“': "mr trying to staff and everyone else trying to save lives and keep the country going during the corona crisis. thank you. michelle fleury joins us michelle fleuryjoins us from new york. michelle, we start with the united states because the figures there after the record—breaking figures we were already seeing about people claiming unemployment, once again that huge, huge increase? this was an astonishing number. you have to remember that ago we were talking about 3.3 million americans filing for unemployment benefits. at the time we were talking about that as record—breaking. yet just seven time we were talking about that as record—breaking. yetjust seven days later, the figure has doubled to 6.6 million. and if you take the total, we are talking about 10 million americans over a two—week period who have lost their jobs. americans over a two—week period who have lost theirjobs. it is unprecedented, the magnitude and speed with which firms here are

shutting workers. i think it helps to underscore the catastrophic effect this pandemic is having here on the american economy, but we are seeing that repeated in other countries around the world. and just to put in context for you, when you look back at 2008's recession in america, there were roughly 9 millionjobs lost. now america, there were roughly 9 million jobs lost. now we are talking about 10 million injust two weeks. the figures are staggering, when it comes to europe, the continent is very badly hit with the coronavirus. talk us through how europe is comparing? italy and spain are obviously the two countries that economists are talking about the most as having been the epicentre of europe's coronavirus pandemic. in italy, the numbers people are talking about — again, to benchmark it to the 2008 recession, which is

what many people still remember, they are saying this could be two times worse than what that was like for italy. it gives you a sense of scale of the depth of the problem, which is why policymakers are really scrambling to try to address this in different ways. in the us, we are seeing them signing relief aid, and in your introduction you mention what europe is doing with the shaw sure act, with money being given to companies to keep people on the payroll. when it comes to the eu proposed package, this initiative which is called a short, how is it being part to make or received by member states? i think the test will come next tuesday. that is when finance ministers have to approve this. there is optimism that there is enough of a consensus to get this done. but again, i hate to keep going on about 2008, but that is what people are looking at. at the

time, the question was, could the eu member states all come together and act as one? they did a pretty good job but there is a question about solidarity, and it is being revealed yet again nowjust last solidarity, and it is being revealed yet again now just last week, solidarity, and it is being revealed yet again nowjust last week, there was an issue about whether or not they would issue something called coronavirus bonds backed by eu member countries. there was disagreement, you had stronger economies like germany unwilling to act as a backstop for what has long been seen as countries like italy and spain with weaker economic fundamentals. we've seen those tensions on display again, which is why this will be a key test of how well they can come together. and i think many economists will see this isa think many economists will see this is a good first step if they can get it done. michelle, for the time being, thank you so much. michelle flooring on those staggering figures, very difficult appetite, or apprehend, it is a difficult time for many people. in the last few hours, the british government has again defended the lack of testing of nhs front line workers as

the coronavirus pandemic continues. the health secretary confirmed that just 5,000 nhs front line staff have been tested. that's only a tiny fraction of the half a million front line workforce. currently, there are around 10,000 tests being carried out a day, and hospital patients are being prioritised over healthworkers. today, matt hancock set a target to carry out 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of april. here's our political editor laura kuennsberg. nicola and her husband are both gps in cheshire, both stuck at home, both have been unwell. but with no test, they don't know, they can't know if they have had the virus or not and can't go back to work. i just can't see that this is right. we are both keen to work, both desperate to work, and as with most gps we would work through a minor illness. we don't take time off lightly. after days of accusations of mishandling, the health secretary,

just back at work after the virus himself, was trying to show the government is getting a grip. 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 that the patients for whom the result of a test could be the difference in treatment that is the difference between life and death. he called on business to help, outlined nationwide sampling and eventually an antibody test that could diagnose big chunks of the population. but tests for health workers are what matter here and now. i am now setting the goal of 100,000 tests per day by the end of this month. that is the goal and i am determined that we will get there. can you give us a firm date by when any nhs staff that needs a test will get a test?

