Transcripts For BBCNEWS Beyond 100 Days 20200312

For 30 days. People coming in have to be tested. And if they are positive and if theyre able to get through because. Frankly, were not putting them on planes if it shows positive. Also on the programme mr trumps announcement led to another torrid day on the markets. Even the feds promise to pump money into the economy did not stop the panic. The olympic torch is lit and on its way but all around the world, the biggest sporting events are being cancelled. Hello and welcome. Im Christian Fraser in london. Michelle fleury is in new york. The uks chief scientific adviser says the coronavirus is spreading in the community and the uk is now four weeks behind italy in the trajectory of the epidemic. Currently, 590 people are confirmed to have the virus, but Patrick Vallance says it is more likely that between five and 10,000 people are already infected. The uk is now officially moving from containment to the next stage of the governments plan the delay phase. The aim is to try and reduce the peak and slow the spread of the virus so that the nhs can cope. To that end, they are asking people who develop a new cough or a temperature of 37. 8 degree centrigade to self isolate at home for seven days. The science suggests that in the earliest days of infection, people are at their most virulent. People who think they have the virus are asked not to call the advice line 111 the chief medical officer said they no longer need to identify every case and all resources will now be moved to testing within hospitals. They are not yet asking elderly people or the vulnerable to self isolate there are, said the Prime Minister, Practical Implications to that, but they may need to move to that stage in the weeks ahead. And there is no plan as yet to close schools or to cancel major sporting events, but that decision is under review. Here is the Prime Minister. Weve done what can be done to contain this disease. This has brought us valuable time. But its now a Global Pandemic and the number of cases will rise sharply, and indeed the true number of cases is higher, perhaps much higher, than the number of cases we have so far confirmed with tests. And ive got to be clear, weve all got to be clear, this is the worst Public Health crisis for a generation. Some people compare it to seasonal flu. Alas, that is not right. Owing to the lack of immunity, this disease is more dangerous. And its going to spread further. And i must level with you, level with the british public. More families, many more families, are going to lose loved ones before their time. Jeremy hunt is the chairman of the Commons Health select committee and the former Health Secretary and we spoke to him just ahead of the programme. Lam i am concerned we i am concerned we are i am concerned we are not doing more social distancing, because if you look at the data we now have from around the world, there are countries that have appeared to have succeeded in turning back the tide oii succeeded in turning back the tide on covid19 succeeded in turning back the tide on covid 19 country like thailand, for example, reporting only 59 cases. Taiwan, right next door to china, only 49 cases. In those countries all seem to have done a numberof countries all seem to have done a number of things countries all seem to have done a numberof things, countries all seem to have done a number of things, including contacts tracing which i think we have been a very good at in this country but also moving early to social distancing and protecting particularly elderly people who are the most at risk. Professor sir roy anderson has been speaking to the bbc tonight and he says at the moment, cases are doubling every four days and if in four days, that number still doubling we will need a new strategy. Do you think the government recognises that . new strategy. Do you think the government recognises that . I hope so. Government recognises that . I hope so. The good news from todays press co nfe re nce so. The good news from todays press conference as we are four weeks behind italy. Why is that good news . At times also news. It is good is because i think people worried we might be even closer behind italy, the gap might be two weeks, so that means we have got four weeks where we can do things to hopefully avert the terrible, terrible and heartbreaking scenes we have seen happening in northern italy. So that is what we have time and i think the contacts tracing we have done in this country is by far the best in europe and it has bought us that time. The question is how we use it and if we really have got potentially 10,000 people infected in the uk, then every single day matters. You are right. Weve got four weeks. And that is valuable time. If you are under a siege, you build tanks. And we have really four weeks to but a war effort here. Dont we need to start getting factories to build the respirators that we need, the essential medical kit that would help people . The nhs is doing an amazing job in preparing for this, but if you look at the maths of this, the chief medical 0fficer believes it is unlikely that less than 5 of the population will get the virus and that means 3. 3 million people, 5 of those will need intensive care beds. Essentially 150,000 plus people needing intensive care. And we have 4000 intensive care beds on normal operation in the nhs, so its absolutely essential this hundreds of thousands of people dont all need their intensive care beds at the same time, so thats why we heard today the importance of flattening the curve so that the peak does not happen in one go. And thats why think anything we can do in the next few days to slow the spread of the virus is going to increase the chances that if we have loved ones who need intensive care bed, theyre actually going to be able to get it. I think many people are concerned, whether it is not their parents, their grandparents, we keep being told how vulnerable the elderly are. Why are the government stopping short of telling them to self isolate in this case . And is that partially for issues of loneliness and what happens when youre isolated like that . loneliness and what happens when youre isolated like that . I think theyre worried about that and they are worried to introduce the most trick pony and changes to peoples life styles trick pony and changes to peoples lifestyles trick pony and changes to peoples lifestyles most trick pony and changes to peoples lifestyles most draconian. It might not last as long as you needed to last because people give up and they stop obeying the rules. But