalised well, mrjohnsonjust said that the nhs is fantastically well prepared. Similarly when asking about what happens to people who have to stay at home and maybe freelancers on zero hours contracts, what happens to them in of benefits in ensuring they dont face real hardship . Well, the pro minister said they are looking at all sorts of different options. We understand there are possibly volu nteers we understand there are possibly volunteers that will go into care homes. In many ways it struck me that mrjohnsons response was a bit like the old wartime slogan of keep calm and carry on. For now people to ta ke calm and carry on. For now people to take a step back from some of the more apocalyptic scenarios. The chief medical officer was asked about panic buying and his response was to say that previous experience of such crisis is that panic buying is and what happens but how the British Public usually reacts with extraordinary acts of altruism. We had the Prime Ministerfront extraordinary acts of altruism. We had the Prime Minister front and centre today. Weve heard previously that when he is not so visible he prefers to devolve power to those working with him and that they will be on the front line where it is releva nt be on the front line where it is relevant and pertinent. Are we seeing a change . Are we likely to seeing a change . Are we likely to see more of him coming out and communicating directly in this way on this . I think we have already seen it, to be honest. The Prime Minister was caught a bit flat footed and seemed to leave most of it to matt hancock. As has become apparent this is a much more significant challenge than many people had thought. It has now really become a challenge about how we go about our lives. It would seem extraordinary for me of the Prime Minister did not put himself centre stage. We have seen that yesterday with the first cobra meeting. We saw it with the press briefing. I think lily at a time like this people want to have trust and confidence in the government and therefore it is imperative that the Prime Minister is out there. That is what we have seen and i expect that is what will continue to serve the days ahead. Thank you, norman. Dr Lindsay Broadbent is a virologist at Queens University in belfast and shes taking a different approach to the Prime Minister when it comes to shaking hands. Lama i am a biologist and know what is on peoples hands. I dont shake hands of the best of times and if i do i wash my hands afterwards. There are alternative ways to say hello. Lodge your head, bump elbows. Washing your handsis your head, bump elbows. Washing your hands is the best thing you can do afterwards if you decide you do want to shake hands with people. I do urge people that the virus could be passed this way. Bank of England Governor Mark carney has said that the bank will support the uk through an economic shock caused by coronavirus which could be large but ultimately temporary the front line of combating the challenges of covid 19 comprises the extraordinary efforts of nhs health professionals, Public Health officials, carers and volunteers across the countries, as well as the exceptional support provided by the fco to uk citizens abroad. The bank of englands role is to help uk businesses and households manage through an economic shock that could prove large but will ultimately be temporary. The bank will take all necessary steps to support the uk economy and Financial System consistent with its statutory responsibilities. Were monitoring the situation closely across all our functions and ensuring all necessary contingency plans are in place. The npc is assessing the Economic Impacts and considering the policy implications of various possible scenarios, including the extent to which supply disruptions have aggregate demand consequences via effects on cash flow, the cost and availability of finance as well as confidence affects. And later this afternoon well be answering your questions on coronavirus. Please send them into us by tweeting to the hash tag bbc your questions or email yourquestions bbc. Co. Uk. Thats coming up at three thirty here on bbc news. You can keep up with the latest developments, the symptoms to watch out for, how to guard against it and what it means for you on the bbc news app and on our website. The headlines on bbc news. The government has outlined its plans to contain the spread of the coronavirus it suggests up to a fifth of employees could be off work in the coming weeks. In a statement at downing street, Boris Johnson says most of those who contract the virus will only have mild or moderate symptons and most cases will be best managed at home. And the government says its planned for a range of outcomes and will draw on the military to provide support to civilian authorities if it becomes necessary sport now. A senior football source says that playing matches behind closed doors due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak is a possibility, but weeks rather than days away. Football authorities have held talks with the British Government and Public Health experts to discuss contingency plans. The Health Secretary matt hancock has said that the government doesnt currently recommend cancelling large events unless advised by Public Health england. The euros begin in june and the head of the swiss fa warned that the virus could shake european football to its foundations at