the Prime Minister made an impassioned
appeal to the nation on social social
distancing in the further measures that
we we may bring in well I don't think
you need to use your imagination very
much to see where we might have to to go
and we will think about this very very
actively in the next 24 hours we need to
think about the kinds of measures that
we've seen elsewhere other countries
that have been forced to bring in
restrictions on on people's movements
all together but it can only really be
preserved if everybody acts responsibly
and conforms with those principles of
staying apart from one another and
social distancing I know it's I know
it's hard but that's that's the best way
forward if we can't do that then yeah
I'm afraid we're going to have to bring
forward tougher tougher measures but
have these words come too late
clearly in parts of the country some
people have not been following the
advice to social distance
this was Columbia flower market in East
London this afternoon like it's several
other markets and parks in the capital
people were out in crowds socializing in
close quarters despite a clear warning
from the mayor don't leave your home
unless you really really have to work
from home don't use public transport
unless it's genuinely essential look out
for your neighbors who are elderly and
vulnerable do some shopping for them
leave it on their doorstep but it's not
just this springtime mood apparently
engulfing some in the country that's the
problem
witness the queues outside some
supermarkets - standing this closely
together goes against advice on social
distancing but can ordinary people
really be blamed when advice from
government has changed so quickly and at
times seemed conflicting on Friday the
Prime Minister suggested he would visit
his elderly mother today I'll certainly
be sending him my very best wishes and
hope to get to see her today he wrote in
two newspapers The Sunday Times and the
son urging people don't visit mum today
the Sunday Times also alleges the Prime
Minister's chief adviser Dominic
Cummings had initially been keen for the
country to adopt a policy one observer
characterized as herd immunity and let
the old people die but had been
convinced shutting down the country was
a better option after seeing what was
happening in Italy Downing Street
denounced the report saying it was a
highly defamatory fabrication Channel 4
News has learnt that French authorities
were preparing to shut down the border
with the UK on Friday afternoon France
has imposed a strict lockdown and
president macron is said to have been
furious at Britain for not taking more
stringent measures to tackle coronavirus
we understand the plan to close the
border was only dropped when France was
told the UK would now be taking a
tougher line and while questions
continue to be asked about who or what
is actually driving government policy
already people are dealing with
coronavirus at its worst this is actor
Sofia miles saying goodbye to her father
who died in the last 24 hours
she posted this picture to remind people
of the harsh reality look I've just come
from inside Downing Street from inside
that briefing and I think it's fair to
say the Prime Minister is clearly still
very reluctant to impose the kind of
lockdown that we've seen in France Italy
and Spain his tone was still very much
an encouraging one but also a warning
there saying look if you don't follow
these measures we will have to try and
bring in further measures he warned
against congregation telling people stay
at home if you can but if you do go
outside and it is still okay to go
outside and take a walk in the park but
you need to not congregate stay two
metres apart it's not that difficult P
said the other thing that we're hearing
now is that the Prime Minister insists
very much that he is still being guided
by the science and that is influencing
all of the government's decisions he is
absolutely insistent on that point in
terms of measures the big thing that
we're hearing is that the introduction
of this what policy that they're calling
shielding ie one and a half million
people who are considered to be the most
vulnerable those with councils
their respiratory diseases they're going
to be contacted by the NHS via letter or
phone or text and told to stay at home
for 12 weeks so that's not social
distancing that's a further measure for
those who are most vulnerable and that's
the next stage in the government's our
policy but very consistent they are
being guided by science and not politics
Jackie thanks festival the Home Office
has confirmed the first case of corona
virus in an immigration detention center
after a woman being held at yours would
embed the Chur tested positive home
office officials say the person has been
placed in isolation after displaying
symptoms and no one else among staff or
detainees has tested positive
campaigners are calling for the release
of hundreds of detainees because of the
risk that they or staff could contract
the virus well joining me now is
professor Helen ward clinical professor
of public health at Imperial College
London thanks very much for joining us
this evening I just wonder what you make
at the latest advice coming from the
prime minister well there's a lot of