ethic we have to look at all the assumptions being made because this is an international crisis. People are seeing things on their tv screens every day posted nothing matters more than peoples help. Two months ago, i think many people have said it would have been impossible to lock people down in a democracy, in the way theyve done in china, but thats a in northern italy, in the whole of italy now, with 89 public support according to one pole. I think our assumptions about what people are willing to do are changing and we need to keep testing them because i think, for most people now, the priority is, are we doing everything we can to slow down the spread of the virus from reaching the most Vulnerable People in our society . Theres been a lot of focus on the behavioural Science Behind some of this. We have been told that dr david halpin, the so called nudge unit, is partway setting the strategy. That is a quite novel approach to what other countries have ta ken. Quite novel approach to what other countries have taken. It is. Anything it is very important we think about how people are actually going to behave. I thought one of the most brilliant things that came out of that was the observation that if you been exporting events, people mightjust congregate if you been exporting events, people might just congregate in if you been exporting events, people mightjust congregate in pubs to watch the football matches there instead, and so thinking through peoples behavioural responses on think we have been very good at but i think its also the case that this is the kind of virus which seems to bubble along a fairly low levels and then suddenly explode, and if we can do anything we possibly can to slow the rate of that explosion, we are maximising the chances that the public services, the nhs and the social care system, can help and thatis social care system, can help and that is what the name of the game is going to be i think in the next couple of weeks. Jeremy hunt speaking to us a little earlier. Just want to show you some pictures of the french president Emmanuel Macron, currently addressing the nation. 48 deaths confirmed so far and in the course of this address, he has said this is the worst Health Crisis in a century. They are, he says, eight days behind the italian trajectory. I think the important thing to say here, michelle, as we watch these pictures is this is not the uk governments delaying compared to other eu countries. Its a fun and mentally different tragedy. Those countries like italy are taking a drastic action to contain the virus. What the uk government is essentially deciding is that is impossible, that it is 20 spread and theres nothing we can do to stop it, which is essentially what Angela Merkel said the other day, that 70 of germany is going to get it. The governments game plan is herd immunity. And for that to work, the disease has to spread across 90 of the population and that comes with consequences. Thats what you see this emphasis from borisjohnson but also Emmanuel Macron talking about how to preserve your Health System so they are not overwhelmed when clearly the challenges that face them are huge, and its a contrast. We are seeing them try to be transparent, and yet here in the United States, this been on the questions leveled at donald trump is, how transparent is the white house being . That is done i uncertainty that uncertainty about that panics the markets. Speaking of the markets. Financial markets continue to veer wildly. We see them basically struggling. If we look at what is going on. Immediately after the Federal Reserve announced more stimulus, us stocks halved their losses. Than this or to fall again. At the opening, trading had to be halted. For the second time this week, the s p 500 dropped 7 triggering the stoppage thats intended to prevent the markets from crashing. The news from Americas Central Bank came too late to help european markets, which had already closed for the day. Britains ftse 100 index lost almost 11 , the biggest daily fall since the market crash of 1987. Bloodied day in europe certainly. Werejoined from naples, florida by liz ann sonders. She is the chief investment strategist at charles schwab. Thank you so much forjoining us. I wanted to begin by putting a quote to you from henry paulson, George W Bushs treasury secretary during the financial crisis of 2008. He wrote an op ed any Washington Post saying, 12 years later. What do you make of that last point . Is it fear that is really moving this market right now . It is fear but it is also a very unique amount of uncertainty. When we have instances in the past, whether it was the reason behind the crash of 1987 or the dislocations caused by the timber orto 1987 or the dislocations caused by the timber 11 or to a more minor degree other natural disasters, there has been sort of a beginning and an end that we can quantify and then start to calculate the impact it is what you have on the economy and earnings. At least in the United States, we are so early in this process that we dont know what the impact is going to be, and this is not a Financial System problem but so far most of the remedies being proposed are coming from Central Banks and from the fed, and i think there needs to be more of a focus on what can be done from a fiscal policy perspective. Before we talk more about the fiscal side, going back to that Monetary Policy today, European Central Bank Offering more stimulus, the Federal Reserve essentially say theyre going to pump millions of dollars into the economy. That will briefly hold the lust of wall street but not for long. What is going on there . Halt the losses. I think it was important in terms of stabilising. This was a tertiary concern. We had the coronavirus and then more recently we had the failure of the 0pec talks andy price war that started there, which really caused huge dislocations in the credit markets, and then the morphing into liquidity problems in the treasury market was sort of this triple whammy. It is a positive and i think part of the reason why you saw a quick rebound in markets that the fed is trained to get hold of this. The problem is it is not the elixir for what ails us on it is not the elixir for what ails us on either of those other two massive problems and uncertainties right now, so it helps on the margin, but it is not a vaccine, a cure, it does not stop the containment efforts, it does not put numbers on the economic dislocations, etc. Liz, the president spoke today. He said the testing is going smoothly and the virus is going away. Coming back to that