the british medical association say there's growing evidence that thousands of front line doctors are still not getting the personal protection equipment they need to treat patients with coronavirus. the doctor's union says it means some medics are likely to become very ill and some may die. some doctors have resorted to taking their own eye protection goggles to work because there aren't enough visors. meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people have stepped forward to volunteer in the fight against the virus. at a briefing earlier this evening, borisjohnson said 405,000 people have signed up to act as nhs volunteers following the request from the government. the government's chief medical adviser chris whitty says there is a global shortage of testing equipment, causing a "bottleneck" for the uk. and he also said that the modelling of the lockdown is based on the idea that quite a lot of people

would still have to go work. the prime minister has also thanked the people working in front line services during the coronavirus pandemic. let's listen to what he said. i want to thank everyone who's been following the clear rules that we set out on monday, and i want to thank everyone in the nhs, the front line of the fight against coronavirus, and of course, all our public services. 0ur teachers and our school staff, the transport workers, police officers, everyone who's keeping this country going. but i also want to offer a special thank you to everyone who has now volunteered to help the nhs. when we launched the appeal last night, we hoped to get 250,000 volunteers over a few days, but i can tell you that in just 2a hours, 405,000 people have responded to the call. they will be driving medicines from pharmacies to patients,

they'll be bringing patients home from hospital, very importantly, they'll be making regular phone calls to check on and support people who are staying on their own at home, and they will be absolutely crucial in the fight against this virus. that is already in one day as many volunteers as the population of coventry, and so to all of you and to all the former nhs staff who are coming back now into the service, i say thank you on behalf of the entire country. here's the latest numbers for england for the coronavirus. 28 people who tested positive for the coronavirus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in england to 414. the patients were

aged between 40 seven and 93 years old. everyone except the 47—year—old had underlying health issues. sweeping emergency powers to tackle the coronavirus crisis are set to become law after the coronavirus bill cleared the house of lords without amendment. parliament has now closed, until the 21st of april at the earliest, as the outbreak continues. in his last appearance at prime minister's questions, jeremy corbyn urged borisjohnson to make himself "available for scrutiny" during the parliamentary recess. the queen's weekly meeting with the prime minister was held over the phone today, so the monarch and the pm could maintain social distancing. downing street have released these picture of boris johnson and the queen taking part in their traditional wednesday meeting, where they discuss the state of nation. here's our political editor, laura kunessberg. intercom: can you all go home, please? it's not holiday, it a lockdown. not a time for lounging in the park, not a time to be anywhere you do not need to be. obviously, the government want people only to

travel when it's necessary. and that means from tonight, he won't face public questions from mps for at least four weeks. prime minister, have you got a grip of this crisis? parliament's closing early, but time today for an hour of pressure first. no one under any illusion about the struggle ahead. we are coming together as a nation in a way that i've not seen in my lifetime to help to defeat a disease and to help save the lives of many, many thousands of our fellow citizens. we all understand that that will involve a sacrifice. but fine words don't mean the government's approach is effective enough. a chance for a last such outing for the labour leader too. if you're living in a small flat and you're told to isolate and you have a large family and a large number of children, the levels of stress are going to be huge, so we need clarity, not confusion. we need delivery, not dither. this is an emergency. the truth is that the health and economic costs of this virus are

deepening by the day. people deserve strong leadership. a plan for the self—employed is promised for tomorrow. all the staff, as you can see, it's a ghost town in here. all the staffjust up and left. but none of the mps who would have scrutinised it will be here... really quite eerie working through the commons. this is where a load of mps have their offices normally bustling with staff. ...or back as normal anytime soon. there's definitely lots to do and it's going to be a very odd time. while they packed up themselves, they packed in fears about making ends meet, brits stuck abroad, testing for the virus, and so much more. the 80,000 care homes around britain, what date will they expect tests to be carried out on the day that symptoms emerge? can you help more people to make the right decision by giving an absolute assurance to the 5000 self—employed people in mansfield? charities, including those on the front line of our national response to coronavirus, working with the seriously ill, the elderly, the young, they're absolutely dire.

new sweeping powers from the government have passed now, so the gates will close. the questions remain. can you honestly say that the government is coping? there aren't enough tests, people are struggling to make ends meet, and some people are being forced to go to work when they don't feel that they are safe. we are getting through it together with an unprecedented programme of support, not just for businesses, but for workers of all kinds across the country. never in our history has the government put its arms around people in the way that we are doing now. yet no politician can make a plea like this. mark mcclurg is 40 years old. he wants you to listen. coronavirus wants to kill you. it wants to take all of the life out of your lungs. it's like you can even breathe. but i'm grateful i'm alive today.

