it is not easy putting your life on front line day in and day out for us every day and for this we are ever grateful and thank you so much. it is both a means of giving thanks and to remind us of the whole web of care. this retirement home for instance. are you all fit, well and healthy in there at the moment? working hard? lovely to see because this is about care workers, health workers and key workers and everyone who is helping to keep the show on the road. among those key workers are people like george and mohammed here. whether it is working in the shop or delivery men or postman, or bean collector, they go out every day so we can safely stay indoors and that is all that is asked of us so we want to say thank you tonight. and here are the newest recruits to the national

effort, aircrew and cabin staff from grounded airlines are providing refreshment and moral support to the doctors and nurses here at the whittington hospital. we are able to offer them an oasis so they can talk about something other, travel, where they have been on holiday and where they come from and it is a distraction and they walk out feeling a little bit refreshed. it is lovely how people come together and working as a team, as a community and helping support as to keep us hydrated and well fed so we can give the best care to our patients. from one service to another, we thank our colleagues back in the uk and nhs. and the applause is notjust coming from doorsteps. this is a way of thanks that truly has gone around the world. david sillito, bbc news. you can, of course, watch it as it

happens at 8pm here on bbc one. time for a look at the weather. here's thomasz shafernaker. jack frost is going to pay us a visit tonight and tomorrow will be quite chilly, often cloudy, a bit of sunshine with big changes come the weekend, southerly warm winds and temperatures up to around 20 degrees gci’oss temperatures up to around 20 degrees across the south of the country, so this is the picture now, you can see the cold front across the north and behind it we have seen colder air coming in so clearing skies across scotla nd coming in so clearing skies across scotland and northern parts of england route the course of this evening, also one or two wintry showers are possible across the highlands but towards the west and south of the country it will be a bit milder. the temperatures first thing on friday will be 5 or 6 in the south and the major towns and cities of the north—east and scotla nd cities of the north—east and scotland around freezing or below,

so scotland around freezing or below, so it starts off cold and frosty in the north and north—east but the cloud builds up in the afternoon so we will call it are mostly cloudy date for most of the uk with occasional scattered showers, seven in the north, around 12 degrees in plymouth and then that chain starts on saturday, we see high pressure building on these isobars from the south mean the winds will come in from the south so it will turn warmer gci’oss from the south so it will turn warmer across the south, around the mid teens, still a bit cloudy and spots of rain in the north on saturday but the real plume of mild air arrives on sunday, really mild air arrives on sunday, really mild air spreading across the uk, temperatures could get up to 20 degrees in london, newcastle around 17 degrees and the thinking is it will stay relatively warm into next week. back to you, sophie. that's all from the bbc news at six — now it's time for the news where you

are. hello. in these uncertain times, england rugby at least know they have a manager for the forseeable future. eddiejones has agreed a contract which will keep him in charge until the next world cup in france in 2023. if he stays, he'll surpass sir clive woodword as england's longest—running manager. craig templeton reports. "we want to be the greatest team the world's ever seen." that was the message from eddiejones as he extended his contract until 2023. we want to aspire to be a team that everyone remembers. i think we've played some good rugby over the last four years and we can play even better rugby in the next three years, and that's the challenge ahead. the australian was appointed five years ago and made an instant impact, winning the six nations grand slam. another six nations title

would follow as england equalled new zealand's record of 18 wins in a row. there was then a slump in form, but last year's world cup provided some redemption, a win against australia and famously beating the all blacks in the semifinal. but jones's england fell short in the final, losing to an inspired south africa. that defeat led to rumours overjones's future, but despite these and the occasional controversy, he was still the man for the rfu. i would not want him to dial down his competitive nature, that's for sure. i mean, that's the big attraction. i wouldn't want him to dial down his commitment and his passion. and he's been around long enough, and as i say, he knows how to deal with situations. maybe slightly crosses the line, then he's pretty quick to admit that. england still have a chance to win this year's six nations, but the coronavirus means we'll have to wait for the conclusion. in these uncertain times, english rugby has at least some stability.

