BBC boss Lord Hall says the broadcaster will ‘keep services going’ but could scale back its output as Twitter order its staff to work from home as the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt everyday life.
The BBC director-general was being quizzed this morning by MPs at the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee, just hours after the deadline to apply for the role of his successor closed.
Asked if there could be a ‘paring back of services’ if the broadcaster suffered cases of the virus, he said: ‘There could be. I hope there won’t be, but you could imagine a local station or some other part of our network of news operations being out of action for a period.
‘We are working through how we can cope with that,’ he said, adding it was the broadcaster’s priority to deliver information to the public.
The total number of cases positive cases in the UK is at 460 and eight people have died from Covid-19, as the pandemic continues to impact daily life in Britain with supermarket shelves empty, staff being sent home to isolate by businesses, and flights cancelled and schools closed.
Pictured: Lord Hall addressing delegates at the annual Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
It comes as Boris Johnson is chairing the emergency Cobra committee later where the UK’s tactics will shift from ‘containing’ the killer disease to merely ‘delaying’ its inevitable spread.
There are claims that schools have been ordered to prepare for closures that could last a month. There is currently no ban on gatherings in the UK. despite eight people having died from Covid-19 in Britain, with the total number of positive cases now at 460.
This is in contrast to the response across Europe, including in crisis-hit Italy which has closed shops, schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and cancelled all sport.
Social media behemoth Twitter has informed all staff globally they must work from home as the social media platform heightened its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Twitter has ordered all its staff around the world to work from home in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus (Pictured: The company’s headquarters in San Francisco)
The company said it had moved to a mandatory work-from-home policy having previously ‘strongly encouraged’ the practice.
The technology giant said it had taken the measure because ‘these are unprecedented times’.
‘Our top priority remains the health and safety of our Tweeps, and we also have a responsibility to support our communities, those who are vulnerable, and the healthcare providers who are on the front lines of this pandemic,’ the social media site’s head of human resources Jennifer Christie said.
FTSE tumbles again on fears of economic chaos
The FTSE 100 fell by £112billion today as investors were rattled by travel restrictions imposed by in an attempt to halt the pandemic.
The FTSE index of Britain’s leading companies fell 365 points or 6.22 per cent to 5,511 shortly after opening today – its lowest level since February 2016.
The falls were in reaction to Mr Trump’s intervention, and came despite the Bank of England slashing interest rates from 0.75 per cent to 0.25 per cent and the Budget plan.
The FTSE plunged on opening today after falling again yesterday
‘To continue this push, we are moving beyond our earlier guidance of ‘strongly encouraging work from home’ provided on March 2 and have now informed all employees globally they must work from home.
‘We understand this is an unprecedented step, but these are unprecedented times.’
Twitter said it would continue to pay staff even if they were not able to perform their responsibilities from home, and would reimburse staff for any expenses incurred in setting up a home office, as well as offer ‘global benefits support’ to help parents who incur additional childcare costs.
On Wednesday, Google confirmed it was recommending all UK and Ireland employees work from home from Thursday in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Meanwhile, Barchester Care Homes, which runs more than 200 care homes in the UK and has more than 11,000 residents, sent a letter to residents, patients and visitors saying it was stopping family members and friends making routine visits to its homes.
It later said it meant visits should be ‘minimised’.
And this morning, Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell today suggested the next leader could be unveiled behind closed doors with a special live event over coronavirus fears.
Jeremy Corbyn’s replacement is set to be revealed in on April 4, following an election campaign lasting more than three months.
Outgoing shadow minister Mr McDonnell raised the prospect this morning of the event, due to be attended by hundreds of party members and journalists, being scrapped
Three MPs are in the running for the vital post; shadow secretary Sir Keir Starmer, shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy
Outgoing shadow minister Mr McDonnell raised the prospect this morning of the event, due to be attended by hundreds of party members and journalists, being scrapped.
Mr McDonnell told ITV that the event could instead be shown on social media or on television only, but that it would be a decision for the party’s ruling National Executive Committee.
A Labour Party spokeswoman said: ‘No decision has been taken.
‘We will of course be led by the official medical advice, in consultation with our NEC and the leadership candidates.’
As the cases continue to be confirmed across the country, many continue to head to their local supermarkets to pile their trolleys high with items such as toilet roll and dried pasta, with many supermarkets having now put a limit on the amount of items customers can purchase.