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 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. spain's coronavirus deaths rise by more than 800 in 2a hours, while france sees a 17% rise in the number of cases. 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. 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 has been criticised for being slow to test health workers, with only 15% 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. and this morning scotland'sjustice secretary has said that he's withdrawing a proposal to suspend jury trials in scotland. (ani

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 and in spain, the death toll has to risen to over 9,000, with an increase of 864 since yesterday , the largest daily increase so far. let's speak now to norman smith, our assistant political editor. what's the latest the government are saying on testing? the question of testing is now central to tackling a coronavirus and there does not seem to be a clear split between the politicians, the government on one hand and some in the medical community and let scientists on the other hand. so the government says the reason why it has not been possible to ramp up

testing as quickly as they would like is because they have not been able to get hold of the necessary chemicals and there was which i needed to amplify the dna in testing. secondly, that theyjust have not had enough laboratories compared to countries like germany, to tarry out is testing, and thirdly, huge global competition to try and get hold of these chemicals in the first place. the medical community are saying that it is not a problem getting hold of these agents. they say, we can supply more, just let us know. they also suggest that there are around a0 molecular ology laboratories in the uk which could be used to carry at these tests and in terms of the argument about the global race for these chemicals, they say, the difficulty is, maybe britain didn't get to the races quick enough compared to other countries but there does now seem to be a

divergence as to why it has not been able to ramp up testing in the way that it wanted to, albeit this morning we heard from the committee secretary defending the governments approach. in the uk, we produce a number of 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. the help of the government is producing a test. they seem to be facing a lot of emphasis on the immunity test, another test which is now at the development stage. there

have been suggestions it could be rolled out in days, if not weeks. this would assess if people had the antibodies to resist the virus. they would be immunity catching the virus. the importance about that obviously is that it would enable the government to identify those groups in the community where there we re groups in the community where there were a lot of people with the antibodies which would suggest those communities have a vulnerability to the virus but it would also enable the virus but it would also enable the government to allow some people out from the lockdown because they would have immunity to the disease. so the government is pinning its help, it seems to me, on this immunity test. in the meantime however, we are beginning to see this turning increasingly political with labour figures like john as hworth with labour figures like john ashworth and keir starmer saying the government needs to get a grip. the immediate pressure remains on boasting the level of testing for

coronavirus because the immune test could still be some way off. 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—i9 — 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

2a0,000 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 a,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. 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. among them are doctors — more than 60 have now died, with medical unions saying they lacked the necessary equipment to fight the outbreak. our rome correspondent mark lowen has the latest. perhaps never again in our lifetime will we see rome like this. the virus is sucking the life out of this country. three weeks on, italy's lockdown is set to be extended today until. . .well, until the outbreak stops killing.

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

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

this week, patients in the uk will start to get the drug remedsivir as part of a global trial of the anti—viral drug begins. it is one of a handful of drugs that is hoped might be effective against the disease. our health correspondent dominic hughesjoins me now. what is this trial expected today? this drug has an interesting history, it has been on the shelves ofa history, it has been on the shelves of a company called gilead which specialises in antiviral drugs and they were what you might call a blue sky company. they were looking for viral threats that didn't yet exist because they knew that coronavirus presented perhaps the biggest threat

in one of these pandemic flu is that we are now seeing. in one of these pandemic flu is that we are now seeing. we've been working on these drugs for some time so working on these drugs for some time so there is ten years of work behind the struggle. they developed it initially, trying it as a treatment for a bowler. it didn't quite hit the mark there but they had seen that it has been successful in some patients already so now there are a number of trials going on around the world and in the united states, china and in the uk. it is going to be based at around 15 hospital sites in england and scotland, availability just maybe in england and scotland, availabilityjust maybe 100 in england and scotland, availability just maybe 100 or 150 patients in the uk to start with. these kind of clinical trials are very important to make sure that the drug is effective and i spoke to the companies general manager in the uk and she explained why testing muscle important. while things can be effective in labs, often that doesn't translate into the effect that they would have in the real world in hospital.

so that is the first thing we have to do. we should have some answers to that important question in early may, and then it is a case of trying to then get the drugs through some kind of regulatory process that means we can make it available for patients more broadly as quickly as possible. how does it actually work and either other drugs out there that might work in the same or different ways because mark it is a neat idea. this drug works by interrupting the process through which the virus itself, the covid—19 virus reproduces. so it tricks it really into thinking that drug is part of its rna, so the virus has rna in the same way we had dna, so it will pick up same way we had dna, so it will pick upa same way we had dna, so it will pick up a block of rna from the drug and put that into its reproductive chain

and that stops it, so it stops at reproducing and stops it taking over the lungs which is where people get pneumonia and that is where the biggest problems seem to occur. initially there are two trials going on, one with patients with moderate symptoms and one with patients with severe symptoms. i spoke also to doctor he is a consultant in the infectious diseases and he told me that it was absolutely crucial... we urgently need treatments. we provide supportive care. i need to stress that the majority of people with coronavirus have a relatively mild illness. they may feel unwell, but they don't require coming into hospital. even those coming in hospital, most people are fine and don't need intensive care, but we do need treatment for that small subset of people who have an adverse response

to the infection who are poorly. are there alternative treatments that could be thrown this at this point? yes, there are a small handful of drugs which are being tested around the world but it is really a global effort and what we are seeing is really unprecedented in terms of the speed of which drugs are being fast tracked onto the approvals process. what would have taken months in this case has taken just weeks and that is a measure, i think, of the urgency behind the problems we now face. more evidence has emerged to suggest that loss of taste and smell may be an important symptom of coronavirus. a team at king's college london looked at responses from more than a00,000 people reporting suspected covid—19 symptoms to an app.

the researchers wanted to gather information to help experts better understand and fight the disease. out of those who tested positive, almost 60% reported loss of smell or taste. joining me now is tim spector — professor of genetic epidemiology — and the lead researcher on that study. you have such a high proportion of people who have these symptoms?” have to put it into context. we have 110w have to put it into context. we have now got 2 million people in the uk actually logging onto our symptom tracker app and the responses are just the people who are self reporting symptoms so that less third of those in the survey a couple of days ago reported some symptoms and we found that yes,

things like fatigue and shortness of breath and other symptoms are a part of this wider picture of the disease in the population but there is one finding that really popped out as quite exceptional, this lack of sudden rather different order symptom of losing that sense of taste and smell. that was the most strongly associated with the subgroup that ended up being tested for the virus. we think this is a symptom that should be taken seriously and it's a pity that indication that you have been infected. just like the people with a fever and persistent cough, so it is an important message we have got out there. i mustjust stress that this app is being picked up mainly

by people currently between 20 and 60 so we need more people to apply from other areas, in rural areas, and scotland and wales, for example and scotland and wales, for example and in particular, the elderly because our data for that group isn't as great as it should base or if we can get more citizens and scientists getting involved and logging everyday, we can a fantastic picture of what is going on, and help our health services because what we are doing with the symptoms is basically like a radar device, picking up what is going to be picking up what is going to be picking up what is going to be picking up —— my getting the hospitals in three weeks and that is really important for some of these regions that have not been properly prepared for this, to know exactly what the timing is. it is still interesting. 0n the app itself, the app that are most vulnerable, the