point of transparency, do you think it would help the markets over there if donald trump put out a statement similar to one of boris johnson, cards on the table, this is how it is going to be . johnson, cards on the table, this is how it is going to be . I think all policy leaders at the National Level and at the local level should be in and at the local level should be in a position to suggest to the public that all stops are being put out and i think, giving a consistent and open plaque from to the medical professionals that really are armed with the most Accurate Information would also help open platform. This is going to have to be a top down approach but also a bottom up top down approach but also a bottom up approach in terms of local authorities and i suppose, based on how the market is behaving, the stock market at least is saying it is not enough yet. 0k, liz, think you very much for that. Not a good day for the markets thank you very much. Asi as i said, President Trump pretty bullish about the market today. You might expect congress to be pulling together. But then these are not normal times in the United States and yet again there is a political fight over what should have next. Yes. The democratic sponsored bill addresses Food Security assistance, a substantial National Paid sick leave programme, free coronavirus testing and strengthened unemployment benefits. But republicans think the measures fall short. Democratic congresswoman Donna Shalala will be taking part in that vote. She served as the us secretary of health and Human Services under bill clinton. Any vote in that. What have been at the heart of this kind of Decision Making process in terms of how to address this. Thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. I want to talk to you about what is going on right now in terms of the democrats proposals. I understand nancy pelosi has had four calls we treasury secretary steve mnuchin. Does this mean if something cannot be done with those in the senate, a deal might be in the process here with the administration and the house . The problem in our syste m and the house . The problem in our system is that, all we could pass something in the house without the president s somes up, there is little chance the senate would take ita little chance the senate would take it a full surviving there are negotiations going on now to see how much of our package the white house is willing to accept. Frankly, our package is not that your medic in that we are using existing programmes and simply focusing them on the people are not that dramatic. People going to lose their jobs or are going to have to go home and take care of their children, because the schools are closed, or people that need testing that cannot afford that testing, we are going to afford that testing, we are going to a lemonade all costs for that testing. Unfortunately, we do not have the National Health service. I wish we had Simon Stevens as well to run our system wish we had Simon Stevens as well to run oursystem up wish we had Simon Stevens as well to run our system up and down, but our syste m run our system up and down, but our system is highly fragmented, so we dont have the kind of power that he has over the National Health service. Our testing is not necessarily free. Were going to make it free. That Reach Agreement on, certainly, but we will need a safety net for those who will lose their jobs. Safety net for those who will lose theirjobs. We need to take care of unemployment insurance. We need to ta ke unemployment insurance. We need to take care of childcare and family leave and sick leave. There are lots of things we have in our package, but basically we have got your back. Because of this virus, we want to make sure that we are protecting American Families and before we talk about possible bailouts and by the way, i about possible bailouts and by the way, lam about possible bailouts and by the way, i am sympathetic to the problems of the industry. I represent the port of miami, which has carnival and norwegian cruises as well as royal caribbean, sol has carnival and norwegian cruises as well as royal caribbean, so i am very sensitive about 150,000 jobs at risk, as well as american airlines, which has a major port here in miami. Buti which has a major port here in miami. But i think we are going to reach some kind of agreement. Thats positive, is in its . You make a good point. It is the lowest paid in american society, its the bus drivers and the people who work on details and the schoolteachers and the nurses, these are the people that need that sick pay. Some of them will be in the Public Sector but some of them work for companies and there is not that of sick leave in america, so what are you proposing . Are you going to reimburse companies to pay that sick leave . Reimburse companies to pay that sick leave . I dont think it is necessary for most of the companies, but a third of the people in the United States work injobs third of the people in the United States work in jobs in which they dont have sick leave, so we are going to have to pay for some of that. Theres no question in my mind, and we are going to have to put the resources out. We have to have a safety net. As we are going through this terrible virus. The fa ct through this terrible virus. The fact is, we are fighting two viruses. 0ne fact is, we are fighting two viruses. One is the coronavirus and the other is the virus of the fear. And fear is as much a problem, as you can see from the markets, as the disease itself in terms of compounding the problems we are facing. Donna shalala, thank you so much forjoining us today on the programme. Joe biden has been out in the last hour, pouring criticism on the white house response to the crisis and focusing on the lack of testing for the virus. Anyone who needs to be tested based on medical guidance should be tested at no charge, at no charge. The administrations failure on testing is colossal, and its a failure of planning, leadership and execution. The white house should measure or report each day, each and every day, how tests have been ordered, how many tests have been completed and how many have tested positive. Joe biden speaking in the last few hours. Joining us now from washington is former secretary of defense william cohen. Secretary, good to have you with us today. Can you just expect to be first of all the logic of banning travel from europe . Explained to me. According to dr fauci, we have to exclude the people coming in and. From the medical point of view, is the right thing to do. We do see a volume