this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. in spain, a grim landmark as the death toll from coronavirus passes 10,000. another 950 people have died in the past 2a hours. the uk prime minister says coronavirus testing needs to be increased massively, after it emerges just 2,000 frontline nhs workers in england have been tested. british airways is expected to suspend 36,000 workers until the coronavirus crisis is over. the world health organisation says the the world will reach one million coronavirus cases in the next few days. in the us, the death toll exceeds 5,000

as fears grow over a nationwide shortage of protective gear there. almost one million people apply for the social security payment from universal credit in two weeks in the uk, as financial concerns around the pandemic grow. a glimmer of hope for italy, the world's worst affected country, as fatalities drop to the lowest figure in nearly a week. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. in the last few minutes the death toll from the coronavirus in spain has passed 10,000, after a record 950 people died overnight. the number of cases registered

in the country rose to over 110,000, according to the country's health ministry. we'll get the latest from spain in a moment. here in britain, the government is facing mounting criticism over its testing strategy for lagging behind some other countries. the prime minister has promised to ramp up the process so that healthworkers who are self—isolating unnecessarily can return to work. it comes after it was revealed that only 2000 out of half—a—million front line health staff in england have been tested so far. in other news — as the airline industry continues to struggle. british airways is expected to announce later that it is suspending thousands of its employees. in a sign of the pandemic‘s financial impact on uk households — 950,000 people have successfully applied for benefit payments in the past two weeks, almost ten times the average. in the united states, there have been 88a deaths in 2a

hours, a new record. it takes the total death toll there to more than 5,000. president trump has admitted that the government's strategic reserves of protective equipment and medical supplies to combat the coronavirus are nearly exhausted. in russia, the number of cases has risen by almost 800 over the past 2a hours — that's the biggest dailyjump there. but there could be promising signs coming out of italy — the world's worst affected country — where fatalities dropped to their lowest daily figure in nearly a week. let's return to the situation in spain, where the death toll from coronavirus has surpassed 10,000. i'm joined now byjames badcock, a journalist from madrid covering the coronavirus there.

james, spain lagging italy a couple of days ago. this is its grimmest hour? absolutely. and absolutely grim landmark has been reached. 0bviously grim landmark has been reached. obviously the hope in spain will be that it obviously the hope in spain will be thatitis obviously the hope in spain will be that it is a little bit behind italy in terms of the development of the epidemic in this country. and they will turn that corner. italy seems to be turning it now. it seems it has to get worse before it gets better in terms of the number of deaths. this is another day, another record, almost daily records in terms of 24—hour death tolls bringing up this awful figure. but the authorities will also be looking at otherfigures. the authorities will also be looking at other figures. the the authorities will also be looking at otherfigures. the rate the authorities will also be looking at other figures. the rate of new cases is continuing its slowdown. again it's around 8% today, up on yesterday. although that has a little bit to do with testing, it

has a little bit to do with how many people are able to be seen by medics and go to hospital. 0bviously most people are staying at home and self isolating when they get symptoms. if we look at the intensive care situation, that should be more of a clear indication of what is happening. if somebody does become ill they will be hospitalised. that is really slowing down, almost peaking, we hope. it has risen by 3.5% today. similar yesterday. a little bit more the day before. the health minister said yesterday that we do seem to be slowing down the plateau, as it were. it is being reached. what would then have to be seen is how quickly the slowdown will turn into an actual decline and an easing of the strain and the stress that hospitals, makeshift hospitals, doctors are absolutely exhausted, a growing number of them

can't work because they have been infected. we will still have to see how quickly the situation actually improves. but it looks like it is going to stop getting worse very $0011. going to stop getting worse very soon. and james, just tell us how it got here? 0bviously for viewers in the uk and around the world, they will be wanting to learn the lessons from the countries that are a couple of weeks before them in terms of the rise of cases and the sun rising numbers in deaths? one has to be very careful comparing or criticising or saying what should be done. there are a few things we can say that weren't ready in spain, weren't done well. the key thing is this equipment, protective equipment for all health staff to prevent their numbers being affected. and also, i think,

their numbers being affected. and also, ithink, it their numbers being affected. and also, i think, it is making quick decisions. the administration in spain seems to have been very slow to react, slow to bring in new supplies, slow to get a testing done. we have seen that also in britain. spain has yet to begin a massive campaign of testing. they have been talking about doing it for about ten days. there have been technical issues. it still doesn't seem to be getting off the ground. hence i think the number of positives in spain. 110,000 still way off the reality. i think being agile and fast on those issues is key. and also, in spain there has been a terrible impact in care homes. those kinds of places that are perhaps not an essential part of the health system, but are part of the health system, but are part of the care network, there has to be attention paid to them very quickly. and staff who perhaps are not used to working in health emergencies need equipment, they need training

and a rapid response situation needs to be set up. many thanks for that update. here in britain, the prime minister has said that testing is the solution to "unlock the puzzle" of coronavirus. borisjohnson was speaking after it was revealed that only 2,000 out of some half a million front line healthworkers in england had been tested. dan johnson reports. quite an amazing job... the prime minister, isolating after testing positive himself, couldn't have been clearer. i want to say a special word about testing because it so important and as i have said for weeks and weeks, this is the way through. this is how we will unlock the coronavirus puzzle, this is how we will defeat it in the end. nhs staff have been queuing around the block to get tested to see

if they are safe to go back to work, but this is just a trial. we are still way behind some other countries and the government's own ambition to reach 25,000 tests a day. this hospital in cambridge is the first to try a new bedside testing machine, which gives results in an hour and a half instead of a whole day, and it can be reused, potentially a real game changer. turning repeated promises into actual test results is a challenge facing the health secretary matt hancock, as he gets back to his desk this morning after his own week of isolation. getting enough personal protective equipment, ppe, to front line medical staff is the other key issue. increasing testing capacity is absolutely the government's top priority. we are now at 10,000 tests a day, we are rolling out additional networks of labs and testing sites and in terms of phe, over the last two weeks, 390 million products had been distributed, and of course we will continue to do more. the figures reach new highs each

day — 563 people died in the last 2a hours. across the uk, the virus has now claimed 2,352 lives. and the economic impact is also unyielding. in the last fortnight, nearly one million people claimed universal credit. ten times the number for a normal two—week period. airlines have suffered and british airways is now close to a deal that will mean 80% of its staff — that's 36,000 cabin crew, ground staff and head office workers — going unpaid. they are not being made redundant but they will rely on the government paying most of their wages until planes can fly again. coming together like this feels precious in these strange disjointed days, so tonight, it'll happen again. a show of strength and support for nhs workers, medics and carers, some we now know giving their lives to this relentless, exhausting and deadly virus.

dan johnson, bbc news. professor paul cosford, who is the emeritus medical director at public health england, explained why more frontline health workers are not being tested. of course, the tests are focused on the people who are ill, making absolutely sure that all that is being done and needed and then working a way of getting nhs staff into testing, using the extra capacity for nhs staff. that is something that is happening at an individual hospital basis across the nhs so, that is the core priority at the moment, is to make sure that all that capacity is used for nhs staff where it's not needed for patients who desperately need the test to help with their diagnosis and treatment.

the research laboratory at the francis crick institute is being repurposed so it can carry out covert tests. sir paul nurse is the chief executive of the francis crick institute tell us more about how you think you can help? hello. about three weeks ago we recognised that testing for front line care workers, medical ca re front line care workers, medical care workers, would be critical in the fight against covid—19. so we made the decision to re—purpose this research institute into accommodating a diagnostic, a testing facility. it's not what we normally do but we have the equipment and the facilities and the

ability to make chemicals to allow us ability to make chemicals to allow us to do that. we have been working around the clock for the last two weeks to do that. we have volunteers working here. up to 100 trying to put that in place. this week we managed to get working to national standard. we have been putting through 50 to 100 a day to check it. we should be able to roll out 500 a day next week. that is 3000 a week. we hope soon after that to go up to around 2000 a day. which, as you know, is the total number of nhs workers who have been tested until 110w. workers who have been tested until now. our objective is to support those in the front line. care workers. to give them very rapid assessment of their covid—19 status in less than 2a hours. perhaps even 12 hours. so they can be returned to

the front line to be able to treat patients as quickly as possible. we are, asi patients as quickly as possible. we are, as i said earlier today, it is are, as i said earlier today, it is a bit like dunkirk. we are one of the small boats that the country, the small boats that the country, the nation, the government i should say, is putting in the bigger ships and we hope it will get running as quickly as possible. in the meantime we are doing all the best we can with a small or a fairly small boat. and how many of these small boats are there and can you give your experience and advice to other small boats so you can act in both a flexible way and leverage your numbers? well, we are flexible and we are more agile. we are preparing oui’ we are more agile. we are preparing our protocols at this very moment so they can be distributed to, for example, cancer research uk units institutes. they are one of our