elderly, are not likely to use smartphones, so how do you sell that problem? well, guys like you in the media and letting me speak about it either way forward. everyone here knows a relative or has a friend who is elderly and they can help them set up the app on their phone or ipad or maybe lend them a phone. this is really important. we know that we are never going to get the same response in 30—year—olds as 80 euros but at least this way, we can see that we are producing maps every day with this data that we are sending to the government, sharing with the different regions across the country and so just knowing how many people in the population have these mild symptoms of the disease and how many are testing positive extremely useful data for the nhs. if you think about the old people, it's still extremely useful to see

what measures need to be taken. coming back to your point about the loss of taste and the loss of smell, what about the timing of that, to the symptoms tend to appear at the same time as a fever and a persistent cough or do they appear before because that would be crucial information if it was so cosmic we still need more data on that to work at the exact timing. there seems to be some people who only have this loss of taste remarkably, nothing else, and loss of appetite which seems to be another symptom of the virus. but fatigue is the other one. it can occur on its own or with a myriad of other symptoms so we think it is an early warning of what is going on. some go on and develop the rest of the problems but other people, for reasons that we don't understand, just have this rather

minor symptom and get over it after a week. so, we know so little about this virus and that is why we need to keep an open mind about how it presents. it might be presenting differently in the uk to china or even to italy. there's even a possibility there are different strains going around that could be influencing these symptoms. we simply don't know at the moment and that it simply don't know at the moment and thatitis simply don't know at the moment and that it is why it is vital that we collect on this information around the country and another countries as well. we are being asked to launch this app and other countries around the world and we have just launched ita the world and we have just launched it a day ago in the us, which is also facing a major health crisis as well. i think data is key now. the whole roll of a citizen scientist is very important. obviously, as you say, vital for very important. obviously, as you say, vitalfor individuals very important. obviously, as you say, vital for individuals to contribute and it is a way we can all contribute, so can you remind us of the details of how to find the app, just so people can get on board

right now? if you want to go on now, put into your search engine, covid—19 symptom tracker and that should get you to the right side. for andrew dodt —— android phones, you might have to go to covid—19 join asa you might have to go to covid—19 join as a way. that she did the trick and people could log on, and keep logging on every day because we wa nt to keep logging on every day because we want to see whether regions are experiencing more less symptoms as time goes on. it becomes one of the daily rituals as long as hand washing? yes, wash hands, have a cuppa washing? yes, wash hands, have a cu p pa tea washing? yes, wash hands, have a cuppa tea and log in. once you login, the next day takes about one minute. it is simple and everyone can do it and together we can form this network and help each other and the local nhs.

fascinating to talk to you. the human cost of the coronavirus in spain shows no sign of abating, it has once again registered its highest daily fatality figures. 86a patients have died in twenty— four hours. more than 9,000 people have now died in spain since the pandemic began —— second only to italy. the country has now recorded more than a— 100,000 cases of the virus in total. i'm joined now byjames badock, a journalist in madrid. another grim tally today? indeed. extremely grim. the news that is coming through increasingly from regions around spain is that these death figures perhaps are actually a serious underestimation of the reality because a lot of people are dying in their homes, they are not

necessarily being tested or they are dying in homes and we have seen that many of those residents have been completed overwhelmed. many patients have not been tested and will not therefore be registered as deaths due to covid—19. so the real figure could be several thousand higher i don't want to be too dramatic about it but it does look like the real figure is considerably higher and what is also clearly the case is that there are many, many hundreds of thousands of positives out in spain upjust of thousands of positives out in spain up just know. the government has not been able to distribute that a lot of rapid test kits to screen groups around the country to really find out the extent of the infection. there is talk that 50% of the population could be infected but we don't know. it must be more than 102,000 because that would give us a death rate of 9% and no one thinks

thatis death rate of 9% and no one thinks that is realistic. the crisis is still somehow yawned the health authorities control, it is just hard to note the full dimensions of what is going on. a desperate picture, either any signs of hope to come? in the uk, we heard yesterday about green shoots, the government advisers were talking about, as in the flattening of the curve and the prospect of getting over the apex of the curve, things might get a little better. is same glimmer of hope apparent in spain? there is a press conference that will be going on now, the teleconference of the technical committee looking after this. they are talking about the same idea of the curve flattening in terms of official numbers. the numbers are pretty similar each day but we are talking about 800 odd deaths each day, we are talking about a rise in recognised cases of

around nine or 10% but what is the reality? that is the issue. it is still not known. difficult choices are beginning to have to be made. for example, the catalan health service has given out instructions to its doctors to basically screen older patients of who and who will not be admitted to intensive care, depends on their age, it depends on how frail they are, so resources are absolutely stretched to a limit and there is a sense that the crisis, there is a sense that the crisis, the amount of infections is so great that it the amount of infections is so great thatitis the amount of infections is so great that it is hard to really say where the peak is. it feels like it is coming but when will that be? is impossible to say. the lockdown measures, of course, could be here to stay for a long time. one last question on the personal protection equipment because we've heard a lot about that in spain, as in the uk and so many other countries, either getting on top of that problem? they

are beginning to get on top of that now through a mixture of some supplies that have been brought in, there have been several planeloads of supplies to help health workers while they are working, but still, this was two days ago, last figure iso on the amount of infected health workers is over 12,000 so that is over 10% of the total number of positives in spain and that is largely, i think, positives in spain and that is largely, ithink, g positives in spain and that is largely, i think, g to the difficulty of getting enough equipment to the right people at the right time. 0bviously equipment to the right people at the right time. obviously the whole world is scrambling for visors, facemasks and so on and there was a big cost in spain because of that but i think that is beginning to get better now. iam glad better now. i am glad we found something to feel hopeful about, even if the case figures and the death figures and the testing figures are still so sombre. thanks for joining the testing figures are still so sombre. thanks forjoining us. charities around the world are feeling the strain

in these uncertain times. here in the uk, charities are expecting the coronavirus pandemic to cause an average decline of a8 % in fundraised income alongside a a3 % rise in demand for their services, according to the chartered institute of fundraising. they have been calling for financial help for the charity sector to help it through the decline of funding. peter lewis is the chief executive of the chartered institute of fundraising. that sounds like a very enormous challenge when your demand is rocketing and your fundraising is plummeting. good morning. that is exactly right. your viewers will know the fantastic work that charities do in their communities around the country day in day out, helping people, whether that is people who are suffering from cancer or other life—threatening diseases,

whether it is hospices providing vital end of life care, people like shelter are advising people to stay in their homes and not become homeless, whether it's women's organisations, providing safe spaces if they are fleeing domestic violence. all of these organisations share one thing in common. they are funded by a huge generosity from the british public. 0n funded by a huge generosity from the british public. on average £10 million a yearfrom british public. on average £10 million a year from donated british public. on average £10 million a yearfrom donated income. that income in large part comes from fundraising activities and events such as the london marathon which has had to be cancelled. that in its own right would have raised £70 million this yearfor own right would have raised £70 million this year for charities around the uk, finding their vital services to people around the country, and the london marathon is just one example of many events all around the country that have had to

be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. at the same time, charity shops are closed, and charity shops provide a vital income for charities around the country. shelter is a saying it is losing £28,000 a year of income because its charity shops are closed. at the same time as its demand for its services for its advice, keeping people in their homes, is rising. st john's ambulance yesterday at the select committee said that it was incurring 150,000 select committee said that it was incurring 150 , 000 pounds select committee said that it was incurring 150,000 pounds no, sorry, £1.6 million extra every week dealing with its coronavirus response while also losing 1.5 million a week in its income, so the situation in charities providing these vital services is really dire at the moment. can i adjust interrupt and ask can they benefit

