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.

two teenagers — a 19—year—old chef and a 13—year—old boy — both described as healthy by theirfamilies, have died in london after contracting coronavirus. it's revealed that more than 16,000 staff will be needed to run the new nhs nightingale hospital in east london once it's at full capacity. a warning that more than 800,000 businesses are just weeks from going bust. president trump tells americans to expect a rough two weeks and to stick to social distancing as a matter of "life and death". music: night fever by bee gees. and how one street in cheshire has brought the community together by turning social distancing

in to a daily dance—off. good morning. it's going to be another busy morning. if you're getting in touch, its @vicderbyshire on twitter and email is victoria@bbc.co.uk. first this morning, the health secretary, matt hancock, has called on hospitals in england to use any spare capacity, to test more nhs staff for the virus if they are self—isolating and want clearance to return to work. the government has been criticised for being slow to test health workers, with only 15% of kits reserved for staff. yesterday, a 13—year—old boy became the youngest person in the uk to die after contracting the virus.

ismail mohamed abdulwahab from brixton had no known underlying health conditions. let's look at the other main developments. at the new temporary nhs nightingale hospital in east london, officials have revealed it will need 16,000 staff to work there, once it's fully operational. as pressure gi’ows on the economy, research out today suggests that more than 800,000 businesses are just weeks from going bust. some uk banks have agreed to scrap up to £9 billion in dividend payments in order to hang on to cash, which might be needed during the crisis. in scotland this morning, emergency legislation to tackle coronavirus will be debated in parliament. and more evidence has emerged to suggest that loss of taste and smell may be an important symptom of coronavirus.

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 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 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. the government has admitted that it has a lot more work to do on ramping up testing for the coronavirus. the housing and communities secretary robertjenrick says production of kits is increasing. in the uk we produce a number of the ingredients to produce the tests that we need. but to produce a reliable test you need to have a range of ingredients and not all of them, as i understand it, i've a lwa ys them, as i understand it, i've 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. they have been extremely

helpful and supportive in trying to mmp helpful and supportive in trying to ramp up production. that is beginning to happen. we had 82110 people tested on monday. we have capacity now to do more than that. we have capacity to test about 12,700 people. and so we are going to use that spare capacity to begin testing nhs workers. let's speak to our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. are you able to nail this for our audience why this country is not testing more? well, there is a huge amount of frustration, notably from the ministers themselves. we are way behind germany. 70,000. but it has to be said we are at a similar comparable level to france and spain. the fact is they say is a new virus, this is a new test and we haven't got the testing kits available at the moment. this is important because the nhs has to brace itself for the surge in cases.

and in order to do that it will need testing to make sure that it can find out whether people have the virus or not. and more importantly, getting doctors and nurses and front line health care staff back to work. because, as we heard in the report, up because, as we heard in the report, up to because, as we heard in the report, uptoa because, as we heard in the report, up to a quarter of doctors and a similar number of other front line staff, a re off similar number of other front line staff, are off through self isolating or sickness. senior cabinet minister michael gove said yesterday one of the reasons was because of the shortage of these reagents, chemical reagents, the ingredients for the testing kit. the chemical industries association say they would happily increase their production but they need to be asked? well, it's a mystery. i suspect what it is, like the protective equipment, the stock is there, but it is about getting it to there, but it is about getting it to the right places at the right time. there is the additional complication of the fact the blood samples are

infectious, and so the actual labs themselves have to be made to save so that testing can be done safely. thank you very much. halep ghosh, oui’ thank you very much. halep ghosh, our science correspondent. in the united states, president trump has warned americans to expect a rough two weeks and to stick to social distancing advice, saying it was a matter of "life and death". more than 4,000 people have died there, overtaking the numbers recorded in china. the president called on every american to be prepared for what he called "the hard days that lie ahead". based on current projections, between 100 and 200,000 people could die of the virus in the us. in europe, italy, france and spain all recorded more than 800 deaths yesterday. the lockdown in italy has been extended. more than 12,500 people have died in europe's worst hit country. more on that in a moment with our correspondent, gavin lee. but first, with the latest from washington, is david willis.

from the white house came the direst warning yet — the worst is yet to come. i want every american to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. we're 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, we'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. apocalyptic predictions from white house advisers point to between 100,000 and 240,000 americans dying from the coronavirus. more if social distancing guidelines aren't followed. as sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it. is it going to be that much? i hope not, and i think the more we push on the mitigation, the less likelihood it

would be that number. but as being realistic, we need to prepare ourselves that that is a possibility that that's what we will see. with more than 3,800 deaths here, the number of americans killed by the coronavirus has now exceeded that of china. of even greater symbolic significance here — the death toll has also exceeded that of september 11. and in new york, the epicentre of the virus, charity workers have now set up an emergency field hospital in central park. the city's mayor predicts they'll soon need triple the number of hospital beds that are currently available here. and not even those at sea are safe from the virus. the captain of a us aircraft carrier has called for urgent help to halt an outbreak among his 4,000—strong crew. "we're not at war, sailors do not need to die," he wrote in a letter to the pentagon. siren wails. having gone from predicting this country would reopen

by easter, president trump is facing the grim reality that the coronavirus is here to stay. with the us possibly on course to become the next italy in this crisis, it looks like posing the greatest challenge yet to his presidency. david willis, bbc news. 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. but there's some evidence that death rates there are slowing. france has seen a sharp rise in the number of cases. with more on the situation across europe, gavin lee is in brussels for us. is there any sign that european countries are getting this under control, gavin? let's start with italy because that's where there are the highest number of cases, 105,000. the authorities say they think it has reached a peak. they think it has reached a peak. they think it has reached a peak. they think it is plateauing. the number

of cases is slowly going down each day. it appears that way. we are talking about 4000 new cases a day, one point it was about 8000. the spread seems to be about 2%. good news for italy. they are worried about the south. the number of cases in the south are increasing. there are still areas where they say they have massive shortages. spain i think is worth comparison. spain has 97,000 cases overall. butjust compare these. in six days spain has increased 50,000 cases. italy has increased 50,000 cases. italy has increased by 25,000 in that same time. it is doubled at the moment, the speed of infection in spain. madrid, the man show, areas around catalonia, that is where they have had to move patients to other areas. france, the same thing. especially kitted out the trains are running today to take people from paris to

brittany. that is in operation this morning. i think those three countries, there is a fear that at least this is going to get a bit worse before it gets better. a quick word about switzerland as well. a country of 8 million people. 16,000 cases, one of the highest countries per capita. their government is talking about the whole thing coming toa talking about the whole thing coming to a peak and dropping off by the end of spring. they think the whole thing could be, if they keep these measures of confinement done in that time. and yet sweden, interestingly, continuing to keep bars and schools and cafes open? this is really interesting. the prime minister gave a speech a few days ago, a nationwide address, to say, i believe swedes will behave like adults. i don't believe we need to rigoni and measures. he said everything he will say is a recommendation, to recommend that people don't go to work. you can gather at the moment they have tightened the rules. bars and

restau ra nts tightened the rules. bars and restaurants are still open. there is a new rule coming into place today in which you cannot be served standing up. you have to sit at tables. they have got about 4500 cases in sweden, double their scandinavian neighbours, but double the population. nothing anomalous so far in the rise. a quick word about bulgaria, czech republic, slovakia, it is now mandatory to wear face masks in public. it is interesting that the brit is advice says unless you are ill or in the hospital profession, you shouldn't wear a mask. thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: ministers call on hospitals in england to use spare lab capacity to test more nhs staff who want clearance to return to work. 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. nhs officials say that 16,000 staff could be needed

at the nightingale hospital in east london. 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 it 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. let's talk now to richard lee from stjohn's ambulance. many of their volunteers have stepped up to help out. and retired major general timothy cross, who ran emergency relief operations in kosovo during the conflict there, and can talk about the effort that's gone into building the hospital at the excel.