in a fast—moving crisis like this the end of the month is still a long time away. i'm delighted we have now managed to test 5,000 nhs staff. i will come over the coming weeks, seek to ensure that every nhs front line staff member who needs a test gets one. remember, there are two kinds of test, one to show if you have had the virus after recovering. but the one thing is nhs staff are queueing up for at a superstore car park turned testing drive through our four if you already have the virus right now. if the drivers of these cars are negative they could get back onto the desperately—stretched wards as doctors and nurses. that's why it is so urgent now. we should be the first! so that we can look after our patients. i'm very sad. it was quite efficient and it allows us to go back to work as soon

as we could, so that's the best thing we can do for our nhs staff. privately, the government has admitted it has been slow to make this happen. testing has become the most acute political problem in this crisis. the senior labour mp dawn butler who lost her uncle to the disease, in grief and anger, insisting the government needs to test everyone who works in hospitals without delay. we are going to need a strategy for community—based testing. for the majority of population over the time. that is the route out of lockdown. but a former cabinet secretary, no stranger to managing crises, suggests there might be deeper roots to the problem. does it seem to you that the government was too slow? i think when we look back on it, i think all of us should take a share of the blame here, pandemics, even in my time, was top of the risk register. did we build enough spare capacity? did we do enough to get the materials in hand

and have enough protective equipment? probably not. but let's not worry too much about the mistakes of the past. even if testing centres become a familiar sight, with no cure, no government can make coronavirus go away. but the actions they take can make a difference to how it affects us all. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. the uk has carried out 163,000 tests for coronavirus, which works out as 2115 people in every 100,000 in the uk being tested. but how does that compare to other nations? well in denmark, the number of tests per 100,000 is 515. in germany, over 1000 tests can be done, per 100,000. but lagging behind the uk and other european nations is france where the test rate is just 160,000.

-- 160 —— 160 per hundred thousand. let's speak to our politcial correspondent leila nathoo. i know we are all watching very carefully, when it comes to testing, it was quite a big jump, the health secretary they're saying that we'll see 100,000 tests by the end of april. we don't know when the nhs will get priority testing? no, i think the health secretary set out today too, in his words, the project something that he thinks was really, are realistic to deliver. boris johnson talked about the figure of 250,000 johnson talked about the figure of 250 , 000 tests johnson talked about the figure of 250,000 tests per day, matt hancock saying at the moment by the end of april, he thinks it is doable to get to 100,000 tests per day, taking in all of those tests for the people who have had the virus, and people who have had the virus, and people who currently have or are infectious. it was important for the

health secretary to set out a strategy in detail, give reasons why it has taken a long time to get that pace set up. i think it was important for him to be able to set out the pace in a realistic timetable, and that timetable at the end of april, the priority clearly is to get the nhs staff tested. he says that is the priority now. he talked about a hierarchy of people who should be tested, but he said may know —— made no apology that those who come down... now he was trying to scale up testing for nhs staff or people who are self isolating because they themselves have symptoms or their families do so have symptoms or their families do so they can get back to the front line to treat patients in hospitals. he says that is confident in scaling up he says that is confident in scaling up the existing nhs lab, and more la bs to up the existing nhs lab, and more labs to to get that capacity to get that figure up to 100,000 a day by the end of april. but no date as of yet for nhs staff to get tested by.

layla, thanks so much, layla there in westminster. spain has registered 950 coronavirus deaths in a single day, the highest daily number anywhere in the world. it's the sixth day in the row that the daily death toll had risen above eight hundred. -- 800 —— 800 people. more than 10,000 people have now died in spain. france's death toll has passed 4,000. and there've been over 13,000 deaths in italy. 0ur europe correspondent, mark lowen is in rome. hoping for a sign of life. when the disease hits, it decimates. fighting it demands precision and speed to cope with these numbers. this is one of spain's biggest hospitals, in catalonia. but it could be anywhere else

that the virus has struck, for this is its hallmark — to plunder a country, overwhelming its hospitals. the doctor shows just one of the patients here needing assisted ventilation. there are 200 in this intensive care unit. catalonia, spain's wealthiest region, is at its limit. "look how vulnerable we are when it hits, a complex living soul stripped bare, lying face down to help clear the lungs, a basic technique to battle a stronger killer. spain, as elsewhere, is short of supplies for its medics who make up around 15% of all cases. they tried to prepare for the front line, it is taking its toll. emotionally you are also worried because you are worried about yourself, your safety, you worry about your patient, your own families, lots of people have relatives or friends who are at home unwell.