from the existing aid which, as we know, is enormous, offered to businesses and offered to employers to keep staff on? can they take advantage of those schemes? at the moment, that scheme worked for some organisations but not others, so obviously charity shops are closed, charities are able to furlough their staff and get some money back from the government to go towards the staff costs, but actually at the moment, the thing we want to do is to keep charity staff delivering the services that they are delivering. we wa nt services that they are delivering. we want to keep giving advice to people, keep them giving support to people, keep them giving support to people who are in hospices, paying for the nurses that are providing support to people in those hospices or people who are experiencing cancer, so the last thing we want to do is for them to stop providing services. what we need the

government to do is step in and fund the salaries of those people, providing those services where the income is no longer coming in from fundraising events or charity shops or other trading activities that the charities are doing. the current scheme doesn't work for charities. we are going to have to leave it there, but we will obviously put that question to the government as soon as we get a chance, and i know you will be doing the same. thanks for joining you will be doing the same. thanks forjoining us. 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 one street in the uk, in cheshire, residents are meeting every day to dance together — at a government distance, of course. take a look. music: night fever by bee gees.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... 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 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. spain's coronavirus deaths rise by more than 800 in 2a hours, while france sees a 17% rise in the number of cases. and a warning for uk business that more than 800,000 companies are just weeks from going bust.

in the uk, 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. china's decision to lock down the city of wuhan — the epicentre of the covid—19 outbreak — may have prevented more than 700,000 new cases, according to research published today in the journal science. restrictions in china are being eased, although international visitors are currently banned from entering the country. 0ur 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 to 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 spike in cases in the form of overseas arrivals. engineering firms have warned that the uk may not have all the ventilators it needs by the time coronavirus cases in the country

reach their peak in two week's time. the uk hasjust over 8,000 ventilators, significantly fewer than the 30,000 the government estimates are needed to cope.there is widespread uncertainty within government and industry about how many ventilators it is possible to produce, which firms can make them and by when. paul markillie is the innovation editor at the economist, who has written about the manufacturer's effort to increase production and the problems accompanying this. thank you forjoining us. how are we doing? we have heard the headlines about formula 1, about dyson joining in the race to produce ventilators. how is it going? it is an incredible challenge, and it is not going to be without extreme difficulties. there are four ways it could be done. in the speed of those ways, the first way is to get existing ventilatory

manufacturers to make more of those machines, and that indeed is beginning to happen. in the uk, one company is working with other companies to do that and make portable machines, and we are seeing companies in america and france and germany doing the same, working with other companies. these machines are known, trusted, understood and improved, so —— approved, so they can go into hospitals quickly, but is the problem can we make them faster? the second effort under way is to make simpler designs that could be copied and produced by other high—quality producers. the third way is to have entirely new devices that are going to take time, so that is more of a medium term solution which will take a bit of effort and time to get them through regulators and make sure they are reliable and safe, and then the fourth method is an enormous number of good intentioned small companies

and diy enthusiasts and garage inventors who are coming up with all sorts of things using 3d printers and everything they have to hand to make improvised devices. some of these will work, but there has to be caution because they are not medical devices and they are not necessarily qualified to be so. it is a fascinating list you have given us. going back as you said further question number one is to establish suppliers and designs, can they be got fast enough, what is the typical turnaround for production on a high quality medical ventilator? these companies are working flat out already, and some of them are removing office workers to the production line and doubling production, and hamilton medical, they are based, they will be doubling production and making 500 a week, so those are what the big producers are doing. some are much smaller than that, so you have to

remember that every hospital all around the world once these devices, so it is not possible for them to meet the entire demand, however, we might have some other devices which aren't actually ventilators which can cost ten or £20,000 a time, very sophisticated machines, which could provide some breathing aid. that is what the university college london and the formula 1 team has come up with. mercedes amg. that is a breathing aid which will help people recover the function of their lands and would mean that they may not then have to go on to proper highly sophisticated ventilators, which frees those machines up for more critically ill, and that would make more capacity. when you talked in your original list about those four categories and you went to number two which was simpler devices, was what you just described the simpler device? exactly. but they're so how

quickly are we going to get those in the uk, as in are we going to get them in time for this peak in the next two or three weeks? university couege next two or three weeks? university college london and mclaren amg are working on this, and they have about 100 units on trial in hospitals in london, and if all that goes 0k in the next couple of days, it is reckoned that they could produce 1000 of these a day, and that is an enormous number. they said it is more of the stock thing, and as to who else could set up very quickly, that might take a little more time, but for instance, now in america, they have vent tech which are teaming up with general motors to do this, and in france one company is teaming with a number of french companies. a german maker is going with a uk company, so there is a lot going on, so altogether we might

start to see some of this volume, but it is weeks rather than days. thank you very much. let's get some of the day's other news. officials in france have issued more than 350,000 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. a leaked united nations memo has warned that huge numbers of people could die of coronavirus in bangladesh if the government does

not take appropriate action. official figures register only a9 confirmed cases and five deaths but bangladesh has a population of 165 million people. there are also concerns about the overcrowded camps in cox's bazaar, where almost a million stateless rohingyas are taking refuge. now — to oxforshire — where a medical research laboratory has started testing front line nhs staff in the area and wants others to do the same. mike fischer is the director of sbl. tell us what you are doing there. we are running about 100 tests a day and we are doing front line testing twice a week for 1a gp practices in south oxfordshire. we are giving

them same—day results. south oxfordshire. we are giving them same-day results. and how are you managing to achieve what others are not managing to do?” you managing to achieve what others are not managing to do? i think that the point of our project is that thousands of others could manage to achieve this. basically, in this fight, each one of these labs and the people in it are like the fighters and fighter pilots of the battle of britain, and theyjust didn't realise it and we didn't realise it. the difference being that their equipment is much better and they are far better trained and they are not the ones taking the risk, so there must be hundreds or maybe thousands of labs in the country that can do that. they have the teams, the equipment. the teams have worked together for a long time. it is pretty straight forward molecular biology, so we just want to see hundreds of planes taking off. do you think that the initiative, the drive to reach out should come from the labs or from the gps who should go looking for

the gps who should go looking for the lads? come from the lads, and i guarantee that a i guarantee that there isn't one gp practice that isn't interested. why is it not happening now? we stumbled into it, we had a relationship with a gp practice for some other research. they were worried because they had some people who were reducing their output and they had to self—isolate, and they wanted to know if we could test them, so my lab director took the initiative and ordered some kits on the 6th of march, did the first test on the 12th and then the whole practice on the 16th, and itjust grew from there. is it possible for others to follow suit? we heard from the government yesterday which was talking about the difficulty in sourcing some reagents. we also heard questions about the sourcing of swa bs. heard questions about the sourcing of swabs. do you think others will be able to source the equipment they need to do this? yes, they will have

hiccups along the way, but we are relatively small and nimble and we are rapidly putting together a separate sourcing team. the other la bs separate sourcing team. the other labs have supplies and materials, and there is no reason why they shouldn't scale up massively over the next weeks and months. and coming back to your own testing, what did you actually discover in terms of infection rates amongst the staff, the medical staff that you we re staff, the medical staff that you were testing? i don't know the exact numbers. i'll lot of what we do is to give the gps confidence that they are not infected, and to take the strain of taking patients that are vulnerable. we have had quite a few that we have tested that had gone immediately into isolation and we we re immediately into isolation and we were able to either confirm they we re were able to either confirm they were infected or that they were not, and we found quite a few, not a huge

