good morning. welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. our headlines today: two teenagers, a 19—year—old chef and also a 13—old—boy, both described as "healthy" by their families, have died in london after contracting coronavirus. pressure grows on the government to step up testing for the virus to get more nhs workers back on the frontline. built from scratch in less than 10 days. we go inside the nhs's newest hospital as it prepares to admit its first patients later this week. some changes to your bills coming into force from today — council tax, perscription costs

and many mobile and broadband costs are going up, but water and energy bills are coming down. i'll have all the info. what pay sacrifices will top footballers make as the season stays on hold 7 players and clubs are meeting today to discuss all the options over pay and the end of the season. ijust want i just want to say a massive thank you. i don't know how you do it. the whole country thanks you. rick astley promises a huge free gig for nhs staff across the uk. we'll speak to him just before 9 o'clock. good morning. it's a cold and frosty start to the day in southern england. clear skies, early sunshine, the cloud will build, it will be a cloudy day generally with rain in the north. i will have more in 25 minutes. good morning. it's wednesday i april. our top story: two teenagers, described by their families as healthy, have died in london

after contracting coronavirus. the deaths of the 13—year—old schoolboy, and a chef aged 19, were revealed as the government faces increasing criticism for a lack of testing for frontline nhs staff. our correspondent dan johnson has the latest. this is luca, described by his family as a strong and healthy 19—year—old. he was a chef from italy living in london. his brother both of this photo of them together, saying, "i will express your wishes and fulfil your dreams." after feeling ill for a week, luca died within half an hour of arriving at hospital. and this is the fundraising effort to support another grieving family, mourning the loss of 13—year—old ismail wahhab, a son they couldn't say goodbye to. ismail was admitted here

at king's college hospital in south london on friday with reading difficulties. his family says he was given ventilation and put into an induced coma, but three days later, he died, isolated, on his own, despite his family saying he had no underlying health conditions. the statement ends, "we are beyond devastated." another stark illustration of the capacity of this virus to quickly claim the lives of even the youngest and fittest. and it was also underlined by the latest it underlined by the latest is a really sad reminder th matter it is a really sad reminder that no matter what age you are, you should be staying at home and observing all the social distance measures we have highlighted. and it was also underlined by the latest figures. 381 deaths in the uk in the last 2a hours. the highest number in one day so far. the official death toll has reached 1,789 in total with more than 25,000 confirmed cases now across the uk. but how reliable are those figures when testing remains relatively limited?

around 8,000 people a day are being tested for the virus. this is one drive—through centre for nhs workers in england, but it is only a limited trial. and the government is still way off his ambition to test 25,000 people a day. that's a big frustration, especially when a quarter of doctors are off sick or isolating at home, not knowing if they are safe to return to work. i think they are feeling fear, they're feeling frightened. they don't know what everybody in the country is feeling and doctors and healthcare workers are no different. they are not sure what is around the corner, not sure if they will be protected when they go to work and increasingly they are not sure that they are fully believing what the government is telling them. so what's going wrong? well, the government has admitted for the first time some problems making more tests available. we want to increase the number of tests, we are increasing the number of tests. i mentioned earlier that

one of the constraints on our capacity to increase testing overall is supply of the specific reagents, the specific chemicals needed in order to make sure tests are reliable. it is also the case, as i am sure you are aware, that we have been working with the private sector and with academics and boots, for example, have increased the number of drive—in centres for nhs and frontline workers to be tested. last night, the chemicals industry said they are being produced and delivered to the nhs, but it may be some time before we know just how widespread the virus really is and how much worse things may get. dan johnson, bbc news. more than 16,000 people may be needed to run the new nhs nightingale hospital currently being installed at the excel centre in london, according to its chief operating officer. the 80—ward facility was created in fewer than 10 days and should be able to take its first patients by the end of this week. angus crawford reports. archival commentary: welcome back to excel arena,

down in the royal docks, in east london. the crowd still pouring in... from a time of national celebration to one of national crisis. the excel has a new role and name — now, nhs nightingale. an army of civilian contractors and the military too transforming this vast space. cubicles marching towards the camera. this is my last week in the army, well, it was, until i got the phone call. so i've built hospitals, planned hospitals around the world. i've been a commander of med in afghanistan. i've built hospitals in oman, in iraq, in the balkans, so this is what i have prepared for, it's what i do, and that is why i have come together with the nhs to work together with them to deliver this facility at scale, at pace. 500 beds so far but with the ability to add 1500 more here and another 2000 in the whole just over there. expected to be operational by the end of the week,

only patients already on ventilators will be admitted and cared for by a team of as many as 16,000 people. questions though still remain. will there be enough equipment? and in a unit where some patients may not survive, despite the care they receive, how will doctors and nurses cope? those stuff would be quite used to the realities of dealing with this disease and these types of patients, including the sad fact that not everybody will survive. it is for those stuff that might have stepped up to help, they are genuine heroes, that they found in themselves to actually come and help this facility, and we really need to look after them, to make sure that they can hope with realities of working in an intensive care unit. nightingale is almost ready,

it's empty beds one sign of the scale of the job which may lie ahead. angus crawford, bbc news. president trump has warned of a painful two weeks ahead after the number of deaths linked to coronavirus in the united states overtook those in china — reaching more than 3,a00. mr trump said that up to 240,000 americans could die from the virus, even if social distancing measures are followed closely. i want every american to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. we are going to go through a very tough q. week expect two weeks and then hopefully, as the experts are predicting, as a lot of us are predicting, as a lot of us are predicting, epidemics studied so hard, we're going to see some real light at the end of the tunnel but this is going to be a real painful, very, very painful two—week. 0ur correspondent david willis is in los angeles. david, how were mr trump's comments received ?

in stark contrast to some of the messaging with her from the president last two weeks. absolutely and this is the first time the trump administration has put a figure on the number of americans who could die because of the coronavirus up break. that number coming on a day when the number of deaths here exceeded that of china on the coronavirus and also exceeded the number of people who died in the september 11 terrorist attack. president trump said the surge, as he put it, has yet to come. he predicted the next two or three weeks could be, as he put it, very, very painful and he said hospitals here could start to resemble warzones. all that from a president who not too many days ago was predicting —— predicting this country could be back in action as early as easter. i'm sure you are well aware that big discussions from the government point of view around

the government point of view around theissues the government point of view around the issues of testing, around personal protective equipment for health staff and also the use of ventilators and how many ventilators are available. what are those discussions taking place in the us? very much so around that, but the warning that this 100——— 100,000 — 200,000 dead serious contingent on continuing to observe those social distancing recommendations. if they don't, presumably the death toll could be considerably higher. a lot of places, california is one of them, washington state is another, have been observing those social distancing recommendations and they clearly have been having some effect, the scientists believe, in new york, for example, it is much more difficult and today, charity workers there are setting up an emergency field hospital in central park and the mayor of new york, bill

deblasio, is warning he needs triple the number of hospital beds that are currently available to deal with the coronavirus out. david, thank you very much. the latest from los angeles. italy's 3—week lockdown will be extended today after 837 people died there yesterday, taking the country's total deaths to more than 12,000. among the dead are more than 60 doctors. 0ur rome correspondent mark lowen reports. perhaps never again in our lifetime will we see rome like this. the virus is sucking the life out of this country. three weeks on, italy's lockdown is said to be extended today until. . .well, until the outbreak stops killing. they lowered the flags to half—mast across the country to pay tribute. from florence to rome, from italy's south to the bergamo in the north, the town worst ravaged by coronavirus. it is a symbol of national

mourning to mark a month that has torn through italy's heart. the country with the highest number of deaths from the virus and the highest fatality rate. italians need to feel there is an end to the daily loss of hundreds of lives. to the constant morning. medical unions say the huge loss of doctors here, at least 66, shows a failure to protect those trying to cure it. translation: they worked without the right equipment like proper masks and they weren't given them. not enough have been tested. we were completely unprepared. china showed us what we needed to do and we didn't follow it. it's like sending soldiers to war empty—handed, unable to defend themselves. we could have avoided these deaths. doctors paid for their commitment with their lives. we developed a valve... so young, inventive italians have stepped in to help, using 3—d printing to develop

a valve that turns a sports shop snorkelling mask into a ventilator. the blueprint has been downloaded for free a million times by hospitals in need across the world. two days ago, it was my birthday and a received a message from brazil in which a doctor says we have had 100 people breathing thanks to my idea. and i was very very, happy. i cannot receive a better present for my birthday. the healthcare system too is improvising. milan's exhibition centre converted into a new hospital with 200 badly needed intensive care beds. italy is being forced to adapt to this virus. running after it, but still too far behind. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. we've seen a lot of communities pulling together over the past week and one street in cheshire has found the ideal way for "good neighbours to become good friends".

neighbours theme plays that's just one of the dance routines led by fitness instructorjanet woodcock in frodsham, cheshire, every day at 11 o'clock. participantsjoin in from their doorways or the end of their drives. and that she is. we're going to be speaking to her later. the reason why they are playing neighbours ‘s every day it starts with the neighbours theme. they always kick it off with neighbours and everybody comes out. they got a nice mix of young families on the street in older people and it's a bit of social interact can, all it two metres distance, they are all socially distance. it works for their street, they love it.

let's take a look at today's papers. "fix the testing fiasco now" is the headline on the daily mail's front page. the paper says the "shambles" over testing has — by a "country mile" — been the government's greatest misstep in its handling of the coronavirus crisis. the mirror leads on the news that a 13—year—old has become the youngest person in the uk to die from coronavirus. it says ismail mohamed abdulwahab from brixton in south london, was a "healthy boy" with no known existing illness. an image of soldiers helping to set up a makeshift hospital for coronavirus patients appears on the front page of the sun. the paper says army "heroes" worked "round the clock" in east london to help get the new facility ready. and the top story on the website for the new york times says president trump struck his ‘most sombre tone' on the subject to date, as he told americans to expect a "very, very painful two weeks ahead".

what have you got for us the inside? iam sure what have you got for us the inside? i am sure lots of people saw this yesterday, but it is quite striking, ifi yesterday, but it is quite striking, if i can find it. bear with me, everybody. this is how we are all communicating, over the internet. there is a bit like bbc breakfast looks like at the moment. everybody is at home. and that is the cabinet meeting yesterday. the cabinet room host, apparently, you can see them concentrating on very important decision—making. it is extraordinary, isn't it, how different our lives are and it's a little glimpse into the homes of all these people who are running the country as well. my favourite one, i don't know if we have the actual picture of it... you are talking about liz truss? there is a silver medal, second row down, right in the

middle. a full flagpole in her house —— metal. middle. a full flagpole in her house -- metal. i always try to read the books that people have behind them. iam sure books that people have behind them. i am sure if they ever did it at home i would rearrange them. this is interesting. they will tell you that ina interesting. they will tell you that in a moment. the other thing people picked up on was that you cannot see it on this picture, but the code for the zoom was at the top. next time it happens they will try to login. next time they do it they probably won't have the code, will they? we we re won't have the code, will they? we were trying to organise a family make —— get togetherfor my mum ‘s birthday on zoom. happy birthday, mum, for yesterday, she is probably not up yet. she might have been watching. the issue is we had that same problem, you know when you are trying to get technology to work for everybody and my dad has a hearing aid, so they were watching on the computer, but the computer sound is linked up to my dad's hearing aid,

so linked up to my dad's hearing aid, so my linked up to my dad's hearing aid, so my mum linked up to my dad's hearing aid, so my mum can't hear, i am on the phone to my mum trying to get her to do it through her ipad, my dad can hear through what everyone else is saying on his hearing aid, my mum can't hear any of that, we are having this by way conversation, unbelievably awkward. it took 15 minutes to sort out. pictures were upside down, sound was coming out of phones. but we got there in the end and we had cake togetherfor phones. but we got there in the end and we had cake together for my mum's 70 for birthday in various parts of the guttering. —— country. most of the conversations about i can't hear you! i'm muted! i can't hear you! you're upside down! i'm glad that the element has the same issues with their meeting. the front page of the telegraph. joyce, a wonderful colleague of ours, he did an interview on the six o'clock news last night, he has been suffering from cancerfor last night, he has been suffering from cancer for the last six years

and he has tested positive for coronavirus —— george. he is through it and he is really well. it was great to see someone who we know and love and respect who is already ill, but he is fine now. he went through it, he had attempted temper, but he is ok. that was really encouraging yesterday, we spoke to two people, one a teenager with cystic fibrosis, another an 81—year—old man called charles, i think, another an 81—year—old man called charles, ithink, they another an 81—year—old man called charles, i think, they had been in hospital and both been told and felt they would not be able to come through the other side, but they did. ithink through the other side, but they did. i think that was encouragement to many of you watching yesterday. so again today we are going to try to bring you the government picture, we will interview a number of people on the programme and bring some positivity as well. we have 70 celebrities on this programme. do you think it is because they have nothing else to do? rectally -- rick astley is coming on, he is doing a concert for the nhs, johnny vegas is

handing out food to medical supplies where he is. darcey bussell is coming on to talk about ballet classes. for the over 55 's. 50 coming on to talk about ballet classes. for the over 55 's. so much to talk about. companies which force their employees to keep working in close proximity during the coronavirus outbreak should be forcibly closed down. that's according to the trades union congress, which represents 48 organisations, and says too many firms are putting profit before people. we're joined now by the tuc‘s kevin rowan, who is in newcastle. good morning to you. thanks very much forjoining us. what kind of problems are you seeing? we are literally hearing from hundreds and hundreds of people that they are being asked still to come to work, for whatever reason their employer isn't able to allow them, enable them to work from home, hasn't chosen to close down, some of these are essential services, obviously, but, unfortunately, those employers aren't following the government guidelines and social distancing or

other measures to enable them to work safely. the people who are contacting us see the difference between the new powers that the police have been given to enforce social distancing in their personal lives and yet they are going to work and their employers seem to be carrying on business as usual with impunity. and we think that is pretty u na cce pta ble impunity. and we think that is pretty unacceptable and we are getting lots of calls from workers who are pretty scared, pretty anxious about this. and if hundreds of people are contacting us as they have been, then you can be sure that there are thousands, tens of thousands of people experiencing that in the wider economy. of course, it is a really worrying type of people. is it across all industries? what is your impression? yeah. in the last few days we have had almost 1000 people contact us and it is from right across the economy. there are concentrations in retail and wholesale and

construction, but it is literally every sector of the economy where people are experiencing this and it is really, really worrying and we need new powers to... we want to work with those employers to make sure they can continue to work safely, if they can follow the guidelines and allow people to work from home, we want to work with those employers and show that eve i’yo ne those employers and show that everyone can go to work safe. but where they are unwilling to do so then we need new powers to persuade them more strongly to take the right kind of action and if they continue to refuse and we are aware that there are lots of really quite recalcitrant employers out there we need the powers to shut them down. talk about proper powers, what sort of things you need? we have seen new powers for local authorities to close businesses that the government have identified as non—essential, so close shops, bookshops, toy shops, whatever it is, we have seen them close down. we had to work out to

persuade sports direct for example that they fell into that category. there are lots of companies like that and on that list and there are no powers. so we think the government needs to introduce stronger enforcement measures. as i say, our priority is not to shut places down, but to enable people to go to work safely and protect them, theirfamilies, go to work safely and protect them, their families, and the go to work safely and protect them, theirfamilies, and the nhs from further unnecessary spreads of the virus. we are hearing from the government quite clearly that they wa nt government quite clearly that they want manufacturing and construction to continue. and you would back that, would you ? to continue. and you would back that, would you? we're not in the business of closing employers down. we wa nt business of closing employers down. we want employees to be safe. we wa nt to we want employees to be safe. we want to make sure that safe working can happen. lots of things that employers can do, staggering start times, shift systems, the important thing is they work with trade unionist to risk assessment their operations properly and consult with our trade unions. where they can do that they shouldn't be allowed to continue to expose workers to risk.