of people coming into our country. Its not so much the decision that was made about europe, but the way in which it was done. 0nce europe, but the way in which it was done. Once again, i think the president did not consult with our allies, saying this is what we are about to do, i want to give you a heads up, lets see if we cant work out some head of arraignment where we dont crater the International Economy as such, but you have the president doing it unilaterally. I think it is time that we stop, the president stops, rubbing the noses of our allies in our nationals. What ta kes of our allies in our nationals. What takes in europe does not stay in europe, what takes place in china does not take place just in china. Do not characterize it as a foreign disease. Think with the markets are looking for basically is credibility coming out of washington. Truth coming out of washington. Truth coming out of washington. Truth coming out of washington. Experts being listened to. Credit ability is the currency. The problem is the president last week was calling it a hoax and this week a national and international Health Crisis, and what this or flex is almost a dr jekyu what this or flex is almost a dr jekyll and what this or flex is almost a dr jekylland mr what this or flex is almost a dr jekyll and mr hyde. 0n what this or flex is almost a dr jekyll and mr hyde. On one hand, what this or flex is almost a dr jekylland mr hyde. On one hand, we saw drjekyll jekylland mr hyde. On one hand, we saw dr jekyll in jekylland mr hyde. On one hand, we saw drjekyll in the oval office. The next day, we see mr hyde. We need competence to that is shaking the marketplace right now is the recognition we dont have that kind of clarity, we dont have that continuity, and that we have these on again, off again, calling for by partnership but the next day attacking the democrats calling for bipartisanship. We need to reckon as this is a national and not a partisan issue, a health issue and not a political issue. Secretary cohen, ijust not a political issue. Secretary cohen, i just wanted not a political issue. Secretary cohen, ijust wanted to bring in a tweet from the former american banker and chair of goldman sachs. He says. What do you think of that and should we go all in . What should the us do . Should trump consider, for example, a state wide travel ban . should trump consider, for example, a statewide travel ban . I think all of the options have to be on the table stop we need to be done is to have something that we can all at least agree is the right response. I think he has it right. We need to be all in. This is not republican versus all in. This is not republican versus democrats but this is the American People and our global brothers and sisters, because i said, this does not coded be the only virus that comes to us. When i was only virus that comes to us. When i was at the pentagon, there were novels that were written called the cobra event armour that got president clintons attention and mine. We got experts to there, saying, how do we do at this . We got president 0bama getting Health Experts to gather. We have got to get back to the idea this is not the first virus and not the less. We have to prove the future put in place those kind of structures, equipment, procedures and protocol, saying we are all in it together. I agree with what has been said. Secretary cohen, always good to get your thoughts. Youre watching beyond 100 days from the bbc. Coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news, the impact of coronvirus on sport, as the nba is suspended for the season and football tournaments are impacted across europe. And in italy, Health Services stretched as the death toll from the virus rises. Thats all still to come. Good evening. Thursday has been a windy day across the board. There were some dry, bright intervals around, but we also saw plenty of showers, some of them more wintry over scotland. Now, weve still got the showers at the moment, but they will tend to ease as the night goes on thanks to a ridge of High Pressure which will start to edge its way in, helping to settle things down. The winds eventually dropping out too. We do start to draw in more of a northerly flow, though, across scotland, so where we do get to see some showers, they could turn wintry even to lower levels. Through northern england, the wintriness confined to the hills. Elsewhere, the showers tending to fade away. And it will be chilly, particularly for the northern half of the uk. A widespread frost expected, some patches of ice possible too, and the odd patch of frost possible the further south you come. But heres our ridge of High Pressure helping to settle things down. But notice this area of rain waiting in the wings. And it will show its hand later on in the day. So, friday is going to get off to a chilly start or all of us, but essentially its a dry day for many and the winds will be noticeably lighter. So a very different feel to our weather for the day on friday. Quite a cool breeze, which willjust make it feel a little fresher down north sea coasts. One or two showers are possible, but many places dry. Well start to see it cloud over across the far south west of england and wales as that rain starts to move in. And temperatures very similar to thursdays values but without that nagging wind and more sunshine, it should feel more pleasant. But low pressure is back in the driving seat as we head into the weekend and it will bring in spells of rain. This is how we start saturday. The rain gradually clearing eastwards, many places drying up. Perhaps some wintriness across the hills of scotland. Through the day, the winds will start to pick up and more rain will move into northern ireland, north west england and wales later on in the day. Temperatures perhaps just up a notch or two on fridays values. Further on into sunday, it looks as though a more active weather front will bring a further spell of rain. It will be quite windy as well through the day on sunday for many areas. But looking ahead further still into next week, it looks as though High Pressure will play a greater part in our weather, particularly for the southern half of the uk. This is beyond one hundred days. With me, Michelle Fleury in new york, Christian Fraser is in london. Our top stories. Borisjohnson calls the coronavirus pandemic the worst Public Health crisis for a generation as he steps up the response to try to delay its spread. Gobal stock markets nosedived after President Trump announced a ban on travel from eu countries to the usthe dowjones index in