Showers. Its sunshine and blustery showers. That weather is shaping up for where you are. Always a way available at the bc online. This is bbc news, im geeta guru muthy. The headlines at 11pm. As the number of people infected with coronavirus in the uk rises to 51, the Prime Minister says its highly likely we will see further infection, and has unveiled the governments plan to tackle the virus. Our plan means we are committed to doing Everything Possible based on the advice of our world leading scientific experts to prepare for all eventualities. Injapan, the olympic Authorities Say this summers games are still going ahead, despite the doubts of the countrys sports minister. Cheering. And on wall street, an unexpected cut in us interest rates, amid growing concern about the Economic Impact of coronavirus. The home secretary says she regrets the resignation of a top Civil Servant who made allegations of bullying against her. Its super tuesday in the united states. Democrats in m states are voting on who they want to take on donald trump in novembers president ial election. Barclay drives down straight through the middle. Barclay shoots and Chelsea SenateLeague Leaders liverpool out of the fa cup with a 20 liverpool out of the fa cup with a 2 0 win. And at 11. 30pm, well be taking an in depth look at the papers with our reviewers, sonia sodha and madeleine grant. Stay with us for that. Good evening. The government has published a detailed plan for what would happen in the event of a widespread outbreak of coronavirus. The plan deals with a scenario in which one in five workers could be off sick, schools could be closed, and the armed forces could be called in to support civilian Health Services. But ministers say its likely the uk will be significantly affected in the coming weeks. For most people, symptoms would only be mild to moderate. But Health Experts say the elderly would be most at risk. The evidence from other countries suggests that 1 of people infected could die. Today, ministers revealed the number of confirmed cases in the uk is 51, the evidence from other countries suggests that 1 and 12 of those have fully recovered from the virus. Our first report this evening is from our Political Editor laura kuenssberg. Wash your hands, wash your hands, do, do, do. A simple instruction to us all. Use some soap. As catchy as the song that inspired this class in belfast. Sock keep them clean. Wash your hands is still the mantra, but the government is now outlining a lot more. This is complex. The Prime Minister appearing with the experts alongside. I fully understand public concern, your concern. Keeping the country safe is the governments overriding priority. The plan does not set out what the government will do, it sets out the steps that we could take at the right time and on the basis of the scientific advice. Are you telling people today that sooner or later all of our lives will be disrupted somehow . The answer to the question is, im afraid, at this stage, i think it is just too early to say. To the chief medical officer, what is your best guess, if you can,
of how many people will actually get this disease . It will not go above 80 . For planning purposes, of course, we go up to the highest rated reasonably could, but in reality, the proportion of the population who get infected is likely to be lower than that and probably a lot lower than that. With more than 50 cases round the country now, officials here are working notjust on plans to contain the spread but emergency laws in case the worst should happen. There is a sense in government now, it is a major practical and political challenge. If, or maybe when, we get to the stage where it can no longer be contained, to the Health Service, the economy, all of our lives, there could be major disruption for several months. Within a few weeks, the government might put limits on people gathering at big events like concerts or football matches. If large numbers of officers take ill, the police might only focus on serious crime and keeping order. The army could step in if they are overstretched, and all in all, one in five workers could be absent from work. No surprise, then, the bank of england governor admits it could hurt the economy in a big way. The banks role is to help uk businesses and households managed to run economic shock that could prove large but will ultimately be temporary. Different businesses and different age groups wont be affected in the same ways. At this bingo hall in great yarmouth, they are already doing temperature testing. And the elderly are the most vulnerable. It puts peoples minds at rest, really, especially those that go into places like this. We get flu every year, with so weve just got to do what they say. Whether its a School Closed in devon or concerns in dundee, plans are being prepared in all corners of the country. Its a serious situation, but it is being treated seriously, with well established plans
being activated, and we are not powerless in the face of this. Hospitals like these in sutton coldfield, pods for patients who suspect they might have the infection to stop them walking the virus into a e. The authorities hope that the best laid plans could avoid the worst case for us all. Laura kuenssberg, bbc news. So to recap, ministers say the uk is likely to be significantly affected in the coming weeks and months, and tonight, nhs england categorised coronavirus as the highest level of emergency for the Health Service. If the virus becomes widespread, non urgent hospital care may be delayed to treat those infected, while recently retired doctors and nurses may be asked to return to work. Our Health Editor hugh pym has been looking at some of the key measures for the nhs and the challenges they might pose. Ministers and officials think the virus can still be contained, but theyre clear that if case numbers accelerate, new measures will be needed