because it is in no—one's interest for them to do that. where they are continuing to do that, where they refused to take the right action, then, absolutely, they should be shut down. kevin rowan from the tuc, thank you for your time this morning. if you have concerns and want to get in touch with us about how you will rus to in touch with us about how you will r us to work, do get in touch. —— how you are being asked to work. it is my phone. sorry. it is somebody about my make—up, genuinely. is my phone. sorry. it is somebody about my make-up, genuinely. that you look lovely today? as you say please do get in touch your phone literally goes off. i won't read it. i will to them later and tell them to get lost. the idea of holing up in a remote corner of the uk might seem pretty appealing right now — particularly if you are trying to self—isolate in the middle of a big city.

but living miles from the nearest town creates challenges of its own during the coronavirus outbreak, and farming unions say more support is needed. our wales correspondent hywel griffith reports from powys. social distancing isn't that hard in one of the least populated places in britain but, for the communities dotted around the hills of powys, the pandemic is still changing lives. gemma is one of the local young farmers trying to care for the older generation. they've spent the last week driving food and medication around the county, to people who are already remote and now in self isolation. right into the sticks, really deep into the countryside, really isolated, that do not see anyone any day of the week, and they rely on going to the shops to see people and to do things and they do not have that now so even just to see one of us that probably gives a boost to all those people that are isolated. many of those who need help live

far from the family. maryln and john moved here two years ago, knowing there were no shops or public transport, an hour from the nearest large hospital. bye, gemma. see you, gemma. their biggest worry is howjohn will get the treatment he needs there for a blood condition next month. how important is it for your health? for me it's probably the single biggest issue at the moment. it is a way off, it is not until early may — who knows what state we will be in by then but, assuming we are still isolated, if they tell me i cannot go, well, that is a bit of a showstopper. forfarmers, there is real concern over keeping workers well enough to supply the food chain. the local council has been urgently recruiting to keep basic services running. while tourism has a shutdown, keeping visitors out of the county. hello. hi. there's your shopping. thank you. some here feel powys may be better prepared than big cities

because people are used to being cut off. although you cannot see anybody here, somebody is always there to help. let me know if you need anything else. that is the kind of community it is. you do not live near to anyone but they are always there so we are lucky. so far, two dozen cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in powys. everyone here is braced for that number to rise, and preparing to deal with whatever lies ahead. hywel griffith, bbc news. shall we catch up with the weather? it feels really quite cold at the moment, farrell? good morning. —— carol. i don't think you have a choice. this morning it is quite a cloudy start. if you are in the south of england it is not. we have less guys and as a result there is a cold start and also some frost. in

the north of the country, we have a weather front coming your way and thatis weather front coming your way and that is going to introduce some rain and then, later on, some stronger winds as well. so there is a lot of cloud around once again today, a few showers across england and wales, and the clear skies we start with in the south will be replaced by more cloud coming south through the day. these light circles indicate the average wind speeds. so not particularly strong. in temperatures today ranging from 8— 12 degrees. as this front sinks south into scale —— southern scotland, it will introduce just some spots of rain but brighter skies following and behind. this weather front is going to continue its journey weather front is going to continue itsjourney sinking weather front is going to continue its journey sinking south as we go of the day and overnight. there will be some holes in the cloud but the wind is going to start to pick up across northern areas and it is going to dry in a lot of showers. as a result we are not anticipating any issues with frost as we go through the course of tonight. so for

tomorrow this is the weather front continuing its journey, tomorrow this is the weather front continuing itsjourney, moving south. look at the high suppose, so squeezed together. it is going to turn very windy in the north tomorrow and because we are introducing cold air, the showers increasingly will be wintry, not just on the hills and mountains, some of the heavy showers, we consider getting down to lower levels, but it won't last. these are the guts to wind. you can see wherever you are in the uk it will a gusty day. in the south, despite the fa ct gusty day. in the south, despite the fact it will be quite windy, we are hanging on to the mild air, hires up to 13. in the north, a significant windchill. it will feel colder than this temperatures are actually suggesting. you can see that quite nicely as a weather front through thursday into friday pushes steadily south. the blues start return to the charts and eventually all of us will be in this cold air temporarily. here is a weather front producing the thicker cloud and spots of rain. behind it, drier and the thicker cloud and spots of rain. behind it, drierand brighter, sunshine, variable amounts of cloud,

looking at wintry showers, primarily on the hills and mountains. you might see one or two of those in northern ireland. then as we move from friday into the weekend, look what happens. high pressure drifts further east. we have this southerly flow coming our way, wringing occasional rain at times. but look at the difference in the temperature. we lose the colder blues, see a return to yellow and amberfrom blues, see a return to yellow and amber from this when, by the time we get to sunday we could that's a big change. thank you very much. you are watching breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. we'll bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment, but also on breakfast this morning... dame darcey bussell is helping to launch free ballet classes to help older people keep fit during self—isolation. she'll be telling us all about it in just over an hour. also this morning, the comedian johnny vegas is doing his bit, too. no, he's not teaching ballet —

but he's been delivering food to vulnerable people in his home town of st helens. we'll be speaking to johnny after eight. # keep singing, whoa, ikeep singing. and the singer rick astley has announced a free concert for nhs staff, carers and emergency service personnel in october. rick will bejoining us for a chat before nine. good morning, here's a summary of today's main stories from bbc news. the coronavirus has claimed two of its youngest victims here in the uk as the total number of deaths now stands at 1789. luca di nicola was a 19—year—old chef from italy who was living in london. ismail mohamed abdulwahab, from brixton in south london, was just 13 years old when he died in the early hours of monday. both were described

as "healthy" by their families. hospitals in england should use spare laboratory space to test nhs staff who are self—isolating, health secretary matt hancock has said. testing so far has been focused mainly on patients but mr hancock has now urged hospitals to test as many staff as they can. it comes as the government faces growing criticism over a lack of testing for frontline workers. thank you once again for all the questions you've been sending in about coronavirus. let's try and a nswer about coronavirus. let's try and answer some of those as we check in with another gp. today we can say hello to dr nighat arif, who's at home in buckinghamshire. thank you very much for speaking to us thank you very much for speaking to us this morning. can i start by asking you about those teenage deaths? 119, 113, both related to covid—19 and according to their families both healthy, young teenagers —— make one is 19 and one is 30. what is the risk specifically

for young people? this is such a tragic loss of life, and so young. this highlights the seriousness that we have to take covid—19 with. the risks you ask about, it's all about, i there any underlying conditions that somebody suffers from and how much exposure are they getting to the virus? this is why social distancing and self isolation is vital because the less exposure somebody has to the virus, the more your immune system is able to cope. evenif your immune system is able to cope. even if it gets a bit of the virus. more social distancing and more self isolation for those in the at risk group. i'm aware this is a question so many people are asking. it appears that it infects some people far more severely than others and at the moment, and may be the testing will help with this, it's really ha rd to will help with this, it's really hard to work out if it will effect you are not. its all about whether you are not. its all about whether you have any underlying health conditions which can affect you. for

example, if you are immunocompromised, pregnant, over 70, if you have had a liver transplant or any organ transplant. and when it comes to testing, yes, we need to do more testing. we need to know who are the people who are positive, who are exhibiting no signs of the virus and yet shedding the virus. once we know those numbers we will be able to find out, where are the pockets where we are getting high density of coronavirus and protect our citizens. while we are listening to you we are seeing some of those mobile testing labs for nhs staff which are starting to be available as a testing is rolled out in england regularly. they have been testing in scotland and wales for more time. one thing we are getting a lot of questions about is people's mental health and anxiety and concerns about what is not only happening to them and their families but what they see happening in society. what sort of calls and

advice are you giving? are you seeing a lot of people asking questions about that? we are just at the precipice of how much mental health is going to be affected. this will affect us physically, financially, lows of people will be affected. i'm working as a gp from home at the moment and i'm getting a lot of calls with high anxiety. damn, ithink lot of calls with high anxiety. damn, i think it is the uncertainty, and as human beings we hate anxiety —— dan, it is the uncertainty. now i am finding that people who didn't have any mental health conditions at all, those are the ones who are phoning me and saying, i'm not feeling so well, i'm so anxious, worried. i think this is where we will get people who have no issues with their mental health or they we re with their mental health or they were coping well just with their mental health or they were coping welljust going to the brink. the thing that worries me, dan, its front staff. nhs colleagues who are going to be dealing with this because as it gets worse and

worse we are going to see possibly later on, years or months down the line, we will get possibly ptsd, anxiety, stress, and we need to start building advice for colleagues of how to manage this. there is some great work being done by the joyful doctor, doctor caroline walker. and a lot of other colleagues who are trying to tackle this. mental health, we need to talk about this a lot more, a lot more. you are doing consultations at home. this is probably a weird consultation because so many people are watching you, but for those who are watching this morning and i worried about the day ahead, the days and weeks ahead, what would be your advice more generally about anxiety, or people who are panicking this morning?” really like the fact you said this is bizarre, we are having a consultation, because that is what this is. my whole career, ten years asa gp, i this is. my whole career, ten years as a gp, i have never invited

patients into my house and now i can't get away from it! i hate being preachy. my advice would be to try to find joyful things, preachy. my advice would be to try to findjoyfulthings, good preachy. my advice would be to try to find joyful things, good things, every day, because they make us feel better and also we realise this is something that we will get through, we will definitely get through this. it will get better. we just have to go through the worst bit at the minute. try and learn something new at home. if you can try and do some exercise, make sure you are eating well and try... the thing i found exercise, make sure you are eating well and try... the thing ifound is i never use my garden, so try and use space i never use my garden, so try and use space around i never use my garden, so try and use space around you really well. if you have stairs, use them for exercise, and as louise well know, i've liked to do lunges, so do those while the kettle boils, anything to distract you. my biggest tip is get of social media! you don't have to apologise for being ricci, that was all good advice. we were having a

conversation the other day! how to make use of small amounts of time and do exercise. thank you for passing on the message! thank you. thank you for the consultation on live tv. a friend of mine said, if the kettle is boiling, do a couple of lunges. keep moving, it's difficult to be motivated but that isa difficult to be motivated but that is a way of doing it. you might be having lots of tea at the moment. hopefully that is some good advice if you are feeling anxious this morning. we will try to speak to a gp every morning at 6:30am. if you have any questions for them or any guests, get in touch. sally is here to tell us what's going on in the world of sport, not in sport! i've been doing lunges while i've been waiting for might bulletin to come along. big meeting happening today to

discuss the thorny issue of what to do with paying players. three premier league clubs have already taken up the government's furlough scheme to pay its non—playing staff. tottenham say 550 people will take a 20% cut in wages with chairman daniel levy — who earned £7 million last year — among them. bottom of the table norwich have also been putting staff on leave. newcastle were the first top—flight club to put non—playing staff on leave. their players — who earn a reported average of around £40,000 a week — continue to be paid their full salaries. that's in contrast to many clubs in europe — like barcelona — whose players are taking a 70% pay cut to ensure non—playing staff recieve their full wages. cristiano ronaldo's juventus, meanwhile have deferred their pay for four months — something that could be implemented

here with football postponed until the end of the month at least. what they will be trying to do is think about different ways they can retain their playing staff but also provide funding for the rest of the organisation because of course a football club is more than just those 25 or so players that are part of the first—team squad. it has got to extend the academy systems, across all the backroom staff, not to mention all the people that work in and around the infrastructure and in the administration of the club itself. and the scotland manager steve clarke has taken a 10% pay cut. other directors at the scottish fa have taken similar wage reductions while many employees will enter the government'sjob retention scheme. england's cricketers will not be asked to take a pay cut. in fact the england and wales cricket board are making more than £60 million available to clubs ranging from counties to village teams. joss buttler is auctioning his world cup winning shirt to raise money for two specialist centres dealing with the coronavirus response.

the shirt will be signed by all the team that beat new zealand in that amazing final last summer. the highest bid a few moments ago was more than £65,000. for the first time since world war ii, wimbledon could be cancelled today — as a series of emergency meetings between organisers continue this morning. the championships are due to take place from the end ofjune for a fortnight — but discussions are underway to decide if the tournament can take place during the pandemic. delaying it — like the french open — was discussed, but it seems likely the whole grass court season will be cancelled. we've been talking about finding a bit ofjoy. now it's time for a bit of joy bit ofjoy. now it's time for a bit ofjoy in sport. you may remember last week the boxer joseph parker dancing at home. well, this week he's singing and he's got some of his heavyweight opponents to help him out. let's go! # why do you build me up buttercup, baby. # just to let me down and mess me around? # i went to the door,

i can't take any more. # it's not you, you let me down again. tyson fury there lip syncing to build me up buttercup. you might also recognise michael buffer there — the famous ringside announcer. very, very glamorous home. there was aof very, very glamorous home. there was a offun very, very glamorous home. there was a of fun for you. thank you, sally. so much connected to music! it's all connected to us having a bit more time on our hands. definitely too much. thank you, we will see you later. there are some changes happening from today which will affect your household bills. they're mainly going up, of course, but some are falling. nina has the details. good morning. we were not going to let coronavirus push the tax year off our radar. it happens every year and brings changes to household bills. let's go through the biggest changes, get the bad news out of the

way. a council tax increase in england and wales — this will vary depending on where you live, that £68 is the band d increase that will take band d council tax to about £1817. the bbc licence fee is going up by £3 a yea. but good news if you're over 75 — plans to abolish free licence fees for the over—75s have been put on hold. lots of broadband and mobile providers also putting their prices up. sky's putting up the prices of its basic broadband and tv package by £2 a month. bt broadband going up with inflation. 02, ee, three and bt are all putting up their pay—monthly prices — between 1.6% and 2.7%. that means around 60p a month extra for typical customers. not huge amounts but will add up over the year. your provider should have notified you. and away from monthly bills other costs are going up from today too.