public health specialists senior leaders
who've been discussing this over the
weekend
and I think most of them like me will be
very disappointed it seems to me that
there are mixed messages I know that the
prime minister said that people should
reduce their social contacts outside of
the home but has not yet done anything
to enforce that going back to the
science which he says is colliding
everything they do the work that came
out of Imperial College said that those
social contacts outside the home after
reduced by 75% if this is going to work
now it's clear from what's being shown
today that is not happening yet and
therefore closures of some of the shops
that are not necessary some of their
parks etc are going to have to be
enforced but more importantly I think
making some restrictions on travel and
unnecessary to travel the moment is all
voluntary and unfortunately people are
not sure that they want to do that I
mean were you surprised to hear the
Prime Minister again today it was gently
appealing to people to do the right
thing
when it would seem certainly from the
evidence of what we've been filming
today people are not doing it certainly
not enough of them were you surprised
that he didn't take her toughest dance I
was surprised because I think that the
evidence from elsewhere in the world is
that you have to take a really tough
stance and you have to take it early you
have to have the places that have
actually got this under control and got
numbers of cases starting to go down new
cases like South Korea they have had a
major investment in testing very very
widespread testing contact tracing and
reduction in social contacts we have if
you think you're going to put these
measures in place in four days time if
it doesn't work now four days is a lot
of extra cases so I think last week when
we had the pubs and clubs and don't go
to them but not enforced we lost four
days and then they enforced it I think
we are urging the Prime Minister and the
government to take the bold steps that
are necessary now and not wait another
four days it is as you say quite
interesting all the way along the
government seemed to have been reluctant
to take what he said today would
draconian measures so we saw other
people leading so for example at the
same time as he was saying mass
gathering sport could go ahead we then
had the Premier League moving in and
saying we're gonna cancel all games
today he's still saying to people be
responsible going out into the parks but
we have some parks across London being
closed by local authorities why do you
think he is so slow or in your view he's
so slow to enforce these things well he
actually poses it in terms of the JUCO
nion sort of clamp down as opposed to
people enjoying themselves and I think
that's the wrong message to be given to
people it's one or the other I think you
have to say this is an emergency we have
to get people to comply with this and we
have to do that at a local level and I
think the local authorities are quite
right to be taking these measures and
they need to have the backing of the
government to enforce them but it's not
just that a lot of communities and shops
and other things are actually doing the
right thing they are closing down and
she
doing towards supporting the most
vulnerable we've got hotels are saying
that they're going to be available the
capacity for whether it's for the NHS or
some are suggested for refuges for
people suffering domestic violence as
there is the isolation there's many
things that could be done but the point
does seem to want to be one step behind
and do you worry that he says he's being
led by the science but actually he's
being led by his political instinct it's
said that he hates the idea of nanny
state interventions do you worry that
it's politics rather than science that
is leading him I think that the science
that is informing this has been good I
do you think there's a lack of
experienced public health leadership in
helping the government make those
decisions we do have the CMO and the
scientific adviser but there is a huge
network of public health expertise
around the country that I don't think is
being drawn on enough people that were
communicable disease control experts
we've been planning for epidemics and
pandemics for years I don't hear their
voice is enough influencing government
we are being repeatedly told that we're
two weeks behind Italy and we are seeing
horrific numbers of deaths coming out of
Italy is it too late to delay that level
of fatalities here to do something about
it if we want to stop things if we're
two weeks behind then we have two weeks
to stop that in a sense and we have to
start today because it's the infections
that occurring today but are spreading
in Colombia flower market for example
those the infections that in two weeks
time will be causing deaths and
intensive care use and that's what we
have to try and stop now and so you
think enforcement has to come now I
think there has to be clearer messaging
I think that it is different in
different parts of the world it's not
just about limiting contact between
individuals and the spread that way it's
also between hotspots like London and
other parts of the country and I think
