Starting this hour with the growing spread of the coronavirus, the number of cases continues to rise across the country, now more than 475 people confirmed to be infected. 19 people have died, and that number is likely to rise. Oregons governor is the latest to call a state of emergency for that state after 7 new cases were identified there. California and new york are also seeing a growing number of patients. New yorks governor confirming 16 new cases of coronavirus there overnight. And the epidemic is growing globally as well. In italy the number of deaths has spiked to more than 360 people with over 7,000 now infected in that country alone. The outbreak is forcing the government of italy to impose a lockdown on most of northern italy, restricting travel, shutting down events. The u. S. Military is suspending soldiers and their families from traveling to and from italy and south korea. We have a team of reporters across the globe as the coronavirus epidemic spreads. Lets begin with c
Public gatherings are banned, and permission is needed for anyone who urgently needs to travel. British airways and ryanair have cancelled all their flights between the uk and italy until early april. Well have the latest on the spread of coronavirus, both here and abroad, and well be talking to an intensive care doctor in italy. The other main stories on bbc news at 5 the government defeats a group of conservative mps who are unhappy with plans to give huawei a role in the uks 56 network. In edinburgh, where the former first minister, alex salmond, is on trial for Sexual Assault, one of his accusers says shed felt scared to come forward. And the wonder plant that can help tackle Climate Change from the sea bed but its disappearing from our coastline. Its 5 oclock. Our main story is the deepening crisis surrounding the spread of coronavirus. Its been confirmed that a sixth person in the uk has died, and the number of recorded cases has risen to 373. The latest victim was in his 80s and
Bottomup, grassroots american story about our cando spirit and our entrepreneurial nature, but in practical terms, its a failure, and it means that despite individual acts of heroism and intelligence and farsightedness and well informed decisionmaking here and there, despite good examples, again, here and there that you can point out in terms of how this has worked out well, overall what it means is that the u. S. Response to this pandemic has been patchwork, uneven, internally contradictory, and thus far ineffective. As the number of u. S. Cases climbs over 4,000 and that is still with only minimal testing nationwide, let alone in known hot spots mayors and increasingly governors, its interesting, are starting to arrive at sort of the same place in terms of what policies theyre instituting to try to deal with this. And thats interesting because that hasnt come from the top down. Everybodys freelancing. Everybodys leading from the front, trying to figure out what to do on their own ter
States. That hasnt happened. Thats not been the way that we have confronted this as a country. Although the president today did finally at least speak about the crisis, in a tone that suggested he has figured out that maybe this is something serious, and thats an advance. The bulk of the nations response, though, to try to slow and contain and cope with the pandemic has thus far been led by state and local officials. Even by businesses. In the absence of clear federal guidance. And you can look at that as a sort of plucky, bottomup, grass roots, american story, about our cando spirit and our entrepreneurial nature, but in practical terms, its a failure. And it means that despite individual acts of heroism, and intelligence, and farsightedness, and wellinformed decision making, here and there, despite good examples, again here and there, that you can point to, in terms of how this has worked out well, overall, what it means is that the u. S. Response to this pandemic has been patch work
Little hinky as we try out some new stuff, a, forgive me and please be patient, we will work it out. We are in this for the long haul and so we have to try to innovate. You are in this for the long haul as well. We all are. So lets jump right in. In italy they have crossed a new threshold today. The number of people who died in italy from the coronavirus over the last 24 hours hit an alltime high. 475 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. Thats the highest oneday death toll in any country, including china, since the start of the pandemic. 475 deaths in one day. Italy has reported more than 300 deaths per day in each of the last four days. That itself is a terrible new standard. China, when they were in the worst of it, they only once reported more than 200 deaths in a day. Again, italy is at more than 300 deaths a day for four Straight Days and today 475. The situation in italy remains the worst in the northern part of that country, particularly in the wealthy region of lombardy, which