prescriptions in england will be going up to day by 15 p. they are free in scotland, wales and northern ireland. and the cost of getting your teeth checked on the nhs is expected to rise by about £1.20 to £23.90. those are the price rises — but some bills are getting cheaper, aren't they? yes, hurray! water bills will go down on average by about £70 per year. that kicks in today. and with your energy bill — the price cap on standard variable and pre—payment meters is coming down by £17. we can't stress this enough — have a shop around you could well get a better deal. not an easy time to know necessarily where you stand in terms of your income at the moment — especially if you're not working but — the national living wage is going up today. by three times the rate of inflation. if you are over 25 it is

up to £8.72 an hour. there are various categories if you are under 25 there are various categories if you are under25 and there are various categories if you are under 25 and they are all going up are under 25 and they are all going up to. and we are being encouraged — in some cases forced — to use contactless atm aren't we? the limit will go up from £30 to £45. we are doing fewer shops but with higher value. good news at the moment but often i try to keep things under 30 quid so i can use co nta ctless, things under 30 quid so i can use contactless, so things under 30 quid so i can use co nta ctless, so that things under 30 quid so i can use contactless, so that is going up by 50%, potentially. one comparison site, money.co.uk, puts the total increase in the cost of living at £158 for uk households. obviously we aren't necessarily spending lots at the moment — it is a really tricky time to stay on top of your finances and the best thing to do is keep talking to your employer about how much and when you'll be paid so you can plan around that. this book if you do have more time on your hands, maybe it is time to

shop around for different mobile deals and energy deals. you may be surprised. thank you very much indeed. it is... it's now two weeks since the prime minister borisjohnson promised that testing for coronavirus would be ramped up, to a target of 25,000 tests a day. but right now, only 8,000 tests are being carried out per day. the government has blamed the delay on a global shortage of the necessary chemicals. let's speak now to the shadow health secretary, jonathan ashworth, who is in leicester. good morning to you. thank you for joining us. there has been so much discussion about testing and the government say they will try and increase it. what do you think is the problem is? we have to ramp up testing. the world is saying test, test, test. lots of medical experts are saying the way to beat this virus is extensive testing in the community but we are not ramping up the testing in this country to the levels that we need. it was on the

11th of march borisjohnson said we would do 10,000 tests a week, we are not even there yet while germany are doing 500,000 a week. if it is because the shortage of chemicals, we need to know why. there were representatives from the industry yesterday saying they were happy to manufacture the chemicals, so they said what you need. the accusation is the government left it too late to buy up the kits and chemicals across the world and other countries got there before us. ministers need to clarify whether that is correct or not later than press conference today. you would have heard michael gove yesterday who was talking about this critical constraint about the chemicals. that is what they say the problem is. later on after the press conference the representatives of the chemicals industry said we can make these chemicals for you but

you... excuse me. iam make these chemicals for you but you... excuse me. i am sure that is because i have had a drink. representatives of the chemical industry said late on yesterday that they are prepared to make these chemicals if the government asked them about it. it may be that the nhs officials only use certain chemicals that are validated because they have processes to validate which chemicals can be used. that may be the case but i think if you have an industry cough —— like offering to make chemicals, let's get ministers sit down with government industry bodies asap and work out if they keep make those chemicals urgently because we really have to ramp up their testing.” chemicals urgently because we really have to ramp up their testing. i am glad you said you are ok, i am glad to hear it by the way. do you accept that it to hear it by the way. do you accept thatitis to hear it by the way. do you accept that it is a complicated process and the government are trying to put effort into it? it is a hugely complicated process. the government

have had successes. the way we have been able to build a new temporary hospital in london and we are doing similarly in birmingham and manchester, that is a that the nhs has pulled off. well done to all the staff and managers and bosses involved in that. given we can put that level of imagination and creativity into that, we need that same grip and imagination to get this testing done. there are the two types of testing, have you got it now or have you had in the past. it isa now or have you had in the past. it is a wider testing, how concerned that that is also not happening? there are two testings, that is right. there is this talk about this new test, the antibody test, to tell you whether you have had it or not. when that is available, and we have to evaluate it, we need to make sure scientists and public health bodies

are happy with it, when we have got that we need a plan to ensure that is distributed in the community. what we are really calling for no is a national testing strategy, a strategy to ramp up the community testing like we have seen in other countries. that is how other countries. that is how other countries have been able to eat this virus get this virus under control and suppressed. we have not done that yet. but the test, whether you have got it now, or the new test which will come soon to test whether you have had it. you are talking about contact tracing. some people think some of it is intrusive. if we do contract —— might contact testing, we did it at the start but then we switched it to people in hospital. it is obvious we have to test people in hospital. contact testing is when you trace everyone who has been in contact. you do that

level of intensive work and it does need to be as intensive or intrusive hours we have seen in china where there is civil liberties office —— as she is, jeremy hunt has called for this and i think he has suggested as former health secretary, he suggested using civil serva nts secretary, he suggested using civil servants in departments which we are not working on coronavirus at the moment to contact people and say to them, you have been in contact with someone them, you have been in contact with someone with a virus, we need to isolate you and be tested. that could break the chain of transmission otherwise we will go through cycles of lot down until a vaccine is available. that could be 18 months away. we were also talking about personal protective equipment. we have talked about it on different levels and it does seem that there are issues around it. one of the main issues and how can they be sorted? we have been talking to the doctor's bodies and those who

represent the nurses and other doctors, they simply do not have this protective equipment are enough of it on the front line. the nhs is getting the army to deliver it to hospitals across the country but there are a lot of doctors and nurses saying it does not have the levels of protection they need. the daily telegraph was pointing out this week that there are hardly any of it and our social care homes. they are very vulnerable to the virus. they were pointing out that that our care homes are very exposed, that we really need more clarity from the government about what they're doing get this ppe out to the front line. jonathan ashworth, thank you forjoining us. iam glad ashworth, thank you forjoining us. i am glad your cough has gone away. yes, i will have a drink now. you get paranoid when you have a little tickle. also today we are speaking to the housing minister and putting some of

the questions, about the issue of testing. michael gove is talking about a lack of chemicals available for tests. we will try and get a bit of clarity about that and the numbers of people being tested and why we are short of that 25,000 target the boris johnson why we are short of that 25,000 target the borisjohnson mentioned over two weeks now. what we're trying to do on is bring you the news about a little bit ofjoy into our lives and also try and keep us all moving. diana moran — better known as the green goddess — was getting britain exercising beforejoe wicks was even born. some time before that. and she's still doing it now. i know so many of you have been enjoying and getting involved with her. here she is with another gentle workout to boost your energy levels — particularly if you are stuck inside on self—isolation.

good morning, everybody. i hope you are able to feel healthy and keeping great in these terrible circumstances. i am going to make us feel better this morning and to energise us. stan mason comfortably and just bend your knees, swing your arms down and come up... nice deep breath and down you go again. this isa breath and down you go again. this is a lovely one to give you a bit of extra energy, put a spring in your step or it does for me when i do it. one more. and now i feel that we are ready to go on with a little bit of an extra step. i will want you to put yourfinger tips on an extra step. i will want you to put your finger tips on your shoulders. we will do windmills. bring your elbows together in front of you. take them up and round, down

and to the front again. like a windmill going round. that's it. and we are listening our shoulders, upper spine. that's good. a couple more of those, especially if you have been sitting in the chair for quite a bit in the last day or so. that is good. drop in your cheers i am going to sit down there. the camera is going to go down there. here we go. we don't want to be sitting in a chair is far too long. if you are sitting in your cheers, you can strain —— strengthen your muscles with this extra size. if you need to, push up. i am not standing up, iam need to, push up. i am not standing up, i am pushing need to, push up. i am not standing pushing up need to, push up. i am not standing up, i am pushing up a little way. in an ideal world i want you to work your thighs by standing up, sitting

down. standing up, sitting down. find a nice piece of music or perhaps their television is on radio and just stand and sit. stand and set. and you will be surprised how you are strengthening those very important quadriceps muscles. that is really good. now we need to stretch out. what i am going to do is stretch out the gluteal muscles. i want you to lift a fit out and then just incline your body forward. a little bit more, a little bit more, until you feel that hamstring gluteal stretch. that is good. keep that for about five — ten seconds. come back. pop your belly out. and then incline your body forward again until you feel that stretch in your bottom there. that's good. and you

will set back. take a nice deep breath, have yourfingers will set back. take a nice deep breath, have your fingers like this, i help —— find it helps me relax. take a deep breath. in through your nose, and out through your mouth. and think lovely thoughts. at a time when all this horrible business has passed us. keep it and carry on. if one day, it will go. keep calm and carry on. keep stretching. hopefully carroll was taking part. were you doing part of the green

goddess this morning? good morning everyone. here we will have early sunshine, it will not last, most of us are going to have a cloudy day and for some of us we will see spots of rain courtesy of this weather front. it is a cold front which is slowly slipping south through the day. later the winds will strengthen but for most of us it is not going to be a windy day today. clear skies in the south, cloud for the rest of the uk. scotla nd cloud for the rest of the uk. scotland seeing some breaks in the cloud, the rain has not arrived yet but it is coming. it will not amount to too much, scattered shares ahead of that. cherish being the exception rather than the rule. as we head onto the morning and into the afternoon, you can see how their cloud sync south, eradicating the sunny start and a weather front sink

south across scotland and getting into northern ireland leaving brighter skies behind. these are the temperature values, eight to 11 degrees. this evening and overnight, here is a weather front continuing to sink south. producing a lot of cloud, maybe the odd spot out of it but not more. there is a keen south—westerly and that will bring lots of showers and it will turn increasingly wintering in the northern half of the country on the hills and mountains but possibly in some of the heavier showers tomorrow we could see some of that temporarily at low levels. the weather front continues to sink south taking cloud and patchy rain with it. tomorrow some brighter breaks, in scotland we are looking ata breaks, in scotland we are looking at a significant wind chill, so despite these temperatures it will feel colder than that. while further south we are in the milder conditions. friday sees the back edge of that front, still with this cloud, may the odd spot of rain in it, pushing into the new continent

stop some wintry showers in the hills and mountains and some brightness. temperatures three in lerwick to about 12 in london and cardiff. first saturday, a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine as well. a week where the front pushing north taking rain with it and the wind changes to a southerly summer temperatures will rise, looking at 14 in the south east and on sunday. i will be back in half an hour.

good morning, welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. our headlines today. two teenagers — a 19—year—old chef and a 13—year—old boy, both described as "healthy" by their families — have died in london after contracting coronavirus. pressure grows on the government to step up testing for the virus to get more nhs workers back on the frontline. built from scratch in less than 10 days. we'll talk you inside the uk's newest hospital this morning. the first patients are expected later this week. the businesses on the brink of going bust. banks are facing criticism for making it hard to access rescue loans promised by the chancellor.

bbc research suggests one in five small— and medium—sized companies could go under. pay cuts could be coming for top footballers as the season stays on hold. players and clubs are meeting today to discuss all the options over pay and the end of the season could a spot of ballet keep you on your toes while you're stuck at home? dame darcey bussell will tell us why she wants us all to keep dancing. it's wednesday the 1st of april. our top story. two teenagers, described by their families as healthy, have died in london after contracting coronavirus. the deaths of the 13—year—old schoolboy, and a chef aged 19, were revealed as the government faces increasing criticism for a lack of testing for frontline nhs staff. our correspondent dan johnson has the latest. this is luca di nicola, described by his family as a strong and healthy 19—year—old. he was a chef from italy living in london. his brother posted this

photo of them together, saying, "i will express your wishes and fulfil your dreams." after feeling ill for a week, luca died within half an hour of arriving at hospital. and this is the fundraising effort to support another grieving family, mourning the loss of 13—year—old ismail mohamed abdulwahab, a son they couldn't even say goodbye to. ismail was admitted here at king's college hospital in south london on friday with breathing difficulties. his family says he was given ventilation and put into an induced coma, but three days later, he died, isolated, on his own, despite his family saying he had no underlying health conditions. their statement ends, "we are beyond devastated." another stark illustration of the capacity of this virus to quickly claim the lives of even the youngest and fittest.

they are really sad reminders that no matter what age you are, you should be staying at home and observing all the social distance measures we have highlighted. that was also underlined by the latest figures. 381 deaths in the uk in the last 24 hours. the highest number in one day so far. the official death toll has reached 1,789 in total with more than 25,000 confirmed cases now across the uk. but how reliable are those figures when testing remains relatively limited? around 8,000 people a day are being tested for the virus. this is one drive—through centre for nhs workers in england, but it is only a limited trial. and the government is still way off its ambition to test 25,000 people a day. that's a big frustration, especially when a quarter of doctors are off sick or isolating at home, not knowing if they are safe to return to work. i think they are feeling fear, they're feeling frightened. they don't know what everybody in the country is feeling

and doctors and health care workers are no different. they are not sure what is around the corner, not sure if they will be protected when they go to work and increasingly they are not sure that they are fully believing what the government is telling them. so what's going wrong? well, the government has admitted for the first time some problems making more tests available. we want to increase the number of tests, we are increasing the number of tests. i mentioned earlier that one of the constraints on our capacity to increase testing overall is supply of the specific reagents, the specific chemicals that are needed in order to make sure tests are reliable. it is also the case, as i am sure you are aware, that we have been working with the private sector and with academics and boots, for example, have increased the number of drive—in centres for nhs and front—line workers to be tested. last night, the chemicals industry said they are being produced and delivered to the nhs, but it may be some time before we knowjust how widespread the virus really is and how much

worse things may get. dan johnson, bbc news. in the last few minutes, the shadow health secretaryjonathan ashworth told breakfast that testing must be urgently stepped up. the whole word is a saying test, test, test. the world health organization, that is. lots of experts are saying that the way out of this lockdown, the way to beat this virus is extensive testing in the community. yet we are not ramping up the testing in this country to the levels that we need. it was actually on the 11th of march that boris johnson it was actually on the 11th of march that borisjohnson said we would be doing 10,000 tests a day, 70,000 a week. we are not even there yet, while germany is doing week. we are not even there yet, while germany is doing 500,000 week. we are not even there yet, while germany is doing 500,000 a week. we will be putting those points to the government housing minister who will be with us at 7:30am. the housing and communities secretary, robertjenrick, willjoin us at half past seven. if you have any questions you want to put specifically to him on behalf of the government, get in touch. you

can send them to our e—mail or social media. more than 16,000 people may be needed to run the new nhs nightingale hospital currently being installed at the excel centre in london, according to its chief operating officer. the 80—ward facility was created in fewer than ten days and should be able to take its first patients by the end of this week. angus crawford reports. archival commentary: welcome back to excel arena, down in the royal docks, in east london. the crowd still pouring in... from a time of national celebration to one of national crisis. the excel has a new role and name — now, nhs nightingale. an army of civilian contractors and the military too transforming this vast space. cubicles marching towards the camera. this is my last week in the army — well, it was, until i got the phone call. so i've built hospitals, planned hospitals around the world.