laura kuenssberg, bbc news. let's speak now to the shadow transport secretary andy mcdonald, who joins us from his home in middlesbrough. mr mcdonald, really great for you to speak to us. the government is set to announce more help for the self—employed who currently might have to get by on just £94 a week if they lose work, presumably labour would welcome this. i wouldn't welcome them surviving on £94 a week. this has been too long in coming. there are people who want to do as borisjohnson has praise people for staying at home, doing the right thing. there's plenty of self—employed people, construction workers amongst them, that want to do workers amongst them, that want to d o exa ctly workers amongst them, that want to do exactly that but hitherto have been forced to go out of their homes every day to get on public transport in many cases, and go to work when

their choice would be to stay—at—home. can be put right by making sure that they are financially secure, so when we come to the announcement tomorrow, i'm looking to see that rishi sunak put those workers with the announcement he's made, that's critically important to give those people the security and solace that they crave and deserve. he must now bring their misery to an end and keep us all safe by allowing those people to do what they've been, which is to stay at home. let's look at transport, which is coincidentally your brief. here in london, the tube is running. you've seen pictures of packed tubes in the morning. some people are key workers, they need to get to work but crowded tubes means transmission carried on. the government is proposing an idea of having safe carriages for key workers. what would be your position on that?” think it's only key workers who should be travelling on the tube.

we've seen a massive reduction in ridership of over 80%. same on the buses as well. it's up to all of us who are not key workers, who are not involved in these critical online services, to keep off the public transport system and leave the for those who have to provide the services. that's what we should be doing, but lots of people are pa rt—time, doing, but lots of people are part—time, self—employed, construction workers included, are forced to use public transport to get to work to keep money flowing and food on the table. if we can put it into that, we will leave the space for the key workers to get to work safely. that's what's got to happen over the next 24 and 48 hours at the absolute maximum. to some countries in europe which are going through similar crises make people carry papers with them, outlining

the reason for their journey. carry papers with them, outlining the reason for theirjourney. those papers are checked by police. should britain introduced that? we may be heading that way. i did see a police officer saying they would be challenging people at stations, but let's not demonise those who are being forced to travel now. if we can take that burden from them, that will ease the pressure. that's the key step to take and i am open—minded to the next steps that need to be taken to regulate and police who exactly travels. first things first, let's sort out the excess things first, let's sort out the excess people who are being forced to travel unnecessarily. we are told that people should be looking to stay—at—home and only go to work if absolutely necessary. there's a of clarity about which jobs are essential and which are not. as i

said, construction industries is one of those areas. is it really necessary to carry on with certain construction sites now? not all of them, a great many could close tomorrow and people could return to their homes safely and do as we been told, to keep this virus from spreading. parliaments broken up. some mps who are medical workers are offering their services to the nhs. how best you think you should spend your time over the next few weeks? 0na your time over the next few weeks? on a personal basis, i'm one of those people who is in the underlying condition category, so i'm doing as i'm told. i'm effectively in lockdown, but i'm working from five and 6am every day. i don't think mps have ever been busier with constituents stranded across the globe, trying to assist

them and making other representations about the health services and so on and so forth. the strains in our offices are immense but i'm just so proud of all of the mps who are stepping up and their staff. the vast majority are now working from home and carrying on with that service. parliament isn't sitting, but we have to continue to hold the government to account, and that's what we are desperately trying to do. we will be away for a month now, and i hope to goodness that we put processes in place that when parliament does return, and it must, that we can continue to hold the government to account in a manner that is safe and of course we can embrace technological opportunities available to us. we're learning a lot by these processes. it's working for you and me. just one question. this is now a national effort shown by the fact that

400,000 people have signed up to volunteer. in a previous national effort in the second world war, there was a coalition problem. labour would have felt it held the government to account by sitting across the cabinet table. is there talking labour ofjoining across the cabinet table. is there talking labour of joining a potential national government?” think we got to tread with some care because our democracy works when the executive is held to account. and there is challenge, those checks and balances. at the moment, i'm able to make my inquiries at my office and working with them collaboratively, that doesn't mean to say i want challenge. there are many areas where i want to see progress. ijust worry that that might be inhibited somewhat if we are to join forces in a clo ‘s or —— coalition government. but let's see how this emergency

develops. we may have to revisit it, but at the moment, i think we're right to continue to challenge from opposition and that's what i intend to do. i'm delighted the technology held up. thank you so much for joining us. scientists mapping the spread of coronavirus say they are hopeful the nhs will be able to cope with the expected surge in cases. they predict the outbreak may peak in two to three weeks if people follow the stay—at—home rules. the family of a victim who died on sunday are appealing to the public to obey the government's advice, as our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. doreen hunt died on mother's day in luton and dunstable hospitalfrom covid—i9. the 72—year—old had underlying health conditions. her family are appealing to the public to stay at home to fight the virus. i'm sad that she's gone, but i'm more angry with people who aren't taking notice of the warnings.

