Stories this morning the governments Emergency Cobra Committee gets under way to discuss plans to delay the spread of coronavirus, after a third person dies in the uk. At this stage, we are still in the contain phase, which means there is no need to cancel events, no need for people not to go to sporting events, museums and so on. Market concern the ftse falls 9 percent after opening this morning overnight Oil Prices Crash by nearly a third. Italys Prime Minister says it is his countrys darkest hour, as one region is in lockdown with 60 Million People quarantine. At 11 30am, we will answer your questions on the spread and containment of coronavirus with an associate professor of Infectious Diseases at the university of warwick. The trial of the former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, on charges of Sexual Assault and attempted rape begins in edinburgh. A final farewell to royal duties. The duke and duchess of sussex prepare to carry out their last Public Engagement as senior members of the royal family. Good morning. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. The Prime Minister will chair a cobra meeting of senior ministers within the next hour, to discuss the countrys response to the coronavirus following the uks third death linked to the illness. The meeting is expected to focus on the possible move from the first containment phase of a four part government strategy, to the second stage of delaying its spread. Within the last hour, Public Health wales has confirmed a further two cases of the virus, which brings the total number of cases in the uk to 280. Yesterday saw the largest increase in uk cases in one day. Public Health England said that a third person has died with the covid 19 disease. The man in his 60s, who had Underlying Health problems, tested positive for the virus and died at North Manchester general hospital. Fears are growing that the economy will be hit by uncertainty as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The ftse 100 fell by almost 9 percent on opening this morning, after an Oil Price War was launched between saudi arabia and russia. If the government decides to move to the second phase of its plans to tackle coronavirus the delay phase it could consider several social distancing measures to limit the spread of the virus, including banning sporting events, encouraging people to work from home to avoid using public transport, and possibly closing schools. We can speak now to our assistant Political Editor norman smith, hes in westminster for us. White like a lot of things to weigh up, norman. It is that fine line between making sure it is contained, not spreading fear, and not causing too much disruption unnecessarily. It isa too much disruption unnecessarily. It is a delicate balancing act, and we may just be it is a delicate balancing act, and we mayjust be days away from moving to the second phase, but my sense this morning is that we may not actually get that decision to move to the delay phase today. Certainly, the mood music from ministers is, they want to push back that decision, provided it is compliant with the medical advice as far as possible. Partly thats because they dont want to cause unnecessary economic damage, to room impose to impose restrictions unless they absolutely have to. I think there is absolutely have to. I think there is a nervousness that if they go to early in terms of travel curbs and so early in terms of travel curbs and so forth, it will be hard to sustain over a long period, and maybe people will become a bit blase and complacent about those sort of restrictions and might in the end begin to ignore travel advice, and that sort of thing. And also, there isa that sort of thing. And also, there is a desire to make it easier for the nhs. The further you can push this away from winter. There are a lot of reasons not to go early in terms of moving to the second stage, but as ministers have always said, it will depend on the sort of medical advice. It will depend on the sort of medicaladvice. Listening it will depend on the sort of medical advice. Listening to the culture secretary this morning, he seemed to be indicating that today may not be the moment they move to the second phase. We are constantly engaging with releva nt we are constantly engaging with relevant sectors, including the sports bodies, who met with the chief medical officer. They will be on again today. We are guided by the facts and evidence, and at the moment the advice is clear there is not i need to cancel such events. Indeed, i was at twickenham on saturday with the Prime Minister. We had a huge crowd of people there, so there is no reason for people not to attend such events or to cancel at this stage, but we will keep it under review. A lot going on today in terms of coronavirus. The environment secretary is meeting supermarket bosses to discuss how you can ensure supplies to those who are self isolating, how you can count a panic buying. We also have government officials meeting some of the leading Sports Organisations to look at where there sporting events have to be held behind closed doors. The other big event coming quickly is the budget on wednesday. A lot of thought going on into how you can minimise any Significant Impact on business in terms of supplies coming into business and also in terms of demand. Whether the banks can be encouraged not to demand repayment of loa ns, encouraged not to demand repayment of loans, whether they can take a step back. This morning, there was advice from the former chancellor, george osborne. Listen to his thoughts. If i was chancellor, i dont want some complicated scheme that will work in six months time. I dont want to set up some new Computer System that will be operational by september. I need to use operational by september. I need to use the tools available to me right iiow use the tools available to me right now to help people who are either unable to work because their business is shot or they are self isolating, or indeed they have got the virus, and to help those businesses, particularly small and medium sized businesses, that will have very limited cash reserves and therefore could go into bankruptcy. The other interesting thing about the budget is whether coronavirus provides an excuse or a rationale, if you like, for the government to break its own fiscal rules i set out in the manifesto, in other words, to allow the chancellor to spend a good deal more money. You would imagine getting round coronavirus might actually provide a reason to do that, although i think there is a widespread view in westminster that borisjohnson would like to get those rules to give himself greater scope to spend more money for his so called levelling up. Scope to spend more money for his socalled levelling up. Norman, thank you very much. The budget on wednesday, of course. Meanwhile, here are some of the other things we currently know about what is happening with coronavirus. The government says it is working intensively to arrange repatriation flights for british people on the grand princess cruise ship. Englands exam regulator said it maintains its advice to schools to prepare for exams as normal, but it is continuing to consult with exam boards and monitor the situation. Authorities in vietnam have made the decision to suspend visa free travel for citizens from eight european countries, including the uk. Our Health CorrespondentMichele Roberts is here. They are discussing whether so called social distancing measures might need to be brought in. They have a four stage strategy for dealing with the virus. Talk us through the stages and what each means. We are very much in the containment phase, which is about trying to identify people who might have the virus, test them and also trace any close contacts they have had to try and stop it spreading. What they are discussing today is whether we need to move to the next stage, which is about delaying. This is because they think there are no more cases that we are going to be seeing in the coming weeks and months. Its not just seeing in the coming weeks and months. Its notjust cases that have been caught abroad. We are seeing some have been caught abroad. We are seeing some cases have been caught abroad. We are seeing some cases within the uk as well, and we dont know how big thats going to get. So the whole point of the delay phase is to try and minimise the numbers that we see ina big and minimise the numbers that we see in a big clump together to buy time tow the nhs has capacity to treat those who are most vulnerable and might need care. What is the Tipping Point . It seems ironic to bring in really stringent measures once you think the horse has actually boated, when there are Community Cases and it is spreading amongst communities. So how do they decide what comes in and when . It is all about timing. They are closely monitoring the number of cases they are seeing. As they see that increasing, more measures will be needed to try and plan and future proof. The nhs has capacity to treat patients. We know that vulnerable elderly people need more support, so it is a respiratory problem and they might need extra oxygen and intensive care beds, so thatis oxygen and intensive care beds, so that is really where the pressure will be within the nhs. And that is what the experts are trying to mitigate against. They are trying to buy time so that we dont see a massive influx of patients who need that type of care. Alongside that, the third phase is research, so we still dont have a vaccine we can offer people yet, but there is Research Going on to try and find the one that can work for people. There are also good antiviral drugs available at the moment that they are testing to see if they will work and help patients. Then the fourth phaseis and help patients. Then the fourth phase is mitigation, which is really about when you have got a lot of the virus circulating, numbers are going up virus circulating, numbers are going up dramatically, it is prioritising ca re up dramatically, it is prioritising care and making sure that the peak is as low as it can be. So, you mentioned about supplies there, the good antiviral drugs that may help here. Also obviously testing kits. Is there enough of what is required out there, even before we get to talk about beds and nhs resorting to deal with patients . We are coming to the end of winter. The further we can push this more into spring and summer, the better in terms of capacity within the nhs. There are beds available at the moment, but obviously, the nhs is a limited resource, so obviously, the nhs is a limited resource, so the whole point is trying to make sure that the pressure can be eased as much as possible. A lot of people who get this virus wont have severe symptoms, and they can manage their own condition at home, which is really good news. Obviously, they need to make sure they are not passing it to other people, which is why they are saying to self isolate for 1h days if you think you may have caught the infection. Not eve ryo ne have caught the infection. Not everyone will need to be tested. When the numbers get bigger, if people have very mild symptoms, a fever and a cough, they dont need a test. At the higher risk people who can get really serious respiratory symptoms and will probably need intensive care treatment, those are the ones that we really need to be thinking about. Is there any measure, any stats being put out, about increased pressure already in terms of people calling up the Emergency Services worried about symptoms, worrying about what they should do . Obviously, people will be getting colds and regularflu should do . Obviously, people will be getting colds and regular flu at this time of the year anyway, and its not always completely clear what the symptoms might relate to. It is good news that we have nhs 111 , it is good news that we have nhs 111, so people have been using that service. They have you can phone in around the uk, phoned the number. Nhs england set up a website that you can nhs england set up a website that you can go nhs england set up a website that you can go on, a dedicated coronavirus website. That has had have over 1 coronavirus website. That has had have over1 Million People use it in the 11 days it has been available. People are accessing help and support, which is important in this situation. Demand will probably keep going up, and its a question of how to keep pace with that. Thank you very much. Meanwhile in italy, the Prime Minister has today called the coronavirus outbreak, his countrys darkest hour. 16 Million People are subject to strict quarantine measures in the north of the country, to try to curb the spread of coronavirus, and the Foreign Office is warning against all but essential travel to the region. The Quarantine Zone, in the area of lombardy, includes the city of milan along with 1a provinces. The Airline Easyjet has cancelled some flights to and from the region. 