i have been a commander in med in afghanistan. i've built hospitals in oman, in iraq, in the baulkans, so this is what i have prepared for, it's what i do, and that is why i have come together with the nhs to work together with them to deliver this facility at scale, at pace. 500 beds so far but with the ability to add 1500 more here and another 2000 in the halljust over there. expected to be operational by the end of the week, only patients already on ventilators will be admitted and cared for by a team of as many as 16,000 people. questions, though, still remain. will there be enough equipment? and in a unit where some patients may not survive, despite the care they receive, how will doctors and nurses cope? those staff would be quite used to the realities of dealing with this disease and these types of patients, including the sad fact that not everybody will survive.

it is for those staff that might have stepped up to help, they are genuine heroes, that they found in themselves to actually come and help this facility, and we really need to look after them, to make sure that they can hope with realities of working in an intensive care unit. nightingale is almost ready — its empty beds one sign of the scale of the job which may lie ahead. angus crawford, bbc news. president trump has warned of a "painful" two weeks ahead after the number of deaths linked to coronavirus in the united states surpassed those in china — reaching more than 3,400. speaking at the white house, mr trump said even if social distancing measures are followed closely, up to 240,000 americans could die from the virus. evenif even if social distancing measures are followed closely. i want every american to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. we are going to go through a very tough two weeks. and, then, hopefully,

as the experts are predicting — as, i think, a lot of us are predicting — after having studied it so hard, you're going to start seeing some real light at the end of the tunnel. but this is going to be a very painful, very, very painful two weeks. china's decision to lock down the city of wuhan — the epicentre of the outbreak — may have prevented more than 700,000 new cases, according to research published today in the journal science. restrictions in china are being eased, although international visitors are currently banned from entering the country. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell is in beijing. what's the situation there this morning, stephen? this was right at the centre and things are changing there. you are so things are changing there. you are so far ahead of us but what is the latest? some of the restrictions are being eased, either? morning. yeah, well, for example, where i am next to the second ring road, or above it, you can see traffic is moving,

but we might apply what we could call it the second ring road index in beijing. it may look like this is normal, but actually it is not. the traffic is flowing, though there are more cars now than there were, i suppose a week or two ago. it kind of gives you an idea of how we are moving back towards normality. but president xijinping has urged companies to resume work cautiously. you still have to control numbers, maintain social distancing and then in people's free time, china's president has said don't go to the movies, you should watch a film at home. in restaurants, they are saying owners should control the numbers strictly. any time there are people, they are not sitting too close to one another. you get an idea of how things are returning back to normal here but cautiously because they are concerned about people coming from overseas,

bringing the infection back and sparking a new spike in cases. you can understand that. thank you. france and spain both reported their highest daily death tolls of people with covid—19 yesterday — as we did here in the uk. and in belgium a 12—year—old girl was among the dead. gavin lee is in brussels. good to talk to you. give us an update, if you can, the signs of it being brought under control despite heavy death tolls across europe. festival, across europe, we are looking at 450,000 cases. by tomorrow, experts will be expecting half a million cases across europe. the countries worst hit, more than 100,000 in italy, almost 100,000 the countries worst hit, more than 100,000 in italy, almost100,000 in spain. it looks like the figures are starting to go down in terms of spread, the number of people getting infected per day, but it is not consistent. in italy, about a week ago they were seeking more than 4000

cases every single day. new cases. that dropped yesterday to 1000 and 2000 today. it is slowing, in the past two days, high figures for the death toll, but they believe in about a week the spread will start to slow. then other countries which are seeing less cases but rising. netherlands, belgium on 12,000 each. they expect the next two weeks. but word on the netherlands. we are looking at... they are saying the first people have been jailed looking at... they are saying the first people have beenjailed in europe for violating conditions of confinement. they have put four people in prison who have said they have got coronavirus and have been coughing at people. theyjailed four people in the netherlands yesterday. thank you for that update. as coronavirus cases rise across the uk, many of us have been finding new — and sometimes unusual — ways to display our appreciation

for frontline nhs workers. matthew alford from devon created this enormous message of gratitude — with a little help from farmerjohn govier. that is impressive, isn't it was white it's stunning. mowed into a field near exmoor, it measures more than 100 metres high and almost 400 metres wide. it took two hours to complete, from planning to mowing. absolutely lovely. imagine the straight lines are relatively straightforward, but the bends around the s is impressive. it's all done by technology these days, i think. it might not be. very sophisticated technology. a man on a mower. that's lovely. i hope that has put a smile on your face. we know that many businesses have been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. but so too has the charity sector, which is expecting to lose around £4 billion over the coming months.

in a moment we'll hear from the national council for voluntary organisations, and the singer—songwriter tony hadley — who's also the vice—president of a children's hospice. but first, this report from breakfast‘s graham satchell. this is blossom. she only came in last night. rspca vet anya maguire is doing her rounds. as you can see, she's recovered really well and is doing fine. the pandemic has already had a big impact here. staff are now only dealing with emergency cases, but the greater worry is the charity's future funding. how serious a situation would you say it is at the moment? yes, certainly it's a really difficult time for the fundraising side of things and there was already, i guess, a huge strain on keep everything going. and then things like fundraising are taking a hit it's going to be a lot more difficult. huge fundraising events like the london marathon have been cancelled.

charity shops are shut. the lack of income could have a devastating impact on every corner of society, from research, to the homeless to the elderly and the vulnerable. ijust managed to get some nappies that were donated by hinden community support group. angie works for the rainbow trust. it's a charity that supports families with children who have life limiting conditions. this is 4—year—old sophia. she was born with a serious heart condition and has been in and out of hospital all her life. for sophia's mum and dad, the help they get from the rainbow trust is vital. theyjust do such amazing work with families with terminally ill children and children like sophia who have got life threatening conditions. the stress of having to look after a child, sometimes i can't even describe it in words. do you think of the rainbow trust

as like a sort of life—saver? oh, yes. definitely. without a doubt. that is like your instant friend, if that makes sense. they are there to help you. for the time being, sophia and her sisters are still getting help, but will it last? we have seen a 61% drop in income since the start of march. all of our funding, bar a very small percentage comes entirely from donations from the public. and without emergency funding and some form of stabilisation for charities such as rainbow trust, we could cease operating. you think it's that serious? i absolutely do. so what's being done? in scotland, the government has set up a £25 million fund for charities. the welsh government has announced £500 million to support business, which charities can also access. in england, there's been talk of help, but nothing specific yet. a spokesperson told us we're working

very closely with the sector to make sure help is directed where it's most needed. but charities say they're facing an estimated shortfall of more than £4 billion in the next three months. keep stretching it, stretch it over. so for some of the most vulnerable in society, like sophia, there is now an anxious wait. if you stretch it down here. will the vital support they rely on continue? joining us now we have karl wilding, chief executive of the national council for voluntary organisations. he's in st albans. and the singer—songwriter tony hadley — who's also the vice president of shooting star children's hospices — joins us from buckinghamshire. good morning to you both. thank you for joining good morning to you both. thank you forjoining us. tony, what is going on with the charity you deal with?l lot was explained in that clip that you saw. we require £10 million a

year to operate but already we have had to close a london hospice, for reasons obviously because london is the epicentre of the disease but also we have to protect the kids and staff but also because of funding. we have moved a lot of our facilities there to acai or spurs. as it was said in the clip, there is talk to other government bailout. at the moment we are suffering, people's disposable income is diminishing every day. we do not know how long this will last. companies are experiencing massive problems, whereas in the past they would have donated to the charity. we only get 7% of our funding from governments are nearly 10 million p is directly from donations. and it is directly from donations. and it is desperate. i spoke to our chief operating officer. and it is

desperate, it really is. you are talking about hospices for children. these will be people and families who are in really difficult situations so what is the impact? the impact is obviously devastating. what we provide is end of life care and respite care for families, what we provide is end of life care and respite care forfamilies, so families who need a break and they can bring their children to the hospice and we provide first class care. but basically their children that the nhs kind of, you know, they count as from the nhs for end—of—life care and for the families, it is absolutely devastating. you cannot imagine... wonderfulfamilies devastating. you cannot imagine... wonderful families and wonderful kids but you cannot imagine what they are going through at the moment. it is difficult enough if you are able—bodied or whatever but if you have a disability of any kind it is even more difficult. carol, tonyis

it is even more difficult. carol, tony is talking about one organisation and trying to keep others open. what across —— what about across the charity sector. where did that figure come from and how serious is that for many charities out there today? that figure comes from a mix of data we have ta ken from figure comes from a mix of data we have taken from surveys and the knowledge of what charities generate already. right across the board fundraising across the board has halved but what we are also seen as an increase in the sort of need that tony has been talking about. it is important to say that charities are notjust here as part of the problem, they are part of the solution as well. we are the solution as well. we are the solution —— like organisations that can take pressure off our precious nhs. just as tony is talking about a role in end—of—life care, we can help people who have come home and are isolated. this is a time when we need to step up more than ever. tony

has talk about government input, the possibility of that. everything that has been cancelled is having a massive impact, isn't it? yes. we used marathons before. it is spring now, and this is when we would do a sponsored walks and because of the social distancing measures it has stopped and to stop for the foreseeable future. charities do have in some cases about a quarter of charities have money that they hold in reserve. but many charities don't, so it is a very fragile syste m don't, so it is a very fragile system and it is a very fragile group of organisations that no need to step up more than step back. tony, i can see you nodding along. when people are tightening their belts, you automatically think some charities will miss out. but karl

we re charities will miss out. but karl were saying that charities are part of the solution. we have our facilities and nhs but as karl said, we are a secondary facilities and nhs but as karl said, we are a secondary tier if you like. a lot of the charities look after the most vulnerable children or people in society that they kind of governmental departments cannot deal with or don't deal with so they come to us. so we provide an amazing quality, total care service, we have the most dedicated staff. and it is just getting to the point that the reason why we just getting to the point that the reason why we are on just getting to the point that the reason why we are on here talking to you guys is because it is getting to the point of desperation. people's disposable income is diminishing, companies are worrying about their employees, this is a terrible time we are going through. so we understand all those things but we are appealing to people, especially the government, if we can get some kind offunding, the government, if we can get some kind of funding, some kind of support to get as through the next

three months, hopefully we will get to some sort of normality after that. we appreciate both of you spending some time with us today. that is a really good point about it, it is spring and all those ten keys where people would have raised millions of pounds for charity, so many of them postponed. we will have to see if they will go ahead in october and the rest of it. the government have talked about a package of measures, and we need to seek what that comes in as and what difference it makes her charities. we are trying to bring you joy as much as we can hear. there's a lot of tragic and unsettling news to bring you at the moment, but we're also doing our best to bring you some examples of the amazing community spirit that's helping people to get through this period. on a street in frodsham, in cheshire, for example, residents are meeting every day to dance together — at a state—approved distance, of course. take a look. music: night fever by bee gees.

you can see everyone as far apart as they should be. we're joined now by janet woodcock, who has been organising these daily dances. good morning to you. how did it start? good morning. we put leaflets through the doors of neighbours. janet, i am going to ask

you that one more time. there are a few issues with their line. we will try and stay with it. how did it start? it just started try and stay with it. how did it start? itjust started with dropping a note through the doors of the neighbours... anyone to chat to and then came upon the idea of standing outside. a minute's silence. and then one of the neighbours mentioned that she... i am so sorry. we are really struggling to hear you. she put a note through the neighbours doors. they started with a minute of silence and then a minute of clapping for the nhs and then it moved on to someone clapping for the nhs and then it moved on to someone asking her if she could do a class. every day they start off with the music from neighbours, and they alljoin in. what she was going to tell us is that now it has got to the point

where everyone in the street looks forward to 11 o'clock. it kicks off with neighbours and they go into a whole routine that janet has put together. it is one of those things, people are talking about lots of things every day, there's lots of negative things, which can meet you in anxious. there are any —— like lots of amazing community initiatives which are enabling people to get together. and getting people to get together. and getting people to get together. and getting people to chat together, there are some good things happening. and later, we will look forward to seeing our green goddess who is our own motivator here on the programme. in the meantime we are going to get all things weather—related. clear skies and parts of east anglia and temperatures have fallen to minus micro four. there is frost a here but for most of us it will be a

cloudy day, patchy rain in the forecast as well. clear skies will be replaced by this cloud sinking south through the day. some showers dotted around and then a weather front coming south across scotland introducing more cloud and patchy rain, getting into southern scotland and northern ireland through the day. these white circles indicate average wind speeds, nothing strong today but are temperature range, eight to 11 degrees. behind this weather front it will brighten up in the highlands. this evening and overnight, this way —— maxine weather fencing south, some overnight, this way —— maxine weatherfencing south, some hiding spots of rain moving with it. some areas not seeing any kind at all but the wind will strengthen across the north and we will see a good rash and showers. temperatures overnight, three to 7 degrees. no issues with frost. tomorrow, here is the same weather front continuing its journey

south, continuing to weaken. look at those isobars, tomorrow will be a windy day whenever you are but especially so across scotland. here, the wintry showers will be in the hills and mountains and some of the heavier ones we could see them at lower levels. these errors —— are wind gusts. in england, and wales and northern ireland, once again there will be cloud around with the odd spot of rain here and there. temperatures in the south, 12 or 13. in the north, don't forget the wind chill, still feeling cold. as the front clears off taking mild conditions with it, the colder blues return. on friday, here is a weather front in the south with the cloud and spots of rain, still comparatively mild. further north we are in the cold air, winds are easy and there will be some sunny spells developing but most of us will see a fairamount of developing but most of us will see a fair amount of cloud, temperatures

three in lerwick, 12 in cardiff. friday into saturday, we have said goodbye to our front, high friday into saturday, we have said goodbye to ourfront, high pressure establishes across us and we start to bring in these winds. the wind very salient because we lose the cold blues and an increase of milder yellows a nd cold blues and an increase of milder yellows and sandy we will see amber on our charts and it means it will turn milder through the course of the weekend, warmer on sunday. somewhere in the south east and anglia could hit 20 degrees, way above average what will be the start of april. today is the 1st of april, it is really confusing, isn't it! i wonder if there are any april fools in the paper. doesn't feel like the right day. anyone wondering what is happening to our regional news bulletins in breakfast, we are trying to reduce the number of

people working across the bbc at the moment. there are no regional news bulletins during breakfast. you can still get them at lunchtime and in the evening and you can get regional news from the website or local radio. the weather has shifted, so we will do that at 27 minutes past the hour and three minutes to the hour which is why things look different. it is just after 7:30am. let's get you up—to—date on the latest news. the coronavirus has claimed two of its youngest victims in the uk, as the total number of deaths here now stands at 1789. luca di nicola was a 19—year—old chef from italy who was living in london. ismail mohamed abdulwahab, from brixton in south london, was just 13 years old when he died in the early hours of monday. both were described as "healthy" by their families. hospitals in england should use spare laboratory space to test nhs staff who are self—isolating, health secretary matt hancock has said. testing so far has been focused mainly on patients but mr hancock has now urged hospitals to test

as many staff as they can. it comes as the government faces growing criticism over a lack of testing for frontline workers. as many as 16,000 members of staff could be needed to run the temporary covid—19 hospital currently being constructed inside london's excel centre. the 4000—bed facility, named nhs nightingale, will be ready to start taking patients later this week, just ten days after building work started. the hospital's chief operating officer said it's possible the hospital won't need to be used, if people keep following social distancing measures. president trump has warned of a "painful" two weeks ahead after the number of deaths linked to coronavirus in the united states surpassed those in china — reaching more than 3,400. speaking at the white house, mr trump said up to 240,000 americans could die from the virus, even if social distancing measures are followed closely.