we need to look carefully about limiting
travel between areas so say for example
just very briefly in Germany today we
see no gatherings of more than two
people outside of home and work
central fines if social distancing
measures aren't and here - are those the
sorts of measures we should at least be
thinking about now I think we should be
and I think we will almost certainly
have to bring them in but it takes time
so we need to stop that now not say our
we're going to think about it and maybe
do it next week next week is another
several tens of thousands of cases and
more pressure on their chests and more
deaths professor Helen Ward thank you so
much for talking to us thank you
parks beaches and other public spaces
around the country are being closed down
while the authorities and areas like
Yorkshire at the Lake District and rural
Wales are urging non-residents to stay
away saying the numbers of people
flouting orders to avoid social contact
at a time of crisis is simply
unacceptable from Windermere are north
of England correspondent Clare Fallon
reports we were told to stay at home but
with the Sun out not everyone did
despite the warnings of what's at stake
so many headed to Snowdonia this road
became an overflow carpark because the
actual car park was full and in the
lakes police asked visitors to stay away
but still they came any seemed to think
the warnings were for other people not
them if some signs yes
and fine
oh yeah it'll be adopted today though
I'm finishing tomorrow yeah
that's it floors down Tony's been
selling ice cream all his adult life he
lives not far from here in Kendall he
told me most queuing at his van seem to
think they're fine as long as they're
outdoors yeah but is it really easy no I
mean I should be really come looks like
we got to be off for a month this is no
longer just about at-risk groups we're
all being asked to stay in as much as
possible venturing out just to exercise
or to walk a dog or to do things that
are essential according to the
government when we're out and about we
should be trying as much as possible to
stay two meters that's roughly the
length of our microphone pole away from
other people so somewhere like this we
can do it and I'm at least two meters
away from cameraman Neil at the moment
but when you're walking along a pavement
for example with other people cutting
past you if you're queuing up to buy an
ice cream not two meters and so
increasingly we're being asked to just
stay at home the NHS and social care
aren't resourced for day trippers second
home owners and isolation case honors
the affairs services could be
overwhelmed by the influx at the expense
of people who live in rural areas people
like Sharon and her parents who live in
Windermere who after days cooped up had
ventured out cautiously it is Mother's
Day I have got them in the car this is
the only part where they're out and
we're trying to be as far as way
people as possible and mates over on
food and drinks but for many today has
been spent at a distance
whether it's miles or just a few meters
and as were asked to stay at home to
save lives we will find new ways to care
and love and live Tara Fallon reporting
them now if you want an example of how
quickly covered 19 is spreading around
the globe how about this it took 90 days
to record the first confirmed 100,000
cases the second 100,000 took 12 days to
record the third 100,000 recorded today
took just four days Italy reported 651
more deaths today or Germany's
Chancellor Angela Merkel has gone into
isolation after a doctor she'd been in
contact with tested positive the new
york city mayor has said the lock down
there could last six to nine months
camions Erin reports some Darlow
Hospital northern Italy where the
morning Ward round starts with a pep
talk by megaphone all over Italy people
are thinking of you dr. Sarah Barbuto
says before playing the national anthem
over her mobile phone Sunday innocent
Peter's Square like so many public
places across the world it deserted the
Pope's weekly prayer a dreadful
reflection of our times when you do
anything more you know sorely we hear of
many people dying men and women who die
alone unable to say goodbye to their
loved ones we pray for them and we pray
for their families who can't accompany
those dear to them in death in several
years for Charlie a pity avanti he lured
off her media the overnight numbers from
Italy are grim slightly fewer than
yesterday but still another 650 dead the
lockdown when it came and monitoring
shoppers for fever too little too late
European nations ignored the warnings
China Korea and Singapore by and large
failing to trace infections failing to
enforce distancing the Germans have now
threatened to introduce huge fines
possibly thousands of euros for
gatherings of more than two people and
the Chancellor herself is tonight in
isolation herself after being treated by
a doctor who since tested positive and
now Italy epicenter of the pandemic is
the recipient of aid Cuban doctors
dispatched to Lombardy and supplies
being sent from Russia it's not all
cooperation though while the French are
sending shipments to Iran the US has
been urged by many that now is the time
to drop not increase its sanctions and
the Iranian supreme leader said a u.s.
