The countrys sports minister. And on wall street, an unexpected cut in us Interest Rates amid growing concern about the Economic Impact of coronavirus. Well have all the latest on the coronavirus outbreak growing by the day, but still not officially classed as a pandemic. Also tonight. The home secretary says she regrets the resignation of a top Civil Servant who made allegations of bullying against her. And a special report from antarctica, where marine life is under increasing threat because of rising temperatures. And coming up on sportsday later in the hour on bbc news, well have all the goals from tonights fa cup ties, including the game between chelsea and liverpool at stamford bridge. 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 significa ntly 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, and 12 of those have fully recovered from the virus. Ourfirst report this evening is from our Political Editor laura kuenssberg. T0 baby shark tune wash your hands, Doo Doo Doo Doo doo doo wash your hands. Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo doo a simple instruction to us all. Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo doo use the soap, Doo Doo Doo Doo doo. As catchy as the song that inspired this class in belfast. Keep them clean, Doo Doo Doo Doo doo 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. Prime minister, are you telling people today that, sooner or later, all of our lives are going to be disrupted somehow . The answer to your question is, im afraid at this stage it is just, i think, 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 . So, for planning purposes, of course we go up to the highest rate that it 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 around 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 that 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 a 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 theyre 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 hit the economy in a big way. The bank of englands role to help uk businesses and households manage through an 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, theyre already doing temperature testing. And the elderly are the most vulnerable. It puts peoples minds at rest, really, you know. Especially those that go into places like this. You get flu every year, 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 here in sutton coldfield, braced for what might come next. 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 can avoid the worst case for us all. Laura kuenssberg, bbc news. To recap, ministers say the uk is likely to be affected in the coming weeks and months. 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, 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. In an unexpected move, the Us Central Bank has cut Interest Rates in response to mounting concerns about the Economic Impact of coronavirus. The g7 group of finance ministers pledged action earlier today following warnings that an economic slowdown caused by coronavirus could push countries into recession. Our economics editor faisal islam is here. Why this tactic, and will it work . It is significant. We havent had an emergency cut in us Interest Rates since the financial crisis over a decade ago. We havent had a cut this big since the financial crisis too. But the stock markets in the us shot up yesterday. They fell sharply after this news, down 3 , down nearly 800 points. There are a couple of things going on, suspicion in the markets. President trump wa nted in the markets. President trump wanted this sort of cut. It will help boost the economy ahead of the election. There is also a concern that this was a concerted action by the us to try and corral other western Central Industrial banks to join in. That didnt happen, but may come later. There is also a suspicion that cutting Interest Rates is a rather blunt tool in trying to deal with a prospective pandemic. It might be that the better option is to use tax and spend policy, target your intervention at those industries that are most clearly affected. We have seen tonight the world bank announced 12 billion of support for developing countries. There is a big concern over whether this will hit countries with Health Systems that are countries with Health Systems that a re less countries with Health Systems that are less prepared than, frankly, our health system. But all eyes are really on the budget next week. We thought this would be all about the Long Term Plan and levelling up, but it seems there will now be a lot of focus on the short term tonic to the economy required as these coronavirus economic fears grow. Faisal islam, our economics editor. Iran has announced another sharp rise in the number of cases of coronavirus. The official figure now stands at more than 2,300. 77 people are known to have died from it there, though the real figures are believed to be bigger. In italy, the total number of coronavirus cases has increased to more than 2,500 an increase of nearly 500 on yesterday. 79 people have died. Italy is considering setting up a new quarantine red zone near the Northern City of bergamo given the high number of cases in the area. The south korean president moonjae in has put the country into what hes called a state of war to tackle coronavirus. Hes ordered all Government Departments to operate 2a hours a day. South korea is the worst affected country after china, with more than 5,000 confirmed cases, and 28 deaths. And at buckingham palace, the queen wore gloves at an Investiture Ceremony today but the palace would not confirm whether her majesty queen was taking a precaution because of coronavirus. Its believed to be the first time the queen has worn gloves at a palace investiture. The japanese government is stepping up tests for the virus in response to widespread public criticism because of the low rate of testing. Until recently, japan was carrying out significantly fewer tests compared to other countries in the region. Just five months before japan is due to hold the olympics, one senior doctor has told the bbc that because so few people have been tested, the true number of infections in the country could be in the tens of thousands. Our correspondentjenny hill reports from tokyo. Its the tokyo the authorities want you to see. Business as usual, gearing up for a summer of sport. But for now, the stands are empty, schools are shut and events postponed as japan struggles to contain covid 19. The authorities know they cant afford another mistake. They were criticised over their handling of passengers and crew quarantined on the diamond princess. Six people died after being infected on board. But now a new concern, that the true number of corona cases in the country could be far higher than reported. Because like masatoshi, many citizens report that despite having symptoms and in his case having travelled to china in december, theyve been refused a test. Translation if i did have the virus, i would have caused problems for my family, my colleagues and people around me. I wanted to find out as quickly as possible whether i was infected or not. I constantly wondered, am i all right . Am i really all right . In japans frozen north, a state of emergency. Hokkaido has nearly 80 confirmed cases, the highest injapan. But even a government expert admits that the true figure is likely to be almost 1,000. And this doctor, who told us hes not allowed to test every patient with symptoms, believes the official nationalfigure, more than 250 cases, is nonsense. Translation its the tip of the iceberg. Its tens of thousands, at least. At least. The japanese government has said its increased the number of tests and will continue to do so. It knows that the world is watching. The World Health Organization has named the four countries about which it is most concerned, and japan is on the list. All this just five months before tokyo is due to host the summer olympics. Jenny hill, bbc news, tokyo. As mentioned injennys report, 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 outside 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. So far coronavirus has spread to more than 60 countries, but the World Health Organisation has still not classed the outbreak as a pandemic. The last declared pandemic was swine flu in 2009. Our medical correspondent fergus walsh looks at how coronavirus compares to flu outbreaks over the past century. It was a new virus which swept across the world. Swine flu emerged in mexico in 2009 and quickly became a pandemic. There were dire warnings about what could happen here. Swine flu is now too widespread to be contained. But it was such a mild disease for most, it had a limited impact on the nhs and daily life. The swine flu virus shows how wary we need to be of predictions with new diseases. In 2009, the reasonable worst Case Scenario was 65,000 deaths in the uk. In fact, there were 457. There were three pandemics in the 20th century which had a far bigger Global Impact than swine flu. Asian flu, in the late 50s, caused between one and 4 million deaths, as did hong kong flu a decade later. Both had a mortality rate of around 0. 2 that is two in every 1000 people infected. Spanish flu in 1918 killed up to 50 million people, more than died in the first world war. It had a death rate of 2 . The best estimate of the death rate for the new coronavirus is 1 of those infected, but there is huge uncertainty. Its likely huge numbers of very mild cases are being missed, which would lower that figure substantially. Our medical corresponent fergus walsh. 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. That has the same material for you and you can acce