i want every american to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. we are going to go through a very tough two weeks. and, then, hopefully, as the experts are predicting — as, i think, a lot of us are predicting — after having studied it so hard, you're going to start seeing some real light at the end of the tunnel. but this is going to be a very painful, very, very painful two weeks. that is the picture from america and we have brought you updates from across europe as well, today. sally is downstairs on the ground floor of our bbc building because we are socially distancing, but you have some premier league news about money and pay packets. what's going on? it's coming to the crunch point because today there will be a big meeting between the main players in the premier league and the football league, so lots of different clubs getting together to decide what to do about continuing to pay their players and their

nonplaying staff. we already have a few decisions to tell you about. newcastle were the first to cut things. players are still earning their salaries but nonplaying staff are on the government's fellow scheme already. tottenham have put 550 people on leave, meaning a 20% pay cut. the chairman daniel leavy is among them, he and £7 million last year. they again are using government salary support to keep things going. bottom of the table norwich, they are the very latest to put their staff on leave so you can see already a picture is emerging. nonplaying staff are already starting to be put on these schemes but a decision is yet to be taken about the players. it's very interesting. i presume they will be looking at that as well. yes, and if we look a bit further afield we can see examples of how this is happening in europe. let's talk about barcelona for a second. their players are taking a

70% pay cut to make sure that nonplaying staff keep their salaries going. that is already happening. cristiano ronaldo's juventus going. that is already happening. cristiano ronaldo'sjuventus have deferred their pay for four months. that is something that could be implemented here, of course. talking about the championship, players in leeds have volunteered to take a wage deferral already. players at birmingham city who earned more than £6,000 per week have been asked to ta ke £6,000 per week have been asked to take a 50% pay cut for the next four months and in scotland, heights could suspend players salaries after asking all staff to take a 50% pay cut —— hearts. celtic will also be taking action. steve clarke is taking action. steve clarke is taking action. steve clarke is taking a 10% pay cut but of course this is something that will need a bit more working out because, as we know, the leagues are not due to return any time soon. officially around the end of the month, but i

think everybody accepts it will be longer than that. sally, thank you very much. the idea of holing up in a remote corner of the uk might seem pretty appealing right now — particularly if you are trying to self—isolate in the middle of a big city. but living miles from the nearest town creates challenges of its own during the coronavirus outbreak, and farming unions say more support is needed. our wales correspondent hywel griffith reports from powys. social distancing isn't that hard in one of the least populated places in britain but, for the communities dotted around the hills of powys, the pandemic is still changing lives. gemma is one of the local young farmers trying to care for the older generation. they've spent the last week driving food and medication around the county, to people who are already remote and now in self isolation. right into the sticks, really deep into the countryside, really isolated, that do not see anyone any day of the week, and they rely on going to the shops to see people and to do things

and they do not have that now so even just to see one of us that probably gives a boost to all those people that are isolated. many of those who need help live far from the family. maryln and john moved here two years ago, knowing there were no shops or public transport, an hour from the nearest large hospital. bye, gemma. see you, gemma. their biggest worry is howjohn will get the treatment he needs there for a blood condition next month. how important is it for your health? for me it's probably the single biggest issue at the moment. it is a way off, it is not until early may — who knows what state we will be in by then? but, assuming we are still isolated, if they tell me i cannot go, well, that is a bit of a show stopper. forfarmers, there is real concern over keeping workers well enough to supply the food chain. the local council has been urgently recruiting to keep basic services running.

while tourism has shut down, keeping visitors out of the county. hello. hi. there's your shopping. thank you. some here feel powys may be better prepared than big cities because people are used to being cut off. although you cannot see anybody here, somebody is always there to help. let me know if you need anything else. that is the kind of community it is. you do not live near to anyone but they are always there so we are lucky. so far, two dozen cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in powys. everyone here is braced for that number to rise, and preparing to deal with whatever lies ahead. hywel griffith, bbc news. there's a warning today that hundreds of thousands of businesses could go bust because they're struggling to access loans promised by the chancellor. nina's been looking at this.

she is outside in the newsroom. good morning. good morning. it's two weeks since the budget — where the chancellor rishi sunak said he would be taking unprecedented steps to make sure businesses stay afloat over the course of the coronavirus. to be fair, it is unprecedented. £330 billion for loans in businesses. it launched on monday to help businesses ticking over. under the scheme they can borrow up to £5 million for up to 6 years. the government covers the first 12 months of interest payments and any lenders' fees. the government also guarantees 80% of each loan to encourage lenders to take part. about 40 lenders are involved including the big high street names like barclays, natwest, tsb. but many business owners have contacted the bbc telling is that they are having trouble accessing the cash.

simon runs a hardware store. he has already had to lay off four members of staff. i had no problem contacting the bank because i have a direct mobile phone number for our relationship manager. he was very friendly and he understood the issues we were having. but he obviously wasn't in a position to give me any sort of immediate answer so give me any sort of immediate answer so at the moment we are in limbo, we don't know exactly what we will be able to get and how we will be able to use whatever we can get. if you do qualify the assistance you are not going to get it until, at the earliest, the end of april at possibly the end of may. in the meantime you still have to find the money somehow to pay your staff. some businesses have told us that lenders have tried to make them give personal guarantees on part of the money — which they are afraid to do. it's also been alleged that some banks are then pushing their own products on to the businesses.

the wait for the cash is particularly difficult for small and medium—sized businesses with tight margins. bbc research out today suggests as many as one in five are struggling to access this cash and that could send them under. what do the banks or government say? the british business bank that represents the banks on the scheme they are working hard to get financial help to business as quickly as they can. the treasury told us they have made it clear to banks that they must pass on the benefits of this scheme to businesses and for lots of businesses that is happening. tens of thousands of businesses i doing that today. today they're also rolling out grants of up to £25,000 to retail and hospitality businesses and freezing business rates. so there is a lot of help out there — the problem we're repeatedly seeing is the lag in accessing the money. and for some businesses a wait

of a few weeks is the difference between keeping their head above water, and going bump. of course it is. thank you very much. thank you. an important few weeks ahead. we talked a lot about the uk and we have heard from president trump this morning. we are going to speak to frontbencher robertjenrick, the housing minister inafew robertjenrick, the housing minister in a few moments on this programme. italy's three—week lockdown will be extended today after 837 people died there yesterday — taking the country's total deaths to more than 12,000. among the dead are more than 60 doctors. our rome correspondent mark lowen reports. perhaps never again in our lifetime will we see rome like this. the virus is sucking the life out of this country. three weeks on, italy's lockdown is set to be extended today until. . .well, until the outbreak stops killing. they lowered the flags to half—mast across the country

to pay tribute. from florence to rome, from italy's south to the bergamo in the north, the town worst ravaged by coronavirus. it is a symbol of national mourning to mark a month that has torn through italy's heart. the country with the highest number of deaths from the virus and the highest fatality rate. italians need to feel there is an end to the daily loss of hundreds of lives, to the constant mourning. medical unions say the huge loss of doctors here, at least 66, shows a failure to protect those trying to cure it. translation: they worked without the right equipment like proper masks and they weren't given them. not enough have been tested. we were completely unprepared. china showed us what we needed to do and we didn't follow it. it's like sending soldiers to war empty—handed, unable to defend themselves. we could have avoided these deaths. doctors paid for their

commitment with their lives. we developed a valve... so young, inventive italians have stepped in to help, using 3d printing to develop a valve that turns a sports shop snorkelling mask into a ventilator. the blueprint has been downloaded for free a million times by hospitals in need across the world. two days ago, it was my birthday and i received a message from brazil in which a doctor says we have had 100 people breathing thanks to my idea. and i was very very, happy. i cannot receive a better present for my birthday. the health care system too is improvising, milan exhibition centre converted into a new hospital with 200 badly needed intensive care beds. italy is being forced to adapt to this virus. running after it, but still too far behind.

we have been having a few problems. lots to look forward to. let's take a look at today's papers. most of it is about coronavirus. "fix the testing fiasco now" is the headline on the daily mail's front page. the paper says the "shambles" over testing has — by a "country mile" — been the government's greatest misstep in its handling of the coronavirus crisis. the mirror leads on the news that a 13—year—old has become the youngest person in the uk to die from coronavirus. it says ismail mohamed abdulwahab from brixton in south london, was a "healthy boy" with no known existing illness. an image of soldiers helping to set up a makeshift hospital for coronavirus patients appears

on the front page of the sun. the paper says army "heroes" have worked round the clock in east london to help get the new facility ready. it is expecting to get first patients later in the week. and the top story on the website for the new york times says president trump struck his 'most sombre tone' on the coronavirus to date, as he told americans to expect a 'very, very painful two weeks ahead'. let's have a look in the middle pages as well. i want to talk about george ally gary r. he did an interview on the six o'clock news saying he has had coronavirus. he was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014. he talked about how he had been coping with coronavirus. he said, idid been coping with coronavirus. he said, i did not want to trivialise it because i had a mild dose. but the fact that we are living with cancer means we are living on the

edge. we have dealt with those difficult dark moments in our lives. i think those of us with cancer are stronger because we know how it is to go into something where the outcomes are uncertain. he has stopped working in the newsroom a while ago because he is on the list of vulnerable people, he is one of them. that is good news. george, i hope you have a good continued recovery. there is also some positive stories out there as well. tha nkfully positive stories out there as well. thankfully we can bring you one of those interviews we have been talking about. as we've been hearing this morning, the government has admitted that it has a lot more work to do on ramping up testing for the coronavirus. let's try to find out exactly what they intend to do. we'rejoined by the housing and communities secretary, robertjenrick. thank you very much for being with us this morning. we will spend as much time as we can with you to get

clarity on those issues. i wanted to start if we could talk about those two teenagers who sadly have died, we got that news last night, reading it to our viewers this morning as well. it is a reiteration about the seriousness of this virus and why it is important for us to stay at home while we can. absolutely, every death is a tragedy, back to young people dying is even more so. it does remind us all that this is a virus that is indiscriminate, it does not just affect the elderly virus that is indiscriminate, it does notjust affect the elderly or those who are extremely vulnerable because of their pre—existing conditions, although those people do need to take particular care, it can affect all of us. i think many young people, some young people have felt invincible, we saw that in a couple of scenes a couple of weeks ago of people out enjoying themselves when we first started to implement some of the social distancing measures. i

think now everyone in the country understands and appreciates the seriousness of the situation and is following the medical advice, which is to stay—at—home, by doing so protect the nhs and help to save lives. i think everyone else watching and anyone following this crisis adult is aware of the importance of testing. i would like to get some clarity on this from you. there seems to be confusion about testing kits. anyone yesterday who saw the government briefing said “ saw who saw the government briefing said —— saw that michael government said there was a problem sourcing kits. there industry said there is a supply. it is important to get to the bottom of that today. the chemicals industry have rightly said that in the uk we produce a number of the ingredients to produce the tests that we need, back to produce

a reliable test you need to have a range of ingredients and not all of them as i understand it have always been available in the uk in the quantities that we need. but we are working with british manufacturers, as much as we possibly can and they have been extremely helpful and supportive and trying to ramp up production. that is beginning to happen. is that the reason for the delay? is the lack of chemicals, is that the reason for the debt —— of the delay from the government's point of view? that is one of the reasons we have some of the ingredients were not all of them. but the good news is that production is now increasing. we had 8240 people tested on monday. we have capacity now to do more than that. we have capacity to test about 12,400 people and so we are going to

use that spare capacity to begin testing nhs workers, over and above those people who have already been tested who have primarily been patients in critical conditions in hospitals. so that doctors and nurses if they have the virus, they can be treated accordingly. we tested 9000 nhs staff, that isjust the beginning and we need to increase that number significantly. we think in a few days we should be able to test 15,000 people every day. ok, can i ask you what the other reasons are for there being a problem with a number of test being done. you said the lack of chemicals was one of the reasons. there have been suggestions of a lack of lab space been suggestions of a lack of lab s pa ce a ccess been suggestions of a lack of lab space access to swabs for doing those, that has been some of the information come from nhs providers. what are the reasons for delays other than chemicals? within the uk, the availability of the right

infrastructure, some of the things you describe, those things do have an impact. in terms of importing test from overseas, there is a high degree of demand for the tests. sorry, sorry to interrupt you. we have been trying to purchase as many of the tests as possible, it is a difficult market to purchase them, we are trying to get as many of them as we can. when you see lack of infrastructure, what you mean, is it a lack of lorries, are there problems with logistics, what is going on? different countries have different industrial strength in manufacturing and production of medicines and testing equipment. you have seen in germany that the, their existing industry was better placed to be able to begin production at a scale than perhaps our summers. however in other areas, equally

important such as ventilators, you have seen that british manufacturers because of their historic strengths, have been able to step up very quickly and within a matter of weeks manufacturers which were producing com pletely manufacturers which were producing completely different products have been able to produce prototypes which have been approved and are now moving into production. so it is difficult, although important, in making international comparisons. but we are not pretending the current situation is where we want it to be, we want to increase production very significantly. the numbers are now increasing as icy from 12,000 to 15,000 later this week. by the middle of april we expect that to be around 25,000, but production needs to go well beyond that in the weeks to come.” production needs to go well beyond that in the weeks to come. i am sure that in the weeks to come. i am sure that all of our viewers watching this morning, they fully appreciate that this is an unprecedented situation, that you are one of those who are trying to organise things in difficult circumstances. everyone appreciates that mg say that