their conference in amsterdam. Switzerland remains one of only two European Countries to ban mass gatherings. Domestic matches there have been banned until the 31st of march. The president of the fa gave a stark warning of what could come. We have a situation which could shake professional football to its foundations. The last decisions that we had to take yesterday in our country, i repeat, no matches and no games until at least the 23rd of march stop by the impact of the coronavirus is high on the agenda at the International Olympic Board Meeting in switzerland as well. A board member last week said that if the outbreak becomes a pandemic the Tokyo Olympics that had to be postponed or cancelled. But the icc president has pledged a successful games. The games are set to begin at the end ofjuly. If it were to be postponed than any of those decisions are taken out of our hands. The only thing we can do is prepare as normal and train as if it will be in august which i expect it will be in august which i expect it will be. It is too big an issue for us to try and plan for. Theres nothing we can do and we just focus on our performances. It is protocol that we are all used to following. The positive we can look at is that all the steps at the moment in the uk are looking at prevention and containing things. We just follow on that path and hope it wont have an impact on this summer. That is all the sport for now. Well have more in the next hour. Lets get more now on our top story and the response to the coronavirus from businesseses. Ged futter is the director of the retail mind and was a senior buying managerfor asda for 15 years. Lots of reports of panic buying. What impact will that have . What you might see in certain moments is higher demand on certain products. I wouldnt class it as panic buying at the moment. It will be a higher demand on things like hand gel and people buying bulk packs so bigger packs than they would buy before. If you think about your freezer, your freezer is actually full. One thing you cant do is to go and fill up on frozen food. If your freezer is full already. What we will see is a clump in the supply chain as customers buy certain products. What we wont do is people. Once people do start to overstock in a way that goes against a model that supermarkets expect and are stocking for, how much of a knock on impact does that have . How long does it take for supermarkets to get to a position where others see normal supplies and dont panic . In other words it stops it becoming a real domino effect. It depends on the product. Some of the products will have plenty of stock in the uk. Other products will come from overseas. It depends on how long your supply changes. Supply chain. Some products from supplier to shelby a matter of days but others will be a of weeks. What you dont want to see is all the products to come out over a longer time period and seeing holes on shelves. It is the holes on shelves which can cause a run of people running to buy more. They will see an empty shelf in one store and go and try and find it in another store and try and find it in another store and that in itself will create more ofa and that in itself will create more of a panic. Hand sanitiser is a case in point right now. It feels like it is almost impossible to get it. Where you can get it, particularly online, the prices have rocketed. Then there is obviously a temptation when you see it to snap it up. Hand sanitiser comes from china. Any product that comes from china will have a real problem in the supply chain. About the length of time it comes across because anything that comes across because anything that comes from china comes by boat, by container, and that product will ta ke container, and that product will take weeks to be replaced. Unless the retailer or supplier is going to be paying for their freight which is extremely expensive for a very low value product then it will take weeks that product to come back on the shelves. What about the essentials . A report today about retailers having a ready made plan to move to what has been described as feed the nation status, reducing the range on offer but making sure there is plenty vital supplies. Is that a plan that you are aware of . Its not a plan im aware of but it makes absolute sense. What you will probably see is maybe 20 of the workforce. So you want to look at what the essentials. All of the retailers have a list of what their essential products are and they will look at maintaining those. The most important thing for all of the retailers is to maintain availability. It will be about availability. It will be about availability and making sure the key product on the shelf. They might reduce some of the promotions. A lot of the promotions will come to an end. What about rationing people and stopping people over buying . That there is absolutely the last thing that a retailer wants to do because all that rationing does is it creates a fulsome mine. At the moment there is no need for any rationing of any food whatsoever. The last thing that retailers want to do is putting any kind of news out there that any of their products are rations all that does is creates are rations all that does is creates a demand which isnt needed. Does it matter what words of reassurance are put out there . It is catching, isnt it . And when people fear others are doing panic buying they willjust join in because they