this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. tests for frontline health service staff begin in england this weekend — ten days after wales started theirs — following heavy criticism over a lack of testing for health workers. the english cities of birmingham and manchester join london with plans to open more temporary hospitals to help cope with the outbreak in the uk. the three men spearheading the uk's fight against covid—19 self—isolate — two of them test postive for the virus and the third thinks he may have it. masses of people try to leave delhi despite india being on its fourth day of lockdown — raising concerns of the spread of the virus there. wuhan — the city where the outbreak began — has partially re—opened for the first time since

it was cut off from the rest of china two months ago. 832 more people die of the virus in spain in the past 2a hours — the highest number the country has recorded in a single day since the start of the pandemic. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. we start with another grim milestone — the number of confirmed covid—19 infections worldwide has risen

to more than 600,000. part of that increase is down to more testing. here in the uk, front line hospital staff in england are now also being screened for the virus — the hope is, it will mean people who have are not infected or who have recovered can work without fear of spreading the disease. the uk has also been rapidly fitting out temporary hospitals — which will provide thousands of extra beds to help the national health service cope when the infection reaches its peak. another senior british political figure is self—isolating after developing mild symptons. the scottish secretary, alisterjack, says he will follow medical guidance and work from home. elsewhere around the world, india's lockdown has triggered a mass movement of people — these huge crowds were leaving delhi, despite being asked to remain indoors for three weeks. but these pictures from wuhan in china tell a different story — they show people now being allowed to move back into the city — which was at the centre of the outbreak — after several days

of virtually no new infections being diagnosed there. we'll bring you more on those and other key developments in this bulletin, but we start in the east of london. angus crawford is at the excel centre in east london. which is becoming a huge temporary hospital. indeed. it is nhs nightingale and soon may become the single biggest hospital across the uk. it is 100,000 square metres of space. you could fit the entire footprint of terminal five at heathrow airport into this space. it is also becoming a model on how other centres will work across the country. we are likely to have three more centres at least, that is in manchester, birmingham, cardiff, possibly also in glasgow. already for the wave of cases that are

likely to come. hoping for the best, but training for the worst. the car parks of the excel now an incident command centre. specialist staff and paramedics preparing to service the new nhs nightingale. inside, a hospital is taking shape. 500 beds next week, 4,000 in total if needed. medical staff are being drafted in from across the uk, including the military, but will there be enough? sickness has taken a toll and large numbers in self isolation means record levels of nhs absences. doctors leaders in england to blame that on a lack of testing. already in place in wales. for english hospitals and those in scotland, at last that is about to change. a trial starting today.

testing hundreds of those working in intensive care, a&e and gps. it's what we've been calling forfor a royal now to bring some reassurance to front—line staff. currently left uncertain with what to do when they develop their own symptoms. feeling either under pressure to be at work or guilty for not being at work. and to keep our front line staff strong throughout this whole crisis, you know, the government has got to do whatever it can to support them. if successful, the government says it will be scaled up next week. it's hoped putting thousands of staff back on the front line. what a difference a week makes. seven days ago, parks, beauty spots, were full. prompting urgent calls for greater social distancing. backed by the force of law. calls that seem to be working. it's hoped slowing the spread, relieving pressure on the nhs. but at the excel, now nhs nightingale, still they make ready and standby.

the key question still is who exactly is going to stop these enormous new facilities? we know that across london there is a high level of absenteeism because of sickness or self isolation. the solution we are told is a call has gone out to all nhs staff in london who are not currently working to volunteer. it has also gone out to those who have retired, both nurses and doctors, to come back into the service. stjohn ambulance will be providing hundreds of volunteers and there will be many military medics on site here also. we expect this site to open for its first patients in the middle of next week. 0ur political correspondent helen catt. questions today about whether the leadership team is intact as we hear

that key figures have tested positive for coronavirus. coronavirus has come to the heart of uk government. we heard yesterday that boris johnson uk government. we heard yesterday that borisjohnson the prime minister had tested positive, so had the health secretary matt hancock. 0bviously key figures in leading and tackling the outbreak here in the uk. the chief medical officer chris whitty also has gone into self isolation with suspected symptoms and earlier today we heard of another cabinet minister, alister jack, the scottish secretary who is also self isolating after developing symptoms in the last 2a hours. i understand he hasn't been tested and there are no plans to test him, he would yourself isolate for the next seven days. what this has done is raise questions as early as yesterday because alisterjack, matt hancock and boris johnson were yesterday because alisterjack, matt hancock and borisjohnson were all close together in the house of commons on wednesday. that has raised questions about whether the government has been following its own guidelines. that was put to