comparing internationally can be a difficult thing to do at at time like this. when you look across the germany where they are managing to perform half a million tests a week and you look back here in the uk where let's remind ourselves on march the 16th, so over two weeks ago, text —— testing was named the number one priority by the mark government. half a million in germany, 50,000 here. that is a huge difference when as you and others have said, testing cannot only protect those on the front line in the nhs and others, but can save lives! yes, so we want and need and we'll be testing more people in the coming days. i will not repeat the same statistics, but testing is increasing and your viewers will see a significant increase over the course of this week. it is helpful to look at other countries performance and we want to learn

from other countries. the different countries will have different strategies. the chief medical officer said yesterday there are limitations to international comparisons because different countries will have different health services and will be testing different types of people. but we wa nt to different types of people. but we want to see more people tested very rapidly. we do now have enough tests to be testing people in critical condition in hospitals, so much so that we can move forward and test nhs workers and that is extremely important because anyone going to work in the situations and doing heroic tasks for us should be given the equipment that they need and that includes knowing their own health when they go into work each day. and can also help to get more nhs workers to work because they are not having to self—isolate. nhs workers to work because they are not having to self-isolate. he spoke to the shadow health secretary about an hourago on to the shadow health secretary about an hour ago on this programme and he specifically mentioned that he

wa nted specifically mentioned that he wanted clarity from the government on the issue i will mention to you know, i know viewers feel the same way, the accusation that the reason we are in this situation as we left it to late to place orders. is that afair it to late to place orders. is that a fair accusation? i don't think thatis a fair accusation? i don't think that is fair. we have been working on this for a number of weeks. as i said earlier, for some areas of equipment, like testing, the uk will have a different base in terms of their industrial strength and in other areas. if you look at ventilators, for example, a great deal of progress has been made because there are some fantastic british manufacturers who can move forward quickly. and on the call the government put out there a few weeks ago, we are now seeing serious results. prototypes were produced by british manufacturers, they have now been approved in some cases, we have taken receipt of 30 of those

ventilators are now thousands more will be manufactured this week and the weeks to come. so the number of ventilators, which is eight —— 8000 in the nhs today, will increase significantly as a result of the steps we have ta ken significantly as a result of the steps we have taken and more importantly as a result of the amazing work of british manufacturers who have stepped up and produced short natives some incredible products. the nhs is doing a greatjob of increasing capacity. you only need to look at the new hospital is being built, like the nightingale hospital which is added for a week to see that people are working extremely hard with the help of the armed forces and the private sector, to build capacity at pace as we know move into the critical few weeks of this virus as we approach...” into the critical few weeks of this virus as we approach... i have got to ask you one more question if i

could, iam to ask you one more question if i could, i am interested to ask you one more question if i could, iam interested in to ask you one more question if i could, i am interested in precise information this morning. i am sorry we are going on a little bit, we did get you late for technical reasons. we heard the health secretary incorrectly state that 170 million masks were being delivered. something you repeated on sunday. that figure is incorrect, that was the overall figure of personal protective equipment available. can you give us clarity on those numbers this morning. i think it is really important for our viewers, to be precise and accurately talk about that. what are the numbers of ppe and where are we with that?” that. what are the numbers of ppe and where are we with that? i do not know the precise numbers of ppe with me this morning updated to today. the figure is you quoted is correct, 170 million items in total have produced in the past few weeks and are now going out to the front line. the issue is in most cases somewhat

different to testing in that the items are there, supply is now starting to flow at the skill that we need it too. but we have got to get out to the people on the front line and there is a number of different settings where people work, from hospitals to care homes, pharmacies, gp surgeries, homeless shelters and so on, we have delivered ppe to more than... we have produced a hotline, so if someone have produced a hotline, so if someone is watching this programme and can say as small care home and does not feel that they have the ppe that they need and doesn't know where to go, they can call the hotline and by using that get ppe supply set out as quickly as possible. we are also using the military to get supplies moved around the country as swiftly as we can. i think this will be an issue which will hopefully move quite rapidly in the right direction because i can see the supply flowing

m, because i can see the supply flowing in, we havejust got because i can see the supply flowing in, we have just got to get it out to the people on the front line. we are also in the next few days publishing very clear guidelines to people working on the front line as to what is an appropriate use of ppe for them and their job. to what is an appropriate use of ppe for them and theirjob. because understandably there is a high degree of anxiety and sub—occupations degree of anxiety and sub—occu pations about the degree of anxiety and sub—occupations about the virus, and what they should be working —— like wedding to look after their own health, including people like refuse collectors, people who would not ordinarily need to do that. the guidance will help to direct people to the sort of equipment they should be wearing and then my task is to get that equipment to them as quickly as possible. thank you for being with us this morning. i know you spent quite a bit of time with us answering those questions. we are a little bit late this morning, i hope you appreciate why that is. so many important things to be talking about this morning. we have had to move things around a

little bit. it is to do with logistics, technology, all the things we are dealing with. stay with us. headlines coming up shortly. good morning, welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. our headlines today: two teenagers, a 19—year—old chef and a 13—year—old boy, both described as healthy by their families, have died in london after contracting coronavirus.

pressure grows on the government to step up testing for the virus to get more nhs workers back on the frontline. built from scratch in fewer than 10 days. we'll take you inside the uk's newest hospital this morning. the first patients are expected later this week. the new tax year that will bring changes to your pocket. from today, going up — the cost of perscriptions, council tax and broadband. coming down, water and energy bills. i'll have a round—up. for the first time since world war two, wimbledon could be cancelled today. a series of emergency meetings between organisers continue this morning. later we'll be joined byjudy murray. a massive thank you. you are doing an amazing job. the whole country thanks you. rick astley promises a huge free gig for nhs staff across the uk. we'll speak to him just before nine o'clock.

good morning. it's wednesday, the 1st of april. two teenagers, described by their families as healthy, have died in london after contracting coronavirus. the deaths of the 13—year—old schoolboy, and a chef aged 19, were revealed as the government faces increasing criticism for a lack of testing for frontline nhs staff. danjohnson has the latest. this is luca di nicola, described by his family as a strong and healthy 19—year—old. he was a chef from italy living in london. his brother posted this photo of them together, saying, "i will express your wishes and fulfil your dreams." after feeling ill for a week, luca died within half an hour of arriving at hospital. and this is the fundraising effort to support another grieving family, mourning the loss of 13—year—old ismail mohamed abdulwahab, a son they couldn't even say goodbye to.

it has already reached almost £50,000. ismail was admitted here at king's college hospital in south london on friday with breathing difficulties. his family says he was given ventilation and put into an induced coma, but three days later, he died, isolated, on his own, despite his family saying he had no underlying health conditions. their statement ends, "we are beyond devastated." another stark illustration of the capacity of this virus to quickly claim the lives of even the youngest and fittest. they are really sad reminders that no matter what age you are, you should be staying at home and observing all the social distance measures we have highlighted. that was also underlined by the latest figures. 381 deaths in the uk in the last 24 hours. the highest number in one day so far. the official death toll has reached 1,789 in total with more than 25,000 confirmed cases now across the uk.

but how reliable are those figures when testing remains relatively limited? around 8,000 people a day are being tested for the virus. this is one drive—through centre for nhs workers in england, but it is only a limited trial. and the government is still way off its ambition to test 25,000 people a day. that's a big frustration, especially when a quarter of doctors are off sick or isolating at home, not knowing if they are safe to return to work. i think they are feeling fear, they're feeling frightened. everybody in the country is feeling fear and doctors and health care workers are no different. they are not sure what is around the corner, not sure if they will be protected when they go to work and increasingly they are not sure that they are fully believing what the government is telling them. so what's going wrong? well, the government has admitted for the first time some problems making more tests available. we want to increase the number

of tests, we are increasing the number of tests. i mentioned earlier that one of the constraints on our capacity to increase testing overall is supply of the specific reagents, the specific chemicals that are needed in order to make sure tests are reliable. it is also the case, as i am sure you are aware, that we have been working with the private sector and with academics and boots, for example, have increased the number of drive—in centres for nhs and front—line workers to be tested. last night, the chemicals industry said they are being produced and delivered to the nhs, but it may be some time before we knowjust how widespread the virus really is and how much worse things may get. dan johnson, bbc news. let's pick up some of the issues of the day. our political correspondent jessica parker is in westminster. jessica, the government is coming under severe pressure now to increase testing. there is close looking at what is going on with this testing of the

problem is? yes, mounting pressure on the government on this issue of testing. in a couple of areas, really. as dan was talking about there, discussion as to why more front line nhs staff are not being tested. and a wider discussion about whether there should be community testing in order to do the kind of contact tracing that we have seen in other countries. this comparison that keeps being made between the number of tests being carried out in the uk, versus, for example, the number of tests being carried out in germany, where the number is far higher. the uk is testing more than some other countries. but this comparison with germany has caused some serious concern. michael gove at that press briefing last night talking about a global shortage of the kind of chemicals that are neededin the kind of chemicals that are needed in order to carry out these tests. that was the kind of reason they were giving us as to why they

couldn't necessarily ramp up things as fast as they would like. however, as fast as they would like. however, as you guys were pointing out, the chemical industry said there are rea g e nts chemical industry said there are reagents being manufactured and delivered to the nhs. this raises the question again as to why countries like germany are so far ahead on testing. it is something bbc breakfast has been putting to robertjenrick. we want and need and we'll be testing more people in the coming days. i won't repeat the same statistics but testing is increasing and your viewers will see as significant increase over the course of this week. it is helpful to look at other countries and we want to learn from other countries. but different countries will have different countries will have different strategies. so really, robertjenrick defending the government strategy there and well denying suggestions that the government had been too slow act in accessing the chemicals needed, the

kits needed as well. the government saying it is going to ramp up testing. 15,000 within a few days and aiming for25,000 testing. 15,000 within a few days and aiming for 25,000 tests by mid to late april. jessica, thank you for the analysis. more than 16—thousand people may be needed to run the new nhs nightingale hospital currently being installed at the excel centre in london, according to its chief operating officer. the 80—ward facility was created in fewer than ten days and should be able to take its first patients by the end of this week. angus crawford is outside of the nightingale hospitalfor angus crawford is outside of the nightingale hospital for us now. angus crawford is outside of the nightingale hospitalfor us now. you have been taking a look inside. what have been taking a look inside. what have you seen? it is absolutely extraordinary. this is unlike any other hospital ever built in britain and it may become the biggest hospital ever built in britain. there will be 42 beds equipped with ventilators and oxygen in every single word. if this is scaled up,

there may become 80 wards. that would involve 16,000 staff to service all of those beds. in effect this will become one enormous intensive care unit. only patients who are already on a ventilator will be admitted here. now clearly, normally when someone is on a ventilator, that requires something like six or seven train staff to look after them. that is clearly not possible at this scale. the reason the words are so long and so big is to give clear light and the site, a lot of access, meaning doses and doctors can nurse multiple patients at one time. staff are hopeful they can be operational by the end of this week and then they will be ready to start receiving patients from across london when referred by the hospitals they are in at the moment. and angus, we can see the size of it behind you and the remarkable nature of how this has

been put together. is it still an impressive operation to see those final touches being made inside, with thousands of people working hours and hours each day to try to get it ready? it is really hard to describe how extraordinary it is. apart from anything else it is the extraordinary range and number of people who are working there, from people who are working there, from people who are literally building small buildings which are going to be pharmacies within it, to the military, to contractors putting on oxygen tanks. at an incredible team effort. if you think actually that as little as two weeks ago this was just an idea in the heads of some senior clinicians, they then literally sat down on a sunday afternoon, put it on the back of a piece of paper, worked it up and put it into operation. ten days ago there was nothing inside. in those enormous holes there, two of them side by side, something like 100,000 square metres, you could fit the whole of terminal five at heathrow into that space. if you imagine now

thatis into that space. if you imagine now that is now preparing to be full of beds. it should be open and ready to receive patients by the end of this week. a remarkable achievement. angus crawford. we will keep you up—to—date with what goes on there, of course. if you were watching breakfast on saturday, you might have seen an interview that naga did with a nurse called lucy duncan. lucy had spent five hours comforting an elderly man after he crashed into her car. he was disorientated and suffering the symptoms of coronavirus. sadly, he later died. here's lucy describing what happened immediately after the accident. he grabbed hold of my arm and said he had got the coronavirus. he told me that he had been self isolating for seven to ten days, and he had got in his car to go to the shop. he doesn't have any family or friends. and he'd gone to the shop to get

essentials, otherwise he knew that he would die if he didn't do that. gosh, it was such a desperate story but also so generous what he did to stay with him. she's had thousands of messages of support and thanks on social media, so we wanted to catch up with her and see how she's doing. lucy's at home in wigan. good morning. iwas good morning. i was watching that interview. it's so moving to hear what you did. tell us a little bit about how you are doing now? so i haven't had any symptoms of the coronavirus, so i feel quite lucky really. i am still self isolating. i am on day number six. that's been quite strange because i'm still not seen any quite strange because i'm still not seen any of my family. like i said, i haven't had a hug from anyone since the incident. i am sure of people will be sending you virtual hugs. what is the response been like? so many people would have seen

what you did and seen that interview over the weekend as well. it has been so overwhelming. i have had so many been so overwhelming. i have had so ma ny lovely been so overwhelming. i have had so many lovely messages and comments. i have been trying to get back to everyone but it's been so difficult. but i am thrilled by all the lovely comments that i have had. it is something that i would do it again if it happened yesterday. led us to remind people, if they don't know, this older gentleman, he crashed into your car, he said he was suffering out i mean, he was really suffering out i mean, he was really suffering at the time, wasn't he? you accompanied him to hospital. that is such a generous thing to do? yeah, it was so difficult because when i got to the man he really was struggling to stay alive. and everything was going through my head about, do you know, am i going to have to take out of the car? am i going to have to give him cpr, that of thing? he really was struggling. and initially i didn't have any ppe.

obviously coming from someone who hasjust hit into me, i didn't expect they would then say they had coronavirus. so following that, because it was struggling to breathe so because it was struggling to breathe so much, and i'd already been exposed to the coronavirus, i told him that he got to take his mask off. to try to happen to breathe. obviously if you have one of these mask on and you are not able to get any oxygen, it was one of those where i had to make the decision, well i could possibly get coronavirus or this man could die in front of me. now i'm having to make sure that i am well and able to go back to work and do myjob. sure that i am well and able to go back to work and do my job. amazing to hear you describe the thought process you went through. i know some have not been able to thank you. lucy — yourfriends, family and colleagues have recorded some messages for you. have a look at this.