number, that were positive, but asymptomatic and they could withdraw from the service. it has been great to talk to you. we wish you all the best with what is obviously a very innovative project that can give hope to others, as you yourself have been suggesting. we hope everybody is out there listening. as the coronavirus pandemic passes from person to person, a lot of misleading information is also being spread. from fake health advice to speculation about government actions. here's bbc presenter and journalist zeinab badawi sharing tips on how to ensure the facts you're getting are reliable. in the midst of the corona pandemic, passing on information can feel like one way we can

support our families and friends. here at the bbc, we are working very hard to make sure that everything we broadcast and publish is accurate and up—to—date. but there is a whole load of information out there that isn't. and misinformation can spread fast. if a message is sent to a whatsapp group of 20, then each of them shares it with 20 other people, and this happens five times, it can reach more than 3 million people very quickly. untruths can take many forms. one of the most common we are seeing is copied and pasted messages being passed around on whatsapp or in facebook groups, containing bad advice or fake cures. and because these are shared by a friend or trusted source, it's not obvious who wrote these messages in the first place. often they are attributed to a vague source like a friend's friend who is a doctor, soldier or works with the government. for example, a voice note has been spreading on whatsapp. in it, a woman is translating advice from a colleague who has a friend

working on a hospital in the spanish island of gran canaria. some of the tips are helpful, such as washing services firm thoroughly, but the voice may memo includes misleading advice as well. the speaker suggests some light neutralises the virus, and that coronavirus can be killed by taking a sip of warm water every 20 minutes. there is no scientific basis for either of these claims. if you are not sure, the whole post is true, it might do more harm than good to share it, and if the source isn't easily identifiable or the story hasn't been reported elsewhere, then it really is worth being sceptical about it. pictures taken out of context can also be really misleading. a video from italy was posted on twitter, showing military vehicles on the streets.

there were rumours they were responding to coronavirus riots. in fact, they were returning from routine exercises that had nothing to do with the outbreak. some of us may share information with our friends as a joke or to lighen their mood, but even if they don't take it seriously, others might. for example, a claim that lions were released in russia to patrol the streets was taken seriously by some. it was not true. we all want to share news that we think will help others, but before you do, follow these steps. if you are not sure, then maybe it's fake. and you can stop that information from doing harm by not sharing it any further.

if you want to check medical advice, go on the world health organization website, and if you feel that a story isn't real, you can always look to a reliable source like the bbc. now it's time for a look at the weather with carole kirkwood. we say goodbye to viewers on bbc world, talk to you later. now it's time for a look at the weather with carole kirkwood. for most of us, it is going to be a fairly cloudy day, and the cloud is thick enough for the odd shower, but we have a weak weather front moving across scotland, getting into northern ireland later and introducing some patchy rain as it does so. this afternoon, it is going to remain fairly cloudy. it we have some showers dotted around, and some brea ks some showers dotted around, and some breaks in this cloud, so brightness occurring, but here is the weather front moving south across scotland

with patchy rain, eventually getting into northern ireland with brighter skies following on behind. now when strength today, these are the averages you can see in the white circles will stop not particularly strong, however, later on, the wind will pick up. temperatures, eight — 12 as we sweep towards cardiff and aberdeen for example. into the evening and overnight, the weather front pushes southwards, taking its cloud and patchy rain with it. the wind really strengthens, especially across scotland, bringing in a lot of showers. as a result of all of this, it is not going to be a particularly cold night, and we are not anticipating any problems with frost. tomorrow we will still have a wea k frost. tomorrow we will still have a weak weather front, and frost. tomorrow we will still have a weak weatherfront, and here it is draped across parts of scotland and northern ireland, moving across northern england, but behind it if we look at the isobars. wherever we are, it will be windy, but particularly in scotland where there will be wind chill and wintry showers. for england and wales,

while we are looking at that weather front continuing its journey south, introducing thicker cloud and patchy rain. the black circles you can see now indicate the strength of the wind in the gusts, so it is going to bea wind in the gusts, so it is going to be a gusty, windy day wherever you are, and as i mentioned, a wind chill in the north will make it feel colder than these temperatures are suggesting, but still comparatively mild in the south, as indicated by the yellows here. eventually, they are pushed away as the weather front clears. the cold blues arrive. for friday, here is the weak weather front in southern parts of england and south wales, introducing the cloud and patchy rain. for most of us fairly cloudy with brighter breaks, some showers, not as windy and the showers fell wintry in the hills and mountains of scotland, but by saturday, high pressure has drifted further east, allowing milderairto drifted further east, allowing milder air to come our way, and some in the south—east could have 20 celsius.

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 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. spain's coronavirus deaths rise by 86a in 2a hours — while france sees a 17% rise in the number of cases. 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. starting in the uk as health secretary, matt hancock, calls 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 uk government has been criticised for being slow to test health workers, with only 15% 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 uk 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 a,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 and in spain, the death toll has to risen to over 9,000, with an increase of 86a since yesterday, the largest daily increase so far. james badock is a freelance journalist in madrid extremely grim and the news coming through increasingly from regions in spain is that perhaps these figures are actually serious underestimation of the reality because a lot of people are dying in their homes, they are not necessarily being

tested or they are dying in care homes where we have seen that many of those residences have been com pletely of those residences have been completely overwhelmed many patients have not been tested and will not therefore be registered as deaths due to covid—19. so the real figure could be several thousand higher, we don't want to be too dramatic about it but it does look like the real figure is considerably higher and what is also really the case is that there are many, many hundreds of thousands of positives out in spain that we just don't know. the government has not been able to distribute yet a lot of rapid test kits to screen groups around the country to really find out the extent of the infection. there is talk that 13% of the population could be infected but we don't know. it must be more than 102,000 because that would give us a death rate of 996 that would give us a death rate of 9% and no one thinks that is

realistic. the crisis is still somehow beyond the health authorities control, it is just hard to know the full dimensions of what is going on. the uk government has been criticised. 0ur assistant clinical editor gave us the reaction of the government is saying on testing. there does now seem to be a clear split between the politicians on the one hand and some in the medical community and the scientists on the other hand. the government says the reason why it has not been possible to ramp up testing as quickly as they like because they have not been

able to get hold of the nest necessary chemicals which are needed to amplify the dna in the testing. secondly that they just have not to amplify the dna in the testing. secondly that theyjust have not had enough laboratories compared to countries like germany to carry out this sort of testing and thirdly, huge global competition to try and get hold of these chemicals in the first place. the medical community, or some in the medical community, are saying, it is not a problem getting hold of these agents stop the chemical industries are saying we can supply more, just let us know. they also suggest that there are about a0 molecular biology laboratories in the uk which could be used to carry out these tests and in terms of the argument... let's take you straight to holyrood now where the first minister nicola sturgeon is giving an update on the coronavirus outbreak in scotland. i know that the last ten days have

not been easy for anyone, indeed thatis not been easy for anyone, indeed that is a massive understatement, but overwhelmingly, people across the country have been doing the right thing. that is not unexpected but it is heartening and it will continue to be crucial in the weeks to come. by staying at home, except for exceptional purposes, all of us can play a part in slowing the spread of the virus, protecting the ability of the nhs to treat both the needed and saving lives. in a few months i will talk about volunteering and support for businesses but i want to start today with an update on the spread of the virus so far. and what we might expect to see in the weeks ahead in the steps we are taking to increase capacity in the nhs and equip it to cope with the impact of this epidemic. i can confirm that as of 9am this morning there have now been 2310 positive cases of covid—19 confirmed in scotland. that is an