wont be the one join in because they wont be the one they wont want to be the one to be caught short. We all have a responsibility to not create that. None of the retailers said they would have issues of availability or getting products on shelves. They know what we need to do. It is about all of us acting in a way that doesnt create any panic. Thank you for joining doesnt create any panic. Thank you forjoining us. Staying with coronavirus and looking further afield. In italy, tourist hotpots including the duomo in milan reopened to visitors, but access was limited to avoid overcrowding. Its europes worst affected country, with around 1,700 infections and 52 deaths so far. Bethany bell sent us this update from milan. Well, the number of people testing positive for coronavirus here in italy has. The total number is nowjust over 2,000. The Authorities Say that 52 people are now known to have died. But yesterday was interesting when we got the final update of those figures for yesterday, they said that there had been a smaller rise in the number of new cases, 258 new cases yesterday, which is quite considerably smaller than the figures wed seen in the days preceding it. The authorities are also saying that many of the people whove tested positive are either showing very mild symptoms or no symptoms. 50 of them are being looked after at home. 40 of people still in hospital and around 149 in intensive care. And people, of course, here there is still a cluster of towns in northern italy affecting about 50,000 people that are still under quarantine. Those are the areas where this outbreak seems to have begun. In china, the government is reporting more deaths but none outside hubei province, where the outbreak began. There are three more cases in hong kong, bringing the total to 100. Our china correspondent robin brant is there today and sent us this report. Well, the relative good news continues, according to the official announcements from the government today, the number of deaths has increased by 31 to 2,943. None of those, according to these figures, are outside that province of hubei where this all began. So no deaths, new deaths in the last 2a hours anywhere across mainland china, apart from hubei. The number of infected, thats up slightly, 125 to just over 80,000 cases. So, look, the trend continues to be a positive one. And in fact, the emphasis now, or rather the focus now from chinas leaders is actually on Chinese People abroad in countries like italy, iran, japan and south korea and their potential or their desire, rather, to return home and the potential to reimport the virus with them. So people from those four countries wishing to return to beijing, the capital and shanghai will now face a mandatory 1a day quarantine period. That is as the authorities here shift their attention away slightly from hubei and the epicentres city of wuhan where they believe they have contained it to the potential for a second wave possibly coming from returnees. The Union Representing senior Civil Servants has demanded an independent investigation into bullying allegations against the home secretary. Priti patel strongly denies the claims. The fda union says it lacks confidence in a government inquiry into the matter, but ministers insist the process is robust and fit for purpose. Democrats in 1k us states are preparing to vote on who they want to be the candidate, to take on donald trump, in novembers president ial election. Sophie long has been assessing the super tuesday poll from los angeles. Winning the democratic nomination to be the person to take on President Trump is all about gathering delegates. On super tuesday more than a third of them are up for grabs, more than on any other day in this long, gruelling campaign. Its big. And its even bigger this time because california, the most populous state with hundreds of delegates, is also taking part. About a quarter of those eligible to vote are hispanic. Some are voting for the first time after coming to citizenship classes like this. Theyre passionate about being part of this political process. It is good to become a citizen because you can vote. Like, you feel like people are going to hear your voice. So it is good to become a citizen because you can vote for the person that you believe is going to change our world. Issues that are important to them are immigration, of course, but also education, health care and the economy. In more rural areas, farmers want to know who the candidate will be and what solutions they propose for the many issues affecting this huge and diverse country. Right now the focus is trying to narrow this field down and getting a better picture of what that looks like. You know, we know what trumps proposals are, particularly when it comes to water, which is so important for the farmers and ranchers here. Thats a critical issue that hes been very supportive of locally. So to see what the other candidate, or candidates, as it starts to narrow down, proposes, its going to be a big interest to us. While no one could win the nomination on super tuesday, it can get them a long way towards it. Senator Bernie Sanders has taken the lead in the liberal lane and the national polls. Former Vice President joe biden had been limping at the start of this marathon, but his big win in South Carolina has put him back in contention atjust the right time. His performance could be helped by other moderates