welcome both of you. good morning. richard lee, tell us about those who have stepped forward to volunteer? thanks very much. we have been amazed by the response from our people, our volunteers, to step forward at this time of need. over a thousand of our people now have volunteered to take part in operations at the nightingale hospital. around 700 of them have initially completed the training. it isa initially completed the training. it is a fantastic effort and we could not be prouder of them for stepping up not be prouder of them for stepping up in this difficult time. we hear this morning that 16,000 employees will be needed to staff the nightingale hospital. what kind of support with your volunteers be giving the new hospital. --? we will be working in teams alongside nursing staff, providing a health ca re nursing staff, providing a health care assistant —type role, assisting in the clinical care of patients and making sure the hospital runs well.

major general cross, good morning. good morning. it is probably worth pausing to reflect on what an amazing achievement it is to build the hospital in ten days? it is. i am pleased you started where you did. it's important to stress this isa did. it's important to stress this is a national health hospital supported by people like stjohn's. the military support is there to enable this to happen and to support where we can. putting together a hospital like this is an immense task. normally one of the biggest efforts is finding the location for it. and finding somewhere big enough and with all the necessary power, lighting, sewage, sanitation, water etc. one of the great things about putting this in the excel centre, as is happening elsewhere in the country, as you have got a building in place that you can use relatively quickly, in fact, very quickly. compare to putting up a tent in somewhere like iraq or afghanistan. we can provide planning and

logistics, engineering and other technical training support. now putting it together in the field, putting it together in the field, putting together a 50, 200 bed hospital, would certainly take a couple of weeks, depending on where it is and the flow of the supply chain etc. there is no doubt putting this thing together in the way it has been done is a huge effort. it's very impressive. richard lee, i wonder what you think about your volunteers? what will be the biggest challenge for them? our people are used to providing medical care at festivals and large sporting events. they are transitioning into a very different arena for providing care. we are making sure that they are well trained, they are prepared for what they are going to be doing there. they have all undergone some online and face—to—face training over the last couple of weeks. making sure they are used to things like operating in the ppe they will be required to wear in some areas of the nightingale. also making sure

that we are supporting them. this will be tough stuff. these are volu nteers will be tough stuff. these are volunteers stepping up alongside nhs professionals, who used to doing this day in and day out. it is about putting on support mechanisms to are people. in terms of getting this up and running, medics, engineers, planners, it is a massive team effort, isn't it, major cross? yes, it is. one of the great things about bringing in military support is that we have got people used to doing this sort of stuff. the mod supported —— the mod support for the nhs is called the covert support force. there are quite a lot of people involved in moving ppe around, to the planning of this. the planning headquarters is based in aldershot. they are the sort of focal point for this, if you like. quite a lot of the planning has been done there and elsewhere. try to work this through. a lot of this is

the preparation and the planning, a lot of it is having the understanding of the processes required and the sequencing. and as you heard earlier on, we are used to doing this. that is where i think we have been able to add momentum and enable some of this to happen quicker than maybe would have happened at other times. thank you both are very much. really appreciate your time. thanks for coming on. major general timothy cross and richard lee from stjohn's ambulance. the owner of three residential care homes in the north west of england, which look after 75 elderly people, has told us she's concerned they could run out of some food next week. ann andrew spends £85,000 every year at tesco for food deliveries, but now she says she's struggling to get any delivery slots. her residents are aged between 65 and 102. four of them in one home have tested positive for a

coronavirus. let's speak now to ann andrew now. good morning. thank you for talking to us. tell our audience about your situation? we have had a tesco is probably for about 12 years and every week we have had of the same delivery. we probably spend maybe £1500 a week. i think ijust assumed that tesco would carry on supplying food to us because we have vulnerable adults. but that hasn't happened? no, no. when people started to panic buy and we could see the shelves were becoming empty, we did actually ring tesco, and they pretty much said that we would have to be the same as any other normal household. we have got sort of 25 people in each of the home is what we are being classed as maybe a five person house, so we could only have three of every item. which is no

good when you are trying to make food for 25 people. normally in a week for one home, for example, how many week for one home, for example, how ma ny loaves week for one home, for example, how many loaves of bread would you need to buy? we tend to buy about 20 loaves of bread. depending on who likes what. now you can only have three? yes, we can only have three of anything. three cooking apples, three bananas, three tins of beans, which is not enough to physically feed 25 people. but apart from that limit on the items you can buy, you just can't get delivery slots anyway and you are not being prioritise. some of your staff are waiting up to midnight to book a slot? they are. my midnight to book a slot? they are. my daughter has been waiting till midnight. she said it was easier to get glastonbury tickets than it was to get a slot at tesco. why can't tesco prioritise you when you have

been such a loyal customer for ten yea rs, been such a loyal customer for ten years, and as i said in the introduction, spending £87,000 each year? i am assuming, i mean, we did try to see if we could get a special code or something like this. it is the computer. as soon as you get to three items, the computer automatically cuts. it didn't seem to matter that we were looking after vulnerable adults. i mean, i can understand where tesco are coming from because the shelves are empty. where'd you food from? but i did think they would actually prioritise us. and we heard yesterday some supermarkets are in fact loosening the restrictions on what you can buy. obviously we have asked tesco for a statement. they haven't provided one for us. i wonder if you think that smaller care homes like the ones that you run, other ones around the country, might be in a similar position? yes, when it all happened we did actually ring various care homes around us and

there were two or three that were small independent ones like we are, and they went to tesco and they have started going to aldi, going about four times a day to try to get enough food in for a couple of days. but we shouldn't really be, we should be looking after the residents and not actually trying to find food. and are you genuinely saying that potentially by next week you could start running out of food supplies? yeah, definitely the things you would normally put in your cupboard, tins, jars, sugar, your cupboard, tins, jars, sugar, you know, those types of things. we are not too bad with fresh because we have still got great butchers. the veg guy still comes. fresh we are fine. but it is things that are intense. that is what we are going to struggle with. tesco is good because it is only small tins, because it is only small tins, because we like to do person centred care, so there —— if there are only

two people who want beans, that is what you do. that is where we are, really. four residents in the home in buxton have tested positive for covid—19. they are all in their mid—80s. how are they doing? covid—19. they are all in their mid-80s. how are they doing? they are doing ok. they are fine. they are doing ok. they are fine. they are in their second week. i'm not saying that they are sort ofjumping around, but there are, they are quite tired. they are staying in bed a bit. they are still eating, drinking, still chatting. we have been talking to their families on the phone or trying to face time them so they can see they are ok. but yeah, they are doing fine. nobody has gone to hospital. that is really good to hear, actually. because, you know, it is the nature of news, we often only very hear the —— only hear the very sad cases. but you have four people in their 80s are still chatting and eating

despite having tested positive for this. i want to ask you finally, do you and your staff have protective equipment? we do. it's not very easy to find. we have managed to source. . . to find. we have managed to source... we have always had gloves and aprons. but the masks we have had to ask a friend of a friend and we have managed to get a few thousand, which is great. but the visor, we have had to make ourselves. nothing is coming really from nhs or the government. we have to spend quite a lot of money on trying to get it all in. we arejust we are just showing the images of the home may isa you made, and it's in laminate and some knicker elastic around the back of your head. yes, but it does the trick and with the 3d printer as well, but it does do the trick and it can be washed and wiped, so it can be used for quite a

long time, hopefully. but it will stop, and if anybody coughs or there is anyfluid, stop, and if anybody coughs or there is any fluid, it will stop it touching your face is any fluid, it will stop it touching yourface or the is any fluid, it will stop it touching your face or the mask, is any fluid, it will stop it touching yourface or the mask, but i think it's great, great invention. i know you haven't allowed visitors in since the 16th of march. how is it going? it's going 0k. some of the residents understand why so we have been talking to the residents on the relatives on the phone, so i've been going around and letting them chat back to their relatives and then they know they are ok, you see. but some of them obviously do have dementia and they probably can't understand why their relativism turning up, but they are aware that something is different. rachel on twitter says where is the home, can we ta ke twitter says where is the home, can we take them food? it is in buxton, there is one in derbyshire, and one in bramall near stockport. thanks for talking to us. we really