majorfunders. i institutes. they are one of our major funders. i will institutes. they are one of our majorfunders. i will be in contact with the medical research council to do the same later today or tomorrow. those protocols can be adapted. it does take a lot of effort. putting up does take a lot of effort. putting upa does take a lot of effort. putting up a diagnostic lab is not that straightforward. but we have had this experience and practice and we can help in trying to get a more distributed local basis to complement a nationwide one being put in place by the government. you will know as well as i that the government is coming under a lot of criticism for its top—down system, lumbering slow are some of the accusations made against it. very briefly, do you think that any of those criticisms are justified and if so, which? well, this is a difficult time stop all countries are having difficult times. i do think we could have been better prepared this crisis. we are playing

catch up all the time because we we re catch up all the time because we were not prepared. that makes it difficult. i do think they are trying hard and we have to help and support them in every way we can. we can perhaps move a bit more rapidly and perhaps plug the gap. i think the main lesson is we should have been better prepared. we shouldn't been better prepared. we shouldn't be diverting our time and energies to thinking about that now but we absolutely should be, to make sure we have the resources and planning in place in the future. 0nce we have the resources and planning in place in the future. once we have got through this crisis working together, you do need to look at that. well, congratulations once again on your dunkirk spirit. good luck in getting all bolts home with many constructive and effective tests done. thanks forjoining us. thank you. there's been a glimmer of hope for italy as fatalities drop to the lowest figure in nearly a week. the country remains the world's worst affected, with more than 13,000 deaths. the government said it is on the right track, and that the drastic restrictions

imposed on italians were starting to yield results. the headlines on bbc news: in spain, a grim landmark as the death toll from coronavirus passes 10,000. another 950 people have died in the past 2a hours. the british prime minister says coronavirus testing needs to be increased massively, after it emerges just 2,000 frontline nhs workers in england have been tested. british airways is expected to suspend 36,000 workers until the coronavirus crisis is over. we have talked about individual countries. let's talk about the world as a whole. the number of coronavirus infections globally will reach

one million within days, according to the head of the world health organization. as we've been reporting, in spain the number of deaths has grown to more than 10,000 as another 950 people died there in the past 2a hours. the director—general of the world health organization says he's deeply concerned about the rapid rise in the number of cases. he told an international news briefing that the pandemic is growing exponentially. over the past five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new cases, reaching almost every country, territory and area. the number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week. in the next few days, we will reach one million confirmed cases and 50,000 deaths. that is the view from the who. dr peter drobac

is a global health physician at the said business school at the university of oxford. thank you so much forjoining us. your assessment at the moment? you are an expert in looking the comparative experience of different countries and putting them together. what do you see when you look that pattern? well, we are very much as a globe on the exponential growth curve right now. we are seeing an acceleration in the number of cases in the uk, the us and many other parts of the world as well. that is obviously concerning but also predictable. i think what we have to keepin predictable. i think what we have to keep in mind as we do have some exa m ples of keep in mind as we do have some examples of what works well and that is mass testing, that is social distancing and that is working to support health systems and doing all of those things in concert early. are there specific lessons we can learn from different countries? there seems to be a growing

controversy right now about the use of face masks, with some of the asian countries, which make it a priority, seeming to be able to flatten their curves more effectively than countries which aren't. that may be entirely incidental. but i am interested in what you think about that. and also, the other differences. china, we know, has put into force these quarantines, enforced quarantines, along with its lock downs. when you look at the different experiences of different countries do you think there are lessons other countries should be taking away? sure. first with regard to facemasks, the asian countries have also done a lot of other things that drive a lot of that success. the pivot we are seeing now is coming from the increasing evidence of the importance of asymptomatic transmission. that means i can be infected but feel perfectly well and be infecting others when i go to the

shop to pick up some groceries. until we learn how important that is in driving the pandemic forward, it's not enough to say that only people who are sick should be covering this themselves with a mask. it would be helpful if everybody could. that raises a big question about what this means when we know there is already a shortage of masks and even the health care workforce, and should we be prioritising those for health workers? that is one of the big issues. the other point around quarantines or lockdown issues. the other point around quara ntines or lockdown is issues. the other point around quarantines or lockdown is or not, it should be noted that some countries, south korea and in particular, managed to avoid a whole lot down by trying to contain things aggressively. mass testing. being targeted about where social distancing should happen. lockdown isa distancing should happen. lockdown is a blunt instrument and it was a last resort in the uk. it actually is possible for other countries who are is possible for other countries who a re early is possible for other countries who are early in their epidemics to avoid the need for lock downs if they are able to get things right.

given your global experience, i'm interested if you can talk to the case of taiwan. it is obviously not a member of the world health 0rganization because of china's political sensitivities around that. but it has important experience and it does appear to be very successful. i wonder whether the lessons from taiwan, due to its outcast status diplomatically, are not getting through? it is certainly something we have been talking about. taiwan, singapore, hong kong, which of course is another nation, and south korea have had success. all of these countries are closer to sars and in some cases murders. so they resort are ready for this. i think they had preparedness systems in place than other cities. 0ne think they had preparedness systems in place than other cities. one of the big differences in taiwan and some of these other countries was they sprung into action very early.

remember, the first recorded case in south korea and the united states happened in the first day. from that day they took very different trajectories. so this is why early action is so important. we can't chase an enemy that accelerates exponentially very easily. as soon as you get behind it is difficult. with taiwan as well it was aggressive testing, it was contracted to —— tracing in isolation. i have to let you go and we have to move on but i know that many of your —— our viewers in the uk and globally will feel a lot of this is not in their hands, so much of it they feel helpless in the face of, it is down to governments or medics, scientists. what message do you have for individuals? what is the one thing they can do to keep themselves safe and those around them? in most parts of the world, and certainly here in the uk, the big message is still stay at home. social distancing works. it is the most important and effective tool we

have right now. i know we are seeing rises in the number of deaths and cases and that is concerning. but the stuff we are seeing today reflects what we did three to four weeks ago. it does not mean the lockdown is not working. itjust ta kes lockdown is not working. itjust takes time. we need to stick with this. it is in our own divisional interests and the greater good. thank you. should more of us wear face masks to help slow the spread of coronavirus? advisers to the world health 0rganisation are weighing up recent research into whether a cough or sneeze can project the virus further than previously thought. 0ur science editor david shukman has more. how far can a sneeze travel? and would a mask help stop the spread of coronavirus? new research suggests that the infection could be reaching further than previously thought. and now advisers to the world health organisation are weighing up the evidence. masks are suddenly becoming a common

sight all around the globe, from supermarkets in california to police officers patrolling the streets of france. until now, the advice has been that healthy people don't need them unless caring for someone who may have the disease but that guidance may change. it might be that wearing a mask is equally as effective or more effective than distancing, provided that mask is worn properly and provided that people don't infect themselves when they are taking the mask off and touch another surface that may be contaminated. in germany, several regions want it to be compulsory for people to wear masks in public. for many, it makes a lot of common sense but experts say it is vital to realise the masks don't offer total protection. in austria, the supermarkets are going to insist that everyone wears a mask but health professionals say they must be worn properly and the most important

thing remains hygiene. above all, keeping your hands as clean as possible. a clothing factory in rome turns to making masks. demand is growing but one concern is that if the public snap up masks all over the world, that may make it harder for health workers to get hold of them. david shukman, bbc news. over to russia, which has seen its biggest dailyjump in coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 3,500. thirty people are confirmed to have died. authorities say covid—19 had now spread to most regions. moscow initially sought to downplay its outbreak, but this week passed a series of strict measures aimed at slowing down its spread. bbc russian‘s sergei

goryashko is in moscow. this another grim piece of news for russians to observe their case numbers are going up? so yes, this is another one—day record. 771 cases of coronavirus registered on thursday. the kremlin has already told us that vladimir putin, the president of russia, is going to address the nation this evening. this will be the second address from the previous one on thursday of last week when he told russians they should have a sort of vacation, not going to work but the workers will remain paid. and probably today he is going to announce more strict measures like quarantine for the whole country. that is what we are expecting. and amidst the dismay

over the numbers, is there any criticism among the russian public as far as you can judge about president putin's rather slow willingness to take this seriously 01’ willingness to take this seriously or introduce strict measures? actually, yes. first of all some experts are pretty sure that there are much more cases of coronavirus in russia. the problem is the testing system. it doesn't work really good for now. it works fine in moscow but not even old people in moscow are tested for coronavirus. some private clinics have started their own testing but nobody knows if it is accurate enough. another thing is that vladimir putin decided to remain silent for this week. no public events with him. he is staying in his residence near moscow. he is not telling russians what to do. and actually, all the decisions are made by the local governors, who were told by kremlin

officials to act like they can and to put some rules as they could put. 0ne region is banning people from going out onto the streets. another one is only banning elderly people, 65 years and older, from going onto the street. working people can remain working and go to the shops etc. this is not like the situation where the kremlin controls everything as usual. and the kremlin still remains silent. their spokesperson is not telling whether russia is going to extend this quarantine for another week or what. it is what governors should decide. we are in the situation where governors are taking such responsibility rather than the whole

country being locked down. thank you very much. as we have seen around the world, front line health workers face huge number of patients arriving in hospitals and clinics. in many countries there have been, in the past few days, a coordinator round of applause for key workers who are risking their lives in the name of public service and public health. millions of people here in the uk are expected to do just that later today. following the success of last thursday's clap for our carers, which saw huge numbers of people taking to their doorsteps, windows and balconies to show appreciation, we have another effort of this evening at eight o'clock uk time. john maguire has the story. applause. when under attack

by an invisible foe, determined to drive us apart, we come together. cheering. car horns honk. we are constantly told that these are unprecedented times but, day after day, nhs staff are prepared to step up. 0ur role, a job for each and every one of us, is to support them. we just want to say a massive thank you to everyone at the nhs. you're working so hard and you're really putting yourselves out there for all of us at home. # too many broken hearts in the world. # too many dreams can be broken in two.# bagpipes play. to hear people from a few streets away banging on their saucepans and the whoops and the cheers and claps remind you that there's lots of life out there even though we're not really seeing anyone.