craig templeton, bbc news. one other significant story in rugby union, newcastle falcons are set to be promoted to the premiership after the championship season was concluded early because of coronavirus. 0ur rugby correspondent chrisjones has the details. all the leagues below the premiership have been abandoned, called off, finished early because of the coronavirus, so it left the championship in something of a limbo. but the rfu confirmed today that newcastle are being promoted back to the premiership. they've got a whopping 18—point lead at the top of the championship, having won all their matches. the rfu have applied a formula to ensure that newcastle finished top of the table, and they will pass the minimum standards criteria required. a second brighton player has tested positive for coronavirus. it was confirmed by the club on the day that senior figures

announced they would be taking a significant pay cut, including the manager. graham potter, chief executive paul barber and the director of football dan ashworth will take reduced wages over the next three months to ensure that non—playing staff aren't affected financially by the coronavirus. the second brighton player hasn't been named. the health secretary, matt hancock, has said that professional footballers should make their contribution and take a pay cut. it follows condemnation for some clubs which have used the government's taxpayer—funded job retention scheme. they include bournemouth, newcastle, norwich and tottenham. talks have been on—going today between the premier league and the players' union over possible salary sacrifices. former spurs player gary lineker says it will happen eventually. my inkling will be that footballers will take pay cuts, they will help out in their communities, they will make donations,

or in whatever way that they can help, and i think wejust need to be a little bit patient with them. the clubs only announced these things a day or two ago. hopefully, sense will prevail and footballers do their bit because if they don't, they won't come out of this very well. the way tottenham have handled it i don't think has been very good, and what tottenham are doing to their staff i don't agree with whatsoever, but that is a separate issue to what the players do. it's the club that have said the players are going to carry on with their wages, but let's see what the players...and how the players react to it. the belgian pro league has become the first major european league to be cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis, handing the title to club brugge. the final match of the regular season and the play—offs have been scrapped, so the current league table stands and club brugge will be declared champions. the decision was made after a meeting of their council, which has made the recommendation to their general assembly. organisers of the 149th 0pen

at royal st george have denied reports thatjuly‘s major will be cancelled. postponing the event is just one of the options being considered, according to r&a chief executive martin slumbers. he says external factors mean it's taking longer to reach a decision, but that they will aim to provide an update as soon as possible. shane lowry, the winner last year. and finally, with no sport on at the moment, many have been looking back on past triumphs, including england's ashes test win over australia at headingly last summer. well, one bored fan has gone a step further and recreated the scene, with his cat starring as ben stokes. 358-9. 358—9. stokes on strike, england needed one to win. and in comes pat coming from the far and then he bowls to stokes who hammers it for

four! and it stokes with the bat raised! i cannot believe i have seen that. fantastic fa ntastic stuff. fantastic stuff. jack leach with the glasses on the other hand it was my favourite. that's all the sport for now. thank you so much for that. let's bring you up—to—date with the coronavirus briefing for today. the health secretary, matt hancock, has been setting out how the government hopes to achieve "a significant increase" in coronavirus testing after strong criticism about the small percentage of nhs workers being screened. in his first public appearance since recovering from covid—19, mr hancock said he was now setting a goal of conducting 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month. at the briefing today our political editor asked mr hancock what date this will be tested by? the new goal

of 100,000 tests a day by the end of this month is over all five pillars. now if one of the large scale antibody tests when we are working on and testing comes good, then of course that will be great news. but we will not as i said in my remarks, we will not as i said in my remarks, we will not be allowing one of those to proceed until we are confident that it to proceed until we are confident thatitis to proceed until we are confident that it is a good test. because no testis that it is a good test. because no test is better than a bad test. so the 100,000 a day is across all five pillars, and i am calling on the life sciences industry, the universities and of course the public agencies that report to me, the nhl school of public health england to unite together to meet that goal. —— the nhs. you asked about test to give staff, this is incredibly important as i said and

i'm delighted we have now managed to test 50 0 0 i'm delighted we have now managed to test 5000 nhs and i'm also delighted that the absence figure some of the number of people who are not at work in the nhs due to coronavirus is lower than had been previously reported. and i will over the coming weeks seek to ensure that every nhs front line staff member who needs a test gets one, and crucially their families. because sometimes some nhs staff had to stay at home because they are following the rules on household isolation if one of their family gets the test. so matt hancock speaking for the first time after he had been self isolating. let's cross to leicester now where we can speak to the shadow health secretary, jonathan ashworth. a huge increase in the number of tests promised, from 20,000 up to 100,000. are you reassuring now?