appreciate it and wish you all the best, and of course to your residence. it was her sister who got in touch to tell us what they were concerned about in the home. you can message us or send us a tweet or an e—mail. we try to asked tesco for a statement and we are waiting to hear back but the department of the environment say they are working closely with retailers to help them prioritise those with medical conditions that make the most vulnerable and we are always looking at ways of prioritising those at increased risk but are not on the clinically vulnerable list. there's plenty more information on the bbc news website. there's even a coronavirus tab at the top for all the latest information on the pandemic. and you can find out how many confirmed cases there are in yourarea. now the weather with carol. hello again. for most of us today, once again, it will be a fairly cloudy day and we started off with

some sunshine in southern england but the cloud has been steadily moving south in the cloud is thick enough for the odd shower here and there. we also have a weak weather front moving across scotland, sinking south, getting to southern scotla nd sinking south, getting to southern scotland and northern ireland but cloudy and patchy rain through the course of the day and behind it brighter skies. the wind is starting to pick up. temperatures today ranging between eight in the north down to 12 in the south. as we head into the evening and overnight, the weather front sinks further south taking cloud and patchy rain with it. the wind strengthens, especially across scotland and we will see a lot of showers coming in and as a result of this we are not anticipating any problems with frost, but during the course of thursday across scotland in particular there will be a significant wind chill and it will be very windy and there will be showers. for the rest of us, fairly cloudy but temperatures recovering by the weekend. hello. this is bbc news with victoria derbyshire.

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 and that is just a over the weekend we tested 900 nhs staff and that isjust a beginning and we need to increase the number significantly. we think within a few days we should be able to test 50,000 people every day. 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. it's revealed that more than sixteen thousand staff will be needed to run the new nhs nightingale hospital in east london once it's at full capacity. a warning that more than 800,000 businesses are just weeks from going bust. president trump tells americans to expect a rough two weeks and to stick to social distancing

as a matter of "life and death". and coming up shortly on bbc news, i'll be getting answers to your questions from a gp and professor of epidemiology in your questions answered. do get in touch using the hashtag bbc your questions. women are continuing to be detained into a uk immigration removal centre despite a confirmed case of coronavirus, the bbc understands. according to the charity women for refugee women, at least five new detainees have been sent to yarl‘s wood detention centre in bedfordshire since last sunday, when a woman there tested positive. we can talk now to natasha walter, director of women for refugee women.

and toufique hossain, public law director at duncan lewis. do explain what your goals would ease and the people who are detained there. it is an immigration detention centre in bedfordshire which houses around 300 women although there are many if you are currently being detained. the home office says that women should only be locked up there immediately prior to removal or deportation from the country. but absolutely nobody can be removed or deported at the moment, so we are asking the home office why women are still being locked up there. in our experience, the kind of women locked up in ya rl‘s the kind of women locked up in yarl‘s wood have experienced extreme human rights abuses. many of them have come to this country to seek asylu m have come to this country to seek asylum and the majority, even in normal times, find the experience of incarceration extremely, extremely traumatic. it really has a severe effect on vulnerable women's mental health. what is your understanding of the situation inside yarl‘s wood

right now? those incredible panic and anxiety, as you imagine. there was a confirmed case of coronavirus in the centre at the weekend and yet women were not given proper information and not given the means to properly protect themselves. we are getting reports of very poor hygiene practices in the centre. women don't know what happened to the woman who had the confirmed case and women are still being brought into the centre, so there seems to be, it seems to be such a chaotic situation at the moment and the women we are speaking to are understandably incredibly anxious and we are asking the question, why should they be locked up there at all. let me read you the statement we have from the home office who say it is completely wrong to say we are not offering extra protection for detainees during this outbreak. the high court ruled last week we are taking sensible precautionary measures in relation to coronavirus and detention. sorry, some of the

women we have spoken to say they we re women we have spoken to say they were told to go to their rooms and then given one mask and a pair of gloves to use if they wanted to move around the centre, without any information about how to use those properly. and they say there is not properly. and they say there is not proper access to hand sanitiser is an soap on the landing is all the rooms, just one bottle of hand sanitiser in the dining room. obviously these are reports we are getting from the centre, but we need real transparency from the home office and the real explanation as to why they are locking up women in the first place given that they can't remove them. they cannot deport them in the middle of a global pandemic. just finished a statement we have from the home office, they add, we are following the latest guidance from public health england and have moved all women in yarl‘s wood into single rooms. mr husein, what do you think of the fact that new detainees, according to natasha, are being

brought into a centre that has a confirmed case of coronavirus? it's absolutely irrational. the home office policies in relation to justifying detention are very clear, and the law is very clear. the home office can only detain in circumstances where they can affect removal or deportation within a reasonable period of time, and as natasha says, very eloquently, the home office cannot remove these women or any immigration detainee in a reasonable period of time, so they really should not be detaining anyone. it's even more problematic for those who are vulnerable, and we know that many, many detainees in immigration detention centres are vulnerable. we also know that the home office's past conduct in relation to how they approach victims of torture, survivors of sexual violence, people who should

not be detained, they continue to detain, so even though they are now saying that they have these procedures and policies in place to protect potentially vulnerable people and those vulnerable to coronavirus, we know that they will most likely fail in protecting them. the home office argues it is has a priority to maintain the lawful detention of the most highly harm individuals, including foreign national offenders, to protect the public from dangerous criminals. what do you say to that? it'sjust wrong. we know from the clients we have currently in detention that these people are not highly harm individuals. yes, there are people in detention who are foreign national offenders, they are ex offenders and have done their time. they have served their sentence.

they have served their sentence. they now want to move on from that. they now want to move on from that. the home office wants to punish them notjust once, by the home office wants to punish them not just once, by detaining the home office wants to punish them notjust once, by detaining them, they want to indeed, at some point deport them, but it seems now that they are focusing on detaining these people during this pandemic when they know that they are at serious risk of harm. natasha walter, what are you calling on the government to do? we are calling on the government to ensure that everyone in yarl‘s wood can be released with support back into the community so that they can resolve their immigration cases. the vast majority of women we've beenin the vast majority of women we've been in touch with in yarl‘s wood over the years are not foreign national offenders and those who have served time in prison will have already served their sentences. we are in touch at the moment with

victims of trafficking in yarl‘s wood. these women are not a danger to the public. these women need protection themselves. they need to be released into safe accommodation, with information on how to self—isolate and protect themselves and resolve their cases in the community. we are all in this together. this is a virus affecting everyone. we cannot just together. this is a virus affecting everyone. we cannotjust forget together. this is a virus affecting everyone. we cannot just forget the most vulnerable and put them in situations where they are made even more vulnerable. thank you both. thank you very much for your time. and thanks for your e—mails and messages. this is from carol. she says, some teenagers and obviously their parents are not getting the message regarding the serious nature of this virus and are not practising social distancing and isolation. there is plenty of evidence of this with groups of teenagers walking past my house and congregating in the local park. they seem not to listen to the news so the missive ——

message should be reiterated on social media. this is from one set of pa rents social media. this is from one set of parents that is coming this morning. i discovered last night that my 20—year—old is sneaking out at night to visit a girlfriend. he thinks we don't know, but i heard him leave at about midnight and he did not return until after 1am. this is putting the rest of us, the rest of the family, in danger. i am vulnerable due to several bouts of cancer and radiotherapy. how can we help him understand the danger to himself and others? i mean, we had the news today of the 13—year—old boy who we are told died yesterday in hospital, alone, after testing positive for coronavirus, and the news today of the 19—year—old chef who died yesterday,. this shows that young people are affected by this

virus ina young people are affected by this virus in a very, very small numbers. it is very rare, but it can happen and we are told that both of those people did not have underlying health conditions, so do try and impress that on your 20—year—old if you can. as we heard a little earlier 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—thousand. 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 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. now on bbc news, it's your questions answered.