it is quite stressful. after a record daily rise in deaths, spain says it is now flattening the curve and the infection rate is reducing but it will not be quick. nor will it in france where deaths there have jumped to more than 4000, a specialist plane was configured to transfer the sickest to germany for treatment. european states using every tool at their disposal. germany, with far fewer deaths of its own, also took in patients from italy, critically ill loaded into air ambulances. a virus that knows no borders is taking a worldwide effort to confront it. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. stay with us on 0ustide source. still to come: should the public be wearing face masks? the world health organization is considering changing its guidance off the back of new research.

it's feared the virus could quickly spread through what's thought to be asia's largest slum, dhar—avi in mumbai, after a case was detected there. the infected man's home has been sealed off, and dozens of people quarantined. more than 300 cases have been detected in maharashtra state and 13 people have died. the bbc‘s mayuresh konnour reports. mumbai is the financial capital of india and, obviously, one of the most popular cities in the country, but dharavi is the highly densely populated area in the city. over 1.5 million people reside in just over 600 hectares of land. it is that populous, that dense. so, now the challenge for the administration is to find out how many high—risk contacts are there in this slum area,

to find them out, to isolate them and test them and, if they come back positive, then quarantine them, but that is a huge, mammoth task. this is 0utside source, live from the bbc newsroom. the coronavirus is devastating economies around the world. in the us, unemployment claims have surged to a record—breaking 6.6 million. and spain recorded its highest ever monthly increase in unemployment. 3.5 million people there are now jobless. syrian refugee camps across the middle east are bracing themselves for the coronavirus pandemic. millions of people have been displaced by the nine—year conflict in syria, many of them are in camps in syria's northern idlib province or injordan or lebanon.

last week the un and international committee of the red cross called for an immediate ceasefire saying, "we can't fight two battles at the same time". here's fabrizio carboni from the icrc in geneva. the bbc‘s carine torbey has been speaking to syrian refugees. here's some of her report. 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? this man fled syria 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 a town on the border between lebanon and syria. we reached out to him via skype to avoid any risk of contamination. understandable concern amongst refugee camps, who looked to be among the worst hit. the world health organisation is considering changing its guidance on whether people should wear face masks in public to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

it's looking at new research which suggests droplets from coughs and sneezes could be projected further than originally thought. a top chinese health official says... "the big mistake in the us and europe, in my opinion, is that people aren't wearing masks." the current guidance from the world health organisation for healthy people is to only wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected infection, or if you are coughing or sneezing. but the who notes — masks are only effective when used in combination with frequent hand—cleaning with alcohol—based sanitiser or soap and water. and if you do wear a mask, you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly. here's our science editor david shukman. masks are suddenly becoming a common sight all round the globe, from supermarkets in california to police officers patrolling the streets of france.

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's vital to realise that the masks don't offer total protection. in austria, the supermarkets are going to insist that everyone wears a mask, but health professionals say 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. so what's the difference between different masks? this is the n95 respirator, it filters out 95% of airborne particles, and it's recommended for front line health professions. and this is a typical surgical mask but it only blocks out

larger water droplets. here's health researcher professor kk cheng on whether people wearing face masks is a good idea. i think there is a good scientific reason to do so. there's no clip of charles after this, but lots of evidence that we should wear masks, especially for coronavirus per there is the micro part asymptomatic people who can spread the virus. best that if masks are not effective, where are we asking people to cover their mounts with tissue or their elbow? it is highly unlikely that masks would be inferior to an elbow. i think we should shift the paradigm from want to pick out one of protecting one cosmic self to one of protecting others. in the last half hour —

