while the country worst affected by the
coronavirus in Europe is Italy where
infections have jumped by 50% in 24
hours and 52 people have died the death
toll worldwide has now surpassed 3000
with more than 80 9000 infections
confirmed some of the latest countries
to report cases include Azerbaijan
Ecuador Latvia and Senegal Iran is
experiencing a severe outbreak 66 people
are said to have died from kovat 19 but
there are fears that the government
there has not reported its true scale in
France two more people have died from
the disease bringing its total to four
four more have been diagnosed with
corona virus in England there in
hartfordshire Devon and Kent the total
for the UK now stands at 40 and all four
of the new UK cases had traveled to
Italy i chateau has the latest the main
government advise today a patriotic
washing of hands as the Prime Minister
shared his first Cobra emergency meeting
on the outbreak of coronavirus he's keen
to bat away criticism that the
government has been too slow and that
he's been absent yeah I just shared a
cobra meeting on coronavirus and I think
it's very important to stress that this
is a problem that I think is likely to
become more significant for this country
in the course the next days and weeks
and therefore that we'd be making every
possible preparation for that the latest
figures show that 40 people in the UK
have tested positive up by four
including a pupil at this school in
Devon the head teacher said the student
is getting all necessary support Anna
made stone in Kent a confirmed case
forced the local television news studio
to close across the country schools pubs
and health centres have temporarily shut
to try and stop the spread of the virus
find head Royal British Legion club is
one of the latest places forced to close
because of groan of Irish fears we spoke
to a woman inside and she said that
public health England
touch me because one of their members
tested positive for the virus
she said that they also sent them
instructions on how to do a deep clean
themselves they've been scrubbing away
since yesterday but they're still
unclear of when they're gonna open the
first confirmed case in Surrey is the
type that will cause health authorities
the most worried with no apparent travel
history to affected areas or known
contact with people who had he could be
the first person to catch the virus
within the UK worldwide nearly 90,000
cases have been confirmed and over 3,000
people are known to have died but more
than half of those who caught the virus
over 45,000 have now fully recovered in
China where it all began there seems to
be more good news this 98 year old woman
from Wuhan was filmed being discharged
from hospital a vast majority of global
cases are still confined to whom a
province but in the last 24 hours there
were almost nine times more new cases
reported outside and within mainland
China Xi Jinping seemed uncommon
President Xi is keen to send the message
his country and their aggressive social
control measures are slowly winning the
battle against the virus away from China
the country with the second-highest
number of cases in the world
South Korea their fight is just getting
started
soldiers armed with disinfectant a daily
sight on the streets of Daegu in Iran
which the World Health Organization are
particularly worried about the official
death toll has gone up to 66 but there
are concerns that the true figure could
be in the hundreds closer to home
coronavirus has arrived in every western
european nation italy the hot spot the
death toll there escalated dramatically
today 252 people but as the virus
spreads life goes on around it in Israel
having their third election in less than
a year sanitize polling stations made
sure that even those under quarantine
could get their vote politicians still
keen to get the numbers they need the
corona is
is completely under control today we've
taken all the precautions that are
necessary people can go and vote with
complete confidence while people around
the world is still figuring out how to
cope with the new corona virus even
world leaders aren't quite so sure a
handshake an elbow bump or a pat on the
back a look at how the virus might
already be changing the very way we
interact well that's we've heard the
largest outbreak in Europe is in Italy
Juliana D'Antoni returned home to London
last week from a vacation in the most
affected area in the north I spoke to
her earlier and asked what it had been
like in Italy the city that I was wasn't
like consider red zone but there is a
lot of passions on the hospital in that
city and the city's like close by was
completely closed so trains was canceled
or like they cannot receive no one else
or like who is visiting just friends or
family cannot get out of the city - and
so what happened when you came home to
Britain I received from my work noticed
that I supposed to say at home for about
14 days and in the meantime I supposed
to do the test and I felt some symptoms
like fever or coughs was a really
difficult ID and I called one one one
which was really difficult because I
spend literally more than an hour in the
phone like holding on the line and I
tried to call many times and then in the
afternoon they pick up my coat and they
say that they asked me about my symptoms
where I have been in Italy they just
came to my place on Saturday this was a
bit funny and it's carrying the same
