To help tackle the crisis. Down tools or carry on in construction . The government is accused of being irresponsible for allowing non essential building to continue. In scotland theyre told to stop. The industry tells us they need more clarity. Its now official. The olympics and paralympics will not take place in tokyo this summer. After mounting pressure, the decision has been made to postpone the games until next year. Good morning. Yesterday was the warmest day so far. North wales reached 19. 4. Could be 17 or 18 in wales today as england and wales enjoy another dry and sunny day. More clout and patchy rain for scotla nd more clout and patchy rain for scotland and Northern Ireland. More details coming up. More cloud. Its wednesday march 25th. Our top story the efforts to fight coronavirus are ramping up as the death toll increases and more people test positive for the disease. The government is opening a huge new makeshift hospital in london and has appealed for a quarter of a million volunteers to help the nhs. The number of uk deaths rose to 422 on tuesday, a rise of 87 in one day. Charlotte rose reports. We have all of these people who are incredibly critically unwell and people are dying alone, people have no company. A stark warning from those on the frontline. ThreeJunior Doctors from a London Hospital want people to take this illness seriously and to warn the rest of the country whats coming their way. There are patients and theyre in their 30s. We dont know what the outcome of some of these patients will be. They will go to intensive care, may be in intensive care for some weeks and some of them will die. And its completely heartbreaking. Warnings as well from families who have seen what covid 19 can do. Sashinis father died on monday after contracting the virus. He had underlying conditions but wasnt diagnosed and collapsed in hospital. He was in hospital in intensive care in a coma for a week. Prior to that, he was home ill with what they suspected was pneumonia. We are all going to be totally fed up with having to stay in, for sure, i know i definitely am but we need to be looking at italy which is quite terrifying. But they are really struggling. Shops have been shut and the streets are almost silent, after the Prime Minister told uk citizens to stay at home. But there is still confusion as to who should be going to work and who shouldnt. Change here for piccadilly line. Pictures of packed tubes prompted the Health Secretary to give this advice. I want to be clear where people absolutely cannot work at home, they can still go to work. Indeed, its important they do to keep the country running. Key workers, for example, in the nhs, social care, pharmacists and medicine supply chain should go to work unless, as weve said before, they are self isolating. In the Daily Press Conference, mr hancock said construction work could continue but in scotland, Building Sites are being shut. Shadow chancellorjohn mcdonald said the governments approach was irresponsible, dangerous and self defeating. As hospitals across the country prepare for a surge in cases, the government has announced its creating a new temporary hospital at the excel conference in london. The nhs nightingale will provide an extra 4,000 beds specifically for coronavirus patients. The army is being brought into run the centre alongside nhs staff. The government is also calling for an army of 250,000 volunteers to support the Health Service. The battle against this virus is ramping up. Charlotte rose, bbc news. There are calls for the government to provide more clarity on exactly who should and shouldnt be going into work, after confusion about the new coronavirus restrictions. 0ur Political Correspondent leila nathoo is in westminster for us now. Good morning. We spent much of yesterday with Michael Goves trying to get to the bottom of this essential worker area and it went on for most of the day yesterday. We have clarity this morning . 36 hours since that stay at home message was delivered by the Prime Minister and we still have this confusion about who exactly should be going into work. The governments message has been that if you cannot do yourjob from home then you should continue to go to work. This is particularly a rub, this row, with construction workers because clearly that does not apply to you. Ministers say you can still go to construction sites if you can work more than two metres apartand if you can work more than two metres apart and observe the social distancing rules but for many they think that is not practical and we have seen pictures of construction workers queueing up to get to sites and canteens and those pictures of construction workers in london getting on the tube. So there are 110w getting on the tube. So there are now calls for all but essential sides to be shut down and in scotla nd sides to be shut down and in scotland the first minister has closed for sites to close. And andy burnham from Greater Manchester making the point last night. Burnham from Greater Manchester making the point last nightlj burnham from Greater Manchester making the point last night. I say close them unless they are absolutely essential work like hospitals. This decision about allowing non essential work appears to be taken for economic reasons but, actually, when you are in the middle of a global pandemic, Health Reasons alone should guiding all Decision Making. Reasons alone should guiding all decisionmaking. The government is clearly trying to balance the need to keep the economy going in the background while also trying to impose these measures to stop the spread of the disease but i think they are coming under a load of rationales to offer greater clarity on who exactly should be going in and out of work. And we will be speaking later to robert generate the secretary of state for Housing Community and local government at 730 here on first. I know there are so 730 here on first. I know there are so many questions you want answered please start sending them in and we will try to put some of them to him later on. Some prisoners could be released early to help alleviate the pressure caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Prisons in england and wales have been placed on lockdown, as thousands of staff are off work because they are ill or self isolating. 