new york plunged by more than eight percent at one point. Coming up in the next half hour. As the death toll from coronavirus in italy reaches over 1000 Health Services are under pressure and facing very difficult choices. And the world of sport reels from the impact of the coronavirus the champions league, the nba, Major League Baseball and the australian grand prix are just a few internation events postoned. A week ago, italy had so few cases of coronavirus that it could give each patient an intensive care bed if necessary. Today, some hospitals are so overwhelmed that they simply cannot treat every patient and their approach today is something close to wartime triage. The Italian College of anesthesia, resuscitation and intensive care has issued guidance it says other European Countries will need to follow. There may need to be an age limit for access to intensive care said the letter with priority for those with highest chance of success. Doctors will have to take into account pre existing conditions, since older, more fragile patients will need longer to recove. There will be higher mortality among patients with conditions not linked to the pandemic, due to the pressure on Health Services. And where intensive care is not available, or judged inappropriate, Difficult Conversations will need to be had. Joining us now from frankfurt, dr Kai Zacharowski director of the department of anesthesiology, intensive care and pain therapy at Frankfurt University hospital. Its very good to have you with us. This is quite an extraordinary read. Ive read most of it today, and ive come to the conclusion at the end of it that what is really needed here isa it that what is really needed here is a european effort. Absolutely. I have to say, we, as europe, and that includes the united kingdom, are not prepared to for this unbelievable stretch which is coming now. We have not organised ourselves, to organise it in not organised ourselves, to organise itina not organised ourselves, to organise it in a way that we have everything that we need to treat these patients together. So it starts with ventilators, it starts with certain dedications, so we now have some countries who have certain drugs, and some who dont. So this is not coordinated. We are looking at pictures of the ventilators lined up, ive been challenging politicians here in the uk on the need to make these ventilators. I mean, weve got four weeks here, we need all hands to the pump to get this stuff ready that patients will need. Why is europe dragging its heels in making these kind of things because make these kinds of essential equipments yes. because make these kinds of essential equipments yes. I think there are just my problems. One, over the past, several to ten years and all over europe, we are cutting down beds, and we were also cutting down beds, and we were also cutting down intensive care beds. Suddenly, with a threat like this, we are all realising, oh, we dont have enough high dependency or intensive care beds. Thats one thing. The other thing is that the equipment we are talking about probably, if it would be distributed across europe at the right time, it wouldve helped italy, once it was over, it couldve been moved further on, but now everybody is buying equipment, and the companies who are producing it, they are waiting for the pieces to assemble them. So we are not manufacturing it in europe, is that what you are saying . Parts of it. Parts of ventilators are coming from china and other countries, know for example from several companies in germany where producing the ventilators that are waiting for pieces from china, that is a problem. We have been talking about ventilators, what about medication . Because that is some of the concern that some of the ingredients, as each country grows through their outbreak of the virus, that tendency not to want to then sell medications overseas. Yes. A lot of our medications, especially antibiotics, which do not help for treating the virus, but most of the antibiotics are coming from india and from china. You can imagine if there is a shortage of this, any other problem we will suffer from that in europe. Can ask you one final question. I was talking to people that the strategy now is that we are moving to herd immunity, and maybe you are following that strategy in germany. Have governments just decided its pointless to stop at . Yes. I think thats very clear. We were talking also of the European Society of manistee geology about it, you cannot stop it. The only thing you cannot stop it. The only thing you can do is delay it in a steel jolicoeur anaesthesiology. Actually intensive Care Medicine that its slowly used, but not at the same time, and i think thats at the same time, and i think thats at the moment the only way you can win the moment the only way you can win the whole game. Doctor in frankfurt, thank you for that sobering assessment. The sporting word outside the uk is beginning to follow italys example with more and more large scale events cancelled in an attempt to combat the coronavirus. Football matches are being postponed, or played in empty stadiums. Uefa have postponed two matches next week. Spain have suspended their top two divisions for the next fortnight. While the top two divisions in france will play to empty stadiums. The new york Half Marathon has been cancelled this sunday. The paris and barcelona marathons have both been postponed till 0ctober. And the atp tour has postponed all play for six weeks due to escalating health and safety issues. Despite all this the cheltenham race festival is still underway. The stands packed with punters. And last nights match between liverpool and Atletico Madrid still went ahead. Despite the fact the authorities in madrid have reported a sudden spike in their coronavirus cases. The usa is to ban large gatherings, with the National Hockey league and Major League Baseball halting their seasons. Last night nba basketball was suspended following reports that a player from the utahjazz, rudy gobert had tested positive. Which is somewhat ironic given that earlier in the week gobert had been making light of the Public Health warning at a press conference, touching all the tables and the microphones. Since then his teammate Donovan Mitchell has also tested positive. Lets speak to antonello guerrera,the uk correspondent for the italian newspaper la repubblica who was at last nights match in liverpool, and stan verrett he anchors espns sportscentre in the usa. Ifi if i could start with you, astonishing scene this card gathered in one space, didnt help liverpool