offer of help was in fact a plot to
spread the virus itself in New York the
Mayor Bill DeBlasio warned the city that
never sleeps
could be shut down now for the rest of
the year I don't get it right now I have
asked repeatedly for the military to be
mobilized for the defense production act
to be used to its fullest to get us
things like ventilators so people who
can live who would die otherwise Chuck I
can't be blunt enough if the president
doesn't act people will die who could
have lived otherwise across the u.s.
empty streets as reports emerged the
richest country in the world is
preparing a four trillion dollar
domestic aid package but what on earth
can government's do in countries like
Kenya where furious market traders were
told today to pack up by the army the
country's seen no deaths and only 15
cases so far but they are on the rise we
have no choice the trader said but to
take our chances how are we expected to
survive if we can't work life has
changed beyond all recognition in just
one week
as many in this country like others get
used to the idea of spending many months
at home some of them all on their own
few people know what living in
isolation is like better than Terry wait
who spent almost five years as a hostage
during the Lebanon Civil War we've been
talking to him along with experts and
others who've experienced long periods
alone to hear their advice and
encouraging words we are all in this
together remember you are not alone and
during the days when I was working as a
hostage negotiator I was captured in
Beirut and I spent almost five years in
very strict solar confinement I am
Augustin Fuentes I am an evolutionary
anthropologist at the University of
Notre Dame in the United States my name
is Ann Welsh I'm a blogger man offered a
business of an entrepreneur and I suffer
from it the blood disorder called
sickle-cell anemia anemia dilated to be
isolated for two weeks and I specialize
in 2014-2016
Ebola outbreak in West Africa I learned
in Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis
that for ordinary people surviving Ebola
was not simply a matter of avoiding
contagion or getting treatment those
were very important but it was also a
matter of getting through the crisis in
a meaningful way nobody what the future
holds the way to deal with that take it
one day at a time you can't make many
plans of the future but you can live
today as fully as possible so do that
you have to take away your denial that
this is something happening to you and
start making yourself from a sense of
denial to acceptance and I think the
most absorbing enjoyment phase of the
whole isolation for me is once you get
to that accepting things because then
you start thinking of things to do
and you can begin to find that solitude
is actually something that's really
quite quite remarkable you will discover
that you have within you abilities and
gifts that you never knew your head and
I started writing my book I said I have
all this time of my hand why should I
just sit back and do nothing with it I
thought a writing so I used to write in
my head I only put on paper when I came
out so I had to develop my mental
capacities we need to really think about
what are the dangers what are the harms
but also what are the patterns of
resilience what are the patterns about
being a human that are gonna help us
cope with this and make it through and
come out the other side okay everybody
needs some sort of a framework within
which to work now when you're alone you
have to create your own framework no one
else we could create for you now I've
made a very very nice schedule for
myself that actually I'm now looking
forward to tomorrow because tomorrow is
actually going to be busy again I think
social distancing is a confusing term
but actually in many ways during a
crisis an epidemic social proximity is
very important that folks ability might
not be physical we do have to keep our
distances from one another but we
actually really have to be there for
each other
maintaining those connections is a
critical part of maintaining your
physical health so that should you be
unfortunate and unlucky enough to catch
kovat 19 your chances of sort of keeping
your body as well as possible are gonna
be helped by staying as social as
possible
crises and epidemics in particular are
kind of like holding up a mirror to
society they show you and what's working
in society and maybe what's not working
and the things that maybe when ignored
that weren't working all along I would
hope the society would come out of this
for the better I mean there are no
guarantees
I would hope it would show us that well
there is more to life than just a best
immersing body what the hope people
should have is that we're all in this
together but this is something that we
should take pride and joy with knowing
that I'm not suffering alone
well suffering together take it
positively take it as a constructive
experience and don't let it get you down
keep hope alive and that gets you
through