increase of 317 from yesterday's figures. these numbers will of course, and i've been stressing this ona course, and i've been stressing this on a daily basis, be a significant underestimate of the true spread of the virus across the country. it is with sadness that i must also report that there have been 16 for the deaths of patients who had tested positive and that takes the total number of deaths in scotland to 76 and i'm sure everyone willjoin me in extending condolences to all of those who have lost loved ones. i know that everyone will also join me in thanking all those working in our health care sector. they are doing an extraordinaryjob health care sector. they are doing an extraordinary job and health care sector. they are doing an extraordinaryjob and everyone in scotla nd an extraordinaryjob and everyone in scotland is deeply grateful for their dedication and for their expertise. as the numbers i have given demonstrate, we are now at this stage of this epidemic as we expected to be when the number of cases is rising rapidly. u nfortu nately cases is rising rapidly. unfortunately that means the number of people dying is also rising. we

hope the lockdown measures we are asking people to comply with all have a marked effect on the spread of the virus and that we will see a slowdown in the next few weeks. however given that these measures ta ke however given that these measures take some time to have an impact, it is too early to draw any firm conclusions yet. in any event, we must continue to plan for what will bea must continue to plan for what will be a considerable impact on the national health service and on wider society. let me address firstly the impact on the nhs which i must say is being felt already on the steps we are taking to respond to that. we have already seen an increase in intensive care patients with confirmed or suspected covid—19 from 51 intensive care is time last week to 1a7 as of last night. that in itself is an increase from 135 yesterday. u nfortu nately we

itself is an increase from 135 yesterday. unfortunately we do expect that inquiries to continue for a further 23 weeks at least. but ican for a further 23 weeks at least. but i can advise parliament that we have achieved our initial target of doubling intensive care capacity of scotla nd doubling intensive care capacity of scotland to 360 beds. given that some of this capacity will still be required for other urgent care, that provides us with approximately 250 i see you beds which can be used exclusively for covid—19 patients. i can also advise that we are now working to quadruple intensive care capacity to more than 700 beds for covid—19 patients. to deliver this increase we have ordered ventilators from a range of manufacturers and we expect these to arrive in the coming weeks. however to bridge any gaps between now and the delivery of new ventilators, nhs boards have been working to re—purpose operating theatre and anaesthetic machines for use as ventilators. this is not a long—term solution but will allow us to rapidly increase capacity to more

than 500 intensive care beds i want to ta ke than 500 intensive care beds i want to take the opportunity today to pay tribute to all of the nhs clinicians, medical physics collea g u es clinicians, medical physics colleagues and technicians who have worked nonstop in recent days to make this happen. 0ur worked nonstop in recent days to make this happen. our current modelling of the spread of the virus which i must stress assumes continued high compliance with the lockdown measures, together with the steps we are taking to increase intensive care capacity suggests our intensive care capacity suggests our intensive care capacity suggests our intensive care units are in a much stronger position to cope with the expected peak of the epidemic. but again let me stress, we are in no way complacent about this and we will continue to give all possible support to those who are working so ha rd support to those who are working so hard on the front line. it is worth stressing again because it is so important that what i have just said assumes that people across the country will continue to do the right thing. every single one of us

who follows the public health advice is helping to reduce the number of people who will need hospital care in the weeks ahead and is therefore helping to reduce the risk of the nhs being overwhelmed. these measures to increase intensive care capacity part of a wider effort to ensure the nhs has sufficient beds overall to cope with potential covid—19 patients. i can report that as of last night, including those in intensive care, there were 1153 patients with confirmed or suspected covid—19 in hospitals across the country. clearly expanding general hospital capacity is also important andi hospital capacity is also important and i can report to parliament that we are on track with this. the target we said at the start of the month of quickly reducing delayed discharge cases by a00 has already been met and we are now working to go further. this is good for patients themselves who should not

be spending longer in hospital than they need to but it also makes more hospital beds available for those who need clinical care. overall, the nhs currently has around 13,000 beds and through this reduction and the postponement of nonurgent elective care, we estimate that at least 3,000 beds will be available to treat covid—19 patients. in addition to these 3,000 beds within our existing hospital network, the also announced this week our intention to create a new temporary nhs hospital at the sse arena in glasgow. we expect this facility be ready in a fortnight. it will have 300 beds available initially with the capacity ultimately to care for 1,000 patients if that proves to be necessary. let me be clear that our current hope and expectation is that this hospital will not need to be used. however we are preparing now, i think rightly, so that we are ready if necessary. in addition to

hospital capacity which is clearly extremely important, i am well aware of the vital role that nhs 2a gps and private care are playing in the effort to deal with this virus. the nhs 2a 111 number is the first particle at any time of day or night for anyone concerned about covid—19 symptoms. that service has been under truman displeasure and i want to thank everyone there for an exceptional response. patients calling 111 he need further advice or care are being referred to community hubs which are staffed by clinicians and if necessary, they will be given an appointment at one of our new covid—19 assessment centres. this new network will allow gps to focus more of their time on patients who have needs other than, however g ps patients who have needs other than, however gps are also dealing with significant pressure and yesterday

we announced extra funding to help with that. the money will support additional nonclinical staff and look cover if gps need to take sickness leave. the funding will also reduce the pressure that might otherwise have been placed on out of hours service by ensuring many gps will be able to remain open on good friday and easter monday this year. the final issue i want to cover is the welfare of health and care workers. testing is one important pa rt workers. testing is one important part of this. we are working at pace right now to significantly increase our testing capacity. i can tell parliament that we have already gone from an ability to do around 750 tests a nd from an ability to do around 750 tests and a couple of weeks ago to being able today around 1,900 tests a day now. 0ver being able today around 1,900 tests a day now. over the course of the next month, that will increase to around 3,500 tests a day. it is important to stress that this increase will be delivered within the nhs laboratory network.

commercial partnerships at a uk level will increase capacity beyond that and as part of one of these partnerships, a new lab has already been established in glasgow which we expect to be operational within the next two weeks. as testing capacity expands, we will progressively increase the number of health care service workers who are tested and we have already published guidance to support this. the other two immediate priorities for testing remain in the treatment of serious illness and community surveillance, both of these things are extremely important. however we will also be considering carefully the role of more extensive testing as part of our strategy at the right time course to bring the country out of the current lockdown measures. lastly on testing, what i have been talking about is because diagnostic testing, testing that tells people whether or not they had the virus. we remain hopeful that antibody testing which would confirm whether someone has had the virus will also

be available soon and we will keep parliament updated on that. let me turn out to the provision of personal and protective equipment. the importance of ensuring that our health workers have adequate supplies of the right equipment simply cannot be overstated. in the last six weeks, around 3a million items of personal protective equipment have been delivered to hospitals around scotland providing ca re hospitals around scotland providing care for covid—19 patients. 0ver this week we are also issuing almost 8 million items of personal protective equipment stock to sta rcross protective equipment stock to starcross primary care and social care, that includes around eight weeks of supply for primary care practitioners. we have a reasonable good supply of all key items are to stage their wishes important to say that we may face challenges in the future as global pressure on the supplies continues to intensify. we have also taken steps to improve not just the supply but the distribution of ppe. there's now a triage service