dropping out and endorsing him. But enter the late starter. On the ballot for the first time is billionaire mike bloomberg, and he has been converting his cash into campaign ads. Also running still are Senators Elizabeth Warren and tulsi gabbard. It is the day political pundits have been waiting for. It could make or break candidates campaigns. But it might not. Sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. Christian fraser and katty kay will be bringing you all the latest on the super tuesday race tonight at 7pm, thats on beyond 100 days on the bbc news channel, and well be bringing you all the results here from midnight now its time for a look at the weather. Has got a mixture of sunshine and showers today, a bit like yesterday. The showers are in slightly different places. This is what we have seen in the past few hours with cloud and showers in scotland, north west england, in abundance in the south east. Thats my the midlands. That will push further west. We will see more sunshine with temperatures around eight to 10 degrees. A few showers this evening and on the whole will be dry and clear except in the south west with the rain arriving light late on. More of a frost tonight and they could be more of a thrust around as well. More icy patches as well. Tomorrow we have cloud coming from the south west. That comes through Northern Ireland and wales and Northern England later in the day. Scotla nd Northern England later in the day. Scotland hangs onto sunshine with fewer showers in the far north west. Hello this is bbc newsroom live with joanna gosling. The headlines up to a fifth of employees could be off work when coronavirus peaks in the coming weeks, according to government plans for dealing with the outbreak. The government says its planned for a range of outcomes and will draw on the military if it becomes necessary. The governments chief scientifc advisor also warned against people overreacting to the outbreak and stockpiling food and medicine. Elsewhere, democrat president ial Candidatejoe Biden gets the backing of three former rivals ahead of super tuesday. 1a states will pick their preferred candidate today. A warning over smart cameras and Baby Monitors suggests they can be watched by criminals if their default settings arent changed. More now on government plans to deal with the possible widespread outbreak of coronavirus in the uk. One measure outlined by the Prime Minister this morning was to recall retired Health Workers. Dr mike scott has recently retired as a gp in newcastle. Thank you very much forjoining us. Would you be up for going back . Yeah, ithink would you be up for going back . Yeah, i think i would. I have come back a little bit on my own practice to do some work. During a day here and today there is so different from it consuming your life that it is really quite enjoyable. I think i probably would be up for it. Are you worried that coronavirus poses the biggest risk to older people . I was speaking to a retiree, a former nurse yesterday, and she was saying she would be worried about the prospect of going back onto the front nine because of that. prospect of going back onto the front nine because of that. I would need to discuss this with my family. The people coming back as retirees, we are likely to be in our 605 or 705. We will be the vulnerable group. Without a vaccine, without a cu re group. Without a vaccine, without a cure for this illness, an appreciable number of Health Workers to come back and are dealing with the disease are going to get it. Between one in 50 and one in a hundred could die of aids. It is not a decision to be taken lightly. As a gp, you will have dealt with swine flu when i was at its peak. What can we learn from that . Swine flu and bird flu, we spent an awful lot of time planning and figuring how it was going to work. In the end we got off very lightly. It wasnt too bad. I have had more of a struggle with ordinary flu outbreaks. It could have been disastrous. As with this, we have to do the planning. The buzz phrase will be hoping for the best p0p phrase will be hoping for the best pop planning for the worst. It could be quite disastrous. We thought that about swine flu, bird flu, and we got away with it. Is it possible to compare and contrast at the same stage . This is a completely different virus and we dont know how it will develop, but the message that we were hearing from the government earlier is that it is about preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best. Very much so. Going over clinically how we might treat this, i dont think there is any evidence yet with it being a brand new virus as to whether the kind of terminal events because of overwhelming infections with bacteria, or antibiotics might help. Probably not. Weather steroids, we would normally give those to people with respiratory inflammations, but with respiratory inflammations, but with some viruses they can spread the disease. We dont have the a nswe rs the disease. We dont have the a nswers to the disease. We dont have the answers to that. We will learn as we go along with this brand new illness. In terms of protecting the front line Health Workers, dentists wear face masks when they see patients. She had more medics be doing that . Good quality face masks that are available in the hospital are quite useful. They are more useful to stop the person wearing the face mask spreading the droplets, rather