hi, lucy, ijust want to say i'm so proud of you and i miss you so much. what you did was so special and you've touched everybody's heart. we are all proud of you at the wigan mental health emergency response team. hope you are doing well, lucy andl team. hope you are doing well, lucy and i hope we can however catch up and i hope we can however catch up and keep the house nice and tidy. well done, you did a greatjob and you've made us all proud. really proud of you for what you did for the old man. keep up the hard work and we cannot wait to see you when we're out of isolation. i want to reiterate how much i love you and how proud your colleagues are for everything you've done and we hope to see you back at work soon.” everything you've done and we hope to see you back at work soon. i know it's properly hard to watch and listen to some of that, but that's an indication of how proud your family and friends and colleagues are of you. we have another message for you as well. it's notjust your friends and family who have been singing your praises over the last week. here's a message from someone

who you're a big fan of. this is the one and only mr anthony joshua. how's it going, lucy? i hope you're well. i was speaking to my tea m you're well. i was speaking to my team and they mentioned your story andi team and they mentioned your story and i heard about everything you went through and i heard about what the guy went through as well and you definitely showed compassion, you definitely showed compassion, you definitely showed compassion, you definitely showed bravery, so i want to congratulate you on that. stay safe, and what you guys on the nhs are doing is unbelievable. keep it going. you guys are the unsung heroes. god bless. oh, lucy, it's really wonderful seeing you react to that. how are you feeling?” really wonderful seeing you react to that. how are you feeling? i thought i was overwhelmed before but now i am. it'sjust i was overwhelmed before but now i am. it's just amazing i was overwhelmed before but now i am. it'sjust amazing to hear all my family and friends and to hear from anthonyjoshua, i family and friends and to hear from anthony joshua, i am family and friends and to hear from anthonyjoshua, i am speechless. what i want you to do now is take a breath and i will ask you to stand up, and! breath and i will ask you to stand up, and i don't know if you're on a phone or a tablet talking to us, but

stand up, take it with you, because we know there has been a problem with your car. we want you to go to the front of your house and keep talking to us while you do that. ok? ido talking to us while you do that. ok? i do hope this will work properly. tell us what happened to your car while you go to the front door. my car has been banged into, oh, wow. can you drive it at the moment?” can drive it, however, i'mjust coming to my front door now. open your front coming to my front door now. open yourfront door, lucy, there coming to my front door now. open your front door, lucy, there should hopefully be a camera outside to pick you up. ok. i've come to the front of my door. ok, so that little red car, lucy is yours for as long

as you need it. what do you make of that? that is your car for as long as you need it, lucy. thank you. it's all a little bit overwhelming, isn't it? i can't believe it. have a sit down. what is so moving is seeing you and also i love all your neighbours giving you a clap when you came outside. it's quite funny, because i said to my mum this morning, i said, we were having a laugh and! morning, i said, we were having a laugh and i said, what are you wearing? just a nice top and i said that, well i don't really need to put nice bottoms on, i might as stay comfy. —— i might as well stay comfy. —— i might as well stay

comfy. as louise said, i know you're not able to drive your car at the moment and it's getting fixed by a local garage, so you can use that car as long as you need it, so we will leave the keys with you this morning. so please, when you finished self isolating and i know you are keen to get back to work, please use it as long as you need it for and please use it as long as you need it forand can we please use it as long as you need it for and can we also just pass on our thanks for what you did for that old man and the inspiration you have been to so many people who have not only been watching this programme, but following your story across the uk. thank you very much. when you get out of self isolation, i know you want to get back to work, but what else would you like to do? i'd like to go to nando's. you won't be alone in that. other restaurants are available. so lovely to speak to you and i'm sorry to make a go and stand outside. thank you very much indeed.

we are not allowed to advertise on this programme, but sort it out. if you're thinking about taking up a new hobby while you're stuck at home then here's one for you to consider — ballet. the royal academy of dance is offering free online lessons designed for people aged 55 or over. joining us now from surrey is the dance teacher behind it, sarah platt, and the academy's president, dame darcey bussell. we haven't got sarah platt at the moment, actually. good morning to you. thank you for talking to us. louise was talking earlier about the importance of ballet and the importance of ballet and the importance of ballet and the importance of dance, and i'm sure thatis importance of dance, and i'm sure that is something that resonates with you at all times but particularly a time like now. yes, well, dance put smiles on peoples faces and i've had lots of dancers come together and we always have a good time but ballet, in itself, has

a wonderful structure, a lovely process that gets you to focus on something to escape from, and just the relationship it has with music helps you express certain feelings and just makes you feel better. and this is all about silver swan is for people who are 55 and over, and darcy, can you start taking up ballet when you are a similar age to me, to be honest with you? not quite yet. but yes. 55 and over, silver swa n yet. but yes. 55 and over, silver swan is launching online, as you said and of course you can start doing ballet at any age. they have delivered a brilliant plan that builds slowly so you don't have to have experience in dancing to take up have experience in dancing to take up ballet and builds up slowly so you get your rewards on the way but

it's most important we keep mobile, especially as we get older and my birthday is in a couple of weeks' time, so mobility, it helps with that, and core strength and your posture, incredibly important as you get older because of all the ailments that you get if you have bad posture and it helps with that. and also coordination and balance. all of those things are incredibly important as we get older that we can hold onto and keep track of. we are alsojoined by can hold onto and keep track of. we are also joined by sarah platt, can hold onto and keep track of. we are alsojoined by sarah platt, the person who came up with the idea and thank you for being with us on brea kfast. thank you for being with us on breakfast. there will be lots of people watching at home thinking, i might trya people watching at home thinking, i might try a bit of this, but what would be the benefits you would outline? we started looking into the benefits of this back in 2012 and at that time, the biggest cost to the nhs was falls and once people fall over they might be bedridden and

there is a catalogue of other things that car —— carries on from that. and it was found, through dance, getting the posture, weight placement and balance and all the other benefits that darcy mentioned, amazing physical things can happen. we have ta ken amazing physical things can happen. we have taken ballet in its truest form, so it's all the correct technique, or the correct tradition and just adapted it to enable anybody at any age to be able to achieve, safely, confidently, and it brings so many benefits, physically, mentally, just the well being. everybody leaves the class going, wow! i totally forgot i was worried about this, that on the other. it is so about this, that on the other. it is so mindful. everything about ballet, you have to think about everything with your body and it just makes you forget about anything else that might be going on in the world that is not so cheerful. i wonder what that is! you know me quite well, and you know i'm not very elegant, but

do you really think anybody could begin and try and do this? yes, anybody. any age, any ability. it's anybody. any age, any ability. it's a wonderful thing. and also it's lovely to start it at home so you feel confident on your own that you can take those first steps without anybody having to watch you or anything. so it's a great way to start and for anybody, i encourage it for all of my friends and you to ta ke it for all of my friends and you to take up ballet. as i said, for every pa rt take up ballet. as i said, for every part of your body, you forget the complexity of steps in dance and why it's such a brilliant exercise compared to any other exercise and i know you are an amazing triathlon runner, but dance uses another part of the brain and it really encourages you to use the brain where you are working on your nerves

and your ligaments, so you are kind of getting a more complex and more engaged exercise. you don't switch off and don't go into something repetitive. it's so different and changing, which is why it so healthy for you. and just the enjoyment as well. it doesn't feel like a chore, you know? it's an enjoyment, the enjoyment you get out of exercising in dance because of the collaboration with music, of course. and putting all those steps together and making it fluid and things like that. and anybody of any age is able to do it. it isjust that. and anybody of any age is able to do it. it is just one step at a time. i think sarah will give us an example of one step at a time. sarah, for those thinking of doing an online class, can you give us a quick example? yes. this afternoon at one o'clock, the royal academy of dance have a few video clips released and the idea is that it is slow, steady and safe. there is enough information to last you a good week until next wednesday when

more clips come out. first of all, we re more clips come out. first of all, were talking about posture, so i mentioned weight transference. if you can do a rise and the heels go gently down on the floor, that will start to get your weight on the right place by keeping it forward, it activates all the different muscles in the legs and then you need to start looking at your posture, and the feeling is almost at your ears are being lifted up, so it's that lengthening of the spine and will talk about it in more detail in the clips, balancing with the pelvis, the pulling down of the shoulders and even standing in correct posture. we are going to have to interrupt you. it's absolutely brilliant and i'm already sitting on a different way. and genuinely, you have nearly persuaded me to give it a go. then arise. lovely. due too are wonderful. we really appreciate your time. thank you very much indeed. goodbye. i am

trying to elongate my spine, louise. there is so much going on. here's carol with a look at this morning's weather. i'm noticing it is very cold. it has certainly been a cold start, -5.2 it has certainly been a cold start, —5.2 in hampshire, so frosty in the south but clear skies across southern england as you can see in kent. but today, it will be cloudy for most of us. we have got the clear skies but the cloud will build. we have a weather front moving south across scotland and thatis moving south across scotland and that is introducing some patchy rain and eventually it will get into northern ireland as well. here is the bright start, the sunny start in the bright start, the sunny start in the south but as we move north there is more clout, some breaks in the cloud across north—east scotland but it won't be long before the weather front sinks south bringing rain with it. some showers across northern ireland and northern england and into wales as well to stop a few close to the midlands and east anglia and if you are just heading

out to do your exercise, do wrap up warm because it is a chilly start. through the day you can see how we have the cloud building and some showers knocking around and here is the weather front sinking down into southern scotland and northern ireland, leaving brighter skies in its wake. temperatures between eight and 10 degrees. and the wind today is not particularly strong. but that will change as we go through the evening and overnight with the wind really starting to pick up across scotla nd really starting to pick up across scotland in particular, blowing and a lot of showers. meanwhile, the weather front sinks further south so for england and wales we are looking ata for england and wales we are looking at a bit more cloud, but nowhere should have any issues with frost. as we go through tomorrow, windy day across the board but we are also going to see pretty significant wind chill across scotland which i was increasingly wintry in the hills and mountains and some of the heavier ones could be at a lower level temporarily. you will also see that in northern ireland, for that matter but for wales and england, bit of

cloud around, sunny breaks and we are still in the milder air although it will be windy wherever you are. on friday, we have the remnants of the weather front in the south, still mild, still one or two showers and after a bright start we see more cloud bubble up through the course of the day. but the wind will ease and we will still have some of those wintry showers, mostly on the hills and mountains. temperatures three in lerwick, but higher in the south of england. by saturday, a lot of dry weather and a fair bit of sunshine with fewer showers and one thing you will notice is the change in the wind direction as high—pressure as drifted further east so the wind will be coming up from the south and thatis will be coming up from the south and that is a mild direction for us. so there is a recovery in temperature across the board, seven in lerwick, 14 in london but by the time we get to sunday the temperatures will be that bit higher and in east anglia or the south—east could hit 20 celsius. way above average for this time of year.

thank you so much for keeping us company as ever. her new time of 27 minutes past the air. hello, this is breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. let's bring you up to date with the main stories. the government is aiming to increase the the number of people being screened for coronavirus to 12,000 per day. ministers have faced growing criticism over a lack of testing for front line workers, but the housing and communities secretary robertjenrick told bbc breakfast they now have the capacity to roll it out to nhs staff. we want and need and we'll be testing more people in the coming days. i won't repeat the same statistics but testing is increasing and your viewers will see a significant increase over the course of this week. it is helpful to look at other countries and their performance and we want to learn from other countries. but different countries will have different strategies.

the coronavirus has claimed two of its youngest victims in the uk, as the total number of deaths here now stands at 1,789. luca di nicola was a 19—year—old chef from italy, who was living in london. ismail mohamed abdulwahab, from brixton in south london, was just 13 years old, when he died in the early hours of monday. both were described as healthy by their families. president trump has warned of a painful two weeks ahead, after the number of deaths linked to coronavirus in the united states surpassed those in china, reaching more than 3,400. speaking at the white house, mr trump said even if social distancing measures are followed closely, up to 240,000 americans could die from the virus. i want every american to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. we are going to go through a very tough two weeks. and, then, hopefully, as the experts are predicting — as, i think, a lot of us are predicting — after having studied it so hard, you're going to start

seeing some real light at the end of the tunnel. but this is going to be a very painful, very, very painful two weeks. as coronavirus cases rise across the uk, many of us have been finding new, and sometimes unusual ways to display our appreciation for frontline nhs workers. matthew alford from devon created this enormous message of gratitude, with a little help from farmerjohn govier. mowed into a field near exmoor, it measures more than 100 metres high and almost 400 metres wide. we have put it on our social media account as well. it took two hours to complete, from planning to mowing. i think that's an incredible feat on its own. it's absolutely brilliant. the trouble is you can only see it from the drone, but nice! we know the thought is out there. maybe you can see it in a nearby field. let's find out what is going on with all

the sport. we might get some more information later today about wimbledon? that's right. meetings are continuing at the all england tennis club about what to do about the wimbledon championships this year. i think it's fairly obvious to anyone that we are not expecting them to go ahead. but whether they will be postponed or cancelled, that is upfor will be postponed or cancelled, that is up for some debate. it would be the first consolation since world war ii the first consolation since world war i! if that does happen today. to discuss what impact the decision could have on players, i'm joined by the tennis coachjudy murray. great to see you. lovely to have you. what are the difficulties with postponing the tournament? well i think the calendar is already starting to become more congested towards the end of the year because everybody who has had a tournament is cancelled is fighting for spaces to co m plete is cancelled is fighting for spaces to complete the season as best they

can. the big challenge for wimbledon as it is played on grass, which is not an artificial surface. also, the further you go on in the year down the calendar, you have less light. wimbledon has just two covered courts. there are big challenges for it in terms of postponing it. a massive amount of meetings going on between the representatives of the atp, wta and the ltr. it is a bunfight. trying to get a space to fulfil their events. it is not really possible for everybody. now how challenging is this for the players at the moment? for example, we look at roger federer, serena williams, players coming to the end of their career, and really trying to notch up those wins and get themselves further into the record books. are we looking at the

possibility now that tennis, this time next year, might look com pletely time next year, might look completely different? yeah, it could do. none of us could have foreseen the way the world has had to change. of course, that affects sport. it is affecting athletes as well. everybody is having to adapt. the most important thing is that we all find a way to crack the virus. and that things get back to normal, whenever that might be. but it might be some considerable time. we all are going to have to be patient. judy, you are a wise lady. we have spoken many times before. how are you managing in the current crisis? well, i'm trying to keep myself busy! of course, i do a lot of work online and i create a lot of tennis programmes, as you know, so online and i create a lot of tennis programmes, as you know, so i am busy doing that. i am also trying to keep myself active. i am so used to being on the go and travelling around the world. it is a bit of a