you might catch it, you might give it to somebody else, you might touch something which somebody else touches and you've killed a relative. you just don't know. these deserted streets show the stay—at—home message has got through. add to that, the rapid expansion of hospital beds and a leading scientist modelling the outbreak, has told mps he is optimistic intensive care units will cope. there will be some areas of the country which are extremely stressed. but we are reasonably confident, it's all we can be at the current time, that at a national level, will be winning capacity. that will mean huge numbers of lives would be saved. scientists think deaths are now unlikely to exceed 20,000 in the uk and could be lower if social distancing is maintained. the scientists tracking the coronavirus outbreak say there's a lot of uncertainty about their predictions.

but say if the current restrictions work as expected, then the peak of cases in intensive care could come in two to three weeks and start to decline thereafter. the challenge then will be how to restart the economy without having a fresh surge of cases. once the outbreak is under control, the key will be to ramp up community testing and contact tracing of those infected. something that's not happening now. the long—term hope is a vaccine, but when might it be ready? we could have millions of doses of vaccine available in as little as six months. but that's a huge effort required from today to upscale manufacturing at risk, when we don't even have the first doses being fully tested in humans. so there could, perhaps, be a way through this pandemic, but it will rely on all of us playing our part in the war against an invisible enemy.

fergus walsh, bbc news. prince charles has tested positive for the coronavirus. clarence house says he is displaying "mild symptoms" but is otherwise in good health. the duchess of cornwall has also been tested, but does not have the virus. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. birkhall today, the prince of wales's home in the scottish highlands. it's here that the heir to the british throne is self isolating, as is his wife. they had arrived here on sunday night, he was already showing mild symptoms. he was tested on monday, the results came through late last night. in a statement clarence house said... scotland's chief medical officer

stressed that the prince had been tested in line with normal procedures. he was tested for clinical reasons and i'm very pleased to say that he is very well, and, as with many people who have had this virus, has had a mild illness. the prince has met hundreds of people over recent weeks. 0n the 6th of march in newquay he was still shaking hands quite freely. 0n the 9th of march he was at westminster abbey with the queen. handshaking was out. charles adopted the indian namaste greeting instead. but two days after that on the 11th of march he was evidently having difficulty remembering the no handshaking rule. at that stage it was still something to laugh about. 0n the 12th of march, the prince was at buckingham palace for an investiture. he also briefly met the queen. buckingham palace is usually pretty sparing when it comes to information about the health of senior members of the royal family. on this occasion, though, the palace was quick to say that the queen remains

in good health. the queen left buckingham palace last week for windsor, where she has beenjoined by the duke of edinburgh. according to the palace all appropriate advice is being followed to shield them from the virus. nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace. the vast majority of people who have become seriously ill are the very old or those with underlying health conditions. so five—year—old alfie fulbrook from herefordshire doesn't fit the bill at all. however, he spent two nights being treated at the worcestershire royal hospital with a very serious case of the illness. phil mackie spoke to alfie and his mum lauren about what happened. it's every parent's nightmare. five—year—old alfie fulbrook was admitted to hospital in worcester six days ago. he was hallucinating and had a raging temperature. i thought he was going to die. i thought i was going to lose my child because, obviously, i have seen it on the news where everybody has got coronavirus and then the next thing,

people are dying from it. and to see him so poorly, i didn't think that he was going to be able to come back from it. a lot of people are saying that young children get this very mildly. you would argue that's not the case. i've seen it first—hand, there is nothing mild about his symptoms. he had gone from running around, shouting, playing, being at school being happy to nothing. he wouldn't eat, he wouldn't move, he wasn't my child. but as you can see, he got better quickly and i was able to have a quick word with him. hi, alfie. hi. hi, how are you doing there? not bad. what would you say to the doctors and nurses that looked after you, alfie? what would you say to the nurses? i would say... thank you. today, it was a much happier picture as alfie was able to play in the sunshine with his little sister esme, who is also

recovering from the illness. phil mackie, bbc news, worcestershire. an appeal for nhs volunteers was launched last night, and already more than 400 thousand people have answered that call, far exceeding the government's target. the volunteers will be used to deliver food and medicines, drive patients to appointments and to phone people who may be isolated. the prime minister said they were essential in the fight against the virus. judith moritz has more. i am kirsty, i am volunteering to do some driving for the nhs. my name is robert... the nhs asked for help and thousands replied, an army of volunteers growing all the time who have signed up online to do their bit. i recently had pneumonia so i couldn't put myself at physical risk. but this is a volunteer role i can do from home. i'd like to offer some form of human connection and support to other