such as school closures. The key thing is to get the timing right for managing the virus. What we really want to do is to implement whatever is necessary at the time, depending on how the epidemic goes, at the right time. Over a 12 week period or so is probably what will be needed to do it, so we dont want to go too early. So what might that mean for nhs staffing . Recruiting retired doctors and nurses to return to the Health Service is part of the plan, along with volunteers. This consultant in glasgow thinks he would work on after retirement if needed, and others would return to work if they were fit. I think the goodwill that exists within the national Health Service and in retired doctors is very strong, and i think you would have a significant number of people who would return to help out during a crisis. But not all medical professionals feel the same way. I dont want to come back to work, and i dont think any of the Health Care Professionals that have retired should be asked to come back to work. I dont think we would be safe. I think the logistics would be almost impossible to retrain people to a safe level. There are plans for medicines and hospitals. Under the direction of health officials, stockpiles of key drugs and protective clothing held by manufacturers will be distributed across the nhs and social care. Supplies built up to cover a possible no deal brexit last year will be used. The World Health Organization today warned of shortages. In hospitals, nonurgent operations would be cancelled to free up beds. Nhs england said if case numbers go up, all hospitals rather than specialist centres should expect to handle patients with the virus. So across the population, who is most at risk . Experts say that around four out of five of those who get the virus will experience only mild or moderate symptoms, rather like seasonal flu. But what about the rest, some of whom will need hospital treatment . The risk of severe illness caused
by the virus is higher amongst the elderly. Thats also the case for people with Underlying Health conditions. Particularly cardiovascular diseases, so Heart Disease and people whove previously had stroke, but also people who have respiratory problems, so long term lung conditions, and also people with diabetes because we know people with diabetes also have immune systems that are not as strong. One of the aims of the government plan is to delay the peak of any viral epidemic. That at least buys precious time to continue researching new drugs and vaccines. Hugh pym, bbc news. Earlier i spoke to rob doran, a former Civil Servant who has worked on civil emergencies and now runs black dog crisis management, who advise companies on resillience. I asked him if he thought the measures the government announced today were sufficent. I think the first thing to recognise is that actually, this is an extremely unsettling time for lots of us. Myself and my fellow emergency planners, this is the sort of thing
weve planned for in some detail and have been for several years. So actually, what the government has posted today, in my opinion, is proportionate and certainly addresses what could be a very challenging and involving scenario over the coming weeks. When you look at hospital capacity, for example, in your view from what you know, do you think that will be able to accommodate an intensive care unit, for example, enough people . Because we know the elderly in particular are more vulnerable. Yes, it will be a huge challenge, i think that is fair to say. As with any winter, any kind of flu season is extremely challenging for the nhs who work tirelessly of course to manage as best they can. The challenge with a disease like this is a comes on top of any potential winter flu, and i think that is what is driving the governments decision to try and delay what they are referring referring to as the peak so when most people are sick after that flu period
to give the nhs a little bit of breathing space to manage. But in any case, if we we reach what is known as the reasonable worst case scenario, the highest levels of illness that the government have said theyre planning for, it will be a stretch for all of our Public Services because so many people will be off sick, and so many people will be requiring support from the health sector. Now how does the government go about managing, making sure there are enough police on the streets . Because the army is brought in where necessary, for example, because law and order, making sure supplies of food and medicine get to the right place these are already complex and interlinked, arent they . No, absolutely. But what is reassuring, or what i hope its reassuring is that actually, we talk about a concept called business continuity, in which you may have heard before, where you actually look at different organisations and how they can continue to live in their normal business with a reduced number of people or reduced facilities. So actually, the emergency services, big organisations like the supermarkets and food