people across the united kingdom have paid their respects to the national health service. for the second week, communities across the nation made as much noise as they can using pots, pans and their hands to thank all of those key workers who are keeping the country running a big thank you from the uk. good evening. in the short—term, it will remain on the flip side, particularly nippy in the north of the country tonight. widespread frost on the way, but a different story, the weekend. saturday it will start to warm up a bit, but come sunday, temperatures the south of the country, warrant and southerly breezes picking up the 20 celsius. this is both a satellite picture looks like at the moment. you can see the motion of the cloud, cold air seeping see the motion of the cloud, cold airseeping in see the motion of the cloud, cold air seeping in from the arctic regions. reaching scotland, that means it is a chilly evening across the north with temperatures before midnighta the north with temperatures before midnight a few degrees above freezing, whereas in the south, still just about in freezing, whereas in the south, stilljust about in the double figures for example in the capital.

but the skies continued to clear through the night. however occasionally there will be some pointers i was there across parts of the highlands. but across the west, there will be clarity throughout the night, so not answer chilly. in fact friday morning and we have four celsius, about freezing or below in the lowlands in scotland. thousands of micro glasgow and edinburgh. frost in the north and east, but class will tend to pull up through the morning into the afternoon. there will be a few showers around as well, mostly passing and brief. so for most of us, a cloudy, cool sort of day with the pictures hovering around 10 celsius. friday night into saturday, we start to see some big changes in the air. high pressure builds, also the wounds and start the the south, so that if they we re start the the south, so that if they were in from the south, so that is a warmer direction blow in from the south, so that is a warmer direction. and already, but if sunshine on the cards. i think in the of the country, the possibility of some cloud in vain. but take a

trip across parts of england. the mid teens as yorkshire. saturday night into sunday, we really start to see that plenty of warm air coming in from the self. so by sunday, it is a case of sunny skies. u nfortu nately, most of sunday, it is a case of sunny skies. unfortunately, most of us will be able to make the most of the good weather. if you're out in the garden we re weather. if you're out in the garden were looking through the window, some fine weather there, 17 celsius expected in newcastle. always a chance of showers across western areas. also brief mentioning that the polar levels of be moderate to high income sunday. bye—bye. dashed pollen levels.

this is bbc world news, the headlines. 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 that they can get back to the front line, of course i do. but i took the decision that the first priority has to be the patient‘s for whom the results of the test could be 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. spain's intensive care units pushed to the brink — almost a thousand people have died in the past 2a hours. now, as we've been hearing the government has pledged it

will be conducting 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month after pressure to increase its testing capacity. following the announcement, the health secretary took questions from the press. the first question came from the bbc‘s political editor laura kuennssberg. you have just announced a big target for the end of the month but can i be clear that that would be for all kinds of tests, so the antibody test as well as the test to see if people have the test right now. can you give us a firm date by when any nhs staff that needs tests will get a test? because in a fast moving crisis like this, the end of the month is a long time away. yes, thanks laura. the new goal of 100,000 tests a day for the end of this month is over all five pillars. if one of the large—scale antibody tests that we are working on and

testing comes good, of course that will be great news. but, 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 isa proceed until we are confident that it is a good test. the cost, no test is better than a bad test. so, the 100,000 a day is across all five pillars and i and calling on the life sciences industry, the universities and of course, the public agencies that report to me, the nhs and public health england, to unite together to meet that goal. you ask about testing of nhs staff. now, this is incredibly important as isaid,i now, this is incredibly important as isaid, iam now, this is incredibly important as i said, i am delighted that we have now managed to test 5000 nhs staff andi now managed to test 5000 nhs staff and i am also delighted that the absence figures, the number of people who aren't at work in the nhs due to corona is lower than had been

previously reported. and, over the coming weeks, i will 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 have to stay at home because they are following rules on household isolation if one of their family gets the test. i set out why we prioritise patients first, the next prioritisation is of course nhs staff working in critical care and then after that, we will spread the availability of tests across the nhs and social care and then other key workers and then over time, to the population as a whole. i don't know if you want add something, john. thank you. the initial priority, of course, is for the swab test because