people in my community. i am volunteering so that there will still be in nhs around for my children when they are all grown up. this feels very strange, i normally watch you on tv. pete elwick is self—isolating but keen to help others, and rushed to register last night. we are very conscious of the help that we are getting from family, friends. it wasn't obvious that i could do anything and this just seemed the obvious thing, as soon as i heard about it. tell me how exactly you are hoping to help through this app? i suspect that some people will be just pleased to have a voice on the end of the phone, or even to have a phone call at all. i don't know, i'm not sure what sort of people i might end up talking to. the nhs has advertised four separate volunteer roles through the app, good sam. from your sofa, like pete, you can offer phone support to people who are feeling lonely. or if you can get out

and about you can sign up to deliver supplies to people who are self isolating, to transport patients who are fit for discharge. or to deliver equipment and medicines for nhs services like pharmacies. this chemist‘s has been inundated with orders and its staff have given the news of volunteer help a cautious welcome. i've got a really good delivery system in place, my drivers are checked and my drivers are trained with what to do. i'm very happy to use volunteers if they are at that standard. if they are not, then we can still use them within the pharmacy to help us organise the workload for the delivery drivers and support patient access elsewhere. the volunteers are considered a vital part of the effort to cope in this crisis. there is no health system in the world that would cope if coronavirus gets out of control. so, yes, the nhs is stepping up, our wonderful staff are doing all they can to make sure we respond to this crisis. but we also need the public to step up as volunteers to help us.

the number of people signing up continues to rise. the nhs said it's possible to volunteer and stay safe through social distancing, so that everyone can play a part during this emergency. judith moritz, bbc news. you may have spotted pictures of rainbows springing up in windows where you live. it's part of a trend, which started online, encouraging children who can no longer go to school to put up the paintings and "spread hope". here are barnaby and tabitha from east london, two of the many children taking part in the trend. teachers say it's giving children a sense of community, despite having to stay indoors. let's take a look at some more. so first, we started off on the rainbow. this is my rainbow. this is my rainbow! here is my rainbow. i'm going to put it inside my window. laughter

what are you colouring in, darling? i'm colouring in a rainbow. and why are you doing that? because i want to make everyone smile when they go past. i made it because, to let people know that we're here forthem. and you can find out more about the symptoms of coronavirus and how to protect yourself against it on the bbc news app and on our website bbc.co.uk/news. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello there, good evening. it's been a day of split weather fortunes across the uk. sunny skies for some but very grey skies for others. this is the satellite picture, you can see that stark difference — england and wales with sunny skies but across a good part of scotland

and northern ireland, this cloud has just been sitting in place and will continue to do so over the next couple of days still producing the odd spot of rain here as we go through this evening and tonight but where you are underneath this band of cloud, temperatures aren't going to drop too far. so the likes of aberdeen, glasgow, and belfast holding up around six or 7 degrees but colder than that across the far north of scotland, the skies clearing here, and certainly colder further south acros england and wales, some spots in the midlands, southern england, east wales, could get down to —4 or —5 degrees. so, a chilly start to tomorrow but a bright one, another sunny day in prospect for england and wales, still a stripe of cloud affecting northern ireland and good part of scotland although northern scotland is likely to have quite a bright day if a rather cold one with one or two showers. temperatures across the board just a little bit lower than they have been over the last couple of days. also a noticeable breeze for some of these north sea coasts. light winds on friday for many, a little bit breezy for some eastern coasts. lots of sunshine for england

and wales, again though our stripe of cloud affecting northern ireland and scotland, the far north will see some sunshine and those temperatures a little bit lower than they have been. that band of cloud will finally start to move southwards, this frontal system associated with the cloud will be pushing its way southwards into the start of the weekend and as it clears, it opens the door to some cold air which is going to plunge its way down from the north. a really chilly feel to things this weekend particularly when you consider the strength of the wind. that will just accentuate that cold feel. saturday, a largely dry day with some sunny spells. one or two wintry showers perhaps blowing into northern and eastern coastal districts. temperatures of 6—11 degrees. colder still i think on sunday. again, patchy cloud and sunny spells but a slightly greater chance of seeing some wintry showers just spilling in from the north—east later in the day. now, on the thermometer, temperatures will read between six and 9 degrees. that is below par for the time of year but when we factor in the strength of the wind,

this is what it's going to feel like. for some it will not feel much better than freezing.

this is bbc world news america. reporting from new york, i'm laura trevelyan. the biggest stimulus bill in us history is agreed. lawmakers are due to pump trillions into the economy, to keep americans afloat during the coronavirus crisis. that massive spending comes as new york's governor says social—distancing may actually be working. a worrying sign of the times in spain as the country's death toll overtakes that of china. plus, hitting close to the home for the royalfamily. prince charles has tested positive for the coronavirus,