thank you with all our hearts to all the people working in the nhs, all the workers, all the volunteers and doctors and nurses. what an amazing thing you're doing now. when this is all over and done with, i'm coming to kiss each one of you on the lips, so puckerup! for the vast majority of us, coronavirus will mean mild symptoms, feeling out of sorts. for others it can pose a mortal threat, but some who recovered are keen to give thanks where thanks are due. i recently got ill with the virus and i'm grateful to have recovered. i'd like to say thank you to all of the nhs carers and key workers for playing a role in this. thank you nhs for looking after me. we are really proud of all of you, including the nurses, the doctors, the porters, all those who work in care homes and the ambulance teams. let's get your protective equipment and your tests from the government soon. anything to say, girls? thank you. thank you, nhs. from the young and from the older.

mark bowden's dad jack, 99 years young, has beaten it. i'm clapping very, very loudly for the nhs. i'd like to say a huge thank you for all the nurses and the doctors at royal bolton hospital, in particular ward d4. they've been looking after my father jack bowden, who is fast approaching his 99th birthday. he's been in and out of hospital now for the last two weeks as he tested positive with covid—19. i've heard today that he is doing fa ntastically well. it looks like he's making a full recovery and apparently today the nurse said that he was sat up out of bed. we, the staff at lewisham endoscopy theatres, are thanking you for clapping for the nhs. now we are clapping and saying thank you for staying at home. applause. from holby city to casualty to er, for years we've made weekly dates with medics. well, tonight, make another one. eight o'clock, to applaud and to thank the real stars. john maguire, bbc news.

hello, this is bbc news with carrie gracie. the headlines... in spain, a grim landmark as the death toll from coronavirus passes 10,000. another 950 people have died in the past 2a hours. the uk prime minister says coronavirus testing needs to be increased massively after it emerges just 2,000 frontline nhs workers in england have been tested. british airways is expected to suspend 36,000 workers until the coronavirus crisis is over. the world health organization says the the world will reach one million coronavirus cases in the next few days.

in the us the death toll exceeds 5,000 as fears grow over a nationwide shortage of protective gear there. almost1 million people apply for the social security payment universal credit in two weeks in the uk as financial concerns around the pandemic grow. syrian refugee camps across the middle east are bracing themselves for this pandemic. millions of people have been displaced by the nine—year conflict in syria, many of whom are in camps in the northern idlib province, jordan and lebanon. the camps are overcrowded with poor sanitation. carine torbey has been speaking to some of the refugees. a new threat haunts millions weary of running from syria's brutal conflict.

0vercrowded camps now look almost deserted. for the moment, those in lebanon, jordan and syria have escaped the pandemic. but for how long? khalid fled here six years ago with his mother and sons. they are following instructions from the lebanese authorities. they don't leave their camp unless necessary. he sent us this video from arsal, on the border between lebanon and syria. we reached out to him by skype to avoid any risk of contamination.

un agencies are trying to help by handing out larger water rations and setting up isolation tents. they also pledged to cover tests and treatment. but here in north—western syria, it's a different story. there is no national authority in idlib to coordinate a response for the hundreds of thousands of displaced syrians living in these overcrowded camps. local agencies are helping spread awareness, but water is scarce and disinfectants are in short supply.

just weeks ago, much of idlib was a war zone. people here are still in fear of the shelling. and now they are also afraid of a new and different kind of death. carine torbey, lebanon. save the children is warning that they are critically underequipped to respond in northern syria, yemen and gaza. joelle bassoul is from save the children and based in beirut. tell us what challenges you are facing today. the challenges are immensejust facing today. the challenges are immense just because this is not a humanitarian response, is a public health issue, a pandemic. syria,

northern syria, yemen and gaza, where aid is difficult to deliver in those areas and how to reach, we are feeling the worst of an outbreak. in gaza so far there have been a few cases reported and in yemen there are none officially, as well as in north—west syria but obviously testing is not being done on a large scale and we cannot have a full picture of what is happening until we start seeing those cases increase. and presumably those cases being reported in the few cases where can reach a hospital and within that hospital actually get tested ? within that hospital actually get tested? yes, absolutely, because the health care system in all of these places has been decimated by years of warand places has been decimated by years of war and conflict. syria hasjust entered its tenth year of war, yemen is six and gaza has been in the blockage for 30 years are already the health care system work overwhelm and they don't have the proper grip we do face a pandemic.

as we said, there are a handful of intensive care unit beds and ventilators available to civilians in those areas. in syria half the doctors have left the country come in yemen, half of all hospitals are not functioning. again, the health ca re system not functioning. again, the health care system is overwhelmed and could colla pse care system is overwhelmed and could collapse if there is a proper pandemic that starts spreading in these areas. and it is obviously very ha rd these areas. and it is obviously very hard for people to look after themselves, you cannot stay at home if you don't have a home, you can't wash your hands if you don't have any water? absolutely. in yemen, we we re any water? absolutely. in yemen, we were speaking the other day to a young 17—year—old boy who was saying his mum has to walk for 15 minutes everyday to the to fetch water and 58 minutes back and do what it is not a totally clean but they have to use it for washing and cooking and drinking. and they ration it because they don't want to do that trip

several times a day. imagine they have this little water and are requested to wash their hands thoroughly several times a day as a prevention, it's simply impossible. the same is happening in north—west syria were in some places we had to bring water by trucks because the divinities don't have access to clea n divinities don't have access to clean what happened in gaza, 96% of the water available is not very safe so hand washing, which might look is a very easy step for people in developed countries, is not at all of the case in those areas. what help are you getting in facing this challenge from the world? we have been talking in the uk about the enormous pressures that charities are under because demand hit has gone up for their assistance while theirfunding is gone up for their assistance while their funding is under enormous threat. yes, the response is facing several challenges. the first is actually a slowdown due to border

closures and movement restrictions. 0ur closures and movement restrictions. our own teams are having a hard time reaching people in need. the second one is a funding. we do not necessarily have the funding needed to respond to a covid—19 pandemic and also the fact that these populations are tired. even when we try to reach out to them, because there are systems in place to start raising awareness among the populations without being physically present, for a gamble by mobile phone, sms, whatsapp, we have community volunteers trained to do that, but people are tired and they say we don't have enough to eat, we don't have shelter, like in north—west syria, we have been living in a refugee camp for ten yea rs living in a refugee camp for ten years and now this on top? we don't have the strength and power to face it. it is a very dire situation that we are looking at pundits very vulnerable people with very little help. and in situations which are still in some cases a war zone. do you have any hope that the warring parties in northern syria will look at this public health crisis and a

safe enough already, we need to enforce our own ceasefire at this point? yes, there's been a call the un secretary general which has been echoed by all aid organisations in conflict areas to have a ceasefire in this pandemic so at least civilians can focus on the prevention. in syria there was a ceasefire announced in early march. it is holding now but obviously warring parties have to show a political will to observe it a. in yemen there was a ceasefire announced but it barely had a few days. warring parties have to come together. there will be no one left in those areas if the endemic happens. —— pandemic. they had to think over civilians and protection and abide by international standards in conflict. thank you so much for joining us and we wish you all the very best and of course to those you are trying to help. thank you.

now, months on from the first detection of the coronavirus in china, the country has been offering equipment to dozens of countries, in what it calls its la rgest—ever effort at foreign assistance. but some have rejected the testing kits and medical masks over concerns about quality. here's yin lee from bbc monitoring. ever since china declared that the peak of the epidemic had ended there in mid march, it has really kind of focused its messaging on the amount of aid it sent out, and this has been in the form of medical expertise, so doctors have been sent to dozens of countries, but also kind of medical equipment, so test kits, facemasks, goggles, ventilators, all sorts of things, usually described in volumes in terms of planeloads or by the tonne. it is really important to note as well that china has sent notjust donations from the state or from foundations, but a lot of kit that has been going out has been sales

of equipment from companies china. it is notjust kind of goodwill, but business. the reaction for the most part to the equipment being sent and medical assistance has been one of gratitude. there are a lot of countries have been cut short by the epidemic and they are short of medical equipment, and for the most part are very grateful for it. but in some instances, some political leaders have used it as an opportunity to really make political points and compare the responses from other world powers like the us or the eu. now the question of newsgathering and broadcasting. social distancing has had such a huge impact on us all. for some people, work has proved impossible. for those of us who are trying to carry on working, there have been huge changes. you might have noticed, broadcasting and newsgathering has been a challenge and we have all learnt a lot in the past month. 0ur media editor amol rajan has been looking at some of the changes. good evening.