than protecting you from them. The vast majority of place mats that you see people wearing are close to useless. In fa ct, wearing are close to useless. In fact, they probably engender a false sense of mature full sense of security that is misplaced. What is the best way to protect Health Workers . The reason we are discussing the prospect of people being brought out of retirement is because of the potential impact on those looking after sick patients. When the hospitals are under their biggest stress, and the practices are under their biggest rest, that is when they will find large quantities of their old staff will either have to be in enforced isolation to stop spreading the disease, orfail. Isolation to stop spreading the disease, or fail. Those isolation to stop spreading the disease, orfail. Those with isolation to stop spreading the disease, or fail. Those with elderly relatives or children who may become ill or sent home from school, the actual nhs workforce is going to be depleted at a time when it is needed. Hence, ithink depleted at a time when it is needed. Hence, i think it does make sense to bring the old codgers like myself back out of the cupboard. Thank you very much, doctor mike scott. Earlier i spoke to have virologist from Queens University belfast. The four parts of the Prime Minister does not plan or the four parts to any outbreak, contain, delay, mitigate and research. We already know what they look like, they have been around for a long time to strategies. I would emphasise that the Research Part of that plan needs to underlie all of the plan. The Research Needs to start from the beginning and needs to carry through until the end of this outbreak. Beginning and needs to carry through until the end of this outbreakm terms of the research, as it is new we are learning about this virus all the time. Where are we now in understanding the incubation period, the fact that it seems some people get it, they dont show symptoms, they may never show symptoms, but they may never show symptoms, but they could be spreading it, and whether they can recur. So many aspects of this virus needs to be understood. The amount we already know about this virus is remarkable, given the amount of time we have had to study it, from the end of december, really. We already know the viral structure, the symptoms, the viral structure, the symptoms, the incubation period, some treatments and vaccines have already started to be developed. This is Ground Breaking in the research that has been done. Nothing has been this fast, domain knowledge, no outbreak has been researched this and this effectively. The Scientific Community have been fantastic at making all of the knowledge freely available to everybody else around the world to the entire Scientific Community. For somebody watching at home who is hearing the message loud and clear, if you have symptoms you should self isolate. Spell out what the symptoms are in. They might resemble the common cold, if somebody is starting to come down with Something Like that, they might worry. The symptoms are temperature, sore throat, dry cough and if that progresses and gets more serious, difficulty breathing. This can look like other infections and other respiratory viral infections. If you are in any doubt, ring 111 and speak to someone for advice. In terms of mitigating the peak, delaying the peak, talking about the potential measures of containment, like closing schools, restricting travel. There have been all sorts of suggestions, cities go into lockdown. At one point would you say those sorts of measures potentially coming . Those are worstCase Scenario measures. We are not even close to that gap. I would worry about the effectiveness of closing down schools, for example. It is unlikely you are going to be able to keep kids inside if they are sent home from school. They will want to play with their friends. I dont think that will have a lot of impact. Cancelling of large Public Events, again, we are away away from that. That is a worst Case Scenario. No one needs to worry at this stage that events and public outings will be cancelled. That was doctor Lindsay Broadbent talking to me earlier. Our Health Correspondent has been looking in detail at the plans unveiled this morning. As we have been hearing, the government has set out its response to the coronavirus in its battle plan. Forming components, contain, delay, research and mitigate. Containing involves chasing up the close contacts involves chasing up the close co nta cts of involves chasing up the close contacts of those infected and asking them to self isolate so they dont spread the virus if they have it. Even if this does not work, it has the benefit of delaying major outbreaks. This means valuable research can be done in the meantime to help develop a vaccine. If cases are rising rapidly, steps are taken to mitigate its impact. Containment is still possible, but what might happen next . Health officials and the Prime Minister admitted yesterday that widespread transmission is not likely. Normally it would take two or three months for the number of cases to peak. Half of cases could then come in those peak weeks, but none of this is certain. We are not exactly sure how the virus will act. The government has several measures at its disposal if the problem gets worse. These include closing schools and banning public gatherings. Health Officials Say those