366 people have died in italy after contracting covid 19, the highest number in any country outside china. Our rome correspondent, mark lowen, has more. Like a scene from a nightmare that italy is now living. Sealed inside, a 62 year old man, fallen to the virus. Hes been contained. The outbreak hasnt. Hes transported to hospitals, stretched to the limit. Medics say corridors are being used for intensive care units, and one of the worlds best Health Care Systems is near breaking point. The surge in cases has now prompted the most drastic restrictions here since the second world war. Italys financial capital, milan, is bare, virtually locked down, along with 1a provinces. A quarter of the population, quarantined. Everyone returning to the uk from the area must now self isolate. Italys second city, usually teeming with life, is hushed, access in or out strictly limited. Venice is part of the restricted area, one of italys tourism jewels, deserted by a mixture of quarantine and fear. At the vatican, decades of tradition were broken, as the pope made his sunday blessing by video stream, rather than at the window, to a st Peters Square usually filled with thousands. Faith that this will pass is sorely lacking. Mark lowen, bbc news, northern italy. In italys worst affected region, lombardy, the official in charge of coordinating intensive care units has told the bbc that if the infection continues to spread at its current rate, they will soon run out of intensive care beds as our correspondent bethany bell reports. Its a very big concern here, and i think one of the things, the reasons why the government decided to impose these very strict measures is that they are concerned about the intensive care units. And this is all happening, of course, in italys wealthy northern regions, which have very good hospitals. In the south of italy, thats not the case, and if you start seeing the spread of the coronavirus down there, that could mean coronavirus down there, that could m ea n really coronavirus down there, that could mean really difficult situations. You imagine that these intensive ca re you imagine that these intensive care units are having to deal with all of the coronavirus cases, what happens to people who have other Health Conditions that require intensive care because like i was speaking to somebody living inside the Quarantine Zone yesterday, and she was telling me, its a very yearly thing. The streets are empty, but you do hear the whole time many more ambulance sirens. She says its a very strange feeling. Intensive care beds are important because in the most extreme cases, coronavirus can cause lung failure as well as kidney and heart problems. There are more than 4,000 intensive care beds across the uk but about four fifths are occupied, according to latest figures. So is the nhs ready . Lets speak to doctor alison pittard, the dean of the faculty of intensive care medicine. She is also a working intensive care consultant, and joins me from leeds. Thank you very much forjoining us. That point, then, straight up four fifths of intensive care beds occupied. Obviously, there is a geographical spread. What does it mean if someone needs one with coronavirus . How does it get managed ina coronavirus . How does it get managed in a practical fashion . Coronavirus . How does it get managed in a practicalfashion . You are quite right, we do struggle with our Critical Care capacity. One of the reasons for that is that weve seen over the last ten years there has been a steady increase in demand for Critical Care by about 4 , year on year. What we havent seen is the corresponding increase in Critical Care beds, so we are already starting from a situation where we have high occupancy rates and having to look at how we manage Critical Care patients. The most important thing to say is, patients will remain the focus of our care, and we will make sure that anyone who comes into hospital or requires our Critical Care services will get the high quality care that they require. Sorry to interrupted, but how do you guarantee that when, if and when it becomes a numbers game and when it becomes a numbers game and there simply arent the beds to accommodate all the patients that require them . The nhs is used to preparing for emergencies. We have very good plans that are practised all the time. What every organisation is currently doing is looking at its current capacity, seeing where it can free up beds, and also looking at other areas in the hospital that meet the safety requirements where patients could be managed if necessary. We will always make sure that patients who need emergency care, whether that be for coronavirus or something else, will be cared for. The thing that will have to be looked at is other areas of health care, particularly elective surgery, where cancelling those operations will have minimal impact on the patient. When would a measure like that come in, to cancel elective surgery . That sort of measure happens quite frequently, even measure happens quite frequently, even without the situation we have at the moment, so there are times through the year when we do struggle to have empty Critical Care beds to ta ke to have empty Critical Care beds to take in patients, so this will vary amongst organisations, but because we dont have enough intensive care beds to meet normal demand, this is one of the things that happens all the time. Are you worried . Yes, of course. And everyone within the Health Care Profession is worried. I would like to reassure patients that everything we can possibly do to ensure patients get the care they require is being done, and we have to see how this all pans out, but we are preparing for the worst case scenario. You described the physical aspect of beds and where they are in hospital. Of course, they are useless without the people to care for the patients in those beds. There is already a shortage of medical staff. How do you get medical staff. How do you get medical staff . There has been the suggestion that people are drafted backin suggestion that people are drafted back in from retirement, but speaking to some of them, they are in the vulnerable category because they are the people who are most at risk, older people, when it comes to dealing with coronavirus. What are your thoughts on how to manage the Staff Shortages . Exactly, and if the government decided that recently retired Health Care Workers would come back to help, it may be that they are not involved in the direct front line care, so it reduces their risk of contracting coronavirus but support the service behind the scenes. It is notjust doctors that are important. Nurses and other Health Care Professionals are absolutely vital to the way that we manage patients, so i think its really important that we look after our staff to make sure they can provide the high quality care that will be now, but also that once this is over, we can continue to provide care. Thank you very much for joining us. A cruise liner which has been off the coast of california since thursday, after an outbreak of coronavirus was found on board, is expected to dock in the commercial port of oakland, near san francisco. There are 3,500 people on board the grand princess, including 142 british nationals. The passengers will be taken to different destinations, depending on where theyre from. Our los angeles correspondent sophie long sent this update. The first people to be taken off the ship will be people in acute need. The second will be californians, who will be taken for monitoring. The next will be other us citizens not from california. The last people to be taken off the boat, we believe, could be the international passengers, among them 142 british people, who we are told will be taken to people, who we are told will be ta ken to oakland people, who we are told will be taken to oakland airport, where they will be repatriated. We have heard from the Foreign Office, and they say they are working very closely with the authorities here to arrange a flight to take those 142 british people back to the uk. We dont know where they will go after that or how long that process will take. This whole operation could take several days. For the passengers, whole operation could take several days. Forthe passengers, more whole operation could take several days. For the passengers, more than 2500 of those, the end could be in sight. They will be off that ship at some point in the nearfuture. A different story to the more than 1100 crew. They will be treated and quarantined on the ship, and the ship will not be allowed to remain alongside in oakland. And coming up at 11. 30, well be answering your questions on the spread and containment coronavirus with dr mike tildesley, an assosciate professor of Infectious Diseases at the university of warwick. Get in touch with the hashtag bbcyourquestions on social media or you can send an email to yourquestions bbc. Co. Uk and you can keep up with the latest developments about the coronavirus outbreak, the symptoms to watch out for, how to guard against the virus and what it means for you, on the bbc news app and on our website. The trial of the former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, on charges of Sexual Assault and attempted rape gets underway in edinburgh today. Mr salmond is charged with a string of Sexual Offences against 10 women. He denies all the charges against him. With more details here is our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon. For more than 30 years, alex salmond was at the top of scottish politics. Today he goes on trial accused of multiple Sexual Offences, all alleged to have happened while he was serving as first minister and leader of the snp. Speaking outside court last year, he strenuously denied all the charges he was facing. Im innocent, and i will defend my position vigorously. Alex salmond faces 12 charges of Sexual Assault and two of indecent assault. They date from 2008 to 2014. Ten women are said to have been victims, some of them more than once. Among the charges is one attempted rape and one assault with intent to rape. Nine of the alleged assaults are said to have been taken place at bute house, the first ministers official residence in edinburgh, including the alleged attempted rape, in which mr salmond is said to have pinned a woman against a wall, removing her clothes and his own before lying naked on top of her. The charges span many years and many locations a restaurant in glasgow, a nightclub in edinburgh, a car, Stirling Castle and the scottish parliament. Mr salmond has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges he is facing. The trial at the high court in edinburgh is expected to last four weeks. Lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh. And lorna is outside the court in edinburgh. What are we expecting to happen today . Alex salmond, perhaps the most high profile scottish politician in recent times, today is in the dock here at the high court in the centre of edinburgh, facing those 14 charges against ten women, all of which he strenuously denies. He arrived at the court at around 8 30am. There was considerable media interest in his arrival. What we expect to happen this morning is for them to create the jewelry. That will be 15 strong. They only have to reach a majority verdict at the end to acquit or convict on each of those separate 14 charges. We expect thejury to be those separate 14 charges. We expect the jury to be instated this morning. Then it goes straight into the witnesses. The evidence will start pretty quickly. We expect perhaps the first witness to appear this afternoon. That trial is expected to last four weeks. Thats the best guidance weve been given. It could be shorter or a little longer. Mr salmond strenuously denying all the charges he is facing. Thank you, lorna. A man has been shot dead by police in westminster after brandishing two knives at officers in a non terror related incident. Metropolitan police said officers were patrolling the area near northumberland avenue at about 11. 