so they can more quickly to urgent requests from health and services. it isa requests from health and services. it is a fundamental principle at sta ke it is a fundamental principle at stake and it is one that i come the health secretary and the entire government takes very seriously given everything that health and ca re given everything that health and care workers given everything that health and ca re workers are given everything that health and care workers are doing to protect as right now, we must everything we can to protect them. in addition to the action we are taking to improve capacity, we continue to be acutely aware of the growing economic impact of this crisis. many businesses perform an essential role and i want to thank those working to keep country going at this time, people in the essential retail industry, our food and drinks sector, pharmacists, road hauliers and many, many more. i also want to thank all businesses who had done the right thing by prioritising the health of their workers, applying the cautionary principle and deciding to close at this time. i know how hard this is an i am hugely grateful. as

a further example, we have heard confirmation today that the edinburgh festival will not take place this summer for the first time in over 70 years. this is a heartbreaking decision but absolutely the right one and another sign of how far—reaching the effect of this epidemic will be. we have agreed that some support for the festivals can be used to make sure artists are still paid and we will work with the festivals to ensure they return even stronger next year. the scottish government has welcomed the support made available by the uk government including the measures announced on thursday to help self—employed workers although we will continue to improve where necessary. we have introduced a £2.2 billion package for businesses in scotland. 0ver billion package for businesses in scotland. over a billion that grants of up to £10,000 available to small businesses and brands that the £25,000 to eligible properties in the retail hospitality and leisure centres. the business support fund

is being administered by local authorities and possibly 30,000 applications for grants totalling £350 million have already been received. we want to get money to businesses as quick as possible and ican businesses as quick as possible and i can therefore confirm that are today transferring £950 million to local authorities so that payments can local authorities so that payments ca n start local authorities so that payments can start going into the bank accou nts can start going into the bank a ccou nts of can start going into the bank accounts of eligible businesses from monday. i knew how desperately how the lassie weeks have been for business and i hope that these payments together with the wider support available from the scottish and uk governments will go some way to helping. the final area i want to cover is volunteering. 0n to helping. the final area i want to cover is volunteering. on monday we launched the scotland carers campaign which encourages people to sign up to help their community. there are three different ways in which people can help. medical stu d e nts which people can help. medical students and former nhs staff can apply for positions working in health and care. anyone can sign up asa health and care. anyone can sign up as a community reserve volunteer at this part will be coordinated by the red cross, or people can take up

volunteering opportunities in existing organisations three volunteering scotland. it is still possible to sign up, anyone he wants to volunteer will find information on the ready scotland website. the response to the campaign in the first few days has been absolutely brilliant. i can tell that so far a total of a1,000 people have registered an interest. they exemplify the sense of solidarity and community which has already characterised so much of the response to this demo. that solidarity and sense of community must continue. i don't underestimate how difficult life is right now. the fa ct how difficult life is right now. the fact is, staying at home remains the best way in which we can all show that we care about our families, friends and communities. it is the single most important contribution any of us can make to tackling this epidemic. we must of course continue to reach out to other people even as

we remain physically separated from each other. by staying closely in touch we will all find it easier to stay physically distant. by doing the right things and by remembering that what actually does matter in life is our health, love and solidarity, we will slow the spread of this virus, we will protect the nhs, we will save lives and we will get through this. so i want to end with my sincere thanks again to eve ryo ne a cross with my sincere thanks again to everyone across scotland playing their part. the first minister and their part. the first minister and the cabinet will now take questions. in weeks, all of us have witnessed the best of our services and doctors, nurses and staff and shop workers, volunteers and the country at large. but the peak still to arrive, we know difficult days lie ahead and we really are in this together and i think the first

minister for together and i think the first ministerfor her, hence together and i think the first minister for her, hence a statement, over our support to ministers as they tackle the many challenges faced and at the condolences of all my colleagues to those who have lost loved ones in the days since we last meant. i would like to focus my questions on four major issues where public information could be clearer. first is on testing and i appreciate the extended part of her statement given to this issue. when you that some doctors and nurses are staying at home with flu—like symptoms but they don't know whether they have they don't know whether they have the virus or not. scottish government has started testing key workers and yesterday the first minister said this was a priority and she once to achieve an increase to 3,000 tests today and today, to 3,500. can she confirm that there was 3,500 key worker tests today to be achieved as she suggested and her statement by the end of april and can she confirm that this commitment includes all health care workers including dentists and others? and i thank him for his question

will sublet me turn to the issue. we expect within the current nhs laboratory network to be able to carry out by the end of april 300 and sorry 300,000 tests by day. that will cover the priority we set out which is to treat those with the most serious illness, testing key workers and we will have to prioritise. we have started to prioritise. we have started to prioritise key workers on the basis of those who are more critical to maintaining routers the moment and we will extend that as our capacity increases and the third priority is of course to make sure we have a robust system of surveillance in place across the country which we have been working to put in place and that will allow us to assess, monitor and report on the spread of the virus across the country in a way similar to the weight which we do for a flu every year. that is

what we, and after the end of april, we intend to continue above 3,500 tests per day but that is the target of the next month that we have set out to achieve and as of today, we are at1,900 per out to achieve and as of today, we are at 1,900 per day. that is within the nhs laboratory system. there are a number of initiatives over and above that that i would hope would give us a significant additional capacity that would enable us particularly with key workers to accelerate the progress even further. 0ne accelerate the progress even further. one of those initiatives is auk further. one of those initiatives is a uk wide initiative, a commercial partnership and scotland will play its full part in that and that is the additional lab in glasgow that has been already established that we would expect to become operational ina would expect to become operational in a couple of weeks. there is a real focus on making sure that we are using testing as extensively as possible and focusing that on the

right areas for topic i have noticed the centre for disease has talked about the rational basis for prioritise and in this kind of way while capacity is being built up and extended. and i say finally that one of the things that is occupying more of the things that is occupying more of my mind and we will be increasingly discussing with intensity is how we use more extensive testing as part of the strategy to take the country out of lockdown. when, and it is too early to assess right now, we are successful as we want to be and trying to suppress the virus this stage, how we, and diane summarising

here, can you testing to go back to something that is more like a contained strategy is to the delay strategy we are in right now and thatis strategy we are in right now and that is the other reason why it is important that we accelerate and expand the testing capacity as quickly as possible but we will keep parliament up—to—date as these plans progress. we will leave first minister of scotla nd we will leave first minister of scotland there. her key points in what has become a daily briefing update, she said there were now 2310 cases of coronavirus in scotland, up 317, and 16 further deaths, bringing the total in scotland to 76. she briefed the msps on intensive care beds, the ventilators, the testing, personal protection equipment, the aims to triage that equipment and she also brought us the breaking news that the edinburgh festivals, all of them, will be cancelled this

summer. they usually take place in august and are the biggest cultural eventin august and are the biggest cultural event in the world after the olympics. 25,000 artists, 5,000 events, the biggest cultural destination in the world in august, and have been going since 19a7, but for the first time, the festivals are to be cancelled in response to the coronavirus epidemic. a lot of state m e nts the coronavirus epidemic. a lot of statements help sadness coming from the directors of all those festivals, saying, with deep sadness, we announced the cancellation of the festivals. the decision taken in response to the ongoing risk posed by the pandemic and the need to parrot ties the safety of our audiences, artists, participants, staff and indeed all those working to combat coronavirus. they said they will work creatively to find alternative ways to share

the work of artists with the audience. then referencing the part of the festivals saying culture brings out the best in us, gives the marginalised a voice, shaped and reshaped how we think of ourselves and crucially, it unites us. the inbred festivals since 19a7, have existed to champion the flowering of the human spirit and in the face of this truly unprecedented global emergency, we believe that spirit is needed now more than ever. let's go to our scotland correspondence. there is the medical update that we got from the first minister, will come back to that. this is sad news for all those who love the edinburgh festivals ? for all those who love the edinburgh festivals? yes, it is, it is a mecca for love rs festivals? yes, it is, it is a mecca for lovers of art, comedy and street performance. the capital of scotland is mobbed every summer with tourists