time to put some of your questions to our experts, you've been sending them in in your thousands. joining me are ed feil, professor of epidemiology, have i pronounced your surname correctly? it is more like file. i knew i would get it wrong. and dr rosemary leonard, general practicioner. welcome both of you and thanks for talking to us. rosemary, this is from one of our viewers and she says, when a person test positive for coronavirus with mild symptoms, how long should they self—isolate for and when is it safe to go outside again? the official advice is that you self—isolate for seven days. it is thought that after that you won't be spreading the virus to other people and you should no

longer be infectious. i know there are people questioning that uncertainly if you still feel unwell, i would say self—isolate longer until you feel better. but if you're ina longer until you feel better. but if you're in a house with other people, they have to stay on for 14 days? they have to do is stay on for 14 days from the onset of your symptoms and if one of them gets unwell, then they have to do then self—isolate themselves for seven days from the beginning of their symptoms. white understood. could the severity of somebody's final illness be related to the degree and depth of the initial exposure? that is from philip. that's a good question. we know for sure that age is a huge factor in the severity of the illness. but it's also true that there is a wide range of severity of symptoms even within a specific age group, and it's likely that what we

call the viral load, or the dosage of the virus, is a contributor to the severity of the disease. and this can help explains why so many doctors are getting severely ill and even dying from the disease. there are other factors. we even dying from the disease. there are otherfactors. we know men even dying from the disease. there are other factors. we know men get more of a severe disease than women. and it may be that some of the severity of the disease is down to other pathogens other than the virus, secondary infections, so there's lots of complicated things going on. but i think the viral load, or exposure to the virus, is probably contributing to that, yes. rosemary, this is from sarah. once you've recovered from the virus can you've recovered from the virus can you still infect others even though you still infect others even though you won't get the full blown virus again yourself? it is thought not. i know there have been rare reports of people getting it twice but it's thought once you've had it and

re cove red, thought once you've had it and recovered, you should no longer be shedding viruses. you should be able to carry on. you can carry on back into a normal life. you are immune and what we desperately need now is and what we desperately need now is an antibody test so we know who has had the virus, who has recovered and who was immune because those are the people who can go out and help other people. so once you have recovered, you cannot still infect others. that's what i'm saying, yes. ed, is there a reason why the recorded recovery rate in the uk is extremely low compared to other countries? that is from kevin. that's a good question. on the face of it, those statistics do look very worrying but really, it's just reflecting the way we are testing in this country at the moment in that we are only really testing 5% of the cases that are the most critically ill, so

there will be many people recovering at home who won't be registered as recovered because you need to have a negative test as well to be formally registered as recovered, so that can explain, really, why it looks as though the recovery rate is so low, but in actualfact, though the recovery rate is so low, but in actual fact, it's probably no different from other countries. there is no difference in the way the virus is behaving between here and other countries. this is from sheila and i will put it to rosemary. my husband has asthma. if he gets the virus and has breathing difficulties, should iphone 999 or 111 ? difficulties, should iphone 999 or 111? the first call is 2111. the other thing you could do, if it's during opening hours, you can ring the gp surgery. gps are doing a lot of work by telephone. 111 might actually send the call on to the gp surgery anyway. we have ways of

assessing breathing over the phone now. we've developed new ways of assessing how bad somebody's breathing is. if one won very concerned, they will send an ambulance to take the person to hospital but if they think they need more help with the managing of the asthma and breathing, that is something the gp can do. can i be honest with you, if my husband had asthma and got the virus, i might be tempted to ring 999. it depends on the breathing difficulties. if somebody is really acutely short of breath, you can ring 999, but what is happening with the viruses that some people are just getting a little short of breath and they don't need to go to hospital. they can be managed at home. so it all depends on the degree of the breathing difficulty but if somebody is incredibly short of breath, you should ring 999. this is from bill. doi should ring 999. this is from bill. do i need to wash alljars of food

and take the outer cardboard of foods? i read the virus survives on glass, plastic, cardboard and goodness knows what else. we do ask this question every day but i think it is such a big one that it's worth asking again. it really is, and it is true that the virus can remain active on surfaces, on hard surfaces, plastic and steel, for at least a couple of days and on cardboard for at least a day. you may have read reports that the virus can remain active for much longer than that, maybe a couple of weeks, but that's not so clear. it might be those tests are detecting dead bits of virus that aren't actually infectious any more but it can remain active for a short time. washing jars, you know, it's going to help. throwing away and removing any outer packaging will also help, but it's also quite a simple way of

managing this is to have a quarantine cupboard where you can keep all of your supplies in a cupboard for a couple of days without touching them and that should really reduce the risk quite a lot. it's obviously difficult to sterilise all your foodstuffs, but they are common—sense measures you can take. this is properly the final one, rosemary, from sarah, when does the nhs think elective surgery is going to happen again? it's going to be many, many, many months. because it's not going to be until the pandemic curve has come right down on the numberof pandemic curve has come right down on the number of patients in hospital has come right down so that there is actually the facility with inpatient beds again. i would imagine, andl inpatient beds again. i would imagine, and i don't think it will be shorter than six months. in all honesty, and i know it sounds a long time and with people in pain from arthritis waiting to hip replacements, i got a patient waiting to have their gall bladder

removed but i think being realistic, it's going to be six months. thank you both for your time. there's a lot of tragic and unsettling news 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 it. 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't beat a bit of the bee gees, can you? and before the weather, a moment to take a quick look at how appreciation for nhs workers

has been marked, this time in north devon. matthew alford decided to create this message of gratitude, with a little help from farmer john govier, after seeing other farmers showing their thanks. i love this. located near exmoor, it measures more than 100 metres high and almost 400 metres wide. that is absolutely amazing. and took two hours from planning to mowing. absolutely pillion. so creative. thanks for these e—mail from wendy, i was listening to the interview with a lady who owns three care homes, our autistic son is in a care homes, our autistic son is in a care home and the home he uses uses a different supermarket for food deliveries and they have also been unable to shop in this way because they cannot get slots. instead the ca re rs they cannot get slots. instead the carers are having to go out shopping, manually, each day.

please, please, please, can the supermarkets see that care homes are doing an amazing job in looking after our vulnerable loved ones and prioritise their deliveries? now the weather with carole. we started off with sunshine in southern england but the cloud has been steadily moving south in this cloud brings the odd shower here and there and we have a weak weather front moving across scotland, sinking south, getting southern scotla nd sinking south, getting southern scotland and northern ireland with cloud and patchy rain and behind it brighter skies. the winds are starting to pick up. the temperatures today range from eight in the north to 12 in the south. as we head through the evening and overnight, the weather front sinks further south, taking cloud and patchy rain with it. the wind is strengthening, especially across scotla nd strengthening, especially across scotland and we will see a lot of showers coming in and as a result of this we are not anticipating any problems with frost. during the

course of thursday, across scotland in particular, significant wind chill and it will be very windy and there will be some showers. the rest of us, fairly cloudy but temperatures recovering by the weekend.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. hospitals in england are ordered to use 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. those calls come as it's revealed that more than 16,000 health staff will be needed to run the new nhs nightingale hospital in east london once it's at full capacity. president trump tells americans to expect a rough two weeks and to stick to social distancing

as a matter of "life and death". italy mourns the thousands of victims of its coronavirus outbreak, as some question whether doctors have been given the necessary equipment. elsewhere in europe, france sees a 17% rise in the number of cases, and scientists in germany have warned that the death rate there is expected to rise. and a warning for uk business that more than 800,000 companies are just weeks from going bust. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest

coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. it's going to be another busy morning if you're getting in touch, you're very welcome — it's @vicderbyshire on twitter and email is victoria@bbc.co.uk. first this morning, the uk health secretary, matt hancock, has called on hospitals in england to use any spare lab capacity to test more nhs staff for the virus if they are self—isolating and want clearance to return to work. the government been criticised for being slow to test health workers, with only fifteen percent of kits reserved for staff. here are the other main developments. at the new temporary nhs nightingale hospital in east london, officials have revealed it will need 16,000 staff to work there, once it's fully operational. as pressure grows on the economy, research out today suggests that more than 800,000 businesses are just weeks from going bust. more evidence has emerged to suggest that loss of taste and smell may be an important symptom

of coronavirus. in the us, as the death toll passes 4,000, president trump has urged americans to follow guidelines, calling it a matter of life and death. russia says it has begun airlifting what it describes as humanitarian aid to the united states to help in the fight against the pandemic in italy, the coronavirus infection rate is slowing, but another 837 people died in the past day, taking the total killed there to almost 12,500. let's speak now to norman smith, our assistant political editor. what is the latest, the very latest, from the government on testing nhs staff in this country? well, the latest is there is basically a class, it seems to me, between the government on one hand and scientists and the medical experts