the headlines this morning... britain's coronavirus crisis... in a crisis... coronavirus. it's horrible. pandemic... ..especially one in an information age... hand sanitiser. covid—19. ..trusted news becomes a trusted commodity. social distancing. ..for which there is a high demand. britain has a range of regulated public service podcast is doing their best to produce world—class journalism. rating for news programmes across all channels are soaring with many presenters broadcasting from home. published data showing that transport use across the country... but actually producing broadcast news is exceptionally hard in a global pandemic. can we just script a line about northern ireland at this point? innovation is the only solution. there is plenty of it about. recording. the nhs scheme only covers england and northern ireland... here, correspondentjudith moritz is at home in manchester

working on a bbc news piece with her cameraman and editor, rob wood, who is nearly 30 miles away in derbyshire. the nhs scheme only covers england... news reports are the result of teamwork between correspondants, producers, camera operators and studio editors. oh, and children too, who can make their presence felt when correspondence work from home. keeping both staff and contributors save is a priority. video interviews have become the norm of late. keeping two metres away from interviewees can be hard but boom mics allow sound to be captured safely in high quality. good morning, its seven o'clock, the headlines this morning... and it's notjust television. kitchens and front lounges have been converted into a makeshift radio studios, like those of the today programme. here is the bbc‘s david sillito using a duvet to improve sound quality. furnishings can absorb sound and reduce echo. to a much greater extent than is generally acknowledged, journalism is the product of a particular energy, camaraderie and culture from within a newsroom,

like that of the bbc. it is hard to replicate that when, like these designated key workers, you are sat two metres apart. this place is usually densely packed but, like millions of others also facing logistical challenges, most editors and producers are now working from home. i'm working on a piece with david hockney... apps such as skype and zoom are therefore replacing a face to face daily editorial meetings. jonty, what you think about using that clip that we've already laid down? we can do that. broadcasting is always a technical adventure but right now more than ever. amol rajan in central london, working with producer elizabeth in kent and editorjonathan in north london, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... in spain, a grim landmark as the death toll from coronavirus passes 10,000. another 950 people have died in the past 2a hours.

the british prime minister says coronavirus testing needs to be increased massively after it emerges just 2,000 frontline nhs workers in england have been tested. british airways is expected to suspend 36,000 workers until the coronavirus crisis is over. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. pakistan has so far reported 27 deaths and more than 2,100 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. with the country's economy struggling even before the two—week lockdown was announced, prime minister imran khan has been forced to announce a relief package for the poor and those who have lost theirjobs. it includes payments for workers of 18 dollars per worker, per month. but as farhatjaved reports

from islamabad, it's unlikely to be enough. this is a homeless shelter in the capital, islamabad. but today it is not just the capital, islamabad. but today it is notjust the homeless who have come for help. workers living on a daily wage are here as well after the lockdown lost them theirjobs. pakistan is under lockdown for two weeks now to stop the spread of coronavirus. prime minister imran khan who was against the lockdown, has announced against the lockdown, has announced a relief package for daily wages and labourers. 10 million people belonging to low income groups will

get a four month payment of 12,000 rupees in a lump sum. this is equivalent of $18 a month. local officials have been told to compile lists of those in need who must then put in an application at district offices but it is still unclear how long the process will take and whether help will get to those who need it the most. currently considering our resources and considering our resources and considering the epidemic we are going through, i think at least something is better than nothing, at least the government is doing something to reach out to those people. 0ther something to reach out to those people. other than that, already the food packages and rations are being distributed pundits were not seeing that whether you have been given the 3000 out or not, we are reaching out to people, maybe someone will be getting the ration and food package and the amount as well. it is a combined effort and i hope we will

all go through hard times. confusion about how the process will work means many like abdul are worried about their future. he and his fellow workers are now penniless. translation: there is no work to do now, it has been six or seven days i could not find any work. i'm surviving on the money i saved for my daily wages before the lockdown started. we are thankful to the prime ministerfor this started. we are thankful to the prime minister for this amount but what we will do with this money if 3000 rupees a month, you tell us, what will be do with it? even the boys need breakfast and a cup of tea in the day. we don't know how we will get this money —— even the poorest. we don't know where to collect it from or if there is any franchise. ina in a country where more than 55

million people live below the poverty line and 20% just above it, economists fear that coronavirus pandemic and a weeks long lockdown may have a devastating impact on pakistan's economy and the lives of its people. millions of us are under lockdown and many self—isolating so spare a thought for those who try to do so in cities and densely packed tower blocks. fiona lamdin has been to meet the residents of one in bristol, this is the first time numeri hussain has left his flat in two weeks. just a few steps to take the rubbish out. his wife and three children are inside on the 15th floor. so, it is very hard for them to be able to move. the kids are very active. so theyjump here, theyjump here, they broke something here, they do something here. the space is very small for them.

there are over 80 families living here. none of them have washing machines. instead the entire block shares this laundry room. it has five communal washers. there is five, six people always so this time it is not good because the laundry is not big and just the smallest space, so that's why i'm not coming in at this time. numeri is worried about contracting corona from here but his family are running out of clean clothes. when we go in the lifts, what do we do? we spray. the buttons. and we stay away from? the walls. samuel and his boys also live on the 15th floor. with a two and a six—year—old, the stairs are out of the question. so you can imagine what it's

like in the lift when you can't even swing a cat! can you hold this one sec for me, please? i can't do this. coming down this morning, there was seven in there. julie has asthma, diabetes and uses a wheelchair. it feels like i am in a prison, locked out. ijust sit at the window and look out the window all day. and that's really annoying me because i want to go out. i'm not used to being indoors. but you know you have to stay in... yeah. ..because it is just too dangerous? yeah. two lifts and one washroom for hundreds of people to share, making social distancing almost impossible. look what i've got for you, boys. julie is giving you something. but they tell me they've never felt closer. fiona lamdin, bbc news.

i thought i had while watching that film, something i heard from somebody is that if you live in a building with a lift, you should use your knuckles or that to press the lift buttons, not your fingers because it reduces your exposure of your hands to exterior. lot's more at the top of the hour. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz. hello, for most it is cool and cloudy but some big changes are going on in the air in the next few days put it this is friday and saturday, it is going to be relatively chilly autumn morning frost but a big change on sunday, much warmer with temperatures possibly hitting 20 celsius. this is what is happening right now. this cloud you can see from the north, thatis cloud you can see from the north, that is a cool front which is

introducing colder air to northern parts of the uk and that means that later on this afternoon and into this evening the skies are going to clear and the temperatures will tumble and impact, 5pm, temperatures only 6 degrees in aberdeen and the cold front is just about here, you can see this saddle in the cloud with a few pockets of rain pulled at the skies clearing but occasional showers as well and may be some wintry ones in the scottish hills. you can see the air frost in that blue colour but to the south, not quite so cold, six or 7 degrees in cardiff and plymouth. this is friday, the best of a suntan in the morning probably on the eastern areas “— morning probably on the eastern areas —— best of the sunshine pulled the west will be quite cloudy with some showers and generally through the day we will see cloud building up the day we will see cloud building up so if you have a sunny morning, will have a more cloudy afternoon. temperatures of nine or 10 degrees. friday night into saturday, that is when we see some changes the isobars

pointing from south to north, and thatis pointing from south to north, and that is where the wind is coming from as you can see the arrows following the isobars. that is a warmer source which means temperatures will pick up on saturday already, some sunshine around as well, 1a degrees expected in london but by sunday, that is when the really warm air will start to arrive from the southern climes with some sunshine. we live in times where we can't really make the most of the weather but at least knowing it is fine out there is quite a cheerful ink to talk about. 20 degrees in london, 17 expected in newcastle degrees in london, 17 expected in n ewcastle o n degrees in london, 17 expected in newcastle on sunday. and also, the pollen levels will be turning quite high in the south, particularly the south—east.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk prime minister says coronavirus testing needs to be increased massively after it emerges just 2,000 frontline nhs workers in england have been tested. this is the way through. this is how we will unlock the coronavirus puzzle. this is how we will defeat it in the end. in spain, a grim landmark as the death toll from coronavirus passes 10,000. another 950 people have died in the past 2a hours. the world health organisation says the the world will reach one million coronavirus cases in the next few days. in the us, the death toll exceeds 5,000 as fears grow over a nationwide

shortage of protective gear there. british airways is expected to suspend 36,000 workers until the coronavirus crisis is over. almost one million people apply for the social security payment universal credit in two weeks in the uk, as financial concerns around the pandemic grow. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world, for all the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic. here in britain, the government is facing mounting criticism over its testing strategy for lagging behind some other countries. the prime minister has promised to "ramp up" the process so that

healthworkers who are self—isolating unnecessarily can return to work. it comes after it was revealed that only 2,000 out of half a million front line health staff in england have been tested so far. in other news, as the airline industry continues to struggle, british airways is expected to announce later that it is suspending thousands of its employees. in a sign of the pandemic‘s financial impact on uk households, 950,000 people have successfully applied for benefit payments in the past two weeks — almost ten times the average. spain's death toll has risen by 950 ina single spain's death toll has risen by 950 in a single day. it brings the total to 10,000, the second highest in the world behind italy. in the united states, there have been 88a deaths in 2a hours, a new record.