those other tests which allow the nhs to manage critically ill patients to the best they possibly can and also to allow nhs staff and other key workers to come back to work when they can. the antibody tests are ideally done 28 days after an infection so the requirement of the antibody test isn't really where there yet, so the urgent priority, both types of test are important, both types of test are important, both are urgent but the most urgent is the swab tests so that we can treat patients better and get staff back to work. did you want to come back to work. did you want to come back on that, laura? secretary of state, we asked if there was a firm date you could give nhs staff who needs tests, you said over the coming weeks. would you give it a deadline because people are very worried about this right now? they are andi worried about this right now? they are and i am glad that we are able to speed it up, it will absolutely be before the end of the month, but over the coming weeks, with 5000

tested since it started at the weekend, we have clearly made significant progress and i am really glad that the figures of those in the nhs who are absent due to coronavirus are lower than had been previously reported, but we will get there as soon as previously reported, but we will get there as soon as we can previously reported, but we will get there as soon as we can and i am absolutely determined to make commitments that we can meet, rather than to overpromise and that is one of the reasons i set out some of the difficulties and challenges that we are facing, which we are trying to ove rco m e are facing, which we are trying to overcome in testing. it is also important to emphasise from the nhs perspective the staff that we most wa nt to perspective the staff that we most want to test and this is what has been reflected back to us from nhs organisations as well, so of course, as the secretary of state said, staff in key areas such as critical ca re are very staff in key areas such as critical care are very important, but it is the staff at home who are in household quarantine, they are well, but a member of the family is unwell, those of the staff and want

to prioritise and as you have heard, that involves testing the person in the household who is unwell, not a member of staff. there are staff who are self isolated because they are symptomatic, they are important as well but of course if they are unwell, what we want to make sure is that they get better, we have a duty of care to our staff and if they are at home sick, it is important they get better before they come back to work. next question from robert preston, itv. you talked comparatively recently about green shoots, but if we look at the charts you presented today, you have a lot of scale the deaths, deaths rising ina straight line, of scale the deaths, deaths rising in a straight line, still out of control, you have had a big leap in reported new cases, have those green shoots vanished and secondly, a lot

of attention has been paid to the shortage of protective equipment for medical and front line staff which the secretary of state has talked about how you are trying to correct but lots of hospitals are reporting an ease that they may run out of oxygen, sedatives, athletics, what system oxygen, sedatives, athletics, what syste m d o oxygen, sedatives, athletics, what system do you have in place to make sure that other absolutely vital consumables do not run out? if i a nswer consumables do not run out? if i answer the second part of that question, we have a very detailed plan for making sure that we have a full supply of medicines, including ones you mentioned, sedatives and all the medicines needed for those who have covid—19 and those being ventilated. we probably have one of the strongest understandings of the supply chain of anywhere in the world because of the preparations we

did fora world because of the preparations we did for a no—deal brexit and we keep those constantly under review, in fa ct i those constantly under review, in fact i took a meeting on this question today, so whilst we of course with the lockdown is around the world, we are highly vigilant, we are currently confident that we have the supplies of medicines that are needed. , there are reasons to be hopeful, as i said a few days ago, the public is complying with the measures that the government have laid out to reduce social contact and to stop the spread of the transmission, if we didn't see that happening, the answer would be no, but we do see that happening and it is important we continue to see that happening. secondly, as sir patrick said earlier in the week, we

have seen academic evidence that transmission rate in the community may have fallen below one, that is important because if it is the case that we are no longer passing the virus on to multiple people, so to fewer than one person for everybody who is infected, that is additional evidence that infections are going to reduce. but, as i said before and isaid a to reduce. but, as i said before and i said a few minutes ago, it does ta ke i said a few minutes ago, it does take time for that to translate into changes in hospitalisation, infection rates, our dilation and death and so it is still to early, reasons to be hopeful but not to be complacent and reasons for everybody to continue to comply with the measures. stay at home, protect the nhs and save lives. still absolutely vital core messages. robert?m would be incredibly encouraging if the rate of transmission was below