michael gove yesterday who said what it shows is the virus doesn't discriminate, but in terms of keeping government going, boris johnson says he has about symptoms despite isolating in downing street. he will continue to lead the tackling of the outbreak here using things like technology. thank you very much. let's have a wider look around the world now. millions of homeless people and migrant labourers have been left in the lurch after india announced a 21—day lockdown in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country. with factories and construction sites closing down, many have expressed fears that they would starve to death. state governments have announced that they will open centres to feed these people, but have been overwhelmed. many have opted to walk hundreds of miles to their villages as public transport has been suspended. let's get more on this — i'm joined now by our correspondent

faisal ali in delhi. quite extraordinary pictures of people en masse are trying to leave the city. yeah, in fact it is happening everywhere after the prime minister announced a complete lockdown on the 24th and the next day, all trains were cancelled from everywhere. then about two days, the flights also got cancelled. from a lot of states, especially in the eastern region, there are a lot of migrant labourers who work in other northern states or southern states like carolina or the printjob. they are all trying to get back and since there are no vacancies available, they are going on foot with their families and since hotels and eateries are closed, cities are

locked so they don't have anything to eat. they are in a very bad condition at the moment. the government had made some promises to these people but the suggestion is they just can't cope these people but the suggestion is theyjust can't cope with the volume of people. absolutely because a lot of people. absolutely because a lot of them are people who have moved from delhi towards other states. at delhi border, many of them are at the bus stops and railway stations with no food or anything. the local governments like the state governments like the state government in delhi has now opened a school and given them shelter as well as about 400,000 meals provided every day. in the morning, one of the states now ruled by the same party which is currently at the centre, now they have some buses and

people are being ferried but the numbers are so large and there is so much confusion that it is not an easy task and it is very tragic that people are just stranded and not able to reach anywhere. just want to bring you the latest figures from the department of health here in the uk. regarding the number of people who have been tested on the situation with coronavirus. we are hearing according to the uk department of health, 120,000 776 people have been tested for coronavirus as of 9am this morning. of those tested, 17,089 have revealed positive results and as of five o'clock on friday yesterday, of those hospitalised in the uk, 1019 have

now died. that figure up from 759, soa now died. that figure up from 759, so a rise there of 260 deaths here in the uk. those figures just coming into us from the department of health. let's look elsewhere now. in spain, the death toll from the virus has risen by more than 800 overnight. it brings the total of those infected to more than 5,600 people. the increase of 832 deaths exceeds yesterday's record breaking one—day figure for fatalities. spain has now more than 72,000 people infected with the virus. 0ur correspondent guy hedgecoe is in madrid with the latest. clearly these latest figures make for pretty grim reading. the latest figure of 832 dead over the last 24 hours is very worrying and that is the highest figure so far for the

daily death toll and it continues to creep up. that is a worry. having said that, the authorities do believe the country is approaching the top of this upward curve because they point to the statistics and say they point to the statistics and say the number of people or new infections that we are seeing each day, that is increasing at a lower rate than it was. that is easing off somewhat so they believe that the country is reaching or getting close to some kind of pique. having said that, the health services are under tremendous pressure. we had about an ice rink being turned into a makeshift morgue here in madrid. a conference centre being turned into house hospital. there measures are continuing and the feeling is even after the peak of the impact of the virus, the health services will still be under tremendous pressure and that might even increase after the peak has been reached. in the chinese city of wuhan — where the global coronavirus emergency began — some transport services are resuming

as hubei province gradually lifts its lockdown with the coronavirus crisis apparently stabilizing there for the time being. james ra nsley reports. wu han's train station, once an empty hub, is now busy with people with places to be. the city is slowly and steadily coming back to life. translation: i think this is the result of the hard work of all chinese people who came together as one and defeated the epidemic. for us the news about lifting the lockdown is like the biggest recognition for us staying at home for more than two months. wuhan, a major engine of the chinese economy, got its freight train service back up and running. it is carrying medical supplies and electronics to europe. the city's banks opened earlier this week for business and buses are back on the roads. but residents are still being advised against unnecessary travel, and those over 65 told to avoid taking public transport altogether.