it takes the total death toll there to more than 5,000. in russia, the number of cases has risen by almost 800 over the past 2a hours — that's the biggest dailyjump there. but there could be promising signs coming out of italy, the world's worst affected country, where fatalities dropped to their lowest daily figure in nearly a week. we'll have more on all of that in a moment. but first, dan johnson reports on the picture in the uk. quite an amazing job... the prime minister, isolating after testing positive himself, couldn't have been clearer. i want to say a special word about testing because it so important and as i have said for weeks and weeks, this is the way through. this is how we will unlock the coronavirus puzzle, this is how we will defeat it in the end. nhs staff have been queueing around the block to get tested to see if they are safe to go back to work, but this is just a trial. we are still way behind some other countries and the government's

own ambition to reach 25,000 tests a day. this hospital in cambridge is the first to try a new bedside testing machine, which gives results in an hour and a half instead of a whole day, and it can be reused, potentially a real game changer. turning repeated promises into actual test results is a challenge facing the health secretary matt hancock, as he gets back to his desk this morning after his own week of isolation. getting enough personal protective equipment, ppe, to front line medical staff is the other key issue. increasing testing capacity is absolutely the government's top priority. we are now at 10,000 tests a day, we are rolling out additional networks of labs and testing sites and in terms of phe, over the last two weeks, 390 million products had been distributed, and of course we will continue to do more.

the figures reach new highs each day — 563 people died in the last 2a hours. across the uk, the virus has now claimed 2,352 lives. and the economic impact is also unyielding. in the last fortnight, nearly one million people claimed universal credit. ten times the number for a normal two—week period. airlines have suffered and british airways is now close to a deal that will mean 80% of its staff — that's 36,000 cabin crew, ground staff and head office workers — going unpaid. they are not being made redundant but they will rely on the government paying most of their wages until planes can fly again. coming together like this feels precious in these strange disjointed days, so tonight, it'll happen again. a show of strength and support for nhs workers, medics and carers, some we now know giving their lives to this relentless, exhausting and deadly virus. dan johnson, bbc news.

professor paul cosford, who is the emeritus medical director at public health england explained why more frontline health workers are not being tested. of course, the tests are focused on the people who are ill, making absolutely sure that all that is being done as needed. and then working a way of getting nhs staff into testing and using the extra capacity for nhs staff. that's something happening at an individual hospital basis and across the nhs, so that is the core priority at the moment, to make sure that all that capacity is used for nhs staff where it is not needed for patients who desperately needed the tests to help with their diagnosis and treatment. professor paul koss wood.

let's turn to spain now, where the death toll has now surpassed 10,000, as more than 700 people have died in the last 2a hours. that number should be more than 950. spain has now confirmed 110,238 confirmed cases — 8,000 more than yesterday. just a short while ago i spoke to james badcock, a journalist from madrid covering the coronavirus there. absolutely grim landmark has been reached. 0bviously they hope in spain will be that eight is that little bit behind italy in terms of the development of the epidemic in this country. they will turn that corner. now that italy seems to be turning it. it seems it has to get worse before it gets better in terms of the number of deaths. this is another day, another record, almost another day, another record, almost a week of daily records in terms of 24—hour death tolls. bringing up

this awfulfigure. but 24—hour death tolls. bringing up this awful figure. but the authorities will also be looking at otherfigures. authorities will also be looking at other figures. there authorities will also be looking at otherfigures. there are new detections, the rate of new detections, the rate of new detections is continuing its slowdown. again it is around 8% today, up on yesterday. that has a little bit to do with testing, it has a little bit to do with how many people are able to be seen by medics and go to hospital. 0bviously most people are staying at home and self isolating when they get symptoms. but if we look at the intensive care situation, that should be more of a clear indication of what is happening. if somebody does become a very ill they will be hospitalised. and they may need intensive care. that is rising... that is slowing down, almost peaking. it has risen by 3.5% today. it was similar yesterday. a little bit more of the day before. the health minister said

yesterday that they seem to be slowing down. the plateau, as it were, is being reached. what will then have to be seen is how quickly then have to be seen is how quickly the slowdown will turn into an actual decline. and an easing of the strain and the stress that hospitals, makeshift hospitals, doctors are absolutely exhausted, a number of them can't work because they have been infected. we will still have to see how quickly the situation actually improves. but it looks like it will stop getting worse very soon. should more of us wear face masks to help slow the spread of coronavirus? advisers to the world health 0rganisation are weighing up recent research into whether a cough or sneeze can project the virus further than previously thought. 0ur science editor david shukman has more. how far can a sneeze travel? and would a mask help stop the spread of coronavirus? new research suggests that the infection could be reaching further than previously thought.

and now advisers to the world health organisation are weighing up the evidence. masks are suddenly becoming a common sight all around the globe, from supermarkets in california to police officers patrolling the streets of france. until now, the advice has been that healthy people don't need them unless caring for someone who may have the disease but that guidance may change. it might be that wearing a mask is equally as effective or more effect than distancing, provided that mask is worn properly and provided that people don't infect themselves when they are taking the mask off and touch another surface that may be contaminated. in germany, several regions want it to be compulsory for people to wear masks in public. for many, it makes a lot of common sense but experts say it is vital to realise the masks don't offer total protection. in austria, the supermarkets

are going to insist that everyone wears a mask but health professionals say they must be worn properly and the most important thing remains hygiene. above all, keeping your hands as clean as possible. a clothing factory in rome turns to making masks. demand is growing but one concern is that if the public snap up masks all over the world, that may make it harder for health workers to get hold of them. david shukman, bbc news. ben cowling is a professor of epidemiology and a mask researcher at the hong kong university school of public health. what are your views on this? i think there is evidence to support the effectiveness of this of face masks in the community. it is mixed. it may not work as well as, for

example, staying at home. but for people who have to go out, maybe there is some benefit if they have to wear masks. how do you assess the evidence from asian countries? mask wearing there is commonplace and it would in fact be shocking to some of those who have been facing coronavirus in asia over the last couple of months, to see someone not wearing a mask. yes, mask uses very common in asia. in hong kong 99% of people are wearing masks on the street. that is not the main reason we have coronavirus transmission under control here. we are doing a lot of social distancing and a lot of testing and isolation of cases. 0bviously many countries are driven by the science. the world health 0rganization advice is that mask wearing is not necessarily, in fact, can be counter—productive. do you think it is time for the world health organization, given what you said initially, to change its advice? yeah, i think it's time to

soften a bit. i wouldn't necessarily say go as far as having mandatory facemasks. they could play a role. they probably have some benefit. 0bviously they probably have some benefit. obviously it is still better to stay at home but if you have to stay out, would be a good idea to wear a mask if supplies are available. the riposte from many quarters these we haven't got enough masks for our front line medical workers, so how can we possibly supply masks to the general community. ——? iwonder can we possibly supply masks to the general community. ——? i wonder if there are different standards of mask? that's right. surgical masks are needed in health care settings and often there is not enough supply. we have to prioritise that. but if we can get more than we need forjust but if we can get more than we need for just health care but if we can get more than we need forjust health care workers i think it would be a good idea to start using them in the community. maybe also we could look at cloth masks to see if they can provide any additional protection. at the moment we are thinking about anything we can do to stop —— slowdown coronavirus short of lock downs,

which we really don't like. for many viewers, they will be seeing members of theirfamily viewers, they will be seeing members of their family and their neighbours and others on public transport, possibly, using their coats, using theirjumpers, possibly, using their coats, using their jumpers, using cloth. possibly, using their coats, using theirjumpers, using cloth. should individuals be thinking about doing that in terms of their own self protection and protecting those that they are coming into contact with? yeah, of course. if you are sick you should definitely be covering your mouth with a mask or something to stop the virus and getting out. for a coronavirus there is a particular distinct feature that some people seem to be able to spread infection before the symptoms appear. so one of the reasons that everybody is wearing masks in hong kong is because if we are infected, then by wearing a mask we are stopping the virus from getting into the environment and possibly spreading to other people. would you like to see the uk government tell its citizens to stay at home, wherever possible, but if they do have to go

out, to do as you suggest and to wear a mask when they do so?|j out, to do as you suggest and to wear a mask when they do so? i think it's certainly time to consider a guidance like that. i think we do need more evidence on which kind of cloth masks or home—made mask might be better. but i think that wearing something over your nose and mouth would be better than not wearing anything. really we are looking for every possible edge we can get to slow down transmission and stop transmission. if masks can contribute, along with hand hygiene and staying at home more often, we need to look at those possibilities. thank you. the headlines on bbc news: the british prime minister says coronavirus testing needs to be increased massively — after it emerges just 2,000 frontline nhs workers in england have been tested. in spain a grim landmark as the death toll from coronavirus passes 10,000. another 950 people have died in the past 2a hours. the world health organisation says the the world will reach one million coronavirus cases

in the next few days. an immediate nationwide ceasefire in syria is needed to enable an "all—out—effort" to stamp out coronavirus and prevent it from ravaging a beleaguered population. that's according to the un and the international committee of the red cross. both say that prisoners and millions of displaced people — especially those in rebel—held idlib — are especially vulnerable after nine years of war. ket‘s talk to fabrizio carboni from the icrc in geneva. what are the challenges that these communities face? i mean, the first one, we need to know that this epidemic isjust one one, we need to know that this epidemic is just one additional

layer of misery. those people, during the last ten years, were confronted with violence, displacement, death and this epidemic isjust the displacement, death and this epidemic is just the last, the last... the last misery on them. so a very weakened community living in an environment where very few services are available. and for sure, not at the level needed to address an epidemic. you said very weakened community. does it mean that individual health is also weakened? that individual health is also weakened ? are there that individual health is also weakened? are there more underlying health conditions of the kind that make individuals more vulnerable to the virus among the communities that you are describing, given their experiences? obviously i can give you the example. i was a couple of weeks ago in the famous camp in north—east syria where you have all these women and children who were related to the islamic state group.