novelty to be at home. but that novelty to be at home. but that novelty is already wearing off, like it is for everybody else. trying to keep connected through whatsapp and the zoom, which are absolutely wonderful, of course. but getting bored like everybody else!” wonderful, of course. but getting bored like everybody else! i do not believe you are bought for one minute. you mentioned of the online training programme. i've worked with you before. we have been out and i have seen the scheme you have run. training tennis players of the future. how are you managing to keep that going? yeah, fortunately we have an online course. this is a great fun the starter programme for kids aged between four and eight. because it is nontechnical and it is easy to follow, we opened it up as a free resource to parents, who of course are looking for things to do with kids during the lockdown. all of these activities can be done in small spaces. perfect home using

what you have lying around the house. we have opened it to players, teachers, —— parents, teachers etc. it isa teachers, —— parents, teachers etc. it is a very simple, easy to follow programme. and it's fun. it's really fun. i have been busy with that. we have got over a thousand people signed up already. it is free online until midnight tonight. if you register before midnight tonight. that is keeping us busy. judy, we have been talking this morning about keeping in touch with family and friends and what it is like getting to grips with all of the technical challenges at the moment. how are you managing to keep in touch with andy and jamie and their families? yeah, iam andy and jamie and their families? yeah, i am doing a good job and what's up. and face facetime is great. i can actually see what they are up to. we are being kept amused

by the antics of various sports people online. what has been your favourite thing so far? i like that roger federer was doing some trick shots yesterday. yeah. i have been following a lot of those and we treating them, sending them on, because they are fun. it keeps the tennis community engaged. some of the best ones i have seen have been the best ones i have seen have been the golf ones. crazy golf courses people are setting up in the gardens and their houses. those are quite ingenious. and judy, finally, we now, don't we, that after wimbledon everywhere you go up and down the land, we see people more than ever picking up a tennis racket perhaps for the first time. as and when wimbledon goes, how much of a blue —— blow will not be for the sport? yeah, wimbledon is the biggest prize, the biggest event in tennis. certainly in the uk for two weeks every year everybody goes tennis crazy. it is a perfect opportunity for tennis to grow itself while the

interest is at its highest. it is going to be a real challenge for smaller clubs who are closed at the moment, and normally easter time is opening time for the small outdoor clu bs. opening time for the small outdoor clubs. who knows when they will be allowed to open their doors again? i think there is a challenge for all of our coaches. they are nearly all self employed. no work for them at the moment as well. i think we are all going to have to be very creative, very inventive, and we have to strike to stay connected online, plan for when our doors can open again. we are going to watch endless reruns of all those great matches. and we're going to hit the ball across the garden fence. brilliant idea. judy murray, stay safe, set it —— stay well. lovely to see you this morning. thank you. what a good idea. it is a good idea. you could have the best matches over

the last however many years and just play them. they have been some corkers. you sort out the matches, me and louise will sort out the snacks. marvellous. i'll bring the rackets. thank you. when italy first went into lockdown, we saw a lot of videos of people there singing and playing musical instruments to lift their spirits. and you might have wondered if us brits would react in the same way. the answer, it turns out, is a resounding "yes". take a look at this. music.

it's impressive, isn't it? we're joined now by steve pycroft, from the kaleidoscope orchestra you just heard, and in a moment by choirmaster liz taylor from the do your thing choir. steve, goodness me, that was fantastic. how did you put that together? well basically, good question. i wrote the music last week and just sent the music via e—mailto all week and just sent the music via e—mail to all the players. and then just said film yourselves, record yourselves, send it back and we will see if we can put something together. and so everyone jumped on the opportunity, send back their

videos and yeah, i put it all together. it's interesting, when you have got creative people like that who are obviously in lockdown and not being able to do the things they normally do, when you give them a little challenge they step up so impressively? absolutely. once we have all got over this panic of not being able to do what we do, which is perform and do gigs, i think it's exciting to be able to realise that ican exciting to be able to realise that i can carry on doing what i love doing on my own. it is wonderful. liz, before we talk to you, shall be see what you require have been up to? let's have a look. # i let's have a look. #ican let's have a look. # i can feel my soul ascending. # i can feel my soul ascending. # i'm on my way, can't stop me now.

#... liz, it's wonderful. tell me a little bit about you require? you are the members? so, we set up the choir and ashton underline in 2011 and we had a second branch in stockport. and in september we started a kid squire. ito all of them. and yeah, we are a community choir. we just get together because we love to sing. can i ask you how you deal logistically with the fact that you are trying to get everybody to sing at the same time? i say this with experience, we as a family tried to sing happy birthday to my mum yesterday and it was one of the worst things i've ever heard in my life. there are definitely technical challenges with this but in terms of it being live, there are definitely a few issues, but what we wanted to do, we realised that as a community choir, we are a family. so when we heard the news that we weren't going

to be seeing each other for some time we wanted to do something, and one of our choir members set a challenge that we would be able to sing through one song on our facebook page and see if we could do one line at a time and get through the song. and proud is the best brilliant song at this time and we wanted to do an isolation campaign where we could help raise money for the incredible people in the nhs, because in our isolation and safety we are doing something for a bigger picture now. such a nice message, isolated but together, it's tough times for musicians because presumably are so many things have had to be cancelled as well, haven't they? absolutely and that's when it became a reality for me when i received e—mails and calls from festivals over the summer saying that we're not going to go ahead. again, it was the initial feeling of what i will do for money but also

how will we continue to do what we do and to be able to still come together through music, it's quite a wonderful thing. the initial cancellations have been heartbreaking, really and everybody through the music community has been really affected by it. thanks to the pairof really affected by it. thanks to the pair of you for what you are doing and all those people involved in your projects, liz and steve. making a difference to people and to our viewers this morning. carry on making the music and a bit of singing. the idea of holing up in a remote corner of the uk might seem pretty appealing right now — particularly if you are trying to self—isolate in the middle of a big city. but living miles from the nearest town creates challenges of its own during the coronavirus outbreak, and farming unions say more support is needed. our wales correspondent hywel griffith reports from powys. social distancing isn't that hard in one of the least populated places in

britain but for the communities dotted around the hills here, the pandemic is still changing lives. gemma is one of the local young farmers trying to care for the older generation. they've spent the last week driving food and medication around the county to people who are already remote and now in self isolation. right into the sticks, deep into the countryside, really isolated, but you don't see anyone, every day of the week, and they rely on are going to the shops to see people and to do things. and they don't have that now, so even just to see one of us, that properly gives a boost to all of those people who are isolated. many of those who need help to live far from their families. marilyn and john moved here two years ago knowing there we re here two years ago knowing there were no shops or public transport. one hourfrom were no shops or public transport. one hour from the nearest hospital, their biggest worry is howjohn will get the treatment he needs there for a blood condition next month. how important is it for your health? for

me, probably the biggest single issue at the moment. it's a way off, not until early may. who knows what state we will be in by then, but assuming we are still isolated, if they tell me i can't go, well, that's a bit of a show stopper. for farmers, there is real concern over keeping workers well enough to supply the food chain. local councils have been urgently recruiting to keep basic services running. while tourism has shut down, keeping visitors out of the county. hello. there is your shopping. some feel that powys might be better prepared than big cities because people are used to being cut off. although you can't see anybody here, somebody is always there to help. that's the kind of community it is. if you don't live near to anyone, but there are always there. so, we are lucky. so far, two dozen

cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in powys. everybody here is braced for that number to rise and preparing to deal with whatever lies ahead. there are some things that are really good about things changing. we were going to do two different interviews, but were going to put them in together. can i introduce rick astley. good morning, and to johnny vegas. introduce rick astley. good morning, and tojohnny vegas. we haven't even got him. we haven't got him. so diff is pointed. we will speak to rick astley. good morning, mrashley. good morning. johnny is doing amazing stuff in his hometown of saint helens, but people who will have been on social media yesterday might have seen you talking about your love of the nhs, and you are trying to make sure that once we do hopefully come out of the other side of this crisis that you will put on a free concert for nhs workers in

manchester. is that right? yes, at the arena in manchester on the 28th of october. obviously those guys are on the front line and their families as well are. everything they are doing is incredible and somebody like myself, you feel a bit helpless at times and you wonder what to do, so at times and you wonder what to do, soi at times and you wonder what to do, so i guess that's what i do, i sing for a living, so that is what we will do. we'll have a party on the 28th of october. and we've got to look forward to things and we have to deal with these things in the best way we can and stick together but we have to look forward as well. who are they allowed to bring with them? can we come? i'm kidding. she's desperate for a party, rick. 0k, she's desperate for a party, rick. ok, we can work that out for you. just for you. like i say, the idea is its people on the front line and i think the way it is working, don't quote me, but i think the way it is working is that they can bring another with them, so i think it is another with them, so i think it is a plus one for the people working on the front line. i think that is how

it works. we speak to a lot of people on this programme and were trying to bring people the news as accurately and honestly as we count and there is some horrible stuff out there but there is some horrible stuff out there but there's also some inspirational stories from people who are not only working on the front line but those who are inspired by thejobs the front line but those who are inspired by the jobs and is the front line but those who are inspired by thejobs and is in the front line but those who are inspired by the jobs and is in tough circumstances and then thinking, what can i do to help them and encourage others. 100% and what can i do to help them and encourage others. 10096 and i think that goes for us all over the globe. if there is a positive from this is the fact that everybody across the world is doing their bit, whether it is on social media and doing fun things and keeping everybody's morale up. obviously it's tragic what has happened and is terrible but i think we do have to kind of find some fun in the day and some lighter moments. i think it's incredible and some of the street scenes that started in italy with people singing on their balconies, we all fell in love with that and the thing about clapping the nhs the

other night, that brought tears to my eyes. i was out front clapping with everybody else and then there is that feeling of what can i do, what can i do. there's been some amazing things on social media and you guys as well keeping us informed, we need a bit of that.” was wondering yesterday as i was listening to some music, i thought, is this a creative time for musicians? what are you up to? who, creative. i think people are doing some crazy things. i think obviously, the weird thing is, when you make a record, you kind of go into a you make a record, you kind of go intoa similar you make a record, you kind of go into a similar situation where you do isolate yourself and i make records in my garage and i go in there and i'm on my own for most of there and i'm on my own for most of the time and i go out for the odd walk and what have you and nip to the shops and it's a similar thing, but it's one thing when it is your choice and it's one thing doing it because you have to do but i do

think it leads people to start getting creative. there are so many tools we can use on the internet and on social is, so it will be interesting to see if people come up with some new great scripts and books and music and all kinds of things. of any description. the things. of any description. the thing is, we are all in the same boat because you want to know the latest information and you want to keepin latest information and you want to keep in touch with your friends and family but also nobody really knows how long this is going to last and how long this is going to last and how long this is going to last and how long we will be like this, so we are trying to dig in and get on with it. it is incredible and my wife is from denmark and my daughter lives there and they went into lockdown a bit earlier than we did. not weeks and weeks, but almost a week and we we re and weeks, but almost a week and we were talking to her all the time and doing this with her all the time and it is interesting that you kind of, it's a global thing. i don't think this has ever happened before in anybody‘s lifetime that it has been global in this way but we are still connected and i think we need a bit

of that. it's really helped to know that you can get in touch with people wherever they are in the world in a really simple and easy way. there are things about this as well, keeping in touch with family, but what else are you has been good? i'm lucky in the sense that i have a garden for one thing and i look at people in apartments in the city and think, how are they coping. i got a garden i can wander around in and kick a ball around but i also think there is the thing that i am a musician and i love being in a little dark room with a guitar on my own, so that's a real bonus for me, for sure. i think everybody has to try and hang on in there. we have to try and hang on in there. we have to try and hang on in there. we have to try and find things to amuse our kids and families and we have to look after ourselves so we can look after others and that's the first thing. it starts with us. everybody has to do their bit and we will get through this eventually.”

has to do their bit and we will get through this eventually. i can't remember when it was but you were on the sofa here in normal times, we can say, and we are all experiencing the new normal at the minute, but talking about this great tour you had planned but i imagine that has been postponed. for sure. we were on tourin been postponed. for sure. we were on tour in australia and new zealand and we did go to tokyo but we did not play. we had a few gigs around japan and we did not play and i knew at that point that there was a really strong chance we would have to cancel the dates in the uk which would have started on the 3rd of april, which i think is maybe tomorrow? that is pretty gutting and on an emotional level you build yourself up to play in your home country and it's an amazing thing to do, but that is just the reality of how we are living and in the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal. we've rescheduled the dates to play in october and that is why we can do this gig in manchester at that time because we have all the crew and the band and everyone will

get stuck in and do this thing and we will be up and running. we have got some gigs in the summer as well but i don't know if we can do those now. like i say, that isn't a priority. a priority as we get through this with the least possible damage. there's already been a lot of damage and there will be more but we all have to kind of stick together and get through it. it's disappointing to you that they are cancelled but for the fans, this is the kind of thing, you've bought your ticket months in advance, really looking forward to it and it's gutting for people. for sure. and we tried to postpone them as soon as and we tried to postpone them as soon as possible to give people a chance to sort stuff out and rearrange their lives around that a little bit, but again, it's difficult making that decision. it's the last decision you want. i've only cancelled the one gig in my life and that was because i had horrendous food poisoning. it

doesn't sit well with me at all to doesn't sit well with me at all to do it, but these are different circumstances and its nobodies fault, it's just the way it is. like you say, it's gutting four people. i'm not the first to do it and i know paul heaton is doing a gig in nottingham and i'm sure i won't be the last, but people have to put gigs on and give people a bit of something to look forward to, i think, and to know that we will be through this, and when we are, we can all go out again, socialise again, do fun things again and i think this one—off gig we will do is just a flag on the ground to say, yes, we are going to get back to normal and we will be out there doing fun stuff again and the first responders and the people on the front line, that's why we wanted to do that, for them. my goodness we will look forward to it. first responders, nhs and plus one will be able to go to your gigs. wonderful to see you. we were not able to speak to johnny vegas but to see you. we were not able to speak tojohnny vegas but he is an ambassador and has been working and

taking medicines and foods to people across the north west based in his hometown of saint helens. johnny, we salute you for the work you and others are doing and a pity we could not speak to you on the programme this morning. that's it for today. thanks for being with us. have a really good day. stay safe, and we will see you soon. thanks for watching.

hello, it's wednesday morning. how are you? i'm victoria derbyshire, welcome to bbc news. here are the headlines: hospitals are ordered to use any spare lab capacity to test more nhs staff for coronavirus, following criticism over the government's handling of testing. over the weekend we tested 900 nhs staff. that is obviouslyjust the beginning and we need to increase that number. we think within a few days we should be able to be testing 50,000 people every day