on the other hand, because the message from the this morning has been... yesterday we had around 8000 patients tested. we are still way, way down. the reason, they say, is because of difficulties in securing the chemical reagents needed as part of the process, difficult to get hold of those chemicals, added to which there is a shortage of laboratories, the infrastructure to carry out the testing compared to countries like germany, for example, and out of all of that there is a mad scramble around the world to get hold of these chemicals. that is the government explanation. scientists say, hang on, we can supply those chemicals, the chemical industries association say, we can supply the nhs these reagents. more than that, some of them are saying there are loads of laboratories in britain,

around 40, which could do this testing if the government didn't insist on keeping testing confined to the sort of mega testing centre outside milton keynes. in terms of the global rush, yes, there is a global rush but britain was slow to the party. we were not quick enough out of the blocks to start buying these chemicals. there is a disparity between the government and the medical community on why we are facing this shortage of testing, albeit this morning communities secretary robert jenrick was again defending the government approach. in the uk we produce a number of the ingredients to produce the tests that we need. but 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. they have been extremely helpful and supportive in trying to ramp up production.

that is beginning to happen. we had 8240 people tested on monday. we have capacity now to do more than that. we have capacity to test about 12,700 people. and so we are going to use that spare capacity to begin testing nhs workers. now, all this has become political because labour figures are now saying the problem is the government did not focus on acquiring more tests much, much earlier, that other countries recognise the scale of the problem posed by coronavirus and started establishing testing centres, laboratories, bidding for these reagent chemicals that are needed. whereas it is claimed our government was not quick out of the blocks. that was the charge we heard this morning from shadow health secretary jonathan ashworth.

we are calling for a national testing strategy, to ramp up community testing and contract tracing like we are seeing in other countries. that is how other countries. that is how other countries have been able to beat this virus or get this virus under control and suppressed. we are not doing it yet. we need to test whether you have got it now. and the new test coming on stream soon, which tests whether you have had it. this all matters, as we know, because testing, mass testing, is probably the only route out of lockdown short of getting a vaccine, which as we know could be a year or 18 months. however, it seems the government is placing quite a lot of help on an alternative test. this is an immunity test which tests whether people have got the antibodies for the virus. the point about that is it would enable the government to identify which groups in the community were vulnerable to the virus. if there are a lot of antibodies, for example, in the

student population, it would also, perhaps enable some people to emerge from lockdown earlier than others, because then they would have immunity to the virus. the government are now hoping that this antibody test can be brought forward. we have had various suggestions. some people have said it could be days, some have said it could be weeks, some people say given our experience so far we have to be cautious. the government placing a lot of emphasis and hope on this alternative test for immunity. cheers, norman. norman smith. a 13—year—old boy who tested positive for coronavirus has died, a london hospital trust has said. ismail mohamed abdulwahab, from brixton in south london, died in king's college hospital early on monday. he is thought to be the youngest person to have died with the virus in the uk.

the us can expect a rough two weeks — that's the warning from donald trump, as the coronavirus continues to spread in north america. the president said it would be a national trial unlike any before. the us has now overtaken china in the number of deaths from covid—19, as david willis reports. from the white house came the direst warning yet — the worst is yet to come. i want every american to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. we're 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, we'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. apocalyptic predictions from white house advisers point to between 100,000 and 240,000 americans dying from the coronavirus.

more if social distancing guidelines aren't followed. as sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it. is it going to be that much? i hope not, and i think the more we push on the mitigation, the less likelihood it would be that number. but as being realistic, we need to prepare ourselves that that is a possibility that that's what we will see. with more than 3,800 deaths here, the number of americans killed by the coronavirus has now exceeded that of china. of even greater symbolic significance here — the death toll has also exceeded that of september 11. and in new york, the epicentre of the virus, charity workers have now set up an emergency field hospital in central park. the city's mayor predicts they'll soon need triple the number of hospital beds that are currently available here. and not even those at sea are safe from the virus.

the captain of a us aircraft carrier has called for urgent help to halt an outbreak among his 4,000—strong crew. "we're not at war, sailors do not need to die," he wrote in a letter to the pentagon. siren wails. having gone from predicting this country would reopen by easter, president trump is facing the grim reality that the coronavirus is here to stay. with the us possibly on course to become the next italy in this crisis, it looks like posing the greatest challenge yet to his presidency. david willis, bbc news. russia says it has begun airlifting what it describes as humanitarian aid to the united states to help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, but the kremlin says it expects the americans to be prepared to reciprocate by donating medical equipment and materials. the exact nature and amount of what russia is sending is not known, but on monday president trump said the us was getting a very,

very large planeload of what he called "things". russia has previously sent medical supplies and experts to coronavirus—hit italy as part of its humanitarian effort. thisjust in from this just in from james thisjust in from james shaw, our scotland reporter. scotland boss mikejustice scotland reporter. scotland boss mike justice secretary scotland reporter. scotland boss mikejustice secretary is withdrawing a proposal to suspend jury withdrawing a proposal to suspend jury trials there. the measure was pa rt jury trials there. the measure was part of emergency legislation to cope with the pandemic, being debated by the scottish parliament today. but hamza yusuf says the proposal was proportionate but hadn't secured enough support from across the various parties. so the justice secretary says he is withdrawing a proposal to suspend jury withdrawing a proposal to suspend jury trials in scotland. 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 it 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. the headlines on bbc news: ministers call on hospitals in england to use spare lab capacity to test more nhs staff who want clearance to return to work. president trump tells americans to expect a rough two weeks and to stick to social distancing as a matter of "life and death". in europe, france sees a 17% rise in the number of cases, and scientists in germany have warned that the death rate there is expected to rise. a senior government minister, michael gove, has said the ability to increase virus testing capacity

is being hampered by the availability of the chemicals needed to test patients. but the comments made by michael gove yesterday appeared to be at odds with the chemical industry association, which says supplies of what's needed were being delivered to the health service. joining me now from his home in maghull is the labour mp, bill esterson, who first spotted that the government and the chemical industry didn't appear to be on the same page, when it came down to the level of chemical supplies available in the uk. good morning to you. good morning and thank you for having me on the programme. what do you think is going on? well, testing is absolutely crucial to fighting coronavirus. the more people we test, the better placed we are to get healthy workers back to the nhs looking after the rest of us. that is the first step. it was very

strange when michael gove said there was a shortage of the chemical reagent globally. i asked the chemical industry yesterday and they said to me that their member companies aren't aware of any shortage. and actually, there was a call between some of the companies and the minister in the business department yesterday, where they said, is there anything else you need us to do? and the minister said, no, there isn't. now this does not stack up. we have the capacity in this country. there is no shortage of a volunteer force. we have the labs that can produce it. it is the same companies that as —— thatis it is the same companies that as —— that is in germany. there is some blockage in the system. from what i can gather it is a matter of the government or the health service getting their act together and placing the orders, organising this. that is what i am calling on the government to do. you mean placing

the orders for the relevant ingredients, for the chemical reagents, it is as simple as that, you are saying? well, i hesitate to use the word simple, because i don't think any of this is simple, but it is clearly possible to do it because it is the same companies with the same facilities as is happening in germany. there is no global shortage of raw materials and chemicals. it must be possible to do it. itjust needs a proper organisation. so the order needs to go in, basically?” think that's right. from what i can gather, from the conversations i had, i will have more today, that is what needs to happen. i am hoping to talk to one of the companies and try to put them together with the health service. i realise this is incredibly complicated, it's difficult. and there will be another time to look at why we are in this position now, but right now, today, we need to get the tests in place. we need to have the volume of tests and to get as many health workers...

i was talking to doctor friends of mine, one of them is six or the other one is self isolating. that is two senior doctors out of the nhs. that is repeated across the country. we need to know who is sick and who is healthy, so we can maximise capacity now. as norman smith was saying, longer term that is how we and the lockdown and get everybody back working. it can't come soon enough. it is clear that the chemical and pharmaceutical industries can deliver it. they are the ones saying it. and i think we should listen to what they say. and the government needs to get the health service, the government has a responsible ditty, they can call the shot two, they can make sure this happens. i am calling on michael gove and matthew hancock to make this happen. thank you very much for talking to us. thank you.