suppliers will have plans to manage a reduction in capacity. So it doesnt mean there will be difficulties, it doesnt mean that it wont feel different to you and me on the streets. But i am fairly confident that the organisations that need to plan for this are. That doesnt mean there will be impacts, though. What are the worst impacts, do you think we will see . I think there will be issues with supply chains particularly, demand for services, Public Services in particular. So for example, you might start to see there are shortages in different products, that will have a knock on economic and social effect. If we start to have these social distancing measures at the higher end of the plan the government has talked about, that will feel quite strange. The advice is not to go somewhere or the advice will be not to do what you plan to. And that is very disruptive and unsettling for anyone who is affected by that, let alone the Actual Health impacts of the disease itself. Tokyo is due to host this summers games, but today the japanese olympic minister suggested they could be postponed because of coronavirus. But olympic bosses insist they are still expecting the games to go ahead as planned. And the olympics is not the only sports fixture under threat. Our Sports Editor dan roan reports from the ioc headquarters in lausanne, switzerland. Tokyo thought it was on track for the olympics but the build up to the games is starting to be affected. The coronavirus restricted the citys marathon this weekend tojust 200 elite runners. 38,000 other participants told to stay away. So, could the main event really be under threat . Today the International Olympic committee met in lausanne, the most powerful man in sport insisting the games would go ahead on time. We remain very confident with regard to the success of these Olympic Games. I would like to encourage all the athletes to continue their preparation for the Olympic Games tokyo 2020 with great confidence
and with full steam. With a budget of £10 billion, japan has spent years preparing for the games but speaking in parliament today, its olympics minister said the agreement with the ioc allows the event to be delayed until later this year. Given the cost and the scale of the olympics, and an already crowded sporting calendar, the ramifications of an unprecedented delay to tokyo 2020 are hard to quantify, and that is perhaps why the ioc here today seemed so reluctant to even contemplate it. But elsewhere in sport, the impact of the coronavirus is being felt. Those in charge under mounting pressure to take the right decisions. Before the olympics are footballs euros set to be staged across the continent but with League Matches in italy and switzerland already being cancelled, governing body uefa today met amid mounting concern. The organisation are having conversations with the government all the time because they have got to be across what might happen with the leagues or other fixtures. But equally, we are very calm about it. With the government not banning public gatherings, next weeks Cheltenham Festival is set to go ahead as planned but this is a worrying time for the sport. It is frightening because it is the culmination of a whole years work that goes into four days. While the organisers of the six nations have said there will be no further cancellations, one player now ruled out of the tournament is englands mako vunipola. The prop in self isolation as a precaution after travelling through virus hit hong kong over the weekend. Dan roan, bbc news. And theres more about the symptoms of coronavirus and how to protect yourself on our website. Thats bbc. Co. Uk news, and on the bbc news app. And well find out how coronavirus and other stories are covered in tomorrows front pages at 11 30pm in the papers. Our guests joining me tonight are sonia sodha from the observer, and madeline grant
from the telegraph. In the us, voting has started in the series of contests called primaries to choose a democratic candidate to face donald trump in november. Its known as super tuesday because of the number of contests taking place in 11 states including texas and california. Delegates will then vote for their favoured candidate at the Democratic Party convention injuly. Today, around a third of those delegates will be allocated. There are just under 4,000 allocated across the united states. The winner needs almost 2,00 of those delegates to become the democratic president ial nominee. 2000. Bernie sanders is currently in the lead, but prominent figures in the party have rallied behind the former Vice President , joe biden. Our north america editorjon sopel reports from Bernie Sanders home state of vermont. Its a long and seemingly never ending road to the democratic nomination. This is a lake were driving on. The search for voters takes you way
off the beaten track. Here in vermont, a Bernie Sanders frozen backyard, there is an icefishing competition going on. He is the most left wing and the oldest candidate in the race, and some are hooked. I am supporting bernie. Why . Because i believe in his message, and im kind of tired of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, and the middle class getting squeezed. I think a lot of americans are ready to vote for Bernie Sanders and i think thats in response to a real disgust with the oligarchy. But for a lot of these hunting, fishing and shooting types, hes anathema. Are you a bernie supporter . No. I dont believe in giving everything i work for away. You think thats what bernie would do . Oh, yeah, 100 . Its what hes done his whole life. From here in this remote frozen
wilderness in the northeast, Bernie Sanders has built a Grassroots Organisation that fans out across the whole us. Its impressive. His supporters talk about feeling the bern. Where we are now, it would be nice just to feel a little warmth. But the person who has caught fire these past few days is the moderatejoe biden. He won South Carolina and now two of his big name rivals have pulled out to throw their weight behind him. Im delighted to endorse and support joe biden for president. And i think you know you have a home withjoe biden. Bernie sanders came home to vermont to vote today. Hes still the frontrunner, but hes feeling the pressure. But a complicating factor is the uber wealthy former new york mayor, Mike Bloomberg, on the ballot for the first time. He has spent an eye watering near half billion dollars of his own money on tv adverts alone, and who knows what impact he will have. Im Mike Bloomberg and i approve this message. 3. 58 pounds. Here on lake bomoseen, th