30pm last night when they noticed the man acting suspiciously. The independent office for Police Conduct have been informed. The first chairman of the equality and human rights commission, trevor phillips, says hes been suspended by the labour party. Mr phillips, an anti racism campaigner who said before the last election that he couldnt vote for the party, has been accused of islamophobia, an allegation he denies. Labour is currently being investigated by the commission over its handling of anti semitism. The duke and duchess of sussex will make their final public appearance as royals later today. Harry and meghan willjoin the queen and other senior members of the royal family at a service in london to mark Commonwealth Day. Our royal correspondent, Daniela Relph has more, and just a warning that this report contains flashing images from the start. There has been a flurry of engagements for the duke and duchess of sussex over recent days. The interest in them perhaps even more intense knowing they are moving away from this kind of public work. It is a significant moment as harry and meghan head towards a life away from royal duty that is financially independent. Today they will again be at Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth Day service. Last year, they were expectant parents, with meghan seven months pregnant. Back then, it was thought their future was one as popular working royals, to raise awareness and money for the chosen projects. But the landscape is now very different. They return to Westminster Abbey alongside the queen and senior members of the royal family they will now leave behind. It is expected harry and meghan will return to canada shortly after the service, and to their son archie. The plan is for them to still attend some royal events, but these will not be classed as official duties and they will no longer receive public money. The new arrangements will be reviewed in 12 months time. Daniela relph, bbc news. Time for a look at the weather with simon king. We have sunshine in central and eastern parts of the uk. This was the scene a short time ago in lincolnshire, with cumulus clouds in the sky. But the cloud will increase today. It is already in Northern Ireland, spreading into western scotland, wales and the south west of england during the afternoon. Moving further east, you will see the cloud increasing in eastern parts, the rain not arriving here until later in the evening. Maximum temperatures of 9 12dc. Eventually, the rain spreads to the east, but it is across wales and north west england where the met office have issued an amber warning for that rainfall, as it lasts all night tonight and into tomorrow morning. It could have an impact on river systems. We are keeping a close eye on that. Temperatures down to 4 8dc. Sunny spells and showers across northern areas, cloudy in the south, a bit of rain, but turning quite mild if not one, highs of 16 celsius in london. Goodbye for now. Hello, this is bbc newsroom live the headlines. The Prime Minister is chairing a meeting of the cobra emergency committe to discuss plans to delay the spread of coronavirus, after a third person dies in the uk. Markets are worried. The ftse falls 9 after opening as overnight Oil Prices Crash by nearly a third. Italys Prime Minister says its his countrys darkest hour as 16 Million People, more than a quarter of its population, is quarantined. The trial of the former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, on charges of Sexual Assault and attempted rape begins in edinburgh. A final farewell to royal duties. The duke and duchess of sussex prepare to carry out their last Public Engagement as senior members of the royal family. Good morning. Sporting events in britain are unlikely to be affected by coronavirus in the immediate future, according to the culture secretary oliver dowden. Governing bodies and broadcasters are meeting with government officials today to discuss the staging of events behind closed doors if the outbreak worsens and Mass Gatherings are banned. There is not i need to cancel such events. Indeed, i was at twickenham on saturday with the Prime Minister. We had a huge crowd of people there, so there is no reason for people not to attend such events or to cancel at this stage, but we will keep it under review. We are cognisa nt we are cognisant of the impact cancelling events would have and under the advice of the medical officer, it is clear we should not be cancelling so we will not be cancelling any. Outside the uk events continue to be affected. Overnight a decsion was taken to cancel the indian wells tennis tournament in california because of fears over the spread of the virus. Health officials said there was too great a risk to hold a large gathering of this size. Many of the players, including rafael nadal, had already arrived for the event. Earlier we asked our tennis correspondent Russell Fuller what the ramifications were for the tour what the ramifications were for the tour. Ifa if a decision is taken to cancel a tennis event because of one local case in the area, you would think be very difficult for any major events to be played in the weeks and months to be played in the weeks and months to come. It may well be that other events to come. It may well be that other eve nts ta ke to come. It may well be that other events take a slightly different view. If we look ahead to miami, that takes place in florida. There are already three confirmed cases of the coronavirus there. And a very big Music Festival in march has already been called off. The wta chief executive says it is too early to say that after miami, the tour moves on to europe. Big events are scheduled there in monte carlo, and madrid and most notably in rome. So i think there have to be serious questions about whether tennis can put together a calendar over the weeks and months to come. The Champions League game between psg and Borussia Dortmund will take place behind closed doors. The Paris Police Authority have ordered that no fans attend the last 16 second leg at the parc des princes because of concerns about the outbreak. Dortmund lead the tie 2 1. Its not often that Manchester United do liverpool a favour, even less often they help their old rivals to beat one of their own long standing records. But uniteds win oer Manchester City in the derby is likely to have done both. The 2 0 victory means liverpool only need two more wins to claim the premier league title. Anthony martials shot squeezing under ederson for the first at old trafford. Worse was to come for the city keeper; deep into injury time ederson threw the ball out, straight to scott mctominay. Liverpool are even more likely to win the league earlier than ever before, beating uniteds record from 2001. Its fantastic you know, for the fans, players, the team, the whole club, to be able to beat manc city at home is important. Weve not done it for a while, so it was a big game for us. Englands women picked up a much needed win in the she believes cup. They were beaten 2 0 by hosts usa in theirfirst game, but last night they beat the 2011 world champions japan. Manchester citys ellen white scored the only goal of the game with just six minutes to go. The coronavirus outbreak means we could have a long wait to see wholl win this years six nations championship. Scotlands victory over france means england could win the tournament by beating italy in theirfinal match. But thats been postponed because of the virus frances hopes of completing the grand slam were dealt a huge blow when prop was sent off for punching man of the match jamie ritchie. Sean maitland scored two tries and Stuart Mcinally finished them off with this in their win by 28 points to 17. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Now its time for your questions answered on bbc news, where well be answering your questions about coronavirus. With me to answer some of your questions is doctor mike tildesley, an associate professor of Infectious Diseases at the university of warwick. Welcome, thank you forjoining us. Good morning. Tony asks on twitter, is the rise of covid 19 cases due to more testing for the disease now we know what execs exists . If that is the case, would be find more exa m ples if we the case, would be find more examples if we tested people who had a p pa re ntly examples if we tested people who had apparently had flu . Examples if we tested people who had apparently had flu . This is a really good question and one of the real challenges we have when were trying to predict the number of of coronavirus. If we see the situation in china, we are only reporting people who have quite severe symptoms and are seeking treatment. The big difficulty we have at the moment is trying to identify people in the community who may have had much milder symptoms. Flu like symptoms, cough and cold and so forth and have not sought treatment. One of the things that hasnt happening in the uk when we have seen cases a door happening in the uk when we have seen cases a door is what has been called Contact Tracing to find people who may have been in contact with confirmed cases to do exactly that, then test those. It is actually possible that there may have been people who had flu like symptoms in the population and have not been confirmed. And it is one of the really important things we should try to do to determine how badly the outbreak could get. Amanda says we are being told not to touch our faces, nose and says we are being told not to touch ourfaces, nose and mouth says we are being told not to touch our faces, nose and mouth so why is mask wearing actively discouraged . It will at least provide a barrier. This is a really difficult one. There has been lots of advice about this. The difficulty with standard surgical masks is they dont prevent all infection from happening, they dont fit perfectly around the mouth and nose. It is still possible to be infected if you ever mask. It will reduce risk and little bit and that is evidence to suggest that wearing a mask will slightly reduce your risk of being infected. However, some risk of being infected. However, some Research Shows that some people who wear masks actually might not follow other good hygiene practices as much because they do use a mask somehow being preventative. I would say it is, it will reduce risk slightly but it is not a substitute for maintaining good hygiene practices, regular handwashing, minimising contact with suspected infected individuals. If person to person spread is being witnessed. Why are people who have not been abroad or have no contact with an infected person not being tested . With an infected person not being tested . Italy with an infected person not being tested . Italy has with an infected person not being tested . Italy has done a lot of testing to limit the spread. Is there a reason why the uk is not testing as widely . It is a really good question. Everything keeps relating back to, you only need to worry if you have had direct contact with someone from an affected area but there is community spreading now . This is another good question, this is something that is not being as widely reported. There has been quite a significant number of people tested in the uk. It is in the tens of thousands. Possibly not quite as many as having tested in italy but thatis many as having tested in italy but that is because we have a worth 7000 confirmed cases in italy compared with round about 300 and the uk. What is happening in the moment is this Contact Tracing going on to try to identify high risk individuals and then they are being tested. That number is in the tens of thousands. The vast majority of those have been tested negative. Of course, the figures reported, the 300 so with confirmed infection. Terry, via e mail. Confirmed infection. Terry, via email. This is an excellent question. I will start by saying this is not exactly my direct area of expertise. This is something called plasma therapy. It has been used in previous outbreaks, it was used in previous outbreaks, it was used to treat patients for Avian Influenza and the recent bowler crisis we saw in africa to treat some crisis we saw in africa to treat some patients. There is work going on currently in china to look at potential effectiveness of this plasma therapy. At the moment, it is really unclear how effective that would be for the current coronavirus outbreak. I think if the virus could be spread by touching hard surfaces, it could be spread by envelopes. Keith has come up with a specific example of envelopes but people are talking about bank machines. About everything that you are touching and who might have touched again, this difficult. It is hard to advise someone difficult. It is hard to advise someone not to take precautions to minimise the risk of infection. What i will is, always look up the current advice coming from Public Health england and there is actually a report that