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 be see role 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 flag to half mast across the country to pay tribute. flom florence to rome, from italy's south to bergamot in the north, the ten worst ravaged by coronavirus. it is a symbol of national morning to mark a month that has torn through italy's art, 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 co nsta nt 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 were not given them. not enough had been tested. we were com pletely enough had been tested. we were completely unprepared. china showed us what we needed to do and we didn't follow it. it is 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. 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. it was my birthday and i received a message from brazil in which a doctor said to me that 130 people were breathing thanks to my idea and he was very happy. i cannot receive a better present for my birthday. the health care system is also improvising, the exhibition centre in milan 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. let's now look at the situation across europe, where the coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 30,000 people. the most deaths were recorded in italy, with more than 12,00 fatalities, followed by spain with more than 8,000 and france with over 3,500. france recorded a one—day record of 499 dead in the last 24 hours. my colleague spoke to the bbc‘s europe reporter gavin lee, who is in brussels.

while france, because they had the highest figure in the last 24 hours, 499 deaths, we are talking about a 3500 deaths overall, particularly the greater paris area, that is where there is a big push at the moment, and the faster trains in france now, a number have been specially kitted out to basically have a coronavirus transfer for gravely ill patients. that will continue today. there will be a number of patients taken to brittany to try to ease the burden on those hospitals. that is a situation where we have been told by french authorities to expect those numbers to rise. in the next ten days they expect a significant rise to happen before it stops. they hope to plateau. as an alert for a second though, let's talk about spain. compared to italy, italy with the highest number, more than 100,000 cases, spain are 97,000 cases. go

back six days, spain has increased its number of cases by 50,006 days. italy by around 25,000. so double the speed in terms of the rate of infection. nine new thousand cases in spain yesterday. the authorities had hoped they would start to see a peak this weekend it would diminish. we are not seen that. to look at a few other countries. a number of other european countries are looking at bringing in new measures. the polish are closing all hotels, public areas, public beaches, on top of the nonessential businesses. in sweden, which is the anomaly, the most relaxed, you can still gather up most relaxed, you can still gather up to 50 people on the streets but they are now saying to people in restau ra nts a nd they are now saying to people in restaurants and bars, which are still open, you have to be served if you are sitting down, not standing up. sweden seeing double the cases of denmark must in no way. and a quick word about the netherlands, 12,000 cases there. some good news,

a 101—year—old dutch woman survived, she recovered. she was taken to hospital last week. doctors say she has been an incredibly brave woman. her daughter says she has fought all her life. she was alive at the time of the spanish flu. she says she is an incredibly stubborn lady with a will to live. good news. the charity shelter is warning that some councils in england are encouraging some homeless people to sleep on the streets for a night in order to qualify for housing in hotel rooms during the coronavirus outbreak. it comes after the government last week to temporarily house all rough sleepers. in france, germany, and spain charities have warned that rough sleepers are being fined by the authorities for being outdoors, failing to understand they have nowhere else to go. let's speak now to polly neate, chief executive, at the homeless charity shelter.

good morning. what are you hearing about people being told to sleep on the street in order to get a hotel room? i mean, so the government is making a significant effort about rough sleeping, actually, and that is positive. but what we need to remember is that a household becomes homeless every four minutes in england. so we are talking about families who are in often totally inappropriate temporary accommodation, or who are becoming homeless, and of course the resources haven't really yet, i hope it is yet to put in to support them. so what is happening, i think, is so as to access the funding for rough sleepers, people are being told that they need to spend the night on the streets in order to access that support. thatjust streets in order to access that support. that just sounds streets in order to access that support. thatjust sounds absolutely unbelievable. that is just

astonishing? well, it is pretty astonishing, i agree with you. people are obviously extremely frightened and distressed. i think what is important to remember is we have a massive, massive crisis of truly affordable housing in this country. what we are seeing is households who are trapped... it is now hitting the most vulnerable, obviously. so people being told to spend a night on the street is the tip of the iceberg. polly, the skype is so bad. it started off brilliantly and it has got to the point where we can't really hear you now. i am going to pose there because we will have to redial you back. we will try to get back to

you. polly needs, the chief executive of shelter. saying that some people who have recently been made homeless, the anecdotal evidence, the anecdotal evidence is that they are being asked to spend a night on the streets, including families, in order for them night on the streets, including families, in orderfor them to qualify for accommodation. hundreds of millions of people around the world are in self—isolation or quarantine — including the artist david hockney, who's agreed to share some of his ten most recent works exclusively with the bbc. he created the images at his home in normandy in northern france, using a tablet. his inspiration appears to be the trees and plants he can see from the garden — as he puts it, he's capturing the arrival of spring. he says the project began in early march, before the full scale of the pandemic emerged, and then decided to remain in place and keep working. david hockney says he's publishing the images for everyone to enjoy during a difficult time.

now let's look at how the coronavirus has been impacting the rest of europe over the last 24 hours, as we have been hearing of particular concern is france. it has seen a sharp rise in the number of cases. seen a sharp rise in the number of cases. rachel preston has this report. france is struggling to delay the spread of coronavirus despite tough restrictions on movement, which have been in place for several weeks. officials said 499 people died on tuesday, the highest number in a single day since the virus first hit the country. france's official total death toll now stands at more than 3,500. but that only includes people who die in hospital, not at home or in care facilities. spain has recorded yet another daily high — 849 fatalities in a

single 24—hour period. the total killed by the virus in spain is now over 8,000. hospitals are struggling to cope. the government's announced measures to protect people from the economic impact of the virus, including banning evictions and offering interest—free credit to cover essential payments. in central europe, poland is tightening restrictions on movement — access to parks, beaches and public squares will be banned and hotels have to close. the death toll here is low compared to some countries — only 33. but as with elsewhere, there's concern over the potential for it to climb much, much higher. as with many countries, the concern in romania is around the risk to health care workers. 17 members of staff at a hospital in the capital, bucharest, tested positive for the virus in addition to some 200 doctors and nurses at a hospital in the north—east of the country.

so far, 80 romanians have died from the virus. but the country's health system is struggling to cope with many hospitals underfunded and without resources to care for patients or to protect staff. rich preston, bbc news. let's get more now on the news that 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. but will doctors and nurses by able to cope? mike adams is the director for england at the royal college of nursing. hello, mr adams. good morning. 16,000 isa hello, mr adams. good morning. 16,000 is a large number but it's not new staff, its workers coming from elsewhere in the country. it's certainly not new staff into the

nhs. we have honestly been highlighting for a while the shortage of nurses in the nhs, so this is staff we have to find from across the system to support this huge undertaking. there's no question how impressive it has been since the site has been up and running in such a short amount of time, but as far as we are is a moment, any staff coming in from outside london, i'm not sure there's been a direct call out yet. that would be on a voluntary basis and any nurses from within london who would be used to stop the excel centre, we are not sure where the resources would come from at this point. lets talk this through. 16,000 are needed and we went into this crisis 40,000 nurses short, 40,000 nursing vacancies. if you had to be in charge of this, how would you reallocate medics from elsewhere

to staff the nightingale. this is highlighting the huge pressure that it's putting on the system. obviously, i'm talking from a nursing perspective. one of the things we are concerned about is how stretching already stretched staff, what is vital is when staff are being redeployed that they are redeployed into places they feel co mforta ble redeployed into places they feel comfortable in, where they feel safe physically and clinically because there is a real risk we will end up burning out our staff in the system by just burning out our staff in the system byjust adding burning out our staff in the system by just adding intolerable burning out our staff in the system byjust adding intolerable pressure onto their working practices. would you expect those 16,000 staff to have their own personal protective equipment? absolutely. 10096. the 16,000 won't all be clinical facing staff because there will be lots of