first of all, it's good to see matt hancock back. he is been off with coronavirus and we all these days seem coronavirus and we all these days seem to have recovered from that. best wishes to matt for what has beena best wishes to matt for what has been a quite worrying time. more broadly though we have been calling for a national testing strategy because the way in which you beat this virus and escape what i fear could be an endless cycle of lockdowns is by massively wrapping up lockdowns is by massively wrapping up testing and expanding community testing and what is called contact racing in the community. properly protecting the nhs staff and their families on the front line in properly enforcing social distancing measures. a couple of weeks ago, borisjohnson said we measures. a couple of weeks ago, boris johnson said we would hit to 50,000 tests a day but today the goal is 100,000 tests a day and that is welcome because we are only doing just 10,000 a day at the moment. but the priority has to be getting all the priority has to be getting all the nhs staff tested. many of them are racing with me all the time worries out there that they are fighting this virus and don't know if they have symptoms end up know if

they are infected with it and think they are infected with it and think they are infected with it and think they are putting themselves at risk. nhs staff have to be an absolute priority for testing but i would like to see a few more details about how we are going to introduce mass testing in the community as well. because of the end of the day, that is how we will escape an endless cycle of lockdowns before we find a vaccine. we did not hear about the specific date when nhs staff would have that priority testing but we did see the number of nhs staff sick with coronavirus has lowered that is some good news. that is so good news we we re some good news. that is so good news we were told about 80% of the workforce is off now. —— 8%. we know they have been left reeling with huge numbers of vacancies. 100,000 shortages before we went into this crisis so if there are people off at the nhs because they think they have got coronavirus, they need to be tested straightaway. now there have been some testing stations set up in

big car parts and big doors run the country but nhs day they do not know how to get a test and don't know what the arrangements are in place to get the authorisation to go and get a test. so there are some teething problems that need to be resolved. but broadly but we have heard to date is a plan to use universities, use pharmaceutical sector, use businesses to come in and start doing more testing and what we have been calling for for some weeks now. so what we have been calling for for some weeks now. 50 we what we have been calling for for some weeks now. so we look forward to seeing the details of the action plan and we do hope we can see testing ramped up. mr hancock also touched on the fact that he was confident the supply of medicines the uk needed was ok because he said the uk needed was ok because he said the uk needed was ok because he said the uk probably had the strongest understanding of supply chains anywhere in the world because of preparations for a no—deal brexit planning. what do you make of that? throughout this we have been part of the global economy has really been brought into sharp focus because some of the reasons why we have had

problems with testing for example is because of problems in the global supply chain, because also some of theissues supply chain, because also some of the issues around ppe because of problems in the global supply chain. and it isjust a reminder that this is affecting almost every country across the world. that it is spreading in three months to hundreds of thousands of people, that lots of other countries in europe are chasing these tests and chasing the reagents to go into them and chasing the materials to make the ppe for our front line staff. and of course they will be chasing medicines as well. so it was encouraging to hear what we heard today from the health secretary but we will have to keep under review this. thank you so much for your time today, shadow health secretary. thousands of you have

been getting in touch with questions about coronavirus. in this evening's your questions answered, we are going to focus on debt and universal credit. let's answer some of those questions with kate bell, head of the social and economics department at the trades union congress, and richard lane, director of external affairs at the debt charity step change. let's start with you, kate. is universal credit only available to those who have been released from theirjob? thank you for having me. i want to say at the beginning the tec does lots of work on universal credit but iam nota lots of work on universal credit but i am not a benefits adviser. everyone's situation is different and is really important you get advice on your own situation and a couple of really good websites i can refer you to and some advice and there is a website called turn to

us, to as in the number 27 anything i say is worth picking up on. to turn to the question, is a universal credit only available to those who have been released from theirjob? know. you might be able to get it if your hours have dropped and you were ona your hours have dropped and you were on a low income. you can check that benefit calculator i mentioned but basically how universal credit works is it is made up of a basic amount for any kids you have and for any other crosses. if you have some attorneys him that will reduce the amount of universal credit you get but the basic room is for any pound you are in, your entitlement goes down by 63p. but if you have children or if you are sick or disabled, there is what is called a work allowance which means you can earn a certain amount before that kicks in. so if your income structure drops, it is worth checking if you might be available for universal credit because it can be good to support people who are in work still. thank you so much and