has come out from public alpha england saying there is no documented evidence from the china outbreak that has been infection through infected post and so infection through infected post and so forth. That said, it is really important to maintain good practices to minimise risk. There is evidence the virus can survive on surfaces for a few hours. Again, i would emphasise the need for following good hygiene practice and if you are ina good hygiene practice and if you are in a particularly high risk situation, if you feel you have been in contact with confirmed cases, it is with the important to take these came the precautions to minimise risk. John on twitter asks. This is a really hard to call and i suspect we might see some decisions being made in the next few days as is going to happen. We are in a situation of what we would currently call the containment phase where we are dealing with most of the cases that have come into the country, which have been through travelling back into the uk or through direct contact with those people. Of course, this is an evolving situation. We have seen the number of case rise over the weekend. It is a lwa ys of case rise over the weekend. It is always a really difficult trade off because if we want to minimise risk. We need to start putting in these kinds of isolation measures but that needs to be traded off against the cost of those isolation measures taking place for some any sort of decision like this needs to be made, taking into account the current trust, national level. And i suspect over the coming days we will have a much better understanding of how much better understanding of how much risk there might be and we may see much risk there might be and we may see the government advice change. To go back to the point you made in your first answer about the symptoms that people might be showing on whether on not it may actually be coronavirus, people may have had it without realising, you said if you have minor flu without realising, you said if you have minorflu or without realising, you said if you have minor flu or cold without realising, you said if you have minorflu or cold symptoms, they are all quite different symptoms but the symptoms we are told to look out for four coronavirus are specific. Temperature, the lack of breath, and the deep chesty cough. How is this so the deep chesty cough. How is this so much potential that other, a cold, could be a sign of it . This problem we have with coronavirus is that there is a whole range of severities of symptoms depending upon the individual. Some people may literally have a cold and a cough and essentially as we said, think they have some sort of flu and will recover. The more severe cases that. To get respiratory difficulties and it could be much more serious. This is the real challenge that we have had and as i said earlier, there is evidence to suggest that there may be some proportionate individuals who who are almost asymptomatic and are essentially infected but dont really have any symptoms. That is what makes this disease really hard to get ahead. The other aspect of it is that it is complicated by the incubation period of the disease. People can be infected for up to two weeks and not show any symptoms before they start to have these symptoms. That is why it is actually very difficult to put in the right measures to try to control the outbreak. It has been great to to you. Thank you very much for answering reviewers questions. Thank you very much. In a moment well have all the Business News, but first the headlines on bbc news. A meeting of the governments Emergency Cobra Committee gets underway to discuss how to delay the spread of coronavirus. The ftse falls 9 percent the ftse falls 9 after opening this morning as overnight Oil Prices Crash by nearly a third. Italys Prime Minister says its his countrys darkest hour as 16 Million People more than a quarter the Business News now on bbc news. The uks leading share index is facing its worst day since the 2008 financial crisis after billions were wiped off the value of top shares. Stocks were already reeling from fears of the impact of the coronavirus as cases globally continue to rise having a severe impact on businesses, staff and productivity, but also limiting travel, tourism and large public events. The dramatic drop follows global falls as a row between russia and saudi saw Oil Prices Plunge by more than a fifth. The day has already been dubbed black monday by analysts who described the Market Reaction as utter carnage. A government minister has said there is no need for coronavirus stockpiling, as worried shoppers clear shelves. Tesco and waitrose are among retailers restricting sales of essential food and household items, in store or online. Shoppers have reported shortages of items such as toilet roll and hand soap at their local stores. Lets show you whats happening on Global Stock Markets right now after that big sell off. And just for some context, let me show you how that compares to the previous biggest losses on the ftse100. Here are the three largest falls on the ftse100. 10. 8 slump on so called black monday, when shares fell sharply around the world. Oil price down as well. Huge sell off on the market for the reasons we sell off on the market for the reasons we have talked about. The concern about what the Coronavirus Spread could mean for all sorts of businesses. Staff are staying at home, people not travelling, that is why these markets are looking like that. Here are the three largest falls on the ftse100. 10. 8 slump on so called black monday, when shares fell sharply around the world. The day after, that sell off continued, ending 12. 2 lower. But then it took until 2008 for the next largest drop, oct of 2008 when Lehman Brothers collapsed sparking the Global Financial crisis. That significant full of nearly 9 ona par that significant full of nearly 9 on a par with 2008, shares in london down 6. 5 . Lets talk about why and what could happen next. Szu ping chan our business reporterjoins us now. Give us a sense of what practice. The markets pretty turbulent of the last couple of weeks as a result of coronavirus. This morning, the floodgates opened. If you go back even floodgates opened. If you go back even further before this coronavirus broke out, the Global Economy was looking pretty weak and at the end of last week, a group of Oil Producing nations got pull some Oil Producing nations got pull some oil back from the market to support prices because when the economy is weak, people dont want oil. They got together and said lets cut a little bit more and in order to do this, lets get russia which is not a member of that club to join in. U nfortu nately a member of that club to join in. Unfortunately those members fell out, they did not agree the price fell about 9 on friday and over the weekend, saudi arabia said those nine or 10 Million Barrels a day that we put onto the market, we will put them on sale and they actually cut the price, that they officially sell to the market and that as you mentioned the oil price was down up to 30 . Interesting oil and stock markets so closely linked because what we tend to see, normally, is that the two dont really move in tandem. It is a case of the stock market is not doing well, we get sense market is not doing well, we get sense oil prices are factored by so many other things. Why are they moving in tandem and why are people so moving in tandem and why are people so spooked . They respect already. This has booked them even more. Look at bp. They are down 17 . Falls because there is panic because if the economy is not going, people are not demanding oil, that is dragging down goes back oil majors, some of them are quite heavily in debt so you are seeing big falls in some other Oil Producers and that is dragging down the market in general. I looked at the ftse100 dragging down the market in general. I looked at the ftse 100 just before icame on i looked at the ftse 100 just before i came on air, there is not a single stock that is up today. We were looking at some of that context, historically and how it compares. At its current position it is seventh worst loss but as it opened this morning, that 8. 5 makes it the fourth largest. Should people be worried . It is very hard to tell right now because as you say, whether it is going to be a 9 fall, the second worst since the financial crisis on a 6 fall, it will be pretty bad. It is notjust the ftse 100, it is the italian stock markets which are down 10 . Germany and france are down as well and people are worried whether these economies can, will go into recession. Italys economy contracted at the end of last year and many are saying there are further false, full look at lombardy where milan is based. That region accounts for a fifth of grows, people are saying it be bad. Whether it is the fourth on the seventh or second biggest fall, it will be bad times ahead. You are quite right. Good to put it in context. Good to talk to you. We will keep a very close eye on how that progresses over the course of the day. We will get an idea of how america looks when the stock markets openjust after america looks when the stock markets open just after lunchtime. We will look crucially at how it ends today because there are all of volatility during the day with the crucial bit being how it opens and ends. We will watch that for you. More later. This week across the bbc, stories sourced and produced by young people will be shared as part of the bbc young reporter project. Thousands of 11 to 18 year olds have the opportunity to tell the stories which matter to them. 11 year old zoe, has a form of dwarfism and won the chance to film and produce her own special report covering a day in her life while at school and at home. Lets take a look. My name is zoe. Im 11 years old and this year i started senior school. Ive got an older brother called jacob, and heres my mum, py when i was younger i was diagnosed with a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita. Sedc for short. It affects the way my bones grow, which means im shorter than most people my age. The people i know and love treat me like their equal, as anyone with my condition should be treated. But strangers dont always understand. When i go out and people dont know me, lots of them assume straightaway that im younger. I get patted on the head by adults and called cute, or sometimes they even talk to my mum about me because they dont think i can answer. I applied for the bbc young reporter because i thought it was a great way to share my story and to show other people what i can do. So, now im in my carand im ready to go to school. Because of my condition, i have to have my legs at a 90 degree angle. Theyve got me stools, theyve got me cushions for behind my back, theyve got me steps that i can use in my science and my dt. The initial temperature of copper sulphate. Im going to go get that one. Sedc has given me some positives. I got stronger and i got more confident. If youre going to handle these everyday things, you dont want to just meltdown every time someone says something. I wanted to ask my parents about how they found out about my condition. When we found out that you had spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita. We had to learn how to spell it first well, we did, but we didnt really know what it was. We only knew when you were born that you were small. Through all my life youve made adaptations, had you made any before you realised youd made any . When you were in a pushchair, people looked at you as if you were just a really young child. And when we put you in a wheelchair, not only did it lift you up so that you were a better height to see people and be part of the world, it showed that actually you were a child with a physical difference rather than just a little child, you know, a toddler or whatever. Because the pushchair also made me feel quite young. I prefer people come and talk to me, than look and not know. You dont want people. To make assumptions. My favourite quote is from doctor seuss and it is a person is a person no matter how small, which really fits me. Such an articulate reporter. Zoe will be here to tell us all about her experience as the bbcs young reporter after 8. 