time this because is like it was looking
as a sci-fi film like the nurse they
come here are completely covered with
the protection uniform so basically I
need to wait for three or four days to
get the results in the meantime I'm self
is relating myself so I have
share my flat with two people and these
two people needs to stay in a different
room than me so we cannot share the same
room or if we are the same room
everything needs to be open we cannot
approach ourselves more than two meters
so how do you feel the system has worked
for you I mean do you feel safe no
really because you know it's a long time
that I'm waiting for the results or like
also for they come here and when you
call they have a lot like it's so long
the holding line like you need to wait
for a long time - they finally pick up
your call so you know in the meantime I
think you feel nervous because you want
to go out because you at the end you
need to hold your job and all these
things like make yourself a bit
stressful but it's like you are waiting
for something that you're not 100% sure
and you depend on it like to keep going
your life I'm working remotely but at
some point to think also for human being
you need to go out of your home or
interact with your flatmates or
something like this so I need to wait
until Thursday to have any results
if yes or no in the meantime I need to
wait well good luck I hope it goes well
thank you very much
or we asked the health secretary to
appear on the program but we were told
he was not available I am joined now by
Neil Dixon the chief executive of the
NHS Confederation which represents
hospitals and NHS bodies and dr. Helena
microRNA GP who's chair of the British
Medical Association dr. Helen corn first
just to get you to respond to what we've
just heard from Juliana ad Antony there
and she waited a long while for NHS
woman one to respond and she still
hasn't got her test results is that a
fairly typical picture do you think does
NHS one one have the resources we have
heard at the British Medical Association
that there is quite a long time for some
patients to wait for NHS one one one and
I'm really sorry for Juliana waiting for
the results as well my understanding is
over the last viewed
more members of NHS one month have been
drafted in to do extra hours to reduce
this weight and there's also a way that
you can email NHS one mum one but I
would really urge that people are
patient and do continue to do that
because that's part of how we will
contain this and containment is still a
very real possibility Neil Dixon we get
the government's battle plan in inverted
commas tomorrow what is the worst case
scenario that you're preparing for well
there's an escalation plan clearly and
one has to emphasize we are still in a
containment phase I think one of the
concerns obviously is there are two
people that we know of who we are not
sure where they got it it seems to have
been in trouble transmission and that is
a matter of concern trying to trace them
the other cases are less of concerned
because we've managed to trace we know
where they where they got the virus in
the first place so I think the answer is
that they will announce tomorrow and I
haven't seen the detail of it an
escalation plan and that's what the NHS
is normally geared up for so as more
cases come in then of course routine
operations may have to be put off
clearly that the routine clinics
anything that really can be deferred
will be deferred depending on the level
of pressure new wards will be created in
order to deal with patients who need
treatment in schools no in hospitals
that's where people will be treated if
they are vulnerable and they need that
special kind of treatment the good news
again about this virus is that for the
vast majority of people it's a
relatively trivial illness that that
actually makes it more difficult to
detect as well but it does mean that for
most people except the most vulnerable
then it isn't so much of a problem how
worried are you when you hear that how
worried are you is this something you're
playing down or are you concerned that
the NHS might be brought to its knees by
there I'm very worried because I'm aware
that if you go to an emergency
department if you go into a hospital if
you try and get a routine appoint with
your general practitioner that the
service is what I would consider 99
percent full already I'm it is good to
hear from Neil that there are spaces in
hospitals that could be turned in
two wards however I'm very concerned by
the NHS staff survey only ten days ago
that 56% of our NHS staff already going
to work unwell and I cannot ask people
to be doing that now because that would
potentially spread illness and that the
NHS already is causing stress in 40% of
our workers and you talk about more
wards I mean in Wuhan they built a whole
series of new hospitals and are you
confident that in a worst-case scenario
which suggested that one in ten people
could be hospitalized do you have enough
critical critical care beds in NHS
England no there will eventually come a
time if the virus absolutely takes hold
everywhere where of course the NHS will
then have to prioritize further but we
are in practice
well that means in practice that you
will say for example that you will be
treating your prior two times your
patients so the most vulnerable patients
will get treatment those who are less
vulnerable are less likely to be treated