wider support staff around the clinical facing staff but we are continually raising the issue around the protective equipment. if staff do not have the right equipment, then they should not be in practice at that moment in time. that centre cannot open unless we at that moment in time. that centre cannot open unless we can guarantee that the staff will be safe when nursing for people who are who will have the virus that we know is virulent and spreading quickly. we hear from the virulent and spreading quickly. we hearfrom the government virulent and spreading quickly. we hear from the government on a daily basis about how many more millions of masks, aprons, advisers etc are being delivered, but we are getting m essa g es being delivered, but we are getting messages from medics who say that that may be true, but i still don't haveit that may be true, but i still don't have it yet, or i don't have what the world health organization would regard as proper protective equipment. yes nurses and health

ca re equipment. yes nurses and health care assistant staff and students are telling us the same thing. we totally understand that this is a logistical, mammoth test to get this equipment out but until we are reassured that our members have the equipment they need, then the advice on what equipment is needed in which area is reassuring to staff that they feel safe, then we will keep raising this and keep highlighting it, what is happening at the moment is not effective. in terms of the staff needed to run the nightingale hospital, we heard at the weekend that 12,000 former nhs workers had offered to return, so maybe they would be drafted in to help, i assume. yes, and again, we don't know where those 12,000 people are across england. they may not all be based in london. what is really

important for anyone returning to the service, what we are telling our nurses that again they are deployed in areas they are comfortable in that they are well supported, and they are given help and training to bring them back up to speed and people returning will have vast experience and things will move quickly and they will need support come back into the system. thank you for talking to us. china's decision to lock down the city of wuhan — the epicentre of the covid—19 outbreak — may have prevented more than 700—thousand 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 correspondent in beijing, stephen mcdonell, explained the significance of these estimated figures.

the only thing we can kind of see as the trend and some analysts would say don't look so much at the numbers, but look at the government decisions. i'm standing above the second ring road in beijing, we might apply the second ring road index, where you can see cars are still coming through here and it looks like they are flowing reasonably well, but the thing is, because they are flowing, it is not the slow—moving traffic, the almost gridlock you would normally expect here, so you can kind of see how we are heading back towards normal here in beijing, but not all the way, if you know what i mean. and again, that would indicate that the authorities are pretty confident that they have this under control. however the chinese prime minister said today that companies should be going back to work cautiously, but in people's free time they should be exercising this kind of social distancing, and according to the chinese president, don't go to the

movies, watch a film at home in the lounge with your family. he said two restau ra nts lounge with your family. he said two restaurants that they should be capping the number of diners at any particular time to try again to minimise the social interaction here because they are worried that as people come from overseas, and we're getting these infections in the form overseas arrivals, that could be a new spike in cases here. i mean, today, there was the case of a chinese student who has coming from the uk, returned to wuhan, would you believe, where it all started and has tested positive. so even in the city where the crisis began there is the potential for a new city where the crisis began there is the potentialfor a new spike in cases the potentialfor a new spike in cases in the form of overseas arrivals. earlier we were speaking to polly neate from the charity shelter, the line dropped out, but she was warning that some councils in england are encouraging

some homeless people to sleep on the streets for a night in order to qualify for housing in hotel rooms during the virus outbreak. and if this is true, what do you think of this? obviously it's quite horrifying, isn't it? and people calling us about it are panicking, obviously, really, really frightened. i think what this shows is that the government have done a lot on rough sleeping and they've invested very heavily into that, but the problem is, a household becomes homeless every four minutes in england. so we have rough sleeping which has always been the tip of an iceberg, and these households now are at the collision point, if you like, of the housing crisis that we had before and the public health crisis that we have now. there simply is nowhere for them to go and nowhere safe, so we have families who are facing temporary accommodation, for example, where there might be a whole family in one

room with a shared kitchen and bathroom. how on earth do you practice social distancing in that situation? so we urgently need support and guidance for councils to help them deal with this continuing influx caused by the housing crisis of families who are homeless and have nowhere to go. that is interesting because as you will know, the government promised over £3 million to help local councils fund hotel rooms and accommodation. is that just for fund hotel rooms and accommodation. is thatjust for people who sleep rough, or is it to help people who are currently being made homeless? well, the funding is focused on rough sleeping. of course, we already had families accommodated in hotels. that was happening anyway. but the new funding is to support rough sleepers to come off the streets. that is really important.

it's great that that has happened, it's great that a lot of local charities are making a huge effort, and councils, to get people off the streets and into often hotel accommodation. the problem is that rough sleeping, always, is the tip of the iceberg of real homelessness. and actually, you know, the dire shortage of properly affordable accommodation we have got in the country means there is a stream of people coming through, becoming homeless, and many of them are families, and that is not who the government's new funding is targeted at. understood. people who rent should not be being evicted and made homeless because of the government's emergency legislation to ban all new evictions, and that is either social or private rented accommodation. do you know if that is working? what we are seeing at the moment is that people are still under threat of

homelessness. what we are saying is that people should stay put because evictions should not now be going through the courts. so it is not possible now to evict somebody from the home. part of the problem is that when people are threatened with eviction, they are very, very frightened. they might leave. so those threats of eviction and eviction notices, if you like, should not be being followed through, but people do still need advice about that. it is also important to say that people aren't only being made homeless because of evictions. so accommodation is drastically unaffordable, benefits do not meet the level of rents, so people's housing benefit is often absolutely nowhere near, in well over 90% of england it does not even meet the bottom third of rent, so that's another thing that the government needs to do. what the

government needs to do. what the government is doing is dealing with the absolutely hardest end of this, which is rough sleeping, but u nfortu nately, which is rough sleeping, but unfortunately, as many people know, thatis unfortunately, as many people know, that is the tip of an iceberg, because there is the rest of the iceberg underneath which is co nsta ntly iceberg underneath which is constantly pushing up because we have an absolutely dire housing crisis and our benefit system at the moment is not adequate.” crisis and our benefit system at the moment is not adequate. ijust wonder, finally, are you hearing, seeing, coming into contact with new cases seeing, coming into contact with new cases of people being made homeless perhaps because they are fleeing domestic abuse? we've talked about how isolating with a potential domestic abuse perpetrated will be a nightmare for some people and ijust wonder if you are seeing people in that situation. yes, and i'm desperately worried, actually about women who are now isolated with an

abusive partner and, indeed, children and other victims of abuse within the home, and that is a very, very serious within the home, and that is a very, very serious concern, within the home, and that is a very, very serious concern, absolutely. thank you for talking to us, the chief executive of shelter in england. new zealand's prime minster has warned it could take brits some time to be repatriated back to the uk. jacinda ardern said that while nz was willing to help — it needed to be done in a way that did not negatively affect local people in lockdown. meanwhile in australia, tens thousands of british travellers are struggling to return home after being told they were low on a list of priorities for repatriation. shaimaa khalil reports from sydney. these are the lucky ones. travellers stuck in australia, finally able to go home. many are brits heeding the government's call to return to the uk. it's been weeks of chaos and confusion, with no guarantees of

when they could get on a plane. i've been anxious all week, fearful, that one we would never get back, and if we we re one we would never get back, and if we were going to get back it would bejune, july we were going to get back it would be june, july or maybe we were going to get back it would bejune, july or maybe september. we were going to get back it would be june, july or maybe september.m was quite hard to find information, to get clear, concise, accurate, reliable information has been a bit ofa reliable information has been a bit of a nightmare. we don't want to be here with all this going on. our families back home. if they've gone on lockdown, i haven't got a job for james and nicola, it's an abrupt end to living for a year in australia but with two flights to sydney already cancelled they are glad to be at the airport. relief. even though it's a very difficult place to leave because we love it here, it's a beautiful place, beautiful people, it will be a relief once we get home because it has been a big effort getting this far. the message from the uk government is that there will be no repatriation flights while commercial ones are available here in australia. but we have been