30. Some sunny spells at the moment across central and eastern parts of the uk but a few changes in the forecast, the weather, as we go into the afternoon. This is the scene in kent and you will probably keep those sunny spells well into the afternoon but elsewhere, this massive cloud is moving in from the atlantic. That is rain bearing clouds and we have already seen some rain across Northern Ireland. It will continue into scotland, wales and the south west of england, the further east you are staying drier for longer, you may hold onto some brighter skies across eastern areas into the afternoon. Elsewhere that rain spreads in. Temperatures well be 912dc. Rain spreads in. Temperatures well be 9 12dc. Across the west we are keeping a close eye on things. Across wales and North Western areas of england where the rainfall will be heavy and quite persistent throughout the night. We have a warning from the met office, an amberwarning, warning from the met office, an amber warning, covering central parts of wales because that rainfall keeps going throughout the night and heavy at times and quite significant rainfall totals. That will feed into the weather system which could cause some the weather system which could cause some issues the weather system which could cause some issues over the weather system which could cause some issues over the next few days. Overnight temperatures down to six, eight. Throughout tuesday, this weather system and then of south westerly wind. That will start to bring in some milder air if not warmer. Tuesday, that whether across wales, north west england, sunny spells in the northern half of the uk, further south more cloud. A few spots of rain. Quite breezy conditions for many of us on tuesday. Gusts up to 50 or 55 miles an hour in then. Not quite as mild further north, nine or 10 degrees. Going into tuesday night, we still have this weather system, just daisy chaining out towards the south west, bringing some cloud and rain as we go into wednesday. Light and patchy rain, tending to drift away. Some sharers moving into scotland, wintry over higher ground. More in the way of showery rehman into Northern Ireland later. Maximum temperatures lower on wednesday. 14 degrees in the south west, 7 10 elsewhere. At the south west, 7 10 elsewhere. At the end of the week, fairly u nsettled, the end of the week, fairly unsettled, some strong wind and then rain at times. Worth staying tuned to the forecast. Goodbye. Youre watching bbc newsroom live its midday and these are the main stories this morning the governments Emergency Cobra Committee meet to discuss drastic measures to try to delay the spread of the coronavirus but ministers say theres no need cancel large scale events yet. At this stage, we are still in the contain phase, and that means there is no need to cancel such events, no need for people not to go to sporting events, museums and so on. Market concern the ftse falls 9 percent after opening this morning overnight Oil Prices Crash by nearly a third italys Prime Minister says its his countrys darkest hour as northern italy is in lockdown with 16 Million People quarantined. The trial of the former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, on charges of Sexual Assault and attempted rape begins in edinburgh. A final farewell to royal duties. The duke and duchess of sussex prepare to carry out their last Public Engagement as senior members of the royal family. Good afternoon. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. A meeting of the cobra emerency committee is under way to discuss the countrys response to the coronavirus. It follows the uks third death linked to the illness. The meeting of ministers and officials is expected to focus on the possible move from the first containment phase of a four part government strategy, to the second stage of delaying its spread. Public health wales has confirmed a further two cases of the virus, which brings the total number of cases in the uk to 280. Yesterday saw the largest increase in uk cases in one day. Public Health England said that a third person has died with the covid 19 disease. The man in his 60s, who had Underlying Health problems, tested positive for the virus and died at North Manchester general hospital. Fears are growing that the economy will be hit by uncertainty as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The ftse 100 fell by almost 9 percent on opening this morning, after an Oil Price War was launched between saudi arabia and russia. If the government decides to move to the second phase of its plans to tackle coronavirus the delay phase it could consider several social distancing measures to limit the spread of the virus, including banning sporting events, encouraging people to work from home to avoid using public transport, and possibly closing schools. We can speak now to our assistant Political Editor norman smith, hes in westminster for us. There is a host of events, if you like, going on in government today to address the coronavirus outbreak. We have officials meeting some of the leading figures from the Sports Community to see whether sporting events might have to be cancelled or held behind closed doors. We have other government officials meeting supermarket bosses to see how those people who are self isolating can still get food, what help can be put in place to ensure there are no shortages if there is more panic buying, and we have that cobra meeting going on at the moment, all of which, it has to be said, has failed to satisfy the labour party, because for the first time we have seen because for the first time we have seen that political ceasefire over coronavirus beginning to fray, with a bruising attack in the past hour or so a bruising attack in the past hour or so from the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, who has criticised the Prime Ministerfor, in his words, responding in dribs and drabs and being out of touch, failing to show leadership, saying he should have held the first cobra meeting a lot early on. Also attacking the chancellor, saying, while you are waiting for the budget before coming forward with various measures to support business, he should already be unveiling steps now, and he should be held in holding regular updates. That tentative ceasefire does seem to be fraying now as the crisis begins to unfold. Mr mcdonnell also contrasted the government response today with the response of gordon brown to the economic crisis. Whatever criticism people may have had of Gordon Browns strategy in the banking crisis,. I regret we have not seen that leadership commitment. Or the political, diplomatic and managerial ability from either the Prime Minister or the chancellor i just from either the Prime Minister or the chancellor ijust say gently, someone the chancellor ijust say gently, someone needs to to get a grip. Meanwhile, at that cobra meeting, they will decide whether to move to they will decide whether to move to the second stage of protection, that is moving from the contain to the delay phase. All the indications we have had this morning are that perhaps we havent quite reached that moment, and ministers were keen to push it back as far as possible, in part because they want to minimise the economic disruption and social disruption of having to curb travel or ban various public gatherings. I think there is also a desire to try if at all possible to push that moment back towards the spring and summer, because there is a view that the virus might be slightly less contagious then, and also a broaderfear that slightly less contagious then, and also a broader fear that if they put in place those sort of restrictions now, they will have to be in place for really quite some time, and frankly, the public might grow a bit weary of that and perhaps start to flout any restrictions put in place. The impression we get at the moment is that today may not be the moment when they move to that stage two, and that certainly seemed to be the view of the culture secretary this morning. We are engaging with releva nt morning. We are engaging with relevant sectors, including the sports bodies. They were in last week meeting the deputy chief medical officer and they will be on again today. We are guided by the facts and evidence, and at the moment the advice is clear from the chief medical officer of there isnt a need to cancel such events. Indeed, i was at twickenham on saturday with the Prime Minister. We had a huge crowd of people that might, so there is no reason for people not to attend such events or to cancel them at this stage, but we keep it under review. It may be that todays meeting ends with a holding position, where not much changes beyond the reiteration of the washing hands advice. What will certainly happen on wednesday, i think, when we get the budget, is we will get those measures which the chancellor was talking about over the weekend, to just try and help business through this crisis, providing them maybe with some tax brea ks to providing them maybe with some tax breaks to try and alleviate the pressure they will be under, albeit the shadow chancellor very clear this morning that he thinks that is too late and the government should have been acting sooner. Norman, thank you very much. Meanwhile in italy, the Prime Minister has today called the coronavirus outbreak his countrys darkest hour. 16 Million People are subject to strict quarantine measures in the north of the country to try to curb the spread of coronavirus, and the Foreign Office is warning against all but essential travel to the region. The Quarantine Zone, in the area of lombardy, includes the city of milan along with 14 provinces. The Airline Easyjet has cancelled some flights to and from the region. 366 people have died in italy after contracting covid 19, the highest number in any country outside china. Our rome correspondent, mark lowen has more. Like a scene from a nightmare that italy is now living. Sealed inside, a 62 year old man, fallen to the virus. Hes been contained. The outbreak hasnt. Hes transported to hospitals stretched to the limit. Medics say corridors are being used for intensive care units, and one of the worlds best Health Care Systems is near breaking point. The surge in cases has now prompted the most drastic restrictions here since the second world war. Italys financial capital, milan, is bare, virtually locked down, along with 14 provinces. A quarter of the population, quarantined. Everyone returning to the uk from the area must now self isolate. Italys second city, usually teeming with life, is hushed, access in or out strictly limited. Venice is part of the restricted area, one of italys tourism jewels, deserted by a mixture of quarantine and fear. At the vatican, decades of tradition were broken, as the pope made his sunday blessing by video stream, rather than at the window, to a st Peters Square usually filled with thousands. Faith that this will pass is sorely lacking. Mark lowen, bbc news, northern italy. In italys worst affected region, lombardy, the official in charge of coordinating intensive care units has told the bbc that if the infection continues to spread at its current rate, they will soon run out of intensive care beds as our correspondent bethany bell reports. Its a very big concern here, and i think one of the things, the reasons why the government decided to impose these very strict measures is that they are concerned about the intensive care units. And this is all happening, of course, in italys wealthy northern regions, which have very good hospitals. In the south of italy, thats not the case, and if you start seeing the spread of the coronavirus down there, that could mean really difficult situations. You imagine that these intensive care units are having to deal with all of the coronavirus cases, what happens to people who have other Health Conditions that require intensive care . I was speaking to somebody living inside the Quarantine Zone yesterday, and she was telling me, its a very yearly thing. The streets are empty, but you do hear the whole time is many more ambulance sirens. She says its a very strange feeling. We arejust we are just hearing that transport for london has confirmed that one of its staff has tested positive for coronavirus. The Sun Newspaper is reporting that the worker works in the capitals Traffic Control centre building, that is, away from commuters. Anyone travelling on the underground, it seems that staff we re underground, it seems that staff were told this morning that a colleague was affected with coronavirus. They were ordered to attend work as usual after the office where the person worked was thoroughly deep cleaned. Transport for london confirming one of its staff has tested positive for coronavirus. We are also getting some coronavirus. We are also getting some breaking news from french media that all games on the final day of rugbys six nations championship next saturday have been postponed amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak. It says