coming to see and people coming to perform but the streets of edinburgh are now deserted and today, confirmation that for the first time in 70 years, those festivals will not take place. it is not entirely unexpected given the circumstances, but nonetheless, a sign in the artistic community of the epidemic, the seriousness of this epidemic and the consequences it is having on the wider community. and i suppose the duration of those consequences, it will disappoint anyone who thought that 12 weeks would have us turning the tide in a way that we could get back to large public events. but let's turn to the epidemic itself and the medical news from the first minister. cases up 317 in scotland and deaths up to 16

in scotland. she has been giving these updates every day, usually on a daily press conference which takes place around this time, and today it isa place around this time, and today it is a statement to the scottish parliament which in itself is sitting in a slightly different configuration. the msps there setting, the number is vastly reduced. the official numbers come out at two o'clock every day, they give a breakdown of where the positive cases are per area, but nicola sturgeon giving that very sad news that the total number of deaths in scotland due to covid—19 now stands at 76. she also talked about the number of people in intensive care. that is at 1a7. of course, one of the key efforts in terms of this be —— big reconfiguration in the nhs is to increase the capacity of beds

and ventilators in critical care. she confirmed they have now increased that to 360 beds and they are working to increase the capacity to over 500 beds for covid—19 patients within the next week, so a lot of effort going into increase the capacity for those who are suffering the most serious symptoms of covid—19 and who need the highest level of care in an intensive care environment and possibly with ventilators as well. obviously, we have heard a lot in london about the nightingale hospital at the excel centre, but nicola sturgeon was talking about the sec in glasgow becoming one of those huge temporary possibles and plans and progress on that. yes, the scottish exhibition campus is very close to the bbc building here in glasgow, you can look out the windows at the other end of the newsroom behind me and see the work that is starting to

ta ke see the work that is starting to take place. it is logistics at the moment. i think they are getting the place in shape before they move the more serious equipment into place. they are talking about initially having a capacity for 300 beds at the sec with an ability to upscaled to 1000. they hope those 300 beds will be in place within the next two weeks, but she is very clear, the first minister, in saying that this is being done on a precautionary principle. they are upscaling in case they need it, but their hope is very much that it will never come to that, but this will be an nhs hospital, but in terms of setting it up hospital, but in terms of setting it up of course the army also heavily involved here in scotland. thank you very much for that update. time to range internationally in news, and the united states could face a rough two weeks from president trump, as

the virus continues to spread across north america. the us president said it would be a national trial, unlike any before. the us now has overtaken china in the number of confirmed deaths from covid—19, as we bring you this report. 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 2a0,000 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 a,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. 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 12,000. among the dead are more than 60 doctors. 0ur rome correspondent mark lowen reports. perhaps never again in our

lifetime will we see rome like this. the virus is sucking the life out of this country. three weeks on, italy's lockdown is set to be extended today until. . .well, until the outbreak stops killing. they lowered the flags to half—mast across the country to pay tribute. from florence to rome, from italy's south to the bergamo in the north, the town worst ravaged by coronavirus. it is a symbol of national mourning to mark a month that has torn through italy's heart. the country with the highest number of deaths from the virus and the highest fatality rate. italians need to feel there is an end to the daily loss of hundreds of lives, to the constant mourning. medical unions say the huge loss of doctors here — at least 66 — shows a failure to protect those trying to cure it. translation: they worked without the right equipment like proper masks and they weren't given them. not enough have been tested. we were completely unprepared. china showed us what we needed to do

and we didn't follow it. it's like sending soldiers to war empty—handed, unable to defend themselves. we could have avoided these deaths. doctors paid for their commitment with their lives. we developed a valve... so young, inventive italians have stepped in to help, using 3d printing to develop a valve that turns a sports shop snorkelling mask into a ventilator. the blueprint has been downloaded for free a million times by hospitals in need across the world. two days ago, it was my birthday and i received a message from brazil in which a doctor says we have had 100 people breathing thanks to my idea. and i was very, very, happy. i cannot receive a better present for my birthday. the health care system too is improvising, milan exhibition centre converted into a new hospital with 200 badly needed intensive care beds. italy is being forced to adapt to this virus.

running after it, but still too far behind. the uk is two or three weeks behind italy in terms of the progress of the pandemic. doctors in the uk have also died. many other front line health workers are also worried. also, 50 mps have backed a campaign to provide the families of nhs staff who die in the fight against coronavirus with compensation. one of those mps is layla moran. the liberal democrat mp for oxford west and abingdon. she is also co—ordinating the campaign and joins me now. 0ne one question is puzzling me, is there not compensation for medics who die in the front line of their duties already? so there is for very many, and as part of the nhs

contract, if you sign up to the pension scheme, there is a lump sum that you can get, but there are actually issues with that. locums for example are not included, but also that is just for nhs workers, and there is actually as we know a large number of people who are being asked to be on the front line as pa rt asked to be on the front line as part of this, either seconded from elsewhere or are not covered by that particular pension scheme, so this coronavirus compensation scheme would be an addition to those in effect, recognising the fact that this is unprecedented levels of danger that we are asking our front line workers to be going into, and it would be on par with the armed forces scheme, so actually that is what we are asking for, and mirroring of that scheme, so a lump sum or regular payments to the family, payments to under 18 is if there are children in that family, but also help with funeral costs as well, and in my view, given the

danger they are putting themselves in in service to the country at this time, it is the least we can do, because what we are hearing from many of them is that they are concerned about this. this is something that worries them as they are going to work, doing this service, and if we can take that off their minds, i think that would be a very small thing we could do. and is the government to agree with you on that? we have just standard comic started this campaign, 50 mps had signed it and we sent it to boris johnson yesterday, and there is a petition online pushing for this as well, and i do think it would be very much welcomed by those who are putting themselves in that position. i genuinely hope the government will consider it, but there is a huge amount there considering right now, and what i would say is not to wait. for those people does make this game of the back of a radiographer that contacted me to say that this was something concerning them and their partner, they are both nhs workers on the front line, they have a young daughter who they worry about, and

they have no close family. that is a worry we could take off their mind by introducing such a scheme.” worry we could take off their mind by introducing such a scheme. i know some viewers may ask the question, well, if front line nhs workers, what about care workers, what about the worker in essential services, what about police? this scheme would cover them as well, so actually, this is exactly the point of this scheme. it is notjust for nhs workers. the way it is phrased as front line key workers, and then it would be up to individual cases to work out does make not all nhs workers are front line either, so they have to be administered by the government in that way, but i think it is right at this time. there are people who we need to be doing these jobs, and they are doing it out of dedication, out of professionalism and they wouldn't have gone into these jobs expecting this level of danger, and as we have seen from italy in your recent report and others, these numbers are mounting, not just for doctors but for others as well. i think it is the right

thing to do, and i generally hope the government takes it up. thank you for talking to us about it. in the uk, more than 16—thousand people may be needed to run the new nhs nightingale hospital currently being installed at the excel centre in london, according to its chief operating officer. the 80—ward facility was created in fewer than ten days and should be able to take its first patients by the end of this week. angus crawford 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. china's decision to lock down the city of wuhan — the epicentre of the covid—19 outbreak — may have prevented more than 700,000 new cases, according to research published today in the journal science. restrictions in china

are being eased, although international visitors are currently banned from entering the country. 0ur 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 to 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 spike in cases in the form of overseas arrivals.