measures are most likely to be taken just before the peak in an temp two flatten it. We may be encouraged to socially distance ourselves in the coming weeks. That means avoiding unnecessary travel and working from home when necessary. When we have a new virus like this, there is no immunity and a vaccine. The most it can infact immunity and a vaccine. The most it can in fact it is thought to be 80 , but that is the absolute worst Case Scenario for an epidemic. For most, it will be mild, close to half may not show any symptoms, but the death rate, the evidence from china suggests, could be 1 of cases. In the peak fifth of employees could be off work, but that is the upper and at the Economic Impact is unknown. The bank will take all on all necessary steps. We are monitoring the situation closely and ensuring all necessary contingency plans are in place. So, is the nhs ready . There are around 30 hospitals on standby to take patients. Every patient infected has been admitted. If there is a surge in cases there is an acceptance this will have to change. Those with mild illnesses may be asked to self isolate and hospitals may be asked to cut back on routine work so they can focus on those with the virus. Recently retired doctors and nurses may be asked to come back to help take the strain. We are still at the early stages of this outbreak and there are still some unknowns, but the government does have a plan with measures for multiple scenarios. Thank you. There is a fresh morning for users of Smart Devices like Baby Monitors and cameras, check your security settings or risk being hacked. The National Cyber Security Centre says images or live feeds can be accessed by online criminals if the gadgets are not properly protected. It says users should regularly change passwords to help reduce the risk. Check for a default password and if you find Something Like 0000, change it to you find Something Like 0000, change ittoa you find Something Like 0000, change it to a good strong password, three random words that mean something to you, but nothing to anybody else. The second thing to do is make sure you are updating your security on the firmware. If you read the instructions it will tell you what to do. The third thing is, not everybody uses all the features on these cameras. They can be accessed from anywhere. If you are not accessing it from outside your home, switch that feature. To those three things and that takes away so much of the risk. There is a report online that shows that happen to one family who have security cameras in their home. Im ben thompson. In the Business News european markets have risen for a second day on hopes that governments and Central Banks will intervene to tackle the Economic Impact of coronavirus. The ftse100 was up more than 2 in london, and there were similar gains on other european markets. The dowjones in new york closed 5. 1 higher last night its biggest one day gain ever. Social media giant twitter has told its employees to work from home to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. The firm said it was mandatory for staff in hong kong, japan and south korea to work remotely and is also strongly encouraging its 5,000 employees around the world to not come into work. It comes a day after the firm banned all nonessential Business Travel and events for its workers. Tech giant apple has agreed to pay up to 500 million to settle a Class Action Lawsuit accusing it of slowing down older iphones as it launched new models, to induce people to upgrade or buy new batteries. In 2017, appple admitted it slowed down some iphones to prolong their life, but many suspected it was to encourage upgrades to more expensive phones. The payout could amount to around £20 per person. Weve had the latest update on the fierce competititon between our biggest supermarkets. The Research Firm kantar that compiles the figures say sainsburys was the only one of the large grocers to show a jump in year on year sales. Spending there was up 0. 3 , its first growth since october 2019. Tescos sales dipped 0. 8 , while asda was down 1. 2 . In a sign of our concern over the spread of coronavirus, sales of hand sanitiser more than tripled last month, liquid soap sales were up 7 and Household Cleaning Products rose 10 . I spoke to the head of consumer advice at the company. The market has picked up slightly. It was pretty slow over christmas and new year. We have seen a bit of group coming back in, which will be really for the supermarkets, but underlined that, overall prices are not going up that, overall prices are not going up very quickly. There are so much fierce competition out there that for us as consumers the lead is being kept on a weekly shopping bills. Within that there are winners and losers, as ever. We can call it sainsburys is one of the only retailers to really grow among the big supermarkets in the last 12 weeks. They have done quite well. Good news as far as sainsburys is concerned, good news for us the prices are being kept down, but it seems that we are out buying things like cleaning agents and hand sanitiser is. There is no getting away from the news today about what is on the mind of people. The sale of hand sanitiser is its up 255 in february. The data we have only runs to the 23rd of february, so doesnt include the last ten days. Anecdotally, people have been panic buying. Id prefer to look at the numbers and we are not saying that 