games between france and ireland in paris and wales in cardiff have been cancelled. They said that news that the finale will be played in october is speculation. All games next saturday have been postponed, until when we dont know. There are reports that a flight from london to vietnam last week has led to over a dozen britons being infected with the coronavirus. Graham craddock and his wife mary were on that flight to vietnam, and have been diagnosed there with having the coronavirus along with, he says, another four britons. We can speak to graham now from the hospital of tropical diseases in hanoi. Graham, thank you very much for joining us. Just explain what has happened to you, because you have tested positive for coronavirus. The first thing to say is that both my wife mary and i are fit and well. We dont have any symptoms, but we have been diagnosed by the authorities in vietnam that we do have the virus. Our story started with getting a flight our story started with getting a flight from london heathrow, and on that flight, someone who was already carrying the virus, which was a bit disappointing, because when we checked in, we were asked if we had been to china, italy, iran or talked to anyone with the virus, and we said no. Iasked to anyone with the virus, and we said no. I asked what would be the situation if we had said yes, and they said, you would not be able to ta ke they said, you would not be able to take the flight. Graham, do stay with us. We have to just say goodbye to viewers in a few moments who are watching us on bbc two. Of course, you can keep up to date with all the very latest details on coronavirus on the bbc news website, the symptoms to look out for, much more useful advice and all the latest fa cts useful advice and all the latest facts and figures on the website. We continue our coverage here on the bbc news channel. Right now, good buy if you are watching us on bbc two. Sorry, graham, just a bit of technical business to deal with there. Hearing what you are saying, that you and your wife arent showing any symptoms, was that your wife i could see just behind your there along with a medic . Yes. Shes having a test at the moment. Obviously, you were quarantined. We saw the medic with full garb to totally protect them. We could see the medic coming in behind you just now with a full protection kit on. |j have to say that vietnam take it very seriously. We lost you momentarily, graham, but i think you were talking about the measures, obviously, that are in place to try to contain this outbreak. And obviously, you have tested positive and that means you are on the front line in terms of being subject to special measures. They are clearly disappointed, because they have done really well. The chinese border is in this area. To have this is a major shock, and i can tell that they intend to close everything very quickly. The hotel that we were staying at when we received the call has been closed in quarantine for 14 days. They are treating everything extremely seriously, and it will cause holidays this holiday disruption. China is a major deliverer of money to tourism, and a lot of the hotels are closed and they are really suffering. This is after their new year, the height of the season, so i feel for the people in the north. I dont know about the south because we havent made it. We are in the first stage of what should have been a great holiday, and we stopped at the first stage. I know you said that you and your wife are not showing symptoms but you have tested positive for this virus. Are you worried about the potential Health Implications for you both . Of course. Last night was, again, after a while, and im a bit of a persistent person, and so is my wife, we have had contact with the British EmbassyNorth Station in hanol British EmbassyNorth Station in hanoi, a couple of telephone calls, and also the Foreign Affairs minister for the district in and also the Foreign Affairs ministerfor the district in hanoi, sorry, not in hanoi, in another place. So, we have been communicating at a high level, but everybody is saying it is a process that the authorities are driving their way through, so we are obliged to comply. So, the decision yesterday, which we were very tormented about, was, do we come to hanoi with people who would be diseased in a hospital when we are feeling absolutely well . Rather than being ina feeling absolutely well . Rather than being in a local hospital, in a disused wing, where there is nobody else around, so we wouldnt have caught diseases necessarily unless we already had them. Mary and i were rather keen to stay where we were, even rather keen to stay where we were, even though the conditions were a bit 805 even though the conditions were a bit 80s hostel, if i could put it that way. We got an upgrade, which meant a working toilet, but it was still pretty basic. This hospital we are in now is state of the art. It deals with tropical diseases, has a special d pressurised suite of rooms, which we are in. There are two beds in this section of this wing, which has seven beds, but only two are occupied. The other four brits are in a section next door. Some of them dont look that well. When you say they dont look that well, what symptoms are they showing . What day they what do they seem like to you . They are sort of coughing and, you know. They are flu like symptoms, i guess. The big argument i had with the doctors was, we have no symptoms, so how come we have the virus . It doesnt make sense have the virus . It doesnt make sense to me. He said, and i dont know if its true, that 80 of those that have the virus do not have symptoms, in which case, this is an incredibly difficult disease to conquer, because you dont know whos got it. Conquer, because you dont know whos got it. Yes, the incubation period, as far as we understand it, is potentially at least two weeks, maybe longer, in which period people can be spreading it. How much travelling have you been doing prior to the point at which were tested and into quarantine . We arrived on sunday, and we left, got put into quarantine on saturday, so we had six days. I had to write about a ten page report for Police Officers on exactly, pretty much minute by minute, who we had seen, where we were, which hotels, restaurants, Tourist Attractions and bars. Im going to have to call a close. They wa nt to ta ke going to have to call a close. They want to take me away. Do stay in touch. We wish you all the best and hope that you dont get symptoms and it all ends well for you. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, thank you. And you can keep up with the latest developments about the coronavirus outbreak, the symptoms to watch out for, how to guard against the virus and what it means for you, on the bbc 01 22 01,1000 01 22 03,990 news app and on our website. Now, time for a sports update with you. It has been suggested that sporting events in britain are unlikely to be affected by the coronavirus outbreak in the immediate future, at least. They discussed the possibility of staging events behind closed doors of the outbreak worsens, leading to a potential authorisation of Mass Gatherings being banned. It is expected that the match between wales and scotland in cardiff this weekend will go ahead. There isnt a need to cancel such events. Indeed, i was at twickenham on saturday with the Prime Minister. We had a huge crowd of people there, so there is no reason crowd of people there, so there is no reason for people either not to attend such events or cancel them at this stage, but we keep them under review. We are cognizant of the impact that the cancelling of events may have in terms of the economic and social impacts, and the advice from the chief medical officer is clear, that at this stage we should not be cancelling such events, so we are not planning to. Outside the uk, events a re are not planning to. Outside the uk, events are affected. The indian wells tournament in california has been cancelled over fears of the spread of the virus, Health Official saying there was too great a risk to hold a large gathering of this size. Many players had already arrived for the event. We asked our tennis correspondent Russell Fuller what the ramifications were for the tour. Ifa the ramifications were for the tour. If a decision is taken to cancel a tennis event because one local case is in the area, you would think it would be very difficult for any major events to be played in weeks and months to come. It might be that other events take a slightly different view. Miami in two weeks ta kes pla ce different view. Miami in two weeks takes place in florida, where there are already three confirmed cases of the virus. A very big Music Festival in march has been called off. The wta chief executive said it is too early to speculate about events to come. After miami, the tour moves on to europe and the clay court season, and big events are scheduled in monte carlo, madrid and most notably in rome, so i think there have to be serious questions as to whether tennis can put together a calendar over the weeks and months to come. So, rugby and tennis affected, football, too. The Champions League game between psg and marussia dortmund will take place behind closed doors. There are concerns about the outbreak. Dortmund leave the tide by two goals to one. That is all this but for now, more in the next hour. The trial of the former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, on charges of Sexual Assault and attempted rape gets underway in edinburgh today. Mr salmond is charged with a string of Sexual Offences against 10 women. He denies all the charges against him. With more details here is our scotland correspondent lorna gordon. For more than 30 years, alex salmond was at the top of scottish politics. Today he goes on trial accused of multiple Sexual Offences, all alleged to have happened while he was serving as first minister and leader of the snp. Speaking outside court last year, he strenuously denied all the charges he was facing. Im innocent, and i will defend my position vigorously. Alex salmond faces 12 charges of Sexual Assault and two of indecent assault. They date from 2008 to 2014. Ten women are said to have been victims, some of them more than once. Among the charges is one attempted rape and one assault with intent to rape. Nine of the alleged assaults are said to have been taken place at bute house, the first ministers official residence in edinburgh, including the alleged attempted rape, in which mr salmond is said to have pinned a woman against a wall, removing her clothes and his own before lying naked on top of her. The charges span many years and many locations a restaurant in glasgow, a nightclub in edinburgh, a car, Stirling Castle and the scottish parliament. Mr salmond has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges he is facing. The trial at the high court in edinburgh is expected to last four weeks. Lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh. And lorna is outside the court in edinburgh. What is the latest . The trial has just got under way here at the high court in the centre of edinburgh. This trial involves perhaps the most high profile scottish politician of recent times, who is now sitting in the dock here at the court, facing 14 charges against ten women. Mr salmond strenuously denies all those charges. This morning, thejury of 15 was sworn in. The jury was told that the accused is a very well known public figure, so as well as the usual questions, such as, do you know him or the complainant threw, thejury you know him or the complainant threw, the jury was asked if they had any strong feelings of animosity towards the accused. The judge in the trial asked them if they could deal with the case in a fair, unprejudiced and unbiased manner, so that jury of 15 unprejudiced and unbiased manner, so thatjury of 15 being sworn in, the indictment read out in open court. There will be no opening statements. That is usual in a scottish criminal trial, so we expect to hear from the first witness is very shortly. Thank you. The duke and duchess of sussex will today carry out their final Public Engagement as working members of the royal family. They willjoin the queen and other senior royals at a Commonwealth Day service in london. Anthonyjoshua, Alexandra Burke and craig david will be among the speakers and performers at the service ths afternoon. With me now is doctor lindy yueh, the chair of the royal commonwealth society. Thank you forjoining us. It is a huge event anyway annually for the commonwealth and the royal family, but obviously particular interest this year because