people are allowed to enter wuhan, but restrictions on those wishing to leave will not be lifted until april eighth. translation: it has been a long time since we last saw wuhan. people from hubei who travelled out of the province faced some discrimination. i hope people will not treat hubei people as a virus. the city in hubei province was placed under lockdown back injanuary. its 11 million people have faced some of the harshest restrictions on daily life. in hubei, more than 50,000 people have been infected with the disease. more than 3000 have died. but the partial reopening of wuhan signals a turning point in china's fight against the virus. translation: yesterday, china's mainland reported 54 new confirmed cases, all of which are imported cases. there are three fatalities reported, all of them in hubei. after months of enduring total lockdown, life for the people of wuhan is beginning to get

back on track. injapan, the number of cases appears to be rising again — with more than 50 new infections in a single day in tokyo. the governor of the city urged people to stay indoors and said the capital was now on the brink of an emergency. tokyo was due to host the olympic and paralympic games this year, but they have been postponed because of the outbreak. japan's prime minister, shinzo abe, warned people not to be complacent and to learn from what's happening in the west. translation: compared with the western countries, the number of infections is lower. that might be the assumption of many people, however what we are seeing over time, including the incubation period, is just a reflection of infections, which happened two weeks ago already. if explosive expansion is already happening, this is not something we can discover right away —

it will be two weeks before the numbers reflect that. and once it happens, then the speed of the infection will be uncontrollable. shins abe in japan. shins abe injapan. ijust want to bring you those updated figures from the department of health just coming to us regarding the coronavirus situation. just to bring you right up situation. just to bring you right up to date, a total of 120,776 people have been tested as of this morning. of those tests, 17,089 have given positive results and on the fatality rate, as of five o'clock last night, of those hospitalised here in the uk, 1019 have died. and just to put that in context, the previous day's figure four

fatalities were 759, so a rise there of 260 deaths here in the uk. you are watching bbc news. let's have a look at our headlines: another 260 people have died in the uk overnight making the total number of people killed by the virus 1,019. it is the highest number of the uk has recorded in a single day since the start of the pandemic. tests for frontline nhs staff begin in england this weekend — ten days after wales started theirs — following heavy criticism over a lack of testing for health workers. masses of people try to leave delhi despite india being on its fourth day of lockdown — raising concerns of the spread of the virus there. so far in this coronavirus pandemic, europe has seen the highest number of cases and deaths. health authorities in spain reported their country's

single largest increase in virus fatalities. it follows italy saying it has more than 9,000 total deaths from the virus. 0ur correspondent in berlin, damien mcguinness, has this update from germany where, there too, health authorities have witnessed a sharp rise in the number of infections. germany has one of the highest rate of infections in the world. it is now thought to be more than 50,000. interestingly, though, the death toll, the death rate, is still relatively low. if you compare that with other countries, 9,000 as you are saying earlier, in italy. a catastrophic death toll there. in germany, the death toll is thought to be very low because testing is so widespread here. every week local authorities say it is thought around half a million tests are being carried out. that number is going to increase. the reason why this means a lower death toll is because lots of people

who don't show many signs of infections are being tested. so that means, that indicates, that the actual real infection rate in other countries is a lot higher. now, german ministers have said, though, that the situation in germany is really the calm before the storm, those are the words they have used. so far we have had an excess supply of intensive care beds. some patients from italy and france are being flown into german hospitals to help those other countries. the difficulty for germany is that once the infection rate rises still further, it is thought of the death toll will rise. what we have here really is a feeling of an eerie sense of calm. everyone is looking at the figures every day to see if the death toll rises. angela merkel has said the current quite strict restrictions on social contact and going out are going to be extended until at least the 20th of april, likely to be further. during that period, the economy is effectively in shut down.

lots of questions and debates here in germany about how to keep the economy going and how to keep the health care system going when that death toll possibly does rise. on thursday, the uk chancellor rishi sunak announced an "unprecedented" bailout package aimed at helping self—employed workers. workers will be able to receive up to 80 per cent of their profits up to a maximum of £2500 a month. but even with a package this big — some people inevitably haven't been catered for. let's talk to michelle 0vens, director, small business britain. what are you hearing in response to those measures announced by the chancellor? there has been a huge,