march with the results, nevertheless, we surprised the game went ahead . Good evening. Yes, it was went ahead . Good evening. Yes, it was kind of. I would say. As you said, in italy and in other countries, the stadiums are just empty. Here, the show goes on. The show goes on and it is a very strange feeling, because all of a sudden its not the stadium, if you we re sudden its not the stadium, if you were here last night, all of the pubs around the stadium to where really, absolutely packed with people. So, the thing is, i mean, i dont think that these days can go on, because its not healthy, and also, i dont think, also, that the empty stadiums can be the solution, because as we can see now, and i mean, in italy and in other countries, players are getting infected with the coronavirus. Antonello, they have a spike in madrid, reports of us spike in madrid, reports of us spike in madrid today, they invited 3000 0a fa ns madrid today, they invited 3000 0a fans into liverpool in the away end, so it doesnt do much for social distancing if you are inviting people from a particular, you know, a particularly infected area to come to your city, does it . Yeah, absolutely no point. The same happened when event is played against france, and there was an outbreak in italy, it had just begun, but loads and thousands of fansjust travelled begun, but loads and thousands of fans just travelled to france and they went to the stadium. At the thing is, i mean, this cant go on. We saw today, even formula 1, they just cancelled the grand prix of australia, and in formula 1, if there isnt even physical contact. But the point is when players also start to get infected, i can see that any authority can just take the responsibility to let them play. Antonello . If i could, sorry, just jump antonello . If i could, sorry, just jump in there for me talk about players getting infected, i want to bring and stand at this point, obviously starting to see nba players getting infected, the jazz, two players there, clearly infected. Do you think the nba made the right call. . We we have spoken to the nba made the right call. Basketball commits obviously physical sport, lots of between players and officials. Once go bear tested positive i think it was a no brainer for the nba to cease playing, until they could get a hold on how many players could be infected. Gobert played three games since friday, which involved dozens of other players. And so they are is almost certainly going to be other players who may test positive who we have already seen, as you said. Stan, this is personal to me, my father in law travelled to new york for the atlantic ten conference for those who dont follow College Basketball here in america, all part of the kind of merge map this season. Its a busy time in sports, some of this is being postponed, but how long can you keep postponing, and what does that due to the finances of these clubs and these teams . Well, it is chilly, but i think most of them are erring on the side of caution when it comes to the safety of their athletes. We had an Infectious Disease expert from massachusetts on our show on sportscenter last night, he said this could be three months, maybe six months before they get a handle on things, and the weather warms up, and they have more of an idea of how this virus will act. So, its going to bea this virus will act. So, its going to be a while here. We are virtually ata to be a while here. We are virtually at a sports standstill right now with the exception of the pga tour, which is still going on with the players championship tournament in florida, but after today, there will be no more fans. Fans were allowed there today, but the pga tour announced earlier today thats they will proceed through the weekend to finish the tournament but without spectators. Stand, what is the financial cost to the nba . Obviously, there is financial costs to all these sports, but the nba is sold all over the world. Well, they have only suspended the season at this point, thats important to point out. They could resume play later, they have officially cancelled the rest of the season. They havent. They have 15 or so games left in the regular season, though get they got a good chunk of the season in, they could decide to cancel the rest of the regular season, maybe pick it up in the playoffs, because they have done enough of the season to where the top contenders have already been determined. So that is one option. We dont know what they are going to do at this point, but i think after the positive diagnosis for gobert, they decided tojust the positive diagnosis for gobert, they decided to just pause, the positive diagnosis for gobert, they decided tojust pause, try the positive diagnosis for gobert, they decided to just pause, try to get a handle on where things are, before they resume any more games. Stan, we have to leave it there, sta n stan, we have to leave it there, stan from espn sportscenter and antonello, to stay with us. But ijust want to make our audience aware that in athens today the olympic flame was lit in a scaled down ceremony. Questions continue to be asked about whether event will take place in tokyo. In a press Conference Today President Trump suggested that the olympics could be delayed a year in order for the world to combat the crisis. Of course, it is in summer, and a lot of sports are spending until may, so maybe there is time, so we will see. Lets turn live to italy, because, of course, its pretty grim in italy at the moment. Over 1,000 people have died. And as you heard from the anaesthatistjust a few minutes ago, there is awful pressure now on italian doctors who are swamped with news cases. The foreign minister Luigi Di Maio told the bbc, the government is confident these new restriction will work. He is pointing to evidence from towns in northern italy, where the outbreak began, where they have seemingly stopped new infections. The Italian Government says the eu needs to fund a unit that will support and resupply those hospitals most in need. Mr di maio was speaking to our rome correspondent mark lowen. Translation i think that ourjob now is to support not only at an italian, but also the european level, the entire Public Health system, and find a way of having a single European Unit that purchases the Health Care Equipment that we need. We are working with both Italian Companies and other countries to resupply our Health System with what is needed. Weve named a special Task Force Leader to co ordinate this, because we need oxygen units, and we have started production in factories that produce