it is the last time meghan and harry will be performing an official royal duty before they walk away from the family. We can see so much attention behind you for it. What difference has it made this year . |j behind you for it. What difference has it made this year . I think the annual service is something that is quite unique, bringing together about 2000 people in the largest multi faith celebration of shared values, diverse religions within the commonwealth. Because there is this Long Association between the queen and the royal family and this service, certainly all of these things do come together and people see things do come together and people see this as a focal point for thinking about the royal familys involvement in public life, the role of the uk in the commonwealth, and importantly for this kind of celebration, the kinds of values that we should all be talking more about, which is what the commonwealth is bound by, which is countries coming together because they believe in democracy, the rule of law, equality, the environment, all the kinds of things that members of the royal family are passionately committed to, and we as a society and others here in the commonwealth are also very committed to. How do you feel about the fact that it is this event that will be the last royal one for harry and meghan . Yeah, ithink royal one for harry and meghan . Yeah, i think it will be poignant. We should probably say that a 12 month review in terms of their status, but most of us from the outside view it as their last formal engagement before they stand down from public life in this sense as royals at the end of the month. I hope they will enjoy the service. It isa hope they will enjoy the service. It is a celebration this year of the connected commonwealth, so there will be a lot about connections, about contributing from far away. We saw that in the queens message to the commonwealth today, and i think thatis the commonwealth today, and i think that is the hope, that even as the duke and duchess of sussex have stepped down from formal duties, they will still be contributing in a less formal capacity to the commonwealth in the years to come. The thing that they had said they actually wanted to really focus on, wasnt it . They saw it as an important area for them to be working in. It is. It is among the areas working in. It is. It is among the areas that they have stressed they will continue to be involved in, so the commonwealth youth, gender, equality, empowerment, service these are all things that im sure, given their profile, they will be able to contribute to, whether they are based in north america and travelling around. As we said a moment ago, i think it will be poignant, because it is a big step to end formal duties. Thank you very much. Now its time for a look at the weather. Some good spells of sunshine around but clouding over from the west. Rain in Northern Ireland and also western areas. It will continue to edge east as we head through the afternoon. Best of the dry and bright conditions that further east. It will cloud over. Wind strengthening, particularly for irish sea coast. Some of the rain will be relentless, particularly for parts of mid wales which is why the met office has issued an amber warning. Travel disruption and flooding is likely. The rain keeps coming. The main band sweeps east as we head overnight. More rain for mid wales, showers for scotland, North Western england. Ill start to tuesday morning. Rain should gradually ease as we head through the day, turning more showery. Showers to scotland. Cloudier tamaki conditions further south but cloud brea ks conditions further south but cloud breaks could reach temperatures of 16 or 17 celsius. Hello, this is bbc newsroom live the headlines. The governments Emergency Cobra Committee meet to discuss drastic measures to try to delay the spread of the coronavirus. At this stage, we are still in the contain phase, and that means there is no need to cancel such events, no need for people not to go to sporting events, museums and so on. The trial of the former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, on charges of Sexual Assault and attempted rape begins in edinburgh. A final farewell to royal duties. The duke and duchess of sussex prepare to carry out their last Public Engagement as senior members of the royal family. The government has set out a four phase coronavirus action plan. Lets take a look at it in more detail. There are four phases to the plan contain, delay, research, mitigate. The uk is currently in the first phase, contain. The main aims are to detect early cases, follow up close contacts and prevent the disease taking hold in this country for as long as is reasonably possible. The next phase, delay, is aimed at lowering the peak impact of the virus, and slowing its spread, psuhing it away from the winter season. Population distancing strategies may be put in place, such as school closures, encouraging greater home working and reducing the number of large scale gatherings. The third phase, research, aims to better understand the virus and the actions that will lessen its effect, innovate responses including diagnostics, drugs and vaccines and to use evidence to inform the development of the most effective models of care. A cruise liner which has been off the coast of california since thursday, after an outbreak of coronavirus was found on board, is expected to dock in the commercial port of oakland, near san francisco. There are 3,500 people on board the grand princess, including 142 british nationals. The passengers will be taken to different destinations, depending on where theyre from. Our los angeles correspondent sophie long sent this update. The first people to be taken off the ship will be those in acute need of hospitalisation. The next priority will be californians, and they will be taken to a facility, a military facility, within the state, for isolation and monitoring. The next off will be other us citizens who are not from california. Now, the last people to be taken off that boat, we believe, could be the international passengers, among them 142 britons. We are told that they will be taken to oakland airport, where they will be repatriated to their own countries. We have heard from the Foreign Office in london, they say they are working very closely with the authorities here, to arrange a flight to take those 142 britons back to the uk. We dont yet know where they will go after that, or how long that process will take. This whole operation of disembarkment could take several days. For the passengers, though, more than 2500 of those, the end could be in sight. They will be off that ship at some point in the near future. A different story to the more than 1100 crew, though. They will be treated and quarantined on the ship, and the ship will not be allowed to remain alongside in oakland. The to remain alongside in oakland. Governments eme meeting, the governments emergency cobra meeting, we think, is still under way. It was expected to consider whether so called social distancing measures should be brought in. That would include closing schools, banning large events and encouraging home working but the message was that we were not there yet in terms of bringing in measures like that but that is exactly the sort of stuff being discussed as the government weighs up when to bring in automatic measures because it has that forced age plan working out how to initially try to contain coronavirus and then manage it. To delay the peak of an outbreak in terms of being able to actually best cope with it in terms of the Health Services and everything else. A really important factor in all of these measures is the impact on the economy and we have been seeing that the ftse100 opened this morning almost 9 down and oil prices plummeted overnight. Any measures taken to have a serious economic impact, not to mention the disruption. These are all factors the government is weighing up. Some news through from British Airways which says it has suspended more roots after a change in advice from the Foreign Office to travel to northern italy. British airways has suspended more route, suspending to and from a number of italian destinations until at least the 3rd of april. It says the airline is contacting customers who will be change their flight free of charge or get a full refund. Customers advised to check ba dot com for the latest information. It comes amidst the situation in italy which the Prime Minister described as the countrys darkest hour with one third of the country effectively in lockdown. 16 Million People in the north of italy effectively on lockdown and having to self isolate. Now the business headlines on bbc news. The uks leading share index is facing its worst day since the 2008 financial crisis after billions were wiped off the value of top shares. Stocks were already reeling from fears of the impact of the coronavirus as cases globally continue to rise, having a severe impact on businesses, staff and productivity, but also limiting travel, tourism and large public events. The dramatic drop follows global falls as a row between russia and saudi saw Oil Prices Plunge by more than a fifth. The day has already been dubbed black monday by analysts who described the Market Reaction as utter carnage. A government minister has said there is no need for coronavirus stockpiling, as worried shoppers clear shelves. Tesco and waitrose are among retailers restricting sales of essential food and household items, in store or online. Shoppers have reported shortages of items such as toilet roll and hand soap at their local stores. Lets show you whats happening on Global Stock Markets right now, after that big sell off. It after that big sell off. Tells the story of nervous markets it tells the story of nervous markets and nervous investors. Ftse 107 lower, did open 9 lower so we will keep and i 7 lower. You can see will keep and i 7 lower. You can see hong kong down more than 4 . Oil prices slumping. The row between saudi arabia and russia and members of opec, if they should cut it at all. Prices falling by more than 20 on global markets. And just for some context, let me show you how that compares to the previous biggest losses on the ftse100. Here are the three largest falls on the ftse100. 10. 8 slump on so called black monday, when shares fell sharply around the world. The day after, that sell off continued, ending 12. 2 lower. But then it took until 2008 for the next largest drop, oct of 2008 when Lehman Brothers collapsed sparking the Global Financial crisis. That fall this morning, the worst drop since the financial crisis but it depends how sharers end the day. Anna stupnytska head of global macro and Investment Strategy at fidelity international. Give a sense of how this is going down where you are. In the heart of the city. What are investors saying about where this could go . Clearly, we are seeing about where this could go . Clearly, we are seeing some about where this could go . Clearly, we are seeing some exceptional moves and the concerning factor here is that now we have two shocks hitting the Global Economy and markets, not just the coronavirus but it is the oil collapse and their related implications for the whole world, all the sectors. Clearly there is a lot of panic in the market. I think the mindset right now with most traders and investors is wait and see. Traders and investors is wait and see. Not to panic, not to sell, stay calm and see what happens. Clearly, a lot now depends upon what the policymakers do. Lets break up those two things will you talked about nervousness on those two things will you talked about nervousness on the stock market and oil. Lets talk about oil first. This is about around between russia and saudi arabia, to big Oil Producers about production cuts because they want to keep prices high and the other one says it is normal or acceptable . They wanted to cut production, just to put some flaw under oil prices in the light of floor. As the virus spreads. They did manage to agree last week and russia said they did not want to cut, then saudi arabia decided over the weekend that they will just flood the market with a lot of oil. That is leading to much lower oil prices. Clearly, it is going to impact the Oil Producers and oil related sectors in all countries. Over the long term, it might actually be good for consumers, it might be good because Oil Prices Mean higher purchasing power at in this case, if consumers need to stay at home, they wont drive and they wont go shopping, that channel might actually be blocked. So this oil collapse can be a pretty big hit