93p numbers and we are not saying that gap. Assume no evidence so far of people trying to stop our foodstuffs. The government is clear, dont panic, just be sensible. We think about retailers as providing us, but really they are logistic firms at the back end and they have been doing a lot of Contingency Planning to make sure that the fed will continue to be on the shelves. Lets get more on that greggs news, with the firm reporting another strong rise in sales, with profits up more than 30 . The sandwich chain said it got a boost from its new vegan range, but saw a significant slowdown last month as storms kept customers away. Greggs also warned of an uncertain outlook, given the potential impact of coronavirus. Boss Roger Whiteside says. It has been a long journey. I mean, we have been transforming the business now for six years, moving away from traditional bakery to a growing market, which is food on the go. In doing that, weve been transforming our shops and repositioning our shops. If you go back six years, 80 of our shops were on high streets. Today, it is less than 60 . We expect that to carry on in the years ahead and we expect to have probably less than 50 of our shops in high streets by the time we reach 2,500 shops. We are busy making our shops bigger in high streets because as high streets start to change in their nature, people are using them less for when they need to go shopping and more for when they want to go shopping. Its still a very pleasurable leisure experience and people need things like seats and nice environments in which to relax and greggs wants to respond to that. That is the boss of greggs. The markets. They are bouncing back after a torrid few sessions. Lost of investors worried about the followers of the coronavirus, what would mean for economic growth. Transport and travel stocks are feeling the brunt of that. The footsie has gone up by more than 2 . The dowjones footsie has gone up by more than 2 . The dow jones having footsie has gone up by more than 2 . The dowjones having its best one day point session ever. The Dow Jones Industrial average leapt up 5 , closing more than 1,200 points higher on monday its biggest one day gain ever. Investors around the world feel that the Central Banks would be willing to step in. We will have a look at how new york opens later. All to play for on the us market. Bishop auckland, in County Durham, with its 25,000 residents used to be the heart of coal mining country, but the gradual demise of the industry has brought with it decades of economic decline. With clarks the latest shop to close its doors in the North Eastern english town, is there anything that can be done to save our high streets . Bbc news will be following the progress of Bishop Aucklands town centre this year as part of a project called bbcmyhighstreet. Dani hewson is there for us. In the 19605 and 19705 this used to bea in the 19605 and 19705 this used to be a bustling high street, the heart of Bishop Auckland. Like many other high streets, the decades have not been kind. Now almost one in four shops are empty, some have been empty for over a decade. However, here there are plans to turn things around thanks to a millionaire our Consumer Affairs correspondent sarah caulker has been looking at the plans. Many of the big chains are long gone. This high street has been in steep decline, as our spending habits have changed. Clarks shoes is the latest departure from Bishop Auckland. Its just like a ghost town now. You only come into town if you have to, theres nothing here to bring you into town for a wander. It is depressing, isnt it . It is, youre right. I must admit, im not taking internet shopper, so id rather have shops, and theyre just. Where are they . Its a bit daunting, really, coming and seeing the shop empty. Bernadette rush closed her bridal shop in december after more than a decade of trading. Once the high street lost all of the big names, there was no attraction, then, to draw people in. She didnt want to sign a new nine year lease so now works from home. I havent got the overheads here as i had in the shop. We looked at moving further into the marketplace, and we were talking about thousands of pounds a month, rather than hundreds, and itsjust not affordable in this day and age. Plus, if the rent goes up, your rates go up as well. Newsreel the Main Shopping Centre at Bishop Auckland. In the 605 and 705, the town was bustling, once synonymous with coal mining and the railways. But over the decades, the change is stark. This was once a prime retail space, but its been left to decay. Its been empty since Beales Department store closed for the final time in 2017, and here in Bishop Auckland, almost one in every four shops is now empty. Thats nearly double the uk average. But this man, a city investor and multimillionaire, has a bold vision, built on tourism. There, with got auckland tower, weve got the thing that looks like a porcupine. Jonathan ruffer has been buying up property here. He built this tower and has plans for galleries and museums. I wanted simply to bring Something Back to the region, given that things went well for me down in the south. Can i ask how much of your own money youre investing . More than you and i are worth put together. Back on the high street, despite the clear challenges, some young entrepreneurs are willing to take a risk. The high street might look as though its dying but theres