they have limited access to food, they are living in tents where they are exposed to extreme cold weather. very few health services available. these are people who are weak. and so if they are confronted with the epidemic, their body won't be in any condition to answer autonomously to this thread. and the services around them are very, very weak. it is a terrifying picture that you paint. it seems very hard to imagine what individuals can do to protect themselves. they don't have the luxury of social distancing in those campus. they don't have the luxury even of washing their hands with soap or even in some cases water. is there anything that individuals can do as distinct from the things that health services and government should be doing to help them?|j should be doing to help them?” mean, this is a collective response.

un actors are playing a critical role. we are providing the water. we are providing the food. we are providing the health services. so yes, we need social distancing. yes. but we can help providing these basic services. i would say the response to the crisis in syria, and in all other contexts facing conflict, it is possible to keep alive the humanitarian response because the humanitarian response is what is often providing the basic services which will allow people to stay at how at least. i hardly dare ask you the question which is very obvious. enabling that humanitarian response would be a ceasefire. do you think there is any chance of the warring parties in syria actually enacting that for the

benefit of the citizens who are so vulnerable? for the time being there isa vulnerable? for the time being there is a ceasefire in the area of idlib. more or less it is holding. but again the ceasefire is one element. the other element is access. in other words, let us work and do not politicise the environment. and refocus on the need of people. and if we don't do this today we will never do it. yes, ceasefires help, but what helps even more is if we are given access, which i would say is humanitarian access, not politicise. unfortunately, health infrastructure, health personnel, has been targeted over the last ten yea rs has been targeted over the last ten years in syria. but we still have hope. i am glad you have hope. thank you so much forjoining us. good luck. thank you very much.

it's another difficult milestone for the united states, confirmation that more than 5,000 people have now died because of covid—19, with more than 200,000 known to have been infected. around half of those are in new york state. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports. the new reality. drive through testing for the coronavirus in miami. florida is the latest state where people have been ordered to stay at home as the number of cases rises steeply. new york city is still the epicentre of the outbreak in the us. here the restrictions on movement have been tightened further, with playgrounds shut down. health workers in the city say they are completely overwhelmed. they are fighting the rapid spread of the virus. hospitals are running out of medications. some hospitals don't have protective gear for staff. 0r family members of patients. we are running out of medication, we are running out of medication, we are running out of equipment and we are even running out of oxygen, whizzes something that patients need.

stockpiles of emergency equipment and protective clothing are running low. there are reports the federal government and individual states are competing for a lies in a marketplace rife with profiteering and price gouging. president trump says supplies are being sent direct to hospitals by manufacturers and will —— they will soon be a surplus of ventilators. we will be fairly soon at a point where we have far more than we can use, even if we stockpile for a future catastrophe, which we hope doesn't happen. we will distributing the extras around the world. we will go to italy, to france, to spain, which is very hard hit. america is also unusually on the receiving end of humanitarian aid from russia. after a phone call between mr trump and president putin, medicalsupplies, between mr trump and president putin, medical supplies, including ventilators, were dispatched to new york. the us is braced for a wave of coronavirus cases on a scale similar to italy. with up to a quarter of a

million deaths. closing down flights between certain cities is being considered and the us government is reviewing its advice on the use of facemasks. even a scarf used as a mask could help, according to the president. his tone becoming more sombre every day. we are going to have a couple of weeks, starting pretty much now, but especially a few days from now, that are going to be horrific. but even in the most challenging of times americans do not despair. we do not give in to fear. we pull together. we persevere and we overcome. and we went. facing some of its darkest days, america hunkers down for the long haul. lemonjuice, mosquito bites and blood donations? reality check‘s chris morris tackles more health myths about coronavirus that are being shared online.

we are all going to be in this for the long haul and separating fact from fiction is really important. so here are some more myths you should be aware of. myth number one — "lemonjuice protects you from covid—19." there have been plenty of claims about things you should eat or drink to thwart the coronavirus, and the lemonjuice myth just won't go away. it started with a viral social media post containing advice from a fake chinese scientist. to be clear, lemonjuice is obviously not bad for you. in fact, all fruit and vegetables are essential while nearly all of us have to stay at home. they can help keep you healthy, but they don't stop you getting a virus like this. myth number two — "mosquito bites can infect you with the virus." we all know you can get other diseases from mosquito bites, but there is no evidence

at all that the little brutes can infect you with coronavirus. again, remember this is a respiratory virus, spread mainly when someone who is ill coughs or sneezes. the best way to protect yourself is to avoid close contact with anyone who is sick, and keep washing your hands. myth number three — "blood donations will get you a free test." some people are hoping they might get a free coronavirus test if they donate blood. that's absolutely not the case, but there's been a persistent false belief on social media that it might be. to be clear, you don't get tested for covid—19 if you give blood. the last thing staff who run blood banks want is sick people coming in. nor of course can you get the virus from a blood donation. so the best advice right now, try to stay healthy while scientists work towards medical breakthroughs.

good advice from chris. stay safe everyone. now we say goodbye to our viewers on bbc world. and here in the uk we are going to get the weather with thomas. thank you. the weather is fairly cloudy at the moment across the uk. pretty cold too. it will turn colder during this evening. the winds blowing out of the north—west. the skies will clear across parts of scotla nd skies will clear across parts of scotland and northern england, especially the north—east. sub zero air temperatures. to the south of that not quite so cold. six or so in cardiff, for example, and seven in plymouth. a frosty start for many of us across northern areas of the uk. central part of the country too. tomorrow, not an awful lot of change compared to what we have got out

there right now. relatively cool day. variable amounts of cloud and some sunshine. temperatures around the 10 degrees mark. the real warming is heading our way from around about a saturday, but particularly sunday. temperatures could hit around 20 degrees across the south of the country. but for the south of the country. but for the time being a chill in the air still.

hello, this is bbc news with carrie gracie. the headlines... just a thought, we are going over to wales in a moment to get a news briefing from the chief executive of the nhs in wales and we will get you that when it arrives but first the headlines. the uk prime minister says coronavirus testing needs to be increased massively after it emerges just 2,000 frontline nhs workers in england have been tested. in spain, a grim landmark as the death toll from coronavirus passes 10,000. another 950 people have died

in the past 2a hours. the world health organisation says the the world will reach one million coronavirus cases in the next few days. in the us, the death toll exceeds 5,000 as fears grow over a nationwide shortage of protective gear there. british airways is expected to suspend 36,000 workers until the coronavirus crisis is over. almost one million people apply for the social security payment universal credit in two weeks in the uk as financial concerns around the pandemic grow. while we wait for the update from wales, we will look at the global issue. the number of coronavirus infections globally will reach one milliuon within days, according to the head of the world health organization.

as we've been reporting, in spain the number of deaths has grown to more than 10,000 as another 950 people died there in the past 2a hours. well, last night the director—general of the world health organization says he was deeply concerned about the rapid rise in the number of cases. he told an international news briefing that the pandemic over the past five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new cases, reaching almost every country, territory and area. the number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week. in the next few days, we will reach one million confirmed cases and 50,000 deaths. earlier, i spoke to dr peter drobac, who's a global health physician at the said business school at the university of oxford,

and he gave us his assessment of the current rate of new infections and deaths around the world. well, we are very much as a globe on the exponential growth curve right now. we are seeing an acceleration in the number of cases in the uk, the us and many other parts of the world as well. that is obviously concerning but also predictable. i think what we have to keep in mind is we do have some examples of what works well and that is mass testing, that is social distancing and that is working to support health systems and doing all of those things in concert early are really the only way to blunt this rise. are there specific lessons we can learn from different countries? there seems to be a growing controversy right now about the use of face masks, with some of the asian countries, which make it a priority, seeming to be able to flatten their curves more effectively than countries which aren't.