13 inmates have tested positive for the virus. The outbreak has also led to tight restrictions on visits to jails in scotland and Northern Ireland. Pressure is building on the benefits sytem after a huge number of claims due to the economic fall out from coronavirus. At one point yesterday, more than 100,000 people were attempting to verify online applications and others spent hours trying to phone welfare staff. The department for work and pensions said they were taking unprecedented action to ensure people received the support they need. Indias population of 1. 3 billion people has gone into a complete lockdown which is due to last at least three weeks. The news that there will be a total ban on leaving home prompted large scale panic buying across the country. India has reported over 500 positive coronavirus cases and ten people have died. President trump has said he hopes the us can shake off coronavirus by easter. But new yorks Governor Andrew Cuomo says the disease is spreading faster than a bullet train and criticised the government for not doing enough to stop it. New york now has over 25,000 confirmed cases. Mr cuomo had this warning for the rest of the country. Look at us today. Where we are today, you will be in three weeks or four weeks or five weeks or six weeks. We are your future. And what weeks. We are your future. And what we do here will chart the course for what we do in your city and in your community. Im not asking you to help new yorkjust to help new york. Im asking you to help new york to help yourselves. Lets speak now to our correspondent peter bowes, who joins us from los angeles. That was a stark message but in some ways different to what the president has been saying. Good morning, yes. That is a dire message coming out of new york city and a prediction that other states like california and washington on the west coast could only be a couple of weeks behind what is happening in that state, new york, where the number of cases of this virus still seem to be spiralling out of control. As you say, a very different tone from the president , talking about america getting back to work again. This is a message we heard from him all week and saying that he believes the long term impact of america effectively shutting down because people are being told to stay home, he said that would worse than the virus itself. You will have suicides by the thousands, you will have all sorts of things happen, instability. You cannot come in and say lets close the United States of america, the most successful country in the world by far. I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by easter. A lot of astonishment at that prediction and i should tell you one bit of good news for americans in the last hour 01 so we news for americans in the last hour or so we hearfrom news for americans in the last hour or so we hear from the white house and from congress that an agreement has been reached on the 2 trillion aid package for americans meaning that very soon individual americans could receive up to 1200 checks to help them get through this. Thank you for bringing us up to date with what is going on there. After weeks of speculation, this summers tokyo 0lympic and Paralympic Games have been postponed until next year. Lets go to tokyo now and our correspondent Rupert Wingfield hayes. Rupert, this decision was inevitable . Thank you for spending time with us on the programme. How has that decision gone down injapan . On the programme. How has that decision gone down injapan . |j on the programme. How has that decision gone down in japan . I think it was absolutely an inevitable decision itjust took longer it was absolutely an inevitable decision it just took longer than was perhaps necessary. I think it has been obvious for some time, at least the last few weeks, that this was coming down the line and the japanese government were clearly relaxed and to take the final step. Just on monday the 0lympian committee here 0lympic just on monday the 0lympian committee here Olympic Committee here was saying that they were going to ta ke here was saying that they were going to take another month to think over the options and then 24 hours later, the options and then 24 hours later, the ioc and the japanese Prime Minister came out and said we are postponing it until the end of this year and not longer than the end of next summer 2021. That is the decision. How is it going down here injapan . Most decision. How is it going down here in japan . Most people decision. How is it going down here injapan . Most people are not surprised. 0pinion polls have shown for a few weeks that the majority of people thought that given the state of the pandemic elsewhere in the world this was pretty much inevitable although this morning in some newspapers here injapan there has been some recrimination already about who will bear the cost of all this. A newspaper predicting that postponing the olympics by one year will cost between five and 6 billion us and thatjapan will have to bear the cost on its own and the ioc will not pay a penny. They are asking why. And we will be talking about that with sally on the programme as well as well as speaking to a dublin championjay jones about the impact. |j speaking to a dublin championjay jones about the impact. I know we are all suffering in different ways but that will have an impact on an athlete. For the latest developments on the coronavirus outbreak, including what symptoms to look for, how to reduce your risk of becoming infected, and advice for those with Underlying Health conditions, just visit our website or go to the bbc news app. All the latest detailed government advice can also be found at the gov. Uk website. Just follow the coronavirus link. And theres a bbc news special coronavirus your essential update on bbc one tonight at 7. 