thank you for your caveat at the beginning. always worth double checking everything. richard, why are universal credit still taking debt recovery deductions and continuing with sanction deductions in this current crisis was meant he says he thinks it is unfair and harsh. we would add to the same can be out the advice that we give on here which is no replacement or substitute for debt advice. but what i was say is it so that we have asked as well and we know from our clients that actuallyjust a small deduction from the universal credit is putting a huge amount of people into very difficult financial situations. broadly universal credit was a scheme that was designed to offer people the minimum amount that they need to live on. it does that debatably already. so deductions are not helpful when that happens. we heard some noise and potentially the department of work and pension will look at stopping deductions at this time but we have not heard all the details on that or confirmation yet

but we are hearing the right noises thatis but we are hearing the right noises that is going to be the case and something we are continuing to push for. so watch this space and look out for an announcement and if that does happen, that is incredibly welcome in case you need that cash in your pocket now. thank you so much. jake wants to know that he is moving in with his partner so his pa rents moving in with his partner so his pa re nts ca n moving in with his partner so his parents can self—isolate and he adds that his partner is on universal credit so will she be able to receive this if he is living with her? the basic answer is if jake receive this if he is living with her? the basic answer is ifjake has got her of those earnings are going to affect the amount his partner gets in the government sees you as living together. so what the guidance states is you partner we need to report what is called a change of circumstance in your universal credit situation and that is when someone has moved in with you basically. the real threat living together when it counts as living together when it counts as living together when it counts as living together are quite complicated and this is a really good one to get some advice on but definitely worth looking into because government could see that as

a change of circumstances that his partner has to report. these system —— circumstances, thank you so much. i question the offer richard, we pay a debt agency right now but are struggling with payment for council tax debt which is collected by them. he wants to know that he has tried to call but there is no answer as this one is close like many offices so can you this one is close like many offices so can you tell him if they will come over to his house to demand payment or will they give him more time to pay? we are hearing a lot about enforcement action or bailiffs as some might hear them. we have been told that enforcement action face—to—face on the doorstep is going to be suspended. that is for the protection of the public and for the protection of the public and for the people who work for those enforcement organisations most so thatis enforcement organisations most so that is really positive news obviously with social distancing and the need to alleviate some of that financial pressure. that is the right step and we welcome that. it might be used to get contacted in other ways, by the phone or e—mail.

i would say it is worth explaining your circumstances to them and to see if there is a way for a more affordable re payment for you see if there is a way for a more affordable repayment for you to go oi'i affordable repayment for you to go on at this time. it also might be worth you actually speaking to your local council and seeing if it is possible for them to take the debt back off the collection agency and work with you directly for a more affordable re payment plan work with you directly for a more affordable repayment plan during this time, including potentially a payment holiday if you are struggling at the moment. lots of stress on her already difficult circumstances. thank you. the start date for a newjob has been pushed back and we hear this a lot, can he apply for universal credit in the meantime? yes and sorry to hear about the start date for the job being pushed back. basically, yes, if he is living on the income and it drops during this period come he should be able to claim for universal credit although it is important he reports that change when he does start work. might be worth mentioning that if he has some redundancy payments from the last

job they are treated as part of the savings basically for universal credit. if your savings go under £50,000, you are not eligible and if they are under —— if they go over it £60,000, you are not eligible but if they are under it is eligible. check they are under it is eligible. check the benefit concluded see how that would work. congratulations on the newjob and fingers crossed that he can get into it. paul asked that he is of employed and don't know what he was the money again but his bills are due and is worried while most have advised him to cancel direct pay when he canst but he will get in serious debt. what should he do? the areas we have seen a package of measures to support self employed people but it does seem like they are a numberforwhom people but it does seem like they are a number for whom that is not reaching and the announcement would be that he can claim up to 80% of the average profits over the last 36 months but there were lots of hoop that will not catch and importantly that will not catch and importantly that support is not going to be

available for people untiljune which means there is a lot people who are going to be out of pocket in the meantime. we would say two things him it might be that you're entitled to universal credit to get you through but in the meantime it is worth checking that to see if are eligible and might help you make some of those payments in the meantime. we have heard from lots of people who are creditors or people you owe money to come of the phone company and people like that that they are saying they are taking a compassionate approach at this time soi compassionate approach at this time so i would not say you should unilaterally cancel direct debit but get in touch with people you might owe money to or be able to see if there is any chance of getting a payment holiday. 0k, thank you. rose asks that she is a hairdresser who has lost herjob and says she has money in savings but will that stop herfrom being money in savings but will that stop her from being able to apply for universal credit? sorry to hear about thejob universal credit? sorry to hear about the job there, rose. universal credit? sorry to hear about thejob there, rose. 0ne universal credit? sorry to hear about the job there, rose. one thing we might encourage her to do is ask