huge roster of support. that is an incredibly positive mood and there isa incredibly positive mood and there is a lot of appreciation for that. there is however a very loud voice i would say across the small business sector of concern about the people that do fall through the gaps and that do fall through the gaps and that might be single company directors, directors who pay themselves by dividends, people who don't quite fit the criteria, haven't been self—employed for long enough who are finding that their income, their revenue, fell off a cliff so fast that none of these solutions put in place can keep up with that. so there is definitely a gap to fill. what would you like to hear? we have heard from the government that they appreciate there are people who fit between

stools as it were. do you think there should be more coming?” wouldn't be surprised if there is. it has been incredible how the government has responded to need over the last couple of weeks and they should definitely be applauded for that. i think some things continue to need work, so for example, the feedback on lending which for a lot of businesses, their only solution, their only lifeline now are the loans, are that they can't get through to the bank, the banks are not getting back to them or their getting turned down. there isa or their getting turned down. there is a lot of confusion as well and one of the things that is really important to engage with over the next week and beyond is we need to not just put these next week and beyond is we need to notjust put these things in place, there needs to be a programme of helping businesses understand them and engage with them, access them because a lot of people are feeling isolated. physically isolated but also personally and emotionally

isolated. they are not sure who to turn to and they are not sure how to access these things. the announcements on thursday, the money will not be available untiljune so definitely a bit of panic over what to do next and really the lifeline for that is either, three things, one is to pivot your company, look for other ways that you can make money in the short term and that has to be fast, you have to pivot fast, one is the safety net of universal credits. we talked a lot this week about half a million people queueing up about half a million people queueing up on the website and that has made it quite difficult and the third is the lending which is likely to be the lending which is likely to be the faster route. looking across there, we need to look at ways we can help small businesses through this process because a lot of them are finding it very difficult to navigate. and obviously as you say people are having to take different approaches. we had a few questions

coming in from people. ijust wonder if they have a chance to ask you one quick one. it's says home—based businesses don't seem to be eligible for the business grant. just because we can't afford office premises, where should be punished for that? you are right. home—based businesses are not eligible for the local gra nts are not eligible for the local grants that business rates, that eligible businesses are eligible for. of course those that don't fall into the eligibility of the self employed grants are missing out across the board so there is a bit ofa gap. across the board so there is a bit of a gap. 0ne across the board so there is a bit of a gap. one of the things we have been looking out over the last couple of weeks is how can we help those businesses help themselves as well as accessing the financial solutions, but thinking about what you can do, how you can continue your business from home because that is where you had to be. i'm so

sorry, i will help to cut you off there but michelle, thank you very much. you are watching bbc news. italy has been on a nationwide lockdown for nearly three weeks and remains the hardest—hit country in europe by the pandemic. even so, italians have shown their support and solidarity from their windows and balconies with music. like alberto anguzza from sicily — whose performance of john lennon's imagine went viral online. take a look.

music: imagine byjohn lennon. alberto anguzza joins me from sicily. 0ut out in the blue skies around you, but a very difficult time with their iimagine. but a very difficult time with their i imagine. hello, everybody. how are you? i am very well. tell us what made you decide to get that trumpet out and serenade all your neighbours? yeah. it is a difficult time now in the whole world. we stay at home for 15 days now. i don't know how many days we have two stay—at—home because our government told us all would be finished by the 3rd of april but i don't think so. we have to respect the rules,

stay—at—home. we have a summer day now here on the west coast of sicily. it is a beautiful day but we can't go outside. we have to respect the rules, stay—at—home, prey day by day and enjoy the power of music. what made you choose to play imagine byjohn lennon? what made you choose to play imagine by john lennon? would you like me to play now? i will ask you but i was asking you why you chose that particular song? on the 13th of march, there was a flash mob by an italian artist for playing the national anthem. i decided to play imagine byjohn lennon is famous

around the world. this song helped humanity in the past for a big problem. to enjoy life and think about how things will be ok in the future. but i don't know now. i'm not sure when this future will happen. it will come early or late. 0bviously happen. it will come early or late. obviously as a musician you are not able to work at this time. how difficult is that for you? it is difficult, very difficult because my music life is playing some concerts, discotheque with my bands come in pubs, restaurants. that is my work. now i have two stay—at—home. i play just for me, for my family, for my

daughter, for my wife and now i have a new life mission, it is to play at home for people to enjoy themselves, to make art in all homes in the world. alberto, we will invite you to have a new audience here on bbc news. why don't you play some music for us as we move towards our next programme, that week in parliament. i have my trumpet with me. enjoy, people.