them or others that can adapt to start producing them. Lets go back to antonello, in liverpool. You are italian. You are from them a lease area, but i have been following your twitter page the last few days, its to show people some of the pictures. I think there are no rooms for corpses any more after you said that a huge rise of fatalities, some had to be moved to local churches. I mean, when you look at these pictures, can you believe what youre seeing . Absolutely not. I mean, it. The Virus Outbreak was incredibly appalling, and now the situation is absolutely dire. The question is now how dire it will be, because day after day, the number of cases and the numberof after day, the number of cases and the number of deaths, theyjust rise. Today, almost 200 more. Have you got family still there . Yes, i have my whole family there, and, of course, they are really concerned. I mean, forthem, course, they are really concerned. I mean, for them, its course, they are really concerned. I mean, forthem, its something absolutely terrible. They have never experienced Something Like that. I just, i mean, the thing is that they are under siege from an enemy that they dont even know. I mean, this is the surreal serious situation, and the thing is that. Despite this very strict measures by the Italian Government, the effect and impact is yet to be seen. But the problem is that also italy has a very high average age, and because italy is a 45 years, if we see the uk 40, china 37, and also, the thing is, its also a very high mortality rate. I think its another very concerning matter. It means that apart from there are many older people in italy, but this will also mean that many other people are infected and they go undetected. All the best to your family, antonello joining all the best to your family, antonellojoining us all the best to your family, antonello joining us there from liverpool. This is beyond one hundred days. Still to come. Well speak to a behavioural pyschologist about how tone and language can help us all to better understand what we should be doing to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The uk government is stepping up its response to the virus, but what impact will this have . Our Health Editor hugh pym reports. Taking precautions, regular disinfecting on the london underground, part of moves to slow the spread of the coronavirus. We learned today it could be a long haul. The peak of the epidemic possibly three months away. There will be many more cases. Some employers are getting staff to work from home. Others, like this Car Repair Centre in suffolk are taking employees temperatures twice a day. If they are too high they are sent home to self isolate. But what about nhs staff . Medical authorities have written to doctors warning of extreme pressure and saying they might have to work in unfamiliar areas. Many are concerned for their patients and their own health. My colleagues, nursing staff colleagues i work with and everyone at intensive care are very much in the front line and are at risk of contracting the illness, which may be mild or severe, from the patients they treat. So it something that focuses the mind and is of great concern for us at the moment. Older people are more vulnerable to the virus. This Care Home Group in the north east of scotland will now only allow essential visits. Residents have been given ipads to stay in contact with theirfamilies. Health Officials Say older people at home might in future be urged to self isolate. Age uk supports the government approach but has called for more detailed guidance. People who are in particularly vulnerable situations, perhaps because they are living with someone at risk maybe they have had a Cancer Treatment or they are an older person and they are caring for them people like that need more advice and they are bound to be anxious. There are no plans at present to ban crowds at big sporting events like the racing at cheltenham. Officials think right now it would not help slow the spread of the virus but as the peak of the epidemic gets closer nothing has been ruled out. Hugh pym, bbc news. We hope that our programme has answered some of your questions in recent weeks. Which is important because each and every one of us has a role in this to slow the spread. And the key term were using now is social distancing which is a fancy term for defending your own personal space. We are joined now by behavioural scientist, kate orkin from oxford university. Im really struck actually over the last day, when you go into other offices, how difficult it is to break these social norms, shaking hands, people dont know whether to elbow or to touch feet, its difficult, isnt it . Absolutely. I think the biggest influence, particularly when people are trying to prevent themselves against risk is what people are doing immediately around them. So theres been a lot of experiments that have shown that command people find it very difficult to break a sort of immediate social norm, but thats partly why its really important that individuals start taking action to comply with the governments advice. We were speaking with jeremy earlier in the programme about the nudge unit within downing street and how they are trying to double guess what people will do. It was an interesting thing last night, paris st germain were playing dortmund and paris, they closed the stadium, so they play to an empty stadium, and what did the fans do . They all turned up outside the stadium, hundreds of them alljumping up and down. So even though you close the stadium, it doesnt work. Its really important to be very clear in the messaging that is going out. So i think theres a really hard balance of not making people panicked, not making people feel insecure, but at the same time, really appealing to them to do the right thing to protect Vulnerable People in society. I would say, we really know from the science that people are very responsive when you appeal to them to do the right thing. When you appeal to their kind of core morality, and we have seen that in recent days, in italy, the government has managed, you know, a fairly effective compliance with the shutdown, because the Prime Minister and many other officials have really come out and used Strong Language appealing to people to do the right thing. You know, they have set our grandfathers were asked to go to work, we are being asked to stay at home. Its a strong people to peoples moral duty, and they are absolutely in line with the signs that it really does help to get people on side with the Public Health advice. What role does