to the Global Economy. All about supply and demand, oversupply perhaps of oil. Lets talk about stocks individually and all eyes we re stocks individually and all eyes were on the open for europe this morning that will now be looking at what happens in the us when wall street opens at 2 30pm every time. What are we expecting there . Big files . That is what were seeing in us stock futures already. Again, the us stock futures already. Again, the us isa us stock futures already. Again, the us is a very important economy globally. The us consumer is the driving engine for growth, notjust for the us economy but for global growth. As we know, the us shell is a big sector in the us and a few yea rs a big sector in the us and a few years ago, when we saw the oil price collapse, the shell sector was affected and we saw pretty significant, were now in a similar situation on top of this, we have the layer of complexity from the coronavirus and that is getting, continuing to spread in the us and i think the chances of containment are very slim. So i think the us markets will follow what we have seen in europe and asia so far. And we will keep an eye on that. Appreciate your time, thank you, we will keep a really close eye on how that opens in wall street because pretty turbulence session in europe. Thank you, goodbye. Thats all the Business News. The first chairman of the equality and human rights commission, trevor phillips, says hes been suspended by the labour party. Mr phillips, an anti racism campaigner who said before the last election that he couldnt vote for the party, has been accused of islamophobia an allegation he denies. Labour is currently being investigated by the commission over its handling of anti semitism. The governments Emergency Cobra Committee meet to discuss drastic measures to try to delay the spread of the coronavirus. Market concern the ftse falls 9 percent after opening this morning overnight Oil Prices Crash by nearly a third italys Prime Minister says its his countrys darkest hour as northern italy is in lockdown with 16 Million People quarantined. The uk smart Motorway Network has cctv to identify cars that have broken down but research by the bbc has revealed that the cameras are not being monitored all the time. Motorists currently have to wait an average of 17 minutes before they are spotted on cctv, and a further 17 minutes before they are rescued. John maguire has this special report. They are our safest roads. And, in making some of them smart, congestion has been reduced. But at a terrible cost. 38 people have died on smart motorways in the past five years, among them, nargis bashir, who was killed when the car she was travelling in with her husband broke down. My dad could see the traffic was travelling at the side of him but never imagined for a second what would happen next. As soon as i got there, i just saw sirens flashing lights, ambulances and i could see my mum. Obviously they were resuscitating and doing cpr, but within a matter of minutes we were told she is no more. There are two types of smart motorway. Firstly, where the hard shoulder has been replaced with an extra lane. The only safe space to stop, if the driver has the ability to make it, is an emergency refuge. When this idea was first trialled, they were every 600m. Now, in some cases, they are more than two miles apart. The second, known as dynamic, is when the hard shoulder can be switched on and off during peak times. Overhead gantries tell drivers whether or not they can use them. The head of highways england told mps they are too complicated. Because people arent sure whether its a hard shoulder or running lane, even when it is open, the usage of that running lane is much lower because people arent sure whether its a hard shoulder or not, so i dont think we will be building any more dynamic hard shoulder smart motorways. Theyre just too complicated for people to use. Transport secretary grant shapps has ordered a review, welcomed by mrs bashirs family, but they believe words and promises mean little. They demand action. How much longer before those near misses turn into actual hits . They will be a stat on a piece of paper that will be further lives lost, it will be families broken like ours, and its not good enough. The network is monitored by cctv cameras and screens in control centres, but in response to a freedom of information request, highways england told the bbc all screens cannot be observed around the clock. A study found the average time to reach a car stranded on a smart motorway, so in an active lane, is 17 minutes. The aa has given us footage showing various near misses. Hes already been going for a couple of minutes at least. I suppose the point here being that looking for a refuge. I suppose the point here being that hes looking for a refuge. Meeras eight year old son, dev, was killed when the car he was in was hit while stopped on a smart motorway. Devastated at the circumstance, devastated at which way our lives have had to change in a different direction. Theres not been anger, ijust have a passion for this change because i dont want to to go through what we have. Change because i dont want anyone else to go through what we have. We cant bring dev back but we can stop this happening to anybody else. The department for transport says it owes it to the families of those killed for their safety review to be thorough and quick and expects to announce an outcome very shortly. Highways england says its committed to implementing any new recommendations as part of its work to make roads safer. If the campaigners are successful, then smart motorways will be safer. Many, though, want them scrapped altogether. But ultimately, these roads should be improving lives, not taking lives. The cobra meeting is over which has been discussing core or virus and how to respond. Were hearing that they are saying we remain in the contain phase but have now accepted that coronavirus will spread in a significant way. The contain phase is the first of those four phases in terms of how the government approaches the disease. The second would be delay and once delay has moved in, that means things large events being cancelled are not allowed to go ahead. That would be a significant step. For now, we remain in the contain phase which means there wont be cancellations and locking of events. The Prime Minister spoken and says Boris Johnson chair of the emergency meeting and discussed a range of steps which could be introduced to contain and delay coronavirus. There is matt hancock leaving the meeting. The health secretary. This morning, the culture secretary was out doing interviews, basically saying what has emerged from this which is that it is not time yet to move to that stage where large scale events are stopped but they are discussing it, they said they had discussed a range of sets which could be arrangement for now, the policy remains unchanged. This week across the bbc, stories sourced and produced by young people will be shared as part of the bbc young reporter project. Thousands of 11 to 18 year olds have the opportunity to tell the stories which matter to them. 11 year old zoe has a form of dwarfism and won the chance to film and produce her own special report covering a day in her life while at school and at home. Lets take a look. My name is zoe. Im 11 years old and this year i started senior school. Ive got an older brother called jacob, and heres my mum, py when i was younger i was diagnosed with a form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita. Or sedc for short. It affects the way my bones grow, which means im shorter than most people my age. The people i know and love treat me like their equal, as anyone with my condition should be treated. But strangers dont always understand. When i go out and people dont know me, lots of them assume straightaway that im younger. I get patted on the head by adults and called cute, or sometimes they even talk to my mum about me because they dont think i can answer. I applied for the bbc young reporter because i thought it was a great way to share my story and to show other people what i can do. So, now im in my carand im ready to go to school. Because of my condition, i have to have my legs at a 90 degree angle. Theyve got me stools, theyve got me cushions for behind my back, theyve got me steps that i can use in my science and my dt. The initial temperature of copper sulphate. Sedc has given me some positives. Ive got stronger and ive got more confident. If youre going to handle these everyday things, you dont want to just melt down every time someone says something. I wanted to ask my parents about how they found out about my condition. When we found out that you had spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita. We had to learn how to spell it first well, we did, but we didnt really know what it was. We only knew when you were born that you were small. Through all my life youve made adaptations, had you made any before i realised youd made any . When you were in a pushchair, people looked at you as if you were just a really young child. And when we put you in a wheelchair, not only did it lift you up so that you were a better height to see people and be part of the world, it showed that actually you were a child with a physical difference rather than just a little child, you know, a toddler or whatever. Because the pushchair also made me feel quite young. I prefer people come and talk to me, than look and not know. You dont want people. To make assumptions. My favourite quote is from doctor seuss and it is a person is a person no matter how small, which really fits me. Zoe will be here to tell us all about her experience as the bbcs young reporter after 8. 30. Now its time for a look at the weather. We can expect anything and everything from our weather and that is the case in the coming week. The next system is already showing its hand. This not of cloud out in the atlantic. Northern ireland and western fringes seeing the rain move in. The further east you are the more likely it is you will hang on dry and bright conditions were longer. Gradually clouding over as the day goes on. When that strengthening too, particularly for irish sea coast. Some of this rain will be heavy and persistent. Particularly for wales and north west england. In the sunshine it should feel pleasant, above average for the of year. In this evening, the rain keeps coming, particularly for mid wales. The met office has issued an amber warning for some heavy downpours, particularly over the hills. Likely we will see flooding and travel disruption. As the rain spells east, some disruption. As the rain spells east, some tricky driving conditions out there. The main band does clear through the early hours of the morning but more rain for mid wales and north east anglia and. Widely it will be a milder night because there isa will be a milder night because there is a lot of cloud around and it remains windy. A waft of milder air being drawn up which will give the temperatures are best. Some heavy downpours for mid wales and north west england but gradually that should ease as the day goes on. Further showers, some bright sunny intervals, it could be drizzly. A drizzly day across the board but in the breaks of cloud, we could see temperatures reaching 16 or 17 celsius. As we head through tuesday evening, gradually saying goodbye to that milder air, still under the elephant of low pressure, setting to the far north and west, winds strengthening once again for north west scotland. A cooler feeling day across scotland on wednesday. Showers packing and which could be wintry, mainly over and held at first but some lower levels as the day goes on. The further south, Still Holding onto some milder air. Temperatures will be down on tuesdays values, it will still be fairly mild. The Prime Minister chairs a meeting of the governments Cobra Emergency Committee on the coronavirus outbreak. In the last few minutes, the government has said that britain will not yet move into the second phase and will try to contain the disease. But the government says theres no need to panic buy. There is absolutely no need for anybody to stockpile or anything like that. We are in Constant Contact with the major retailers. Italys Prime Minister says his country is facing its darkest hour with 16 Million People in quarantine as the death toll rises. The virus contributes to plunging Global Stock Markets, with a fall in Oil Prices Also to blame. Well have the latest from that cobra meeting. The other headlines this lunchtime. The trial begins of alex salmond former first minister of scotland