hearing from travellers complaining of last—minute cancellations and of tickets being too expensive. and while some people are able to get on flights to go back home, tens of thousands of others are trying the same thing with no success. carol mcghee has booked four different flights back to scotland from western australia. but all have been pulled by the airlines. she helps runa pulled by the airlines. she helps run a facebook group for britons stranded here. i think the foreign office have been absolutely no use whatsoever. people are spending thousands of pounds on tickets, those are the ones who can afford it, and the rest of them are left with no food, no accommodation, no shelter. no help whatsoever. and they are just shelter. no help whatsoever. and they arejust in dire shelter. no help whatsoever. and they are just in dire straits. britain's high commissioner to australia said emergency loans were available for the most desperate and that they were working with airlines to keep commercial routes going during an unprecedented crisis. but with border closure in key transit

points and ever evolving restrictions, travellers are caught between the urgency to get back home and the uncertainty of when or if that will happen. let's bring you this from spain as they have just reported the latest in of people who have died with coronavirus in spain. in total, 9053 people have died from coronavirus, which is up almost 1000 people on this time yesterday. spain's coronavirus death toll rises to 9053 people. that is up from 8189 people yesterday, according to the spanish health ministry. officials in france have issued more than three—hundred—and—fifty—thousand fines to people who have been breaking the lockdown without good reason. nearly six million checks have been carried out. ministers have issued a reminder to the french people that going on holiday is not a valid

excuse for leaving your home. saudi arabia has asked muslims around the world to delay their plans to make the annual pilgrimage to holy sites. the year—round ‘umrah' pilgrimage has already been suspended to stop the spread of the coronavirus. a saudi government spokesman has called on muslims wanting to perfom the hajj to wait until the situation is clear. china's strict lockdown of wuhan — the city where the first covid—19 case was diagnosed — may have prevented more than 700,000 extra infections. that's the finding of research carried out in china, the uk and america, which suggests that the tight controls gave other chinese cities time to prepare and install their own restrictions on movement. the headlines on bbc news. ministers call on hospitals in england to use spare lab capacity to test more nhs staff who want

clearance to return to work. president trump tells americans to expect a rough two weeks and to stick to social distancing as a matter of "life and death" in europe, spain's coronavirus deaths rise by 864 over 24 hours while france sees a 17% rise in the number of cases. so far, africa has not been impacted by coronavirus to the extent of other continents. but there are fears that healthcare systems will be unable to cope. the central african republic has just three ventilators for a population of nearly five million. let's speak to the deputy in charge of the who's response to covid—19 in africa, dr richard mihigo.

thank you for talking to us. will any african health systems be able to cope with the pandemic? can you hear me ok? obviously not. so sorry about that and we will try to re—establish our skype with doctor and talk to him about the central african republic and the fact that they have only three ventilators for a population of 5 million people. brazil's president, jair bolsonaro, has given another television address in which he gave precedence to protecting jobs and shoring up the economy during the pandemic. president bolsonaro said he wanted to make sure brazilians could continue working. protests have taken place in cities across the country, after he downplayed concerns over the coronavirus. russell trott reports.

the sound of social disharmony, brazilian style. there were pot banging protest being played out on the kitchen balconies of homes across the country for weeks now with tuesday's night demonstration said to be the loudest so far. many brazilians are said to be angered at their presidents response, or lack of it, to the coronavirus crisis. in a televised address, he played down the concerns about the impact the lockdown would have on brazil's economy. we have to avoid any loss of human life as much as possible. the director—general of the world health organization said every individual matters. at the same time, it must avoid the destruction ofjobs, which is already causing a lot of suffering for brazilian workers. with soccer stadium is being used as makeshift hospitals to treat those infected, the covert 19

crisis is striking at the heart of brazilian culture —— cove read 19. the president blames his political enemies for much of the fear and anger at sweeping across the country. but with a number of positive cases are more than 5500 and with around 2000 —— 200 people having died, he might well have decided to tone down his combative style. russell trott, bbc news. let's talk now to dr richard mihigo, world health organisation coordinator for the african region. sorry about our technical problems andi sorry about our technical problems and i hope you can hear us now and thank you for talking to us. i wonder what your specific concerns are about the pandemic reaching the continent of africa? well, thank you very much for having us on your programme. as you know, the epidemic is now affecting almost 41 out of 47 countries in the african region and we are very countries in the african region and we are very much concerned about the

speed of the outbreak in many countries. and the level of preparedness in those countries.” wonder what lessons have been learned in the experience of fighting ebola in west africa and the democratic republic of the congo. we have learned a great deal, those countries have a lot of experience with ebola in west africa and more recently in drc. in one of the examples was the community engagement in fighting the disease, andi engagement in fighting the disease, and i think this is even more important for the coronavirus pandemic where we are making sure that the community engagement, the messaging that is being passed through the community is right and we believe that the community has built some resilience in trying to fight the disease and that can be

some leveraged for coronavirus. you mean because of the experience of ebola, for example, people understand that when they are given a message about a particular virus, they have to take note of it? that is correct, but also this pandemic comes is correct, but also this pandemic comes with its own particular challenges. i think the issue of physical and social distancing, the issue of making sure that contacted cases are very issue of making sure that contacted cases are very well isolated and protected, this gives an additional layer of complexity to the measures that this country puts in place, and that this country puts in place, and thatis that this country puts in place, and that is what the world health organization is trying to do, to make sure that all contacts and contacts make sure that all contacts and co nta cts of make sure that all contacts and contacts of contacts, as we did during the ebola outbreak, are being identified, tested and isolated. her white ok. finally, you are in charge

of vaccinations across africa, i understand. do you have any concerns that so—called wealthier countries will be first in line to get a vaccine once it is developed? this isa vaccine once it is developed? this is a real concern for us, but the director—general said recently that we are here together, with all humanity, and we believe that once the vaccine is available, working through different mechanisms including the vaccine alliance, countries in our region could access it as soon as possible when it is available. of course, and of course we don't know well it —— when it will be available and we know scientists are working 20 47 to get a vaccine. we are grateful for your time. thank you so much.

49 african countries now have coronavirus, but the number of deaths there is still in the low hundreds. now look at the weather. for most of us it will be a fairly cloudy day in the cloud is thick enough for the odd shower but we have the weather front moving across scotland, getting into northern ireland later and introducing some patchy rain as it does so. this afternoon it will remain fairly cloudy and we have some showers dotted around and there will be some brea ks dotted around and there will be some breaks in the cloud, so some brightness occurring but here is the weather front, moving brightness occurring but here is the weatherfront, moving south brightness occurring but here is the weather front, moving south across scotla nd weather front, moving south across scotland with patchy rain eventually getting into northern ireland and with brighter skies following behind. the wind strengths today, these are the averages in the white circles, not particularly strong, however, later on, the wind will

pick up. temperature wise, eight in lerwick, and 12 down towards cardiff and aberdeen. into the evening and overnight, the weather front continues to push south, taking the cloud and patchy rain with it and then the rain really strengthens, especially across scotland, blowing ina lot especially across scotland, blowing in a lot of showers, so as a result of all of this, it's not going to be a particularly cold night and we're not any problems with frost, so tomorrow, we will still have a weak weather front, draped across tomorrow, we will still have a weak weatherfront, draped across parts of scotla nd weatherfront, draped across parts of scotland and northern ireland, moving across northern england, but behind it, look at the isobars. where ever you are tomorrow it will be windy but especially so across scotla nd be windy but especially so across scotland where there will be significant wind chill and wintry showers stop for england and wales, we are looking at the weather front continuing its journey south and introducing thicker cloud and patchy rain. the black circles you can see indicate the strength of the wind in gusts, so it will be a gusty, windy day where ever you are and as i

mentioned, wind chill in the north will make it feel colder and the temperatures suggest but still comparatively mild in the south as indicated by the yellow. but eventually it is pushed away as the weather front clears and the colder blue arrives. for friday, a week weather front in southern parts of england, south wales introducing cloud and patchy rain but for most of us again, fairly cloudy some brighter breaks, some showers, not as windy and the shower still wintry in the hills and mountains of scotland. but by saturday, high pressure will have drifted further east, allowing milder air to come our way and by sunday some places in the south—east could even hit 20 degrees.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. hospitals in england are ordered to use 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. those calls come as it's revealed that more than 16,000 health staff will be needed to run the new nhs nightingale hospital in east london. president trump tells americans to expect a rough two weeks