the prince of wales has recorded a video message in support of age uk in response to the health crisis. the message recorded yesterday. let us have a listen. we had recently gone through the process of contracting this coronavirus. luckily with relatively mild symptoms. i find myself luckily with relatively mild symptoms. ifind myself on luckily with relatively mild symptoms. i find myself on the other side of the illness, but still in no less a state of social distance and general isolation as we are all learning, this is a strange and often distressing experience. when the presence of family and friends is no longer possible. the normal structures of life are suddenly removed. at such an unprecedented and anxious time, in all of our lives, my wife and i are thinking particularly of all those who have lost their loved ones in such very

difficult and abnormal circumstances, and of those having to ensure sickness, isolation and loneliness. as patron of age uk and my wife the patron of the silver line, my heart goes out to all the older people throughout this country who are now experiencing great difficulties. however, we also know that in every community up and down this land, where people of all ages are being affected by this virus, there are truly wonderful neighbours, individuals and groups of all volunteers. they are providing ceaseless care and attention to those most at risk, and attention to those most at risk, and all these networks of selfless assistance are helping to provide vital support and assurance to the ha rd vital support and assurance to the hard pressed to professional services, and at a time when doctors, nurses and all the vital

ancillary staff that form the backbone of our remarkable nhs, they are increasingly under such enormous strain and risk as they battle heroically to save lives and intensive care centres, and to contain as much as possible the spread of this virus. 0ur contain as much as possible the spread of this virus. our thoughts and prayers are very much with those marvellous people whose extraordinary skills and after selfless devotion to duty and the ca re of selfless devotion to duty and the care of their patients make us so very proud. indeed, it has been so wonderful to seejust very proud. indeed, it has been so wonderful to see just how many across the united kingdom have signed up in their hundreds of thousands to be nhs volunteers, offering their help, to do whatever they can to provide support to those on the front line. it is clearly essential therefore that such key people are treated with special consideration when coming off their exhausting duties and trying to do their shopping. for instance, while

having to content with constant anxiety about their own families and friends, and in this regard we also think of those many sharp workers who are working as hard as they can each and every night to keep supermarket shelves stocked. —— many shop workers. this is a service we are all relying on. as a nation, we are all relying on. as a nation, we are faced by our profoundly challenging situation, which we are only too aware threatens the livelihoods, businesses and welfare of millions of our fellow citizens will stop none of us can say that when this will end, but end it well. until it does, let us try and live with hope and faith in ourselves and each other, and look forward to better times to come. as the coronavirus pandemic passes from person to person,

a lot of misleading information is also being spread. from fake health advice to speculation about government actions. here's bbc presenter and journalist zeinab badawi sharing tips on how to ensure the facts you're getting are reliable. in the midst of the corona pandemic, passing on information can feel like one way we can support our families and friends. here at the bbc, we are working very hard to make sure that everything we broadcast and publish is accurate and up—to—date. but there is a whole load of information out there that isn't. and misinformation can spread fast. if a message is sent to a whatsapp group of 20, then each of them shares it with 20 other people, and this happens five times, it can reach more than 3 million people very quickly. untruths can take many forms. one of the most common we are seeing

is copied and pasted messages being passed around on whatsapp or in facebook groups, containing bad advice or fake cures. and because these are shared by a friend or trusted source, it's not obvious who wrote these messages in the first place. often they are attributed to a vague source like a friend's friend who is a doctor, soldier or works with the government. for example, a voice note has been spreading on whatsapp. in it, a woman is translating advice from a colleague who has a friend working on a hospital in the spanish island of gran canaria. some of the tips are helpful, such as washing surfaces thoroughly, but the voice memo includes misleading advice as well. the speaker suggests some light neutralises the virus, and that coronavirus can be killed by taking a sip of warm water every 20 minutes.

there is no scientific basis for either of these claims. if you are not sure the whole post is true, it might do more harm than good to share it, and if the source isn't easily identifiable or the story hasn't been reported elsewhere, then it really is worth being sceptical about it. pictures taken out of context can also be really misleading. a video from italy was posted on twitter, showing military vehicles on the streets. there were rumours they were responding to coronavirus riots. in fact, they were returning from routine exercises that had nothing to do with the outbreak. some of us may share information with our friends as a joke or to lighen their mood, but even if they don't take it seriously, others might. for example, a claim that lions

were released in russia to patrol the streets was taken seriously by some. it was not true. we all want to share news that we think will help others, but before you do, follow these steps. if you are not sure, then maybe it's fake. and you can stop that information from doing harm by not sharing it any further. if you want to check medical advice, go on the world health organization website, and if you feel that a story isn't real, you can always look to a reliable source like the bbc. we say goodbye to viewers on bbc world.

before the weather — a moment to take a quick look at how appreciation for nhs workers has been marked in some creative ways. 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. located near exmoor it measures more than 100 metres high and almost a00 metres wide. and took two hours from planning to mowing. a huge thank you for nhs front line workers there. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello. for most of us, it is going to bea hello. for most of us, it is going to be a fairly cloudy day, and the cloud is thick enough for the odd shower, but we have a weak front moving across scotland, getting into northern ireland, and introducing some patchy rain as it does so. this

afternoon, it is going to remain fairly cloudy, with summer showers dotted around. there will be some brea ks dotted around. there will be some breaks in this cloud, so and brightness occurring, but here is the weather front moving south across scotland with its patchy rain, eventually getting into northern ireland, with brighter skies following on behind. wind strengths today, these are the averages as you can see in the white circles will stop not particularly strong, however, later on the wind will pick up. temperatures are eight in lyric to 12 as we sweep down towards cardiff, hull and also aberdeen. into the evening and overnight, our weather front continues to push southwards, taking its cloud and patchy rain, and the wind strengthens, especially across scotland, blowing in a lot of showers. as a result of all of this, it is not going to be a particularly cold night, and we are not anticipating any problems with frost. tomorrow, we will still have a weak weather front, and it is draped across parts of scotland and northern ireland. moving across northern england, but behind it,

look at the isobars. wherever you are, it is going to be windy tomorrow, but especially so across scotla nd tomorrow, but especially so across scotland where they will be significant wind—chill and wintry showers. for england and wales, while we are looking at the weather front continuing its journey south, introducing some figure cloud and patchy rain. as you can see now, the strength of the wind is in gusts, so agassi and windy day wherever you are, andi agassi and windy day wherever you are, and i wind—chill in the north, but quite mild in the south, as indicated from the yellows. eventually, pushed away as the weather front clears, and the colder blues arrive. for a friday, the week weather front in southern parts of england, south wales, introducing the cloud and patchy rain. for most of us, fairly cloudy with brighter breaks, some showers, not as windy, and the showers wintry in the hills in scotland. by saturday, the high pressure has drifted further east,

allowing milder air to come our way, and by sunday, some in the south—east could hit 20 degrees.

increasing pressure to do more coronavirus testing — the government comes under fire to clear up confusion. there's a growing political row about the lack of tests for front line health staff. we want to see more people tested, very rapidly. we do now have enough tests to be testing those people in critical conditions in hospitals. we need that national plan, but for the test which tests whether you have got it now and the new test which will be coming on stream soon, which tests whether you've had it. we'll have the latest from our health editor. also on the programme: 16,000 staff may be needed when the newly converted nightingale hospital in east london reaches capacity. president trump warns the us to expect a rough two weeks and to stick to social distancing — saying it's a matter