one but, how do we know, what evidence we gathering that gives is that kind of information perhaps confidence? it is possible to gather that information by looking at the way in which people interact with each other. so, it is possible from a modelling perspective to make assumptions based on the amount of contact that we can see is going on with each other. it is absolutely the case that to be sure of that, the case that to be sure of that, the sort of studies in the community that the secretary of state has highlighted will confirm that, which is why there are reasons to be optimistic about it but not reasons to be absolutely certain about it. that is exactly why i said it is too early to tell yet but the good news is that people are complying, they are staying at home, avoiding contact and some of our very very early evidence is that should start to translate through to fewer

hospitalisations, less pressure on the nhs and fewer deaths. victoria mcdonald, channel 4. the nhs and fewer deaths. victoria mcdonald, channel4. thank the nhs and fewer deaths. victoria mcdonald, channel 4. thank you mr hancock, welcome back. ijust wanted to ask a question about you yourself we re to ask a question about you yourself were tested for covid—19 and i wondered under which criteria you we re wondered under which criteria you were tested and given that the general public are still some way away from having their own tests, you say 100,000 per day by the end of the month, but that is not 100,000 people because of all the false negatives, so can you tell us what you got the test and why the general public and many front line staff did not? yes, i understand people's yearning to have the test and to find out and there is a clear protocol that has been set out by the chief medical officer for who should get tests and the decision was that those who are in senior

decision making positions, as well as those who are in the critical jobs on the front line, need to get those tests so, for instance i think it is quite right that the prime minister was tested and i was tested and we need to roll that out now to have as many people as possible get those tests. the top priority is the patients for whom the test could be the difference between life and death in terms of the treatment course that is taken. andy bell, channel five. secretary of state, isn't the fact that you had to come up isn't the fact that you had to come up with your new plan today based on your five pillars a clear up with your new plan today based on yourfive pillars a clear admission that up until now on testing, the government simply didn't get it right, they didn't move fast enough. and a question for professor powis, is it correct that a london hospital over the weekend nearly ran out of oxygen and why did the nhs feel it

necessary to issue an urgent patient safety notice about oxygen, what was the reason for that? on the first question, we have had our plan on expanding testing all the way through. as i said in my opening remarks, we were one of the first countries in the world to come up with a test, one month ago, we have fewer than 2000 tests, we now have 10,000 tests, we always had the commitment to get to the 10,000 by the end of march which we hit, and now there is a ramp up. i have been pushing this as fast as possible since the early days of the epidemic andi since the early days of the epidemic and i have come out with more detail on the five pillars now because it is quite clear that we need to bring yet more partners in to drive this national effort forward, i don't know if you want to add anything, john? it is quite clear that the need to increase testing was obvious from the outset, supported by public

health england and the nhs and the government has made steady progress in appraising the capacity and that is already meeting the requirement for testing patients and is starting to test 1500 nhs staff per day. it is obvious that the requirement for testing is increasing exponentially. as robert preston pointed out, and we are never going to increase capacity in the nhs exponentially. so, something else had to be done so a separate work stream independent of the nhs has been set up to create these mega labs and there are three in existence, they have been built ona in existence, they have been built on a remarkably short time, just two weeks, the equivalent of the nightingale hospital and setting us up nightingale hospital and setting us up from scratch doesn't achieve any testing at all, but we are now at a point where they are starting to do tests and so we are really encouraging them, we are at the point when the number of tests being donein point when the number of tests being done in those labs, and therefore across the whole system, is about to

start increasing much more quickly. just before i asked steve to come in on the question about oxygen, i want to underline the point about how much the nhs has risen to this challenge. as of last night, there we re challenge. as of last night, there were 1821 spare critical care beds in the nhs, the number of spare beds remains significantly above the demand and so i will ask steve to a nswer demand and so i will ask steve to answer specifically but the expansion of the nhs critical care capability, that is even before we get the nightingale hospital into those figures, it has something that i want to give a huge amount of credit to the nhs are pulling off, steve. so the nhs strategy has a lwa ys steve. so the nhs strategy has always been to be on the front foot and get ahead of this, so we have the capacity in place to deal with any increase in cases, any surge. as the secretary of state has said, we are currently keeping ahead of that