30pm. I heard carol mention in the headlines that it was the warmest day so far this year. It was quite lovely. Good morning. That is right. Yesterday in north wales the temperature shot up to 19. 4 degrees making it the warmest day of the year so far. Today across parts of north east wales, west wales we could see 17 or 18 as, once again, england and wales enjoy a dry and fine day. But we still have this weather front, though it fine day. But we still have this weatherfront, though it is fine day. But we still have this weather front, though it is starting to wea ke n weather front, though it is starting to weaken today, across Northern Ireland and scotland using a fair bit of cloud and some rain. But as we go through the day that will start to slide slowly southwards so later it will brighten up across the 0uter later it will brighten up across the outer hebrides. As we push further south, southern scotland, england and wales, eastern parts of Northern Ireland we return to sunny skies. Hes at times and it will not be as windy as it was yesterday in the north. Temperatures, 8 12 and for scotla nd north. Temperatures, 8 12 and for scotland and Northern Ireland we are looking at about 14 16 maybe 17 or 18 in parts of wales. As we head through the evening and overnight what you will find is this weather front again a little bit further south and the rain in it is patchy with drizzle and a lot of clear skies across southern scotland, england and wales and also across the highlands. Temperatures here will fall away and we are prone to some frost. Temperatures could drop to 1 some frost. Temperatures could drop to 1 2 some frost. Temperatures could drop to 1 2in some frost. Temperatures could drop to 1 2 in parts of Eastern England especially. We do not expect the mist and fog in the morning to be problematic that it is expected to lift readily. Tomorrow we still have the weather front continuing to wea ken have the weather front continuing to weaken all the time. A breeze further south, really, weaken all the time. A breeze furthersouth, really, not much. Here is our weather front. Furthersouth, really, not much. Here is our weatherfront. Again, increasingly late and patchy rain with drizzle, bright skies with sunshine and a few showers in the 0uter sunshine and a few showers in the outer hebrides and as we push across the west of england and wales we are looking again at a dry day with some sunshine turning hazy through the course of the day. Temperatures range from eight to 14 north west england could hit maybe 15 or 16 degrees during the course of thursday. For friday it is spot the difference. All i can say is that we have our weather front slowly slipping south and it is very slow while the drivel that make drizzle and patchy rain will fizzle in the second half of the day. Behind it, bright skies across the highlands and the head of it, were still looking a fine day for england and for wales with sunshine and bits of cloud at times and we could see brightness coming in across the north coast of Northern Ireland as we go through the day. Temperatures dropping a little bit, 8 14 degrees but as we head into the weekend the temperature continues to fall. We have our weather front which exempt eventually had south with High Pressure establishing. The weather front could produce rain through the weekend but it will turn colder as you can see from the blues across the charts. The weekend weather, cold wind, sunny spells possibly some wintry showers in the east. It isa it is a real mix, isnt it . See you throughout the programme. The nhs needs you those were the words of the Health Secretary, matt hancock, as he appealed for 250,000 volunteers to come forward to help the fight against coronavirus. At the governments Daily Press Conference yesterday, he also outlined plans for a huge makeshift hospital in london. Lets take a look. I know how worried people are, and while this is a great time of turbulence, it is a moment, too, that the country can come together in that National Effort. As the next step in that effort, today we launch nhs volunteers. Were seeking 250,000 volunteers, people in good health, to help the nhs for shopping and for delivery of medicines, and to support those who are shielded to protect their own health. The nhs volunteer responders is a new scheme set up so that people can come and help, and to make sure that the nhs and the local services that are needed get all the support that they can. I can also announce that the call we made at the weekend for people to return to the nhs has been incredibly successful so far. So far, 11,788 people have answered that call. 2660 doctors, over 2500 other Health Professionals and pharmacists and 6147 nurses. And i pay tribute to each and every one of those whos returning to the nhs at its hour of need. In addition, from next week, 5,500 final year medics and 18,700 final year student nurses will move to the front line, to make sure we have the people we need in our nhs to respond to this crisis. In total, thats over 35,000 more staff coming to the nhs when the country needs the nhs most. Finally, i can announce today that we will next week open a new hospital, a temporary hospital, the nhs Nightingale Hospital, at the excel centre in london. The nhs Nightingale Hospital will comprise two wards, each of 2,000 people. With the help of the military, and with nhs clinicians, we will make sure that we have the capacity that we need, so that everyone can get the support they need. But, no matter how big we grow the nhs, unless we slow the spread of this virus, t