that this is the normal situation in
which the NHS would normally deal with
any crisis situation that is that people
will die though
without wishing to be alarmist well it
is inevitable that if this virus comes
big time and significant numbers of
people will die just as they die from
regular flu every year but I do think it
is important first of all to recognize
the NHS is under enormous strain at the
moment for actually every hospital is
full at the moment but what the NHS is
good at is flexing so that it will then
to choose the most ill people and keep
them in hospital those who are less ill
or those who are coming in for routine
operations won't need it that will
create space in order to treat those who
will need treatment at some point of
course it may be that there are just too
many people requiring that formal
treatment when you look at the figures
for NHS England there were only a
thousand critical care beds available in
December is there a case do you think
for making hospital beds available
elsewhere schools requisitioning schools
and turning them into hospitals not
necessarily but what really worries me
is why do we have a quarter of the
number of intensive beds that Germany
have which is a similar
economy can you answer that no I think
we do need more intensive care beds the
reality is that the healthcare system
has been consistently underfunded for a
long period of time and only in recent
times has sufficient to invest or more
investment being put in but even that
level of investment I think leaves us a
long way to catch up in order to be able
to provide the kind of services we need
so really this pandemic if it becomes a
pandemic has come at the worst possible
time
well I worry about my patients you come
in to see me who might be care workers
on zero hour contracts I know already
that if they don't go out to see
vulnerable patients in their homes they
may not have the money to buy food for
their children this is under investment
coming home to roost in both the
healthcare and the social care service
the prime minister says that schools and
public places will be closed on
scientific advice what would your advice
be to him about when that should be done
to prevent the spread of this you're
clearly worried about the implications
of widespread spread how nip it in the
bud well I'm not a clinician so I would
absolutely rely on clinical advice as to
when those measures should be taken
there's no doubt there's quite a lot
that people individually can do at the
moment and I would say just in relation
to one one one that there is now an
online version and that is a better form
of and you're likely to get a better
answer more quick you are a clinician so
you're very quick response to that we
need close schools and public places so
I will listen to the chief medical
officer regarding schools but my GP
practices my colleagues there need to be
treated as professionals and allowed to
make decisions about when they close
down things like direct access to
face-to-face appointments so you do need
to allow GP practices to make those
decisions based on their knowledge
dr. Helena microRNA and Neil Dixon thank
you both very much
Chris well Ryan Air has become the
latest Airlines a canceled flights
were dropping demand caused by the virus
the dublin-based carrier said it's
reducing frequencies on some routes by
up to 25% British Airways and easyJet
have also canceled a number of flights
however there was some relief for stock
markets today after central banks
including the Bank of England indicated
there
to step in to support the global economy
our Washington correspondent Siobhan
Kennedy joins us now from the new york
stock exchange of almost the latest
while Krishnam there is some welcomed
green on the screens as you can see all
around me here as all the major stock
indices have really rallied today after
the carnage that we saw in markets last
week it was the worst week for markets
since the financial crisis of 2008 all
on fears really that the coronavirus
would lead to a global economic slowdown
now those fears haven't gone away there
is still much uncertainty but investors
as you said there have taken some
comfort from central banks around the
world from the Bank of England from the
Bank of Japan and from the Federal
Reserve here in New York that they stand
to step in to boost markets and to prop
up their economies if things look like
they could be getting worse and I have
to say in the short term it does look
like things could continue to get worse
that certainly seems to be one scenario
painted by the economic think tank the
OECD which said if there was a more
intensive it said outbreak of the virus
and that could see global growth half
this year to about one and a half
percent in terms of numbers here in the
US there are now 91 cases the first case
announced right here in New York last
night and there have been two deaths so
far well earlier I caught up with some
of the traders here and I asked them
what it would take to cause another
panic sell-off here's what they had to
say expansion we continue to see the
headlines that have identified the
coronavirus in certain countries now
we're seeing it in certain states in the
United States and if we continue to see
that expansion I think that's when we'll
get another round of fear I also think
we'll get another round of fear if you
know US government you know steps in and
gets involved and starts shutting down