so, in london, we have increased the number of itu beds and currently one infour is number of itu beds and currently one in four is an occupied waiting for additional patients that might have to go into those beds and that is even before we take into account the opening of the nightingale hospital in east london. clearly, oxygen and the delivery of oxygen is an important part of the capacity, oxygen is the key treatment, the key supportive treatment to people who have long infection with covid—19 or lung disease because of covid—19 and we have been working for weeks on the oxygen supply chain, that includes working with suppliers to ensure that increased amount of oxygen can be delivered if required, but also with our hospitals to understand their capacity for using more oxygen than they usually would in their beds and i'm not going to go into the details because as you would understand, that is very technical details around how oxygen is delivered within plumbing systems

in hospitals and our trusts have looked at that and they have done work to ensure that they have the capability to expand the beds that they can expand. we issue alert notices on a regular basis about all sorts of things and it is absolutely right as we go into a different way of managing, we are managing many more patients with oxygen treatment and we would normally, but the issue alerts that all trusts have the same information from anything we find in an individual hospital, so alerts area an individual hospital, so alerts are a positive thing because spreads rapid learning, so that all organisations understand when we are doing something that we have not done before, how best we can do that. ben kentish, ldc. two academic studies have now concluded that the lockdown measures will likely have

to be in place for a significant proportion of the year. is that your assessment as well? to the secretary of state, welcome back to work. on the 23rd of january of state, welcome back to work. on the 23rd ofjanuary before there we re any the 23rd ofjanuary before there were any cases in the uk, you told the house of commons that britain was the house of commons that britain was well equipped and well prepared for coronavirus, more than two months on, you are announcing emergency measures to make up for a crucial shortfall in testing, we have heard stories of front line workers having to go to work without front—line equipment, the nhs has only one third of the ventilators it needs. has something changed in those two months, is a crisis worse than we thought or are we simply not well—prepared? than we thought or are we simply not well-prepared? i think that the response of the health and social ca re system response of the health and social care system has been so far nothing short of heroic, i think in terms of preparation and how... the fact that we have been able to expand the nhs faster than the increase in demand and have the spare critical care

beds at this point in the crisis has been fantastic. 0f beds at this point in the crisis has been fantastic. of course, increasing the amount of test has been mission—critical and i have just announced that we are going to accelerate that, but we have hit the target of 10,000 tests per day by the end of march. and on ppe, we are prepared, we have the stocks of ppe, the challenge has been the distribution of the ppe to make sure that every single person of the 1.4 million people in the nhs and the over 2 million people in social care, and then the other public services that need ppe like prisons and police, so that everybody gets it and that is a constant effort to make sure that this distribution of ppe make sure that this distribution of p p e flows make sure that this distribution of ppe flows well, which we have got the military logistics people handling. ina the military logistics people handling. in a crisis like this, we are always going to have challenges. i understand why people are worried about some of the problems and i

understand why people are worried about the disease, i have just been through it and i understand how people feel, especially when you are on the way down before you turn the corner, i get that. but i think that we we re corner, i get that. but i think that we were well equipped and well prepared and we have been working night and day to the specific problems that we have with this virus and the specific challenges that it throws at us. i think everybody has been absolutely clear that when it comes to the end of the three weeks that we announce for the initial measures, that will not be the end of it. the virus will still be here and we will still need to work out how we deal with it going forward and of course, that is an issue for every country in the world, that is not an issue for the uk alone and of course, in plotting that course, will be working with other countries to understand new information, new knowledge that we can use to plot that course going