if she is employed by the hairdresser and asked them to put her on thejob retention hairdresser and asked them to put her on the job retention scheme. if you lost it after march the 1st of the can definitely rehire her and then get the support from the government to pay 80% of her wages or if he is self—employed, which she might be able to get support through that self—employed income scheme. just around her savings disqualifying her from universe just around her savings disqualifying herfrom universe or credit, he depends on how much they are. if you have over £16,000 of savings him of that at the moment will stop you applying although i think the government should really look at that in this difficult time because lots of people might have been saving for a house or saving for equipment if they are acts of employed in the moment could be knocked out of the system because of those rules. the moment you have savings between 6000 and £16,000, the government will assume you are getting some income from those savings and will take that income into account when working out how much universal credit you are entitled to. again it is a good idea to use the benefit take a later to see how that might affect how much

you can get but if you have got savings less and £16,000 and we should definitely look into apply for universal credit to get that support. good luck, rose. quick time for one more question, hannah asks that she has had her hours cut by half but getting half pay and she has too much benefits but not up to pay her bills. she is in a conundrum like so many. what can she do? sorry to hear that. it is difficult but it is obvious to say but the first thing to do is sit in a make sure you have done a really detailed budget. are you really clear on what you've got going out to the bank and what you have got coming in. is there any that you can look to cut or trim or delay at this point? have you spoken to people that you can owe money to see if they are offering payment holidays? and then i will say actually if that will not make into me and it sounds like that if the case, then that will be a difficult situation and you might wa nt difficult situation and you might want to get in touch with someone like us and we can help you access hardship funds or take you through a

debt advice session to see what options are. ok, kate and richard, thank you so much as always and as they said, double check everything on the website as well but for the time being, thank you so much for your questions. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz. in the short term it will remain on the chilly side and nippy in the north but widespread frost on the way. different story over the weekend with a warming up saturday and then come sunday temperatures in the south of the country with warmth of the late breezes could get up to about 20 degrees. this is what the satellite picture looks like at the moment. you can see the motion of the cloud and that is cold air seeping in from the arctic regions. reaching scotland and that means it is already a chilly evening across the north. temperatures before

midnighta the north. temperatures before midnight a few degrees above freezing whereas in the south, still just about into double figures for example in the capital. these guys continue to clear through the night but however occasionally there will be some wintry showers they are across parts of highland but across the west and the south it will be cloudy through the night so not quite so chilly here and in fact early on friday morning in birmingham, around 4 degrees and six in london and around freezing or below in the lowlands of scotland. that is in glasgow and edinburgh. sta rts that is in glasgow and edinburgh. starts off cold, sunny, frosty in the north and east within the clouds tend to build up through the morning into the afternoon and there will be a few showers around as well and mostly passing and brief so for most of usa mostly passing and brief so for most of us a cloudy and cool update with temperatures hovering around 10 degrees. friday night into saturday, we start to see some big changes in the air with high—pressure building and also the winds blowing in from the south so that is a warmer direction. and already plenty of

sunshine on the cards and i think in the very far north the possibility of thicker cloud and rain but take a look at the two bridges across many parts of england, the mid—teens as far north as yorkshire and then saturday night into sunday we really start to see that plume of very warm airfrom the start to see that plume of very warm air from the south. so by sunday, it isa air from the south. so by sunday, it is a case of sunny skies and u nfortu nately most of is a case of sunny skies and unfortunately most of us will not be able to make the most of the good weather as we are just out in the garden if we are lucky or looking to the window. find whether to look at that 20 in london and 17 expected in newcastle but always a chance of some showers with thicker cloud there across western areas and also worth mentioning the pollen levels will be moderate to high come sunday. bye—bye.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk government defends itself against criticism over a lack of coronovirus tests for nhs workers — saying it aims to carry out 100,000 tests by the end of the month. i understand why nhs staff want tests, so they can get back to the front line. of course i do. but i took the decision that the first priority has to be be patients for whom the result of the test will be the difference in treatment that is the difference in treatment that is the difference in treatment that is the difference between life and death. in the united states, a record number of people have filed for unemployment benefits — 6.6 million this week alone.