language have to play in all of this, i was thinking here in new york, five miles from where i am, there is an area essentially locked on, but you wont hear a politician use that word, lockdown. So, i think, you know, language is important in what people plus make sense is of what is going on, one example is that its really important that you appeal to people to do the right thing, in contrast, when you tell people everybody is doing this bad thing, then, in fact, that increases the rate of people who do the bad thing. So its important that you set the good social norm, even if thats not what people are doing at that point in time, and that encourage subs everybody to move into a better equilibrium. But shouting at them for doing the bad thing is actually not particularly effective. We were just looking at pictures of empty shelves, people rushing to buy toilet paper, its one of the questions i have come a white toilet paper . What is it about coronavirus that thats what they have jumped to . So, theres been some interesting work by andy yang at nci that has shown that when people feel a lack of control they are more likely to buy sort of items that have a clear utility, a purpose. It makes them feel like theyre doing something constructive, sol makes them feel like theyre doing something constructive, so i mention toilet paper feels like something thats going to be useful, but it really is about an emotional response, and i think part of how that emotional response can be managed is by people deciding that they are going to think a little bit harder about how they are feeling, and try to manage it. Of course, we also saw that supermarkets managed it very effectively by nudging people in the right direction by saying you can only buy a certain you can only buy five toilet rolls, and that was a very effective response. Thank you for asking that burning question i had. Answering. Thank you for asking that burning question i had. Answering. We are up question i had. Answering. We are up to our rears into a paper in our house. 100 days hard, our very own caddie kay has been caught up in it. Yes shes had to cut her holiday short and hot foot it to the airport. Butjust before she boarded she let us know what had happened. I am not, in fact, in the swiss mountains, in the alps, enjoying my skiing on holiday. I woke up to a frantic text from bobby saying, mum mr trump has shut the borders to all europeans thats not technically true, but hes done it enough that we thought we better head home soon, in case we couldnt get out and our flights got cancelled afterwards. So goodbye, mountains, hello, zurich airport. See you all back at work next week, i guess, if i get in keep you posted. Bye. So much confusion over the travel ban. Anyway, here is something to brighten your day. Courtesty of the former republican governor of alaska sarah palin. She has been starring on the Reality Tv Show the masked singer, which if you have not seen it involves mystery guests dressing up, singing a song, while in disguise. Yall make some noise for governor sarah palin can i be your hype man . Yeah, yeah, yeah go sarah i like big butts and i can not lie you other brothers cant deny when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face you get sprung want to pull up tough. Oh, my god, what is our show . ijust wa nt to want to hear, its fantastic. This is the former Vice President , or wouldve been the Vice President , had she been elected. A moment ofjoy for you. Certainly. Good evening. Thursday has been a windy day across the board. There were some dry, bright intervals around, but we also saw plenty of showers, some of them more wintry over scotland. Now, weve still got the showers at the moment, but they will tend to ease as the night goes on thanks to a ridge of High Pressure which will start to edge its way in, helping to settle things down. The winds eventually dropping out too. We do start to draw in more of a northerly flow, though, across scotland, so where we do get to see some showers, they could turn wintry even to lower levels. Through northern england, the wintriness confined to the hills. Elsewhere, the showers tending to fade away. And it will be chilly, particularly for the northern half of the uk. A widespread frost expected, some patches of ice possible too, and the odd patch of frost possible the further south you come. But heres our ridge of High Pressure helping to settle things down. But notice this area of rain waiting in the wings. And it will show its hand later on in the day. So, friday is going to get off to a chilly start for all of us, but essentially its a dry day for many and the winds will be noticeably lighter. So a very different feel to our weather for the day on friday. Quite a cool breeze, which willjust make it feel a little fresher down north sea coasts. One or two showers are possible, but many places dry. Well start to see it cloud over across the far south west of england and wales as that rain starts to move in. And temperatures very similar to thursdays values but without that nagging wind and with more sunshine, it should feel more pleasant. But low pressure is back in the driving seat as we head into the weekend and it will bring in spells of rain. This is how we start saturday. The rain gradually clearing eastwards, many places drying up. Perhaps some wintriness over the hills of scotland. Through the day, the winds will start to pick up and more rain will move into northern ireland, north west england and wales later on in the day. Temperatures perhaps just up a notch or two on fridays values. Further on into sunday, it looks as though a more active weather front will bring a further spell of rain. It will be quite windy as well through the day on sunday for many areas. But looking ahead further still into next week, it looks as though High Pressure will play a greater part in our weather, particularly for the southern half of the uk. This is bbc news im geeta guru murthy. The headlines at eight. The worst Public Health crisis for a generation the government steps up its response to the coronavirus and says there could be as many as ten thousand people already infected in the uk. Anyone with a new continuous cough or High Temperature is told to stay at home for seven days but the Prime Minister stopped short of closing schools and universities. I must level with you, level of the british public. More families and many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time. In the us, President Trump suspends travel from 26 European Countries to try to control the spread of the virus