more to the town than the high street. Theres lots of independent retailers and lots of culture and its more of an experience. You could sell all this from your bedroom at home, why do you need a shop . We chose to open a shop because theres nothing like this in the area. County durham is known as the land of the prince bishops. This town is trying to reinvent itself by marketing its rich past, swapping retailfor tourism. All of these empty shops tell us a story, so what can be read into them . Lets story, so what can be read into them . Lets have story, so what can be read into them . Lets have a chat to ronald from the local data company. The fa ct from the local data company. The fact that some of these shops have been closed for a decade, how difficult is it then to get somebody to come in and take over . It is very challenging considering what is happening across the country. In 2019, over 9,000 shops closed across the country. For times like this, a lot of these National Chains are not expanding any more. The biggest jaws, does that make it more difficult to attract independents to come and take over the space . Yes, normally these units are harder to let a game for the landlord. The landlord might have to split the unit or it used to try to attract attract independents. We have spoken attract independents. We have spoken a lot about business rates, about bringing down rents. As the relationship between the landlord and the retailers changed in the last few years . Given the challenges we have across the sector, they have started more partnerships and working together, sharing the data. From a retailers point of view, their cost base has increased quite significantly. Even things like the National Living wage has made things more expensive for them. Looking at the number of stores that is closed, it must impact on footfall. How can you turn that around . You have to look at what the key assets are and your town centre. Bishop auckland are looking to try to capture the tourist market, trying to push the Art Galleries and other amenities they have to try to attract people back. Each town has defined their own unique selling point and try to use that gsp. It is true, when these Large National retailers to leave, you do see footfall decline and it can lead to other National Teams looking to close, as well. Lets have a look down here. You can see some green shoots already. The spanish gallery is due to open later this year and there are a number of stores being repurposed. We will come back to Bishop Auckland over the next year as part of the series. The weather from wednesday into thursday are still subject to change, potential more straightforward through the day. A day of sunshine and showers. The main soon of showers, some of them happy. Main soon of showers, some of them happy, stretches across western parts of scotland, across the north west of england, into the midlands and the south east of england. Those showers will push eastwards through the rest of the day, along Western Areas to enjoy a bit more sunshine. Temperatures will be between eight and 10 degrees. Some showers this evening, but those will fade away quickly. For most places it will be dry and clear overnight. There is rain arriving in the south west, so not as cold here. The frost is more likely here tonight. There could be some icy patches. For many places it will bel bright some icy patches. For many places it will be i bright. Sunny start on will be a bright and sunny start on wednesday. There is this change coming in from the south west pushing toward south east england, through the midlands, wales, even Northern Ireland. Snow over the high ground in wales. Hanging on to sunshine in scotland. Showers in the north west. There could be some showers in the south west of england and wales is a brightens up later on. It could be wet overnight across Northern England with some snow on the pennines. That should peter wright on thursday morning. Another area of low pressure is complicating things, likely to bring some rain through the english channel. An improving story across Northern England. Many parts of the country will brighten up. Showers mainly across scotland and Northern Ireland, wintry over the hills and temperatures between seven and 9 degrees. Those temperatures will change on friday. You lose one area of low pressure but another weather front is coming in. This looks like itll be very weak. It will bring a narrow band of rain, quite patchy with a bit of snow over northern hills. It will peter wright as it ru ns hills. It will peter wright as it runs eastwards. More showers coming in that at the western part of the uk. Those could be wintry over the Higher Ground for Northern England. Over the weekend, stronger winds. That will bring some windier weather, wetter weather, some rain on saturday, followed by showers on sunday. Up to a fifth of the uk workforce could be off sick at the peak of a coronavirus outbreak. The Prime Minister unveils the governments emergency plans saying it is prepared for a spike in cases. I fully understand public concern, your concern, about the global spread of the virus, and it is highly likely that we will see a growing number of uk cases. Thousands of people around the world have recovered from the virus we hear about one womans time in quarantine. I almost felt like i wanted to go knock on the wall and just talk to the other patient next door