governmental offices or certain aspects
of our day in and day out life whether
it's you know mass transit and stuff
like that I think that's when we will
see another line of fear I would imagine
the cases will ramp up and hopefully the
mortality rate decreases to where we can
find some
of belief that this isn't as bad as we
thought and the panic would be over but
we still have a lot of volatility you
know up three percent is still volatile
times so I would think that someone if
they're not truly knowledgeable of the
markets it's a scary time to invest
whether it's up or down traders here
making the point that central banks
could help to stabilize the situation
here but this isn't a financial crisis
money isn't the cure here it's a vaccine
that will be the cure
that is why Donald Trump is using a
scheduled meeting with the drug
companies today to push them to speed up
the delivery of a vaccine but we know
still that that is a good year to a year
and a half away we know that he is
desperate for the economy to be buoyed
again he is very much
pindy the peg the future of his
successful reelection campaign on a
strong economy so he will no doubt be
happy to see these strings here behind
me turn green but the traders don't
forget a cautioning but it will take
several days of consistent calm
consistent green screens to be able to
declare that this panic for now is over
thanks of all well joining me now from
Paris is long spoon chief economist at
the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development the OECD
that has been making these predictions
could you just tell us what's the basis
of them what are you assuming the scale
of an outbreak would be in order to
cause a halving of global growth and
where would that having come from you
know what would be here so as you know
there's a lot of uncertainty about this
health episode on how the epidemic is
being translated through countries so we
have a base scenario which is a base
case scenario which is based on the
situation as it is roughly today so most
of the epidemic contained in China and
some clusters everywhere and with this
scenario we actually project growth
global goals to be about 2.4 percent
this year
now given the uncertainty that's
prevalent
how the virus is spreading we have also
drawn a downside scenario where the
epidemic would be roughly similar I
should say the measures to contain the
epidemic would be roughly similar to
China but in North America in Europe and
in the rest of the not amazing special
asia-pacific and in that case we have
GDP growth which is half to 1.5 percent
and we have these two scenarios because
there's a lot of uncertainty and we're
trying to provide a range of what's
possible and then the policy that would
address this range of possible downturn
so which of the industries or sectors
that would be hit by a large-scale
coronavirus pandemic
so there are sectors which are hit our
first tourism and business travel and
student tourism as well then you have
everything which has a production chain
that's deeply integrated with China so
you can think about you to mobile sector
and there's a beauty the computer and
electronic equipment sector for example
the US produces about 20% of the
computer and electronic equipment and
for that 24 percent of its input are
coming from China and there's also the
pharmaceutical sector and so in order to
get to 1.5 percent global growth I know
we're concentrating on the downside here
but presumably some countries would be
in recession in that scenario which
countries do you think would you'd be
looking at with shrinking economies so
if we were to reach the downside
scenario we would see effectively a cut
in our projection for regions like
Europe or Japan and the north and North
America would be closer to zero would
some be negative yeah in Europe and in
Japan we would probably have a negative
number that's true but again this is you
know a range where the downsides now one
thing that we haven't talked about is
this is not a worst-case
scenario because in our downsides now we
don't we don't include a outbreak in the
southern hemisphere right so it could be
much worse actually you could be looking
at global shrinkage if it's spread all
around the world I mean for Britain's
point of view you know we are also in a
post brexit scenario entering trade
talks
is this a because this puts us in a
strong position to be able to plow our
own course or a weak position and so
there are a couple of things I think
there was some relief after brakes it
was agreed last year so we would have
seen a slightly higher first quarter
this year prior to the coronavirus
episode at the same time you know when
the word is the type of containment
measure that we have constraining trade
obviously because you've got less
production supply chain disrupted and
trade growth last year was negative and
in both of our scenario the best case
and the downside scenario trade world is
also negative and Britain as you know
very well is a very open economy so it
will be affected by this downturn in
trade so do you think Britain would be
worse off than the rest of Europe I'm
not saying that I'm saying you know what
we project in our best-case scenario for
the UK is 0.8 percent GDP growth in the
downside scenario when we have Europe
plunging by about 1.2 below our baseline
then the UK would also get close to zero
Louis Pugh thank you very much indeed