ahead. i think it is also really critical to be clear that this is a new virus and there are still things that we don't know about that we would need to know about or would certainly help those in plotting that strategy going forward and i will give you a few examples. so, we don't know how many people are asymptomatic, how many people get the virus but don't develop symptoms, there is work going on around the world, including here, we are ahead in many ways on this, to determine what that is but it is not knowable yet because the virus hasn't been around long enough. we don't know how long immunity lasts, so it is likely that you become immune, you develop a response that means it is less likely that you will get the virus once you have had it, but we don't know how long that immunity lasts for. we know from other viruses that some immunity is long lasting but some may only last one year or so. that isn't knowable yet because the virus has only been

around for a few months and it will ta ke around for a few months and it will take more time to accumulate that knowledge. we don't know what drugs are likely to work and that will be very important in thinking about long—term strategy. we have already put patients into clinical trials in the uk and we are ramping up clinical trials and working internationally. information about drug treatments and what works and doesn't work will be really important ina doesn't work will be really important in a long—term strategy for this virus. of course, vaccines area for this virus. of course, vaccines are a very for this virus. of course, vaccines are a very key part of this and vaccines take time to develop but i think the international effort that is going into vaccines is probably greater than any other disease in the history of mankind, and so i am sure that we will get to vaccines but at this stage, it is not possible to be confident. yes, we will need to develop that strategy but there are things that we still need to discover and find out about this virus that will inform and help us greatly and how that goes forward. kate mccann, sky. professor

newton hasjust said that it is only effective after 28 days so can we ta ke effective after 28 days so can we take from that that lockdown measures will be in place for some time to come. the logic bit hind antibody testing is that if you have had the virus once, you can't catch it again, but can you be certain that some others do have immunity? ifi that some others do have immunity? if i take the first question, i think that testing is critical to lifting the lockdown and hence the need to expand all parts of testing and making sure that we understand how much the whole population has got the antibodies because some people, especially children may have the disease, develop the antibodies without having symptoms, that is

pillar four without having symptoms, that is pillarfour in without having symptoms, that is pillar four in strategy, that is a critical part of understanding the antibody testing as well, so testing asa antibody testing as well, so testing as a whole is critical, i wouldn't read from what i said a link from the 28 days through to the time that the 28 days through to the time that the lockdown will be in place, because the number one thing that stops the spread of this virus is social distancing. the short—term, it will remain on the chilly side. but a difference to work on the weekend. saturday, it will start to warm up a little bit. then come sunday, temperatures in the south of the country, warm, southerly breezes could get up to around 20 celsius. this is what the satellite picture looks like at the moment. you can see the motion of the cloud, but it cold air seeping in from the arctic region.

so reaching scotland, meaning it is already a chilly evening across this guy is clear through the night, occasionally there will be some wintry showers across the highlands but across the west and the south it will be cloudy through the night and not quite so chilly here, in fact, early on friday morning, 6 degrees in london orfreezing below in early on friday morning, 6 degrees in london or freezing below in the lowla nds in london or freezing below in the lowlands of scotland in glasgow and edinburgh. starts off cold sunny and frosty in the north and east but clouds build up in the morning through the afternoon, a few showers around, the most of us, a cloudy, cool sort of day, with temperatures hovering at around 10 degrees. friday night and into saturday, we see some big changes in the air, high pressure builds and also the winds start to blow in from the south, so that is a warmer direction

and already, plenty of sunshine on the cards. i think in the very far north of the country, the possibility of thicker cloud and some rain, but take a look at the temperatures across many parts of england. the mid—teens as far north as yorkshire. saturday night and into sunday, we see the plume are very into sunday, we see the plume are very warm into sunday, we see the plume are very warm aircoming into sunday, we see the plume are very warm air coming in from the south, so by sunday it is a case of sunny skies. unfortunately, most of us won't be able to make the most of the good weather, out in the garden if you are lucky orjust looking through the window. 20 degrees in london, 17 expected in newcastle, but always the chance of some showers with thicker cloud across western areas. also, worth mentioning that the pollen levels will be moderate to high come sunday. goodbye.

this is 0utside source on bbc news, for viewers in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. there are now more than a million confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world — 50,000 people have died. for the second week in a row, the us has posted record—breaking unemployment figures. the uk government answers criticism about a lack of testing for health workers. the first priority has to be the patients for whom the result