that may be entirely incidental, there may be no correlation. but i am interested in what you think about that. and also, the other differences. china, we know, has put into force these quarantines, enforced quarantines, along with its lockdowns. when you look at the different experiences of different countries, do you think there are lessons other countries should be taking away? sure. first with regard to facemasks, the asian countries, where facemask use by the general public has been common, have also done a lot of other things at the same time that probably drive a lot of that success. the pivot we are starting to see now is coming from the increasing evidence of the importance of asymptomatic transmission. that means i can be infected but feel perfectly well and be infecting others when i go to the shop to pick up some groceries. we are going to go over to cardiff first ave andrew goodall, chief executive of nhs wales. 4496 first ave andrew goodall, chief executive of nhs wales. 44% of our acute hospital beds, around 2850

beds are available for use of this gives us flexibly to respond to pressures and hospital admissions as the number of people with coronavirus increases in line with our expectations but we have 573 confirmed covid—19 patients in nhs beds across wales and there are a further 399 suspected cases in hospital beds. we are parents of course for more people to be admitted to hospital and there are many more people with coronavirus in the community who don't need hospital treatments. we have been able to expand our critical care capacity now to 331 beds around 55% of our critical care capacity is currently unoccupied and available. 0ne currently unoccupied and available. one in five of those critical care bedsis one in five of those critical care beds is occupied by confirmed covid—19 patients and i would say there is more pressure on critical ca re there is more pressure on critical care beds currently in the south—east of wales. the nhs in wales has confirmed plans to bring more than 6000 additional beds

online by using stadiums and leisure centres including up to 2000 beds at the principality stadium cardiff, more than 1300 beds in the swansea bay area at the dowsett academy of sport and stew more than 300 beds at parties gullet in llanelli, more than 300 implant did know and what and 350 at the grange university hospital site. i need to share that we expect the pressure on our health and care system to be significant. we have never ta ken and care system to be significant. we have never taken such actions before and they are a necessary response to ensure we care for our patients and communities. whilst the focus is on coronavirus, people need to access nhs care and services and the nhs in wales will continue to respond to emergency admissions and provide urgent surgery and agnostics and there will be people accessing primary care at pharmacies every day. i have written to all health boards telling them to continue to prioritise cancer treatment. but we

have seen a significant drop in normal nhs activity. the number of a&e attendances over the past two weeks has reduced by up to 60%. the number of emergency admissions has fallen from around 420 on average per day to around 150 per day across wales. but i want to finish by passing on my personal thanks and appreciation to all of our nhs and ca re appreciation to all of our nhs and care staff who are supporting care and treatment for the people of wales. they continue to demonstrate their professionalism and commitment in the most challenging of circumstances both in their preparations but also in their care that they are already providing across wales. finally, we continue to ask the public to play their part by following the stay at home rule is put of these measures are helping to limit further transmission and they are a critical part of plans we are putting in place across wales and the uk put it we are recruiting extra nhs staff and bring the extra capacity online but limiting the demand will make the greatest difference. the public‘s own actions

will help to protect our nhs and save lives. i'm very happy to take questions. could i start with testing, which is a concern to nhs wales staff? we understand around just 1% of the nhs workforce in wales has been tested so far. do you think it is an error for whatever reason not to have been able to ramp that up much more quickly? and what practical steps are you taking right now to do that, including, if i could ask, for a number is about where you want to be in the next few days? the minister was able to make a statement on this in recent days in terms of our intention is to increase numbers put out that was to increase numbers put out that was to increase by the end of the week, numbers up to around 1100 per day over the forthcoming weeks to be able to increase those numbers to a minimum of 5000 at this stage and we re minimum of 5000 at this stage and were working on testing opportunities in a range of different areas through public

health wales as our lead agency. numbers of staff who have been tested across wales to date is over 1500. and we are increasing those numbers. 0ver 1500. and we are increasing those numbers. over the last couple of days, or health care workers, around 200 per day are being tested at this stage. just yesterday we were close toa stage. just yesterday we were close to a thousand tests being protest and you will continue to see those numbers rising in wales but it is important to say that whatever opportunities we have we continue to explore them to expand testing and diminish minister was able to continue and that pundits what other things i asking of labs that might not normally do it? you could have a small lab is helping out? is that an avenue you are exploring? public health wales is exploring? public health wales is exploring a number of active areas, about 20 under consideration as we are able to secure those arrangements we will go to announcing them through the minister, the arrangement in place. but we continue to want to explore the ability to test more and that

will be part of using some of the uk arrangements in place at the same time. on ppe guidelines, suggestions the guidelines in england could be changing shortly, could be expect the guidelines in wales to be amended as well? we are expecting revisions to the guidelines to be announced. as you would expect, this isa announced. as you would expect, this is a task undertaken on a uk wide basis. the well—being and protection of our front line staff both working in the nhs and care sectors is important to make sure we continue to focus on at this stage. 0bviously we have existing guidelines in place and we will be looking to enhance those to make sure they can be supplied in wales and. across wales. and on virtual appointments, can you update us on the position they're in terms of what proportion are being done virtually, and the process of getting there? we will find a way of accessing some of those figures you can see them and have them available

but it's really clear that in recent days the enormous transformation around the way in which we are providing care and treatment across wales is quite extraordinary in our experience. we have been able to make sure that we have virtual calls, video calls able to be undertaken by gp practices across wales. it would be an exercise that normally would take months if not yea rs normally would take months if not years to work through to implement and we have been able to achieve it ina and we have been able to achieve it in a matter of a couple of weeks i'm really grateful for the support we have had for that undertaking from gps working across wales but also the colleges and professional organisations. we have some questions that have been provided to us. a question from steve morris from the guardian would like to know about whether we need to put in place any improved staffing arrangements, weather more widely or in intensive care. what i would say is that all of our health boards in wales are of themselves organisations of significant size and they have over 40,000 staff in place which is supporting care and

services. —— 14,000 place which is supporting care and services. ——14,000 per nook with to make sure we have mechanisms to ensure there is support available for health boards able to work with each other, particularly taking advantage of mechanisms like the welsh critical care network to provide that support. but we've been really pleased with the reaction we have had from all staff who have come back in from retirement, also an opportune student to come and help, currently going through their studies in various health care professions. and we hope that mixture alongside some of the volunteering mechanisms in wales will enable us to deploy staff more quickly and urgently across the system. mark smith from the western mailand system. mark smith from the western mail and this asking how many nhs workers are off with symptoms and how many have been tested. we are looking across wales at the moment of sickness and absence rates generally rising for all individual organisations to around 10%. that is probably twice the normal level we would see at this stage. clearly it

is important to make sure we have the health care testing mechanisms in place so that as a staff are identified, we can move them quickly through the system. as i said earlier, the numbers who have been tested to date is around 1500. and from the press association, asking about the impact of coronavirus on nhs staff and that mental health and how we can support them. clearly, these are exceptional and extraordinary circumstances we are going through and for all of us who work in the nhs context, we will never have experienced this kind of environment. we are very reliant on the professionalism and commitment of our staff who are working to support patients and it's important that we are able to provide different ways to support them in their day—to—day activities but also recognise that some of this is the way in which we need to support them outside those activities as well. we have access to various mental health support, we have workforce teams in place in the individual

organisations in wales and we have of course, as you would expect, been talking to professional associations and staff associations in wales about how to make sure we are able to discharge a package of support whether at a local or national level. and from the western mail, and we tests are being carried out per day in wales. the numbers we are carrying out at the moment were up to close to a thousand yesterday, the minister has given a commitment we would be getting towards 1100 test per day by the end of the week and we expect those numbers to increase into next week as well. again from the western mail, one thing to know details about how private hospitals in wales are helping to improve capacity for the nhs. i'm pleased to say that over the course of the next couple of weeks —— last couple of weeks, and with the support from the private sector in wales, we have been able to secure an agreement to be able to use their facilities and services and the access to their staffing

arrangements across wales. this gives us access to 152 additional beds but more importantly, it means we are able to access the other facilities they have on site, including theatre access, diagnostic support and also it gives us an environment whereby we can more safely care for some patients through some of the normal outpatient consultations. i'm really grateful for the support, it was a very open up a week received from the sector in wales and we are really pleased to have them working alongside us in nhs wales. and asking about nurses and social care workers were putting inadequate ppe, about quality and supply. —— reporting inadequate ppe point we are expecting more guidance that allow us to manage the number of risk in all settings and that in the acute environment right through to help we need to support patients being cared for in the community environment. is what i would say is that we have been trying to ensure that we have been trying to ensure that our supplies and distribution

have been happening at scale, at a level we have not had to deliver in the past and just over the last couple of weeks we have been able to ensure that over a 5 million items have been distributed to a range of different areas in the health care sector come from gp practices through to pharmacies, to social ca re through to pharmacies, to social care and of course a hospital environment. we will continue to make sure those supplies are available and there are emergency hotlines in place should there be any concerns about local access at this time and we will continue to work with health organisations and particularly the social care sector in wales. dan from global radio... we will leave andrew goodall now and go over to our correspondent hywel griffith who was listening to the upper update. what stood out for you? everyone is talking about testing and it seems wales is ahead of england as far as how many nhs staff have been tested when andrew goodall was telling us... staff

members have been tested since march the 18th. we as of last night only 2000 have been tested in england so proportionally, wales is well ahead. however there have been difficulties over expanding the testing regime here in wales. we are told at the moment, staff and patient overall adds up to almost a thousand per day. we were told that number would be ramped up significantly but it might not happen for a week or two. there was a problem with the deal which the welsh government claimed it had struck with the pharmaceutical company roche who denied there was a bad contract so there has been some difficulty but trying to move on. —— there was a contract. the issue of capacity, beds that can cope with the expected influx of critically ill patients. went the situating started, there we re went the situating started, there were only around 150 critical care beds in wales and that has been more than doubled already and we know that only half are being used, about 150 with another 150. however, the

experience in london has taught at the welsh to expect that ramping up to be very sudden. while the capacity is there at moment, they are expecting for it to be a real challenge for welsh nhs staff. and worth mentioning the focus on the south—east, which we know has been a particular problem for wales. there seems to be a bit of a cluster around the gwent area covered by the annual devon university health board. as of earlier this week with the cases they're counted for at least half of the welsh coronavirus cases. different explanations doing the rounds, possibly the proximity to england but that did not make sense because neighbouring areas like gloucester and bristol did not have the same frequency. the other explanation was that nhs staff, one of the staff members had tested positive in a hospital and therefore a lot of people had to be tested bringing a lot of positive results. things seem to be even it out

slowly. we will get the latest numbers at 2pm so there is still a hot spot within south—east wales, one of the biggest outside london. however at the welsh government and the head of the nhs is urging caution and not to read too much into it to ponder what might be more instructed but we don't know is the number of deaths. we are just under a hundred overall but we don't know how many are clustered within south—east wales. that is what the biologists and scientists looked at, where the deaths are occurring because that gives it more accurate picture about how severely the pirate is a spreading and a real impact it's having. thank you so much for now. sad news of death, comedian eddie large has died from the corrosion virus that would

coronavirus. the little and large star, 78, was best known for his partnership with syd little. his family said he had coronavirus and his son, ryan mcginnis, posted on facebook: "it is with great sadness that mum and i need to announce that my dad passed away in the early hours of this morning. he had been suffering with heart failure and unfortunately, whilst in hospital, contracted the coronavirus, which his heart was sadly not strong enough to fight." the headlines on bbc news... the british prime minister says coronavirus testing needs to be increased massively after it emerges just 2,000 frontline nhs workers in england have been tested. in spain, a grim landmark as the death toll from coronavirus passes 10,000. another 950 people have died in the past 24 hours. the world health organisation says the the world will reach

one million coronavirus cases in the next few days. well, you heard questions being asked there about testing. the francis crick institute is a biomedical research centre in london. its research laboratory had been repurposed so it could carry out covid—19 tests at a rate of 500 a day by next week. earlier i spoke to sir paul nurse, who's the chief executive of the francis crick institute. i asked him to tell us more about the initiative, and how he thinks it can help. about three weeks ago at the crick we recognised that testing for front line care workers, medical care workers, would be critical in the fight against covid—19 so we made the decision to re—purpose this

research institute into accommodating a diagnostic testing facility, not what we normally do but we have the equipment facilities and the ability to make chemicals and the ability to make chemicals and so wants to allow us to do that. we have been working round the clock for the last two weeks to do that. we have volunteers working in here come up to 100 trying to put that in place. this week we have managed to get our assays are working to a national standard, putting through 50 200 per dayjust to check it. as you said, we should be able to roll out 500 per day next week which is 3000 per week and we hope soon after that to go up to around 2000 per day which, as you know, it impacts the total number of nhs workers who have been tested up until now —— is in fa ct. been tested up until now —— is in fact. 0ur been tested up until now —— is in fact. our objective to support those on the front line, care workers, to

give them very rapid assessment of their covid—19 status, in less than 24 hours, perhaps even 12 hours, so they can be returned to the front lines to be able to treat patients as quickly as possible. as i said earlier, it's a bit like dunkirk. we are one of the small boats that the country, the government i should say, is putting in the bigger ships and we hope they will be running as quickly as possible but in the meantime we doing the best we can with a fairly small boat, that is the francis crick institute. and how many of these small boats are the can give you experience and advice to other small boats so you can act ina to other small boats so you can act in a flexible leverage your numbers? we are flexible and we are more agile and we can make our own

reagents. we are preparing our protocols at the moment so they can be distributed for example to cancer research uk units and institutes, they are one of our major funders, together with the medical research council put i will be in contact with the medical research council to do the same later today or tomorrow and those protocols can then be adapted. it does take a lot of effort because putting up a diagnostic lab is not that straightforward. but we have had this experience and practice and we can help in trying to get more distributed local based system to complement the nationwide one being put in place by the government. sir paul nurse of the francis crick institute, focusing a lot on medical questions in the last few hours but now we are going to focus on economic questions this afternoon and bejoined economic questions this afternoon and be joined by economic questions this afternoon and bejoined bya economic questions this afternoon and bejoined by a personalfinance expert as we try to answer your

money questions. do send them in. that is coming up at 4:30pm. the pandemic is affecting everyone in different ways. we can look at one group. the smart red tunics of the war veterans known as the chelsea pensioners areafamiliarsight at events here in london like the lord mayor's show and wimbledon. but for the time being, like so many of us, they have been confined to barracks. 0ur correspondentjonathan beale was invited into the royal chelsea hospital to see how the army veterans, who are no strangers to difficult times, are coping. a home fit for heroes, but the veterans who you normally see walking in the grand surroundings at the royal hospital, chelsea, are now mostly in hiding.

the familiar red tunics that brighten up life and london won't be seen out in public this spring. like the rest of the country, they're on lockdown. and chelsea pensioners like leo tighe, who've served and fought for their country, are now involved in a very different battle. it's an unseen war against an unseen enemy. but the enemy is there. it's a little virus. god help us all if we don't obey a few simple rules. stay at home and mind your own business. so far, they've had a few fall victim to this potentially lethal virus. david coote was one. after being in isolation, the former grenadier guardsman is now back on the mend and back practising drill, determined not to be defeated by this latest threat. you feel like you're a community fighting this together? oh, yes. we've got strict regulations on how to protect ourselves. obviously, with so many

elderly people here, a lot of them are very vulnerable to this virus so we have to protect ourselves and that's why we're on lockdown. they're used to discipline, though less to new measures like eating meals on their own. but with an average age of 82, the staff here feel it's now their job to protect those who've selflessly served their country. we have 300 old soldiers here. they've all served their country. over 40 served during the second world war, and they've served in campaigns since then. you know, they've done their duty and it's our duty to look after them. so, yes, one is very concerned to do that. they're responding with just what you would expect from chelsea pensioners — stoicism and great good humour. you know, the moment we put the measures in to stop people going out, the escape committee was formed and they remain incredibly cheerful.

but the thing is they do recognize the nature of the threat. and they also recognise the sacrifice and service of others. before we left, they wanted to send this message of solidarity to fellow veterans and those now on the front line who are fighting this virus. three cheers for the nhs, all care—home workers and our fellow veterans. hip—hip. hooray! jonathan beale, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz. hello, for most it is cool and cloudy but some big changes are going on in the air in the next few days. this is friday and saturday, it is going to be relatively chilly

autumn morning frost but a big change on sunday, much warmer with temperatures possibly hitting 20 celsius. this is what is happening right now. this cloud you can see from the north, that is a cool front which is introducing colder air to northern parts of the uk and that means that later on this afternoon and into this evening the skies are going to clear and the temperatures will tumble and 5pm, temperatures only 6 degrees in aberdeen and the cold front is just about here, you can see this saddle in the cloud with a few pockets of rain. the skies clearing but occasional showers as well and may be some wintry ones in the scottish hills. you can see the air frost in that blue colour but to the south, not quite so cold, six or 7 degrees in cardiff and plymouth. this is friday, the best of a sunshine in the morning probably on the eastern areas. the west will be quite cloudy with some showers and generally

through the day we will see cloud building up so if you have a sunny morning, you'll have a more cloudy afternoon. temperatures of nine or 10 degrees. friday night into saturday, that is when we see some changes the isobars pointing from south to north, and that is where the wind is coming from and you can see the arrows following the isobars. that is a warmer source which means temperatures will pick up on saturday already, some sunshine around as well, 14 degrees expected in london but by sunday, that is when the really warm air will start to arrive from the southern climes with some sunshine. we live in times where we can't really make the most of the weather but at least knowing it is fine out there is quite a cheerful thing to talk about. 20 degrees in london, 17 expected in newcastle on sunday. and also, the pollen levels will be turning quite high in the south, particularly the south—east.

senior health officials say they are frustrated by a lack of progress in expanding uk coronavirus testing. it comes after it was revealed only 2,000 front line nhs workers in england have been tested. the prime minister says there does need to be an increase. this is the way through. this is how we will unlock the coronavirus, and this is how we will defeat it in the end. with growing criticism of the government's response, we'll have the latest from our health editor and from westminster. also this lunchtime: we see the new machine developed in cambridge which can give a diagnosis injust 90 minutes. in spain, the death toll from coronavirus passes 10,000. another 950 people died in the past 24 hours.